Ranma Half Moon Chapter Eight - Rei and Mamoru?
Author's note: This episode fits in before and during Sailor Moon episode 15, Rei's first date.
Opening theme - "Sleepless Beauty" (From the Gravitation soundtrack, see profile for a link to an excerpt.)
(without an exit)
if you intend to survive the impact
(to the point where you fall apart)
enrapture the deceits
Tendo Nabiki paces through the halls of the Tendo Dojo. It isn't easy to figure out good financial scams and blackmail plots.
Nabiki hears a knock at the door.
Nabiki opens the door to see a girl in a shrine maiden uniform with long, dark hair. "Um, we gave at the office."
Rei smiles. "Is Saotome Ranma here? She came by my shrine with a question and I came by to do a followup meeting."
"Ranma?" Nabiki realizes that Rei only knows Ranma as a girl. "Oh, she hasn't come back from the market yet. She's quite an expert shopper. She can sure stretch those bills!"
Rei laughs.
"My name is Tendo Nabiki."
"Hino Rei." Rei bows. "May I come in?"
Nabiki nods. "Sure. It was really the whole family who hired you, so you can tell the results to me as easily as telling the results to Ranma."
Rei and Nabiki walk along the hall to the study. Rei notices some group pictures lying around. "Do you like to take pictures?"
Nabiki gets nervous. "Well, it is a hobby of mine." That, and blackmail.
Rei sees the group picture with Mamoru. "And, there he is!"
Nabiki nods. "Yes, we were having a going away party, since Akane was doing much better in math."
Rei nods. Suddenly, Rei freezes. She sees another group picture, this time with Akane, Ranma-kun, Soun, and Genma. The boy in the picture is the same the boy in my vision who was going after Usagi. "Who is that boy?"
Nabiki gulps. Oh well, standard cover story number three. "Oh, that's Saotome Ranma."
Rei's eyes triple in size.
Nabiki laughs. "Oh, I get it. Yeah, it is a little confusing. Ranma-kun and Ranma-ko are cousins. I guess their dads are more than a little strange. The two Ranmas don't like each other so you rarely see them together. Both like to think that their martial arts are the best."
"Oh, Nabiki, you have a visitor?"
"Rei, this is my younger sister, Akane. She was being tutored by Mamoru in math. Akane, this is the psychic shrine maiden Hino Rei."
Akane smiles and holds up a pig. Akane wears her workout outfit, a gi. "And, this is P-chan."
Rei smiles. "Pleased to meet you. Did you have any problems with Mamoru?"
Akane shakes her head. "Other than disappearing into thin air one time, he seemed okay."
Rei nods. "Other than fraternizing a lot with younger girls, I sensed nothing sinister."
"But, it doesn't matter now. I got my grades back up." Akane flashes a 'V' sign with her fingers.
Rei smiles. "Excellent." Rei looks at Akane's gi. "Did I interrupt your workout?"
"Oh, I don't mind. Do you do martial arts?"
Rei shakes her head. "I don't have time with my duties at the shrine and my schoolwork. But, I am interested."
"Would you like to spar? I could give you a demonstration."
"Sure!"
Nabiki excuses herself, and Akane and Rei go to the training room.
Akane smiles. "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you."
Rei nods. She clears her mind and expands her spirit-consciousness. This is a good time to test out some of my fighting theories. They might help in fighting Yoma Monsters!
"Here I come."
Rei opens her eyes.
Akane throws one hundred and fifty strikes against Rei and misses each one. What's going on? It's like she's reading my every move.
Finally Akane stops, exhausted. "You're really good."
Rei hangs her head. "But, I don't have any offense, other than throwing a sealing scroll."
Akane and Rei laugh.
Rei gulps. "Akane, do you want to date Mamoru?"
Akane's eyes grow bigger. "Are you interested in Mamoru?"
Rei puts her index fingers together. "Well, maybe. I just didn't want to break up any of your plans or Ranma's plans."
Akane laughs and puts her arm around Rei. "No problem. I don't like guys."
Rei looks at Akane's arm and gets nervous and starts sweating.
Oops, I'm making Rei nervous. "Oh, nothing like that! I'm just more into martial arts than dating."
Rei laughs nervously.
Akane takes her arm off of Rei's shoulder. "And, Ranma-ko really, really doesn't want to date guys."
Rei nods. Could this be a chance?
...
Ranma-ko walks the streets of Juban shopping district. Another good day of gathering goods at steep discounts.
Ranma-ko stops and looks at her reflection in the window. This was certainly an easy way of making a living, but my mind is playing tricks on me. When I flirt with the shopkeepers, I have feelings for them. This is definitely not something a great martial artist should allow. A great martial artist is a master of both mind and body. But how many of them had to deal with a body with entirely new hormones?
Ranma-ko strikes a feminine pose, just for fun. I can definitely see why the shopkeepers would flirt back. But, they had better look and not touch. I am a proud manly man inside, ever though my first kiss was to some moronic ice skating guy. It is a good thing I can beat down any guy who got fresh with her. Who knows what would happen if I wasn't able to? Would I wind up as some subservient housewife? Ranma-ko shudders at this thought.
A cat? Ranma notices that down the street there was a familiar-looking cat. Ranma-ko notices that the cat has the crescent moon birth mark on its forehead and calms down. It is Luna, the cat that told me I was Sailor Moon. And Luna is with some blonde girl. Could she be the real Sailor Moon, the warrior at the airport with the tiara? Nope, they didn't look anything alike.
Ranma-ko inches closer to get a better look at Luna. Weird, Hino Rei is across the street acting suspiciously, and the blonde girl is spying on Rei.
I need a better view. Ranma-ko uses her lighting fast moves and agility to walk across the street in the middle of the block and not get hit.
Ranma-ko sets up on the opposite street corner. I can read lips from here, although I don't need to with the blonde. She is so loud I can hear her over the traffic.
Ranma-ko is shocked when she sees Mamoru approaching the corner where Rei is lurking. Maybe Rei was going to beat Mamoru up?
Rei falls down in front of Mamoru, and Mamoru steps on her head.
Ranma-ko shakes her head. That's the way. Make your head beat up his foot!
Ranma-ko's eyes triple in size when Rei throws herself at Mamoru like a girl with no shame. Ranma-ko's right lip edge goes up when Mamoru walks off with Rei, arm in arm.
"Unforgivable! Impure fraternization!" Ranma and Usagi say in unison.
I better follow them. Mamoru might be in danger from this weird girl...
To be continued
