Chapter seven:

Really, it was quite the sight to behold and Minako was shamelessly drinking it in almost as much as she was her beverage. Rei's cheeks and the bridge of her nose were stained a wonderful shade of pink, and what's more is that Rei probably thought she was doing a grand job at hiding it by casting her gaze down to "examine" the small strings sticking out from her jean's belt loops. Oh God, how is it possible she hadn't come up with this idea sooner. As a matter of fact, the idol relished, it should be fucking mandatory at every single karaoke party we have for now on.

"So are you gonna do it?" Usagi was leaning so far forward in her seat, Minako was afraid she'd have to save her from another face plant.

Suddenly Rei didn't seem so interested in her pant's loose threads anymore; now she was far more interested at throwing both Usagi and Minako the dirtiest look the pretentious girl could manage. "How is that request even fair?"

"What do you mean?" Minako covered her mouth in feigned shock and concern, but really she just didn't trust herself not to smile. Apparently, somebody isn't a fan of the old adage "all's fair in love and war"…

Rei was clearly having problems forming a reputable argument against the idea of singing one of Minako's songs. Minako could see the woman's aura shaking and flaring with nervousness and she had to, once again, stifle a giggle. How is it possible for Rei to remain positively stoic on the battlefield when facing absurdly powerful enemies, and yet a little karaoke frightens the shit out of her?

"Ha! I don't blame you for not wanting to." Makoto piped in. "Mina, nobody wants to sing your songs in front of you. It's too much pressure!"

Rei smiled appreciatively at Makoto whereas Minako was delivering her own scowl in response. "But that was forever ago! It's not up for a vote anyways! Per the rules, she has to go through with it…" Suddenly struck with a bright idea, Minako stood and snatched the mic out of Rei's hand, who looked positively confused at her acts of bravado. "Unless, you feel like you can't sing it. If that's the case, then I'll sing it for you."

Rei no longer attempted to avoid eye contact with Minako; quite contrary, she was being aggressively stared down now by Rei. Minako could see again how Rei's aura still flared but it was no longer from embarrassment, but instead anger and it excited her to no end. Minako, for lack of a better phrase, loved tempting fire and she relished in the effects of pushing those little buttons that would set Rei off. On top of that, she also immensely enjoyed seeing how far she could stretch the other girl's patience while edging her closing and closer to her limits. Unfortunately, there were times, seldom as they were, where she went too far, awarding her weeks' worth of silent treatments or shrine duties to express her apologies. I guess I pushed her a little too much that last time… Minako thought, remembering that she had successfully managed to earn herself four years' worth of silent treatments.

"Neh? Should I finish what you started, Rei-chan?" Minako pushed just a little harder, enjoying how the other girl's eyes flashed at her.

"Stop egging her on, Mina." Ami quietly warned, probably seeing the signs of Rei's rage better than what her tipsy self was managing to spot.

Minako decided to end her relentless teasing; after all, Minako didn't want to sing the song, having much preferred the idea of hearing Rei sing it to her. Shrugging her shoulders, the idol held the mic before Rei, handle first, dangling the offer. As expected, Rei snatched it out of her hand with far more force than necessary, but instead of retaliating negatively, Minako simply sashayed her way back towards the couch, ready to enjoy the upcoming performance to its absolute fullest. The peppy music began playing just as Minako reached her seat, and once again, Rei was avoiding her gaze at all costs, jaw still clenched in obvious frustration.

Rei began singing, and though Minako didn't necessarily find it bad… It sort of resembled the tone of a lecture. " 'Stirred by impulses that there's nothing I can do… That has begun for me now, feelings searching for you.' "

"Hey! This isn't a seminar!" Minako called out. Rei met her with a narrowed glare and this time Minako couldn't help but grin madly in return. "If you keep cheating me of my turn, I'll have you singing all night!"

Though Rei's enthusiasm increased slightly, most of the first quarter of the song continued much the same until Usagi's patience also couldn't handle the lack of enthusiasm. "You can do better than that, Rei-chan!" The girl started, but then her eyes lit up. "I'll help you!" And so Usagi did just that. Usagi jumped up, slung her arm around an unexpected Rei's waist, and began singing into the mic alongside her.

The sight before her thrilled Minako, watching Rei once again shoved up against edges of her comfort zone, but she did feel a little disappointed. Though she was glad Usagi was brave enough to push Rei into allowing herself some fun, there were pieces of her that were sad that she couldn't take on that role herself. She knew Rei's pride would get in the way if she had so much as gotten within a foot of her personal space, thus probably effectively causing Rei to either shut… down or experience a melt down… Nonetheless, Minako still wanted to be the one who could stand so close to Rei without added animosity.

" 'Just like predictable movies and books are boring… When life is a little bit off, it might be more fun.' " Both girls sang into the mic and Rei was now visibly relaxing, probably having a hard time trying not to laugh at Usagi's enthusiasm for the teen hit. Minako smiled… Usagi could have that effect on people… even grumpy pyros.

"Yeah, girl, you got it now!" Makoto encouraged, clapping hands along with Ami.

"C'mon now! Here's the chorus! Make it count." Minako shouted enthusiastically while simultaneously pumping her fist in the air.

Then, without a beat of hesitation, both princess and pyro burst into the chorus. " 'This warm feeling is c'est la vie! As long as I am me… C'est la vie, I want to keep on being in love with you! Running through the place where this moment lives… Right in front of me…' "

It was at that moment, with the singing and drinks and her friends…having all of it combined, when Minako could no longer tell if she was drunk because of her choice of beverage, or if she was simply drunk on bliss; either way, she was feeling really good – comparable to how she felt on stage when her audience's wild auras were dancing about. What was apparent, amongst her lit up six sense, was the realization that having Rei in her living room had brought, along with some other unflattering emotions, a sense of completion to her life that she didn't even remembered missing. Yeah, there were small details that still bothered her – like how Rei's bangs had grown past the corner of her eyes symbolizing that time had passed in which Rei chose to live her life away from everyone, but Minako was slowly getting over it as she watched the scene unfold. It could have been worse, Minako silently reasoned with herself, our Rei-chan could have came back to us even more socially inept that what she already is... or maybe she could have never came back at all.

Usagi had them both hopping in sync with the uppity beat, making both women resemble the many high school kids that attended her concerts. Minako had to bite her lip to keep from grinning; she was so scared if Rei caught her laughing, she would immediately retreat back into her shell. Around the second or third chorus, both Ami and Makoto joined in, both obviously being swept away by the happy energy pouring off of Usagi and Rei. Makoto had taken to twirling Usagi and the two were partaking in a rather strange waltz. More conservative, Ami and Rei were sharing the mic, Ami softly giggling when she botched the occasional lyric. Minako returned her attention to Rei and took pleasure in seeing that Rei didn't miss a single beat or need to reference the lyrics shinning on the screen; Minako made a mental note to call her out about that later. The song eventually eased to a stop and all four girls were out of breath, laughing at the silliness that ensued.

Minako stood and applauded all of their performance, "The best rendition I've ever seen!"

At hearing Minako cheering, Usagi attempted a bow, but took a little too deep of a dip, forcing Makoto to use her quick reflexes to snatch the clumsy blonde back up before she could take another fatal dive. The room erupted in laughter again. Contrary to what she was feeling earlier, Minako, now, never wanted the night to end, but, as they say, nothing lasts forever. Once the laughter died down, Rei excused herself whereas the other three women poured over the musical choices they had at their disposal. Rei's apology session was complete and they all felt pretty certain she was done singing for the night. It was now everyone else's turn to perform at their leisure. Ensuring that none of her friends would notice her sneak out, Minako decided to tail the Rei, but by the time she caught up, Rei had already entered the powder room, leaving Minako standing in the hallway with only her thoughts for company.

Leaning against the wall and staring at the ceiling, Minako reminisced over her friends' silly antics. It was nice, having everyone together and smiling for the first time in ages. There was no doubt that each senshi brought their own little quirks and personality, completing their inner circle, so when Rei had disappeared… Well, there was a hole that needed filling, and if the other senshi were anything like her, they had tried filling it with work and hobbies… maybe lovers… Shaking her head, Minako avoided thinking about what that last option said about her own coping methods and instead focused on her current excitement. Rei was home. She was safe and laughing, here with her family. They were whole again.

The door snapped open and Minako jumped at its suddenness, accidently banging her right elbow against the wall and making a thumping sound that seemed to echo. Rei, too, seemed surprised. She raised her eyebrows high as she always did when Minako confused the hell out of her. Minako noticed small drops of water speckled across her black hairline which was contrasting sharply with Rei's unusually pale skin and she wondered if Rei was feeling ok. Instead of asking, Minako chose to not bring it up, figuring Rei would scoff if she tried to question her. Feeling stupid, she just stared at her, realizing she didn't know exactly why she had followed Rei to begin with, other than just acting on instinct; so, she went with the first thing that came to mind.

"A marvelous performance… I could use a backup singer, if you're interested, Reiko."

Rei only rolled her eyes, which slightly concerned Minako. She was fully expecting a scoff, glare, or equally infuriating comeback. "So you're willing to talk to me now?" Rei stated more than asked.

"Haven't I been talking all night?" Minako egged on, feeling incredibly playful and still running on her high from earlier.

To her dismay; however, Rei shook her head. She was being entirely serious and Minako was beginning to feel self-conscience, no longer feeling quite so buzzed and confident. "That's not what I meant." Rei continued softly, "Are you ready to talk about what happened?"

Minako didn't have to ask; she knew what Rei was referencing and already her stomach was turning, except this time anger and frustration weren't coming to her emotional rescue. Realization hit, and Minako started having trouble meeting Rei's eyes. She nervously began chewing her bottom lip. By simply grazing along the edges of the memory, her heart raced. Minako was very much afraid, maybe even terrified, of having this conversation with Rei.

Minako gulped and pretended to examine the tips of her hair for dead ends. "Well, what about it?"

Now, it was Rei who started shifting, completely throwing Minako for a loop. They looked like two middle school kids confronting each other about a rumor. "I uh…" Rei paused, and Minako guessed she was either trying to choose her words carefully or was at a loss of words completely. "I don't remember."

"You don't remember what you wanted to talk about?" Minako completely dropped the act of checking out her hair and deadpanned, feeling pretty annoyed that Rei had pushed so hard to have this conversation and was backing out now.

"No," Rei said in mild frustration, "I have no recollection of what happened that night and would like to discuss it."

Minako was downright giddy after hearing this news. Oh, Kami-sama, you have answered my prayers! Oh how she had wished that the entire incident had never happened, and here it was confirmed! Well… not exactly. Yes, the unpleasantries had occurred, but if Rei didn't remember it then she didn't have to worry about confronting it! All this time, she was scared to death – going over and over in her head how to break the news to the prone to anger pyro that she had managed to kiss and slap her all within about a half hour time frame. A weight had been lifted off of her and Minako made a mental note to find a way to give thanks to the powers that be. Rei was still waiting patiently for her answer.

"Nothing much really happened." Minako attempted nonchalantly.

Unfortunately, Rei cocked her head to the side and remained silent. She was becoming suspicious, being able to sense a change in atmosphere or something along those mystical lines. Minako tried very hard to remain calm, assuring herself that Rei's talents were not like her own. The priestess had superb intuition, it's true, but it was not how Minako was able to taste emotions. The real question was how well her fiendish friend could spot a lie.

Trying to recover from her earlier blunder, Minako pressed. "We just had an argument. Like that's anything new, right?" She flashed a good-natured smile, but it was not returned. "Look, I barely remember it." Lie. Lie. Lie…

Slowly, Rei's gaze was not boring into her so hard anymore; she just looked fatigued and Minako felt instantly responsible. "What aren't you telling me?" Rei whispered, more to herself than to anyone else, and Minako wondered if she was trying to pull whatever energy she had left to use her third eye.

In the end, Minako couldn't continue to lie for her own benefit. She wanted so badly to move on, to spill the beans, but at the same time, her fear had become like a physical barricade, one so tall that she didn't feel like she could hurdle over. "Look, I'm telling the truth. We did have an argument… of sorts. I'd just really prefer not to go into details is all." The fear had returned and now she couldn't stop furiously clawing at her cuticles. Rei must have noticed as well, because she immediately grabbed her hand. Minako was drawn to their conjoined hands taking up space between them.

"Mina, please." Rei's voice was shaking, and Minako almost drown in those watery purple eyes. "What did I do?"

Minako's heart clenched and she almost choked on the wave of fear coming off of Rei, a fear that was mirroring her own. This was not what she intended at all. It was she who had imposed and advanced and assaulted the other girl. Sure, Rei said some nasty things and was acting a little crazy, but Rei had an excuse. Her grandfather just died. What was Minako's excuse, other than just losing control of her temper? There is no excuse! The idol furiously berated herself for the millionth time since the incident occurred.

"N-no! You didn't do anything!" Minako took a deep breath to calm her nerves and gently removed her hand from between Rei's warm palms. "I get that you want to talk about it, but I don't. Sorry…"

Minako wasn't able to look at Rei anymore, but she could guess that Rei was hurt at the firm dismissal. "Why are you being so difficult?" Rei stated, clearly feeling exasperated and aggravated. "Ever since I walked through the door, you've either snubbed me or snapped at me, and now you want to suddenly pretend that everything's just fine?

"And why can't everything just be fine?" Minako bit out before thinking.

"I didn't say—"

"You're the one wanting to dredge up old memories, so I'd say that would mean that it's you who's being difficult." Minako continued on, not giving Rei a chance to respond.

As Rei started to speak, Minako braced herself for whatever verbal onslaught was surely coming her way; however, Rei either thought better of it or had finally given into the exhaustion that was seemingly tugging at her all night. "I understand." She said cordially, but coldly. "I won't inconvenience you."

With that, Rei briskly walked past her, leaving her standing alone and feeling slightly hollow. Minako returned to the party area, and instead of being greeted by more singing senshi, she found Ami and Makoto cleaning up the liquor and CD cases. Usagi was snoring softly on the sofa, her back turned to them all with a cushion shoved beneath her head and the other cuddled against her bosom. Rei was nowhere to be found. Minako's heart raced at having not located her; had she angered Rei so much that she had left again without saying goodbye?

"She's out on the deck." Ami said quietly, having read her thoughts. "You may want to leave her be."

Nodding in full agreement, Minako changed the subject, "I see this one didn't last long." She said, swiping Usagi's feet aside so she may take a seat on the sofa. Instead of curling up; however, Usagi just placed her feet on Minako's lap instead.

Makoto finished fitting the almost infinite plastic cases back into the chest Minako had earlier fished out for the party. "Well, I see you two didn't waste any time."

"Hmm?" Minako responded as she mildly entertained herself by watching Usagi's toes twitch as she poked at them.

"We heard you both." Makoto explained. "It's as if you two arguing with one another is as necessary as the air you breathe."

"And what if it is?" Minako was still feeling sore about her interactions with Rei.

Before Makoto could shoot off a smart reply of her own, Ami stepped in. "Careful…"

Minako sighed and motioned apologetically to Makoto who was kind enough to reciprocate the feeling. Pleased, Ami returned to her cleaning duties.

"I'm not feeling too fond of her right now either." Makoto admitted, which shocked Minako a good bit. Makoto had been in good spirits all night; never once had her true feelings shone through. Probably sensing this Makoto continued. "I'm thrilled she's here, don't get me wrong… but there's a bitterness too, ya know? It's going to take some time and all I wanted to say was that pushing her away isn't going to make things better by a long shot."

"It's not like I meant to upset her." Minako chose to ignore the skeptical looks both her friends cast her way. "I just can't give her what she wants right now…" Strangely enough, Minako honestly didn't know what Rei wanted. Did she truly just want a retelling? Exactly how much had she forgotten, and moreover, when Minako admits to her portion of fault… how would Rei take it? Would an apology be enough? What if she decides to leave again? What if she cuts her out again?

Makoto nodded her head, considering the matter. "So what's so bad about it that you can't tell her?"

"It was by far, not my finest moment." Minako grimly replied.

Understanding that was as far as the conversation was going to go, Makoto relented in her questioning, and started stretching, releasing whatever tension she was feeling. "Alright. I just hope you two find a way to work things out."

Minako wanted to tell Makoto to not hold her breath waiting, but decided a more optimistic approach was needed more right now. "I'm sure we'll figure something out." Minako said brightly.

Makoto had then decided to, thankfully, change the subject and discuss catering dates, confirming details with Minako, who had to employ more effort than what it should have taken to keep up with the conversation. Minako's mind was sluggish from the night's events and she had more than occasionally drifted away from the conversation, unable to keep from recalling every interaction she had with Rei. It was a delight, being able to see Rei laugh so carefree, and, Minako thought guiltily, seeing that familiar spark of fire ignite when picked on.

Makoto's hearty laugh broke her thoughts. "Well, I guess that's our cue."

"Huh?" Minako felt dumb, wishing she had paid more attention to the conversation at hand.

"You're totally spacing out, Mina!" Makoto accused, though it was all in good form.

Minako felt bad; looking back, she had been a horrible hostess all night. She tried to focus on the catering details. "I'm sorry. Say it again. The red bean rolls were a huge hit last time and –"

Makoto waved her off. "It's fine. Today's been… heavy, yeah?" Minako was incredibly thankful at how understanding she was. "Ami, can you help me with her?" She motioned at the sleeping Usagi.

Ami quickly complied and, rather expertly, woke and coordinated Usagi off of the sofa, so that now, she was leaning heavily against the Makoto.

"Mako-cha-an." Usagi slurred, still clutching a pillow to her chest with her free arm. "You so stro-o-ng…" Minako quickly came to terms that she would probably never see the pillow again.

After briefly overlooking Makoto and Usagi's status, Ami scrounged up Usagi's belongings and slid out onto the darkened deck to retrieve Rei.

"You sure I can't call you a cab?" Minako asked, feeling very concerned for Makoto who was desperately trying to avoid staring at Usagi's drool being absorbed by her blouse.

"Nope, I got it." Makoto answered with a gruff as she attempted to keep Usagi from sliding down further. Usagi's arm was slung around Makoto's neck and Makoto was using her left hand to grasp Usagi's wrist tightly while her right hand was gripping the back of the girl's waistband to keep her standing. To say it bluntly, they looked like a tangled mess.

Before Minako could protest, Ami had returned, but without Rei in tow. Minako shot a questioning gaze. "Don't tell me she jumped just to get away from me."

Yeah, it was an inappropriate joke, but Minako was more than satisfied watching the corner of Ami's lips twitch, fighting a smile. "Thankfully, no." Ami continued gathering what last remained of both Makoto and Usagi's things. "She's sleeping."

"Oh…" Minako stated dumbly, feeling like she was missing something important. Without skipping a beat, both Makoto, with a soon to be terribly hung-over Usagi in tow, and Ami made their way towards the foyer. "So, should I wake her and call her a ride or…"

"No." The doctor said, simply, but Minako could have sworn it was more of an order than just an answer. Fortunately, Ami elaborated. "She hasn't had a proper night's sleep in who knows how long, and I think it's starting to take a toll on her."

"Hey, you didn't mention that earlier." Makoto immediately returned her focus to what the doctor was saying, her concern mirroring Minako's own.

"From what she's told me, it's just some migraines. I don't believe she's experiencing anything that actual rest can't cure, and she just simply hasn't had the opportunity to do so, until now."

"And why hasn't she been able to rest?" Minako's worries weren't eased, even though Ami seemed confident with her diagnosis of Rei's condition.

"You mean other than having to room up with both Usagi and small lady?" Ami continued her calm explanation. "It was only this morning that she drove in from Kazuno. I didn't really focus on asking her details about her itinerary… but when I spoke with her earlier today, she looked even more out of it than what she did all night."

"So you don't think it's anything serious, yeah?" Makoto asked, voicing what they both feared.

Ami shook her head, exuberating confidence again, "The worse I think it could be is insomnia, and there's medication for that if need be."

"Good luck with that." Minako said, feeling better because of Ami's reassurance, "She's not exactly fond of medicine."

"Well, we can just take turns crushing it into her evening tea or something." Ami stated briskly, and Minako briefly wondered if Ami had a negative opinion on Rei's preferred ointments and healing processes.

"Ami, you devil!" Makoto teased. "You better watch hanging out with Minako too much!"

Both Minako and Ami stuck their tongues out at the Makoto who simply flashed them a brilliant grin in response before stepping through the door Ami was now holding open for her. The two remaining girls said they're usual goodbyes, but right as Ami was about to leave the flat, Minako felt Ami hesitating in the open doorway.

"Neh…Mina…" Ami was still turned away from her, one hand resting on the door frame.

"Yeah?" Minako asked, curious as to what would make Ami act this way. "What's up?"

"It's not really my place to say…" There was a bit of a pause that stretched a little too long, but eventually Ami turned to face her. "We all have things we'd rather forget, and sometimes, that's ok. But other times… If we forget what wounds us, then we won't remember that the wound still needs to be healed."

It seemed like she wanted to say more, but Ami left those last words hanging in the air and Minako was once again reminded that all, indeed, not well. Was her friend telling her that she was not the only one who needed healing? That maybe Rei was searching for a cure too? If that was the case, then Minako had no choice but to fess up and claim responsibility for everything that had happened; she would not be responsible for hurting Rei again, no matter how scared she was of confronting her.

"I understand." Minako stated solemnly, realizing that maybe running from her fears wasn't the healthiest decision for either her or Rei.

Ami analyzed her for a bit more, before nodding in acknowledge. "I hope so." She said softly, before gently shutting the door behind her.

After locking the door and hearing the bolt's satisfying click, Minako returned to the now tidied living room, but not before snatching the bottle of vodka she had monopolized all night. Minako took her seat on the chair Ami was earlier occupying, giving her an unobstructed view of the sliding glass door, which led out onto the deck that Rei was currently snoozing on. Minako bravely took a swig of vodka pressing the rim of the cold bottle to her lips and squinted her eyes against the sting she felt against her tongue and throat. Yeah, she was possibly finding courage in all the wrong places, but she was sure as hell done with this hellish cat and mouse game her and Rei had been playing.

She was going to spill the beans to Rei as soon as she walked through the door, and if the girl did manage to sleep out there all night… Well, at least Minako was going to have plenty of time to think about what to say, because right now, it was all she could manage to keep from hearing that dreadful sharp clapping sound from when her hand flew across Rei's cheek.

A/N: So, we are looking at wrapping this whole confrontation up next chapter and then finally moving on some more plot development!