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"Where did you get them?" Pony asked.
"Nobody else wanted them," Mei said.
"But that makes no sense. You said your party went out on a quest to get them. Why...?" and tried making her hands express how bizarre it struck her that nobody desired to keep their earned reward.
"We went on a quest, and we ended up with them," Mei agreed. "I think everyone else expected videos or autographs."
"And you?" Pony asked her first and best friend in this country.
Mei's eyes glinted as brightly as her goggles did. "You know why I went," chuckling.
Pony's laugh joined in quickly, understanding that quite well. You went for the challenge, for the novelty of braving a new set of locks and defenses. "Can I look at them?" she asked once they'd both settled back down.
Handing them over without a flourish or delay, "You can keep 'em. I wasn't sure what to do with them. Not sure my babies'd've liked the company," with a shrug - as close to a 'i admit i don't know' as she'd come in Pony's estimation.
To that, she lowered her eyes, feeling that Mei had trapped her...or had lured her into this. "You wanted me to have them, did you?" was all she could inquire, and quietly at that.
"I think you'd do better with them than I would. I'd probably end up weaponizing those little..."
'Little'? I told you about the kid in my class back in the States, I did, who had nose boogers that could serve as BB Gun bullets. And, opening the first of the taken envelopes, Pony's eyes widened as she took in the text:
Happy Birthday, Mineta. You had a good, useful idea which served us well during the Exam. -Froppy.
"I have to give this back," Pony swiftly said. No joking, no jest; only straight to the point of a single complement. Why wait til his birthday to say thanks?
"Okay," Mei replied. "Want me to come with?"
"Please."
As the two of them made their way from 1-B's common room to 1-A's, Mei began telling Pony - in startlingly-detailed precision - about 1-A's suits and tech additions. Faced with such, Pony's mouth lost its filter: "Back in the States, if somebody, guy or girl, knew everyone's measurements that well, they would have to be either a clothes-making or be very loose individual."
The two of them stopped where they were.
Pony thought Dammit, dammit, now I lost her as a friend, as someone to know, as someone who even tolerates me. Its been three years since I shot myself in the foot that badly - trust me to do it again. Shit!
Mei's response was to make two fists, raise them as though she was letting a non-existent audience admire 'her guns' - her muscular arms - and she promptly declared "I. Am. Mecha-tailor!"
And the two of them broke down in a fit of giggles.
Reading the next letter, Pony breathed a sigh of relief that This one has some humor. Why else would they use a card with a man my classes back home said was one of Japan's biggest demons - I mean yokai? Opening the letter...
Lucky bastard. Not sure you won, though. :D
Congrats on one-upping Midnight. -Sero.
"Mei?"
"Yeah?"
"Which of the teachers is Midnight?"
She could see Mei mouthing 'The one letter I didn't read...' before replying "You know the lady who always wears long sleeves and carries around a leather flail?"
"Mount Lady?" Pony asked.
I forgot Mt. Lady ever had weapons other than her size. "Midnight doesn't have horns. She does have a corset on the outside of her heroine suit, though."
"Oh, the gas lady."
"Yyeah..."
"Was that why the 1-A dorm had to be fumigated? Because her sleeve tore?"
"No!" Mei stated. Though it'd be easy to say it was, and thus avoid any trouble for me...that would be a lie. Hate lies, I do! "My anti-lock toy worked perfectly in all the pre-quest tests I ran it through...but when it came time for us to use it on the room itself, it worked - and it released something that...didn't interact well with the carpet."
"Sorry," Pony said.
"When do I not like surprises?" Mei teased her.
"Welllll, wouldn't it have been more surprising if it had worked flawlessly on the door, but it had leaked when you used it on the room's safe?" The room? THE room? God, you know perfectly well whose room it was.
"Yeah, it would've - be weirder too," Mei said with a grin. "Whats in that letter there? Midnight and...?"
"Somebody named Sero congratulating him on beating Midnight."
"Say that again."
Definately said that a bit too ambiguously, Pony realized. For the most part, I don't do that anymore, but once in a while... "Mineta defeated Midnight," she clarified.
"Yeah, I remember that, it was back during the school exams. My class had a good time examining what Principal Nezu brought about."
"I'm sure 1-A is glad somebody appreciates their hard work," Pony chuckled.
Mei nodded. "I hope so," she agreed.
Speaking of... and opened the last letter, which had no envelope:
Fabulous work. Every one of you reminded me how important it is to work in a team. -Aoyama.
Wow. Just...wow. The other two felt personal, if impersonal. But this one feels like its a form letter, something that everyone gets. She shuddered.
"Problem?" Mei asked, one eyeball zooming in on the nearest ductwork.
"Ever hear the line 'I just want to grab them and secrete them away somewhere safe'?"
Mei nodded. "My mom gets that way sometimes with her novels."
Pony held up the letters. "I'm not sure if they're trying to create a villain, or what. But its..."
"Shh, here we are," Mei said at the bend of the last corridor. Once we step past this, we'll be in plain sight - of his room, and of anyone in the vicinity.
Do not paw the ground, donotpaw the ground, she reminded herself. It doesn't go over well, and neither does impaling people, no matter if I think it was deserved.
Looking at him, only one thought occurred to Pony: This is Mineta? This tiny guy is the subject of backhanded complimentary letters and none-tenths of all the rumors my classmates try to keep me from hearing...so, about 8/10.5ths of all the rumors in school total.
"Hey Ballsy," Mei said by way of greeting. "Missed you on the target range lately - needed your help."
He looked up from the homework he'd been working on, and said, "Sorry. Been busy. Classwork, mostly."
Crossing the common room had been disturbingly easy. It helped that it was empty...or empty, plus one sleeping invisible person on the couch. And yet that had been the easy part, in her estimation. Because now its worse than having to talk to a stranger or a friend: I have to talk to somebody I only know through hearsay and reading their mail. So what came out of her mouth was "Need help laying low?"
Mineta blinked, startled, noticing her presence in his room now.
Mei turned her head enough to mouth at Pony 'You're doing it again' with a shit-eating grin.
You kept those three letters in a safe...man, I thought I knew what it meant to be less than popular. Abstractly, of course. "I mean..." Pony said, "...um...date?"
"How about the three of us go get some ice cream?" Mei asked. "My babies will be fine without me for another forty-five minutes." After that, I can leave the two of you alone. Just make sure you don't forget little ol' Mei when the two of you go on adventures or battles and stuff.
"Okay," Mineta agreed. Hatsume's one of the few people I can trust not to set me up - mostly because I think her brain is too busy with work and other serious stuff to think about making other people into humor.
"Lets go," Pony seconded.