1575/It's Not About Her

It's Not About Her
Date of Scene:	23 May 2024
Location:	The Shed
Synopsis:	Sunset of Sora has struck again, leaving Rashmi's heart bruised. Usagi calls her to the Shed, for a talk, and hope is shared between the two.
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Rashmi Terios
Tinyplot:	Sunset of Sora

---

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It's one of the very few days that Usagi Tsukino has bothered with coming to school since Mamoru entered the hospital in critical condition. Her parents and the school have both been exceptionally understanding about the fact that she just doesn't care about school right now, on the condition that she completes all her homework and scores at least a B on it.

Usagi has been meeting both of those requirements. As it turned out, all she needed was terror, fury, and worry, to knuckle down into the student who could achieve the minimum to stay with her boyfriend.

But she still had to turn in her own work, and they'd compromised on getting it every few days. How else could they be sure someone else wasn't doing the work for her?

So Usagi had traded shifts with Nephrite and gone to school, quietly staring out the window until it was lunch, and then she'd gone ahead to the Shed, burning incense for the trapped girl in the mirror, and pulling out her phone.

    TXT to RASHMI -- I'm at school today, in the Shed, if you wanted to talk. Sorry I waited 'til lunch to message you.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
TXT to USAGI -- It's okay. I'll be right there.

After that... worryingly brief text, it's not very long before the door to the Shed opens, and an un-henshined Rashmi slips inside, carefully closing the door behind her. When she turns...

Well, Usagi has seen that face in the mirror, quite often. Someone pushing down hard on all the terror, fury, and worry threatening to break out at any moment. Without a word, the redhead crosses the floor to leans against the seat next to Usagi's place, setting down a bottle of strawberry Ramune, her best guess at her friend's preference.

Taking out another bottle, she thumps down perhaps harder than necessary to dislodge the bead, takes a sip, then lets out a long, slow breath.

"Molly-chan's in the hospital," she says, her voice a lead weight. "She got caught out last night."

The bottle begins to quiver, ever so slightly, in Rasmi's hand.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It's a surprisingly brief text, considering it's Rashmi, who texts like she thinks, literally, sometimes with really long, run on sentences, but it's been a hard, weird time. Usagi's the last person who can judge -

But then the door opens, and she turns, and she knows, in an instant, what must have happened, because she sees that face all the time, when she scrubs her face, when she showers, when she changes, when she has to look at herself at all. Anger and terror and worry, boiling in the bones and shoved down, because you need to smile and you need to put your best face forward and you can't break -

She stands up from her seat, and hugs Rashmi, hard and tight and with all the worry and anger and frustration and love in her body.

"I'm sorry," she says, because she knows, and Rashmi knows too, now, understands, now - "Cure Suzhen stopped by the hospital, and helped heal Mamochan up some. She goes too our school. I'll ask if she can visit Molly-chan too, like Daifuku-chan and you will. I'd help too, but my Silver Crystal is useless for this -"

Unimportant, she cuts herself off, and hugs a little longer, before finally sliding away, back to her chair. She dislodges the marble fairly aggressively herself, frustrated beyond belief -

"We're going to have to make her stop."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
The hug is returned fiercely, because without a Barrier Jacket her noodly arms mean hugging as hard as she wants isn't a danger all its own. A strangled sob bubbles up, as 'I'm sorry' is spoken and understood for all its weight, and she squeezes again, before moving back.

"Yeah," she says, blotting a sleeve at her eyes. "Yeah we are. But... It's not that your Crystal is useless, Usa-chan. It's just... not supposed to be pointed at Mamo-kun, y'know? Like, I've been thinking about it."

A sad, wet little laugh comes up for a moment, and she shakes her head. "...Needed to do *something* to keep from flying apart... But... Remember what I said about what happened to Mamo-kun?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
That strangled sob is another knock against Hinoiri, another mark to hold against her friend (Usagi won't fool herself - her fury is because Hinoiri is her friend, and Hinoiri has betrayed her even more than she's betrayed herself) when they catch up to her. Rashmi's noodly arms are fierce against Usagi's back, and the strawberry Ramune burns going down her throat, when she sips at it.

"That it's like there's something draining the power before the charger can hit his battery? I remember, and I kind of get it, I just - hate it. All I can do is be there, and it barely even helps because he can't feel it... But, sorry, that's just - not the point. What... what have you been thinking about?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Yeah," Rashmi says, squeezing Usagi's shoulder. "I've been thinking about why. And... I mean this is *all* guesswork, but, answering the 'why' is really, really important, so I couldn't not think about it."

And by the way she rushes through the words, and the way she pauses to swallow between breaths... Disseminating Helpful Information is not just Nicomachea's specialty, it's Something Rashmi Can Do.

There's something in the redhead's expression that says 'let me get this part out of the way, then we can break down together if you want.'

"So like... here..."

Removing Nicomachea's charm from her bow, she waits for the Device to fully open itself up, then sets the huge book down on the table. Obediently, the book generates a pair of holographic screens, showing heavily-approximated person-silhouettes. One has a bright, cheery green heart, with cheery green lines threading through the figure. The other has a smaller, green-outlined black heart, and thin black lines mimicking the first.

"So the thing is... Everything that lets Molly-chan and Mamo-kun *be* magic still exists. The only thing that's changed is that they're starved for power, and stay that way because there's nothing for the Crystal -- or anything that works on energy first -- to hold onto."

"But their power isn't *gone* gone. It's just... someplace else. Like someone took water out of a cup, but the water still had the cup's shape."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Guesswork or not, it is important. I mean, we're hoping we can talk her out of it, or beat her and get everything back - but if it's not that easy, having like, any idea of how she's doing this will help."

It's actually important work, and it's something Usagi couldn't do with ten years and a super-computer. Rashmi and her device can figure these kinds of things out, and Usagi is a little envious, but mostly grateful to have an idea of what's going on.

Healthy, cheerful green heart. Sad, empty heart. It's not hard to tell which ones are the state Mamoru and Molly are in now.

"Everything's been taken away. And it's still gone, like, Hinoiri froze their cups, then popped the ice out and left them empty?" She might be extending the metaphor too much, but she needs to be sure she's got the idea.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Mostly," Rashmi says, nodding. "I mean... she still *uses* the power so it's not *really* frozen, but like... the point is, the water is still in the cup. It's just that 'water' and 'cup' are separate concepts now.

Helpfully, Nicomachea looses a << *BONG!* >> and the graphics wipe away, the screens merging to show a bottle of Ramune, the top popped and bead dropping into its cradle.

Then the soda clips right out of the bottle like buggy graphics, still bottle-shaped and fizzing merrily away.

"So when you used the Silver Crystal to heal Mamoru..."

A cartoony-looking cup appears over the bottle, and pours galaxy-colored light down the bottle's open mouth. But it's the liquid on the *other* side that fills full of fizzy cosmic goodness.

"...It doesn't help Mamo-kun because right now he's the bottle, not the liquid."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi scowls at the image of the liquid gaining cosmic goodness, "I hope it burned all the way down."

She'd been channeling pure love, the most potent emotion for purification, when she'd tried to rouse Mamoru. If Hinoiri is siphoning everything, then she hopes it burned. She hopes it made her scream, the way La Crima did every single time she felt that light, because she'd left Mamoru for dead, all because she wanted power -

"But how do we get the liquid back into the bottle?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"If -- *if* -- if I'm right," Rashmi says, for once not reacting to that scowl, and the thoughts it implies. Because they're not far from her own thoughts. "If I'm right... Then it didn't work because you were using it on the wrong person. It didn't work on Mamo-kun... but I think it's the Silver Crystal that'll be how we get everyone their liquid back. It's just a matter of how your powers work, Usagi-chan."

The screen shrinks to a slit of light, then a dot, then disappears, and Nicomachea << *BONG!* >> again.

     << GUEST USER 'Usagi Tsukino' MANA EFFECTS TREND TOWARD NEARLY PURELY 'Spiritual,' >> Nicomachea says in his professorial tone. << IF THERE IS NO 'Spiritual' ANSWER TO A PHYCIAL PROBLEM, THEN LOOK TO THE 'Spiritual' PROBLEM THAT REQUIRES AN EQUIVALENT ANSWER. >>

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It's an answer that Usagi was not expecting, not from Rashmi or Nicomachea, and she blinks at them both, disbelieving - and yet, the more she thinks about it, the more she grasps that it is the only answer that makes sense... it's just...

"You mean, I need to use my purification on Hinoiri? I've done that before - well," and she pauses, frowning, "Mamochan wasn't calling her possessed, before, and he'd know, so... but still - I mean... it is a spiritual problem... sort of..."

Hinoiri has the spirit of someone who needs to get her ass kicked after all.

"But I guess, if I can't fix the problem at the Mamochan end, it makes sense to try and fix it at the Hinoiri-chan end..."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"You use the magic on her, yeah... But it's the same thing it always has been... *It's not about her.* Use the Silver Crystal to wish all those powers back where they belong."

A sniffle breaks free of Rashmi's control, and as she adjusts her glasses there's a moment where they shine akin to Koji's. "...But she's not gonna want to let go. So... we'll have to weaken her hold. *The hard way.*"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Wish the powers back where they belong. Usagi considers this idea, for a moment, and it's clear in her face that she'll try, but that there's worry - because her mother is the one who used the Silver Crystal to grant wishes. And sure, in some ways, Usagi had granted wishes, before - the wish for Mamoru to live, for the Shitennou to be free - but -

"Yeah. We will," and she grimaces, because she doesn't want to. Well, she does. But not like that. "If this is what she thinks she needs to accomplish her stupid goals, there's no way she'd ever let us just take the power back. Not unless she couldn't stop us."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
The look of worry on Usagi's face gives Rashmi pause for a moment. Closing her eyes and taking a breath, she nods. "Sorry... I mean like... If you knew it was *souls* that she had, instead of powers... Wouldn't you want to make sure they were freed? It's like that. Maybe 'wish' is the wrong word, but 'free' might be better-- oh, dammit."

This last, little bit of frustration at not communicating the *right* idea in the *right* way seems to be the last straw, and she sinks back on the desk, breath hitching. "Sorry... sorry... I'll be better in a little bit..."

How often do people say that like it's going to happen, just because they want it to? "Usa-chan she was *sorry!* That's the last thing Molly-chan said to me right before she finally passed out! 'I'm sorry!' Like it's *her* fault! I--"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Waaaaah, oh no! There's sheer panic in Usagi's face, as Rashmi pauses and sinks back, and her breath hitches and she waves her hands and says, "No, no, it's not - it's not that -" but she doesn't get a chance to speak because Rashmi is pouring words out, and they're awful words.

An apology. An apology for getting hurt. An apology for being hurt, like it's anyone's fault but the person who did the hurting, and Rashmi is being bundled up in a hug before anything else can be said.

"Rashmi-chan," she murmurs, tugging her friend close, patting her back. "I'm sorry you found her like that. I'm sorry she - I'm sorry felt like that. Because it's not her fault, and it's not yours, and we're going to fix this, okay? It's not - your explanation is good, I promise. It was just -"

A quiet little sigh.

"My mother - Queen Serenity granted wishes, with the Silver Crystal. Not like, you know, in Aladdin, or anything, but... she was the one who made things happen, with just the power of her will, and that crystal. It just - it just threw me off a little, thinking about doing something she would."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
And Rashmi is just a weepy mess for a little bit, because her friend is with her and it's okay and sometimes you just... *need* to be able to let someone else take over the talking and thinking and having a functioning mind for a bit. And so she wraps her arms around Usagi's shoulders, sobbing into her friend's neckerchief until she can gather herself back up again.

"Thanks," she finally says with a sniffle, pulling her head away. "And... I kinda thought that's why... Just like..."

Blowing out a ragged sigh, she removes her glasses, and starts to clean them. "...Remember what Chiyo-chan and I said? You're *you,* now... There's some of the Princess in you, yeah... some of the Queen's daughter. But neither of them are *you.* And you're who we're gonna need."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi pats Rashmi's back, letting her sob it out, letting her weep where she's safe, where no one will judge. Rashmi had been fine two days ago - not fine, but not a wreck - which means that Molly was just attacked. Yesterday, if not today, and it's hard.

She knows. She cried a lot, in the hospital waiting room, after they handed Mamoru over to all those doctors.

"Any time," she murmurs, and is definitely going to change clothes, but, later, and that's not something Rashmi-chan needs to worry about, and -

"...me," she confirms, and there's a bit of doubt, and a bit of awareness, a bit of a lurking idea, because she is different, now, she isn't exactly Serenity, she is Usagi, and... "Something that only I can do. Well, me, working with all of our friends..."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"You," Rashmi repeats firmly. "And I mean... If I thought it would help, I'd say hold off as much as you can. Just in case. But... I don't know if it will."

Closing Nicomachea, she plucks a box of tissues out of the book's central crystal. But as she cleans her face, she keeps talking. "So you do what you think you should. If that means letting the rest of us handle most of the beating her into the ground... Good, all that power might be needed. If not, and you can't stay on the edge of the fight? Good, we'll need you there too."

Wadding the tissues up, she replaces her glasses, holding the box out in apologetic question. "But all that matters is you'll be there, because you're needed."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I don't know if I'll be able to hold back," she admits honestly, "But you're right - we're all going to be needed exactly where we are... and... Hinoiiri-chan might be some ancient enemy, but she's my enemy. My friend, my enemy, and I think... I think you're right."

Hinoiri had been the key to getting back her tiara, because she was a threat, because she was terrifying, because she went after Naru. Hinoiri had been her friend, her enemy, her rival and her ally and now -

Now Hinoiri is making a prison out of herself, a dumping ground for people's souls, people's power, and Usagi can't let it go.

"You'll be there too. We'll need as many people as we can... not just to fight her, but to reach whatever's left of her." Because she wouldn't be herself if she wasn't thinking, at least a little, about what's left. "She's turning herself inside out just to be more than she is - and I don't know if I'll ever forgive her for this - but Mamochan says she wants to be stopped. So we'll stop her. And after, after is up to her."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Oh I'll be there," Rashmi says quietly. "I've tried every way I can think of to reach her. And every time, I almost got there... but she just won't listen. So... yeah. Now...?" She looks up, and there's a grim, terrible sadness on her face. "Now all we have left is the hard way. Don't worry, Usa-chan, I'll be there. For Mamo-kun, for Molly-chan... for all of us."

And now, finally, it seems that Rashmi can breathe easier, a little bit. Finishing her soda, she looks back up at Usagi and tries on a smile. "So I was gonna go to the hospital after this, do the rounds. Wanna walk with?"

Because even the worst things, are easier to deal with when you've got a friend with you. Even this.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"You'll be there for her, too," Usagi says, and there's that intent, focused look in her eyes as she looks at Rashmi. "Because even with what she did - even with what she is - even if I can't forgive her... she's still suffering. She's still in pain. And if she makes it through this, if you still can... she'll still need a friend."

She's not going to prioritize Hinoiri over Mamoru. She's not going to make him suffer for the sake of rescuing Hinoiri from herself.

But Hinoiri is her friend. And she's being stupid and cruel and - and honestly she's not being pathetic, because she's too strong, but she's being something that would be worth pity if Usagi weren't still filled with rage.

"And I don't know if I can be that friend, unless she's truly, and genuinely, sorry, but if you can be..."

It's a lot to ask of Rashmi. But she knows that Rashmi wants to be a peacemaker, to reach everyone, and she wants her to know that Usagi - Usagi supports that.

"Definitely. Let's go check in our Molly-chan and Mamochan, okay?"