Happy (late) Birthday! This is an entry for “Allegiances, Promises, and the Truth” in the Rei and Mina category. I hope you enjoy it! While CT isn’t your thing, your recent writing about it caught me and I wound up here. (Let me know if the formatting gets weird and I’ll resubmit)
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From far off, it looked like the palace lawn was covered in crows. People moved differently when mourning, they shuffled and ruffled like birds unable to take flight with grief weighing so heavy upon them. It isn’t even your grief to bear, Rei thought as she drew closer to the crowd, cloaked in black herself. You don’t know anything.
But she was not here to pass judgement. She had been ordered to find one person, one needle in the stack of feathers.
Luckily, the needle was tall and blonde and even less at ease than everyone else there.
Haruka lit up when she saw Rei. Michiru put a hand on her arm, as though to remind her that they were in mourning for the King, and should act accordingly.
“I didn’t think any of you would be out here,” Haruka said anyway. For a moment Rei feared she would hug her, but Michiru reigned her in. “Is Mina coming?”
“No. Only me.”
Haruka frowned. “I know Usagi’s going through a lot, but…” She shook her head. “I should be less selfish, I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.” Rei pressed her lips together. “We’re just… we’re needed. She can’t be alone right now. But she wanted me to be with you today.”
Haruka nodded, but Michiru peered at Rei like she was something in the aqua mirror, something she could see through to the core of. Neither of us saw this coming, Rei thought, so look all you want.
The murmurs of the crowd silenced as the first figures appeared on the balcony— Jupiter and Mercury, black cloaks wrapped around their shoulders to veil the garish colors of their uniforms. They stood to either side of the doorway as Small Lady emerged, followed by the woman everyone waited for.
A black veil was pinned into her odangos, shielding her tear-rimmed eyes from view. Her dress was simple, long and black and loose, pooling at her feet.
“Thank you,” she began. “Thank you all for sharing the warmth of your hearts, today, as we grieve the passing of Endymion, beloved king, gentle husband, kind father…”
Michiru’s eyes widened. Rei stayed silent. She watched Haruka through the speech, waited for any moment of recognition. But there was nothing, save for one shiny tear as Small Lady took the microphone and gave a measured end to the speech over the muffled sound of sobs.
“She should have waited until she was ready,” Haruka said after. “Usagi’s too raw now.”
Michiru looked between Haruka and Rei. When Rei stayed silent, she gave a weak smile. “It’s important that she shows what strength she has. The kingdom cannot appear vulnerable.”
It was the truth in its rawest terms, and Rei prayed everyone would remember that as she approached Serenity’s chambers later.
“Rei?”
“I’m here.” She entered, feeling wrong, taking things in piece by piece.
The palace had always been spotless, but now no one was permitted in to clean. Sheets were strewn about the room, soft white curves masking the harsh shine of the crystal floors. The mourning veil sat stark against the creams of the pillows, odangos and loose hair almost blending into their surroundings in comparison. The gown was only half removed, clasps undone to bear back and shoulders, but it seemed grief and taken over after that, and without intervention it would stay half-on for the rest of the night, if not for days.
“Did you find her?”
“I did. She’s doing well.” Rei knew the real question, and spoke carefully. “She had hoped to see—“
“She won’t see Mina for a very long time.” She sat up, careless of how her dress slipped further down. “She doesn’t know, does she?”
Rei cast her eyes away. “No. I think Michiru does, but she will not tell unless I say to.”
“Mmm.” She leaned back. “You can look, you know. I always figured you thought about it. I did. And now why not?”
“Why not?” Rei fought down the fiery bile of anger rising in her throat. Grief warps things, she told herself.
“You can’t tell me you never wanted your Princess.” She stood now, wobbling, drunk on her own tears. “You could have her, now.”
“Don’t.”
“You’ve taken the knee for your Princess all your life, and now—“
“I said don’t, Mina.”
Mina shrunk away, looking just the way Usagi always had when Rei got too sharp, except it didn’t reach her eyes. Her eyes were still hers, too hard, too forceful, too deep a blue to be Usagi’s.
“If we have to do this,” she said. “I just thought we could have some fun.” Tears welled up, and she wiped them away roughly. “I debated if we needed an Endymion, so you should be grateful.”
Another time, Rei might have been angry at the suggestion. Or maybe have laughed. She couldn’t be sure, now. “Admitting his death gives you a lot of room,” she said carefully instead. “And I don’t think I could play the part convincingly.”
Mina smiled with Usagi’s mouth. “Yeah, I always told you I was the best actress. And now you know it’s true.” The smile twisted, fake now, pain now. “Even my best friend couldn’t see past my disguise. I’m just that good.”
“Mina…”
She laughed. “Maybe we should have done this all along. Usagi hated meetings, and diplomacy, and I hated having her vulnerable. Maybe I should have taken her place all the time, and then maybe—“
“They weren’t killed at a state function, Mina.”
“I. Fucking. Know.” Her glamour dropped, and she threw the disguise pen at Rei’s head. “Nothing fucking matters.” Her body, really hers for the first time in days, shook. “I should just go back on my word, who cares if this place burns?”
You do. But Rei knew better than to say it.
“Do you know how hard it is too look in the mirror and see her? To know I failed and she died and still see her?”
“It’s hard to see you look like her.”
Mina barked a false laugh. “Please. You don’t see me look like her. You see her. You wouldn’t know if you hadn’t seen her give me the pen.”
“I would know.” Rei strode towards her and put her hands on her shoulders. “There’s differences, up close. Haruka would see that, too, if you let her.”
“You’re too bad an actress to even lie well.” Mina wavered, broke. She let Rei pull her into her chest as she sobbed. “I don’t want to do this,” she gasped. “I don’t want to lose myself for her.” Rei rubbed her back slowly. “I always feared Venus would take me over someday, but this is worse.”
“You told me to kill you once, if that happened. You claimed to be drunk, but I knew you were giving a real order.”
“And you would have done it for me. You would have kept your promise.” Mina took a few shaky breaths. “I thought she might take over, with Serenity gone. I thought the loss might trigger Silver Millenium memories too strongly. But she doesn’t want this duty any more than I do.”
“You’re stronger than her. Than anyone.”
“I’d rather be weak. I’d rather be weak and have Haruka and you and everyone else see me than be strong enough to do this.”
“I know,” Rei said, knowing exactly how untrue it was. “It’s only for a little while. Just until Small Lady come of age.” The moment she could use the crystal, the moment she could make a show of it and keep enemies at bay, they would end this.
“Which might be tomorrow, or might be another hundred years.” Mina pulled back and retrieved the disguise pen off the floor. “I got a raw deal, Rei. All these years of service, and she finds a way to ask more of me.” She spun the pen in her hand, changing once again into Usagi. “And I’m sucker enough to promise her.”
“I’m here,” Rei said. “I’m here for whatever you need.”
Usagi-Mina smiled. “Loyal as you are, I’ll never be sure who you’re here for.” She stood, now, with all of Mina’s strength and all Usagi’s power. “As your queen and as your general, I command you to leave the palace. I will send for you if your services are needed.”
“Mina…”
“Go, Rei.”
She did, wondering if it would have been better to defy the order and stay, but wondering more who she really would have been staying for.
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This is FUCKING GENIUS. I cannot believe I never thought of it, I am borderline furious at myself, because this is the best of all possible angst, Mina having to be Serenity because she failed to protect her? Holy shit yes please. Also the IMAGERY in this. Thank you!
Ahhhhh I’m so glad this came through alright and you liked it!
Leave a “Haunt Me” in my ask, and I’ll write a drabble about a character watching over someone
You didn’t specify, so I went with probably not what you had it mind! I hope you still enjoy it, and I apologize in advance for the rhymes.
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Minako could only anticipate so much. She’d had the hubris, once, to tell Pluto she was prepared for every possibility. Pluto had smiled, the way Pluto smiled that was more gutting than tears, and said she hadn’t.
And Pluto, of course, had been right.
Minako was prepared for war. She was prepared for destruction. For the dwindling of their humanity as they became gods. She’d thought through scenarios of their past taking over, their future vanishing, of their powers forsaking them at the worst moment.
She was not prepared for this.
A weak heart, the doctor had said.
Minako had nearly laughed in his face. No one who’d known Rei a good thirty seconds would call any part of her weak, and certainly not her stubborn, stupid heart.
“It’s consistent with her family history,” the doctor had said, more to the clipboard than to Minako. “If only we had caught it sooner.”
If only I had caught it sooner! It was stupid, not to think of it. To think that superpowers would steamroll all else. To think they were already gods enough to cheat their genes.
Rei lay quiet now, faded like a ghost, like she was already gone. Minako could not bring herself to go in, to hear the slow beeps that went with the lines on the machine she was hooked up to. She must hate it, all the wires. Any moment, she’d wake up and tell the nurses to stop wasting electricity.
Any moment.
Any moment.
Minako was supposed to keep them all safe. She was supposed to watch over them, she’d done everything, she thought, and yet…
She put her head against the glass. She’d relied on more eyes than just her own. Rei was how she saw, sometimes. They were partners, fitting together so fluidly sometimes it felt like they were a single body, filling each weakness with the other’s strength. How would Minako see now? How could she watch over them without her sight?
And who, now, would watch over Minako?
She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. Pluto smiled at her once more. “There is still hope.”
“You sound like Usagi.” Minako wiped her face. “But you and me, we know how this ends, don’t we? Knowing isn’t the same as giving up.”
Pluto inclined her head in concession. “Acceptance is just as admirable.”
“I haven’t accepted it.” Minako made a fist against the glass. “I can’t accept it, not until I see.”
“We don’t really know then, do we?” Pluto put her hand next to Minako’s, not quite touching, and began to hum softly. The melody struck something deep in Minako’s soul, something old and sad and slow.
“A song for a vigil.”
“The language is lost now, even to me. I have sung for you many times, even as the words forsook me.”
“Do you remember what it meant?”
“Something like a light for ships in the harbor, and stars for ships at sea. I look out for those I love, and love looks after me.” She traced waves across the glass. “I do not know what future lies before us. But I will watch it come.”
Minako could not be sure if the later was part of the song, or Setsuna’s own sentiment. It wove into the song in her head anyway, and she began to hum along. A light for ships at harbor, stars for ships at sea. If you must go where I cannot, I’ll keep watch for thee.
She kept humming as she took her first steps into that sterile room, as she pulled a plastic chair up to Rei’s bedside. The papery sheets crinkled when she took her hand. I know not what lies before us, and may never understand. But I’ll watch it come beside you, we’ll face it hand in hand.
I kind of saw Ami having the Dark Moon because of the whole long life aspect, though it’s probably more the kind of science aspect of long life. Which would go like science trying to improve lifespans but I’m sure if I am hitting it right. Idk, maybe it’s just me being used to the anime more and Rei having the visions of the end of the world. Saturn’s destruction and fire can burn and be destructive (seems I’m rambling at this point but these were my initial thoughts.)
I like this take a lot! Ami and Rei are hard ones for me, because I feel draw to have both of them work like this for both arcs. Rei for Infinity could be really interesting playing against Hotaru and Mistress 9 for the reasons you said, and playing with the line between righteous anger, hatred, and cool minded destruction for a purpose (and hello father issues, though we don’t see much of Rei’s in the anime). And Ami for black moon could give rise to a lot of different things, depending on how it would play out.
She’s hard for me, for a lot of reasons, because she strikes me as the most… well-adjusted? of the Inners. Like, she has flaws, but she’s self-aware for a lot of them, so I have a hard time digging in to meaty storylines with her. (Though like, I do not know if you are familiar with PGSM, but THAT Ami, filled with self-doubt and jealousy, could play really interesting against a toned-down Demand and Setsuna, for ideas of loneliness and desire and how much can you try and possess things and how much can you hold yourself back)
THIS ISN’T LAME THIS IS WONDERFUL TERRITORY AND I WENT
TOTALLY OFF THE RAILS, THE ENDING IS DISAPPOINTING BUT CHRIST I WROTE WAY TOO
MUCH.
I’m going to come from the second season angle, with the
special act never happening. Also, I think there’s no Chibs in the PGSM-verse,
because of Sailor Luna and also working in a world without the security of
Crystal Tokyo is interesting.
So that puts us with a Pluto who has not known friendship,
who never fought or died for a sweet little girl. She becomes Setsuna and
everything is new, she gets to be with people for the first time.
Also, she’s aged down a bit. Only a little older than our
main cast. She is so eager to befriend them and she doesn’t know how. And she
knows she is supposed to be there to warn them, but she wants so badly to be
loved by them that she frets over her approach and dreads their impression of
her being such a bad omen.
Minako notices her, and confronts her, thinking she might be
a fan going to far, showing up places they hang out and always looking a little
too long. Setsuna transforms to assure her that’s not the case. She explains
that there may be a time when additional soldiers are needed to destroy bigger
threats.
She also asks that Minako keep her a secret from the others.
Minako agrees, but she knows what it’s like to take on the
burden of duty and memory alone, so she invites Setsuna along to hang out with
them.
(And as monster attacks start cropping up again, she makes
sure Setsuna is able to sneak away quietly instead of transforming. There’s not
yet anything they can’t handle on their own yet anyway.)
There’s a nice little subplot of Rei getting jealous of this
new, beautiful older girl Minako is suddenly chummy with.
She swears she’s not jealous, she explains to Ami one night,
it’s just that she used to be the one person Minako connected to, and now
Setsuna’s new and shiny and she feels forgetten.
That’s jealousy, Ami says (she knows the feeling all too
well), but what did you say about premonitions of doom?
Rei says it’s probably nothing. Ami takes note while Rei is
focused on her definitely-not-jealousy.
Usagi, meanwhile, is causing Mamoru some
definitely-not-jealousy as she spends time with a handsome stranger she met in
a candy shop.
He of course doesn’t SAY anything, of course, but Usagi sees
something is wrong and mopes around the karaoke bar trying to figure it out.
Mako has NO PATIENCE for Mamoru’s shit, so she barges over
to his place to find out what’s wrong. He caves and she’s just like YOU’RE
STUPID USAGI LOVES YOU. Also, I think Haruka is about as threatening to you as
a teddy bear, she cries over every animal video Usagi shows her.
Oh, is all Mamoru can say, and then he pulls his head out of
his ass.
We then get just fun scenes of the girls (including
Setsuna!) hanging out with Haruka, trying on sunglasses, complaining about
school, all the usual stuff. She and Mako play basketball. A good time is had
by all.
Meanwhile, tho, the viewers get insight into the Death
Buster’s plans. Tomoe and Kaolintie (the baddies are streamlined a bit) hatch
daimons from various objects. They whisper about building up to hatching the
most powerful daimon of all.
The daimons get more and more powerful, the girls fight more
and more. One day they get attacked while hanging out, and in order to protect
Haruka, Setsuna is forced to reveal herself. And when she transforms, she
recognizes the hidden power of Uranus in Haruka.
The girls are surprised in the aftermath, but not shocked.
Usagi is elated that both her new friends are senshi. She offers her hand to
Haruka, eager to see her transform for the first time…
And is blown away by a blast of power.
“That girl will not become a senshi,” says a voice from the shadows.
“You will not lead her down this path.”
The audience sees a shot of green hair, a glint of a mirror.
“We need her to awaken the messiah, should the need arise.”
Setsuna says. She touches the garnet orb on her staff.
“Then the need shall not arise,” says the mysterious
soldier. “If she is with you, she is protected, is she not?”
Haruka wants to join the fight, but something holds her
back. And when she asks, later, Minako is honest. Duty is hard. Duty is
painful. Whoever the mysterious soldier is, she is not wrong. Whatever reasons
she has for protecting Haruka may be valid.
Rei, meanwhile, is not content to be left wondering. She
goes to her fires with a question, and they give her an answer. The next day
she tracks down the young heiress Michiru Kaioh.
“I know who you are,” she says, but Michiru does not falter.
“And I know who you are, Mars. I know what you have seen. Pluto is wrong. When
we three awaken we bring destruction. I will not let that girl face that.”
“What is she to you?”
Michiru freezes. “Everything. But I am nothing to her.” And
she takes her leave.
There’s several episodes of Haruka agonizing and the girls
fighting and Neptune watching from the shadows and Rei being weird about
Setsuna and Minako and trying to decide if she’s relieved or more threatened by
the fact that she’s a soldier.
And finally one episode ends with a scared little girl looking
into Tomoe’s laboratory, with more ominous talk of The Most Powerful Daimon.
We follow this little girl, Hotaru, next episode, see her go
to school and be picked on for being sickly, see her avoid going home. She
meets Haruka, who asks if she’s lost. She says no, but when Haruka asks if she’d
like to be walked home because it’s getting dark, she nods and takes her hand.
Of course, a powerful daimon attacks them.
Neptune appears seemingly out of nowhere to fight it. “Run,”
she spits, and Haruka picks up Hotaru and tries but a second daimon appears. “Forget
the girl and run!”
Haruka, of course, cannot, and if she cannot run, she must
fight.
The power explodes out of her and she transforms. Michiru
watches in despair.
Uranus immediately kills the monster she faces with her
sword, and turns to make sure Hotaru is okay.
But Hotaru’s glowing purple, and in a voice not her own she
demands the third. Where is it? She needs the third.
Michiru drops her transformation, and yells at Haruka to do
the same. Hotaru returns to normal with no memory of what happened.
“The three of us must never be transformed in the same
place,” Michiru says quietly. “Lest the messiah of silence awaken.”
“You don’t have to be alone though,”Haruka says. (She
carries Hotaru, who has fallen asleep, on her back.
Michiru insists it’s too risky. She would rather Haruka stay
safe, but Haruka smiles and says she’s in this now. She asks why Michiru cares
so much, and she avoids the question.
All the senshi, minus Michiru, have a meeting in the karaoke
parlor. Rei states what she knows, and so does Haruka. The incident with Hotaru
worries Pluto. She explains that the three of them are supposed to call forth
the holy grail, which empowers Serenity.
Usagi quietly says that every power that can do good can do
bad just as easily.
It silences them all for a long moment. Then Haruka suggests
that Hotaru seems troubled, and maybe the best option would be to find out more
about what might be going on.
They form a plan. Ami signs up to be a tutor at Hotaru’s
elementary school. She meets Hotaru, but learns nothing. Hotaru is troubled by
bullying, that is clear, but there’s something deeper Ami can see but can’t
define.
Then, without notice because she’s not one to be behind the
scenes, MINAKO AINO makes a surprise visit to the elementary school! All of the
kids go nuts, asking for autographs and songs, but Hotaru hangs back. Ami takes
her chance and asks Hotaru what’s wrong. She’s been bullied too, she assures
her, and she won’t tell anyone anything Hotaru says.
Hotaru is painfully ready to trust people. She tells Ami her
mother died, but now her father has brought home a woman and the woman won’t
leave. Ami nods, thinking it’s a stepmother situation, but then Hotaru whispers
that they spend all their time in the basement laboratory, saying things that
scare her, and sometimes she wakes up at night sure someone has been in her
room.
There’s whispers in her dreams, words she doesn’t understand.
Daimons. Does Ami know what a daimon is?
Ami lies and says no. As soon as she can, she takes out her
phone and makes a call.
Haruka, luckily, knows where Hotaru’s house is from walking
her home. The two of them expect to do a stealth attack (figuring there is no
time to gether the others), but Kaolinite knows Hotaru has talked. She meets
them at the door and announces they are too late.
She turns and shoves Hotaru forward, announcing the most
powerful daimon is complete.
The wind rises around Hotaru. Haruka whispers that this isn’t
how she went strange before.
Michiru runs past everyone, untransformed. As she is about
to throw herself on Hotaru, Haruka grabs her arm. “What are you doing?”
“Killing the girl will save us all.”
“How can you say that? She’s a child.”
The fight is cut short by Hotaru hatching into Mistress
Nine.
The being that was once the little girl Hotaru looks at her
hands, shrieking with laughter at the joy of being alive. The sky darkens above
her. She smiles before lashing out.
Michiru shields Haruka from the blow, looking so small in
comparision to tall, transformed Uranus.
Mistress Nine knocks back Mercury, declaring them not worth
the fight. She calls for Tomoe and Kaolinite, declaring that they must protect
her, they’ve brought her into a body still to frail to handle her power. She
cannot yet call Pharoh 90.
And then Hotaru collapses, a girl once again. Tomoe and
Kaolinite take her up and disappear.
There’s a few quieter episodes. Haruka visits Michiru in the
hospital, and Michiru confesses everything. How her visions had led her to
Haruka, and while she’d already planned on stopping her from awakening, the
more she watched, the more she wanted to protect Haruka’s smile. It wouldn’t be
fair if Haruka had to face a soldier’s life. She never wanted Haruka to face
down killing a little girl for the sake of the world.
Once she’s out, everyone comes together. Setsuna somberly
announces her thoughts—based on what Haruka saw, Hotaru bears the soul of
Saturn, the soldier of destruction. Michiru agrees, stating the extent of her
visions. She’s seen that they are between a rock and a hard place—destruction by
Saturn or destruction by Pharoh 90.
Setsuna sees things differently. Saturn’s power razes the earth
as a fire might raze a crop, ensuring the soil is renewed so that it can grow
back stronger. Destruction by the likes of Pharoh 90 is a plague, poisoning the
earth so that nothing shall rise up in its wake.
They should awaken Saturn to force out Mistress Nine.
Minako agrees. Rei very emphatically does not. They have
fought for their lives. This life. She’s not prepared to sacrifice it. She and
Minako fall into old patterns of subordination and accusations of being bad
soldiers.
Usagi stops them. They will awaken Saturn. But she will stop
the destruction. She will not hear that it’s not how it works.
They draw out Mistress Nine once more, and this time she is successful
in calling to her master. Pharoh 90 appears in the sky, slowly descending to
consume the earth.
The soldiers worry they are too late, but they follow the
plan.
The Outers all transform, and Mistress Nine begins to morph.
There is a war inside Hotaru’s body, and Saturn wins.
She raises her glaive to reset, but Princess Sailor Moon
steps up, blocking the glaive with her sword.
“I will not allow destruction of things I love.”
“You are too late. I will birth this world anew. I am
destruction incarnate.”
“So was I, once.” Usagi fades into her regular Sailor Moon
form. The Holy Grail appears before her, and she takes it. “We don’t have to be
the things we were made for.” The grail opens and light washes over her. She
has become Super Sailor Moon. “I destroyed my kingdom in pain, and I was wrong.”
“I am not motivated by pain, only duty.”
“A very good friend of mine felt the same, once. But she
found out duty isn’t all there is.”
“There’s nothing else for me!” Saturn yells, sounding much
more like Hotaru. “This is something I can do, this is the only thing that’s
right!”
“No, we can do something else, together.” Usagi holds out her
hand, and Hotaru takes it, just as she took Haruka’s hand before. Together they
face Pharoh 90, the power of Super Sailor Moon lifting them up to meet him. They
disappear to fight him from the inside.
Usagi emerges, the holy grail cracked in two at her feet,
and Hotaru, once again an ordinary little girl, in her arms.
It would have been better if I’d written this yesterday, but eh. Here’s something inspired by Rei’s birthday, 800-ish words, and a different angle than I usually write from.
The cake had come out pretty good this year, Usagi had to
admit. She was no Mako, but the recipe was Mako’s and Usagi was getting much
better at following the finer details. Sure, the top was a little uneven, and
the sides had stuck to the pan, but the color was good and the taste was
better, and compared to last year, Rei would have to say Usagi had done good.
Or she would think it, maybe, and say something else. “Stupid Usagi, why don’t
you just buy a cake from the supermarket?”
Usagi scowled at the Rei in her mind as she got out the
frosting. “I can’t put love in a cake I don’t make, Rei-chan.” And they didn’t
make it right, anyway. Not for Rei. She liked simple spice cake with the
tiniest bit of frosting. Frosting was at least half the fun of a cake, but if
Rei wanted only a quarter of the fun, Usagi would let her on her birthday. On
Rei’s special day, Rei got what she wanted! Mostly, at least. Usagi still stuck
a big candle in the center of the cake. “I’m too old for candles!” Usagi could
hear her huff. “Besides, it gets wax all over the cake.”
They would bicker, and Usagi suspected that is what made Rei
happiest. Sometimes, she had to give her fuel for it. She had to let Rei yell
and stomp so that at the end of the day, they could have whatever moment of
tenderness that made its way through Rei’s façade. It made Usagi laugh at how
easy it could be. For all Rei’s bluster, for all she pushed and pulled and put
up walls, her warm little heart was as easy to unlock as Usagi’s cell phone.
Easier, even, because Ami had said Usagi should change every code and password
every few months, so Usagi put in the wrong numbers half the time.
The cake looked as good as it ever would, and so Usagi
slipped on her shoes and headed out.
The weather was better than it often was on Rei’s birthday.
Cloudy, but dry. It seemed to rain so often on her birthday, and Rei didn’t
much like the rain. Mina claimed it dampened her fuse and made her sputter. Rei
had still managed to explode then, but Usagi had seen some truth in it. Dry
days were better for Rei. Dry days were better for Usagi, too, and bright days
were best. A few clouds couldn’t get her down, though, not on Rei’s birthday.
As she got close, she saw Rei’s grandfather with his
caretaker. Usagi smiled to see him out.
He didn’t make it sometimes, as old as he was. “Hello, grandpa!” She
called.
“Oh, Usagi!” He beamed up at her. “Coming to spoil Rei?”
“I am!” She held out her cake for him to see. “I did a lot
better this year.”
“You do good every year.” He patted her arm. “Someday you’re
going to get married up, and Rei will miss your treats.”
“I don’t think so, Grandpa.”
“Oh, a pretty girl like you? If I were just a little younger,
I’d marry you myself.” He laughed, and Usagi laughed with him.
“I’ll always be here for Rei, even if I get married.”
He smiled more somberly now. “You’re a good girl,
Usagi-chan.”
“Try telling Rei that.”
“She knows.” He gave her one more arm pat, and then let his
caretaker lead him away. Usagi smiled after him for a long moment before
turning to head in.
“Sorry I’m late, everyone. You know your Usagi, never on time.”
She sat down and displayed her cake.
“It’s better this year, isn’t it? Soon, mine will be as good
as Mako’s!”
It wouldn’t, not ever, but Usagi would try. She lit the
candle. Really, even if Rei was worried about the wax, she had to appreciate
the flame harkening another year. It was probably symbolic. It flickered in the
wind in its own little birthday dance.
Usagi sat and watched the wax drip. It ran down in a little
red line, pooling on top of her carefully applied frosting. Rei would be
furious. Mako would be offended too, ruining her wonderful cake. Mina would
probably eat it, just to annoy the both of them, and—
Usagi shook her head. “We’re still together, aren’t we? Just
because I can’t hear your laughter, doesn’t mean you’re not here.” She breathed
in the calm, the way she’d been taught. “I’m happy I get to be with you on days
like this.”
The candlelight glinted on Rei’s picture frame. It gave her
eyes the illusion of life, and that made Usagi smile. She reached out to it,
and for a moment she could almost feel the warmth of Rei’s hand in hers. It was
enough. It was why she came.
The candle was burnt low now, the wax over taking the
frosting completely. Usagi blew it out and watched the smoke waft over the
grave.
Michiru is the head of a high crime empire. Her personal interest is art theft, both for the thrill and because the masses do no deserve what only a true artist can appreciate.
Usagi is her secretary who is utterly clueless the business she works for is a front. Michiru has stopped expecting her to figure it out and counts it as a brilliant stroke of luck.
Ami was recruited after she was expelled from the medical community for extensive insurance fraud. While she can sometimes tend towards righteous, her hacking skills are invaluable to Michiru’s operation.
Michiru’s current recruitment target is Minako— a brilliant con artist it’s taken months to track.
What Michiru doesn’t know is Mina has no interest in crime that benefits the wealthy. She’s running a small Robin-Hood style operation (sometimes, she is the poor they are helping, but a girl’s gotta eat) with two bleeding hearts, ex-Yakuza Makoto and petty thief/street racer Haruka (the latter of whom she may have met while they were both running from the cops, Haruka had luckily been willing to take a passenger and had modified her car well enough that the police couldn’t catch them)
Meanwhile Rei is a fresh investigative journalist determined to make her name by blowing open Michiru’s operation, and she’s willing to cut a deal with the likes of Mina to do it
@awashsquid tumblr won’t let me do any formatting on asks and you probably don’t even remember sending this prompt, BUT I WROTE A THING. It’s not worth the nearly two months it’s taken, and it’s kind of a mess, but here’s 3.3K of Rei and MIchiru being ridiculous stubborn business women!
Rei
slumped down in her chair as the final shrine visitor of the day disappeared
down the stairs. She sighed and pushed back her hair. All that was left was to
clean up, then–
“You’ve
gotta loosen up, fireball.”
“Shut
it, Mina.”
Minako
merely leaned into Rei’s shoulder. “If you want to close on time, close on
time. Then you wouldn’t have to be so late for the important things.”
“I’m
not late for important things.” There was a long stretch of silence. Rei
wondered if that had dipped towards cruel. “What I mean is, you understand.
Things like the shrine, or business meetings, they’re unmovable.”
“They’re
not though! Mina squared and faced Rei soldier to soldier. “You are Rei fucking
Hino, and you reshape how the world works when you don’t like it.”
“You
just don’t understand, Mina–”
“I
don’t understand? You just said I did, which is it?”
“It’s
not that simple.”
“Of
course it is!” Mina threw up her hands. “If you wanted to be with me, you’d
make time instead of excuses.”
“I’m
not making excuses, I’m just telling you how it is!”
“And
I’m telling you it’s not good enough.” She turned, hair whipping behind her in
a cinematic fashion, and huffed her way down the stairs.
—–
“She’s
not wrong, you know,” Michiru said, taking a sip of wine later that night.
“Michiru!”
She
gave her particular wry Michiru smile. “You always give such direct honesty,
I’m only returning the favor.” She swirled her glass. “Do you think Haruka
would still be with me if I let anything keep me away so often?”
“We
have very different circumstances.”
“Oh?
Are we not both young business executives with extensive side projects and
deeply affectionate partners?”
“You
were born into your business, Michiru. You have far more leeway than me.”
“No,
I merely know where the limits truly are.”
Rei
glared at her over their wine glasses. “If you had to work as hard as I do,
you’d understand.”
“But you don’t have to work as hard as you do.”
“Why
is everyone like this?” Rei pressed her toes hard against the floor beneath the
table. “I don’t do all this for fun. I do it because it needs doing. If I had
your position and status, I could be lax and cushy too.”
“I
would hardly say I’m lax. The key is management, Rei. Of your time and of your
people.” She hummed thoughtfully as she took a sip. “Why don’t I show you?”
“Show
me?”
“Let
me do your job for a few days. A week, let’s say.”
“You
can’t just do that.”
“Of
course I can. You’ll hire me as a business consultant. Companies do it all the
time. I’ll even do it pro-bono.” Michiru smiled, knowing Rei could never turn
down an opportunity to save money.
Rei
huffed. “If I hire you, you have to hire me. I’ll show you how much more gets
done my way.”
“Hm.”
Michiru paused. “I don’t have any performances coming up. We’ll fully switch
for a week, and you’ll see how much better things can be managed.”
“Or
you’ll see I’m right.”
Michiru
smiled. “I suppose the game is set.”
—-
There
were whispers as Michiru walked through the office. “I hear Ms. Hino and Ms.
Kaioh hired each other as consultants.” “Is she here to fire us?” “Ms. Hino
didn’t seem happy about the whole thing, so–”
It
simply would not do. No one could accuse Rei of being too soft, but she clearly
had not brought her employees to heel. “There will be a meeting at 9:15,”
Michiru said to a baffled group of cubicle workers. “Anything you have to say
can be said there.”
The
conference room was too small for the entire crew, but Michiru gave no
acknowledgement to those who had to crowd along the wall rather than sit. She’d
have to tell Rei she needed more space.
“Now,
who can tell me our numbers from last week?”
Silence.
Michiru frowned.
“Which
of you ran the report? I will not tolerate slacking off.”
Another
long silence, and then a mousy woman with oversized glasses raised a shaking
hand. “Um, Ms. Hino usually runs the report herself. She has me make copies of
it sometimes.”
It
was all Michiru could do not to put her face in her hands. “Then you go do it.”
“I–
I’m just a secretary, I don’t…”
“Do
you have access to the databases?”
“I
have a login, but–”
“Then
I trust you will bring me a report before this meeting ends.”
She
scurried off, and another woman slipped away from the back of the room to help
her. Michiru took note of her. She was either too willing to do someone else’s
job, or else cunning enough to appear kind while getting credit for what got
done. Rei would be well-served by the latter as she transitioned to doing less.
The former always burnt out too soon.
“While
we wait on our numbers, let’s talk about why I am here.” Michiru faced the room
with her shoulders squared and chin up. For all they’d dealt with volatile Rei
Hino, all the workers in the room shivered. “I have no intention of having any
of you fired–” A collective sigh– “So long as you do your job.” And the room
froze again. “It seems there are many inefficiencies in the day-to-day business
practices here. Each of you will have the opportunity to step up to solve
them.”
A
man who Michiru, perhaps unkindly, thought looked like he belonged in IT with
his wiry frame and an open button down that flaunted dress code the slightest
bit because he felt irreplacable, rose a hand. “What about departments that are
already efficient?”
“Hmm…”
Michiru smiled. “And your department is?”
“IT.”
“Thank
you for volunteering for first audit. I will walk back with you once we are
done here.”
He
slunk down in his chair slightly.
Michiru
walked along the front of the conference table. “Complacency is never an asset.
The drive to improve should come from each and every one of you.” She stopped.
“I would like each department to present something they would like to do better
in tomorrow morning’s meeting. Throughout the week I will work with you to plan
how to bring it to fruition.”
The
tension dropped. It surely seemed easy enough to them. But Michiru was not
finished.
“I
will be focusing on the bigger, structural inefficiencies. As they are
identified, some of you will take on greater responsibilities.”
With
timing that could not be better had Michiru planned it, the secretary and other
woman returned, reports in hand. “You,” Michiru said to the woman. “What is
your name?”
“Nagisa.”
“And
what do you do here?”
“Data
analysis.”
“Good.
Every morning you will run the report and deliver it to Ms. Hino’s office. By
the end of the week, I expect to start seeing notations on key points.”
“Understood.”
Michiru
smiled. This wouldn’t be hard at all.
—-
Rei
collapsed into Michiru’s office chair. She hadn’t thought about how big
the place would be. No wonder Michiru outsourced most of the work. Just finding
her office took half the morning.
“Good
morning, Ms. Hino.” A woman Rei assumed was Michiru’s secretary, dressed primly
in a navy skirt suit. “Would you like coffee or tea? Mrs. Kaioh did not tell me
your preferences, I apologize.”
Rei
waved her off. “I’m fine, I can get my own.” Probably, so long as she could
find the break room– or one of them, a place this big had to have several.
“Very
well. I am right outside should you need anything. The earnings report for last
week is on your desk, as well as stock prices and our projected goals.”
“Thank
you.” Rei leaned in to look at them as the secretary left the room. Earnings…
Rei sat back again. There was a difference, of course, between a diversified company
your family built over generations and a small printing firm you bought when it
was on the brink of failure and brought back to life, but to see it so plainly
in numbers… Rei looked a second time. And that was only last week.
She
scanned over the goals. The only thing to do was to push beyond the numbers
here, show Michiru that her way was better.
Someone
knocked on the office door. A large man in a suit entered, looking like a
perfect caricature of a businessman. “Ms. Hino. Mrs. Kaioh said you may want to
meet with me after your arrival.”
She
motioned for him to sit. He introduced himself and began explaining the
structure of the company and workforce.
“Wait,
she lets who run payroll?”
“No,
I should be in that meeting, let me write that down.”
“What
does she do all day? I have to do that too.”
After
a while, the man stopped, looking slightly pained. “We do ave departments for a
reason, Ms. Hino…”
“Yes,”
Rei said, filling in Michiru’s desk calendar with red pen, “and as CEO and
owner Michiru is the head of every department and should act accordingly.”
The
man sighed. “Mrs, Kaioh did say…” He shook his head. “I’m on extension 265
should you need anything.”
Rei
nodded and let him leave as she surveyed her new schedule. She certainly had
her work cut out for her.
—–
There
was a wave of uncomfortable surprise as Rei strode in to the conference room.
Every man adjusted his tie or cufflinks and looked to the man to the side of
him to confirm she was really there. And they were all men– Rei would
certainly have to talk to Michiru about that.
“Ms.
Hino,” one of them started, voice layered with condensation thick as honey,
“there is no need for you to be in this meeting.”
“I
have been hired as a business consultant, and I intend to do my job. That means
I must observe you doing yours.”
“Very
well.” He sat back as though it was nothing, but she saw his color rise slightly.
Rei
took a chair and pulled it to the wall at the back, away from the table. She’d
made a folder detailing everyone in the meeting—it was nearly every major
department head. Not a single ground-level employee was involved in any meeting
that was on her radar. It was due to sheer size, perhaps, but it bothered her.
The
men began talking. She let them go for a while. It seemed to her to hardly be a
business meeting at all. They congratulated each other on themselves on their
production and stock performance, agreeing that the outlook for the coming quarter
was excellent.
“But
what did you do?” Rei asked finally.
They
all looked at her as though it was an absurd question. She singled out the man
who’d questioned her.
“The
company did well. Your department did well. What did you do to make that happen?”
He
took on the particular smile of oh, you
don’t understand business. “I run—“
“I
don’t need your job description. I have it here.”
“Then
I don’t understand your question.”
“I’ll
ask something else then. You cut…” she scanned the document. “Over thirty jobs
in the past two months. Who took on those responsibilities?”
“Those
jobs were redundant. Cutting them will save—“
“That
is not what I asked.” She looked him in the eyes. “Who took on the tasks and
responsibilities that belonged to those former employees?”
His
face twisted as though he might like to hit her if only it wouldn’t muss up his
suit. “Other employees at the appropriate levels absorbed their tasks. Now if
you look at the numbers, you’ll see production—“
“I
see the numbers quite fine.” Rei closed her folder forcefully. “I want a
breakdown report of all eliminated jobs in the past six months, what they did
and who’s taken on what tasks. Tomorrow we will restructure to take on some of
the extra work ourselves.”
A
few of the men laughed as though they honestly thought it was a joke. The rest
looked around to not meet her eyes.
“That’s
not how business works, Ms. Hino.”
Rei
stood. “You’re going to learn it can be.”
—–
As
Michiru had expected, it did not take long to start seeing progress. By the fourth
day, she stopped hearing that things were Rei’s job. They simply got done, as
they should have all along. She now could simply walk into her office each
morning and read over the company’s performance as she took her tea. Soon Rei
would see production rise, marveling as Michiru’s efforts cut the time she spent
in the office while rising her profits to previously unimagined heights.
It
was as she took her tea on this fourth morning that the mousy secretary popped
into the door frame, hands aflutter as she tried to speak.
“M-m-mrs.
Kaioh?”
“Yes?”
Rei should replace the poor thing, it would do them both good.
“There’s
a problem.”
“I
trust you will fix it, or call someone who can.” She took another sip of tea,
but the secretary did not leave.
She
rocked back and forth on her heels. “Do you know how we might reach Ms. Hino?”
“That
won’t be necessary.”
“She’s
the only—“
“Fine.”
Michiru set her tea cup on the desk with just enough force to make the
secretary jump. “What is the problem?”
“There’s
a woman on the direct line, she says she says Ms. Hino herself promised she’d
get her delivery by the end of the day yesterday, and—“
“When
did she place her order?”
“Saturday.”
“We
do not operate on Saturdays.”
The
secretary bit her lip. “Yes but Ms. Hino often comes in, she likes to take
orders whenever she can.”
Michiru
sighed. “Well tell the woman her order was taken by mistake—“
“I
don’t think I should.”
“Why?”
“She
orders from us a lot.” She shakily approached and pointed to a large subsection
of production. “Almost all orders on laminated matte 120 pound card stock come
directly from her.”
“Then
why has no one completed her order?” But she knew the answer. Rei did this
woman’s orders. It was the blessing and curse of a small company—customers knew
and trusted specific people. The woman would settle for nothing less than the
company’s best, which Rei had made a point of making herself.
But
Michiru would not throw in the towel. She was right, and this was merely an oversight
that she should have delegated correctly. “Tell her she’ll have her order by
noon.”
“Yes
ma’am.”
Michiru
turned to Rei’s computer, which she’d barely touched in her time there. As she
opened the file, she realized she had another problem. Two, if she couldn’t
remember the secretary’s name. She pondered for a moment. “Keiko?” she called.
The
secretary reappeared. “Yes?”
“Call
someone who can show me how to do this order.”
“Yes
ma’am.” She turned, but then paused. “Also, um. It’s Rika.”
Michiru
was not sure which of them should be more embarrassed. But soon someone was
showing her how to get the order done, and she had no time to think about it.
It
was 11:52 when she finally pulled in front of the delivery address—rarely had
she ever been so aware of the time. She was so focused, in fact, that she didn’t
realize where she was until she was almost to the door.
“You
gave Rei’s poor secretary quite a scare,” she said with a laugh as she pushed
through the door of Makoto’s flower shop. “If she had said it was you I wouldn’t
had worried.”
Mako
didn’t smile. “She told me what’s going on.”
“I
have your order here.” She held the large envelope out.
Mako
took it and began replacing handwritten labels with the printed ones. “I had a
shipment of specialty flowers in this morning.”
“I’m
sorry.”
Mako
stopped to look at her sternly. “I get what you’re trying to do. Rei’s not
great at balance. But she and I are different than you. There are things we
have to do ourselves, because we are our business. I own this place, it’s my
name on the sign. I can have other people water the flowers, or handle the
cash, but I have to know they’re doing it right, and sometimes, the only way to
do that is doing it myself. And for bigger things, that’s almost always true. I
design the special occasion bouquets. I deliver the wedding flowers. And Rei
has to do her own version of that. She does too much, I won’t argue, but she
always does what’s necessary.” She frowned. “If I hadn’t been a friend, you
might have lost Rei business today.”
Michiru
felt shame color her cheeks. “I’m sorry.”
Mako
softened. “On the bright side, I’m sure Rei’s doing much worse to your company.”
—-
Rei
knew that they all knew she could have done much worse. She’d designed a
trickle up—adjusting tasks onto higher levels rather than laterally, so that
each level of management took on a little of what they were managing, up and on
to the department heads. They complained, but overall, Rei thought it was going
smoothly. The lower levels were less stressed, and Michiru would have to be
pleased with their increased output, which would surely begin showing in barely
any time at all.
There
was just the small problem of what Rei had allotted herself, and Michiru when
she left.
She’d
said as CEO she was the true head of every department, and she’d followed through
on it—she’d taken on at least one task from each department head to allow them
to take on their additional tasks.
They
were relatively small tasks, but there were so many departments.
For
a day, she’d handled it well. But it had been a long day, and today was proving
longer. An angry text from Mina lit up her phone.
Don’t bother coming home if you love
work that much appeared below the big “7:14pm.”
Another
– Only you could make a cushy job this
long and hard.
Then,
Mina of course not being able to resist being Mina—I guess that’s why it brings you so much pleasure, huh? It was followed
by an eggplant emoji.
Rei
sighed and put her chin in her hands. She missed her old work, and not just
because she suspected she might have overshot and made a mess here—but it was
different to work for a team that believed in her. They hadn’t at first,
granted, but even at the start it hadn’t been this hard.
She
put the paperwork to the side. The problem had been in front of her all along.
She didn’t love this company, and Michiru didn’t either. It was the difference
beyond the size.
Against
her pride, she picked up her phone. “Let’s call it off a day early.”
“Thank
god.”
—-
“You
know,” Michiru said over wine on Saturday, when it had already begun to feel
distant, “I quite like making the department heads work more. I’m keeping that.
But they’re doing everything you gave me.”
Rei
snorted. “Surprise surprise.” She paused. “And you know, maybe not all your changes were bad ideas.”
Michiru
smiled. “I don’t suppose we have to go as far as to say we were both wrong. We
were merely both right.”
“I
like that outlook.” Rei raised her glass in appreciation. Her phone buzzed, and
she downed what remained of her drink. “Looks I’ve gotta run.”
“Oh?”
Michiru raised an eyebrow.
“Maybe—I’m
not saying for sure, but maybe—you had a point about Mina too.”
“Oh
dear, I’ll never forgive myself if I’ve made her life better.”
Rei
rolled her eyes. “Guess you should have let me be.”
For Valentines Rei leaves Mina a sticky note that says “Valentines Day is just a corporate invention to monetize personal relationships so I will not be participating. Love, Rei”
And Mina can’t help but grin because the inclusion of Love means Rei’s starting to crack on it for her
SittingOverHereDreaming 