Notes: Welcome to a much-overdue series of updates. This was written on my Tumblr for Promptvember 2014 (which was unfortunately life-intruded and so currently uncompleted.)

This prompt was: Makoto tries to cope with getting stuck writing about planes for a school assignment. It's thoroughly indulgent Senshi Friendship. My favourite.

(25 November 2014)

The Aerodynamics of Friendship

School should just ... School should just not. School was a struggle for Mako even at the best of times, and this was extra unfair. Mako felt the clamminess of her hands as she bent over the keyboard. The blinking of the cursor on the blank white page pounded in her ears. School should not be allowed to do this to a person. Monsters, yes. The end of the world, yes. Not fucking school.

Mako had worked hard at her studies, taking to heart everything Ami had ever preached about the importance of education. She had her doubts, but it was important to Ami, so Mako made it important to her. An average student was the best she'd ever be, and even that was only possible with effort, but it was a fate Mako accepted. She put her head down and she did her best.

It was the unspoken contract between them. Mako does her best at school, and school does its best to not hurt her too badly.

Then this.

Then fucking this.

There were five rows of students, so five topics for their paper. Aerodynamics was the theme, and Mako had dutifully written that at the top of her notes (because Makoto Kino was keeping up her end of the bargain, dammit). Her row, specifically?

The aerodynamics of airplanes, including when and how they failed.

Mako hadn't gone back to look at her notes, but she was positive they would've been unreadable by the end of the sentence. She'd felt the pencil take on weight until it was impossible to hold. It clattered to the floor and echoed in her head like barely-closed doors slamming open in an unexpected storm.

The rest of the day went by in a haze, and it wasn't until the final bell rang that Mako felt she could breathe again. Of course by that point, she was well and truly pissed. She couldn't have gotten one of the other topics, like the ones on falcons or cars, oh no. Minako had been right all along: school was evil.

Well Mako knew what to do with evil: she punched it into the ground until it stopped moving.

It had occurred to her, briefly, to ask for a different topic. Just as quickly she threw the idea aside. No way. That felt like giving up. This does not control you, Mako told herself again and again until she started to listen. It was a lifetime ago – two or three lifetimes, kinda – and it does not control you.

If she had to write about airplanes and airplane ... other things, then that's what she would do.

Mako swiped the back of her hand across her damp eyes, wiped her cheeks dry, and glared harder at the damnable blinking cursor.

... ... ...

It had taken Usagi a good thirty minutes to even spell "aerodynamics". Then it was an hour of staring at search results and struggling to make sense out of any page she'd read. This was hard! They were only high school students, not brain people made of brains!

The pull to quit was incredible. The stack of manga across the room beckoned her with sweet promises of beautiful princesses and hilariously awkward social situations. There was a link to an amazing new flash game in her email and suddenly playing it was all Usagi wanted to do. Just a quick break, she told herself. Fifteen, twenty minutes tops to clear your head. She got as far as closing the word processor before she caught herself.

"No no no no no!" Usagi narrowed her eyes in a determined glare as she bashed her finger into the mouse button to reopen the file.

Under normal circumstances, she would've already shut down, grabbed a manga, and been halfway through it while waiting for the next game level to load. But these were anything but normal circumstances.

Mako-chan needed her.

As soon as their teacher had mentioned airplanes, Usagi's eyes had shot to Makoto. How could he be so mean? Didn't he see how the colour drained from Mako's face? Didn't anybody see how this made her feel?

The rest of the day seemed to go on like normal, but Mako was all Usagi could see. She didn't say anything of course, she was Mako-chan, she would never. Usagi saw, though. She saw Mako's pain in every shuddering breath, every clenched fist, every blink that lasted too long. Mako's pain cried out to Usagi all day, until she was nearly sick with worry.

She had to help. There was no way she was leaving Mako to deal with this alone. But what could she do? Hugs weren't working; Mako's smile was weak and automatic. (Usagi was in a world where hugs weren't making Mako-chan feel better, this world was so wrong and scary.) She tried to talk about it, but couldn't figure out how to start before Mako changed the subject. It had been like that all day, and when the last class was over, Mako quickly said her goodbyes and went home alone.

Usagi was going to ask the others what to do when she got a fantastic idea. A great idea, best of all possible ideas, Usagi was so smart! The problem was the paper, so the answer must also be the paper, right?

Usagi would do the paper.

She'd marched home, full of certainty and determination. Yes! She would do this paper for Mako-chan! She would do it tonight, so Mako could stop being upset as soon as possible. It would be the greatest paper of all time, full of insight and conclusions and very few typos at all if things went well (and of course they would).

Only now here she was and after hours of work she'd barely written the first paragraph. Usagi sighed and tried to gather her thoughts while drawing doodles on her notepad.

She looked up forty-five minutes later with a sheet covered in bunnies, pictures of her kissing Mamo-chan, a full four-panel comic about her friends, and not one more word written about airplanes.

A roar of frustration filled the room.

That was it, no more playing around! She was going to do this! Mako-chan needed her and Usagi would do this.

She bent to her keyboard and began typing.

And typed, and typed, and typed some more.

Nobody would've believed it, not even if they were standing in the room watching it. Maybe there was a new enemy replacing people with their mirror universe selves. Or a cunning plan to insert robots seamlessly into society. Or it was like Minako had always said and school really was evil and had finally succeeded in sucking out people's personalities and replacing them with boring things (no offense, Ami-chan).

Whether they believed it or not, it was happening anyway. Usagi's protruding forefingers flew across the keyboard as the page count racked up. And when she finally stopped, two hours and seven pages later, Usagi felt like she had just beaten the biggest baddest bad guy she'd ever fought in her life.

She had won.

She had won!

With a contented sigh usually reserved for dinners, Usagi sat back to reread her paper.

And promptly burst into tears.

Being "in the zone" wasn't a state Usagi often found herself, and certainly never when it came to school. She'd always assumed it meant that you basically became a Goddess of Homework, and everything you touched guaranteed you 100%s and the adulation of students everywhere. That she should finally reach this nirvana for Mako-chan felt even more perfect.

What Usagi was reading was not perfection. It was one aimless introductory paragraph, two sentences supporting an unknown premise, and then a confusing analogy about mochi that turned into a six and a half page rant about people trying to make you pick a favourite flavor and how rude that was and so unfair to all the other amazing mochi flavours.

It was now one in the morning, and Usagi had accidentally written a manifesto about mochi.

She cried harder.

She was still crying as she grabbed her phone.

She was still crying as a groggy and somewhat panicked Rei tried to determine what she was actually crying about.

She was still crying (quietly) as she stood by her front door to let them in, and still crying as she led everyone upstairs to her room, and still crying as Minako threw herself on Usagi's bed, Ami sat at the table, and Rei stood in front of her and frowned.

"Usagi, stop crying."

Usagi did no such thing.

Rei sighed and stole a glimpse at the clock. Almost 2am. If they were very lucky, she'd be able to get more sleep before the next 2am.

"We're here now, stop it. What were you saying about Mako-chan?"

Which only made Usagi cry harder.

Several minutes of soft words and reassurances later and they had the story.

"I think she should just say to hell with it," Minako said while spinning a stuffed bunny on her finger. She'd flopped back onto the bed after having been reluctantly talked down from going to their teacher's house and punching him in the nuts.

Ami gasped, though to be completely fair, Ami was already quite predisposed to gasping at the moment. She was feeling incredibly guilty for being so absorbed in her own assignment that she hadn't stopped to consider Mako's. Add the moral dilemma in which she now found herself, and she was particularly gasp-vulnerable right now.

Usagi, too, wasn't taking the suggestion (and her implied failure) well, and looked like she was gearing up for another righteous bout of crying. This was ranked at least third on the list of Things Rei Does Not Want To Deal With Right Now, and she quickly cut in. "That's not an option. I think Usagi's idea is the best."

Instantly, all will to cry was demolished. Usagi blinked at Rei with a mixture of adoration and pride. She focused intently on this moment. This moment where Rei admitted Usagi's idea was the best idea. Usagi. The best. She made sure to include the hour, minute, day, date, month, and year in her mental records. This information would without question be needed some day, and Usagi would be ready.

Things were still rough in Ami's world right now. She sat on the floor next to Usagi's laptop, very deliberately not reading anything on it, and wrung her hands miserably. Helping Mako-chan was absolutely the thing Ami wanted to do most in the world right now, but that help included doing someone's school work for them. This was, as a concept, something Ami was vehemently opposed to, and to possibly violate that with Usagi and Minako looking on, knowing full well this would come up again? Ami could feel her moral compass spinning wildly and she twisted her fingers with renewed vigor.

"Ami-chan, how about you help with research and proofreading?" Rei suggested.

Everything aligned for Ami. It was only a little more than she'd happily do anyway. Moral crisis averted! She nodded happily and already had her computer out and ready to go.

"Usagi, you and I and—"

Rei looked at Minako lying horizontal across the bed with her head and shoulders dangling off the side.

Rei pressed her lips into a hard line.

Minako gave Rei an upside-down flat look and continued to twirl the stuffed bunny on her finger.

Rei turned away from Minako altogether. "Usagi, you and I will write the paper. Minako will ... get tea and give moral support."

"You have chosen wisely," Minako said, then pouted as the bunny spun off her finger and bounced across the floor out of reach.

Tasks assigned, Usagi plopped in front of her computer, Rei settled in next to her, and they all got to work. For Mako-chan.

... ... ...

"I'm coming!" Mako called out. She pulled her robe tighter and ran a hand through her unruly hair as she shuffled toward the door. It was a little past eight, the clock on her nightstand had said. Normally she'd have been up by that point, but then normally she wouldn't have only gone to bed a few hours ago. The memory of her assignment – and her complete inability to have done anything with it – wrapped around her. It seemed she could feel it on her tongue, hot and bitter. Mako sucked in a lungful of air, held it for a moment, and then let it out.

There'd be time for that later.

Mako opened the door and blinked in surprise at what she saw. "Usagi-chan? Guys?"

They looked about as Mako felt. Usagi stood at the front of the group. Her entire body was drooping, and her usually pristine odango were loose and beginning to unravel. On her right was Ami. Her friendly smile was maybe just a little less bright than normal, and her eyes looked raw and bloodshot. Just behind Usagi was Rei. Her bangs were almost standing straight up, like they'd been pushed and held there for hours. Her normally perfect posture was slumped, and barely held in her hand was a steaming take-out cup of coffee. Minako was on Usagi's left and looked like death itself had come to stay. She, too, had take-out coffee, about three times the size of Rei's. She'd shoved a bendy straw through the lid and had stretched her lips to the side to wrap around it.

"Heeeey, Mako-chan," Usagi slurred.

Mako quickly ushered them inside. The questions were about to come, but before they could make their way through the labyrinth of her thoughts, Usagi shoved a bright pink folder in her hands. Her duty done, she collapsed into a dining room chair, just a bundle of limbs and blonde hair.

Rei pulled out the chair next to her and fell into it. Mako winced at the heavy thud of her forehead dropping to the table a little too heavily, but Rei didn't seem to care. She just sat there, head down, her arms stretched in front of her like she was reaching for something across the table. Her coffee, still held in her hand, continued to steam quite happily.

With a start, Mako realized that Minako was directly in front of her, peering up through bleary and unfocused eyes. "We. Love. You." Her finger jabbed into Mako's breastbone with every word, then she joined the group at the table, tumbling into the chair next to Rei. The bendy straw had never once left her lips.

Only Ami was left, and while she looked like standing was a continuing effort, she managed it with her usual gentle grace. "It was Usagi-chan's idea," she said, and gestured for Mako to open the folder.

Which Makoto did. If she'd been asked what to expect, she couldn't have even begun to guess. So when she saw the freshly-printed paper with its title, "The Role of Aerodynamics in Airplane Success and Failure", it was an immense shock.

Her arms dropped and she spun toward her partially-conscious friends. "Guys ..."

"Now you don't have to," said Rei, her voice muffled by the tabletop.

"Yaaaaay." Usagi was too tired to infuse even a tiny bit of "yay" into her yay, but the intent was there all the same. She punched her fist in the air, or at least tried to. Her arm gave out almost immediately and her fist crash landed into her thigh. "Ow."

Mako could feel all the stress and pain and grief from the last day slip out of her. Her eyes began to well up, and she hugged the folder to her. "You guys are ..." Overcome, Mako grabbed Ami (she was somehow still upright) and drew her into a crushing hug. That seeming insufficient, she placed a huge smacking kiss on the top of Ami's head.

It took some effort, but Usagi managed to crack one eye open. Her chin jutted in a very indignant pout. "Hey! It was my idea!"

"It was Usagi-chan's idea," Ami agreed from somewhere in Mako's arms.

Ami was released as suddenly as she was grabbed, and Mako snapped her fingers. "I'll make breakfast for everybody!" she exclaimed, and ran into the kitchen.

"Yaaaay!" Usagi said again, this time sounding sincere.

"PANCAKES!" demanded Minako. Her teeth clenched the bendy straw to keep it in place.

"I think I just need some coffee." Rei's forehead never left the table. Ami helpfully reached out and poked Rei's hand, which was still wrapped around her cup. There was a pause, then, "Oh yeah."

Mako's voice floated to the table from the kitchen, raised to be heard over the sound of pots and pans. "So how's your guys' paper coming?"

"Not my school," Rei unnecessarily reminded.

Ami claimed the seat between Usagi and Minako and sighed with relief as she sank into it. "I have a second and third draft to write," she said, loud enough for Mako to hear her, "but then I should be done."

Minako shrugged. "I said to hell with it and I meant it."

Three pairs of eyes turned to Usagi. When no answer was coming, Mako stuck her head out of the kitchen.

Usagi noted the silence and looked around, confused. Then, slowly, horror dawned.

"I STILL HAVE ANOTHER PAPER TO WRITE."