Well, It's happened.  I've crystalized a plotline.
However, this is going to stay short-eppisodic for the near future at least.

I'm going to post a revised youma blues 1-5 in the next few days, with
chapter titles (probably tomorrow), but for now, here's the latest eppisode.

Enjoy!

Youma Blues 6
	Professional relationships.

	Okay, I admit it.  Arranging to enroll myself in Juban high wasn't the
brightest idea I've ever had.
	Actually it ranks right up there with coming to moonieland as one of the
single dumbest ideas I've ever entertained.
	But it was fun.
	On my second day of training, after magic practice, I expended the effort
necessary to teleport back to juban to try a little experiment. (Dark
Kingdom time is
about ten hours ahead of Japanese time- remember, Atlantis was a Mediterranean
island, and youma naturally tend to a nocturnal cycle.)
	First I wanted to practice my Glamour skills - My transformation had left
me more than a little pale and gray haired, so I'd need a bit of magic - not
much,
but some.  
	Second, I wanted to arrange for some records for my new school - I could
fake being a senior, easy - I'm short, for an American(tall for a Japanese,
but...),
and age nicely. (which is to say, at twenty one I'm still mistaken for sixteen
occasionally.).
	Most importantly, I wanted to check if the amount of energy I carried
around had any influence on how well the cat could sense me.  It turned out
to be
a great idea - I learned a lot about how sensitive moon cats and certain
senshi are -
without actually tipping them off completely.
	Though they were somewhat suspicious.   Especially that Mars chic..
	Not as suspicious as they'd eventually get, but still...
	A day after that I returned, making shure to be at low ebb, energy wise,
before teleporting there.  I'd be in real close quarters with them, and
didn't want to
raise any eyebrows...feline or otherwise. 
	Then I moved into my apartment (chosen as much for it's remote location
relative to senshi as the low rent), and enrolled in the school - choosing
the name
'Sora Aoi' just for laughs.  I even decided to add my new last name to my youma
name for kicks.
	Calling myself Sky Blue Angel should get me into plenty of fights in the
dark kingdom.  I liked that idea. 
	(I was every bit this antisocial in highschool the first time; Just not as
violent.   This time around I planned on having fun...In one classroom or
another.)
	Anyhow, after arranging all that, I went back to school.

	The first day wasn't so bad;  I only had to get a feel for the place, dodge
the clumsiest female being anywhere (tm), and try not to act to out of place.
	Really, it was going well until I ran into Mizumo Ami.   Literally ran into,
that is.  I didn't manage to *quite* convince her that my catching her from
falling
was within purely human strength...fortunately she's no good at hiding suspicion
in a crisis.
	I put that down to lack of experience.
	Any way, I was getting out of gym, and was probably going to be late for
my Japanese lit class, which was across form Sailor Moon's classroom for the
afternoon, so I was running fairly fast, when I managed to slam straight
into Ami-
san.   If I haddn't caught her before she hit the lockers she might have
been hurt,
which would definitely pointed suspicion at me.
	Unfortunately this put me at exceedingly close range with her, and she
very nearly recognized me. (I hadn't changed my appearance that much with the
glamour; I couldn't, not and still be subtle)
 	"Gomen, Mizumo-chan, I should have watched where I was going.  You
could have been hurt."  I straightened and put her back on her feet as I
said that,
and tried to look as 'normal' as possible.
	"Oh.  That's okay, Sora-sempai.  I wasn't looking where I was going
either.   Thank you for catching me.   But you were going very fast."  I should
probably note that Mercury is *very* meek in person.  Introspective.  Unless she
happens to be Senshi Mercury at the time...she likes to cut loose, but
doesn't want
the consequences of being 'loud' attached to her.
	Sort of like this guy I sometimes think I know. 
	"Hai..I was sprinting for my next class..I was only just able to catch you. 
The Kempo lessons must finally be paying off..if you'll excuse me I'm
late.."  I'd
almost made an escape when she pipes up from behind me to say, "Sempai, I
noticed you're in the fourth year math and computer classes, and I was wondering
- would you like to join my study group?  I think it's closer to the school
than the
one you go to."  Great.  School genius asks supposedly 'normal' upperclassman if
he 'wants' to join her study group.  I bet Luna put her up to this.
I'm gonna die.
	"That would be great Mizumo-chan.  I'll come by after school and ask
your group coordinator, but now I really have to go!"  I fled.  Partially
from her,
and partially from the part of me (small even then) that wanted to break
down and
tell her my whole story, and beg protection from the Senshi.
	If I'd had the same urge the next day I'd probably have acted on it, but as
things turned out, I was in for a big change of viewpoints on the dark kingdom.
	I know, because it has been pointed out to me, that I didn't notice that
She'd dropped the book she'd been reading.
	She must have borrowed it from Usagi or Rei, because Ami is usually
interested in heavier fare than romances (or so I found).

	Okay, I go to my first meeting with the cram school bunch, expecting
searching questions, Senshi inquisition, and all sorts of other bad
things(tm) for
youma.   What does Senshi Mercury want to do?
	Make eyes at the 'cute' upperclassman.  She's good at that.  Even if she is
only thirteen or fourteen.  (I should have pegged it as out of character for
her, but
I had something on my mind..)
	I had to keep repeating, "I do not need a relationship with a senshi, I do
not need a relationship with a senshi, I do not.." Throughout the whole meeting,
just to keep my cool.  I didn't (at the time) think either of us got much
studying
done.
	Actually, Mercury got lots of studying done, but she was studying
*me*.  
	When the review session was over, we both rushed off to important
meetings.  She went to share her findings with the other Senshi, while I went to
pick up a delivery from Jadeite.
	
	That delivery I made turned out to be somewhat fated.  After going back
to my apartment for a recharge out of my personal stock of stored energy
(running
around all day with only wisps of power is for the birds), I picked up Jadeites
latest shipment form the amusement park gambit, and ported it to Beryl.  
	After depositing it at her feet with as much subservience as I could
manage, I headed off to crash;  I was *exausted* and didn't have much sleep time
in my schedule to begin with.
	Of course, that's when I met Catlinite.  
	Cat's a handful, I give her that.    She's one of those rare youma who is
just on the edge of being humanic - physically, she stands out in her cat/elf
features, but the human features are obviously dominant - Although why she has
the ridiculous ears..- anyhow, she dosen't *quite* manage to look human enough
to get into the club.  It's mostly the ears and the claws, but the way her
ankles
bend makes most people hurt by sympathy (not me, mind, but most other youma
and humans).
	Other than that, she's one of the most gorgeous creatures I've ever seen,
if she's not covered in mud and grime(which she was at the time).   A
red-orange-
blond with black and white streaks in her hair, and skin a pale white that's
covered
with a pattern of deep black tiger-stripes...a figure that is, in my
opinion, perfect:
round in all the right places but not overbuilt, slim, and so l-o-n-g,
despite the fact
that she's right at my height..
	I think I'm getting side-tracked here.   Just take my word for it: She's a
knockout.  She has these gold eyes...um, maybe I should pick a different
subject.
	She also fights dirty.  Very, very dirty.  Stab-in-the-back dirty tricks
galore type dirty.  'Fair' is also a four letter word, for her.  (Me too,
come to think of
it.)
	That's what she was doing when I ran into her.
	You see, the dark cabinet had just lost another member - Florite had just
gotten his (its?) self killed, and Cat had made a play to be made a member - She
figured, I think, that they had to lower the looks barrier sometime.  It
would have
been a waste of her talents, if you ask me, but the Dark Agency thought of
it more
like an insult.
	Sinhalite and Variscite - that's Vivian to humans and Sailor V, one of
those oh-so-few Humanic females, and an all around well, I can't say what
she was
in polite company, but she tries to imitate Beryl fairly successfully - had
decided
to make Cat an object lesson.
	Currently, Cassiterite(the girl with half a face) was down with her
stomach ripped open, Vivian was senseless beside  the edge of the fight(I
believe
that involved a rock..), and Sinhalite and Danburite were trying to keep Cat
from
getting within arms reach.
	Cat's main magical talent is deflection and illusion - she can keep most
attacks from actually hitting her full on, and hide herself *very well*.
Her other
magical talents are regeneration, speed, and ripping the ***** out of things,
using either her claws or anything edged and nasty-like.  She's very good at
that.
	Unfortunately she was also outnumbered.  I watched for about ten
seconds, and decided that who-ever-it-was under all that muck, I liked their
style -
rather than blasting about while standing there, they -moved- keeping to two
'stand and zap' types off balance, and dispite not having much in the way of
'zap'
themselves, they were obviously holding their own, despite the cuts and burns
they'd taken.
	I wasn't about to let them waste such an obvious resource.  Besides, I
still owed them for the broken bones they gave me somewhat earlier.  (The first
spell Neph tought me was a regeneration magic that dealt with my ribs in a few
hours..good thing to.)
	I tapped into my energies and, after a moments thought, decided to go
full humiliation;  After all, I couldn't possibly piss them off more.
	So I strode forward, concentrated hard, and gestured once, violently
ripping energy out of Sinhalite (if he hadn't been focused on someone else I'd
never have managed it, but as it was, he was wide open...).
	Just for effect, I howled, "Enough!" at the top of my lungs, and used the
energy I'd drained to blast Danburite into a wall. 
	Then I smiled at a teetering Sinhalite - I hadn't managed to totally drain
him, but he was no longer a threat, and knew it.
	"I am continually amused, Sinny, by your total disregard for the
resources you have that you could be using -"  I never got to finish my speech.
Catlinite kicked him inbetween the legs.  From behind.  Hard.  He folded
gratifyingly quickly.
	I like people who show initive.
	She also (that was the first time I'd noticed she was a she;  With all the
mud on her uniform, it was hard to tell more than basic human shape) snarled at
me.
	"Well.  That was..apropriate for him."  I smiled back, ferally.  "I gleaned
from the crowd -" Said collection of lower-class youma had abruptly vanished,
"That you offered your services to theses...losers.  Care to work for a more
successful branch of the army?"
	She just spat (blood).  Then she growled, "If we wait here all day you
moron, the reinforcements are going to show up.  Want that?" 
	I looked over my shoulder at a rather violent energy disturbance, 
spotted a number of humanics teleporting in, and murmured, "Quite so.  They
seem to already be here. "  Then I reach out to her, and she drew back,
eyeing me
critically.  
	I snapped, "I can't teleport us both without flesh to flesh contact.", 
grabbed again (she let me get her this time) and teleported us back to Juban.
	Catlinite showed her gratitude by spreading mud all over my carpet as
she collapsed.
	Honestly, I don't know how she stayed standing that long, considering
her wounds.
	That, then, is how I met a leader in the youma underground.  Of course, I
didn't know that yet, and it would be a week until I did, but our
relationship was
already off to a great start: I rescued her, and she insulted me for it.

	Elsewhere in Juban, some other people were having a more frustrating,
but not as eventful, night.
	"So, Ami, what did you learn tonight?" Luna, guardian cat to the Sailor
Senshi, and primary advisor to Sailor Moon, was worried.
	Unusually, she wasn't worried that nothing would be accomplished at
this sailor meeting because Rei and Usagi were fighting; They were fighting, of
course, and were currently locked in 'death glare' mode, but she wasn't worried
about it.
	She was worried because Sailor Mercury was humming tunelessly as she
typed into her computer.    Ami never hummed.  The glazed look in her eyes was
also a bad sign.
	"AMI!"  Luna roared - well, tried to roar.  Moon cats being small, she
didn't quite manage, but she did get Ami's attention.
	"Oh! Sorry Luna, I was just -" Sailor mercury blushed as she hurriedly
did something Luna couldn't see on her computer, and, unfortunately for Luna's
peace of mind, Usagi took that moment to notice, and reenter the conversation.
	"She was just lost in a pair of oh so blue eyes!  It's so romantic!  That
new Senior is a hunk!   I think he likes you Ami, I really do.  You should
ask him
out tomorrow." Ami Mizumo blushed brilliant scarlet, and stammered, "N-no,
that's not it at all.." to which Rei responded, "Then you won't mind if I
ask him?"
As the usual squabble was put aside to briefly draw the usually reticent Ami
into
the subject of boys, Luna sighed.
As usual, Luna thought, there goes any hope of getting anything done...
"Why me?",  She demanded of heaven.


More to come:  Youma Underground?!!  Just what's going on here!

Gamlain@pop.softhome.net
Gamlain, Transuniversal courier
Wildfire, teleport nonperil
Hero for rent.
"So then I shot a goon and I cut the head man's throat, and after that
things got violent." - Tarnkep Protree
"Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced."-
Hickeys coralary.