1792/Clashing Sides

Clashing Sides
Date of Scene:	25 July 2024
Location:	Penguin Park
Synopsis:	Laura, Seiko, Usagi, Amy and Taro turn up at a meteor shower event organised by Shiori Nakagawa, but they don't get as good a night as they thought they would.
Cast of Characters:	Laura La Mer, Seiko Akai, Hinata Muramasa, Amanda Faust, Usagi Tsukino, Taro Yamada

---

Laura La Mer has posed:
Nary a cloud hung out in the night sky, stars shining like jewels around the almost full moon. A pleasant breeze move through the grass, gently moving it and bringing the fresh caress of the night air to everyone present. The moonlight, descending like a serene blessing of silver strands, encounters the tongues of fire burning on staves, whispering, crackling and showing the way to those who seek to attend the event Shiori Nakagawa of the Astronomy Club had prepared.

Setting up the entire event has been quite the hurdle, but she got the last minute help of another club, who supported her case with the teachers and helped her advertise the whole event with lots of space-themed decoration. They had even paraded around with cardboards planets that lit up.

She isn't really sure it's as perfect as it could be, but at least all the preparatives are in place. Next to the burning staves safely contained by glass, four tables have been brought here, each tablecloth featuring a variation of the same space time: one featuring the planets of the solar system, another one featuring nebulas and galaxies, a third one, featuring moon and stars and the last one showing meteors and stardust. Curiously enough, someone has had the time to doodle all the 9 planets of the old version of the solar system system together and has written alongside it 'Just because something is small doesn't mean it's less important.' Nobody had seen who did it, but it was harmless enough that Shiori hadn't bothered taking it out.

The tables all have their own share of food and beverages: deviled eggs, pretzels, onigiri, spring rolls, fried pickles, skewers of pork meat and cheese and shrimps to sate your hunger, with an accompanyiment of tropical fizz, lemonade and teas to relieve your thirst. Chairs have been dissimated everywhere, each with their own cushion and a merry tanuki face printed onto the back of the chair (though it is difficult to see). A contribution of the club that helped.

Keeping the jacket close to her, mostly out of shyness than the cold of this summer night, Shiori waves nervously towards the crowd. "Hello, everyone! I am Shiori Nakagawa, grade 7. I am happy to see all of you here for this event sponsored by the Astronomy club. A special thanks goes to the Orange Equator club for helping with the advertisement. This is a very special occasion, because the meteor shower we are going to see tonight only happens once every fifty years. You don't need telescopes to see it, and with such a clear sky and all the refreshment, I hope everyone enjoys the event!" she exclaims.

Laura is here too, having seen in first person all the antics that occurred during the advertisement (and taken photos of all of them, it was actually quite charming in its own way). It certainly sounded like a fun event to take part in.

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko waffled on whither to go to the event or not. On the upside, There would be plenty of meteors to see and who knows? Maybe that would give her inspiration to write a song maybe? On the downside there could be a lot of people there. The good outweighed the bad so she decided to go. Quietly she gathered a notebook, a pen and a blanket for the ground. Why would she want to sit in a chair when the show is going to be above them? She also grabbed a bottle of water, just in case. Never leave home without the essentials right?"

With that she was on her way. The pinkette was excited to see the meteors but was still pretty shy. When she arrives, she looks around for a good place to lay out her blanket on the ground. She finds a spot a short ways away from the Chairs and the tables with food. Close enough to be a part of the group, far enough away to be out of the way. Just the way she liked it really.

Seiko didn't know who would be here. She didn't talk to anyone about coming to the event and didn't really here about anyone else coming to it. So she is excited to see Laura present. She is a friend at least and thats a step forward. She gives a little wave to her before flopping down on her blanket and laying back to look up at the sky.

For those magically inclined, The little Chara with glowsticks happens to be floating around. She quietly flies over to Laura and waves to her before going back to the blanket. She lays down beside Seiko and looks at the sky. "Is it starting yet?" She asks her bearer.

"I don't know, Hoshi. I don't know much about this stuff. It doesn't look like its started." Seiko responds softly as she continues to watch the sky.

Hinata Muramasa has posed:
    Hinata Muramasa isn't one to socialize much, outside of very specific circles, but the promise of a meteor shower, and snacks to go with it, draw out the mousy girl. She arrives in rather drab clothes. A grey blouse, a light grey skirt. Grey tights and black mary jane shoes. The girl looks around as she approaches, seeming to be pondering if she found the right location. She's hugging a tengu doll against her chest, the gaudy colours contrasting her monochromatic attire.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    A meteor shower... Amy's never really gotten to see one! She's an ADHD mess who spent all her time inside most of her life, after all. After the announcement of the event, it occured to her to get a pair of binoculars. Possibly a nice rugged pair if she could get Setsuna to pay for it -- she can use it not only for stargazing but while out on patrol, after all.

    When she spots the graffiti, she wonders if it could have been anyone but Sailor Charon, and it brings a smile to her face.

    Also bringing a smile to her face are familiar faces. "Laura! Akai-san! Hello! Good to see you here!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi Tsukino wasn't usually into astronomy, but meteor showers were cool, especially ones that didn't happen very often. Mamoru was watching it with Kazuo, which she supported, as a loving girlfriend who knew their shared boyfriend hated parties and would probably not want to go to one hosted by an entire club.

She, on the other hand, is a social butterfly. Half of the astronomy club gets a greeting or a hug or both, and honestly, half the attendees in general - Usagi Tsukino is one of those people who knows just about everyone, and everyone knows her.

She grabs a plate of snacks, looking over the tables, and she cocks her head when she notices the drawn in Pluto, and after pulling out her phone for a moment, does her best to doodle in Eris and Ceres somewhere sort of near Pluto too. If people are going to go out of their way to include Pluto, shouldn't they include the other dwarf planets too?

That done, she meanders a bit, eventually catching sight of someone she knows -

"Amy-chan! Hi!" She's pretty sure she knows the pink-haired girl too, or at least, pretty sure she's the girl who ran away before they went to fight Beryl. She'd been transformed though, so there was no point in outing herself now. Given the little chara floating around, she should probably introduce herself a little later. "I'm not sure I've met the two of you, Usagi Tsukino, grade 10!"

Laura La Mer has posed:
"Seiko-san, hey", Laura grins when she is waved at by the prospective idol, walking over towards where she has laid down her blanket. "Have you been here earlier today? For the advertisement? The show the people there had put on was amusing and interesting. They let me take some photos too if you wanna see." Of course she brought her trusty Aqua Pot with her. Would be quite inconsiderate of her to leave it behind.

"Amy, nice seeing you!" Laura smiles at the redhead, before tilting briefly her head towards the tables full of food and drinks. "re you familiar with any of that? We don't really have it and I was wondering where it is best to start. You know of them, right?" she inquires expectingly, for no other reason that Amy lives there.

"I have never really seen a meteor shower before. We do have our own spectacles back home though, but the stars aren't really accessible unless you head away a lot. Know anything of that?" she adds to the series of questions.

"Laura La Mer, Grade 7. I recently moved here in Japan. Amy-san helped me with the enrollment at the school through her pc", the pinkette tells Usagi. "I have been mostly walking around and taking photos. What do you do here?"

Shiori looks curiously when Usagi adds to the doodles of Pluto. "Hey, umm, is a thing people tend to do? Bring focus to dwarf planets?"

Seeing Hinata stay aside, Laura points her out to Shiori. "Is that a Radiant Heart student too?" The purple-haired girl moves her air puzzled towards when Laura has pointed and replies "Yes, I think so, she might be". Even if she was actually guessing. "Laura Apollodoros Higinus La Mer", the mermaid says walking over to Hinata as soon as she has heard what she wants. "That's my name. Why don't you join everyone. Surely, I am nicer to be close to than empty air. And there are other RHA students too", she says, giving Hinata her hand to take.

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko gives a smile to Laura. "I didn't get to come here earlier. I was trying to come up with ideas for a song! I wanna write one but I just don't know what to write. I'm kinda hoping tonight gives me some inspiration? What would be more inspiring then shooting stars, right?" She smiles a little and sits up. "Sorry. I just figured that if the meteor shower is going to be going on above us, Laying down would be the best bet!"

She smiles a little and then looks over at the different foods and drinks that are present. "I wonder if I had to be here earlier to get at the food? I didn't really eat anything today." She blushes confessing that. Thats when she notices Amy. She gives a wave to her, "Hi Amy." She states just loud enough to be heard.

Then there is Usagi. Immediately Seiko quiets down, "Umm Hi." She blushes a little as she looks at the long haired blonde. "I'm Seiko Akai, Grade 7." She gives a weak smile as she tries to be brave. "You were at the shed... I saw you before... well before I got scared and ran away." She blushes as she stands up.

Hoshi smiles and flies up off the blanket. She twirls her little glow sticks and just looks at Usagi curiously. She giggles and flies over to Amy and leans into her ear to whisper, "She can see me, right?" She comments just loving the attention even when being intentionally ignored.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy is huggy but sometimes questions if she should be -- it's nice to not have to question it with Usagi. "Hi! Good to see you!" she says, and then briefly looks confused, as the out-of-class social gathering for non-magical matters seems to have accessed a braincell treating friends like someone you don't get to see every day and she can hear it sounding a little out of place here.

    She turns and looks at the food, then back at Laura, then at the food again, pointing. "Those are boiled chicken eggs with the yolks mixed with spices. Those are...a sort of crunchy breadsticks with salt stuck to them. Those are... uh... a thin bread wrapping around vegetables. Those are brined cucumbers... were they fried or something? How do you fry a pickle? And that's barbecued pig meat, and cheese, and are those shrimp? Nice. ...Soft drinks. Sweet and carbonated. Sweet lemon, uh, it's sour. And tea."

    She takes a pickle and bites it, "Huh." then takes a skewer and puts the half-eaten pickle on the end as she turns back around. I... don't know anything about the spectacles of your home. Would be neat to see sometime." She smiles and wonders what the equivalent of stargazing is underwater.

    Hoshi asks her a question directly. Amy's poker face is terrible, but she recovers with an awkward smile and says, "Why don't you ask her?"

Hinata Muramasa has posed:
    Laura approaches. Hinata's green eyes snap to the movement and she blinks owlishly for a few moments. Then she seems to jolt back to the present and bows slightly. "Hinata Muramasa, Grade 7." she returns, her voice monotone, lacking some of the normal inflections. "I, came to watch the meteor shower." she remarks. Her gaze tracks across the others present, and she squeezes the tengu doll a little tighter.

    Did it just twitch? Can't have, must have just been the shift of its stuffing.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
As everyone else introduces themselves, Usagi takes a bite of the fried pickle - she's never had one, so, it seems worth trying! It's good! Salty of course, and pretty sour, but the bready kind of reminds her of corn dogs - the regular kind, not the American kind - and it's nice. When Shiori asks about the dwarf planets, she laughs a little.

"Well, I know some people who care a lot about Pluto being like, reclassified? But the way I see it, why should Pluto be the only one included if we're caring about that kind of thing now? It's not the only dwarf planet after all!"

She's not been subject to the Wars yet, she's not aware of how passionate some of the Pluto-as-a-planet folks are.

"What do I do here? Oh, well, I'm a student? I mean, we're on summer break now, so mostly I just hang out with friends, but I saw the advertisement and decided to come join folks, cause I mean, why not, right? Plus, meteor showers are cool!"
Herss Amy explains the menu, Hinata approaches, and Usagi offers the other girl a bright smile. "Nice to meet you Hinata-chan, Laura-chan, and Seiko-chan! It's been a while since I met so many kohai."

Laura La Mer has posed:
A look of interest comes onto Laura's face as soon as Seiko mentions what she has been doing. "Hmm, really? How is it going? I actually want to see that. Do you do that at the music club or in your room?" Probably the latter, she reasons. A place that is cool and silent is much better to get creative in.

"It's not really a bad idea if they do turn out to be directly above us", Laura acknowledges to Seiko, "but I want to take photos of that too, and I don't think that would be easy to catch them at.

"The food is for everyone", Shiori chimes in at Seiko's worry. "I couldn't really leave people with nothing to eat. At least to wait for the meteor shower to start, and for those that are hungry or thirsty."

"Of course, I recognised the shrimps, but that's certainly a lot to consider. Is it normal, or did the Astronomy club went out of their way for this occasion?" It was certainly commendable if the latter.

In the time Shiori had been saying that, Laura had filled two plates with food and carefully added a full plastic cup amidst the food of each plate, one for Seiko and one for herself, based on the recommendations. For herself, she had taken the onigiri, the spring rolls the shrimps and the tropical fizz. She would have normally delegated the task to someone else here, but that wasn't really an option if Seiko was starving.

"And if you didn't eat, you definitely need to get it right now", she says, almost shoving the plate to Seiko's hands. How can she still hold up? Maybe there was another reason to why she felt the need to lay down.

"If you change your mind, we are over there", Laura shrugs as she goes back to the others. "And there you can find the food", Shiori said, detaching herself from the group to keep Hinata company. "You know, maybe you will enjoy the stars more with everyone else?" she tries suggesting to her.

"Well, Usagi-chan, it's nice to meet you too. So, what kind of pastime do you have? Certainly not astronomy if you had to see the advertisement. Though that was nice. I took photos of it too." Speaking of photos, soon she will have to take more, as shining streaks start showing up throughout the sky. "Hey, it's starting!" Laura warns.

Hinata Muramasa has posed:
    "I wish Erika-chan were here." mumbles Hinata softly, before stepping over toward the group. She bows to Usagi, "Tsukino-san." she replies almost perfunctorily, though that's not her intention, just how she talks. The others also earn similar greetings from the mousy girl.

Taro Yamada has posed:
Free snacks? Free meteor shower? The price is RIGHT. Taro sidles in and goes for one of the pork skewers, biting off pieces of meat before putting the skewer in his mouth to add to the doodles on the one planet table with a marker, adding some little dots and circles to represent the astroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

He's a little late, so he sidles into the conversation partway through as well, listening in in his red Sanrio hoodie and with a Hello Kitty hairclip pulling his bangs out of his eyes.

"They took Pluto out? I thought they just added it to the planets a little before I was born," Taro says, trying to remember the last time he read up on astronomy properly. It can't have been that long ago, right? (Says the guy born in 1946, trying to remember about 1930.) "I didn't realize we had so many new planets. Hi Usagi-chan, hi Amy-chan. Hi," oh no, he did not catch all those new names, "girls?"

He smiles awkwardly at them. He grew up in a mostly-girl household, but that's not quite the same as being the one guy towering over a bunch of younger(ish???) girls. "I'm Taro - oh, there's the meteors!" Woah look at them go!

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "Oh, uh. Nice to meet you. Amy... Amanda Faust, Grade 10. Amy for short." Hinata speaking up makes her turn and look the other girl over, trying to place her. Why does she dress all in grey? "And yeah, summer break is pretty great!"

    She consider's Laura's question. "I would say this is... fancier than usual, but at Radiant Heart, it's hard to say. Shrimp are always a treat though."

    Amy blinks at Hinata. "Did you say you know Erika?" And then she sees: "Taro?!" She runs up and hugs him.

    It's starting!

    "Oh, dang!" Amy smiles and looks up, and then steps back and lifts the binoculars to her eyes.

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko suddenly has a plate of food shoved into her hands. She blinks a few times and smiles. "Thank you Laura-chan. I could have gotten it myself. I mean I'm not dying of starvation. I just skipped meals today because I was focused on trying to write." She sits back down and takes an onigiri. Within moments its gone. She was definitely hungrier than she is letting on.

" A pleasure to meet you Usagi-senpai." She gives a smile to her and looks to Laura. Hey thanks. If you want you can use my blanket. Cause its The whole sky is going to have meteors, I think anyway.

"Can you see me?"Hoshi flies in front of Usagi and waves her hand in front of her trying to get her attention. She loves attention and can't get enough. Exact opposite of Seiko really. "Ohhh! I know what would make the night really special! If Seiko-chan sang a song for us all while we watch the the meteor shower!"

Seiko looks at Hoshi and speaks under her breath, "Don't you dare, Hoshi." She is trying her best to keep a low profile at least. Doing at least a slightly better job of it than Hoshi is. She shakes her head and stuffs a deviled egg in her mouth so she doesn't say anymore. "Mmmm!" She exclaims, "These eggs are good!"

Hinata Muramasa has posed:
    Hinata nods to Amy. "Since we were little kids." she replies, scooting a little aside to look up at the sky, when the shower starts. The streaks of flame reflect in her eyes as she stares upward in awe.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"It's a dwarf planet now," Usagi says, looking at Taro a little oddly, "But it's been one for like twenty years now, so did you mean they just took it out before you were born?"

Silly mistake to make, but, that's gotta be what he meant, right? Pluto was discovered like forever ago. "Hi, Taro-kun! This is Hinata-chan, Laura-chan, and Seiko-chan, they're in Grade 7!"

Introductions, let's make them.

"I'm a gamer, mostly, but I'm not really into organized clubs," she explains, "But are you joining the photography club?"

And then - "Oh! It's starting!!"

The fairy that is in her face? She is doing her best to ignore her, because she is keeping a low-profile and doesn't want to out herself to...well, clearly Seiko-chan is magical, but she doesn't know about Laura or Hinata or Taro, and she doesn't need them thinking she's crazy - or realizing she's magic and doing something about it.

Very casually she tries to lightly bat the little fairy away without seeming like she's doing it on purpose.

Laura La Mer has posed:
Laura starts taking photos with the Aqua Pot as soon the meteors starts descending through the sky, bubbles swelling out of it with a perfect reactions of the sky above. They all just sort of float next to Laura.

"Of course!", Laura smiles widely. "Don't let this happen again, ok? You could write all the ideas in the world, but they are useless if you aren't there to implement them. And you", she says turning to Hoshi. "Remember to point that out to her as well, ok? This is part of what you have to do to let her realise her dream." Ok, that was a little bit of a reprimand alongside the entrusting of her wellbeing to Hoshi.

"Added it to the planets before you were born?", Laura's eyebrows rise. That was a weird sentence to say. "I don't know what kind of future you come from, but what is going on here is that they brought to some frankly pointless distinction for it, and there are efforts going on to get it reinstated. Also, Laura La Mer is my name", she nods slightly as introductions are done.

"They did very well then. I certainly would have had a few things to say if they tried to budget the food after we got invited here. For example, they could have tried to rally more help", Laura nods to Amy.

"Nice to see you join", Laura smiles to Hinata. "Have you already had some of the food?"

"I may consider it, but my real talent is my singing", Laura tells Usagi. "Whenever I started singing back home, everyone in Grand Ocean used to gather round." Which actually wasn't an exaggeration. "Is this gaming thing something you are really good at? And how does it work?"

Taro Yamada has posed:
Taro hugs Amy back, spinning her around before setting her on the ground. "It's been ages! C'mon,lets see the stars! "

Though as he watches - oh yeah, Pluto's been around longer than he remembers because he's old, Taro remembers belatedly. "Right, Usagi, I got it scrambled. It was a planet and now it's a very small planet. Ha, I was a little kid when I saw the moon landing and I thought it was being filmed live on TV!"

....and his smile fades as Laura speaks to him. "Yeah, that's what I said. Planets get recorded in history and renamed. Were they teaching you astronomy instead of manners on your planet?" Listen, he was taught to be polite to girls, but he would like the girls to be polite to him.

And speaking of rudeness, as Laura and Usagi talk, Taro will just. Pluck Hoshi out of the air and step away for a moment, speaking to the fairy under his breath - "Don't be rude and get in people's faces. People are trying to watch the stars and not everyone can see you," and turns. "Seiko-chan, I think you dropped something outta your purse? You gotta be careful with these things," here, here is. Here is your mascot. Please take your rude little mascot.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy clings tight as she's spun around. Just. Surprised. And a bit thrilled? And then lost in analyzing her emotions as she recalls that Hannah did stuff like that when they met, and are her feelings really that easy to mess with, and-- The meteor shower!

    She tries to put her thoughts aside and looks up at the sky through the binoculars, their lenses reflecting the night sky and falling stars.

    "Oh, really? Was she always into pirates?" Amy wonders. Then briefly looks away from the binoculars at Usagi. "Wait, you know Taro?"

    She decides not to try and untangle Laura's comment about planetary classification. 'How does gaming work' though, gets this look on her face like she's about to explain to Laura what a videogame is, then decides to continue stargazing for the moment.

    Although she does tap her foot against Taro's shin when he says he was a little kid when he saw he moon landing -- although then he recovers with 'I thought it was live' which is pretty good. She thinks.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The meteor shower is beautiful, and Usagi looks up to watch the streaks of light across the sky - but she blinks, looking at Laura in surprise.

"I mean, they reclassified it because we were wrong about Pluto being a planet! I think we used to think it was just like, planets and moons and comets and meteors and stars and - I think that's it?" She cocks her head - "Oh, asteroids! But then we found out about dwarf planets, and Pluto had buddies, just like it, so, now there's more things."

She pauses.

"I'm kinda surprised it matters so much to people?"

And then, as an aside to Taro, "Oh, I like cool old footage too, it's neat you know?"

But he's snatched the little fairy - a surprise that he can see it! And Amy is asking about Taro, "Yeah, I ran into him at a museum once, and we meet when he was feeding cats! It's cute. I mean, very cool," he's got a whole grunge aesthetic going on, so he probably won't appreciate being cute.

"Video games are... like stories, that you can interact with. Instead of just reading or watching, you're in the story. Sometimes, it's a simple story, sometimes it's complicated?"

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko blinks as Taro grabs Hoshi. She begins to panic immediately. "Hey! Excuse me! I think you kinda umm, Took something of mine!" She raises her voice just a little. She jumps to her feet and rushes over to rescue her Chara. Tears fill her eyes. That is her dream that he is holding and she is very much worried."

Then Hoshi is given back to Seiko. Hoshi is angry now. She wants to tell Taro off but she doesn't. Seiko looks at her and quietly puts her in her purse. "Stay there for now." She then looks at Taro. "Mr. I have not been dealing with this stuff for very long but I think proper etiquette would suggest not grabbing someone's... Things. Regardless of if they fell out of my purse or not. Its rude!" She snaps feeling really upset both angry and sad at time. She then turns back to her blanket. She sits down and begins crying. She was really worried about her chara.

Her eyes catch sight of a shooting star. Reaching out she grabs her notebook. She starts writing in it, coming up with a song as she does. One that matches her current emotions. One that hopefully will stir the heart. "...Dreams like falling stars. Hopes pour from the heart. Everything and nothing can take my dreams, Everything and nothing is more than it seems..." She writes speaks aloud, only occasionally glancing up at the shooting stars.

She pauses a moment and grabs a pretzel off her plate. She continues thinking about the next lines of the song. Quickly she writes down a few more lines getting inspiration as she can. She is still tearing up and was honestly worried about Hoshi.

Hoshi for her part is less worried about rudeness and more scared. No one has ever taken hold of her like that and it really rattled her. She pokes her head out of the bag and watches Seiko write. A little smile crosses her face as she watches. "Thats it, Seiko-chan, you've got this." She whispers before looking up at the shooting stars.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Pluto... "It's because when you get used to things, you don't like them changing. And the older you get, the more things you're used to. 'I learned Pluto was a planet growing up, and now you tell me it's not?' is like, the old people version of being annoyed at Metube changing its interface." Wait, hasn't it always looked like it does now?

    "Oh! Right, the museum!" Amy remembers that now. And, "Sometimes it's more like a board game or a sport than a story. Or something in-between." She comments, about videogames.

    And then... "What'd you do." she asks Taro suspiciously... only to pull her gaze from the binoculars when she hears the crying. "Woah, Akai-san, what is it?! What happened?" She looks between Seiko, Taro, and the sky.

Laura La Mer has posed:
"Grand Ocean is not a planet", Laura replies, seeing more fit to correct that than reply anything else. "You can't really reach it like you would a planet. You can only reach it by magic, either directly if you are a citizen or via its entry point in the depths of the sea. And for what you said, I actually meant that literally. If you are from the future and it will get reinstated, then I have a friend who will be really happy to know." Because with magic around, she can't really exclude that possibility either, and something funky is going on there.

Though, the comment about the moon landing makes her understand she had it the wrong way around, and she shakes her head irked. "If I got it wrong, tell me instead of causing a ruckus", she scoffs.

Repeated nods follows when Laura starts to get an explanation on video games. "So, you read them like electronic stories, and then you compare them with friends and trade them around?" she asks, taking the explanation over books much more literally.

Though, her previous reaction is nothing compared to when she hears Seiko crying, and walks next to Seiko, putting her arms protectively around the other pinkette and gazing torbidly to Taro. "It doesn't really seem like you preach the respect you demand. What do you think you are doing exactly? Leave her alone, why don't you?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Seiko-chan's fairy gets told off, which is nice, actually, because flying up to someone and asking can you see me can you see me, is pretty rude. Usagi's willing to leave it there, except that Seiko starts crying, and Amy immediately accuses Taro of doing something wrong, and Laura does the same thing, and Usagi scowls a little.

"He got her fairy out of my face, which was polite, since I was trying not to acknowledge her. Why immediately jump to thinking the person who's crying is the one who didn't do anything wrong?" She's a crybaby, she's been there, crying when she did things wrong, just because her emotions get too big for her body - maybe that's what happened with Seiko. But these other two should ask.

And with that, she turns to look at Seiko and Hoshi and Laura and takes a deep breath -

"I can see some of the things you guys are talking about, with Ocean Planets and flying things, but most people can't, and asking if people can, especially around other people, is like, outing them as being different. If you're going to ask, you shouldn't do it in public, and Taro-kun, thank you for defending me, and I'm sorry that I found out you're like me, like this."

Hopefully, Amy, who is the only person who knows exactly the truth, will not call her on this.

Taro Yamada has posed:
Ok. So these two are magic. So these two are, somehow, clueless that normal humans FORGET all magic that they see, that the knowledge drains away in a few days. Usagi was being pested by some creature she'd forget in a few days, another unsettling event after a month of her almost losing her boyfriend and all her boyfriend's boyfriends. And they're talking to him like he's a moron.

Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Amy is here. He's got to be tactful, because Amy is his friend and she has an enormous heart for all magical girls, even if they're jerks. And he can't pop the bubble for Usagi because she has a normal happy life that hasn't been RUINED by MAGIC which RUINS EVERYTHING -

"Stop talking to me like I'm an idiot, Laura!" Taro snaps, and only then does what Usagi said sink in.

He takes a few deep, shuddering breaths, biting back the rant he had bubbling up. "Miss Sekai. Usagi-chan is my friend who was nice to me, and she's had a really, really bad month. Her boyfriend got hurt really bad by a monster and I thought she didn't know magic, and most people - most HUMANS - forget magic when they see it, so then all she'd remember was that she had a bad time! At the meteor shower!"

"And!" He points his finger at her. "Little magic friends are fragile! They're like little kids, where if you look away from them for one second, they'll disappear and die! If i was a monster, I would not have given your buddy back! If you let them just wander off, then bad things! Will happen to them! You have to be more careful! Because magic hurts people on accident all the time and you AREN'T the EXCEPTION!"

He's breathing very hard, and there's wetness at the corners of his eyes. He steps back, nodding to Usagi. "Yeah, I. Sorry. I'm not a snitch, so. Don't worry."

Seiko Akai has posed:
If Seiko wasn't upset before, she is now. She looks down. Tears flow more liberally. She stands up. "I DIDN'T KNOW!" She screams. Its the first time anyone would have heard her actually raise her voice. Let alone scream. She shakes her head. "I didn't know any of this. All I know is Hoshi is the embodiment of a dream. MY dream. I don't know about the dangers around. I don't know what is good or bad or right or wrong. All I know is someone I don't know took hold of my dream and walked away with them. Its why I went after you. Its why I called you rude because you handled the most important thing in my pathetic little life like it was something to be tossed away."

She turns to Usagi and frowns. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again. Trust me." The two words sound much harsher than the others. What was she going to do to prevent it? "You both don't have to worry about it happening again."

From there she takes off running. She doesn't go for her things. She doesn't look back. The only thing she has on her is her purse which still has Hoshi in it thankfully. The things left behind are her blanket, the half eaten plate of food, And her notebook and pen.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy looks up. "Oh my god. She stares at the meteor shower for a second, and then puts the binoculars back on.

    "I am trying to watch this meteor shower and etch it into my memory. I do not know if I will ever see another one. I don't know if I'll be alive in fifty years. I don't know if I'll have friends who will tell me about things like this and get me to come out. I don't know if I'll even be able to see them over all the light pollution and the sattelites or if even the stars will be taken from us."

    "So can we please. Keep the fighting until after?"

    Smartmouth that she is, she can't help muttering: "I sold my soul to keep the universe running, after all. Can't I have a moment to admire what has been purchased so dearly?"

    Seiko's speech about being terrified does pull at her heartstrings, though. And then she runs away thinking she's in the wrong...

    Amy sighs. "Fuckit." She stops looking through the binoculars. "No point in remembering it if it's the time I didn't go to someone in pain. Hold this." She hands her skewer to Taro and then runs after Seiko.

Laura La Mer has posed:
"What, because the person that started it by talking about the past like it was yesterday is normal", Laura fires back at Usagi, not really fine with how she is taking Taro's side despite Seiko being the one in tears. "Maybe he shouldn't have gotten into her personal space so much if he didn't want to make her cry. Neither of you know what Seiko has gone through, so try not jumping to conclusions."

"If you don't want to be treated like an idiot, don't grab onto someone you recognise is delicate and act all shocked when someone takes issue with that. Just like your friend Usagi was having a bad month, RHA was supposed to be a fresh start for Seiko, and guess what, you ruined it for her! I hope you are proud of yourself" Laura frigidly berates Taro. How can both of them just... Ugh, she doesn't want to think about it.

And then Seiko runs off, away from all that pressure, so overwhelmed that she has forgotten her things there. One last glare is reserved to Usagi and Taro before Laura takes blanket, pen and notebook, chucks them inside the Aqua Pot with her own possessions, and much like Amy, takes off in a chase towards the shocked girl, hoping that she can do something to help her.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Oh shut up," Usagi snaps at Laura, rolling her eyes, "Seiko-san's fairy got into MY personal space and he took her out of it. He gave her to Seiko-san, and even asked her to keep an eye on her. If you're going to talk about personal space, at least be consistent instead of making it clear you think your friend is right because she's crying!"

Yeah, right. She's cried out of frustration, fear, embarrassment, anger, sorrow, the whole range of emotion, and she knows full-well that crying doesn't make you right!

"I'd love to enjoy the meteor shower Amy, it'd be great if there wasn't a fairy in my face, demanding to know in front of all the stars and gods alike if I knew about magic," and she doesn't mean to snap at Amy over this, either, but she didn't pick the fight. But she sure won't ditch a friend over it either!

Seiko-san screams that she didn't know, and says that it won't happen again and Usagi looks her in the eye and says firmly, "Good. Because even little kids know that getting in someone's face is rude, so your Hoshi should recognize that she was being rude too."

And she goes running off.

"I am proud of my friend! It's nice to defend people! It was really nice of him to help me out," she calls back, and then resolutely and pointedly does not run after the other two, instead turning to Taro.

"Seriously, thank you. I appreciate it. This has been a bad month, and I was... really trying to keep that to myself. But, you've got my secret and I've got yours, so hopefully those two keep their mouths shut. Amy-chan's good people, I'm sure she will."

Taro Yamada has posed:
"When did I get in her personal space?? How am I supposed to know she's delicate?? I don't just know these things! I had to learn all of this the hard way - !"

But they're all gone, one after the other, Seiko and Amy and Laura, and -

This isn't new. Taro is tall and has a scary face and can't word things well and every time there's trouble it's his fault. He is the monster, he has been the monster, he continues to be the monster. Why did he think anyone would take his side this time?

Except Usagi stays when the others leave. Usagi defends him. Usagi, who gave him cat food when he was still homeless when he moved to Tokyo, who he leapt into a painting to try and save once.

"Thanks, Usagi-san," he says, and he scrubs at his eyes. If he starts crying here, those girls will just jump on him for faking it to get sympathy, and he'll be so upset he'll knock over a table on purpose and then he WILL be in trouble. His Ma said he had to be nice to girls, and he's been trying so hard.

"Amy-san's my friend. She's kept my secret until now. I'm hoping she's not too mad at me, she hates it when magic people fight," he says, voice wobbly.

Breathe in. Breathe out. His eyes burn. But he's not alone. "Yeah. I - I know you've had a really rough time with it, and. I used to live outside Tokyo so when something magic happened, people would just forget and only remember the bad feelings that happened, and it was the worst. You don't deserve to get pestered more, especially when you've been really good at hiding your magic until now." Sniff. "I hope it's not trouble I know about some of it. I haven't seen you like this in ages but I was, uh, Cat Noir had to save me when Thetis showed up and I don't forget magic so..."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Deep breath. There are people looking at them, people drawn to the noise, and Usagi is small and cute, but she's not as small and cute as a crying 7th grader, and Taro is tall and not-so-cute. Before anyone can say anything, she's firmly telling Shiori-san -

"Seiko-san's pet got in my face, and spooked me, and she got scared when Taro-kun here moved her away from me. I'm sorry there was yelling, we didn't mean to disrupt your event. We're going to go now, okay?"

And then, she's pulling Taro away with her, listening closely as he talks, and there's watery eyes and shaky breath and scrubbing at the eyes and she just knows he's going to cry, so she takes one of her spring rolls and wraps it in a napkin and pushes it into his hands.

"Hey, it's okay, it's fine. Amy-can's cool, and she'll get over it. Sometimes people irritate each other and they fight and maybe they make up and maybe they don't. It's okay! I'm glad you were helping me. You should eat this, because when you're upset and you eat something, you feel better. It's like, science."

Technically... not incorrect?

"It's okay. I'm trying to keep it quiet because everything is trouble, but I wasn't going to let them gang up on you, so - wait, you were there? When Mamochan got - but she was really dangerous - Taro-kun!"

She squawks.

"Okay, okay, come on, let's go and like... get something to eat, okay? We can catch the rest of the meteor shower from somewhere else, there's sky all over in this part of town."

And away they go, from the rest of the event.