Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, they are the belongings
of Naoko Takeuchi. No money or other sort of profit is being made off
this story, so hopefully no one will make a fuss. Though this story 
contains no sex, it does have some adult content dealing with 
lesbianism. If that sort of thing offends you, read at your own risk.

The Devil's Kiss
A Sailor Moon fanfic by Mike Chenoweth [Ultrace@aol.com]
September, 1996


    Ami could predict well ahead of time the result of Usagi attempting 
to hang a streamer, but this knowledge was going to do very little good. 
Usagi refused all form of help or advice in the matter, and when she 
came crashing down off the chair on which she had been standing, was no 
wiser for it.
    "Usagi!" Rei hissed. "We're supposed to be decorating the place, 
not destroying it!"
    Usagi looked around sheepishly. Fortunately, she hadn't broken 
anything, just knocked over a table and some books that had been on it. 
"What are you talking about? I've got plenty of time to clean it up. 
Minako-chan said she could keep Mako-chan busy for at least three hours.
"    "It's her birthday, Usagi. Try not to give her broken furniture 
as a gift."
    Usagi just stuck out her tongue. "Ha! I already got her a gift. 
See?"
    Rei had already seen, and frowned. The gift, whatever it might be, 
was wrapped in pink paper covered with little yellow bunny rabbits, and 
tied with a dark green ribbon. The choice of colors was appropriate, but 
somehow not very aesthetically pleasing.
    Rei had also frowned because, with only two hours remaining before 
the planned party was to begin, she still hadn't found a gift for Mako. 
It wasn't as easy as one might think. Mako was incredibly difficult to 
shop for. At a pinch, one could get Usagi candy, cookies, comic books, 
or any number of other things. Ami preferred something that would be 
useful in her studies, or even a good novel. Minako favored stuffed 
animals, along with anything in the clothing line. But Mako? Rei hadn't 
been able to think of a single thing appropriate for her that Mako 
didn't already have.
    The others hadn't made it any easier; they'd all agreed to keep their 
gifts a secret from one another and wouldn't make any suggestions 
either. It had almost turned into a contest to see who could find the 
best gift, except that Rei was on the losing end, for she had nothing.
    She hoped that an idea would come to her soon--very soon--as she 
cleared her mind and glanced around the room. Apart from the half-hung 
streamer that Usagi was busily trying to put up, the place looked 
wonderful. Other streamers of varied colors were suspended from wall to 
wall; Ami had picked up a few helium-filled balloons and brought them 
with her; Usagi had painted a large sign on the wall which read, "Happy 
Birthday, Mako-Chan!" It was a little sloppy, but one could tell that 
Usagi had worked hard to make it look nice.
    All of them had chipped in for a cake frosted with the colors of 
Sailor Jupiter's uniform.
    Rei smiled at the sight, then made a face when she saw that Usagi 
had left several books laying on the floor while attempting to clean up the 
mess she had made. Mako kept her house spotless, something Usagi couldn't 
possibly understand considering the usual condition of her own room. Rei 
sighed and began to pick them up herself. She stopped as the sudden thought 
struck her. There were an awful lot of books in Mako's house. Perhaps 
Rei could get Mako one or two more, perhaps a couple of really good 
ones... She hadn't known that Mako was fond of reading... What kind of 
books would appeal to her, she wondered.
    Since a book still on the floor contained a bookmark, Rei grabbed 
it and flipped it open to the page where Mako had left off reading, to 
see exactly what the story was all about. She should have closed the 
book as soon as she saw that it was hand-written and not printed but, 
without thinking and acting out of stupidity, she read it instead.
    "Tomorrow I'll be 15. I can't believe how nervous I am--but I just 
can't wait any longer, so tomorrow I'm going to tell her the truth. She 
might hate me, but..."
    Somehow unable to stop herself, Rei kept on reading until she felt 
her heart skip a beat for a second and realized that all the blood had 
drained from her face. There wasn't enough air in the room, and she felt 
dangerously off-balance and faint.
    "Rei-chan?" Ami asked anxiously, moving closer to Rei. "Are you 
allright?"
    Instinctively, Rei slammed the book shut as hard as she could, 
sending a loud snap through the room that almost made Usagi fall off the 
chair for the second time. She set down the book--which she now realized 
was Mako's diary--on the table and made her way, unsteadily, to the bed, 
before flopping down. Ami watched her carefully, not saying anything.
    "I... I don't feel very good," Rei said. She looked at Ami. "I need 
to go home. Could you tell Mako-chan I'm sorry I couldn't make it to her 
party?"
    Ami nodded. Usagi, having regained her balance on the chair, 
noticed that something was wrong. "Are you alright, Rei-chan?" she asked.
    Rei shook her head and left the two of them. Ami looked at the 
nightstand for a moment, and then turned to Usagi. "Come on, we'd better 
hurry if we want to get everything ready for Mako-chan."

    Mako thanked Minako as they split up. It had a very pleasant 
surprise when Minako popped up on her doorstep a few hours earlier, 
grabbed Mako by the arm and literally dragged her to a movie, Minako's 
treat. Mako had been talking about seeing it for a couple of weeks now.
    Seeing a movie with Minako was an experience in itself anyway. One 
almost didn't need the movie to enjoy it: Minako would get so wound up 
in it that she herself was more entertaining than the movie, and at the 
same time, she didn't detract from it at all. It had turned what started 
out to be an ominous day into a much more cheerful one. Mako felt almost 
ready to do what she'd been planning for months now. She would never be 
completely prepared, but this was as close as she would come to it.
    First, though, she needed to change out of these clothes. They were 
fine for the movies, especially since Minako hadn't given her a chance 
to put on anything else, but this was going to require something special.
    She noticed that the front door to her house was unlocked. It was 
never unlocked. She opened it very slowly and walked in the same way. Of 
course, the lights were off, since she didn't leave them on. Cautiously, 
she worked her way around the walls, prepared to meet with anything.
    Anything but Usagi jumping up and yelling "Happy Birthday!" that 
was. Usagi wasn't prepared for what happened, either--Mako almost 
punched her right in the nose, but stopped at the last minute. The 
lights went on, and Ami popped out from around another corner. Then Mako 
caught full sight of what was going on and smiled.
    She poked her head into the doorway of her bedroom and looked 
around at the balloons, streamers, and other decorations. She blinked. 
"This is for me?" she asked, dumbfounded.
    "Yup, sure is," Usagi said, giving her a big hug from behind, or at 
least a big a hug as someone as small as Usagi could give to someone who 
was Mako's size.
    "I thought for sure you were going to catch on at the movie," 
Minako said, also from behind.
    Mako whirled to look at her, almost throwing off Usagi, who was 
still half-hugging. "Actually, I never would have guessed," she said, 
smiling and clearly touched. "Thanks, guys... Hey, where's Rei-chan at? 
I was hoping to see her..."
    Ami frowned. "She wasn't feeling very good, so she went home and 
asked me to tell you she was sorry about it."
    "Oh," Mako said, disappointed. "That's okay, I can see her later."
    "Hey, come on! Time to open the presents!" Usagi said, excitedly. 
She detached herself and started tugging Mako into the center of the 
room.

    Two and a half hours later, Usagi and Minako, having helped clean 
up the mess, left and headed in opposite directions. Mako and Ami waved 
goodbye to them, and then headed back inside.
    Mako took the remainder of the cake and started to cut a few pieces 
off and put them on a plate.
    "Still hungry?" Ami asked.
    Mako laughed. "No way. Two pieces of this stuff is plenty, even for 
me. I'm going to take a few pieces over to Rei-chan, since she couldn't 
come."
    "My house is on the way. I can take it over for you," Ami offered.
    "That's okay, I don't mind. I really wanted to see her today," Mako 
said. She started to wrap the plate with aluminum foil.
    Ami bit her lip in thought. She figured something was odd about how 
Rei acted earlier, and Mako was acting strangely as well. This is 
probably going to be a mistake, she thought. But if her suspicions were 
anywhere near right, it would be a lot better for her to bring this up 
than for Rei to.
    "Mako-chan," she started. "Is there something wrong you're not 
telling us?"
    Mako turned to look at her. "No. What do you mean?"
    "Earlier on, Usagi knocked over some of your books, and I think 
while Rei was picking them up, she caught a glimpse at your diary."
    Mako's face went white. She reflexively ripped the sheet of foil 
she was using.
    "That was right before she went home," Ami said.
    For a few moments, Mako just stood there, paralyzed. Ami thought 
she was about to faint. But Mako snapped out of it. "Ami-chan, please, 
don't mention this to anyone," she said, her voice almost quivering. 
"Please."
    "Of course not," Ami said.
    "Thank you," Mako said. She blew past Ami, and ran into her room. 
Almost as quickly, she came back out again, and went out the front door, 
slamming it on her way out. Ami noticed as she watched that the diary 
was in Mako's hand.


    Rei had spent the past two hours lying on her bed. Some of the time 
she was in tears, some of it she was just in thought. She kept seeing 
those words, over and over again...
    She rolled over and cried back into her pillow again so neither her 
grandfather nor Chad could hear. She was wishing that if she could 
change one thing, anything, it would be to have never seen that book. 
But there were no magical faeries about to grant that wish, and 
everything she had gone through felt ten times worse than before.
    She almost didn't hear the knock at the sliding door to her room. 
Rei cleared her throat. "Please, go away," she said, trying not be 
hostile or break down into more tears. Or both.
    "I want to come in," Mako said.
    Rei considered repeating herself, but got up off the bed, walked 
over to the door and opened it. Of course, Mako was standing there. She 
was looking extremely unhappy and holding that damn book in her hand. 
She walked in.
    Rei closed the door again. "I'm sorry I didn't come to your party."
    The statement was so ridiculous that Mako laughed in spite of 
herself for a moment, then returned to her glum look. She held up the 
diary. "How much did you see?"
    "The last page," Rei muttered, and half-turned away. "Enough."
    Mako opened the diary and offered it to her, but Rei refused, so 
Mako grabbed her hand, opened it and forced the book into it. "Read it." 
Rei shook her head. "Please..." Mako added, softly.
    Rei looked in the book. She was reading an entry that must have 
been many pages back from the one she had seen earlier.
    "The other one is Sailor Mars, Rei-chan. She's a shinto follower or 
something, and she goes to a different school than Usagi-chan, Ami-chan 
and me. She reminds me a lot of me: stubborn, strong, and with a bad 
temper. But inside she's a lot different than I am, so good at hiding 
her feelings."
    Rei winced as though the words wounded her, but went on.
    "She picks on Usagi-chan and argues with her a lot, but I can tell 
she really cares about her. She does all that because she thinks it's 
for Usagi-chan's good. I think Ami-chan knows it, too, but Usagi-chan 
sure doesn't."
    The writing in the diary seemed to change somewhat, becoming more 
stilted and wavery.
    "When I saw Rei-chan, I felt something inside, like I did with 
him... before he dumped me. Something about her excites me, and I don't 
know what it is. Maybe it's because she's like me, but she's so feminine 
too. She's pretty and delicate, even though she's tough--I wish I could 
be like that.
    "Rei-chan's going out with a guy named Mamoru, so I'm not about to 
tell her how I feel, of course. I'm not even sure how I feel right now, 
but it wouldn't be right anyway."
    Rei closed the book, and handed it back to Mako. The tears had 
returned, despite how hard she'd fought.
    "I'm so sorry," Mako said. "I didn't want to hurt you--"
    Rei held up her hand. "You don't understand," she said. "I..." she 
began, and stopped. Still she could not get the words out, so instead 
she walked over to her bed, opened a drawer on the table next to it and 
pulled out a book only a little larger than the one Mako was holding,
black with a silver lock on the side that she unfastened. She opened the 
book and handed it to Mako.
    Slowly, Mako accepted the book and started to read it. Her eyes 
went wide.
    "It's been three months since we found out that Mako-chan was 
Sailor Jupiter. Every day since then has been torture.
    "I know it's wrong, but I can't help what I feel. When I look at 
her, something inside of me wants so badly just to walk up an put my 
lips on hers, to wrap my arms around her... But I can't.
    "I can't stand this feeling, this temptation of evil. Why do I have 
to be punished like this? If this is so wrong, why do I have to feel 
this way? What have I done wrong? Even if I went to her about this, 
she'd probably think I was crazy or something. She goes wild about lots 
of guys, but the thought of another girl would disgust her..."
    Mako closed both the book and her eyes, completely without any idea 
of what to do or say.

    It was quite a while before either of them dared to speak, but Mako 
broke the silence first. Her voice was hoarse. "I didn't know."
    "You wouldn't," Rei said. "I didn't want you to know. If you knew, 
the temptation would be so much worse..."
    "What do you mean, 'temptation?'" Mako asked. "Temptation means 
there's something wrong to be tempted about. There's nothing wrong with 
this."
    "It's wrong by our beliefs," Rei said. "I've always been taught 
that. If Grandpa knew--"
    "Rei-chan, your Grandfather is no one to talk--he's an old letch. 
How can anyone teach you that what you feel is wrong?"
    "I have to remain pure, not just in my body but in my thoughts too. 
This is... It's a perversion," Rei said.
    Mako held her tongue for a few moments, then said something much 
less hostile than her first impulse. "Do you think I'm a pervert because 
this doesn't bother me?"
    Rei looked even more crushed as she realized how it had come out. 
"No, you just believe in different things than I do, that's all. I don't 
ask anyone how they feel about God, or... or..."
    "I believe in a lot of Gods, Rei-chan. I can feel the power of 
Jupiter every time I fight as a Sailor Senshi, and I can see the force 
that other Gods--Venus, Mercury, Mars, even Pluto have. I think there 
are more than just those Gods, though. And I know there have to be 
Devils, too, like the kind that give people like Queen Beryl power. But 
don't Devils have anything better to do than this right now? To 'tempt' 
you?"
    Rei thought about it. Mako went on.
    "Before I knew about all of them, though, I was raised as a 
Catholic for a long time--" she said, drawing a look of surprise from 
Rei. "--until someone, God or Devil, took away my parents, and at that 
moment I sort of turned my back on that God that I'd been taught to 
believe in. 'How could any kind God let that happen,' I wondered. But I 
remembered what I'd been taught and what should have been wrong.
    "When I met you, and felt what I did, I thought the same thing at 
first, but I made a decision. If someone could take away the only people 
I had in my life and leave me all alone, I wasn't going to give a damn 
if they made me feel something that was supposedly wrong. Who was it 
going to hurt? I've done a lot of things in my life that were 
wrong--being attracted by a pretty girl isn't the worst of them. If I go 
to some sort of Hell when I die, it's not going to be because of this.
    "I was going to tell you how I felt today, but in a way I'm glad 
you found out, because if I'd guessed how much this would hurt you, I 
never would have said anything. I would have had to keep this to myself 
forever, and even worse, you would have too. It hurt not being able to 
tell you how I really felt, but you've been putting yourself through so 
much worse."
    Suddenly, her words had ran out, and she just stood there with Rei 
for a while. It was a day of long and uncomfortable silences.
    "What does it feel like?" Rei asked, looking into Mako's green eyes.
    "What?"
    "Having those feelings and not being ashamed of them, not having to 
worry about what would happen if you give in to them. How does that 
feel?"
    Mako smiled. "It feels really good, not having to hide from 
yourself, you know? I did have to worry though, about you finding out. 
Now, it's so much better. I was really afraid that you'd hate me, but I 
feel happy now that I don't think this has to come between us. You're 
too good a friend for me to want to lose." She smiled bigger.
    Rei smiled as well, in spite of everything that had happened that 
day. Strangely, she could feel a sort of courage coming from Mako, who 
would give up her life without a thought or do anything for her friends, 
just like Rei would, and could still live with these thoughts. Rei knew 
if she didn't take advantage of that courage that instant, she'd always 
regret it.
    She set down the book, walked over to Mako, and put her hands on 
her arms. "Happy birthday, Mako-chan."
    And before either of them could back down, Rei brought their lips 
together.

    Rei had kissed many people before in her life. Her relatives, 
people she cared about, a couple of boys. She'd even stolen one from 
Mamoru once, though she never told Usagi about it.
    None of those kisses, however, were anything like this. There was a 
tingle that ran down her spine as soon her lips brushed against Mako's. 
Mako responded in shock and actually started to pull away for a second, 
but Rei had expected as such and had a firm grip on her arms. The 
reaction was only momentary, however, and Mako quickly ceased any 
resistance.
    Rei had closed her eyes in a sudden terror and was trying to 
imagine that Mako was someone else, but it was no use. She knew exactly 
what she was doing. Mako did too--she broke Rei's grip and put her arms 
around Rei, which helped to stop Rei from shaking like a leaf.
    And then, after about fifteen seconds, it was over. Slowly, the two 
broke apart, and Rei staggered back against her bed. Only Mamoru had 
left her so breathless, even if it was for a different reason.
    She was looking very pale. "Are you okay?" Mako asked, almost out 
of breath herself.
    Rei nodded. "I can't believe I did that," she gasped, but there 
wasn't any regret in her voice. She was smiling.
    "Me neither," Mako said, also smiling. A tear was sliding down her 
cheek. "Thank you, Rei-chan."
    There was another long silence between them, but it wasn't 
uncomfortable anymore.
    Mako opened up her diary, carefully ripped out the page that she 
had made Rei read, and handed it to her. "If you're still afraid of 
this, then no one else has to know, but if you ever need to talk about 
it... Or anything else, I hope this can remind you I'll always be ready 
to listen."
    Rei opened her own diary and similarly tore out her page, which 
Mako gladly took and stuck in amongst the pages of hers. "Same here," 
Rei said.
    After the kind of hug that only two best friends can give, Mako 
went back to her house, and Rei spent the rest of her day writing a song 
about two people who traveled down a tunnel of darkness, only to meet at 
a point of light in the middle.

    "I'm 15 now, and I learned today that some gifts are better than 
others. A kiss from a friend--and someone you love--can mean more than 
anything else in the world."