Thanks for your reviews: Tuisto, Tatsu-ZZmage, Enigma-Nemesis, Jerry Unipeg, Vaerom, imoertis, teenjag, ranger5, DragonGolem, sadfru, Darkepyon, James Axelrad, Ozzallos, DarkRubberNeck, Dumbledork, Iceland, and deathgeonous.
I'd like to thank everyone for your kind reviews and I want to answer a few quick questions before the start of this chapter.
First: Is Setsuna going to be a cold hearted bitch or a kinder, gentler Senshi of Pluto?
I'm not for sure yet but most likely a cross between the two.
Second: Will Ranma be related to Pluto?
No, she is related to someone else from the Sailor Moon universe, two in fact. One is a cousin and the other is her mother though her mother is not exactly known as one of the good guys…err…girls in the cannon.
Third: Will Ranma be in a fuku?
Yep, love fuku-fics and hope everyone continues to enjoy my humble foray into this genre.
Fourth: Ryouga is being OOC.
Not sure what is going to happen with him, he could have gotten into some drugs on accident while nosing around the Cat Café that made him do it or he might just be an asshole. Remember, this is a fanfic and not the cannon so their wil be some differences. I hope you can still enjoy the story for what it is meant to be, a story and not moan and bitch that someone isn't acting right. If all you want to do is bitch about this not following the cannon don't read it and go read the manga.
Lastly: Why did Pluto save Ranma in the first place?
She didn't plan to but she was there and couldn't stand by and watch someone get hurt like that. No matter how cold someone is I'd like to think that if someone is there in person witnessing it they would try and stop it.
Ranmaverse: Ranma is 17.
Sailor Moon: Inners is 16. Neptune and Uranus is 18. Saturn is 15. Pluto is Pluto. Takes place before the season with the Starlights.
And now on with the show…Err…Story. Enjoy!!
Ranma groaned softly as she cracked her eyes open just a little before squeezing them tightly back shut. Her entire being seemed to be in pain killing any and all hopes of what happened being just a bad dream or nightmare. A throbbing pain in her head kept her from dwelling on it as the same voices that had wakened her grew a little louder.
Braving the outside world around her she slowly reopened her eyes taking in her surroundings. She was in an unfamiliar room on a soft, comfortable bed with dark purple blankets covering her. Sitting up slowly she clutched her stomach as pain shot through it but with a hiss she fought it off as a damp washcloth slid from her forehead into her lap where she picked it up and held it to keep the blankets from getting wet.
The room itself was sparsely decorated with only a small desk in the corner with a small desk lamp on it. There was a dresser with nothing on top of it and a single window whose shades were drawn close though they still let a little light shine through the small crack where they met in the center. The light bothered her a little but she was able to overcome the little discomfort as it lessened more and more by the moment.
Rubbing her stomach where it hurt the worse she noticed that her shirt didn't feel like silk, in fact it felt more like a normal, cotton shirt. Moving her legs a little she noticed how her bare skin of her legs form the knees down rubbed against the fabric of the sheets under the blanket. Looking down at herself she noticed she was wearing a long pink tee shirt with a unicorn on it.
"I'm telling you Michiru, something is up with Setsuna." A deep yet feminine voice said as it seemed to draw closer making Ranma finally be able to make out what was being said. "She just dumps that girl off with us and warns us to keep an eye on her before taking off."
"Love, you saw the condition the poor girl was in. Setsuna was probably more worried about however did that to her coming looking for her." A softer voice replied, "She almost died last night and would have if Hotaru didn't heal the worse of the girl's injuries."
Ranma shook her head a little trying to clear it, it was getting a little harder to concentrate on what was being said as her vision started blurring a little bit and her head seemed to be swimming. After a few moments she seemed to recover just as the door was being opened to the room. Looking up towards it she saw two girls that didn't look much older than herself.
The first girl Ranma actually almost mistook for a guy but with all of her experience with cross dressers over the last year she had become more adept at spotting them. She had short, sandy blonde hair and an athletic build while she walked with a grace that screamed fighter though nowhere near Ranma's level.
The second girl was very beautiful with long wavy aqua marine colored hair and eyes that seemed to be like looking into an ocean. She wore a simple blue green summer dress and carried herself with a grace as did the first though it was more of a gentle, fluid grace. It was almost like watching the gentle motions of the tide.
"Good, you're awake." The second girl said sitting down on the side of the bed next to Ranma while reaching out to feel the redhead's forehead. After a few moments she pulled her hand back as her smile grew larger. "You are a very fast healer, miss. You had a very bad fever last night when our friend brought you home."
"Ranma…Ranma Saotome, sorry about this." Ranma said nervously reaching up to scratch her pigtail but winced in pain and gave up clutching her bruised side.
"Please don't overexert yourself, Ranma, you don't want to make your injuries worse." The second girl said, "My name is Michiru Kaiou and this is Haruka Tenou."
"Thanks you for helping me." Ranma said trembling a little as memories of what happened stared playing back through her mind even though she tried to block them. The hand not holding her side clutched the blanket tightly until her knuckles started turning white. She couldn't believe that she needed to be helped, to be saved as if she was too weak to take care of herself.
Was she truly to weak though? In her mind she was sure of it, the injuries she had proved it as well as proved how much Ryouga actually held back in their previous fights. He was much stronger than she ever gave him credit for and the way he fought, she had never seen him like that. He easily defeated her and would have done worse just as easily if whoever it was that saved her didn't show up.
"Who did this to you, do you know?" Haruka asked cracking her knuckles, the popping sounds very audible as Ranma fought to control herself as rage and depression warred for dominance deep inside herself. It was a battle she was having trouble with as a part of herself wanted to scream and destroy something, anything, while the other part wanted to break down and cry. She couldn't do that though, she was really a guy and guys didn't cry.
She did though, she remembered the hopelessness in her when Ryouga was pawing at her, the tears that fell freely when she realized that she was beaten. That Ryouga was right, she was nothing as she couldn't protect herself. She had to be saved, saved by a woman who she didn't even know. Men did not need saving by women, only weak, defenseless girls needed saving. Weak, defenseless girls like Ranma.
"Ranma, are you okay?" Michiru asked shaking her shoulder lightly. Ranma looked up realizing that the girl must have been trying to get her attention for several minutes while she zoned out but she had a good question. Was she okay? No, she would never be okay again. She started shaking as tears started forming in her eyes, overflowing and spilling freely no matter how much she wanted to fight it. Men didn't cry but she was no man…She never would be again.
"Oh honey." Michiru whispered soothingly while gently pulling the smaller girl into a hug while being careful not to aggravate the redhead's injuries anymore than they were. "It'll be okay, we won't let whoever that was hurt you anymore."
Ranma couldn't help relaxing and leaning into the taller girl's arms while absent mindedly noticing Haruka fidgeting back and forth unsure of what to do. She left as Michiru quietly waved her out of the room leaving the two girls on the bed alone together. Ranma couldn't help admitting how safe she felt in those arms and really couldn't remember ever feeling like that except for one other time. The old lady that first found her after going neko for the first time. Ranma sobbed for several minutes despite the voice screaming at her from inside saying that this was unmanly.
"Do you want to call your family?" Michiru asked as Ranma slowly stopped crying and calmed down a little.
"N-No…If they…They'll make me commit ritual suicide if they find out." Ranma sniffed though it was looking to be a very good prospect at the moment. Her self preservation kicked in though with that thought, one of the few things that Genma had actually succeeded in instilling in her though she wouldn't be a lazy good for nothing thief like the panda was she still didn't really want to die. It was part of the reason she agreed to hide as Ranko in the first place when her mother started visiting the dojo.
"I'm sure they wouldn't honey." Michiru said rubbing Ranma's back.
"Th-They would…I had to sign a contract and if my mother even found out about a little of everything…I'd be dead before I'd even be able to explain…Not that wouldn't be a bad thing." Ranma said softly and gasped when Michiru recoiled in horror, fear clearly in her eyes. The older girl gently, yet firmly held Ranma's face between her hands and forced Ranma to look her in the eyes.
"I want you to promise me that you won't even think about killing yourself." Michiru said seriously, determination flaring in her eyes. "You can stay here with us for now but I want you to promise that you won't do something that stupid."
Looking into those eyes Ranma couldn't help feeling a sense of déjà vu, why would she feel like she knew this girl if they never meet before. Her face, her eyes were so foreign to her but she felt like she knew them from somewhere, like she seen them in some long forgotten dream.
"I…I promise." Ranma whispered unable to deny this girl anything.
"Good." A new voice said startling the two girls on the bed into breaking contact and drawing their attention to the newcomer. A woman with long emerald hair and red eyes stood in the door holding a tray which held what Ranma's nose told her was a feast. Right behind the new arrival stood Haruka shooting dirty looks at the green haired woman. Ranma almost giggled as a younger, violet haired girl came scurrying into the room almost knocking them both over. Hotaru seemed so happy which Ranma was happy for the youngest senshi. Everyone always cared about the death part of the girl's title, the destructive power that she had. Hotaru was also the senshi of rebirth and had wonderful healing powers as well which no one had ever really cared about. All those stupid bastards gave a damn about was fearing a young girl just because she was made into a deterrent as the most powerful of the senshi save the moon princess herself.
What the hell was she thinking? She didn't know this girl, she never meet her before in her entire life. Yet they were childhood friends despite Ranma's mother being the daughter of the most mistrusted Queen on Terra.
"I'm not a girl, damn it!" Ranma cried out clutching her head in pain as old memories clashed with new ones, creating a worse headache than she had when she woke up as she tried to refute the memories of growing up a girl. Memories assaulting her of balls on Saturn with her best friend, the girl who was like a sister to the lonely Terran Princess. Two lonely souls finding a special bond of friendship in each other and becoming the terror of the inner court with their mischievous pranks on the princesses often including the Moon Princess when pranking the Martian Princess. "Get out of my head…Make it go away…I'm a guy…Not a girl…"
Michiru pulled the whimpering redhead in her lap in an attempt to comfort the obviously distressed girl. After a few minutes Ranma finally settled down as the onslaught of unwanted memories finally subsided leaving a quivering redhead.
"Are you okay?" A worried Hotaru asked softly crawling into the bed to rest her hand on Ranma's back. "Toraneko?"
"Toraneko?" Haruka and Michiru asked in confusion sharing a look between the two.
"A case of mistaken identity." Setsuna said softly yet firmly as she nudged Hotaru out of the bed. Ranma shook her head wanting to know why she suddenly knew the names of the girls in the room even though she knew she never met them before outside of those weird memories. Or were they just some strange thoughts, maybe dreams she had while unconscious. That had to be it, she heard the four girls talking while unconscious and somehow translated their names into her dreams and must have correctly guessed Hotaru and Setsuna's names.
"But." Hotaru squeaked as Setsuna shot her a stern look quieting any protests before they were made.
"Here Ranma, you must be hungry." Setsuna said softly as Ranma pulled away from Michiru. The aqua haired girl helped Ranma lean back against the wall and put a pillow behind her back making her more comfortable as Setsuna set the tray down over Ranma's lap.
"Thanks." Ranma said taking a deep breath, inhaling the delicious aroma drifting up from he full spread of breakfast dishes spread out before her. A small blush adorned her face as her stomach let itself be known with a small rumbling bringing giggles from the other occupants from the room.
"Ranma, I want you to eat everything on that tray and I don't want any arguments." Setsuna said crossing her arms.
"No problem lady." Ranma said with a small smirk, food always helped raise her spirits and take her mind off everything as it did now digging into the large for a normal person meal though kind of small compared to her usual fare. As she finished in a matter of seconds, it taking a little longer due the stiffness and pain her body was feeling slowing her movements down.
"Whoa, and I though Bunny was the only person who ate like that." Haruka said with a small whistle earning a playful smack on the arm by Michiru.
"Thanks, that was delicious." Ranma said not commenting on what Haruka said. She was a little surprised that someone else eats like her as she knew it was unlikely anyone else was forced into the strange training methods imposed onto her by her father.
"Get some rest Ranma, you need to regain your strength." Setsuna said taking the tray.
"Where did you go?" Michiru whispered to Setsuna as the red eyed girl turned to leave.
"I had business to attend to." Setsuna said stiffly as she rigidly walked out of the room followed by surprised looks by the three girls left behind with Ranma.
"After you get some rest I want to know exactly what happened." Haruka said, punching her palm. "I'm going to beat his face in if there is anything left of him."
"What do you mean?" Ranma asked unsure if she remembered it correctly. The limp body of Ryouga slamming into the ground after a large explosion before she lost consciousness.
"Dead…Scream…" Ranma whispered earning shocked looks from the three girls feeling the room.
"What did you say?" Haruka asked surprised.
"Nothing…Just thinking out loud." Ranma said with a dread feeling that something even more life altering was going on and she was sure that she wasn't going to like it. She crawled under the blankets pulling them around her facing the wall and away from the girls. She wasn't trying to be rude but she wasn't sure what to make of what was going on. "I…I think I will get some rest, thank you."
"If you need anything just call." Michiru said.
"The bathroom is down the hall on the left." Haruka said.
"Good night Ranek…Ranma." Hotaru said, a hint of sadness feeling her voice.
Ranma listened as the three filed slowly out of the room closing the door softly behind them. Ranma laid in thought for a few minutes before drifting off to sleep mumbling what sounded like, "Terra Planet Power…Make Up…"
