Atonement: Rei's Story by Jason C. Ulloa Chapter 1 There was a sensation in the air this morning. For some reason, it felt like something was going to change. Maybe for the better, maybe for the worse, but the feeling of change was evident in the air. Hino Rei sat up in her bed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She was still tired since she hadn't gotten very much sleep last night. Her dream last night had been strange to say the least. It wasn't like any other dream she had ever experienced in the short ten years of her life, but for some reason, she knew that this particular dream had some significance to her. There was darkness. Darkness and pain. It was the pain she recalled the most; it wasn't a physical kind of pain, but more of an emotional sort. Misery. However, the strangeness of dream was in the fact that it wasn't her pain she was dreaming about. In the darkness, she could see a small, lone figure sitting with his or her back turned toward her. She could see that the figure was young - about her age - and the figure's body was shaking as if he or she was crying. She had tried to go to the figure, but she was unable to reach him or her. She had tried to talk to the figure, but he or she wouldn't listen and just kept sobbing, the figure's short ponytail bobbing along with his or her shaking form. Finally - dream or no dream - she started to grow impatient. She started to yell at the figure, trying to get some response from him or her. If she hurt him or her more, then she would apologize, but first she had to get his or her attention. However, no matter how much she yelled at the figure, he or she wouldn't stop crying. She finally gave up and tried to leave, but no matter where she turned, she always ended up coming back to the crying figure. Out of frustration, she sat down on the ground and just glared at the figure, his or her crying slowly beginning to get on her nerves. "I'm sorry," the figure said after he stopped crying. From the voice, she thought that he was male. "I know you're trying to help, but I just can't stop. Please, just don't give up on me...." The figure slowly began to turn toward her... but that was when she woke up from the dream. It felt so real. It was almost like somebody was actually there, talking to her in her dreams. Maybe she would have to talk with her grandfather about this dream. Maybe he would know what the dream was all about. She glanced over toward the alarm clock at the side of her bed. She had just enough time to get ready for school. Her class was going to go on a trip to the museum today. She was looking forward to it, especially since there was supposed to be an unveiling of a new display today which her school and a couple of others were going to be present for. It was almost going to be like being present at a major event in history. It was exciting. Rei hopped out of her bed and quickly began to get dressed. Once she set her bed and ate breakfast, her grandfather told her to have a good day as she cheerfully ran down the steps of the Hikawa Jinja and made her way to school. ********************************************** "Hey, did you see that boy?" "Where? Is he cute?" "Over there, that dark-haired boy with the group from Juuban Junior High." "Ooh! He IS cute! But I like that boy from Aosora Academy better." "You said the same thing half an hour ago about that boy from Shikai." "But that was half an hour ago. This is now." Rei rolled her eyes as she tried to ignore the giggling of the older girls in her school's group. A lot of the older girls always seemed to be talking about boys. Of course, the fact that her school was a girls-only school might be one of the reasons why, but still, there were others things to talk about. Still, she had to admit that some of the boys from the other schools were nice-looking. However, she was here to admire the history of her country on display, not stare at boys. As group from another school passed her group, a small group of three - two girls and one boy, all around her age - caught her attention. The small group of three were straggling behind almost purposely, as if they wanted to get away from them. The idea of just breaking away from her school for a moment, just to look at things by herself, was tempting. As she watched the group break away, she made her desicion. She followed them. ********************************************** "We are going to be in so much trouble when Enohara-sensei finds out we've ran off," the red-haired girl said with some slight concern in her voice, even though she was smiling. "You mean, if he finds out," the male replied casually. "The man is so slow, I doubt he'd even notice until the roll call back on the bus to go home. Of course, by then, we'll be back with the others." "You are so sneaky, Ryo-chan," the brunette girl said with a laugh. "I just hope that your oh-so-devious plan of yours doesn't backfire, or else Keiko-chan and I'll have to beat you senseless." "That's right," Keiko said with a nod. "Boyfriend or not, if you get me in trouble, Ryoku, I'll punish you!" "No fair!" Ryoku said in a mock-hurt voice. "You and Mako-chan can't gang up on me like that!" "Do you think it's fair, Makoto?" Keiko asked, pretending to ignore Ryoku. "I think it's very fair, Keiko," Makoto replied, also pretending to ignore Ryoku. "In fact, I think we'd better give him a small example of what we'll do to him if he gets us in trouble...." She paused for a moment as she noticed the change in Ryoku's expression. "Something wrong, Ryo-chan?" Ryoku said nothing, but instead, whirled around and stared off in one direction with a flat expression on his face. His expression then softened as he seemed to see something. "Why are you just standing there watching us? Are you lost?" Makoto and Keiko both exchanged looks for a second. "Who...?" Keiko began, but trailed off as they noticed a dark-haired girl come out of hiding and walk toward them. "I'm sorry," the girl said as she came toward them. "I saw you three leave your group and I was curious, so I followed. I didn't mean to make it look like I was spying on you or anything." "Oh, that's all right," Keiko said with a friendly grin. "Say, I don't remember seeing you in our school's group...." "That's because she's from a different school, Keiko-chan," Ryoku pointed out, then turned toward the girl. "At any rate, my name is Kino Ryoku. Nice to meet you." "I'm Kino Makoto," Makoto added as she put a hand on Ryoku's shoulder. "This baka, here, is my older brother." "Hey!" he exclaimed indignanly as both the girl and Keiko laughed. "And I'm Hisakawa Keiko," Keiko added. "We're all from Shirokoyama boarding school." "My name's Hino Rei," the girl said. "I'm from T*A School for Girls." "A school for girls?" Ryoku asked. "Mako-chan went to one of those once. It was at the same time I had to go to Koraikou. It was a boys-only school." He smirked at her. "Are you sure you want to be sneaking off with us? You might get in trouble...." Rei smirked right back at him. "Don't worry about me. My teacher's just like your Enohara-sensei; Otohomi-sensei may be a good teacher, but she's not very observant. I doubt she even knows I'm gone." "Well then, shall we go take a look around?" Keiko suggested with a mischevious smile. "Let's go!" Rei said as she and the others went exploring the museum. ********************************************** "This is boring," Makoto complained after staring at some ancient pottery for a few seconds. "No kidding," Ryoku agreed. "The samurai display was much more interesting." "You think so?" Rei asked. "It was practically nothing but a bunch of swords and armor." "Anything that has to do with swords, he finds interesting," Keiko retorted with a grin. "At least it's not some boring chunk of crockery," he replied facetiously. Makoto and Keiko shared a glance and rolled their eyes in exasperation while Rei laughed. "What?" "Never mind," Makoto replied. "Let’s just go find something else to look at." "Hey, wait a minute!" Ryoku shouted and dashed over to a display case across the room. "What is it, Ryo-chan?" Makoto asked. "Come look at this!" he called. Rei, Makoto and Keiko dashed over to where he was standing. "What did you find?" Keiko asked as she stood on his left while Rei and Makoto stood on his right. "This!" he said, pointing down at some ancient-looking dagger in the display case. Rei looked at the dagger. It was a long, curved dagger that seemed to be made of some dark metal. The dull, single-edged blade was almost black and shone with a dark glow as the room's light reflected off it. Although the blade looked dull and had no decoration, the edge looked to be sharp enough to cut through any metal. It was adorned with only one blood red ruby on the tip of the hilt, which seemed to be made of gold, or some gold-colored material. The crossbar was made to look like a pair of sinister vipers; the heads formed the crossbar, while the rest of their bodies entwined around the hilt up to the ruby at the tip. "Can't you just feel the evil seeping out of it?" Ryoku whispered in awe. "Yeah...," Makoto murmured almost to herself. "I think it is evil...," Rei murmured almost to herself as she stared down at the dagger as well. Part of her was surprised that Ryoku and Makoto could feel the dark energy radiating off of the dagger. It was very subtle - just enough for her to sense it - but she didn't think that anyone other than herself or her grandfather could sense it. Keiko looked at the three of them. "I don't know about feeling anything, but this thing sure looks evil," she replied and turned to leave. "I wonder where this thing came from?" he wondered aloud. "I don't know, but I think I'd rather go look at some other stuff," Keiko said uneasily. "Sounds good to me," Rei agreed. She didn't like being next to anything that radiated evil, even if it was a museum artifact. As they left the room, they heard the sound of glass breaking and the burglar alarm sounding. "That came from the room we just left!" Ryoku exclaimed and stopped abruptly. "Ryo-chan! What do you think you're doing?!?" Makoto shouted as he ran back toward the room. "No, Ryo-chan! Don't!" Keiko shouted and ran after him. "Are you crazy, Ryoku-san?" Rei shouted as she also ran after him. "Leave this to the museum's security guards!" "Keiko-chan! Rei-chan!" Makoto shouted and ran after her friends and her brother. As soon as Ryoku ran into the room, he saw a red-haired man drawing out the dagger he had been staring at a while ago, and sliding it into a long curved sheath at his belt. It was almost as if that sheath had been made for that dagger.... "Hey!" Ryoku shouted, getting the man's attention. "What the hell do you think you're doing? You can't just take that dagger! It doesn't belong to you!" "It does now," the man replied as he turned to regard Ryoku. The man's red hair was short and very close to Keiko's hair color. He wasn't very tall, but his height was above average and he was slightly muscular. "I suppose you would like to stop me from taking this dagger?" the man asked, raising one eyebrow in amusement. "You are welcome to try, provided you are ready to forfeit your life." He spread his arms open toward his sides as he slowly began to walk backwards. "Well?" "As you wish," Ryoku replied and rushed at the man just as Keiko and Rei rushed into the room. "Ryo-chan! No!" she shouted, just as he leaped into the air. "Don't be stupid, Ryoku-san!" Rei shouted. "Come back here!" "Keiko-chan? Rei-chan?" he said in surprise, losing his concentration as his gaze slid over to them. "Look out!" Keiko shouted before the man backhanded Ryoku, sending him crashing into the display case and knocking it over. "What poor form," the man commented mockingly. "You're lucky I didn't kill you, boy. If you're going to attack someone, then you shouldn't take your eyes off your enemy." "Leave him alone!" Keiko shouted angrily as she stood protectively in front of him. "Keiko-chan, what are you doing?!?" Rei shouted concernedly as she glanced from her and Ryoku to the man standing in front of them. Her expression turned grim as she ran over and stood by Keiko's side against the man. The man chuckled at her defiance. "What brave little girls you both are," he said condescendingly and reached out, grabbing them by the cheeks with one hand each. "Do you think you can protect your little friend all by yourselves?" "They're not the only ones!" Makoto shouted as she lunged forward and punched the man in the nose. "Don't you dare hurt my friends or my brother!" "How scary," the man taunted as he felt his nose. "Quite a punch this little one has." The man paused as he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. "Ah, the guards are here. I wonder what took them so long?" He glanced down at the children and smirked as he noticed that Ryoku was on his feet again and was standing protectively in front of the two girls. "Well, I've had my fun, but now I must be going." He reached out and grabbed Keiko by her arm. "I hope you don't mind if I borrow her for a little while. I wouldn't want anyone getting in my way as I escape, so I need a hostage. Behave and perhaps I'll let you live," he told her as he ran off, carrying her off with him. "Ryo-chan! Mako-chan! Rei-chan! Help! Ryo-chan!!!" she screamed as she kicked and struggled to free herself. "Shut up!" the man shouted and punched her, knocking her unconscious. "Keiko!!!" Ryoku screamed in fear and rage and began to chase him, leaving Makoto and Rei to get help. "Ryoku-san!" Rei shouted as she watched him run after the man. "You can't stop him, Rei-chan," Makoto said as she turned toward the guards who were hurriedly approaching them. "Now that Keiko-chan's in danger, nothing will stop him until she's free." Rei gasped as she listened to Makoto tell her this calmly as her brother was running off to stop a dangerous kidnapper all by himself. "You can't be serious.... He'll get himself killed!" "That's the way he is," she replied. "Ryo-chan's very protective of those he cares for. He can be very stubborn about it, but I trust him. He'll save Keiko-chan. I know he will." Rei stared down at the broken glass lying on the floor as Makoto started talking to the guards. It was crazy. Crazy, foolish and just plain stupid. He couldn't be any older than she was! How was he going to save Keiko from a man probably three times his own age? "Stupid Ryoku-san...," she murmured quietly, so that Makoto couldn't hear her. "Don't get yourself killed...." ********************************************** The man was fast, but Ryoku managed to keep up with him. As they ran down one street after another, he began to get a stitch in his side and his breathing came raggedly. Despite the pain, he didn't slow down. Keiko's screams and struggles were enough to give him the strength to continue. After several minutes, Ryoku began to hear the sounds of police sirens in the far distance. 'About time!' he thought and increased his speed a little to catch up with the man. The man apparently heard the sirens as well, since he began glancing behind him every few seconds. Near the Tenth Street bridge, Ryoku could hear police cars coming in their direction, obviously in hopes to surround the man. The only option left was to head for the bridge. As the man headed onto the bridge, he saw that there were police cars already waiting on the other side. He was trapped. "Hah!" Ryoku gasped in triumph as he approached the man on the middle of the bridge. He kept himself from holding his side, where the pain was torturing him. His heart was beating enough to burst and it took almost all he had to remain on his feet and keep his breathing normal. "No where to go, is there? Now, let her go!" The man grinned wickedly. "I'm far from trapped, boy," he replied confidently. "As long as I have your girlfriend, I can still get away." "Don't try to stop him, Ryo-chan," she told him as she gazed at him with worry in her eyes. "You'll only get hurt. Please, just leave him alone and let him go. I'll be all right." "Young man!" a voice sounded through a police bullhorn. "Young man, please step away from the suspect! Young man!" "Is that what you believe, Keiko-chan?" he asked, ignoring the police as he continued to slowly approach the man. "Do you truly think that I'm unable to protect you? I can't stand idly by while you're in danger! I love you!" "I love you, too, Ryo-chan," she replied, as a tear slowly began to roll down her cheek. "And I do believe in you." As soon as she said this, she stomped down hard on the man's foot and bit hard on the arm that held her. As the man bellowed in pain, Ryoku quickly moved forward. The man recovered quickly and drew the dagger at his side. "Die, boy!" he shouted and slashed at him. He tried to dodge the dagger, but didn't get far enough away as he received a long, thin gash across his chest. He tried to ignore the pain as he struck the man in the neck and the groin simultaneously, then pushed him backwards while grabbing Keiko's arm. The man tumbled back against the bridge railing and started to fall backwards over the railing. Ryoku and Keiko were just about to run away from the man when he felt her being pulled backward. Despite biting down hard on the man's arm, he had not entirely relinquished his hold on her. Instead, he had managed to grab onto her school uniform and was dragging her back with him. As the man fell over the railing, Keiko was pulled away from Ryoku's grip and was being dragged with him. Ryoku quickly dove at her and managed to grab onto one hand as she fell over the side. Below her, the man had managed to thrust the dagger into the bridge itself, stopping his downward plummet, and was now hanging by the dagger several feet below. "Ryo-chan! You’re hurt!" Keiko said concernedly as she stared at the gash in his shirt and the blood dripping across his chest. "It doesn’t matter," he replied as he held tightly onto her hands with his. "I'll try to pull you up." He tried to pull her up, but the long gash across his chest was preventing him from pulling with all his strength. "Keiko-chan, try to climb up! This wound is hindering me!" She tried her best to climb up, but the metal was too slick for her to get a good grip. "Ryo-chan, my grip is slipping!" she shouted fearfully. "I won't let you go!" he shouted back determinedly as he leaned forward to get a better grip, coming dangerously close to falling over himself. "I promise I'll save you! I promise!!!" He tried again to lift her with all his will and might, and still failed. "Ryo-chan," Keiko said, suddenly calm. "Will you promise me something?" "What?" he shouted frantically as he felt her grip slipping away. "Keiko-chan, please! Try to hold on!" "Please, promise me that you’ll never forget me?" she asked as tears began to form in her eyes. "What are you talking about?" he replied as he tried again to lift her up onto the bridge and failed again. "You don't have to worry about that! I'm going to save you!" "Please, Ryoku!" she begged earnestly. "Please, promise me." "Yes, Keiko-chan, I promise. On my honor." A look of complete peace spread across her face. "Thank you, Ryoku, my love," she whispered softly as her hands slowly slipped out of his. "Keiko!" he shouted as he reached out toward her as she plummeted to the river below. "Never forget me!" she shouted just before she hit the water, hundreds of meters below. "Keiko!!!" he screamed as he tried to climb up over the railing and leap in after her, only to be stopped by several policemen pulling him back. "No!!! KEIKO!!!" Realizing that it was now too late, he slumped lifelessly to the ground. "Ryo-chan!" Makoto shouted as she and Rei broke though all the policemen and ran to his side, Makoto hugging him tightly as Rei stood silently by, watching him concernedly. "Mako-chan.... Rei-chan.... Keiko-chan is... she's...," he whimpered pathetically. "Shh... I know," she murmured, tears flowing down her cheeks, joining with the tears rolling down his cheeks. "I'm... so sorry, Ryoku-san...," Rei murmured as she stepped forward, bent down and hugged him as well. "I haven't known you all very long, but I can tell how much she meant to you." "Hey, boy!" a voice shouted from beneath the bridge. "Looks like you failed to protect your little girlfriend! I feel so sorry... for HER! Having a weak boyfriend like you, unable to protect her from danger. I’d hate to be in the shoes of the next girl you fall in love with!" "That... jerk!" Rei exclaimed angrily as she and Ryoku both jumped to their feet. Ryoku looked over the side of bridge and glared hatefully at the man. "It's your fault this happened to Keiko!" he growled furiously, pointing an accusing finger at the red-haired man. "You bastard! I swear I'll kill you for this!" "A weak little boy like you is going to kill me?" the man scoffed. "Don't make me laugh, boy. You couldn't even protect your girlfriend and you think you're going to kill me? Who will kill who, boy?" The man then pulled the dagger out of the bridge and plummeted down toward the river below. "Who will kill who, boy?" the man shouted again before he hit the water... or, so he thought until he realized that the man made no splash like when Keiko hit. It was almost like he disappeared into the water. "No way...," Rei murmured as she watched the man disappear as well. She turned to see Ryoku slump down against the wall of the bridge again, all the anger that had surged inside of him disappear. "Ryoku-san... don't worry. I'm sure that Keiko-chan must've survived. Don't lose hope." She almost flinched at the pain she saw in his eyes, but she did see a glimmer of hope there. "I hope so, Rei-chan," he murmured weakly. "I don't think my heart could take it if she didn't. I'll believe in her. After all, she believed in me." Rei watched as medical personnel came and took Ryoku to an ambulance to give his bleeding wound medical attention. Makoto demanded to accompany him, which the medical personnel reluctantly agreed to. As she watched the police begin to organize a search for Keiko, she began to feel very tired. A lot had happened today and all she wanted was to go home. She was probably going to be in trouble with Otohomi-sensei, but right now, she didn't care. All she knew was that one of her new friends might possibly be dead, and another one was hurting in the worst way possible. A realization suddenly struck her - her dream! The male in her dream with the ponytail.... Ryoku had a ponytail, and he was around her age, just like the boy in her dream. He had also been crying, just like the boy in her dream.... Suddenly, she realized that the chances of Keiko surviving seemed very, very bad. "Oh... Ryoku-san...," she whispered sadly as a tear slowly fell down her cheek. "I'm sorry...." ********************************************** Disclaimer: All original materials belong to their respective owners. Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi and a bunch of big companies. No copyright infringement is intended. This story belongs me, so I would appreciate it very much if you would ask for permission before posting it anywhere else. Thank you. The Question and all stories included are: Copyright © July 6, 2001 Jason C. Ulloa. All Rights Reserved.