Afternoon and Evening, June 15th, 1999--???

[happyhalloween]

[After Maria had shown up with Minako that morning for school as if it had been any other day, Mr Policeman had decided that instead of going to classes, Maria should spend the morning talking to him about Mamma. She'd told him that Mamma had been in a bad mood that evening and that she usually tried to sneak out when Mamma was in bad moods like that and go to visit Maya or Osaka or Minako those nights, because they'd let her sleep in her room and not tell any grown-ups that would try to take her home.

She thought Mr Policeman believed her. All that stuff she'd said was true, she'd just said it in a way that made him think she wasn't there when Space Witch Venus saved her from the Black Witch.

But after such a long time of boring questions, that had gone quite past the lunch break, Maria knew she had to go somewhere else than the school, if only for a little while. And Hiroshi still needed to be given lunch. That was it. She'd go to the convenience store and buy food for Hiroshi and feed him and talk to him while the others were in afternoon classes. Maybe she could tell him more about the Moon Princess. It didn't seem like he remembered much about her, not like Venus did, but Maria thought he'd be happy to know she was probably Maya.

Maria was, anyway.

--

After her talk with Hiroshi, Maria spends the rest of the afternoon in the clubroom, putting the finishing touches on her Apprentice Witch Chibi-Venus cloak and thinking about everything he'd said to her when she visited. Eventually, just before everyone files in to gloomily discuss what to do next, Maria makes a decision.

Next time Venus leaves her alone with Hiroshi, she's going to help him.]

Comments

[happyhalloween]

"No, Hiroshi's the Prince of Earth! Minako's from space and-- excuse me--" Osaka should still be able to hear Maria's voice, however feint, as she holds the phone away so she can lean down to tell Hiroshi, "No! We can't tell anyone outside the club! That's how Minako got possessed, because we let Souji know we were gonna do the ritual!"

A few seconds later and, "Sorry, Osaka! Hiroshi is being silly! Listen, Minako did all the bad stuff because she's possessed. Maya was framed! We have to break her out of jail. Get whatever you need and go hide out next to the jail. You have to, okay? Osaka is Maria's apprentice, so she has to follow her orders."

[ohmygah]

Okay then. This was now happening. Osaka, being the intelligent, reasonable, and logical person she is, responds appropriately.

She salutes. "Ya got it, boss-chan! What should Ah get?"

[happyhalloween]

Maria takes a second to consider this. "Ooh, um, rope! And a flashlight! And bandages! And maybe something to cut the bandages with. And-- and a boombox with some loud music in it!"

Because they might need a distraction for Mr Policeman.

"Also, a net if you have one."

[all_onis_are_true]

Hiroshi legit has no idea where the hell any of this is going. All he hopes is that when this is all over, they don't get TOO much jail time for this. Especially if Maria isn't going to let him provide testimony. "Dare I ask what this plan entails?" he asks hesitantly.

[ohmygah]

"Ah'm on it! Ah'll meet ya there!"

And then she asks her mom to help gather some materials and then drive her to the jail. Which her mom helps with, because Osaka's mom is chill.

[happyhalloween]

Once Osaka hangs up, Maria leans down to talk to Hiroshi more. "We're gonna distract Mr Policeman, jump him, tie him up, and steal his keys," Maria explains, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. "Now, what's the President's phone number?"

[all_onis_are_true]

"...Should be saved in the autodial under her name," he replies, suppressing a sigh. "If you hold that button between the red and the green one, you can find a menu for it." Hiroshi really has no control over this situation. And frankly, he has sort of stopped caring at this point whether he does or not.

He wonders what the plan afterwards is, though.

[happyhalloween]

"Ooooh," says Maria. "Hiroshi's so smart about phones." She plays around with the autodial, until she finds the Chiyoko's name. "Ah! Here it is."

She's just gonna go dial it now!

[kaicho]

[ the second ring barely has time to fade out before Chiyoko snatches up her phone and of course it slips through her fingers. she does a mad grabbing dance through the air with her phone, grabbing it a instant before it clatters to the ground and answers, panic evident in her voice. ]

H--hey, Maria-chan! What's goin' on?! What's happenin'? You went off with a policeman this mornin' yeah?! What happened?

[happyhalloween]

Oh, that was because of Mama. Space Witch Venus defeated the Black Witch while the Black Witch was possessing Mama.

[Maria, you don't have to say it so casually.]

That's not so important, though! Maria didn't tell Mr Policeman about Space Witch Venus, because she was trying to protect her, but Hiroshi helped Maria realize that Shigetsuna-sama's bear ate Venus up from the inside and now it's making her do bad things! [There's a slight pause and then she adds:] Space Witch Venus used to be Minako.

[kaicho]

[ she has a million and one questions for Maria and there's a scolding on the tip of her tongue, for going off on one of her magic rambles right now when Chiyoko's so worried

but then she says Minako and suddenly everything comes horribly and sharply into focus. ]

W--wait, Minako-- y--you're sayin' Minako's the one this time? She's the one killin' everyone?!

[happyhalloween]

[Maria nods before she realizes that the President can't see her nodding.]

She became Space Witch Venus to help awaken the Moon Princess. That's Maya. She and Hiroshi are gonna get married later, because he's the Earth Prince. But we broke one of Shigetsuna-sama's rules when we let Souji know about the ritual, so instead of the offering not getting their wish and having to do lots of hard work, she sent her bear to eat the offering up!

[This sounds weird, but we promise it makes perfect sense to Maria.]

[kaicho]

[ okay. okay from what she remembers last time, osaka... split, right down the middle. ayumu and osaka, two different people. from the sounds of it this is... something similar. minako's delusions are different, more over the top, but no less dangerous for it.

maria's been running around with her. just what's the poor kid seen minako do? how many times has she been in danger?

she takes in a big breath, holds it to try and calm herself, but her exhale and her voice are both still shaky ]

Maria-chan, listen to me. No matter what Minako says, she ain't safe right now -- you gotta promise me you ain't gonna go near her again, okay? We gotta go to the police and tell 'em everythin', before anyone else gets hurt!

[happyhalloween]

No! We can't tell the police! This happened because Souji knew about things! If the police find out, more bad things will happen!

[Maria says this with all the conviction in her little nine-year-old body.]

Maria knows Venus isn't safe anymore. That's why Maria sent Tomosuke with Venus on a secret mission alone together, so she could break Hiroshi out from the Secret Chamber!

[kaicho]

Wait-- you-- Hiroshi's with you?

[ just give her a second to drag her hand down her face because this conversation is going places she is not prepared to handle right now ]

You found Hiroshi? Is he with you right now? Is he okay?!

[happyhalloween]

Of course! Hiroshi's been in the Secret Chamber since yesterday! Venus locked him up with her Love-Me Chain! And Maria brought him lunch today because she thought Space Witch Venus would forget to!

[Maria bought it all by herself at the convenience store! Of course, she's had a lot of practice doing that on nights when Mama hadn't been home, before she had her club members to take care of her.]

Hiroshi is okay. He's giving Maria a lift on his shoulders to the town. And he let Maria borrow his cell phone! But he might need a few bandages, but Maria told Osaka to bring them when we meet up to break Maya-oneesan out of jail.

[kaicho]

[ EVERY TIME SHE THINKS SHE'S CATCHING UP TO THE CONVERSATION, SOMETHING COMES OUT NOWHERE AND JUST BLINDSIDES HER

There's a good ten seconds of spluttering before she finally manages to make herself coherant and yells into the phone ]

YOU'RE DOING WHAT?!

THAT'S BREAKIN' THE LAW! LIKE, EVERY LAW! EVERY SINGLE LAW!

[happyhalloween]

BUT MAYA-ONEESAN DIDN'T DO IT! SHE WAS FRAMED!

[Suddenly Maria's voice goes from shouting to quiet.]

Please, Madame President. Maria let Venus do so many bad things because she trusted she was a good witch and she wasn't. Maria is gonna do good things now. Maria's gonna break Maya-oneesan out of jail because she didn't do the bad things. And Osaka and Hiroshi are gonna help Maria.

You can help Maria too.

[kaicho]

[ there's a silence on the other end of the line -- no words, just Chiyoko breathing shakily.

she was going to protect everyone this time. make sure no one else died but haha, what a joke. haruhi's dead. rosa's dead. who knows what else minako has planned?

she couldn't save or help anyone, but now she's got the chance to do it. she wants to run to the police and tell them everything, to deny there's anything supernatural to this but... there's really no other explanation is there? and if that's the case, following along this superstition of secrets might be the only way to keep people safe.

she swallows hard. she can't believe she's about to say this. ]

Okay.

I'll help.

[happyhalloween]

Okay. Good.

We're gonna meet up outside the police station, okay? Bring anything you think we need for jumping Mr Policeman and stealing his keys.

[Unlike with Osaka, Maria trusts the President to be able to improvise.]

[kaicho]

I'm gonna get so arrested...

[ she gives a little wail, more to herself than anything, but follows it with a resigned sigh. ]

Right. I'll meetcha all there.

[happyhalloween]

"Thanks!"

Maria finds the hang-up button and punches it. She leans down to better talk to Hiroshi.

"See? Even the President is gonna help!"

Now she just has to call Nui. With Tomosuke filling Alice in, soon everyone will know that Venus is bad now.

[all_onis_are_true]

This feels weird. They could get in real trouble for this. Is it really all right not to involve anybody else?

But Maria seems determined, and right now Hiroshi needs to ensure she doesn't start having doubts about him. Even if he's still not fully buying into the witch thing as much as Maria, he still can't deny that something very strange is going on. Minako didn't start acting like this until after the ceremony. The odds of there not being some sort of connection were dubious. But they could figure that out when their lives aren't in danger.

"So it seems. You're quite a leader," he replies, smiling faintly.

[happyhalloween]

Maria grins widely. "Maria's just acting like Beatrice would. Or Grandfather."

Would Beatrice be proud of her for stopping an evil witch? She thought so. She hoped so. She'd have a really long letter to send care of Kumasawa-san after all this was done.

"Maybe after the President graduates, Maria can be President too," she muses out loud. "Hiroshi can be assistant to the President," she adds generously. She likes Hiroshi much better now that he's stopped exuding so much anti-magic toxin.

She'll tell him so after she calls Nui, Maria decides. Straightening herself on Hiroshi's shoulders, she starts punching buttons on the phone to call Nui's number.

[flatview]

[ At least this time, Nui isn't sleeping when she gets the all-important call. Rather, she's absently wandering around the outside of her house, too deep in thought to want to walk further, but too antsy to sit inside. When she hears her phone ringing, she doesn't give it much thought, but upon seeing the number, she tilts her head quizzically. ]

...Hiroshi-kun?