Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Her Battle ❯ The Winds of Betrayal ( Chapter 12 )

Here we are again, and you all know what that means, another chapter.

Serena CrystalMoon - I don't mind reading long reviews, I appreciate you taking your time write such a lengthy review; plus its interesting reading the conclusions you came to. Since you wrote such a lengthy review, I'll say that at least one, maybe more, of your guesses is/are correct. And you are right a little too much may have given away by the chapter title, I did kind of debate on the title, but went with that because it was the first one that came to mind.

It's funny that both CrystalMoon and fan-rei should mention the similarities between the coffee shop girl and Serenity/Usagi and Hotaru, since I was kind of going for a Hotaru/Usagi hybrid with my Serena character. She has Hotaru's looks and an Usagi-type personality. I think I made her look like Hotaru, because I'm itching to get her into this, she is probably my second favorite character in SM. Sadly don't expect her show up again, I just need Mamoru to talk to someone.

LightningStrikes - You have a Makoto Abuse Obsession? I've got a RAO (Rei Abuse Obsession) : P. But don't worry, Makoto will get her do, I won't say when or how…just…eventually. Remember patience is a virtue, my friend.

Since I received no complaints about my portrayal of Mamoru, I'll continue with how I have been portraying him. I've got nothing more to say, so here is chapter 12…

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Chapter 12 - The Winds of Betrayal

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"Wait…let me get this straight. You're saying that the youma Rei fought, the same one from the other night, knew her identity before she even transformed." Makoto said clearly confused by the turn of events.

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Ami responded.

The four inner senshi remained quiet upon learning this new information. They agreed to stop at the Crown after school and before visiting the hospital, Ami and Usagi decided last night they need to have a small meeting prior to visiting Rei.

"So is that why the shrine was attacked?" Minako asked.

"That's what I believe; it's only logical to assume as much." Ami responded.

"What do we do now then? It's not really safe at the shrine anymore, but I doubt Rei would willingly leave it with her grandfather and Yuuichirou staying there. They would be in more danger without her to protect the place." Makoto asked anyone in the group.

"I don't want to tell Rei that she has to leave her home, but if I have to I can order her to leave. I would like to save that as a last resort though." Usagi said and everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

"I think it's important that we find out how they know about Rei. If they know about Rei that means all of our identities are in jeopardy." Ami said worriedly.

"So, you mean all of our identities have been compromised." Makoto questioned.

"While I can't say for sure, I do think it's likely. If they could find out Rei's identity, the rest of us should be easy enough for them." Ami said despondently.

"But if it is true that the enemy does know our identities, why only attack Rei's?" Usagi asked apprehensively. No one had an answer to the question, so she was only met with silence.

After a few more minutes passed Ami spoke up, "I don't know the answer to that, but I do know that we shouldn't take that as a sign that the enemy is unaware of identities as well. All of us need to be on the look out for anything suspicious and we need to be extra careful."

Again everyone in the group nodded their heads in agreement. Minako looked at her watch, "We should get going, so Rei doesn't get too angry with us."

"Yeah, she didn't exactly want to stay at the hospital, but we convinced her it was for the best, right Ami?" Usagi said turning to her friend.

"Yeah." Ami said nodding her head. `I didn't do anything though; you're the one who convinced Rei to stay there, Usagi' Ami thought and got up to join her friends.

"See ya later, girls!" Motoki called from behind the counter.

"Bye, Motoki-kun!" the girls said in unison.

~~~~******~~~~

`What the hell. I do what Usagi asks of me and she can't even come when she says she would.' Rei thought and looked up at the clock on the opposite wall; five minutes had passed since she last glanced at it. `I know her school has been out for over an hour, yet she proceeds to make me wait.' *sigh* `She is so exasperating…but no that's not true, because if that were true; why can't I stay mad at her for very long.' Moments after Rei's thought there was a knock on the door and a few seconds afterwards the door began opening.

"Bout time you showed up, Odango…." Rei began teasingly, but stopped when she didn't see who she was expecting, "Jii-chan?"

"Hello Rei." Grandpa Hino said and sat in the chair next to the bed.

"I didn't think you would leave the jinja. Who's handling the jinja?" Rei asked.

"I left Yuuichirou in charge." He replied.

"Jii-chan, you didn't have to do that. I not going to be here long, if they'll let me I'll be home tonight." Rei said.

"Yes, I know you. I'm sure you would have left as soon as you woke up if you were able." Grandpa Hino said and gave his granddaughter a warm smile. "Besides, I wanted to see how you were doing. I don't know what possessed you to think you could help those young girls fight with those monsters." He said with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

`I guess that's the story Minako and Makoto told him. I guess they had to explain why I had to go to the hospital somehow.' Rei thought. "I only did it to help defend the shrine." Rei said most convincingly.

One would think lying about her `alter-ego' would become easier with time, but Rei never liked having to lie to her grandfather. Sometimes she even suspected he knew more that he was letting on. Her grandfather wasn't stupid and he could tell Rei was likely hiding something from him, but he also has total faith his granddaughter. If she is keeping something from him, she likely has a good reason to. The life of Sailor Senshi was very taxing, before physically and mentally. To have the fate of the earth and future of mankind on your shoulders is a heavy burden indeed.

"I understand that, Rei, but I just don't want to see you get hurt." Grandpa Hino said worriedly.

"I'm fine and nothing is going to happen to me, so you don't need to worry about me. I don't intend to come here again, so you don't have to worry." Rei said sincerely.

"That's good to hear." Grandpa Hino said letting out a sigh of relive. "I have to admit I was about ready go out and help those pretty young ladies, but Yuuichirou stopped me." He pouted.

"Jii-chan! Don't tell me you were ogling those girls!" Rei chastised.

"I do not ogle! Besides, I only saw them for a few minutes before Yuuichirou ran inside and told me to stay way from the shrine entrance." Grandpa Hino said with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

Rei just rolled her eyes at her grandfather. "What you did was best, it was dangerous, and you know that."

"You're probably right." He said getting up from the chair, "I should be getting back to the shrine. Rest and do what the doctors tell you to do. I already contacted your school and told them you would be missing a few days, so don't worry about that." He said and leaned down and kissed Rei on the forehead.

"Thanks Jii-chan." Rei said, though school was the last thing on her mind.

"I'll be back tomorrow, if you not home by then of course!" Grandpa Hino said as he stood by the door.

"Good-bye Jii-chan." Rei said and watched her grandfather exit the room. `I guess its back to clock watching. Damn, this is getting ridiculous. I know Usagi is always late, but everyone else too.' She thought and let out a frustrated sigh. `At least Jii-chan wasn't too upset with me.' Rei thought as she looked up at the clock again, growing more impatient.

~~~~******~~~~

"So you finally made it." Haruka said and greeted all of the inner senshi.

"Yeah, we thought it was best to have an impromptu meeting before coming." Ami said.

"How would you say she's doing?" Minako asked.

"I'd say she's her usual hot-headed self. Her grandfather is actually with her right now." Haruka replied.

"We should give them some time then." Usagi said and took a seat in one of the many chairs of the waiting room; the others followed suit soon after.

"So, how's Michiru been doing?" Makoto asked.

"She's doing alright. She should be released in a day or two." Haruka said thankfully.

"That's good news! I'm sure you're relieved." Minako said cheerfully.

Haruka smiled, "Yeah, I sure am."

"Oh look, its Rei's grandfather." Makoto said pointing in his direction and all the girls got up to greet the older man.

"Ojii-chan!" Usagi called. "How's she doing?"

"Oh, hello girls." He said addressing the group, "And Rei's do alright, but she is very eager to get out of here, though." He said with a laugh.

"That's Rei for you!" She's a real fighter." Makoto said cheerfully.

"Yeah, thanks for taking care of her, all of you." He thanked.

"That's what friends are for! We take care of each other." Minako said.

"Still, thank you. I glad Rei has friends like all of you. She never really had close friends until she met you girls. She has a strong will and she doesn't talk with me like she used to, so it puts me at ease when she has all of you." Grandpa Hino said sincerely, leaving all the girls at a loss for words for a few seconds.

"You don't need to thank us for being her friend, she's important to us." Usagi said and the other girls nodded their heads in agreement.

Grandpa Hino smiled, "Well, I really should head back to the jinja. Good-bye girls." He said waved as he made his way to the hospital's exit.

Once he had left Minako spoke up, "If you guys don't mind, I would like to talk to Rei first."

"Alright, I'll go with you." Usagi said.

"I'd like to talk with her alone, actually." Minako said surprising Usagi and the rest of her friends, "I won't take too long, I promise" Minako added quickly before anyone could ask questions.

"Alright, if that's what want to do." Usagi said, but still remained a little perplexed as to why Minako wanted to talk to Rei alone.

"It's probably best that we don't go out there as one large group, anyway." Ami added.

"I'll be back soon and then you can go up there Usagi." Minako said and smiled at Usagi before heading towards the elevator. `I know Rei wants to see you more than me, Usagi, but I need to finish my conversation with her. At least this time she can't run away.' Minako thought to herself and pressed the button to close the doors.

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Makoto looked puzzled, `What was that about?' she thought but couldn't come up with an answer herself, so decided to ask Ami, `Ami usually has the answers.' Makoto, currently standing behind Ami, leaned close to girl's ear so she could ask her privately.

"What do you think that was about?" Makoto whispered into Ami's ear.

The blue hair girl's heart to sped up a little when she felt the taller girl's breathe on her ear. Ami felt her face warm up and she hoped she wasn't blushing, but she knew that she likely was; it was times like this that she cursed her fair skin.

`Maybe she didn't hear me?' Makoto thought after not getting a normally quick response from Ami. "Ami?" Makoto asked quietly and gently touched the smaller girl's shoulder.

Makoto's touch brought the blue haired girl out of her thoughts, "Sorry. I'm not really sure, but it may have something to do with the other night at the shrine." Ami said quietly.

Before she did anything she would regret; Ami felt that she had to break the close proximity between herself and Makoto. So she took a step away from her and addressed the group, "Would anyone like something to drink? I'm going to go get a bottle of water."

"Sure, get me a bottle of water too." Haruka said.

"No thanks, I'm not really thirsty." Usagi replied.

Makoto just shook her head `no' and watched Ami walk off. `Did I do something?' Makoto thought and went to sit down again with a puzzled looked on her face again.

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KNOCK - KNOCK

Rei looked up towards the door to see who was entering now, `Maybe it's Usagi." Rei thought. She saw blonde hair first and thought for a few moments that it was Usagi, but she soon released it was her other blonde friend.

"Hi Rei!" Minako said cheerfully as she entered the room.

"Hi Minako." Rei said with little enthusiasm.

"Not who you were expecting, or maybe hoping for." Minako said and sat down. Rei was about to say something in defense, but Minako spoke before she could, "Its ok, but that is sort of why I wanted to see you first. We weren't able to finish our talk yesterday, but before that I wanted to say I'm sorry."

"Sorry, for what?" Rei asked a little confused.

"I may not have approached you in the best way. And it was because of the way I confronted you that you felt you were trapped and thought your only option was to run away. Usagi coming early was unexpected, but if I hadn't of confronted you the way I did you would have had to fight that youma alone. And for that I am sorry." Minako said sincerely.

"You're just more perceptive than I would like, Minako. And whether I was at the shrine or on some street near the shrine that youma was going to attack either way. By me being alone, no one else was going to be hurt by him. I wasn't hurt all that bad, I just lost a little too much blood." Rei said.

"You know, you say that like it doesn't bother you." Minako said.

"It doesn't. I can't let a few nicks here and there keep me down for long. You know our duty as senshi keeps us busy." Rei said.

"I'm glad you're in good spirits, Rei. I hope stay like that after I say what I wanted to say yesterday." Minako said nervously.

"What? If you're going to tell me to tell Usagi, you can forget it." Rei said resolutely.

"I really think you should tell her. It would take a heavy burden off your shoulders and then you would be completely honest with her and yourself." Minako reasoned.

"I already told you I can't do that. I can't put her in that situation. She has Mamoru." Rei said dejectedly.

"And he's not here. Rei, I know our most important job, other then protecting Usagi, is to preserve the future, but no future is set in stone." Minako said.

"This one is." Rei said simply.

"What's with the defeatist attitude?" Minako asked.

"Simple, I've accepted that my fate is live a life of unrequited love." Rei said sadly.

"Won't you at least tell how you feel? If not for your own sake, then for mine." Minako pleaded.

"For yours?" Rei asked with a confused expression.

Minako shook her head, "Rei, you really are thick-headed." Minako paused for a few moments, but Rei still didn't seem to understand so she just left it at that. "Will you at least think about it?" Minako asked earnestly.

"Sure, I'll think about it, but I'm not promising anything." Rei said. She wasn't exactly sure what made her concede, maybe it was the honest way Minako spoke, Rei didn't know for sure, but something made her give in to her friend.

"I don't know what Usagi will say if and when you tell her, but don't forget that love is all around you, even if you don't see." Minako said and got up from the chair she was in and stood next Rei's hospital bed. Minako brushed back Rei's bangs and leaned and gave Rei a tender kiss on her forehead, causing Rei blush a little. Minako straightened up and walked to the door, "I'll go get Usagi, she's eager to see you." Minako said and was gone before Rei could even react.

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Elsewhere…

"I don't give a damn what she said. There is a defenseless senshi waiting in the hospital. I will not waste this opportunity." Kenjiro said as threw open the door he was headed through.

The door slamming into the wall gave off a satisfyingly loud bang. He entered a room of various youma, some large, some small, but all menacing looking. Most youma backed off as Kenjiro entered the rather large room. The room was very dirty, but it appeared to be the sleeping quarters of the majority of youma. There were uncomfortable looking cots strewn around the room. Suddenly one particularly ugly youma, he looked like a disfigured humanoid dog, stepped in front of Kenjiro.

"What's got you so upset? No special projects to do today? Ha, ha, ha." He said sarcastically.

Kenjiro smiled at him, "You should speak only when spoken to." Kenjiro quickly reached down to his belt and pulled out a dagger and slashed the youma's throat before he had a chance to react. The youma fell to the ground and grabbed his throat, but that did little to stop the large amount of blood that escaped from the neck wound. It took little time before the youma stopped moving and died from the blood loss.

"You really have a way of entering a room." Ichiro said as he stepped around a youma to reach Kenjiro.

"Shut up, I'm not in the mood for your sarcastic remarks." Kenjiro shot back.

"Well, it is true. Is it really necessary to kill one of your fellow youma every time you enter this room?" Ichiro questioned.

"They are not my fellow youma! They are just fools she and her lap dog, Ryuji, brought in!" Kenjiro said angrily.

"Nevertheless, I always need up clean up after you when you make a mess; and I'm really getting tired of it." Ichiro said but noticed Kenjiro still maintained his irritated expression despite his attempted humor, so he decided a change of subject was in order. "Do we have any new assignments?"

"No…where's Saburo?" Kenjiro asked.

"He's somewhere called America. He's keeping an eye on one of the Sailor Senshi that went there for some reason. What's got you so angry anyway?" Ichiro replied.

"The senshi of fire, the one who killed Goro, is laying an hospital and she told me not to do anything about it." Kenjiro said angrily.

"Don't do anything stupid. You've seen what happens when you disobey one her orders." Ichiro cautioned.

"I'm tired of sitting back in the shadows and watching. If you wouldn't do anything, I will! I will avenge our brother!" Kenjiro said passionately.

"Don't be such a fool. What can you hope to accomplish alone?" Ichiro asked.

"Who says I would be alone?" Kenjiro said quietly to Ichiro, but then yelled so the entire room could hear him, "Who hear is itching to kill one of the Sailor Senshi? I know where an injured one is staying, she would easy prey! Anyone who would like piece of the action follow me!" Kenjiro commanded and headed towards the door with a number of youma following behind.

`The fool!' Ichiro thought and saw someone carrying a halberd cross his vision quickly. `She will know, and even if he does survive against the Sailor Senshi, she will likely kill him anyway. The fool!' Ichiro thought.

~~~~******~~~~

"Mistress! Kenjiro has defied your wishes! He has taken several youma with him and is heading towards the hospital where the Senshi of Mars is!" Ryuji exclaimed as he entered the thrown room.

"Has he now…" she said calmly.

"You expected him to do so?" Ryuji asked curiously.

"Give him thirty minutes…and when that time is up bring him back to me." She said coldly.

"As you wish." Ryuji said.

"Ryuji, you are not to engage the Sailor Senshi, are we understood?" she said.

"As you wish." He responded again and turned to leave.

"And, one more thing…bring him back alive. I still have some more tasks I need him to perform before he meets his end." She said.

"As you wish." Ryuji said once more before leaving the room, closing the double doors as he did so.

Once the doors were shut the woman in black leaded comfortably back into her chair. A wide grin crossed her lips, "Soon…very soon I shall have what I want…what I need to crush the Sailor Senshi. Ha, ha, ha." Her evil laugh echoed through the empty room.

End Ch. 12

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I hope that didn't sound too cheesy at the end. Well I like I said two or three chapters without fighting and then a chapter with fighting. Fan-rei, I'm doing your suggestion; a fight at the hospital. I didn't know what I was going to do for the next few chapters, but now I have something to focus on, so now I know what will happen through chapter 14. My initial thought was not to have a fight at the hospital, but decided to do it anyway. So I have to thank you for the suggestion.

I bet no one expected Minako to be crushing on Rei; I know I didn't. That kind of just came to me as I was writing that scene. I am a fan of those two, but I'm a bigger fan of Rei/Usagi.

I'll shut up now, so you can review or read another story or go to sleep or whatever you do after reading fan-fics. I would appreciate a review most of all, though ;). Hope everyone enjoyed this installment and till next time!