A/N: I do not own Sailor Moon. For a quick note, this time, I'm going to be doing this chapter not just on Serena's perspective. Oh yeah and if you're a big supporter of HarukaxMichiru, I must sadly ask you to turn around now. Haruka is paired with someone else though I won't go too deep in their relationship. But if you don't want to see Haruka with a guy, please don't read any further since this chapter is the first we see of the couple.
Meus Amor et Mea Culpa: My Love and My Mistake
Of Love and Flames
When Rei glanced up and saw Serena coming over, she noticed something almost right away. The smile on the girl's face was looking strained, as if she was doing the act with much effort. As the others called out their greetings to her as she pulled out her lunch and sat down, Rei tilted her head slightly, eyeing the girl.
"What's wrong, Serena?" The girl glanced up at her, startled. Then she smiled and murmured,
"Looks like I'm not the only observant one around here." She looked around, seeing that the other three girls' attention were now on her as well. Serena cast down at the grass surrounding her, not wanting to meet their curious eyes. She shrugged nonchalantly. "There's nothing really wrong. I just ran into Beryl in the bathroom."
All eyes on her hardened and Serena could feel their gazes cutting through her brief and vague description of her recent encounter with one of Satan's spawns. Serena smiled in spite of herself. She had just described what was obviously the beginning of a war between her and Beryl's army of look-alike clones like it was a casual meet-and-greet. Sadly however, they didn't know that. And Serena wasn't about to let them in on things just yet.
"A person doesn't just 'run into' Beryl." Rei said sharply. "The gods must either seriously hate them or she wants something."
Serena giggled and then met Rei's cynical yet serious violet eyes. She sighed, slightly exasperatedly and shook her head facetiously. "It's nothing, really." She insisted. "Well, it was nothing that I couldn't take on by myself. Honest."
Rei looked at her disbelievingly and Lita cut in, snarling. "What'd the bitch want?"
Serena sweat dropped at the girl's ferocity of the situation. "Lita, it's okay, really." She went on to say. Thinking over a mental debate quickly, she said, "Beryl was just trying to get me to come over to the dark side- which she was highly unsuccessful at doing." She inserted the last part hurriedly at their astonished faces.
Mina muttered a muted curse underneath her breath and Ami wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"I'd be lying to say that it wasn't expected." The pale girl said. Rei and Lita nodded silently in agreement but Mina was peering at Serena with a strange emotion in her eyes.
"Did Beryl say anything else?" She inquired quietly. Serena had to raise an eyebrow at the sudden tension that overcame the other three girls. She saw Rei glance up and throw what looked like a warning glare at Mina. If the blonde noticed the said glare, she made no notion of it. Mina's referral to the disturbed redhead brought back a piece of her recent conversation with the girl.
"You hang out with Minako, right?"
Serena nodded, getting the idea of where this was going. "Yes. She's very sweet."
Beryl gave out a fake, depressed sigh. "Yes, very sweet. It's really all too bad about what happened last year though, isn't it?"
Serena gave a decisive shake of her head, clearing Beryl's menacing figure from her mind and met Mina's somber blue eyes. "No," she said. "At least nothing that was worth listening to."
"Anything coming out of that bitch's mouth isn't worth listening to." Ami scoffed and Mina and Rei snorted through their drinks at the usage of language from their usually calm friend.
"Yo Bombshell!" The tensed air hovering over the five teens was broken as they all turned around, startled, to the direction of the voice. A tall and smiling Zachary was making his way to the group, holding a slightly crumbled paper in his hand. Out of the corner of her eye, Rei noticed that Ami's eyes had widened in something that resembled terror and then glanced up and realized that Mina had noticed the same thing. The blonde and brunette exchanged meaningful looks. They would talk about this later. Zachary was already upon them.
"Hey Zachary." Serena said, smiling. "What's up?"
"Your forgetfulness apparently." He replied, smirking. He held out the paper in his hand. "I take it Mr. Leland was as fascinating as molding bread?"
Serena made a face. "Molding bread? Ew." As the others laughed at the tone of her voice, Serena smiled and accepted her notes from the tall blonde. "Thanks."
He shrugged. "No big. You dropped it on your way out of the bathroom."
"Well thank you very much." She said, looking at her doodled notes. A wave of awkwardness fell upon the group before Serena turned up to the standing blonde, smiling brightly. "Care to join us for lunch?"
The other four girls stared at her with incredulous eyes. However, the male blonde that stood over them only raised his eyebrow, surprised but slowly complied when Serena encouraged the commanded with a swing of her head at the spot between her and Mina.
"Mina." He said shortly to the other blonde, grinning widely. Mina's thoughts of Beryl perished as she smiled back at him.
"Zach." She replied with the same tone as he used to say her name.
"How's your brother?" He asked her casually. "I haven't seen him in the longest."
"Jaden's okay." Mina replied. "He was in Europe studying a while ago but he's home now."
"Unfortunately." Rei muttered under her breath. Zach heard her and gave a small chuckle.
"You and him still haven't worked things out?" He asked. Rei raised one eyebrow at him like he was crazy and both Zachary and Mina chuckled.
Lunch went along pretty okay. Strangely enough for Serena, Rei and Mina seemed to get along fine with Zachary and he and Lita were talking about one sport or another every few minutes. Then there was Ami...
"-But I'm planning not to go since there's going to be try outs for the swim team soon." Zachary was saying to Lita.
"You swim?" Serena asked. Zachary nodded.
"Yeah." He said and Serena noticed a touch of emotion clouding his green eyes. "I love it."
"You any good?" Serena asked with a sly smile. Zach laughed heartily and shrugged.
"Sort of." Mina, who had been listening, scoffed at his reply. Turning to Serena she said,
"Serena, don't listen to him." She looked at him with accusing eyes and he looked away guiltily. "'Sort of' my behind! He's a great swimmer and he's fast. Take it from someone who raced him a good amount of times in the pool."
Zachary shrugged, laughing. "What can I say? I'm not a bragging person."
"Ah," Rei smiled deviously. "You mean like your heroic feat this morning?"
Out of the corner of their eyes Ami and Lita noticed Serena tensed up. They still hadn't heard of what had happened and Mina and Rei were waiting for Serena to let them in on things. Zachary had frowned at the mention of this morning.
"Me?" He asked. "Don't you mean-"
"Oh, come on Zach!" Serena interrupted abruptly, smiling. "No need to be modest." Turning to Lita and Ami, she said, "I was walking to school this morning when a bunch of idiotic thugs showed up out of nowhere and starting coming my way. Needless to say if Zach hadn't been there, I could've been in big trouble."
Lita looked over at Zach in admiration. "Wow, you're a regular hero."
Ami only smiled at the story, looking over at Serena and purposely avoiding Zachary's intense green gaze. "You must've been scared."
"'Scared'?" Zach repeated surprised. "Didn't she tell you how-"
Serena quickly placed a hand on Zach's arm, smiling forcibly while sending him daggers with her eyes.
"Zachary, I told you. You don't have to be modest." She said slowly, placing an overtone of caution within her words. He caught on and nodded discreetly. Turning to the other girls, he said,
"Like I said, I'm not a bragging guy."
The others smiled and bombarded the guy with questions about that morning out of pure curiosity. However, while Mina, Rei, and Lita continued to ask him questions, Serena noticed that Ami was looking as pale as ever.
Suddenly, Lita asked, out of nowhere,
"Hey Ami, aren't you going to try out for the swim team this year?"
All heads swiveled in her direction and Ami flushed lightly at the attention. She swallowed down a bite of her sandwich and said, "I don't think so. You guys know how I am with sports."
"But you're really good at it." Mina exclaimed. "I've seen you and your sister race before. You guys are great!"
Ami smiled and shrugged nonchalantly. "I guess I'll think it over. It's just that I haven't had much practice lately."
"But weren't you at some beach this summer?" Lita interjected. "Surely you had more and one opportunity to take a swim out there."
Ami winced very slightly so that only Rei, sitting by her, could notice and smiled forcibly. "I guess so." She said slowly. Suddenly her eyes lit up. "Maybe I will try out. I barely get any exercise around here anyway."
"That's the spirit!"
Ami was met with encouraging comments from her friends and she promised to consider trying out...all the while trying very hard to avoid the hard gaze from the only male in the group.
Serena learned that Rei and Mina had been friends since they were in grade school and had met Zachary a couple of times through Mina's older brother, Jaden. Soon, Lita and Ami stepped into the picture around middle school but they didn't see associate much with Zachary since he and Jaden drifted apart and the girls went through they're whole treat-me-like-a-guy phase. And despite the fact that they had only begun to talk with each other for a while, the other girls (save for one) seemed to readily accept Zachary as a pretty okay guy. Needless to say, his brushing off Beryl yesterday also helped out helped them feel like they had some sense of connection with the guy sitting beside them.
Another thing that they would look back on later in the future about that time, none of them in the group sitting there on the grassy lawn eating their lunches paid any attention to the intense stares and harsh whisperings of which they were the main subject to. Of course, a lot of people were wondering what the hell trouble-making and cool Zachary Monroe was doing hanging with the girls whom Beryl, his so-called girlfriend, had been trash-talking about for the past year. Also, people were surprised and confused that a guy that seemed so socially different from the girls was able to infiltrate their well-known tight circle.
And yet, all of them acted so casually as if they'd been talking and hanging out together their whole lives.
All of them had barely heard the bell that signified the end of lunch. Somewhat reluctantly, all of them got up and brushed the grass off their clothes.
"So Zach," Serena was saying, picking up her satchel. "What class do you have now?"
"Gym." He nodded over to Rei and Ami who were both getting up. "I've got the same class as the both of them."
Serena was only slightly surprised at his response.
"You walking home today?" Serena shook her head at his question.
"I have a project to work on with Mina and Rei." He nodded in acknowledgement.
"Then I'll see you tomorrow." Serena smiled brightly and inclined her head before catching up with Lita for Algebra. Mina waved her good byes and told Rei and Serena to meet her at the front of the school before heading off to history. When it finally dawned on Rei, Ami, and Zachary that they were the only three left, Ami suddenly made some incoherent excuse about some book she had left behind and hurriedly left the scene, saying she'd see Rei in gym in a few minutes. Zachary watched her petite figure disappear amongst the crowd of students that were heading to class with an unfathomable look in his eyes.
"What happened between you two?" Zachary suddenly turned around, his eyes glazed as he looked at Rei like he had forgotten she was still there. Rei looked over at him with her violet eyes through long lashes calculatingly. She began to walk. "What happened between you two?" She repeated the question as he fell into step with her and the two walked towards the gym together. "Something's up with Ami and all of us have a funny feeling that you're connected to it."
"Why do you say that?" Even though Zachary was trying very hard to sound casual, Rei noticed the surprised tension behind his voice. She suddenly stopped walking and turned to stare at him intently.
"Where were you this summer?" Zachary stopped just as abruptly as Rei's sudden question and stared at her with wide eyes. Swimming in those jade-green orbs were many emotions that Rei wasn't really surprised to find. Anger, surprise, suspicion, and others swirled together in them. He stared at the girl who was a couple of inches shorter than him but had an all-knowing air about her as if she knew something he was trying to hide. And Zachary was getting the funny feeling that she did know something he was trying to hide. He suddenly gave a smile and shrugged.
"Didn't you hear?" He asked, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "I was at reform school abroad."
"No, I didn't hear that." She replied quietly. Then a strange fire burned into her eyes as she seemingly glared at him. "But I did hear you made a trip to a hospital."
Zachary couldn't help but smile admiringly at the girl before him though he did feel slightly angry at the information that had been leaked out.
"You've got some pretty damn good sources if that's the case." He said laughingly. But Rei's interrogating gaze did not waver. Feeling very scrutinized and not liking it, he tore his eyes from her mystifying violet eyes and shrugged uncaringly. "And I don't know why you're trying to link me with Ami over there. I mean, didn't Lita just say that she was at her relative's house this summer?"
"Funny," Rei said softly in a soft, dreamlike manner that made Zachary feel like he was in deep shit. "The most Lita said was that Ami was by a beach this summer." She felt somewhat satisfied with how the blonde male in front of her suddenly frowned. "How funny it is that you know where Ami told us she was staying this summer."
"Where Ami 'told you' she was staying?" He repeated with a scoffing smile. "You make it sound like she's hiding something from you guys."
"Isn't she?" Zach stiffened at the abrupt question and found himself once more locking gazes with the young woman before him. Rei looked back at him and he was somewhat startled to notice that she was looking hurt and angry.
"Ami is one of my best friends and I love her like a sister." Rei said firmly and sincerely. "However, I know something happened to her this summer. And I think, no, I know that you had something to do with it." She continued confidently, watching his eyes as if waiting for them to betray any emotion that proved her claim. When Zachary said and did nothing but continued to look at her, Rei gave a small smile and shook her head wearily.
"If something happened to Ami this summer that she doesn't want to talk about, then none of us are going to force it out of her. However," She glanced at him once again with the same small smile but a determine blaze in her amethyst gaze. "If I, or Lita or Mina, find out that you did something to hurt our best friend, staying in this school will be the least of your worries if you catch my drift."
Zachary had to raise his eyebrows at the conviction behind her words. Seeing she was serious, he couldn't help but plant an impish smile on his face. "Is that a threat, Miss Hino?"
Rei felt somewhat at ease with the fact that he could still smile and returned his grin with one of her own and shook her head. "No."
"Good. Then-"
"It's a promise." Rei interrupted him so quickly that he stared back at her, shocked. Whether it was her confirmation to kick his ass if she learned that he did something wrong to Ami or her own boldness to confront him, he couldn't really tell which one surprised him more. He shook himself out of his daze and noticed that Rei was already walking ahead of him, still heading to the gym room.
"How can you be so sure that I did something wrong to her?" He called out. Rei suddenly stopped walking and turned to face him slowly. After a brief pause, she said,
"Quite honestly, Zachary, I don't think you did anything wrong." Her hand reached up and began toying with a pendant strung on a chain around her neck. "Like I said, I know something happened to her and I know that you had some hand in it. Now, whether or not your presence had a negative or positive effect on the situation still remains to be seen." Rei smiled slightly and looked up at him, a somewhat pleasant expression gracing her features. "In my opinion, I think that Ami's hiding something from the rest of us even though we've been best friends for over half a decade. But you." She suddenly pointed a light finger at him, not exactly in an accusing manner. "I think she's avoiding you because you know what she's hiding. Ami's one of the sweetest girls alive today but she's a person you could spend hours talking to and once they leave the room you suddenly realize you know jack squat about them." Rei gave off a laughing smile. "Sort of like you."
Zachary was slight taken back by her last comment and took a few seconds to gather himself. By then, Rei had set one foot in front of her, looking back at Zachary with an impatient expression.
"So do I have to take off without you or are we going to get to class now?"
A few seconds later found them entering the gym together and they split up; Zachary was called by a few friends, and Ami was waiting for Rei.
Needless to say, whatever happened in fifth period Gym that day was barely recorded into the minds of two certain students.
Mina was waiting for Rei and Serena after school. Ami and Lita both had their own business to attend to so it was just the three girls.
"Who's picking us up?" Serena asked as she and Rei approached the blonde. Mina held up a hand, looking down at her watch and then snapped back up to look at them.
"Step aside girls." She said, abruptly pushing them back a few feet. Shouts and screams could suddenly be heard and Mina smiled with mild satisfactory. "Our ride is here."
A look of disbelief overcame the Rei's face.
"Please tell me you're joking." From a short distance, a good amount of people were still screaming and shouting curses while Mina nodded, smiling.
"Can you believe it?" She beamed happily as the screams grew louder, getting closer to them. "My big sib is finally back in town!" She said shortly and the three turned around at the sound of squealing tires, just in time to see a sharp-looking red sports car pull up right by them. The passenger-side window rolled down and they were greeted by a grinning face with short, blonde hair and sunglasses.
"Hey there baby sister." Mina laughed and the driver got out of the car, walking around the vehicle and promptly hugging the lively girl. The two siblings finally pulled apart and Mina turned to Serena. Serena eyed the boy by the girl once over. He was very tall, wearing a sleeveless, white shirt, very baggy pants and combat boots. This must be Mina's older brother, Jaden.
"Serena, this is my sister, Haruka." Or maybe not. Serena sweat dropped and her mouth dropped open. This was a girl? The older sibling seemed to know what she was thinking and laughed at Serena's flushing face.
"Don't worry about it." She said in a light voice. "A lot of people think I'm a guy at first glance."
And she was right. Just when Serena knew the girl's actual gender, she noticed the other factors that she had skipped on while looking her over. Serena now noticed the bulge in Haruka's chest area, the hips on which the girl's pants hung on, and the small silver hoops that dangled from her ears. Also, Haruka had now pulled up her sunglasses, revealing bright, teal blue eyes.
"Ruka, this is Serena." Mina continued on with the introductions. "She recently transferred here from Japan."
Haruka nodded, clasping hands with Serena. "Nice to meet you." Her bright eyes then trailed over to the brunette who hadn't said anything since Haruka's arrival. Haruka narrowed her eyes and then a flash of recognition hit her.
"Rei?" She asked uncertainly. "Reina Hino?"
Rei smiled widely and nodded. Haruka gave a sound of surprise and smiled widely.
"Damn." She said. "It's been a while. Like what? Eight months?"
"As if!" Mina cried out indignantly, elbowing her sister. "Try a year and a half!"
Haruka sweat dropped slightly at the time frame, rubbing her side slightly.
"Close enough, eh?" She laughed as her sister pouted and drew her into another hug. "What can I say? Work keeps me busy."
At this Mina rolled her eyes but continued to smile. Haruka ruffled her little sister's hair and then nodded her head over to the car.
"Well, are we gonna go or what?" Mina and Serena nodded and they got into the car but Rei was looking skeptical. Haruka saw this and grinned apologetically.
"C'mon, Rei." She said, smiling. "I promise I won't go higher than eighty this time."
Rei looked unconvinced but reluctantly got into the car. Apparently, Rei had some bad experience with Haruka's driving. Serena learned that Haruka was a racer, both on bikes and cars. She had taken on their mother's maiden name, Tenoh, when racing and Serena got the impression that she did so because their father didn't approve of Haruka's choice of career.
"Mina," Serena began as Haruka made a rather sharp turn. "You have an older brother right?"
Mina nodded and Haruka said, "Jaden's my twin brother." She grinned crookedly. "For being the elder one, he sure acts like a kid." Haruka glanced up and caught Rei rolling her eyes and laughed.
"Don't tell me you and him are still at it."
"At what?" Rei asked cynically, causing Haruka to smile.
"You know," Haruka began. "Me and Mina here were convinced you two were actually in love with each other when we were younger."
Rei's face contorted to a highly comical expression. "Me? In love with him?" She shook her head. "Please don't insult me."
The other three laughed at the brunette's reply and Haruka and the others laughed good-naturedly as they all filed out of the car as they had arrived at the house. Haruka mentioned something about taking a dip in the pool and disappeared and the three were left on their own. Serena took note of a haphazard comment Mina made about their parents being gone for a week on some business and measured the possibility that the absence of the parental units was linked with Haruka's sudden appearance in the Aino household.
After about two hours, two bags of popcorn, a bag of chips, and numerous soda cans, the girls had basically outlined what they were going to do with their project for Drama. After a while, the girls had been just talking with each other freely in front of the T.V. when they heard the front door open.
Mina craned her neck from her position on the coffee table where they had scattered about their plans and foods. "Who's there?"
"Brad Pitt." Came the gruff reply. Mina squealed and promptly stood up and ran to the doorway. Serena glanced at Rei, who was now looking up at the ceiling, as if blaming the gods. Haruka suddenly came into the room from the sliding door that led to the pool outside, frowning. Her short hair was dripping slightly and sunglasses were perched on her head while a sheer blue wrap hung around her waist.
"Who screamed?" At that point Mina entered, her arm slung through a tall blonde man's arm. The man was dressed in a suit minus the tie with a coat that was swung over his shoulder and both were smiling. Haruka raised her eyebrows in surprise and leaned against one of the walls while Rei was silently wondering if she could escape without being noticed and Serena was sitting there wide a wide, goofy smile, clueless.
Finally, Mina pulled away from the blonde and turned to the others, smiling excitedly.
"Ruka! Looks who's here!" Twin sets of blue eyes collided with each other for the first time in a long while. For a while, neither of the two said anything but continued to stare at each other. Finally, the man by Mina looked Haruka up and down and frowned.
"What is that?" Haruka snorted and put her hands on her hips.
"It's called a bikini, Jaden." She said, referring to the stringy dark blue bikini she was sporting. He grimaced.
"Well go put on a shirt or something, will you?" Haruka looked at him incredulously before both burst out laughing. The tall man made his way to Haruka and enveloped her in a hug.
"It's good to see you again, Ruka." He said sincerely. She smiled at him.
"Like wise, Jay." Turning to Rei and Serena, she smirked slyly. "Jaden, I don't think you've met Serena here."
Jaden Aino looked at Serena appreciatively, admiring the younger girl's mystical beauty. He smiled, bright blue eyes twinkling.
"Hey there."
"Hi." Serena smiled, sweat dropping at his flirting attempts.
Jaden's eyes then swiveled over to the exotic brunette that was trying to avoid his gaze. He raised an eyebrow at her and walked till he was right in front of her. He scooped up her hand in a debonair manner, asking,
"And who is this lovely maiden over here?" As he brought his lips to kiss her knuckles.
"Gee, bro," Haruka began sarcastically. "How on earth could you forget the divine Reina Hino?"
Jaden's eyes widened considerable and he paused, mid-pout, ready to kiss the hand before him. He lifted his azure eyes to the young woman who was looking at him with mild amusement.
"Hello Jaden." Serena covered her mouth while the blonde sisters of the household didn't bother to hide their laughter as Jaden suddenly pulled away at realizing who this young woman was. Even Rei chuckled slightly at the surprised look on his face.
"Who-what the? And how..." Jaden stammered.
"Forgive him, Rei." Haruka said, latching her arm around her brother's. "He always gets like this around girls who've dunked him in the mud at age ten."
At this, the younger females laughed harder and Jaden turned a bright red color. Just then, a knock could be heard at the door. Rei got up, smiling and turned to Serena.
"That's probably Seiya. C'mon." Rei scooped up her satchel and, casting one last glance at Jaden's surprised face, walked to the front door where Mina was already heading to. Looking at the twins before her, Serena stood up and bowed slightly.
"It was nice to meet you both." She said and Jaden shrugged as Haruka looked off to where Mina and Rei had vanished to.
"No big. Come around some time, okay?" Serena nodded and waved good-bye to the two before hurrying to the front door. She was greeted with the sight of Mina and Rei chatting with a tall dark haired man with dark blue eyes. A sudden wave of nostalgia hit her.
As she gazed upon the setting sun, feeling her troubles of the day slipping as the light rays, she heard someone calling her name. Glancing down, she met a rather pleasant sight.
His dark hair partly covered his beautiful blue eyes as he looked up at her, shielding his eyes from the dying sun.
"Usagi!" He smiled. "Come down already!"
She snapped back to reality when she noticed that Mina and Rei were looking at her, concerned.
"Serena, are you okay?" Serena smiled forcibly, nodding.
"Oh! Serena, this is my older brother, Seiya." The tall dark-haired man by Rei nodded, smilingly. Serena nodded.
"Nice to meet you." Seiya smiled.
"Likewise." At that point, Jaden walked over to the foyer.
"Seiya?" The said man looked over at the direction of the voice and grinned.
"Jaden!" Seiya stepped into the house and the two shook hands. "Where've you been this whole time, man?"
Jaden shook his head, smiling. "Busy with work and school. You?"
Seiya sighed. "Same thing. How long has it been since I saw you?"
"A little over half a year, right?" Seiya shrugged and the two laughed together.
"Hey, why don't you come around to the club soon?"
"Oh yeah, I heard you guys were doing great over there." Seiya beamed at the praise and nodded.
"Yeah, we've been having great business so pop up sometime, alright?" Jaden nodded in agreement.
"Hell yeah. I haven't seen you guys in the longest." Rei leaned in to whisper to Serena as the two men chatted with each other.
"Seiya, Jaden, and Haruka were pretty close a while ago. But then they graduated and started their careers and so they didn't see much of each other."
At this point, Haruka, who had heard all the voices in the other room, came in to see what was going on. She suddenly stopped where she was once she saw the newcomer. Jaden noticed her presence and turned around, smiling at his sister.
"Hey Ruka! Seiya's here." The other three tuned in to hear the response and were surprised to see Seiya tense up highly at Haruka's appearance. Jaden looked concerned, too, when his twin's cerulean eyes narrowed in Seiya's direction.
"Haruka." Serena and the others were surprised at the coldness in his voice as he regarded the blonde before him.
"Seiya." If Seiya's tone of voice sent shivers down the watching audience's backs, then Haruka's tone just froze them into icicles. For a while, everyone stayed where they were, as if the tension in the room had solidified and locked them in their places while Seiya and Haruka glared at each other. Finally, Haruka tore her eyes away from him and shook her head as if she was in disbelief.
"I'm heading back to the pool." She muttered before turning around and walking out of the foyer. Serena was startled at the sight of Haruka's bare back. For on it, was a large tattoo of wings. In stark black, elegant and complex designs were a pair of angel wings drawn on Haruka's back. Jaden turned his eyes on his youngest sister.
"When the hell did she get a tattoo?" Mina gave her brother an exasperated look before saying that Haruka had said she got it about six months ago.
Rei coughed loudly, trying to draw her brother's attention. Seiya turned away from the direction where Haruka had left and turned to his sister questioningly.
"Uh, Sei? We still have to drop Serena off." Sei suddenly snapped out of his daze, nodding and muttering something incoherent that called for the two to go to the car.
"I'll catch you later, Jaden." Seiya called out, getting into his car. Jaden nodded, waving at the doorway with Mina. "Come around to the club, sometime, okay?"
Jaden nodded and they were off. After Serena had given Seiya directions to her house, the three sat in silence.
"What the hell was that?" Seiya glanced at his younger half-sister's vehement tone in surprise before looking back to the road.
"What was what?" He asked nonchalantly.
"You know what I mean." Rei said, glaring at her brother. "What was up with you two? I thought you and Haruka were good friends. I mean, you two knew each other longer before me and Mina met up."
Seiya's gaze had hardened and Serena noted that his knuckles had turned white as he gripped the steering wheel before him.
"Things change, Rei." Rei glared even harder at her brother at his short and vague response.
"Like what things?" She demanded. "You and Ruka spent more time together then you did with Jaden. You dragged raced with each other and the only reason the both of you even tried out for track was because the other would be there."
"Drop it!" Seiya snapped and Rei was taken back with the anger behind her brother's tone. Seiya noticed this almost immediately and began apologizing. "Aw, Rei, I'm sorry." He reached over with one hand and stroked his sister's hair. He sighed. "Look, things just changed between me and her. It's really no big deal, okay? So please just drop it."
Rei looked unconvinced but nodded as they pulled up to the Cartier household.
Serena got out and thanked them for the ride and wished them goodnight. The siblings smiled back and said it was no problem and Serena walked into her house. A blur of white collided with her and she giggled.
"Put me down, Kunthan!" Her brother laughed and did what he was told.
"Hey there kiddo." He said, placing a kiss on her forehead. As Serena put aside her satchel, the two moved over to the dining room where dinner was ready. "How's your project coming along?"
"It's good. Hi, Auntie Elle." Serena said, dropping by her aunt's seat and kissing her on the cheek.
"Had a good day?" Serena nodded as her uncle walked into the room from his study and planted a kiss on his niece's forehead.
"Dig in people!" Serena giggled and did as she was told. Halfway through dinner, they heard the phone ringing. Since Serena was the closest, she got up to answer it in the living room.
"Hello?" There was a pause in the other line as there were other voices in the background and then a very memorable accent spoke through.
"Hello? Usagi?" Serena snapped her head up in attention at the familiar language and dropped the phone on the tile ground, letting it clatter loudly and drawing her aunt into the room. She grabbed Usagi's face, forcing her to meet her own.
"Usagi?" She questioned, concerned. "What's wrong?"
Serena couldn't make a sound and glanced quickly at the phone on the floor. Luna followed her gaze and answered it sharply. Even from her distance from the phone, Serena heard the same voice, asking the same question. Luna's scarlet eyes looked over at Serena's teary blue ones fearfully before she spoke sharply into the phone.
Serena was only barely aware that her aunt was making some excuse that she couldn't understand the Japanese language that she was being questioned with and the caller probably had the wrong number and the frail blonde didn't pay much attention when her aunt hung up the phone. Luna turned away from the phone and looked at Serena with distressed eyes. Slowly, she enveloped the young girl in her arms, feeling the slight wetness on her shoulder as the girl cried.
"What the hell??" Kunthan and Artemis had entered the room and were surprised at the scene that greeted them. Kunthan walked over to his sister, frowning at his aunt.
"What happened?" He demanded. "Who was it?"
Serena adjusted her head on her aunt's shoulder and said something unintelligible.
"What?" Serena cleared her throat and looked over at her brother, pain glinting off the usually cheerful silver blue eyes.
"It was Naru..." She whispered harshly, smiling softly through tears. "I heard Ann in the background, too." The adults in the room gazed at each other with mixed emotions and Kunthan came forward and she fell into his arms, sobbing her heart out.
chickay
…Good God I'm evil! Review!