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| 2016-10-30: Like Calls to Like |
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Posted by: robkelk - 08-31-2024, 02:06 PM - Forum: Stories
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Like Calls to Like
by Rob Kelk, with Bob Schroeck and Brent Laabs
Kemptville, ON, Canada
October 30, 2016
8:00 am ET
"The seas are restless today."
It was an odd comment, considering the speaker was over a hundred kilometres from the Great Lakes, and even farther from any of the Seven Seas. But her girlfriend knew that she was speaking metaphorically.
"Should we be expecting an attack?"
"I don't believe so. This is something... different."
"Something new?"
The room was quiet for a moment. "No, this is something I've felt before, but not often. This is more of a ebb or swell than a storm."
"So it's a change. Does it concern us?"
Michiru thought for a moment, then told Haruka, "Oddly, I can't be sure."
"Well, let me know when you are sure. I have to test-drive Bonnie and Bill's upgrades to Hank's car today." And Haruka gave Michiru a kiss before heading out the door.
Hawthorn Park, Somerset, NJ, USA
Same time
A pink-haired little girl muttered in her sleep, "Stop hogging the blankets, Usagi. I'm cold."
That was enough to awaken the young man who was sitting beside her... who realized that neither of them were where they should be. The last he remembered, he was on a passenger jet headed for LAX, and the last time he had seen the girl was when she returned to her home in the future with her advisor.
Then he realized he was feeling a bit chilly - his jacket was no doubt still in the overhead bin on the aircraft - and she was wearing nothing but pajamas.
He looked around quickly, to discover that they were on a bench in a small park. There didn't appear to be anyone else around.
First things first. Mamoru transformed to Tuxedo Mask and wrapped Chibiusa in his cape. That took care of the immediate problem of her feeling cold.
His action disturbed his companions enough that they woke up, which was Mamoru's first hint that they weren't alone on the bench; there were three cats with them. The black cat looked up and asked, "Mamoru-san? I thought you were in America. Why are you here?"
"I don't know, Luna," he replied. "And I don't know where we are, either."
This disquieted everyone. All that the gray kitten, Diana, said was, "Oh, dear."
The white cat, Artemis, looked around, then said, "The plants don't look like they're native to Japan. Either we're in a botanical garden, or..."
"Or we aren't in Japan," finished Chibiusa. "Thank you for warming me up, Mamo-san."
Mamoru smiled. "You're welcome, Chibiusa." Then he looked off to one side. "I hear traffic from over there."
"Should we go look?"
Artemis nodded in reply to Chibiusa's question. Luna said, "That would give us more information that we can get just sitting here."
"Then let's go." Tuxedo Mask stood up, made sure that he had a good hold of Chibiusa, waited for the cats to jump onto Chibiusa and his free hand, then jumped toward the traffic.
They saw a street with a few cars (that none of them recognized) passing by. There was a residential complex – "Douglass Gardens Apartments", according to the English-only sign – on the far side of the street. Acting on a hunch, Mamoru jumped again to cross the road without needing to wait for the traffic to clear, then headed for the complex's office.
Douglass Gardens Apartments, Somerset, NJ, USA
Sunday, October 30, 2016, 8:03 AM
Bob Schroeck opened the door and looked at the small group on his doorstep. He recognized most of them immediately. So of course he called out to his wife. "Peggy, did you place a GrubHub order for a large masked avenger with a small side of magical girl?" He made a show of peering closely at the motley band on the step. "With extra moon cats?"
"What?" she called back from upstairs, where she was still getting dressed. When Funtom's contractors remodeled the apartment complex they'd combined two apartments to give the Schroecks a living space not too much smaller than the house they'd moved out of when they took the job as residence managers, albeit in two floors rather than one. The master bedroom was at the far end of the second floor, opposite the top of the stairwell in the new layout. Bob was surprised she could hear him at all without going up a couple steps and actively bellowing in her direction.
"Never mind!" he replied, a bit louder, then turned his attention back to the small group on the front step and looked them over once again, double-checking his first impression of them. A Japanese man, in his late teens or early twenties, wearing a tuxedo, top hat, and domino mask. He was carrying a preteen Japanese girl with pink hair, in pajamas, partially wrapped in what had to have been his cape. Calmly sitting in the crooks of the girl's arms and on her stomach were three cats — one black, one white (both adults), and a grey kitten, all with crescent moon marks on their foreheads. The rules of physics led him to the conclusion that, unless Tuxboy had done some bizarre contortion, one of the cats must have rung the bell.
"Mister Chiba," Bob said, nodding to him as he visibly started. "Miss Chiba. Luna, Artemis... Diana, I believe? I apologize for not knowing the proper mode of address for the three of you in English." He glanced from face to face, each of the five staring wide-eyed at him. "How can I help you?"
"You know who we are?" Chibiusa asked.
Bob nodded. "Your arrival has been anticipated, but I don't think anyone was expecting you'd end up here."
"Our arrival...?" Tuxedo Mask began, then shook his head. "I'm sorry to bother you, but can we come in and warm up a bit, please?"
Bob had never mastered the art of raising a single eyebrow, but if he had, he would have done so at that point. It was no cooler than sixty or so Fahrenheit outside, barely chilly by any measure that a long-time New Jersey resident would apply. But for all he know, they'd just been dropped into this timeline from the height of summer. Regardless, refusing them would have been rude.
But he couldn't let them inside. "I'm sorry, but my wife's allergic to cats, so I can't invite you in," he said with a sheepish little shrug. "But if you can wait a moment, I'll..."
Peggy chose that point in the conversation to walk down the stairs. "Honey, who's at the door?" she asked while stepping into the tiny foyer.
"Hey, love, we got some customers." Bob swung the front door open a bit more and stepped aside so Peg could see. As soon as she caught sight of the cats, she stepped back.
"The cats stay on the porch," she said, a trifle more harshly than she meant to. Bob knew that it was her allergies talking, not her sense of hospitality.
Bob (mostly) suppressed a sigh. "I'm taking them over to the social center, Peg. Relax."
She looked at her husband with slitted eyes. "All right. But I won't be going over there until the next time the cleaners come by."
This time, Bob's sigh wasn't suppressed. "Fine. Whatever. Do me a favor? Get me the keys to, um..." he paused to think where they'd stopped when the Kasugas had moved in two weeks earlier, and what units past that had furniture. "224, um, B". Peggy stepped over to the "office" part of the lower level, opened the key cabinet behind the desk, retrieved a ring of keys, and brought them back to me.
"Thanks," he said as he took them from her and slipped them into a pocket, then gave her a peck. "I'll be back in a bit to make breakfast."
She smiled for the first time since coming downstairs. "Have fun." She turned her gaze to Douglass Gardens' newest guests, who had waited patiently in what was apparently an uncomfortable chill for them. "Welcome to Douglass Gardens. If there's anything you need, that's what we're here for."
Tuxedo Mask inclined his tophatted head. "Thank you."
A moment later, Bob was on the front step with the displacees and closing the door behind him. "Okay, if you'll just follow me, we'll get you someplace warm and comfortable in just a minute or two. And maybe answer some of your questions on the way?" A moment later, he realized he'd missed an important step in the social process. He turned around and, walking backwards added, "Oh, and I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Bob Schroeck. My wife Peggy and I are the managers for the complex." I waved at the brick building behind me.
Bob turned forward again, but not before I saw Mamoru share a glance with Chibi-Usa. "Exactly where are we?" she asked.
"Well," Bob said, "You're in New Jersey, in the United States. Which is kind of unexpected — everyone thought you'd be showing up in Canada."
"Canada?" Mamoru asked. "Why Canada?"
He glanced back over his shoulder so they could see how serious he was. "Because that's where the Sailor Senshi are."
There was a long pause, broken only by the sound of two pairs of footsteps on asphalt. Then five voices chimed in chorus, "What?"
At the door to which Bob had been leading them, he paused and turned back. "I suppose I should also mention that it's 2016, not, um..." it took him a moment to remember when in the Sailor Moon timeline Chibiusa had first appeared. "1993?" he ventured.
"1994," volunteered Luna as the five of them made more disbelieving sounds.
He was so close. Bob gave a sheepish little shrug. "I'll explain in a moment, okay? This is our community center. C'mon in — I'll get you all a bite to eat and explain what's going on."
Douglass Gardens Apartments is made up of fifteen buildings, most of them long, narrow and set in ranks on either side of a small street called Annette Court, parallel to Hamilton Street. Peggy and Bob lived in the largest building on the west side of Annette, right on Hamilton. When Funtom Properties remodeled the complex practically overnight, they turned about half of the building on the other side of Annette from the managers' office and residence into a good-sized "social space", with all kinds of features, including a recording studio and rehearsal spaces. (Bob was sufficiently genre savvy to know this meant they had some idea who was going to show up as some of the residents.) It also had a goodly-sized communal kitchen and dining area, which was kept stocked with a variety of American and Japanese staples. It was to the latter that Bob planned on taking his new guests.
But plans rarely survive contact with reality. When Bob pushed open the door, he immediately realized that they weren't alone — the sounds of voices drifted toward them from the "living room" which served as the hub for the community center. The foyer and coatroom just inside the door were laid out to provide a windbreak, and as a result there was no direct line-of-sight from the door to the greater interior, so the newcomers couldn't see who was already in the building, and the voices were just muffled enough that Bob couldn't make out the speakers' identities that way. Bob hoped that whoever it was, they weren't going to spaz over the new refugees.
He gestured to the displacees to go through the door, then followed them in. Chiba stood just inside, looking around at the foyer, which was still a little bare and without character. "This way," Bob said, pointing to the way further in. "'Scuse me," he added while sidestepping around him, then led the way through the arch and into the short hallway that opened onto the main room.
Seated in one corner of the massive sectional which formed a conversation pit surrounding one of the community center's several TVs were Yui, Azusa, and Noodle with their guitars, each of which was plugged into a tiny battery-powered amp. (The amps were one of the smaller mysteries of Douglass Gardens — a dozen or so of them had appeared, along with a cabinet/docking station to house and charge them, without explanation or apparent source about a week after the K-On! girls had arrived.) The three of them looked up at the newcomers as they entered. "Hi, Bob-san!" Yui chirped.
"Good morning," Azusa said at almost the same time. Noodle just leaned back, smiling, and gave the group a little wave.
"Good morning, ladies," Bob replied. "Sorry to interrupt, but we have some unexpected guests." He gestured at Chiba and his burden.
Yui's eyes went massively wide, and for a moment she looked more like her animated counterpart than she ever had before. It was then that Bob realized his hope that nobody would spaz out was in vain. She vaulted the couch back — somehow, from a seated position, with Gitah still slung around her — and was on her feet on the other side of the couch. The amp protested as the cable was unceremoniously disconnected, and everyone but her winced at the feedback. Instead, she was racing across the floor in her stocking feet, Gitah held flat against her hip with one hand. She skidded to a halt in front of the new displacees as if she'd practised it. "Ohmigosh, you're Tuxedo Mask and Chibiusa and Luna and Artemis! This is so cool! I'm a fan, and my sister's a fan, and my mother was a fan..."
Mamoru gave Bob a blank look as Chibiusa squeaked and burrowed deeper into his arms. Bob held up a hand in a "wait a moment" gesture. "Yui, don't overwhelm them. They just arrived and I haven't had a chance to explain yet."
"Oh, gosh, I'm sorry," she replied, and as Azusa came up beside her (sans Muttan) she added, "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Bob chewed his lip as he thought for a moment, then realized who could help the most... if she was willing to help out. "I was going to whip up a little something for them to eat, but..."
"...You're not all that great at Japanese breakfasts yet," Azusa said with a smirk.
"Insolent child." He mock-swatted her, which she ducked, grinning. "But correct." Bob turned back to the older member of Hokago Tea Time. "Yui, do you think Ui would be willing to come over and make something for them?"
She giggled. "Would she ever! Let me go call her." She spun on one stockinged heel, dashed back to where her guitar bag sat sat in a pile on the sectional and pulled her cell phone out of it. Bob looked over at Noodle, who just grinned and shrugged. Noodle had learned how to take most of Yui's antics in stride.
"Sorry I interrupted your little jam session," Bob called over to Noodle apologetically.
She gave a dismissive wave. "No problem, Bob. New displacees get priority, I know."
"Thanks," he replied with a slight nod.
"I'm sorry," Mamoru got Bob's attention again. "'Displacees'?"
"Part of what I was going to explain," he replied. "C'mon into the kitchen and get warm while I fill you in."
A few minutes later, they were ensconced at the little "breakfast nook"-style table that sat at one end of the kitchen. It was there for when people didn't want or need the full dining room next door. Yui had popped in, announced that Ui was on her way, and offered her jacket and a pair of her socks to Chibiusa. (Bob was puzzled as to why she was carrying a spare pair of socks, but didn't really care just then. Chibiusa didn't care either and was promptly much warmer.) Mamoru took the seat at one of the short sides of the table, and Chibiusa sat herself down in the chair to his right. The cats situated themselves on the table top to his left.
"So," Bob said as he took the seat at the other end of the table from Mamoru, under the small TV on the wall, "while we wait for Her Excellency the chef, explanation time. First, you're in Somerset, New Jersey in the United States. Second, like I said before, it's 2016. Thirdly, it's not time travel. Or not just time travel. You're in a different universe."
"A different universe," Mamoru repeated flatly.
Bob nodded. "The good news is that the Senshi are also in this universe, while to the best of my knowledge none of your enemies made the transition." I gave him a sheepish smile. "The bad news is that they're in Ottawa."
"Ottawa." Bob nodded again, and confusion spread across Mamoru's face. "How? Why?"
"Why Ottawa? Or why another universe?"
Mamoru glanced to his right at Chibiusa, who sat hugging herself in Yui's jacket, eyes wide. Then he looked back at Bob. "Why another universe?"
This was the part of the explanation that was usually the most difficult to convince newcomers of. "That's the worst news. Something's happened. Something big and bad. We haven't been told all the details, but basically the fabric of the multiverse has been damaged. Entire universes are apparently threatened. And because of that, some of the people in them, people like you, have been kind of... well, ejected from their home universes and have ended up in ours."
"'Displacees'," Mamoru said slowly.
"Yeah."
He studied Bob through half-lidded eyes. "You'll forgive me if I find that hard to believe."
"I've got some proof for you." Bob reached for the little basket where they kept the remote for the kitchen TV, and turned it on.
"That's a television?" Chibiusa squeaked. The first flat-screens wouldn't hit the market until a few years after their time, and what was shown to exist in Crystal Tokyo in Sailor Moon R was even more advanced than a flat-screen TV; it was both more advanced and more primitive than what she was used to.
Bob smiled at Chibiusa. "Yeah." Then he looked back at Mamoru. "Consider that part one of the proof." Bob turned his attention back to the set and started the Hulu app, navigated to the subtitled version of the original Sailor Moon anime (prompting an intake of breath from all of the displacees), picked the episode where Chibiusa made her debut, and hit the "play" button on the remote.
All five of them, cats and humans both, were staring raptly at the screen when Ui showed up just a few minutes later.
"Good morning, Mister Schroeck!" she said quietly but ebulliently when she saw me through the archway separating the kitchen from the sitting area. As she stepped through her eyes fell on the Chibas and the cats and went very, very wide. Turning back to me, she whispered, "Is that...?"
Bob nodded. "Yeah. They just found themselves here. Didn't Yui tell you?"
Ui made an adorable little pout. "No, she just said there was a surprise. Meanie."
"Did she also tell you I was hoping you would be willing to make them a proper Japanese breakfast? Or did she leave that as a surprise as well?" Yui was a sweet kid, but sometimes she was a bit ditzy. Juuuuust a liiiiitle bit, Bob thought.
"Oh, no, she told me. I'd be happy to cook for them, Mister Schroeck!" she chirped. Mamoru glanced away from the screen for a moment at the sound, giving her a quick look. While he noticed that Ui was pretty, he was used to being surrounded by pretty girls who weren't his fiancée Usagi, and knew enough to say nothing so that he wouldn't encourage her to try to get closer to him.
Bob smiled broadly. "Thank you so much, Ui-chan. I owe you a favor or five for this. You know where everything is, right?"
"Oh yes," she said with a little nod.
"Then I'll leave you to it while I go make a phone call." He bowed to her, a habit he'd begun to develop involuntarily thanks to socializing with several dozen Japanese teens and adults for the last few weeks. "And you know that you don't have to be quite so formal with me."
She bobbed up and down in return. "Of course I do!" And with that she scurried over to the big restaurant-size fridge which dominated one end of the kitchen and started work.
Shaking his head, Bob chuckled to himself, then he glanced at his guests — still staring with a certain horrified fascination at 1992-vintage anime — and made his way through the living room. Noodle, Yui and Azusa were back to whatever jamming or brainstorming they'd been doing, only very softly. Nodding at them, Bob kept on going into the hallway past them, then turned and walked into the first practice room. Shutting the door, sealing out the guitars and the Sailor Moon soundtrack, Bob pulled out his cell phone, opened up the contact list, and dialed the contact number for the building's Celestial support to let them know about the new arrivals.
A few minutes later, Bob stepped back into the hall and sliding his phone back into his pocket. He mused on the experience; he didn't have the active antipathy for divine and infernal beings that the character he wrote most about did, but he hadn't been expecting much. From his few interactions with Celestials after his and Peggy's employment interview, he had the impression that Everyone above and below were still in emergency mode, frantically trying to get a handle on things. But whoever was staffing the support line was exquisitely professional, listened to his report and promised that they'd pass on the information to everyone, mortal and other, who needed it.
He'd barely put his phone away before the community center's doorbell rang. (It had been more trouble to remove it than just leave it in place, he'd been told, so that's what Funtom's contractors did. It was the first time that Bob had heard used.) Bob crossed to the door and opened it. Standing on the porch was a fellow with a clipboard and a small package, wearing what looked like a UPS uniform except that his brown cap had a laurel wreath in gold on it instead of the expected logo. Oh, and wings coming out the sides. On a hunch, Bob glanced down to see another couple pairs of small wings, extending out from under the cuffs of the visitor's brown trousers. He grinned broadly when Bob's eyes came back up to his and announced in a sitcom-perky tenor, "Delivery for Miss Usagi Chiba!"
Bob chuckled, opened the door wide, and stepped aside to let him in. "Right this way, Lord Hermes."
"Thank you kindly," he said as he came in.
As Bob closed the door, he asked, "Don't you get mistaken for an FTD guy in that getup?"
Hermes laughed. "Better than getting mistaken for the Golden Age Flash."
Bob looked back over his shoulder as he led Hermes through the foyer. "Seriously?"
"Just once, in 1947, but it was enough. I was ever so glad when the Silver Age Flash looked nothing like me."
The two shared another grin. As Bob shook his head with a chuckle, he marveled at just how casual he was being when face-to-face with a genuine god. "So I'm guessing you're part of the response to my support line call?"
"In a way, but not like you're thinking. I really do have a delivery for Miss Chiba." He held up the small package.
"Huh. Can't say as I was expecting that," Bob replied as we crossed the sitting area. Yui, Azusa and Noodle were still huddled around their amps and bent over their instruments. Noodle looked up as we passed, shrugged, and went back to what they were doing. "Right in here," I added as we stepped into the kitchen. "Otome no Policy", the closing theme of Sailor Moon R and Yoko Ishida's debut hit, was soft but clear.
The Chibas and the cats all looked just as poleaxed as they had when I'd left them, if not more. While they coped, Bob grabbed the remote off the table and quit back out to the episode menu before the next episode could start. "Sorry to interrupt the cross-universe trauma, but we have a visitor who's here for Miss Chiba."
"Me?" she squeaked.
Bob stepped aside and waved Hermes forward. He swept off his winged hat, revealing jet black hair underneath, and bowed slightly. "Miss Chiba, I have a package for you." He held out the clipboard and a pen. "Sign here, please?"
Bob looked down over his nose at him. "Really?"
Hermes grinned as Chibiusa took the clipboard and pen and began scribing her name, the tip of her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth. "Really. Chibiusa's autograph is worth a few staters to some folks I know. And I am a god of commerce, after all."
"Anything for a drachma, huh?" Bob mock-groused with a smile. But he understood; to use the In Nomine term, Trade was Hermes' Word, and he had to be true to it.
"'God'?" Artemis asked suspiciously.
Hermes dropped into a deeper, more elaborate bow that he addressed to all five of them. "Hermes of the Olympians, protector of heralds, travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators, and those who are two or more at the same time." He stood back up and plopped his ersatz UPS cap back on his head. "Sometimes called Mercury," he added, "but not to be confused with a certain blue-haired cutie you know." In a stage-whisper he added, "I don't think we look at all alike, but some people just can't seem to tell us apart."
Chibiusa giggled and held the clipboard out for him. "I'm going to tell Ami-neesan you said that."
"I'd expect nothing less. Thank you," he said as he took the clipboard with another smile. He made it vanish, then held out the tiny package wrapped in brown paper. "And this is yours, Miss Chiba."
She took it with a look on her face that mixed curiosity with Christmas morning. "What do you say?" Mamoru asked.
She blinked, surprised that she'd forgotten her manners, and looked back up at Hermes. "Thank you," she mumbled shyly, then started digging her fingernails under the flaps and folds of the wrapping.
"You're quite welcome, Your Highness," he said. "Welp, that's my first good deed for the day. Nice meeting you all."
"Shall I walk you to the door, Lord Hermes?" Bob asked.
He shook his head. "No need, I'll see myself out, if you don't mind." He touched the brim of his hat with two fingers in a kind of salute, and suddenly turned into a shaft of rainbow light that shot up through the ceiling.
Bob looked up to make sure that it hadn't left some kind of mark. It hadn't. Then he quoted, "'My, people come and go so quickly here!'"
To everyone else's relief, Bob didn't try to do Judy Garland's voice.
The cessation of ripping noises and a sudden squeal drew his attention back to Chibiusa, who was holding up what could only be... well, the fandom had several names for them: henshin stick, henshin pen, transformation wand... Whatever the term, one of them in her chubby little grasp.
A moment later (after a light show that fortunately wasn't as revealing as the anime suggested), Sailor Chibimoon hopped out of her father's lap to do a little pirouette, then glanced down at the toes of her little pink boots with a broad smile.
Bob chuckled. "Well. That's one way to keep your feet warm." Hopefully she would revert to civvies and Yui would get her socks and jacket back soon.
He pulled out a chair at the table and sat down as the sounds of chopping and then sizzling drifted out of the kitchen. "Okay. So... back to explanations. In case you had any doubt, the gods are real. As are demons. And the situation that dropped you in our lovely little universe is apparently big and bad enough that Heaven and Hell have suspended hostilities and are working together to keep it from getting worse." As he spoke, Chibimoon crawled back into Mamoru's lap. "They haven't exactly been forthcoming on all the details but between what has been said and what we residence managers have been able to get from reading between the lines, something's happened that's threatening or maybe even destroying entire universes. Some of which — like yours — we know of from works considered 'fictional' here. A lot of people have been ejected from their worlds and are being dropped into ours as refugees." Looking around at the three cats and two humans, he added, "Like you."
Bob tried to smile reassuringly. It seemed to work. "Now, you're in luck. You're not alone, like some of our displacees have been — the Senshi have already been here for more than a month, and are settled down in a residence in Ottawa in Canada. Even better, they've got room for you. We're hosting a Halloween party tomorrow, and they'll be attending. So what we'll do is get you some clothes and put you up for the night. Come tomorrow you'll be reunited with Usagi and the girls, and you can go back with them to where they're living now." Bob put the keyring down on the table and slid it over to Chiba, who picked it up reflexively. "Apartment 224B is open for your use. It has two bedrooms and a full bath, and is completely, if somewhat inexpensively, furnished, with linens too. It's yours for as long as you need it, not that it'll be all that long. And we'll see to it that you're fed at least through the end of the party tomorrow. Any questions?"
"Is Puu here?" Chibimoon asked.
Bob chewed on his lip for a moment. "We don't know. We don't think so. Usagi is certain that if Pluto and the other Outers had arrived any time in the last month they would have made contact by now."
"I'm sorry," Mamoru interrupted. "'Outers'?"
"Sorry," Bob replied with a sheepish smile. "It's a fan usage that has developed over the past twenty-some years. The Inner Senshi are Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus and Jupiter. The Outer Senshi are Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and Pluto."
He nodded. "Ah, I see. I'm surprised we didn't come up with a similar usage ourselves."
"Well, you've only been at it for, what, two years or so?" He nodded again. "And there are only ten of you. There are millions of Sailor Moon fans who have been talking about you for a quarter century now."
He frowned. "That's somewhat disconcerting."
Bob chuckled. "That's the usual reaction displacees have to learning stuff like that." He got up again and continued, "Anyway, we still need to get you fed, and get you clothes. And about that... Ui?"
A moment later she appeared at the door to the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. "Yes, Mister Schroeck?"
Bob repressed the urge to roll his eyes at her continued formality. "I really hate to impose on you further, but would you be available after breakfast to help the Chibas get some clothes to tide them over until after the Halloween party?"
"Oh, certainly!" she chirped. "I'd be happy to."
He couldn't help but relax a little. While there were other reasonably trustworthy tenants who could do the job, Ui was the most reliable of the lot. Plus, Bob knew she was one of the safest drivers at Douglass Gardens. "Thank you! Please come by our place when you're done here and I'll give you the key to one of the cars and cash to cover what they need, okay?"
She nodded once, briskly. "Sure!"
He turned back to their guests. "There you go."
"Thank you," Mamoru said. "It's all very confusing still, but I'm — we're — glad that someone is looking out for us."
"All part of the service," Bob replied with a grin.
Blossom Apartments, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Same time
"It's been years since I visited the Canadian Agricultural and Food Museum, Ami-san. I'd be happy to take you, all of you, to see it."
Usagi almost panicked at Rob's comment. "Not another museum!"
Rob chuckled. "Well, if you don't want to go, you can stay here and do your homework."
Mii added, "Or we could work on our costumes for the Halloween party." A few of the girls in the common room were doing exactly that.
"After you finish your homework," Rob insisted, feeling and acting more like their foster parent than their landlord.
"I thought I'd gotten away from mama," muttered Usagi, with a frown on her face.
"Why do you want to visit an agricultural museum of all places, Ami-san?" Ruiko asked.
Ami smiled as she replied, "Because it's part of my homework. I need to make at least a cursory comparison of human anatomy and animal anatomy, although I get to choose the animal."
"There are animals at the agricultural museum?" Uiharu-san asked half-distractedly as she used cardboard and packing tape to make what appeared to be the framework of some shipgirl rigging.
"It is a working farm, Kazari," Rob replied. "Cows, horses, pigs, chickens; they're all there. And they're all treated humanely."
"I'd love to see the museum, but not today." She held up the cardboard rigging and added, "I'm still making my Halloween costume."
The other girls at Blossom were in the same situation; either they had homework to do or their costumes weren't ready yet. Or, in Usagi's case, both. And Makoto, with Kuroko's help, was still making sweets for the party itself; Blossom had volunteered to bring desserts for the potluck, and they were going full-out Japanese style — dorayaki, okoshi, yatsuhashi, and more.
So it was that it was only Rob and Ami who made the ten-minute trip to the museum. Neither of them said anything for the first minute, as Rob needed to watch for pedestrians while driving through the deceptively-quiet residential area to get to Bank Street. While he did that, Ami read a page of the gross anatomy textbook that she had with her.
"Thank you for doing this for me on such short notice, Rob-san," Ami finally said as they waited to turn left onto Bank Street. "You're always so kind to me."
"I'm happy to help you further your studies, Ami-san. And I already mentioned that it's been a while since I last visited this museum."
"You love visiting museums, don't you?"
The light changed and Rob pulled onto the busier road. "I love learning. Visiting museums is one way to learn."
Ami smiled, not that he could see it. "I understand the desire to learn, although I prefer to read books. Speaking of which, thank you for helping me get a library card."
"It was no trouble at all. The library is right on the way home from the grocery store, after all."
"It was still a kind gesture," she commented. After a short moment when Rob had to give his complete attention to driving, she added, "Rob-san, you make a lot of kind gestures toward me. Are you favouring me for some reason?"
He thought while paying attention to the busy road, then decided it was better to be honest. "I am, yes. I like all ten of you, but I will admit – to you – that I like you the best. We have so many things in common that I can't help but like you."
Ami looked slightly worried upon hearing Rob's admission. "I... don't know how I feel about that, Mr. Donaldson."
"Why wouldn't..." Then he realized the impression she'd received from his comment. "Oh! No, I'm far too old to be anything other than just friends with you. I do hope that we can be friends."
"That sets my mind at ease. Thank you, Rob-san." Then, as Rob turned onto Heron Road, Ami added with a grin, "That's very kind of you." Then, in all seriousness, she asked, "What do we have in common?"
"Well, we both have Mensa-level IQs, and despite that our friends don't always listen to our advice. Ack! Signal, dude!"
After a moment to come up with a diplomatic answer, and to let Rob concentrate on driving past a car waiting to pull into a store's parking lot, she said, "That can be annoying, yes. You said that you like all of us. What do you like about everyone?"
"Are you sure you want to know?"
"I think so. I don't like not knowing something." After he didn't say anything for a moment, and not just because he was paying attention to the road, she added, "I promise that I won't tell them."
Against his better judgment, but because it was Ami asking, he replied, "Okay. Usagi-san is the kindest person I know; now that I know her as a person instead of as a character, I like her almost as much as I like you."
Ami smiled again. "Everybody's friends with Usagi."
"Kazari-san runs a close second to Usagi-san in kindness, and that plus her intelligence makes me think of her as somebody I'm happy to have as a friend."
"So you think she's a combination of Usagi and me?"
"No, she's her own person, not a mix of the two of you. Makoto-san has a drive to better herself that I like about her, and she's always willing to defend any of you in any situation that I've seen."
"Mako-chan's one of my closest friends, for much the same reasons that you like her."
Rob chuckled. "And that's another thing the two of us have in common. Mii-san is... a good coordinator, which is why I asked her to take over for me when I'm not available, and now that I know that she's as mature as you are, I like her as a person too."
From the way he said it, Ami got the feeling that Rob wasn't saying everything that he liked about Konori-san... but she didn't say anything.
"Ruiko-san's so overflowing with joie de vivre that it's infectious."
"She is fun to be around, isn't she?"
"Definitely. If Usagi-san, Kazari-san, and Ruiko-san together can't make friends with somebody, then that person's dead to the world."
A buses-only lane started where the commuter train to Carleton University passed under the roadway. Rob and Ami didn't say anything while he merged into heavy weekend traffic heading toward the shopping areas farther west.
Finally, he continued, "Who have I missed?"
"Rei, Minako, Mikoto-san, and Kuroko-san."
"Thanks. Mikoto-san's managed to avoid depression despite everything that's happened to her, and I like that about her. Minako-san's always cheerful and happy to help everybody else cheer up. Rei-san has a spirituality to her that I like, when she shows it to us. And Kuroko-san... I have to appreciate how she knows what she wants and never stops trying to get it."
"I think that you had to think a bit about Kuroko-san, Rob-san."
"Well..." He decided that he wasn't going to lie to her, but he didn't have to volunteer information either. "Yes. And I'm not going to hold you to your promise regarding anything I've already said. But don't tell Kuroko-san that I left her for last on my list, please."
"I suppose I can be nice to you for a change," she replied with a hint of a smile.
"Thank you, Ami-san. Also, I'd prefer you to keep this private: if I had ever married and had a daughter, I'd want her to be a lot like you. Or Ruiko-san."
Ami blushed at Rob's compliment. Then she asked, "But not completely like us?"
"Not completely like you, no," he agreed. "There's only one Ami Mizuno and only one Ruiko Saten; I wouldn't want this hypothetical daughter to try to be a copy of either of you instead of being herself. And from what I saw in the anime about you and your friends, you were something of a wallflower before you met Usagi-san. I'd rather that any daughter I might have not be so introverted."
They both knew that he was offering her some life advice disguised as a description of a harmless fantasy. It wasn't a very good disguise.
"I know, Rob-san," she said quietly. "Nobody wanted to be my friend before Usagi because I was so much smarter than everyone else."
He wondered whether everyone else was intimidated by her, but said nothing. It was her life and she was describing it the way she remembered it.
She continued, "But I'm a lot better at talking with people now, thanks to the Sailor Team being my friends."
"You are, yes, and they're good friends to have. But you still take books with you when you go places." It was only because he was driving that he didn't glance meaningfully at the textbook on her lap.
"That's so I have something to read when it's boring."
Rob nodded while he turned onto Prince of Wales Drive, the road that ran beside the museum. "Your first love has always been studying."
Ami welcomed the change in subject. "Oh, I read that manga story, and it was close to how I acted in my own world. I can't believe I was so wrong about Mercurius. And the fact that there's a manga version of me who isn't exactly like me shows that there are at least two Ami Mizunos."
Rob chuckled. "There are, at that. And the Crystal version of you almost always wears her glasses, so she's a third version. Getting back to your first love, I doubt Mercurius ever knew how you felt, Ami-san. But that's not important right now. If you're reading, then you aren't interacting with other people. You need to pay attention to people if you want them to be friends with you."
So much for changing the subject. And it was only because his advice was very much like something that Usagi had told Ami back when they were in their home reality that she didn't dismiss it out of hand. "I suppose... But what can I learn from looking at other – Stop the car!"
Rob immediately pulled over to the side of the road, beside the Fletcher Wildlife Garden that was between Carleton University and the museum. "What's wrong?"
"You were right about me needing to pay attention to other people," she answered as she got out of the car and started running toward two people who were walking beside the road. Rob noticed that she didn't take her textbook with her.
"What's this all about?" Rob asked himself, before noticing the heights and hair colours – dark purple and dark green – of those two people and realizing who they were. "Ah. Time for me to get back to work."
Ottawa, ON, Canada
Same time
"Haruka-papa! Michiru-mama! No!" Hotaru held on to Setsuna for dear life.
The next thing she knew, there was a flash of light, and they were banished from Tokyo and were suddenly outdoors, somewhere. And Setsuna gasped.
Hotaru did her best to support Setsuna, but she wasn't strong or tall enough to do much more than make sure Setsuna didn't hurt herself when she fell to the ground.
"What's wrong, Setsuna-mama?"
"The Door of Space-Time... I can't sense it."
"Oh, dear. Is there anything I can do to help?"
Setsuna shook her head. "No, darling, you can't bring back something that isn't ... no, wait. I can sense the Door of Space-Time, but only faintly. It's been locked away so tightly that even I can't reach it."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"As long as nobody else can reach it either, it isn't. But I should still be guarding it."
Both ladies – one not yet a teenager, the other older than recorded history – took a look around, noticing the trees weren't of any variety that the younger girl recognized, and that a wild rabbit was watching them. They also noticed that they were in their unpowered forms; Setsuna was wearing a grey business suit and Hotaru was wearing a purple leotard, leggings, and skirt. They each had purses and long fleece coats that matched their outfits. "Mama, I've got a feeling we're not in Tokyo any more."[1]
"I have to agree," Setsuna replied while resting against a tree. "Would you take a look around and find out where we are, please?"
"No, mama." Seeing Setsuna's look of surprise, Hotaru added, "I'm not leaving you alone. We're here together; I don't want to be separated from you."
Setsuna took Hotaru's hand in her own. "You're right, of course. And thank you for caring so much about me."
The two Senshi sat resting against the tree, saying nothing, watching the clouds go by and listening to the breeze blowing through the branches. The rabbit lost interest in them and scampered off.
Finally, Setsuna asked, "Are we dead? Haruka and Michiru looked like they wanted to kill us."
"It feels different to be a ghost," Hotaru replied. "I learned that when Mistress 9 killed me."
"But Usagi brought you back."
"She did, yes. That means that I know that I'm still alive. The afterlife wasn't this chilly the last time I was dead.[2] You look like you're alive, too, Setsuna-mama."
She smiled. "That's one less thing to worry about, then. Shall we find out where we are?" Setsuna asked while getting to her feet.
"All right," Hotaru replied while standing up and pointing in the direction opposite where the rabbit went. "I think that I heard some traffic from that direction."
"It's as good a direction as any," Setsuna replied while brushing the leaves off her coat.
After a few minutes, they reached the edge of the grove to discover a sign that read, in English and French, "Fletcher Wildlife Garden". The sign was beside a paved road.
"We're probably in Canada."
"I agree, Setsuna-mama. There aren't very many countries that use both English and French on their signs and don't use the other languages of the European Union as well."
"Speaking of English..." Setsuna started.
"I know," Hotaru interrupted. "How long have we been speaking it?" They both thought for a moment while walking beside the road... but their thoughts were interrupted by a car with a Mazda badge but of a model unfamiliar to them pulling over to the shoulder.
Then a teenage girl got out of the car and raced toward them, smiling as she called out, "Setsuna-san! Hotaru-chan!"
"Ami-san?" they both asked. Hotaru continued, "Where are we?"
"We're in Ottawa." Then Ami's smile went away. "And the year is 2016."
"How is that possible?" Setsuna asked.
And that question made Ami worry. "If the Senshi of Time has to ask how time travel is possible, then something's wrong. What happened, Setsuna-san?" she asked as the other person who had been in the car – a tall, older man with greying brown hair – walked over to them.
"Somebody's sealed off the Door of Space-Time."
At that, Ami nodded. "Ah. I've been led to believe that no time-travel method works at the moment. The megami don't want anyone changing the timestream right now."
"Goddesses exist?" asked Hotaru.
"They do here," that other person said. "I've met two of them personally and have been told of at least a dozen others. Hello, I'm Rob Donaldson. I manage the apartment building where Ami and her friends live. I'm happy to meet you." Instead of offering to shake hands, as they expected a white male would in Canada, he bowed to the ladies.
"Setsuna Meioh."
"Hotaru Tomoe. I'm happy to meet you." They both returned his bow.
Rob turned to the other young woman. "Do you need to do your homework today, Ami?"
She shook her head. "No, it isn't due until Wednesday. Somebody more important than homework has just arrived," she turned to Hotaru and Setsuna, "and I'm sure you have a lot of questions. I might even be able to answer some of them."
Rob asked, "Are you planning on meeting up with somebody else, ladies?"
"No," Hotaru replied. "We just found our way here a few minutes ago. Other than Ami-san, we don't know anybody here."
"And we don't have anywhere to go," Setsuna added.
"That, I can help with. The building that I manage still has a few apartments available, and you're welcome to..." He stopped speaking as Setsuna blinked and dropped to her knees.
"Setsuna-mama!"
"Setsuna-san! What's wrong?"
"The world just changed..." she whispered as Ami and Hotaru helped her back to her feet.
"You can sense the changes when somebody is displaced to this reality?" Rob asked in surprise.
"We're in a different reality?" Hotaru asked in as much surprise.
"We are, yes," Ami said.
"We'll be happy to answer your questions, if we have answers for them." Rob offered his left arm to Setsuna. "For balance." She accepted his help with a smile. "It's a good thing that your homework can wait, Ami. We need to get back to Blossom, and I need to call the time-travellers in Vicksburg. Maybe one of them can help you come to terms with the conditions in this reality." That, he said while looking straight at Setsuna. "Ami, I'll have to impose on you to explain what you can on the way back."
As they walked to Rob's car, a small truck in the colours of but smaller than a UPS delivery truck pulled up behind it and the truck's driver hopped out. "Hello! Before you leave, I have a package for Ms. Meioh. And it's a pleasure to finally get to speak with you in person, Ms. Mizuno."
"Do I know you?" Ami asked.
"And how did you know that we were here?" Hotaru added.
The driver grinned. "In order, we've never met but we have a name in common, and your new friend has a friend in very high places."
"You're Mercury?" Ami asked.
"I prefer 'Hermes' when I'm not in Italia," he said with a bow. "Enchantée, mademoiselle."
When he straightened his back, everyone could tell that he was not the human who he had appeared to be. The difference was ineffable, but present... and then it was gone.
Setsuna didn't look as impressed as the others. "The daughter of Chronos acknowledges your divinity, Hermes."
"If I were you, I wouldn't use that patronymic here, Ms. Meioh. Some people might think that you might be a goddess yourself."
"I'll keep that in mind, Hermes. Thank you."
"Wow," Rob finally said. "Why didn't Ere do that the day I met her?"
"If it's the Ere that I've met in Heaven, then it's because she's still a trainee," Hermes explained. "This is something we have to make happen. If we don't let you know who, or what, we are, then it doesn't happen... and it isn't something that trainees usually learn until they're about to receive their first permit to visit Earth. And, what with the emergency..."
Rob nodded in understanding. "Nobody had a chance to teach her." Hermes nodded in agreement. "And I presume that my friend in very high places is Ere's superior, the Norn of the Future. And that gives me a good idea what's in that package that you have for Setsuna-san. I've heard the other building managers' stories about identification being delivered by various gods."
"You almost had it right, Mr. Donaldson, but I have something more important than paperwork for your new friends. I have their transformation rods. Sign here, please, Ms. Meioh."
She did so. Then, out of habit, Rob slipped a five-dollar tip to Hermes while shaking his hand. "Thank you for the prompt service."
"And thank you for not keeping me here for very long. Your co-worker in New Jersey had a few questions that I was happy to answer, but slowed me down a bit, and I have other deliveries to make today."
Rob made a mental note to call Bob and let him know Hermes had visited him as well.
"Presumably, to the other new... displacee?... that Setsuna-mama sensed," Hotaru said.
"I'm sorry," Hermes replied, "but that's protected information. Mr. Donaldson can tell you about that. Now I do need to be going." He leaned down to look at Hotaru and stage-whispered, "I'll use the firefly effect, just for you." With a wave, he returned to his truck... which disappeared in a cloud of small lights as soon as he was behind the wheel.
"That's pretty. They do sparkle like fireflies. Although their beauty pales beside the Firefly who has chosen to remain by her close friends' side."
Everybody else turned to look at Rob, Hotaru blushing and Ami saying, "I didn't know you had that sort of poetry in your soul."
"And I didn't know you would phrase your comment that way. There's another thing that we have in common; knowing the words."
Seeing Setsuna and Hotaru's wondering looks, Ami told them. "I'll explain later. First, we have to explain what's going on while we get you to your home away from home."
San Luis Obispo, CA, USA
Same time
One of the worst things about being a Trainee Goddess was that she had to use the closest general-access portal between Heaven and Earth, then fly to where she needed to be. One more reason to earn that Second Class licence and get a transit medium of her own, eventually.
Having a key, she let herself into the motel room. Then she saw four bodies, lying on two double beds. "Oh good, I got to them before they woke up." Most people displaced to this dimension appeared while asleep, due to the difficulty mortal minds understanding dimensional travel. If the universes were close enough to begin with, they'd hardly notice a subtle shift in dimension, but with realities getting this jumbled together there wasn't much chance of finding someone awake. "Wakey wakey!" Chrono spoke, clearly and cheerfully. She waited for a minute, then frowned. "C'mon, sleepyheads!"
No response from the girls.
"Alright, that does it!" She went around and shook the girls, one by one, to rouse them, but they still didn't move. Pranksters, eh? She then started tickling the nose of the redheaded girl – that was sure to get a response. Only it didn't. "Eh?"
In fact, they hadn't moved at all. "You're not... you're not dead, are you?" Chrono started to panic. Oh no, the girls weren't breathing! No pulse, either. But they were still warm, so maybe she could still save them.
She put her hands over the redheaded girl's leather jacket, and began the rhythmic compressions of the life-saving ritual, not realizing in her panic that all she was doing was make the mattress bounce up and down. However, after only three chest compressions, she stopped, "Oh, maybe it's..." Chrono took a deep breath, feeling the flow of magic in the area.
"It is! A sleeping spell!" Her posture relaxed as her eyes closed. She continued talking to herself, "Oh, and it's a strong one too. But that's no match for Trainee Goddess Chrono!"
She gathered her power, and spoke a single word, "AWAKEN." Some bats that were in the attic started flapping, and took off outside, very confused at how bright it was outside. But the four girls lay undisturbed by the Chrono's command.
Chrono sighed, then gathered herself once again. A glowing circle with Norse runes appeared at her feet, as she chanted,
: East Wind that brings the dawn
: Let the sand from their eyes be taken
: Morning sun that warms the heart
: Let these slumbring girls awaken
She could tell right away that her spell didn't work. "Aw, fiddlesticks!"
This was just getting ridiculous. She couldn't just leave them, especially not with the artifacts that she had to deliver to the girls. And after the fiasco last month, now everyone was working hard to grant Mihoshi's wish, the wish she should have granted. How could she ask for help now?
She looked at the ID cards of the girls lying in front of her. "I'm sorry you got such a useless goddess, June, Kerri, Paula, and Virginia. You deserved better than me." The preteens looked so pretty lying there, just like Snow White.
"Wait, that's it!" True love's kiss, of course! They were a little young to have a lover, but what love was more true, more pure, than that of a goddess for her humans? That would wake them up for sure.
She knelt down beside Kerri, the girl in the flower print dress with a red rose clipped to her braided pink hair. Chrono thought about how sweet that love for flowers must be as she kissed her.
Then she lay down beside Virginia, a redheaded girl in a tight brick red minidress. Even asleep, Chrono could feel this girl's maturity and confidence, and so she kissed her.
Next Chrono came face to face with Paula, a pale blue haired girl in a simple blue frilled sundress. Chrono could feel her dazzling innocence, and as lightly and tenderly as possible touched her lips to Paula's.
And finally, the one with a big green ponytail and a leather jacket. This girl would make her own way through the world, no matter what it threw at her, so she locked their lips together, if only for a moment — and in doing so finished the life-saving ritual she had started earlier.
And Chrono waited. And waited a little more. "... Oh come on, really? No-ho-ho!" She put her palm across her face. "Why?"
After a few minutes of sulking, she finally gave up. Chrono needed help – again. She picked up the motel phone receiver off the nightstand, and dialed a very long distance number.
"Hi, yes, this is Chrono. I've run into some difficulty as these transplaced girls are under an enchantment. No, it's a sleeping enchantment. Yes. Yes, four girls. I tried, but... Okay?"
Just a minute later, the bark of the tree closest to the door started to distort and whorl, then opened up as another goddess walked out of the tree.
Oh no, Chrono thought, they sent her? She's always so intimidating and wild, and nothing like her coworkers at the Goddess Relief Agency. I always get so nervous around her I don't know what to say.
"Chrono?"
"Um, hi, Artemis."
Artemis looked at Chrono with those eyes, eyes like she had seen her prey, almost feline eyes. She wasn't Bast, but she always made Chrono wonder what kind of huntress she really was.
"Aren't you going to tell me why I'm here?"
"Oh right, I came on this call to pick up these displacees and give them their documents, but then they wouldn't wake up, and I tried shaking them, then I called them to awaken, and they didn't wake up and I was really worried because I can't leave them out here but then I thought maybe I could wake them up with a kiss so I tried that but it didn't work so then I called for backup, and then you came and asked me a question–"
"Okay okay I get it." Artemis interrupted, annoyed. At least a mortal would have had to take a breath in there, but this girl just rattled on. "Let me take a look."
"Oh thank you, I was really in—"
"Enough!"
"Eep!"
Artemis sang a low tune in the Aeolian mode, with a big magic circle softly glowing around the room, and deliberately took in her surroundings.
When she stopped singing, she said, "Well, they are waking up, just really slowly. I think your kiss actually worked."
"Really? Oh, great!"
"I think it will take a few days."
"Oh."
"Did you even stop to think "why?" – why are these girls asleep?"
"Well, they were enchanted, so someone put them to sleep and—"
"Wrong! This is their own doing. They are heroes, left to sleep until the time has come that they are needed in this world," Artemis explained.
"What, like King Arthur, or Elvis?"
"Exactly. They did this to themselves. And you just woke them, before their time."
"But... but... But King Arthur's already awake! She's in Montreal."
"King Arthur's time is not necessarily these girls' time."
"But I had to give them their wands!" Chrono was pleading.
"Perhaps in this universe, the Amazones will be needed much sooner. I would not have them slumber through what is to come. Perhaps everyone displaced here will be needed at some point."
"Oh, that's good."
"But what's not good is that you did it without thinking, Trainee Goddess Chrono. You need to be a little more aware of your surroundings, else something will sneak right up on you."
"Oh, I'm... I'm sorry." As a goddess, Chrono didn't hate Artemis, because she didn't hate anyone. And it was hard to hate someone who was right. But it was just so difficult to deal with Artemis, and Chrono was always on the wrong foot whenever they met.
"They are still children, and deserve our utmost care. I dare not try to unravel the enchantment further, after what has been done, so let us ensure that they stay safe until such time as they awaken."
"By 'us', do you mean...?"
"You and I, yes. Unless Peorth calls you back to Heaven before these girls wake up, we wait until it's time to finish the hunt. And maybe I can teach you a few things about situational awareness while we're waiting for your spell to take effect."
Chrono was afraid that that was what Artemis meant. And all they were hunting was four pairs of open eyes.
Douglass Gardens Apartments, Somerset, NJ, USA
Same time
Two of the newcomers, accompanied by Ui who had appointed herself their guide while they were in New Jersey, had made their way to Team Ikkatsu's shared apartments in the hope that the four cosplayers could help them with the little problem they had of a lack of clothing other than Mamoru's shirt and slacks outfit and Chibiusa's pajamas. They couldn't go out in their Senshi outfits, after all.
After introductions to the four college students and their temporary team member Sawako Yamanaka (who usually spent her time as a high-school teacher), Ui, Mamoru, and Chibiusa explained why they were there.
"I don't know how much help we can give you," Reiko Haga told them, still holding a needle and thread in one hand and most of what looked like Nausicaä's hat in the other. "We're still working on everybody's outfits for tomorrow's party, including for Ui's sister," she held up the cap in emphasis, "so I don't think we can make anything for you to wear today."
Normally, that would have been the end of it; Reiko was the de facto leader of Team Ikkatsu, and what she said — more often than not after a team discussion — was usually the last word on matters of costuming and cosplaying at Douglass Gardens. But Ui was willing to fight dirty when she was helping Mr. Schroeck.
She pouted.
"Can you at least get their measurements? Please?"
"I know my own sizes," Mamoru said before any of the young women could answer, "but I don't know Chibiusa's."
Sawa-chan-sensei looked worried as she looked up from the Mokona-sized Pikachu onesie that she was finishing. "We can't have Ui-san be sad. She might not make dinner for us tonight!"
The others rolled their eyes at the teacher's pronouncement. Then Mayu Yumeji grinned as she grabbed a tablet computer (with a crab symbol present where a logo would be on a mass-produced tablet) from her desk and pointed its camera at Chibiusa. "Sizes, we can help you with." The screen lit up, showing a wire-frame image of the preteen with her measurements appearing to one side. "Computers nowadays save us so much time. Turn around once, please, Chibiusa. Thank you. I'll give Ui-san a printout of these numbers," the black-haired co-ed promised.
"We'd better double-check them first, though," Reiko insisted. "We don't have time for a do-over. Chibiusa, is your height 114 centimetres? Wait, we're in the States right now, so 4-foot-9."
"Uh-huh!"
Mayu grinned. "That's good enough for me!" She tapped one point on the screen, twice, and the printer on the desk came to life for a moment. When it finished, she took two single-page printouts and handed one to Ui, giving the other to Chibiusa. "There you go – all of your sizes."
"Thanks!" Chibiusa said with a smile as she folded the sheet and put it away... somewhere; her Chibimoon uniform didn't appear to have pockets.
"Now please go away and let us work," Miho Hoshino insisted without looking up from the decorative stitching that she was applying to the blouse she was working on, but not without a smile on her face. She let a bit of her usually-contained mania show through as she continued her sewing. "No time to chat! We're very busy making costumes for our neighbors right now!"
As Ui and Mamoru headed for the front door, Chibiusa asked, "Can I watch? I've never seen somebody make clothes before. I'll be quiet."
Before Miho could refuse, Yuka Tsukishiro surprised everyone by speaking up. "Of course you can watch," the usually-quiet meganekko said while hanging the last part of what looked like Ranma Saotome's signature red-and-black outfit on a hanger with Hikaru Shidou's name on it. "We've never worked in front of an audience before, though," she added while hanging the costume on a rack then adjusting her glasses.
"I've never been an audience for somebody who's working before," Chibiusa answered.
Ui and Mamoru exchanged a glance, her questioning and him confident. Then Mamoru said, "We'll be back with some clothes some time around lunch. I think." Ui nodded, and they headed for the cars in the parking lot.
But Ui poked her head into the common area on the way by, both to get the keys to one of the cars and to let her sister know that she was heading out... to discover Diana staring at the inhabitant of the glass tank in one corner. "That's Ton-chan," she told the young Mau. "He's the unofficial sixth member of Hokago Tea Time."
"He's so cute. I've never seen a real live pig-nosed turtle before."
"Isn't he, though?" Then she turned to her sister. "Chiba-san and I are going to Brunswick Square Mall now, big sis. The two of us should be back around lunchtime."
"Could you get a bottle of shampoo for me, please?" Azusa asked. "I'm almost out."
"You like that cherry blossom shampoo from Bath & Body Works, right?"[3] As Azusa nodded, Ui continued, "Sure. We'll be walking right past the store on our way to The Children's Place."
"Are you going to be back in time to make lunch?" Yui asked, her worry obvious in her voice.
Azusa sighed, wondering when the older girl would ever stop acting like she was the youngest person in the band. "If she isn't, then I'll make sandwiches or something for you, sempai. I do owe Ui a favor now."
"Oh, thank you, Azu-nyan!" Yui said while giving her darling kohai a hug.
"Can't... breathe..."
Yui let go of Azusa. "I'm sorry!"
"'Azu-nyan'?" Diana asked. "Hirasawa-san, I like that you think your friend is as cute as a cat, but please don't squeeze any of us to death!"
Ui and Mamoru took advantage of Yui's attention being on Diana to make their own exit, the keys to the car that Ui preferred safely in her hand. Just before they left, Mamoru remembered to transform back to his civilian identity... which caused the cape that Chibiusa had left in the lounge area to disappear.
"Okay, that was weird," Azusa said.
Her sempai shrugged her shoulders and turned to the Mau. "Hey, what's the difference between you and ordinary cats?"
"There's not really much to say about us," Artemis told Yui. "Other than the fact that we can talk, we're just moon cats."
From across the room, Noodle started playing her guitar quietly while singing,
"Jellicle Cats are white and black,
Jellicle Cats are of moderate size,
Jellicles jump like a jumping jack,
Jellicle Cats have moonlit eyes"[4]
Luna muttered, "T. S. Eliot and Andrew Lloyd Webber have a lot to answer for."
"There has to be more than that to you," Yui insisted. "Mom let Ui and me watch Sailor Moon in reruns, and I remember Sailor Tin Nyanko came from the same planet as you. And she looked like she was human."
"And all three of us used to take human form back in Crystal Tokyo," Diana added. "You told me that I was supposed to stay in cat form while I was in the past."
Both Luna and Artemis looked surprised to hear that. "You remember how to change forms?" Luna asked.
"I've known how for all my life, mama." Diana looked into Luna's eyes, and a beam of light shot from the younger Mau's crescent mark to the elder's.
"Oh, wow!" came a happy cry from the doorway. Yui, Azusa, and Noodle looked over to see Subaru Mikage. "Magical cats! Are you here to become our advisors? Are Yui-san and Azusa-san about to become transforming heroines? Having magical teammates would make me so much more effective as an Ally of Justice! Oh, but we'd have to move, because Peggy-san doesn't like cats. What are you doing here, anyway?"
Noodle had had enough of the dark-haired freshman's stream-of-consciousness monologue. "Subie-chan! Stop and breathe!"
"I don't want to become a magical girl," Azusa said quietly.
Then Artemis said, "We're already companions to magical girls, so we can't help you, miss."
"Ooh! Talking cat!"
"Subie-chan, you already knew that they're magical," Azusa pointed out as the light between Diana and Luna finally shut down. Normally, Azusa would show more respect to somebody older than she was, but she'd known Subaru-san long enough that the diminutive that everyone else used sounded right.
"Of course," Luna whispered. "It's so obvious." And she shifted from cat form to human form, complete with the dress and shoes that she wore when she became human during the Sailor Moon S movie.
"Your turn, papa," Diana said as she established a mental connection with Artemis.
Luna walked over to the mirror that Belldandy had passed through a month ago, and looked at herself as a human. Finally, she said, "I do look cute, if I say so myself."
"I always thought so," Artemis replied while putting an arm around her waist. His human form was taller than hers, with long white hair. "At least, seeing you like this awakened some of my memories of the two of us from the Silver Millennium."
Noodle looked over and said, "You know, if you got a haircut, you'd look somewhat like the Thin White Duke."
"I'd better not get a haircut, then. Whoever that is, I don't want to be mistaken for him."
"More importantly,." Diana said while taking human form herself, "we need some clothes other than the one set each of us are wearing."
Luna looked at her daughter from the future, who was the same height as Chibiusa, had grey hair and red eyes, and was wearing (ironically for a cat) a mouse-grey skirt and blouse. "Your tail is still showing."
"Oh, mama, you're always complaining that I don't shift all the way..." Diana completed her transformation. "I never get to show off being a Mau."
Azusa pointed out, "Almost nobody here knows that Mau are real."
"Yeah, I know," Diana answered, "but I still feel sad having to hide who I really am."
"That's unjust!" Everyone turned to look at Subaru. "You shouldn't have to deny who you are."
Nobody noticed that Noodle had walked over until she put her hand on Subaru's shoulder, which caused her to gasp in surprise. "That's a conversation that we need to have, but our new friends need clothes first."
"What sizes?" Yui asked. "Maybe we can lend them something."
All of the Mau looked puzzled. Finally, Diana said, "We don't know. We've always had our clothes custom-tailored."
Azusa frowned. "It must be nice to be that rich."
"We've always been advisors to royalty," Artemis replied. "Queen Serenity insisted."
"Whatever. Our tailors are busy," Noodle said, "but we might be able to impose on one of them to get out a tape measure and make a list of your sizes."
Five minutes later, Mayu had taken the Mau's measurements and sent the lists to Azusa's phone, then kicked everybody – including Chibiusa – out before locking the door behind them.
"I almost forgot what you look like as a human," Chibiusa told Diana as she and the Mau made their way back to the common room. "Where's your tail?"
"Mama says I have to keep it hidden," the young Mau replied with a pout.
While the two youngsters talked about how unreasonable their mothers could be sometimes, Azusa texted Ui. "Hi! We need you to pick up some more clothes."
After a moment, Ui replied with a question. "Did somebody else show up?"
"No, the three moon cats remembered how to turn human."
"Oh, like in the manga? What are their sizes?"
Azusa forwarded the files to Ui's phone. "You should be getting them now. They all need coats."
"What are they wearing now?"
"Hang on." Azusa looked up from her phone and asked, "May I take a photo of the three of you, please?"
"Sure!" Diana said before the others could ask why.
They quickly moved together around Chibiusa so that Azusa could get a quick picture, which she sent to Ui's phone. "Thanks!"
"Got the pic," Ui texted back. "We need to make another stop for Luna's coat, even if it's just in JCPenney, so we probably won't be back for lunch now."
"I won't tell your sister just yet. But I'll make sure she eats something."
"Thanks again. I owe you a favor. Have to go now," Ui sent to Azusa as she noticed Mamoru walking out of the TD Bank branch.
He walked back to the car and got in. "I'm sorry that I took so long, but I had to talk with a teller. My bank card is set up for their Canadian bank machines."
"I thought you were going to Yale, not a Canadian college."
"Harvard, actually. And I didn't have a bank card in my wallet when I got on the plane, either. But now I do, and now I have some local money."
"Let's park the car closer to a mall door and start shopping, then," Ui suggested as she started the engine. And she did so, finding a spot close to the mall's Barnes and Noble. Ui got some shopping bags out of the trunk, then she and Mamoru went into the mall proper.
"This is a bit different from the malls in Tokyo," Mamoru commented as they walked past the first few stores. "It's more like a shopping arcade in a large building."
"Oh, there are department stores here like the ones back home," Ui replied. "We could do our shopping at JCPenney or Macy's, but I prefer the smaller stores. Speaking of which, we need to shop here for Azusa's shampoo." She turned to walk into the Bath & Bodyworks.
"Should we get something for Chibiusa and me to use, as well?"
Ui smiled. "Not here. It's more expensive than most shops, but Azusa likes it."
"There's nothing wrong with pampering yourself on occasion," Mamoru said as they both walked into the store... and three minutes later walked out with a bottle of shampoo.
"That was fast," Mamoru commented.
"If I was shopping for myself, I would have taken more time," Ui admitted. "But not today. I've been trusted with an important task, and I will see it through to completion, even if it costs me my life."
"Please don't die for my sake," Mamoru insisted.
"Oh, I wouldn't," Ui answered with a smile as the two of them turned to walk quickly toward The Children's Place, dodging other shoppers along the way. "I'm just copying an anime character from a show that aired while I was still in middle school."
"You don't strike me as the type who would watch anime."
"My sister liked the show at the time, and I watched it with her sometimes. I don't even remember what the show was called, now."[5]
"I was about to suggest looking for it on that television that Mr. Schroeck used to show us Sailor Moon, but I suppose that isn't possible if you don't remember the show's title."
"I guess not. Oh, here we are." They turned to walk into The Children's Place, then stopped as they saw the t-shirts displayed in the window. "I don't suppose Chibiusa would wear that one, would she?" Ui pointed at a shirt that read "Will Trade Sister For Candy".
"I think that Usako would take it poorly," Mamoru pointed out. "Would you want your sister to wear that?"
Ui smiled and said, "She probably would, if it was available in her size. And I wouldn't mind. We both know that it would be a joke."
Another shopper behind them cleared her throat.
"Oh, sorry!" They both went into the store, followed by a few other people. The impromptu group quickly split up, and Ui continued, "Yui-neesan wrote a song about how much she'd miss me if I was gone. She'd never give me away."
"In that case, Usako and Chibiusa care about each other just as much as your sister cares about you. I doubt either of them would wear that t-shirt."
They looked through the store with the help of one of the store's clerks, who sympathized when Mamoru told her that his luggage was probably somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. After a half-hour, they had found a floral-print top, a plain white top, a two-pack of pleated navy-blue skorts, a pair of slip-on sneakers, plain and floral-print socks, and a coat for Chibiusa; a navy dress with a white faux shirt, a pair of black cat-themed maryjanes, black socks, a matching coat, and a set of butterfly-print pajamas for Diana; and underwear for both of the girls. Then Ui grinned and added a "Queen - like Mom" long-sleeved tee to Chibiusa's set of clothes. "A present from me."
Mamoru returned the smile. "I think she'll appreciate the thought. And pink is her usual colour. I'll just have to get something special for Usako as well. It's a good thing that I just made a withdrawal at the bank."
A few minutes later, both Mamoru's wallet and the roll of cash that Bob had given Ui were thinner, and Mamoru was carrying two bags. Ui turned toward the JCPenney at the far end of the mall from where they came in. "Next, we get coats for you, Luna, and Artemis."
"We aren't going to Macy's for those?"
Ui shook her head. "I don't have that much money with me. If I thought they'd have warm coats, I'd look in Mexi Discount Outlet, but they're still selling end-of-summer clothes right now."
"JCPenney it is, then. Lead on, Bargain Hunter Ui."
"Now that would be a good title for an anime."
Finding coats for Artemis and Luna was a relatively simple process, given the photo they had of the Mau in human form and the lack of any specific requests from those Mau. Finding something that Mamoru would wear was a bit more difficult.
"Mamoru-san, I know you like that look, but black slacks and a green jacket are so 1990s."
"But that's my style."
"It doesn't need to be. Why not try something different?"
"Such as?"
Ui took a coat off the rack behind her, and held it up for his inspection. "I think you'd look handsome in a pea coat."
"I'd look better in a coat that's my size," he replied, "but I'll give it a try."
Two minutes later, Ui was holding the bags and Artemis and Luna's coats, and Mamoru was looking at himself in a three-way mirror. "It's a different look for me."
"I think half the girls at Douglass Gardens will be swooning if you wear that home." Ui didn't add, 'Including me,' but from the look on her face, Mamoru guessed that she was thinking it. "And think of what Tsukino-san will say when she sees you looking so good."
Mamoru took another look in the mirror. "I suspect you're right, Ui-san."
And seven minutes later — there was a lineup at the checkout — Ui's roll of cash was nearly depleted while Mamoru's wallet was looking thinner than it had been when he arrived in New Jersey that morning. On the other hand, Mamoru was carrying four bags and wearing his new coat.
Then Ui insisted, "I want to take a selfie. Here, hold Azusa's shampoo for me, please."
And Mamoru was carrying five bags. "What's a selfie?"
"A self-taken photo," she replied while getting out her phone, starting the camera app, and holding it at arm's length. "We need to stand closer together."
"How close?"
"Pretend I'm your girlfriend. That close."
While Mamoru didn't like the idea of being so close to anybody other than Usagi, he knew that Ui had spent her entire morning helping him out. If this was what she wanted in exchange, it was a small price to pay. He moved closer than he felt comfortable to his companion for the morning. "Is this close enough?"
"Nope. We're going to have to touch, coat to coat." They did, he put a smile on his face, and she took the photo.
"Thanks! I think that's everything that we needed to buy today."
"Not quite; I still need to stop at the jewelry store."
"Zales, not Allure," Ui replied immediately. "Unless you're planning on spending hundreds of dollars on something for Tsukino-san to balance a twenty-dollar t-shirt for Chibiusa."
"When you put it that way, that would be the reasonable option."
It took them a few minutes to get to the jewelry store, and a few minutes longer for Mamoru to find an inexpensive silver-and-pearl bangle bracelet for Usagi... time which Ui used to text Bob Schroeck with a status report and a copy of the selfie. "Mission accomplished, Mr. Schroeck. I kept the receipts from everything that Mamoru-san didn't buy."
"I knew I could count on you, Ui-chan. Good work. I'm surprised you didn't buy him a green jacket."
"He wanted one, but he looks so much more handsome in the dark blue coat."
"I'll have to trust your judgment until I can see him in person. When will you be back?"
"I think we missed lunch. We'll get lunch here and then come straight home."
Blossom Apartments, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Same time
Rob didn't need to call New Jersey; Bob had already left a message for him. It took five minutes for Rob to read the message from Bob... because he had to read a message on the same topic from Ere first. Then he re-read both messages, twice.
"What are the odds?" he muttered.
Then he called Bob anyway, and got a status update and copies of Ui's selfie and Azusa's photo of the three Mau and Chibiusa. In exchange, Rob told Bob about Hotaru and Setsuna, sending along a photo of them and a few of the others at Blossom.
Then Rob made the same report about Hotaru and Setsuna, this time to Ere. He followed that by copying the various photos from his phone to his hard drive, locking his computer, heading down the hall, and poking his head into the common room, where the planning for the next day's Hallowe'en party had turned into an impromptu "welcome and it's very very good to see you again" party for Saturn and Pluto.
"Rei, Minako, could I see the two of you in my office for a few minutes, please?"
"Is something wrong?" Rei asked.
"Don't you dare spoil our party by saying something's wrong," added Minako.
"No, ladies, I just need your advice about something. It shouldn't take very long, but it needs to be addressed immediately."
"That's unusual. Sure."
A few minutes later, both Senshi were in Rob's office, with the door closed. "What's got you puzzled?" Minako asked.
"Just some news from New Jersey," Rob replied. "I need your advice as two of Usagi's closest friends on how we as a group are going to react to the news, and whether we need to react today or wait until we visit them tomorrow."
"Well," Minako started, "Mako-chan, Kuroko-san, and Ruiko-san are busy running the welcome party for Setsuna and Hotaru, and then they'll need to make more sweets for tomorrow's party because we're eating so many of them right now. Ami's helping Setsuna, and the rest of us are still working on our costumes, so maybe we should wait until tomorrow."
"That depends on what the news is," Rei pointed out while looking at Rob.
"Another batch of displacees just showed up at Douglass Gardens, and I want to know when we should offer them rooms here."
"Setsuna and Hotaru just arrived! What makes you think we can welcome some others right away, or that they'd even want to come..." Then Rei figured it out. "Mamoru?"
Rob smiled and nodded. "And Chibiusa, Luna, Artemis, and Diana, too." He switched on his monitor so that the Senshi could see the photos.
"The same day as Setsuna and Hotaru; what are the odds? Of course we should go get them right away! Mamoru needs to be rescued from whoever that girl is!"
"Maybe not," Minako said.
Rob raised an eyebrow as Rei turned to Minako in surprise. "He doesn't need to be rescued?" Rei asked.
"He can always transform to Tuxedo Kamen and hold off the girls with his cane. That particular girl is Hirasawa Ui-san; Mii-san says she's a Sailor Moon anime fan. And we don't need to go get them today."
"Why not?"
"They're in a residence right now, which means they're not going to freeze or starve. Mr. Schroeck's no ogre." Rob and Rei both rolled their eyes at Minako's pun.[6] "And think of how much happier Usagi will be when she sees them instead of just being told that they're here. Also, if we go get them now, we'll have to make multiple trips by Sailor Teleport. Tomorrow we'll have a portal that we can simply step through."
Rei thought for a moment, then nodded. "You're right. And if we don't tell Usagi in advance, we can keep her focused on Hotaru and Setsuna for a day."
Rob commented, "I hope she, and you, will focus on classes tomorrow."
"That, too," Minako agreed without very much enthusiasm.
"Thank you, ladies. I'll let Bob know that we'll be accepting the hospitality that he's offered for a night, and that we aren't telling Usagi that they're here." As the girls stood up to leave, Rob added, "Mina-chan, could I trouble you to find a couple of plush toys that Chibiusa might like? I seem to recall that you know where to find good ones."
"Mrs. Tiggy Winkles, of course" she replied.[7]
"If I could trouble you to pick up a few that you think she'd like, I'd appreciate it." Then he remembered what else his residents had been doing that day. "Is your costume ready?"
Minako grinned. "Oh, yes. I think the guys will like it."
Rob didn't know whether he should ask what the costume was, or acting as her foster father flat-out forbid it preemptively. Instead, he said as he pulled out his wallet, "Mina, please let the others know that you'll be unavoidably away for a while. Just don't tell Usagi why," he added with a smile.
"Right," she replied with a smile of her own as she accepted enough cash to buy two plush toys.
But before she and Rob left, Minako mentioned to Ruiko why she was heading to the Glebe on a Sunday afternoon. Then Ruiko logged on to the displacees' forum and used the private message function to tell two friends that Tuxedo Mask was in Refuge and Usagi didn't know, and they told two friends, and so on, and so on...
Douglass Gardens Apartments, Somerset, NJ, USA
After lunch
"We're back!"
"Welcome home!" Yui shouted back to her sister.
"We brought donuts," Mamoru added. "It was the least I could do for everyone else, since you're all being so kind as to look after my daughter and me, and our cats. I understand that Dunkin's is a good brand."
"They're one of the better chains," Noodle confirmed as she, Yui, Azusa, Subaru, Luna, Artemis, and Diana headed for the front door, the first three leaving their guitars behind.
"Here, let us help you with those," Subaru offered for the group while taking two of the boxes.
"Thanks," Ui replied. "Could you leave them in the kitchen, please?"
"Sure," Azusa said as she took a box of donuts and her shampoo... then stopped when she saw Mamoru handing bags to the Mau. "Yui-sempai," she whispered, "why didn't we ever meet anybody like Chiba-san when we were in high school?"
"I don't know. He does look good. Oh, but I still care about you, Azu-nyan!"
"Didn't you two attend an all-girls school?" Noodle asked.
"Yes," Azusa replied, "but we had some male teachers. And we didn't spend our entire lives in the school building."
While Mamoru was somewhat bemused by the byplay, he didn't let it show. "How do I let everyone know that I bought them a donut each?"
"I'll let Mister Schroeck know, and he can send a message to everyone," Ui replied. "After the donuts are in the kitchen," she added while looking at her sister's group.
"Right! Going to the kitchen... now!"
Noodle looked over her shoulder while walking and commented, "It always worries me when Yui and Subaru act alike."
Once they were in the kitchen, Yui grinned. "Chiba-san is so handsome in that navy-blue coat."
"He's handsome no matter what he wears, and he's a perfect gentleman..." Azusa added as she put her box of donuts on the table.
"Are you telling me that you like somebody other than me, Azu-nyan?" Yui asked, half-seriously and half-teasingly.
"Yes."
"It would never work out. He's something like a foot and a half taller than you are."
"He can't be that much taller than me![8] And I can learn how to walk in high heels! And I really should, if we're going to be living in America for a while. I'm getting tired of being asked for ID all the time."
Noodle sighed; it was up to her to burst her relatively-new friend's bubble. "He's also in love with somebody else. Or have you already forgotten the anime episode we watched this morning?"
All of the sunshine went out of Azusa's life for a moment. "Yes, I know. I wish ... no, I don't wish!"
"Good idea," Noodle said. "Belldandy lives here now; she could show up in the common room at any time." Nobody who lived at Douglass Gardens knew whether they were on the list of people who could receive a divine wish, and most of them really didn't want to know whether they were good enough people to qualify for one.
"Right. We need to watch what we say.[9] It would be nice if Chiba-san was available, though."
"I've never met Tsukino-san," Ui added from the doorway, "and I'm a little bit jealous of her, too. Mister Schroeck should be sending that message any time now." Sure enough, everybody's cellphones buzzed at that moment.
Azusa set a look of resolve on her face. "We're just going to have to find our own Mamo-chans somewhere, that's all. There must be somebody at Rutgers who's both interesting and interested in one or the other of us."
"There might be, but don't look for him in the Anime Club," Yui said. "They're all a bunch of creepy world-type otaku, and most of them don't even speak Japanese."
"What, all of them?" her sister asked.
"Oh, I shouldn't say that. I didn't meet all of them, just a few of them."
"Yui-sempai, did you of all people just call someone 'creepy'?"
"Uh-huh." With a look of all seriousness, she added, "The ones we met wanted Hokago Tea Time and OnnaGumi to join their club because we looked like anime cosplayers, not because of who we are."
"You are from an anime, here," Noodle pointed out while opening up all of the donut boxes and setting two of the sugared donuts aside for the building managers.[10]
"They didn't know that."
"Ew." Azusa frowned. "Yeah, that is creepy."
"Wait... Wait!" Everybody turned to look at Subaru. "No! I refuse to believe that Chiba-san is already taken!" It had only taken her a minute and a half to grasp and reject the idea that Azusa had accepted immediately... which, Noodle thought, was a speed record for the girl. "He's an Ally of Justice, just like me! We're fated to be together! Although it's good of you to step aside for us, Azusa-san. You're showing maturity, just like Cutey Star did when she discovered Cutey Moon[11] and Hakama Mask were fated... to... be... together..." The penny finally dropped. "Oh. He's from another one of your anime that doesn't match the stories from back home, isn't he?" And the look of sadness that had been on Azusa's face a moment before came to rest on Subaru's countenance.
"It sounds like their show might be close to the one you just mentioned, Subie-chan," Azusa said.
"That makes it even worse! I almost broke up True Love!"
Hardly believing that she was being nice to the resident ditz, Azusa said, "But you didn't. And you can find your own special person somewhere, too, just like the rest of us can."
Just then, the back door opened. "Schroeck-san said there were donuts here!"
"Hi, Nuku-Nuku! And Chibiusa!" Ui was surprised to see the two of them together, the sailor-suited combat gynoid giving the Sailor Senshi a piggyback ride.
"Chibiusa and Atsu-nyan were playing outside," Yui explained.
"Hi, Ui-san! Are there any glazed jelly sticks?"
"Just one," Ui replied. "I know how much you like them." Seeing Chibiusa's puzzled look, Ui added, "Nuku-Nuku can run on food, just like us flesh-and-blood people."
Nuku-Nuku took the stick, but stopped before she took her first bite. "And Papa-san said that my brain needs food, and that this kind of donut has the most calories. What's a calorie?"
As Noodle explained the term to Nuku-Nuku, Ui told Chibiusa, "Your father has some clothes for you in the lounge area, and Mister Schroeck has some news for you, too."
"Thanks!" And she jumped off of Nuku-Nuku's shoulders and headed off to see what Mamoru had bought for her and hear the news... only to see two of the chocolate frosted donuts pass her on the way to the door.
"Kurumi!" Ui complained. "One donut each! And aren't you supposed to be keeping your esper powers secret?"
"The other one's for Manami," said the brown-haired teenager in the doorway. "And you already know about my powers."
"If that's for me, I should take it now," the black-haired girl with glasses standing behind her said as she plucked it out of the air. Then she noticed the pink-haired pre-teen. "Oh, hello. You must be Chibiusa. I'm Manami Kasuga, Kurumi's sister."
"Hello. I'm Chibiusa, yes. Why do you sound like Sailor Mars?"
"Who is Sailor Mars?"
Before anybody could answer Manami, Ui said, "Explain later, please. Mamoru-san's waiting for Chibiusa."
"Oh, sorry!" Kurumi got out of Chibiusa's way.
The youngest Sailor Senshi headed for the lounge area, where the people who she had arrived with were waiting for her. Bob was there, too.[12]
"Welcome back, Mamo-san!"
"These are for you," he replied while handing her the last bag that he still had from his shopping trip.
"Thanks. Oh, Diana, you look so cute in that dress!"
"Don't I? Ui-neesan has good taste, even if it looks like a school uniform. C'mon, let's get you changed into some new clothes."
"Not just yet," Bob said, stopping Diana and Chibiusa in their tracks. "I have a news update for you. Do you remember that I said that Usagi was certain that if Pluto and the other Outers had arrived they would have made contact?"
"I do remember that. But the five of us only arrived today, and we haven't made contact with her yet."
Bob smiled at the young Mau's insight. "You aren't the only ones who arrived today." He showed them a photo that he'd received while Mamoru and Ui were shopping.
Chibiusa'a grin threatened to reach from ear to ear. "Puu! And Hotaru! Usagi and Ami look so happy, too! Who's that standing beside them?"
"Her name's Mii Konori. She's an esper from a place called Academy City."
"Esper?" Kurumi walked into the lounge area, the remains of her donut in her hand and her sister by her side. "I thought we were the only espers in this world."
"That goes to show how well they're keeping their powers secret," Manami pointed out.
"I know, I know, stop showing off. Thanks for the donuts, Mr. Chiba. And there's still enough sugar bombs to go around, Bob. See you later!"
Luna turned to Artemis and said, "It appears this world is more interesting than we thought at first glance."
As he watched the Kasuga twins leave, Bob muttered to himself, "I'd better not have a 'sugar bomb'." Then he turned to Chibiusa. "Rob hasn't told Usagi that you're here yet."
"Rob?"
Bob turned to Luna. "The building manager where the Inner Sailors are staying. Minako and Rei told him that Usagi would be too distracted from school tomorrow if she knew you were here but hadn't seen you yet."
"We could talk on the phone," Artemis pointed out.
Diana sighed. "Papa, you can't hug somebody over the phone. I think that this Rob person made the right choice." Then she turned to Chibiusa. "As your advisor, I advise that you change clothes. Now."
"Right!" And the two youngsters headed for one of the smaller rooms in the social center.
Mamoru watched them go, then said, "I don't think I was ever that young."
"You had to have been," Bob pointed out.
"When I was their age, my parents died in a car crash. I don't remember everything from the time around the crash, but from what I do remember, I was never the same after that."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"It's all right, Mr. Schroeck. It was over a decade ago."
What could have turned into an uncomfortable silence was broken by the sound of the social center's front door opening. "Hello!"
Bob smiled. "Belldandy! We're in the front room."
"We'll be right there."
"Hello to you as well, Keiichi! We have company."
Everyone could hear the amusement in Belldandy's voice. "That's why we're here."
The complex's second official couple[13] made their way into the lounge. She was wearing a suit that was appropriate for a small office, he was dressed in mechanic's overalls. "Hi, I'm Keiichi Morisato. Happy to meet you." He extended a hand, noticed the grease on it, then bowed instead. "Sorry about my appearance, but we're close to a deadline and I didn't have time to get changed."
"Belldandy, Goddess First-class, Unlimited Licence, and Keiichi's wife. I'm pleased to meet you." She also bowed to the newcomers.
"Mamoru Chiba. Happy to meet you. And my friends and advisors, Luna and Artemis." They returned the bows.
"A deadline?" asked Artemis.
Keiichi nodded. "I work at a custom motorcycle business called Whirlwind. We're designing a custom motorcycle for one of Bob's co-workers who lives in Florida.[14] He'll be picking it up tomorrow, but my sister Megumi noticed a timing problem when she took it out for a test ride."
"I've ridden a motorcycle in my day," Mamoru said. "Perhaps I could help you in some way."
Belldandy spoke up before Keiichi could reply. "Before you start talking about that, I have a question for all of you. Do you plan to live here, or elsewhere?"
Mamoru immediately replied, "If I have a choice, I choose to live wherever Usako is living."
Luna looked at Artemis, who nodded. Then she turned to Belldandy. "Mamoru speaks for all of us."
Belldandy smiled. She had expected that answer, but she needed to make sure. "Thank you. I'll be back shortly." Then she stepped into the mirror and disappeared.
"Can we take her at her word?" Artemis asked.
Bob smiled as he nodded. "Belldandy never lies."
"Well, then. It isn't every day that I meet a god, and I've met two of them today. How long will she be gone?"
Keiichi shrugged his shoulders. "Time works differently in Heaven. She might be away for a day, or a week, ..." The mirror started to glow. "Or she could come back right now."
Which she did, now dressed in flowing robes of white with blue trim and carrying a stack of papers. She almost stepped forward, but waited for a moment to let Diana and Chibiusa pass her.
"Oh, hello," the pink-haired girl said. She had chosen to wear the "Queen - like Mom" tee over one of her new skorts. "I'm Chibiusa."
"Hello, Small Lady. I'm Belldandy."
Chibiusa and Diana immediately curtsied to her and said in unison, "It's an honour to meet you, Verðandi." Neither of them had any problem pronouncing her name.
Mamoru smiled. "And I didn't need to prompt you this time. How did you know who she is, girls?"
In a tone that made clear she thought it was the most natural thing in the world, Diana replied, "We read the manga that she's in, Mamoru-sama."
"Ah. You know that you don't need to be quite so formal with me, Diana."
She smiled and replied, "Of course I do!"
Mamoru and Bob shared a Significant Look, but said nothing. There was nothing to say.
Belldandy proceeded to hand out documentation to everyone: birth certificates, passports, NEXUS cards[15] (which she told them to keep with them all the time when they were in the USA), health cards, a driver's licence for Mamoru, and all of the other bits of paper and plastic that proved to bureaucrats that the person holding the IDs actually existed.
At the end of it all, Diana looked at her stack of documents, then looked at Artemis and Luna. "Papa, mama, I think I need a purse."
"You don't need to carry everything with you all the time," Belldandy told her. "For now, keep the health card and the NEXUS card in your pocket. I'm sure that Usagi will be able to help you decide what you need to keep with you." She handed Diana and Chibiusa a small wallet each.
"Thank you!"
Once Mamoru had put his own ID into his wallet and Belldandy had selected five donuts for the people at Whirlwind, Mamoru asked Keiichi, "Shall we take a look at that timing problem?"
"I'd appreciate any help that you can give us."
"I want to come too!" Chibiusa insisted.
"Of curse you're welcome to join us," Belldandy replied as she took Chibiusa's hand in her own. They headed out, stopping only to return Yui's socks and put on their own shoes. Mamoru was surprised that, instead of heading for one of the cars, they crossed Annette Court on foot and went farther into the apartment complex. "Bob was kind enough to let Chihiro use the apartment's storage building as a place to restart Whirlwind," Keiichi explained. "So far, nobody but us has a use for it." He turned to Chibiusa. "I should warn you now; Chihiro likes children, especially if they're cute. She might want to hug you."
"That's okay. Mamo-san will protect me if I need help. Won't you, Mamo-san?"
"Always. I hope it won't come to that, though."
"It shouldn't," Keiichi said with a smile.
It only took them a few minutes to reach Whirlwind. "We're back, and we brought guests!"
"Welcome back, K-1 and Bell." A woman with short hair and a frown on her face looked up from the desk in the front room. Her frown changed to a smile when she saw Chibiusa. "Hello! Welcome! I'm Chihiro Fujimi, owner of Whirlwind." She stood up and walked over to Chibiusa and the others.
"I'm Mamoru Chiba. Happy to make your acquaintance."
"And I'm Chibiusa. Hello."
"Hello! Would you like me to show you around Whirlwind, Chibiusa?"
"Yes, please!"
Belldandy smiled. "I'll just leave these donuts in the break room."
Which left Keiichi and Mamoru alone. "I'm surprised that you call your boss by her given name."
"Oh, that's just how Megumi and I were raised," Keiichi replied as he lead Mamoru to the shop floor. "We even call our parents by their given names. Speaking of Megumi..."
A pretty twentysomething woman looked up from the motorcycle that was parked in the middle of the floor, near an engine hoist. An engine cowling was propped against the bike instead of being installed on it. "Hi, Keiichi. Who's this?"
"Mamoru Chiba. I'm happy to meet you."
"Megumi Morisato. Sorry I can't be sociable, Mamoru, but we need to get this engine fixed before this time tomorrow."
Her brother asked, "Where's Sora?"
"Checking the stock room, in case we need a replacement timing chain." Megumi turned to look at a door. "Sora! Come meet a new customer!"
"He's a displaced person, like us," Keiichi corrected his sister.
"Sorry, a new resident!"
"A short-term resident," Mamoru said. "My daughter and I will likely be leaving after tomorrow's party. Although I might end up becoming a customer later, once we've settled in."
The door that Megumi had spoken toward opened, revealing another woman who appeared to be Megumi's age. Unlike the other women at Whirlwind, she had brown hair, glasses, and freckles, and was cute instead of pretty. "Hello! Welcome to... New... Jersey..." A smile quickly appeared on her face.
"Sora," Megumi said, "he's got a daughter already."
The smile of Sora's face faded. "Oh. Hello, I'm Sora Hasegawa."
"Mamoru Chiba. I'm happy to meet you. Are you one of the mechanics here?"
"Sort of. I'm more an automobile mechanic, so I just make suggestions to Fujimi-san, Morisato-san, and Megumi most of the time. I don't have any idea what the problem might be on this bike, though. Motorcycle engines don't have timing belts."
"Some Ducatis do," Mamoru pointed out, "but as a rule you're right. These smaller engines use timing chains, adjusted by tensioners."
Keiichi slapped himself on the forehead, leaving a bit of engine grease on his face. "The tensioner! I haven't checked that yet!"
"Neither have I," Megumi added. "Sora, would you show Mamoru around the shop floor while Kei and I check the tensioner?"
"I'd be happy to. I may as well show you our workbench first, since we only have one bike on the floor right now." She did so, following that by pointing out the larger tools that took up floor space of their own.
"These look quite sophisticated for a startup company," Mamoru commented.
"They're a gift from somebody named Hakubi Washuu. She said something about owing Belldandy a favor."
"The goddess Belldandy? Why would somebody think that they owed a goddess a favor?"
"I really don't know. This," Sora's voice grew more confident, "is my personal project." She showed him a yellow Fiat subcompact with the hood raised.
"I can't help but notice that there's no engine in the car."
"That's right. The 2012 model year Fiat had an under-powered engine. My project is to fix that." They walked around the car to see the engine, on supports and with various covers off. "As long as I don't get in the way of paying work, Fujimi-san lets me use this corner to work on my car."
Just then, Megumi said, "Sora, do we have any more tensioners in stock? This one's not working properly."
"I'll go check!" Then Sora turned back to Mamoru. "Sorry, but I have to work now."
"I understand. I'll go wait in the front office."
He did so, where he found Chibiusa trying on motorcycle helmets. "That one's too big for you, too," Chihiro said while helping the youngster remove the helmet. "And it's the smallest one we have, too."
"No riding for me, then," she said slightly sadly.
"Not yet. Ah! Your father's back."
"Hi, Mamo-san!"
"What do you think of our little business, Mr. Chiba?"
He smiled as he replied to Chihiro's question. "I think I'll be coming back here when I'm ready to order a motorcycle of my own."
6:15 PM
Everything in the apartment was of good quality, but bland – white or pale-wood furniture, white place settings, clear glass containers and drinking glasses, stainess-steel cookware and cutlery, white sheets and towels.[16] It was a place that could be lived in, but desperately needed personalization.
But then, Mamoru thought, most ready-to-occupy residences were like that. At least it wasn't beige.
Ui had helped them yet again, providing some food and lending them some quite colourful blankets for the beds.
"What are we going to do with the leftover donuts, Mamoru?" Luna had brought a dozen over from the social center, having given another half-dozen to Whirlwind for their break room.
"Donuts for dessert tonight and for the three o'clock fairy[17] tomorrow, I suppose," he replied while cooking rice and vegetables for the group's supper.
"All that sugar isn't good for us," Diana complained.
"Don't waste food," Artemis said in counterpoint.
"We'll just have to live with it," Chibiusa announced with a smile. Then she stopped smiling. "Do we have to leave? I'm making a lot of friends here."
"Neither of us are in school here, yet," Mamoru pointed out. "If we don't move, Usako would have to drop out of school where she is, leave all of her friends including the other Sailors, and enrol in school here. Assuming we're going to remain a couple."
"You have to remain a couple if I'm going to be born! Yeah. I think we have to leave. But we can still come visit, right?"
Mamoru smiled. "Of course we can."
To be continued in Hallowe'en in Another Reality...
A quick note about Greek terms: "amazon" translates as "female warrior", "amazones" translates as "multiple female warriors", and "amazoness" translates as "female female warrior". We'll grant that this is much easier to look up in 2020s North America than it was in 1990s Japan, but that doesn't mean we have to perpetuate a longstanding translation error that introduces a redundancy.
- Quote from the shooting script of The Wizard of Oz, copyright © 1939 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp. (Loew's Inc.), is adapted and used without permission
- RK: The high temperature in Ottawa that day was 5°C.
- RK: In real life, Bath & Body Works has a cherry blossom body wash, not a cherry blossom shampoo. This is just one of the minor ways that Refuge differs from Real Life.
- Lyrics from "The Jellicle Ball" by T. S. Eliot from Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, music by Andrew Lloyd Webber from Cats, copyright © 1939, 1981, are used without permission
- RK: It's called Our Home's Fox Deity., and the characters won't be showing up in Refuge for a few in-universe months yet.
- RMS: <rimshot> For those who haven't read other stories in this series, it's pronounced "Shrek". Really.
- RK: An Ottawa toy store that closed its doors in 2020. The shout-out to the Beatrix Potter character was intentional.
- RK: Technically correct; Mamoru is "only" 16 inches taller than Azusa.
- RK: Well, no, the Goddesses are not automata that react to every use of the word "wish"... but nobody will think to ask them about that for another two months or so. The displacees are working under the idea "Better safe than sorry."
- RK: Despite the name, Dunkin's "Sugared Donut" has the least sugar of all the donuts they sell. Noodle is being considerate to the diabetics in the residence.
- RK: Not to be confused with Sailor Honey.
- Quote from the final panel of Casey and Andy, copyright © 2008 by Andy Weir, is used without permission.
- RK: They had moved in after Bob and Peggy Schroeck, but before Kyusaku and Akiko Natsume.
- RK: Harley Waters, in case anybody's wondering.
- RK: NEXUS cards get people through Customs faster than just a passport does, but only for travel between the USA and Canada.
- RK: Yes, white was the "in" colour at IKEA in 2016.
- RK: What folks in the US might call snack time, or what a certain group from Sakuragaoka High School named their band after, tying in with the events of the Sailor Moon SuperS movie. Tuxedo Unmasked goes into more detail about this.
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| The Faking Hoaxer is back! |
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Posted by: Bob Schroeck - 08-29-2024, 07:12 PM - Forum: General Chatter
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Well, he re-established his YouTube channel a few years ago, but has done little but repost some of his best pieces and a few teasers. But tonight he posted the first video in a two-part... something linking the 1965 Barwell UK meteorite with the Barwell Noise.
For those not familiar with the Faking Hoaxer, he's well known in certain circles for the disaster, "paranormal" and UFO videos he makes, along with "making of" videos showing how he made them. In particular, his UFO videos have frequently been lifted by "investigators" who blur or crop out his logo and present them as real. His channel can be found here.
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| party combat buff: Yin Yang by USS |
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Posted by: classicdrogn - 08-21-2024, 12:45 PM - Forum: The Game Everyone Loves To Play
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I thought I posted this already recently, but apparently not. Insert shrug emoji here.
Yin Yang by USS
(google search link, becvause I still can't get YT pages to not freeze Firefox. That might be why I didn't psot it before, just thought about doing so...)
Effects:
Extract of Champions: moderate general all-around physical performance boost to allies in AoE
Infinite Stealth Positions: large buff to Disguise, Hide, and Sneak for all allies in AoE. When you and three friends all need to hid behind the same lamp post, or as a hedge by each holding a couple of leafy twigs, and when moving from one to the other, this is your song.
Infinite Ammunition: Just what it says on the tin, for thge duration of the song Doug and all allies in his AoE will have depleted bullets/arrows.shuriken/blaster charges/spell power/any other ranged attack with a consumable component refilled by his metagift. Physical ones are permanent even after it runs out, leaving everyone topped up. (once used afterward they deplete a snormal, of course.) Does not affect vehicle fuel, even if there are energy weapons powered from the powerpant, only the charge of any capacitors used for smoothing the power draw, etc.
(please excuse amy typos, I'm having trouble adjusting to suddenly defraded vision )
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| Anyone know a good FOSS text to speech package? |
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Posted by: classicdrogn - 08-20-2024, 06:29 PM - Forum: General Chatter
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The free as in beer part is the important bit, aside from working offline and not sounding fit to make you want to ram a pair of clarinets through your eardrums. I've suddenly got a a lot less visual acuity and even with a 43" screen set to 1080p and font size turned up so each letter is the size of a thumbnail (as in on my hand) it's a struggle to read much of anything.
Safe to say, my days of visual art (and driving) are probably done >_<
I'm more upset about the visual art, TBH, but either way and in many others it's.... Well, I'm pretty good at the zen biocontrol "stay calm and focus"/"be here now" thing, so not panicking, curled up in a corner, or gibbering in fear, but, yeah, I am Not Okay.
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| 2016-10-22: Fuku'ing With His Head |
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Posted by: robkelk - 08-20-2024, 03:52 PM - Forum: Stories
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Fuku'ing With His Head
by Rob Kelk, with suggestions from Robert M. Schroeck
October 17, 2016
Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada
"There's no way in Hell I'll take part in a fuku fic!"
Inside his office, Epsilon could hear Ranma's shout from the building's front room.
October 19, 2016
Advisory Board meeting
"... and that's what he said, two days ago. Don't ask me how he found out about fuku fics; I didn't tell him," finished Epsilon.
As most of the older advisors who were anime fans laughed, Pam Holder asked, "Just what is a 'fuku fic'?"
Epsilon, Bob Schroeck, and Rob Donaldson all started talking, then stopped. "Go ahead, Bob," Epsilon said.
Bob took a moment to think before answering, looking upward and chewing on his upper lip before nodding to himself. "A fuku fic is a crossover between Ranma ½ and Sailor Moon where Ranma becomes a Sailor Senshi and thus spends a lot of time in both girl form and a miniskirt. 'Fuku' is an abbreviation of the Japanese word serafuku, which means the sailor-suit styled school uniforms common at the time, to which the Senshi uniforms bear a strong resemblance." He shared a smile with Rob and Epsilon. "It was an incredibly popular idea for about twenty years — hundreds of fuku fics were written. Enough to qualify as a subgenre of its own and get a dedicated archive on the web to house them all."
"What? Really? There's an entire genre of stories about me and Saotome-san?"
Rob nodded as he turned to Usagi Tsukino, who was sitting beside him. "In this reality, your anime series and his were two of the most popular back in the 1990s. A lot of people wanted to have the two of you meet, if only in a non-canon story."
"Oh. I'm not used to being famous."
As the meeting continued, Usagi grabbed Rob's keyboard and sent a private text to Washuu-chan, asking her to stay behind after the meeting was over, grinning all the while.
They didn't actually stay in the meeting once it ended; too many other people wanted to chat privately about other things. Usagi and Washuu started a separate chat instead. Rob was there, too. After all, it was his office.
"So, what's up, Your Highness?"
"Well, I think I'm going to need your help..." She described what she had in mind.
Washuu and Rob were both grinning when she finished.
"Sure, I can help you! All you need from me is transportation, right?"
Usagi nodded happily. "That's right, Washuu-chan, and thanks!"
"Happy to help! But I want in when it happens. Now I gotta go. Too many people want too much of my time today." She hung up.
Rob chuckled as he turned to look at Usagi. "They really did a number on your characterization in the later anime episodes; I keep forgetting that you have a prankster side to you."
"They changed me that much?"
"Yeah. They even had you date one of the Starlights while Mamoru was away."
"Eww, yuck! I love Mamo-chan! Maybe I should pull even more pranks so people forget about the Starlights."
Rob thought that it would take a lot of pranks on Usagi's part for the fans to forget about oh-so-serious Usagi from Stars. "Well, let's see how well this one goes first. And it's up to you to do the groundwork for it. Now how about you go do your homework and I'll tell Epsilon about your idea?"
"He won't mind?"
"I'm pretty sure he won't. I've seen some of Aaron's Transplanted Persons Services reports; he thinks Ranma's ego needs to be taken down a notch."
October 20, 2016
Video call: Anything Goes Cafe, Antigonish / Blossom Apartments, Ottawa
"We would be happy to host an afternoon party for you, Ms. Tsukino," Cologne said over the phone. "Assuming you can make your way here, of course."
"That won't be an issue," Usagi replied.
"Will you need anything special in the way of food?"
"Do you make cakes?"
"No, we don't. And we don't mind you bringing your own cake in. Is this to be a birthday party, then?"
"Yes, Saturday is Minako's birthday. Can you do dim sum and okonomiyaki for a dozen people plus your own group?"
"We can do that easily, although I thought there were only eleven people at Blossom Apartments."
"Washuu-chan will be joining us."
"That explains your lack of worry about transportation," Cologne commented. "Will there be anything else?"
Usagi grinned. "Oh, yes, there's one thing: You have to keep everybody except Ranma busy for a while between when we arrive and when the party actually starts. You see..."
October 22, 2016
Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada
A wooden door appeared on one wall of the lounge, then opened to reveal a crowd of a dozen people, all but one of whom were girls. So of course the male stepped through the portal first. "Hello! I believe you're expecting us. We're the Aino party, of 12."
Cologne put on her best fake smile. "Welcome to the Anything Goes Cafe. We're very happy to have you as our guests."
"It's an honour to finally meet you in person, Cologne," Mii Konori, the second person through the portal, said while bowing. "I've been wanting to visit since I met you online during the advisory board meetings."
"It's good to meet somebody your age who's respectful to her elders," Cologne replied, returning Mii's bow. "The children here could learn from your example."
"Keep moving!" Washuu-chan said from near the back of the crowd, sounding slightly annoyed. "Say hello to each other once we're all through the portal!"
Meanwhile, Rob and Epsilon were already talking off to one side of the procession. "If I knew you'd end up with this group, I never would have suggested you take the job. I'm sorry."
"That's okay," Epsilon replied. "I'm back in Nova Scotia and I actually have a job. I can handle the down side."
Rob knew that it was pointless to argue; Aaron would not complain about his private life, even if a longstanding friend asked him straight-out. He changed the topic instead. "My building's most famous resident wants to talk with your building's most famous resident, alone. Will that be a problem?"
Epsilon smiled slightly. "No, not at all. Cologne, could you show everyone else where their seats are in the cafe, please? And perhaps provide some snacks while they're waiting?"
"We brought enough cake for everyone." Makoto said as she pushed Blossom Apartment's waiter's cart from the portal toward the dining room of the Anything Goes Cafe, the portal closing behind her.
"Thanks. I'll be right with you," Epsilon replied. Then he turned to Ranma and Usagi. "Are you going to be okay on your own?"
Ranma nodded. "Yeah, we'll be good if nobody storms in with the wrong idea."
"That's why we brought the cake; to keep everybody busy for a few minutes," Rob lied. And everybody left Ranma and Usagi alone in the reception area as they headed for the Anything Goes Cafe... although Kazari left a transmitter attached to the underside of the table in the reception area.
As the door to the cafe closed behind Cologne, Usagi and Ranma sat down on opposite sides of the reception area's table.
"A matter of great importance has brought me here today, Saotome Ranma-san. We had to interrupt Sailor Venus' birthday party in order to make this trip today."
"That explains the cake."
"Please, Ranma-san, won't you be our Sailor Sun?" Usagi asked with big, pleading eyes.
(In the cafe, Nabiki's and Ukyo's eyes went wide. As Akane grinned and Cologne smiled, Ruiko and Minako put their hands over their own mouths to stifle their laughter.)
"No! I ain't wearing a sailor fuku!"
"But isn't it a martial artist's duty to help the weak?"
"I can help them better without changin' into a girl. If you can't fight in whatever you're wearin', you ain't a martial artist, so I don't need a fuku. And I already have fancy attacks, like the Mōko Takabisha."
Powered attacks were the next thing she was going to mention. She had no choice but to go straight to the more embarrassing arguments. "I thought we could be friends."
"Just friends?" Ranma asked suspiciously. "I got way too many fiancées already."
"And I love my fiancé," Usagi replied, thinking of Mamoru and wondering whether she'd ever see him again. "So there's no chance that we'd end up a couple."
"Good. Okay, we can be friends. But no way in hell am I wearing a fuku!" Ranma crossed his arms and glared at her.
She put on her best puppy-dog eyes. "Friends help each other. That's what I always heard."
(Now Kuroko was having trouble stifling her laughter. Akane, though, had lost her smile altogether; she remembered what she had said the day she met Ranma, years ago in a reality far away.)
"I can help without dressin' like a girl! I am not wearing a seifuku. No. No way. No how. Uh uh."
Usagi held up a sketch that Ami had drawn earlier, of girl-type Ranma in a leotard with a short skirt. "But it would look so cute on you!"
"No. Not a chance! Not even if your Queen Serendipity asked me directly!"
"That's 'Serenity'," Usagi corrected Ranma.
"I don't care! It ain't happenin'!"
"If you join us and we get to know you better, that would prevent the others from doing any Anything Goes Boyfriend Hunting."
"You said we were just friends..." Ranma almost-growled.
Usagi realized that she'd misspoken. "You and I, yes. But I can't mind-control the Sailor Senshi or anyone else. And I wouldn't want to if I could."
(In the other room, Ami, Mikoto, and Ruiko were frowning at the thought that somebody could control their minds, Ruiko remembering the Level Upper. They weren't the only ones who weren't enjoying listening in any more.)
Usagi decided that changing tactics would be the best course of action. "Think of how everyone else would react to you being a Sailor Senshi! Especially if they thought you wanted to be a girl. Wouldn't that be too funny not to try?"
"It wouldn't be funny at all. It'd just be one more reason for Ryouga to laugh at me, or for Akane to call me a pervert."
(At that point, even Kasumi had lost her near-permanent smile, remembering how much disruption to the harmony of the household those misconceptions had caused. Akane was beyond not smiling... and stormed out to where Ranma and Usagi were sitting.)
Looking Usagi right in the face, she shouted, "Stop it! He's said no! You're just making him angry now!"
"I'm not..." Ranma started.
"Fine! You're making me angry now! I won't hit you because you aren't a martial artist. But I will yell at you! You call what you're doing Love? Or Justice? Is it just to try to force somebody to change his mind when he really doesn't want to do what you want? Tsukino? In the name of the Moon... fuck off!"
As Usagi sat there, shocked that she had to be told to act in the way she believed in, Akane stormed off.
Some of the others made their way out of the cafe, out of concern, curiosity, or in Mousse's case simply to see the fireworks. Finally, Usagi quietly said, "I'm sorry. I thought that you'd eventually want to be stronger and accept."
Ranma snorted. "Ya got the wrong martial artist, then. Ryouga's the one who wants to be stronger. I wanna be more skilled. And gettin' some magic attacks ain't gonna help me there, puttin' on a fuku or not. So how'd Akane know what we said?"
Nabiki walked over and pried the bug off of the table, then tossed it to Kazari (who missed the catch). "You've been on Candid Microphone, Saotome-san."
"I'd better be getting a cut of whatever you made off this, Nabiki."
"She had nothing to do with this," Usagi said. Attempting to share the blame for her idea would be unjust. "You and I have just provided what I intended to be the entertainment for Minako's birthday party."
"Not that is was entertaining just before Akane stepped in," Epsilon added.
Minako nodded. "I didn't want anybody to get hurt. I'm sorry."
"I ain't been hurt."
"Not physically, no," Rei agreed, "but there's more to you than just your body. We hurt your soul."
"I don't know whether we can still have a party now, but we can at least have a meal together," Kasumi pointed out.
"And that includes you, if you're still willing to eat with us after we did this," said Usagi.
"Pride's one thing, but food's something else again. What d'ya got?"
"Too-too good Chinese food!" Shampoo announced.
"And my Ranma-special okonomiyaki," Ukyo added.
Makoto finished off with, "And homemade birthday cake."
"What'r'we waitin' for, then? Let's eat."
They did so, and by the end of the meal, the tension in the air had evaporated. Even Akane had been coaxed to re-join the party.
After the meal was finished and the birthday girl had blown out her sixteen candles, everybody started mixing and mingling. Eventually, Makoto and Shampoo had a quiet talk, followed by Shampoo turning to Cologne and the two of them having a short discussion in Mandarin.
「Great-grandmother, Kino-xiǎo-jiě wishes to become my student. Do I have your permission as our family's grandmaster to teach her our Art?」
「She has to attend high school. And you have to cook.」
「I would have to train her on Sunday mornings, then. And she would need to live here.」
「She would not. Washuu-xiǎo-dì has promised to establish a permanent portal system for us.」
「『Washuu-xiǎo-dì』? That Mandarin is worse than my Japanese. One would think that somebody with as much chi as she obviously has would be better at speaking our language.」
「The Tendos could say the same about your grasp of their language. And do not upset someone with that much power unless you are tired of living, Shānpú. Address her the way she wishes to be addressed.」
Shampoo thought about that for a moment, then said, 「I understand and apologize.」
「You may train the young Senshi, but do not reveal any of our secret techniques to her without asking me first.」
In the meantime, Mii was having a conversation with the Tendo family's head.
"Which school's style have you been learning, miss?"
"Academy City Close Quarters Combat," Mii told Soun. Seeing his puzzled look, she added, "It's based on Fairbairn System." When she realized that that didn't help either, she added "Defendu?"
Soun finally lost his puzzled look. "Ah! Singapore's most popular combat style. Yes, I'm familiar with it. I believe we can help you progress after all."
Then everybody worried that the tension would return when Usagi sought out Ranma.
"Wha'd'ya want, Tsukino? You gonna play with my feelings some more?"
"No. I want to apologize to you in front of the same audience that heard me embarrass you. I didn't mean to hurt your pride."
"I ain't embarrassed. Just annoyed. But, yeah, apology accepted. I get so few of 'em."
The only person who noticed Kasumi's slight frown at his comment was Mii.
"There is one more thing," Usagi said, "and I'll understand if you say no. Can we still be friends?"
"Ya got a weird way of showin' your friendship."
"That was completely my fault. I didn't understand who you really are, and I acted like I knew you from what's written on the internet. I was wrong."
"If you could teach Na-chan to say that, I could really like you, Tsukino-san."
From halfway across the room, Nabiki said, "Don't call me Na-chan. And I'm never wrong."
"See what I have to live with?"
Usagi giggled, then sighed. "Nobody ever thinks you might be right, do they? If you want somebody to talk with — just talk — I'll be there for you. Maybe not right away because of school and monster attacks, but I won't ignore you or automatically think you're lying to me."
Ranma thought for a brief moment — for as long as he thought he could before somebody complained about him being wishy-washy. "I s'pose we can be friends. On one condition."
"What condition?"
"If you try an' put me ina frilly fuku with ribbon 'n lace 'n bows 'n ponytails an' carry 'round a kawaii talkin' rabbit or somethin', you and me are gonna have words, you hear?"
"Yes, Ranma," Usagi said with a bit of a smile and a lot of relief.
Epilogue
Blossom Apartments, Ottawa
"So," Rob said, somewhat embarrassed.
"No more pranks?"
"No more pranks. Please."
"Yeah. This one fell flat."
"It could have been worse, Usagi. What would you have done if Ranma had said yes?"
Footnotes- Despite what Common Knowledge says, the phrase "In the name of the Moon... fuck off!" does not appear in "Sailor Hellblazer". Part 1 includes "In the name of love.... fuck off."
- "Nabs" is a fanon nickname which cannot be written in hiragana, katakana, or kanji. "Na-chan" is our best guess as to what Ranma is actually calling Nabiki in all of those other fanfics.
- Quotes from "When Ranma Met Aiko (and Tamiko and Fumiko and Misaki), a ranma fanfic", "Featherbrite's Tale", "Sailors of Nerima A Nabiki's Heartache Omake", "Minako's Story", "Permutation", "Sailor Hellblazer", and "Relatively Absent", copyright by their respective authors, are used (sometimes in modified forms) as allowed under section 29.21 (1) of the Copyright Act of Canada, R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42.
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| 2016-10-27: Thermal - er, Culture Shock |
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Posted by: robkelk - 08-14-2024, 07:59 PM - Forum: Stories
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Blossom Apartments, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
October 27th, 2016
4:00 pm ET
"Why is it snowing?"
Rob Donaldson was puzzled for a moment at Ruiko Saten's question. "Why wouldn't it be snowing?"
"It's October!"
Rob sighed. "This is Canada. For us, this is Thursday."
"I want to go home."
Kuroko Shirai followed Ruiko in, taking off her coat as soon as she was past the building's vestibule. "Ruiko-san, until that whole mess with the various universes is cleaned up, we are home."
Ruiko looked over at Kuroko. "That isn't helping, Kuroko-san."
"I'm sorry." She turned to Rob. "But I do have to agree about the snow. Is this some freak of nature?"
"I'm afraid not - this is the right time for the first snowfall of the year. But the ground won't be cold enough for snow to stay around for a couple of weeks yet. Before you ask: no, the air will probably not warm up again until next spring."
Kuroko frowned. "I'm going to freeze out there."
Rob remembered that Kuroko had bought the least of all the girls when they first went clothes shopping, nearly two months ago. "Didn't you buy any slacks when the five of you bought new wardrobes back in September?"
"Slacks are not ladylike." (Minako Aino nodded in agreement with Kuroko.)
"Perhaps. However, they help keep your body heat near your body when you're outdoors in the winter." Rob thought quickly. "Come to think of it, perhaps you all need some long underwear."
"Never!"
"Kuroko-san, 'never' is a long time ... and in a month or so, the daily high temperatures will be below freezing."
All of the girls looked horrified - excepting Ami Mizuno (who merely looked upset at that news) and Kazari Uiharu (who at first didn't seem to care, then put on a dismayed face).
Kuroko's only reply was, "Perhaps I was hasty with my words."
5:21 pm ET
Mii had confirmed all of the girls' sizes and placed an online order with [https://www.stanfields.com/ a company] that Rob knew of in Nova Scotia - one that he thought made the best winter underwear in Canada.
Minako, Rei Hino, Kuroko, and Kazari were all at the mall a few minutes' walk from the apartment, buying unladylike-but-practical winter clothing. More accurately, they were sitting at a food court table and complaining about buying unladylike-but-practical winter clothing (except for Kazari, who was using the mall's free wi-fi).
"Is nobody here familiar with the word 'fashion'?" Minako groused.
"Indeed," sighed Kuroko. "Not a single thing here would attract anyone's gaze, even in the adults' sizes."
"Rob warned us that this was a small mall, before the five of you arrived." Kazari tapped at her laptop, then smiled. "How about we go on a little trip?"
Rei held up one hand, in a "stop" gesture. "How little?"
"Montreal is only two hours away by train."
"Each way?" After seeing Kazari nod, Minako continued, "I'd say that isn't little, but I heard about the trip Makoto and Ruiko-san took. We have school tomorrow. As soon as we get there, we'd have to come back."
"Right. Kuroko-san, you and I are going to buy a pair of jeans each." Before she could reply, Rei continued, "I don't care how ugly they are. Wear them tomorrow. Saturday, we go shopping some place where they've heard of fashion."
Between Ottawa, Ontario, and Montréal, Quebec, Canada
October 29th, 2016
10:22 am ET
"What're you looking at, Mina-chan?"
"Farms."
Rei sighed. "Want to play cards?"
"Might as well."
The cabin attendant stopped at the girls' seats and asked, "Would you like to see today's lunch choices?"
The girls looked at the menus and smiled. "Now I see why Rob-san insisted we travel in business class," Minako commented.
Montréal, Quebec, Canada
12:25 pm ET
"What's a RÉSO?"
Kazari sighed. "It's the underground mall, Minako-san."
"So we don't need to go outside to shop? That's even better than I hoped!"
"That depends on how large this mall is," Kuroko pointed out.
"According to this Wikipedia page," Kazari replied, "there's 32 kilometres of tunnels and over 1600 stores."
"Finally! A decent-sized mall!"
Even Rei gave Minako a wondering look at that comment.
1:07 pm ET
"Oh, I like her style." Minako nodded in the direction of a girl who appeared to be about their age.
"Whose style?"
"The dark-haired girl leaving the jewellery store over there, with the same hairdo as you, Kuroko-san." Everyone else glanced her way.
"Not quite the same - we both have twin tails, but her hair's a bit longer."
Minako sighed. "Her hairdo isn't important, except that she's got colour coordination going for her - those ribbons are the same shade as her skirt and hose."
Kuroko gave Minako an annoyed look. "Just because the name of that colour nearly matches my given name doesn't mean you can't say the word. Trust me, nobody will be confused."
"Rob-san said that I had to be more careful with my words."
"Donaldson-san isn't here," Rei pointed out.
"True. Do you think I could get away with wearing something the same shade of red as her top?"
"With your hair and eyes, you could wear anything," Kuroko replied somewhat jealously.
Kazari just watched in envy as the girl left, thinking she could never pull off that look. Then she noticed the girl's skirt didn't cover the top of her hose... and realized where she'd seen the girl before. "I-gotta-go-see-you-at-the-train-station!"
As Minako watched Kazari take off after the girl, she said, "Uiharu-san didn't need to go ask her where she shops."
1:11 pm ET
She casually turned a corner and walked a short way down a corridor that lead to an office building. Sure enough, the girl with flowers in her hair turned the same corner. She'd had enough. Turning on her heel, she asked angrily, "Why are you following me?"
The girl gasped in surprise, but recovered quickly. "Excuse me if I'm wrong, but I think you're somebody like me."
She narrowed her eyes. "Why would you think that?"
"Have you ever read a book with a character who looks like me? I know there's at least one out there. And I've played a video game with a character who looks like you."
"Oh, really? You might be mistaken. Besides, my landlord hasn't supplied very many books for me to read. She says they're too expensive."
"You can find them on the web. If I'm right, your landlord is Bright-san; Donaldson-san said to contact her if we really needed help here. I'm living in Ottawa."
She relaxed - slightly. "So you know who my landlord is and you think you know who I am. Who are you?"
"Oh, I'm sorry! My name is Uiharu Kazari, and I'm from Academy City."
That cleared up the mystery; this girl - Uhiharu-san - had been scooped out of her homeworld, too. "Tohsaka Rin, from Fuyuki City."
"Um..."
"Now what?"
"Is there a Grail War going on right now?"
Rin sighed. "Why is that always the first question people ask? No, we've put that on hold while we're here. Verðandi-sama insisted."
"You've actually met Belldandy-sama? I haven't seen any of the megami yet in Ottawa."
"Well, yes - they are busy with the current situation. I could tell you about her if you want."
Kazari just nodded, eyes wide.
"But not here. Let's go get a cup of tea."
1:58 pm ET
"I never knew that there was so much information available on computers, Uiharu-san."
Kazari smiled at both Rin's comment and her willingness to use what she thought was a good level of familiarity when addressing somebody she'd just met. "You don't have very much experience with using the Internet, do you, Tohsaka-san?"
"The Internet? Is that another computer service, like this Web?"
"The Internet is the network that the World-Wide Web runs on. Most people use both names to refer to the same thing."
"They really should be more precise." After a moment, Rin continued, "Would you show me how to find information about myself?"
"All right!" Kazari moved her laptop so that she should type while Rin watched, opened a new browser window, and connected to Google, turning on Safe Search.
"What is the purpose of that movement?"
"Oh, that turns off searching for the Rule 34 stuff - things that people our age really shouldn't see."
"What sort of things?" asked Rin.
2:07 pm ET
"If I ever meet anyone who drew any such pictures of me, they will die."
"It's one of the perils of being famous, I'm afraid." Kazari sighed. "Besides, until a couple of months ago, everybody in this reality thought we were fictional. I can't blame them for projecting that sort of desire onto a fictional person instead of a real person."
"I feel real."
"So do I. But as long as we aren't using our abilities so that we can fit in with everyone else..."
"... nobody knows that we're us and so there's nothing we can do about it." Rin sighed deeply.
Kazari sipped her tea. "I need to learn how to make tea this well."
Rin glowered at her. "You are changing the topic."
She nodded brightly. "Yes, I am! Please let me change the topic! At least I'm not asking why you sound like my supervisor, Konori-san."
"Oh, very well."
Kazari relaxed. She really didn't want to tell Rin what sort of game she had been in. "How do I learn to make tea that's this good? I've tried looking for advice on the Web, but my tea never gets any better."
"There are some things you just can't learn from books, Uiharu-san. This is one of them. Buy some good tea - I'll help you learn how to do that - brew some - I'll help you learn how to do that, too - taste it, and adjust your future actions based on the results."
"I think we're already buying good tea."
"Is it in tea bags?"
"No, Donaldson-san only buys loose tea."
"That's a good start."
2:41 pm ET
"That's a pretty gem."
"This? It's copper carbonate - barely a gemstone. You can have it if you want it." Rin slid it across the table to Kazari.
"Copper carbonate? Malachite? I'd better not."
"Oh, yes; you mentioned who your roommates are. I won't force you to take it."
"Well, now," came a gruff voice from the next table over, "if she doesn't want it, I'll take it. In fact, I'll take all the valuables you're carrying." The speaker pulled out a pistol while he stood. Raising his voice, he continued, "Nobody be a hero, and you'll all live! Everybody get your wallets out, now! And get your phones out and turn them off, too!"
Rin's eyes narrowed. Kazari typed a few strokes on her laptop's keyboard, then closed the lid. "Please don't hurt me, sir," she said as she slid the computer across the table.
"You're a smart kid. Yeah, I'll probably get a couple of bucks for this. C'mon, people, I haven't got all day!"
Three minutes later, the thief was out the door, with Kazari's computer, the contents of the café's cash register, and everybody's wallets and cellphones.
As the clerk picked up the store's phone to call the police, Kazari waved at her. "Please let me take care of this." She pulled out her cellphone - not the one that Donaldson-san had given her when she first arrived in this reality and had just been stolen, but the one she had brought with her - turned it on, and tapped an icon. "He's turned left around a corner 40 meters away and is walking at a normal pace - oh, he just turned right."
"You can track him with that?" Rin's eyes were wide.
"I'm tracking my computer. As long as he has it, I know where he is."
"Then let's go."
2:49 pm ET
He'd made it to a quiet corner out of view of the average passer-by. Time to check the take. Cash, cellphones, a PC ... which didn't look like any model he was familiar with, but what did he know? He just sold the things to his fence.
Then he heard somebody clear her throat. He looked up and saw the girl who had been carrying all of his gemstones. "What the hell? How'd you find me?"
She said something - not English, not French ... maybe Latin? - and one of the gems he'd taken from her started to glow.
"What the f-"
He never had the chance to finish.
As the thief collapsed, Rin smiled. "Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for we are subtle and quick to anger." Kazari smiled at the Tolkien quote.
Rin bent down to recover her property from the insensate criminal.
"Oh, don't do that here," Kazari said, then picked up the bag with all of the stolen property. "Let's get this back to the café. We can sort it out there."
3:03 pm ET
Rin picked up the last of her gems, then turned to Kazari. "Does this sort of thing happen to you often?"
Kazari smiled thinly. "Too often for my preference. I'd rather have a desk job than be out in the field."
"You talk as if you're a police officer."
"Well, I was one back in Academy City, and you sound so much like my superior in Judgment back home that I was reminded of that life. But I'd rather not have to explain how we got everybody's property back."
"I believe that Bright-san knows somebody in the police. I'll ask her to explain once I'm home."
"Why not ask her now?"
Rin stared at Kazari for a brief moment, then facepalmed. "I keep forgetting that I carry a telephone now." She got out her phone, opened it, and looked at the screen for a moment - then turned and asked "Uiharu-san, how do I make a call with this, again?"
Kazari sighed, and almost said. "I knew you were old-fashioned, Tohsaka-san, but this is ridiculous"... before seeing the smile on her new friend's face.
7:22 pm ET
"Uiharu-san, you missed some great bargains! Where were you all afternoon?"
Kazari smiled. "I was making a friend. I'll introduce you to her at the party we'll all be attending on Halloween."
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