952/Holiday Bribery

Holiday Bribery
Date of Scene:	01 January 2024
Location:	Plot Room 2
Synopsis:	Hotaru got some KFC and, oh no, she can't eat it all! So instead she decides to visit Kyouka for christmas and spend a bit of time hanging out with her favorite counselor... and ask who her favorite sparkle skirt is.
Cast of Characters:	Hotaru Tomoe, Kyouka Inai

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Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe had prepared. One advantage to having a wealthy father was that... it was easy to do things like buy expensive meals. And there was very little as christmas-y as KFC.

So it was that Hotaru was standing outside Kyouka's door, in a coat, beany, mittens, a scarf... carrying a bag of KFC that looked like it weighed more than her. Nervously, she reached out and knocked on the door.

Now, some might question why she was harassing the school counselor on Christmas... a day for friends. And FAMILY. But... her daddy was working. And Takashi was out of town.

And there was only one other person she really knew the location of. And who she knew could be possibly pried for hanging out for a bit with crunchy chicken, a bucket of mashed potatoes, corn, potato wedges and biscuits.

She'd brought the heavy weapons and she knew it.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka doesn't generally advertise where she lives, but it's not like she goes to any great lengths to hide it either. It's just a small two-story apartment building in a normal middle-class-type Tokyo neighborhood not terribly far from the school. It's not the nicest apartment building in the area- it's a bit old, with some rust on the railings and some chipping paint. But it's not run-down or anything either, and the other people Hotaru might see around seem like normal and perfectly nice, if not very wealthy, Tokyo inhabitants.

    Kyouka's apartment is on the upper level. You have to climb some exterior stairs and walk along an outside corridor to reach her door, apartment 213. The little nameplate next to the door says 'Inai', so this is definitely the one.

    Hotaru doesn't have to knock, or rather, if knocking doesn't do the trick there's also a doorbell. No matter which method proves effective, it doesn't take very long for Kyouka to pull the door open and peer out at her unexpected visitor. She clearly wasn't expecting anyone, as she's not dressed for company, wearing a pair of baggy red sweatpants and a similar sweatshirt, her hair all mussed. She wasn't asleep, but she hadn't done any grooming which would indicate she planned to leave the house.

    To her credit, although surprised and probably not in a state she'd want to appear for a visitor, she doesn't seem to let it get to her, recovering quickly. "Hotaru-chan." She greets, "Merry Christmas. What brings you here?" She sniffs the air. Mmm.. smells like chicken.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe looked up at Kyouka and... "Ummmm... well... actually me and daddy were going to get KFC and watch some old christmas classics, but well... he had to work late... again..." Yeah, that was... kind of a true. There hadn't been any plans, though. She'd been hoping to spend it with Takashi... but... He was with his girlfriend. In paris.

"So, ummm, when I got the food, I... realized I was nearby. I wasn't sure if you were home, but... I figured I had a lot more food than I could eat..." And nobody to spend christmas with... "And was wondering if ummm... you liked KFC? I have rolls and chicken and potato wedges and a bunch of other things... if... if you're hungry..."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka can get the picture and she isn't quite insensitive enough to call Hotaru on her obvious misrepresentation of the truth. After all, it's Christmas. She does hesitate for just a moment though.. probably because, as previously noted, she was not expecting any company today. Especially not of the 'child/student' variety. But then again.. it's Christmas. She's not going to turn the girl away.

    Christmas in Japan isn't quite the day of family and presents that it is in other parts of the world, but it is generally a time for hanging out with friends or loved ones and going to parties or on dates. Kyouka clearly has none of those things... and therefore no good excuses anyway. "Sure... come on in." She steps back away from the door to let Hotaru enter.

    Her apartment is... not big. Although by the standards of Tokyo, it's not a bad place for a single young adult. It's just a single room- a narrow hallway foyer opens into a rectangular space. The kitchenette area with hot plate, sink and cabinets is to the left as you enter. There's a carpeted area beyond this which contains a kotetsu, small TV on a stand and a bookshelf, and behind that is her bed, against the wall with the room's single window. A door leads to a cramped but servicable bathroom. The whole apartment is probably about the size of Hotaru's bedroom.

    It's also kind of a wreck. Kyouka is not a neat person, and she hadn't been expecting company. There's dirty dishes in the sink (just from today, its not that gross!) and clothes, beer cans, papers and other stuff just kind of haphazardly thrown everywhere. The bad isn't made, and there's a half-empty bowl of instant ramen on the kotetsu.

    She has the good grace to look mildly embarrassed. "Um.. make yourself comfortable. I really wasn't expecting company, okay?"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe probably shouldn't even know where her senpai lived... except she forgot that she wasn't supposed to know that information. Still, Kyouka likely knew that she knew, if for no othr reason than Hotaru had been making deliveries here.

The ruder thing was probably that she just assumed that Kyouka had nobody to spend christmas with. Even if it was true.

However, the look of the place made her eyes go wide. How.... could someone live in something so small? And so messy? A part of her wanted to ask if Kyouka wanted to come to her place, but well... that... would be rude. Her home was big and might make Kyouka feel awkward. Still... at least the place looked 'messy' and not 'filthy'.

Still, she kept her smile on and grinned up at her. "It looks really cozy! I hope I'm not intruding on anything. If you like, I could ummm... if you have a container I could put food in there and leave, or..."

Despite how small it was, despite how messy it was... Hotaru was not the best at hiding her emotions. She did it about as well as she 'spied'. Namely, not well. It was pretty obvious she wanted to stay and not be alone...

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka's messiness definitely trends more towards clutter and disorganization than actually dirty or gross. No bugs or trash, just a distinct lack of desire to actually put away laundry or make the bed. It's obvious that not only was she not expecting company today but she seldom has any on any day.

    She must have friends though! Look, there's some photographs on her bookshelf- most of them feature herself, looking distinctly younger, and a dark-haired girl who might also look vaguely familiar to Hotaru. Some of them also contain a boy or a girl with brown hair, but not as many. Still, all the people in those pictures, Kyouka included, look like teenagers, which means they must be from ages ago.

    She shakes her head slightly and sits down beside the kotetsu, which is on and therefore quite warm (Japanese apartments are notoriously poorly heated, making these things a necessity in winter). "I don't have anything like that," she says, regarding a container- maybe that's even true, or maybe it's just an excuse. "You can sit down. Thanks for bringing me some food anyway.. never been much for the whole KFC on Christmas thing, never really had anybody to do it with, but I'll never say no to free food." She gives a smile that seems genuine enough. "And it's not like I was going anywhere." The TV is on, playing some old Christmas movie in English, with Japanese subtitles.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe lit up when she was invited over. She sat and opened the bags, pulling out... a steady stream of food.

And it was a literal bucket of mashed potatoes. Hopefully Kyouka at least had plates. And a fridge. Or place to store leftovers. There was crispy chicken, grilled chicken, chicken tenders, mashed potatoes, rolls, potato wedges... And it was doubtful that this was something Hotaru would eat in a month, let alone on a holiday.

On the upside, the KFC had come with spoons and it wasn't too hard to make some makeshift plates out of the lids of some of the foods.

"Yeah, I uhhhh... know what you mean. I thought I was going to spend Christmas with a friend this year or daddy but... yeah. It kind of... fell... through. But that's okay! They're busy, I understand."

No she didn't. Well, she did. But she still didn't like it.

She glanced to the television, however, before long... "So, who are the people with you in those pictures? They look pretty. Are they your friends from when you went to school? As a student, I mean?"

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka does indeed have plates, and even silverware. And there is a fridge, though it's not a full-sized one. It's mostly empty, so there should be plenty of space to store leftovers. She does look appreciative at the quantity of food that Hotaru manages to produce from the bag- it doesn't seem like all that should even have fit in there. Her stomach might growl partway through. It's not like she was starving- she was having ramen, after all. But that's a far cry from thi sort of feast.

    "You're lucky you have friends and family you could spend it with, even if it fell through." Kyouka says, with a small smile, as she reaches to take some of the food onto her plate. "I don't really have either... well, definitely no family. Most of my friends are students and it's normally not really appropriate for a faculty member to be hanging out with students on a holiday, you know? No offense." She's clearly not about to kick Hotaru out over it now that she's here.

    Of course the pictures are brought up- they are the only thing in the room that really hints at Kyouka as a person, other perhaps than 'doesn't organize well'. She glances at them, making a bit of a grimace, but if she didn't want to talk about them she shouldn't keep them on display. Of course, she doesn't often have company, so it's not usually a problem.

    "Not school.. I didn't have the longest or most illustrious school career. But friends, yeah. From when I was an active magical girl."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe would only take a little bit. Tiny dollop of potatos, two potato wedges, a single small wing. Even that was likely too much for her.

"Yeah. I really am lucky. I didn't really have any friends until daddy started making Takashi-senpai watch over me at work. I know he probably didn't want to, but... he has a way of making you feel like he wants you around, you know? It's really nice to feel wanted. And... yeah. I really am grateful to still have daddy. I... know I could have been... a lot less lucky after the accident." She still wished he'd spend a bit more time with her. "I... guess it is a little weird, huh? But... I came to you, so that should make it fine."

"Huh? How... did you not... you graduated though, right?" Hotaru asked, looking a little confused. "I thought you had to have finished college, though, in order to be a school counselor? And ummm... do... you still talk with them? Are you expecting them today?"

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka will make up for Hotaru's lack of consumption. Granted this was too much food even for her to finish in a single sitting, but she is going to give it her best. It's a gift, after all, wouldn't want to appear ungrateful.

    Kyouka looks mildly skeptical at the idea that Takashi makes her feel wanted and stuff, she's met the guy. But she doesn't contradict. Maybe he shows a different face to Hotaru than he does to the school counselor.

    Speaking of.. she eh-hehs a little bit, while biting into a piece of chicken with a satisfying crunch and chewing for a moment before she answers. "You know I'm not a real counselor, right? Like.. I am, but not the sort that handles career advice and behavioral problems. I do a little bit of that to keep up appearances. But I was hired because of my mahou experience. I'm there to teach kids how to mahou. I'm very qualified for that."

    At the question of her friends, she makes a bit of a face. "I still talk to some of them." Fuyuko more than she wants to admit. Chiharu much less, but still the occasional awkward visit. "But no, I'm not expecting them today. They have their own lives."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe was likely going to leave most of it here, anyway. So one way or another, it'd be a gift. Even if Kyouka couldn't eat it all in one sitting. Still, watching the administrator eat a good, proper meal warmed her heart a little bit. She picked off a little bit of chicken herself, pushing it into her mouth with a hm.

She finally shook her head after she swallowed. "No, I didn't. I mean... I assumed you were a real one, just that you also had some mahou experience. Oh! Speaking of, I ummm... need another card. I kind of lost the last one you gave me. S-sorry. It was an accident. So... you're like... a sparkle skirt drill sargeant?" Hotaru asked, her eyes going wide. "That's so cool!"

"There really are a lot of them, aren't there? I've seen so many lately and more keep popping up, they're getting cooler and prettier and shinier and it's like living in a city with super heroes, you know? Isn't it the coolest?" Hotaru asked, almost bouncing in place under the kotetsu, jostling it a little and making the dishes bounce. Fortunately, nothing toppled over. "S-sorry!'

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Despite what Hotaru believes, Kyouka eats rather well pretty regularly! It's true that she's not much of a cook, but eating out is cheap in Tokyo, and the food is good. Still, this food is good too, and it's free and there's a lot of it. So she is in no way ungrateful. The pile of bones on her plate is growing steadily.

    "I prefer to think of myself more as a wise mentor than a drill sergeant but.. I guess the description isn't too off-base." She scowls, though. "I hate the term sparkleskirt. I have never worn a skirt, nor do I sparkle. It's very demeaning."

    As for the number of such skirts, sparkly or not, she gives a bit of a sigh. "Yeah, it's weird. All my life, there's been so few.. I mean, when I was your age, there were, I dunno.. maybe ten, twelve mahous in the entire city. Now there's twice that in my afternoon class session alone. I don't really know what to make of it."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe picked at one of the wedges next, pulling it apart, little pieces going into her mouth. "Really? I'd love to wear a sparkling skirt. That'd be so cute. Maybe one with rainbows and like, little dangly bits on it to make it more... fancy? If that makes sense? Oh, and like a kitty on the side! Hee hee. I wonder if any of them are like that... what term do you use?"

She did consider how many there were for a moment... before... "Maybe... you left inspiration or something? Your generation did such a good job the next generation was able to thrive?" Pause. Paaaaaause... then... "Or... something really bad is coming. Something... so terrible every one of them are needed..."

She glanced down at her own plate as she thought of the few things she knew that Obsidian had done... the actually really bad things.

"... Do you have any favorites?"

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "You can wear whatever you want." Kyouka says, generously. "If you want to wear a sparkling skirt with rainbows and a kitty on it, I'm not going to stop you. I just don't like the implication that everybody with a conscience also has to dress like a twelve-year-old.." She pauses, considering her company, and then adds, "No offense." Another chicken piece is stripped to the bone.

    "I just use the term 'mahou'." It literally just means 'magic' in Japanese, so she basically calls them 'magics'. "Good, bad, something inbetween.. people who can use magic are mahous. There's no big secret or method to determining what 'side' somebody ends up on.. people do what they're gonna do. But they're all still just people."

    She leans one elbow on the kotetsu table, making a face. "I'm pretty sure it's the latter. Trust me, we were not big inspiration, certainly not at the time. And also, I'm equally sure that can't be true because aside from... a few leftovers like me," a glance at Fuyuko in the picture, though she isn't named, "Nobody remembers us anyway. That's how the Fade works, you know."

    When asked if she has favorites, she blinks. "What, favorite students? I mean, I definitely have some that I get along with better than others. But I wouldn't go so far as to say I have favorites." She totally does, though.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe gave a light snicker. "Yeah. I mean, I do in fact dress like a twelve year old. Being one, after all. I think a lot of them look really... cute though and yeah I guess I see your point. Mahous... So just magic, huh. So like... dark mahous, light mahous? Or... hm. I guess. I... guess. There really isn't a big reason people end up on one side or the other, is there?"

The smile wavered on her face and she sighed. "I... I really hope it's not some big, terrible thing. I want... I want people to be happy. I want things to be nice. And... I hope... as many of them as there are, whatever is out there? They can stop. I want everyone else to have long, happy lives..."

"... Do... you eventually forget everything? The good times? The bad times? People... you cared about?" And there was just a little bit of worry in her voice when she spoke, before she started pushing in small bits of potato wedge in her mouth.

However, to the no favorites... "Come on, I'm not a mahou, you can tell me. Which of them is your favorite? I think my favorite is currently... mmmmm... I really like Sailor V, she's cool. But no, I don't think she's my favorite... ohhhhh. Cat Noir is handsome... I really like the singing one with the stages, she's pretty. I wish I could sing."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Most types of magic can't even really be categorized as 'light' or 'dark' in that way." Kyouka says, perhaps an odd stance coming from an Arbiter but more understandable if you know about her background. "It's just how people use them. Dark Energy is the obvious exception, but that's sort of its own category entirely. Not really the same thing. But no, I mean.. everyone has their own reasons for what they do. It seldom comes down to where they get their powers from. It has to do with who they are as people."

    Hotaru-chan.." Kyouka sighs then, having to impart a difficult truth, but one she is convinced is a truth regardless. "There's always some big terrible thing. Whether there's ten mahou or a hundred, all my life its been one big terrible thing after another. You learn to appreciate the breaks inbetween. The thing I don't like is that this time it's clearly different. Things are changing, and I don't know why. That concerns me more than just the idea that some big terrible thing is on the way."

    As for the Fade, she shrugs. "Most people do. Not everything, exactly. Just everything related to magic. For example, my friend Chiharu.. she's.... 'retired' now. She remembers who I am, that we're friends and that we spent our teenage years together. But she can't remember what we actually did. No specifics. Nothing about magic. Just that we were friends as kids, and spent time together. It's a strange phenomenon. I'd really, really like to know what causes it.." Not at all for her own reasons. Of course not.

    "You're definitely a mahou. First of all, you work at Obsidian. Second of all, I can talk to you about magic and you don't forget or rationalize it. Third of all, I can sense magic and I know you have it. So don't even try that line on me." She smirks. "But that's beside the point. I don't have favorites. I have students who I feel excel above the general crowd. Sailor Moon, for instance. Born leader, that one. She's going to go far."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe blinked a few times, a look of confusion on her face. "It can't? I thought it was like... dark energy and then all other kinds of not-dark energy. Though... honestly... I guess the fact it's called 'dark energy' is a sign it'd have to be evil, huh?"

Always some big terrible thing. Always some...

"... But even if there always is... it has always been fought off. We've always won. So... I don't think this time will be any different. I wish I could see it finish, but... I believe that things are going to be better. That's why all of them are popping up... I think things are going to change for the better."

She popped the last piece of the wedge in her mouth. Then giving a light chuckle and smile when she looked at that plate of bones. So many.

"That... sounds weird. To just... lose so much of your childhood like that. I'd... I think I'd be so confused..."

She cringed when she was told being a part of Obsidian made her magic. "There are lots of non-magical people at Obsidian... and good people... I'm only there because daddy is... and they use the magic to monitor my condition so it doesn't get worse. And it... was working... for a while..." Hotaru mumbled softly. "... How... much magic... do I have? If... you don't mind me asking? Can you tell? And... yeah. Sailor Moon is nice. She's so brave and pretty and kind. I always feel a warm glow when I see her."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "I hope you're right." Kyouka says with a shrug. "That the reason so many more mahous are being empowered is to make the world brighter and safer. It would be very nice if the answer was something so simple and so positive. I'm just a suspicious old lady, and I don't trust 'gifts' when I don't know the reason they're being given. But who knows... maybe this time I'm wrong."

    She shakes her head a little bit at the notion of losing your childhood. "It doesn't really work like that? At least as far as I've seen. People don't.. feel like anything is missing. They just like.. don't think about it. It's something to do with the way the whole thing works. It doesn't seem strange to them.. only to those of us who still remember. But yeah, it's pretty creepy. I'm not a fan."

    She just 'mmhmms' at Hotaru's excuses about why she's at Obsidian, but when the girl asks how much magic she has, Kyouka just shrugs. "Sorry, it doesn't really work that way. It's not a precise thing, it doesn't give me details. I can tell that you have magic, and that it isn't Dark Energy. That's about it. I wish I could give you more information than that but I honestly can't."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe couldn't help but agree with that one. "Yeah. A lot of people try giving gifts... but they're usually just... tricks. A way to get what they really want. Kaolinite does it a lot. To daddy especially," Hotaru muttered. "Because he's smarter than most of them." She had a huge daddy sized blind spot.

She couldn't help but wonder what it might be like in the future. How much would people remember about her? Would they only remember her? Would they remember Firefly? One day, when the fade caught up to her... Would Kyouka forget this conversation entirely?

"Really? That's... it? Oh... Okay... yeah. Dark energy doesn't... it hurts me when it gets near me. So I know it's not that. That's what the magic is trying to contain, I think. I don't know all the details. It--"

And then her phone went off. She blinked and then opened it and... "Huh? No, I'm-- what? No he... I don't... fine... fine. FINE!" she snapped, sounding annoyed, then sighing. "I... have to go. They're just... ugh. They mess up daddy's work and now I'm having a nice time and... ummmm... is it okay if I leave the rest of this here? It's... a little heavy... eh heh..."

... Yup. It was entirely a gift. Kyouka was nice. And she wanted to do nice things for her.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka doesn't interrupt the phonecall, but when Hotaru hangs up, she gives a lopsided smile and nods. "Sure.. you can leave it here. And thanks. For bringing the food over. I really appreciate it. Both the food and having somebody to talk to."

    She reaches over and digs out another of her business cards, handing it to Hotaru before she leaves. "Here. Try not to lose this one." She grins, showing the chastisement isn't serious. "Take care of yourself Hotaru-chan. And thanks for thinking of me."