No Need for Ranma!
(A Ranma One Half / Tenchi Muyo / Sailor Moon Alternate
History)
By Ammadeau
Roy.Fokker@UNSpacy.org
http://Ammadeau.tripod.com/fanfiction.htm
Didn't make all the changes I would have liked to, but after
a month, it's time for me to move on or I'll never get anything
else written.
As always, C&C, questions, comments, and suggestions for a
new title are welcome.
Thanks to my pre-readers: Angus MacSpon, Larry F, and Jonas Fang.
(who are all probably wondering what took me so long)
A woman with long red hair looked up to the sky to see the
Earth hanging bright and blue above her. Everything that could be
done there had been. All was in readiness for her to proceed for
the next part of her plan. It would require uniting the scattered
kingdoms of the solar system, but she was confident that once she
threw her support behind any monach, they others would fall
before them like wheat before the sythe. Now she only had to
choose which monach would be the most advantagous for her to
aid.
The sound of rustling distracted her thoughts. Turning
around and peering down into a valley, she saw a young girl
playing some incomprehensible game with herself as she moved
among the shrubs and trees, occasionally bowing or saying
something in too low tones to make out. Her hair was golden and
her eyes bright blue. Her clothes may have once been elegant, but
were now torn and dirty.
The older woman smiled to see such joy, and being
somewhat mischievous, decided to try to join in on the fun.
The young girl stopped her game when someone appeared
before her. It was another girl, with spiky red hair and eyes as
green as the leaves on trees.
"What were you doing?" the new girl asked her.
The blonde girl smiled somewhat nervously. She was shy
around other people, which was why she did most of her playing
alone. "I was practicing at being queen. My mom says that since
the current queen doesn't have kids, I'll be the queen someday. I've
been reading up on all the formalities and such."
"Can I play too?"
"You want to play with me?" the blonde girl asked, her
eyes wide in surprise. No one had ever wanted to join her games
before. The 'queen game' was only the latest in a long line of
games she had invented for herself since she was considered too
'weird' by other children.
The redhead simply nodded.
"Okay, I guess we can both be queen."
The red-haired girl shook her head. "No, no, there can only
be one queen. How about I be your advisor instead?"
"All right," the blonde girl said with a little relief. She
wasn't sure at all how her game would work out with two queens.
"My name is Usagi, what's yours?"
"My name?" the red haired girl said with a trace of
confusion. It was not a question she had been asked before. She
hadn't needed to be known in such away before. "My name is
Washu."
"I'll call you Washu-chan. Do you want to be friends?"
Washu smiled and nodded. "Usagi is too informal a name
for a queen though. From now on I shall call you Queen Serenity."
Soon the game had begun again.
Chapter 2: Kasumi Sailor Moon!
Kasumi had been to Juuban once or twice when she had
been younger, going on trips with her mother, either for rare
ingredients or visiting a shrine priest that she was old friends with.
This was the first time Kasumi was going alone, in search of the
former, though it was her long since deceased mother who had
prompted this visit. She had found one of her mother's old recipes
for a dish that she remembered the whole family enjoying. It
would be just the thing to snap her father out of his recent
moodiness and help Akane forget the problems she was having at
middle school.
The only problem was that the recipe called for some pretty
rare ingredients. She might be able to find them around home, but
they wouldn't be at the same quality as at the places that she had
visited with her mother. If any of them were still around, that is.
Father had offered to go with her for protection, but everyone knew
what a safe place Juuban was.
Passing an arcade on the way to another shop, Kasumi
happened to glance inside. They were the kinds of places that she
had noticed before, but never really taken an interest in. Nabiki
had once had a minor obsession with the ufo-catchers, but that had
long since faded.
Kasumi watched a girl about Akane's age playing at one of
the games. She caught the eldest Tendo sister's eye due to her odd
double-ponytail hairdo and the way the girl was so active in
playing the game. She did not sit still; instead, she was waving her
arms and moving this way and that, as if her position had some
positive effect on her playing. Kasumi giggled a bit at the sight. If
only Akane could be active in that way, instead of being so violent.
Kasumi noticed a poster in the window for the game that
the strange girl was playing. It featured a young girl with a long
raven black pony-tail wearing a sailor fuku and pointing a ray gun
in a triumphant pose. She was wearing a mask to hide her identity,
though the poster proclaimed her to be Sailor V.
Kasumi was all for love and justice succeeding over evil,
but the uniform was a bit silly. She was glad her high school chose
a more conservative school uniform. She did wonder, for a brief
moment, what it was like to be Sailor V.
Moving on, Kasumi wasn't really watching where she was
going and suddenly heard a yowl of protest. Looking down, she
noticed that she had accidentally stepped on a black cat who
apparently had been looking at the same poster she had.
She picked the cat up and immediately checked it for
injuries. "I'm very sorry for stepping on you, miss kitty, but you
don't seem to be hurt. Maybe something under this bandage?"
As Kasumi carefully removed the Band-Aid, the cat's eyes
suddenly widened, and Kasumi herself felt something. It was as if
the moment had been frozen in time and there was a memory of
something just beyond her reach. She neared understanding, and
then suddenly the moment was gone. The cat scrambled out of her
grip and ran away. Kasumi looked all around, but couldn't find the
black cat anywhere.
An hour later, Kasumi had finished her shopping and
forgotten all about the black cat. She smiled as she entered the
train station, thinking of the meal she was going to prepare that
night. She nearly jumped in surprise when something rubbed
against her leg. She looked down to see the black cat again. Now
she could see that under that bandage had been what looked like a
crescent moon bald spot.
"Meow," said the cat to her, in a pleading sort of way.
Kasumi picked the cat up and spoke in low tones to the
animal, sure of what its request was. "Now, they don't allow cats
on the train unless they are in cages and I don't have enough money
left to get you one. Besides, I don't know how my father would
feel about having a cat around the house when his number one
student is scared to death of them."
"Meow."
"Then again, I've always wanted a pet and you're such a
cute and smart little kitty. And maybe having you around could
help Ranma get over his fear of cats."
"Meow."
"All right, you can hide in my bag for now. I'll talk to my
father and see what he says. If he doesn't let you stay, I promise to
find a good home for you."
The cat crawled into her bag and was quiet all the time on
the train. After leaving the Nerima train station however, she made
it very clear that she would much rather walk on her own.
Kasumi relaxed on her bed with a smile. The meal had
gone over very well, everyone had smiled and complimented her
on it. Even her father mentioned her mother without crying, which
she couldn't remember ever happening before. Kasumi was tired
from preparing the complex meal and the walk around Juuban to
get the ingredients. There were still things that needed to be done
around the house, but she had time for a short nap.
Her new pet was lounging by the windowsill. Father had
taken a lot of convincing, but the meal had won him over.
"I wonder if I should take a nice bath," Kasumi thought out
loud. "I think it would help me relax."
"That may be true, but we don't have time for that now,"
the cat told her.
"Kitty, you talked!" Kasumi said in surprise.
"Yes. My name is Luna and I have been searching for you
for some time now, Kasumi."
"For me? But why?"
"Because you are the legendary Senshi, Sailor Moon."
Kasumi laid back down. This had to be some strange
dream that she was having, caused by overexerting herself.
Luna must have guessed what she was thinking, for the
moon cat said, "Believe me, this is no dream. You are Sailor
Moon, originally of the ancient Silver Millennium, reborn in this
age in order to fight for love and justice against the forces of evil.
Look, I'll prove it to you."
Luna performed a graceful back-flip from the window
ledge to Kasumi's bed. At the apex of her flip, a locket appeared in
a flash of light. Kasumi picked up the locket and examined it
curiously.
"What is it, Luna?"
"That locket allows you to transform yourself into Sailor
Moon. Please, put it on."
Kasumi didn't think that the locket was really her thing, she
never had much interest in jewelry, but she couldn't turn down a
gift, so she went over to her dresser and tried it on before the
mirror. It was a very pretty locket, she had to admit, though at
seventeen she felt a little old for such things.
Luna leapt to the dresser with ease. She nodded in
satisfaction to the image of Kasumi and the locket in the mirror.
She turned to her and said, "Now you have to say 'Moon Prism
Power, Make-Up!'"
Kasumi blushed, but said nothing.
"What's wrong?" Luna asked in concern.
"I can't say that, it sounds so silly."
Luna facefaulted. "Yes, it does sound silly," the moon cat
admitted. "The person who created the locket had an odd sense of
humor. However, there's no way of changing it and it's vitally
important that you become Sailor Moon. People could be in
danger at this very moment."
Kasumi thought about it. It was an embarrassing thing to
say, but there was no one there to hear her and it would be awfully
selfish of her not to say it if people were in danger.
"Moon Prism Power, Make-Up."
With a sudden eruption of colored light, Kasumi's normal
clothes faded away and she found herself dressed in a sailor fuku
with long gloves and knee high boots. She looked much like
Sailor V in the poster she had seen, including the mask.
Kasumi was blushing horribly now, and had her hands in
front of her face so she wouldn't have to see her reflection in the
mirror.
"Kasumi, what is it?" Luna said, worried. Everything
looked fine to her.
"This skirt," Kasumi said finally, tugging at the object in
question, "is much, much too short."
Luna sweatdropped. "Never mind that now. Just know that
you are Sailor Moon and, so transformed must, go out and fight
evil!"
"I can't go out like this!" Kasumi practically shouted.
"People would see me and I'd be so embarrassed."
"Don't worry about that. When you are Sailor Moon, there
is a special disguise field in place so no one can recognize you
unless they see you transform."
"No one is going to see that!" Kasumi's cheeks now
resembled twin cherries. She had noticed that for a short time
during her transformation she wasn't wearing anything at all. The
colored lights hid her mostly from view, but still . . .
"Please, someone help me!" someone shouted. It sounded
as if they were right there in the room, though no one else was
there.
"Who was that, Luna?"
"Kasumi, put on the mask."
Kasumi did as she was told and saw a young girl being
terrorized by some sort of monster while people lay sleeping all
around her.
"Luna, a girl is being attacked by a monster. We have to
call the police."
"No, the police won't be able to stop the yoma. Only Sailor
Moon can."
"But I can't . . . it's happening at a jewelry store I passed by
in Juuban. The train would take too long to get there."
"Just concentrate on the place and say 'Sailor Teleport!'"
Luna told her as she leapt into Kasumi's arms.
"Sailor Teleport!"
Kasumi's room faded all around her, only to be replaced by
an alley right next to the jewelry shop. She was thankful that it
was already dark and there we no people on the street. She could
see the yoma through the windows of the store as the thing slowly
advanced on the terrified girl.
"What do I do?" Kasumi asked Luna, half-panicked.
"Run in and tell that yoma, 'I am Sailor Moon, champion of
love and justice! In the name of the Moon, I will punish you!'"
"Why does it have to be something so silly?"
The moon cat shrugged. "It's sure to get the yoma's
attention, at least."
And so with only a slight case of nerves, Sailor Moon made
her first entrance.
"Who are you?" the yoma asked in a guttural voice as it
spun around and spied the intruder.
"I am Sailor Moon, champion of . . . people everywhere! In
the name of the Moon, I will punish you!"
In the face of such opposition, the yoma didn't just give up
like Kasumi had hoped that it would. Instead she said, "Get ready
to die, Sailor Moon!"
The yoma gestured with one hand and all the people
sleeping around it got up and started towards Sailor Moon like
zombies.
"Oh my! What do I do now Luna?" Kasumi asked the cat
in panic.
The zombies came closer and closer, but before they could
reach her, a rose suddenly impact the floor right before their feet,
hitting with such force that it broke the floor tile. Everyone,
including Kasumi, looked up to see a man in a tuxedo by the
window, complete with top hat and cape. He wore a white mask to
hide his identity, standing in the shadows where he couldn't be
clearly seen. "Never give up hope, Sailor Moon," he told her in a
clear, strong voice.
Kasumi nodded, all traces of her earlier nervousness gone.
Luna hopped up on her shoulder and whispered in her ear. Kasumi
nodded, shouted, "Moon Tiara Action!" and threw her tiara, hitting
the yoma and disintegrating it.
"Until next time, Sailor Moon," said Tuxedo Kamen from
the windowsill, and with a wave of his cape, he vanished.
"Luna, who was that?" Kasumi asked as she made sure the
people there were all right.
"No time to explain now," Luna said a bit nervously. "You
have to get home before anyone notices that you're gone. Your
true identity must be kept a secret or your enemies will use it
against you.
Kasumi nodded. "Sailor Teleport!"
Kasumi yawned as she rubbed sleep from her eyes. Luna
was right beside her. "You had that dream again, didn't you?"
Kasumi nodded. "But how did you know, Luna?"
"Normally, you're a very peaceful sleeper, but when you
have that dream, you always toss and turn. It's a good thing you
don't talk in your sleep. We have a hard enough time keeping your
secret as it is. I wonder what the dream means this time?"
Kasumi thought about it for a little while. Every time she
dreamt of when she first became Sailor Moon, something
important always happened. She had had the dream just before
meeting Sailor Venus and at the beginning of the Doom Tree
business. "A new enemy?"
"It could be," Luna admitted. "But there haven't been any
signs of trouble and Rei hasn't felt anything lately. It could be that
we're very close to finding the princess. I'd suggest that we tell the
others to keep an eye peeled. The princess could walk right by us
and we could miss her."
At the same time, in the Juuban district, Rei's grandfather
suddenly stopped eating breakfast, turned to his granddaughter,
and said, "I sense a disturbance in the Force."
Rei groaned. He hadn't been the same since the Star Wars
manga had come out.
Tenchi was exhausted for their first day at school the next
morning, haunted by dreams of the demon mummy that he and
Ranma had found in the cave. He thought it all had been a dream
until he noticed Yosho's sword hilt lying near his futon. Tenchi
grumbled since for once he was the last one up and had to struggle
to be ready on time. Almost as an afterthought, he slipped the
sword hilt into his book bag.
Nodoka was puzzled as the boys sat down for breakfast.
Ranma seemed full of energy and ready to go to school? Nodoka
knew that her son wasn't fond of school, but she didn't want him to
become a ronin whom no woman would marry. It also worried her
that her son seemed to take no interest in girls. Tenchi by contrast,
slumped down at the table and picked at his food without energy,
just like she had expected her son to act, and had acted up until
yesterday. Had something happened at the shrine? Both boys had
come back a bit moody, but she had just assumed father had
trained them hard.
"My, Ranma," Nodoka told her son, "You sure seem
chipper this morning. I thought that I'd have to drag you out of bed
like I did when you were younger."
"Oh, I'm just happy to be seeing everyone after such a long
time away," Ranma answered, not adding that it would be another
way to put the China trip as far behind him as possible.
Nodoka wondered if this could be about a certain brown
haired girl who'd been calling the house every week to see if
Ranma was home yet. She was happy that her son had such a loyal
friend for so long, but still Nodoka wished that Ukyo would act
more like a lady and not so much a tomboy. Wearing a boy's
uniform, of all things, and a giant spatula, while effective in
combat, did look a tad ridiculous.
Ukyo and Rei were waiting for the Ranma and Tenchi at
the school gates. Tenchi wasn't exactly fond of Catholic school,
but had decided to stick with his cousin when Ranma had been
forced to transfer there. His grandfather thought of it as good
training for when Tenchi eventually succeeded him as shrine priest.
When Tenchi had pointed out that theirs was a Shinto shrine, his
grandfather had pointed out that Rei also went there as part of her
training. That had only made Tenchi even more reluctant, but he
still wanted to be with his cousin, mainly because she found it
difficult to fight in a skirt.
"Ranchan!" Ukyo yelled out and was soon latched on to his
arm with a vise-like grip. "I missed you so much. Oh why did you
have to go all the way to China and leave me here all alone?" She
was cute and definitely female, as Ranma could attest at that
moment, despite the boy's uniform she wore.
Rei was giving her a 'what am I, chopped liver' look, which
she totally missed because she was staring deeply into Ranma's
eyes. Tenchi wondered how his cousin could be so dense to miss
how the girl felt about him. It wasn't like Ukyou even tried to hide
her feelings. Quite the opposite. It seemed that the only person at
school who didn't know how she felt was the person her feelings
were directed at.
Ranma was feeling very nervous, partially from the way
that Ukyo was staring at him, partially from the way she was
holding on to him like she thought he was going to float away, but
mostly from what Tenchi had said a week ago about Ukyo being
his 'girlfriend.' They were just childhood friends, weren't they?
She had always grappled onto him since they were kids. That was
just the way she was.
"Ucchan," Ranma managed to say as he struggled in vain to
loosen her grip. He never thought when he taught her about holds
that she'd use them on him or that she'd come up with ones that he
couldn't shake off. "I told you that I had to go to China as part of
my pop's final wishes. I would have rather stayed in Japan if I had
any choice in the matter."
"Well you're back now," she declared so loud that half the
school could hear her, "and I'm not going to let you go."
Ukyo was still staring only at Ranma, so she missed the
glares of most of the girls within earshot and the embarrassed look
on her friend. Ranma had only been back for five minutes and she
had already made her claim on him, the most desirable man at
school.
Ranma was starting to get very embarrassed himself. He
knew how people could take such a statement the wrong way.
Ukyo was always saying things like that, but he couldn't tell her to
stop, not wanting to take the chance of hurting her feelings. That
was just the way she was and he'd gotten somewhat used to it over
the years.
"Ucchan, that's going to be kind of hard. We're not even in
the same class this year."
"Fine, then I'll walk you to your class." And that was the
last she would hear on the matter.
With Ranma and Ukyo occupied with each other, Tenchi
and Rei were more or less forced into each other's company. Their
grandfathers were old friends and had been trying to bring the two
of them together since they were kids, only to have the opposite
effect. While they didn't exactly hate each other, neither liked
being in the other's company for very long.
"So, Tenchi," Rei finally said after a long silence. "Your
cousin seems as clueless as ever. I really don't know what Ukyo
sees in him."
Tenchi took a deep breath, telling himself over and over
again that he would not get angry. Most people could say
something like that and it would have no effect on him, but for
some reason Rei really got under his skin.
"I'm late! I'm late!" they heard a female voice suddenly
shout from somewhere close behind them. Rei paused as she
sensed something. It stopped her for just long enough to cause the
shouting, running girl to collide with her.
Rei rubbed the back of her head as she glared at the girl that
had just run into her. "Why didn't you watch where you were
going?"
Usagi looked up at the girl she had just bumped into, her
eyes nearly filled with tears. "I'm sorry. It's just my first day of
school and I didn't want to be late."
"You --"
"Now don't be so hard on her, Rei," Tenchi cut her off with
a smile. He was pleased by anything that irritated the
temperamental priestess. He turned to the blonde girl and offered
her his hand. "I'm Tenchi Masaki. Here, let me help you up."
Usagi took the offered hand and stood. Tenchi noticed the
girl glancing over at Rei, who was using her patented glare of
death, so Tenchi stepped in front of her to block the view.
The girl looked a bit confused as she dusted herself off, so
Tenchi prompted her, "And your name is?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Usagi Tsukino, class 1-D.
Pleased to meet you, Tenchi."
"That's my class too. I can show you the way."
"You can? I'd be very grateful. My mom had me transfer
here because she thought it would improve my grades, so I don't
know where anything is yet."
"This place is easy to navigate once you get the hang of it.
But we better hurry if we don't want to be late for class."
Tenchi actually managed to find his cousin during lunch
time before Ukyo had the chance to latch back onto him. He was
leaning against a tree, staring up at the sky.
"See what I meant?" Tenchi said to him.
"Huh?" Ranma replied intelligently, his mind on things that
had happened to him in China and on the way back home.
Tenchi took out his bokken and bopped his cousin on the
head because it was the only way to get his attention when he was
like this.
"About Ukyo, baka. The way she was acting this morning
it was pretty clear to anyone that she thinks of you as more than
just a friend. I'm sure that she's thought of herself as your
girlfriend for a while now."
"No way!" Ranma shouted to hide his own doubts. "She's
just a childhood friend. I've known her since I was six and she's
always been like that. I mean it's not like we're going out or
anything."
"Oh, what about that time when you went to the movies, or
out to lunch, or all the times you've gone to her house or invited
her over our house?"
"As I recall you were at the movies with us and the rest of
her friends . . ."
"Yes, and I saw how close you two were sitting together.
You even shared your popcorn with her, which you wouldn't share
with me, your own cousin!"
Ranma didn't get the chance to come up with a reply when
a familiar brown-haired girl secured his arm.
"Hiya, Ranchan. How about you and your cousin join Rei
and me for lunch? I even made you a little something in honor of
your return."
She had prepared a large batch of okonomiyaki, which was
no surprise since that was what she had been learning to cook since
Ranma had first met Ukyo ten years ago.
They had all settled down to eat when a female voice
interrupted them, "Hey, Tenchi!"
They all turned to see a double pony-tailed blonde girl
coming up to them from the other side of the school yard, her
lunch in hand.
Ranma smiled and decided to get back at his cousin for his
earlier remarks. "Picked up a girlfriend on the first day of school?
You've gotten pretty smooth with the ladies since I've been gone,
Tenchi. Must have been studying more than kendo over the
summer. Your dad is sure to be proud of you."
Rei smirked. "I wouldn't be surprised. He seems to meet a
new girl every time he turns around."
Tenchi turned to Rei, ignoring his cousin's remark. "I can't
believe that you're still mad about that. It was years ago!"
Ukyo took Ranma a side and asked, "Do you have any idea
what they're talking about, Ranchan?"
Ranma shook his head. It was odd that he didn't know. It
wasn't like Tenchi to keep secrets from him. Normally, they told
each other everything.
Further conversation was halted by the arrival of Usagi to
their table. She turned to Tenchi and asked, "Is it okay that I sit
with you? I don't know anyone else here."
"Um. . . sure," Tenchi said a bit nervously. While Usagi
took her seat, Tenchi introduced the rest of the table. "This is my
cousin Ranma Saotome, Ukyo Kuonji, and you've already met Rei
Hino."
"You don't have to sound so enthusiastic about introducing
me," Rei said sarcastically.
"Are you two dating or something?" Usagi asked as she
watched their argument.
"No!" Tenchi and Rei shouted simultaneously.
With conversation killed, everyone decided it was time to
eat.
*Ukyo has really outdone herself,* Ranma thought as he bit
into the first one. "Wow, Ucchan, these are really great! I mean
you always make great okonomiyaki, but these are even better than
I remember." It had been over three months since his last
okonomiyaki. He'd been eating them for so long that they had
almost become a staple of his diet. He would sooner get sick of
rice than okonomiyaki.
Ukyo blushed, nearly glowing with the praise. "It's because
I made them for you, Ranchan." Actually, she had been practicing
hard on both her okonomiyaki and her martial arts, that is when she
wasn't busy with her friends. While she would like to think it was
all for Ranma, there were other reasons which she couldn't tell him
about, at least not yet.
Ranma was busy stuffing his face, missing most of the last
comment, but felt that he had to say something. His mother had
successfully drummed some manners into him. One of those
manners was that you should always compliment someone who
gives you a gift and Ukyo always seemed happy when he
complimented her, unlike a certain tomboy.
"You're such a great person, Ucchan. I'm lucky to have met
you." He had heard that on TV sometime before and thought he
might try it out.
Ukyo was now glowing bright enough to read by, while a
number of eavesdropping girls winced in collective envy. While
they would have liked some attention from Ranma, Ukyo had
staked her claim on him for longer than anyone else had known
him. And she defended that claim with a fierceness that made the
toughest girls at school back off, especially when she had her
spatulas with her.
The whole time Tenchi was wondering just how thick-
headed his cousin could be, to not see the way Ukyo looked at him.
Whatever Ranma might say, that wasn't the look of a childhood
buddy. 'Why can't any girl look at me that way?' he thought
sullenly as he picked at his food, unaware of a female set of eyes
that watched him with that very look.
Despite Ranma's enormous appetite, even he couldn't finish
all of the okonomiyaki. Realizing an opportunity, Usagi spoke up
once again, "Um . . . can I try some of that?"
A look passed between Ranma and Ukyo. He had eaten all
he could, but they were still hers. Ukyo smiled warmly at the new
student and said, "Sure sugar, have as much as you want."
"Thanks!" Usagi exclaimed and finished off the remaining
okonomiyaki so quickly that Ukyo quipped, "So is she a long-lost
sister of yours, Ranchan?"
Usagi, her mouth stuffed with the last okonomiyaki, looked
up and wondered why everyone was laughing.
Ranma swore under his breath as he climbed the stairs up to
the roof. The teacher had him stay behind and finish all of the
homework that he hadn't done over the summer. What was he
supposed to do, take his textbooks to China with him? He swore
again when he accidentally knocked over a bucket of water and
activated his curse. At least everyone had gone home so they
hadn't seen what a freak he had become. What would Ukyo think
if she saw him now? Probably laugh at him or something. But she
would find out sooner or later. Should he tell her? He should be
going home, but needed a quiet place to think for a few minutes
and the roof seemed to be about the best choice.
Then he noticed someone sleeping up there. Probably
some old drunk, he thought, but on looking closer he realised that
it was his cousin Tenchi. Man, he must have been exhausted, but
then he hadn't looked too good this morning. The whole demon in
the cave thing must have really gotten to him. Ranma was pretty
sure that it had been a trick that their grandfather had played on
them somehow. Demons weren't real, were they?
Ranma went over to his cousin and shook him awake.
"Come on, Tenchi, rise and shine. If you were so tired you should
have stayed home, tell my mom that you were sick or something."
"Huh?" Tenchi replied, still half-asleep, wondering why a
strange red haired woman was shaking him.
"Jeez, you're hopeless," Ranma said and dropped him back
to the ground.
Suddenly, there was a sound that made all of Ranma's hairs
stand on end. It was the one thing that truly filled him with dread.
The sound of a cat. He spun around in fear, his pulse quickening,
but there wasn't a feline in sight. That was when he noticed
someone sitting on the roof of the stairwell. She was a young,
cyan-haired woman in strange clothes. He simply stared at her, not
knowing what else to do. He had the feeling that she wasn't a
student.
"Ryoko," she said simply.
"Huh?" Ranma replied.
"That's my name," and then opened her eyes which glowed
with the light of twin suns, disturbingly familiar eyes.
"You're the demon from the cave!"
"It was cold in that cave and dark. I didn't like it. seven
hundred years I was in there alone, until a little boy came. He even
brought a friend. They would keep me company even though they
didn't know I was there. I vowed that when I was finally released I
would make them mine. Not you or anyone else is going to take
them from me!"
Ranma started to wonder if the cats would have been better.
He didn't have a clue what this demon woman was talking about,
but she seemed pretty pissed at him. Ranma had never fought a
demon before. When he saw the energy sword form in her hand,
he decided that he didn't want to start. He tossed Tenchi over his
shoulder and started to run back into the school, not sure what he
was going to do when he got there.
Luckily, Tenchi awoke soon after and was running on his
own, even more afraid than Ranma that a demon was after them.
Ryoko was faster and more agile than any opponent he had ever
faced, so for once Ranma was actually thankful for how quick his
cursed form was. It saved him from serious injury more than a few
times, since the demon seemed out for his/her blood.
The two cousins got separated, each ducking into a
classroom and trying to be completely silent to avoid attracting the
demon's attention.
In another part of the school, Usagi was wandering around
in confusion. She had unfortunately gotten detention on her first
day for sleeping in class. Just when her time was almost over, the
teacher had sent her down to the basement to get a mop to clean up
the water that Usagi had accidentally spilled.
The basement was large, scary, and confusing. Usagi had
gotten all turned around down there and had been lost for a while
before she finally emerged, mop in hand.
Now her only problem was finding the classroom where
she had had detention, which wasn't her normal classroom. The
teacher had guided her there in the first place, so she didn't even
remember the room number. By trial and error, she managed to
eventually find the place. The teacher was gone now, probably
tired of waiting. Usagi decided that after going through all that
trouble to get the mop, she'd better clean up her earlier mess.
By the time that Usagi finally left the classroom, it was
already getting dark and she still didn't know her way around the
school. It was much larger than her previous one, and the old
building had an unusual layout that was difficult for her to follow.
Tenchi had seen the demon set to kill his cousin and knew
that he had to do something, but what could he do? Then he
smelled something. 'What is that? Oh, gas fumes.' "Gas fumes!"
he shouted accidentally, putting his hands on his mouth. But he
was too late, the damage had been done.
Then suddenly he wasn't alone as the demon seemed to
flow out of the wall like it wasn't there. "I will make you pay for
betraying me with that red-haired bimbo," she shouted, making
Tenchi more confused than ever.
"Look, what's that out the window?" he yelled and was
surprised that she actually fell for it. Using this distraction, he
exercised the better part of valor and ran for his life.
One moment, Kasumi and Luna were calming sitting in her
room, talking over trivial matters. The next, Kasumi was up and
moving without a word. Luna had no choice but to follow.
Kasumi quickly rattled off an excuse to her father and was
out the door before he could blink. Luna was surprised how fast
Kasumi could walk without breaking into a run. She was only able
to catch up when Nabiki suddenly blocked their path.
"What the heck is going on, sis?" Nabiki asked, sounding
very irritated. It was obvious that she had to dress quickly and run
fast to cut them off. "With all the troubles we've had, I've never
seen you run anywhere."
"Please get out of the way, Nabiki," Kasumi said in a
strained voice. "I have to go."
"Why? Can you tell me that at least?"
Kasumi clutched her head as a minor headache came on.
She had to go, now; it was a compulsion that was painful to resist.
"Someone . . . someone important is in danger."
Luna's eye's opened wide in surprise. "Could it be the
princess?" she asked in an awed whisper.
"I don't know, but I have to go!"
Nabiki grabbed her sister's hand and dragged her into a
nearby alley. "Great, but I'm going with you. No, don't bother to
argue. Let's get changed and get wherever we need to be quick,
okay?"
Kasumi nodded. "Moon Crystal Power, Make-Up!"
Nabiki smiled and shouted, "Mercury Crystal Power,
Make-Up!"
With Luna on her shoulder and Mercury holding her hand,
Sailor Moon shouted, "Sailor Teleport!"
A sudden explosion knocked Tenchi flat on his back. He
found himself staring up at his currently female cousin.
"What the hell was that?" Ranma demanded, wondering if
Tenchi had set off the bomb that the chemistry club was making.
"Oh, I think the demon set off leaking gas with her power,"
Tenchi said and then clapped his hands in a Shinto prayer, "Pity,
she was kind of cute."
"Cute? She was trying to kill us!"
Tenchi didn't get the chance to reply as they both noticed
someone walk out of the flames, apparently unhurt. Both bolted,
not even looking where they were going.
Tenchi hid in another classroom, careful not to make a
sound this time. He jumped five feet in the air when the fire alarm
finally went off. That was when he noticed the light on the alarm
looked like the gem on the demon's wrist. He remembered the
legend that the gems were the source of her power. If he could
somehow get the gem off her there was a chance that they could
get her back in that cave. But how to do it?
Usagi screamed as she saw a section of the wall break off
and fall towards her. After a few moments, when nothing had
happened, she very cautiously opened her eyes to see a strange boy
easily holding the concrete over his head. He tossed it over to the
side with an effortlessness that seemed superhuman. Usagi looked
up at him with something akin to awe.
The stranger wasn't easy to make out under the dim
moonlight, but he was about her height, though much more
muscular, wore a backpack with an umbrella on top and a
bandanna around his head. His clothes were crude and looked like
they'd seen a lot of use, like he'd been on the road for a long time,
though he seemed to be her age.
"Are you all right?" he asked as he offered her a hand.
Only blushing slightly, Usagi took the offered hand and
said, "Well, I am now, thanks to you."
"Well, I um . . . hehe . . .," the boy muttered almost to
himself in a way the that Usagi thought was cute, while rubbing the
back of his head. "Nothing to . . . ouch!"
"Oh, you're hurt!" Usagi said in alarm. She didn't like the
idea that anyone should get hurt because of her clumsiness.
"No, it's nothing," the boy explained, showing the cut on
his hand where something sharp must have hit it.
"But you're bleeding!"
"Happens all the time . . ." He trailed off when Usagi took
out the cloth wrapping for her bento (it was the only thing she
could find) and wrapped it around his cut to stop the bleeding.
"There, all better . . ." Usagi trailed off as she looked up
into his eyes, so close to hers now. The both of them stood like
that in silence for some moments before they broke off,
embarrassed.
Suddenly there was a bright light and a voice broke in,
"Usagi, there you are. Your mother and I have been worried sick
about you. I've been looking all over for you. What are you doing
still at school? Didn't you notice the fire?"
Usagi turned away from her father's voice to explain to the
boy who had rescued her, but he was already gone. She blinked in
surprise. Was he real or did she just imagine him?
Tenchi heard a familiar voice from the school yard that he
eventually identified as Ranma in his female form.
"All right, I'm sick of running. You want me, come and get
me."
While Tenchi didn't know the voice too well, he knew that
tone. It was Ranma's 'my pride is at stake so I won't back down no
matter what' tone and it had been serious trouble to both of them in
the past. Tenchi dearly hoped that it wouldn't get his cousin killed
this time. While it would be nice to have a room all to himself, he
would miss the company. It had been pretty lonely while Ranma
had been away. Tenchi grabbed his school bag and made his way
to the yard, not really knowing what to do when he got there, but
realizing that his cousin might need his help.
The fight would have been amazing for Tenchi to watch if
his cousin's life hadn't been at stake. Ranma had always been the
best unarmed martial artist he had known, but whatever he had
gone through in China had made him even better. He moved so
fast that he was almost a blur and landed blows that made Tenchi
wince. The only problem was the demon took all that he had
without even flinching and didn't seem to be tired at all, while
Ranma was quickly being worn down. Tenchi knew that if he
didn't do something and quick, it would be all over for his cousin.
That was when he saw Ranma misstep on a rock, to stumble and
fall. The demon closed in for the kill.
Heedless of the consequences, Tenchi jumped right
between the two combatants as the demon was about to land a
painful blow. He knew he wasn't very good at hand to hand, but he
had to try. To his surprise, a blue light that emerged from his
knapsack deflected Ryoko's kick. She pulled back and threw a
dozen yellow spheres at them, but a blue shield that suddenly
appeared blocked them all. Then his bag was vaporized and the
sword hilt of his ancestor hovered in the air before him.
Tenchi reached out and took it. Ryoko tried to land a blow
with her energy sword, only to be blocked by a blade of blue
energy that emerged from the hilt of Yosho's sword.
"Hey, no fair cheating!" she complained.
Before he knew it, he was fighting the demon and gaining
ground, the sword seeming to have a mind of its own. Still, Tenchi
couldn't break through the demon's defenses, she was just too good
a fighter. He admired her skill even as he was nearly cleaved in
half by it.
Ryoko had been focusing so intently on her new opponent
that she had forgotten about the red-haired girl. That proved to be
a mistake. Suddenly she was hit in the jaw with a flying kick, hard
enough to make her stagger. Sensing an opening, Tenchi darted in
with his sword and cut off her hand at the wrist, taking her jewel of
power with it.
Ranma and Tenchi eyed her warily as Ryoko sighed and
said, "Oh well, another battle lost. That's the story of my life."
That was when she noticed her right hand had been lopped clean
off.
Both Tenchi and Ranma stumbled over themselves to
apologize. Even though this demon had tried to kill them, all of
her menace had left her now, and one-handed, she seemed almost
pitiful. Tenchi especially felt ashamed of what he had done, even
though the sword had almost been acting on its own.
"I'm sorry," he said, bowing.
Ryoko only smiled and with a wave of her left hand, the
right one was restored. Both cousins were still applauding this feat
of magic when Ryoko vanished into the concrete. The two cousins
had to leave quickly, however, when another explosion knocked
them off of their feet.
Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury had only arrived near the
end of the fight when the redhead had fallen. They had been
prepared to jump in and then that boy with the strange glowing
sword had fought the daimon instead. They were more than a little
surprised when he was able to defeat the daimon, though it had
clearly survived the battle. It disappeared too quickly for them to
get a chance to finish it off. They had to retreat when the school
suddenly exploded, but when they returned the strange boy and girl
were gone as well. They debated looking for them, but it would be
difficult on such a dark night. Besides, they had to get home
before their father got too suspicious.
"The daimon is gone now, whatever it was," Mercury told
Moon and Luna after studying her computer. "Well, we were
waiting for a new threat, I guess that was it. What about your
feeling, Moon?"
Sailor Moon shook her head. "Whatever it was, it's gone
now. The person is no longer in danger."
"Did you get any readings on the sword the boy had?" Luna
asked. It was a pity that the back light of the burning school had
made him difficult to make out.
Mercury nodded. "For once, this thing seems to be
working okay, though it'll be a while before I'm able to decode all
of the readings. Whatever it was, it was a lot more powerful than
what we saw. It could be as powerful as the Silver Crystal. I think
it was drawing power from an outside source, though. I can�t be
sure."
"How is that even possible?" the moon cat asked with some
surprise. The Silver Crystal was supposed to possess nearly
limitless energy.
Mercury shook her head. "I don't know, this computer
could just be malfunctioning again, but this time I don't think so.
What's even more surprising is the very strange readings I got from
the boy himself and the girl the daimon was after."
"Silver Millennium energy?" Sailor Moon asked.
"No clear way to tell, but I can say this much: whatever
they were, they weren't normal humans. And they were also
different from the daimon. You know what? I think we just found
her."
"What? The princess?" Luna asked. "How can you be so
sure?"
"Well, I admit that I don't have that much to go on, but it's a
strong assumption at this point. All we know about the princess is
that she has Silver Millennium energy, is clumsy, and has a strange
hairstyle that reminded people of food. The girl we saw tripped
just before that guy came in, had her hair in a _pig_-tail, which is
odd for a girl her age, and had a strange energy pattern. A daimon
was trying to kill her specificly, only noticing the boy when he got
in its way. Most of all, Sailor Moon was also compelled to come
here to save her. Who else would she have to save but the
princess, for whom the Sailor Senshi were created to protect?"
Sailor Moon nodded. "You could be right. The boy could
have even been Tuxedo Kamen without his Tuxedo, though he
never used a sword before now. It's a pity we couldn't have gotten
a better look at them, especially the girl."
"Don't worry about it. We know she's a red-head with a
pig-tail. Shouldn't be too hard to find."
At the same time that the Sailor Senshi were returning
home, Usagi had finally reached her house. After being thoroughly
scolded by her mother and sent to her room without supper, Usagi
collapsed on her bed with a sigh. Why did her life have to be so
hard? It wasn't her fault that she had gotten lost in such a big
school. It wasn't her fault that it had blown up for some reason.
She didn't think she had done anything in the basement that would
have caused that.
That brought her back to thinking about the mysterious boy
who had saved her. Only then did she realize that she didn't even
know his name. Would she ever see him again?
She was distracted by a sound outside her window. She
looked out to see a light drizzle falling. There was something
small moving down there in the dark, like a cat or a puppy.
Probably someone's lost pet, she reasoned. Feeling bad for the
poor animal out on a bad night alone, she decided to help it out.
Slowly creeping out of her room to not alert her parents,
Usagi made it downstairs and out the back door. Outside there was
barely enough light to see by and the ground squished
uncomfortably between her bare toes. She managed to creep up to
the animal and had caught it in both hands before it knew what was
happening. The animal struggled violently, but Usagi had a firm
grip. Silently, she crept back into her house.
Now in the light, she could see that it was a small black
pig. Though it wore no collar, she thought it too cute not to be
someone's pet. Besides, there was the yellow bandanna around its
neck. Maybe it escaped from a pet store, she thought. She tried to
calm the animal down by talking to it in low, soothing tones, but
apparently it wasn't listening. Not that the animal would
understand her anyway.
Only when she closed the door of her room behind her did
the pig cease its struggles. It looked at her with an expression
almost like surprise. Usagi was a little stunned at seeing this and
so the pig was able to leap out of her arms and dash to the far
corner of the room.
Usagi noticed that the piglet was shivering. Slowly, she
inched over to it and snatched the piglet up again.
"You're so cute ... I think I'll keep you." And the piglet,
nestled in her bosom, had a sudden change of heart.