DISCLAIMER: Relatively standard stuff. Existing characters are properties of the people who made them up. Mitsuki, and several other characters are mine, and so's the story, hence ownership and copyright of them belongs to me. Contact me at misato_98@yahoo.com if you want permission to use anything I've written for whatnot purposes.
LOVE
By
Raymond Cooper
Chapter 11
** Immoral Combat **
The morning was quiet. Ranma had cancelled training for the day, and all Usagi heard as she woke was the muted murmur of conversation from the kitchen below. No doubt Makoto had been up as early as usual, making breakfast and lunches for everyone. No one in the dorm could pack a lunch as tightly or tastfully as Makoto, Usagi reflected as she stretched out to unkink tired muscles. Like the other senshi, she hadn't actually done much the day before - she half-suspected Ranma's last words before he'd retired for the night had been because he'd be aching like nobodies' business after the huge fight with Mistress Saturn the day before - but watching that intense fight in fast-forward, and helping to clean up the resultant mess, had tired Usagi like she hadn't been in a long time. Idly, she wished Mamoru were there, in bed, with her that morning. She could so use an extra hand before breakfast.
Eventually, she made her way downstairs, dressed still in her pyjamas and wearing fluffy bunny slippers on her feet. Hotaru, eyes downcast, passed her in the hallway at the base of the stairs, taking a small tray with some rice and sauces into her room, closing the door behind her. She seemed to be embarrassed, Usagi thought. But time to fix that later. First came breakfast.
There were two boxes outside the kitchen door. One was black, the other white. Both had small crescent moons stencilled on the front. "Morning, Luna, Artemis," Usagi grumbled as she passed by. Luna replied, but the response was muffled too much by the cardboard.
Why'd the cats have to stay in the boxes, anyway? Ranma wasn't around, he'd have to be asleep still - or off in one of the hot springs, trying to recover from the beating he'd only received just hours ago. And seriously, Usagi didn't believe that Ranma had some kind of majorly bad reaction to cats. She had taken what Mitsuki and Hotaru had said happened in the restaurant on the night of their infamous date with a grain of salt - more like the whole shaker, actually - and had all but completely ignored it. Ranma didn't show any signs of problems with anything else - except women, but seeing as he was a complete idiot and jerk, that was understandable and thus ignorable - so it either had to be a put-on or the others had faked it.
This whole sex-change curse thing, that was interesting. Usagi guessed their was something funny about that, too, and assumed that perhaps Ranma had done the sex change thing to see naked girls. But then, she'd seen him when he was female, seen him naked, knew that he was, as she'd once heard it put, 'anatomically correct'. Which made that theory seem quite unlikely.
Besides, who believed in curses these days? There was no such thing. Ami'd know what the story was there; Usagi decided she'd have to ask Ami about it later.
She pushed open the door to the kitchen, and threw her arms out wide. "Goood mooorning," she sang as she swept inside, tiredness gone as The Usagi Show took over and filled her with the almost limitless energy she could often display anywhere but within a classroom.
Barring Hotaru, everyone was there. Ami, Rei, Minako, Makoto, Mitsuki, Ranma. Ranma? She checked again. Yep, Ranma. Lifting up one of the cupboards with one hand while doing something completely cunning with a wrench with the other. He twisted the wrench upwards, and Makoto gave a happy sigh. "Water's stopped," she said to him. He nodded, and put the cupboard down again, gently.
"I'll get on to that while you're all... doing whatever you'll all be doing this fine Saturday," he said to Makoto. Ranma's free hand reached up and scratched the back of his head. "I don't know how that pipe could have burst again, though," he continued. "I only replaced them... oh yeah... before I... uh... you know."
"Before the university accident?" Minako chimed in from behind. Usagi watched Ranma blush.
"Yeah, that's the one."
"Thanks, Ranma. But... they still haven't replaced the library yet, and the nearby rooms are blocked off. So none of us have classes today."
"Ahhh... can I have the kitchen to myself for a few hours?"
"Yes, won't be a problem. I'll be finished soon, then we can shoo everybody out." Makoto looked a little shy. "Would you need a hand?"
Ranma, not noticing Makoto's hesitance, shook his head. "No... but someone'd better say good morning to Usagi before she short-sheets you guys again."
There was a chorus of "Good morning"'s directed at Usagi moments later. Usagi grumped, but cheered almost immediately again. "I'm going to see Mamoru today!" she announced. Ranma looked over.
"He coming over again? Could use a hand in the kitchen here."
Usagi noticed Makoto's hurt expression, but once again, Ranma didn't. "No, he's not. We're off to see a movie. The new Spielburg film's out and Mamoru wants to go see it." But then Usagi was bursting with curiousity. "How are you walking around, let alone standing up? You nearly got killed yesterday! You should be one huge bruise!"
Ranma gave Usagi a sideways look, to make sure she was serious. Finding she was, he shrugged. "Thick skin, I guess," he said. "Hey, if I can bust giant rocks an' get slammed through walls without nothin' wrong with me, why can't I take a few punches like piledrivers?" He wiped his hands on his loose black pants, and slipped the wrench into a pocket, where it seemed to disappear.
Usagi was about to ask more questions, but Ranma held his hands up. "Hey! I did that for Sailor Saturn. She's a nice girl, you know? Not the first time I've helped destroy that school or the Tendo house... damn... now I gotta pay for damages again..." his voice trailed off, and he stalked out of the kitchen. The way his fists were bunched, Usagi imagined he was going to hit something. She turned to the other senshi, determined to try to get that hurt expression off Makoto's face.
"Hey, Mako-chan, you doing anything today?"
Makoto's eyes lifted to meet Usagi's, and Usagi could see that Makoto realised she knew how she felt. But even Usagi knew that by now, everyone should have given up on Ranma, if they were ever interested. He only had eyes for Hotaru. And Usagi had decided a while back to keep an eye on the diminutive senshi of death and rebirth, make sure she was all right. Rei could handle her feelings by herself. Minako found someone to replace her occasional fantasies on an almost daily basis. Ami was still hanging out for Keitaro. Mitsuki... Mitsuki was a mystery. No one had yet learned much about the eldest of the assembled senshi. But now she added Makoto to the list of people to watch for problems with Ranma.
Before Makoto could answer, though, Ami said something very un-Ami-like, under her breath. Eyes swung around to lock onto her, finding her staring with something like horror at her computer.
"Ami?" Usagi asked.
"Everyone should read this." She turned her computer around so everyone could read the monitor. She was connected to the internet, checking sites she obviously had an interest in, and one of the open windows was currently showing Ebay.JP. One of the auctions of the day, listed right under the heading, was "IDENTITIES OF THE SAILOR SENSHI".
Currently with twelve hours remaining on the auction, and the current value of it listed at 1 yen.
Usagi sounded distant as she stared at the current bid. "I feel so insulted."
******
Yoshihiro drifted about his sanctum. Plans had been pulled awry, and that had forced him to rethink some of his short-range strategies. He hadn't believed he would have a senshi as a General of his forces for too long, since the knowledge imparted to him in his Dark Rebirth had contained several such fiascos. He didn't want another Prince Endymion or Dark Lady problem on his hands - even when evil, those senshi and their allies were annoyingly forces for the Moon Kingdom. Quite how, he never really could explain. Yet their lust for power and actions in trying to one-up the other existing Generals often brought Dark Kingdom forces down low, just when they needed to be strong. And besides, having a visible General - someone everyone was looking for - was definitely not a good thing when it came to trying to keep a low profile in draining energy.
He glanced over at one wall of his sanctum, where Natsumi had been constructing him a huge bank of monitors. Perhaps he'd expended her too readily, to early in the piece. She'd have been a powerful General in the endgame, definitely. But Umiko had been jealous - still was, and wanted to know why the little bitch wasn't lying nameless, bloodless, in some gutter somewhere. But Yoshihiro had wanted Natsumi left alive. What she could still bring to his plans... well, he wouldn't know exactly what she'd done to Ranma until later. Much later, he knew. And he could see where things were going. Could see the patterns.
Well, not him, but one of his Lesser monsters. A young man who's head had exploded, erupted into mere probability theory. At any one moment, all the threads of possible reality danced around him like flickering projections of someone's fevered imagination. Utilising this boy's ability, it was possible to bring the present future along a pre-set course. It was also possible to see much of what was happening now.
But for now, he'd wished that he'd at least held onto Natsumi for another few days. Maybe even an hour or two. He had the omputer hooked up to the internet, but no CNN-Japan, and no cartoon channels. Best he had was a fuzzy black and white TV set that ahd obviously seen better days, trying desperately to reach in between the Dark Kingdom and the Earth Kingdom to pull in local Tokyo television stations. It was better than nothing.
Least occasionally there was something on the net.
He glanced at the monitor, wandered over to it. Clicked with the mouse on the "Favourite" icon, scrolled down his list of favourite websites, found the one he was looking for, and clicked on it. Ebay.JP flashed up on the screen. And the first of the auctions listed on the frontpage was...
Yoshihiro sucked in a breath.
"IDENTITIES OF THE SAILOR SENSHI."
He had to have them. Knowing one of them wasn't like knowing the others. He'd taken a guess, thanks to Hotaru hanging around that Ranma, and guessed correctly.
Sometimes, being an evil all-knowing monster General was merely appearance. If you took a guess and were right, then it reinforced that appearance. If you guessed wrong, well, you just killed the witnesses and hey, problem solved. Yoshihiro stared at the auction, clicked on it to see how much the latest bid was. If it was too high, he wouldn't be able to even make a bid on it.
He trembled when the current bid flashed up. 120 yen.
Yoshihiro dug through the pockets of his suit, and found 130 yen, two buttons and some lint. He quickly tapped in the 130 yen.
******
"We're being beaten already!" Rei yelled. "This is great! Anyone else have any money?"
"I need to buy my lunch at the movies today," Usagi grumbled.
"Grow up, Usagi, this is serious!" Rei yelled again. The cats, free of their boxes and sitting on the kitchen table next to the computer, nodded in unison.
"But it's a daaaate!" Usagi wailed.
Ami was quickly counting small currency on the table. "I can add in another 60 yen," she said, dubiously.
Makoto shook her head. "Man, you guys are so weak! Do any of you have money?"
"Don't you?" Rei countered.
******
A half-hour passed. Yoshihiro updated the site page yet again, and found the current bid was now sitting at 360 yen. Hmm. He stroked his chin thoughtfully, and checked an ashtray that Umitake used when at the computer. Deep under the mountain of ash sitting on top was another 400 yen. Which gave him a grand total of 530. Just enough to beat these other bidders.
He entered the amount, then stood, and left the room. Evil needed plotting.
Besides, sitting at the computer for hours on end hitting the refresh ubtton every few minutes was driving him crazy.
******
"Luna, do you have another couple of hundred yen?"
The black cat shook her head. "Really. What do you girls do with your money?"
"I pay for my tuition and board with mine," Ami said, helpfully.
Rei shook her head. "I've given up everything I've got. Even my bus fare for tomorrow. Grandpa might give me some more money later in the week," she added dubiously. "But that won't help us now."
"Surely if we put on a show for him... I can't believe I just said that," Minako muttered almost to herself. Rei eyed her curiously, and more than a little worried. "I think I've got some money upstairs." She bolted from the room, long blond hair trailing behind.
"Come on! Give it... up!" With a final grunt, Makoto gave up on trying to pry Usagi's purse from her fingers. She might as well have been a mountain of granite for all the use the effort had done. "Don't you want to stop people from finding out who we are?"
"Someone already knows!" Usagi shot back. "And that's not stopping me from going on my date!"
The door pushed open slowly, quietly.
"I haven't seen Mamoru in... in ages! And we couldn't do anything while he was here last time, and -"
"Couldn't DO anything? You kept up your wing of the dorm!" Makoto shot back.
A pair of purplish eyes peered in, taking in the commotion.
"So don't you go telling me you couldn't do anything! Anyway, this is more important than your stupid love-life!"
A hand reached in through the door and deposited something on a nearby counter, then withdrew, and the door swung shut.
"Ouch! What was that for? Just because *you're* single and I'm *not*!"
"Usagi! Makoto! Anyone'd think you're a pair of cats!" Mitsuki stopped, glanced at Luna and Artemis. "Uh... no offence."
"None taken," Luna asid. Artemis lowered his eyes.
"Does anyone have any more money?" he asked.
Mitsuki reached out, swiped money off the counter. "Here's some."
"Where'd that come from?" Makoto demanded. "That wasn't there a moment ago."
"Maybe you put it there because of your guilty conscience!" Usagi grumbled.
"MY guilty conscience! You're the one holding out on us!"
"Leggo my ear!"
Mitsuki tuned them out as she turned to Ami and Rei. "Looks to be about 20,000 yen."
Ami stared. "Who had that kind of money lying about?"
Mitsuki shrugged. "Not my place to say." She shot a glance at Usagi. Usagi, preoccupied with disentangling her hair from Makoto's clutching fingers, missed it completely. Luna didn't.
"Perhaps I should go for a walk," she suggested.
"Good idea," Mitsuki nodded. "And I'll bang some heads here together. Keep it quiet for your... walk." Luna nodded, and flicked out the kitchen doorway .
"Hey," Mitsuki said, leaning in over Ami's shoulder and checking the laptop's monitor, "that's not showing up as 20,360 yen."
"No, and hopefully it won't," Ami said in reply. "The auction system of the site will take that as our maximum bid, and will update it as people make bids that are lower than that. When they get higher, we need to have more money."
"You think we'll need a lot more money?" Mitsuki said.
Ami nodded. "A lot more, I would say. Too many enemies that we just don't know about. Too many enemies who'd do anything to find out who we are, to hit us when we're unawares. Too many enemies -"
"With nothing better to do with their time?"
"Um... yes. Those kinds of enemies."
******
Damn. Everytime Yoshihiro updated his bid, someone else automatically outbid him. It was someone with the user name of ByTheSea, and whomever he or she was, they wanted the identities of the Sailor Senshi at least as much as he did. Why, he didn't know. There seemed to be no other hint of Dark Kindgom power in the world today... although he was catching the occasional wiff of it, especially recently. There was something... something in the air... something familiar... he'd smelt it before... a long time ago... but he couldn't make the connection.
He sighed, looked once more at the newly updated high bid. 20,000 yen. He had his monsters turning their pockets out, looking for any loose change they had. He'd organised one raid in Tokyo that'd gone somewhat awry and ended up in a kindergarten. Energy was gained, but not a lot. Children usually don't generate much energy of any sort, and they're almost as broke as university students. So Yoshihiro had managed to get the monies from the school's safe, but that had only brought his grand total up to a whole 19,990 yen.
So seriously not good.
He stroked his chin once more. He could try robbing a bank or something, but that wouldn't necessarily mean he could get back in time to make a new bid. And however much money he did retreive from Earth, there's no way he could know what the existing maximum bid ByTheSea had made. Damnation. He felt like hitting something. Hurting something.
Where was a puppy when a little boy needed one?
He sighed, covered his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose. He checked how long he had left on the auction. A few minutes. Oh, damn it all. He could always get the money together after the final bid.
He typed in 1,000,000 yen and hit enter.
******
Ami yelled another un-Ami-like word from the kitchen. Assorted senshi and animals burst into the kitchen, expecting to see some kind of multiple-monster invasion of the pantry, but were instead treated to Ami's horrified face peernig up from behind the laptop.
"What is it, Ami?" Artemis asked.
"What's the matter?"
Ami swivled the laptop around, let everyone see for themselves. 1,000,000 yen. They couldn't match that bid. This was it. All over.
Ranma walked into the kitchen, saw the screen. "Hey, what kinda game's that?" he asked.
"It's not a game, Ranma," Ami explained, her voice a little shakey and scratchy. She gave a quick explanation of how the site worked, and what functions it provided.
"Oh, yeah, I saw Nabiki checking this thing out occasionally. So, what's the problem?"
"Problem?" Usagi asked, looking a little banged up and upset. Ranma guessed her date had fallen through for some reason. Makoto similarly looked as if she'd been training by having rocks thrown at her or something. He also noticed both her and Usagi were standing the furtherest apart in the room. "What makes you think there's a problem?"
"'Identities of the Sailor Senshi?'" Ranma asked. "I'd guess that'd be some kind of major problem. Who's running the bid? You know his name?"
Ami shook her head. "No. We only know his or her screen name. RichSoAndSo."
"You're kidding," Ranma chuckled. "Hey, look out." He pushed Ami out of the way of the keyboard, and stretched his brain back to one of Nabiki's harebrained money-making schemes. He hesitantly tapped in a name to log in as, thought for a few more minutes.
"What are you doing?" Minako exploded. "We've only got a few minutes before the end of the auction!"
"Yeah, yeah, shut up a minute and lemme remember. It's been a while."
"A while?" Ami asked.
"Yeah. Nabiki set an account up for me during school. She was selling pictures of me on this internet thing then and pretended to be me selling them. To make it look legit, like I was getting the money for some charity so she could get some big payoff for her favourite charity, she had me get into it one time. So I gotta remember what I did to get in."
"Just log in as us. Use us." Mitsuki stopped. "But we don't have the kind of money we'd need to top that amount."
"Yeah, yas don't. Far as I know." Ranma cracked his knuckles, typed in a password. Went to the auction, stared at the amount of money, and sighed. "Damn. Thought I was gonna get to keep that... ah well... Hotaru'll thank me later, I'm sure." He typed something in, and waited.
A minute later, Usagi couldn't wait anymore. "Aren't you going to hit enter?"
"Nah... not just yet," Ranma responded, checking a clock. Nearly time.
He hit enter.
******
Yoshihiro hit refresh a moment later. The server hadn't updated yet, and he got the highest bid title still. A few minutes later, though, he frowned. Perhaps someone had made a bid right on the cutoff point. After all, didn't that happen from time to time? People waited until the last second to make some exorbitantly high bid to make sure they won their auction without other people having a chance to respond? He hit refresh, expecting to see ByTheSea to have more money posted.
But no. It was RedHairedGirl that had made the winning bid. Of 1,500,000 yen.
Curses. Time to fall back on plan B.
******
The wind whipped around Makoto's ankles, and she wished she'd worn something a little warmer than a thin pair of coloured stockings. Her miniskirt wasn't offering much in the way of protection, either, and as autumn slowly faded and winter approached, she had to start dressing for the weather. It would start snowing any time soon.
Beside her stood Ami, looking around for whomever was making this drop-off. Whomever had known their identities. Ranma was hanging back, leaning against a wall, backpack slung over his shoulder. Her shoulder, Makoto had to remember. Ranma had been splashed on the way here, and wasn't very happy about that fact. His... her clothes hung on her much lighter frame, and she looked as if she'd been shrunk down to a child.
A figure appeared in the distance, black, approaching with a slow, trudging pace. It got closer, but Makoto still couldn't make out any details. As the figure got even closer, Makoto realised that was because RichSoAndSo was wearing a thick trenchcoat, a fedora hat pulled down tight over its head. The figure stopped, a few metres from Makoto and Ami.
Ranma pushed off from the wall, and called out, "Yo, Nabiki! C'mon, you knew I was gonna pay for the damages."
Makoto and Ami turned from Ranma to the new arrival, who reached up and pulled off the hat. "Dammit, Ranma, we couldn't wait forever for the money. Winter's coming."
"The fence was only destroyed yesterday! Gimme a chance to get the money, why don't cha?"
"You've got the 1.5 mil yen?"
Ranma hefted the sack. "I checked around. That's how much it'll cost to get it restored. And now I'm even broker, if that's possible."
"You can always move back."
"You know I can't. Even if I wanted to, Kasumi wouldn't have it. You know that."
"Yeah. I do." Nabiki sighed. "Oh, hey, I thought it was only going to be three of you."
"Yeah. It is."
"Hey!" Makoto demanded. "You said you wouldn't use our identities to make money!"
"Hey, I needed some. A one-time offer. I knew Ranma'd find out about it and do something. He always does."
"Nabiki, what'd you mean about the three of us?"
Nabiki pointed over Ranma's shoulder. Ranma turned.
"Oh. It's you."
Yoshihiro nodded at the envelope that had appeared in Nabiki's hand. "I want that."
"How'd you find us?" Ranma asked.
"I have my ways," Yoshihiro shrugged. "You know - digital monsters can be a pretty useful thing to have under one's control. Although I so wish you hadn't removed Natsumi from the equation so early in the piece."
Ranma's hackles rose. "What happened to her was her own choosing - and as I recall, what you pushed her into."
"Well, there is that..."
"So, you've come to dirty your hands this time?"
"No. I wanted that package... but now... I see I no longer need it."
"Why's that?" Makoto asked, trying not to sound too hopeful or downcast.
"Because... he's here." Yoshihiro pointed at Ranma and smiled. "One such as you will go far. I only wish you could see you as I can see you now. Why I didn't see it before, I don't know."
"Is that a threat?" Ranma asked, lowering himself into a fighting stance.
"No. It's just a comment. Because, you know, you could have killed Mistress Saturn so easily. But I'm looking for a replacement for Natsumi. If you feel like you could take her place... please. Come see me. I'm sure the senshi can open you a portal to my world." Then Yoshihiro turned, started walking, and faded away in a tangle of black lines of nothingness.
Ranma was confused, and wasn't the only one. "Was that a job offer?" Makoto asked, wonderingly.
"I think you'd get a better benefits package with him than you're getting now, Ranma," Nabiki commented dryly. Ranma handed her the backpack. "It's all in here? Good. Then I'm off home. My ankles are starting to get cold." She turned to go, but stopped when she felt Ranma's hand grabbing at her arm. Not hard, not soft, just... taking it as a friend would.
"Nabiki. Say hi to Akane for me, would ya?" he asked. It was a light tone, nothing serious. And yet, it was a sign he wasn't leaving them completely. Nabiki decided she could work this to her advantage at some later point, promised she'd do just that, and left the empty park.
Ranma looked back at where Yoshihiro had disappeared, and thought hard.
"He really just offered you a job, didn't he?" Makoto asked. Ranma just nodded. "You thinking of taking it?" Ranma held up the envelope in front of Makoto and Ami. Waved it about.
"See this? Right now, it's the most powerful thing in the world. It can kill you guys, or keep you safe. Which my proxy, makes me the strongest man in the world. I hold the fate of the future in these fingers. My decision now... will affect countless destinies. What I do... will make alliances with dark forces and block out the light. Because there'll be no goin' back. Once I make this decision, Makoto, Ami, one way or the other, I kill you all. You're not strong enough to fight Yoshihiro. *I'M* not strong enough ta fight him. So what do I do? Give him the names and let him kill you quickly. Or... not kill you at all and let him kill you slowly. Which is the more preferrable?"
"Ranma -" Ami started, but the papers of the envelope and its contents bursting into flame in Ranma's hand was enough to silence her. Ranma's female eyes bored into hers from the other side of the fire, looking more intense than usual. Hard, like granite. Cold, like marble.
"There's a third choice, though, one I made a long time ago and which I'm gonna see through now. Ami, you wake Usagi up first thing in the morning.
"School's gonna be in."
SAILOR MOON SAYS:
Another chapter finished! Woo. Short, too. Started a new fic in the past few weeks - Saikano/Evangelion: Love Song of Tomorrow. I'm gonna say it here, because I guess people read this fic series more than X-Com: don't go read Love Song if you haven't seen the end of Saikano, because it has major spoilers. It starts at the very end of the TV series, and continues into Evangelion - and as Saikano is an awesome series, I don't want to spoil it for anyone and don't want to be accused of ruining an awesomely depressing series for anyone else (I was in such a funk for 3 days after seeing the last few episodes of that show, I'm surprised I made it without doing some major harm to myself or my relationships with others).
Anyways. This chapter came about as a bit of a joke, since I've known a couple of the people who've tried to sell weird things on ebay, like their soul, the soul of their guitars, the meaning of life, touches from god, etc, and wondered what would happen if Nabiki did what she'd most likely be wanting to do with such juicy information. I mean, come on, who didn't see that one coming two chapters back?
Okay, me, I admit she was going to remain virtuous this one time.
But anyway, I digress.
Next time: Luna's talk. I mean, walk. Walk. And the morning after the morning after.
LOVE
By
Raymond Cooper
Chapter 11
** Immoral Combat **
The morning was quiet. Ranma had cancelled training for the day, and all Usagi heard as she woke was the muted murmur of conversation from the kitchen below. No doubt Makoto had been up as early as usual, making breakfast and lunches for everyone. No one in the dorm could pack a lunch as tightly or tastfully as Makoto, Usagi reflected as she stretched out to unkink tired muscles. Like the other senshi, she hadn't actually done much the day before - she half-suspected Ranma's last words before he'd retired for the night had been because he'd be aching like nobodies' business after the huge fight with Mistress Saturn the day before - but watching that intense fight in fast-forward, and helping to clean up the resultant mess, had tired Usagi like she hadn't been in a long time. Idly, she wished Mamoru were there, in bed, with her that morning. She could so use an extra hand before breakfast.
Eventually, she made her way downstairs, dressed still in her pyjamas and wearing fluffy bunny slippers on her feet. Hotaru, eyes downcast, passed her in the hallway at the base of the stairs, taking a small tray with some rice and sauces into her room, closing the door behind her. She seemed to be embarrassed, Usagi thought. But time to fix that later. First came breakfast.
There were two boxes outside the kitchen door. One was black, the other white. Both had small crescent moons stencilled on the front. "Morning, Luna, Artemis," Usagi grumbled as she passed by. Luna replied, but the response was muffled too much by the cardboard.
Why'd the cats have to stay in the boxes, anyway? Ranma wasn't around, he'd have to be asleep still - or off in one of the hot springs, trying to recover from the beating he'd only received just hours ago. And seriously, Usagi didn't believe that Ranma had some kind of majorly bad reaction to cats. She had taken what Mitsuki and Hotaru had said happened in the restaurant on the night of their infamous date with a grain of salt - more like the whole shaker, actually - and had all but completely ignored it. Ranma didn't show any signs of problems with anything else - except women, but seeing as he was a complete idiot and jerk, that was understandable and thus ignorable - so it either had to be a put-on or the others had faked it.
This whole sex-change curse thing, that was interesting. Usagi guessed their was something funny about that, too, and assumed that perhaps Ranma had done the sex change thing to see naked girls. But then, she'd seen him when he was female, seen him naked, knew that he was, as she'd once heard it put, 'anatomically correct'. Which made that theory seem quite unlikely.
Besides, who believed in curses these days? There was no such thing. Ami'd know what the story was there; Usagi decided she'd have to ask Ami about it later.
She pushed open the door to the kitchen, and threw her arms out wide. "Goood mooorning," she sang as she swept inside, tiredness gone as The Usagi Show took over and filled her with the almost limitless energy she could often display anywhere but within a classroom.
Barring Hotaru, everyone was there. Ami, Rei, Minako, Makoto, Mitsuki, Ranma. Ranma? She checked again. Yep, Ranma. Lifting up one of the cupboards with one hand while doing something completely cunning with a wrench with the other. He twisted the wrench upwards, and Makoto gave a happy sigh. "Water's stopped," she said to him. He nodded, and put the cupboard down again, gently.
"I'll get on to that while you're all... doing whatever you'll all be doing this fine Saturday," he said to Makoto. Ranma's free hand reached up and scratched the back of his head. "I don't know how that pipe could have burst again, though," he continued. "I only replaced them... oh yeah... before I... uh... you know."
"Before the university accident?" Minako chimed in from behind. Usagi watched Ranma blush.
"Yeah, that's the one."
"Thanks, Ranma. But... they still haven't replaced the library yet, and the nearby rooms are blocked off. So none of us have classes today."
"Ahhh... can I have the kitchen to myself for a few hours?"
"Yes, won't be a problem. I'll be finished soon, then we can shoo everybody out." Makoto looked a little shy. "Would you need a hand?"
Ranma, not noticing Makoto's hesitance, shook his head. "No... but someone'd better say good morning to Usagi before she short-sheets you guys again."
There was a chorus of "Good morning"'s directed at Usagi moments later. Usagi grumped, but cheered almost immediately again. "I'm going to see Mamoru today!" she announced. Ranma looked over.
"He coming over again? Could use a hand in the kitchen here."
Usagi noticed Makoto's hurt expression, but once again, Ranma didn't. "No, he's not. We're off to see a movie. The new Spielburg film's out and Mamoru wants to go see it." But then Usagi was bursting with curiousity. "How are you walking around, let alone standing up? You nearly got killed yesterday! You should be one huge bruise!"
Ranma gave Usagi a sideways look, to make sure she was serious. Finding she was, he shrugged. "Thick skin, I guess," he said. "Hey, if I can bust giant rocks an' get slammed through walls without nothin' wrong with me, why can't I take a few punches like piledrivers?" He wiped his hands on his loose black pants, and slipped the wrench into a pocket, where it seemed to disappear.
Usagi was about to ask more questions, but Ranma held his hands up. "Hey! I did that for Sailor Saturn. She's a nice girl, you know? Not the first time I've helped destroy that school or the Tendo house... damn... now I gotta pay for damages again..." his voice trailed off, and he stalked out of the kitchen. The way his fists were bunched, Usagi imagined he was going to hit something. She turned to the other senshi, determined to try to get that hurt expression off Makoto's face.
"Hey, Mako-chan, you doing anything today?"
Makoto's eyes lifted to meet Usagi's, and Usagi could see that Makoto realised she knew how she felt. But even Usagi knew that by now, everyone should have given up on Ranma, if they were ever interested. He only had eyes for Hotaru. And Usagi had decided a while back to keep an eye on the diminutive senshi of death and rebirth, make sure she was all right. Rei could handle her feelings by herself. Minako found someone to replace her occasional fantasies on an almost daily basis. Ami was still hanging out for Keitaro. Mitsuki... Mitsuki was a mystery. No one had yet learned much about the eldest of the assembled senshi. But now she added Makoto to the list of people to watch for problems with Ranma.
Before Makoto could answer, though, Ami said something very un-Ami-like, under her breath. Eyes swung around to lock onto her, finding her staring with something like horror at her computer.
"Ami?" Usagi asked.
"Everyone should read this." She turned her computer around so everyone could read the monitor. She was connected to the internet, checking sites she obviously had an interest in, and one of the open windows was currently showing Ebay.JP. One of the auctions of the day, listed right under the heading, was "IDENTITIES OF THE SAILOR SENSHI".
Currently with twelve hours remaining on the auction, and the current value of it listed at 1 yen.
Usagi sounded distant as she stared at the current bid. "I feel so insulted."
******
Yoshihiro drifted about his sanctum. Plans had been pulled awry, and that had forced him to rethink some of his short-range strategies. He hadn't believed he would have a senshi as a General of his forces for too long, since the knowledge imparted to him in his Dark Rebirth had contained several such fiascos. He didn't want another Prince Endymion or Dark Lady problem on his hands - even when evil, those senshi and their allies were annoyingly forces for the Moon Kingdom. Quite how, he never really could explain. Yet their lust for power and actions in trying to one-up the other existing Generals often brought Dark Kingdom forces down low, just when they needed to be strong. And besides, having a visible General - someone everyone was looking for - was definitely not a good thing when it came to trying to keep a low profile in draining energy.
He glanced over at one wall of his sanctum, where Natsumi had been constructing him a huge bank of monitors. Perhaps he'd expended her too readily, to early in the piece. She'd have been a powerful General in the endgame, definitely. But Umiko had been jealous - still was, and wanted to know why the little bitch wasn't lying nameless, bloodless, in some gutter somewhere. But Yoshihiro had wanted Natsumi left alive. What she could still bring to his plans... well, he wouldn't know exactly what she'd done to Ranma until later. Much later, he knew. And he could see where things were going. Could see the patterns.
Well, not him, but one of his Lesser monsters. A young man who's head had exploded, erupted into mere probability theory. At any one moment, all the threads of possible reality danced around him like flickering projections of someone's fevered imagination. Utilising this boy's ability, it was possible to bring the present future along a pre-set course. It was also possible to see much of what was happening now.
But for now, he'd wished that he'd at least held onto Natsumi for another few days. Maybe even an hour or two. He had the omputer hooked up to the internet, but no CNN-Japan, and no cartoon channels. Best he had was a fuzzy black and white TV set that ahd obviously seen better days, trying desperately to reach in between the Dark Kingdom and the Earth Kingdom to pull in local Tokyo television stations. It was better than nothing.
Least occasionally there was something on the net.
He glanced at the monitor, wandered over to it. Clicked with the mouse on the "Favourite" icon, scrolled down his list of favourite websites, found the one he was looking for, and clicked on it. Ebay.JP flashed up on the screen. And the first of the auctions listed on the frontpage was...
Yoshihiro sucked in a breath.
"IDENTITIES OF THE SAILOR SENSHI."
He had to have them. Knowing one of them wasn't like knowing the others. He'd taken a guess, thanks to Hotaru hanging around that Ranma, and guessed correctly.
Sometimes, being an evil all-knowing monster General was merely appearance. If you took a guess and were right, then it reinforced that appearance. If you guessed wrong, well, you just killed the witnesses and hey, problem solved. Yoshihiro stared at the auction, clicked on it to see how much the latest bid was. If it was too high, he wouldn't be able to even make a bid on it.
He trembled when the current bid flashed up. 120 yen.
Yoshihiro dug through the pockets of his suit, and found 130 yen, two buttons and some lint. He quickly tapped in the 130 yen.
******
"We're being beaten already!" Rei yelled. "This is great! Anyone else have any money?"
"I need to buy my lunch at the movies today," Usagi grumbled.
"Grow up, Usagi, this is serious!" Rei yelled again. The cats, free of their boxes and sitting on the kitchen table next to the computer, nodded in unison.
"But it's a daaaate!" Usagi wailed.
Ami was quickly counting small currency on the table. "I can add in another 60 yen," she said, dubiously.
Makoto shook her head. "Man, you guys are so weak! Do any of you have money?"
"Don't you?" Rei countered.
******
A half-hour passed. Yoshihiro updated the site page yet again, and found the current bid was now sitting at 360 yen. Hmm. He stroked his chin thoughtfully, and checked an ashtray that Umitake used when at the computer. Deep under the mountain of ash sitting on top was another 400 yen. Which gave him a grand total of 530. Just enough to beat these other bidders.
He entered the amount, then stood, and left the room. Evil needed plotting.
Besides, sitting at the computer for hours on end hitting the refresh ubtton every few minutes was driving him crazy.
******
"Luna, do you have another couple of hundred yen?"
The black cat shook her head. "Really. What do you girls do with your money?"
"I pay for my tuition and board with mine," Ami said, helpfully.
Rei shook her head. "I've given up everything I've got. Even my bus fare for tomorrow. Grandpa might give me some more money later in the week," she added dubiously. "But that won't help us now."
"Surely if we put on a show for him... I can't believe I just said that," Minako muttered almost to herself. Rei eyed her curiously, and more than a little worried. "I think I've got some money upstairs." She bolted from the room, long blond hair trailing behind.
"Come on! Give it... up!" With a final grunt, Makoto gave up on trying to pry Usagi's purse from her fingers. She might as well have been a mountain of granite for all the use the effort had done. "Don't you want to stop people from finding out who we are?"
"Someone already knows!" Usagi shot back. "And that's not stopping me from going on my date!"
The door pushed open slowly, quietly.
"I haven't seen Mamoru in... in ages! And we couldn't do anything while he was here last time, and -"
"Couldn't DO anything? You kept up your wing of the dorm!" Makoto shot back.
A pair of purplish eyes peered in, taking in the commotion.
"So don't you go telling me you couldn't do anything! Anyway, this is more important than your stupid love-life!"
A hand reached in through the door and deposited something on a nearby counter, then withdrew, and the door swung shut.
"Ouch! What was that for? Just because *you're* single and I'm *not*!"
"Usagi! Makoto! Anyone'd think you're a pair of cats!" Mitsuki stopped, glanced at Luna and Artemis. "Uh... no offence."
"None taken," Luna asid. Artemis lowered his eyes.
"Does anyone have any more money?" he asked.
Mitsuki reached out, swiped money off the counter. "Here's some."
"Where'd that come from?" Makoto demanded. "That wasn't there a moment ago."
"Maybe you put it there because of your guilty conscience!" Usagi grumbled.
"MY guilty conscience! You're the one holding out on us!"
"Leggo my ear!"
Mitsuki tuned them out as she turned to Ami and Rei. "Looks to be about 20,000 yen."
Ami stared. "Who had that kind of money lying about?"
Mitsuki shrugged. "Not my place to say." She shot a glance at Usagi. Usagi, preoccupied with disentangling her hair from Makoto's clutching fingers, missed it completely. Luna didn't.
"Perhaps I should go for a walk," she suggested.
"Good idea," Mitsuki nodded. "And I'll bang some heads here together. Keep it quiet for your... walk." Luna nodded, and flicked out the kitchen doorway .
"Hey," Mitsuki said, leaning in over Ami's shoulder and checking the laptop's monitor, "that's not showing up as 20,360 yen."
"No, and hopefully it won't," Ami said in reply. "The auction system of the site will take that as our maximum bid, and will update it as people make bids that are lower than that. When they get higher, we need to have more money."
"You think we'll need a lot more money?" Mitsuki said.
Ami nodded. "A lot more, I would say. Too many enemies that we just don't know about. Too many enemies who'd do anything to find out who we are, to hit us when we're unawares. Too many enemies -"
"With nothing better to do with their time?"
"Um... yes. Those kinds of enemies."
******
Damn. Everytime Yoshihiro updated his bid, someone else automatically outbid him. It was someone with the user name of ByTheSea, and whomever he or she was, they wanted the identities of the Sailor Senshi at least as much as he did. Why, he didn't know. There seemed to be no other hint of Dark Kindgom power in the world today... although he was catching the occasional wiff of it, especially recently. There was something... something in the air... something familiar... he'd smelt it before... a long time ago... but he couldn't make the connection.
He sighed, looked once more at the newly updated high bid. 20,000 yen. He had his monsters turning their pockets out, looking for any loose change they had. He'd organised one raid in Tokyo that'd gone somewhat awry and ended up in a kindergarten. Energy was gained, but not a lot. Children usually don't generate much energy of any sort, and they're almost as broke as university students. So Yoshihiro had managed to get the monies from the school's safe, but that had only brought his grand total up to a whole 19,990 yen.
So seriously not good.
He stroked his chin once more. He could try robbing a bank or something, but that wouldn't necessarily mean he could get back in time to make a new bid. And however much money he did retreive from Earth, there's no way he could know what the existing maximum bid ByTheSea had made. Damnation. He felt like hitting something. Hurting something.
Where was a puppy when a little boy needed one?
He sighed, covered his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose. He checked how long he had left on the auction. A few minutes. Oh, damn it all. He could always get the money together after the final bid.
He typed in 1,000,000 yen and hit enter.
******
Ami yelled another un-Ami-like word from the kitchen. Assorted senshi and animals burst into the kitchen, expecting to see some kind of multiple-monster invasion of the pantry, but were instead treated to Ami's horrified face peernig up from behind the laptop.
"What is it, Ami?" Artemis asked.
"What's the matter?"
Ami swivled the laptop around, let everyone see for themselves. 1,000,000 yen. They couldn't match that bid. This was it. All over.
Ranma walked into the kitchen, saw the screen. "Hey, what kinda game's that?" he asked.
"It's not a game, Ranma," Ami explained, her voice a little shakey and scratchy. She gave a quick explanation of how the site worked, and what functions it provided.
"Oh, yeah, I saw Nabiki checking this thing out occasionally. So, what's the problem?"
"Problem?" Usagi asked, looking a little banged up and upset. Ranma guessed her date had fallen through for some reason. Makoto similarly looked as if she'd been training by having rocks thrown at her or something. He also noticed both her and Usagi were standing the furtherest apart in the room. "What makes you think there's a problem?"
"'Identities of the Sailor Senshi?'" Ranma asked. "I'd guess that'd be some kind of major problem. Who's running the bid? You know his name?"
Ami shook her head. "No. We only know his or her screen name. RichSoAndSo."
"You're kidding," Ranma chuckled. "Hey, look out." He pushed Ami out of the way of the keyboard, and stretched his brain back to one of Nabiki's harebrained money-making schemes. He hesitantly tapped in a name to log in as, thought for a few more minutes.
"What are you doing?" Minako exploded. "We've only got a few minutes before the end of the auction!"
"Yeah, yeah, shut up a minute and lemme remember. It's been a while."
"A while?" Ami asked.
"Yeah. Nabiki set an account up for me during school. She was selling pictures of me on this internet thing then and pretended to be me selling them. To make it look legit, like I was getting the money for some charity so she could get some big payoff for her favourite charity, she had me get into it one time. So I gotta remember what I did to get in."
"Just log in as us. Use us." Mitsuki stopped. "But we don't have the kind of money we'd need to top that amount."
"Yeah, yas don't. Far as I know." Ranma cracked his knuckles, typed in a password. Went to the auction, stared at the amount of money, and sighed. "Damn. Thought I was gonna get to keep that... ah well... Hotaru'll thank me later, I'm sure." He typed something in, and waited.
A minute later, Usagi couldn't wait anymore. "Aren't you going to hit enter?"
"Nah... not just yet," Ranma responded, checking a clock. Nearly time.
He hit enter.
******
Yoshihiro hit refresh a moment later. The server hadn't updated yet, and he got the highest bid title still. A few minutes later, though, he frowned. Perhaps someone had made a bid right on the cutoff point. After all, didn't that happen from time to time? People waited until the last second to make some exorbitantly high bid to make sure they won their auction without other people having a chance to respond? He hit refresh, expecting to see ByTheSea to have more money posted.
But no. It was RedHairedGirl that had made the winning bid. Of 1,500,000 yen.
Curses. Time to fall back on plan B.
******
The wind whipped around Makoto's ankles, and she wished she'd worn something a little warmer than a thin pair of coloured stockings. Her miniskirt wasn't offering much in the way of protection, either, and as autumn slowly faded and winter approached, she had to start dressing for the weather. It would start snowing any time soon.
Beside her stood Ami, looking around for whomever was making this drop-off. Whomever had known their identities. Ranma was hanging back, leaning against a wall, backpack slung over his shoulder. Her shoulder, Makoto had to remember. Ranma had been splashed on the way here, and wasn't very happy about that fact. His... her clothes hung on her much lighter frame, and she looked as if she'd been shrunk down to a child.
A figure appeared in the distance, black, approaching with a slow, trudging pace. It got closer, but Makoto still couldn't make out any details. As the figure got even closer, Makoto realised that was because RichSoAndSo was wearing a thick trenchcoat, a fedora hat pulled down tight over its head. The figure stopped, a few metres from Makoto and Ami.
Ranma pushed off from the wall, and called out, "Yo, Nabiki! C'mon, you knew I was gonna pay for the damages."
Makoto and Ami turned from Ranma to the new arrival, who reached up and pulled off the hat. "Dammit, Ranma, we couldn't wait forever for the money. Winter's coming."
"The fence was only destroyed yesterday! Gimme a chance to get the money, why don't cha?"
"You've got the 1.5 mil yen?"
Ranma hefted the sack. "I checked around. That's how much it'll cost to get it restored. And now I'm even broker, if that's possible."
"You can always move back."
"You know I can't. Even if I wanted to, Kasumi wouldn't have it. You know that."
"Yeah. I do." Nabiki sighed. "Oh, hey, I thought it was only going to be three of you."
"Yeah. It is."
"Hey!" Makoto demanded. "You said you wouldn't use our identities to make money!"
"Hey, I needed some. A one-time offer. I knew Ranma'd find out about it and do something. He always does."
"Nabiki, what'd you mean about the three of us?"
Nabiki pointed over Ranma's shoulder. Ranma turned.
"Oh. It's you."
Yoshihiro nodded at the envelope that had appeared in Nabiki's hand. "I want that."
"How'd you find us?" Ranma asked.
"I have my ways," Yoshihiro shrugged. "You know - digital monsters can be a pretty useful thing to have under one's control. Although I so wish you hadn't removed Natsumi from the equation so early in the piece."
Ranma's hackles rose. "What happened to her was her own choosing - and as I recall, what you pushed her into."
"Well, there is that..."
"So, you've come to dirty your hands this time?"
"No. I wanted that package... but now... I see I no longer need it."
"Why's that?" Makoto asked, trying not to sound too hopeful or downcast.
"Because... he's here." Yoshihiro pointed at Ranma and smiled. "One such as you will go far. I only wish you could see you as I can see you now. Why I didn't see it before, I don't know."
"Is that a threat?" Ranma asked, lowering himself into a fighting stance.
"No. It's just a comment. Because, you know, you could have killed Mistress Saturn so easily. But I'm looking for a replacement for Natsumi. If you feel like you could take her place... please. Come see me. I'm sure the senshi can open you a portal to my world." Then Yoshihiro turned, started walking, and faded away in a tangle of black lines of nothingness.
Ranma was confused, and wasn't the only one. "Was that a job offer?" Makoto asked, wonderingly.
"I think you'd get a better benefits package with him than you're getting now, Ranma," Nabiki commented dryly. Ranma handed her the backpack. "It's all in here? Good. Then I'm off home. My ankles are starting to get cold." She turned to go, but stopped when she felt Ranma's hand grabbing at her arm. Not hard, not soft, just... taking it as a friend would.
"Nabiki. Say hi to Akane for me, would ya?" he asked. It was a light tone, nothing serious. And yet, it was a sign he wasn't leaving them completely. Nabiki decided she could work this to her advantage at some later point, promised she'd do just that, and left the empty park.
Ranma looked back at where Yoshihiro had disappeared, and thought hard.
"He really just offered you a job, didn't he?" Makoto asked. Ranma just nodded. "You thinking of taking it?" Ranma held up the envelope in front of Makoto and Ami. Waved it about.
"See this? Right now, it's the most powerful thing in the world. It can kill you guys, or keep you safe. Which my proxy, makes me the strongest man in the world. I hold the fate of the future in these fingers. My decision now... will affect countless destinies. What I do... will make alliances with dark forces and block out the light. Because there'll be no goin' back. Once I make this decision, Makoto, Ami, one way or the other, I kill you all. You're not strong enough to fight Yoshihiro. *I'M* not strong enough ta fight him. So what do I do? Give him the names and let him kill you quickly. Or... not kill you at all and let him kill you slowly. Which is the more preferrable?"
"Ranma -" Ami started, but the papers of the envelope and its contents bursting into flame in Ranma's hand was enough to silence her. Ranma's female eyes bored into hers from the other side of the fire, looking more intense than usual. Hard, like granite. Cold, like marble.
"There's a third choice, though, one I made a long time ago and which I'm gonna see through now. Ami, you wake Usagi up first thing in the morning.
"School's gonna be in."
SAILOR MOON SAYS:
Another chapter finished! Woo. Short, too. Started a new fic in the past few weeks - Saikano/Evangelion: Love Song of Tomorrow. I'm gonna say it here, because I guess people read this fic series more than X-Com: don't go read Love Song if you haven't seen the end of Saikano, because it has major spoilers. It starts at the very end of the TV series, and continues into Evangelion - and as Saikano is an awesome series, I don't want to spoil it for anyone and don't want to be accused of ruining an awesomely depressing series for anyone else (I was in such a funk for 3 days after seeing the last few episodes of that show, I'm surprised I made it without doing some major harm to myself or my relationships with others).
Anyways. This chapter came about as a bit of a joke, since I've known a couple of the people who've tried to sell weird things on ebay, like their soul, the soul of their guitars, the meaning of life, touches from god, etc, and wondered what would happen if Nabiki did what she'd most likely be wanting to do with such juicy information. I mean, come on, who didn't see that one coming two chapters back?
Okay, me, I admit she was going to remain virtuous this one time.
But anyway, I digress.
Next time: Luna's talk. I mean, walk. Walk. And the morning after the morning after.