Chapter 5: Pillow Talk
Goten stretched and yawned loudly as he held the broomstick in his hand. He had been sweeping the entrance for at least an hour. Well, it felt like an hour. Of course, it wouldn't have taken so long if the wind had stopped blowing the collected dust and leaves around.
He looked toward the temple and called out, "Hey Rei, mind if I take a break? I'm pooped!"
Rei held back her long hair with her hand so the wind couldn't blow it into her gorgeous face, making Goten blush.
'She may be a grouch, but boy is she sexy,' he thought. The priestess never ceased to amaze him with her beauty.
Her violet eyes examined the grounds. He'd done a decent job, yet she didn't want to let him off that easily.
"I guess that's enough sweeping for now. Take a short break." She waved her hand dismissively.
She turned back to him after a slight pause. "But afterwards I expect you to clean the floors inside the shrine," she said with her arms crossed.
Goten pouted. "Aw, come on Rei, I cleaned them yesterday! Do they really have to be cleaned every day?"
"Yes," she said, not missing a beat. "Oh, and afterwards you can beat the tatami mats for dust before dinner," she added while lightly stretching her arms.
Goten huffed. It had been a week since Rei had caught him snooping in her bedroom and she'd made good on dishing out her payback. She'd piled on the work load and had refused to cook for him. So he'd spent all week surviving off cup ramen noodles that he had to heat up himself. The work load annoyed him most, seeing as Rei just wanted to keep him busy by giving him the same things every day. Now he understood how his mother must have felt cleaning up after him and Gohan, not to mention his father. The raven-haired man eyed the young woman with a scowl on his face.
"I did that yesterday, too! Come on, my arms are tired," he whined.
Truthfully, he had endured worse pain while training with his father and even his best friend. But this was different. Chores were different, he was definitely convinced. Chores were manifested evil! Couldn't he take the rest of the day off from the evil chores that he had already conquered? The consecutive routine was sure enough to drive him bonkers.
"Huh, I should've suspected Grandpa was over exaggerating when he said you took down three armed gang members with your bare hands." Rei shook her head.
She couldn't believe that Grandpa had built him up to be this strong action movie hero— and here he was complaining like a child.
Goten blinked in shock, feeling like he'd taken a hard kick to the ego with her cynical comment. "B-But I did!"
What was she trying to say? Sure, he wasn't the strongest in the universe, or the second strongest, or even the third, but dammit he was in the top five!
Rei flipped her hair back effortlessly when the breeze subsided. "Then what's so hard about a little manual labor? I'm sure it's a walk in the park for any big strong man like you," Rei said as she leaned against the column, hand on her hip.
Goten furrowed his eyebrows in agitation. "Of course it's not! I could have this place spotless in no time!" Goten was so riled up, he had not realized what had just come out of his mouth.
Rei scoffed as she thought it a mere empty bluff. "Oh you can, can you?" She asked as she stepped off the column and walked towards him.
"Of course I can! In fact, I can do it in forty-five minutes, guaranteed!" He exclaimed, sticking his chest out in pride.
"Done in less than an hour, huh?" Rei withheld the urge to laugh; he couldn't be serious.
Not even in a hurry could she be done with those chores that fast.
"All right, we'll wager on it then," she said. "If you lose, you'll have to do laundry, too. That means hanging them up to dry, folding, and putting them away. If you win, I'll cook you dinner of your choice, I guess." She shrugged at the suggestion while snickering inwardly. 'Fat chance,' she thought.
Goten smirked at the snarky young woman. If only she knew what she would be in for! "You're on!"
The demi-Saiyan then sped off at an inhuman speed, taking the broom with him.
Rei had just blinked and Goten was no longer in front of her. "W-Where'd you go..?" She asked in disbelief.
Goten sped through the temple, sweeping and dusting as he went through. He hurriedly cleaned the floors until they were polished. He then went and cleaned the tatami mats as instructed, pounding away the dust. Once he had set the mats back in their proper places, he grinned and glanced down at his watch.
'Hmm...Fifteen minutes. Not bad at all. Now to go and get Rei,' he thought smugly.
Rei stood in astonishment when she saw Goten rush by as a blur while sweeping the temple clean. His speed was unreal, like watching someone fast-forward a video. Her eyes couldn't keep up at all.
Goten whistled nonchalantly as he casually strolled back over to the dumbstruck young woman and stopped a few inches away from her. "Everything's done," he said, finding it hard to hide his grin.
She recovered from her stupor and looked up at him with narrow eyes as she walked past him, bumping his shoulder as she did so. She looked around for any detail out of line. She got nervous when she couldn't find a single one.
"Impossible. It hasn't even been a half hour," she said warily.
Goten stepped up behind her with his chest puffed out. "My favorite foods are beef stew with rice, miso soup, rice balls, Lo Mein with shrimp, and chicken. I like baked chicken, fried chicken, broiled chicken, oh yeah, and dumplings." Goten continued rambling off what he wanted for dinner, paying careful attention to not leave anything out. He wanted to use a free homemade dinner to its full advantage after a week on just ramen. Why not ask for a full-on buffet?
Rei hung her head, an angry vein pulsing off of it. She clenched her balled fists. She then suddenly whirled to face him. "What did you do!? Nobody can get this done so fast— not even with three people!" She exclaimed.
Goten stopped rattling off what he wanted for dinner and shrank away before glancing at her. "Well, um, it was part of my training with my dad and brother...?" Goten offered weakly. He'd only known this girl for just a week, there was no way he'd tell her about his heritage...at least not yet.
"Training..?" She inched away while cocking a brow at him. Just who the heck was he? Why could he move so fast? And was Grandpa right to trust him with looking after her?
Goten nodded while laughing nervously, holding his hand behind his head.
"Yeah we—oh look, we have guests!" Goten said as he turned towards the entrance.
Frankly, he was happy for a well-timed distraction.
Rei turned to where he pointed and let out a squeak as she saw her friends making it to the top of the stairs.
"Hide!" Rei turned back to Goten and shoved him inside. "Go! Go!"
"Ouch! Hey!" Goten said as the young woman punched him in the back repeatedly until he was inside the shrine. What was wrong with her all of a sudden?
"Just stay in there and be quiet!" She said before sliding the rice paper door closed between them. She turned around, facing her approaching friends with her back against it.
"Rei-chan..!" Minako called out waving.
"Hey!" Rei replied as she waved back, wearing a nervous smile.
Usagi ran up to her friend and embraced her tightly in desperation. Rei's eyes nearly bugged out from the tight squeeze the blonde gave her, causing Makoto to sweatdrop.
"Easy Usa, let the poor girl breathe," the tall brunette said while laughing slightly. Though deep down, she had been a little worried about her friend as well. Rei hadn't called her over so she could watch her favorite soaps on her TV.
"Oh come on, Mako-chan. Drop the act, we all missed Rei." Minako grinned.
"You haven't called any of us. We started to worry that something had happened," Ami spoke honestly.
"I'm sorry. I've been okay, really." Rei gave them a small smile. She didn't realize how much she had missed her friends until now.
Usagi finally let her go while she continued to sniffle. "Well, now that we know you're ok, let's go inside so we can eat, gossip about boys, and read some manga. After all, you promised me and Minako-chan we could read your manga!" The blonde rambled on.
Makoto shook her head while smiling. She then glanced at Rei. "Are you cooking or should I?"
"Inside..?" Rei's smile faltered, growing nervous. "You know… maybe that's not such a good idea. Grandpa's still not better and needs his rest. I also promised to make dinner," she said, speaking rather fast-paced— like Minako or Usagi would on a sugar rush.
Makoto narrowed her eyes at her raven-haired friend suspiciously. "Rei, are you ok?" She asked, scrutinizing her every move.
"Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be okay?" Rei let out a small nervous laugh before stopping it abruptly.
Minako blinked before whispering to the rest of the group. "She's hiding something." The blonde with the red bow eyed the shrine maiden.
"Your grandfather should be all better now, shouldn't he?" Ami inquired.
"Well his symptoms are gone but the doctor ordered that he get some extra bed rest so he wouldn't stress himself out," Rei answered in a matter of fact tone.
Makoto narrowed her eyes even more. Something didn't make sense; Rei was very seldom nervous. The warrior of Jupiter was about to say something but saw someone near the window.
"Hey, who's that?" Makoto asked, pointing to the young man who quickly hid away from the window once his cover was blown.
Usagi glanced at the window before looking back at Makoto. "I didn't see anyone. What about you guys?" The blonde asked her other comrades.
"I didn't see anything." Ami shook her head.
"Me neither," Minako said.
Rei felt her stomach tighten and her heartbeat quicken. She'd merely told him to stay put and be quiet and he'd nearly messed it up.
"I don't think now's the right time. Maybe you can drop by tomorrow," Rei suggested, getting their attention once more.
Makoto's green eyes ogled her friend in response. Something was obviously wrong with Rei. She glanced at Usagi and Minako and suddenly got an idea. She just needed Rei to move from the door and she would be able to find out what was going on.
The brunette did her best to hide her grin as she spoke. "You know, I think Rei needs a little fresh air...maybe a little shopping and then the Crown Cafe for dinner?" Makoto smirked as their princess got excited.
"Rei, you totally need to get out! Right, Minako?" Usagi flailed.
"Yes! And I found the cutest shoes in the shopping outlet! I think they're having a sale!" Minako went on a tangent and squealed.
"A sale..?" Rei said, interest perking up. It had been a while since she'd bought herself something nice.
Usagi nodded her head vigorously and grabbed her friend by the hand. "Yeah, I was able to get a good buy on snow boots! Come on, Rei!"
"O-Okay..." Rei smiled, foolishly letting down her defenses.
Meanwhile, Goten was listening to the entire conversation and became aggravated. Rei couldn't leave! She had to make his victory dinner!
'If I step out, Rei will be mad at me. But if I stay here, I'll starve to death! After all it's been-' Goten glanced at his watch, 'two hours since I had a snack! At this rate I'll starve!' As if to confirm his thinking, his stomach growled very loud.
'Rei may get mad at me, but at least I'll be alive!' Goten thought as he slid the door open.
Rei froze in place as she heard the door slide open and slowly turned to face the young man, twitching in a mix of anger and embarrassment when she caught sight of him.
Goten laughed nervously with his hand behind his head. "So Rei, are you still going to make me my dinner?"
Usagi's and Makoto's jaws dropped open as they stared— more like gawked— at the young man.
Minako nearly fainted, holding onto Ami for support. "Dear god, Rei! You were hiding a man that you were going to cook dinner for?! How scandalous…!" She exclaimed. Ami merely blushed.
"It's nothing like that!" Rei stammered, cheeks turning red.
Goten's cheeks matched the same shade of red as Rei's as he twitched anxiously. Usagi's mouth was still wide open in awe while she blinked slowly.
Makoto finally recovered. "What the hell, Rei! Who is he, and what's he doing here?"
"He's a—" Rei was cut off by Minako.
"I know exactly what's going on here!" The warrior of love stated out loud, putting on Ami's glasses for a more analytical appearance. "Rei's the daughter of a politician. Obviously, such a position would mean Rei is a lady of good breeding. So at a young age, Rei was arranged by her father to wed the son of a colleague of his. Rei, probably needing the support for her grandfather and the shrine, decided to accept her duty gracefully. But that was until she laid eyes on him and fell in love at first sight. So much that she threw herself at him passionately and was so enamored that she wants him all to herself..." The blonde swooned giddily with dreamy eyes.
Rei twitched uncomfortably. "W-What..?" She asked, staring at her with a disturbed expression.
"We caught you in the middle of your honeymoon. Naughty, Rei." Minako said, playfully poking her friend's nose.
Usagi got hearts in her eyes and also sported a dreamy look on her face. "That's so romantic!"
Rei then snapped, blowing her top off at Minako. "LIKE HELL YOU DID! EVERYTHING YOU SAID IS ALL WRONG!" The priestess yelled.
Goten blankly stared at the blonde with the red bow in her hair. Just what the hell was she on?
Makoto narrowed her eyes at Rei. "Then who is he and what is he doing here?"
"He's a tenant! Grandpa hired him as an extra helping hand in exchange for room and board." Rei crossed her arms, furious at her silly friends. Goten, her beloved!? They were crazy!
Goten nodded his head in agreement at Rei's explanation.
Ami looked at them in understanding. "That seems reasonable. Maybe now you won't be so busy." It made sense for Rei to be busy all week; she was probably training him how to work in the shrine.
Usagi came out of her wistful state and frowned slightly. "Oh, that's not romantic at all."
Makoto rolled her eyes at her blonde friend's comment before turning to glare at Goten, earning a scared look from him. "Well, if there's nothing going on between you two, why were you trying to hide him from us?"
"Yeah," Minako leaned closer to Rei, eyeing her suspiciously. If not in a relationship, they could've been friends with benefits.
"Because then you'd start jumping to those ridiculous conclusions like you just did." Rei glared back, cheeks still red.
Minako looked between the two with a mischievous smirk. "Or you wanted him all to yourself," she said slyly.
"Minako-chan, that's not it at all!" Rei's face turned crimson.
"Guys, it's not like that! Besides, Rei would kill me if I even looked at her in that way!" Goten spoke up, frantically shaking his head.
Usagi beamed. "You know, I was watching novellas earlier, and the two main characters were adamant about not liking each other, but at the end of the episode they ended up sleeping together. Maybe that is what's going to happen between Rei and…uh-"
"Goten," he gently clarified, giving her a small smile. She seemed pretty nice. At least her and the blue haired girl weren't glaring daggers at him like the brunette or not grinning mischievously at him like the other blonde with the red bow. Rei sure did hang out with some weird people.
"Usagi, you watch too much television," Rei grumbled.
Usagi didn't listen, now recalling the scene from said novella where the main characters rendezvoused in a barn and made love in a pile of hay. 'That sure was steamy!' She thought to herself.
"Well, if what you're saying is true, maybe we can take the day to get to know Goten-kun. Hey, we could stay the night!" Minako proposed excitedly.
Rei felt a bead of sweat roll down her temple. "Bad idea," she thought out loud.
"Oh? I don't see how unless you two are sleeping together." Minako poked the warrior of fire's tummy friskily.
Rei lightly smacked her hand away. "We're not!"
Goten's face lit up. This was a dream come true! Four hot women wanted to get to know him… willingly, and at the same time?!
"Well, I don't mind," he said innocently.
Usagi squealed. "Sleep over! Mako-chan, hurry and fire up the stove," Usagi said as she ran inside, grabbing Minako and Ami in the process.
Rei rolled her eyes and sighed. Grandpa was a heavy sleeper but she didn't want to cost him his rest.
'First sign of a noise complaint and they're out,' she promised herself.
She then turned to Goten, narrowing her eyes at him for wearing such a goofy smile.
"You best behave yourself," she warned in a threatening tone.
These were her friends and she would not tolerate having some pervert push his luck with any of them.
Goten looked at her nervously. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said while walking towards the door, before turning back to her. "So, what's for dinner? Are you still cooking for me?" Goten asked naughtily.
Rei fumed. How dare he play coy with her!
Makoto looked confused. "What is he talking about, Rei?"
"He won a bet. So I have to cook him dinner," she replied after taking a deep, calming breath.
Makoto's jaw hung agape once more. "Wait, he won a bet against you?" She asked incredulously as she eyed Goten in disbelief. That was not an easy achievement.
Goten just grinned in response.
Rei audibly growled. 'Idiot… Pervert. Moron. Pig,' she cursed inwardly.
Makoto looked at the spikey-haired man in something akin to respect. "How did you manage that?" She asked, walking up to him, leaving Rei to stand outside by herself.
"Oh, I just got lucky," Goten answered, trying to keep it vague in hopes of not having any more questions asked on the matter.
Rei slowly walked inside to follow them, steam coming out of her ears. The sooner she could fix his blasted victory dinner, the sooner she could forget about her crushing defeat.
Goten frowned as he found himself seated in between the two blondes as the blue-haired girl sat across from him. All three young women were staring at him intently. He'd been dreaming about being surrounded by women since before he could remember, but this was ridiculous! The blue-haired girl— Ami was her name— kept using ridiculously long words. Some he recognized only because of Trunks, but the others words just went over his head. The blonde with the buns on top of her head kept getting this dreamy look in her eyes every time the other blonde came up with a theory of why he was there.
He sighed. 'Maybe Trunks was right; being around so many girls at the same time really isn't as great as it sounded.'
Goten had explained and told them how he'd met Rei and come to live there. He blushed as Minako kept coming up with theories of her own. After the twentieth time of denying her claims, Goten thought he was gonna lose his mind.
Usagi sighed wistfully. "I wish a guy would save me like that. That's sooo cool."
"Maybe Rei was going to repay him for saving her and her grandfather's life," Minako whispered among the girls with a wink.
Usagi blushed a little at Minako's statement. "Do you really think he's Rei's type?"
"Oh come on; he's tall, well-built, and he's got a full head of hair. Sure, he's not a real pretty boy but I see Rei going for the rugged type. It's probably a power thing for her." Minako nodded as she reasoned with the possibility.
Ami blushed. "When you say Rei-chan was going to 'repay him', y-you don't mean..." She whispered.
"Well of course, Ami-chan! Rei owes him her life, it only makes sense she pays him back with her body," Minako whispered back, snickering deviously.
Meanwhile, Rei was in the kitchen doing a mountain of dishes. She still couldn't believe how much the guy ate! He was twice as bad as Usagi, and that was really saying something.
"Next time, he's on dish duty. It's only fair if I have to be cooking so much," she grumbled as she scrubbed plates in the sudsy sink water.
Makoto sighed as she helped dry the plates and put them away in the cupboard. Rei really wasn't kidding about his appetite. "Yeah… So, how'd you two meet?" She asked.
Rei suddenly stopped scrubbing and dropped the plate; it sank into the water and hit the bottom. "He...saved my life," she said, glancing at the water, looking bothered and upset. "Remember when we were up at the mountain and I came back from swimming?" Rei asked the tall brunette after a pause.
Goten blinked again at the three girls while blushing a little. They were aware that he could hear them right? Wait, was he just considered the rugged type?
Usagi sighed dreamily for the umpteenth time. "I want a tall, well-built, head full of hair guy," she mumbled before turning to Goten and saying, "Hey, since you saved Rei; you should take her on a horse and carriage ride in the park!"
Goten blinked. Okay, so now Usagi seemed to be on par with Minako in the delusional department. "Um, no…I just asked her if I could work and stay here for repayment. Her grandfather approved, and well, here I am!" He repeated the abridged version of what he had been telling them for the past hour and a half.
"Maybe Rei was telling the truth," Ami whispered among the girls. After all, if you asked the same question countless times only to be supplied with the same answer, common knowledge dictated that the answer was the truth.
Minako pouted. "Well that's no fun. And here I thought Rei had finally found her perfect match!" She whined.
Goten laughed nervously as he heard the comment Minako made. These girls were really invested in Rei's love life.
Usagi frowned slightly. "Aw, I think he'd be good for Rei!"
"I do, too! See, Ami! I'm not the only one!" Minako grinned triumphantly.
Goten blushed bashfully. "Uh...I'm not sure if that will ever happen. I highly doubt Rei wants a relationship."
Usagi rolled her eyes. "Please, and I'm going to be smarter than Ami someday. That's never going to happen," Usagi said with finality. As far as she was concerned, Goten needed to keep his chin up if he hoped to win Rei over. "Anything is possible, Goten-kun…except what I said about being smarter than Ami! You just have to have faith."
The girls were all used to Rei being vocal about her lack of interest over men but they all just knew it; Goten was definitely something special. It was more than just Rei's secrecy. It was like their women's intuition had somehow all merged together into a giant robot and signaled that he was the one for their hotheaded Rei.
"So, Goten. You're single, right?" Minako grinned.
Goten gulped. "Uh, well yes…why?" He asked hesitantly.
Usagi and Minako both grinned at him shamelessly.
"Oh come on, it's not like you haven't noticed how pretty Rei is. I mean, even cops eye her up! I know; I've seen them. ...Bastards." Minako clenched her fists bitterly, recalling the gawking police officers whenever Rei would walk by. "But yeah I'm sure you'd enjoy having Rei keep you company." She smiled, turning back to him.
Goten looked at the blonde thoughtfully. Truthfully, Rei was the most attractive girl he'd ever seen. But at the same time, he didn't want to screw things up with her. He really had a knack for that.
"Rei's very pretty, but it might be better off if we remain friends," he said honestly, rubbing the back of his neck.
Usagi eyed him for a minute. "I don't understand. You said you think she's pretty. You like her and according to what I've seen on my novella, she likes you. So what's the problem? I think you should ask her out. What do you girls think?"
"I wholeheartedly agree!" Minako said with her fist up.
"Are you a homosexual?" Ami asked awkwardly. "Not that there's anything wrong with that," she added.
Minako tipped over. "Ami…!" She whined.
"What? No. I'm not gay!" Goten exclaimed, face as red as a tomato. "It's just that…well, Rei seems like a very nice girl, but I wouldn't want anything to interfere with our work relationship," Goten finished, looking at the floor.
Usagi smiled softly at him. "Goten, it's obvious you like Rei, just ask her. Besides, we know you won't hurt her."
Goten glanced at her in confusion. "How can you be so sure?"
Usagi grinned devilishly. "Because if you did hurt her, we'd kill you before she even had a chance to."
Goten gulped.
"Yep, dead in the gutter is where you'll be," Minako laughed.
Ami shook her head. "We wouldn't really kill you. They're exaggerating," she said dismissively.
Goten laughed nervously, inwardly relieved. That meant he only had Rei and Makoto to worry about…
Usagi pouted. "You ruined it, Ami." She then faced Goten, "Hey, I know! How about if you ask Rei out, I'll come along just to make it even less awkward! I'm pretty good at keeping moments from being awkward! At least when I'm not the cause of them," Usagi finished laughing to herself.
"Usagi-chan, its best you stay out of it," Ami said, a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead. She knew Rei wouldn't like Usagi bothering her.
"Ami's got a point. You don't want to be a third wheel, do you?" Minako added.
Usagi pouted. "I was only trying to help."
"I know what we can do. We could arrange the perfect date for Goten to win Rei over with! It'll totally send her love points through the roof," Minako proposed.
"Maybe you two should give it a rest. Relationships are supposed to be something that takes time to develop," Ami stated in a matter of fact tone.
Usagi waved her had dismissively. "Nonsense Ami, we're just helping destiny along. Besides, Mina is very well-versed in all things having to do with love, right Minako-chan?"
Goten, on the other hand, was looking pensively at the three women. Ami had a point, and so did Minako. Usagi even had a point, no matter how warped her thinking was. Maybe he should take a chance, but not before consulting his best friend. There was no one he'd trust more with such a big decision.
'I'm sure telling Trunks that I had 3 women fawning over me will put him in a much better mood,' he thought, inwardly cackling.
"Of course I am," Minako boasted.
"Yet you haven't considered how Rei would take a sudden advance on her affections?" Ami cocked a brow.
Minako slumped. "Dammit, Ami..." She frowned.
Goten was brought out of his musings when Ami spoke. He gave her a soft smile before looking at the two blondes who were looking defeated at the moment.
"Hey, cheer up," Goten said. "Aren't sleepovers supposed to be fun? At least, they were fun when my best friend and I would have them. Maybe girls are different when it comes to sleepovers," he thought out loud.
"Oh they are fun. Say! Goten, have you ever had a girlfriend before?" Minako grinned.
Ami sighed and shook her head. She felt like banging her head against the wall.
Goten nodded. "Yeah, but it didn't work out," he said, looking down. Goten had only dated three girls but they'd never gotten too serious; his mother had made sure of that. Usually they'd break it off with him before that happened. "The last girlfriend I had said she'd met someone else." He looked melancholy.
"That's so sad," Minako said, pulling out a tissue to wipe her tear.
Usagi looked at him sadly. "Aw, I'm sorry, Goten. You didn't deserve to be cheated on, and that girl most definitely did not deserve you."
"As they say to the heartbroken: Whenever you're lonely, love's right around the corner!" Minako smiled proudly as she spoke proverbially.
"That's what they say to men looking for prostitutes..." Ami placed her palm on her face in secondhand embarrassment.
Usagi glanced at Goten. "I think what Minako-chan means is… just because you think that you're unlucky in love doesn't mean you should give up. Maybe those past relationships just weren't meant to be and this one is," Usagi said wisely.
Goten blinked. "Wow, that's deep."
Usagi smiled. "Yeah, I know. I heard it this morning on the novella!"
"Usagi-chan, you've really been studying," Minako said conceitedly.
Ami sighed; if only Usagi's passion for daytime television could be directed to her studies. Her grades would be phenomenal.
Usagi grinned at her friends confidently. "Yeah, it's interesting stuff. Today's episode was really good! One of the characters found their long lost love. He never gave up on her. It was so romantic!" Usagi said, getting that dreamy look in her eyes again.
Goten was suddenly hit with a feeling of déjà vu. He remembered having that feeling, but he couldn't remember with whom.
'Hmm, weird,' he thought to himself, remembering the little girl in his sleep when he'd first woke up in the shrine. 'Was it just a dream?'
Was it possible he had found his love once, but perhaps lost it somehow? But he would remember her if it was love...wouldn't he?
"I missed that episode," Minako whined.
Goten listened intently as the blonde went more in-depth.
"Yeah, it was crazy. Apparently George and Ramona knew each other when they were teens because their parents were really good friends and shared a beach house. When they were there, they both made a promise to never forget each other and to always be there for each other. Well, Ramona had an accident and never returns to the beach house. George was heartbroken, and vowed to never give up looking for her since they lived on opposite sides of their country. Once he was an adult, he spent all his days looking for Ramona and he finally found her," The blonde said with a smile.
Goten eyed the blonde. For some reason, he felt that this story sounded very familiar. Intrigued, he asked, "Well, what happened to them once they found each other?"
Usagi shrugged. "That's tomorrow's episode. The scenes then switched to Geri and Raymond, who are always arguing and their friends claimed there was something between them, but they denied it. Then they ended up in bed together."
Makoto stared at Rei with incredulity as she told her the whole story of what had happened at the mountain district. "Wow, talk about timing, Rei! If he hadn't had been there, we wouldn't have even known…" She frowned.
Makoto had known there was more to what happened up there, especially when Rei came back running with a loose top and a bunch of fresh, bloody cuts. She had all the girls downright scared to ever go back there again.
"Yeah…" Rei exhaled while massaging her temples.
"So, wait, you're not dating him because he saw your chest?" Makoto inquired.
"No! Well, yes! I mean, I wouldn't date him anyway!" Rei stammered while blushing in a mix of anger and discomfiture.
Makoto chuckled. "It's all right, Rei-chan. Maybe he didn't do it on purpose, but that is a really embarrassing thing to have happen." Makoto scratched her cheek, speaking from experience.
Rei huffed; she did have a point. Maybe Makoto was right and she was overreacting over that. "Well, just last week, on his first day at work, I caught the bastard in my room," she stated.
"Doing what? He didn't go through your underwear, did he!?" Makoto asked, angrily twitching while cracking her knuckles. As a girl who lived by herself, Makoto had her share of run-ins with a panty thief or two. Thank God for her black belt in judo.
"No, at least I think not…" Rei answered, pondering on it. She didn't recall finding her underwear drawer out of place.
"Then what was he doing when you saw him?" The taller brunette asked.
Rei closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "He was holding my mother's photograph," she said while looking at the floor harshly.
There was a silence that took over the kitchen and Makoto looked at her friend in understanding before placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Out of the other girls, nobody understood the pain from the loss of a parent more than Makoto. Through the years they'd grown close enough to confide in each other about it. She was well aware how precious Rei's photographs of her mother were to the miko. "Did he know?" She asked softly.
Rei merely shook her head. "He hasn't asked any questions either," she murmured, feeling quite thankful he hadn't.
"Good. Guess he might not be half as dumb as you say he is." Makoto cracked a small smile and Rei returned it. "Say, how's Grandpa been doing with his treatment?" She asked, changing the subject.
"Oh, don't get me started on that old coot. Have you ever tried to give my grandfather medicine? He puts up a fight! Look." Rei rolled up her sleeve to reveal bite marks on the skin of her forearm.
Grandpa wasn't a fan of pills and Western medicine. He still lived in the old days of mixing herbs, drinking tea, and leech treatments.
"I always knew gramps was a fighter," Makoto said before giggling.
"He's terrible, worse than a little kid." Rei shook her head. "I'm usually so exhausted afterwards. He squirms so much and it's hard holding him down." She sighed.
"Yeah, I guess that's what happens when you're stuck in your ways for so long." Makoto ran a hand through her bangs.
"He's still stuck in the feudal era." Rei rolled her eyes.
Makoto grinned. "Maybe you should have Goten be on medicine duty from now on?"
"Nah, he doesn't know how conniving Grandpa can be; I do. But that is a nice thought," Rei jested before drying the last dish. "That does it," she said and placed it on the clean pile. "Let's go check on the girls."
Rei led her friend towards her bedroom. 'Hopefully Goten has behaved himself,' she thought.
"Hey, Rei! Hey, Makoto!" Minako greeted her friends when they stepped in through the open door.
Goten turned around and smiled kindly at both women, mostly at Rei. Rei flinched; something about that smile set her off deeply. It wasn't his goofy grin or him being smug. He actually looked sincere. As if he was genuinely happy she could be there.
Makoto sat in between Usagi and Minako, leaving the only empty seat next to Goten; she then smiled at everyone. "So, what were you guys talking about?" The warrior of lightning asked.
Rei furrowed her brow at her friend and quietly took her seat. If she called her out on it, she'd only draw attention to the fact that sitting next to Goten got a reaction out of her.
"We were just getting to know Goten a little more," Minako giggled.
"Why am I not surprised?" Rei asked rhetorically.
Usagi nodded. "Goten's really nice. I think he's a really good person. It must be really cool to have him around, huh?"
"I guess he's not useless to have around after all." Rei shrugged with a teasing smile.
Goten gave an annoyed pout in response, making Rei's friends laugh. Though inside, Goten couldn't help but feel a wave of bliss to see Rei smile at him for the first time. Maybe Usagi was right. Hopefully, they'd be able to get closer one day.
Usagi smiled. "Actually, I was just telling everyone about today's novella. It was so good!" She said.
Usagi then filled Rei in on what had conspired on the previous episode. Rei heard Usagi speak and inwardly felt some sort of click, the same one she'd felt up on the mountain. Just what were these feelings of déjà vu or…was it nostalgia?
AN: You guys have no idea how much of a blast it was for me to write this chapter. Speaking of which, sorry if the title for this one seemed misleading. I really meant it when I said the development was gonna be a slow one.
Honorable mention: I had some help from my dear friend Serena4ever2006 when it came to the inners reactions. Don't worry, this won't be the last of them in this story. We'll be seeing more of them later. And oh boy are they going to meddle!
As you can see Goten got a fitting punishment for his snooping, much worse than a mere beat down. (I'm making it a point for Rei to ease up on the violence when she comes to realize he's really not a threat to her.) Anyone that had to live off ramen for a week would agree and even sympathize. Let's just hope he learned his lesson.
Thanks to all my readers and reviewers for all the support! It makes me very happy. :D