2296/Those Who Can't, Teach

Those Who Can't, Teach
Date of Scene:	05 February 2025
Location:	Dorms #1
Synopsis:	Emi gets a visit from Mamoru, who's looking to ask her about the note Hinoiri left for her in the Shed. There's a fair amount of her giving some pointers and explaining, and a little bit of accidental traumadumping on Mamoru's part. Oops.
Cast of Characters:	Mamoru Chiba, Emi Hoshino

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Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Half an hour ago, Mamoru texted: saw the note be there in half an hour do not run i wont bully you

Yeah 'don't run' from a guy who has to duck through doorways is a pretty reasonable plea, but also, she's injured and he expects she'd run anyway.

It's late afternoon, classes are out, the sun is shining, and Chiba Mamoru is a horrible goose. Or at least knocking on the door.

"Emi-san," he calls, "I mean to arm you." He'd be laughing at his own joke, but he sounds tired. "Heard you got beat up by Kirara. Lame."

Emi Hoshino has posed:
There's a momentary pause silence before Emi answeres, the sound of her bed squeaking as she repositions.

"Yeah, okay. Doors unloked. Cpme on in."

After he makes the comment about Kirara, Emi rolls her eyes. She's dressed casually at the moment but there are bandages across her knuckles visible, and god knows what else might be wrong.

"Oh yeah, definitely all her," she remarks, dryly, "and definitely not a monster of any kind. So came by to rub salt on the wounds, huh?" She sits up in her bed with a grimace. Ribs hurt.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Coming in the door, Mamoru instantly gets a complicated expression. "Is that what you think of me?" he asks, surprised, maybe a little disappointed. "Sorry if I came across as that kind of person. No..."

He's in a black Babymetal pink-logo t-shirt under his leather jacket, and his shoes are possibly worth an economy car, and his skinny jeans are being worn uhhhh the way jeans are supposed to be worn? and his glasses are smudged and his hair is windblown-- BUT-- ACTUALLY the first noticeable thing in all that black is--

The healer's arm is in a sling and he's favoring his right shoulder.

"I came by to see if there's anything else I should know about the places nightmares might be showing up. I'm planning on checking them out." He closes the door over, but doesn't fully close it, and he steps out of his god damned shoes. "And I also wanted to see if there was anything small or surface level I could get for you so you're less godawfully uncomfortable. Might take me a little while to get back up to speed, so if you're... out a rib or two?" he guesses, "I won't be able to fix that yet."

Emi Hoshino has posed:
"I don't actually think you're here to rub salt on my wounds. I am --"

A pause.

"... wow. You look like I feel right now," she explains, eyes locking on his shoulder for a moment at the sling it is in. "I don't know what you could get me except maybe some boba," she tells him, her lips twisting into a ghost of a smile. Here she is without her makeup, even. "And I'm gonna want to hear that story but ... which one are you thinking about checking out?" she asks, so she knows what to focus on going forward.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Well, I thought to myself," says Mamoru as he comes in a little further, sits in a desk chair so he stops looming at the door, "which would make my boyfriend slash head guardian more annoyed? The one that feels like it's straight out of the Magnus Archives, or the one that's in a disused subway station you can only get to through surveilled locked doors, or by walking along the tracks? And I had my answer."

He laughs a little. "I'll get you boba before I head out for the day. Flavor tea? Or juice?"

Uncomfortably adjusting the strap of the sling, the hipster prince looks-- complicated again. "It's not so much a story as-- magical terrorists. From an alternate timeline's future. They're... well, in addition to going after our daughter from the alternate timeline's future, they're trying to kill people who grow up to be important in their time."

Mamoru inhales, and reaches up to rub at his tired eyes under his glasses. Exhale. "They almost killed a little kid. Just-- just a little kid with no powers or anything. Gave it everything, which meant he lived, but he's still going to be in the hospital for months with what she did to his neck. And she attacked me while I was working on it..."

There's a pause, then, and Mamoru half-smiles and ducks his head. "Guess it was a story. Anyway my nightmares have been completely predictable, as a result. So more *interestingly*, I am really interested in this tunnel!"

Emi Hoshino has posed:
She stares at him for a long moment, as if taking in each piece of the story a little bit at a time, breaking it down and mentally digesting it. It sounds unbelievable, but then, she's seen some pretty weird stuff in just the year she's been busy, but those are, ultimately, just dreams. It's a far cry from something that sounds like science fiction.

"Rrrright. Well. That's a lot. Maybe you've found something to keep me awake," she rubs her hands through her hair. "How about that bebymetal, huh?" she asks, doing her level best to dispel the moment of darkness between them.

"Okay, yeah, I got nothing to say to any of that so I'm gonna move on to the tunnel and understand why getting heal outta you was no good for the time being,. Of course, I think Hinoiri would rebreak my ribs if I thought about trying to get right back to it." There's a slight smile again.

"So, the the subway station, then. Okay.the only way to it is through a locked down building, or to run along the subway tracks and avoid any CCTV if you're lucky -- bit people do get in there, judging by all the graffiti I saw. It's got a creepy white rabbit art piece, lots of stuff deliberately left to age and the grace of time to provide ambience and plenty of urban legends can be found about the 'real reason' it was closed. Ghosts, murders, people pushed onto the tracks like they think this is America, that kind of stuff."

"So, naturally, I decided to go to the dream version of it which kind of exists as a the Creepy Subway Station Where Horror Movies Happen, apparently, and I did sense ... some thing. It *felt* like nightmare, but without something actually there to tell, it was more like catching the faintest whiff of cherry blossom on the wind, whether it was something fading or the first sign of something, I can't say."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I love Babymetal," says Mamoru with zero irony, willing to go with that-- "I generally lean more punk than metal but it's been even-ing out the past couple of years. Different flavors of angry a--"

He stops, closing his eyes, then laughs, his blue eyes sparkling behind his glasses when he opens them. "Right. You-- right. Sorry. Never let anyone tell you you're awkward, just introduce them to me."

The upperclassman sits there in the desk chair kind of half-perched, good arm hugging one knee with his foot on the seat of the chair-- why is he sitting like that-- and he gestures with the hand in the sling, like sorry I keep interrupting, like do go on please. And then he listens intently.

"Symbol of death, or change, right? The cherry blossoms. Impermanence." Mamoru's quiet for a second, then unfolds physically. "So. I shouldn't take a nap there without a spotter?" he asks with a super serious face.

Emi Hoshino has posed:
"Well, yeah, it was a metaphor," says Emi, "and its fine. You've got questions and shit," she gestures nebulously with her left arm. "And I'm not going anywhere. But are you sure you're up for it if anything goes sideways?" She asks, eyes going towards his shoulder. "If another Nightmare breaks through while I'm here, I can't say it won't be as bad as the last one, you know?" is that CONCERN?

Well, yes. Yes it is.

"But in your shoes... yeah. Probably not alone. And if something does happen, try to get word to me and I'll try to get to you so KenKen can eat it,."

The spider picks out from under Emi's blankets where it was snuggling her like a cat. Waves a little forelimb at him before retreating again.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Yeah, I can't get this right now because I don't have enough spare calcium to pull it off. I've been drinking milk for days now," Mamoru says perfectly seriously. He could be lying through his teeth. "I'll get it by Wednesday. I just-- I used up most of my reserve for Junichi-kun, the little boy who was attacked. But moving around like this is a pain, I need to keep up with my-- oh, *you* need to keep up with your vitamins, too!"

He shakes his head and crosses his legs, elbow of his good arm on the upper knee as he leans forward a little. "I'd be okay if things went sideways. I mean, fundamentally okay. I might get hurt but I would fix it. But yeah, I can definitely strongarm one of my boys into going with me."

Mamoru's silent for a second, looking out the window, and then he looks back to Emi and SURPRISE KENKEN. He jerks back and then makes an OW FUCK face without actually saying anything, just hissing. "Khh. Hello Kenken, sorry. Yes. Did you want to try a rose? If you go to sleep with it I can knock on your metaphorical door."

Emi Hoshino has posed:
"Damn that sounds awful," says Emi to Mamoru about the kid before she gives a sympathetic nod. "I'm still managing to keep pretty dream busy but sure." She holds out her hand for a rose, of course. "But try not to get hurt, huh? And remember, any of these could be nothing at all. Without being able to check for sure myself, all of these or none of these could be a whole ass thing. You know?" She gives a crooked smile before continuing, "With my luck, all of them." She winces, rubbing her right side with her left hand absently.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Oh he almost shrugs, almost. But his shoulder's still smarting, and Mamoru looks mildly wry for a moment. "If you're busy don't pick up the phone," he says, a line of sparking transformation shifting him sideways from upperclassman to fairytale prince. A rose is produced out of thin air with a twist of the hand, and he doesn't bow or anything like that-- he just gives it matter of factly, then drops the henshin again.

Then Mamoru starts, and pulls a genuine pocket watch out to check the time. "And I am late to acquire child."

This last he says while getting up, then putting his shoes on-- and then he says cheerfully, "You should meet her! But obviously not right now. Rest well, Oneiromancer."

Oh how fast he is out the door.