Drinking, Forgetful Moon

| Drinking, Forgetful Moon |


Behind the studio that Magical Girl Noir filmed in was a grassy hill. On that hill was a small bundle of trees that you couldn't call a forest, but offered a faint illusion of one. The show was on break for a while now that the current story arc finished and it was time to unwind, refresh oneself, and come back with renewed energy to act.

That was how writer slash producer expressed the rest period.

Everyone went back into the city to enjoy themselves, however, one Chiaki Matsuda was still present near the studio. On the grassy hill she sat with a bottle of sake and two cups. The normal method of consumption for Chiaki was with an ochoko, but she had invited a friend over and had taken the necessary precautions to make her feel more at home.

And come she would. At a glance it would be natural for them to ignore each other outside their work but life was full of small contradictions, and they were one of them.

".. You do like this place, Chiaki." Came a voice, haughty in tone. Chiaki looked for the source, smiling a little when she found it. Short black hair, long arms and legs, and a dress that screamed rich socialite. This was her friend, the actress for Kharn. Chiaki gave a hesitant nod.

"Y-yes, I do. Is-isn't the moon pretty?"

Kharn stared up at the moon, then shrugged. "I suppose? ... Got a place for me to sit down?" Kharn asked hesitantly, frowning at the grass. Chiaki scooted to the left side of the laid out blanket, patting next to her a few times before playing with the sake bottle. Kharn joined her, sitting down and bringing her knees to her chest. The one thing they didn't need to add anything to when dressing her up as Kharn.

Fortunately for Chiaki, they didn't have to for her either. But for Madoka, she had to downsize to fit the character description.

"You don't smell of blood today." Chiaki said after taking a whiff of the night air, opening the bottle and grabbing a glass.

"Idiot. I've had plenty of time to wash that horrible smell off. I can't believe I accepted that role in the first place. If I had known they would go that far with the details, I would've-"

"H-here, Kharn." Chiaki ferried a cup of sake to Kharn with both hands clasping it. Kharn, interrupted in mid sentence, grabbed the bottle before looking where it was.

"Thanks." Kharn murmured. Holding onto the glass, waiting for Chiaki to pour her own drink, Kharn looked around. At the full moon which filled the night sky, at the spattering of trees and at the studio behind her. She found it hard to believe that someone enjoyed this place. It wasn't what she called scenic.

With a glass in Chiaki's hand, Kharn sipped from hers, feeling the texture and sensation of sake going down her throat.

"Can I see that bottle?"

"Hmm? Oh! Yeah, sure." Chiaki squeaked, giving the bottle to Kharn. The moon gave enough light to get the bigger words to visibility but the smaller wording was problematic with Kharn. "At least you managed to get the refined stuff." She muttered, placing it in between them.

Silence. A comfortable silence, with the two drinking from their cups occasionally. Chiaki watched the moon with an admirer's gaze while Kharn looked at all the dirty vegetation, then she noticed her friend's unmoving form.

"What do you see when you're looking at the moon, Chiaki?" Kharn asked after a moment's study of the shy girl.

"Ah... what do I see?" Chiaki repeated, face half illuminated by the moonlight.

"Yeah, what do you see."

Chiaki stared up at the moon again, and a minute of silence stretches out between the two. "I... only see the moon. It... it isn't... why I stare isn't because of what I see, but how I feel."

"How you feel?"

"Mm, yeah. The moon makes me feel good. Seeing it like this makes me... smile. To my soul." What she said was true, for a smile creased her lips, the one eye radiating nothing but joy.

"Makes you feel good, huh?" Kharn murmured, looking at her friend like her friend was with the moon.

"Mmhmm." Chiaki happily replied, smiling at Kharn before turning to face the moon once again.

Kharn looked at the moon, searching for what she meant, for what she felt. "I just don't see it." Kharn gave up, drinking the last of the sake in her glass before pouring herself another half glass.

Chiaki breathed in, then released it in a content sigh. "S-so... how's everyone?" Kharn looked at her and noticed how flushed her cheeks were. Looked like the alcohol was starting to affect her half-chinese friend, mellowing her innate shyness.

"Well," Kharn shifted, now sitting cross legged. "I don't know. They've been doing their own plans without telling me."

"Oh but they m-must've spoken briefly on their plans before leaving the studio."

"Yeah they did, actually. Madoka said something about going to a few night clubs. Kyouko and Sayaka both mentioned going shopping, then looked at each other and started to make an uproar about the whole thing. Mami... sort of disappeared, but had this graceful look to her before that. That writer took his white cat back home with him."

"Hahah and how about you?"

"Me? Well... I stayed at home, marveling at how well planted the flowers were. My gardener has a great eye for placement."

"And what about me? Did I say anything about what I was going to do on my free time?"

"Hmm?" Kharn mauled over what she said, finding it to be very strange. "Why ask me? Don't you know what you did?" Kharn narrowed her eyes at her, leaning forward to get a better look of her face.

"Uh-uh." Chiaki shook her head, a concerned expression peering back at Kharn.

"Come on, Chiaki. Don't pull that 'I have Amnesia' card. I won't believe you."

"I'm not kidding, Kharn! I don't remember what happened before coming here!" Chiaki pouted, eyes wide.

Kharn stared at her, trying to decipher what she saw. Was she lying? Pulling her leg? Or was she legit, and could be suffering from an odd bout of amnesia?

"It's the truth." Chiaki assured her. Hard to disbelieve her, despite how flushed her cheeks were, with a face like that. Kharn scrunched eyebrows up, a sigh passed her lips.

Blub blub blub. She refilled Chiaki's glass.

"You're Chiaki Matsuda, actress of a magical girl known as Murderface, who suffers amnesia just like you are right now." Her tongue takes on a soft edge, reassuring her friend of past sins, something she rarely, if ever, did before. "What you did for your vacation I have no idea, since you're generally the shy--- what are you laughing at?!"

Chiaki had been trying to hold it on, but was having a hard time now that Kharn was listing details off to her. "Hahahah, oh, oh, Kharn, hahahah!!" She was losing her composure.

"You... you lied to me!" Her tone went to outrageous arrogance, flames sparking in her eyes. She had honestly believed her! Chiaki nodded, a tiny ball of giggles.

Kharn lifted the bottle and was about to throw it at her when Chiaki intercepted her.

"Noo! Don't spill any, Kharn! That stuff made a hole in my wallet!"

"You're a well paid actress, you can easily afford more!"

"Nooo! Not with how my bills are! Really, don't spiiiillll iiit!"

"Hhahaha, you lied to me, you floozy! You're such a snake while drunk!"

"Hahahah you're laughing, Kharn~"

"No I'm not, hahaha, you're a horrible person for pulling that on me, hahahahah."

Two friends played tug of war with a mostly empty bottle of sake, devolving into a fit of giggles as the intoxicating substance takes hold. The full moon shone on, illuminating the spectacle with soft ash colors, under the blue, blue sky.