Conjunction

13

Commissioned by Warslick.

"Alright, old ghoul, we're here," Ranma grumbled as they entered the restaurant, Sunday morning. Usagi yawned beside him, looking like she would still rather be in bed. Behind them, Michiru sipped on a cup of coffee as she closed the door, glancing back one last time at her shiny new car—a replacement for the one that had been destroyed, courtesy of Kuno Kodachi.

The girl works fast, she had to admit.

"Good morning~!" Shampoo sang as she entered the floor area from the back.

Cologne followed, shuffling along with a wave. "Son-in-law, and guests," she greeted, earning an annoyed look from Ranma.

"Told ya to stop callin' me that," he grumbled.

"Force of habit," the old ghoul waved him off.

"I got the mushroom. Are you willing to deal?" Ranma asked, as they all took seats in a booth, Ranma, Usagi, and Michiru on one side, Shampoo and her grandmother on the other.

"Of course. Granddaughter?" Cologne asked, looking to Shampoo.

Letting out a sigh, the plum haired girl nodded. "I'll take the deal," she confirmed.

Mousse entered carrying a tea setting and plates containing food and laid them out on the table between them, before taking the seat on Cologne's other side and beginning to pour drinks after a surprisingly polite "Good morning," from him. Mousse poured a cup for Ranma, Usagi, and Michiru, before making one for Cologne and himself. He set the teapot down in the middle of the table and sipped on his tea, mostly ignoring them. Shampoo looked briefly confused before pouring her own cup and taking a plate.

"Just so we're clear," Michiru cut in, setting her cup down and opening her bag, to pull out several printed sheets of paper in a small binder, which she placed on the table beside the plates. "Let's go over the terms of the deal again."

"Is this really necessary?" Cologne grinned, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Ranma deadpanned. "It ain't that I don't trust you not to find some way to wiggle out, but… I don't trust you."

"Airen, that hurts," Shampoo pressed a hand to her breast as Cologne cackled.

The pigtailed boy rolled his eyes. "Ain't your airen either. Shoulda made you not callin' me that part of the deal."

"Very well then, let me see," Cologne pulled out a set of glasses and inspected the printouts.

The contents were pretty straightforward and Michiru was proud of herself for getting it as simple as possible. Their end of the deal would be to provide Cologne with an age-changing mushroom and for Usagi to cure Shampoo's curse. Also, to hear out a request from Cologne after taking the mushroom, with the option to refuse whatever request was made if they felt it was unreasonable.

Shampoo would not attack any of the senshi or their families, or use any of the typical Amazon tricks such as but not limited to kidnapping, brainwashing, poison, magic items, and the like. Shampoo would be free to pursue friendship with Ranma and the senshi, with the possibility but not the guarantee for more in the future, with rejection at the discretion of any of the involved parties.

Mousse, in exchange for being cured, would cease all hostilities against Ranma. Michiru wasn't too worried about this part, because the boy already had his cure and hadn't so much as glared at Ranma since they'd entered. From the way he was looking away from Shampoo and generally ignoring her, and hadn't even poured her tea, it seemed that he had taken her words to heart.

Cologne would cease all hostilities, plots, and subversive acts against Ranma and not engage in them against the senshi and their families. She would stop supplying her granddaughter with resources that could be used to engage in such plots. She would return to China and deal with the Joketsuzoku, after which she would annul the Kiss of Marriage (and the Kiss of Death, Michiru had added in to cover their asses just in case) and ban the practice of both permanently, along with ban the use of the Springs as punishment. Shampoo would be allowed to stay out of the village as long as she liked and there would be no expectation for her to marry Ranma going forward. Mousse would be released from any sort of service or duties to the village and would be free to do as he wished, going forward.

Nodding along as she read, the old woman hummed. "Very straightforward. I approve. Shampoo?"

Taking a breath, Shampoo nodded. "Yes. This is acceptable."

"Great!" Usagi cheered, holding out her hand to Shampoo. The cursed martial artist took the offered hand and, with a flash of white light, Usagi withdrew her hand. "All done."

"That's really it?" Shampoo asked, studying her hand.

"I felt the same," Mousse murmured. "It didn't seem real, until I took a bath and didn't change when I tested the cold water."

Cologne raised an eyebrow as she met Ranma's eyes. Reaching into his sleeve, he produced a small plastic bag with a single mushroom inside. "This should put you back to eighteen, physically. You're gonna wanna take it and lie down. You'll be out for a while. Probably take off your clothes, too. Mine fell off of me the first time, then ripped when Akane fixed it and we went back to normal."

"Very well. When I wake up this afternoon, I'd like to speak with you."

"Ah, sorry~!" Usagi giggled, "Ranma's going to be busy!"

"I am?" Ranma asked, sending Usagi an amused, but curious look.

"Mhmm," Michiru agreed. "You need to meet the rest of our friends. So, we're setting you up on a blind date with one of them. Don't worry, you'll both enjoy it. I'll give you an itinerary before you go and you'll follow it."

"We've planned it all out in advance!" Usagi grinned. "And we'll be there to watch to make sure nothing goes wrong."

Raising an eyebrow, Ranma asked, "'We' as in…?"

"All of us!" the blonde giggled.

"Except for Haruka and the last two. Haruka's banned from all meetings until she makes up her mind and apologizes. As for the other two, we've got plans for them, later on," Michiru confirmed. Looking to Shampoo, she studied the plum haired girl for a moment before offering, "This is your chance to meet everyone and start trying to convince us you can be more than you have been in the past."

Shampoo frowned, but eventually nodded. "I don't enjoy feeling as though I have to audition, when I've known him longer."

"We're not the ones who soured that relationship right from the beginning," Michiru countered. Shampoo started to argue and she held up a hand to cut the other girl off. "We know. Extenuating circumstances. That doesn't change the fact that Ranma likes and trusts us, because we've been honest and kind to him, while your own history is what it is and so he doesn't trust you. If you want to start over, start rebuilding trust, the best way to do it will be to make friends with us first. Show you can get along."

Shampoo's red eyes met Ranma's blue and the boy shrugged. "She's right. If you want to make an honest attempt, you can't just show up for me and ignore them. They're uh… all in it together. Together together."

"Oh," Shampoo murmured, as something seemed to click for her. "I see."

Cologne coughed politely, before nodding. "Granddaughter, take the hand extended to you."

The younger woman frowned, but nodded in agreement. "Alright."

"Great!" Usagi cheered. "We'll work out the details of where to meet before we leave."

"Ah, youth. I won't get in the way of your fun. How does tomorrow sound?" Cologne asked, and Ranma nodded.

"After school is fine. I can swing by for a few."

"Bring one of them with you," Cologne chuckled, and Ranma frowned.

"I can talk for myself."

"I never said you couldn't, Ranma," the old woman smiled. "But I have noticed something important."

"Yeah, what's that?" Ranma asked, wary of walking into some sort of verbal trap.

"They temper you. You're better when they're around," Cologne chuckled. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to go get changed into something about three hundred years younger."

The group said their goodbyes and Ranma, Michiru, and Usagi left to start preparing Ranma for his date.

"What am I even doing?"

Kino Makoto brushed a strand of her long, brown hair behind her ear and checked herself over in the mirror one last time. Ami had called and told her about a little get together the girls were having that afternoon to unwind a bit from the stress of school and the like. It seemed that everyone except Haruka, Rei, and Minako were coming, which wasn't that out of the ordinary. Rei had shrine duties and needed to help care for her grandfather when the old man had problems, so she wasn't always free when the others were. Minako…

Probably studying, she mused as she applied a bit of pink lipstick. She's really gotten serious since we got into college. I think she may be trying even harder than Ami.

As for Haruka… Makoto had heard about the latest breakup between her and Michiru. Apparently, this one was over a cute girl. Michiru had decided enough was enough and moved on, and was apparently pissed enough that she had opted to start dating a man. If she was up on her gossip, the guy was the brother of the waitress Haruka left her for. There were some details there that the others weren't sharing, but what she did have was juicy and enough to fill in some of the blanks. Because of that, Haruka was banned from senshi gatherings for the time being. Makoto didn't think it would last long… but then, no one expected Usagi to finally give up on Mamoru for real either.

Turning her face this way and that, she decided that was all she needed. She never wore anything but light makeup anymore, if that—and wasn't tonight. A little eye liner and some lipstick was about the limit. She wasn't as girly as, say, Usagi but she still wanted to impress from time to time. What woman didn't enjoy positive attention?

That drew her eyes down to the rest of her outfit for the night. Ami had warned her to wear something she could run in since whatever the others had planned would apparently be very active—at least, for part of it. Ami had also warned her to make sure not to wear anything she didn't mind getting destroyed. To that end, Makoto was wearing a simple pair of sneakers and a set of faded denim jeans that looked painted on and showed off her muscular thighs and ass.

She had considered wearing something different and more eye catching, but in the end decided to dress down a bit, since it would just be her and her friends—and there was that warning about possible clothes destruction, which was just a reality of life as a senshi. With that in mind, she had picked a comfortable, loose orange tee-shirt to go with it—an old one she wouldn't care about if something happened and it got damaged or destroyed.

Deciding she was done, she left her apartment, grabbing an old jacket to throw on since it was still a bit chilly out and an old green cap to go over her hair to complete the look. Locking the place up behind her, she made her way down to the parking area and slid onto her bike. The Honda motorcycle started smoothly and she took off, weaving her way through traffic at just over the speed limit towards the meetup place Ami had given her.

Pulling into the parking lot, Makoto raised an eyebrow at the sheer number of people present. It's packed. I really hope they weren't planning to stay long here, she mentally sighed, already dreading the wait times and lines. That was to be expected though, any time some new attraction opened up.

The Tokyo Fun Center had only been open a month—it was still new enough that the newness hadn't worn off. Makoto couldn't really blame them. She'd seen the ads and read a few articles about it in various newspapers. It was a huge, sprawling, multi-story, several square block area sectioned off into a bunch of smaller buildings. There was a mall, theater, arcade, bowling alley, pool tables, paintball, indoor swimming pools, an outdoor go cart track, mini golf, and a bunch of other stuff. Not to mention the concessions, restaurants, a couple of bars, and even some hotels. About the only thing it was missing was amusement park rides.

She had wanted to go the moment she heard they were starting construction. Now that it was open, she had been hoping to find a time to convince the girls to go as a group, so having Ami call her up and tell her they were all going together and would be spending most of the day here had made her day.

About the only way it could be better is if I were going with a cute boy. Too bad Mamoru decided to mess up that plan and Usagi decided she was finally done with his crap.

That thought did remind her that Usagi had apparently gotten a new boyfriend. Maybe I'll get lucky and get to meet him. It's not the same, but I wouldn't mind hearing some juicy gossip…

She made her way through the crowd to the main entrance on this side of the Fun Center, eventually spotting a very familiar group of girls. She grinned happily as she made her way over. Makoto wasn't quite there when she spotted three people she didn't recognize and one who looked… different.

The last one looked a bit worrying, actually. It was an almost identical copy of Usa, except older, taller, and with red hair as opposed to pink. Also, completely different fashion sense. Usa (no longer chibi), the pink haired one, had worn about the same thing everyone else had—jeans, an old (pink) tee-shirt, and a long sleeved shirt for the cold which was currently tied around her waist.

The redheaded Usa had apparently decided to do her shopping in a store that sold exclusively black. Black jeans, ripped black band tee for some American rock band (but at least Makoto had heard of AC/DC), black spiked choker, black spiked bracelets, black boots that Makoto couldn't help but call 'hooker boots.' It was like a fun house mirror version of the youngest senshi, or some sort of scifi what if version of Usa that had some serious daddy issues and had decided to embrace her 'bad girl' phase.

At least they seem to be getting along, she observed, as the redhead and pinkette chatted amicably, each holding onto one of Hotaru's hands as the purple haired girl giggled at something.

Daddy Issues Moon wasn't the only redhead present. One of the three new faces was a somewhat short, athletic looking girl about their age at a guess. Short, curvy, big tits, red hair pulled back in a simple pigtail, very energetic in her body language and whatever she was talking about to Ami, Michiru, and Setsuna.

Probably some friend they made in class, Makoto mused, studying the cute girl for a moment before her eyes found the other two newcomers, both talking with Usagi.

The first was another girl—this one Chinese, with long, plum colored hair and red eyes. Absolutely sex on legs, but Makoto couldn't help but feel there was something dangerous about her. And Makoto didn't like the way the other woman's eyes sized up everyone around them, eventually landing on herself for a moment… before finding her wanting and moving on. That left her a bit annoyed, but thankfully, there was something interesting to make her feel better, right there.

He wasn't so much standing beside Usagi as the blonde was trying to occupy the same space he stood in—and judging by his hand possessively wrapped around her leader's waist, and Usagi's hand around his own, he didn't mind Usagi being clingy at all. He was taller than average for a Japanese man, at what she guessed was probably about 175cm to 179cm—still shorter than her by a few centimeters, but then, of all the senshi, Makoto was now tied for second tallest with Haruka at 180cm, just behind Setsuna at a whopping 185cm. He was taller by far than the other senshi, however—a full head taller than Usagi right beside him.

Tall, handsome, fit. Black hair. Blue eyes. The way he carried himself told Makoto he was a martial artist of some stripe. Not quite bad boy vibes, but it was close enough to get Makoto's motor running and set her to wondering if it wouldn't be possible to convince Usagi that sharing is caring.

Something about him tickled her memory, though. He looked familiar… After a moment, Makoto figured out what it was and dismissed it as was becoming habit. It had been years now and she was trying to force herself to move past her old senpai.

"Makoto!" Usagi cheered, letting go of the man she was with and rushing over to pull her into a hug, then drag her back to the others.

"Hey, guys," Makoto laughed as she exchanged hugs with the others. "It's been a while since we were all together like this. Well, most of us anyway."

"Don't worry about that~!" Usagi waved her off.

"Introductions are in order, I think," Ami piped in, drawing a nod from Makoto.

Chuckling, Setsuna asked, "Well? Who wants to go first?"

"'Sup?" the redheaded Usa asked. "Call me Hina. It'll avoid confusion with Pinkie."

"Bite me, red! I was Usa first!" came the instant retort, as Usa stuck her tongue out.

The redhead turned a leer on her… sister? Makoto wasn't sure what was going on there and would be asking for an explanation later. "Sure. I'll bite. You want it now, or later?"

"Hehe~. Later, please!" Hotaru giggled, pulling Hina tightly into her side and squeezing the taller redhead, who deflated immediately at the attention. The fact that Hotaru seemed to like her and Hina reacted well to her put Makoto's mind at ease a bit where the redhead was concerned.

"Sure, later," Hina murmured, her cheeks pinking a bit. Turning, she sent a glare towards the pigtailed boy. "Oi, old man! Your turn."

The pigtailed boy rolled his eyes, and before he could answer, the plum haired girl bowed and introduced herself. "Shampoo. You are friend of empty-headed blonde, yes?"

"Hey~! My head's not empty!" Usagi pouted.

"Of course not," Setsuna smiled, reaching out to pat Usagi's head. "It's filled with useless trivia and thoughts of food."

"And sex," Usagi added, sticking out her tongue at the eldest senshi.

"Of course," Ami sighed, rolling her eyes.

Usagi turned on her blue haired friend. "You're one to talk!"

"Shampoo," the pigtailed boy stressed her name, his tone warning, only for the woman to stick her tongue out.

"Seriously, knock it off," the other redhead sighed, moving to stand beside the pigtailed boy. Now that she looked, the pair looked remarkably alike—even wearing the same clothes. Makoto guessed they were probably siblings.

"Ah, yeah. Kino Makoto, nice to meet you," Makoto introduced herself with a smile, even as a thought occurred. Wait. Redhead and a handsome boy. Siblings. Could it be…? But he and Usagi were all close like that. I thought the guy was dating Michiru? … Oh my god, did Usagi finally pull off her 'find a guy we can all share' plan?! Is that what this is?!

Forcing herself to be calm, Makoto sent what she felt was a seductive smile at the man. "What's your name, handsome?"

""Saotome Ranma,"" the boy and girl both answered at the same time.

"You're both Ranma?" Makoto asked, even as something about the name clicked even harder than his appearance. No, there's no way…

"Yup!" the redhead grinned.

"It's complicated," the boy chuckled.

"It's not that complicated, actually," Michiru shook her head.

"Mm! We wanted a sensei for us and a sensei for you!" Hotaru nodded, beaming a happy smile as she let go of Usa and Hina and latched onto to the redheaded Ranma, pressing her face into the redhead's own. Ranma responded by running a hand through Hotaru's dark hair, a smile pulling her lips up as she did.

Makoto sent the others a confused look. "Huh? A sensei for you and one for me? What?"

""Surprise!"" most of the others, aside from Shampoo and the Saotome siblings, gestured at the male Ranma. Usagi continued, "Ranma is your blind date!"

"We're setting you two up for the night," Ami nodded, handing a sheet of paper over to Ranma and one to Makoto. "This is your itinerary. We've still got a little time before everything starts."

"You two will have the whole night to have fun together and get to know each other and we'll be right behind you," Usa nodded.

"Cheering you on!" Usagi beamed.

"Hoping for a happy end," Hina smirked.

Makoto looked between her friends and the male Ranma before asking, "Wait, okay, I get the date but something else is going on here."

"We're all dating him," Michiru answered matter-of-factly. "We've all had a chance to have some time with Ranma, now it's your turn."

Setsuna frowned at that. "I haven't."

"That's because you're going last, Puu," Usagi turned a grin on Setsuna. "Payback for all those times you teased me, or scared me, or ate the last snacks!"

"You suck," Setsuna groaned.

"Yes. Yes I do. Isn't that right?" Usagi giggled, bumping her hip into Ranma's.

"Wait. Hang on. Is this the plan?" Makoto asked, her eyes going wide as she looked between Ranma and Usagi.

"Yup!" the blonde agreed.

Frowning, Makoto looked between them all. "So, he's… in the know?"

"Yeah," Ranma confirmed. "You're the one who wears green."

Makoto's mouth opened and closed like a fish for a moment at that. Finally, she muttered, "Huh. I guess this is really happening. Alright. So… What now?"

Ranma chuckled and gently eased Usagi off of him, before reaching out and taking her hand. "How about we talk while we walk? We've got some ground to cover before we get to the first event."

"Yeah?" Makoto asked as they pulled away from the others. "What are we doing first?"

"Uh," Ranma held up the sheet and looked at it, before handing it to her. "Looks like paintball."

Makoto took the list and read it over. Paintball, the arcade, go karts, mini golf, team bowling, a movie, then food and karaoke.

"Sounds fun!" Makoto smiled, folding the paper up and tucking it away in her back pocket. "So…"

"So?" Ranma sent her a grin and Makoto made a face. "You're going to the same school as everyone else, right?"

"Yeah," Makoto agreed. "Just on a different track, because we've all got different interests."

"Yeah? Me too. I'm going to finish out my education degree. Actually, I'm a P.E. teacher at Hotaru and Usa's school."

Makoto raised an eyebrow at that. "Really?"

"Yup. It's how we met." Chuckling, Ranma reached up and scratched at his pigtail. "Hotaru followed me home in her uh, other uniform and we hit it off. We met Usagi and some things happened, because Red was bein' a brat and causing problems. Still need to do something about her," he rolled his eyes. "Hotaru introduced me to Usa. Met Michiru on a home visit for Hotaru and Usa. Actually found out I work with Setsuna when we got off work at the same time and I went to visit Michiru and the rest, and we kinda wondered if one of us was following the other home for a while there."

Makoto laughed, shaking her head. "Sounds wild."

"What about you?"

"Well," Makoto drew the word out. "Actually… I'm majoring in economics and finance. I want to open up a bakery and flower shop when I graduate."

"Really?" Ranma asked, looking her over. "Thought you'd go more into the art. You look like the type who'd enjoy tournaments."

"Hehe!" Makoto grinned, nodding. "That does sound fun, but no. Martial arts is just a hobby. Something to keep me fit and active, these days." Reaching up, she squeezed his arm and smirked. "You're no stranger to it either, are you?"

"I'm the best," he shrugged, and Makoto felt enough sheer confidence in that statement that, even if she didn't necessarily believe it herself, she was convinced he believed it—and had a good reason to. It didn't feel like a brag or a boast to her, just a statement of fact.

"That so? I dunno, my senpai was pretty good," she murmured, turning her head to consider him. Standing this close, she realized the height difference was really negligible, and with their arms together as they were and their occasional brush against each other, she could feel how dense he was compared to her. Without her powers, he would easily overpower her in any physical struggle, and she was one of the two physically strongest senshi.

"Yeah? What was his name?"

Makoto looked away, before admitting, "I uh, I called him 'senpai' so long I kinda forgot. It was years back, during middle school. I think I was eleven or twelve at the time."

Ranma hummed. "I didn't get to spend a lot of time in any one school. Pops kept us on the move a lot. We'd settle down in one town or city with a few dojos or old masters, he'd send me to school and run me through those places and test me against their students and eventually their masters, then we'd move on. I missed a few years of school and had to do makeup stuff when we went back to a new one, so I was always behind."

Makoto chuckled. "I had to change dojos when I was still living in Suginami because mine shut down. Something about somebody beating them up and taking their sign, so everyone lost confidence in the sensei."

"Err," Ranma winced, sending her a sheepish look. "Suginami?"

"Yeah?"

"Uh heh. I uh, pops mighta put me up to taking a dojo's sign or two when we were there. Didn't know why at the time. He said it was an honor thing and I believed him. That was before I figured out he was full of crap." Quieter, he grumbled, "Right around the time he started screwing with the neko-ken, too."

Blinking, Makoto stopped them in the middle of the small street they were walking down, turning him to face her. She barely noticed their friends stopping, giving them enough space to have a private conversation, but still close enough to listen in if they wanted.

"Hang on! Wait a minute," the brunette narrowed her eyes at him. "You're saying you were in Suginami? When?"

"Uh," Ranma scratched his head. "I think I was twelve or thirteen? It was just before we left for China."

"And you went to school there?" Makoto asked, and Ranma nodded. "What school?"

"I don't really remember the name."

"Okay, the city then. Was it Koenji?"

Thinking on it a moment, Ranma eventually nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Like I said, we moved a lot. Lots of different schools. Never stayed in one place too long. Never long enough to make more than one or two friends before we moved on."

Taking a breath, Makoto leaned in and asked, "Do you remember a girl telling you she liked you?"

"Huh?" the pigtailed boy looked confused. "What, in Koenji? I didn't know any girls then. The only friend I made there was a boy named Mako."

Makoto slapped her forehead. "Oh my God, it's you!"

"Whatever it is, I didn't do it or pops made me do it, and you can't prove different," Ranma countered reflexively.

Taking a deep breath, Makoto very calmly explained, "I wore a boy's uniform and cut my hair short because I was 'going through a phase' as my parents said. I didn't like girly stuff and that included skirts. I called you senpai all the time and you called me Mako. I thought it was because you liked me, you idiot."

"Wait, that was you?" Looking her up and down, Ranma studied her face for a moment before grinning. "Hey, it was! You grew your hair out. I didn't recognize your face because of it. Huh. I thought you were a guy."

"Nnn!" Makoto trembled as an annoyed sound escaped her throat.

"Oh, you think that's bad?" Hina asked, as she simply appeared at Makoto's shoulder. "Ask him about Ukyo. You're not the only girl he mistook for a boy."

Ranma glared at the redhead. "Hey, that's not fair! I was a lot younger then and she was cross-dressing too."

Hina leered. "You agreed to marry her."

"We were ten!" Ranma protested.

"I told you I liked you! You said 'okay' and walked away!" Makoto growled.

"We were twelve! I didn't know you meant it that way, and if I had, it'd have been even weirder because I thought you were a guy! What was I supposed to do?!"

"I'm a girl, you idiot!"

"I can see that now!"

"And then you left—!"

"I told you, we moved a lot! Pops had me take those dojo signs and then we beat it and headed for China!"

Hina giggled to herself as she walked back to the larger group with a smile on her face and a sway of her hips. "My job here is done~."

"That was mean," Hotaru scolded, pouting at the redhead.

"Geh!" Hina clutched her chest. "Not the pouty sad face! That's not fair! You can't use that technique against me! I have no counter for it!"

"Good," Hotaru crossed her arms and looked away.

"Okay but, seriously? Ranma was the 'senpai' she's been chasing after all this time?" Usagi asked, getting nods from the others.

"Seems that way," Ami agreed.

Chuckling, Michiru murmured, "You know what this means, right?"

Hina rubbed her hands together as she chuckled maliciously. "The angry makeup sex is going to be out of this world. We should rent a hotel room so we all have front row seats!"