Sharpe-san, About Your Daughter

There's usually energy in the household of the Sharpe family. Mostly thanks to Father and daughter proving equally 'intense' as a certain tux-wearing magical guy might put it. Today, however, there's no such energy. One appraoching the apartment can practically feel the anxiety, stress, and growing despair from what was once a very happy, loving home.

When Mamoru arrives, it's Hannah's mother that answers. Her face is reddened, and there's fresh tears on her face. She looks like she hasn't slept in a very long time.

"Ah! Mamoru...hey there. Come on in, hon. I...would you like anything?" She forces a smile. Tries to sound warm. But there's no strength in it. She's a southern woman through and through, though. She's going to show this man hospitality.

"I'm glad you're looking alright. Told us...she..." She shivers, at the mere thought of her daughter.

"I heard you were sick."

Mamoru looks serious, and this time-- there's none of the nervousness, none of the unsettled being out of his element as the previous times he'd visited. He's got the bearing of someone with responsibility and authority, older than he is...

"Sharpe-san," he says quietly. He bows deferentially in greeting before coming in when bidden, and reflexively takes his shoes off at the door, proceeding in sock feet. "It was more complicated than that; I was actually missing, myself, until about a month ago. I came to see how you were doing, and also to talk to you about what might be going on."

The bow actually has her smiling a bit more sincerely. That odd aura of the young man is comforting in the situation she's in. Indeed, Miss Sharpe is lost, and needs some kind of rock to lean on.

"You're a good young man Mamoru. None of that bowin' though. You're family."

Then, she's ushering him into the living room. There's a few sandwiches laid out, and she soon has some coffee ready for him. Black, of course.

She knows her family, even adopted ones.

"...Missing?" There's concern in her eyes. She slowly frowns as she sits. After a heavy sigh, she continues.

"What's going on? The police are saying she 'ran away'. We both know she wouldn't do that. If she wanted to go off by herself, we wouldn't get in the way. She knows that. And now you've been missing too. Tell me. Please. My husband has been driving himself insane looking for her."

She finally breaks, tears rolling fresh down her face. "What happened to my baby!?"

Black coffee: literally Mamoru's favorite. He's not entirely up for a sandwich, but he'll never say no to coffee, and he takes it in his hands, soaking up the warmth as he sits down on the edge of the seat across from Hannah's mother.

"The police won't be able to find her," he says, but he doesn't sound devastated. "I'm not sure where, exactly, she is-- but I do have leads. And I have some very powerful friends who will be able to make use of those leads and bring her home to you."

Instead, he actually sounds confident. Apologetic, but confident and unworried. "It's a very similar situation to the one I was in when I was missing: I'm sure you, of all people, know how exceptional your daughter is. The organization that has hold of her is untouchable by the regular authorities; a lot of them don't even believe it exists. My friends and associates are working to take it down in the long run, but it's very much a long-term project-- in the meantime, we can at least get Hannah-chan back."

He takes a breath and closes his eyes. "I shouldn't be here. But you need to know something--"

Blue eyes open to fix on Hannah's mother's. Behind them there's something she won't have seen before: an awareness, a presence, like some kind of ancient guardian spirit, immense and unchanging, kind and protective. "And I can't tell you much. But I can tell you you'll have her back soon."

The poor woman needs a confident, steady rock to lean against, and that comes in the form of Mamoru Chiba. That look, that feeling, is an immense comfort. Her eyes never leave the young man's, hanging on his every word. She dries off her eyes, sits up.

"She never does anything half-way. Succeeding /or/ getting in trouble." Comes the woman, laughing just a bit.

She sucks in a breath, and draws on the strength that's so common in the family. "I trust you. If you say you'll get her back, then you will. And you can bet my daughter isn't going to let something like that just lay after she's been kidnapped!" Fire rises in the woman's eyes, looking far too much like an older, wiser Hannah at the moment.

Then, she's over, and offering a motherly hug.

"Thank you so much. I don't know how to repay you for all you're doing for us. Just...don't get yourself hurt, alright? You're family too."

Mamoru's-- well, a little startled she didn't demand evidence, or proof-- could it be they suspect something about Hannah's involvements as it is? He doesn't let it show on his face beyond a brief and slight lift of his eyebrows, though, and instead puts the coffee down and stands up to hug Hannah's mother back. And this time?

This time there's no hesitation at the touch, and the hug is solid and warm, and somehow just as calmingly reassuring as his words, his manner. "You don't need to thank me," he says with a shaky little laugh-- this part he might still be a little nervous about-- "I mean you can't go saying you want to repay me in one breath, and calling me family in the next, right?"

Drawing back a little, the smile he offers back is an affectionate one, but old, old. "And she's come through for me more than once, also when it really really mattered. When she comes back, you tell her how strong she is. Drill it into her head until she stops doubting it, yeah?"

Squeeeeze! The Sharpe matriarch might be older, but she's in good shape. And so she pours on the motherly squeeze-hugs! She sniffles, sobs once or twice, and then shudders. Slowly, she pulls away. And /smiles/. Radiantly.

"You little! You are almost as bad as Hannah that way. But it's adorable."

Her smile doesn't last, though, and she sighs.

"I'll try. She...Mamoru. I know that there's something...unusual going on with her. She's involved in something. Right after she and Ao-chan were hit by that terrorist in the mall, she was depressed. Angry at herself. She kept blaming herself for what happened to her friend. But about a month later she...she said she met a friend. And she seemed different. Brighter. Like herself. She'd always been ambitious, but it was then she really started pushing herself so very hard."

A shake of her head. She looks right at Mamoru. "And I don't think she's involved in anything ordinary. Or safe. No one, even someone into sports like her, gets hurt that badly that regularly."

Then, she squints just a bit. "And somehow I think you're involved in something similar, Mamoru. Hannah always seems to draw in people that are...different. Usually by making them angry or throwing herself at them." A smile.

She reaches out, and pokes Mamoru's nose.

"So, no acting like my idiot daughter. And I'll try to get her to stop doubting herself so much."

Nose-beep and all, Mamoru lets out a sudden laugh, eyes sparkling. "Actually, I think I pissed her off first," he says, voice lowering and taking a conspiratorial tone. Then he waves a hand around, bright but unconcerned. "But don't worry about me. I've learned my lessons, and I have ten or eleven people willing to variously yell at or sit on me to keep me from doing anything spectacularly dumb, now."

Finally, he reaches out again, this time to just gently lay his hand on Hannah's mother's arm, and he gives her a lopsided smile. "We'll save her. She's already fighting hard, doing half the work herself. You'll have her back soon."

Then he takes a half-step back to pick up his coffee again, and drinks it down, not quite scalding hot-- with relish and panache. ...he really does seem all-around better and more confident, too, than he did the last time she saw him. He's probably not lying about being okay.

"Thank you," he says almost teasingly, "for the coffee. I'm going to go check on those leads and make sure things are in place. Would you let your husband know too? I mean of course you will, but... a few days at most."

Smile. "No wonder she likes you so much. I see I now have /two/ children that are full of themselves and prone to making others angry! Ahh, what /ever/ will I do?" Comes Miss Sharpe dramatically, before winking.

"Good. You're already a hair smarter than my daughter /and/ my husband. That attitude, and most importantly your friends, will help you go far, Mamoru."

Finally, after everything? She seems to /relax/ for just a moment. Some of that tension vanishes.

"That's just like her. I almost feel sorry for this organization. Except that if they show up at my door, I'm going to beat their teeth into their throat." Anger replaces sadness for a moment, and more than a little of Sharpe flame!

Sigh. "I won't keep you, hon. Thank you. I mean it. Just to know that she's going to be okay..." Sniffle. One more motherly hug!

Then she's packing an extra coffee and a sandwich for the man.

"Now get out of here. Of course, I'll drag him back in and get him to relax. We'll see you soon, Mamoru, /with/ Hannah."

The boy laughs again, and is more than happy to take the sandwich and more coffee, as packed with love as they are. "Thanks-- I will. And you will." Once he takes them, he tosses off a half-assed salute and a rakish grin, and then he's out the door-- funny how it made him feel better, too.