2757/After the Karaoke

After the Karaoke
Date of Scene:	03 September 2025
Location:	Cafe BAKE Neko
Synopsis:	The day after magic karaoke, a group of those who were there - and a little bunny who wasn't - chat and hang out.
Cast of Characters:	Mamoru Chiba, Chibiusa Tsukino, Kazuo Saitou, Ami Mizuno, Usagi Tsukino, Amanda Faust

---

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It's the day after karaoke, it's the afternoon after the first day of school, it's hot out still, and the cat cafe is air conditioned. It's a little crowded, but Mamoru claimed the hell out of the corner table via cheating by henshining at school, teleporting home, getting changed, and immediately running downstairs. Right now he's got his hands around a frozen slush coffee chocolate dessert confection beverage and he is looking a hundred percent dignified.

Despite his hair being even fluffier from the humidity and his rush downstairs.

"My former villainy still has uses."

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Here comes Small Lady "Chibiusa" Tsukino walking down the sidewalk like she owns the place. She's got a mega-sized pink-flavored slushie that looks like it should be way to big for her to actually consume, yet the way she's clinging to it jealously and glaring at any who might threaten her claim to it may make one hesitant to try and take it away from her. Especially if they enjoy the use of their fingers.

    Luna-P is hovering behind her, out in the open for all to see, though the Veil means that people assume she's just got a cat-shaped balloon with her. Never mind the lack of string.

    The bell dings as Chibiusa pushes the door open, finds Mamoru, and wordlessly meanders over to his claimed table and plops down on the seat. There's a big plastic straw in her mouth, giving her an excuse to not talk any more than she strictly needs to.

    "Hi."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Kazuo did not teleport home. Kazuo is, therefore, still in school uniform (yes, even post-graduation, he still duly wears the orange when on campus for university courses, which is daily), and only now reaching the corner table. One hand sets down a tray of assorted packaged pastries from the counter, including melonpan just in case of a random Wako appearing. The other is holding a plain, black hot coffee, because apparently Kazuo is out of his mind, as per usual. He looks at Mamoru at that comment - then sloowwwwly over to the comment summoning a Small Lady.

So many replies. So few of them that should be allowed to come out of his mouth, because not all former villains are yet up to snark on the subject.

"Hi," he agrees to Chibiusa instead, and folds himself down into a seat in turn. "Did you know Mamoru could sing?"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ah, the first day back at school. Ami was well within her element once again, but the daily drain--complete with lunchtime tutor sessions already--had seen her depart premises as quickly as she could manage. For once, she might well have been mistaken for Usagi with how rapidly she fled. Well. Save the hair colour. And, perhaps, the quietude with which she strode.

Not too long behind Chibiusa, Ami was into the cafe and rapidly to the counter. There was more tutoring to be had this afternoon and evening, and she was in dire need of a caffeinated fix before any of that started. With Mamoru's presence also noted, she wouldn't arrive by his claimed corner until she had sweetened cappuccino tidily in hand. Slipping into her own place silently, bag with its dangling bluejay set to the floor beside.

"We recorded it for you." Ami informed Chibiusa quietly.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi did not teleport. Usagi cannot teleport. She walks in behind Chibiusa and with Ami, carrying her own exceptionally large smoothie - hers is a pale orange, melon flavored and very refreshing. While Ami goes to get her caffeine, Usagi slumps into a chair and exhales out her soul.

Back to school in the summer humidity, ick!

"I didn't know Mamochan could sing, but I'm not surprised either!" Beat. "I was a little surprised Taro-kun could do Ariel, but -"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
His voice is mild, at least, and good-natured, and he doesn't seem embarrassed about it, but... "The only reason I could do that was because I had a present from Hinoiri in my pocket. It's from magic pony land and magical stuff from there makes you break out in showtunes sometimes. So since I wanted to, and I had that, suddenly I knew all the words and felt like I was wearing a mask," Mamoru says, "also hi. How was day one of whatever the heck grade you're in now, Chibiusa-chan?"

Under the table, he has two feet! One lands briefly on Usagi's feet to say hello, and the other on Kazuo's feet for the same reason, and then he slides them back under his seat. He just avoids giving himself brainfreeze the way he's sipping.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Kazuo asks Chibiusa a question. Her red eyes dart towards Mamoru for a moment, then back at Kazuo. "Well, I don't see why He couldn't." She shrugs. Apparently something happened with Mamoru singing that she missed out on. When Ami mentions a recording, Chibiusa looks up, curious, then sets her cup on the table before kicking her legs. "Do you have it on your phone? Let me see!"

    Young-mom also is here, also suffering from the tragic unfairness of Summer Weather. Small Lady gives her a knowing glance, waves hello, but doesn't say much. When Mamoru asks her how her day was, she shrugs. "I mean... is it really 'day one' at my age? I guess it was nice hanging out with the taller kids for once, and the math was a little more complicated."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Kazuo inclines his head solemnly to Ami's arrival, making room - making room for her and Usagi whether or not it's really necessary, just because it feels like a gesture he should still be making. At least he's gotten to the point of actually waving to Usagi. There might be hope for him yet!

"Magic pony land showtunes," Kazuo repeats, and glances to Chibiusa with a hint of 'so this is our lives now.' "I suppose that explains a few things. Though not necessarily Taro - that was a surprise. I'm pretty sure the dancing was all you, though."

This is very much not helping Chibiusa not want to see Ami's phone, most likely.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
And there's really not much keeping Ami from showing Chibiusa her phone, either. At the barest mention of it, Ami had the phone in hand already and had shuffled her chair a little closer to Chibiusa as she brought up the video. The device was set on the table, volume to an audible level but not so loud as to be disruptive, and slid closer to the youngest senshi. Ami was grinning.

Displayed on screen, of course, was Mamoru's rather bombastic performance of Poor Unfortunate Souls as Ursula-kun.

"Between his rap skills and the capacity to bring a mermaid to life at a moment's notice, Yamada-san was also quite a surprise." She confirmed. "Though, Mina-chan's portrayal of the eels was novel."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"The ventriloquism wasn't ponyland's fault either," Usagi agrees with Kazuo, and taps her foot up against Mamoru, sucking down such an amount of slurpee that it's astonishing she doesn't get brain freeze. "It was cool though!"

Ami has whipped out her recording, and Usagi leans around to watch too.

"He's one of my favorite weirdos," is the fond summary of Taro. "He's always surprising me! Probably surprising me more than school is surprising Chibiusa-chan."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru shrugs and smiles at Chibiusa. "I didn't know what you did for school for nine hundred years, but I figured you hadn't been in this grade before and the social dynamics would be different. I remember things being different at different heights."

He listens as he sips some more, and smiles around his straw at Kazuo. "The dancing and my voice were all me, yeah. And so was the ventriloquism," he nods to Usagi, and then glances at Ami while his feet have both been settled in place by factions so unopposed to being invaded that they reverse-invaded at the withdrawal, "But when you're done showing that, you have to show Soda Pop!"

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa leans towards Ami and watches her phone with rapt attention, straw in mouth, sipping her slushie silently. The small child isn't commenting because she's not in a mindspace where she thinks silence is intrinsically awkward, but it's clear from her body language and the focus of her eyes that she is very interested in seeing the video.

    Both small and regular-sized Usagis share one more thing in common: neither of them are terribly concerned with brain freeze.

    After watching the vid for a bit she glances over to Mamoru and says, "So ponyland magic makes you sing? I didn't realize that karaoke night was this big musical production. I thought it was just friends singing into the microphone."

    She'll have to tell her future parents about this. Would they be jealous? Would they try to outdo their younger selves?

    To Mamoru, she says, "Well it's hard to tell how much is different because of the age range and how much is different because of time travel. What's actual weird is the feeling that, for once, my peers might not outgrow me."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Kazuo starts to say something, stops, and takes a drink of his coffee instead. The question of how much of Chibiusa's behavior derives directly from not having had longterm relationships with her quasi-peers is an interesting one, and not one he wants to bring up right now. "You might have the same classmates two years running," he says instead. "That must feel weird."

Nothing is said about the eels. Or about Soda Pop. He arches eyebrows across at Usagi instead. "Given how many of us you count as friends, his being one of your favorites is impressive."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
A nod is offered In Mamoru's direction. "Don't worry, I will."

And that's exactly what she did. As the impromptu Little Mermaid enactment wrapped itself up, Ami took the phone up again to navigate to the group number. Her eyes darted to Chibiusa.

"This one was impressive." She commented, eyebrows jumping higher. "You'd think they spent the past month in rehearsal just to perform this one."

A tap and the video started playing. The fact that everyone was boys for it scarcely registered to Ami.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "Do I hear Mamoru's singing?" Amy runs up to the group, seeing the recording being shown to Chibiusa. "He was so good, right? It was incredible!"

    Catching the tail end of the other conversation, though, she wonders, to Chibiusa... "What did you tell the school, anyway? A growth spurt is a bit much, and I don't think 'I'm my suspiciously-similar-looking cousin Usagi Tsukino, No Not That One Yet Another One' could possibly fly, right...?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Well, you've gotta remember it depends on my definition of weirdo," Usagi informs Kazuo cheerfully. Mamoru clamors for Soda Pop to go on next, and there's zero embarrassment from Usagi as their performance goes up, and she grins. "You'd think so, huh?"

No one has to *ask* if that's exactly what they did.

"Oh, hey Amy-chan! Yeah, Ami-chan recorded a lot of last night!" She scooches over, making room for another chair at their table, then eeps a little at the question, laughing awkwardly, "Well, would you believe Chibiusa-chan has this crazy umbrella..."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"That's true," agrees Mamoru to Chibiusa-- and then he shrugs. "It's the first time I've ever actually done karaoke? So I was probably doing it wrong." Sip. Sip. Tiny hee hee hee face.

He laughs sheepishly at Amy and reaches up to rub the back of his head. "Ah-- thanks. It's such a good villain song. I leaned a little on Hematite for it. Just a little. For the Aura."

Oh that's an awkward question all right. His be-sandaled foot flickers up to Usagi's ankle to enable a 'NO DON'T TELL HER CHIBIUSA MIND CONTROLLED THE TEACHERS DON'T DO IT DON'T' panic without it being actively visible.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    "I told them I ate all my vegetables, every day, without complaint," says Chibiusa to Amy, while watching the Soda Pop recording. "They didn't believe me, but I kept talking over them and changing the subject every time they tried to ask so eventually they gave up."

    Yes. She is, in fact, admitting to that level of social manipulation in front of everyone. Completely without apology. No, she's not bringing up the hypnobrella.

    Chibiusa smiles up at Kazuo saying, "I know, right? I hope I can keep pace with Momoko-chan. She's nice."

    Small Lady blinks at the song and says, "... why does this song sound like a dark general plot? Did Tamaki write this?" That last question is asked with perfect innocence. No specific reason to single out Jadeite in particular.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
"It was," Kazuo agrees to Amy, and if her hands are empty, offers her the package of melonpan. "I wouldn't worry too much about the school doing improbable things. After all. They hired Inai. The people with common sense are irritably accustomed to being overridden by now." At least Chibiusa bothered to claim the vegetables.

Then Chibiusa asks her question about the song, and Kazuo hastily muffles any sound he might be making in reaction to it, completely missing the hints of byplay between Mamoru and Usagi as a result.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "That worked?" Amy wonders, of Chibiusa, but seems to accept that maybe, especially with the veil, mundanes might roll with that. "Man. Maybe I jumped the gun on assuming the Academy would never believe what happened to me..." She shakes her head, "But I'm glad I took the invite."

    She smiles. "Getting to know everyone as a fellow student... I think I kinda need this experience to like, actually grow into an adult? If I'd been that lonely..." Her face glances at her ring coldly. "...I don't think I would've lasted."

    She shakes her head again. "Sorry, what were we talking about? Oh right, the 'aura'..."

    Amy stares into space for a moment, trying to process a memory she can only liken to interactions with evil Usagi. "That was... something."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Mamoru is so full of panic and Usagi can only give him a sense of 'but it would be kind of funny' that she knows is not justified but.

Is she wrong?

Possibly! Quite possibly.

"That's the way to go," Usagi nods, "Just outlast them! What are they going to do, say it was magic?" Sometimes the Veil is very useful. As for the song? "Ehhhh, Jinu is actually kind of like Tamaki, now that I think about it! It's definitely an evil plot. Gold star for Chibiusa-chan!"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Oh no." Ami responded to Chibiusa aside. "This was not Tamaki-kun's doing. It's a song from a movie, sung by the villains."

As far as she knew, at least. Unlike Usagi and Minako, Ami hadn't stopped to watch K-Pop Demon Hunters herself. Anything she learned about it had been through that cultural osmosis, caught between its playing in the background while she did other things--perhaps when she'd been present for Usagi's watching--and, simply, her friends discussing it. Her knowledge came to a stop around there, however.

Still. They were discussing school things, too, and the blue-haired senshi glanced up and around finally. Evidently, she'd been rather distracted by the recorded performances

"If you need to keep up with someone academically, I can definitely see to that."

Was that what they'd said? It probaly didn't matter so much. Ami had a look now.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Is everyone just not comparing Jinu to Hematite because it's low-hanging fruit or something?" Mamoru half-complains, actually kind of mystified. He keeps his foot against Usagi's ankle for a second longer and gives her a pleading look, and it's like babe I don't have the debate in me and we are being psychic even now it would be bad for Chibiusa for the conversation to be here and now in front of Amy, and even in front of Kazuo and Ami the very first time-- he looks rueful and lets it all go, they can talk later.

"Gods, I am the hot one with the abs. But yeah it was a classic Tamaki-kun move, handled with skill and grace and ~devilishly~ good fine control over mass manipulation." He eyes Ami, then Chibiusa, and then looks at Kazuo. "Don't die, it would be hideously inconvenient," he says soothingly, reaching up to rub him on the back. "I know you almost laughed. It's okay."

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa either gracefully ignores or completely fails to notice Kazuo's reaction, but she does nod along with what else he says. "That's right. It's just another weird magical thing, really." Then she blinks at Amy for a moment and has a thoughtful sip of her pink-flavored slushie before responding. "Well, I wasn't growing up at all until I came here, so I think I kinda get that."

    Small Lady beams proudly at Usagi, both for the gold star comment and because yes, she did outlast them. "Don't underestimate the stamina of someone who's been the same age for 9 centuries." Then she gets the full explanation from Ami and says, "Ohhh, I see. So 'yes and no' basically."

    Ami's implication is taken as an offer, not a threat, because when you've known Sailor Mercury for a really long time there are some things you just kinda get used to. Chibiusa lights up and smiles. "Are you saying you'll help me study?"

    Mamoru's complaint is met with, "In my defense, I haven't watched the movie yet. I just saw 'evil via mass appeal' and thought of Jadeite."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
"If it helps," Kazuo says blandly to Mamoru as Mamoru helpfully consoles him for Almost Laughing, "I'm not comparing Jinu to Hematite because I have no idea who Jinu is." Other than, apparently, a movie villain, thank you Ami. For someone lurking with that many screens, he's apparently not using any of them for anything actually useful to a teenager.

And then Chibiusa lights up at Ami, and Kazuo openly grins behind his coffee. That's his not-actually-his girl.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
A Tsukino who was excited for study. Ami almost fell out of her chair. She didn't, but the near miss was written across her features as she looked Chibiusa over.

"You better bet I will." Ami confirmed as the shock passed and, instead, the smaller twin-tailed senshi is met with a very pleased grin.

If only she could get Usagi to so cheerfully accept Ami's assistance. As it was, she had to bribe her often with confections and affections, or otherwise rely on the hypnotic power of Mamoru's tutorship of their shared blonde. It was definitely a team effort.

"We'll make sure your spot at the top of your class is uncontested."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy is poking at a remembered feeling trying to pry apart and understand 'I'm in danger :)' when the closest reference points are 'I'm in danger! I don't know if this lady is gonna suddenly make my life hell for reasons I will barely if at all understand' and 'I'm in danger :) but I'm not 100% sure Eclipse and Friday won't turn the world into a weirdtopia (and, not that she could quite conceptualize it as such, but also maybe girl hot)'

    Mamoru's voice jostles her free of her thoughts. "Hmm? What's Jinu? ...I still haven't seen that movie. I'm gonna watch it with Taro."

    Beat.

    "Wait, the soda pop song is part of an evil plot...?"

    Chibiusa says she gets it, having a weird path to growing up, and Amy nods with a slight smile. "Yeah. And you got a bit older now because you started getting what you needed to grow, right? But even then... only that much. Neither of us is gonna become an adult overnight."

    Amy blinks. "...Unless we get turned evil. Why was Wicked Lady... uh, older? Just sort of an I'm the adult now people have to do what I say thing brought on by Dark Energy...?" She looks curious, then thoughtful.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Okay, obviously we need a movie night," Mamoru says, then finishes his coffee slush with an obnoxious straw sound. He puts the cup down. He hasn't removed his hand from Kazuo's back, so surreptitious. "At some point soon. Don't leave town," he tells Kazuo, "I'm not making you play a new gatcha. Just asking you to devote a couple hours of life for some fun animation and really pretty music videos and some wicked fight scenes. And little bit of het UST. It's for part of your teenaged cultural experience."

A beat. "You need to know what your mom is talking about."

He looks between Ami and Chibiusa, then finally removes his hand from Kazuo's back and just abjectly LEANS ON HIS SHOULDER for a second before he says, "I need to do my homework. Homework station upstairs. Anyone going upstairs right now is doing so to go do homework. Come, Usako, K-azuo--"

The world may never know what he almost just said; he gets up with all dignity and swans off imperiously, reaching to tug Usagi and Kazuo with him.

Not quite as imperiously anymore.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
The impressive part about this is that Mamoru leans on Kazuo's shoulder after Kazuo swats at him for the comment about his mom. "Usagi," he says, as he gets up to follow along after Mamoru (with a little bow to Chibiusa and Amy and Ami), "fair warning, if he starts singing now, I might strangle him. Just a little. Don't worry, I'll return him in good condition, I just wanted to warn you..."

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa smiles up at Ami and nods emphatically. "Yay! I'm gonna be the very best!"

    Mamoru, Usagi and Kazuo are all starting to leave, to go study, and something in the back of her mind makes her question whether or not she wants to be involved in that. Yeah, she did just say she wanted to study with Ami but there is just a vibe there...

    She takes a sip of her pink slushie... what is pink flavor, anyways? Strawberry? Mango? Both? Chibiusa continues to sip, for she does not know. Eventually she releases the straw to answer Amy's question.

    "I mean, it's a little fuzzy, but yeah... I remember it mostly about being an adult, being powerful, being dependable and someone who could be looked up to. Having authority. All of that mixed in with dark energy nonsense that doesn't really make sense to me now that I'm not soaking in it."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy nods. "That's understandable. ...I mean, I only had dark energy for a few hours but it went from 'oh gods I don't want to die here' to 'I will find a way to use this power to show how awesome and useful I am and impress everyone with my special ability to use it' remarkably fast in retrospect."

    She thinks for a moment.

    "...Wanting power isn't bad -- it can be used for good, after all. To be dependable and looked up to, also good things... although faking it when we're not really ready can be, uh, bad. Authority can be wielded well, your parents and everyone they delegated to seems to have done a pretty good job."

    "...I guess that's... what it does, huh. It tells you you can use it for a good reason. Maybe, rarely, you even can..."

    "...I always thought... well... I had understood this sort of thing as more... I mean, when it was just stories, I guess I thought the formula was, it gives you something you really want or need, or convinces you you want or need it, or makes you feel like you can't live without it, and then... then it can make you give up or turn on what's really important, to keep what it gave you. ...And I guess that's sort of right, but it like... the nuance is kinda different? Though I only had it briefly, does that description sound... incomplete?"