))o((
Lore
III. Acta Non Verba
))o((
Jo looked over at the clock. It hadn't changed; it still read 3:59. Jo sighed. Might as well get up... Being a borderline insomniac had its advantages at times, but waking up for the day when the floors were ice cold wasn't one of them.
Jo tossed the covers aside just as the alarm hit 4:00 and the alarm, an annoying buzzing thing, went off. Jo jumped into action and switched the alarm off in the middle of its second buzz. The speed there was impressive, but Jo still frowned. It used to be that Jo could reach it in the middle of the first buzz. She shook her head in dismay; she didn't really want to do more speed training, but she had to. It was speed and the special skills she'd picked up over time that kept her alive, and if she let that go, it meant that she'd be that much more unable to handle what came up... that and it would be effectively wasting the training... both of which were even more undesirable than the alternative.
Jo quickly pulled on a pair of oversized sweats, grabbed the trash in the room, filled her thermos, and set off to do some jogging after dropping the trash off in its designated place. The girl ran down the halls as quickly and silently as possible. It would be nice to do the run in her uncursed form, the reason for filling the thermos in the first place. She smiled.
A few minutes later and Jo stood, eyeing the dumpster. She bit her lip, then tossed the bag of trash. With a bit of luck, the bag arced right into the dumpster for non-burnable trash. A big smile broke out onto Jo's face; it'd been a while since Jo had made a shot like that.
Jo emptied half the thermos over her head, dousing herself with the hot water and changing from a short, busty, red-haired girl into a young man in his twenties. Joey sighed as he started doing a few effective stretches.
In a short while he was bounding out on his 'jog,' which was really four foot high bounces that propelled him about a foot and a half forward. One of the less painful training techniques he'd picked up and, besides being a great calf exercise, was used by many a martial artist to hop from roof to roof in residential areas.
After about twenty or thirty minutes of his, rather admittedly, odd-looking jog, Joey came to a small park which looked like it was begging to become a training ground. So, not being one to flat out deny a place its eon long desire, he made a cool-down lap around it before entering.
There were a lot of things he could do, but he was much more accustomed to having at least one live sparring partner when he practiced... and the two he was really used to sparring with turned into a panda and a pig, respectively, and neither of them would recognize him unless he was turned into a girl, and then they would only mistake him for someone else. Joey grinned and laughed at that. It really was his luck.
Well, standing and thinking about things he couldn't change was the same as doing nothing. So Joey walked up to one of the large landscaping boulders... it'd been a long time since he'd trained this way, but it was his own training method. A combination of two special martial art skills.
His fist struck the stone in rapid succession, thirty times in a single second. It was a special technique, the Ameguriken, aimed at the rock face... but at the last punch, he extended his forefinger and drove it through the rock, shattering the offending piece of stone with a Bakusai Tenketsu, yet another technique he had learned. Then, before the pieces flew all over, he switched back to Ameguriken and caught all the pieces he could as they flew from the point of impact.
It was all developed from the Bakusai Tenketsu training, where Ranma had fought him and the Amazons had tried to hoist Akane up as a prize to be won, literally. The first part, hitting the rock with an Ameguriken, was a knuckle-toughening and speed-training exercise. The shattering of the rock was practice so that skill wouldn't deteriorate. And, finally, the catching the rocks as they flew away... that was a speed, precision, and dexterity drill.
After several more iterations, Joey was finished practicing for the day... that, and the ground where once stood boulders now contained some nicely landscaped rocks. Joey started his odd jog back up, so intent on the schedule of the day that he didn't see the girl delivering newspapers until it was too late to alter his trajectory and avoid the collision.
"Oh! I'm sorry, I'm Sorry! Are you ok?" Joey asked in an adrenaline rush, trying to see if the poor girl was okay. While the Bakusai Tenketsu training had made him tougher than most, the same couldn't be said about the girl. Joey helped her to her feet; it seemed like she was just stunned.
"Yes, I'm alright," the girl said, gathering up the scattered newspapers and taking the ones that Joey offered.
She looked familiar, from class, though Joey couldn't place a name. "Hey, you're in my class, aren't you?" Joey said as he tried his best, and failed, to remember the name, though the bells in the hair was pretty distinctive.
The girl looked at him and blinked. He looked like he could be a high school senior, or maybe a university freshman... either way, he certainly didn't look like anyone in her class. "I go to an all girl's school," she said, which prompted something sounding like a choked cough from the young man.
Joey, on the other hand, couldn't believe he'd been that careless. It was one of the reasons that he'd chosen to use a different name for his cursed form. So that he could talk like they were two different people was one of the reasons, not having to keep explaining his curse every time he found himself in another interesting situation was the other.
"Um, right... sorry. Obviously we aren't in the same class, my mistake," Joey said, wishing that he didn't feel so embarrassed. "Um, I see you're delivering papers... I'll help you finish up."
"But," the girl began, but was cut off.
"It's the least I can do," Joey insisted. "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Joey."
"Asuna."
"Good to meet you... now let's see if we can't finish your route early."
Despite Joey's best efforts, they didn't get done all that early. According to Asuna, only ten minutes earlier than usual. It was kind of disappointing to Joey... but then again, he'd never delivered papers before.
Oh, well.
))o((
Erin sighed happily as she walked. She had always loved walking, and to a lesser extent running. It made this club just about her favorite of the bunch she had joined.
A smile etched on her face, she turned to look at Hotaru, who was walking slightly behind her. The girl looked back at her with a small somewhat shy smile of her own. It seemed the girl was starting to get used to Erin and the other two, if a little slowly.
Erin had to admit she was surprised, she had actually expected it to be over a week before the girl started really getting along with the others. Sure she put on a pleasant façade when interacting with most people, but it had always seemed to be just that to Erin: a pleasant façade.
Now, it seemed the girl was actually starting to enjoy the time she spent with the others... though it irked Erin a bit that she seemed to like spending time with that pint sized punk Kari the most.
Sighing, she turned back around, watching the back of the leader of the current activity. That leader just happened to also be the president of the walking club, Kaede.
The girl was cute, Erin had to admit, but her way of speaking left something to be desired. It always just felt a bit off to Erin. She wasn't exactly sure why... maybe it was because she liked ending sentences in 'That it is' or 'That I am,' but Erin couldn't be sure.
Resolving herself to staring at the girl's butt as they walked, Erin was understandably off guard when something bowled into her side, knocking her over and off the path. "TAG! You're it!"
Pulling herself up, she spotted the retreating form of Fuka and, a second later, spotted Fumika jumping out of some brush on the other side of the path and quickly hightailing it after her sister.
Erin grumbled as she pulled herself upright, Hotaru lending her a helpful hand. The twins sure knew how to ruin a good, leisurely walk.
Balling up her fists, the silver-haired girl looked from side to side before taking off after the almost invisible forms of the two pranksters in the distance.
Hotaru sighed as she watched her new companion run off, once again ready to start a fight with those much smaller than her. Looking up towards Kaede, she put on a brief burst of speed herself to catch up with the girl.
A small grin lit Kaede's face as she looked down at the shorter girl. "So, are you enjoying the walk?"
Hotaru nodded happily. "Yeah. It's a bit tiring, but it feels good to be out."
Kaede nodded in turn. "That it is. Your friend, she is quite rambunctious, is she not?"
Hotaru giggled a little at that. "Yeah, it sure seems like it."
The girls continued on in silence, only letting it, once or twice, be interrupted by distant screams of "GET BACK HERE, YOU LITTLE TWERPS!"
With the (more or less) silence, Hotaru was unsurprisingly caught off guard when another scream rang out, just a scant ten feet from her. "Die, little girl!" A creature, large and vaguely masculine with skin of black color, leapt up from the brush.
The Senshi of Saturn knew she didn't have time to dodge the large black fist heading toward her, so she was overly surprised to find herself over a dozen feet away as the creature's fist struck the ground, creating an explosion through the sheer force of the impact.
Kaede frowned slightly from her position over Hotaru after setting the girl down. She commanded in a quiet, yet stern voice, "Go. I will take care of this."
Hotaru would've second-guessed her decision to do as Kaede said, except it presented her with a prime opportunity to find a decent hiding place to transform in. Rushing away from the older girl and monster and into the nearby forest, the girl found a place she was fairly certain wouldn't be visible from the path after half a minute of trekking.
Reaching for her henshin wand, she quietly stated, "Saturn Star Power, Make Up!"
A quick magical stripping and reoutfitting later, Hotaru rushed back towards the path, her signature glaive in hand. However, she came up short and baffled when she saw the scene.
Kaede loomed over the prone form of the malefic creature. "I will only ask you one more time, beast. What is your purpose here? Tell me now, or taste your death at the end of my blade."
The creature snarled, making a pitiful attempt to move away. Seeing its beaten body would not comply, it quickly gave up. Looking balefully into the eyes of its assailant, it spit, its only response coming in a guttural rough voice. "I am but a meager Pravus in the service of my master, Malum Erus. I will reveal nothing of his plans to you, fleshling."
Kaede's response was firm. "Fine."
The creature's form dissipated in a flash or dark purple energy. Only a dark, slimy coating over the small kunai, stuck firmly in the ground, remained.
Sailor Saturn stared dumbly at the scene before her, shock overriding every thought passing through her mind.
Suddenly, Kaede's form blurred. Hotaru didn't have enough time to even blink before she felt something brush the hair on one side of her head. Kaede had somehow appeared behind her, standing unnervingly close. "Who are you?" the larger girl demanded. "Are you with that creature? Who is Malum Erus?"
Hotaru blinked before stuttering out, "N-No. I'm...uh... Sailor Saturn. Warrior of love and justice!"
"Why are you at this place?" Kaede frowned. She had heard of the Sailor Senshi, but...
Hotaru gulped, but quickly pulled herself together as best she could. "I sensed great evil here and came to investigate. I intended to destroy the source of the darkness, but it seems you've beaten me to it."
Kaede nodded. "Yes, that I did."
Hotaru, doing her best to avoid meeting the other girls eyes, caught sight of a golden glimmer near a tree in the distance. Turning back to Kaede, she quickly stated, "I... have to get going. You know, things to do... evil to vanquish... if that's okay..."
Kaede just stood and stared for a moment, before shrugging and stepping away.
The sailor-clad heroine rushed off, making a mad dash for the forest, where she quickly untransformed.
Erin watched as the young girl walked awkwardly out of the foliage. Looking down at the smaller girl, Erin asked, "So, what just happened?"
Hotaru sighed. "There was a.. a Pravus, I guess. And I, um, failed... I'm sorry."
Erin blinked, before laughing and patting the girl heartily on the back. "Hey, don't be sorry. I'm supposed to be the sorry one around here, I was off chasing midgets while you were getting attacked by... whatever a Pravus is. So, what actually happened?"
Hotaru looked at her feet, a faint grin touching her lips. "The creature came out of nowhere and attacked. Kaede sent me into hiding. I transformed once I had found some good cover. But, when I got back, she had apparently already taken care of it... All I overheard before it died was what it called itself and something about its master... someone named Malum Erus."
Erin nodded, taking in the information. "Well, I guess now we know a bit more about the enemy. But we should probably head back to campus and find the others so we can update them on your harrowing experience."
Hotaru nodded, her faint grin growing slightly.
))o((
Kari headed into the library, still clad in her school uniform. She was gradually getting used to wearing a skirt; she didn't know if that was a bad thing or a good thing.
The girl had been thinking lately. Why had this evil power chosen this school as his (or her) base of operations? It was a large campus, sure, but full of kids. Adults would provide more energy, right? Heck, there were thousands of places better suited to any dastardly needs.
In short, something must set the school apart from other places. Maybe Kari would be able to find a clue among the myriad of books as to why. Historical archives, old legends, common rumors... any of them might provide a clue.
"This place is amazing," the girl commented as she entered the library. There was a myriad of staircases, balconies, and walkways going through a vast room with an uncountable number of bookshelves.
"I wonder where I should begin?" Kari wasn't really used to digging up information, especially when it was as broad as "quirks within the school's history." Deciding that anywhere was good as long as she began, the girl took to the bookshelves.
Of course, things didn't go smoothly. Books upon books upon books, all on differing subjects and occasionally in different languages, but none that could help the girl find what she needed.
Perhaps she should get some help, then. With that in mind, Kari went straight to the librarian.
A pair of dark blue eyes looked up as Kari approached. "Kari?" the young girl behind the desk asked, recognizing her classmate. She smiled pleasantly. "How can I help you?"
"Oh, um..." Kari felt odd not knowing the girl's name. Well, she'd just have to fix that. "Sorry, you caught my name but I don't know yours."
The girl blushed. "Oh, sorry. That's rude, I didn't mean to... um... sorry." She looked down and her eyes became hidden under the girl's bangs. While her hair was generally short, her bangs were longer than would be normal.
There was a moment of awkward silence. "And... your name would be?" Kari prodded.
The girl jerked a bit. "Oh! Right. My name's Nodoka. Sorry."
This girl was shier than Hotaru, Kari realized. "No problem, no problem," she consoled the indigo-haired girl. "I just came for some help looking up some things."
"Oh?" Nodoka replied. She could probably help out Kari, then. "What are you looking for?"
"I kind of fancy myself to be a sort of historian, you see," Kari said casually, leaning against the librarian desk. As she leaned closer, Nodoka blinked confused. "So," Kari continued, "I was hoping to look up the school's history... along with any old legends, or maybe interesting old documents from the school."
Nodoka nodded in understanding. "I think I can help you out."
"Good!" Kari said, straightening and smiling broadly. "So, where should I start?"
"Come along," Nodoka said, standing and stepping out from behind the desk. She looked down at Kari, as most people tended to do, and said, "There are some old newspaper archives from the school's founding and several student memoir books you might be interested in." She led Kari into the library.
"Sounds promising," the girl said as she followed.
Nodoka led the blue-haired girl around the library, occasionally stopping in a section to retrieve a few items. After ten minutes, the two girls were each carrying a fairly full load. "This should be a good start," Nodoka said as she led Kari to a table, where the two unloaded the books and papers.
"No kidding," Kari replied. She looked over all the items for a moment before turning to Nodoka with a smile. "Thank you for all of your help."
"No problem," was the reply Nodoka gave, returning the smile. "I'll be back at the front desk if you need me."
Kari gave a mock salute. "Will do, chief."
Nodoka walked away, leaving Kari to fend for herself against the myriad of books and documents they had found. As she reached the front desk, she spotted a familiar form sitting there. "Ah, Yue! Is it four o'clock already?"
Yue nodded as Nodoka took a seat next to her. "Yeah." She was silent for a moment as she pulled out a small carton of juice. "Where have you been?"
The shy girl smiled. "I was helping one of our new classmates find some books..."
"One of our new classmates?" Yue asked, curious.
"Yeah... Kari, the blue-haired girl."
Yue stuck the straw into the carton of juice. "That one, huh?" She took a sip. "I pity you."
"Huh?" Nodoka seemed confused. "What do you mean by that?"
"Nothing, nothing" Yue said, brushing it off. She was silent a moment. After a bit of time had passed, she extended the juice toward Nodoka. "Juice?"
))o((
"Stupid freaking Vulcan, being so freaking hard to find," Erin grumbled under her breath as she walked. "...Gonna strangle damn Vulcan when I find her..."
She had started off her search in a good mood, she really had. But as hour after hour wore on, good mood degenerated into decent mood, which degenerated into okay mood, which then became bad mood, and had finally ended up at its current stage of shitty mood.
Erin frowned as she looked from side to side; by her estimate she had covered the middle school area of the campus twice now, still with no sign of the gender-bending kendoist.
It was at about this point in Erin's inner grumbling that she noticed one of her classmates sitting on a nearby bench, staring down at a small flower. The boy turned girl had recognized her for the simple fact that she was one of the two people Erin had seen in the school with long silver hair like herself. The fact that she wore a different school uniform than the other students also stood out, with her uniform being a dark blue dress as opposed to a white shirt and plaid skirt.
Walking over, Erin coughed in an attempt to get the girl's attention.
She continued to look at the flower.
Erin coughed louder.
The flower staring continued.
Erin coughed even louder.
Still no luck.
Finally, tired of the 'polite' way, Eryn asked loudly, "Hello?"
That seemed to get the girl's attention. Looking up and then around, she seemed baffled before finally pointing to herself, blinking her red eyes in confusion.
"Yes. You."
Her eyes got wide.
"You're in my class, right? Have you seen Jo around? She's, y'know, the redhead that transferred in with me."
The girl seemed to blink, and then think, before finally, almost numbly, shaking her head no.
Erin snapped her fingers. "Nut bunnies. This sucks... Where could that girl have gotten off to...?" She looked back down at her classmate, who seemed to have a big goofy smile on her face. Gulping, Erin asked worriedly, "Are you... okay?"
The girl nodded, grin still in place.
Erin looked to the side and said, "Okay then. I'll be leaving then. You can go back to your staring contest with the daisy."
Before Erin had taken even five steps, the girl called out, "WAIT!"
Erin turned around, staring blankly at her classmate. "What?"
The girl asked, tears around her eyes, "Can I go with you?"
"Ummm... Sure..."
Erin just barely avoided the girl's glomp.
Erin sighed as she turned back around and begin, once again, walking. With her back turned, she was not privy to seeing the girl's little dance of joy behind her.
As they walked, Erin attempted to start the semblance of a conversation. "So... I never did get your name."
"Sayo," the girl replied cheerfully, "Sayo Aizaka."
Erin nodded. "Cool. As you probably already know, I'm Erin, Erin Belmont. Last of the Ancients. I'm here to rock your world."
Sayo blinked. "Huh?"
Erin broke into a fit of giggles as she walked.
Erin was, in fact, still giggling on and off as she passed the front doors of the gym just in time to catch Jo walking out of them.
Sayo pointed and asked, "Isn't that your friend, Erin?"
Erin blinked. Looking up, she said, "No, that's my friend Jo." The giggling once again commenced.
Jo looked over at Erin, her eyebrow raised. "Hi Erin," she greeted, "something wrong?"
Erin did her best to stifle her giggles and respond. "N-hehe-no, nothing really. Hehehehe."
Jo blinked. "Okay... So what's so funny?"
Erin smiled and responded, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes, "You wouldn't get it. But it was hilarious."
Jo gave her comrade a look of concern before responding, "Alright... I just finished my workout, so... wanna head back to the dorms?"
Erin shrugged. "Sure, just let me say bye to my friend."
Jo looked around. Not spotting anyone, she looked back at Erin and nodded. "Well, I guess you can meet me back there once you find your friend." With that, Jo rushed off, heading back towards the dorms.
Erin watched the young redhead bounce off, before turning back towards Sayo. "Well, that was rude..."
Sayo blinked. "What was rude?"
Erin rolled her eyes. "Her acting like you were invisible or something."
Sayo blinked, again. "But... I'm a ghost... she couldn't see me..."
Erin nearly busted out laughing, "Ha! So you do have a sense of humor!"
Sayo looked at Erin oddly. "O-Okay... "
Turning back towards where Jo ran off, Erin finally stifled her giggles. "Well, I guess I'd better get going. See you in class tomorrow, alright? We can talk again then."
Sayo replied, quietly, "All right then."
Erin gave the girl one last smile before running off towards the dorms...
...Once again missing the girl's dance of joy.
))o((
Kari sighed as she pored over the papers and scrapbooks. She had gone looking for anything out of the ordinary with the school, and these texts surely delivered. Old legends about the World Tree, secret underground ruins, and strange creatures abounded. Eye witness accounts of ghosts, strange feats, and secretive organizations were all recounted at various points of the school's history.
While none of these stories stood out more than the next, what was shocking was the sheer number of them. Even taking into account that some must be false, made up on the whim of some individual, the myriad of stories led Kari to believe that they all couldn't possibly be works of fiction.
The girl palmed her forehead. "Oi, this school is seriously messed up." It was a million times worse than Furinkan. Robot girls, ghost stories, magic trees...
Well, nothing more could be done. Anything and everything about this school was different and it would be impossible to know if any one fact drew their enemy. So much for finding anything through research.
She sighed as she began to gather up all the objects littered across the table. She might as well get going.
As the young blue-haired girl dropped off all the material in a drop-off cart, she caught sight of her roommate and fellow Sailor Senshi, Hotaru. The black-haired girl was, apparently, chatting with Nodoka at the front desk. As Kari approached, she could also see that the girl was laden with many bags of foodstuff.
"Oh, yes," Kari heard Nodoka saying as she approached, "Kari is here. She's inside researching the school's history."
"I see," Hotaru replied, smiling. "Thank you." As she turned to venture into the library, she spotted Kari... right next to her. "Eep!" she gasped, startled. She took a step back and dropped one of the bags she was holding onto.
Kari's arm shot out, quickly retrieving the dropped parcel before it could crash onto the floor. "Be careful, Hotaru," she said, "we don't want to break anything."
"Kari," Hotaru breathed, "you startled me."
Kari grinned sheepishly. "Sorry 'bout that. I have a habit of sneaking up on people, it seems."
Nodoka stifled a giggle. "Well, at least now you found each other."
Hotaru nodded. "Yep." She looked at Kari. "Come on, let's head back to our dorm."
"All right," the blue-haired girl responded. "I guess I'm done here, and we probably should drop off the food." She trotted on ahead.
Hotaru followed behind the energetic little girl. "Oh, and thank you again, Nodoka!" she called behind her.
"Any time!" the girl replied.
))o((
Jo grumbled to herself. She was having a tough time with the homework, and she was really getting irked by that fact. Though she was getting more irked by the fact Erin seemed to be breezing through it.
Sighing, she pulled a pillow off her nearby bed before lying back. Turning her head towards Erin, she asked, "So, any ideas on who the big bad voodoo daddy around here might be?"
Erin shrugged. Turning from her homework, she replied, "All I know is its name is Malum Erus."
"Huh?" Jo's left eye arched uncomfortably.
Erin repeated herself. "All I know is its name is Malum Erus."
Jo groaned before asking, "And how, may I ask, do you know that, you ding dong?"
Erin shrugged. "Hotaru ran into one of its little beasties when we were at walking club."
The redhead smirked. "How bad did she kick its ass?"
"She didn't. Apparently the leader of the club, Kaede did." Erin laughed.
Jo gave Erin an odd look. "Weird..."
The other girl nodded. "Yup."
Tapping her finger against the floor, Jo searched for another question to ask. After a few minutes had passed, inspiration hit. "So, who do you think this... Malum Erus really is?"
"Yue," Erin responded seriously.
Jo blinked. "Me?"
Erin shook her head and rolled her eyes. "No, I meant Yue as in Yu-E."
"Oh... and why would you think Yue is the culprit?"
Erin began to count of reasons on her fingers. "One, she's way to smart for her own good. Two, she's silent, and seems to fade into the background. Three, she just looks evil. Four, she gives me the willies. Five, she gives me the willies. And six, we met her early on in our little adventure here, so she must be a major player in this whole thing. And my bet is on her being the bad guy."
"Wow..." Jo stared at the other girl astounded.
Erin looked back at her, smirking. "What? Floored by my deductive reasoning?"
Jo shook her head. "No. It's just that Kari told me you were an idiot... but still, wow."
Erin sat there, dumbfounded. Finally, after a minute had passed, she responded. "Huh?"
Jo smiled. "Nothing... Just nothing. Go back to the homework."
Erin turned back around, shaking her head and quickly got back to work.
Jo leaned back, smiling, until there came a bang at the door. Using the bed to help pull herself up, she called out, "I'm coming, I'm coming."
A sardonic voice from the other side retorted, "Glad to hear it. Now open the damn door!"
Jo rolled her eyes. Quickly unlocking the door, she opened it wide and allowed Hotaru and Kari to make their way in. Jo noticed one of the girls was laden with snacks, the other holding a small bag of groceries. She looked over at Kari as she closed the door and asked, "So, did Hotaru tell you about her little run in at the walking club?"
Kari nodded as she absently set down the snacks. "Uh huh."
"So, do you think it's worth looking into?"
Kari nodded again. "Uh huh."
Noticing the girl seemed to be barely paying her any mind, Jo asked, "Are you paying attention to me?"
Kari, once more, nodded. "Uh huh."
Jo glanced over at Erin for a moment, an idea quickly springing to mind. "Flat."
Kari spun around immediately. Glaring at Jo, she asked, "What did you just say?"
Jo played innocent. "Who? Me? Nothing."
The smaller girl nodded, sarcasm lacing her voice. "Uh huh."
Jo couldn't help but grin as she asked, "So, now that I know your listening, did Hotaru tell you she ran into one of the baddies?"
Kari looked from Hotaru to Jo before answering firmly, "Nope. She didn't." Turning back towards Hotaru, she asked, "So, what's she talking about?"
Hotaru laid the groceries in her hands onto the nearby counter before replying sheepishly, "Oh, um, nothing really. One of the minions of the bad guy attacked me and one of the other walking club members..."
Kari's right eyebrow raised. "Did you kill it?"
Hotaru shook her head, looking down at the floor she responded, "No. Actually, the other walking club member killed it before I could get the chance."
That confused Kari. Did any of her classmates actually know how to fight? Or were the enemies just weak? Well, she supposed it didn't matter for now. "Get any useful intel before it died?"
Hotaru shrugged slightly and gave a small, sheepish grin. "Well, I found out the bad guys, the monsters, are called Pravus... and their master is called Malum Erus."
Kari snorted. "Malum Erus... That's Latin. Evil something or other, huh? Interesting." She paused. "I guess these baddies are from Earth, or they wouldn't use Latin. Well, either that or they have a warped sense of humor."
Eryn mumbled something or other from the desk.
Kari looked over at the girl and asked, "What was that?"
Eryn repeated herself slightly louder. "I said, I can usually translate words... but not names..."
Hotaru blinked confusedly, Kari glared at Erin, and Jo ate an orange.
Shaking her head, trying to clear Erin's odd statement from her mind, Hotaru asked, "Hey, Kari, wanna go take a bath?"
Kari's eyes shot open. "Huh?"
The black-haired young girl shot her friend a smile. "I asked if you wanted to come take a bath with me."
Yeah, that's what Kari thought she had asked. She gulped. "Well, um... I suppose... if you're sure... that's a good idea..."
Erin watched as the two girls got ready. Comparing the pros and cons of the situation, she finally asked, "Hey, I'm feeling a bit dirty. Can I join you two?"
Kari shot the girl a glare. "No."
Erin ignored her Looking at Hotaru, she prodded, "So, can I?"
"Sure, I guess." The girl shrugged. "The more the merrier, right?" She smiled.
))o((
A broad smile covered Erin's face as she slid into the warm water of the women's bath. Erin was happy, and not just from the comfort of the warm water around her body. No, she was more happy because something had crossed her mind when Kari and Hotaru had originally initiated the idea to go to the baths. Something she was ashamed she hadn't thought of earlier.
Girls' bath plus being in a girl's body equaled a free and easy viewing pleasure. She was starting to understand Kozue's other half a little better.
Erin's attention was drawn by the two towel wrapped forms slipping into the bath nearby. Neither really caught her interest, but then they were both somewhat underdeveloped. Especially Kari.
Erin closed her eyes again, leaning back on the slight incline she had been sitting on. She simply allowed herself to go with the flow for the time being.
Her attention was drawn back to the outside world a little over ten minutes later. The large door at the end of the room creaked open audibly. Opening one eye, Erin watched as three decently endowed girls walked along the edge of the oversized bath, carrying bathing supplies carefully in their hands with towels strung over their shoulders. One of the girls had short purple hair with bangs mostly covering her eyes. Another had long brown hair and glasses. The last was Yue.
Erin's still present smile slowly degraded into an almost evil smirk as the girls prepared themselves to get into the bath. She didn't care much for Yue, seeing as she was as underdeveloped as Kari, but Nodoka was cute enough, and Haruna's rack was quite nice.
Erin was really starting to think Clay wasn't so bad. This was awesome.
As the three slipped in, Erin watched as they made their way towards the shy but friendly Hotaru and the surprisingly shy Kari. The silver-haired girl decided to float over herself. Her nearly evil smirk made its final leap to a full blown evil smirk as she asked the short, blue haired girl, "What's wrong, Kari? You seem embarrassed about something. Are these girls making you feel like you come up a bit short?"
Kari silently fumed.
The girls gave Erin an odd glance before continuing their conversation with Hotaru.
Her smirk evil as ever, Eryn continued to prod the young ninja. "Oh, come on, Kari, you can tell me. You know I'd never flatly refuse to listen to you. You know me and the others are never too bored to listen to your problems."
Kari snorted, obviously getting less and less amused by Erin's attempts at "humor."
The other girls, perhaps more wisely, seemed to be completely ignoring the girl.
Erin bit her thumb, trying to come up with something else to push the aqua tressed girls buttons. Giggling a short bit later, she asked, "Come on, short stack, open up your mouth and tell me what's bothering you..." Looking to the side, she finished, "God, I hope it isn't something like having a crush on our new teacher..." After a few moments of silence, Erin looked back to the fuming girl. She poked the girl a few times. "That's it, isn't it? You have a crush on Mr. Springfield, don't you? You know, I hear..."
Erin was cut off by a quiet whisper from Kari's lips. "That is enough, you stupid bastard. Prepare to die." The look in the girl's eyes showed that she wasn't joking or making idle threats.
Hotaru and the other three students looked at the dwindling bubbles coming to the surface.
Nodoka asked worriedly, "Erin's going to be okay, isn't she?"
"I hope so." Hotaru sighed.
Erin finally escaped Kari's strangling grasp a little over two minutes later. She popped out from under the water, gasping for breath. She stumbled, trying to get away from Kari, and ended up tripping and falling onto Haruna. Nodoka and Hotaru gasped as both girls fell against the side of the bath. Erin inadvertently took the blunt of the fall as they spun a little, and Erin ended up pinned between Haruna and the corner of the bath.
"Are you okay?" Haruna asked, quickly getting off.
Instead of replying, Erin stood up and turned towards Kari. "Stupid little midget! I could have died!" She thought a moment. "Well, maybe not. But it still sucked."
Kari rolled her eyes.
Erin snorted. She brushed past Kari, making her way to the opposite edge of the bath. She pulled herself out and grabbed her towel. Wrapping the large cotton rectangle around herself, Erin snatched up her bathing supplies. She made anger and disdain clear in her sharp movements.
Just as she reached the edge of the room nearest the door, a large wave seemed to suddenly erupt from the water, falling well outside the bath and thoroughly soaking Erin, her towel, and washing her soap and shampoo out of her small basket and onto the floor several dozen feet away.
Erin turned towards Kari and glared before stomping off out of the bathroom.
Kari continued to soak in the bath, whistling innocently.
"What was that?" Haruna asked, blinking.
"I-I don't know," Nodoka replied.
"Nothing to worry about," Kari replied nonchalantly. "It's my super-secret martial arts technique."
"You know martial arts?" Haruna asked. "Maybe you should join the Chinese martial arts group."
Kari shuddered as she thought of Chinese martial arts and the Amazons that knew them. "No thanks. I try to avoid Chinese fighters, if at all possible."
There was a moment of awkward silence. Hotaru tried her best to break it. Turning to Haruna, she began, "So, you're a fan a Mai Hime, too?"
Haruna nodded energetically. "Yeah. Mai Hime is awesome. Heck, it's better than awesome You watch it? Who's your favorite character?"
"Akane, definitely. She's so cool when she fights, and she is so smitten with her boyfriend at the same time."
Haruna nodded happily. "Yeah, she's cool. But my fave will always be Nagi. He's freakin' hilarious!"
Kari looked at the two confused. Turning to Nodoka, she asked, "What the heck are they talking about?"
Nodoka shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "Some new anime Haruna's obsessed with. I tried getting her to explain it to me one day... but, well..." She tried to think of how to put it... "Haruna has a habit of going off on tangents in the middle of explanations, so I'm still pretty much in the dark."
Kari sighed. "Maybe I'll see if she'll loan me some DVDs." She was sure she could find some time to watch anime, even between class, club, and monster-hunting.
Haruna's eyes lit up. Almost as fast as a ninja, she was next to Kari. "Of course I'll lend you some! You'll love the series! I absolutely know you will!" She squealed in happiness.
Kari blinked. "...Thanks?"
The glasses-wearing girl smiled. "Oh, don't mention it." She grabbed the smaller girl by the hand. "Come on, let's go get them. You can start watching tonight!" Haruna bodily dragged Kari behind her as she made her way out of the bath.
Yue blinked as she and the other two girls heard a trailing yell of, "Shouldn't we get our towels first?"
Hotaru giggled.
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III. Finis
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