Selves Inserted
Brought to you by Truly Krappy (T/K) Productions
"Truly Krappy, never half-assed."
Disclaimer: The rights to Sailor Moon, Trigun, and Slayers belong to people other than ourselves. We are not making money off of these characters. Please do not sue us.
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Chapter Five
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Tannim looked around the classroom he and Kagato had come to know as their workplace. Kagato had one eye cracked open to read the book before him, and was apparently studying it intently. The teacher, at the moment, was trying to explain how verbs were conjugated, and the students were busy taking notes. At least, most of them were.
Taking a rubber band out of his pocket, Tannim quickly and quietly tore and folded a makeshift missile from his notebook and launched the small piece of paper at the snoozing Usagi. His aim dead-on, the arrow struck her on the nose, and she jerked awake... and backward onto the floor.
"Balancing trouble, Miss Tsukino?" the teacher asked, not bothering to turn around. He'd taught this class long enough to recognize the sounds Usagi often made. She wasn't a bad student, but she needed to study more and sleep less. Thinking a quick thanks to whatever woke her this time around, he continued his lesson.
Kagato, watching all this with little interest, tried hard to grasp the intricacies of Japanese. Smiling softly to himself as Usagi hit the floor, he turned the page, before sighing and looking at the assembled mass of students. Spotting Ami Mizuno studiously writing everything the teacher said or wrote, he wondered if she had her computer on her.
Pulling himself inward on the astral plane, he solidified his energy slowly, a small orb of dark energy appearing between him and the book. A few moments later, an almost inaudible beep came from somewhere near her. Dispelling the sphere quickly, Kagato turned his attention back to his book, his curiosity sated.
After the class was dismissed, the two tutors made their way to their desks, the lunch period in full swing outside. Tannim idly tossed around a wad of paper as he began to speak to Kagato.
"So, Kag, I noticed you eying Ami. Thinking of fulfilling a fan boy fantasy?"
"Honestly, She's not really my type. I wanted to see if she had her computer on her... you know...?"
Another wad of paper joined the first as Tannim continued the conversation. "Yeah, I do. But why would you need to know she had her computer? What good could that information have done you?"
Shrugging noncommittally, Kagato grinned. "Afraid I'm encroaching upon your territory there, lover boy?"
A third wad of paper joined the two, and Tannim begins to juggle the improvised balls effortlessly. "Nah. Just wondering about stuff. I like to know what people are thinking, natural habit, a good one, to get into when your type of people are around."
Kagato nodded, still grinning. "Yep. All those Mazoku back home, you never can be too careful."
Tannim gave a start, and the wads of paper scattered as they fell to the floor. He dropped his head, sighing. "Sorry about that. I'm still adjusting." Then he turned to Kagato. "I just have this nasty feeling at the pit of my stomach that something very, very bad is going to happen. Worse than getting hit by a truck. And it's making me nervous."
Grinning wider, Kagato turned to open an eye and look at Tannim, "I know." Leaning back in the surprisingly comfortable chair, he stretched, and then continued. "There is something weird in the air though. I can't tell what it is, yet, but..." he shrugged.
Setsuna, as if by magic, suddenly appeared next to the two boys. "Tannim. In my office. Now." She then exited just as quickly as she had appeared.
"Heh," Kagato said, watching the two depart. Turning to the other door, he awaited the entrance of the student standing outside talking up her confidence. A moment later, a knock, more forceful than the student would normally use, echoed throughout the office.
"Entrée." Kagato called out in French. The confusion that emanated through the door made Kagato's grin widen. Then he frowned as he realized he had no clue how to say "enter" in Japanese.
"...hai?" he called out, before teleporting over to the door and opening it.
"Ara... Kagato-sensei?"
"Ami... uhh... Mizuno... umm..." Kagato wondered how to address her, finally shrugging. "Can I help you?" he asked in English, speaking a little slower than normal.
"Hai. I... Do you know... are you..." she trailed off, and I quirked a brow as her confidence began to melt. Finally, she spoke.
"Do know anything... bad, in area?" She asked, haltingly. Kagato blinked, and then shrugged mentally. Why not?
"Like the anomaly that set off the Mercury Computer?" Kagato asked.
Ami frowned at this, piecing together the sentence, before staring at him wide eyed. She regained her composure rapidly, but from the astral plane, Kagato could see her confusion, worry, and fear climb steadily.
Kagato sighed, sitting down in a chair. He wondered briefly how to handle this, now that the cat was out of the bag. Being his usual self would probably result in the reception of a Mercury Aqua Rhapsody, something he'd like to avoid, Mazoku or not.
"Can you show me the computer for a moment?" he asked. Ami frowned, and Kagato, sensing her distrust, pointed at her, with a pen he'd picked up off the desk.
"Sailor Mercury. Mizuno Ami." Standing up, he held the pen up, and said "Mercury Planet Power, Make up." Then he turned in a circle, before stopping in a rather poor imitation of Sailor Mercury's post-transformation pose.
Ami, during this, stared, the color draining from her face. Kagato then proceeded to list the attacks he knew of hers, before naming the other Senshi, by both their civilian names, and Senshi names. Finally, he looked at her, and grinned.
"How..." she asked, quietly. Kagato pointed to the desk, "Mercury Computer." Mercury reached into a pocket and pulled the small device out, opening it and setting it down. Staring at the hiragana onscreen, he sighed. Pointing to her, then himself, then the computer, he asked a one-word question, "Translate?"
Ami looked confused, then, as the word registered, she nodded once, before typing something. Frowning at the computer, she pressed a quick button, and then looked at Kagato expectantly.
"Umm... is it ready?" he asked. The computer responded by repeating what Kagato had said in (what he hoped was) Japanese. Ami spoke rapidly, and after she stopped, the computer began speaking in English.
"Yes. Though, I'm quite annoyed that until now the only way I've had to interact with it is through its tiny keyboard."
Kagato chuckled, and then held out his hand, quickly manifesting his energy into a visible ball of blackness. As expected, the computer beeped. However, it also began speaking in both English and Japanese, though how it did that neither knew.
"WARNING, ANOMOLOUS MAGICAL ENERGY PATTERNS DETECTED. RECORDS INDICIATE HIGH PROBABILITY OF NEGATIVE ENERGY MANIFESTATION, IE: MAZOKU WITHIN VICINITY. STRENGTH: UNKNOWN. INTENTIONS: UNKNOWN. RECOMMEND APPROACH WITH EXTREME CAUTION AND BACKUP."
Kagato blinked at that. "My intentions are honorable! And how the heck did that stupid thing know what I am, anyway? There are no Mazoku in this universe!"
"What are Mazoku?" Ami asked.
"I am a Mazoku... at least, since I arrived on this world. Before, I was human, just like you... well... minus your Senshi-ness."
"That doesn't answer my question," Ami said, frowning slightly.
Kagato grinned at her, and then continued, deciding to let most of the truth out. "I... hmm... I just am. I feed on the negative emotions that everyone gives off, and I am the source of power for all spells using black magic. Mazoku aren't native to this universe, however, so I doubt there's any black magic spells... Could you ask that thing how it knows what Mazoku are?"
Ami stared at Kagato, and then asked the computer, slowly. The computer whirred for a moment, before responding, its answer shocking Ami and Kagato to the core.
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Setsuna pointed toward the cot as Tannim entered. The young man took it as a sign to sit down, so he did.
"All right, off with your coat and shirt."
Tannim blushed as he twirled his fingers around. "Aw, Setsuna-sama, we hardly know each other..."
The green-haired woman huffed. "I merely want to examine you."
As the young man began to disrobe, taking care to keep his revolver hidden, he said, "If that's the way you want to play, I can be a poor, innocent student." His eyes sparkled as he clasped his hands in front of him. "Oh, sensei! I never knew it could BE like this!"
Setsuna rolled her eyes while still managing to look calm and collected. "Stop your foolishness."
It was Tannim's turn to huff. "Fine. Don't let me have any fun," he grumbled as he quickly and efficiently disrobed. Tannim looked up and the next thing he knew Setsuna was there, poking and prodding him with various instruments. The woman nodded in satisfaction as she poked the scab covering the wound on the left side of his body.
"Ouch! That hurts, you know," complained Tannim as he fought to keep his hands from scratching at the wound.
"Where did you get this?"
"Um... I tripped on some stairs?"
"Last I knew, stairs didn't cause puncture wounds."
"They were very mean stairs," lied Tannim as he studiously inspected the ceiling. "They beat me up and stole my lunch money."
Setsuna shook her head. "You should have at least bandaged it up."
Tannim continued his study of ceiling tiles.
The green-haired woman pulled out a roll of bandages and quickly began wrapping them around the young man's body. "If you are not in top physical condition, you will not be able to carry out your duties."
"Oh? And what duties would those be? Protecting the Moon Princess?" Tannim asked with careful calculation.
Setsuna froze. Her eyes swiveled and pierced Tannim with a look of extreme suspicion. The young man returned the gaze with a look of his own, calm and serious.
"We know."
"How?"
"That's not important right now. What's important is that you know we know, and that we're not trying to harm you or the rest of your friends in any way." Tannim sighed. "The information would have come out sooner or later, by some action or misplaced word. I'd rather choose the time and place. This is it." He grumbled under his breath, "and hopefully missing out on the required battle heroes have when meeting each other for the first time." In a louder voice, he continued: "Kagato and I know all about the Sailor Senshi, and the Moon Kingdom. Please, let's go get Kagato so we can talk this over, okay?"
With a subtle nod, and a rather unfriendly frown, Setsuna finished bandaging up the young man before she walked out the door, Tannim right behind her.
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Chapter Five End
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Author Notes:
Tannim: Just me this time, I'm afraid. Surprisingly enough, there wasn't a single shred of e-mail concerning chapter four. If you read this series, and take a liking to it, please don't hesitate to send us e-mail, even if it's little bits saying 'this is cool!' or 'stop writing, you guys suck!'.
Experimenting with brackets for Japanese language parts, since the normal 's tend to be interpreted as HTML on If you feel like it, C&C would be helpful. And any e-mail would help us along to continue writing.