1046/Little Sister seeking Big Sister

Little Sister seeking Big Sister
Date of Scene:	23 January 2024
Location:	Plot Room 1
Synopsis:	Hotaru goes to her senpai, Mami, for help! And Mami has the BEST worst idea EVER! Hide out in a witch's labyrinth. What could possibly go wrong?
Cast of Characters:	Hotaru Tomoe, Mami Tomoe

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Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe was tired. Running away from home like that, well... it hadn't exactly been a 'long term' plan. It hadn't even been planned at all. It was just...

She'd hurt someone, she'd maybe killed someone... and she didn't know what was inside her. If it even WAS inside her. What if it was jsut her true nature? What if she was dangerous? What if she was a monster? She needed to be stopped. She needed someone, anyone, to stop her.

But Kyouka hadn't been able to. Instead... she... was Stellar. And forgiving. And said she could hold it back. But she couldn't.

She was losing. This fight was... lost... she'd lost.

... But... if she went back home... She'd never have a chance. She needed a place to hide. Someone hwo wouldn't turn on her. Who Obsidian wouldn't expect. She'd have tried Mamoru but... he was at RHA. She couldn't... not there...

But there was someone. Someone new. Someone who was close to Takashi. And if she couldn't trust Takashi's judgment, who could she?

So now, slightly dirty, a bit of mud on her shoes, tear stains on her face, in a dark skirt, sweater, coat and beany... Holding a doll that just... well. Mami had likely seen 'Yochu' before. The next best thing to having Luminous Titan.

And now Hotaru was outside Mami's door, nervously reaching out and knocking on it. Hoping she was home.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru was lucky she'd come by as late in the day as she had. Mami had only just arrived home about half an hour before.

She had been busy at work most of the day, largely unaware of what was going on with Hotaru because she'd been on the hunt for a witch the last several days. She even killed the witch all on her own like the good old days, because when she found it, every one else was busy. Everything was on fire. Metaphorically, at least. Mami was beginning to understand how so many teenagers could combat the forces of evil at play in Tokyo.

It's a good thing they hired her. She was going to make a difference. Or at least, she was going to help Takashi make a difference. She was just happy to have a team and to belong. She had kohais. She had resources. She had free time, though she didn't know what to do with it.

So, this evening she was baking macarons: pistachio with pistachio creme, chocolate with raspberry creme, and lemon with lime creme. Sure to be a colorful array of treats when complete, when she heard the knock at the door they were just a bunch of ingredients yet to be mixed.

"Hotaru-chan!" She exlaimed, her eyes wide and full of concern. "Get in here. What happened?" She reaches out to grab her kohai's shoulder and pull her into the apartment, shutting the door right behind her and then pulling her into a hug.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe gasped when she was hugged. "C-careful!" she cried out. But... but she wasn't hurt or anything. After a moment, she sighed and then leaned into the hug, one arm moving to hug her back. "I... Mami-senpai... I... I need your help..." she whispered.

"... I... I know it's asking a lot. But I need you to hide me. From... from Obsidian. From... from my daddy... maybe... no... even from... from Riventon-senpai."

"... If he even wants to see me anymore..."

Her eyes were downcast and, well... she looked miserable. Like she might burst into tears at any moment.

"I... I know I'm asking a lot. If you can't, I understand. I-I know I'm being selfish and greedy a-and asking... so much. I-I can go, if you can't, though. So please, just... tell me... I-I don't want to be a bother but I didn't know who else to turn to..." She couldn't even look her in the eye.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
She heard Mami-senpai in that tone of voice and Mami was suddenly on high alert. Her kohai was clearly in trouble, and had come to her for help. This was her purpose in life--after fighting witches, that is.

She kept on hugging the younger girl. It's always easier to calm down in a hug. Well, almost always. "Can you take a deep breath for me, Hotaru-chan?" She brings a hand up to gently pet the girl's hair, her pale hand such a contrast against the dark locks.

"Of course I'll help you. But I need you to back up and tell me what happened," she says, before finally stepping back out of the hug. She grabs hold of Hotaru by the shoulders and gives them a squeeze. "You want some tea? I was about to make macarons, but I can put that stuff away. I've got pie in the fridge."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe really needed her senpai right now. Was happy to... well. She wasn't HAPPY to be Mami's purpose. But she could use being someone's purpose right now.

"... It's... Firefly. It's about Firefly. I... Sailor... Sailor Moon said I... I killed someone. That I killed Cyprine-san. B-but I don't remember that or... but... but I-I... I think I did..." she whispered, a tear finally breaking through her teary eyes. She'd let Mami guide her whereever she wanted, at this point. "A-and... and tea s-sounds nice. What... what kind of pie?" she asked, focusing on something else entirely.

And, finally, she took a deep breath... and started sobbing almost immediately. "I-I... I don't know how much Riventon-senpai t-told you about me, but... but he's been... t-trying to h-help me. T-to fix me. L-Luminous Titan was... was helping. M-My device, h-how I became Firefly. I-it was managing the dark episodes a-and stopping me from having seizures some days and and... and I-I got so m-mad and... I-I almost k-killed Sailor M-Moon and... and I couldn't control myself. I... I've always had.... e-episodes where.... I did things and I couldn't remember a-and I.... I'd hurt people."

"B-but... But I hadn't in so long I thought they were done b-but they weren't. N-no.... this is s-stronger... it was like... a... another p-person took over and... and I can r-remember this time. I-I broke... L-Luminous T-Titan... I-I wanted to k-kill all of them..."

"... R-Riventon-senpai... he... he took me away. B-but then I hurt *him*. I-I was going to k-kill him and... and h-he had to run and and I-I can't... I don't t-think I can stop it... I... I tried..."

"... I... I'm... I'm a danger to everyone a-and I don't want to hurt anyone b-but I'm s-so scared I'm g-going to have a-another e-episode... d-daddy s-says he can fix me a-and Riventon-senpai s-says he can fix me b-b-but they can't and I-I'm out of time a-and if s-s-s-s-someone doesn't stop me I'm going t-to kill s-s-someone or worse!" And now?

Now she was full on bawling. Hopefully Riventon had told her... some of this. But unlikely, as he never knew how much it was, either.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami Tomoe guided Hotaru over to the seating area with its triangular table then went into the kitchen to put on a kettle to boil and set the oven to pre-heat. "I've got sweet potato pies in the freezer. I baked a whole bunch of them yesterday, and they freeze so well," she answered. Sure enough, out of the freezer come some rectangular packages which she unwraps revealing frozen pastries.

While she was getting the pies in the oven and preparing a tea service, she listened to Hotaru. It was a lot for the young girl to unload, and it took her a while with all the crying. So, Mami walks over there with 10 minutes left on the kitchen timer and a tray with teacups and a pot of green tea. She sets the tray down on the table and then sits her self down right next to Hotaru, so that she can drape her arm around the girl's shoulder and give her another hug.

"I won't let you kill anyone, Hotaru-chan," she said, trying her best to keep her voice calm and collected, and not let on at all that she was panicking just a little bit inside. Why couldn't her kohai have problems she knew how to solve? She was a veteran magical girl, but she had no idea what to do about...this.

Well, she might not know what to do about whatever is wrong with Hotaru, but she did know strategy and tactics. "Well, we're not going to be able to stay here. It won't be long before they guess you might have sought me out. So, once we eat our pie and drink our tea, we should find somewhere else to be."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe shook her head. "T-that's what, what R-Riventon-senpai w-would say," she said softly. Well, there was some high praise. If there was somebody that Hotaru idolized it was Riventon.

But therein lied the crutch of the issue. Even HE couldn't hold her back...

"B-but... he tried. I-I hurt him. I-I would have killed him except... I-I was... I was a-able to stop it. B-barely. I-I was... j-just barely a-able to... to get him a-a second and... and he got away and... and I-I would have k-killed him, M-Mami-senpai! I... I couldn't... stop it..."

"... W-what if this is what I'm like? I'm r-really like? W-what if... what if... if I'm... a m-monster and... and all the t-terrible things, the seizures, t-the accident, w-what if it's all my fault a-and it's what I deserve?"

"... S-sailor... Moon... h-hates me... I... I heard what she said... she.... she thinks I'm a monster a-and I think... s-she might be right... I think... I-I'm a m-monster a-and I need to be stopped b-but I can't..."

She leaned into the hug, trembling and nestling up under the crook of her arm, one arm still clutching Yochu to her chest.

"I... I don't want to hurt a-anyone anymore w-without knowing... I was... d-doing better... at least w-when I hurt them as F-Firefly I... I could control it. I could make sure I didn't h-hurt them too much..." she whispered, closing her eyes.

"... Would... they look here? They... they'd look at Riventon-senpai's place, but he lives at RHA... but... I don't know if they know where y-you live... do they? Would they think to l-look for me here?" As if Mami would know the answer to that.

But Mami was her senpai now. The one she turned to in her darkest hour... and she needed Mami to have all the answers, even ones she couldn't.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami Tomoe gave Hotaru another squeeze around her shoulders and then lifted her arm up and over the girl's head so she could pour them tea. "They definitely know where I live, Hotaru-chan. You probably didn't have to, since your father's on the board, but I had to fill out a whole ream of paperwork when I got hired."

She nearly killed Sailor Moon. Mami didn't know a lot of the other magical girls, not really, but even she knew about Sailor Moon and just how hard it is to kill her. And Riventon too, but if Sailor Moon was nearly killed, it's no surprise her boyfriend was on death's door. Mami wasn't sure she had the power to restrain Hotaru--or whatever it is that she turned into--if push came to shove.

She was going to have to get creative.

She picked up her tea and took a sip while it was still piping hot. "So, I have an idea, but it's going to be dangerous, and quite possibly traumatic." Par for the course for these girls. "How do you feel about hiding in a Labyrinth?"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe shook her head. "No, not really. I didn't even really work there. Takashi-senpai more just got babysitting duties. I don't even think I was actually getting paid. If I was, it's in an account somewhere." Pause. "But then, I also had daddy's platinum card whenever I actually... needed anything. If it was affordable."

She might have... the wrong thought on what counted as 'affordable' though.

"Like... in greece? Could I be a minotaur?" she asked, actually sounding... just a little excited. Until blinking. "O-oh... you mean... a ummm... witch's... labyrinth?" she asked. She, slowly, took the tea. "I... I guess... but ummmm... what... if I... kill it? Like... the last one I... ran into... earlier..." she said, her eyes lowered.

... Killed it.

While on the run.

ALONE.

Well, Yochu was there.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami Tomoe blinks. "How earlier?" The way she said it, made it sound like she meant just a little bit earlier. Without Luminous Titan, and thus without her henshin. Weak, fragile Hotaru Tomoe killed a witch all by herself?

Just who is her kohai? What is her kohai?!

The oven timer beeps, to indicate there is one minute left before Mami needs to take the pies out of the oven where they were heating back up. She glances to the kitchen and then back to Hotaru, trying her best to keep her face neutral and smiling. "Well, if you killed the witch, then you'd escape the labyrinth."

She rises up to her feet and walks into the kitchen. "Which is why I would also restrain you with my ribbons. But the labyrinth I have in mind, I think the biggest risk is going to be boredom. I've been tracking a Familiar that escaped from the Labyrinth of a witch we killed a couple weeks ago. It's set up here in Mitakihara, and it's signal is so weak that I'm sure Norie's device won't be able to find it."

She opens the oven and pulls the pies out, and closes the oven. They go onto cooling racks as she gets out a serving tray. "Familiars can be a bit less predictable than Witches because they're still maturing. But this one seems pretty docile if you leave it and it's other little familiars alone." She goes about cutting the pies into pieces and arranging them onto the tray before bringing them back over.

"I would stay with you some of the time, but I'd need to leave, or else folks would suspect. I'd check in on you," she explains as she sits back down at the table, with the serving tray set down in front of them.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe looked up at her and then just... said it. "A few hours ago. I ummmm... I just... it seemed... like a good idea at the time. If anything could stop me I thought..."

"... But ummm... then... I got... sick and... when I came to... there was this little... one of those grief seed thingies. I... I was going to give it to you or Takashi-senpai but uhhh... Inai-senpai has it now..." she mumbled gently.

"If... if the familiar... doesn't... try to attack me... I... I think that'd be fine. That sounds like a good idea. I... I can't hurt anybody if I'm in a labyrinth. And... and then... I won't have to worry about anyone getting hurt. This... this sounds like a good idea, Mami-senpai. I knew coming to you was the right idea." And who knew? If there was a puella who came for it... maybe... they could...

".... Wait. Do... you mean restrain me if I killed the witch? I'm... not sure... that'd be a good idea. Inai-senpai threatened me with a knife and she... almost... lost an eye..." Hotaru then took a sip of her tea and--

"O-ow! I burned my tongue..."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami Tomoe blinks. The only way she can keep her shit together and not let on just how terrified she is of her little kohai is to act like she's not scared at all. Like she's in control. Like she knows what she's doing here. In other words, she's bullshitting her way through this crisis.

But then Hotaru burns her tongue on hot tea and that is a problem she knows what to do with. She laughs lightly. "Oh, Hotaru-chan, you need to blow on it more," she says. She immediately rises to her feet. "Do you want an ice cube to cool it down?"

She starts to walk into the kitchen anyway, not waiting for an answer. "I wouldn't wait to restrain you. We'd do that right away. My restraint magic is powerful, and I think I could contain you, but I need somewhere for you to hide. This Familiar's Labyrinth is going to be a place no-one can find you. Norie's device certainly can't, and puella are unlikely to either, and if they are, they probably will pass on by as it's a Familiar and not a Witch."

She gets an ice cube from her freezer and brings it back over pinched between her thumb and forefinger. "Here you go," she says, holding it out for the girl to take and either put in her tea or on her tongue.

She sits back down, picks up a piece of sweet potato pie, and takes a bite. "Mmmm," she intones around it. It's so good.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe gave a small nod. "S-sorry. R-right. Blowing..."

She'd happily take the ice cube and roll it on her tongue, before dropping it into the tea.

"I don't think tying me up like that would be a good idea, though. It might... trigger it. Worse... it might trigger it while you're there and... and I don't want to hurt you. Especially not inside a labyrinth. But... if nothing attacks me in the labyrinth, I can just wait there. I... I could bring some books. It'd be like sleeping in a haunted house, right? I've always wanted to do that."

Following Mami's example, she leaned forward to take a piece of the pie as well...

... And Mami might notice now... that Hotaru... was sitting like Mami. A perfect mirror to the puella. Trying to be like her senpai.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami Tomoe eats her thin slice of pie, nodding along as she listens to Hotaru. She has a thoughtful look on her face.

The girl knows better than she does what does and doesn't trigger whatever it is that happens. And hiding her away in a Labyrinth does also offer ample protection to everyone else. At the very least buys her some time to figure out what to do about the real problem.

Hotaru.

She killed a witch without her henshin.

Mami continues to act like nothing at all is wrong, lest she hint at the fact that she's making all of this up as she goes along. She's a veteran magical girl. She knows what she's doing. She's Hotaru's senpai. She's got this. She has to have it. Her kohai is depending on her.

"Yes," she says with a light laugh, smiling. "It'll be just like that. It's probably better if you're not restrained anyway. You'll be able to move around and avoid Familiars inside the Labyrinth because it sounds like any fight that might break out is likely to trigger whatever it is, and that would tear down the barrier."

She picks up her tea, which has cooled down some, and blows on it anyway. Then she takes a sip. "And I could stay with you some of the time, so it would be like having a sleepover in a haunted house."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe just looked up at Mami, still imitating her sitting posture. Nibbling at her own tiny piece. And... "Say awwww," she said to the doll. It opened its mouth and she gave it a little bit of the pie. "It really is good!"

She then glanced back up at her. "Okay. I... I think this is a good idea. A good plan. Yes. Just... don't let anyone know, okay? I... I know... daddy will try and find me. And... and I know why. He wants to protect me... but..."

"But I'm dangerous. To... to him. To everyone. I... I don't want to hurt anyone anymore. Ever again. So... so I'll just... I'll... I'll spend the rest of my life hiding in a labyrinth if I have to."

She sighed and poked at the pie, smiling none the less. "Thank you, senpai. I... I was so scared when I came here. But... but I really... feel like maybe... everything is going to be alright now."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami Tomoe drinks the rest of her tea as she listens to Hotaru. If the girl is as volatile as her story suggests, it's good that Mami's calmed her down. It's good that she's keeping her face on absolute lockdown. She's a calm, collected, capable puella. She's Hotaru's senpai.

She smiles as she sets her empty cup down on the table. Then she leans in to give Hotaru another hug around her shoulders. "That's what senpais are for, Hotaru-chan," she says warmly. "I might not have all the answers, but I can at least help you this much. It will buy us some time to figure out the rest."

She gives the girl's shoulders another squeeze. "I promise we'll figure it out."

Then she rises up from the table, and takes a step away. "I just need to get ready to go out, and then we should leave. I expect I'll be right toward the top of their list, since you were on Takashi's team with me."

She walks over to the kitchen and grabs a glass container from a cupboard with a plastic lid. She returns to the table and starts to pack the rest of the pie pieces into the container, except for one she leaves on the tray. "There, eat one more, and we'll take the rest with us."

Then she turns to head toward her bedroom. "I'll just be a minute. I need to get ready," she says as she opens the door and steps into her room. When she steps back out, she's in her henshin, and she's smiling. "You ready to get spooky?"