You might want to read the prior chapters before getting into this one. Just a suggestion. You can find them at my homepage: http://www.angelfire.com/anime/Slacker or Tannim's page: http://home.earthlink.net/~tannim/index.html Disclaimer? What's that? Oh, that's where I state that none of these people belong to me, and I'm not doing this for money? Nah, I don't need to say that. Everybody already knows. It's not like people would pay to read my stuff, anyways. (But I DON'T own them, and I'm NOT doing this for money. Might as well make sure my butt is covered.) **************************** "All the Small Things-Chapter 4" A Sailor Moon/Ranma 1/2 Fanfic By: Slacker (r_heins@yahoo.com) **************************** "HE'S NEMESIS?" Pluto blinked. That yell had come simultaneously from almost the entire group of Senshi. "Is there a problem with that?" "He can't be Nemesis!" Mars shouted. "Why not? Because I'm not a girl? Or is it because I'm not dressed in a skirt that's a pedophile's wet dream and a uniform that screams `Hey! I'm a target!'?" Nemesis asked with an amused tone. "Because you're a psychopath! You just beat a youma to death with a hunk of pipe!" Mars retorted. Nemesis' eyes went cold and hard. His voice matched. "That thing tried to hurt my Queen. Be glad it died that quickly." The Senshi shivered. Nemesis continued "Besides, how am I different from you? You use your magic to kill youma, I used a piece of pipe. Different tools, same result." The Senshi just stared at him in horror. Nemesis turned to Pluto. "Not very talkative, are they?" After saying that, he turned and started walking towards an alley. Mars started to run after him to grab him. He threw a bolt of black energy at a streetlight and made a pool of shadows. As soon as his foot touched the shadows, his body turned into a solid black shape and melted into the shadow. Mars stopped her running. "What the hell was that?" "Shadow-walk. It's a Chaos spell." Pluto answered her, then turned and began to walk off. "Wait! Where are you going?" Sailor Moon cried. Pluto stopped and looked back over her shoulder as she answered. "I'm going home. I'd suggest you go home, as well. It's late, you know." Pluto smiled as she disappeared in a flash of crimson light. The Senshi blinked. Mars finally spoke. "My place, tomorrow. And I don't care that there's no school tomorrow, Moon! Be there!" Moon sighed and nodded. "Usual time?" Mercury asked. "Of course." ********************** Hikawa Shrine, the next morning. Somewhere is a "Big Book of Otherwise Unwritten Laws." If you were to look in this book, you would find Law Number 13287: "No Senshi meeting shall run smoothly." Rei was determined to break that law. No matter what. So far, she had failed on every attempt. Mostly because of Usagi. Today was going to be different. She had a plan. Who cares that all of her other plans had failed. This one WOULD work. Or else. She told all the rest of the Senshi to show up ten minutes after the time she gave to Usagi. She figured that would ensure that they'd all be there at the same time. The plan was going perfectly. Everyone but Usagi was sitting in the courtyard. (And Setsuna, but that was expected.) Even Mamoru, who was close to tying Setsuna's record for no- shows, was there. Haruka looked angry enough to chew nails and spit tacks when she showed up, but soon calmed down with a little teasing from Michiru. (When Rei asked her why she was angry, Haruka just muttered something about a `red- headed harlot' and sulked. Rei decided to NOT go there.) After fifteen minutes with no sign, they concluded that Usagi was going to be even later than usual and went inside. There, they found out why they hadn't seen any sign of her. She was sitting in front of the sacred fire. And it looked like she had been there for a while. "Usagi? How long have you been here?" Rei asked. Usagi made a point of looking at her watch. "Twenty-five minutes. How long have YOU been here?" "You showed up early?" Rei's voice was thick with disbelief. "Yes. I did." Usagi's voice was calm. Rei just stood there and blinked a few times. Usagi on time she might have been able to handle. Usagi early? Not a chance. She scrambled to find something in her flustered brain to say. "Why?" Ami came to Rei's rescue in her usual calm voice. "I decided to try to use the fire." "What?! You don't have the training!" Rei nearly screeched. "It worked." Everyone froze. Eventually, Rei managed to say something. "It...worked?" She squeaked. "Yes. I managed to get what I needed." Usagi said calmly. "WHAT?" Rei screamed as she grabbed Usagi's shoulders and began to shake her. "Information on Nemesis. And please stop shaking me." Usage replied, still calm. Ami began to get worried. Usagi was never that calm. Especially not when Rei was upset. They usually sparked each other off. "Um...Usagi? What do you mean by 'information on Nemesis'?" Ami questioned. Usagi reached up and broke Rei's grip on her shoulders before turning to Ami and smiling. "I got evidence that Nemesis is on our side." Ami decided to ignore the way Usagi was acting for the moment and concentrate on what she had just said. "How did you get information on Nemesis through reading the fire? Pluto said that he couldn't be scryed. Or did she lie again?" "I didn't scry Nemesis. Pluto told the truth." "Then what did you scry?" Ami asked with puzzlement prominent on her face and in her voice. "I didn't scry anything." Usagi said with a faint smile. "I awoke more of my memories. Believe me, Nemesis is not a threat to me." The Senshi just stared at her for a few more seconds while she smiled serenely. Haruka finally broke the silence. "I assume you can prove this." Her voice was flat. "You know they say about assuming, don't you?" Usagi said in a teasing tone as she walked over to sit in front of the fire. "Pull up a cushion." As everyone sat down, Mamoru sitting quite close to Usagi, she closed her eyes and began to breathe deeply. After about a minute, in which they all held their breath, Usagi opened her eyes, smiled and commented "This is going to be unique. Try not to freak." As they puzzled over her statement, Usagi held out her right hand and clenched it. When she opened it, the Ginzuisho was in her palm, shining with a silver light. Then the sacred fire turned the same color of silver and flared to about three times it usual size. (Makoto would later remark that she just about became one with the back wall when the fire flared. Minako said something about "Neon Genesis Evangelion", and was ignored.) As soon as their breathing had returned to near-normal levels (and Makoto peeled herself off the wall), the Senshi started to study the sacred fire. Or more accurately, they studied the images IN the fire. "Kami-sama," Rei breathed, "Those are clearer than mine." Normally, disbelief or anger might have been present in her tone. However, she was so shocked that neither was possible. She had been trained in fire reading since she was a child and the best she could usually get out of the flame were a few hazy images. Usagi had no training whatsoever (other than watching Rei) and her images were better than real. "Wow." For once Minako was almost speechless. "That kicks grass and bakes names." Almost. The rest of the Senshi just sat there and blinked, except for Ami, who was using the Mercury Computer to analyze the power readings Usagi was giving off. What she was getting made her swallow hard. Rather than go insane trying to understand the readings now, Ami decided to just set the Computer to record and to watch the fire with everybody else. Inside the fire were scenes that they were all familiar with: the Moon Palace's gardens, the ballroom, and assorted scenes from around the Palace. "It's like a travel brochure." Haruka remarked sarcastically. She had a point. While the detail was incredible, nothing was going on. "You want to see something? Okay, I'll show you something." Usagi calmly announced. The view zoomed to the Palace Gardens. It followed a path until it came upon a young girl, around three to four years old. She had her blonde hair done in a distinctive and familiar style. "How cute. We're watching the ultimate home video." Haruka said in an insanely sweet tone. "You have no idea." Usagi said as she smirked. The smirk would have made Pluto react (she would have raised an eyebrow, at least). Luckily, the rest of the Senshi didn't see it. The fire flared again, and they all flinched. When they opened their eyes, no one said a word. "WOW! It's like we're there!" Minako gushed. (Well, almost no one.) "Minako, we ARE there." Makoto remarked. Ami began to frantically type on the Computer. Rei just sat on the ground and twitched. "Usagi, how did we get here? I thought that Setsuna-mama was the only one who could send people through time." Hotaru asked in a calm voice. "We're not in the past, Hotaru." Usagi replied calmly. "Then where are we? And what's with this `I'm so calm and cool' routine!" Haruka yelled. "We're looking at my memories of the Silver Millenium. I tried to scry Nemesis directly, but I couldn't, even when I used the Ginzuisho. He truly is impossible to scry. As for the `routine', I think it's a side effect of going through my memories. I was a lot calmer in the Silver Millenium, apparently. I think it'll pass." Makoto heard Rei mutter something under her breath. It sounded like "Rats!" "And if it doesn't?" Ami inquired. "My teachers will be much happier." Usagi said with a shrug. Everyone shared a glance. Usagi was beginning to freak them out. She snapped her fingers to gain their attention and pointed at Princess Serenity. They turned just in time to see her trip and fall to her knees. She held her now-skinned knee and began to cry. Haruka and Michiru both began to move towards her. They were stopped by Usagi's arm. "Don't bother. You can't help. Watch. What comes next is enlightening." A boy, around twelve or thirteen, walked up to the Princess. He was dressed in a smaller version of the uniform they had seen Nemesis wear. He crouched down as he spoke to her. "Fall down, Princess?" She nodded, tears in her eyes. He kissed his right index and middle fingers, then placed them over the scrape. "There! All better!" Serenity giggled as she got up. She hugged the boy and ran off. He watched her run as he stood up. He continued to keep an eye on her as he spoke. "Hello, my Queen." "Hello, Arin." Queen Serenity replied. "It's Nemesis when I'm in uniform. You know that." Nemesis told her with a half grin. "If you insist. May I ask you a question?" The last was said in a frosty tone. "Why didn't I catch her before she hurt herself?" "Precisely." Queen Serenity's voice had just a hint of anger in it. Nemesis turned to look her in the eyes when he answered. "I can't expect you to agree with me. But when you appointed me as your daughter's protector, you told me to do what was best for her. That was what was best for her." "Letting her hurt herself?" Disbelief echoed through Serenity's voice. "If I was always there to catch her before she fell, if I always made sure nothing happened to her, if I made sure that she never hurt herself, she would grow to expect it. She would grow to depend on it. A member of the Royal Family CANNOT grow to depend on anyone or any- thing! It leads to dangerous weakness. Pain is a necessary part of the growth process. No pain, no growth. It's as simple as that. Do you deny my reasons?" Nemesis finished in a calm tone. "I...I...guess I see your point." "But you don't like it. That's acceptable." Nemesis turned and walked in the same direction the Princess had gone. Queen Serenity began to walk the other way. As he walked into the shadow of a tree, Nemesis called out. "My Queen?" "Yes?" "I don't know what they're talking about." "What?" Queen Serenity turned just in time to see Nemesis disappear into the shadow of the tree with a smirk. "SERENITY!!! SOMETHING MUST BE DONE ABOUT HIM!!!" Queen Serenity turned back to the path to see...a group of Senshi (minus Pluto). With hair that matched their fukus. She lifted her hands and began to massage her temples. "Arin, Arin, Arin, why do you bedevil me so?" The Senshi blinked as the scene began to fade. Soon they were back in front of the fire in Rei's temple. Makoto was the first one to speak. "That was interesting." "Quite." Ami added. "I wonder if those were the Elder Senshi?" Haruka was about to add something when Mamoru touched Usagi's shoulder, the fire flared again, and the world disappeared in a flash of silver fire. "Where are we now?" Rei asked. Everyone looked around. They were standing in the seat section of what appeared to be an empty coliseum. When they looked up, they saw the Earth above them. "Well, we're still on the Moon, at least." Ami answered. "Who are they?" Michiru asked, pointing at a group of people. Queen Serenity was immediately recognizable. They didn't recognize the rest of the group until they walked closer. "By the kamis! Is that Pluto?" Rei gasped. It took a few seconds for the rest of the group to recognize the Senshi of time. It took seeing the Time Staff in her hands in order to confirm it. The reason was her hair. They were used to her having waist length hair. Not...that. "Wow. That is SHORT." Usagi commented. And it was. Pluto's hair was cut in an EXTREME pageboy's cut. It couldn't have been more than two or three inches long. As they approached, the other two figures revealed themselves. One was dressed in black armor and a sword. He had a small black-haired boy with him. Mamoru gasped. Usagi turned to him. "Mamo-chan? What is it?" He pointed at the boy. "That's me. I remember this. We need to leave. Now!" "Why?" Makoto asked. "Just trust me! We must go NOW! Usagi, stop this!" "I can't. This is your memory. It won't stop until it plays through." "Usagi? Something just occurred to me. If that was taken from your memories, how did we see what happened after you ran off?" Ami asked. "I...hid in the bushes." Usagi admitted reluctantly. "Okay, now I have a question: Who's that?" Haruka asked as she pointed at the last member of the little group. The last member was a short, slender woman with black hair. She seemed to be extremely delicate and helpless, but there was something in the way she held herself that made Haruka want to get between her and Usagi. "That's the Queen of Saturn. One of the nastiest fighters ever born. She survived over sixty assassination attempts, usually by personally killing the assassin. She was extremely dangerous, even by Saturn's standards." Mamoru replied. "Can we leave now?" "Why do you want to leave so badly?" Makoto asked. Mamoru groaned as a group of Senshi walked onto the floor of the coliseum. "Too late." "What's wrong, Mamo-chan?" Usagi asked. He just pointed at the entrance as a young Nemesis walked out. He appeared to be around ten years old and was wearing a smaller version of the uniform they had seen him in before. "He's so cute when he's a kid!" Minako squealed. "You won't say that in a few minutes." Mamoru groaned with his face in his hands. "Why is that?" Rei asked, without looking away from Nemesis. Mamoru's reply was interrupted when Nemesis spoke. "Uranus! You publicly stated that I was incapable of protecting the Princess. I offer you one final chance to take those words back." "And if I don't?" The Elder Uranus was a tall, thin woman with long black hair, a willowy body, and a face that was classical in it's beauty. She was currently wearing a smirk on it. "I'll beat you and the rest of the Senshi unconscious." Nemesis stated in a quiet, sincere voice. He could have been discussing the weather by the look on his face. Uranus' smirk grew larger as she began to obviously fight back laughter. "Oh yes. *snort* I am sooooo scared. *chuckle* Please don't hurt me! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Nemesis raised an eyebrow as Uranus doubled over in laughter. He turned to Queen Serenity. "My Queen? If you would say when, please?" "You will not turn from this course?" Queen Serenity inquired. "It's not my place to turn. Uranus is the one who refused to accept my ability to protect the Princess. All I require is for her to acknowledge my ability." Nemesis paused and looked at Uranus expectantly. "Not gonna happen." Uranus snorted, still chuckling a bit. "Very well. My Queen?" Nemesis continued. Serenity sighed and raised her hand. As she dropped it, she stated "You may begin." As soon as the words left the Queen's lips, Nemesis was in motion. He dashed towards Jupiter before anyone could react. Before she could even react, Jupiter received a broken nose courtesy of his foot. As she reached up to clutch at her nose, Nemesis dropped into a crouch and drove the heel of his right hand into the side of her knee, causing it to let out a loud *CRACK* and removing Jupiter from the fight in an effective, if brutal, manner. She crumpled to the ground, clutching at her knee and nose. Nemesis quickly kicked her in the side of her head and moved on. Mercury was the next to fall. A simple punch to the stomach followed by a head-butt was all that was necessary to render her unconscious. He quickly dashed towards his next target, Venus. Venus was ready for him. She quickly pointed at him and sounded her battle cry. "CRESENT BEAM!" Nemesis ducked and rolled under the blast of golden energy. His roll ended a few feet in front of her. He uncurled from his roll into a crouch, and pointed the palm of his hand at her. "Nice. Try mine." He stated with a grin. "CHAOS LANCE!" A beam of pure black energy shot out and hit Venus directly in the center of her chest. She was thrown back to, and through, the wall around the arena. And the first three rows of marble benches. "Now, that HAD to hurt." Nemesis managed to state before having to jump away from a white- hot blast of flame. The area where he was formerly crouched was turned into a bubbling mass of red-hot glass. He touched down a few feet away and turned to face Mars, who still had her hand outstretched from throwing the blast. "That wasn't very nice. If I didn't know better, I'd say you meant that blast to hit me. Of course, seeing how crappy the shot was, it must have just been a warning shot." Nemesis began to run towards Mars in an erratic path, dodging the blasts she continued to throw. "I mean, if you wanted to hurt me, the blast would have been something like...I don't know, maybe...THIS! CHAOS FLARE!" Nemesis slammed both palms to the ground in front of him. A small, black flame ignited in front of him and swiftly traveled along the ground towards Mars, gaining speed and size as it went. By the time she realized what was happening, the fire was too large for Mars to dodge. She braced herself for it to hit. The impact sent her flying twenty feet into the wall, smoking and visibly charred. Nemesis winced. "Hmmm, maybe that was a bit much. What do you two think?" Twin balls of energy answered his question. Neptune and Uranus had wisely decided to take advantage of his momentary pause. The energy slammed him into the wall. Nemesis shook his head a bit and looked up. Just in time to see more energy about to hit him. "Ah, SHIT!" Uranus and Neptune continued to hit him for several minutes. Finally they stopped when they couldn't even see what they were aiming at through all the dust. "I think that should do it. No one could stand up to that." Neptune stated calmly. They began to walk off the arena floor. Uranus sarcastically asked Neptune. "So, what was he saying about `beating'?" "I said I'd beat you unconscious." They froze as Nemesis' calm voice responded. They turned back just as the dust finished settling down, revealing a still-conscious Nemesis. He looked like hell. His clothing was in tatters, one eye was swelling shut, he was bleeding from a multitude of small lacerations, and the skin they could see was already purpling from bruises. He was visibly swaying as he stood. He turned his head, coughed up some blood, and continued. "That really hurt. I think you actually managed to do some real damage. My father would be impressed. I, on the other hand, am pissed." Nemesis stepped back into the shadows and sank into them. As Neptune and Uranus began to scan the surrounding area, he rose out of Neptune's shadow. "Back here, stupid." As Neptune flipped around just in time for Nemesis to jump and nail her nose with his knee. He continued the jump over her head, grabbing her hair as he went. He landed behind her and bent over at the waist, still holding her hair, resulting in her flying over him in an arc. She met the ground at a decent speed, face-first. Nemesis took a few short steps, lifted her up by her hair, swung her around, and re-introduced her to the ground. Then he swung her around and threw her into Uranus with enough force to send both of them to the ground. Uranus got up. Neptune didn't. "You little bastard. I'm gonna make you pay." Uranus ground out as she wiped a thin trickle of blood from her lip. "Bring it on, Uranus. I survived almost a decade on Nemesis. Compared to that, you're an easy win." Uranus just growled and started to gather energy. Nemesis smiled pleasantly and began to murmur under his breath. He brought his feet together and placed his palms together at chest height, then closed his eyes. Uranus raised both hands over her head and clenched them. She swung them down sharply, opened them facing towards Nemesis, and cried "URANUS WORLD DEVASTATION!!", releasing a massive ball of energy. Nemesis calmly stood in it's path. He opened his eyes, revealing them to be totally black. His voice was calm as he stated "Chaos Dance." As soon as the words left his mouth, Nemesis was wreathed in black flame. What followed next was brutal. Nemesis swatted Uranus' blast aside and charged at her at an astonishing speed. Uranus had just enough time to flinch slightly before he started his assault. The unmercifully barrage of punches and kicks slammed into her chest, head, and legs. A particularly hard punch sent her flying into the stands near the Queen. Uranus shook her head as she tried to get to her feet. She raised her head just in time to see Nemesis land in front of her and stride over to a marble bench. He grabbed the edge of it and ripped it off. "Oh, damn. This is going to hurt." Uranus groaned. "Not for long." Uranus was strong. Uranus was tough. Uranus had Neptune slammed into her at high speed, then had the most potent hand-to-hand attack in Chaos Magic used on her. It still took three solid blows before she finally passed out. Nemesis looked down at her and smiled. The black flames surrounding his body finally died out. He staggered a bit. "Wow. That was fun. Reminded me of sparring with my father." He turned and started to walk towards the Queen. He stopped as a low moan sounded. He turned in the direction of the moan. "Mars? She's still conscious? Amazing. Well, I can't have that." Nemesis picked up the bench top and broke off a fist-sized piece. He hefted it a few times, and then threw it towards the twitching Mars with a flick of his wrist. The chunk of marble slammed into the center of her forehead with a meaty *THWACK* and she spasmed once, then laid still. "Serenity? I remove my earlier objections to his appointment. He'd do nicely on Saturn, in fact. Brutally efficient, excellent fighting skills, and no mercy for opponents. If he wasn't so young, I'd take him as a consort." The Queen of Saturn cast a glance towards Nemesis and faded from sight. Nemesis continued to walk to Queen Serenity. He stopped in front of her, bowed, and said "My Queen. By your leave?" Serenity waved a hand. "You may go." "Thank you." Nemesis paused as he walked past Pluto. He took her right hand and kissed it. He grinned at her as he straightened. "You know, you'd look really great if you grew your hair out." As the scene started to fade, they could see Pluto touching a hand to her hair. **************** Setsuna's house, earlier that morning. Ranma jerked awake with a start. He looked down. Boxers, check. Tank-top, check. Female? Check. No black clothing. No chain wrapped around his left forearm. Most importantly, NO pipe in his hands. Ranma staggered out of bed and walked over to stand in front of the mirror on the dresser. He hung his head for a few seconds before looking at his reflection. He raised his head to look in the mirror. Nothing on his forehead. Nothing unusual about his reflection at all. Just the normal black hair, blue eyes, and pigtail. He started to turn away. Ranma's gaze snapped back to his reflection. He squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them. No change in his reflection. He glanced down at his chest. Yes. Those were breasts. He looked up at his bangs. Red as a fire truck. He looked at the mirror again. A black-haired, blue-eyed, and above all, MALE Ranma stared back. "What the hell?" Ranma whispered in confusion as he reached out his left hand to touch the mirror. As his hand neared the glass, his reflection began to...shift. His tank-top and boxers shifted to the same outfit Ranma had been wearing in his dream, black with silver detailing. A chain snaked its way around his left forearm. Ranma snatched his hand back quickly. His...reflection? slowly lowered it's hand. It smiled as a symbol seemed to burn itself into its forehead with a black flame. The symbol was an upside-down black crescent moon. "That symbol...." Ranma murmured. His reflection grinned. "Hi there. We meet again for the first time." Ranma gathered his scattered wits. "Who the hell are you? You're not my reflection." "Oh, I am. In a way. I am known as Nemesis. You can call me Arin. We're gonna get REAL close, REAL soon." As he said this, the figure lifted his right hand and flicked at Ranma. At his gesture, the mirror warped and flowed towards Ranma. He jumped back, but was too slow. The glass wrapped around him, squeezing him, cutting off his breath. He could see blackness edging his vision, and felt himself growing faint and falling...falling...falling.... *THUD* *SKRIIP* "AAAAHHhhh...huh?" Ranko jumped to her feet. She looked down. A set of sheets and a blanket lay ripped to shreds on the floor. She had gotten tangled in them and fallen out of bed. She scanned the room. Nothing out of place. She scanned himself. Tank-top, boxers, female. No problem there. She warily made her way over to the mirror. She stood back a little ways and examined her reflection. Red hair, not black. Nothing on her forehead. Tank-top and boxers, not a black and silver uniform. "What the hell did I eat? Three freaky dreams in one night? Akane's cooking didn't even manage THAT! By the goddess, it's like the Twilight Zone has decided to rent out my skull!" Ranko rubbed her eyes. "And I feel like crap. It's like I was up all night fighting." Ranko shook her head and pulled on some clothes. She made her way down the hall to the bathroom. If she hadn't been so busy pondering her dreams, she would have noticed the shower shutting off as she neared the bathroom. If she hadn't been gazing at the floor, she might have noticed the robe hanging on one of the hooks by the door, or the lingerie hanging on the others. If she hadn't still been a bit groggy from the abrupt awakening, she DEFINITELY would have noticed the humming. Unfortunately, she WAS pondering her dreams, and she WAS looking at the floor, and she WAS still a bit groggy. Which meant she walked into the bathroom and looked up at just the right time to have almost no warning before she walked into a very surprised, and very naked, Setsuna Meiou. That would have been bad enough, but when Setsuna jerked from surprise, the rug on the floor chose just THAT moment to slip, which made her start to fall. Right onto Ranko, who reflexively caught her. Of course, everybody knows that bad luck runs in threes. This was proven when Ranko wasn't able to support Setsuna because of the rug's sliding and her surprise. So they fell down. Ranko instinctively yanked Setsuna close and wrapped her arms around her, holding her tightly so she wouldn't get hurt as Ranko took the brunt of the fall. Ranko's breath went out of her in a "Whoof!" as her back slammed into the hard tiles with Setsuna landing on top of her. She glanced down to see if Setsuna was okay. All she could see was skin. Lots of it. Lots of deeply tanned, smooth, wet, naked.... Ranko slammed her eyes shut and whacked the back of her head against the floor a few times. Ranko slammed the lid shut on THAT thought and riveted it shut. "You know, you should be glad I'm not Haruka." Ranko's thought were interrupted when Setsuna spoke. "W-w-why is that?" Ranko stammered. "Because she'd either kill you, or keep you on this floor for a couple of hours." Setsuna replied. Ranko's face scrunched up as she tried to figure out what Setsuna meant by the floor remark. "You can get up, you know." Ranko informed Setsuna. "No, I can't." Setsuna calmly replied. "Why not? You aren't hurt, are you?" Concern started to grow in Ranko's voice. "No. You just haven't let go of me yet." Amusement was evident in Setsuna's voice. "And you really shouldn't be holding on to me there, either. After all, we've just met." <'Holding on to me there'? What's she talking about?> Ranko checked both of her hands. Her right hand and arm was wrapped Setsuna's shoulders. Her left arm was wrapped around her waist with her hand holding on...to...her.... Ranko snapped her hand off of Setsuna's butt so quickly it was a surprise she didn't leave friction burns. "Please get off." Ranko asked in a small voice as she removed her other hand, as well. Setsuna didn't reply as she stood up. Ranko heard a rustle of fabric as Setsuna spoke. "You CAN look, you know. I'm sure I don't have anything you haven't seen before. After all, we're both girls, right?" Ranko THOUGHT Setsuna's voice had a faint teasing tone as she asked the question. She kept her eyes tightly shut as she sat up and turned around. Finally, she decided to ignore the question for the moment and ask something that had been bothering her since the previous morning. "Um, Setsuna?" "Yes?" "Why did you give me that bucket of water to use on Haruka yesterday?" "Haruka was out late, after I had warned her that she should go to bed early. I figured she would need some motivation to get up that early. Besides, it made for some great pictures." "'It made for some great pictures.'" Ranko repeated in a dull tone of voice. "Yes. And it made her go all-out in fighting you. She would have held back, otherwise. She needed to be shown that you are much better than her. That way, she will be ready to learn from you, rather than just humoring you." "Oh. That makes sense. But you should have warned me that Michiru was with her. I had NO right to involve her in it. Why was she in Haruka's bed, anyways?" Setsuna cast a glance over at Ranko's back as she dried off her legs. The puzzlement in her voice was unmistakable in its sincerity. "I'll...explain later." "Could you hand me that underwear?" "Sure." Ranko grabbed the underwear off the hook and passed it over her shoulder, trying NOT to notice how much of it was composed of lace. And failing. "Thank you." Setsuna took the lingerie from Ranko's hand. "Could you hand me the blouse and skirt now?" Ranko quickly did so and breathed a sigh of relief when Setsuna announced it was safe to turn around. This time, there was an unmistakable tone of amusement in her voice. Setsuna gathered her bathing things and started to walk out. She paused in the doorway and looked back. "Ranko?" "Hmmm?" Ranko looked at her questioningly. "Are you okay?" Ranko blinked. "I'm fine. Why do you ask?" "You've got some pretty heavy bags under your eyes. Did you sleep well last night?" "No. Had some bad dreams. Don't worry about it. I'm fine." Ranko assured her. "All right. But, if you ever need to talk, I'm available." Setsuna closed the door behind her as she left. Ranko quickly locked it. <"I'm available"? You know, I think that's the first time anyone's offered to hear me out. Weird.> Ranma quickly showered, luxuriating at the feel of being back in his real body, however temporarily. He braced himself and turned the water back to cold. As she dressed, she grinned. Ranko opened the door and almost walked into a bucket. She stopped and looked at its bearer. Setsuna smiled as she spoke. "It's already full. And I've got a new camcorder I want to try out." Ranko chuckled as she took it. "Again? How long do you want me to use this?" "Until you don't need to anymore. I'm not holding my breath. Oh, and Michiru is in her bedroom." Ranko nodded in thanks as she walked down the hall. A few seconds later an outraged scream was heard, followed by a cheerful "THIS IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL!!" ********************* Hikawa shrine The room was silent. The assembled group sat and stared at the now-normal flames. "By the kamis. And he's on OUR side?" Rei whispered, horrified. Any response was cut off by a soft sigh from Usagi as she collapsed into Mamoru's arms. The rest of the group was around the pair so fast it looked like they teleported. "USAGI! Are you okay?" Echoed from multiple throats at once. A hushed silence fell as everyone strained their ears to listen for a reply. Faintly, they could hear a sound. It sounded like.... "Snoring?" Rei asked incredulously. "She's asleep? SHE'S ASLEEP!?!?" Usagi mumbled a bit at Rei's scream and snuggled into Mamoru's lap. A happy smile could be seen growing on her face as Mamoru started to blush nervously. "Usagiiii...." Rei started to growl. "Give it up, Rei." Luna interrupted. "Once she's out, nothing wakes her up. Listen to the person who's had to get her to school on time for the last several years." Makoto smiled. "I've got a way." "What is it." Rei's voice was flat. Makoto reached down and opened a previously unnoticed bag. She pulled out a plate with... "Muffins. Chocolate." *SNATCH* Makoto's hands were suddenly empty. She blinked. She looked over at Mamoru. He was staring at the now-revived Usagi, who was busily shoving muffins into her mouth. "Mmmph? Whht?" Usagi asked, spraying crumbs. "Well, she's back to normal." Haruka wryly noted. Rei started to rub her forehead. The meeting proceeded as usual from that point, ending with the usual Rei/Usagi fight. *********************** Tendo Dojo It had only been two days since Ranma had "disappeared", and already Akane was getting unbearable. She had already established that neither Ukyo nor Shampoo had seen him. She would have checked with Kodachi, but no one with half a brain in their heads went anywhere near either of the Kuno's willingly. (Not that she thought Ranma HAD half a brain in his head, but she wasn't going to risk going anywhere near Kuno.) Nabiki shook her head as she heard Akane's door slam shut. She leaned back in her chair and contemplated her ledgers. She suddenly stood up and walked over to the corner of her room. Bending down, she lifted an unremarkable board, revealing a safe underneath it. She set the board aside and opened the safe. She re-locked the safe and replaced the board as soon as she had removed a folder. It was sloppy things such as that got most people. Nabiki was too careful to allow even a little chance to exist to screw her over. As she sat back in her chair, she glanced over the contents of the file. Given to her by a contact in Tomobiki that very day, it contained a report on Ranma's activities there. Nabiki smirked as she finished the report and put it back. Downstairs, Kasumi paused in her preparations to cook dinner. She put down the frying pan and massaged the bridge of her nose. Kasumi was not having a good day. First, there was the headache she had woken up with, which had turned into a full-blown migraine by mid- morning. Then, it was made worse by having to listen to both her father's wailing and Akane's screaming about Ranma vanishing. On top of that, both Ukyo and Shampoo had shown up after school to look for Ranma, which had the usual results. The repairmen said that it would take at least two days before they had time to fix the house. (Kasumi wouldn't have been as upset if HER room hadn't been in the section of house that had been leveled. With her supply of Belgian chocolates. She'd gone four hours without a hit of chocolate and she was getting twitchy.) And to top it all of, it was THAT time of the month. All in all, Kasumi was having the one of the worst days in her life. (Not the worst, though. Nothing would ever beat the day her mother died. Nothing. Although the funeral came close.) Then it got worse. Much worse. Worse being Akane coming in, with THAT look in her eyes. The "Damn it! I can be domestic, too!" look. The look that always heralded Kasumi having to basically rebuild and restock her kitchen from the ground up. (Including pots, pans, appliances, and the tiles on the floor.) "Hi, Kasumi! I thought I'd give every one a surprise tonight and cook dinner!" Akane announced in the voice of someone who just didn't understand why biohazard and haz-mat teams were on the family's speed-dial. "Oh, you'll give them a surprise, all right." Kasumi muttered. "What was that, Kasumi? I couldn't hear you." "N-nothing!" Kasumi cheerfully answered. If Akane had bothered to look, she would have noticed that Kasumi's smile seemed a bit forced. Akane, however, was too busy getting out her ingredients. (Violating a MAJOR rule among cooks: NEVER, EVER use another cook's kitchen without permission. People have been maimed for doing it.) Kasumi twitched with every new ingredient Akane pulled out. The vinegar wasn't so bad. The wasabi wasn't unexpected, either. The cleanser was frequently used in her cooking, too. The rat poison was new, though. Kasumi thought incredulously. "Anyways, Kasumi, why don't you leave? That way you can be surprised by the food! Don't you think it's a great idea for me to cook tonight? I know that everyone will just love it! I've got this new recipe I found today! Of course, it was a bit bland, so I made a few changes." Akane continued to talk, but Kasumi tuned her out. Akane reached over to the chopping block and pulled out the largest knife there. THAT snapped her to attention. Kasumi was proud of her knives. She polished them. She balanced them. She sharpened them by hand. Her knives could cut the electrons from an atom. They were the one thing that she treasured above all else. They were a gift from her mother, you see. The last thing she gave to Kasumi before she died, to be precise. Having Akane start to work her (black) magic with one of HER knives was just too much for Kasumi to take on top of everything else that had happened. She grabbed the knife out of Akane's hand. "What? Kasumi? Why did you do that?" Kasumi slammed the knife point-first into the table between Akane's fingers. "No, Akane, I think it would be best if you DIDN'T make supper tonight!" She ground out in her sweetest voice. "W-w-w-what do you mean?" Akane stammered. "What do I mean? I mean 'Get Out Of MY Kitchen!' Now! Or I'll THROW you out!" Kasumi's voice was still in it's sweetest mode. The rather manic look in her eyes betrayed that, though. Akane slowly backed out of the kitchen, then whirled and ran upstairs. Kasumi collapsed into a chair and rested her head in her hands. (Remembering to put the knife away FIRST. Otherwise, it could have REALLY hurt.) In a few seconds, Kasumi heard footsteps coming towards the kitchen. She recognized them well before Nabiki spoke from the doorway. "So, what's this I hear about you being possessed again?" she drolly asked. Kasumi just whimpered. Nabiki sat down next to her. "Want to talk? What's wrong?" Nabiki wasn't exactly what you would call a social person. Or an open person. Or even a nice person, really. Most of her time was spent making money, counting money, or figuring out ways to keep the money she already had. There was one thing, however, that she cared about more than money: her family. While she might use Akane to make some quick cash, she wouldn't actually do anything to HURT her. So, when Kasumi, of all the people, was sitting in a pose of quiet despair, Nabiki got VERY concerned, VERY quick. Kasumi looked at her. "I've got a migraine. My room is totally destroyed. The house has huge holes all over it. My chocolates are gone. Akane decided she wanted to cook. And we're out of Midol. Do any of those count as 'What's wrong'?" Kasumi's voice was lackluster, at best. "Yeah, I'd say that they do." "All right, Kasumi. Do you know what we're going to do?" "No, what are we going to do." Kasumi replied in a lifeless voice. "I'm gonna call for take-out. Then you and me are going to go upstairs to my room. Then, you're gonna get into that red dress of mine. Then, we're going to go and...unwind." "Your red dress? Wait, that dress is a..." "Miniskirt. Trust me. You need this." Kasumi was still weakly protesting as Nabiki grabbed her wrist and hauled her upstairs. She stopped protesting by the third club. The next morning, Nabiki groaned as she climbed out of bed. It felt like a jackhammer was pounding on her skull. She started to whimper as she heard Kasumi singing as she hung up the wash to dry. **************** Author's notes: And that's where I'll end it. "What? No cliffhanger?" you ask? That's right! As I've said before, I end where I feel I should. And for this chapter, it's right there. (Hey, if I wrote any more, it'd take longer to get out. Death threats are kinda fun to read, but they DO get a bit worrisome after the first fifty or so.) Now, for the important part of the Author's Notes: the Thank You's! First, to the pre-readers: Aaron Blomenkamp anchan Aaron Moorman CCMax E_Nebedum Gil F. de Noronha I'm Apathetic Lord Anthrax Mr. P 'tsuki-chan William Dix Xaldaran Then, to some of the people who've helped me get some cool (Read: evil) ideas: Andrew Wilson Werefox Simkin Harold Ancell (And a lot of other people whom I can't remember just now.) And, of course, special thanks goes out to you, the person who actually bothered to read this far. Ja Ne! Slacker 12/15/2000 PS. 22 people remembered to floss. Thanks! (Your dentist thanks you, too.)