363/Monkeyin' Around

Monkeyin' Around
Date of Scene:	04 September 2023
Location:	School Library
Synopsis:	The library is where those souls surrendering to their studies find themselves - or, where they still dare to goof off. Cho catches Usagi doing just that, and a bargain over studying blossoms into a new friendship.
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Cho Konishi

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Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi Tsukino was facing down the most dreaded enemy of all children the world over: the return to school after the blissful weeks of summer vacation. And of course, like all true, childish at heart children, Usagi had... utterly failed to complete even a single scrap of her summer homework until the week before it was due. Sure, she'd managed to turn it all in, but the reward for her suffering had been...

More homework.

School is truly a cursed place. More homework! After all those summer projects! In the first week of school!!!

That was why she was here in the library, trying and admittedly failing to make some progress; in theory she had her math textbook (recovered from behind the closet) in front of her and a series of math problems to complete. In practice, she actually had a volume of manga stuffed into the math book, and she was giving it every ounce of attention Naru-chan would have said her math homework deserved.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi was one of those terrible, awful people... who stayed on top of their homework. Truly, a monster. And she had... so the new homework hadn't been any trouble. Instead, what she had failed at was bouncing back to her past issues of avoiding people and hiding and well... now she had ended up bonking her head and getting told off by Wuwu. This was likely not an improvement. Still, she'd been henshined at the time so it was okay.

When she walked in, she caught sight of someone studying and... oh. Oh dear, she shouldn't bother them. She--

Then she caught sight of the manga and a small smile formed on her lips. Awwww. The girl was 'studying'. She should tell them not to... but what if she got mad? What if-- No. NO! This was perfect. It was JUST the two of them. She could practice her 'meeting new people and encouraging' arts. And it was homework, she could help with that! Worse came to worse, she had some peach cookies with which to bribe.

So she walked up behind Usagi and then leaned behind her. "You know, I can't deny that while One plus One equalling romance is a funner style of math, I don't think it's one that the RHA staff would approve of as a side curriculum," she said in a teasing tone.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The manga is at one of the high points so far, in Usagi's opinion - the two protagonists can speak the same langauge finally, and the main character is able to participate in the world around her, finally understanding what's going on - not that Usagi finds that relatable, or anything, or would like to find it relatable. Or anything.

She's thoroughly engrossed - not even faking properly that she's doing her math homework, consumed by the artwork and the writing of the story -

Which is why she's totally caught off-guard when someone speaks up behind her.

"Uwah!" A hand flies up to cover her mouth, stifling the cry of surprise, as Usagi tilts her head up and stares frozen at the other girl - huh. It really shouldn't be so surprising that there are people she doesn't know at this school; it's huge. And yet, it feels like it's been a little while since she met someone new.

"Ah,,,ahaha,,, would you believe it's just a little study break?"

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi just smiled down at her and gave a small nod. "Oh, I would... except you were hiding the manga inside the math book so it's pretty clear what you were doing," Cho said. "I could pretend to believe it though, if you like. Cho Konishi, grade nine. I could help you, if you like? I know math can be pretty hard especially if you don't have a study buddy," she offered.

Yes. Socialize. EXCUSE! She could do this. She. Could. Make. A. FRIEND! She could push that limit, past the break point. Be FRIENDLY! She was everything she wanted, needed, could be! SHE COULD DO THIS!

She slid into the seat besides her and.. well, decided to try the Kyouko approach. "We could even make it fun. I have some peach cookies, say... every five right answers, you can have one?"

... then urked and her smile wavered a little. Oh crap. Now she sounded like an ass hole. She didn't know this girl. What if she... really... was taking a break and she should have listened to that voice in her head and not interfered and what if now this girl hated her?

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi was ready for the lecture, the teasing, the - well, not the offer to believe her lie, or the offer to be a study buddy. She closes the mathbook (manga still inside!) sheepishly, and offers the other girl a megawatt smile. "Usagi Tsukino, grade 9! I'd say believe me, believe me, but I guess it's too late, huh?"

She doesn't mind getting caught, and she's not actually that embarrassed - nope, known slacker Usagi Tsukino is too shameless to be ashamed! Yeah!

"I'd love a study buddy, Cho-chan, especially with snacks!" Besides, this encounter is definitely tilting in her favor... "Do you know a grade 10 student, Darien Shields? You've got the same study trick as him."

Snacks for questions answered correctly, a diabolical trade to trick the hungry into doing their homework, but oh, how sweet the evil. "Are you sure you want to spend your study time helping me though? You're probably already done with the welcome back homework."

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi was halfway through coping with the inevitable rejection... when it wasn't! She wasn't tossed aside like garbage! In fact, the other girl liked the plan. She reached into her bag and pulled out a small pouch of peach cookies, placing them on the table. They were a cute little pink. "Darien.. Shields? I... want to say I met him once? Tall guy? Is on his phone a lot? I think we just waved once," she said. "He's a friend of yours?"

However, the question on spending her study time made her shake her head. "I don't mind at all." She pulled one of the cookies out and broke it in half, offering half to her. "Here, so you know what you're fighting for." They weren't the prettiest, but they were pretty good. "It's kind of my duty to help students who are struggling with things, I'm a member of the student council and ensuring all of the other students can succeed is part of what we're here for." ... It doesn't, generally, require someone to tutor another student. "Besides, I'm not really good at... meeting people. So being able to offer help like this is an easy way to make a new friend without like. Having to do stuff I suck at."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"He is! He gets me to study with the same trick, so I wondered if you learned it together," Usagi says cheerfully, and re-opens her math book. With much regret, she slides the manga volume into her backpack and actually pulls over her notebook. "That's him. Tall, long-ish shiny black hair, deep blue eyes, very good at finding new ways to teach the classwork..."

Belated, it occurs to her that this might not sound good.

"But! I promise I'm not trying to take advantage of your snacks! I really do appreciate your time and help!"

And just like that, Cho-chan cements her place in the world with cookies. An unearned cookie! Usagi promptly gobbles it, of course. It's absolutely delicious, and she says so, immediately.

"This is amazing, amazing! And you're going to share it with me?!"

The librarian, in the back corner, offers a loud SHUSH that has Usagi sinking into her seat a little, before she shakes it off.

"Oh! You're in the student council? That's cool! I used to be in the Go Home Club, but now that I live on campus, I've got a free for recruitment sticker on my back... student council always seemed like a lot of work, but I'm happy to be your new friend, Cho-chan!"

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi couldn't help but smile at the other girl. She had a smile that could light up the world, this lil twintailed girl. Cho liked her already. "Oh? You remember him a lot better than I do, then. He seems to have made an impression on you," she said in a teasing tone.

"And I don't mind if you take advantage of my snacks, I can just take advantage of you in other ways later. And wow I wish I had thought before I'd said that because that did not come out how I meant it to sound let's move on, shall we?" she said quickly, her cheeks going bright red. Oof.

She then reached out and pointed to the first question. "Let's start here. Do you understand how to solve this problem?" Namely, was the issue a 'I don't know how to focus on this one' versus a 'I don't know the core solution' problem.

"It's... a lot of work. Not a lot of fun, honestly. But it's... comforting. And even with all the work, it's nice to be able to look around later and go 'I helped these people by doing this'. Even... even if something is hard and you don't like it, when you can at least tell that you helped people it makes it worthwhile, right?" she asked.

She then blinked a few times. "Did... did you just call me Cho-chan?" she asked. Had... had anyone ever called her that? Mayyyybe Coco. But.. not so soon after meeting. It made her feel... warm. And bubbly. Inside. "Well, I'm happy to be your friend too, Usagi-chan."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi flushes red a little at Cho's teasing words, only to stick her tongue out in victory when those same words turn against Cho in a delightful display of what goes around comes around. "I didn't hear anything," she says magnimoniously, fixing her face to a totally placid, calm expression that made it clear just how litle she had heard.

And then of course, they have to actually get to the work, and her magnimonious expression dies in favor of a grimace. "I don't even know. It's a linear equation, and it needs a graph, and I didn't really get it when the teacher explained, and I thought I was doing great, because I got the order of operations down! But now I'm lost all over again!"

And she is no longer doing great. So much for a nice solid C for the year!

Her complaints are a little petty, and small. Cho-chan's explanation on the other hand, of how she felt about the student council? That sounded - unexpectedly familiar. Almost exactly what being a magical girl felt like, even, and what was up with that, that being a magical girl could be like being in school council, even a little bit? Being Sailor Moon saved people, but being in the student council - well, she guessed it helped people too. Student council gave all the clubs their funding, and made sure the school festival was planned, and...

"You don't mind, do you? I can call you Konishi-chan if you want, but Cho-chan sounds cuter!" Plus, she preferred to be on a first name basis with all her friends! The intimacy of it was totally allowed for friends!

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi let out a sigh of relief. At least her new friend was willing to forgive her uhhh... indescriminate tongue. However, when she saw what the problem was, she couldn'thelp but giggle. "You know... I always like linear equations. Like, a big part of them is moving all the bits around, you know? You move the numbers here, shape it to here, move it bit by bit. I always thought of it as kind of like... uncovering some ancient relic or washing all of the grime off an old heirloom. Piece by piece you reveal more and more of it, making it simpler and simpler each time you run through it. Then, eventually, you have the answer and it's like you solved some great, ancient riddle." Then blinked and her cheeks went a little redder. "And uhhh... that... sounds kind of dumb, huh?" she asked sheepishly. "but yeah, once you have the basics down... you kind of like... for this one. As you reveal more and more it... you see, since X is always twice what Y is... that means if Y is 0, then X is also zero. So the first mark would be 0, 0. Then, since X is always twice what Y is, if Y is 1, then X is 2, and there's a second dot here... and it's like connecting the dots, you know?" Cho said, happy as could be.

... Neeeeerrrrrrrrdddddd.

"Does... does that help any?" she asked sheepishly.

Her heart actually skipped a beat at being told it sounded cuter. "Y-yeah. I uhhh. I think I'd like to be cuter. Err, sound cuter. my name. I mean. You know?" she said feebly, stumbling over her words wildly.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi has never thought of math as anything but a kind of torture, and listening to Cho talk about it - talk about math - talk about linear equations - like they were something fun and interesting and cool is eye-opening. She watches her, the shine in her eyes, and the way her hands trace the graph, and she - doesn't get most of it, honestly, but she gets that Cho is excited, and she's quick to jump in. "No! It's not dumb at all! It's really... I've never thought about math as anything but that dumb stuff my teacher is making me do," she admits candidly, "It's kind of... do you really like math?"

Not just do you really actually like math, but is math, for Chiyo-chan, one of those especially fun things?

"So... is always twice what two is... so if Y is at this four point, X is going to be at eight, and the line looks like this?"

Did she get it? Did she do it right?!

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi shook her head. "Nah. Math is okay, but it was never really one of my favorite subjects. I just really liked the way you could see the solution, piece by piece, coming together. Like filling all the holes into a crossword, you know? It gave me this feeling of satisfaction that I kind of just... craved," she said before sighing. "There's always something just... fun about that, you know? Understanding a thing, knowing you did it. Math is good for that. You get to figure out the answer and then you just... know it's done. There's no 'If but...' or 'In my opinions'... It just is. Oh my gosh do I like math? Oh god I am such a nerd," she said, face palming before giving a light snicker. "I guess I do like math."

She glanced at the graph and... gave a nod. "Exactly! And once you've made a few dots, you can then just draw the lines accordingly! See? You're pretty smart, Usagi-chan, you've got this. I'll tell you a secret..."

She glanced left and right... and... "A lot of math? They make it look a lot harder than it actually is. They throw this big, complex problem at you and then tell you to 'solve' it. But the truth is? Nobody really can. Not like that. Most math problems? Are actually built up of a dozen smaller, less complex math problems. But when you see all the numbers there, staring at you? It's like when a bunch of you-- when you look at a project like... cleaning the bathroom or something. You're like 'I need to wash the floor and clean the tub and wipe the counter and clean the sink and move these bottles and...' and it just overwhelms you because it's so much. But if you can break it down into all of its parts? Suddenly just sweeping the floor isn't so bad. So for this one..." She goes to the second question. "There's like eight problems, right? This, this, this, this and this. But..." She subtracted 5 from both sides. "This eliminates one of the numbers entirely on the left side, and reduces the number on the right side. And that was just one of the problems, right? So if you do each problem, one by one, eventually more and more of the 'grime' is washed away and the 'solution' comes up for you to see. Then, before you know it, you've managed to wash all the grime away and you have your answer. Like a trophy awarded at the end," she said proudly.

"And then, eventually, a cookie. The food bribing thing, by the way, is something I learned from my last school. Everyone likes candy. So I figured when I ran into people who struggled, giving them little rewards as they worked would help. And it was easire than like... some things. Everyone likes someone who's useful to them, right?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It's a fountain of information - both helpful and practical, and sentimnetal and valuable, and as Cho goes on, beginning to demonstrate problems and cut them down to size, like beating a big boss in an arcade level by taking him out piece by piece, admiration blossoms.

"...Cho-chan," Usagi says, and there's already a fond note in her voice, "You're really nerdy."

Admiration could maybe use a better way with words. That particularly choice might have been a death blow, if not for the fact that she continues on, "You should meet my friend Ami-chan! Ami Mizuno, grade 9! Maybe you know her, but if you don't, you should - she's a genius girl, and she's nerdy just like you. Maybe not just like you, because everyone's unique and all, but - I've never thought about school like you, and I bet Ami-chan would. A smart girl like you should have smart friends and silly ones."

And maybe she's being presumptuous, assuming Ami-chan would have introduced her to a friend like Cho-chan, so therefore maybe they don't know each other, but if so, she's shameless, after all! No problem!

But then, her smile falters, and she frowns, and she has to interrupt. "Cho-chan, I know we just met, so you can't know, but, I don't like you because of the cookies."

A pause.

"The cookie helped, it broke the ice! But, you don't have to be useful to people, you know? I already have a ton of reasons to like you, and they're not about you giving me snacks."

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi cringed. Oof. Ow. Owwwww. That one hurt a bit. Yeah, yeah she was. A massive, dorky nerd. Ouch. "Y-yeah, a bit..." However, Usagi seemed to not mind... in fact... she seemed to even like it. "And... I guess. Ami Mizuno... I know an Amy, but I don't think it's the same girl. She's a bit more... frantic than your friend sounds," she said with a light giggle. "Nice girl, bit... explosive," she said before giving a light giggle at her joke.

"I'm not really that smart, though. I just... used to only focus on school. Let everything else slip away because I thought it was the only thing I'd ever be good for," she mumbled.

Usagi's comments, however, made her turn bright red. "O-oh. I mean, y-yeah. I-I can bake other things, too. Like, like muffins and cupcakes and uhhh, stuff. I-I mean, I mostly just bake, I started that because it seemed easier to learn, y-you know? And uhhh... t-thanks. I like you too, Usagi-chan. You seem really sweet and fun. Like the kind of girl who lights up a room where ever she goes. But remember... buttering me up won't get you cookies faster." Pause. "Okay, it probably will, I'm a glutton for compliments. I blame Wuwu," she said sheepishly.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Oh, I know an Amy too! Hah, that's the first time I thought about how close those two names are... but, you shouldn't put yourself down, you're really smart. You're teaching me, and yeah, I mean, I'm sure it's not that hard because I'm really bad at school, but you're not, so, you know?" She's not sure if the point is being understood, even by herself. "Being able to be good at school is really hard!"

The mathbook is put aside. Cho's hand is grabbed. It is being held. Usagi's eyes lock firmly onto Cho's, her mouth set in a pout.

"Cho-chan. We just met, so it's okay that you didn't understand me, okay? But, I didn't mean that you should bake other things. You should talk to my friend Naru-chan about that, though, she also likes to bake muffins, but, wait, that wasn't the point! My point is, it sounds like you think the most important thing is giving stuff to people, or doing nice things, like helping me with my homework, and that's the only thing about you people like, and maybe some people are like that, because they're jerks, but right now, I really like you because you're sweet, and funny, and because you're a big nerd, and your eyes get all shiny and big when you talk about solving problems, and that's really cute. Not because you're going to give me cookies when I finish these math problems. Okay?"

A pause. She has to forcefully resist asking, but who's Wuwu!? It will ruin the message!

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi nodded. "Yeah, lots of people have cute names that match. Like, I'm sure there's a lot of bunny girls out there," though she doubted many would be as nice as this girl. "Awwww. You're not bad at it. You just probably think in a different way than other people. I'll bet there's a lot of things you're amazing at that I suck at."

And then her hand was grabbed. "Huh?" she asked. Then.... then oh wow. Oh, her heart skipped another beat. And ummmm... Oh. Oh wow. "Y-you know... uhhhhh... that's... you are really, really good at making arguments," she said weakly. Oh, Cho definitely just had another crush form. A part of her allllllmost wanted to ask the girl out. But yeah, no. She was still so far from being able to even try that. She quickly doused THAT thought. "You're ummmm... r-really cute too. I think you'd like my roommate. Coco. She's encouraging too. And sweet. I... I think you'd get along well. She's a mermaid princess," Cho said, staring into those eyes.

Then yelped. "I mean, she's LIKE a mermaid princess. You know? Because. She's so sweet. You know?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi smiles a little, at being reassured, but she doesn't reply, because she knows very well that she is indeed that bad at school. Besides - that's not important right now.

What's important is making sure Cho-chan understands her, because a friendship built on a misunderstanding was sure to break. Manga (and elementary school!) had taught her this!

"I'm glad you agree, because I am great at arguments. I get a lot of practice. So you can just trust me that I'm right, and - eh?"

A mermaid what now?

"You mean like... from Disney?" huh? What? Oh, it's like, a metaphor?

That's - huh.

"Your roommate must be pretty special if she makes you think of mermaids, and Disney movies and stuff."

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi nodded. "That sounds good. You'd make a good... argument... person. I'm not sure what thing that is. Politician? No, you seem too honest for that. Maybe you'd make a good lawyer. Do you like rules?" she asked sheepishly.

Cho blinked a few times at the question about disney. Then rapidly nodded. "Yes! Like Ariel! She has a really cute singing voice, too. And she's super sweet and kind of naive at times and she does a lot of silly things but she's really heart felt and is always putting herself in danger for other people and is just filled with care and appreciation for everyone. I think you two would get along wonderfully! She even took me to a festival I'd never been to and got me a cute kimono for it and everything! She's my best friend!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"A lawyer? Me?" Lawyers are smart people, who work hard, and Usagi is a bunny with fluff for brains and too many responsibilities. She definitely couldn't be a lawyer. Right? No way, why was she even thinking about that? You couldn't be a lawyer until you were old, and Usagi was a dainty young maiden of just fourteen! "I like bending rules."

Or just breaking them! Sometimes!

"She does sound just like Ariel then. I hope I meet her, sometime - it's always nice to make friends with your friend's friends. ...that was saying friends too many times." She giggles a little, then shakes her head. "Cho-chan, you've got to show me your kimono sometime, okay? I bet you look really cute in it! Bring Coco, and we can all hang out. Mmm, I guess we'd have to wait for a nice festival to see your kimono though..."

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi gave a small nod and then snickered. "Tell you what. If we get through the work book... I'll show you the group picture of all of us in our festival outfits. They're very cute, I assure you." It even had a picture of Wuwu in it! She wouldn't likely explain that the stuffed animal was Wuwu, though.

"I'm sure you will. But right! Back to work! And... yeah. Bending rules can be fun. But before any of that... back to work. I've got a work sheet to help you get through. And our friendship can truly blossom on this battlefield of homework," she said proudly.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi sighs deeply, but finally releases Cho's hand, sagging back into her chair. "Alright. I surrender! I'll do my homework, and our friendship will survive the epic battle that is getting me through it... I hope."

And then she cracks a smile, teasing. "I'm kidding! It will, it definitely will, because I want to see that picture."