Rei Hino
| Rei Hino | |
|---|---|
| IC Information | |
| Full Name: | Rei Hino |
| Aliases: | Sailor Mars |
| Gender: | Female |
| Age/Birthdate: | 16 (April 17th, 1999) |
| Height: | 5'3" |
| Hair Colour: | Black |
| Eye Colour: | Purple |
| Astrological Sign: | Aries, Earth Rabbit |
| Blood Type: | AB |
| Favorite Food: | Blowfish |
| Least Favorite Food: | Canned Asparagus |
| Favorite Subject: | Japanese |
| Least Favorite Subject: | Social Studies |
| Dossier | |
| Group: | Inner Senshi |
| Position: | Soldier of War |
| School: | School: Ohtori Academy (10) |
| OOC Information | |
| Source: | Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon (FC) |
| Player: | Nyaaahhh!!! |
Rei Hino is a jerk who gets way too worked up about her manga collectio-- Usagi get out of my wiki page!!
Contents
Quote
"Soldier of Flame and Passion, Pretty Sailor-Suited Soldier, Sailor Mars! In the name of Mars, I will chastise you!"
Profile
Hikawa's shrine maiden is an enigma to her classmates. Stunning and unapproachable, Rei Hino is surrounded by an air of mantic mystery - which has little to do with her status as the daughter of a high-ranking politician. Though she is a perfectly well-mannered young lady, and she has many fans, her rumoured psychic powers mean she can never truly fit in with Ohtori's elite. Perhaps that's for the best. Rei-chan is nothing like the elegant image she portrays in class! At times prideful, petty, and prickly, she'll pick a fight with almost anyone, especially if they like fighting back. But when the going gets tough, Rei is tougher, and her friends have always been able to rely on her in dire straits. She's just as reliable as Sailor Mars, the soldier of war who guards Sailor Moon. She never gives up in the face of evil, which she purifies with her ofuda paper-slips and her command of flame. By her side are her twin crows, Phobos and Deimos, who have watched over her since she was small.
Personality
A stately, traditional lady of Ohtori Academy, ever admired from afar, Rei would have you believe this is the whole truth. Unfortunately, Rei runs hot. In temper, in passion, in decisions and in drive, there is a fire blazing in her soul which cannot be quenched. It is only the first example in the study of opposites which is Rei Hino. She is a deeply spiritual girl, with senses beyond touch and taste and sight - and also a deeply metropolitan one, with modern dreams which go far beyond the steps of her shrine. In the mystic world, Rei is keenly observant, able to understand challenges beyond the mortal realm - but within that realm, Rei is a mover and a shaker, with a long list of demands no matter the situation. She has standards for the world - and more importantly, for herself.
They are standards reflected in her dreams. Rei wishes for acclaim - to be the star of her wedding, to be a fabulous idol, to be the leader who brings her projects to glory. What she is more self-conscious about is the /effort/ she pours into her goals: she wants her talent to be seen as totally effortless. She'd rather lie and say the lyrics of her music came naturally to her than to admit the long hours of hard work she poured into making every note count. This embarrassment over her passion can be seen in other areas, too - Rei often claims to be above it all, when she really cares just as much.
This isn't just a denial seen in her interests, either. As her relationship with Usagi perfectly demonstrates, Rei struggles to be genuine with her feelings, and often ends up insulting or belittling others in an attempt to draw them into interpersonal competition. Mutual recognition is key for her - she wants to be seen as a worthy opponent, and has no interest in torment for torment's sake, which is why shy individuals like Ami are rarely involved in her arguments.
She is opinionated, and she demands worthiness of anyone who tries to take on great responsibility. Rei judges those in power - and if they don't act accordingly, she won't fail to strike out at them. She cannot abide laziness and incompetence. In this way, she makes a fantastic advisor, though she herself would argue she should have the leading role: because she won't let anyone who wants to lead her get away with anything.
And perhaps this is what takes us back, because Rei Hino has a destiny from milennia ago. She is Sailor Mars, sworn defender of the Moon Princess. The echoes of what once were are keenly felt in the way she constantly pushes Sailor Moon towards strength and courage - even though she isn't always a kind teacher. So, too, can it be seen in the way her defence of her Princess is absolute, not even fearing death.
Rei is a girl who strives to live in the present despite her ability to look forward to the future, and because of this she has little love for her past life's influence over her. She dislikes being bound by fate; she feels her own decisions ought to have more weight than something which was decided in the distant past. She begrudgingly accepts her destiny, but it was certainly something she chafed over at first.
While Rei was an admired figure in school, growing up she had few friends; everyone was too frightened by her psychic powers to get close to her as a person. She had dozens of fans - none of whom would approach her to eat lunch together. It was Usagi who saw past the distant, critical chill to see a girl - an occasionally silly, caring and passionate girl. Usagi challenged her, brought her out of her armor of reputation, and became her first truly close companion, bringing her into a tight circle of friendship. Rei would go to hell and back for the Inner Senshi, especially Usagi. In spite of her destiny, it is Usagi's present-day relationship with her which truly drives her to give everything for Sailor Moon's safety.
She was not always able to trust so easily. Raised in the crucible of Ohtori's vicious gossip-machine, Rei feared for a long time that her friendship would one day become inconvenient, and she would be tossed aside. She thought of girl friends as unreliable - so she tried to lash out and chase them away rather than be hurt. She's grown, since then, but occasionally still struggles with trust in smaller ways. Her defensively sharp tongue speaks to the way Rei thinks she must be strong and self-sufficient; she does not easily share her problems, especially when she believes she can handle it on her own. Her issues with trust and emotional honesty can also lead her to surprisingly defeatist ends: when someone runs away, Rei sees no point in chasing them down, because putting herself out there and trying to catch them would involve admitting she doesn't want them to leave, as well as opening herself up to the possibility that she really is unwanted.
Though Rei does have good planning and organisational skills, her fiery temper often forbids careful consideration on the battlefield. She despises giving her enemies even an inch of ground, and she's perfectly willing to walk into a trap in order to corner the forces of darkness. But though Rei struggles with subtle solutions, her will to enact their plans is unimpeachable. She is willing to go far with her means to achieve her ends, compared to some of the other Inner Senshi - whether that means harming hostages to save them, or allowing Usagi to suffer in pursuit of a greater goal. And yet, as much as her line is drawn further than her fellows, it decisively /is/ drawn - in the end, despite holding the others back from helping Usagi, Sailor Mars couldn't hold /herself/ back from leaping to her aid. Rei has a strong sense of what is right and what is permissible, and this both allows her to make difficult decisions and to know when she cannot justify the cost those decisions would incur. This is her sense of 'self' - an incredibly strong foundation which allows her to negotiate the spiritual realm and dominate the physical one.
Of course, this isn't to say she's an untouchable paragon (despite her claims). When the stakes are low, Rei's irresponsible teenage side shines through. She's been known to use her psychic powers to cheat, she can be supremely self-interested, and her ruthlessness gets positively petty at times. Rei goes for petty victories, and she's happiest when she's number one. Whether it's controlling all the little details, winning at meaningless competitions, or just being recognised as the best, Rei rarely backs down. She'd love to pretend that she always wins with beauty and grace, but the fact is, sometimes she can be a real klutz, just like she criticises Usagi for. The fact that she belittles Usagi for falling on her face anyway, even though Rei has two left feet on the dancefloor, reveals Rei's occasional hypocricy.
But though Rei has a mean streak, she is, at heart, a caring girl. Though she's acerbic towards people who she thinks can or should take it - or who deserve it - these days, she is comfortable enough to be able to show a much more lovely side to people who can't. So, too, is she a stalwart defender of children. Rei is a fierce and kind advocate for people who can't advocate for themselves, using her strength to hold them up, not tear them down. It's a startling reversal from her past, where she would go so far as to pinch Ami to bully her into agreeing with her criticisms of Usagi.
The fact is, even though she's hard on her friends - especially Usagi - when she thinks it's too important to let them slack off, Rei is a good listener who's always willing to help her friends with advice, and she understands a lot more about their struggles than her stubborn refusal to give in to strife would suggest. She's always willing to pick them up when they fall in battle, too. She admires passion, even when it's being used to cheat against her, because she thinks that willpower is a girl's most admirable trait; a girl's dreams are vital, as far as Rei is concerned. While Rei's advice is sometimes alarming - like assuring Ami that they'd be sure to find boyfriends on a love cruise because some of the couples aboard would definitely break up - it is generally very intuitive.
Rei in love is something which deserves a moment's focus. Though Rei is extremely passionate, and is in love with being the first to achieve the milestones of love, she has little interest in actually pursuing relationships with the boys she so visibly chases after. While she eventually acknowledged Yuuichiro's feelings for her, Rei had no interest in returning them. The truth is, Rei feels strongly that she should achieve the milestones of womanhood, including marriage - but she isn't interested in men at all.
Her mistrust of girls was rooted in observing the vicious mockeries between Ohtori Academy's girls - but she has a mistrust of boys, too, though this is harder to tell, since she doesn't usually let them get close enough to her to spark her resentment. Rei's father is a member of the National Diet, an extremely busy man who never even visited Rei's mother in hospital. When she died, he didn't even want Rei around any more - he left her with her grandfather. This abandonment taught her the measure of men: they don't care about their wives or their children. Because of this, she has a tendency to keep boys at arms' length, and treat them more according to their roles - as heartthrobs or terrible betrayers - than according to who they are as people. Her friendship with Mamoru was beginning to teach her that it wasn't so simple, but his disappearance has left her without many significant male friendships.
History
13 B.U. (Before Usagi)
Born to a politician, from a good and traditional family who even handled a local shrine, Rei Hino was destined to greatness from birth. If she had played the part of her father's unobtrusive daughter, she would have been able to storm the world on his qualifications.
There was just one problem.
Little Rei was too young to care about status. She didn't think of their assistants as employees - just people who helped her ill mother. People who replaced a father who was never there, not even when her mother was well enough to make dinner on her own. But she was old enough, eventually, to see the sadness in her mother's eyes at the empty place at the table. 'It's okay,' she'd try to assure her. 'We don't need Daddy!' It was the only way her young mind could explain his absence. And though she attached to her mother emotionally in a way she never could with her father, she knew even before she started school that her mother needed to be looked after. Perhaps it was for the best that they had employees who could look after her, too - like Mr. Kaidou, her father's assistant.
Unfortunately, Rei would not even get to share the milestone of education with her mother. By the time she was five years old, her mother was almost gone. Home care was no longer adequate, and Rei's mother was moved to the hospital. Even as she deteriorated, her father made little time for them. And so it came to pass that Rei stood vigil as she slowly passed - and no matter the amount of angry calls she made, her father never came. He sent Mr. Kaidou in his place. To Rei, it seemed he cared more than her father did. She was left to see her mother to the next world with her grandpa by her side, and the people her father employed. Takashi himself was nowhere to be seen until the funeral, where he dutifully performed sadness for flashing cameras. Rei hated him more than anything, because she knew he wasn't sad at all.
She hated him so much that she was determined not to let him have any peace at all. She caused trouble at home at every rare moment he visited - until he finally grew fed up. At first he sent her to visit her cousin, who lived near a campsite to better inspire his pottery. But Kengo Ibuki was a troubled soul, all the more for the death in the family, and the only thing he showed Rei was how to deal with feelings by being destructive. It was frightening, to the small girl, and she begged him to at least not destroy a beautiful bird necklace. When she returned home, she was, if anything, even more of a terror.
And so her father looked to other relatives, and sent her to live with her grandpa at Hikawa Shrine, instead. And at first she was difficult for her grandpa, too, because she was young and hurting, but her grandpa was kinder... if not perfectly willing to trade barbs with her, too. He recognised what her father didn't know her well enough to see: she had great spiritual talent. He taught her how to read the flames, how to use ofuda, and how to trust her instincts. And she saw that he was the only Hino left at Hikawa Shrine, and resolved to help, becoming a miko in her own right.
It meant that by the time she started school in Ohtori Academy - her father paying her way, because it served his image to send his daughter to the most illustrious academy in Tokyo - she was already known to all the children who visited the shrine. The other children found her distant and creepy, and rumours of her psychic powers quickly spread. 'I don't need any of them!', Rei cried, to two birds who she knew in her heart were called Phobos and Deimos. Her father had taught her to get angry instead of cry - while barely setting foot in their home. His abandonment made the abandonment of her peers a bitterly normal thing.
But though she was talented in her mother's tradition, it would be a mistake to say she took /nothing/ from her father. She was seen as creepy and weird, but Rei decided she would not just passively allow the little cruelties of Ohtori. She grew her hair long, and held the gazes of the girls who came to pray at the shrine, and read their fates in the flames so that she would have the right incisive comments to wield - and soon enough, she became to be seen as less creepy and more mysterious. Even now, older and an active player in their social games, few were willing to approach her - but she began to gain admirers, especially as she moved to middle school.
The gap in years is not just an implication. Without friends, and bereft of her father's presence, Rei was left only with her crows and her grandpa. Grandpa Hino witnessed first-hand the way the years hardened and embitterered her, every year's bouquet from her father's secretary another nail in the coffin of her emotions. She became angry and self-sufficient - and her early years taking care of her mother meant she could not even tolerate the idea of being parented by her grandpa. Rather, she decided he was helpless without her, and needed /her/ guidance. It gave her something to focus on, aside from her grievances, but soon enough she was berating her grandpa with a sharp tongue too. Perhaps if she had made a friend, she would not be trapped in a hedgehog's dilemma - but even as she gained the respect of her peers, everyone was too intimidated to approach her.
Well - everyone at school, anyway. Mr. Kaidou continued to see her occasionally, filling in for her father, who she saw on only rare occasions. (This suited her just fine.) Starved for affection from anyone who wasn't her doddering old grandpa, she came to fancy that she loved him, in the way younger girls do. His presence in her life meant she could convince herself he really did care, and the way she knew to express those feelings was by thinking of herself as his wife. It was an illusion which toppled as she learned he had a fiancee of his own. She could not help but see it as a betrayal, and she realised that opening her heart to boys was always something which would end in heartbreak. Boys and girls just used each other, after all; Mr. Kaidou used her to curry favour with her father by /babysitting/ her, and she used him by pinning such useless hopes on his back. But that was fine. If she ever decided to play the game, it would be to win some victory or another - not for love. Never for love.
And so it came to pass that she had no one outside the shrine she could rely on at all, until...
The Dark Kingdom
Strange events weren't unheard of, in Hikawa Shrine. But when busloads of students began disappearing, everyone was alarmed. Rei tried to tell them that the police would take care of it, but the public was furious. And that made Rei furious - and jumpy, too. When she felt an unusual presence, she took it for an evil spirit and banished it... only to find that the spirit was really a girl! A mouthy, annoying girl named Usagi, who immediately got on Rei's bad side.
But in the end, it turned out that the annoying Usagi and her friends were trying to help. Rei's fire-reading revealed the truth about one of their helpers - but her skills banishing demons were insufficient when the veil dropped and she found herself in a hellscape full of busses. She took up the pen Usagi's cat had dropped and spoke the words - and became the Soldier of War, Sailor Mars. What a surprise!
More surprising still was the fact that Usagi supposedly /led/ this group of pretty soldiers. In Rei's early days as a magical girl, she could not believe it. Sure, Usagi was fun to antagonise - they both quickly found each other's buttons - but Usagi was unreliable and cowardly, and Rei thought herself a much better leader. It took time for her to realise the truth: Usagi's strengths made her uniquely capable of supporting everyone in ways Rei never could. As she came to realise it, her focus shifted - no longer trying to oust Usagi from the top, but instead toughening her in the aspects she lacked.
In turn, the Sailors helped Rei. She learned that girls could be relied on, and that she had friends who cared for her even without her grandstanding. Perhaps she was not always an easy friend to have, but she came to accept them in her heart - Usagi, Ami, Makoto, and Minako.
But most of all, she came to care for Usagi, who never gave up on her even when it was the most annoying thing. She spent a lot of time with her - squabbling, mostly. Trying to make her into a better leader. They came to trust each other so much that Rei was even charged with the care of Usagi's Artifact, as they tried to trick the Dark Kingdom.
And when they found the location of D-Point, all those relationships Usagi fostered came to bear - including Rei's. From Jupiter's first brave sacrifice they fell, and as their numbers winnowed Rei remained at Usagi's side, pushing her ever onwards. She knew she would not be able to protect her forever. In the end, she really did try to spare her - to pretend like she was coming back. But Rei knew what she had to give up, and why: 'Usagi' wasn't 'Usagi-chan' any more, to Rei.
So she fought, and she died.
She took the bastards with her.
But that is not the end. Because Usagi - clumsy, annoying, lazy Usagi - was the Moon Princess, after all. And Mars, the warrior-planet, could not stand by as she wavered. In spirit, they were with her - in her thoughts and memories and then, truest of all, in her heart.
Usagi, the pretty sailor-suited soldier Sailor Moon, fought and won.
And Rei - Sailor Mars - came back.
Someone else... didn't.
Losing Tuxedo Mask was a blow; even Rei had begun to consider him a friend, though she initially felt so suspicious of him. The revelation that Usagi loved him so deeply pushed her to hope that Usagi and Mamoru would be reunited, no matter how bleak it seemed. Usagi deserved happiness with him.
And now that the dark Queen had been defeated, they could be happy too, right..?
The Opposite Of Settling Down
... but there are always more problems in the magical world.
The trip to Okinawa was of course beloved by Rei, who would let no opportunity pass to remind Usagi how much better she looked on the beach. (The boys earned considerably more scorn, because a competition between girls was so much more important than their opinions.) More concerning were the mysterious Outer Senshi, who were positively standoffish to Usagi. Never mind that Rei could get twice as huffy - it was different when someone else was doing it.
The sports festival should have been another opportunity to show up Usagi. Instead, with the invasion of SEARRS, it turned into a long campaign of terror. The Senshi were completely occupied with keeping Usagi below notice, and Rei was quick to remind her to be strong, because crying too much could well bring too much attention to them. Regardless of her tough love, she stayed with Usagi through the invasion, helping her to evacuate the students rather than fight foes who could not be purified. Afterwards she listened to Usagi's grief without a word of judgement.
So too did she listen after Setsuna Higashi's pure heart was stolen by a Protodaimon. But she did not ask for the same consideration, as their troubles mounted.
To the Inner Senshi, she'd just dozed off one study session, the same way Usagi did. They mistook her, when she said she had a bad dream - Usagi shared hers, an utterly banal thing, and Rei could not bring herself to ruin the lighthearted mood. Because there was a difference, to Rei, between meaningful dreams and simple ones. And what Rei had seen - the terrible red pallor of Silence, as she struggled alone - was not some fable her mind had created. It was a vision, and a warning.
The dreams persisted. Rei began to pour much effort into divining their true meaning, spending long hours in front of the flames. But there still had to be time for parties, because it was Halloween, after all. But the celebration became another battle for a pure heart - which the Outer Senshi contested, despite Sailor Moon's efforts at reconciliation. Sailor Neptune named her dreams, and tried to get her to stand aside - but Sailor Mars was unwilling to cede. Ruthless as she occasionally was, she drew the line at taking people's Pure Hearts.
The Senshi found themselves drawn into the intrigue of the Keys after Naru was targetted. A new Outer Senshi, Sailor Pluto, revealed herself, and Rei knew the situation was dire. Unfortunately, Rei's own attempts to mitigate the effect of so many unknowns by throwing herself into visions and prophecy meant she wasn't there when Usagi needed her. She did not hear about the disaster of Tokyo Tower and the damage the Silver Crystal sustained until the situation was resolved. It meant she was clueless as to the danger Usagi was in as she tried to help rescue Madoka from a masked Touga in service to the Ends of the World, and the hostage situation she found herself in. She lambasted Usagi for not telling her when the truth came out - but her anger barely hid the way she blamed herself.
In the end, the Keys led to a fantastical alternate world; Rei was a psychic detective in the police force, and and later a bargaining chip to keep the Princess in line. She did not manage to break out of the illusion in time to help shatter the Keys - she was busy fighting within the illusion to help what she thought was the truth of Usagi's troubles - but heard from Usagi later the issues the Outer Senshi had with that solution. Another mark against them.
New Friends, New Problems
They were soon joined by a new little girl - Chibi-Usa, who was almost certainly not Usagi's real niece, and equally certain to be in some form of trouble. Rei became fast friends with Chibi-Usa, often spending time with her. Through Chibi-Usa, in the Coming of Age ceremony, Rei met her friend: Hotaru Tomoe, a brave and lovely little girl. There was a strange feeling to her which Rei could not examine in the crackling heat of Petz's assault on the very grounds of her shrine. Meanwhile, the Akayashi Sisters proceeded to cause all manner of headaches with things like cursed cocoa and soba.
In order to make sense of her visions, Rei retreated to the mountains to meditate. For this reason she was not to be found at Hikawa Shrine when Hotaru's mansion became a thing of nightmares - and she could not help her friends as they fought through it and found themselves in a melee for Hotaru's life. Too late did she realise that her portents of doom were closer than she thought - she rushed back, only to find Usagi and the others in the aftermath.
Rei could not deny her visions of magical girls out for blood, especially with what she heard about that battle, and so she reached out to the Chevaliers as Sailor Mars. Her support was informal, and limited to noncombat assistance, for one very good reason: keeping Sailor Moon out of it. In the end, they rarely called on her. Perhaps it was for the best. Even though they had banded together to help girls like Hotaru, Rei saw only sorrow in the flames, a vast and tangled web of vaguities and implications. Prophecy is rarely joined with clarity.
It was worry for Hotaru which brought her to the flames again. For all the horror woven about her, one strand was more immediate. Her fears were confirmed as the Outer Senshi made an attempt on her life - at her birthday party, no less! That would have been bad enough, but Rubeus and his lackeys made things even more complicated with a last-ditch effort to defeat the Senshi. But he showed how little he valued the Sisters, and Usagi showed how much she cared.
They needed their wits about them to address these developments. So of /course/ Usagi lost the Silver Crystal after failing to hide her identity from Chibi-Usa. Chibi-Usa, who had been trying to get the Silver Crystal since she'd arrived! After chewing Usagi out, Rei left with the other Senshi to find the small girl.
Instead, they found a spaceship, and an alien out for blood. Though they managed to protect Chibi-Usa, they were captured. Let us just say here that the Black Moon Clan are not fine hosts - the Inner Senshi, sans Mercury and with the addition of the Crystal Gem Pearl, were strung up on torturous crucifixes. Frankly, Rei preferred dying. At least then her unconsciousness was not plagued by pain. It was a remarkably unpleasant experience, and she was too dazed in the aftermath to take in much of their escape, though she quite clearly remembered getting irritated at Usagi.
The World Tree bloomed not so long afterwards - too soon for Sailor Mars, still recovering from the nature of her assault in mind, if not in body. She found herself in the background of the chaos, struggling to care for the civilians who had been caught in the Book of Darkness's destruction. She does not like to speak of the illusion which trapped her.
A track meet endangered Usagi's family, but Rei wasn't there - her Grandpa had a cold, and she was fussing over him. It was only later that she heard about their newest enemy, and her awful tactics. Her attitude to this one is the same as all the rest: she's ready to throw down.
Powers/Abilities
Rei Hino - the normal girl, not the senshi - is a shrine maiden who has been training in her arts since she was a child. She is versed in all manner of fortune-telling (even some western variants like tarot!), and has a particular talent for fire-reading; she is able to shape images of the future from the flames. Her fortune-telling talent is in large part due to her extrasensory gifts: Rei is profoundly psychic compared to the general populace. She is powerful enough that she can draw on her faith to stun monsters with her ofuda, even without transforming.
But even though she is extraordinary as a girl, Rei is still a girl, and cannot hope to stand up to the forces of evil with only those gifts. Luckily, she has something else to rely on - a destiny of war and flame as Sailor Mars. Long ago and far away, Princess Mars was selected to represent her people by Queen Serenity, and to serve as royal guardian of their family. It all went wrong, and in the present she was reborn as Rei Hino - who took up the senshi mantle after dark forces threatened the people visiting her shrine, using the Transformation Pen Luna left her to become Sailor Mars anew. Like her teammates, she is reliant on her Artifact to transform, though hers is now the Star Power Stick: if it is lost or damaged, she cannot access her powers at all.
Sailor Mars - who bursts into battle surrounded by spirals of flame which manifest into her fuku - approaches her problems headlong. She springs into action without thinking hard on tactics, and believes that trying anything is better than doing nothing... which sometimes works, and sometimes makes the situation much worse. This is not to say that overwhelming force is her only response to a problem: she is perfectly willing to give the enemy a piece of her mind, too. (Chastisement is kind of her thing.) Along with this, she utilises ofuda both offensively and defensively for a wide variety of effects.
Though she would protest the comparison, her closest counterpart on the battlefield is Sailor Moon - both of them are especially punishing to dark forces. Sailor Mars purifies demons with flame and ofuda, but unlike Sailor Moon, her efforts do not easily restore them to their former selves: rather, her spiritual magic reveals their true demonic nature. To purify something by flame is to consume it, not to heal it - and so Sailor Mars is much rougher in the way she dispels the powers of darkness.
She is joined in battle on occasion by her twin crows, Phobos and Deimos, who are markedly more durable than regular birds. This - though she's unaware of it - is because they're /not/ crows: they're denizens of the planet Coronis, representatives of Princess Mars's court, and her own guardians. They've taken crow form to watch over her, and, consequently, they are limited to a crow's share of assistance in a fight: distracting the enemy by swooping them or making raucous noises, or snatching an item from their grasp. They can't talk in the form they've taken, unlike the mooncats of Mau, but they can understand human speech, and Rei has an empathic link with them which assists communication.
Rumours
Relationships
Family And Hikawa Shrine Associates
Grandpa Hino: Rei's grandfather, Ojii-chan's first name has been lost to time. He took Rei in when her father didn't want her, and raised her as his own. Because of this, she is fiercely protective of him - even though she is also fiercely /critical/ of him. When his fate as the monster Jiji was revealed, Rei was paralysed with horror; even she was overwhelmed by having to fight the man who raised her. Despite her love of harsh truths, she lied to him when he was restored, rather than tell him what had become of him. Though Rei's sharp tongue comes out often around her grandpa, she loves him dearly.
Takashi Hino: Rei's father, and all-around scumbag, as far as she's concerned. He's a member of the National Diet, and his career has left him with little room in his life for his family. He didn't make time to visit his wife, not even on her deathbed - and Rei has never forgiven him for it. Rei owes her position in Ohtori to his wealth and influence, and she wants for nothing financially, but that's the extent of his involvement with his daughter. He's a bitter topic to her, and all but the most status-hungry hounds of the Academy have learnt not to broach the subject.
Risa Hino: Rei's mother, who died when she was only five years old. She would often read Rei the tale of Princess Kaguya, one of her favourite stories. Rei remembers little of her mother, but she cared - and still cares - deeply for her. Hospitals remain unsettling to her due to long nights staying by her mother's side. Her mother's illness has also caused Rei to be extremely resistant to bed rest and admitting she's sick - she'd rather power on through feeling bad than be in the same position her mother was in, due to deep fears about not getting back up again. At the same time, she's remarkably tolerant of people trying to take care of her, because she also remembers how scared she was back then... but even that tolerance has limits, Minako.
Phobos and Deimos: Rei's first friends, two female crows who came to her when she was a child. Rei has a spiritual connection to them which goes beyond simple animal companionship, but she could not guess that this is truly because they are Planet Coronis's sworn defenders of the Mars Princess, transformed into birds to protect her on Earth. What is clear to her is that they are even more clever than crows usually are; they even seem to understand human speech, though they cannot speak themselves. Usagi has Luna, and Minako has Artemis - and Rei has Phobos and Deimos. (If it's a competition, does this mean she won? She has /two/ animal companions.)
Yuuichiro Kumada: A stray puppy who came across the shrine one day, and who has since been adopted seamlessly into the Hino family. Yuuichiro has feelings for Rei, which hasn't escaped her; she does not share his sentiments, but admires his loyalty and cares for him as a friend. If anything, he's fallen into a little brother sort of position in her eyes.
The Inner Senshi
Usagi Tsukino: Rei's closest friend, bar none. Rei refers to her yobisute, and this is a clear indication of the esteem Rei holds her in - even if they're fighting, which, if they're both breathing and conscious and in the same room, they generally are. Rei and Usagi get along like a house on fire in both a literal and figurative sense; they're more alike than Rei would ever like to admit, and their differences only make their relationship more valuable. Rei pushes Usagi to be brave and responsible, and Usagi encourages Rei to own her feelings and her flaws. Rei would, and has, died for Usagi's sake. Look up 'ride or die' - there'll be a picture of the two of them making ridiculous faces in a photo booth together.
Ami Mizuno: Rei's overbearing and callous nature originally overshadowed Ami's kinder and more withdrawn self in a way which was not always nice. But even though Rei started out throwing her weight around, she's grown more respectful of Ami as she's learnt how to better deal with her emotions. Ami is a caring force to Rei, and Rei respects her diligent nature and her ambition. She doesn't feel like she has to put up her guard around her and fight, because Ami has no interest in fighting; it's a dynamic she values, especially when she clashes with all of the other Senshi.
Makoto Kino: Even more athletic than Rei herself, her strength is the least of Makoto's many talents. Rei sees in her a girl who frightens off those around her, but to an even greater extent to Rei's experiences as a psychic girl in Ohtori. In many ways, Makoto is more than Rei - more moral and upstanding, for one. It's something which can cause friction between them, when Makoto sees Rei as being cruel, and the two of them clash on occasion - though she doesn't fight with Makoto as much as she does with Usagi or Minako. But when Rei wants to charge in guns blazing, Makoto is always right there beside her; the two of them are very similar in their passion and direct attitudes. If Rei ever needs to throw down with evil, she knows just who to turn to. And Makoto's food is so much better than the take-out Rei tends to order on her own...
Minako Aino: An experienced Senshi who had a well-established life fighting evil even before she joined the rest of the Inners, Minako's talent and status as a veteran amongst them has inspired Rei's acerbic nature to come to the fore. Though Minako doesn't have it as bad as Usagi, Rei often tests Minako's mettle by nettling her with insults and demands. In many ways, Rei's performative love contrasts heavily with Minako's sphere of influence, and the two of them are good at seeing through each other's fronts - Rei was the first to notice Minako's impatience, after all. Much like Usagi, though, Rei's jabs at Minako shouldn't be read as unfriendliness: rather, despite their differences, they've come to be quite close. Rei loves all of the Inner Senshi - but she most /admires/ Minako. Despite her silliness, Minako is everything she wants to be: popular, successful, and recognised as an expert amongst her peers. Rather than simple jealousy, it instead pushes Rei to succeed even more.
Luna: Usagi's cat/mentor/babysitter, who Rei has often teamed up with to criticise Usagi on two fronts. Of course, the problem is... Luna is perfectly willing to point out Rei's flaws, too! It's irritating for her to so bluntly call attention to their similarities. Besides, she's really more of a dog person. Luna often prefers a more cerebral approach than Rei does, so it's unlikely they'll ever quite see eye-to-eye - but though she occasionally butts heads with Luna, she finds her a valuable teammate.
Artemis: Minako's cat/mentor/babysitter, because she also needs one of those. (Don't tell Rei she needs /two./) Unlike Luna, he's more laid-back and less acidic in his criticism, though he still occasionally finds things to complain about. Rei generally finds him perfectly agreeable, even if she does side-eye his goofiness sometimes, as if she weren't guilty of the exact same crime.
The Outer Senshi
Sailor Pluto: A mysterious woman who sometimes intercedes on their behalf... and doesn't seem to have much interest in working with them. She once rescued Usagi, which earned her a lot of favour in Rei's eyes - but she's working towards the death of Hotaru Tomoe, and that's unacceptable. Still, Rei can't help but notice that she has a sad look to her eyes.
Sailor Uranus: Another of the Outer Senshi who appears out of the blue occasionally. Undeniably handsome, she is nonetheless ruthless, and anyone physically stronger than Jupiter is someone Rei will watch carefully.
Sailor Neptune: The third Outer Senshi, who knew about the dreams Rei has been receiving. She tried to convince Rei to stand aside, but Rei was unwilling to condemn innocents. Sailor Neptune might understand her position better than any of the Outer Senshi - but Rei can't seem to make her understand that she's going too far.
Miscellaneous Victims of the Web Of Fate
Chibi-Usa Tsukino: Usagi's... niece..? Regardless of her suspicious arrival, Rei immediately took a liking to Chibi-Usa and took her under her wing, recognising a student of the chastising arts. She has a close relationship with her, calling herself Chibi-Usa's big sister, and has often helped her with her problems or been someone for her to turn to. Rei is very gentle with her, to the point of worrying horribly when being stern goes badly for her. Of course, Sailor Mars herself was a stalwart protector of the Small Lady - so perhaps the relationship echoing to the present makes sense.
Hotaru Tomoe: It seems she's the source of those prophetic dreams, of the Silence. But she hasn't /done/ anything yet. And Hotaru is a sweet child - hardly a demon by any description. Rei can sympathise with being viewed as creepy by her peers, and Rei knows that the best way to help a lonely psychic girl is to befriend her, because some dummy once showed her that, too. Rei is willing to go further than her friends in the pursuit of their goals, but she draws the line right here: killing Hotaru is wrong. Rei is sure that if the Outer Senshi would just work together with them, they'd be able to think of a way to stop the Silence without killing anyone.
Mamoru Chiba: Usagi's boyfriend, Rei realised early that she had interest in him due to the way she argued with him. (People don't argue like that unless they care about each other.) She was suspicious of him, and her initial motivation for getting close to him was to make sure he wasn't someone who was going to hurt Usagi; over time she came to see that there was more to him. Eventually it came out that he was Tuxedo Mask, the boy who interceded in their fights to help on occasion. He disappeared in the wake of D-Point, and has not yet returned.
Friends and Associates
Eri Shimanouchi: After everything, Rei is interested in pursuing friendship with Eri -- everyone deserves a second chance if they're willing to take it. ... she's still keeping a bit of an eye on her, though.
Fuu Hououji: A fellow Archery Club member -- if from a different school -- Rei enjoys practicing with Fuu. Thanks to Usagi's influence, she's warmed greatly from her initial cool archer's mien, and she considers Fuu a good friend with a good aim. (Even if she teases her about it sometimes.)
Homura Akemi: Like Eri, Rei thinks Homura deserves another shot at getting things right. Seeing her solitude, and understanding the sadness which comes from that sort of distance, she intends to make a good effort to reach out to the other girl.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng: Usagi's... kouhai??? USAGI GETS A KOUHAI NOW?! Well, Rei can't let that rest, so she's naturally taken to befriending Marinette so she can give her actual advice. For some reason, the girl from Juuban doesn't seem to be taking to Ohtori advice, though. It's the strangest thing.
Nori Ankou: Someone whose first friends were crows was bound to take to a gothic girl like Nori, and so it is with Rei. She worries about her, sometimes, but she finds her reliable and true. And also very glamourous, but that is beside the point. (Rei is a card-carrying Akamira patron, of course.) Nori is one of the few Rei has trusted with her secret life.
Setsuna Higashi: On the surface, Rei has an antagonistic and competitive relationship with Setsuna. But in truth, since turning to earth's defence, Setsuna has become one of Rei's fiercest friends. It just happens to be a statement which works both ways! Rei doesn't always understand Setsuna's logic, but she knows Setsuna will come through for her if the chips are down. (Even if she's sure she'd gloat about it afterwards.) Sometimes that rescue even comes magically, because Rei revealed herself to Setsuna in the aftermath of her allegiance-shift.
Steven Universe: Rei is very fond of Steven. She has no interest in turning her acerbic tongue on him -- he's still in elementary school! -- and she can't help but feel a little protective of him, too.
Yumi Ohzora: Rei is aware of Yumi's mundane mystical life -- and unaware there's something deeper under the surface. As apprentice and shrine maiden, their paths cross often enough for Rei to be quite warm with Yumi, and she thinks it's a shame they most often meet during festivals when she's busy preparing.
Trivia
Gallery
Logs
(Logs prior to 2019 are the work of Rei's previous players.)
Cutscenes
