2895/It's a Wonderful Koji

It's a Wonderful Koji
Date of Scene:	25 December 2025
Location:	Cafe BAKE Neko
Synopsis:	After Mamoru vanished from reality for six seconds, some of his friends Definitely Noticed The Difference. Koji was one such, and on Christmas morning, he comes to tell Usagi and Mamoru so at the cat cafe.
Cast of Characters:	Koji Silvia, Mamoru Chiba, Usagi Tsukino

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Koji Silvia has posed:
Six Seconds.

Six Seconds is not a long time, but it is also an eternity... six seconds where the reality of a different turn of events intersected here, and for six seconds, Koji wasn't the same semi-grumpy lump of clay he is here, but instead was specifically called Kojiro, was wearing a suit that he'd seen on Darien, and the Obsidian badge... it hung from his breast pocket. Some of the bigger details of that world thankfully get left in the background, and he only has the six seconds, but now they're there, burned into his mind.

It is that burning need combined with a rapid-fire set of texts that send Koji out the door pre-dawn on Christmas Day with a promise to bring home some things his mother wants for dinner, and using his henshin to speed up travel to get to the BAKE Neko ten minutes before it opens, standing outside with his face half-covered in a scarf and wrapped up in a winter coat.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It's definitely winter weather.

It's definitely after dawn and after opening and several texts later that Mamoru and Usagi finally join Koji at the cat cafe, holding hands down the sidewalk in front of the windows then coming in. The double-jingling of the christmas bells over the door chime makes all the cats' ears twitch - it sounds like a toy.

There's so much peppermint chocolate! And also spice cakes and the usual round of things like enormous red velvet cupcakes, ganache, mousse-- so many treats. The whole place is warm and cozy and smells of the holiday spices cats don't mind.

Mamoru leaves his black cat-eared beanie and black leather jacket on; he's wearing them over black skinny jeans and a red silk button-down shirt, and extremely expensive-looking dark red shoes. Also, mittens, which he does take off.

Koji Silvia has posed:
Nothing is really said in the first couple of minutes as Koji enters the cafe, even going so far as to wait so that the pair get to go in first before he joins them. Instead of going for the hot chocolate, and instead gets himself some hot matcha tea, and adds a little honey after a sip.

When he finally sits down across from the pair, he finally says something.

    "Thank you."

There's a beat, and he goes on...

    "Not just for letting me know what happened and why, but also... I... think you two have had a bigger influence on me than I ever realized. And... knowing what could have been, honestly makes me realize I've been a bit cold to you... and everyone else. It goes back to my mom."

There seems to be a lot going on behind those glasses, but as he sips his tea, he goes on, "I don't talk about my mother... because she taught me about magic, and afterwards, she started losing her memories of that, and began to be affected by the Veil and the thing we call the Fade. But she's why I kind of made this hard line between my life and... the... magic we do and deal with." He gulps and moves on, "I was scared of feeling all my memories just fall away one at a time, until I couldn't remember anyone. And I pulled back too hard in some cases. I'm not even sure I can repair the damage I did... but you both at least deserved a thank you. Especially now."

    "So... uh... Merry Christmas, and I'm happy you're still a part of reality?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It's definitely after dawn and into the morning - early morning, but not, early morning, and Usagi had spent half the night cuddling her husband, her future daughter, her husband's boyfriend, her husband's boyfriend's boyfriend, and their cats. All three of them.

The blankets had been overkill, at that point, but it wasn't like she was going to complain. The six or so seconds that Mamoru had been fully out of existence had been... bad.

The text messages she'd exchanged with her girls and his boys had been better, though given Koji's worry...

She's really hoping he reacted more like one of her girls than Mamoru's boys. She's not confident in that hope, though. (What, she's the Soldier of Justice and Mystery, not Hope!)

As they approach the door, and Koji fails to join them, she sighs a little and picks a table with a fat orange cat on it. Ditching her fluffy orange sherbet colored scarf over the back of her chair and brushing the last of the snow off her bright pink jacket and beige pants, she settles down, deciding against ordering for the moment...

And is glad for that when Koji does join them, because she's pretty sure she might have spilled something while he spills... more about his personal life inside of a minute or two than she thinks she's heard from him in two and a half years.

"Oh, wow," she starts, eyes wide, "Um - thank you? For sharing? I'm uh... guessing that whatever was going on in that bit of a bad time we were all in was... not so great, huh?"

She reaches out and pats his hand, patpat, there, there.

"I'm sorry about your mama, Koji-kun. I'm really, really sorry, because that sounds just... awful, and it does explain a little while you wanted it all so separate."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Presumably Koji was expecting Mamoru's look of mildly incredulous irritation on seeing him standing outside the cafe in the cold morning light: he gets like that like clockwork, whenever Koji does something self-flagellating. But he doesn't comment on it. He does order, he orders one absolutely immense peppermint hot chocolate with a lot of whipped cream and peppermint marshmallows, and two spoons, and he comes over and sets it down.

He has the time to exchange a glance with Usagi before Koji sits down and starts talking without preamble. And then...

...he needs some of that whip cream as fortification. Two spoons, and one of them is now his, and full of whipped cream, and then is empty again while Usagi is talking. He pushes his glasses up.

"I'm really sorry about that, too. Memory loss is... it's terrible for the people forgetting as well as the ones being forgotten. I mean-- I kind of-- I mean, you know my memory problems," the older boy finishes ruefully after being serious otherwise.

He reaches up to scratch at the back of his head, then realizes he's wearing his hat still, and takes it off. It gives him somewhat indie-rocker hat-hair. "But that actually reminds me. Since I'm back in reality and own this building again, and you're not mad at me about talking about magic all the time anymore... you remember when I moved out and offered you an apartment?"

Koji Silvia has posed:
The wonderful thing about drinks is they are a great cover for when you don't know what to really say for a few seconds. You can just hold it there close to your lips, and enjoy the warmth on your face before you swallow and set it back down.

Of course, this all means nothing to a slender tabby who hops into his lap, staring up at the tassles of his coat like they are the best new toy in the world, even going so far as to try to nose up to bite it. Instead of shooing the cat, Koji calmly redirects the face and then tucks the hood tassles away into the inside of it, "Yeah, I remember. And I wasn't really in an understanding mindset at the time... sorry about that."

A cat is given it's due as it continues to figure out what happened to it's new toys, "I'm not sure I want to say yes right away, but I don't want to say no, because having a place when I'm done with school is a financial save that could make the other parts of my life easier. I still have a year more of school after this before I graduate, and I have a lot of other things to figure out. Like... what I want to do with my adult life."

Now he looks down at his tea, "I know, it's not a good answer. But it's a better one than I had before. I'm just... being honest. I used to have a plan. I knew where I would be when I was 30. Now I barely know where I'll be next month."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi is not really sure what an apartment has to do with anything, except that maybe knowing he'll have friends still after graduation will help Koji feel better? And, maybe as a credit to the fact that Mamoru's known Koji longer... it actually does seem to help.

"Not knowing what you're going to do sounds... pretty much the high school experience," Usagi says, sympathetic. "We'll be graduating together, so... maybe we'll figure it out, y'know? I'm gonna try the whole, college thing, Rashmi-chan still has her life planned, Mamochan's been thinking about it... honestly..."

This is not the time for her own magic doubts - not with two friends terrified of the Fade.

"The best we can do is live in the moment, yeah? Maybe we don't know where we'll be next month - how can we? With the things that happen in our lives, we should celebrate every time we get through the week. It's okay to not have it all planned out."'

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"It's okay, man, I just wanted to tell you that the offer exists as long as I do, and as long as I have the capacity. You don't ever have to take it, or you can take it whenever you want -- and Radiant Heart's willing to house us past graduation if necessary, anyway, which is good," says Mamoru, leaning to reach and almost touch Koji's hand like Usagi did, but hesitating.

"Yeah you have wiggle room," he agrees with Usagi, nodding, then nomfing more hot chocolate. "I'm going to school for social work. I haven't looked at what degrees would be best yet, I've been busy. I can look over break. But you know-- it's just *a* plan, and anything could change. I could also go into pediatrics. I just don't want to have to work in a hospital ever, and that's probably an issue, you know?"

Koji Silvia has posed:
Koji flicks one finger out to tap on Mamo's knuckle, like the world most subtle fistbump, and as he lets his almost deathgrip on the hot tea go, he relaxes back, and finally remembers to swipe the cap off his head and let his hair spill down back. He forgot to bind it up or anything before he went out and the pair actually SEE how long it is...

...and so does another cat who tries to start playing with it!

Reaching back, he curls it up and out of the way, over his shoulder and down again as he exhales, "I guess I never really gave high school a try, did I?"

Breaking the tension a bit, he sticks his tongue out just enough, and says, "But hey, if your streaming career ever seriously takes off, and you get like, Americans watching you, you can pay me to ban them for being rude."

There's a little grin again, "You're so much better at living in the moment than either of us. It's why you're a good partner for him and a friend."

Those eyes target back on Mamoru, "So... for those six seconds you were gone? Which, by the way, thank you for letting people know WHY that happened... I was you. I was in the suit, I had the badge, I was in the office at a desk looking at something I can only just remember the edges of. But I was... on the other side. And I felt content but utterly... EMPTY."

Letting that hang in the air for a moment, he sips, and then adds, "Which lead to my sudden moment of realizing how sincerely grateful I am for the pair of you being around to tolerate my insecure self."

You know he meant to say something dirtier there.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Not all the way," Usagi confirms, pulling back so she can slump back in her comfy chair. The fat orange cat promptly slides into her lap as though it lacks bones, and she starts to pet it gently. "But, luckily, we've still got a year to go. You still can give it a shot, as all you, instead of half of you. You've been in a school club, even, I haven't done that! You just have to have more fun with it, instead of being stressed all the time, and, hopefully, you can stop being so stressed all the time soon."

There's only so much stress any one person can take, after all. Sometimes you just need to... take a break.

And at the mention of her streaming career, she actually laughs a little.

"Honestly, I don't really want to take off. It sounds pretty stressful to get a bigger audience - me and my thirty thousand subscribers are more than enough!" She does not need to hit fifty thousand or one hundred thousand, or any of that... she's having fun. "Besides, technically, Amy-chan means I did break into the American market... but I bet I'd have to speak a lot more English to get more."

And her English is definitely still far from fluent. She can say things and read and write more things, but she definitely wouldn't want to have to try and stream in English. She doesn't think she'll want that any time soon. The compliment though, about being better at living in the moment... it makes her fluster, and rub the back of her neck. "I try! I mean... thinking too far ahead just... sometimes it's not great."

She thinks on her conversation with Ami - her not-fight with Mamoru - and her smile falters a second, before she stares in wide-eyed surprise at Koji, and sucks in a deep breath.

So Koji... is definitely in the pit with Mamoru's boys instead of ascending like her girls. Unfortunate but also shamefully predictable.

"So, you were being Hemachan, but, hopefully without the Beryl of it all... that's rough." She does not want to ask how it happened. She does want to know what it is about boys. She's not asking a pair of boys, though.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The fat orange cat melts itself off the table onto Usagi, and Mamoru props his elbow on the table and the side of his face in his hand. He listens to Koji, and his brow furrows slightly-- and then his expression clears. He listens to Usagi, too, and shakes his head. "Rougher. Koji-kun doesn't know how to stay silly," he says solemnly, and slides the hot cocoa closer to himself. Under the table, his foot hooks behind Usagi's.

"I'm sorry," he says more seriously, quieter and more gentle. "And I guess you're welcome--? But thank you for telling me... I was personally actually the most frightened for myself I've ever been, although I was physically fine, if trapped in a chalkboard oubliette."

He's drinking that hot cocoa now and-- "Ow," he says and eats another spoonful of whipped cream. "Anyway, Usako remembered me anyway! I knew she would. And then she broke reality open to get me back. Get you a man who does that, Kojikoj. Have you met Inspector Camero?"

Koji Silvia has posed:
Slightly caught off guard at the last part, Koji's head does the cat-tilt, allowing the tabby to jump and go for his hair again. The little one requires picking up and being handed over towards Mamoru to buy himself some room, "Who? Sorry... No... you know I spend most of my time out keeping a lid on things. There's been so many more small incidents out there... smaller bad magics getting into all sorts of things. I usually only show up for anything when I get called. Or I have bad luck."

Reflexively, his hand brushes his gut, where the lack o a scar could tell the story of one or two of those, "And of course she would break reality to drag you back. She just got you how she wants you... and we've both seen how her mom and dad are."

But there is a slight wink to Usagi. See? He can be a little silly. Just a little.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"He's a cute Device Mage from Chrono's ship," Usagi explains, "He's got a motorcycle, and a sword! He's with TSAB too. I feel like you two would probably get along... and did I mention he's cute?"

She's grinning at Koji, bright and warm.

"Yeah, I bet... my mama would not let anyone keep her from my papa. And neither would papa! We went through way too much for some nightmare to steal him away from me..."

And she winks back.

"I like you better this way too, instead of as Holiday Closing Sale Hematite."