A FIRE THAT BURNS UNNOTICED
Chapter 6 - Is This Love That I'm Feeling?
"Jadeite... Why? Why are you here?"
The light that emanated from the Heavenly King's hand was enough to stop Hypnos on his tracks, but not vanquish him completely. He then turned towards the Guardian, with a look on his face that mixed worry, fear... and even love.
"Lend me a hand," the former enemy requested to Rei. "This is your mind, and only you have the real fortitude to stave off the advance of the God of Sleep. You know what to do."
Rei simply couldn't believe at what she was staring at, but also knew that this was not a nightmare she could simply shake herself out of, so she obliged Jadeite's request. The Guardian of Fire stood firm and called forth for her powers. "Mars Crystal Power, Make Up!"
"Confound you all!" Hypnos cried out in discontent, seeing himself outnumbered and outpowered once more. "Do not think this is the end for me. If I can't take over you, it will be someone else!"
"Ah, shut up and get out of my head already! Burning Mandala!" With her own effort, she managed to cover Hypnos' figure in blazes, which dissipated and eliminated his dreadful presence in the blink of an eye.
"Excellent job, Sailor Mars," Jadeite commended to his former lover.
"Alright, now that danger is away, I demand a full explanation." Rei was clearly still agitated with what she saw until then, especially with her former enemy's presence. "Why are you, of all people, here in my dreams helping me out? Heck, how exactly did you come here?"
"As long as my soul can transfigure, and you have memories of us together... I will come here to soothe you, and help you fend off whoever tries to invade the realm of your mind."
"Memories... of us together?"
Jadeite smiled confidently as he directed his luminous hand to her forehead, triggering a change in the entire scenario of Rei's mind. "There is a good reason why I'm here, helping you... Let me help you see the distant past that still resides in your conscience."
(xx)
Rei saw herself once more in front of her past life's parents on the day they revealed to her she was supposed to be wed to an as-of-then unknown noble of Planet Earth.
"Could I at least know who is to be my betrothed?" Rei asked her parents upon being told she was to be wed.
"His name is not yet to be revealed," answered both monarchs in unison. Then the Queen continued: "All you need to know for now is that he is not just a noble: he is to be the next Headmaster of Lhasa, in the Far East of Planet Earth."
Hearing that made the Princess of Mars feel empty and despondent. Despite being the heir to the throne of an entire planet, she was but a bargaining chip for a deal between kingdoms. She felt less human and more like a random coarse thing to be handed as merchandise. And all she could do at that moment was lament her eventual fate to herself.
"On the Fifth Day of Queensmoon, you shall meet," the King promptly broke the silence. "There is to be a symposium between the monarchs of the Inner Galaxy and the leaders of Planet Earth here in our Castle. The father of your groom is one of these leaders, and his son is to be present as well."
"And is there... Any reason why this man, of all people, was chosen?"
"He is just like you," the Princess's mother answered kindly. "A strong, independent man who could use some company to quell the heat of emotions, and to help build a good future for our people by your side."
"Understand that this is for the greater good and glory of Mars, the Earth, and yours as well," finished the King. "You will thank us when the groom is revealed to you."
(xx)
Uncertain and contradicting thoughts permeated Yuuichirou's mind as he accompanied Rei's friends to the Juuban General Hospital. While Ami, Makoto and Minako seemed confident in Rei's well-being and Yuuichirou's role in it, the young servant still appeared tentative in steps and musings. The odd spark of hope that ignited within him after that improbable encounter with Touya Minamimoto and the subsequent visit from the girls egging him on to visit Rei at the hospital grew into a mix of all kinds of emotions rumbling within his core.
Aw man, am I doing the right thing? Is this real or just a prank they are pulling on me?
"What's up, big guy? Excited?" Minako broke the silence as they turned the last corner before reaching the Hospital.
"Eeek!" Yuuichirou was startled by such a sudden address to him. "Uh, yeah, umm... I mean..."
"Hey, too late to go back now," Makoto jested while giving him a light elbow shove so as to make him hurry his steps.
"Don't worry," Ami guaranteed, excited in her own collected way. "If our expectations are met, Rei will get better as soon as she sees you."
I don't see how, Yuuchirou thought as he nervously nodded to those affirmations. They seem to know something I don't... I wonder what it is, though? I hope I don't regret this.
But as soon as they arrived at the Hospital's front door, out came Usagi and Mamoru with concerned looks on their faces.
"Guys? What's the matter?" Minako asked.
"It's... It's Rei!" Usagi managed to answer while holding back her tears.
Hearing her was already concerning enough for the other four, but what Mamoru added only made the situation turn sour and dramatic: "The doctors said she fell in a coma..."
(xx)
The Princess of Mars spent the rest of that day enclosed in her quarters without knowing what to do. She refused her usual meals and did not let the Castle's servants into her quarters for cleaning duties. She even skipped her usual Sailor Guardian training and leisure activities.
Upon hearing what was planned for her, she wanted nothing more than be away from everything and everyone. Perhaps even ceasing to exist. She was to lead an entire planet and inherit its very essence, a fate she was comfortable with since she came to realize herself as a person, and yet... She was not free to decide her own fate.
Night fell, painting the beige skies of Mars with purple tones, exhibiting the lights of the stars and of the Two Moons flashing through the stained glass windows of the Princess' chamber. Rei still did not show any willingness to get out of her bed... Until she saw a familiar silhouette from the one open window of her room.
"Jadeite? Is that you?"
Indeed, the valiant yet lowly knight of the Sun Oxen Order was there, the only other man besides Prince Endymion of Earth to ever shake her core... He climbed once more the tower of Castle Phobos-Deimos and stopped by the windowsill of her room, as he often did whenever he could not see her in his off-duty hours.
"Rhea, my love... What happened to you?" Jadeite spoke concernedly upon seeing marks of tears and consternation on his beloved's face, calling her by the name she bore in the Silver Millenium.
Rei sat on her bed to address her beloved. "My parents... They want me to be married to somebody else... Someone I never ever met!"
The blonde youngster said nothing as he looked away, pondering of what he just heard. Whatever feelings he had of the situation were kept to himself.
"If I knew things would be like this, I would have relinquished of my duty," the Princess bitterly continued, then went to Jadeite and took his hand. "Let's run away from here, you and I!"
"What the..." Jadeite appeared to be frightened at the proposal and backed off from his beloved's touch. "No! Are you crazy? You are to lead this entire nation... Inherit the planet's very own strength! You cannot give this up for a caprice!"
"What are you saying!?" The Princess had to control her intonation so as not to draw attention from guards and handmaidens alike, but her discontent was felt in voice and expression. "This is not just a caprice... This is love! I love you, Jadeite, and for you, I'd give up everything as you would do for me! Do you not love me?"
"Huh...? Of course I love you," Jadeite managed to answer what his throat almost held against his will. "But I need to be reasonable as well. And so should you, most of all. I really wish we had not to hide our affair, but for all people care, I am not fit in any way to be your betrothed."
Hearing that just made Rei feel even worse. Even the man she loved was brushing off her own will to be free. Her incredulity turned quickly to sour anger. "If you're not going to help me... Then go away!"
"...I am deeply sorry it came to this, Rhea," the blonde man spoke with sadness as he climbed down the same window from where he came from. "All I ask of you... Is to follow your heart, no matter the risk."
Rei ignored that seemingly useless advice and sank deeper into her own depression, dropping the weight of her body over her bed and muffling her sobs in her pillow.
(xx)
As they briefly returned to their senses, Rei simply could not believe what Jadeite had shown her.
"It... It is true! You and I were... Ugh!" She couldn't help but look away in disgust upon learning she had an affair with the Heavenly King. A guy whom she considered disgusting and treacherous in every possible way during their encounters in the current age.
For his part, the blond former enemy remained calm. He got the exact reaction he expected to see from Rei upon reliving those dormant memories. "It's all true, but also all in the past. How does it feel?"
Little by little, Rei raised her sight to glance at Jadeite. "This is so confusing... Yeah, I feel confused. There's no other way to put it."
"And how do you feel now?"
"I'm... Fine, actually. Other than the shock of learning this, I no longer feel that sense of doom and gloom that Hypnos made me go through..."
"Good," Jadeite affirmed while opening a warm and honest smile. "These dormant memories are taking necessary effect to ward off Hypnos' advances. I take it you must be curious as to how your past self solved this case that your parents put you through."
"Yeah... Heh, you got that right," Rei admitted. "I also wish to know how exactly these memories are helping me..."
"Then let us resume. Soon enough you will know."
(xx)
Almost instantly, Rei saw herself in the social gathering held after the end of the symposium, held in the main festivity hall of Castle Phobos-Deimos. Lively but incomprehensible chatter could be heard all across the royal halls. And naturally, she felt out of place to the point of discomfort. She walked to and fro without knowing where to go and where to stay. None of her close friends were there, and most of the noble heads of state were unknown to her at that point.
Anywhere but that place and that time would have been fine... And yet, she felt like she could not be anywhere else at all, due to her duty and function as the Guardian of Planet Mars. In the end, Jadeite's words rang true to herself.
"My dear guests, may I have your attention?" called the King of Mars, drawing the attention of everyone present. "As you know, my daughter Rhea has recently come of age..."
There came the feared time when the King of Mars would announce Rei's fate. Just hearing that made her heart sink inside her chest.
"Tradition requires her to be paired off with someone that hones her bloodline and her power..."
The more her father spoke, the more Rei wanted to scream what her heart held with heaviness.
"It is with great pleasure that I hereby announce her engagement to-"
"NO!" Rei finally shouted at the top of her lungs. That utterance, so raw and honest, drew gasps of surprise and outrage from most of the attendees.
The King raised an eyebrow and addressed his daughter. "Excuse me? What is it that you said?"
"You heard me right, father," she spoke with all the conviction she could muster. "I will not be bargained as if I were some sort of good. If I am to make vows to someone, it is to one I truly love and care about!"
"And if we refuse?" the Queen asked in a provocative intonation.
"Then for once in my life, I will follow my heart... and if it leads me far away from here, so be it!" She affirmed as she turned and ran towards the door, trying hard to hold back the tears of rage that formed in the corners of her eyes. "Let me go!" she demanded to the guards who blocked the entryway with their lances.
"My dear, it seems things could get out of hand..." the Queen of Mars concernedly told her husband, who nodded and observed as their daughter ran through the corridor towards the exit portal.
"If you don't open the way in this very instant, I shall burn you to crisps with my Guardian powers!" Rei warned the guards ahead of her as she raised her clenched fist and let some flames rise between her fingers. Seeing this, the murmur that permeated turned more frantic, with some of the guests even trying to escape the place through the staircase that led to other quarters within the Castle itself.
"Alright, enough!" the King of Mars raised his voice. "I intended this for a practical diversion, but harm and destruction will not be tolerated. Let us get to the point already, then. Please come forward, Lord Jadeite."
And there he came from the top of the staircase, in full military regalia with golden epaulets supporting a short velvet cape, as well as a sash across his torso with a few decorations pinned over it.
"J-J-Jadeite!?" Rei barely contained her surprise upon seeing her own beloved walking down the stairs in such a manner. Her belligerent stance relaxed and she ran once more, this time to Jadeite's arms.
"I imagine you must be quite amazed to see me like this," the young man amusedly commented.
"Damn straight I am!" Rei retorted, feeling like she had been made a fool. "What is going on? Are you really a noble?"
"Indeed I am," Jadeite himself confirmed. "My father is Headmaster Lazul of Lhasa, of the Eastern Lands of Planet Earth. He sent me here to Mars for studying and training for when I eventually inherit the position from him. But more importantly... I am your groom. Is that not right, father?"
Upon saying this, a middle-aged man stepped forward and confirmed. He looked and dressed exactly like Jadeite, except he also wore a turban with a blue jewel encrusted in the center seam, and had a well-trimmed beard enclosing his jawline. "Pleased to meet you, Princess Rhea! My, my, you have adopted your mother's looks and your father's temper, quite the mixture! I can see why my dear Jadeite would be smitten with you."
"Father, Mother, why have you played me like this?" the Princess indignantly queried her parents. "And Jadeite, why have you not told me of this in all this time we have been seeing each other?"
"I was the one who suggested he kept this a secret," spoke the King of Mars. "First of all, there is no distinction of class when one joins the ranks of the Martian Army. Nobles and common folk alike unite in their quests for improvement and defense of the sovereignty of Mars. And second of all, I always noticed how close the two of you were, which is also why I always advised the guards of Castle Phobos-Deimos to lay down their arms whenever Jadeite climbed the tower that led to your chamber. But only for him, for he is the one you have chosen as your beloved."
Rei was positively impressed, though not entirely sure how to properly react to such revelations. "That was... Kind, but also risky. I mean, what if I fell for a normal plebeian?"
"Such as I was?" once more the King of Mars added, stifling a chuckle of pride. "What matters is, Lord Jadeite is to be your betrothed. And you, my dear, have passed the secret test that your mother and I have mounted for you."
"So, all this time... This was a test? You actually expected me to freak out and run away like this?"
"In a way, we did," her past mother explained. "We expected you would not take kindly to being, as you remarked, used as a bargain between nations. Of course, we could have done without the threat of fire over the Castle."
"All is well that ends well," Lord Lazul gladly spoke once more. "I believe you have no more qualms as to who you are to be wed to, right?"
"Yes... Yes! Absolutely! I mean... No, uh, well..." Rei fumbled around what she wanted to say, but everyone knew well what she meant.
"Then let us all celebrate your finest victory yet, my love," the blond man suggested as he embraced Rei once more. "The conquest of the fate you have chosen for yourself!"
"HOORAY!" The attendees celebrated. Even the guards released joyful shouts. "Long live Princess Rhea and Lord Jadeite! Long live Mars!"
(xx)
Oblivious to the true nature of Rei's situation, Touya Minamimoto stopped his search in his mother's quarters for a while to think about her. He kept his spirits positive about her health condition, knowing well her nature.
Whatever got to Rei was very sudden, but I'm sure she will be fine... I can somehow feel it. Now, to my personal mission...
His mother Nikishi was away to deal with some businesses under the Minami-gumi's wing, so he would have plenty of time to snoop through her personal belongings after clues about her own dealings with Takashi Hino, and how to use them against him.
Right away, Touya found a fake bottom in the bottom drawer of Nikishi's side dresser, which he noticed from the shape and the material. Upon removing it, Touya saw a paper carpet that contained two pictures and some kind of file sealed inside a large plastic envelope.
The first picture had everyone from the highest order of the Jigoku-no-Shinsengumi profiled together. Touya could recognize his parents alongside each other, right beside Kenzaburo Oedo, the original Okashira of the old Yakuza group. The other picture had Nikishi embraced by none other than Takashi Hino. In the inverse, a message written by Takashi himself: "Thank you for the moments we spent together."
Looking at that picture and seeing the handwritten message only made Touya feel queasy. They were together at some point... Did Mother cheat on Father with him? With Takashi fucking Hino of all people?
Just thinking of that implication was enough to drive Touya into an internal tizzy, but that file he held... He knew it carried perhaps the single most important information of his search. One that would change forever his perspective about who he was, and perhaps who he would be from that moment on. His hands shook as he opened the lid of the envelope, and pulled out a couple of yellowed sheets...
(xx)
"Miss Rei! MISS REEEEEI!" Yuuichirou rushed into the General Hospital's main building as soon as he heard what had gotten to Rei. The others had no other choice but to catch up to his pace. Of course, the sight of a tall long-haired guy in a powder-blue yukata running frantically towards the corridors and screaming like a madman drew the attention of all the present, from staff personnel to patients and visitors.
"Stop it!" A passing doctor warned Yuuichirou as she put herself between the young man and the door that led to Rei's room. "No one but qualified technicians can enter!"
"Then why aren't you doing something to save Miss Rei!?" he demanded to know.
"Okay, listen here. Her case is not yet of urgency. As of now, she is unconscious but stable-"
"She's in a goddamn COMA!" Yuuichirou literally bellowed to the doctor's face.
"That does it! GUARDS!" the medic called, and a couple of rent-a-cops walked in and flanked Yuuichirou. "Please escort this noisy rapscallion out of the premises."
"No, wait!" before the guards had time to arrest Yuuichirou, Usagi and the rest of the entourage arrived.
"Is this guy with you?" the doctor asked.
"Yes, he is... Sorry for the mess," Makoto confirmed and apologized on their behalf.
"Alright then. You may leave now." With this confirmation, the guards walked off back to their posts. She then addressed Yuuichirou once more: "If I hear you raising a fuss around here, I won't be so lenient, so watch it."
The troupe walked out to the outdoor square without so much exchanging a glance to one another. For a good while, nobody dared to address Yuuichirou, who still remained in an altered state of mind. The Guardians and Mamoru somehow felt some kind of spiritual aura emanating from his body, which intimidated them from approaching him at first. Despite not speaking to each other, all of them understood what made him feel that way.
Mamoru eventually gathered enough courage to break the silence. "Goodness, can't you go five minutes without making an embarrassment of yourself?"
"Zip it, Chiba! This is a literal matter of life and death!" the long-haired youngster snapped back. Everyone felt some kind of shock in their spine when he burst out like that.
"Hey, don't speak to Mamo-chan like that!" Usagi interjected.
Seeing Usagi become so suddenly offended, and seeing how Mamoru and the other girls looked at him with disapproving glances, finally made Yuuichirou realize he was in the wrong. He swore he would never embarrass himself like that again... Only to fall back to his old ways in a surge of emotion.
"Ugh... Fine," he dejectedly acquiesced. "But what am I supposed to do now?"
"The same as all of us. We will wait," Ami told him.
"That's right... It won't do any good freaking out like that," added Makoto.
"And it certainly won't make Rei feel any better," finished Minako.
With no other choice, Yuuichirou sat down on a bench and let the repercussions of his outburst sink in him. "Sorry, guys..."
Mamoru sat by his side and tapped his back a few times so as to calm down and offer a soothing hand. "It's okay... I think I would have done the same if Usako was sick."
Feeling flattered by Mamoru's affirmation, Usagi also addressed Yuuichirou. "Let's be patient and wait until Rei gets clearance from the doctors so we can come in and test our theory, alright?"
(xx)
Checking on Rei once more, the technicians did not see anything unusual in her vital signs. Of course, none of them knew that what truly provoked her deep slumber was the invasion of Hypnos and the effort her mind was making within herself to fend off against a literal God - As well as the transmuted soul of an old foe, which turned out to be something more.
"This was amazing and all," the Guardian of Fire told Jadeite, "but please tell me: Why are you showing me this? Are you... Trying to get together with me or something?"
"Not at all," he promptly answered. "Our time together has gone by, and even if I wanted to... I simply couldn't bear to go to your side in any way whatsoever, after deserting and betraying you by joining Beryl's forces. It's a complicated matter and we have no time to see it, but someday... You may remember it."
In a way, hearing that made Rei feel relieved, but also intrigued. "But if you don't want to be with me anymore... What's the point?"
Jadeite smiled as he resumed his explanation. "The point to all of this is to remind you that you dared to follow your heart, even in the face of absolute disaster for your bloodline and your home planet. This strength, this amalgamation of reason and emotion, is the key to fending off against Hypnos. But for that to truly come to fruition, you need to be true to your own feelings."
"Miss Rei! MISS REEEEEI!" a familiar voice echoed all over the place.
"Is... Is that... Yuuichirou!?" Rei recognized that voice that came from the real plane of existence, outside her hospital room.
"Indeed it is," confirmed Jadeite. "He called for you, and your mind reacted accordingly. See?"
Whatever shade of darkness was still lingering over the space of Rei's mind seemed to dissipate as Yuuichirou's voice echoed once more. Not only that, but something in Rei's inner self felt different as well. "I felt warm and fuzzy for some reason..."
"Deep inside, that is what you were looking for," Jadeite clarified. "Someone to love you unconditionally, in spite of your rough edges. You have your family and your friends, but still, something was missing... That something may be Yuuichirou. It is time you make amends as to where your heart stands about him."
An unexpected jolt ran down the Guardian's spine. Something that the former Heavenly King told her clicked in a way she did not want to admit.
"By all the kami, can't you do anything right?" this time, Rei's own voice echoed. She then saw herself in the front grounds of the Hikawa Temple on a hot and clear day, chastising a certain Yuuichirou Kumada for an initially undisclosed reason. "The Shrine is opening in fifteen minutes, and the garden looks awful! You literally had one freaking job, and you blew it! How could you be so careless?"
"Sorry, Miss Rei... It won't happen again!" he stammered in his own characteristic way.
"Ah, why do I even bother? Just gather those leaves and don't let them blow away before you put them in the trash bag, okay?"
"Right away!" Yuuichirou chipperly answered, complete with a military salute. Rei cringed a bit and shook her head. What did I do to deserve such a total lugnut gushing all over me? she had thought at that very moment. One of these days I oughtta get rid of him... She then entered the Temple proper to prepare for work, but suddenly, she appeared to warp herself to another memory. Rei was sitting on her bedroom's desk doing homework when the shoji door opened.
"Here is your lunch, Miss Rei," Yuuichirou appeared and offered a tray full of all kinds of delicacies. He smiled honestly, and his expression showed no signs of shame or guilt... It dawned on Rei that happened on the same day where she screamed at him over the dead leaves.
Rei inspected the tray and noticed it included almost everything she enjoyed in a meal - A medium bowl of curry rice, a small bowl of miso soup, and a large steak of carefully cooked fugu laid on a wooden plate. It even came with a tall bottle of Ramune in the corner.
Rei couldn't be any more captivated if she tried. You thought of everything just for me... Thank you so much! At least that was Rei intended to tell him - When she rose her sight, however, Yuuichirou was nowhere to be found. He was so used to not receiving thanks for his work in the Shrine and for Rei in particular that he just left to resume work. It only made the raven-haired girl feel awful.
And as she blinked once more, she found herself in the same void of her mind that she shared with Jadeite.
"I always wondered why he cared so much for me, despite being treated like that..." Rei wondered aloud about what she saw, "and I always knew it was because he had a crush on me. But for some reason, I never even gave him so much a word of gratitude."
"If it were just a crush, he would have stopped after a while," Jadeite argued. "Some people show their love and appreciation in different ways. In his case, it was to silently persist in his efforts, rash and short-sighted as they could be. Yours, as I know, is to act belligerently toward the people you care the most. It's as if you were afraid of what people would do to you, and deep inside you wanted to know how far can they go before you could give them the benefit of your soft side. I know this because that was very much how it was in the first few times we met in the Silver Millenium."
"So what do you suggest I should do?" the Guardian of Fire asked.
"Give a chance to yourself and to what you truly feel," the blond man promptly answered. He offered a friendly hand to Rei, who instinctively took it. "More than anything, I want you to be happy, and to be honest with your feelings. Not only as a matter of survival, but for your sake as a whole. The true meaning of love and care is to know when your story ends and step out of the way for yours to begin anew. I made my peace with this long ago, and in the state I am in... This is how I can show it. Live and love."
Jadeite's words clicked deeply in Rei in a way that changed her determination almost completely. She took a symbolic deep breath to show her gratitude. "Thanks, Jadeite... I really mean it!"
"And I thank you as well," the former enemy gladly said as his figure started to fade away. "Now if you don't mind, it's time for you to wake up and face this new challenge. And I need to return to my place as well. The others will be glad to know this experience worked well."
"Huh!? The others? You mean..."
(xx)
There was no time for Rei to further question Jadeite. She opened her eyes so quickly, that the strong lights of her hospital room felt like piercing needles through her eyeballs. "Ouch!"
The same doctor that earlier fended off with Yuuichirou was there in her room to check on her, and she was quite startled at first to see her awaken from what was supposed to be a coma. But soon, she recomposed herself and saw no signals of illness or sequelae upon Rei. "Well, it appears you are good to go, but first you need to undergo a battery of tests to check your true condition. Better safe than sorry, right?"
"I see... Can I speak to Yuuichirou alone?" Rei requested the doctor.
"Hmm? How do you know there is a man named Yuuichirou in the premises?" the doctor asked with some tint of suspicion. Rei felt like she shared way too much and did not know how to explain that to the medic, who simply shrugged it off. "Well, that doesn't matter, I guess. I'll call him."
The doctor then went to the waiting seats in the front lobby, where Yuuichirou and the rest eagerly waited for news about Rei.
"You're Rei Hino's friends, right? I have great news: She just woke up... and she wants to see Yuuichirou alone."
All of them looked at each other in amazement and relief. Yuuichirou, however, was literally shaking with nervousness. "She wants to see me!? Alone?"
"Yes, and I hope you don't try anything funny, or you know what awaits you," the doctor sternly warned the shrine servant, who dry-gulped when he thought of the possibility of being manhandled by a couple of gruff coppers.
Usagi, Mamoru, Ami, Makoto and Minako looked briefly at him and nodded at the same time, as if to tell him you know what to do. With no other choice, he went to Rei's room in wide steps.
"Is he Rei's boyfriend or what?" the doctor asked the rest once Yuuichirou stepped out beyond his ears' reach.
"Umm... Not yet," Usagi innocently answered.
(xx)
Of course, Yuuichirou knew not what to do or even what to say upon seeing himself alone with Rei in her quarters. He was too nervous to make a move. This is your chance, man... Don't screw it up!
Rei candidly smiled as she timidly stared down. "I bet I must have given you quite a fright, didn't I?"
"Eh heh, yeah... Sort of." he answered while scratching the back of his head. "But what matters is that you are now okay, Miss Rei. But do tell me, what is it that you want to tell me? Do you need something or...?"
"Remember that day when you called me to go out with you?" the Guardian promptly asked.
"Uhh... What are you talking about?" Yuuichirou incredulously asked.
"Gosh, how clueless can you be?" the raven-haired girl chastised, assuming he had any idea what she was talking about. "What I'm trying to say is... Well, do you..."
The long-haired man's eyes opened in anticipation as to what Rei was about to say. He knew what she meant when she asked that question. Here it comes...
"...Do you wanna hang out this Saturday?"
It was exactly what Yuuichirou always wanted to hear, and yet he still could not believe Rei had uttered that request. His voice had a nervous break and his lips trembled while his mind looked for an answer. "Uhh? You mean... You, and me... Stepping out, together?"
"Not just stepping out, silly... It's a date, alright?" Rei further clarified her intention. "At this point I think you know I'm not together with Touya anymore, right?"
"Wh-what's that all of a sudden, Miss Rei?" Yuuichirou asked once more. Everything's coming up roses! Sweet sassy molassy... Keep your cool, dude!
Rei sighed but remained lightly amused at Yuuichirou's behavior. "Listen, I'm not entirely sure why I decided to call you to go out with me, but... Let's say something in the back of my mind is telling me to give you a chance. So come on, big guy. Just say yes for a good time!"
"Yes!" he immediately answered. "Yes, absolutely! YES!"
"Great!" Rei had to stifle her own laughter when reacting to his impassionate answer. "Wear and do your best. Now if you don't mind, could you please call Usagi and the others?"
In the meantime, Rei felt like some kind of burden had been lifted off her shoulders - One she never noticed that had bothered her until she made that proposal to him. For my sake, and for the sake of my mission... I wonder if I am doing the right thing?
(xx)
Usagi, Mamoru, and the other Guardians were startled as they saw Yuuichirou barge out of Rei's room. Something looked quite strange in his face, more so than usual. He looked like was on cloud nine, ready to reach Nirvana at any time. Both the state of spirit and the band.
"Hey, Yuuichirou?" Usagi called. "How did it go?"
He simply drew a stupid grin and gave a thumbs-up, which he also used to indicate they could now visit Rei. While everyone understood what he meant, he looked upwards as if in a trance.
"Yuuichirou?" Makoto said as she waved her hand in front of his face, to no reaction.
"Umm... Are you alright? Something wrong?" Mamoru asked as well.
"...I feel like I won at life."
The answer drew some alleviated chuckles out of the party. Things definitely worked out in the end, and the Guardians' theory was proven right.
Finally! After three months, I got my head clear to continue this particular fic. Sorry to keep you waiting, fellas!
Thank you so much to all of you who are still following, anonymously or by favoriting it. Especialmente tú litakino1987!
Next chapter: Rei and Yuuichirou's heart-pounding date! Will it go well?
Greetings from the Hospitaller Knight.