Lines Of Destiny
A Sailor Moon/Ranma 1/2 Crossover
By Louis-Philippe Giroux
<dragon@anime.sobhrach.com>
Thank you for all your comments!
Keep'em coming! C&C is always welcome!!!
Sailor Moon was created by Naoko Takeuchi and
Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi. Please don't sue me.
The latest versions of the previous chapters (and the ones with the
least formatting errors) are always the ones on my WWW page at
http://www.anime.sobhrach.com/~dragon/lines/lines.html
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Chapter 7
Haruka was driving back at a comfortable speed (at least for her) to
the apartment she and Michiru shared with Hotaru and Setsuna. Watching
out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Hotaru had been strangely
silent since she'd picked her up at Rei's shrine.
"Is there something wrong, Hotaru-chan?" she asked.
The question seemed to shake Hotaru out of whatever daze she was in.
"Haruka- papa, I... I think I might have found my brother," she said
hesitantly.
Haruka blinked. "Your... brother?" she asked slowly. "Hotaru-chan,
you don't _have_ a brother!"
"Not in _this_ life, but I had one in the days of the Silver
Millennium."
Haruka blinked again and tried to keep her eyes on the road.
"Hotaru-chan, would you mind explaining this to me a little more?"
Hotaru let out a small sigh. "Well, it all started when we went to
greet Mamoru-san at the train station..."
While Haruka and Hotaru were heading back, Michiru decided to try
and find out a little more about the mysterious redhead from the
restaurant. Pulling out the Aqua Mirror from its subspace pocket, she
concentrated on Ranma's image. Mere seconds later, the female Ranma
appeared in the Mirror.
_Then_ things started to get strange.
Ranma's image started to waver and was suddenly replaced by the male
Ranma's. Michiru became puzzled, as she had never met Ranma's male form
before.
*Who is he?* Michiru wondered. *And what is his connection to Ranko,
aside from the fact that he looks very much like her, that is.*
All of a sudden the image switched back to female Ranma, but this
time, a smiling Mamoru appeared behind Ranma, a hand on her right
shoulder. Michiru became even more perplexed.
"Mamoru-san?..." she wondered out loud. A memory started gnawing at
her from the back of her mind. Something about Ranko and Mamoru... No,
not 'Ranko'...
Before Michiru could ponder this new development further, Mamoru's
image disappeared from the Mirror and male Ranma was suddenly
back-to-back with female Ranma. Two seconds later, the image slowly
disappeared.
Michiru was surprised. *Something's interfering with the Mirror?*
She waited for a few seconds, but all the Mirror gave her was the image
of a valley filled with springs that had bamboo poles sticking out of
them. She sighed and looked up. It seemed it wasn't going to be as easy
as she had thought. Michiru then closed her eyes for a second.
If she hadn't, she might have seen the Mirror flickering for a
fraction of a second, showing a red-headed girl in Senshi garb...
Haruka and Hotaru had finally arrived at their apartment. They got
out of the car, Hotaru still talking about what had transpired earlier
today.
"... we were expecting Ranma, but instead, this girl called Ranko
arrived with Akane."
Haruka looked up sharply at the name. "Did you say Ranko?" she
asked.
Hotaru seemed a bit surprised by Haruka's sudden interest. She
wanted to tell Haruka about Akane, not Ranko. "Uh... yes, why?"
"Did she happen to have red hair?" pressed Haruka.
Hotaru's eyes widened. "How did you know?"
Haruka's eyes narrowed in response. "If she's who I think she is,
Michiru and I met her in a small cafe this evening." She paused. "She
has some... interesting talents."
"Well, Ranma defeated a daimon at the train station and he *did* say
that they had both trained together, so it makes sense, doesn't it?"
said Hotaru.
Haruka gave a slight smile. "I'm going to want to meet this Ranma,
someday."
They entered the apartment, only to find Michiru sitting on a couch,
looking pensive.
Haruka immediately noticed this. "Michiru, is there something
wrong?" she asked in a slightly concerned voice.
Michiru looked up to Haruka. "The Mirror won't give me a straight
answer, Haruka," she said in a puzzled tone of voice.
Hotaru blinked. "What are you using the Mirror for?"
"We're investigating someone we met in a cafe earlier this evening,"
said Michiru. "A girl who calls herself Ranko."
"You're using the Mirror to probe Ranko-san?" asked Hotaru.
It was Michiru's turn to blink. "Hotaru-chan, you know this
'Ranko'?"
"We met her today at the Hikawa Shrine, but only for a short
while."
"What was she doing there?"
"Well, she came back with Akane-san and Mamoru thinks she's..."
"Akane? As in Saotome Akane?" interrupted Michiru.
"Yeah! She's Ranma-san's wife." Hotaru saw Michiru about to ask the
inevitable next question. "Before you ask, Ranma-san is Rei's cousin,"
she added, stopping Michiru in her tracks.
Haruka was watching all the byplay with increasing annoyance. "Time
out!" she said, sounding exasperated.
Michiru raised an eyebrow and Hotaru looked at her with a
questioning look.
Haruka blushed faintly. "Sorry, Michiru, but maybe you should hear
Hotaru's story completely before starting with the questions. She knows
more about the situation than we do."
Michiru cracked a smile. "I forgive you," she said sweetly. She
turned to Hotaru. "Maybe you'll be able to explain what I saw in the
Mirror."
"So you *did* see something," stated Haruka.
Michiru nodded to Haruka and Hotaru started repeating the events of
the day for the second time. She was eager to tell them about Akana.
* * *
Back at the Hikawa Shrine, Ami, Makoto, Mamoru and the cats had left
shortly after Usagi and Minako's sudden departure. They had promised
each other to look a little more into Ranma's situation later, since
Ranma didn't look too inclined to undergo a questioning session. Ranma
and Akane were getting ready to go to sleep when Rei knocked on their
door. Ranma opened the door and saw Rei standing there with a
thoughtful expression.
"Is there a problem, Rei?" he asked.
Rei gave herself a small mental shake. "I just want to ask you one
question before you go to bed, Ranma."
Ranma almost raised an eyebrow, but shrugged instead. "Go ahead."
"You said you used a Ki-blast against a monster at the train
station, right?"
Ranma sighed and nodded.
"How exactly did you do that?"
Ranma said nothing and raised his right hand so that his palm faced
upwards. He concentrated and a baseball-size sphere of blue-white Ki
formed in Ranma's hand. "Like this, only much bigger," he said simply.
He then noticed Rei was gawking.
Rei couldn't believe what she was seeing. She had heard legends that
the best martial arts masters could use their Ki to do what Ranma was
doing with apparently little effort. Rei herself was no stranger to Ki.
In fact, she knew she used her Ki when she did fire readings, but when
she thought about the necessary skill to produce a Ki-*blast*... If
Ranma could summon a Ki sphere so easily, it meant he had an extremely
powerful spiritual strength.
Rei noticed Ranma's expression and realized she was gawking. Chiding
herself mentally, she quickly regained her composure and she looked at
Ranma. "May I?" she asked, pointing to the glowing ball.
Ranma blinked. "Ehh... sure..." he trailed off. He didn't exactly
know what Rei was planning to do, but he got ready to dissipate the
Ki-sphere at a moment's notice.
Rei put her right hand approximately an inch above the Ki-sphere and
closed her eyes. Her spiritual training allowed her to easily feel the
power of the sphere and through the sphere, Ranma's aura.
She fought back a shudder.
Rei was shocked to realize that Ranma was not straining very much in
maintaining the sphere. *How can he possibly manipulate his Ki so
easily? He formed that sphere as easily as Sailor Jupiter does her
Sparkling Vital Pressure attack.* Now she understood why he'd seemed so
unconcerned about the attack at the train station. "Incredible..." she
whispered.
Ranma nearly blushed at Rei's compliment and dissipated the
Ki-sphere.
Feeling the sphere disappear, Rei took a deep breath and opened her
eyes. She needed to think about this. "I'm very impressed, Ranma," she
said honestly. "I'll look forward to seeing what else you can do." With
that, she gave a small bow and left before Ranma could say anything.
Ranma might be a bit arrogant, but she knew talent when she saw it and
she respected talent.
Ranma looked at his hand and shrugged faintly. *Oh well...*
Akane, who had watched and heard the scene between the two cousins,
approached Ranma. "I hope she won't go babbling that all away."
"What if she does?" asked Ranma.
His wife sighed and took a deep breath. "Ranma, each time you show
off your abilities, someone hears about it, comes around, challenges
you and usually makes a mess out of our lives. We're married, Ranma.
There aren't any other suitors; Mousse, Shampoo and Cologne are back in
China and we haven't heard anything about Happosai since the first
wedding attempt. Why can't you leave it at that?" There was a
noticeable tone of pleading in the last sentence.
Ranma's features softened. "All right, Akane. I promise I'll try not
to do anything that could deliberately attract unwanted attention.
_But_, if some monster shows up and tries to kill me like this
afternoon, I make no promises."
Akane sighed and smiled wearily. "Don't make promises you can't
keep, Ranma. If living with you for all this time has taught me
something, it's that sometimes, you just have to do what you have to
do." She turned around and looked the two futons, which were still
about two feet apart. She looked back at Ranma and raised an eyebrow.
Ranma grinned. "How about a compromise..." he began.
* * *
Back at the apartment, Hotaru had just been put to bed, but Haruka
and Michiru were deep in thought, digesting what Hotaru had told them
and correlating it with what they knew.
"Do you think Ranko _is_ Mamoru's reincarnated sister?" asked Haruka
after a while.
"I think she might very well be. You heard Hotaru-chan describe
Mamoru-san's reaction. She told us that he said he's been having dreams
about his sister and then this person who looks exactly like her shows
up. Not only that, but whoever Ranko really is, she also has a very
close link to Ranma."
"You couldn't tell anything more from the Mirror?" asked Haruka.
"I'm afraid not," said Michiru. She had tried to summon more images
of Ranko and the young man, but all she could get were bare glimpses.
Something was interfering with the Mirror. Whatever it was, it had to
be very strong to counteract the Mirror and it centered only around
Ranko and the young man. Michiru had then had an idea. She managed to
do a decent sketch of the face of the young man she had seen in the
Mirror (not an extremely hard feat for her). Hotaru had wasted no time
in recognizing Ranma. This had put a new spin on the puzzle that
represented Ranko and Ranma.
"I still don't know what to make of Akane, though," said Haruka.
"Hotaru seems *very* convinced she's her reincarnated brother."
Michiru sighed. She remembered her quick conversation with Akane at
the cafe. "Well at least she seems like a nice enough person. Time will
tell, I guess. I just hope Hotaru won't accidentally say something
important to Akane."
"Hotaru has good judgment," said Haruka confidently. "Speaking of
time, did you hear anything about Setsuna?"
"Not as of yet, I'm afraid, but then, Setsuna often does things like
this, so I guess we should be used to it by now," Michiru said.
"Oh well, I guess we should at least tell Mamoru about Ranko, ne?"
asked Haruka.
"We can tell him tomorrow. Right now, I just want to go to sleep,"
said Michiru with a yawn.
Haruka grinned. She scooped Michiru in her arms and took her into
their bedroom.
* * *
That night, Ranma and Akane had interesting, if disturbing, dreams.
Ranma's dreams were plagued by the mysterious girl from the previous
nights. He was standing on a dreamscape, the girl in front of him.
Ranma was growing increasingly annoyed with this dream, for no matter
how close he came to her face, he couldn't make out her features.
Annoyed, he turned back, only to be faced with a young man in black and
silver armor, his face shaded as well. Ranma looked on, puzzled, as the
girl and the young man walked towards one another. When they finally
got within arms reach, the girl jumped up and hugged the young man.
Tired of being ignored (he somehow knew that he was in the middle of
a dream), Ranma walked up to the couple. "Hey! Who _are_ you people
anyway?!"
Both figures suddenly turned and, while the image of the young man's
face barely cleared enough to allow a general outline of his facial
traits, the young woman's face cleared more than was necessary for
Ranma to recognize it. Then, a symbol flared on each of their
foreheads, blinding him.
Ranma woke up immediately. The face of the girl he had just seen...
He knew it very well. After all, he'd seen it in mirrors more times
than he had ever wished. It was the face of his female side. *What the
hell was that???* he wondered. *That girl was my female side? Ugh! I
hope I'm not having fantasies about my female side. If I am, Akane was
right all along. Maybe I _am_ a pervert.* He shook his head. *And who
the hell is the other guy and why is he so familiar?*
Shaking his head a little, he turned his head towards Akane, who
still seemed to be fast asleep. Before going to sleep, Ranma had
suggested a compromise in sleeping arrangements: they put the two
futons together, but agreed not to do anything else until they were in
their own apartment. Ranma looked at Akane with a slightly troubled
expression. *I hope her dreams aren't as weird as mine.* He turned
slightly to peer at the small alarm clock they had brought with them
and happily noticed that he could still sleep for a few hours. Falling
back onto his futon, Ranma tried to clear his mind as much as possible
before trying to fall back asleep.
Unfortunately, Akane was having an equally strange dream of her own.
She found herself standing in front of the girl she had seen in a
previous dream. This time, the girl, whose features were slightly
blurred, was wearing a Silver Millennium-era dress (*How did I know
that?* she briefly wondered) and now seemed to be staring straight at
Akane. Suddenly, the girl smiled (though it was a bit hard to make out
with the blurred features) and walked towards Akane, who could now make
out some kind of glowing symbol on the girl's forehead, almost like a
stylized "h".
Suddenly, it was as if a figure who had been standing in Akane's
position had decided to move forward. Startled, Akane took a step
backwards and looked at the figure who had quite literally stepped out
of her. Although she could only see him from behind at the moment, she
could tell he was approximately her height and he had a build that
spoke of years of hard work. He was wearing an odd armor and cape,
almost like some guard's, mused Akane. He also had what looked like a
mean-looking war hammer strapped to the back of his uniform.
When the girl and the young man were approximately six feet away
from each other, they ran forward and hugged one another.
It was then that Akane distractedly noticed she was holding her own
hammer, which she couldn't remember summoning. She was spared further
puzzling about her hammer when the young man turned towards her and
took exactly the same stance as Akane, his own hammer in hand. Akane
got her first good look at the young man and started. Except for the
obvious musculature, the braided hair and hardened face, the young man
looked a lot like her.
"Who are you?" she asked. She absently noticed that there was no
echo to her voice.
The young man had exactly the same stance and expression as Akane,
but did not move.
"Hey! I asked you a question!" she asked, becoming annoyed. "Who are
you!?"
This time, while the young man was still mimicking Akane's facial
expression, he raised his right arm and pointed to Akane.
"You," he said, and Akane woke up.
Disoriented, she noticed that Ranma was sleeping beside her. *Geez,
that was a weird dream for sure...*, she thought. Unlike Ranma, though,
she didn't give it any more thought and quickly went back to sleep.
* * *
Meanwhile, Mamoru and Hotaru were having dreams of their own.
Mamoru was dreaming of Akana again. It was exactly like his previous
dreams, although he could now see Akana's image clearly and he now knew
she was his sister. He remembered bits and pieces of his life on Earth,
how he used to practice with his sister, meeting young Serenity...
Unlike Akane and Ranma, Mamoru didn't wake up.
* * *
Hotaru dreamt about her previous life in the Silver Millennium, how
she used to play with her brother around the palace until the fateful
day when Saturn marked her as his avatar. She remembered how people she
knew shied away from her, because of who she was, because of what she
represented.
But above all, she remembered her brother, who had always found time
to speak with her, to listen to her plights and comfort her until the
day he disappeared without a trace. She remembered coming to Saturn
after Metallia's attack only to find the Royal Palace destroyed, the
forge where her brother used to spend so much time nothing but a stack
of ashes.
While the dream itself wasn't enough to awaken Hotaru, her cheeks
were wet from tears of mourning and despair.
* * *
The next morning, Ranma awoke to the irritating sound of a portable
alarm clock, dreams of the previous night forgotten. Ranma was vaguely
surprised that the small device had actually managed to wake him up,
but he chalked it up to the fact that he knew that he had too much of
an important day ahead of him to let himself sleep through it.
Nudging Akane, he whispered in her ear: "Wake up, tomboy."
The taunt had the desired effect. Akane opened one eye and looked at
Ranma. "What did you call me?" she said in a flat voice that was partly
muffled by the pillow that had taken residence in front of her mouth.
"Tomboy," he repeated with a grin.
Akane's only visible eyebrow twitched. *Two can play at that game,*
she thought. "That's what I thought I heard, baka."
Ranma decided to take the bait. This might be fun. "Well, are you
getting up today or tomorrow, baka-sempai?" he teased.
Akane got up and looked at Ranma with a radiant smile. *Getting
creative, are you? You won't beat me that easily, Ranma,* she thought
amusedly. "You must have confused me with Tatewaki, baka-sama," she
said, not losing her smile for a second. Ranma went red for a second,
silently acknowledging Akane's hit. *And she fights back! But can she
beat _this_?* thought Ranma. "Well, why don't you get ready for our
morning practice, baka-megami-sama?"
Akane briefly considered hitting him through the roof, but decided
it would be impolite since they were guests in Rei's shrine. Besides,
they had just gotten married. She still felt way too good to justify a
pounding this early in the morning. She settled by sniffing at him and
looking the other way. "Baka-megami-sama, eh? No fun for you tonight,
mister!"
Ranma's eyes opened wide. Akane had her back turned to him, so he
couldn't see the wide grin plastered on her face. She proceeded to
listen to him apologizing to her for the next two minutes before she
turned around and planted a kiss on his lips before he could even
wonder what was going on.
And when Akane had finished, Ranma realized that maybe she was the
one who had won after all.
A few minutes later, Ranma and Akane were standing face-to-face in
the shrine's yard, Akane clad in her traditional gi and Ranma wearing
his everyday black pants and red shirt.
"Remember your promise, Ranma! I want this to be real practice!"
said Akane.
Ranma waved her off. "Yeah, yeah, yeah! I have to see what you can
do, first."
Akane smiled and rushed Ranma. *I _have_ learned a few things from
you...* she thought.
Rei had gotten up some time ago and was preparing a ritual in front
of the fire when she heard fighting sounds coming from the yard. She
nearly used her henshin rod out of reflex when she remembered that
Ranma and Akane had said that they'd be practicing in the yard. She
glanced at a clock to confirm the time and was surprised to see that it
was unusually early for martial art practice. Remembering the previous
day's conversations about Ranma's skill, she headed outside.
She was greeted by what shouldn't have been an unusual sight, but
was. She expected to see Ranma and Akane sparring the way Makoto did
sometimes, but she was instead treated to what could easily have passed
as an acrobatics show. Akane was a whirlwind of punches and kicks while
Ranma was practically dancing around the blows.
Akane was concentrating. So far, Ranma had been behaving exactly as
she had thought he would. Namely, he'd only been dodging her blows and
hadn't attacked. Time to let him see how unpredictable she had become.
As she completed a series of punches, instead of simply throwing a last
punch, she retrieved her mallet from its resting place and swung it at
full speed toward Ranma's face.
Meanwhile Ranma was becoming impressed with Akane. *She _has_ been
practicing! She's a lot better than the last time I sparred with her!*
Guiltily, he realized that he was to blame for that, for he had not
tried to initiate any kind of sparring session with her lately. Busy
with his thoughts, Ranma hadn't realized that he had kept standing
about an inch away from her strikes, not bothering to dodge to the
side. That might be why he didn't move in time when Akane's hammer
suddenly made contact with his face.
Rei watched in shock as Ranma was clocked with a hammer Akane had
gotten out of seemingly nowhere. Ranma, stunned, was thrown back
several feet and Akane wasted no time in continuing her offensive,
minus hammer this time.
At the very least, Akane's hammer strike _had_ managed to shake
Ranma out of his stupor, if only to daze him again. Ranma had to parry
the next two blows (he couldn't dodge too well) when he saw Akane
wearing a wide grin while punching him.
"Come on, Ranma! Fight me!" shouted Akane.
Ranma smirked and Akane quickly found herself moving on the
defensive. Ranma was pleasantly surprised to see that Akane's defense
had improved dramatically over the two years he had known her. Of
course, even without the speed granted by the Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken
technique, he could still overwhelm her, but then, few were the people
against whom such a move wouldn't be overkill.
Rei watched as Akane managed to slip a few attacks now and then, but
still found herself staying mainly on the defensive. Rei then realized
that Ranma had received a hammer strike (*_Where_ did she get that
hammer?*) that would have felled most people but had barely fazed him.
She also realized that Makoto, whom she considered to be a good martial
artist, probably wouldn't stand a chance against Ranma and would
probably meet more than her match with Akane, who appeared to be an
excellent martial artist in her own right, despite being forced on the
defensive by Ranma's relentless attacks.
Rei, becoming very curious, decided to ask them a few questions.
"Break!" she said. Ranma and Akane both blinked at the unexpected
command and turned around to see Rei in her priestess robes looking at
them.
"Is there a problem, Rei?" asked Ranma.
"Well, not exactly," said Rei. "I just wanted to know what kind of
fighting style that was. I don't think I've ever seen two people
fighting like that."
"That was the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryuu. I'm not surprised you didn't
recognize it. There aren't a lot of practitioners of that style
around," said Ranma, grinning.
"It looked like several other styles mixed together."
"It kinda is; practitioners of the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryuu must always
be able to adapt to any fighting style."
Rei had a wry smile. "You mean like getting slugged by a hammer?"
Akane smirked and Ranma rubbed his cheek, where an imprint of the
hammer was still evident. "Yeah... kind of, I guess." He turned to
Akane. "What was the big deal with that thing, anyway? You've never
used it in practice matches before."
Akane looked smug. "You just said that practitioners of the
Musabetsu Kakuto Ryuu must be ready to adapt to anything. A great
martial arts master like yourself should have seen it coming a mile
away, especially after all the times you fought with Mousse. Consider
it a punishment for not taking me seriously at the beginning."
"Mousse?" Rei said incredulously. "You fought against hair care
products?"
"Not a hair care product; a Chinese Hidden Weapons expert.
Reeeaaallly long story, Rei, trust me," said Ranma quickly. He changed
the subject. "Thanks for stopping us anyway, Rei. We really ought to
have breakfast now if we want to get to registration early today."
*Oh well,* thought Rei. *I can always wait a little longer before
asking him more questions.* She motioned towards the shrine. "Help
yourselves in the kitchen. I still have a few things to do."
"Thanks, Rei," said Ranma.
Akane's eyes lit up. "Do you want me to fix something up for you,
Ranma?"
Rei watched, puzzled, as Ranma became distinctly uncomfortable
before her eyes.
"Err... Akane, I don't think that'll be necessary," said Ranma,
trying to prevent another poisoning session. Akane's temper might have
mellowed out in recent months, but her cooking still left much to be
desired.
Akane's smiled faded a little. "Why not? I wanted to cook
breakfast!"
Ranma thought fast. She wasn't angry yet; he could still salvage
this. "Aahh.. Look at yourself, Akane! You're all sweaty! You need to
take a wash up before we go to the university. I'll cook us up
something while you go take your bath."
"Oh, all right, then," replied Akane, not pursuing the subject.
*Domo arigatou Kami-sama! She didn't object!* A part of his mind
idly noticed that instead of proclaiming that she would make his
breakfast, she'd actually asked him about it first. How odd...
Ranma waited until Akane turned around and went inside the shrine
before releasing a deep sigh of relief.
"Is there something I should know, Ranma?" asked Rei, coming up
behind him.
He turned around. "Rei, whatever you do, you shouldn't let Akane
cook a meal for you or for anyone you care for."
"Ranma, I may not know her like you do, but you sound a bit too
harsh about her cooking abilities."
"Rei, you don't understand! She _rarely_ happens to cook edible
stuff, except maybe curry at best. Ask her family!" Rei had to strain a
little to hear, but she heard Ranma grumble: "I could swear some of her
meals came alive once..."
Rei gave Ranma a "Do-You-Really-Expect-Me-To-Believe-That?" look.
"Ranma, stop exaggerating! She's your wife for Kami-sama's sake! Don't
you feel ashamed saying things like that about her?"
Ranma shook his head. "Not when it doesn't change the fact that she
can't cook. It isn't quite so bad anymore, but that's only because I'm
the one she usually feeds it to. She might have gotten better, or maybe
I'm just slowly becoming immune to it. You'll just have to trust me on
this one, Rei."
Rei shook her head at Ranma's somewhat passionate speech and went
back inside the shrine, followed by Ranma.
"So when are you leaving for your registration at Mizuharo
University?" she asked when they were back inside.
"As soon as we've finished eating," replied Ranma. "Akane and I
don't want to be stuck waiting in line for hours to get our courses."
"I never got around to asking you this, but what _are_ you going to
study?"
"Well, I'm going to study physical education to become a certified
sensei since I'm the heir to the family's dojo and Akane chose to study
acting, though Nabiki and I keep telling her she'd be far more skilled
at chemistry."
"Why chemistry and who's Nabiki?"
"Remember what I said about her cooking?" Ranma ignored Rei's
eyebrow twitch. "As for Nabiki... she's one of Akane's sisters and a
first rank extortionist. Don't ever make a deal with her; your life
will be much easier that way, trust me."
Rei raised another eyebrow. "Is she _really_ that bad?"
Ranma looked thoughtful for a moment. "Nah... She's usually much
worse."
Rei looked at him with a strange expression, which bordered
disbelief. *What kind of life did he lead anyway?* Suddenly, she
remembered something. "Oh, Ranma, before I forget, grandfather and
Yuuichiro may come back today, so don't be surprised if you see them.
I'll leave them a note to tell them you're here."
"No problem," said Ranma. "It'll be nice to see grandpa again."
Barely half an hour later, Ranma and Akane had left the Hikawa
Shrine and were on their way to Mizuharo University. A few minutes
after their departure, Ami and Makoto stopped by the shrine to check up
on things with Rei before she left for her own school.
"So, learn anything new, Rei-chan?" asked Makoto.
Rei sighed. "Lots of things. I'll tell you all about it this
afternoon." She looked at Ami, then Makoto. "Wait a minute, if you're
both here, then who's going to pick up Usagi at her house?"
"Minako said she'd take care of it today," said Ami.
Rei looked uncertain for a moment, then shrugged.
Minako Aino and Usagi Tsukino both earned detention for being late
to class that day.
* * *
Ranma and Akane made it early enough to be among the first in line
to get their courses.
"I still say you should've taken a chemistry course instead of
acting, Akane," said Ranma distractedly, looking at his schedule.
Akane felt a little grumpy. She still didn't like it when Ranma and
Nabiki said she'd be good at chemistry. The last time she'd cooked,
Nabiki had jokingly told her something about being able to sell her
discoveries to the army's chemical warfare division for a hefty sum.
She had come to grips a few months ago that her cooking was not quite
equal to Kasumi's when she had accidentally tasted a very special dish
she had made just for Ranma and had spent the rest of the day sick as a
result. Since that day, she had considerably mellowed when Ranma made
jabs about her cooking, since she knew how painful it could sometimes
be. Of course, Ranma had never known that she had accidentally eaten
her own cooking (she had told him she had the flu), so her pride was
still somewhat intact.
"Ranma," she said, her voice without conviction, "Don't make me hurt
you. The day's started out too fine for that."
Ranma blinked. He had been recently starting to learn just how far
he could push Akane without triggering her "hammer-happy" temper, but
he'd been surprised at the number of times Akane had left jabs about
her cooking abilities unchallenged. He wondered why. "Ano... So what do
we do now?" he asked.
"Well, there's the welcoming ceremony soon and afterwards, we're
free to wander around," said Akane. "I'm going to take a look around to
see if there are any interesting clubs to join." *Maybe there's a
cooking club I could join to try and get better.*
Ranma smirked. He'd have to check out the sports clubs (not that he
needed, nor really wanted, to join one, but they were probably the only
things that would interest him).
True to form, Ranma found it hard to stay completely awake and
conscious during the dean's welcoming speech and was more than grateful
when he got a chance to stretch his legs again. Ranma and Akane had
lunch together and decided that they would meet up later for dinner at
Rei's shrine when they had both finished exploring the university's
faculties. After all, it made sense that they would cover much more
ground that way.
It was late afternoon. Ranma had visited a couple of clubs and was
walking along one of the dorm buildings when he suddenly received a
bucket full of water on the head. The now female Ranma cursed under her
breath and hoped no one had seen her change. Almost snarling, she took
off the bucket from atop her head and looked for the origin of the
wayward container. She quickly found out as two girls leaned out of a
window two floors above her.
"Oh geez, I'm sorry!" one of them yelled. "We were cleaning up
inside when the bucket fell out of our window. Are you hurt?"
*Only my pride...* thought Ranma darkly. "No, I guess I'm all
right," she yelled back and quickly tossed them the now empty bucket
back. After heaving a sigh of relief when she made sure no one had
noticed her change, she quickly wrung her hair out and headed towards a
bathroom to dry herself up and get some hot water.
She was nearing a public stall when she heard a familiar voice
behind her. "Ranko-san? Is that you?"
Ranma turned around and found herself face to face with the young
man who'd been at the shrine the day before. She decided to play it
safe. "Who are you?" she asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Chiba Mamoru. I was at the Hikawa Shrine
yesterday when you came by with Akane-san. You left... uhm... rather
quickly," he finished, a bit unsure of what to say about Ranko's abrupt
departure.
Ranma turned a little red at the memory. "Ah, yes... well, sorry
about that," she mumbled. She pretended to look a bit surprised. "Say,
Ranma told me yesterday that you wanted to speak to me. Is this true?"
Mamoru looked relieved. "Yes, there are some things I'd like to talk
to you about."
"Such as?" she prodded. She didn't want to let him know just yet
that _she_ wanted to ask _him_ a few things too.
Mamoru looked at the people around them. "Well, it's a bit
personal..."
Ranma nodded. "All right. Could you at least let me dry myself off
first?"
Mamoru seemed to notice for the first time that she was somewhat
damp. "What happened?"
"Just a small accident," she replied, waving her hand dismissively.
*And maybe a fortunate one for once,* she added, mentally.
* * *
Over at Juuban High, classes had ended and Makoto and Ami were
waiting for Minako and Usagi to come out of the detention they had been
inflicted with this morning.
"I still don't understand why you agreed to let Minako wake Usagi
up," said Makoto, shaking her head in disappointment.
"I spoke to Minako at lunchtime and she blamed it on the fact that
Artemis didn't wake her this morning," said Ami.
"Doesn't the girl have an alarm clock?" said Makoto, shaking her
head.
"It wouldn't make a difference if she's as sound a sleeper as
Usagi."
"Why those two rely more on their cats than on alarm clocks to wake
them up is beyond me." Makoto looked around impatiently. "How much time
before those two finish their detentions?" she asked.
"It should be any time, now," said Ami, glancing at her watch.
Suddenly, they both heard shouts and screams coming from inside the
school. They went inside to check what the problem was and watched as
several girls coming out of the locker room, shrieking. Makoto grabbed
one as she was passing by, a distressed look on her face.
"Hey, what's going on?" she asked.
"There's a shriveled monster stealing underwear and groping us in
there," the girl said shakily, pointing towards the locker room.
Makoto let the girl go and looked at Ami. "Is it another youma?" she
asked Ami in a low voice.
Ami shook her head. "I can't tell from here." She looked puzzled for
a moment. "Why would a youma steal underwear anyway?" she asked
rhetorically.
"Why ask me?" said Makoto. "I don't..."
"Hotcha! SWEETO!"
Makoto didn't have the chance to finish her sentence as something
rocketed out of the locker room and latched itself onto her chest. She
looked down and saw a small _something_ happily squeezing away.
"Whoa! I never thought there'd be someone as well-stacked as you
here, sweetie! Why don't you and I elope for a few nights of wild
passion?" the creature suggested.
Makoto went from Peaceful to Confused to Murderous Rage in the blink
of an eye. She tried to hit the thing on her chest (*How _dare_ it even
think about eloping!?*), but it proved to be faster than her fists.
However, Makoto's failed attempt seemed to have the desired effect, as
the creature dropped to the floor, landing on its feet, in front of
her.
She finally got her first good look at it and was a bit surprised to
see that the thing (or youma, whichever), was in fact a small, shrunken
old man with barely a few tufts of hair on his head. It also had a very
lecherous smile on its face and was covered with various pieces of
women's underwear.
"You PERVERT!" Makoto screamed and tried several times to kick
Happosai into next week, without much success.
The old man was nimbly dodging all of Makoto's kicks. "And you look
like you know martial arts, too!" he exclaimed. "This place is even
better than Nerima!"
Suddenly, several girls came out of the locker room, murder in their
eyes and carrying various implements, such as purses, chairs, locker
doors, hockey sticks and, yes, the occasional mallet. Happosai decided
a tactical withdrawal was in order for the moment. He glomped a stunned
Ami for a quick charge and left down the corridor.
"I'm gonna KILL that thing!" roared Makoto. She was about to run
after the diminutive hentai when she noticed that Ami was standing as
stiff as a stone. Anger died down for a few moments. "Hey, Ami! Are you
all right?" she asked, concerned.
Ami blinked, expressionless. "You want to kill that thing?" she
asked Makoto in a flat voice.
"I'm gonna ram a lightning bolt up its ass!" Makoto snarled.
Instead of blushing at the tall brunette's choice of words as she
usually would, Ami uncharacteristically replied: "Get in line." She
then ran like a rocket after the shrunken pervert.
This time, Makoto was the one who blinked. Ami was usually the most
harmless (temper-wise) member of the team. For her to react like
that... She mentally shrugged and ran after Ami. As Sailor Senshi, it
was their duty to eradicate threats to public safety, wasn't it?
The pervert would pay. Dearly.
* * *
Nearby, Ranma and Mamoru were aimlessly walking down a street.
"Say, how did you recognize me back at the university?" she said.
Mamoru smiled a little. "Well, I didn't see you for a long time
yesterday, but one thing I did notice was your hair. Red hair like
yours tends to stand out in a crowd,"
Ranma nodded absently. The more she was with Mamoru, the more she
felt she knew him from somewhere (but little did she know the same
thing was happening to Mamoru). It was getting strange. "What were you
doing at Mizuharo university anyway?" she asked Mamoru.
"I study there, of course," he said with a smile.
Ranma became a bit more interested. "What do you study?"
"Journalism," replied Mamoru. "What about you, Ranko-san?"
"You can call me Ranko," said Ranma. "As for what I was doing
there... I was accompanying Ranma and Akane to their registration
today."
"What does Ranma study?"
"Physical Education, what else?" she said with a small grin.
They walked a little more in silence. Mamoru was trying to figure a
way to ask Ranko his questions without sounding like a loon. His
musings were cut short when Ranma asked him a question first.
"So, what _did_ you want to talk to me about?" asked Ranma.
*Oh well, here I go,* he thought. "Actually, it was because you
remind me of someone. I could swear I had never seen you before
yesterday and yet, when I saw you, I couldn't help thinking I'd seen
you a long time ago," he said. *And why did _you_ seem startled to see
me yesterday?* he also wondered silently.
Ranma thought about it for a moment and decided to be truthful.
"This is a strange coincidence. You also remind me of... someone, even
though I know I've never met you before. Ever since I saw you, I've
been thinking about you..." Ranma trailed off when she realized how the
last sentence could be interpreted.
Mamoru was starting to sweat. This wasn't going the way he'd
planned.
"No, no, wait... I didn't mean it like that!" Ranma stuttered. "I'm
not in love with you or anything..." Mamoru sighed in relief. "It's
just that you look so familiar and I want to know why!" she finished
forcefully.
*Should I tell her?* Mamoru wondered. Ranko said that he reminded
her of someone familiar. The odds of her being Akana reborn had risen
dramatically. As he looked around at his surroundings, he blinked and
noticed they were now walking in front of Juuban High School. He was
still weighing the risks of telling Ranko about his previous life when
he heard sounds of enraged shouting coming from the school. Mamoru
froze for a moment and quickly peered inside the school gate, wondering
what all the commotion was all about. For a moment, all he saw were
angry girls running around, but he soon noticed they were pursuing
someone or something. As he tried to make out what, he turned around
and saw that Ranko was standing on top of a wall, looking at the
mayhem. He watched, a bit puzzled, as her expression darkened. She then
growled out a single word with disgust. "Happosai."
When Ranma had jumped on top of the wall, she noticed all the girls
running around. The scene was unfortunately all too familiar, as she
had seen it countless times at Furinkan and in Nerima in general. She
quickly looked ahead of the mob of angry girls and found what she hoped
she wouldn't find. She had hoped they had seen the last of Happosai
back at the first wedding attempt, where he had accidentally drunk the
Nannichuan water that had been meant for her. Obviously, the ancient
pervert had moved on to greener pastures (so to speak). She growled his
name and was about to go pound him when she spotted out two figures
jumping in front of him. She blinked when she realized that the two
girls somehow matched the pictures of the magazine in the train.
She turned to Mamoru. "Are they the Sailor Senshi?" she asked
quickly.
Mamoru, who seemed a bit put off by the fact that Ranko was standing
on the wall (the wall _was_ around two meters high and there wasn't any
way she could have easily climbed it), replied: "Yes, they are. Or at
least that's two of them, anyway." He quickly scanned the crowd, but
did not find any trace of Sailor Moon or Sailor Venus. *Where are
they?* he wondered. He knew that at least Usagi was fine or he would
have felt it.
"I hope they won't try to stop Happosai while wearing skirts like
those," commented Ranma, shaking her head.
"You know what that thing is?" asked Mamoru.
Ranma sighed. "Unfortunately. 'Its' name is Happosai and he's a
perverted martial arts master who glomps girls and steals women's
underwear."
"What were you saying about the Senshi not being able to stop him?
I'll have you know they've beaten lots of monsters before," said Mamoru
defensively.
*Jeez, aren't _you_ defensive?* thought Ranma. "It's not that," she
said out loud. "Remember what I said about him being a hentai? Happosai
will become even more nuts when he sees how they're dressed." As proof,
she pointed towards the confrontation.
* * *
Makoto and Ami had found a closet in which to transform on the way
out and had jumped through an open window on the first floor to cut
ahead of the mob of girls.
"Is it close?" asked Sailor Jupiter.
Sailor Mercury tapped her earring and her visor appeared. "It should
be coming soon."
As she predicted, the mob quickly became visible. Of course, when
the girls who made up the mob saw the two Sailor Senshi, everyone broke
off pursuit and moved away.
The two Senshi decided to forego the introductory speech and blast
away.
"Sparkling Vital Pressure!"
"Shining Aqua Illusion!"
Happosai was nearly flash-frozen and electrocuted, but evaded in
time. Looking at the source of the disturbance, he nearly had a heart
attack. There were two young girls, clad in white leotards and _very_
short skirts. He was in heaven. A distant part of his mind noticed that
they seemed very angry at him for some reason, but he figured that it
was because he hadn't paid enough attention to them. He immediately
made a beeline for them, regardless of the fact that one of the had
just tried to hit him with a lightning bolt and the other had tried to
turn him into a popsicle.
Sailor Jupiter saw the little pervert heading their way and fired
off another Sparkling Vital Pressure attack, which came close, but
missed and blew a hole in the ground behind Happosai. Before she could
get ready for another attack, the pervert moved with a speed that made
rifle bullets seem sluggish and he was once again snuggling in her
chest, even more vigorously than before. Sailor Jupiter saw red. She
put her hands about an inch away on each side of the diminutive
pervert's head. "Supreme..." she started. The metal rod came out of her
tiara and started crackling with power.
At that precise moment, Happosai felt something happening to his
hair. Something that had only happened once when he'd been accidentally
trapped in a dryer along with a few of his silky darlings. Static
fluffiness. His eyes widened.
"... THUNDER!" Sailor Jupiter finished. The area was bathed in a
green glow.
* * *
A few moments before, Usagi and Minako had finally come out of
detention and quickly noticed that everyone seemed to be running
outside. Usagi spotted Umino barreling towards the exit, camera in
hand. She managed to grab a hold of him as he passed by her.
"Hey, Umino! What's going on?" asked Usagi.
"Didn't you know? Some kind of hentai creature raided the girls'
locker room and now, two of the Sailor Senshi are supposedly fighting
it outside!" said Umino, excited.
"Sailor Senshi!?" asked Usagi incredulously. She turned towards
Minako and in the process, loosened her hold on Umino, who promptly
wiggled out and went to watch the fight. "Come on, Minako-chan! We've
got to go see what's going on!"
Minako nodded and several moments and shoves later, they had a prize
view of the fight. Usagi could only stare as Sailor Jupiter tried to
vaporize the short creature latched onto her chest with the Supreme
Thunder. There was a bright green flash, but when the light cleared, it
was immediately apparent that the attack had been to no avail. The
creature had somehow jumped away at the last possible moment and was
now standing a few feet in front of Sailor Jupiter. They were so
captivated by the fight that neither noticed their communicators
beeping.
Minako grabbed Usagi by the arm. "Come on, Usagi!" she hissed in her
ear. "We've got to transform and help them out!"
Usagi's reply was lost as they saw a familiar red-headed girl do an
impossibly high leap and descend down on the short creature, screaming
a name: "HAPPOSAI!!!"
"Ranko?" chorused Usagi and Minako, confused.
Ranma decided that the two Sailor Senshi might need help against
Happosai. Apparently, they weren't aware that he tended to recharge
after each glomp. She jumped from her perch, screaming the pervert's
name. She always relished a chance to pound the pervert into jelly.
As she partly expected after yelling his name, Happosai saw her come
down and quickly leaped out of the way. Ranma tried nailing him with a
Ki-powered punch as she passed, but he was too nimble. She did,
however, manage to make a sizable hole in the ground.
Happosai was surprised, to say the least. The tall girl had
apparently called upon a thunder bolt and had nearly electrocuted him.
Only his advanced martial arts reflexes had saved him from that one. He
was about to try glomping the second one when he heard a familiar voice
crying out his name. He turned around and saw someone he never expected
to see in this part of Tokyo. He quickly moved aside, evading a punch
that resulted in a small crater.
Ranma stood in front of Happosai, battle aura glowing brightly.
"Happosai!" she said in a loud voice. "Isn't it bad enough you had to
raid Furinkan all the time? Do you have to pick on girls who can't
defend themselves, now?"
"Hey!" cried out an indignant Sailor Jupiter, but Ranma ignored her.
Sailor Mercury was busy scanning the redhead with her computer and
visor.
"My darling Ranma-chan!" Happosai cried out in delight. "You've come
all this way to see me! How about you wear these for me?" he asked,
pulling out several pink, lacy bras.
Ranma shuddered in disgust. "Shut up, you perverted old fart! It's
been a year since we saw you and it'll be another year 'till you can
make it out of the hospital once I'm through with you!" she shouted.
She cupped her hands and aimed. "Mouko Takabisha!"
The ball of blue energy shot forward, but Happosai dodged and shot
forward for a quick glomp. To Ranma's utter surprise, he managed to get
a good squeeze before Ranma punched him off, Amaguriken style.
Ranma looked at Happosai. *What the hell has he been doing for the
last year? He's a lot faster than he was before! Even with the effects
of the pressure point in my battle with Cologne, he shouldn't have been
able to grope me.* Since the pervert could evade the Mouko Takabisha,
Ranma rushed forward and decided to take it up close and personal.
Soon, Ranma and Happosai were a blur of movements, punches, kicks
and blocks flying faster than the eye could see. Eventually, Happosai
jumped over a leg sweep, but got nailed by the other leg and was kicked
into one of the outer walls. However, it was a surprise to most of
those watching, that after digging himself out, Happosai didn't seem
too damaged.
"I'm getting tired of this," he said, becoming serious. "I think you
need a lesson from your master!"
Ranma snorted. "You're not my master and I need a lesson from you
about as much as the world needs the Black Plague!"
Suddenly, several Happo-daikarins came flying her way. She evaded
them all, but suddenly realized that there was a substantial crowd
around them. "Get out of here!" she yelled. "Those things are bombs!"
As soon as the warning was issued, the courtyard started to empty out
very quickly, but the mini-bombs went off and soon, there was panic
everywhere.
Usagi and Minako were among the less fortunate ones, as they had
been standing relatively close to one of the Happo-daikarins. However,
all the bomb did (aside from scaring them witless, of course) was knock
them on the ground.
When Ranma saw all the people getting knocked to the ground by
Happosai's bombs, she whirled on the little pervert. "What are you
doing?!" she exploded. "You can't involve bystanders in this! Don't you
have any honor left?"
"Those are weak Happo-daikarins and besides, I wasn't aiming at
them; I was aiming at you!" answered Happosai. "If you hadn't dodged
and stood still instead, this wouldn't have happened!" He then threw
several other Happo-daikarins at Ranma. She quickly tried to send them
all high up in the air, but she missed one and it landed near the dazed
Usagi and Minako.
Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mercury had been shaken by the first round
of bombs. When Sailor Jupiter saw the last Happo-daikirin landing near
Usagi and Minako, fear gripped her heart.
"NOOO!!!! Usagi, get up!" she yelled and started running at full
speed towards them at the same time as Mamoru became Tuxedo Kamen and
he also rushed towards Usagi. Usagi, dazed, looked around for the
reason of Sailor Jupiter's cry and saw another one of those bombs. She
locked up in fear and froze, looking at the Happo-daikarin near her.
Minako was only starting to get up.
Ranma, however, was the closest to them and the fuse on the
Happo-daikarin was almost out. She shot a burning look at Happosai and
ran as fast as she could towards the two girls. To the untrained eye,
it would almost have seemed as if Ranma suddenly blurred. She quickly
picked up Usagi and Minako (who barely had time for a muffled "What
the...?!") and jumped away, just as the Happo-daikarin exploded.
As Usagi and Minako were being carried away by Ranma, they couldn't
help but stare at the bright sigil of Earth, a circle divided in four,
that was shining on Ranko's forehead.
Ranma made a two point landing in front of Tuxedo Kamen. When she
looked at him, she somehow knew that she could trust the man in black
(even if he was wearing a tuxedo and top hat). She didn't question her
instincts for once. She quickly passed off Usagi and Minako to him and
jumped back towards Happosai.
"Usako," Tuxedo Kamen said, hugging her, "Are you all right?"
Usagi finally managed to find her wits and looked at Tuxedo Kamen.
"I'm all right, Tuxedo Kamen-sama," she said with a smile. Her smile
then changed to an unreadable expression. "Mamo-chan," she said in a
hurried whisper, "I saw it when she carried us away!"
"You saw what, Usako?" asked Tuxedo Kamen, now a bit confused.
"Her sigil!"
Tuxedo Kamen jerked. "Are you sure, Usako?"
"Yes! It looked just liked the one Ami showed us on the computer!"
As Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mercury reached their group, Tuxedo
Kamen looked back at the confrontation between Happosai and Ranko and
couldn't help worrying about his rediscovered sister.
* * *
Ranma, whose sigil had now faded again, looked at Happosai with
disgust. "Why did you attack bystanders, Happosai?"
"_I_ didn't attack them; _you_ dodged my Happo-daikarins," replied
Happosai, simply. "Besides, I've grown weary of your constant
interference, Ranma. I can't even glomp a girl in Tokyo without you
showing up."
"Is that supposed to be a bad thing?" Ranma said in a voice laced
with venom.
Happosai smiled. "It's time I put you in your place and showed you
who's the real master of the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryuu."
"Yeah, right!" Ranma snorted. "I haven't wasted the last year like
oyaji, Happosai! I've gotten a lot better!"
Happosai smiled. "You're not the only one who trained, Ranma. How do
you think I managed to glomp you when I couldn't do that anymore a year
ago?" His smile became lecherous. "Beaches make wonderful training
grounds, you know..."
Ranma fumed. So that's how he'd gotten so much better. She had to
pound the pervert into jelly or kick him into deep space; there was no
other choice. She rushed Happosai, who dodged. Ranma broke through the
wall behind Happosai with her punch. Snarling, she rushed him again,
but Happosai sent her flying in another wall with his pipe. She broke
through _that_ wall completely.
Tuxedo Kamen gasped. "I've got to help her!" He started to go, but
was surprisingly held back by Sailor Mercury. "Mercury," he said, "Let
me go!"
Sailor Mercury shook her head. "There's no need to, Tuxedo Kamen,"
she said, while looking through her visor.
"What do you mean?" said Tuxedo Kamen, worry slowly replaced with
confusion.
"She means _that_," answered Sailor Jupiter, pointing unbelievingly
at the wall where Ranko had been sent flying. Ranko was coming back
out, none the worse for wear, except that she seemed to have lost the
string that held her pigtail in place. Her red hair was now flowing
freely, cascading down her back.
Everyone gaped at the uncharacteristic display of endurance. Tuxedo
Kamen was also gaping at Ranko's now complete resemblance to Akana in
his dreams. It was at that time that Sailor Mars decided to make an
appearance.
"What's going on?" she asked between breaths. "I was walking back to
the shrine when I felt... something... evil around here, not quite like
a youma. I tried calling Usagi and Minako, but they didn't answer. I
transformed and ran here as fast as I could when I felt spiritual
energy being channeled around here."
Sailor Jupiter pointed at the redhead who was coming out of the
debris and at the shrunken pervert. "_They're_ what's going on, Mars,"
she said flatly. "I wouldn't advise trying to break them up."
Sailor Mars peered at the two combatants. She blinked. "Ano... Is
that Ranko?"
Everyone nodded.
"She looks even more like Akana without the pigtail," remarked
Sailor Mars. Before any of the others could comment further on that
particularly accurate statement, Sailor Mars let out a hiss as she laid
eyes on Happosai.
Tuxedo Kamen, who was closest, looked at her, a bit startled. "Is
there something wrong, Mars?" he asked.
She pointed at Happosai. "If that isn't a demon, it's the next thing
to it," she said, narrowing her eyes. "That's the source of the evil I
felt." She began readying a ward.
Ranma came back out of the debris a little more composed. *Good
thing I don't need the Dragon Hair anymore...* she thought grimly. She
analyzed what had just happened. *The pervert is staying calm; he
doesn't want me to use the Hiryu Shouten Ha on him,* she thought. *If I
can't put him on fire, I'll have to make him madder.*
"Mouko Takabisha!" The Ki-blast shot forward, but Happosai evaded it
easily.
"Is that the best you can do, Ranma?" taunted Happosai.
She answered with a cry of "Kijin Raishuu Dan!", but Happosai evaded
the vacuum blast as well. When she realized what she was doing, she
berated herself. *Cool it, Ranma! He's not worth using the Forbidden
Techniques on.* She thought about her situation. *I know he'll get mad
if I hit him with a Ki-blast, but the Mouko Takabisha is too slow. How
can I make it faster?* Then an idea came to her. She smiled.
"You want to know what I can do, old fart?" she said. "How about
this! Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken and Mouko Takabisha combination
technique!" She held both hands opened, palms facing Happosai.
"RENSHA-HAPPA-DAN!"
Ranma cupped her hands and summoned a Ki sphere. Instead of just
shooting it away like the Mouko Takabisha, though, her hands blurred
and the sphere started to waver. Suddenly, the sphere broke apart and a
dozen smaller spheres rocketed forward at incredible speed towards
Happosai as Ranma lost her balance and fell backwards.
That loss of balance was the only thing that saved Happosai from
potentially grievous injuries, as only a few of the spheres made it to
the target. However, only a few spheres were necessary to hurt
Happosai. The old pervert was knocked back a dozen feet as the
remaining spheres slammed all around him, tearing the ground up.
Sailor Mars could only gape as she saw Ranko executing the
technique. *How did she do that?* she thought. That particular train of
thought stopped when Happosai landed at her feet. It was then that she
realized that the "demon" was in fact a bald, shrunken old man. It was
the last thing she thought about before said old man suddenly rose and
glomped her with inhuman speed.
"Thanks for helping an old man in his time of need, sweetie,"
Happosai said, as he fondled Sailor Mars.
Said Sailor went into an holy fit of dark rage. She quickly took the
ward she had prepared and slapped it on Happosai's shriveled head.
"Rin, pyou, tou, sha, kai, jin, retsu, sai, zen. Akuryou taisan!" she
chanted as fast as she could.
The result was not exactly what she expected. Instead of freezing up
as most youmas did, Happosai reacted as if he'd been strapped with a
burning iron on his head. She smiled despite the unusual result. This
was much better than paralysis! As the old hentai master ran around
trying to get the ward off his head, Sailor Mars smirked. "You think
they're hot? How about this!" She clasped her hands together and
concentrated. "Burning Mandala!" The fire rings sped towards Happosai,
who had just managed to get rid of the paper ward. "How dare she..." he
growled, and stopped when he saw a dozen rings of fire heading towards
him. He evaded most of them, but his clothing caught fire in several
places.
Ranma had underestimated the difficulty of the Rensha-Happa-Dan. The
technique she had made up essentially required her to form a big sphere
of Ki, like the Mouko Takabisha and then disrupting it with the speed
of the Kacchu Tenshin Amaguriken, forming a veritable storm of smaller
Ki spheres. What she hadn't expected was the slight recoil and the
strain involved, which had caused her to fall down. As she got back up,
she noticed that there was a new Sailor Senshi on the scene. Ranma
watched, dismayed, as the ancient pervert got up and glomped her.
She was pleased when she saw the Senshi in question strap an a piece
of paper on Happosai's head. She hadn't expected any results, but she
smiled when she saw Happosai jumping around in pain. *Serves him
right,* she thought gleefully.
She was about to go punt Happosai into Low Earth Orbit (or severely
maim him; she wasn't sure), when she saw the new Senshi throw fire
rings at Happosai. She stared for a moment watching Happosai trying to
put the fire in his clothes out. *Fire?...* She blinked and ran as fast
as she could towards Happosai and started running in circles around
him.
"Hey, Happosai," she taunted, "How's it feel to be beaten by a
girl?" Happosai snarled at her and tried to put out his flaming
clothes. *Good! Between his temper and the fire on his clothes, he's
radiating enough heat,* she thought. Ranma turned towards the remaining
girls (by now, most of the other spectators had left in fright). "Get
down!" she yelled. She glanced at Happosai, smiling as she felt the air
currents shaping up.
The other girls were puzzled. Why was Ranko running around the
pervert instead of pounding him and why did she want them to get down?
It was Sailor Mercury's gasp that made them start. "Masaka! The air
currents!..." she breathed, staring though her visor. "Get down!
Quickly!" she yelled, promptly following her own advice. The others
needed no further urging and they all dropped to the ground.
When Ranma saw the girls flattening down, she turned to Happosai
"Here! Let me help you put that fire out!" She then stopped running and
threw an uppercut that came nowhere near Happosai. It never needed to
as Ranma unleashed one of the most devastating moves in her arsenal.
"HIRYUU SHOUTEN HA!"
Happosai felt the stirrings of despair as he finally realized what
Ranma was doing. He tried to brace for it, but his clothes were still
on fire, so he had to let down his guard. The Rising Dragon Ascension
Defeat formed around Happosai and he was hurled into the sky by
cyclone-strength winds as the Ki dragon blasted out of Ranma. His last
conscious words were: "I'll get my revenge, Ranma! I promise you'll pay
for this!!" But by that time, Happosai was already several miles over
the horizon.
As the Hiryu Shouten Ha dissipated, Ranma took a deep breath and
smiled. She'd probably managed to seriously injure the old pervert and
she had made up a new technique. *Today is a _good_ day to fight,* she
thought happily. She looked around and noticed there was a bit of
property damage (not nearly as much as at Furinkan, but still). She
then noticed that the Senshi and the two girls she had saved from the
Happo-daikirin were getting up off the ground and gawking at her in
undisguised amazement. She walked over to the two girls.
"Are you two all right?" she asked.
Usagi and Minako, still a bit shell-shocked, nodded dumbly. Ranma
looked a bit more closely at Usagi, then at Minako. It was then that
she realized for the first time who she had saved.
"Hey! Weren't you two the ones with the cats at the Hikawa Shrine
yesterday?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.
Usagi and Minako started. Ranko had been at the Shrine for less than
a minute and she remembered them? And worse: did she remember the
incident with the cats?
"Uh... yes, that's us," said Minako weakly. She remembered Ranko's
reaction at Artemis and Luna yesterday and she desperately hoped Ranko
wasn't angry with her. After what she'd just done... Glancing at Usagi,
Minako could tell similar thoughts were running in her head as well.
Ranma blinked, not understanding Minako's reaction. "Oh, don't worry
about the cats," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "It's not your
fault and you didn't know." She looked around. "Has anyone seen
Mamoru?" she asked. "Tall guy, black hair?" she specified. She never
saw Tuxedo Kamen twitch nervously.
"Umm, why are you looking for Muffin?" ventured Usagi.
Ranko blinked. "Muffin?"
"Yeah!," Usagi said, perking up. "Mamo-chan's my Muffin!" she
exclaimed triumphantly.
Tuxedo Kamen and the other Senshi present big-sweated.
*Mamoru's dating a high school student? He must be at least four
years older than her!* she thought. "Eh, yes... well... I was speaking
to him when all this mess started. Do you know where he went?"
Usagi started to sweat. She had never been good at lying and she
knew she'd put her foot in her mouth if she tried to lie to Ranko.
"Well... I..."
Tuxedo Kamen came to her rescue, albeit in a different way that he
usually did. "I saw him directing the girls out of the school when the
fighting started. I don't know where he went after that."
"Kuso," Ranma swore softly. "Great," she said in a louder voice.
"Now I have to find him again!"
In a rare moment of brilliance, Usagi started to form a plan. She
had seen Ranko's sigil. That definitely marked her as Sailor Terra. She
needed to tell Ranko about it, but she couldn't do it here. Luna and
Artemis needed to know about Ranko. She and Minako weren't in Senshi
form; if she started to talk about it here, unwanted ears were sure to
overhear, especially since there were still a small number of students
who were now taking an interest in their group.
"You won't have to look for him," she said in a bright voice. "He'll
be at the Hikawa Shrine in half an hour," she continued, ignoring the
puzzled looks she was getting from everyone.
Ranma thought about it. Akane likely wouldn't be back from
university anytime soon and she could easily go grab a snack in half an
hour. She had worked up a small appetite because of this fight. "All
right," she said. "I'll be there. And don't bring any c-c-cats, okay?"
And then, before anyone could blink, she jumped over the wall and
disappeared through the streets.
Nobody gave pursuit, though. They were too busy looking
questioningly at Usagi. Seeing that the other students were coming her
way (Umino was in the group), she quickly hissed to the Senshi in
uniform: "I'll explain later! Just make sure to be at the Shrine in
half an hour!"
She got dubious looks from most of them, especially from Sailor
Mars, but they all gave a short nod and quickly left before students
asked them any questions.
Usagi then turned towards Minako. "I hope I'm doing the right
thing," she said. She then turned to face Umino and his endless
questions.
Twenty-five minutes later, the Inner Senshi (in civilian garb) and
Mamoru were milling around in the main hall of the Hikawa Shrine, after
having shaken off Umino (it had taken Naru's accidental intervention to
get rid of him). Luna and Artemis had been picked up and briefed along
the way. Needless to say, the Moon cats had been very vocal in their
exclamations when the Senshi related the afternoon's "adventure". Both
cats had been shocked at the fact that their respective charges had
almost been severely injured in their civilian forms and they had shown
disbelief at the level of power Ranko had supposedly displayed against
the old pervert.
Luna was unsure, especially about Usagi's plan to "spring the
surprise on Ranko", as it were. Or maybe it was the fact that Usagi had
come with a plausible plan in the first place that worried her; she
couldn't be sure. "Are you sure you want to do this, Usagi?" asked Luna
yet again.
Usagi was starting become exasperated at her feline mentor's
attitude. "Listen, Luna! Minako and I both saw her sigil, so I didn't
imagine it. Unless she can duplicate one, and as far as we know, it
can't be done, then there's no doubt that she's Sailor Terra! Now, all
we need is her henshin rod, which _you're_ supposed to have, by the
way, and we'll be set!"
"I still say Artemis and I should talk to her," insisted the black
cat.
Makoto snorted. "And have a free repeat of what happened yesterday?
I don't think so, Luna. As risky as Usagi's plan sounds, we have no
choice. We don't need Ranko to go insane on us just now."
Luna grumbled a bit more, but eventually agreed. "All right. I'll
give you her henshin rod, but Artemis and I will be watching from a
hidden place. It's going to be very inconvenient if we can't talk to
her." She concentrated and did a backflip and a henshin rod appeared.
Usagi eagerly took it.
Meanwhile, Makoto's gaze wandered over to Ami, who was typing on her
computer. "What are you doing?" asked the tallest Inner Senshi.
"I'm analyzing all the data I collected on Ranko during the battle,"
replied the shortest one. "Makoto, these readings are unbelievable..."
she trailed off, shaking her head.
"I know. I saw her, remember?" She then heard Ami mutter something
incredulously.
"Ami-chan, what's wrong?" asked Usagi.
"I have some trouble believing what my computer tells me. According
to it, when the old pervert and her were going hand to hand this
afternoon, she threw 273 punches in three seconds at one point," said
Ami in a disbelieving tone.
All the others stared at her incredulously.
Ami seemed pensive for a moment. "Makoto, did you notice anything
strange during the battle?"
Makoto blinked. "I saw a lot of weird things this afternoon. Which
ones are you referring to?"
"Well," Ami said, "Did you notice the fact that Ranko and the dwarf
seemed to know each other?"
"I noticed."
"Isn't it also strange that he kept calling Ranko, Ranma and 'boy'?
Not to mention Ranko's rather sloppy language."
Makoto shrugged. "Maybe she just talked that way because she was
stressed," she countered. Her eyebrows then knitted in thought. "As for
the 'Ranma' and 'boy' remarks, I did notice, and so did the other
girls. Maybe it just means that she's just a tomboy. We can always ask
her when she comes back. I wouldn't be surprised if she told me the old
pervert was addled, too."
Makoto and Ami walked over to Usagi, who was showing Terra's henshin
rod to Minako.
"It's not as if she really needs one with the kind of power she
already has, anyway," commented Makoto.
"It isn't just that," interjected Ami. "Our transformations also
provide us with a disguise field that prevents people from recognizing
us. If Ranko is going to go around killing monsters and perverts, she
might as well do it as Sailor Terra or she'll attract unwanted
attention."
"Say, Ami," asked Makoto. "If she's that powerful in non-Senshi
form, what's going to happen when she powers up? I saw her fight in
hand to hand combat against the little pervert and she could probably
wipe the floor with us all without using her energy bolts. And I won't
even consider that tornado she made."
"Those energy bolts were actually Ki-blasts," corrected Rei.
"What's the difference?"
"You don't need to be a Senshi in order to be able to manipulate
your Ki," explained Rei, "I use my Ki when I do fire readings and my
ability the read the fire does _not_ come from being a Senshi. Ranko's
just developed her ability to an remarkable level, that's all." She
paused. *Just like Ranma...* she added silently. She looked around the
Shrine. *Well, at least Grandpa and Yuuichiro aren't here yet.* She was
brought back into the conversation by a question from Minako.
"What do you mean? Is it like telekinesis or something?" asked the
blonde.
"Not quite... The simplest explanation is that she uses her own
spiritual strength to create the blasts," said Rei.
"If we don't use Ki, then what _do_ we use?" asked Minako.
Ami answered for Rei. "Mana. We draw our power from each of our
respective planets. Our Senshi forms act as conduits of sorts for
Mana." She looked at the readings she had taken from the fights and
decided to do a little comparison with their own powers. It would take
a while to compute, though.
"Makoto?" Ami asked, "In response to your earlier question, I'm not
sure what will be her power increase or if she will even have one, as
there are several possibilities. One factor is the nature of her powers
as a Senshi; Tuxedo Mask and Endymion have basic psychokinetic powers
and some sort of healing ability Mamoru found about when he kept
Chibi-Usa alive during the Pharaoh 90 confrontation. We don't know if
her powers are anything like his."
At the mention of his psychokinetic powers, something began stirring
within Mamoru's subconscious. A forgotten memory... a Psi-Tech? Mamoru
blinked. *What in the world is a Psi-Tech?* he thought, puzzled.
"Why are we worrying about that, anyway?" said Usagi. "All we need
to know is the she'll be a really powerful addition to the team!" she
said enthusiastically.
"How will Luna be able to wake her memories without freaking her
out?" wondered Minako.
"Leave that to me," said the young priestess. "I worked on this with
Luna once and she taught me the basics of the Luna Mind Meld. The
technique is unusually simple; it's like hypnotism, really. I'm not
sure if I have it right, but I'm sure I can do _something_."
"She's coming," warned Makoto, cutting off any further replies.
Everyone looked up just in time to see Ranko entering the outer
courtyard. Her hair was bound again, but this time in a ponytail, not a
braid. Minako was silently swearing that she would eventually get the
girl to wear it loose, like at the battle. She looked much better
without that horrid pigtail.
Rei was getting even more suspicious. Ranko and Ranma, two people
with similar names, who dressed exactly the same and who had roughly
the same fighting abilities. Quite a list of coincidences. *Too many
coincidences,* the raven-haired priestess thought. *There's something
going on and I don't know what it is.* Rei decided to ask the Great
Fire about it at sometime later. She looked around and was suddenly
disappointed that they hadn't thought of inviting Hotaru. She probably
knew more about this than any of them.
As she walked up the stairs to the shrine, Ranma felt like she was
walking into a trap. She could almost feel the tension in the air. She
wondered why she was feeling so apprehensive; after all, she was only
coming here as a girl to clear up the mystery of her memories about
Mamoru.
Suddenly, she jerked to a stop, if only for a moment. When she had
thought about Mamoru, she'd felt a fleeting... something. She didn't
know why, but she _knew_ Mamoru was inside.
Inside the shrine, Mamoru felt something and he looked around him in
confusion. He was sure someone was watching him.
When Ranma finally made it inside the shrine, she was only
half-surprised to see all the people obviously waiting for her. *So
that's why I was nervous,* she thought. Scanning the group, she saw
Mamoru, who seemed very relieved to see her, and all the other girls
she had seen as a guy. She would have to be careful.
"No need to look like that, girls," Ranma began, trying to smooth
her entrance. "I just want to speak privately to Mamoru for a while."
Usagi looked as if she was going to say something, but Mamoru beat
her to it. "We can go in the courtyard, Ranko. We won't be bothered
there," he added, giving a meaningful glance to all the girls.
All the girls, including Usagi, nodded weakly. This hadn't been part
of the plan, but they'd have to roll with it.
* * *
As they walked outside the hall, Mamoru spoke up: "I'm sorry about
the reception in there. It's just that you intrigue them a _lot_, to
say the least."
Ranma blinked. "Why?"
"Well, you did save the life of two of them this afternoon and the
way you handled that short pervert this afternoon speaks volumes for
your skills in martial arts. All the elements necessary for high school
gossip, wouldn't you say?"
Ranma nodded. It made sense, to a point.
Watching her reaction, Mamoru smiled inwardly. The last thing he
needed was for her to feel apprehensive about the situation. He'd
managed not to make her too suspicious. "So now I guess you're
wondering about the two of us, right?" he ventured.
"Yes," she said simply.
"Let me guess," he said, taking a deep breath. "You've recently had
dreams and I'm in them somehow," he hazarded.
Ranma stopped in her tracks and looked hard at Mamoru. "How did you
know that?" she asked cautiously.
"Because I've been having dreams of you as well in the last few
days."
Ranma decided not to panic just yet. She kept her tone level. "And
could you tell me _why_ we've been dreaming about each other if we've
never met before?"
Mamoru was nervous. The hard part was coming. "In your dreams," he
said, "What was I wearing?"
Ranma was surprised by the question. "You were wearing some kind of
black and silver armor," she said. She was surprised again when she saw
him nod.
*This clinches it,* he thought. "It appears that you were having
dreams of a previous life... sister."
Ranma gaped at him. "Sister?.. I'm... I'm not your sister, Mamoru! I
can swear I'm an only child!"
Mamoru shook his head. "Not in this time. We were brother and sister
in a previous life."
Ranma looked at him as if he'd grown two heads. *At least he didn't
say we were long lost lovers,* a distant part of her mind commented.
The worst part is that however much she wanted to deny it, a small
voice in her head insisted that he was telling the truth, that she was
indeed his sister. "How can you prove it?" she asked in a strangled
voice. *Why am I believing him?! I'm a guy! I can't be his sister!!!"
she thought desperately.
Mamoru took a deep breath. Without saying anything, he took out a
red rose and became Tuxedo Kamen. He saw Ranma staring at him.
"You were _him_? The guy with the tux from the school?" she
exclaimed.
"I'm afraid so, and there's more..." Concentrating, he summoned his
armor and became Endymion. *Strange,* he thought, *Usually, I can't do
this without Usagi as Princess Serenity.*
Ranma took a step back. *Who _is_ this guy!?* she thought
frantically. Surprisingly, a name came to her lips before she could
stop it. "Endymion?" she said softly.
Endymion's eyes widened. "You remember? Endymion was my name in my
previous life!"
"How can you do that?!" Ranma asked, getting a bit more under
control.
"The same way we can do this," replied a voice from behind. Ranma
whipped around and saw Usagi in front of the other girls. She saw each
girl raise an object in the air. She would never forget what came
next.
"Moon Cosmic Power, Make-Up!" shouted Usagi. "Mercury Star Power,
Make-Up!" shouted Ami. "Venus Star Power, Make-Up!" shouted Minako.
"Mars Star Power, Make-Up!" shouted Rei. "Jupiter Star Power, Make-Up!"
shouted Makoto.
Ranma could only stare as each girl, including his cousin, was
successively bathed in a dazzling array of colors and patterns, ranging
from light, to water, to fire, to lightning. When the light show faded,
he saw that the girls were now wearing short, color-assorted sailor
fukus and they all had tiaras with gems that matched their fukus on
their foreheads. She blinked and automatically recognized Sailors
Mercury, Jupiter and Mars from the school this afternoon. She quickly
deduced that the others were the other members of the somewhat famous
Sailor Senshi.
"Rei?" Ranma blurted out, surprised. "You're a Sailor Senshi?"
Sailor Mars looked a bit apologetic. "It's Sailor Mars when I'm like
this, Ranko, and I'd like it if you didn't tell Ranma about this,
please?"
Ranma blinked. "But I'm... ah, nevermind... What does all of this
have to do with me?!" she asked nervously.
"Actually, this!" said Sailor Moon, tossing Ranma the henshin rod.
Ranma easily caught the object. It was a short, deep blue colored
rod with a small golden orb representing the Earth on top. It also had
a strange symbol on top, a circle with two perpendicular lines
intersecting in the middle, that Ranma somehow knew stood for Earth.
Ranma turned it around it her hand. *I've seen one of those things
before, but where?* she thought. "Ano... What am I supposed do with
it?" asked Ranma, confused.
"Raise it in the air and shout the first thing that comes to mind,"
said Sailor Moon with a smile.
Ranma was almost on auto-pilot. She raised it into the air and was
about to say the words that hadn't been said for over a millennia and a
half when she stopped. "No," she said, turning to face Sailor Moon.
Sailor Moon blinked. "But... why? You're one of us!"
"Maybe," said Ranma, "But I've had more than enough madness in my
life so far," she said, regaining control of the situation . "I don't
need this. I'm trying to live a quiet life."
Sailor Moon tried to think fast. Things weren't supposed to be like
this.
Ranma whirled on Endymion. "And you! I still haven't seen concrete
proof of what you're saying. That I'm your... your sister!"
"You've had dreams of the past!" protested Endymion. "You know it's
true!"
Ranma snorted. "Yeah, right. Dreams don't mean squat."
Endymion tried another tactic. "You were about to use the henshin
rod. If you weren't my sister, then you wouldn't have had the slightest
clue about what to do. Only my sister could possibly use it."
"I am not your sister!" insisted Ranma, while shaking the henshin
rod in Endymion's face. "I'm not anyone's sister, got that?"
Sailor Moon looked at both figures and was about to step in when
Sailor Mars took her arm and shook her head.
"The only way you could prove _that_ is if the rod didn't work for
you, but you're too scared to find even that out!" replied Endymion,
his voice getting louder.
"Scared?!" replied Ranma hotly. "I am _not_ scared! I'll prove to
you I ain't your sister!" She raised the henshin rod in the air and
before she could think things through, she shouted: "Terra Star Power,
Make-Up!" Ranma's eyes became the size of baseballs when she realized
what she had just said.
*Chikuso!* was Ranma's last thought before she was swallowed by
multicolored lights.
Author's notes:
Baka compound terms borrowed from Narrabundah 1/2 by Ratbat with her
permission
Musabetsu Kakuto Ryuu: What is translated by Viz as the "Anything-Goes
Style" Could also be interpreted as "School of Indiscriminate
Grappling"
Rensha-Happa-Dan: Rapid Fire Blasting Bullet/ Rapid Fire Explosive
Blast Missile (Thanks Chris Rijk!)
The Dragon Hair: The Dragon's Hair is _another_ curse Ranma got in
China (by eating one accidentally), which is a baldness cure for old
men, but makes a young man's hair grow wildly. To prevent the hair
growth, Ranma needed to braid his hair with another Dragon's Hair.
Fortunately for Ranma, the effect eventually wore off, so he didn't
have to keep his hair tied with the second Dragon's Hair - he just kept
it for show. (Thanks Chris Rijk!)
End Chapter 7
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - -
Chapter 8
Sailor Moon and the other Senshi took a step back and looked on as
Ranko (and her protests) vanished from their sight in a whirlwind of
colors. The rainbow- colored storm lasted for a few seconds and
suddenly, the ground started to shake and seemingly exploded upwards,
though the shrine's courtyard itself remained undamaged. Just as fast
as the transformation had started, it stopped, leaving a newly awakened
and wide-eyed Sailor Terra in its wake.
The Inner Senshi got their first look at Sailor Terra. The Earth's
Senshi had the standard white bodysuit, but had a dark blue skirt with
a gold trim at the bottom. The bow on her chest was golden-colored with
a dark caramel-coloured jewel in the middle. She sported dark blue,
flat-soled, knee-length laced boots. A yellow tiger's eye graced her
tiara, which could be seen through her mane of red hair, which now hung
loose. Her whole body was also covered with golden aura.
Sailor Terra blinked and looked down at herself.
She tugged at the skirt and blinked again.
Sailor Terra's thoughts were in turmoil. *This can't be happening to
me!...* she thought frantically. "This wasn't supposed to happen!
Stupid rod!* The foreign images that were dancing in the back of her
mind did nothing to reassure her. *What did I ever do to deserve this
kind of crap all the time?* she asked herself. She needed to get away,
to think, alone. And for that, she decided to put as much space as she
could between herself and the Senshi and especially Endymion.
The Sailor Senshi were all surprised when Sailor Terra suddenly
whirled around and dashed back through the entrance of the shrine.
Endymion reacted first. "Akana! Wait!" he shouted, then ran after
Sailor Terra. Sailor Moon, of course, wasted no time and quickly ran
after her beloved. The other four Senshi blinked and stood there,
surprised by yet another unusual turn of events.
"What are you girls waiting for? Go after them!" yelled Luna from
under the bushes.
The four remaining Senshi needed no more prompting.
* * *
Sailor Moon was running as fast as she could, but she still lost
sight of Endymion and Sailor Terra. Stopping at an intersection, she
looked at her surroundings and quickly realized that she couldn't see
them anymore. "Great! Now I've lost them!" she wailed. She turned
around to see the other Senshi catching up to her
"No we haven't. I can still track them with my computer," said a
slightly breathless Sailor Mercury.
"All right , Mercury, where are they?" asked Sailor Moon.
Sailor Mercury tapped a few keys on her computer and her eyes
widened. "How can Endymion be catching up to her at the speed she's
moving?!" she said incredulously.
"What do you mean?" asked Sailor Venus.
"Let's just say we have a long run ahead of us if we want to catch
up with them," she said with a sigh. "Lets go!"
* * *
*ARRRGGH!!!!* Sailor Terra thought in frustration, as she took a
quick peek behind her. She noticed that Endymion, who had somehow
managed to keep up with her, was also starting to glow with a golden
aura that matched hers. She had considered using the rooftops early on,
as she was used to, but glowing as she was, she would undoubtedly
attract even more unwanted attention that way. Besides, if Endymion
could keep up with her at the speed she was going, she didn't think
he'd have any problem following her and they'd attract even _more_
attention that way, something she most definitely didn't want.
*What do I have to do to lose this guy?* she thought angrily.
Endymion was gaining on her despite her best efforts to lose him and
she was starting to suspect why. Each time she turned around a corner
to try and lose him, she felt a tingling in the back of her head and a
few seconds later, Endymion was back on her tail. He was obviously
using some mental trick to home in on her, but how did he do it? *Is it
related to the aura?* she wondered. *Why can't I turn the aura off?*
//You can't, not when Endymion's like that,// said a voice in the
back of her mind. //You seem to have forgotten that it was one of his
favorite tricks! You could _never_ hide from him if he tried to find
you,//
Sailor Terra almost lost her footing in shock. The voice had been
her own, but tinted with something that sounded like... amusement? She
shook her head. *Great! Now I'm hearing voices! My own, too! Maybe I
_am_ going insane!*
//Well, you _are_ talking to yourself, in a way, but you're not
going insane, Ranma,// said the voice.
Terra had no time to think about what the voice meant by that as she
sensed Endymion getting closer. *If I talk to him, maybe I can persuade
him to leave me alone!* she thought hopefully. She then noticed she was
getting close to a very busy neighbourhood. Not wanting to get caught
dressed (and glowing) as she was in public, she saw a building and
decided to jump to the roof using the window ledges. Terra got another
surprise when she realized that a jump that should have put her on top
of the building sent her a few dozen extra meters over the roof and in
the air instead. *What the hell?* she thought.
//Have you also forgotten the advantages of being a Senshi?// asked
the mysterious voice.
"Who the hell are you?!" said Terra angrily, as she finally came
back down on the roof.
If she didn't know better, Terra would have sworn that she heard the
voice raise an eyebrow. //I'm you, of course. Or at least, a part of
who you used to be, anyway,// said the voice.
That particular statement did nothing to reassure Terra. She tried
to ignore the voice (quite unsuccessfully, too) and to concentrate
instead on the matter of Endymion following her. She could feel him
coming closer. She didn't notice her aura slowly diminishing into
nothingness.
* * *
Sailor Terra had obviously tried to lose him a few times, but
Endymion had quickly found out he could tell approximately where she
was when she wasn't in line of sight just by thinking about her. How he
had managed to figure out _that_ little trick, however, was still
beyond him. The fact that she was radiating a golden aura like him also
made her rather easy to track. He had noticed his own aura a few
moments earlier, but he figured that if it didn't hurt him, he didn't
mind. At least not right now.
Endymion was surprised to see her nearly lose her footing. He was
just about to catch up to her when he saw that she was about to dash
through a crowded street. *She's going to cause an accident at the
speed she's going,* he thought (of course, it didn't occur to him that
he was also moving at an equally dangerous speed). He suddenly gaped
when he saw her leap up the side of a building, overshooting the roof.
Automatically, he shifted to his Tuxedo Kamen costume (guessing that
his armor and sword would slow him down) and followed her. He noticed
that his aura faded slightly when his armor vanished.
When he finally reached the roof of the building, he saw Sailor
Terra waiting for him in a combat stance, her aura dissipated.
"Stay right where you are, Endymion!" she warned him. *Why's he
wearing that tuxedo again?* she thought puzzled.
Tuxedo Kamen stopped his advance. "What's the matter?" he asked
slowly, unsure of which approach to take.
"Why are you following me?" she asked.
The question nearly stumped Tuxedo Kamen for a second. "I followed
you because I don't understand your reaction. Why did you run away,
Akana?"
"Don't call me Akana!!!" Terra shrieked. "I am _not_ Akana and I am
_not_ your bloody sister so leave me the hell alone! You tricked me
into using that stupid rod!"
Tuxedo Kamen started to get nervous. Aka... er, Ranko was obviously
not reacting well to her transformation. *But why?* he mused. *I didn't
think she's take that badly.* He became careful. "If you weren't my
sister, then you would not have been able to transform into Sailor
Terra." He saw Terra blink absently and look down at herself. When she
looked up, her eyes were vacant for a few seconds. If Tuxedo Kamen did
not know better, he would have sworn she was listening to somebody, but
there was no one except himself on the roof.
Suddenly, Sailor Terra shook her head and looked once again at
Tuxedo Kamen. "I don't care! That stupid rod doesn't mean anything! I'm
gonna make one thing very clear to you: For years I've had to put up
with people wanting to kill me or marry me and all sorts of weird stuff
happening to me. Now, for the first time in a long time, I feel like
I've got some semblance of control over my life, so I do _not_ need
this shit right now." She stopped for a brief moment, her eyes lost
focus again for a while, then added: "And I am _not_ your sister! I'm
no one's _sister_, got it?"
Tuxedo Kamen became weary of the slightly manic expression painted
on Sailor Terra's face. He decided to try another tactic. "What kind of
weirdness? Maybe we can help," he said. "After all, we've battled our
share of strange creatures as well."
"He has a point, you know," said a new voice.
Sailor Terra and Tuxedo Kamen looked in surprise as Sailor Moon and
the other Sailors made their appearance, if slightly out of breath.
Sailor Terra' eyes drifted back to Sailor Moon. Once again, her eyes
lost focus for a while and and when she came back to, her eyes widened
in awe, but she quickly returned to a somewhat annoyed expression.
"You! This is all YOUR fault!" she said in a disgusted voice. "Why did
you give me that rod in the first place?"
Sailor Moon looked a bit more composed now. "Beause it's yours," she
said matter-of-factly.
"No it's not!" protested the blue-and-gold Senshi. "Look at what it
did to me!" she said testily, fingering her short skirt.
Sailor Moon was now Officially Confused. "What do you mean?"
Sailor Terra's eyebrows twitched in annoyance. "I'll tell you the
same thing I told him," she said, pointing at Tuxedo Kamen. "For a long
time, I've had weirdoes out for my blood. I've fought people who could
kill you quite easily..."
"Hey!" interrupted Sailor Jupiter, sounding annoyed. "We've fought
demons, invaders from the future, even alien entities who wanted to
destroy the planet! You name it, we fought it."
Terra turned to face Jupiter and looked at her with an
expressionless gaze. "You say you've fought beings who could destroy
the world?" Terra asked flatly.
"Yeah!", vigorously answered the ponytailed Senshi. "And we won,
too!"
"Then what do you need _me_ for?"
Sailor Jupiter blinked, speechless. She had expected a lot of
different rebukes, but not _this_ particular one.
Sailor Mercury saved Sailor Jupiter from potential embarassment by
entering the conversation. "Our enemies always become stronger after a
while. You could be a great addition to the team since you're an
extremely strong fighter. We found out that in our previous life, you
were second in power among the Senshi."
"I'm just a martial artist," protested Terra. "If you'd spent your
entire life training like I did, you'd be able to do what I do..." she
trailed off, becoming quiet, almost as if she was listening to
something. She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. When she
reopened her eyes, she looked at Sailor Moon and spoke in a steady
voice. "There are several reasons why I won't fight alongside you. Most
of them, you wouldn't understand, but there is one you will: I promised
someone I hold very dear I would no longer willingly try to get into
fights. Joining you would violate this promise and if there's one thing
I still have after all this time, it's my honor. " Terra knew this
wasn't exactly what she had promised, but she might as well discourage
them now. "That's why I want you to leave me alone; you'll just get me
into trouble." She sighed. "It's bad enough I have all those memories
and voices in my head that I can't make sense of."
"Maybe I can help you with that," said Sailor Mars. *Voices?* the
young priestess thought, puzzled. *She hears voices?*
Sailor Terra looked at the red-clad Senshi suspiciously. "Can you
take the memories away?"
Mars shook her head. "I can't take those memories away, nor would I
want to if I could, but I can try and make it so that they'll at least
make some sense."
Sailor Terra looked pensive. "I'm not sure I _want_ those memories."
she said at last.
Sailor Moon spoke with a soft voice. If anything, it made her sound
more mature. "If you really want nothing to do with us, we will respect
your wishes, but at least let Sailor Mars give you peace of mind."
The other Senshi, including Tuxedo Kamen, were silent. The lack of
sound was becoming almost unbearable. At last, Sailor Terra spoke: "All
right, but she'd better not try to change my mind while she's playing
with it. And no mind reading either, got it?"
Sailor Mars scowled. "Who are you taking me for? I wouldn't do
something like that even if I could. You're family, in a sense, because
of Ranma and I wouldn't want him angry with me."
Sailor Terra had the grace to look sheepish for a while. "Gomen, but
I've had _really_ bad experiences with mind-altering stuff before," she
said in a weary voice. The Senshi could barely make out what Terra said
next. Something about shampoo and an old ghoul?
Sailor Mars slightly shook her head. *That sounded like a loaded
remark,* thought the young spiritualist. "Apology accepted," she
finally said. That done, she came to stand in front of Terra. She put a
gloved hand on Terra's head, just above the tiara. "Try to go in a
meditative state, if you can." Terra nodded and both Senshi closed
their eyes. The two Senshi spent two whole minutes standing still.
Sailor Moon was about to go nudge Sailor Mars to see if everything was
alright, but Sailor Mars' eyes suddenly snapped open and she took a
step back.
"Is everything okay, Mars?" asked Sailor Moon.
Sailor Mars waved her hand. "It's nothing, I'm just a little tired.
It was just harder to do than I'd thought, but I think it worked."
At those words, Sailor Terra then opened her eyes. She blinked a few
times, putting her hand to the side of her head. She slowly turned to
Sailor Mars. "I do think it did, but..." she turned to Sailor Moon,
"...this still doesn't change anything about my wanting to help you.
I'm sorry." Suddenly, a faint golden glow surrounded her and Ranma-chan
reappeared in her old clothes, hair back again a ponytail. "I won't
tell your secret, Sailor Moon, but I would like it if you didn't come
after me. You really don't need me anymore than I need you." She took a
long look at her henhsin rod, and handed it to Sailor Moon.
Sailor Moon shook her head vigorously, her ponytails swishing back
and forth. (Sailors Venus and Jupiter discreetly moved away from Sailor
Moon to avoid being hit at this point) "I won't take it back. It's
yours by birthright, no matter what you might say."
Ranma-chan frowned and shook her head. "You only _think_ it's mine
because of a chance resemblance." She tried to give it again to Sailor
Moon, who steadfastly refused it.
"If you don't want it, then throw it away, because you're the only
one on this world who can use it," said Sailor Moon.
Tuxedo Kamen watched as Ranma-chan turned her back to them, the rod
still in her hands. "Ranko..." he started, but Ranma-chan raised a hand
to interrupt him.
"Don't talk to me, Endymion," Ranko said stiffly. As she moved
towards the edge of the roof, she added: "And _don't_ use that little
trick to find me again. Trust me; it'll be better that way for both of
us." Saying no more, the redhead jumped off the roof, tossing her
henshin rod behind her. What Ranma-chan didn't expect was that instead
of impacting the roof, the rod vanished into thin air almost as soon as
it left her hand.
Tuxedo Kamen rushed to the edge of the roof, but saw nothing, even
though there was still a lot of light outside.
Sailor Jupiter broke the silence that permeated the atmosphere.
"Well! That didn't exactly go as you planned it, eh, Usagi-chan?"
Sailor Moon looked where Ranma-chan had leaped. "I need to talk to
Pluto about this," was all she said.
While they were making their way down from the building, Venus asked
Mercury a question: "Do you know what exactly happened to Terra's rod?
How did it vanish like that?"
"The only thing I can think of is that she triggered its storage
command as she was tossing it away," answered Sailor Mercury.
"But that doesn't make sense," said Sailor Mars. "She was obviously
trying to get rid of it, so why did she 'trigger the storage command'
like you said?"
The short-haired Senshi shrugged. "That, you'd have to ask _her_,
not me."
* * *
Akane was walking through a busy neighbourhood. She had finished
touring the university and was on her way back to the Hikawa Shrine to
meet up with Ranma, although she was taking a different route, hoping
to spot a potential apartment. She was walking in front of a school
which had just let out when a scene caught her eye. There were several
kids, boys, by the look of their clothing, who seemed to be harassing
someone. As she walked closer, she heard one of the kids shout.
"You're a freak and everybody knows it!"
"Yeah!" jeered another.
Akane frowned, her temper rising. *Bullies. I think they need to be
cooled off.* A few quick strides and she was hovering over the small
group. She immediately lifted two of them off the ground. "What do you
think you're doing?" she asked in a dangerous tone of voice.
The other kids, seeing their friends lifted up so easily by this
older girl, reacted predictably. That is to say, they ran away in
fright. Akane shook her head and dropped the other two on the ground.
"You'd better behave yourselves from now on..." but her warning was
lost on deaf ears as the two kids were already running away.
Sighing, she turned to the kid they were harassing. "They won't be
bothering you again..." she started, but then stopped, surprised, when
she realized just _who_ she was talking to.
"Hotaru-chan?"
"Akane?" came the purple-eyed girl's startled reply. "What are you
doing here?"
"I was on my way back from the university, but... what was happening
here, Hotaru-chan? Why were those kids bullying you?"
Hotaru lowered her head. "It's nothing. They've been doing it for a
long time. I'm used to it, don't worry," she said in a low voice.
Akane felt her temper rise again, but in sympathy to the young
girl's premise this time. She lowered down until she was at eye level
with Hotaru. Gently, she raised Hotaru's chin so that the girl would
look in her eyes and was once again surprised by the feelings that were
stirred within herself at the sight of those purple eyes. "Hotaru-chan,
why were they bullying you?" she asked again.
Feelings were running rampant within Hotaru's mind. She was very
happy that Akane had come to her rescue, but it saddened her as Akane's
mannerisms reminded her again of Kanma. More than ever, she wished she
could tell Akane everything, but she couldn't, at least not yet.
Akane's insistant question finally reached her mind and wordlessly,
she took Akane's hands and looked them over. She soon found what she
was looking for: a small cut that had barely begun healing. She pointed
to the wound: "Do you see that cut?" she asked Akane.
"That little thing? I cut myself yesterday; it's nothing. What does
it have to do with those kids?" asked Akane, a bit confused.
Hotaru simply concentrated on the wound and let her healing power
manifest itself. Three seconds later, there was absolutely no sign
there had ever been a cut.
Akane's eyes widened. "How did you do that?"" she asked in a soft,
yet surprised voice, as she inspected her hand.
"I have the ability to heal people at a certain degree," answered
Hotaru simply, who was looking at Akane in the eyes, not knowing what
kind of reaction to expect.
To Hotaru's joyous relief, Akane's reaction was not one of disgust,
or fear. Quite the contrary, Akane was smiling widely. "That's great,
Hotaru-chan! I think it's a wonderful ability!" Her mood suddenly
darkened a little. "Is that why they were bothering you, Hotaru-chan?
Because you can heal?"
"Hai," answered Hotaru quietly. "One day, one of my classmates got
hurt outside and when I went to see what had happened, I just touched
her and the bruise she had healed up by itself." She deliberately left
several details out, such as the fact that her healing ability used to
leave her exhausted until she was reborn a while ago when fighting
Pharaoh 90. Now, it only made her mildly tired.
Akane smirked. "Then the other kids are fools if they can't realize
how lucky they are to have you around."
Hotaru looked a bit puzzled. "You don't find it strange at all that
I can heal people just like that?"
Akane grinned. "Hotaru-chan, compared to what I've been through
because of Ranma these last few years, this is perfectly ordinary for
me." She gave a short laugh. "You'll have to do a lot better than that
if you want to surprise me!"
Hotaru couldn't help smiling. Her curiosity was also aroused as to
what kind of adventures Ranma and Akane had had. Hotaru then noticed
the time. "I have to get back home. My parents will be waiting for
me."
"Do you want me to go with you?" asked Akane. She wasn't exactly
worried about more bullies, but ever since she'd met Hotaru, she felt
an inexplicable urge to find out more about the young girl.
Hotaru was about to decline the offer when she realized she didn't
want Akane to go just yet. "I'd like that," she said, "But aren't you
supposed to be somewhere else?"
Akane waved her hand dismissively. "I told Ranma I'd meet him back
at his cousin's place, but I can spare the time for now. Don't worry."
And so, the pair started walking towards Hotaru's home. After a
little while, Hotaru asked what should have been a simple question, yet
was anything but. "How did you and Ranma get together?" she asked
innocently.
Akane started to sweat. _That_ was a complicated story. She knew she
had told Ranma to be careful when recounting the story of their
relationship, and she didn't intend to tell Hotaru about Ranma's curse,
even if she liked the girl. On the other hand, she saw an opportunity
to rationally explain Ranma's abilities and behaviour at the train
station (if such a thing could be done), since she remembered Hotaru
being there. "Well, it all started one day when my father called me and
my sisters for a meeting..." she started. *I'm going to have to do a
lot of editing...* thought Akane. Oddly enough, it never occured to
Akane to make up a lie for simplicity's sake.
"... and we finally got married two days ago. Rei was kind enough to
let us stay at her place until we could find one of our own," Akane
finished. She had managed to tell Hotaru a near-exact history of her
relationship with Ranma, although several parts had been altered to
remove any evidence of the curse or to keep the story from being _too_
embarassing. She had also had to alter the reason of Ranma's
confrontation with Herb, for example. She had made the Musk prince just
another challenger (albeit a strong one) seeking to defeat Ranma. She
had skipped the encounter with Saffron entirely, judging Ranma's last
great challenge as far too unbelievable, especially considering what
had happened to herself. Akane was surprised to realize she'd told
Hotaru that much, considering how much she had herself berated Ranma on
the subject. She didn't know why, but she felt comfortable around
Hotaru.
As for Hotaru, she had a hard time believing everything Akane had
told her. For someone who wasn't a Sailor Senshi, she and Ranma had
surely led strange lives. An arranged marriage, multiple iinazukes,
high-powered martial artists seeking to challenge Ranma at every step,
the techniques he learned as a result of those challenges and the list
went on. *Well,* she mused, *Now at least I know why Ranma was so
flippant with the daimon at the train station yesterday. From what
Akane tells me, Ranma had this kind of fight nearly every day.*
"Hotaru-chan?" asked Akane.
"Yes, Akane?"
"I'd like it if you didn't go talk about this to everyone you know,
okay?" Akane's voice was hesitant. "Trouble has a nasty way of finding
Ranma wherever he goes and I'd like it if things could be quiet, now
that we've moved out of Nerima."
"Hai," answered Hotaru distractedly. Not only had what Akane told
her bordered on the unbelievable, but she knew she had witheld several
details. There was one easily recognized constant between Kanma and
Akane (whom Hotaru was by now convinced beyond doubt were one and the
same) and it was that they were both lousy liars. Looking up, she
noticed that they were now approaching a building that looked like a
cross between an apartment and a small house.
She turned to Akane. "Well, this is where I live. Thank you for
accompanying me," she said, bowing slightly.
Akane smiled. "It was no trouble at all, Hotaru-chan. I hope I
didn't bore you too much with my story."
Hotaru blinked. *Bore me? Anything _but_,* she thought. She was
about to go in when the door opened up to reveal Michiru.
"Ah! Hotaru-chan! Haruka and I were wondering when you'd be back..."
Michiru trailed off and blinked as she realized who was with Hotaru.
"Akane-san?" she asked, surprised, "What are you doing here?"
Akane couldn't help staring in surprise for a few seconds and then
shook her head. "Michiru-san!? I was... accompanying Hotaru back from
school. She had a bit of trouble with bullies..."
Michiru frowned slightly and turned to Hotaru. "Again?" Her frown
was quickly replaced by an expression of worry. "They didn't hurt you,
did they?"
Hotaru shook her head. "They didn't, thanks to Akane."
Michiru looked questioningly at Akane, who had a weak smile on her
face. "I tried to make sure they wouldn't bother her again," she said.
Michiru saw an opportunity to learn more about this mysterious
person Hotaru thought was her reincarnated brother. "Would you like to
come in?"
"Ahh, well..." Akane turned to Hotaru, who was looking at her with
something that could almost have passed as a puppy-dog look.
"We could always continue yesterday's conversation," Michiru
offered, seeing Akane waver.
Akane gave in. "All right, I guess I can come in for a little
while," she said.
As they walked inside, Akane turned to Hotaru. "Is Michiru-san your
sister?"
"Ahh, no," replied Hotaru, a bit embarrassed with Akane's
assumption. "She's my adoptive mother."
Akane's eyes bugged out slightly at that particular piece of news.
She then noticed for the first time that Michiru was wearing a school
uniform. Since she and Ranma were first-year university students, thus
they no longer had to wear uniforms (not that Ranma had ever worn one),
she came to the suprised conclusion that Michiru was younger than they
were.
The group made it's way to the living room, where Haruka was reading
a sports magazine. The sandy-haired woman blinked and almost did a
double-take when she saw Akane.
"Haruka, I hope you remember Saotome Akane?" asked Michiru, as if
this was nothing out of the ordinary.
"Uh, yeah, I do," replied Haruka, not sure what had warranted this
impromptu visit.
Michiru quickly saw Haruka's confused expression. "Akane helped
Hotaru with her bully problem this afternoon and she accompanied her
back here. I thought we might continue our conversation where we had
left off at the cafe."
Haruka's face immediately darkened. "Bullies? Again?"
"It's all right, Haruka-papa, Akane took care of them," Hotaru
quickly reassured. She knew that Haruka was very capable of going to
try and find who had done it and give them a lesson.
Akane, on the other hand, was a bit surprised at Hotaru's
appellation of Haruka, since the latter was not wearing one of her more
"manly" outfits today and her figure was quite apparent. *Haruka-san's
a woman?* She remembered Ranma- chan's comments from yesterday at the
cafe about "that Ten'ou guy". She quickly repressed the urged to
snicker; it just wouldn't be polite with Haruka within earshot. *And he
calls _me_ a tomboy? I'm going to have a lot of fun teasing Ranma about
_this_!*
"Please, sit," said Michiru, indicating one of the couches. "I'll go
get some tea."
As she sat, Akane examined the apartment. It was very spacious,
almost like a small house, and the furniture seemed to be of high
quality. Haruka and Michiru were obviously well-off on the financial
side, a thought which caused a stab of envy. Ranma and herself would
never likely be so rich. She turned to Hotaru. "Why didn't you tell me
you were living with Michiru-san? That you were her adopted daughter?"
"You never asked," the purple-eyed girl said a bit sheepishly.
"True," admitted Akane. "But what about your family name, then? You
said it was Tomoe, not Kaiou or Ten'ou."
"That's a... complicated story," Hotaru said hesitantly.
The phone suddenly rang.
Michiru, standing in the kitchen, was whithin hands reach of the
phone and answered first. "Moshi-moshi?" she asked.
#Michiru?# came a familiar voice. #Is Setsuna around?#
"She's not here, Usagi," replied Michiru. "She's been gone for a few
days now. Why did you want to speak to her?"
#Don't you know what happened at school today after class?# asked
Usagi, sounding surprised.
"We left as soon as school ended. Why? What happened?" asked
Michiru.
On the other end of the line, Usagi thought about it for a couple of
seconds. #Did Hotaru-chan tell you what happened when we went to greet
Mamo-chan at the train station yesterday?#
Michiru was a bit puzzled by the non sequitur. "You mean about the
daimon that attacked?"
#Yeah, and about who defeated it?#
"Yes, and I must admit we were quite intrigued by all of this. Did
Rei's cousin really kill that monster all by himself? I wondered if
Hotaru-chan was making some of it up."
#I was there, Michiru; I know what I saw. But this isn't about
Ranma. Do you know his wife has a cousin who looks a lot like Ranma?
Her name's...#
"...Tendo Ranko," finished Michiru. "We know that already."
There was a short silence. #How did you know that?#
"Haruka and I met her and Akane-san yesterday at a small cafe. She
caused a small commotion and when I tried to find out more about her
with the Mirror, I only got a bunch of confusing images involving her,
Mamoru-san and a young man with black hair who looks like her. I drew a
picture and Hotaru said it was Ranma."
#You used the Mirror on Ranko?# There was a small pause as Michiru
heard Usagi talking with some people. When the voice came back,
however, it was no longer Usagi's, but Rei's.
#Michiru, we all have to talk. Lots of strange things have happened
since Ranma arrived, and we need to put what we know together. I have a
strange feeling about all of this.#
"What kind of strange things happened?" asked Michiru, growing
slightly worried.
There was a pause. #Michiru,# came Rei's voice, #Ranko is a Senshi,#
she said in a weary voice.
"Nani?!" exclaimed Michiru, a bit too loudly. "What are you talking
about?!"
#Ranko is Sailor Terra,# said Rei.
"How did _that_ happen?" said Michiru, involuntarily raising her
voice.
#Long story; that's why it would be better if we talked to you about
what happened today. We also need to talk to Setsuna.#
Michiru's mind was a whirl. "She's not here. As I told Usagi, she
hasn't been here for a while." Michiru paused for a second, thinking
about the images the Mirror had given her. "Rei, I have hundred
questions..." she started, but was interrupted.
#Save them for the meeting. We all have questions that need to be
answered.#
Michiru was still far too surprised to comment on Rei's apparent
rudeness. "I assume you want to meet at the shrine?" asked the
turquoise-haired woman.
#No! Ranma and Akane will probably be there. I was thinking that we
might come over to your apartment.#
"Well," said Michiru, "It so happens that Akane-san is here right
now."
There was yet another silence. Michiru could almost hear Rei blink.
#Too many coincidences...# she heard Rei mutter on the phone. #Why is
she at your place?# asked Rei in a tired voice.
"She came back with Hotaru-chan," said Michiru. "I'll see to it that
she's gone when you arrive, so it's no problem."
#All right, we'll be along shortly,# said Rei.
"Wait!" exclaimed Michiru. "Is... Ranko coming?"
There was an audible sigh. The kind you hear when a person had more
than they could take. #No, she's not coming,# said Rei. #We'll explain
why when we meet later, all right?#
"We'll be waiting," said Michiru, who then hung up. She turned
around only to find herself facing a worried-looking Haruka.
"Is everything all right, Michiru? I heard your shout in the living
room," said Haruka. Michiru had a self-control that nearly rivaled
Setsuna's (although less cold). Whatever had caused her to shout like
that a few moments ago must have been important.
Michiru started relating her conversation.
Back in the living room, Akane was talking with Hotaru. Akane found
herself warming up even more to the young girl. She listened as Hotaru
told her some stories (altered, of course). She didn't notice when
Hotaru stopped talking. Akane just kept looking at the young girl,
spaced out.
"Is something wrong, Akane?" asked Hotaru, wondering why Akane kept
staring at her silently.
Akane shook her head slightly. "It's nothing, I guess. It's just
that I keep imagining I saw you someplace before; I just can't remember
where."
*Not where, but when,* thought Hotaru, who found herself repressing
the urge to tell Akane the truth again. It wasn't easy.
Akane looked at a clock and her eyes widened slightly at the time.
She hadn't realized it was getting so late. Turning to Hotaru, she had
an apologetic look on her face. "I'm sorry, Hotaru-chan, but it looks
like I misdjudged the time. I really should get back."
"Oh," was all Hotaru said, looking a bit dejected.
Akane turned around and walked to the entrance of the kitchen, where
Michiru and Haruka were in deep discussion. "Ah? Excuse me,
Michiru-san?"
Haruka immediately shut up and Michiru turned around, a slight
widening of her eyes as the only indication of her startlement. *I must
be more worried than I thought if she snuck up on us so easily,* she
thought. "Yes, Akane-san?" she asked out loud.
"I apologize, but I really need to leave. I told Ranma I would meet
him at the shrine soon," said Akane.
Michiru was somewhat happy and disappointed at the same time. She
wouldn't have to think of an excuse to get Akane out of the house
before Rei and the others arrived, but she hadn't had time to speak
with her either. "All right," she said, "But you'll have to come back
someday."
"I certainly wouldn't mind," said Akane, meaning every word of it.
She liked Hotaru and was eager to learn more about the purple-eyed
child.
* * *
Rei hung the receiver and leaned back against the phone booth. She
then looked up to the others. "All right. Michiru has agreed to the
meeting at their place. It seems as though they have several questions
of their own about Ranko and Ranma."
"Why do you think Setsuna chose to vanish _now?_" asked Usagi. "If
she monitors the timeline as she always does, I'd imagine she'd want to
be around to 'supervise us', as it were, especially now."
"Maybe she is and we just don't know about it," interjected Ami.
Makoto harrumphed. "It _would_ be just like her to do something like
that."
"Maybe one of us should go to the shrine and get Artemis and Luna
before Ranma and Akane get back there," said Rei. "They must be tearing
their fur out right now." She sighed. "They're not going to like
this."
"None of us like how this is turning out," said Usagi.
"I'll go get Luna and Artemis," said Minako. "I'm a fast runner..."
"No wonder with all the practice you get each morning," snickered
Makoto.
Minako glared briefly at Makoto. She was tempted to retort, but
decided she'd get revenge somehow, later. "I'll brief them on the way."
With that, Minako transformed back into Sailor Venus (for extra speed)
and sprinted back towards the shrine.
"Meet us at Michiru' and Haruka's apartment!" Usagi called out. She
then turned towards Mamoru, who was being grilled by a very curious
Ami.
"Are you absolutely _sure_ you don't know how you managed to keep up
with her?" insisted Ami.
Mamoru took a step back, as if to ward off Ami. She had kept asking
him about that for the last five minutes. "I told you already! The only
unusual thing I noticed during the chase was that I started radiating a
golden light for a while."
Ami blinked "A golden light?"
"Well, kinda like Terra was, right after she transformed."
Ami shook ker head in disappointment. "Mamoru, do you have any idea
how fast you two were going?"
"Um... Fast?" Mamoru hazarded, trying to get Ami off his back.
"Mamoru," began Ami flatly, "You and Terra were running at speeds
approximating 60 kilometers per hour!" The last part was almost
shouted.
Mamoru stared at Ami. "What?... How?!"
"That's what _I_ would like to know!" returned Ami.
Usagi shook her head and decided to rescue her love from Ami's
questioning. "Mamo-chan, were you able to find out why Ranko reacted
like she did?"
Mamoru shook his head. "I don't know. When I spoke with her
yesterday, she was nowhere like this. Today, though, she became almost
crazy when I told her she was my sister. I thought she was going to
fire something at me before you guys showed up."
"She was confused and afraid of something," said Rei, slowly. When
the others looked at her questioningly, she elaborated: "When I jogged
her memories, I was able to get a few feelings from her."
Mamoru's eyes widened slightly. "Were you able to read her
thoughts?" he asked a bit nervously.
"No," said Rei, shaking her head. "I can't read minds. As I said, I
could only get a few feelings. One of the most vivid was confusion,
which is quite understandable considering the circumstances. The other
was... fear. Not the fear you experience when you face a monster, but a
different kind of fear. Almost... as if she feared what her memories
would tell her..."
* * *
If you had the opportunity to talk to Ranma Saotome on a normal day,
you would quickly realize that he was not someone who is easily cowed
(unless you happened to have a cat or a new fiancee for him with you,
of course). As a highly skilled martial artist, he could not allow
feelings such as fear rule his behaviour. Ranma Saotome hated the idea
of openly showing such emotions.
Ranma-chan was scared and confused, and it showed on her face.
The nervous redhead was currently leaning on a wall, some distance
away from the Hikawa Shrine, trying to figure out what had gone wrong
in the last few hours. Of course, she wasn't in an exactly objective
state of mind...
"Okay," she muttered. "Let's see. All I wanted to do was find out
why I had strange dreams about Endy... no, Mamoru!" she corrected
herself. *So what the hell went wrong?*
It all started to come back to her. *It started going wrong when
Mamoru came up with this stupid idea that I'm his long-lost sister. As
if! I'm not even a girl!*
Then what had happened? Ah, yes... *Then he goes and tells me that
I'm supposed to be descended from some royal family that used to
protect the Earth.* Ranma-chan thought. *I could still have salvaged
the situation if it hadn't been for what had happened next...*
She remembered the five girls transforming in front of her. The
mysterious Sailor Senshi, and Rei, her very own cousin, was one of
them! Then, Sailor Moon tossed her that accursed rod. *And then
Endymion tricked me into saying that stupid trigger phrase, too! Some
'brother' he is!*
She remembered...
The explosion of power.
The fuku.
The tumbling memories.
The need to get away, to think.
Endymion following her.
*I still don't understand how he followed me*, she thought in a
dazed haze. *And I heard my own voice backtalking to me, too! It's
probably their fault, too...*
She remembered refuting Endymion's claims only to be faced with
Sailor Moon's speech about her "birthright".
She remembered the voice backtalking to her during all that time as
well. *It must be that stupid fuku that made me hear the voice.*
Rei... No, Sailor Mars' offer to sort the fleeting memories. Why
_had_ she taken Sailor Mars' offer? Ah yes, she believed that she would
then be able to ignore the memories instead of them dancing in the back
of her head. She didn't _want_ to think about the result. She had to
admit, though, that there had been two good things that had come out
from this mental wake-up call: the voice had stopped talking since then
and she had figured out how to get out of that embarassing outfit.
She'd have to find some way to thank her cousin for that, if nothing
else.
And then? She had tried to give the rod to Sailor Moon, but she had
refused it. Told her it was hers by birthright! *Right!* mentally
snorted Ranma-chan. After that, she'd managed to get away from that
insanity without Endymion following her.
At this point, if someone had been observing Ranma-chan's
recollection of the events that had led to the present situation, that
someone would have noticed several discrepancies in her recollection.
Self-denial and selective memory can sometimes be wonderful things,
eh?
Ranma-chan sighed. *All I have to do is avoid cold water like never
before until Akane and I find a place to live and try to act as if
nothing happened around Rei. That shouldn't be too hard.*
Ranma-chan started heading back to the Hikawa Shrine. *If Rei and
the others are still over there, I should be able to get hot water
without any problems.* As she walked, she tried to think of something
good about the whole situation. Only one thing came to mind: *At least,
they didn't connect my male form to this one,* she thought.
She was near the shrine gates when she sensed someone approaching.
Hiding around a corner, she saw a white and orange figure streak
through the entrance. *Sailor Venus?!* thought Ranma-chan. *Are they
already back?* Edging near the entrance, she listened for any signs of
conversation.
Sailor Venus looked around inside the shrine grounds. No one
appeared to be in yet. *Good,* she thought. *This way, I won't attract
attention.*
"Venus!" said a relieved voice behind her.
Said Sailor spun around to see Artemis rushing towards her, Luna
following closely. As soon as he was close enough, Artemis jumped in
her arms.
"We were getting worried! What happened?" asked Artemis.
"Long story," replied Sailor Venus. She quickly scooped up Luna, who
was starting to show obvious signs of impatience. "I'll tell you all
about it on the way."
"What do you mean?" asked Luna. "Where are we going?"
"We're going to Haruka and Michiru's apartment to have an emergency
meeting."
"Why would we be going there? Why don't we just have the meeting
here as we always do?" asked a puzzled black cat.
"Because Ranma and Akane might be back soon and we don't want to
talk about Senshi business around them, you silly cat! Now let's go!"
Sailor Venus quickly sprinted out the shrine gates, never noticing a
reheaded girl who had quickly run around the corner.
Ranma-chan wearily looked at Sailor Venus' departing figure.
Ranma-chan was both intrigued and scared by the last part of the
conversation the orange Sailor had with her mysterious interlocutors.
*She called the voice 'silly cat'. Does that mean the voices were...
talking c-cats?!* She gulped loudly, fear already invading her mind at
the mere thought of a such a concept.
She shook her head and tried to make sense of the rest of the
conversation. *Haruka and Michiru? Aren't those the names of that
couple Akane and I met yesterday?* She shook her head. *And why do I
have this nagging feeling that I'm going to be the subject of this
meeting?*
She waited for a few more moments and then went inside the shrine.
Once inside, Ranma-chan found the hot water tap and quickly turned back
male. It was almost as good as when he had been able to change back for
the first time after the Chisuiiton incident.
"Much better!" he said, relieved. He turned around and looked at the
empty rooms. "I guess Akane isn't back yet," mumurmed Ranma. He
considered just waiting for her, but he was starting to miss her badly.
*She's the only sane one around here,* he thought.
Without giving it another thought, Ranma left the Hikawa Shrine in
search of Akane.
Two minutes after Ranma left, an old man dressed in Shinto robes
accompanied by a younger man with a mop of unruly hair crossed the
shrine gates.
* * *
While Ranma was looking for Akane, the Inner Senshi were now in
front of the Outer's apartment, waiting for the last members of their
little group. Minako (her Senshi form no longer necessary) soon made
her appearance, carrying the two cats. The first thing Luna did upon
arrival was go straight to Usagi.
"Minako told us what happened. Are you all right?"
Usagi looked down sadly at Luna. "I'm confused, more than anything.
I don't understand why Ranko reacted like she did. She nearly acted as
though we were enemies and she even threatened Mamo-chan! She almost
attacked him!"
"But she didn't," interjected Mamoru, who had been unusually silent
since Ranko's disappearance. "I've been thinking about something Rei
said."
"And what is that, Mamoru?" asked the priestess.
Mamoru turned to the young priestess. "Remember when I asked you if
you'd been able to read her mind when you jogged her memories?" Seeing
Rei nod, he continued: "You said you'd gotten an impression, as if she
was afraid of her memories." Mamoru then turned to Usagi and Luna.
"Maybe that's just it. Maybe she was afraid of all of this."
Makoto shook her head. "I don't buy that, Mamoru. You saw how she
attacked that pervert this afternoon. She doesn't act like the type
who's easily afraid...."
"I think you're mixing physical strength and emotional strength,
Makoto," said Ami softly. "One does not necessarily imply the other."
Minako sighed. "Listen, we can talk about this for as long as we
want later. Right now, I think we have a meeting to attend."
They ringed the doorbell and were answered by Michiru. "Come on
inside," she said. "Akane left shortly after you called, so there's
nothing to worry about." Once inside the living room, they found Haruka
and Hotaru sitting in chairs.
As soon as the whole group was in the living room, Hotaru nearly
jumped up from her chair. "Is what Michiru told us true? Is Ranko
really Sailor Terra?"
Usagi glanced at Mamoru, who sighed, before answering. "Yes... she
is," she said wearily, "But she..."
"Usagi?" interrupted Ami.
"...Yes?", answered Usagi, a bit suprised at having been cut off by
Ami, of all people.
"Before we start on _that_ particular segment, I believe it would be
slightly more helpful if each person recounted what they know. We may
be able to fill some gaps more efficiently that way."
Usagi looked at her friends, who merely shrugged. "Okay, then. I
guess it all began when Minako, Ami, Hotaru, Luna and I went to greet
Mamoru at the station. I barely had time to hug Mamoru when some
monster, a leftover daimon if what Ami told us is correct, popped out
of nowhere and started doing its usual stuff. We were about to
transform, but Ranma and his wife beat the monster easily with some
super martial arts moves and energy blasts..." "Ki-blasts," corrected
Rei.
Usagi merely shrugged. "And before we can find out who he is, he and
Akane vanish."
Rei took over. "Makoto and I got to meet Ranma and Akane before
Usagi and the others came back to the Hikawa Shrine," she said. "He
mentioned there had been a fight at the train station, but he didn't
elaborate."
Usagi spoke again. "It was when we arrived at the shrine that we
finally found out that it was Ranma who had beaten the daimon."
Haruka interrupted Usagi. "I'd just like to put in that we met Ranko
and Akane at a coffee shop yesterday late afternoon. Some bozos tried
to pick us up and she helped us get rid of them; she's a very good
martial artist."
"You have _no_ idea how good," said Makoto, shaking her head.
Haruka blinked, but continued. "We talked with them, but I think she
was suspicious of me."
Usagi nodded. "Then that would mean that your meeting with them was
just before they came back to the shrine, because we had a rather...
short encounter with Ranko and Akane yesterday evening. That's when we
learned Ranko was Akane's cousin."
Michiru noticed Usagi's pause. "Why was it short?" she asked.
Usagi squirmed a little in her seat before answering. "Well, Akane
asked us not to tell anyone, but I think she'll forgive us this time."
Haruka and Michiru looked at each other and frowned questioningly.
Seeing Usagi waver, Minako explained. "Ranma and Ranko are deathly
afraid of cats,", the blonde supplied.
Haruka looked at Luna and Artemis and immediately started to
snicker. "She's afraid... of cats?"
Usagi's tone became just harsh enough for Haruka to stop from
laughing out loud. "It's not funny, Haruka. Ranma told us what he and
Ranko had been through when they were just children and it's not
anything to laugh at."
"Oh?" said Haruka in a challenging tone. "And what exactly _did_
they go through?"
Makoto took over at this point and described as best as she could
the Neko-ken training Ranma and Ranko had been put through. At the end,
Michiru simply looked appalled while Haruka looked slightly digusted.
"I've got half a mind to go pound this Genma into mush because of
what he did to her," said Makoto, a hard edge in her voice. "You didn't
see her expression when she saw Luna and Artemis, Haruka. She was
terrified."
"That's a horrible thing to do to a poor child!" exclaimed Michiru.
Haruka just shook her head.
"And now that you know that," said Usagi, "You'll understand that
Ranko didn't stay very long at the shrine when she finally saw Luna and
Artemis. We didn't see her again that night, but Ranma came back
shortly afterwards." Usagi stopped to take a breath and Michiru took
the opening.
"As I told Rei, I used the Aqua Mirror yesterday evening to find out
what I could about Ranko, since she had piqued our curiousity at the
cafe. The images I had of her were either with Mamoru or Ranma. I also
caught a glimpse of a valley filled with springs, but that was all."
"The connection between Ranko and Mamoru I can understand," said
Rei, "But the connection between her and Ranma is what intrigues me.
They look alike, dress the same, speak the same way and they're both
martial artists of nearly superhuman level. Ranma told me they were
raised together, but this is getting ridiculous! There's something
going on and I don't know what it is," she finished with a frown.
Michiru shook her head. "I'm sorry I can't be of more help, but the
Mirror just won't let me see any more than that."
Rei waved her hand dismissively. "It's not your fault. I'll confront
Ranma if I have to, but one way or another, I'll have my answers."
Usagi, seeing they were finished, decided to continue. "The next
time we saw Ranko was this afternoon."
Haruka immediately leaned forward, an intent look in her eyes.
"Michiru told me there was a battle at school today?"
Usagi nodded. "It probably began shortly after you left..." She
didn't finish as Makoto and Ami cleared their throats. Usagi looked at
them questioningly.
"Maybe it would be best if Ami and I were the ones who told this,
Usagi-chan," said Makoto. "We were there from the beginning."
Usagi shrugged. "Go ahead," she said.
And so, Makoto and Ami recounted the events of the afternoon,
starting with the commotion at the bathroom, the short, fruitless fight
against the old gnome they thought was a perverted youma, Ranko's
intervention, the following battle and concluding with Ranko's
departure.
To say that Haruka and Michiru were suspicious of Ranko's abilities
would be an understatement (especially when the girls described the
Hiryuu Shouten Ha), but once Ami swore everything was true, they were
inclined to believe it. Strangely, Hotaru did not appear to be bothered
by any of it.
"It was when Ranko saved Minako and me that her sigil showed" said
Usagi. "That's when we became almost sure she was a Senshi."
Michiru and Haruka looked at each other. "What _was_ Ranko doing at
Juuban High, anyway?" asked Michiru.
"I saw her at the university today," answered Mamoru. "Ranma had
apparently told her that I wanted to speak with her, so we made small
talk together until we happened to walk near Juuban. We heard a
commotion, so we investigated. We arrived just as Jupiter and Mercury
were trying to get rid of Happosai. Apparently, it wasn't the first
time that she's had to fight him."
Everyone blinked at that, and Usagi took the opportunity to
continue. "Well, after the battle was finished, Ranko started searching
for Mamo-chan, so I told her he'd be at the Hikawa shrine later today."
She paused, and Luna took over.
"Usagi had managed to come up with an insane plan to confront Ranko
at the shrine. She convinced me to give her Terra's henshin rod.
Suffice it to say that nothing worked according to plan."
Usagi scowled. "My plan was _not_ insane, Luna. How was I supposed
to know Ranko would react like that?"
Mamoru coughed lightly. "Luna, Usagi? Maybe I should take over from
here?"
Usagi nodded while glaring at Luna and said feline bowed her head in
acquiesence.
And so, Mamoru told Haruka, Michiru and Hotaru what had happened
since Ranko's arrival, all the way through the confrontation with Terra
on the roof, which resulted in her departure.
"So she just _left_?" exclaimed Haruka. "She can't just _walk_
away!"
Michiru put her hand on Haruka's arm to calm her. "There's obviously
more to this than meets the eye." Haruka grumbled, but settled down.
Michiru turned to the others. "I'd like to talk to Ranko if it was
possible."
"How?" asked Mamoru. "I'd like to do just that myself, but she
doesn't seem to want to have anything to do with us anymore and we have
no idea where she lives either, so we can't look for her. This whole
mess is why we were looking for Pluto; maybe she could give us a hint
about what to do."
Ami shook her head from where she was sitting. "I'm beginning to
think that this whole situation is the exact reason why Sailor Pluto
hasn't been seen recently. It would seem she wants us to figure out the
solution by ourselves."
Haruka and Michiru nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, that could be it,"
admitted Haruka.
Minako, silent until now, took the following silence as a signal to
speak. "Michiru? When we called you, you said that Akane was here. What
_was_ she doing here?"
Hotaru spoke up: "She happened to pass by my school this afternoon
and she helped me with a... problem."
"What kind of problem?" asked Usagi. Michiru and Haruka tensed
slightly.
Hotaru squirmed a bit before answering. "Some bullies were picking
on me..." she said softly.
While Haruka's eyes merely flashed with anger, Makoto's reaction was
far more obvious. "You've got bullies picking on you?!" she said out
loud. "I should find them and pick on _them_ for a change!"
"Makoto!" The sharpness of the voice brought Makoto back to her
senses. She turned around to find Michiru frowning at her. "You're
behaving almost exactly like Haruka. The best solution isn't always to
go pound someone. There are other ways of dealing with a problem."
Hotaru intervened before things could get any uglier. "As I was
saying, Akane scared off the bullies before they did anything." Seeing
Makoto and Michiru relax a little, she continued. "There's something
you should know, but I want everyone's promise that this will not get
out of this room. Akane asked me not to tell anyone, but I think this
is a bit too important." She wrestled with her conscience for a few
moments. *Well, she didn't make me _promise_, did she?*
She waited until everyone in the room gave their assent, then
continued: "When she accompanied me back here, we talked on the way. I
asked her how she met Ranma and she gave me a rundown of how their
relationship." Hotaru went on relating what Akane had told her about
her history with Ranma. Ami hung on to every word, as she finally began
to have some explanation for Ranma's mysterious abilities. The others
listened, slackjawed, as Hotaru related events that would have made a
very good manga storyline.
When she finished, everyone was looking at Hotaru with some degree
of disbelief. Seeing their faces, Hotaru shrugged. "That's what she
told me. It's also the only explanation we have for Ranma's... exploits
at the train station." She didn't mention her growing suspicion of
Akane's true identity. Haruka and Michiru already knew about it and
they didn't seem to believe her all that much.
Ami spoke first. "I _have_ to speak to him."
Everyone looked at Ami with a questioning glance.
Ami sighed exasperatedly. "Don't you understand? If he's managed to
get abilities like that through training alone, imagine what he could
teach us!" She stopped for a beat. "I also want to run him through a
battery of tests," she added, as it it was no more than an
afterthought.
"You're assuming he'd be willing to teach us in the first place,"
pointed out Makoto.
"Actually, he very well might," said Mamoru.
"How do you know that?" asked the brunette.
"Ranko told me that Ranma is the heir to a family dojo. She said
he's stydying Physical Education in preparation to become a sensei. If
he's studying to become a sensei, it would make sense that he's willing
to train people, right?"
Rei, who had remained silent for a long time, spoke up. "Michiru,
can you make me a rough sketch of the valley with the pools you saw in
the Mirror?"
"I guess I can, but why?"
"I'm going to ask some things to the Great Fire and it helps if I
have an image to focus on."
As Michiru left to get a sketching pad, the group kept discussing
Ranma, Ranko and Akane.
* * *
It was actually Akane who found Ranma first on her way back to the
Hikawa Shrine. She was walking down the street when she saw Ranma
walking on the other side of the street, lost in thought.
"Ranma!" she called out to him, waving her hands to get his
attention.
Ranma looked up and saw Akane. Moments later, they were walking back
to the shrine hand in hand.
"So, Ranma, anything special happen to you today?" asked Akane with
a smile.
"You could say that," answered Ranma. *Talk about the understatement
of the century!* he thought privately. He then realized that there
_was_ something she should be made aware of. "Actually, something _did_
happen. I, or rather Ranko, ran into Happosai this afternoon."
Akane groaned loudly. "That's just great. Just great..." she said,
not meaning a single word. "Okay Ranma, give me the details."
Ranma sighed, but gave a detailed accounting of his encounter with
Happosai. When he was finished, he watched Akane's reaction.
His wife was not wholly pleased. "Ranma! I thought you'd promised
not to seek trouble on purpose!"
Ranma put up his hands in a placating gesture. "I didn't go looking
for Happosai! What was I supposed to do? Let the old lech molest those
girls?"
"You could have let someone else take care of him!" Akane shot
back.
"Like who? Even the Sailor Senshi couldn't stop him!" said Ranma,
who immediately regretted it.
Akane looked at him oddly. "The Sailor Senshi?" she said. She then
remembered the blurry picture Ranma had shown her back at the train
station. "What were they doing there?" she asked, curious.
Ranma cursed himself silently. Talking about the Senshi had brought
backsome rather... unpleasant memories he was trying to forget. "When I
saw Happosai, he was squaring off against two of the Sailor Senshi;
he'd already managed to grope one. One tried to freeze the lech and the
other tried to fry him with a lightning bolt. I stepped in to help and
you know the rest."
Akane leaned against Ranma's shoulder. "I just wish we could be left
alone," she said softly.
"I know what you mean, Akane," said Ranma wearily. "I wish everyone
could just leave us _alone_"
Akane frowned inwardly. Ranma didn't usually sound like this; he
sounded as if he was really bothered about something. Before she could
ask what was the problem, Ranma changed the subject.
"So, did you see anything you liked at the university?" he asked in
a cheery voice. "The only interesting thing I found was a job offer as
a P.E. assistant in a nearby school. I'm going to go check it out
tomorrow."
"Good for you," said Akane. "I wasn't quite as succesful as you were
at finding a job, but I saw some other things, though." She told him of
the clubs she found interesting and of how she had spent the afternoon.
"Oh, by the way, Ranma," she said with a smile. "I saw Hotaru-chan
again today!"
"Who?" asked Ranma.
"Tomoe Hotaru. She was the little one in the group we met at Rei's
shrine yesterday evening!"
Ranma tensed when he heard that. The other girls in that group had
turned out to be Sailor Senshi. *Is that little one a Senshi too?* he
wondered. He then promptly gave himself a mental slap. *Don't get _too_
paranoid, stupid. They'd never let a little kid like her fight
alongside them... Right?* "So, um, what happened?"
"She was being bullied by some kids. I stepped in and did some crowd
control."
Ranma thought for a while about Akane's definition of "crowd
control". His mind flashed him images of her daily mob fights at
Furinkan High when he'd first arrived in Nerima. "How many did you send
to the hospital?" he asked absently.
Akane flashed him an irritated look. "They were thirteen year-olds,
you baka! I didn't send them to a hospital; I only scared them!"
Ranma quickly asked his next question, not wanting his annoy his
wife any more than he already had. "Why would they be bullying her?
>From what little I saw of her, she looked harmless enough."
"It's because of a little talent she has," answered Akane. "She can
heal people at a touch."
Ranma stiffened slightly, then forced himself to relax. *The Senshi
use their powers when they're transformed, not when they're in their
normal identities. This doesn't mean they're out to get me. I hope.* He
cleared his throat slightly. "Must be a useful talent. The kids were
bullying her because of it?"
"Yeah," Akane answered. "Apparently they think she's some kind of
freak because of it."
"Only idiots fear what they can't understand," said Ranma firmly,
not realizing the depth his own statement.
* * *
Back at the Outer Senshi's apartment, the meeting was at an end. The
general concensus had been to keep an eye on Ranma for the next few
days as well as on Ranko if anyone was to see her. As the Inner Senshi
left the apartment towards their respective homes, Hotaru pulled Rei
aside.
"Rei, do you think that memory technique you used on Terra would
work on a non-Senshi?" asked the little girl.
Rei raised an eyebrow. "I don't know. The only time I've ever tried
the technique was this afternoon." She tilted her head slightly to the
side. "Why do you want to know?"
Hotaru looked around and, satisfied that no one was within hearing
range, whispered: "I've got a feeling Akane might also be someone's
reincarnation."
The priestess-in-training blinked. "Really? Whose?"
Hotaru shuffled her feet. "I'd rather not say right now..."
Rei's curiosity was piqued. "Why didn't you talk about this at the
meeting?"
Hotaru averted her eyes. "It's personal. I just want to know if
you'd be willing to try and wake up her memories."
Rei sighed. "That's if she has memories to be awakened in the first
place."
"Could you just try? Pleeease?" wheeled Hotaru, putting on the most
pitiful look she could at the time.
Rei grunted slightly. "On one condition. Make that two, actually."
Hotaru became a bit nervous. "What conditions?"
"First, I want you to know I'll only try if she lets me. If she
doesn't want to, I'm not going to pursue it, okay?"
Hotaru nodded. "Okay, I can accept that. What's the second
condition?"
"I want to know who you think she is."
Hotaru flinched slightly. "First, you have to promise you won't tell
the others and that you won't laugh at the possibility."
Rei was becoming more and more curious. "All right, I promise, now
spill it."
"I think she might be my brother," Hotaru said in a small voice.
Rei blinked. Twice. "Your _brother_?" she said in an incredulous
tone.
Hotaru quickly explained to Rei why she thought Akane was her
reincarnated brother.
Rei blinked again. She shook her head slightly. "Do Michiru and
Haruka know about this?"
Hotaru sighed. "They know that I suspect her of being my brother's
reincarnation, but I think they don't take me very seriously; that's
why I want you to try and awaken her memories. If anything, it'll prove
I'm right."
"You seem awfully sure of yourself, Hotaru-chan," commented Rei.
The small girl had a fierce gleam in her eyes. "I know I'm right,
Rei."
Rei held up her hands in a placating gesture. "Hey, no need to get
ferocious here!" she said jokingly. She smiled. "If she has any
memories, I'll find them." Her smile faded a little. "I just want you
to consider the possibility that she might not be a reincarnation,
okay?"
"Hai," Hotaru reluctantly answered.
After that, both girls exchanged goodbyes and went their separate
ways. After looking at her watch, Rei decided that a jog wouldn't be
harmful. She knew Ranma and Akane might be back anytime and she wanted
to keep a close eye on her guests.
* * *
The two guests in question were now entering the Hikawa Shrine. As
they walked up the steps, Akane looked once more towards Ranma, her
eyes slightly narrowed in concentration. Ranma had been acting
strangely during the entire afternoon, as if he was deeply distracted
by something. She reflected back on her conversations with Ranma and
tried to find out what could have caused the problem. The university?
Unless he had found out that he had somehow already failed a class
(with him, anything was possible), she didn't know of anything that
could have upset him. Could it have been Happosai? Unlikely. It wasn't
the first time Ranma had duked it out with the old pervert and it
likely wouldn't be the last. He sometimes stayed a bit peeved after his
fights when Happosai managed to grope him, but he rarely stayed
preoccupied like this so long after the fight.
Her musings were cut short when a short, bald man wearing Shinto
robes came out of the shrine, a slightly puzzled look on his face. When
he saw both youngsters, though, his face brightened.
"Ha! You must be Ranma and Akane!" the old man said happily.
Ranma squinted at the old man. "Grandfather Hino? Is that you?" he
asked.
"Yes, it's me, Ranma," said Rei's grandfather. He approached Ranma
and looked up. "You've certainly grown, son! The last time I saw you,
you were but a child and your father was already training you!"
Ranma smiled. "The training's done now, Grandfather Hino."
The diminutive priest waggled his finger. "You can call me Grandpa,
or Grandfather if you must. I don't have that many grandchildren." He
turned to Akane. "And I suppose this lovely young lady is Akane?"
Akane blushed slightly. "Yes, I am." She looked around. "Is Rei back
yet?" she asked.
Grandfather Hino shook his head. "Not yet. I just came back a short
while ago myself. I found out about you two from a note she left me."
He smiled. "It looks like you'll be staying here for a while, ne? Rei's
letter mentionned you two are married?"
Seeing Akane's nod, he turned to Ranma. "Good catch, son. She's
beautiful!"
Ranma blushed.
"Come on inside and make yourselves comfortable," said the elder
Hino. "Then I want to know what you've been doing all this time. I
haven't heard anything from Nodoka-chan in a very long time..."
They proceeded to go inside the shrine where they met Yuuichiro.
Ranma and Akane then went to freshen up in their room.
The departing ponytailed martial artist never noticed Grandfather
Hino looking at him with slightly narrowed eyes. *It _is_ coming from
him. I wonder if he's even aware of it...*
When they reached their room, Akane noticed a discrepancy in Ranma's
appearance for the first time. "Ranma," she asked, "why did you undo
your pigtail?"
Ranma winced a little. "It wasn't by choice. My pigtail got undone
when Happosai knocked me into a wall this afternoon. I lost the dragon
hair and I didn't have enough string to properly rebraid it, so I put
it in a ponytail." He looked at his wife amusedly. "Why do you ask? Did
you like the pigtail better?"
Akane shrugged, smiling. "I like you no matter how you put up your
hair," she said. A thoughtful look then crossed her face. "Are you sure
your hair won't suddenly start to grow again?"
A wry smile found its way to Ranma's lips. "Very sure. The effects
of the dragon hair soup are long gone, trust me."
"Good," she purred, hugging him. "If your hair got any longer, I
might think you were turning into a girl." She never saw Ranma
blanching slightly at that statement.
When Ranma and Akane returned, the first thing they noticed was that
Rei had returned. Her grandfather was sitting across from her, a large
fire crackling in the background. Yuuichiro was nowhere to be found.
"Hi, Ranma, Akane," the raven-haired girl greeted. "How was your
day?"
Akane waited until she had sat down cross-legged to answer.
"Wonderful! I think I'm going to like university very much!" said Akane
brightly.
Ranma put on a false smile when his gaze came across Rei. "I had
an... eventful day. I don't know if I'm gonna like university yet. I'm
going to go see a counselor toworrow to see if I can get a shot at
doing an internship as an assistant in a school."
"What are you studying, Ranma?" asked the elder Hino.
"Physical Education," said Ranma. "Me and Akane are going to inherit
a dojo when we're finished with university."
"Of course!" said Grandfather Hino, nodding. "I wouldn't expect any
less from Genma, especially." He leaned forward, interested. "So tell
me, boy, what have you been up to all these years?"
Ranma glanced at Akane, who shrugged slightly. "Well, it goes a
little like this..." Ranma then launched himself in a miniature
autobiography, starting with what he could remember about the day he
left his mother (which wasn't much).
Half-an-hour later...
"... The last training stop we made was in China." Ranma paused
nervously and glanced at Akane again, carefully avoiding to describe
the training he had undergone there. "After that, we came back to Japan
and I met Akane. It was then that I found out there was an arranged
marriage between my family and the Tendos."
The two Hinos were suitably impressed. "When Genma told me he
planned on taking you on a training trip, he wasn't kidding!" said
Grandfather Hino. "Although I _am_ disappointed that he left my
daughter alone like that for over ten years," he added, shaking his
head. His brow wrinkled for a few seconds. "You left out something,
though. You said you came back to Japan almost over two years ago. What
have you been doing since then?"
Ranma winced at the question. *I wish he hadn't asked that.* He
noticed that Rei seemed particularly interested in the direction the
conversation seemed to be going. He looked at Akane for an indication
of what he should do, He wasn't against telling the elder Hino about
his life in Nerima, but he remembered that Akane didn't want him to
start blabbing it to anyone. When he gazed into Akane's eyes, he saw
resignation, but he also saw a faint glint which told him all he needed
to know. He opened his mouth to speak, but the elder Hino beat him to
it.
"On the other hand boy, I'd rather ask you an other question," said
the old priest. Ranma sighed in relief. "Do you know you have some kind
of spell or magical aura around you?"
Ranma jerked as if he had swallowed a cattle-prod and Akane took in
a sharp breath. Rei's eyes narrowed like a hawk's.
*He can feel the curse's aura?!* thought a shocked Ranma. He had no
chance to continue that line of thought when the elder Hino spoke
again.
"By your reaction, I'm guessing you know about it. Would you mind
explaining it?"
Ranma was thinking fast. Obviously, the old priest was skilled
enough to detect a magical aura when he was faced with one, but he
didn't seem to recognize the kind of magic. He suddenly thought of an
idea that would explain the curse and still keep it secret. Turning to
Akane, he flashed her a reassuring smile. He then turned to face
Grandfather Hino, who seemed to be waiting expectantly.
"Uhh... yeah, I have a curse," admitted Ranma. "Remember what I said
about the last training trip in China?"
The elder Hino nodded while Akane wore an expression of defeat. Rei
was listening intently.
"Well, it turns out that I got cursed there. A very annoying curse,
too."
The elder Hino seemed puzzled. "You say it's a _curse_?"
"Yes," nodded Ranma. "There was a pool at last training ground and I
fell in it. We found out later that the pool had cursed me in the
process."
The old priest's brow furrowed. "What kind of _curse_ was it?" Akane
became very nervous and Rei even more interested at that point.
Ranma frowned internally. *Why does he keep stressing the word that
way?" Aloud, he replied: "It was an ancient Chinese curse: 'May you
live in interesting times'."
Akane, who was sitting besides him, relaxed, hiding a smile. *I
can't believe it!* she thought, impressed. *He really had a flash of
genius, this time. He managed to explain what the curse does overall
without explaining the curse itself without even really lying!*
"Mmmhhh... _Maybe_ that explains it, then..." mused the elder Hino
aloud.
Rei noticed her grandfather's expression. "What do you mean,
Grandpa?"
Her grandfather flashed her a knowing smile. "I can't hide much past
you, can I?" He turned back to Ranma. "You say that you were _cursed_
in that pool?"
Ranma, a bit nervous now, nodded confidently. "Yeah. It's brought me
no end of trouble since I came back to Japan," he said, thinking about
all of his adventures in Nerima.
"Well, that's a bit strange," the old priest said, "Because your
aura doesn't feel like that of a curse. You have a magical aura, true,
but it's not an evil one. It also melds with your personal aura
remarkably well, I'd say."
Ranma's left eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "Trust me, Grandfather,
it's a _curse_ and it there's nothing about it that I like!" he
finished forcefully.
The elder Hino shrugged, nonplussed by Ranma's reaction. "I don't
know what happened to you since you gained that magic, but I really
don't think it's a curse. I felt it as soon as you entered the shrine
grounds. It's a rather powerful aura."
Ranma was about to snap at the old priest when he remembered he was
a guest. "Believe what you will, Grandfather," said Ranma stiffly,
rising from his sitting position, "But I know a curse when I see one."
That said, he spun on his heels and went back to his room.
Akane remained behind, looking distinctly uncomfortable under the
scrutiny of the two Hinos. Grandfather Hino spoke first: "Akane, can
you tell me why Ranma seems to feel so strongly about this subject? I
didn't expect him to react the way he did." The old priest seemed
genuinely puzzled by Ranma's departure.
Akane noticed he wasn't the only one expecting an answer. Rei might
have been silent, but her eyes gave away her intent. She sighed deeply.
"The curse, or whatever you want to call it, is a very touchy subject
with Ranma. From what I can tell, he has hated it more than anything
since the day he first got it and he has tried countless ways to remove
it. Nothing has ever worked permanently."
Rei cocked her head slightly. "But what does this... 'curse' do to
him that's so bad?"
Akane wasn't about to tell them about the true nature of the curse.
She berated herself, for she was about to do exactly what she had
warned Ranma against doing. "The curse attracts trouble to him. Shortly
after he came to Nerima, people started popping up, either trying to
marry me or trying to kill Ranma, sometimes for very stupid reasons.
I'd say that one of the most annoying aspects of the curse what that
Ranma had a tendency to attract iinazukes and super-powered martial
artist challengers faster than a horse collects flies. Now that we're
married, all the other girls have gone away and no one's been after
Ranma for a while. Personally, I was hoping we might finally get some
peace at last. "
Rei blinked. "I had no idea his life was like that," she lied,
having heard the same thing from Hotaru during the meeting.
Akane smiled sadly. "Very few people know what Ranma is really like,
Rei. He may be arrogant sometimes, but he's also extremely honorable
and kind when he wants to be. He only gets irrational when the curse is
mentionned."
The elder Hino looked thoughtful for a while. "Akane, do you have an
idea about what is Ranma's goal in life?"
"Oh, that's easy," said Akane. "He's obsessed with martial arts."
"I suppose that means he's very good?"
Akane glanced at Rei and sighed inwardly. *Well, Ranma showed her
yesterday, so there's not much harm she _can_ do, I guess.* Her gaze
returned to the old priest. "I'm a bit biased to give an objective
statement, but he's probably one of the most powerful martial artists
in Japan right now." After a second she added: "But don't tell him I
said that; he's got a big enough ego as it is." Seeing the elder Hino's
doubting look, she elaborated: "If it helps to make a comparison, he
can throw Ki-blasts very easily."
The old priest's eyes widened in surprise.
"She's right, Grandfather," supplied Rei. "He showed me some of his
skill yesterday evening."
The old priest looked at his granddaughter, then nodded. He then
turned back to Akane. "I'll have to ask him how he managed it at such a
young age," he muttered under his breath. Louder, he continued: "I take
it he hasn't _always_ been able to throw Ki-blasts?"
Akane shook her head. "No. The more he got challenged, the more
techniques he learned. That's how he works: he usually develops a
counter to a technique after someone attacks him with that technique.
Throwing Ki-blasts was just one of the techniques he learned along the
way."
The elder Hino nodded. "I think I see what's been happening here."
Akane raised an eyebrow questioningly. "I think I know how he may have
mistaken his condition for a curse."
Akane blinked. "All right, you've got me confused..."
"Look at it this way," said the old priest. "Your husband likes
martial arts more than anything else. He's been effectively training
since the day he could walk; it's his life. Do you follow me so far?"
Akane nodded. "One could theorize that all that's happened to him since
he came back from China has worked to make him stronger, to improve his
skills. I think he calls it a curse because he has had to fight all the
time. He didn't realize that what he called a 'curse' might in reality
work _for_ him instead of _against_ him by giving him all these
opportunities to become a greater martial artist."
Akane blinked. *Scary,* she thought, *I can actually see some logic
in that...*
Grandfather Hino suddenly rose up. "Anyway, that's just a
hypothesis. I have no way to be sure of anything if Ranma is unwilling
to discuss the matter with me. If it bothers him so much, then I won't
mention it again." Turning away, Akane heard a last sentence before the
old man was out of earshot: "I still want him to show me how he uses
his Ki, though..."
Akane got up and was about to leave for her room when Rei decided
this was a perfect opportunity to see if Akane _was_ related to
Hotaru.
"I saw Hotaru-chan today, Akane. You must've made quite an
impression on her; she couldn't stop thinking and talking about you."
Akane smiled. "Yeah, I saw her this afternoon. She's a really sweet
kid, you know?" Her smile faded to leave way to a puzzled expression.
"I just wish I knew why I keep thinking I've seen her before
somewhere."
Rei silently loosed a sigh of relief. *Good, the fact that she seems
to remember Hotaru from somewhere might help a lot.* She considered her
reply. "You think you've seen her somewhere before?"
"Yeah," replied Akane. "I'm sure I have, but I can't remember where
for the life of me."
"Maybe I can help," said Rei.
Akane felt a slight surge of hope. "How?"
"I know a few hypnotism techniques. I could try to force your mind
to remember where you saw Hotaru before."
Akane considered the possibility that was offered to her. She didn't
particularly care for hypnotism (Shampoo's Xia Fang Gao technique had
seen to that), but she did want to find out more about the little
purple-eyed girl. The desire to find out more about Hotaru finally won
out. "Are there any dangers I should be aware of?" she asked.
Rei shook her head. "It's quite harmless," she said. *If you've got
no memories at all, that is,* she added silently.
That seemed to be enough for Akane. "Okay, what do I need to do?"
"Just sit down in front of me and relax," said Rei. Akane did so.
"All right, now try to empty your mind of all thoughts except Hotaru.
Focus on her image."
As Akane closed her eyes, she felt one of Rei's fingers touch her
forehead. She focused on Hotaru. For a while, there was nothing, but
suddenly, she was assaulted by hundreds, no, thousands of images that
made no sense. She could barely discern that some of the images were
of Hotaru, but even those made no sense at all; they sometimes showed
her wearing an elaborate gown, sometimes holding a vicious-looking
weapon that looked like a cross between a scythe and a halberd. She
saw fleeting images of a castle, a forge, people she knew but didn't
recognize. It felt like having years crammed in her head in a few
seconds' time.
And suddenly, it was all over.
Akane gasped when she finally saw Rei's familiar face. "What...
What _was_ that?" she asked in a shaky voice.
The priestess-in-training blinked several times before answering.
"I unlocked _something_, I'm just not sure _what_."
Akane tried to rise, but nearly collapsed again. "I'm dizzy," was
all she said.
Rei took Akane's hand to help her up. "Maybe you should go to bed,
Akane. Sleep can only do you good at this point."
Akane held her head in her hands while mumbling: "Maybe you're
right." She was too confused by the sudden influx of images to say
anything else.
As she watched Akane leave for her room, Rei closed her eyes.
*Hotaru was right. Akane _is_ a reincarnation. I'll have to tell her
tomorrow... If Akane doesn't reach her first.* Turning towards the
Great Fire, she took out the sketch of the mysterious valley Michiru
had drawn for her. As she looked at it, she remembered a fragment of
conversation...
"There was a pool at last training ground and I fell in it. We
found out later that the pool had cursed me in the process..."
Looking at the drawing, which showed a score of pools with poles
jutting out, Rei couldn't help wonder if this was the pool Ranma had
talked about. As she settled in front of the flame, she suddenly
remembered something that had struck her as very strange in the
conversation, now that she thought back on it: Ranma had talked about
his youth, yet nowhere in his story had he said anything about Ranko.
*What's going on here?...* she thought.
* * *
Akane finally managed to get to the room she and Ranma shared. She
had managed to regain most of her equilibrium, but her mind was still
clouded. Ranma was already lying on his futon, staring at the ceiling,
mumbling.
"How the hell can he say my curse isn't a curse? He hasn't lived
with it; he doesn't have people out to kill him just to prove
themselves..." he mumbled. He turned to look at Akane and saw her
slightly vacant look. "Are you okay, Akane?" he asked, sightly
concerned.
Akane waved his concern away. "I'm all right, Ranma. I just feel
sleepy, that's all."
Ranma didn't look wholly convinced, but relented anyway. He layed
on his futon, thinking, until Akane flopped on her futon besides him.
"Akane," he started, "What did you talk about all this time?"
Akane's faint snore was his only answer. Ranma blinked, and turned
around to see that Akane was, in fact, soundly sleeping already.
*Geez!* he thought, *She must've been really tired.* He frowned for a
moment, thinking that Rei might have something to do with it, but
dismissed it, deciding that Rei or Sailor Mars didn't have anything to
do with Akane.
End of chapter 8
********************** Jordanite and Mystical
* The Phoenix Reborn * Freak at Large
**********************
* dragon@anime.sobhrach.com *
Louis-Philippe Giroux * phoenix@cephiro.com *
Phoenix's Den: Picture and Fanfiction Gallery
http://www.anime.sobhrach.com/~dragon/
"The nameless are like dust. No one shall come to lay
flowers by their grave. Only those who earned their
names are ever remembered."
- Woodchuck, Records Of Lodoss War
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