Sailormoonland Big Bang

[heavenly_pearl]

This isn't as polished as I would like it to be, but the deadline is tomorrow and I've been having a terrible time with our internet connection lately -- seriously, it took three freaking hours this morning to sign on with a stable connection -- so I'm posting what I have while I can.

Title: Politically Incorrect
Summary: A scandal involving her politician father rocks Rei's world and puts her in the path of unexpected danger.
Rating: PG-13/T
Word Count: Around 11,600
Notes: Contains vague threats of a sexual nature and mild violence.

Rei awoke one morning with the feeling that it was going to be a very bad day.

Her hunches were rarely wrong. Starting from the time she was a little girl, she had the ability to sense things that other people couldn’t. She used to hate her so-called "gift", but as she grew older and learned how to control it better, she realized it could be quite handy at times, especially when it came to battle.

Is a new enemy about to arrive? Rei wondered, still laying in bed. Since the battle with Galaxia nearly two years ago, things had been quite peaceful in Tokyo, but that didn’t mean they could afford to relax their guard.

A fire reading was in order. Though it was only five in the morning, about an hour before she normally woke up, Rei got out of bed and dressed in her usual miko attire. She then tiptoed to the meditation room and kneeled before the shrine’s sacred fire. The heat pleasantly warmed her skin as she performed the summoning ritual and opened her mind to receive any message the fire saw fit to give her.

However, the fire was unyielding to her inquiries. No matter how many times she asked the meaning behind the foreboding she sensed, it gave up no answers. She was finally broken out of her trance when she felt someone place a hand upon her shoulder.

"Oh, it’s you," she said, craning her neck around. "You startled me."

Her grandfather stood behind her. "You’re up early this morning. See anything interesting?"

Rei sighed, brushing back a strand of hair that had fallen in front of her face. "No. It wouldn’t tell me anything."

"The fire spirit can be frustrating like that sometimes," he said. "Don’t worry too much about it. Now, go take a bath and get ready for school. I’ll start on breakfast. Pancakes sound good?"

She nodded and arose back to her feet.

After cleaning up and changing into her school uniform, Rei joined her grandfather in the kitchen, where he was in the middle of making a large stack of pancakes. Her stomach lightly growled as the fresh scent tickled her nose, and for a moment, she forgot all about her worries.

"Mmm, it smells delicious, ojii-chan."

"Thanks," he said, flipping over one of the pancakes. "Would you mind fetching the paper while I finish up with these?"

"Sure."

She headed to the front yard and picked up the morning paper, the bad feeling returning in the pit of her stomach the second she touched it. Rather than bring it straight back to her grandfather, Rei unfolded the newspaper and began reading the top news story.

"Rei-chan?" Her grandfather appeared at the front door, worried when she didn’t come back. "What is it? Something wrong?"

Too stunned for words, she simply handed him the paper. He seemed confused at first, but then his eyes widened in understanding when he saw the main headline: Prominent Diet Member Caught In Sex Scandal. "Oh, my…"

Inside the house, the phone began to ring. As Rei was still in shock by what she had just read, her grandfather left to answer it. He came back a few moments later.

"It’s your father, Rei-chan," he announced. "He wants to talk to you."

She finally snapped out of it. "Well, I don’t want to talk to him," she said, balling her hands into fists. "Tell him I’ve already left for school or something."

After a second of hesitation, he agreed. "Okay, if that’s what you want."

Rei followed her grandfather back inside, listening to his side of the conversation as he picked the phone back up.

"I’m sorry, Hino-sama. I’m afraid you just missed her. She’s already left. It must be her day for cleaning duty at school. … Yes, I saw the paper. … I see. … I understand. I will give Rei-chan the message. … Goodbye, Hino-sama."

The moment he hung up the phone, Rei asked, "What did he want?"

"He wants to meet with you after school."

"I don’t want to see him. I’m not going."

Her grandfather sighed. "I thought you would say that, but Rei-chan, I think you should go. There’s something important he needs to tell you."

"What? That he couldn’t keep it in his pants and knocked up one of his political aides? I already know that, thanks to this." She held up the paper her grandfather had set down by the phone to take the call.

"There’s more to the story, I’m afraid," he said with a small frown.

"More? What more can there possibly be?"

Her grandfather shook her head. "It’s not my place to say. It would be best if you heard the news straight from Hino-sama himself. He’ll be waiting for you at his office at four."

"Do I really have to go, ojii-chan?"

"I won’t force you, but I think you should at least consider it."

"Fine, I’ll think about it," she promised, although she doubted she would change her mind. Heading back to the entrance, she slipped on her shoes and gathered her things for school. "I’m going."

"What about breakfast?" he called out as she slipped open the front door.

"I’ve suddenly lost my appetite."

Yes, it was definitely going to be a bad day.

*****

When Rei arrived at TA Academy, she immediately wished she had stayed home. Many of her classmates had seen that morning’s paper, making her family hot gossip around the school. Most kept their distance, keeping their disapproving stares and whispers to the shadows, but some of the less tactful girls couldn’t resist poking their noses in her business, wanting to know the "inside scoop". By the time lunchtime was over, Rei couldn’t take it anymore and excused herself to the nurse’s office.

"Well, you don’t have a fever, Hino-san," the school nurse said, taking the thermometer from her mouth, "but if you really aren’t feeling well, I don’t mind if you stay and rest awhile." She shot Rei a look of pity. "I understand it must be tough for you."

Though annoyed by the nurse’s feigned sympathy, Rei took her up on the offer, grateful for the reprieve from the gossipmongers. She stayed in there until the last period, at which the nurse suggested she might as well go home for the day.

However, Rei didn’t go home, not wanting her grandfather to know she had skipped out on a half-day’s worth of classes. Instead, she visited the cemetery where Hino Risa was buried, missing her mother more than ever.

"I hate him," she said, her fingers clutching the hem of her skirt as she kneeled in front of her mother’s grave. "How he do something like this? After everything he did to you, to us, how could he…?" She swiped her sleeve over her eyes, hating that he could still make her cry. "I’ll never forgive him. I won’t."

And that was exactly she was going to say to him the next time she saw him. Though she had originally planned to skip out on the meeting with her father, Rei decided to go after all. She would let him tell her the news that was so important that he needed to see her face-to-face, but after that, they were through. She’d had enough disappointments.

She would not let him hurt her anymore.

*****

Hino Takashi’s secretary was not at her desk when Rei arrived at his office at the Diet building, but since it was already five minutes after four, she went straight inside without knocking, finding her father working on some paperwork at his desk.

"Hello, otou-sama," she said coolly, closing the door behind her. "You wanted to see me?"

Her father glanced up, startled by her abrupt entrance. "R-Rei-san, yes." He set aside his papers and cleared his throat as he stood up. "Thank you for coming on such short notice. Please, have a seat," he said, indicating the chair in front of his desk. "Would you like some tea or coffee?"

Without answering, Rei sat down in the offered chair and crossed her arms. "Will this take long? I have chores to do at the shrine."

He sat back down as well. "No, I don’t intend to keep you. I just thought I should inform you of this in person, rather than allow you to hear the news through the media."

Her eyes narrowed. "If this is about your girlfriend’s pregnancy, it’s too late. I’m already well aware of it."

"Yes, I assumed you would be." He took off his glasses and rubbed at his temple. "I’m still not sure how that news broke out. We were hoping to keep her pregnancy under wraps until after."

"What do you mean, ‘after’? After what?"

He paused for a moment before finally answering, "After the wedding."

"Wedding? You mean, you’re marrying that bimbo?"

Her father put his glasses back on, shooting Rei a reproachful look. "Her name is Kimura Suzume-san, and I expect you to treat her with the utmost respect."

"Why should I?" Rei demanded to know.

"Because she will become your new mother."

"Mother?" She jumped up from the chair, no longer able to contain her anger any longer. "Okaa-sama may no longer be here with us, but she’s still my one and only mother. I don’t need a new one, especially not her."

"Forgive me," he said in a soft voice. "I meant no disrespect to Risa-san’s memory. I know nobody will ever be able to replace her."

"Then why are you getting married again?" she asked, hating that tears were welling in her eyes.

"It’s the right thing to do, Rei-san. The baby needs a name, and I’m…Well, I’m very fond of Suzume-san."

"Fond? You don’t even love her?" Rei plopped back down in the chair. "I feel sorry for Kimura-san and the baby. You’ll ignore them just as you did okaa-sama and me."

"Rei-san…"

"I don’t want to hear anymore, otou-sama." She began gathering her things, regretting that she ever decided to come. "I have to go. Good luck with your new family."

"Wait."

Against her better judgment, she remained sitting. "What?"

"I was hoping you would join us for dinner Saturday night. Suzume-san is anxious to meet you."

"I have plans," she lied.

"It wasn’t a request." His voice was sharper than before. "I’ll see you Saturday. We eat at 7:30. I‘ll send the car for you."

"Fine. Whatever. Can I go now?"

Her father sighed, slumping his shoulders as he sat back in his chair. "Yes, you may go."

*****

Married? They were getting married?

The day just kept getting worse and worse. Rei had never even considered the possibility that her father might marry again. As far as she knew, until Kimura Suzume entered the picture, he hadn’t dated anybody since her mother’s death, a situation which had suited Rei just fine. He deserved to be alone after all the pain he caused her mother, throwing himself into his work when she needed him the most. Rei would have been more than happy if he had remained a widower for the rest of the life in repentance of the many sins he committed toward his family. In fact, his apparent celibacy was, in Rei’s eyes, the only halfway decent thing he had done in his pathetic life.

But now he was starting a new family with some girl half his age, and he seemed to think she should be a part of it for some reason. What a joke! If he expected her to actually attend dinner with his new fiancée and play the part of an obedient, loving daughter --

"Ah, Rei-chan, welcome home," her grandfather said, interrupting her thoughts as she passed through the torii in front of the shrine. "Did you go to see your fa--?

"I don’t want to talk about it," she snapped, cutting him off.

"I’ll take that as a yes." He frowned, but didn‘t ask any more about it. "Your friends are here, by the way," he said, changing the subject. "They said they came over for a study session, so I let them in. They’re waiting for you in your room."

"Study session?" Rei let out a sigh. "Oh, yeah, I forgot that was today."

As had been the case in the months before the high school entrance exams, her friends had made the shrine their place of choice for studying for their college entrance exams -- disregarding the fact that Rei herself wasn’t even taking them. She normally didn’t mind, but today she not in the mood. Hopefully, her friends would understand and find some other place to study for the afternoon.

Sliding open the door to her bedroom, she found Usagi and the others crowded around Minako, who was holding up a copy of some tawdry tabloid magazine. Minako immediately hid the magazine behind her back when she saw Rei standing at the door, and the others scattered to their usual seats around the table.

"Hi, Rei-chan, you’re kinda late," Minako said as if nothing had happened. "We were wondering where you were."

Rei walked over and held out her hand. "Give it to me."

"What?"

"Don’t play dumb with me. Give me the magazine, Minako-chan," she ordered.

"B-But --"

"Now."

Though reluctant, Minako eventually handed over the magazine, which had a salacious headline about the scandal splashed across the front cover in bold red kanji. After kneeling down at the table, Rei flipped through the pages until she found the pertinent article and scanned it. It mostly reported the same details she had read in the morning paper, but it was accompanied by several photographs of her father and a young woman exiting what appeared to be a love hotel, their arms linked together.

Rei’s attention mostly fell on the woman, who looked nothing like the way she imagined. When Rei first learned of the affair, she had pictured her father’s mistress as either a bleached blonde with tight clothes and too much make-up or a woman of such otherworldly beauty, she had the power to seduce even the most dedicated workaholic, but Kimura Suzume was actually rather…ordinary. Attractive, but not overly so, with honey brown hair and lightly tanned skin, she was dressed in a nice tailored skirt-suit and sensible heels. She looked professional and put-together, the picture of a serious career woman except for the fact that her blouse was slightly rumpled and her hair a little messy after their presumed tryst at the hotel. Her father showed similar signs of being disheveled, with a crooked tie and a faint lipstick mark on his cheek, which one picture showed Suzume trying to wipe away with her handkerchief.

"It’s just a stupid tabloid, Rei-chan," Makoto said when a few minutes passed without her reacting. "Nobody believes anything they read in those things."

"Mako-chan is right," Ami agreed. "The photos are probably fake, too. Nowadays, anybody with a decent graphics program can --"

"No, it’s true. It’s all true." Rei closed the magazine, having seen enough, and tossed it facedown in the middle of the table. "In fact, he plans on marrying her, but who cares about that, right? I sure as hell don‘t give a damn."

"Rei-chan, are you…?" Usagi started, but Rei shook her head.

"Just drop it, okay? Let’s get to work. You did come here to study, right?" Forgetting her earlier plans to tell them to leave, Rei pulled out her math textbook and turned to the chapter her teacher had covered that morning -- not that she had paid much attention to the lecture. "Ami-chan, teach me how to use this formula. I didn’t understand what the teacher was saying at all." 

Her friends got the message. Nobody else mentioned a word about the scandal for the rest of the study session, and working on her homework turned out to be a welcome distraction for Rei. However, when it came time for the girls to go home, Minako lingered behind the others, offering to help Rei clean up the small mess they had made.

"I really don’t want to talk about it," Rei said before she could even bring up the subject.

Minako tossed a couple of pieces of balled-up scrap paper into the trash can and frowned. "But you’re obviously upset about all this. I mean, it must be a lot to take in at once. Your father’s getting married again, and they’re having a baby…"

"So? Why should I care?" Rei plopped down on her bed and rolled over on her back, covering her eyes with her arm. "It has nothing to do with me."

"Rei-chan…"

"Just go home, Minako-chan. If you’re late for dinner, your mother will yell at you."

"So what else is new? She’s always yelling at me about something or other."

"But at least you know she loves you," Rei mumbled, her voice too soft for Minako to make out.

"What? Did you say something, Rei-chan?"

Sitting back up, Rei shook her head. "Never mind. I can finish straightening up here, so you can go ahead and leave. Really, I’m fine."

Minako didn’t seem convinced, but finally gave up. "Okay, I’m going, but if you ever do feel like talking to somebody, even if it’s just to vent your frustrations, we’re always here to listen."

Once Minako had left, Rei resumed cleaning up the room, pausing when she came across the tabloid magazine, still laying in the center of the table where she had tossed it earlier. Minako had forgotten to take it with her. Rei started to throw it away with the rest of the trash, but instead turned back to the main article, once again staring at the photographs of her father and Kimura Suzume.

Tears threatened to fall, but Rei held them back, refusing to cry.

Somebody else had left behind a pink highlighter pen. She reached for the pen and drew large "X" marks over their smiling faces. When that didn’t make her feel any better, she then proceeded to rip out the two-page spread and tear it into a hundred tiny pieces. 

She did get some satisfaction out of that, but only just a little.

Sighing, Rei tossed the rest of the magazine into the trash and crawled into bed after changing into her pajamas, hoping that when morning came, she would wake up and discover that everything that had happened had just been a bad dream.

*****

"Ojii-chan, call otou-sama and tell him I’m too sick to go to dinner," Rei said Saturday night, one hour before she was to meet her father and his new fiancée.

Rei’s grandfather looked up from his raking. "You look perfectly healthy to me."

"Well, I’m not." She coughed into her fist. "See?"

He arched an eyebrow, not buying it for a second. "That’s just pathetic, Rei-chan."

"Okay, so I’m not really sick. I still don’t want to go to this stupid dinner and make stupid small talk with his stupid fiancée." She took one of his hands. "Please, I’ll even do extra chores. Just give him some excuse."

"It’s only for a couple of hours; it won’t kill you to go. Besides, you might even like Kimura-san."

"I doubt it." Rei leaned her back against the nearby sakura tree. "Do you know how old she is?" She didn’t wait for him to hazard a guess. "Twenty-seven. Can you believe it? She’s only nine years older than I am!"

"Well, perhaps you’ll have a lot in common, then."

"Why aren’t you more upset about this?" she asked, confused as to why he seemed to be on her father’s side. The two of them had never been on the best of terms. "It’s like he’s forgotten okaa-sama ever existed."

"I don’t think that’s true," he said, resuming his raking. "It’s been over ten years since your mother passed away. I don’t begrudge Hino-sama a little happiness."

"He doesn’t even love her, you know. He’s just marrying her to protect his precious image."

"People marry for different reasons. It’s not my place to judge."

"Well, it is mine!" Rei said, crossing her arms defiantly. "He’s an embarrassment, becoming a father again and getting married to a girl half his age like he’s going through some kind of mid-life crisis. Why couldn’t he just buy a Ferrari or something like that?"

Her grandfather finally put down his rake and walked over to where she stood, placing his hands on her upper arms. "Look, I understand this situation must be difficult for you, but he is still your father, and that baby will be your new brother or sister. If Hino-sama is reaching out to you, I think you should at least give him a chance to try to make amends."

"It’s too late." A tear rolled down Rei’s cheek without her permission. "I don’t want to be a part of his new family. You’re the only family I need, ojii-chan."

"Oh, Rei-chan…" He reached up and wiped the tear away with his wrinkled hand. "Don’t let your stubborn pride get in the way of something potentially wonderful. This could be a second chance for you and your father; isn’t that what you always wanted?"

Maybe when she was younger, but… "Not anymore," she said bitterly. "I gave up hope for reconciliation a long time ago." Rei pulled away. "I should get dressed. The car will probably be here soon."

"You’re going?" he asked as she began walking back to the living quarters.

She glanced behind her. "Will you call otou-sama and cover for me?"

There was a brief pause before he finally answered, "No. I think you should go."

Rei sighed. "Then it looks like I don’t have any choice in the matter, does it?"

*****

Her father’s chauffeured car dropped her off at his apartment building about ten minutes before 7:30. It was only the second time she ever visited, and she was surprised to see two security guards standing outside the front entrance. After confirming who she was, one of the men escorted her up to her father’s penthouse apartment, where he then took up post beside the door.

Well, this seems a bit like overkill, Rei thought. Sure, her father was a member of the Diet, but security was nowhere near this tight the last time she came.

She shook her head and took in a deep breath, bringing her fist up to lightly knock on the door.

A part of her hoped that her father had forgotten their dinner plans -- it wouldn’t be the first time -- but a few seconds later, the door opened, revealing her father‘s figure.

"Rei-san, you came." He sounded almost surprised that she bothered to show up.

"You told me to," she reminded him. "More like ordered me to."

"Yes, I just thought --" He shook his head and swung the door open even wider. "Never mind. Come in. I’m glad you made it."

Rei entered the apartment and slipped off her heels, switching into a pair of guest slippers provided. Noticing that her father was dressed rather casually in a pair of khakis and a polo shirt rather than the business suits he usually wore, she felt a bit overdressed -- even more so when Kimura Suzume exited the kitchen, wearing a trendy maxi dress that did little to hide her small baby bump. A surgical mask covered her mouth, which she seemed to had forgotten about until she attempted to speak.

"Sorry, my morning sickness has been really terrible lately," she said after pulling the mask down. "Nobody ever told me it could happen at any time of day!" She moved to stand beside Rei’s father, who placed a hand on the small of her back and cleared his throat.

"Rei-san, I’d like you to meet my fiancée, Kimura Suzume-san."

Suzume bowed politely. "It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Rei-san."

Rei couldn’t exactly say the same for her, but responded in kind, minding her manners. "It’s nice to meet you, too, Kimura-san."

"Dinner will be ready in just a couple of minutes," she announced, "so why don’t you two have a seat at the table?"

Suzume headed back to the kitchen while Rei followed her father to the dining room, which looked very different from the last time she had seen it. Rather than the dark colors her father tended to favor, it had been redecorated in a lighter palate with a distinctive feminine touch.

"I hope you like smoked salmon," her father said once they sat down at the table. "It’s Suzume-san’s specialty."

"It’s fine," Rei said, setting the linen napkin in her lap. "Is she living here?"

"Yes, she moved in a few days ago. The paparazzi were harassing her at her previous residence, and this building offers more security."

So that explained the guards... "Still, aren’t you afraid of how it will look when the media finds out?" she asked, surprised he would risk making the scandal worse than it already was. "You’re not married yet."

"We intend to file the paperwork at City Hall next week."

"Next week?!"

Suzume chose that moment to return, setting the main course in the middle of the table before sitting down beside Rei’s father. "We don’t see any sense in waiting," she said in response to Rei’s shocked exclamation.

"But what about a wedding ceremony?"

She shook her head. "I don’t need one. My family isn’t exactly supportive of this marriage, anyway." Rei’s father reached for Suzume’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I doubt they would come, even if we did have a wedding."

"We can have a proper celebration once things have died down," he said. "They won’t stay angry with you forever."

"You’re right. I’m sure they’ll come around, eventually." She smiled at him in appreciation, then pulled her hand away and began filling up her plate. "Enough of this depressing talk. This should be a happy occasion, right? Let’s eat! I’m starving."

"It’s as delicious as always, Suzume-san," he said, taking a bite of the salmon.

"Thank you. Do you like it, Rei-chan?" she asked. "Oh, sorry, do you mind if I call you that?"

"It’s fine," Rei said, not particularly caring what she called her, "and, yes, it’s very good." As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Suzume was a great cook.

"Oh, good, I’m so glad you like it. I wasn’t sure what to cook for this dinner." She laughed softly to herself. "I think I drove your poor father a little insane, asking him what foods you liked, but he didn’t know."

Rei stabbed at a cherry tomato in her salad. "No, he wouldn’t, would he?" she muttered, causing her father to frown.

However, he didn’t say anything, allowing a seemingly oblivious Suzume to change the subject. "If I remember correctly, you attend TA Academy, don’t you? Do you belong to any clubs?"

"The archery club."

"Yes, Rei-san recently won the district tournament," her father offered, as if to make up for not knowing her favorite food.

His knowledge of that fact did take Rei by surprise, though, as he, of course, hadn’t attended the tournament. She didn’t even invite him, knowing it was pointless to hope that he would ever attend one of her school events. His work always took priority over anything important to her.

"You did? Congratulations! That’s very impressive," Suzume said. "I was a member of the archery club back during my first year in high school, but I’m afraid I wasn’t very good at it." She giggled at some private memory. "I quit after a month and tried out for the tennis club instead, but I was terrible at that, as well."

"After that, you joined the student council, didn’t you?"

"Right, and that’s how I became interested in politics."

Rei’s father’s face broke out into a smile she had rarely seen him wear since before her mother died. "How fortunate."

"Yes, it is," Suzume agreed, grinning back at him.

Rei stared down at her plate and picked at her food, having lost most of her appetite. The two of them seemed lost in their own little world, irritating her. Her father was staring at Suzume was the same way he had sometimes looked at her mother, in the days before her health took a turn for the worse and he wasn’t such a workaholic. Rei had almost forgotten there was a time like that, and she didn’t appreciate being reminded of it in such a way.

"So, Rei-chan, do you have a boyfriend?" Suzume asked, finally remembering they had a guest.

Startled from her thoughts, Rei glanced back up. "No, I don’t."

"Really?" She raised an eyebrow. "A pretty girl like you, I’d expect you to be beating guys off a stick."

"I’m not interested," Rei said. "Men are unreliable."

"Some of them are, I agree, but there are a lot of good, decent ones out there as well. Your father, for example, is --"

"-- the most unreliable man I know," she interrupted, no longer even attempting to put up a polite front.

"Rei-san…" Her father’s voice was half-reproachful, half-pleading.

But she wasn’t going to lie. If Suzume wanted to marry him and raise a family with him, then she at least deserved to know who Hino Takashi really was. He wasn’t the wonderful person she seemed to think he was.

Suzume, sensing the hostility between them, set down her silverware and stood up. "Um, I should check on the dessert. Please excuse me," she said before going back to the kitchen to give them some privacy.

Rei crossed her arms over chest, glaring at her father. "If you’re expecting some sort of apology…"

Sighing, he hid his face in his hands. "No, I probably deserve that, but I’m trying to be better, Rei-san. I want things to be different this time."

"Different?" She scoffed. "So, what -- okaa-sama and I were like your practice family?"

His head shot back up. "No, that’s not what I meant. Why must you always twist my words around?"

"Maybe because I can never tell when you’re being straight and honest," she said. "I’m not one of your constituents; you can’t fool me with pretty words and empty promises. You may say you want to change, and maybe you even will for a little while, but it won’t be long before you abandon Kimura-san and the baby just like you did us. Your work will always be the most important thing in your life, and nothing will ever change that." 

Rei stood up to leave just as Suzume returned to the dining room. Judging by the look on her face, she had overheard everything Rei had said.

"Thank you for dinner, Kimura-san, but I think I should go," she said. "It was a mistake coming here."

"Rei-san, please…

Ignoring her father’s pleas to stay, she brushed past Suzume and ran out of the apartment building, holding back tears.

*****

Rei’s grandfather left the next day to go on a week-long spiritual retreat in the mountains. Though he offered to cancel his plans and stay with her, feeling guilty that he had forced her attend her father’s dinner when she hadn‘t wanted to go in the first place, Rei insisted that he go. It wasn’t like he could do anything about what happened, anyway.

Her father was probably furious with her. He had called the shrine about an hour after she returned home, but Rei had refused to talk to him, too angry and embarrassed about the way she had acted.

Why did he still hold so much power over her emotions? It was ridiculous! It wasn’t as if she was still a child, yet every time she saw her father, she acted liked one, petulant and stubborn.

Rei pushed the thoughts away and turned her attention on her chores. Even with her grandfather away, there was still plenty of work to be done around the shrine. She threw herself into the tasks, grateful to focus her mind on other things beside her father.

While in the middle of scrubbing the porch, however, Rei sensed the presence of another person. She glanced up, her eyes widening slightly when she saw her father’s fiancée walking through the torii. Suzume continued walking toward her as Rei tossed her rag in a bucket of soapy water and rose to her feet.

"Kimura-san," she said, "what are you doing here?"

Suzume smiled, acting as if it was the most natural thing in the world for her to visit Hikawa. "I came to buy a charm. I heard the charms from this shrine are considered especially lucky."

"I’m sorry, but we’re not selling charms today. My grandfather is away, so the shrine is closed for the week."

"Oh, I didn’t realize. That’s a shame."

Rei’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, seeing right through her act. "Did my father send you?" It would be just like him to send somebody else to deal with her, rather than to confront her face-to-face.

Suzume shook her head, losing a little bit of her forced cheer. "No, Takashi doesn’t even know I’m here," she admitted. "I came under my own volition. I was hoping we could talk."

"I’m busy," Rei said in a curt tone, kneeling back down and retrieving the rag from her bucket in order to resume her scrubbing.

"Please, Rei-chan, this shouldn’t take long."

Pausing mid-scrub, Rei let out a sigh. As furious as she was at her father, Suzume had been nothing but kind to her. It wasn’t fair to take her anger out on her. "Fine, I guess I can take a short break," she said, climbing down from the porch to join her.

"Thank you."

The two of them began walking around the shrine, Rei following Suzume’s lead. Despite asking for the chance to talk, it seemed Suzume was reluctant to broach whatever topic had brought her there, more interested in watching Phobos and Deimos -- Rei’s faithful pet crows -- fly around than having any sort of conversation.

"This really is a lovely shrine," Suzume finally said as the two crows grew tired of their game and flew off. "It’s so peaceful here."

"Thanks." Having had enough of her stalling, Rei stopped mid-step and cut straight to the point. "What did you want to talk to me about, Kimura-san?"

After a brief pause, Suzume, who had continued walking ahead of her, turned around to face Rei. "I think we got off on the wrong foot last night."

Rei frowned. She had a feeling that was the reason behind Suzume‘s surprise visit. "It’s not your fault. Things are always like that between me and my father."

"Takashi said the same thing after you left last night."

"We’ve never had a good relationship," Rei confessed. "Even when my mother was alive, he never paid much attention to us. He was always too busy with his politics."

Suzume grinned. "Yes, he is quite the workaholic, isn’t he?"

"Doesn’t that upset you?"

She shook her head, holding her hands behind her back. "His passion for his job was one of the things that first attracted me to him. I love that he‘s such a hard worker and admire him greatly."

"Well, I hate it," Rei said. "He abandoned okaa-sama when she needed him most, then sent me to live here with ojii-chan when being a single father was too much of an inconvenience for him. All he ever cared about was work."

Suzume’s smile disappeared, and her shoulders slumped. "Look, Rei-chan, I won’t make excuses for him, but I think your father really regrets some of the sacrifices he made for his career."

"It’s too late for regrets. Regrets won’t bring okaa-sama back. Regrets won’t make up for a lifetime of disappointment." Looking Suzume straight in the eye, Rei continued, "That’s the kind of man you’re marrying, Kimura-san. If I were you, I’d take the baby and raise it on my own. Your child would be better off without a father than one who doesn’t care about him."

For a long moment, Suzume didn’t respond. She placed a hand over her small baby bump and sighed.

"You must think I’m naïve," she said in a soft voice, "wanting to marry Takashi and have a family with him despite knowing the hurt he caused you and your mother. He never tried to hide it from me. Nothing you’ve said has come as a shock to me."

"Then wh--?"

"Because I don’t think he’s that man anymore," she said. "This pregnancy wasn’t planned, obviously. I remember when I first learned I was pregnant, I was so nervous to tell him. I wasn’t sure how he would react. I thought he might ask me to get rid of it in order to prevent a scandal from breaking out, but when I finally told him… He was shocked, and I think maybe even a little scared -- we both were -- but most of all, he was happy. Honestly happy."

Rei found that hard to believe, and the doubt must have shown on her face, for Suzume stepped forward and took her hands in her own. "He’s trying to change, Rei-chan. I know you think I’m being fooled, but he is. Takashi considers this baby his second chance, and I think he would really like to have a better relationship with you as well." She sighed. "Maybe it is too much to hope that you could completely forgive him for the pain he caused you, but --"

"You’re right," Rei said, cutting her off and pulling away from Suzume. She had heard more than enough. "I will never forgive him. I can’t."

"Rei-chan…"

"If you want to marry him, fine. You have my blessing. I even hope you’re right about otou-sama’s desire to change, for your baby’s sake. But it’s too late for him to be my father. I don’t need him anymore. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to get back to my chores. Goodbye, Kimura-san."

The second Rei turned around to leave, however, the two of them were suddenly grabbed from behind. Their attackers were so quick and quiet that Rei had no time to react. A sweet-smelling cloth covered her nose and mouth, and within seconds, her body went limp as a rag doll as she fell unconscious.

Comments

[sea_thoughts]

Well, I'm intrigued. I really hope you can post more of this story soon.

[smilecarnival.livejournal.com]

I am so loving the angst of Rei's relationship with her father. What a great start! I love that the emotional tension started right off the bat. *thumbs up* I can't wait to go read the second par!

[samuraiter.livejournal.com]

Congrats on completion, Yumeko! :-) It's a satisfying feeling, no?