The first time Tsukino Usagi saw Hino Rei on the bus, she immediately thought: Nadeshiko. She had never met someone who seemed so distant, aloof, and beautiful. There was a silent type of grace, a type of alone that Usagi never before seen that drew the eye, and she could not help herself but to follow the mystery that was Hino Rei. In Usagi's eyes, she could picture her later friend better in a kimono during a tea-ceremony while the sakura blossoms fell, than on the public transit in a school uniform - though she still drew eyes nonetheless. Rei always seemed to be the type of girl who made other girls envious in simply being, as she seemed like someone completely out of Usagi's teenage world.

Later, she would meet the fire-miko, with her fierce eyes and stubborn ways and realize that there was not much docility in Rei at all. She was all fire. Even when she meditated, Usagi used to think that the stillness around Rei continued to manage to vibrate, ever so slightly - a calmed fire that was warm but still burning. And sometimes, Rei's hard and calm mask would crack to give Usagi a peek underneath...

Especially that time when Minako asked Rei if she has ever farted.

Usagi decided then that perhaps it was better she was not a nadeshiko... at least, not in Mina-P's eyes.

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*Nadeshiko - A nadeshiko stands for Yamato Nadeshiko, or a Japanese ideal woman. Traditionally, she is a woman with docile eyes, long silky black hair, and a kimono.