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: I didn't know this chapter would be so long...Saa, Dozo~

Translation: Demo - But Daijoubu - It's all right Kuru - It's here Yamete - Stop it

Chapter 5 - A Stage in Time (PART 2)

7:09 a.m., 21 January, 1732, East of Asahi Mountain, Asahigawa, Hokkaido

"So what's the problem, Hana-chan?" Shinta asked. "The enemy...It's inside. And it is a curse!" Hanae exclaimed.

"How do you know?"

"Is a human behind it? Or is it a demon?"

"What's the purpose of him casting the curse?"

"Hey, relax, she can't answer so many questions at once," Kanna told them. Hanae started to tell them what she saw.

A few minutes later...

"I see, so the Koubu can't enter, na?" Kouran mused. Hanae and Kanna nodded. "And the evil aura is extremely high?" Maria questioned. Hanae and Kanna nodded again. "So what are we waiting for?" Shinta asked. "Demo, how do we get the Koubu in? It's extremely dangerous without the help of Koubu. You saw what happened at the last battle, even with the Koubu we could barely manage!" Sakura reminded in frustration. Hanae and Kanna nodded vigorously this time.

Rose started to mutter, "What do we do, what do we do? Let the Shingumi go in or we blast the hole or we just burn the whole mountain, no, that's impossible OR lure the demon out and end up getting cursed ourselves OH I just CAN'T imagine THAT-" "Rose, calm down, you're always like this when it comes to ideas. Don't think about it anymore," Hanae advised. "Hana-chan... Actually Rose is right. We COULD go in, and if anything crops up we can alarm the Hanagumi..." Shinta mused. Hanae frowned, hesitating. She had forwarded all that was going on to the Hanagumi HQ back in Tokyo. Then suddenly a message from Kaede 'hit' her.

"Minna! I've got it! Kaede-san just reminded me, we can TELEPORT!" Hanae laughed. Rose stopped muttering (finally) and said, "Why didn't I think of that?" Shinta then said, "But we should have some backup out here..."

Kanna said, "Kouran should be with us, in case the Koubu goes mad and causes an earthquake or something (*Kouran* "Koubu is very amiable!" *Kanna ignores her*) and Leni has to go in, she's can analyse things faster than us mortals (*Leni* "Kanna, for your information, I am not immortal...")...Sakura is a must, of course, she can kill off a few with one of her Haja 'stuff' (*Sakura* "Arigatou, Kanna!" *beams*) and of course Hanae (*Hanae* "Oh, I'm getting so proud!"), Rose I'm not too sure (*Rose* "Say that again and there WON'T be a Kirishima Kanna!"), but Maria ALWAYS does the backup so she should remain out here (*Maria* "It's fine by me, Kanna.")... Hanae?"

Hanae grinned wickedly, and immediately knew what Kanna was driving at. She cleared her throat and said, "Rose has to go in, her Sakibara Hansha Ryuu (Sakibara Reflecting Style) is FAR superior than most of the Shingumi (*Hanae* "Excluding me, of course, hehe!") so she just HAS to be there. But as for Shinta, I'm sad to say he's quite useless (*Shinta* "The truth HURTS, Hana-chan!" *Hanae ignores him and continues*) so he SHOULD stay here." "So...It's decided?" Sakura asked.

Hanae confirmed, "Shinta and Maria, any objections?" Maria and a blushing Shinta shook their heads. Maria noticed that Shinta's face was very red, and asked, "Are you all right? You don't look too well." Rose was examining her nails and Sakura was talking to Leni and Kouran, so nobody took notice of the wicked chuckle of Kanna and the evil laughter of Hanae... Except for a puzzled Russian and a blushing Japanese man.

* * *

7:27 a.m., 21 January, 1732, Inside Asahi Mountain, Asahigawa, Hokkaido

Hanae and Rose teleported the four Koubu into the part of the tunnel that was big enough for the Koubu to move in. Rose forgot about the repelling of the force and went up to the room, just to be 'swatted' back into the stone wall. "Ouch." She stood up. "That hurt." Then Kouran went over. Hanae reminded her not to get too near, but Kouran said, "There's the Koubu to protect us, na... Daijoubu! Yossha, let's move on!"

"Is that glass?" Leni asked Hanae. The girl muttered something in German, forgetting Leni could understand her. Leni's eyes widened and she said, "Hanae-san, that wasn't a very nice word..." Rose nodded in agreement. Sakura sighed and said, "So it's glass?" Hanae nodded, "Unfortunately." The room had glass walls and they could see the man practicing some dark art there. "Creepy," Kanna shivered. Everybody nodded affirmative.

After a minute of silence...

"*English* Oh what the heck, let's break the glass," Rose said impatiently. Hanae shook her head. "Not now... He knows we're here. And we can't go beyond the radius of about 4 metres... Since he makes no move, that means..." Rose read her Taichou's mind. "You think that there's something wrong with the glass? Well, read my mind!" Rose said a little sarcastically. Hanae's eyes widened. "Oh no! Minna, the enemy might be approaching! Kanna, break the glass, hurry! Kouran, please help her to break it, the rest of you prepare and...KURU!"

Rose attacked first. "Sakibara Kaze no Takeru (Howl of the Sakibara Wind)!" When Kouran heard it, she said, "No wonder it's called howl of the wind..." Rose caused a mini-hurricane and the 4 Toki no Akuma got blown into Hanae and Sakura's combined attack.

"Kaijin no Tsunami, Ouka Houshin (Tidal Wave of the Sea God, The Releasing of Cherry Blossoms *I'm not sure about 'Ouka Houshin', it's just a rough translation*)!" And the 4 demons said goodbye. Then the sound of shattering glass... (*Kanna* "Dammit my Koubu's gonna get spoilt!")

* * *

"So you're the mastermind...," Hanae faced the man. He was in his late 5os to early 60s, and had a demented look. He was muttering incoherently, "Kill the Tsukigawas...They made my family break up.... Kill them... Hahaha... Punishment...Retribution! Hahahaha!" Hanae was at the end of her tether, she gave the man a slap with all the strength she could muster (which was a LOT) and he flew across the room, slamming into the wall about 4 inches. Hanae was panting, and the man was unconscious.

"She's good!" Kanna exclaimed. Everybody (except Hanae) sweatdropped. "It's true!"

* * *

7:47 a.m., 21 January, 1732, Outside Asahi Mountain, Asahigawa, Hokkaido

"Did you hear that, Shinta?" Maria asked. Shinta frowned and nodded. "Could it be an earthquake?" he wondered out loud. "I don't think so..." The 'earthquake' was actually the result of Hanae's slap.

* * *

7:50 a.m., 21 January, 1732, Inside Asahi Mountain, Asahigawa, Hokkaido

"Oi! Wake up!" Kanna prodded the man. He got up and asked, "Who are you people and what do you want?" Hanae said coldly, "I am a member of the Tsukigawa clan. It's not our fault if the demon comes and destroys everyone!"

"My family suffered because of your selfishness! They were killed because the demon ate them up, and you couldn't do anything! These babies, my babies, are the fruit of the Kanehara clan's hundred-year-old spirit summoning research... These 'Shichi-sei Ka' (Seven-Star Fragrance) are the spirits of our lamented ancestors!"

"They do not deserve such a nice name, ya?" Kouran stated.

"Evil beings definitely do not belong in this world... Do you know how much harm you have caused? Do you know? You have caused the country great distress as you have made the monster hunt down all members of the Tsukigawa through time and space! We fled from Hokkaido to everywhere in the world...Even from the northern most Kuril Islands to the brink of Okinawa and the islands in the south! Not only did the monster destroy us, it destroyed many other families as well! 20 years from now, the Tokimiya family was totally wiped out because your monster, your creation, had to feed on human bodies to survive. I do not know why this characteristic stopped when the 143rd generation of Tsukigawa's were killed and the demons ate fowl. We still managed to survive. Now, I'm in the 452nd generation. And it may well be the last of the Tsukigawas. If we could survive until now, why can't you? Why don't you carry on the family line instead of wasting your time here, summoning stupid spirits and causing the deaths of so many people? Tell me!" Hanae was crying, and she had accidentally clutched the blade of her sword and her hand was bleeding. The man looked demented, and was laughing uncontrollably.

"Stop it!" Leni burst out. Everybody stared. Leni looked angry. "Lift. The. Curse. Just LIFT it." Hanae added with a quiet rage, "And she's not begging you." Then she was interrupted by Rose. "Matte! Is it possible to lift it just to the year Taichou's parents and immediate family got killed? Which was...1909," Rose stated. "*English* Can you stop laughing and lift it? Or," Rose decided to choose a different approach, "can you lift it at all?" Everybody sweatdropped. "Um, Rose? He can't understand you," Kouran said, sweatdropping. Rose put on her trademark I'm-actually-embarrassed-but-I-pretend-I'm-not look and said, "Oh. Right." Then she said it in Japanese.

The man was actually crying. Hanae had actually talked some sense into him. "You're right...I'm a bastard. I don't deserve to live on earth at all!" He took a knife and wanted to kill himself. Rose stopped him. "Yamete! If you want to die, you're welcome. But lift the curse first! And hurry up, don't think you're the last of the Okane (okane = money) clan you can let everybody wait for you!" Everybody sweatdropped again. This time, it was Sakura who reminded Rose. "Rose-san, it's Kanehara, not Okane," Sakura giggled despite the situation. Rose pretended not to care and brushed it off with a light "Whatever" and proceeded to reprimand the repentant man even more.

"...Besides, what can you do after you die, what's the use of putting a curse on the Tsukigawas? If one of your descendants, IF you have ANY for that matter, marries a Tsukigawa, won't that be disastrous? And-" "AND that's quite enough, Rose. Thank you," Hanae interrupted. The man nodded slowly. "I'll do it."

Everybody cheered, and the room was filled with smiling faces...

* * *

8:10 a.m., 21 January, 1732, Outside Asahi Mountain, Asahigawa, Hokkaido

"Saa, minna! We'll go home now!" Hanae said cheerfully. Shinta nodded, and he, Rose and Hanae disappeared in flashes of blue and red lights. The Hanagumi started boarding Tokirou-chan. The Kanehara stood from afar, waving to them, tears running down his face. He would never forget the lecture he got from Hanae.

And, finally, the 2 week long battle was over.

* * *

9:00 p.m., August 16 1926, Daiteikoku Gekijou, Hanagumi HQ

"What a long day..." Sakura moaned, massaging her back. She sat down on her bed. Thank you, Otou-sama, for preserving me in times of peril, the girl thought, remembering her back's encounter with the demon's claws. Then she felt like going to the terrace.

There's somebody here already..., Sakura thought, as she heard voices. As she approached, she found out that the voices belonged to Hanae and Kanna. Strange...I thought the Shingumi left after dinner? She was rather embarrassed when she found out what they were talking about.

"Okay, so in a nutshell, Shinta likes Maria, but he still hasn't told her, according to my observations. How's it at your side?"

"Maria hasn't shown any signs of infatuation, REALLY liking him or anything of that genre so far."

"It's so hard to play matchmaker!"

"Agreed. Especially if one party doesn't really show any signs for the other except for liking him as a friend."

Then Sakura burped.

Oh no! That was rude...And I think they heard it!

Hanae and Kanna loomed in front of the girl. "You heard it?" Hanae said, raising an eyebrow and tapping her foot.

"Yes."

Suddenly Kanna and Hanae said enthusiastically, not daring to shout because most of the theatre was asleep, "Saa! Welcome to the Matchmaking Club, where dreams come true!" Sakura sweatdropped.

Unfortunately for them, another Hanagumi member was on her way to the terrace and just HAPPENED to hear everything...

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Sakura: Sumimasen!

Kanna: Daijoubu yo!

Hanae: Relax, ne...Who's that?

*The Fourth Person*: Ohohohohoho! *I'm sure you know who it is now* Thank your lucky stars that I'm not Yuri! She'll spread this out in no time!

*Yuri sneezes, in her room* Yuri: *sleepy voice* Which idiot is talking about me behind my back...

Sakura: *in a giggly sort of voice* JIKAI! CONFESSION AND DEPRESSION! What will Shinta-san tell Maria-san? Nani?! I'm a member of the Matchmaking Club? Ne, I shouldn't have burped...

*Author's note: Well, it gets more light hearted from here! Hehehe... I wonder what will Shinta say...You've gotta ask my imagination, ne?