***



Rei stared at her clamshell mobile phone, folded open and lying on top of the low table in her

bedroom. Displayed on its screen was the name Minako Aino along with a mobile number. 

After a few more minutes of staring at said phone she gingerly picked the phone up only to 

stare at it again.



Not far from where she was sitting, the ravens Phobos and Deimos perched over the platform 

adjacent to Rei's room. If one could read the ravens' emotions from their small faces, it'd 

be readily apparent that they look worried.



"Ugh." Rei sighed as she flopped backwards on her futon, phone still in hand. She then 

flipped the phone close as she tugged on the loose collar of her night shirt. The maiden's 

dark eyes then became fixated at the ceiling.



"Not even a message…" the girl muttered to herself. She shifted to lie on her side and once 

again stared at the phone.



It was a weekend night and Rei was accustomed to have her relentless pursuer barge in for 

a night of movie watching, manga reading, or whatever the blonde would plan as an excuse to 

spend time with her. Several days have passed, however, since Rei have last seen Minako, not 

after school or in the shrine. Without any word why she was gone or when she'll be coming back. 

This bothered the shrine maiden a great deal.



"Kaa kaa!"



"Shut up, Deimos." Rei mumbled, rolling to lie on her belly. She buried her face on a pillow. "I 

bet this is just one of her ploys to get me to date her", she muffled.



"Kaa!" cried Deimos. "Kaaaw kaww." Phobos soon followed suit.



Rei bolted up from the futon and glared at the two. "What do you mean she probably gave up on 

me?!" An inexplicable feeling of dread suddenly began rising from the young maiden's stomach. 

"I mean she's not…the type to give up easily."



Rei's brows knitted, realizing that her tone sounded rather desperate. 



"Kaaaw!" 



"Kaaa kaa!"



The ravens cried in unison. 



"There's no way she would do that, I mean…!" Rei trembled, clutching her hand tightly around the

 phone. "She’s probably just…"  



The two black birds looked at Rei, then to each other. Deimos, the smaller of the two, let out a 

tiny squawk at her Master.



"OH FINE!" Rei shrilled as she flipped her phone open and furiously pushed several buttons on 

the keypad. "Just to show you two are wrong!" 



Tiny beads of sweat formed along Rei's forehead as she waited for the line to connect.



…static…



‘The line you are calling is currently unatten…’



"SHIT!" 



The redial button of the red clamshell suffered a great deal for the following minutes. Rei

 huffed, her face flushed with anger. A flurry of thoughts raced through her head.



The line wouldn't connect.



There's no way Minako's mobile can't get a signal in Juuban.



Her mobile is off.



Deliberately. Why?



…



She's avoiding…



"SHIT!" Rei once again shrilled as she rose from her seat on the futon and promptly exited 

from her room, followed by her ravens' eyes. When she returned, she had a local directory with 

her and was already going through the 'A' pages.



"Aino, Aino, Aino…" Rei mumbled, her usually porcelain white face now painted with a bright red. 

"Here, Aino!" she spat as she fell back down on the now messy futon. The ravens flew from the 

platform and settled on Rei's shoulders, skimming the names with her. Purple eyes quickly but 

carefully read the details of each listing, trying to figure which was Minako Aino's residence. 



Tension and anger were unbearably building up on Rei, making her temples ache. Who would've 

thought there were -that- many Ainos in her neighborhood.



Aino Chizuru…



Aino Itsuki…



Aino Junichi… 



AINO KUTABA…!



"Kaaaw!"



Rei's features lifted. She turned to Phobos on her shoulder. "Are you sure this one is hers?"



The raven nodded vigorously. Deimos hopped off Rei's shoulder and began dragging her 

mobile by the strap towards the young maiden.



"Thanks." Rei then immediately pushed the numbers as they appeared on the listing. Deimos 

again hopped onto her shoulder and listened in close with Phobos.



…static…



…Ring…~



As the phone rang, the young maiden felt an uncomfortable lump appear within her throat. She 

tucked a loose lock of hair behind her left ear and nervously fiddled with the phone against her 

ear. The tension she felt earlier when she called Minako's mobile dwarfed in comparison. Cold 

sweat formed all over her body and Rei could hardly feel the mobile within her fingers.



…ring…click.



"Hello," a dignified lady's voice resounded with a thick accent, which the maiden classified as 

English. "Aino residence, Mrs. Aino speaking." The accent assured Rei she got the right number as 

she knew Minako's mother is from England.



"Oh, uhm…" Rei cracked. She suddenly forgot what she learned in phone ethics class.  "Good 

evening err Mrs. Aino. This is Rei Hino, Minako's ahh…friend…?" 



The poor girl was rambling and could imagine the frown forming over Mrs. Aino's face on the 

other line.  "May I please speak with h-her?" she finally ended with the stammer. 



"Oh, Hino-san!" Mrs. Aino exclaimed, as if familiar with Rei's name. "I'm very sorry 

but Mina-chan's out for the evening."

 

Rei deflated with a flat "Oh." The tension started building upon the girl once more as a 

scenario formed in her mind.



"Is she over at Tsukino-san's house? I'm sorry but it's really kind of important."



Mrs. Aino paused for a second, clearly taken aback. "No." the lady answered gently but 

bluntly. "She said she was off to have a date with her boyfriend…"



Huh?



HUH?



What did she say?



BOYFRIEND?!



"…tried calling her mobile? …Hino-san?"



Rei froze as her fingers tightened around the red mobile. The ravens looked all the more 

concerned as they watched the blood drain from their master's face.



"…HINO-SAN?"



"…thanks Mrs. Aino, I'll do that. I'm terribly sorry for the bother." drawled Rei in 

the most deadpan tone she could muster.



Rei heard a chuckle from the line. "Think nothing of it dear. Very well then, goodnight." 

Mrs. Aino gently bidded.



"Goodnight and thank you again, Mrs. Aino."



Click.



Bip.



Rei quietly flipped her phone close and set it back on the low table of her room. Her face, 

earlier filled with unfettered tension and anger, was now unfeeling and hard.



"Kaa…" Deimos squawked emphatically as she hopped closer to Rei's head.



"You were right, you two…" the girl whispered. "…she gave up on me." Rei's voice trailed off.



Rei felt her throat hurt. It was too dry. She couldn't even speak.



The young girl fell on her back, sending the ravens flying. Her dark eyes once again became 

plastered upon the room’s ceiling. The ravens landed close and leaned comfortingly on the sides 

of her head. Rei ran both of her hands over the ravens' dark feathers.



Minako's now…now she's with someone else.



Not me. Not me.



I'm alone again.



Just like I wanted.



This is what I want. So it should be alright.



Yeah. This is alright.



Me. Alone. 



With grandfather… 



With Deimos… 



With Phobos…



Just them…



No Mina.



Rei choked hard. The dryness she felt within her throat now spread to her eyes.



…



Screw this.



Rei closed her eyes but hardly slept a wink.



***