A long time ago, on a moon not very
far away...
Long ago, the Butar clan had been
charged with guarding the pathways
between the worlds, magical roads
named Trods, by which one could walk
between the nine worlds of the solar
system and the Moon of Earth, without
needing to cross the great voids of
space in ships. Now they were
scattered, driven to the four corners
by Beryl's assault, for she had sought
to master the Trods for her own
purposes, and to some extent
succeeded. Worse yet, she had turned
their own power against them, cursing
them all so that they would become
lost, forever lost among the worlds,
unable to find their way to where they
wished to go.
Smo Butar was one of the family
heads, stranded now somewhere on
Earth. His family rode in a wagon
with him, all of them carefully
keeping an eye on each other, for any
unwatched member might vanish at any
time.
He was thus very surprised when
Sailor Pluto suddenly appeared before
him. "Smo Butar, I have something for
you."
He blinked. "You're alive!"
"I will soon enter the Time Tunnel
and not emerge for many, many years.
But there are a few tasks which must
be done. One of them is to ensure
that your own clan does not die out
due to Beryl's curse. I cannot break
it, but I hope that these may help to
ameliorate the worst effects." She
handed him a pair of orichalcum
manacles linked by a long, delicate
chain.
He blinked. "Is this a joke?"
"These are the Chains of Love,"
Pluto replied. "When a member of your
clan finds someone they wish to marry,
each must don one of them, and then
the chain will vanish, and they will
become magically linked. Should they
stray too far from each other, they
will be drawn back together. Once
they are married, the effect will
become permanent, so that the couple
will never lose each other forever."
"That would be very helpful," he
said. "But what about our children?
How can we keep from losing them?"
Sailor Pluto sweatdropped.
"Umm...going to have to think about
that one."
Smo facefaulted.
*****************
Children of Fire
A Sailor Moon/Ranma Elseworld
Chapter 14: Summertime Blues
By
John Biles
*****************
Usagi sat on the roof and practiced
being depressed. She was getting
pretty good at it. I bungled
everything, she thought. I've lost
Ranma, I've probably lost Rei, my
parents want to kill me, Shampoo told
me I was an idiot... She wallowed in
regret and self-pity for quite a
while, turning each and every thing
she'd done wrong over and over in her
mind.
I pushed things too far too fast,
she thought. I wanted it to all be
like it was back then. A tiny voice
in her head whispered that Ranma
hadn't been part of that equation, but
she ignored it. That was the problem
with memories of the past...the past
wasn't always the best guide to the
present.
Grandpa won't even tell me where Rei
is, she whined to herself. Then the
thought struck her...you know, I don't
even know what Grandpa's name is.
Everyone just calls him Grandpa. In
fact, I think Mom called him that
yesterday.
She shook her head, snapped out of
her funk by a new trail of thought to
follow. I think I'll go ask him, she
thought.
She sprang down off the roof and
headed into the temple, looking for
him. Instead, she found her father,
in his human form, looking somewhat
depressed. He was seated on the floor
in the TV room, watching CNN.
"Daddy, what's wrong?"
"Do you want the good news or the
bad news first?" he asked quietly.
"Umm..." She sat down beside him.
"Good news first."
"Two pieces of good news. An old
friend of mine got me a job doing a
photo shoot for a skating star. It's
only one day, but any work is good
news. The other good news is that
your mother and I managed to track
down our relatives and find out what
happened to them while we've been gone
and what happened to all our old
possessions. Keisara-san has defied
all expectations and the doctors and
is still alive and wants to see you
some time soon. I was thinking we
ought to go see her."
"Oh wow, I haven't seen Grandma
in...a long time! Yeah, that would be
great!" Usagi said. "How is Uncle
Sano and Aunt Kozue?"
"Well, that's one of the bad things.
He's in jail for tax evasion."
"..."
"Well, now we know how he was living
so well..." Kenji sighed. "Anyway,
our house and a lot of our other stuff
was left to him, since I'm an only
child and both of my parents are dead.
Which..."
"All had to be sold to pay the taxes
and court fees and things?" Usagi
asked.
"Right. Except for the things we'd
left to other people on your mother's
side of the family or my cousins for
various reasons. Also complicating
matters is that we're legally dead.
We're hoping we can indeed prove we're
alive, but there's some complications."
"Complications?"
He pointed at his fingertips. "Like
this."
Usagi carefully looked at her
father's fingers. "They look normal
to me."
"Different fingerprints. These
bodies look a lot like our old human
ones, but now we have permanent
symbols on our foreheads, different
blood types, different finger
prints..." He shook his head.
"Still, with our relatives backing us
up, and you backing us up, we hope to
get our identities re-established."
He pursed his lips. "Although your
brother doesn't want his back."
Usagi nodded. "I think he likes
being a cat."
"Well, it's all he's ever known,
almost." Kenji shook his head. "It
drives Ikuko up the walls."
"It drives ME up the walls
sometimes," Usagi said. "So where's
Mom?"
"She's off at Kozue-san's, catching
up on everything. We're trying to
find somewhere we can live without
having to leech off someone, but since
we don't have any money, it's looking
like we'll be stuck staying with Kozue
once we move out of here, until we're
legally alive and can find work."
"Can't we just sell some of the gold
and gems Great-Grandmother gave me?"
Usagi asked.
He blinked. "The..." He slapped
his forehead. "I didn't even think
about that."
"We did pay for everything on our
way here, after all." Usagi smiled a
little. "Anyway, I'll see about
selling off more of it, and get us
some money so we can have our own
place."
"Have you been giving Gran...Hino-
san any of this?" Kenji asked. "I'd
like to repay him for his generosity
to us."
Usagi nodded. "We gave him some
gems...hmm, I'll need to ask him how
to turn them into local money, because
I don't know...do you think we could
just sell it all to Naru's mother?"
"Depends on how much you have,"
Kenji said. "But Osaka-san could
probably help us with that."
Usagi frowned. "Actually, now that
I think about it, I'm not sure if we
really have enough for a house,
but...how many yen per pound of gold?"
"I have no idea," Kenji said. "Why
don't we go talk to Osaka-san and see
what she can tell us?"
Usagi got up. "Good idea."
***************
Nephrite cast another horoscope. The
next crystal would manifest at a
festival. Unfortunately, he wasn't
sure what festival or where, though it
would be soon.
He called in his twelve youma
minions Beryl had given him. "Your
mission is simple. Find out where all
the festivals are going to happen
around Tokyo in the next month, then
cull out any locations which lack
mystical energy. Keep an eye on them,
and try to spot anyone who might have
the mystic potential to be the next of
the Shadows."
"Which Shadow is next?" Sandstone
asked.
"Pride. Lust will come after that.
Assuming that Tourmaline's crew
manages to recover Gluttony, anyway."
"So why weren't the shadows named
after useful qualities, like 'Courage'
or 'Destroys All Our Enemies'?" Iron
asked. "I mean, why do we need some
really arrogant guy?"
"He's a very powerful, very arrogant
guy," Nephrite said. "Any other
questions?"
"Are you going to sit around on your
ass while we do the work as usual?"
Emerald asked.
"I could have you killed, you know,"
Nephrite snarled back.
"If you wanted to anger Beryl to the
point where she did to you what she
did to Jadeite, maybe," Emerald said.
"There's not enough of us for us to be
so expendable as the new recruits are."
"When you find them, call me. I
will be making preparations until
then. Now go!"
They left, leaving him to brood.
***************
Too bad being 'Prince of the Earth'
doesn't come with a handy manual,
Mamoru thought. "Well, I thought we
might want to have a little meeting
and try to work on our powers, since
none of us remembers much about how
they work. Also, Gosunkugi here could
probably use some combat training."
He, Ukyou, and Gosunkugi were in the
backyard of the Kunou estate; Kodachi
was off playing in the garden nearby.
"Also, we need to try to find Guardian
Neptune so we'll have a full set."
"Full set? What about all the
planets in towards the Sun from
Jupiter inwards?" Gosunkugi asked.
"They're all working for Beryl,"
Ukyou said. "Fortunately, we used to
be more powerful than they were."
"Haven't they had thousands of years
to practice, though?" Gosunkugi asked.
"Hopefully, they haven't spent all
that time honing their abilities,"
Mamoru said in what he hoped was an
encouraging manner. "Anyway, do you
have training with any weapons,
Gosunkugi?"
"Darts."
"That's a start," Ukyou said. "I
bet you could learn to use your powers
to strike people's weak spots. Throw
a dart at me."
"I don't have any," he replied.
"You don't?"
"I'm not used to getting into
fights." He shrugged. "Most of us
don't carry weapons all the time."
Ukyou frowned a little at that.
"I'll see if Kunou has any," Mamoru
said, heading inside the house.
"Why are you so nervous?" Ukyou
asked Gosunkugi. "You keep looking
around like the roses are going to
jump you."
They both watched Kodachi feed bits
of beef to one rose bush.
"Okay, bad way of putting it."
Ukyou shuddered.
"I've had so much good luck lately,
it means whatever happens to balance
it out will be REALLY horrible."
Gosunkugi looked at the grass,
suspecting it was waiting to trip him.
"You have to think positively!
Besides, can't you control random
stuff?"
"That would require me to understand
how to control my powers, which I
don't."
"Just think positive."
Mamoru returned with a dartboard and
darts. "Let's get cracking."
**************
Setsuna turned off the TV and
sighed. What am I going to do with my
summer vacation? I can work for Dr.
Tofu again; that'll eat some time, but
still, with Ranma gone...
She sighed. I can't just curl up
and die because he's gone, she
thought. There has to be something to
do. I just wish he was here. We
finally get together, and then he's
gone, and I can't call him or
anything. He'd BETTER write, she
thought.
Maybe I should see if Ami wants to
do something, she thought. Beats
sitting around the house waiting for
summer to end. She got up and left.
***********
Guardian Pluto was fairly sure that
today was the weirdest day of his
life. He threw another dart with his
eyes closed, and he got another
bullseye. This trick seemed to work
better if he ran entirely on instinct;
he couldn't do it yet while looking at
something. It made him feel good
about himself, but at the same time,
he suspected anyone in a battle
wouldn't sit still to be hit. It also
made him wonder when the bad luck was
going to come down on him to balance
all of his good luck.
"Good job," Guardian Uranus said.
"Well done," Tuxedo Mask echoed.
"Now, keep working on that while we
spar." He lifted his cane and saluted
Guardian Uranus. "Ready?"
She grinned. "Ready."
Instead of practicing, he watched
them fight; it was awe inspiring to
Guardian Pluto. They circled round
the yard, a flurry of wood and metal,
cane against spatula. He was stronger
on defense, she was stronger on
offense, and so she constantly drove
him back, but her blows never struck
home. He leaped away from her into a
tree; she hurled three mini-spatulas,
and he blocked each one with a rose.
"Fight me!" she shouted.
He just grinned and kept dodging and
parrying the blows for what seemed
like hours. Finally, she started to
get winded, and he counter attacked,
knocking aside her spatula and closing
in for a finishing blow, only to get
jabbed in the gut with two micro-
spatulas. She had been bluffing.
She grinned now as he fell down.
"It helps to have weapons for close
quarters," she said. "I didn't hurt
you, did I?"
"Only my pride," he said.
"You're very good."
"You're not bad either. Who
trained you?"
"I think it's my old skills
resurfacing," he said. "I've done
some kendo with Kunou, but I'm not
that good. And being transformed
helps."
"I thought you two were great,"
Guardian Pluto said. "I wish I could
fight like that."
"It'll come back to you," Tuxedo
Kamen said. "You were always better
with your powers than any kind of hand
to hand, though. My powers are mostly
defensive and dispelling, so I had to
learn to fight with weapons."
"And one of my big tricks is
making weapons," Guardian Uranus said,
brandishing a sword of gold for a
moment, then banishing it. She
slapped her forehead. "I could have
MADE you some darts."
"I'm afraid winning at slot
machines isn't going to beat any
monsters," Guardian Pluto mumbled.
"I know you'll do your best,"
Tuxedo Kamen said confidently.
I hope so, he thought.
*************
Grandpa Hino took a look at the
green-haired priestess. "So, your
name is Hanamiya Jiko?"
She nodded. "Yes. The spirits
guided me here in order that I might
be of help to you doing the festival
this weekend." Jiko was a tall,
slender woman with long green hair,
clad in traditional Shinto temple
garb. She carried a long rod with
prayer strip hanging from it, which
she tended to swish idly when speaking.
His eyes widened. "They did?
That's great. I could really use some
help. Usagi and Shampoo do their
best, but they don't know their
business half as well as Rei does.
Unfortunately, Rei is gone for most of
the summer for special spiritual
training."
"Oh, she is gone?" Jiko asked.
"That would explain why the spirits
guided me to you. I hope I can be as
helpful to you as she normally is."
"I'd be glad to have your help,"
Grandpa Hino said. "Let me show you
around."
She nodded, and followed him around
for the next few hours.
*************
Ami sipped her tea and stared at the
chessboard. "You're not using your
powers, are you?"
Setsuna blinked. "Aren't you?"
Ami sighed. "I can't use my powers
unless I transform, and I don't think
freezing the chessboard would be much
help."
"Well, I can't really use my powers
very much like this, either," Setsuna
said. "But I can't really stop using
them, either." She leaned back in her
chair and frowned. "Maybe we should
play something else?"
Ami stared at the board,
contemplating her options. Things
weren't looking good with both knights
dead, a bishop gone, and her king
pinned in one corner of the board. On
the other hand, Setsuna wasn't much
better off, and played rather
erratically, wavering between
brilliant and mediocre bursts of play.
Maybe I can beat her anyway, Ami
thought. "Well, let's see how this
goes."
"Okay."
They played a while longer, and
Ami's superior skill finally overcame
Setsuna's bursts of brilliance, though
it was a close game. "You play just
like Ryo-kun," she said.
"Is that good or bad?" Setsuna
asked.
Ami shook her head wryly. "I'm not
sure." She looked at the board.
"Setsuna, can I ask you a question?"
Setsuna's powers showed her the
question Ami would eventually ask
after much hemming and hawing, so she
decided to cut to the chase. "Ranma
and I are now seeing each other more
formally, and he dumped Rei and Usagi
after the two of them....renewed their
old relationship." Setsuna smiled a
little. "I miss him a lot, but he
won't be gone long. I was just...I
had started to wonder if it would ever
work out for us."
"Renew...oh." Ami's memories of her
past kicked in vividly for a moment,
and she tried to chase the thought out
of her head. Isis had stumbled on
Princess Serenity and Eowyn in the
baths once. "So they're together now?"
Setsuna shook her head and sighed.
"They had a fight too. And Rei's off
in the countryside so they can't make
up, and I've hardly ever seen the
Princess look so depressed."
Ami nodded and began picking up the
chess set. "Well, I knew this would
end messily."
"I never wanted to hurt her,"
Setsuna said. "I just..."
"Well, it's for the best. Ranma
needed to make up his mind a long time
ago. And I'm surprised you all waited
so long for him to do it."
"Love makes us all crazy."
"But how can you love someone like
that?" Ami asked. "I mean, Ranma can
be a nice guy, but the way he was with
all of you..." She shook her head.
"I half expected to hear he'd gotten
all of you pregnant."
Setsuna's eyes widened. "Ruby would
never do that!"
"He's not Ruby any more. He's a
teenage boy, and as Father warned me a
few years ago...teenage boys want it
and want it bad," Ami said.
"Oh, and you've never wanted it?"
Setsuna asked, irritatedly.
"I...uh..." Ami sagged. "Just
forget it."
Setsuna didn't want to waste time on
a fight, so she made herself drop the
issue. "Having any luck finding the
next crystal?"
"I've narrowed it down to a ten
block radius. But since that radius
includes most of the business district
and the homes in Juuban-ku..." She
shook her head. "But I'm guessing
I'll find it in the next three days."
"Good," Setsuna said. "Hmm, want to
practice our powers some? We should
probably be training more."
"That's a good idea. Maybe we
should call the others too."
Setsuna frowned. "I don't think
Usagi will want to see me, but...yes,
we should."
"Well, I'll call Usagi, and you can
call Minako, okay? And then I'll call
Naoko."
"Okay."
****************
"So, you're heading home to see your
dad?" Gosunkugi asked Ukyou.
Ukyou nodded. "I haven't seen dad
in months. I need to let him know I'm
alive." She sighs. "I hadn't even
found Ranma yet the last time I saw
him."
They'd finished sparring, and now
they were all having a snack on a
blanket spread out in the backyard.
"Sorry about him dumping you,"
Gosunkugi said.
"I'll get over it," she replied.
"Somehow." The gloom she'd managed to
lose earlier in the day settled over
her like a blanket.
"I have a possible lead on what's
happened to Sapphire," Mamoru said,
trying to change the subject. "Rei
told me that Tsubasa told her can talk
to spirits."
Ukyou twitched. "That demented freak
is Sapphire?"
"And he's been shouting about how
he's your reborn love, and well..."
Her hands clenched her brownie so
hard it crumbled in her hands. "That
would mean I'd have to be around him
all the time."
Mamoru decided perhaps changing the
subject again would be a good idea.
He turned to Kodachi, who had joined
them. "I figured out why your
constrictor vines aren't eating."
"Do they not like mice?"
"They want live prey, you see."
"Don't change the subject!" Ukyou
shouted. "Do you really intend to
recruit that mental case Tsubasa?"
"Well, if he is Sapphire
reincarnated, we need him."
Ukyou twitched more. "I think
you're right. No one else could
possibly be as annoying as him!"
Gosunkugi said weakly, "Well, we
don't know for sure yet."
Ukyou got up. "I don't want to
think about this. I don't want...damn
you, RANMA!" she shouted at the
heavens.
Everyone else sat rather
embarrassed, except for Kodachi, who
said, "I don't see Ranma anywhere."
"I'm going home," Ukyou said. "I'll
see you all when I get back from
Osaka. Kodachi-san, thanks for the
hospitality." And then she stormed
off.
Mamoru sighed. "I didn't mean to
make her mad."
"Being dumped hurts," Gosunkugi
said. "I speak from experience."
***********
Ukyou sat on her bed, curled up and
crying again. She was in a guest room
at Haruka's; she hadn't wanted to hang
around the temple once Ranma had
dumped her. She'd spent the last few
days just curled up in a ball a lot of
the time. After getting her hopes up
so high, he'd cast her down into the
pit of despair.
Haruka knocked on the door. "You
done crying yet?" she asked.
"Kiss my ass!" Ukyou shouted.
"Look, I can leave you to wallow in
self-pity if you really want, but I
thought you'd rather do something fun
your last night before you leave."
Part of Ukyou was getting tired of
self-marinating in a brew of despair,
so she sat up and said, "Come in."
Haruka came in, dressed in one of
her racing outfits. "I was thinking
we could go drive twice the speed
limit for a while, then we could spar.
I know beating the crap out of
someone always makes me feel better.
And Mom packed some food for us. So,
we could do the picnic under the stars
thing."
"If we see Ranma, swerve to hit him,
okay?"
Haruka grinned. "Alright."
*********
"No, no, you hold the staff like
this," Sailor Moon said, gripping her
staff in both hands.
Venus began twirling hers like a
baton. "Then you throw it in the air
and..."
Sailor Moon slapped her forehead.
"We're NOT combat cheerleaders!"
Pluto grinned and stood ready with
her staff. They were all in her back
yard.
Mercury gripped the staff she'd been
given. "Like this?"
"Yes. Now..." Sailor Moon ducked.
"Venus, will you STOP that?"
Venus suddenly straightened up and
held her staff correctly. "Right."
"Very good," Sailor Moon said.
"Well, I've been staff fighting
since I was four," Venus said.
"..."
"I am a tea house ninja, you know."
Sailor Moon sighed. "Okay, why
don't you go spar with big sister,
then, while I teach the people who
need it?"
"Okay!" Venus charged at Shampoo,
and the two of them started sparring
back and forth.
While Pluto already knew the basics
of staff fighting, it was all new to
Mercury, but Mercury seemed to pick
things up quite readily. After a half
hour of working on this, the doorbell
at the front of the house rang.
"Everyone be ready to detransform,"
Pluto said, transforming back to
normal as she ran for the back door.
"Just in case it's someone I can't
just get rid of."
It turned out to be a short, stocky,
dark-haired middle-aged couple hauling
an old woman on a stretcher.
"Setsuna!" the man said. "We finally
found you!"
"..."
"We brought grandmother to meet you,
as we had to get her approval," the
woman said. "So, grandmother, what do
you think of her?"
The old woman mumbled something.
The woman translated, "She says
you've grown up to be very pretty."
Setsuna said weakly, "Umm...do I
know you?"
The man sighed. "If we're at the
wrong house AGAIN..."
The woman pulled out a picture and
showed it to Setsuna. "This is you,
right?"
It showed Setsuna at age 11, wearing
a birthday party hat, blowing out a
cake with eleven candles. As she
looked at the picture, she remembered
the birthday party. Which was quite
confusing, as she'd inserted her new
life into the timeline at the age of
16, her current biological age. Or at
least, she thought she had. The
memory grew just enough to give her
some further context.
The Hibikis. They took care of me
after my parents died, promising them
they'd raise me to...marry their
son... But...none of that ever
happened! Right?
"It looks like me...but I don't know
who you are."
"Mei'ou Setsuna?"
"Yes, that's me."
"Then we are at the right place!"
the woman hugged her. "I'm sorry we
were gone for five years."
"..."
"Help me carry Mother inside, dear,"
Mr. Hibiki said.
She moved over and hefted the
stretcher, then the two of them
started to wander off down the street.
"Ummm..." Setsuna said. "The house
is over here."
"Oh, RIGHT," Mr. Hibiki said, and he
and his wife carried his mother
inside. "Is Ryouga here?"
"I...um...haven't seen him in a
while," Setsuna said. "Assuming I'm
thinking of the same Ryouga."
Mrs. Hibiki sighed. "Still those
fits of amnesia, honey?"
"I know who I am! I just..."
"I think I still have the flash
cards. Once we get some tea made and
Mother laid out nicely, I'll remind
you who you are, okay?"
"..." Setsuna wondered if she'd
snapped. "Umm...I have some friends
over in the backyard. We were
sparring and..."
"Oh, bring them in, I'd love to meet
them," Mrs. Hibiki said. "Now, I just
need to run to the bathroom. She
immediately headed into the closet.
"Who put all these coats in the
bathroom?"
This is what I get for not wanting
to be bored, Setsuna thought.
*********
Nephrite walked into Osaka-P with
Greed trailing after him. "Wait
outside," he said to Greed.
"But boss..."
"Or you'll rob the place again, and
I'll have to sneak everything back in
before they notice."
"Spoilsport," Greed muttered.
Can't take him anywhere, Nephrite
thought. He went back in and went up
to Mrs. Osaka. "Hello, again," he
said, smiling his best smile.
She blushed slightly. "Hello, Mr.
Clancy. What can I do for you today?"
"I need some cut gems. Which may be
difficult for you to get, as they need
to be on the large size. I'm not sure
what sort of stones would be
appropriate, or whether maybe I could
just get colored glass."
"When you say large, what do you
mean?"
He looked around, then asked, "Can
we go into your office?"
She said, "Let me call Naru down to
run the counter."
Naru soon came downstairs. "Oh, hi,
Mr. Clancy!" she said, then blushed a
little.
I think she has a crush on me,
Nephrite realized. Looking at the way
her mother looked, he soon wondered if
she found him attractive as well.
This could be useful, he thought.
He looked at Naru again. "Hello,
Naru. How are you today?" There was
definitely something familiar about
her.
"I'm fine," she said. "Umm...how
about you?"
"I am fine. Thank you for asking."
"Can you watch the counters while I
help Mr. Clancy with something?" Mrs.
Osaka asked her daughter.
"Sure, Mom," Naru said.
He went into Mrs. Osaka's office.
Glancing around, he noticed lots of
pictures of her with her daughter, but
only one with both of them with a man,
in which Naru was just a little baby.
"Are you married?" he asked.
"He's been dead nearly twelve
years," she replied. "Car wreck." She
sighed. "So what is it
that...ooooooh."
He pulled out the green Rainbow
Crystal. "I need seven this size,
each a different color."
She stared at it, watching it catch
the light and almost glow. "Unless
you have really scary amounts of
money, I don't think we can get you
real gemstones that size."
Nephrite had been afraid of that.
Unfortunately, the gemstones back home
were all charged with dark energies
and couldn't be made to pass as
Rainbow crystal. He needed magically
neutral gems. Although it was still
going to be hard to charge them with
positive energy, but he was working on
some ideas for that. "Well, are there
other options? I have some
substantial funds, but I must admit
that they are not limitless."
"I can do some investigating for
you. What are they for?"
"Public display. While the real
ones are kept locked away."
"You have seven gemstones THIS BIG?"
she asked weakly.
"Yes. Will you need them during the
process of setting up the creation of
duplicates?"
"Yes," she replied. Some doubts
nagged at her, as her mind tried to
tell her she was being drawn into
something dubious, but her doubts kept
vanishing every time she looked into
his eyes and gazed on his handsome
face. She could feel her pulse
quickening.
"Then I will see about bringing them
all," he replied. "Later today."
After I have time to go get fakes, he
thought. As it won't matter if she
duplicates gems filled with dark
energies she can't detect. He took
her hand and kissed it. "Thank you.
This will be very helpful to me."
She gulped. "You're welcome."
They made further arrangements, and
then went back out to the main room,
where Naru was busy ringing up the
sale of a tennis bracelet. "There you
go, ma'am."
The young lady buying it smiled.
"Thank you." Then she left.
Naru turned to them, "Did you make
the sale, Mom?"
"I think we'll be able to afford to
take a nice vacation after all this,"
she said to her daughter, smiling.
Nephrite took Naru's hand and kissed
it. "You are very kind to help your
mother like that."
Naru turned red. "Just doing my
duty as a daughter, Mr. Clancy."
"Please, call me Tom, both of you."
"Okay, Tom," Naru said, feeling
herself about ready to melt.
"I'll be back this evening," he said.
"I'll see you then," Mrs. Osaka said.
He went outside and found Greed
examining a pearl necklace. "I told
you..." he began.
"Oh, I stole it off someone out
here, boss. Want one of the watches I
pinched?"
Sandstone was right, Nephrite
thought. Beryl should have picked a
different set of qualities. Or given
them more brains at least. At least
Emerald isn't here.
A rod poked his shoulder. It was
Emerald, holding a long rod with
prayer ribbons trailing from it,
dressed as a priestess. Nephrite
stared. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Infiltrated a temple," Emerald
replied. "They're having a festival
on Friday, the old man who runs it
seems to have some mystical potential,
AND it's the same place where
Tourmaline's brain-dead family fought
the Senshi a while back."
"Sounds like a likely prospect."
"I volunteered to help run the
festival," she continued. "I should
be able to grab the Crystal then."
"Right. I'll have the rest of the
Dirty Dozen attend the festival, then,
and be ready to strike."
"Dirty Dozen?" Emerald asked. "We
are NOT dirty."
"Whatever. Anyway, I have to go
rock-hunting."
"Going to give some gems to your
underage sweetie?" Emerald asked.
"I do not have an underage lover!"
Nephrite barked back.
"Hmm, I may be qualified to perform
marriages now..."
"I can steal you both a ring, boss,"
Greed said to Nephrite.
Nephrite controlled his urge to
kill. "Just shut up and go back to
work, both of you."
"As you like." She handed a small
leather strip with characters on it to
Nephrite. "Here, a love charm to help
you attract her attention."
"GO!"
Emerald vanished in a flash of
emerald light. Greed said, "Hmm, if I
love money, would wearing that get me
more money?"
He passed it to Greed. "Wear it in
good health."
"You're the greatest, boss."
Eternal Sleep is starting to look
good compared to working with these
idiots, Nephrite thought.
*********
Makoto stood in front of the
restaurant, pacing back and forth.
Why isn't Mikado here yet, she asked
herself, though she feared she knew
the answer already. Her cellphone
rang. She picked it up. "Hello?" she
asked.
"Sorry, Makoto, I've got a hot date,
so I won't be showing up," Mikado
said. "See you at practice tomorrow."
"Hey, what about our..." Makoto
began.
"I'll stop by and drop off my credit
card, so you can pay with that, since
I did say I'd buy you dinner. It's
the least I can do. Go ahead and go
in and order some food; I'll be there
before you have to pay."
"..."
"See you in a little bit," he said,
then hung up.
Makoto slammed her phone into her
purse. "Dammit!" Why can't I just
forget about this jerk, she asked
herself. But no, every time I try to
break it off, he just makes googly
eyes at me, and my brain melts
and...aaaaaargh!
While Makoto basted herself in rage
and self-loathing, Gosunkugi walked up
to the restaurant. His parents were
gone for a few days, and had left him
money to get food. So, he'd decided
to go out to eat. He began arguing
with himself over whether or not to
blow a large amount of it on the
expensive restaurant. He really
shouldn't, but it was very tempting.
Makoto, having turned to go into the
restaurant. At least I'll get free
food out of this, she thought. She
saw Gosunkugi wandering around
haplessly. I wonder if he got stood
up too, she thought. Why are there so
many obnoxious people like that out
there? People who just use other
people, then cast them aside like used
tissue.
"Hey, you," she said to Gosunkugi.
He didn't answer, assuming it had to
be someone else being addressed.
"Hey, you with the dark hair
wandering around," Makoto said, a
little louder.
He turned, blinking. "Are you..."
His eyes widened. He'd seen her
skating against Haruka and Rei.
"You're Kino Makoto of the Golden
Pair!"
She smiled. "It's nice to be known.
You here alone?"
For a little while, he just sort of
stared at her mindlessly, then said,
"Yes."
"Would you like to eat with me?
It's never any fun eating by yourself."
Gosunkugi's brain spent a minute
going over the sentence over and over,
trying to figure out how he could have
such a realistic hallucination.
Finally, it concluded that this was,
in fact, really happening. "Sure," he
said, coming over to her. "My name is
Gosunkugi Gosunkugi. I mean Hikaru
Hikaru. I mean Gosunkugi Hikaru."
I wonder why he's so nervous, Makoto
asked herself. She quickly checked
herself with her compact mirror. No,
my makeup is okay, I don't look
deranged or anything. "Then, let's go
in."
They went in and got a table, then
sat down to decide what to order.
Gosunkugi looked over the menu,
trying to think of something clever to
say. His brain was too busy melting
to slag to have any wit.
"So where do you go to school?"
Makoto asked.
"Blue Sky Academy," Gosunkugi
replied. "I'm a sophomore."
"I attend Torio High myself," Makoto
replied. "And I'm a sophomore too.
Although all my time I spend on my
skating makes keeping my grades up
pretty hard."
"I've seen you skate," Gosunkugi
replied. "It was very impressive."
The waitress came, did a double
take, then said, "Ahh, this the
gentleman you were waiting for?"
"Yes," Makoto replied. "Gosunkugi-
san, you can order first if you like."
He gulped. "Hmm, I'll have a
chicken sandwich and some onion soup."
"Now, now, feel free to order
something expensive," Makoto said.
"Mikado is paying for it."
Gosunkugi's eyes widened. "Really?"
Makoto giggled. "Yep."
"Oh, well, then I'll have the 12
ounce steak, rare, and the onion soup,
with some rolls and the fried
vegetables as the sides."
Makoto said, "Sixteen ounce steak
for me, with onion rings and a Caesar
salad."
Gosunkugi asked, "He won't get mad
about..."
Makoto waved her hands. "Oh, he's
got a hot date on his mind."
The waitress headed off to place
their orders.
Gosunkugi nodded. "I'm surprised
you couldn't get a date and had to
just grab me."
Frowning a little, Makoto said, "I
got stood up."
"I know the feeling," he said. "If
I had a yen for every time I was stood
up, I could probably buy Tokyo." He
sighed. "My love life tends to be
pretty pathetic."
Makoto felt a pang of compassion for
him. "Well, mine hasn't been too
great, either."
His eyes widened. "Really? I'd
think a pretty girl like you could
have all the men she wanted."
If I wasn't dating an idiot, she
thought. "Thanks for telling me I'm
pretty," she replied.
"No, really, you are pretty," he
said. "You've got eyes like...umm..."
He tried to think of a good metaphor.
"Emeralds. And Emeralds are very
nice."
She smiled. "That's very sweet of
you to say that."
Gosunkugi blushed. "Thank you."
Mikado now strode up, with blonde
bimbo in tow. "Just a moment, Hitomi-
chan," he said to her, then turned to
Makoto. "I've brought the..." The
presence of Gosunkugi sank in. "Who
are you?"
"I'm Gosunkugi Gos...Gosunkugi
Hikaru, sir," he said weakly.
"Well, you ditched me, so he's my
date," Makoto said defiantly.
Date? Gosunkugi thought. His brain
teteered on the edge of a melt-down.
Mikado fumed, and was about to say
something when his date tugged on his
sleeve. "C'mon, Mikado honey, we've
got hurry or we'll miss our
reservation."
He slammed down the credit card on
the table. "We'll discuss this
later," he said, then stormed out.
Makoto took the credit card and
stuck out her tongue at his retreating
back. "Don't worry about him,
Gosunkugi-san. He's just a womanizing
windbag."
"I...he...okay," Gosunkugi said
faintly, then sat and tried to think
of something to say.
They both sat there for a little
while, neither of them sure what to
say to each other. Makoto did her
best to try to not think about Mikado.
Gosunkugi tried not to think about
Mikado beating him up. Finally,
Gosunkugi asked, "So what are you
doing during your vacation? Anything
fun?"
"Well, we have four matches
scheduled, and I have a photo shoot
tomorrow for some promotional pictures
and I'm going to go swimming some, and
maybe go camping for a few days."
Makoto sipped her tea. "How about
you?"
"Ooh, a photo shoot? Professional
photographers and everything?"
Makoto smiled. "Yes. An old friend
of my manager, who just got back from
being out of the country a few years
or something. Named...Tsukino.
Tsukino Kenji."
"Usagi's dad?" Gosunkugi asked.
Makoto blinked. "You know him?"
"Oh, I've known Usagi since I was
little. Her family went to China for
eight years."
"Oh wow, that's cool," Makoto said.
"Does she speak Chinese and everything
now?"
"She's been training in martial arts
all that time," Gosunkugi said.
"I do a little martial arts myself,"
Makoto said. "I'll have to see if I
get my manager to tell him to bring
his daughter, then. I'd like to meet
her."
Gosunkugi dug out his little blue
book of numbers and fumbled through
it. "Do you have something I could
write on? I've got her number."
Makoto dug her own phone number book
out of her purse and a pen, and took
down the number. "Thanks," she said.
"And what's your number?"
Smoke came out of Gosunkugi's ears.
"You want my number?" he asked weakly.
"Sure," she said. "Here's my card."
She dug out one and slid it over to
him. "I wouldn't mind seeing you
again." It would drive Mikado
completely insane, she was sure. And
he was a nice enough guy, even if he
looked rather creepy.
He gave her his number twice
incorrectly before he finally pulled
himself together enough to give her
the correct phone number. Then their
food arrived, and they turned to
eating.
********
Ryouga stared at the door. This
is suspiciously familiar, he thought.
Which means I'm probably about to walk
in on someone's bedroom. He knocked
anyway.
Mr. Mizuno answered the door.
"Hello?"
I'm at the right house, Ryouga
thought. "Hi, is Ami here?"
"She's over at Setsuna's."
Curse my sense of direction,
Ryouga thought. These flowers will
wilt long before I get to anywhere
nearby. "Okay, I'll head over there."
Mr. Mizuno looked at the flowers
and smiled. "Planning to ask her out?"
Ryouga blushed. "Is it that
obvious?"
"Well, I didn't think you were
here to ask ME out," he replied.
"I'll go find her at Setsuna's
then," Ryouga said.
"Alright. Good luck."
Ryouga took off down the street.
Maybe if I try to go somewhere else,
I'll end up where Ami is, he thought.
It's worth a try.
********
"She's engaged to Ryouga?" Usagi
asked in surprise.
"Yes, ever since they were little,"
Mrs. Hibiki replied.
"I am going to marry Ranma," Setsuna
said. "Not Ryouga. Even if I liked
Ryouga, he'd never show up for the
wedding anyway."
Mr. Hibiki says, "Well, our family
weddings do usually require tying
everyone down so no one gets lost and
calling for a judge to come in."
Setsuna twitched. Shampoo laughed
so hard she fell out of her chair.
Minako did the same thing. Usagi and
Ami tried not to laugh.
"So you don't know where Ryouga is?"
Mr. Hibiki asked.
"Not a clue. Haven't seen him in a
while," Setsuna replied.
Mrs. Hibiki sighed. "The amnesia
again. Out of sight, out of your
mind."
"I am NOT amnesiac!"
"I knew we should have taken you
with us, but it would have hampered
your schooling." She paused. "You
remember what school is, right?"
"Yes. I'm on summer vacation. But
I remember."
"Has she been claiming she's a
reincarnated warrior from the moon
again?" Mrs. Hibiki asked Usagi. "She
used to do that whenever we tried to
make her do something she didn't like,
especially during her amnesia bouts."
Usagi giggled. "Yep. All the time."
"Usagi!" Setsuna said. "That's a
secret!"
"She dresses up in a short skirt and
a blouse with a big bow and waves her
staff around, shouting she's Pretty
Princess Pluto," Minako said, giggling.
"Wasn't Pluto the dog?" Mr. Hibiki
asked, scratching his head.
Setsuna prayed for a monster attack
as soon as possible.
********
Ukyou ducked under Haruka's punch,
then swept her spatula to try to knock
Haruka off her feet. But Haruka
simply backflipped out of the way of
the blow, then circled left. Ukyou
pivoted warily, then charged, trying
to force Haruka onto the defensive.
But now Haruka ducked under Ukyou's
mighty chest-level spatula swing, then
rose up as Ukyou passed her and kicked
her in the back. Ukyou went sprawling.
She laughed and leaped up to her
feet, hurling a barrage of mini-
spatulas. Haruka dodged and weaved,
but one of them nailed her in the top
of her shoulder, giving her a nasty
bruise and slicing her shirt open.
That side of the shirt sagged down,
baring her shoulder. "Oww!"
"I did use the blunt ones, right?"
"Still hurt," Haruka said. "And now
I need a new shirt."
"Sorry about that," Ukyou said.
"Come inside," Haruka said. "I keep
some extra clothing out here."
They headed into Haruka's family's
beachhouse, a two story bungalow
bigger than anywhere Ukyou had ever
lived except for school dorms. It was
very nicely furnished, but needed a
good dusting. "Nice place," Ukyou
said.
"Thanks. We have some bathing suits
here, if you want to go swim after
this."
"Yeah, that'd be nice," Ukyou
replied.
They both went and changed into
bathing suits, then headed out onto
the beach, running out into the water.
After an hour or so of splashing
around in the water, Ukyou felt a lot
better. I've just spent too much time
obsessing over Ranma, she thought.
And not enough time just doing stuff
like this.
After the sun set, they headed back
inside to eat the dinner Haruka's mom
had packed for them, then ended up on
the couch on the porch, watching the
stars shimmer high in the sky. "Makes
all your problems seem pretty little,"
Ukyou said.
"You feeling better?"
"Yeah. I needed a distraction,"
Ukyou said.
"Well, at least you aren't stuck
waiting for him to make up his mind,"
Haruka said.
"That's not much comfort," Ukyou
said. "Let's talk about something
else. I don't want to think about
Ranma."
"Okay, let's talk about me, then,"
Haruka teased.
Ukyou laughed and punched Haruka's
arm lightly. "You are, after all, the
center of the universe."
"Oh, everyone's the center of their
own universe," Haruka said. "So
you're staying with your dad pretty
much the whole break?"
"Yeah. Going to be boring as hell
most of the time, but I should get to
see a few old friends and just get
away from everything."
Haruka nodded and looked thoughtful.
"What are you thinking about?" Ukyou
asked.
"Whether or not you want me to
seduce you," Haruka said, grinning.
Ukyou noogied Haruka. "You're
incorrigible."
"I try. It is a romantic night."
"Well, if you were a guy, I'd say
yes," Ukyou said. "Just to spite
Ranma and because I do feel kind of
lonely. But women don't grab me that
way."
"Don't knock it 'til you try it."
"I didn't like it when I was a guy,
let alone now," Ukyou replied.
Haruka shook her head. "It's always
kinda weird thinking about that. I
mean, why would a guy be reborn as a
woman? Or vice versa?"
"Well, I never had a chance with
Ruby because I was male, so maybe the
universe was trying to help me out,"
Ukyou said. "Even if it didn't work.
Or maybe it happens all the time, and
most people never notice. For that
matter, maybe I was a woman the life
before Diamond, and then I was born as
a man due to a clerical error in
Heaven or something, in that life."
"I guess we'll never know."
"Yeah."
"Well, if we're not going to have
mad passionate sex, we'd best head
back home, so you can get to bed and
catch your train in the morning."
Ukyou nodded. "Let's go."
************
"So, what'd you do today?" Tsubasa
asked Gosunkugi as they played Virtual
Potato Fighter on Gosunkugi's Saturn.
Tsubasa was a stump today. This
looked rather strange inside
Gosunkugi's living room.
"Went out with some friends,
then...you're not going to believe
this. I don't believe this."
"You had dinner with a fabulous
supermodel, then came back here and
showed her your stamp collection?"
Tsubasa teased.
"I ran into Kino Makoto of the
Golden Pair and she invited me to have
dinner with her, so I took her up on
it," Gosunkugi said.
Tsubasa began to laugh. "Uh huh."
"I did! I did!" Gosunkugi insisted.
"Sure you did."
"I got her phone number and
everything!" Gosunkugi protested.
Tsubasa exploited his distraction to
mash Gosunkugi's Virtual Mr.
Potatohead hard. "Sure you did," he
said.
"I'll prove it!" Gosunkugi got out
his little blue phonebook and went
over to the phone and dialed. The
phone rang for a long time, and no one
picked up. "Hi, this is Gosunkugi
Hikaru. Just making sure I got your
number down correctly, Kino-san. Talk
to you later."
"Hah, you were just making it up,"
Tsubasa said.
Gosunkugi hung up. "I am not!" He
stomped back over. "She just wasn't
home."
"Uh huh."
"Gotta hit the bathroom. Be right
back," Gosunkugi said, and ran off
deeper into the house.
Tsubasa sat and waited, and then the
phone rang, so he got up and answered
it. "Gosunkugi house. Can I help
you?"
"Hi, is Hikaru-san there?" a woman's
voice asked.
Tsubasa felt the world turn upside
down. A woman actually calling
Gosunkugi? Must be an aunt or
something, he thought. "He's in the
bathroom, but he'll be out in just a
second."
"Oh, okay, I can wait. May I ask
who you are?" she asked.
Tsubasa gave in to temptation.
"Yes, I'm Gosunkugi Taiki, his uncle.
I'm checking in on him while his
parents are gone."
"That's nice of you," she replied.
"And you are?"
"Kino Makoto. I met your nephew
earlier today."
He told the truth, Tsubasa thought.
The world must be ending. "I hope he
showed you a good time."
"He's very nice," Makoto replied.
"Unlike certain people who stand other
people up who I could mention, but
won't."
Tsubasa got the picture. "Ahh," he
said. "Yes, some young men just don't
learn proper manners these days.
Fortunately, my nephew isn't one of
them."
Gosunkugi came out. "Who's on the
phone?" he asked.
"Okay, here he is," Tsubasa said.
He passed the phone to Gosunkugi
saying, "Okay, you told the truth."
"I told you," Gosunkugi said to
Tsubasa.
Tsubasa played solo Virtual Potato
Fighter for the next half hour while
Gosunkugi and Makoto talked on the
phone. Finally, he said, "Okay, you
made your point!"
Gosunkugi ignored him, only getting
off the phone about twenty minutes
after that. "Sorry about that. She
sounded kind of lonely and..."
"Okay, I'd have done the same
thing," Tsubasa said. "But don't
pretend you're just being altruistic."
Gosunkugi blushed. "We're going to
go to the Festival this weekend at the
Hikawa Temple."
"Damn, when did you get so smooth?
And can you teach me?" Tsubasa asked.
Laughing nervously, Gosunkugi picked
up the controller. "Just a burst of
good luck. Which probably means the
house will catch fire tonight."
"Don't give it any ideas, man."
*********
Setsuna laid on her bed and tried to
sleep. What am I going to do about
these people? Could they really be my
family? I thought I set myself up to
not have to deal with such things.
But maybe that was as much wishful
thinking as my hoping that Ruby would
just jump into my arms, too.
There was just too much she couldn't
quite remember clearly. The process
of rebirth had left some holes, and
she'd deliberately forgotten some
things so she wouldn't feel like a
trapped robot in the hands of destiny.
I can't marry Ryouga she thought.
Then again, I may wake up and they may
be lost again for another half a
decade. She sighed.
I hope Ranma's doing okay, she
thought. I can't wait until I see you
again.
*********
Mikado was on a slow burn the next
morning. Makoto had to admit she was
enjoying it. He obviously wanted to
interrogate her about the man he'd
seen her with the previous night, but
couldn't bring himself to admit it had
happened. She skated idly in a circle
as she waited for the photographer to
show up.
When he did, she was suitably
impressed, as she hadn't expected the
photographer to be quite so blond and
cute and have a yellow moon tattoo on
his forehead. It made an odd contrast
with the conservative suit he wore.
He was accompanied by a short,
muscular blonde with very long hair
gathered into two buns with ponytails
trailing from them, and by Gosunkugi,
who'd dressed up in a suit himself.
While he worked on setting up his
equipment, Gosunkugi and the girl came
over to the edge of the rink. "Kino-
san, this is Tsukino Usagi, my friend
I told you about," Gosunkugi said.
"Usagi-san, this is Kino Makoto."
"You're a really great skater!"
Usagi gushed. "I saw you go up
against my friend Rei and my friend
Haruka a while back, and even though I
had to cheer for Rei, because, you
know, she's my...best friend, I was
really impressed."
Makoto frowned at the memory of that
disaster. "Ahh, yes, that match."
Mikado, seeing a cute girl he hadn't
kissed yet, zoomed up. "Ahh, a fair
maiden. Have you come to help your
father?"
Usagi smiled. "Yes. Daddy's trying
to teach me all about photography."
Mikado stuck a heroic pose. "I hope
you will enjoy this photo shoot,
then." He took her hand and kissed
it. "Are you busy after the shoot?"
Usagi blushed slightly. Normally,
she would have just laughed at him;
she knew his reputation. But she
didn't want to mess anything up for
her father, and she was feeling just a
little lonely and vulnerable with
Ranma and Rei gone and everything so
bad between herself and Rei and Ranma.
"No, not really," she said.
Makoto frowned. Okay, she is cute,
but must he hit on EVERYTHING THAT
MOVES in front of me? She turned to
Gosunkugi. "You doing anything
tonight?"
"No, not really," he said. "Tsubasa
and I had sort of vaguely discussed
going to a movie or something."
"Mind if I tag along?" she asked.
Mikado froze up like she'd turned
him to ice.
"That'd be great," Gosunkugi said
weakly. "Do you want us to meet you
at the theatre, or should we come by
your house or what?"
` Usagi glanced back and forth at the
three of them, and her brain carefully
misinterpreted everything. "You
should tell Tsubasa to ask Naoko to go
with you, and then you could make it a
double date."
Mikado's teeth ground. "Don't we
have practice tonight?"
"You cancelled so you could go out
with Hitomi again, remember?" Makoto
asked with a sickly sweet voice.
"Sure, I'll suggest that to him,"
Gosunkugi said. He felt his knees
getting wobbly.
"You two ready?" Kenji asked, now
coming over.
Mikado instantly went to 'Look at
how cool I am' mode. "Ready." He
took Makoto's hand. "Let's go."
She leaned over and kissed Gosunkugi
on the cheek, smiling as she felt
Mikado's hand twitch. "Have fun
watching us."
Gosunkugi put a hand to his cheek.
"I'm dreaming."
"I think she likes you," Usagi said,
smiling.
"I think she's trying to make Mikado
jealous," Kenji said. "Better be
careful about getting into the middle
between those two, Hikaru-san."
"Don't be a cynic, Dad."
"And if you go out with that Mikado
boy, I will personally have to spank
you," he replied.
"Dad, I just...I mean, I don't want
to cause any trouble. It's not like I
can't beat the snot out of him if he
tries anything I don't like."
Kenji frowned. "Don't go on a date
with him for my sake. If he gets mad
and decides he wants another
photographer, at least we get to keep
our integrity."
"It'll be okay, Daddy," Usagi said.
"Cologne-sama always told me never to
pass up a free meal, anyway."
Kenji frowned, then began directing
the shoot, having Usagi try to take
the same pictures he was going for, so
he could use his own as a model from
which to critique her efforts later.
Gosunkugi sat back and watched,
wondering which of them was right. And
if he would act any different either
way. Even if she was just using him,
it was nice having someone be
affectionate with him. And Makoto
really did seem like a nice person. I
guess I'll just have to see what
develops.
**********
"Naoko's gone off with her family
for most of break," Tsubasa said over
the phone to Gosunkugi. "You want me
to bail so you two can be alone?"
Gosunkugi blushed. "I wouldn't know
what to do with a woman by myself on a
date."
"You did okay at the restaurant, it
sounds like. Hmm, I could ask Usagi.
What with Ranma and Rei having dumped
her, she's probably not doing
anything. Or I could ask Ami, and
then you could flirt with both of
them."
Gosunkugi turned more red. "That
would just be...I like Ami, but I
don't think she likes me like that."
"Well, I'd ask Ukyou, but she's gone
home now."
"And would just hit you."
"That too."
"How about Naru? She isn't dating
anyone."
"You think she'd say yes to me?"
"No, not really," Gosunkugi said.
"Then why did you SUGGEST HER?"
"Aliens made me do it."
Tsubasa rolled his eyes. "Riiight.
Hmmm, I could try beating Shampoo in
combat to get her to go with me..."
"And then you could take out the
entire JSDF with a spoon."
"Been there, done that," Tsubasa
replied. "Maybe Minako would be
interested."
"Give me a call back once you know,
okay?"
"Okay. Talk to you later."
********
Usagi listened to Mikado ramble on
as she ate her food, smiling and
trying to not fall asleep. He did
know some interesting skating stories,
and he was a pretty skillful flirt,
but she found him ultimately rather
boring. The food was worth it, though.
Her mind drifted away, and she
wondered what was going on with Ranma
and Rei. As she thought about it, she
felt more and more guilty. I really
screwed things up, she thought. I
lost both of them! She wasn't sure if
she and Rei would be able to patch
things up, and it looked like Ranma
had finally gone back to Setsuna.
I need more discipline, she decided.
I've been lazy and stupid. If I'd
just controlled myself, this whole
mess never would have happened.
Instead, I just ended up hurting Ranma
and Rei. Well, I'll do better. I have
to do better.
"Do you know this Gosunkugi fellow?"
Mikado asked.
Usagi said, "Oh, I've known him ever
since he was little, although I
haven't seen him much for a while, as
I was in China."
"What's he like?"
Usagi was smart enough to figure out
why Mikado was pumping her for
information. And sufficiently impish
enough to decide to exploit that.
"Oh, he's a real ladykiller. He
doesn't look very impressive, but he
just brings out those mothering
instincts, and pretty soon, he has
them eating out of his hands. Pretty
soon, he has another love slave."
Mikado stared in shock. "No wonder
she was just fawning on him like that.
Well, I can't let him do that to my
partner."
Thinking about the duel, Usagi
suddenly realized she'd probably just
stirred up a hornet's nest and knocked
it down on Gosunkugi at the same time.
"Oh, but, umm...I mean...I was sort
of joking."
Mikado stood up. "I will rescue her
from that foul user of women! He will
regret what he has done to bewitch
her!"
Maybe I should take an oath of
silence, Usagi thought. For the good
of mankind.
**********
Gosunkugi boggled at the thought of
riding in the back of a chauffered
limousine. "Wow, you're rich," he
said to Makoto.
She laughed. "Somewhat, yes. My
aunt and uncle are usually too busy to
drive me around, so they've had Hayao
driving me around ever since I was
little."
"Kino-san, which theatre are we
going to?" Hayao, the middle-aged,
moustached driver asked.
"Which theatre?" Makoto asked
Tsubasa.
"Galaxy 8," he replied. He sat very
nervously, having dressed up in a
suit.
"Galaxy 8 is a lousy theatre from
what I've heard," the driver's side
seat told him.
Shut up, Tsubasa thought. I'm on a
DATE!!!! Do you hear me?
But the seat didn't hear him and
kept yammering on.
"Off we go, then," Hayao said.
Minako peered out the window. "Are
you sure I shouldn't bring my sword,
Tsubasa?"
"The theatre staff tends to take
that poorly," Tsubasa said.
Makoto laughed. "You have a sword?"
"I'm a ninja," Minako said. "I
serve Naoko-sama now."
Makoto laughed. "Can you turn
invisible?"
"I'm not quite that good," Minako
replied. "So what movie are we off
to?"
"Hmm, we need to pick one,"
Gosunkugi said.
"Ninjas versus Superspies!" Minako
said. "It's gonna be GREAT!"
Makoto laughed. "Alright. We can
try that."
"Okay," Gosunkugi said.
"Sure," Tsubasa said, a little
surprised. "Off we go, then."
"Ma'am. Mikado-san is having his
chaffeur following us. Would you like
me to lose them?" Hayao asked.
Makoto's eyes widened. "Hmm, do you
think the four of us are pretty
visible to him?"
"I can see the grim expression on
Mikado-san's face, so yes."
She smiled. "Very good. Alright,
try to lose them, and while we're
doing that, the four of us will make
out in the back seat."
Tsubasa's eyes widened.
"Ahh, to distract his driver so he
crashes and burns?" Minako asked.
"So Mikado crashes and burns,"
Tsubasa said.
"Well, if you all don't mind,"
Makoto said, suddenly feeling a little
exploitative.
"I'll know if I mind once I see how
well Tsubasa can kiss," Minako said,
then grabbed him and pulled him over
onto her.
Gosunkugi turned beet red. "I...I
don't mind."
Makoto leaned over and kissed him
gently, feeling somewhat guilty with
herself for doing so. From the way he
responded, she felt less guilty, as he
clearly was enjoying it. I shouldn't
do this just to spite Mikado, she
thought.
Gosunkugi felt himself getting
flushed, and his brain shutting down.
Beautiful woman, kissing me, can't be
real, all is just a dream, he thought.
He felt her arms wrap around him,
and then his brain shut down
completely. Makoto felt him go limp
in her arms, and she broke off the
kiss. "Hikaru-san, are you okay?" she
asked. Oh man, he must have forgotten
to breathe or something, she thought.
His eyes snapped open, and his gaze
met hers with a strength she did not
expect of him. "Now that was a kiss
worth dying and living again," he said.
She blushed. "Actually, that wasn't
even close to my best. I just...I'm
sorry. I was just trying to make
Mikado jealous. I mean, I think
you're a nice guy, but..."
"Then show me your best," he said,
smiling. "And we can call it even.
And I don't mind helping you make
Mikado jealous."
"You're not mad at me?"
"I understand," he said, then leaned
towards her. "Shall we resume?"
There was something strange in how
he carried himself. She had to admit
she liked confident men, and suddenly,
he was very confident. "Alright," she
said, glancing back and seeing Mikado
glaring. "Let's see if we can get him
to scream."
She leaned forward for another
gentle kiss, but to her surprise, he
leaned in and wrapped his arms around
her in a firm, if not strong, embrace,
and kissed her with an amount of
passion, if not expertise she would
never have imagined possible from him.
She kissed back enthusiastically for
a while.
Eventually, he broke it off, and she
just stared in surprise. "Whoah."
"I had always wondered what Sif's
kisses would taste like, but I never
thought I would be so lucky as to find
out," Gosunkugi said.
She thought about asking what
exactly that meant, then decided best
to focus on making out while the
making out was still good. The name
echoed in her mind. Someone I met
once? She was sure she'd heard that
name before. "Wow, you're better than
I thought," she said.
"Thank you," he said. "And again?"
"Yes!"
They were still making out when they
reached the movie theatre. Gosunkugi
got out, held the door open for
Makoto, then swooned.
I must have overheated his brain or
something, Makoto thought. She rushed
over and helped him back up. "Are you
okay?"
"I'm fine," he said weakly.
"Umm...are we at the theatre?"
I must have overdone it, she
thought. "Yes, we are."
"Okay," he said. "Let's go see the
movie."
************
Usagi tried to figure out why
exactly she was tagging along with
Mikado. To keep him from killing
Gosunkugi, she reminded herself. And
it kept her from sitting around the
temple being depressed over her own
stupidity.
Mikado whispered to her, "Are they
holding hands?"
Usagi strained her sight, trying to
see. "I can't tell through the people
and chairs."
He frowned. "Can you sneak forward
and check?"
Might as well, she thought. She
crept up and looked. Both couples
were indeed holding hands. This made
her feel a surge of jealousy. How can
they be so cuddly when I'm all alone?
she asked herself. She crept back.
"Yes, both couples."
"I could care less about the other
one. We have to do something," he
said. "Perhaps we should make out to
make them jealous."
Normally, Usagi never would have
said yes, but she was feeling very
frustrated, so she said, "Alright."
Twenty minutes of making out
convinced her that Mikado's real
calling in life definitely would be to
be some woman's concubine. He had a
lot of flaws, but he was definitely
good at praising your good features,
making out, and being romantic. If he
wanted to be, anyway.
When they stopped, however, she felt
even more guilty. Now I'm betraying
both of them, she thought. Why am I
making out with this guy? Besides how
good he is at it, anyway...
"They haven't even noticed," he
hissed through his teeth.
"They don't know we're here and
we're behind them," Usagi said,
suddenly realizing the flaw in the
plan herself.
"Hmm, I will have to think of a
clever plan," Mikado replied.
I hate my life, Usagi thought. I'm
just utterly pathetic today. I should
just leave.
Thought was not translated into
action.
**********
Setsuna answered the door.
"Hello?"
Ryouga said, "Is Ami here?"
Please let this be the right place, he
thought.
Bloody hell, Setsuna thought.
Got to get rid of him before the
Hibikis see him and announce our
engagement or something. "Ami went
home yesterday, Ryouga."
"AAAAAAHHH!!!!!!" Once he'd
screamed, he felt better. "But I was
just at her house, and they said she
was at your house."
Setsuna frowned. "We'd better go
and check, okay? As she didn't tell
me she was coming over."
He nodded. "Alright. I think
her house is this way..."
Setsuna sighed and grabbed his
hand, dragging him the other
direction. "THIS way."
"Oh, right."
They walked down the street in
silence for a while, until a half-
white, half-black dog came barking
down the street up to Ryouga, then
began licking him affectionately.
Ryouga smiled. "How are you,
Shirokuro?" he asked.
The dog looked vaguely familiar
to Setsuna. "You know her?" she asked.
"Yeah, Shirokuro is our family
dog. She spends a lot of time
tracking us and delivering messages."
He checked a small box hanging from
her neck. "Hey, a letter from mom!"
Blast it, I can't let him read
that, she thought. "Hey, is that Ami
over there?" she said, pointing.
Ryouga turned and looked, putting
the letter down on Shirokuro's back
while he peered off into the bustling
people on the street. "Where?"
Setsuna quickly grabbed and
stuffed the letter into Shirokuro's
mouth while he wasn't looking, then
said, "No, wait, that isn't Ami.
Sorry."
Ryouga turned back and saw
Shirokuro chewing up the letter. "Bad
dog!" he said.
Shirokuro looked mournfully at
Setsuna, who promised herself she'd
get the dog a nice treat to make up
for it.
Ryouga quickly wrote out a letter
explaining that the letter to him had
been eaten, then sent Shirokuro off to
find her mother. Shirokuro bounded
off the way they had come. "She
normally doesn't do that."
"Perhaps she isn't getting fed
often," Setsuna replied.
"Hmm, true. I should have given
her something. Well, I will next
time," Ryouga said.
They soon came to Ami's house.
Setsuna got Ryouga up to the door.
"Okay, there you go."
"Umm...can you wait in case she's
not home and I need help finding her
somewhere else?"
"Okay," Setsuna said. "I'll go
hide in the bushes over there." She
concealed herself in the bushes near
the door.
Ami answered the door. "Hi,
Ryouga," she said, smiling.
"Umm...hi...I...um...ahahaha..."
Oh, THAT's why he wanted to find
Ami, Setsuna thought. He must want to
ask her out.
"How are you today?"
"I'm fine," Ryouga gulped. "Would
you like...to...um...this thing..."
"Are you okay?" Ami asked, looking a
little concerned. "You aren't making
any sense."
"Tell her you want to ask her to the
festival at Rei's temple this Friday,"
Setsuna whispered from inside the bush
to Ryouga.
"Tell her..." Ryouga began, then
shook his head. "Umm...there's a
festival thing at Rei's temple thing
and I was wondering if you'd like to
go to the thing with me. Thing." I
suck, he thought. A lot.
Ami thought his bashfulness was kind
of sweet. "Sure I'd love to."
The word 'love' struck in Ryouga's
head like a siren. Love. Love. Love.
She said 'love' to me, he thought.
He felt so happy, he could explode.
"Right. I'll be here to love you...to
pick you up at six on Friday, then!"
He hoped that was a good time to pick
her up. "I'd better go home and get
ready, so I can make it back here by
then."
Ami laughed. "Alright. See you
then."
Then Ryouga turned and ran off
laughing maniacally down the street.
Ami turned to the bush. "Should I
call you Cyrano, Setsuna?"
Setsuna stepped out of the bush.
"Just trying to help him out."
"Does he know about the engagement?"
Ami asked.
Setsuna sighed and stared at the
ground. "No. I don't want to marry
him."
"Well, he's a nice guy, but I
wouldn't want an arranged marriage
either. Still, you'd better tell him
soon."
Setsuna said, "Assuming they
even..." She sighed again. "I'm just
really confused about what exactly is
going on. I didn't think I HAD a past
in this life before I woke up one day,
and instead of being in the time
tunnel, I was a teenage girl like I'd
planned to make myself into. But now
I'm starting to remember bits and
pieces and...well, it kind of bothers
me."
"Now you know how Ranma feels," Ami
said softly.
"Ugh. At least Ruby wasn't a total
flake. I have this dim memory of
going to a SMAP concert and just...I
wanted one of them to marry me." She
blushed. "I don't want to turn into a
flaky, hormone ridden teenager!"
Too late for that, given how you act
over Ranma, Ami thought. "Well,
you'll just have to...umm...come to
terms with your...I'm not sure what
the right term is."
"And having these parents hanging
over me is just such a drag," Setsuna
said. "I LIKE having my own place,
and I don't want a forced engagement."
"Want to come in for a while and
have some tea and talk?" Ami asked.
"Sure," Setsuna said. "I could
drink a whole pot."
Ami had a feeling that wouldn't be a
good idea.
**********
Gosunkugi felt like his brain was
going to melt. He was pretty sure he
was blanking out every time Makoto
kissed him. But it was a glorious
feeling, so it didn't stop him kissing
her again. As a result, the whole
evening felt like stop motion
photography with a little too much
stop and not enough motion.
Finally, they were in Makoto's car,
in front of his house. They'd dropped
Minako off at her place and Tsubasa at
his, and it was just them. She was
seated in his lap, and he felt like he
was going to die. In a good way. She
kissed him again, then said, "I...I
had a really good time."
"Me too," he squeaked out. What I
remember of it, he thought. "I hope
we can go out again some time."
"Didn't we already plan to go the
temple this Friday for the festival?"
she asked.
"Oh, yeah, we did." He blushed.
"See you soon, then."
"Give me a call tomorrow, okay?"
"Will do," he said.
She opened the door and he got out.
He could see Mikado's car parked down
the street. "Umm...he won't..."
Gosunkugi began.
"I can handle Mikado. See you,
Hikaru-kun."
"See you, Kino-san," he replied.
"Call me Makoto," she replied.
"See you, Makoto-san," he replied,
smiling a little.
He could feel his heart pounding as
he walked into his house. I'm falling
in love, he thought. Or maybe I'm
just going to die. He prayed this
would all come out good, though the
bitter, cynical part of him reminded
him this had all started because
Makoto wanted to use him to make
Mikado mad. But he couldn't believe
anyone would be as affectionate as she
had been, simply to irritate someone
else. She even invited me to use her
first name, he thought. That has to
mean something, right?
**********
Usagi fell down in bed. Well, at
least I kept Mikado from killing
Gosunkugi, she thought. And someone
had a good time, even if it wasn't me.
Of course, now Shampoo is going to
come and lecture me.
She was right. "Where have you been
all day?" Shampoo asked. "We were
supposed to spar, and there's a lot of
work to be done to get ready for the
festival."
"I'm sorry. I had to go make sure
Gosunkugi didn't get killed."
"Killed by what?"
Usagi explained the whole situation
to Shampoo.
Shampoo finally said, "You've got to
get a grip on yourself, Usagi.
There's more to life than just boys.
Or girls. We have a lot of work to do
helping Hino-san get ready. Maybe
it'll take your mind off all this."
"I hope so," Usagi said.
"Neither of them is worth tearing
yourself apart over," Shampoo said.
"Or making out with some guy just
because he's there."
She sighed. "The day started out so
well..."
"You will do better, even if I have
to beat you to death first," Shampoo
replied. "Now, come and spar with me."
"Okay," Usagi said. A good round of
fighting would clear her mind, she
hoped.
*********
Kunou stared at the chessboard.
Everytime he reached for a piece, his
sister was grinning at him like he was
doing something stupid. Probably she
was just bluffing him, but he'd lost
enough games to her to know that if he
was doing something stupid, she'd also
smile like that. Am I not seeing
something, he asked himself.
Kodachi idly tugged on her own
ponytail. "Any time this century,
brother dear."
Hearing footsteps, Kunou seized the
chance to delay having to make his
move. "It sounds like Chiba-san has
arrived with my beloved."
Mamoru soon rounded the corner with
Michiru, who was carrying her violin
case. Mamoru was himself loaded down
with gardening equipment and dressed
in clothing he could afford to get
dirty. "Good day, Kunou-san, Kodachi-
san."
"Good day, Chiba-san. I see you're
ready for work. Good day, my aqua-
tressed maiden of my heart."
Mamoru nodded. "It is,
unfortunately, time to pull up weeds
and other intruders."
"Smite them well," Kunou replied.
Michiru said, "Good day, Kunou."
She came over, and he rose and pulled
her out a chair as Mamoru went to go
work on weed pulling. "I didn't know
you played chess," she said.
"I am a man of many talents."
"And master of none," Kodachi
replied.
He frowned at his sister, then
decided on a move. Michiru shook her
head and Kodachi smiled as he reached
for the pawn. He frowned, then moved
his hand over to move his Queen's
Bishop. This time, Kodachi frowned,
and Michiru smiled, so he moved it
across the board to take one of
Kodachi's pawns. "Check."
Michiru said, "So what did you want
to talk to me about, Kunou-san?"
"Please, call me Tatewaki," he
replied. "There is a festival this
Friday at the Hikawa Shrine. I was
hoping you would attend it with me."
"Please say yes, so I don't have to
escort him," Kodachi said.
"Alright," Michiru said. If I say
no, my parents will make me say yes,
anyway. Although it will probably be
fun, anyway. "Will you be picking me
up?"
"Ahh, that reminds me," Kodachi
said. "Don't let him move the pieces
while I'm gone, Kaiou-san."
Michiru nodded. "I'm sure Tatewaki-
san would not lower himself to cheat."
"I do not NEED to cheat to defeat
you, sister."
"Ahh, my brother the dreamer,"
Kodachi replied. Then she headed over
to Mamoru. "Are you busy this Friday,
my love?"
Mamoru wasn't busy, but wasn't sure
if he wanted to assert he was. While
he had come to find Kodachi more
pleasant company than he expected, he
was not even slightly in love with
her, while she quite clearly had a
massive crush on him. He didn't know
what to do about it, as he feared she
would likely overreact to any overt
rejection.
Still, a festival would make a good
break from his studies. "Alright," he
said. "Yes, I'm free."
"Good," she said. "You will need to
come and pick me up, then."
He nodded. "Alright."
"I must crush my brother now." She
kissed him on the cheek. "Until
later."
"Goodbye for now," he replied.
Kodachi came back, sat down, and
took Kunou's bishop with one of her
knights. "Thank you, brother."
He sighed. "I will yet triumph."
He did not triumph, though he fought
a closer game than usual. When he was
done, he turned to Michiru, "I am
sorry to have made you wait. I'm
afraid this took longer than I
expected."
"Usually, I crush him much more
quickly," Kodachi said. "Well, I must
be off to my hairdresser. See you
both later."
"Well, it wasn't too long a wait,"
Michiru said. She'd found the chess
game somewhat interesting. She'd
dabbled in chess, though she had never
put any serious effort into improving
her game.
"You see..." He glanced over at
Mamoru. "Let us go to the
conservatory and play together."
"Alright," Michiru said, rising and
following Kunou to the conservatory.
"So what shall we play?"
Kunou selected a piece, then sat
down, and they began to play. "You
play divinely as always, my love."
"Thank you, Tatewaki-san," she
replied. "So what did you want to ask
me about that Mamoru can't hear?"
He blinked, then said, "You are as
wise as you are lovely. I am somewhat
concerned about he and my sister.
While I will not pretend to be very
astute at such matters, I begin to
suspect that she is rather more
enamored of him than he is of her, and
I am not sure what to do about it."
"I think it's really their business,
unless you think Kodachi is likely to
do something self-destructive once she
notices." And I know exactly how
Mamoru feels, Michiru thought. I
would not mind you for a friend, but
even if I was interested in men, you
are not what I would be looking for.
"Is she likely to?"
"My sister tends to respond very
poorly to not getting what she wants,
if she had her heart set on it. I
fear she will likely do something
crazy."
"Well, I'll think about it," Michiru
said.
"Thank you," he said, finishing the
piece. "Hmm, what to play next..."
They played on for several hours,
discussing many things of interest to
them, but of little relevance to this
tale, and then Kunou said, "That is
enough music for one day for me."
She nodded. "Alright. Will we be
dining soon?"
He nodded. "Yes, let us go and eat."
They had a pleasant meal, and
eventually, Mamoru took Michiru home.
As they were driving home, she asked,
"How have things been going with your
guardians?"
"Well, we have a long way to go,"
Mamoru replied. "And with both Ranma
and Ukyou gone for the summer, it's
just me and Gosunkugi at the moment."
He shook his head. "I'm glad there's
a fair number of the Senshi awakened,
because I don't think the two of us
are ready for prime time, so to speak."
"Well, what with Usagi depressed and
Rei gone and Setsuna's parents shown
up to ride herd on her, we're not at
our best either."
"'Shown up'?"
"I thought they must be dead or
something, but they've resurfaced and
apparently want her to marry Ryouga."
"..."
"I think about that, and suddenly
being engaged to Kunou doesn't seem
QUITE as much of a burden," Michiru
says.
"Still not happy about it?" Mamoru
asked.
She blinked. "I didn't mean to say
that."
"Oh, I could tell," Mamoru replied.
"Both of the Kunous don't seem too
perceptive about how other people
think, sometimes."
She sighed. "What are we going to
do about them?"
"I wish I had some advice for you,"
he said. "Although at least Kunou
isn't likely to snap if you did dump
him."
"I hope not," Michiru said. "I
don't want to marry him, but unless I
find someone else suitable by the time
I graduate, my parents are going to
insist on it."
"Which is hard to do when you're
engaged to someone."
"Exactly." She sighed. "He means
well, but he's just not my type."
"So what is your type?" Mamoru asked.
"Going to see if you qualify?" she
teased.
"Maybe," he said, smiling
confidently back.
"Hard to define in words. I need
someone intelligent and carefree. I
like people who are brave and kind of
bold and willing to take risks. I
tend to be pretty cautious myself,
but..."
Mamoru nodded. "I understand what
you mean." He pulled up into the
driveway of her home. "Well, good
luck," he said.
"Thank you," she replied. "And you
too."
She is rather attractive, he
thought, as he drove home. But going
after her could get me in a lot of
trouble, possibly with no payoff.
This would require some thought.
*********
Tsubasa was in the middle of
changing out of his mailbox and into
his pajamas for bed when there was a
knock from inside his closet. He
blinked, said, "Hold on, I'm coming,"
then finished changing. To his
surprise, it was Ryouga.
Ryouga asked, "Why do you have all
those costumes on your...hey, that's a
closet."
Tsubasa gave Ryouga the sort of
stare he often got himself. "Umm, you
didn't know?"
"I could have sworn I'd entered a
porch..." He sighed. "Please tell me
it's not already Friday."
"It's not Friday, and you still have
a while until it is."
Ryouga gave a great sigh of relief.
"I need to get home and change for
a...a...ahahahah...a date!"
Tsubasa says, "With who?"
"A..a...Mizuno-san!" he managed to
babble out.
"Going to the festival?"
Ryouga nodded. "But I have to get
home and get changed. But at this
rate, I'll never make it."
Tsubasa said, "Hmm, if you're
willing to owe me a favor, I can help
you get dressed up now. Will that
help?"
Ryouga's eyes widened. "You'll do
that for me?"
"I may need a martial artist's help
some day," he replied. "And your
shirt is begging me to help you."
"Uh, right," Ryouga replied.
"Anyway, let's get to work."
*********
Tsubasa held up the mirror. "So, do
you like it?"
Ryouga looked at the outfit. "Wow,
you can really sew."
"I have been making costumes for a
very long time," Tsubasa replied.
"Anyway, take this with my blessing."
I bet this'll really make Ami smile,
Ryouga thought. "Thanks.
Just...ummm...whenever you need the
return favor, if you can find me, I'll
be glad to help."
"Alright. See you at the festival."
He showed Ryouga to the front door,
then watched him wander off into the
neighbor's backyard. Well, maybe see
you at the festival, he thought.
*********
While he missed Rei every day,
Grandpa Hino had to admit that Jiko
was making a pretty good substitute.
She knew her rites well, she did what
she was told without complaining, and
she gave him respect, something he had
to practically hold Rei over the
Sacred Fire to get from her. He hoped
she would stick around a while after
the festival, at least until Rei
returned.
"Hmm, I think we should string the
lanterns across here." He pointed
from the porch of the temple over to
one of the trees in the yard.
"Although it'll mean going up on a
ladder."
"Right, lanterns go here," Jiko
said, scribbling down a crude map and
annotations. He'd noticed she tended
to write down all the instructions she
got, and as a result, she had yet to
screw anything up. It was slowing
things down a bit, but he'd decided
the reliability was worth putting up
with it.
Shampoo came round the corner and
asked, "Hino-sama, can you show us how
to assemble the screens again?"
"I already showed you once," he
said, feeling a little aggravated. It
was a very simple task.
"Well, we're having problems," she
replied.
"Okay, okay. Jiko, can you go get
the lanterns and start stringing them
up?"
"Yes, sir," she said, and bowed,
then went off to the storage shed.
Shampoo took Grandpa into the room
where she and Usagi were assembling
screens. "Actually, Hino-sama,
Shampoo just wanted to ask you if
you're sure you can trust this Jiko.
There's something about her that makes
my hairs stand up."
Grandpa frowned. "She hasn't done
anything wrong. Why are you so
suspicious of her?"
"It just seems strange to Shampoo
that she would suddenly show up like
this, right as Rei is gone. It's an
old thief trick."
"I am _quite_ sure she is not a
thief," Grandpa said stiffly. "She's
been very helpful to me."
Shampoo sighed. "Shampoo just want
to make sure no one takes advantage of
a kind old man like you."
He softened. Shampoo was too
paranoid, but she was a nice kid,
after all, and she'd repaid his
hospitality with a lot of hard work.
She just didn't have his acute ability
to judge character, he thought.
"Well, I'm quite certain she's as
innocent as you or Usagi, but I will
keep your thoughts in mind."
"I think you're right, Grandpa,"
Usagi said. "She seems nice to me."
"Shampoo will be keeping an eye
out," she said.
"You do that," Grandpa said. "Now,
about these screens..."
"Oh, Shampoo just made that up so
that we could talk to you in private.
Shampoo isn't that stupid."
Just that paranoid, Grandpa thought.
"Well, I'll be getting back to
working with Jiko then."
After he left, Shampoo asked Usagi,
"Did you sense any magic on him?"
She shook her head. "She might be
conning him, but he's magic free. I
think." She looked at the Rainbow
Crystal she was holding. "Assuming I
actually knew what I was doing, which
I'm not so sure of."
"Shampoo STILL doesn't trust that
woman."
"Well, you can keep an eye on her
while I finish these screens."
"Shampoo will do that."
************
Nephrite knocked on the door of Osa-
P. Exquisitely dressed as usual, Mrs.
Osaka answered the door. "Hello, Mr.
Clancy," she said.
He smiled. "You're lovely as ever."
Her small flush told him all he
needed to know. "Thank you."
She ushered him into her office,
then passed him the folder with the
printouts of the information. "I can
get you what you need through these
people, once I've had time to examine
your gems and take appropriate
measurements."
He nodded. "Are you sure they can
match the colors?"
"They're very good at it. It won't
fool a professional for very long, but
if you're mainly wanting to put up
fakes for public display to reduce the
theft risk, then this should be fine."
They talked business a while longer,
and when that was over, he considered
his next gambit. It had been a long
time since he had been able to take a
lover or even just have a casual
fling, for it was hard to find someone
who would not betray him. It would be
quite easy to just make her want him
with magic, but that was crude, and
you ended up with infatuated morons.
And he wanted to be sure that Emerald
would not be able to make fun of him
by saying he NEEDED magic. Probably
she would prove suitable for nothing
more than a source of relaxation for
himself, but it was possible she was
made of sterner stuff and might prove
useful in other ways to him as well.
Certainly, she seemed to have good
business sense and a skill quite
useful in a kingdom of gemstones.
He kissed her hand and asked, "Are
you busy tomorrow night?"
"Oh, I don't think I'll have this
ready by then," she began.
"I was thinking dinner."
Her eyes widened.
"I...yes...dinner...that would be
good. Yes. I can do dinner."
He smiled. "Very good. How does
seven sound?"
"It sounds great," she said.
"I'll see you then, then," he
replied, then headed for the door.
"Good evening."
"Good evening," she said, a little
breathless, and watched him go.
************
Ryouga stared intently at the door.
You will be the right door, he
thought. You WILL. You must. He
knocked on the door, and a smelly old
man in an undershirt and pants which
had seen better days, like the Johnson
Administration, answered the door.
"You here for a little fun, boy?"
Ryouga screamed and ran for his life.
I win again, the old man thought.
***********
Usagi looked over at Naru, who was
just picking away listlessly at her
bowl of stew. Usagi asked, "Is
something wrong, Naru?"
"No, I'm fine," Naru said. "The
food is really good, but I'm just not
hungry. Thanks for having me over
tonight, Usagi."
After eating some more of her stew
to give herself time to think, Usagi
asked, "It's not the date, is it?"
"I just..." Naru sighed. "I have
this sort of crush on him, you know,
and I ought to have known better, but
I just..."
"Well, he is more your Mom's age,"
Usagi said. "I dunno if your mother
would have let you date him if he was
interested in you."
"It's just like...when he smiles at
me, there's like nothing else in the
universe but us." She took a mouthful
of stew and stared off into space as
she chewed, then said, "He's a hunk,
too."
"Well, he just doesn't know what
he's missing," Usagi said.
Naru smiled. "Thank you, Usagi."
"Are you coming to the festival this
Friday?" Usagi asked.
"I dunno. I don't really want to
come by myself."
"Well, I'll be there by myself too,"
Usagi said. "Since Rei and Ranma are
gone." She frowned for a few seconds,
then perked back up. "So we can just
go around together when I'm not busy
helping out. It'll be fun."
"Okay," Naru said. "We need to do
more stuff together."
"Yeah," Usagi replied. "Like when
we were little."
"Just don't get stuck up any apple
trees this time," Naru teased.
"Hey, you're the one who chased the
cat up the tree, then cried until I
tried to get her down for you."
"It seems like a million years ago,"
Naru said. "I guess we've grown up a
lot since then."
"But they were good days."
"Yeah."
************
Luna lounged in the sun on the porch
of the Mizuno house, being lazy. A
shadow cut off her sun. "Mrowr," she
muttered.
"Hey, Luna, you planning to go to
the festival this Friday?" Artemis
asked.
"I don't think they invite cats,"
she replied.
"That's what human form is good
for." He grinned.
She blinked. "Hmm, didn't think of
that. Well, alright, I'm not really
doing anything too important that day."
"Great," he said. "See you then.
I'm off to get me some fish."
"Try not to end up in the pound
again."
"Har de har har."
************
Setsuna moved down the aisle,
grabbing as much pasta as she could
afford. I can't believe how much
those three eat, she thought. I could
live for a month on what they've eaten
the last few days.
"Hey, Setsuna!" someone said.
Setsuna turned and saw a short green
haired girl with thick gold-rimmed
glasses smiling at her. "I haven't
seen you since junior high! How are
you doing?" Setsuna had no idea
whatsoever as to who this woman might
be.
"Oh, I've been doing pretty well.
I'm attending Juuban High and working
part-time for Dr. Tofu," Setsuna said,
trying to think of some subtle way to
extract the girl's name from her
without making it obvious she had no
clue who the girl was. "How about
you?"
"I'm going to Senkai. I could
hardly believe I got in, after I fell
asleep during my exams." She sighed.
"Have you heard from Miki?"
Setsuna shook her head. "Not in
quite a while."
She sighed. "That's too bad. I
heard he went off to Ohtori and got in
some kind of trouble or something, but
the rumors were pretty vague."
Setsuna tried to remember Miki and
just got a mental image of blue hair
and the vague idea of a twin sister.
And that she and his twin sister had
beaten
each other up once for some reason. I wonder which one of us won, Setsuna
thought. "Haven't heard a thing."
"Well, don't be a stranger. Come by and see me some time, won't you?"
"Sure," Setsuna said. "Where are you living now?"
She got an address and a phone number, and gave hers to the girl, but still
hadn't managed to winkle a name out of her before the girl left. She stared at
the address, and wondered how many other people knew her that she couldn't
remember.
***********
Tsubasa walked down the street with Minako. "I'm sorry we have to walk so
far," he said.
"Are you sure it's traditional for the men to attend this festival disguised
as giant ceramic tanuki?" Minako asked her date again.
"Yes," Tsubasa said. "It keeps the spirits from pestering them."
She sighed. Please, no one take a picture of me with the giant tanuki, she
thought.
Then a black and yellow streak erupted out of an alleyway and crashed into
them, shattering the ceramic tanuki, which left Tsubasa dressed in just shorts
and a t-shirt. "Aaaah, my tanuki!!!!!" he screamed.
Ryouga pulled himself off Tsubasa. "Oh, man, I'm sorry, I sort of was,
ummm... Running to try not to be late."
"Well, you're running away from Ami's house. Or the temple. Or anything else
useful."
"Umm, can you help me find Ami's house?" Ryouga begged.
"Do you know how much time I put into this tanuki?" Tsubasa demanded angrily.
"The clay alone cost me a fortune!"
"For clay?"
"Given my allowance, yes," Tsubasa said.
Minako said, "C'mon, Tsu-chan, we should be nice and help him out."
Tsubasa grumbled irritably, then said, "Alright, alright. But I can't go to
the festival like this."
Minako said, "Oh, I can fix that." She threw an eggshell grenade to the
ground, and pepper spilled all over the concrete. "Okay, wrong grenade, let's
try again."
"Wait, we..."
The next grenade went off correctly. Ryouga felt himself being yanked around,
and when the smoke cleared, Tsubasa was dressed in Ryouga's usual clothing, and
Ryouga's backpack felt much lighter. Minako said, "There, now we're all
dressed up. Let's get Ryouga his date and get moving."
"Umm, that's my only clothing," Ryouga said.
"Well, he can give it back after the festival," Minako said. "You did break
his tanuki."
I'm just afraid I'll get lost before I can get it back, Ryouga thought.
************
People bustled about under the soft glow of the lanterns as the stars of the
summer sky twinkled high above. Usagi smiled at two hesitant young children.
"You want to try the goldfish catching game?" she asked.
"Umm...okay," the little boy said nervously.
Usagi showed him how it was done, carefully catching a goldfish with the flat
net and popping it into a bag. Then she passed the net to him. He broke it
the first time, and dropped his fish five times, but with her patient urgings,
he finally got it into a bag.
"Thanks!" he said.
She smiled. "You're welcome."
His parents ushered him off, and Setsuna said to Usagi, "You're really good
with kids."
"You think so?" Usagi asked. "Thanks. I'm glad you've come."
"Well, it was better to come here than to have to spend Friday night with
my..." She sighed. "I liked living alone. And I don't want to be married to
that stupid Ryouga."
"He's not that stupid."
"His parents are driving me nuts; I practically have to lead them around on a
leash. I half-expect they'll vanish by the time I get back."
Usagi sighed. "I'm sorry."
"I've half a mind to skip town and go looking for Ranma and just never come
back to my old house. But then they'd probably starve to death looking for the
kitchen, and I'd feel guitly."
Man, Setsuna really sounds bitter, Usagi thought. "Well, my relief will show
up soon. Naru and I were going to go round together, if you want to join us."
Setsuna smiled. "Yes, I'd love that. Thanks."
"No problem."
*******
Ami walked along with Ryouga, periodically giving him a yank on the sleeves as
he started to wander off. They ended up at a booth being manned by a
green-haired priestess she didn't recognize. The priestess said, "We have many
charms for sale. Would you like one?"
"Lucky charms?" Ryouga asked.
"Well, we have love charms, and good luck charms, and charms for finding
things which are lost," the priestess said.
"What if I'm lost with it?"
"Oh, our charms help people not get lost," the priestess assured her.
"Are you a new miko here?" Ami asked.
"I'm Jiko. I'm helping out while Rei is gone," Jiko said.
"Nice to meet you," Ami said.
Ryouga decided to grab two love charms, three luck charms, and six finding
lost things charms. "How much will this cost?"
"The first one is free because we want to help everyone be blessed by the
spirits," Jiko said. "Three hundred yen for every charm after that."
Ryouga dug through his pockets. "Umm...I don't have enough." He put back
most of the charms, and just took one of each.
"Would you like a free one?" Jiko asked Ami.
Ami shook her head. "No thank you. I make my own luck."
"As you like," Jiko replied.
Ryouga stashed the charms in his pockets, and walked on with Ami to enjoy more
of the festival.
********
Naru had deliberately come separately from her mother and Mr. Clancy, as she
didn't want a reminder of them dating. As she walked up the steps, she found
Ken walking up them as well. "Oh, hi, Ken," she said.
"Hey, you going to the festival too?"
She nodded. "Yes. No date?"
"No luck at all," he said. "Although Tsu tried to convince me to come along
with...oh, you're not gonna believe this."
"He's coming with Minako, right?"
"Oh yeah, he is. But he claims Gosunkugi is coming with Kino Makoto of the
Golden Pair."
Naru nodded. "Usagi told me they've started dating."
Ken paused. Then he said, "You're kidding me."
"I'm serious. Usagi saw a double date with Hikaru-kun and Kino-san and Minako
and Tsubasa."
Ken pulled off his hat, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it. "Dammit,
what does a guy have to do in this town to get a DATE? How come Gos and Tsu
can get a date and I can't?"
Naru thought for a moment. "Well, would you like to go round with Usagi and
I? We were planning to go around together."
"Sure," he said, offering her an arm.
She took it, and they headed up the stairs.
*********
Shampoo stood and watched mostly incompetent people shoot at the row of
targets she'd set up. The temple will get very rich from this, she thought.
Japanese people can't shoot half as well as most eight year olds back home.
Minako then walked up, picked up the bow, and fired off four bullseyes, while
Tsubasa shelled out money for her chance. "Ooh, do I win something?" she asked.
Shampoo blinked, then passed her a gigantic teddybear. "Here you go."
She passed it to Tsubasa. "Can you carry this?"
"Sure," he said, taking the huge bear.
"Did you mean to dress as Ryouga?" Shampoo asked Tsubasa.
"He destroyed my Tanuki," Tsubasa replied.
I won't ask any further, Shampoo thought.
*********
Setsuna blinked as Naru and Ken came up to them. "I didn't realize you two
were coming together," she said.
"Oh, we met on the stairs," Ken said.
Usagi passed the money bag at her booth over to her replacement, a girl named
Mei. "Well, glad to have you with us, Ken."
"Thanks," he said.
The four of them began walking down the row of games and stands. Naru stopped
to look over some fans and bought herself one, and Setsuna got one as well.
"Are you hot?" Usagi asked Naru, a little worried.
"No, I'm fine," she said, then swiped at a fly with her fan. "Although there
do seem to be a lot of bugs tonight."
Grandpa came round a corner. "Hello, everyone. I hope you're enjoying your
visit!"
Naru smiled. "We're having fun, Hino-sama."
"Good, good," he said. "It's all been going very well, much better than last
year. I've kept had this nagging feeling of impending disaster, but it looks
like I was worrying for nothing."
"Oh, I'm sure everything will be fine," Usagi said.
"It's very nice," Ken said.
"My new assistant has been very helpful," Grandpa Hino said. "Along with
Usagi and Shampoo. Thank you, Usagi."
Usagi smiled. "You're welcome."
"Well, I must be about and around," Grandpa said, taking off. "See you later."
"Bye!"
********
Luna walked along in human form with Artemis. "It's always strange having
only two legs."
"I know. I can't see how humans can stand to do it all the time," he said.
"Though it has its uses." He shrugged. "So, now that we've found the Senshi,
do you have any idea what we ought to do next?"
"Well, I've been trying to help them train," Luna said. "How is your work
with Minako coming along?"
"She has pretty good combat skills, but she's a total flake," Artemis replied,
stopping at a stand to buy some squid on a stick. "And...I dunno, I have the
feeling something funny is going on with that girl she works for."
"Really? Naoko seems just a nice shy girl to me."
"I dunno. It's just like...something." He sighed. "I haven't said anything
because I don't have any proof."
"You're just being paranoid, Artemis. Now, buy me some squid too."
Artemis laughed. "As you command, your highness."
********
Mamoru sat with Kodachi, Michiru, and Kunou, listening to a group of drummers.
He had little musical talent or inclination himself, but he thought they were
quite good. His companions seemed to agree, as they were busy tapping out the
time on their legs in unison as they listened, which he found quite amusing.
Mamoru waved encouragingly to Gosunkugi as he went by with his date, a
statuesque woman that Mamoru didn't recognize, although she seemed vaguely
familiar, as if he should know her. I'd have never thought he'd have that good
looking a girlfriend, Mamoru thought. Shows what I know.
He looked over at Kodachi, who was wrapped up in the music and smiling in a
manner more innocent than usual. She wasn't an unattractive woman, and there
were moments when he didn't regret her being attracted to him; this was one of
them. The problem was that most of the time, she radiated too much of an air
of 'five inches from snapping' for him.
Michiru was much more the sort of woman that he found attractive--intelligent,
elegant, well-spoken, talented, and beautiful. But she wasn't available. He
cursed the fates again, and remembered a snippet of a song he'd heard a while
back, about how if one couldn't be with the one you loved, you ought to love
the one you're with. He wasn't quite ready to take that advice. Yet.
*********
Nephrite walked up to Jiko's charm stand, arm-in-arm with Mrs. Osaka. A
simple little spell ensured that she would remember a different conversation
from the one which took place. "Is all in readiness?" he asked.
"Yes," Jiko replied. "The charms will turn everyone who wears them into a
rampaging zombie long enough to delay any action by the Sailors, and they've
been selling very well. All of us are in position, and Hino-sama is pretty
much defenseless, since his two amazons are busy running stands and his
granddaughter is gone. My one concern is that there's so many people here that
all of the Senshi and Guardians could be here and we'd never know until they
popped up. Also, I think Greed is going around pickpocketing people."
Nephrite sighed. "Delightful. Well, if you see him, grab him and stop him."
Jiko looked Mrs. Osaka up and down. "Tired of your jailbait?"
"I prefer mature women, rather than children like yourself or Molly."
Nephrite smiled smugly.
Jiko frowned. "I am NOT a child."
"Compared to me, all of you youma are children," Nephrite said.
"How old are you?"
"I am..." Jiko paused. "Fairly old. You lose track of the years after a
while."
"I remember the Moon Kingdom and the Golden Kingdom of Earth. Only Beryl
and..." He paused. "Have you seen Kunzite and Zoicite?"
"No. I'm assuming they're directing their efforts elsewhere."
"Good, good. But keep your eyes open."
"I will. I have no desire to see those idiots bungle up my hard work."
Jiko's voice was quite intense.
"Good. Where is the priest? I believe it's time to get his crystal and
Shadow."
"Wandering around, talking to people."
"Right." He picked up one of the charms and studied it. "Hmm, interesting
design. Reminds me of Jadeite's work."
"Is that good or bad?" Jiko asked.
"Good. Jadeite was a fool, which lead to his destruction, but he did come up
with some good ideas along the way." Nephrite began to fiddle with the
intricacies of the magical matrix within it.
"What are you doing?" Jiko asked.
"A test," Nephrite replied. "My companion seems to have some magical
potential. I believe I will see how much today."
"A good idea, as if she joins us, you won't have to make her a
magically-induced zombie to get her to go out with you."
Nephrite frowned. "She is under the spell so as to make sure news of our
conversation doesn't leak."
"Uh huh."
I can't decide if Emerald's arrogance or Greed's sheer stupidity is worse, but
I dearly wish I could just kill both of them, Nephrite thought. "Whatever.
Carry on. When the time comes, do what you have been told."
"I obey the orders you give," Jiko replied. "Just don't expect me to tolerate
your strange whims."
"My whims are your command," Nephrite said sharply, then strode away.
I begin to understand why some women hate men, Jiko thought.
********
Haruka had a bad feeling that had been nagging her all day. She'd gone out
riding to try to get rid of it, but it just wouldn't go away. Finally, she'd
decided to go looking for the other Senshi to see if they knew of anything, but
they weren't home. So she was now headed over to the temple to see if Usagi
knew anything.
As she approached, she could hear the sound of the festival in progress, so
she parked her bike at the base of the steps and headed up the hill. Up ahead
of her, she spotted Mikado, walking with a green-haired bimbo on each arm. She
felt a little jealous that the man was trying to hog multiple women instead of
spreading the wealth around.
She also didn't like him on general principles, so she decided she was going
to have to do something. Not sure of what, she decided to tail him for a
while.
**********
Ryouga handed Ami a giant stuffed pig. "Here you go," he said. The dart
throwing game operator just stared at the darts wedged into the bullseye in
disbelief.
She smiled. "Now I'll have a big pig and a little pig."
"You...umm...have a pig?" Ryouga asked nervously.
"He gets lost all the time," Ami replied. "But he's a cute little pig. Luna
doesn't like him too much, but I think he's sweet."
"You think I'm...umm...I mean...umm...right." Ryouga laughed nervously.
Ami wondered again if she looked additionally terrifying today for some
reason. She reached over and patted his shoulder. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"AHAHAHAHAHA. I'm just fine!" Ryouga said, turning to face her as he spoke.
Turning back, he immediately managed to plant his face in Setsuna's chest.
She fell down with him on top of her.
"Aaah, pervert!" Setsuna shouted and instinctively punted him skyward.
Naru and Ken stared in shock. Usagi took off running to try to find a high
point from which to jump and intercept him so he wouldn't crash down on a
stall. Ami said, "Setsuna, you just punted my date!"
She said, "Was that Ryouga?"
"What, you don't even know who you did that to?" Ken asked, backing up a bit.
"All I knew was that some man just buried his face in my cleavage."
"I hadn't realized you were that much taller than Ryouga," Naru said weakly.
"Oh great. My stupid parents want me to marry him, and now he's trying to get
inside my dress at a festival." Setsuna staggered to her feet.
"It was an accident!" Ami protested.
Far across the festival, Usagi leaped onto a tree branch, then hurled herself
at Ryouga, intercepting him and landing on the temple roof.
Setsuna sighed. "Well, I'm sorry, then. I won't do it again if he stays off
my chest."
Usagi soon returned with Ryouga, putting him down by Ami. "There you go."
"You're good," Ryouga said to Usagi.
She smiled. "Thanks."
"We're about to head over to see the kabuki play," Naru said. "You two want
to join us?"
"Sure," Ami said. "If Ryouga doesn't mind."
"Anything you want is fine with me," Ryouga replied.
"Then let's go," Usagi said.
**********
Gosunkugi wasn't sure why the dart game operator was beginning to cry,
although the increasingly bare state of his shelves might have had something to
do with it. I only won three prizes, he thought. "So what would you like for
the next one, Makoto-san?" he asked her.
"Hmm, see if you can win me the panda," she said. "I'm sure you will. I've
never seen someone so accurate with darts."
He was pretty surprised himself. Laying down his money, he took another
handful of darts, but before he could throw any, he heard Mikado.
Mikado said, "Enjoying your evening with Mr. Creepy?" to Makoto.
"He's not creepy," Makoto said. "Having fun with your whores?"
The two women glared at her intensely. Mikado said, "I don't have to buy
myself a date."
"So, they're inflatable," Makoto replied.
Gosunkugi just tried to be inconspicuous and started throwing darts. He
couldn't concentrate, and his throws went awry. Mikado laughed. "The target's
over THERE, you know," he said, pointing.
"Oh, I'd like to see YOU do better," Makoto said.
He walked over, then turned to his ladies. "What prizes would you like?"
The one on the left, who was wearing a red kimono with yellow flowers, said,
"I'd like a penguin."
The other one, who wore a blue and yellow striped kimono carefully examined
all the stuffed animals, then said, "I think I'd like the Kappa."
Mikado's throwing was accurate enough to win the penguin. He then got out
more money to take another shot.
While he was doing this, Makoto went over to Gosunkugi and whispered to him.
"You know you can do better than him. Just don't let him rattle you."
"He could snap me like a twig," Gosunkugi whispered back.
"I won't let him," Makoto said. "Just show him what you've got."
Gosunkugi laid down more money, and took the darts, then stared at the target,
trying to calm his jangled nerves. Finally, he began to throw. It wasn't as
good as his earlier throws, but it was good enough. He pointed up at the
single, lone Kappa remaining on the shelves, deciding to be petty. "Get me the
Kappa." He handed it to Makoto, who smiled.
"What a lovely little Kappa," she said.
The second girl frowned and whispered in Mikado's ear. "I had that Kappa
reserved," he claimed.
"No you didn't," Makoto said.
"The lady said she desired it."
"And I should care why?" Makoto replied.
Mikado looked thoughtful. "A contest then," he said, facing Gosunkugi. "If I
win, you will hand over the Kappa."
"And if I win, you'll go away," Gosunkugi replied.
"Done," Mikado said.
He paid for another round of darts and began to throw. His three darts scored
35 points.
Gosunkugi took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and told his brain to dredge up
any old magic it could remember to help him, then opened his eyes, and began to
throw his darts one at a time, deliberately. He scored an eighteen, a
thirteen, and then a seventeen. Not as good as the bullseye he'd hoped for,
but enough to give him 48 points. "I win," he said, in surprise.
Makoto hugged him. "See, I knew you could do it," she said.
Mikado ground his teeth, obviously not having expected to lose.
"You...you..." He tried to think of some grounds on which he could challenge
Gosunkugi again.
Haruka came up to the kappa-less woman. "So, why are you wasting your time
with this guy who can't even win a Kappa for you when you could be out with
someone like me?" She smiled her usual confident smile.
The girl looked her up and down. "Hey, you're that famous racer, Ten'ou
Haruka!"
"Why yes, I am," Haruka said, grinning.
"I remember you!" Mikado said. "You cheated in our duel!"
The girl let go of Mikado. "I'm Kadama Keiko. Nice to meet you, Ten'ou-san."
Haruka took her arm. "Oh, you can call me Haruka," she said. "If you don't
mind if I call you Keiko."
"Oh, go right ahead."
Makoto felt a little petty from the amount of pleasure she was getting from
watching Mikado squirm. But the guilt wasn't enough to make her want it to
stop. She turned to Gosunkugi. "Would you like a victory kiss?"
He blushed. "I...uh...okay..."
She swept him into her strong arms and kissed him fiercely. She could almost
hear the scowl on Mikado's face.
Before Mikado could say anything, however, a dark haired teenage boy ran by
with Shampoo in hot pursuit. Shampoo shouted, "He's a pickpocket!"
The festival erupted into chaos as the pickpocket ran over to the ring toss
stand, and hefted the entire stand, hurling it at Shampoo, who dodged
desperately, crashing into a yen tossing stand, which fell over, hitting
another stand. People began to run about everywhere, shouting in panic.
Mikado took off with his remaining woman, while Haruka, Keiko, Gosunkugi, and
Makoto ran down the aisle away from the collapsing stands. Keiko said, "I
can't believe it! That boy must be one of those monsters I keep hearing about!"
There was more than just one possible monster to worry about now, though, as
Nephrite, seeing the spreading chaos caused by the brawl between Shampoo and
the boy, who he knew was Greed, sent Jiko a psychic command to activate the
charms. Across the festival, many of the festivalgoers turned grey-skinned and
sprouted fangs and claws and began to rampage. Nephrite then headed off
towards the priest, who he saw running into the temple.
"Gosunkugi, go call the 'police'," Haruka said. "Keiko, Kino-san, follow me!
I'll get you both to safety."
Makoto said, "I'll go with Gosunkugi. He'll need protection."
Gosunkugi blushed, embarrassed.
Haruka frowned, then nodded. "Right. My bike's down the hill. This way,
Keiko."
They vanished into the sea of panicked people, while Gosunkugi headed towards
the temple, which he hoped had a phone.
********
Usagi assessed the monster outbreak and quickly came up with a plan. "Okay,
Setsuna, take Ken and Naru down the hill. Ryouga, you can fight. Come with
me. Ami, go and get..."
In the time it took for her to make her plan, Ken and Naru had both turned
into gray-skinned, fanged zombies, while Ryouga had, in fact, turned into Envy
again. Envy proceeded to grab Setsuna and punt her high into the sky.
"Turnabout is double play!" He paused. "That didn't come out right."
Naru leaped at Usagi, who caught her by the hands, rolled, and tossed her into
a stand selling bandanas. She vanished under the pile for a few seconds.
Ken leaped at Ami, who desperately dived out of the way, landing inside
another stall, only to find its operator had bought a good-luck charm and was
now a zombie as well. She got double teamed until Usagi brought her staff
around and cracked the stall operator upside the head. "Transforming time,"
Usagi said.
Envy looked around then decided it was time to go find the green-haired bitch
and slap her around some more, then find that punk Ryo and kill him. He ran
off into the crowd.
Usagi soon beat Ken into the ground, then wrestled down Naru while Ami
transformed. "See if you can find a way to turn her back!" Usagi said.
A quick analysis told Sailor Mercury the answer. "The charms. They're
turning people into zombies."
Usagi ripped the charm off Naru's blouse, then threw it on the ground and
stomped on it. Naru turned back to normal, now unconscious. Usagi's eyes
narrowed. "Jiko was selling these. Maybe big sister is right and she is in
with the youma."
"Well, she might be just a pawn of them," Sailor Mercury said. "You'd better
transform."
Usagi nodded and did so. "Follow me," she said. "And contact the others,
though I'm sure they've noticed."
"Right," Mercury said, and began doing so.
*********
As the zombies closed in, Minako grabbed a handy pole, collapsing the awning
over a stall as she did so, then began slapping zombies around with the
improvised staff. "Stay close to me," she said to Tsubasa.
He looked out at the crowd of rampaging zombies. "They've been possessed by
evil spirits," he said. "There's too many for me to try to exorcise them all.
We'd better get Hino-sama."
"Right!" She picked him up and began trying to leap stall to stall towards
the temple. Unfortunately, the third stall she landed on collapsed under her
weight, and they ended up in a pile of wood and stuffed animals. "Only one
choice! Ninja invisibility!"
"No, wait until..."
Wise people do not slam down smoke grenades while piled under stuffed animals.
They also don't mistake the pepper grenade for the smoke grenade, either.
Minako and Tsubasa took time out for a crying and gagging break.
********
Mamoru and Michiru took off running, pursued by their dates, both of whom had
joined the zombie hordes. "How wonderfully symbolic," Michiru muttered.
"I know," Mamoru said. "The irony is that if we were the zombies, they'd have
both defeated us by now."
"You know, we do have powers," Michiru said.
They both stared at each other for a moment, feeling stupid.
"Then, we both might want to use them," Mamoru said. He stopped running so he
could focus his will to transform. Michiru pulled out her transformation pen
and stopped running.
"Neptune Plane..." THWACK! Michiru took a bokken to the head and fell down.
Mamoru took a gymnastics pin to the head and quietly crumpled, landing on top
of Michiru.
Their zombie dates then shambled off to take on other targets.
**********
Grandpa knelt before the Sacred Fire, trying to gather his strength for the
battle he was expecting. He felt Nephrite come into the room, and turned,
prayer rods in hand. "You! You're responsible for this!"
"Yes, I am," Nephrite said. He turned to the woman who stood next to him.
"Carnelian," he said. "Make sure no one interrupts us."
"Yes, Lord Nephrite," she said. She was a pale woman with long red hair who
reminded Nephrite of Beryl, if Beryl wore dark red crystalline armor, anyway.
Nephrite was quite pleased so far with the results of his transformation of
Mrs. Osaka into Carnelian, though she certainly wouldn't be able to sustain the
transformation for very long yet. She was up to handling being a sentry, at
least. She moved to guard the doorway.
Grandpa charged, staves flying in an elaborate attack pattern he hoped he was
remembering correctly. Nephrite simply held up his hand and commanded Pride to
come forth. Grandpa froze in mid-leap, and began to howl as the transformation
washed over him and an indigo gem erupted from his chest, flying towards
Nephrite.
Makoto and Gosunkugi stared in shock through the open doorway of the temple,
watching. Carnelian stood and watched them, waiting to see if it would be
necessary to attack them for interfering. Makoto whispered to Gosunkugi, "We
have to do something!"
I can't transform without blowing my secret, he thought. But if I don't do
something, Grandpa Hino is going to be turned into a monster. He stood and
waffled desperately.
********
Elsewhere, Setsuna pulled herself out of a wrecked stall and transformed.
This drew down half a dozen zombies on herself, combined with Iron and
Sandstone, two of Nephrite's youma. Sailor Pluto dead screamed the zombies
back away from herself, then turned and fled into the maze of stalls as Iron
and Sandstone gave chase, hoping to lose them in the maze.
She pulled out her communicator as she ran, and tried calling Sailor Moon, who
took the call. "Do we have any idea what's going on?" she asked Sailor Moon.
"Nephrite is after Grandpa," Sailor Moon replied. "Head for the temple."
"Right," Pluto said. She turned a corner and found Emerald, Copper, and
Granite confronting her. "Bloody hell."
"I'm afraid the game is up," Emerald said. "Surrender now, or die pointlessly."
"Well, I could surrender. Or die. Or just leave," Pluto said. "SAILOR
TELEPORT!" And then she was gone.
"Dammit," Sandstone said. "What now?"
"Fan out and find the others. 'Call' me if you locate them," Emerald said.
"Right." They split into pairs and fanned out again.
*********
Haruka glanced up the hill, covered with people running for their lives,
zombies in pursuit. Dammit, she thought. I need to get up there, but I can't
just leave this poor kid here. "Keiko, hop on my cycle behind me. I'm getting
you to safety, then I'd better go find Gos."
"I've never ridden a cycle before," she said.
"It's easy." Haruka helped her on. "Hold on tight!"
They roared off.
**********
Artemis dragged Minako out of the wreckage. "Snap out of it," he said.
"You've got to transform."
"What about Tsubasa?" she asked, looking over at him. He was still gagging
and coughing and ignoring the world.
"I'll get him to safety."
"Right! VENUS PLANET POWER!" She transformed and immediately sprinted off.
Tsubasa blinked. "Minako is Sailor Venus?"
"I thought you were too out of it to notice!" Artemis said. Dammit, he
thought.
"Oh, I won't tell anyone. So the whole ninja thing is just a cover identity?"
"Umm...ahh...something like that."
"Oh, the charms are what are affecting people, the spirits are telling me,"
Tsubasa said. "Tell the Senshi that."
"Umm, okay, I will," Artemis said weakly.
"Good, good. I'm going to go disguise myself as something not yummy to
monsters now, okay?"
"Be my guest."
********
A great tide of zombies washed towards Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury. Sailor
Moon looked thoughtful, then took out the rainbow crystal she possessed, and
put a hand on Mercury's shoulder. "Let's combine our powers," she said.
Mercury nodded, and called forth a Shabon Spray, charged with Sailor Moon's
purification abilities, backed up by the Rainbow Crystal. The charms on all
the zombies shattered, and they collapsed, falling to the ground and
transforming back to normal.
Sailor Moon and Mercury both sagged, but felt triumphant. "Now we have a
clear shot at the temple," Mercury said.
"Hey, I see Gosunkugi and Kino-san," Sailor Moon said.
"We'd better go..."
Four youma charged into the way. Magnesite said, "Give up now, Senshi!
You'll never defeat all of us!"
Sailor Moon fired a moonbow shot at Magnesite, and battle commenced.
*******
Pride now stood before Nephrite. The Indigo Crystal drifted into Nephrite's
hands. "Let's see what you're good for," Nephrite said. "Go and find the
Senshi out there and see if you can defeat them."
"PRIDE ANSWERS TO NO MAN! You can't tell me what to do!" Pride announced.
"I am General Nephrite, and by Beryl's orders, you obey me!" Nephrite said.
"Make me!"
"Insolent cur!"
Pride grabbed the Indigo Crystal. "Hey, that's mine!"
"Give that back!"
"Come and take it, punk!"
Makoto, watching this, whispered to Gosunkugi, "Do you think that if we put
that gem back in the old man, he'd turn back to normal?"
"Maybe," Gosunkugi said. Well, going to have to blow the secret identity. I
can't pass this up.
Then he noticed something shining on Makoto's brow. It was the sign of
Jupiter. She must be one of the Senshi, he realized. I wish I had a
transformation pen to loan her...
Luna, who had been lurking nearby, saw this as well. She reverted to her cat
form and summoned Jupiter's transformation pen, then carried it over to her.
"Jupiter! You have to remember! It's time for battle!"
Makoto stared. "A talking cat?"
Inside, Nephrite and Pride were flinging energy blasts about, wrecking
everything.
"Take the pen! Take it!"
Makoto took it. "Ugh, it's got cat drool on it!"
Luna sighed. "Just say Jupiter Planet Power."
"Jupiter Planet Power? What does..." And the transformation rushed over her
like sticking a fork in a socket. Words came to her lips unbidden. "SUPREME
THUNDER!!!!!" She blasted Nephrite with lightning, then tried to charge into
the temple. Gosunkugi quickly transformed as Nephrite tumbled across the
temple.
Carnelian moved to intercept her. "Gemstone Strike!" A stream of uncut gems
battered Jupiter, driving her back.
Nephrite fell back under the onslaught, and for a moment, he felt a
paralyzing surge of guilt. He wondered if this was Sif reborn, or just an
inheritor of her powers. While he was lost in his thoughts, Pride now got the
upper hand on Nephrite, and started slamming his head into the ground.
Opal turned to examine Carnelian. "Aim for the charm she's wearing!"
Jupiter dodged and weaved, trying to close in on Carnelian, who kept firing
gemstones at her. I wish I had my skates, she thought. I can't move so fast
on foot. While she had a lot of fighting training, much of it hinged around
the mobility and grace possible on the ice, wearing her skates. "I can't get
close enough!"
Opal concentrated, and took one of his darts. He waited and waited for a
chance at a clear shot, then threw the dart. It hit the charm, shattering it.
Carnelian turned back into Mrs. Osaka, who fell to the ground.
Jupiter and Opal ran in, then tried to figure out what to do next. Jupiter
tried a Supreme Thunder on them, which threw Pride off Nephrite, who then
teleported away, leaving the Senshi alone with him. He turned, saw them, and
shouted, "You helped him! Now you die!"
He charged at them. Jupiter grabbed Opal and leaped out of the way. They
were still running when Moon and Mercury ran in. "Does he have any
weakpoints?" Moon asked Mercury.
"He's got a big ego, my computer says."
Moon nodded. "Coward! Picking on helpless people! You want a real fight?
Fight me! I can beat you with one hand tied behind my back!"
"Hey, I'm not helpless!" Jupiter protested. "This is...umm...a strategic
retreat."
Pride charged right at Sailor Moon, who held up her Rainbow Crystal and tried
to purify him. He
proceeded
to trample right over her, then crash into a wall at high speed and go right
through it.
"Okay, plan two..." Sailor Moon mumbled.
"Never fear, Venus is here!" Sailor Venus announced as she bounced in the
door.
Pride charged her from behind and trampled over her.
Mercury finished a computer scan. "Drive him into the sacred fire! It'll
burn the evil spirit out!"
Sailor Moon said, "Right."
They all opened fire on him, but he kept either dodging their shots, or taking
the blow, then trampled over people. Soon, they were all covered with
footprints.
Finally, Jupiter managed to leap on him from behind and began wrestling him.
She strained and struggled with him, pushing herself to her limits. With
Sailor Moon's help, she began to drag him over to the sacred fire.
With a great cry, he broke loose and headed for the exit.
"EARTH SHAKING!"
"DEEP SUBMERGE!"
"Attack I don't actually have a name for!" That third one was Tuxedo Mask
hurling a rose at Pride's chest.
The triple whammy stunned Pride who fell over. Jupiter and Moon grabbed him
and hauled him over to the Sacred Fire, throwing him in. He quickly turned
back to normal, and they had to quickly reach in and pull him back out.
Sailor Moon knelt by him. "I'm sorry we couldn't protect you better,
Grandpa," she whispered, starting to cry. "Rei-chan's going to be really mad
at me I didn't protect you better."
Mercury came over and put a hand on her shoulder. "You did the best you
could, Usagi. We had no way to know."
"I should have done better," she said dully. "I should have listened to
Shampoo. I bet she was right, and Jiko was one of Nephrite's people."
As Mercury tried to comfort Moon, Venus said to Jupiter, "Nice to meet you!"
She then introduced Neptune, Uranus, and Tuxedo Mask to Jupiter and
vice-versa. Jupiter said, "You guys showed up just in the nick of time."
Pluto ran in. "Is it over?" she asked. "The youma all seem to be running
away."
"I think it's over," Tuxedo Mask said, rubbing his head and taking off his
hat. "Do I have a bruise?"
"I know I do," Neptune said ruefully. She checked his head. "Not too bad."
"We saved the day," Uranus said to Pluto. "It's all over but the cleanup."
Shampoo walked in, dragging Greed in a net. "Shampoo even caught the..."
He teleported away.
"Well, Shampoo HAD caught the pickpocket."
Sailor Moon got up and came over to Jupiter. "Welcome to the team," she said.
Jupiter smiled at her. "Thanks, Sailor Moon. I just wish I could have done
more."
"You did quite a bit," Mercury said. "I think we all did."
"So much for my hot date," Venus said.
"Did I really see you with Tsubasa? I thought he was hung up on Ukyou,"
Uranus said.
"Oh, I think he prefers a bush to two birds," Venus replied. "He's not quite
as insanely obsessed and unable to move on with his life as some people."
"Really?"
"Well, wearing my magic love lipstick to my first date with him probably
didn't hurt."
"..."
"That was a joke."
Uranus gave a sigh of relief.
Jupiter turned to Opal. "I should have known you were a superhero, the way
you kiss sometimes."
Opal turned red. "I'm not a very good one yet."
"You beat the redhead when I couldn't," Jupiter said. "Now, once I train you
to fight, you'll be invincible."
"..."
"You can skate, right?"
"Sort of."
"Well, then you can learn Martial Skating, the fine and elegant art of ice
combat."
"Uh, right."
They all detransformed and began chattering away at each other, until Grandpa
woke up. He rubbed his head. "Did I win?" he asked.
"You drove away the monsters," Usagi assured him.
"Good, good. Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm just fine," he said. "But I feel like a nap. Can you clean everything
up?" He looked around the trashed temple. "That must have been some fight."
"It sure was," Usagi said. "Let me help you to your bed."
"Oh, I'll be fine," Grandpa said. "I may be over seventy, but I'm not needing
a nursemaid yet."
"Of course not," Usagi said. "I'll go make you a before-nap snack, then."
"Thank you," he said.
Usagi sprinted off. Grandpa turned to Shampoo. "Thanks for helping with the
festival."
"You're welcome," Shampoo replied.
Once Grandpa was gone, Ami started. "Ryouga! He got turned into a monster
and is still running around out there! We've got to go find him."
"I think the charms have all worn off," Gosunkugi said. "But it wouldn't hurt
to be sure. Can you do a computer scan?"
Everyone gathered round Ami's computer. The scan was quick. "Well, he's back
to normal. But he's in Newark."
"..."
"So much for that date," Minako said. "But I'm sure you'll have better luck
next time."
It couldn't be much worse, Ami thought.
***********
Naru staggered home with her mother, not entirely sure what had happened at
the festival. She and her mother were both covered with dirt, but couldn't
remember how they'd fell down. Mr. Clancy found them walking and drove them
the rest of the way home, then gave Mrs. Osaka a kiss goodnight.
Once she got the front door unlocked, Mrs. Osaka said weakly, "I'm so tired, I
could die."
"Me too," Naru said. "You want to bathe first?"
"Okay," Mrs. Osaka said.
To her surprise, when she got to the bathroom, there was a naked male teenager
in it, getting ready to take a shower. She screamed and began hurling things
at him, until he ran and leaped out the window, then fell screaming several
stories.
Naru came running. "Wh...what was it?" she asked.
"Just some pervert," Mrs. Osaka said wearily. "Probably got drunk at the
festival and got in here somehow."
"Okay, call me when you finish. I'm going to lie down."
"Okay."
*************
Of all the things she could have found at home after the festival, a naked
Ryouga with a big lump on his head was not something Setsuna had anticipated
seeing on the living room floor after she got back. She threw some couch
pillows over him, then shouted, "Is anyone here?"
From one of the bedrooms, Mr. and Mrs. Hibiki emerged, clinging to a rope
she'd slung along the wall. The house was now criss-crossed with ropes, as
she'd learned that if they clung to the ropes, they couldn't get too lost.
They soon reached her and saw Ryouga. Mr. Hibiki's eyes widened. "Oh my," he
said.
"Ahh, young love," Mrs. Hibiki said.
When Setsuna realized what they thought, she turned red. "I didn't do this to
him! I just found him like that."
Ryouga sat up. "My clothing!"
"Isn't here," Setsuna said.
"Some pervert woman attacked me in the bathroom." He paused. "I think it was
my bathroom."
Setsuna sighed. "Probably not."
"Can you give me a hand up?" Ryouga asked.
"Hold on, let me get you something to wear," Setsuna said.
Mr. Hibiki pulled a tunic and pants out of his backpack, which he never seemed
to take off, ever. "Here you go." He threw them to Ryouga, along with some
underwear.
Setsuna went to the kitchen to get a snack so Ryouga could change without her
around. When she got back, he was dressed, and his parents had come over to
him and were busy exchanging greetings and hugs and news of where all they had
been.
She sat and stared and munched on pumpkin bread, trying to figure out what she
was going to do about all this. Her meditations were interrupted by the
Hibikis and Ryouga coming over to her. Mr. Hibiki asked, "Can you stand up for
a minute, Setsuna?"
Setsuna stood up from her chair. "What do you need?"
He then darted forward and slapped a handcuff around her left wrist and the
other one around Ryouga's right wrist. The handcuffs glimmered and she could
feel a burst of magical power, and then they vanished, along with the chain
connecting them. But it felt like it was still around her wrist.
Ryouga blinked. "What the..."
"What are you doing?" Setsuna asked.
"Those are the Chains of Love. They're worn by any Hibiki who is now engaged
and by the future spouse. They ensure that neither of you can ever wander too
far away from each other without being drawn back."
Ryouga said, "Wait, you want me to marry Setsuna?"
"I am NOT GOING TO MARRY RYOUGA!" Setsuna shouted.
"Yeah, I'm not going to marry her either! I want to marry someone else!"
"We promised her parents that you two would be wed, and you will be," Mrs.
Hibiki said. "And that's that."
Mr. Hibiki said, "We can't break our promise."
"But I already promised Ranma I'd marry him!"
"And I want to marry someone else too!" Ryouga said.
"It's too late. Nothing can remove the chains of love until you two marry
each other in exactly two years, as it should take that long for the family to
find the wedding chapel we always use," Mrs. Hibiki said.
"Hah! If I get lost, you can't make me marry her!" Ryouga said.
He immediately ran out the front door and off down the street, trying to get
to Paris. Seconds later, there was a flash, and he reappeared next to Setsuna.
"Dammit!"
"Sorry, but if you go more than thirty feet from each other, it pulls whoever
is moving fastest back to the other one," Mr. Hibiki said. "So you can't be
separated by your family curse."
"What, NEVER?" Setsuna asked.
"I see your amnesia is making you forget again," Mr. Hibiki said. "You see,
long ago, an evil faerie queen cursed our family because she wanted to steal
our magic bag."
"She wanted to take over the magical roads we guarded," Mrs. Hibiki said.
"So she cursed us to forever be
lost. But another faerie queen named
Potato..."
"Pluto."
"Gave us the Chains of Love, to
ensure that we would be not be
scattered to the winds forever."
Setsuna winced as a memory flooded
her mind of when she had given these
to the Butar clan. Curse me, she
thought. What a really stupid idea of
mine that was. What was I THINKING?
They rambled on, explaining the
whole story, while Setsuna quietly
basted in her own mental juices. This
can't possibly get any worse, she
thought.
"Well, it's time for me to go to
bed," Mr. Hibiki said. "Try not to
make too much noise, okay?"
"I'll try to not scream too loud,"
Setsuna grumbled.
"Good, good, it'll wake up Mother
and she's no fun when she's angry,"
Mr. Hibiki said. "Goodnight!" He and
his wife slowly, painstakingly made
their way back to their room.
Setsuna turned to Ryouga. "There
has to be some way to get these off."
He sighed. "Nothing short of
marriage."
"But I don't want to marry you!"
"And I don't want to marry you," he
said.
"Then, we'll just have to find some
way to get them off."
Ryouga nodded. "Exactly." He held
out his hand.
Setsuna took it and shook it.
"We'll break these Chains of Love or
die trying."
"And then I can be with Ami!"
"And I can be with Ranma."
"Why do you want to date a jerk like
Ranma?"
Setsuna frowned. "He's not a jerk."
"He's a big fat jerk," Ryouga said.
"Who steals bread."
"Well, once we're free of these
chains, you won't have to see him
again."
"You deserve better!" Ryouga began
to rant.
Setsuna sat back down. Come back as
quickly as you can, Ranma. Please,
before I go stark raving mad.
Finis for this chapter.
John Walter Biles : MA-History, ABD, Ph.D Candidate at U. Kansas
ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu http://www.dkcomm.net/rhea/falcon.html
rhea@maison-otaku.net http://maison-otaku.net/~rhea/
"That all princes shall kiss the foot of the Pope alone."--Dictatus Papae,
11th century
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