Virtue had given an open invitation to the Sailor Senshi to join. After having seen them in action, Rei was interested in joining in with like-minded people, but she couldn't speak for the whole team. The four of them needed to meet alone and discuss things amongst themselves before a real decision could be reached.
It was all or nothing. Either they all went in or none of them did. They were a team and would remain that way, no matter what.
That's why Rei is currently preparing her room in the Hikawa shrine for her friends to visit. Snacks are laid out (not as good as Makoto's, but still decent), tea is served, and Rei is still in her Miko uniform. Not because she feels particularly formal about having a meeting with friends (as important as the meeting may be) but because she actually just feels comfortable dressing like that.
She awaits the arrival of the other senshi. Most of them should know how to find their way by now, especially since there's a side door that leads directly outside.
Usagi arrives! She has with her a massive container of cookies for the meeting that she's awkwardly hauling along! After the events with the Waldians, the bright girl has seemed a little less radiant than usual. Worried. Troubled. Even her parents have noticed. But the meeting is important, and so, she arrives in a simple set of jeans and t-shirt with a big rabbit face on it.
The blonde throws open the side door, and in she goes!
"Reiiii-chan!" Yells Usa, loudly, knowing that she's going to be with her friends doing much to make her feel better already. And that's before she sees the snacks.
Down goes the cookie plate, and she's already devouring food. Nom nom nom! Someone should stop her before it's all gone even before the rest get here!
COming in, a little after usagi, is Ami. She's....not quite her cheery self, but that was understandable. Someone she thought was an ally, betrayed her. Still, she put on a brave face, considering the meeting was for the group, not just her. She knocks on the door lightly and walks in with her bag in hand. She smiles to Rei and Usagi, but she has a bandage on the left side of her face.....and the reason why she's not exactly smiling. "Hey Rei-chan. Usagi-chan." And....she pointedly gives him each a hug.......for understandable reasons.
Makoto arrives last, not long after Ami, carrying with her the basket that she normally uses for carrying treats. It's okay, these girls go through a lot of food.
"Hey," she says, smiling but - like the others - a little more subdued than usual. Last night wasn't fun for anybody. "I brought anpan..." No sooner has she said it than her eyes fall on the snacks that Rei's already laid out, and the box of cookies, and she laughs a little, rubbing the back of her neck in faint embarrassment. "Looks like we had the same ideas."
She brings the basket over to the table, and a dish of homemade anpan joins the spread before Mako looks over toward Ami with brows drawing together in concern. "Ami-chan, how are you feeling?"
Rei smiles and waves to the other senshi as they enter. She returns Ami's hug, and watches with amazement as Usagi starts chomping down the cookies. How can she eat that fast? Makoto comes in, and Rei tilts her head slightly and says, "Well... it's a good thing you brought more! ... considering how fast /some of us/ eat."
Rei looks at Ami sadly. It wasn't fair what happened last night, and Ami was the target of it. "Yeah, are you alright, Ami-chan? I know you weren't expecting that... I never thought those people would turn out to be our enemies, huh?"
Usagi is there and hugging Ami tightly. There's a look of concern in her face as she gazes upon her friend. Her mind races, trying to come up with the right words of comfort for her friend. But that betrayal, that horrible act...what can she really say?
Instead, she just lingers there.
"We're here for you, Ami-chan..." She adds as Makoto arrives, and Rei speaks up.
Her eyes fall on the anpan. Sneeeeak. Sneeeak. She's reaching...
"Heyyyy don't be mean Rei-chan!" Pouts Usagi. Then she noms an anpan. Nomf!
She looks to the group. "I'm glad we made it out. I..." She gulps.
"I hope we hear about Tuxedo Kamen soon." Again, more worry in her voice. Sigh.
"I feel like someone kicked me in the stomach. I should've seen it coming. She kept insisting upon me calling her 'princess', and she didn't truly wish to exchange numbers, until one of ther 'attendants' suggested it. it's clear this bothers Ami quite a bit. "I offered to help them if they needed it, and they....pull this." She then shakes her head and sits down, sipping tea. "It's not happening again." She then looks to Rei. "And I put you all in danger because of her." Of course, the hug lingers on Usagi......maybe even a little tighter. "As long as you're here for me, Usagi-chan. Rei-chan. Makoto-chan." She sounds......small. Very small. But then she looks to Usagi and smiles. "I'm sure he'll be fine, Usagi. You, of all people, I have faith in." She then looks to Rei and Makoto. "Rei-chan and Makoto-chan as well." She's sure they feel the same way. "SOmehow, I'm sure he'll be back around in no time."
She then sits down and sighs. "Shall discuss about this 'Virtue' thing we were approached with?"
"You didn't do anything wrong, Ami-chan." Makoto's voice is firm with earnest conviction. "You know we'll always have your back. Don't worry."
A single beat passes after the words have left her mouth before Mako brightens, and she looks toward Usagi, eager to reassure. "Actually, I got a message from Tuxedo Kamen-san late last night. He's okay! So you cheer up, too, Usagi-chan."
Ami's words bring her back to the business at hand. Snagging a cookie, Makoto settles in, curiosity coming over her expression as she looks from one teammate to the next. "Right," she says, "wanna catch me up?"
Rei also looks worried at the mention of Tuxedo Kamen. That was a pretty nasty hit he took for Sailor Moon. "He's always so protective, especially of you, Usagi-chan. I think he'll be alright, but I think he needs his rest. He's earned it, after everything he's done recently."
To Ami, Rei nods. "Right. They've made it clear that they are our enemies now. We have no choice but to treat them that way."
Ami brings up Virtue, and Rei folds her hands in her lap, pondering quietly.
"I know Makoto wasn't here for this, so I'm going to recount it. Sometime last week we were able to enact our plan on Scorn. In short, it worked, but not without help. There were others who were there... in fact, we took advantage of an opening they made to move on Scorn."
Rei reaches for one of Makoto's provided snacks and chews on it for a moment. "After the fact, the ones we met introduced themselves as Tsukasa and Tadase. They were from a group called Virtue. They wanted to know if we were willing to join them."
"Ami and I both said we would have to discuss it with the rest of our team first. Hence this meeting."
"We'll stop them." States Usagi simply, nodding to Ami. So much pain, on both sides. She hates it.
"Mako-chan's right!" Agrees the bunny, before she's sitting down and drinking some tea.
Makoto's words have her gasping! She brightens up immediately.
"Oh thank goodness! Yay!" Her hands squeeze together, and for a few moments, it's the bright, happy Usa everyone knows.
To business!
"Ok, business. They seem really nice! And that little crown the boy had was cute!" Priorities, Usa.
Then she listens to Rei, nodding several times.
"I really do think joining them is a good idea, especially if more people like the Princess appear. We'll need friends." Not just allies. Friends.
"As do I." Ami says after Usagi. "Even if I didn't, I'd go along with Usagi-chan on this one." She smiles to Usagi, pointedly. "As strange as this sounds, even though I'm the one with the analytical skills, and Rei-chan has her spirit sense, it's.....worth pointing out that Usagi-chan seems to have the best 'instictive' guide out of all of us."
And Ami is looking at it logically. How creepy is that?
She then looks to Makoto and then to Rei. "Before you say anything, or change your minds to 'fit the group', if you have any reservations about joining Virtue.....speak up. We are friends first, and the Sailor Senshi second. all right?"
Nibbling on her cookie, Makoto listens closely to what each of the other girls has to say: Rei's explanation of what she missed, Usagi's feelings, Ami's reasoned conclusions. And, because it's a serious subject, she gives herself some time to think it over, chewing on a mouthful of cookie as she contemplates.
Soon enough, the cookie is gone, and Makoto stretches upward and crosses her arms behind her head. "If you guys think they seem aboveboard," she says, "that's good enough for me. I agree with Usagi-chan - especially with everything we're up against, we can't have too many friends."
Rei nods to Usagi, "Right? We need all the help we can get."
"Their stated goal is to help those who have gone astray. People like Scorn who were just being tricked or used, Virtue's mission statement seems to be helping people like that to see the light as opposed to just stopping them."
"Personally I think that's compatable with our own interests. I mean, I think it goes without saying that our first instinct is to help when we can. Even if the people we're helping aren't necessarily... doing the right thing."
Rei listens for Makoto's conclusion, and she nods. "Alright, then. We'll probably have to contact this Tsukasa Amakawa-san with our answer. He said he was the headmaster of Seiyou Public School. We could probably use that information to track him down."
Usagi smiles a little bit. She's actually blushing here and giggling nervously!
"A...Ami-chan, that's a little scary!" She says, but then beams. Seems Ami's made her day, again, after the news from Makoto!
And then Makoto is in agreement! Usagi gives a little 'yay' of happiness, and then she's devouring more snacks. They dissappear into the black hole that is usa-tummy!
"Rei-chan is right. We need to help people." She starts, and grows about as serious as she gets.
"We have to use our powers so that people like that can be happy, and don't have to hurt anyone anymore. I don't like it when people hurt each other. I just want people to be friends." She states to the group.
"While I seriously doubt 'everyone' will be friends, Usagi-chan, I have to agree. We are here to help people, not to just cut them down when they make trouble." Ami says softly. "Just because it is easier, doesn't make it right." Ami says pointedly before nibbling on a cookie.
She then looks to Rei and.....makes a bit of a face. "Rei-chan, as much as I would like to track them down.......I don't think it's very wise to walk into a public school as Sailor Moon, Mercury, Mars and Jupiter. We'd be....practically begging someone, like that 'princess' to attack the school." And the 'princess' is said with pure venom from Ami.
The intensity in Ami's voice just now brings a worried look to Mako's face, but she doesn't say anything, just glances toward the other two. "Well," she offers instead, reaching for more finger-food, "since he's the headmaster, we can probably call the school and ask to talk to him, right? That'd be less obvious than just showing up there."
Although 'just showing up' is probably exactly what Makoto would have done had Ami not brought up the good reason they have to be more cautious.
Rei nods at Usagi, saying, "Right! I mean, that kind of thing is our deal, right?"
Ami mentions going to the school in henshin, and Rei sweatdrops a bit, making a 'no no' motion with her hands.
"No but what I mean is... he probably has contact information, right?" Turning to Makoto, she nods, "Yeah, right exactly. He might have a phone, or an email address, or something. We'd want to use something that couldn't just easily give him our ourselves away, but we can do some research before hand in our civillian forms."
"He might also have special office hours set aside for Virtue business, if he really does expect us to contact him."
Ami's words run through Usagi's brain. They have to take the hard road. If it keeps people alive and helps them? Usagi can do that. She reaches over, and squeezes the girl again, before letting go.
But that venom does have Usagi worried. Still, she can't say anything right now. It's not like Ami doesn't have a reason here.
"So we call him? Do we just /tell/ him who we are, or...?" Usagi's not exactly good at 'subtle'. She looks from Mako to Ami to Rei.
"Oooh, so like a spy mission!" Comes Usagi, instantly dreaming of suits and shades and the james bond theme in the background as Rei speaks!
"Yeah, Usagi-chan. Don't take this the wrong way, but.....I don't think you have a subtle bone in your body." Ami says with a bit of a giggle. Leave it to Usagi to put her in better spirits. "And I don't think a 'Jane Blonde' disguise would work all that well for you." As if reading usagi's mind. "So....we do need to do a bit of research on the school and the headmaster, and when we DO go to meet with him, we'll......consider....him knowing who we are." She then holds up a hand. "It's only a possibility, and I will admit that someone knowing who we are isn't totally a good idea.....oh...speaking of which." She says as she pulls out her computer and....pointedly deletes three numbers, then.........gets to work on something on her computer......and is working furiously.
Spy mission! Makoto perks up visibly, eyes sparkling with what must be visions very similar to Usagi's... very quickly quashed into a chastened and vaguely foolish grin as Ami brings common sense back into the conversation.
Too bad, too, Mako was starting to really get into the idea of a snappy black suit and a pair of slick sunglasses.
Ami's clearly researching, and Makoto has nothing helpful to add, so she occupies herself with snacking and waits curiously to hear what Ami's efforts turn up.
Rei giggles at Usagi. "A spy mission? Well I mean... um..." How many times have the senshi spoken in code in public? Not every time, but sometimes. Generally they just go find a private corner if they really want to discuss things, which is still pretty spy-like.
But alas, no fancy shakes or slick suits for any of them. Granted such things would probably stand out too much.
"I kindof agree. We should probably keep our secret identities to ourselves. If we decide to trust them more fully, we can decide to reveal that information later, but for now I think secrecy is better. We need to get to know them first."
Rei watches as Ami starts to research something, and patiently waits for the results.
... and nibbles on a cookie.
Usa is giggling too, lost in the 'Jane Blonde' fantasy for a bit! She'll have to try that out with the disguise pen some time!
But the others come up with good points.
"...I guess we can't afford to go in without find out more about him. Still, I have a good feeling! Maybe we could go to some inter-school events? That'd give us an excuse to look around." An oddly /useful/ idea from Usagi for once.
Then she's back to nomming on food, and trying to lean and see what Ami's doing.
Ami finishes up doing what she was doing and, looks to Usagi. "Don't you have a little brother, Usagi-chan? Maybe he goes to the school and you can take us to an event." She says softly as she turns off her computer. "and on the vein of the 'princess', I just locked my computer out to strange numbers, just in case. And......it also means our families are screen when we henshin." She says with a sigh. "I really do dislike doing it, but now, we have to protect ourselves."
She gently nudges against Usagi, who had just caught her playing Solitaire too. See? Ami's not ALL work and no play.