Awkward Space
For all its upscale furnishings and expensive appeal, the orderly hotel room was suffocating in its neutral colors and blandness. Outside the wrap around windows, the setting sun shone on the skyline of a foreign city; neon lights blinked into existence, apartment lights turned on, and in the distance, an impressive clock face glowed the time. Big Ben? This was Britain she was seeing?
Slowly, the other end of the unremarkable room came into focus. A petite, dark haired woman trudged through the door, dropped her oversize purse in the hallway, and stumbled into the bedroom where she promptly collapsed on the bed. A small, white plushie cat hopped up alongside her, but her attention was glued to a framed photo on the nightstand, the only personal touch in the almost sterile room. Eyeing the picture critically, the young woman finally picked it up, as if drawing it closer to herself would bring her closer to the emotions captured within it.
And just like that, Rei’s view shifted. No longer watching from afar, it was suddenly as though she were lying right next to the object of her vision, and when she looked down for a better glimpse of the photo, she was shocked to see a well remembered image of herself and Minako, side by side at the beach wearing matching bikinis and matching grins.
Which is when she looked back at the white cat and finally recognized Artemis.
Which is when she slowly turned her head, knowing who she’d see, but almost afraid to see it…
Aino Minako lay next to her. And having made that recognition, a sudden wave of foreign emotions flooded Rei’s consciousness; exhaustion, frustration, excitement, but mostly, what she felt from the other girl was longing. And above all, one concrete thought slammed into Rei’s mind:
‘Tomorrow. I’ll get to see her again tomorrow.’
Rei carefully set her brush down on the simple, wooden dresser of her old room at the Hikawa Shrine. Staring blankly at her reflection, her mind replayed the vision she had experienced the night before; a vision brought to her unbidden by the mere flame of a candle at the most unopportune time during dinner with Usagi.
She had always had a talent for seeing things, premonitions, in the fire before, but such images had always come to her in vague and abstract shapes and feelings, never so clearly defined, never so fully detailed, never had she been able to pinpoint someone she knew on demand and… and understand what they were thinking! The newfound ability somewhat frightened her, and although she had to admit that she longed to try it again, she didn’t know if it was because she wanted to test her new found skill, or simply because she wanted to see the image of Minako once more.
Having not fallen asleep until the early hours of the morning, Rei had spent most of the previous night in a frustrated state of confusion. How had she gained this ability? Was it related to remembering her past life? Had she regained a skill she had once used during her life on the moon? And if so, what had triggered the vision and what was its significance?
But what had shocked her the most was that although she had felt the truth in her strange premonition, she had still been caught off guard when Usagi had called her earlier that morning to inform her of the party that night – a party to welcome back Aino Minako.
There were too many questions, too many uncertainties; between the memories of her past life that still trickled to her consciousness in bits and pieces, her strange new ability to tap into there whereabouts and whatabouts of her closest friend, and her yet jumbled feelings for said woman… and now she was forced with facing her?
Well, she’d have to face her mad, because Rei was rather upset at the singer, who couldn’t so much as let her closest friend know she was coming back for a visit. But then, that irritation would only make it easier to face the object of her confusion, for that anger, that desire to avoid Minako, was so much easier than dealing with the other warring feelings she couldn’t seem to keep her mind off of.
And here she was, in her old room at her old shrine, getting ready; perhaps a little overdressed in a skirt that might have been a little too short and a blouse that might have been a little too fitted for a respectable miko, perhaps being a little too critical of the makeup she was applying ever so carefully, perhaps fussing entirely too much when she wasn’t even sure why she was doing it in the first place.
There was, of course, one upside to this distraction. At least she could put off meeting with her shrine elders this day. But she also knew she couldn’t put off the reason for her trip forever, for when it came down to it, they were as aware of the purpose of her visit as she was.
OOO
Minako paused behind a door that only she could see, a door that would lead her to the senshi’s secret headquarters. It sounded silly, at the age of nineteen, to still use such words, but that’s exactly what that room had been; a secret base from which they’d planned to protect the world. It seemed like a lifetime ago. Technically, since they’d all died, only to be reborn thanks to Usagi and the power of the ginzuishou, it had been a lifetime ago. Minako smirked sardonically and wrapped her hand around the cool, metal doorknob.
But she didn’t open the door. Slowly, her hand returned back to her side distractedly. Even though they’d grown so close, she anticipated that she and Rei would barely acknowledge each other at first; that default need for rivalry was still so much a part of them. It had been five months since they’d last seen each other. It felt like yesterday. It felt like forever. She couldn’t distinguish the difference, it was too confusing, but she supposed that went with the territory.
Minako realized she was stalling, but it was that same self awareness that made her begrudgingly understand that the anticipation of seeing Rei always reduced her to a giddy school girl.
The pop star sucked in a breath of air and stood straight. Such a simple thing shouldn’t bother her. She was Aino Minako, international singing sensation. She’d performed concerts in front of tens of thousands, been on countless television interviews, all without blinking an eye. But here, one woman; her closest friend, reduced her to a shy and nervous wreck.
Finally, she grit her teeth and stepped forward, and with a shaky hand, reached out to open the door.
OOO
“Kino Hana-ya.” Usagi sighed dreamily.
“Hmm. You are going to keep your last name, then.” Rei commented critically.
“Owning your own business at nineteen? You’re so amazing, Mako-chan.” Ami complimented kindly.
With Rei holding a small, colorful piece of paper between them, Kino Makoto blushed down at the advertisement that promoted her small flower shop that had only just opened its doors.
“Wai! Minako-chan!” It was Usagi’s excitable voice that caused her friends to first cringe, and second, catch her excitement.
Barely waiting for the idol to finish descending the steps, the former princess tackled her jetsetting friend, who, despite her time away from the ball of energy that was Usagi, still managed to keep not only her feet underneath her, but Usagi’s, too. A good sense of balance was a prerequisite to befriending the excitable woman, but Minako had the ability to do it all while maintaining her cool sense of grace.
There was a flurry of motion and Minako was surrounded. Usagi clung to one arm, Makoto was firing questions at her, and Ami was trying to get a polite, yet insistent word in edgewise. Laughs and hugs abounded as each woman got reacquainted with each other in a girlish barrage of words, squeals and gestures that covered each others newest hairstyle, the latest makeup and accessories, and of course, the freshest gossip.
Finally deciding she’d waited long enough, Minako causally turned to Usagi. “Did you get a hold of Rei? Was she going to be able to make it?”
The question was a farce. She’d felt Rei’s eyes on her the moment she’d walked through that door, and it had taken every ounce of willpower she’d had to keep from running directly to her. But Minako knew the most effective ways to Rei’s heart, and playing hard to get was one of them.
“She was with us just a second ago,” Ami began uncertainly, “oh, there she is.”
“Earth to Rei-chan?” Makoto teased her gaping friend.
Halfway across the room, the miko still hadn’t moved, but it wasn’t the irritation she harbored, her basis of avoiding Minako, that kept her at bay. It was simply that as soon as she’d seen the other woman walk in, she was struck by the intense realization of just how much she’d missed her. That, and the miniskirt the idol wore which allowed for an ample amount of leg didn’t help her in the diverting of her eyes department, either.
Somehow, Rei managed to pick her jaw up off the floor, and as Minako approached to the foreground, the background that was her friends faded away, and although she was sure they were still talking amongst themselves, it seemed deathly quiet to her. Coming to a hesitant halt in that awkward space between a handshake and a hug, Minako pinned Rei with caramel eyes.
‘How is it possible for her to have grown even more irresistible?’
‘The posters and TV interviews do her beauty no justice.’
Perhaps they stared at each other a little too long, for a very unsubtle clearing of one’s throat caught the two women off guard. Minako spurred herself into motion, closing the gap between herself and Rei and embracing the other woman in a loose hug. The miko, though somewhat upset with herself for not sticking to her guns on showing her irritation with the idol, made to return her friends’ gesture when her heightened senses picked up the distant scent of sulfur and a harsh voice carried on a non-existent wind...
“Mars, Retreat!”
Her senses heightened, Rei stood stark still while she tried to catch the fleeting traces of the one remembrance she could never seem to grasp, the one and only thing that could have possibly distracted her attention from the woman embracing her.
Finally, Minako awkwardly pulled away from her seemingly frozen friend. A slight frown captured the singer’s lips. Having sensed a change in the other woman, the haunted look in Rei’s wide eyes didn’t go unnoticed. There were a million questions Minako wanted to ask, but as the others convened on them once more, tugging at their resident idol, she knew those answers, if she could wrestle them from the stubborn miko at all, would have to wait.
With the girls having pulled Minako away and surrounded her at the table in the center of the room to continue fawning over her, Rei found that she could almost breathe again. Feigning interest in Makoto’s ad, still secured loosely between her fingers, she shakily found a seat on one of the couches, and though she couldn’t place her finger on the memory she searched for, another deemed to find her...
Mars’ senses were on full alert. She was in danger. Someone was very carefully, very skillfully, tracking her movements. An attack was imminent. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end and in half a second, the flames of Mars engulfed her, bringing her transformation into the senshi of fire to fruition. A quick dodge carried her to safety before she turned to meet her attacker.
“Show yourself!” She barked.
From the darkness of the empty hallway, a highly subdued crescent beam streaked past her.
“Ve…Venus!? What is the meaning of this?”
The senshi of love and beauty stepped forward from her concealed position, her form shrouded in shadow.
“Consider this training.”
Venus smirked, a predator’s smile, before pouncing at her prey. Another round of crescent beams, this time not quite so innocent, were lobbed in Mars’ direction. The senshi of fire deftly dodged each one and deflected the last back at her leader with a skilled burning mandala of her own. When the ripples of heat born from Mars’ flame dissipated, their eyes met in fiery competition.
“Never let your guard down. An attack can come at any time, from any where, from any one.” Venus’ defensive stance relaxed and she nodded at her team mate. “Lesson learned. Nicely done, Mars.”
In a flash of golden light, Venus detransformed, looking none the less magnificent in a pair of low cut, loose cloth pants and a sheer, skimpy top that left less to Mars’ imagination than Venus’ fuku had. After a moment’s hesitation, Mars followed suit, only, in the space of her detransformation, she found herself being tackled by the slender, yet deceivingly strong arms of her leader. The slightly shorter woman wrestled her second in command against the wall of the palace, gaining leverage on the confused woman and pinning her arms to the wall.
The two stilled in the dark silence, the only sound being their slightly labored breathing. Minako flashed a quirky half-smile at her captive.
“What does this have to do with training?” Mars’ voice was a hoarse whisper.
“Absolutely nothing.” Minako’s reply, a hair’s breadth from the other woman’s ear, sent a chill down the senshi of fire’s spine.
And then, Minako released her prey, departing in a sultry saunter, never once looking back over her shoulder.
With a snort, Rei looked down to find a neat set of marks left by her fingernails in Makoto’s now torn ad, though honestly, she didn’t know if the pressure applied was a result of being mad or… excited by her latest vision. A quick check of her pulse quickly confirmed it was the later, but still, why did these random memories have to come to her at the most inconvenient of times?
It was then that the miko remembered something from her past, a nagging voice from five years ago. It was a voice she had loathed, but it was also a voice that she had been powerless to resist... Minako’s voice.
“Have you remembered anything yet? From the past life?”
Then… were these the memories that Minako had been so adamant that Rei should regain five years ago? Perhaps it wasn’t their lives as senshi on the moon or the final battle that had ended the Silver Millennium, but the relationship that Venus and Mars had shared in that era that Minako had held so important? But… if these memories were what Minako had wanted Rei to remember, what did she expect from her once she’d regained them?
The questions lined themselves up in Rei’s head, but she knew they had no answers. Not unless she got them directly from Minako, and that wasn’t a step she was ready to take. Not until she understood how this development affected her own confused emotions.
‘Right now, I’ll keep remembering, keep collecting my thoughts, and not say or do anything until I understand more.’ Although she was hesitant to admit it, Rei realized that she didn’t know if it was the effect of the memories of Venus and Mars, or if it was her own desire, but she was acutely aware that the longer she looked at the object of her confusion, the harder it became to keep her hands to herself.
Sitting up straight, shoulders squared, Rei nodded with conviction in her plan, yet was well aware that when she glanced at Minako through the corner of her eye, her action wasn’t entirely accidental. But could she possibly blame herself when she was granted a candid view of the senshi of beauty in her element? Head slightly tipped back, eyes wide with laughter, a graceful smile tugging at her lips…
And it was exactly then that that damnable woman made eye contact, and though Rei blushed and diverted her gaze, she’d seen the triumphant smirk on Minako’s tempting lips. She almost choked on her own breath when, feeling Minako’s gaze still on her, the idol stood from her seat.
It was only ten feet between the table and the couch, but as Minako closed the distance, time slowed to a crawl for the panicking miko. She was vaguely aware of her other friends at the table, squabbling over whose turn it was for a round of karaoke, but at the very least, it created a decent distraction for the two to speak somewhat privately.
Rei sat stiffly as her closest friend sat a little too close for comfort. She struggled to find that irritation she needed to face the singer confidently. ‘Remember you’re mad at her. Remember you’re mad at her.’
“What are you so pissy about?” Minako’s teasing voice was sweet and melodious, and Rei found she had to dig even deeper to remain upset.
“Would it have been too much to at least let your closest friend know you were coming back?”
A quizzical smile played on Minako’s lips. Imposing and condescending, Rei may have looked the part, but the hint of betrayal that laced her voice had given her away.
“Ara, but it seems you already knew I was coming back today anyway.”
“What?” Rei almost hissed in surprise.
“Usagi-chan told me you knew I was coming back. That the flame of a candle told you.”
Minako allowed herself the briefest pause, unwilling to let the precious moment of a deer-in-the-headlights Rei to go by without cherishing it. And although she would have liked to tease the miko more, she knew she’d have to wait for the right time and place to get the answers she wanted, for she knew better than anyone that Rei had very clearly defined boundaries that mustn’t be crossed.
“I mean, I should have realized Usagi had actually been with you last night when I spoke to her, but I must not have paid enough attention, because when I flew into Kyoto instead of Narita early this morning-”
Despite herself, Rei gasped. “You… went to Kyoto first?
Minako flashed a crooked grin. “I was trying to surprise you, so I was disappointed to find you weren’t at your shrine. I thought I could drag you to Tokyo with me for a few days, but it seemed you’d already beaten me here.”
Rei’s fading irritation became harder and harder to hold on to, especially after that last comment, but still, she preserved, crossing her arms sternly and crinkling her nose in displeasure. “I’m sure that caused quite a stir, you stopping at my shrine.”
“I’ll bet you’ll have a few questions to answer when you return. Unlike you when we first met, the younger ones recognized me.”
Minako flashed the “v” for victory, partnered with a light jab to the miko’s ribs. Finally, Rei squarely met Minako’s eyes and as the two women fought to keep themselves from falling into one another’s’ gazes, they decided on simultaneous laughter instead.
And just like that, the spell was broken. Rei had saved face, Minako had played her games, and they were free to be friends again… until the next inevitable dispute.
OOO
Usagi was bouncing off the walls. Literally. With two long, thin pieces of paper cradled to her chest, she bounced excitedly from one end of the room to the other. Rei, Makoto and Ami, somewhat more subdued, but equally excited, crowded around Minako.
“So we’ll all get together back stage this time next week?” Makoto asked wide eyed, handling her ticket and access pass as if they were made of gold, and considering the fact that they wouldn’t go on sale to the general public until the next day, they probably were worth it.
“You’re sure this is okay? I mean, I don’t want to impose, I know how busy-“
Ami’s concern was cut short by Usagi’s hand over her mouth. Minako waved away Ami’s concern and Usagi’s sudden panic, and found herself laughing when her suddenly exhausted princess let out an sigh of relief and went limp against Ami’s shoulder.
“Someone stayed up past their bedtime.” Rei chided their princess.
Usagi raised her head and pouted like a petulant child. “One more song.” She demanded.
Rei groaned but her other three friends gave way to their future queen.
Minako found three sets of eyes staring at her expectantly, to which she politely declined, “I have to pass, I’m on break until the concert next week.” When she was met with three sighs of discontentment, she offered the next best thing, “Come on Rei, it’s your turn anyway. Why don’t you show us some of that Mars Reiko talent?”
Her posture becoming suddenly rigid, Rei’s words were a detached whisper. “Mars… Reiko…”
She’d just about had it with her second in command and her stubborn subordinate was about to bear the brunt of that frustration.
“You listen here, Mars-” Venus Minako deflated. In the past two months since she’d been working alongside the senshi of fire, she’d never learned the woman’s given name. Even the other girls called her Mars. “Just what is your real name, anyway?”
The equally angry raven haired girl visibly deflated as well, the stubborn righteousness that nearly matched her superior’s own dissipated in a heartbeat. She glanced away uncomfortably. “I... I don’t have one.”
“Don’t have one?” All traces of animosity gone, the tenseness slipped out of Minako’s shoulders as her posture relaxed. Her voice softened. “How could you not have a name?”
Mars’ fingers tightened into fists, her posture affecting the opposite of her leader’s. The sudden concern from her self proclaimed leader, from anyone, felt foreign, frightening. “I… was born into my station. I served no other purpose to my family.”
The raven haired woman chewed her lower lip tentatively. She’d never felt the need to tell anyone so private an affair before. Why reveal this deep hurt to this infuriatingly vexing woman? Surely, she’d be ridiculed for showing such weakness. She chanced a glance at her superior to find unsuppressed compassion in those achingly beautiful caramel eyes.
Instead of questions, instead of condemnation, instead of laughter, Minako laid a supportive hand on Mars’ shoulder. Her normally strict expression slipped and she gave the other woman a gentle and honest smile.
“Well then, Mars Reiko, now that you have a given name, I can properly scold you with it.”
“It wasn’t just a stage name.” The miko’s voice was a mere whisper.
“Rei-chan?”
Rei looked up, startled to see Makoto sitting on the couch next to her. Ami and Usagi were on stage, finishing up their rendition of one of Minako’s latest songs. It was one of Rei’s favorites, but at the moment, it was only serving to give her a headache. Her head was spinning at her newest revelation granted by her latest vision. There was no longer any doubt in her mind that the memories Minako had wanted her to regain five years ago were of their relationship together, and that back then, Minako had tried to trigger those memories with her Mars Reiko stunt...
But her attempt had failed. Rei hadn’t remembered...
And she was taking entirely too long to answer Makoto.
“Ah, it was nothing,” Rei assured her friend. “Nothing at all.”
But when she glanced sideways at Minako, sitting at the other end of the couch, she couldn’t help but notice her friend’s critical glare, as though she were summing Rei up, as though she were assessing a situation she already knew the answer to.
Rei felt a shiver travel down her spine. She was so badly shaken she didn’t know whether she wanted to push Minako away or pull her towards her, to smack that all knowing smirk off her beautiful face, or to kiss those utterly tempting lips. All she knew for certain was that she couldn’t stand Minako’s silent gaze any longer. So Rei expressed her emotions the only way she knew how.
“You got a staring problem?” She challenged her former leader.
“Maybe I do.”
“Can’t… can’t you stare elsewhere then?”
“Maybe I already like what I see.”
“What are you, some elementary school kid?” She’d meant to come off as witty and unaffected, but she was failing miserably.
“Um, Minako-chan?” Ami interjected politely, sensing the coming storm.
“I’m just playing to your level.” Minako smirked coolly. It was too easy. The hardest part was keeping the smile off her face while she watched Rei slowly loose it.
Makoto made a valiant effort, “Uh, Rei-chan-“
“Oh would you grow up?”
“Guys!” Even their princess couldn’t pull the two girls out of their school girl squabble. She turned to Ami and Makoto with a helpless pout. “They’re two peas in a pod. They may as well be made for each other.”
“They can have each other.” Makoto grumbled. “At this rate, they won’t even notice us leave.”
“Here we go again,” Ami sighed, “some things never change.”
OOO
“Where did everyone go?”
Minako performed a visual check. It hadn’t been the first time one of their heated squabbles had left them in another world. “They left us again.”
Rei snorted and Minako laughed. Arguing seemed to be an integral part of their relationship, no matter how much they’d matured and grown closer. As if on cue, both women relaxed back into the couch, but when their fingers inadvertently brushed against each other, Minako felt Rei stiffen.
It was now or never.
“Rei, have you sensed a new threat?”
The miko’s brows furrowed. She didn’t need to be psychic to sense a trap. “What do you mean?”
“Usagi said you saw me last night. In the flame of a candle.” For the first time that night, Minako hesitated. “I know that… you had that ability in the past, to sense danger even from dimmest of flames. Being your leader, you would always come to me afterwards. I thought maybe-”
“It’s not like that.” Rei’s words tumbled from her mouth. Bent over slightly so that her long bangs hid her dark eyes, she stared at her hands. “It’s not… it’s not danger I sensed.”
The idol’s hopes soared as one of the two possible reasons for Rei to regain such a powerful ability was eliminated. “Then,” Minako paused, her heart in her throat, “are you remembering your past life?”
Minako could feel the anxiety rolling off of her best friend in waves. She examined the uncertain look on Rei’s features, and for a moment, she didn’t know whether the other woman would laugh or cry, scream or whisper. She wanted to get the pensive miko to open up to her, to ease her fears, to talk it all out and draw some conclusions. She just wanted to hold her.
Rei opened her mouth. “… I…” She stopped and shut her eyes. The memories, the revelations both past and present, the very act of being so close to the object of her confusion, were starting to overload her senses. She wanted off this emotional rollercoaster ride, before she did or said something she regretted, and she knew she couldn’t trust herself to say the right thing. Not now.
The long haired woman stood up with a sudden conviction. “I have to go.”
“Rei?” Minako leapt to her feet, grabbing her closest friend by the wrist.
She couldn’t meet Minako’s gaze. “I have shrine duties in the morning. I’ve already stayed out too late.”
Minako reluctantly released her hold on the miko, but when Rei finally turned to look at her, the singer had a warm grin for her friend. Although the idol wanted to pursue her cause further, she also knew not to push the envelope, that, given the situation, it would be better to put some distance between herself and her best friend. The further away she retreated, she knew Rei would follow, just like she used to. She just had to believe in her.
“So then, I’ll see you next week at the concert, right?” The singer offered brightly.
Rei breathed a sigh of relief, thankful she was being given the distance she needed. Still, on instinct, she stuck her nose in the air. “That depends.”
“Depends?”
“Will you be sticking around after the concert, or will you be hitting the road again?”
Minako smiled coyly. She wasn’t the only one who wanted to spend a little alone time together. “I think I’ll stick around for awhile.” She returned, equally non-committal.
Finally, Rei smiled back at her best friend. “Then, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
OOO
Author’s Notes:
So? What do you think now that they’ve finally met again? I’m sure everyone saw the Mars Reiko scene coming. I think every PGSM author likes to make their own version of that one. The next chapter may be a little static, but it’s one of my favorites where Rei will remember much of her previous life, so stick with me, because the Rei/Minako fluff will be fun.
OOO
Chapter 5 preview:
The senshi of love released a squeal of surprise that was hushed by familiar lips. Her magazine fell to the floor forgotten as her lover’s arms slipped around her waist and she was pushed back against the edge of the counter.
“Someone might see us.” Minako’s words were a quiet whisper in Reiko’s ear. It was a statement with no inflection, nor was it laced with fear. Ever practical, she was simply identifying a possibility.
“I,” Reiko kissed the corner of Minako’s mouth, “don’t,” she nipped Minako’s bottom lip with her teeth, “care.” she fully claimed possession of the other woman’s lips.
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