Late night meeting, an innocent creepy doll?!

     Late night, it was close to midnight, possibly slightly after. Maeko had done her hunting over the course of the night, but spotted nobody or nothing interesting... so the evil doll simply got... bored. As such, she decided to make her own amusement with the more normal people of the city! ...She did this in a relatively simple way. There was a flare of dark energy nearby the shrine, as Maeko separated from Misa.

     And Misa was left on the path down at the bottom of the stairs, while Maeko disappeared off to the side. Due to the presence of the doll nearby, the area likely felt... incredibly unnerving and creepy, always having this feeling like being watched for anyone nearby. Not to mention that dark energy lingering in the air, and specifically around Misa.

     Misa, meanwhile, hasn't quite awakened following her possession yet, so she was laying limply on the ground, her clothing slightly disheveled. She was completely unmoving at present, too. Her body didn't even seem to necessarily doing that subtle rise and fall of someone who was breathing. Of course, it was late night... so there were only a few lights off in the distance. Maeko had been careful. She made sure to place Misa in between the lights. Which meant that Misa was in a dark area, with just enough light to see that something or something was laying there.

    Frankly, at a casual glance it might look like a murder scene.

Rei Hino yawns deeply, leaning against her broom as the calm temptation of sleep calls to her. She's standing in the courtard, in the middle of brushing away the leaves, but it's late at night and she's got a nice, warm, comfy bed waiting for her inside. If she can just stay awake long enough to get there.

A dark feeling creeps into her gut. As she starts to drift to sleep (still standing up!) the dark feeling becomes a nightmare. When Phobos and Deimos land on her shoulders, she wakes up with a start, blinks a couple of times, and then starts to realize that the darkness wasn't just in her dreams.

.oO(Phobos? Deimos? ... are you trying to warn me of something?)

Rei Hino starts climbing down the steps in front of the shrine, looking down as she sees someone lying down at the base of the stairs. Suddenly worried, she starts running down the steps, holding up her red miko dress to stop her legs from getting tangled up in it.

What's going on down there?!

A murder by the shrine? By Rei's shrine? After the whole incident with the haunted bus, and all the crap people were apparently giving the miko during it? Mamoru, out late in his car at least, this time, pulls over in a hurry and gets out; doorslam echoes from the bottom of the stairs. It could just be someone passed out drunk; that's generally more likely, though this isn't the usual area for it. He gets out his phone, about to call emergency services--

--but as soon as he's a few steps away from his car, that oppressive darkness hits, and his hackles rise. Suddenly he's not in such a tremendous hurry, and every step he takes is cautious, gaze flickering around, trying to catch sight of anyone or anything. Maddeningly, he can't actually pinpoint the source of the miasma of evil.

He pauses to glance rapidly down at his phone and switch to speed-dials: top of the list are Mars and Kino-san, and his thumb hovers over the display as Mamoru creeps closer-- and sees that the sprawled figure isn't just small, but is familiar. It's the little girl who was at the WPS gala and fled...

As carefully as he can, he comes over and crouches next to the tiny girl, hesitating to reach and touch her; he's sure he can control the psychometry when he's paying attention, but not when he's paying attention and there's undisclosed danger lurking, feeding the air with darkness. "Miss?" he asks tentatively. "Miss, are you--"

And then there are footsteps from the shrine stairs, and he glances up, distracted.

     'Miss? Miss are you alright? Can you tell me what happened?' Misa is briefly caught in dreams -- nightmares, really, of the night when she lost everything. However, there were approaching footsteps. Two sets. They were unfamiliar, they didn't fit in her dream. Why was it different? This wasn't how it's supposed to happen. And why did that voice sound wrong?

                ...Oh.

     As Misa begins to realize that she was having that nightmare again, she began to stir slightly, her hands twitching a bit as she rests her hands flat on the ground. She begins to push herself up, very slowly. "...Oh, no. Not again." She mumbles under her breath, groggily shifting. She didn't immediately register that people were /actually/ there until she was beginning to get herself up onto hands and knees. When it registered that not only someone was there, but someone was /crouching/ next to her, she froze. Her head turns slightly, looking towards the form of the person. Who was there? Had she done something while she was sleepwalking?

     Meanwhile, in the corner of Mamoru's eye, by the bottom of the stairs, he might see the form of that small, damaged doll. IT's there for only an instant, disappearing between blinks. But it almost definitely wouldn't help with that unsettling feeling that he was being watched.

     Misa's head turns slightly, looking around as she works at taking stock of where she was. And importantly, where Maeko was right now. ...Which seemed to be nowhere at present. Misa shifts a hand up, moving to carefully adjust the headphones over her ears, making sure they were in place. "...I sleepwalk." Misa offers, a terrible lie to try and make them think everything was okay.

    Of course, there was still that dark energy, a suffocating miasma over the area, and no small amount of it seemed to be clinging to the girl.

Rei Hino finally makes it to the bottom of the stairs, sleepiness leaving her eyes as that dark, always-being-watched feeling grows closer and closer. When she turns the corner, she sees... Mamoru Chiba??? And a confused looking girl? Sleepwalking?

Well this all seems relatively innocent, Rei thinks. Yet, that disturbing feeling just wont go away, no matter what. In fact, as Rei gets closer, she starts to feel like the sleepwalking girl is /covered/ in that feeling.

There's something going on here.

Rei walks up and focuses on the girl, bending forward slightly as the miko takes a closer look. "Hey, are you alright? Do you need help getting home?"

Her eyes turn to the side and focus on Mamoru. She smiles, briefly, as a greeting, but socializing isn't really her focus right now.

"It can be dangerous being out this late, you know." Rei starts to lecture, but she probably wouldn't be lecturing at all if she just didn't feel that really creepy feeling that seemed to be covering the place. The focus on the strange girl makes her even more worried.

But should Rei be worried /for/ Misa, or /of/ Misa?

"Sleepwalking...?" Mamoru starts, and trails off; she's dressed in street clothes, not pyjamas, and the feeling that something's watching, that something's horribly wrong, won't go away. He sits back on a heel, not getting up because he knows he's oppressively tall, and he glances up as Rei finishes her descent and comes over. A quick nod, and the slight release of tension: the rumors that the girl's a psychic, well, he figures they're not rumors because they never are. Plus she's Usagi's friend.

Her brief smile at him, no doubt meant to be reassuring, is a little bit the opposite -- she's had glares for him for quite a while, now, but maybe it's for the benefit of the little girl.

Once Rei's focus is clearly on her, he stands up slowly and backs away a couple of paces so he doesn't loom, and looks at his phone again, calling up the keypad. "Is there someone we should call to come get you?" he asks helpfully, most of his attention actually focused away from Rei and the girl. He stares hard in the direction that he'd seen a flash of creepy doll, then starts slowly scanning the area to see if anything else is out of place, or here-and-then-not; he hasn't been getting enough sleep, but he's pretty sure he's not at the hallucination stage, and the everpresent and pervasive creeping horror is working pretty hard to keep his senses heightened.

     The 'Oh no not again' bit probably was a bit suspicious, though 'sleepwalking' could explain it, the tone was ... somewhat off for that. Not that Misa necessarily realized such. Then again, sleepwalking generally didn't take you outside. Especially if the doors were closed and/or locked! Still, Misa was carefully shifting up to sit on the ground. She slowly shakes her head as she tries to get the grogginess to go away. Ugh. She lifts her hands to rub at her eyes a bit.

     "I'm okay. A little sleepy... I can probably get home." Misa responds. She wasn't entirely certain-sounding. Because there was always that chance she could fall asleep and start sleepwalking again. More nightmares. Ugh. Maybe she should just try to stay up all night from now on? But ... sleep was necessary, and she always passed out eventually. She takes a small breath as she looks up towards Rei. A miko? Pretty! ... Ah, wait... focus. Focus. Maybe she could help...? No, no. She couldn't endanger her. Anyone who she involves gets hurt!

     The lecturing towards Mamoru, smiles shared. These two must be friends? Maybe? She shifts carefully, doing her best not to look faint or anything, because anyone touching her was a chance they'd find out the secret.

     "U-uhm, yes. Sleepwalking." She says, giving a small smile at Mamoru. It was nervous. She was used to lying, but she still didn't like it... and she wasn't really that good at it. Still, she possibly just came off as a bit timid. That nervous glancing probably wasn't hard to notice though, her gaze shifting subtly here and there.

     Oh. There she was. Down the pathway, a good 10 or 15 feet away, that doll was sitting in the center of the light. Maeko was just sitting there. Watching the group of three, likely now in view of Rei as well. She's there for a few moments. But it wasn't long until, between blinks... once more she was gone. Crap. Crap. Crap. She was interested. Misa pushed herself up to her feet. "M-my parents are asleep so it'll be fine I can just go home." She says, beginning to inch a bit, acting utterly suspicious as she worked at making her way around Rei and Mamoru. Was she about to bolt for it like she had at that party?

Rei tries not to frown at the 'sleepwalking' girl, as she doesn't want to startle her, but... that odd feeling is really starting to get to her. Rei doesn't see anything wrong with this picture yet. It's not like being here is a crime or anything! Yet, her feelings are driving her nuts.

Rei scratches the back of her head, looking at the girl. She doesn't really focus on Mamoru that much, especially as he backs away with his phone. /He/ at least isn't giving her any bad vibes. Unlike the girl.

Rei's still dealing with the creepiest feelings ever, and her premonitions are known to be pretty spot on, and with good reason. The sleepwalking story seems a bit flimsy, but... "Well... if you're sure you're alr-"

Rei stops and /stares/ as a cursed doll appears in full light. She blinks to make sure she isn't just halucinating, and yet the doll is suddenly gone. What is going on here?

"Am I the only one who saw that?" she asks, with a hint of trepidation.

Rei reaches down to touch the outside of her pocket. She feels her henshin pen hidden inside. If it came down to it, she could probably deal with this... whatever it is.

The doll's so obvious, and Mamoru's looking so hard for anything like it, now, that he just stares. He's frowning deeply, and brings up the speed-dial on his phone again, absently. "No don't," he says softly in response to Misa, "not alone. I don't want to scare you, but there's something out there. Please stay with Hino-san."

Then he takes his eyes off the spot to glance to Rei, and his dark blue eyes are intent-- and when he looks back, it's gone. Now he scowls. "You're not. I'm not sure what's going on, but if you've got any wards, now's probably a good time for them. I'd give her a ride home, but getting in a stranger's car is just as bad an idea as wandering around in the dark by yourself."

Resolutely, he starts toward the lit place where the doll was a second ago, hands out of his pockets and thumb a dead-man's switch on Sailor Mars' burner number. He's ready to henshin, himself, and damn the consequences: worst comes to worst, he figures, he can get them both out of there and call in the big guns.

     It probably didn't help that, even though it was much weaker... Misa herself gave off a very slight amount of dark energy herself. It was easy to miss, mixed in with Maeko's own energy, but it was there. But she didn't /seem/ evil, probably! She just looked like a little girl. Who was wearing headphones for some reason, in spite of it being the middle of the night. Also her clothing covered way more than is reasonable for the middle of summer.

     Really, there were plenty of reasons to be suspicious of Misa! However she was significantly less mysterious and suspicious compared to that doll that had appeared, broken arm and generally tattered appearance. It was only brief, but it was unmistakable that it was where the energy was definitely coming from. At least... the larger amount of it.

     "N-no. I didn't see anything. M-maybe you need to sleep too?" Misa says, trying to lie to Rei at her question, giving her a nervous smile. No no no no no no no. People who noticed Maeko had bad things happen to them! They had just come to help her! She began to glance around, beginning to search for the best method of escape. Maybe... past the girl? She seemed a bit smaller and less athletic, probably.

     Mamoru told her to stay with 'Hino-san'. Probably that girl? Misa looks up towards Mamoru as he begins to walk towards the light. "N-no, it's not safe! People w-who get involved with her get hurt!" Misa calls it, without thinking about it. She quickly lifts her hand up to cover her mouth, beginning to take steps backwards, which probably just bumped her back against Rei. Crap. Crap. Crap. She talked about her! She talked about Maeko! No!

     The doll appeared again, sitting atop the lamp. She simply STARED at the three. A giggle rang out through the area they were in... however, otherwise... that doll didn't move this time. She just sat there. Staring. Occasionally, those deep purple eyes of hers blink, moving like the eyes of a porcelain doll, with that very slight bobbing... jerky motion of the blink.

Rei thoughtfully frowns as Mamoru comfirms what she just saw. "Yeah. I don't like this at all. I might need to... um..." What, Rei? Henshin? Right in front of the two of them? Right in front of /Mamoru/ no less? Even after having his name cleared, she's so not comfortable with that!

"... go get help. I mean my shrine's just up those stairs. I'm sure we could hide in it."

There are also a number of places to hide for a henshin, once she was sure that this strange sleepwalker is safe.

Misa's insistence that she saw nothing, after Mamoru clearly saw the same thing, results in Rei giving Misa a look. When Misa gives them a dire warning, Rei gets even more confused!

"Her? Get hurt? What do you mean by that?"

Rei still gets a creepy feeling from the sleepwalker, but then a much stronger source of the dark feeling appears. Rei looks up at the cursed doll, giggling from atop her lamppost.

"I don't know what you are... but..." A strip of paper convered in kanji, a talisman, suddenly appears in Rei's hand. She must have drawn it from somewhere, but her hands were very quick. "Akuryo... TAISAN!"

Mars flings the paper talisman at Maeko, and the talisman tries to land on the doll's forehead. If manages to land, it sticks to her head and tries to force it to freeze. The talisman is meant to seal away dark power, at least temporarily, and tends to have the effect of stunning monsters for a short while.

"Oh HELL no," Mamoru says, freezing in his tracks and looking up. The things the girl's saying register, but only distantly; this has just shot him full of adrenaline and sent his mind right into 'act now or regret it' mode. He backsteps a couple of paces, keeping his eyes on the doll, and then Rei's thrown an ofuda at the thing and he makes a break for it, darting back toward Rei and Misa.

Speed-dial's hit, and he pocket-phones. Without preamble or any further ado, and in fact in midstep, he hoists the strange girl like she weighs nothing at all and tugs briefly on Rei's sleeve, then starts taking the stairs two, three at a time. "Hang on," he says to Misa, breathing measured and words short. "Sailor Mars I don't know if you've picked up, the phone's in my pocket, I'm on my way up the stairs to the Hikawa shrine and I've got a girl who's being haunted or something--" he calls, hoping he's not too muffled if she HAS picked up--

--no doubt the burner's buzzing in Rei's pocket about now--

"--and the thing's at the base of the stairs somewhere. Hino-san's just tried to banish it, not sticking around to find out how well it worked--"

He'll check the phone when he gets them inside. If they even make it.

     'Go get help'. No, getting help would probably just get something bad happening again. Trying to get help gets people hurt. Misa shifted nervously, uncomfortably as Rei said to go get help. Could she get help? Maybe a shrine would be safe from Maeko... possibly. Misa's thoughts shifted though. That night. The nightmare that had plagued her since then. She frowns a bit, not moving immediately. She was debating darting for safety again.

     Indecision had her rooted in place. Meanwhile, Maeko was looking on amused. Until that Ofudo is produced! And thrown! By what appeared to be a real Miko. And it seemed to actually have magical power. While the doll didn't seem alarmed -- could it even look alarmed? -- it did decide to disappear right when those words were spoken and that paper slip was thrown. Because really, she was a strong curse... but getting caught by a prayer slip would not be ideal for the cursed doll.

     That creepy feeling ... possibly began to reduce, or at least that dark miasma did. Perhaps the doll didn't want to tick off the shrine maiden tonight? Or maybe she was just backing off to rethink her approach! Or ... actually do something besides just sit there creepily.

     Meanwhile, Misa had began to make her decision, and get ready to dart off as fast as possible! ...Only for there suddenly to be arms around her, lifting her off the ground. She /was/ incredibly light. Possibly too light. Misa shifts almost immediately as she's grabbed, trying her best to make sure that none of where her joints were ended up touching Mamoru, her hands lifting to hold onto her headset as she wiggles slightly. "H-hey no don't get more people involved they'll just get hurt! No no no no no no no no no!" Misa said, beginning to squirm slightly in Mamoru's arms, her eyes closing as she curled slightly in his arms. There was definite fear in her voice. This was the opposite of what she wanted. She was trying to hide that she had a problem! She had to deal with it herself, otherwise the people who helped her might end up like her parents!

            For now, though. Maeko was nowhere to be seen.

The moment Mamoru's speed-dial is hit, a phone on Rei's person starts playing its ringtone.

The ringtone itself isn't anything too suspicious. Just a song about young love and its difficulties.

o/` Gomen ne sunao ja nakute. Yume no naka nara ieru. o/`

Yet, the timing of it, and the incredulous look on Rei's face, even as her sleeve is tugged on and she's led up the stairs. Is this... Is this really happening?! Right now? Really?

After a few moments of her phone ringing, and a pointed /stare/ at Mamoru, Rei tugs back on her arm, pulling her sleeve away from the fleeing Mamoru's grip.

"I'll handle things here," she says. "Don't worry about me. Just get to the shrine."

She vanishes into a nearby bush. Even if Mamoru could piece it together, there's still a strange girl and an even stranger doll watching. She wants to be well out of sight when she holds her pen up high and declares, "MARS POWER! MAKE-UP!"

Fire surrounds her, tightening around her, embracing her, as it reforms into her white sailor uniform. A red collar and red skirt appears around her neck and waist, and the skirt is tied with a large ribbon in the back. Red high heels, white elbow gloves, red star earrings, and a golden tiara adorn her. The finishing touch is a bit of lipstick on her lips.

The (perhaps muffled) response that Mamoru recieves through his phone is simply, "We'll talk about this later."

She reappears on top of a lamppost of her own, arms crossed and eyes focused on...

Where did that doll go?

How is Mars going to do her justice speech without an enemy to speech at?

Mars starts glancing in every direction. Where did that doll even go?

"Don't worry-- Sailor Mars is very strong, and fighting evil is in her job description," Mamoru cheerfully tells the girl he's carrying, now laying it on super thick. It's in his voice. He's perhaps not nearly as worried about the doll as he should be, but the relief that's flooded him is almost palpable. "You'll be safe in the shrine, and Mars will make sure Hino-san is safe, too, okay?"

About halfway up, he's taking the steps one or two at a time instead of two or three, but his progress is still swift. His breathing's also a little more labored, but within tolerance. There's a lot to be said for being a star athlete. "Instead of panicking, you want to try telling me what's going on?"

So. Many. Stairs. And going up them, no matter how quick, is slower than going down them. They finally reach the top and Mamoru sets Misa down, hand at her back, trying to hurry her toward the shrine doors. He hazards a glance back and shuts off his phone.

There's also something nagging at the back of his head-- that melody's so familiar...

     No why were they leaving Rei alone down at the bottom of the stairs, they were leaving Rei alone with /her/! Misa shifted quickly, beginning to try to pull away a bit. "D-don't! She's dangerous!" Misa calls out towards Rei, but then they're out of sight. And soon she feels some sort of magic. ...That must be the person that Mamoru was calling. Yes, she's sure of it! Probably! ...That wasn't a good thing. It meant more people were involved, more people might get hurt or even killed!

            ~Oooh? I just saw something in~ter~es~ting~.~

     That voice rang out from... well, it 'sounded' like it came from everywhere and nowhere, but that was largely because Maeko didn't really have a moving mouth, so the speech was magic.

            ~Don't worry. We'll play sometime soon, delectable snack~.~

     And then? That presence begins to fade basically entirely. The dark miasma, and that feeling of being watched. That justice speech would probably have to wait! In part, because Maeko was not fused with Misa, and she did have a mild vested interest in not revealing that Misa was how she used her own powers.

     There was, however, still that very vague little bit of dark magic that was on and around Misa. She, however, didn't seem to actually be evil herself! It might just be residue still? However, holding Misa might make it very hard for Mamoru not to notice that /something/ was wrong with the girl he was carrying. She was too light, and her body seemed slightly too firm. He might even feel the joint at one of his arms, or her shoulder... or even around her waist. The order to tell him more about what's going on got a quiet little noise from Misa. "I-I can't... I can't. I can't. I-If I do you won't wake up. You won't wake up like my parents didn't." Misa says quietly, looking down at the ground. "I got her on accident... she wasn't happy that I didn't play with her all day..."

     And then she got cursed, but she doesn't say that part. She went completely silent and looks away, looking down at the ground. "...I'm sorry... she's probably going to come after you now... I should have just run..." Misa murmurs quietly. Luckily, however, the doll is /not/ at the top of the stairs.

Mars frowns. Her fists are firmly planted on her hips. She hears the doll's voice... where is it coming from?! Did it go around her to the shrine?!

Mars jumps from the lamp post and starts jumping up the stairs. She's super jumping, because she doesn't have time to take babysteps, but as she arrives to the top of the shrine she arrives just a bit too late to hear Misa's explaination.

The doll is nowhere to be found. The evil feeling is leaving. Aside from that little bit on Misa, everything seems to be okay?

Mars studies Misa for a short moment. She's still not sure that Misa will be alright... nah, that dark feeling is probably nothing. Maybe it's just because the doll was stalking her or something?

Mars walks up to Mamoru and Misa, saying, "Well I came, but the doll already left. Whatever that was, I think it's over for now."

It's as he's looking back from the top of the stairs that Misa can pull away -- he's not holding her anymore, or holding her hand, or grabbing her shirt or anything, it was just a hand at her back to hurry her-- so she's able to break away from him easily. He noticed the oddity with her joints, but with as secretive as she is, he'll leave that be for now. Then the voice is speaking from everywhere, and he scowls again. "Then you'd better look out," he calls into the darkness, "some of us play rough!"

Then he's crouching in front of Misa again and he says seriously, "I'm sorry about whatever happened to your parents, and whatever's happened to you, but running away isn't going to solve anything. People are going to worry about you, and she's going to keep going after people until something's done about her. If she comes after me, I'll call for help-- and I'm never alone in my dreams, so don't worry about me not waking up. Let us help you. If we're not strong enough, we can call people who are stronger still."

He glances up when Mars lands at the top of the stairs, and he's just as serious, just as earnest. "Thank you for coming. I'm sorry I rustled you out of whatever you were doing with nothing to fight, but there's definitely something to be on the lookout for, right? From what-- I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name. Mine's Mamoru Chiba," he tells Misa, then glances back up at Rei. "From what she was saying, it's probably going to come after me, or both of us."

He looks back to the little girl. "Do you think she'll act tonight, or wait until we're off our guard?"

     Misa looks like a little girl! A relatively normal one. More or less. Except those ears. In her wiggling a bit when Mamo scooped her up, her headset had gotten slightly put ajar, which revealed one of those ears, pointed out to the side like something vaguely elven. She didn't /seem/ particularly dangerous, and even if she was evil, she also definitely wasn't very strong.

     She also seemed to notice there was cool air on her ear and rather quickly put her headphones back into place. "...S-she's never really gone around me." Misa mumbles quietly, shifting nervously. Her hands were folded together in front of her as she looks down. She seemed incredibly guilty, even though she hadn't intentionally done anything wrong. She'd not hidden well enough, she'd not stayed away from people well enough. And now more people were involved.

     Mamoru calls out, saying he plays rough too. That got a panicked look from Misa. "N-no, don't provoke her! S-she's really really mean when she gets angry..." Misa says, looking around quickly, as if half-expecting to see the doll come flying out of nowhere to attempt to attack Mamoru or something. Luckily, nothing actually happens. Largely because Maeko knows that she has no power right now. That and while Misa could get through the shrine's wards with only mild discomfort... Maeko was the actual source of the curse, so the wards were much less pleasant for her.

     "I-I haven't been running away! I haven't! I-I've been trying..." So many hours, so many nights, trying to read occult books, trying to find ways to break the curse. All a waste of time because none of it was real magic. Or at least, none of it is magic that's come back to this world yet. "...I've been trying..." She mumbles quietly. Trying not to get people involved. Trying to stay away from people so they don't become her friends. Acting friendly but not making any true friends. So many things!

     "I-I don't think she'll act tonight, she tends to do things ... make them more like... accidents. Tripping people when it's really dangerous, or making dangerous things fall, stuff like that." Oh, if only Misa actually knew the half of it. What she did at night when she was 'sleepwalking'. "D-does the shrine always feel this ominous and heavy..?" She asks somewhat innoceently. The wards were not thrilled with her presence, even if she was being 'allowed'.

Mars flaps her hand in the air in response to Mamoru. "Don't worry about that. Things like this are always worth looking into, and I just so happened to be in the area anyways. It's just too bad we won't be able to fix this problem so easily."

This is really worrying. From the sounds of it, this girl has had to deal with the cursed doll before. Is it stalking her for some reason?

"If she attacks tonight, we can deal with her. The miko and her family will be well defended against evil spirits. I should be able to defend myself, too."

Mars blinks as her shrine is described as 'ominous and heavy'. Huh?

"I'm not sure what you mean... It doesn't feel that way to me at all. The wards should be in place... are you still feeling something from that doll?"

Mars doesn't quite put together the idea that Misa is reacting to the wards. Maybe it's been a while since she put herself in the shoes of a cursed spirit.

Mars taps her chin, trying to think. She asks Misa, "What if we gave you a magatama? Would the doll stay away from you then?"

"I'll be very careful," Mamoru promises Misa, probably not reassuringly at all. To either Misa or Rei.

He sits back on his heels and frowns slightly, then shakes his head quickly. "I don't mean you're running away from your problems. I just mean that you do need help, and there are people with magic who can help you that are less likely to be hurt, and you shouldn't run from them. If you have allies, then you'll be able to solve your problem faster, and fewer people will get hurt."

His frown only deepens when she mentions the shrine feeling ominous and heavy, but defers to Mars. And finally, he stands up, taking a couple of steps back again. "And if the doll doesn't hurt you directly -- which I'm getting the impression is the case -- I apologize for disbelieving your assurances before. It's just that the doll's not the only thing out there, and you really shouldn't be out alone so late. If you'd like a ride home, I can give you one -- and if that doesn't feel safe to you, maybe Sailor Mars can come with?" he asks, glancing questioningly at the Senshi of Fire. "Passing out on the sidewalk like that is dangerous too."

     "She won't... even I can feel you're pretty strong. She doesn't attack strong people like you." Because in her doll form, Maeko was strong enough to take on a normal human, but someone like Sailor Mars was far outside of her strength. And even with normal humans she preferred to strike while they were asleep or not paying attention.

     "A-ah. It's just... really heavy, like there's a lot of pressure on me or something..." Misa murmurs quietly, frowning a bit as she thinks on that. She had a relatively strong feeling that she shouldn't be there, like she should leave. It was beginning to make the timid girl falter a bit and glance towards the stairs now and then. Hmm.

     The offer of the Megatama gets a bit of a look from Misa, before she mumbles, "I tried something like that before. It just makes her angry. And burns." Rather than say anything in explanation, she glances around... before lifting up one of the arms of her shirt, her heart beating quickly. Maeko wasn't around. It'd be safe, right?! She begins to pull down the arm of her long glove. It was just enough to show that her shoulder was not a normal shoulder, but instead jointed, like a doll as well. "...She did this to me when I made her angry, because I had to go away from her and go to school..."

     She quickly pulls the arm of her glove back up, and then her shirt's sleeve back down. Of course, doing that probably just made her look suspicious. She nibbles her lip a bit as she looks towards Mamoru, her head tilting up slightly. Not that they knew to look for it, it might not be hard to see that there was a subtle seam where her head and neck met. But it was hard to spot. The talk of allies just gets a nervous look.

     When she'd asked for help last, it resulted in /that/ happening. "She... does a little bit... I seem really clumsy a lot of the time because of her." She mumbles, implying that Maeko trips and/or otherwise makes the otherwise relatively well-balanced girl fall over or do clumsy things. It was probably the other reason she wore clothing that covered most of her body. That and the joints. "I... o-okay... if you want to give me a ride home, okay... b-but ... don't tell my parents... t-they're trying so hard ... they probably are already worried enough..." And she didn't want them to try to do something. Her parents didn't have power.

Sailor Mars looks between Mamoru and Misa. "Sure. If me coming along will help, then I'll be glad to." However, she frowns as her offer of a magatama, or other similar charms, is rejected. Misa has tried that before and it only made things worse.

... and burned?

A look at Misa's joints gets Rei to wonder. What... what is going on here? "She made your joints... like that?"

Mars looks at Misa, and then the shrine around her. If this little girl is cursed, then the shrine's wards might actually be having a bad effect on her. It's strange though... Usually that only works on evil spirits, but this little girl hardly seems evil. Just scared, and possibly confused.

"It's okay. We don't have to stay here if you don't want to. Don't worry about the charm. If it doesn't work then it doesn't work. Chiba-san? Should we take her home?"

The car ride wouldn't be that problematic. As a soldier of justice this kind of thing is her duty. Yet she wonders what kinds of questions will be asked on the way back, when it's just the two of them.

She's at a loss for what to do. The doll seems like it's really after her, but the grip on her is so strong that Mars can't just ward it off through normal means. She can't fight Maeko unless it stays around to get hit, either.

Her-- her shoulder. A quick glance over the small girl, and Mamoru's brows furrow slightly. So much cover. And he'd felt other joints, and how odd carrying her felt in general-- and that seam. He glances at Mars, then back at Misa, and it's all he can do to keep from chewing on his lip, too. Another impossibly complicated problem -- but another problem so very, very worth helping to solve. And Iris told him not to spread himself too thin-- but this is something that requires more thought than action, right now, and with Mars involved, he won't have to take stupid risks he can't handle but the Senshi can.

He tries so hard, he really does, but there are some things Mamoru Chiba will not actually get until he's a parent. Or sort of a parent. Witness: "Don't worry, we won't get your parents involved," he says firmly, taking his keys out, then nodding gratefully to Mars. "Let's go, then. I imagine you're pretty adept at sneaking in, so I'm just not going to worry about that part," the older boy tells Misa a little wryly. He starts down, headed toward honestly the best car in Tokyo. In his opinion.