[Day: Tuesday, July 6th. Time: 9:30 p.m.] [Chie is running late! Why, nobody but she knows, but she is! She's just arriving at the clubroom now. Chances are everyone's either left already or gone on a mission, but maybe they're still sitting and debating things. She would have called first, but she couldn't get her phone to work right. Maybe it's possessed or something, though it's probably just user error.] [Go, Chie, go! For peace the world over!] [Mini Start.] [There is the sound of running footsteps outside the club room. They get closer and louder and closer and louder until finally the door is flung open and Chie comes rushing in.] Hi guys, sorry I'm late! My bike broke down and I wanted to call you but I forgot to recharge my cellphone - damn stupid thing - so I had to wait until I could get things fixed, but now I'm here and- * Chie takes a good look around the room. "Rei? Where is everybody?" * Rei is the only other person in the room. She's sitting on the teacher's desk, typing away at her computer. She has something in her ear, with a little microphone at the end... must be one of those phone attachments that let you type without having to hold the thing. Her tail flicks, and she glances over her shoulder, then looks back at her computer real quick. "They already left." * Chie slumps slightly. "I missed the whole thing? Damn. I'm sorry." There wasn't a lot to miss. I got an e-mail from Spikey; we're gonna go invade a tiny island nation and get the Moon Orb from some drug dealing werewolf. * Chie blinks. "Did you just say we're going to invade a tiny island nation and get the Moon Orb from a drug-dealing werewolf?" Yup. And I don't even have time to perfect my mace-launching cannon. * Rei pauses, then adds, "Silver maces." That'd make sense, actually. Damn. Wish I had time to make some amulets or something. Of course, this *would* be when I don't really have any silver to spare... You could go over to Moe's or something and see if he's got anything. Yeah, he said somethin' about gettin' in silver swords. Maybe he has by now. I could start a sword collection. I think Eoi's got a naginata collection. I *know* he's got a naginata collection. There you go. Follow in your teacher's footsteps and stuff. It's a fate I've been fighting. * Chie pauses, then looks at her. "Rei?" * Rei doesn't look back. "Yeah?" What's wrong? * Rei shrugs. * Chie pulls a chair over to Rei's desk and sits. "C'mon, seriously. What is it?" * Rei keeps typing for a bit before she says, "Nothing new." Something old, then? Not really that old, either. * Rei stops, after a bit, and looks at Chie. Her eyes are clear, but there's some pink there. "Am I the only one who cares about some of this stuff?" This stuff? Yeah. * Rei looks back at her computer. "Like Victoria. Or saving the Et'Ada. Or any of that. When it comes to something that doesn't really mean you..." She pauses. I don't mean that I'm better or anything, 'cause I'm not. Even when I want to save somebody, I can't. * Chie sighs. "Rei... okay. I don't really *like* Victoria all that much, but I don't wanna see her possessed by Ambition. Nobody deserves that. The Et'Ada... well, they pretty much took care of themselves. And you *did* help. You helped that Et'Ada girl. The genuinely nice one." I bet- I mean- it's not like they know any better. They don't. You grow up thinking one thing, that all of something's evil, like all supernaturals or mosquitos or... humans, or even people of your own kind, and you're going to believe it. * Chie shrugs. "I guess. Didn't mean I had to like it, though. But I don't wish ill or anything on 'em. Far as I'm concerned, they can go on living their lives in peace and quiet." * Rei sighs. "I don't know." Don't know what? I just don't know. * Chie leans over and hugs Rei. "Everything's been crazy for so long. But we're gonna get through this." * Rei starts tearing up a little, and she shoves BOX away from her, onto the table, even as Chie hugs her. "But I can't do anything right!" * Chie hugs her tighter. "Sure you can." * Rei sobs. "No I can't. I couldn't save Katsu, I couldn't save Dad, I can't do a thing for Victoria or Kaira. Nobody cares if I say I don't want to kill anyone, and even though I don't, I basically did it anyway!" * Chie rubs Rei's back. "Rei... it's not your fault. It isn't. I couldn't do anything for your brother or your dad, either. And we *are* gonna help Victoria. And maybe Kaira, if we can find her and she'll let us." * Chie does not, however, comment on the killing. But I did it. I did it. Maybe I could've saved her, but I kept tracking, I did it to maybe find him, and I *didn't* and she *died*. He told me she was gonna die! * Chie takes a moment to figure out exactly what Rei is talking about. "Rei. Look at me." She grips her friend's arms tightly. "That... thing is a monster. He would have killed her anyway. This is *not* your fault. You didn't do it. Don't blame yourself!" * Rei is forced to look at Chie, and she cringes away. "From acid, burned inside out..." * Chie looks nauseated briefly, remembering what she saw back then. "Not. Your. Fault." Yes it is! I should have done something! He's still out there, and- and I should have done something! What, then? I- I don't know, but I should've done something. I've got to do something. We'll all do something. I want this... creature stopped too. * Rei slumps, a little. "I just dunno if there's time." Well, first we're gonna go deal with this drug-dealing werewolf you were talking about. But, y'know, at some point after that? We'll *make* time. Gods know Maria wants it stopped more than any of us. I'm not leaving my friends in danger. What about Makoto? We have to find him, too. And the Blood Orb... we need that. * Chie sighs. "Makoto. Every day we don't hear back from him..." She looks up at the ceiling for a second, then back at Rei. "I miss him too, y'know. Not like you do, but he was my friend and, oddly enough, I trusted him with some things." * Rei nods. She's not crying anymore, and she just looks... spent. "Yeah." * Chie hugs Rei again. "There's a lot ahead of us. But since I've gotta face it, there's nobody I'd rather face it with than you guys." * Rei sighs. But she nods, a little, and hugs back. I'm sorry, too. I feel like I should be helping you more. Like I should be protecting you better, or somethin'. But that's not really fair to either of us, is it? Not really. But you're my best friend. And you don't think it's stupid that I don't want people to die, right? Even the bad guys? * Chie shakes her head. "I don't think your feelings are stupid." Okay. * Rei rubs at her eyes. "That's good." I think it'd do a lot of people good if they all thought more like you. * Rei smiles a little. "I guess the world could use more specially-calibrated mango launch and slicers." Absolutely! I could use one, anyway. If I ever were to acquire mangos, I'd defniltely want them to be sliced properly. Okay. I'll make you one, but you gotta launch them once in a while to see how far they go. Sure! It's like a potato cannon, right? Except, y'know, with mangoes. Yup. Mangos are stickier and fruitier 'cause they're fruit, and sometimes they can get worms in them, though potatoes get worms, too, but they're different kinds of worms 'cause mangos grow in different parts of the world. So we can launch the wormy ones and eat the unwormy ones, then. It's a good plan. Yup. I like that plan. We shall follow it through to the end. The bitter end. Bitter and wormy. Eww. You know what we need right now, though? What? Guess. * Rei thinks. An electric violin? Not what I was thinking of. What would we do with an electric violin, though? I could try to fine tune it to make a shocking wave of sound that'd make dogs start barking and howling for miles, attacking their owners and thus sending Tokyo into chaos and ruin? * Chie taps her chin and considers this. "But if we send Tokyo into chaos and ruin, where will we get mangoes?" * Rei raises a finger. "Ah, but mangos aren't grown in Tokyo." Right, but they have to get imported from somewhere. Yup, but it's not Tokyo! True. Okay, so, what about ice cream? Or karaoke. Both things that we'd have trouble procuring if Tokyo gets sent into chaos and ruin. * Rei thinks. Okay. Ice cream first! I have to finish making arrangements with Interpol, and it's hard to do with all the singing and stuff that comes with karaoke, and I want some mango ice cream now for some reason. So let's go find some after you finish making those arrangements, then. Nah, I can do it while eating ice cream. I can multitask. Okay! My bike's fixed and ready to go, so... race you there? * Rei scoops up BOX and some other stuff that's lying around the desk, putting it in her backpack. She perks. "Race? Did I hear race? I did! Oh, you're so going down." You'll have to catch me first, my friend. Oh, yes. * Chie runs for the door. * Rei watches her run and grins madly. "Cut off at the pass." She zips her backpack, slings it over her shoulder, and floats over to the window. This is followed by her opening it and jumping out. [And so, the girls got to their bikes and raced into the night. For ice cream, karaoke, and justice! And maybe a little world saving, too.] [Mini End!]