Chapter Three: Encounter of the Third Kind? Enter the Senshi
Indeed, Juuban High School was such a distinct object in Juuban skyscape that even Ryoga would have found it hard to get lost on his way there. As it was, Ranma walked through the front gates of school. He had deliberately taken his time walking through the district, and knew he wouldn't make it for the first lesson. "Can I help you?" The secretary at the school counselor's office asked. "Yeah, I just moved here, and I'd like to enroll for classes." The secretary nodded. "And your name?"
Ranma hesitated for a moment. He couldn't use his real name. Come on, Saotome, think. It can't be that hard to come up with a fake name! "Err, my name's Satori Ryoga, yeah, Satori Ryoga." He dished out the first name that came to mind. Inwardly, he cringed. Great…Why'd I have to think about Ryoga nowThe secretary nodded and went to announce him to the counselor. It was only a moment before the secretary came out and nodded at him. "You can come in now. Meiou-sensei is waiting for you." Ranma's eyebrow went up. "Meiou-sensei?" What's Ryoko doing here?
The martial artist nodded his thanks and entered the office. And stopped dead in his tracks. Before him sat one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. He quickly shook it off and took the seat she offered him. Her expression seemed only slightly amused, as if she got this kind of reaction a lot. "My name is Meiou Setsuna, I'm the counselor here," she told him. "So, Satori-san, you are planning to enroll in Juuban High?" Ranma nodded. "Where are you transferring from? Did you bring any of your old papers?" The young martial artist started fumbling around in his backpack. "Hang on a sec," he told her as he looked for his old transcripts. "Ah." He pulled out several crumpled sheeths of paper and smoothed them out on her desk. Ask she leaned back to study them, Ranma took his first real look at the woman in front of him.
She looked somehow familiar. Her hair was an odd dark green, and left Ranma to wonder whether it was her natural hair color or not. She was quite tall, about an inch or so taller than Ranma, and had dark skin, by eastern standards. What caught him most about her was her dark, burning red eyes. Even while not active trying to read her aura, he could feel her powerful presence. He snapped out of his observation of her when she laid down the papers and looked at him. "All right, err, you do realize those grades are from grad school? Don't you have anything more recent?" Ranma shook his head. "Not with me."
"Well, all right. I'll assign you to a junior class then." She stood up, prompting Ranma to do the same, and walked out of the office. "Hikari-san, would you please walk over Satori-san here over to the junior C class and inform their instructor?" The secretary nodded and smiled at Ranma, beckoning him to follow her.
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The door to the classroom opened, and Hikari walked in, pulling the teacher aside. Moments later, he nodded and she left the room again. "Class, I know it's three weeks into the semester, but we have a new student joining us today. He just moved to Juuban, so please give a warm welcome to Satori Ryoga!" The door opened again and Ranma stepped through. He stood in front of the class sheepishly, then took the seat the teacher assigned him. Right in front of a bunch of girls, he noted. He also noticed that they were appreciatively looking him up and down. More appreciatively than he actually felt comfortable with, and he cursed himself for not thinking of applying in his cursed form – it would make dealing with girls much easier, and cold water was easier to come by than warm water.
Minako's eyes widened as she took in the boy who entered the class. Her eyes immediately took on heart shapes as her imagination went into overdrive. Makoto, who was sitting on her left, didn't help, as she was literally drooling over the new arrival. Ami sighed from behind them and started prodding the two girls to wake them from their stupor. Usagi didn't notice. She was still sound asleep.
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When the bell for lunch break rang, Ranma took his usual shortcut out the window of the classroom. He heard the surprised gasps from behind him as the students looked at the drop of the apparently suicidal boy. With a glance downwards, Ranma realized that he wasn't on the third floor anymore, as had been the case in Furinkan. Instead, he was on the fifth floor. Ranma shrugged. Not a problem. He slightly adjusted his flight path, added a flip for show, and landed softly as ever. Judging from the clapping and whistling above, there weren't too many decent martial artists around here. Then he realized, if there weren't, then he'd be drawing unwanted attention to himself by pulling stunts like these. Aww, jeeze. Gotta cut the martial arts.
As he headed over to sit under a lone tree, he noticed a group of girls heading his way. He recognized them as the girls sitting behind him in class, and groaned. With my luck, Oyaji probably engaged me to some more girls over here… Ranma thought dryly. He quickly took in a blonde with her hair worn long and tied with a ribbon at the small of her back leading – or rather, dragging – the rest of them along. His gaze wandered over the rest of the odd group of girls. A tall brunette, a cute blue-haired girl with a pageboy cut, and another blonde with an odd hairstyle. She actually wore her long hair in two buns and ponytails. Ranma shrugged. Whatever floats your boat, I guess.
When they reached him, he glanced up from the lunch he had purchased. "Can I do anything for you?" He asked.
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Minako almost swooned as she heard him address her. All right, maybe she wasn't about to swoon, but her mind went into overdrive again. So did Makoto's. Usagi just plain looked confused. "Err…who is that?" she asked. Ami sighed and nudged the blonde. "He is the new student in our class. I think you were asleep while he was introduced," she sighed. Before any of them could say anything, Minako had started talking to the new boy. "HimynameisAinoMinakopleasedtomeetyouIheardyou'renewherewantmetoshowyouaround?" As the boy shot her an odd look, like the look you'd direct at people who were geeking, Usagi broke out into giggles, and even Ami smiled. Minako was pretty unintelligible when she was in this mode. "She said, 'Hi, my name's Aino Minako, pleased to meet you, I heard you're new here, would you like me to show you around?'" Ami translated for the puzzled boy.
"Ah," he replied, still not fully looking up from his lunch. When he was done a second later, he stood. "Name's Satori Ryoga. Nice to meet ya. You're all in my class, aren't you?" Contrary to popular belief, Ranma did have manners – he just didn't show them too often. His gaze wandered over all of them. Minako, by this time, was reduced to a babbling mess, with Makoto a close second. Ranma shot them a concerned look. "Something wrong with those two?" The other two girls just shook their heads, and he could see they were trying to hold back laughter. The bell rang, and Ranma took that as his cue to leave. "Well, see you later. Been nice meeting you." Weird girls, he thought as he walked away to the gym.
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Gym class added a new element of wonder for the population of Juuban High. One Saotome Ranma – now Satori Ryoga – leaping, twisting, and bouncing in the air, generally amazing the other people assembled in the gym, including the instructor. Despite his earlier vow to keep his martial arts training strictly under seal, Ranma couldn't see the harm in excelling in the excercises. And showing off just a tiny little bit while at it. The instructor then announced that their new martial arts instructor had finally arrived, and the announcement was met with one of two reactions from each student: exasperation, or desperation. Half of the student population felt this was going to be suicide, while the other half thought this was going to be fun. Makoto was one extreme. She was hopping up and down in glee, dying to learn more kickass martial arts. Ami just shook her head at her friend, and Ranma shot an amused look at the girl who was acting more like a five-year old than the young woman she usually was.
When the instructor finally walked in, Ranma's eyes bugged out. It was Ryoko. He was wearing a simple dark crimson gi, and strode into the middle of the gym. He shot one look at Ranma, smiled and nodded, and turned his attention back to the class as he started his lesson. Ranma tuned him out for the most part, because Ryoko was starting with what could be considered basic stuff – stances, punches, breathing excercises. While he did do the excercises, he didn't need to listen to the other man to know what to do. He did pay attention, though, when he caught Ryoko's eye. Motioning for him to join him in the center of the floor, Ryoko gave a small smile. "Would you please step up and assist me?"
Ranma headed up to the front of the class. He was idly wondering what Ryoko was planning, and he received a quick answer when his host took up a position across from him. "Would you be inclined to help me in a little demonstration?" Ryoko's eyes glinted. "Are you challenging me, Meiou-sensei?" Ranma shot back, smiling as well, the same glint in his eyes. "I am." The two bowed to each other. Ryoko moved into a defensive stance, while Ranma moved into an offensive one. Both started seizing each other up. The room had gotten deathly quiet as no one knew what to expect.
Ranma glanced at Ryoko. He bore the stance of a seasoned fighter, and Ranma had seen him practice, and he knew he was good. The fact that he had entered a defensive stance indicated he wanted Ranma to give it his best shot, and show their students what their Art was capable of. Ranma smiled. He was in for the fight of his life. He launched himself at this sparring partner, starting with a high kick, followed by a low sweep and a flurry of punches. Ryoko dodged them all, then blocked a punch and slammed a rather powerful blow into Ranma's solar plexus. Or what was supposed to be powerful. Ryoko's fist barely touched Ranma before withdrawing, and they both fell back into their stances. Both were wearing small smiles.
"Not bad." Ranma grinned. "You don't know half of it." With that, Ranma launched himself into the air, and aimed a flying kick at Ryoko's head. His target cocked his head to the side, caught Ranma's leg in an Aikido grip, and was about to throw him when Ranma threw his balance forward, breaking loose of Ryoko's grip and feather-lightly touching the back of his opponent's head with the heel of his foot. Both opponents leaped into the air now, becoming a blur of motion as they unleashed blows at near-Amaguri-Ken speeds. The rest of the people in the gym gaped, and Makoto was seriously drooling about this demonstration of martial arts prowess. Minako was drooling as well, but for entirely different reasons.
When they both landed, both combatants took stock of their situation. Neither had managed to touch the other during their aerial fight. Both were still smiling. "Ready for some more advanced techniques, sensei?" He asked in a light tone. He didn't mock Ryoko for one very good reason – his growing respect for the other's martial arts prowess. So far, he had been one of the few people to be able to match his aerial kata, and there was no denying he was good. "Ready when you are," Ryoko replied with the same light tone and smile.
Ranma threw a snap-kick at Ryoko, then shouted, "Kachuu Tenshin Amaguri-Ken!" Ryoko's smile never wavered as he calmly replied, "Munashii Raishuu," his hands moving in front of his body, palms flat and facing Ranma. Said pig-tailed youth began unloading punches for a good twenty second before retreating. Oddly enough, he hadn't felt a single one connecting. His eyes had seen and counted every single one of his punches, and Ryoko never made a move to block them. Either Ryoko hadn't blocked, or his Munashii Raishuu had enabled him to move faster than even Ranma could see. Both moved apart again. Both hadn't broken a sweat yet, still, Ryoko bowed to him and motioned him that they were done. "Thank you,." He turned back to the class. "So, who wants to learn how to do that?"
A uniform roar thundered through the gym as every single student shouted an affirmative. Ryoko winked at Ranma. The pig-tailed martial artist shook his head, grinning, and whispered as he passed Ryoko. "You're sneaky, ya know that? And I go by Satori Ryoga here." He missed Ryoko's reply. Had he heard it, he would have heard his host say, "I think I got that from my sister."
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Ryoko walked down the street, his glance occassionally flickering over to his companion. The young woman who was walking next to him had long flowing dark green hair and the same piercing red eyes. She also carried the same last name. "So, what did you think of 'Ryoga'?" Ryoko asked her. Setsuna shrugged. "Well, he seems to be a nice person. And there's less trouble than I expected – besides, I was hoping you could tell me more about him, considering he's staying at your house…" she noted with a smirk. Her brother groaned. "Ya know sis, if I didn't know better, I'd say the guardian of the time gate is slowly falling for Saotome Ranma's unearthly charms," he teased, which earned him a playful punch from the emerald-haired beauty next to him. "Ooh! I'll get you for that!"
Ryoko laughed. "If you can touch me. Catch me if you can!" With that, he leaped up into the air and up a nearby roof. He started running and leaping. Setsuna, on the other hand, calmly pulled out an intricately decorated pen and shot an evil smile in the direction her brother had taken off in.
Roughly five minutes later, Ryoko jumped down from the roof of the apartment Setsuna shared with Te'nou Haruka, one Kaiou Michiru, and Tomoe Hotaru. The inhabitants of the apartment only gave him an amused look. Ryoko allowed himself a small smile – that is, until he heard a foot tapping the ground. With an arched eyebrow, he turned to see his sister stand in the doorway holding a stopwatch. When she had found time to change and get the watch, he didn't know, but she told him, "Four minutes, twenty-seven seconds. Seventeen seconds faster than last time," with a grin. I'll have to get her to teach me that teleportation trick of hers one day…Ryoko thought.
"I'm getting there," Ryoko noted with a smirk, before turning sober. "Did you look into Ranma's past yet?" When his sister shook her head, he beckoned her to come closer. Setsuna leaned in, and he whispered, "Don't. Not without asking him first. If only half of what he's told me about his past is true, then I really don't want him to be found. Not before he recovered." The green-haired woman arched an eyebrow. "It's that bad? I was wondering why you called me this morning and asked to enroll a complete stranger under whatever name he'd give me. Not to mention falsify his records to keep anyone from finding him." "He has his reasons. And trust me, Setsuna. They are good reasons." He considered for a moment to tell her more, but then decided otherwise. It wasn't his place to tell her. "You're not going to tell me what this is all about, are you?" Setsuna sighed. "Ask him, if you really want to know. Then you can check the time gates."
"So, who is he? It's not everyday you pick a boy off the street and have me alter records to enroll him." Turning his head around to look down the street, Ryoko grimaced. "He's a world-class martial artist. With more fiancees than you can count, and even more people after him to challenge him." Setsuna shuddered. "It's that bad?" She didn't like the wry grimace her brother gave her. "It's worse." He turned around and stepped away from the door, his face lighting up again in a smile – which didn't fool Setsuna, of course. "I will ask him, then." Ryoko nodded his thanks.
"Well, Ryoko, see you tomorrow. Keep out of trouble, all right?" Setsuna smiled slightly. Her brother nodded. "Anything you want me to tell your boyfriend?" Ryoko shot back, grinning. Behind his sister he could see the other occupants of the house erupt into motion as they tried to hear more about the local "Ice Queen's" boyfriend. Setsuna, for her part, gasped and tried to smack Ryoko, who was already two blocks down the road, waving behind him.
When he was out of sight, she sighed. The senshi of time was internally debating whether to just check up on one Saotome Ranma right now, via the time gates. However, something in the words of her brother held her back. She didn't like not knowing all the facts, and she didn't like a wild card like Ranma. But then again, she had the unusually bad feeling that it wouldn't do her very good to watch his life if she didn't even know where to start. His entire life couldn't have been one big struggle like Ryoko had said. Right?
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"Nothing? No weird appeareances, no mass destruction? What do you mean, 'not beyond the normal levels'? Oh right, it is Juuban after all. Well, try somewhere else! Try Nekomi!" Nabiki continued to listen to the phone for a while, then sighed. This was getting pointless. For three days she had been trying to figure out where Ranma was, and she hadn't found a single trace. Nothing. Nada. Zero.
And that pissed her off immensely. If there was anything Tendo Nabiki prided herself of, then it was the fact that she eventually found out every secret. Unfortunately, this time the emphasis seemed to be on the word "eventually." So far, Ranma had eluded her grasp, and she didn't like it. As much as she could understand the young martial artist's reasons for running away, she very much wanted him back. He was too much of an asset to just let go like that. At least, that was what she told everyone else. Despite whatever act she put up for everyone else, she liked the pig-tailed martial artist. He'd become family for her. The guy tends to grow on you…she mused. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door.
"Come in," she said, without a doubt about who it would be. "Tendo-san, please excuse our intrusion into your home, but we must speak with you on important business. It concerns son-in-law." Nabiki didn't even turn at the sound of Cologne's voice. Heh. They are fast. I just got out of school and they're already here. "Let me guess…you've come to ask me where he is." It wasn't a question. "Mercenary girl know where Airen is, tell Shampoo now!" A new, rather shrill voice cut in.
"No."
"What?" Cologne looked startled. Nabiki had finally turned around. "I said, no. What part didn't you understand?" Cologne gave her a puzzled look. "I didn't understand why you would deny us the knowledge of our rightful claim?" Nabiki sighed. "Two reasons. First, I have absolutely no clue as to where he is myself. He just left, and didn't tell anyone where he'd go. Heck, I don't think even he had an idea of where to go. And don't think I haven't tried to find him. It looks like I have underestimated him…" Nabiki trailed off, then returned her gaze to the two amazons before her. "And second, even if I knew where he was, I wouldn't tell you. You know why? Because he deserves better than Shampoo."
"Oh, like your sister, you mean?" Cologne asked mockingly. She was honestly surprised when Nabiki nodded. "Yes, like my sister. I am not talking about Akane, though. I don't like saying it, but, to put it blunt, I do believe Akane is the worst of his fiancees. No, I wasn't talking about Akane. I was talking about Kasumi. She and Ranma have been getting closer ever since the…wedding incident." Nabiki smartly avoided mentioning that it was her who had arranged for the wedding to be ruined. Of course, it had all been in Ranma's and Akane's "best interest," or so she thought. "You should have seen her. He's been helping her with the household, and she smiles. He talks to her, and she laughs. I mean, she honestly laughs out loud. She hasn't done that since our mother died. And he leaves…she is broken." Nabiki shot Cologne and icy glare. "And despite what you may think of me, I look out for my family."
Cologne and Shampoo had been silent. After a while, the younger amazon opened her mouth. "Tell Shampoo where Airen is!" She wailed. Nabiki shook her head. "I won't, and especially not to you. I know he considers you a friend – and not more. You, on the other hand, consider him an object, a prize to be won. You never thought about his feelings, didn't you? You were so blinded by your own little enterprise of winning him that you never saw what he was trying to tell you. So…as a friend…I ask you to give him this time alone. He needs it. And more than anything, he needs friends right now, not fiancees who go after him yelling and screaming. No, Elder Cologne, I'm sorry, but I can't help you." With that, Nabiki slipped into the tone of voice that had built her reputation as the "Ice Queen," and turned around, signalling that the conversation was at an end.
When they had gone, Nabiki was awed at herself. "What the hell just happened? Sheesh, I musta hung around Saotome too often – I'm spouting more gibberish than he is." She sighed and allowed herself a wry smile. As long as I don't end up talking poetry like Kuno. The "Ice Queen" allowed herself a small chuckle, then resumed her task of locating the wayward martial artist. There just had to be an easier way then to ask everyone she saw if they had seen a pig-tailed martial artist in a red Chinese shirt and black pants. This was going to be a long day.
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That evening found Ranma leaning back on the couch as he flipped through the TV channels. Ryoko had told him he had a late shift at the local hospital, and Ranma was bored. He had started thinking, first about that counselor of his, and why she seemed familiar. The answer had come rather quickly, she bore a striking resemblance to Ryoko. Their last names were the same, too, and Ranma deducted that they had to be siblings – he'd have to ask either of them sometime. The other thing he was thinking about, but couldn't figure out, was Ryoko's Munashii Raishuu-technique that had allowed him to block the 300-something punches Ranma had thrown. Finally, he gave up on that train of thought, seeing that he had no data to analyse.
So, here he was, watching TV. Or trying to. Mentally complaining about the quality of the Juuban TV program, the pig-tailed martial artist kept going through the channels. Soap opera. Court show. TV ads. Another soap. News about the ozone layer. More soap operas. News about the stock markets. A terribly bad action movie – Ranma shuddered when he saw how the directors and choreographers had slaughtered the martial arts scenes. News about a fight in Juuban.
Wait a second. What was that about a fight here? Ranma quickly changed channels and was glued to the screen, as a news channel showed excerpts from a battle. As if to underline the fact that it was live footage, Ranma's ears picked up the sound of an explosion a little in the distance. From the direction, he assumed it was somewhere in the park. The TV showed his suspicion was correct. The reporter said something about a youma and the "Sailor Senshi," although Ranma was left puzzled about the terms until the camera swung around to show the battle. The boy's jaw dropped to the floor as he took in the scene the camera showed him. There were a bunch of girls in school girl fukus, with very short skirts throwing energy blasts at something. When Ranma closed his jaw, he saw something he felt quite familiar with. A big, ugly…something that was the target of the girls – who he presumed to be the "Sailor Senshi" the reporter had talked about. Magical girls in shorter-than-decent skirts, indeed, Ranma thought. Man, this is Happosai's wildest dream come true.
The youma more closely resembled an overflowing trashcan than anything else, and Ranma smirked. "Finally. Looks like I'll be getting some fun here…" Now, he didn't know what to make of those "Senshi," and made a mental note to ask Ryoko about them, but he knew very well how to deal with monsters and demons. Ranma cracked his knuckles. Suddenly his stay in Juuban had become a whole lot more interesting.
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Ryoko arched an eyebrow at the question. He swallowed and glanced across the breakfast table at the young martial artist sitting across from him. "The Sailor Senshi?" Ranma nodded. "Yeah. They were on TV yesterday. Something about a monster attack." Ryoko's eyebrow rose even further. Shoot. And I was stuck in the hospital. But we didn't get any emergency patients, so I don't think it harmed anyone. "Hm…I think about three years ago the first youma and oni started showing up around here.They were pretty much your typical monsters. Big, ugly, dumb as hell. Unfortunately, nearly bulletproof as well, so the police couldn't really do anything about that. That was when the first Senshi showed up. Sailor V – or Sailor Venus – started out in England, then moved over here. They slowly started gathering a group, each Senshi being associated with and drawing her power from a planet in the solar system."
Ranma groaned. "Let me guess. They are magical girls that rain some divinely magical justice on these youma's heads ever since then. And so far there've been several attempts to invade Tokyo, take over the world, or destroy the world, right?" Ryoko smiled slightly. "That's a little exaggerated, but essentially correct. They've been fighting these youma ever since, since their magical attacks have proven quite effective." Ranma groaned once more. Great. More magic. Is it ever going to leave me alone? "Something wrong, Ranma?" Ryoko asked. "Nothing, nothing. Just had bad experience with magic. And lots of it."
"Well, the worst thing is, sometimes the youma are human. Some people who are easily corrupted can be turned by youma and transformed into…others." Ryoko's voice hardened. "They know no fear, no regret, no remorse. They aren't human anymore, and they kill with reckless abandon. If you ever meet one, I personally say kill it." Ranma shied back reflexively from the pure hatred that burned in his host's eyes. "The Senshi, however, have consistently managed to save those individuals."
"So, how tough are these youma?" Ranma said, changing the topic. "Depends. There have been extremely weak ones all the way to exceptionally strong and powerful ones. Some have given the Senshi serious trouble before, and I'm pretty sure there's more of them out there." Ranma nodded and stood up, placing his bowl and chopsticks in the sink. "I'm going to school, then." He turned around and started walking out of the door, when Ryoko called out.
"Ranma."
The pig-tailed martial artist turned around. "Be careful. Some youma might not look like much, but the Senshi are incredibly powerful. You don't have any enemies here, and as long as you stay in my house, none of your old rivals will cause you trouble. But…try to keep out of Senshi business. It has a tendency to get…ugly."
Ranma nodded at Ryoko's odd words, then left for school.
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To say Saotome Ranma was bored was an understatement. Ryoko had another shift in the hospital, so the girls he had met earlier had invited him to their study group. They had introduced themselves – some more coherently than others – and marched their way across the school yard to sit in the shade. So, he was left with the group of girls that had come to visit him on his first day. Come to think of it, they've been hanging around me every day…I wonder what's up with them? Not giving it a second thought, the pig-tailed martial artist turned back to listening to the story Makoto was trying to tell. Out of the corner of his eye, Ranma observed the other's reaction. Usagi was already deep alseep, leaning against Minako. Minako seemed to be staring at him, Makoto was staring into nowhere, and Ami was working on her homework assignment, throwing in an occasional comment if Makoto's story wasn't accurate enough for her taste.
A shadow fell across Ranma, and he looked up to see Setsuna standing over him. The school counselor had a slightly amused look on her face – probably due to the fact that Ranma's eyelids were drooping. Makoto didn't exactly made a good storyteller. "Satori-san, can I speak to you for a moment?" Ranma got up, grateful for the momentary respite from Makoto's droning voice. "Of course, Meiou-sensei."
As the tall, green-haired woman led him away, Ranma started to talk. "Uh…would you mind if I ask you a question?" He smiled internally as he noticed his manners had become somewhat more polished over the last couple of days. "Of course, Satori-san." Ranma tried to pry into his memories and recall what he was going to ask her. "Oh, right. I sorta noticed you and Ryoko had the same last name…"
Setsuna chuckled. "That's because he's my brother. We live in different houses, that's all. So, Ranma, tell me, how'd you end up in Juuban?" She heard a crash behind her and turned, giggling at what she saw. Ranma's jaw hit the ground – literally. "How do you know my real name?" Setsuna got her laughter under control with a chuckle, then held a piece of paper towards the martial artist. "One, it's kind of obvious, if it's on the transcripts you gave me. Second, my brother has been telling me about his visitor, since I had to tell him about your alias. I assume you do not wish to be found by your old suitors back in Nerima?" Ranma smacked himself on the forehead. Of all the hare-brained ideas…How could I forget my transcripts have my real name on them! Kami-sama…I'm screwed. Nabiki's gonna find me, and then…all hell's gonna break loose. Again. "Don't worry, Ranma. I altered the school records accordingly. You don't have to worry about being found here, I assure you."
Letting out a sigh of relief, Ranma flopped onto the bench that was conveniently right behind him and nodded. "Thank you, Sensei." The woman smiled. "Thank my brother. He was the one who told me to do it." Then, Setsuna sat down next to him. "So tell me, why'd you register under a false name?" She had to admit, Ranma had roused her curiosity. The fact that he was an excellent martial artist – as she had found out after doing some research and asking Haruka and Makoto – and that he seemed to be involved in almost any illogical, stupid, blatantly over-exaggerated tale in Nerima district seemed a little much for a boy this young. The boy sighed once more and told her…leaving out convenient parts, of course.
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Later that night, Ranma quietly slipped out of his bedroom window. His clock had told him it was one at night, and the deep, regular breathing from Ryoko's bedroom had told him his host was asleep. He headed away from the house and in the general direction of the park, not really expecting to find a youma. He was surprised, however, when an inhuman shriek rose relatively close to him. In fact, it was so close not even Ryoga could have gotten lost. Ranma started running in the direction of the noise.
When he arrived, he nearly laughed out loud. He had to admit, even by his standards, Juuban had some weird stuff. Like the monster in front of him. It looked vaguely humanoid, and was dressed as a clown. And as such, its costume was of the most horrible color Ranma could imagine – light and dark green checkered, with purple diagonal lines and pink polka dots (©). The pig-tailed martial artist was caught somewhere between laughing his lungs out and throwing up. The thing was just laughing maniacally as it chased civilians across the street. "Oooh-Ho-hohohohohohohohoho," it laughed. A shudder went down Ranma's back. Man, that thing has the same creepy laugh as Kodachi. I wonder if they're related? It sure has her sense of aestethics, too. Ranma picked up a stone and threw it.
The youma stopped dead in its tracks as the stone skipped of his head. It turned around and glanced around to find the annoyance. Ranma grinned. "Oy! What are you, a walking fashion disaster?" The youma whined and opened its mouth. "Don't you like my costume? You must laugh, laugh, laugh!" It pulled a squirting flower out of nowhere and started spraying water everywhere. Has her nutball act down, too. Ranma leaped out of the way as a water drop the size of a small car landed where he had been a moment ago. The martial artist twisted in the air and planted his feet square against the chest of his seven foot tall opponent. The clown-youma fell back, and Ranma moved into an offensive stance.
The clown stood back up and whined some more, most of which sounded like just plain noise to Ranma, then picked up his flower again. As a big blast of water raced towards the boy, he cried, "Môkô Takabisha!" The ki blast impacted with the water, hissing as it boiled through. The life force plowed through the deluge, vaporizing it, and hit the youma. When the vapor cleared, the youma was gone, dissolved to a pile of dust. Ranma circled the pile of ash, shaking his head. "And they're having trouble with this? Sheesh…" He decided he'd had enough for one night and headed back to Ryoko's house.
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The local temple wasn't too hard to find, as Ryoko wandered through the streets of Nekomi district the next evening. He was wondering why Ranma seemed oddly cheerful this morning, but dismissed it quickly as he recalled the phone call he had gotten, and the urgency in Urd's voice. He fought the growing unease in his guts as he continued to walk. He knew the three goddesses wouldn't joke over something like this, and he knew that if it worried Urd, it had to be pretty bad. And anything that could worry a goddess was…well, not good. Easily the largest structure for several miles around, his destination was plainly visible. Besides, it was on the only hill in the area, making it impossible for even Mousse to miss.
A few minutes of walking later, he stood in the yard of the aforementioned temple. What greeted him was an odd beeping noise and the sound of a rocket being fired. Twisting aside just in time to avoid one of Banpei-kun's rocket punches, Ryoko leapt up and over the little robot, and hit its off switch. "Sheesh, Skuld's really gotta do something to hide this switch," he mumbled to himself. A few seconds later, he was still standing in the yard – blackened with soot, bearing a large bump from a mallet, and almost struck with a frying pan.
Belldandy held back in the last second when she recognized the visitor. "Oh, my!" She quickly put the frying pan away and started dusting off Ryoko before casting a minor healing spell. "Ouch," was all he could say for the moment, before receiving a glomp that could rival a certain lavender-haired amazon's. "Urgk! U…U…rd…a…a…i…r…need…breathe…" he choked out. The tall, tan-skinned woman let go of him and brushed her long silver hair back behind her ear. "Hiiiii, Ryo-chan!" Ryoko could only shake his head, and glanced at Belldandy. The brown-haired goddess nodded in sympathy. Sometimes being Urd's friend was worse than being her enemy – especially if you counted her "glomp of doom." After catching his breath, Ryoko grinned at Urd. "You gotta work on yer aim, sugar. You definitely hit me with about five hundred volts more last time." He grinned at the goddesses.
Urd, Norn of the past and self declared goddess of love, didn't know whether to feel insulted by this comment or take it as advice. Thus, she reacted in her typical Urd-like fashion, and cocked one of her hips, letting her robes slightly uncover her leg. "Why don't we spend our time doing something more…productive?" She purred. Behind her, Keiichi was about to pass out from a severe nosebleed, and Ryoko arched an eyebrow at Belldandy. "How long exactly hasn't she had a boyfriend?"
Belldandy smiled at the young man, before answering. "Two hundred, seventy-three years, nine months, eighteen days. Why don't you come in, Ryoko-kun? We have something to talk about." Ryoko nodded at the invitation, greeted Keiichi and Skuld, and followed Belldandy inside.
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In another house, back in Juuban, a portal through time and space opened and Meiou Setsuna, a.k.a. Sailor Pluto, Guardian of Time, stepped through. Rather, she staggered, her face still a little green and purple from the disgust and rage she had gone through when she had viewed Ranma's life using the Time Gate. "Setsuna-mama? Are you all right?" Hotaru asked as she watched the green-haired senshi stumble to the bathroom and heard the lock click shut.
An hour later, a somewhat more collected Setsuna presented herself before the rest of the outer senshi. "Ok, Setsuna, spill it. What's wrong with you?" Haruka demanded, which earned her a raised eyebrow and not much more. "Whatever do you mean, Haruka?" "Oh come on! You don't just trip out of the Time Gates and straight into the bathroom for an hour! What is it this time? Some grave danger to Earth again? Wiseman's back? The Death Phantom again?"
Setsuna glared at the blonde woman. "Nothing of the sort. And what I do at the Time Gate is solely my own business." Without further comment, she walked off, knowing she would be having nightmares for a long time. She grinned evilly as she found a way to distract herself from the coming nightmares, maybe even turn them pleasant. She thought up 1001 ways to torture one Saotome Genma while keeping him alive.
She was brought out of her idle scheming by the beeping of her communicator. She flipped it open. Ami's face lit up on the screen. "Setsuna! Hurry and bring the rest of the Outers to the park! We're under attack, and I'm reading portals opening all over the place! So far there's at least nine youma already…" the call trailed off as the camera seemed to swing around wildly. Crashes and explosions could be heard in the background, then the connection cut off. Setsuna did something she hadn't done in a long time. She swore, long and loud, before transforming and contacting Michiru, Haruka, and Hotaru.
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"They are WHAT!" Ryoko shouted. Usually when he talked to the three sisters, he would never have dared to even raise his voice in Belldandy's vicinity – he respected the goddess too much for that. However, after hearing what he just had been told, he did believe it warranted a shout or two. He mentally went through a list of profanities that he thought were appropriate for this situation. Of course, all three goddesses were reading his mind – Urd and Skuld out of curiosity, and Belldandy because they kept an almost constant link open. Urd snickered at his thoughts, Belldandy blushed until she looked worse than a ripe tomato, an Skuld looked confused at all those words.
"Mara informed me that some moron set loose a horde of oni, and they're looking for the Nexus of Chaos in this dimension," Urd repeated. Ryoko glanced around, saw the reaction of the three women, and reigned in the stream of vulgarity that was coursing through his mind at the thought of an army of oni running loose in the streets of Japan. It didn't help that he believed a certain center of chaos was living in his house. "Yggdrasil says his name is Saotome Ranma. Whoever this Ranma guy is, we have to find and protect him. If the oni find the Nexus, Kami-sama knows what could happen."
Ryoko cleared his throat. "Well, we can scrap the finding part…" Belldandy shot him a puzzled look. "Why is that?" "Well, he's kinda living at my…house…oh, SHIT!" Ryoko bolted up as a cold shiver ran through him. He knew his sister was in trouble. This time, he verbally unleashed the barrage of profanities he had only been thinking about as he shot out of the temple and raced towards Juuban district.
Urd and Belldandy exchanged a worried glance and followed him on two of Urd's brooms.
V----------------------------------------V
The energy blast hit Sailor Mars, knocking her back a good twenty feet. At the same time, a clawed swipe sent Jupiter flying through the air like a rag-doll, her fuku partially shredded. Venus brandished her love-me chain and swung it at the oni, twisting the chain around one of its arms. The oni pulled, and sent Venus flying against a tree trunk. Ten meters over, Sailors Moon and Mercury were frantically dodging another oni's attacks. Across the park, the outer Senshi were busy trying not to loose ground against the four oni they faced.
Uranus parried a clawed strike with her space sword, then fired off a World Shaking. The unfortunate oni was blasted back ten feet, but to everyone's surprise, it got back up and rejoined the fight. Saturn was chopping at another oni with her glaive when an energy blast hit Sailor Neptune, who was fighting alongside her. The aquamarine-haired young woman slammed into Saturn, incidentally saving her from a claw that would have taken her head off. The oni moved in for the kill on the two hapless girls.
"Dead Scream," a quiet voice rang out across the battlefield, and a projectile of condensed temporal flux lighted up the dark shadows of the setting sun, striking the crab-like thing before it could impale its victims. The impact sent the oni flying backwards as Pluto leapt into the fray, twirling her staff to block the clawed attacks.
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Ryoko kicked off from the roof and slipped in the darkness, the tile giving way under his foot. He cursed himself for not being careful as he started to fall. The martial artist twisted in mid-air, trying to manage a decent landing, when an arm grabbed hold of him and deposited him back on the roof. "Do be careful, Ryoko-kun," Belldandy told him from her perch on her broom. Ryoko nodded his thanks and started running again, trailing two confused goddesses behind.
"Any idea why he is in such a hurry, sister?" Urd asked with a sideways glance at Belldandy. "No, although I can feel he is quite distressed. And I can feel some demonic energy close by." Urd nodded. "I can feel it, too. Let's hope we're not headed for trouble."
V----------------------------------------V
Pluto took stock of the situation. Jupiter down, Mars out cold, Venus tangled with her own love-me chain, Neptune down as well. Those that were left to fight were tiring, too. This was not going well. She ducked, brought the tip of her time key around to parry a strike, and slammed the other end of the staff upwards into the crab-like oni. Unfortunately, they only had managed to neutralize five of the ten oni they had been fighting. Uh-oh. She realized the mistake she had made as the oni gripped hold of her staff and ripped it out of her hands.
V----------------------------------------V
Ryoko could hear the sounds of battle, but most of all, he could feel the slightly demonic auras the oni were giving off. This was not good. According to his battle sense, there were nine people and five oni. Out of the nine people – who he assumed had to be the Senshi – four were down. He picked up his pace even more as the shapes started to take form before him.
V----------------------------------------V
The oni's backhand strike hit her square across the chest, and for once, Pluto wished she had continued the martial arts training she and her brother had undergone. Unfortunately, she hadn't, and the blow planted her against a wall. You'd think that having more than thirty thousand years at your disposal I would have found some time for martial arts training… She managed to crank her head to one side as her staff came flying, embedding itself with a crunch into the wall right next to her left ear. The oni was charging up an energy blast. Trying to stagger back to her feet, Pluto realized she had at least a couple broken ribs and a punctured lung. More importantly, she realized that she couldn't dodge the next attack in time. Ironic…the guardian of time doesn't have enough time, she thought. The oni fired, the blast of yellow magical energy hurtling towards her.
"Hiryuu Kyo-Ken!" A purple shockwave of ki intercepted the blast, and the crunch of pebbles in front of her made Pluto open her eyes again.
V----------------------------------------V
Ryoko took an offensive stance against the oni, only shooting a glance back at his sister. He was fuming. "All right ugly, no one, and I mean NO ONE hits my sister and gets away with that." The oni, with its limited mental capabilities, charged the apparently suicidal mortal.
V----------------------------------------V
From above, Belldandy and Urd were watching the scene unfold. "Oh my, shouldn't we help?" Belldandy asked. Urd nodded, directing her broom towards where the inner Senshi were fighting. "Come on, Bell." The younger goddess looked at her sister. "Are you sure Ryoko-kun will be fine?" Urd laughed. "If I were you, I'd worry about the oni."
V----------------------------------------V
Dodging a claw swipe, Ryoko landed a snap-kick against the oni's clawed appendage, ripping it clean off at the unarmored joint. Leaping above its other arm, he came down behind it, and unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks that sent the oni flying against the wall next to Sailor Pluto but didn't do much to hurt it. A flying kick sent the oni clean through the wall, as Ryoko continued to pummel it. As the thing started charging another energy blast, he twisted to avoid the glowing ball of energy that was forming in front of its chest, slipped in close, and brought his palms up.
"Munashii Raishuu." As exactly 102 blows unloaded themselves against the unprotected oni's chest, Ryoko kept pouring more power into the attack than was necessary. Thus, instead of just flying back as usual, the oni's armor plating shattered into pieces from the onlaught, followed by the oni itself. Turning away from the pile of dust the oni had collapsed into, Ryoko leapt back over the wall and into battle. A couple of well-placed kicks made the remaining two oni notice Ryoko, relieving Uranus and Neptune. As he moved deeper into the park to move the battle away from the downed Senshi, he noticed he got closer to the other part of the battle, as well. "Just as well," he muttered and fired off a Hiryuu Kyo-Ken at the other two oni to gain their attention, as well.
V----------------------------------------V
When a blast of ki hit the oni in front of her, Urd took the opportunity and hit it point-blank with one of her lightning bolts, blasting a large chunk out of its chest. The oni collapsed into a pile of dust. As the goddess turned to help her sister, she noticed it was no longer necessary. The oni, enraged by the ki blast that had hit it, had turned away from where Belldandy was shielding Mercury and Moon, and taken off in Ryoko's direction. Hoping the martial artist knew what he was doing, she called over Belldandy to help tend to the wounded.
V----------------------------------------V
Surrounded by three oni, Ryoko grinned. This was going to be fun. He flicked his wrists, and two fighting fans slid into his hands from hidden pockets in his sleeves. As the oni closed in on him and started raining blows, he flowed to the left, blocked an overhead swing with his right fan, pivoted around and opened his other fan, slicing through a claw that was aimed at his abdomen. He blocked high, turned around and stabbed one of his fans through an oni's shoulder, then whirled around and, holding his fans horizontally, opened them, effectively cutting two of the three oni in half. The last one backed off slightly before growling and charging up an energy bolt.
Ryoko slashed at it with his twin fans, the ki-enhanced windblades crossing the distance between him and his opponent in a split second. The oni fell into four pieces before becoming a pile of dust. Satisfied with his work, he returned the fans to his sleeves and jogged over to where he had entered the battle. Pluto was trying to get back to her feet and was leaning against the wall he had kicked the oni through, supporting her weight on the staff that was still impaled in the wall.
He gently took her arm and gave her a quick once-over, discovering two broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder – probably from the impact with the wall – a bruised ankle, and, what he was most concerned about, a slightly punctured lung. While it wasn't excessive and would probably heal soon, she was coughing up small amounts of blood every now and then. He concentrated and pushed some of his ki into her to strenghten her body. "You all right, Setsuna?" Relief washed across him when she nodded. "The others are going to be fine, I've got friends taking care of them now. Come on, let's get you ho-" he never finished the sentence as a rather large ball of yellow energy slammed into him, flattening Ryoko into the ground. "World Shaking!" Setsuna heard again, and saw another blast head towards her brother's fallen form. "Uranus! Stop it!" She wanted to shout. All that came out, however, was a timid whisper as she fell into a coughing fit.
A little bit away, Uranus was about to fire off a third projectile to finish off her target, when Ryoko jumped up from the ground to avoid the second World Shaking, and flipped before he landed. He sent the Senshi of Uranus a glare that was cold enough to freeze carbon dioxide, and fell into a defensive stance. "Listen, I don't know what you're trying to accomplish by hitting me, but if you hadn't noticed, I just saved your sorry hide!" He nearly yelled. Setsuna, meanwhile, was trying to push herself off the wall and walk over to her brother when she stumbled on her tired legs and fell forward. Seemingly breaking the sound barrier, Ryoko crossed the ten meters between them in a split second and caught his sister before she fell. Collecting her into his arms, he leapt up to land right in front of a stunned Sailor Uranus. "Ryoko?"
"So, are you going to stop attacking me, or what?" The martial artist demanded, then blinked as he scanned her ki aura. Oh-ho. Didn't take a genius to figure out who she really is… "If you'll excuse me, I'm getting my sister home." With that, he left a bewildered Sailor Uranus behind.
V----------------------------------------V
Urd and Belldandy met Ryoko outside Setsuna's apartment. It was apparent to both goddesses that the mortal was not pleased. "Thanks for the help, Urd, Bell. That coulda gotten nasty," he said quietly while leaning against the door. "It seems like they are already searching the right district. That is disconcerting," Urd was uncharacteristically serious. Ryoko nodded. "Crap, no offense, but these Senshi suck. If they're the first line of defense, then goodbye Earth." He ran a hand through his hair. "If any more oni show up, they're going to stumble across Ranma eventually. I'm pretty sure he can handle several of them, but I'm not sure he'd last very long against a crapload of 'em."
Urd nodded. "I got an official count of the number of oni released. And you're not going to like it," she told them. "How many, Urd?" Belldandy asked. "Three hundred and twenty-six. Minus the ten we fought off tonight, make that three hundred and sixteen." Shaking his head, Ryoko sighed. "Too many to take care of at once. Any idea of who's responsible?" Both goddesses shook their heads. "Well, looks like I'll have to tell Ranma his vacation is over. And he was so looking forward to see Ka…" For the second time in one day, Ryoko let loose a string of profanities that made everyone who listened in both Niflheim and Asgard blush. Afterwards, Hild would be seen typing everything she had heard that evening down to file the words away for future use.
"Oh, crap. Kasumi…We can't let any oni near her!" Urd arched an eyebrow. "Who is this Kasumi?" Ryoko looked up. "Tendo Kasumi. She's Ranma's…well, almost-girlfriend. He was starting to develop some feelings for her, and from what I gather, he sent her a note today. He asked me if I minded if she visited. From what he told me, she's a lot like you, Bell," he noted with a small smile. Urd's face clouded. "That's not good. That's so not good…"