2013/New kid on the Block

New kid on the Block
Date of Scene:	22 October 2024
Location:	Dorms #2
Synopsis:	A new girl, Yokina, comes to visit Mamoru. Only to reveal she is... HOTARU! GASP! He... is not surprised by this and gives her some advice. The two chat, catch up a bit and pet a kitty. All in all, a good afternoon.
Cast of Characters:	Hotaru Tomoe, Mamoru Chiba

---

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
It wasn't every day that someone came a knocking on Mamoru's door. Even less so that there was a young girl with... short black hair, tied back. Wearing very big, slightly tinted glasses. And wearing a very bright, pink outfit that didn't seem to mesh at all with the energy she exuded. And the cute little cat on the front of said shirt. An underclassman?

However, something about the girl might be pretty familiar...

"Mamoru Chiba-senpai?" she asked, keeping her head low. "Do you have a moment to talk? If now is a bad time, I understand."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"... sure," says Mamoru after adjusting his gaze downward, eyebrows up. He steps back and stands out of the way so the girl can come in, and he leaves the door open behind him so she can close it if she wants, or leave it open, or whatever.

Then he goes to sit on the edge of his bed, moving a desk chair forward with his foot. His voice is low.

He's pretty sure he knows who's just come in, but he'll give her the benefit of the doubt.

"Are you looking for hair dye recommendations?"

But he's still a teenager.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Yokina Meiou walked in, closed the door behind herself and... then...

"Wait, you dye your hair? Oh no! Is it all the stress? Is it making you get gray hair? But you're so young... I'll bet it was all that having to work with Director Beryl, she'd make anyone get gray hairs. But... it's okay! I think you'll look very dignified and refined, even with gray hair! Even if you had a bald spot!" 'Yokina' said firmly, lil fists up, a determined look on her face.

"But, no, my hair is this color naturally. I wanted to introduce myself to you since, well... I'm coming to school again. But you may know me better as..."

And she slides her glasses off, short hair blowing in the non-imagined wind for a moment. "Hotaru Tomoe, aka... the former Firefly, but now the redeemed Sailor Charon, protector of all things Pluto and Pluto related! I even have new theme music I made with Luminous Titan, wanna hear?" she asked, bending down to pull out her school bag, rifling through it to find the little necklace that was Luminous Titan's base form.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I... don't dye my hair, I was just-- if this is supposed to be a disguise, you need to commit to it a little harder," Mamoru says helplessly to the onslaught of words, physically leaning back a little as he gets his phone out.

He's halfway to looking up names of hair dyes when she introduces herself as ... herself.

The eleventh-grader looks blankly at Hotaru. "No-- no, I don't want to hear it right now, I want you to tell me how you intend to disguise yourself as yourself and not get caught. You at least need a different name. And hairdye."

He glances back at his phone. "Violent Violet? Protagonist Pink?"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Yokina Meiou blinked a few times. "I... I'm wearing brighter clothes! And I wear glasses. I'm like... Peteru Parkeru or Clarku Kentu!" Yes, she said the names in english, albeit poorly.

"And I only introduced myself as Hotaru. I'm... oh, oh no! I forgot to tell you, doh! Wait, let me try again!"

She then dashed out of the room, after putting the glasses on, then came back in. "Hello, Mamoru Chiba. I... am Yokina Meiou! But you may know me better as... better as..." She looked down at the necklace. For a few moments there was silence.

Then it began to play... theme music. "Hotaru Tomoe!" she said, taking the glasses off and setting her hair back, to its bowl-cut style, no longer pinned back with a pin! LEH GASP! How could he have seen it coming?!

"... And protagonist pink? I'd never be a protagonist, I'd be like. The sidekick at best. Protagonist's are cool people, like Cure Wing or Cure La Mer or Sailor Moon or Sailor Venus."

Pause.

"So, ummmm... has Takashi-senpai been okay? I... haven't been able to talk to him since... you know... Has he been taking care of himself? Does he come back to his room some days and actually sleep?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I mean, we don't talk much," Mamoru says, voice very slightly smaller at that, and then he just sort of trails off, looking back down at his phone. "We talk some, but... the last time I talked to him in depth was in late July or early August."

He looks up again, frowning. "Peter Parker wears a full bodysuit and head mask. Clark Kent's whole disguise is based on blending in. You can't blend in. If you leave the glasses on and never speak, it might work, but wearing sunglasses in class is discouraged. Ask me how I know."

Then Mamoru sighs, sticking his phone in his shirt pocket and reaching up to run his hands through his hair. "You live with Setsuna-san! And I'm guessing Yokina Meiou is her cousin or little sister or something. Ask her to dye your hair green to match hers. That'll go a long way."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Yokina Meiou blinked a few times. "They... they aren't sunglasses. They're just a little bit tinted. I have others I could wear, though. Maybe... boxier..." Hotaru stared at her glasses. Was it true, glasses-chan? Was she too obvious?

"And... okay. I can dye my hair, too. That should be fine. Michiru-senpai and Setsuna-senpai have really pretty hair..." She walked over and sat on the end of the bed, by him, with a light oof.

"... And really? You haven't? Ohhh... I hope he's okay. Takashi-senpai is so smart and also so, so dumb. If he doesn't have someone keeping him out of trouble he might do something silly and dangerous and get hurt. Well... I guess he still has Mami-senpai, but you're still his brother, right? Family is supposed to look out for each other, aren't they?"

"... And I think I'm her cousin. Ohhhhh. I could be the mini-her's big sister, from last year! That'd be so fun! Nobody would see it coming, either!"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I'll just keep healing him whenever he asks, and sometimes bully him into letting me heal him," Mamoru says with a sigh, not shaking his head, but not quite able to look at Hotaru. "I just don't know every time he gets hurt. At least he still has the robot we made him, I think. And-- I think I'd be able to tell if he were really, really hurt."

Finally he smiles a little sideways at the girl sitting next to him, head tilted. "They do have really pretty hair. So do you, but it needs to stay hidden, and wigs are presumably more annoying than dye. Maybe cut it shorter, too, like Haruka-san's hair."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Yokina Meiou gave a small nod. Then she reached out, paused, pulling her hand back. Then... "Ummmm... can I... pat your hand?" she asked. If he let her, she would. Comfortingly. "I'm worried about him too. But... you got out. I'm sure he will, one day. He thinks he's doing good things the wrong way. One day... he'll try and do good things the right way. I believe in him, do you?" Hotaru asked with a small, comforting smile.

"... Maybe... you're right. I could dye it. I've always cut my own hair, though. After I stabbed Kaolinite with the comb." Which, admittedly, explained the simple bowl cut. Also, she said that, maybe, a bit too easily. "Michiru-senpai usually cuts it now, she's much better. My hair always seems so... limp and dead compared to theirs, though. Theirs feels alive. Like them. Wild and free..."

"... Are you happy?" she asked, looking up at him. "Like this? How things are? I mean... with your new family?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Yes," Mamoru says, strengthening his shields as the syllable escapes his mouth in the briefly silent room. And Hotaru - Yokina - pats his hand, and he returns her small smile. "I believe in him too, yes. I know he wants to keep the world from being destroyed, I know he eventually wants to make sure it functions better, but... the wrong way, yeah."

He then squints at Hotaru's hair. "I'm not sure where you're getting limp and dead from, it seems floaty and full-bodied to me. Mine is just fluffy and never does as it's told."

Finally, a smile that's a little wider. "I like having more than one person who loves me," he says, "that I love back. All kinds of love. I guess you could call it family, though that's not how I think of everyone. I might someday. I need my place first, before I can think like that."

A beat. "I'm moving into my new home in three weeks, and then the cat cafe downstairs should be open sometime in the month after that. Will you visit?"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
The young healer appreciated the shields, though she was unaware they were there. Though she looked confused when he said how floaty her hair was. "W-what? Mine?" she asked before reaching up to pull at a strand. "Really? It always just kind of... lays there. I can't get it to ever actually do anything special, it just is. Nothing like the Setsuna-senpai and the others. Their hair is magnificent, like models or goddesses," Hotaru said, her voice filled with awe. "And I don't know. Your hair always looks so pretty to me. It reminds me of a big, loveable puppy. Or a prince charming from an amusement park who helps you find your parents when you're lost."

"Why do you need a home before you can have a family? Isn't... home where your family is? Wait."

"A cat cafe?!" she asked, her eyes shimmering. "O-oh my gosh. Three weeks? Yes! Of course I'll come, kitties! We have a kitty now and it's so cute and precious and it lets me pet it and feed it and I haven't had any incidents with it and when there's a string it will chase it and sometimes we get the laser pointer and..." And then there was a ten minute just... Hotaru gushing about the cat montage. There was no escape. There was only excited girl with her first real pet.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"A puppy," Mamoru repeats dubiously after listening, then laughs a little. "I'll take prince charming, though. Prince Endymion, at the very least."

He pats Hotaru's hand back, gently glossing over the personal question, and he's about to say...

...anything at all, he can't say anything at all, because Hotaru's not a quiet, mature kid, she's a hurricane. He feels a little like a bendy straw hurled three inches into an oak from the wind of that hurricane, honestly.

During the monologue, as if summoned, Anko makes a little huffing brrp sound as she appears in the open second-floor window, as if a jump landing forced the air out. But two floors!

Eventually, Mamoru can get out-- while holding his own cat in his lap-- "Three weeks is my home. Three weeks and then some is the cat cafe. I'll give you the address when it's ready, it's gonna be right in downtown Azabu-Juuban. This is Anko."

"Saaaaalmon?" Anko asks hopefully, then mlem mlems as she licks her chops.

"I fed you half an hour ago," Mamoru scolds.

"Mamorrrru is incapable of love," Anko says, dramatically turning over in his lap and streeeetching so she's incredibly long, then going limp. "Mamorrrru is starrrrving Anko."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Yokina Meiou eventually had to sit back down and take some slow, deep breathes. Oh. Wow. She almost saw stars. How long was she like that? "I-I'm sorry. I've never had a pet before I didn't..." Then trailed off. "I've never had a pet before. It's so cute and loveable and precious."

Then she glanced down to Anko. And gave a small snicker, a hand over her mouth. "Oh yes. I can see that. Very starved, unloved cat."

Then she leaned over and whispered to Mamoru, loud enough for Anko to hear. "Psst. You're the 'dad' now. Congratulations." Indeed. Cat dad. "I have some carrot sticks if you'd like them?" she offers the cat. Because what cat would like carrot sticks? Also, considering the way she eats, she... probably wouldn't eat them anyway. "But thank you for all your advice, Mamoru-senpai. I'll tell Setsuna-senpai and the others. And ummmm... I..." She opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something. Needed to say something. Looking conflicted, confused, then... she finally sighed.

"Thank you. For everything. For... taking care of Takashi-senpai. For... being nice to me, even when I didn't always deserve it. And thanks for helping me, when I need it. Thanks... just... thank you... for being the kind of person... I wish more people could be. And... I should get out of your hair. But, ummmm, before I go... can... I?"

... She wanted to pet Anko. It... it was kitty.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"You're a good kid," Mamoru says simply, but he's saying it at the exact same time as Anko is lifting her head and purr-rumbling, "Pets? Pets!"

Anko rolls off Mamoru's lap and nearly falls onto the floor, but manages to savescum somehow -- was that a glitch in the matrix?! -- and nothing to see here, she was always on the bed, headbutting Hotaru's side and arm. "Girrrrrl will pet Anko now. Starrrrving Anko. Unloved Anko."

Mamoru throws his hands in the air. "She's just like this sometimes, I swear!"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Yokina Meiou blinked a few times and then... "Oh my gosh she's like Yochu..." Of course that just made the kitty better to 'Yokina'. Best. Kitty. EVER! Well, maybe not the best. But up there. She gave the kitty petties and scritchies and even a little nose to nose boop if she let her.

"You are very loved, Anko. I can tell. Mamoru Chiba-senpai is a man with a very big heart, he has so many people he loves and they're lucky to have him."

Still, she could only pet the kitty so lovingly for so long before, once again, she got to her feet and slid her glasses back on. "I'll be starting class soon as Yokina Meiou. It'll be nice to see people again. And ummmmm... I really want to thank you and everyone who have helped me up to now. I'll do my best to not let any of you down, after you've all given me so much." She bowed politely, before heading towards the door to give him space again, a small, happy jump in her step.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Awwwww. 'Yokina' is saying such nice things about him, Mamoru's face maybe turns a little pink at it. He stands up, then reaches down to scoop Anko up and hold her like a baby, thick paws in the air and tail whipping back and forth as her eyes dilate.

He's in danger.

"You won't let us down," he says to Hotaru as she leaves, a smile in his voice--

--and as soon as she's out the door, he mooshes his face into his cat's belly and, predictably, gets clawed.

"Mamorrrrru play!" comes Anko's joyful voice from behind the door.

"Ow!" comes Mamoru's.