1198/Shedding Some Light

Shedding Some Light
Date of Scene:	27 February 2024
Location:	The Shed
Synopsis:	Guardian Daifuku meets up with Guardian Sukiyaki to show him The Shed. They run into Mamoru while there, and identities are revealed for better or worse.
Cast of Characters:	Chiyo Sakai, Mamoru Chiba, Ren Morimoto

---

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
There was a shed toward the back of the school, down a wooded path. It wasn't inaccessable by any means. Just who would really come back here other than a caretaker or maybe some kids skipping class to smoke? In Winter it was too far away even for that. It's this shed that Daifuku leads Sukiyaki to with a little gesture.

"It's been fixed up some," she notes with a small nod of approval. It was cleaner, not as messy. That was great. "But you need to be careful of Bernard," she explains while opening the door to show what lay inside. Currently it was just some gardening equipment. A rake, a hoe, maybe a rolled up garden hose. Things of that nature. And poking his head out from the pile of rolled up hoses is a raccoon that gives a threatening little hisssttth! Before she shuts the door again quickly. "That's Bernard. ... He is not magical or smart, it's just warm in there," she adds with a chuckle.

Her hand is still on the door knob and she gestures. "Okay, so that was opening it normally. If you twist the knob the OTHER way and open it, it'll open up to where us magical sorts go to converse or share information. Or just hide out if we need a break sometimes," she has to admit. Sometimes you just needed a get away from the real world without having to worry about getting shivved by Sunbreaker at the same time.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
--it's not until the door's actually opened and the delightful interior of the shed, warm and well-lit and large and full of desks and a chalkboard and whiteboard and even a corkboard, has been revealed--

--that a tenth-grader with fluffy black hair, wearing a black t-shirt and jeans and dress shoes, turns around from where he's been writing angry math on the chalkboard. (It's possible to tell it's angry math because of how brightly and full of angles it's written.) His glasses are smudgy over dark blue eyes, and he's very tall.

"Oh hi," says Mamoru Chiba, glancing from Daifuku to Sukiyaki, "who's your friend? Should I be wearing a mask?"

Ren Morimoto has posed:
    On the approach to the shed, Sukiyaki struggles to figure out what to do with his hands. Usually he has a Giant Cleaver to occupy himself with, but Umeboshi has elected to float, semi-transluscent but otherwise totally a visible spirit guide just hangin' out above and slightly behind his shoulder. Which means: no big sword.

    Hands empty, he wishes he'd specified pockets for his pants when he'd requested some kind of leg coverings after his first transformation. Or maybe a snack. He's always hungry, anyway, and some food would give him something to do with his hands.

    Oh well. He nods along at the salient points during Daifuku's explanation, then frowns in confusion when the shed is opened to reveal... a shed. It isn't until the second try when the shed becomes the Shed that his vermillion eyes go wide in understanding. "Oh!"

    That's all he has to say, but he does lift a hand to wave towards Mamoru from afar. He leaves the secret identity discussion to his senpai.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Spotting Mamoru there doing MATH of all things earns a quick laugh from Daifuku as she steps inside allowing Sukiyaki to follow. "Make sure it shuts all the way," she advises simply before flashing another grin toward Mamoru. "Up to you. You already know who I am any way, and..." Here she pauses to turn toward Sukiyaki lifting a hand to gesture to the taller Culinary Guardian.

"This is Culinary Guardian Sukiyaki." Here she pauses considering him a moment only to remark, "I was going to show you my identity once we get here. It's up to you if you want to share yours or not. This is at least a safe space to do so."

With that said she reaches down to tug at her apron string pulling it loose. It's more a dramatic gesture than a need to drop her henshin though it's timed right that as soon as it's off the flames lick over her form and leave her just Chiyo once again. Sure she might not wear masks and a cape but she could try for drama!

"Soo.... What, studying for a math test?" She asks with amusement looking to Mamo again.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I'm a little more careful with my identity now that I'm not on the other side," laughs Mamoru, "but not much." He sets the chalk down and turns fully, sweeping a bow. "Mamoru Chiba, grade ten, also known as Tuxedo Mask. You'll know me when you see me, I'm the one wearing formalwear and a mask," he says warmly.

Then he gestures at the chalkboard. "I'm trying to calculate the likelihood of La Crima disappearing into an afterimage if Sailor Moon escalates her, because there's literally nothing I can do about Naru being kidnapped right now other than try and find her through the ground, fail, and swear about it. And I'm not supposed to swear."

Then he gives Sukiyaki a crooked smile. "Sorry. I'm frustrated. It's obviously not your fault. What are you two up to? Read-in?"

Ren Morimoto has posed:
    It isn't until the door shuts with a click that Sukiyaki's hand leaves the handle. And then he turns, as he's being introduced. Which he has no real time to react to, because swiftly afterward Daifuku is dropping her henshin to reveal--

    "Oh my god, it's the girl with the killer pitch!" he says, mouth dropping open afterward. Behind him, Umeboshi's eyes have gone all big and swirly as Sukiyaki more-or-less gives away his identity without even thinking about it. But then he does, and a smile spreads across his face as he retrieves the Mystic Saibashi from where they're tucked into his apron, and he tosses them back over his shoulder towards Ume.

    A lick of flame crosses over his form as his spirit guide flails in the air to catch the thrown chopsticks, and there Ren stands, still in his baseball uniform from when he'd been on his way to practice before being contacted by Daifuku.

    After a moment, he calls out, "Nice to meet you," to Mamoru. "I'm in grade ten as well, Ren Morimoto. I'm not sure I understand anything you just said."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
"Again?" Chiyo's eyebrows furrow in some concern at mention of Naru being kidnapped again. Had she heard that? Apparently not yet, then again, she had been making plans with Sukiyaki to bring him here. It may have been missed. "Poor Naru has the worst luck," she murmers with a soft sigh, and shake of her head.

It's all she really has time to think about before Sukiyaki drops his own henshin causing her to blink in surprise as well. Of course the mention of the pitch... "Ren-kun?" NOT who she would have thought. There's a momentary look of confusion, perhaps even frustration, that slips over her face as she resists the urge to yell again about him just VANISHING off to THE UNITED STATES---But he'd said it was a family thing.

A deep breath is drawn and let out in a tired sort of chuckle as she settles down to lean against one of the tables here. "Ah yeah kind of a read-in. You said you were away in the United States, Ren? And recently back," she adds in for Mamoru as way of explanation while her arms cross lightly over her chest. "We've run into another Culinary Guardian or two but so far Suki--Ren, I mean, is the only one I'd exchanged contact information with."

"Mamoru-kun is a good friend of mine, but for awhile he was working for the other side of our fight," she explains to Ren. "And it sounds like one of our mutual friends is in danger again. You can't find her through the usual means either?" That made her frown a bit. "Hopefully she's still on Earth."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru regards the baseball uniform, glances over Ren's face, nods. "It's okay. I'm literally just fudging statistics as stress relief," he admits. Then he looks surprised and pleased for Chiyo. "Oh that's good. Get you a team, definitely."

He picks up an eraser and starts erasing the whole board's worth of white numbers, jaw working just a little bit as he explains further, "Naru really does have the worst luck. Apparently this time she was a collateral kidnapping this time? La Crima was going for Hinoiri and Naru was just... there. Or something. She still has her phone but apparently the GPS signal is no good."

He puts the eraser down with a little puff of chalk dust, then dusts his hands off, then sighs and dusts his hands off some more on his jeans. There are smudges on his black shirt. He should have used the whiteboard. "But yeah. I'm not great at finding people, the only ones I've consistently found so far are my guys, Usa, and Inai-sensei. Everyone else is too-- cloudy? I can't get a solid read. I'm sure she's still on Earth, they're in a warehouse not too far from her mother's store. She doesn't know quite where. It shouldn't take us too long to find her. But it's frustrating in the meantime."

Then there's a little embarrassed laugh. "Sorry, I should probably go, I don't mean to get all this on you."

Ren Morimoto has posed:
    All of the kidnapping talk doesn't quite go over Ren's head, but he knows he's out of his depths. Though he does recognize the name Naru, and privately hope that nice girl he's met in the cafeteria isn't the one they're talking about being taken.

    "Yeah, it's me, Chiyo-senpai," he says, adjusting the honorific usage now that he's in the know of her secret identity. Then he confirms part of Chiyo's story with a quick "I spent a semester abroad," and a nod.

    He looks over at Mamoru at mention of him having been on the opposite side, but there's no judgment there, just curiosity, even as Ren continues to struggle to catch the thread of the conversation. "Oh no, please. Don't worry about it! I have to learn somehow, right? I'm... not very good at all of this." He rubs the back of his neck, head ducked down as he stares at his cleats. "If there's anything I can do to help find her, let me know! But um... I'm not sure what exactly I could do to help."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
"It's okay," Chiyo assures to the both of them as they both seem to be finding it awkward in their own ways. "What we can do is keep an eye out. We've got the basics so far. A warehouse somewhere near the jewelry store. So keep an eye out for anything unusual, and share the information if we think it's important. Plus," she adds, "We keep an eye out for other threats that may pop up while they're trying to handle this."

"Kind of hard to rescue someone if you're also dealing with a youkai invasion of the city at the same time." This was from experience, and one Mamoru would get the drift of. It might just give Ren a hint to how ODD things could get though. "Really, a lot of what we do is just..." Her hand lifts to gesture. "Helping in little ways where we can."

A glance is shot toward Mamoru. "You got any advice to throw in? ... Or if you need a distraction for awhile I hear Ren has movies over at the English Club."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"No one starts out good at it," says Mamoru firmly. "No one. Think of the coolest hero you know, and I guarantee it was difficult for them." Then he laughs, running a hand through his hair to get it off his forehead, brush it to the side. "That's my best advice while I'm preoccupied, sorry. Just keep at it?"

He walks over to pick up his coat-- a blazer-length black leather jacket-- and slings it on. "Oh, or-- never be afraid to ask for help." He picks up a whiteboard marker, moving over to the whiteboard with it, and uncaps it to write down a string of numbers. "Here's my mobile number. You can ask me for help if I'm around but Chiyo-san isn't. Talk to Inai-sensei, join her self-defense class and the magical one after it, it's good for practice fighting."

He caps the marker and smiles. "The keeping an eye out for threats is good, though. Sailor Moon put up a notice over there about the Eclipse Zone things Sunbreaker is doing, that's a good thing to familiarize yourself with for the moment."

Ren Morimoto has posed:
    For someone not particularly scholastic-minded, it's a lot of information to take in all at once. But Ren nods along and tries his best to remember as much as he can, and when the series of numbers is written on the board, he dutifully whips out his phone to type it in.

    "Thanks," he says to Mamoru. "I'm going to do my best! Umeboshi says that's all I can do, and if I try then I'm bound to succeed eventually." The aforementioned spirit guide, now a ginger cat, meows from where he twines around Ren's feet.

    Then the cat says, "He needs a lot of peptalks," which has Ren's cheeks going pink and an awkward smile showing up on his face.

    "I'm getting better!"

    "No you're not."

    "You're not very supportive, Ume."

    Ren turns to look towards the notice board when it's pointed out, and then he looks back at Chiyo. "I also host the cinema club once a month, though it's more of an unofficial thing," he adds.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
"Project Eclipse, huh?" Chiyo walks to the board where the posting is to read over it while Mamoru offers some bits of helpful advice. It was always good to stay up to date on things... and things HAD been weird lately. "Honestly I'm just glad I was able to henshin without any problem. I was a bit worried after the last time," she murmers aloud. Mamoru at least would know what troubles she'd had.

When Umeboshi starts talking, there's a little jingling from Chiyo's pocket. She pulls her phone free and pops off the little Bao charm dangling from it to just drop it.

It's not even halfway to the floor when it changes into a white and orange tabby cat that was on the large and chonky side. "Umeboshi. Be careful if you see this black cat with a moon on her forehead. She's really prissy." Nevermind Bonito had been OH so worried about Luna when she was hit by the car that time.

Glancing back over at Mamoru she nods. "Thanks. If YOU need any help, too, you can call you know," she adds pointedly. "You're my friend too. Plus... Well." Family in a way? She wasn't sure how that felt to say yet, she was still getting used to having a cousin in Usagi.

"You'll get it, Ren. The training really does help a bunch."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Umeboshi is right about doing your best," agrees Mamoru, and then he sticks his hands in his pockets and NODs to Chiyo! "I know, I'll definitely call if I need help." And then he gives Bonito a dirty look. "Luna is awesome. You're just rude."

Then he starts for the door. "I really should go, though, I need to check in with Kazuo. He said he was getting me Crio Bru and I didn't tell him I was here."

Then there's a quick wave once he gets to the door. "I'll make sure to check out your cinema club! See you soon, Chiyo-san, good to meet you, Ren-san!"

Ren Morimoto has posed:
    "Ah, Bonito. So good to see you." There is much cat rubbing-of-whispers in greeting, as Umeboshi slips sidelong besides his fellow spirit guide. Whatever further conversation happens there is unimportant and mostly involves gossiping about their respective Culinary Guardians.

    Meanwhile, Ren stares at the memo on the wall from this Sailor Moon, his arms folded over his chest in a somewhat-defensive (or maybe protective) posture. "Wow, that's... a lot," is all he can think to say.

    After bidding Mamoru goodbye, he looks over to Chiyo. "Thank you for showing me this place. It's good to know somewhere safe we can come, if we need it."