940/Shared Burdens

Shared Burdens
Date of Scene:	29 December 2023
Location:	Hikawa Shrine
Synopsis:	Makoto drops by Hikawa Shrine in the last days of the old year to check in with Rei, and see if she can lend a hand. Turns out Mako's timing is pretty good.
Cast of Characters:	Makoto Kino, Rei Hino

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Makoto Kino has posed:
It's close to the New Year, and in many ways Tokyo is almost holding its breath. Many people are doing their end-of-the-year cleaning, preparing decorations and new years' cards to send out. Shrines around the city are preparing for the hatsumode rush. Expecting that Hikawa Shrine is likely to be no exception, Makoto has made sure to come armed: with a box of homemade snacks in her hands and a scarf wound around her neck against the chill, she mounts the many stairs leading up to the shrine and goes in search of Rei.

"Happy almost new year," she announces when she finds her fellow senshi. "I thought you could probably use some fuel, and maybe a couple extra helping hands?"

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei's charms, even the non-ofuda ones, have always seemed to be a bit more effective than the standard fare. Usually, the placebo effect and confirmation bias are all that a mass-produced charm provides its owner. Some are spiritually 'sticky', such that earnest wishes and hopes may partially adhere to a charm, creating an ever so slight distortion that it would not be incorrect to call 'magic', even if said magic is self-created.

    The charms of the Hikawa Shrine, on the other hand, are just... Something 'more'. They aren't magic weapons. They aren't spiritual bombs or anything. They aren't that obvious. But a hunch or a sense of warning or an oddly detailed dream or other phenomena may occur when one has a Hikawa Shrine charm. Even more so if one has an earnest belief, hope, or wish.

    They're a finger on the scales of probability.

    And though Rei is a burgeoning source of spiritual power, such that she isn't even aware that her charms are special, the rush of omamori purchases requires somebody make them, and that is a time and energy intensive process.

    She looks up from where she is painting a Great Fortune charm, among many others, all spread-out on the low table in her bedroom. She smiles slightly tiredly at Makoto. "Yes to both, please and thank you."

Makoto Kino has posed:
"Looks like my timing is on point," Makoto observes with a sympathetic laugh. She brings the box of snacks over, finding a place within Rei's reach or close enough to it where she can set it down. "It's not entirely selfless," she concedes. "So much has happened, I felt like it'd be a good idea to... um, compare notes, I guess? But also, just let me know what I can help with. No reason I can't work while we talk, right?"

She strikes a brief pose to illustrate her willingness to be put to work, and grins. "I already did my new year's cleaning. It goes fast when it's just a dorm room."

Rei Hino has posed:
    Cleaning a shrine and temple grounds is a much more time-intensive task, but it's almost therapeutic for Rei. So she takes even longer than necessary, both to do it right, and because it's her thinking or spacing out activity, depending on what she needs. "Ah, belatedly, happy almost New Year to you as well." she says while one hand reaches for the snacks, now that she has realized just how hungry she is.

    "Yeah, there has been..." She trails off for a few seconds, and then finishes with, "...A lot." Pause. "Almost too much, when I think about the fact that there's probably more to come next year." She blows hair upwards, causing her bangs to fly upwards briefly, before settling back down. "So... Usagi, is our Princess, huh? Who would have guessed? I mean, it seems so obvious now, but also... Not?" She gestures to the table to indicate Makoto can sit down if she likes.

Makoto Kino has posed:
The box offers an assortment to choose from, mostly sweets: cookies, squares of gingerbread dusted with powdered sugar, red bean buns. Makoto moves to sit at Rei's invitation, her expression turning sober as she nods. "Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. The Silver Crystal, too... both of them right in front of us the whole time. I think poor Luna's still a bit in shock." She pauses, then pulls a rueful face. "I'm not sure I'm not. Have you been doing okay? I know there were extra responsibilities on you at Soryuu..."

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei bites into a cookie, just a nibble. Unlike Usagi, she has table manners and can't just inhale an entire bag of sweets in one go. It brings a faint smile to her face, especially when thinking about Luna's reaction. The moment Soryuu Shrine is mentioned, the smile disappears, and her violet eyes fix back on the task in front of her. The charm, not the cookie.

    "I was supposed to make sure a door to the underworld stayed shut. I was supposed to seal it before a lot of Dark Energy was thrown around, or a purification was attempted." She is painting very intently now.

Makoto Kino has posed:
Makoto immediately winces. "...Yeah." Her voice has gone quiet. "So... that didn't work out." She looks down, hands fidgeting idly in her lap for lack of anything better to do with them. "I'm not sure if it could've really been helped. You did seal it in the end, anyway. Right?"

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei usually isn't one to mince words. It's not what she's known for. Usually she's 'that mysterious Rei Hino', 'that strong Rei Hino', 'that capable Rei Hino', 'confident', 'brave', 'the one who never cries', and all sorts of other descriptors. None from people who really know her.

    Yet she is very hesitant to talk about whatever she saw at the Shrine. She refuses to make eye contact, as well. "It was... More than a little bit outside of my experiences so far. It wasn't a specialty of mine or anything to keep portals to other dimensions closed, and, um..." Finally, Rei puts down her brush and her cookie, and sighs deeply.

    "It was already open." she says finally, after staring at the table for a while.

Makoto Kino has posed:
Makoto's fidgeting stills. She looks up, wide green eyes turning toward Rei. She's quiet for a bit herself, at a loss - anything outside of Rei's experience with the spiritual is definitely beyond Makoto's.

"Is that really bad?" she ventures to ask, after a few moments of mental wheels spinning. "Or just... maybe bad?"

Rei Hino has posed:
    The shrine maiden folds her hands together. She's in her miko garb and everything, but she still seems totally out of her depth on this subject. "I don't know. I was told that 'something extra ALWAYS comes through' when a door to Yomi -- and maybe other dimensions in general -- is opened. I have no idea how long it was open, if anything had already come through, or... If it was opened by the Dark Energy. Since it was already open when Princess Serenity appeared and used the Silver Crystal, I don't know what affect that may have had either."

    Rubbing her eyes, Rei sighs. "It's closed and sealed now. But I was supposed to keep it closed. That was my job. And I failed. And I haven't known how to bring that up ever since."

Makoto Kino has posed:
"I don't see how that's your fault, though," Makoto says, brows lifted. "With all the Dark Energy that Hematite was throwing around - and then the other guys showing up, too - I know what we said the plan was, and all, but was there really anything you could have done? Especially with Mamoru-san trying to get his sister out before anything else could happen."

She sits for a moment, watching Rei with concern, before adding, "If something else did come out... we'll deal with it sooner or later." She says it with simple assurance, not bravado but more a statement of fact. "It's not on you to carry all by yourself."

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei takes a breath and lets it out slowly. Then she smiles reluctantly. "I know you're right, it's just... There's so many things I get vague impressions of. Visions of the future or the past. But it's all disconnected, chopped up, like someone spliced a bunch of different film reels together out of order. That would be bad enough, but then there's the sense of danger, or the emotions I get from a vision, or..." She rubs her face with both hands, and then puts them down on the floor behind herself as she leans back.

    Another breath is let out slowly and dramatically. "Maybe if I knew someone else was seeing the same thing. The same dangers. Then it wouldn't be so overwhelming. Lately, there's just been visions of... A chair. Or a throne. Sitting alone in a room. And there's red string dangling all around it like spider webs, all knotted and overlapping. And I keep getting the impression that I can't let those threads touch the throne or else everything is lost."

Makoto Kino has posed:
Makoto mulls over this, frowning in pensive concern. "I can't really imagine what it must be like," she admits, "seeing things like that, and sensing things the rest of us can't. It sounds so confusing."

She's fidgeting again, absently rolling the knit of her oversized sweater between her fingers as she contemplates the visions that Rei has described. "The string of fate... maybe? None of it makes a lot of sense to me." Her tone is apologetic.

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei leans forwards across the table to pat-pat Makoto's hand. "That's fine. It helps just to finally tell someone. Things seemed to be doing better after so long of it looking like the Dark Kingdom was winning. So, I guess I just made the mistake of thinking if I just stayed quiet, everyone could have a break. A chance to recharge. But I'm part of the team too. Maybe this will be easier to deal with if the burden is shared."

Makoto Kino has posed:
"If nothing else," Makoto agrees, "now that I know about it, I can keep my eyes open, and let you and the others know if anything happens that might be connected. Besides!" She smiles, good cheer quickly returning. "You don't need to worry about giving me a break, I've hardly had to deal with any of the really tough stuff so far." Her laugh is one of merry self-deprecation.

Then she shakes her head and sits back a little. "Anyway, you're right. We're a team. That means nobody should have to shoulder those kinds of worries in silence." She stretches her arms over her head briefly. "Though if the powers of darkness and whatever's behind the Dark Kingdom want to take a vacation until after New Years', that'd be pretty great. Some of us have homework to catch up on."

Rei Hino has posed:
    The Senshi of Mars nods solemnly to the Senshi of Jupiter. "I agree. Maybe some charms will help that wish come true. But only if we finish making them." Then she grins, picks up a brush, and spins it around to offer towards Makoto. "Thank you, Mako-chan. Now let's team up to handle this latest challenge~."