"What time is it?" "Almost five." Makoto nodded and paced around her living room, going over in her head the plan she and Ami had concocted to oust her boyfriend. "He should be here in 15 minutes, give or take." She paused in her treading and grinned. "Let's practice." Ami put her book down and sighed. "We've practiced about ten times already. It's not the hardest plan to carry out." "Still!" Makoto whined. "It never hurts to put a little more time into it." She crawled towards Ami, seated on the floor, who couldn't resist the mischievous grin. Their lips came together in a slow kiss, which picked up tempo quickly. Ami jerked away from her suddenly, "I think I hear him coming!" "Okay, okay, okay... Relax. Let's follow the plan." Makoto calmed herself down, excited by the idea of their plan being executed. They had decided to take the easiest way out, not to tell Freddy about them, but to show him, much like what Rei and Minako did, except he would "catch" them and then hopefully be outraged enough to leave Makoto on the spot. It was foolproof. Makoto opened the apartment door slightly then quickly jumped onto the sofa, where Ami was waiting. She chuckled playfully before pulling Ami to her, engaging in the most intense kiss yet. She could hardly contain herself as she heard him enter. His feet shuffled a few times before coming to a shocked stop near them. She threw in a few moans for good measure then pulled away from Ami. Her eyes were wide, going along with the plan, acting like she was surprised to see him. Makoto curbed her smile and went along with it. "Fr... uck." "Fruck is right! What the fruck are you guys doing?!" Ami and Makoto all but shoved each other away as Usagi stood in astonishment in front of them. They both opened their mouths to explain, but only succeeded in flustered gibberish. "One at a time!" Usagi shouted, trying to listen to both simultaneously. "Mako-chan?" Makoto sighed and slapped her forehead for her blessed misfortune. "You're not Freddy. You're not Freddy!" Usagi looked at them strangely. "Duh! But what were you guys doing? You have a boyfriend, Mako-chan!" "Exactly." Makoto looked over at Ami, so red she could've stopped traffic. "Usagi, listen. I'm breaking up with Freddy. And Ami's helping me." The blonde looked from Makoto to Ami and back to Makoto. "There are other ways to break up with people. That's kind of mean actually, don't you think?" "I know, but..." "And you're using Ami-chan like that? I mean you could've at least gotten Rei or Minako, at least they're experienced." Ami's eyes darted on her, then to Makoto. "There's more to it than just 'using' me Usagi-chan." Usagi's blank expression beckoned more explanation. Ami sighed. She scooted closer to Makoto on the sofa and their hands came together in a simple yet clear statement. The moon princess closed her eyes and dropped onto the nearest chair exasperatedly, not the reaction they wanted or expected. "Usagi...?" "Are you guys serious?" Makoto furrowed her eyebrows, looking at Ami for an explanation, who had none. "Yeah, of course we are. What's wrong?" "I just... After all this stuff that's happened with Rei and Minako... I don't know if it would be such a good idea for you guys to start this too." "What?" Makoto almost jumped out of her seat. "Are you kidding me? We are not Rei and Minako. We would never do what Rei did!" Usagi looked at her seriously, a silent regal authority about her. "You're doing it to Freddy, Mako-chan." Makoto knew she was right, but still didn't accept her decision. "I can't believe you're doing this to us Usagi." Ami tried to soothe her, but ended up burying her own head in her shoulder to hide her tears. Usagi looked away; she couldn't see her friends unhappy, especially because of her. She knew it was what Luna would've recommended, but Luna wasn't their best friend. "I'm sorry! I don't know what else to do! I just don't want either of you getting hurt." "What makes you think I'd hurt Ami, or she hurt me?" Usagi shrugged. "I never thought Rei would do it either." Makoto jumped out of her seat, completely enraged. "I'm sick and tired of hearing about Rei! Why are we being punished for what she did?" "Mako-chan, please, listen to me. You guys are my guardians-" "And you're supposed to be our friend!" Usagi stood to meet her, Makoto's last comment touching a nerve. "I am your friend! But we're also senshi." "Then maybe I don't want to be a senshi anymore." They stared at each other in silence, Usagi's eyes brimming up with tears. She tilted her head to gauge the truth in Makoto's words. Makoto turned her back defiantly. Usagi shook her head, running out of the apartment as fast as possible. "Oh Kami. Usagi!" Ami sprang up to chase her down. "Ami, where're you going?" The blue-eyed girl set a disappointed gaze on Makoto. "You can't say that, Makoto, no matter what. You just can't." Her hand came down heavier and heavier on the wooden door each time she knocked. "I know someone's in there," she tried to shout through the door. "The lights are on." The occupants inside seemed to realize their folly and the translucent light coming from the front windows immediately disappeared. Makoto sighed and tried knocking again. After minutes of futility she finally just let her head bang against the Tsukinos' front door. "I'm sorry, Usagi. I'm really sorry." The desperate honesty in her voice carried through to the inside of the house and after a few seconds of furious whispers the door opened, but it was the wrong blonde who opened it. "Mina-chan?" "Hi, Mako-chan. I would let you in, but..." Makoto tried to look inside, but Minako firmly blocked her view. "She's still mad?" Minako shook her head at the taller girl. "She's hurt." Guilt was festering in Makoto's chest, but there was still a large dose of obstinacy left in her. She felt bad about what she said as soon as she said it, but doggedly felt it was justified. "Oh come on, she made me say it." "Mako-chan!" Minako was thoroughly surprised with her friend's attitude. "She's making a bad decision, Mina-chan. I don't see any reason why me and Ami should be punished for what Rei did." Minako's head tilted to look at her in a way that made her step back slightly. "Why should Freddy be punished for a decision you and Ami are making?" Makoto's green eyes flashed about, anger growing inside her. "This is not about Freddy," she spat with taut patience. "It wasn't about me either, I guess." Makoto didn't have an answer to that. She shook her head before throwing her hands up and storming off the front porch. Minako closed the door after watching her stalk away from the house, clearly upset. "This sucks, Usagi." Usagi clutched a throw pillow to her chest and sniffled into it. "I know." The feeble way in which she made this admission stirred an uncontrollable anger in Minako. "This is Rei's fucking fault! Everything! Everything is fucked because of her!" The Moon Princess silently let her release all her frustrations until she collapsed from exhaustion on the couch with her. "I never thought you guys would quit because of me." Minako turned her tired eyes to her friend. "Nobody's quitting. And especially not because of you." Usagi shook her head. She stared straight ahead, focused on nothing in particular. "If some enemy decided to attack us right now, it'd all be over. We'd all be fighting for different things. Not each other, or Crystal Tokyo or anything." Minako listened to her intently, eyes focused on her truly overwhelmed expression. "We'd be fighting for you." She looked away from Usagi, fatigued by how vulnerable she looked. "You should let Ami and Makoto be together." Usagi's eyes snapped on her. "But what about-" "There's no sense in not allowing it, it'll happen anyway." "But you and Rei..." Minako closed her eyes and shook her head thoroughly. "Whatever. She... Whatever. I'm over it." Usagi looked at her carefully. "I dunno Mina-chan..." "I am." Minako stated firmly, though the disquiet in her eyes belied her words. "Now go call Mako-chan." Rei coughed and sputtered, her face turning bright red, trying for dear life to stop choking. Ami rushed to her side, realizing she had chosen the wrong moment to begin informing her about the events of the previous day. "I'm sorry," Rei said after regaining the use of her voice box, "You and Makoto? You said you and Makoto?" Ami nodded handing her a glass of water. "Yes." She frowned. "Is it really that surprising?" Rei scratched her head, she knew Ami had something important to tell her when she called her to her apartment, but she hadn't imagined this. "I'm not sure. I would've never guessed you'd be swinging in my direction, Ami-chan." The blue-haired girl put her head in her hands while Rei chuckled at her. "It's not a bad thing, don't be embarrassed." "I'm not embarrassed," she sighed. "It's just not a very funny situation." "You're right, I'm sorry. So does anyone else know?" Ami turned big, uneasy eyes to Rei. Sighing deeply, she described the entire ordeal to her. Rei controlled all of her urges to outburst and was silent until she finished. The miko leaned back in her seat and blew air through her lips, astonished. "Mako-chan really said that?" She asked after a few moments of quiet. Ami nodded, it was all still obviously weighing a lot on her. Rei leaned forward and rubbed her hands together as she worked some carefully digested details over in her mind. Discontent was slowly building in her and a certain fact was threatening her temper. "I can't believe it." "What?" Ami asked, as Rei murmured to herself, apparently peeved. "I can't believe after all that shit Makoto gave me... Yet she has no problems cheating on her boyfriend." "Rei it's not like that." Ami realized what this could lead up to and immediately tried to soothe her volatile friend. "It's... different." "But it's not." Ami sighed again, having nothing else to say. She agreed with Rei, essentially it was the same, only different circumstances. But since she was apart of those circumstances, it only made the admission that much more difficult. They sat in silence, both steaming in emotions. "Everything's falling apart, Rei." The statement that broke the silence caught Rei by surprise. She furrowed her eyebrows, taking in Ami's expression. "I guess it is," she admitted. "How do we keep it together?" Rei asked, knowing she would have an answer. Ami's blue eyes closed. "I don't know." Rei bit her lip. It was never a good sign when Ami was out of answers. She looked at her and frowned, a heavy feeling settling in both of them, surrendering to the overpowering situation. She put an arm around her shoulders and they embraced, while Rei wondered how one moment of hurt and confusion, one lapse in judgment, one regretful act on desire could have such far-reaching consequences for her and every single person that she cared about. The comfort of the other lessened their dejection, though both now noticed how few answers they had compared to the many problems they faced. "Thanks." Ami quietly said to her as she prepared to leave. Rei smiled at her, showing her own gratitude. "Not everything's falling apart Ami-chan. At least I still have you on my side." "We haven't taken sides-" Rei stopped her with a sarcastic laugh and opened the apartment door. She kept laughing when she saw Makoto, panting from running up the flights of steps to Ami's apartment. Her green eyes flashed at the miko, who continued to grin at her. Ami looked at Rei strangely as she grinned, apparently hiding her anger with the smile. Her blue eyes turned to Makoto. Rei looked at each of them as they looked at each other, the disdain in her smile fading. "I was just leaving..." She looked particularly at Makoto, who neglected to pay attention, her eyes focused solely on Ami. She smiled again, this time with enjoyment, suddenly feeling optimistic. Thinking better of saying anymore, she slipped away from them, looking back once with a pleased smirk. Ami spoke first, her eyes shifting about, not wanting to look directly at Makoto. "Did you talk to her yet?" "Yeah, Minako finally got her to talk to me." She looked over Ami's shoulders into the apartment. "Are you going to invite me inside?" She avoided Makoto's eyes carefully. "Not yet." Makoto nodded understandingly. "Well," she smiled sheepishly, "I apologized for all that stupid stuff I said. And she apologized. She said she doesn't want to keep us apart." Her smile grew as she closed the gap between them. Ami wasn't as celebratory as she expected her to be. "What about him?" "I..." She looked away, cursing herself for not having the right answer. "I haven't gotten to do it yet, but I will, I swear." She frowned as Ami shook her head. "Don't do this Makoto. You don't have to do this for me. I understand that you still want to be with him." Makoto sucked her teeth in frustration. "Don't you understand, Ami? I didn't just put my fate and my identity on the line so you could be my 'mistress' or something. I'm done with him, believe me." Ami rubbed her eyes for clarity; she felt like everything was suddenly devoid of logic. Makoto was basically telling her that Usagi had forgiven them, they could be together, and everything was resolved. But the feeling inside her still said that things were in disorder. She looked cautiously at Makoto, hoping to glance at her without the taller girl looking at her, to study her without worry about being studied. Unfortunately Makoto's focus was pinned on her. There was a certainty in her eyes that Ami wished she had. "I don't know, I still don't feel right about something." Makoto was bewildered. "What? How? What?! Ami, we can be together! Be happy!" She took one of Makoto's hands in both of her own and smiled assuredly. "I am. But, I want Rei to be happy too." "Rei?" Makoto loosened her hand from Ami's. "She almost cost us this. Besides she seemed pretty happy when she was leaving." Ami gave her a sharp look. "I hope you're not implying-" "No, no, no, that's not what I meant." Makoto slapped her forehead, chuckling to herself. "Look at us already. Only the gods know why we're all so jealous and protective." "Because that's what we were meant to do, protect. And we would do a much better job if we were a team again." "We are a team!" Ami looked at her seriously, and Makoto rubbed the back of her head embarrassedly. "Okay, we're not as tight as we used to be. And..." She sighed, "I'll admit that part, a minimal part, of it may be my fault. But not all of it." "Maybe it's better to not try and place blame, like we've been doing." "Because in the end, we know whose fault it is." "Makoto!" She laughed again, this time at Ami's reproaching, but cute tone. "You're right, you're always right." She said sincerely with a wistful sigh, leaning towards the smaller girl. "Can I come in now?" This time Ami laughed at herself, realizing she had been carrying on the entire conversation with Makoto in the hallway while she was standing in the doorsill. But she didn't let her in yet. "Will you talk to Minako with me?" "About Rei?" Ami nodded. Makoto shifted her eyes from Ami to the interior of the apartment, where she was desperate to be. "You've talked to Rei about all this haven't you?" "Yes, about everything." "Hmm," Makoto chewed it over in her head, "And she wasn't a jerk about it, like I was to her. I guess I'll talk to Mina, if you say that she really is sorry." "She really is sorry." Makoto put her hands on the doorframe. "Good... Can I come in now? Please?" Ami only smiled, an impish little smile, and moved aside to let her in. Artemis' tail twitched uneasily as he sat on Minako's bed and watched her. She had been staring out the window for over an hour. Ami and Makoto had been there earlier, and had shared some interesting news. He shook his white head and sighed, guessing, and hoping, that it was all destiny. Minako would've told him that destiny was bullshit. He sincerely hoped that she still didn't think so, but after all she went through, she was entitled to. What Ami and Makoto told her though, seemed to be changing her mind. "Minako," He ventured, evoking no response. "Minako," He tried again, "Are you alright?" She blinked suddenly and seemed to come back to life. "I'm fine," She said quietly. "I don't know. You haven't said anything since Makoto and Ami left." He padded off the bed and jumped onto the window sill. "You're thinking about what they said?" Minako sighed and scratched the back of his ears. "Of course I am." He resisted the urge to purr, although he wanted to. Minako laughed dejectedly at him before sighing again. "What am I going to do?" He gave in and purred. "I wish I could tell you. This is something only you can figure out." "Is this some kind of messed up senshi test? Is somebody in Crystal Tokyo laughing at me right now?" Artemis nudged her with his head. "Would you stop talking like that? You say that you don't believe in destiny anymore, well then why don't you change it. Do something and stop avoiding the situation." Minako crossed her arms indignantly. "I'm not avoiding anything." Artemis looked at her as seriously as a cat could. Her irritation melted away and he registered the longing in her eyes. "I miss her." "I know." He nudged her again. She scratched his head gratefully, even smiling. Rei grunted as she pulled the arrows out of the target, the spot she had hit twelve times in a row. She found that, for whatever strange reason, she was a better archer when her body was tense; a fact that befuddled her grandfather who watched her with delight. "My child, you are truly perplexing," He chuckled, as she let lose another one perfectly, "What if I asked you to relax as you practiced?" She shrugged, "I'll try." The old man's mystified expression would've been comical if Rei was in a better mood, as she missed the target board completely in her attempt to relax. She shrugged again, "I guess that doesn't work." Before her grandfather could reply, Yuuichiro meekly called for Rei's attention. "Um, Rei-san, there's someone here to see you." She turned her back to him, aiming another arrow, "I don't want to see anyone right now, tell them to come tomorrow." "Rei," She was surprised that he was still there, but he seemed determined, "You should come. It's Minako." The old man ducked, a misfired arrow barely missing his bald head. She swallowed as she waited for Yuuichiro to find her, still not sure what she was doing there. She mused over how long she hadn't been at the shrine, than stopped herself, realizing she had no idea what to say to Rei. There wasn't much she could say, considering she had refused to forgive her the last time they met. Rei, still carrying her bow, stopped abruptly as she rounded the corner and saw Minako. Sighing, she slowly went to her, wondering why she would be there, after outright refusing her forgiveness just a few days ago. Minako inhaled sharply as she looked up from her shoes and saw the miko suddenly standing before her. "Hi..." "Hi," Rei licked her lips nervously. The blonde was at a loss for words after that. She had hardly an idea of why she was there, let alone what to say now. "...Were you busy?" She asked lamely, looking at the bow. Rei looked at the bow too, stupidly still holding it, she chuckled quietly and dropped it right there. "No, not really." What the hell do you want?, she screamed in her head. "Um... so... You came... because...?" Biting her lip and not having enough courage to look at Rei directly, she squeaked out an answer, "I thought maybe we should, um, talk." "Talk?" Bewildered, Rei tried to look her in the eyes, but she wouldn't permit. The miko ran a hand through her dark hair, her frustration becoming apparent. "You want to talk now? I really don't understand, why-" "Listen," Minako put a hand up, before she got started. "I had a conversation with Ami and Mako-chan. And I guess, they told you the same things." "Oh," Rei looked away disappointed, "You want to talk about that. Okay, but not out here, where Grandpa can hear us. "What about," She looked at Minako cautiously, "My room?" To her surprise the blonde shrugged, "Sure." They sat at the edge of Rei's bed with enough space in between as to let the silence be the only thing that remained awkward. After enough dreadfully quiet minutes, Rei decided to speak first, "So... Ami and Makoto, that was surprising, huh?" "Oh, oh yeah, can you believe it? I would've never guessed..." "Hmm, me neither." Silence again. Rei drummed her fingers on the bed, almost angry at how useless her being there was. "This is... probably a bad idea." Minako seemed to have read her mind. "Probably," Rei agreed agitatedly, "Why did you come here anyway?" Sighing, the blonde rose from her seat. Yes, it was a very bad idea. But still with nothing contrived to say, she whispered the truth,"I just wanted to see you." The confession made Rei's dark eyebrows furrow together, trying to understand. She rose out of her seat too, unsure of what to say next. She asked in a low voice to Minako's back, "Why would you want to do that? I thought you hated me." Minako could feel her warm presence right behind her, but still couldn't bring herself to look at her. "I did," she admitted unabashedly. "But, I guess I don't now." Rei couldn't contain the urge to look into Minako's blue eyes any longer. She grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around, forcing her piercing eyes into hers. "You're confusing the hell out of me Minako. Does this mean you forgive me?" "Rei..." Those violet eyes were almost too much to hold up against, Minako again at a loss for words. She whispered that miko's name again, and it was apparent to Rei that she indeed no longer hated her. There was a quality in her voice that Rei was overjoyed to hear, longing, affection, forgiveness. She wanted to say more, ask more questions, work it all out, but in the space of time that they looked at each other, Minako's hands came up to tug at the front of her shrine robe and in a dreamlike state leaned in and kissed her. Surprised as she was, it took Rei a few seconds to respond, but when she did, it was with unrestrained fervor. It was as if they were possessed, suddenly forgotten everything that had occurred minutes, days, weeks ago. Clothing was ripped off, mouths melted together, hands caressed and clawed, legs wrapped around each other, frustrations were relieved. Somewhere in the midst of the heat their eyes met again, and Rei tried unsuccessfully to find something recognizable behind Minako's gaze, clouded by the thick haze of lust that was matched in her own. Her eyes closing in sweet pleasure, she wanted to stop thinking, but couldn't. It felt good, but it didn't feel right.
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