[SM/Ranma][FanFic] A Call To Action, Part Three
Mike Koos
A Sailor Moon / Ranma 1/2 Crossover
Part Three
written by Mike Koos
--------------------
Akane stared, almost transfixed by the sight of her older sister
lying, unmoving, half-covered underneath the blankets of a hospital
bed. "Oneechan," she breathed, feelings of sadness and helplessness
surging together and threatening to overwhelm her in one fashion or
another.
She didn't care much for hospitals; seeing Nabiki in such a
condition reminded her that their mother had lost her battle with
cancer and passed away in a bed... in a room on the next floor of
this very hospital, in fact.
The room felt depressingly lifeless and sterile, seemingly
forcing the color and happiness out of everyone present. Akane
shuddered when she saw how pale her sister's face had come to be.
She wasn't able to help Nabiki in any way, just as she hadn't been
able to help her mother.
Frustration mixed with the emotions Akane tried to keep trapped
within her. This didn't mean she would lose Nabiki, too, did it?
<Stop it!> she admonished herself. <That isn't going to happen!>
She glanced up into Ranma's face, but the young man was making
an effort to keep his face unreadable.
A doctor carefully wrapped a gauze bandage around Nabiki's
wounded temples while they watched in silence from a few feet away.
Her other wounds had each required a number of stitches, though the
hospital gown she wore to replace her blood-stained Fuurinkan High
uniform and the bedcovers hid these injuries from view. Thankfully,
all the blood had been washed out of her hair as well, and she was
presently being given a transfusion by IV drip - replacing the blood
she'd lost in her fight with the monster.
"How... is she?" Akane managed to ask in a hoarse voice.
"Well...," the doctor studied her face and Ranma's in turn. He
cleared his throat. "Her injuries are considerable, but they are
less of a danger to her now than when she was admitted. Sailor
Senshi and monsters," he said, shaking his head. "I never thought we
would have to worry about all that, in this district."
For a cover story, Akane had told the hospital staff that she,
Ranma and Nabiki were watching a Sailor Senshi fight a monster in
their school's yard when the monster chose to attack them. Most of
that story fit what had actually happened with only one difference -
Akane hoped that no one would think to connect Nabiki with Sailor
Terra, rather than simply another student lost in the confusion while
watching the fight.
"Your sister needs rest, now, and time for her body to recover
its strength and heal. She should awaken later this evening or by
tomorrow morning at the latest." The doctor excused himself. "I'll
check on her every hour or so."
"Are you sure...?" asked Akane, her shoulders slumping. "Um,
the rest of our family should be on their way here. Is there
anything else we should tell them?"
"Not... really. She will be fine." He left the room, hoping
that he would never have to risk being attacked by a monster as this
girl had.
Akane remained silent for five more minutes after shutting the
room's only door. "Ranma," she said at last, faintly. "She's so
pale. Almost... almost as if she were... dead."
"Don't say that!" Ranma's voice was loud enough to make her
start. "The doctor said she'll be all right, so she's gonna be all
right." Why was Akane behaving like this, he wondered?
She switched her gaze to him. Ranma had never been good at
reassuring others. "Well... she *is* a Sailor Senshi. They always
survive..." Pause. "...don't they?" She'd read newspaper reports -
several of them Nabiki's, in fact - and seen news broadcasts about
the Senshi; to think that her own sister was one of them!
Ranma was unsure how to answer. From what he'd gathered, the
Sailor Senshi were a group of costumed girls taking on monsters,
criminals and things like that - but hardly a match for true fighters
like him, right? Still... Nabiki *wasn't* a martial artist in the
same sense that he was, yet she had courage and power enough to take
on that... whatever it was she had been fighting. Monsters that had
possessed Kunou, transforming him into a bigger monster.
She'd used some kind of super-powered attack against the thing -
and might have won the fight if she hadn't obviously been distracted
by something. Ranma was too much of a trained martial artist not to
notice this.
Akane's voice interrupted his thoughts. "I wonder when Ami's
going to get here. Don't you think it's weird that Nabiki would ask
us to call for Ami-chan and someone named Hotaru instead of asking us
to get her to the emergency room?"
Ranma shrugged. "Who knows? Anyway, our dads and Kasumi'll be
here soon. What're we gonna tell them? Are we gonna tell them she's
one of those Sailor Senshi?"
"We'd better keep her secret," Akane thought aloud. After all,
the identities of the Senshi were supposedly kept a secret, not
revealed to everyone in sight. Besides, there was the fact that
their father would likely throw a crying fit to end all crying
fits... She sighed. <Dad'll break into tears anyway when he sees
Nabiki like this. No sense making it all worse.>
For a brief second, she thought she saw Nabiki's eyes shift
beneath her closed eyelids. <Maybe she's... dreaming,> Akane studied
her. <I wonder what she could be dreaming about?>
** ** **
Because I live outside the Juuban district, unlike the others,
it isn't always easy to be with them whenever 'Senshi business' comes
up. All my family knows - I think - is that I'm spending a lot more
time visiting my friends in Juuban.
I know, I know... I'm eventually going to have someone wondering
why I don't really have many friends in Nerima these days, but I
can't do much about it. Not with the Dark Kingdom keeping all of us
busy, anyway.
One of the running jokes we have among us involves asking Luna
when we'll have a way to teleport me between Juuban and Nerima. That
would be nice - if I could do that, then I wouldn't have any need to
get everyone to help cover my bus fares.
And if you're gone for even one night, you can miss an important
event. Dad's birthday was yesterday, and Kasumi had me stay home for
the party.
Frankly, after that mess with Naru three days ago, I didn't mind
taking a night off and forgetting about our problems as Senshi for a
day. None of us had thought that the 'relationship' Naru had with
Nephrite would end the way it had. We'd been thinking of the entire
Dark Kingdom as completely evil, wanting to drain everyone's energy
for who knows what kind of grand schemes, and if they can kill four
Sailor Senshi along the way...
But in the end, Nephrite proved that love can overcome even a
strong evil.
Sheesh, I'm beginning to sound like Usagi again.
Anyway, while I was off feeling a bit guilty about letting
myself enjoy the party for Dad, Usagi and the others were discovering
the 'fifth' Senshi - Sailor Jupiter, Kino Makoto.
It's Sunday, so with no school for the day the five of us can
get together for a meeting of sorts or whatever. Heh, I suppose this
means I'm not the newest Senshi on the team any longer.
Let's see. From what everyone's told me, Makoto's tough and on
the strong side; she's been expelled from one or two schools before
coming to Juuban Middle because of fights. We do need some muscle on
the team, but I hope she's not one of those loners who can't be
bothered to work with the rest of the team. Usagi, Ami and Rei seem
to think she's okay, though. I guess I'm about to find out.
Rei stopped me in front of the doors leading into the Crown Game
Center. "Will you at least play a game or two this time?" she asked
me. "People who stand around watching everyone else play tend to
stick out." Like Usagi, she was probably thinking, but never said
the words.
"I already said I'm not that interested in video games.
Besides, I'm trying to save my money," I replied.
She snorted. "Right. With all the money you've conned off of
me, you can spare enough for a few games. Even Ami plays, and she
likes to save her money, too."
We glanced back at Ami, who was trailing behind us, in time to
see her cheeks redden slightly.
Inside the Center, Ami pointed Makoto out to me. Makoto was
seated at the Sailor V game with Usagi peering over her shoulder -
and Luna peering over *Usagi's* shoulder. Motoki was approaching
from the direction of his counter, closer to Usagi and Makoto than us.
"You remind me of the man of my dreams," Makoto stared dreamily
up at Motoki as we approached. Usagi and Luna, meanwhile, rolled
their eyes. Hmm, looks like we've got another hopeless romantic on
the team.
I may not have continued my martial-arts training like little
sister has, but at least I've learned how to size a person up before
dealing with them. Makoto's taller than us, with long, brown hair
slightly lighter than mine pulled back into a ponytail; she doesn't
carry herself like a martial artist, though she does radiate an
imposing air of toughness. I'll have to wait until I can see her in
action to gauge her strength better... just so I can get an idea of
what she might be capable of doing in a fight. Wonder how she'd fare
against Akane?
Motoki glanced about the arcade like a cornered animal looking
for someplace to run. His eyes brightened when he saw us. "Good
afternoon, Ami, Nabiki, Rei-chan. If you'll excuse me," he said,
cautiously putting some distance between himself and Makoto, "I have
to... go check the token machines at the other end of the room."
"What's going on here?" I asked once Motoki had left.
Usagi smirked. "Oh, nothing."
Really? As if we didn't notice the way she looks at her
'oniichan,' sometimes. You think she'd be jealous if someone else
fawned over Motoki like that.
Makoto noticed me and recomposed herself. "You must be Nabiki."
I nodded. "And you're Makoto."
"Kino Makoto." She threw Usagi a peripheral glance. "Or
'Mako-chan,' I guess. Yoroshiku."
Hmm, she doesn't act like the indifferent, loner type... though
she is being slightly distant. Or maybe unsure how to deal with
suddenly discovering she's one of the Sailor Senshi. That, I'm
familiar with. "Tendo Nabiki. Yoroshiku."
"Careful," Rei remarked from beside me. "She'll take you for
all your money if you let her."
"I will *not*," I retorted, feigning annoyance. Rei likes to
overexaggerate and blow certain things *way* out of proportion. She
makes me sound like a highly-skilled con artist out to take everyone
for all they've got. All I do is run an occasional practical joke or
a scheme for earning more pocket money so that I don't have to spend
everything I have on bus fare. Well, I'd decided, if Rei wanted to
keep taking jabs at me by calling me a con artist, why not turn the
tables somewhat and run with the joke? She claims she's only
needling me - and Usagi, though she's more 'mean' to Usagi, as Usagi
puts it - for fun, but I'm not entirely sure about that.
Then again, I don't really know a thing about psychology, so what
would I know?
"But what about that time you had me donate my allowance to--"
Usagi began.
I held up my hands to interrupt her. "Fine. You want me to
play a game, Rei? I'll play a game." A few tokens from the token
machine later, I had taken Makoto's place at the Sailor V game. It's
not as simple as some would have you believe - but not as 'complex'
as those fighting games a lot of people seem to be interested in.
You control the title character, leaping around and usually shooting
monsters. At least as far as I've seen; maybe she gets rid of the
gun much later in the game. Does this mean Sailor V actually has
nothing to do with us? None of *us* uses a gun... besides, it isn't
like we could get a gun, or as if a gun would really have much effect
against anyone from the Dark Kingdom.
But according to Usagi, Sailor V's 'legend' was going strong
long before any of the Sailor Senshi appeared. Luna swears that she
didn't name us as the 'Sailor Senshi' because of the existence of
Sailor V. I guess we'll just have to go find Sailor V someday and
ask her.
"Hey, Mako-chan," Rei asked the girl who had taken the seat
immediately to my right, "Bet you she won't make it to level three."
"Bet you I will," I said without looking away from the screen.
Rei didn't answer. Neither did Makoto. Or Ami, for that
matter, because she probably figures I wouldn't make a bet on
anything short of a sure thing. Not that we're betting for real,
anyway. Thank you so very much, Rei. Really.
Eventually, I did make it to the third level, and the fourth.
"Pay up," I told Rei, wearing a smirk.
She frowned. "We didn't bet any money or even agree to bet, so
there!"
"It's the principle," I deadpanned. Ah, I'm just digging a
deeper hole for myself, aren't I?
"Well, I've learned my lesson," minced Makoto. "Never make bets
around Nabiki."
"It's not the bets you have to worry about."
"Why not?" she asked Rei.
I narrowed my eyes in Rei's direction. "You'll find out," Rei
shrugged.
Wonderful. What's she talking about?
Ami made an effort to check her watch without appearing anxious.
"Minna? Maybe we could take this to the Shrine? We really must
discuss a few things."
Usagi screwed up her face. "Party pooper," she said, though it
looked as if Makoto had been about to say something along the same
lines.
I have to agree with Ami; I'm also worried. If the Dark Kingdom
can turn regular people into youma or monsters, as they apparently
had last night... what's next? Police, civil defense, world leaders?
*Us*?
On the other hand... if they're using people, maybe they don't
have many more youma to throw our way. Or they could be conserving
their resources. Either way, they've triggered my curiosity.
Ami pulled me aside as we left the Center. "You've practiced
playing that game, haven't you?"
"Okay... so they finally got it in at the Hall." 'The Hall' was
the nickname for the smaller arcade we'd used to spend some time in
before Ami moved to Juuban. I'm not sure if that's a fitting name,
not after seeing how large *this* arcade is - but I guess this place
does make the Hall look like a... hall.
"You shouldn't encourage her, you know," Ami continued in the
same quiet voice. "Rei makes it sound as though all you care about
is money, at times. We both know you're not like that."
I sighed. "She's just kidding, and so am I. Besides, what harm
will it do?"
"Have you *really* stopped to consider this?"
"Let her have her fun. She'll probably get bored with it, soon,
and move on to a different joke," I replied, wondering if there was
actually any truth within my words.
** ** **
"Not *another* patrol," I groaned.
Rei uttered a quiet laugh from where she stood upon the wooden
deck at the Shrine. Her grandfather is in the courtyard at the other
end of the grounds, taking care of the last few visitors of the day
to the Shrine and wondering why we couldn't set aside more time for
helping him. He could definitely use more permanent help around
here, not that he'd admit it to Rei or anyone else. "You finally
decided to speak, huh?"
"What do I have to say?" I retorted. "All I know of what
happened last night is what all of you have told me." A glance at
Makoto revealed that like me she was seated on the deck, leaning
against one of the support posts, but trying to appear unconcerned.
She'd already boasted that we had nothing to worry about from the
youma with her around; if she *really* believes that, we'll get rid of
that illusion in no time.
"What Rei's saying is that you and Ami-chan are usually quiet
most of the time. I think," Usagi ventured.
"Yeah. It's as if you're trying to be like Ami or something."
"Stop that, Rei-chan," Ami scolded her. "What is wrong with
keeping quiet unless you have something important to say? Perhaps
Nabiki thinks she should be paying attention rather than commenting
on everything."
Rei bit back the urge to fire off a comment of her own on that
issue. Ami was the one person among us with whom Rei was most
reluctant to start up an argument, for some reason. I'm not sure
why...
Luna regained control of the discussion. "I do have my
suspicions about what the Dark Kingdom's latest scheme might involve,
but I want to be absolutely sure. Until then, we'll patrol the
district in groups. Hopefully, we might discover more clues before
anyone else can be hurt."
Or turned into a youma, I added in my thoughts. "So who's in
what group?" With five of us, we can't exactly split up into even
groups.
"Nabiki, you and Mako-chan will form one group," Luna stated.
"Usagi, Ami and Rei will form the other."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" the question escaped my
mouth before I'd truly given it much thought. Not that I'm worried
about being paired with Mako-chan - it's just that the *last* time
Usagi and Rei were in the same group, they spent more time bickering
than getting anything done.
I saw from Luna's eyes that she understood, as did Ami. Luna
had placed Ami with Usagi and Rei as a mediator, apparently, a role
Ami had been playing even after I joined the team. I'm not as
skilled in breaking up arguments; even Akane and I can't strike up an
argument on-the-spot like Rei and Usagi can. How do they do it?
"Afraid of pairing off with Mako-chan?" Rei teased, thankfully
missing the point. "Or should she be afraid to pair off with you?
At least when we're transformed, you can't get at our money." She
fell silent upon seeing the glare I leveled at her. Sure, I'd said
earlier that we should let Rei have her fun, but that didn't mean
letting her go too far.
I stood. "C'mon, let's go."
** ** **
Mako-chan - or rather, Sailor Jupiter - remained unusually
silent for the first ten or so minutes of our patrol. I was making
mental notes about where we were and the streets we've taken, as I
haven't been in Juuban often enough to memorize enough of the road
layout here.
I wondered if Makoto was doing the same. Transferring to Juuban
Middle from another school could have included a move, unless she
already lived in the area.
"You're not really like what Rei says... are you?" Jupiter
ultimately asked.
The question caught me somewhat by surprise. "Nah," I said
dismissively, glancing for a brief second at her. "She just likes
going overboard with that stuff. You've probably noticed she takes
shots at Usagi-chan, too."
"What about Ami?"
"She leaves Ami-chan alone, for the most part."
"Oh." Jupiter hesitated. "If she 'goes overboard,' then part
of it must be true, right?"
"Only a tiny bit. It's just because I've gotten into the habit
of making an occasional small bet to try to get some extra money,
maybe so I don't have to spend so much on bus fare. Things like
that," I admitted.
She appeared thoughtful. "Oh, yeah, you live over in Nerima. I
hadn't thought about how much it's gotta cost to keep taking the bus
back and forth all the time."
"Yeah," I shrugged. "I guess it's either that or tell Dad I'm a
Sailor Senshi. He'd never let me out of the house after that."
"What about your Mom?"
That question, I'd somewhat expected. I'm not completely ready
for it, but I'd guessed it might be coming. My voice went soft
despite my attempts at keeping it from doing so. "She's...... passed
away. About six years ago." I felt the odd sensation of what might
have been the beginnings of tears welling up within my eyes, and
willed it to stop, bringing up a hand to rub my eyes while pretending
I was brushing the hair from my forehead. Now wasn't the time for
*that*...
Still, I've wondered what Mom would think, now, if she knew what
I'd become. I'll admit that. Or if she knew that Ami-chan would
become Sailor Mercury, too. Come to think of it, I wonder how Kasumi
and Akane would react if they ever learned who the Senshi are.
Jupiter shuddered. "...I'm sorry. I've done it again. Um...
what I mean is, my Mom and Dad were killed in a plane crash about a
year and a half ago, and for some reason I always start acting like
I'm the only one who's lost one or both parents." She sighed,
forcing a chuckle. "That's what the school counselor they made me
see after the accident said, I think."
I can understand how she feels. She misses her parents... I
still miss Mom. Dad breaks down into tears whenever he thinks about
her. What would I do if we'd lost both Mom and Dad? Would they pack
Kasumi, Akane and I up and send us to live with our relatives - or
would Kasumi have to assume all the duties of the head of the
household, rather than simply 'taking over' for Mom?
Hmm... "Did they make you live with one of your relatives here?"
"No," she answered, looking at me. "I've got an arrangement
with all my relatives - I continue living in my parents' house here
in Juuban, and the relatives help support me until I find a job that
pays me enough to live on my own."
I could feel my eyes widen slightly. "Really? I'd think they
would insist you stay with another member of the family."
"Nah. My uncle Masato and aunt Yoshiko are my legal guardians
now, but other than that, I live alone. I guess they figured I
wouldn't be happy staying with any of them. Besides, with..." She
paused. "*this, I don't think it'd be a good idea anymore for me to
move out of the district."
She does have a point. Personally, I've been considering
staying for a while with one of our aunts who also happens to live in
this district, transferring to Juuban Middle School, if only for a
little while. If I did that, I could skip the commute between here
and home whenever anything comes up.
Well, it's something I should keep in mind, anyway. How would I
convince my aunt that I'm not doing anything bad or 'hanging out with
the wrong crowd' by staying out late in the evening?
We soon decided that it would be a good idea to keep silent.
After all, we *are* out looking for clues... how are we going to find
anything if everyone knows we're coming?
After twelve more minutes of sprinting from shadow to shadow, I
considered paging Usagi's group on my communicator - until Jupiter
urgently pulled me behind her, further into a patch of shadow. "It's
*him*," she hissed.
Blink. "Who?"
She drew my attention to the opposite end of the dead-end street
on which we were hiding, where a man advanced on a child he'd
cornered. The man wore the cold gray uniform of a Dark Kingdom
general - myself, I've only seen one other general, Nephrite - and
was bringing a dark crystal to bear on the boy. "He's the guy I
fought last night!"
"A Dark Kingdom general," I agreed, but Jupiter was already
walking toward him. *Now* what is she doing? Don't tell me she
wants a rematch...?
I forced all my breath out in a sigh that became a growl.
Blast, I can't let her go out there alone. She's behaving a lot like
Akane would, here, and considering who Mako-chan's targeting...
that's hardly a good idea.
Setting my communicator to send out our 'come quickly' signal, I
swallowed my reservations and dashed after her.
"Hold it right there!" I yelled while taking up a fighter's
stance. Makoto glared at me; she had probably wanted to make her own
dramatic entrance.
The general turned to face us. He had rather androgynous or
bishounen facial features, and having his face framed by long,
strawberry-blond hair did not help keep me from thinking that the guy
would have little difficulty disguising himself as a woman.
What a sickening thought.
He frowned. "Ah, it figures you Sailor Senshi would come to
annoy me right about now."
Jupiter mirrored his frown. "And what do you think you're doing
with that kid?"
"Him?" The general gestured in the young boy's direction with
his chin. "You can have him. He's not one of the people I'm looking
for." Regardless of that, the boy did not move from where he stood.
I hope Mako-chan knows not to try anything while this guy's still too
close to the boy...
She didn't. Jupiter leapt toward the man, pulling a fist back
in preparation for her next move. An air attack? I wondered. Dad's
always emphasizing how risky air attacks always are, unless you're
more powerful and faster than your opponent. Even then, air attacks
are more dependent on chance than Dad would like; the brand of
martial-arts he teaches keeps a fighter in his or her opponent's
face, adapting any number of other styles and fighting techniques at
any time and in any way possible. In other words, it's a more
offensive style of fighting than defensive. I'm not one hundred
percent sure how it compares to the way *we* fight, which is
primarily defensive.
Not that some of us don't try an offensive move on occasion,
though. Our opponent teleported out from under Jupiter's attack in
what appeared to be a swirl of cherry blossom petals, rematerializing
behind us. With the boy finally out of harm's way, I spun about on
my heels and loosed a Sand Spiral at the man, rather than speak. If
he *is* a Dark Kingdom general I don't want to give him much time to
think.
He dodged my Spiral by hopping a handful of steps back and to
the side. Jupiter had quickly caught my intent, reinforcing it by
adding her Supreme Thunder. Interesting attack. Powerful, too, but
there's an initial pause while she gathers electrical power and
prepares to use it, a pause in which someone else can react. "Who
are you?" I asked.
"My name is Zoisite," the general said with a bemused smirk,
having avoided Makoto's attack almost as easily as he did mine. "I
hope you don't forget it. You *can* forget about trying to keep us
from retrieving the nijizuishou, though; there is no way you can hope
to stand against the Dark Kingdom... or even me."
Hmm... he thinks we know more than we do. Good. Wasn't there
something about... I think I'll try a gamble. I feigned a yawn.
"The usual bad-guy cliches, although you forgot the megalomaniacal
laugh. At least Nephrite was better at this sort of thing."
A pained expression crossed Zoisite's face for a fraction of a
second, instantly replaced by a look of indignant outrage. "That
fool had no idea what he was doing and deserved his fate," he
snarled. "As do all of you."
I smirked. "He made better death threats, too."
"Oh, I'm not threatening you. Yet," Zoisite smiled. "It will
be much more fun watching you flounder miserably and lose hope while
we only gain more and more power."
"Nephrite was also better in the grandiose claims department," I
said, nonplussed. He was, too. Zoisite sounds as though he's
reading from a script. Or maybe he's got other things to worry about
than coming up with original dialogue.
"Stop saying that!" howled Zoisite, losing his composure for a
few seconds. He snorted. "I guess it doesn't take much to impress
the Sailor Senshi, then. I'll remember that. For now, I'll leave
you with this..."
Uh-oh. Those words set off an alarm in my mind, and triggered
Jupiter's danger sense as well. I steeled myself, attempting to
minimize my profile without making it obvious. Out of the corner of
my eye I could see that Jupiter was bracing herself.
Hey - where'd the kid go? I hope he's not anywhere near us...
Zoisite waved a hand toward us. The next thing I knew, a
hurricane of cherry blossom petals was swirling at high speed around
us. I instinctively shielded my face with my forearm.
When everything cleared, we found that Zoisite was gone - a fact
that didn't sit well with Makoto. She muttered something under her
breath. "He got away again."
"You'll get used to it," I told her, finally remembering that
I'm supposed to be breathing. "As far as I know, all the higher-ups
in the Dark Kingdom are like that. C'mon - let's go find that kid
and make sure he's okay, then we tell Luna what happened."
** ** **
Dark.
Can't see... anything. Now what?
Oh. Open my eyes. Right.
"She's waking up."
Familiar voice... whose?
I can see. Sort of. Someone wearing a lot of white and
purple... Groaning, I rubbed my eyes and made an effort to sit up,
adjusting to the light one blink at a time. Or it looked purple...
maybe a nurse?
No, wait - that looked a bit like a Senshi uniform! But... is
it safe?
I forced myself to remember what exactly had happened. This is
a hospital; there had been a fight... with a monster that had
possessed Kunou-chan, and I'd been hurt. Battered and sliced with a
really large sword.
But I'm not hurting now. So if there *is* a Senshi standing
nearby...
I turned to look at her. It is! "Hotaru-chan!" the words
creaked out of my mouth. Darn, so much for secret identities. She's
Saturn right now and I've just called her by her true name. If
anyone else is in here...
A glance about the room was enough, telling me that the only
other people in here are Ami... and Haruka. What's *she* doing...
oh. She must've brought Ami and Hotaru here.
My senses were still returning, so I brought my gaze back to
Hotaru... Saturn. Obviously, she'd taken my worried glance as a cue,
and was reverting back to her normal clothes.
I cleared my throat. Let's try that again. "...Hello," I
smiled weakly. "Thanks, Hotaru-chan."
She returned my smile. "No charge."
"If you ask me, we *should* charge her," Haruka declared from
her chair in the corner of the room opposite my bed.
"Don't tell me...," I studied her. "You're still mad."
She looked away, frowning. "Maybe I am."
"I told you it was a joke." And it had been, too. It's hardly
any use playing jokes on Setsuna, but Haruka... I mean, c'mon. She's
always taking everything so blasted seriously. Even Hotaru tries to
get her to lighten up on occasion.
"That's not what I'm talking about. Why haven't you been
staying in touch with all the rest of us? Don't you know how much
Hotaru was worried about you when you left?"
I sighed, lowering my head slightly. "I do. I'm sorry."
"Then why did you leave?" asked Hotaru, still leaning on the
side of the bed.
"Well...," I paused. "I didn't really leave. I just thought it
would be best if I 'distanced' myself for a little while."
That wasn't good enough for her. "Why?" she persisted.
"I'd rather not say."
Haruka snorted. "Of course not. Heaven forbid the great Tendo
Nabiki ever give away secrets for free."
The advantage of being viewed as a mercenary - the way people
view me, thanks in no small part to letting Rei keep painting that
image of me - is that fewer people risk dealing with me. Other than
that... it's something of a toss-up. There's certainly no shortage
of instances where I wish I could get rid of the whole 'mercenary'
image, but I want to keep some of the benefits, too.
Ami decided to intervene. "Nabiki, what happened? How did you
come to be hurt?"
Well, I knew someone would ask me that sooner or later. "I..."
Whoops - I'd better start over. "A monster showed up at school
and... possessed someone I know." I carefully noted the others'
reactions to what I'd said.
"So you faced it, alone." Ami's voice had gone quiet.
I nodded. "Yeah. I probably wouldn't have gotten hurt
if......" My voice trailed away. Oh, great. Now they're going to
ask...
"If what?"
The fact that it was Hotaru who asked caught me slightly by
surprise. "...If I hadn't let myself get distracted."
Haruka snorted again, though this time she didn't say anything.
"That doesn't sound like the kind of mistake you would make,"
Ami said in a clinical tone of voice.
When all I did was sigh and glance toward the room's only
window, she pressed forward. "This also has something to do with the
reason why you decided to 'distance' yourself, doesn't it?"
I kept my mouth shut. Hotaru looked at me expectantly - which
is difficult to ignore considering she's the only person I know who
has purple eyes.
Ami frowned. "I've had my suspicions about why you've been
staying away." Hmm. She must've been thinking quite a bit about it
since she left my house yesterday. It won't be long before she
figures out my reasons for taking a 'vacation...' "After our...
encounter with Galaxia, I could see that you were becoming more
distant. I noticed it at Usagi's wedding, although you tried to hide
it - but I didn't think much of it, then."
"We were more concerned with the wedding," I shook my head. And
we were, truthfully - with our luck, we were worried that *someone*
would show up during the ceremony to prevent Usagi and Mamoru from
being married, but we dared not tell Usagi that.
"Perhaps." Ami remained unconvinced. "But I know something has
been bothering you. I know you too well, and I can't let you lock
everything away as you often do. You should talk about it."
"What do I have to talk about?"
"Nabiki...," warned Ami.
Haruka leaned forward in her chair. "C'mon, we were all there,"
she said, sounding a little uneasy. "Maybe some of us... had the
same problem." She paused. "Um, you know what I mean."
"Yeah!" Hotaru chimed.
I stared at them for a moment. Yes, we had all been there.
We'd faced Galaxia together... oh, what the heck. If I *do* keep it
to myself, not only will I have Ami asking me about it, but Haruka
and Hotaru as well - and then everyone *else* will follow.
I found myself straining to speak. "She... she did it so
easily. Galaxia, remember? Got rid of all of us, then created evil
versions of us..." I shuddered. *That* time, our physical and
magical strength hadn't made much difference. "If she could do that,
couldn't someone else? I'm worried what could happen if someone were
to turn me evil and then..."
Not giving anyone a chance to tell me that I was being rather
foolish, I took a quick breath and continued. "Do you know that
after we fought Galaxia, I had a nightmare for the next few weeks
where I was an evil Sailor Terra, hunting my family?" Actually, now
that Ranma and his father are living with us, they stand a much
better chance of taking me out if something like that *does* happen.
"I was doing a good job of convincing myself I was just being
paranoid - until I thought I felt that monster reaching for my mind
today," I said, hoping that too much time hadn't passed since my
fight.
"Please tell me whatever it is we're facing now can't do that,
Ami-chan."
Ami pursed her lips. Oh, boy - here comes the bad news. "They
can... only if you let them," she admitted.
"I still have nightmares," Hotaru interrupted, sounding almost
annoyed. And why not? Galaxia wasn't the first to 'use' Hotaru for
evil purposes; there'd been Mistress Nine before her, for example.
Only those who knew exactly how much power Sailor Saturn wields can
understand the danger that poses.
Hotaru-chan might have more to worry about in that regard than I
do. "Do you worry about--"
She'd been expecting the question. It wasn't completely tactful
in this case, I know, but I really wanted to know... "Yes, I do. I
asked Haruka, Setsuna and Michiru about it, and they said they all
worried about it, too."
I caught Haruka shooting a mild glare in Hotaru's direction.
"We all do, Nabiki," added Ami. "You know that." I do, too.
Hotaru met my gaze, her eyes imploring. "Please, Nabiki-chan?
Won't you come back?"
I pretended to give the idea some thought. "Well......
actually, I've already made up my mind to return."
Her expression immediately brightened. "Really?"
"Yeah. Really." There's no way I could *truly* distance
myself, of course. We're the Sailor Senshi. Our souls and destinies
are tied to the ginzuishou, and to the Princess. We can't escape
that. Fate and Time make sure of it. I smirked. "I mean, I'd get
bored if I stayed away for long."
"So I guess this means I'm gonna have to drive you back and
forth again." Haruka reclined back in her chair. "You're definitely
paying for the gas this time."
"When did I not?" I asked, irritated at the implication that I
hadn't done so before. She wastes more gas on those joyrides she
loves to take than hauling any of us around.
There's a trade-off - taking the bus costs less in the long run
if I go between Nerima and Juuban on an almost daily basis, but it's
slower, and I certainly wouldn't impose on Ami's mom to take me.
Okay, true, I could ask Mamoru... but I really need to start looking
into my own form of transportation. Maybe a motorcycle, until I can
afford a car. Heh.
All of a sudden, I recalled an important fact about the end of
my most recent fight. "Uh-oh. I just remembered..." Out of habit,
I glanced around the room again. Did I mention that I really don't
like hospital rooms? They're all so depressingly sterile. "Ami,
Akane and Ranma know I'm Sailor Terra. They were with me when my
transformation reversed and I passed out."
"Oh, great," muttered Haruka.
"I was afraid of that." Ami took a seat in the chair
immediately next to my bed. "They might draw a connection between
all of us and the Senshi."
Hotaru was worried. "Even me?"
"Yes. Nabiki made an unusual request before losing
consciousness - she asked her sister to call us here. At the very
least, it's safe to assume Akane-chan might think the three of us
have some sort of connection to the Sailor Senshi."
"Oh."
"Thanks a lot, Nabiki," Haruka said, sourly.
I allowed a hint of defensiveness to seep into my voice. "You
didn't have to come, if that's the way you feel. I am sorry, though."
"You didn't have a choice. For all you knew, your wounds could
have been critical," Ami reassured me.
"Maybe." I'm not entirely sure about that. "But I still feel
bad about this."
Ami fell silent. I wonder if she's thinking about the way I
behave again? She's said I've always had a habit of locking my
emotions within me and hiding behind an act of indifference. She has
also said that I'm fairly driven, a bit of a perfectionist... which
makes me difficult to deal with when I'm sure I'm wrong.
"Don't worry about it." From the tone in her voice, she's going
to change the subject. "Right now, we had better see if Akane and
Ranma plan on telling anyone our secret."
I understood, nodding once. Ami headed toward the door... then
hesitated.
"Oh... I almost forgot. Who is that boy with Akane? He doesn't
know about our secret as well, does he?"
Everyone's eyes were on me again. So much for *that* particular
secret... "Well, since he's Ranma, I'd say he does."
Ami blinked. "He has the same name as that girl you introduced
me to yesterday?"
Oh, boy... how do I handle *this*?
I guess I'll have to just say it, then explain it. "He IS the
girl you met yesterday."
Ami, Haruka and Hotaru each started in surprise upon hearing
that. "He isn't..." Haruka finally breathed.
Of course, I've anticipated the next question. I shook my head.
"He's from this world. He's got a magical curse that transforms him
into a girl whenever he's hit with cold water."
"So he's nothing like... them."
"Nope," I said. Not much to do with Seiya and company at all.
"Ranma's just a martial artist with a galaxy-sized ego and a weird
Chinese curse." One quick smile for effect. "Bet he could take you
down easily, Haruka-chan."
"I'd say you were full of it, if I didn't know better than to
make bets with you," Haruka scoffed.
Rather than let the discussion turn once more onto that topic,
Ami opened the door and asked Ranma and Akane to come in.
Ranma shifted nervously, noticing that everyone but me was
staring at him. Heh, is he going to be upset...
Akane rushed to my side. "Nabiki-oneechan! You've been hurt!
You shouldn't be straining yourself by sitting up like that!" she
insisted.
"Take a closer look, Akane," I told her, maintaining my calm.
"I'm going to be all right."
"You are? But how..." She glanced from me to Ami, Hotaru and
Haruka, who were already watching her intently. "...oh."
I made sure Ami had closed the door before continuing. "I need
to talk to both of you about that."
Akane hesitated, swallowing hard. "About...... your secret?"
Ranma blinked.
I nodded. "Correct."
Neither my little sister nor her iinazuke said anything for a
moment.
"We promise we won't tell anyone. Right, Ranma?" Akane looked
to Ranma for support.
He said nothing.
"Ranma?" I prodded.
"...I promise. On my honor as a martial artist."
Hearing that, I smiled. "Good. I won't need to resort to
blackmail, then."
A nervous silence descended upon all of us. Reputation or no
reputation, there are times when I enjoy doing that.
"What?" inquired Haruka. "You have something on him other than
that secret of his?"
Ah, now we've got Ranma's attention. "*What*? What secret?
You mean... you guys know about my--"
Haruka smirked, folding her arms. "Yeah, we know about your
curse."
I wondered in passing whether Ranma thought of Haruka as a guy
or a girl.
"And *how* do you know?"
"Later, Ranma," I intervened, peripherally casting a brief
glance at Ami. "You two aren't going to say anything about my
secret, are you? Or the secrets of anyone I might know?"
Akane's expression didn't change. "We won't tell," she tried to
force a smile. Right now, she's probably more worried about my
condition than who is or isn't one of the Sailor Senshi.
"Right," agreed Ranma.
More silence. We sat there doing nothing but staring at each
other for a while.
Finally, Haruka spoke up. "So, what now?"
I returned my attention to Ami. "I want to know more about this
new--"
The room's door was thrown open before I could finish, and all
at once I found my sobbing father latching onto me. "Nabiki......"
Swell. *Now* they show up.
Kasumi, who'd followed Dad and Mr. Saotome into the room, took
stock of my dressings. "What happened, Nabiki-chan?"
I opened my mouth to give her the story I've already invented -
but Ranma started speaking before I did. "Some kind of monster
attacked her..."
"A MONSTER!?" both Dad and Mr. Saotome nearly shouted. Now,
why would they react in an extreme manner like that?
"...But Ranma and Akane took care of it," I finished Ranma's
sentence, and sent a knowing glance to the pair in question. "Right?"
"Er, yeah," Akane made an attempt to sound convincing, followed
by Ranma's half-hearted "...Right."
Dad and Mr. Saotome began celebrating, taking this as a sign
that since their daughter and son were 'working together,' the
families were well on their way to becoming joined. As Akane and
Ranma argued with their respective fathers and each other, I joined
my friends in watching the whole scene with a measure of disbelief.
Dad can be so weird sometimes...
Ranma managed to make his way closer to me. "Why did you tell
them THAT?" he hissed under his breath.
I shrugged. "Would you rather I have told them *I* took out
that monster? You *know* how they'd react to that." He considered
that thought, and then flinched, imagining several of the
possibilities.
"Nabiki? What did the doctors say?" Kasumi asked me after
tuning out the sound of two fathers celebrating.
"I really don't know. But the way I feel, I wouldn't be
surprised if they let me go home with you." I glanced at Hotaru in
time to see her smile.
"Now, Nabiki. We should let the doctors decide that."
I settled back into my pillows. "If you say so, Sis. You know
more about this stuff than I do."
Needless to say, the doctor who came to examine me was certainly
more than surprised. Each of my wounds had closed, leaving unbroken
and unscarred skin - except where the stitches still remained, that
and the bandages the only sign that I had been hurt. Akane found it
quite odd, looking at stitches that didn't even cover a scar...
keeping in mind all the times she'd had to have wounds stitched shut
in the past.
I swallowed the urge to smile. Hotaru's healing abilities have
improved quite a bit since we first learned about them. Not that we
depend on them, of course, but Hotaru enjoys every chance she can get
to go against Saturn's image as the Senshi of Silence.
"How can this be possible?" the doctor asked in disbelief,
making an even closer examination of the spots where my wounds had
been. "Bruises, discolorations, separations and other signs of
trauma simply do not disappear without a trace - at least not without
going through the normal healing process."
"Hey, I'm a martial artist, and I heal really fast. It's just
something you develop with lots of training and conditioning, I
guess."
Ranma's admission startled me. Is that even possible? It would
explain a few things, though.
Akane was quick to agree with him. So were our fathers.
"No offense, but Nabiki doesn't have the appearance of one who
has a strict training or exercise regimen."
I laughed. Haruka might disagree; I'm not a *real* martial
artist compared to Akane or Ranma, but I've got to follow through
with the cover Ranma's inadvertently given me. "I'm not a
bodybuilder, but I *am* a martial artist."
Dad nodded. "Everyone in our family has had training in the
Art."
"I guess I'll take your word for it," the doctor exhaled. "I
wonder what I'll tell people when they ask why someone who was
admitted for injuries as considerable as yours has her bandages and
stitches removed before checking out?"
"What," I tried to say with a perfectly straight face, "you're
saying that even considering all the weirdness that has happened in
this district, someone who can heal faster than normal is really out
of the ordinary?"
Yes, I'm treading on dangerous ground. Especially if someone
starts wondering *why* I heal faster than normal or decides to conduct
tests.
The doctor wore a thin smile. "No, I suppose not. We've just
admitted that one young man again - the one who won't ever be
separated from his wooden sword - and he heals almost as fast as you
have. I thought that if we could figure out how you do it... well,
you understand."
Kunou-chan, heal faster than Hotaru can? Not likely. Unless
there's some *other* guy walking around Nerima with a bokutou.
"Wooden sword?" Ami said in hushed tones to me. "Is he
referring to Tatewaki?"
"Yeah. My little sister and Ranma's favorite punching bag,
these days." He'd been a somewhat minor annoyance to Ami and I in
the past, until he fixated on Akane. I'm glad he didn't fall for
either of us...
"As Ranma said, all you have to do is condition your body to
work better and faster," I told the doctor. "That's all I know about
it. I suppose anyone can do it." Maybe. I'll ask Ami about the
matter later. *After* we figure out where to go from here.
** ** **
Elsewhere in Japan, a young man wearily trudged through the
midst of a dense forest. "Just you wait, Saotome Ranma," he snarled,
baring his fangs as he did so. "Your day is coming. Soon!"
<...to be continued...>
----------
Credits:
Written by: Mike Koos
Prereaders/Special Thanks to: Artemis & Luna, Tom Williams, David
Wills, Jim Robert Bader, Jonathan Ng, Kevin D. Hammel, Richard
Beaubien, Louis-Phillipe Giroux.
All parts of this series are available at the RAAC archives at
ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/archive/anime-fan-works
or from my WWW pages at
http://www.anime.usacomputers.net/~makoto/index.htm
Comments and questions welcome.
*****************************
* Mike ('Kino Makoto') Koos * "I can do nothing to stop you.
*---------------------------* Your background music is too
* email: mak...@mother.com * strong for me."
***************************** - Whose Line is it Anyway?
www: http://www.anime.usacomputers.net/~makoto/index.htm