On another day, Rei was waiting by the clock in the middle of Juuban Park.

She wore a navy blue crop-top t-shirt with red trims, blue short-shorts, and white sneakers. She also wore a necklace with a metal orange amulet in the shape of a bird.

She looked at her watch, which showed the time of 10:15.

"I wonder what Harusuke's got planned for today," Rei hummed to herself thoughtfully. "I know we all agreed to let him plan the practice dates, but I can't help but feel a bit nervous. I've even made sure that Usagi and the others didn't know about this practice date, especially since, knowing them, they'll spy on me." She then smiled to herself as she giggled a bit. "Ether way, I can't wait. Maybe I'll get some head pats at the end of it like last time."

Then, as she realized what she was thinking, Rei quickly stopped herself while furiously shaking her head, trying to get the thoughts out of her head.

"No! Stop that! What am I thinking?!" Rei admonished herself. "Getting this giddy over something like that! Stay focused! You're here to judge Harusuke's date, nothing more, nothing less! Although… I wouldn't be totally against it if he gave me head pats. Or maybe… I could give him some."

Then, as she began to picture herself giving Harusuke head pats, she heard the very boy in question call out to her.

"Rei!"

Rei couldn't help but jump, snapping out of her fantasy as Harusuke approached her.

"Sorry I'm a bit late," said Harusuke. "Were you waiting long?"

"U-Um, no. Not really," Rei said, trying to hide her stammer. "I've only been here for a few minutes or so. A-Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing where we're going today. And just so you know, I'm going to be giving you a score on this practice date, so you better be prepared."

Harusuke chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind," he said. "But in the meantime, what do you say we get going? If we leave now, we should be able to make it."

"Where are we going?" asked Rei.

Harusuke winked. "You'll see," he said. "Let's just say it's something that I think you're going to love."

The two then set off together.

After a bit of walking, they soon came to a location with a large convention center with dozens of people standing outside. Some of them were dressed in everyday clothing, but many others were dressed similarly to characters from anime and cartoons.

When Rei saw this, she couldn't help but gasp as she looked around. "Whoa! You brought me to a convention, Harusuke?"

"Indeed I did," Harusuke replied. "Supposedly, there was a small one downtown, and since you love anime and manga as much as my sister does, I figured it'd be awesome to check out. There's cosplayers, panels, and there's even a flea market."

"Well, well. Looks like you know me well," Rei smirked as she then shivered with excitement. "Everyone's going to be so jealous!"

"Let's try and keep the bragging to ourselves, OK?" Harusuke replied. He then held up his arm to Rei. "In any case, shall we?"

Rei looked at his arm before taking it with hers while she smiled. "Let's."

The two then spent their time enjoying themselves at the convention. They admired various different cosplays and even took some photographs with some of them. They tried food from all sorts of other stands, sampling all kinds of delicacies. They even went to check out a few panels of many different artists and voice actors. Eventually, they came to the flea market, where several people were selling merchandise.

Rei couldn't help but stare in awe. "Oh, wow! This place is huge!" she marveled. "I've never seen this many people in one place before!"

"No kidding," agreed Harusue. "Good thing I ain't claustrophobic. Otherwise, I'd be having a meltdown."

"There's such stuff in here," Rei murmured as she looked through the stands. "Doujinishi, figures, and even some t-shirts!"

They passed and looked through several stands, trying out some clothes, skimming through some manga and books, and even admiring some figures and statues. Then, as they looked through some manga, Rei suddenly let out a squeal, causing Harusuke to jump.

"Rei! What is it?!" Harusuke asked with concern.

But when he looked at Rei, he saw that she was trembling like a leaf and wore a look filled with stupor, looking like she was ready to explode with excitement.

"C-Can it be? Am I dreaming right now?" Rei spoke in a hushed murmur.

The girl then picked up a manga book that had a picture of Sailor V on its cover. When she did, Rei raised it up high as if she were holding a national treasure, and she let out another squeal.

"It is! It's the last volume of the Sailor V manga! Limited Edition!" Rei cried as she spun around on her heel.

"I-I take it that it's a pretty big deal for you?" Harusuk asked.

"Are you kidding?! Of course it is!" Rei snapped. "I've been reading the Sailor V manga for as long as I can remember! I've always collected every single volume when it came out! However, I've been looking for this particular volume for a long time now! It was the last one of the entire series! When it was published, all of the copies practically flew off the shelves and were sold out in a matter of days, and I wasn't able to get it!"

But while she was excited, Rei took notice of the price of the manga, which almost caused her to face facefault to the ground in shock. Let's just say that there were a couple more zeroes on it than usual.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Rei cried out in indignance. "I get that it's a valuable item, but that's way too much!" She then spoke sweetly to the seller. "Is there any way that I can get a discount for this?"

"Sorry, lady, but no," the seller replied. "Either take it or leave it."

Rei sulkily pouted, disappointment evident on her face. But then, Harusuke came by her side, taking out his wallet.

"In that case, we'll take it," he confirmed.

Upon hearing this, Rei was shocked. "W-Wait a second, Harusuke! You don't have to do that!" she said. "I don't know if you've noticed, but this is pretty pricey! You don't have to!"

"But you want this, don't you?" said Harusuke. "I don't mind paying for it if it'll make you happy."

"W-Well, I," Rei stammered, growing a bit flustered.

But despite her protests, Harusuke took out his wallet, got some yen bills, and gave them to the sender.

"Thank you for your business," smiled the sender.

Harusuke then gave the manga book to Rei, who was still stupified as she stared at it.

"There you go. Now your collection's complete," said Harusuke.

Rei couldn't help but feel a little guilty. "I-I'll make sure to pay you back," she said. "I feel bad that you had to pay for it."

"Don't worry about it," Harusuke said with a smile. "I know how much that manga means to you, so it's OK. Besides, the boyfriend has to spoil the girl on a date, right? Nothing wrong with that. Just think of it as a small gift, but don't tell my sister. You know how jealous she can get."

Hearing this, Rei couldn't help but stare before blushing bright pink.

"I-I see," said Rei. "Then… in that case, I'll accept your generosity. And also… you've been studying quite a bit to be such a smooth talker, haven't you?"

She hugged the manga close to her chest and gave a radiant smile.

"Thank you so much."

After a few hours, the convention soon closed, and Harusuke and Rei returned to Downtown Juuban. As they walked, Rei couldn't help but be beside herself with joy as she continued to hug the manga in her chest while humming a tune.

Harusuke chuckled. "So, I take it that you had a good time over at the con?" he asked.

"I sure did! I'm glad we got to go!" said Rei. "And I'm going to treasure this volume for the rest of my life! I can't wait to get home to read it! And I'll have to make sure Usagi doesn't get her hands on it!"

"I'm glad," said Harusuke. "But the date isn't over yet. We got one more place I wanted us to check out. However, and spoiler warning, this place might be a bit more mellow compared to the convention."

The two soon arrived at the place in question, which turned out to be The Juuban Museum.

"The Juuban Musuem, huh? Haven't been here in a while," said Rei.

"Yep. Supposedly, there's supposed to be a gem and mineral show in there," said Harusuke. "My dad showed me a flyer the other day, and I got the idea that it would help us brainstorm our fusion name, so I figured it'd be worth checking out."

"That's a great idea!" said Rei. "And I'm always up for checking out gems!"

The two then went inside the museum and soon came to the exhibition of the gems and minerals. There were numerous display cases filled with all sorts of minerals and gemstones, each with different textures and bright colors, and info cards with fun facts. Some were large, some were small, and some gave a lustrous glow, while others appeared to be rock but were just as beautiful.

Both Rei and Harusuke couldn't help but marvel at the sight.

"Whoa, look at them all!" said Rei. "This exhibit is every girl's dream!"

"And every rock collector's, too," said Harusuke. "Well then, let's have a look around and see what we can come up with."

They then took their time looking around at the gems, but while there were lots of them, they couldn't find a stone that was better suited to them for a name. However, the two didn't mind. They had fun brainstorming while learning different things about the many minerals.

Then, just as they had just about checked every display case, Harusuke noticed a particular gemstone. It was a lustrous shade of deep red with a slight tinge of purple on the side.

When he saw it, Harusuke couldn't help but be entranced by it.

"Hey, Rei. Look at this one," Harusuke said. "This one's got an interesting red color, and it's also purple, just like your colors as a sailor guardian."

Rei came over to inspect. "Well, what do you know. It does," she observed. She then looked at the info card next to it. "Let's see… it says here that this particular gemstone is called red garnet. It's a semi-precious gemstone, but desirable for its beauty and comes in many different colors. It's believed to have special healing properties…" Then she gasped. "And get this! It's considered to be the traditional birthstone for those born under the zodiac sign of Aries! That's my sign!"

Harusuke suddenly remembered. "Hey, yeah! You were born on April 17th!"

Rei then continued reading the info card. "And not only that, but it's also said that this particular mineral is said to be ruled by the element fire!" she continued, her interest growing. "It's also considered to increase confidence, boost energy, and protect the aura and the mind from psychic attacks. It can also purify impure things."

"That sounds like you to a T," said Harusuke. "It's almost like this stone was made for you." He paused for a minute to think. "And now that I think about it, Garnet does have a nice ring to it."

"I think so, too," agreed Rei.

"Then, in that case, since we both agree," said Harusuke. "Why don't we make it official?"

The two then faced each other.

"From now on, whenever we fuse," Harusuke said.

"Our fusion's name will be," Rei followed up.

The two touched each other's hands, slapping their palms against each other.

"Sailor Garnet!" the two of them said together with enthusiasm.

Then, suddenly, no sooner than the two made their decision, each of them felt an intense pulse shoot through their bodies while a red spark crackled in their hands. The two couldn't help but retract their hands out of startlement as they looked at their palms.

"Did… did you feel that just now?" asked Rei.

"Yeah. I did," said Harusuke. "But what was that?"

"I'm not sure," said Rei. "It felt like… our connection with each other got even stronger than before." She then looked up at Harusuke and grinned. "I guess that means we picked out the right name."

Harusuke grinned back. "So it would appear."

By the time Harusuke and Rei left the museum, it was already evening. The two walked together back to the Hikawa Shrine, and it wasn't long before they came to the bottom of the stairs leading up the shrine.

"Well then, I guess this is where we part ways, Rei," said Harusuke. "You sure you don't want me to walk you up the shrine?"

"No, that won't be necessary," said Rei. "Besides, if you did, Grandpa would definitely have a field day if he saw you. You know how he is sometimes."

Harusuke chuckled. "Yeah. Gramps has always been the teasing type."

"Thank you for today, by the way," said Rei. "I've had a lot of fun, and we even managed to come up with a name for our fusion."

"I'm glad you did," said Harusuke.

"But… I still feel a bit bad for having you pay for this manga for me," said Rei. "I know I asked before, but are you sure you don't want me to pay you back?"

"Like I said, it's fine," said Harusuke. "You don't need to worry about it. Just make sure you take good care of that, and tell me how it goes the next time we see each other."

Rei smiled before she adverted her eyes, a blush creeping onto her cheeks. "E-even so, I intend to give you a little something back," she said. "Plus, I did say that I would be scoring you on this practice date, so…"

She went silent for a brief moment before reaching out with her hand and started petting Harusuke's head.

"You passed with flying colors, Harusuke," Rei then said. "Good job."

Harusuke was surprised but didn't move as his head was petted, his cheeks flushing as well.

"S-So this is what it's like to be on the receiving end of this," Harusuke thought. "I've always didn't think much of it, but going through it now… it feels pretty nice and… a little embarrassing."

Rei then stopped. "H-How was that?" she asked tentatively. "Did you like it?"

Harusuke shyly smiled. "Y-Yeah. I did. Thank you very much," he said. "Anyway, I got to get going. Have a good night, Rei. I'll see you later, OK?"

"Y-Yeah. Bye," said Rei.

And with that, Harusuke then left, walking away out of sight. No sooner than he left, though, and as Rei turned to walk back up the stairs, she heard a familiar voice.

"Well, well, well~."

Rei felt a chill go through her spine as her face paled with horror, knowing who the voice belonged to.

"Don't tell me."

She slowly turned around, and she saw someone hiding behind a telephone pole close by, poking his head out like a ghostly specter, wearing a Cheshire cat-like grin. That someone was Grandpa Hino.

"I~. Saw~. You~," Grandpa Hino snickered as he jumped out from behind the pole.

"I-It's not what you think, Grandpa!" Rei immediately denied flusteredly. "I swear!"

"Oh, do explain, my dear granddaughter~," Grandpa Hino continued teasing. "But no matter what excuses you've got, anyone can see that you just came back from a date with Harusuke~. You even gave him quite the PDA~."

"L-Like I said! It's not what you think!" Rei snapped. "Harusuke and I were just hanging out together as friends! And that was nothing more, but a thank you pat! Friends pat each other on the head all the time!"

Grandpa Hino cheekily grinned as he gave Rei a pat on her back. "Take good care of the boy, Rei. But make sure you don't rush into the wedding. You're still a teen, after all."

Rei became even redder as Grandpa Hino merrily hopped up the stairs. Then, she couldn't help but screech out.

"I'M TELLING YOU IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!"