915/Holiday Lunch

Holiday Lunch
Date of Scene:	22 December 2023
Location:	Cafeteria Plaza
Synopsis:	Hotaru meets with Klarissa and Sayaka and, well... for one of them, it's kind of like looking at a tiny mirror. It is a battle of woobie vs woobie, and everyone d'aws.
Cast of Characters:	Hotaru Tomoe, Sayaka Miki

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Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe was, well... getting her lunch. Why wouldn't she be? It was the cafeteria. While lunches only went so long, she wanted to socialize!

... Okay, she was actually mostly feeling just... kind of... lonely. Takashi usually hung out with her, and her spending hours in his lab, just kind of sitting there and playing cards while he talked in her general vicinity had been nice. A lot nicer than she had realized until the holidays started coming...

And now he was off with his girlfriend and she was left behind. Again. And while he called her every morning, she still felt pretty sad and lonely. So today she was going to try and make friends! Also, she forgot her lunch. So she was buying a lunch today.

Now that she had a nice tray filled with a basic lunch, she was looking around, scanning the area for somewhere to sit and... being herself... Instead sat at the table that was empty. the other tables had upwards of FOUR PEOPLE! FOUR! SHE WASN'T READY FOR THAT!

Sayaka Miki has posed:
3 people are going to join Hotaru's table, though perhaps making it easier for her, one of them is currently pretending to be a plushie, her upper body popping out from one of the two girl's school bag. The twin with the koi mermaid is carrying on her tray teriyaki Chicken, steamed white rice, miso-glazed green beans, a miso soup, an orange and a bottle of water.

The other girl meanwhile has chosen to eat pork tonkatsu, soba noodles, tamagoyaki, vinegared salad, shiitake mushrooms, grapefruit and a bottle of green tea.

All three of them are busy looking around for a table to sit at - it's not an easy task when you 2 seats are automatically taken wherever you go, and besides, Klarissa isn't really in the mood to talk with a big crowd of people.

So when they spot Hotaru's table, they share a glance of agreement and start heading over there. Sayaka is the first to speak, smiling at Hotaru: "Hi, is it ok if we take a spot here?"Klarissa waves at the girl sitting there, but doesn't look particularly friendly otherwise.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe glanced up and... actually... lit up a little. "Y-yes! Please do!" she said, a big grin on her face. "I'm Hotaru Tomoe, nice to meet you. I don't think we've met. Or if we have it wasn't for, ummm, long. Sorry. It's nice to meet you. H-have you gone to this school for long?" she asked, staring up at the girl with excitement and maybe just a tiny hint of desperation.

... Okay so she didn't handle her support friend leaving town for a while.

Then her eyes glanced to the plushy and she let out a low gasp. "Oh, that's so cute. Did you make it yourself? I don't think I've seen that one before." And if there was one thing the girl knew, it was plushies. She did almost have a throne of them.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Since Hotaru is alright with them sitting there, both bluenettes proceed to sitting down, Sayaka taking the place in front of Hotaru and Klarissa to the left between them.

"She is quite pretty", Sayaka agrees, taking advantage of the occasion to sneak in a compliment for her friend, who has to hold back an appreciative smile to the compliment, but kind of keeps up the facade. Though Sayaka would joke about Hotaru being the adorable one here for being so excited to talk with people, if it weren't literally their first meeting. She doesn't give Ula over to Hotaru of course, because that would give it away a plushie she is not, and Sayaka doesn't know what she will do if she asks for that.

"I actually found Ula at the botanical gardens", she starts explaining. "She had been abandoned there, and I decided to rescue her and bring her home with me." It's all the truth, even.

"I am Sayaka Miki, and my twin is Klarissa Miki", she introduces the both of them. "I have enrolled in this school during summer together with our friend Madoka, but Klarissa could only join me recently." She puts on an unamused face for a second to sell the act.

Klarissa picks up her cue at the moment and chimes in. "Our parents were really set on me attending a different school, and so we could only convince them otherwise when my previous school has a mishap with dorm spaces, so now we can stay together." She does smile at Hotaru's excitement too and asks her a question. "What about you? Have you been here long? Do you like this school?"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe gasped, a hand covering her mouth. "She... she was? That's horrible. Who would abandon their stuffed animal like that? Or... wait. You... you don't think some kid dropped it there, do you? Had it been there a while?" Hotaru asked, instantly beginning to go detective mode on this poor, lost stuffy.

Only for her eyes to widen again. "You're friends with Madoka? The girl with the cute little chara-- err, I mean, the cute little pink twintails?" Hotaru asked. Yes, she remembered the charas more. They were so cuuuuute. "She's really nice. I met her recently, she was really nice."

She then glanced to Klarissa and nodded. "Really? That... sounds lonely. If I had a twin I'd want to go to school with her, too. It'd be like always having a friend. And uhhhh... I've been going here for a while now. Daddy works near here and I got invited a while back. It's a nice school, they have a lot of activities for all the students to do together, I like that. My senpai goes here too. I uhhh... don't actually live in the dorms, though. I'm one of the off-campus students. I live in an apartment a few blocks away with daddy."

"Has anything really changed now that you're both here? Do you plan to stay here, or are you going back to your other school when things get sorted in their dorms?"

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka takes a few bites of her chicken while she thinks how to answer Hotaru's question. She can't really explain how she knows Ula had been abandoned after all. "Well, I really doubt she was lost there, she wasn't exactly hard to see, and she wasn't in a very good situation, some wild dogs were even attacking her." A sip of water follows, gulping down both the chicken and the lie.

"Wait, really?"/"Are you serious?" is the reaction that follows from the two bluenettes when Hotaru mentions she knows Madoka - and her Chara, too boot. That's reassuring, if Madoka has already made friends with her, then they can be open with her about various stuff.

"Both Sayaka and I are childhood friends with Madoka, there is nothing we don't share with each other", Klarissa mentions. "And of course, we know everything about Lydian", she explains. "We are magical girls too, just like her. Ula actually is no plushie and she had been lost in a Labyrinth at the gardens."

The koi mermaid "comes to life" in this moment and she floats up in front of Hotaru. "Hi!", she waves happily. "Hi, I am Ula, a mermaid here from the deep sea who has become a companion of Sayaka, I am a jeweller and and can do tracking with magic. I help Sayaka and Klarissa however I can, really. They saved my life of course, but we grew attached to each other in the meantime. What's your name?"

Klarissa nods when Hotaru comments on her school situation. "Yes, I don't wish that on anyone. Being separate isn't really all that great, and frankly we intend to stay together as much as possible. I don't know what will happen to me, but I don't want to go away if I can help it." She sighs a little bit at that. She knows they have to synchronise to go back, but that's not the problem here. The problem Hotaru is bringing up is 'how will everyone react once Klarissa isn't here anymore?' She wants to go back to normal with Sayaka, but the looks of confusion - and maybe even hurt, if they grew attached, as she disappears off the face of the Earth with no plausible explanation, not even a goodbye or a contact at her supposedly old school - well, she doesn't want to imagine that. At all.

Then there is the matter of the school dorm. "Dorm life can be rather nice actually. You are never alone, so there are some concessions you have to make to live with another student, but on the upside, well, you are never alone. If you and your roommate happen to hit if off, then you have a friend to your side at all moments, and that's actually a great experience." She miiight be projecting her deep friendship with Madoka onto her roommate as cover for the lie. "But living with your family is good too, since they care about you by default."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe stared with wideeyed horror at the idea of the poor stuffy being attacked. NO! It couldn't be! Fortunately, Sayaka had saved her.

And then her eyes went wider for a new reason when she mentioned knowing Lydian. "W-wow," Hotaru whispered. "That's so cool! It's so nice to meet you, Ula. And you can make jewelry? That's so lucky. Is that where your jewelry comes from? I'm Hotaru Tomoe."

More magical people, eeeee.

"Yeah, being separated from others... sucks. Until this year I used to be separated from... almost everyone. Because I got sick a lot. But this last year I got a new senpai, Takashi-senpai. He's been looking out for me a lot and helping me to make friends and meet people. So... you shouldn't be scared to make friends now. Meeting people. This school is really nice for that. So many people are so nice, even if you're... a bit weird... like me," Hotaru said sheepishly.

The comments on dorm life, however, made her give a longing sigh. "That sounds so wonderful. I wanted to move into the dorms, but daddy insists I stay at the apartment since, well... that way he can keep a better eye on me... not that he's ever home to actually do that..." she muttered that last bit a little bitterly.

She'd barely touched her food throughout this, only occasionally nibbling some of her rice and soup. She didn't seem to be a heavy eater.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Ula nods, confirming what Hotaru is saying. "That's right, Hotaru-chan, all the jewellery you see is made by me. And actually, now that we know each other, I would love making some for you. We will meet again anyhow, right?" She asks with uncertainty in her voice. If Hotaru doesn't live in the dorms...

Hotaru has had a harsh life, it seems. Being alone sucks on its own, but getting sick along with it? That's enough to make all three girls wince with understanding and sympathy. Klarissa, as the one directly involved in the reply, decides to offer a hug for her. Hopefully Hotaru accepts, because it really sounds like getting one would be useful. "That's awful, Hotaru-chan, but I am glad you are getting better and more opportunities to expand your horizons. Frankly, you shouldn't waste that chance now you have it."

She pauses a bit, moving her food around as she ponders how much to say. "Things are more complicated with me on the magical front, and I don't really deserve to spend time with everyone. The only reason I am here, is because of Ula and Sayaka, who have been spurring me to be more social. I am not sure if I really like their insistence, but meeting someone as bright as you is actually nice, just... not really the best move on my part, you know?"

A collective scowl follows Hotaru's admission of both strict parental overseeing and parental neglect at once. "That's just not fair, Hotaru-chan!" Sayaka speaks. "Can you get your senpai to help you? Or anyone else? Your father really needs to hear you out, let your feelings reach him. If you want to be in the dorms with everyone, tell him! Do anything you can to reach him, show him you are serious! This means a lot to you, right?" Ula and Sayaka join in on the hug, supposing Hotaru has accepted it earlier.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe let out a gasp. "I... I'd like that. I've never had a piece of jewelry made by a mermaid before. My senpai made me this," she said, motioning to the jeweled necklace she wore.

However, the hug made her pull back and shake her head. "S-sorry. I ummm... I'm not supposed to touch people. It's... not... safe..." Hotaru said very gently. "And... I know what you mean... I don't... really deserve to be around people either... my senpai has been... helping me, though. While he can. But... it's fine. I'm probably not the best person for you to meet, either. There's likely a lot better uses of your time. But... I mean... I want to spend the little bit of time I have left making good memories, I guess? If that makes sense?"

Hotaru, at least, gave the other girl a smile. Misunderstanding exactly what she meant.

"And... it's fine. If I really need to, I can sneak out. My senpai also gave me a key to his dorm, so if I wanted I could just go there. But... it'd just be a fight, otherwise. I... don't want to fight with daddy. He's working so, so hard for my sake already. He doesn't need me causing him even more trouble."

She then took another small bite of her food before glancing up. "Speaking of... it really was nice meeting you two, Klarissa-senpai, Sayaka-senpai. Even if it's not deserved, it made me happy. That's what I think matters most. That we can bring smiles to each other's faces, even if we're not always able to see them. But... I really should get going to my next class."

She then got to her feet, grabbing her tray, dropping it off and heading off towards her next class.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
When Hotaru mentions the necklace, Ula looks at it closely, giving it an appraisal. "That looks nice, just on the moment like this. And it's a very nice thought of your senpai. It's nice how much he cares about you."

The thought of being told there is a better use of her time makes Klarissa recoil. Is this how she looks to others? No way, they must surely have totally different situations. She is sure Hotaru is very nice, and deserves to meet all the best people in the world, not like her. "Don't say that, Hotaru-chan. You should value yourself more, you are very kind and friendly. I won't regret meeting with you today, ever. And the same applies if we meet again in the future."

Sayaka and Ula watch the exchange between the two of them with a bit of "Should you really be the one to say that?" and "Klarissa, that's the spirit! Hotaru-chan, we all agree with her." But they don't actually say any of that out loud. Well, the second one is addressed, in a different way. "Hotaru-chan, I would like you to have my phone number. If you have the time and ever feel like meeting me, please give me a call or send me a message. I would be over to you as soon as possible. Not as something that would require me to go out of my way, but something I enjoy. So don't hesitate in using it if that's what you want."

Klarissa bites her lips at Sayaka's proposal. And Hotaru's speech about this making her happy even if it's not deserved really makes her feel like she is looking at a mirror. That's a good thing actually, and despite her ephemeral existence, she feels like reaching out to Hotaru would be a good thing overall, for Hotaru's sake at least, not so much her own still. Maybe. Probably. It is just with a bit of hesitancy that she says "Hotaru-chan, please take my number too. I don't want to cause you problems, so think well before calling me, but what Sayaka said applies to me too, so please, let's meet again in the future." The twins both then write out their numbers on a ripped piece of paper from their notebooks for Hotaru to have.

"Me too!", says Ula. "I don't have a phone number, but contacting them works for talking with me. And we should meet anyway, once I have the jewel ready."

Hotaru then moves to get away, and the trio say bye to her. "It was really nice to meet you, Hotaru-chan. Take care, and see you!" They have their lunch to finish, and in a hurry too.