1632/House Rules

House Rules
Date of Scene:	18 June 2016
Location:	Earth Court Frat House
Synopsis:	Suzuki looks in on Mamoru. And finds Kunzite. There might be a few misunderstandings.
Cast of Characters:	Kunzite, Suzuki Natsume, Mamoru Chiba

---

Kunzite has posed:
From the outside, the only difference between now and last fall in Mamoru's apartment is that the rosebush on the balcony is missing, and there's another telescope that's been acquired -- a little viewing area set up on the roof, chairs and all.

From the closer look that the balcony gives, through its frequently-unlocked glass doors... more seating's been added to the living room, and furniture has been rearranged (wasn't there a bookshelf where that door is?), and there's a large patch of carpet that's been cut out and not yet replaced. The coffee table is excessively cluttered -- the rest of the room less so, but still somewhat, which is a change; there are other minor differences, but those don't matter nearly as much as the occupants.

Stretched out on one of the two couches is Mamoru. He does not look well in the slightest. Eyes closed, not reacting to the other person in the room. Pale even for him, and exhausted-looking. Asleep, maybe. Unconscious, maybe.

Standing beside the couch, looking down at him, is a man even taller than Mamoru, broader-shouldered and with a more solid frame. He's dressed in civilian clothes, jeans and a white shirt worn open at the collar. His hair is almost a perfect match for the shirt, bone-white; the rest of him looks a few years older than Mamoru at most. His expression is almost lacking -- just a trace of something momentarily, cynically amused at the corners of his mouth and eye.

He's not wearing the uniform that was in the description Suzuki was given, and his hair is shorter. But everything else matches, from stance and build right down to the opened collar.

And as she watches, Kunzite, the man who arranged Tuxedo Kamen's kidnapping and made Storm Knight have to believe she watched him die, leans down over Mamoru's unresponsive and drained body.

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     Usagi had mentioned that Mamoru was sick earlier, and that had told Suzuki more or less where Mamoru was most likely to be. In her time away from the world being held hostage by her parents (read: They were having her help them recover from the freak storm of walpurgisnacht), she had all but completely lost contact with Mamoru. In part because she'd forgotten that her phone existed, really.

     And thus, Suzuki Natsume, or rather, Storm Knight leaps through the skies from rooftop to rooftop, until she lands on Mamoru's balcony! Which... looks different. Had they had to rebuild and sold it to someone else in the wake of Walpurgisnacht? Storm Knight's lips shift into a frown as she looks through the glass windows of the apartment.

     Just in time to see Kunzite leaning over the unconscious and very pale-looking Mamoru, who seemed completely unconscious. Moments later, and the doors are open, and Storm Knight has Verdrehen Sturm lifted in an aggressive stance. There was a ping shortly afterwards from the Device, in a vaguely-feminine voice it speaks.


            <Panzerhindernis.>

    Soon, there was an emerald green field of energy appearing between Mamoru and Kunzite, attempting to protect Mamoru from his 'attacker', as Storm Knight begins to approach. She doesn't speak immediatly, but there is recognition in her eyes.

     And there was an anger on her face that ALMOST looked murderous with the sharpness of her features...

Kunzite has posed:
He must have caught her out of the corner of his eye; as she lifts the Device, he's already starting to turn. When that emerald energy snaps into being between him and Mamoru, crawling sparks and shadows have left him dressed in gray (the description definitely mentioned gray) with a cape that same white of bone (again, definitely mentioned, though it left out the red-brown lining). His hands are lifted, calling up magic with a gesture: a broad arc of shadow that sweeps between the pair of them and Suzuki, like a slice of a bubble. Shield to match shield. Gray eyes cold and sharp and hard as a sword blade narrow with anger.

"No fighting in the apartment," he says. "House rules."

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     A shield in response to her shield. Storm Knight's lips press to a fine line as she meets the sharp gaze with a sharp gaze of her own, just as filled with anger. "And what would you care of rules?" She asks, stepping forward with her Naginata, lightning beginning to arc along its blade with a ping of <SCHLAG.> From the device. Storm Knight steps forward, her naginata stabbed forward in a sudden, fast movement, the weapon designed specifically to penetrate shields being used to attempt to stab through the shield and straight for Kunzite!

     "What did you do to him?! Weren't you happy making us think he was /dead/? Did you /see/ the agony that you caused all of his closest friends?! And now you attack him while he's ill, unable to defend himself!" Storm Knight shifts, lifting her naginata to prepare to defend herself. "I shall not allow you to perform another act towards him, I will not allow you to harm my friend any more!" ...Yeah she's probably let her anger get the best of her.

Kunzite has posed:
What would he care of rules? Kunzite's eyebrows arch, but he's distracted from his first response -- his shields are better at deflecting magic than physical attacks. Which means that while the lightning is held back, the blade is merely hampered. Nor can Kunzite sidestep much without giving her a clearer path toward Mamoru, or jolting the coffee table -- at least the water pitcher is well away from the electronics.

That's all right. he has an answer for that. He half-steps back, turning to reduce her target; his own sword flickers into existence in his hand to deflect her blade.

But he does not follow up with another attack.

Well. Not a physical or magical one, at least.

His tone is, at most, mildly curious. "Which is it? Are you out of touch, or have you been talking with Riventon?"

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     Anger, rage, and all of that... don't... really make it so that Storm Knight loses her combat instincts. The man turns and presents a smaller target, brings out a sword, and deflects her blade. This brought out two notable things to Storm Knight's attention.

1. He was a skilled swordsman, most likely. Not too surprising.
2. He wasn't attacking back. That /was/ surprising.

     And the unmentioned three is that he asked a question that gets Storm Knight off guard and kind of staring at Kunzite for a few moments. She doesn't move in to attack immediately, but she does respond, "I have not been talking with Riventon." She responds. Aaaand.... she had been out of touch. Not with reality, but just... like, everyone. It wouldn't be that surprising if people were worried about her, even!

     "You're, uh.... not... our enemy anymore, are you." Storm Knight continues, watching Kunzite's face again, looking back towards Mamoru quietly a few moments. Pale... on the couch... the man was watching him. Mamoru was mentioned to be sick. Storm Knight's cheek begin to flush a bright pink as full realization hits her, and embarassment burns on her face. "...I suppose I am out of touch." She murmurs. "And I have a strong suspicion that I owe you an apology." She says, her tone much quieter now. Though... the energy shield doesn't lower from around Mamoru yet, unsurprisingly she likely doesn't trust Kunzite /just/ yet.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Apparently even yelling takes a while to wake Mamoru up these days. Like, yelling right over him. It's a good sign he can still be woken up-- though possibly not very good luck for poor Suzu-chan right now.

Bleary blue eyes crack open to see a crackling green sphere of energy around him, Kunzite outside of it in henshin, and a shadow-dark Kunzite shield around them both. And Storm Knight's voice beyond the shadows and lightning, currently too much effort to focus to see through. He doesn't actually move, but his expression communicates 'facepalm' remarkably well.

"On the up side," he sighs out, barely audible, "pretty sure you can't accidentally make Kunzite run away crying. Hi, Storm-chan."

Kunzite has posed:
"Since I believe I owe you several," dozen, "we'll consider one of them cancelled out. No harm done." Kunzite's expression hasn't changed particularly, but the sword in his hand flickers out the same way it came in, in a momentary surge of deeper shadow. A moment later, the greater darkness flickers out as well, though he doesn't let the gray uniform fade. Just in case.

... it would be a more impressive just-in-case if he didn't take his attention off Suzuki for a moment to eye Mamoru over his shoulder at the 'run away crying' line, but it's not as if Mamoru's reactions wouldn't tell him if she made a move.

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
    Did you know it's possible to actually blush crimson to the point your entire face turns red? Well, even if it isn't, Storm Knight's face just managed it regardless, her gaze lowering towards the ground. "...dHello, Mamoru-san." She mumbles out awkwardly, that green shield finally beginning to lower.

     "Did I wake you?" She asks with a nervous smile, finally lowering her naginata. It seemed like Kunzite was as protective as Mamoru as she was. Probably. She takes a slow breath, before looking towards Verdrehen Sturm. "...Release."

    A few moments later, and her Knight Armor disappears, and Suzuki is left dressed in ... a new outfit that Usagi helped her pick out earlier! A pretty black dress that falls to just past ner knees, with a large purple orchid flower printed across the right leg. Since she doesn't have much choice, she was wearing shoes still... though she quickly makes her way over to the shoe removal area to slip them off as she responds to Kunzite.

    "That sounds fair. Especially since I didn't manage to actually harm you. Or, thankfully, cause any damage." Beyond possibly some hairs standing up on end from static charge, at any rate. Once she had her shoes off, she makes her way over towards the couch again. "He's, uhm, referencing something I did to Usagi-chan in the hospital before. It's, uhm... a long story. But he was sick then, too! And... I get... uhm, over protective of injured and sick friends." She says with a nervous smile. "...Is everything okay? Is it just a normal illness? He looks really pale to just be at home.."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I do seem to get sick a lot," says Mamoru a little morosely. "Only since magic though. That time was some alien that looked a lot like Fiore nearly killing me though." His fingers curl in, fussing with the bedspread briefly. "It's not normal. Even longer story. You look all dressed up, Suzu-chan, very nice. But it's really okay, Kunzite is one of mine. Rescued him, gave him his old job back. Everything's fine."

He blows his bangs out of his face, and then looks up, blue eyes searching to meet silvery grey for a second before falling back to Suzuki. "Meet Kazuo Takeba. Kaz, Suzuki Natsume. Also one of my best friends. But I'm tired, going to sleep again. Sorry. Stay as long as you like, obviously."

Kunzite has posed:
It's the moment in which blue eyes meet grey that prompts Kunzite, finally, to change back. He does not live up to Suzuki's standards of dress. Not at all. He does, however, lean over Mamoru again -- just a little -- and reach to lay a hand just beside the tired boy's in order to help him get the folds of cloth back in desired order. Easier from a different angle.

"You were remarkably restrained, given the circumstances," Kunzite -- Kazuo -- says to Suzuki. "I'm pleased to be able to meet you, Natsume-san. I'll explain the situation in a moment. First. May I get you anything?"

As if there were no blades out, or lightning, a few moments ago. And without addressing the question of what exactly his old job was. Or any other parts of those longer stories.

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     An alien that looked a lot like Fiore. Suzuki files that little bit of information away in the back of her mind. "Well, I mean... it's not too surprising since you're probably a good source of energy from what I know of you." Suzuki comments towards Mamoru, "Oh. Uhm. I went shopping with Usagi earlier, she helped me pick this out. I like it... and it's kind of close to what my parents make me wear so I might be able to get away with not having to hide it." She adds.

     "Anyway... so long as it's okay, that's fine. I just saw a figure through the doorway standing over you while you were unmoving, who looked suspiciously like, well... someone who last I had heard was an enemy..." Suzuki gives a helpless shrug, before clearing her throat and offering a polite bow towards Kunzite.. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Kazuo Takeba-san. I'm Suzuki Natsume, also known as Storm Knight." She says as she straightens up. "I would like to hear the even longer story of how Mamoru ended up like this, of course..."

    So that she can turn her blade towards the /actual/ person who caused it. "I try to use precision so as not to harm things I don't mean to, usually." Suzuki responds to Kunzite, watching his movements towards Mamoru. Finally, she seemed to fully relax, giving a slow exhale. "...But, well. I noticed that you weren't really... fighting back. ...Or speaking much. Usually our enemies do both of those." Suzuki says with a rub of the back of her head. "Thank you, I would very much appreciate that. Some tea would be excellent." She says, looking towards Mamoru a few moments, before making her way towards the kitchen herself; so that their talking doesn't end up disturbing Mamoru again hopefully. Don't mind that subtly cast little ball of green energy that floats off into a corner of the room to watch over Mamoru for her.

Kunzite has posed:
Kazuo doesn't appear to mind it. Indeed, as Suzuki starts to follow, he pauses until that little ball of green energy manifests.

Water's on to heat, and he's found the cupboard with an eclectic little collection of teas (why does Mamoru even have a fussily home-blended Russian Caravan, and why is it labelled with death threats?) to offer Suzuki her choice, and he's unearthed a secret cache of cookies from behind a stack of plates, and after all of this, finally, Mamoru is asleep.

"You seemed to recognize Fiore's name," Kazuo says. "If you don't, tell me, and I'll explain. But he's having what amounts to an autoimmune reaction prompted by the invasive flowers. It's been going on for several weeks now, progressively worse. He's sleeping as much as he can; he may as well, it cuts down on the painkillers, and the painkillers would put him to sleep anyway."

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     Let's see. Teas... teas... which one does she want. Suzuki looks over them quietly for a few moments, her gaze lingering on the one labeled with death threats... largely.. well, becuase of the death threats on it. "Uhm... let's see... I'll go with something simple..." She says, choosing a plain (but high quality) green tea for her tea, before looking towards Kazuo again.

     "No, I don't recognize his name. I just made note of it so I could look it up and hopefully recognize a figure like that in the future." Suzuki responds honestly to Kaz, moving over towards the cookies to indulge in her secret favorite thing... sweets. Though she only has one... just to nibble at... must... resist. "Invasive flowers? Does he have the flowers /inside/ of him, or have they been cleared out?" She asks curiously.

     "Usagi mentioned that there's flowers in the parks and growing in her house through the drains as well... is it related?" Suzuki continues, her tone relatively neutral; in that 'has everything under control' kind of way. In spite of the fact she clearly seemed more concerned, than having everything under control.

Kunzite has posed:
"Fiore is an alien," Kazuo says. "He is also a victim. The flowers, the pink ones in the parks," and everywhere else, "are a hive mind. One of them has invaded Fiore's body; its roots are wound around his vital organs and possibly, for all I know, into his nervous system. It's controlling his actions and his mind, though at times he can fight it a little."

He reaches down a cup for Suzuki. Easier at his height. Finds an infuser, measures leaves. Precise movements, delicate and even, without a hint of reaction to what he's saying. "The other flowers drain energy by proximity, turn into monsters, possess people. Their goal is to drain the entire planet's energy and destroy it. The process going on around us is what's causing Mamoru's illness."

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     "I see... so they're a victim that's been taken over by the flowers..." Suzu muses out loud. "Has there been any luck in loosening their hold on him more permanently, or have attempts failed -- or made it worse due to how they're wound around his organs?" She asks with a small frown. Hmm. That was a troublesome situation.

     She watches as Kunzite measures the leaves and begins to make the tea. There was a quiet approval from Suzuki as she watches this. Kazuo was good with a sword, good at making tea, and seemingly refined. If she was the girl more likely to have random crushes, she MIGHT develop a crush on him. ... She might anyway, though it likely wouldn't go anywhere. "Are there any issues with burning back the flowers, beyond the aforementioned turning into monsters? And has anyone found any sort of sorce of them?" At this point mostly just interrogating Kunzite for information on the thing endangering her best friend -- and likely all of the rest of her friends. On top of likely being what Usagi needed to distract herself from...

Kunzite has posed:
Less refined per se than with long experience at failing to quite keep up with keeping up the pretense of it. But it usually takes more than a few minutes to sort that out.

"We've tried. That's how we found out it was rooted in him. Also what happened to our carpet. Sailor Mercury is working on the problem." Presumably, that part is not the carpet.

The water is failing to be hot enough, and Kazuo has run out of things to do with his hands. He glances toward Suzuki instead. "The problem with burning back the flowers is that there are more flowers than we have capacity to burn. They're sourced from an asteroid, and distributed around the planet; Tokyo might be the highest concentration, but we can't, for example, keep the Amazon clear. We have some intelligence on the asteroid -- my brother Nephrite managed to trick Fiore into taking him there for a few seconds. Mercury has sent out a firm request to Virtue not to do that again. The draining effect from that many flowers alone must be enough to kill within seconds. Nephrite only survived it because, when he looked dead, Fiore dropped him here to taunt us. Mamoru still needed help just to stabilize him."

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     Shh, let a girl keep her delusions of someone being good at something. "Sailor Mercury is working on how to get it out of him... purifying attacks didn't help?" She says thoughtfully. "I'd have thought Sailor Moon's involvement would help, but perhaps it needs more than just purification..." Hmmmm! Suzu crosses her arms over her chest as she thinks.

     "So we can control it in Tokyo at least, which is enough for the moment perhaps... but exhausting." Suzuki murmurs thoughtfully. "And destroying the asteroid will take a long-ranged highly powerful attack, or some way to protect ourselves from the energy drain, then..." Suzuki continues to muse out loud, looking at the Device that was hanging from a chain on her wrist. "And the attack would also need to be strong enough that it strikes before it drains..."

     She pauses. "What about conventional weapons? It might be hard to completely destroy the asteroid, but perhaps some sort of explosive device could be used to weaken it... I mean... I don't know how we'd get our hands on one, but..." More musing, her ideas possibly getting wilder as they go. "Anyway... uhm. My number is in Mamoru's phone, so if you figure anything out, definitely call me and I'll see what I can do to help! Or at least I can be a sounding board for insane-sounding ideas?" She says with a brief grin towards Kazuo. "Oh! Uhm. Remind Mizuno-san about the Belkan Cartridges, I think that just the name should be enough to jog her memory, but if not they're basically storage devices for extremely compressed energy that allow you to get a sudden burst of energy when it's needed, basically storing your energy when you're not fighting for when you are fighting."

Kunzite has posed:
"The asteroid is, reportedy, probably hollow. Conventional weapons would more likely fragment it rather than destroy it. However, the hive-mind the flowers has apparently has some focal point -- and that might be more susceptible." There's a hint of an approving note in his tone. THere's also, at last, sufficiently hot water. Kazuo pours for her, then takes a step or two back so that he can lean against a counter and face her at the same time.

"I'll forward that reminder to her," he says. Mizuno-san, Mercury -- likely she knows. Good, then. Good. "That's an interesting technique. I hadn't realized anyone had managed to standardize something like that. May I ask -- do you happen to be associated with Virtue at all, or are you not presently in their contact network?"

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     "Hmm... so it would fragment it... but it still might weaken it... a little. But it might also send flowers flying and spread them." Suzuki says thoughtfully. "There's that, uhm... one thing... n...na....palm? I read about on the internets once. A fire explosive thingy..." She doesn't really know how it works like... at all. But an explosive fire thing might not be a bad idea, since they can't get close magically!

     "It's something from ancient belka. I know the technique to compressing the energy into the cartridges." Suzuki explains quietly, "It takes a long time for me to do it, but my energy control is... lacking at best, I'm practicing with it, but it's hard for me to properly focus it, it tries to come out quickly and explosively -- like lightning." She says with a simple nod. "Yes! I am associated with Virtue, though I've been somewhat out of contact of late, my parents have kept me extremely busy with trying to help with rebuilding our home and business following those freak storms. Walpurgisnacht, I think it was called? ...Anyway... we just finished building the other day so I'll probably be more active again now."

Kunzite has posed:
"My understanding is that Mercury has sent HeartNET a briefing on what she currently knows, what tactics can be used most effectively, and some part of her plans," Kazuo says. "I don't have access myself -- it will take more than a few months for us to make up for the things we were used to do. But you should have access to that document, if it might be useful."

(The image of applying napalm in quantity to that asteroid might, perhaps, warm his heart. He doesn't seem to use enough range of expression to make it easy to tell.)

"I'm sorry to hear about your home." 'At least that one wasn't our fault' is also not said, not in the slightest. "But pleased to hear it's been restored. Your energy-control problem. Is it only lack of practice? Or are you needing to develop the techniques on your own?"

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     "I'll have to check up on that, then. Even if it's not helpful it's good to know her plans so that I don't accidentally ruin them somehow." Suzuki responds with a small nod. "And.. you don't? I'm honestly a bit surprised that you don't, if you're truly interested in joining Virtue..." Suzuki says thoughtfully. "Part of what Virtue stands for is forgiveness, but... at the same time, I suppose I can understand a bit of prudence, on the off chance that all of this is an act or something along those lines; though I highly doubt it."

     "Largely lack of practice. You see, uhm. I can only cast to begin with thanks to Verdrehen Sturm." She says, lifting her hand to show the small version of the weapon she'd used earlier dangling off her wrists. "Before that I had... very slightly more power than the average human being. I probably already had the energy, but no way to control it. So... I don't believe that it's necessary to develop the techniques on my own, so much as I've been developing the techniques on my own with no real guidance beyond my own Device... which isn't programmed to teach." She explains, lowering her hand. "So less lack of practice, so much as I'm still working on drawing it out without resorting to brute force, if that makes sense?" Even her awakening required a brute force method of using a Cartridge to jump start her linker core.

Kunzite has posed:
"Forgiveness is one thing," Kazuo says. "Recovery is another. It takes time for injuries to heal, and it would be counterproductive for the group if I were to be in the middle of it while some of its other members are still having to rein in their tempers every time they see me." Apparently Suzuki is not exactly alone. "In the mean time, I hear the really important news through Mamoru. It works well enough for now."

(If it's all an act, he's figured out how to trick the psychometer. Probably not impossible, though...)

Her lift of her hand is answered by an attentive tilt of Kazuo's head, a moment of careful study of the Device's current appearance. "It makes sense," he agrees. "It might be interesting to compare notes, at some point. I don't work with technology like yours, but I've been able to interface with it once or twice under limited circumstances. We might be able to find some techniques that might translate." Of course, since all she's seen of what he does is shadows, the suggestion might not entirely make sense to her.

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     "That's true. Still, if you don't have Mamoru to contact, it still would be good for you to have access to the information for emergency purposes and knowledge of the goings on..." Suzuki says, there was actually a worried edge to her tone as she says that! ... She may have been angry with him before, but she seems to have let that anger pass as fast as it had come once she realized that Kunzite wasn't a threat to Mamoru. Or at least, not an immediate one. "I'm sure there's questions of if you are going to be easily re-corrupted as well..." She muses a bit.

     Anyway! She takes a soft breath. "Well, the energy control is my inability, Verdrehen Sturm seems to mostly just ... translate and amplify my power; like a magnifying glass, if that makes sense? I mean... I'm sure it's more complicated than that, like I've noticed that since I started using my powers more I've gotten mysteriously better at math..." She says, before giving a helpless shrug. "But sure! We could, uhm. Compare notes." She looks towards Verdrehen Sturm again. Hmm. She probably kept notes of what as going on in her; if only Suzuki could make sense of the jumble of parameters that Verdrehen Sturm spit out when she asked for combat data. "... Unfortunately, Verdrehen Sturm is belkan, so most of what I get out of her is... not ... exactly easy for me to understand, so my notes probably won't be nearly as comprehensive..."

Kunzite has posed:
"We do have an alternate route through the Senshi," Kazuo says. "Any of them can contact us at any time. They can also locate us at any time -- which helps to some degree with at least their concerns about any potential repeats of the problem." It's not exactly ankle bracelets, but -- well. He's wearing a wrist bracelet, come to think of it -- subdued, a band of brushed silver, with a disc of dull gold with a quartered-circle design where a watch face might be.

worry about actual literal notes wins a very, very small smile. "We'll see if we can make any sense out of it. At worst, we'll find out a handful of things that don't work. Sometime when the two of us both have actual time; between your parents and my brothers, it sounds as if we won't have to worry anytime too soon."

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     Almost forgotten in the talk, Suzuki reaches to take her tea. "Ah, that's good then... a lot of fall back points." Suzuki says with a small nod towards Kazuo. "And since you know Mamoru has my phone number, you can use that too as yet another... and thus we can basically have a mini-Virtue with just us." She says with a soft chuckle.

     "My parents don't keep me too busy usually, they actually come from a line of heroes, traced all the way back to ancient samurai, and rumors of magical people in the distant past as well, so they actually encourage me to go out and help people and be heroic... even if they are frustrating in other ways, I don't have to worry too much about them asking where I've been when I'm out late, they just ask if I helped people." She says with a grin. "So... once we have time, that would be good... however, I believe, first... we have some flowers to deal with."
f

Kunzite has posed:
Sometime, several hours from now, that phone number will receive a text message so that Suzuki also has a contact point for Kazuo. It may wind up functionally being a backup in case Mamoru's phone goes missing, but it will still exist.

"Some traditions are worth having," Kunzite acknowledges. "And you're correct. We do." As if he were still utterly emotionally uninvolved in the topic, considering the flowers and the destruction of the Earth only as an abstract exercise.

Except, of course, that she saw him put himself between Mamoru and the Knight who stood in the balcony door, and that movement had begun before he had the protection of his henshin.

"Are there any other questions I can answer for you at the moment?" he asks. "Not, of course, that you need to voice all of them now. It's been a busy few months." (There is another door out of Mamoru's kitchen. One that didn't exist last year. It may have been a very busy few months.)

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     And backups are good to have! If nothing else, she can text Kazuo to ask all sorts of awkward questions about Mamoru! Mwahahaha! Or something. Okay, probably not. "They are, yes! Though it does make it awkward when your parents don't like you to wear current fashion..." Suzuki says with a slight wrinkle of her nose. "If my parents had their way I would be wearing kimonos all day every day."

     Ahem. But that was neither here nor there! And she barely knew Kazuo. "But they try to be good parents, at least. Anyway, uhm... more questions..." She pauses. "I can't think of anything else, and I imagine that I'm keeping you from getting Mamoru-san to bed." She says, dipping into a bow. "I hope you have a good evening, Takeba-san." She says with a warm smile as she straightens up from said bow. "I should be heading home; I have kendo practice in the morning."

Kunzite has posed:
Ahhh, but can she win through to get answers to awkward questions despite overprotectiveness! ... depends on whether she actually asks them, and whether Mamoru is deciding to entertain himself by annoying Kazuo. One of these has better odds than the other. Kazuo answers her bow, steady. "And you should be well-rested," he says. "I'm pleased Tsukino-san inspired you to pay a visit; I trust you'll look in again later, when Mamoru may be more awake." ... Kazuo might possibly be the only person in the world who uses Usagi's family name for her and has actually met her.

At least Suzuki will know exactly when Mamoru's feeling better, anyhow.

(He'd compliment her about the dress. He really would. But the last time he did the polite thing with that, he ... got chased around a room by someone with a naginata.)