Author Note: I'm not intentionally trying to build up this whole dinner date scene. The way the story broke up, it just made for better moderately-sized or smaller chapters rather than a few massive chapters.
Kaiseki = [Japanese] A traditional multi-course Japanese dinner.
I don't own Sailor Moon, any brand names, or any songs and have tried to the best of my ability to site my references.
Takeuchi, N. (1991). Sailor Moon. Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan: Kodansha Ltd.
Caillat, C. and Reeves, J. (2008). The Little Things [Recorded by Colbie Caillat]. On Coco [CD], New York, New York: Republic Records.
Cain, K., Lawrence, P., Levine, A., Mars, B., and Walton, K. (2010). Just The Way You Are [Recorded by Bruno Mars]. On Doo-Wops & Hooligans [CD], New York, New York: Elektra Records.
Lexus is a division of, and belongs to, the Toyota Motor Corporation (cited September, 2013). Mercedes-Benz is a division of, and belongs to, the Daimler AG Corporation (cited June, 2015). The Spectrum brand belongs to Spectrum Aeronautical (cited June, 2015). The brands are used merely as a descriptor for this fiction piece.
Chapter 21:
- The little things you do to me are taking me over. I wanna show you everything inside of me, like a nervous heart that is crazy beating. My feet are stuck here, against the pavement. I wanna break free… -
A lazy, folk-pop song played softly through the speakers of a certain red Lexus that had a custom vehicle registration plate with the letters 'FYRSOUL'. The two women inside the vehicle were content in holding hands, allowing the music to fill the space around them as they drove in comfortable silence, making their way smoothly down the expressway.
Every once in a while, Minako would steal a side-long glance at the stunning, raven-haired woman next to her. She felt butterflies in her stomach and blushed as she admired Rei's profile. The setting sun in the horizon casted a mix of soft red and orange rays off her flawless, alabaster skin, illuminating her image. How fitting that it almost appeared as if she were made of fire.
An angel of fire…, Minako mused to herself. She giggled quietly at the nonsensical thought.
"What?," Rei asked curiously as she kept her eyes on the road, sensing she had missed a joke of some kind.
"N-Nothing!," Minako replied nervously, startled out of her reverie. She could feel her face becoming warm from embarrassment and turned her head slightly so she was facing the window. She was glad for the sunset now, hoping it was enough to hide the blush in her cheeks.
Feeling Minako's embarrassment through their connected hands, Rei let the issue slide and brought her attention back to the road, allowing the silence to settle back in between them.
As Minako stared out the window at the passing scenery, she couldn't shake the sense of nervousness that gnawed at the back of her mind once she got into Rei's car. She adjusted in her seat hesitantly, subtly smoothing out her dress with her free hand.
They were just going to dinner. They've had dinner before. They've actually spent a lot of time together this past week. But, given their situation,going out to dinner was not necessarily an option. Yet here they were, going out on what most would consider a 'proper date'. She couldn't help but feel self-conscious as they traveled to their destination.
Gods, what the hell is wrong with me!?,Minako chided herself. She took subtle, deep breaths to try and calm her nerves, C'mon, Minako, it's just a date! You've been on dates before! Nothing new, just another date.
She dared another glance at the beautiful archer and softened, sighing quietly, Just another date with the most beautiful woman on the planet…and every time I look at her, my heart beats so fast it feels like it's going to jump out of my chest….with the gentlest, most loyal heart of anyone I know…
A heavy uneasiness slowly began to settle in her chest, interrupting her thoughts. Minako blinked and shook her head subtly,
It's just a date,Minako repeated firmly in her mind with a subtle nod, Relax, it's no big deal.
Minako was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she didn't notice Rei's pensive expression as she drove. As they were still holding hands, Rei could sense Minako's internal struggle, her aura laced heavily with Apprehension. She resisted tapping into the smaller woman's aura, wanting to respect her privacy.
Just let her be, Rei thought to herself as she began exiting the expressway, If she wanted to tell you, she would. Trust her.
As the orange-gold colors continued to seeping into her hand, she couldn't help but notice something within. A tint of something that was beingheavily subdued. It was faint, only an essence really, barely untraceable if she hadn't been paying attention. If Rei had to take a guess at what the gorgeous blonde was emitting…it almost seemed akin to…Fear? Rei couldn't help but being to worry as she took a left down a seemingly typical road.
This trace of emotion she was picking up on triggered her memory of something she felt not long ago. It was while Minako was com-
"Hey, baby?" Minako asked with confusion in her voice, interrupting Rei's train of thought, "Where are we?"
Rei had pulled up to what seemed to be the entrance of a very tall, industrial, black wrought iron fence that seemed to span for blocks. Dark-green privacy slats weaved between the bars, masking whatever the fence was protecting, while barbed wire was strung at the top of the entire length for security. Signs appeared periodically along the fence, alternating between 'Private Property' and 'Security Camera' disclaimers.
"We're on our way to dinner," Rei replied innocently, her lavender eyes full of mischief.
Minako raised an eyebrow suspiciously as the raven-haired woman slowed the car and rolled down the window as she approached a small proximity card reader mounted on an iron post. The archer stopped at the reader and reach up to her sun visor to pull out a simple, white card from one of the pockets. She waved the card in front of the reader.
CHA-CHUNK!...DRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR…GUNG!
Minako jumped slightly at the sound of the heavy gate sliding open slowly. Rei returned the card to its rightful spot before pulling her car through. Once she had cleared the gate, it began slowly and loudly sliding back closed behind them.
Minako's eyes widened once she took in what was inside. They were sitting at the start of what looked like a long, tarmac runway complete with airport traffic lines leading away from them into the distance until it seemed to disappear. To the left, parallel to the tarmac, was a long row of large, steel, white hangars with lines painted at the based of each door leading to the tarmac.
To their immediate right was a fairly substantial automotive repair shop next to a small but sizeable air-traffic control tower. To their immediate left was a moderately-sized parking lot with a lone, black Mercedes-Benz S600 Guard parked right in the middle of the lot.
Rei turned the car left towards the unassuming Mercedes. As she approached, a tall, burly man in a sharp, black suit exited the car.
"Rei-chaaaan," Minako said in a suspicious tone, "What are we doing?"
"Going to dinner," Rei replied innocently with a sly grin as she parked her car near the Mercedes.
"Mataku, Rei-chan," Minako huffed in feigned exasperation as she rolled her eyes, "You're so stubborn."
"Another one of my best traits," Rei quip as she turned off the car. When she turned to look at Minako, she found her looking towards the window with an exaggerated pout.
Rei couldn't help but smile at the Minako's antics. She squeezed her hand softly, getting Minako to direct her attention back to her.
"Do you trust me, princess?," Rei asked softly. Minako couldn't hold the façade any longer at those words and a small smile came to her alluring lips as she looked adoringly at Rei,
"Mmn," she nodded softly with a slight blush.
Rei smiled at this response and released Minako's hand to unbuckle her seatbelt. Collecting her purse, she opened the door and stepped out of the car. Minako was about to do the same but was caught off-guard by the handsome man opening the door for her. She quickly unbuckled her seatbelt, grabbed her clutch, and stepped out of the car.
The handsome, burly man had short, black hair that was in a military cut. His kind, dark-brown eyes almost looked black and he had a long, faint scar that crossed diagonally down his left cheek from the top of his ear to his chin.
"This is Kobayashi Nobuo, my bodyguard," Rei said to Minako as she walked to Nobuo's side. She rested her hand on his back endearingly, "He's been with me since I started college." She turned to Nobuo and smiled,
"Nobuo-san, this is Aino Minako," Rei said as she nodded to Minako. Minako noted Rei's use of Nobuo's first name and the respectful honorific, deducing that they were close to some extent. Mostly she was taken aback by how familiar and friendly Rei was…towards a man!
Nobuo smiled kindly and bowed respectfully towards Minako, "You both look very lovely tonight," he said in his low and soothing voice as he straightened.
"T-Thank you, Kobayashi-san," Minako replied and bowed in return. When she straightened, Nobuo lifted his arm to check his watch,
"We should head out, Rei-sama," Nobuo said, "It's already 4:25pm."
"Mmn," Rei nodded. Nobuo shut the door of the car and began walking towards the first hangar. Rei locked the car and intertwining her fingers with Minako's,
"Ready for an adventure?," Rei asked eagerly.
"For not knowing what's going on and taking a leap of faith? Yeah, I guess so," Minako replied snarkily with a smirk. Rei let out a playful laugh as they followed Nobuo towards the hangar.
"You have…your own jet," Minako said flatly in disbelief as she stared up at the white Spectrum S-40 Freedom jet plane with the letters 'FIRE SOUL BIRD' printed in moderately large, white font on its flame-red tail. Her bright, sapphire eyes were wide with shock. Minako turned and stared at Rei, flabbergasted.
Rei shrugged shyly, "Well, technically it belongs to the company. I use it to get to different competitions around the country. If it's an international competition, I usually take one of the bigger planes."
Minako's blinked silently for a moment, "'One of the bigger planes'…You have more than one plane."
Rei blushed sheepishly, "T-This whole place belongs to the company. It the fleet management facility and garage where all the transportation is kept," she explained, "Not all the hangars have planes. Some have cars, boats, helicopters, pretty much any type of transportation the company needs for business, but this hangar is assigned to me."
"Of course," Minako stated flatly with feigned nonchalance. She was already beyond shocked by the jet, everything else became almost incomprehensible.
Rei watched the waves of Astonishment in Minako's orange-gold aura and couldn't help but giggle at the gorgeous blonde's expense. Though she could spend hours listening to Minako's melodic voice, she had to admit that shocking the smaller woman into speechlessness was entertaining. She leaned in and kissed Minako quickly on the forehead,
"C'mon," she said, her eyes twinkled with excitement, "We can keep talking on the way to dinner. Nobuo-san's waiting for us."
Minako gasped as the realization came to her, "We're…flying to dinner!?"
"Mmn," Rei nodded cheerfully, "C'mon, we're going to be late."
"Whoa, whoa, not so fast, Pyro," Minako stated as she tugged Rei's hand to get her attention and prevent her from walking away. She had come back to her senses, her suspicious cobalt eyes locked onto Rei's playful lavenders, "I know you just want to abduct me to go to this 'dinner' of yours," she said half-teasingly, half seriously, "But I'm not moving until you at least tell me where we're going."
Rei smirked, knowing that the jig was up. She brought Minako's hand up to her lips and kiss it softly,
"I just wanted to do something special for you to celebrate your first week in your new job," Rei said, "And I happened to have a craving for Kaiseki. So we're going to one of my favorite restaurants. It's the best in the country."
Rei watched as Minako's face took on a puzzled look. As Minako's eyes widened, she could tell from her aura that she had figured it out,
"Holy shit," Minako whispered, "We're flying…to Kyoto…for dinner?"
"Surprise," Rei said quietly with a soft smile.
Minako was dumbstruck. She wasn't prepared for this. Sure, she'd been on dates before, nice ones even, but nothing as extravagant as this. This wasn't a date, this was a dream. No one had ever done anything like this for her before.
Rei giggled at Minako's stunned expression, "You're so adorable, Mina. I should surprise you more often."
Taking advantage of Minako's dazed state, she smiled happily as she led the gorgeous blonde towards the jet.
- Oh, her eyes, her eyes make the stars look like they're not shining. Her hair, her hair falls perfectly without her trying. She's so beautiful and I tell her everyday. Yeah, I know, I know when I compliment her, she won't believe me. It's so, it's so sad to think that she don't see what I see.' -
"This is so unreal," Minako whispered, the music that softly filled the cabin not reaching her ears. Once the jet left the ground and into the sky, she began to snap out of her astonishment as it finaly sank in that this in fact wasn't a dream. She was sitting on a long, white, leather couch along one side of the plane. She sat with her legs folded up beside her as she looking out the window to watch the last breaths of sunset fade into the night sky.
Rei was sitting cross-legged, turned towards Minako, with her elbow resting on the backrest. She had her hand up in a fist and was resting her cheek on it. Instead of the sunset, her intense amethyst eyes were trained on Minako. The deep purples and blues of dusk accentuated her creamy skin, making her appear as if she were a flawless Greek sculpture.
A beautiful goddess…, Rei mused as she reverently watching the gorgeous blonde next to her.
Minako continued to look out the window, her azure eyes filled with wonderment. She sat up slightly and pointed out the window, "Look, the first star of the night."
Rei tilted towards the window and glanced out to see a lone, bright star nestled within the darker part of the sky above the fading sunlight. She smiled knowingly, "That's your sobriquet."
Minako turned to look at Rei with questions in her eyes.
"The first and brightest light in the night sky, also known as the Evening Star," Rei mused, almost to herself, "Some people call it the Wishing Star since it's the first light after sunset." She turned to look at Minako adoringly, "More commonly, it's known as the planet Venus. The Greeks called her Aphrodite. That's your 'star'."
Minako realized then that Rei was referring to her nickname from work. She blushed shyly as the beautiful raven returned her gaze to the window.
"And you see that tiny one right next to it?," Rei asked as she pointed towards the horizon.
Minako brought her gaze back to the window to find what Rei was referring to. Sure enough, almost right above Venus was a smaller, bright star. Thought not as bright as Venus, it held its own in comparison to the other stars that slowly began dotting the night sky,
"That's Mars, the Red Planet," Rei explained.
"How do you know all this?," Minako asked curiously.
"I was able to sneak in some Religion classes in college for elective credits and I took a Greek Mythology course," Rei replied. "Grandpa taught me a little about astrology while I was growing up. It was one of the many things he used to do his fortune-telling. I was never able to master it, but I always loved hearing about it."
They sat quietly for a moment, enjoying the view, "It's not often that those planets are this close to each other. That's pretty cool," Rei said, as if thinking aloud, "In Greek mythology, Mars and Venus were actually-," she stopped herself and blushed.
"…Were what?," Minako asked as she turned to look at Rei.
"T-They were lovers," Rei explained, looking down shyly. Minako smirked softly as she turned to look at the celestial bodies, "I guess that would be your 'star' then," she said with a melodic giggle, voicing the implication in Rei's statement. She continued to look out the window at the night sky until a soft hand came to rest on her own and intertwine their fingers. She turned to find Rei still looking out the window.
"It's amazing how you can do that," Minako said as she looked down at their intertwined hands and up to Rei's face.
"Do what?," Rei asked as she turned to look at Minako.
"You always find my hand every time without looking," Minako explained, "What's it like?"
Rei smiled softly, "Your aura's really warm. Even though I might not be able to see it with my eyes, I can still sense it and I know it'll always lead me to you."
Minako blushed as she looked away. She heard Rei scoot closer and felt delicate fingers lightly touch her jawline, coaxing her to turn her head back. When she was met with Rei's intense violet eyes, her heart skipped a beat.
"You're my Evening Star," Rei said softly, "I'll always be able to find you, even in the darkest of nights." Minako's cheeks tinted red and her heart was pounding in her chest. Her azure eyes became lost in Rei's violet orbs.
A heavy uneasiness began settling in her chest. She suddenly felt self-conscious and turned away. Rei, feeling the change in Minako's aura, became worried.
"What's wrong, Mina?" Rei asked with concern.
"This…," Minako whispered, "I mean, it's wonderful…and perfect…you're perfect and…and it's all too much, Rei-chan."
Rei's heart broke as she watched Minako's ever-confident orange-gold aura shaking with…Insecurity? Trepidation?. She quickly slid closer to Minako and pulled the smaller woman into a warm embrace. She ran her fingers through her silky blonde hair,
"Mina," she said softly, "I can never give back to you what you've given me this past week. This, all of this, is because I want to show you how much you mean to me. I just want to make you happy."
Minako couldn't stop the tears that began to form in her eyes, "Rei-chan," she whispered as she wrapped her arms around Rei and nuzzled her face into the crook of her neck, allowing herself to be comforted by the taller woman.
Ding!
The music over the intercom was cut short and replaced by a soothing, low voice, "We've begun our descent, Rei-sama. Please prepare for arrival."
Both women reluctantly pulled away from each other and looked into each other's eyes. Rei brought her hands up to Minako's face.
"You ok?," Rei asked, her voice soft and laced with concern.
Minako sighed, pulling herself together, "Mmn," she replied as she nodded a couple times. She pulled away slightly and out of Rei's touch. She took a deep breath and let it out quickly and put on a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, "C'mon, we should get to our seats and buckle up," she said, changing the subject as she began to stand up.
"M-Mmn," Rei replied quietly. She stood up, following Minako's lead, and both women crossed to the other side of the plane to sit in two white, leather, individual seats that were separated by a wooden table that came out of the wall. They buckled up and prepared for landing.
Author Note: Sorry for the cliffhanger =( All will be revealed in due time.
Fun Fact: Kyoto is famous for its Kaiseki. One day I hope to go there and have it for real (fingers crossed!)
Kaiseki. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved June 3, 2015, from wiki/Kaiseki
Constructive feedback/reviews would be greatly appreciated.
(updated 06/2015)