724/Hangin' at the Cafeteria

Hangin' at the Cafeteria
Date of Scene:	07 November 2023
Location:	Cafeteria Plaza
Synopsis:	Usagi Tsukino's got an empty table in the cafeteria plaza, but not for long. Over the course of a long lunch, Veronica guesses Miya may be a Pre Cure, Jason Dite meets Rashmi, Veronica, and Usagi, news about ~boyfriends~ is shared, and the Princess of Sarek allows a recovered relic to be examined.
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Veronica Perenna, Rashmi Terios, Miya Sakamoto, Naru Osaka, Mamoru Chiba, Jadeite, Pyrite

---

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It's lunchtime at Radiant Heart Academy, and Usagi Tsukino is enjoying the breather. With the Culture Festival over, Grade 9 Class C had calmed down significantly, all of the items from their test of courage stored away in some school storage closet, never to darken her days again. And after the whole, turned into plushies fiasco (which the majority of her classmates did not remember, thankfully), everyone had more or less apologized for the whole thing.

Being evil for a day was good for something after all!

"I should probably get Naru-chan something nice, to make up for it," she muses, "I mean, I can't track down everyone else, and our class kind of deserved it, but Naru-chan was trying to help!"

She is not being especially quiet. Anyone who knows her identity - or knows about the plushie incident - will know what she's talking about. And anyone who doesn't, would certainly be right to ask about it! Plus, she's sitting alone at a lunch bench that could fit a dozen, so there's no harm in taking a seat, right?

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica looked she had seen much better days. And not like her usual mysterious biweekly affliction that left her slightly under the weather. No, this time her movements clearly lacked energy and vigour, almost as if she had pushed herself beyond her limits in a marathon. She also sported several scratches, as if she dove into a particularly thorny bush.

It is lunch break, so at least she can restore some of her strength that way. For her lunch, she helps herself to a serving of rice and chicken with a side of cashew nuts, alongside with a water bottle.

Looking at the Cafeteria, there clearly isn't a lack of unoccupied tables, and yet she decides to make herself someone else's problem. She clearly feels like chatting today. The same applies to another student apparently, who is talking audibly enough to be heard by other people.

She gives a tired smile to Usagi, nodding towards the empty seat at her right. "Is this spot taken?" Then she adds "What was that about Osaka-san trying to help?" Her own curiosity is excellently stimulated whenever the school's information broker is mentioned.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Sometimes, life isn't about such great crises as 'scramble for a loose soul' or 'decode the map to the end of everything.' Sometimes it's 'helping organize cleanup after a Culture Festival' or 'try to get above a C in trigonometry.' Still important crises, but more relaxing for their relative mundanity. And sometimes, you see a friend sitting at a table by herse-- *two* people taking up an entire table by themselves, and that's no good for anyone.

"Heyyyyy Usagi-chan," Rashmi announces brightly, before setting her lunch tray across from Usagi, and sitting down. "I'd ask how you were, but Naru-chan already told me you were doing lots better."

The redhead's tray is... about as full as one can expect for a growing teenager, especially one who turns calories into shields.

"And hello, Veronica-chan! Thanks again for the other day."

Miya Sakamoto has posed:
Miya is not going to bring up the plushie incident. Not at this point. She was being Cure Spanner at the time, and, well, she is certainly not going to give away her secret identity this easily! Even the slightest slip here could be fatal, so no details shall be mentioned.

Well, ok, there is the little detail of the beaver in blue overalls and yellow hard hat hanging on her shoulder as some sort of plushie decoration, but hopefully the Veil is doing its job properly here. I mean, what are the chances that Usagi is magically aware?

Wait! More people are joining! Usagi is friendly and welcoming. But. It's -three- people!

. o O (No! No! Don't panic, Miya! You can do it! Just... go in! It might look like the 4D chess of Making Friends, but you got this! Go with a standard opening! Easy peasy! ) O o .

She breathes in, steps into view, and realizes she has no idea of what a standard opening of 4D chess is like, let alone how to translate that into making friends.

"E- excuse me, is this place taken?", she asks, pointing at an empty chair.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Nope, no spots are taken," Usagi grins, raising her glass of juice in greeting. "And, oh, well -"

She's deciding if she wants to explain - if this youngeer girl is magical, then she'll either understand what she's talking about and if she isn't, she'll just think she said something goofy, right? Not like anyone would be surprised by that, not from Grade 9's own Usagi Tsukino. But then there's more people - Rashmi-chan, who settles at the table with her own bright greeting and news of Naru-chan.

"I'm doing a lot better! How're you doing? I hope the culture festival was better for you."

And conveniently, she doesn't have to mention it! Unless Veronica asks again, which, would be fair - "Nope, none of the seats are taken - except the ones occupied, I guess? - but that one is definitely free. You're in Grade 9 too, right? Pretty sure I've seen you around. I'm Usagi Tsukino, Grade 9, Class C."

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"Hello, Rashmi-chan", Veronica smiles gratefully towards her. "No worries about that, you were a ton of help too." She would be in much worse shape otherwise were it not for her healing spell.

"And I am glad the accidental scare I gave you wasn't too troublesome. Even your stern friend was worried about you, so I could have disrupted your concentration." With the subtext that would have been especially dangerous at that time. Veronica is still sorry about that.

She grabs a bite of her food before introducing herself to both Miya and Usagi, along with thanking the latter for the seat. "Hello, I am Veronica Perenna, Grade 7, it's nice to meet you." She also gives a wink to the puppet on Miya's shoulder. A second Precure, huh? Interesting.

And since Veronica didn't get a reply about Naru, she asks again. Maybe it was lost among the conversation, and her curiosity isn't so easily deterred. "What was going on with Osaka-san?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Boyfriend," Rashmi corrects, grinning. "...I still love to say that, it's so wild. And don't worry about it, I mean... I was pretty thrown, but I had stuff I could focus on so it wasn't as bad as it could have been."

She turns to Usagi, opening her mouth to explain... when a new person joins the table! "Hello yes, come sit down, it's good to meet you! I'm Rashmi Terios, grade 10." ...Oh. Oh that uncertain look on Miya's face, so much like hers *all the time* back at her old schools. Here and now, Rashmi resolves to smooth all efforts for this poor nervous girl at making friends.

When Veronica presses on the subject of Naru, Rashmi's eyes flick to Usagi, eyebrows rising. *Is* this something that really wants answering, at this moment?

Miya Sakamoto has posed:
* cue flashback ripple *

Cure Spanner, recognizable by her high-visibility orange dress with white/silver reflective trimmings (including horizontal bands similar to those workers' jackets), retroreflector gems, and massive salmon-colored drill hair that reaches to her feet, is looking down at Enji.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I'm tough, but fair. Being discovered, last time, was my fault, so I need to train better." His thick, massive black eyebrows lower into an intense stare. "Do your worst!"

Cure Spanner nods, and taps the retroreflector gem dangling from her pouch. This causes the magical wrench in her hand to melt into a blob of light, which grows and wraps all around her, until it resolves into...

...a gigantic magical leafblower.

She activates it; the deafening whirrs of the engines throw her off balance, and she has to hunch down with gnashed teeth, and squint as she digs her heels in; given the forces in play, the only reason shs is scurrently not breaking the barrier of sound while heading to China is that she's got supernatural Precure strength to counter the machine.

Meanwhile, Enji is blasted by the equivalent of the exhaust of a jet engine; and even if his face pretty much flaps, revealing his (impressive!) teeth and eyeballs, he makes it a point of NOT blinking.

"You won't get me, this time!"

* cue out-of-flashback ripple *

Enji does NOT blink. He trained for this!

"Thanks!", she says, grateful for the spots not being taken. "And I'm Miya Sakamoto, grade 9!", she smiles. "New to this school..." Yup, Rashmi got that part right.

She moves to sit. "I... I have met Usagi at her party. She's nice. Do you already know her?", she asks the other two.

"Veronica... Perenna? That sounds... Italian?", hazards Miya.

She does listen with attention at the mention of the Culture Festival Scare. She knows it was the cause of... things.

Naru Osaka has posed:
Semi-constant motion is generally the theme of Naru's life, and lunch time is no different. She's a little late for it, goodness only knows what kept her, but she's got her tray now.

If lunch quantities were an indication of magical prowess, the world clearly would agree that Naru is entirely mundane. She's got a little salad with some fried tofu on top of it, and a coffee. Clearly this girl gets all of her hydration filtered through beans.

"Hey guys!" Naru approaches the table that holds a great many people she already knows, sliding into a seat without even so much as asking if she might be welcome on the same side as Usagi is sitting. "How's things?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Usagi at a table is a magnet, one hundred percent. Witness: here's another boyfriend, coming up to the table with his lunch tray -- he's the one who was not turned into a plushie, and who also was very definitely duct-taped (for those who were at the toy store) and who was definitely shot with a laser and also henshined in front of people (for those who were at the classroom where the story began).

He's accompanied by a very pretty blond guy!! And, without preamble, an invitation, or asking permission, the way-too-tall black-haired boy swings himself into a seat on the side opposite Usagi, making sure there's room for Jason too. "Darien Shields," he introduces himself, "grade 10. Did anyone else try today's croquettes? They're a different color, I don't trust them."

Yes, Rashmi: Darien. Hematite. Dark Captain-san. The guy who was helping Naru decode a solitary word.

He automatically pushes 'his' battered and fried mushrooms toward Usagi.

Jadeite has posed:
    Jason Dite, blonde foreigner, tall, handsome for a teenager, with eyeglasses that accentuate his scholarly aesthetic, swoops in and begins picking the unwanted mushrooms onto his own plate, and grins at Darien challengingly while he does so. Some people like battered and fried mushrooms. "Good afternoon, everyone." he says as though he belongs here and everyone should know him already.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I got possessed by a butterfly at the Culture Festival," Usagi says with the cheer and grace of someone who could be truthing OR lying, "And Naru-chan tried to save me from myself. You know how it goes! Friends help friends when they're feeling a little evil."

She's all bright smiles, taking a bite of some of her lunch - a pork katsu bowl with rice! It's Rashmi who catches her attention next, her eyes popping wide with excitement, "A boyfriend? Rashmi-chan, you have a boyfriend?!"

How has she missed this most wonderful piece of gossip? She waves a little at Miya-chan, she remembers from her party - she'd been the very nervous one! It's cute to see she's brought a little stuffed animal along for confidence, that was such a charm point! Veronica, she's meeting for the first time. And Rashmi is of course, the one who's been holding out on her, because she has a BOYFRIEND. "

"Naru-chan, did you know Rashmi-chan has a boyfriend?" Have you been keeping the hot goss to yourself?!

And then her boyfriend arrives, with a blond in tow, and Usagi could - well it's not that she could care less, she does want the gossip, but sandwiched between her two favorite people, she cares a lot less than she did a few minutes ago, especially when fried and battered mushroom croquettes are offered her way. She stuffs one into her mouth, immediately burns her tongue, does not cry about it, and offers Darien a slice of pork katsudon with her chopsticks. Still not crying about it.

"Dawikwun!" Also trying to get his name out around delicious fried goodness. She swallows and tries again. "Darikun! Glad you're having lunch with us! This is Miya-chan, Rashmi-chan, and Veronica-chan; I'm pretty sure you've met Rashmi-chan, but just in case... oh, and who's your friend?"

Her ENEMY she means, because she kind of just shoves pork katsudon into poor Darien's mouth to free her chopsticks and begins snatching fried mushroom to her plate. Poor Darien. A victim of the lunch wars.

Miya Sakamoto has posed:
If food intake is any indication of the magic status of a teenager, well, Miya certainly fits the bill, given how stacked with nutrients her tray is. But then again, when not in her school uniform like she is now, she's usually in a set of yellow/orange overalls; and despite being new, she's already starting to develop a sort of fame for hanging out at the school shop a lot. So maybe there is plausible deniability?

Oh snap!

That is both the sound of Miya separating her chopsticks, and what she thinks when she sees Darien approaching. He's the guy from the toy store! Miya's heart skips a beat, but then recovers by getting five or six in at once. That gives it enough slack to skip three or four more... or was it five?

. o O ( No, no, calm down, Miya! Calm down! You did nothing wrong! Tying people up with duct tape while in a magical battle is a perfectly normal and socially acceptable form of interaction between teenagers! Stop worrying about having done anything wrong! ) O o .

Miya goes all red in the face as Darien approaches. With another blonde guy. This is when Miya realizes that she is blushing, so, to avoid looking like she is losing control of the situation, which she totally is by the way, she blurts out the first word that comes to mind, likely the last she heard: "Boyfriend!"

...

"Rashmi-chan has a boyfriend?", Miya quickly segues, almost without skipping a beat. "This is fantastic! I'm so happy for you!"

"Sorry, did not mean to ignore you! Hello! Hello new people!", she hurries to greet the newcomers.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Jason Dite," Darien says with a gesture at, yes, Jason, "also grade 10--" and then there's pork katsudon in his face, so he just eats it. Right off of Usagi's chopsticks.

And then he moves on with his life because his friend and his girlfriend are fighting over his unwanted mushrooms and poor Naru only got one.

"Yes," he says to Miya after finishing chewing and swallowing, "I'm-- oh? Rashmi?" There's literally only one way his expression could possibly be described, and that is :3

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica is actually disappointed at Enji's lack of reaction. Really, she would have thought that would have gotten her a reaction. Oh, you distrustful cruel world, why must you be so? Why is that immovable face the result she gets? Shame, shame, she says.

Well, her reaction isn't that exaggerated, just a minor dissatisfaction on her face. She would have found the anecdote of Enji's training pretty funny if she knew. Meanwhile she other things to focus on, like blowing the dust off family history.

"It does sound Italian", Veronica confirms to Miya, "but my great-great-grandpa was a french nobleman who, bored with his life, sought excitement and adventure in Spain and transferred there under the name of Don Luiz Perenna. My family didn't stay there long however because his daughter transferred to England after a very rewarding business opportunity motivated her to move there." Lots of movement for such a short time span.

"Oh, wow, your boyfriend, huh? Congratulations", Veronica replies earnestly to Rashmi. She must have acted fast if he crashlanded there recently (as far as she knows, anyway). "Who asked first?" she goes straight to the saucy question.

"You got possessed by a butterfly" Veronica repeats, arching an eyebrow at Usagi's revelation. Can't you even trust the innocent butterflies now? "Well, I am glad you got out of it fine, and that Osaka-san was there to help." Speaking of which- "Hello, Osaka-san, we were talking about how you helped save Usagi from a possession. At this point I am not going to ever believe you if you tell me "Just a Naru" again", she jests at her.

Then two attractive guys come along and and one of them start promptly fighting over food with Usagi. "I think there is enough food for everyone at the counter", she notes, before waving to both Jason and Darien. "Nice to meet you two!"

Jadeite has posed:
    He circumnavigates the entirety of the table to find a place to sit, and then holds up the plate of purloined mushrooms, and offers them to Usagi. "I despise mushrooms. I just wanted to be certain that before you ate them, they were cooled off enough that they would not burn you." Then he carefully blows on them from a safe distance so it is only air passing over them, and holds it out to the twin-tailed blonde. He also looks at Naru, and says, "Good to see you again, Naru. Unfortunate that Masato-kun hasn't joined us to cool off your coffee for you." He grins devilishly as he teases.

    Then he backs up Darien's introduction belatedly. "Anyway, yes, Jason Dite." He pronounces it 'Deetay'. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, everyone I've not spoken with previously."

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Jason!" Naru's expression lights up as the blonde joins them alongside Darien. "I'm so glad to see you!" She grins at his teasing. "Somehow, I suspect I'll manage. It'll be a struggle, but I'll carry on."

Naru tries to get a chopstick in for one of those battered mushrooms, but she is too slow to get more than one. <sad trombone.wav>

"I was sure I told you, Usagi." Naru protests that she is not sharing the gossip about Rashmi. "They are almost as disgustingly adorable as you two." Her chopstick gestures between Usagi and Darien, and her tone and grin are utterly affectionate.

A single battered mushroom is insuffient lunch, even for Naru and she settles into nibbling on salad. Stealing pork katsudon is clearly not on her agenda.

Naru laughs warmly. "Still just Naru, butterflies or not."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Blinking owlishly behind her glasses at Usagi, Rashmi looks from Miya, to Jason, eyebrows rising. There's a moment of wheels spinning, then she seems to arrive at the answer; 'Oh I guess we're *all* magical here, that makes things simpler.' But, crowd of teens means get the *fun* conversations out of the way before the business ones.

"Yeah, the mushroom croquettes *are* really good, Da-- --rien-san." Look when you get used to saying one name more than another, switching gears takes *practice.* And seeing the war erupt between Jason and Usagi, she takes her own bowl from her loaded tray, and surreptitiously slides it toward Naru. Aid to an affected third party doesn't mean one has entered the food wars, right?

"And yes, Rashmi-chan has a boyfriend," she says, grin returning. "Chrono, grade 9. If you haven't met him, he's the short and serious one, but turns out? He's an adorable little goober if he likes you enough!"

With a shrug, Rashmi bobs her head at Jason. "Good to meet you too, Jason-san!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Jason Dite, Usagi contemplates the name - particularly the last name with it's Dee-Tay proununciation, and decides he's Jason-kun, before she mangles that. "Oh, like Jason-san! With the hockey mask!"

It's the only place she's encountereed the name before. You will have to excuse her.

She is very pleased to see Darien eat her pork katsudon, particularly because it's freed her to taste delicious mushrooms - though after a moment, she pauses and kindly deposits a single fried deliciousness onto Naru's lunch tray, because, well. It's only fair.

And then! Jason doesn't even want mushrooms! What! How! What!!!!!! "You don't like fried mushrooms?! But you tried them for Darikun anyway? You must be good friends."

Well she will happily take the mushrooms - though, now that the war is called off, she will happily provide more mushrooms to Naru, and then deposits one on Rashmi's plate, and Miya's, and even Veronica's, before settling into devour all the rest.

Just Kidding!

"You're dating Chrono? He's the strict boy! I remember him from the party, he's really cute."

A pause.

"You just can't trust purple butterflies," she says sagely. "The rest are alright.

Miya Sakamoto has posed:
"Jason-kun... Naru-chan... Darien-kun...", Miya acknowledges, before something hits her. Metaphorically.

Talk of being possessed by butterflies?! Can the mundanes even grasp that?!

It is time for the cogs in -Miya's- brain to spin in confusion at this point. Could she... be sitting at a table full of magical people? Or of magical people who have mastered the art of the Veil so well that they can just talk magic in front of the mundanes, and the latter just fail to catch on? What should Miya do at this point? Feign mundanity? Chip in?

For the time being, she just keeps quiet, and keeps eating. She's going to need the energy.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Darien waves back to Veronica, giving her a quick and crooked little smile, then gives Jason a shocked look. "You weren't even stealing any for yourself-- are you trying to show me up? She's not going to feed you pork katsudon," he says mock-huffily.

Then he grins at Rashmi. "I think I have some homework in common with you, but I might end up talking to Chrono about it first. Too boring for lunch, alas. And-- I do not like mushrooms, thus everyone descending upon mine like a murder of crows."

He finally starts eating his own food, giving Naru a sort of hunted look.

Jadeite has posed:
    Jason squints just a liiiittle bit at being compared to 'the Jason with the mask'. "Haha... You're the second person to make that comparison. The other was Darien's little sister, Himeko." Then he focuses on Naru. "I'm feeling a lot better since last we spoke. I really needed some good sleep and to actually eat. It's refreshing to be so clear-minded and alert."

    He provides nods and smiles and return-greetings to people who address him, before focusing on the guy he arrived with. "Well, somebody needs to take your girlfriend's delicate mouth into consideration. You should have thought ahead and cooled them for her. Also, why is she feeding you? You should be feeding her! Honestly, it's like you got all of your boyfriending skills off of a Bazooka Joe comic strip."

    He pauses to eat his own food for a moment, chewing thoughtfully. Then he adds on, "...Is 'possessed by a butterfly' a euphemism for something? You're not doing drugs, are you?"

Pyrite has posed:
    Suddenly, there is an imouto standing behind Darien, facing towards Jason. "...Did someone call for me? I thought I heard my name." She probably was just nearby and stepped out of the crowd or something, or people just... Didn't notice her before. Yeah. That's gotta' be it.
    "Oh! Mushrooms!" she says happily as she starts reaching for them.

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru can't help but laugh at the mental picture of Usagi on drugs. "Ah ha ha hah.. oh please no." She shakes her head a few times. "I'm so glad that you're feeling better, Jason."

A twist of her head as Himeko arrives just literally out of nowhere and tries to steal a mushroom. She sighs and offers one to the freshly arrived Himeko. Between everyone offering her mushrooms, at least she's still got some of her own!

Naru returns back to a previous topic. "I like Chrono. No chill whatsoever, but he's adorable. I was skeptical about how he and Adrien would cope as roommates, but they seem to get along well too."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"He really is!" Rashmi beams at Usagi, then takes a moment to go to work on the rest of her tray. A chunk of rice here, a pickle there, sip from soup, tempura... The redhead takes a full circuit of lunch, before going back to the conversation. One suspects that if she got too into the talking, she'd simply forget that food is there.

"And like I said, adorable goober. He even asked Papi for *permission* to date me, like he even needed to!" Lo, the scandal! "And he's *really* helping me along with homework I'm not super suited for... Oh also it's probably going to be a bit before we finish the research on that project, Darien-san. But we've got the books we need, it's just a matter of time."

Turning back to Usagi, she tilts her head. "...Butterflies, huh? That's... new?"

Almost as new as sudden little sister! ...Familiar sudden little sister. But... someone's little sister nonetheless. "Hi!" she chirps to the small one. "Would you like me to get you a bowl? There's still more at the counter, it won't be a problem."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"No drugs, just a butterfly," Usagi hums, "The test of courage scared my whole class silly. We were all a mess after."

Half the school has heard about how Class C's test of courage was so scary nearly everyone who participated passed out, fled in terror, or ran away to find something cute and fluffy. It won't be too much of a surprise to mention that.

And as another appears, she scoops Himeko-chan up and into her lap, so she can reach for the mushrooms. "Himeko-chan! You can have some of mine, that I stole from Darikun; he won't mind. He got them for me."

She's pretty sure he got them for himself and was then horrified to find mushroom croquettes, but they came to her in the end, so does it matter?

"He asked your Papa for permission? That's so cute! I wonder if my papa would want to give permission - probably not."

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"Too bad, mushrooms taste great", is Veronica's semi-unprompted reply to Jason as she picks up the one Usagi put on her plat. "Thanks for the mushroom, Usagi-chan!" Veronica says before happily biting through hers, one piece at a time.

"Sure", she cheekily smiles at at Naru. "Agemaki-san told me all about how full of resources you are."

"I have only met Chrono once, and he was in the distance, but he cares a lot about Rashmi, that much was clear. You must be really happy, Rashmi-chan", the brunette continues that conversation. "And asking your father was adorable", she comments, agreeing with everyone else.

Veronica has already seen Himeko at the Parade of Youkai, so the sudden arrival at the table doesn't particularly surprise, and glancing around that seems to be the case for everyone else too. That, or they really have a quite good poker face.

"Hello, I am Veronica Perenna, Grade 7, nice to meet you, what is your name? And how is it going with the Bakeneko?" She isn't particularly interested in keeping up pretenses, no.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"How is it that you like mushrooms? Is it just because they grow in the dark?" Darien asks Himeko, mystified as he scootches over to make room for her-- then scootches back as Usagi sister-absconds.

He looks like he wants to just put his hand on Jason's face and make him staaaahp talking, but he doesn't because he's an incredibly mature high school sophomore. "You're a bazooka joe," he says with all the dignity he can muster, absolutely not knowing what a bazooka joe is.

A quick nod to Rashmi. "Once you're done with that part, Naru and I might need help with another one. Maybe."

And then he looks kind of spooked, abruptly. "Are you sure?" Mamoru asks Usagi, uncertain all of a sudden. "I mean. Can you find out? Because I wouldn't want him to like... I wouldn't want him to be angry I didn't, if he did."

He reaches for his soda, then drops it and only barely steadies it in time when Veronica asks after the bakeneko. "The what?" he laughs nervously.

Jadeite has posed:
    Jason mutters something that sounds suspiciously like, 'Bloody hell' under his breath as he just closes his eyes instead of flinching or jumping, and then turns when he opens his eyes to look at Himeko. He looks very unimpressed. "You should really announce yourself before just walking up behind someone." he says grumpily.

    He largely skims over the conversation about things he isn't familiar with or involved in, instead focusing on Darien's minor slip-up like a big cat that just saw something move in the underbrush. Like Hobbes, the stuffed tiger. He doesn't say anything, but he watches cautiously. What's this about a bakeneko, and why is it making him nervous?

    "Ah..." he says airily finally as he drags his attention away. "Yes. It must have been a very frightening butterfly."

Pyrite has posed:
    Himeko scoots her way onto Usagi's lap when picked up. She's so light, even for her small size, it's easy. She accepts the mushroom from Naru and just holds it carefully in her hand, like she has been handed a small creature or a pretty seashell as she looks it over. "No thank you. I just wanted to look at it." she declines the offer of more croquettes.
    She hands it back to Naru just as delicately as she held it, as she explains for Darien's sake. "They are like tiny trees. But they grow even in the dark, and when everything around is dead, so they are better in their own way... Familiar." She smiles at Rashmi, gives a cheerful, 'Hi!' and then does the same to Veronica. "Himeko Soryuu. I was adopted by a family with a different surname, so Onee-chan and I don't match..." Then she glances at Darien, and then Jason, and then back to Veronica. "Cat is fine." she says simply. "Very lazy but very fluffy. I think she is settled into her new home. It took me much longer."
    Then she looks up at Usagi, thinking about the 'announcing herself before appearing' suggestion from Jason, and how that would have made things more complicated during the Evil Buttermoon crisis. Then she jusy simply says, "I am glad you are still here."

Naru Osaka has posed:
"I'm pretty sure Usagi's dad exists in 2023 and is fine that you didn't ask permission." Naru points out. "Besdies.. like.. " She gestures with a chopstick. "Ugh.. Usagi is her own person to make her own decision. Asking her parents is one thing.. but asking her /father/ in specific is like beyond the patriarchal pale."

Soapbox, occupant one.

"It was a super obnoxious butterfly." Naru confirms as she reaches for her coffee. She sips from it, and surprising no one, make a face cause it was still too hot.

Naru accepts the mushroom back and pops it in her mouth as a salve against too hot coffee. "Thank you, Himeko."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Ah, no, he's spooked! Usagi pats Darien's knee under the table, soothing where no one can see. She's talking only to him for a moment, just the two of them even though they're at a table full of people. "If you want to meet them, I'm happy to bring you home. My papa really won't mind - my Mama will want to interrogate you, but you're not an article he's got to edit, so my papa won't be all that strict. Shingo will probably tell you to run while you still cant."

She rolls her eyes a little, jkust thinking about it, then smiles down at Himeko. "I'm glad too. Thank you for coming to my tea party, even if it wasn't very nice. Your new cat is very cute."

As someone who has her own cute but very opinionated and often-times annoying cat, she can relate.

Only then does she look to Veronica and smile. "'course! If you want anymore, I'll let you have a few."

She's had her fill of them for now, and can thus be generous. She glances at Jason, curious. Darien had told Koji, but he hadn't told Jason, clearly, so he was a mundane, probably, or a coworker, like Nephrite. She's not thrilled with either thought, and so ignores them both. "It wasn't as bad as a case of Juuban flu, but it was something."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi seems to have missed a good deal, by the confused looks she tosses around the table. "Well from what I hear, it *must have been* a terrifying butterfly, people visibly not talk about it whenever the day comes up... But uh. Bakeneko?" The way Darien guiltily bobbles his drink immediately draws her curiosity, but... in public, and seemingly with help to be requested in the future, this doesn't seem like the right setting or subject to interrogate about monster cats.

"I mean, Papi said he laughed in Chrono's face and said he'd probably pay for even thinking he *needed* to give permission, but... yeah it was sweet. He *does* make me really happy."

At the refusal of delicious mushrooms of Himeko's own, Rashmi simply nods... then cannot help but listen to probably just the latest in a long line of examples of adorably creepy philosophical wisdom delivered by the young. Which, while indeed creepy, is definitely more adorable. "I agree, I'm glad Usagi-chan's feeling more herself too."

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"Just a very big cat she has", Veronica replies candidly to Darien and Rashmi. For Rashmi, it's fine and for Darien, really, it's nothing so important he should remember, and if he does, she doesn't particularly see it as grave. His disproportionately shocked reaction is very interesting, though.

"I'm glad to know the Bakeneko is all good, Himeko-chan. The guy who gave it to you must be so proud", she says to compliment Himeko.

"I would in fact appreciate a few more, please, Usagi", Veronica asks the other girls. Mushrooms really are great.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I got... I got Himeko-chan a new cat," Darien tells Jason. "Long story. I'm surprised and pleased Perenna-san remembered, but calling her a bakeneko... just with all the scares people have been having all over the city, for a moment I was worried about what was going on. But, cat is fluffy, and settling in, so everything's all right. Thanks, Perenna-san, he is very proud."

Everything's both all right and not all right at all. Unfortunately, now more people (possibly) know he's an orphan, but it could be worse.

His knee gets patted under the table, and he looks back and forth between Naru and Usagi. "I'm sorry," he tells Naru, and then to Usagi, "I'm relieved! I'd like to meet them soon, I-- I'd love to meet them soon." And then his mouth shuts with a just-barely-audible click.

Usagi, Naru, and Jason have all seen this look on his face before. Himeko's felt it from him before. He's a little overwhelmed. "I think," he starts, and then his left pocket buzzes, and he gets a look of dread on his face. "I have to go, actually. Wish me luck."

He pushes himself back from the table and scoops up whatever's quickest to shove in his mouth and be done with it, a little rudely, and he says, "Sorry about the tray I'll hopefully be back--" and then he's powerwalking away and taking a phone out.

Jadeite has posed:
    "Gosh. How horrible." Jason says, trying to sound sincere. He just doesn't find butterflies scary, he supposes. More scary to him is seeing his best friend look like that. Jason likewise finds an excuse to politely and expediently depart. "I have taken up enough of your time, and I appear to have finished my lunch without realizing it. I will... Go make sure everything is okay. Perhaps the mushrooms he didn't eat aren't agreeing with him." Up, tray in hand, vamoose.

    He will worry about cats and bakenekos and everything else at another time.

    "Lovely meeting you all!" he does call back over his shoulder.

Pyrite has posed:
    Himeko gives a small smile in response to everyone, but, just as Darien can feel when Himeko is overwhelmed, she can tell the same. So her attention is rather split. When Darien leaves, she asks to be let down. "I received an 'A' on a paper. I should go retrieve it so that I can share my victory over the tedium of academia." With a polite bow to each person still at the table, and then a wave, and a sumimasen, Darien's little shadow hurries off in the same direction as Jason as gone.

Naru Osaka has posed:
And just like that.. poof.. the boys and Himeko are off and the table settles a little quieter again. Losing half the people who had been there really does make things quieter, but such is the nature of lunch gatherings.

Naru has finished as much of her lunch as she's going to, reaching over to flip open her satchel, pulling out her pencil case. "So beyond obnoxious butterflies, and adorable boyfriends and cats of all shapes, sizes and abilities.. things alright for people?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
He's getting overwhelmed - not that she's surprised; this has turned into a big group lunch, with the bakeneko and the idea of meeting her parents all thrown in. What boy wouldn't want to run away and leave the pack of girls to their own devices?

"Wishing you luck," she says, and on impulse catches the back of his hand as he withdraws and kisses it.

Her cheeks burn when she releases him, but there's some smug satisfaction too.

"Thank you for looking out for him," she calls after Jason, "It was good to meet you."

The buzzing of his phone was probably work. Maybe the Silver Crystal. Jason is probably to do with work too. She is Not Worrying About it.

When even Himeko-chan decides to leave, touting her victory over academya, Usagi sighs a little, and props her head up on one hand, elbow on the table. "There's a quiz in history that I forgot to study for," she mourns.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Once you get used to telling them, cover stories start to get more obvious the more you encounter them. And while the explanation of the bakeneko has all the hallmarks of a cover story, there's also the question; how important is it that this one get picked apart here, now? Rashmi's answer seems to be 'not very important,' and so she simply nods along, giving Darien a concerned look when his comfort levels start to crater, and he makes his goodbyes... ...Taking half of an entourage with him in the process.

"Good to meet you too!" Rashmi calls, her lunch tray now remarkably depopulated. It's a skill, really, and the redhead feels *much* the better for a full stomach.

Looking at Naru, she chuckles. "Well I mean if you disregard *all of that,* nothing really major. I'll probably want to have a study group with you soon, Naru-chan, trigonometry's worse than space-math written backwards in pig-Latin. ...And when's that quiz, Usagi-chan? I *might* be able to help you cram for it, but you're not gonna remember much of it after."

She falls silent for a moment, then looks over her shoulder at the empty space that once contained a Darien. "...Is he okay?"

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Oh, so Darien actually was that guy... No wonder he reacted like that then. Not exactly the usual conversation subject... Veronica takes a sip of the water while she thinks about what this means about his friend and where the blonde's allegiances lie. Is he a Hematite-kind, or someone more classical on the type of villainy?

"Bye, Soryuu-san, see you soon", Veronica waves when the girl disappears. And her cat too, maybe.

"Study group sounds lovely", Veronica comments. "I find it's always more simulating."

"Things are alright for me, I took a very tough blow recently, but I am going to get better fast now, especially thanks to Rashmi's quick help", she shoots an appreciative smile her way.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Wait.. " Naru looks over at Usagi, pausing in digging out her sketchbook. "I thought we /were/ studying for it.. last night. I was studying at least, I thought you were too?" She laughs a little, shaking her head. "I'm up for studying.. well okay.. I'd say anytime, but my schedule is stupid. Most of the time." Naru amends as she looks over at Rashmi. "Weirdly, I'm feeling pretty hyped in trig right now, so I can try and help at least."

Naru looks where Darien and Jason and Himeko were sitting and then back to Rashmi. "Too many people, is my expecation. He gets social'd out like.. super quick." She glances to Usagi for her confirmation on that speculation.

"I'm glad that you're healing up, Veronica." Naru settles her sketchbook in her lap, reaching for her pencil case to choose her weapon.. er.. pencil.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I thought the test was geography so I studied for that instead," Usagi says mournfully, "And now I studied all that for nothing and there's still barely any history in my head."

There's plenty in there, actually, it's just random assortments of things she found interesting, rather than the stuff that was actually going to be on the test. Rest in pieces, studying skills.

"I will definitely take your help cramming, Rashmi-chan. I just need to make it through this test."

That's all! That's all! She is just aiming for a C!

And then she frowns in concern at Veronica; she'd noted all the scratches, before, but - "You're going to be okay though, right?" As for the concerns for her own very beloved boyfriend, "He gets social'd out super quick, yeah. Plus, he's had a project for his internship-job-thing that's kind of got a lot of moving pieces, so he probably wanted to run and take care of something."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Not a problem," Rashmi says to Veronica, beaming. "I mean, I'm not the *best* help for that, but, I can definitely make sure you *can* find someone better."

The redhead looks between Usagi and Naru, as Darien's social reservoir is explained. "Ooooh, okay that makes sense." Glancing about, she seems to find the coast clear, reaches up, and just... tugs a small notebook and pen from the charm on her bow. Flipping to a fresh page, she scribbles something down quickly, then closes the book and returns the articles to the charm.

"Well I hope any help I can give makes him less exhausted," she says, crunching her last tempura.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"Yes, I was just unable to protect myself, because otherwise I would ruined a trick I was trying to keep up as much as possible, but I am going to recover quick now." Taking another bite of her lunch, she notes it's almost done now, so he should begin cleaning her section of the table.

"Hmm, that's why, then. So it wasn't just the phone requesting his attention." Really now, waiting for the opportunity to excuse yourself squirming, it's surprising he didn't show it more quickly.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"We... How did you think that I was studying for Geography?" Naru shakes her head at Usagi, chuckling softly. "I got nothing.. still. we can probably cram some history facts into your head.. hopefully? Maybe?"

"Darien's phone.. if its work.. just drains the last of the social battery. His boss is a nightmare." Naru comments absently. Literally, although none of them know that for sure. Not yet at least. Just strong guesses.

Naru flips to a fresh page of her sketchbook, and settles in to start doodling with quick confident strokes of her pencil.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Ugh, that's awful," Rashmi says, wrinkling her nose at horrible bosses. "I'll keep that in mind, yeah. And thanks, Naru-chan, *any* help you can give me will be wonderful. Usually I ask Nicomachea for help, but... well, busy." Shrugging, she opens her last Ramune, slamming the glass bead down and taking a short sip. "And besides it'll give me an excuse to go back to-- oh! Right. So another friend of mine, her family just opened up a new ramen place. It's really good, and -- oh right, it's on a rooftop -- but there's indoor seating if you're interested, Naru-chan."

"I gotta say, that *is* a pretty neat trick, too, Veronica-chan. ...But if you want, I'll let you tell Naru-chan about it, it's a good story but it's yours to tell."

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"A Terrible boss, hmm." She grimaces. She has no idea of what mind of behaviour terrible bosses adopt in their dark hideouts. Presumably one much worse than the ones on this side of things. "My condolences to him", she says, trying to steer her imagination away from that subject. It wouldn't have returned pretty pictures whether they would have corresponded to reality or not.

And Rashmi is leaving to her to explain that trick. "Well, I just caused lots of infighting by disguising myself as Sunbreaker. I don't have flame powers like her, but besides that it was going well. At least they didn't see through my imitation of her personality. I would have also tanked her credibility if it worked until the end, but they eventually caught on since I wan't using fire magic."

Naru Osaka has posed:
"I mean.. as long as I'm not on the edge.. or looking over the edge, I'm alright with rooftops." Naru looks a little sheepish. "I seriously didnt' expect everyone to be so fond of tall things! This is like cartoons totally making me expect way more quicksand in my life."

Naru blinks at Veronica and then bursts into giggles. "As.. Sunbreaker?" She is clearly surprised. "I mean.. why!? Yeah.. the lack of fire powers would have totally given you away. Oh my goodness, that's really amusing."

She can clearly sketch and talk, her pencil moving over the paper as they gossip and giggle.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"She *tackled* one of Riventon's coworkers *off a ginormous vine,*" Rashmi stresses, smiling over her bottle. "It was a lot of fun to watch, and honestly I'm just glad this time the poor person didn't turn into a youma when her... Heart Crystal? got shot out."

Shaking her head, Rashmi settles back in her chair and sighs. "It really wasn't this busy this summer... I'm starting to get a little worried."

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"Because she was the only person I thought I could get away with imitating", she confesses to Naru. "I haven't met too many of them, and Sunbreaker happened to be the best shot I had at it. Besides I was already very lucky that the witch gave away both hers and Riventon's name, since it was my first time meeting them." She knows regrets being too late to reach the villain that hurt Wako after they dealt with putting her Heart Crystal back in. Maybe it would have done her good having that additional person to imitate at her disposal.

"At least I can console myself that my purely physical threats held on for a while." There was that, yeah. "And the tackling was pretty much the last resort resort I had at keeping her away from the Heart, and that allowed her to severely drain me and shoot me with lightning at once. Maybe next time, I will imitate her, just as a little payback."

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Oooh.. was it one of the new guns?" Naru perks up a little, moving her pencil over to a differnet spot on her sketchbook to doodle. "Forms a different shape of crystal, and it doens't float." She turns her notebook, having sketched the crystal produced by the version two guns. The other sketch is still too faint to really have a grasp on what its gong to be when it grows up.

"Good job, Veronica." Naru grins. "I'm glad you didn't get too hurt doing it either. Who were you keeping away from the Heart, do you know?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Riventon," Rashmi says immediately. "And... Did that last one call herself one of the Witches 5? The last two times it was a different woman every time, but they had one thing in common; they treated Riventon like an absolutely incompetent intern. Which, I mean, *rude.*"

When the sketch is produced, Rashmi nods decisively. "That's the one... Riventon seemed peeved that just because those guns don't *kill* people, means we should leave him alone to shoot random people all willy-nilly."

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"It was Tellun of the Witches5. Plant lady that kept ordering Riventon around and conjuring lots of plants everywhere. At first she tried to reason with me, by saying that freelancers can't order around Subdivison Leads, and threatening me with paperwork and retraining videos, but of course that changed when I proved to be completely uncooperative." She thinks back to what else could be useful to communicate.

"Oh, apparently, Sunbreaker has a good relationship with Riventon, or at least he thinks so, because he was surprised and disappointed over my behaviour. I don't know if that actually tracks with what you know."And then Rashmi confirms the Crystal Naru sketched is the one they saw, so she now probably has the full picture of the event.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Mmm. Not one of the Witches that I'm familiar with.. but hey.. another name to fill out the five." Naru nods a little as she makes some notes under her sketch of the crystal. "I mean, I'm glad to hear that they are using the version two guns for when we aren't able to intervene. At least it isn't a death sentance."

Naru can't help but snicker softly at the mental image of Riventon being treated like an intern. "That is rude. I bet he /loved/ that."

Naru nods thoughtfully. "Yeah.. Riventon and Sunbreaker generally get along, as best as I can tell. Although clearly Riventon is overly optimistic about how much we're just going to let him shoot people." She pauses and then asks. "Who got shot? Anyone we know?"

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"That's true, we can be really content about that, though it begs the question as to why they switched to an inferior product." That's just weird, you would assume they would stick to the superior version. "Do they need some sort of fuel they risk running out of?"

Veronica does smile at that. "He wasn't really thrilled about the prospect, even if he put more importance over having a job to do."

"That was nobody we know. Just someone who had the bad luck of being there."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Yeah," Rashmi sighs, "the last couple times it's just been a random 'run up to someone and pow' kind of thing. ...Ever since the Witches 5 started riding herd on Riventon, as it happens," she muses, staring into her bottle. "...Wonder if that's connected."

And then Rashmi starts to blush, just a bit. "...Also I think I may have gotten a little too used to punching him in the head," she admits. "From across the street."

Naru Osaka has posed:
"So the first reported incident with the version one of the gun, was Riventon and one of the Witches." Naru comments thoughtfully. "They changed to version two because .. well.. they didn't actually plan for 100% lethality, and were wholly unprepared for us light side folks to come down on the whole endeavour super hard core. Which .. I mean.. I don't know why they figured we wouldn't."

Naru mmms softly. "Then there was a lot of reports of La Crima shooting people with verson one rifles, and that settled down again. Now with version two, we're back to Riventon and the Witches." She hunhs. "Interesting. Probably unrelated, other than it being from Riventon's lab, from what I understand. So he's invested."

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"I did see that", Veronica smiles impishly at Rashmi. Really, that was quite precise.

"Yeah, it makes no sense they wouldn't have foretold it. They must be more shortsighted than they had already proved to be." Besides the fact they never learn they are going to be opposed at any second...

"Was one of them Wako Agemaki, perhaps?" She never did see who was it that tried to steal her Heart, busy as she was protecting it.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I haven't been keeping up with the rifle investigation as much; I've kinda had my hands full with the youkai situation, and that... other situation," Usagi admits, having been listening to everyone for a while without contributing. "Wako-chan never mentioned knowing who shot her when we talked about it, though."

She'd certainly like to know who'd shot her friend - La Crima had turned out pretty - pathetic. Sad. Someone who was a mess of a person, and she'd fed her because she felt... sorry for her. Sympathetic to her plight, even as she was angry she'd wanted to kill someone for her own needs. If La Crima had shot Wako-chan - well, at least they would know why, even if it wouldn't help.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"I don't think I've ever run across a 'La Crima,'" Rashmi muses. "Just Riventon, Sunbreaker, and a few others. I kinda have to wonder what the dragon girl is doing these days..." Because when you're a fantasy otaku, a dragon-themed *anything* is going to stick out in your mind. "...Anyway. So they're *definitely* onto version two, but something in what Riventon said kinda bugs me. I said he sounded mad that we were still trying to stop them from getting those Heart Crystals even now... Something kind of awful occurred to me. What if, it turns out they don't see *any* benefit in not killing people? Naru-chan, d'you have any sketches of the first model?"

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"I would be really interested in getting to the bottom of this", Veronica says, getting up from the chair. "But I am running late for an examination of one of my relics Sailor Moon asked me to do, so if you don't mind, I will take my leave now." She hopes they don't take this personally.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Mmmm. Lemme see." Naru mumurs softly. "I think Wako got shot by La Crima but I'm not wholly certain.. I know I did, but that was by accident."

Naru flips through her sketchbook as she considers. "I do have pieces of the version one of the rifle, but not a whole one." Because of course Naru has gun pieces. She sends an understanding glance over to Usagi and nods. "You've had more than enough other things to focus on without getting too deep in the weeds about the guns."

Naru passes her sketchbook over to Rashmi. "That's the version one gun. Not the best sketch, but its off rememberings and half glances, I never did get my hands on one."

She looks up at Veronica taking her leave and looks curious. "Which relic?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"She's like a vampire, but for energy," Usagi explains, "I let her feed off me, once, because she tried to attack a girl on campus, and it was an accident she shot Naru-chan, but she was trying to shoot someone else and didn't have a problem with that."

She scowls at the very thought, and and is all set to continue, when Veronica mentions her secret identity, starting to leave, and - "Oh! Wait, wait, right, I totally forgot - I'm Sailor Moon."

She says it so easily, though her voice is low so no one else hears. "Rashmi-chan, I didn't super get a chance to ask you, but would you be able to use your device to examine a relic Veronica-chan has?"

She hadn't known that Veronica was the Princess of Sarek, but the relic - well! She's only talked about a relic with one person. "She got it from Nezu Shrine. I wasn't there, but I heard about it from the grape vine, and I want to make sure there's nothing... Midnight-y about it."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Leaning over the table, Rashmi nods as she examines the drawing. "Perfect. I mean... well not *perfect,* but there's enough differences that we *should* be able to tell if they get too frustrated to play nice, I think...? Okay thanks Naru-chan," she says with a smile.

One that turns to puzzlement, as Veronica talks about a relic, then Usagi explains and somehow they both out themselves to each other. "I... um? Huh... I *think,* but... Lemme check something." And the redhead turns her gaze to nothing in particular, as she has a quick mental confab with her Device.

    << Nico-kun... can you pause the cryptography calculations long enough to do a quick analysis of something? >>

    << WORKING... WORKING... WORKING... CONFIRMED. PREDICTIVE ANALYSIS PROJECTS CONFIDENCE TO 7 TAU THAT CURRENT WORD IS COMPLETE. CRYPTOGRAPHIC CALCULATIONS PAUSED. LOCATION TAGGED FOR RESUMPTION. >>

"...Okay so Nico-kun says he's safe pausing his current project for now... Did you just need to know if it was contaminated with anything?"

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"You are Sailor Moon?" Veronica says, even if not actually seeking confirmation. Really, had she not mentioned what she needed to do and instead thrown out some excuse, they would be playing some weird comedy act about it when nobody realises the other one is the person they are looking for.

"Oh", she says softly. "Let me transform real quick. They are in my hat." With that, Veronica extracts her calling card and throwing it at an angle it gets stuck in the table, the light of it starts emanating turns her into the Princess of Sarek as she recites "While the world is full of trouble and anxious in its sleep, the princess of moonlight does dance and leap."

"First of all some clarifications are in order", Veronica explains as she sits back down. "This is just for Sailor Moon's peace of mind. There is nothing wrong going on with my relic, and more importantly", and she takes a pause to give Usagi an annoyed glance here, "as I had explained, it ended up at the Shrine by mistake, and I had long since been tracking it down to take it back."

"Also, I would please ask you to be delicate. This is an incredibly precious relic that is one of the missing pieces of a puzzle that constitutes the ward I am a guardian of. If you break it, we are all gonna pay for it eventually." That said, she puts her hat on the table and extracts the fan out of it, placing it in front of Rashmi.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Kind of if you could like... get a full look at it, I guess? And see if it's infected with Dark Energy, too, I guess that's important... Or anything um... transport-y?" These are not super helpful words, and Usagi groans, wiping her hand over her face. "Anything that indicates someone might have been using it to like, try and merge our world and the Dusk Zone... anything that feels like that monster we fought at the Mall, that was in the Black Jades."

Because she remembers that Rashmi-chan had been there, and while she doesn't know if the Black Jades and the monster that had come after them had anything to do with Midnight Tokyo, it did have something to do with the Dusk Zone. If the relic was supposed to be used in all that, it might feel like those things, right?

"Sarek-chan says that she's confident there's nothing wrong, but since it was in a place where people are trying to destroy the world, and one of those people apparently had it, I would like to be totally sure it's definitely not like, some Chekov's Gun or something."

Naru Osaka has posed:
"it's from one of the shrines?" Naru hums softly. "Checking for dark energy for certain, and unusual power signatures." She speaks confidently, giving a little nod. "It's unlikely to be doing any of the merging itself, and honestly.. if it's one of Veronica's relic pieces, it's not /likely/ to be infected, but its better to know than not."

Naru settles quiet again, with her sketchbook back on the fresh paget that she's been working on. Probably making a sketch of the fan.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi jumps when Veronica just /henshins on the spot,/ okay so this is happening now. Frantically checking around to see if anyone noticed, Rashmi looses a sigh. What is it about mostly-empty tables that make them black holes of student perception?!

"...I can promise that any scan I do will be absolutely non-invasive," Rashmi says once her heart lets up off the throttle. Taking her starburst charm from off her bow, she holds it under the table and does her best to hide its bright golden magical assembly from charm to oversized book. Which she then hefts onto the tabletop, sliding her tray aside, and carefully picks up the fan. "And I agree with Usagi, Sarek-chan. Even if we *know* there's nothing wrong, it's always safer to be *certain.*"

And she places the fan on top of the great red cabochon in the center of the book, and for a moment perception gets...

    ~wibbly~

...and the fan disappears. "Okay, Nico-kun," she says for the benefit of the table. "Non-invasive mana analysis Investigation; searching for... 'anomalous corrosive energy emanations--'" She looks up, and shrugs at the girls. "His words, not mine, TSAB space doesn't *have* an analogue for Dark Energy."

"--Time-, space-, or dimension-distortions, travelling utility magics. Go."

Aware that they all are in public, the book instead seems to elect to speak directly into the heads of all present at the table.

    << *BONG!* >> << COMMAND INPUT ACCEPT. MANA INVESTIGATION. >>

Nicomachea does *not* do the Pokemon Center jingle. But that doesn't stop anyone from imagining it, while it scans.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica stares intently when Rashmi keeps examining the fan. Her lips twitch when the fan disappear, but she says nothing for now, waiting for Rashmi to finish her analysis. She stressed the risk enough, and as much as all this makes her apprehensive, she doesn't need to explain herself again.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Likewise, Usagi waits patiently. She's glad she didn't transform though; it had made her a bit anxious, for Veronica to do it - but hey, that was her choice, her life. Maybe no one will have seen or paid attention.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Before very long at all, the fan reappears on top of the book, absolutely undisturbed, and silently Rashmi nods along with an unheard voice. Finally; "...Okay so it's *definitely* not what it looks like, but, also there's nothing about any contamination or teleporting effects. It's probably *super* important, but, it's nothing we need to worry about I think. Sarek-chan, it's okay to take it back now."

Leaning back, Rashmi clearly gives room for Sarek to retrieve her relic, while finishing off her Ramune. "Okay, Nico-kun, it's probably safe to start up the other thing again."

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"Thank you, Rashmi-san", Veronica says, before taking back the relic and putting it back in the hat. And with she untrasforms, going back to the brunette that was sitting there earlier."I hope that was all fine with you, unless you have more questions about the ward."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Not unless you want to share them with us," Usagi says, and she's got an expression of such relief, that everything is fine on that end of things, and there's not something else they're missing in the heap of so many things they're missing. "But - actually, there's something I want to tell both of you quickly, while we're here, since it's all over ClockApp and ViewTube and FaceSpace and like, everything - if you find the Silver Crystal, or hear anything about it, please bring it to me."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"I mean, I have questions," Rashmi says with a shrug, "but they're really not important, and it can wait for a better time."

Usagi's 'actually' shangs her attention, however, and the redhead is all ears. "Absolutely," she says, nodding. "That whole thing was weird, but there didn't seem to be anything subliminal going on with the video, so I just kind of ignored it. If what he was talking about is an actual thing... well, be prepared for a *lot* of fakes to show up, some people will do anything for a miracle."

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica nods. "Well, of course, I recognised Hematite the instant he appeared o the screen." Though she did have to do a double take about it. Talk about ruining her breakfast.

"I suppose we have to beat him and his allies to the punch then. Which probably includes that Jason Dite that was here earlier."

"Well, that's it, then, I guess. I approve of preferring a more... private space for these things." She waves in general at the cafeteria. "We will see each other around. I will keep you posted on anything I hear or find, Usagi-chan", she smiles and walks away.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I honestly have no idea if Jason Dite has anyhting to do with anything," Usagi says honestly, because this was her first time meeting him, to her knowledge. She'll have an opinion on this later, just watch.

"He didn't put any compulsions or anything in it." She won't mention that he probably would have, if it came to it, if his stupid boss hadn't of accidentally posted it first. They're lucky, in that regard.

"Thank you, Veronica-chan. I appreciate you indulging my worries so that Rashmi-chan could say everything was clear, for sure."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Well... That's tomorrow's problem, I think. ...I mean there are a *lot* of tomorrow problems, but... Papi says sometimes you just have to wait for the oven to finish before you can worry about dinner," Rashmi says with a small smile. "Also, I gotta say; after seeing you two together? I get why Naru-chan says Chrono and I are like you guys. *Ab*solutely adorable together."