The characters in this story belong to their respective creators and rights
holders. Ranma 1/2 is the creation of Rumiko Takahashi. Sailor Moon is the
creation of Naoko Takeuchi. All original content is the creation of Samuel
Phoenix. Recognition is given to John Sanchez for a small kick of
inspiration that helped produce this story, and to Harold Ancell who has
been a near constant source of input, information, and ideas.

Awkward Consequences
Chapter 7: Trust
PsyckoSama (syp104@psu.edu)


"Err... hi!" exclaimed Ranma in surprise.

Hotaru could not help but shudder as a chill of apprehension and panic
slowly made its way up her back. This was a very bad thing.

"Good morning, Setsuna-mama!" She added.

Mentally, Hotaru kicked herself. She should have anticipated this. Ranma was
what Setsuna-mama called a 'Butterfly'. Of course she would keep an eye on
him; while she couldn't see his future, she sure as heck would keep an eye
on his past, curse included.

She looked over to her lover, and found her own fears reflected in his
"Ranko's" liquid-blue eyes. Slowly their hands met under the table. Whatever
happened, they were in it together.

"Good morning, Hotaru-chan," muttered Setsuna, her eyes drilling into Ranma'
s.

The awkward silence remained for a moment, until Michiru decided to speak
up. "So, Setsuna, you know Ranko-san?"

"Ranko-san?" The outer most Senshi turned her head toward the two teens. Her
features slowly softened as she saw the unease in the eyes of the two youths
'. With a small smile on her face, which was now devoid of all obvious
negative emotion, she turned back to Michiru. "Yes, I know Ranko-kun."

Both teens were visibly relieved. That had been a very close one. Hotaru
didn't know what she would have done if Setsuna had let their secret out.

She turned her head to Ranma, and smiled. Hopefully they could keep them in
the dark for a little while longer.

"You didn't seem to happy to see her," commented Haruka.

Setsuna shrugged. "Well, it was a surprise. Seeing someone so close to the
boy who impregnated your 'daughter' first thing is not exactly a pleasant
thing to wake up to." She paused for a moment and turned her head to
Michiru. "Could you please get me something for my head? I have a horrible
hangover."

The aquamarine-haired girl nodded, and left the room to get a bottle of
aspirin.

Hotaru pouted, and then glared at Setsuna. "It serves you right. How could
you just go and get drunk like that!"

Setsuna blushed slightly. "I'm sorry about that, but I really didn't see
*this* coming."

"You didn't see it coming?" Hotaru's eyes narrowed slightly as she
continued, "How do you think I feel?" Hotaru's voice slowly calmed, taking
on an uneasy tone. "I... I'm still a girl myself. I'm not ready to be a
mother! What kind of parent can I be? I know nothing about how to take care
of a baby."

"Hotaru?"

Her head turned to the source of the voice. It was Ranma. When he had her
attention, he slowly placed his hand on her shoulder. "Hotaru, you're gonna
be a great mom."

Hotaru smiled, and tightened her grip on Ranma's hand. "You really think
 so?"

"Yeah, I do!" he exclaimed as he also tightened his grip.

Hotaru blushed lightly, and smiled. His confidence and support meant a lot
to her. He was her partner. "Thank you, Ran... Ranko."

Setsuna smiled as shook her head. She had absolutely no idea why the hell
Ranma was here, but if they kept this lovey-dovey crap up, their cover would
be blown like Mt. Vesuvius on a bad day. She really needed to talk to them
alone. She winced as another pang of pain screamed its way through her
cranium. God, all this thinking was aggravating her hangover.

"Here's your aspirin, Setsuna-san" said Michiru, as she re-entered the room
with a bottle of painkillers and a cup of coffee.

The green-haired woman smiled widely as she snatched the precious
painkillers from her fellow Senshi's hand. In one quick motion she removed
the top, emptied some of the contents into her mouth, then chugged her
coffee.

She let out a satisfied sigh, and laid her empty coffee mug on the table.
"Thank you."

Michiru smiled, and returned to chatting with Haruka.

Setsuna closed her eyes and waited for the aspirin to kick in. In the
meantime, she sampled the morning meal. "Michiru, you outdid yourself this
morning."

"I made it," interjected Ranma.

Setsuna blinked, and looked down at the meal. "You made this?"

"Yep."

Setsuna laughed lightly, and said, "Let me guess... Martial Arts
 Homemaking?"

The young redhead blinked, "Yeah, how'd you know?"

Shrugging, she replied in a sarcastic tone, "Lucky guess." After a moment's
pause, she continued, "I need to talk to you two after breakfast."

"We're going out after I change," replied Hotaru.

Setsuna smiled. "That's great, because I'm going the same way."

Ranma blinked, "We never told you where we're going."

Setsuna smiled mysteriously. "I know exactly where you're going. Would you
like me to tell these two where and why?" She said, motioning to Haruka and
Michiru.

"That's-absolutely-positively-fine-you-can-come-with-us-if-you-want!"
sputtered Ranma.

"I knew you would see it my way, Saotome-kun," replied Setsuna with a smirk.

"Where are you two going anyway?" questioned Michiru.

Both Hotaru and Ranma opened their mouths to give an excuse, but Setsuna cut
them off. "Oh, give the kids some privacy."

"Setsuna..." grumbled Haruka, before Michiru cut her off.

"Haruka," Michiru interrupted, "Setsuna is right."

The blonde Senshi rolled her eyes, "I know that, I just hate being in the
dark about things. They're making it sound like some strange conspiracy."

"Actually, that's exactly what it is," replied Setsuna, "Now that you know
of our secret plan, we're going to have to have you deprogrammed..."

"Setsuna-mama has been watching the X-Files again," said Hotaru, as she
shook her head.

"What? So I think David Duchovny's hot."

"And you always go off on that conspiracy theory stuff when you watch it,"
added Haruka.

"It's a joke," replied Setsuna.

"Not a funny one," replied Michiru.

Setsuna growled, and turned to Ranma, "Well, what do you think?"

Ranma stared blankly for a moment, then smirked. "I could tell you but then
I'd have to kill you."

Setsuna face fell, hitting her head against the table, while Hotaru and the
others started laughing hysterically.

"I hate you," grumbled Setsuna as she sat up and picked a clump of rice out
of her hair.

"You had that one coming," said Haruka, as the laughter died down.

"Oh, someone has something coming all right," grumbled Setsuna as she glared
at Ranma.

"Well, I'm done," interrupted Hotaru as she pushed her emptied plate away.

Michiru turned to her daughter in concern. "Hotaru-chan, are you sure you
ate enough? You are eating for two now..."

Hotaru blushed and said, "Michiru-mama, there's really no need to get
worried."

Setsuna slowly shook her head, "Don't worry about Hotaru's eating habits. In
a couple of months, you're going to be putting more effort into keeping the
pantry stocked then making sure she eats enough."

Hotaru moved over to Ranma and whispered into his ear, "Keep them busy while
I get dressed."

As Hotaru walked off, Setsuna spoke up. "Hotaru-chan, when you come down,
can I see those sandals you bought?"

Hotaru froze in place and began to mutter a few curses, then growled and
twisted around, meeting Setsuna's gaze with a venomous glare. "No, you can'
t! There are no damn sandals! I was buying pregnancy tests! Now are you
happy?"

Setsuna winced, as Hotaru's angry tone heightened the already blazing agony
of her hangover. "Um, sorry, Hotaru-chan. I... I, didn't know."

Hotaru sighed and irritably shook her head. As she exited the room, she was
heard grumbling. "Sandals my ass..."

The room remained completely quiet and devoid of action for a long moment.
Slowly, Ranma turned to Setsuna. "You sure know a lot about this stuff, you
a mom?"

Setsuna shook her head. "No, I'm not, but with age comes experience."

Ranma blinked. Who was she kidding? She didn't move like a martial artist,
and she couldn't be a day over 30, if that. "Age? Come on... you don't look
much older then I am!"

Setsuna laughed dryly. "Another thing you learn with age, 'Not everything is
as it appears to be'... and flattery will get you nowhere, mister."

Ranma rolled his eyes. She was sounding like Cologne. "Oh great, not another
Old Ghoul..." as soon as the word left his mouth, his face bent into a
large, comical smile. Did he just say that out loud?

"What did you call me?" hissed Setsuna.

Ranma gulped and quickly garbled out, "I-said-nothing-absolutely nothing!
I-think-you're-an-oh-so-beautiful-young-lady!"

Setsuna shook her head a chuckled, "Much better."

"You know, Setsuna, it sounded like 'old ghoul' to me," said Haruka.

"Me too," added Michiru.

Ranma looked up at them, in a whimpery voice said, "Hey, who's side are you
on?"

"Our own!" they replied in unison.

Setsuna's faces twisted with barely contained laughter. "Saotome-kun, you
really need to learn to keep your loud mouth shut."

"Ranko, I'm ready to go," said Hotaru as she reentered the room.

Ranma blushed as he looked over his future wife. She was dressed in a purple
sweater, black miniskirt, low-heeled boots, and long black stockings that
left just a small ring of skin visible between them and the bottom of her
skirt. It was times like this that he was glad to be a man.

"Kawaii..." he mumbled to no one in particular as he gazed upon the angel
before him.

Hotaru flushed red and looked down demurely. In Ranma's eyes, that only made
her cuter.

"Okay, we're going now..." grumbled Setsuna as she got up from her seat, and
all but dragged the teens out of the house.

Haruka and Michiru looked at each other as the room cleared.

Haruka sighed and asked herself, "Are they lovers?"

"Most definitely," replied Michiru.

"You do realize that she's also sleeping with Ranko's *brother*."  added
Haruka.

Michiru sighed, "Who knew our Hotaru-chan would grow up to be a hentai..."

Haruka nodded. "The girlfriend I can handle, but a boyfriend too?"

The two lesbians looked at each other, and in one voice said, "Yuck..."

----------------------------------


When the three were a decent distance from the house, Setsuna spun around
and glared both teens directly in the eyes, stopping them dead in their
tracks. "Hotaru, Ranma, there better be a *damn* good explanation for this."

Ranma sighed, "Ok, what ya wanna know?"

"Well, for starters, why the hell were you in my house, and why are you
hiding behind your 'Ranko' persona?"

Ranma shrugged. "I don't got nowhere else ta go. I was kicked out of my
house and forbidden from staying at the Tendo's after I told my Old Man that
I'm gonna do the right thing and marry Hotaru."

"And you're using you Ranko persona because they are more likely to let
Hotaru's female friend stay over then the boy who got her pregnant," stated
Setsuna.

Ranma nodded in acknowledgement.

"You know you've really dug yourself into a hole, Saotome."

"How?" he inquired.

"Michiru and Haruka are going to feel betrayed and manipulated, and for good
reason. I recommend that you two tell them the truth as soon as possible.
The sooner you tell, the less backlash you'll get," replied Setsuna.

"Your right, Mama."

"I understand," said the young martial artist.

Setsuna nodded, and started walking again, letting the teens lead. While
they walked, she said, "I don't want to impose on your feelings, but do you
really want to marry him, Hotaru?"

"*Yes*."

Setsuna smiled slightly. "While I'm slightly annoyed for reasons that I can'
t mention in present company, he's not a bad choice. He's honorable and
caring." Setsuna sighed, shook her head, then continued. "Tell him the
truth, Hotaru. He'll find out eventually, and it would be better if it was
on your terms. Don't worry, he's trustworthy."

Hotaru froze dead in her stride, and slowly turned around, a look of shear
disbelief on her face. Did Setsuna just tell her to tell Ranma that she was
Sailor Saturn? "Are you sure?"

Setsuna nodded to her adopted daughter. "Yes, while he's a crudely behaving
chaos magnet who leaves nothing but madness and wreckage in his wake..."

"Hey!" interjected Ranma.

"...he is also one of those precious few individuals who possesses a pure
and honest heart. If he gives you his word, he'll never..." Setsuna's face
twisted into a small smirk, "...'squeal'."

"What are you two talking about?" inquired Ranma.

Hotaru gulped. She would have to tell him, but this was not the time or
place. She was happy that she had been given permission, but at the same
time, she was completely terrified at the prospect. Even though he hadn't
thought she was a freak before, this would have to change his mind. "I'll
tell you later. This is not the place."

"Err... okay..." he responded, not sure of what to make of this.

"So, where are you two headed?" asked Setsuna.

Ranma blinked, and gave her a inquisitive look, "You said you already knew!"

Setsuna laughed. "No, I didn't, but making you think I did had the desired
effect."

"That was low, Setsuna-mama," grumbled Hotaru.

"Maybe, but it worked," she replied.

Hotaru shook her head, and said, "We're shopping for an engagement ring."

"Getting things done with, aren't we Saotome," commented Setsuna, as she dug
through her purse. Moments later she pulled out a credit card and handed it
to Ranma. "Get her a rock that'll make the other girls drool with envy."

Ranma pushed it back towards her. "I want to buy her one with my own money.
I don't want to have to depend of everybody for everything."

Setsuna shook her head, "Exactly how much do you have?"

Ranma blinked. "About 100,000 yen..."

Setsuna lifted her arms, refusing the card. "Keep it. 100,000 yen is not
enough for a ring worthy of a girl like Hotaru. That card has a one million
yen limit. Just buy what you want. Consider it a loan if you insist, you can
pay me back when ever you want."

Ranma looked at the card, and then to Setsuna. "Thank you."

"No problem." she replied, waving it off. "I have more money in my mattress
then I know what to do with..."

Ranma looked at Setsuna slack jawed for a moment. "Wow... you're so not like
Cologne..."

Setsuna blinked. "What the hell does that mean."

Ranma shrugged. "For a moment, I thought you were like one of my 'fianc�e's'
great grandmother... You know, a nasty, manipulative, dried up, old
 troll..." A shounen wooden mallet, courtesy of Setsuna, interrupted Ranma's
speech.

With an uncharacteristic angry twitch, she said, "First lesson you should
have learned in life kiddo: know when to shut the hell up!"

"Arrogant old witch..." grumbled Ranma from underneath the wooden implement
of feminine retribution.

Setsuna sighed, and turned to Hotaru. "As I was saying, he's a good kid, but
need to be house broken. I think you can pull it off... oh, and you two
should cut down on the lovey-dovey crap in front of the others. It might
expose you before *you* tell them," Setsuna's eyes and she looked into
Hotaru's "and you know what kinds of conclusions they would probably come
to."

Hotaru blinked, and nodded. "Ok, Setsuna-mama..."

Setsuna smiled. "I take it Usagi and Chibi-Usa know about the curse?"

Hotaru nodded in confirmation.

"I tell them about 'Ranko-chan', as soon as you can."

"Man, you hit like Akane," commented Ranma, as he lifted himself off the
sidewalk.

Setsuna's eyes slightly narrowed, but she said nothing. The painkillers she
had taken were slowly starting to take effect, dulling the agonizing pain in
her skull, and slowly ebbing her vicious irritability level.

She sighed, and rubbed her temples. "Look... you two just get the ring and
have fun with the rest of that card's account. Consider it a gift"

She turned to Ranma and her tone became far more serious, "I want you to
tell me that you'll protect and fight at Hotaru's side no matter what the
cost."

Ranma blinked, obviously confused by the idea of Hotaru in battle. "What do
you mean?"

Her eyes narrowed, "I'm serious, Saotome Ranma!"

Ranma, taken aback by Setsuna's vehemence, agreed, "Okay, I will."

"Setsuna-mama!" objected Hotaru, fearful for Ranma's health. He was a human,
a normal human. How could he ever hope to survive a battle with even a weak
youma? Setsuna probably just signed his death warrant.

"Hotaru, trust me," snapped Setsuna. "Ask him about his battles. They're all
true."

A feeling of unease slowly twisted in Hotaru's gut. Ranma had mentioned a
place called Jusendo, and that he had killed a god. Now Setsuna was all but
affirming his claim. Could he really be that powerful? "Ok, Mama..." she
whispered.

"Good," said Setsuna with a long sigh. Talking to herself, as much as to
anyone, she said, "Well, I'm going to get out of here. I have a splitting
hangover to nurse, and if I don't get an Espresso in the next forty-five
seconds, I'm going to scream..." With a shrug and a wave, she started away
from the youths. "Arrivederci..."

Ranma blinked at the shrinking image of the green-haired woman, and turned
to Hotaru. "Man, she's weird."

Hotaru paused for a moment. "She usually is not like this. Must be stress...
or her hangover."

"Okay," said Ranma, shrugging it off. "So, let's find you a ring."

Hotaru blushed, and latched onto Ranma's arm. "Ranma, could you tell me
about Jusendo?"

"Okay, but can we get a cup of tea on the way? I want to turn back into a
guy."

"No problem, so, about Jusendo..."

Ranma sighed, and began to relate the story to his woman. "It all began when
we got a call from the Jusenkyo guide..."

----------------------------------


"And then Akane opened her eyes. I thought that things might calm down from
that point on, and they did, for about a week," completed Ranma.

Hotaru looked blankly at him. Setsuna told her to believe this, yet it
sounded like something straight out of a martial arts manga! Of course, it
was not as if her life was significantly less believable.

She smiled and gazed at her lover's face. They still had so much to learn
about each other, but the more she learned, the more similar their lives
appeared to be.

"Hotaru-chan, think this would be a good place to look?" said Ranma,
interrupting her train of thought.

Her head tuned, following his outstretched hand to the welcoming sign of a
jewelry store. She looked at the name for a moment. The Osa-P, where had she
heard that name before? After a moment, she smiled in recognition. "I know
this store! Usagi's friend Naru's mom owns it!"

Ranma blinked. "Who's Usagi?"

"She's..." Hotaru paused for a moment. "... a very close friend of the
family!"

Ranma smiled. "Cool! Maybe we can get a discount!"

"Maybe," replied Hotaru.

The two youths entered the store. Hotaru smiled as she recognized the
redheaded teller. "Hello, Naru-san!"

"Hello, Hotaru-chan!" replied Naru. She gazed at Ranma for a moment, then
continued. "Is he your boyfriend?"

Hotaru nodded vigorously with a bright smile on her face.

"He's cute..." replied Naru. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and she smiled.
"Does he have a brother that's available?"

Ranma blushed and shook his head. "No."

"A shame..." commented Naru, looking down. After a moment her smile returned
and she asked, "So what are you looking for?"

"A ring," replied Ranma.

"A ring?" Naru leaned towards the younger girl, with a glimmer in her eyes
and continued, "As in an engagement ring?"

Hotaru nodded, "Yep! We're getting married!"

Ranma's pulse quickened. Hotaru had said the m-word in reference to him.
Quickly his head darted side to side in a comically exaggerated manner,
scanning every minute detail of the room.

Knowing his luck one this would find a way to get back to one of the
fianc�es. He didn't know how, he didn't know when, but it would, and it did
he was a dead man, no questions asked.

One of the girls could be in this room right now... All of Konatsu's ninja
stealth secrets were for the asking to Ucchan! And Shampoo! Surely 'three
thousand years of Amazon history' included stealth techniques as potent as
the attacks he'd been taught. And...

Both girls ignored his fit of desperation and continued talking.

Naru blushed and looked Hotaru dead in the eye. "So have you two...?"

Hotaru's smile went ear to ear, and she nodded vigorously.

With a mischievous smile on her face, Naru looked Hotaru dead in the eyes,
asking, "What's he like in bed?"

Both Hotaru blushed bright red, while Ranma turned an even deeper shade of
green as this fed his raging paranoia. After a moment, despite the frantic
objection and embarrassment on Ranma's face,", Hotaru said, "They call him
'Ran Ma' for a reason."

Naru blushed beet-red and smiled. "Wild Horse... Oh my...!"

Hotaru giggled, and proudly hugged Ranma, whose brain had just about shut
down. Ranma smiled blankly and looked toward his fianc�e and her friend, and
said, "Rings, please?"

Naru pointed them to a row of cases, and said, "Just look around and tell me
what you like!"

Hotaru nodded absently as she gawked into the cases at the myriad of
jewelry. She slowly scanned over each individual ring, her nose so close to
the case that her breath was fogging the glass.

Ranma rolled his eyes. What was it with girls and jewelry? He had a much,
much greater understanding of women then almost any man, but this was one of
the many that always stumped him.

He looked at the display case before him, and started looking at the rings
inside. All he could really comprehend what that there was lots of gold,
lots of diamonds. Ouch, these were expensive. Setsuna had been right to give
him that credit card; otherwise he would not have been able to afford
anything but the most cheap and basic ring.

"Ranma!"

Ranma turned his head to look at Hotaru. He could tell by the absolutely
enthralled expression on her face that she had found the one. "So what is
it?" he inquired. He could already hear that credit card starting to cry.

Hotaru smiled widely and dragged Ranma over to a display case. Ranma
immediately knew which one she wanted.

The ring was a large violet jewel in a platinum setting surrounded by a
small halo of diamonds. It was very beautiful, and just screamed expensive.

He looked over to Naru and said, "How much?"

Naru pulled the ring out of the case, and smiled at Hotaru. "Girl, you have
good taste!" Her eyes then narrowed slightly and she gave Ranma a once-over.
"You sure lover-boy can afford it?"

With a sigh, Ranma pulled out the credit card. "Charge it."

"Okay. It's normally 850,000 yen..."

Ranma's face warped into a sickened grimace. How would he ever be able to
pay that back?

"But I'll sell this one to you at cost," continued Naru. "That'll be 400,000
yen. Call it a 'friend-of-the-family' discount."

"Thanks," replied a seriously relieved Ranma.

"No problem," said Naru as she ran through the ring out process. When she
was done she looked to Ranma, and handed him a slip and the receipt. "Well,
Saotome-san, sign this and the ring is yours."

Ranma blinked and looked at the credit card. It had his name on it. How did
she... Ranma shook his head. No, he would find that out later.

With a shrug he signed the slip, returned it to Naru, then pocketed the ring
box.

"Oh, and you should really sign the back of that thing. You don't want to
get ripped off," she added.

Ranma blinked. "Err... Okay."

"Thanks a lot. If you ever need something for your anniversary, just stop
in. I could make you a nice deal!" said Naru with a smile.

"Have a good one," replied Ranma with a shrug.

"You too." Naru turned her head to Hotaru and continued, "Goodbye,
Hotaru-chan. Invite me to the wedding!"

Hotaru giggled and grabbed Ranma's hand. "I will, Naru-san."

With that said, the two were off.

"So, where to now?" asked Ranma.

Hotaru gulped, and looked Ranma in the eyes. "Ranma... I have to show you
something..."

"What?" he asked.

Hotaru shuddered slightly, and said, "You'll see."

Ranma did not really like the sound of that, but kept silent. It had to have
something to do with what the green haired lady told her. The two walked for
a little while until Hotaru stopped in front of a large building with a
semi-secluded entrance. "This will do," she mumbled.

"What..." inquired Ranma, and he looked at the sign above the door. "You
have got to be kidding me!" he exclaimed. This was a Love Hotel!

Hotaru sighed. "Ranma, we need *serious* privacy for this."

Ranma gulped, and said, "Okay."

With little else to be said, the two silently entered the hotel.
Unfortunately, it was not unobserved. Across the street a blonde with a red
bow in her hair had seen the whole exchange.

Minako's hand quickly darted to her wrist communicator.

"Makoto, you will not believe what I just saw!"

NOTES:

You can find the other chapters at my homepage:
http://www.fanfic.net/~psyckosama/


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