Storyline Name: Artifical Lives
Creator(s): Sailor Pluto and JupiterThunderCrash
Forum: Free Form
Advanced or Relaxed: Relaxed
Plot Summary: Ami was born frail and weak, with such a small chance of surviving past her first five years of life that her mother resorted to drastic measures. Makoto's parents were killed in a fatal plane crash, leaving her an orphan at a young age. Both girls were faced with adversity before they could count to ten, and both were cursed with a fate they didn't deserve. With 43% of her body being artificial, Ami was raised in private, away from the public eye and the disgrace of her community. Because she grew up without parental guidance, Makoto fell into step with a notorious biker gang, choosing to follow the path that all of her peers told her she belonged to. With two completely opposite lives, the chances that these two girls meet are almost nonexistent, but still present. Neither girl is aware of their true potential, of who they really are, but little do they know that they might be the key to saving each other from their own artificial lives.
Details on any necessary information: In this alternate universe, Ami is a cyborg, and Makoto joined a biker gang after spending several years in an orphanage. The idea is based off of discarded character ideas from the Sailor Moon manga. Neither girls are sailor senshi. The girls are 17 years old.
Restrictions: Only Ami and Makoto are playable characters. All other necessary characters will be NPC'd as needed.
OOC Thread: N/A
Member to Character List:
Ami Mizuno ~ Sailor Pluto
Makoto Kino ~ JupiterThunderCrash

Lunch period began for Juuban High School students, and as teenagers flooded into the yard or towards the cafeteria, Makoto stood up from her seat in the back of the class and stretched. She had spent most of the period sleeping through math lessons, mostly because she wasn't all that good at it anyway, and her teacher hadn't bothered her over it because it wasn't disrupting the rest of the class like usual. 

She had only been a "distraction" because a boy had been flicking paper at her last time, and apparently yelling at him during a lecture wasn't the best way to handle it. The look of terror on his face was worth it though.

The other students didn't make eye contact and gave her a wide berth in the hallways as she walked. Most knew via rumors that Makoto was friends with some less than savory people outside of school, and they feared retribution if they bothered her too much, to the point that just the sight of her wavy red hair and altered uniform set them on high alert. It made things a little easier for her, but admittedly lonely.

...Not that she wanted any of them as friends or anything. Who cared what they thought about her?

As soon as she saw her mother's vehicle pulling out of the apartment parking lot, Ami had grabbed her coat and gloves and was well on her way to Juuban High School. Whenever she had the chance, Ami often went there, eager to see what it was like to be a real high school student. She had gotten so tired of being cooped up in her apartment, never allowed to really see anyone outside of the apartment complex, and it was starting to strike a bit of rebellion in her.

According to her mental timer, she had about forty-five minutes until her mother's return from the grocery store. Forty-five minutes to collect as much data about high school students as she could.

Ami had a plan, see. She had spent years working it out, and now that she was almost eighteen and legally an adult, she figured, why not spend her last year of schooling in an actual high school? By collecting as much data from the internet and from observation, Ami was hoping to prove to her mother that she would fit in.

The only problem was her stupid hand. It was so obviously artificial - made of metal and screws and wires - and it would be near impossible to hide without awkwardly wearing gloves at all times. It was the only obvious part of her that wasn't human - the rest of it was all inside of her. But it was very, very obvious.

No doubt looking strange in the middle of spring in a pale blue coat and gloves, Ami finally reached the front gates to Juuban High School. The students were all milling about, because it was their lunch hour, but Ami knew that already. She knew this would be the perfect time to come 'people-watch', as the internet had called it.

Ami's eyes scanned the perimeter, registering faces and trying to match them with names she heard shouted across the schoolyard and storing them in her artificial memory hard drive. Everyone looked the same, which made the process sort of boring after a while, but then Ami found someone quite interesting.

Tall, green eyes, reddish hair, very unhappy, but beautiful in a tomboyish way. Ami didn't know who she was, but she couldn't take her eyes away, eager to see what this girl was like.

Makoto usually ate lunch alone on the rooftop, but today it was occupied by a student club, forcing her to use the yard instead. It wasn't hard to find an empty place to sit, and she was considering taking the bench spot under the shade of a large tree when she spotted someone lingering by the school gates.

She didn't recognize the short, blue haired girl at all, and she didn't dress like someone who went to her high school. And wasn't it a little too warm for a coat and gloves? Makoto caught the girl staring at her with large blue eyes, and she wondered if she was lost.

It looked like no one else had noticed her, and Makoto's curiosity won over ignoring her.

"Hey," she said, approaching Ami, bento box still in her hand. "Are you searching for someone?" she asked. There was probably a better way to phrase it, but Makoto wasn't necessarily eloquent.

Ami was so lost in her thoughts that she jumped when the girl called to her. If it could have, her face would have turned red in that moment, but her diagnostics were telling her that she was several degrees about optimum body temperature.

It was embarrassment, she was sure.

Swallowing hard, Ami shook her head and tried to straighten her shoulders so as not to feel so...small next to this giant. "No, I...I was just...um..."

She inhaled. She wasn't very good at lying. "Just seeing what this school was like, that's all," she mumbled. Why was she so nervous?

Suddenly, a car horn beeped behind her, and Ami spun around in surprise. To her horror, her mother's car was sitting in the street, window down, and a very angry Mrs. Mizuno leaning out of it.

"Ami Mizuno what on earth are you doing here?! What have I told you about this? High school is no place for girls like you! Get into this car this instant!"

Distressed, Ami grasped for something to say to her mother, something that would convince her to let her stay and maybe even go to high school. "Mom, I..." Ami started, looking back at the tall girl. "Please, can I just try this? I'm almost eighteen, and...I've never even seen the inside of a public school. Please, Mom."

"Absolutely not. In the car. Now."

"Oh, so were you thinking of transferring from your old school or something?" Makoto asked, a lopsided grin spreading on her face as she connected the dots. Didn't the school do tours for that? Maybe she was just really shy. But then again, the principal would probably just show only the good sides of Juuban High to people, not all the hidden stuff.

Makoto looked up at the same time as the car horn blared. The woman driving look a lot like an older version of the girl in front of her. Was she her mother? But when she started yelling, Makoto couldn't help but frown at the way she was speaking. There was just something about the tone she was using that reminded Makoto so much of the times she was rejected and put down, and it made her fists clench. 

And when the girl's- Ami's- eyes met hers again, she could see the desperation in them. She had no idea what was going on between the two, but she wanted to help her. Makoto stepped in front of Ami, shielding her from view.

"Stop bossing her around!" Makoto wasn't sure what to say, but that sounded right. At the moment, she didn't care if she was talking to a mother or not. All she could think of was someone needing her, and she wasn't going to let her down. "She can do what she wants!"

For the first time in what felt like forever, Ami's jaw literally dropped.

She stared, shocked, at the brave soul in front of her. Oh, mother will not like this, she thought.

And it was awesome.

Timidly, Ami peered around the taller girl to get a glimpse at her mother, who also seemed to be rendered completely speechless by this stranger meddling in their private affairs.

The silence stretched for what felt like hours, until Ami's mother finally spoke:

"Fine. You think you know everything, don't you Ami? I'll let you join public school. But you'll see. Don't come crying to me when you realize I was right."

Ami couldn't help it - the grin on her face stretched from ear to ear. She was filled with so much joy and excitement that she could hardly contain herself, and it was only when her mother drove away that Ami gave a cheer of victory. Without even thinking, she hugged the taller girl tightly before letting go.

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you!" she cried, pulling away and still smiling brightly. She found the eyes of the girl, and it was then that she realized she had literally just hugged a complete stranger who had yelled at her mother.

Ami paused, clearing her throat. "Um...thank you," she said, still with utmost gratitude in her eyes. "It's been a long, hard road to get her to relent. I apologize, but I don't believe I caught your name?"

Even as Makoto stared down the older Mizuno, she couldn't help but feel nervous. It wasn't the first time she had talked back to an adult, but this woman had a sort of air of authority around her. She stood her ground anyway, and only relaxed when the car window rolled up again.

But what did she mean by Ami realizing that she was right? Makoto froze when Ami cheered and hugged her, not because she didn't like it, but because she hadn't gotten one in so long. It was a little embarrasing to think about, actually...

Her expression softened at Ami's thanks. "Don't worry about it..." she said, blushing. It was weird meeting someone who hadn't immediately pinned her as a delinquent. "My name's Makoto Kino." There was a moment of pause.

"Did you, uh... need someone to walk you home?" she asked. "I think lunch period is going to end soon." Her stomach audibly growled at the thought of her uneaten food, and she rubbed the back of her head.

"Sorry, I didn't eat anything yet!"

Ami smiled at the name. Her data receptors told her that the name 'Makoto Kino' meant 'Tree of Trust'. Instantly, Ami took a strong liking to this girl. It was clear she was a nice person, albeit a little impulsive.

Perhaps Makoto would be her first friend.

Despite her moment of happiness, Ami shook her head. "Oh no, I couldn't ask you to do that. Don't you have to get back to class?"

Makoto couldn't help the stormy look she made at the mention of going back to class. 

"They wouldn't miss me," she said under her breath, before she caught herself and tried to laugh it off. "I mean, I can just sneak back in or something, no big deal. Don't worry about me!" If anything, skipping school to go hang out with Ami seemed more fun anyway.

Ami stared at her new...friend...waiting for her computer-brain to tell her that this girl was lying, but...it never did.

Was it true? Would no one miss Makoto if she skipped class?

The thought made Ami feel sad. Did Makoto not have any friends?

Now she wanted to be with her even more. Not so much out of sympathy, but more out of empathy. Ami knew what it was like to be alone, and she didn't want anyone else to have to feel that way.

"Well...alright. I guess it will be a good chance to get to know each other, right? So tell me about yourself," Ami said, starting to walk in the direction of her home. She was eager to know more about this tall, beautiful brunette and what made her eyes look so dark and distant.

Makoto looked around the courtyard to check for any teachers, and then she slipped out the gates after Ami, unnoticed by anyone. she could see. None of the students would bother to give her away if it didn't affect them. Feeling much freer now, she stayed just a step behind, letting Ami lead. 

"About myself? There's not that much interesting about me, really..." There was a nervous edge to her laugh. Makoto didn't want to kill the mood by bringing up her own issues, or make Ami pity her. "Did you want to know something in particular?"

'I want to know why you're sad,' Ami wanted to say. 'I want to know why your eyes are so dark.'

But she didn't. She shrugged her shoulders instead. "I guess I was just trying to start conversation. You don't do anything for fun? You are really pretty - is there a boyfriend?"

"I do stuff for fun," Makoto said, getting defensive. She hung out with the gang, that was fun, right? But as she thought about they way they loitered, disturbed the peace wit their motorcycles, and spray pained on buildings, she began to doubt that Ami wanted to hear that. What if it killed off whatever friendship they could have had?  

"I, uh...I cook sometimes." She didn't know if she was any good at it, considering she was the only one who'd eaten her food, but Makoto wasn't lying at least. Ami's sudden compliment made her thoughts stutter to a halt.

"P-pretty?" she repeated. No one had ever said that about her before, and she wasn't sure whether to take it seriously or not. It was shocking enough for her to have to stifle a laugh. Did Ami honestly think that she had a boyfriend? "Nope, I've never had a boyfriend before..." She had given up on that a long time ago. She could fall for as many guys as she wanted, but why would they ever give her the time of day? Most people didn't even want to associate with her. 

"Are you asking for someone else's sake?" Makoto teased.

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