Chapter 5. Departures and arrivals.
Ranma walked down the street, his emotions mixed. It had been almost a week since he had agreed to train Haruka, and he was slightly nervous that he would screw up in the other man's training. Also, the last of the exterior framing for the building he had been working on had gone up, and he wasn't qualified for interior work, so he had been told by Mr. Carwell that he should head down to the Metro centre on Monday. He had no idea what he was going to do there, and that made him rather edgy.
As Ranma was approaching his home, a randomly dumped bucket of water hit him over the head. "Oh! I'm sorry miss." A woman called, from the balcony of an apartment building next to Ranma.
With a sigh of exasperation, Ranma removed the bucket from her head and heaved it back up to the balcony that it had come from, waving at the surprised woman who now found it balanced on her railing before walking on. Actually, Ranma was slightly glad that the curse had activated today. It had seemed to get unusually quiet in this ward, and she was beginning to wonder if it was gearing up to seriously embarrass her. Not to mention that a small part of her would have missed the change if it were ever taken away, no matter how often she denied it.
Seeing a grinning Haruka in the driveway of the apartment building, Ranma diverted her path in order to see what he was grinning about. Even if Haruka had tried to hit on her every time he saw her, he was an all right guy, and she figured that he'd eventually get the hint that she completely ignored his advances. "Hey Haruka san! What're you so happy about?" Ranma called, noticing that Haruka was holding something in his hands.
"Oh Hi Ranko san." Haruka said, still smiling happily, especially since the redhead had shown up. "I just won my first race here. Big prize, too." He explained, holding up the trophy and check that rested in his right hand.
Ranma smirked. "Well, I hope you're still up for training tomorrow."
Haruka looked confused for a moment before she made the connection. "R… Ranma told you about that?" She asked, blushing.
"Well, yeah." Ranma said, smirking. "I'll be trainin ya too, some times. Ranma's got this tendency to take off on trips to nowhere at the strangest times… Mostly when it starts rainin, for some reason." Ranma mentally smirked. She had been getting slightly better at telling half truths and lies ever since she had first started dealing with Nabiki, and so long as she wasn't under any pressure she could come up with some pretty good ones.
"Oh." Haruka said, looking slightly surprised. "Well, I'm sure training with you will be interesting." She said, stressing the last word.
Ranma resisted the urge to roll her eyes. At least he wasn't as blatant as the fiancées back home… she quickly forced her mind off of THAT particular topic, as she really didn't want to think about it.
HR
Back in Nerima, three girls sneezed.
HR
On a road deep within a shadowed forest of Japan, Shampoo let off a loud, and very unladylike sneeze, causing her head to jerk up and slam into a tree.
"Ouch!" She yelped, rubbing her head in pain. She was getting very annoyed by this point. She had been searching the countryside for the last week and a half, and she hadn't found hide nor hair of her allusive Airen. This didn't make any sense! Males couldn't outwit Amazon trackers! Even if her Airen was part female, one of the reasons why she loved him so much, he shouldn't be able to escape her tracking skill for this long. Stumbling out of the forest and onto a road, Shampoo began to march down it, determined to find her Airen and make him hers, no matter what obstacle entered her path.
She couldn't believe that her great grandmother, an ELDER of the Amazons, had just let him walk out of the café. She should have at least knocked him out so that they could do SOMETHING to make him reconsider.
With an annoyed growl under her breath, Shampoo continued on her trek, incidentally going in the opposite direction to Tokyo.
HR
Back in Nerima, Ukyo wiped her nose, annoyed that the sneeze she had just let off had made her drop a box of cooking supplies. Reaching down and picking it up, she packed it into the moving van that was sitting outside of her restaurant. "Hey Konatsu! Bring me out the dishes, okay?" She called back into the front room of the restaurant, watching the male Kunoichi pick up a box carefully and bring it to her.
"Hear you are, Ukyo sama." Konatsu said, handing Ukyo the box. "I still do not know why you wish to move the restaurant, Ukyo sama…" He said, looking at her confusedly.
Ukyo sighed. "I thought I explained this before, Konatsu. I'm moving to the Juuban shopping district because I heard rumours of an expert martial artist doing construction work over there. I may not like the orders my father gave me," She spat the word father as if it was an insult, "But I have to try and complete them, or he'll cast me out of the clan and I won't be able to run the restaurant anymore."
Konatsu looked down sadly. "So you are going to kill Ranma San?" He asked, worried about his master having to kill her oldest friend. Also, in his heart he knew that Ukyo would be beaten by Ranma easily, but didn't really want to think about it.
Ukyo laughed, half mirthful and half bitter. "Of course I'm going to TRY. I'm just gunna be really bad at it. Get it sugar?" She asked, winking at Konatsu.
The ninja smiled slightly, running into the restaurant in order to get more boxes.
In the shadows of a wall next to the storefront of Ukyo's shop, a black shadowed form crept away. 'I must report this to Master Kuno…' Sasuke thought, hopping up to a rooftop and heading for the Kuno estates. Even if he really didn't want to bother Ranma, who had actually been NICE to him a few times, Orders were orders, and his master had asked him to track down Ranma so that he could challenge him. With a slightly sad sigh, the little ninja bounded into the front courtyard of the Kuno mansion, headed for his master's quarters. He noticed dimly that Kodachi sama's mad laughter had been interrupted for a moment and wondered what had caused it.
HR
In the front room of the Tendo Dojo, Soun and Genma were playing their ever present game of Go while still discussing what they were going to do about Genma's son. Genma, however, did this from the comfort of a full body cast. It seems that Nodoka did NOT appreciate the notion of her son being tossed in a pit of starving cats numerous times. Rumour has it, though the doctors who operated on him don't have the stomach to confirm it, that Nodoka actually castrated Genma with her Katana before allowing Soun to rush him to the emergency room.
"What your son did is simply shameful…" Soun said, moving a piece.
Genma grunted in acknowledgement, as his mouth was wired shut, and made a slight movement with his left pinkie finger, the only one free of the cast, that told Soun where he wanted his piece moved. Soun cheerfully moved Genma's piece in the wrong direction, causing the Saotome patriarch to grunt in annoyance, but not do anything else.
"And what Nodoka did…" Soun said, shuddering. He remembered when he had once gotten similar wrath from his own wife, for trying to forbid her from the arts, and was in full sympathy with his friend's pain.
Genma slightly nodded, his eyes watering and twin tracks of tears coming from them.
"Ah, I know the pain of a loved one being cross with me…" Soun said, solemnly.
Genma shook his head slightly, and said a few garbled words."EI Tinq EI Brok M Nek…"
Soun just chuckled, thinking his friend had tried to cheer him up.
On the other side of the room, Nodoka was sitting across from Nabiki on a cushion. "So you have the papers ready, dear?" She asked, tapping her fingers nervously on the wood.
Nabiki smirked predatorily. She had always disliked Genma, and now she got to be part of his punishment for hurting Ranma, almost a member of her family, so badly. Passing the papers over to Nodoka she nodded. "Your divorce papers, as well as a little addition of my own. It's a donation form for a rare, or endangered animal to be submitted to the Tokyo zoo."
"Why would I want that?" Nodoka asked, confused.
"I heard they needed a new Panda after their old one died…" Nabiki said, smirking more widely.
Nodoka smiled almost as widely as Nabiki, but her smile disappeared when she looked at the papers in front of her. They were divorce papers. It was perfectly legal in this day and age, but it was so.. distasteful. It was an admission that she had been wrong in picking a husband, and that she wanted rid of him. Images of her son being tossed into a dark pit to be mauled flashed into her mind, and she grabbed a pen in preparation to sign the forms that would leave the Saotome clan with one, barely, living member.
HR
Master Happosai cackled as he came running into the small ward of Nerima, jumping to windows and stealing undies as he came. He had gone on a little "Vacation" right after that disastrous failed wedding between Ranma and Akane, to get away from the men who kept trying to attack him. Yeesh. How was HE supposed to know that that water was their last chance to be normal men again? Strangely enough, Ranma hadn't joined in on the chase, retreating to the Tendo roof instead.
Despite all appearances to the contrary, Happosai DID worry and care about his students. He had just been living so long that the term "Cantankerous old coot" fit him so well that his face should be in the dictionary next to it, and he was a little concerned for his latest heir. He knew that the battle against that phoenix, Saffron, had really stressed Ranma a lot and the failed wedding on top of that just may have pushed him over the edge. All the more reason to stay out of the district for a while, as Happosai wasn't sure that he could take out a fully furious Ranma. Hell, he wasn't sure he could take Ranma if he was seriously fighting anymore. Of course, he wouldn't admit this to the boy, he had a big enough ego as it was. Happosai cackled louder as the Tendo Dojo came into sight and he hopped into the front entrance. "Everyone, I'm home!" He yelled, Strolling into the front door.
As always, Kasumi was there with a small smile to greet him. "Oh, hello Grandfather." She said, serenely.
"hello Kasumi dear." Happosai said, walking past the eldest Tendo, and the only female in the area who was completely free of his grope greetings. Groping her would probably get the Kami to call down judgment on him… again.
Walking into the living room of the Dojo, Happosai wasn't entirely surprised to see Genma sitting at the Go table in a body cast, but what did surprise him was that the Chi signature left on the wounds was NOT Ranma's. Looking around for the source, he saw Nodoka, serenely sitting on a cushion next to the dining table and signing some papers.
"Hi No Chan, what'cha doing?" Happosai asked, climbing up her back, incidentally groping her butt, in order to sit on and look over her shoulder.
Nodoka's eye twitched as she looked over at Happosai. "DO you want me to try and practice my sword skills on you again?" She asked, flatly.
Happosai blanched and hopped off of Nodoka's shoulder. Although she was a mediocre swordswoman, she seemed to have the same skill as Akane for hitting ANY martial artist she was angry with no matter his skill and her Katana was a lot sharper than Akane's blunt instruments. "Well, what are you doing?" He asked, craning his neck to read the papers she was signing. "Divorcing Genma? What in the world did he do?"
Nodoka looked over at Happosai and spoke, still signing the papers with one eye focused on them. "I found out about the Neko Ken… and some of my husband's OTHER ill advised training ideas." She explained, glaring at Genma.
"Ah. That would explain it." Happosai said, producing a pipe from nowhere and smoking from it. "Where's my wiser student?"
Soun perked up. "I'm right here, master!" he said, running to Happosai's side.
"Not you, you moron!" The old pervert said, hitting Soun over the head and knocking him out. "I meant Ranma!"
"Ranma kun renounced his family name and went ronin." Kasumi said, as she brought in a cup of tea for Happosai. He didn't know the new rules of the house yet, and it was only right that she serve him until she could tell him about them.
Happosai's eyes narrowed. "I see…" he muttered, putting his pipe back into his mouth. 'Can't say I really blame the boy.' He thought, munching on the pipe's stem, 'But I can't let my school die out with THOSE idiots…' He shuddered as he looked at Soun and Genma. "Thanks for the info Kasumi!" He said, before gulping down the cup of tea and hopping out the porch doors of the Dojo.
HR
In the Juuban district of the Minato ward, Mousse stared up at a large, empty store front. He had no visible luggage, as everything he owned, including his bed, was stuffed into his dimensional pocket. He fingered one of the real pockets in his robe, still feeling a rather large bulge. He couldn't believe it. He had actually been given a rather large sum of money by Cologne, her saying that if he was going to be a Japanese male, he may as well get paid like one and that that was his salary for the past year and a half.
With a small smile, Mousse walked into the empty storefront, taking down the "For Sale" sign and putting up a small wooden sign with a picture of a white duck on it. The duck was wearing a thick pair of glasses and over it's head rested the words "The Peking Duck Café.
HR
Later that day, Sailor Pluto appeared in her apartment with a flash of light. Transforming back to civilian form, she began cursing up a blue streak. The time gates wouldn't show her ANYTHING on this new incarnation of sailor Neptune. His Chaos vertex nature seemed to be throwing off the gate, but that was impossible. The only way that could have happened was if she had come into contact with him, causing her fate to hit his chaotic one. The problem was that she had no recollection of running into the black haired boy. Even when she was drunk out of her mind, she could still remember faces, and the only two that stuck in her mind were a cross dresser named Haruka Tenoh, AKA sailor Uranus, and a short red haired girl. No black haired boys to speak of.
With an exasperated sigh, Setsuna flicked her wrist, causing the henshin pens of Uranus and Neptune to appear in her hand. It would be risky, but she thought that she should try a partial awakening, so that the two would radiate a magical signature that she could track. Channeling a VERY small amount of power into the pens, she sent it down their connecting lines to their senshi. Feeling a slight backlash from each, she put them away again, deciding to wait.
That night, Ranma lay in his bed, tossing and turning. He was having a very strange dream.
HR
Neptune stood on the command deck of the planetary defence command centre, glaring out at the armada that was approaching. The outer planets had lost contact with all of the inner guard accept for the Luna palace, and Beryl's Terran forces had overwhelmed the inners' lightly defended home worlds. Luckily for Herself, Uranus and Pluto, they were the outer guard, and their worlds were heavily defended.
"Lady Neptune. Terran dreadnaught coming on bearing 132.6." a sensor operator reported, his voice trembling slightly with fear.
"Focus main particle cannon on that ship. Blow it out of space!" Neptune yelled, pointing at the ship on the viewer. Anyone who saw her in court at the palace would be amazed to see her now, almost as commanding as her lover one planet over. Her usual delicate and soft spoken manner was replaced with a hard commanding edge that said "If you want to mess with me, I'll kill you."
"Yes Ma'am!" The gunnery operator said, swivelling in his chair to command three different defence installations to open up at once. The Terran dreadnaught exploded into so many pieces, the Mercurian firepower at Neptune's disposal making it into so much scrap metal.
"Lady Neptune!" The sensor man called again, his voice laced with panic. "A Terran troop carrier has managed to sneak in through the blind spot left by the dreadnaught. It's breached our hull and some sort of monsters are entering the station!"
"Serenity damn them!" Neptune cursed, walking to a lift at the back of the bridge and going down to the breached deck.
HR
"Deep Submerge!" Neptune yelled, throwing a ball of supercharged water at her enemy. The monster screeched in pain, the power of the blast throwing it back into a group of it's friends. From behind Neptune, a burst of laser rifle fire took down some more of the monsters, the station's security teams fighting alongside their princess to save the planet around which they lived. As Neptune and her troops prepared for a second wave, they heard a massive stomping noise. From the hull breach, and the transport on the other side, came a colossal hulking form. Neptune threw her deep submerge at it, but it only staggered for a moment. The guards' laser fire had no effect. After a five minute long brutal battle, Neptune was slashed badly along the side of her torso, and crumpled to the ground. Desperately trying to climb to her feet, she saw the monster grin evilly at her before it began to glow.
HR
"Lady Uranus! The Neptune central defence station has exploded!" Someone reported, from the bridge of the flagship of the Uranus fleet, Serenity's pride. Uranus was the home of the solar system's space navy, a rather strange oddity since Neptune had the water affinity.
Sailor Uranus's face went white as she heard these words. "Was lady Neptune aboard the station?" She asked, her voice trembling.
"…yes Ma'am…" The sensor operator said, his face filling with shock.
Uranus's fist clenched and a small tear worked it's way down the side of her face. "They are going to pay!" She yelled, then turned to her helmsman. "Set a course for the terran fleet. Gunnery, fire at will. I want them space dust!"
The people on the bridge scrambled to obey, knowing that their leader was so furious that she may take out her wrath on them if they didn't.
"Ma'am. The queen is ordering you to withdraw to the moon." Uranus's comm. officer said, calmly.
"Ignore her." Uranus hissed, rage in her eyes. "Those bastard earthers are going to pay!"
"Ma'am?" The comm. operator said, in a state of semi-shock.
Uranus just ignored her.
After a few minutes of hard fighting, The Serenity space navy had wiped out most of the Terran force of ships. All that was left was their capital ship, the Endymion. It's massive shield system kept almost any attacks from landing, and it's main cannon kept obliterating Space Navy ships left and right.
Seeing another of her laser volleys reflect off of the Endymion's shields, Uranus gritted her teeth. "There's only one way to get rid of that ship." She said, glaring at the screen. "Anyone who wishes to survive, abandon ship now…"
The bridge crew looked at her, disbelieving. "Lady Uranus?" Her helmsman breathed, his eyes widening.
"You heard me." She snapped, walking towards the helm post. Reluctantly, the bridge crew sounded the evacuation order and jumped ship, leaving Uranus alone on the Serenity's pride. Sitting at the helm console, she tapped a series of commands, causing the ship's power core to start overloading and it's engines to go full out. As the Endymion became larger and larger in her view screen, Uranus whispered the name " Neptune." Right before the two massive vessels collided, lighting up the space for several kilometres around them with atomic reactor fires that blinded all that looked at them.
Ranma and Haruka both woke up in a cold sweat, the dream fleeing into the backs of their minds, leaving very little memory. "That was freaky…" They both muttered, rolling over in their beds and going back to sleep.
END.
A few ppl have said, "How can Ranma NOT tell Haruka is a girl? He's had lots of experience with crossdressers." To this I respond with three facts. He spent MONTHS playing with Ukyo as a kid and never figured it out, having to rip her shirt open and expose her breasts to find out. He went so far as to think his masculinity was threatened when Tsubasa wouldn't fall for him and Konatsu got close enough to almost KISS him without being found out. Ranma has a serious blind spot in this area. It's not me being funny, it's the truth!