Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Vessels of Fate; Blood of the Mountains ❯ Frigidity ( Chapter 6 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Author's Notes: Eh, this chapter I'm not satisfied with. I think it's
uninspired, personally. Feh. I may re-write it in the future, we shall see.

This characterisation seems more anime Rei than manga Rei, eh, manga Rei
wasn't needlessly annoyed often, huh? Oh well. I shall dub her... aniga-Rei! All
hail aniga-Rei! Er... something like that. ^_^;

As always, thank you for reading! Comments and criticisms welcomed,
blahblahblah, typical crap I insert here. (See chapters 1-5 for quick reference)

Again, this is a blend of anime and manga. Mamoru and Rei never dated in
the manga. They barely spoke, actually.

On with the show...

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo



Vessels of Fate,
Blood of the Mountains.
By Monikku




Rei walked to her closet, and pulled out a simple summer dress. She was
exhausted, and in no mood to socialise. Lately, these feelings were not unusual
for her. She longed only for reclusion. She yearned only to meditate. "To
escape" she whispered.

It seemed she could never walk past a simple mirror without feeling
tremendous dread. She had grown unrecognisable to herself, and it nauseated her.
She repulsed herself. "Is this what depression is?" she wondered. "What a
luxury," she scoffed.

Rei slipped the long, thin dress over her slender, naked body, not
bothering with undergarments. She found a pair of sandals to match the dress and
exited her bedroom to find Minako, still slumped against the wall, by the door.

Rei's eyes turned towards Minako in the barest of acknowledgments, "You
didn't have to wait by the door." she said coldly.

"Sorry," Minako replied, sounding a mix of regretful and nervous.

"Minako-chan?" Rei asked, clearly requesting the girl's full attention.
Minako looked up apprehensively, Rei spoke on, "Don't ever come into my room
uninvited again." Rei's eyes squinted, punctuating the venom of her words.

Minako inhaled deeply, taken aback by Rei's sentiment, she was unable to
reply.

"Usagi isn't here yet?" Rei asked nonchalantly, stepping towards the living
room.

"No" Minako responded monosyllabically, trying not to rouse Rei's anger.
She seemed so short-tempered, as though anything could set her off.

"Even when she's imposing upon people she's late." Rei sighed, "I'm too
tired for this."

"Jii-chan said you hadn't left the sacred fire since last night." Minako
stated softly, tentatively, still taking a great chance.

"I told him not to worry about me. I am fully capable of taking care of
myself." Rei seemed indignant.

"He's your grandfather... I guess worrying is what they do."

"Surely, he must have better things to worry about." Rei replied.

Minako heard a tremor of sadness in Rei's voice. She had so rarely heard
any emotion reflected in Rei, as of late, other than condescension, sternness,
and coldness, that she had questioned the validity of her assumption. "Has Rei
been sad this past week?" she questioned to herself.

Minako, building her strength, confronted the formidable miko, "He's cares,
Rei-chan, we all do. We're all concerned."

Rei stared the blonde dead in the eyes for a long while. Minako felt
increasingly intimidated as the moments passed, but she knew better than to back
down. To back down to Rei was to lose her faith in you; to lose her faith in
your sincerity. Minako felt too deeply her words, to allow Rei the comfort of
casting them aside.

The first to act, Rei closed her eyes and stepped away from Minako, towards
the front door. Minako took a deep breath, her nerves were steadily wearing away
under Rei's ruthlessly resolute frigidity.

Minako followed behind Rei as she made her way to the door of the shrine.
Rei yelled to her Ojii-chan, "We're leaving, Jii-chan! Don't harass any young
girls while I am gone!" Her Ojii-chan smiled widely, "I promise nothing!" his
response feisty in nature.


Rei walked to and sat on the steps to the shrine. Settling herself, she
rest her hands in her lap, staring down at her fingers, she felt daunted as
Minako followed and sat next to her. "I've been so mean to you," Rei thought, as
the blonde tugged at the hem of her skirt. "My feelings, no matter how low, do
not allow me the right to batter those I care for," Rei admonished herself, "
those who care for me." Rei's brows furrowed in sincere pain.


"Minako-chan?" Rei began, she hesitated before speaking on, "Sorry." her
apology felt so meager, but in that moment, she lacked the grace to pluck words
that better flowered her meaning.


"Wuh?" Minako grunted, then thought better of questioning Rei. Minako was
quickly learning to accept Rei's words; silly, wasteful conversations were never
needed, they were downright abhorred by the miko. She knew why Rei was
apologising, why go through the self-satisfying motions of asking?


"Mmm..." Minako responded, putting her hand over Rei's, "Don't worry about
it."


Rei sighed and closed her eyes, remorse overwhelming her unexpectedly.
Minako squeezed Rei's hand, letting her know, Minako had hoped, in the small
gesture, that above all... she was cared for, no matter what.


Lifting her eyes from her lap, along with her shoulders that had slumped to
match her emotions, Rei stared out into the street. She bore an expression
Minako knew well, fruitless irritation, "Gah! Usagi certainly does take her damn
time!"


Minako snickered, nearly completely of relief.


oooooooooo


Artemis descended from the tree and began a slow trot towards his mistress
and Rei. As he did so, her pored over the conversation he had had with the
crows. "Rei was not well? Certainly, her attitude had been erratic over the past
few days, maybe even the past couple of weeks, but Rei unwell?" He wondered at
the cause. "What should I do? Knowing Rei, if I approached her upon the subject,
she would likely brush it off and close me out! If I told Luna, she would
probably want to have a meeting immediately. Bah. She's too strict sometimes."
the cat sighed in frustration, "Hmmm, I'm just going to have to observe her.
Maybe then I will find answers to some of these questions."


Artemis smiled impishly as he reached the girl in question, "I swear to
you, Rei-sama, I didn't eat either of your birds."


"I was more worried they would eat you," Rei fired back.


"They are pretty fierce," Artemis stuck out his tongue.


Artemis' ears perked, "I think Usagi and Mamoru are finally here. Shall we
go down to meet them?"


"Hmmm..." Rei mused, "I am inclined to force Usagi to climb the steps of
the shrine to get us, however!" she paused for emphasis, "I would like to leave
some time today."


"I dunno," Minako spoke in jest, "Usagi-chan is getting fat without gym
class and youma to keep her active, she could use the exercise." Minako winked
at Rei and Artemis.


"Oh, you're one to talk. You can't even have a proper jog now that
volleyball is out of season!" Artemis commented.


"What have I told you about following me, Artemis!" Minako shouted as she
thwapped the pure white cat on the head.


Artemis sat on his hind legs and clasped his throbbing head with his front
paws, "Owowowowow, you're too cruel!"


Rei giggled heartily at the antics of the two. Minako, having noticed,
found herself blushing over the image of the raven haired girl. Rei's hand had
covered her mouth, her eyes were squinting, she seemed... docile and sweet, very
childlike, Minako mused. "Cute" Minako sighed the word to herself, elongating
the vowel.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo


Mamoru pulled up close to the steps of Hikawa Jinja, his hand twined with
his love, his life-mate, Usagi. Usagi, so unlike herself, had been quiet and
entranced by her thoughts. Mamoru thought it best not to interrupt her,
obviously whatever it was that had overtaken her needed ruminating. Mamoru
watched her carefully as Usagi stared up the steps to the shrine.

"I haven't been able to reach Rei-chan in days," Usagi stated in a soft,
troubled tone.

Mamoru squeezed Usagi's hand lightly, "I'm sure she's fine, Usagi-chan."
Mamoru paused as Usagi turned and looked deeply into his eyes, something about
her gaze consistently brought his heart to skip a beat, though he found himself
expert at masking it. "I know Rei-chan can be worrisomely reticent, but if she
needs you, I trust she will come to you."

"How can you be so certain, Mamo-chan?" Usagi asked, she bore an expression
of doubt.

Mamoru took a moment to collect his thoughts; the reasons behind the
assuredness his emotions felt. "Rei-chan and I have never been very close, I
don't think either of us have ever made much an effort to. But... I feel she
and I have a kind of bond, and that is one of respect. Rei-chan and I are very
alike, I'm sure you know that Usagi-chan." Though Rei-chan may be bolder and
more confrontational, Mamoru corrected to only himself, "Rei-chan has to work
things out for herself, it is her nature."

Usagi did not seem at all comforted by Mamoru's words, she seemed more
worried, if possible, Mamoru thought.

"But, working things out by yourself, that's lonely, Mamo-chan. Neither of
you has to be alone." Usagi brought Mamoru's hand into her lap, and stroked his
fingers with her own.

Mamoru, who had long trained himself to reserve his emotions, always found
himself spilling forward with Usagi. Little by little, he imagined one day,
perhaps not far away, she would break his barriers completely. "We're both very
lucky to have you, Odango." Mamoru leaned forward and kissed Usagi lightly on
the lips. He noticed a faint blush blooming across her cheeks; he smiled in
response. "Very lucky indeed." he punctuated to himself.

Usagi turned briskly as she heard a tap on the car window behind her. She
quickly opened the door and stood before a snickering Minako. Rei rolled her
eyes, seemingly annoyed. Minako leaned into Usagi, "Want us to leave you two
alone?" she spoke, clearly poking fun at her princess.

Usagi blushed furiously, having been caught in a loving exchange with her
future husband. "Shut up!" Usagi yelled at the blonde before her. Rei merely
stood, her arms crossed, staring at the two with unrepentant indignation. She
could not fathom which was worse, the disgraceful display of her prince and
princess, or the perverted glee Minako took in dragging out the scene. "The lot
of you are entirely without refinement," Rei chastised.

"Rei-chan," Minako spoke, "Sometimes you are completely devoid of fun!"
Minako then pinched Rei's side.

"Hey!" Rei exclaimed, "What gives you the right to touch me?!" Rei threw
her hands out, giving force to her words.

"I have it because I take it!" Minako exclaimed, then stuck her tongue out.
Minako bit her bottom lip, a devious thought coming to the forefront. She then
exchanged glances with Usagi. Usagi nodded, as if sensing exactly what Minako
had been attempting to express.

Minako lunged for Rei, Usagi followed swiftly after the girl. They began,
mercilessly, to tickle the raven haired beauty. Rei fought hard against the
laughter welling inside her, but as a man fighting against his primal urges,
her body disobeyed her will.

Mamoru, who, otherwise, would have gotten out to greet the girls, sat in
the driver's seat, feeling he would be safer there from the prodding of Usagi's
friends. A sweat drop appeared as he watched the three sink quickly to the
ground in a fury of giggles, "So much for giving Rei her space." he thought.
Artemis, who had snuck into the backseat at the beginning of the three girls'
exchange, hung his head as he looked on. "They'll never grow up," he sighed.


ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo


Thus marks the end of this chapter. Eh... feh.

Monikku.