As usual, for lack of anything better to do on a Saturday afternoon, the sailor senshi sat at their habitual table at the Crown. None of them seemed much interested in anything, the beautiful spring day, the junk food in front of them, the bored expressions of each other. The theme seemed to be distraction, as all of them sat looking out the window, or staring off into space. Usagi stopped mushing her banana into her sundae suddenly and wondered why she wasn't devouring it. Remembering herself with a pleased grin she began to stuff it down again, taking a brief look around the table. The blank faces didn't please her. Makoto was staring out the window thoughtfully, her eyebrows twitching now and then. Next to her, Minako took interest in her nails, chewing on her lip and briefly glancing at Rei as she pondered. Rei herself was hunched over the table with her hand supporting her head; she didn't look in the best of moods. And Ami, whom Usagi expected to always be in deep thought, was staring intently at her sandwich, her foot tapping rapidly on the floor. For once she looked like she wasn't at full mental organization, like she was trying not to think about something. Usagi had about enough. "Hey! Just what is going on here? Wake up, you guys! Am I supposed to talk to myself?" They looked as if they barely heard her. Mulling around and straightening up, they mumbled apologies, but remained in their own realms of contemplation. Usagi huffed. She'd have to be the catalyst here, if she was going to get anything done at all. She turned to Ami. "So Ami-chan, how're things with Urawa-kun?" Ami looked up, barely catching Usagi's question. She noticed Usagi's inquisitive stare at her tapping foot and stopped, blushing. "Um, well... It's okay, I guess. I haven't called him back since last week. That isn't really bad, is it?" Makoto chuckled. "Playing games, are you, Ami-chan?" Ami's face turned crimson fast. "What do you mean?" "Oh it isn't so bad, Ami-chan. Let him chase you. He'll crave you more." Minako offered. Rei looked at her. "Is that so?" Minako pinched Rei for her derisive smirk. "You tell me." Usagi giggled, but then turned her attention to Makoto. "How's the moving-in going, Mako-chan?" Makoto's sigh and look of disdain and fatigue told the whole story. Instead of answering verbally she just waved her hand, dismissing the topic. "Okaaay..." Usagi thought to just resign and enjoy her junk food with silence, but jumped up suddenly, remembering something very important. "Mina-chan! You didn't tell me what happened with Alan!"' Usagi knew she had said something wrong when Minako looked at her with utter pain. She slapped her forehead and shook her head at Usagi. Not surprisingly, Rei's curiosity was peaked. "Who's Alan?" Usagi gasped in horror, as she realized what she just did. Minako sarcastically mouthed the words "Thanks, a lot" to her. "Mina?" Rei prodded for an answer. Minako tried to act as if it was of least importance. "Oh y'know, Alan. My friend, Alan," she stressed this point, "From England, he came to visit. I ran into him last week." Rei's eyes flashed and it seemed like the heat had gone up a nuance. Minako swallowed. "W-what? Wait, wait, wait, are you talking about English Alan? The Alan that was your boyfriend?" Her voice grew with every word. Minako tried to be patient; she thought that perhaps she deserved some of it, but not all of Rei's fury. "Rei. He was never my boyfriend, you know that." "You were in love with him!" "That was a long time ago!" Usagi sank down in her seat, and Ami and Makoto shifted around uncomfortably, all suddenly very interested in the ceiling. Rei tried mightily to keep her voice down and her temper in check. "I can't believe you didn't even tell me." "You're overreacting. He was just a friend. I probably won't even see him again. It's not a big deal." Minako stated with strained patience. "You're not getting it Mina. You went behind my back to see someone you were in love with. It's a big friggin' deal!" Rei exclaimed, her temper finally getting the better of her. "Why are you being like this?" "Like what?" Minako shook her head, she just about had it. "Kami, you can be so-" She didn't bother finishing, just rising from the table and leaving the building. "Mina! What-wait! Come back!" Rei followed her out, leaving the other three awkwardly scratching their heads, wondering if would be right to leave or not. Usagi put a remorseful hand over her face. "That wasn't my fault was it?" Makoto and Ami reassure her it wasn't. Minako stopped as Rei caught up with her, grabbing a hold of her wrist. She wriggled out of her grasp and turned a hurt gaze on Rei, whose own eyes didn't waiver. Minako couldn't stop, and didn't try to stop the tears rolling down her face. Rei exasperatedly put her hands on top of her head and looked in the other direction; she couldn't take it when Minako cried. "Stop crying." She said in a low tone. Minako put a hand over her mouth to try and control her sobs. "Kami, Rei... why do have to be so--" "So what? What, Mina?" Rei sighed and paced back and forth as Mina stood with her arms crossed, her tears now under control. "All I want to know is why you had to do it behind my back. I mean you told Usagi for God's sake! What else does Usagi know that I don't?" Mina threw her hands up in frustration. "See, that's it. That's exactly why I didn't tell you, because I knew you'd blow the whole thing out of proportion. You're so jealous." "How is that a bad thing?" Minako looked at her like she was crazy. "Because now you're standing here yelling at me, because I went to see an old friend. Jeese, Rei, imagine how you'd feel if I got mad every time you talked to Yuuichiro." Rei's eyes flashed on her. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" "Are you blind? He's only obsessed with you." Rei blew frustrated air through her lips. "Whatever. That has nothing to with anything right now." "So what does Alan have to with anything?" "A lot!" "You're acting like I did stuff with him or something!" "Did you?" "NO!" Both of them sighed and walked around a few steps to ward off their irritation. Minako pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head, not knowing how she would convince Rei that she had nothing to worry about. "I don't know what to tell you Rei, if you don't trust me..." Rei turned glum and upset eyes on her girlfriend. "I do trust you." She replied softly. "Then what are we fighting about?" Rei shook her head. She didn't really know. She was tired and frustrated with everything, and a strange feeling was stirring inside her. "I... I don't know." Mina looked at her feet, not knowing exactly where they stood right now. Despite the relative diffusing of the situation, she still had tears to hold back. She sighed and took a few unsteady steps toward Rei. Rei cautiously slipped her hand into hers, relieved to have her squeeze back. "I-I'm going. I have to get home." Minako told her quietly. "Okay." Rei let her go, and they parted, for once without their customary good-bye kiss. She watched her long blonde hair sway back and forth as her perfect form disappeared down the street. With a shaky sigh she turned around and headed off in the opposite direction. Makoto came home with a dire mood, hoping the comfort of her spick and span home, some good self-prepared food, and her loving boyfriend would cheer her up. But when she opened the door a sea of boxes, clothing, and random junk greeted her. Her expression was of pure horror as she ran over to her ficus and removed a pair of men's underwear from the wide leaves. After blowing her plant a kiss to help it recover from the trauma, she straightened up and was determined to find her "loving" boyfriend. "Freddy!" Freddy stuck his head out of the bedroom door, he appeared to be shirtless. "Hey babe you're back! You can help me get the waterbed on the spring board." He opened the door revealing an entirely transformed bedroom, lava lamps, bear-skin rug, and black satin sheets waiting to grace the waterbed. She entered the room cautiously, flipping the switch, just a little surprised when red light poured out of the light bulb. "What the f-" "It's a red bulb. Doesn't it make this place sexier?" Makoto looked at him in disbelief. "My room looks likes a strip club!" "Our own personal strip club." Freddy tried unsuccessfully to make the prospect sound better. "Just help me get this thing up, you'll love it." He motioned to the waterbed, which they lifted onto the spring board. He jumped on it and patted the spot next to him. Makoto cautiously climbed on to it. She laughed as she was engulfed by the watery cushion, floating gently on it. "Hey, this isn't so bad." "Wait 'til we get those sheets on." Freddy told her. "We should have like a house warming party." "But I've been living here for years." He propped himself up on a hand. "Yeah but I just moved in. Come on, it'll be fun." "For you and you're stupid your friends." She said plainly. "Hey, come on now, they're not that stupid. Invite your friends too. Maybe there'll be someone for the small one, what's her name?" "You don't mean Ami?" Freddy chuckled. "Why not? Maybe even the lesbians will be charmed by some of my buddies." Makoto tried not to laugh at that, but couldn't help it. "I highly doubt that. And would it kill you so much to learn their names?" Freddy let the waves of the bed roll his body on to hers. "I'd get to know them much better if we had a party. You know you want to, just say yes." Makoto sighed, knowing she was being manipulated into it by his soft hands, and smooth voice. "Fine, but you are so cleaning up." Freddy grinned as he stroked her midsection. "Awesome." He moved himself downward, planting kisses on her stomach. Makoto grinned too, as he showed her his appreciation. Rei entered the shrine wordlessly, slamming the door behind her. She threw the door open to her room and slammed that door as well, throwing herself onto her bed. Akako shot up from her place on the floor next to the bed. "What the-" Rei reluctantly peered down on her. "Oh, I forgot about you. What are you doing?" "Taking a nap." She patted her sleeping bag. "Nothing else to do, until you got back." She studied Rei's stressed face. "Hey, what's eating you? Get in a fight with your little hottie?" Rei ignored Akako's purposeful provocation. "It's none of your business. Go back to sleep." Akako lay back down on her sleeping bag, resting her head on her folded hands. "Well you sure are more of a jerk than usual; she must've really gotten to you." "Didn't you hear me? It's none of your business!" Akako sucked her teeth at Rei's unfriendly attitude. "Whatever. Y'know, you're gonna die early with that sort of disposition." She rose from the floor and stretched. Rei's eyes bugged out. "I'm going to meditate-what are you staring at?" Rei sat up and pointed, unable to form words. Akako was stumped. "What?" "Would you put some clothes on, for God's sake!" Rei practically screamed, her face red. "What are you talking about? I have clothes on." Akako proudly displayed her sheer tank top and bikini underwear. "Of course I'm not going to meditate like this; Yuuichiro-kun would die of a nosebleed." Rei didn't watch, only looked as she put her shrine robes on. Before she left Rei told her, "Akako-san, I have to tell you. My first impression of you was completely and utterly wrong." The brown-eyed girl chuckled in amusement. "Most people's are." Usagi, Ami, and Makoto entered the study meeting uneasily, not sure if Rei and Minako were in the same state they had least seen them in. Being put in the "in-between" position was not something they anticipated when they found out the two were together, and now they had no idea as to what to do when those types of situation came up. Luckily for them, Minako and Rei seemed to have worked everything out, and they didn't have to be the middlemen today. "Hey guys, before I forget," Makoto started, "Freddy and I are having a party. To celebrate his 'moving-in'," She explained with sarcastic enthusiasm. "He's inviting his friends, so please, for my sanity, come." Minako laughed, she loved Makoto's relative nonchalance when it came to her boyfriend. Sometimes she wished she could be that indifferent. "I'll go, Mako-chan. I haven't been to a party in ages. And you know what they say: All work and no parties, makes Jack a nerd." The rest of the senshi had a hard time of picking themselves up off Rei's hardwood floor. "Eh, I'm pretty sure that one doesn't go like that." Rei told her girlfriend. "Hey a... You don't mind if Akako-san comes along do you Mako-chan?" Makoto rubbed her chin. "I don't really know her, but I guess anyone on my side will help balance out the moron to intellectual ratio. So, everyone's coming?" She zeroed in on one of them in particular. "Ami-chan... You'd better not bail on me." Ami's foot tapped the floor at a rapid pace; she wondered when exactly she had picked up this nervous habit. "I suppose I could go for an hour or two." "Or three... or six." Makoto persisted. She flopped on the floor and stared dejectedly into the ceiling. "It won't be any fun with out you." Ami's eyes shifted around, wondering who that last comment was directed to. She smiled discreetly to herself. 'I guess I'll have to be there a while.' The study session went on, rather the same as it usually did, though a little quieter. Usagi dozed gently behind a history textbook; Ami leaned in next to Makoto, helping her overcome a particularly taxing physics problem; and Rei and Minako concentrated on their own studies, not playing footsie under the table, sneaking off to "make refreshments", or even looking at each other much. Not much was made of the quiet; the hours seemed to pass fairly quickly. Usagi's head finally drooped in to her text book enough for her to accidentally slam her nose in it. "OOOOOWWWWWW!" "What did you do to yourself this time meatball-head?" Usagi just blew an indignant raspberry at Rei as she rubbed her nose. She looked out the window, realizing how dark it already had become. "Oh! I forgot, I have to get home, Mom wants me to help cook tonight!" The others looked at each other with amused smiles on their faces, wondering what Mrs. Tsukino was thinking. As the others descended the shrine stairs, Rei stopped Minako from leaving. "Are you okay, Mina?" She asked, worried eyes searching the blonde's face. "I'm fine. Why?" Rei shrugged. "You just seemed... a little far off today." Mina nodded, looking at her feet. "So did you, actually." "Oh." She suddenly looked at Rei with silent anxiety in her eyes and urgency in her voice. "Sometimes I feel like... Lately, I've been getting this feeling, y'know? I don't know what it is. It's like, emptiness." Rei's head tilted and her intense gaze searched for more explanation. "Emptiness?" Minako's suddenly trembling hands touched her forehead, trying to calm herself down. She felt like she was panicking, but she had no idea why. "I don't know what I'm talking about. I have to go home." Rei took her quivering hands, kissing each of them. She tried to get Minako to look at her, but the blonde's eyes were glued to the floor. She was really shaken up by something. "Talk to me. Something's bothering you, and I know it's about me." "No, it's nothing. Never mind, just forget it." She gave Rei a reassuring smile. Rei leaned in to kiss her, but before she got there the girl's head was turned and she was descending the many shrine steps. Rei touched her puckered lips and straightened up, watching her go. She wearily went back inside and found herself wandering, dazed and confused, towards the sacred fire room. Akako sat meditating, the flames casting a huge shadow over the entire room. Rei stood in the doorframe of the room, watching her; the flames licking occasionally at her, the wisps of jet black hair wafting gently around her fine face, her chest rising and falling steadily with each breath. Her eyes opened suddenly. After a few seconds she turned her doe-brown eyes on Rei. "I knew it was you. I suppose that means I'm getting better, right?" Rei was silent. Her forceful purple gaze burned into Akako as hot as the sacred fire itself. With slow but deliberate motions she moved from the door frame and slid the door shut behind her, her eyes never wavering. Akako gasped lightly, as she was being shoved gently to the floor, her wrists pinned above her and Rei's body pressing into hers. She accepted the hungry kiss with gusto. Rei stopped. She looked at Akako. Her mind was cloudy, nothing in her head was right. There was no one named Minako; no one named Rei for that matter. There was just, this. Akako pulled her in, her touch was soft and sure. She rolled her on to her back and Rei let the girl do what she wished. Rei had no time to think, no desire to. All she knew was that it felt good.
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