+++++ Kino-Ikari Apartment, Azabu-Juban, Japan. (Tuesday + 3)
At the same time Usagi stormed Rei Hino's fortress, Shinji and Makoto were arriving at the apartment to allow the Sailor for Jupiter to change her clothes. As she hustled into her room to not waste time in preparing herself for their 'date', Shinji crouched down by the section of floor that she'd given him to sleep on. Unzipping the backpack he'd been gifted to carry everything, he scowled at the ornate leather briefcase. It was heavy, in more than one way, and as he slipped it free he tried to determine how he felt about what was inside.
I don't know how to handle this much money. I certainly don't know whether or not it's even…lawfully earned? He tried to determine if there was a better way to phrase the thought that perhaps more than one crime had been committed to put this much money in one location at one time. I absolutely do not know how to explain this to Makoto-san. Unclasping the locks, he once more opened the case to scowl at its contents. Maria-san told me that it was mine. That she couldn't keep something that had been gifted to me. She was more than just insistent; she was almost afraid of my leaving it there.
The other matter was the crisp envelope addressed to 'The Silent One'. He'd still not read the letter, not wishing to be rude during his workday, but he did know that held inside the folded parchment was a talisman. The kind someone hung near their door to ward off evil spirits and beckon in helpful spirits. Taking out enough of the money to cover nearly anything he could think of that they might do or need, he closed and locked the briefcase again. He wouldn't be able to figure it out before Makoto came back, and it wouldn't do to start their 'fun' with something so heavy.
Only seconds after he'd done so, Makoto walked happily out of her room with a bright smile on. "What do you think?" Turning in a circle on her toes, a habit he'd begun to believe came from knowledge of ice skating, she wore a loose, column, farmer's dress in cotton with a pink and white crosshatch design.
I think I need to admit it before I do or say something perverted. "I-I…." Closing his eyes, and taking a deep breath, he fought against Unit-01 for control. "I th-think y-you're o-one of th-the most b-beautiful women I-I've e-ever seen." Great. Nice job. Got that out there with at least two words not stammered like a moron. "F-friends sh-shouldn't th-think that, th-though."
Had his eyes been open, he would have seen Makoto's smile go from supernova to super-confused. "Why not?!" Throwing caution to the wind, she walked over and hugged him ferociously, "Shinji-kun, it's never a terrible thing to tell people you've fought alongside that you think they're attractive, or smart, or anything you want to praise them on. Thank you for the wonderful compliment!" When she felt Unit-01 slam into place, she had to restrain herself from screaming in frustration. Taking a cautious step back, she made a soothing motion with her hands, "It's ok. That's my fault for hugging you without warning."
Focus. Calm. You can do this. Pressing harder on Unit-01 over the course of a minute, he was able to force it back to wherever it lingered when he didn't wear it. Checking his pocket to make sure the money was still present, he sighed, "I'm sorry." Pulling out the bundled bills, he offered it to the lady that he'd be walking around town with, "You probably want to hold this. In case Unit-01 makes an appearance while we're out."
Calmly accepting the offering, she frowned as she noted the denominations. "…Shinji-kun, did you get that address for me?"
"Yes!" Missing the social cue blithely, he grabbed up his backpack and pulled out the business card he'd asked for. "This has the phone number and address."
Once more, she placidly accepted something from him, and read the business name, "Maria's Market." She couldn't remember ever seeing either the street, or the business, in her own wanderings of the local area. "What did you do at work, today?"
Oh…stuff. "Repair work, more inventory management, I helped her complete a commission she'd taken on."
Noticing the lack of stammer, she was able to piece together that his reply had been practiced. "What kind of commission?"
Think. "A grandmother had asked for a book and a decorative dagger. I didn't hear what they were for."
"And these tasks were enough that you were paid ten million Yen?" When his face went blank, she knew he'd tried to keep something from her. "Shinji…I don't know how bad monetary inflation gets in another twenty or so years, but right now this is an awful lot of money. I would appreciate it if you proved worthy of my trust, and told me exactly what you're doing to earn money."
He looked down in shame, "I…wasn't trying to lie. I just…uhm…didn't want you to worry about me."
"No chance of that happening," she declared firmly. "You fought alongside me, that means I worry about you. Talk."
Starting at the beginning of the day, he covered every task he'd been given. The way he'd placed himself between the thug and Maria, the jade coin in his pocket he'd been given by the grandmother who apologized, then back to what he'd said about repair work and managing the store's inventory. "I, uhm…I wasn't in danger. My A.T. Field would have stopped the bullet. I didn't want her to die because I need that job!" He was desperate, but he also did not want Makoto angry with him. "I…I…."
"You're a good guy." Sighing, she slapped his chest with the money several times. "A bit silly, but a good guy." When he looked up at her, she was smiling again. "You took a bus to the back. Of course you'd be fine against a robber. Why hide that, it's a cool story!" Rolling her eyes, she waved towards his own pen. "Change into something comfortable, and let's go have fun." Chuckling, she moved to where she could add shoes to her ensemble, "Silly, silly Shinji."
Shoving the briefcase under the futon, he grabbed up pen and backpack and asked for clothing that would be 'worthy of walking next to her'. Why is it when they call me 'silly' it doesn't hurt anywhere near as bad as when Asuka did it?
+++++ Hikawa Shrine, Azabu-Juban, Japan. (Tuesday + 3)
Rei, caught off guard, blinked in confusion. "Come again?"
The bluenette lowered her arms to her side and bit into her lip. "When was the last time you remember Usagi Tsukino even scowling deeply, let alone glaring daggers of pure hatred at someone? Each time you've asked your spirits for help, they've been afraid. I think the common point is-"
"So, you believe me about him?"
"No." Ami growled in frustration, "Hatred is a completely irrational response to stimuli that causes narrow thinking. I understand that you are having a challenging time accepting the evidence right before you, but Shinji Ikari is not the cause of all of this!" Huffing out a sound of displeasure, she scowled at the firepit. "He's at most a symptom."
"So, he's involved." I'm not wrong. There's something not right with him.
"Obviously. But whatever it is that's wrong arrived with him, not because of him." Flicking a finger heavenward, she shrugged. "He travelled through time. That means that things that entered the portal before him arrived before him, like that Angel we fought. If he travelled at a lower rate of speed, somehow, who knows how much came through with him? Who knows what escaped into the atmosphere, unseen, while that hole remained?"
Unfamiliar spirits. The blindingly obvious slapped her in the face, and she was forced to admit she'd allowed her own disgust and anger to cloud her judgement. "He's come from a terrible place. Of course there are going to be terrible spirits that came along." New lines of thinking grew from the seeds planted by her friend. "We should offer to perform a purification ritual, on…him."
"And on Usagi-chan." Ami quirked her lips to the side, "Maybe even on all of us. Hugging him is…electric. Danger, excitement, but all wrapped around this glowing core of safety. Whatever it is that motivates him, Rei-chan, it isn't evil. He throws himself into danger to save others, and I think he's doing it to make up for past sins, so to speak."
"I don't follow."
"Look up survivor's guilt. His motivations aside, what if it's contagious, to an extent, because we don't necessarily have the proper immunity to it? If I had been thinking, I would have insisted he be decontaminated before we touched him. But I got so overwhelmed by a walking, talking, robot that I lost sight of first contact protocols." Dismissing the lost opportunity, she turned and picked up her bags. "This might be some form of magical virus that comes from his time. Or I might be looking at it wrong. Either way, I think you could do more to help if you would stop constantly fighting with Usagi-chan and would actually talk to Shinji-kun."
Rei was surprised that Ami would speak out of both sides of her mouth, "…-kun?"
"He's intelligent, considerate, a good cook, and tried to comfort me even when he was clearly suffering that first day." The bluenette turned to her friend and shrugged. "I said we shouldn't be thinking of it. I didn't say that I wouldn't be thinking of it."
+++++ Marketplace, Azabu-Juban, Japan. (Tuesday + 3)
Something Shinji found challenging, all things considered, was not panicking every time Makoto's chest bumped against his arm. The statuesque stunner had, early on, found a reason to latch onto his arm and thence upon remained by his side. Carrying the backpack he'd been given, so that he could carry whatever prizes she'd want to purchase, he kept silent largely to maintain the external illusion that he was mute for the broader world and simply enjoyed listening to his companion speak. It cuts down on the stammering, if nothing else.
"There, you see?" A small bounce of happiness was paired with her left hand gesturing towards a hole-in-the-wall grocer's. "It's a great little market, run by a really nice lady. Let's go introduce you!" Pulling him along, having decided that she'd simply steer him wherever so that he didn't have to fret over making decisions himself, she wove them through the shorter crowd using their longer legs for speed.
Balancing backpack, lady, and door somehow, he managed to open the portal for her without dropping anything. This, in turn, caused her to shift from holding his arm to holding his hand so that they could both fit through. Which, inevitably, led to her simply holding his hand now instead of his arm from then on. Swallowing hard, he fought a losing battle against a blush. Why does it feel so calm and so exciting at the same time?!
"Oh hello, dearie." The kindly-seeming shopkeeper had a broad smile for a customer she clearly preferred. When her eyes moved to Shinji however, they widened, and her smile became brittle.
"Good afternoon, ma'am," Makoto wasn't paying close enough attention to note the difference. "This is my…good friend, Shinji Ikari. He's new in town, and I wanted to make certain to show him some of the best produce around!"
Shinji couldn't understand why the woman was staring at him as if he were about to sprout wings and start breathing frostfire around her shop, and so he defaulted to the classics. Bowing with respect for his elder, and a patient smile that he hoped would demonstrate that he had less than no ill intentions.
"Oh, that's right," his companion bonked her palm off her own forehead. "He's mute. I'm sure he's very happy to meet you." She caught Shinji's earnest nod, and her smile grew. "He really got me out of a jam the other day, and since then we've been getting to know one another."
Another hint of confusion was followed by a realization, and the kindly shopkeeper's smile returned to its previous luster. "Oh, that's wonderful. It's so good to see that there are still those I would call an Honorable Sir out doing good deeds." Calm washed over her, and she waddled out from behind the counter, "Come, come. I'll celebrate your new acquaintance with some of my recent stock. You can make him a meal that will warm his belly nicely. I won't charge you more than I normally do, and I won't hear a word of complaint."
Whatever she's thinking…she was nervous. His heart hurt a little as Makoto was forced by the layout of the store to let go of his hand to speak with the shopkeeper. Though, Makoto-chan…Makoto-san is a very nice young woman. I can imagine the grandmother would be worried about her meandering about with a strange new man. That's probably it. Digging around in the front pouch of his bag, he pulled out his chalkboard and wrote down, 'Pardon me. I was hoping to also buy some daikon and ginger.' Making the sign visible without thrusting it into anyone's face, he pointed to himself and then around the store.
The proprietress quickly read the note and then gestured politely to where he needed to go. "Ah, of course, Silent One. Two rows down, you'll find what you're looking for."
Silent One? That's becoming a common thing. Wiping off the board, he made a note for Makoto. 'Remember, I'm paying. Please, buy what you think we'll need. I can cover/carry it.'
His companion frowned cutely at him. "I am not going to let you pay for everything, Shinji-kun. We're going to work out an equitable system so that I'm not abusing your goodwill."
Holding his hands up in defeat, he accepted that she had her own honor to consider. He also took note of the shopkeeper's smile, and how the woman began to beam approval and nodded her own understanding of his intent. Talking foxes. Magic spells. People pulling guns. None of this was covered by that old teacher from Nebukawa. Carefully working his way through the store, he began selecting what he felt would be the best balance between frugality and nutrition. The last thing he wanted to do was develop a level of ostentatiousness with his funds. Not knowing when the next payday would arrive, he felt it best to act as if it weren't soon. Hearing the bell ring as the door opened behind him, he quickly shifted to where he wouldn't be blocking traffic.
"Hey Gran…ny…." A younger woman looked at Shinji the way he remembered once looking at Sachiel. Terror absolutely suffused her features as she began to make small 'meep' sounds.
Instincts told him to step back. Scared people were dangerous people, lacking impulse control and the kind of 'executive thinking' that allowed society to function without constant blood feuds. As he did, he ducked a quick bow of greeting, and looked towards who he presumed the young woman had been intending to speak to.
"Chihiro-chan!" The store owner's voice made it clear that the young woman would look at her right that instant. "Stop being rude to the Honorable Sir." Having moved quickly to tug 'Chihiro' out of his way, she gave Shinji the kind of smile that begged a cop not to shoot the poor, dumb, idiot waving a knife around while drunk and shouting about magpies taking over people's breakfasts. "My apologies, Silent One. She's not used to such powerful…men in the store."
Why the hesitation? Making a motion that warded off any potential offense, Shinji turned back to be about his selections. Maybe she's just like Hino-san. I guess Grandma would be wary of upsetting someone with that kind of phobia. Spying both women standing before Makoto, he noted that the young woman was bowing and speaking rapidly. The confusion on his roommate's face was coupled with occasional attempts at cutting in to speak, seeming to make efforts to reassure the poor lady that there was little to no chance Shinji would be offended by someone having a bad day. She's a good woman. I need to do what I can to help improve her life. Using the paper towels and plastic bags available, he finished picking up what he'd wanted specifically and moved towards Makoto.
"No, no, seriously." Makoto reached over and pulled Shinji towards her by his arm. "See? Shinji-kun wasn't offended at all. I'm sure he'd love to return here in the future, right Shinji?" Her eyes pleaded with him to help defuse the situation.
The prices seem great, actually. Inflation must have really kicked in after Second Impact. Nodding with a shrug, he indicated that he had no problem returning. The shop seemed well maintained, the goods all clean and treated with care. He could think of far worse places to give his patronage to. Handing Makoto what he'd picked up, he tugged out his blackboard and wrote down, 'It has my seal of approval, for sure.'
His hopes, that the comment would calm the situation, instead seemed to increase the amount of emotion on display. Makoto nodded her own agreement, before becoming distracted by 'Chihiro' whose eyes widened and presaged the emotional young woman's gasp of awed shock. This, in turn, forced the shopkeeper to go from pleased relief to thinly veiled irritation as she snatched her younger family member by the ear and dragged her off towards the back of the store.
Wiping the board clean, he scribbled, 'Something I said?'
"I've never seen her this tightly wound," Makoto was baffled, "she's always been kinda upbeat and cheery. I'm sorry, I really didn't expect this when I brought you here. Are you…err…feeling cramped?"
The question, while lacking subtlety, was clearly asking whether or not he was currently wearing Unit-01 under the illusion of his clothes. 'I'm fine. I just thought she was maybe like Hino-san.' Shrugging helplessly, he gestured towards the foodstuffs.
"Yeah, let's finish shopping and move on before she passes out." Buckling down her determination to have a fun and relaxing evening, the Sailor for Jupiter began picking out options for him to weigh in on as he would.
The pair finished their perusal at the same time that the store's owner appeared alone again from the back of the shop. Meeting them at the checkout register, she had on her most apologetic face. "I am so incredibly sorry. I'm very, very glad that you're eager to return at a future date, Honorable Sir." When Makoto put far more than she typically purchased down for counting, the woman's smile returned. "I know that you're a capable woman, Makoto-chan, but I don't believe that it's a terrible thing for you to accept his help. If he has money and wishes to spend it on you, that doesn't demean you so much as it speaks well of him."
The lightning bruiser shimmied her shoulders, a hint of discomfort growing about her. "He's let me carry his money, letting me be the person who decides to spend it or not, so I know he trusts me and wants what's best for us…er, me." A blush grew at the accidental slip, her intent being that they were living together. "N-not that there's an 'us', I mean."
The grandmother's eyes caught Shinji's blush as well, easing any last vestiges of anxiety she'd had. Moving through the checkout process, she layered her approval thicker over the match. "Of course. You've just met. You're taking your time making sure that there's something beyond the physical attraction between you. That's both honorable and wise of you." The last comment was clearly directed at him. The final total appeared on the machine, and she accepted the hastily offered money from Makoto. As the change was returned, she cupped the Sailor's hands in her own. "Thank you for blessing my business with your time today, dearie."
Makoto found a small mint had joined the remainder of her payment, and hastily turned from Shinji to put the money back into her purse and then unwrap and slip what she believed to be a hint about her breath into her mouth.
This allowed the store's owner to give Shinji an envelope, a wooden coin, and a look that begged him to not draw attention to her act. "And thank you, Honorable Sir, for proving that there are still those about that wish to do the right thing by whoever they can regardless of the circumstances of their birth."
Swapping envelope for blackboard from his backpack and depositing the wooden with the jade coin in his pocket, Shinji was confused and concerned about the second envelope of the day from a grandmotherly woman. Though, manners prevented him from going against what the woman clearly wanted and so he simply replied, 'Please apologize to Chihiro for me. I hadn't meant to startle her.'
"I absolutely will. Thank you so very much for your patience," bowing politely, she completed their business dealings, "and please, come again."
+++++ Marketplace, Azabu-Juban, Japan. (Tuesday + 3)
The hustle and bustle of the crowd was both worrying and confusing for Shinji. Makoto navigated the sea of people with apparent ease, but he still hadn't come to terms with there actually being this many people in one place and there not being an attack of some kind happening concurrently. How does everyone fit? Too many voices, too much conversation, none of it directed at him yet all of it impacting and washing across him. I thought there were too many when I was out looking for a job. There has to be at least five times as many now! Without knowing it, he began to press inwards against Makoto, silently seeking reassurance from her strength.
Keeping her head on a swivel, engaging in the typical 'young woman who's been groped one too many times' behavior, Makoto hadn't noticed Shinji's demeanor and only cheered at the thought that he was warming up to her affections. Stopping at a crosswalk, waiting for the light to change, she finally looked up and saw mounting dread dominating his bearing. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Looking frantically around for a place that she could get him alone, or at least away from whatever was bothering him, she spied an unfrequented alleyway nearby and changed their destination. Hurrying him onwards, she walked him back away from the constant crowd and came to a stop by a set of stairs. "Shinji? Talk to me. What's wrong?"
Unit-01 had reclaimed him, without her noticing due to the pen's magic, forcing him to write with an incredibly unsteady hand as anxiety flowed through his veins like poison, 'T-t-t-t-too m-m-m-many p-p-people.' It's insane! How many died during Second Impact? During the wars that followed? How can they all fit into a single city?! He appended an apology beneath the first statement, his eyes downcast, 'S-s-s-sorry.'
…How few people were left alive where you're from? "No, no, it's ok." Ok. Need to change plans. Crowds are bad. Casting about in her memory for locations that wouldn't be as busy, she couldn't immediately come up with anything. We're just outside Tokyo proper! Everything is busy….
The clang and rattle of a garbage can lid being moved about was paired with several quiet oaths. "Stupid humans making things hard. 'Recycle' they call it. Might help if they 'remembered' their 'respect'."
The oddity drew both teenagers' gaze, prompting confusion in one and worry in the other. Shinji placed himself between whatever it was and Makoto, his thinking that with his armor and A.T. Field there was little fear that something could harm him. Makoto saw his intent but wasn't entirely amused by it. Placing herself alongside him, where she could act rather than be defended, she called out, "Who's there?"
"Eh?" Hobbling into view on shrunken, misshapen, legs a hunchbacked humanoid no taller than twenty centimeters considered the pair with as much confusion as they were considering her. "Touched, are ye? Huh. Rare to see one so young capable of the sight. Pay me no mind, I'm only after cleaning what these humans have put out."
'Threat' was not what Shinji was thinking when he looked upon the pitiable creature before them. He knew that there was no other explanation than that he was looking at some form of youkai, which only followed logically from his place in a world filled with magic, beautiful warriors, and gajillions of people crowded into city blocks. Logic. The lone word seemed somehow terribly abused at the moment. There was a lingering curiosity about what was his first experience with an otherworldly being that wasn't attempting to destroy the planet, and so he bowed in greeting.
"Careful, Shinji," Makoto urged him back to a defensive stance, "that's a youma. We've been having trouble with increasing numbers of them lately."
Youma? I'm not familiar with that word. Shinji looked between Makoto and the now carefully backing away youkai. It's not hostile. I'm not seeing anything but…fear. Holding his hand out to stop Jupiter from doing anything, he shook his head.
"Maybe they're nicer where you're from. Here? They tend to set things on fire and possess minds. You need to trust your partner!"
"I ain't no firebug, ma'am, I swear I'm not. Fire destroys what I eat. I'm a garbage packer, I takes the rot aways to eat so that the little ones don't fall ill!" She turned to Shinji, pleading with her hands clasped, "Please, Honorable Sir, please tell the human what you see! I know you bear the marks…."
Honorable Sir, Silent One…. His pocket began to feel heavy, and so Shinji moved his entire body to be between Makoto and the youkai. Something was wrong, and he didn't want violence to become the only answer to 'wrong' things. Carefully taking out his board, he wrote down, 'It's a sanitation worker. I fight Angels, not garbage-ladies. Talk.' The last statement he added carried a great deal of weight, 'You're not Hino-san.' He could almost feel the wince that earned.
"They're…dangerous." Makoto had to admit that looking at it, her words sounded hollow.
"Dangerous?" The hunchback laughed, "Young Master I ain't been dangerous since the day I was born! I eats the rot, nothing else. I tried a rabbit once, near half choked to death on the taste. If I tried to eat one of your kind, I doubt I'd even manage the smallest of your hairs before gagging everything up. Not sure about his kind, though." She frowned towards Shinji in thought. "Ain't never seen one like him before. Dread powerful, to be sure, wouldn't want to try to eat him simply to not hurry my own death along. I cross him, I know I'm dead before I know it."
Clearing the board, Shinji tried a message to the youkai, 'What do you mean 'like me'?'
"I'm right sorry, Silent One, but I ain't no good with readin'." She dry-washed her hands, clearly afraid that in ignorance she might offend him.
Makoto reminded herself of what people tended to think of her when they first saw how tall and powerful she was, and trusted her partner instead. "He's asking what you mean by 'like him'. He's human, like me."
"No he ain't." The garbage packer became confused. "You seen me just like he do. You can see our kind, you tellin' me you see a human when ya look at him? The outside may be like one of your menfolk, but that spirit? No ma'am, that spirit belongs to one of the Elder. He's power made flesh or I'm a water bug."
Unit-01. The only being of sufficient enough power to terrify beings that would be worthy of being called 'Elder' by a youkai would have to be Unit-01. Taking several calming breaths, the distraction and curiosity of the situation granting him a chance to strangle down his anxieties, Shinji urged his armor to retreat.
"He can hide it, like he is now," she continued. "But it's still in him. I…I can swear not to harm a human, at his feet. That'll bind me to the promise, what with words having power. I'll even talk around, try to find what youma are causin' you trouble. Leave word with some of the types yer friendly with. Lots o' kinds like talkin' as I work. Clean the rot for them, they tell me where good rot is. Sometimes…sometimes let slip other things. Like, well, like there bein' an Elder that's new in town." Gesturing to Shinji, she made the implication explicit. "Didn't mean to stumble into yer business, Young Master. I'll swear my oath, then you can go back to calmin' him."
Shinji liked people thinking him someone important almost as little as he liked people thinking that he had any sort of power or control over power. Still, Maria's actions and the actions of the Grandmothers he'd dealt with began to make a rather scary amount of sense. Crouching down, so that he was squatting on his heels, Shinji extended his hand so that his palm was up. Shaking his head, he maintained the lie that he was silent and offered a compromise. Screwing down his courage, he set a standard for himself, I won't let anyone swear at my feet. I'll accept an offering of peace, though.
"Oh." Laughing with sudden understanding, the garbage packer clapped happily. "You don't speak with your mouth. You speak with your mind when you're not ready to fight. That's why you have so many names!" Approaching with enough caution to not upset Makoto, she reached out a withered hand and placed a token atop his palm. "I swear by my matrons and their matrons before them, no human will feel harm nor death's sting by my doing. I'll stick to my rot and leave the hurt to those better suited."
A coin of blackened mold rested in his grasp now. So that's what these are. Suddenly, sympathy climbed higher in his mind. This being before him was born to feast on those things that humans left behind to decay. With recycling programs and standardized composting, there was less food for them around the cities. It was humanity's progress towards repairing the environment it had destroyed that was starving its past, in a perverse fashion. Reaching over, he patted the creature's head and gave a soft smile of fellowship. Neither of us were given much of a chance at birth, were we?
"A gentle Elder." The concept seemed to be a paradox, as she pronounced it. "Next thing ya know I'll be seein' charitable Gaki!" Ducking back with several bows, aimed somewhere between where he was crouched and where Makoto stood stunned, she made good on her word and hurried off. "Please be careful, Young Master, Silent One. Dark clouds are gathering, though I can't tell why!"
Makoto peered over Shinji's shoulder, trying to process what she'd just seen. "What…is that?"
Carefully standing to avoid hurting her, Shinji looked at the coin closer, then rubbed a finger over it. The mold shifted, but didn't disfigure the coin or rub off on him. Placing it in his pocket, and keeping his word that he wouldn't speak aloud, he wrote on his board, 'Mold.' He now had three different coins. 'Food. A sign of peace.' It makes sense now. I'm peaceful. They can sense Unit-01, and they're used to people who are strong hurting those who are weak. His mouth quirked as sadness grew. This world is full of people hurting other people. Just like home. This…feeling…. Is it a lie?
+++++ Usagi Tsukino's home, Azabu-Juban, Japan. (Tuesday + 3)
"Usagi-chan, you need to be ready." Luna wasn't having any luck motivating her charge. "Artemis has found a lot of bad energy congregating around the city! This might be another youma attack, or might even be another one of those monsters from when Shinji-kun arrived." The twin-tailed Sailor remained listless, her head resting on her desk so that she could stare out of her bedroom window. She hadn't responded to her parents, or her younger brother. She simply wasn't responsive. Minako, sitting on the bed wondering what to do, was the only other hope the feline had. "Minako-chan, we need to sneak her out of here and get to the Lunar Command Center. We'll…we'll run some scans, figure out what's-"
"Go away." Faced with tangible action, she spoke only what was necessary to convince people to leave her alone.
Venus was stuck. She'd seen women have a bad reaction to a breakup. She'd even had more than her fair share of heartache when the men she chased after went after someone else. She typically consoled herself with chocolate, or chasing…more boys that…. I really don't want her chasing after Shinji. I haven't even had a date with him, Makoto's living with him, but to have little miss perfect try would be a little much for me to fight. "Fine." Standing, she moved to her bag. "Let's go, Luna. We'll find Shinji-kun and Makoto. The three of us should be able to handle whatever this is."
"Minako-chan," Luna's complaint cut off as she saw the woman shake her head.
"Distraction in combat is fatal. All she'd do right now is get killed stupidly." Kicks in the ass right now. Maybe chocolate later. "The last thing we need is for her to mope about in a fight, or go crazy and do something that gets someone hurt. Come on. If we're about to fight, let's go grab our big guns."
Noting that Usagi had neither moved nor seemed interested in retorting, the black cat hopped up on her desk and gave her a small kiss. "I still love you." Bounding after Minako, she hoped that whatever darkness was building wasn't taking residence inside of Usagi's heart.
When the door closed behind them, Usagi curled in on herself and began to weep.
+++++ Azabu-Juban, Japan. (Tuesday + 3)
"Don't worry about it," Makoto was attempting with all of her might to demonstrate that she was upset at herself, and not disappointed in him. She'd underestimated some of Shinji's issues, she'd certainly not expected to run into a youma that they didn't have to kill, and lastly she hadn't anticipated learning that whatever it was that Shinji considered Unit-01 the youma considered an 'Elder'. There was a lot to pass along to the others, but first she wanted to enjoy the last bit of her 'date'. "I should have given more thought to where you were coming from! I made a silly decision, and now I get to help fix it." Gesturing to an open-air café that she knew was never busy, she urged Shinji towards a happier time.
This…does look kind of empty. When Makoto took his hand and layered her arm in his, he couldn't suppress the thrill of joy nor the shiver that accompanied it. I really shouldn't let her do this. What happens if I go home? They approached the attendant who would seat them, and so he looked somewhere else to force the woman to deal with Makoto. What happens if I don't?
The Sailor for Jupiter had no trouble taking charge of any situation. There was a hint of excitement in her tone as she addressed the woman waiting to seat them, "Just the two of us, please." Returning his eyes to the fore, he scanned the area out of habit. Nothing untoward, just a few seemingly happy people. Like her. His roommate's voice was confident and content. Somehow, his presence was causing this. "If you could also start us both out with a fruit smoothie?"
"Of course." The sharply dressed attendant paused at their table, and quickly shifted out of the way when Shinji moved to pull out Makoto's chair. Taking in Makoto's smile, and Shinji's laconic demeanor, she surreptitiously gave her female customer two thumbs up. "I'll be right back with those drinks."
Shinji tucked his backpack between his legs to not block the walkways, and tugged out his blackboard. 'This is a very nice place.' Ah, conversations. I'm so wonderful at them. His slight frown of stoicism, the 'Resting Shinji Face', covered over for his self-debasement. It's not like I can just ask her to talk about what I want to talk about, though. I get the feeling discussing youkai in public wouldn't end well.
"I've only come here once, and I was alone and bored." Makoto's smile shifted towards pleased. "Always wanted to come here with someone. Compare notes on the food, the drinks." Pat-patting the table, she motioned to the menus. "Let's decide what we're going to have."
Carefully manipulating the laminated paper, Shinji was surprised to see such a wide array of offerings. Half of this stuff wouldn't even be available at a high-class restaurant back home! I had heard Japan didn't have it that bad compared to the rest of the world…how terrible was everywhere else?
"Yeah, it's a little spendy," she mistook the impetus of his shock and agreed with what she thought was his motivation. "But today's special. It's our first outing together, helping our friendship blossom."
Confusion crossed over his eyes, then realization as to the source of the confusion. A quick scrawl gave her the missing information, 'Don't have this back home.' He shrugged, uncertain how to possibly express it more clearly.
"…Oh." Sympathy, then determination, came to the fore. "Well then, why don't you pick both of us something different you never got to have. You can share some of mine, and I'll share some of yours. You'll get to try two new things, and we'll have more to discuss."
Socialization's really easy when you just don't say anything. Nodding his agreement to her plan, not really having one of his own to counteroffer, he made an effort to look for things that he believed she might like. Thinking through the produce in his bag, and what he'd seen in the refrigerator, he was able to narrow down to three choices things that he'd eat that he thought she'd eat too. Turning his menu around, he pointed out the options and gestured to her.
"Hmmm…those all do sound good." Biting her lower lip in thought, she inadvertently caused Shinji's pulse to race again through sheer charm. "How about…." Tapping her fingers against the table in a playful tattoo, she nodded to her decision. "Ok. I'll order for us, and you'll be surprised! You won't have time to prepare yourself, so it will make the experience have greater impact."
She really wants to see me happy. Surrendering the menu to his roommate, he looked around again to take in the scenery. Why do I feel so positive when they're touching me…then so…bleak when they're not? It's as if the world's supply of joy is encased in each of them. His lip curled down, Except maybe Hino-san.
"So, what are you thinking about?" Makoto reached over and took one of his hands. "You've got this frowny thinking face going on, what can I do to help?"
Her touch, once again, gave him confidence in the world. Everything could be managed. Everything could be handled. He just had to submit. What? The sudden intrusive desire to subordinate himself to something greater than himself caused Unit-01 to slam itself into place around him.
Recognizing what had happened by the subtle ripple of the Pen's illusion, Jupiter reached over with her other hand to take his. "It's ok. Whatever's going on, we can handle it." Her boundless self-assurance was infectious, and washed across him in waves of violent upheaval. "Talk to me. What can I do?"
Reluctantly retrieving his writing hand, he wiped the board clean and asked the only thing his mind could coherently offer, 'Submit? You…you want me to submit?'
This question, of course, was not something that Makoto had even remotely been prepared for. It was her turn to wear confusion and look at him with a frown, "No? Shinji, what's going on?"
It's not her.
The feminine voice ringing through his thoughts brought the split second of clarity he needed to lunge across the table and shield Makoto with his body and A.T. Field. His illusion dispelled as all around them a series of explosions devastated the café, tossing debris and flame alike chaotically. When the eruptions subsided, a hollow silence shrouded them both. Combat instincts kicked in and he rolled to the side to regain his feet and began searching for the enemy force. Instead of an Angel, or an army, his eyes beheld the dead and dying patrons and staff. What…happened?
"Oh you have got to be kidding me!" A sonorous alto was audibly disgruntled. "Was it the candle? Did the glow of my flames reflect off of the candle? Ugh. Glass, such a bothersome substance."
Makoto tried to focus, but found it difficult with the stench of burning flesh plugging her sinuses. "Jupiter, Make Up!" Surrounding herself with her powers, she too joined the search for their foe. "Shinji…I don't think we're going to be able to talk this youma down."
He counted a total of three dozen dead. He counted them, individually, three times. Thirty-six dead…. Why?
"While it's just precious watching you two spin around, you should know that neither of you can see me." A soft humming gave the general direction of their foe, and both turned towards the sound. "I'll need you both to give me a moment, though. I kinda put all of my oomph into that last attack, and the pitiful spiritual energy of these pathetic creatures is hardly enough to recharge me." There was a thoughtful pause. "Though the suffering is delightful."
"They…they killed people." Speaking aloud, though no one understood him, Shinji attempted to rationalize things. "Just like home. There's no 'good' here…it's just glossed over evil."
"Venus, Make Up!" A bright flash preceded Minako's arrival, after which she called out, "Crescent Beam Shower!"
After recovering from the startling entrance, the glowing attack drew Shinji's eyes giving hope that their ally had somehow seen their target. "Have to defend. Have to defend. Have to defend." Glowing with a pulsating golden light, the beam shot out into the night sky. Once it reached near the top of the buildings, it split into hundreds of smaller curling lines of power, each unerringly tracking down their invisible foe, though only lightly damaging it.
"It's a powerful illusion caused by their heat," Luna, who had accompanied Venus, was now crouched beneath the ruins of their table. "You need to cooperate with Venus to find it, and then bring it down to the ground where its mobility is lessened!"
"Flower Hurricane!" Jupiter's cry sent a wall of petals towards where the last of the glow had faded, hoping to replicate the brief glimpse Venus' attack had provided.
Several petals changed their trajectory as they bounced off their invisible foe, giving Shinji enough of an idea of where they were. Don't have my rifle. Don't have my sidearm. Don't even have my prog-knife. With the youma at least two dozen meters in the air, there was little chance of him impacting the fight as he was. Ok. Focus on defense. If I'm defending them, they can-
"Here we go, round two!" Five enormous balls of flame appeared in a loose circle around where they expected the enemy to be. "Let's see which one you choose to shield, little boy."
He could make out three vectors that the attack was now taking. Venus and Jupiter had split in different directions, intending to force the enemy to focus on one or the other to clear someone to take a shot again. Two orbs each streaked rapidly towards them, creating Shinji's own moment of indecision. At first, he believed that the fifth orb was racing towards him, only to nearly be too late to prevent another catastrophe. Luna! Diving towards the furry feline, he sheltered cat and backpack with his A.T. Field. Please let the others be ok. Please….
"Eeee, this is why I don't go into combat!" Curled in a tight ball, Luna huddled under Unit-01 for protection. "Thank you, Shinji-kun."
Without the ability to speak, he had to make decisions for other people. It went against everything he was, but the other option was leaving them to die horrifically. Scooping up the black cat as soon as the flame died out, he shoved her into his backpack and slung both loops over his right pylon and then cinched it down so that it would stay where he'd put it. I'm sorry, Luna-san, but I can't protect you and fight at the same time. As he fixed his burden in place, he took note of the fact that both of the other combatants had managed to survive the attack. Venus' skirt was singed, and part of Jupiter's glove was burnt, but otherwise neither was visibly harmed.
"Good idea!" Instead of projecting anger like he'd anticipated, the cat was now looking out through a small opening in the top of the bag. "You're quick to adapt, that's good to know. Now, go over towards Venus."
A furry Misato. The thought of his former guardian in a Neko maid cosplay was illicitly thrilling, and rapidly squashed. Moving as directed, he hustled to the red bow-wearing blonde and began looking where she'd been tracking the enemy.
"Ugh, why is nothing working like it's supposed to?" The enemy seemed unhurried, as nothing that had been done to it yet had been of any real consequence. "You're dodging my fire, he's protecting alien cats, what does a lady have to do to crush you little imps like the cockroaches you are?"
"Venus," Luna motioned the woman closer, "use your Love-Me Chain and throw him at the youma!"
You what? Realizing how terrible an idea it would be to have a passenger in mid-air, he ripped off the backpack and set it down by Venus. No communication means I'm going to keep making bad decisions. Shouldn't have tied her to me, just wasted time.
"Right, I'll protect fuzz bucket, you grab the invisible goon. Jupiter!" Waving, she called out for support, "Cover the area with petals! Need somewhere to aim. Brace yourself, Shinji-kun, this might get rough." After Makoto called out a renewed assault, the blonde Sailor twirled once shouting, "Venus, Love-Me Chain!" A glowing, yellow-gold, chain snaked around Venus, then around Shinji's waist at the hips. Grasping her end, she pulled with all of her strength to use centripetal force to grant him enough acceleration and velocity to go airborne.
Running with the first of the pull, Shinji added Unit-01's energy to the attack. After one revolution he was airborne and orbiting Venus. After the second revolution he was dizzy. After the third revolution he was sailing in an arc through a field of cherry blossom petals. There. His momentum was true, his launcher's aim impeccable. His world was…glowing?
"What are you going to do, boy," the youma's voice was condescending as Shinji approached. "You can't hurt what you can't see."
The chain fused into his core, the petals bounced off of him, his armor shifted towards a prismatic green. Standing in the air, wearing a gaudy light orange dress, was a red-skinned demonic humanoid. I can see her now. What he couldn't see, however, was much of the rest of the world. It was as if everything had become nothing more than a rough artist's sketch of what he remembered being there. Vague outlines of ruined corpses and shattered furnishings. You killed them. This was his enemy. You tried to kill more people. There was only one solution for a true enemy. You tried to kill them!
Realizing far too late that she was not as invisible as she believed herself to be, the youma was unable to evade quickly enough. Unit-01 grasped onto her calf and shin, and physics took care of the rest. Shrieking with anger and kicking at an unfeeling abomination, she refused to give up on her efforts. Efforts which ended with gruesome finality on impact.
Both Sailors saw him clutch something, then saw the youma's invisibility fade to nothing, and rushed towards where he would be landing. In their experience, the first successful attack was never the last successful attack and so they needed to be closer to help him subdue the threat. That headlong rush into combat slowed, then died, as man and beast collided with the Earth.
Shinji used his own centripetal force to smash the youma against the ground by her ankle. Turning around and lifting her up, he repeated the feat once more on the backswing. Mounting, as he anticipated would be necessary, he drove his fists in the area he believed the core would be. For him, combat only ever ended when a red orb shattered.
Physics, in the world he now resided within, were made more malleable by the magic inherent in the universe he had arrived at. Unit-01, weighing the same despite having a body which was only a minute fraction of the original size, was kept from destroying things by Shinji's will and the A.T. Field's expectation that nothing but what he wanted harmed would be so. The youma, not receiving these protections, was subject to the full physical might of an angry teenage male directing a titanic war machine. The first punch made the next three follow-on blows, in a word, excessive.
"There's…there's no dust." Makoto's tremulous voice carried both awe and disgust. Swallowing back the bile that was threatening her throat, she watched as a young man she'd believed to be almost impossibly gentle dissected a murderous creature with ruthless efficiency.
Minako shook her head. "I…I've never seen a youma bleed. H-how is there so much blood?!"
Blood and viscera had sprayed about the area. The ground itself had deformed as Shinji's punches landed. The shaking of the earth made everything nearby quake, and only after the fourth punch was completed did he pause. There's…no core? To him, this was combat. Angel guts, violent eruptions of fluids as he fought against extinction. He saw nothing immediately wrong with the situation save for that one uncommon fact. "Where's the core?" A crack of thunder brought with it an unexpected rainstorm, flushing the area with increasing amounts of water and obscuring his sight. The enemy wasn't moving. Feeling along ruined limbs and digging through guts, he sought out the necessary final task.
"You need to get him and get out of here. Head for your apartment, Makoto-chan." Luna was disgusted at the sight, though she didn't blame Shinji for engaging in reciprocal violence. He had ended a situation that had started terribly for everyone. The youma had attacked, it had killed, and now evidence would remain that a monster had harmed people. "It won't be too long before the cops show up. Nothing's going to hide this from them, now. I'll stay here and find out what I can. Minako, grab both of their arms and use your pen to hide your presence. Hurry!" Hopping out of the backpack, she hurried over to an underpass where she could watch undisturbed.
Snapping out of the trance the grotesque development had lulled her into, Venus jumped into action and ran towards Shinji. Grabbing his arm, she pulled at him. "Come on. We've got to go before the police arrive."
"But, the core?" Shinji was baffled, there was always a core. If he didn't destroy it, the monster would regenerate.
"Don't grunt at me, just move!" Minako was grateful when Makoto arrived and took his other arm. "Come on, let's go."
"We need to leave, Shinji." Jupiter wasn't 'all right' with this development. Youma that bled meant youma corpses. She'd already overheard people talking about the 'weird accident' caused by a 'runaway bus' around where they'd fought the Angel. In her innocence, she'd dismissed it as unremarkable. Now…now the game had changed. Hauling Shinji up, she nodded to Venus and hurried towards home.
+++++ Every/Any/Nowhere.
"Interesting."
+++++ Kino-Ikari Apartment, Azabu-Juban, Japan. (Tuesday + 3)
"Which is how I ended up there with only Luna instead of someone more useful in combat." Minako hauled everyone to a stop under the overhang outside of Makoto's apartment. "Makoto, go inside and get something to wash everybody off. I'll stay out here with him and keep us out of sight." When the statuesque stunner frowned, both doubt and confusion obvious in her demeanor, the blonde raised her eyebrow. "Do you want him to track all of this blood into your place? Maybe hang up a sign saying, 'Hey, police, come take a look inside!' The rain will continue to wash out the blood we dragged on our way here, but he still has…bits clinging to his boots."
Blushing in embarrassment and irritation, Makoto grumbled as she unlocked the door and went to engage what she couldn't deny was a good idea.
Shinji was still keyed up from the battle, though Unit-01 had long since faded to its traditional purple. Stuck, and unable to speak aloud, he fought for calm to claim him enough that he could communicate. He fought, and he lost. Damn it. Damn it! Frustrations continued to mount for him. If that monster comes back because I didn't get the core, and it kills anyone, it will be my fault!
"Steady, big guy." The typically playful demeanor the blonde Sailor of Love exuded was nowhere in sight. "I can feel you're still wound tight. We'll…we'll figure something out. I'm sure Luna and Artemis can come up with something."
Her touch, and the soothing nature it held, was at war with his anger over leaving a job incomplete. I haven't done anything. They killed the Third Angel. They threw me at this enemy and I couldn't find its core. What good am I? His heart screamed at him to relax, his mind told him that relaxing would be fatal for those he'd sworn to defend. It called me a little boy. What if I'm the target? What if-
"Ok, it's not great but it's what I have." Makoto reappeared in the door, holding a bucket of lukewarm soapy water and a pair of old towels. "I think I'm going to buy a hose that can connect to my kitchen sink and reach out here, next time I get a disbursement."
Minako picked up on Makoto's attempts to lighten the mood, and ran with them. "He's got it pretty easy in this armor. Hose him off, little car wax, good as new." Snagging one of the towels, she dipped it in the bucket and began cleaning with a purpose. "Little elbow grease from his two favorite mechanics, we'll have his engine purring in no time."
"That color he turned was rather pretty." She wouldn't fight her friend on what she'd said. Being selfish and petty right now was the last thing anyone needed. "I'm starting to think I should just start every fight with that attack so that he's that lovely green."
"The whole glowing thing," Minako worked at a stubborn bit of gore, "I think that might have been because of my Chain. But it's weird, you can turn him green, I saw Ami turned him blue, and we saw…." Editing her thought on the fly, she realized bringing up Rei Hino might not keep the mood light, "Whatever that was. Kinda like in physics, where you shine a light through a clear cup of water?"
"Prism." Makoto supplied the missing word. "It did add a dramatic punch to the entire affair."
They're…joking. With two of them touching him, sometimes firmly, sometimes gently, his heart began to win the war for his attention. They're not upset with me. …Maybe…maybe I didn't mess up? Lifting his left foot so Minako could clean it easier, he balanced with his hand against the wall. Maybe that really was what they call a youma. Youma might not have cores. It…didn't really look like an Angel.
"Thanks, big guy!" A bright smile that spoke of more than a little tension being released flowed up from a woman that he doubted would ever have looked his way back home. "But I'm going to expect a bit of pampering too, later. You're going to have to brush our hair out, get rid of the tangles we've developed. We'll all have a nice talk about the stuff that we're dealing with."
Setting down that foot, away from the bits of gore that had been cleaned, he lifted his right. Brushing their hair? Is that…is that something friends do?
"Shinji bought some more towels yesterday," Makoto wouldn't force her friend to go without, "you can borrow some of my shampoo, give yourself a decent scrub." With easier access to Unit-01's foot, she made short work of her own portion.
Daintily picking up bits of gristle and gore, setting them inside the center of the towel she'd been using, Minako empathically agreed. "Sounds lovely. Scrub, brushing my hair, nice talk."
It does sound…nice. Stepping back to not dirty the work they'd just gone to, he felt Unit-01 fade into the background. The cold wetness from the rain falling off the overhang of the building drew his attention to the fact that he was once more flesh and blood, and his first words were the same as most of the words he'd spoken where he'd come from. "I'm sorry."
"Hi Sorry, nice to meet you. I'm Minako, and this is Makoto." Making the joke with a playful tilt to her eyebrows, the blonde Sailor for Venus snorted out her disbelief that he had anything apologize for. "Help us get this picked up so we can flush it down the toilet, you goof."
Much like when his roommate called him 'silly, silly, Shinji', Minako's 'barb' was at worst a well-meaning reminder that he had too high of expectations for himself and his capacity to handle things. Helping clean the front stoop, and checking several times for anything they might have missed, he took both towels as they went to stand. "It's not a good idea to flush things like this. They won't degrade, and might even clog the system. I don't think we want to risk calling a plumber and having them find this."
"Err, no." Makoto was quickly on board with his idea. "So…what are you going to do?"
"Bury it around the side in the alley. This building has those shrubs in that stone planter's box, maybe the nutrients from the…the youma, maybe they can do some good?" It was the best plan he could come up with, and it involved the least amount of risk to the two ladies as he could manage.
"I'll leave the bucket out here so you can rinse your hands off." She could feel how uncomfortable this was making him, and wanted to do what she could to fix the botched attempt at a date. "Come on in when you're done."
Grateful that the rain and the time of day were making it difficult to see, Shinji moved as if he were taking trash towards the collection depot. The smell was, to his nose, nothing new. The LCL he'd long since become nose deaf towards had the same coppery tang, and there was nowhere near as much in the towels as he was typically immersed in. Checking both directions and seeing nobody, he set the bundles down behind the shrub so that they weren't open out where anyone walking past could see. He then nearly destroyed the small creature that greeted him, Unit-01 slamming into place once more.
"No! No, no! It's me, Silent One." The vixen that had warned him earlier in the day crouched down, attempting to appear as unthreatening as possible. "I promise…I promise I'm not attempting to invade your den."
Attempting to swallow his heart back to where it belonged, Shinji leaned against the half-wall. What a mess….
"That fiend, we believe they were the cloud we sensed." Sneaking a little closer, she sniffed at the towels. "What do you intend to do with these?"
He gestured to the roots of the shrubbery, not trusting even his mind at the moment.
"No, no, no. You can't bury fiend-leavings here. That would just pollute your den! Let me take care of it, as a show of good faith."
Hesitating a moment, he nodded his assent and backed away slightly. He could sense how nervous the fox still was, with good reason considering the size disparity between them, and didn't want to have a potential ally feel crowded.
Padding over to the towels, she considered their position. "Silent One, might you be so generous as to place them on the hard stone? I do not wish to risk burning your den, but I want them in my mouth even less."
Slow, even, motions helped him not only soothe his own nerves but stop himself from appearing hostile. Placing the two bundles side by side on the ground, he looked back to the fox as if to ask if that were good enough.
"My thanks." She hopped down to the alley's paved walkway and stared at the towels intently. A sudden bright glow of green washed over her fur, and then the entire pile burst into matching flame. From ignition to ashes was less than a pair of heartbeats, and with the task done she sniffed at the area. "That…that smells clean. I believe you should be fine now." Looking up at him and tilting her head, she set her tail to wagging slightly. "Where you come from, there are no fiends?" When he shook his head, she yipped a quick laugh. "That makes sense. One would presume that with Elders such as yourself walking around, the fiends would have been stamped out before they could mount a serious threat." Looking around, she sniffed again. "I must leave. Humans are approaching, it might be best for you to enter your den as well. I sense you do not wish for them to know your nature."
He had a number of questions for the sleek creature, but no time with which to ask them. Between two bounds she vanished, and he decided that she had the right of it and made his own escape.
+++++ Author's Notes:
Guest: RE: 玉藻の前.
When was the last time that I stuck to any specific mythos in my writing? (I jest.)
BloodStasis: RE: Maria. (He just met a girl named Maria.)
She is an enigma, I'll give you that.
tacitblue1973: RE: Sinatra.
You make an excellent point, sir. I shall heavily consider your advice.
JaceSterne:
RE: Makoto's senpai.
It's coming…oh, it's coming.
RE: Pairings.
So far? None. The characters may take me in a specific direction, but I'm still very early in setting up the conflicts between the dramatis personae. What makes sense early in the story hasn't made much sense later on after letting the characters breathe some, and so your point about slow burns is probably the most apt here.
RE: Outer Senshi.
Not saying anything.
Huagh:
RE: ShinSagi (Unji?)
Yeah, that was my intent for the most part. Codependency is unhealthy, and Ami in this chapter sums up the problem with avoiding it the best. You can say you shouldn't, doesn't mean you won't.
RE: Shinji and Maria.
She's just the right kind of free spirit that everything she does, doesn't set Shinji off.
TheHiddenLettuce: RE: Universe Number.
Might be, might not be. It's not a bad guess, considering all of my stories will be related to one another in one way or another.
FanOfYourWork: RE: YA(N)C.
Thank you, I appreciate the positive feedback. I'm always tickled to see another person that has enjoyed my offer of escapism.
nobodyreallyimportant:
RE: YA(N)C.
You're not wrong. It was a lot longer than I'd originally planned it to be, and I cut it off well before I could have. Several people have commented on the fact that I accidentally wrote more words than the entire Harry Potter series, and so it may be best to think of it as a series of novels and not a single work. Or not. It's out in the open, people can decide for themselves.
RE: NGExSM.
I pray that I manage to be at least 'Good'.
DJexe:
RE: xxxHolic.
It's not a bad comparison, though the storylines are obviously rather different. Maria sells…things. What's for sale and what's not for sale likely depends on who's asking. Shinji, however, will not be asking her for something in exchange for long years of servitude, nor will she be making that kind of an offer. She likes him too much for that.
RE: Shinji and the NGE Ladies.
Yeah, therapy for everyone in NGE would have changed the outcome of the series. Which, ultimately, is why it doesn't happen.
RE: Sugar and Rainbows.
…Err…gonna put a "Fair Warning" here.
