Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma or Sailor Moon. If I did then the scouts wouldn't using their uniforms except for a seduction routine.
Ranma, Ryoga, and Herb were all sitting on the bleachers in the gym with their gym uniforms on. Their class was currently playing basketball for gym and to be fair to the other students the teacher had told them to hit the bench. Personally Ranma was a little annoyed at not being able to play, but Ranma could understand why the teacher had requested that the three of them sit the game out. It's not much of a game when a person can make a three point shoot from the other end of the court if their so inclined.
Still, there were some benefits to having to sit on the benches as far as Ranma was concerned. Mostly those benefits centered on the fact that the benches provided a great viewing angle of where the girls' game was going on and the fact that he could watch that game without getting into trouble. Like any teenage boy, Ranma could appreciate some of the finer things in life. Currently the 'finer things in life' for Ranma right now meant enjoying how good Usagi looked in her school gym outfit while making that jump-shot.
Ryoga was sitting to Ranma's left and Ryoga was currently sporting a fanged grin. He had spotted where Ranma's gaze was directed and for a second Ryoga had thought about teasing Ranma about it. However Ryoga decided against teasing Ranma simply because he knew that Ranma would probably turn the tables on him by bringing Ami into play.
As he thought about the situation a bit, Ryoga couldn't help but marvel at how much Ranma and he had changed over the past few months. Back in Nerima, Ranma looking at a girl like he currently was looking at Usagi would have caused major problems. Problems, Ryoga was ashamed to admit, that he would have aggravated for one inane reason or another. Now that both of them lived in Juban they were able to act like regular teenagers.
The remaining member of the trio, Herb, was currently lounging on his bench enjoying the feeling of being just a regular teenager. Well as regular a teenager that a cursed prince from a semi-mythic tribe can be. Herb knew on an unconscious level that his life would never be 'normal', but he was perfectly content to just enjoy the moment. It was a skill that Herb had quickly learned from his liege -Ranma; Herb mentally corrected himself, and had been grateful to learn. From what Herb had observed Juban was a great place to perfect that ability as one needed it to stay sane after so many monster attacks.
Juban, and Japan for that matter, was a strange place to Herb that could easily leave him confused. Out of all the confusing things in Juban, the thing that confused Herb the most was currently trying to steal the basketball from Usagi. Rei Hino was a mystery wrapped in an enigma surrounded by a puzzle as far as Herb was concerned. Women on principal seemed confusing to Herb, but Rei took that to a whole other level. And yet as confusing as Rei was to Herb, he just felt compelled to try and solve the mystery that surrounded her.
While Herb was thinking about Rei, he remembered the letter that his father had sent a few days ago. Over all, Herb's father had been pleased to hear about Herb's progress in school and in life in general. The fact that Prince Nephelite's reincarnation had been found and that Herb had befriended Ranma was something that Herb's old man was ecstatic about. There was only one thing in the letter that Herb was not exactly thrilled about. In order to further "broaden his horizons" Herb's father had told Herb that Herb was expected to attend all school events that the average student was expected to attend. Lay men's terms: you're going to that dance son whether you want to or not. This was a bit of a problem for Herb as he had no idea HOW he was supposed to ask a girl out to a dance!
Luckily for Herb, he had two friends on the bleachers with him who he knew would be at the dance. After offering a slient prayer of thanks to the kami that he had learned to humble himself enough to ask for help, Herb said just loud enough for Ranma and Ryoga to hear him, "Can I get your advice guys?" Ranma and Ryoga then turned their gaze from the girl's basketball game towards Herb. Seeing that he had their attention Herb calmly said, "I want to know how a guy asks a girl out? You see my father wants me to go to the dance this month and I have absolutely no clue how to go about getting a date."
Herb's two companions looked at each other for a second as if in silent communication and then nodded their heads. Ranma then looked at Herb and said, "That's a difficult question Herb. From my limited personal experience and from what Usagi had told me, the best thing to do is to ask a girl up front. But, you can't be blunt about it or beat around the bush. If you already have a girl in mind-" and at this point Ranma paused to smirk at Herb, "-you're half-way there already. Just go up to the girl when she seems to be in a good mood and politely ask her. Oh remember to look at the girl's face during the conversation. Usagi told me that one of the biggest complaints she's been hearing from various girls in school are that too many guys are undressing the girls with their eyes while their talking to the girls."
Herb nodded his head as he listened to what Ranma was telling him and he scowled a bit when Ranma mentioned that last fact. Due to being a girl at times, Herb had developed a great dislike for perverted actions or actions that made women uncomfortable. In Musk culture women were traditionally sequestered from non-relatives, but they were still respected. Letting go of his annoyance over what his hormonal-controlled piers were doing, Herb let out a sigh of relief. Most of Ranma's advice was stuff that Herb had thought of at least passing before asking for help. However, this told Herb that he was on the right track towards asking Rei out. Now if only Herb could figure out where his courage had run off to he would be in business.
After school let out Ranma and Usagi walked towards Usagi's house along their usual route. As usual Ranma was walking on the fence post while Usagi was walking in front of Ranma on the fence for a change. Thanks to her training Usagi had managed to gain enough skill that Ranma had suggested that she try walking on the fence. At first Usagi had some trouble finding her balance as she walk, but that only lasting for a few minutes.
For his part Ranma was admiring Usagi's progress as she walked. Usagi hadn't wobbled at all once she had gotten the hang of fence beam walking. Well there was one incident about half a block ago, but that was deliberate on her part as she wanted to feel Ranma catch her in his arms. Ranma knew why Usagi was so driven to learn martial arts and was very proud of her for that drive. Her desire to protect the people of the city was in Ranma's mind a far better reason to start learning martial arts then to be the best like he started out with.
Looking at Usagi as she calmly walked along the fence made Ranma think about how his life had changed over the past few months. For just a moment, Ranma felt debited to Akane. Before that moment Ranma never would have believed that he would have had a kind thought for his ex-fiancé If it wasn't for her breaking the Tendo-Saotome pact he would never have met Usagi.
Thinking about Akane brought the rest of the old Nerima crew to the forefront of Ranma's mind. One thing that Ranma was sure of was that it was only a matter of time before they managed to find him again and then there would be a reckoning. Ranma figured that out of his old acquaintances that he hadn't heard from only Kasumi, Nabiki, and Cologne had a reasonable chance of leaving without causing a ruckus. Kasumi would leave because violence was not her preferred course of action. Nabiki might cause a bit of a stink for show, but Ranma figured that Nabiki would just be happy to have him out of the Tendo house and away from her life. Cologne might still want him in her tribe, however Ranma figured that Cologne wouldn't want to tangle with the Musk to try and get him.
With the regular and true nutcases of Nerima: Kuno, Kodaichi, Shampoo, and even Uyko, Ranma was expecting a great deal of trouble. Kuno and Kodaichi could be taken in on assault and battery charges if they tried to attack Ranma or anyone he held dear. Those loons may have some weight with things in Nerima, but not in Juban. Uyko could probably be handled in the same way as the Kunos although Ranma was hoping it wouldn't have to come to that. Shampoo was another matter. If she went into 'obstacles are for killing' mode of thinking in regards to Usagi Ranma knew that he would try to put her down, permanently.
That he could and would go to that level if Usagi was at risk was something that genuinely frightened Ranma. In fact after the Death Buster incident was over Ranma begged Luna to use her mind-scan abilities to find out why he could act so viciously when Usagi's safety was at stake. What Luna had told him after she had preformed the scan had surprised Ranma, but in the end had made a great deal of sense. During the Neko-ken, Ranma had the mentality of a cat grafted into him. That cat mentality had been destroyed when Ranma had merged with his past incarnation, but pieces of that mentality had survived and mutated.
Those cat mentality fragments, which were now a permanent part of Ranma's psyche, had morphed to more closely resemble the mentality of a Nemean Lion from Jupiter then a house cat. Male Nemean Lions, from what Ranma could remember, were well renowned in the Silver Millennium for how ferociously they protected their mates. It was that fierce raging desire to protect Usagi in his psyche that caused Ranma to be so vicious towards all people who wanted to harm her. Given what he knew about Shampoo, It would only make sense that Ranma would be willing to kill her if the Amazon genuinely tried to harm Usagi.
Ranma then glanced at Usagi again as she was hopping off the fence so she could cross the street and he felt his troubles wash away. He might have to be on the watch for the cat fragments in his personality for the rest of his life, but there was a bright side Ranma mused. Even lions and tigers could become gentle creatures thanks to a good trainer. For Ranma, Usagi was the trainer who could turn the more unwanted cat aspect in his mind from a fierce tiger into a gentle kitty cat. It was something that Ranma would never tell Usagi about, but still silently thanked her for it just the same.
Nodoka and Ikuko were sitting at the Tsukino dinner table enjoying some tea. The two mothers could hear the sounds of a videogame being played in the Tsukino family room. Ikuko put her tea down on the table and said, "I'm glade that we have these afternoon tea visits Nodoka. It's just wonderful at times to have an old friend around to talk to about the everyday things that go on here."
Nodoka took a sip of her tea and then replied, "I enjoy these visits as well Ikuko." Pausing for a moment in thought, Nodoka then said, "One of the things that I really like about these visits is that it gives Hotaru a chance to play with Shingo. Hotaru has been doing better since I adopted her, but she still is quite the loner. Its understandable considering the fact that Usagi and Ranma were apparently the first friends that Hotaru has had since her birthmother died. She's made some good acquaintances at her new school, but I do wish that she would open up more with her classmates. From what I can tell the only real friend that Hotaru has right now besides Makoto, Ranma, Usagi, and their friends is Shingo."
Placing her teacup down on the table Ikuko said, "Just give her some more time Nodoka. Not everyone can be as extroverted as you were in School. Hotaru has a circle of friends who accept her for who she is and that is enough for now. The fact that Hotaru is a 'tag along' to the group shouldn't worry you given the fact that Hotaru is viewed as 'Hotaru' to the group and not 'Ranma's little sister'. Still, I'm glade that you like bringing Hotaru over to play with Shingo. I actually think that he enjoys having Hotaru over to play."
This little bit of news caused Nodoka to blink her eyes in surprise. "He enjoys playing with Hotaru? I thought that a boy his age would rather play with other guys then with a girl." Nodoka said in mild surprise. From what Nodoka had observed when she had gone to sign Hotaru up for school, the gender split was still there for the most part in Hotaru and Shingo's grade level. True the boys in Shingo's class seemed to hold the Sailor Scouts in great respect, but Nodoka didn't see that as too important. Both boys and girls at that age tend to show a great deal of respect or at least admiration for a far older man or woman while still wanting to have nothing to do with the opposite gender that was around their age.
Ikuko just gave Nodoka a small shrug and said, "That's what I've seen so far. All those two do is play video games when Hotaru is over so it may just be that Shingo is happy to have someone to play video games with. I doubt that this is the case however, due to the fact that Shingo spends a lot of time helping Hotaru learn all the little tricks in his games. Shingo usually just either pounds his friends when there in verse mode or he leaves them hanging when there is a part of the game they can't figure out."
Both mothers were silent after that as they let that information sink into their brains. For the most part Nodoka and Ikuko were happy that all of their kids were able to get along. However, there was a little romantic girl inside each of them that thought that it was 'SOO CUTE' for Shingo and Hotaru to be friends. The conversation slowed down after these thoughts crossed Nodoka and Ikuko's minds.
Carrying a tray loaded with his dinner, Ryoga calmly walked from the kitchen to the family room of the Hibiki family house. One of the benefits of living by yourself that Ryoga knew of was being able to eat dinner wherever you want to without getting in trouble. There weren't too many things that Ryoga knew of that made living alone acceptable and this was one of those few things. Ryoga would much rather be living with friends like he had been at the Saotome household, but that wasn't really an option. With Makoto and Hotaru moving in with the Saotomes that home was just getting too crowded for Ryoga. He may be friends with Ranma, but sharing a small room with Ranma would be purgatory in Ryoga's mind.
And so Ryoga had moved back here, to his family home in order to correct the living space problem that had developed at the Saotome household. Privately Ryoga thought that 'house' was a better description of the Hibiki estate then 'home' since he was the only person who lived in the place. Even though Ryoga had been in Juban for almost 2 months, he hadn't received one word from either of his parents. One of Ryoga's biggest dreams at the moment, and it was something he had only revealed to Ami, was to be able to take his parents to those monks to correct the Hibiki teleportation abilities. That way, Ryoga and his parents could finally be a true family again; rather then blood-related acquaintances.
Giving off an annoyed snort, Ryoga stopped thinking about his parents for the moment. He then sat down on the Lazi-Boy chair in the family room and put his feet up. Ryoga then turned down the volume of the TV so that he wouldn't loose his hearing and started to eat. As a cook, Ryoga was pretty much limited to cooking soups and other dishes that could be cooked in a pot of boiling water so for tonight Ryoga was having Ramen. As Ryoga ate his noodles he paid half-attention to the TV which was currently showing an episode of Ninja Squadron Kakuranger.
For the most part, Ryoga was thinking about Ami while he ate. Thanks to Moouse's advice he had been able to save his and Ami's friendship. After a few days of awkwardness due to the circumstances that had caused his curse to be revealed to Ami everything was back on track. Once the awkwardness was gone Ryoga had somehow managed to get enough guts to ask Ami out to Moouse's place for lunch and to his immense joy Ami had accepted. Ever since that date the two of them had been together and by the end of that week the entire school knew that they were together thanks to the grapevine.
There was just one thing about his and Ami's relationship that, for lack of a better word, bothered Ryoga. Ami seemed to have a secret that she didn't want him to know about. Since Ami's secret didn't seem to be connected to their relationship and she was trying to keep it a secret Ryoga was perfectly willing to not bring it up. It would be hypocritical of him to demand to know what Ami was hiding as he had hidden his curse from Ami and Ryoga knew that. Still, Ryoga couldn't help wishing that Ami confide what her secret was to him.
Finishing off the last of his noodles, Ryoga brushed his thoughts on Ami's secret to the side. Ryoga was then just about to turn off the TV and clean his dishes when he heard the sound of someone landing on his roof. This sound worried Ryoga because he, Ranma, and Herb all stuck to the sidewalks or fences when traveling around Juban. Ryoga's worries were amplified when he heard a voice he had been hoping to never hear again said, "Come to Happy my beauties!"
Herb was furious and he was currently chasing after an annoying little imp. This thing had the nerve to break into the Hino house and steal Rei's unmentionables. What made the situation so aggravating to Herb, besides the fact that the act itself was infuriating, was the fact that he had been this close to asking Rei out to the dance! It had taken Herb hours to get everything set up so that Rei could be in a great mood when he asked her to go out with him and now all that effort was wasted.
Right now Herb would have liked nothing more then to use his 'Flying Sword of the Dragon' attack on this old man. Unfortunately for Herb, Happosai was an agile little troublemaker so there was a high chance that any Chi attacks would miss. Herb's wallet couldn't finance the re-building of a roof right now so Herb was reduced to running/flying after Happosai.
On his part Happosai was having a great time as he ran across the roofs. Juban had SO many more precious darlings to be 'liberated' then Nerima ever did. Sure there was that annoying teen that was trying to pound him, but that only made the liberation run all the more fun. Sparing a quick glance backwards as he jumped across a street Happosai considered his follower. This brat didn't seem to be as skilled as Ranma was in chasing after him, but the new brat was still pretty good. Maybe this new brat could be whipped up into a semi-useful disciple? Personally Happosai didn't particularly care about that at the moment and he crowed as he landed on the new roof, "Come to Happy my beauties!"
Happosai quickly ran across the roof of the house he was on and then jumped off the roof. While in mid-air, Happosai turned around and taunted Herb by saying, "Na, Na, you're a hundred years too young to try and catch me sonny." After tossing that insult out at Herb, Happosai decided to stick his tongue out at Herb to further insult Herb. Since there was no possible way that Herb could catch him, Happosai felt that he could insult Herb as much as he wanted to.
All of a saddened Happosai's merry making came to a screeching halt as the Oompa-Loompa reject collided with a wall of muscle. Before Happosai could recover from his momentary daze, he was roughly picked up by the scruff of his neck. Happosai then got another shock when he was raised so Happosai could see who was holding him. "Ryoga," Happosai gasped out in shock, "Why are you here in Juban?!" This made absolutely no sense to Happosai because as far as he could reason Ryoga should either be in China or Nerima.
While looking at the pervert he had in his hands Ryoga started to growl. He had teleported onto this roof so he could see what exactly Happosai was up to even though Ryoga had a pretty good idea of what was going on beforehand. The over-sized bag that Happosai had been carrying which had a bra sticking out of it from its place on the roof was enough evidence to tell Ryoga what was going on. Ryoga then glanced towards his roof and saw Herb standing on the roof. Considering the fact that Herb was in his male form, Ryoga assumed that Happosai had hit Rei's bedroom during his raid.
Suddenly a very satifying idea came to Ryoga's mind that caused him to smirk like the Grinch. "Hey Herb," Ryoga called out, "Are you up to a game of volleyball? I've got the ball right here." As he said the last part Ryoga held Happosai out so Herb could see. From the angle that he was held at, Happosai could see the grin on Herb's face when Ryoga mentioned playing volleyball. Over all Happosai did not like how his current situation was apparently turning out.
Luna casually walked into Usagi's room and saw that Usagi was at her desk apparently hard at work on something. Personally Luna was extremely happy with how Usagi had been maturing and was proud to be the advisor of this new Usagi. While she had been proud of Usagi before these changes, Luna had been a little annoyed with how Usagi had first acted when they had met. Moon cats were after all supposed to be advisors, not babysitters. While glancing over to a small framed photo of Ranma that Usagi had on her desk, Luna gave a small prayer of thanks to Queen Serenity for send Prince Nephelite forward with the princess and the scouts.
Hoping onto Usagi's bed, Luna then tried to discreetly see what Usagi was working on. Since Usagi liked to do her homework with Ranma and Ranma didn't normally leave Usagi until both of their homework was completed, Luna knew that Usagi wasn't working on homework. Sadly for Luna's pride, Luna wasn't nearly as stealthy as she thought she was. Usagi turned around to look at Luna and said, "Now what are you doing Luna?"
Deciding to save her dignity Luna calmly sat down on her back feet and said, "I was trying to see what you're working on Usagi. If there is any way I can help you with what you're working on I was going to offer to help."
Usagi gave Luna a small smile and then picked Luna up so that she could place Luna in her lap. Once Luna was in Usagi's lap, Usagi said in her usual caring voice, "Thanks for wanting to help me Luna. In fact, I think that you might be able to help me with what I'm doing." After saying that, Usagi picked up the book on her desk and showed it to Luna. The book was a detailed atlas of the Moon that Usagi had checked out of the school library.
Luna looked at the Lunar Atlas, but she couldn't figure out what Usagi was trying to do. Carefully hopping off of Usagi's lap to the floor and then jumping up to Usagi's desk, Luna maneuvered herself so she could look Usagi in the eye. Luna then scratched her head and said, "I'm sorry Usagi, but I can't help you out. I can't even figure out what it is that you're working on."
Usagi then set the Lunar Atlas down on the table and said, "That's okay Luna. What I'm trying to do is locate the various lunar cities from the Silver Millennium and get their coordinates. It's been a bit tricky since astronomers don't have the equipment yet to detect magical camouflage. However, I have managed to figure out the locations of 7 large Silver Millennium settlements from my fragmented memory."
After waiting for a moment to let the shock of what she was doing to pass from Luna, Usagi showed Luna a notebook that had cuneiform-like symbols drawn on its open page. Usagi then proudly smiled at Luna and said, "I've been writing down which settlements I've located and where they are here in this notebook. Since I've written everything down in Ancient Lunarian script I don't have to worry about someone discovering that I'm Sailor Moon if I were to loose this notebook. My plan is to ask Ranma tomorrow if he wouldn't mind coming with me on a little date to the Moon. I don't want to take any of the others because Ranma and I are the only ones who have enough power to make the jump back to Earth by ourselves right now if something were to go wrong."
Luna carefully considered what Usagi was telling her before saying anything. Part of Luna was screaming against leaving Usagi completely alone with Ranma. That part of Luna was the overly protective part of Luna that wanted to make sure that nothing 'scandalous' happened to Usagi or anything that could be construed as 'scandalous' to have happened. As the princess's and the queen's advisor one of Luna's duties had been to keep an eye on the court grapevine and pruneit where necessary.
Luckily Luna's more rational mind was able to prevent that knee-jerk reaction and see the logic behind Usagi's decision. More to the point, Luna could see the necessity for Usagi to go to the Moon. There were likely dozens of Silver Millennium relics on the Moon alone that had survived Beryl's assault thanks to being underground, camouflaged, and/or shielded. While those relics were safe from prying eyes for now, no one could be sure that they would always be safe. Those relics would be an unknown security risk for the Sailor Scouts until the relics were secured and Luna was mentally kicking herself for not realizing that sooner.
Looking strait into Usagi's eyes Luna calmly said, "I approve of your decision Usagi. The lunar ruins need to be checked out and it would be better to do that now during a time of peace then while we are under attack by enemy forces. My advice is for you and Ranma to start your explorations at the Lunar Palace. At the very least the royal databanks will be intact even if nothing else of the palace has survived." Luna saw the questioning look on Usagi's face and gave a small smirk before saying, "Think about it Usagi. How could the Mercury Computer have EVERY bit of information that the scouts have needed when they needed it? Its constantly updating itself with the information stored in the royal databanks."
Happosai was currently lying in a dumpster moaning in pain and cursing the kami for his day. All he had wanted to do today was enjoy his golden years by freeing his precious darlings from those girls who were obviously mistreating them. It was practically a civic duty as far as Happosai was concerned and he was happy to discharge that duty.
Unfortunately, there were two people living in the ward who didn't seem to know about this little duty. Ryoga and Herb had spent over half an hour playing volleyball across the roofs of Juban with Happosai as their ball before Herb had spiked Happosai into the dumpster he was in. Never before in his life had Happosai ever been as humiliated as he had been by Herb and Ryoga. Ranma hadn't managed to humiliate Happosai to this degree back in Nerima. Just the thought of those to insolent teens caused Happosai's blood to boil as he lay in the garbage. One thing was for sure in Happosai's mind, he would avenge himself on those two brats and make their lives worse then they could ever imagine.
Happosai was in such a rage that he wasn't paying any attention to his surroundings. Thus, he never notices the unearthly black fog that had started to fill the alley that he was currently in. The fog blocked Happosai's dumpster from any possible observer's sight for a minute before dissipating. When the fog dissipated everything in the alley was exactly the same except for one thing: Happosai was gone.