Looks like our writing on the wall

[glaives]

Who;Hotaru, Mindy, Chibiusa and eventually Eridan.
What; Hotaru’s not a lucky girl and her number’s up
Where; The Sailor Moon shop
When; End of Week Two
WARNINGS; Children getting shot.

The Shop based on them was a bright spot in all of this, and Hotaru and Chibiusa had both been enthralled in all there was. Uniforms based on theirs, pens shaped like transformation wands, plushies based on themselves and their friends. Hotaru had found herself clinging to the ones based on her parents, trying to fill that spot on her that missed them dearly. They would knows what to do if they were here. They would know how to keep Chibiusa safe for sure.

She’s trying, she really is. The grenades in their lockers had been helpful, Hotaru using them to cause distracts when they needed to. And the store had had a replica of her glaive, something Hotaru had gladly taken. It may not have the powers it should, she may not be able to be Saturn, but with the glaive in her hands she feels a little stronger. She feels like she can do this, that she can make sure Chibiusa gets out of this alive.

But still, they’re children. They really are, and the store is a safe haven they don’t fully realise can be breached. And so Hotaru and Chibiusa drag Mindy along with them on a visit, eager to show off and share with the girl, Hotaru finding that she’s quickly come to trust her. It’s not hard to, she trusts Chibiusa’s judgement, and she can tell that Mindy will do anything to keep her safe too. And it’s nice, having another person she can call a friend, someone her age and not a cat. And so she looks to Mindy with a smile, pointing to a mannequin.

“That one is Sailor Moon. Well, her outfit. That’s who Chibiusa was talking about.”

Comments

[hit_girl_mindy]

Mindy, thankfully, she adjusting to the lack of being able to see with both eyes. Her face has calmed down, though she is now sporting an eyepatch, because no one had to see that part of her right now. For now she just told the girls that she wanted to look cool, although her face had already looked at least a little burned so they might, if they thought about it, be able to guess what the real story was.

She could instead lose herself in how strong this place was, and how foreign it seemed to her. She was a comics girl: if you fetishized women in hot clothes, you put them in skintight suits and revealing outfits, definitely not skirts and fuku. That was asking for ass kicking really. Of course, knowing that these guys actually had STRONG powers anyway made all the difference.

When she thought about it, she HAD heard the same Sailor Moon before, and even seen the outfit. She was a New Yorker and went to comic shops, you tended to see it. But being with someone who actually knew her, a place where that actually existed, was something else.

"This just reminds me I'm glad the most I've seen of me is in the comics shop," she said. "I wouldn't be able to take so much attention about me. So. You guys wear stuff like this when you fight bad guys? You don't even worry about the skirt, like, flipping up or anything like that?"

[glaives]

In truth Hotaru didn't believe what Mindy had told them. She could see those burns on Mindy's face, and she knows that an eyepatch would severely limit someone's vision, something that Mindy seems like she'd avoid at any cost in here. Not get thrown by the whims of looking cool.

Also, she was 9, once 12 in another life. She had been through most than other little girls, and more importantly, she wasn't stupid. She didn't even need her near genius intellect to know something was wrong really. But for now she let the story sit, mostly to keep from distressing Chibiusa, though she doubted her friend was stupid enough to fall for a lie like that either.

"Oh?" Hotaru tilts her head slightly at Mindy when she speaks up, studying her. For not the first time she wishes for her powers, though she's not sure how much she could fix with her minor healing ability. But Mindy has quickly become a friend, and she can't help wanting to help her. "There are comics about you?"

Her shrug is slight, and Hotaru explains qith ease. "Haruka-papa is a famous race car driver. Michiru-mama is a famous violinist and painter, and Haruka-papa sometimes joins her. Even without this, I've become used to some attention, it tends to happen if we all go out." Besides people know about the senshi either way, she's used to seeing snippets in the newspaper. "And yes, we do. I don't think it's a problem though?" She frowns, ever so slightly. "I mean everything is covered, even if the skirt flips up... and no one is really paying attention to that, not with the enemies we've fought before."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Yeah," Mindy said, half laughing to herself when read it. "Some major shit too. I'm all, like, into conservative politics and the budget, I guess, but I'm also seriously slicing people up and shit. Comic me is major hardcore. I even take coke at one point and go fucking crazy on a bunch of people. It's insane, but not a super stretch."

She could still see that part of her in HER, after all. Sure, her morality was hard to place, and she was very likely to kill a bunch of criminals before leaving them to the mercy of the NYPD, but she had certain scruples, maybe more now since being here. After all, she would not be with Hotaru and Chibi Usa right now if all she cared about was killing and doing her own thing.

Haruka papa and Michiru mama. What a weird way to refer to your parents. Then again, she did say she was raised by three women once, didn't she? That still seemed pretty insane to her. They sounded pretty rounded out though, so she doubted that Hotaru was left to her own devices.

"Yeah, you have a point, I guess. I was just thinking of what happens when, you know, active people are wearing skirts, I guess. It's usually more of a hindrance. I guess when you're kicking ass and taking names, enemies couldn't give five fucks what you wear."

[glaives]

She's grown a little more used to Mindy's language, and it's starting to become less shocking as time goes on. It's just how Mindy speaks, and really, all things considering they're in a death arena. Language was the least of their concerns. So she finds herself smiling, the expression slight, "Really? It sounds like it would be a pretty big stretch for anyone."

She can't imagine doing anything like that herself after all. She can't imagine harming anyone on purpose, let alone doing it to the degree Mindy seems to imply the comics have. But Mindy is already so much more different to Hotaru, she knows that much. Her life seems to have prepared her for this all, and Hotaru finds herself with questions she's not sure she should ask.

So instead she focuses on what Mindy asks, her frown slight as she looks up and studies her uniform. "Well... the skirts are short, so they don't really get tangled around our legs... And. Well. Our enemies aren't really human, most of the time. They're often humanoid, but they're not from Earth. And some of them are really monsters. You don't tend to worry too much when you're fighting a monster."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Oh, its a huge stretch. I never heard anything like it that could actually exist in real life. But considering that most of the stuff around here shouldn't exist because they're books in my world, how do I know what the Capitol can and can't make real? They pretty much just take what they want and set things as they please, right?"

She would learn soon enough. Things were fucked up, and the more she had to compete in the Arena, the more likely she was going to find herself fighting for her life, if not for Chibi Usa's in general. It was just a fact.

"I always figure the more active you are in a skirt, the more likely you're going to see yourself online in some upskirt shot somewhere. Usually in my world, people are nosy fucks who can't just watch anything now without recording it on a goddamn cell phone, pervs included."

[unconchonable]

As the girls have chattered on for a while now, there has been an unknown presence amongst them. Though he's done well to keep his distance, kept to darker areas, and out of sight. He's kept silent, allowing them to carry on their conversation as he tries to figure out which of the two he should take out first. They both don't look like they could do much in a fight, even with the supposed talk of monsters and what have you.

He's done his own time taking down horrible beasts, angels the worst of all, and so he's utterly unfazed by the discussion. More concerned with aiming his gun, setting his sights on Hotaru out of the two. His finger tightening on the trigger as he gets a clear shot and firing.

It's loud, no silencer was given, and so it rings out in the small shop, a warning too late to do anything about. The flash from the shot is enough to light Eridan up from his hiding spot outside of the shop, waiting for the two to come into view of the front door, and once they had, he's made his attack. Quickly and precisely, he's moving to take aim at Mindy next, and if she doesn't move quickly, there's a bullet with her name on it.

[hit_girl_mindy]

Mindy had to admit that she was lured into a false sense of security. For the moment, things were at least boding well enough, she was happy enough talking to Hotaru, but then a creeping feeling comes across Mindy somehow, at just the moment when it was too late to tell her friend to get out of here, and the shot rings out. Blood splashes the girl's face, and there is a moment of faint horror before its replaced by cold understanding. She fucked up. Hotaru fucked up too. They should have been paying attention, should have made sure no one could get in. Now one of them was paying for it.

But Mindy was no stranger to gunshots. It took second to figure out where the shot came from and Mindy disappeared quickly, having had a moment to figure where everything was. The knife was back in her hands, her face was grim. She did NOT like being surprised, and liked less losing a friend on her watch. Whoever did this, though, would not get the satisfaction of another kill.

[glaives]

The sound of the gun makes her jerk in surprise, head lifting and for a second she sees Eridan. But it's a second that doesn't matter, the bullet's aim true as it rips through her stomach and Hotaru can't help but cry out in pain and surprise. It hurts, it hurts as much as her attacks did and then some and all she can do is stare open mouthed at her wound, watching red seep all too quickly into the white of her shirt.

Her knees hit the ground and it's another pain, a pain that means little in the next second and Hotaru can feel her whole body shaking even as she tries to press a hand to the entry wound but it's not enough she knows that in an instant. So she swallows, head jerking again as she looks for Mindy and can't see her, and Hotaru cries out all the same. "Mindy, go! Go, leave me, you have to go so you can keep Chibiusa safe, please, please, keep her safe." It's the babble of a dying girl and it cuts off all too sharply with another cry of pain, Hotaru spasming slightly.