The doors into the apartment from the balcony are wide open, and Mamoru, almost entirely free of bandages now but completely lacking any of the tan he's picked up over the course of the summer, and still showing some evidence of having been very very badly burned, is half-sprawled in an adirondack chair with his bare feet up on the balcony railing. It's past the glorious sunset and the sky is beginning to darken, but the moon's not up yet.
He is eating ramen straight from a takeout carton.
Since he's been home all day and isn't going out, he could very well be in his PJs, but he's Mamoru Chiba, so he's not: it's his Panamanian Drug Lord white linen summer suit, super airy and loose and completely untucked and pretty goddamn wrinkled. His hair looks like he got up half an hour ago, ran a hand through it, and called it done.
"Really I'd've been glad to see you without the ramen, but oh my god I was so hungry, thank you," he tells Kyouko fervently.
Kyouko leans on the railing of the balcony, looking out over the city and letting the breeze stir her long red ponytail. She has a takeout carton in one hand as well, and chopsticks in the other, and is absently chopticking noodles into her mouth as she lets the warm air play over her face. It feels good.
She glances over her shoulder at Mamoru, smirking a little bit. "I thought I was doin' you favor, but check out these digs." She comments, with a vauge gesture towards the interior of the apartment. "You probably coulda sent your fleet of maids out to get some for ya." Fleet? Whatever.
She glances back out towards the horizon, and lifts her shoulders in a shrug. "I just.. needed to see a friendly face. Or a non-hostile face anyway. Seems like there's few enough of those around these days."
Sailor Mars appears on the balcony, sitting on the railing. It's clear that she just jumped up there in one bound. She's holding one lifted knee with her interlocking hands, and the other leg dangles down to the balcony's floor. Mars heard that Mamoru hadn't been feeling well, and considering his /importance/ to certain friends of hers, she ought to at least check up on him.
Regardless of how shifty he may or may not be. She's still not sure what to think of him.
She glances to the side, seeing Kyouko already here. Well well well, isn't this suspicious? "Hello, Chiba-san. I heard you had some trouble recently, but now I see I'm interrupting something."
Mars gives Kyouko a sideways glance. Is this a new girlfriend? Should she be worried about this?
"Friendly," Mamoru says firmly. "Just because I'm a neutral party in your feud doesn't mean I'm just non-hostile." He stuffs his mouth full of ramen, then smirks.
"You were absolutely doing me a favor. I'm too wiped to cook and with my luck, if I ordered delivery, the person who brought it would probably be a youma trying to drain my en--" Mamoru starts, holding his hand in front of his mouth because his mouth is full, but abruptly cuts himself off, eyes wide.
He swallows in a hurry, dropping his feet to the balcony floor with a slap, and leans forward. "Mars?! What-- oh. Uh, thanks?"
He looks pretty poleaxed, but more in a 'completely surprised' way instead of a 'worried and trying to hide something rapidly' way. "Just dinner-- um. I'd offer you some of mine but..." But he's been eating it out of the carton. His gaze flickers to Kyouko. "Kyouko-san, this is Sailor Mars. Sailor Mars, my friend Kyouko Sakura. Please no fire. I've had enough fire."
"It's not a goddamned feud," Kyouko starts to say, turning around with a scowl on her face to point her chopsticks at Mamoru as if they were a miniature spear. "It's a righteous vendetta. Maybe you would understand that if you-"
She's interrupted by the sudden appearance of Mars. She's not in her henshin, which is probably a good thing because it means no reflexive stabbings take place, but she does noticably tense and slip into what can only be described as a 'fighting stance' on the balls of her feet as if preparing to defend herself.
It only lasts for a second though. Mamoru's response, while obviously surprised, is not threatened.. and after a moment Kyouko relaxes. She still casts a wary eye over the other girl, perhaps wondering about the wisdom of building-leaping in that skirt, but all she says is, "Damn, ain't you the popular one, bro." To Mamoru. To Mars, she says, "'Sup?"
'Non hostile' doesn't sound like the most romantic thing. Mars decides that she doesn't need to worry about it. It's still going to be a little awkward talking to him, but he doesn't seem to be as threatening as she first thought...
As Mars hears Mamoru talk about youma draining him, her mouth twists in a kind of 'welp' expression.
"You really have the most ridiculous luck, Chiba-san."
Mars responds to Kyouko with a wave, saying, "Hello, Sakura-san. How're you?"
Mars glances towards the food they're eating and holds up her hands, saying, "No, no that's alright. I'm not hungry. I wouldn't want to have to deal with a delivery youma at this hour either." Is she smiling? That might have been a joke. "Also I'm not here to set your apartment on fire. I promise."
Glossing completely past 'righteous vendetta' -- which honestly does have a point -- Mamoru shrugs at Kyouko. "I get in a lot of trouble sticking my nose in where it doesn't belong," he says cheerfully in response to 'ain't you the populat one'. And then he gives Mars a crooked smile, wry and full of aggravating mystery probably. "I do, don't I? I know you know Kino-san, and I know she's been busy, but when you get a chance you should ask her about what Nephrite was up to in the park the weekend before last. Then you'll REALLY know what kind of luck I have."
He coughs a little delicately, then gradually lowers himself back into his comfortable adirondack chair slouch. Gradually and gingerly. Apparently he's still somewhat raw. "I'm glad. About you not setting my apartment on fire. It's been the worst month." He reaches out his foot and prods Kyouko's with it. "After that dance I was on my way home and this pompous, overpowered ass shows up, asking me who's been draining my energy. Because apparently that's a thing now. (Hint: it's really annoying.) I'm like, what, have you been WATCHING ME, what is this. Then he starts hassling me and goes 'you and your energy belong to the Dark Kingdom'. And then this girl we know, Kino-san-- she shows up out of nowhere and punches him in the face and gets me out of there, right, and then a couple of days later, this jerk with a fire sword shows up and kicks my ass and HE takes my energy. Do I have a sign on my back that says 'attack me, please, I like it'?"
Kyouko leans back against the railing now, both elbows propped up on it, hands hanging in a relaxed posture, one holding the chopsticks and the other the now mostly-emtpy takeout container. She shrugs her shoulders in a careless gesture in response to Sailor Mars' question. "I've been better, but I ain't as pitiful as this mofo." She points at Mamoru with her chopsticks. "'Course, now he's got bevvies of pretty ladies droppin' by his house to look after his health, so maybe it's all an elaborate ploy.."
She then goes silent as Mamoru prods her, and then relates his tale of energy-draining woe. "I dunno dude," is her response afterwards, one brow quirking slightly. "You seem pretty harmless to me. Then again, I ain't an energy-sucker." At least, not a /human/ energy-sucker. She then adds, "Dark Kingdom, sounds like an 80s hair band."
Mars raises an eyebrow. Kino-san? This person knows that Kino is involved with the Sailor Senshi.
"Kino-san? And what exactly do you know about--" She stops talking immediately, listening to the rest of what Mamoru has to say. She turns white. Either this is a very clever lie or...
"Oh. Well. You know... Dark Kingdom. Some people are such a drain, you know? They enter a room and start sucking the life right out of it." She shrugs as she says it. That's only an insult to Mamoru if he's with the Dark Kingdom, and it sounds like he's claiming not to be. He's claimed such earlier before, but now he's given her something she can verify with a trusted friend.
Verification will have to wait, but it's not like she has to decide this instant whether or not she should trust him. This apartment will catch fire tomorrow just as well as it will today! "Kino-san always did have a way with her fists. Still, I have to wonder why they want to target /you/ so much. This isn't the first time I've heard a story about you being sent to the hospital."
Mars will have to offer a very awkward apology if Mamoru's story turns out to be true. Still. "If that turns out to be true, we'll have to find that man and set him on fire. The Senshi don't acknowledge the sovereignty of the Dark Kingdom."
Basically what is it with this guy. He must be getting desperate if he's actually offering this much information-- if it's true.
Mamoru gives Kyouko a flat look at the 'pitiful' descriptor, though he can't actually argue it (especially right now), but then he grins widely. "They do, don't they? And the guy had the hair for it, too. Like if he weren't terrifying, he could probably do Herbal Essences commercials."
And then he nods emphatically to Mars. "'Such a drain' is an understatement. If Kino-san hadn't shown up, I probably wouldn't be here right now."
Then as Mars continues to speak, he shoves more ramen in his mouth -- trying to eat as much of it as he can before it gets cold. Finally he can't get around answering more, and he chews quickly and swallows, then points his chopsticks at Mars. "I don't think anyone recognises their sovereignty except them, which is pretty aggravating when they throw around words like 'property', especially in relation to people. Including me. So I'd love it if the Senshi set them on fire."
Finally, he puts his feet back up on the balcony and cradles his carton of ramen in his lap. "Plus the energy draining doesn't just hurt, it gets me in other trouble. Sailor Mercury and another friend of mine took me to the hospital last month because not long after it happened, a Witch apparently got me. I'd love to know why I'm such a target. I mean there's sticking my nose in and then there's completely unrelated idiocy. It's not like I can hurt any of them."
Kyouko just listens to all this talk about Dark Kingdoms, and 'sovreignty', perhaps wishing internally that she had stayed in school a little bit longer so she could have learned all these hard words, and maybe then she'd know what the hell they were talking about. She fishes around in her box for the last of her ramen, cleaning it out, and then swallowing once she's eaten it.
"I sure as hell don't recognize no sovrinny'." She says, trying to pretend she knows what they're talking about. "But I know a thing or two about Witches, and I can confirm that gettin' caught by one of them is no joke." She eyes Mamoru appreciatively. "Fact that you're still alive after that raises my opinion of you, boy." She shrugs. "Probably just bad luck. Hell, I'd know about that if anybody does."
Mars blinks at Mamoru's story. "A Witch? Really?" Mars hasn't seen one of those yet, but you can't really be in the mahou shoujo business without learning a few things.
Mars frowns. "I guess Mercury-chan forgot to mention that, but it sounds pretty rough. You know, of the four of us, she seemed the one most willing to trust you."
Mars brushes a loose strand of hair out of her face. Maybe she can relax a bit about this guy. Even if she can't completely dismiss the thought that he's a really good liar, it is concerning.
"So... energy draining is a threat to people's lives now, if indirectly. I wonder how many people that has affected. I would hate to think someone was lured off by a witch just because some youma drained them beforehand and no one was around to stop it..."
Mars seems to be relaxing somewhat. "Well, I guess that's all the more reason I should keep an eye on you. I wonder what the long-term health effects of being repeatedly drained are. You really should be more careful, you know."
"Oh and we /will/ punish this person who attacked you. It's just a matter of how and when."
"Yeah, I think we both know a thing or two about bad luck," Mamoru tells Kyouko ruefully. He leans his head back against the back of the chair, and the slowly darkening sky's made of gorgeous colored lights at the horizon and the beginnings of what few stars shine over Tokyo above. City sounds float up distantly from below; the place is like an aerie, and somehow, sometimes, nearly as full of myth.
Myth is broken a second later when Mamoru offers the rest of his ramen to Kyouko. "I don't think I can finish and it won't be as awesome later, do you want the rest?"
Kyouko is starting to feel like she is being left out of this conversation- not that she blames them. She knows her interests are pretty narrow when it comes to the magical happenings of Tokyo, so if its not about Witches she doesn't have much to contribute, nor does she care to change that (at least for the time being). She's just considering perhaps it's time to be on her way, when Mamoru offers her his leftovers.
She grins, single fang peeking, as she reaches for the container. "Never let food go to waste, that's what my mom always told me." She says, as she takes it. Then she tips her chopsticks in a small salute. "Anyway, Imma get going. Glad to see you're doin' better. Stay healthy, kid, and don't get energy-drained anymore, right?"
She offers a casual wave to Sailor Mars. "Nice meetin' ya, maybe I'll see ya around or somethin'." Her tone suggests this isn't likely, but in this town, who knows. Without another word, she turns and vaults over the railing, falling away and vanishing into the darkness below. Mars isn't the only one who can building-jump!
Another quick grin at Kyouko, like, 'yeah I'll TRY MY DAMNED HARDEST jeez', and then he gives her an approving nod over her comment about wasted food. "See you later," he says cheerfully, and then proceeds to look completely unconcerned when she literally jumps from the top floor of a luxury apartment building.
A second later, he looks to Mars again. "I'm glad to hear that about Mercury. I admire you all, you know. You do so much for everyone," the upperclassman says sincerely. And then he closes his eyes and smiles a little, head still back against the chair. "But I don't think Sailor Moon has a problem with me, either."
Is he blushing? God no it must be the fading sunset light on his face, a trick of the shadows and the sky.
A little sigh, and his face gets serious; he lifts his head and looks at Mars, and it's like his whole demeanor changes after Kyouko's left. "I'm as careful as I can be. And, well, you all have enough to worry about without keeping guard on me, of all people. I really appreciate the check-ins you're all doing on me, though." Wait, all? All doing? "Witches are a problem for everyone, drained or not. Most people can't fight off their influence even if they've never run into a youma in their lives. The same wouldn't be true for you or the other Senshi because you're all so strong, but be careful anyway. Please be careful, and please always have hope. They prey on sadness, they're made of despair, and they spread it. You're all too important to the rest of us, to the hope of everyone else; none of us could afford it if even one of you were caught."
Mars stares at the woman who just jumped off of a building without a henshin. Not just anyone would do that. Wow. Talk about a girl who gives no fucks.
Turning back to Mamoru, Mars hops from the railing to the ground, placing a hand on her hip. "Alright, well. She seems nice enough."
Mars turns back to Mamoru as he responds concerning Mercury and Moon. The compliment is disarming, but... no... if he's lying, he's not good at it. He'd actually be really bad at it, considering he gave her a way to disprove his innocence if he's lying. Maybe it's alright.
Mars says, "No, Moon-chan doesn't have a problem with you. Moon-chan is very trusting. Moon-chan also makes a lot of mistakes and I worry about her a lot." She sighs. Probably too much information right there. Well, the words are out now.
"She's, you know... alright. She's a lot more reliable than she looks. I don't mean to say that she isn't."
Mars listens solemnly on the description of Witches. Kyouko mentioned that Mamoru gets a lot of check-ins, too. Huh. "We... you know... we do our best. It's just our mission." She tries to pass off her nightly heroism as 'no big deal'. If she wanted to be a celbrity, she wouldn't do her rescues in the dead of night. The descriptions of Witches sound really sad, depressing really. Mars looks more solemn as Mamoru goes on. It's distressing.
"I wont let any of my friends get caught by such a thing, you can be sure of that. Still... I'll keep an eye out for them. Something that terrible shouldn't be allowed to exist."
"She's more than all right!" Mamoru objects, possibly strangely defensively. He relents after a second. "She doesn't seem unrelible to me. Obviously I don't know her as well as you do, but..." But I have THE BIGGEST CRUSH on her, his now-obvious blush says. He trails off.
"Uh, anyway," the older boy says, glancing away, "I'm glad. Because you're right, they shouldn't be allowed to exist. And it's girls like Kyouko who fight them, who spend most of their time fighting them. So if you can cheer them up if they look sad, it's always worth it. They can use the help."
He finally looks back up at Mars, and his dark blue eyes are tired, but warm. "I'm sorry for dumping all of this on you, Sailor Mars. There's just so much you all need to know, and I don't really have any real way of contacting you unless I tell Kino-san, and she was mad at me for so long for teasing Usagi-chan-- there's one last thing. I didn't want to say it in front of Kyouko-san. Nephrite's looking for a crystal, and for a Princess. And I think I was able to throw him off the trail, because there's another princess, and she's been draining energy with a crystal, so maybe he'll chase after her instead."
'More than alright?'
Mamoru is actually defending her. "Well I mean obviously she's a soldier of justice but like... oh, you know, never mind." Wait, he's blushing? Mars leans forward to look at him, making sure. He /is/ blushing. Mars smiles.
Then he says Kyouko fights Witches, and asks her to help if she can. "Cheer her up? Well, we tend to be good at that, too. Of course we're always willing to help fight monsters."
Yet... there's something more to it. He's actively asking her to help someone else. Like it's his goal. That isn't... normal for a villain is it?
A crystal, and a princess. Mars looks into Mamoru's eyes. These are very serious topics he's discussion. "Ugh so now we have an evil princess to deal with... Well, if Nephrite and her go at it..." Mars strokes her chin. "... Well, in any case... yeah. I guess we're kinda hard to contact. I mean, you could probably reach us through Virtue if you wanted, and also um..."
Mars pauses for a second, then she takes out her cellphone. It's very clearly bright red with the planetary symbol for Mars on it. "Look, if you want to call me, I'll give you my number. This is for magical business only though. I need this line open in case ghost pirates attack the harbor again. If you get a hold of me I can gather the others."
Giving out her number at this stage doesn't seem like it'd hurt her. It's a burn number for a reason.
Basically in the back of Mamoru's mind he's like YESSSS with twelve kinds of relief. Tuxedo Kamen needs to help Sailor Moon, needs to protect her, needs to be there if she needs him, always.
But Mamoru Chiba, he likes her friends, is worried for her friends, wants to make sure they all know the things he finds out-- things he doesn't have the time to tell them because if he's there, it's because Moon needs him, and especially these days-- he feels like anything else is just getting in their way. But he needs to help them, any other way he can.
There's something so much more real, so comfortingly familar about them-- it's not just for her sake.
He has his phone out in less than a second (it's a super absurdly all-the-latest-features non-burner, for the record), intently listening to the digits and copying them into his contacts before reading them back to make sure it's right.
"Magical business only," he agrees firmly. "I wouldn't want to waste your time, don't worry."
He sends a brief text -- a cat-face emoji -- so his number's identifiably there in Mars' burner, then glances up again.
"Thank you," he says, painfully honestly. "And, um. Good luck with ghost pirates, I guess?"
Mars makes a note of Mamoru's number. The thought crosses her mind that some girls might be jealous of her if they found out she had his number. Though, looking at Chiba's phone, Mars realizes that he's actually giving out his real number here. That's some bravery.
She marks down his contact info as 'Chiba-san' and saves it. Never know when this will come in handy. Maybe one day, if it turns out Mamoru can be trusted, she'll give him a better number. After all, the way Usagi and Mamoru keep looking at each other...
Well, come on, anyone who has ever read a romance novel knows where this is going.
"Alright, well, if you need help just call me. I'm going to go ta--"
She trails off, holding up a hand to indicate 'be quiet'. Down on ground level, near the entrance to the apartment complex, a van drives up. It feels evil, /focused/ evil, and Mars stares down at it as approaches. A strange man who doesn't quite look human gets out, taking something out of the back of his van. It looks like Pizza, but it also looks... wrong somehow.
It's wrong in the exact way that makes it Mars's problem.
"Is there... Is there actually a /delivery/ youma?!"
Mars slaps her forehead with her palm, and then points to Mamoru saying, "Don't accept any strange pizzas! Someone's order is about to get burnt!"
An instant later and she's bounding over the railing, dropping down to the top of the van. Mamoru can probably hear the justice speech all the way up in his apartment.
"How dare you deliver a bogus pizza party! Don't you know you it's delivery in 30 minutes or your money back?! Even if Little Ceaser forgives you, I, Sailor Mars, will not! In the name of Mars, I'll CHASTISE YOU!"