Ranma ½ Night Shift 3

[Lawra]

The floor only gained that effect after they noticed that male visitors wouldnt look up. They were quickly executed for not pointing out the over sight, and the floor magic redesigned.

 

[Wharpt]

The floor only gained that effect after they noticed that male visitors wouldnt look up. They were quickly executed for not pointing out the over sight, and the floor magic redesigned.

Woah-ho... Wait a minute! The 'male visitors' were executed due to the previously highly-reflective floor? Ouch!!! What? Did they notice one or more of the Senshi/Princesses/Queens going 'commando' or something?

 

[Lawra]

The floor only gained that effect after they noticed that male visitors wouldnt look up. They were quickly executed for not pointing out the over sight, and the floor magic redesigned.

Woah-ho... Wait a minute! The 'male visitors' were executed due to the previously highly-reflective floor? Ouch!!! What? Did they notice one or more of the Senshi/Princesses/Queens going 'commando' or something?

Just a joke, but if it did happen, would probably be the japanese ancestors trying to get a panty shot.

 

[Lawra]

Stretched out across an ancient rug in front of a fireplace, Artemis kept one eye open as he enjoyed the pleasant fire crackling behind him. ‘Being a cat has it’s advantages.’ He chuckled, watching as his friend and partner Aino Minako busied herself setting up decorations.

Sitting nearby on a reclining chair was Mizuno Ami, the hyper intelligent girl having given up on being able to meet Minako’s vision of how things were supposed to be. So now she was rapidly typing on her miniature computer and ignoring the flurry of activity that was Minako.

And since he possessed the body of a normal sized, white housecat, Artemis was saved from assisting in Minako’s madness. Leaving him free to enjoy the creature comforts of the castles entertainment room. It was two stories high with the entrance on the bottom floor. Everything was done in Earthy colors, wood, and soft fabrics creating a very rustic feel. The lower portion consisted of a sitting area in a half circle around a more modern entertainment stand built into the wall. Karaoke, movies, and television had been installed into ancient Silver Millenium technology. It was a hodge podge of items that he did not want to try and understand.

On both sides of the entertainment stand, steps lead up to the second floor where the Outers had fully stocked a bar, having left some of the old crystal vials that had been left from before the fall but were now undrinkable. Several arcade games had been brought in, including an original Sailor V cabinet, that was signed by Minako of course. (Something Usagi had to have)

Artemis’ favorite spot remained right next to the magically burning fireplace on the lower level, where he could stare out through a wall length mirror across the room that showed a view out into space.

“Watch out! Coming through!” Minako stepped around and over him as she hung a banner saying ‘Congratulations’ across the room.

“Mina, What exactly are you congratulating?” He asked, rising up into a sitting position.

Minako paused as she stood perched high on the decorative frame around the fireplace, attempted to affix the banner to a higher portion. “It’s the thought that counts.” She finally responded and finished hanging the banner before dropping lightly to the floor with her knee length golden blonde hair trailing behind her.

“And the ‘Good Luck’ one?” He looked up above the entertainment stand to see that draped from one side to the other.

“Why don’t you go find a hallmark card for remembering your past life, if you’re so picky!” Minako crossed her arms and stuck out her tongue at him.

“You stole these from a dumpster didn’t you?” He deadpanned.

“They were on sale!”

“Didn’t they have a ‘Welcome Back’ one?” Ami asked calmly from behind the safety of her computer screen.

“I go through all this trouble! I slave away for hours making preparations! I try my very hardest to make this a personalized and important day! And this is the thanks I get?” Minako exclaimed dramatically.

“It’s almost like you put this mess together at the last minute and didn’t think it through at all!” He exclaimed back.

Minako reached down to grab him by the scruff of his neck and stomped towards the door. “And where was all this helpful advice when I was out gathering everything?” She asked in an overly happy tone.

“And when has my sagely advice been heeded?” He asked as she unceremoniously dropped him off with a pushing motion towards the door.

“Just go make yourself useful and warn me when they’re coming down the hall.” She instructed. “Ami, come help me with the confetti cannon.” Minako instantly switched gears and grabbed the reluctant girl for her assistance.

Artemis sighed in defeat. “Stay out of the way, now you’re in the way, go watch the door.“ Standing up on his hind legs he walked forward and waved his front paws. “I’m Minako, I’m the human so I’m the boss, do what I say.”

“And you’re not allowed on my computer anymore. Being a cat doesn’t make you funny.” Minako responded without missing a beat.

‘Sure it does.’ He rolled his eyes as he peaked out the doorway into the hall, and nearly ran into a pair of legs. Looking upwards he found a kimono clad woman who looked a lot like a mature Ranma. “Well hello there pretty lady, what brings you to my neck of the woods?”

-------

 

[Wharpt]

Just a joke, but if it did happen, would probably be the japanese ancestors trying to get a panty shot.

And Happosai lives on! :snigger:

 

[Wharpt]

‘Sure it does.’ He rolled his eyes as he peaked out the doorway into the hall, and nearly ran into a pair of legs. Looking upwards he found a kimono clad woman who looked a lot like a mature Ranma. “Well hello there pretty lady, what brings you to my neck of the woods?”

Which will be the greater uproar... The girls reaction to a talking cat; or thier reation to Ranma nonchalantly greeting said Mau?

 

[Lawra]

Which will be the greater uproar... The girls reaction to a talking cat; or thier reation to Ranma nonchalantly greeting said Mau?

Have you forgotten the bakeneko, Maomolin? Talking cats are nothing weird. :snigger:

Nothing about how Artemis is stealing cat memes for himself?

 

[Wharpt]

Which will be the greater uproar... The girls reaction to a talking cat; or thier reation to Ranma nonchalantly greeting said Mau?

Have you forgotten the bakeneko, Maomolin? Talking cats are nothing weird. :snigger:

Nothing about how Artemis is stealing cat memes for himself?

He's a felinoid. I'm surprised he's not looking for a can of tuna fish to snack on while in front of the fire.

 

[Lawra]

Akane lingered in the grand hall while her sister, Ranma, and Nodoka exited through a doorway cleverly recessed into the wall between the displays for Saturn and Jupiter. As much as she wanted to see more of this magical space castle, her attention was riveted on an item resting underneath the hologram of planet Saturn. Placing her packaged up school uniform on the podium underneath the display, she took a moment to admire the double bladed naginata from a distance first. (6)

It was taller than she was by a good fifteen centimeters with a flat black finish over the shaft. Two parallel engraved lines ran its length, meeting in the center where a small flower symbol was carved. The bottom flared outwards into a simple counterweight to the long curved blade that sat perched on a decorative polished silver base at the top.

‘I wonder why it has that weird second blade on the back.’ She mused, reaching out to pick up the weapon, intending to take full advantage of this opportunity to pretend she was a Senshi with one of their actual weapons. Her hands closed around the smooth metallic surface and she attempted to pull it from it’s place resting lazily against the wall but it didn’t budge in the slightest.

“What the?” She tugged on the weapon again and it stubbornly refused to move. “Is there a lock or something?” She knelt down to feel where the base met the floor to see if it was connected to the stone before standing back up and looking around the blade. “It’s just sitting here!” She exclaimed in frustration and immediately gave up any pretense of reverence for the weapon. Gripping with both hands, she planted her feet up on the wall and strained with all her might to make it move.

Feeling it finally shift, she hastily put her feet back down just in time for the staff to jump into her chest with enough force to send her flying across the room. Grunting in pain, she landed against a soft body with two delicate arms extending around Akane to grip the naginata.

“Ranma I swear I’m going to--.” Akane stopped talking as she noticed that the arms were too slim to be her fiance’s and the colored bordered at the top of her white gloves was a dark lavender, not the gold and red of Ranma’s fuku.

“I’m not Ranma.” A soft, somewhat familiar female voice whispered in her ear, pulling the weapon closer so that Akane was pressed against her form.

“Who--?” Akane’s question hung in the air as she felt herself go weightless and a bright violet light envelope them. It was only for an instant but when it cleared she couldn’t see anything and was released to fall forward onto a cold stone floor.

“Wait-- did I just get kidnapped?” She asked incredulously into the darkness, watching as dark motes of purple light drifted by like fireflies. “Is this some kind of joke Ranma put you up to?” She she asked while turning around to see a figure barely illuminated by a growing congregation of the magical insects.

“Worry more about yourself.” The girl in a Senshi fuku warned, looming over Akane with her long naginata held in her right hand. “Do you know who I am?”

Akane didn’t immediately and had a difficult time even determining what colors the Senshi wore in the minimal light. The colored bits of her uniform seemed to be purple or black, the same color as her chin length bobbed hair. Standing with one leg in front of the other and her long bladed weapon in her right hand, she looked like an incarnation of the Grim Reaper.

“Um--.” She hesitated, she knew of all the Senshi up to Jupiter but the other planets were hardly if ever seen. “Sailor Pluto?”

“To know of me carried the penalty of death!” The Senshi brought her weapon down to strike the floor with a loud crack that echoed hollowly. Around her the purple fireflies flew upward in a chaotic spiral and the blackness around them was banished by a bright light that made Akane shield her eyes. “I am the Senshi of Silence, bringer of destruction and ruin!”

Squinting as her eyes adjusted, Akane found herself kneeling in a grand hall like castle Neith, this new Senshi posing dramatically next to a bronze throne with a gigantic tan ringed planet serving as her backdrop though a multi story window. Hazarding a look to her left and right, she confirmed that she had been transported to a new grand hall that was far narrower and taller. There were no planets on display, only vaulted ceilings formed by tall oval rings.

Delicate fingers barely touched the weapon that Akane had been unable to move, yet the Senshi raised it straight above her head before swinging it down to halt instantly with the blade pointed squarely at the tip of Akane’s nose. Akane was so stunned by the rapidly changing circumstances that all she could do was stare cross eyed at the exceedingly sharp point.

“I am Sailor Saturn-- who are you to lay your hands on the Silence Glaive?” She demanded, her commanding voice was loud but it failed to produce an echo in the vast hall.

“Uh--.” Akane’s eyes drifted up from the blade to and to the Senshi’s face where two intense lavender eyes bore through her like she was an insect.

In the silence created by the room, she easily heard the tapping of heeled shoes as Sailor Theia stepped out from behind the throne. Sailor Saturn made a loud ‘eep’ and with a short hop, clutched the Silence Glaive to her chest, and faced Ranma.

“Heh heh-- Theia what are you doing here?” Sailor Saturn asked nervously, the air of authority and power vanishing.

“Like I’m not supposed to notice you left the Silence Glaive oh so casually resting in my hall?” Theia asked with a roll of her eyes before planting her hands on her hips. Ranma’s blue eyes shifted over to her kneeling on the stone. “Akane, why are you still on the floor?”

Akane sputtered in anger and rushed over to hit her female fiance over the head. “Why am I on the floor?!” She shouted at the red head before pointing an accusing finger at the other Senshi. “Where am I? And why is she waving that thing at me?”

Ranma jerked a thumb behind her towards the planet though the tall window. “Well, that’s a window and that is Saturn.”

‘The planet Saturn?’ Akane’s jaw dropped as she finally realized just how far from home she was.

“And Saturn, why did you kidnap Akane?” Ranma asked the other Senshi curiously.

“Yea! What is wrong with you?” Akane hid behind the perceived safety of Ranma, wondering what frightening level of strength this Sailor Saturn had to wield that impossibly heavy glaive with such ease.

“She touched my glaive.” Sailor Saturn answered with an arrogant sniff and regained her confident posture.

“That you left out for someone to play with.” Ranma pointed out. “Is this about that concert?” She asked suspiciously.

“What makes you think I care about going to see an orchestra?” The violet haired girl looked away haughtily.

“Hey, I’m sorry alright?” Theia went up to the other Senshi who was the same height. “I didn’t think you’d mind missing it and it was a great way to do your moms interview of Akane.”

‘They’re testing me?’ Akane narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the back of Ranma’s head. ‘Moms? Is Ranma talking about those two weirdos?’

“And how are you going to make it up to me?” Saturn asked.

“I have something in mind.”

Akane felt her world lurch uncontrollably as her fiance freely hugged the Sailor Senshi who had been threatening her not three minutes before. “Ranma!” She exploded, grabbing Theia by her crimson collar to rip her off the other Senshi. “Why are you hugging her?!” She snarled loudly.

The Silence Glaive striking the floor again with the strange hollow sounding echo made her anger fizzle out for the moment, and Akane looked over to see Sailor Saturn glaring at her. “Ranma is my friend and needs no other reason.”

A shadow with a violet outline coalesced around the Senshi before bursting into hundreds of the black fireflies from earlier than dissipated after a brief existence. Akane’s eyes widened slightly in recognition of Hotaru, the girl with the healing powers, and she released Ranma’s collar.

“You didn’t have to.” Ranma said to the revealed Hotaru who wore black jean shorts and a loose pastel purple blouse.

“I think I did.” Hotaru eyed Akane with her strangely fierce lavender eyes. “Just so that my new friend knows who I am.”

“Really? That’s great!” Ranma exclaimed happily. “If I knew you were just going to ask her to be friends I wouldn’t have interrupted.”

“She wasn’t trying to be friends, she was threatening me.” Akane hastily explained to her obviously deluded fiance.

“Akane, Hotaru wouldn’t need to go through all the trouble to bring you here for a magic show if she wanted to do that.” Ranma answered, not believing there had been any threat. “Did you want some more time to talk about things? I can head back, I thought I heard Artemis which means Venus is probably plotting something crazy.”

“No!” Akane shouted and grabbed Ranma’s arm. “No, no, no more time alone with her.” She added desperately.

“Maybe later.” Hotaru added pleasantly.

----

Only thing that produces any kind of echo in Saturn's hall is the glaive itself, so it's very quiet in there.

Note just brings up that Soun and Akane can bust out a lot of weapons and armor at the drop of a hat.

 

[shiki]

Wait, why does it feel like I'm missing something...

 

[Lawra]

Wait, why does it feel like I'm missing something...

Could be because I revised the Hotaru/Setsuna section to make it more clear that she had originally gotten those tickets for her and Ranma to go but he shifted it to Akane. That's why he mentions an interview here, they're all testing Akane to see if they want to deal with her.

Setsuna/Hotaru then started hatching a plot for the end of the scene.

If not, please specify what doesn't seem clear so I can make it clearer in the narrative.

 

[Wharpt]

Delicate fingers barely touched the weapon that Akane had been unable to move, yet the Senshi raised it straight above her head before swinging it down to halt instantly with the blade pointed squarely at the tip of Akane’s nose. Akane was so stunned by the rapidly changing circumstances that all she could do was stare cross eyed at the exceedingly sharp point.

Akane should feel privledged. The only other person I know of that Sailor Saturn has pulled that manuever on is Sailor Moon.

Only thing that produces any kind of echo in Saturn's hall is the glaive itself, so it's very quiet in there.

Welcome to the 'Hall of Silence'! ^_^

 

[Lawra]

I am going to cut this chapter into two sections, this'll be the end for the chapter and will be placed after the lockeroom scene. Hotaru talking to Setsuna has been moved to be the new opening scene.

Ryoga meeting Tofu has been edited to have them inside an old operating theater.

A lot of little edits all over the place up until this scene in the doc.

---

Chibi-Usa collapsed breathlessly against a tree trunk, attempting to hide from Genma. She got four good breaths in before several dozen pebbles rained down on her position. While she was able to avoid most of them and even knock a few out of the air, three were able to hit her. Shrieking in pain, Usa stumbled and fell to the dirt.

“It’s just a couple rocks, girl. You really need to toughen up.” Genma taunted, the large man appearing out of nowhere to loom above her; a bag full of pebbles held in his left hand.

Rubbing at a sore spot on her right thigh, that felt like a hard knot beneath her skin, Usa glared up at the man. ‘Why did I volunteer for this again?’

Before training this morning, Genma had gifted her with her own white gi. One that was pink and red with hearts would have been more her style but it had been an unexpected gift that put her in a fantastic mood. She imagined that this was a symbol, that she had passed some unsaid test, and he would be a nicer teacher from now on.

Chibi-Usa now knew that this test had really been whether he was going to start torturing her seriously. His idea for the day was stealth training in a conveniently placed nearby forest with the punishment for being found of having to avoid a halestorm of rocks.

“Not being detected is one of a martial artists greatest requirements.” Genma repeated sagely.

“Isn’t that ninja?” She asked, trying to stand up but falling back down to the dirt. Without the brief energy burst from adrenaline fueling her, her body felt so heavy that she couldn’t get back up to her feet.

“Nonsense, a true martial artist takes advantage of every advantage they can obtain!” He dumped out the last of his pebbles before kneeling down to pick her up. “Come on, we’re done for the day.”

‘Oh thank you!’ She mentally cheered as the deceptively strong man carried her.

“You’re a lot more fragile than Ranma was.” Genma thought to himself out loud. “When he was your age we could have kept going for another hour or two.”

“More?!” She cried incredulously. They had already been going nonstop since eight this morning and it was nearly time for dinner.

“Of course, girl.” Genma snorted. “But I had been training Ranma since he was real little. Can’t expect a slacker like you to be at his level yet.”

“When I grow up, I’m going to rule the world.” She crossed her arms and nodded as though the weight of the world sat on her shoulders. “I’ll need to be strong enough that I won’t need to be protected ever again!”

“Rule the world? Better than the boy’s dream when he was your age to protect some queen.” Genma shifted her to free up a hand to reach up and adjust his glasses.

“What was the queen’s name?” She asked.

“I don’t remember. I’d just hit him over the head and he stopped mumbling in his sleep.”

“That’s not part of training is it?” Chibi-Usa asked hopefully.

“Nodoka wouldn’t like it.” He answered evasively.

‘I’m safe!’ She giggled to herself, happy for the protection Nodoka’s presence offered.

“Maybe in a couple years I can start training you on how to defend yourself in your sleep.” He added as an afterthought.

“A couple years--.” She repeatedly softly to herself before shifting so she can hug him around the neck. “I hope we can.” Usagi whispered.

“What was that?” Genma asked, not having been paying attention.

“Nothing.”

 

[Wharpt]

Ooohh... Dramatic foreboding.

 

[Lawra]

Ooohh... Dramatic foreboding.

I figured Usa's comment about having never seen the Saotome home finished was a bit too subtle.

Posted the first half for chapter 3

The stuff after Usa/Genma talk will be chapter 4 once I write out the rest.

 

[Wharpt]

Ooohh... Dramatic foreboding.

I figured Usa's comment about having never seen the Saotome home finished was a bit too subtle.

Posted the first half for chapter 3

The stuff after Usa/Genma talk will be chapter 4 once I write out the rest.

Knew I forgot something on the earlier post! Dun Dun Dahhh!!!

 

[sopchoppy]

Fun story so far

 

[Lawra]

Akane should feel privledged. The only other person I know of that Sailor Saturn has pulled that manuever on is Sailor Moon.

Actually there's another instance.

Fun story so far

Ooh the elusive catch of getting a lurker to respond. Glee

Back to new stuff at the castle.
The new doc link

-----

Nodoka voiced her thanks as the energetic girl, Aino Minako as she had introduced herself, brought her a drink. WIth her long luscious golden blonde hair and obviously sunny disposition, Minako reminded her a little of her son’s Amazon wife, Shampoo. She normally didn’t use furniture so Nodoka found sitting on the large sofa an unfamiliar but comfortable experience.

‘Much like being in a modernly furnished room within an ancient space castle.’ She thought to herself as she looked out the window into space. Sipping on her beverage, she could almost miss the subtle hint of alcohol. After all the revelations of the past two days, she didn’t feel the least bit guilty about indulging in an adult beverage. ‘Served to me by a minor.’ She noted and held back on asking where this had come from.

“We didn’t want to overload either of you too quickly.” Ami explained, sitting on a nearby reclining chair. “So it was just supposed to be the three of us.”

“I’m sorry that we ruined your surprise.” Kasumi told the two apologetically.

“No, no-- it’s okay.” The blonde tried to wave off Kasumi’s apology before giving the white cat with a gold crescent moon on his forehead a glare. “I blame someone else for that.”

“Your poor planning, not mine.” The talking cat said smugly from his place next to Nodoka. “I’m embarrassed for you. Intending to dump all that hideous confetti on these lovely ladies. How unimaginably rude!” He put a paw up to his chest dramatically.

“You’re quite talkative all of a sudden.” Minako grumbled and unceremoniously dropped down on the couch next to Artemis and pulled him into her lap to face her. “Why is that, hmmm?” She asked, tugging on one of his ears.

“Obviously, he’s just being a very manly cat.” Nodoka suggested, having been quite taken by the white feline’s manners. ‘It’s sad that my Ranma doesn’t have any manly role models to look up to.’

“I’m glad someone noticed.” Artemis freed himself from Minako to scamper to her. “Ranma is so lucky to have such a perceptive mother like you.”

“Thank you.” She let herself smile at the praise even though this trip was highlighting how little she did know her only child. “I just wish he had such a manly influence as you in his life.”

“Ever since Ranma awakened, I’ve done my best to offer her my wisdom.” The white cat boasted proudly, sitting up a little straighter. Nodoka didn’t fail to notice the use of a female pronoun for her son.

“Is there a reason for someone to be awakened?” Kasumi asked worriedly, staring down at her own drink held between both hands.

Ami coughed lightly in her hand to draw attention. “For most of us, it happened when our lives were in danger; but that’s not a sure thing. From talking with Sailor Pluto, who has been active the longest out of all of us, there appears to be an element of fate tied to it.” The girl with short dark blue-green hair paused to compose her thoughts while daintily sipping some water.

“It’s not just us either; our first enemy was also reincarnated from the Silver Millenium, along with four of her generals. So, we don’t know if there are others out there who remember. There could be dozens-- maybe hundreds, of civilians who have no way to contact us. We just don’t know what stimulus actually causes a person to become aware of their past life. When Ranma first remembered you, Kasumi, she thought you would start to remember right away, but that clearly didn’t happen. Obviously, further study will need to be done in order to ascertain this process better so we’ll know whether or not to expect more in the near-- Why are you all staring at me like that?” Ami finally trailed off, noticing that Minako appeared to be falling asleep and that both Kasumi and Nodoka were losing focus.

“I’m sorry, dear, but I’m feeling a bit lost.” Nodoka admitted in embarrassment.

“So-- I’m not another Senshi?” Kasumi hazarded a question, wary of beginning another lecture.

“What I was trying to say-- is no, there is no specific reason why you awakened.” Ami answered without a long explanation.

“And to answer your actual question.” Artemis spoke up loudly to draw attention, one of his ears twitching. “You are not a Senshi-- and someone is coming down the hall, Mina.”

“Oh right!” Minako fumbled with her hands to grab something in her pocket before everyone was shook by a deafening explosion that shook everything in the room.

Nodoka recoiled instinctively away from the doorway and covered her ears. When no more bombs went off, she slowly let her hands drop and straightened back up to take stock of what had happened. A deceptively small tube filled with confetti over the entrance that Minako installed, had gone off like a large cannon, and even had small streamers of brightly colored paper still stuck to the barrel.

Hovering a meter above the stone floor was the miniature Senshi Lautia with her right hand raised above her head to where a wide circular distortion in the air was hanging. “Princess Venus could you not try to assassinate Princess Saturn while you’re here?” The little guardian asked with a tiny hint of amusement in her voice before letting her hand drop and the distortion to vanish.

“Sure thing Lautia.” Minako laughed nervously and looked away sheepishly.

“I see where your loyalties lie.” Ranma bemoaned dramatically, still wearing her sailor fuku. The doorway was wide enough that her son was able to fit through flanked by both Akane and surprisingly that nice Hotaru girl from the other day. The two girls were staring up at the cannon with stunned looks.

Lautia responded to Ranma with a very quick and rude sounding remark in a foreign language. Nodoka was at a loss as to what was said but everyone save Akane suddenly looked scandalized and blushed to various degrees.

“Did that really happen?” Kasumi discreetly asked Ami, her face flushed from her own drink and what had been suggested by Lautia.

“Several times.” Minako answered the question with a suggestive wink.

“Well maybe if you didn’t act like this!” Ranma berated the little Senshi who crossed her arms and started to go into a lengthy tirade in that strange language. “My fault?!” The redhead screeched. “How is this my fault? Are you seriously going to do this now? We have guests and I’m not going to have this conversation with you in front of everyone.”

“I guess it did.” Kasumi added when there was a gap between the two redheads arguing.

“That one only happened once.” Minako grimaced before admitting shamefully that she had helped.

“Fine!” Ranma agreed exasperatedly and the guardian nodded before vanishing in a small shower of sparkling light. “I’ll be back in a bit.” The girl rolled her eyes and stomped out of the doorway. “Try not to blow any holes in my castle till I get back, Mina.”

Nodoka watched her child leave as soon as she had arrived and quickly decided to follow. “Excuse me-- I’m just going to make sure everything is alright.” She explained, bowing her head politely to Hotaru on the way out. “It’s nice to see you again, dear.”

“Thank you, it’s nice to see you too, Saotome-san.” Hotaru answered her brief greeting demurely.

Nodoka paused to give Akane a concerned look. “Akane, you look as though you’ve seen a ghost, are you alright?”

“Me? Fine, fine, just fine.” The youngest Tendo answered quickly, eyes briefly darting over to Hotaru.

“If you say so, why don’t you have a seat and meet some of Ranma’s Senshi friends and their manly cat, Artemis.” She suggested and left without waiting for a response.

“Isn’t Artemis a girl’s name?” Akane asked absently causing Minako to chortle. “And did you just say cat?!” (3)

zx

Within her office, the police superintendent general, Sakurada Natsuna spun her chair back and forth while clumsily twirling a pen between her fingers. Tiredly glancing at her desk clock, she still had two and a half hours before she would leave for the night and it already felt like forever. It was nice not having to walk a beat but paperwork was such a drag. (4)

Running a hand through some of her long dark red hair, she slammed her forehead onto her desk unceremoniously. Pulling out a small framed picture of Sailor V, she gently ran her fingers over the glass. “So boring without Sailor V around.” She groaned.

Hearing a light knock on her door before it began to swing open, she quickly straightened up and tried to look presentable. Her eyes widened at leaving the picture out and hastily put that back in her desk drawer. “Yes?” She asked sweetly as one of special officers, the blond Wakagi Toshio entered.

“I have the report on the Hanazono Apartment deaths.” He placed a plain looking manilla folder in front of her. Natsuna just stared at him without comprehension on why he would give her that report. “You said you wanted to be kept up to date on any weird incidents.”

“Oh! Right! Well on your way then.” She waved a hand dismissively, eagerly taking the report from it’s folder to read, unconcerned with any response by the special officer.

“No decomposition?” She spread out the report across her desk, several disturbing photos mixed in had extra notes. showing victims with signs of a struggle; blunt force trauma or asphyxiation. None of those were singled out as the cause of death, instead everyone of them had died from complete organ failure, as though their entire body had simply shut down. It was too early to make a definitive analysis but the preliminary results matched the deaths associated with the current crop of monsters terrorizing several special wards of Tokyo.

Natsuna had already been trying to keep Sailor Venus up to date on these instances and would need to notified about this one. “This looks like a job for Sailor V.” She brought up her laptop and started to send Minako a notice. (5)

----

Well since I have Ranma/Minako as best buddies, I wanted to make a few references to her solo manga. But with the superintendent being less obviously creepy.

3 - Sailor V manga reference, basically how Minako responded upon meeting Artemis for the first time.

4 - Hey look, more Sailor V stuff! In this case the huge closet Sailor V fan superintendent and one of her special officers, Wakagi Toshio. Who wasn’t much of a fan of Minako.

5 - A Superman and Gargoyles joke all in one. Which reminds me I need to work on Between Day and Night.

 

[Lawra]

Ryoga’s orange eyes glowed faintly as she inspected her latest outfit in the changing room mirror. After seeing a second instance of just how outmatched the average demon was against Sailor Theia, she had decided to retire, and enjoy herself amongst the humans. There was no reason for her to throw her life away trying to attack such a frightfully powerful opponent when she had a choice to walk away.

“I guess you were right, this tan color does go with my hair.” She spared only the briefest of glances to the corpse sitting on a chair in the changing room. Ryoga knew that a girls measurements were important when finding clothes so she had been sized up by an attendant. Once she had those the girl had lost her usefulness.

‘Trying to coordinate with orange and purple is hard enough. But is this really something that fits me?’ Here she was, trying to find the perfect look for her new life, and all she could think of were Ranma and the Tendo sisters. What did they wear and what did their various wardrobes say about them?

Deciding that the black stretch pants and tan halter top would fit her for the moment, she exited the change room, and passed by the now empty station where the attendant had been working. Loading up her arms as she passed various racks because she had no reason to not to take everything that caught her eye, she was stopped by a taller human male wearing the stores uniform.

“Did you need some help with those?” He asked helpfully.

“No.” She simply walked past him towards the entrance.

“Checkouts are this way miss.” He placed himself between her and the doors and held his arm towards the row of cashiers helping other customers.

“Does it look like I’m carrying any money?” She snorted contemptuously, the noise making his eyes widen in confusion at the inhuman noise. “Move.” Casually shifting her burden to one arm, Ryoga grabbed him by the elbow, and easily threw him to crash through several of the checkout stands causing the humans to scream in alarm.

Unconcerned by the uproar, she strolled out of the building only to be confronted by yet another figure, this time another monster. Standing well over two meters in height, he loomed over her with his hulking muscular physique. For the most part, he appeared to be a dark skinned human, but his forward curving horns ending in sharp points and a bovine like cast to his mouth and nose immediately set him apart.

“The Master wants to know why you haven’t returned.” He asked in an excessively deep voice.

“I’m not his servant.” She narrowed her eyes and glanced to the side, seeing that several humans were on their phones frantically calling or talking to someone in a panic. “How’d you get here anyways?” Ryoga would have expected a bit more of a panic like when Pantyhose Taro showed up in his cursed form.

“None of us are alone. It’s time that we returned.” He answered.

‘Not bad.’ She smirked and nodded, imagining that he had summoned himself to her position. Their teleportation was limited to where another demon currently was. Even she found it hard to pinpoint less than two others amongst their network. For this minotaur wannabe to come to her while she was alone was impressive.

Arriving back at the abandoned hospital, she was immediately set upon by Dr. Tofu. The glasses wearing man spilling her clothing to the floor as he impotently raged in the center of his operating room. “How dare you just leave!” He shouted in her face, spraying her with flecks of his saliva. “When I give you an order you better do it!”

Slowly looking away from the irate half man creature to where her new possessions lay strewn across the floor, Ryoga patiently wiped the wetness off her face. “I’m not your pet.” She answered calmly even though her patience with the man had all but worn out.

“That’s right! I wouldn’t keep a little pig like you as a pet.” Dr. Tofu’s eyes looked to the side for only an instant before Ryoga was struck in the side of her face by a large meaty fist.

Laying on the tiled floor in a daze, she altered her appraisal of the bull oni’s abilities. She didn’t bother looking towards the large man, focusing on the one pulling his strings. “I am not a pig.” She growled.

“Oh please, I can see exactly what you are.” Tofu tapped at his glasses. “And did you think I was ignorant of your Jusenkyo curse from before? All those hints Eury left anytime you came around.”

“Eury? Who’s Eury?” She snarled, resolving to kill anyone that Ranma had told exceptionally slowly.

“Sailor Theia you thick headed piece of bacon.” Tofu scoffed, taking a very deep calming breath before straightening his black doctors coat.

‘One of the Senshi knew about my curse?’ Ryoga allowed a look of confusion to pass over her face.

“Ugh, judging by that stupid face you’re making, you haven’t even realized that Sailor Theia is your most hated rival, Saotome Ranma.” The doctor sneered as though he was revealing the most obvious truth in the universe, taking great joy in treating her like a moron.

Chuckling to herself, she finally rose back to her feet. “And you were expecting me to just walk up and kill Ranma?” Ryoga had been trying to do that for years when the gender swapping teen didn’t have access to powerful magical attacks. “Oh but you did send me out with a few worthless minions who lasted all of two seconds. Great help they were.”

“I would sacrifice every last one of you to protect my dear, sweet, innocent Kasumi from the perversions of that damn redhead!” Tofu’s face developed an angry tic in his left cheek. “I’ve tried to discretely do it myself several times. Scaring her to death, ruining her joints, severing her spinal cord, breaking her neck, even pressing a pressure point that should have left every nerve ending in her body singing a symphony of agony at the lightest of breezes.”

“So you’re a failure.” Ryoga smirked. “Is that why you ran away?”

Tofu’s glasses mysteriously began to glow as though they had caught the light perfectly. “If killing Princess Euryphaessa was so easy, we wouldn’t have had to use trickery the first time.” He answered simply. “There’s a very good reason why she was called Serenity’s Goddess of War.”

“Well then If you expect me to do it, I’m going to need to know more.” She was clearly ignorant on many very important matters and this could be one way for Tofu to make himself useful. “So why don’t you explain why you’re saying Ranma is some princess? And who this Serenity is?”

---------

Ryoga does not give any amount of a damn about the people she comes across. Also trying to get across that she's this weird dichotomous creature. Yea her insecurities and problems ended up with him being twisted into a female shape and she REALLY wants to excel at beating Ranma and the other females in her former life at various things, but at the same time she doesn't care or want to enjoy being a female. An alien mentality more concerned with her goals rather than what form she inhabits unless they coincide.

Need to keep repeating to myself that I must resist doing an info dump on Theia.

 

[Wharpt]

Y'know, based on how Hotaru has been acting, are we Suure that Mistress 9 was fully eradicated? :wacko:

I wonder what Tofu saw Sailor Theia do which drove him past the deep end? And with whom?

 

[Lawra]

Y'know, based on how Hotaru has been acting, are we Suure that Mistress 9 was fully eradicated? :wacko:

Akane is just going to need to learn her place in the friendship pecking order.

I wonder what Tofu saw Sailor Theia do which drove him past the deep end? And with whom?

I'm not sure if he'll be some nobody who saw Kasumi (who was a noble herself) and went all obsessive psychopath on her. Like Ace from Sailor V or if he will have been employed by Theia so he could have been around her more. Former works better than the latter because Theia did have a rep as a bit of a womanizer.

 

[Wharpt]

Y'know, based on how Hotaru has been acting, are we Suure that Mistress 9 was fully eradicated? :wacko:

Akane is just going to need to learn her place in the friendship pecking order.

I agree; but in Akane's place it's her father rather than her mother egging her on. If her mother were still around, by now I'm quite certain Akane would have been introduced to the back-side of a hairbrush upon her posterior.

I wonder what Tofu saw Sailor Theia do which drove him past the deep end? And with whom?

I'm not sure if he'll be some nobody who saw Kasumi (who was a noble herself) and went all obsessive psychopath on her. Like Ace from Sailor V or if he will have been employed by Theia so he could have been around her more. Former works better than the latter because Theia did have a rep as a bit of a womanizer.

I vote for the obsessive psychopathic nobody route, possibly in a guard detail of a visiting noble from Earth. Took one look at Pyrrha and, Wizzz, Bang!!!, Instant Lust! Plus an instant Hatred! of the Sun Senshi who eclipses the Beautiful Solar Wind with her evil, lustful ways!

 

[Lawra]

Ranma watched from the second story of her private quarters as her mother slowly made her way through the entrance on the bottom floor. Her quarters were made up of three progressive smaller circular floors and made up the top of the tallest tower. Leaning on the ancient wood railing surrounded the circular walkway around the middle floor, she traced over some of the intricate carved designs with one of her fingers.

While much of the castle’s stylings were somewhat generic due to being created at the beginning of the Silver Millenium, this room was a throwback to Euryphaessa’s homeworld. Like the rest of the castle, the room was built with white stone polished to a mirror shine. The color scheme of everything else matched her uniform. All the furniture being made from a deep reddish brown wood while the various items decorating were primarily red, gold, and accented by silver. The entire room was always intended to be a personal place, to only be seen by the most trusted of guests and servants.

“I guess you went the subtle route to get her here.” Ranma remarked to Lautia, the guardian hovering over the railing with her shoes lightly touching.

“Of course.” The little Senshi construct preened. “A locked door here, a light on there. It was all quite mundane.”

“Just take the compliment.” Ranma groaned and hopped over the railing to drop to the ground floor. No longer in her Senshi form, she wore golden shorts down to her knees, and an opaque baggy silver tshirt with a wide oval neck. Being spotted by the wide eyed Nodoka who was still taking in the size of the room, Ranma flicked some of her unbound hair back over her shoulders. “Hey mom, did you have any problems finding the place?”

“Ranma, what is--.” Nodoka paused to silently judging her outfit. “Just how big is this castle?” She asked, changing her train of thought.

Lautia appeared between them and coughed into her hand. “Forgive me for speaking out of turn, but the entire complex is roughly two kilometers square. While the castle itself is approximately nine hundred square meters.”

Ranma interrupted the castle’s guardian before she began to describe the size of the various living quarters and kitchens. “It’s big.” She summarized, earning an angry pout from Lautia.

“You could have at least let me try to describe the dimensions of the non-dimensional rooms.” The guardian crossed her arms and spun herself partially away from Ranma.

“Non-dimensional?” Nodoka asked in confusion.

“They require a lot of explanation.” Ranma nervously sweated, realizing the extent of explanations that she needed to give in order to get her family and friends up to speed. “I’ll show you one later but don’t you like my private quarters?” She asked excitedly and rushed over to grab Nodoka by the hand and pull her over to the library section.

“I never get to show any of it off but this is my library.” She stopped her mother in front of the wall covered from floor to ceiling with books along with four bookcases extending out towards the center of the room. “Ami loves to come and borrow them.” Ranma didn’t wait, pulling Nodoka towards a small office section covered in small stacks of books and scrolls. “Sorry it’s a bit of a mess.” She admitted in embarrassment. “Never could keep things clean when I worked.”

“You haven’t worked for centuries.” Lautia remarked while looking away innocently.

“Not here, I have my workshop for that.” Ranma stuck out her tongue before continuing on without waiting for a response from her mother. Up a flight of steps covered in red carpet with gold star designs and silver crescent moons. “This is where the walk in closets are.” She took her mother in a circular path around this level.

“Impressive.” Nodoka remarked in shock, seeing the racks of clothing in all various shapes and colors crammed into the first closet.

“Yea but me and Mina are going to need to sort through it. I’m not going to be responsible for trying to revive old styles.” She sighed and continued on to the bath area. “Here’s the bath, kind of nice.” Ranma shrugged, never really spending much time in that particular room even if it did have nice water to soak in.

“It’s quite beautiful.” Nodoka tried to offer resistance to get a better view of the bath area. Perfectly white tile with a small red border around everything, intricate silver faucets, and a full wall dedicated to looking out into space.

“Lautia likes to keep this vanity here even though I never use it.” Ranma indicated a giant vanity with an extensive collection of untouched cosmetics, and several dozen large drawers underneath.

“Except when you want to practice your ‘look at me, I’m so cool’ faces.” Lautia followed to skip across the desk.

“Lautia, go make sure everyone is getting along.” She ordered.

“I already was, but I’ll give it my undivided attention.” The castle guardian bowed her head respectfully and vanished.

“That was rude.” Nodoka commented disapprovingly. “You should be nicer to her.”

“Mom!” Ranma whined dramatically. “It’s her job to do what I say.” She added.

“That doesn’t excuse you from good manners.” The elder Saotome chastised. “I think you should apologize and be more appreciative of her in the future.”

“Alright.” Her shoulder slumped in defeat, not that she would really do it. Several thousand years alone had made Lautia a little loopy from all the free time and choice. Regaining her line of thought, she went behind Nodoka and pushed her towards the steps to the top floor. “No sense trying to apologize now, she’s got things to do.”

“Son, you don’t need to push me.” Nodoka sternly told her after Ranma had finally maneuvered her to the top floor.

“Sorry.” Ranma apologized. “But isn’t this great?” She gestured around them.

The floor was dominated by a large round bed with a wood frame. An embroidered version of Theia’s symbol, a crescent moon surrounding a smaller circle with another cut out from it, in silver with gold outlines. There was only a small half meter wall while the rest was an open view out into space. Around the outside were several small chairs and tables with several lamps, one an out of place violet color. The ceiling was made of a dome obscured by another space scape like in the great hall, with the planets slowly moving about their orbits.

“Yes it’s all very impressive.” Nodoka admitted, her eyes falling on several framed photographs that she approached. “Is this a picture of all the Senshi?” She asked, holding up one that showed all of them hanging out at Rei’s shrine.

‘So glad I had Lautia hide all the embarrassing ones.’ Ranma just smiled and nodded.

“And this one? Who is this woman?” Nodoka moved onto one from the Silver Millenium.

Her smile became slightly forced. “That’s Euryphaessa.” Ranma answered. The picture showed a young Minako of eight in her sailor fuku looking away bashfully from Artemis who was a tiny kitten. Kneeling between them was Sailor Theia after she had stopped aging around twenty two years old, also in her Senshi clothes, and giving a similar strained but much more reassuring smile. “That’s from when Minako and Artemis first met.” She added as an explanation.

“Are you going to look like this again?” Nodoka’s eyes twinkled with a strangely hopeful quality.

“Most likely.” She shrugged, wanting to be tall again more than living up to the description of goddess.

“It’s too bad that you must be manly.” The Saotome matriarch had a slightly manic smile on her face as she placed the photo back down. “Did-- Euryph--.” Nodoka’s face scrunched up in distaste at being unable to pronounce the name properly. “Euryphaessa, have any children?”

“Nah, I was too busy.” Ranma hoped that Nodoka wouldn’t dig into whether or not she had had any suitors, and especially not which gender. “Besides-- even if I was highly sought after, there was just no way I could accept anyone who didn’t meet my high standards.” She added haughtily.

“It’s too bad Genma doesn’t share that view.” Nodoka looked over several of the other photos that were mostly shots of Ranma with other Senshi.

“Pop does have a lot of-- really dumb ideas.” Her mind slowly tried to figure out a way to work the conversation to where she wanted it to go.

“Son, did you have something you wanted to ask me?” The elder Saotome asked in concern. “You went through a lot of trouble to get me here.”

“Kind of--.” She looked up and away. “I can tell you’re not really on board for me being a female warrior for love and justice.”

“I am very skittish over it, yes.”

“I just wanted to give you a heads up that after I go back downstairs, I am going to hang out with my friends. I’m just throwing this out there--.” Taking a seat on her huge bed, Ranma looked down at her lap. “But please tell me now if you think you can’t handle all of this.”

“I’m trying very hard not to be too judgemental.” Her mother took a seat next to her. “As the wife of a martial artist I can handle weird things. But if I need to be patient then you should be patient with me as well.”

“I will.” Ranma felt like a great weight had been lifted from her mind and she reached up to pull out her circular hair ornament to place in her mother’s hands. “And I want you to have this.”

“It’s very pretty.” Nodoka felt around the exterior of the silver piece.

“The front always changes.” She explained, pointing to how it looked like the Sun was setting and the Moon was rising. “But you’ll only really notice after looking away.”

“Thank you, son.” The elder Saotome hesitantly leaned in to hug her around the shoulders in gratitude.

“And if you’re ever in trouble, you just need to open it up and press the crystal on the inside. It’ll bring you to the castle.” Ranma added. “Or if you just want to come to visit, but I am still working out a way to send you back so make sure one of us is going to be here.”

Her mother squeezed the item between her hands and Ranma saw that she was starting to cry. “Mom, what’s wrong?!” She asked in panic.

“Nothing’s wrong dear.” Nodoka closed her eyes and let the hair ornament fall to her lap sos he could cover her mouth with her hands. “This is just the first thing you’ve ever gave me. I feel like I’ve missed out on so much.”

“It’ll be alright.” Ranma nervously wringing her hands together, unsure on what was expected of her. “Trust me when I say we’ll have plenty of time together.”

-------

Adorable Chibi-Minako meeting adorable tiny kitten Artemis and both of them actually being bashful. The image in my head is just painfully cute.

 

[Lawra]

See next post

 

[Lawra]

Akane’s eyes were wide and the corners of her mouth twisted upwards in a small smile as she knelt on the carpeted floor, her funny tasting space drink held between both hands. A low table had been summoned from thin air and placed in the center of the room so they could all be closer together. She was still getting over being kidnapped to Saturn, but even that couldn’t stop her exuberance at being in the room with three Sailor Senshi at once.

Minako was so pretty with her golden hair, blue eyes, and bubbly personality. She was a perfect fit for Sailor Venus. Ami seemed so calm, gentle, and studious. ‘And her hair is styled like mine! I look like Sailor Mercury!’ She internally squealed in glee, fully prepared to run down to a store and pick up more Mercury specific merchandise.

Unfortunately Hotaru decided to ruin her moment of happiness from her place sitting to Akane’s right. “Akane, are you alright? You’re staring off into space.” The girl with a Nabiki-like hair bob asked, sounding sincere enough, even though Akane knew it all had to be a trick.

“Just happy to be here.” She answered with an overly exaggerated smile.

“What a relief. I’m glad you didn’t take my little joke seriously.”

“Did you get it on video?” Minako immediately asked with intense curiosity.

“I couldn’t possibly show that to anyone!” Hotaru gasped in scandalized shock. “It was a private moment between me and my new friend.”

“So you did!” The blonde’s grin grew so big that her face must have hurt. “Quick, send it to my phone.” Minako quickly pulled out a cell phone in gold with a familiar design and checked it in eager anticipation, even though Hotaru made no move to do as requested.

‘Maybe I’m not such a huge Sailor Venus fan after all.’ Akane grimaced at learning that Hotaru had been not only trying to scare her, but had recorded it. If only she could get her hands on it, then she would be able to show Ranma that Hotaru wasn’t the friend she claimed to be!

“Akane-san, it’s nice that Hotaru-chan wants to be your friend. She’s usually so reclusive.” Ami congratulated her.

“Oh, I feel-- honored.” She didn’t know how someone so gentle as Ami could be in cahoots with someone like Hotaru. Her mind wandered to a perfect world where it was the nice Ami who expressed a deep sincere desire to be friends.

‘Akane-san let’s be friends!’ Sailor Mercury announced grandly.

‘I would love to be friends with you!’ Akane answered back.

‘Can I call you Akane-chan?’

‘Only if I can call you Ami-chan!’

‘Let’s be best friends forever!’ They exclaimed together.

Akane looked away absently, too lost in her innocent and pure girlish daydream to respond to Kasumi wondering if she was alright. The only thing that was able to bring her back to the real world was the only male voice in the room.

“I think she’s lost to us.” Artemis noted in amusement.

“Huh?” She asked intelligently, looking down at the talking white cat who was sitting on the floor next to her.

“You were staring out into space.” Kasumi explained softly, her face lightly flushed.

“I was just deep in thought.” She crossed her arms irritably.

“I’ll let you pet me if it’ll make you feel better.” Artemis offered, rolling onto his side, and waving a paw beckoningly.

‘Pervert cat.’ Akane didn’t know if it was appropriate to smash the feline yet. She should probably do something to get rid of him so that when Ranma returned with his mother he wouldn’t start screaming his head off. It was simply amazing that Ranma and his Senshi friends would have overlooked bringing this talking cat here.

She only had a short time to try and figure out a way to politely ask the perverted cat to leave, when Ranma returned unceremoniously with Nodoka close at the younger redheads side. Her fiance was still in female form, wearing a feminine outfit that made her look exceedingly cute, and planted herself between Akane and Hotaru at the table in a cross legged position. Akane’s mind nearly imploded when Ranma picked up and hugged the white cat to her chest. Her eyes bugging out of her skull at the impossible sight.

“I should visit more often.” Artemis half purred.

“Is Mina not paying you enough attention?” Ranma asked in a cutesy voice, glancing over at the blonde who was making a big show of rolling her eyes while scrolling through something on her phone.

“He’s spoiled rotten.” Minako answered without looking away from the device.

“I believe it.” Ranma laughed lightly to herself, still holding the happily purring white cat in her arms. “Hey tomboy, if you stare at me like that much longer your face will stay that way.” Ranma remarked, having noticed Akane’s stare.

“Ranma-- you’re holding a cat.” She nervously pointed out, noting that Nodoka had taken a seat on the far side of Hotaru, and was now staring at her curiously.

“Artemis isn’t a cat. He’s a Mau.” Ranma answered as though it had been obvious the whole time. She released the cat so that he could sit in the space between her legs, facing out towards the group. “Lautia, drinks please.” The redhead spoke to no one and a glass appeared on the table in front of her and Nodoka.

“Oh-- okay, that makes sense.” Akane laughed to herself awkwardly as she noticed that she had become the center of attention. “Nevermind then.”

“So, what’s everyone been up to?” Ranma asked, dismissing Akane’s concern over the feline, and taking a small sip of her beverage. “Mina, why are you smiling like that?”

“I was just wondering--.” Minako clasped her cell phone in front of her chest while trying to look innocent. “Did you want to borrow Artemis for a few days?”

“What?” Artemis asked in confusion.

“I just wanted to give you some time away from my tyranny!” The blonde exclaimed dramatically.

“Maybe-- Is it alright, Kasumi?” Ranma shrugged and asked the quiet home maker. “Can we save poor Artemis?” She added, bending down to hold her arms protectively around the confused white cat.

“I don’t see why not.” Kasumi answered after a long moment of her face scrunched up into thought.

“But Kasumi, Ranma can’t just bring home strange animals.” Akane protested, not wanting the perverted feline to be skulking around her home.

“Like your pet pig, P-chan?” Her eldest sister asked.

“That’s different!” Akane protested loudly. “He’s just a normal pig, no special anything, I thought you wanted to keep being a Senshi a secret? Isn’t bringing a talking cat home putting it out there?” She asked, unable to find any fault with her unassailable reasoning.

“I think he would fit in just fine.” Nodoka ignored all of Akane’s well thought out arguments to say something completely insane.

“Artemis is careful to never reveal himself.” Ami added.

“That we know of.” Minako narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the white cat who glanced away nervously.

“Why does it bother you so much?” Hotaru asked with the same gentle tone of voice that Kasumi used.

“But what about Ranma and-- cats.” Akane froze up, realizing how dangerously close she was to having to bring up the neko-ken with Nodoka.

“What about my son and cats?” Nodoka asked sternly, not having missed the tone of Akane’s remark.

“Nothing! Akane just doesn’t want to admit that she was showing off my autograph to my new fanclub.” Ranma hastily interjected.

“A fanclub!?” Minako halfway crawled over the table in excitement.

“Yup.” Ranma nodded proudly.

“But you don’t even merchandise! Which I offered to help you with by the way and that offer is still open.”

“That’s not really a requirement to have a fanclub.” Ami pointed out helpfully.

“They want to thank me for getting rid of those monsters that attacked their party in the gym.” The redhead went on to explain.

“How did you find out about it?” Akane asked, having had no clue that there was a Sailor Theia fanclub.

“Before school this morning.” Ranma answered with a shrug. “Yuka and Sayuri asked me to give myself an invitation.”

“That was nice of them.” She absently chewed on her lower lip.

“Are they friends of yours?” Nodoka asked Ranma.

“No, they’re friends of Akane.”

Akane only nodded dimly, feeling disconnected from the outside world. ‘Oh.’ She winced when she remembered that she had mentioned that Ranma had gotten her Theia’s autograph. ‘Oh.’ Akane realized that she had inadvertently directly associated her fiance with the Sailor Senshi. “And you’re going?” She suddenly blurted out.

“Why not?” Ranma asked cluelessly.

“You should take Artemis.” Minako suggested before Akane could explain why she thought it was a bad idea. “Can’t be a magical girl without a talking animal companion.” The blonde gave Ranma a big wink.

“You forgot that I’m cute!” Artemis added indignantly.

“I don’t believe I did.”

“Maybe a dual appearance?” Hotaru suggested while ignoring Minako and Artemis as the two stuck out their tongues at each other.

Ranma’s face lit up. “That’d be great! But it’s right after school, are you able to get out of your club to come over to Furinkan?”

“Not a problem.” Hotaru answered with a big, highly suspicious grin on her face. “And afterwards, Akane and I can go out and do something fun together.” The dark violet haired girl added.

“Sorry, I already have plans.” Akane quickly tried to shut down whatever scheme Hotaru was hatching.

“That’s too bad. I was really hoping we could get to know each other.” Hotaru actually sounded sad but Akane wasn’t about to be fooled.

“In that case, would you like to come for dinner?” Nodoka asked the Senshi of Saturn.

“I’d love to.” Hotaru answered gratefully.

“Um-- what are we going to do about dinner tonight?” Kasumi asked worriedly.

“Lautia has been practicing something she saw on the tv.” Ranma lightly tapped the table with her hand and the small guardian arrived in a sparkly shower of light. “Ready?”

“Of course!” The miniature girl boasted and the table started to glow with flecks of light.

zx

“It seems unnaturally still, as though he-who-must-not-be-named has returned.” Genma solemnly remarked, stealthily following the hallway towards where a meal fit for an emperor should have been waiting. Even though he had been away from his wife for well over a decade, his nose could always identify her cooking. Feeling even more like something was amiss as he passed the kitchen, Genma stopped to peer inside and found no signs of food preparation.

Chibi-Usa ignored him, the pink haired child hurrying on her way to fill her empty stomach. “Food.” The little girl groaned.

‘I guess she did pretty good today, maybe I won’t take all of her food as a reward.’ Genma imagined himself to be such a magnanimous teacher even though he had always been bad at keeping promises.

‘That’s not my wife’s cooking.’ He frowned at what his senses relayed back to him and the fact that Nabiki had several take out boxes piled on the table while Soun was staring at a receipt with tears in his eyes.

“Food!” Chibi-Usa exclaimed in glee and found the energy to run up to drop down in front of the only other plate than the one Nabiki was eating out of.

‘I guess I didn’t work her hard enough.’ Genma lamented how soft he had become that he hadn’t been able to thoroughly beat his student into the ground.

“Nuh uh.” Nabiki tutted, pulling the food away from Usa to place next to her on the floor. “Who said that was for you? Small Lady?”

“Who?” Chibi-Usa asked and laughed in an overly nervous and awkward way.

“You, Small Lady!” A high pitched and slightly shrill young girl’s voice was heard before a gray cat jumped up standing on its hind legs and leaning onto the table. “Trying to steal my food isn’t very proper!”

“Ah! A talking cat! I’ve never seen one of those before!” The young girl exclaimed in completely false surprise.

“So it’s a big surprise that she knows all about you.” Nabiki smiled widely.

“Well I should get changed, so I’ll just take this kitten with me and find out why she thinks she knows me!” Chibi-Usa quickly gathered up the cat in her arms and ran out of the room before anyone could stop her.

“Far too much energy. I’ll have to train her much harder tomorrow. Isn’t that right, Tendo?” He elbowed his old training partner in the ribs, having procured the extra plate of food for himself now that the talking cat was gone.

“Right-- she should be so tired that she has to sleep under the stars.” Soun answered absently before sniffling. “My money.”

“Where is everyone?” Genma asked, ignoring the paltry monetary concern.

“They’re all on a trip with Ranma.” Nabiki answered while suspiciously looking out the door that Usagi had left through. “At least that’s what the cat said.”

‘What’s the boy up to? At least he’s spending time with Akane. That’s always good.’ He mused while inhaling the overpriced food Nabiki had ordered. “That cat needs to go.” Genma said between mouthfuls.

His mustache faced friend’s eyes widened in alarm. “The neko-ken! What are we going to do, Saotome? If your wife sees Ranma go running away from a kitten screaming, she’ll want him to commit seppuku!”

“Neither of you two are concerned about how Usa reacted to that cat?” Nabiki asked with one of her eyebrows raised.

“Should we be? What’s important is that Ranma never sees that cat.” Genma shrugged, totally unconcerned over a talking cat being familiar with his niece. It was only natural for a Saotome to come into contact with odd creatures.

zx

Step after step, Kasumi climbed high up in the tower following the spiral stairs with Ranma at her side. Dinner had ended only a short time before and Ranma had wasted little time in using a small diversion to pull her out the door to head out into the castle. Pausing on one of the landings placed every one third the way around the exterior, she gazed out a two meter tall window that came to a point at the top out into space. The Earth and Moon looked so big and beautiful, like they were close enough to reach out and touch.

“Ranma, your castle is so pretty.” She commented with a little giggle in her voice. Feeling warm all over and like her brain was kind of tingly. “It’s like a fairy tale.”

“Just don’t expect to find your prince; Usagi has that market cornered.” Ranma joked, the smaller girl squeezing in next to her to lean on the window sill to stare out into the stars.

“Is that supposed to be some kind of pick up line?” Kasumi asked suggestively, feeling much bolder than she normally did. She barely remembered the blonde Usagi from a brief meeting months ago. “Like Lautia mentioned?”

The redhead pouted cutely as she spun to face Kasumi and crossed her arms. “I did not spend my time luring girls from Earth to my bed chambers.”

“I know-- I think.” She got the distinct feeling that Lautia had been being overly dramatic and putting on a show earlier. “And I can’t imagine you being so forward as to secret me away to a private room with my violent maniac of a younger sister so close by.” Kasumi turned with her hands clasped in front of her hips to look down the stairs.

“I wouldn’t trust Mina not to bring her up to peek if I did.”

“I’m sure your mother would be interested in your love life as well.” She brought up her right hand to hide her smile.

“That’d be even worse.” Ranma groaned and they fell into an awkward silence.

Kasumi fidgeted with her hands before finally being the one to speak first. “Where are you taking me?”

“We’re almost there, come on.” The redhead briefly jumped excitedly in place before rushing off up the steps at a pace Kasumi would never be able to keep.

Gathering up her dress so it couldn’t possibly get caught, she hurried after the Senshi. “Ranma, wait up!” She called out, not wanting to get lost in the large castle.

“It’s right here.” Ranma was waiting at the top of the next landing and clearly waiting impatiently for her.

“What is?” She asked, noticing the single doorway with a tall wooden doorway decorated by flame motifs as a border.

“Your room.” The redhead answered with a large smile.

“I have a room here?” Kasumi realized how stupid of a question it was but she was still coming to grips with the idea of having her own past life.

“Of course, my room is at the top, so as my advisor you needed to be near me.” Ranma explained and lightly pushed the door open.

‘This was mine?’ She wondered as she passed through the threshold with Ranma following a respectable distance behind her.

Shaped like a quarter of a circle, the curved wall was taken up by a window out into space covered by blue curtains that were opaque on the top half and sheer on the bottom. In the center of the wall was a long bed with covers depicting gently rolling waves pointing towards the doorway. To her right an area was blocked off with a shoulder height paper wall that allowed her to see light wooden closets lining the wall. Kasumi could even see that the kimono she had arrived in was hanging properly from a hanger off one of them.

A long desk ran along the left wall with a white cushioned stool slid underneath. Kasumi let her hand trail across it’s smooth surface as she explored, wanting to see what the doorway on this wall led to. It opened into a white tile western bathroom that was much larger than the one at her home and included a vanity area next to the sink.

“Inspire any memories?” Ranma asked expectantly, interrupting Kasumi’s inspection from her place sitting on the desk.

Slowly looking over the entirety of the room from her place at the entrance to the bath, she shook her head side to side. “No.”

“Really?” The redhead asked worriedly. “Nothing at all?”

“It seems familiar.” She felt at the material of the curtains, enjoying the cool smoothness of the sheer fabric before looking down at the wooden window sill that held some small trinkets she couldn’t identify. “Like it’s my room if I decorated differently.” Holding up a small oddly shaped and reflective black stone, she moved it between her hands while marveling at it’s weightlessness.

“That’s a good way to look at it.” Ranma suggested from right at Kasumi’s side, having closed the distance while she had been distracted. “Anytime you want to come spend the night you’re more than welcome to. This is all yours after all.”

“It’s a stranger's room.” She concluded uncomfortably and placed the featherlight stone back down. Being in this place felt familiar but wrong. The room was spartan but held all the little touches of a woman who had filled it with things she cared about. A woman who had died a very long time ago. ‘Almost like someone’s tomb.’ She thought sadly, backing away from the window so she couldn’t disturb anything else.

“Kasumi? Are you alright?” Ranma stepped in front of her, concerned blue eyes questioning her.

“This is-- it’s beautiful and I’m honored that my past self got to live in a place like this.” She closed her eyes so that she didn’t have to look into Ranma’s. “But, I’m not comfortable being here and I’d like to go.”

“If you don’t like the room, I’m sure Lautia would love to redecorate it for you. Anything you want. It’d be good to give her something to do.” Ranma started to ramble on and picked at the bedding.

“Ranma!” She blurted out overly harshly, making the smaller girl jerk in shock. “Sorry, maybe if I remember more it won’t feel so wrong-- this is all just too much too soon.”

“I’m sorry, I’m pressuring you to remember when I should know better.” Ranma bowed her head.

“It’s cause you miss her a lot, right?” Kasumi hesitantly patted the smaller girl on the shoulder to try and be reassuring.

“I miss all the friends that I’ll never see again.” The redhead laughed softly and sadly to herself. “So I’ll do anything to hold onto the ones I still have.”

“You didn’t need to bring me to a fancy space castle to show that.” She took one last quick look around the room that Ranma had simply given her. ‘You’re such a sweet overcompensating idiot.’ Kasumi smiled fondly at the resolute faced Senshi.

“Maybe-- doesn’t hurt, right?” Ranma shrugged and deflated into herself.

“No, it doesn’t.” On a whim, she gave the vulnerable girl a brief hug. “And I’m happy that you finally don’t have to keep everything a secret.”

“My mom seems like she can handle it if I give her space-- not too sure about Akane. She’s been-- looking at me funny.” Ranma sighed.

“If you do more nice things like this for her, I know she’ll be fine.” She answered reassuringly.

“Do you think I should try and do that right now?” Ranma’s brief moment of weakness had passed and her entire demeanor shifted, as though she could go off and eagerly conquer any challenge.

“I would advise you to do that before she has too many of those special beverages.”