141/The Steak is Not a Lie

The Steak is Not a Lie
Date of Scene:	23 July 2023
Location:	Dorms
Synopsis:	In the aftermath of Kokytos, Usagi is feeling more than a little beat up. Luckily for her, Darien and Koji are determined to help. Also featuring boundary crossing dads, wagyu steaks, texts from Naru, and the mysteries of boys.
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Mamoru Chiba, Koji Silvia

---

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It's Friday afternoon, and Summer Vacation has officially been a bust, as far as Usagi Tsukino is concerned.

First there had been the succulent youma, and her failure to bring her brooch. Then there had been the reveal that there are actual bad guys, people who send the youma she and her friends and everyone else have been fighting - on purpose! And then.

Well, and then there was today. The fight of her life, only accomplished because she and her friends and allies refused to give in...

Which is why she's slinking home now, arms filled with not just the fruits of a shopping trip, but a raid on the local conbeni's first aid section.

She's fretting over that fact as she walks towards the dorm. How is she supposed to explain this to Naru-chan?! When she'd put her all into her final attack, she hadn't expected the cost to be her transformation - and she definitely hadn't expected to discover the lightning attack had taken a toll - her clothes might have been undamaged (if muddy, from collapsing to her knees in the rain), but her skin was burned, red lesions almost like burns that stung and ached, branching down from the back of her neck down her shoulders and arms. She was pretty sure they were on her back too, not that she'd been able to check just yet.

If Naru-chan saw them, she was going to have questions. Anyone would have questions!

All of which brings us back to the current sight - Usagi walking back to the dorm buildings, her shopping bags held by straining straps from loosening fingers, her conbeni shopping bags bulging, the edges of her navy blue skirt stained with mud (and her knees marred by the residue of wiped away mud), and the entire back of her neck and shoulders covered in sparkly pink Hello Kitty bandaids - at least her pink halter-top hides most of her neck. There's no hiding her shoulders, not for now. Her face is pale and wan from exhaustion, and she's tunnel-vision focosued on getting into her dorm.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Usagi-chan--?" comes Darien's voice from behind Usagi as she's crossing campus. And then more alarmed, and there's Darien jogging toward her, "Usagi-chan!"

He at least doesn't yell, he doesn't seem to be trying to draw any attention but hers. His hair's back in that messy little ponytail and his glasses are on, but he's not dressed in his uniform or in a super fancy tailored suit, he's just in jeans so old that they're soft and a black UNMASK aLIVE t-shirt. He looks... normal. And dismayed. Very.

"Do you want help? Before Osaka-san sees? There's a first aid kit in our room-- I know how to use it-- our dorm's on this side of the building. Oh you have-- at least let me carry those?" Since it might hurt even more to carry Usagi, this time, because of how hurt she is all over; Darien doesn't even offer that.

The late afternoon sunlight is low, not golden yet; there are shadows because of the size of the buildings not too far from campus, but that just means the heat of the day's been cut. Darien doesn't ask why or how Usagi's muddy.

Koji Silvia has posed:
    Meanwhile...

Back in the aforementioned dorm, Koji is dressed down in athletic attire, a sleeveless shirt and track pants, currently in the middle of looking at all the places around Juuban where his parents have moved. Tapping away boredly with his school-issued mouse, he has his backpack and small gym bag already packed to go home tomorrow because he's ALWAYS gone on Saturdays. That's one of those weird regular things about his life.

Sighing, he checks his phone, and then frowns, "Go away Dad."

8 Missed Calls.

Or rather, 8 deliberately ignored calls...

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
At first, she doesn't even register the voice. It takes all her energy to just put one foot in front of the other, to get to her end goal: dorm room, shower, neosporin, bandaids, bed. Yell at Luna in the morning, maybe. Demand some kind of explanation - for the fact that someone came after her, knew about her, and for the fact that she hasn't told them anything about their supposed enemy, for why this is her life now.

And then the voice calls again, more urgently, and she does hear them - hear him.

She relaxes almost involuntarily, and that's her undoing - the second her muscles loosen, that forced tension, that forced one foot in front of the other determination, it all goes away. Her bags drop and she sways a little when she turns to see him. Face to face, there's no hiding how much she's been through the ringer - even her odango-style buns are falling out, her twintails limp instead of bouncy.

She doesn't ask why he offers. She remembers his advice during the youma attack. She may never forget it, or the shame.

"Won't Koji-senpai have questions?" Is it really a benefit, if they trade one set of questions for another? Sometimes, she wonders if maybe she should just tell Naru-chan, just let her in on what's going on -

But every time, she shrinks back. What if Naru blames her? What if she thinks - what if she decides that her life is strange because of Usagi? What if she realizes that it's not just Radiant Heart Academy that brought the Weird, but Usagi herself?

What if she goes back to Juuban Public Middle School without her?

"You can carry those," she agrees weakly, because well. The bags are on the ground, now. She doesn't know if she could stand bending down to pick them up, or if she'd decide to just live on the ground with her bags instead.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I can get the bags and you, if you don't mind the indignity of a piggyback ride," Darien says firmly, even if there's a little wobble when it comes to trying to make it funny. "You can just hold on and I'll bend a bit and it won't be so bad," he suggests. "That'll get us there faster, too."

That's right. He just hefted that one student and helped drag another at the same time. He's stronger than he looks.

Darien leans to pick up the bags, then crouches down. "Koji won't ask questions. He's really good at not asking questions, especially if I make a specific face. And he's also really good -- most of the time -- about accepting lies. I'm sorry I'm talking so much, I'm really worried, you look like you got electrified."

And yet he's not suggesting the nurse's office, or the hospital.

Koji Silvia has posed:
Call number 9 is finally enough for Koji.

Answering, he grumbles out, "What Dad? No... I already have my ticket... what... okay... wait... you want me bring you meat? Where am I going to get the money to afford steaks?!"

Standing up, he moves over to the window to look outside, as he continues to go at his bombastic father, "No, I get you made chimichurri, but seriously... those are expensive. Just buy a worse cut and marinate it overnight."

Another pause, "That's my JOB money, Dad. I thought we talked about this... I'm not letting you take my hard-earned... Yes, I will be like that!"

Then he pauses as he sees two familiar figures moving around outside, "Dad, I have to go."

Koji just hangs up like that, and puts his phone down, letting it buzz as his dad tries to call back right away. Probably not the best idea, he cracks the window, and mumbles out "Hanzo. What's going on down there?"

    << Deploying Blade 1. OBSCURE. SCANNER. >>

A blur of something floats out from the window and over the pair while a small square of light appears in front of Koji from his smartwatch, allowing him to start assessing what's happening without getting involved... for now...

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"What did I ever do to make you think I had dignity?" She manages a smile for him - an honest one, with that same warmth. Tired, maybe, but still warm. He's stronger than he looks, that's right. He was able to throw their classmate over his shoulder, and help her with another. Inai-sensei's voice comes to mind, but she weighs it down, buries it before the memory can even play out. Darien is Darien. If he's in the know, about things -

"Don't be silly. If I got electrocuted, I'd be going to the hospital, right?"

She relaxes that little bit more though, even as she lies. The lie isn't good, but that's not the point. Darien won't ask. Koji-senpai won't ask. Naru-chan -

She would want Naru-chan to ask.

"A first aid kit sounds good. The one my Mama gave me just has more bandaids and wipes." Take her away, good sir. She'll trust Darien to help.

And Hanzo will be able to see the scene - but he might also see the leftover glimmer of magic. Not powerful - it's been too long since she transformed for that - but a dusting of it, the sort that would remain and fade away from anyone caught in the wake of Scary Monster Attacks. If he's looking, anyway.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The smile, honest and warm, makes a little of the tension bleed out of Darien's shoulders, which is good -- Usagi isn't heavy, she's less heavy than the kid he had over his shoulders the other day, even if he's got conbeni bags in both hands. He stands up once Usagi's hanging on enough not to slide off, but he doesn't straighten up; his muscles work, warm, under his old black t-shirt, as he moves. "Well, you should, but I can think of any number of reasons I wouldn't want to go to the hospital if I got zapped." A beat. "Especially if a monster did it. Hospitals ask a lot of questions. Either way, I have burn cream too, and Koji-kun has a lot of stuff as well."

And across the rest of the way to the building they go, and Darien ignores his phone when it buzzes in his pocket. "Also," he says contemplatively, "probably don't fully lie if you don't have to. I mean you can practice on me, but usually it's a better idea to let people come to their own conclusions, and then don't contradict them."

The doors may not be fully automatic, but they at least have one of those plates that you can push to make them open, and Darien pushes it with the side of his forearm -- from there, inside, it's not much of a walk-- less of one if Koji meets them on the way. "You can also tell Koji-kun it was a monster if you want to. He'll believe you. But you can also just not say anything about it."

Koji Silvia has posed:
The moment the pair are about to open the door to their dorm building, the be-spectacled Koji Silvia immediately flicks the Blade over to touch to one of the exterior boxes to get access to the building's security systems... which he once more fools with images of a clear hallway from the entrance to the dorm room itself. No need for anyone to get any ideas after all...

With a sigh, Koji turns off his computer and gets up, going to his closet and then Darien's, and starting to lay out some first aid stuff, as well as getting a bottle of Pocari water for Usagi to get electrolytes back. This one has the nice sweet lemon flavor to it.

When the pair make the turn up the steps to the second floor dorm row, he's standing right there in the hallway, just outside of their share room, "I thought we had a signal you're supposed to give if you bring girls up here, Darien-san. C'mon... get inside. Put her on your bed. And don't worry about the security cameras. They're off for maintenance."

Yeah, he just lies... THAT EASILY...

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Darien's back is broader than she would have thought, and she can feel the way his muscles flex under her chest. It's easy to give herself over to him, trust in him to have her back; their earlier enmity seems far away now. Her first impression (and her second) was wrong - he's not the jerk she thought he was.

"I'll be fine. I'm good! I just need to stay off my feet, see?" She waves an arm noodly - she was meaning to pump her fist up, but she doesn't quite have the strength. "Totally fine."

She kind of - almost drifts off, while Darien carries her through the dorm building, head against his shoulder, breathing soft and steady. The pain is a dull throb, fading into the background, and Darien's voice is soothing. By the time they reach his dorm, she's just making little uhhuh noises of acknowledgement, the lesson seeping in... a little.

And then Koji is there, and he says - he says - and she jolts, nearly tumbling off Darien's back.

"You bring GIRLS up here?!?"

The woes and embarrassments of a teenage girl, to hear that sentiment and flood right back to awareness in a rush of EMBARRASSED.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"GOD Koji-kun don't be such an ass!" Darien says literally at the same time as Usagi yells pretty close to in his ear, and he's wincing, and all he can think of is how much Usagi's going to regret having to flex herself to stay on his back for the moment.

"No, I don't bring girls up here," he says, and he sounds cranky instead of... anything else, really. "You're the very first, I promise."

And then he freezes, because that-- may be true but there are other readings of it that are also true and he actually meant it just literally. "And it's not like that anyway! You're hurt!" he says hotly, his face getting more red with every passing second.

It's carefully that Darien sets Usagi's bags down, and then turns and crouches enough for Usagi to get down without tumbling, and it is right next to his bed, and he doesn't mind the mud on him or anywhere at all. "Careful, careful. She's got burns, Koji-san, I think they go down her back. Usa-chan, let me get you one of my shirts you can wear backwards, it's all on your neck and shoulders."

It may or may not help that he sounds as businesslike as a paramedic might. "And that's something you really want seen to if it's the case."

That sounded like it had a word left off the end.

Koji Silvia has posed:
The assessment of Usagi's state and that almost detached clinical eye from Koji as he almost closes the door causes him to pause, and say quietly, "Sumimasen."

But then, he takes a breath, and nods once, "Darien. I want you to do me a favor. I want you to go down to the student store at the cafeteria plaza and get some Aloe gel. The stuff for sunburns. Please."

After that, he waits, and there's something just so... utterly calm in his tone. He even takes off his glasses and pinches the bridge of his nose a moment, smoothly wrist-flicking them closed and then open again to seat back on his face, "I will take care of the rest for you."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"But I have lidocaine in--" Darien starts, frowning, and then he sees Koji's face, and his frown turns thin-lipped, a little pinched. He looks back to Usagi from where he was already moving to get a big orange uniform shirt, and he asks softly, "Is that okay? To leave you here for a couple of minutes? You're not alone in the wing."

You can yell.

"I would leave the door unlocked."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
She hadn't meant to yell, only - well, in some ways, she had meant to yell. Surprise, confusion, a surprising well of hurt - and then, oh, there's the physical hurt, as her sore muscles and burned skin protest her sudden jerk with a wave of pain. It's less that she lowers herself back to Darien's back and more that she just collapses back into place the moment her body registers what she's done.

"Ow," she mumbles against his neck, before hearing what he's saying - and understanding what he's saying. The embarrassment of before is heightened, now, as she considers that she's a girl in a boy's room, but, there's a curl of satisfaction there too, one she absolutely does not want to acknowledge. "That's - nice."

Wow! No one ask what that means!

At least Darien is jsut as embarrassed as she is. At least he's hurriedly helping her off his back, so she can stand and sway on her feet (at least those weren't burned, thank goodness) and flash a thumbs up. "I'm - okay, really! It's not that bad!"

She is not, and it kinda is. She is covered in sparkly bandaids, for one thing. $r
Her peppy response is lacking some pep, honestly. As Koji speak, his voice terribly calm and almost clinical, Usagi looks up at him, peering through her bangs. How would he take care of the rest? What did that mean?

It's occurring to her that to get medicine on her back and shoulders, she'll have to lift her shirt. Her face is pink, as she considers that.

And then Koji asks Darien to leave, to get medicine, and she - for a moment, she freezes. She wonders. But she trusts Koji-senpai. The study night, and her annoyance, is far away. Her gaze drifts from him, to Darien, and his concern, his tight-lipped expression.

"It's okay. You'll come back right away, right?" There's that smile again, for him. "You trust Koji-senpai, and so do I."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
NOBODY is asking what that means!! Not even a little!!

But-- Usagi's reaction, there, and that smile, for him--

Darien nods once, sharply, and gives Usagi a meagre excuse for a worried smile back. "Good, okay."

There's something twisting in his stomach, and he's not sure why or what it is, and his face is still hot, and he slips out the door and stalks down the hall and the second he's out of range of the cameras -- whether or not they're actually down -- he teleports away away away to go scream out a feeling he can't name. He'll get the aloe in a minute.

Koji Silvia has posed:
Even with the door open, Koji seems to be mentally counting, and then just nods to himself, and goes to look right into Usagi's eyes as he kneels down, "I am about to do something that... I shouldn't. Not because it's bad... but because it could lead to trouble for you in the future. But I am doing this for him."

He steps back and up in one smooth motion and closes his eyes. Suddenly... he glows like the halo after a lightning strike, and is suddenly surrounded in a half-dozen glowing and rather high-tech looking knife-like things.

He closes his eyes, and holds out his hands towards Usagi, "If you want to, close your eyes... and... don't tell Darien about this. He doesn't need to know. It's... complicated."

    << 6 Blade Formation. REGENERATE. >>

Those things float around and behind the girl and all begin to shine a flashlight-like beam on her back. Where they intersect... the burn-feeling begins to fade, albiet slowly. Some sweat begins to form on his brow as two small mystical seals appear floating in front of his hands, and spin slowly, "Ngh... this is harder than cleaning the room..."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
His smile isn't real. It's not false, either, but it's not the way his smile usually looks, doesn't quite meet his eyes. He doesn't want to go, and a part of her doesn't want him to go either -

But she did mean what she said. She does trust him.

No one is asking what happened. No one is asking who, where, when, how. It's a silence born not of ignorance, but mutual acceptance, maybe. An agreement to not see it. To not acknowledge it. Usagi isn't used to it. Isn't sure the silent tension is comnfortable, isn't sure it's something she wants to get used to. But for now -

"You don't have to," she says, but she doesn't think he'll listen - because if he was going to listen, he would be doing this for her. And he's not.

And before he suggests that she close her eyes, he's glowing. And there are knives.

Well! It's a good thing she said she trusts him, right? Usagi gulps, looking at those knives - and she doesn't close her eyes.

She's tempted too. Fairness means, you me yours, I'll show you mine, right? He's putting himself on the line, for her. He's sharing something she couldn't have believed but can't find herself too terribly shocked by, because, because, because...

At this point, has she met anyone knew who didn't have a secret like hers? It's an exaggeration, but - is it really? Four new friends, made doing totally regular things, and four new magical people, caught up in the strangeness of her life.

And yet. If she tells him, she's not telling Darien. Because this secret, his secret, is one Darien doesn't know. Part of their complicated, tension filled silence. Can her secret be a part of that?

She... doesn't want it to be.

So Usagi doesn't close her eyes. But she doesn't share her secret either. Guilt squirms in her stomach, but she keeps it there.

"You do this to clean your room?" She asks, because - there's something going on behind her back, a little ticklish, but the soreness is leaving, and she - she honestly doesn't know what to ask, without acknowledging it.

Koji Silvia has posed:
As the Blades finish their work, Koji slumps back into a sitting posture on his bed, and they vanish into the air... the gem on his wrist gleams a bit before finally fading back into normality and makes it look like an absolutely normal smartwatch.

He looks like he's just tried to do a 100m dash right out of bed, and hangs his head for a long moment, "I do a lot here... I deflect the girls who keep asking after him because they want a popular boy on their arm. I help... keep the room normal. I..."

There's a pause as he looks up, "I do a lot to make sure this is the one place he can go and just... relax. I get the feeling he doesn't really DO that anyplace else. If he brought you here, it means that... he... wants you in that space.

Picking up the electrolyte drink, he passes it over to her, "Do you understand?"

There's something almost... pleading... in his tone.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The knives finish whatever they're doing, and Usagi feels - better. Just as drained and generally smashed, but better, less like there's still lingering fire in her veins. She slumps forward a little in relief, eyes finally shutting, a deep breath drawn in, filling her lungs to the brim before slowly releasing.

And she listens. Not just to the words, but the tone of voice, the cadence of the delivery.

What Inai-sensei had comes to mind, again. This time, she can't stop the memory of her voice as she urged caution.

She doesn't regret her words, or her feelings. She doesn't want to be cautious around Darien. She doesn't want to act differently.

But.

"You're worried about him. And you guys don't talk about it. About this or - about the stuff he knows. And... I don't want to be a part of the secrets, Koji-senpai. But I also don't want to hurt him."

She accepts the drink, opens it - but doesn't drink. Just, stares into it.

Koji Silvia has posed:
Standing up, he goes to the little fridge tucked under one of the desks in the room, and brings out a second drink of the same type. Cracking the bottle, he gulps down almost half of it before loosing a sigh and capping it off again. Sitting back down, this time on the floor with his legs crossed, Koji looks up towards Usagi again.

"No..." He replies, "I get it. I shouldn't be asking you to keep a secret but... however you got what happened to you is probably something you don't want to talk about either."

The half-full bottle is brought up and back, and rests it against the back of his neck, "Usagi-chan..."

The silence is the kind where someone is trying to say six different things, all of them different, none of them what they want to say or what they think they should say. Instead he stays quiet for almost longer than is comfortable, before finally speaking up, "So we just don't talk about it. I do a lot of that... like back home. I'm home, and I do all this stuff for my parents, and I never make a thing about it. I cook, I clean up... vacuum even. Mom knows what I do, but she doesn't say anything about it, because she knows I don't want her to say anything about it. Because then we'd have to... I don't know... do something about it."

But he sighs, "I'm screwing this up, I know... Sorry. Life's easier when it's outside this room, and I'm not... I'm just Koji in the background, with girls accidentally stomping in my leafbucket."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I'm not going to tell him."

She doesn't like it, but. She doesn't have too.

"It's your secret. And his secret too, because you - this is how you guys are, I guess." Things left unsaid. Things.. "There are things I don't talk about with people either. I just - Darien-kun is my friend. You're my friend too. I won't mess up your secrets, but I don't want to ... make more secrets?"

She cocks her head, shrugs. She's not sure if what she's saying is making sense.

But then, she frowns, and drinks, a long slow sip of the sweet lemon flavored electrolyte water. "Koji-senpai, you should be more than that, you know? You're not a background character in a manga, you're our friend. Is life really easier like that? Or is it just... familiar?"

Koji Silvia has posed:
His reply to that is a brief chuckle, and then he brings the rest of his drink back around and slugs it, capping off the finished item again and side-arming it into the bin... bouncing it off the wall and landing it in a shot so smooth it must have been practiced, "That's not something I think we can talk about in the time it's going to take for Darien to get back here."

Standing up, he gets that smile you saw the first time you met him, but this time there's not that sense of a mask about it. It's just a little grinnish thing from him, "I'll make you a deal. Ask me another day, and if I'm in the right mood I'll answer, okay?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Deal. But I'll be waiting, alright? So you better be prepared to answer, when I catch that right mood."

She smiles. How can she not? "I'm not mad at you for the study night thing anymore. Just so you know. I haven't caught you since then, and maybe... this isn't the best time? But..."

If there's something they can't talk about, she wants to make it so there's not, at least, two things they can't talk about.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
As Usagi's trailing off, there are footsteps in the hall, and Darien comes in with a moderately less -- something -- smile, and he's carrying multiple bags. One of them is a refrigerator bag. "I got the aloe," he says, "which you can take back with you to your dorm if you haven't got any there, Usa-chan. I also got you melonpan."

The plastic bag with a plastic bottle and a paper bag inside it gets handed to Usagi. Then he turns and holds the refrigerator bag out to Koji. "This is the least I can do. You can also hold it over his head that I did it."

There are two more things in the bag he handed Usagi: a spritz bottle of hair de-tangler and a brush.

Koji Silvia has posed:
With a wan smile up to Darien, the tired-looking Koji says, "Thanks Darien. I used something I keep in my back pocket for friction burns to help her with the worst of it... the aloe will help her with the rest later on."

He kind of goes quiet for a bit, and then grins over at Usagi, the same grin from before, and something else in his eyes, "I'm used to helping out girls thanks to the Gymnastics Club. I spend most of my time there being an assistant coach for the younger students or doing the paperwork. I'm glad it wasn't too bad for you."

Flicking his gaze back up to Darien, he moves to standing, and then stretches out, "If you want, I'll leave you two alone for a bit. I know I used up my trust bank with the Korma Chameleon."

But as he moves towards the door, scooping up Darien's refrigerator bag... what he said causes him to pause, and he starts to open it up...

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
There's more Usagi wants to say - air she'd like to make sure is clear - but Darien is back, with a better smile and a pair of bags. The one he hands off to Usagi is accepted gratefully, especially once melonpan is mentioned. Her back feels better - more like the sting and pull of a bad sunburn, rather than the hot pain that had crawled through the burns before. She'll put the aloe on later - it's going to be a whole affair, after all. The brush and detangler though, she pauses on, staring into the bag as if it could contain the secrets of the universe.

She won't use it here. There's not a chance. She doesn't take her hair down in public, and this, this is public. But she appreciates the thought, and the fact that Darien obviously recognized that her hair being mussed was one more thing sure to be upsetting her.

"Thanks, Dari-kun. This is really going to help. And thanks again, Koji-senpai, I really don't know what I would have done without you guys. Well, maybe fall out on my bed? But this is better."

There's something going on with that grocery bag, but Usagi is missing the context to understand...

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Darien shrugs one shoulder toward Koji on the 'leave you alone' -- that's up to Usagi. His breath's in his throat somehow, and he doesn't entirely trust himself to speak for a moment, but then while Koji's opening the refrigerator bag, he finally gets out, "I know you have your own brushes and you probably have your own products that you use, but-- if you want to forget today happened, I thought-- maybe, using things you could toss out after, it might help."

And he chuffs out a breath. "It really hurts less enough that you'll be okay? You were so--"

And Darien just sort of sounds helpless, which he never does.

Koji Silvia has posed:
    *Rustle rustle*

    *Rustle*

    *ZIIIIIPPPP...*

Koji is facing away from the pair but his voice comes through clearly in a tone that sounds like barely restrained irritation, "Darien. Did my father... call you... to beg me... to bring him home Wagyu steaks for dinner?"

If the anger-poink you see in anime and manga was really real, you'd both be seeing it right now, "And... you... went and bought them?"

"For. Him."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
She had fully missed that Koji asked if they wanted to be alone. She doesn't know if she wants to be alone, which is why it's probably for the best that Darien waited like a true gentleman for her to answer. The explanation of the supplies though -

She touches the brush, drags her fingers through the bristles. Her smile is barely a smile, weak and knowing, in the worst of ways. "I don't think I'll forget. But that's alright. I won't forget that you bought this for me, either."

She won't be able to forget the attack, not even if she tried, but at least she won't forget the help she received either.

She won't forget Darien's worry, either. "I still ache all over, and I'm tired. But you fixed it. You got me a snack, and this, and you brought me to Koji-senpai."

And then. The tension of the room. Is very different from before.

And Usagi, who knows a decent bit about food, at least, balks a little at the price of Wagyu steaks. Her eyes fly to Darien, going 'really?!'

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Darien shifts uncomfortably from one foot to the other. He knows where he stands, and he knows -- he knows -- it's in the wrong place. He knows. But there are so many buts, ifs, maybes... it's just harder to look at them clearly when Usagi's been so hurt. When he couldn't help nearly as much as he wanted to. When Koji took care of her instead of him--

--and did such a good job of it that it's so selfish to feel anything other than gratitude.

He doesn't know what to say to Usagi's own gratitude, or to what the back of his head is insisting is just placating him but his heart wants to feel that it's real.

And then oh, oh, thank god, Koji got mad, and Darien relaxes.

He gives Usagi a little grin and looks back at Koji. "I figured you could either invite me over for the best steak you can get, OR, you can hold it over his head that your roommate spent his own money on it and he should feel ashamed of himself, OR, you can do whatever you want with them because they're for you."

A beat.

"But he did call me, yeah."

Koji Silvia has posed:
    Queue.

    Rant.

Darien either new what he was doing, or he didn't know it would get this bad... but he also didn't know about the nine calls and his dad's earlier begging on his part.

It starts with the panting, and then he turns around with the ANGRY EYES, "How many times have I warned you about him, Darien? How many? You know why I keep telling you to tell him no? Because my father, who I am convinced is a toddler in a fat guy suit, will get his hooks in you, and pretty soon you'll be doing him favors because you either like him or you feel bad for him! Do you know how many debts of his I've had to square over the years because of his stupid 'PROTAGONIST LIFE' behavior!"

He stomps his foot. He actually STOMPS his foot, "Now I have to show him these steaks and he's going to be all happy and make a delicious dinner, but he also is going to figure out where they came from and the next time he wants to beg for food like a dog on the street, he's going to call you directly!

Now he stalks up to Darien, and almost SHOVES his phone in his face, "Nine Calls. 9. Not Three, not Four, Not Six... NINE CALLS!"

That might have been a little spittle.

"Of course you're coming over, because I am not suffering his smug laughing beer-drunk face on my own!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Before Usagi can say anything, Koji is erupting, his calm and surety evaporated as swiftly as water on a grill. Usagi can only watch the growing argument in utter bafflement.

Is Koji's papa really that had? Sure, he had dropped a phone on Darien that one time, Koji had said as much, but was he really like this all the time? And was Darien... enjoying that? This?

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It doesn't, at least, look like he's enjoying it-- Darien sways back when he gets a phone and yelling to the face-- but he also doesn't look like he's going to argue back, so much. There's a different expression on his face from the one a moment ago, that uncomfortable one with its attempts at smiling back, its unhappiness, its inexplicable guilt.

This face is more self-assured; this face is at least somewhat related to Jerk Darien from the street, though there's not so much smug in it, not so much teasing, none of the fun. Self-assured but somewhere on the resigned side of zen. Things are unpleasant in a way that's more comfortable.

"I could make them," Darien suggests calmly, "but I can't cook. Usagi-chan, would your house be interested? Your family, I mean. Since Kojikun doesn't want them."

Koji Silvia has posed:
The phone is slipped away, and Usagi can seen the boys face to face, and this looks like a cross between an argument and... a game.

Koji steps back and adjusts his glasses, the gleam adjusting in the light as he gets a rather... demonic... little grin on his face, "Oh I am sure you want to do that, because then she can talk you up to her parents about how you met, and how things are going, and I am sure then that her father will want to Meet You, Darienkun."

Reaching into the bag, he zipped it up, "You got these as a gift to my father, and not to me after all... it would be rude for ME to turn down a gift for someone else, now wouldn't it?"

He then sighs, "But you are right... I suppose I can walk Usagi home for you since you're SO BUSY WITH WORK... and tell them all about my wonderful roommate and how he wanted to have the family of a girl he likes to have a great start to summer..."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
There's no place in this argument, or at least, there shouldn't be, but then - Darien, with a shadow of Jerk Darien, drags Usagi into it wholesale. Doesn't he know she's injured? Doesn't he know she doesn't know the rules of engagement?

"Ah, I mean, I'm staying at the dorms this summer -" help!

KOJI-SENPAI DON'T HELP LIKE THAT!!!

Usagi can only watch in horror as the situation verbally escalates, Koji bringing up so many hypotheticals she can feel her head spin, landing on - "Is this a fight-fight for a joke-fight or?????"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Yes," Darien answers Usagi in unison with Koji, and now Darien's grinning.

"Now, now, Koji," he says, shaking his head and relaxedly putting his hands in his pockets. "I already told you I got them for you -- you're the one who assumed I got them for him. I said you could do whatever you liked with them. If you are accepting them, you could give them to Usagi-chan, it's true. You could also walk her home -- IF she were going home at all over the summer..."

He pauses here to aside to Usagi, "I'm pretty sure you'd be able to argue going home for a visit if you were bringing the steaks Koji could give you."

He returns his attention to Koji, adjusting his own glasses before pocketing his hand one more time. "...and you certainly could, if she wanted, walk her home, but it would be unkind of you to put an innocent young girl on the spot like that, wouldn't it? You're no cad. After all," he tilts his head up slightly, inclining his chin, "you know just what it's like to go home to overbearing parents, and aren't they all?"

Then he waves a hand. "All that is immaterial, because I wouldn't invite myself over to Usagi-chan's home, that would also be putting her in a very uncomfortable position -- especially since," he looks at Usagi for confirmation, "you might not visit home this summer."

Koji Silvia has posed:
There's a twitch and a little jerk back of Koji's head as his verbal lightning kick assault is fended off, and then he's hit with the sumo-slam of 'Family' from DARIEN.

The look in his eyes is, for the other boy in the room, the look of 'You get this one'.

However...

"Let... make a deal."

Koji hefts the bag up in front of Usagi, "I store these and get some stuff from the konbini to spice them up nice, let them sit for a couple days... then we three... get together in the woods with a charcoal pot and we grill and eat steak slices. No one else knows, and we get to eat the evidence?"

Yes... he's going right to bribery. Looking at Usagi, "What do you say?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi does what any reasonable girl would do: start texting their best friend.

Text to Naru: Naru-chan help, two boys are fighting over me but it's not actually about me????

Text from Naru: I.. er.. cool? Awesome? Which two boys? Are they cute? What are they fighting about really then?

Text to Naru: not cool!! not cool!! darien and koji are definitely arguing with each other

Text to Naru: and I'm stuck in the middle!!!

Text from Naru: So yes, both cute, but in different ways. And Darien is sweet. And what are they arguing about? You could step out of the middle?

Naru-chan just didn't understand. And maybe that was Usagi's fault! But this -

She looks up, Darien is glancing back at her - "Ah, Mama might have something to say about that -"

Text to Naru: They're offering me steaks but not really. how can i get out? should i run away??

"Y-yeah? I might stay at the dorms all summer -" her words are on autopilot, most of her attention on her subtle texting. Maybe not so subtle.

Text from Naru: I mean, it's always an option. You can come rescue me from something innocuous. I'm sure I can have an art emergency that you need to help with. Or Luna needs something.

Right! Right! She had options!! She can get right out of here -

Eh? Eh??? What happened while she was texting, that this offer is happening now?

Usagi stares blankly at the two, before squeaking out, "Can Naru-chan come?"

She needs back up.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Darien's bespectacled earth-blue eyes meet Koji's, and he gives the tiniest acknowledgement in the form of the tiniest head-bow-- and then his eyes light up and it's ridiculous. "Yes!" he tells Koji, and then "Yes!" he tells Usagi, "there should be plenty for all four of us! In fact, why don't I buy buy one more, just in case Naru wants to bring someone else?"

He's animated again, no more cool-boy etiquette argument; everything's good as gold again, whether it's due to bribery or just the option to have an out of all of that.

"Meanwhile, also! Usa-chan, do you need help getting back to your dorm? I can at least carry your bags there if you're doing better at walking because of-- whatever Koji-kun was able to do for you. Or I can carry you again, you're light as a feather."

Koji Silvia has posed:
There's relief and a little consternation on Koji's face as the 'Get Out of Jail Free' card for all involved is starting to become...

...A Thing...

"Alright alright. You can get one more steak, and I'm good with Naru coming. But if this is going to become a thing... I want to invite Chiyo too. I kinda feel like she deserves a chance to hang out when things are... less me trying to set you two up."

Going over to Darien's side of the dorm room, he opens up Mister Perfect's minifridge and fills up the top half with the current items, and has to adjust it a few times to close it finally, "Darien... if you're heading out, take your work suit with you... that way you can change after you drop her off. I'd hate for you to feel rushed having to come back here, change, and take off."

And with that, he just flops down on his bed, and closes his eyes.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Text to Naru: now the steak is real??

Text to Naru: i asked if you could be invited!! i need back up!!

Text from Naru: The steak better be real or its a terrible offer. (Okay /I/ usually prefer imaginary steak, but you aren't mostly a vegetarian)

Text to Naru: it's? wagyu??? ??????

Text from Naru: Okay girl, those boys are showing off to impress you.

Text to Naru: I really really really think this is for them and not me

It... was for them. This whole fight, that had them both smiling a little, the earlier tension exorcised with sharp words and etiquette and curlicue logic. Usagi doesn't understand it. Not even a little bit. But she likes the tension in the room a lot more this way, than the other way. Then she gets another text from Naru.

Text from Naru: Just because they are trying to one up each other to impress, you does not mean you should not enjoy it while it's going on. Even if it is absurdly ridiculous.

Naru-chan!!

Usagi is all set to defend her position, to point out that absolutely none of this is about her, when Darien lights up, and she realizes this is actually happening. Food, friends, and -

Text to Naru: maybe but!! they said you could come and bring a friend! maybe that boy, kazuo-senpai? I think he likes you.

"That would be fun!! A real summer outing, as friends!" Yes. A normal summer outing, doing normal summer things! Her phone vibrates with another text, and she checks it surreptitiously.

Text from Naru: He thinks I'm an interesting puzzle, but he's a good suggestion. He could use more social time.

Text to Naru: Perfect!

"Chiyo-chan would be great to come. We all got so busy with end of term work after the dance. And now that you guys aren't trying Prince of Highschool plans, we can just have fun."

The lightest of possible admonishments, but mostly genuine excitement, for the first time in hours.

And she smiles, sheepish and pleased, and - "You can carry the bags, please! I can walk. If you carry me from here, anyone who sees us will have questions!"

She is now, of course, very aware that she has been in a boys room, with two cute boys. The whole dorm doesn't need to know though!