Hotaru sat next to... Hotaru. Except this other Hotaru had slightly more build, cat ears and a tail, a maid outfit, and didn't seem out of breath from coming up the stairs.
"So," said Ami, checking her notes. "Hotaru's sempai wanted to give us backup in fights, and he created you as a result."
"That's right," said Hotaru-neko. "He combined a number of methods as well as some theories of magic and I am the result. I'm a sort of magical clone."
"And the reason for him doing so was that he was feeling alone?" asked Ami, simultaneously alarmed and tempted.
"Not exactly. He was telling the truth about wanting to help all of you fight. I can tell, I'm a telepath," said Hotaru-neko. "I saw that he had a real abiding affection for my original here, and mmmph mmph?"
Hotaru blushed as she sat there, covering her duplicate's mouth. "Ah well, that is."
"Whoa, Hotaru-chan is the first among us to find a True Love?" asked Makoto, eyes wide and perhaps a little envious.
"Ahem," said Usagi.
Minako looked terribly depressed about something.
Rei shook her head. "That's horrible. Creating intelligent beings for the purpose of having female companionship."
"Actually it was helping you save the world first, the idea of having a girlfriend after Hotaru inevitably drifted away came about when he was operating with too little sleep and entirely too much coffee," said Hotaru-neko, glancing towards her original.
"First Pluto shows up acting all nuts, now this," said Rei, glancing at the Truth Ward still prominently displayed. "Hey, is this maybe why she wanted to kill him?"
Ami's eyes widened. "Wait. If he's all by himself..."
Ranma was aware of the woman before she actually had entered his apartment. "So you're here."
"You pose a danger to the future that cannot be allowed," said Sailor Pluto.
"I understand," said Ranma.
"You do?" asked a suddenly off-base Pluto.
Ranma snorted. "Look at me. I know of this Crystal Tokyo you're from. I had a parabolic mike out where you were discussing it once. A future utopia presided over by Usagi. Look at me and tell me that there would be a place for a twisted familyless cripple in some paradise."
Pluto relaxed ever so slightly. "So you do understand, at least a little."
Ranma took a deep breath and his eyes seemed to shimmer as he considered his next words, and certain that they would be his last. "Just... will Hotaru be happy in this new age?"
"Everyone will be happier without you," said Pluto, bringing her staff up. She could at least make his end quick and mostly painless for his cooperation. "dead... scream."
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(Posted Tue, 21 Feb 2006 06:50)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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