Chapter Seven: A Day At The Masaki Residence
By Qaddafi the Ripper
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 belongs to the almighty Takehashi Rumiko, Tenchi Muyo! to Pioneer (?), Sailor Moon to Takeuchi Naoko, Aa! Megami-sama! to Fujishima Kosuke, and Fushigi Yuugi to Watase Yuu. Please don't sue this poor college student!
Masaki Katsuhito was at his temple in the hills, doing whatever it is that Shinto priests do. It was a quiet, mild day, though at this house the quiet part probably wouldn’t last very long. Sure enough, he could soon hear the sounds of a fight; no doubt Ryoko and Ayeka were at each other’s throats over who got Tenchi. He chuckled softly. His grandson was a real lady’s man.
“Noisy place you got here.”
Katsuhito barely managed not to jump. He’s never even heard someone enter the shrine. She must be very good, whoever she is, he thought, trying to act nonchalant. “Ah, welcome to Masaki Shrine, miss. How may I help you?”
“Such a cold greeting to give an old friend. Have you forgotten me already, Yosho-chan?” the redhead asked.
This time he was unable to conceal his surprise. “Ryu-sama? Is that you?”
“Last time I checked.”
With a laugh, he gave her a hug, which she easily returned. “What are you doing here?” he finally asked.
“I got a letter from Nami-chan. She said I should stop by. So, since I had some free-time, here I am.”
“Well then, you can meet my grandson and our house guests,” he announced, leading her down to the house, from which explosions could still he heard.
“Some guests,” she remarked.
He laughed. “They do tend to get rather involved.” Ushering her inside, he made introductions (despite the fact that none of the residents were aware of them in the house), “The one with purple hair is my younger sister, Ayeka. The blue haired one fighting her is Ryoko the space pirate. The blonde trying to get them to stop is Mihoshi, and the cabbit is Ryo-Ohki. Oh, and the boy’s my grandson Tenchi. I don’t see our other two guests right now.”
As if summoned, Sasami came out of the kitchen and noticed them right away. “Oh, we have company!” she exclaimed cheerfully. The fight died down at her announcement, Ayeka and Ryoko looking slightly shame-faced. “Hi, I’m Sasami!”
“My name’s Ryu. Is it always this disastrous around here?”
The little girl laughed, “Yep, pretty much.”
Washu burst out of her closet lab. “I thought I heard you, Ryu-sama!” she said. “I was beginning to think you wouldn’t come.”
“Ryu-*sama*?” Ryoko asked, raising an eyebrow at the appellation.
The short pink-haired scientist chuckled. “Ask her, not me. Maybe you’ll learn something, Ryoko.”
The space pirate frowned, giving their guest a strange look. She shared a glance with Ayeka, both wondering similar thoughts, Who is this girl?
***
“Sasuke! Attend me!”
The little ninja responded promptly, appearing in front of his master from out of the floorboards. Kuno jumped slightly, but regained his composure as the family retainer inquired, “What can I do for you, Tatewaki-sama?”
“Perhaps you have heard of those amazons that recently moved here, that my twisted sister and I were training with.” Sasuke nodded. “I want you to find their restaurant and watch them. They are warriors of incredible talent and I wish to know more about them.”
“As you wish, Tatewaki-sama,” Sasuke replied, leaving. His departure was slowed down slightly when he tripped over the displaced floorboards.
***
“Oh, where did I put it?” Akane muttered, rummaging in her closet. “It’s got to be here somewhere; Nabiki stopped borrowing my clothes years ago.”
Her search finally received results as she pulled a navy blue dress out. Due to the fact that it was made out of silk and rather form fitting, she rarely wore it. “It’s perfect,” she decided, holding it in front of her. She hadn’t been out on a date since Kuno made that stupid rule over a year ago, though even if she had she’d still be dressing up. Dinner with Ranma was not something she wanted to spoil. “I hope he gives me a goodnight-kiss,” she said, then blushed furiously.
***
Tenchi lunged forward, bokken held at ready. His form was without flaw and swiftly executed. But as excellent as his attack was, it wasn’t enough to hit his grandfather. Katsuhito easily swatted the wooden sword aside, then launched an attack of his own that Tenchi was unable to stop. The young prince fell back, rubbing his arm and trying to ignore how sore he already was. He’d improved tremendously from the constant practice with Katsuhito, but he still didn’t like getting beat up.
“Tenchi-sama’s the best,” Ayeka remarked proudly. “Look how well he stands up to brother Yosho.”
“And since he is the best, he’s obviously too good for a stuck-up girl like you,” Ryoko said slyly.
Ayeka glared. “And what would an uncivilized creature like you know anything about it?”
“More than you ever could, Princess.” She said the title with a leer.
Ayeka growled in annoyance and it looked like they were about to start another of their famous brawls, with Mihoshi already trying to break it up, when Ryu began laughing. The group stared at the redhead, confused by her behavior.
“What’s so funny, Ryu-san?” Sasami asked.
“Oh nothing. They just bring back memories, that’s all.”
“Say,” Mihoshi spoke up, “you know Yosho and Washu, don’t you?”
“Whatever gave you that idea, Mihoshi-san?”
“Oh, well, maybe not, but they seem to know you,” the ditzy blond pointed out.
Ryu chuckled again. “Actually I do know them. We meet a long time ago.” She nudged Washu, who was sitting next to her. “That was a pretty fun time, eh?”
“Oh quite. Though I still haven’t figured out how you do *that*.” The scientist looked pointedly at her red hair. “Why did you come here anyway, Ryu-sama?”
“Well, partly to visit, but mostly because I wanted to talk to Sasami and Tenchi.”
“To me?” the boy in question asked, hearing his name. His moment of distraction was enough for Katsuhito to smack him over the head. “Oww! What’d you do that for, Ojii-chan?”
“Keep your mind on what you’re doing, Tenchi,” the old man scolded.
Ryu chucked. “Allow me to save you from that horrible man, Tenchi-san. We might as well have our little chat now.” Seeing the eldest Masaki’s hurt look, she added, “You can finish bruising him afterwards, you evil sadist.”
Tenchi waited for the others to file away, feeling nervous. Though he was no stranger to dangerous people, volatile women in particular, something about Ryu made him extra cautious. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what, but she was very different from what he was used to. “What was it you wanted to say, Ryu-san?” he finally asked.
“You’re quite popular with the girls,” she remarked, smirking. He blushed furiously. “I imagine you don’t even know why half of them are interested in you,” she continued with a laugh. Tenchi stared fixedly at his feet and scratched the back of his neck. “And all of them are your friends,” she finished, now serious.
“Of course they’re my friends! We’re like a big family now!”
“Unfortunately, that’s not how most of them feel about you, Ryoko and Ayeka especially.”
“Yeah, I know. But I don’t want to make any of them feel bad.”
“And you’re not entirely sure how you feel anyway, right?” He nodded. “It’s hard to say this, but you’re going to have to come clear with your feelings sooner or later. I’d suggest sooner, since the longer you wait, the harder it will be to hurt them. Okay?”
“I understand,” he murmured despondently.
She patted him on the arm. “You still have time yet, don’t worry about it so much! And by the way, I love you Light Hawk Wings, Prince of Jurai.” With that, she walked off, throwing him a jaunty wave. Tenchi stood riveted to a spot for a few minutes, before he had the presence of mind to head back home. What…what was all that?
***
“Waaagghhh!” Chibi-Usa, or more accurately Super Sailor Chibi-Moon, as she dodged out of the way of an attack. Well, perhaps ‘dodge’ isn’t the best word. Stumble, or flail wildly, or trip over her own feet and land on her butt might be closer descriptions for what actually happened. She and the other Senshi were currently fighting the Monster-Of-The-Day ™, which seemed to resemble a frog with a female (mostly human) body, a tacky outfit, and an ungodly long tongue. ‘Ungodly’ being a length of at least twenty feet. It also kept belching out what looked suspiciously like globs of slime, though Chibi-Usa didn’t care to get close enough to investigate.
Sailor Moon had yet to arrive, so the Senshi were as yet unsuccessful at being the thing (since Sailor Moon was the title character of their anime, naturally only she could finish off the constant monsters). Chibi-Moon pulled herself back onto her feet, only to see the monster pick up a bunch of trashcan lids and throw them in her direction. She barely had time to wonder why it would use such a stupid attack when it had slime balls and an extra-long tongue at its disposal when previously unknown instincts took over.
She casually caught ever lid and balanced them on her left index finger. There was absolute silence as everyone, Senshi, monster, and newly arrived Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen, gapped at her display. “Chibi-Moon!” Sailor Mars finally exclaimed, “What are you doing?”
The pink-haired girl blinked, then noticed what she was holding. “It’s just like I was doing last night,” she protested. “Ranko-san would be so proud!” The Senshi mass face-faulted, while the monster simply looked confused. “Now let’s Moon Dust ™ that thing!”
***
Dinner at the Masaki residence was, of course, excellent. No wonder, with the universe’s greatest under-age cook at work. Ryu helped Sasami wash the dishes afterwards, so she could have the other talk she’d been planning. “So, Sasami-chan,” she started, putting away the last plate, “you seem to be enjoying yourself here.”
“Yeah. It’s so much fun staying here with Tenchi Onii-chan and the others!” the blue-haired girl replied cheerfully. Ryo-Ohki, seated beside the sink, let out an affirmative meow.
“I’m glad. Since when you grow up, you’ll have a lot of responsibility to deal with.”
“What do you mean, Ryu-san?”
“You’re really Tsunami, first tree of Jurai and goddess of life.”
“How…how do you know that?” Sasami whispered.
Ryu shrugged. “Tsunami’s an old friend of mine, actually, so of course I recognize you. Don’t worry,” she continued, placing a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “It’s not so bad. There are plenty of people who’d be willing to help you out, myself one of many.”
“You?”
“Yep.” She winked. “Washu and Yosho know what I mean, so you can ask them later.”
An explosion was heard from the living from, effectively halting the conversation. “Those two certainly are enthusiastic,” Ryu remarked. She couldn’t make anyone out, but she was able to deduce the cause of the damage from the voices: “Tenchi is mine, you stupid princess!” “No, Tenchi-sama belongs to me!”
“Do those two ever stop?” she asked, sweat dropping.
“No, not really,” Sasami replied
***
It was night already back in Nerima. Tendo Nabiki was strolling down the street, coming back home from one of her ‘business associates’ meetings. Otherwise known as her group of cronies who owed her money and dug up dirt on people to pay her back. She now had enough to blackmail another six people into service, or get lots of yen for keeping quite. As she trolled along, she had to try hard not to whistle: she really loved her ‘job’.
“Excuse me,” a polite voice interrupted her thoughts. She turned to she a boy about Akane’s age standing a few feet (or do they use the metric system in Japan, cuz then it should be meters) away from her. He had short, messy black hair, a yellow Chinese shirt, a huge pack, and a yellow and black checkered bandana around his forehead.
“Yes?” she replied.
“Could you tell me where the Neko-haunten is?” he asked.
Neko-haunten? Oh wait, isn’t that the place where those Amazons and Ranma are staying? As they were standing at a four-way intersection, she pointed to the northbound road. “Sure thing. It’s about three blocks that way.”
“Thank you,” he bowed politely and headed south.
Nabiki blinked. “Hey! Aren’t you going there now?”
“Of course I am.”
“Well it’s *that* way,” she said, again pointing north.
“Eh? Oh, sorry,” he apologized and turned to the east.
“North! North!” Nabiki cried.
He laughed sheepishly and finally went down the west road. Nabiki watched his retreating figure, sweat dropping aplenty. What on earth was *that*? she thought.
***
Urd, Norn goddess of the past, was lounging on a cloud, watching a TV a few feet away. A strange sight, but Urd found clouds to be quite comfortable, and outlets unnecessary, so why not? She laughed, enjoying another fun-filled episode of Card Captor Sakura (the original, Japanese version, thank you very much; no one in their right mind would ever subject themselves to Card Captors after seeing the original). Unfortunately, her nice break from work wasn’t going to be as pleasant as she’d planned.
A soft, evil chuckle sounded somewhere nearby. She quickly sat upright, turning the TV off (without needing a remote!) and looking around. “Who’s there?” she called warily. She waited for a full minute, but no answer was forth coming. “Must’ve imagined it,” she muttered, settling back down. As her program flashed back to life, she heard it again, louder this time.
Jumping to her feet, Urd yelled, “I know you’re out there, so you might as well show yourself!”
“Still as rash as ever. I’d hoped you’d matured somewhat since I saw you last.”
“What? Who's there?” she wondered, jerking her head around, searching for the speaker.
“Aku-Shindeiru, of course. Who else could it be?”
She gasped, a tremble of fear running down her spine. “Bastard,” she growled, but was cut off as a black hand, once only smoke but now solidified, clamped over her month. It remained there the entire time, preventing her from calling out for help.
End of Chapter Seven
Author’s notes: Ooohh, if I didn’t know better, I might say that I had a plot. Scary thought, ne? Lots of quickie scenes in this chapter, I don’t know why, it just kind of happened…
Aku-Shindeiru is the promised one-of-the-main-bad-guys. His (its?) name means bad dead. Uncreative I know, but it sounds cool in Japanese at least…
Japanese Terms
-San: Mr./Mrs./Miss/Ms.
-Chan: affectionate way of addressing loved ones, very close friends, or little kids
-Sama: Mr./Mrs./Miss/Ms., more formal/polite than -san. Sometimes translated as Lord/Lady
Onii-chan: big brother (informal)
Ojii-chan: grandpa (informal)
Onto Chapter Eight
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