68/A Fortuitous Meeting

A Fortuitous Meeting
Date of Scene:	21 July 2023
Location:	School Library
Synopsis:	Ami meets Usagi Tsukino and Rei Hino while at the library. She gets bullied by a librarian.
Cast of Characters:	Ami Mizuno, Usagi Tsukino, Rei Hino

---

Ami Mizuno has posed:
    It is no surprise Ami Mizuno, star student, hangs out at the library.

    In fact, she thinks to herself while standing in front of the stained-glass window, this might be my favorite place in this whole school. Heck, all of Tokyo, honestly!

    Her arms are, of course, full of books, but she isn't reading right now, so she probably won't get outright mad if someone approaches her. Even if, after a moment, she stops lingering by the pretty window and heads back towards the stacks. She might be heading for the fiction section, but it's hard to tell with the bluenette a lot of the time.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The library is one of Usagi's least favorite places in the entire school. Even with the generous manga selections in the back, where they keep the fiction section. Yes, even with that. It's just that a library is so quiet and calm, inevitably filled with librarians with no greater joy in life than going "Shhhhhhh" at some poor innocent student who wasn't even making that much noise, when you thought about it from their side.

All of which is to say, she's not thrilled to be here. This is too much studying and effort for one little bunny of moderate brain!

"Why did we have to meet at the library of all places," she grumbles to herself. Luna, dodging her heels, sniffs.

"Clearly, Rei-san doesn't want you whining about all the stairs at her shrine. And you ought to be spending time at the library anyway. I see your grades, you know."

Rei Hino has posed:
    Why is Rei here? She doesn't even go to this school. She has learned, very painfully, that Usagi is not exactly a brilliant leader. Or a brilliant anything, really. Maybe more than a little bit dull, in fact. Still, anytime she starts to make a caustic comment, she remembers the children that Sailor Moon saved on that bus, and she bites her tongue. Lives are worth more than the comparatively trivial annoyance of being in Usagi Tsukino's presence.

    But sometimes it's a REAL STRUGGLE.

    She was asked to come here by Luna (talking cats remains very surreal, but also Rei adapted to it much faster than she thought she would). She was already in the area when some older guy waltzed onto school grounds like he owned the place, and she had to chew him out for blocking the path and giving off weird vibes around a bunch of schoolgirls. Actually, maybe it wasn't strictly speaking his behavior but... Just... Something about him rubbed Rei the wrong way. The miko's hunches aren't always right, but she just got bad vibes off of that guy for some reason. Maxwell Stanton, was it? A Westerner?

    She's distracting herself, she knows. After the bus and the construction site and what she learned from the meeting at home with Usagi and Luna, she feels like she's a very small flame, flickering in a vast, dark cosmos that extends far beyond the reality she once knew. But there are others out there. Other Sailor Guardians. Other soldiers against the Dark. And in her heart, Rei has a feeling...

    ...The more of their Allies they gather, the brighter her flame will become. She is hanging out near the front desk, waiting patiently for Usagi. Outwardly patient anyway. She has been here a while. When she spots a pair of blonde buns sticking up over the top of a bookshelf, the raven-haired girl sighs and starts making her way towards her companion. And also the other companion, who might want to keep her voice down, because cat voices carry in a quiet place too.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
    Ami is oblivious to all this, though she passes Usagi and Luna after Luna is done speaking. She smiles at Usagi, before double-takes at there being a cat in the library. She swiftly glances around, and says in a quiet voice, "Hi! You have a cat. May I pet it?" Her voice is shaky. She's not used to talking to people, except maybe her roommate Hannah now? Everything's weird now. So she attempts to acclimate to the new world she's in.

    She glances toward the librarians at the center desk, before smiling at the twintailed blonde and gesturing toward a secluded area. Her voice is quiet still, but there's a hint of mischief in her tone. "If you go over there, the librarians probably won't see you or your kitty." Then Ami drifts off in that direction, not waiting for Usagi.

    Turns out she's commandeered a table to herself, with her laptop on it. She sets down her stack of books with a bit of a sigh, and pulls a USB stick out of her pocket to plug into the light blue computer.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Luna quiets down when the blue haired girl comes in sight, pretending to be nothing more than an actual cat wandering about the library, but she holds still when the quiet girl speaks up, asks if she can pet her. She normally hates allowing people to touch her - they think of her as a dumb animal which is understandable and very rude - but with this girl - she would perhaps consider it. If she were the one being asked.

Usagi surprises her though, because even though she smiles and says, "Hi! You can ask Luna - she's good at telling when people want to pet her. That's her name, by the way! And I'm Usagi Tsukino, grade 9 -"

But she's kind of saying it to her back, because after her hurried tip, the other girl is going her own way, to her own table, and Usagi is so curious and so wanting to follow after her, because she seems cute and sweet and maybe in need of a distraction if she's sitting with all those books at a library. But Luna gives a little coughing 'ahem', and when Usagi looks up, she sees Rei-chan, heading her way - and not necessarily looking pleased - maybe she *should* go after that pretty girl - "Hi, Rei-chan."

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei tilts her head to the side, half-squints her violet eyes and flutters her eyelashes as she gives a tight smile. "Usagi-chan, good to see you. I see that Luna was successful in guaranteeing Sleeping Beauty woke up in time. Eventually." She takes in a breath, one hand resting on her hip, and then slowly lets it out. "We're here now, so I guess everything is fine... I haven't seen anything suspicious so far." Well, she did see the cute blue-haired girl she sometimes sees going to and from a cram school. The one who was mysteriously absent from the bus Rei normally sees her on, on the same night that Sailor Mars and Sailor Moon rescued the kidnapped passengers from the Enemy. But that was just a coincidence, probably.

    She sidles up next to Usagi and leans over to speak quietly in the shorter girl's ear. "So where is Luna-san? Is she doing some investigation of her own?"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
    Ami is apparently a busy bee today, flitting between the books she has opened for resources, and typing away on her laptop. She slowly grows more engrossed in her work, soon somehow nearly entranced by the glowing screen in front of her.

    A librarian looks in Rei and Usagi's direction. Luna is hidden behind a potted plant, thankfully, but the librarian still starts to shush the other girls.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Rei-chan's smile is not nearly as open and sweet as someone else's might be, but Usagi doesn't grumble about that - they don't know each other that well, and the bus had been *scary* and things are *different* and *scary*, and they'll become better friends, she's sure of it. They're allies after all! How could they be allies if they didn't like each other? To that end, she tries not to snap, and just pouts a little instead. "I wasn't sleeping in! I had - you know, things to do."

She trails off a little, because it's occurred to her she doesn't need to admit to being in remedial classes on top of everything else that's going on. Rei-chan can find out about that later. "And Luna's right - wait, where'd she..."

Because she had been right here, next to her feet, but now she's gone, and Usagi looks around, wondering -

That's when the librarian goes shhhhhh, just as Usagi knew a librarian would, and she scrunches her nose in annoyance. When the librarian looks away, Luna slinks out from behind the potted plant. "We should find a table. I have been doing a bit of investigating, Rei-san, and besides that, I thought you two might have... questions."

Luna's voice is quiet. Usagi's own is slightly higher, a hissed whisper, "*Now* you want to answer questions!?"

Rei Hino has posed:
    Perhaps she is being too harsh to Usagi. She has just been getting very crybaby slacker vibes. Maybe it's because of the things Luna says about her. But Sailor Moon is the leader, and has been doing this longer than Rei... She chills out and bows her head slightly. "I apologize. I shouldn't have assumed. Please forgive my rudeness, Usagi-chan." Her passions may flare, but she is still a caring soul and she has been raised properly (mostly by herself, but still) to have manners and be able to be a peacemaker. She just usually isn't.

    When they talked after the bus... They were both... Rather frazzled. Shellshocked, even. Regaining vague memories of a past life, realizing her identity as a Sailor Soldier... Usagi had been dealing with that by herself. It isn't fair to judge a frightened teenager just like Rei herself. She's sure that Luna chose Usagi for a good reason. Probably.

    Her head whips around so she can glare at the librarian when they are shushed. It took .0000001 seconds for her mood to change back to, 'Who's gonna' make me!?' but at least it isn't directed at Usagi or Luna. Muttering under her breath, she turns her focus back on Luna when the black cat reappears. "Luna-san... I'd like to begin by asking what we're doing here. Are we researching something? Is there an Enemy here?" She just can't grasp why they'd come here if it wasn't one of those two. After all, talking about Senshi stuff is kind of better done not-in-public.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami is increasingly oblivious to the girls standing and chatting with the cat. She, instead, is busy tapping away at her laptop, now ignoring the books and other reference materials strewn about her chosen table.

The librarian who had just shushed the girls looks up and glowers at them. She thankfully can't see Luna as there is a short bookshelf between the girls and the library desk.

As the girls metaphorically fight the librarian, another silently glides up behind Ami, who had just unplugged her usb stick to clear her head? Whatever, she felt weird and that seemed right.

"You aren't using the Crystal Stick," the librarian accuses Ami a bit loudly. The bluenette blinks and looks up, startled and a bit put off. "Are you associated with the cram school?" she says in a soft voice after a bit of a pause. "I don't recognize you..."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"It's alright, Rei-chan," there's a sunny smile on her face - just like that, everything is forgiven; Rei's snappishness - they don't know each other well, and maybe Rei-chan thought she was the bearer of bad news, the way Usagi still struggles not to think of Luna as. It had been her intrusion into Rei's life that had made her a Sailor Senshi, after all.

(Well, Luna's intrusion, but who was fact checking that?)

"And yeah, Luna, why are we here?" Usagi frowns, scrunching her nose as they find a table and settle in. "My dorm would have been better than this, Naru-chan's at art club today."

"Because," Luna begins, seated on the cushion of a chair set at an angle where no one could see her. But before she can say anything else, there's another librarian speaking (does the school library really need two librarians?), this one's voice sharp and strident, and Usagi frowns, turning around to see what's going on.

"Hey, she's yelling at that nice girl," she hisses, keeping her voice low to avoid getting more attention. "Why does she get to raise her voice and not us? And, who does she think she is, getting mad at someone for actually studying?"

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei is in agreement with Usagi. While she is very tempted to go over there and confront the nasty adult herself, she instead walks over to make sure the first librarian can see her, points at the loud librarian, and whispers forcefully while being careful to enunciate the words, 'SHE. IS. YELL. ING.' The jabs her finger several times at the offender to make sure the message is clear. She'll listen to what Luna has to say after this Grave Injustice is dealt with. And if the librarian won't handle it, then Rei will. She doesn't tolerate bullies.

    But also, really, why are they here? She agrees with Usagi! There must be a reason, right? RIGHT?

Ami Mizuno has posed:
After a short, whispered discussion (more like a politely firm disagreement, really...) Ami nods and slumps her shoulders a bit as the librarian steps back in a smug fashion. The desk librarian just shrugs at Rei. Adults have all the power, honestly.

Ami plugs the usb stick back in and gets back to whatever she was doing, but with a lot less enthusiasm on her face. In fact, she looks downright miserable.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"That wasn't cool at all," Usagi says with a scowl, watching the loud, mean librarian stomp away. This - this is not okay. Ami-chan looks so sad now! "I've got to fix this!"

And there's only one thing to do.

Luna yelps as she's scooped up, yoinked into Usagi's arms, and tucked like a baby to her chest. Paying no heed to Rei-chan (who might be getting furious at the desk librarian for shrugging off her concerns), she storms right over to Ami and steals the chair closest to her. "Hey! Are you okay? Do you want to pet Luna? You shouldn't study when you're upset, it will make your brain twist!"

Rei Hino has posed:
    The beautiful, elegant, classical Japanese woman who is a pious shrine maiden and also a Catholic School student and also a reincarnation takes her beautiful, elegant hands, splays her fingers, and turns her palms to face herself, as she violent jerks them upwards in a, 'Maybe get the hell up and do something next time!' gesture, before turning around and storming back to--Oh, Kami, Allah, Jesus, Buddha, and Ahura Mazda (the god, not the car company), where did the blonde menace and her cat get to now. You turn away to make rude gestures and when you turn around they're both gone.

    Eventually, Rei tracks down Usagi through the power of reverse sonar. Usagi speaks, and the sound bounces off everything to get to Rei, alerting her to the bun-head's location. She doesn't stomp, but she does stride purposefully to navigate the stacks until she comes out near the other girls. She squints. Yes, this is the cute blue-haired girl who she kept seeing going to and from cram school late at night but who was Suspiciously Absent on the night that they investigated the bus. Like, who just suddenly changes their schedule? Everyone, Rei thinks! So really there's nothing suspicious at all.

    "You should really speak up, otherwise you're just going to keep being pushed around. Teacher or not, you can't let people walk all over you!" she scolds the total stranger. Then she leans in, her expression and voice softening. "Do you need me to talk to someone about your situation?" The implication goes unsaid, but she doesn't just mean, like, 'yell at the librarian', or 'find a teacher at school', but maybe more like, 'Should I be talking to a police officer, or the librarian's boss, or your parents, or a counselor or something?'

    Cases of students taking... Extreme actions after being pushed too far by overbearing adults who only care about grades. Rei has had to help console both students and parents of such kids after their classmate or child is... Gone.

    If she can prevent any more such meetings, she will do everything she can.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami blinks, and looks over at Usagi. "Um..." She glances at the cat in the other girl's arms. "Tsukino-san?" she says uncertainly. She nods, though, and reaches a slow hand out to Luna. It's not fearful in the slightest. Instead, it's a confident motion, but one that is very aware of the cat's autonomy.

Both the mean librarian in the stacks and the one Rei's trying to square off against hear Luna's cat-like yelp of surprise. They look to where Usagi was, but the twintailed blonde is already seated by Ami.

Rei storms over after elegantly and silently telling the desk librarian off, and Ami watches her approach nervously. That nervousness doesn't fade until Rei softens. Ami's overwhelmed by all of this, but grateful. "Thank you," she says softly to the other girls, nodding. "I don't think I need that kind of help." Her expression is conflicted, though. "I enjoy studying." There's a pause, and Ami, with her hand hovering near Luna, tilts her head. "I think I walked off mid-introduction, earlier. My apologies." She smiles to Usagi this time. "I am Ami Mizuno." She smiles a bit more as she determines that. "This is Luna? She's very soft. A sweet girl," she coos to the cat guardian, smiling even wider.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Luna is succumbing to the indignity of being petted like an animal because - well, as far as these people are concerned, she is one. And Mizuno-san is clearly having a rough day, what with that pushy teacher taking such extreme energy in her studying. She mews quietly enough that no one should hear, and butts her head up against Ami's hand. Fine. She'll have to comfort this girl, for now at least!

"That's right, it's Tsukino-san, but you can call me Usagi-chan! Luna's very nice and sweet, so she'll let you pet her, see?" Honestly, she hadn't been sure if Luna would, but since she is...

"And this is Rei-chan, don't mind her! Her bark is worse than her bite! We were ah, studying when we heard that librarian start being mean to you... even if you like studying, it shouldn't be like this!"

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei nods as Usagi off-handedly introduces her. "That's right I'm--" Then she snaps her attention onto Usagi at the critique of her bite. She reaches out to try to pinch one of Usagi's cheeks beween her fingers and tug on it to stretch the other girl's mouth out. "--I'm Hino Rei. There's nothing wrong with enjoying studying, but when it starts affecting your health, it's time to take a break." She'll let go now if Usagi didn't ninja dodge away. Still casting dark looks Usagi's way, she invites herself to sit down with Ami. "I'm a shrine maiden at the Hikawa Shrine. I think I've seen you pass by there sometimes. But it might have been somebody else?" Funny how Rei went from, 'This completely normal girl might be suspicious' internally to, 'Must protecc'. But it seems reasonable enough that the purpose of their visit here is to locate another of their Allies.

    It's deductive reasoning. She isn't sure what criteria are involved for selecting them, or how Luna knew to come here, but if there's one thing Rei knows, one life lesson that will never leave her, it's 'If an animal starts talking to you, you should probably pay attention.'

    Look, if it works for crows, it works for cats.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami watches the friends interact with a wistful look, still petting Luna slowly. Luna's soft fur and gentle mewing, along with headbutting her hand, seems to lift Ami's spirits immensely. She smiles, nodding to both of them, and chuckles as Rei "bullies" Usagi. "Usagi-chan, Hino-san, it's nice to meet you both," she says, pulling her hand back from Luna and setting both in her lap. Then she looks to Rei thoughtfully. "I've been past there quite a few times," she says with a nod. "You look familiar, yes." She smiles again. "Do you like being a shrine maiden?" She considers them both for a moment, then turns to her laptop long enough to shut it down. "I have been studying a lot lately. Maybe we could go get lunch or something?" she sounds hopeful, but the offer is a brittle thing hanging in the air like it's about to shatter into a million pieces. "I can pay," she adds, maybe a bit too quickly.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi whines as her cheek is stretched - what with being busy carefully holding Luna out for Ami to pet, she's no way to ninja her way free, and can only accept the unjust punishment for her honesty. "Rei-chwaaaan," she grumbles, continuing her teasing even with this punishment. "I wadn't wyin-"

And then she's freed, and well - look. Usagi isn't the most perceptive egg in the basket, but Luna doesn't usually suffer anyone, except... Naru-chan, who she thought was a good girl, Usagi herself, Rei-chan, and Ikiko-chan, and Ikiko-chan was... hmmm.

"Lunch sounds good. You need a break! You don't look too good. Don't worry about paying - I'll cover us this time!" This time, as if it is already ordained that they'll do it again.

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei's response to asking if she likes being a shrine maiden is for her face to go blank. Then she says carefully, "It's my duty... One that was assigned to me and one that I have accepted." Her expression livens back up towards the end. Maybe she was remembering something unpleasant about how she wound up there. "It's rewarding to be able to help people, and keeping the shrine clean is basically a form of therapy... But more important than myself is what visitors are able to take away from their experiences there." She takes a small breath and says, "Sorry for the long-winded explanation... But yeah. I guess I do like it."

    Rei didn't know about Luna's selective petting preferences, so that part didn't factor into her guessing, but it would make sense if she heard of it. Usagi's generous offer is very generous, but Rei isn't about to mooch off of anyone. "That's a good idea. Don't worry, I'm sure we can all cover our own meals. Do you have a place in mind?" She almost starts chewing out Usagi for how rude it is to tell someone they don't look good, but she still doesn't know Usagi well and she is TRYING to get along, and also, yeah, Ami looks like she could use a sandwich or two. Any sort of break to rest and recuperate.

    "Oh, and Luna too of course. Maybe they can get her some tuna." she says, keeping in mind that Luna gets hungry like anyone else.