1615/An Undead Pirate, a Recovering Mermaid and a Yurari Dream

An Undead Pirate, a Recovering Mermaid and a Yurari Dream
Date of Scene:	01 June 2024
Location:	Pikarigaoka Ward
Synopsis:	Erika comes in to visit Coco and besides finding out she had a mermaid friend all along, she gets brought up to speed on the current danger with Sunbreaker. In spite of this, things end on a high note, with a promise to form an idol group and them having a karaoke session.
Thanks to:	Haruka Tenou
Cast of Characters:	Erika Shimizu, Haruka Tenoh, Coco Kiumi
Tinyplot:	Sunset of Sora
Tinyplot2:	Yurari Dream Chronicles

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Erika Shimizu has posed:
    So Erika Shimizu has been a bit... Quiet of late. Keeping her head low since the incident with that portal to the past and the Moon Kingdom and Earth Kingdom of Olden Times.
    It was a BAD time all around, and aside from hunting for her treasure, the usually gregarious and outgoing pirate-themed mahou has been... Reticent.
    At least until she heard that something had happened to Coco.
    A few text messages are exchanged before Erika manages to get the location of where the singing mahou was staying, and Erika quickly made her way over.
    She's dressed in her casuals; a simple blouse and skirt combo, with her blond hair braided and clipped with skull themed baubles as she makes her way to the door and...
    Knock knock knock.
    "Hellooooo? I heard a friend of mine was staying here?"

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    The tall dishwater-blonde haired girl opens the door, looking down at Erika. "Oh. Yeah that's possible - someone's staying here with us till they get better." She says. "And you are... Erika, I presume?" she asks, looking the girl up and down.

    Upon recieving some sort of affirmative response, Haruka nods. "Alright, before I letcha' in I have to go over a thing. Kiumi-san isn't the only special secret thing we have here, so you know, keep your eyes and hands where they should be. Secrets are part of our way of life and this house has some others, so I'm gonna take you to where our finny friend is staying and ask you not really roam around, and if you do see anything or anyone, forget you saw it, alright? Otherwise someone's gonna be mad at me and then I'm gonna be mad at you. And I won't be able to trust you anymore." she says, harshly.

    "Sorry for the whole thing, but - well, this is where I live, and it's not a regular hospital or anything so this stuff's important."

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    "Yeah." That's the affirmative answer, "I'm Erika, Erika Shimizu." And that's her introduction! Being a pirate doesn't preclude one from being polite after all. But Erika nods, raising both her hands, palms out in an almost 'I surrender' looking gesture as she nods.
    "Oh no, I totally understand about having secrets. I'm not gonna pry where my nose isn't wanted. Hands and eyes to myself, forget anything and anyone I might have totally not seen while here." She says before pausing.
    "Dead men tell no tales; I get it. I'm just worried about Coco, and I'm here for her and her alone."

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Haruka laughs. "Well, hopefully I don't have to kill anyone. My boss told me I wasn't allowed to, I think she'd still be mad at me about it if I try again." she says, without further elaborating. Mostly, Haruka is in a good mood, she's just probably the more intimidating of the three of them, even if she's dressed in a long dress today.

    Most of what Erika sees on the way in isn't so much magical as it just surprisingly nerdy stuff - courtesy of what Setsuna fills their house with. Haruka and Michiru's parts are in the opposite direction. Eventually they get to a door, and Haruka knocks. "I got one Erika Shimizu for one Coco Kiumi." she adds, waiting a moment or two before opening the door. So long as Coco isn't going to freak out about it NOT being Erika, Haruka will leave the two of them alone after a thumbs-up at Coco.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Outside of the door, Erika and Haruka will be able to hear a karaoke machine's soundtrack and Coco singing Fireflies by Owl City to it, losing herself in the song. Still when the Senshi of Jupiter calls in with Erika in tow and opens the door, the music quickly stops and Coco's face turns to the door and smiles widely when she sees that Erika has indeed come to visit her. What Erika sees is the yellow mermaid laying still in the bathtub, her golden eyes looking at her with clear happiness, but by the ripples in the fresh bathtub water it is clear that she was moving her tail up and down.

The medical tape that isolates and protects the bandages covering the medication from the water. They are mostly on her torso, though a few are present on her tail too, thankfully none on the fin.

She has been mostly doing well ever since she came in, thanks to Setsuna's excellent care, both in terms of the medication the wounds had required and the attention that she is being given, not to mention the excellent food she is being given and the various gifts of other visitors, which include the karaoke machine, but also beach roses floating on the water's surface and bath salts from the Hawai'i even. Besides the high-tech bathtub itself, the proof also lies in the fact the school nurse had taken extra care in making sure at least some of the food Coco had been receiving was her favourite.

The bathtub even has more than enough space for her to lay comfortably with her tail, totally unlike the bathtubs at school that she barely fits in, having those not been made with mermaids in mind. Cora, Coco's sea otter, is sitting on top of the bathtub next to her head, pressing and fighting with a squeaky rubber duck.

"Erika, you came, I am so glad to see you! Please come in", Coco happily waves at her, if slowly not to send droplets everywhere. "Thank you again, Haruka-san", she tells the sailor soldier before they are left alone.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    To her credit, Erika follows Haruka without being nosey. She promised, after all, and she wouldn't be a mahou of her word if she didn't keep that promise, so she ignores and pretends to not notice the nerdery that abounds. Now, Erika isn't surprised to hear the sound of singing when it comes to Coco. When the door opens though and Erika steps in, she has to pause.
    That's a mermaid in a bathtub alright.
    Green eyes blink slowly as the blonde has to spend just a second or so to mentally process this, and her lips purse at first while her eyes cross and she has to spend just another second rallying.
    Well, she shouldn't be too surprised to see an honest to good mermaid. She's an undead pirate.
    "Blimey." That's Erika's initial response as she steps in, but then she's managed to regain her mental footing quickly enough to offer Coco a grin. "If I'd known you were a better swimmer than I am, I've brought you some pool toys or something." She says playfully. But then a much more serious look crosses the blonde's expression.
    "What happened, exactly?"

Coco Kiumi has posed:
There was a simple reason Coco had chosen to wait since Erika had come in to reveal she is a mermaid: because she wouldn't know who her friend is with on the other side of the phoneline at the moment she had sent the text. Better to tell her in person in place that's probably even safer than the Shed.

Her smile doesn't waver at all when she hears that "Blimey", she had expected a similar reaction. Answering what are probably Erika's internal thoughts, Coco tells the pirate "Sorry for not telling you sooner about my being a mermaid, Erika, I really wanted to, but I was unable to until recently. Before then, I would have dissolved into seafoam."

But there is another explanation she has to give and it is about her current state. "You know Sunbreaker, right? She has started calling herself Hinoiri Kirara, Sunset of Sora and has been going left and right in an uncontrolled rampage, stealing more and more powers: I know for sure she stole Tuxedo Kamen's power before she had assaulted me. I don't know who else fell victim to her."

She then gestures towards her tail. "My loss of powers is why I am currently stuck like this, I cannot keep my human form without them. Luckily, Cora, my otter, has found me and warned Nurse Meiou, who had brought me here and has been medicating my burns since then and making sure I have food and movies to keep my mind occupied with."

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    For a moment, for a brief beat, a very serious and grave look crosses the blonde's face.
    "Ah."
    That's her initial response.
    "Yeah, I've heard the name Sunbreaker from other Mahou. Think I even saw her in that time portal debacle..." She does admit. "But 'Sunset of Sora'? That's a new one for me." She admits, rubbing at the back of her neck. "Guess I've been lucky enough to not really cross paths with her so far."
    But then Erika shakes her head.
    "It's cool~." She says, at first. "We've all got things we can't tell each other. And turning into seafoam sounds uh." Well it sounds pretty bad. "Like it wouldn't be good for you at all."
    That's an understatement.
    "Still. Hearing that she's going around stealing powers is kind of nuts... But at least you're still alive." She says.
    This is when Erika folds her arms across her chest.
    "There any plan to deal with her? Or at least get your power back?"

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco frowns when Erika ponders about the Sunset of Sora. "I don't really know who or what Sora is supposed to be either, or why she wants to destroy this Sora. But I do know that a lot of people are already on the lookout for a chance to strike back, and are trying to find solutions and plans. Hope Blossom was here just the other day, and she told me they have one real shot at this, with a promise, and she is really trustworthy", the yellow mermaid asserts to the pirate.

"Besides the fact it helps me keep my mind off things and not go stir crazy, that is one of the reasons I am happy to see you here", Coco comments when Erika points out she has been lucky enough not to cross paths with Hinoiri. "Because I have been worrying about all of my friends, and anyone who comes here has not been hurt by her already, and I am latching onto any positive news I can get."

"But that's clearly not all that has been going on recently. How have you been? Everything ok with the rest of your life? That Beryl portal was another big mess", she inquires.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    "Well." Erika says. "It sounds like if they have a plan, they've got something to go with." She considers. "I guess I'd just been lucky to avoid most of the crazier hijinx so far." Admitted as she rubs the back of her neck.
    But then she nods when she hears Hope Blossom was around.
    "Looks to me like a lot of your friends were here." She notes, at the various gifts and such, lips curling into a slight smile. "I'm glad you're at least mostly alright now. And I'll stay as long as you like if it helps keep your mind off things." Erika does offer.
    But then Coco mentions that damned portal.
    "Ah that..." For a moment, just a beat, a slightly haunted look crosses the dread pirate's face.
    "It was a huge mess, yeah. Just glad I got out of it with my skin."

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"It really does, I just hope the plan doesn't go south in some very dangerous way. I can only imagine how delicate it must be when the situation is this dangerous."

Then the subject changes to the gifts she has received. "Yes, there were quite a few, Amy, my fiancé Yuuto, Hope Blossom, and my roommate Cho. Hope Blossom was here with her Chara, who are all alright too, and she is the one who brought me the karaoke machine I was using when you came in. Yuuto brought the beach roses and the duck Cora has been playing with", Coco smiles fondly. Said otter has in the meantime stopped playing, in favour of looking at Erika and listening to the conversation.

"Oh, don't worry about it", Coco says with a worried rush when she notices Erika's discomfort. "There is no need to tell me. But I would love if you stayed. We could watch a movie, or sing together."

Singing with Erika brings something else to mind for Coco. "Oh, Erika! When all of this is over would you like to form an Idol group with me? I met this agent from Shine PR who is interested in expanding their career here in Tokyo and I thought teaming up with you would be amazing", Coco exclaims passionately, looking at the other girl with excitement.

Whatever Erika's reply, Coco points once more to the karaoke machine. "Oh, there are some sea shanties in there too, if you would like."

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    "We can only hope, right now." Erika agrees. But on to brighter and happier topics. She's grinning again as Coco goes over the gifts and who brought what, and settles herself in with a nod. "Either of those plans sound great." She says with a chuckle. "And yeah I heard you singing through the door." She says before blinking.
    "An Idol group?" That catches her off guard. There's a beat of consideration before she huffs. Coco's passion and excitement are infectious.
    "I can't say no to you." She admits with another laugh, rubbing the back of her neck. "And you know. I wouldn't mind expanding beyond sea shanties sometime, I guess~."