224/Why's it called a Supercar

Why's it called a Supercar
Date of Scene:	10 August 2023
Location:	Pikarigaoaka Ward
Synopsis:	Haruka takes Setsuna out to Fuji raceway to show her what a supercar can do...our poor nurse has NO idea what she's in for.
Cast of Characters:	Haruka Tenoh, Setsuna Meiou

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Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    After more than a few weekends, and evenings, and waits for parts to be called in from overseas, Haruka Tenoh had proudly gotten the GT40 she'd uncovered in Setsuna's new garage up to... well... more than a street-capable point. It was a beast of a machine, and Haruka was a damn good mechanic between both natural talent and study - it was also something she had no trouble focusing on, being in that garage and getting down to business. She'd taken it out around the neighborhood to make sure it wasn't going to blow a gasket or anything at a more cautious rate, and now...

    She came back in after that and saw Setsuna standing in the kitchen. "I think the GT40 is all good to go." She says, smiling big and wide like a child who'd spent all day getting their favorite toy ready. "Of course, it's not exactly a minivan so I won't know if it's really all together until I can actually take it somewhere to test it. I was thinking about just... getting out on the highway, but... then I thought that maybe getting a ticket for that sort of thing might hurt my ongoing legal stuff, right?" she said. Well, she was at least a little bit mature.

    "But on the other hand, the nearest real raceway is... pretty far out." she admitted. She looked back like she could see the car through the wall of the house. "I can't imagine whoever owned this before you drove it at a perfectly legal speed all the way out to Fuji Speedway."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna spends her weekends lounging around the mansion most of the time. Sadly for some, it's not USUALLY in a bra and fishnet top. Instead, today Setusna's wearing an almost comically oversized black t-shirt. While the text on it seems to refer to her job (You Never Forget Your First Doctor), the picture above it does not (a picture of what appears to be an oversized blue wooden phone booth wit the words 'Police Call Box' in white letters at the top). As Haruka enters the kitchen, she absently takes a sip of her tea (coffee is for mornings...tea is for the rest of the day), then gets a look of curiousity.

After a few moments, she grabs a tablet computer nearby, taps it on and types a few things really quick.

One last long sip later, she shrugs, "Well, it says here that Fuji just reopened after a big remodel and that since it's the off season, it's open for anyone who wants to take turns around the track." Another few taps, "...and as I recall, all enforcement through there is done by camera." She shrugs, "The car's registered to me, so if there's a ticket, it's on my dime."

She stares at Haruka for a moment, guaging her reaction, then she finishes off her tea, sets the mug in the dishwasher and says, "I've already gotten us tickets. Give me a minute to change into something more appropriate to sit in a...what did you call it?...Superbcar?...while it's being driven at what I'm sure is going to be an insane speed."

She then walks out of the kitchen and down the hall.

A beat later, she sticks her head back around the corner, "...out of curiousity...what kind of clothes would that BE?"

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Haruka listens to all of this and grins. She is just grinning. Like a very excited small child. Not just because she'd get to drive the car at speed with not much in the way of repercussions (though that was the vast majority of it) but because Setsuna would be in the 'superbcar' with her. "Well, if it was the Stingray I'd be a lot more worried about the wind catching it, but that's not at issue here." Haruka calls. She almost considers telling Setsuna to bring a second pair of pants though.

    "Oh, probably x-may on the wearing any necklaces, you don't want to get a big metal slug of jewlery in your face." she suggests. "So maybe light on the accessories."

    "And something comfortable." If the rest of her was possibly not going to be - the clothes should at least be. And who knows. Maybe Meiou-sensei would get a kick out of the whole thing. The woman did almost constantly surprise her.

    "Saying this car goes fast is like saying you are tall. It's accurate, but it doesn't really capture the degree."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna narrows her eyes at Haruka and gives her a suspicious look, "...I get the distinct impression you know something I don't know...and I must say...I don't like that feeling."

That said, she ducks back out and meets Haruka in the garage wearing a pair of black cargo shorts, a dark blue and more formfitting tshirt that reads 'It's GO Time' and perhaps the most casual shoes you've seen her wear...a pair of hightop sneakers...with a 3in wedge heel. She's got her hair in a loose tail, a red scunchie secuyring it near her head and a small brown bow securing the end. As suggested, she's foregone jewelry.

After a few moments figuring out the logistics, she gets herself into the passenger seat on the left side (the car is European/Japanese Standard Right-side drive)...and after a few moments settles into the seat. Fortunately, despite being absurdly tall for a woman, she's only about average height for an American Man, so she manages to not be cramped in her seat as she closes the door.

After a few moments and a long look at Haruka, she starts conspicuously buckling her 5 point safety harness...never taking eyes off the crazy dishwater blonde.

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Haruka chuckles. "Now you know what my every day life is like. It seems like you and lot of other people around me have things going on I don't know. It's nice to be on the other side of that." she admits.

    For Haruka's part, she is dressed rather differently - dress shirt missing a button and pants, check. Blue vest? Check. Giving a damn today? Only a little bit of a check. Partially because if Haruka has her way nobody is going to see either of them except as a fast moving blur anyways. But she does stop to ask. "Where do you even get shoes like that?" It's not a serious question she expects an answer to, though. Just a comment.

    Haruka gets into the car too, and it roars to life and Haruka wonders if even 'not a car person' Setsuna can feel how much the car wants to be pushed to do a lot more than slowly roll out of the garage and down the road reasonably. Like a monster just trying to break free from its cage.. or a runner at the starting blocks waiting for the race to start.

    And of course while there was something fun about seeing people stop and look at it whenever they reached a traffic light, she was looking forward to being out of the Tokyo-Metro area and headed out. The moment she can see open road and clear of traffic, though, her hand on the shifter grips it harder and she actually gives the beast a small portion of the accelration it has seemed to want. And more... and more...

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
It's fortunate that the speed limit on the Tokyo Expressway is already set to 120kph (75mph)...as that means that Haruka can't INSTANTLY start breaking the speed limit.

Even a monster like the GT40 needs a LITTLE room to accelerate, after all.

Still, the way the car practically leaps forward when Haruka puts the hammer down for the first time actually manages to elicit an audible squeak from the ever-composed Setsuna...and she's got an apparent death grip on the car's 'OH SHIT' handles as the speed starts to pour on.

In a slightly strained voice she manages to get out, "...oh...so I guess it goes fast like this?"

She's got no idea that Haruka probably only BARELY has it in THIRD.

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Somewhere in Haruka's mind, she's imagining herself actually racing this thing, not just driving out on the expressway. Cheering fans, competition, and that feeling of speed.

    "Nah, I'm just testing it. It would be a real shame if I actually punched it all the way and it gave us trouble." Haruka says. She goes through some somewhat responsible series of shifting it through the lower gears so she can listen to the car like one does, making sure there's not any untoward noises. Because she doesn't want to break the car by leaning too hard on her mechanics skills. But it's behaving.

    In fact it's behaving really, really well. "So, since you're handling it well -" Haruka begins with a smirk that is very, very her "- let's see what we can really pull out of it. Since the next bit of road is straight and clear, it looks like?" she says before - well, she doesn't push the pedal to the metal immediately, but the car sounds its approval as the engine roars.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Another squeak of surprise is forced out of Setsuna as acceleration punches her in the chest once more, and she shoots the occasional glance over at Haruka whenever she can force herself to take her eyes off the road.

Somewhere in the depths of her memory, she's sure she's gone faster than this before...but if so, that memory is lost to her...and additionally, there's something visceral about moving this fast this low to the ground in a machine designed to showcase just what a massive engine can DO when mated to the proper chassis.

She knew Haruka was a bit of a speed freak...and she'd kind of assumed that with the way she'd been gushing over the cars that they'd be kind of fast...but on some level, she'd been imagining pushing a bit past the 'effective' speed limit on the Expressway of about 140kph...and instead she's starting to wonder if the other woman is intendind to try and break the world land speed record here.

While the intellectual side of her brain is aware that's not really possible...that side of her brain is at the moment, being drowned out by the hammering of her heart in her ears.

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Haruka, meanwhile, is laughing. Not laughing at Setsuna, or laughing at anyone or anything. She's laughing with that raw kind of excited enjoyment of somebody doing something they love, the more energetic version of Setsuna's happy sighs when the coffee comes out just right.

    "This is a real machine!" Haruka says triumphantly - she did fix it, after all - as she stops trying to push it. She doesn't want to blast it all out on the road when Setsuna was so kind as to get them prepared to go onto the raceway where she can -really- let loose. But before that this was a good, if short, test.

    Haruka settles into a less than what the car -can- do but absolutely faster than the legal speed limit speed as they make their way to the racetrack that sits in the shadow of that famous mountain. "Not bad for something you got in a garage as part of a sale and didn't know it was even there, is it, Meiou-sensei?" Haruka asks.

    Well, and something that Haruka fixed up, but she doesn't say that part out loud. "I think we're going to beat your timetable to the raceway." she adds. Understatement.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
As Haruka settles down to a (still impressive) cruising speed, Setsuna takes a few moments and several deep breaths to regain her composure. Then after a bare moment's thought, a glance at the speedometer and then at a passing road sign, she hrms, "...yes, by at least twenty-five minutes and forty seconds."

It's one of those passing oddities...Setsuna never wears a watch, never visibly checks the time...but always seems to know and reference times down to the second.

She takes another deep breath, then looks like she's enjoying the trip a little more, "I doubt they'll be overly bothered if we get there a little early. Worst case, we grab some lunch."

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    That actually makes Haruka's eyebrow quirk. "You've got a lot of interesting, special talents, Meiou-sensei." she said. She still hadn't started calling the woman by her first name - some level of due respect for her title/schooling and for the whole letting her stay in the house thing meant she was always polite to her.

    In fact, when she's in her element - and the watchless clock isn't - she has some questions about all of that. But not yet. Right now it's just the two of them and only a little bit of road between here and there - at least at the speed they were going. Which was at least closer to Setsuna's expected speed.

    "We should do lunch after." Haruka suggests. Given the speed she would be taking some of the corners at, she figured lunch was a thing better delayed. "...but thanks, for coming out with me and all today." There are other thanks in there too, undercurrents left unsaid.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
The smile that crosses Setsuna's face is much less worried and concerned, and much more genuine as she responds, "Believe it or not, Miss Tenoh, I'm happy to do so. It's good to see you so much more animated than when you first turned up in my office."

She also seems to keep to the proprieties...always referring to Haruka as 'Miss Tenoh'...but it's clear by her tone that there's genuine care there, and not just a stuffy insistance on respect.

Almost lost to the ambient noise of the car is a much more softly spoken, "...kind of wondering if I'll be ABLE to eat when we're done on the track..."

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    "You know, I can actually believe it. It's a lot of why I've gotten so comfortable with you." Haruka admits. "I've seen a lot of how people act when they're being fake - when they're faking caring about somebody either because they feel like they have to or because they're waiting to get some kind of benefit out of it for themselves." she says. "You haven't done those things."

    She's quieter, now, and looks out at the road, not at Setsuna, as she adds "...it's nice to be wanted around as actually me." in a voice that rivals Setsuna's quiet comment.

    The track is pretty calm and quiet when they get there, and nobody actually seems to check Haruka's non-existent license. Maybe it's that she showed up driving, or maybe it's her confidence, but the GT40 is soon to be on the track, Haruka is in the middle of making a much more calm drive around it the first time - and only the first time - to make sure she's familiar with it before she really leans into it. "You know if I had known this was going to be the outcome I'd have punched my dad a lot sooner." she says, grinning.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna once again covers her mouth to conceal a giggle, "Sadly, Miss Tenoh, if you had done so much earlier, I wouldn't have been around to help you out the way I did. So despite how much of a backpfeifengesict your father may have been, punching him sooner would not have had nearly the same outcome."
Shehe's started to relax quite a bit...as she's gotten a bit more comfortable with Haruka's driving.

And, truth be told, she's of the impression that the comparatively sedate warm up lap that the blonde is taking *IS* her putting the car through it's paces.

Oh, Setsuna...you sweet, summer child.

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Haruka smiles back at Setsuna. "I don't know what that word you just said but I think I get it." she admits. "What language was that, even?" she asks. Another thing to put into Setsuna's Strange Talents and Knowledges column.

    Speaking of that... the ride was soon to get a little bit less comfortable for Setsuna in more ways than just one. As on the second lap, Haruka changed the cars gear and now, feeling a lot more familiar with the course itself rather than just seeing it from above, started to go faster.

    MUCH faster.

    "I love the sense of speed, the feeling of... g-forces, I think they're called, and the way things just go past you at a blur. Moving at speed is... my happy place." Haruka says, though she's no longer got her eyes anywhere other than the road and is... mostly focused. But she's curious how it's going to feel for Setsuna as she takes a curve in a way that would be a lot more dangerous if she DIDN'T know what she was doing.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna smiles broadly, "It's German. Despite what one might think, it's a WONDERFUL language for descriptive terms. That one in particular is German for 'a face badly in need of a fist'." She can't imagine Haruka WOULDN'T agree with that description for her father based on what the blonde has told her.

Once more as that punch of acceleration hits, a tiny little squeak is forced from the green haired woman...and her hands quickly find their way back to the 'OH SHIT' handles as she clutches on for dear life.

As car is pushed to take the turns in a much more racelike manner, Setsuna lets out the occasional little grunt at the centrifugal and centripital forces acting upon her as the car corners, "...a...a...re...you SUPPOSED to be....tt.taking corners...t..this fast?"

There's a bit of worry and concern there...as Setsuna finds herself VERY VERY far out of her wheelhouse.

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    "Well, if you don't take the corners quickly, that's where you get overtaken." Haruka responds casually, like she isn't trying to see how far she can (safely) push the 60 year old machine. She's got a pretty good idea of what it can and can't do and isn't endangering her or her friend - that's not her style - but she is hovering around just on the upper edge of safe.

    "Anyways, that's part of what makes a supercar... super. It's not hard to put a big engine or something on the end of a car, and make it go fast. That's dragracing. But to be able to take corners like this one while only losing a little bit of speed..." she begins, demonstrating as they take a corner rather fiercely "... and then getting the speed you lost back up... that makes it super, at least to me."

    They come around the track for another loop as Haruka sharessome trivia. "You know this track has one of the longest straightaways? It's great for getting speed." The car roars an approval as she coaxes as much speed as she can out of it on the long straight.

    Now Haruka is having to raise her voice to be heard above the roar of the engine. "So, Meiou-sensei, I gotta ask, how did you end up with enough money to buy the house AND a nursing degree so young?" she asks, somewhere near the apex of the speed. "Something about it all still doesn't seem to add up."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
As Haruka explains what makes a supercar a supercar...all that really comes from Setsuna is a series of squeaks, grunts, and groans. Frankly, she's not used to the sudden, rapid changes in acceleration from odd angles...and while the Fuji track does have the longest straight, it's also got some radically sharp turns to go with it.

The course is a classic for a reason.

Not that Setsuna really appreaciates that fact at the moment.

As another punch of acceleration kicks in, the grunts from the green haired woman start pitching noticably up...quickly turning to squeaks, then squeals...and the knuckles on her hands are white from the death grip she has on the 'OH SHIT' handles.

Her mouth opens to say something...but no sound comes out. Even in a situation like this, where her thoughts are jumbled from all the strange, worrying, and fear-inducing stresses of being thrown around a supercar by a driver of excellent skill...she can't bring herself to tell the lie.

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Haruka absolutely notices, in her occasional looks to the side, that Setsuna is taking this -super well-. Well, this is her world. The racetrack is her castle. Nobody can beat her here, and here she is every bit the unflappable woman she wants to be, the cool and collected and controlled elegant lady. If that elegant lady were driving in a way that looked more dangerous than it was and scaring the hell out of another one.

    She starts to slowly ease off bashing the accelerator down as they work through the curves again so Setsuna can maybe try to find some words or talk or even get angry. Whatever she needs to do.

    "It's alright, we have a full tank of gas and they didn't give me a time limit to be out of here by so we have plenty of time to talk it out in a place where nobody else could possibly interrupt or hear things."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Given her rather dusky skin tone, saying Setsuna is starting to look a little 'green' isn't quite accurate...but she's definitely looking more and more stressed as the moments go by.

She still doesn't say anything when she opens her mouth...as if she's trying to get herself together enough to be actually able to form words.

Finally, however, when Haruka alludes to how long they have, Setsuna's composure finally cracks, and she clenches her eyes tightly closed as she screams, "I'M A MAGICAL GIRL!!!!!!!"

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Well, the confession is... on the list of things Haruka was going to get, that wasn't... on the list. Nowhere. On the list. 'My parents are international mercinaries' was higher up on the list. Also unintelligble cursing was on the list. The car's RPM drops precipitously as Haruka slows it down since she's so...

    "You're a what?" she says, incredulously. The car doesn't, notably, STOP. But it's only going two digits of speed and not three. "What worries me more is how much sense that makes in some sort of way that I cannot explain." Haruka adds.

    "Explains the ability to run around in those heels so agile too." she notes. "So what, is that why you need to coffee so badly in the morning to not become Setsu-Zilla, because you spend all night jumping off of balconies to kick bank robbers in the face? I guess that would make mornings tough..."

    Well, Haruka only knows of Sailor V off the top of her head and kicking people in the face is what the average person thinks Sailor V does. "Honestly what is more surprising is that I haven't felt the need to call that a lie. As strange as everything has felt, those words feel... accurate." she says, her face kind of scrunching up.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna doesn't come off as ANGRY, precisely...but her voice is still rather pointedly raised as the rare moment of broken composure makes her a lot more loose with her speech than she normally would be, "YOU TRY WEARING THREE INCH HEELS FOR FOURTEEN THOUSAND YEARS AND SEE HOW HARD IT IS TO WEAR FLATS AFTER!!!"

As the speed comes down to levels that, while still not approaching sane in the green haired woman's book, still cause her to note that you're having to expend far less physical effort to control the vehicle through the turns, Setsuna begins to get herself back under control.

She's still not quite there yet, so you get a lot more unfiltered answers as she goes on, "...I've got no idea who the hell 'Sailor V' is. She KIND of looks like a Senshi, but we're all associated with planets...not random letters!"

It hasn't occured to her consciously, but that 'we' is inclusive of Haruka as well.

Some tiny part of her knows the truth, even if she's not consciously aware of it.

Finally settling down a bit, she grumbles, "...of course you don't need to call it a lie, because it's bloody well true."

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    "Fourteen thousand years?" Haruka asks, still mostly incredulous. "Well, either one or both of us are crazy - but I can work with that." she admits. "Sorry." She sounds like she is only very slightly sorry, and probably because she knows this opens her up to Consequences from the tall green-haired woman later.

    "I mean honestly, I was expecting way worse. The house, the cars, you could have been involved in like, black market organ trade or something. I was really expecting something... bad... because..." Because Haruka doesn't get good things nearly as much as bad.

    "This is actually kinda cool." she says. The car is moving more towards highway speed, and the main reason she hasn't stopped entirely is so that Setsuna doesn't run away, or just start (deservedly) striking her. "School nurse by day, hero by night." She says. "That's impressive." It's both honest and... Setsuna could probably use a compliment now? At least if Haruka wants to stay in her house. Or... make it back to her house.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna spends a few moments straightening her shirt and fussing with her shorts in order to rebuild some of her composure. Of course, she hasn't noticed that her hair has kind of come a bit loose from her braid and is starting to therefore go a bit all over the place. Finally, she takes a deep breath and sighs, "Yes, well, it's kind of easy to build up a rather large fortune when one has a very very long time to work. Having access to the tools I had back then didn't hurt, either."

She shakes her head, "The whole 'crimefighting' thing is kind of played up. In point of fact, Senshi are a specific kind of Guardian...there are apparently several..."

She trails off, frowning for a moment, "...I was going to say 'dozen' as a bit of comic exaggeration...but to be fair, I'm not sure it's inaccurate..."

She gives herself a little shake to recenter, "...anyway, there are several dozen apparent other types of magical girls running around as well..."

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Haruka sighs. "You know the more you talk the more one side of my brain says I should call your bluff, but there's something in me that just goes 'yes all of this makes sense' and that's kind of worrying." she admits.

    "I uhh... I guess we should head home." She pauses, and then - now that they're on the straightaway and much slower - turns to look at Setsuna and smile. "The car works *great* though." she adds, grinning widely.