Test 3: Unsinkable! The Sunny Sailor
"Are you girls up for a little sailing?"
Keitaro Urashima was in the main room of the Hinata House, enjoying an afternoon meal with two of his new tenants, Naru Narusegawa and Shinobu Maehara. Mitsune Konno was out on the town, probably gambling. Although she was nicknames Kitsune, the 'fox,' she never seemed to have the slyness to bet on the winners. Yet it never stopped her from trying.
"You're being awfully generous to ask, landlord." Naru still didn't trust him.
"Call me Keitaro. 'Landlord' is such a formal title."
"Maybe when you grow up."
"Anyways, it isn't just out of kindness. I'm working a part time job on the tour ship Akamatsu, and the captain gave me a few extra tickets for this weekend."
Shinobu was shy as usual, so Naru was answering for the both of them. "Well, as long as you're busy elsewhere, it couldn't hurt to try and enjoy ourselves." The girls looked at each other and nodded, smiling.
Keitaro thought to himself, 'I'm glad to get on their good side for once, although I hope they don't see me swabbing the deck…'
"I'm sorry, Kitsune! Keitaro only had two tickets left, and you weren't there to protest." Naru was trying to console her friend, who didn't have a ticket for the cruise. They were at school the day before the trip, one group among many in deep conversation before their class started.
"You could have asked by proxy. You can be so thoughtless sometimes, Naru. Well, I guess I'll forgive you, if you help with my rent."
"Naru glared at her, but shrugged. "I always do, Kitsune." She sighed. "Somehow I always do."
The teacher came in, and the class quieted. "Last month's mock exam results are posted out at the main entrance. For this grade, the top three scores were 166 by Miss Narusegawa, 170 by Mr. Kimiaki, and 174 by Miss Maehara from Class C."
Naru stopped staring down the four-eyed nerd Shirai as she heard the last name mentioned. 'Shinobu was the top student? Maybe we should study together…'
"This is your second consecutive failure, Jeditaro."
"K-kanako-sama." The dark soldier stuttered as he knelt before the dark queen. "I underestimated their resourcefulness. I won't let it happen again. I will be overseeing this next mission personally."
"Make sure you don't fail this time. I don't think you'd enjoy the punishment I'll give you if you come back empty-handed."
"I understand."
Jeditaro teleported onto a large ship, and disguised himself as the captain, who he had disposed of earlier.
'I won't fail this time. I can't afford to fail again.'
Keitaro waved to Naru and Shinobu, who was holding Tama, as they approached the boarding plank. He wore a traditional white sailing uniform, and clumsily tried to hide- a mop behind his back. The girls giggled as they passed him, and he turned beet red.
"Some thanks," he muttered, but forced a smile. As the ship began to depart, Keitaro let them enjoy the view from the deck, while he went to the interior to begin his work.
The first half of the trip was uneventful, although the view was nice, and more passengers boarded at a small island, where it would then turn around to return to home port. One of the new passengers, a beautiful young lady, walked over to the two girls.
"Oh my, what a lovely ship this is! Is this your first time on a boat?"
Naru smiled at the outgoing girl. "It's a beautiful day, and we are watching the sunlight play on the water."
"I see. I think I'll stand over here too, then. You two are kind people, I can tell. And I kinda need some help, probably."
"Probably?"
"Yes, I have this tendency to faint once in awhile. If I do, can you make sure I don't drown?"
Naru quickly accepted. "I can try. But can you tell me your name?"
"My my! Pardon my manners. My name is Mutsumi Otohime."
"Nice to meet you, Mutsumi. I'm Naru Narusegawa, and this is Shinobu Maehara." Shinobu tried to bow to her, but was interrupted as Mutsumi quickly hugged them both.
"Such nice people. Maybe you can also help me find my new apartment when we get to the next town."
"You're moving on a cruise ship?" Naru was confused.
"It's the only ship that comes to my island."
Tama listened to all of this with a certain boredom, but felt that something was odd about the new person. 'This Mutsumi character seems to have some sort of mysterious luck, although I can't tell if it is good or bad. Maybe both.'
Jeditaro turned off the ship's engine, and the boat slowed. Then, he began to drain energy from people in the passenger's quarters, because the internal rooms were rigged to assist his plot. As the energy gathered, Jeditaro removed the spell he had placed on the ship, and the beautiful illusion became a barely floating heap of wreckage.
Mutsumi felt some of the draining energy, and passed out as the mirage vanished. Naru and Shinobu tried to help her, but seeing that she wasn't in immediate danger, turned to find the people that were. Tama stayed by Mutsumi as the two girls transformed and went to find the enemy.
"I've been waiting, Sailor brats," a dark figure said as they found their way to the front of the ship. "My name is Jeditaro, and I'm going to make sure you never ruin my plans again!" He threw a dark energy blast at them, but they quickly dodged it.
"Plans that hurt others are doomed to fail! Hina Kick!" Jeditaro proved even faster, as he vanished before Sailor Hina Moon had finished her attack. A barrier of crackling dark energy appeared around the two scouts.
"Try and escape that." Jeditaro chuckled as the soldiers struggled to get out, to no avail. All of a sudden a red rose clipped Jeditaro's cheek and stuck into the deck. With a slight cut on his face, and his concentration on the barrier broken, he turned in rage to look up at a mysterious figure up on the roof of the ship.
"A cruise should not be interrupted."
Mutsumi woke up to see a small turtle looking at her, calling her name.
"I didn't know turtles could speak human. I thought I had to speak turtlese."
"Mutsumi, those two girls need your help."
"They do? But I'm the one who needs help."
"Then use this pen and say 'Hina Mars Power!'"
"Okay, cute turtle. Hina Mars Power!" And the smiling lady transformed into the lovely soldier of optimism, Sailor Hina Mars.
"The others are probably in a battle with whoever made this ship. Help them fight!"
"I'll try!"
"Who are you?" Jeditaro sneered at the newcomer, dressed in a black tuxedo and a white mask.
"The ally of Hinata, Ronin Mask!" He turned to the scouts. "Do not give up hope! There is always a way to defeat any opponent."
Hina Mercury turned to the expanse of water around the ship. "I got it! Water drawn to my frying pan attack can be boosted by my powers!" She held out her hand and the pan appeared. She held it above her head, and water came spiraling out of the ocean to it. "Scalding Geyser attack!" She turned the pan at Jeditaro, who was again prepared to avoid it. "Not fast enough!"
"Pathetic. And predictable. You are no match for me."
"Kotatsu Heat Wave!" Jeditaro turned in surprise at the new yell from another direction, and was singed by a new attack, just barely avoiding being destroyed entirely.
"A new soldier!" The two scouts murmured.
"You mean man! I'll never forgive you! The lovely soldier of flame and optimism, Sailor Hina Mars, is here to burn you up!"
Jeditaro could see that he was way outnumbered, but with his mission more or less complete, he had no qualms about leaving the fight unfinished. "Another time, sailors. Bwahaha!" And he vanished.
As the scouts surveyed the ship, they noticed Ronin Mask had also vanished. Inside, they found numerous people injured, who would take much longer to recover since their energy wasn't reclaimed. They also found Keitaro. Though unconscious, he didn't appear to have been drained of his energy.
A few hours later, a patrol ship picked up the people who were on the stranded boat.
The next day, as the Hinata House members ate lunch, Keitaro read the morning paper, while Shinobu finished cooking. When Keitaro had found out how good she could cook, he made her a deal. Now she was officially house chef, and in return he rent cost would be significantly reduced.
"This is great, Shinobu!" Naru exclaimed. "Is there anything you can't do?"
"Um… talk?" Shinobu said quietly. They all laughed.
"That reminds me. I need you to help me study."
"Sounds like fun." She rubbed Tama's chin as the turtle perched on the nearby counter.
Keitaro listened to them talk about studying. He would have asked for help too, but it would have been awkward. After all, he was a third year ronin, and they hadn't even finished school yet.
He put his thoughts back in focus, and read a strange article. "Hey girls, listen to this. 'Local apartment catches fire. No injuries reported.' Isn't that the apartment across from here?"
"I wonder why we didn't hear sirens. Maybe it was small enough to put out with an extinguisher," Naru suggested.
"Or maybe you're a sound sleeper…" Keitaro mumbled, who had heard all sorts of alarms the previous night.
"You better not have said anything bad, Keitaro," Naru warned. He zipped his lip but smiled behind the newspaper. At least she had called him by name. It was a start.
There was a knock at the door. "I'll get it!" Shinobu said cheerfully. And then jumped back in shock as she opened it, for the person she found there was wearing badly burned clothes, and looked a little charred herself. "M-mutsumi?"
"Oh my, you are? Ah, yes, Miss Maehara. Nice boat ride?" And she fainted. Naru and Keitaro got up to help her, and carried her to a sofa, laying her softly down on it. A little while later she woke up.
"I'm sorry for barging in.I heard I might find a room here. You see, there was this heater, and a watermelon, and, well, one thing led to another, and the next thing I knew, my room was on fire! Then, something… something… and here."
"At least you have your health," Keitaro suggested.
Naru punched him. "Obviously, you weren't introduced to Miss Otohime, Keitaro. She doesn't have that either."
Mutsumi laughed. "It's alright. At least I have friends. That's enough for now."
"You're welcome to stay here," the bruised landlord suggested. The other two agreed.
Kitsune walked in the open front door. "I'm… back? Oh great, another straggler."
"A fox?" Mutsumi said, noting Kitsune's usual facial expression.
"More or less."
"I always wanted a pet."
"Hey!"
"Just kidding." She smiled, then fell asleep, exhausted but happy.
Tama thought, 'She is a unique one for sure. Lucky and unlucky both.'
Jeditaro gave the energy he had collected over to his master.
"You look injured, Jeditaro."
"I'm sorry. A third scout appeared, and an ally by the name of Ronin Mask."
"And you couldn't beat them alone."
"No, Kanako-sama."
"At least you didn't fail completely. But you are still on thin ice. Keep that in mind. Next time, don't come back until they are destroyed."
"Very well."
Extra credit preview! Jeditaro's in a tight spot! He's going all out to stop the gathering sailor team from ruining his plans. And he has a few more tricks up his sleeve, to say the least. Even I don't know what he has planned for our heroines! Is three better than one? Stay tuned!
End Test 3