1701/The Meloncholy of Setsuna Meiou Episode 1701: Preparing for a Trek amongst the Stars

The Meloncholy of Setsuna Meiou Episode 1701: Preparing for a Trek amongst the Stars
Date of Scene:	25 June 2024
Location:	Plot Room 1
Synopsis:	Setsuna takes Usagi on a Voyager out to dinner one early eveninng, where the two discuss things like Deep Space, Nine people going on the coming Enterprise, and attempts at making the Next Generation of Senshi attacks.
Cast of Characters:	Setsuna Meiou, Usagi Tsukino

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Setsuna Meiou has posed:
In the early afternoon, a text from Setsuna will show up on Usagi's phone:

    <<TXT From Setsuna Meiou: Usagi-chan, I have updates on locations for that trip. If you'd like, you can swing by after school and we can discuss it over dinner at a place I know. I skipped breakfast and will be famished by closing time. @_@>>

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Shortly after (never mind that she's in class!), Setsuna will receive a responding text:

    <<TXT from Usagi Tsukino: Suna-san! I have some updates on things too! I'll meet you after class>>

    <<TXT from Usagi Tsukino: omg you're not supposed to skip meals they're so important ohghvifjdvndsk byeee>>

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou stares at the second response for a minute or two, trying to parse what that last bit means, then shrugging and guessing that Usagi got yelled at for texting during class.

She sighs and shakes her head, "...Silly girl. She could have waited until BETWEEN classes to respond..."

...but she's smiling when she says it.




A FEW HOURS LATER




Just about thirty minutes after the end of classes (long enough for someone to get to their dorm and change), Nurse Meiou steps out of the Infirmary before turning to lock the door for the evening.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Suna-saaaaan - I mean Nurse Meiouuuuuu -"

The call, is, of course, Usagi, hurrying over in one of her classic outfits - pink turtleneck and black miniskirt, with pink flats.

"I hope you snacked on something today!

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Nurse Meiou turns and waves to Usagi, then gestures towards the doors down at the end of the hall, waiting for the blonde to get to her before turning to walk out the doors and into the parking lot, "It's okay, Usagi-chan. I had a Snickers to take the edge off. I'll be fine. This just means I have more appetite for dinner, I suppose."

She leads the way over to her new car she showed off to Usagi a little while back...and the engine is running by the time they arrive.

As Nurse Meiou gets to her car, she shrugs out of her labcoat and tosses it in the back seat before climbing in to the driver's side.

Apparently, she was wearing a white button down blouse with a black pencil skirt.

And, of course, three inch heels.

Setsuna waits until Usagi is sitting down and buckled in before she eases out of her parking spot and heads for the road, "So how was your day, Usagi-chan? I hope you didn't get in TOO much trouble for texting in class?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Well, a Snickers is better than nothing," says local girl who is quite pleased to have a Snickers when she gets one. They walk together, and as usual, Usagi is impressed by the car's engine running before they've even arrived.

Once they're in the car, she plops down in her seat, gets her bag in her lap, and huffs.

"Not too much. I don't see why we should have to worry about dumb rules like that anyway, it was important!"

Ugh, teachers, school, awful.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
The amusement in Setuna's tone is evident as she says, "Yes, well, I imagine she thought what SHE was saying was important, Usagi-chan."

It seems Setsuna is a rather workman-like driver.

IE, steady and efficent. None of the kind of 'seat of your pants' driving that one might imagine Haruka to do.

Just 'I'm going from point A to B and I don't feel the need to eke out every single erg of performance my vehicle can muster along the way.'

She glances over during a stop light, "So, anything exceptionally wierd happen lately? Most out of the ordinary for ME recently was hosting a mermaid in my spare bath for a week."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"It was math. Nothing important happens in math," there is so much conviction in her voice as she speaks on this entirely teenaged point of view. She will not be swayed!

The workman like driving is appreciated - a rollercoaster is nice and all, but not when it's one the streets is about how she'd feel about high performance speed driving!

But still, when Setsuna asks how things have been? Usagi tips her head back and groans.

"Coco-chan mentioned that! I'm glad you were able to help her... ugh, first it was Hinoiri going all crazy and don't get me wrong, I still don't regret stopping you all, but boy was she dancing on the limits of what I could do," Usagi huffs, flopping back.

"And now, she doesn't have magic and she's very pouty about it even though she's definitely, obviously, going to have some kind of magic, but she's in the hospital because she got burned by someone in Obsidian which is like? Six kinds of messed up irony? Mamochan already healed her though, so it's gonna be fine."

"And Riventon has a new crazy person on his side and she's kind of nice, but also she's an alien queen from a planet with twelve moons, twelve! She's sparkly and teleports and I'm pretty sure she's not as ditzy as she acts, but she talks a mile a minute and it makes me wonder if I'm like that when people meet me for the first time! Oh, aaaaaaand also Luna showed us a top secret base under the arcade and Ami is working with her on a Metallidar to track the enemy so we can figure out their secret base and attack them first?"

And that wasn't even all the crazy!

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna sighs and shakes her head as Usagi expounds on the unimportance of math, then her lips twist in a small smile, "Don't let Ami-chan hear you say that, else I imagine you'll be in for more than a bit of a lecture."

Her smile widens a bit, "I'm glad I was able to help Coco-chan when she needed it. And I suspect that she's going insist on going with me to Comiket in a month or two...apparently she was enamored with all the costumes I keep in that spare room."

Fortunately, the trip isn't a very long one by car, and soon she's parking just around the corner from a resturaunt that takes up the corner secton of a multistory building...a place that advertises itself as the 'KumaChan Onsen'.

Apparently it's some kind of bear-themed hot pot resturaunt.

As Setsuna leads inside, the staff seem to recognize her and lead the two of you to a table in the corner on the second floor with a nice view of the streets outside, "Order whatever you like. Dinner is on me."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Math is terrible, and Ami-chan cannot convince me, especially when she and Mamochan can solve the math for me," she will not be convinced, nope!

"Oh, you have a bunch of costumes? That's neat! You've got to show me pictures! I've never really tried cosplay, but since everyone thinks our henshins are cosplays I've talked to more people about it these days."

They are lead into a restaurant in a multistory building, with the cutest name, and the fact that Setsuna is recognized is noted.

"Do you come here a lot? Everyone seemed to know you." Hot pot... there's a lot of options for hot pot... but Usagi asks for something with medium spice, beef as her protein, and tons of vegetables! But no carrots! Not a single carrot shall pass!

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna waggles a hand, "Not 'a lot' but a couple of times in the last few months."

She then nods to the waitress who comes and takes orders, "Which is enough for an on point staff to at least recognize you as a 'regular'."

Setsuna herself goes with beef and shrimp for her protiens, and the same array of veggies as Usagi.

She doesn't have anything against carrots beyond the fact that they take longer to cook than she cares for.

As the food is being retrieved, Setsuna snaps her fingers, "Oh! Right. I almost forgot!"

Then she starts making some odd gestures with the fingers of her right hand as she stares at it for a few moments before twisting her wrist in that way she does to produce a small, lacqured box that she hands to Usagi.

Within are a set of well-made chopstics that are mostly white with small gold bands near the top...and the top face of each one has a distinctive crescent moon mark, "I had these made up a bit ago and I'd been waiting to give them out to their recipients as needed...but we haven't had a chance to have any chopstick needing meals until just now."

The gesture is repeated, and Setsuna produces her own set...but this one is slightly different.

Each of her chopsticks is made with that absurdly black substance that Setsuna uses for her bookmark...the one that makes each of the two chopsticks look like nothing less than a hole in the skin of the universe.

She absently clacks them together, then sets them on the table as the food arrives...

And in this place, they give you your broth in a little steel bowl with integral heating element...and within each is a large mass of frozen broth in the shape of a teddy bear, complete with a square of seasoning on it's head as a 'towel'.

A few directions are given on how to operate the heater and a little cheat sheet for cook times is left, then the waitstaff absents themselves to allow the guests their meal.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Their order is made, Setsuna snaps her fingers and Usagi sits up, curious and ready and -

"Oh! Those are so," Her eyes are wide, her voice practically a coo as she takes in the chopsticks, and she's not quite sure what to say, because they're beautiful and they're also a hallmark, identifying, and she kind of wants to get some for Mamoru, with his symbol, but also she's betting that that might already be taken care of and also -

"You really like that vanishing black, huh?" A little giggle, as she notices the practically empty space.

And then. And then the main event arrives.

"It's so cute, Suna-san, it's so cute - oh my god, the little bear is going to get so relaxed he melts into soup isn't he?!" GASP.

"Oh, nooooo, we're going to eat him after he turns to soup!" She is hiding a smile oh no it's too cute.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
The knowing smile and slight wink Setsuna gives makes it fairly clear that, as Usagi suspects, a set for Mamoru is, indeed, awaiting merely the right time to be given.

She then looks down at her chopsticks before looking back to Usagi and shrugging, "It's my fuku color and kind of a subtle sign to the magic aware that I'm 'in the know', as they generally tend to think it's some kind of magic effect...but it has an easy explaination for the unaware."

A twist of her hand produces her bookmark and puts it away again, "Just like the way I conceal using my dimensional pocket in public. People see you doing the hand gestures and just think you just did some kind of slieght-of-hand trick like stage magicians do all the time. Meanwhile I get to have a handy place to not lose my keys in public."

Setsuna raises a hand to cover a giggle at Usagi's comment on her bear's fate as she makes sure her plate is properly set to arrange her bear's coming demise, "That's half the reason I came here the first time. I saw a review someone posted and they had the pictures and I had basically the same reaction you just had."

She settles in to wait a bit, then hrms and looks back to Usagi, "In any event, it turns out that I was able to take care of doing the calculations all by myself."

She waves a hand absently, "Back when computers first became a 'thing' back in the 80s, amateur astronomers took to them like a fish to water...and there have been iterations and improvments on star charting programs for the last forty years. There's a current one that lets you basically pick almost any point in the solar system and simulate what the night sky would look like there from almost any point in the past or future."

She then shrugs, "So I went out and got myself a PC and figured out where everyone's relics are. We can basically go get them whenever all of you are ready."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
That little wink and smile gets a quick nod, and she wonders when there will be the chance for that little gift to be passed along...

"That makes sense. I've kind of just started telling people, as long as I don't think they're on the bad side," she admits, "When it came time for attacking Soryuu Shrine, I had to tell a lot of people, to help like, show trust. So honestly I kind of just assume a lot of the heroes know me, you know?"

She shrugs.

"I think that counts as a humble brag, but you deserve it, because I'd have just had us wondering... but we'll be ready soon. Can you see if Haruka-san and Kaiou-san can be ready? I think... I think it's best if we do this sooner rather than later, because... I don't want to wait for her to be ready. We need to strike first."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna nods, "I can...but I think we should at least wait a week or two between this trip to the Moon and whenever we decide to make the assault."

A gentle poke is given to the melting bear to get it more centered in the growing pool of broth, "Just to give enough time to let everyone get used to their new weapons. Going into a major fight with an untested weapon works in anime...but it's got a rather less solid track record in real life."

She then snorts, "Ask Rashmi about when she and Chrono found me the other day trying to figure out a new attack. They apparently detected me throwing energy around and rolled in thinking I was fighting some monster or something...and ended up surprising me enough I gouged a shallow trench in the floor."

She doesn't mention the spell exploding comically in her face. She's fairly sure both Chrono AND Rashmi have immortalized that image on their phones AND Devices by now.

After a moment, she heaves a sigh, "I'm just glad that their relics are all that will be there by now, even if they're under several inches of dust each...having to find all of them...it wasn't something I care to repeat again...and I'm really glad to spare all of you the trauma."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I agree," and she looks sadly at her melting bear, because oh no, but also, he's really cute, relaxed like this... she pokes his arm with her chopsticks and it falls off. She gasps. A moment of silence for adorable bear arm... and to gather her thoughts.

"If everyone can use them. Our... our past selves were stronger than us, you know? They were more familiar with what they could do, they had more practice - well, okay, maybe not you," Setsuna hadn't died, which she can't allow herself to forget, "But the rest of us... so, hopefully, Ami-chan, Makochan, Minako-chan, and Rei-chan can use them but... even if they can't, we'll have them for the future. For when we can use them."

Because they're going to win, and they're going to have a day, after all of this...

"....but did you make progress?" She's curious. "I haven't really tried to make a new attack, they've just kind of... come to me? But maybe I should."

She stirs her broth with her chopsticks, thinking about it. "We... I'm sorry you had to do that. We had to... we saw some of it, you know. Dying. Not everyone, but... enough. I'm glad that - I'm glad that it's going to be over."

She pauses.

"The Shitennou aren't coming. It's just us, and Mamochan of course, because he's one of us."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna nods, "You might want to suggest he make sure his transformation lets him survive there. I know that our Senshi bindings explicitly allow us to basically ignore vaccum exposure, environmental temperature extremes and the like specifically because a lot of places in the Kingdom were space installations. I imagine his transformation is broadly similar, but I'd doublecheck with him beforehand just in case so we can make other arrangements."

She grins, "I can maybe snag him one of those big suits like NASA use and he can hop around behind us."

When Usagi asks how much progress she's made, Setsuna waggles her hand in that manner that signals 'kinda-sorta', "...a little. It's going to take a fair amount of refinement...but right now it's something I can toss off with one hand so I don't have to drop the Garnet Rod and it works at range."

She holds a hand over her now simmering broth, nods, then starts loading veggies in to cook since they'll take the longest, "At the moment it's just kind of a weak burst of magic that's really only good for making someone keep their head down...but that's not an entirely useless thing in and of itself."

She then grins a little bit, "...I *DID* figure out how to make the Kamehameha charging noise, though. It's impractical as all get out...but it's fun to do."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"He's like us," Usagi says simply, "So it will work out. We can't really get to space by ourselves and I don't know how to test it without going but... I'm sure."

She is confident in that - Mamoru is her equal, her complimentary match, both in powers and in ability, right down to the prism in his transformation cry.

Her broth is mostly melted, and hot, with her poor bear melting away, so in goes lotus root, sweet potato and potato slices, enoki mushroom, napa cabbage, bok choy...

Lots of veggies! They need the most time to cook, since her beef is thin-sliced and will be cooked to perfection with just a little bit of dunking.

"It would be cute to see him in one of those puffy suits, but I think he'd rather be able to take a great selfie than jump around." Then there's the update, and she's thrilled! "Hey, that's good though - something less powerful would be good for you; we need to be able to scale up and down, you know?"

Wagging her finger teasingly, as if she were the senpai here, imparting a valuable lesson -

"No way! Really? Oh that's cool!"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna nods, "Yeah. I was fiddling around with trying to channel my magic and was trying to think of different ways to do it...then I noticed the sound I could make if I 'pushed' in a certain way and then got distracted for a good twenty minutes figuring out how to change how the sound came out."

She shakes her head, "...it's a TOTALLY impractical technique...but as practice goes, it's not bad."

She then giggles, "...plus it lets you make that sound effect on command with a little work, which I can see being fun."

Usagi's assertation about Mamoru's transformation protecting him as well gets a nod from the taller woman as she absently eats a bit of bok choy, tapping her chin as she chews.

Swallowing, Setsuna goes on, "So when did you want to do this? If all of us are doing this together, there's basically nowhere in the system we can't go...so getting to the Moon will be simple. Anytime day or night will work just as well."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I wonder if you could songs with your power," she hums, imagining that, "Your own theme song, that would be pretty neat. I bet someone would say, a waste, but who cares about that someone?"

Not her, that's for sure! It's fun, and so many things aren't fun, in their duty, their work, their lives.

"...I was thinking, in a few days. It'd probably work better on a weekend, but I feel like the perfect day and time is asking to get attacked, you know?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna nods, absently putting some of her meat in to cook, "You're not wrong there. That said, I'll ask Chrono and Rashmi to be a bit more agressive patrolling that night just in case someone does try something without any of us around."

And with all that business out of the way...she digs in to enjoy sharing a meal with her friend.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Good idea. I'll give Chiyo-chan a heads up too, and some of the others," Wako-chan, Koji-kun, Madoka-chan - it would be a good idea for all of them to know a chunk of the city's mahou would be gone, just in case.

And with business out of the way, she's free to stir her hot pot, to dish some noodles into a bowl and get out some broth and veggies to warm them. A good meal, a peaceful night - who could ask for more?