Yay! Update! I've got a few notes at the end, but for now I'll let you cut to the chase.
Chapter 37, what needs to be done.
Setsuna walked down the street, her head full of thoughts and plans for the next few days or weeks. She'd spent the last week pre-occupied with her attempts to figure out how to deal with Ranma and Haruka, and now that she discovered that the situation was, at least temporarily, nothing to worry about her mind was much clearer.
Of course, she also cursed Ranma for making her come up with dozens of arguments for why the heart crystals needed to be inspected, and then just agreeing to do it almost instantly. Much of her skill over the years had been in trying to predict future events, even without the gates, and the new Neptunian Senshi seemed to confound her every time she tried it.
Haruka's reaction had been more predictable, and she imagined that the Senshi of Uranus would eventually need convincing, though it was possible that they could find another way to stop the new threat. Personally, she wouldn't mind that one bit, and with how things had been going lately she began to think it was possible.
As she thought this, a small smile began to appear on the face of the guardian of time, and she pushed the front door of her home open. "I'm home." She announced calmly, though she was surprised not to hear Nodoka's returning "Welcome home."
Stepping into the living room, she learned why she hadn't heard it. Nodoka was looking worriedly at the couch, where Haruka was kneeling, concernedly checking an older blonde haired woman, who was out cold, for injuries. Ranma was standing off to the side, in male form, and looking sheepish.
"I can't leave you alone for even a second, can I?" Setsuna asked, causing Ranma and Nodoka to look over to her.
HR.
Kasumi Tendo smiled to herself as she studied her reflection in the mirror. She was getting everything ready now for the day ahead. She knew that what she'd asked Ranma to do earlier today was something he wouldn't normally help with, but she was hoping that the boy would do it for her, and even if he didn't, it would still be nice to be dressed well tomorrow.
Looking herself over, the brown haired girl combed her fingers through her freshly washed hair again, and studied the nice dress that Unazuki had helped her pick out. The other girl didn't know why Kasumi wanted to be all dressed up, but she'd had a lot of fun helping her out.
Looking to the side of the table, Kasumi blushed at what was sitting there. An item that she'd have to bring with her the next day, if only so that Tofu could decide for himself what to do when she finally broke through his shyness. She blushed fiercely at the thought of that, but shook it off, firming her resolve. She had left home in order to get what she wanted, and she wasn't going to stop now… unless, of course, Tofu decided he wanted her to, but…
Frowning worriedly, Kasumi began to remove her outfit, carefully laying it out for the next day. Whatever would come would come, she decided.
HR.
"You sure you're all right, Mom?" Haruka asked, sitting behind the older woman at the kitchen table as she shakily had a cup of tea that Nodoka had made.
"I'm fine, Haruka-Chan." Her mother said. "It's just… a lot to take in, that's all." Inwardly, she was of two minds about what she had seen in the past hour. She knew that some very odd things existed in Tokyo proper. Having seen the news, it would be impossible to not know that, but now she learned that her daughter was engaged to one. Still, the way Haruka was looking at her so worriedly also allayed one of her fears that she'd had ever since the girl had run away from home. Still, she had some questions to ask.
"I am going to have a VERY long talk with your father when he gets home." Mrs. Tenoh finally said, after sitting silent for a moment.
Haruka laughed. "Yeah, I thought he'd told you." She explained. "I'm sorry that you passed out like that, but people usually don't believe when Ranma just tells them about it."
The other just nodded, taking a sip of her cup of tea. She looked off into the distance, deep in thought. Initially, she'd found Ranma a rather rough, though still acceptable young man, but now she started to re-evaluate him, or her. She wanted to treat the person Haruka was currently with harshly, if only because, at least half the time, her daughter was still with another woman, which would be bad for the family image, but then she stopped herself. Was that really being fair? She'd accepted Ranma originally because she'd thought that her daughter had finally 'seen the light,' and that was pretty well it.
"Haruka, I want to know something, and I want you to answer me truthfully." She finally said, coming out of her deep thoughts. The younger Tenoh jumped, as if startled, but then nodded. "How do you feel about Ranma?"
Haruka wanted to respond immediately with something, but she wasn't sure what to say. She let her mouth open and close a few times, then started slowly. "He's… very different." She finally said, and seeing her mother's raised eyebrow, continued. "It's hard to explain. I mean, I don't even know what's going on half the time, and I know we've got interests that only really converge on one thing. He's uncultured, not very book smart, and, well, he's a guy." She said, plainly, then smirked. "At least half the time."
Her mother was about to say something, but Haruka continued before she could. "I don't know, really. There's just something about him, and her, and.. me…" She trailed off, not quite sure of how to finish.
"I see." Her mother said, looking mildly troubled. 'Damn.' She thought, and then sighed. "That's all I wanted to know, though I'm going to have to talk to Ranma at some point... Now, how about you tell me what's been going on with you since I last visited?"
HR.
"Yer mom get home all right?" Ranma asked, as Haruka entered the house, slipping her jacket off, after returning the older woman home.
"Yeah." She replied. "Good thing I drove her, though. A storm started half way there."
Ranma merely nodded, before starting into the kitchen. Haruka followed him, seeing that the collection of scrolls that he'd been looking through on Sunday was once again sprawled all over the table. "What's up?" She asked.
He frowned. "I've been lookin through these things ta see if they mention those heart crystals Pluto mentioned anywhere."
"Any luck?" She asked, sitting down at the kitchen table as he took a seat at the other side in front of an unrolled scroll.
"None so far. Some interesting stuff involving Chi charging and storage, but nothing about crystallizing an entire aura." Ranma muttered, going above Haruka's head pretty quickly.
'And I said he was uneducated?' she thought, smiling ruefully to herself.
"I did notice that there's something missing, though." He said, causing her to jump. "When I took the pile out of the closet I put it in on Sunday, I noticed it looked a little different."
"Oh, um, well…" Haruka said, before running upstairs for a moment.
Ranma looked after her, confused, before she returned holding a dusty old scroll. He raised an eyebrow, looking over it. "I thought you didn't want anything to do with this one?" He asked.
She just smirked. "I thought it could be useful later on." Then, her expression changed to a sheepish one. "Turns out I can't read ancient Chinese." She admitted. "I'll help you with the ones I can read, though."
"Right…" Ranma said, blushing and looking away. "Let's just get this done okay?" She nodded and the two got to work.
HR.
"Come on, wake up." Ranma heard a gentle voice at his ear, and felt himself being shaken.
"Guh?" He mumbled, batting the hand away.
"You're going to be late for school, come on!" The voice repeated, this time sounding a little irritated. Ranma reluctantly opened his eyes, to see a slightly amused Nodoka in front of him.
"Wha?" He asked, raising his head and looking around to see that he was sitting at the kitchen table, across a massive pile of papers from Haruka, who was blinking herself to wakefulness as well.
"We fell asleep at the table?" She asked, surprised. "Haven't done that since I was cramming for the college entrance exams."
Ranma yawned and cracked his back. "Happens ta me a lot, usually 'cuz the books are boring." He admitted, before he saw a bowl of rice being set before him. "Thanks, aunt Nodoka." He mumbled.
"Well, maybe I shouldn't cook anymore." Came a slightly annoyed sounding voice, causing him to look around and see Setsuna wearing an apron in front of the stove. "That's different." He commented, blinking at her.
Haruka looked up at the clock, and frowned. "We don't have much time. I guess we'll have to go to class in these clothes." She mumbled, and combed one hand through her hair as she picked up her own chopsticks with the other.
The two didn't talk any more for several more moments, while they both shoveled down food at a pace that only Ranma normally managed, and then ran out the door.
Nodoka sighed as they disappeared out the door. "Sometimes, I envy them for being able to go to school again." She said, then smiled. "Then I see things like that, and I come to my senses."
"Setsuna laughed, and hung up her apron. "Well, I'm going to have to head off soon as well. I'll see you when I get home." She said, before leaving. Nodoka merely nodded.
HR.
"Hello, Ranma-kun." Ranma jumped as he heard the voice, having not heard Kasumi coming. That, of course, was one consequence of spending an entire night propped up in a kitchen chair, but he shook off his surprise as he turned towards her.
As he finished turning, his mouth dropped. "K-Kasumi?" He asked, stuttering a bit.
"Oh, that isn't funny, Ranma-kun." She chastised. "You shouldn't make fun of Tofu-sensei's problem like that."
"I'm not!" Ranma objected. "You just look… different." He finished. He was about to say that she looked cute, but since the last time he'd said that had resulted in most of Ukyo's problems, he kept quiet.
"Well, yes. I am wearing something different today. Do you think Tofu-sensei will like it?" She asked, spinning around to reveal her knee length skirt and well fitted white blouse.
"Um, yeah." Ranma said, suddenly reminded of what Kasumi had asked him to do the night before. "Ya… still wanna go through with this?"
Kasumi nodded, seeming to be radiating confidence. "I'm sure."
Ranma sighed. "Well, hope the doc doesn't kill me." He mumbled. "All right, I'll help ya out."
"Thank you, Ranma!" She exclaimed, and then leaned forward, grabbing him in a tight hug. His pigtail stood on end for a moment, and he waved his arms around frantically. This arm waving only got worse when he saw someone behind Kasumi.
'I'm doomed.' He thought, as Haruka walked up to the two. Oddly enough, though, the blonde didn't pull a hyper-dimensional weapon of pain out of nowhere, she just rose one eyebrow.
Within about five seconds, Kasumi had pulled away from Ranma, seeing that he'd gone board stiff and started shaking. Instantly after getting let go, Ranma started babbling frantically. "Haruka, it's not what yer thinking, really. This is Kasumi, she's Akane's older sister."
Haruka looked at him oddly for a moment, before turning to Kasumi. "You're Akane's sister? Nice to meet you."
Ranma stopped babbling and stood, slightly shocked at how Haruka was acting. 'Why haven't I been hit yet?' He thought. Admittedly, Haruka hadn't raised a hand against him other than in sparring, but this was a pretty clear cut case according to all he knew.
Kasumi bowed to the blonde, and looked the newcomer over for a moment. She was puzzled as to why Ranma would act so oddly when one of his friends showed up, until she noticed that the 'boy' in front of her had no Adam's apple. "Nice to meet you as well." She said. "Ranma, do you mind making introductions?"
Ranma didn't move or speak for a moment, before snapping out of it. "Um, yeah." He said, unsteadily, it slowly dawning on him that Haruka had actually observed the situation without jumping to the worst possible conclusion. He slowly started to smile, thanking whatever Kami had decided to stop playing games with him since he got to this district, and spoke. "This is Haruka, we're living at the same place, and, well, kinda engaged."
"Oh, you're Haruka." Kasumi said, surprised. "Ranma told me about you."
"Yeah, he's told me a bit about you too." Haruka said, before her watch beeped. "Crap, I gotta get to next class." She said, looking at Ranma worriedly, but noticing that he was starting to act more normal now. "I'll see you after school, okay Ranma?"
"Yeah." He said, nodding. "See ya then."
After Haruka had left the area, Kasumi looked at Ranma. "I'm sorry about hugging you like that. I just wasn't thinking…" She trailed off, then shook her head. "I'll see you at lunch still, right?" She asked, hopefully.
"Yeah, don't worry." Ranma replied. Kasumi merely nodded, and then left with a spring in her step.
HR.
Shampoo checked the last of the supplies in her backpack for the second time, comparing them to a carefully made list and nodded in satisfaction. She was ready, and the rest of the hunting party that had been assembled was also doing final checks of their equipment. Luckily for her, the high council had accepted her explanation for her failure, and she had regained at least some of her face with the tribe, or she wouldn't be able to mount the operation she was preparing.
Stepping out of the small house she had been assigned in the village, she looked over the rest of the group, but scowled when she saw the elder that lead it. Though she'd been given another chance, it hadn't been with total freedom, and she was just a part of someone else's group.
"Shampoo, you are ready?" Elder Bidet asked, stomping her staff down on the ground.
"Yes, elder." The purple haired girl said, bowing.
"Good, then we will go." Shampoo started walking, and ignored the disdainful stairs that three out of the five other amazons that were going with them were giving her. She would get her Airen, and they WOULD respect her again.
HR.
"Hey, doc!" Ono Tofu turned as he heard the call from down the hall, seeing Ranma running towards him with a bunch of books under one arm.
"Ranma?" He asked, surprised to see the younger boy, especially since most of his classes were in a different part of the school. "Is there something wrong?"
"Nah." Ranma said. "Just wanted ta ask ya some questions. I've got a buncha biology stuff in science class that I just don't get."
"I see." Tofu said, nodding. He found it odd that Ranma was coming to him for help, especially since most biology related subjects were actually well studied by martial artists, but he didn't mind helping. "I'd be glad to help you out for the remainder of the lunch hour."
"Thanks." Ranma said, gratefully. "There's a classroom down on the third level that's free."
"That'll be fine." Tofu said. "Let's pass the Cafeteria first though, all right?"
Ranma nodded, and the two started to walk.
Their travel took place mostly in silence until after Tofu had gotten his lunch, the older man surprised that the younger hadn't gotten anything. A few minutes later, though, Ranma surprised him by asking him something. "Doc, if I knew a way ta get ya over your Kasumi problem, would you want it?" He asked, looking away slightly.
Tofu stopped, his glasses fogging up for a moment before he blinked the clouds away with a mighty effort. "Why are you asking me about that?" He asked, narrowing his eyes slightly.
"I'm just curious." Ranma said. "I've just gotten access ta some of the ol' freak's techniques, an' I think some of them could help." He was lying through his teeth, but thankfully Tofu was too busy fighting off his usual haze to care.
"To answer your question," He said, turning left only to plow into a brick wall, "Being able to hear K… Ka… her name without… well, you know… I would give almost anything for it." He sighed.
"Good to hear." Ranma said, suddenly sounding a lot happier for some reason. "And doc, sorry 'bout this."
Tofu was about to ask him what he was sorry about, when he noticed, too late, Ranma going for one of his paralysis pressure points. He started working the Chi based counter for the point almost immediately, but Ranma had already scooped him up in his arms and started running.
By the time Tofu had reversed the point's effects enough to ask what in the world the boy was doing, he was already being pushed through a door into a slightly dark classroom. The door slammed behind him, and he fell against it with a thump, hearing it click as the lock was turned. "What in the world…?" He asked, before twitching his hand to be sure he could move it, and reaching to flick on the room's lights.
As they came up, he said one thing. "K-K-Kasumi, what a coincidence meeting you here, of all places!"
HR.
Ranma walked into the Peeking duck, slightly worried. He had the afternoon off today, which suited him quite well, as he had to talk to Cologne about something rather important. Looking around the restaurant, he blinked in surprise as he saw something he hadn't been expecting. In the middle of the room, carefully balancing several bowls of hot looking Ramen was Akane Tendo.
The girl's body dripped with sweat, but she looked reasonably steady on her feet. That was, of course, until she saw Ranma and twitched in shock. All of the bowls that she had been balancing began to tip over, but she frantically rebalanced to save them, except for one that she'd been trying to hold on two chopsticks in her mouth, which tipped ever so slightly forward and started sliding.
Quickly, Ranma dashed forward and caught the bowl, seeing a tiny tag on its side that said where it was to go and using a quick hand motion to send it spinning to its proper resting place.
Akane spat out the two chopsticks, and spoke. "Ranma?" She asked, evidently very surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"I have ta talk to the ol' ghoul." He said, and then ducked as a staff came flying out of the restaurant's kitchen. Unfortunately, he didn't duck far enough and it thwacked him in the side of the head. "Ouch.. anyways, what're you doin here?"
"Nabiki thought it would be good training." Akane explained, walking over to a table and tilting a bowl carefully off of her arm to land correctly. "I just find it annoying."
Ranma smirked. "Now ya know how I felt during that whole mess with the phoenix pill." At Akane's scowl, he just laughed. "Since I just got hit with a staff, Cologne's back there, right?"
Akane nodded, and Ranma walked past her. As he reached the door into the back of the restaurant though, he turned back. "I know the grand master's supposed ta be impartial, and stuff, but good luck Tomboy." He said, smiling.
"Thanks." Akane replied, turning back to what she was doing before.
HR.
"So, what brings you back so soon, Ranma?" Cologne asked, not looking up from stirring a pot full of Ramen.
"I need ta ask ya something about auras." He replied, simply.
"Trying to learn a new technique?" She asked, looking up towards him in interest.
"No, I wanted to know if you knew anything about heart crystals." Ranma replied, and was rather startled at the reaction the statement got. Cologne stopped stirring, and turned a shade paler.
"Mousse?" She called, causing the duck cursed man to poke his head out of the stock room, where he was apparently taking inventory.
"Yeah?" He asked, his glasses perched on his nose.
"Could you please take over this pot for me?" Cologne asked, and Ranma was surprised that she was being so polite to the master of hidden weapons.
"I'm a little busy back here…" Mousse said, but trailed off when he saw that Cologne was standing next to Ranma, and looking rather serious. "I'll be right out."
"Thank you." Cologne said, then turned to Ranma. "And as for you, we should talk in private."
Ranma was about to ask what was wrong, when Cologne set off out the restaurant's back door and into the small alley outside. He felt a tingling against his Chi aura, and realized that she was checking the area for people listening.
"Precisely where did you hear about heart crystals?" Cologne demanded, piercing Ranma with a serious stare.
"There are some monsters stealin 'em." Ranma explained. "You know something about 'em?"
"Given the amount of time the Amazon tribe has spent studying Chi auras, we know a lot about them, but most of it is classified to the elders only." Cologne explained. "If a monster is taking them from humans, then it's vitally important that it be stopped."
"The Senshi are defeating the monsters." Ranma said. "That's not what I need ta know about 'em for."
"What is it you want to know?" She asked.
"I wanna try and figure out a way to look at a person's heart crystal without havin ta take it out of their body. I've figured out that they're just the person's whole aura compressed into a single point, but I've tried just mentally comparing the aura with the crystals, and something seems ta be missing."
"A heart crystal isn't just the aura compressed to a point." Cologne explained. "It is one's entire essence, extracted and compacted into that small shape. Without a heart crystal, the human body cannot produce new Chi at all, and will die within hours. As for being able to see one without extraction… there may be ways, but again, they are almost as dangerous as knowing how to extract one and I need to know WHY you want to know, or I can't tell you any more."
"There's something hidden inside 'o certain people's heart crystals, and the Senshi and their enemies both need it. I'm trying ta help the Senshi find it." Ranma explained, though Cologne could easily tell that he was holding something back.
Pulling her staff from behind her back, she whapped him upside the head again. "Boy, you are not telling me everything, and this kind of thing is serious. If the council ever even heard that I was talking to you about it, I would be executed! Now, you WILL tell me everything, and then I MAY help you."
Ranma sighed, and thought for a moment. It seemed that Cologne did, indeed, know a lot of what he wanted to learn in order to somehow avoid killing people, but she was a really stubborn old ghoul. Grumbling, he let his own aura out of his body, ensuring that the area was safe himself, and Cologne noticed. "You gotta promise me that ya don't tell anyone what I'm about ta tell ya." He said, softly.
The old woman nodded, and waited.
"This thing the Senshi are lookin for, there's actually two of them, and if we don't find them the whole planet's gunna be destroyed." Ranma explained, flatly. "I've seen it, an' it ain't pretty. Right now, all the Senshi can do is wait 'till their enemies take one 'o the crystals and inspect it to see if it's got what they need in it. That's really dangerous, especially for the victim, so I'm tryin to find an easier way."
Cologne nodded. "That is a worth while goal, to be sure, but how do you know the people who claim to be the Senshi aren't lying to you?"
Ranma cursed. He couldn't prove that he had accurate information any way short of dragging Pluto here to talk to her, and even then she could just accuse Pluto of being fake. Then, he got an idea. "I'm Ranma, right?"
"What?" The elder blinked. "Of course you are. What kind of stupid question is that?" She snapped, clearly annoyed. "Your aura and body language identify you clear as day."
Good." Ranma sighed. "I'm holdin ya to that 'not telling anyone' promise." Gulping nervously, he reached into one pocket in his Chinese pants, and withdrew the Neptune henshin pen. Cologne just looked at him oddly for a moment, as he raised it high. "Neptune Planet Power, Make up!" He called, and the water enveloped his body.
Cologne blinked, and then blinked again as the water cleared from Ranma's form, revealing a red haired woman, quite obviously Ranma's female form but her mind kept shying away from making the connection for some reason, wearing a green and blue sailor uniform. "N… Neptune, you said?" She asked, her mouth going dry.
"Yes, I'm sailor Neptune." The Senshi said.
Cologne slowly nodded, and then took her cane out again. Neptune flinched, expecting to be smacked in the side of the head, but instead, Cologne whapped herself with the wooden device. "Yes, that definitely hurt." She pronounced. "You…. Lady Neptune…. This…" She then broke down, and started to make a peculiar noise that was somewhere between laughing and crying.
The Senshi just stood there, blinking as one of her Sensei proceeded to have a breakdown.
HR.
"All right, how about we try this again?" Dr. Osamu Taikuchi rubbed the bridge of his nose below his glasses, and flipped over another card. "Mr. Kuno, tell me what you see."
Tatewaki Kuno sighed, looking at the doctor in clear annoyance. "We have traveled this ground before. Tis obviously a picture of the beauteous Akane Tendo!"
Osamu sighed, leaning his head forward to bang into the table. "Yes, right…" He muttered. This case was, quite possibly, the most annoying thing he'd ever had to deal with in his life. Every time he'd asked the boy to identify images from random patterns, they had something to do with either Akane Tendo, a girl with bright red hair in a pigtail, Kendo, or a foul sorcerer of some sort. "Well, Mr. Kuno… I believe that I've come to a final conclusion in regards to your treatment." He finally said, after taking several deep breaths to keep himself from exploding.
"You have finally come to the conclusion that I, the scion of the Kuno line, am of fine mental stock, correct?" The boy asked, puffing his chest out arrogantly, despite the straight jacket that they had put him in when he'd attempted to assault one of the orderlies who just happened to have blue-black hair.
"No, Mr. Kuno." Osamu said, simply. "I've come to the conclusion that you have an unhealthy and obsessive fixation on the feudal era, Akane Tendo, and this… pigtailed girl of yours. Furthermore, this fixation is a danger to anyone around you who is REMOTELY similar to either of them." As Kuno's face fell in disappointment, the frustrated doctor took far more delight in his next statement than he really should. "I'm transferring you to another psychologist who is better equipped to deal with your unique condition than I am. Good bye!"
He then turned, knocked on the door to Tatewaki's holding cell, and walked off into the complex.
END.
Okay, the note I wanted to cover here is about Setsuna's actions. It seems that she's being stupid, and in some ways she is, but a LOT of that is because we already know what's going on, and it seems obvious to us in retrospect.
Keep in mind, though, that at least one great treasure of the silver melenium has already been found by extracting it from the bodies of innocents. As precidents go, it's been established that you can find Silver Milenium artifacts in very odd places.
Also, recall that she has access to alternate universes, and though she can't see exactly who has the artifacts, she knows that almost all of those universes have Neptune and Uranus searching for them. Now, given ONLY that information, it does make a certain amount of sense for her to do what she's doing.
Also, I've been told what the time gates look like. At least for the moment, I'm ignoring it simply because I like my visual better. Sorry.
Now, I shall shut up.