It was hard to avoid too much yuri(ish) stuff at the beginning of this chapter. Apologies to those who don't like that kind of thing, but I couldn't help it. Honest. ^_^ - Kirika ****** Rei let out a yawn and opened her lavender eyes. She smiled faintly as she was greeted by the beautiful vision of Usagi sleeping next to her, the angel's blonde head resting on her chest. So last night hadn't just been a wonderful dream after all. Rei sighed deeply, watching her princess's head rise and then fall gently with her breath. The Fire Senshi had never felt more content in all her life. Things were *right*, finally. She had been through Hell; she had experienced torment that most beings would have withered and died enduring... but not her. She had endured, and in enduring, grown strong. Rei had faced the trials thrown at her by Fate, and she had not been found wanting. The Senshi of Fire had proven worthy and had won her true love's heart. As if there could have been any doubt of the eventual outcome. Rei reached up with her left hand and tenderly caressed Usagi's soft cheek, being careful to not wake the sleeping beauty. The miko felt her heart swell with rapturous joy. The lovely girl was all hers now, even if there hadn't been any declarations of undying love between them yet. Mamoru, the prince, was finished. Rei had no doubt that Usagi would break up with the man as soon as possible, perhaps even this very day. The raven-haired girl couldn't help but smile smugly at the thought. The poor guy didn't know what the hell was coming. Rei had stolen his girlfriend from right under his nose. Served Mamoru right anyway, he hadn’t appreciated what a magnificent person he had by his side. Or *had* had by his side. The Fire Senshi delicately brushed her fingers through Usagi's golden bangs, enjoying how the silky strands felt on her skin. All hers. Unable to resist any longer, Rei angled her head downwards and placed her lips on the blonde's forehead, kissing her only love softly. Usagi wriggled slightly beside Rei, and then her pretty blue eyes gradually fluttered open, disorientation appearing in them for a second. The blonde girl then gave a satisfied smile, her location and company returning to her sleep-addled mind. "Good morning," Rei said quietly, continuing to soothingly run her fingers through her princess's hair. "I hope I didn't wake you." "Mmm, no... I have to get up soon, anyway," Usagi mumbled peacefully as she cuddled up against her senshi's naked form, rearranging her body for a moment before relaxing in the raven-haired girl's embrace once more. "No you don't, I want you to stay here with me," Rei said with a gentle smile, tightening the hold on her lover with her right arm. "Hmm... it's tempting, I ache in places I never knew existed, but I have school today," Usagi replied, slowly closing her eyes and starting to doze. The miko let out a light laugh. "Yeah, my body's sore too," she confessed. Usagi merely mumbled something unintelligible in response and slung one leg over her bodyguard's, before resuming her snoozing. Rei felt a small, slightly coarse patch of hair brush up against her thigh, delighting in the sensation. The raven-haired girl grinned a little lecherously, remembering last night's... pleasurable, activities. She could still smell her princess on her hands and on the bed, and only had to lick her lips to taste her lover again. Rei glanced down at the wrinkled bed covers. They had better change the soiled sheets before Usagi's mother saw them. Though, the Fire Senshi supposed, one only had to take a whiff of the lingering scent in the room to know what her and Usagi had been up to last night. After a quick survey of the bedroom, Rei saw that Luna was nowhere to be found. Good. She didn’t want the interfering cat spoiling her mood. Rei eyelids began to drift shut, the sounds of her princess's methodical, relaxed breathing lulling her back into a peaceful slumber. Suddenly, the miko was rudely snapped completely awake as Usagi's alarm clock started ringing loudly, the noisy bell probably necessary to get her rather lazy princess out of bed. The blonde odango atama quickly reached for her clock, fumbling a bit before stopping the disturbing sound. Rei’s ears were still ringing. "Ohhhh, it's too early!" Usagi whined, returning to her bodyguard's side and snuggling deeply into the raven-haired girl, burying her face in her senshi's ample chest, most likely trying to escape the ringing in her own ears but gratifying her lover with the action. "Thank the gods I don't have to get up," Rei remarked, more to herself than to her true love. "Ohh no, you're getting up too," Usagi said, raising her head to look at her bodyguard with bleary eyes. "Why? I don't have to go to school..." the miko argued, arranging her arms around the blonde's back and pulling the girl gently on top of her. "You *have* to come down to breakfast with me, Rei," the odango atama said. "My parents are starting to think that you dropped out of high school. What if they tell your Grandpa? Or what if they say you can't stay here anymore...?" Usagi finished in a small voice. Rei frowned. She hadn't thought about it that way. If her Grandpa found out about how much school his granddaughter had missed recently, she was going to get the chewing out of a lifetime. Plus if her true love's parents ejected her from their house, Rei would miss Usagi terribly. The Fire Senshi had gotten used to waking up every morning and going to bed every night with her princess lying next to her. And with recent developments, the mornings and nights should be even more... appealing. "Okay, my princess," Rei conceded, smiling warmly at her lover, "it looks like I'll be having breakfast with you for once." Usagi met her senshi's smile with one of her own, and then leaned forward and kissed the girl tenderly on the lips for several moments in thanks. "But you're right; it's too early. However, I think we can find something to do to pass the time..." Rei said slyly with a roguish grin, manoeuvring her thigh into an intimate position between Usagi's legs. However, to the miko's disappointment, the blonde let out an exasperated sigh and rolled off of her bodyguard, flopping over onto her back. "Geez, Rei, is that all you ever think about?" she complained lightly. "You are such a nympho." Rei blinked at her princess, a little stunned. Where had her sweet love learned that word? Most likely from Minako, Rei guessed with some irritation. "Me? If anybody's a 'nympho', it's you! You just couldn't get enough last night!" the miko threw back. "The whole neighbourhood probably heard your moans!" Usagi spluttered for a couple of seconds, her indignant response trying to force it's way out of her mouth in a jumble of words. "What?!" she finally cried in disbelief. "That's because you wouldn't let me have a break! I'm not the one who turned into some crazy vampire!" the blonde said, poking a pointed finger at the collection of love bites on her neck. "Oh yeah, you *really* hated that," Rei said sarcastically, rolling over onto her side and propping herself up on one elbow, facing her princess. She then smiled suggestively, practically leering at Usagi. "Speaking of which; let me see my handy work." The odango atama raised her chin, exposing more of her throat to her bodyguard's gaze. "See? I don't think I even have enough make-up to cover them all," she sulked. "I meant the other ones," Rei purred, reaching out a hand to stroke one of Usagi’s legs. Usagi looked at her lover for a moment, and then reddened, remembering just where the 'other ones' were. Seeing her apprehension, Rei pouted at the girl prettily. "Please..." she pleaded with lots of exaggeration for Usagi's benefit. "It's not like I haven't seen everything..." Unable to resist her senshi's puppy dog expression, Usagi slowly raised the bed covers, giving the raven-haired girl a visual treat. Rei wet her suddenly dry lips, a small sultry grin coming to her face as she took in her lover's once perfect skin, the smooth flesh in between her legs now graced with many red circles. The miko gently trailed her fingertips along her true love's thigh until she reached the marks. With a delicate touch, she lovingly traced one love bite, putting light pressure on it. "They sting..." Usagi whined softly, blinking moistly at her tender inner thighs. "Mmm, I'm sorry, my princess," Rei said apologetically while she caressed the red patches. "I guess I went a little overboard." Usagi shrugged where she lay, watching her bodyguard's hand intently as it moved between her legs. "It's okay; I should have known you'd be mean," she sighed in mock resignation, before glancing discreetly up at Rei, waiting to see her reaction. The Senshi of Fire abruptly stopped fingering Usagi's love bites and looked at the girl, scoffing. But before she could make a witty retort, the miko heard a muffled shout from downstairs come through Usagi's closed bedroom door. "Breakfast is nearly ready! Everyone, it's time to get up!" Ikuko's voice called. Rei and Usagi groaned in unison and let their heads collapse onto the pillow. Both girls lay still for a moment, merely staring into one another's eyes as they heard the rest of Usagi's family rise and shine under Ikuko's command. The blonde sighed and moved forward, brushing her lips against her senshi's and giving the raven-haired girl a light peck. She then rolled over and got off the bed, staggering slightly. "I guess that's our cue to get up, Rei," Usagi said while she stumbled about on unsteady legs around the bed, searching for her discarded pyjamas from last night. "Come on lazy bones, get up before someone comes in to see what's taking us so long." Rei turned onto her back and stretched her arms and legs, flexing her aching muscles. She let out a breath and watched her true love with half-lidded eyes as the naked girl tried to pull on her pink pyjama bottoms, her lithe figure moving delightfully. The miko smirked and then put on what she thought was a charming smile. "You know, there's still time for a 'quickie'," she suggested casually. Usagi let her pyjama bottoms drop to her ankles and bent down to the floor, no doubt to remove the garment once again. Rei's smile got wider with rising hope... until the blue towel she had worn the previous night flew at her face. The Fire Senshi made a disappointed sound as the bath towel covered her head. ****** After a cold shower to cool the ecchi impulses inside of her, Rei returned to Usagi's bedroom clad in a yellow towel, making sure Shingo wasn't spying on her before she made the walk there. The little hentai had been doing that nearly ever since she had come to stay at the Tsukino house. Rei quickly entered her princess's room and shut the door behind her with a click. She saw that Usagi was standing in front of a mirror already dressed in her school uniform, having had a shower before her senshi, while she fiddled with a small pink scarf hanging around her neck, attempting to hide the evidence of her passionate activities. Rei spared her lover an indulgent smile and then moved towards her bag by the dressing table. She stopped when she noticed that the blonde had taken the liberty of placing her school uniform on the now clean and made bed. "Thanks," Rei said over her shoulder to her princess, receiving an absent mumble in reply from the occupied girl. Rei dressed herself in her Catholic school uniform, and then picked up her book bag from the floor, before dropping it on the bed. She turned and saw Usagi rearrange the scarf around her neck for the hundredth time, the odango atama looking at herself from every angle she could in the mirror, most likely trying to see if any red marks were noticeable. Rei sniggered a little and sauntered over to stand behind the beautiful girl, snaking her arms around the blonde's slim waist. "How does this look?" Usagi asked her bodyguard, shifting the pale pink scarf about her throat slightly. "Can you see anything?" Rei shook her head as she looked at her princess's reflection in the mirror. "Nope. But it's pretty obvious you're trying to hide something," she said truthfully. Usagi moaned in despair and moved to take off the scarf, but her lover quickly grabbed her wrist, forestalling the action. "It looks fine," the miko murmured in assurance. "No one will notice anything." "Are you sure?" Usagi asked uncertainly. "I wish these uniforms had higher collars..." she grumbled to herself, picking at her clothes. Rei let go off her only love's wrist and returned her arm to its former position around the blonde's waist. She hugged Usagi gently and rested her head on her princess's shoulder, gazing into the angel's blue eyes in the mirror. "Yes, it looks fine," she repeated in a comforting voice. Usagi leaned back into her bodyguard's embrace and covered the raven-haired girl's hands with her own. "I wish I didn't have school today," she said wistfully, lightly rubbing Rei's hands on her stomach with her thumbs. "I wanted us to go out and do something together." "We still can," Rei said, taking a moment to inhale Usagi’s pleasant perfume. "I'll meet you after school; we can have lunch together." "Okay," Usagi said happily, nodding in acceptance. The Fire Senshi smiled faintly and then carefully lifted her true love's scarf a little, exposing her red neck. Usagi squirmed in Rei's arms with apprehension. "I don't think-" she started, but was silenced when her bodyguard made a mild hushing sound. Rei very gently placed her soft lips against the blonde's neck, causing the girl to tense at the contact. The miko began to slowly rain soothing kisses on her lover's sore flesh, while she massaged the girl's flat stomach in small circles with her hands, Usagi's own moving with them. Rei's touch coaxed her princess's muscles back into a relaxed state and the blonde let out a low whimper, shutting her eyes. Suddenly, the bedroom door burst open, making Usagi's eyes pop open again. "Hey, you have to-" Chibi-Usa's voice cut off abruptly as Usagi swiftly jumped out of Rei's embrace, pressing against the mirror as if in an attempt to distance herself from her senshi and appear innocent. Chibi-Usa stood stock still in the doorway, silent and staring at the two girls with wide crimson eyes. Usagi merely stared back with equally wide eyes, frozen against the mirror. Rei was in no better state, her arms still locked in position, like her princess was still in her grasp. "W-W-We were just, ahh... umm... getting ready for school!" Usagi blurted out all of sudden, plastering a fake smile on her face. "Right, Rei?" she urged, the girl saying her lover's name in a higher pitch than normal. Rei glanced at Usagi, her petrified condition broken by the sound of her true love's voice, and then looked back at Chibi-Usa. "Uh, right. I was only... eh..." She trailed off, starting to flounder as she tried to think up an excuse for what she had been doing to the child's future mother. Rei didn't know exactly why she was trying to lie about her actions to Chibi-Usa, but simply followed Usagi's lead. "I was only helping her adjust her new scarf!" the miko said after a short pause, inspiration striking her. "Yes, that's right. So we should... go eat breakfast now! Let's go, Rei," Usagi said hurriedly, before grabbing her book bag from the floor and brushing past Chibi-Usa, gesturing wildly behind the child's back for the Senshi of Fire to follow. Rei readily obeyed the blonde, retrieving her book bag from the bed before she left. Rei and Usagi went downstairs and into the kitchen, sitting down at the dining table across from Shingo and Ikuko rather breathlessly. A couple of seconds afterwards, Chibi-Usa came down, seeming somewhat subdued, and sat beside Usagi's little brother. "It's nice to see you joining us for breakfast, Rei," Ikuko smiled warmly at the miko, placing a plate down in front of the girl. "Oh, well, I had to go back to school eventually; I'm in perfect health now," the Fire Senshi replied, giving a weak chuckle. Rei reached out for some toast at the same time Usagi did, causing their hands to brush together for a brief period. The blonde's cheeks flushed and she quickly grabbed a slice of toast, shoving it in her mouth, hoping the food would hide her blush. Rei swallowed and took a slice as well, and then nibbled on it delicately, her gaze locked on the wooden surface of the table in front of her. She risked a glance at Chibi-Usa out of the corner of her eye, and saw that the young girl was looking directly at her. In fact, it felt like everyone was looking at her, Kenji included, even though the man was reading a newspaper at the head of the table. Rei gulped a little nervously and found it difficult to chew down her dry toast. "Did everyone sleep well last night?" Rei heard Ikuko ask conversationally. There was a rustle of paper from the head of the table, and the Fire Senshi heard Usagi's father cough. To the right of her, just in her field of view, Rei saw Usagi slouch lower in her chair, perhaps wishing to make herself small and less noticeable. "No!" Shinjo said sharply in an irritated tone. "Usagi and Rei were up nearly all night fighting or something! They kept waking me up!" Maybe Usagi's idea of sinking low into her seat wasn't such a bad idea at this point. "What about you, Usagi, dear?" Ikuko said, ignoring her son's annoyed outburst. "M-Me? L-Like a log," the odango atama stammered out, idly touching the pink scarf that hid her love bites from the night before. She snatched up her glass of milk and took a long draft, once again obscuring her reddening face from her mother's view. "Hmm. And you, Rei?" Ikuko's inquisition continued. Rei raised her head slowly to look at the woman. She met Ikuko's knowing eyes and suddenly, a disturbing revelation dawned on her: Usagi's mother knew. Rei's face paled. Everyone *was* looking at her. They all must have heard what she and her princess had been up to the night before. It shouldn't have been surprising; the two girls had been loud enough to wake the dead. But the miko had somehow never actually believed that they would hear, even though it would have taken a miracle for them not to. Rei had thought everything would be as it had always been with the Tsukino family- everyone totally oblivious and not a word being said about the noise coming from Usagi's bedroom. Gods, what a mistake *that* had been. "I slept okay..." Rei croaked out, and then hastily averted her gaze, finding it difficult to now look Usagi's mother in the eye with her new understanding. Ikuko was quiet for a while, and everyone at the dining table busied themselves with the task of eating breakfast, though the tension in the air was evident. Rei gradually let out the breath she had been holding. It looked like nothing was going to be said after all. The miko gave a silent prayer to the gods in thanks. While the raven-haired girl wanted her relationship with Usagi public knowledge, she wasn't quite ready to be confronted by the blonde's parents just yet. The fact that they knew she had 'defiled' their first born in their very own house, in their daughter's very own room, was enough to for her to handle right now. "Usagi, are you a lesbian?" Ikuko asked bluntly out of nowhere, shattering the tense silence. Usagi coughed and choked on the milk she had been drinking, some of the liquid coming out of her nose. Rei quickly slapped her lover on the back several times, helping to clear her lungs, the action more out of reflex than anything else as the Fire Senshi's brain shorted out. "I mean, it's all right if you are," Usagi's mother went on casually. Meanwhile a larger newspaper had suddenly replaced Kenji, the man's fingers curling around the paper's edges the only sign that he was still at the table. "Mom, I-I'm not-" the blonde odango atama forced out while wiping her face with a napkin. "Oh. Are you bisexual then? Is that the right term? You should have told me Rei was your girlfriend, honey," Ikuko continued unabashedly as her daughter's face turned beet red, Rei swiftly following suit. Wasn't it funny how the ground never rose up to swallow you when you wanted it to? "*Rei's* Usagi's *girlfriend*??" Shingo said, dumbfounded. "Ohhh! This is sooo unfair!" he whined, collapsing back in his seat, his dreams of dating Rei destroyed. The boy's head then snapped upright as a thought struck him. "But Mamoru's your boyfriend; I've saw you with that guy," he said, and then abruptly stabbed a pointed finger at his mortified sister. "You can't have a boyfriend *and* a girlfriend! It's not fair!!" "Now Shingo, Mamoru is probably just a fake boyfriend, to cover up your sister's real relationship with Rei, isn't that right? Oh honey, you should know you don't have to hide something like this from me or your father; you can talk to us about anything," Ikuko said in a voice full of compassion. If the woman had any compassion, she would shut up this instant. "No, M-M-Mamoru is my-" Usagi stuttered, her face ablaze, but was promptly cut off by her mother's gasp of shock. Ikuko covered her mouth with one hand for a moment. "Oh dear. You, Mamoru, and Rei aren't in a... in a... in a *threesome*, are you??" she whispered, but loudly enough so everyone at the dining table could still hear her. Rei's princess looked like she just wanted the world to end right now. "But it's alright if you are!" Usagi's mother assured her daughter hastily. "It won't change how your father or I feel about you. We'll always love you, no matter what your choices." "We are *not* in a threesome," Rei said firmly, managing to gather the tattered pieces of her mind together at the mention of her bitter, but defeated, rival and her ever being romantically involved. "Oh! That *is* a relief!" Ikuko sighed deeply, placing a hand over her heart. "So what *is* going on?" "W-Well, y-you see..." Usagi started. You could practically see the heat haze around the girl's tomato red cheeks. "Rei and... a-and I... I... I have to go to school! Gotta get there early today for, um, a test! Yes, I have a test! Can't be late! Bye!!" she babbled nearly incoherently, jumping up from her chair. The blonde leaned down to Rei as if to kiss her bodyguard goodbye and then glanced at her mother, the odango atama's face becoming even more flushed, if that were possible, as her frazzled brain realised just where she was at the moment. She flashed Rei an apologetic look before bolting like a rocket for the front door of the house. "Uh, yeah, I gotta get going to, you know, school... where I learn... how to do... stuff," Shingo said lamely, just what his older sister and her best friend were actually doing last night that was so noisy dawning on the boy. It was better if he vacated the premises immediately. After sparing an apprehensive glance at Ikuko, he ran from the dining table in a split second, leaving fluttering paper napkins behind him. Rei looked over to where Kenji had been sitting, the newspaper still blocking the man from view. The gust of wind from Shingo's speedy departure disturbed the newspaper barrier, and it collapsed to the floor, revealing an empty chair and an elaborate prop made out of toasted bread crusts. The miko's head quickly snapped to where Chibi-Usa was seated, the child strangely quiet, only to find the pink-haired girl had alreadly slipped away in all the confusion. Rei was alone with... oh no. Rei slowly creaked her head around, meeting Ikuko's pleasant and understanding smile. The Senshi of Fire weighed her chances of simply running like hell. Maybe she could use a diversion, like the old 'what's that behind you?!' routine, or maybe she could pick up Kenji's discarded newspaper and throw it up in the air, using the pages as a form of smokescreen to cover her escape. Perhaps diving out the window wasn't entirely out of the question either. The glass couldn't be that thick. Or maybe- "Rei, we've never really talked," Ikuko said, with a hint of emphasis on the word 'talked'. Rei knew what the woman wanted to talk about, or rather, grill her about. Ikuko had just recently found out that the miko was Usagi's girlfriend, that her daughter was a lesbian, or at the very least, had homosexual tendencies and that Rei was her lover. There could be only one thing Usagi's mother wanted to talk about. Oh gods, there wasn't any escape, was there?! "Eep," Rei squeaked. ****** To be continued... Author's ramblings: This chapter was meant to have other stuff in it, but the things at Usagi's house just seemed to drag on and I thought I'd just post it as it is. Oh well, a little more happiness before angst filled goodness I suppose. ^_^
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