2566/Left Holding the Bag

Left Holding the Bag
Date of Scene:	28 May 2025
Location:	Cafe BAKE Neko
Synopsis:	Mamoru calls Minako to give her the Silver Goddamn Crystal.
Cast of Characters:	Mamoru Chiba, Minako Aino
Tinyplot:	BMC: Wicked Ride
Tinyplot2:	Black Moon Clan

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Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Well-- apparently Diana has convinced Anko that Artemis is not a deadbeat or whatever Anko thought was wrong with him, mostly because Anko thinks it's going to be hilarious when Artemis finds out he has a kitten. Either way, word will have reached Artemis by now that he is no longer unfairly persona non grata in the cat cafe or Mamoru's apartment, For Some Possibly Suspicious Reason.

Also either way, Mamoru's sitting by the window with a little gift bag on his table, wearing a navy blue yukata with grey and white cats printed on it, and 'nyan' and 'neko' in bouncy hiragana and kanji, respectively. He has bubble tea and is waiting for Minako.

Minako Aino has posed:
It was unusual for Mamoru to reach out to Minako directly requesting she stop by. Usually it was her reaching out or just stopping by in general to visit, or deal with some current youma, or the like. It was a nice change of pace!

Then again who else of the Senshi would he reach out to at this point with Usagi missing?

A somewhat uncertain yet serious Minako is who arrives with Artemis trailing beside her, tail held high and confident for once as he saunters in. It's Artemis who greets Mamoru first. A few long loping strides has him bounding up into the window near him to settle down with tail wrapping around his haunches as he does. "Good to see you, Mamoru," he greets with head dipping toward the Prince that his Princess was so attached to.

Mina was wearing a casual enough outfit of a skirt and blouse. Nothing untoward or flashy or flirty (so certain Shittenou couldn't accuse her of such) as she approaches. "Sorry if you were waiting. What did you want to see me about?" She asks even as she moves to sit in one of the seats across from him.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Artemis-san, Minako-san," Mamoru says in warm relief, and pushes the bag across the table. "I wasn't waiting, I was existing, don't worry."

It's funny, he looks unsettled but not as depressed as maybe he'd be expected to look, less upset than he ought to be, maybe. "New Moon stopped by here and I got an update on Usako, and also a contact number for New Moon-- she gave me her card when I asked how I could get in touch with her and Wicked Lady."

A beat.

"For until I go join them."

In the bag? A bunch of Silver Crystal lollipops, a couple of fake Silver Crystals from the batch that Hinoiri made over a year and a half ago, and a jewelry box.

"The box belongs to Neo Queen Serenity."

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino is a little surprised by the bag being pushed her way. It was a bit late for obligation chocolate and she couldn't really remember if she'd given Mamoru any obligation chocolate either! She was fairly sure she had but... That was around the time her hairbow had caught fire. It was a mess. She wears a puzzled expression as she takes the bag to peer inside listening to what he says.

"Oh, sure, until you join them," she nods solemnly as if this made perfect sense. At least until her hands suddenly slap against the table and she leans across with eyes wide and hair askew. "UNTIL YOU WHAT?!"

Artemis looks as seriously concerned as a cat could possibly manage. "Are you certain that's a good idea, Mamoru-san? I know you want to go after them of course," he hastens to add, tail suddenly twitching in aggitation.

Mina's gaze remains locked on Mamoru. Then drops down to the bag. The faux silver crystals, the lollipops she'd seen him eating often, the box that belongs to...

Rather suddenly she drops back into her seat with hands raising to *clutch* the bag protectively. "Oh no you're not this isn't-"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The corner of Mamoru's mouth twitches up, almost exactly like King Endymion's, but with more sparkle in his eyes from amusement at Minako's reaction. But-- it's amused but kind, gentle, and absolutely bedrock firm.

"Oh yes I am, and yes it is. I want to make sure that there's no chance it falls into corrupted hands, and I can't think of anyone safer to give it to than you," he says matter-of-factly.

Then he leans forward and looks at both Artemis and Minako, regarding them and their expressions, and he says in a lower voice, "There's wedding planning to do. New Moon already relayed her best guess at Usagi's probable delegation wishes, and they're counting on me to coordinate, so I'm not going to be with them full time. And I'm not accepting any dark energy. It's just, uh, Wicked Lady will be maid of honor. Sorry."

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino opens her mouth, shuts it, and drops her head down ontop of the bag while her fingers dig in causing it to crinkle in protest. A low groan comes from her as she realizes this is him digging his feet in. It wasn't hard to miss that steely look.

Artemis reaches a paw out to gently pat Mina's shoulder in consolation.

There's so many things she could say but what ends up mumbled is a relieved, almost teary, "So she's okay." What a rollercoaster of emotions to put her on though! Her head raises as she sniffles, eyes slightly watery and lower lip wibbling as if she were about to break into tears much like Usagi might. They did share habits at times. It was ingrained into Mina after all.

"Fine, okay, yes. Yes. You're leaving a way for US to get in contact with you though? And of course I'll take care of it," she adds suddenly serious and solemn again with her voice dropping. "With my life if I need."

Artemis looks toward Mamoru again with a twitch of his whiskers. "Minako is already planning to pose as Usagi-san and Sailor Moon as needed to make it seem she's still around. So that the Black Moon Clan won't know."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Yeah I mean I'm keeping my phone," Mamoru says reasonably, then reaches across the table to offer his hand when Minako gets kind of watery. "It's going to be okay. Remember: the wedding. How many purifiers do we know? And the wedding's on the 22nd. Less than a month away."

If Minako takes his hand, there's warm reassurance, there's actually active trust in Wicked Lady and New Moon, and trust that Usagi's all right, and he shares the light of his connection to Usagi: she's not afraid, she's not in immediate danger. "Wicked Lady's at about Beryl's power level, I'd say. She'll keep me and Usagi safe from the rest of the Black Moon Clan until we can save her."

Then he blinks at Artemis and Minako in that order at the Sailor Moon news. "Really?" he relaxes a little bit, "that's excellent. Wicked Lady's playing a game she showed me -- Don't Let Demande Find Usagi. She showed me where she is, too. I just can't share it, it was one of the conditions of telling me. But she's safe. But anyway that'll help -- especially if you plead with Wicked Lady to come home. The biggest favor you can do them is fooling Demande and Saphir into thinking Sailor Moon is around."

"As far as the bag goes, I know you will."

Minako Aino has posed:
The offered hand is taken in Mina's with the firm grip of someone used to weilding a sword, or hitting volleyballs, or performing acrobatics on a beam. Someone stronger than she looked beneath her lovely visage. Even as that reassurance and trust flows to her he might catch a glimpse of her own worry. Worry that she'll fail her Princess and friend *again*, worry that she's not good enough...

Ah, but he would feel that. The realization is felt as much as she feels the reassurance from his end. There's a sudden shift in her as she draws a deep breath to dig deep and find the burning confidence deep within her that *things will be okay* as long as there is fight in her. And there was.

And maybe just a hint of jealousy/pride that Usagi had found her true destined love but it's fleeting and hardly important. Just the background noise of someone who was in her heart a romantic in spite of all her flaws.

"Good, okay. That'll help then." Minako manages a smile and starts to lift her free hand to swipe at her face before realizing it was the only one holding the bag at the moment so she does NOT let that go. A firm nod comes instead.

"Right. Fooling those two won't be a problem. Izou can also pose as her if we need, he does the looks okay but I have the body doubling down. We can do this."

There was a plan now at least: Fool Demande and Saphir. That bolsters her confidence an incredible amount and she's determined to make it work.

"We'll have to hide the wedding from them too, though! We don't need wedding crashers."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Izou as Sailor Moon? That sounds problematically attractive," Mamoru says, corner of his mouth curling up again into a lopsided sort of smirk. "But yeah, that will help tremendously. "I'm not sure how to hide the wedding though, honestly. Except that it'll be on the moon, in the weird little hidden Moon Dimension or whatever... did you know there's an atmosphere again? And plants, and water? It's a magic dome again..."

He doesn't talk about Minako's fear, he just says warmly, "We can do this. It'll be okay."

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino lets out a little bit of a sigh at the tease about Izou being attractive. "I know why does he have to be so stupid pretty no matter what he wears? Stupid Izou," she mutters, but with the sort of affection a friend might have when 'insulting' one another and not any actual malice. Even she could admit he was cute/pretty/whatever he was!

As far as hiding the wedding? She furrows her brows in thought, shifting her gaze over to Artemis who gives a firm nod. "We'll talk to Ami-chan about it and see what can be worked out. I'm sure she'll have some great ideas for it! I didn't realize it was already active again though. That's great! It'll make it so much easier for guests." Which means, who was working on getting the guests there!? AUGH there *was* a wedding to plan!

It's a little welcome distraction at least. When Mamoru assures her, she smiles a bit. "I know. It's my job to worry though. We'll do it though, for sure!"