2795/Don't Be a Senshi

Don't Be a Senshi
Date of Scene:	18 October 2025
Location:	Riverside Path
Synopsis:	Minako asks Amy to meet her to talk about the whole 'Senshi costume' situation. Minako's experiences with being a Senshi and what it entails are shared. Amy learns of Heishi and points out the Shittenou are Heishi temporarily breaking Mina's mind.
Cast of Characters:	Minako Aino, Amanda Faust

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Minako Aino has posed:
While it was quite likely that Usagi had already spoken to Amy about the other night, the situation had brought up quite a few feelings in Minako. Ones that she had thought she'd left behind a long time ago-- Or at least a year ago. Time passed so quickly for it being so short a time in the first place.

A note had been passed on to Amy asking to meet her by the riverside to chat after school. Minako stands waiting for Amy on the banks of the river gazing out across the water at the still bright sky. A coat and scarf to ward off the chill are worn and her hands wrap around a hot drink from a vending machine (thankfully not a youma.)

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Minako wants to meet her? What could this be about?

    ...No, it's not a confession. Knowledge of manga tropes is unhelpful here.

    But Amy does wonder, intermittently for the rest of the school day, what it's about. Maybe the senshi costume thing? Maybe relationship advice? Keeps telling herself that she is not, somehow, In Trouble. But it's hard to entirely shake the feeling that something is off. Should she text and ask what this was about? But, maybe there's a reason it was a note and not a text...

    Amy dehenshins at the edge of the park; she, too, has got a winter coat, oversized for her, and a plaid scarf that is way too long because too long is the coolest kind of scarf! Also she's still wearing her backpack.

    She walks up to Minako at the edge of the river, still kind of uncertain what this is about. "Hey." She smiles, and raises a hand. "What's up?"

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino cants her head to the side to greet Amy when she arrives flashing the redhead a light smile in turn. "Hey Amy. Thanks for coming out. I know the weather is kind of gross right now." It was a nice enough day but it was cold darnit! While she could handle it well enough in henshin she wasn't IN henshin. The thought had crossed her mind. It was day though, they were out where people could see. It wasn't really necessary.

A deep breath is drawn which she lets out with a little sigh as her blue eyes skim over the riverside again just drinking in the view. "I wanted to talk to you about the other night. The costume thing." It's a small explanation really but it doesn't SOUND as if she's angry.

If anything she sounded more serious than she had in a long time.

"What being a Senshi is about I mean." Another look is granted Amy as she adds, "I know Usagi already spoke to you probably but it's kind of different for her given who she is."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy does suck a breath of air in through her teeth at 'the costume thing'. She nods at Minako when she says 'Usagi already spoke to you'. "And I got how it looks -- outside of certain contexts where it wouldn't come across the same way -- how would I feel if someone pretended to be a puella magi? Even if they had a good reason at first, but then they kept doing it? I'll... ask... if there's a context I think might be an exception."

    Amy realizes how tense she is and tries to fight it. "...If you're just... providing information, of course I'll listen, but... I'm sorry, alright?"

Minako Aino has posed:
That causes Minako to blink rapidly with a look of sheer confusion rippling across her features. She'd just begun to raise her drink to take a sip as well so she's left with her mouth half-open looking quite baffled by the apology that comes out. It only takes a second more for her brain to tick over and realize what she thought might be going on.

A half-sigh, half-laugh breaks from her with a quick shake of her head. "Amy, no. No." The drink she'd begun is taken allowing her to enjoy the hot tea a moment to chase away the chill before she speaks again.

"I'm not *mad* at you. I'm warning you-- Okay that *sounds* bad I realize but listen first."

Mina's lips twist into a wry expression. "I've been a Senshi the longest. I was the first to awaken before the other Senshi were even aware of magic. You know that. You met me when I was Sailor V, too."

"It's just that being a Senshi means we're tied to our planets, to our Princess, and to our Duty."

Lips press together tight, before she asks most seriously, "Would you chose Duty over Love? Because that's what being a Senshi means. Before hopes, dreams, love. Before all else, we are Senshi and we serve our Princess."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy does tense up at the no, and the wide-eyed stare at 'I'm warning you' is just as might be expected.

    You met me as Sailor V, too. "That was you, my first day, right? Not another magical girl cosplaying... okay yeah people don't really do that."

    She listens to the question, seriously.

    "Before? Before all this? Absolutely. It's what I thought I was signing up for when I made the contract. And when I saw that we fight real monsters every week, I figured most of us would not live very long but the idea of... not fighting, or only enough to sustain me if I used as little magic as possible, was never something I thought to seriously consider."

    "Now..." Amy looks towards the school for a moment, then back at Minako. "I follow my heart. And try to do what feels right, rather than trusting any logical argument that claims I should do what feels wrong. Maybe that's a different kind of duty... I'm still not considering giving up fighting, though."

    She watches Minako intently, wondering where this is going.

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino fixes Amy with sharp eyes that don't waver. A slight dip of her head does come to acknowledge Amy's own experiences in that at least. It was perhaps similar to Mina's own experience in a way.

"I'm not talking just about fighting monsters, Amy-chan." Another scrunch of her face before she continues. "Do you know Ace Saijou? He's one of mine," she explains in a way that prob ably doesn't explain it properly. "One of my soldiers from before. In this life, like the Shittenou, he was taken in by Obsidian and corrupted with Dark Energy. I had to face him as Sailor V."

Here her cheeks color with a deep blush as her gaze dips down and away. Part shame, part recollection of feelings from so long ago. "He chased after me. Romantically, I mean, and I had to kill him. Those are the type of decisions I'm talking about. Even now, I know, if I'm fighting with someone I care about and they're in danger? I don't have the luxury of choosing them if it conflicts with my Duty."

"Don't be a Senshi, Amy-chan. If anything be a Heishi like Ace. You'll have more freedom to make your own decisions."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy nods at knowing -- at least a little -- Ace, but looks confused at 'one of mine.' Winces at the mention of killing Ace.

    But she just looks more confused at 'if anything be a Heishi like Ace.

    "I. Um. Honestly I like... after talking to Usagi it didn't sound like being a senshi was on the table, and I don't want to."

    She takes a breath. "It would, perhaps, be different, if... Usagi-chan chose a different path. If she were going to change the world. No one should have to do that, but if a friend of mine were going to..."

    Amy trails off, and looks down at the ground. "...I don't know if I have it in me anymore, to choose duty over my heart. I think it would..."

    She trails off, shakes her head, repeats "I don't know."

    She relaxes and looks less serious, more curious, as she looks back to Minako. "Just so I know what you're talking about, what's a Heishi? When he called himself that I thought he was just being humble, I didn't know it was a technical term."

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino tips her head up to the sky a moment squinting at it with a furrowed brow. "Well yeah, I'm not really sure you *could* become a Senshi to begin with. We're linked to our planets as I said. I'm not sure if that could be a thing for someone else."

It was something beyond her comprehension or skill level so she shrugs it off for now. She had no proper answer at least to that.

"A Heishi is... Well. I'm the Princess of Venus. Ace is one of my people from my planet. A Heishi works with the Senshi, but doesn't have the uh. Requirements?" She hesitates with another shrug as she struggles to come up with the best terms. "Duty? Oh!" A snap of her fingers comes. "More like Naru-chan. She became a Knight of the Moon but isn't a Senshi."

Even after struggling through all that she lets her shoulders droop with a sigh. "I'm not the best at explaining things. Luna or Artemis are probably better for that."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy nods. "I assumed that if it was a thing in any sense, it was more an acceptance of duty than getting the same cosmic connection, yes."

    As Minako explains firther, she cocks her head to one side slightly. "Oh! I see. So Ace has a duty to you, and Naru has a duty to Usagi, but they don't have all the same duties to the... larger cause, whatever those are." Which seems to be something she'll have to ask the cats. Or Usagi or Mamoru or Ami probably.

    "Sort of... is that what the Shitennou are? Mamoru's Heishi? The Heishi of Earth?"

    Amy cocks her head the other way. "That's basically what I was gonna pretend to be in the past if the memory-people had questions about me being magical. I figured Earth and Moon folk wouldn't be familiar with the Heishi from Venus or Mars. But I didn't know there was a word for it, so I guess I'd have been made immediately anyway."

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino finds herself staring at Amy when she brings up the Shittenou being Heishi. That flicker of memories in the back of her mind screams 'yes!' but the current thoughts have her fumbling over the concept. "Ah--well--Yes. I never. I never really put that together but yes, they would be. Just I guess since Earth was it's own thing it didn't have that name at the time so... Shittenou."

A little nod comes at the mention of the past. "Oh, yeah, definitely. Venus leant a troops to Earth to try to bring back order before things got worse so there were definitely others there."

"... Although that probably didn't help with the 'being invaded' line Beryl was pushing," Mina mumbles to herself.

A quick shake of her head comes to bring her back to the here and now. Again she flashes a smile at Amy. "I just wanted to kind of cover that with you I guess, to help you understand. Plus Heishi have waaaay more choice in their henshins." Another sip of her tea is taken before she declares, "Okay the sun is starting to set and I'm freezing. Thanks for coming out to talk, Amy-chan."