Pushing the Sky
!
{piano bar}
"It's never too late to learn to play the piano," Usagi's mother declared for the tenth time.
The blonde in the seat beside her said nothing, but sunk further into the crumb-littered seat. Piano. A shiver shuddered through her petite form and she clenched her hands in her pleated skirt and stared sulkily out the window. To Usagi Tsukino, piano represented a higher class world that she wanted nothing to do with. Well, that wasn't quite the truth. She very much wanted everything to do with it, but she had neither the connections nor the education required. And that was perfectly fine with her. She would continue being a superhero, grow up, marry Mamoru, have Chibiusa, become Queen, and live happily ever after. It was really quite simple, and Usagi was plenty content to let things go on the way they were.
Ikuko on the other hand had much different ideas, as Usagi had inadvertently discovered. She had walked in on her mother consulting her meddling granpa on who would suit Usagi best for an arranged marriage. When Ikuko had seen her blonde daughter standing in the doorway in slack-jawed horror, she had leapt to her feet and asked whether she wanted an older man so he would die sooner and leave her a rich widow, or whether she wanted a young, handsome man that would cherish her for a while and then jet to Hawaii and let her mess around by herself.
Usagi had no response besides her best reaction to situations such as those. She rolled her eyes back in her head and collapsed.
Apparently in her mother's world, fainting was equivalent to "yes of course" because here Usagi was, on her way to piano lessons. Her mother had also mentioned tutoring in Nerima, and maybe even an English boarding school. Not to disappoint her mother, but Usagi had no intentions of allowing herself to be carted away to an all girls' prison. The very notion offended everything that Usagi identified as "good" in the world.
The blonde had entertained several ideas of possibly refusing to go, but then quickly discarded them as being suicidal and stupid. So, unable to do anything but bow her head to her mother's plan, she allowed herself to be shepherded into their little car and driven to piano lessons, or even her doom as it may be.
She sighed heavily and glared out the window. Somehow she knew that it was Destiny's fault in some way or another. It was always Destiny's fault. A soft growl rumbled out of her, and her mother looked at her in surprise.
"Did you just say something?"
Usagi smiled innocently. "Nah, my stomach was just growling," she said with a laugh.
Her mother smiled back, and Usagi barely repressed a sigh of relief. Only God knew what her mother would do if she really found out that Usagi was completely and totally against the idea of piano lessons and everything it represented. Something of her thoughts must have showed in her face, because her mother heaved a little sigh.
"Listen Usa. I don't know what it is, exactly, that's going on in your life. I know there's a hell lot more than you're telling us. Don't think I'm oblivious either, honey. I stay up late at night sometimes, and I hear you talking, and a female responding. I hear your window slide open. I have my theories, but I'll keep them to myself. But Usagi, it seems to me like whatever is going on is dragging you down. My theory as a child was…… Well, my mother always told me to shove the goddamn sky away; it was in my way. I hope," she began, and then stopped dead when they reached the parking lot.
Curious at her mother's abrupt halt, the blonde glanced up to see her mother wearing the most undignified expression she had ever seen. Her eyes were bugged out, her jaw was hanging open in mid-sentence, and her face had gone a rather peculiar shade of pasty gray.
"Er…. Mom?"
Usagi got no reply. Well, this was new. It seemed like piano lessons brought many new things. Even more curious now, Usagi leaned forward in order to see what had made her mother react in such a way. All she saw was a man in glasses, two girls in Chinese dresses, a rather cute boy, a few more girls, a group of parents, and a few more kids.
Usagi assumed that it was the man in glasses that was making her mom have a fit, because he had the exact same expression on his face. It did, however, look much more terrible on the man's face than her mother's. Ikuko suddenly drew a shaky breath, making Usagi start in surprise.
"Well, come on Usa," she said tremblingly.
Ikuko pushed open the car door and stepped daintily out. Usagi thought for a second that everything was normal again, until the man came up to her with a rather large smile on his face.
"Hello, beautiful daughter of Ikuko! What's your name?"
Unnerved by this beaming man and his large white teeth, she edged around him and escaped to her mother's side. Ikuko stared at him, and then cleared her throat.
"Long time no see, Genma," she said quietly.
The man beamed. "Indeed! Who is this daughter of yours? And who is the lucky man?"
"For her or for me?" Ikuko asked wryly.
"Both," the man replied instantly.
Usagi felt a queer jolt in the pit of her stomach. This generally meant that something large and important was going to happen to her. The last time she had felt this everyone died and she became Cosmos completely by accident, although she was sure it was really some kind of giant cosmic plan to ruin her life—
The tension behind the adults' spoken words was practically visible. Ikuko knew this man—but how? A weak laugh came from her mother's direction.
"Come on now Genma, you know I swore not to sell my daughter like you were planning on doing. I married Kenji Tsukino. This is my daughter, Usagi. Usagi, this is Genma Saotome, an old friend of mine. Who are your friends?" she asked stiffly.
Usagi narrowed her eyes slightly. If her instincts were correct, Genma was more than just an old friend. Up close however, the small blonde really couldn't imagine why her mother would ever take up with such a…. round person.
She looked up in time to see the man adjust his glasses and draw himself up with dignity. "This is my, uh, daughter, Ranma. This is her friend, Shampoo. So, Miss Usagi, when's your birthday?"
The addressed blonde eyed him with distaste. She recognized that tone of voice. "I'll be turning sixteen in June, sir," she said sweetly.
His eyebrows shot up, and he laughed. "My God! Looking at you I thought you were at least twelve," he said, chuckling to himself.
Usagi's eyes narrowed dangerously. An idea began worming its' vile way into her mind. Her brain was very cautiously approaching it when she felt a draft on the back of her neck. Reacting purely by her experience as a Senshi, she jerked sideways and spun around.
She was met with large, dark blue eyes, widened by surprise. "You moved!" the girl exclaimed.
Usagi studied the girl for a second. Red hair, little braid. Small, pretty face. Very shapely. She felt her eyebrows drawing together in a frown, and made an effort to smooth them back out into a mask of pleasantness.
"Well, yeah. What were you doing back there?" she demanded.
The girl—Ranma, Usagi suddenly remembered—scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Well, I didn't think you looked like a fighter, so I wanted to see why you were here. Turns out you do have some fighter instincts, as weak as you look!"
Upon declaring this, the redhead burst out laughing. The girl's companion shot a dark look at the laughing girl and stepped up to Usagi, whose cheeks were growing very red. The other girl grabbed Usagi's arm.
"Forgive Ranma, she's no good with people. Always says the wrong thing, you know? She doesn't know better. Ranma's kind of like a man, you know?" the girl explained to Usagi, loud enough for Ranma to hear and become very quiet.
"Hey now Shampoo, you aren't still mad at me?" Ranma whined.
Shampoo gave Ranma a sour look. "Damn straight I'm still angry," she confirmed.
By now Usagi was seriously considering flinging herself at her mother's feet and begging to be taken away from the lunatics. Growing more panicky as Ranma's whines escalated and Shampoo's indignant, badly-said phrases grew louder to match Ranma's, Usagi's body hummed with tension. It did not help any when a girl with short, thin blonde hair walked into the room, arguing loudly with a larger boy over whether a certain math problem was correct or not. Following these two was a tidal wave of teens carrying instruments, adults waving books around wildly, and a horde of small children. Once this had passed safely into the building, Usagi turned around and was pleased to see that Ranma had been utterly trampled by the crowd. Shampoo was crouched beside him, sitting back on her heels. Her head was cocked to the side, and she was looking at the other girl with a sweet smile on her face.
The hair on the back of her neck rose again, freezing her in the middle of heaving a relieved sigh. This time whatever was behind her was advancing at a high speed and—
The blonde shrieked and threw herself to the ground, just missing the object that sailed over her head. There was a muffled squawk, and Usagi knew that Ranma had caught it right where she deserved it.
The redhead yanked the thing out of her mouth and threw it on the ground. "Why the hell did you duck, blondie? I would have caught it before letting it hit anyone else!" she shouted angrily.
Usagi paused in her mental workings and observed what was happening. Her nerves were shot. She had to learn piano. An annoyingly busty redhead was screeching at her. She had almost gotten trampled. She was in no mood to be nice.
"You got it where you deserved it," she said sweetly, smiling warmly at her.
"Why you--!" she began, but never got finish because a man slammed a thick-looking book down over her head.
"NEVER DROP THE SACRED PAGES!" he roared in the already pained Ranma's ear.
Ranma shook her head like a dog and then bared her teeth at the man. "Listen up, old man! Don't go around slamming people over the freaking head when they didn't do anything! YOU JUST DON'T DO THAT!"
Usagi had backed away to what she considered safety, which was behind Shampoo. From this position, she could observe this newcomer. He was a giant of a man, but was all legs and arms. He looked to be in his early forties maybe, and had wiry gray hair poking haphazardly out from under his white, old fashioned wig. He wore a ratty old suit, and large black dress shoes. Under his arm were two books similar to the one that he had thrown at her.
The man swooped down and grabbed the third book off the ground. He dusted it off carefully and then hit Ranma with it. "NEVER DROP THE SACRED PAGES! THAT IS YOUR FIRST LESSON," he boomed. "TREAT THESE PAGES AS IF THEY WERE THE CURE TO THE CURSED SPRINGS OR THE SILVER CRYSTAL! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"
Usagi felt like maybe someone had punched her in the stomach. Ranma and Shampoo both wore the same expression that the blonde was sure that she herself displayed.
"How--?" she gasped.
Ranma, apparently undamaged by the previous attacks to her head, slid into a fighting stance. "Okay, that's it! Who the hell ARE you, old man? And how do you know about--? And what's a silver crystal?"
The man gave him a contemptuous look. "Listen up, boy," he said with a sneer, "you two keep your secrets, and she'll keep hers. I'm sure as hell not going to tell any of you three one goddamn thing about the other. As for who I am, my name is Amadeus Hashenshwelsher. Blonde! Wipe that look off your face! Turn, and march your blonde head the hell inside! Shampoo, Ranma! Quit flirting and follow the blonde! BLONDE! I SAID TO MOVE!" he roared.
Usagi, feeling very much like she was in the middle of one of those boot camps, sprinted inside, shortly followed by the two other girls and their instructor. Amadeus locked the door behind him, pocketed the key, and then smiled cordially at them.
"Let's begin by giving each other our names. Our real ones," he added, with a pointed look at the traumatized blonde, "and other general information. You can start, little girl," he said with a gesture at Ranma.
The irate girl opened her mouth to say something offensive, no doubt, but was kneed sharply by a still smiling Shampoo. Ranma shot a look like a wounded puppy at the girl, and then folded her arms.
"The name's Ranma Saotome. I'm the heir to Saotome's School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. I've defeated more bad guys than I can count, and saved sooooo many people—"
"She's fifteen and has a big mouth. Ranma's here to beat another enemy," Shampoo interrupted. "I'm Shampoo of the Amazons. I'm here because I was asked by grandmother. Ranma's no good at doing things," she explained long-sufferingly, eyes cast to her feet.
"What?" Ranma demanded, leaping to her feet.
"SILENCE!" Amadeus roared, slamming his hand down on the piano.
The moment the notes reached Usagi's ears, it felt like her mind was being shaken into small bits. She clapped her hands over her ears, and focused completely on keeping her mind from exploding. After a few seconds the pain was gone, like it had never even been there. Usagi cautiously brought her hands down and looked up to see Ranma and Shampoo recovering from what Usagi thought was probably the same pain.
"What the heck did you do?" Usagi whispered almost nervously.
He shrugged. "Discord. When played in the style of martial arts pianoforte, a discord brings on momentary pain. It is a simple attack, but I suspect it will take you a while to learn even that. Usagi, you may go."
She blinked her large blue eyes. "Uhm, my name is Serenity Usagi Tsukino, and I'm fifteen. I—" she faltered, and then sighed. She couldn't tell them any of her accomplishments. "I—" she began, but then was jerked to a halt.
Amadeus looked up lazily. "Oh, I forgot to mention that you may not tell a lie while in this room. I've spelled it. Try again, Usagi. A useful skill for being successful is twisting the truth. Try it, now."
What kind of class was this? She was being encouraged to twist the truth? What a weird guy, she thought, giving him a strange look. "Okay. Here goes nothing. I've done some volunteer work that has really directed my life," she said delicately. "I clean up trash on the streets and make sure that everything is going well as it can. I'm here because, well, my mom wants me to marry well, and her idea is that this is a good start."
Shampoo blinked, and then smiled. "Volunteer work's good, right? I do that sometimes, but not often because Ranma is too lazy to do anything," she snorted, flicking her hair over her shoulder.
"Hey now--!" Ranma began indignantly, but was silenced by a glare from the teacher.
Once he was sure that he had everyone's attention, he smiled benevolently. "Alright. This may sound like a random question, but what kind of novels do you like?"
"I guess when I read, I like to read action stuff," Ranma muttered.
"Mysteries," Shampoo announced instantly.
Eyes turned to Usagi, and she felt like shrinking. No one had ever cared what she read. What kinds of stories did she like to hear about? The blonde sat still for a second, thinking, and then smiled.
"I like love stories," she said softly.
"Bah!" Ranma shouted instantly. "Love my foot! Just like a wimpy girl to like love stories!"
This time Usagi didn't feel like jumping up and meeting her challenge. So what if the girl didn't know? "Ranma, love is the most wonderful, destructive thing that has ever been created," she said as quietly as before.
A memory of Diamond came to her mind, and her heart was stabbed by a pain of regret… and envy? Such unconditional love. She had looked down on it, then. Feared it. Didn't treat it as it should have been. Love was what drove him to do all those terrible things to her daughter…..
Ranma narrowed her eyes at the other girl, and then looked away. "Hmph. Whatever. I still think you can do anything if you know how to use your fists!"
Amadeus chuckled, surprising all of them. "Well don't we have the motley crew! Ranma, I predict you will major in attack compositions. Attack compositions are pieces of music that can enhance a person's physical power, take power away, or even completely destroy a man. Shampoo, "Intellectual Compositions" will be your piece of cake, so to speak. Intellectual pieces again, enhance or destroy mental capabilities. Usagi, you will most likely be best in Emotional Compositions. They, as I'm sure you've guessed, alter the way a person feels. Those are three of the six forms. The six forms are Body, Mind, Heart, Soul, Creation, and Destruction. Let me tell you right now," he said intently, leaning forward.
"You will never learn the last two forms unless absolutely necessary. Form VI is, essentially, the forming of something new. Form VII is the destruction of what was. Do you understand?"
Usagi raised her hand timidly. "Um. You said that Ranma's form could destroy someone. How is her form different from the last one?"
A gentle smile creased his face. "My dear girl, forgive me. Form I can destroy a person's life. The final form destroys a soul, which is the greatest of all the sins. Use either of the last forms, and you will be subject to the will of whatever Powers That Be."
"Then," Usagi ventured, trying to figure it all out, "what is "Soul"?"
He grinned. "It's pretty much a useless form unless you're in battle. Using this form you can generally tell how corrupt someone is. Mind you, it does not tell how evil or how good one may be—only how corrupt. If a man used the fourth form on me, he would see a man whose soul has long since crumbled away into a pile of soot, lodged somewhere in my ancient prison of a body. But I am not evil. The darkest powers can be used for good, kids. Also, "Soul" is used to reach the gates of Heaven and Hell. Of course, this is only possible if you achieve the highest sectional in that form."
"Wait," Ranma burst in. "Sectionals? What the hell 're you saying, old man? That there are levels inside of those things?"
The man nodded his head. "Yes. Each form has a certain number of sectionals. For Body, there are seven. I'll not go into them now, because today I must be off. None of you three can leave this room until the allotted time has zeroed, however."
Feigning a mournful expression, he folded his tall frame in an awkward bow. "I bid you adieu, and hope you get to know each other without mishap."
Then before any of them could utter another syllable, he was bending through the door and slamming it behind him. The slam echoed wildly around the silent room for several seconds, and then gave up. Usagi tried not to shudder. She absolutely hated being placed in situations like this. They made her so uncomfortable. She crossed her ankles, folded her hands in her lap, and bowed her head. Wishing fervently that she could just fade away and become unnoticeable, she crossed her ankles opposite the previous way and gripped her skirt tightly.
She solemnly cast her eyes up to find (to her dismay) that her efforts were having the opposite of the desired effect. Shampoo and Ranma were both looking at her in worry. Her cheeks flamed, and she dropped her eyes. Maybe her way wasn't the best way….
Shampoo cleared her throat. "What, exactly, are you doing?"
Usagi's whole body seemed to sigh. "I'm trying," she said long-sufferingly, "to become unnoticeable. It's apparently not going very well for me," she added in an undertone.
"Haha! Dumb girl. Your hair is too big for you EVER to go unnoticed!" Ranma taunted.
Usagi's jaw dropped open in shock. Was it even possible for someone to be that—yes, it was! Mamoru had been that mean to her, and worse! When the heck had she even begun liking him? The answer came to her painfully fast: she had begun liking him when she had found out that their former incarnations had been lovers. But he was a jerk in this life! Like how she was a ditz! People changed! Was she letting her princess side influencing who she was?
Ranma and Shampoo watched curiously as Usagi's hands gripped the edges of her seat. Her face went paper white, and her mouth hung open in slack-jawed amazement, and her eyes stared wide at the wall behind Ranma's head. They both watched intently as her fingers uncurled, flexed, and then rested gently in her lap. Her face was still white, but color was returning at a rather alarming pace.
"Of all the stupid, ridiculous things," she began as she pushed off of her chair, "this is the worst!" she declared, sticking a fist high into the air. "I will suffer this injury no longer! In the name of True Love, Justice even for people like me, and the Truth of what they've told me all along, I WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS!"
Noticing that the busty redhead was hiding behind Shampoo's chair looking completely unnerved, Usagi paused, lowered her fist, and then brushed off her skirt.
"I've just had a life-altering revelation. Pardon me for the interruption," Usagi said absently, trying to work her new idea through the layers of mind-fuzz.
Shampoo stood instantly and waved her hand airily. "Don't even worry about it. I'm on the verge of having one myself, although I suspect my reaction to this epiphany will be more explosive than your own. Ignore Ranma. She has a tendency to be a little dramatic."
Ranma shot up indignantly, fists curled. "I am not dramatic! And what the hell is an epiphany? And why are you having one? And why the hell are girls so bouncy?"
Usagi and Shampoo gave the other girl a look of disdain. Ranma stared at them uncomprehendingly, looked down, and then frowned. "THAT'S NO EXCUSE!"
The two odangoed girls became very still. Shampoo caught it a half second before the easily-offended blonde did. "THAT'S NOT WHY WE'RE BOUNCY YOU PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A WOMAN!"
Caught up in the heat of the moment, Ranma forgot where she was and shrieked back immediately. "I'M NOT A GIRL!"
Usagi slapped her forehead. "This is so sad. We've got Usagi the Slow-Learning-Pushover, Shampoo-the-Explosive, and Ranma-the-One-With-an-Identity-Crisis. What a group," she said sarcastically. "Say, Shampoo, how do you guys know each other anyways?"
Shampoo shot a glare at Ranma, who was still scrambling for coherent sentences. "She tried to kill me. I chased her from China to Nerima, where I figured out her secret. Now I tolerate this particular side of her."
Usagi snorted. "I feel bad for you. Truly, I do. Having to put up with that on a regular basis—"
"SHUT UP YOU DUMB BLONDE! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! AND WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW ABOUT HAVING TO PUT UP WITH SOMEONE! I'LL BET COMPARED TO YOU, I'M EASY TO HANDLE!"
Usagi's cheeks flushed bright red. She was a basket case at the current moment, and in her present state there was no way she was going to burst into tears. The furious redhead suddenly became a gleaming target, and the compulsion to leap up in the air and attack the other girl was instantly so strong that her muscles were tensed for the action….
But then the door opened, and Ikuko stuck her head inside. "Usagi dear? Where are you? Oh, hello girls. Ranma, Shampoo, Tendo-san is outside waiting for you. Come on, dears!"
Usagi gratefully slid out of the room, an amused Shampoo right behind her. The brightness of the sunlight outside was almost blinding to her poor blue eyes. As a result, Usagi stumbled haphazardly towards the general direction of her mother's car.
When she got home she was going to need a bath. And aromatherapy. And something for the massive headache she could feel coming on.
But despite that…. There was a new feeling inside of her. A new drive. A new dream. As they drove home, Usagi gazed up at the blue sky. She was smart enough. She was pretty enough. She had what it took to accomplish whatever she wanted. And so…
"I'm going to rule the world," Usagi whispered to herself before focusing on her splitting headache.
And as far as she was concerned, that was that.
