Puppy Love

Disclaimer: Rei Hino and Minako Aino are the property of Naoko Takeuchi.

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Puppy Love

"Kumi, fetch!" sunlight sparkled in Rei's ebony hair as she threw a rather chewed tennis ball forward into the air. Her long mane was pulled into a ponytail to prevent the locks from being blown into her face as she ran about. Mauve shorts and a dark blue wide v-necked t-shirt fit her frame comfortably while her feet were  tucked into a pair of flat shoes.

Kumi, the dark-haired mutt with a fluffy coat Rei was currently petsitting took off after the ball, tail a-wagging, a series of excited barks emerging from her throat as she bounded after the toy. It was Kumi's favorite thing to do-playing fetch-and Rei had taken the dog and herself out for some fresh air and exercise on that Saturday morning.

"Oww!"

A yelp caught Rei's attention and she noticed a woman clutching her head in the direction she had thrown the ball. A horrifying thought arose, the ball must have hit the woman on her head! Apologies streaming from her lips Rei ran towards the injured passerby. Kumi was twisting around the woman's feet, tail wagging so fast it was just a blur in the air. Rei had the impression of a hummingbird's wings before her attention went back to the woman.

Cute and Misunderstood: Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten: Knowing Enough

"You knew those men," Michiru wasn't asking but rather stating the fact as she handed Haruka a pack of frozen peas. "And they knew you."

They were in the art student's apartment with Haruka sitting on the very couch where they made love. The thought of it lingered on the surface of her mind but she tried ignored it. There were more pressing matters to take care of. She carefully placed the frozen bag over her bruised and swollen knuckles. How much of it should she tell Michiru? Could she trust the student? Then again, Michiru had risked her own life by returning to the fight. At the very least she was owed some kind of explanation.

"They're a couple of goons who work for a loan shark." Michiru sat down in the other couch across from her and nodded for Haruka to go on. "A while ago I was desperate for money. Every bank I went to denied me so I had to find an alternative. I was able to borrow some but I couldn't pay all of it back in time. I started making deliveries in order to pay off the rest of the debt. Those men were the ones who usually made the deliveries but I ended up taking their work away. They developed a grudge because of that. They probably didn't like me from the start either because I wasn't a typical woman."

Cute and Misunderstood: Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine: Trouble Follows

Haruka's shift was finally over. She sighed in relief, as she stepped out the back door and into the dark alleyway.

"Wait, Haruka!" Michiru called out behind her, and the tall woman whirled around, trapping the art student between the door and herself. The music from the bar could still be heard through the closed door.

"What do you mean wait?" Haruka growled. She was furious but had held it in during the evening. Being nasty to the customers wouldn't have been good for business. "Somehow you ended up here at my job. On a night that I'm working no less. I want to know how you found out where I was. You didn't come here to hang out with friends, or pick up anyone. You sat there all night drinking one drink, those eyes of yours on me the entire time. So, just what are you doing following me around?"

Cute and Misunderstood: Chapter Eight

Disclaimer: Lyrics mentioned in this chapter are from the song called "Closer" which is the property of Dido.

Chapter Eight: The Hunter And The Hunted

Two weeks. Give or take a day or two, it had been two weeks since Michiru's encounter with the handsome Haruka. She would have been lying to herself if she couldn't admit she'd been counting the days. The time had passed quickly; Michiru's charcoal portrait had catapulted her into a series of events which marked a very important time in her life as an artist. But as busy as she was, she simply could not forget the feeling of Haruka's toned body moving against hers. For the first time in her life, Michiru could say that perhaps she had fallen in love. And fallen hard for a stranger no less. Memories of the too short evening spent with the woman assailed her and a slow burn ignited within, much like a burning ember that catches flame with a gust of oxygen, growing and consuming as time went on. It wasn't the first time the feeling visited her and Michiru had tried to some degree of embarrassment to "scratch the itch" so to speak on her own without avail.

"Michiru...," a low voice, Nagi's, interrupted her flow of thoughts and Michiru looked over to her right to see the short brunette staring at her quizzically, "class is over. Are you okay? You look a bit flushed."

Learning About Love

A oneshot from the Water Lilies universe.

Learning About Love

A crescent moon hung in the early summer sky above Tokyo. In many homes across the city, and especially in a western styled home in Azabu Juban a seven-year-old, pink-haired girl was being tucked into bed.

"Mommy?" Chibiusa called out in a quiet voice to the woman who was about to turn off the light and exit the room. There was a question she had to ask, it was growing bigger and bigger within her with every day that passed, ready to burst out at any moment. She just had to say it now.

The beautiful blonde woman with twin tails turned around with a small upturn of her lips. Her blue eyes displayed infinite patience. "Yes, Chibiusa?"

"My chest feels funny," the little girl whispered and Usagi's face was immediately drawn with concern. It took the woman two seconds to return to her daughter's bedside.

Verdantia: Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine: Above and Below: Part Two

Still panting from her previous exertion Rei squeezed into the break in the wall. It was an extremely close fit and if the crevice was much smaller she would not have been able to move forward at all. Her hands braced the rocky wall pressing against the front of her body. Her back fared no better as the compressed earth grazed against her from behind. With no room to walk normally she inched forward sideways emerging into an enormous cavern after a yard or two. The entire space was lit by a strange fluorescent glow emanating from giant crystal formations which shot out from the walls and ceiling.

The scene in front of her was like nothing she had ever seen before and Rei's jaw dropped, her mouth a small 'o' of amazement. The light from the crystals lit the cavern so brightly it rivaled daylight. Pillars dotted the space and upon closer inspection of one nearby she could see the formation of it came about as stalagmite met stalactite, unifying them into a single unit from floor to ceiling. Her hand came away with a gritty layer of dust when she automatically pressed it to the pillar in curiousity of the texture before dropping it back to her side. She encountered more pillars as she wandered further into the incredibly large cavern. There was no way to know where the exit could be and she could only hope to eventually stumble across it. Ears alert for any noise, her footsteps were almost silent if not for the small sandy crunch underfoot, each grain seeming to carry a pinpoint of the green glow within itself. Spread out over the floor into beyond it created quite a spectacle, stardust sprinkled over the floor instead of in the sky above.