Something's going on, Miyake Shinobu thought to herself as she walked down the street towards the Moroboshi home. Something really strange is going on here. And if my guess it's right, if there's anyone who might know what's going on now, it's Ataru-kun.
It had been a little disorientating waking up that morning to see that not only had all the alien mushrooms been taken away from Earth, but that all the damage those mushrooms caused had been set aright. It was as if the Yaminokuni had never come to Earth in the first place; even the holes in the walls at Tomobiki High School that had been created by Rupa's pig-drawn chariot had been repaired as good as new. The instantaneous nature of the repairs had raised the hackles on Shinobu's neck right away; despite Tomobiki's supposed ability to rebound from even the worst type of disaster (as the recent Pseudo War so readily demonstrated), it still took time to make everything the way it had been before.
How?
How had this happened?
And what did it mean?
Arriving at the front gate of the Moroboshi home, Shinobu walked up to knock on the door. A second later, it opened to reveal a tomboyish girl in slacks and a halter-top, looking to be about her age. As soon as she managed to stare on the face, Shinobu blanched as the familiar features came to her. "A-at-Ataru-kun . . .?" she sputtered out as she back-pedalled away from the other person.
Tariko blinked as she watched Shinobu start to freak out, and then she sighed, raising her hand. One snap of the fingers later, a bucket full of cold water appeared a metre over the latter's head. It was telekinetically tipped over, dousing her in a mini-Niagara Falls. As Shinobu cried out in shock at being soaked to the skin, Tariko breathed out, "Gomen nasai, Shinobu-chan. I didn't want to put up to you throwing one of your temper-tantrums. We just got the house nice and fixed up, so we're not in the mood to watch you wreck it again."
Shinobu sputtered out in disbelief as she gazed on this bizarre apparition, and then she gasped as she watched the bucket float into Tariko's hand, and then it vanished in a flash of light. As her jaw started to make her look like a fish out of water, footsteps heralded Ataru's arrival. "Nee-chan? Is that Shinobu-san out there . . .?" he asked before his eyes locked on the poor soaked girl. "Shinobu-san?" he wondered before sighing. "Nee-chan, honestly!"
"Don't blame me, Nii-chan! She was about to go off on another silly tear like she always does whenever she confronts something unusual," Tariko stated as she snapped her fingers again.
Shinobu instantly found herself inundated in light, emerging from it a second later with dry clothes, hair and skin. With that, Tariko headed back inside to return to the kitchen; she was helping prepare breakfast. "Honestly, she's just like Rampage," she muttered under her breath. "Upset her just a bit and she wrecks half a city as a result!"
"Tariko-chan!" Kinshou scolded. "That's not a nice thing to say to Shinobu-chan!"
"Okaa-san, that was an observation," Tariko countered before she looked in on the miso soup and the rice cooker. "A pretty accurate one, too."
Ataru stared at his sister and mother, and then he sighed before turning back to his former girlfriend. "My apologies, Shinobu-san," he said with a respectful bow to her. "Things, as I'm sure you've come to suspect, have changed somewhat." He then turned to wave her inside the house. "Since it is quite early in the morning, would you care to join us for breakfast?"
Shinobu blinked as she found herself staring at Ataru, her mind whirling around as she tried to absorb what was going on. Unfortunately, the changes were just too much for her to take in all at once. With a feeble nod, she headed inside . . .
Later . . .
"So this Destructo-sensei took you to the one planet Lum's people are virtually petrified of to transform you into some sort of super-lothario . . . " -- Shinobu indicated Ataru -- " . . . and because there was enough life energy from the time you were once split into twins thanks to Lum's candy and Cherry's cursed cake, it was enough to create you, then you were given the literal power of a god in turn." She indicated Tariko as she looked on her ex-boyfriend.
"Crudely put but accurate," Ataru said before he sipped his tea. "Once we returned to Earth, Nee-chan used her powers to destroy the mushrooms and Lum's memory erasing machine, and then, just to ensure she couldn't do anything more to cause problems, Nee-chan banished Lum and the others back to Uru."
Shinobu jolted. "Ataru-kun, you better hope the guys don't hear that," she then warned. "If they do, you won't hear the end of it!"
Ataru and Tariko exchanged a look. "Things might snap back to normal for guys like Megane and his friends, Nii-chan," the latter warned.
"Well, I doubt the Intergalactic Space-Taxi Company would take calls from a planet where two of 'they-who-must-never-be-named' are currently residing," the former then stated. "It would be rather amusing to see the look on their faces when their 'ventora ventora' chant produces no result."
Tariko giggled. Kinshou then walked into the living room. "Yes, some things that have happened here since Lum-chan came could be blamed on your other 'friends,'" she stated as she took her place at the head of the table. Muchi had already gone off to work. "But what about that Mendou fellow?"
The Moroboshi siblings considered that for a moment. "Well, if he causes too much trouble for us, all we have to do is teleport ourselves back to Yiziba," Ataru then noted before he took another sip of his tea.
Shinobu and Kinshou balked. "'LEAVE?!'" both shrieked.
"Sure," Tariko affirmed with a straight face. She was trying to smirk at the sight of her mother and her ex-girlfriend freaking out like that.
Despite all of Moroboshi Kinshou's "I wish I never had you" tirades in the past when it came to the weird things that had struck her son's life, not to mention the many times Miyake Shinobu had tried to force her will on Ataru, even after Lum had come into their lives, the woman now called "Infinity" on Yiziba knew how much both of them really did care for her brother. The very idea of Moroboshi Ataru actually turning around and leaving Tomobiki once and for all time -- never to return, even for a visit -- didn't sit well with either of them.
Tariko also knew that, despite his transformation into Rake, Ataru still had some pent-up anger deep inside his soul concerning his past mistreatment at their hands, regardless if it was justified or not. She felt that same resentment, too, even now that she had the literal power to warp Reality itself to her command. All it needed was one big push in the wrong direction and Ataru would vanish, just like that. Thus, it was necessary to lay down the law to Kinshou and Shinobu both, make them understand that now, there were some lines that can't be crossed.
"After all, Nee-chan has her own 'fortress of solitude' in the Doll House, which is located in its very own pocket dimension," Ataru added. "We can live there and carry on our work as required from a perfect safe haven. Ne, Nee-chan?"
"Hai!" Tariko affirmed with a nod.
Shinobu and Kinshou exchanged shocked looks as their minds wrapped around what had just been dropped on their heads, and then they turned their attention back to their tea. "So w-what're your plans now, Ataru-kun?" the former then asked. "You said that this Destructo-sensei wanted you to find Earth girls to volunteer to go to this Crystal of Power and become Yizibajohei girls. Are you going to . . .?"
"Force anyone to do it?" Ataru finished for her, and then he shook his head. "No, Shinobu-san, you need not fret because of that. To do something like THAT would be against the very heart and spirit of what it actually means to be a Yizibajohei. But I'm sure there are many ladies on Earth who wouldn't mind the change of scenery, not to mention get the chance to gain some better control over themselves. Those forced into a loveless marriage, like poor women in the more strict religious communities worldwide . . . "
"Loads of gynoids around to offer the chance to become human," Tariko noted.
"The adventuresome types who want to break free from society's many chains."
"The odd ghost, spirit and the like . . . "
Both then nodded with determination. "Loads of choices," they declared in unison.
Shinobu watched them, and then she giggled. "Oba-san, by the looks of it, they are your children," she said as she gazed on Kinshou.
"So I noticed," the older woman mused to herself as . . .
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(Posted Mon, 01 Oct 2007 23:43)
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