"Good morning, ladies. Today is a new day."
Both Shimei and Hōsen blinked in surprise on hearing that cheerful greeting, and then they exchanged a look before walking over to stand to either side of Stephen Caldwell. "Where on Earth did you hear something like that, Lieutenant?" the former asked.
He chuckled. "Ever see the movie Gods and Generals?"
Both women shook their heads. "Can't say we have," Hōsen stated.
"Story of the early part of the American Civil War," the lieutenant explained before he accepted the offered cup of coffee — Tim Hortons coffee, both tōshi had been quick to notice — from Sugihama Mizuho, the Haida's ship systems maintenance officer. "Focused mostly on General Stonewall Jackson. There was a scene after First Battle of Manassas — First Bull Run as the North called it — in 1861. After the fighting was over and he had found some of his old students from the Virginia Military Institute dead on the battlefield, one of his aides asked him how he could be so serene in the midst of all the lead flying around." Stephen smiled at them before he sipped the coffee, and then he stared at the palmtop in his hand. "He explained that his beliefs made him so secure in his life that he didn't fear his own death."
Shimei hummed. "By all reports, he was an exceptionally brave man."
"That he was," the Canadian officer affirmed with a nod. "Right afterward, another of the general's aides came up with the after-action report of the Stonewall Brigade. Hearing that, he commented that he was quite satisfied with their performance that day. And then he bade them good night, telling them, 'Tomorrow is a new day.'"
"Don't rest on your laurels, you mean," Hōsen stated.
"Quite correct, ma'am. Until I came here, I used to think I controlled quite the fair share of the paranormal technological knowledge existing on Earth these days." A chuckle. "And coming aboard this ship, I learned how much I really DON'T know."
"Good luck," Shimei mused.
He nodded as the Sebone cousins headed for the turbolift to head down to the wardroom, located near the centre of the upper forward superstructure, to get something to eat before they would get together with all their friends and return to Tomobiki. As they nodded greetings to several of the members of the 9th Defence Squadron as they stepped out of the car, Hōsen gave Shimei a knowing look. "So how was it?"
The blue-haired tōshi remained quiet as they stepped into the car and the doors closed in front of them. "Wardroom," Shimei called out before she grinned. "I wanted to do it with her, Shikuko. I wanted her so badly, I could taste it."
"And?"
A shrug. "We just slept together," she admitted. "Felt it wasn't right to go all the way when I'd have to go out and break in a whole new BODY in forty-eight hours." Shimei then smirked before she gazed on Hōsen. "What about you and Tariko?"
A trill escaped the warrior from Rakuyō before she gave Shimei a grin. "Same."
Both stared at each other, and then they laughed as the car then stopped, the doors opening onto a corridor leading aft to the wardroom and living quarters for some of the senior officers (once they would be assigned here). Walking out, they made their way into the large combination dining hall and lounge set aside for officers on a warship. Already there was a considerable crowd. "Ohayō," Shimei called out.
"Osu!" Ryūnosuke called back before she held out her teacup so she could get a refill from the temporary wardroom manager, an athletic tomboy named Takeuchi Ayumi. "Where're Tariko and Hiromi? We gotta get a move on so we won't be late for class."
"They're getting dressed right now," Shimei replied as the cousins took their seats and Ayumi came up to take their breakfast order. After they made their choices, they relaxed. "What's going to happen at your school today?"
"Doubt it'll be much," Shinobu said. "Though if Ataru-kun convinces Lum and the others to go to school with him, that can certainly change."
"The 'true faith' is proven," Chigaiko sarcastically noted.
Giggles from some of the other people there. "Not for long, though," Rumiko noted. "Mendō, Megane and his idiots'll get the wind knocked out of their sails soon enough when they learn that our Lum doesn't know them at all."
Shinobu snorted. "They'll just turn around and blame it on Ataru-kun, like always."
"Which would make Lum zap them," Momoe noted. "And that'll make them just as happy since their precious 'Lum-san' will still be paying attention to them."
Footsteps. "Fortunately, Darling's warned me about my so-called 'holy apostles,'" Lum said as she stepped into the room, followed by her lovers and Ataru. "Don't worry about it, Momoe. I've already got an idea or two to use on them." She then walked over to gently kiss Shinobu on the cheek before she sat down.
Ryūnosuke's jaw hit the deck. "When the hell did THIS happen?!"
Shinobu flustered as some of the others laughed. "Ryūnosuke-kun! You're not my mother, you know!" She then stared at Lum in mock-anger. "I thought you said Benten would be doing something about this problem, Lum!"
"Hey! Give me a chance to work on her, huh?!" Benten complained.
"HEY!" Ryūnosuke yelped as the Fukunokami gave her a rakish look.
More laughter. "Benten-chan, word of advice," Hōsen said. "Learn subtlety." She then stage-whispered to her, "But it IS a very inspired choice!"
"I think so," Benten said.
"HEY!"
More laughter filled the wardroom…
An hour later…
People on the streets of Tomobiki blinked on hearing a ringing noise echo through the air some distance from the front gates of Tomobiki High School. As students heading in for another day of studying paused to look around for the source of that familiar sound (especially if they were Star Trek fans), many then gaped as showers of light solidified into several familiar forms, most of them now in Tomobiki High School dark blue gakuran and seifuku. As the materialiser effect faded, Moroboshi Ataru took a deep breath before he looked around, and then he nodded. "Well, it was nice of Nengmek'i-jichan and his friends to help in the cleanup, eh?" he asked before offering his arms to Lum and Ran. "Shall we be off, ladies?"
Both Urusians gladly took up his offer, which made jaws drop all around as they snuggled up to him. "We shall, Darling!" Ran said before she gazed on Oyuki and Benten, who were still in normal clothing, as everyone headed down the street to school. "You two sure you don't want to come to classes? It'll be loads of fun!"
"Yeah, it might be, but it'd be better if we helped out at Tampopo's place to make sure some extra cash is rolling in," the Fukunokami mused as she reached over to grab Lum's student bag with one hand so she could hold the Oni's hand in the other. As Oyuki did the same thing with Ran — that making MANY people around them, even the girls who pretty much believed all the stories they had heard over the last week about the many truths concerning what was happening with Moroboshi Ataru and his "wife," gape in total shock — they headed down in line of review towards school.
"Good point," Hiromi mused; she and Tariko were walking hand-in-hand with Shimei and Hōsen. She then perked on hearing another materialiser activate before looking over. "Ohayō, Mikoko-san, Kyoko-san," she called out as Bachō Mōki and Koshaji Enjō came up to join them, both in their normal school uniforms. "I take it elements of the Self-Defence Forces have gone up now to prepare to take Yamato into commission?"
"Hai, Hiromi-sama," the ninja-trained tōshi from Yoshū replied with a nod as the freshman from Ryōshū moved to a protective position behind the reborn emperor and her current companions. "A special team from the Navy came aboard with the help of the Canadians' Specialised Warfare Regiment early this morning." She then grinned as she added, "But they said Kyoko-sempai and I can come aboard anytime we wanted."
"That's understandable," Hiromi noted. "Tsukihana-san, Ayami-san and I pretty much planned this from the start. Still, we have to be ready to help so that the professionals can eventually take over the ships and put them to best use."
"Hai."
The reborn emperor was quick to sense a touch of depression in the younger tōshi's voice. "What's the matter, Mikoko-san?"
Mōki looked like she was about to sulk. "They didn't like the uniform."
Hōsen's eyebrow arched. "What uniform?"
Hiromi sighed. "Mikoko-san is a fan of an old anime series."
"Oh, Uchū Senkan Yamato, you mean!" Tariko cut in, and then she stared at the pretty freshman from Saitama for a moment before she gazed once more on her sister. "Did she try to actually make herself look like Okita Jūzō?!"
Hōsen and Shimei broke out laughing as Mōki huffed. "It's tradition!" the freshman snapped.
More laughter escaped everyone as they turned down the street that passed right in front of Tomobiki High School. By then, the distant sound of a diesel motor was heard, heralding the approach of the school's richest student. "Ready to deal with the fan club, Ataru-kun?" Shinobu asked as she gazed knowingly at him.
"As I'll ever be," he mused.
"Lum-san!"
Lum — to say anything of Benten, Oyuki and Ran — tried not to moan on hearing that passion-filled voice. They all had, during the month or so they had been together with their shared lover, been regaled with many tales about THIS particular person and the many times he had tried to force himself on Hensō as a way of proving his superiority to Moroboshi Ataru. As Mendō Shūtarō got out of his command car and came up to greet her, the Oni then gazed at him for a second before turning back to her lover. "Darling, who is this man?" she asked with feigned innocence.
Mendō collapsed to the ground in stunned shock on hearing THAT question. Ataru sighed as he returned Lum's look. "This is the rich idiot, Lum."
"Oh, the arrogant berk who gets scared of the dark, right?" Ran asked.
"The same."
As Mendō moved to straighten himself, his face white with disbelief and horror on realising that the Oni did not know him at ALL — which was IMPOSSIBLE! — Ataru's lovers all moved to gaze intently at him. "Well, he certainly isn't ill-formed," Oyuki mused with clinical detachment. "Still…"
"Still what?" Benten asked.
"He does remind me too much of Ōgi."
The four aliens hummed. "Well, since Ōgi is nothing more than a crazed mass-murdering stalker, I guess that means HE'S got the potential to be the same!" Ran said before she shifted herself over to place herself between Mendō and Lum. "Don't worry, Lum-chan," she then said in an exaggerated lolicom voice. "Ran-chan'll keep you safe."
Lum squealed as she tightly embraced the other Urusian. "Oh, Ran-chan, you're the best, truest friend I could ever have!" she gushed.
"'CRAZED MASS-MURDERING STALKER?!'"
Eyes locked on a now ashen-faced Mendō. "Hai, Shūtarō-san," Hiromi said as she walked over to stand beside him, leaning down to gaze mockingly at him. "I've warned you about this for the last week. It's not my fault you failed to listen."
Mendō snapped at her. "What are you talking about, Moroboshi?!"
"Why, haven't you listened at all?" Hiromi countered. "I stated from the start that one of the reasons Onii-san divorced Hensō was the fact that she failed to warn him, much less all of you, of the existence of this 'church of Lum' that will perform any act — including mass murder with a biological weapon! — to keep her AND ALL OF YOU trapped in lives you may not eventually wish for yourselves."
"THOSE WERE ALL LIES!"
"Your proof being?"
In response, Mendō lunged over to grasp Lum's hand. Before he could get close, Lum took to the air, soaring well clear of him. "Eeew!" the Oni groaned as she gazed in disgust at him. "Get away from me! You're infected! Don't touch me!"
Face-fault! "Hopefully, old sport, it'll finally get through your thick skull that Lum doesn't like you," Ataru said as he stared down at his rival.
Mendō spun on him. "Oh, shut up, Morobo-…!"
He then froze in shock on seeing a MALE Moroboshi Ataru standing there in a proper boy's gakuran, and then he robotically turned to see Moroboshi Hiromi — whom he always saw as Moroboshi Ataru having transformed himself into a girl for some fiendishly hideous scheme; he still had to take the chance to figure out what that evil scheme actually was! — in a proper girl's seifuku…and then he turned once more to see what could only be said to be Hiromi's TWIN SISTER, also in a seifuku, currently holding the hand of a very exceptionally beautiful aqua-haired girl in a dark burgundy double-breasted jacket (with nothing underneath to hide a considerable amount of cleavage) and plaid skirt to upper mid-thigh. As his eyes shifted from Ataru to Hiromi to Tariko, Mendō's whole body began to quake violently as his eyes started to spiral, his mind overloading from the horrible thought of THREE versions of his hated rival — with two of them being beautiful WOMEN! — now present, ready to do whatever…
Do whatever…
Whatever…
"I think you broke him, Sensei," Mōki noted.
Hiromi, Tariko and Ataru were now gazing at an unmoving Mendō, whose head was now tilted to one side, drool flowing from his mouth as his eyes spiralled. As the others watched, the Moroboshi siblings exchanged looks before they sighed. "Even if we can't stand this idiot, we can't leave him like this," Tariko mused as she pulled her fingers away from Mendō's face.
"Agreed," Hiromi said with a nod; she herself had probed his mind to find virtually next to nothing active inside him. "But what can we do?" she asked as she gazed on her siblings. "It's not our responsibility to help every stubborn fool in this town to finally wake up to all that is really going on here."
Ataru hummed as he rubbed his chin, and then he sighed. "Good point." He then grinned. "Besides, in the end, we can't steal Ryōko-chan's fun!"
"Oh, of course not," Tariko asserted.
"It would be uncivilised," Hiromi affirmed with a nod.
As many of the Tomobiki natives began to laugh, the aliens and the tôshi all looked confused. "Um, I've always heard that Mendō Ryōko's ever crazier than her brother!" Mōki said as she came up to gaze on Hiromi. "Are you sure…"
"Oh, relax, Mikoko-chan!" Momoe assured her. As the Ryōshū freshman looked at her, the older woman winked. "Remember, she's very rich, so she's not crazy."
"She's just eccentric," Kumiko added with her own wink.
The tōshi blinked, and then they laughed. "Besides, Ryōko-san helps keep her brother humble," Shinobu added as she came up to gaze on her former boyfriend, and then a hum escaped her before she turned to gaze on Tariko for a moment.
Tariko blinked. "What is it, Shinobu-chan?"
A smile then crossed the other woman's face. It had no humour in it…
Minutes later…
"So he saw Ataru, Hiromi and Tariko together and just couldn't take it, you mean?"
"Unfortunately true, Sensei," Hiromi said. Everyone was now in the nursing station, where Mendō was being tended to by Sakura's fellow nurse (and the school's health teacher), Chikamatsu Fusae. Shimei and Hōsen had left Tomobiki High so they could return to their schools. Mōki had been sent to one of the freshmen classes, Class 1-3, so she could continue classes; Tomobiki High School was one of many places throughout Metro Tōkyō that was prepared to temporarily take on students who were separated from their own schools for some reason. Enjō remained close to the reborn emperor; it had been arranged for her to be part of Class 2-4 with everyone else. "While we were prepared to do anything to put a stop to Shūtarō-san's attempts at trying to influence Lum's behaviour, we certainly weren't prepared for this. And while we don't consider ourselves responsible for helping everyone finally 'get a life,' so to speak…"
"You don't want to start a feud with the Mendō Clan over the permanent incapacity of the heir to the headship of the family," Sakura finished.
"Exactly."
A sigh. "You would figure that after a year filled with all the things we've been through, he'd be used to it by now," Sakura lamented before she gazed on Ataru and Tariko. "You were made a girl in mind thanks to Kurama's anima gun, actually were transformed INTO a girl by Kurama's sex-changing gun, split into two versions by the mixture of Hensō's candy and Uncle curse-removing cake…"
"He probably feels a little outnumbered by now," Tariko mused, and then she stared at Shinobu. "Are you SURE that making an Avalonian 'sister' for him is a good idea?!"
Shinobu giggled. "Tariko-chan, you forget that I did spend a lot of time at Mendō-san's house," she reminded the other woman. "While I was there, I did spend a lot of time talking to Mendō-san's parents." As people gaped at her, remembering the technophobic Mendō Haruka from the one time she visited Tomobiki High School for Parent-Teacher's Day, Shinobu laughed. "Oh, relax! Haruka-obasan's not as bad as you might think!" She then hummed as she gazed on the unconscious Mendō. "Still, she did lament to me how she couldn't have any more children after Ryōko was born."
"In other words, they're a little disappointed at both their kids, right?" Ataru asked.
"Unfortunately so."
Everyone exchanged looks, and then Hiromi sighed. "I'll have Tsukihana-san come down to get a blood sample from him," she then declared.
"Hey, Hiromi! You sure you want to do that?!" Benten asked.
Hiromi gave her future sister-in-law a knowing look. "Benten, the Mendō Clan, for all their considerable eccentricities, ARE the most financially powerful family in this country. If we win their support — and the Mizunokōji while we're at it — then the other major keiritsu and zaibatsu will fall in line and Japan will be one of the core supporting mechanisms for the Earth Defence Force."
The Fukunokami biker-babe took that in, and then she sighed. "Hell, I don't want to subject a poor un-templated sister to THIS idiot's soul!" she said, thumbing Mendō.
Hiromi chuckled. "Benten, keep in mind Shūtarō-san's many good points…"
"He's got GOOD points?!" Ataru and Tariko sarcastically asked in sync.
Their sister fired them an annoyed look while the others in the room all laughed. "He possesses a good tactical mind, strives to be honourable, is well-cultured and well-mannered, and does have considerable knowledge in military matters," Hiromi said. "Indeed, were it not for his mad obsession with winning Lum as a way of finally proving himself superior to Onii-san, I could have considered HIM as a candidate to command Yamato." A sigh. "In the meantime, I think we've intruded on Sakurambō-sensei's and Chikamatsu-sensei's time more than enough. Let's be off to classes."
"And the Stormtroopers," Ataru muttered under his breath.
"AH-CHOO!"
"Gesundheit, Megane!"
A moan escaped Megane's lips as he rubbed his nose. "Someone's talking about me," he muttered before turning to stare wide-eyed at Chibi. "Are you SURE about this?!"
"Sure as I could be!" the smallest member of the Stormtroopers asserted. "I saw Lum-chan come into the school, in school uniform, not more than about five minutes ago! Ran-chan was there, too! And Oyuki-sama and Benten-san!"
Megane blinked as he took that in, and then he shuddered as tears of joy spilled down his cheeks. The Stormtroopers were all standing together around their leader's desk in Class 2-4. "Oh, I KNEW this would happen!" he then screamed out. "I KNEW Lum-san would find some way to come back here and overcome whatever that bastard Ataru tried to do to chase her away from all of us! I KNEW IT! Now, all we have to do…"
"Um, but Megane&hellip!" Chibi moved to cut him off.
"QUIET! DON'T INTERRUPT ME!"
"HOLY SHIT!"
Megane spun on Kakugari. "WHAT?!"
Noting that the heavyset member of his group was now staring at the front door to the classroom, Megane then turned to look himself…
…to see Ataru — as a MAN! — walk into the room, followed by Hiromi and another girl that could be Hiromi's twin sister (though she didn't have a magatama earring like the reborn emperor did). As all the girls in the class gaped in shock on seeing that Hiromi's story concerning her relationship with her brother was in fact TRUE, everyone then blinked again as some of their classmates came into the room.
Followed by a familiar green-haired alien girl with horn-buds at her temples.
As jaws dropped in shock on seeing Lum step into the room, Megane instantly scrambled over to stare intently at her for a moment. The Oni remained in place, giving him a neutral glance in return. Silence fell for a moment before Megane…
(Posted Sun, 30 May 2010 17:32)
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