365/Just Cats Talking

Just Cats Talking
Date of Scene:	04 September 2023
Location:	Tsukino-Osaka Dorm
Synopsis:	Kyouka goes to talk to Luna about some stuff.
Cast of Characters:	Kyouka Inai, Usagi Tsukino

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Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka knows the way to Usagi and Naru's dorm, obviously. She was in there, all beat up, just a few days prior. She's still all beat up- stuff like a broken arm doesn't heal overnight, not even for magical people. She'll be fine after a while, but for now, her left arm is still in a sling. At least it's a real medical sling, now, rather than Naru's shirt fashioned into one.

    Thing is, as Kyouka approaches the dorm on this particular afternoon, she's not looking for Usagi or for Naru. She came here at this time because she's looking for a cat. And rather than go to the door inside the building, she approaches the outside. There's a big tree growing beside the building, and, broken arm or no, the guidance counselor handily jumps up and catches a branch, hauling herself up one-armed, then scrambles up the few remaining feet until she can perch on the windowsill of the room belonging to those two particular girls, relaxed with one leg on the tree branch like she's a wayward student sneaking in. She lightly raps on the glass. "Hey, any cats at home?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
When Usagi and Naru aren't home, Luna likes to enjoy having the dorm to herself. She can stretch out and lounge and engage in cat-like behavior that she doesn't typically feel inclined towards doing with company around; chief among those behaviors is grooming. Sure, Usagi can and will brush her down as needed, but it's preferable to handle her own affairs!
rAll of which is to say when a voice calls from outside of the dorm, outside of the window, Luna offers a little shriek and nearly falls off of Usagi's bed.

"...meow?"

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka looks like she's probably climbed in and out of more windows than the average 23-year-old. But that sort of thing comes with the mahou lifestyle, doesn't it? She seems perfectly comfortable sitting on the outside of the windowsill, one boot on the tree branch, even with her arm in the sling.

    She smirks a bit at the cat. "Uh huh, you can cut the 'meow' stuff, I was here the other day when you were yelling at Usagi about her boyfriend, remember?" She says, using her good hand to pry the window open a bit more. "Listen, I need to talk to you. You specifically. About something I heard in a dream."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Luna prowls to the edge of the bed and looks through the window. On recognizing Kyouka, she sighs. "It's you again."

Not that she has anyting against Kyouka - she's barely spoke to the woman! But, well. She does seem to cause and find a lot of trouble..."

"Well, hold on a moment, I'll get the window."

A few dainty hops later - it's like she never broke that leg, the way it's healed, and she will have to thank young Chiyo-chan - she's pressing against the window, forepaws and back put into it. It opens with a delicate swoosh; the window screen is already removed.

"I'd like to hear more about this boyfriend if we'll be talking," she says tartly, hopping down to Naru's bed and sitting, tail curled about her feet.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Ironically, a disappointed 'oh, its you again' is among the most common greetings Kyouka receives, and she's used to it at this point. She just grins a lopsided grin. She doesn't make any move to enter the room. She just swings her legs around so they'r'e on the inside, while remaining perched on the windowsill. No need to tresspass in the girl's room- well, any more than necessary, anyway. She just wants to talk to the cat.

    "Look I don't think he's really her boyfriend. You know how teenagers are." Kyouka says, evasively. "More importantly right now, I had a dream-visit from a ghost last night, and she told me something that I think you might be able to help me parse. And maybe of some interest to you as well, at least to know that it's being talked about."

    She rests an elbow on her knee, chin in her hand, as she sits on the windowsill. "What do you know about the 'Silver Crystal'?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Luna is decidedly unimpressed. Let Kyouka sit outside then, rather than enter. It was on her head if someone thought to look up and spied her perched like an intruder at the window of a girl's dormitory. She was not going to be caught, no one would think twice about a cat in the bedroom she belonged in.

"If he wasn't something, she wouldn't have reacted like that," Luna says dryly, because being a teenager herself (this time! now! She remembers being an adult, she remembers being an advisor and companion to her lady, the queen, and she remembers, vaguely, so vaguely, that even the princess could be a bit flighty, so what could Usagi help but be? "Considering he broke your arm, I wouldn't think you'd approve."

But for all that, she listens at attention when Kyouka speaks, frowning. A ghost? Japanese ghosts were hardly things to speak lightly of -

Her whole body stiffens. Her eyes narrow, focused. "That's not something I'm going to speak of lightly to you, Inai-san. What ghosts have you been speaking too?"

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka isn't out to impress Luna- nor is she out to break into the girl's room. She just wants to talk. Luckily, the leaves of the tree she climbed up do provide some cover against a random passerby spotting her and calling the cops or something.

    She glances to the broken arm. "It was.. more complicated than it appears. Besides, I didn't say I approve. Didn't say I disapprove either. It is what it is. I'm not their mom. Thank god."

    "You don't have to speak lightly." This to Luna's reaction to mention of the crystal. "I just want some reassurance. This ghost.. I have reason to believe I can trust her, to a degree. Or rather, I trust her motives. She came to me in a dream and she said, and I quote 'Find the Silver Crystal. Awaken the Princess.'. Now, I happen to know this is all more your domain than mine. And don't worry, I'm not out to steal your job, your crystal, or your princess."

    "I just wanted some reassurance, here. If this ghost of mine thought this was important for me to hear, then it must be related to my interests. And generally speaking, I think my interests align with yours." The whole time she's kept her casual posture, elbow on knee, chin in hand, sitting on the windowsill.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Luna shakes her head, ears pinned flat. "Reassurance of what? And what are the interests of this ghost? Who were they, and what do they know of our princess?"

There are things, many things, that she's not even told Usagi. She's justified that to herself with the thought that the girls weren't ready, that the trust wasn't there, she might be pushing them too far if she were to reveal too much, all at once. Even still - she knows very well that it would be a bridge too far to discuss those things with literal stranger before discussing them with Usagi, Rei, or Ami. She will hear Kyouka Inai's questions, if only to learn what she knows, but she is not stretching out her hand - not yet. Kyouka Inai had brought them the knowledge that the Midnight Tokyo plot existed, and Luna trusted that she did want that stopped. Even believed she had the best interests of the Earth in her thoughts. But it was one thing to give information to those who could best use it. It was an entirely different thing to ask after that which cut to the very heart of the Silver Millennium.

Find the Silver Crystal. Awaken the princess.

Their goals, from someone else's lips, and the Earth is a place far too dangerous for the princess of the moon. Luna can't believe that everyone who wants to see her princess awakened would also want to see her safe. She needs to know something about the person out there, spreading knowledge of the Silver Crystal and the princess.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    It's not that Kyouka doesn't understand Luna's position. Well, in her case, she might be more forthcoming with the girls- or maybe not. It's not like she isn't sitting on a boatload of her own secrets, although the circumstances are a bit different. Regardless, she appreciates that she hasn't earned the trust of this talking feline companion.

    However, she didn't come here expecting the cat to spill everything it knew, either. This isn't about that. It's half recon, and half warning. Truth be told, she isn't sure why Himeko wants her to help find the crystal and awaken the princess. She has some guesses, but even if she guesses the motivation correctly, she can't be sure of the actual consequences or practicality of doing as she's asked.

    "This particular ghost is bound to someone I believe has our collective best interests at heart. And my belief is that she thinks that these two things- finding the Crystal, and awakening the Princess- will help this mutual friend of ours, who is in somewhat of a tight spot at the moment. I realize that may not be reassuring in and of itself, but I think Tsukino-san would also approve of helping this mutual friend, if we can. If that's worth anything."

    She heaves a small sigh. "Anyway. It's not like I'm expecting you to tell me everything you know. I wanted you to know that there may be more at play here than you know about. Do you know where the Crystal is? Is it safe? That would reassure me."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Usagi's villainous boyfriend would be helped if the Crystal were found and the Princess awakened," Luna says dryly. "What incredible reassurance this gives me, Inai-san."

Oh sure, this is absolutely not a plot, definitely not something that could horrendously backfire if she were to be trusted with any information at all. "Usagi would approve of helping a gecko. Probably even a worm, if she didn't have to touch it herself. It's not exactly a vote of confidence that it would help him."

It's not that Luna doesn't like Darien. She does. He's a polite young man and he's helped Usagi considerably. But he's also, obviously, Hematite, as Inai herself had confirmed, and she will remember that that means he can't be trusted, even if Usagi would rather forget. "I know that there are others looking for the Crystal, and the princess. It is safe." She is confident. She is sure. She is... Relatively both of those things, as long as no one looks too hard. "But it will not be either of those things if outsiders go gossiping. Tell your ghost to silence themself."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Okay, first of all," says Kyouka, sounding annoyed now, "He's not her boyfriend, like, I don't think it's official. Or at least nobody told me." She makes it sound as if telling her would be priority #1 if it were official. "Secondly, he's not.. alright, he's pretty villainous but only by circumstance. And also I might not have been talking about him. You're jumping to an awful lot of conclusions cat."

    Why does she sound so defensive? Probably because she didn't expect to have to defend Darien and Usagi's not-relationship during this conversation.

    "The ghost doesn't answer to me, it's not like I can.. oh wait, actually I can text her. I'll do that later. But that's not the point." She scowls at the cat, leaning forward a little on her windowsill perch. "I want to keep Usagi safe and I want to help Darien. They're both my students and they've both come to me for help and that's what I do. I'm not asking you to give me the Crystal. I just want to make sure you're not going to lose it."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"He's literally the only option," Luna says with a roll of her eyes. "Maybe not literally on the planet, but their friends tried to set them up together, she's highly attached to him and he to her, given the gifts, and even if it's not official now, she wants it to be." Spoken of in the firm tones of someone who has Seen Things.

"I don't wish ill on him, Inai-san, but the trouble he's in obviously involves Obsidian, considering what he did to you, and Obsidian, as you so helpfully pointed out, is literally trying to destroy the world, so do forgive me if protecting one of their members isn't one of my highest priorities. I have to be suspicious of anyone aligned with him who has directives regarding the Crystal, or the princess. Because -"

And she hesitates, grimaces, and then says, firmly, "I am not going to lose the Silver Crystal."

Surely, Queen Serenity would not let it be so easily found - "But it's power is tempting, and those looking are often tempted. There have been many who thought it's power could solve their problems." A pause. Her ears flick, her teeth click, as she considers her words, jaw working. "This ghost... were they human, once?"

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Yeah well, we don't always get what we want." Kyouka mutters, in the tones of someone who knows perfectly well there's no stopping teenage love, hormones, or Miracle Romances. Between the three it's probably a lost cause.

    "Don't blame him for this," Kyouka says, waggling her sling-restrained arm. "Alright, this was the best case scenario and his hand was forced. I'm not saying that the trouble isn't serious, just that don't start getting self-righteous on my account when I'm not flinging blame around."

    "You don't have to tell me that power is tempting and it'd be bad if the bad guys got it. This ain't my first rodeo." She still sounds mildly annoyed, but she's speaking moderately. "For now, as long as you're sure it's safe, that's good enough for me. But I wanted you to know that attention is being garnered. If Himeko-chan told me that, I don't know who else might be getting similar messages and that's concerning."

    At the question of whether the ghost was once human, she quirks her lips. "I... have no idea. I assume so, because she takes on a consistent human form. But I admit that's not definititve. Why does that matter?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Luna is politely not going to comment on that, because frankly she hasn't gotten anything she wanted since a very silly, cowardly little girl turned out to be Sailor Moon. "It's not about your arm, Inai-san. It's about the fact that this is something he had to do, because of the side he's on. What else might he have to do, in the future? Usagi trusts him. Naru, I think, trusts him. You want to help him. Someone has to be more skeptical, to balance that out."

He's not on their side. He told Sailor Moon not to trust him. Someone needs to heed that warning, and see him as a danger, because Usagi certainly won't.

"Thank you. I know it may not seem like it, but I do appreciate your efforts. Usagi is... Improving, with your guidance, and this warning is helpful." Himeko-chan. A name. A place to start. And besides, hadn't Usagi talked about a Himeko-chan...?

At the confirmation and question, Luna grimaces. "Humans do not have a good history, with the Crystal. A ghost with knowledge of it... could be very dangerous." Could a ghost have survived the restoration of the world?

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Don't get me wrong." Kyouka says, her tone grim. "I do not trust Darien Shields. Not as he is right now. I've told Usagi she needs to be careful. I believe he is inherently trustworthy in a vacuum, but you are right- he is in a position where compulsion is not off the table. Just because he doesn't want to hurt me, or her, doesn't mean that it's impossible that he would under the correct circumstances. I am fully aware of that."

    She shakes her head slightly at the mention of a human ghost being more dangerous than any other. "I honestly do not think this particular ghost has any designs on the crystal for herself. She's... trying to improve. That's kind of my gig, you know? Help people improve. Doesn't just apply to heroes. Regardless, I understand the danger of bringing such things to the attention of more people. Which is why I came here to talk to you."

    She leans forward slightly, hand resting on her knee. "Keep it secret. Keep it safe. Isn't that how the line goes? I'm no Gandalf, but my interest in finding this Crystal is not for myself, or because a ghost asked me to. I know what's at stake here." She pauses, then adds, "I'll let you know if I hear anything else of relevance."

    Then she abruptly turns and slips back off the windowsill and down to the ground, nimble as the cat herself might be, despite one arm in a sling, and is gone.