2546/Convinient Encounters

Convinient Encounters
Date of Scene:	06 March 2017
Location:	The AM/PM Mini Market
Synopsis:	Minako is back in town, and she happens to stop into Kyouko's conbenie, where she runs into Makoto as well.
Cast of Characters:	Kyouko Sakura, Minako Aino, Makoto Kino

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Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko works a lot. Technically she doesn't have to, because, as one of Mamoru's Shitennou, she has access to Infinite Money through him (and the convinient bank card that he gave her). But that damnable pride of hers won't let her live the easy life off of somebody else's charity (as she sees it) and besides... she rather enjoys her job, having been working here for over a year at this point and being quite fond of Tachibana-san, the elderly lady who owns the store.

    So it is that a good many hours of the week, here she is. Her shifts are not fixed, so at any given time of day it's possible to run into her. At the moment she's behind the counter near the sliding glass doors, re-stocking some things on the shelves of more valuable products kept behind the counter. Over her usual uniform of a t-shirt and jeans she has on the bright orange apron whith has the AM/PM Mart logo on it in white, as well as an orange kerchief tied around her short red hair.

    She's humming absently to herself as she picks the items out of a carboard box on the floor by her feet and transfers them to the appropriate place on the shelf, her back to the door.

Minako Aino has posed:
    Minako Aino has been on a short soul searching trip. She thought about things long and hard. Well as hard as she willing to because sometimes she got a headache. Artemis came along on this trip.
    They are back now because Minako Aino has come to some conclusions! Yes. That conclusion is!...
    She requires a candy bar and a soda.
    Yes, this took long and hard deliberation but it needed to be done! Oh, you know, she also had to make some things right with her friends. That was a more easier decision to make.
    Though the hard decision stands in front of her as she's staring intently at the rack of candy bars. Which one?
    Artemis is sort of flopped over a right shoulder. He whispers. 'Get the Swedish Fish'. Minako Aino whispers back. 'That isn't even a candy bar.'
    This will take a few moments. Sometimes she glances to the worker up front there. Sometimes people get upset about loitering and this may take a moment. Or twenty.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko had heard the door open when Minako came in, and had chimed out in her rote sing-song, "Welcome to the AM/PM Minimart~", the standard greeting she is required to voice for all customers, mostly a Pavlovian response to the door sliding open at this point in her career. She had glances over at the blonde girl with the white cat, her red eyes narrowing slightly.. doesn't that girl look familiar?

    But a moment later, she just shrugs and goes back to what she was doing. There are a lot of girls in Tokyo, it's probably nothing. Though she does look a fair bit like Usagi, come to think of it..

    Kyouko ponders this as she works, at the moment not inclined to rush Minako's candy selection, though thay may change if she stands there long enough.

Makoto Kino has posed:
Makoto isn't a regular at the PM-Mart, truth be told - she's a girl who likes to make her own snacks when she can, after all. But sometimes even the best cook wants some junk food, and it's good to drop in and help out her friend's workplace now and then.

The door opens a second time only a few moments after Minako's entrance. "Kyouko~" The greeting is a friendly sing-song. "I want something unhealthy, what's good?"

It takes her a couple of beats to take more than passing notice of the other customer present, and when she does it's a quick double-take. "Huh? Minako?"

Minako Aino has posed:
    Artemis whispers. 'But if you get the swedish fish we can share those.' Minako whispers back. 'I don't wanna share, get your own candy bar!'
    This kind of looks weird probably as a girl whispers to her cat.
    She decides on something that looks like a 'Choco Banana Kit Kat'. She probably isn't going to break it apart to share with Artemis.
    She stands more straight and turns forward to walk to the sodas when she stops a moment.
    Makoto Kino.
    Uh. Whoops! This is awkward! This isn't how she wanted to meet at all. High unoptimal. Her first reaction is to point behind Makoto and yell 'look, a dark kingdom plot!' and run but realizes that probably won't work anymore. So she has to actually handle this the proper way.
    "Hi, Makoto!" she says with a nervous smile. Artemis waves a paw. He remains speechless because there's still that girl manning the register. "Uh. How. Are you? I'm back in town! Like. Just got back so I totally haven't had the timetotextanyoneyet, sorry!" she says. "But! Soon. I have stuff to talk about."
    She looks to Kyouko. "What's the most caffinated drink in here that's a soda!?" she asks her.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "Welcome to the- Oh! Hi Mako-chan." Kyouko cuts off her rote greeting mid-sentance as she recognizes this second customer, turning to give her friend a lopsided, one-fanged grin. "Don't often see you around here. Hmm.. unhealthy? Basically anything in the store." She snorts, clearly playful, then adds, "I tend to go for Pocky myself, but those little panda cookies with the chocolate filling are good too.."

    She pauses as the first customer, the blond girl, recognizes Makoto and greets her in a.. not exactly enthusiastic manner. A brow quirks in curiosity as she turns to look at Minako again. "You guys know each other?" This directed towards Makoto, a hint of inquiry in her tone.

    Then Minako blurts a question at her, and she gets a rather wry look on her face. "Preeetty sure all the ones that ain't caffeine-free are about the same. Take your pick. I like the apple soda."

Makoto Kino has posed:
Makoto regards Minako's hasty explanation with a growing sense of bemusement which is clear on her face, a certain look of 'well, okay' that both Kyouko and Minako herself are likely able to catch. "...Welcome back, then," is the answer she decides on, and her smile is only a little awkward. "You should send Usagi-chan a text or something when you get a minute, I'm sure she'll be excited."

At Kyouko's question she glances toward the redhead, and nods. "Yeah," she confirms, and then hesitates for a moment over how to explain. She flicks a quick glance toward Minako, as though looking for clues as to how much it's all right to say, but after all Minako is never someone Mako's been able to read.

Subtle really isn't her style. "Kunzite and Mamoru-niisan have pretty much adopted Kyouko," Mako tells Minako. "So if you're going to be around more, you'll probably see her pretty often."

Minako Aino has posed:
    "Oh, yeah! I mean. I just need to get a new phone yet! Mine got damaged."
    'If by damaged you mean you lost it on the trip back.' Artemis whispers. Minako pets Artemis extra hard suddenly.
    "Anyways! I will do just that!"
    Oh. So Mamoru and Kunzite adopted red hair here. Okay.
    "Oh! Hi then. I'm Minako Aino! This is Artemis and he's being a grouch today and fun ruiner today." she insists to the cat.
    She eyes Makoto a moment. Nope. Nothing about magic right now. Though she didn't seem phased by the name Kunzite. But that also might not mean anything.
    "Apple soda, huh? Sounds.. a-peeling. Wait. That doesn't work for an Apple." she scrunches her nose and walks over to the soda case.
    "So did you come here to say hi to Kyouko?" she asks.
    Yeah. Even Minako probably knows Makoto bakes when she wants things. Birds Sing, Bees Buzz, Makoto Bakes!

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko eyes Mako-chan, then eyes Minako, those eyes narrowing faintly. This girl clearly knows Usagi, and Kunzite, and Mamoru, based on that brief exchange. And she's blonde- well. It probably shouldn't be too hard for Kyouko to figure out who she is, even if nobody comes out and says it, but either because magic or because tact (Kyouko, tact?! Well, she has been trying to learn) she doesn't actually say anything about all the suspicious behavior at this point.

    Maybe it's because she's on the clock and doesn't want to get in trouble.

    But, Minako does introduce herself, and Kyouko offers her a faintly lopsided smile as well. "Hey. Nice ta meetcha. So you know my nii-sans too, huh? Hi Artemis." This greeting to the cat is off-handed- whether or not Kyouko suspects it is a talking cat or she's just being smart is unclear. (She does know Luna, after all).

Makoto Kino has posed:
The cloak-and-dagger secret identity stuff is so very not Makoto's bag, and she can't be sure where she's landed on the line between not giving Kyouko enough information to be helpful and making Minako mad by giving away too much. But oh well, she's done what she could; it'll come out in the wash sooner or later, unless Minako does another disappearing act.

"Well," she says, turning to Minako's question as one she can actually answer, "I thought I should at least stop in and support a friend at her job once in a while." As she says it she wanders off a few steps to eye the sweets arrayed on the nearby shelves, passing near enough to offer Artemis a brief ear-scritch mostly out of Luna-related habit.

Minako Aino has posed:
    Ohhh yeah, ear sritch, that's the good stuff. Purr purr purr. He'd probably ask for the swedish fish Minako won't get him but that'd involve talking out loud which isn't great in public.
    Minako decides to try the apple soda as she grabs it from the case and walks over to the counter. "How about everyone else." she asks. "Is everyone else okay?" she asks hopefully at Makoto- wanting to hear good news, because if people are in good moods she won't be descending like a shadow back into her friends lifes at first!
    She looks back at Kyouko. She narrows her eyes back. She stops herself from also leaning over the counter while doing it. "That will be all I think. Oh! Uh. Whatever. Makoto is having too." because she can do that much. Right? "Unless she's buying like half the store! Makoto you're not buying half the store, right?" she asks like this is a completely serious question.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    The fact is that Kyouko has never put much stock in secret identities- this is mostly because since shortly after she became a magical girl, she had no 'normal life' or family to protect. For her, Kyouko Sakura the Puella Magi was more or less the 'real' identity, and any mundane Kyouko Sakura ceased to exist. This isn't to say she doesn't understand why other people would protect their IDs- but it's just not something she normally thinks about very much.

    "And I do appreciate it, Mako-chan." She calls over to the taller girl at her mention of stopping in to support a friend. She grins. "Plus, it's always nice to see your face on days when we aren't schedule to try and punch each other." She asides to Minako at the other girl walks up to the counter, "Mako-chan and I train together."

    She takes the apple soda and dutifully rings it up, then glance over at Makoto, quirking an eyebrow at her as if to say, 'you aren't buying half the store, are you Mako-chan?

Makoto Kino has posed:
"I don't know what would make either of you think I could afford to buy half the store," Makoto protests, laughing. "Do I look like my name is Chiba? I'm on a budget here."

Mako's budget appears to run more along the lines of a box of limited edition almond cream Pocky; after a moment or two of deliberation she selects a box, and then a second one for Minako which she tosses to Kyouko in an easy underhand lob. "Everybody's doing okay as far as I know, more or less," she says, heading back towards the drink cases. "It's a rough time of year, and all - some bad memories for a few people." She picks out a can of strawberry milk, and turns back toward the other two girls as she nudges the case closed. "Ami-chan's been having a bad time recently, so be nice to her if you talk to her, okay?"

Minako Aino has posed:
    Minako Aino remembers. Maybe that was a stupid question to ask. Of course people would be, well. Sad. But Ami's been having a hard time? She wonders with what. She scrunches her face a little as she thinks about that. Okay. So Ami's up there on the visit sooner rather than later list. Since Makoto has not punched her back to the Silver Millenium, she assumes that Makoto is not super upset at her. Which is good! That's good!
    She still smiles and pays for what she's buying and what Makoto seems to be buying to Kyouko.
    "Training together!? For What!?" she asks with surprise. It comes off as 'mock surprise'. Yeah it's clear she doesn't want Kyouko knowing yet. "Is it for a school club?" she asks.
    "I'm not looking forward to Volleyball Club again this year." she admits. "It's not as easy as I thought it was! Maybe I should try bowling, that's only like rolling a ball, right?"
    "Wooo! Uh! Look at the time! I gotta go pickup the phone and all that!" she says with more sincerity.
    "I'll text soon, Makoto!" she says, as she begins to leave. Artmeis tries to make swinging paws at the swedish fish as he leaves. He only manages to snag a pixie stick. 'Darnit!' he whispers as he drops it.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko catches the lobbed pocky easily, without so much as a blink, her natural reflexes coming into play to snag the boxes out of the air one after the other, ring them up, and place them on the counter with Minako's selections. At least she doesn't toss the can of milk, although when that is presented it is rung up as well and all are placed in a bag as Kyouko tells Minako the total for the items.

    Taking the money from the girl, she rings it through with practiced ease and hands over the change and receipt. She quirks a brow once more at the mock surprise at the mention of training, a slightly dry tone to her voice as she says, "We just have a.. shared enthusiasm for martial arts." She says, with a mild shrug of her shoulders.

    As Minako turns then to leave, Kyouko calls after her the equally-rote, "Thank you! Please come again!~"

Makoto Kino has posed:
"What she said," Makoto agrees, tipping her head in Kyouko's direction. "Gotta stay in shape, and all."

By the time she reaches the counter and realizes that Minako's covered her snacks already, the blonde is already on her way out and Mako is left blinking, raising a hand in a hasty wave. "See you later, Minako-chan, Artemis," she calls after them, in counterpoint to Kyouko's well-rehearsed business farewell. "Take care, all right? And thanks!"