“Connections, huh?” Minako leaned over again, this time to whisper in Rei's ear, “Is that all I am to you?”
Suddenly, as inspiration hit the priestess, she broke into a smile and leaned forward, kissing the idol on her ear. “Payback. And no, I hardly think of you as a business connection. However, for the sake of holding something over the heads of those little brats, it'd be nice to have something other than my collection to show for it.”
Is bragging rights any better than being used as a business connection? Minako smiled softly, leaning forward to rest her chin on Rei's shoulder. “How many do you want?”
“Can I get one backstage pass?”
Minako blinked in surprise, leaning back to look at Rei, who was now avoiding her gaze, scratching her cheek as if she had lost the confidence that allowed her to ask the question in the first place.
“Just for you? Then Usagi-chan and the others-”
“Don't.” Rei took a deep breath and returned to looking at Minako, steadily keeping their eyes locked on one another. “I... I want to see you... before you go on.”
Minako lost herself, just for a moment, in her opposite's eyes. To say they were deep, would be a physical impossibility, but in the same breath, there was something in them that made her heartbeat marginally quicken. Her eyes started to close, but stopped halfway, that having been enough to break the spell that bound her. She raised a delicate eyebrow in dubious amusement. “See me? As in seeing me change into my concert outfit? I had no idea you were so-”
“Th-that's not what I meant!” In her sudden outburst of denial, Rei's precarious hand that was propping her only slightly over Minako's thigh slipped, causing her arm to coast away from her, crushed underneath Minako's shoulder as she fell over the idol. She sighed warily, looking away with a blush before trying to get up again. However, trapped was trapped, and unless Minako let her arm go...
“This seems to have been happening a lot lately, hasn't it? Since I got here?”
Rei huffed, tugging her arm uselessly. Under her breath she muttered, “A curse from Kami-sama for housing an idol in a sacred shrine.”
Minako smiled at that. Pointedly putting a little pressure on the trapped arm, she grinned. “I'll let you up if you answer. What would you have to say to me that you can't do right now?”
Rei still looked away. “You're already running late.”
“My manager is used to it- and understands after I've been gone from Japan for so long. So tell me.”
Rei didn't move. “It's a... a good luck charm, of sorts. But it has to be right before the event takes place.”
Minako studied Rei's profile, wondering if she was trying to lie. She could normally tell right off the bat, but this...
She closed her eyes with a smile and sat up, sliding out from under the shrine priestess. “That'll do, I suppose. Am I allowed to drop by tonight? I won't ask to stay over; I should retrieve Artemis as well... But after work, I can give you a special pass to get past my security no matter where I am, for no matter how far into the future.”
Rei's eyes widened as she sat up, staring at her. “Y-you, are you sure? If it happened to get stolen...”
Minako grinned and winked. “I said it was special, didn't I? Don't worry about that- I'll make it foolproof-secure.”
Rei eyed her dubiously for a moment before closing her eyes. “I... I suppose I'll trust your judgment on that then. I'll be at the shrine for most of day and evening, so don't worry about not reaching me. Don't overwork yourself, all right?”
Minako nodded as they both stood up. “Yes, yes, I know. It's not a hard routine; we already went over most of it before I flew over anyway. It's just making sure I have the loose ends ready. Just tell me- how many regular 'good' seats should I reserve? Usagi and everyone, if they can make it, would be four... and I'm guessing your students would be another four?”
Rei scoffed and stuffed her hands into her large sleeves. “Those brats don't need special attention. Yesterday morning was bad enough.”
Minako scolded lightly, “Tsk, tsk, their teacher isn't one to talk, what with the whole- MM!”
The idol wrinkled her nose in disapproval as Rei clamped her hand over her mouth. “Don't mention it! You'll jinx me somehow. Don't say a word to anyone about that, all right? Anyone.”
Minako sighed as she used both her hands to pry off Rei's. “I promise, but you know, I'm not the one you should worry about. Now Usagi would probably...”
Rei bit her lip, turning away. “I'll take care of her later...”
“Don't go maiming any princesses, old or new, now Rei-chan... okay, time to go.” Minako nodded, as if to herself. “I'll see you later, all right, Rei-chan?”
Rei turned back and nodded as Minako stepped off and started heading towards the entrance. “...Bye.”
-0-0-0-0—0-0—0-0-00-0-0-0-0—000-----
That idiot! This one too! Rei growled softly in the privacy of her room. I'm going to have her hide for this...
Rei leaned back from her two boxes by the closet, one's contents being in obviously better shape than the other. With a sigh, she stood up and clapped her hands together to draw forth the necessary determination for the 'problem' set before her. “Quarantine finished. Now then... Where was my cleaner set...? I'm sure I left it on this shelf... Geh.” Her fist clenched, eye twitching, as she looked upon the open wreckage of her renovated first aid kit. Several bottles had somehow leaked from the fall, mixing their un-salvageable fluids together.
Calm down, Rei, calm down... Kami-sama knows you shouldn't loose your cool... no matter what happens. Only bad things will happen if I do...
Rei started putting the containers, broken or not, into the kit they had fallen from. After some rag-and-soap scrubbing did what it could to remove not only the puddles but most of the smell from the mat, Rei set about making a shopping list. Within fifteen minutes, the boxes had been pushed back into the storage closet, and she was casually dressed to go on a shopping errand. Naturally, she made sure to hook the 'closed' rope into place at the entrance before leaving.
As she walked down the lane, her thoughts began to wander, as they were apt to do when idle for too long.
'I swear I'm going to kill that airhead the next time she steps anywhere near my room again... almost half of them... half! Everything from cards, to CDs, to dolls...' Rei clenched her purse with a death grip. Before, of course, remembering to calm down again. 'Breathe in... Breathe out... Bash her skull in... take the guts out... NO! Bad Rei! Bad! Come on think of something else... anything else... giving that idiot the time of thought is too much.'
--I need you in my life...--
Rei stopped, as little memories of the last few days came back.
--My manager said I could come to Japan only on the condition that it was to rejuvenate my career by changing it into a... a duet.--
Rei shook her head, steadily moving towards the train station. 'She's insane if she thinks I'd actually agree to that.'
--Having a partner to bounce chemistry off with, to interest fans. And who... who better to reflect a sort of chemistry... than my dear old friend, Rei?--
It shouldn't have meant much of anything, being called that. 'Partner'. But when she remembered that, for the most part, she and Minako had never been such, when it counted... not when she was acting as the Princess, throwing herself into caution and being swept away by the wind; not when she was dying, and should have had someone right there with her... though Rei would have come, if she had been told about it...; not... if she thought about it, they'd never sung a duet together, really. She had sung on the same stage as Minako, some weeks later, they had saved each other from lesser enemies, sure, but... But in the end... what was Minako thinking? Their styles were completely different besides; not fit for the same stage, side by side.
--If that is what must be done, then you know what you must do.--
Done... what was there to be done? Minako would be leaving after her final concert at the end of the week... and before that...
Rei blinked and looked up, wondering how she had stepped onto the now mobile train, with her thoughts so distracted.
She sat down at an empty bench, idly watching the scenery pass by.
--My manager might find me a different partner, someone I might grow to like, but not likely immediately.--
That meant... Minako already liked her. Well, that was obvious, wasn't it? She wouldn't have gone to her, asking for help, if there wasn't some compatible 'liking' between them.
--I might choose to end this here and now... and stay near you... living a relatively normal life.--
Rei shook her head, lightly banging her head back against the window. Stop it... Why are these thoughts... these words in particular... suddenly coming back to me?
--As long as I have a voice to sing with, and an audience to enjoy it, I will sing.--
A tangent memory linked this to a manga she owned in which some of the main characters had sung themselves hoarse, to the point of never being able to raise their voice, let alone sing, ever again.
I will not let her die like that again. No matter what decisions we make... I will not let that happen.
But how did a shrine priestess protect an idol's health anyhow? Without being by her side all the time...
--There was a big accident so there's a lot of sudden patients...--
So Amy had said... she had also elaborated that same night that the hospital's reserves were nearly full and there was a rush to try to find another hospital to hold them after they'd finished the initial treatment. But why that would suddenly pop up considering this string of thoughts...
--If nothing's here to hold me down, I'm not allowed to stay.--
The train stopped, and Rei thoughtlessly stepped off.
Almost like a zombie, Rei walked up the stairs, and was met by a news press vendor.
She stared unseeing at the mini-poster that met her gaze.
She stared more, her eyes adjusting as she slowly started coming out of her own little world.
She grasped at the sheet... confusion became disbelief which was then transformed into a form of conviction.
“That's it!” All the pieces fell together in her mind's eye, as if she had solved a jigsaw puzzle with the guidance of Kami-sama Himself. A slow smile of anticipation spread across her face.
That was when she, of course, chose to look up.
And recoiled, hastily looking left and right as if she were a child who had realized her parents had disappeared at the fair.
After all, it couldn't have been her feet to take her in front of this particular store, right?
Right. She offhandedly looked through the window at the wares.
And then vigorously shook herself, starting to turn away.
'How absurd! Who and why would I be giving any diamond jewelry to?'
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