Way More Important Than School (Hotaru and Geminae )

Hotaru was never a morning person. Every day on her long trek to school, she wished for nothing more than an extra hour of sleep or two. Being a hero was a fulltime job and one that took president over school. Still, no matter how hard she tried, her mother wouldn't budge on how Hotaru had to go to school no matter what. Rocking a grand total of three hours of sleep, she had to make up the sleep where she could, which today included skipping breakfast.

Halfway through the walk and she saw that was a mistake. "Uhhhhhg...There's no way I'm gonna make it to lunch!" She had some money in her backpack if she recalled correctly, and there was at least one place with good breakfast not far from the path. She'd be late, sure, but it wasn't like school was important to her. Besides, she was probably going to die of starvation if she didn't get food soon. That would make learning pretty difficult. The city was quiet...too quiet. No hollows blocked her path, just nothing. She wished there was, though. That would be fun, and probably wake her up from her sleep-deprived stupor.

The diner staff didn't ask her questions. They just sat her down and even gave her free coffee! That was nice. I've gotta ask mom about letting me have coffee in the mornings... She poured sugar and creamer into the coffee until it was suitably delicious instead of vile black poison. She checked her backpack and was relieved to find she did in fact have money for a meal.

Suddenly, she felt it. It was more than a feeling but just as vague and strange. Some part of her was setting off alarm bells, but she couldn't understand why...Was there someone near her who was special like she was? She scanned the diner and the front-facing windows, hoping to find who, or what she was feeling.

The cold air was just about the only thing keeping her digestive tract from reversing course as she walked toward the diner. It was a looong night. The good sort, but she was paying for it today. Not like she hadn't already paid for it, it was an adventure intended to reward her recent valor rather than punish her body.

Hunting was going well. She was on her own now--by choice--and making the most of the skills she had put aside. Now that she was a little older than when her training had organically started she fit her body pretty well. The awkward lanky teen phase had passed and she no longer felt like a fresh-born fawn with weak and wobbly legs. She was a woman, full of confidence in both her abilities and her technique. Arrogance was a risk, yes, of course. Warned as clearly as she was she insisted that, at least for now, she was going to have to be the one to hold herself accountable.

She had already failed to do that before, and that's why things had come to this.

"Just one..." she mumbled to the hostess as she stepped into the diner still wearing her oversized sunglasses. A big jacket covered her upper body but a pencil skirt and knee-high boots stuck out from underneath. A large handbag trailing after her, much the afterthought that it was.

Per chance, she was seated one booth over from Hotaru who set eyes on her with a sort of amazement. If her head had been less foggy, she might have seen or noticed the girl first or given a more careful analysis as to whether or not she was looking at Geminae or just looking at her. If you know what I mean.

Settling into her booth, the waitress brough coffee and gave her brief introductory spiel.

Geminae let her finish and flashed a weak smile before handing back the menu and beginning her order. "I'll have four pieces of toast, buttered. Three eggs all over-hard. Pieces of bacon. A lot. And some maple syrup. Oh, and oatmeal if you have any? And a parfait. If you don't have parfait, just some fruit and creme or yogurt. And water. A big glass of ice water. Maybe two."

The waitress looked down at her as she finally finished catch up with the large order on her pad, both fearing and expecting more to come but it did not. After an open pause, her attendant nodded her head and read the order back before zooming off to put the sizeable fare in.

She sighed as he melted a bit into her seat and unbuttoned the jacket that had protected her on the way in here. The soft sounds of conversation and harmless easy listening music were about all the more commotion she could handle right then. Inevitably, her eyes settled back to the school-aged youth the next booth over.

"Doing the skip today?" she smirked as she looked over her glasses to the young girl.

Hotaru's first instinct was that she was busted. Was it some member of the school's secret police? Did they even have secret police? Probably not, she told herself. Still, her heart raced at being noticed. It wasn't until she realized, or rather intuited the source of what she was feeling was the woman who called out to her that her fear was replaced with joy. Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! Someone like her! Surely this woman more than anyone would understand how stupid school was when one could see ghosts and fight them.

She was beautiful by all accounts. If Hotaru had to guess, this one was some big shot model or something. Hotaru would have to assert dominance to prove she wasn't just some stupid kid. In her mind, there was only one logical conclusion. She grabbed her coffee in one hand and walked over to the woman's booth. She waved at the waitress who'd seated her to ensure she noticed the change in seating and promptly plopped her self down opposite the woman who she sensed. She formed her hands into a steeple. That was a cool thing to do, she was certain. "You're awful perceptive, aren't you?" She broke the finger steeple to sip her coffee in a display of "I am really cool and this is not taking all of my mental energy". "Well I can see things too, you know. That's how I know you're...uh...you know..."

She started off so cool only to flounder in the last line of the introduction. It's not my fault I don't know what we're called! "You know...like with the ghosts and stuff, right?" Her voice was weak. God this is lame "School's for chumps anyway. Not for people like us, right? Oh, names Hotaru Yoshitsune, by the way, don't wear it out." She figured that was a good save. No stupid model was going to have cause to look down on her!

As her new guest settled into her seat and talked a million miles a minute, Geminae poured a steady stream of both creamer and sugar into her coffee until it was unrecognizeable as its original beverage. And just as Hotaru finished, the waitress exercised excellent timing and brought two tall glasses of ice water to help with her morning's truggles.  "Put her ticket with me." She did her best to smile at the waitress but she was scraping the tank for 'fucks' to give already.

"That's practically a formal declaration of war, my new friend." She lilted as she unwrapped her silverware and got her spoon to stirring. "What has school done to offend you such?"

Without allowing time for a real answer she shifted in her seat as she fought through the fog of her hangover. "You know, in France where I grew up, students learn about their civil liberties and their civic duties. If the school has done something to offend the students at large of their sensibilities, they would go on a strike. The faculty, the parents, encourage it if done for thoughtful reasons."

Carefully, she had side-stepped the harder questions her young guest had levied but she also did not deny them. Yes, it was entirely true she could see ghosts and other things. Yes, it was true that, based on the vibe she was feeling from this young woman, they resonated in a pretty similar manner. Yes, it was true that this student's abilities must be coming along and developing fast if they were able to pin-point that feeling to her and confirm it.

Ah, the curiosity of youth.

"I say that it is a pleasure, Hotaru Yoshitsune. My name is Geminae de Loure." From behind her oversized sunglasses she raised an eyebrow in intrigue. Perhaps this child knew far more than the older woman suspected. But then again, the idea she might not...implied a chance to get it right. To make up for effort lost.

Considering how Hotaru had messed up her attempt to be all cool, it was a relief that the lady's first response was to pay for her meal. Though her next words were significantly less pleasing. What school had done to offend her was a long list, and she didn't want to spend all day reading them off. School in France sounded almost kind of nice, well, compared to how it was in Japan, at least. The idea of some student union protesting stupid tests and mean teachers was a cool one, but Hotaru had little faith that her classmates wouldn't just be scabs in such a strike. Besides, learning about civic duties sounded totally boring, anyways.

She started a response before she quickly stopped herself. That didn't have anything to do with fighting ghosts! Hotaru was like 99% certain this woman was like her. It would be really embarrassing if she wasn't. So why wouldn't she just fess up to it already? Was this some kind of initiation test into a secret sect of the ghost fighting people? Wait, a second, I haven't even ordered my very much free meal yet! "Oh, uh, waitress, can I get a ham and cheese omelet with a side of toast, please." She instinctively looked at Geminae for approval before realizing that was stupid and correcting herself. Surely a side of toast wouldn't set the model-actress-lady back too terribly much.

With that taken care of, there was little to distract Hotaru from the matter at hand. Usually, in stories that involved powerful people living amongst normals, there was a rule that you had to hide the existence of powerful people from the mortals. So was that what Geminae was employing here? "Wait, that didn't answer my question at all. Come on, you can tell me if you've got powers!" In her mind, a direct solution was the best. It most often was. "I mean, I've got them too, so it isn't like the secret's gonna get out or anything." her voice was more excited than anything, though she tried her best to keep her voice quiet. Hotaru had her now! Soon they could talk about the only thing that mattered in the world: having superpowers and fighting ghosts.

The older (although not much!) Quincy gave a barely perceptible nod of approval at the addition of an omelet and toast; controlled additions were expected when someone picks up your bill with no strings attached! But throwing on lobster tails and bottles of Dom would prompt a stern response. Thankfully this class-skipping schoolgirl was no threat to request either of those things at 9am in a diner.

Geminae slid a tall glass of ice water over in front of her mouth, moving her head and turning her neck as little a humanly possible to affect the change she needed. The semi-translucent straw eventually wound its way to her mouth, parting her lips and delivering a weak but much-needed dose of cold water. Empowered by the first taste, the second drink was much stronger and fuller, almost desperately, but she controlled herself. She was no stranger to cottonmouth and it was the definition of unladylike to drop her facade so easily to this young woman.

"Ah, mais oui." She mused in a quiet voice, attempting to do her headache a favor and keep the dial turned down to 2 or 3, maybe 4, before youthful enthusiasm cranked it up. "I see the spooks. My entire family can as well and they taught me everything I know about hunting the nasty ones."

At that, she winked and sucked down more water just as the waitress returned with her oatmeal and parfait. The mains would be along in due time.

"Do you ever hunt the spooky ghosts?" Truthfully the question was innocent; she didn't expect a fully formed or honest answer. While Geminae was well aware Japan had a number of historical and respected Quincy clans, it's entirely possible this young woman was simply just blessed by spiritually gifted influences in her life. A grandmother who was a shrine maiden, a distant cousin who was a Shinto priest. The world was a vast and sometimes scary place, but it also carried so much variety and beauty in even its simplest presentations.

Even in something as unexpected as a youthful and curious face at a quiet little diner.

Finally! She had an answer out of her new friend. Geminae told Hotaru of her own family, each having powers like hers. Hotaru was suddenly glad to be the only one in her family with powers. If everyone had them, she wouldn't be special anymore. Still, having a family with powers meant having cool mentors. It was a trade-off, she supposed. Suddenly, Hotaru was on the receiving end of a question. It made her heart race for a moment. She had been training and could see ghosts, but hunting them... she wasn't very good at yet.

"Heh, yeah, I totally hunt them, like all the time!" She lied. Hotaru didn't want Geminae to think of her as some stupid weak kid. That would just ruin the whole breakfast! She had to convince her, and fast. "I've gotten some pretty sick kills on the bad guys, you know. Like once I..." She reached into her backpack. Rational thought had left her mind being replaced by instinct. Somewhere in her brain, she thought it was a good idea to show Geminae her lucky necklace. Magic items were cool, and Geminae would think Hotaru was cool for having one. "I strangled a ghost with this necklace." She blurted out. In a book she read, a character strangled another with a necklace, though it was kind of sad. She wasn't sure why that lie was the one that poured out of her.

Hotaru could barely bring herself to look at Geminae, so instead, she just piddled with her necklace. She was usually a better liar, but here she'd been caught off guard. Maybe Geminae believed her. She really hoped she did. Though changing the subject was also a good idea. "Maybe you'll have to show me your powers sometime, you know since I'm a fellow superhero. What, uh, brings you to Japan anyway?"