Winning Love by Daylight
By Death 101 – Fox Version
"Yuki has lost it."
Yusuke felt his face heat up as he readjusted his shirt so that the sailor girl uniform covered what appeared to be his sizable bust. He knew for a fact those hadn't been there when he went to bed last night, but then again, what else was new? Besides, the dresses, wigs, and makeup, Yusuke thought as he considered the situation. He had awoke that morning and found himself falling to his death by impalement with a pine tree. Somehow, he managed to avoid the branch headed for his midsection and cheated death once again. Unfortunately, that left him clinging to the top of a pine tree, dressed in a green, female school uniform not unlike the one Keiko wore during her years at Sarayashiki Junior High. Believing it was some form of test by the psycho grandma, he hurried to climb down the tree. Along the way, he discovered his normally short black hair had grown to reach his shoulders. Once on the ground, he slicked back his hair with sap from the tree and ran off in search of revenge and his friends who (he hoped) looked stupider than he did. Finally, he arrived at Shinto shrine and discovered, not only was his spirit/demon energy locked up but Hiei, Kurama, Kuwabara, and Koenma were cross-dressing.
Hiei looked like he had talked to Yukina's hair stylist and grown his hair out enough that it stopped defying gravity. It lay down like normal human hair although he still had the small white star above his forehead. The midget was dressed in a black version of Keiko's Sarayashiki uniform. Kurama oddly looked the same except for the slight bust and red uniform that looked like the ones girls wore at Meiou High School. Kuwabara was plain rather than ugly with longer ginger hair and a blue uniform from Sarayashiki. And then there was Koenma. The boy was in his teen form with the ever present pacifier in his mouth and the JR tattoo on his forehead but there were obvious differences too. For example, the toddler's hair was longer. It probably would have touched the ground if it wasn't wrapped up in pigtails. The toddler was also dressed in an orange uniform from Meiou. The scary thing was that the boys were not at all worried about being girls. Unlike Yusuke, they seemed to think that they had always been girls and that Yusuke's name was Yuki.
When Yusuke had lifted his uniform to reveal what he had thought was the padding placed there by a psycho grandma, he found he was wrong. As he straightened the shirt, he found himself questioning his sanity.
He was male. He was born a male. He had always been male. Hadn't he?
When he thought he heard his voice in his head. It wasn't exactly hero material like some guys' voices and he always thought it sounded like that green alien from that TV show but it was obviously male. However, when he spoke aloud, his voice was higher pitched and sounded more like Keiko's. His mind froze when he thought about the brown-haired girl. What about Keiko? Was she actually male? Were all his adventures with the gang against the world of demons and more recently humans some distorted version of reality? Had he, or rather Yuki, cracked and believed she was Yusuke? Or maybe he was Yusuke and he was the one who was cracked. Maybe the world around him looked nothing like what he was seeing!
Yusuke paused and tried to wrap his mind around what was occurring around him. He felt like he had fallen down the rabbit hole, again. Only this time he was the one who was as mad as a hatter. Or maybe he had grabbed the wrong book off the shelf or maybe in some parallel dimension or some distorted future some version of himself had broken something or switched two versions of himself. Or maybe— Yusuke shook his head and frowned to himself. Great. Now these stupid hormones are making me overanalyze things, he thought. How did Keiko cope with it?
"We are wasting time."
Yusuke looked up from the ground to face KoEmma as he decided to call her until the girls introduced themselves. The girl stepped forward and narrowed her eyes at Yusuke.
"Yuki—"
He bit down the impulse to shout his name was Yusuke. For all he knew, maybe he was just a disorder. A split personality like Sensui's that had been released and unaware of the other personality. Until he could be sure, he would try his best to behave. Yuki apparently had a good thing going for her and would probably want her life and body back in good condition. Assuming she can get it back, Yusuke thought as he turned his attention to KoEmma.
"— has already been hit so it won't be long until it happens to us too." KoEmma lifted a fist and dropped it into her open palm. "We need to take out the Negaverse before we all forget."
KuRonda nodded but she bit her lip. "However, we must not rush into danger without a plan. Until now the Negaverse has only stolen energy. What are they gaining by having the populace believe they were born the opposite gender and lived an opposite life?"
"Maybe it's just us they want," KuwaHera suggested. "I mean, with us out of the way, there would be no one to stop them from stealing all the energy they want."
Hana frowned and turned to face the stairs to the temple with a swish of her black skirt. In her hand was a small black stick with what appeared to be a metallic gold topper. The gold was in the shape of an atom but in the middle of the rings was a flame instead of a circle. "Looks like we'll be able to just ask them."
The other girls turned to face the stairs as well, and Yusuke saw similar sticks in the other girl's hands except for KoEmma who was clipping a golden pendant onto her ribbon of her uniform. However, each topper was different. KuwaHera's atom center appeared to be a sword. KuRonda's was a rose and KoEmma's pendant had a crystal crescent moon in the center.
After looking at the teenaged girls standing with their little sticks and a pendant, Yusuke turned and faced the stairs as well. Whatever was climbing the stairs was obviously bad news but Yusuke was confident. He had beaten bullies before while possessing one of his female classmates. Of course, that was before he got his 'super powers'… and endurance… and the enemies were human but Yusuke was ready! Even if he was unable to make a dent, he was going to fight. Of course, if the girls were going into battle with little sticks, the enemy couldn't be too bad.
The ground shook as though a mini-earthquake was occurring. Yusuke struggled to remain on his feet during the few seconds of the earthquake. As the world stopped shaking, he turned to the KuwaHera.
"What… was that?"
The girl glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "Stand back. We'll take care of this."
"You'll only be in the way," Hana added when Yusuke opened his mouth to say he wasn't backing down from a fight.
Well at least the attitudes are still the same, he thought as he clenched his fists. His hands were smaller and daintier than normal but he could feel the calluses around the girl's fingers. She wasn't a fighter but Yuki had used her hands for something and there was strength in the fingers. Strength pathetic compared to Yusuke's but she was stronger than the girl he had possessed back in junior high.
The ground shook again. "It's time," KoEmma muttered. The girl turned and raised her hands to hold the pendant. Before Yusuke's eyes, the crystal moon began to sparkle and he thought he saw ribbons of light spiral from it. Sparkles and various colours of lights seemed to surround the girl. He moved his eyes upward and saw that the girl's pacifier was also glowing as the girl shouted, "Moon Prism Power. Make up!"
Yusuke quickly turned his attention to Hana as she shouted, "Mars Power. Make up!" Instead of sparkles and lights, glowing ambers and ash surrounded the girl as though someone had thrown a log onto an already burning fire.
Next it was KuwaHera shouting, "Mercury Power. Make up!" With the blue glitter of water droplets, the girl disappeared behind a wave of light. Finally, it was KuRonda's turn. For her, it was "Venus Power. Make up!" and rose petals. Yusuke couldn't help but roll his eyes and mutter, "Of course," as he glanced around.
The oddity of the light show (besides it existing) was that the different sparkles never overlapped and they encased the girls in a small area. When Yusuke looked away, he still saw the Shinto shrine. When he focused on one girl, his whole 'screen' was conquered by the girl's unique sparkle.
Then before his eyes, the girls' clothes vanished. Instead of being naked, the girls became white silhouettes. Only their hair and eyes remained normal as they stared at nothing. Meanwhile, the area around them continued to sparkle. Then the girls' routine seemed to change.
Hana's sparkles of ash became rings of fire as the area around her darkened to black. The rings attached themselves around the girl's form as she turned her back on Yusuke. Hana's black hair was whipped up by a non-existent wind into a shape similar to Hiei's normal hairstyle. Yusuke blinked and suddenly the girl's white silhouette was replaced with human coloured flesh and Hana's black sailor uniform. However, Hana was now wearing black high heels and gloves, the skirt was shorter, and there was a golden tiara sitting on her forehead. In the middle of the tiara was a black stone.
A wave of blue caught Yusuke's attention and he turned to look at KuwaHera. Waves of water-like light had appeared and surrounded the girl. The waves wrapped around the girl like the rings of fire had to Hana. Yusuke tried his best not to blink but the world seemed to ripple and the girl was suddenly dressed in a new uniform with matching knee high boots and elbow high gloves. The uniform was similar to Hana's except that it was blue. She also had a golden tiara but her stone was blue.
Next, Yusuke focused on KuRonda. Rose petals were replaced with a ribbon of rose buds that wrapped around the girl. At the end of the transformation dance her uniform had shortened, she was wearing a tiara with a pink stone, and she was wearing red high heels like she was off to see the Wizard of Oz.
Finally, Yusuke turned to KoEmma who seemed to have waited for Yusuke to focus on her before doing her weird dance. The girl spun around a few times and raised her arms so that they crossed at the wrists over her forehead. Orange ribbons appeared from nowhere and wrapped around her arms to form white gloves. Yusuke didn't even pause to wonder how the ribbons changed colours and instead kept watching. Next, KoEmma spun around and the ribbons appeared around her feet to become knee high red boots. Finally, her tiara appeared with a JR craved from blue stone. Somewhere during the dance, the girl had also changed her uniform to look like Keiko's Dai-ichi Women's High School, although the skirt was blue and the ribbon was red.
The girls moved to stand beside each other and Yusuke thought he saw a picture of a city behind them. When he blinked, the girls were still standing in their pose and the shrine background had returned. Being Yusuke, he could not help but comment. He even raised his hands and clapped, causing the girls to turn and glare at him. "Nice job, girls. You get points for originality and uniqueness but I had to remove a few because of your timing. We're about to go into battle not go to on a date! If that guy was any faster climbing the stairs, you would have been left wide open for an attack!"
Hana opened her mouth to reply when the ground shook again. KuRonda put a hand on her friend's shoulder and shook her head. "Later," KuRonda said as KoEmma pointed towards the staircase and shouted, "Come on, girls!"
KuRonda and KuwaHera turned and quickly followed while Hana paused and glared at Yusuke. "Stay here," she commanded, before running off as well.
"Phfth, as if," Yusuke replied as Hana disappeared down the stairs. However, he paused to scan the area for a weapon. Even a school bag would have been useful. Unfortunately, the shrine was bag-less and Yusuke could hear the sounds of a battle starting. Without a weapon, he turned and ran towards the edge of the stairs. For a second, all witty comments and thought vanished from his mind as he stared in shock.
The girls were frozen. They seemed to be straining against invisible strings as a creature that appeared to be made of red ribbons pointed at them. Yusuke would have said it reminded him of a mummy but there were gaps between the ribbons and he could see nothing underneath. Below him, he heard one of the girls demand to be released and another say how that probably wasn't going to happen. Yusuke paused and weighed his options. If he wasn't careful, Yuki wouldn't have a body to return to and he couldn't let that happen. He finally decided to charge in and try to break the strings restraining the girls when he saw it.
The creature looked like one of those weird costumes where half the wearer was covered by a ball gown and the other half, a tuxedo. The he-she creature's head had long hair on one half of the skull while the other wore it slicked back. It was the he-she's face that caused Yusuke to pause. Having fought inhuman creatures before, Yusuke was no stranger to faces not even a mother could love but this thing… It was ugly, okay? Then he felt its power. It felt like the car that had killed him. It felt like Toguro destroying the building above his head. It felt like Sensui's bullet that had killed him a second time. It felt like everything good in the world had been stolen from him. It felt like fear.
"Where is the final scout?" the he-she said in a voice that made Yusuke clench his fist and dig his feet into the stone of the stairs. "Our queen will—"
"Will get a fist to the face!" Yusuke shouted as he charged. It was stupid. It was suicide and it was his only plan. He had to get the girls free.
The ribbon creature turned and pointed its fingers at him but Yusuke had dealt with a similar freak before. He leapt from the stairs and jumped above the pointing fingers. He raised his foot and kicked the creature in the head. He continued past and felt the stone sidewalk under his foot.
Well that's not good, he thought when he heard evil crackling. Over the crackling, he heard someone shout for Yuki to run. He did not turn but instead ran for the tree line. Behind him, he heard running feet. He could feel the pointing fingers turn in his direction and he felt it when his left leg was caught by the strings. The ground rose up to catch him as he tripped. Thankfully, he had reached the tree line and a bush hid him from view. He could hear the girls running and shouting to ask if Yuki was alright. He didn't know the answer so he kept quiet. As far as he could tell the leg looked normal but he couldn't get it to move.
Must be how Kurama felt at the Dark Tournament, Yusuke thought before looking around. Behind him, sounds of a battle restarting grew in volume. The ground began to shake again and footsteps on stone moved towards him. Yusuke forced himself to his feet, his left leg refusing to obey. Seeing a long branch, he picked it up and started to drag himself deeper into the woods. If he was lucky, the creature's power weakened with distance and he'd be able to double back to help the girls. He heard a twig snap behind him and he hit the dirt. Some form of energy beam travelled over his head and hit a tree. As far as he could tell, the tree was unharmed but he didn't want to see if he would be as lucky. He started to crawl forward, dragging his left leg behind him. Footsteps continued to follow him. The creature was walking slowly, as though it wanted to draw out the search. Yusuke clenched his jaw as he felt the stress wash over him. Another beam travelled over his head. He was defenseless and up against a creature he couldn't hope to beat. Worse, he was going to get some innocent girl killed and maybe her friends too.
His eyes widened as he suddenly felt weak and he felt more panic as his strength left him. Yuki's body had been able to endure the long hike to the shrine so the crawl should not have made him half as tired as he felt. Something was stealing his energy!
A pair of high heels appeared in front of Yusuke. Something grabbed his hair and pulled him to his feet. He was forced to look the creature in the face and found that he recognized the face. "Nice… trick," he muttered as he felt his hair being ripped from his head. "I bet you're a... hit at parties."
The female half of the he-she creature he had seen before at the shrine grinned and her black eyes with gold pupils stared into his. "Jed will be pleased," she said as lifted Yusuke off the ground by his hair. She stared hungrily into his eyes and licked her lips. Another stab of fear ran through Yuki's body and Yusuke felt more strength leave him. He briefly wondered if the creature would eat him. Really wish I had my spirit gun right now, he thought before the creature lowered him to the ground. She still retained a death grip on his hair and began to drag him back to where the girls were. Or the ability to move, Yusuke added before a blue fuzz ball caught his attention. It looked like a cat but there was a glint to the eyes that made them appear birdlike. There was also a tuff of black fur on top of the cat's head. In its mouth was a green stick similar to the ones the girls had used to transform. However, the stick's center was the number seven.
"Puu?" Yusuke muttered as the she creature pulled him past where the cat was standing.
The she creature paused in its dragging and glared down at him. "What are you muttering about?"
The blue cat leapt from its place with a loud shriek. It began clawing at the she creature's eyeballs and biting her ears. Again, Yusuke pushed himself to his feet and attempted to put some distance between himself and the creature. His leg refused to move but he couldn't tell if it was from fatigue or the invisible strings. He collapsed on the ground and attempted to pull himself to his feet again when he spotted the green stick on the ground in front of him.
Behind him, he heard a cat squeak in pain. He turned to look and saw the blue cat lying on the ground at the base of a tree. The she creature was standing over it with a hand that was glowing. Yusuke grabbed the green stick. The gold topper hit the creature square in the eye causing it to shriek and step away from the cat. Unfortunately, the she creature turned her attention back to Yusuke.
He pulled himself to his feet, ignoring the shaking of his limbs and braced for an attack. Sorry Yuki, he thought. When I see you in the Afterlife, I'll try to make up for this. The she creature raised her hand and pointed it at him. Too far to redirect the blast, Yusuke thought as the creature's hand began glowing. Nothing to throw to move the arm. No way to absorb the energy. He felt his legs shake and he nearly fell to his knees before forcing himself to keep standing. Not enough strength to dodge. Looks like this is it.
"Now you die!" the creature shouted as it thrust its hand towards Yusuke. He saw the blast headed in his direction and closed his eyes. He saw the light from the blast from behind his eyelids and allowed himself to calm. It had been a good run. He was just sorry he hadn't made the most of it and he wasn't the only one dying. He pictured his largest regret and accepted the stab of guilt. Good bye, Keiko, he thought as the light reached him.
There was darkness and the sound of an explosion. A wind ripped at Yuki's hair and clothing, forcing Yusuke to open his eyes. A rose was stabbed into the ground in front of him. Meanwhile, the she creature was staring open mouthed at the tree behind Yusuke.
"Not so fast!" a male voice shouted with a British accent and Yusuke heard something land behind him. When he turned, his jaw dropped.
"Botan?" he shouted as the person dressed in a purple tuxedo complete with a purple cape coat and top hat stepped to stand beside him. The tuxedo wearing male had short blue hair and the pink eyes behind the white mask were smiling as Boban handed him the blue cat.
"I'll take it from here, Sailor Juniper," Boban said in what appeared to be a very heroic sounding British accent. "You take Ruu from here and get her to Sailor Moon. By the way," he handed Yusuke the green stick the cat had been carrying, "you dropped this."
Before Yusuke could think of a reply, the she creature charged. From the depths of the cape-coak, Boban removed what appeared to be a rose. The male threw it at the creature and the rose pierced the creature's heart. Unfortunately, the creature continued to rush forward, barely aware of the rose sticking from its chest.
"Fiddlesticks," Boban muttered as he reached into his cape once again. "It looks like I'll have to use my secret weapon." With a flutter of the cape, Boban revealed a baseball bat. The masked man turned and noticed Yusuke. "I told you to leave. Go! Sailor Moon needs your help."
Yusuke could barely nod as he turned on his heel and ran towards the shrine. He barely noticed the fact that he was carrying both the cat and the stick and that his left leg was moving again. His mind was back with Boban and the baseball bat. He hadn't recognized the rose but the baseball bat was Botan's choice if she didn't have an oar lying around. It looked like things were looking better for the parallel dimension and Yusuke has snapped theories. Although that didn't explain why Botan was male or fighting with a rose. That was usually Kurama's job.
The grass under his feet changed to stone and Yusuke forced himself to run faster when he heard a girl scream out in pain. Stop overanalyzing things, Yusuke. Those girls are in danger, he thought as he jumped into action.
The ribbon creature had managed to catch KoEmma and had her trapped by a tree. The girl seemed to be crying and if Koenma wasn't a girl and not in danger, Yusuke would have laughed. KuwaHera was rushing forward with a sword like weapon when she was intersected by the he of the he-she creature. The creature raised its hand and pointed at KuwaHera until a thorny whip grabbed the arm and redirected the blast. Yusuke expected the whip to cut through the monster's flesh but for some reason, the whip released its grip and returned to KuRonda who jumped to avoid the ribbon creature's pointing fingers. Meanwhile, Hana's right arm was a mass of glowing flames as she attempted to get to KoEmma but a third creature that looked like a model that had skipped too many meals and tanned far too often blocked her. It knocked the girl back to Yusuke who placed the cat down on the ground before standing in front of the girl.
"What are you doing back here?" Hana demanded. "We told you to run."
Yusuke nodded. "Yeah, I know. But something tells me, you guys didn't really mean it." He cracked Yuki's knuckles and ignored the wimpy noise they made. "Time for some fun."
KuRonda jumped back from the ribbon creature to stand beside Yusuke and held an arm out to stop Yusuke from charging in. "Unless you can transform, you will only be getting in the way."
"But—!"
KuRonda shook her head. "Only our special sailor scout attacks will have any effect and a normal girl is unable to use them. Transform or stay out of our way." The red haired girl ignored Yusuke and turned to Hana. "Mars. It's time."
Hana nodded and the black flames around her right arm disappeared. "Alright," the girl replied before they charged back into battle to try to save KoEmma who was acting like the poster child for crybaby. Yusuke watched them for a second before realizing he still had something in his hand. He looked down and saw that he still had the stick in his hand. Recalling what the other girls had done, he raised it above his head. Feeling extremely exposed and vulnerable, he shouted, "Make up!"
The he creature turned to face him and blasted the tree behind him causing Yusuke to duck and roll. As Yusuke rose to his feet, he recalled the first half of the girls' phrase. Mars, Venus, Mercury, and Moon. Those are planets. So that means I'm a planet. But which one? Yusuke's mind scrambled to recall other planets. The only one he could recall was Earth. Once again feeling foolish, he raised the stick and shouted, "Earth Power! Make up!"
This time the ribbon creature attacked him with a new trick. Whips, similar to those Kurama and KuRonda used, swiped in his direction. When Yusuke ducked behind a stone bench for protection, he was shocked to see that a stone statue had been cut cleanly in half. Okay, avoid the ribbon whips, he thought before returning to his current situation. Planets. Planets! What other planets are there? Damn it, Yusuke. Why didn't you pay attention in science class? Think. What about Pluto? No wait. That isn't a planet, is it? Wait. Since when is the moon a planet? Ah! Damn it! Focus Yusuke! Stupid girl brain!
On the other side of the bench, a girl screamed and KoEmma's crying grew in volume. To hell with this! Yusuke jumped over the bench and ran into the middle of the battle. The she creature had returned and was attempting to make her way towards the he creature.
"Don't let them merge!" KuRonda shouted as the ribbon and model creatures stopped the girls from getting closer.
Before anyone could move to stop them, the creatures reached out and grasped each other hands. With a clap of thunder and an earthquake that sent the girls and Yusuke to their knees, the creatures became the he-she creature again. As Yusuke rose to his feet, he had it. He raised the stick above his head, ignored the pointing fingers heading in his direction and screamed at the top of his lungs, "Juniper Power! Make up!"
The world seemed to fade away. Sparks of static electricity surrounded him and he could feel a mysterious wind wiping around him. He felt it lift his hair and nudge him to turn his back on the battle. He felt no fear as he turned and felt the electricity flow through him. He saw the sparks become chains of lightning which grew into rings of lightning. They wrapped around him as though he was part of an atom. He felt Yuki's uniform disappear and be replaced with a shorter version. He felt her shoes become laced boots and he felt the tiara appear on his forehead. The lightning disappeared and he felt the desire to pause for a second to catch his breath as power flowed through him. His spirit energy was back. He was back and he was ready to fight.
"Hey Freak Show!" he shouted as he turned to face the he-she creature. "Let's see how much you like being shot at!"
"No!" KuRonda shouted.
Yusuke raised his right hand. Pointed his own finger at the he-she. Concentrated his energy. And fired. A blue ball of energy shot from his finger and flew towards the creature. The energy ball grew as it traveled and its glow bathed the area in blue light. It was a foot from the he-she when the creature raised its hand and calmly batted it away. The last hit a nearby tree and exploded, shaking the area with a shockwave. The he-she raised its hand and fired its own blast at Yusuke. He rolled across the ground, forgetting he was in a skirt, to avoid the blast. As he rose to his feet, Hana appeared beside him.
"What were you thinking, Juniper? Venus just told us not to use our common attacks!"
Yusuke was silent; his mind was frozen. His spirit gun was a common attack? Since when?
"Look out!" KuwaHera shouted as she plowed into Hana and Yusuke, effectively knocking them to the ground. A skinny and heavily tanned arm slashed through the air above them before reaching down and grabbing Hana like a claw in that one game at the arcade. The girl struggled to release herself as the enlarged hand squeezed her. As Hana screamed in pain, KuwaHera jumped to her feet.
"That's it!" she shouted as the world seemed to sparkle around her. The girl cupped her hands in front of her as though she was holding bubble. She then reached down to her boots before turning her back to the battle. When she turned to face Hana's capturer, her arms were crossed in front of her chest. In front of her arms was a sphere of energy. "Mercury Bubbles!" the girl shouted as she uncrossed her arms.
Yusuke felt his breath as the sphere separated into hundreds of bubbles. The flurry of bubbles rushed the model's arm. The creature shrieked as it dropped Hana. The girl quickly jumped back but then she paused and held her hands as though she was about to pray. She interlaced her fingers but raised both her pointer fingers. A fiery aura seemed to encase her. "Mars… fireball," she said as though she was carrying a heavy burden. "Ignite!" she shouted as a wave of fire erupted from her fingertips. The flames engulfed the model who screamed as her flesh burned. As the glow from the fire disappeared, the model was reduced ash.
Hana paused to admire her handiwork when the smug smile on her face became a terrified expression. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened in surprise. Yusuke turned to ask her what was wrong when he spotted the ribbon creature. He started to step forward when he spotted KuRonda. The girl's red hair was whipping around her face as she extended her arm to point at the ribbon creature. An orange aura surrounded her as she shouted, "Venus Crescent Beam!"
A yellow beam of light flew from her hand, similar to Yusuke's spirit gun. However, the blast was smaller and when it collided with the ribbon creature, there was no shockwave. Nevertheless, the creature turned to ash. KoEmma stopped crying and rushed to stand beside KuRonda who faced the final creature. Hana, KuwaHera, and Yusuke rushed to box the he-she in.
"Surrender," KoEmma said as though she had not just been crying hysterically seconds before.
The he-she glanced at the circle of girls, pausing to stare at Yusuke the longest before replying, "The Negaverse will kill you."
"I'll take that as a no," Yusuke could not help but say with a smirk.
KoEmma nodded. "Then in the name of the Moon, we will punish you." She reached for the tiara on her forehead and lifted the gold decoration. The tiara began to glow and became a disc of light. Out of the corner of his eye, Yusuke saw the other girls readying their special attacks. Unfortunately, he didn't see the blast headed his way until it was too late.
"Juniper!"
His vision went white and then black as he closed his eyes. He felt his feet leave the ground and his body hover in the air. For a second, he was weightless and he wondered if his soul was leaving. His body hit the stone and pain radiated from his back and stomach where the blast entered and exited. He didn't feel any blood flowing but his body was tingling. It felt a little like when his foot went numb except it was his entire body. Going into shock, he thought. He felt a hand on his shoulder and an arm behind his back. Someone moved him into a sitting position and began to shake him. A girl was shouting at him to open his eyes. His body had stopped tingling and he still didn't feel any blood. The pain was fading as well. Looks like this is it. Might… as well… have one last look. He cracked his eyes open.
A battle was going on in front of him. Hana, KuwaHera, and KuRonda were battling the he and she creatures who had split again. When he looked to the person who was holding him, he saw KoEmma. The girl pulled him to his feet and Yusuke found he could stand. He was still wearing the skirt but Yuki's legs were more muscular than he recalled and covered in hair. Weird. I thought her legs were shaved. He touched his stomach to feel for the blast wound and felt only abs, familiar ones at that. Yuki wasn't that fit before. Slowly, he realized Yuki's bust was missing. He resisted the urge to pull off his shirt to make sure and instead touched his hair. It was short although it was still slicked back. I'm… a guy… A wide grin appeared on his face. I'm a guy. "I'm a guy!" he shouted. His grin grew as he heard his green alien voice coming from his mouth. "Thank you, Negaverse!"
A girl screaming pulled him from his glee and he refocused on the battle. He could feel his special brand of energy flowing through his veins as he rushed into battle. As his fist collided with the he creature's face, his grin grew wider. The he creature collapsed on the ground and the she ran over to it. Yusuke stepped back, ignoring the swish of his skirt as the two creatures reached for each other.
Hana and KuwaHera were readying their attacks but Yusuke held out his arm to stop them. "If you want Yuki to be a girl again, you should let them merge again."
The girls glanced at each other before they lowered their arms to their sides. He was surprised that neither of them commented on him referring to Yuki as another person but he figured they had realized he wasn't Yuki. Thy probably didn't know who or what he was but it seemed they trusted him enough to listen. Of course, the fact that KuRonda was silently standing back and watching probably helped.
The she and he creatures grasped each other's hands. This time Yusuke was ready for the earthquake and was able to keep his footing. When it had ended, he rushed forward to distract the creature while the girls readied their attacks. KuwaHera was the first to be ready. He heard her shout, "Mercury," and lunged to the side. The flurry of bubbles slammed into the creature a second later.
The he-she screeched and rushed towards KuwaHera. Yusuke rose to his feet and readied to charge when Hana and KuRonda's combined attacks plowed into the he-she. The monster screamed and changed targets. It formed two blasts, one from each hand. One rushed towards KuwaHera while the other flew towards Hana and KuRonda. Hana and KuRonda were ready and easily dodged. KuwaHera was another story but Yusuke had expected this. He ran and intersected the blast using his body as a shield. When he crashed into KuwaHera, Yusuke was once again Yuki.
Yusuke didn't hear KoEmma's order to retreat to the shrine over the growling of the he-she. Thankfully, KuwaHera did and she pulled Yuki's smaller form over her shoulder and carried her up the stairs and into the temple where the other girls were.
"Our attacks aren't working," Hana growled once the doors were securely locked.
"An electricity based attack might stun it long enough for Sailor Moon's tiara attack to work," KuRonda suggested but from the pout on the girl's face, Yusuke figured this option wasn't as easy as it sounded.
"So how do you make an electric attack?" he asked, his voice once again sounding like Keiko's.
All the girls looked at the ground and Yusuke felt a stab of guilt. "Okay," he said before anyone could tell him only Yuki could do the attack, "how do I do the attack?"
KoEmma shrugged. "Ruu might know but I haven't seen her since last night when she went to check out a weird energy in the park."
Yusuke felt a shiver down his spine. Genkai had called a few days ago asking what sort of trouble he had gotten into because Puu had vanished from the temple. Yusuke had brushed it off as his spirit beast doing spirit beast business. Of course, that is assuming I'm a real person and not a split personality, Yusuke added. However, he had to admit he was not buying the split personality theory. If anything, he was going to bet on the parallel dimension. Puu had disappeared. The cat thing called Ruu had disappeared. Boban used a baseball bat. Botan used an oar or a baseball bat to attack. Kuwabara had a sword. KuwaHera had a sword. KurRonda liked roses. Kurama liked roses. The only question Yusuke had was why he had been switched with Yuki when Ruu seemed to belong to KoEmma. Stop it! Yusuke shook his head. Focus on the creature coming to kill you! His eyes widened as he recalled the cat he had placed on the ground when he saw Hana being attacked by the model. "I think I left Ruu outside."
He quickly covered his ears as the girls screamed, "What!"
Used to Keiko's wrath and well aware of how dangerous angry women were, Yusuke quickly explained his meeting with Boban (who, he discovered, was called Tuxedo Mask.) He finished with the exclamation, "I was a bit distracted by the freakish creatures attacking you. So sue me." The girls seemed to have calmed down during his explanation but KoEmma was getting teary eyed again. Yusuke could feel his brain wanting to drift and wonder how she ended up the leader but he pulled his stubborn mind back to the task at hand. KuRonda was creating a rescue plan when Yusuke heard it.
"Puu."
He felt a weight on his head and claws gently getting tangled in Yuki's long hair.
"Ruu!" KoEmma shouted as she held out her arms for the cat to jump into. Yusuke hoped the cat would make the jump but he wasn't surprised when the blue cat only said, "Puu," and attempted to find a more comfortable position on top of his head.
"What's wrong with her?" KuwaHera muttered to Hana. "Usually you can't get her to shut up."
"Negaverse," was Hana's reply.
KoEmma stared at her cat in confusion while KuRonda narrowed her eyes and studied Yusuke. After a second of scrutiny, Yusuke sighed and opened his mouth to explain his theory.
The door to the shrine crashed to the floor as the he-she kicked it into the room. The girls and Yusuke rose to their feet and faced the threat.
"Now I have you!" the he-she shouted as its hands began to glow.
Yusuke wasn't sure what caused him to reach up and grab Puu, but he had the feeling the spirit beast could read his mind enough to know not to resist. The cat allowed him to remove it from his head and throw it at the he-she. Puu, once again seemingly aware of Yusuke's plan, raised his claws and attacked. The girls stood shell-shocked as they watched Puu attack with all the fervour Yusuke usually showed in battle.
While the he-she was distracted, Yusuke grabbed KoEmma by the shoulders and shouted over the screaming and hissing, "What does Yuki say when she does her special attack?"
KoEmma glanced away from the battle and said, "Juniper thunder dragon."
Yusuke nodded and released his grip on her shoulders. "Be ready." He turned to face the he-she and Puu but paused when he felt a grip on his arm. KoEmma eyes were wide and she was biting her lip.
"You won't hurt Ruu, will you?"
He smiled and winked. "Puu is too stubborn to die." The smile slipped from his face as he turned to the he-se again. He wasn't worried about Puu and Ruu. Somehow they had caused the mess and he was sure they could fix it. He wasn't even worried about the monster. If he couldn't figure out the attack, they would think of another plan. His concern was what could happen if he did the attack wrong. Yuki may not have a body to return to or he might hit one of the other girls.
Puu was losing his grip on the creature's face. Now or never, Yusuke thought as he stood with his feet apart.
The he-she managed to get a hand on Puu's middle and was attempting to pull the cat off its face. Yusuke crossed his arms above his head. A silent voice whispered in his ear, guiding him. He closed his fists but raised his pointer and pinkie fingers as he lowered his arms to his chest without uncrossing them.
Puu lost his grip on the he-she and went flying into KuwaHera's arms. "Juniper… Thunder," Yusuke growled as he saw his spirit beast go flying. In the corners of his vision, he saw lightning flash. He uncrossed his arms and shouted, "Dragon!"
A blast of lightning came from above his head and flew towards the he-she. The monster froze as the lightning hit it. Too stunned to make a noise, it stared. Yusuke turned to shout to KoEmma but he saw the girl was already readying to throw the disc of light. "Moon tiara magic!" KoEmma shouted as the disc left her hand.
The electricity around the monster faded but there wasn't enough time. The disc hit the creature and its glow grew until Yusuke had to shield his eyes. He heard the creature scream and when the light faded, there was only a pile of ash. He let out a breath of relief and smiled as Puu climbed up Yuki's uniform to sit on his head.
"When we get home, you won't be able to do that anymore so enjoy it," he muttered to the blue cat.
"Puu."
Meanwhile, the girls were jumping for joy and patting each other on the back (or hugging everyone in KoEmma's case.) However, that joy faded when they turned their attention to Yusuke. KuRonda was the first to step forward. She extended her hand and Yusuke shook it.
"The Negaverse is most likely responsible for you and Yuki switching places, as well as Puu and Ruu," the girl said with a sigh. "With time we may be able to discover what caused this and reverse it. Until then I'm sure we can find some place—"
"There you are, you freaking body stealer!"
Yusuke doubted anyone was more surprised than he was when he heard someone with his voice shout at him. Everyone turned to face the door of the temple and Yusuke's eyes widened. Standing there was a large, blue phoenix and three males. One looked like a male version of KuwaHera while the other looked like a male version of KuRonda. And finally, there was the male who was shouting at him. The male in the green jumpsuit stomped towards Yusuke and he was annoyed to see the person's hair had been combed. The male stood and pointed a finger in Yusuke's face.
"Do you have any idea what I had to go through today? I had to fight demons! A troll! Avoid your psycho girlfriend and grandma! And then I had to make stupid noodles for three hours! Without my powers!" The person in Yusuke's body paused to take a breath and Yusuke launched into his own speech.
"Look princess, your life wasn't walk in the park either! And you would be a psycho too if you never knew if your boyfriend was dead or alive! And it's not my fault you were too stupid to figure out spirit energy."
"What?" Yuki shrieked. "Let's see you say that when you have a Juniper Lightning Blast up your—"
"Yuki, be quiet," said the phoenix.
Yuki opened her mouth as if she had more to say but after a second, she closed her mouth. The girl crossed her arms and walked back towards Kuwabara and Kurama allowing Yusuke to see one similarity between him and the girl trapped in his body. They both hated being told what to do. "Fine," Yuki muttered.
Ruu nodded and turned its attention to Yusuke and Puu. Both of them were a bit surprised by the young and male voice coming from the mouth of the phoenix but attempted to hide it as the creature bowed. "Thank you for protecting the other Sailor Scouts in our absence. Now if you don't mind, we would like our original bodies back."
Yusuke nodded before shrugging. "Love to but I don't have a clue how."
Kurama coughed and stepped forward similar to how his female counterpart had. "Koenma foresaw this. Stand beside Miss Yuki, Yusuke."
Yusuke considered telling Kurama to tell Yuki to move but he saw a calmness in Kurama's eyes that suggested the fox had only one raw nerve left. For the sake of all present including the plants, Yusuke walked over to Yuki. The girl trapped in his body huffed and turned her head away from him. During that moment, Yusuke dismissed the idea they came from parallel dimensions. There was no way he could ever be that much of a pain, male or female.
Kuwabara, who had been oddly silent, stepped away from them as Ruu moved to stand on Yusuke's other side. While the Sailor Scouts stood in a huddle off to the side, Kurama and Kuwabara glanced at each other. They inhaled and exhaled slowly before holding their hands out in front of them. Their hands began glowing.
"This might sting a little," Kurama warned as he and Kuwabara closed their eyes.
Well aware of the possibility of Kurama lying, Yusuke closed his own eyes and braced himself. The process only lasted a second but it stung a lot. Kurama had used his demon energy to rip Yusuke's soul from Yuki's body. The fox then forced Yusuke's soul into Yusuke's body which displaced Yuki's soul which returned to the only open body, Yuki's. Meanwhile, Kuwabara transplanted Puu's soul into Puu's body.
When Yusuke opened his eyes, he was relieved to see he was back in his own body and still in one piece. Yuki did not seem to share his relief as she threw the blue cat off her head, pulled a hair elastic from nowhere, tied her hair into a high ponytail, and stomped towards the other girls. She demanded a complete report of what had occurred while she was away and listened with a large frown on her face.
Yusuke turned his back on the girls and messed up the hair Yuki had carefully combed as he faced his friends. He had to admit that he was thankful for the guys coming to save him. He was also very happy to see the portal that would take him back home. The other boys were silent as they turned to the portal, relief clear on their faces. Puu was following them but it was hard to tell if the spirit beast had been even fazed by the switch. Yusuke quickly ran out the door to catch up.
However, when he looked over his shoulder, he felt a bit bad for the Sailor Scouts. In his short time in their world, he had gotten a little attached to the girls. They were both freakishly similar and distractingly different from his friends and he had to admit, he was a bit protective of them now. He pitied them for being left with Yuki. That was why when the girls glanced in his direction, he winked and shouted, "If you ever get tired of her, give me a call. I look damn good in a skirt." Hearing Yuki curse his name and his house as he left was just a bonus.
As Yusuke stepped through the portal, Puu placed his blue head head on his shoulder. He patted the bird and looked around his world's version of the shrine. "Good to be home, eh boy?" he muttered.
The moment was ruined by a loud, obnoxious sounding laugh. Yusuke's smile faded into an annoyed frown as he turned to Kuwabara. "Got something to say?"
Kurama was laughing as well and Yusuke felt his anger growing as he listened to the disjointed comments between Kuwabara's laughter. Yusuke pushed Puu's head from his shoulder and cracked his knuckles, relishing the manly sound they made.
"You know, boys," he said as a cruel smile appeared on his face. "An interesting thing happens when you possess a girl's body." He cracked his knuckles again, amused by how Kuwabara's laughter turned into nervous chuckles. "You are suddenly okay with kicking below the belt." The other boys were silent. "You have five seconds."
It looked like the day wasn't a complete waste after all.
A/N: First story of the new year! And there are a few references to my other stories in this one and I'm curious to see if anyone can spot them.
Also, this story continues off my story "Fighting Evil by Moonlight." I did not think it was necessary to read the story prior to this one. However, if anyone wants a more in depth explanation for Yusuke's rough morning, check it out.
Thanks to sycoandcrazy inc who gave me the idea for this plot and also for drawing the cover for this story and Fighting Evil by Moonlight.
Finally, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed.
-D101
Disclaimer: I do not own the copyright for Sailor Moon or Yu Yu Hakusho.