606/Ghosts, Princesses, and Boyfriends mayhaps

Ghosts, Princesses, and Boyfriends mayhaps
Date of Scene:	17 October 2023
Location:	Hikawa Shrine
Synopsis:	Rei finally knows about Usagi and Mamoru - or rather, Usagi and Hematite. She's summoned Usagi and Minako to a sleepover at Hikawak Shrine, where she intends to get answers - and when Usagi provides them, she and Minako have doubts.
Cast of Characters:	Rei Hino, Usagi Tsukino, Minako Aino

---

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei Hino didn't sleep well last night.

    She imagines she's not the only one, but she has been thinking about everything she witnessed in that strange place that was allegedly attached to Juuban but that no one could find, except for when they were unlucky enough to walk inside. Or fly over, as many dead birds attested. She hopes Phobos and Deimos stay far away from there.

    So, tired, wearing pajamas, and lying on her back on a futon on the floor of her bedroom, she tries to think of how to broach the subject to her guests that she invited for a sleep-over-slash-intel-sharing-meet-up. Her long black hair is splayed out all around her like a dark halo, with just her pale-skinned face in the middle.

    Every time she closes her violet eyes... She just sees that girl curled into a ball, sobbing, her belief that everyone will always abandon her proven true yet again. Of course that girl was a ghost. After all, she's haunting Rei even now.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi Tsukino is a little bit dreading the sleepover, if she's honest. Not because she doesn't like Rei! She does, Rei-chan is one of her good friends! But well, it's kind of awkward, now that they went to Pyrite's super spooky ghost shrine and fought(?) her and also Hematite kind of revealed that he was Mamoru and maybe Rei-chan hadn't met him but anytime she did from now on she would instantly recognize him and know and also Usagi had definitely put selfies up with Mamoru all over her apps and -

But she probably couldn't keep running. Definitely couldn't keep doing that, because now she's at the shrine, already. Kind of? And besides - she did owe Rei an explanation. And Minako-chan too. And... there was always that other thing. So she was here. In her pajamas already, she was sprawled in the floor.

"So... how are you doing, Rei-chan?"

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako herself was...well, she was a little behind the times about evil love interests or dramatic reveals. Still, she'd been happy enough to be invited to the sleepover, she even had her hair down and out of that ribbon she was seemingly always wearing, her form wrapped in shorts and a repurposed sports jersey to serve as her PJ's.

A yawn, she makes to sit up with a little blink.

"Rei-chan?" she questions softly, seemingly picking up on the vibe well enough.

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath. She lets it out slowly, and then sits up, turning a halo of purple-black into the usual waterfall stream of the same. Turning while still sitting, the miko faces each of her guests. It's unfortunate Ami couldn't make it, but... That girl is a studying fanatic. She smiles weakly, and says, "How about we start with the easy stuff. Usagi, can you please explain to us about... Your boyfriend? I don't know much about him, but from what I saw yesterday... He isn't evil, or not wholly. He is trying to change. And... I don't know enough about him to judge him. But it's important to want to change. So... I'm not angry. But I'd like to understand who exactly Hematite is... Or was, and who Mamoru Chiba is as well."

    She doesn't know if Minako knew about Usagi's boyfriend or not, but they both deserve answers about something this dangerous.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Oh I knew you were going to ask about that," Usagi mutters to herself and throws an arm over her face, hiding her eyes. It's not that she's ashamed of Hematite. She's not. But it is very much that she kind of doesn't want him to get murdered, that's all. And Uranus and Pluto and Neptune had all seemed very into murder, and Minako-chan had been a little... not in favor of murder, but -

"Mamochan's my boyfriend. And also, his other name is Darien Shields, and most people at our school know him by that, so you might want to just call him Darien? And he's sweet and wonderful and kind and he's kind of Jadeite's boss, when he's being Hematite, but, he's still really nice, and he doesn't like his job, which I think gives him a lot of bonus points, when you think about it?"

Minako Aino has posed:
"Whoa-whoa-wh...Mamoru...is He-..." Venus begins only to lift her fingers to rub at her temples. Okay, so she wasn't having much luck with romance of late...but she hadn't dated any supervillains that she wasn't aware of. All that effort in protecting the princess and here she was sleeping with the enemy. Well...probably not literally, she was sleeping with Rei and her...not like that!

"Usagi? What the heck?! When did you know?"

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei's patient smile becomes more and more strained as Usagi speaks, and her eyelids sink closed more towards a squint, until it looks like she's wincing at the effort needed to keep her word about not being angry. Eventually, she rubs her forehead and sighs. "Jadeite? The one who wanted to kill Naru-san? That one? And... He hasn't ordered Jadeite to... Stop doing evil things? Since he doesn't like his job of being evil?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Oh this was just as awkward as Usagi had always known it would be. Of course it was. How could it not be?

"He did tell him to leave Naru-chan alone. Or maybe Jadeite decided to leave Naru-chan alone himself?" She frowns, trying to think back. "He told me it wasn't going to be a problem anymore, and it hasn't been?"

She sounds foolish. She knows she isn't.

"I've known since... since... a few days before we all met at the Shrine, with Pluto." There's no way to sugarcoat it. "It wasn't my secret to tell, and Hemachan - he's not trustworthy, for anyone but me. He doesn't like his job, but he's got to do it, for now, and I know that, and he knows that."

Minako Aino has posed:
"Not your secret?! He's a badguy leading an attack on innocents! Stopping them is our job!" Minako begins, the angrier blonde moves forwards, taking a spot beside Rei to join the lecture at Usagi. "Even if he is sweet, or romantic, or anything like that...it could all be a game, or you could be so close to the teeth of the youma tiger."

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei takes in another deep breath, like she did before sitting up, and lets it out slowly as she rubs her forehead. "Okay. Okay, so, the reason I am still trying to remain calm here is... What I saw last night, at that shrine. With his little sister. I... Don't know what he has been doing before now. But it looked to me like he was giving up his darkness for good. For her. Is that... Am I correct? Is he no longer an enemy?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Not my secret," Usagi repeats, firmer. "And he doesn't attack people! That often! And whenever he does, it's something silly! He's not - he's not playing a game with me. He didn't have to. If he wanted to do something to me, he could have done it on day one, because he's the first magical person I ever met. Not counting Luna."

That last is a bit of begrudging confirmation, because it's private, to her. The fear of that night, the terror of becoming a maigcal girl, of seeing that youma ready to - she still doesn't like thinking about it. It might not help her case, though, to share just how long she's known Hematite.

And Rei-chan has harder questions, ones that make her own guts squirm.

"It's not that simple. He's - what's happening with Himeko-chan and what's happening with his job, I don't jnow if they're totally connected. But he's not - he's not your ally."

Minako Aino has posed:
"That often?" Minako repeats, a look towards Rei in a 'can you believe this?" perhaps letting a little bit of the more serious Sailor V creeping into the otherwise friendly Minako Aino. "What did you find out?" she questions lightly before folding her arms under her bust and looks between the pair. Did it mean that there was more to be said.

"Himeko-chan? Who...?" A sigh, Minako closes her eyes and considers for a moment.

Rei Hino has posed:
    The shrine priestess shakes her head, with her eyes closed as she listens to Usagi. She pauses, when Usagi finishes, and shakes her head again. "He didn't have to reveal his identity to you. But he chose to." She opens her eyes. "And now you defend him and claim he is an enemy to everyone but you and just not being evil is complicated, and..." She raises her hands on either side of her head, in a, 'What the hell' kind of gesture. She is angry. But not at Usagi.

    "He. Is. Manipulating. You." she hisses out between her teeth. "You are here, defending him to us, trying to convince us... What, that we shouldn't try to stop him? Because you care about him? Because you think you love him!? He's using you, Usagi!"

    She looks fiercely towards Minako. "Tell her! It's just another evil man lying to an impressionable young girl! It's all his kind knows how to do! If his sister is unrelated to all this, then where does she fit in? What's the point of redemption if he doesn't stop doing evil when he gets handed a second chance on a silver platter!? Usagi, I can't even--!!" She's angry, and she can't hide it. She'll feel bad about that later, but she won't feel bad about what she said here. Probably. This is why she doesn't trust men. Even when they act kind, and cool, and good, and compassionate, and respectful, ALL of that can just be an act, and there's no way to tell otherwise until they start showing their true nature.

    "Dear Kami, I don't know which is worse, him or my father! At least my father only destroyed two lives! This one is supervising others as they destroy hundreds or thousands or... Or potentially all 8 billion people on the planet, with their Midnight Tokyo plan! How can he be your ally when he's still letting that continue!?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Of course we should try to stop him!" Usagi throws up her arms, abandoning her plan of hiding from her very upset friends. It's not like they don't have good reason to be upset, but - "Ugh! I didn't tell you because it wasn't your - well - it was your - I trust him."

And this is probably not going to be enough, for her friends. It doesn't stopt he conversation from upsetting her, and it doesn't make it easier for her to express her feelings, her thoughts, the months and months of built up experiences, from their messy beginnings to their tentative truce to their friendship and now -

"Minako-chan - Himeko-chan is Mamochan's younger sister. She's a ghost and she's dead, and the people who knew her before, they almost made her into a kami, praying to her for help and guidance and to make bad things happen to their enemies. She's a little kid, sometimes, and a girl almost our age, other times, and all the time she needs help. For... a while now, I guess, a part of her has been making trouble, but I only found out about it not that long ago, Mamochan needed help with the hauntings."

Speaking about Himeko can let her calm down; there's less emotional weight attached to adorable little Himeko than Mamoru, who she's grown to love with all her young heart.

"He wants us to stop him as much as we want to stop him! He doesn't want to do what he does, but he can't stop, not yet, and he's honest about that. Mamochan would be your ally against witches, or random monsters, but he can't pick any of you over his job, because he has people there he has to protect. And I have people I need to protect, that's why I never told him about any of you! And - " her cheeks heat, pink flushing, "He's not that much older than me?! Saying he's a man and I'm a young girl - that's just - just playing on stereotypes! Boys can be vulnerable too. Boys can need to be rescued! And Mamochan needs help, and I'm going to give it to him."

Minako Aino has posed:
"Love is wonderful Usagi," Venus speaks, hands folding before her. "The most wonderful of things...but it is not a guarantee...there are people who take advantage of it. Those who use your heart to...well, make you vulnerable."

She trails off, considering for a moment on how to...well, handle such a discussion with Usagi. There was a lot she didn't know, she was behind on things quite a bit....but she didn't disagree with Rei in the slightest right now.

"You need help too Usagi, you have us, both of us...all of us to watch your back...but that doesn't mean you don't have to watch where you're going..."

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei is rubbing her head, eyes closed, a headache pounding through her skull. "I'm not talking about boys being vulnerable or... Any of that. I'm talking about how someone can claim to be all kinds of things, but if they don't back it up with actions, if they don't show it, then it's just talk. Why isn't he asking us to... I don't know. Help him ambush his minions and take them prisoner, so we can find someone who can make their brains work right again? If this is a mind control thing, and he wants Jadeite and whomever else out of Obsidian, he could be doing so much more to sever ties." She opens her eyes, looking tired, and frustrated.

    "Minako-chan... With your experience as Sailor V, you probably know how to set up an ambush, right? Now you have us to back you up too. With Ami's Shabon Spray as an opening move, we'd immediately have the advantage! Capture... Jadeite or Pyrite or Hematite, keep them out of Obsidian's clutches, and then you can Moon Therapy them back to being good, and we can put a stop to the end of the world. Or one of the ends at least. As long as we keep waiting for the right chance, people are going to keep getting hurt, and possibly die. Time is not on our side."

    She puffs out a breath of air to blow her hair out of her face as she folds her arms and looks off to the side. "If he wants us to stop him so badly... Then we should do so. Otherwise, even if he actually has good intentions like you claim, it doesn't matter. Running out the clock only benefits those above him. The time to act is now."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Rei-chan had mentioned her father, and any other time, Usagi would be softening, would be asking questions, poking and prodding at old wounds to understand. And any other time, she'd take Minako's sympathies to heart. But right now, she's got nothing but frustration to offer the both of them - her own, and soon enough, their own.

"I'm not doing that." She crosses her arms, scowling at the pair of them. "Mamochan has trusted me, and I trust him. I'm not going to help walk him into some trap, even one you think will help. He's doing what he can now, and he's sharing what he knows when he can. He has a plan and I trust that... and I promised a while ago, that I wouldn't let anyone else touch him."

Her jaw tightens and a muscle twitches in her cheek, from the way she's clenching.

"I didn't think that would mean you two, but... I'm not going to betray his trust. Especially when he can teleport and we don't have a way to stop that, for him, or any of the rest of them. Capturing them won't work if they can just run away! He's doing everything he can, Rei-chan, Minako-chan, and I'm..."

Does she want to say this? It might not be able to help. It might just hurt. But -

"I've been fighting with his support for longer than I've had yours. I trust him. I know he wants out, and I know he's doing what he can to make that happen - and you better not tell anyone that! I know you don't trust him - and maybe you don't trust me anymore - but I won't turn against him like this." And it would be turning against him, to lure him into a trap meant to turn himn without his permission, without being ready.