So it went like this: Ami'd gotten a call from Usagi that Mamoru had used up a lot of energy healing Princess Runealy, and while she and Hinote were with him at the moment, she had to follow the White Flower girl and she needed Ami to look after Mamoru.
Prior to the White Flower attack, Mamoru's plan had been to meet up with Saburo at the arcade with Usagi, work on a school project the eleventh graders both had, and help Usagi with her homework as well--
--because of the attack, it's a little later than the intended meetup time, and Mamoru's coming in with Ami instead, looking tired and worried and vaguely frustrated, carrying his books. "...skipped out since I'm late, I don't know. I'm sorry you're with me instead of her. My apparent kohai is at least there too..."
Ami didn't just come; she came fully henshined, ready for anything. Once she found Mamoru safe and sound, Mercury transformed back into herself, and she's been walking along beside him ever since, clutching her bag to herself. "I'm sorry I'm with you instead of her, too," Ami replies thoughtfully. "I'm sure she's much more fun than I am, but you know Usagi," she explains, as if this has some very deep and insightful meaning.
Regardless of the fact that he's meant to have met up with Mamoru some time ago, Saburo hasn't actually skipped out. He's standing patiently just at the outside of the arcade, instead of having done something intelligent like /go inside/ and /play a game/ to pass the time. He's been looking at something on his phone, instead, which honestly might mean the same thing, given he's a teenager. His head pulls up when he hears Mamoru's voice, a muted smile flickering over his face.
He doesn't recognize Ami, he doesn't think, but that's nothing new either, given Mamoru always seems to be covered in one or more teenaged girls. Saburo doesn't complain. Instead, he straightens, slipping his phone back into his pocket and looking, just for a moment, like he's waiting to be introduced.
'Covered in teenaged girls'. Like 'covered in bees' perhaps? Given the psychologist in Jadeite may, in fact, have noticed by now that none of the ones he's seen has ever been touching him--
Mamoru looks shocked. "Ami-chan! That's not what I meant at all! I meant I know you'd rather be with her than--" He looks up from her and cuts himself off with a laugh as his steps slow. "Saburo-kun. I'm so sorry about my lack of punctuality. There was an emergency, and my phone's dead or I'd've texted. Thank you for waiting-- this is my friend Ami Mizuno. Ami-chan, Saburo Yukimura."
Then he gestures toward the doors before going over to open one, hold it open for the two of them. He is noticeably less energetic than he was yesterday at school, but, you know, human introverts and emergencies and dealing with people can do that, can't it?
Ami smiles a little at Mamoru's shocked response, but she doesn't counter it. Instead, she just leaves him wondering if she meant it. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Yukimura-san," she says, bowing just a little to the older teen. She politely waits for Saburo to preceed her into the arcade, then follows behind.
"The pleasure is all mine, Mizuno-san." Saburo echoes the bow just faintly, acknowledging the introduction as politely as he can. There's a brief sweep of his eyes over Mamoru before he starts moving, intending to go through the door since it's obvious neither of the others are going to go through before him. "Think nothing of it, Chiba-san. Emergencies happen, and I'm not in any particular rush. I hope it's all taken care of now? If it's ongoing, I completely understand..."
Mamoru just eyes Ami sidelong a little bit -- an identifiable 'what are you up to' look -- and then takes the lead once they're inside. He checks over many heads to see, in passing, who's on the Sailor V console, but more or less makes a straight line for the stairs going up. As he moves (more or less straight line because there's a lot of weaving between people in his usual dance of 'don't touch anyone') he assures Saburo, "It's fine, the people whose job it actually is are taking care of it now. I'm worried, but I'm not a relative, so I can't even get any updates unless someone decides to text me on the sly. Working on this project'll be a good distraction."
Halfway up the stairs he pauses and gives Saburo a faintly chiding look. "You can call me Mamoru. Unless this is some sort of hint I should call you Yukimura."
Ami just shrugs at Mamoru. If she meant anything by it at all, she certainly doesn't give an immediate explanation. Instead, she simply follows along with her elders whom she treats as equals, smiling just faintly on her way up the stairs to the second floor of the game center crown. "So what is this project, anyways? Something for school, I presume?"
Saburo inclines his head as Mamoru explains that the emergency is being taken care of, accepting that as rote without pushing the issue. He doesn't appear to examine it too deeply. He instead gives a quiet sound in the base of his throat, thoughtful. "That was not such a hint." He allows, by way of acknowledgement. "But it rarely hurts to be polite." Ami gets a look as thoughtful as that sound was, as they climb the stairs. "Yes, for school. Ethics, actually. I think it was..." and here he looks to Mamoru, as if unsure, "The proper way to balance the needs of the many against compassion for the individual? Something like that."
Dumping the set of books on the nearest table, Mamoru gives Ami a quick grin. "Ethics arguments are fun." Then he sticks his hands in his pockets-- is that blood on the cuff of his sleeve--? and nods to Saburo, lightly kicking a chair out from the table and dropping into it. "Basically utilitarianism versus deontology, except the assignment itself didn't specify that. That's the first thing anyone googling it is going to come up with as obviously what our teacher wants, because a paraphrasing of that statement drives three of the classic Star Trek movies so the internet is full of easy sources to cite on that specific debate. I don't one-hundred-percent buy into either theory, though I can see where both are coming from, so--"
Here he glances to Ami, and his eyes are bright, smiling. He's right: schoolwork is an excellent distraction from worries. "--we're going to attack this by worldbuilding, throwing a lot of objectivism and generalized consequentialism around, defining happiness and related terms, and probably playing a lot of Risk and Civ. Possibly also sourcing romance novels."
"I'm pretty sure Gene Roddenbarry didn't buy either theory entirely, either," Ami notes, though she's giving Saburo a considering gaze, rather than studying Mamoru. She misses the blood entirely. But then something strikes her, and she glances at Mamoru with a squint. "Three? Please tell me you're not including the remakes ..."
The Risk and the Civ options don't seem to be particularly bothersome to Jadeite. No, it's another statement entirely that he narrows in on, his blue eyes sharp as they fix on Mamorou's face. The talk about Star Trek may as well not exist, for as disinterested as he is with it. "...Romance novels?"
Mamoru waves a hand at Ami. "Of course not. The Voyage Home started with Spock and his mom talking about it, and then later on, Spock's the one who insists they break in and save Chekov even though it put all of them, and their mission, at risk. And then Kirk sassed him saying 'is this the logical thing to do' and he said 'no but it's the human thing to do' -- which actually brings me to part of what we're going to address by creating a third way informed by others. Utilitarianism is in part a faulty theory because it's predicated on the assumption that logic is not instinctive to humanity. It has a lot of other issues..."
He's derailed from this when Saburo calls him on the romance novels aspect. He blinks widely behind his glasses, the perverse disingenuousness of a dyed-in-the-wool troll writ large on his face. "Well, yes! Bestselling ones only. If we're defining happiness, we should definitely source fantasies that sell sixteen million copies within a few weeks of release, on the regular. Granted, we could read erotic Harry Potter fanfic, but I'm not really up for that, and I don't think Yakamoto-sensei would be, either. But she has a lot of romance novels in her desk."
"Ah, by that logic, then," Ami points out to Mamoru, "every scene involving Data's quest for humanity is also applicable, and Data certainly had his own 'many vs one' moments, as well." As they settle ina t the Crown, she drops her bookbag, then notes, "I've got a few novels at my home if you need to borrow some from someone other than a teacher. I bet Usagi has more than I do."
"This," Saburo says, his voice heavy and dry, eyes hooded to show how unimpressed with the conversation he is in general. It might be an act. With Saburo, it's hard to tell, given how fluidly that voice comes through either way. "This is just an excuse to watch Sci-Fi, read bodice-rippers and play video games, isn't it? We are going to have to turn in *something*, you do realize."
"Well, Star Trek has plenty of technical and philosophical inconsistencies anyway-- I mean, hell, they say 'sentient life' when they mean 'sapient life'," Mamoru reminds Ami regretfully. But then he glances up and gives Saburo a sidelong look.
He tries to keep it steady, but there's a smirk tugging on one corner of his mouth. "No, but if you want to tell people that, you're welcome to."
He reaches into his bookbag and pulls out a five-page printout and slides it across the table. "I already typed up a preliminary outline. Do you have a google account yet? This would honestly be worlds easier if we could just do it in Docs."
Ami frowns at Saburu, and very delicately informs him, "I do not read bodice rippers," very tartly. Then, she pops up and heads to the counter to order herself a coke.