Catch a Cat By It's Tail
(A Ranma 1/2 and Sailor Moon fanfic)
by Shea McIntee
Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon, and/or any other
series mentioned; they belong to Rumiko Takahashi and others whom
I humbly abase myself before. I'm not worthy!
Chapter 2
Two cats lay in an alley in almost stereotypical
Takahashi-shock poses.
"... Luna?"
"... Yes?"
"... You know, I had a horrible dream... Diana was here, and
she..."
"... latched on to someone that resembled a big ball of dust
with a moon on their forehead and dragged them off? After hitting
you with a mallet that was at least as big as she was?"
Artemis sweatdropped. "Yeah... err... it... wasn't a dream?"
(smack!)
"Ow!"
Luna gave him an annoyed glare and raised her paw back up.
"Where are they?"
"How should I know?"
Luna sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Let's just go to the meeting... I want to know what's gotten
into her. And who that other Moon Cat was..."
Artemis sighed. He knew EXACTLY what she'd say next.
'Three... two... one...'
"It's probably some sort of evil plot or something."
The white cat rolled his eyes. Every single time. Luna's
paranoia was somewhat endearing (although he'd never EVER let her
know that), but sometimes it was... well, paranoid.
(smack!)
"And don't you roll your eyes at me, Artemis!"
'And she's in a slap-happy mood... great... it must be that
time of the month...'
****
The Hikawa Shrine was considered perhaps one of the more...
attractive targets for any passing youma, demons, or any of an
assortment of nasties.
Some might think that this was because it was a temple. Some
might consider it a coincidence.
Regardless of the actual cause, it was also where the Senshi
met at least once a week. If people had known this, they might have
cited that as the reason for it's ability to draw youma... and they
might even had been correct.
Regardless, yet another meeting was underway, with most of
it's customary chaos. For the past couple of weeks, there had been
absolutely nothing supernatural or evil going on, and so the past few
meetings had consisted almost entirely of Ami studying in the corner,
Usagi either eating all the snacks or 'borrowing' Rei's manga, and Rei
alternating between teasing Usagi about her weight or trying to keep
her manga away from her. Makoto and Minako usually spent their time
talking about deep and important issues... like the latest cute
transfer student.
Normally the two cats would be there to attempt to give the
whole thing a sense of purpose (although usually without much
success), but they weren't here today. Instead, a certain pink-haired
girl (now looking more like fourteen or sixteen than her last
appearance) had turned up, and was the focus of most of the senshi's
attention.
"Mako-chan, pass the muffins?"
Well, MOST of their attention. Food was always a high
priority for a certain hyper-active meatball-head.
When Chibi-Usa had walked in the door, looking almost as old
as they were, she had been immediately bombarded by questions.
"Chibi-Usa?"
"What are you doing here?"
"What happened to you?"
"Why are you here?"
"Pass the muffins, please?"
"Yes, visiting, I grew up, visiting, and no."
Everyone stopped for a moment. This Chibi-Usa was a bit
different.
"What? Why is everyone staring at me like that? I grew up...
it happens. And what's wrong with visiting?"
It was Makoto who answered.
"Nothing wrong... it's just that we were wondering if there
was some other reason for you to be here."
"Umm... well..."
Usagi rolled her eyes.
"What is it, Spore?"
Chibi-Usa stuck her tongue out.
"Meatball head!"
Ami interrupted, not wanting this to degenerate into yet
another brawl.
"WAS there some other reason?"
"Well, yeah... kinda..."
"Well?"
"Ummm... Diana... mumblemumblemumble"
"What?"
Chibi-Usa looked down, suddenly looking somewhat shy.
"Diana wantedtovisitherboyfriend," she rushed out almost as
quietly.
"Huh?"
She sighed.
"Diana. Wanted. To Visit. Her. Boyfriend."
There was a short pause, and then the inevitable explosion.
"Diana has a boyfriend?"
"Who?"
"What's his name?"
"What does he look like? Is he cute?"
"Do we know him?"
Chibi-Usa looked around and sweatdropped. She knew she
should've kept her mouth shut.
Finally, after a minute or so, everyone calmed down long
enough for her to get a word in edgewise.
"Yes she does, no you don't know him, and yes, he's cute."
She took a picture out of her pocket and showed it around.
On it, there was a picture of a couple, looking about eighteen,
each with a gray cat in his or her lap. The girl had white hair
with a black streak running through it, violet eyes, and a big smile
on her face. In her lap was a cat that was, recognizably, Diana.
The boy opposite her was about five foot six and VERY handsome.
Covertly, Makoto and Minako wiped the drool off their chins,
and even Ami had to take a deep breath or two.
He had slate-blue eyes, and his black hair was bound back in
a pig-tail. He wore a blue chinese-style shirt and black pants,
while the girl wore a matching outfit in pink and black. The cat in
his lap looked a little bigger than Diana, but had similar coloring.
Both cats had moons on their foreheads.
"So, that's her boyfriend?" Ami asked, pointing to the cat in
the boy's lap?
"Yep, that's Ranma."
"Who's the hunk?" Minako inquired, a trace of hearts in her
eyes. Rei and Makoto seemed to want to know as well.
Chibi-Usa rolled her eyes. If they couldn't figure it out... and it
wasn't that good of a piece of trick photography, too.
"Just some guy... nobody important, really."
The three took some time to digest this. Meanwhile, Usagi took the
opportunity to grab the small pile of manga by Rei and start leafing
through it.
Rei recovered quickly, however.
"USAGI!"
And so the meeting returned to its customary activities.
****
Ranma groggily woke up. He had had an odd dream, that he had found
some other talking cats and one had practically jumped him, calling him
'Ranma-sama' and stuff.
'Wierd... note to self: no more exotic foods before napping...'
Then he realized that he was being dragged by the scruff of his neck.
Twisting around, all he could see was a gray coat and paws.
Suddenly the dragging stopped.
"Ranma-sama, are you awake?" came a voice that was so almost sickening
sweet that he could feel his blood-sugar level skyrocket already.
Great... that would mean that that dream... wasn't.
A gray face with violet eyes peered into his.
"Ranma-kun, are you all right?"
His brain considered his situation, his options, and, once again, took
the best way out of the situation.
He fainted again.
Diana shrugged, taking it philosophically, and grabbed him again by the
scruff of the neck. Almost there...
****
The meeting was just breaking up when Luna and Artemis arrived.
Usagi couldn't resist teasing them.
"Where have you two been? Off together somewhere, perhaps?"
Luna sweatdropped, while Artemis started to nod, and then stopped at a
bared claw from his counterpart.
"Is... Diana... here?"
Usagi looked somewhat puzzled.
"Ummm... no. What's wrong, Luna?"
Artemis spoke up.
"We... saw something that... disturbed us. Did you know that Diana
apparently has a boyfriend?"
Usagi nodded enthusiastically.
"Yep! His name's Ranma."
"You mean you KNOW him?"
"Err... not really. Chibi-Usa was here and showed us a photograph.
He's cute. They look SO adorable together!"
Both cats sweatdropped.
"Cute is NOT the word," Luna grumped.
"Oh, I don't know about that... and they definitely do look adorable
together," said a familar voice, as Setsuna Meiou walked up behind
the two cats.
Artemis jumped, and then glared at her.
"Don't DO that!"
"Do what?" she asked, a mock-puzzled expression on her face.
Artemis growled. Today was clearly not a good day... maybe he should
have just stayed home and slept.
****
Pluto gave a small grin as she looked at the white cat with his fur
standing straight up. She did have to admit that this was fun.
She had been taking a long-needed afternoon nap when she had been
awakened by the feeling of nervous pressure that invariably signaled a
change in the time-line. Thinking that it was the precursor to yet
another enemy, she had transformed and hurried to the gate to find
Crystal Tokyo unchanged, at least, at first glance. At a more
detailed inspection, she'd found that there were only a few relatively
minor changes, and had searched for her future counterpart for answers.
For once, it wasn't anything bad. Her future self had told her that it
wasn't the cause of any enemy, but instead a 'chaotic-quantum event
caused by an inherent third-party magical artifact,' and wasn't
anything to worry about; in fact, as a result, future Pluto had said,
the Scouts would gain another advisor that, if somewhat brash, naive,
and chauvinistic at first, would be quite an asset. After being told
any relevant information, she had traveled back and started walking
towards the Hikawa shrine, where she would get to meet this 'Ranma'
that little Diana would be so enamored of.
She continued grinning at the discomforted cat, and then decided to take
mercy on him.
"If you wait around a few minutes, you'll be seeing Diana and Ranma; you
could ask your questions then..."
She looked around and sat down on the steps of the shrine, followed by
Ami, Chibi-Usa, Rei, and the two moon cats.
Artemis looked at her and narrowed his eyes.
"What do you know about Ranma? Who is he? What's his relation to my
daughter?"
Chibi-Usa spoke up.
"He's Diana's future boyfriend, and they look sooo cute together!"
"That's what I was afraid of!"
Chibi-Usa fished a familiar photograph out from a pocket and gave it
to Artemis.
"There they are... aren't they adorable?"
Luna, still a bit disoriented, spoke up, not bothering to look at the
picture.
"Adorable is NOT the word! He's dirty, and-and..." she said, sputtering
with indignation.
Chibi-Usa rolled her eyes. Diana said she'd be here after she found
Ranma. Yep... she could see them coming now... She waved.
"Hey! Over here!"
This attracted the others' attention. Luna and Artemis stood open-mouthed
at the sight of 'little' Diana dragging the cat they had seen earlier up
to the steps of the shrine, while Setsuna and Ami merely stared.
Chibi-Usa wasn't at all surprised... the same thing happened in the future
fairly often.
****
Author's Note: Okay, I guess this will do for this chapter... a little less
than I had hoped, but exams are coming up and I REALLY need to work for the
Spanish oral exam... sigh... don't expect much more posted until the
weekend, or maybe a bit after (recovery time). Next chapter deals with a
coherent (well, kinda) conversation between the four cats (three bewildered
and one besmitten), introductions, and various other semi-important things.
PS: I had absolutely no idea that this one would get this sort
of response, so it looks like I'll be trying to update this one more
often... longer posts were also requested... I'll try...
PPS: Alright, Lufio... happy now? (grin) It was quite a good suggestion,
tho... and yes, Setsuna won't be psycho-pluto... after all, she does
occasionally talk to her future self...
(A Ranma 1/2 and Sailor Moon fanfic)
by Shea McIntee
Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon, and/or any other
series mentioned; they belong to Rumiko Takahashi and others whom
I humbly abase myself before. I'm not worthy!
Chapter 2
Two cats lay in an alley in almost stereotypical
Takahashi-shock poses.
"... Luna?"
"... Yes?"
"... You know, I had a horrible dream... Diana was here, and
she..."
"... latched on to someone that resembled a big ball of dust
with a moon on their forehead and dragged them off? After hitting
you with a mallet that was at least as big as she was?"
Artemis sweatdropped. "Yeah... err... it... wasn't a dream?"
(smack!)
"Ow!"
Luna gave him an annoyed glare and raised her paw back up.
"Where are they?"
"How should I know?"
Luna sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Let's just go to the meeting... I want to know what's gotten
into her. And who that other Moon Cat was..."
Artemis sighed. He knew EXACTLY what she'd say next.
'Three... two... one...'
"It's probably some sort of evil plot or something."
The white cat rolled his eyes. Every single time. Luna's
paranoia was somewhat endearing (although he'd never EVER let her
know that), but sometimes it was... well, paranoid.
(smack!)
"And don't you roll your eyes at me, Artemis!"
'And she's in a slap-happy mood... great... it must be that
time of the month...'
****
The Hikawa Shrine was considered perhaps one of the more...
attractive targets for any passing youma, demons, or any of an
assortment of nasties.
Some might think that this was because it was a temple. Some
might consider it a coincidence.
Regardless of the actual cause, it was also where the Senshi
met at least once a week. If people had known this, they might have
cited that as the reason for it's ability to draw youma... and they
might even had been correct.
Regardless, yet another meeting was underway, with most of
it's customary chaos. For the past couple of weeks, there had been
absolutely nothing supernatural or evil going on, and so the past few
meetings had consisted almost entirely of Ami studying in the corner,
Usagi either eating all the snacks or 'borrowing' Rei's manga, and Rei
alternating between teasing Usagi about her weight or trying to keep
her manga away from her. Makoto and Minako usually spent their time
talking about deep and important issues... like the latest cute
transfer student.
Normally the two cats would be there to attempt to give the
whole thing a sense of purpose (although usually without much
success), but they weren't here today. Instead, a certain pink-haired
girl (now looking more like fourteen or sixteen than her last
appearance) had turned up, and was the focus of most of the senshi's
attention.
"Mako-chan, pass the muffins?"
Well, MOST of their attention. Food was always a high
priority for a certain hyper-active meatball-head.
When Chibi-Usa had walked in the door, looking almost as old
as they were, she had been immediately bombarded by questions.
"Chibi-Usa?"
"What are you doing here?"
"What happened to you?"
"Why are you here?"
"Pass the muffins, please?"
"Yes, visiting, I grew up, visiting, and no."
Everyone stopped for a moment. This Chibi-Usa was a bit
different.
"What? Why is everyone staring at me like that? I grew up...
it happens. And what's wrong with visiting?"
It was Makoto who answered.
"Nothing wrong... it's just that we were wondering if there
was some other reason for you to be here."
"Umm... well..."
Usagi rolled her eyes.
"What is it, Spore?"
Chibi-Usa stuck her tongue out.
"Meatball head!"
Ami interrupted, not wanting this to degenerate into yet
another brawl.
"WAS there some other reason?"
"Well, yeah... kinda..."
"Well?"
"Ummm... Diana... mumblemumblemumble"
"What?"
Chibi-Usa looked down, suddenly looking somewhat shy.
"Diana wantedtovisitherboyfriend," she rushed out almost as
quietly.
"Huh?"
She sighed.
"Diana. Wanted. To Visit. Her. Boyfriend."
There was a short pause, and then the inevitable explosion.
"Diana has a boyfriend?"
"Who?"
"What's his name?"
"What does he look like? Is he cute?"
"Do we know him?"
Chibi-Usa looked around and sweatdropped. She knew she
should've kept her mouth shut.
Finally, after a minute or so, everyone calmed down long
enough for her to get a word in edgewise.
"Yes she does, no you don't know him, and yes, he's cute."
She took a picture out of her pocket and showed it around.
On it, there was a picture of a couple, looking about eighteen,
each with a gray cat in his or her lap. The girl had white hair
with a black streak running through it, violet eyes, and a big smile
on her face. In her lap was a cat that was, recognizably, Diana.
The boy opposite her was about five foot six and VERY handsome.
Covertly, Makoto and Minako wiped the drool off their chins,
and even Ami had to take a deep breath or two.
He had slate-blue eyes, and his black hair was bound back in
a pig-tail. He wore a blue chinese-style shirt and black pants,
while the girl wore a matching outfit in pink and black. The cat in
his lap looked a little bigger than Diana, but had similar coloring.
Both cats had moons on their foreheads.
"So, that's her boyfriend?" Ami asked, pointing to the cat in
the boy's lap?
"Yep, that's Ranma."
"Who's the hunk?" Minako inquired, a trace of hearts in her
eyes. Rei and Makoto seemed to want to know as well.
Chibi-Usa rolled her eyes. If they couldn't figure it out... and it
wasn't that good of a piece of trick photography, too.
"Just some guy... nobody important, really."
The three took some time to digest this. Meanwhile, Usagi took the
opportunity to grab the small pile of manga by Rei and start leafing
through it.
Rei recovered quickly, however.
"USAGI!"
And so the meeting returned to its customary activities.
****
Ranma groggily woke up. He had had an odd dream, that he had found
some other talking cats and one had practically jumped him, calling him
'Ranma-sama' and stuff.
'Wierd... note to self: no more exotic foods before napping...'
Then he realized that he was being dragged by the scruff of his neck.
Twisting around, all he could see was a gray coat and paws.
Suddenly the dragging stopped.
"Ranma-sama, are you awake?" came a voice that was so almost sickening
sweet that he could feel his blood-sugar level skyrocket already.
Great... that would mean that that dream... wasn't.
A gray face with violet eyes peered into his.
"Ranma-kun, are you all right?"
His brain considered his situation, his options, and, once again, took
the best way out of the situation.
He fainted again.
Diana shrugged, taking it philosophically, and grabbed him again by the
scruff of the neck. Almost there...
****
The meeting was just breaking up when Luna and Artemis arrived.
Usagi couldn't resist teasing them.
"Where have you two been? Off together somewhere, perhaps?"
Luna sweatdropped, while Artemis started to nod, and then stopped at a
bared claw from his counterpart.
"Is... Diana... here?"
Usagi looked somewhat puzzled.
"Ummm... no. What's wrong, Luna?"
Artemis spoke up.
"We... saw something that... disturbed us. Did you know that Diana
apparently has a boyfriend?"
Usagi nodded enthusiastically.
"Yep! His name's Ranma."
"You mean you KNOW him?"
"Err... not really. Chibi-Usa was here and showed us a photograph.
He's cute. They look SO adorable together!"
Both cats sweatdropped.
"Cute is NOT the word," Luna grumped.
"Oh, I don't know about that... and they definitely do look adorable
together," said a familar voice, as Setsuna Meiou walked up behind
the two cats.
Artemis jumped, and then glared at her.
"Don't DO that!"
"Do what?" she asked, a mock-puzzled expression on her face.
Artemis growled. Today was clearly not a good day... maybe he should
have just stayed home and slept.
****
Pluto gave a small grin as she looked at the white cat with his fur
standing straight up. She did have to admit that this was fun.
She had been taking a long-needed afternoon nap when she had been
awakened by the feeling of nervous pressure that invariably signaled a
change in the time-line. Thinking that it was the precursor to yet
another enemy, she had transformed and hurried to the gate to find
Crystal Tokyo unchanged, at least, at first glance. At a more
detailed inspection, she'd found that there were only a few relatively
minor changes, and had searched for her future counterpart for answers.
For once, it wasn't anything bad. Her future self had told her that it
wasn't the cause of any enemy, but instead a 'chaotic-quantum event
caused by an inherent third-party magical artifact,' and wasn't
anything to worry about; in fact, as a result, future Pluto had said,
the Scouts would gain another advisor that, if somewhat brash, naive,
and chauvinistic at first, would be quite an asset. After being told
any relevant information, she had traveled back and started walking
towards the Hikawa shrine, where she would get to meet this 'Ranma'
that little Diana would be so enamored of.
She continued grinning at the discomforted cat, and then decided to take
mercy on him.
"If you wait around a few minutes, you'll be seeing Diana and Ranma; you
could ask your questions then..."
She looked around and sat down on the steps of the shrine, followed by
Ami, Chibi-Usa, Rei, and the two moon cats.
Artemis looked at her and narrowed his eyes.
"What do you know about Ranma? Who is he? What's his relation to my
daughter?"
Chibi-Usa spoke up.
"He's Diana's future boyfriend, and they look sooo cute together!"
"That's what I was afraid of!"
Chibi-Usa fished a familiar photograph out from a pocket and gave it
to Artemis.
"There they are... aren't they adorable?"
Luna, still a bit disoriented, spoke up, not bothering to look at the
picture.
"Adorable is NOT the word! He's dirty, and-and..." she said, sputtering
with indignation.
Chibi-Usa rolled her eyes. Diana said she'd be here after she found
Ranma. Yep... she could see them coming now... She waved.
"Hey! Over here!"
This attracted the others' attention. Luna and Artemis stood open-mouthed
at the sight of 'little' Diana dragging the cat they had seen earlier up
to the steps of the shrine, while Setsuna and Ami merely stared.
Chibi-Usa wasn't at all surprised... the same thing happened in the future
fairly often.
****
Author's Note: Okay, I guess this will do for this chapter... a little less
than I had hoped, but exams are coming up and I REALLY need to work for the
Spanish oral exam... sigh... don't expect much more posted until the
weekend, or maybe a bit after (recovery time). Next chapter deals with a
coherent (well, kinda) conversation between the four cats (three bewildered
and one besmitten), introductions, and various other semi-important things.
PS: I had absolutely no idea that this one would get this sort
of response, so it looks like I'll be trying to update this one more
often... longer posts were also requested... I'll try...
PPS: Alright, Lufio... happy now? (grin) It was quite a good suggestion,
tho... and yes, Setsuna won't be psycho-pluto... after all, she does
occasionally talk to her future self...
