The apartment I'd settled on was in a slightly nicer building than Makoto's previous once, but compensated with a lousy view, right across a street at another apartment block. It wasn't huge, even by Japanese standards, either. Still, my taste in housing is a little cozier than most - a byproduct of having a small library of books to occupy it. I'd manage.
Caught up in the domesticity of moving in, I was caught quite offguard when I walked out of the door to fetch one last box of household items from the downstairs lobby and found myself practically face to face with Ten'ou Haruka and some blond bishonen. Or more likely a girl, given Haruka's tastes. They were both laden with shopping bags, clothes at a guess, and Haruka looked like she'd been in the wars lately, sticking plasters visible in a couple of places and moving stiffly.
I bowed politely (I'm not an entirely uncultured barbarian) and stepped aside to let them go past. Haruka didn't leave it at that though.
"Hi, you just moving in?" she asked, reaching for her keys. Holy hell, she was going to be living opposite me?
"Uh," I stumbled verbally, reprocessing from 'idle greeting to neighbour' to 'actual conversation'. "Yeah. Kino Makoto. I just moved into the area."
"I'm Ten'ou Haruka, by the way. Oh, and this is my deadbeat roommate... which one was the family name again?"
He (I spotted an adam's apple) sighed. "The longer one."
Haruka dumped her bags inside her front door. "Schr÷dinger Katz. Want a hand with your stuff? He's got a strong back and a simple mind."
I couldn't help myself. "How very Heisenberg." There was something very familiar about him but I couldn't quite place it. And that was an alias, I was sure of it.
"I need to stock up on more oppression quotes. Monty Python's getting repetitive," 'Katz' muttered and passed her his bags. I wouldn't have thought he was her type, but then what do I know? The Outer Scouts didn't turn up until a year or more after Beryl got her butt whipped, for whatever the canon chain of events was worth.
"I've just got one more box to get," I told him. "Not a problem. But if you're up to helping me get stuff out of boxes, I think I've got some half-decent coffee somewhere in the mess." It'd go to waste otherwise, I don't drink the stuff. Lord only knows how Makoto got hold of it in Japan. I thought that they were tea-drinkers.
He grinned. "Suddely that box looks all shiny and new."
"You know..." Haruka drawled.
"The innuendo is killing you, yes," Katz replied dryly. "You're a big girl, you can handle it." He had to dodge an elbow at that point.
I raised an eyebrow and decided to let that one pass: I was quite a bit larger than Haruka in some dimensions, including height. "I'll be back in a moment."
As I headed for the stairs I heard him mutter: "Hate to see her leave, love watching her walking away." and Haruka hummed in agreement. Flattering, in a vaguely disturbing way. I was quite happily in denial about any long term consequences of being in Makoto's body and going to stay that way as long as I could manage it.
Returning with the last box, I ushered the two of them in ahead of me. It was with Katz's back turned that I realised why he looked familiar - his ponytail was much the same style that Zoisite had sported in the anime. He had a similar look in general, actually - although from his comments earlier he seemed unlikely to show up as a blip on the old gaydar, suggesting that the resemblence was entirely coincidental. It didn't necessarily mean he was benign of course, any more than it meant he was a threat.
"I'd offer you seats," I said, indicating the couch, which was stacked high with more of Makoto's possessions, "But I don't have any to offer right now. If you can bring those boxes through to the kitchen I can get the kettle going."
There was more than just the kettle in the boxes of course, and I started stowing the items away around the kitchen according to what felt right for Makoto, not my own preferences while the water was boiling. Haruka hadn't surprised me by lifting boxes easily, she was easily as athletic as I was now, but Katz didn't look like any sort of bodybuilder, despite hefting even the largest of boxes with considerable ease.
I'm not any sort of connissour of coffee but it smelt pretty good even in the rather inappropriate tea cups I had to use. Katz and Haruka both seemed to appreciate it, in any case. They'd been quite a help sorting the boxes out into the appropriate rooms (of which I had only four and two, the bathroom and kitchen, were very small).
"You're right, this is pretty good," Katz admitted.
Haruka snorted "And you would know how? With how much sugar you've put into it, you must have killed any taste entirely."
He took another mouthful, studiously ignoring the jibe
"So, it looks like we'll be neighbors from now on," observed the blonde girl. "I only moved in recently myself, but if you have any questions about this place, feel free to drop by."
Oddly enough, that was quite helpful to me on some of the mundanities of life: Katz recommended a laundromat a block and a half away as being cheaper than the apartment complex's own laundry room and Haruka told me there was a decent grocery store on the way there. Apparently she cooked, which I wouldn't have guessed and and probably should have. With that groundwork done I nodded. "On a more tabloid issue - the rent here's a little less than I expected. The estate agent didn't seem to want to say why, but I guess that it's something to do with those news reports about monster attacks in the area?"
"If you're asking if there's been any here," Haruka said, "Then no. If you're asking about the area in general..." She grimaced and almost rubbed her shoulder before she caught the reaction.
Katz also seemed bothered by the question. "We did catch a glimpse or two," he admitted. "And there was that nastiness on Shinfurukawabashi bridge a few nights back, but it's mostly been rumors otherwise."
Shinfurukawabashi? Huh. I didn't recall any of the others mentioning a fight there, although I had noticed that traffic was being diverted around it to everyone's general irritation. Might simply not have been one of us, of course. Tux-boy didn't exactly share all his activities - or co-ordinate well except when Usagi cracked the whip - figuratively speaking, I hoped. "Well that makes me feel better about it," I deadpanned.
"Then why move to Minato in the first place, if you don't mind me asking?" Katz asked, narrowing his eyes. Damn, but he did look like Zoisite, except much less camp. Weird coincidence. "What with the news reports... though I'm sure someone will say something about weather balloons and swamp-gas soon enough, and people will unanimously latch onto that."
Oops. That was a weak point in my arguement. Well, if in doubt, press onwards. "I'm training to be a miko at the Hikawa Shrine, and the commute was turning into a nightmare," I explained. "The whole monster thing blew up about the same time. To be honest opinion there is about evenly split between thinking that priestly training is sufficient protection and hoping that the Sailor Senshi will turn up to protect them, regardless of the actual severity or otherwise of the threat. Men!"
Katz started coughing as something about that sent coffee down the wrong pipe. Haruka merely grinned. "Wouldn't mind them turning up to protect me," she said cheerfully. "Those short skirts... yowza!"
I have to admit that Haruka had a point. Not so much the skirts as what they don't cover. I still want mine longer though. And yes, that makes me a hypocrite. Write this down someplace: I don't care.
"Four girls will stand against the youma, demons and the forces of darkness," Katz declared in dramatic tones. "They are the Senshi."
"Sounds like an introduction blurb to a sentai series," she told him and then elbowed him lightly below the ribs. "Admit it, you wouldn't mind getting a close look at them, would you?"
The man shot her a slightly amused expression, as if she was missing something obvious, although what it might be I could not guess. "I'd consider it almost inevitable, the way they've been popping up all over the place. And I certainly wouldn't protest too much," he admitted.
"I admit that the whole matter seemed quite harmless until the musical madness started," I conceded. "Off course, at that point the wheels of bureaucracy had already creaked into motion with regard to moving schools, so it was a touch late to change my mind. And I'm not sure I'd want to, how did you put it, fight the 'forces of darkness' wearing a skirt quite that short."
Caught up in the domesticity of moving in, I was caught quite offguard when I walked out of the door to fetch one last box of household items from the downstairs lobby and found myself practically face to face with Ten'ou Haruka and some blond bishonen. Or more likely a girl, given Haruka's tastes. They were both laden with shopping bags, clothes at a guess, and Haruka looked like she'd been in the wars lately, sticking plasters visible in a couple of places and moving stiffly.
I bowed politely (I'm not an entirely uncultured barbarian) and stepped aside to let them go past. Haruka didn't leave it at that though.
"Hi, you just moving in?" she asked, reaching for her keys. Holy hell, she was going to be living opposite me?
"Uh," I stumbled verbally, reprocessing from 'idle greeting to neighbour' to 'actual conversation'. "Yeah. Kino Makoto. I just moved into the area."
"I'm Ten'ou Haruka, by the way. Oh, and this is my deadbeat roommate... which one was the family name again?"
He (I spotted an adam's apple) sighed. "The longer one."
Haruka dumped her bags inside her front door. "Schr÷dinger Katz. Want a hand with your stuff? He's got a strong back and a simple mind."
I couldn't help myself. "How very Heisenberg." There was something very familiar about him but I couldn't quite place it. And that was an alias, I was sure of it.
"I need to stock up on more oppression quotes. Monty Python's getting repetitive," 'Katz' muttered and passed her his bags. I wouldn't have thought he was her type, but then what do I know? The Outer Scouts didn't turn up until a year or more after Beryl got her butt whipped, for whatever the canon chain of events was worth.
"I've just got one more box to get," I told him. "Not a problem. But if you're up to helping me get stuff out of boxes, I think I've got some half-decent coffee somewhere in the mess." It'd go to waste otherwise, I don't drink the stuff. Lord only knows how Makoto got hold of it in Japan. I thought that they were tea-drinkers.
He grinned. "Suddely that box looks all shiny and new."
"You know..." Haruka drawled.
"The innuendo is killing you, yes," Katz replied dryly. "You're a big girl, you can handle it." He had to dodge an elbow at that point.
I raised an eyebrow and decided to let that one pass: I was quite a bit larger than Haruka in some dimensions, including height. "I'll be back in a moment."
As I headed for the stairs I heard him mutter: "Hate to see her leave, love watching her walking away." and Haruka hummed in agreement. Flattering, in a vaguely disturbing way. I was quite happily in denial about any long term consequences of being in Makoto's body and going to stay that way as long as I could manage it.
Returning with the last box, I ushered the two of them in ahead of me. It was with Katz's back turned that I realised why he looked familiar - his ponytail was much the same style that Zoisite had sported in the anime. He had a similar look in general, actually - although from his comments earlier he seemed unlikely to show up as a blip on the old gaydar, suggesting that the resemblence was entirely coincidental. It didn't necessarily mean he was benign of course, any more than it meant he was a threat.
"I'd offer you seats," I said, indicating the couch, which was stacked high with more of Makoto's possessions, "But I don't have any to offer right now. If you can bring those boxes through to the kitchen I can get the kettle going."
There was more than just the kettle in the boxes of course, and I started stowing the items away around the kitchen according to what felt right for Makoto, not my own preferences while the water was boiling. Haruka hadn't surprised me by lifting boxes easily, she was easily as athletic as I was now, but Katz didn't look like any sort of bodybuilder, despite hefting even the largest of boxes with considerable ease.
I'm not any sort of connissour of coffee but it smelt pretty good even in the rather inappropriate tea cups I had to use. Katz and Haruka both seemed to appreciate it, in any case. They'd been quite a help sorting the boxes out into the appropriate rooms (of which I had only four and two, the bathroom and kitchen, were very small).
"You're right, this is pretty good," Katz admitted.
Haruka snorted "And you would know how? With how much sugar you've put into it, you must have killed any taste entirely."
He took another mouthful, studiously ignoring the jibe
"So, it looks like we'll be neighbors from now on," observed the blonde girl. "I only moved in recently myself, but if you have any questions about this place, feel free to drop by."
Oddly enough, that was quite helpful to me on some of the mundanities of life: Katz recommended a laundromat a block and a half away as being cheaper than the apartment complex's own laundry room and Haruka told me there was a decent grocery store on the way there. Apparently she cooked, which I wouldn't have guessed and and probably should have. With that groundwork done I nodded. "On a more tabloid issue - the rent here's a little less than I expected. The estate agent didn't seem to want to say why, but I guess that it's something to do with those news reports about monster attacks in the area?"
"If you're asking if there's been any here," Haruka said, "Then no. If you're asking about the area in general..." She grimaced and almost rubbed her shoulder before she caught the reaction.
Katz also seemed bothered by the question. "We did catch a glimpse or two," he admitted. "And there was that nastiness on Shinfurukawabashi bridge a few nights back, but it's mostly been rumors otherwise."
Shinfurukawabashi? Huh. I didn't recall any of the others mentioning a fight there, although I had noticed that traffic was being diverted around it to everyone's general irritation. Might simply not have been one of us, of course. Tux-boy didn't exactly share all his activities - or co-ordinate well except when Usagi cracked the whip - figuratively speaking, I hoped. "Well that makes me feel better about it," I deadpanned.
"Then why move to Minato in the first place, if you don't mind me asking?" Katz asked, narrowing his eyes. Damn, but he did look like Zoisite, except much less camp. Weird coincidence. "What with the news reports... though I'm sure someone will say something about weather balloons and swamp-gas soon enough, and people will unanimously latch onto that."
Oops. That was a weak point in my arguement. Well, if in doubt, press onwards. "I'm training to be a miko at the Hikawa Shrine, and the commute was turning into a nightmare," I explained. "The whole monster thing blew up about the same time. To be honest opinion there is about evenly split between thinking that priestly training is sufficient protection and hoping that the Sailor Senshi will turn up to protect them, regardless of the actual severity or otherwise of the threat. Men!"
Katz started coughing as something about that sent coffee down the wrong pipe. Haruka merely grinned. "Wouldn't mind them turning up to protect me," she said cheerfully. "Those short skirts... yowza!"
I have to admit that Haruka had a point. Not so much the skirts as what they don't cover. I still want mine longer though. And yes, that makes me a hypocrite. Write this down someplace: I don't care.
"Four girls will stand against the youma, demons and the forces of darkness," Katz declared in dramatic tones. "They are the Senshi."
"Sounds like an introduction blurb to a sentai series," she told him and then elbowed him lightly below the ribs. "Admit it, you wouldn't mind getting a close look at them, would you?"
The man shot her a slightly amused expression, as if she was missing something obvious, although what it might be I could not guess. "I'd consider it almost inevitable, the way they've been popping up all over the place. And I certainly wouldn't protest too much," he admitted.
"I admit that the whole matter seemed quite harmless until the musical madness started," I conceded. "Off course, at that point the wheels of bureaucracy had already creaked into motion with regard to moving schools, so it was a touch late to change my mind. And I'm not sure I'd want to, how did you put it, fight the 'forces of darkness' wearing a skirt quite that short."