Greetings yet again!
^_^
Well, I said that after my RS : Cold one-shot, I'd start another epic, and
here it is! This one is going to tie up a few loose strings some of you have
probably forgotten existed, and answer some questions I brought up last
time. I'd also like to take this oppurtunity to remind you all that I like
C&C. I mean, I REALLY like it. Even if you just want to say "Hi," I'd
appreciate it.
Anyways, I'm done griping for the day. Hope you enjoy the story! ^_^
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-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
OBLIGATORY LEGAL DISCLAIMER : None of these guys are mine. The Sailor
Senshi belong to DIC and Kodansha, while the Yoroiden are owned by
Sunrise and Graz Entertainment. Okay? So don't bother suing me. I'm a
student.
RONIN SUMMER : FLASHBACKS
A Sailor Moon / Yoroiden Samurai Troopers cross-over
by Morgan Hudson (dataraven_659@excite.com)
Chapter One : The Exchange
Minako Aino brushed her hair absently as she stared into the
mirror. Somewhere in the background, a cat was muttering words that
she, as a lady, was trying not to hear. As a teenaged girl, she was
making mental notes to ask Ami what some of the more interesting ones
meant. Over the past hour, her guardian cat had gone through almost
every dirty word in Japanese, eventually switching to English, Spanish,
and now German.
With an exasperated groan, Minako threw down her brush and
turned around in her chair, glaring at the small white cat as he
gnawed at the barred door of his Kitty Carrier, which was sitting on
her bed. "Artemis, stop whining! I'm doing this for your own good! If
you don't have all your shots, Mom won't let me keep you!"
Artemis narrowed his large blue eyes and pouted as much as
any feline possibly can. "That's easy for you to say," he grumbled.
"I'd like to hear you being this sensible when they're jamming needles
in YOUR-"
"Artemis!" Minako put her foot down. "Like it or not, you're a
cat. And cats go to the vet, okay? I'll bet Luna doesn't complain as
much when Usagi takes her to the vet! Do you really want to make a
bigger fuss than Luna?"
Artemis glared at Minako. Silently. Minako, who had now been
recieving these glares for nearly three years straight, quickly
deciphered it as his 'You don't know yet, but I'm going to make you pay
for that' look. Which was slightly different from her own 'I'm ALREADY
paying for it, and have been since I met you' look, which she gave in
return.
"I'm not in the mood for a fight over this, Artemis." Minako's
foot began to tap as she tried to stare down her cat. "It's six in the
morning, I've got a splitting headache, and I didn't sleep at all last
night. Can't you just once do what I tell you to do, instead of the
other way around?"
Artemis blinked and his glare disappeared as if it had never
been. "You've been getting those headaches a lot lately, haven't you,
Mina?" The cat said softly, as he placed one paw against the bars of
his cage. "Listen... I'm sorry if I made such a fuss, okay? I'll go to
the vet, I'll even be good, but could you please let me out of this
prison? You know I hate this thing."
Minako sat on the edge of her bed and smiled gently. Reaching
out, she unlatched the front of the cage and scooped Artemis into her
arms, kissing the top of his head. "Sure thing, Artemis. I'm sorry I
yelled at you... I'm just having a bad day, I guess."
"No problem," Artemis replied as Minako got up and walked over
to the door, picking up her schoolbag and tucking him carefully under
one arm as she headed downstairs. He waited patiently as she wandered
down the stairs, on time, he noticed, and waved farewell to her mother.
They hit the streets, and he shivered slightly. It was definitely
getting colder, and winter was on its way. It hadn't snowed much, since
that sudden storm on Saturday had coated the ground with white.
"Mina?" Artemis asked finally, as the girl walked down the
surprisingly empty street, "can I talk to you for a minute about
Seiji Date?"
Minako rolled her eyes. "Artemis, you've already talked to me
about Seiji Date. At length, and with most of the words you were using
this morning. Can't you please just TRY to be nicer to him? I mean,
he IS my first love..."
"Your six thousand and THIRTY-first love, actually," Artemis
said wryly. It was a rather old joke, which dated back to her days as
Sailor V. Minako blushed, as usual, and Artemis grinned at her, as
usual, and both chuckled as they continued on their way to the vet's
office. "But seriously," Artemis whispered as Minako entered the office
and sat down next to a girl holding a small black pig, "Luna and I need
to see you two about these headaches you keep having..."
"Shhh!" Minako looked around furtively and bent over,
concealing them both behind a thick veil of blond hair. "Artemis, we're
in public! If people hear you talking to me, they'll think we're
crazy!" She bit her lip, then acquiesced. "Listen, I'll talk to Seiji
after school, and we'll come pick you up here. Then you and Luna can
do whatever you want with us."
"Ms. Aino?" A trim young woman dressed in white walked into the
waiting room. "We're ready for Artemis now."
"Right." Minako handed over her cat, then waved as he was
carried into the back room. "Bye, Artemis! I'll see you after school,
okay? BE GOOD!"
**********
Seiji woke up and groaned as he stared at the clock next to his
bed. Seven? It couldn't be seven already! Painfully, he rolled over
and placed a pillow over his head. Stupid dream... he probably didn't
get a minute's rest all night. On top of it all, he could feel another
migraine coming on.
A hand stretched over and smacked him in the side of the head,
and he landed on the floor with a loud thump. Seiji rubbed his face and
tried to focus his eyesight. "I don't feel so good," he commented to
the young man in the next bed over, "maybe I should stay out of school
today."
Ryo Sanada looked up blearily and stared first at Seiji, then
at the clock on the table between them. "Hmmmmm... can you walk?"
"I think so." Seiji slowly staggered to his feet and stifled
a yawn. Ryo shrugged as he sat up and wrapped his covers around him
like a blanket.
"Then we're going to school." With a groan, the dark haired boy
creaked to his feet and stretched, looking over at his blonde friend
and chuckling. "Hey, Sage... your hair's standing straight up, man. I
can almost see your eye."
Making a face, Seiji reached above his head and gently patted
the tangled mass of hair that was forming a bush around his head.
"Great. Just give me a few minutes with a comb and some brushes..."
"Do it on the way, Seiji." Ryo was already getting dressed.
"If you want to bunk here for the rest of the semester, you need to
get used to starting the day with a nine-mile hike." Grabbing the
clock, he tossed it to his friend. "We've got about an hour before
first bell, so I suggest you get ready fast!"
**********
Shin Mouri grinned as he walked through the front gate of his
school, taking a deep breath and stretching his arms wide. "Ah, Ha'na
High! The finest institute of learning I ever..."
Trudging behind him, a slim boy with short blue hair shouldered
his backpack and sighed, shaking his head. "Shin," Touma Hashiba
groaned, "it's far too early in the morning for anybody to be that
happy. Try to keep it down until noon, could you?"
"Sorry, old man," Shin laughed, and clapped his friend on the
shoulder. "It's just that the sky is such a lovely shade of blue, and
the air is succulent and fresh, and..."
"And," Touma said, "you wouldn't happen to be excited about
your date with Rei Hino this afternoon, would you Shin?" Noticing that
the boy was already wandering off in a delirious haze, Touma shrugged
and answered himself, speaking with a false accent. "Why of course,
old Touma, old bean! You are without a doubt the most brilliant lad
I have ever met!"
Gasping and wheezing, Seiji and Ryo raced through the gates
seconds before the first bell rang. Clutching his chest with one hand
and his books with the other, the blonde Yoroiden looked as if he was
going to have a heart attack at any second. Ryo, on the other hand,
was grinning as he walked over to Touma and shook hands.
"Hey, Einstein! How are you feeling about the big English test
today?"
Touma smiled and shook his head. "No hints, Ryo. If you really
think you need my help, we can talk at lunch."
Seiji wheezed and readjusted his shirt, buttoning the collar
as he took his dark jacket out of his bag and pulled it on. "Nine...
miles... is too... far..." He gasped as he fastened the jacket and
quickly checked his hair. "How... do I... look?"
"Like you're going to your own funeral." Touma replied as he
checked the fastening of his own collar. "Just like the rest of us.
Did anyone see where Shin wandered off to? We should probably fetch
him before he winds up walking into the pool, or something."
"Hey, guys!" Shuu Rei Fuan yelled as he charged across the
schoolyard, a brown haired young man in a school uniform tucked under
one arm. "Look who I found! He was over by the bicycle racks. Good
thing I got there in time, too : a lot of people looked mad."
"At SHIN?" Ryo scratched his head. This made no sense to him.
Shuu tended to open his mouth just wide enough to cram his foot in it,
sometimes. And Seiji... well, Seiji always had some jealous boyfriend
after him for one reason or another. Even Ryo himself knew that his
temper got the better of him every once in a while, but Shin? Shin was
the most sweet-tempered person Ryo knew. "Why would anybody be mad at
Shin?"
"Well," Shuu explained, "he was kind of IN the bicycle racks
when I found him. As far as I can tell, he just walked right into the
thing and got wedged. They probably owned the bikes he knocked over..."
"Hi, Ryo!" Shin chirped. "Isn't this just the most beautiful
day ever?"
**********
Shin's annoyingly inept cheeriness continued for the rest of
the morning, to the other Troopers' dismay. In Gym class, he wandered
into the middle of javelin practice, and Ryo nearly sprained an ankle
sprinting over in time to keep the boy from becoming a human
pincushion. In Calculus, he was asked to do a problem on the board and
got lost halfway down the aisle, tripping over six desks and knocking
the teacher's coffee over Seiji's notes. On his way to Geography, he
walked right out an open window, and would have been in trouble if
Touma hadn't snagged his ankle at the last second. Shin stayed on the
fourth floor, but Touma's textbooks wound up in the swimming pool.
During lunch, it was decreed, he went too far. Somehow he
managed to tip over the entire table, including the benches welded to
it. INCLUDING the four teens who happened to be sitting on said
benches. Four boxed lunches flew through the air and splattered over
their owners with surprising accuracy. Shuu Rei Fuan's lunch was
ruined.
NOBODY ruined Shuu Rei Fuan's lunch and survived.
In English, Ryo, Seiji, Shuu and Touma huddled in the corner,
the four boys turning their backs to the rest of the class as they
whispered furtively. Occasionally, one head or another would poke out
of the mass and glance at Shin, who sat nearby staring vacantly at
the wall, and then return to the conversation. After several seconds,
the plan had been hatched. With secretive smiles, the Samurai Troopers
took their seats around the boy, and recieved their tests.
Touma smiled to himself and quickly ran through each and
every page of the test. At the last question, he paused and tapped
his pencil against his bottom lip. "Write a letter to a friend in
English..." He murmured, and looked over at Shin. Grinning, he began
to write.
- Hello Shin. You have been driving us all crazy for the whole
day. We are going to get you for that. Sincerly, Touma.-
Shuu looked at his test and hummed to himself. "A letter to a
friend..." He leaned back and thought for a moment, then smiled.
- Hi, Rei. Please leave Shin alone. He really bugging me. We
is going to have to do something about that. Maybe talk about it over
lunch? I like to eat noodles... Thanks, Shuu.-
Ryo was sweating bullets. Oh man, he just knew he should have
studied this last night! A letter to a friend? A whole letter? And it
was worth almost half of the whole mark! Running his fingers through
his hair he prayed to whatever kamis were willing to listen and put
pen to paper.
-Ami. Help! I got to write a letter in English. If I
don't, I fail English very bad. Dumb letter! We both speak Japanese!
Bye. Ryo.-
Seiji looked at the last question and snickered softly under
his breath. He was so glad that he had learned that dumb poem in
English... then he sobered. Cheating was wrong. With a smirk, he
picked up his pen. Fortunately, he thought to himself, I'm not the
Yoroiden of Honesty...
Shin happily filled out his entire test in Japanese, and handed
it in. With a jaunty whistle, he left the classroom and headed down
the hall. With equally jaunty whistles, the other four Samurai Troopers
handed in their tests and followed him. A shocked yell echoed through
the corridor, followed by several crashes and thumps. The yell became
suddenly muffled, a door slammed, and then silence reigned once more.
**********
The Samurai Troopers left the gates of Ha'na High School and
proceeded merrily down the street. Ryo and Seiji led the procession,
each holding one of Shin's legs. Shin himself came next, by necessity.
Shuu had the boy's head in a sleeper hold, easily ignoring his
friend's muffled yells and flailing arms. Touma trailed behind the
other four, holding Shin's schoolbag over one shoulder and trying to
look like he had nothing to do with anybody involved in the parade.
This procession continued down the street with pleasant
disregard for any of the attention they were getting. Several older
citizens watched curiously as the five went past, muttered something
about boys being boys, and went back to whatever they were doing.
Obviously, all observers agreed, whatever was going on was Someone
Else's Problem, and therefore none of their business.
Finally, the Samurai Troopers reached Shin's apartment, which
was fortunately in walking distance. They would have had a bit of
trouble getting on the bus, especially since Touma's bus pass was
currently floating under the diving board. With great ceremony, Touma
rummaged through Shin's bag and produced his keys, which they used to
enter his apartment. Sharing a glance and a nod, the three other
Troopers swung Shin through the air, and tossed him onto the couch.
The brown haired Yoroiden of Suiko blinked and looked around
in confusion. "What," he asked in a shaky voice, "are you four doing?
We still have classes!"
"No," Seiji replied with a smirk, "you don't. At the rate you
were going, you would have gotten somebody killed."
"I wasn't that bad!" Shin argued.
"We meant YOU." Ryo responded with a grin.
"So, since we've deduced the reason you're so dangerously
deluded is your forthcoming evening of entertaining a certain
priestess..."
"And," Shuu said, interrupting Touma, "your date with Rei..."
"We decided to lend a hand or five." Seiji finished with a
shrug. "When do you have to pick her up?"
Shin checked his watch. "Well, her grandfather won't let her
stay out after eleven, so I was going to get her after school and take
her out for an early dinner at the Golden Dragon..."
"Hmmmm," Ryo said, stroking his chin as the other three
Troopers formed around him and stared down at Shin, "that's not much
time, but I guess we can pull this off..."
"Yeah." Seiji added with a smirk. "All we need is a miracle."
**********
Shin found himself hurled into a nearby chair, and dragged to
the bathroom mirror. Shuu seemed to pop up out the floor behind him,
brandishing a pair of scissors and a large smile.
"Greetings!" He said as he began running a comb over Shin's
head. "Welcome to the Shuu Rei Fuan and Touma Hashiba School of
Barbering! Where our motto is..."
Touma ran in carrying a razor and electric clippers. "If we
make a mistake, the stitches are free!"
Shin gulped, and the would-be hairdressers laughed maniacally
as they closed in on him, clippers whirring and scissors flashing in
glittering arcs.
"Quick!" Touma yelled, "we need hair gel, stat!"
"Uh-oh, we got a bleeder here!"
"Oops! I can cover that! Not my fault!"
"Hey, do we have any hair dye? I'm thinking maybe a nice shade
of purple..."
Seiji burst through the door and snuck in behind Shin, lifting
several different ties and comparing them in the mirror. "What do you
think, Shin? The dark blue, the orange, the green, or the red? I like
the green, myself, but blue seems more your style... Hey, RYO!" He
yelled over his shoulder, not waiting for an answer from the
beleaguered Shin, "we're going with the BLUE!"
Ryo's voice floated in from the bedroom. "Does he want the
black pants, or the brown?"
"BLACK!" Seiji yelled, again not bothering to ask Shin.
"What about a jacket?" Ryo's voice asked, "the red?"
"NO!" Seiji screamed, and stormed back out of the bathroom.
"Have you no sense of style?" His voice echoed in from the bedroom,
as he confronted Ryo. "Shin looks horrible in warm colours! Do you want
him to go out with Rei looking like a giant tomato? Get the blue..."
A clump of brown hair fell to the floor and landed by Shuu's
foot. "Oops!" the Chinese boy said cheerfully, "I think we may need to
even you out a little back here..."
"What did I do to deserve this?" Shin whimpered, as Touma
ran off saying something about renting a car and could he borrow Shin's
credit card, thank you very much.
**********
Rei Hino walked out of school and stopped dead. A very large
crowd of girls had formed around a stylish black car that was parked
right in front of the gates. Two young men stood patiently in front
of said car, one dressed in a black school uniform and tucking his
long dark hair under a chauffeur's cap, the other... WOW.
Shin Mouri leaned against the side of the car, dressed in black
slacks, a white shirt, light blue jacket, and navy tie. His hair had
been trimmed shorter, and tied back in a stylish ponytail. A single
long-stemmed rose dangled from his fingertips, which he sniffed as he
glanced nervously around at the girls staring at him. Finally, his
eyes fell upon Rei, and lit up with both pleasure and relief. "Rei!"
He smiled, and several of the girls began to blush. With a grin, he
walked over and handed her the rose, offering her his arm. "Shall we
go on our date?"
Rei smiled and nodded, accepting his arm as he escorted her
to the car. Stifling a chuckle, Ryo opened the back door and Shin
followed her in. "I'm really sorry if you're embarassed, Rei," Shin
whispered as he sat next to her. "Seiji insisted on this, and Ryo
came along to make sure I didn't chicken out..."
"Shin," Rei explained as she shook back her long mane of
black hair, "right about now every girl in that school is wishing she
was me. I'm not embarassed. Flattered, maybe, but not embarassed."
Ryo looked back over his shoulder as he started the car. "See?
I told you a million times, man : always listen to Seiji. He just knows
this stuff... it's like he's got some psychic sense about girls."
"Oh, no!" Shin slapped his forehead. "I left Shuu, Touma and
Seiji alone in my apartment! And they've got SCISSORS!"
**********
Seiji vaulted over the waterbed with a curse. Shuu landed
behind him, a small fountain spurting from beneath the covers as his
scissors plunged through the thin covering of Shin's bed. "HAH!" Seiji
crowed as he rolled across the floor and lunged through the open
doorway, "I'm too fast for you!"
"TOUMA! He's coming back your way!" Shuu hollered.
The blue haired teen popped out of a closet, swinging his
buzzing clippers at Seiji's head. The blond samurai ducked and punched,
doubling Touma over and easily spinning out of his grasp. "Too smart
for you, too!"
Shuu roared down the hallway, vaulting over Touma as he got
back up. Together the two proceeded to chase Seiji into the living
room, racing in circles around the couch.
"Give it up, Seiji!" Shuu laughed as he charged in from the
left. "It's time to kiss that hair good-bye!"
"Yeah, kiki!" Touma chuckled as he came bearing down from the
right, "we be givin' you da marubouzu haircut like they wear back on
da big island!"
Seiji shuddered as he leapt over the couch and his friends
collided with each other. "Don't TALK like that! You sound like my
crazy uncle!" Touma and Shuu fell to the ground, rubbing their heads
and grumbling. "I'm out of here!" Seiji added, and hopped out the
window, landing with a clang on the fire escape below.
"Honestly!" Dusting off the sleeve of his jacket, Seiji
lovingly fingered the fringe of shaggy blond hair that concealed his
right eye. "Didn't anyone warn those two not to run with scissors?
They're such a headache..." With a groan, he continued down the metal
stairs, rubbing his temples with one free hand. "Man, talking about
headaches... these things just keep getting worse..." Stumbling
slightly, he dropped the last few feet to the ground and sat roughly
against the wall, moaning and biting his lip until it bled. After
clutching his skull and rocking back and forth for a few seconds, he
finally slumped over with a shuddering gasp.
**********
Minako winced and rubbed her temple with one hand as she
walked down the street. Her grip on her schoolbag tightened, and the
leather handle creaked in protest. With a soft groan, she reached out
and leaned against the wall surrounding Ha'na High School. Trying to
ignore the looks she was getting from the mostly male population of
Ha'na, the blond girl checked her watch as the students milled out
through the gates and into the street. Did that bell have to be so
LOUD?
"Excuse me," she asked a random boy, "have you seen Seiji
Date?"
"Oh, geez," the boy groaned, "not another one." With a look
of great annoyance, he set down his bag and crossed his arms. "Listen.
I haven't seen him, and I'm not GOING to see him. I will NOT give him
your phone number, I will NOT hand him a love letter, I do not care
HOW devoted to him you are. Take my advice, and forget about him. The
Flirt King of Ha'na High is out of business, okay? He found some girl
that threw him for a loop, and now he's off-limits. Do not pay me,
do not threaten me, because it will not work. I still won't let him
know you're looking for him." The boy sighed and adjusted his glasses.
"Oh, and if you want to let him know you'll be waiting for him, take a
number from that booth over there."
Minako looked over at a booth that was set up against the
wall and surrounded by a crowd of girls. A large sign over the
booth read, not surprisingly, 'Shuu Rei Fuan and Touma Hashiba's Dating
Service. Where our motto is : Seiji's bound to give in eventually.'
Hanging next to the booth, another sign in Touma's precise handwriting
read 'Now serving number 2153.' Below this, Shuu's sloppy scrawl
proclaimed 'NO REFUNDS'. With a sigh, Minako turned and left. She
needed to pick up Artemis, and since Jun Yamano had been running the
booth, it was a fair bet that none of the Troopers were anywhere to be
found.
Halfway to Shin's apartment, she dropped her bag and clutched
her head. There was a faint taste of copper in her mouth, and she
gasped as she dropped to her hands and knees. Her head had been aching
all day, but that was a mere low-level throb compared to the sudden
sharp pains jabbing through her skull. Sliding to the ground, she
rolled over on her back and shuddered as her eyes slid shut.
**********
Artemis paced nervously at the Hikawa Jinja. "Luna," he
complained to the small black cat sitting nearby and staring at him,
"they should have been here by now! What could be keeping them?"
"Perhaps Minako went to pick you up at the veterinarian's
office." Luna said calmly, tilting her head as she watched Artemis
pace. "For that matter, why AREN'T you at the veterinarian's office,
Artemis?"
"I don't like cages." Seeing that Luna needed a slightly more
detailed explanation, Artemis sighed and explained. "After I got those
humiliating shots, they put me in some filthy cage to wait for Mina.
As soon as they left, I broke out and headed for the nearest window."
Shaking his head, the white cat looked back at the gate that Seiji and
Minako were quite stubbornly NOT walking through. "I'm worried, Luna.
I've just got the feeling that something bad happened to those two..."
**********
Seiji woke up and moaned. His head felt like a million icepicks
were being rammed through the back of his skull. Clutching his
injured cranium in both hands, he rolled onto his stomach and pushed
himself onto his feet. He felt odd, somehow... off-balance, almost.
And why did his legs feel so cold? Shaking his head, he sighed.
Probably just a rush after being out like that.
"Huh." Reaching out, he picked up the patent leather briefcase.
"Looks like someone lost their schoolbag." Coughing into one fist, he
rubbed his throat. His voice sounded funny... maybe he really was
coming down with something. Well, he figured, may as well drop the bag
off with the police, in case it's owner came looking for it. Holding
the schoolbag in one hand, he staggered down the street. Still
off-balance, for some reason... he shrugged. Ah, well, he'd get used
to it. Although, he realised as he winced in the sunlight, his hair
must have fallen out of his eye while he was unconscious.
Stopping by a nearby shop window, he lifted one hand to fix
his hair... and screamed.
**********
Minako blinked and rubbed her face in her hands. Ooh, she
thought, she must be coming down with something. Blacking out like
that... she'd never hear the end of it if Artemis found out! Making a
face, she batted some hair out of her eye. Darn ribbon must have come
undone when I fell, she figured, and tottered to her feet. She felt
funny, she noticed as she walked, a little heavier somehow.
"Maybe I should cut down on the sweets," she joked, and
stopped dead in her tracks. What was wrong with her voice? Shaking her
head, she tried to think through the cotton someone seemed to have
wrapped around her brain. She needed Tylenol, fast! After she picked
up Artemis, she'd tell him she hadn't been able to find Seiji : the
dumb cat probably just wanted to yell at him anyway.
Walking down the alley, she stepped in a puddle and made a
face. Oh, that was just wonderful. Now her pants were soaked...
Minako blinked. Wait a minute. Hadn't she been wearing a skirt?
Reaching up, she brushed a bit of lint off of her jacket and froze.
"Uh-oh..." Looking down, she saw a flat chest, trim waist, and long
legs, covered in the coarse black fabric of a male's school uniform.
Her hands were larger than she remembered, and that damn hair was back
in her eye... "Oh, crap."
Sinking back down to her knees, Minako looked down into the
puddle as its ripples smoothed and her reflection became evident.
"Well," she said resignedly as she stared down at a face that was not
hers, "I think Artemis is going to be mad. But, on the other hand, at
least I managed to find Seiji..."
**********
To Be Continued...