Since it's been a few months since the last chapter, I thought
I'd repost this...  There's some minor revision, but nothing of
particular importance.

			Future Perfect
			Book One: Past Tense
			Part One

				=^.^=

	"A crisis in the past."

	The girl stared at her older brother for a moment before
breaking into sudden gales of laughter.  He watched, nonplussed, until
she finally ran out of breath.  Between gasps of air, she remarked,
"Come -on-, Hiroshi.  A crisis in the past?"

	The third person sitting at the table was not so amused.
"What's so funny about that, sis?" the young boy asked.

	"How can there be a crisis in the past?  It's past.  Gone.
History.  Of course bad things have happened, but they don't really
affect us."

	"Mirai," her older brother objected.  "The present is
completely dependant on the events of the past.  If things had turned
out differently along the line, then... err, things wouldn't have
turned out the way they did," he finished lamely.  For some reason,
his explanations just never worked out.  The younger boy snickered
quietly at him.

	"Okay," she answered, "But so what?  It's not like we're able
to do anything about the past.  If it happened, it happened."

	"But suppose someone could change the past.  What would
happen?"

	"Then I guess they'd be able... to change... the present.
Okay, I see your point."  She rested her chin in the palm of her hand,
leaning forward against the table.  "So, are you saying it's not
impossible, or what?"

	"People once thought the laws of nature were impossible to
change, but the Mol unit proves them wrong."

	"That's not the same thing!"

	"Why not?" the younger boy asked.  He drummed his fingers on
the table as he thought aloud.  "The Mol unit crosses dimensions.
Time can be seen as a dimension.  The unit wasn't built for that, but
it should be possible to go back in time using it.  After a few
modifications, that is."

	"All right, Nozomu.  But who would risk playing with the
past?"  Uncertainly, she asked, "Not Machinegal again?  That sort of
thing doesn't seem like his style."

	"I don't know," drawled Hiroshi.  "But there's something else.
Nozomu is right about the Mol unit and time.  I haven't worked out all
the calculations for travel yet, but I've been able to scan the
timestream."

	Nozomu's eyes widened, and he leaned forward in interest, but
it was again Mirai who responded.  "So you know what this 'crisis'
is?"

	Hiroshi shook his head.  "No.  That's the important thing."

	"Uh... what?"

	"You see," he explained, "Within the last several centuries, I
was able to scan every period except one.  Some sort of disturbance is
blocking that one period.  Now, if someone is playing with the
timeline, and they've discovered this disturbance..."

	"Or created it," Nozomu interrupted.

	"Yes, I hadn't considered that.  Either way, it would be the
perfect time to implement their plan."

	Nodding thoughtfully, Mirai said, "I can see that.  What are
we going to do about it?"

	"And when's the disturbance?" her little brother added.

	"The disturbance is approximately seventy years ago, covering
about a 40-month period.  As to what we'll do... we have to find out
more.  I've been working on a transmitter of sorts, to send a
warning..."

	"Why not just go ourselves?  Moldiver can take care of the
problem."

	"Because if we did, we might not be able to get back to our
future."

	Nozomu chuckled.  "Imagine Mirai being stuck in the primitive
past.  I'd give her... oh, maybe two days."

	Hiroshi laughed; Nozomu nimbly dodged as his sister lunged at
him.  "Nozomu!" she screeched.

	"Anyway," continued Hiroshi, "I've almost finished."  The
other two stopped squabbling at his pronouncement.  "There are some
problems to work out, of course, but I think it's safe to say we'll be
able to broadcast in a month."

	"A -month-?"  Mirai gaped.  "That's way too late!"

	"The past isn't going anywhere, Mirai," he pointed out with a
confident grin.  She only sighed.

				=^.^=

	That night, Nozomu crept out of his room.  Carrying a box of
tools beneath one arm, he stalked quietly into the room where Hiroshi
had begun to assemble his device.  Focusing a flashlight on the
contraption, Nozomu smiled.  "Not bad.  This'll be easier than I
thought."

	The self-proclaimed greatest technologist in the world set to
work.  The night quickly passed while he was absorbed in construction.
Finally, just after dawn, he made the last connection.  Giggling
delightedly, he pressed the power switch.  He was rewarded by a loud
thrum and a flash as the machine came to life.

	"Nozomu!"  Hiroshi burst into the room a moment later.  "What
are you doing?"  A sleepy Mirai followed, rubbing her eyes.

	The boy's reply was matter-of-fact.  "I finished your machine.
It's sending the warning now.  Don't worry, the signal will easily
reach 70 years; it could probably go twice that far.  I boosted its
signal a little."

	"But, Nozomu," Hiroshi groaned, "People in the past don't have
the technology to receive that kind of transmission.  That's what I
was waiting to work on..."

	Nozomu slapped his forehead.  "I forgot about that?  I don't
believe it..."

	"Uh, guys?" asked Mirai, all appearances of tiredness gone.
"Is it supposed to do that?"

	Alarmed, the two men turned toward the machine.  Clouds of
sparks were intermittently expelled from a vent near its base.  As if
on cue, a rough grinding noise began, somewhere inside the invention.

	"Uh oh."

	"Just how much did you 'boost' it?"

	"About four times."

	"I was afraid of that.  Run!"  Hiroshi was out of the room in
a flash.

	Nozomu began to follow, but his foot caught on a loose cord,
and he tripped.  Mirai, who was almost out of the room, turned as she
heard him cry out.  The device was loudly protesting, now; showers of
sparks seemed to leap off of its surface.  There was only one thing to
do.

	Gritting her teeth, she activated the palm-sized recorder-like
device she now habitually carried.  She felt, rather than saw, her
clothing shred as the dimensional energy she'd named Metamorforce
engulfed her, and sighed.  Another outfit ruined -- well, at least it
wasn't a new one, this time.

	The transformation took only a moment to complete.  Then Mirai
-- Moldiver -- half flew, half ran at incredible speed to Nozomu's side.
She easily lifted him, turned...

	And the machine exploded.  The initial shock seemed to pass
Mirai harmlessly; this wasn't unusual, considering Moldiver's
theoretically-limitless capabilities.  What was unusual was that, a
moment later, she found herself thrown through the air, Nozomu still
in her arms.

	Mirai lost consciousness, having become intimately acquainted
with the wall.

				=^.^=

	"Is she going to be all right?" Nozomu asked.  Mirai lay in
bed, unmoving, barely seeming to breathe.

	Hiroshi shifted uncomfortably.  "I hope so.  I don't think
she's hurt too badly, but there could be internal injuries."  He
frowned.  "What I'd like to know is, what happened to the Mol unit?
One minute it was working, then, right after she was caught in the
blast..."

	"Could the power have run out?"

	"It shouldn't have.  That unit was fully charged, or close to
it."

	"Say, where is the unit now?  I haven't seen it since before
she transformed."

	"That's odd."  Hiroshi's fingers threaded together as he
thought -- a nervous habit he'd never been able to break.  "It should
have reappeared when the transformation was reversed, so I suppose it
must have been destroyed in the explosion."

	"Oh."  Nozomu sighed.  "Sorry about all this...  It's all my
fault."

	"Don't worry.  Mirai will be fine, and we have another Mol
unit."  Hiroshi grinned.  "And you did speed my machine up quite a
bit."

	"But will we be able to build another communicator in time to
warn the past?"  Nozomu blushed.

	Hiroshi smiled reassuringly.  "I guess we'll have to work
together."  He winked.  "And remember, the past isn't going anywhere."
Nozomu smiled.

	"It's too bad nobody will be able to get the first warning,
though."

				=^.^=

	A boy of seventeen knelt in the darkness.  Ahead of him,
illuminated by some unseen source, stood a dark-haired girl.  She
stared accusingly at him.  He tried to speak, to explain, but his
voice betrayed him; he could only murmur incoherent noises of protest.
Tossing her hair back with one hand, she turned angrily and began to
walk forward.  He struggled to stand, fell, and slowly rose to his
hands and knees.  All the while, the girl walked further from him.

	He reached out, as if to pull her back, and a smaller hand
grasped his, helping him pull himself to his feet.  He started to
thank his rescuer and froze.  The boy was perhaps half his age, and he
glowed with a ghostly light.  His mouth moved; the sound that followed
was delayed just long enough to lend the apparition an unnerving sense
of disconnection.  "Danger," said the boy.  His voice was deathly
quiet.  It was all the teenager could do to make out the occasional
word.  "Past... Unforeseen... Prevent... Key.  Find... Future
perfect."

	"What?" asked the teen, now able to speak.  "I don't
understand..."  The boy flickered and began to fade away.  "No,
don't go!  You have to tell me... tell... me..."  It was no use.  The
boy had vanished, like a phantom.

	He chose a direction at random and ran.  Surely, there must be
somebody nearby.  Somebody...

	Yes!  There, just to one side, a familiar figure appeared out
of the shadows.  "Akane!" he called desperately.  What had the boy
said?  "Future perfect!"  She stared at him, puzzled.  Before she
could form a question, he had run past her, leaving her to be lost in
the darkness.  If Akane was here, then maybe...

	He ran on, tirelessly, searching for any landmark that might
tell him where he was.  He, too, was lost, and the blackness that
permeated this place didn't help.  How far had he gone?  Was he
travelling in circles?  There was no way to tell.  Should he have
stayed with Akane?

	Overwhelmed by frustration, he stopped.  Clenching his fists,
he yelled into the darkness.  "Where am I?"

	Only the distorted echo of his own voice answered.  "Where am
I?"

	"Lost," he muttered, disgusted.  It was crucially important,
and he was lost in this dark place.  Where his sense of urgency had
come from, he didn't know.  But he was as certain of it as of his
name.

	Feminine laughter rang out ahead and to his right.  It took
him a moment to realize that it wasn't the shadows mocking him.  He
knew that laugh.  He was walking in that direction even before he knew
it.  With each step, his speed increased, until he was travelling at a
dead run.  Strangely, he didn't feel the slightest bit tired.  Perhaps
his endurance was better than he thought?

	There, ahead.  Light.  And in the light, a woman.

	It was the same woman, the one with long, dark hair.  No
longer angry, she walked forward cautiously.  One hand was raised in
front of her; the other was at her side.  She scowled, reacting to
something he couldn't see.

	He wanted to call to her, but he was too late.  Even as he
watched, a streak of silver -- a knife? -- flashed out of the
darkness, embedding itself in her throat.  She stared in dull
surprise, the expression of one who suddenly realizes Death has come
to call, and time hung still for a moment.  Then she was lost in a
fountain of blood, a cloud of red mist.

	He sank to his knees and screamed.

				=^.^=

	"Oniichan!"  Someone was shaking him.  "Oniichan!  Wake up."

	Slowly, he opened one eye.  "...Uh?"  The other eye opened,
and he blinked, focusing on his new, lit surroundings.  He was lying
in bed, and a girl with glasses was standing above him, shaking him by
the shoulders...  "Manami?"

	"That must have been some dream, oniichan."

	"Yeah," another girl's voice added.  "You were really
screaming!  You woke everyone up."

	He chuckled, embarrassed.  "Sorry, Kurumi, Manami.  It
was..."  He stopped, horrified, and nearly leapt out of bed.  "Oh no!
Could that have been a premonition dream?  No..."

	His twin sisters exchanged glances.  "A premonition dream?"
Manami asked.  "What was it about?"

	"I'm not sure at all, but... let me tell you what happened.
Then I've got to find Ayukawa..."

				=^.^=

	"[Why is Great-grandmother pacing like that?  What is
troubling her?]" she murmured.  Speaking only to herself, she indulged
in the luxury of using her native tongue.

	The blind boy overheard, of course.  She constantly forgot how
keen his other senses were.  "You should speak Japanese, Shampoo," he
remarked.  "You need the practice."

	She halfheartedly threw a vase of flowers at him.  It
shattered against the back of his head.  "No talk to Shampoo that way,
stupid Mousse.  You work."

	Mousse smiled blissfully.  She had listened to him.

	Shampoo scowled and glanced about for something heavier to
throw.  It was at that point that Cologne fortuitously chose to
intervene.  "Mousse!  I have an errand for you.  You must go and bring
Ranma here at once.  And no fighting.  I need that boy to listen, and
that's difficult enough to manage without needless distractions."

	Mousse's good mood shattered at the mention of his rival's
name.  "Ranma?  Why should I bring him here?"

	"Shampoo gladly bring airen, Great-grandmother!"

	"No, Shampoo, I need you to do something else.  And as for
you..."  She turned to face Mousse, and her eyes narrowed.  Her
voice softened ever-so-slightly as she asked, "Don't question me,
boy."

	Mousse was almost suicidally fearless where Shampoo was
concerned, but he recognized that tone of voice.  There were things
worse than death.  Cologne knew every one of them, and that tone of
voice was the one she used when she was promising to show you each of
them, simultaneously.  This once, perhaps, it would be best to listen.
"I won't help you with any of your schemes," he called from the
doorway.  "Shampoo will be mine!"  Pride satisfied by the show of
defiance, he set out for the Tendou Dojo.

	"Silly boy," Cologne sighed.

	Shampoo had already lost interest.  "What Great-grandmother
want Shampoo do?" she asked curiously.

	"I want you to deliver a letter..."

				=^.^=

	The girl yawned and staggered to the door.  "Who could that
be?" she mumbled aloud.  "So early, too."  Throwing open the door, she
blinked, uncomprehending, at the purple-haired girl who stood there.

	"Nihao.  Shampoo bring letter from Great-grandmother to devil
hunter woman.  You take, yes?"  She shoved a meticulously-inscribed
envelope into the girl's hands, waved jauntily, and walked away.

	The girl watched blankly, uncomprehending.  "What on
earth...?"

	"Who was it, Yohko?"

	"Some girl with purple hair."

	"Purple hair?"

	"Yeah."  She glanced at the letter in her hands.  The
impeccably-calligraphed characters on its front read simply, 'Madoka
Mano.'  She frowned slightly and added, "She brought a letter for
you."

	"Oh?"  Yohko's grandmother bounded into the room with the
energy of a woman a third her age.  "Let's see it, then."

	Wordlessly, Yohko handed her grandmother the envelope.  The
old woman studied the calligraphy and nodded to herself before
carefully opening the letter.  Unfolding it, she began to read,
silently and extremely slowly, as though she was imprinting each
character into her memory.  As she did so, she would nod, or shake her
head, or loose an intrigued "Oh..." or "Hmm."

	Finally, Yohko was unable to stand the suspense.  "Well?  What
is it?"

	Madoka Mano answered without taking her eyes from the paper.
"It's from an old acquaintance of mine.  An invitation to lunch."

	"LUNCH?!"  She'd waited twenty minutes while her grandmother
had read an invitation to -lunch-?  Shaking her head, she sighed, "You
could have told me that sooner."  She turned to leave, intending to
return to her sleep.  Or, failing that, to breakfast.

	Her grandmother's voice stopped her.  "You're going to come
with me."

	"Business?"  Yohko was more than a little surprised.  The city
had been relatively quiet for almost a year -- well, as far as
supernatural activity went, anyway.

	Figures the demons would show up on a Sunday.  If they'd
waited one day, she could at least have had an excuse to miss history
class.

	"Maybe," Madoka slowly replied.  "I'm not exactly certain.
But she did send for me..."

	Regretfully, Yohko capitulated.  "Okay.  Say, which restaurant
are we going to?"  She might at least get a good meal out of all this.

	"The Nekohanten."

				=^.^=

	Meanwhile, in the darkness of space, another being was
examining the strange mechanism that had appeared, seemingly from
nowhere, and awakened him by falling on his face.  He hadn't seen the
like before.  The technology, while not exactly primitive, wasn't as
advanced as that which went into his spaceship.  But the readings he
was getting indicated a power greater than any he'd ever seen.  Or any
but one...

	If it had been a vehicle, it would have been a Roman chariot
powered by a matter/antimatter drive.  It was very puzzling.  In the
whole universe, he knew of only four or five who might have built such
a device, himself among them.  He certainly hadn't, and he thought
none of the others would use such low technology.  And how had it
gotten into his cabin?

	Still, no matter how backwards it looked, anything with that
much power behind it must have a special function.  Light gleamed off
his glasses -- he'd put them on after his rude awakening -- as he
considered the possibilities.  No, it certainly wasn't anything as
simple as a recorder.  He'd have to be cautious, lest he trigger
whatever security the device might have.

	Kagato, Destroyer of Artifacts, smiled.  It had been so long
since he'd had a challenge.

				=^.^=

			Future Perfect
			Book One: Past Tense
			Part Two

				=^.^=

	Mirai poked her head into Hiroshi's room.  As usual, it was a
mess; clothes, circuitry, and paper were scattered across the floor,
desk, bed, and every other horizontal surface.  She suspected that it
would look even worse, were it lit by more than the single light by
which her brother habitually worked.  "What'cha working on?" she asked
without preamble.

	Hiroshi didn't even turn to acknowledge her presence.  He only
answered, "Building something to take care of the timestream flux."

	"Okay.  And in the language of real people, that means...?"

	"We're dealing with interference in history.  If something
changed in the past, we'd change, probably without even being aware of
it.  Maybe even vanish, if something happens to our parents, or their
parents, or..."

	"Gotcha.  So whatever you're building will do that."

	"It looks that way."

	She winced.  "Looks that way?  Don't you -know-?"

	Hiroshi actually paused in his work while he considered her
question -- a rare occurrence.  "No," he said finally.  "In fact, I
don't even remember working on this.  But it's in my computer, so I
guess I must have.  All I have to do is build one of these for each of
us."

	She nodded and started to withdraw.  But one last doubt
remained, demanding to be addressed.  "Isn't the warning more
important?"

	"Nozomu's working on the translator.  He's pretty good, you
know..."

	She shrugged.  "I guess.  Say, wouldn't Moldiver be able to
resist the change?"

	"In theory, until the time limit ran out, it could.  Of
course, you'd have to have already activated the Mol unit."  He paused
again and craned his head to look at her.  "That reminds me, did you
find the other unit yet?  I won't be able to build a third one for
some time."

	Her gaze dropped.  "Sorry.  There's no trace of it anywhere."

	"Atomized."  Hiroshi sighed deeply.  "Well, there's nothing we
can do about it now.  Strange, though," he added thoughtfully, "The
power source at least should have survived.  That's the important
part, too..."

	"At least we still have one.  Hey, don't forget to come out
for dinner in an hour or so, okay?  You missed lunch."

	"Is it that late already?"  Shrugging, he returned to his
work.

				=^.^=

	The man frowned as he regarded the empty space where his
partner -- or benefactor -- had stood, moments before.  This, it
seemed, would require some action.  Pity; he had become used to his
current situation.  Perhaps he could return, when this was over.

	He donned his coat, picked up his hat, walked to the door, and
paused.  In the hallway, he heard another door close.  Footsteps
approached.  With painstaking care, he counted slowly to seven...
then abruptly slammed the door open.

	He was rewarded, not with a sound thump, but with an
incoherent exclamation.  Followed by an angry cry, "Yotsuya-san!"

	Not bad, he decided.  Affecting an expression of surprise, he
turned to greet his neighbor.  "Why, Godai-kun.  Were you going out as
well?"

	The day was looking up.

				=^.^=

	It was, all in all, a fairly ordinary day at the Tendou dojo.

	Ranma and Genma had already finished their morning sparring
session.  Result:  One wet panda.

	Akane had made breakfast.  In a manner of speaking, that is.
"Made" doesn't quite do justice to the activities Akane energeticaly
pursued in the kitchen.  Come to that, "breakfast" wasn't the right
word for the results of those activities.  Result:  One suspiciously
non-hungry family.

	Ranma had objected with his accustomed subtlety when he
discovered that Akane had made breakfast.  Result:  One wet
aquatranssexual.

	Ranma, Akane, and Nabiki had not yet left for school.  But
that doesn't count as abnormal, since it was Sunday, and there was no
school.  Result:  One happy Ranma, one thoughtful Akane, and one
Nabiki slightly disappointed by but resigned to the once-weekly
potential loss of income.

	Mousse had appeared, literally leaping into the room where
Ranma, Genma, and the Tendous had been finishing breakfast.  Or trying
to escape before breakfast finished them, as the case may be.  Result:
One relieved family.  Now they had a clear excuse to leave the table.

	That was when things began to deviate from the norm.  To wit,
Mousse didn't do any of the following:  Rant, challenge Ranma, attack,
kidnap Akane, or laugh megalomaniacally.  Not that he didn't want to
do one or more of these things, but he remembered Cologne's warning
very well.  Therefore, instead, he calmly and politely began to talk.

	"Saotome--"

	"He's over there," Nabiki drawled, pointing.

	Ranma sighed.  "Aw, man... all right, already, c'mon
outside--"

	"I'm not here to fight you, Saotome.  Not this time."

	Ranma paused.  "Huh?"

	"Then why...?" Nabiki began to ask.  This was unusual, and
there was usually profit to be found in the unusual, in Nabiki's
experience.  Then again, in Nabiki's experience, there was profit to
be found in the usual as well.

	"Cologne sent me.  She wants you to come to the Nekohanten."

	"Yeah, right.  Why should I do anything the ghoul wants?  It's
gotta be another trick to set me up with Shampoo."  The temperature in
the room immediately dropped twenty degrees.  Ranma, of course, failed
to notice.

	"Saotome..." Mousse grated.  With an effort, he held the
impulse to throttle at bay.  After several deep breaths, he continued.
"Do you think I'd allow such a thing, much less take part in it?
You're not worthy of my darling Shampoo!"

	"What?  Hey, I could beat you any day!"

	"Ranma!  How dare you chase Shampoo when you are engaged to
Akane!" Genma proclaimed.  Soun, meanwhile, sobbed in the corner;
Kasumi tried to comfort him.  Nabiki rolled her eyes and edged a
little further away from Ranma and Akane.

	It was, all in all, a fairly ordinary day at the Tendou dojo.

				=^.^=

	"Kasuga-kun!"  Madoka Ayukawa's voice registered a wealth of
emotions.  Surprise, happiness, the slightest distancing as she
subconsciously checked to see whether Hikaru was near.  "What's
wrong?"

	Only the presence of a lamppost upon which to lean was
preventing Kyousuke from collapsing to the ground.  True to his word,
he had been searching for Ayukawa for the entire morning.  He had not,
obviously, found her at her home, nor was she at the ABCB, in the
park, or at any of the usual places.  He'd almost given up when he'd
caught a brief glimpse of her, long hair flowing behind her in the
breeze, and had run after her.  And now that he'd found her, he could
barely gather the breath to gasp out, "Dream..."

	She frowned slightly in bewilderment.  "A dream?"

	He had planned an impassioned speech while he'd searched, a
speech designed to warn Ayukawa and, coincidentally, leave a favorable
impression of himself.  At her comment, and its accompanying
expression, he realized how ridiculous he would seem.  In that moment,
all semblance of poise left him.  "Ah... that is, I..."  He coughed.

	"Catch your breath first, Kasuga-kun," she said with a faint
smile.  "We have plenty of time."

	He nodded, falling into step beside her as she continued
walking.  He wondered where they were going; this section of the city
wasn't very familiar to him.

	They walked in silence for several minutes.  Kyousuke was
frantically trying to think of a way to warn her without coming across
as an utter fool.  His chances didn't look good.  What she was
thinking, he had no idea; her face was fixed into that distant,
emotionless stare of hers.  He hadn't seen that expression for the
last few weeks; it belonged to Madoka the Pick, not the gentler
Ayukawa.  Something must be troubling her.

	With that in mind, he decided to save face by changing the
subject.  With luck, she wouldn't notice.  "Where are we going?" he
asked finally, trying to sound as nonchalant as he could.

	She replied without looking at him.  "I need to pick up a few
things."  A brief pause, and then:  "I'm going away on a trip for a
little while."

	"Eh?"  Ayukawa was... leaving...?  "O-over break?"  He
silently cursed himself for being unable to say more.

	She nodded.  "I'm going to be visiting a distant relative.  I
haven't seen him since we were children..."  Her voice trailed off,
and Kyousuke suffered a brief pang of irrational jealousy.

	"I see."  A few moments later, he added, "That will be nice, I
guess..."  He remembered the last time he'd gone into the country; it
had been with her, and Hikaru-chan, and Yusaku as well.  There had
been a torrential storm, and the group had sheltered at his
grandparents' home.

	It seemed that Ayukawa remembered, too, because she shot a
sidelong glance at him and said, "I still need to repay you for the
last time, Kasuga-kun.  You might find it boring, but... would you
like to come along?"

	His surprise turned rapidly to exhilaration.  "Really?  It
wouldn't be too much trouble?"

	"I don't think so.  My cousin is practically alone.  He'll
probably be glad to have the company."

	"Well, if you're sure..."  He couldn't believe his luck.  To
be alone (well, practically) with Ayukawa for the entire break... "I'd
be glad to."  He'd give his left arm to.

	She smiled at him.  "You'd better hurry and pack, then.  We
leave tomorrow night."

	He arched an eyebrow; that -was- early.  "Before the break
starts?  Well, okay."  It wouldn't hurt him much to miss a little
school.  Not if it meant a chance to be with Ayukawa.  "How hard could
it be to pack, anyway?"

	"We'll probably be staying for a month or so."

	"So long?"  He circumspectly studied her, trying to determine
whether she was joking.  She had a devilish sense of humor at times.

	She solemnly nodded, explaining, "I was surprised by the
invitation.  But since I haven't seen him in ten years..."

	He nodded, too.  It looked like he'd better hurry up and pack.

				=^.^=

	Miki Koishikawa walked along the street, absorbed in her own
cares.  Beside her, her best friend Meiko Akizuki talked about Miki's
upcoming tennis match.  Miki knew that Meiko was trying to distract
her, and she appreciated the thought, but it wasn't working.  The
problem of Yuu loomed large in her mind.

	If anyone had told Miki that the world faced a crisis, that
the very fabric of space and time was in danger of shredding into so
many tattered rags... Miki would have smiled nervously, nodded, and
slowly backed away.  These were not things that Miki considered
possible, much less thought about.  In fact, despite how strange
Miki's life was, it was downright ordinary.  There was no place in it
for magic, super-science, or universal catastrophe.

	If anyone had asked Miki, she would have confirmed that she
definitely preferred it that way.

				=^.^=

	Yusaku Godai also walked slowly along a street, lost in
thought.  He, unlike Miki, was alone; but otherwise, the two had a
great deal in common.  He, too, was not a believer in cosmic powers;
he, too, had no greater troubles than school and love; he, too, would
have greatly preferred that things remain that way.

				=^.^=

	The universe doesn't care what people prefer.

				=^.^=

	"Here," Hiroshi said, handing a small device to Mirai.  "Make
sure you wear this at all times."

	She made a face.  "It's not very fashionable."

	Hiroshi groaned.  "Just wear it, okay?  It should shield us
somewhat from the effects of temporal changes.  At the very least,
we'll be able to remember what's happened to us before."

	Mirai suddenly became very interested in the small bundle of
electronics.  "Will it keep us from fading out?"

	"If we don't exist in the new timeframe, you mean?"  Mirai
nodded, and he continued, "Yes.  At least, it should."

	"That's not very reassuring..."

	"Well, it's not the sort of thing you can test..."

	"All right, there's no need to get so defensive about it.  You
know, I suppose I could make this into a brooch, then it wouldn't look
-too- bad..."

	Hiroshi shook his head.  Sometimes it seemed Mirai had a
one-track mind.  "Here."  He handed her an identical device.  "Give
this one to Nozomu, and tell him what I told you."

	"Okay," she agreed, shrugging.  "Are you going somewhere?"

	He nodded.  "We're going to need some more parts to
reconstruct the signal.  I should be back soon."

				=^.^=

	That had been a rather strange dream, Akane Kasuga decided.
Any dream in which her cousin featured was out of the ordinary, of
course, but this one was... different.  It disturbed her enough that
she couldn't properly enjoy her usual morning ritual -- contemplation
of the large photograph of Madoka Ayukawa that she'd attached to her
ceiling, above her bed.

	What was it the dream-Kyousuke had yelled to her?  "Future
perfect."  What was that supposed to mean?

	She snorted.  Typical Kyousuke.  Even his dream-image couldn't
make any sense.  He didn't stick around to answer her questions,
either.

	Well, it was probably nothing.  It wasn't as if dreams had any
real meaning, after all.  Right?

	Still, maybe she should visit the real Kyousuke.

	Akane looked upward at the picture and smiled.  It had been a
long time since she'd seen Madoka.  A visit to her cousin was the
perfect excuse.  The timing was good, too; break was coming up.  It
would be nice to see Kurumi and Manami again, too.  Kyousuke probably
wouldn't be too happy, but who cared about him?

	She laughed out loud.  This could be fun.  Things were looking
up.

				=^.^=

			Future Perfect
			Book One: Past Tense
			Part Three

				=^.^=

	The two travellers spent most of the long train ride in
silence.  Madoka Ayukawa gazed out the window toward the distant
mountains, while Kyousuke Kasuga gazed at Madoka.  She'd spent the
last three hours of the trip in that position, not moving, not even
blinking as far as he could see.  Once, in an attempt to make
conversation, he had asked her how far her cousin's home was.

	"We'll arrive in about three hours," she'd replied, without so
much as glancing at him.

	Kyousuke hadn't yet worked up the courage to make another
attempt.  He frowned; he had been sure that Ayukawa was finally
beginning to open up to him, as she had done so long ago, at the top
of the stairs.  As she had so seldom done since then.

	As if she had read his mind, Ayukawa suddenly turned from the
window, settling back in her seat.  She smiled at him briefly before
noticing that he'd reflexively cringed, pressing himself against the
back of his seat.  "Is something wrong, Kasuga-kun?" she asked,
concerned.

	"A-a-ah, n-no."  Kyousuke chuckled nervously and forced
himself to sit up straight.

	This earned him a puzzled glance from Ayukawa, but she chose
not to pursue that line of inquiry.  "We should be arriving soon.  I
can see the mountain from here."  She pointed out the window, and he
obediently turned to look.

	"Mountains, huh?  This looks like a pretty nice area."  It
reminded him of his grandparents' home, actually.

	"Just like the last time."  She smiled again -- and he did,
too.  "Let's hope there are no sudden storms this time."

				=^.^=

	"A storm is coming."

	Yuu blinked at the black-clad stranger.  "Pardon me?"

	In lieu of an answer, the tall, dark man lifted one hand to
the brim of his fedora.  With one finger, he pushed it back far enough
that Yuu could actually see his eyes.  He had to fight an impulse to
shiver -- the man's gaze was that of a predator, and for that instant,
it was directed at -him-.

	The man blinked once, slowly, and dropped his hand back to his
side, where it habitually slipped into the pocket of his coat.  "My
apologies.  It seems that I mistook you for someone else."

	Slightly puzzled, Yuu merely nodded in acknowledgement.

	"Well, then..."  The man gently pinched the brim of his fedora
in salute and turned to walk away at an unhurried pace.

	After watching his back for a moment, Yuu shrugged and
continued on his own way.  He was becoming used to strange encounters
since moving to this city.

	Unseen by Yuu, the man in black looked over his shoulder with
a slight frown.  "But I was quite certain that he was a Matsuura..."

				=^.^=

	Madoka walked slowly up the stairs, carrying her saxophone
case and a medium-sized suitcase.  Passing beneath a gate, she
stopped, turning to face her companion.  "Are you really sure you
don't want to me carry one of those, Kasuga-kun?"

	"It's... all right...  I'm... fine," Kyousuke gasped from
ten steps below.  A stack of three large suitcases was wedged between
his hands, at waist level, and his chin.  "It's... not that... far,
anyway."

	Madoka looked up the hill.  "We're about halfway to the top,
then it's a few hundred meters..."

	"Few... hundred...?"  Kyousuke groaned softly.  There was no
way he could make it that far -- when he'd volunteered to carry all of
the bags, he hadn't thought they would have quite so far to walk --
but he'd been hoping to impress Ayukawa.  Changing his mind at this
point would ruin any hope of that.  There was no help for it...

	Closing his eyes momentarily, he transferred most of the load
from his arms to his Power, leaving just enough weight for the sake of
appearances.  It wasn't -really- cheating, he rationalized.  Nobody
would notice that he was using telekinesis.  "Is that all?" he asked,
as nonchalantly as he could.  That earned him an odd look from Madoka,
so he invented an explanation while climbing to her stair.  "Just
needed to catch my breath.  Thanks for waiting."

	She smiled softly, the mysterious smile that haunted his
dreams.  The normal ones, that was.  "If you say so.  Ready?"

	He nodded, and they set off together.  He found it easy enough
to keep the pace, now that he wasn't trying to physically carry over a
hundred pounds of luggage.  "What's this relative of yours like?"

	"My cousin.  I haven't seen him for a long time," she answered
with a distant smile.  "He was a pretty quiet boy, too curious for his
own good, but he was always kind."  She sighed and continued, "I hope
he hasn't changed too much."

	"S-sure... sounds like a nice guy."  Her cousin... but she had
said they were distant relatives, so they could probably...  He shook
his head.  "Are you sure it's okay for me to come?"

	She chuckled.  "Is that what's bothering you?"  He jumped; he
hadn't thought she'd noticed.  Kyousuke started to reply, but she
continued, ignoring his stammering.  "He'll be glad for the company.
He never said anything about it, but he was on his own a lot, back
then, and I think he was lonely."

	"Oh..."  She'd spent a lot of time alone with him?  "Okay."

	She smiled mischievously at him as they reached the top step.
"How many?"

	"A hundred," he answered without thinking.  Then:  "Hey!"

	Ayukawa laughed again, the clear, strong laughter that he
wished he could hear more often.  "Ninety-nine and a half."

	He smiled back, and nodded.

				=^.^=

	Ranma followed Mousse into the Nekohanten, carefully glancing
about as though expecting to be ambushed.  When no purple-haired
hyperactive Amazons materialized to joyfully tackle him, he greeted
Cologne in his usual inimitable style.  "So, what's this about, old
ghoul?"

	A large wooden spoon bounced from Ranma's forehead.  "I am not
a ghoul."

	"Ack," acknowledged Ranma.

	The Joketsuzoku elder gestured to the room, where a large,
circular table had been laid out.  "Have a seat, son-in-law.  I'll
explain once everyone gets here."

	Ranma mumbled something under his breath, but he sat down next
to Mousse, who had already taken his seat.  With a quick glance to
confirm his count of the number of chairs, he frowned.  "Who do you
expect to show up?  Akane's not coming, Ryouga couldn't make an
appointment if he slept on the roof of the building... aw, man, you
didn't ask the Kunous, did you...?"

	"I don't believe you know any of them, other than Shampoo and
Mousse, of course."

	"They're not from your tribe, are they?" Ranma asked
suspiciously.  If they were, and Shampoo was coming...

	"No."  Cologne paused.  "Well, one woman was made an honorary
member in thanks for her help with a problem we were having thirty
years ago, but she is Japanese."  She chuckled, a dry, rasping sound.
"This isn't a trap for you, son-in-law."

	"That's not very reassuring."

	"Do you doubt my word?"  Her eyes gleamed dangerously.

	"...Nnnnnnno," Ranma reluctantly answered.  Cologne's sense of
honor might be rather twisted, but he had to admit that she stuck to
it.  As far as he could tell.  Which meant that she probably wasn't
lying.  As far as he could tell.  He sighed.  "Can I have some ramen
while we're waiting?"

	The old woman smiled knowingly.  "I think we could arrange
that.  Mousse?"

	Mousse silently stood and walked into the kitchen.  Ranma
frowned.  "What're you laughing at?"

	"She knew your mind would be on your stomach," Mousse
answered, walking out of the kitchen with a large, steaming bowl.  "As
usual."  Without ceremony, he set the bowl in front of Ranma, who
picked up his chopsticks.

	"And what's that supposed to mean?" he asked, before attacking
the bowl of noodles with a will.

	Cologne smirked.  "I know how much you like to... keep up your
strength."

	"Oh.  'Kay," Ranma mumbled around a mouthful of food.

	Thankfully, the arrival of a certain young Amazon and her
guests derailed that train of conversation.

				=^.^=

	"Pretty big, isn't it?" Kyousuke asked.  The house was
impressive; larger than Madoka's, and certainly much larger than his
own family's apartment at Green Castle.

	She nodded.  "I'm surprised he hasn't already come out to
greet us," she mused.  "I hope I didn't catch him in the middle of
cleaning, or..."

	The door slid open, and she turned, smiling, to face her
cousin.

	Except that he wasn't there.  Instead, she found herself
facing a tall, buxom woman with wild cyan hair, wearing what Madoka
could only think of as a carnival costume of some sort.  The woman
blinked in confusion, and Madoka realized she had golden eyes.
"Who're you?" she asked bluntly.

	Realizing she was staring, Madoka shook herself out of her
daze.  "Ah... I'm sorry, we must have the wrong house.  Could you tell
me where Tenchi Masaki lives?"

	"He lives here."  The woman's disconcerting golden eyes
flicked sideways, glancing at Kyousuke briefly, before returning to
Madoka.  "Did you want to talk to him, or something?"

	"Well... I'm his cousin, and I--"

	"Oh!  Well, why didn't you say so?"  She smiled at Madoka and
stepped through the door, gesturing for her to enter.  "He's at the
shrine, but he should be back any minute.  Here, let me take those for
you."  This last, she addressed to Kyousuke, as she approached.

	"But I don't think... I mean, they're a little heavy, and..."
Kyousuke tried to explain.

	He gaped as she practically tore the three suitcases out of
his hands, balancing them easily above her head, with one hand.  Then
he realized that, in his surprise, he'd forgotten to maintain his
telekinetic grip, and his jaw dropped a few more inches.

	"Nah, they're okay.  Go on in."

	So much for any hope of impressing Ayukawa, Kyousuke thought
despondently.  It made him feel a little better to see his
astonishment mirrored in her expression, at least.  Finally, she shook
her head, shrugged, and stepped into the house.  He followed her,
still numb.

	The golden-eyed woman thought aloud as she followed them.
"Now, let's see.  Where can we put the two of you...?"  She moved past
them, making her way up the stairs.

	"He's probably lonely, huh?"  Kyousuke glanced at Ayukawa, who
shrugged.

	"I guess... people change."  She didn't sound convinced.  "I
guess I should have expected him to find a girlfriend, by now..."

	She followed the woman up the stairs.  Kyousuke tagged along
behind her, trying to decide whether he'd really detected
disappointment in her tone or he was just imagining it.  He reached
the top and followed the two girls halfway down the hall, and still
hadn't decided.

	Their erstwhile guide stopped in front of a door and reached
out to open it.  Before she could touch it, it slid open to reveal
another woman, dressed in a formal kimono.  Her hair, Kyousuke
noticed, nearly reached to the floor.  He glanced at Ayukawa once
again, but she wasn't looking in his direction.

	"Well?" asked the woman with the golden eyes after a moment.
"You want to get out of the doorway?"

	"Do pardon me.  I wasn't aware that you had decided to begin
using them."  She stepped backwards into the room, allowing the three
to enter, and turned toward Madoka and Kyousuke.  "You must be
Tenchi-sama's guests.  My name is Aeka.  Please, make yourselves at
home... and allow me to apologize for Ryouko-san's rudeness."

	"Hey!" Ryouko protested.  "I was not rude!  And just when did
this become -your- home, anyway?"

	"Really, Ryouko-san, do you honestly believe that you can fool
Tenchi-sama into thinking more highly of you simply by doing one favor
for his guests?"  Delicately raising her hand to her mouth, Aeka
laughed -- a forced-sounding cackle that grated on Kyousuke's ears.

	"I did not!" Ryouko shouted back, perhaps a little too
quickly.  She hurriedly set her load down and clenched her fist.
"Besides, where were you when they needed help?  Hmm?"

	Kyousuke glanced at Ayukawa, then at the door, meaningfully.
Understanding, she nodded, and the two of them slipped back out of the
room as the argument began to escalate.  Kyousuke carefully slid the
dor closed behind him before asking, "What was that all about?"
Receiving no response, he tried again.  "Who was that?"

	Madoka shook her head.  "Aeka-san?  I don't know."  She
frowned slightly.  "I've never seen either of those girls before."
She began walking back toward the stairs, explaining, "Ryouko-san said
he'd be back soon."

	"And I thought Kurumi and Manami were scary..."  He shook his
head and followed Ayukawa.

	She laughed, and Kyousuke realized he'd spoken his thought out
loud.  "Some big brother."

	"Hey, you try living with two sisters..."

	She lightly bopped him on the shoulder.  "I have, Kasuga-kun.
Remember?"

	"Ah..."  Embarrassed, he chuckled.  "But they were older.
It's not the same."

	"Remind me to compare notes with you, some time."  Reaching
the foot of the stairs, Madoka paused.  "I just realized, we never did
introduce ourselves."

	Kyousuke shrugged helplessly.  That was something he'd gotten
rather good at, over the last few years.  "I guess we might as well
wait until your cousin gets here, then.  He's the 'Tenchi-sama'
they're talking about, right?"

	Another nod.  "Tenchi Masaki."

	Kyousuke chuckled.  "Popular guy, isn't he?"

	A pointed look from Ayukawa silenced him.  With a wry smile,
she said, "You're not exactly one to talk, Kasuga-kun."

	"Eh?  But I meant... ah..."  He lost his train of thought as a
young girl of eight or so walked out of the kitchen.  A young girl
with -blue- hair.  What was with these girls?  Maybe it was a local
fashion, or something?

	The girl took advantage of the silence, exclaiming, "Hi!"
Madoka turned around to face her, and she smiled cheerfully.  "My
name's Sasami!  What're yours?"

	"Who...?" Kyousuke began to murmur to Ayukawa.

	She shrugged slightly and smiled back at Sasami.  "I'm Madoka,
and this is Kyousuke.  I'm Tenchi's cousin."

	The girl nodded.  "That's what I thought.  Tenchi-niichan told
us you'd be coming.  He should be here--"

	Behind Kyousuke, the door to the house opened.  A soft tenor
voice proclaimed, "I'm home."

	"--Right now," Sasami finished.  "Welcome home,
Tenchi-niichan!"

				=^.^=


Scott Schimmel                http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~schimmel/
Ex ignorantia ad sapientium;  "You really aren't normal, are you?"
ex luce ad tenebras.              -- Miki Koishikawa