GRANDPA... just lonely Usagi found Grandpa in the fire room as he swept the floor. He looked up at her when she entered the room. "Well, how is my ornery granddaughter? Yuuichiro spoke with Rei when she got home late yesterday, packed his things, and told me he had to go home to run his father's company. Rei did her chores, then asked me if she could skip supper. She said she didn't feel well and wanted to go to bed... then she closed herself in her room. When she missed breakfast, I asked her if she was all right, she told me she felt like she had the flu. She wouldn't let me near her and didn't want a doctor." Grandpa sure didn't need to know that Rei had tried to commit suicide... it would kill him. Usagi smiled at him before she replied. "She's certainly sick to her stomach and she has a really wicked headache, but she should feel better by tomorrow sometime. She's finally fallen asleep. If you don't mind, I'd like to stay with her through the night. She's pretty dehydrated so I'll need to get some liquids into her as soon as she wakes." Grandpa looked relieved and pointed in the direction of the hall closet. "There are extra futons and quilts in there. You better call your Mom, it's almost supper time, and we don't want her to worry." Usagi accepted the offer. While Usagi was on the phone, Grandpa had answered the door, disappeared into the kitchen and came back with a small bag of flour. After she hung up, she asked Grandpa if she could cook something for the two of them. Grandpa smiled delightedly. "Hai, I would like that." Usagi retrieved Mako's chicken soup from her backpack and transferred it to a microwave-safe container. Grandpa looked at it hungrily, and Usagi laughed at him. "Oh no, Mako sent this over for your sick granddaughter. It's not dinner! Our dinner is out in the muddy garden." She pointed to the window where the rain fell against it in sheets. Grandpa managed to look like a petulant little boy. Grandpa and Usagi put on some rain gear, and he showed Usagi where Yuuichiro had tended his vegetable garden. After they made a few selections, they headed back to the jinja. They laughed about how they would hardly have to wash them. Grandpa then showed her where everything was in the kitchen. Since it was pretty meager fare, it didn't take long. It was apparent neither of them cooked much. Usagi wasn't exactly the consummate cook Makoto was, but she could make due with what she found. Soon, Grandpa happily ate some fish, rice, fresh salad, and cantaloupe for desert with green tea. "Rei would have really enjoyed this!" Grandpa enthused. "I don't think Rei could keep manna down right now." Usagi remarked dryly. Then, more seriously, she inquired, "Grandpa, if something ever happens to you, do you have provisions for help here at the jinja for Rei? This is her home and her life, now. She's not likely to leave it." "Hai, actually, I had made two contingency plans. If I died before Rei was 18, I wanted her to have the kind of stable, loving, environment she deserves. I was at a loss for fukei (guardians) for years until Rei started to actually make some true friends. She was always popular at school because she's so pretty, athletic, and smart. But every time one of her so-called 'friends' found out she lived here, they'd drop the 'friendship', and would tell her she was too strange. You and your friends have been the exception." Grandpa's chin trembled a bit. Usagi didn't tell him she liked Rei because she was different! "I asked your parents when she was 14 if they would consider being Rei's fukei, since the two of you had quickly become like sisters after you met. Your parents thankfully agreed, but they said they'd rather adopt Rei instead, if I died while she was underage. They already loved her like a daughter. In which case, another Guji (Chief Shinto Priest) who follows Hinokagutsuchi, our local Kami, and has the same shinto traditions, would run Hikawa and teach Rei until she was fully trained and ready to be this jinja's Guji." Usagi sucked her breath in sharply. Her parents wanted to be Rei's fukei! Who knew! They were practically sisters for real! Grandpa moved on. "Since Rei is 18, if I were to die now, the local shinto has agreed to send a Guji to help her run the jinja, but not interfere with Rei's policies for which I have already taught her as tradition for fire god Hinokagutsuchi. Rei has surpassed almost all priests, me included, in her ability to communicate with the Kami, read fire for foresight, and has uncanny insight on spiritual matters. She has mastered all disciplines of martial arts. She has already achieved a First grade status because of her educational background. She had attained a Meikai rank before she was even 16. My granddaughter is very gifted, very adroit, and blessed by the Kami. She lacks only to learn all the festival practices and the logistics to run a Shinto jinja. Rei could be Guji of Hikawa Jinja now, but I think Rei believes she is too young for such responsibilities, and wishes to earn the respect of her older peers." Grandpa smiled. "Only Rei stops Rei!" After they finished their food, Usagi was pensive as she cleared everything away and washed the dishes. Was it because of her senshi status, that Rei had not realized her dreams to be a fully dedicated Chief priestess at Hikawa Jinja? After she did the rest of Rei's chores, she spread out her homework in front of the fire. It was a comfort and the warmth felt good. The bookwork finished, she asked Grandpa if Yuuichiro had left any of his guitars behind. She needed a release. Grandpa smiled, "No, but you are welcomed to use my old one. Rei won't touch it... she says she prefers the piano. I'll be right back!" Grandpa positively beamed when he returned. Usagi looked at the dusty, battered case and raised an eyebrow. "Make much money on the streets?" She deadpanned. "No, people loved to hear me play, but wished I would shut up." He replied with a twinkle in his eye. She raised the lid and stared. Usagi had a steel-string Takamine electro-acoustic. This was a classical nylon six-string. Boy, he hadn't kidded about the 'old' part. Usagi looked at the luthier's label inside which read 'Sakurai Kohno'. He had died in 1998 of renal cancer. Usagi's eyes watered as she carefully lifted the instrument out of its weathered home. Grandpa had watched her reaction closely and was not disappointed. "Usagi, I would be honored if you would accept the Kohno as a gift from me. I actually bought it for my musically inclined wife. She taught my daughter Yuri how to play, and eventually gave it to her when she constantly found it in Yuri's room. Since my daughter's death, it has just collected dust. I think both my 'girls' would also be honored if you played it and loved it the way they did." Grandpa bowed. Usagi bowed back. "If it honors your family, I humbly accept." It took her a few minutes to tune it. It sorely needed new strings. She sighed as she strummed and picked it lovingly, then she got to work on her composition for her music class. Grandpa was amazed as he watched her write the scores for piano, and scribble chords above the notes. Then she would play. "I've never heard that guitar sound so good! You truly have a gift. That song you're composing is so full of soul, what are you titling it?" he asked. "Thank you, I thought I might call it 'The Road to Promise'. Grandpa scratched his chin and looked at the words. "That seems to fit. It's about my granddaughter, isn't it? You really do love her, don't you?" It was really about her own ascension to Queen, the birth of Crystal Tokyo, and her apprehension of both. It was about a life shrouded in secrecy, and written as a love song. She smiled at him. "Yes, in a way it is, and yes I do. She's easy to love." Grandpa said with a wink, "I would never call her 'easy', she's stubborn as a mule and proud as a peacock. I'm glad you are able to love her in spite of everything. She has been through a lot, and needs someone to care for her besides me." Usagi leaned forward with a secretive expression. "Is that your way of saying you want me stick around to take care of her, or you?" Grandpa looked a bit sheepish. "Am I that obvious? Heh, heh, I had to try, didn't I? How good are you at making charms?" he grinned, and ducked under her hand swipe, "I could teach you how to improve your aim if you stayed." Usagi glared at him. "I may put up with Rei, but I refuse to put up with you," she retorted, and stuck her finger in his chest. "And, by the way, your granddaughter thinks I'm a nuisance and can't stand me, so it's highly unlikely I could ever stay here! Besides, why would I want to subject myself to all the abuse I'd likely recieve between the two of you?" Grandpa pouted. "Well, I'll retire to my room to sulk before I sleep. Ja ne!" He took her hand and kissed it. "Goodnight Grandpa, I'll see you for breakfast, my treat, you old mooch!" She kissed his forehead fondly, and laughed at his blush. "I'll not stay up much longer."
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