303/The Most Distant Outers Commiserate

The Most Distant Outers Commiserate
Date of Scene:	26 August 2023
Location:	Pikarigaoaka Ward
Synopsis:	Michiru and Setsuna have a conversation...and together they put together some disturbing facts.
Cast of Characters:	Michiru Kaiou, Setsuna Meiou

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Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru Kaiou does not know how to drive. She has no intention of learning, either. Why would she when she has Haruka? However, today, she just wants to talk to Meiou-san. To Sailor Pluto. She's a girl with _feelings_ and Setsuna feels older-sisterly. But also she now realizes she's _not alone_ here, and Pluto clearly knows what she's doing. Maybe she can get some _guidance_ here. She knew, though, that if she asked Haruka to drive her, she'd spend her time differently. The girl is in love. So in love she knows Haruka's schedule well, and picked a time she knew her prince was busy, and had her own driver bring her.

Michiru steps out of the car, still in her school uniform, as her driver brought her here after her music club meeting. Her violin case is in one hand, and her teal leather purse in the other. Her hair flows down over her shoulders as it always does, like streams of sea-green water. She doesn't knock, she doesn't ring the doorbell, she simply lets herself in. She's been invited. She has a key.

Once inside, she calls out, "Meiou-san? Are you home yet?" Apparently, she didn't think to text ahead.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
The response recieved to the call for Setsuna isn't a verbal one.

Well, not quite.

It *IS* the green-haired woman's VOICE that responds...but the noise made doesn't sound much like any coherent language.

It IS, however, sufficient to help the younger woman identify where the sound came from, which appears to be the kitchen.

Walking down that way (oddly enough, past the little printed arrows from the other week still not removed from the walls) and into the kitchen reveals Setsuna herself. Clearly, she's 'off duty', as she's let her hair out of the little bun she keeps at the top, and her labcoat is nowhere to be seen. In it's place she's wearing a comically oversized black t-shirt that comes almost to her knees. On first glance, it MIGHT be mistaken for something medical related, since the legend at the top reads: 'You never forget your first Doctor'...but oddly enough, the picture below it is of a large blue box that reads 'POLICE BOX' across the top.

Setsuna herself is sitting at the island in the center, hunched over with her face on the large surface. A large mug of what smells like tea is not far from her head as she groans a little.

As Michiru walks in, Setsuna visibly pulls herself together a little more to look up, "Hey, Michiru-san. I've got some tea over in the cabinet if you want it. The coffeemaker has a setting for it."

Said coffeemaker appears to be some horrendously expensive monstrosity that actually seems to have been designed to be intiutive enough for caffiene-deprived non-morning people to operate it.

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Considering how early she arrived at school, Michiru is _annoyingly_ still perky in the late afternoon. "There you are," she says, warmly, as she walks over toward the kitchen island and sets her purse and violin down on the surface, pulling out and climbing up onto the seat next to Setsuna. "Do you have anything _non_-caffeinated? If I have any caffeine after 11AM, I get the worst sleep. I get the worst sleep anyway, but it's _worse_ if I drink caffeine."

She says all that, and then she reaches out to place a hand on Setsuna's shoulder. "You look exhausted. Long day in the infirmiry?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
The glare that Setsuna aims very briefly in Michiru's direction is one that would likely reduce most younger students to a gibbering wreck...but after a moment she shakes her head and looks away, "...kind of." She lets out a grunt, "I'll be fine in about five minutes or so. The drugs should kick in by then."

She heaves a sigh, then pushes herself out of her seat and walks over to the cabinet, opens it up and says, "I've got hibiscus, chamomile, and rooibos."

She gets out whichever one Michiru asks for, then runs the drink maker and comes back over with a mug of the requested tea. Sitting down again she looks like she's anticipating a pain that doesn't materialize, and she lets out a sigh of relief, "...oh, thank God."

She takes a long pull of her green tea before letting out another sigh and seeming to compose herself, "...so, what brings you to my humble abode this evening?"

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru arches her eyebrows, obviously curious about just what Setsuna's talking about, about the drugs kicking in. But it's none of her business, so she doesn't ask about it. Instead, she smiles and says, "Oh! I love hibiscus!" She's really is _annoyingly_ perky for this late in the afternoon. She accepts the tea with a smile and a dip of her head, and a warm, "Thank you." She picks up the tea and takes a slurping sip, not waiting a moment longer to taste it. The machine made it. It doesn't need to steep any longer. "Mmm," she says as her eyes lid for a moment. Then she sets the cup down and smiles, "Mm, this is perfect," she murmurs.

Looking up to Setsuna, she says, her voice quiet and vulnerable, "I'm here because I'm lonely. I've been alone for months." Tears begin to well up in the corners of her eyes. "The last time I was here, it was so intense, I didn't really even fully process it until days later. And then Haruka and I went to the beach, and Setsuna, she's _so close_. She's remembering things." She pauses for a moment to take another sip of tea, and then sighs, saying, "I wish she'd go ahead and find her pen already, though, so I could stop worrying about her."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Absently, Setsuna sets the machine to make her some more tea. A glare is given to the level of perkiness Michiru is displaying, but there's obviously no heat in it.

As Michiru reveals why she came, however, Setsuna's expression softens. A tiny part of her wants to rage...to ask what Michiru knows of lonliness...but that tiny, selfish voice is easily quashed as the older woman recognizes that Michiru's lonliness is of an utterly different tenor. Michiru is missing HALF OF HER SOUL...and even worse, it's SO VERY VERY CLOSE...which likely just exacerbates everything

There's only a brief moment before Setsuna stands up again, steps over and opens her arms, offering a hug to Michiru, "I wish we had it as easy as the Inners do. You remember Luna, the Royal advisor? Well, Luna's already found more than half of them from what she tells me...and she ended up with all of their pens." She sighs, "If Uranus wouldn't awaken from you and I pushing her...well...I think only Need is going to wake her."

Before the darker implications of that statement sink in, however, Setsuna lets out a little snort, "...oh, that reminds me...Luna actually thought Uranus was running around as that one girl with the shirt that only comes down to here, Sailor V. She said that and I just imagined Haruka in that getup and I couldn't help but dissolve into laughter for a good few minutes."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Six months ago, Michiru was just a girl. A violin prodigy with parents who doted on her. A lot has changed for her since then. She's just a bundle of emotions: grief, love, worry, overwhelm. And that's all so clear right now. She's let her mask down. She's much less annoyingly perky now.

She takes another sip of her tea, after filling her lungs with it's scent. "Mmm. Thank you again for the hibiscus. It's really quite delightful," she says. "I know you're right. _She_ knows you're right. She said as much to me at the beach. I don't like it, though." She shakes her head and sighs, taking another sip of her tea.

At the Sailor V comment, Michiru laughs. "Luna is here?" She remembers Luna. She remembers so much more now than she did a week ago, or a week before that. Seeing Pluto, her conversation with Haruka at the beach, all of these things opening the floodgates of her memory more and more. "You and I both know that if they made a video game about _anything_ related to Haruka, it would be a racing game."

She smirks just thinking about it for a moment. Then she says, "So that's the other reason I came. You're the first one of us I've met since I awakened. I'm remembering who I am, but I don't know what's been going on around here."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna sits down again, obviously being extra careful as she does. After a moment, she shakes her head, "...days like this I wonder if freedom is worth being subject to the whims of biology again." She then sips her second mug of tea, "...oh, to a certainty. That girl is the epitome of the term 'gear head'."

Looking down at her tea, Setsuna hrms...then she gets back up and rummages through a cabinet for a few moments more before coming back with a pack of Lorna Doone shortbread cookies and another of what are advertised as 'Jammy Dodgers' Apparently they're some kind of sandwich cookie with rasberry filling.

Putting the cookies out where both of you can easily get them, she grabs a jammy dodger and takes a bite. A chew and swallow, then she's absently gesturing with the other half of her cookie, "...yeah. Luna's around. So's Artemis, apparently, though I haven't talked to him. Best Luna and I can figure, he's found some random magical girl and has enlisted her to run decoy as Sailor V while we look for the Princess and the rest of the Court."

A moment is taken to eat the other half of her cookie, then a sip of tea, "Anyhow, you might see her around campus sometime. She's living with one of the underclassmen, Usagi Tsukino. Very nice girl."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru immediately helps herself to one of those jammy dodgers. Not to short the shortbread cookies, but the raspberry filling looks so delicious. She is not disappointed, eating one bite as she listens to Setsuna. "So many of us. All of us, here? Now? It still feels so surreal," she says. Then she takes the other bite of her cookie. She picks up her tea and takes a sip, and then sighs. "It'll be easier once she's awake," she says quietly, looking across the rim of her cup at Setsuna.

After a moment of thought, she says, "I am getting antsy. I feel danger in the water. I really _need_ her."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna gets a bit of a serious look as well, "...I'm feeling something similar." She shakes her head, "I've started making some contacts amongst the other groups...and they've let me know this absurd explosion of magical girls is very very much NOT normal. Something big is coming. Possibly several somethings." She sighs, "...and at the moment, we're running blind. Times like this, I'd love to be able to peek ahead again."

Setsuna grabs another jammy dodger and eats it like it personally offended her, then she shakes her head, "...on the bright side, all of us only have this one small area we need to protect...and we've got a LOT of help...so things might not be as bleak as they seem."

She then trails off, "I understand a little of what you're going through, Michiru...and I'll do everything I can to help...but after the other day, I've got the feeling that no matter what you, I, or Haruka herself might want, Uranus is not going to be forced."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru sighs and nods slowly, laughing lightly. "She's so _stubborn_," she says, sounding so incredibly in love. "Of course she wouldn't come out for anything less than a fight. I just can't watch over her all the time, and all I can feel is the danger," she goes on, the worry creeping back into her voice. The poor girl. This would be tough for an adult, but all of this on top of puberty too? It's no wonder she cries so much. Like right now for instance. The mask is off, she's a mess. Maybe if she cries about it now, she'll be better about it when it actually happens. (Ed: Probably not.)

She reaches this time for a shortbread cookie. They're a classic for a reason. They're delicious. She eats it whole before saying anything. "We're not running _entirely_ blind. I've been having dreams," she says quietly, before picking up her cup to sip the last of her tea. "I've been having dreams since a week before my parents died. I saw it. The moment they died. I saw it for a week, and just _dismissed_ it. Because dreams aren't real." She looks up at Setsuna. The tears have not stopped. "It's coming. I've seen it. It's happening _all over again_, but there's something _wrong_ about it."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
As Michiru mentions dreams, Setsuna blinks, then visibly relaxes a little, "I'd almost forgotten that you're a seer...that's going to help." As Michiru comments about how she dreamed of her parents' death, however, Setsuna reaches over to lay a hand over Michiru's to lend some resassurance. A small squeeze is given, "...It's not just our enemies that have returned...It's EVERYONE'S, I think. Some of them, at least, are working at cross purposes...but I doubt we're lucky enough for ALL of them to be."

She frowns, then shakes her head, "At least we won't be surprised by betrayal this time."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
She's remembered all the broad strokes, but there's a lot of details that are missing. Michiru gives Setsuna a puzzled look at her last comment. But there's so much to unpack, she just moves on to what she _can_ grapple with. "So you know how I mentioned Hotaru Tomoe and Ami Mizuno? They _both_ feel familiar to me in the same way as you and Haruka, though I am uncertain who they are." She pauses for a moment, and then reaches for her purse, pulling out her phone. She pulls up a picture of a painting: it is a recognizable portrait of Hotaru Tomoe, in a stained glass window style mainly done in blues and purples. The girl is in the middle wearing a purple shift dress. She has on purple gloves that go up over her elbows and a delicate gold chain around her neck with a teardrop pendant, and a purple choker; behind her streaks of color--eight in all--shoot out in a fan: red, green, purple, teal, cerulean, and black.

"I finally got together with her a little over a week ago, and painted her portrait," she says, quietly. She pauses for a moment to let Setsuna look at it. Then she goes on to say, "When she saw this, she _broke down_ sobbing on the floor, and when I took that poor girl up into my arms, I felt the most _terrible dread_, Setsuna. It felt for just a moment as if I was being dragged down to the depths by some giant kraken. And then it was gone." She pauses for a moment, and then goes on, "Her phone rang moments later. She said it was her senpai. He asked her several questions, the answer to one of which was, 'nobody got hurt this time', and then she said she had to leave. Said it was a medical device that had alerted him." She does not sound like she believes that.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna blinks...and it's another one of those rare moments where the woman stops looking as composed and controlled as she usually does...and a look of utter surprise crosses her features. She shakes her head, "Ami Mizuno. I should have known. She must be one of the ones Luna has already found...but she neglected to tell me who is whom, and I was too distracted trying to work other things out to notice I missed that detail. She's one of the Inners, then."

Then Setsuna sees the portrait of Hotaru and her face goes ashen.

The look only stays for a few moments before it's quickly replaced by one you've never seen on Setsuna's features before.

RAGE.

A clenched fist is brought down on the butcher's block sitting on the island hard enough for it to audibly crack, and it SOUNDS like she's swearing a blue streak...

It might carry different wieght if she weren't swearing in a language 14000 years dead.

After a minute or so of this, however, she grips the countertop of the kitchen island in a grip hard enough for her knuckles to go visibly white as she takes several long, deep breaths to get her temper audibly under control.

Finally, in a tightly controlled voice, she says, "Well...I am genuinely surprised...I thought I had completely lost the capacity for true anger milennia ago...but right now I find myself with a severe case of being *ABSOLUTELY LIVID*."

She then sits down, takes a few more deep breaths, then looks at Michiru, "...for your knowledge, the 'medical device' was almost certainly part of the EXTREMELY extensive prosthetic that poor Hotaru has. And what you've just told me puts several things in a somewhat different light."

Another heavy breath is blown out through her nose, then she says, "...someone is trying to get their fingers in one of US."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru arches her eyebrows. She painted Hotaru. She held that girl in her arms. And she had not noticed any prosthetic. She's an observant girl, too. So to hear that there not only was one, but that it was extensive. It has her _very curious_. But what's more is the sheer intensity of Setsuna's rage. All of her memories of Pluto are of measured wisdom and an even keel. And that's her experience of Setsuna, so far. So that unmitigated rage is something else.

Michiru likes it. She smiles just a little and just quietly watches as Setsuna seethes, clearly working out a connection she just made. She lives for this moment to see her visions inspire others to knowledge. Clearly that painting was meant to be seen by more than just the girl. But that smile fades once Setsuna starts talking. She too, then seethes, but it's a silent rage. Taking in deep breaths through flared nostrils. Her eyes darken like a storm. "What else can you tell me about her? We have built a really good connection. She's so lonely, Setsuna. I don't think her home situation is very good."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
One can almost see the moment Setsuna finally gets herself together, then in a very low voice she says, "...after fourteen thousand years, I remember almost nothing about my childhood...but I do remember one etiquitte instructor who, in a rather candid moment shared a lesson with me. She said:"

"A Princess should always rule with wisdom and never give into anger. However, if you do find your anger too great to restrain, remember that the anger of a Princess must be three things."

"It must be cold."

"It must be calculating."

"And it must be *LEGENDARY*."

Setsuna then opens her eyes and gives Michiru a very serious look, "You are almost certainly right. That girl's home situation is almost certainly terrible...other things, as well." She then pauses and remembers the simple joy Hotaru showed at being given a candy bar...and also that Hotaru willingly shared it with Takashi, "...I'm fairly certain she's not lost to us, however...and that minder of hers is probably where we should start focusing our efforts...because he seems to genuinely care for her as well."

She smacks the countertop again, though not as hard, "...and as much as I REALLY REALLY want to just go haring off after her...we're going to have to do this right proper or else the government is just going to tear her away from us again."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru has only ever met Hotaru alone. She does not know who was on the other end of that phone call. She does not know who Hotaru's senpai is, but Setsuna clearly does, and she wants--needs--to know. So she asks, "Who is her _minder_?" Her rage is definitely cold. Like the polar ice caps in an ice age.

"Whatever it is that I sensed when I held her, I don't like it," she says. She frowns, and looks toward the cookies and empty teacup, but decides against a refill or a cookie. She just thinks for a moment. "It was such an alien sort of feeling. I can't imagine _any_ of the senshi feeling quite like that." Even if she remembers there _was_ one who inspired dread. She looks quite puzzled. "It's all wrong. You said something earlier about an explosion of magical girls. I don't think I've really noticed, I've been so busy, and the girls I've met, I'm sure are _ours_. What is going on?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna lets out a sigh, her mood now firmly back in check, then she says, "Okay...bear in mind that the rules of Magic were not particularly my 'thing'. That was more the Queen's bailiwick. Also, some of the rules HAVE changed since our time." She pauses to think, then shakes her head, "Still...there are SOME things that should still be the same. The broad strokes and big concepts. Destiny. Fate." A hand points towards Michiru, "The Sea." Said hand wavewaves to indicate something not physically here, "The Sky." She then points back at herself, "Time. That kind of thing. Fortunately, our magic seems to be far better with concepts than some of the newer girls."

Setsuna frowns, "...now if I'm remembering my theory right (and this could be wrong on several levels), forces tend to oppose. You and the rest were cast forward in time by the Queen's spell...but our foes likely are breaking free around now...because that's how Magic works. There's us...there's at least a few girls from some kind of extrasolar civilization that's developed a much more limited but somewhat more practical magical system that they manipulate with semisentient artificial intelligences...I'm pretty sure there are a few other major kinds of magical girl as well because I've been watching specifically for groups that are drifting together...at least some of them will be because their Destinies are intertwined like ours are...and each 'type' seems to have some corresponding opponent." She shrugs, "There's a LOT I don't know. This was never my real forte, and I'm fairly certain the cataclysm 14000 years ago changed some of the rules from what we knew. I'm just fairly certain there's something bringing all of these dark magic groups out at the same time...I just don't know whether it's just a really bad magical confluence of some sort, or if someone has found a way to cause this to happen."

She frowns, "I REALLY hope it's the former and not the latter, but it's not a question that we can answer right now anyway."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
"All magic comes with a price," Michiru all but whispers. Words she spoke to Haruka just days before. Then her eyebrows arch and eyes widen and she looks back up at Setsuna with a smile. Oh her mask is back in place. Time to push those emotions down just a little. They're getting too big. She just looks at Setsuna then, for several moments in thoughtful silence, clearly considering _something_.

Finally she asks, "Would I be correct to presume there's a room somewhere I could claim as a studio? I have mine set up just right at the apartment." She reaches into her purse and pulls out the key and then taps it on the table top as she grips it in her hand. "But, like I said. I've been lonely. Sometimes it feels like their ghosts are in the halls."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
A nod is given at Michiru's statement about magic, "...indeed." She trails off, her thoughts trying to go in several different directions at once before she gets distracted again by Michiru tapping her key on the marble countertop.

She gives Michiru a long look, then she smiles softly, stands up and wraps the other woman in an spontaneous hug, "There definitely is room for a studio here for you, Michiru. And if you don't mind not being on your own anymore, I'd be happy to have you here as well."

She's fortunately well back under control...else it would be clear that she despises the idea of being alone when she doesn't need to. Then again, those marked as seers aren't necessarily limited to what they can actually see...so that undercurrent might slip through anyhow.

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru smiles, and her face softens. That's not fake, that's her raw feelings again. Her fingers curl around the key, holding tightly, as if it might get away. She looks at Setsuna for a moment and there's just such a genuine relief on her face. "Growing up, I always wished I'd had an older sister," she says. Then she giggles. "And you qualify as older by any measure." 14 thousand years or 4 years, it makes no difference. She's definitely a big sister figure. "It was too often lonely out in our castles. I think it's a good idea for us all to be together here, with whatever's going on. The staff can take care of the apartment, but I think I might want to bring some of my art over."

She slips off her seat then, and takes a step toward Setsuna. She places a hand on the older woman's shoulder and leans in for a little half hug. "I'll be back tomorrow with my things." Clearly _this_ is what she came to talk about, _really_. It's been a few days she's had that key, after all. She steps back and grabs her violin with one hand and her purse with the other, after dropping the key back in it, and then leans in to bump shoulders with Setsuna. "I'm super glad you're here. I was feeling a bit lost."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna gives a little smile, "I'll always be here for you."

She snorts, "Now PLEASE...do me a favor...sneak your stuff in here when Haruka isn't looking so the next time you come over when Haruka is here you can just go to your studio and start work and confuse the hell out of her."

There's a pause, "OH! And for the sake of all that is Holy, get a picture of it when you do, please."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
The look of pure mischief that flashes in Michiru's eyes is made ever so much more sinister by the bright smiling expression she has on her face. "I'll see what I can manage," she says with a giggle. "The look on her face will be priceless." Michiru's a resourceful woman, and she has so many resources. She's all ready to go, but she hasn't texted her driver. She doesn't text much, apparently. At least not today. "I'll see you when I get home tomorrow." Then she's off. Turns out her driver is just pulling up as she steps out the door. What timing.