The train car was oddly empty, aside from a half-dozen Senshi. This was partially due to happenstance, but mostly because the practicioners of Martial Arts Close-Quarters Groping, a style taught by a cousin of Happosai, had enough danger sense to know when the risk outweighed the reward.
Osaka was acquainting herself with the Outers. “So,” she said, “yer lesbians.”
Michiru winced at the bluntness. Haruka glowered. “Do you have a problem with that?”
“No, no. I was jus’ wonderin’…”
“Yes?” Apprehension began to dawn on the blonde.
“Howzat work, exactly?”
“Eh!?”
“Well, neither of ya got a…y’ know.” Osaka paused, tilting her head in thought. “’Less that rumor’s true…”
“What rumor!?” exclaimed Haruka. The others watched in horrid fascination. It was like a slow-motion train wreck. You knew disaster was nigh, you didn’t want to stare, but you just couldn’t look away.
“Well, on th’ Internet, y’ see, there was this rumor that said ya might have…both.”
Twitch. Twitch twitch. The Uranian Senshi’s eyebrow began to spasm. “What?” The word came slowly, coldly, like a case of hypothermia.
Osaka didn’t notice. “Y’know. ‘S like a Chinese restaurant.” The listeners paused in their various states of rage, embarrassment, and/or disbelief to ponder this non sequitur. The spacy girl elaborated further. “Well, ‘s like a Chinese restaurant menu. Pick one from Column A an’ one from Column B.”
There was a significant silence; the only sounds those of the moving train. Most mouths were agape, most eyes staring at the plain girl in sheer disbelief. Sakaki and Osaka both shivered a little. Though no one present was male or wore glasses, the expressions were disturbingly reminiscent of Kimura-sensei.
Minako ended the period of astonishment by nodding and noting, “You know, if you think about it for a bit, it makes sense.”
The shocked faces turned to face her. After another couple seconds, she began to squirm. “What?”
The moment passed. Haruka shook her head. “Look, I can assure you that that rumor is 100% false, understand?”
Osaka nodded. “Sure do. Y’ ain’t got neither.”
“Gah!?”
“Well, if it ain’t true that y’ got both, then y’ must not have either one.”
“I’m a woman, damn it!” Haruka stood and started unbuttoning her jeans. “You want proof?”
Michiru rose and put her hands over her lover’s. “Public exposure is not the best way to soothe your bruised ego, dear.” They still fought for control of the pants. The violinist dropped her voice to a whisper. “Besides, I think a few of those perverts are looking in from adjacent cars.” That did it.
Michiru turned to Osaka. “If you really want to know the…mechanics, Kasuga-san, we may discuss them in a more appropriate setting.”
The girl accepted this. “’Kay.”
“Is she always like this?” Makoto whispered to Sakaki.
The other tall girl smiled apologetically. “Her mind…tends to go where others’ don’t.”
After Sailor Capricorn narrowly avoided crushing Naru on impact, Su thought the best thing to do would be to both celebrate and apologize with a “Welcome Back, Naru!” party. Of course, the planning for said party had begun the moment the news that Naru was returning had circulated through the dormitory. Thus, decorations, food, and drinks were already in place, waiting only for the woman of the hour. Kitsune had even managed to crawl out of her room, sprawling herself on the couch with a glass of seltzer.
The specifics of these festivities are unimportant to the overall plot, but it’s nice to know that the Love Hina cast hasn’t been forgotten, isn’t it?
The mist-filled depths that held the Gates of Time always made Ami feel rather uncomfortable. She’d grown used to seeing through fog, usually of her own creation, and finding herself in limited visibility again was a tad disconcerting.
Of course, the fact that she was in the presence of an ancient artifact of an unknown civilization that was capable of breaking damn near every known law of physics wasn’t exactly her cup of tea either. “So,” she said, “what exactly do you need me to do?”
“I will track the trail left by the Small Lady’s motion through the timestream to the origin point. I’ve done it before, but my skill with the Gates can only handle the time and conventional space aspects. I’ve never even thought of examining alternate futures, and I can only guess as to how I could distinguish them from one another.”
Sailor Mercury grew more nervous. “You have millennia of experience with the Gates, Pluto-san. If you don’t know how to do this, how could you think that I would?”
Pluto smiled. “Think about it. Given the chance, could you willingly stay away from a literal time machine?”
“Of course not! The chance to expand our understanding of the entire universe could lie in such a discovery!”
“Now why would your past life think any differently?”
Mercury paused at this. “You mean I’ve already examined the Gates of Time?”
“For a given definition of ‘I,’ yes.” She smiled fondly at the memories. “You exercised every bit of influence you wielded just to try and get in here. It was hardly the first time. Mercurian scientists were always trying to get permission to examine the gate, and were always denied.” She noted Ami’s curious frown and answered the question before it could be asked. “They would have been accepted if they accepted the supervision of the Senshi of Pluto, but they refused. They didn’t someone who had been taught every reason not to use the Gate impeding their research.” She sighed. “The two worlds would likely have gone to war had we not both been part of the Alliance.”
“So how did I manage it?”
“Well, as I said, you used every favor owed to you, every secret you held, every scrap of power you could exercise as the princess of Mercury. I was Sailor Pluto at the time, and I was impressed by your incredible passion. You were leaving nothing in reserve, everything to my whim. It was so completely unlike you that I looked through the Gates to see whether I should allow you to enter.”
Ami was engrossed. “And?”
“I saw that you would do no harm to the timestream, and that you would one day return and would need to have been here before. I gave you permission.” She laughed a bit at the old memory. “When you arrived at Charon Castle, you were like a child in a toy store. I had to stop Sailor Scorpio from gagging you with your own shadow.” Ami blushed at this. “In any case, you examined the Gates under my supervision and soon started babbling about something that, frankly, not even I understood. Then you left, returned with Sailor Aquarius in tow, and the two of you constructed this.” Pluto knelt and moved a cover from something at the base of the Gates.
Mercury examined it. It was a small spherical sapphire, etched with two glyphs. One was her own, the other the wavy lines of Aquarius. “What is this?”
“A wireless interface unit for the Mercury and Aquarius Computers.”
“Why didn’t you bring Su-chan?”
Pluto shuddered. “I’ve seen what that girl’s done with her gifts in this life. I’m not letting her anywhere near this dimension.” She pointed the Time Key Staff meaningfully. “In any case, while I track Chibi-Usa, you’ll interface with the Gates and see just where her trail leads.”
“I still don’t know how I’m going to do that.”
“Don’t worry. Your previous incarnation made sure to include a tutorial.”
“Oh. Isn't that rather incredibly convenient?”
"Well, at the time she thought she was making it for her descendants, not her reincarnation."
"Ah."
In a shadowy alley, the dimensions briefly curved in ways they never should have, and then disgorged Dominus. The nebulous evil briefly glanced into the street and saw the Osa-P. “Good, Azabu Juuban. Just as planned. Now, where should I strike to ensure the most durability for keeping the Senshi distracted?”
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(Posted Mon, 13 Oct 2008 01:00)
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