Yet another ST fic

Yet another ST fic. Yeah.

(alternate titles: "Sequel to: ''Just another ST fic. Yeah."' or 'The Return of Kouran's Time Machine.' or 'A New Enemy from the Past.')

~All Sakura Taisen characters belong to Red, Sega and Bandai. Anybody I've left out?

Author's note: Hehe...I still don't know if there's gonna be one more of the '-another St fic. Yeah.' series or not. Why? I can't think of a title -_-;;

Thanks: Um...Takuko left today, but before she boarded the plane she passed me this chapter's storyline. So, I'll give credit to her for this chapter!

Translation: shiro - white kuro - black minna - everybody maa...kore wa himitsu desu - ah...this is a secret Jan-Poru - Jean-Paul, Iris' teddy bear Nandesute - What?! senpai - senior

Chapter 1 - The Demon of Time

In the salon, the Hanagumi were having an informal meeting before dinner. They were going over the information from the Tsukigawa archives.

"It's written here that the demon is called the Demon of Time (Toki no Akuma) and can appear anywhere it wants. It's purpose is to - Destroy the Tsukigawa clan. I wonder who would be so evil as to do this!" Sakura exclaimed. Kanna said, "It could be a curse of some sort." "Why do you say that?" Sumire asked. Kanna replied, "I dunno. I just feel that it is a curse of some sort." "I think it's a curse too," Leni said quietly. "Why?" Maria asked." "We met something like that before, ne, Leni?" Orihime recalled.

"There was a strange illness which only fell on certain people. The common thing about them was they robbed, killed and did countless wicked things. Then, it was found out that a witch doctor was casting a spell on them so as to punish them," Leni said. "Of course, the witch doctor was arrested for 'indirect murder' or something like that. He confessed to everything... We all know that this is possible, look at ourselves! We are sort of magic too," Orihime stated.

Then they continued reading.

"Because of this demon that only harmed members of the Tsukigawa family, the Tsukigawa family broke up. A minority of them wanted to fight the demon but majority wanted to run away. The ones which stayed to fight were the Tsukigawa-shiro, while the ones who ran away were called Tsukigawa-kuro. The Tsukigawa-kuro ran off to the main island, while the Tsukigawa-shiro stayed on at Hokkaido. However, because of lack of practice of their powers were meagre, so they were defeated. There was only one survivor, Tsukigawa Hiromatsu. He took the books of the Tsukigawa Kaijin Kaze (The Tsukigawa Sea-God Winds) and the Tsukigawa Sora Kaze (The Tsukigawa Sky Winds) which taught the traditional Tsukigawa repelling evil powers and the sword plays. He took with him some other important items. (Refer to shelf 41, 1700s, Items Section.) The demon was extremely angry that there was one survivor.

"The demon went into the main island to look for the other members of the Tsukigawa family. Almost all were massacred, except for some who simply disappeared. Tsukigawa Hiromatsu was nowhere to be found."

Then, the information ended. However, there was another envelope of it. Maria opened it up and flipped through it. "This information looks newer. Yes! It's dated to 1845. Well, we'll go have our meal before we continue." So, they proceeded outside to the dining hall.

As they ate, they discussed about the current issues. Then Iris gave a sigh. "We have to fight of enemies, and we have to stage a play very soon...Iris is so busy, she has no time to write to Onii-chan, to Father and Mother...And she has no time to go out!" At the mention of the Hanagumi's ex-captain, the table quietened down. The the moments of silence, each and everyone of the Hanagumi members realised that they actually had been missing Oogami Ichirou very much, only that they had no time to talk to him at that time. He had been gone for a while now...Then Kouran broke the silence. "Na, minna, it's only 7 pm...Want to take Tokirou-chan for a test drive?" Everybody agreed, but Maria was reluctant. Kouran knew what was on her mind. "We'll just be gone for 15 minutes...Please?" she pleaded. Then, finally, she agreed.

The Hanagumi boarded the time machine. Kouran then asked where they wanted to go. Sumire wanted to go to Paris, and as she was the first to voice out where she wanted, she got what she wanted. There was a bit of protest from Kanna, but in the end it cleared up when Orihime noted they would be able to see Oogami for a short while.

"It's early autumn!" Iris exclaimed. Then everybody realised that they were in a middle of a street. Kouran asked Iris very politely to move the time machine, and the little girl obliged. They were in for a surprise when Iris teleported them to-

"Isn't this the headquarters of the Pari-Kagekidan?" Kouran asked, a little incredulously. "It's is!" Sumire shrieked. All of them entered the cabaret-looking Chattes Noires. Heads turned when the Hanagumi entered. "Tokyo Hanagumi?" Erica looked in disbelief. "Erica!" Sakura exclaimed. The Pari-Hanagumi had met the Tokyo-Hanagumi through the Kinematron. They stayed for a little while, then learnt Oogami was not in the theater at that time. Then Tokirou-chan started beeping loudly, which signalled the end of 10 minutes. Then a voice behind them said, "Ah...Sorry for intruding, but aren't you guys supposed to be in Tokyo, approximately 3 days ago?" And there stood Tsukigawa Hanae.

* * *

"Tsukigawa-san!" Maria was surprised to see Hanae there. "As I said, just call me Hanae," the raven haired girl said. Everybody scrutinised the girl carefully. So this is the last of the Tsukigawa clan...they all thought. Then Iris asked, "Hanae, which part of the Tsukigawa are you from?" The girl replied quietly, "Tsukigawa-shiro."

"!!!!"

"So you're a descendant of Tsukigawa Hiromatsu?"

"Yes." The tall girl replied with a smile. She was about 175 cm at the least. Leni then asked, "Hanae-san, how did you get here?" She smiled her mysterious smile again and said, equally mysteriously, "Maa...Kore wa himitsu desu." Then Kouran was thinking, We better get back soon... Hanae looked at her and said, "You're right, Kouran-san. Be off, you have a long night ahead...Don't worry, demons not included." Kouran looked at her in surprise. The rest of the Hanagumi were puzzled, as they didn't hear Kouran say anything. Did I say it out loud? Kouran wondered. Again, Hanae replied, "No, you didn't." Can she read minds? Kouran thought, startled. "Haha...Of course I can, Kouran-san." The Hanagumi were getting frustrated at the 'silent conversation'. Only Iris could sense something. "Ne...Iris isn't the only one hear who has psychic powers, Jan-Poru!" Then Tokirou-chan beeped loudly, and the Hanagumi made a mad scramble for the machine. They waved their hurried goodbyes to Erica and said they would contact her next time. Hanae did not follow them into the machine, but disappeared in a flash of pale blue light.

Back at the Hanagumi HQ

"Hanae-san!" Sakura exclaimed. "Hanae...?" "Aa...Minna, I have come to...Assist you!" Hanae said with a good-natured chuckle. Then she opened the thick envelope and took out all the rest of the information.

"The demon will come tomorrow. Happy reading, and if you have any questions, feel free to wake me up!" Hanae chirped and then, settling herself on a chair, she went to sleep.

"Nandesute?! There is so much to read!"

"Sumire-san is right de~su!"

"Ne, minna, ganbatte?" *This is said by the naturally hardworking Sakura*

"It's only a little bit...Come on, snake woman, don't be so picky."

"Bear with it, minna. No wonder Hanae said it was going to be a long night..." Maria sighed.

3 1/2 tiring hours later (a.k.a 35 pages later)...

"Why does the print have to be so small?!!!" Sumire complained. "*yawns* Sumire-san, ganbatte..." Sakura said sleepily, looking bleary-eyed herself. Iris was resting her head on Sakura's lap. It was only 10.30, and early sleepers of the Hanagumi could not bear it any longer. Then suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"Who are you looking for?" Orihime went to answer the door. Two young girls, dressed exactly alike, looked exactly alike and blinking at the same time, stood there. Orihime thought, Oh dear... I'm so tired that I'm seeing double! "Onee-chan, you're not seeing things. We are twins," one of the girls said. Orihime was so tired that she didn't even realise she was not speaking. She told the girls mentally, Who are you looking for? "We are looking for our Taichou." Come in then. "Thank you, Onee-chan!"

"Taichou! Wake up!!! Shinta wants you to get back now!!!" the twin who had done all the speaking earlier jumped about. Her twin was very quiet. Then finally she spoke. "Shinta-sama wants you back now, Taichou-sama." With that, Hanae sprang up. "Ne, Chiyone, you didn't have to shout so loud, you know," she said, ruffling the hyperactive girl's hair. Then she bent down and looked at the quieter girl. "Now, Komugi, did Shinta say anything about why I had to go back?" The younger twin shook her head. "Onee-chan," she asked, very quietly, addressing her sister, "do you know?" Chiyone shook her head violently. The Hanagumi watched in interest (those awake, that is) at the trio. Then finally Kanna exclaimed, "YAAY!!! FINISHED!!!" Hanae smiled, then her face grew serious and very quiet. Now, only Leni, Kouran, Maria and Kanna were awake. The rest had collapsed, snoring, on the floor. Those awake sensed something and Kanna, feeling curious, went over to ask Komugi.

Squatting down, she asked the little girl, "Ne, Komugi-chan, what is Hanae doing?" Komugi was very slow in her reply. After a few seconds of silence, she finally said, in almost a whisper, "She is sending a message to one of the Shingumi members to pass to Shinta-sama, our commander." "Why doesn't she send it directly to this Shinta-sama of yours?" Again, after a few seconds of silence, the little girl replied, "Shinta-sama does not have powers like we do." Kanna thought, Man, this is one weird kid... Before she knew it, Chiyone bounded beside her and protested, "My sister is not weird!" Then Hanae got up.

"How was it? Tell me, please?" Chiyone danced around her captain. "Ryuue says Shinta wants me back because..." "Because?" The Hanagumi also wanted to know the answer and were listening intently. "Because...The meatloaf got burnt." Needless to say, everyone facefaulted, even Komugi. Kouran was rolling on the floor, clutching at her sides, laughing like a mad woman. Maria was laughing too, only not as bad as Kouran. As for Leni and Kanna, Leni just stood there with her mouth hanging open, and Kanna was...Well, let's just say she was worse than Kouran. Chiyone was practically fuming. "I CAN'T believe Shinta sent BOTH of us here just to inform you that THE MEATLOAF WAS BURNT!!! Argh!" "Shinta-sama has his reasons." "I agree with Chiyone, Shinta is a WIMP. All he knows how to do is archery. More archery, and he'll become crazy. I don't care if he was my senpai in military training school, he is a WIMP!!! I wonder who will be blind to fall for him...Let's just wish her good luck and Happy New Year!" Hanae said angrily.

* * *

"Oh well, we'd better be going," Hanae said a few minutes later. She and the twins bowed politely. Then she suddenly said, "Oh yes, Maria-san. If you really want to know what the Shingumi is, just find us at the textile shop just beside the railway station. Goodbye, Maria-san!" And they left, in just a pale blue flash, and two light-orange flashes.

-TSUTZUKU-

Author's note: This was Takuko's idea, with a little bit of my adding in here and there. E-mail me if you don't understand anything so far, ne?