Advice over Mirror Lives

Advice over Mirror Lives
Date of Scene:	15 January 2024
Location:	Administrative Office
Synopsis:	Following Sailor Moon's suggestion, Sayaka and Klarissa head to Kyouka. The counselor manages to stop a quarrel as it was forming and gives out life advice to the two bluenettes.
Cast of Characters:	Sayaka Miki, Kyouka Inai

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Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sailor Moon had come up to them one day because she knew the two of them were having problems. Actually they were having problems on several matters, chief of all with each other even, because one of them had been spared from their original's stress, depressive streak and low self-esteem caused by Kyubey's manipulations (that did not prevent her from being angry at him, it just stopped her from being sent on a downward spiral).

The other instead... not so much. She was fully convinced interacting with others was something she couldn't do anymore, her soul eviscerated from her body without her knowledge and sealed into a rock, presenting a lie to everyone. And her low self-esteem had pushed her to try and convince her other half to take over their life, because she had none of her attitude and she wasn't going to judge that. Too bad the one who was in fact calling herself Sayaka was having none of it and had taken to drag Klarissa out with her to as many social events as she could, in the hopes this would improve her mood.

This however wasn't having the desired effect and Klarissa's mood was only turning more and more sour at being corced into those circumstances. Shouldn't she be spending time actually helping save people? That's what she contracted for, why force her to waste time on things she doesn't have the right to enjoy? One of these days she is going to run away from Sayaka, she knows it. She should just be happy without her since she can.

Moreover there was the fact their relationship with Hinoiri was weighing on their hearts. They are both in love with her, and yet both of them know she just started the whole thing so she could learn what it means to be in a relationship and doesn't actually love them back. She even said as much in their presence, just in case they needed the reminder. Well, in her presence, since they were still 1 person back then.

Not to mention the fact Hinoiri had confessed to being Sunbreaker and now the two bluenettes were actively keeping it a secret because she is actually hurting people in order to gain enough power to save her homeland, with the caveat they were still going to oppose her. She never would have thought one day they would keep silent over a villain's identity.

And now, Klarissa has to follow another of Sayaka's harebrained ideas and actually confess to Kyouka they are just shards of the original Sayaka thanks to what Sailor Moon told her. This is quite bad, especially after they had lied to Kyouka. Nonetheless, the three of them are at her office again, with Sayaka knocking on the door while Klarissa awaits for it to open with a dark expression.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    It is possible that although Sayaka has no way of knowing it, her confession will not even be the strangest thing that Kyouka has been told this week. That is what happens when you are a counselor to magical girls. It is also possible that Sayaka is not going to hear things she wants to hear from Kyouka as, let us remember, Kyouka is not a real guidance counselor. She is pretending to be one in order to fill the role of training and advising magical girls- but it is not like she has a degree in psychology or anything like that.

    Still, one thing she does have is experience- being a magical girl herself for most of a decade before 'retiring' and having to deal with a lot of issues herself. Not the same ones that Sayaka is dealing with- that would be a little too weird- but some things are similar even if the specifics are not.

    She is sitting behind her desk as normal, drinking from a paper cup of coffee and idly looking at something on her laptop screen when Sayaka knocks. "Come in." She calls ,glancing up with absent interest.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
"Hello, it's us again, Inai-sensei", Sayaka comments with trepidation as Ula, Klarissa and her get in, followed by a nod of assent from Klarissa. The first one of the three stops keeping up the pretenses of being a plushie as soon as the door is closed behind them. "Hello, Inai-san", the koi mermaid speaks up once she is safe from indiscreet gazes.

Then Sayaka moves on to explain the reason if their visit. "Sailor Moon has told us to come here because she thinks you can help with some problems Klarissa is having. However..." and her she hesitates, looking around as if some unexpected solution would pop out from the aether to help her out. No such thing comes, but Ula at least notices and floats over to pat her hand in solidarity. "However", she resumes after smiling at Ula. "We first have to confess a lie. We aren't twins from birth. We didn't even properly exist until about a month and a week ago."

Klarissa takes over all of a sudden with a scowl. "We are just halves of the girl known as Sayaka Miki after she got into contact with an unsealed Lost Logia. What are you going to do now you know?" she asks, her bitter attitude concealing her fear.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka glances up as Sayaka, Klarissa and Ula enter the room. She quirks a brow, but it is more in question than surprise. "Miki-san, Miki-san, and Ula." She greets the three, with a half-smile. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon. Is everything alright?" She pushes her laptop off to one side and leans her elbow on the desk, her grey eyes studying the trio.

    She gets her answer pretty quickly though, as Sayaka says that Sailor Moon is the one who told them to speak to her. Inwardly, she sighs a bit- she is glad that Usagi trusts her so much, but sometimes wonders if perhaps the girl trusts her a bit too much. Still, she'll do the best she can to help. That's her job, after all.

    Hearing what the girls say, her brows raise again. This time perhaps a bit in surprise, although she hardly seems shocked or anything. As noted, she has been dealing with magic for a very long time. Something has to be very bizarre indeed to really surprise her. "I.. see." She says, processing this information. "That's interesting." She's not even being polite, it is interesting! When Klarissa asks what she is going to do, she frowns a little.

    "What do you want me to do? It's not like I can put you back together. I don't really know much about Lost Logia to begin with. I suppose just using the same one again to reverse the process isn't an option. Is that even what you want?"

Sayaka Miki has posed:
"What I mean is", Klarissa picks the conversation back up impatiently "is that we are just unnatural products of magic that shouldn't be. And moreover very second we spend not having found a way to go back together is a second we are stealing from the original Sayaka."

The other bluenette looks at the Klarissa with a troubled expression. She really can't move her no matter what she does. "We really intend to try and go back together, and we are working on trying to. Though, we can't actually use the Lost Logia again. According to Chrono, it is merged with our souls and we have to achieve some sort of harmony to go back together. I just do not agree with living in such a pessimist way in the meantime. It all started with..."

Klarissa shakes her head at that sentence, but doesn't interrupts in any other way. "It all started with Kyubey revealing he took our soul and trapped it in these Soul Gems. Since then, the original Sayaka has taken it really badly and Klarissa is the one who inherited her problems."

"I don't know what else is there to think about. Anybody would be mad about having been turned into a rock piloting a dead body. I wanted to help everyone, and now that's just about all I deserve to do", Klarissa scowl. "I don't agree with Sayaka's push to try and let me enjoy things with others. This body you see is a lie, I don't need to contaminate everyone's spaces by hauling around a carcass that pretends to be alive."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka listens to what is said. At first she seems more interested in the facts about the Lost Logia and how it can't be used again. "Ah, it's one of those things then.. it requires you to fulfill a condition in order to reverse the effects. That's a pain, but usually there's nothing to be done but to follow through.."

    She falls silent as Klarissa begins to speak and unleashes some of her anger though. She quirks her lips to the side- she doesn't seem particularly surprised to hear the facts about soul gems and how Puella work. Maybe she already knew- having been around a long time, it is possible that she knew some Puella in the old days and found out. Or maybe she has heard more recently- it is a known fact she is on good terms with Homura Akemi. Either way, she doesn't seem shocked. But she does seem to consider seriously what Klarissa is saying before she responds.

    "I can understand why you are upset, Klarissa." She says slowly, as if thinking about her words and not wanting to be misunderstood. "You got a raw deal, and you got tricked. But I have to ask- what difference does it really make where your soul is?" She quirks one of her brows, leaning her elbow on her desk. "You couldn't see or feel it before. And you can't see or feel it now. You see out of your eyes and feel with your skin. Whether your soul is some intangible thing inside your body you aren't aware of, or some intangible thing inside a stone you aren't aware of, does it that change anything? If you want to help people, help people. Nobody you help is going to care where your soul is located. They're just going to be glad you helped them."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Yeah, Klarissa just about figures Kyouka too would be one of those types. It seems like all these well-meaning people are. "Of course it matters. You aren't looking at me right now, that's all a lie and this is just an impure corpse." She takes her ring out and places it on the desk, with the usual Witch runes that read 'Sayaka'.

"That's the real me, is that something you would call a person?" she asks pointedly to Kyouka. "It's not, and so I only really should be using my time on helping save people, not keeping up this fake pretense and wasting time with random activities. Let the people I help be happy, that's what I should be doing, not just meandering about to do things I shouldn't."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka regards the ring for a moment, then she looks back up at Klarissa. She seems to be focusing on the angry girl, rather than her more worried but calm twin, as the girl is putting her issues front and center.

    "Well, I guess that depends." She says, on the question of whether or not this ring would be called a 'person'. "Do you consider only humans to be people? Let me ask you.. do you consider Ula a person?" She gestures to the fairy. "Or even Kyubey. Or any of the mascots of the other magical girls. Luna? Or the Precure fairies? These are beings who think and talk. They have names and personalities and wishes and desires. But they aren't shaped like a human, like you or me. Does that make them not people?"

    She leans back in her chair. "If you ask me, it doesn't matter what someone looks like, what shape they are or where there soul is. If you think and talk and have feelings, you're a person. I don't care if you look like a human or a cat or a robot or a blob or energy or even a stone in a ring. A person is more than their physical shape."

    She leans her head to one side. "You can do what you want, of course. I am not here to tell you what the 'right' way to live is. Hell if I know the answer to that. But if you ask me, where your soul is or what shape your body is or what kind of creature you are shouldn't make any difference in how happy you deserve to be."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Klarissa takes in Kyouka's words. She actually doesn't agree with them. Everyone she mentioned can actually demonstate sentience on their own power, not like her. "Kyubey is a monster", she begins speaking, initially not addressing Kyouka's point, her anger making the catlike critter her focus. "He may be a person, but he is also disgusting and a liar."

She looks at Ula and then at Kyouka again. "I don't know who Luna is, but if she is anything like Ula, then yes, they are both people. They don't need to pilot an external body to do all the things you listed."

Sayaka intervenes again at this point. "Perhaps I should point out that in this regard she has been insisting I lead our original's life since I don't have the same gripes. I think how she looks at herself is actually separate from everyone else. I mean that's not something she imposes on others even in her same situation." She wouldn't go around telling Kyouko, Homura or Mami they aren't people, despite the despicable opinion she has of the last one.

"Of course, I only want to be fair to people, but you just don't care, do you?" she bites back to Sayaka. "To you I am just saying illogical things and you can just rest on your laurels, right? After all, you are the paladin of righteousness that has been pushing me around because you know best!" she shouts.

"Or course not, stop being so stubborn, I just want you to care more about yourself!" Sayaka counters.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka shrugs her shoulders. "I'm not defending Kyubey, he can be disgusting and a liar and still be a person. A lot of people are, really."

    "I don't understand why you think 'piloting' a body is any different from how anybody does it. A normal person can't see or feel their soul. They don't know where it is. Everybody's soul could be 'external' and they wouldn't even know. You know, but you don't feel any different. Or behave any different, in terms of how your body works. So why does it matter? Every person on earth could have their soul in a gem instead of in their body, and nothing would change. The world would be exactly the same. So why should it change for you?" She shrugs. "I'm sorry if I seem to be making light of your problem but maybe I'm just a practical person. You are what and who you are. It takes more to change that than moving your soul around a little."

    As the two start to argue more intensely, Kyouka holds up her hands. "Hey, hey, girls, calm down!" She has to raise her voice to be heard but she has no problem doing that. "Like I said before, everybody has their own way of living. I don't really think one person's is better than another's, as long as they're not hurting other people. You do what makes you happiest, or the most satisfied. But you should really recognize that your self-worth is not tied to the location of your soul, or the type of body you have." This she is saying to Klarissa.

    "What matters is what you do. I don't care if your soul is inside or outside or even if you don't have a soul at all. If you're making the world a better place you're a good person and you deserve to feel like it." She shrugs her shoulders. "Just remember, Sayaka is a real person, too. And she's your sister, or twin, or part of yourself- the point is she's close to you. And if you want to help people, maybe you should start with her. She's obviously trying to help you."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
"Really? Well, it just so happens I have the answer to that too", Klarissa replies tearing a torbid gaze away from her twin. "Because it does make a difference, and furthermore it's the proof that I am just playing make-believe at still being a person."

She touches the ring on the desk, making a finger travel around its circumference. "If I were to tell this body to go away from me for more than 100 meters, it would fall to the ground like a puppet who has had its strings cut. Do you really think that nothing has changed? There are no vital signs of any kind, we have already seen that when it happened to another Puella. It's how Kyubey's treachery came to light."

Sayaka talks again, but to Kyouka, not Klarissa. "She really will die at this rate by her Soul Gem getting too dark, and another facet of the problem is..." she blushes at this point "Sayaka the original, and both of us as a consequence, is in a relationship with someone we really like, and ever since her self-esteem has taken a hit, she is quite hard on herself about that our girlfriend is only doing this to learn what actually is love, but doesn't like us back." Yet, she would add if not for Klarissa's presence, in what her optimistic side is telling her.

"Oh, just give her the password to our socials, why don't you?" Klarissa murmurs with irritation.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka sounds somewhat exasperated with Klarissa at this point. "Okay, so it makes a very technical difference. Just don't take the ring off!" She is nothing if not a practical person, indeed. "I'm not saying nothing has changed. Of course things have changed. But changing doesn't make you less of a person. You couldn't use magic before either, and now you can. That's a change, too."

    She leans her arms on her desk. "Look, there's a lot of bad stuff that goes on in this world. People die, or suffer, or live in miserable conditions. All I know is that its the responsibility of people like us, people with power, to try and make the world a bit better for the people who can't. You say you want to do that- good. Do it. That's what matters. All this stuff about souls and being alive or dead or a person or not a person.. none of it really matters. Fight, live, leave the world a better place than you found it. Try to get some satisfaction out of doing it. That's all anybody can ask for, and worrying about whether you have a right to it, or you're pure or deserving or whatever, it's a waste of time."

    Mention of girlfriends and relationships cause Kyouka to pause, then look a little uncomfortable, eyes shifting to the side. Not because she doesn't want to talk about love or relationships... but because she doesn't feel qualified to do so. "Look, I'm not really the person you should be asking about relationship advice." She says. "I mean I..." She clears her throat. "Don't have a whole lot of experience in that regard."

    Being twenty-three does not, in fact, make you a wise old lady, it turns out.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Klarissa can't deny that magic happens to be a positive change, even if she still feel sour. That's the one thing she still cares about regarding herself: she - or Sayaka, or whatever - has taken up this duty to take care of the people she loves, and do what's just.

She guesses both of them are passionate about the same matter, and she has to admit to herself that Sayaka is close to her in that matter too. Despite having the same appearance, she really has started to treat herself separately. "It is really easy to forget we are actually the same person", she admits with a spent laugh. "I wonder what Sayaka will be like if we manage to recombine."

For her part, Sayaka has found appreciation in what Kyouka had to tell them. Maybe, telling Klarissa to find appreciation in the mark she leaves on the world will be able to rouse her twin and make her closer to Sayaka, she actually hopes. And maybe that will cover for the last thing both of them feel bad over, she thinks with a pang of guilt. Not like she can tell Kyouka about Hinoiri being Sunbreaker or what she had lived through.

Speaking of Hinoiri, it appears Sayaka has hit an uncomfortable point for Kyouka. "Oh, it's ok, you already did a lot really, it's understandable you don't hold every answer!"

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Look it's not like I'm some old spinster who's never had a girlfriend or anything," Kyouka says, perhaps a bit too quickly. "I just... would not characterize myself as someone who has had much luck with the whole romance thing." She clears her throat. This may be some evasion of the highest caliber.

    "But I think I can say that its great if you care about her, but if she doesn't really care about you maybe you should consider taking a break." She shrugs her shoulders. "You do need to take care of yourself, and that means recognizing your worth, and if people around you aren't doing that either then maybe you don't need those people around you."

    She pauses, then adds, "Also, maybe if you're not always there for her, this girlfriend of yours will realize how much she actually liked having you around. You know, sometimes people need to be missing something before they realize how much they appreciated it in the first place."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
None of them feels they should comment on Kyouka's 'spinster' comment. It feels like they are going to say just more awkward things while trying to reassure her. Best to just excuse themselves at this point.

"Hinoiri actually cares about us, just not like girlfriends. More like two sisters to watch over, I think", she explains. Sayaka nods to Ula and Klarissa towards the door, and both of them nod back in agreement. "Thank you for your time, Inai-sensei", Klarissa tells Kyouka. "Yes, we really appreciate it", adds Sayaka. And the three of them get out of the office with a last wave.