[Still Earth]
Hotaru unlocks the door and pushes it open, stepping in from the rain. She shuts it softly behind her.
She stares down the hallway of the house she knew before she lef-- had... her episode. The single hallway - sterile white, and constructed of materials only wealth can afford - is lined with doors. Each leads to a separate part of the house, or a staircase - one to the upper floor, where her room is; one to the lower floor, where the main laboratory lies.
She sets her bag down and places her soaked umbrella in a nearby cubby. Then she sits, and slowly removes her shoes, trading them for her lavender house slippers. The house is absolutely quiet.
"It was all in your mind, Hotaru."
She frowns, slightly. The memories had lingered in her mind every day for the past week. Meanwhile, she's gone to school everyday, gone home for checkups early, everyday. Her Papa and... that woman, have seemed especially concerned about her ever since...
"You collapsed, Hotaru. It's been two days."
She shuts the door to her room quietly, and goes to switch on all of the lamps.
"Two days....? I.. It can't be..."
Kaori Night went and retrieved her calender - the current date the first one in a line without an 'X' through it.
The month - 'October, 2004.'
"Papa, no..." Hotaru said, turning her back to Kaori. "I left. I've been gone, really. I can prove it."
They had looked at each other, then, Professor Tomoe and Kaori Night. Professor Tomoe stepped over to his daughter and ran a cold hand across her forehead, through her hair. The move is meant to be affectionate, but it still feels anything but.
"I don't know what you dreamed about, Hotaru.
"You didn't go anywhere. You've been with us the whole time."
Hotaru had looked down, then. They came running right over after she woke up, and she was still sitting on the cold metal table where they ran their tests on her.
"Please, Papa..." she said. "You have to believe me."
Wires and electrodes were connected to every part of her body, snaking up to indistinguishable locations above. They hadn't bothered to remove them, yet, as she woke up wanting to know how she had gotten back home.
"Enough, Hotaru," Professor Tomoe reprimanded her, sternly. "No more fantasies or dreams."
Hotaru's head remained hung. She said nothing.
"Hotaru," Professor Tomoe started gently, ignoring the previous subject; it wasn't important enough.
"We're going to run the rest of the tests, now, so just lie back and be still, the way you usually do."
He turned to Kaori Night, "Kaori, switch the machines back on."
Just then, there is a knock on her door. The lamps are all on now, burning dimly in the room. Hotaru has collected lamps for her bedroom. There are so many now that the atmosphere is reminiscent of dusk.
A dusk on a summer day... when the fireflies begin to emerge.
"Come in."
Professor Tomoe opens the door. His skin is as white as Hotaru's, if not whiter, and his hair is also, starkly, though he seems a young man himself.
He steps over to her, leaving the door open a crack.
Hotaru looks up at him, craning her head back because he is so tall. Spike was as tall as him, maybe.
Spike...
She pauses as he stares down at her.
"Is it time for my checkup?"
He wears round glasses, one eye obscured by the white patch he wears on one lens. Maybe it's not a patch - it is a covering of sorts, bearing a strange glyph that itself is in the shape of an open eye. Thus, she can only ever see one eye when he looks at her, but it isn't troubling. It's how he is.
The professor turns and sits on the edge of her bed.
"I don't think we're going to have a checkup today, Hotaru. I'd simply like for you to get some rest."
She remains standing, looking distantly away. Her father sits... not awkwardly... it's as though he's very unfamiliar with the concept of sitting, let alone on the edge of a bed.
"How are you feeling?"
Hotaru turns back to him and nods, answering him quietly. "I feel fine."
He smiles.
"Are you still... troubled about the nightmares you had?"
Hotaru looks away and stays silent. Professor Tomoe sighs, rising to his feet. He starts to leave, closing the door behind him.
"Hotaru... try to get some rest."
The latch of the door clicks behind him.
Professor Tomoe stays outside of the bedroom for a moment or two. It is inconsequential, after all... he puts his hands in his lab coat pockets.
"Kaolinite..." Professor Tomoe enters the lab, and goes straight to a panel filled with lights and wires. "We won't have any more problems with her, will we?"
The woman known as "Kaori Night" stands in the shadows behind him. Her short, red, skin-tight dress is gone. Thick, bright red hair cascades over the shoulders of her outfit - a long revealing black dress with a pointed collar. She bows in obeisance. "No, professor. I shall watch her myself from now on."
"I expect no further disruptions, then. If we had lost her, there would been no hope for ourselves. That was too close. We have no time to retrieve our vessel from alternate dimensions when there is so much else to be acheived here."
"Yes, professor."
"We must focus on our mission. We must focus on capturing the Hoste of the Sailor Scout impurities."
"I already have one of my girls on it, professor."
"Very good."
She stares down the hallway of the house she knew before she lef-- had... her episode. The single hallway - sterile white, and constructed of materials only wealth can afford - is lined with doors. Each leads to a separate part of the house, or a staircase - one to the upper floor, where her room is; one to the lower floor, where the main laboratory lies.
She sets her bag down and places her soaked umbrella in a nearby cubby. Then she sits, and slowly removes her shoes, trading them for her lavender house slippers. The house is absolutely quiet.
"It was all in your mind, Hotaru."
She frowns, slightly. The memories had lingered in her mind every day for the past week. Meanwhile, she's gone to school everyday, gone home for checkups early, everyday. Her Papa and... that woman, have seemed especially concerned about her ever since...
"You collapsed, Hotaru. It's been two days."
She shuts the door to her room quietly, and goes to switch on all of the lamps.
"Two days....? I.. It can't be..."
Kaori Night went and retrieved her calender - the current date the first one in a line without an 'X' through it.
The month - 'October, 2004.'
"Papa, no..." Hotaru said, turning her back to Kaori. "I left. I've been gone, really. I can prove it."
They had looked at each other, then, Professor Tomoe and Kaori Night. Professor Tomoe stepped over to his daughter and ran a cold hand across her forehead, through her hair. The move is meant to be affectionate, but it still feels anything but.
"I don't know what you dreamed about, Hotaru.
"You didn't go anywhere. You've been with us the whole time."
Hotaru had looked down, then. They came running right over after she woke up, and she was still sitting on the cold metal table where they ran their tests on her.
"Please, Papa..." she said. "You have to believe me."
Wires and electrodes were connected to every part of her body, snaking up to indistinguishable locations above. They hadn't bothered to remove them, yet, as she woke up wanting to know how she had gotten back home.
"Enough, Hotaru," Professor Tomoe reprimanded her, sternly. "No more fantasies or dreams."
Hotaru's head remained hung. She said nothing.
"Hotaru," Professor Tomoe started gently, ignoring the previous subject; it wasn't important enough.
"We're going to run the rest of the tests, now, so just lie back and be still, the way you usually do."
He turned to Kaori Night, "Kaori, switch the machines back on."
Just then, there is a knock on her door. The lamps are all on now, burning dimly in the room. Hotaru has collected lamps for her bedroom. There are so many now that the atmosphere is reminiscent of dusk.
A dusk on a summer day... when the fireflies begin to emerge.
"Come in."
Professor Tomoe opens the door. His skin is as white as Hotaru's, if not whiter, and his hair is also, starkly, though he seems a young man himself.
He steps over to her, leaving the door open a crack.
Hotaru looks up at him, craning her head back because he is so tall. Spike was as tall as him, maybe.
Spike...
She pauses as he stares down at her.
"Is it time for my checkup?"
He wears round glasses, one eye obscured by the white patch he wears on one lens. Maybe it's not a patch - it is a covering of sorts, bearing a strange glyph that itself is in the shape of an open eye. Thus, she can only ever see one eye when he looks at her, but it isn't troubling. It's how he is.
The professor turns and sits on the edge of her bed.
"I don't think we're going to have a checkup today, Hotaru. I'd simply like for you to get some rest."
She remains standing, looking distantly away. Her father sits... not awkwardly... it's as though he's very unfamiliar with the concept of sitting, let alone on the edge of a bed.
"How are you feeling?"
Hotaru turns back to him and nods, answering him quietly. "I feel fine."
He smiles.
"Are you still... troubled about the nightmares you had?"
Hotaru looks away and stays silent. Professor Tomoe sighs, rising to his feet. He starts to leave, closing the door behind him.
"Hotaru... try to get some rest."
The latch of the door clicks behind him.
Professor Tomoe stays outside of the bedroom for a moment or two. It is inconsequential, after all... he puts his hands in his lab coat pockets.
"Kaolinite..." Professor Tomoe enters the lab, and goes straight to a panel filled with lights and wires. "We won't have any more problems with her, will we?"
The woman known as "Kaori Night" stands in the shadows behind him. Her short, red, skin-tight dress is gone. Thick, bright red hair cascades over the shoulders of her outfit - a long revealing black dress with a pointed collar. She bows in obeisance. "No, professor. I shall watch her myself from now on."
"I expect no further disruptions, then. If we had lost her, there would been no hope for ourselves. That was too close. We have no time to retrieve our vessel from alternate dimensions when there is so much else to be acheived here."
"Yes, professor."
"We must focus on our mission. We must focus on capturing the Hoste of the Sailor Scout impurities."
"I already have one of my girls on it, professor."
"Very good."