PETRAS (part 2) "Memories" (revised)
Disclaimer: I don't own most of the characters
here, nor am I able to pay for them. They're mostly
owned by the companies they came from, but the story
is mine.
C&C (some comments and criticisms) to
Undine2040@yahoo.com (Wise Crystal)
Spoiler: Evangelion fans really should keep their
eyes off this if they haven't watched the End of
Evangelion. Well, if they want to see it, anyway.
Wouldn't wanna ruin the ending, though I only make
some references to it.
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Washuu stared at her scrapped invention warily.
All that time, which was a whole span of one week,
working on the failed project. Plenty of universes
that could've been created from it before THEY came
into her lab. It wasn't just Mihoshi, it was mainly
Ayeka and Ryoko that messed with the machine. A week
after she thought she fixed it was the week where she
had to take it apart again.
"Don't talk much, do you?" Washuu let a shadow
fall over her as she was overcome with sarcasm, "So
far, they seem very normal."
Setsuna peered over Washuu's shoulder, "Besides the
'Jusenkyo' incidents, yes," as she watched the
viewscreen.
Washuu sighed. Setsuna always had a problem with
interpreting lives as normal or weird. On the
viewscreen was a boy who soon formed into a girl of a
different haircolor. Beside her was another boy who
was long-since attached to an over-starched bandanna.
Overall, the scene, including several other odd people
appeared weird. Very.
"Apparently, their universe was very remote from
the effects of your wonderful machine," even Setsuna
could attempt sarcasm, "Their characteristics and
background should make the children, stronger."
"Either that or very weird."
They paused as a short-tempered girl with a mallet
came onto the viewscreen. With unkind eyes set upon
the red-haired female, her mallet soon came in contact
with her. As if Washuu was motioning "I told you so",
she waited for Setsuna to reply.
"Believe me, Washuu. All of them are."
As Washuu's viewscreen skipped to a scene years ahead
into their world, a portal for Setsuna opened. Without
any additional words, Setsuna stepped in, while a
reflection appeared from Washuu's eyes, of a portal
opening with a green-haired woman stepping out.
The portal closed as Touji stared up to the
green-haired woman. Just a few minutes ago, he was
staring in horror at what looked like his former
classmate, Rei, in ghost form, and the next, he was
looking up to a green-haired woman with a staff. Touji
sputtered some water from his lungs as he took notice
of where she brought him.
Already, Touji was thinking of his sister, who
lost grip of him during the whole ordeal. Weren't they
running together, away from his Rei? Wasn't he running
with her only a moment ago? Where was she?
"You made it," Setsuna held no expression, only
a patience that was wearing thin, "Now won't you
please follow me?"
Not like he held a choice, for it was at the
same moment, a flying discus whirled in the air,
refusing to stray from its path. He finally felt a
cold rush over him, as his knee bent. Even with the
will to keep him conscious, Touji finally closed his
eyes, and collapsed.
"Eeek, are you alright?" Serena loomed over the
fallen boy, I�m sorry, it's just I didn't see you
there, and I was just tossing the Frisbee and�"
Setsuna could've let Serena go on forever, but
gave her a chilling stare instead, "What'd I tell you
about throwing that Frisbee?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't see you two until after I
threw the Frisbee and I'm sorry aunt Setsuna, I
really didn't think you and him would be in the way
and I know you told me not to throw that thing so
hard, but I was just�"
"Never mind, then," Setsuna sighed at both
Serena's babbling and the fortunate timing.
Washuu's calculations worked after all. His
unconsciousness gave her a quick second to use her
staff on him. Touji would come out of his
unconsciousness with a large bruise, but most of all,
he'd come out with a forgotten past.
Touji came around before they had a chance to
attempt lifting him. There he was, lying and opening
his eyes to not only the green-haired woman, but also
some kawaii blonde with two twisted ponytails on her
head. Touji quickly chose to get up.
"Who, who am I?" he blurted some trite phrase
used by most amnesiacs, "Uh, who are you?"
"Doesn't he remember anything?" Serena referred to
Touji with growing interest, waiting for Setsuna's
reply.
"I am Setsuna and this is my niece, Serena,"
Setsuna attempted a kind voice, "Welcome to Nerima,
Touji."
"Nerima?" Touji never heard of such a place.
Though, he began to wonder if he was able to recall
anything. His memories of his sister, Shinji, Kensuke,
and the local shelter seemed to fade from his mind as
he tried harder to remember where he was beforehand.
"You erased his memories?" Akane's brow furrowed,
"Poor boy, if he can't remember anything of his past,
how can he possibly go on?" but then Akane stopped
herself, thinking of Serena.
"You know how Serena is. She's perfectly content
with who she is," Setsuna sighed, "It'll be the same
for Touji."
Setsuna thought back to when Serena's Frisbee
made contact with his head. She already foresaw it
beforehand, and had her staff set to take his main
memories away. All Touji would recall would be his
age, most of his education, besides the history of the
world he came from. Everything went accordingly in
Setsuna's mind, and in Washuu's viewscreen.
"So we'll also take him in, right?" Ranma didn't
sound too unwilling, "You said he's fit for the
Anything Goes training?"
"Not from you," Setsuna paused a moment, "but
what of Ukyou and Ryoga?"
If it'd been fifteen years earlier, Ranma
would've shouted in protest, but it wasn't. Awhile
after both their weddings, Ryoga and Ukyou became
Ranma and Akane's best friends. When she arrived, they
wasted no time accepting the role of being her
alternative guardians. Even if Ranma pondered the
chance to have a son, he'd have to consider the
childless relationship Ryoga and Ukyou were in.
"Why not?" Ranma began to remember when Ryoga and
Ukyou constantly spoiled Serena. They acted like the
true kind of aunt and uncle, passing the job of
discipline off to Ranma and Akane. "They could use the
experience in real parenting."
There was little protest, if any, from Touji's
new guardians. Ryoga suffered the problem of not
having a child, as a result of his curse. Since Ranma
and Ryoga both fell into Jusenkyo springs, the curse
of not having a child was what disheartened both
friends. While Ranma turned to a girl in the use of
cold water, Ryoga was plagued with the pig form. They
both longed for a child, plus an endless supply of hot
water nearby to aid them in turning back to human
form.
While Ryoga thought of raising a martial artist
better than even the formidable Ranma, Ukyou thought
of the spatulas she could hand to her new son. Her
dream was to have an heir to her thriving restaurant
chains. Ukyou's recipes, restaurants, and business
were well-off, especially with the aid of Akane's
sister. There was no doubt she was a thriving
saleperson, but as much as Ukyou liked her marketing
skills, Ukyou still wished to pass on the family name.
"We'll name him Mamoru Habiki!" Ukyou blurted
with a smile.
"Uh, no," Setsuna shuddered at the thought, "No,
he already has a first name."
"Oh," Ukyou sighed as she waited to hear some
dreaded name.
"Touji."
Ukyou sighed. "Okay, Touji Habiki."
Ryoga exhaled as he realized they'd probably
banter with some female form of talk. Just when did
Ukyou tell him of the name for their new son? Women,
he sighed, as Ranma once would. One of the main points
in their friendship was their total lack of knowledge
of them.
Ryoga slid open the door of the
Tendo-Saotome-Habiki home. It'd been years since
Setsuna rapped his head with her odd staff. Somehow,
he lost his curse of being constantly misguided
afterwards. Confidently heading over to the backyard
pond, he eyed a teenage boy.
Touji cracked his knuckles in thought as a figure
appeared in his view. Appearing as at least thirty, he
let his eyes fix on the approaching man. In some tan
garb, his yellow bandanna signaled Touji that he was
some sort of martial artist, like in the history
texts. The figure caught his attention.
"And you are?" he tried to mask his curiosity
with disdain.
How was he to react to his new "son"? Ryoga
slightly felt regretful for all those times he spoiled
Serena. Touji seemed like the obstreperous type,
slightly like Ranma in his younger years. Ryoga took a
deep sigh as he closed his eyes.
As Touji raised a brow to the man, he let the
man's first words sink into him.
"Touji, I'm your new father."
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*********************************************
Washuu was sure it'd be months before their
memories would fully resurface, though only minutes of
fast-forwarding in her viewscreen.
"Serena!" Touji ran across the fencetops, "wait
up!"
Still pretending to ignore him, Serena waved her
nose in the air, "humph!"
Touji sighed. It was always in that mock-irate
manner of hers he knew he did something wrong, even
though it probably meant nothing. Quickly catching up
to her, Touji walked besides her, merely waiting for
her to speak.
"That was a rude thing to do, Touji."
Keeping himself from sighing out loud, Touji
tried to look regretful to Serena. "I'm sorry."
Her face lifted right afterwards, "Well, at least
you're sorry. Now do you promise to never do it
again?"
Touji couldn't help but smile at her cute foolishness,
"Yes, meatball-head."
A dark cloud formed over Serena as she took a
mallet from her backpack, "That's what you were
supposed to be sorry for!"
"Whaaaa?" The force of the mallet immediately
propelled Touji all the way across the street.
"Don't call me meatball-head!"
Back in the home of Akane and Ranma's was an old
panda and his old companion. Sipping tea, they paused
a moment as the sound of Touji's ramming into the
street resonated. The panda held a sign "They're
definitely on their way to school.". The companion,
known as Soun Tendo, nodded in accordance.
Another man stepped into the room where the panda
and Soun were sitting. With a gracefully aged face,
the man adjusted his glasses as he sat down to the
side of the panda and Soun.
"Good day, father." Mr. Tofu greeted Soun, then
turned to the panda, "and father Saotome, it is good
to see you."
"Growf," was the Panda's kind reply to his
guest.
Ranma's father sighed through his panda exterior. It'd
been years since he fell into the Jusenkyo Springs
like Ranma, turning into a panda as to a girl. Genma
Saotome remembered the many cases in which zookeepers
would struggle for him, and the many cases he'd search
for hot water to be turned back to human form. He
still wasn't used to it.
"So Serena and Touji will be visiting my office
today, no?"
Soun and the Panda nodded.
It was at the same time that Kasumi stepped into the
room. Mr. Tofu immediately perked up to greet his
wife. If it'd been fifteen years ago, Tofu would've
been pressed to stammer a syllable out of his mouth.
Years ago, Tofu would lose all his composure around
her. It wasn't until she finally understood his
feelings that his stammering stopped, or at least died
down.
"How uncute," Touji checked himself for broken
bones.
Serena wasn't hard to catch up to, with her
constant trips over Nerima's sidewalks. As if she was
originally meant to be a klutz, she'd find herself
crying over the many scrapes from the cement.
Only that morning, the trip wasn't her fault.
Slightly brooding over the previous encounter that
left Touji somewhere with his new wounds, she had kept
to a straight path in her walk. For Touji, it was
relatively easy to track her path to school, only even
he hadn't predicted the fast-moving bicycle behind
her. Almost driven off the sidewalk, Serena
immediately crashed into the road.
"Serena!" her falling figure flashed through his
eyes.
There wasn't much time before Touji ran to Serena
and checked if she was all right. Apparently, some
biker nearly ran into her.
"Waaaaaaaahhhhh!" Serena wasted no time to cry.
She wasn't injured, but whoever caused her fall would
be. Touji turned to the boy who stopped his bike.
Obviously worried of Serena's condition, Touji saw the
boy adjusted his thick glasses as he stooped to
Serena's sitting position.
"Ah, okay you are?" the boy's nasal voice
struck Touji's mind.
"How could she?" Touji lifted the boy by his
collar, "You nearly killed her, you jerk."
"So sorry!" the boy tried to speak, "She no sees
there! I so sorry!"
Touji was crossed between bewilderment of the
boy's speech and the odd familiarity of his voice,
even with the fake accent behind it. With the odd
recollection of another face closely resembling that
of the boy's, he shook his head. The accent was so
false, different from the memory of the boy that was
flashing through his mind.
"Say that again!" Touji opened his eyes in a
flash of anger.
"Touji," Serena's crying stopped long before,
"It's all right. It was just an accident."
The boy couldn't help but nod in agreement.
At first in malice, the fist Touji made
immediately wavered. The scene was too familiar, as if
he'd done something like this before, with that boy
nearby. Touji was still wondering what to do of the
boy, to either pound him, or ask if he knew him.
His instinct won the conflict, "You should've watched
where you were going!" The boy was hurled a few feet
away.
Again, Touji was recalling something, as if he
had done this before. Cracking his knuckles, Touji
could've continued the punitive experience, but looked
to Serena instead. She wasn't pleased with what was
going on. She seemed to hint the biker was obviously
sorry from the start.
"Get outta here!" Touji knew he had to let him
go.
The boy wasted no time, even with his newly broken
glasses. Without looking back, the boy amazingly
recovered and hopped onto his bike.
"Why'd you do that?" Serena's eyes were tinged
with an odd glow of anger.
"I, Serena," Touji's voice was immediately small
before he was cut off.
"He was already sorry, you idiot! You could've
injured him!"
"I, I'm sorry," Touji then peered into her eyes,
"I just wanted to protect you, meatball-head."
Both turned silent until Serena let herself sigh.
"Don't call me meatball-head."
"Yes, love," Touji paused at his outburst,
looking to the ground.
Serena was silenced also, pondering the meaning
of the word. She heard it plenty of times, from
parents and family, but from another guy? All that
time, he called her meatball-head, she knew he'd
eventually use the L-word. Somehow, it was reminding
her of someone else, some other memory that was
bottled inside of her.
It took her a few more seconds before she
realized her mind was delving into the matter too far.
Out of her quandary, Serena walked on to smile,
"That's better." She motioned for him to follow.
Touji hesitated a moment before walking to her. Every
day to school, he used the term, "meat-ball head". Was
"love" any different, or was it just a safer
substitute? Still, it was one word that wouldn't cause
him to bruise later. With an arm wrapped around her
shoulder, Touji proceeded with Serena for the rest of
the way to school.
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(Later that day)
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Every month, Serena went to her uncle's medical
office for examination. All he'd do is show her some
stained papers, and she'd give her answers. She never
received anything from them, just the queer feeling of
something she forgot.
"Okay, I want you to tell me what you see from
this picture," Mr. Tofu took out an inkblot.
"A banana," Serena sighed at the inkblot she
saw many times beforehand.
"Are you sure you see nothing else?" Tofu smiled
in encouragement.
"Yeah, love," Touji leaned in to whisper,
"Besides, you'll get a lollipop if you're more
descriptive."
Forgetting Tofu's later-used retort, Serena
focused on the word "love" once more again. Why was it
becoming so hard for her to focus when she heard the
word? Blurry images were dwelling in her mind, waiting
to be resurfaced. As she turned to look back to her
inkblot, she sighed once again.
Serena began to stare at the crescent-shaped
inkblot in wonder. The harder she stared, the harder
it became to say it looked like only one thing. There
were multiple images forming in her mind, though she
wasn't quite sure what they meant. The look of a
masked tuxedo, the moon, images of people she couldn't
yet identify in her conscious state. /Serena/ was the
call of some foreign, male voice.
"Serena," Touji looked at the dazed girl for a
moment, "Serena!"
Suddenly jerked from what she was recalling,
Serena looked back up at Mr. Tofu. "a moon."
Tofu couldn't believe it himself. Every month, he
tried the technique since the anniversary of Serena's
arrival to their world. Only then was she remembering.
It was as if the "banana" Serena usually saw was
becoming something more. It was time for her to regain
her past.
Immediately, he wondered if Touji would have the
same effect. Serena and Touji often experienced the
same events, with their closeness. Even if he arrived
two years after Serena, there was a slight chance he'd
recall something. After at least ten more "basic"
inkblots, Tofu shifted his test onto Touji.
Outside the doctor's building was the
fake-accented-boy. Only a few minutes ago, he was
supposed to arrive at the Habiki Restaurant
Headquarters. Once again, he was rushing on his
bicycle, and forgot to spot something in front of him.
"Aaaaah!" his voice resonated around the area as he
was hurled into the garbage truck.
He could've sworn he heard a familiar voice.
Slightly distracted from the testing, his mind was
flooded with dark images. He knew he forgot something,
but it wasn't yet clear to him what it was.
Touji turned to the butterfly-shaped inkblot with
wonder. A strange word formed in his mind, which
loosened other images from his subconscious. Somehow,
he recalled clearer images, of a fourteen-year-old boy
from his past, an unkempt, childish woman, a
blue-haired girl, and plenty others that made no
sense. It was then he finally realized the word he was
thinking. "An angel."
Touji wasn't as distraught as Serena, though
something in both of them appeared awry. The fact that
he was put into a trance-like state meant he was
remembering.
"Nothing."
It was a lie. Tofu worked with the boy too many
times with that same inkblot, receiving the same
description, "a butterfly". Why would it be different
that time?
"I think that should be all for today," Tofu
led Touji and Serena outside his office. "Let's head
home."
In Ranma and Akane's home lived numerous
individuals. There was the panda (Ranma's dad), Soun
Tendo, Ryoga, Ukyou, Kasumi, and finally Mr. Tofu, who
took residence there after his marriage to Kasumi.
Touji stepped in the house, only to see a flying
umbrella hurtle towards him. Immediately ducking, he
shouted, "Dad!"
The umbrella swung back towards its owner, a man
of at least thirty years. "You could've caught it."
"Uh huh!" The flying object that passed through
Tofu's hair seemed to have styled it like a
weedwhacker would. "I think I'll go check on Kasumi,"
his voice faded as he swiftly headed towards the
kitchen.
"And if I couldn't?" even through the calm of
his tone, the words were tinged with ice.
"You couldn't have trained enough then," Ryoga
walked back towards the room of his origin. "Come."
"More 'practice," Touji sighed, then looked to
Serena more lightly, "Seeya at dinner."
The echoes of his father and a sparring partner
immediately replaced Touji's presence in the room. As
he trudged towards the room, the sounds of splashing
materials, a squealing pig, and a high-pitched female
voice filled his ears.
Mihoshi knew it was time to visit Washuu. How
long had it been since Washuu went into her lab? Ten,
no Fifteen minutes? Deciding it was her time to step
in, she swayed through the basement door, unnoticing
the warning signs before her.
"Oh, Washuu!"
She could've sworn she heard Mihoshi. Washuu
wasted no time to secure her materials. Every time
Mihoshi appeared in her lab was the times when Washuu
considered "life insurance". Even the "greatest
scientist in the universe" couldn't combat the
unluckiness of having that clumsy blonde around.
"I'll be right out!" Washuu decided to take a
break from her viewscreen, "Don't come in!"
She sighed immediately as she realized it was too
late.
"Okay, I'll just wait out there and," Mihoshi's
path out the lab was interrupted by her stare at what
looked like a "bright, shiny crystal", "What's this?"
Unfortunately, Mihoshi hadn't seen the staff that
belonged to the crystal, nor the person holding it.
"Huh?" was the last word Mihoshi muttered before being
pulled into it.
"What'd you do to her?" Washuu wasn't sure if it
was from shocked curiosity, or from anger.
"Don't worry. She's alive," Setsuna appeared
from a shadow, "But she won't be any help here for
awhile."
In less than a second, Washuu contemplated
"awhile" with no Mihoshi. No more unwanted intrusions
into her lab, messed-up experiments, no more time
spent to conjure the failed measures to block Mihoshi
from the lab completely. "Awhile" quickly became a
calming word.
"How long?" Washuu looked up to Setsuna.
She could've said the typical "that's for me to know
and you to find out" phrase, but refrained. She said
nothing at all for a moment as another figure emerged
from what seemed like a never-ending shadow.
"Long enough to keep you safe."
Washuu gazed at the other woman. Her red eyes were
just as peculiar as the blue hair she presented. In a
glance, one could've mistaken her for a teenager, but
Washuu observed her intently.
"Another ol' friend of yours?" Washuu still
stared at the female as she waited for an answer.
"Washuu, meet Rei."
Washuu felt herself being absorbed somehow by
Rei. She couldn't help but stare into the red eyes
with wonder. It felt like an hour before she was
diverted from the unblinking eyes.
Rei blinked. The "young" woman before her would
not relent. She just stared at her, as if she knew
everything within her through the eyes.
"Another one of the 'saved'," Rei felt flooded
with her memories.
"From what?" Washuu knew one of them would
answer.
Setsuna let Rei see herself or at least the
embodiment of her when she supposedly "died". Her
form, taken by "Lilith" to bring together the
unfortunate individuals in her world. When she saw the
first human turned to the liquid, she was suddenly
disgusted with the process. It was only a few minutes
ago she arrived at the Masaki Shrine and a few minutes
before that when she died in the other universe.
"So there's more to these disruptions," Washuu
turned back to her viewscreen, which showed a group of
martial artists.
"With more people," Setsuna gripped her staff a
little tighter, "And more to do."
Touji was beyond groaning over his sore
muscles. Even in the memories he couldn't quite
recall, he knew he was more enduring. Unlike the
"Shinji" that was surfacing in his mind, he could take
a few sessions with the martial artists.
In a reverie of the past, Touji eyed the
Tendo-Saotome-Habiki backyard. Before that day, he
could only recall the glimmer of Serena's aunt,
"Setsuna" as his earliest memory. He never understood
how Setsuna was related to her, nor seemed to care
until he met that accented-boy. So many memories of
familiar people flowed into him, he wondered where
Setsuna was related in it. Was she just the first
person he met when he arrived in that world, or was
there more to her?
"Mamoru." Serena whispered to the sky.
Only a few weeks ago, she remembered everything. She
was once a SailorScout. Mamoru was once Tuxedo Mask,
the love who constantly worked to save her from
perilous situations, only he was brainwashed, working
for the malevolent Queen Beryl. As she stared at the
memories in her mind, Serena wished them to go away.
She was in another world, annexed for the sake
of the guizhinshou, since she was Princess Serenity.
She remembered the green-haired "guardian of time"
that told of worse things to come. Serena still
couldn't understand how her use of some "guizhinshou"
would wipe out the other SailorScouts, and especially,
her Mamoru. It was only from looking into the woman's
despaired eyes that she knew she had to leave the
world she was in, to prevent whatever tragedies ahead
in time.
A cold wind brushed against her as she heard
the crackling of numerous leaves, "Serena, aren't you
coming in?"
Turning around, she only confirmed the voice
she guessed would speak to her. Touji was the type
who'd care the most at the crucial times, but he was
never a Sailor Scout, so he had no idea how to help.
"Touji, it's cold," Serena continued quickly,
"I mean, for you. Shouldn't you head inside?"
If he'd been hurt, he didn't let it show, "You must
come inside. C'mon, love, Akane's worried about you."
Serena noted Akane for a brief moment. She was twice
her age, only slightly younger than her own mom, but
Akane still wore the youthful face that kept her
content. She was a doting motherly figure, but she
still wasn't a real mother.
Shaking the thought away, Serena let Touji lead
her back to their home. She knew her life with the
SailorScouts had to be forgotten again, if she was
ever to go on in life.
"What's with Serena?" Ranma scarfed down the
last of his chicken before continuing, "she seems
kinda down today..."
"Just like last week, last month," Nabiki cut
in, "Even Touji's baffled."
"You don't think her memory's returning," Ranma
stated the obvious.
"Of course, she had another life in Setsuna's
world," Kasumi lifted Ranma's empty dishes from the
table, "Once she's remembered fully, it'll be hard for
her to forget."
"Poor Serena, poor Touji," Akane looked out the
window, "and he has no idea."
"NiHao!"
Akane's head jerked violently in response to
the nearby shout. The roughly accented female voice
seemed too familiar, Akane knew it belonged to only
one person.
"Shampoo!" The others around Akane got up from
the table to greet her, especially Nabiki.
"Shampoo!" Nabiki grinned, "How's it going?"
"Ah, so years many!" Shampoo smiled, "Place same
as left."
Same as left. To Ranma, everything changed over
those thirteen years. So many times, he had to go
through skits of being run over by Shampoo's bicycle
or hit by Akane's mallet. Whenever she was around, she
reminded him of the Amazon law's "engagement" he had
to her. His marriage with Akane began to settle only
when Shampoo supposedly gave up on Ranma, and finally
found someone else.
"But bring someone different!" Shampoo stepped
outside the house only to bring in Mousse, who was
slowly followed by a teenage boy.
"Meet son, Kensuke!"
In a tongue other than Chinese or Japanese,
Shampoo whispered to Kensuke, "Relax, they're old
pals."
Hesitating a moment, Kensuke took a breath
before speaking what his parents taught him in
Japanese. "Hello."
While Kensuke quickly quieted, the others around
him could only wonder if he was truly Shampoo's son.
He spoke perfect Japanese, almost more fluently than
the Tendos and Tofus, Habikis, and Saotomes in the
room. Unlike Shampoo, whose heavy accent butchered
their language, Kensuke spoke like a scholar.
Nabiki took the chance to break the silence
around him. "So, you were her son all along," She
thought of first meeting him before that day.
Apparently, when he first arrived to intern at her
office, he was the first to fix most of the newly
arrived computers. Glancing into his eyes, she quickly
knew Shampoo was lying.
"So all that time," Nabiki noticed Kensuke sweat
slightly as she continued, "That you were after Ranma,
you had another child."
"Pardon?" Shampoo's rough accent dissipated.
Nabiki already knew Shampoo was speaking in English.
Years in the university gave her the chance to freshen
her foreign language skills.
In the English she remembered from before,
Nabiki turned to Shampoo. "He's not your son, is he?"
Shampoo shook her head, "Of course not. He would've
been born while Ranma was marrying Akane."
At the mention of his name Ranma perked up,
"Mind telling us what's going on?"
"Sure," Mousse sighed. In a more fluent speech,
he continued, "Nabiki just found out Kensuke isn't our
real son."
Instinctively, Kasumi led Kensuke out of the
room. Pointing out the window, Kasumi smiled, "Would
you be a dear and have Serena and Touji come in?"
Meaning the two dim figures in the backyard, she
stepped back into the house.
While Kasumi headed back to the living room
where the others were, Kensuke chose to see whom she
meant.
As Touji was leading Serena back inside, he
noticed a familiar figure approaching him.
"Aaah!" Kensuke felt off guard as he eyed the
dim figure before him. Only a few feet away from the
irated boyfriend from earlier that day, his only
instinct was to run.
"Come back here, you worm!" Touji was ready to
cream the trespasser, "Just what the � are you doing
here?"
Tenchi eyed his new residence warily. Washuu
told him the world would be different, but never so
small. In the instant he realized the house was
quickly increasing in size.
"Huh?" Tenchi took the chance to look directly
beneath him. As he realized the ground was quite far
below him, he couldn't help but breath, "Oh, no."
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH�." Was what suddenly caught the
attention of Serena and Kensuke, but mostly Touji.
The voice seemed to come closer and closer to
him. There was no chance to look up to the person to
whom it belonged before he felt something extremely
heavy on his back.
"Get. Off. Me!" Touji felt his temper rise as he
was overcome with dizziness.
Tenchi knew the Touji he was currently on was supposed
to be strong, but even he couldn't endure a rapidly
descended person on him. Anyone would at least�
"I think he's passed out." Kensuke stared down
to Touji.
"Touji!" Serena hastened to his side.
"Um�" Tenchi got off him immediately. "I think
we should bring him inside."
Seeing the two strangers pick up Touji, Serena
couldn't help but wonder what was goin' on. "Who�who
are you?" She was expecting an answer from both
Kensuke and Tenchi.
"Tenchi Masaki," he strained to lift Touji's
legs, "But let's first get inside."
***********************************************************************************
************************************************************************************
Author's Notes: Whenever new characters are
brought in, it takes a lotta time to establish who
they are, where they came from, and what they're like.
Since this is ONLY one part of the prologue, reading
through them will hopefully establish some kinda
characterization. If the characters seem Out O
Character, email me, cuz the feedback would be great
encouragement enough for continuing.
Characters: This time, I've decided to refrain
from writing "Cliff-Note" stuff for the story.
So many acknowledgements could be made for the
owners of the anime in this story. But "Tempus Fugit"
(time flies) when trying to mention all of them.
C&C to Undine2040@yahoo.com (Wise Crystal)
=====
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