Sailor Pluto hummed to herself, bookmarking baby Usagi's info. Socute...
Hmmmm. Her Meiou Setsuna the human/Sailor Pluto the humanoid memories said that there ought to be some kind of 'baths' or 'saunas' (ewww, those humans submerged themselves in hot water regularly, what a weird concept) just around that corner, and her Sailor Pluto the Car-being memories, fragmentary though they were, were throwing up some rather interesting images, so...
Oh, yes. Pluto gave the world in general a big happy grin, seeing one of the nicest Car-washes she had ever seen in her life. Now that was more like it...
A hour or so later, a much refreshed, clean and shiny Pluto was back at her seat in front of the Time Gate's controls.
Time to start scanning again, she supposed...
It was a balmy spring night, cool and just very slightly cloudy.
Hino Naohisa started at the baby Car, just freshly out of the birth ramp.
The baby Car stared back, blinking her eyes. She was an utterly beautiful Car, all sleek lines and curves, colored a deep vibrant red, and...
His father poked him in the side-doors. "Naohisa, stop staring at her. What are you gonna do if your face freezes down that way? Politicians have to be able to smile on demand, remember?"
"...Leave me alone, father." Naohisa muttered, brushing the poking fender away. Why the hell did his father always have to treat him like a small child in times of stress, anyway?
Hino Naoyuki, a rather old station wagon with priest markings, only sighed, seeing the glare his son had not quite managed to conceal from him before he looked back at his daughter. Well, it had better be a female, with those looks...
His son the luxury sedan, just so distinguished looking... Naoyuki sighed, then. He knew about trying to bring up children who weren't much like oneself, after all.
Oh, how he knew...
"Awwww, she's beautiful..." A female kei-truck coo'd behind him. "Look at those curves and lines..."
"And the bodyshape is lovely. " Another expectant mother, this time a small sedan, agreed. "She reminds me of some of those 50s actress', except that she's all streamlined and sleek... now that's a sportscar, alright!"
Hino Naohisa, up-and-coming local politician, was not listening. Not now.
"She...she's tiny!"
Naoyuki almost banged his bumper against the nearest wall. Yes, yes, it wasn't like his son was saying something that wasn't true, but -
"Look, it does seem like she's a bit on the smallish side, son, but it doesn't seem like she's exactly kart-sized, either, so - " Naoyuki stopped, sighing, as he saw his son go barrowing off right next to the fence, trying to get a better look at his child.
"She - she's a one-seater?"
"Welll - " The Master Mechanic muttered, looking at the scanners intently, and then peering into the baby Car. "No, wait. There's only one rather wide single seat in the front, true, but the second row 'luggage space' actually seems to double as a second seat, so - she's technically a two-seater, though with atypical seating arrangements. Oh, and - "
The Master Mechanic paused, as the baby's roof started to raise and retract.
"She's a convertible, as you can see. And she does seem perfectly healthy and intelligent, and that is the important thing I believe... Hmmm, female, small exotic sports car, convertible, atypical seating arrangement... I do suggest you take her for regular checkups, though, Mr Hino. Well, everybody should get those, but..."
Naoyuki in the meanwhile had managed to get a look at his granddaughter's plates.
"Naohisa, look, her plates aren't even yellow! She can't be that little if she's not even kei-class..."
"She actually spreads out quite a lot, and her engine specs are quite high, Mr...?..."
"Oh, I'm her granddaddy. Soo - she's gonna run like a running thing, is she now?" The old Car with shrine priest marking asked, trying to get a better look at the baby, who hooted at him.
"She'll handle herself quite well, I think - she's quite well balanced, all things considered." The Master Mechanic smiled.
"Style, speed and good handling - everything a sportscar should be, eh. Oh, come on Naohisa, stop running around her, you'll make her dizzy - "
The baby sportscar hooted again, and a small scrap of something came flying out over her windows, hitting her father on the roof.
" - foo!"
"Ahh? What's that?" Naoyuki wandered over, taking a look at the little piece of - paper?
"What is it?" Naohisa muttered, craning his front half.
It was a small piece of paper with some marking on it, as far as he could tell.
[--<---]??
And indeed, the little sports car was making a expression much like the marks on the paper...
"...I don't think she likes you running around her like a maniac, son." Naoyuki snickered.
"What is this? Does she have a mini-catapult or something in there? ...And what's that big cup-holder on her dashboard, anyway?"
"A catapult, you say?" The Master Mechanic wandered over. "Some children are born with the strangest things in them, you know. Toys, or game players, or...It doesn't look dangerous or anything, from what I can see here."
"...Well, alright, then." Naohisa muttered, tossing the piece of paper on top of his seats.
"My wife and I have already decided to name her Rei if it was a girl. Where do I sign?"
Some time later, the Hino family wheeled away into the night. Naoyuki sighed.
"You're really planning to just take her to the hospital now?"
"Yes." His son growled. "Hina must be worried sick. ...Sicker. It was taking too long as it is, and..."
Naoyuki sighed. Well, his son's wife hadn't been the only one worrying about the baby taking too long to be made, that was for sure...
"Visiting hours..."
"Can be worked around." Naohisa said firmly.
If one had 'connections' and was quite willing to run roughshod over any minor obstacles in your way...maybe.
Hino Naoyuki sighed again, then. Oh, what the hell, his son was right, for a change. The hospital would just have to deal with it.
"Foo?" Little Rei hooted. Naoyuki smiled at his granddaughter.
"You're so pretty, dear - and your mama's going to be so happy..."
And so she was.
"Aw, aw, aw, she's so beautiful..."
As good as his word, his son had 'managed' the hospital staff, and had managed to get all of them in, visiting hours or no visiting hours.
His son's wife wasn't looking too well, but she was looking better then when he'd seen her this morning, which was a great relief.
"She's so pretty...Like...like that actress who played Batgirl in the 3rd Batmobile movie, or something!"
Batgirl?? Naohisa stared, wishing his main processors would stop conjuring images of his daughter in a Batgirl custom shell and paintjob.
No, please, just...no.
Naoyuki hooted like a hooting thing.
Pluto stared. Darn, was that a good looking Car or was that not a good-looking Car?
Whooaa.
The big cup-holder was probably for the sacred fire, but - an miniture ofuda lancher?
Pluto snickered, then. Well, well. Rei had come into this world well prepared, it seemed...
Pluto smiled at the family, and directed the scanners elsewhere.
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(Posted Mon, 25 Sep 2006 16:40)
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