There's no tall black-haired high-schooler in the Seishou middle school lobby when Homura gets there, despite the text she got from Mamoru. Instead, there's a short middle-school girl in Seishou's uniform, with long wavy black hair and glasses, waiting with her school briefcase over one shoulder in view of the receptionist's desk.
The way Mamoru holds his.
She's looking out the doors, stance also terribly familiar and decidedly not demure, and when Homura comes in, a restrained tension vanishes from her narrow shoulders. Her expression clears and gives way to a wry smile. "I can explain," she says, walking up to Homura and holding her hand out. "And I've got my walls up, no worries. Just proof. Can we go?"
Homura Akemi comes shortly after the text, perhaps a bit too quickly considering the distance between Infinity and Seishou. Granted, considering her powers and her general worry over Mamoru right now, it's probably not that surprising. When she arrives, she at first thinks she notices Mamoru, but then turns to ignore her upon realizing that it's a girl.
Then that girl walks up to her and starts talking, and the realization dawns on her.
"... what? Are you really...?"
The way she carries herself, the way she already knows Homura, the way she talks about her powers...
It can't be... but it is, isn't it?
"Uh, yeah I am going to need that explaination."
Homura reaches out to touch Minori, taking the offered hand. She's braced, slightly, for the impact, but Mamoru? says she has her walls up and Homura also has some faith in that.
Contact:
There's only the breath of golden sunshine, of stillness and calm and reassurance, nothing else.
"Minori Hino," she says simply, then starts walking toward the doors, holding Homura's hand.
She looks fourteen, sounds fourteen, is definitely a girl-- but the eyes behind her glasses are the same ocean-blue, old and young; her carriage and bearing are, let's be real, still those of a prince. The smile may be a little easier, the face less default reserved, but maybe Mamoru's were when he was fourteen, too.
Mamoru had to have been taller at fourteen, though. This girl's five feet even.
Out the doors they go and up the path through the yard to the sidewalk, and Minori never lets go. "So yeah, it's-- a magical disguise. One of the girls is pretending to be me, too. She got a little too enthusiastic about it in the arcade, but it's undoubtedly useful. I am a non-combatant right now, and I... would like it if you could keep picking up my homework, if it's not too much of a problem, but I'm easier for everyone involved to keep track of this way, and I am actually--"
She takes a breath, looking straight ahead. "I am actually frightened. So I'm doing everything they tell me to."
The touch is all the proof Homura needs. Mamoru might sense a bit of concern and confusion but it settles out during the moment of contact. It stays about like that for as long as the touch continues.
Once in a while there's hints of comraderie, like what one might feel for a war buddy, but that's about it. Homura does not suppress her emotions so much as she simply fails to express them sometimes.
"So that's your name now, huh? If you don't mind me saying, it's not a bad look."
Homura sideglances up and down at Minori, noting her clothes, before her eyes turn back to the sidewalk ahead of them. "Does the magical disguise include clothes? We could go shopping if you need a new wardrobe."
Homura frowns when Mamoru says she feels terrified. The change in expression is barely noticable, the corner of her lips lowering by a millimeter. Yet Minori can feel the sympathetic pain through her empathetic contact.
"Sure. I'll get your homework. Now that I know where to find you, I'll bring it over. but..."
Turning her eyes towards Mamoru again, she says, "... to be very careful, I might have to use some of my powers to evade stalkers. Fortunately I have a good idea of how to avoid being followed."
Minori laughs, flipping her hair by tossing her head, when Homura tells her it's not a bad look. "Yeah, I'm Rei Hino's cousin for the duration, she's another friend of Usagi-chan's. Aaaand speaking of Usagi..." She leans in and up to Homura a little bit to whisper, "The hardest part about this undercover thing is keeping the kissing out of the public eye."
She straightens back up and swings Homura's hand for a moment, then walks along with her briefcase swinging in her other hand, smirking. "It basically just includes the uniform, but friends are lending me clothes and using it as an excuse to buy more for themselves. And since this is very much not a permanent thing, I'd rather they spent money on what they'd like to wear than me buying things they won't want later."
Then there's touching on the most serious aspect of everything again; she says she's frightened and Homura would know, DOES know, that 'frightened' and admitting to it for Mamoru Chiba would be nothing short of 'absolutely god damned petrified' for most people; the sympathetic pain causes Minori to delicately, casually let go of Homura's hand, finally. She shrugs a little uncomfortably. "It would actually work okay if you gave it to Usagi-chan, or one of the other friends in the group; most of us are in one place, daytimes, now, and I'm going home with them. And just in case, Rei-chan's been throwing ofudas at basically everything lately, so I'm figuring on asking her to cast evil spirits out of my homework, too. It's like... it's like expecting letterbombs, a bit."
Minori's steps slow, and she chews at her lip. "Actually, this level of paranoia... if it's not justified, then I'm putting you and the others through a lot of effort over nothing. If it is justified, then I'm putting you in a lot of danger over my grades. I should actually just..."
Even still, she can't make herself say 'give up on keeping up'.
'Give up on school.'
Instead, she mutters, "Maybe they'll let me take makeup exams and pass me anyway. Even if I don't visibly do the work. Maybe extra credit projects, or independent study."
Homura notes the response on clothes and says, "Well I've got a few suits you can borrow if you still want to do that look. They aren't quite as classy as yours, but they'd probably look good on you regardless." Homura reaches up behind her hair and flips it back, saying, "After all, we're not that far apart in terms of hair color or height."
Homura's hand falls to her side as Minori releases it, swinging slightly as she walks. "Exorcizing the homework sounds like a sensible precaution, but... are you sure it's okay to give it to Tsukino-san? I don't maintain a secret identity. I'd feel more comfortable if a potential stalker saw me handing it over to Sailor Moon instead of Usagi Tsukino. Just in case someone manages to follow me despite my powers."
As Minori slows, Homura goes ahead of her for a step before turning around to face her, walking backwards. The tone of Homura's voice is... not sharp, but very firm.
"No. Don't even think like that. It's not too much trouble. If you stop living your life because of them, then they've already hurt you."
Homura turns around, slowing down to match Minori's pace. "If you have to repeat a semester for medical reasons then I suppose you have to. If you have to take a makeup test, or test out of the class, then I suppose that's what you have to do, but don't give up on living your life."
And when Homura starts walking backwards, Minori stops, meeting her eyes -- Earth-blue to dusky violet, and serious to serious.
It takes her a moment to answer, thinking of all the ways that Homura's right, and all the technicalities that mean that for all intents and purposes, she's already stopped living her life. No more Kendo, no more Go, no more Ethics project with Saburo, no more tutoring, no more Tuxedo Kamen... no more of the hard-won enormous circle of friends Mamoru had somehow amassed since meeting Usagi Tsukino for the first time and fighting alongside Sailor Moon that first fateful night.
But he'd go back. They'd take care of this and he'd go back and they'd all understand. And if he gave up on schoolwork-- that last tenuous link with his own continuity of purpose, that one thing that'd seen him through his bleakly lonely life before Usagi opened the doors and windows and let the sun shine in-- would it be so bad? It's not the most important thing to him anymore.
But it's him.
It's the one thing he's always, always taken pride in, always enjoyed, always felt accomplished over. It's important.
Homura's right.
Minori closes her eyes and lets out a sigh, tilting her head back and her face toward the skies for a moment, feet rooted to the Earth, feeling its thrumming life beneath her. "Okay," she finally says, opening her eyes and looking at her friend again. There's a very slight smile on her face: the one that's so Mamoru that it makes the young girl almost unmistakeable, just for a moment. "And okay, I'll ask her to meet you that way."
A beat, and then a crooked little grin. "And sure, I'd like to borrow a suit."
Homura smiles as Minori agrees, because at least, Homura hopes, that it will keep Mamoru in good spirits, or at least the right frame of mind.
"I've got one in particular I think you'd like, and on my paycheck I don't really need it back anytime soon."
Homura's pace matches Minori's, and there's a temptation to feel protective of the now-terrified Mamoru, especially knowing that she can't fight... but on the other hand, she's got no less than five senshi looking after her. She's about as safe as she's going to get.
"Fear is a dangerous emotion, you know. Of course, that doesn't make it bad. Guns are also dangerous, but you can make that danger yours. Fear can keep you alert, aware, and ready... but it can also wear you out, or push you to inaction in a moment when you absolutely need to act."
Homura places her hands in her pockets, watching the ground as she walks along, occasionally glancing towards Mamoru. She's going to have to get used to that look.
"Maybe I don't need to tell you this... but... I guess what I'm trying to say is... you don't have to let that feeling bring you down or hold you back. It's YOUR feeling. You own it. I'm not going to tell you not to be afraid, because lowering your guard at a time like this would be stupid. I'd be a bad friend if I told you to do that. I will tell you, however, to not let that fear rule you. Let it empower you, instead."
Homura flips her hair again saying, "After all, you're the fairy tale prince. You, not your fear, should be in charge."
She'd been serious-- maybe slightly more wry than she should be, since it's all things she knows, all things she's read and she's lived by even before reading them, all her life-- but serious because they're true things, and things that she needed to hear again.
It's not until the hairflip and the last words that Minori bursts out laughing. "The stories have it all wrong, though. Some revisionist's gone through all the history books and swapped 'prince' and 'princess' around; everyone worth their salt knows it's the princesses who do the rescuing."
One hand lifts and flutters carelessly, and Minori's grinning. "But you're right." The grin turns into a fond smile. "Don't worry. Even hiding like this is tactical. Sometimes it feels like closing the barn door after all the animals have got out, but caution's never wasted, it buys time to act decisively and with more and better information."
Her voice is softer now. "Thanks. I needed that."
They're finally approaching the arcade, and impulsively, Minori turns to throw her arms around Homura and give her a squish of a hug.
"Princesses rescuing the prince. The difference between fantasy and reality," says Homura with a grin,"but knowing that difference is the benefit of being the real thing, right?"
Homura nods as Minori assures her that the hiding is tactical. She says, "I thought as much, and it's good tactics. It sounds like you've planned it out very well. You're smart, and I've never been let down by a senshi before, so I think you'll do alright. This is probably the best path you could take, all things considered. Especially if you plan on getting back to your life at some point."
The hug comes, and it surprises Homura at first. Mamoru is still very Mamoru, but there are differences she's noticing.
.oO(It's almost as if Mamoru were a girl.)
.oO(...)
.oO(Well duh.)
Homura reaches around Mamoru to return the hug, careful to avoid bare skin, but the school uniforms make that easy.
"I'm glad to see you're doing alright. Stay safe, Minori-chan."
"You too, Homu-chan!" chirps Minori, skipping back a step and beaming at Homura, then running into the arcade with a wave, long hair and blue skirt flying behind her.
Always Mamo, always troll.