1507/Back To School Again

Back To School Again
Date of Scene:	09 May 2024
Location:	Dorms #1
Synopsis:	Rashmi finally makes it back to her dorm room, glad to see a Chiyo who is even gladder to see her. Then Usagi comes to check up on them, and Chiyo learns a *lot* more than she bargained for about what they all faced within the portal. And learned that Beryl *needs to go.*
Cast of Characters:	Rashmi Terios, Chiyo Sakai, Usagi Tsukino

---

Rashmi Terios has posed:
--- TWO DAYS AGO: EVENING ---

Randomly after the sun had set, Chiyo got a text message on her phone;

    << Hi, sorry, I'm back, I'm mostly okay, everything was awful, I'd come home but I need to decompress and Nurse Meiou'll excuse me for a couple days so I'm gonna fall down at her place. Could you please pick up my homework for me. and I *promise* I'll tell you the whole story when I get back. >>

And apparently Rashmi *did* need to decompress; unless directly asked a question, for the first day, she didn't respond with more than a few words that *tried* to put on a cheery face, but... Chiyo knows well Rashmi's normal texting style is *literally* stream of consciousness, so it's a good job she wasn't actually pretending everything was okay.

--- NOW ---

"Hiiiii," Rashmi says tiredly, as she opens the door to the dorm, peeking in and beaming at Chiyo. "Sorry for worrying everyone, I'll try *really hard* not to let it happen again, and oh boy do I not want to go to the Moon. Like... ever."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
The text back was simple: It's all taken care of. Glad you're back!

Past that, Chiyo did her best not to interrupt any decompressing time that Rashmi may be going through. She was fairly busy as it was checking in on everyone else she knew that had also been caught up in the portal and delivering snacks (including the healing variety if needed) where necessary.

When Rashmi finally does make it back she's sitting at her desk updating her desk calendar with little notes about classes, due dates for assignments, and what days she ought to check up on which group of people. As well as which days she's slated to go work at the shop.

It's a pretty full calendar to be fair.

"Welcome back. Are you... I mean, I assume you're not totally 'okay' but are you doing better?" Her heels dig into the floor to push her chair back with a squeak of old squeaky wheels as she turns to face Rashmi completely. "Need a hug?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"I would *love* a hug," Rashmi says with a sigh, and the moment Chiyo is vertical, she wraps her arms around her roommate. "...I mean I'm doing better," she mumbles into the purplenette's shoulder. "Probably gonna be having nightmares for a while, though. It was... well. How much of the story have you gotten from anyone else?"

Finally letting go, she leans against the post of Chiyo's bunkbed, fiddling with Nicomachea's charm. "I mean, so I'm not already covering traveled ground when I tell you."

Her eyes fall to the planner for a moment, and both eyebrows climb straight up. "...*Wow* that's a full calendar, I know that feeling."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai stands at the request and wraps her arms around Rashmi firmly. She's careful not to squeeze too tight careful of her strength, but it is a very solid hug none the less. She doesn't let go until Rashmi moves to step away. It's just held as long as she needs.

"Not much. I've mostly been allowing everyone to take their time, and delivering snacks and homework. I told the teachers you'd all come down with the flu so we should be alright with that. I'm sure Setsuna can help with making that 'diagnosis' if needed," she explains with a wry grin.

The mention of the calendar earns a look back over her shoulder. "Yeah, I'm trying to keep busy since... Well, lots of stuff."

There's a pause before she asks hesitantly, "You haven't heard any weird rumors since coming back, have you?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"...Honestly I haven't paid much attention to the outside world until now," Rashmi admits. "The one person at Nurse Meiou's house who wasn't affected by the whole portal thing was soo sweet and adorable *not* to be therapy for horrible just by existing, and I spent a lot of time concentrating on her. Why, what happened while we were gone?"

In fairness, the amount of subjective time it took *guarantees* it'll be a shorter story than Rashmi's, and... well, curiosity s a heck of a drug.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai lifts a hand to flippantly wave the question aside. "Nothing much, really. Want a snack? I've got SO many right now," she assures as she turns to the little row of pull-out fabric boxes on the shelf unit to the side of the desk. One is pulled out and inside is a fairly hefty pile of shelf-stable snacks that are pre-wrapped.

"I've been making and delivering a lot to everyone."

"I just had a small incident with Ikuto visiting. I threw him out the window."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"I would *love* a Chiyo-chan snack," Rashmi says, both hands reaching out to feebly swipe at the candy box... but then this attempt at humor is sideswiped by news of a defenestrated catboy.

"...Like... You *opened* the window first, right?"

A quick glance across the room confirms that there are no repairs needed.

"...So..."

"...I mean..."

"Is this gonna be a whole *thing* with him?"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai nudges the box Rashmi's way with a wry grin. "Take what you'd like," comes the offering simply as she sits back in her chair again with a heavy sigh. Her hand raises to rub over her eyes, shaking her head firmly.

"God I hope not." The hand drops away again to smile wryly at her friend. "He stopped by to apologize with a gift of manga, and then he went on to talk about how things hadn't worked out with the other girl."

Her face scrunches at this, a look of annoyance, anger, perhaps even a pang of hurt that she quickly buries under that anger. Better to be angry. "Then he proceeded to confess to me saying he couldn't get me out of his mind, and he'd fallen for me when I hadn't hit him for ditching me at prom. Like. *Really*?"

Both hands lift then to just make a tossing gesture toward the window. Which was not damaged, so she'd at least oepned it, yes. "Did what I had to."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"..."

The turn of events is so confusing that, for a moment, Rashmi seems to have *stopped being upset about what's in her head.*

She opens her mouth. No words come.

Tries again. Gets a syllable out.

Finally;

"...Was it *good* manga, at least?"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai doesn't respond to that immediately. Because her lips purse trying very, very hard to restrain a grin of pure amusement. Rather than speak out loud she swivels in her chair to reach for the set of three manga that she holds up to display.

The title reads 'Ninja Paradise' which was fairly popular...

Finally she bursts out laughing, "He didn't know they were Boy-Love manga! And he *read them* and he thought they were just *really good friends*!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
As Rashmi digests this, there's a knock at the door. A rapid-fire, knockknockknockknock pause KNOCK kind of knock.

And then a voice, quiet but concerned but hopeful, "Chiyo-chan? Are you home? Is Rashmi-chan home too? I wanted to come over and check in on you, I know we've been texting but everyone's taking care of themselves better so I wanted to check in on you -"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Once again, Rashmi tries to speak, but her brain has shut down. "Bu... I... wha... how..."

...

Finally she heaves a gusty sigh, and sinks against the post. With one hand, she takes a candy from the box by feel alone, for the other hand is nudging up her glasses to massage the bridge of her nose.

"...Chiyo-chan, did Koji-kun train you in the ways of the ninja? Because I'm bein' honest here, I think you might have dodged a bullet with that guy."

Then Usagi knocks, and Rashmi cannot suppress a chuckle. "I'll get that..."

"Hiiiii, Usagi-chan!" Rashmi says as she opens the door. "C'mon in, Chiyo-chan was just telling me about... well if you don't know I'll let her tell you, I have candies to eat."

Stepping back to let Usagi in, the redhead hoists herself into her bed, and tucks the candy into her mouth.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai is still giggling a bit overly much when Usagi's knocking comes to the door. It's a battle to stifle it, and she nods emphatically. A quick gulp of air is taken and she calls out, "Come on in, Usagi-chan! We were just catching up," she explains while turning back to place the manga down on the desk.

Rashmi rats her out right away though earning a little wide-eyed look from her, eyebrows raising, but she sighs quietly. Instead of explaining right away she steps over toward the door so that she can give Usagi a big hug when she comes in.

"Just stupid boy stuff. How are *you* doing? You too Rashmi, I'm sorry I didn't really get to ask much."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The door opens, and Rashmi is immediately wrapped into a huge hug, Usagi's arms fully reaching around her.

"Rashmi-chan! I'm glad to see you - I'm glad you made it out, I mean, Ami-chan told me that Suna-san told her that you did, but - I'm sorry you were... I'm sorry you saw all that, and I'm glad you're here!"

A lot of words, just rushing out, and then Usagi is rushing over to hug Chiyo. "Chiyo-chan! I'm glad to see you too! Thank you for everything, I've been really - I mean, everything was just - but your snacks were amazing and we really appreciated them and you and everything, and -"

And that's when the words hit her.

"Did you say boy things?" Suspicious. Instantly. She does indeed come into the room, taking a piece of candy and plopping down and looking concerned.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Whoph!" Rashmi exclaims as she's wrapped in a tight hug. "I'm glad to see you too, I almost don't wanna *know* what you all were running through to get out, Setsuchan found Neptune and I in some public bath..."

Trailing off, she shakes her head. "She did say boy things. But the important part is, I just got back after spending a couple days with the Outers. ....Nobody really felt like sleeping alone."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai tucks her head down against Usagi's shoulder during the hug, just letting her ramble on about things. "It's no problem at all. I'm glad I was able to help in some small way." She couldn't go into that portal herself. Well she *could* have but she wasn't on the same level as the people who went in that could potentially have helped get people OUT so it made sense to wait and help where she could.

When the hug is released, and Usagi focuses on the boy issue, she cringes just a little bit. "Ah, yeah. Ikuto again," she admits as she moves to pick up the snack box... and then think better of it as it's instead placed between Rashmi and Usagi.

Instead she goes to grab drinks from the little mini-fridge that Wako had provided bringing sodas over to both of them.

"He said he talked to you about apologizing to me and brought over some manga. Which turned out to be a Boy Love series and he didn't realize." That still caused her grin to quirk because it *was* funny after the embarassment passed.

Her expression grows more serious after that, though. "Then he proceeded to tell me things hadn't worked out with the other girl, and that he had fallen for me." Her hand jerks a thumb over her shoulder to one of the windows in the room. "I threw him out the window. He said he was going to try to win me over but I heard he's with the other girl again so good riddance. He changes his mind every two seconds."

Lightly clearing her throat she smiles toward Rashmi. "I'm glad you were able to help each other some. If there's anything else I can do to help either of you..." She leaves it hanging while looking between her roommate and her cousin.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Yeah. We didn't want to be alone either," Usagi says quietly, and maybe she's looking away, slightly, at the mention of the Outers, before she shakes her head.

"...telling him you were a ninja was supposed to be one of the many reasons he stayed away from you," Usagi scowls, cheeks puffing with annoyance. If a small part of her is glad for the cheap, easy annoyance of Ikuto instead of her more complicated feelings about the Outer Senshi right now -

Well, that's her business.

"I really am going to kick his shins in this time. The nerve of him! To come around, talking to you again, confessing again, and then he's still just back with that other girl? Well, better her than you, but you should have thrown him out another window. Huff!" Yes, she said huff out loud.

"...I think it's just.... getting back to normal. But I was thinking, maybe, about having some kind of like... open space? Like, when we get rooftop ramen? But for everybody who was there, and everyone who was worrying."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Honestly," Rashmi pipes up, candy tucked into her cheek, "the way I look at it right now? Someone dense enough to miss that he's reading *BL* material would probably be the kind of boyfriend who does something thoughtless and dumb every other week. So I'm like... kinda thankful to him? For outing himself as such a tremendous dingus this early."

Falling silent for a moment, she nods slowly as Usagi talks about a get-together. "...That sounds really, really good. Because I know *everyone* had to learn something someone else missed."

Now she falls silent, as one of the worst *actual* events for her, personally, floods back.

"....I know I did," she says quietly.

Drawing in a long, shuddery breath, she looks up, and smiles at Chiyo. It's a smile much like her texts, when she was out; not trying to be okay, but at least attempting to *simulate* normal in the hopes that it stops being pretend. "Just *asking* is helpful, Chiyo-chan. Knowing you care *matters.*"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai sinks down to sit in her desk chair while talking. She does pick up the manga again to show off to Usagi when she talks about telling Ikuto she was a ninja. "I was wondering where he got that from." The manga is 'Ninja Paradise' a popular Boy Love series. "Yeah. I mean. That's pretty much what he did at prom. He danced with her because she didn't have a date. Which I mean," here she pauses glancing down to the floor. "I wouldn't have cared about that. It was ditching the rest of the prom to go watch the moon on the roof with her and forgetting about me. THEN he stalks me for a couple weeks to 'protect' me, and THEN this."

Her head shakes and the manga gets tossed back to her desk without a care.

Her expression softens at the mention of a big open space, and doing something like eating ramen. "That sounds like a great idea. You all went through a lot together. Sharing food is really a great way to help build bonds, and feel better, and you all need that right now. A chance to talk it out."

"And if you need, there's those of us that can listen, too. I know it's not the same as being there, but." Her lips purse together tightly with worry. She was trying, she really was. "Of course, Rashmi. Any time."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
There's a BL manga in her face. Usagi stares at it in complete bafflement, because - because no, she doesn't understand this, actually, she's not sure what caused this, how her suggestion of manga had turned to this and -

"Yeah I'm glad he's someone else's problem," she grumbles.

A lot had happened. For Usagi, it was two weeks whiplashing between happy memories and the worst of the worst events of her life. It was the same for her guardians, for her inner Senshi, she knew.

For the others?

"...I'm just sorry you had to see what you saw, Rashmi-chan. And I'm glad... you... weren't with us at the end."

She's tiptoeing around feelings, because she doesn't want to upset anyone and doesn't even want to upset herself -

"It wasn't something you needed to see. It didn't have anything to do with you. Or Hope, or Amy, or... Pirate-chan, or Bow..."

She's naming non-Senshi, only. Does she even realize?

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Right?" Rashmi says, chuckling as Usagi just... nopes out of that line of thinking.

Then Usagi *apologizes,* and Rashmi shakes her head, slowly at first, then with emphasis. "Usa-chan... we're all in this together. Maybe we're not *personally* attached, but like... you gonna sit there and tell me it's not important that *I saw what happened to my friend?* To all of you? Setsuchan won't even *talk* about what she saw, and she was *there the first time.* Believe me, I understand what you mean, but... Beryl's an *all of us* problem. Which is why I promised Chiyo-chan I'd tell her the whole story I saw, when I got home. And I just got home, so..."

Turning to Chiyo, she arranges her legs underneath her, tucks a candy in her *other* cheek, and takes a deep breath. "So Beryl was mad that we interrupted her thing and didn't give her the respect she thought she deserved. So... that portal was supposed to *educate* us."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
"I'm not sure what it was you went through, other than it was reliving some past events, but I can't imagine they're good events if she was involved." Chiyo looks between the pair with a small look of concern. Rising from her seat she moves to tug another over gesturing for Usagi to sit as well. There's no reason they can't all be comfy.

"We should get some beanbags maybe. Those are comfy, right?" The thought is put aside for now in favor of listening.

"If you're up for it, Rashmi. You as well, Usagi. If this is something you aren't ready to hear we don't have to. I can wait."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"She wasn't there the first time," Usagi says, and her voice is a little sharper than she intends it to be, because she gentles it, follows after, puts her shoulders back, tries to not be so tense. "But I'm pretty sure she knew, if she could watch from the Gates of Time. It was bad. Whatever she saw was bad, because so much of it was bad, and I know you know that."

This is a bit pre-emptive, because she'd snapped. She sinks down next to Chiyo. "I know Beryl is an all of us problem. But there's a difference between knowing she has to die and seeing the end of the world twice over. Well. It was more than twice, but we only saw twice, and," she scrubs at her face. "Right. Starting from the beginning." She lets Rashmi start them out, with educate them, and -

"She's an evil, hateful bitch, and I hate her, and she sent us to the past and it was - it was the year leading up to when everything went wrong, when she killed us all, all these little moments in between - all kinds of things meant to make us remember what she can do, as if us who could remember would ever be able to forget."

And more. There was more. Even if her friends said she didn't need to be guilty, she is. A part of her may always be, the part of her that was once a fifteen year old princess who believed diplomacy could save the world and that violence was always a lesser evil.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"And for the rest of us, I guess," Rashmi says, picking up the thread, "she wanted us to see what she was *capable* of. Setsuchan said it was like an echo... like if an entire year had a ghost. We'd hop from memory to memory, and honestly the worst part was... I found her. Beryl. Before *any* of it, I found her at the beginning, and what got her started."

Squeezing her eyes shut for a moment, she draws in a breath through her nose. "She was making combat drugs out of Dark Energy. Because she thought Earth needed more magic to contend with the Moon. So... I told her what would come of it all, how many people would die."

Swallowing, she sniffles, and falls silent for a bit as she works on the candy. "...Know what she said? She looked at me and said, basically 'Sounds like I got everything I was after, so, worth it.'"

Actually *telling* someone, for the first time, takes a bit of the weight off her shoulders. "So... don't worry, Usa-chan. I'm not gonna do anything dumb. Because the best chance we have for a world worth living in... Is a world she's not in."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai slides her arm around Usagi when she sits next to her just lightly holding her with a soothing rub against her far arm. Hopefully soothing, she wasn't sure what else to try, so she simply holds her like that while they begin to explain the horrors they'd been through.

Quietly she listens with a look of concern. A ghost of the past, reliving memories, hopping through time. And for a year. A years worth of time that they could visit and likely most not pleasant.

The talk of using dark energy to make combat drugs earns her eyes widening in shock. "That... Sounds awful."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"You found her?"

And Usagi listens, hearing it, and she's not surprised. She's not surprised, because how can she be, when she saw her last moment's, and Beryl's, and everyone else's -

"Of course she said that. And of course she did. People - people on Earth were scared of us. It wasn't just the Moon, you know, it was... Silver Millennium was all the other planet's. The moons. All the way from Mercury to Pluto, except for Earth, and so many people on Earth feared us for it. Endymion and I thought we could make it work, through diplomacy, that if our people just - knew each other, we could make it work..."

She closes her eyes. She tips her head back.

"We were wrong."

And she regrets that, will regret it for as long as she remembers her life.

"The worst thing that I saw," she says slowly, "Was the last thing. After Pluto and Uranus left to find you and Neptune. They didn't have to see it. Uranus didn't have to see it." And there's a little extra bitterness there, for reasons that she knows, because even though she likes Haruka, there's always been that bit of butting of heads, or at least there was before she was revealed as the Princess, and she doesn't entirely know how they stand, now, but -

"It was the end. The invasion. The open war. Mars died first. I didn't remember that, and I didn't see it, she was alone, but we saw the fires go out, and then she came, with Kunzite, and distracted Venus so that she could get to us. We were buying time for mother, because she was trying to cage the demon, and she killed him. She killed Endymion, and I killed myself. And that's the last thing I used to remember, but this time I saw more, and I know Venus killed Beryl and died from her wounds after and Jupiter killed Nephrite and Kunzite and died herself in the process and her storm destroyed the dome protecting the city, and my mother found our bodies and used her power and mine to send us to the future and she made the veil, for me!"

That last part is a little bit, almost, a scream, too loud, and she slumps back with her hands fisted.

"That's the last thing I saw. My mother. Making the veil. Sealing the demon. Making sure we would reincarnate together instead of scattered across time and I don't think she exists anymore."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"It really, really was," Rashmi says, nodding to Chiyo... Then Usagi tells her story, and it is a lot. *A lot.*

The bitter aside of the Outers, is something to be addressed later.

Instead, Rashmi merely listens, her heart breaking by inches, and carefully she closes the lid on the box of candies. Then, she slips off of her bed, and sinks to the ground on the other side of Usagi from Chiyo, so that the blond can be bracketed by people who care for her.

Instead of a reply, when Usagi's grief-stricken fury begins to wind down... She simply sets the box of candies in Usagi's lap, and leans over to give the poor girl a hug.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai winces faintly at the near scream, but at least Usagi wasn't weeping. In cases like this it was perfectly understandable to be angry. She deserved to be angry and maybe that would help a bit with the sadness.

At least it helped a bit for Chiyo that way, sometimes.

"I'm sure she'd be happy to know that you all found each other again. It's not the same, sure, but... That was her hope for you all."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
There's a hug, and Usagi doesn't resist the hug, because she rarely, ever, resists any kind of comfort. She hugs Rashmi back, drags in a deep breath, and then stuffs three candies into her mouth. It takes a while to chew, which makes it harder to speak, which makes it -

When she finally does speak, her voice is a little rough with feeling. "Sorry. I'm... not okay. But I'll be okay again, and... I think she would be too. She always wanted me to be happy. And... I am, mostly. I remembered a lot of this, but not like, really well, so that sucks, to remember it."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"...I also met her," Rashmi says after a moment. "Serenity, I mean... It was like one of the few really, really relaxing times there. And... I understand why you feel the way you do now, but... Usa-chan, she had *no way of knowing* things would get as bad as they did, and... I mean it was nice, talking to her, but... I'm glad *you're* here. I'm glad you're *you.*"

Leaning back, she gives Chiyo an encouraging smile. "And you've got family and friends that she'd never have had, and that's really what's gonna make a difference this time. There are *so many more people* who're gonna line up to punch her right in the mouth, and she doesn't even have a *lie* to lean on anymore. She's just big and mean and powerful and she *has to go.*"

Letting go of Usagi, Rashmi takes off her glasses and starts to clean them, tears building in her eyes giving her a good excuse to shut up for a second and gather herself. "So she's also an idiot. Because anyone with half a brain cell would know that showing us what she did would just make us *need* to get rid of her more than ever."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai leans her head down against Usagi's shoulder still offering comfort as best she can. For both of them. The arm around Usagi stretches a bit further to rest her hand on Rashmi's shoulder as well.

"What she wants us to have everyone fearful and ... She's an idiot who is full of herself. Maybe she didn't expect you to make it out at all. I don't know. I try not to think 'crazy' and she's certainly up there."

"But you're all here, you all made it back, and we will stop her and do what's necessary to make sure that the past doesn't repeat itself, ever."

The look from Rashmi, the mention of family, earns a tighter squeeze of the two girls near her. "And she's got enemies now that she hasn't faced before. All of us."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I'm glad I'm me too. I mean... even when I'm Serenity, I'm not that girl, anymore. I'm that girl, but after, and more, and it's different, and it's just... it feels weird, and uncomfortable, that Beryl dragged people into our personal hell, but, I'm also, a little bit glad that other people know? That they get it? Because... I love you guys. Chiyo-chan, you're my cousin, and Rashmi-chan, you're my friend, and I love my mama and papa and Shingo-kun, so it's all... weird."

Because she loves the life she has. But she mourns the life that she once had. And the girl she once was. Maybe that's part of growing up.

"...I'm sorry, Rashmi-chan. It's not... easy to know that someone has to go. But she does. She has to die. And I think she wanted us to be afraid, and yeah, we are, but we're mad too. And we're stronger together."

She leans into Chiyo, nodding. "We've got all kinds of friends... and she's got all kinds of enemies."