Death Reborn Evolution CH.7

[Shanami]

On Wednesday afternoon Ranko and Jun left the school gates hand in hand to walk to the Crown Arcade for their second date.

“So Ranko-chan, what do you want to do first?” Jun asked.

“Well, I’m kinda hungry so I was thinking about getting some food first. Motoki makes a great ice cream fruit parfait,” Ranko sighed dreamily at the thought of the delicious confection. Jun was stunned into silence looking at her. Normally Ranko was quite pretty for a thirteen year old, if a bit overburdened in the chest and a tad short, but the expression on her face caused Jun’s hormones to spike and he barely managed to hide his reaction. They completed their trip in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

“Well hello again Ranko-chan,” Motoki greeted one of his better customers as she entered the shop. Actually, aside from Usagi, Ranko tended to provide the most business of any of the regulars. He honestly had no idea where either girl put it all. Deciding that he didn’t really want to know, Motoki shook himself out of his thoughts. “What can I get for you today?”

“Oh, I need a moment, everything is just so good! Jun, do you know what you want?” Ranko asked.

“Sure, can I get an ice cream cone with a scoop of strawberry and a scoop of ginger?” Jun requested.

“Of course. Made up your mind yet Ranko-chan?” Motoki asked as he scribbled down Jun’s order on a pad of paper.

“Yeah, I’d like a triple deluxe parfait with strawberries, hot fudge, vanilla and cookies n’ cream ice cream please,” Ranko said.

“Really, will that be it for you today?” Motoki asked.

Ranko blushed slightly. “Well, we kinda didn’t want to spend too much time eating so I had to keep it small today.”

“Th-that’s small?” Jun gasped. He was just fortunate that so far Ranko refused to let him buy her food on their dates, but really, how could such a small girl eat so much?

Motoki just snickered as he left their table though he was a bit shocked too Ranko had managed to limit herself to only eating some ice cream. As he didn’t have to actually cook anything, he returned to their table minutes later with their food.

Ranko attempted to restrain herself from demolishing her food, but it looked so good. Nodoka had cautioned her that it wasn’t proper, especially when around boys, for her to imitate a vacuum. While she would never manage demure, Ranko could approach acceptable table manners. The ice cream was calling to her though and she had to visibly hold herself back.
After they had finished eating, Jun let Ranko drag him to some of her favorite games in the arcade. She thoroughly trounced him at Street Fighter using Chun Li against his Guile. He managed to redeem himself with a solid victory in a racing game and they both struggled through some DDR. For all her physical prowess, Ranko had developed something of a block for the game even though she really liked playing it.

“Oh, I don’t want to bore you but would it be okay if I played just one round on the Sailor V game?” Ranko asked with big, pleading eyes. Jun found that he couldn’t refuse and just nodded. “Oh thank you! I’m still trying to beat Sa-chan’s high score and I’m so close!” She grabbed him in a spontaneous hug before dragging him over to the machine. Moments later she was entirely engrossed helping Sailor V battle the forces of evil.

A few minutes later and Sailor V was desperately dodging Danburite’s energy blasts while retaliating while Ranko waited for one last attack to charge up. Her character yelled “Crescent Beam” a moment later and a line of yellow energy pierced Danburite’s chest, leaving Sailor V to spin around and flash her trademark victory V.

Ranko turned away from the game with a huge grin, her eyes glowing with happiness. “I finally beat the game and I’m really close to catching Sa-chan’s score! Yes!”

As she bounced happily, Jun brushed a stray strand of her hair back over her ear, stunning the exuberant girl. He slowly leaned forward and tilted her head slightly before his lips touched hers.

Ranko froze, his lips were rough unlike Hotaru’s silky smooth and he was much more demanding than she expected, his lips seeking to possess hers totally.

-A bright light seemed to flash before her eyes and she saw the cool blue of an ice rink-

A handsome, if bishonen, face approached her’s slowly. “I can teach you to skate.” And her body was crushed to a toned chest by strong arms.

“Thanks, but no thanks, leggo of me,” she said.

“Too bad,” his smooth, deep voice replied. “But at least you can thank me for my earlier rescue.” He tipped her back and lips descended. She struggled to free herself but demanding lips forced hers open to allow a slick tongue to dart into her mouth.

She had never felt more violated in her life.

-Flash-

“Waaaaahhhhh!” Ranko bolted from the Crown Arcade sobbing leaving Jun stunned in her wake.

XXXXXXX

Ranko wasn’t quite sure how she wound up in front of the Outer’s mansion, but she desperately needed someone to talk to. The thought of even seeing Jun’s lips caused bile to well up in her throat but the phantom memory of that man-who she wanted to call “Mikado” for some reason- left her feeling small and vulnerable.

She tentatively approached the door, suddenly nervous. Hesitation appeared in her puffy, bloodshot eyes and she idly brushed tear tracks and smudged mascara off her cheeks. She knocked cautiously.

Setsuna was enjoying a rare peaceful afternoon with a nice cup of tea and a good book. Her co-parents had decided to take Hotaru out to the aquarium for the afternoon, leaving Setsuna to revel in the quiet. Not that she didn’t like having her fellow Outers around but occasionally Setsuna craved a bit of private time. And besides, she would have been mortally embarrassed if anyone discovered that she enjoyed slightly trashy romance novels.

The protagonist, a dashing swashbuckler, was about to start a daring rescue of his lady love from her tyrannical father and her loathsome, oily suitor when she was startled by a timid knock from the door. “Damn salesmen,” she grumbled to herself. “It was just getting good. Oh well, I can have fun with this too. Playing the enraged homeowner is almost as amusing as teleporting behind the princess.”

Setsuna ripped the door open, her face twisted with rage and shouted, “WHAT THE HELL DO… Ranko-chan?” The normally vibrant girl shied away from her. “I’m so sorry Ranko-chan, I assumed you were a salesman and I thought it would be amusing to run them off. What’s wrong?”

Ranko slammed into Setsuna’s midsection, almost flooring the taller woman and clinging to her almost desperately. Setsuna gently guided the younger girl to the couch where she sat them down next to each other.

Ranko took a moment to pull herself back together before pulling back and Setsuna noticed her puffy eyes, blotchy complexion and smudged make up. . “Ranko-chan, what’s the matter?” Setsuna soothed.

“Oh auntie, I was… I was at the, the,” Ranko broke down sobbing again and Setsuna pulled Ranko into her lap. “I was at the Crown with my… with Jun and I had just finished a round of the Sailor V game when h-he, he kissed me auntie and it felt so gross and I had a vision of an older boy and he forced his lips onto mine and I just felt so… so,” she trailed off and started shuddering.

Setsuna just rocked the distraught girl while saying soothing, nonsensical things into her ear. Ranko continued, her voice barely a whisper. “I felt so used and I never wanted to feel that sensation again. But… but Jun is my, he’s my boyfriend and I should want to k-kiss him… but the thought of his lips,” she shuddered again and trailed off.

“What exactly is so upsetting Ranko-chan?” Setsuna prodded, bringing her school counselor training to the fore.

“I… the thought of… it just makes me feel sick auntie Setsuna. His lips were just so hard and so… so forceful and it made me feel like he wanted to own me and, and I… I should like it but it just made me feel so, so slimy.” In a barely audible mumble, Ranko continued, “Not like T-. Her lips were so soft and pliable, so silky and they made me feel so warm.” Setsuna quirked an eyebrow at this but stayed silent. Ranko took no notice that Setsuna had even heard that as she continued, stronger, “But… but I should have liked it, even if I’m not all that attracted to him, not really.”

“Why do you think you should have liked it if you don’t actually find this Jun particularly appealing?” Setsuna prompted.

“Well, duh, he’s a cute boy. Of course I should like it when he kisses me.” Ranko looked up at Setsuna incredulously.

“Why should that matter if you weren’t really attracted to him?” Setsuna responded.

“It… I don’t know,” Ranko slumped in her confusion. “I want to want him to kiss me but it was just, it felt so so wrong.”

“I’m sure you will enjoy a kiss from someone that you actually like Ranko-chan,” Setsuna reassured.

“But… but I want to be attracted to him auntie!” Ranko replied defensively.

“Ranko-chan, it’s okay. I think I understand. I want you to do something for me,” Setsuna said. “Close your eyes and relax. Clear your mind. I want you to focus on your breathing.” Setsuna waited until some of the tension seeped out of Ranko’s smaller frame. “Good, now I want you to imagine your perfect kiss. You feel their lips melding tightly with your partner’s and nothing else matters. You feel their body pressed up against yours as. Then slowly, I want you to picture your partner.”

Ranko could almost feel the silky soft lips pressing gently and teasing her own, drawing her in deeper. A blissful expression crossed her face. Her lips parted with an involuntary sigh and she felt the tip of a tongue just lightly trace the opening of her mouth. Soft hands massaged her spine and gently crushed their breasts togeth… Ranko’s eyes shot open and she looked around frantically.

“Ranko-chan, what’s wrong?” Setsuna asked gently.

“N-nothing’s wrong!” Ranko insisted.

“It’s okay Ranko. Whatever it is, it’s okay,” Setsuna reassured.

“I, well… everything was going so well but… but then,” Ranko trailed off.

“But what dear?”

“But it was all wrong,” Ranko wailed. “It… it shouldn’t be. I, in that… fantasy, I should,” her voice dropped to a whisper, “I should be kissing a boy.”

“Ranko-chan, why do you have to want it to be a boy?” Setsuna softly prodded.

“Because, because that’s the way it’s supposed to be! I’m a girl, I should want a… if I don’t, my… all my friends… and mom will be disappointed and Taru-chan and Sa-chan won’t want to spend time around me and and-“

Setsuna couldn’t help herself and a small giggle escaped her. Ranko looked up with teary, betrayed eyes. She struggled to escape Setsuna’s embrace. “L-let me go. I, hic, I trusted you and you’re even laughing at me. Everyone’s gonna hate me… let me go!” She burst away from Setsuna and started to run sobbing for the door.

“No wait! I’m sorry Ranko-chan. I’m not laughing at you, I promise!” Setsuna said. “Please, just wait.”

Ranko stopped but didn’t turn around, her shoulders still shaking. “Really, Ranko-chan, I’m sorry. I was laughing because it’s completely preposterous that any of the girls would reject you for something as minor asthat.”

Ranko turned around and looked hopefully at Setsuna but her eyes still held an undercurrent of doubt. “Ranko,” Setsuna said gently, “who are Hotaru’s parents?”

“That’s silly,” Ranko said dismissively, “you of course and Michi- oh,” Ranko sat heavily on the couch before erupting in giggles herself, the tension having become too much for her.

“See, you have absolutely nothing to worry about dear, no matter what you decide. You don’t *have* to be anything Ranko-chan and I promise we’ll all still care for you just the same,” Setsuna said.

“Th-thanks auntie. I… I need to think about this. Please don’t tell anyone about this,” Ranko begged.

“I promise. And remember, we all care about you Ranko-chan. No matter what.”

oOo

“I just don’t know what to do. I mean, Jun’s a really nice guy but I’m just not feeling it, you know?” Ranko complained to her friends as they sat around a table after school while they waited for Aoi to finish up with the art club. She was still feeling quite vulnerable after her heart to heart with Setsuna the previous night and was fidgeting and distracted. It scared her just how easily she could admire her female peers; changing for gym earlier had been terrifying. She also didn’t know how she was going to face Jun after the disastrous end of their last date.

“What does that mean Ko-chan?” Hotaru asked softly.

“I… I just don’t know what to do. I don’t want to lead him on but I… what should I do guys?” Ranko responded.

“If you don’t think it’s working, maybe you should just say so,” Nariko said gently.

“Uh-oh, don’t look now but I think he’s coming over here,” Momoko gasped.

“Oh no!” Ranko paled, her face going completely white as she looked anywhere but at her approaching boyfriend.

“Hey Ranko-chan, can I join you gals?” Jun approached the table.

“Jun, I… we need to talk. Come with me, please?” Ranko looked at him desperately.

“Um, okay, what’s wrong?” He responded as they walked to a secluded tree on the school grounds. He was pretty sure he was going to regret wherever this conversation went. Ranko had been acting really strange and he subconsciously knew that something big was going to happen and that he probably wasn’t going to like it..

“I, well… Jun, I don’t think this is working out. You’re a really great guy but I don’t know what’s wrong it just is but I don’t want to hurt you and I’m so so sorry and I just,” Ranko babbled and a few tears leaked out of her eyes.

“What, why?” Jun shouted with a hurt look on his face. Aside from the past day and a half he thought everything was going really well.

“I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry,” Ranko repeated over and over. She collapsed to the ground so she was sitting in between her knees. “I... it’s not you, you’re great.”

“If I’m so great what’s the problem,” he returned angrily.

“I don’t know okay! I just don’t know. I have fun with you, but I just,” Ranko broke down sobbing. “I don’t feel that way about you, I still want to be your friend but I, well I understand if you, you don’t want to see me at all,” she eventually managed to get out.

“I need to think about this,” Jun said coldly and walked away, leaving her to sit miserably.

Jun stomped back to the school building without even a glance at the table where the other girls were sitting. “Oh no, I don’t think that went well,” Momoko said. The girls rushed over to find Ranko hiccupping and sobbing in a miserable ball.

“Ko-chan, it’s okay,” Hotaru said as she pulled Ranko into a tight embrace.

“It, I… it didn’t go well. Goddess I’m terrible,” Ranko gasped out.

Hotaru whispered soothing words in Ranko’s ear while stroking her back as her other friends gave their support. Eventually, they managed to coax Ranko up and they led her to the ice cream parlor to drown her sorrows in a triple scoop sundae. Then they took the exhausted girl home. Nodoka wasn’t back from work yet but Kasumi had the afternoon off. She immediately pulled Ranko into her arms and thanked the other girls for getting her home. Momoko and Nariko had to leave to go home but Hotaru and Usa stuck around to make sure Ranko was going to be okay.

Kasumi brought out some tea and coaxed the story out of her distraught ‘younger sister’ who sobbed the whole encounter out. She pulled the younger girl into her lap and calmed her down, radiating her usual serenity and peace. Once Ranko had cried herself out, the other girls took her into the living room to distract her with some video games.

Nodoka returned home with a carry-out meal and the scene repeated itself over dinner. Ranko broke down again when she told her mom that she had broken up with her boyfriend. “And then,” she choked out, “he just stormed off without saying anything.”

“Oh, it’s going to be okay honey. He’ll come around, I’m sure he was just shocked,” Nodoka soothed. “Everything will be better, you’ll see.”

“You, hic, you really think so momma?” Ranko looked up hopefully, her eyes red and puffy and tear tracks staining her cheeks.

“I know so,” Nodoka said.

Ranko cannonballed into Nodoka’s arms. “I love you momma.”

“I love you too dear.”

0oXo0

Three nights later Usa and Hotaru pulled a sluggish Ranko towards the Nerima Open Music Hall to see Haruka and Michiru perform with the Three Lights. Ranko had been slightly down since her breakup earlier in the week even though she realized that it was for the best.

“C’mon Ko-chan stop being so boring. It’s the Three Lights, some hunky boys are just what you need to forget about Jun!” Usa wheedled.

“I don’t really feel like boy watching Sa-chan,” Ranko mumbled back.

“The concert should still be fun though Ko-chan. Michiru-mama and Haruka-papa got us great seats and you know they’re both really good,” Hotaru said.

“I guess so,” Ranko said with a little smile. “I did want to hear your parents play for real.”

The girls made their way into the theater and joined the other senshi where they made inconsequential small talk. Minako and Makoto immediately hit Usa up to share the latest gossip about the Three Lights and the especially the fact that Seiya was always coming on to Usagi. A few minutes later, the New Tokyo Orchestra opened the show under the direction of Mr. Garayan and the music hall fell silent.

They cheered loudly when the stars of the show joined the orchestra on stage. Ranko was really impressed by their stage presence, she had heard Michiru and Haruka play before but they really pushed themselves to play for the larger crowd and their music meshed well with the Three Lights’ singing.

During the intermission, Ranko was practically bouncing. “This was a great idea guys, thanks for dragging me out here.” Meanwhile, outside of the theater Mr. Garayan was catching a smoke break when he was approached by the evil reporter Nezu Chuuko for an interview. But, when she couldn’t find her business cards, the hyperactive Animamate got fed up and blasted him with her bracelets, removing his star seed and revealing herself to be Sailor Iron Mouse.

“You’re welcome Ko-cha-,” Hotaru was interrupted by a piercing scream that grew deeper and more resonant as it echoed through the concert hall.

*CRASH*

“Conductor!” The phage roared as it stampeded into the orchestra pit. It was approximately ten feet tall with deep purple-red skin and pointed ears wearing a garish yellow body suit with a blue conductor’s jacket.

The crowd started screaming and panicking to escape the path of the rampaging phage. Sailor Iron Mouse jumped into the theater and watched as the Star Seed in her hands disintegrated. “Damn, another dud. Oh well, maybe one of the performers will have a true Star Seed,” she muttered to herself.

In the chaos of the crowd, the senshi managed to get away to transform. Sailor Moon jumped onto the stage with the Inners and Chibi-Moon surrounding her. “Not so fast villain! Concert Halls are for the enjoyment of music, for Love and Justice, in the name of the Moon I shall punish you!”

Iron Mouse, meanwhile was blasting two members of the orchestra to check their star seeds as she had grown bored during Sailor Moon’s introduction. Moon got a tick above her eye when she realized that not only had Iron Mouse perpetrated more evil acts, she had completely ignored her speech. And it was such a good one too!

“Senshi, contain the phage, we need to deal with them before they hurt anyone, EEEP!” Moon yelled as she dodged a glowing conductor’s baton that perforated the air where her head had been a moment before.

With the ease of a group that had fought together many times before the Sailor Senshi spread out on stage and started launching their attacks to try to contain the page, but things weren’t going so well. They were used to fighting single opponents, but this time Iron Mouse had made three phage. Fortunately, these particular phage weren’t particularly quick but they seemed to soak up damage easily and their attacks were powerful.

“Bwahaha! Bow before my minions and give me your Star Seeds and I’ll let you leave here alive,” Iron Mouse cackled as she watched the carnage.

“Usa-chan, you’re a senshi? You’re all senshi?” Ranko mumbled to herself from where she was flying above the stage, unnoticed by the combatants. Saturn and Pluto made an entrance from the side of the stage as they let fly with a “Silence Glaive Surprise” and a “Dead Scream,” blasting one of the former viola player hard enough to stun it. Neptune and Uranus made an entrance from the backstage as they too let their attacks fly into the melee. “Taru-chan and her parents too? Why didn’t they tell me? I’d better help them, I don’t want them to get hurt!” Ranko started to gather her energy into her hands, far above the stage.

Meanwhile, Sailor Moon had finished winding up her most powerful attack while the other Senshi pinned down their opponents. With a cry of “Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss!” the injured orchestra phage was engulfed in a bright pink light and surrounded by swirling feathers. The unharmed viola player dropped to the ground unconscious a moment later and Tuxedo Kamen dashed through the combatants to get him out of the line of fire.

Sailor Conductor took advantage of Sailor Moon’s immobile state to launch a barrage of conductor batons at her. With nearly no time to dodge, Moon barely avoided being impaled but wound up pinned to the wall by the batons. Meanwhile, the former cello player turned phage pressed the Outer Scouts back to where they couldn’t intervene.

“Star Serious Laser!”

“Star Gentle Uterus!”

“Star Sensitive Inferno!”

The Sailor Starlights blasted onto the scene with a dizzying array of multicolored light, forcing Sailor Conductor away from Sailor Moon’s pinned form long enough for the Inners to break her free.

Above the stage, the orb of frozen power between Ranko’s hand hit critical mass and with a cry of “Freeze Ray!” she released a three foot wide white-blue beam at the cello player phage. The battle froze as the phage was covered in a fine layer of ice unable to move while the other combatants looked to the sky to see Ranko panting and dropping to the stage at Saturn’s side. The blue ice crystals swirled angrily within the aquamarine water of her fully deployed, five foot spanning wings fully and a pair of swords, just shorter than katana coalesced into being in her hands. “I couldn’t let you guys have all the fun,” she announced with a smirk.

Stunned silence greeted her proclamation until a moment later, the entrapped phage burst free with an enraged scream and lunged at its tormentor. Ranko “eep’d” and jumped back while throwing her swords forward, a beat of her wings helping to propel herself out of range of her assailant. The swords, while quite sharp, bounced off the phage’s magically enhanced skin.

The fight resumed its frantic pace as the combatants reengaged each other. The backpedalling Ranko was getting frustrated at her inability to hurt her foe-any damage she did was regenerated moments later- when she saw Usa winding up the same attack Usagi had used earlier at the still mobile Sailor Conductor. She realized that it wasn’t going to hit, but with some creative maneuvering, she managed to drag her assailant into the attack’s path where Chibi-Moon’s attack slammed into it with cleansing light. Once more, Tuxedo Kamen dashed through the scene and disappeared with the fallen victim.

Sailor Iron Mouse was fuming at the loss of two of her phage. With an angry “Chuu!” she joined the fray, aiming a punch at Sailor Jupiter and knocking her through three rows of chairs. Sailor Mars launched a “Mars Flame Sniper” at the enraged Animamate to buy her teammate a breather but found herself on the receiving end of a beating in Jupiter’s stead. With an uppercut, Iron Mouse launched the Fire Senshi into the grand piano on stage which shattered underneath her.

Mars groaned as she pushed herself up, her head ringing in pain. She staggered slightly and watched resignedly as Iron Mouse came screaming in after her with a wicked haymaker. Fortunately, Tuxedo Kamen appeared in front of her with a barrage of red roses and his cane extending out to fend off the Animamate.

Meanwhile, the Starlights had managed to contain the final phage, Sailor Conductor, for Sailor Moon to cleanse. Mr. Garayan dropped to the floor unconscious as the feathers and light disappeared.

Tuxedo Kamen was being forced back by Sailor Iron Mouse’s relentless assault as she used his inability to leave Sailor Mars open to her advantage. She pressed him back with energy attacks from her bracelets that he barely managed to deflect. Sailor Mercury saw an opportunity to buy him a little time. With a cry of “Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!” she summoned the ethereal, watery harp and played a few chords, launching blasts of freezing water and forcing Iron Mouse to disengage from the beleaguered Prince.

The other Senshi opened up at Iron Mouse with their attacks, and while they forced her on the defensive but what wasn’t dodged was easily absorbed by the super powered villain.

Seeing a clear shot, Saturn thrust her glaive forward with a cry of “Silence Glaive Surprise!”

Iron Mouse jumped twenty feet into the air and to the side as Saturn’s attack demolished half of the stage behind her and left a furrow three blocks deep into the surrounding park. She turned to look at Saturn with wide, respectful eyes. While she had weathered many of the other attacks with ease, the small Senshi of Saturn clearly packed a tremendous punch. “Chuu, missed me na na na na,” Iron Mouse taunted until she noticed a few strands of white hair drifting to the floor. She looked up with rage filled eyes and pointed her bracers at Saturn. “Chuu!” she yelled and twin bolts of power lanced out.

“Nooo Taru-chan!” Ranko yelled, watching powerlessly because she knew there was no way she could reach Hotaru in time.

“Silence Wall!” A cage of purple-black lightning surrounded Saturn and the energy blasts ablated off the near invisible, shimmering barrier. Ranko relaxed slightly after seeing her friend unharmed. She turned towards Iron Mouse, her eyes glowing like bright blue halogens with barely suppressed rage.

“I won’t let you hurt my friends!” Ranko yelled and thrust her hands forward, instinctively gathering up and supercharging the residual, magically enhanced water left behind by Neptune’s and Mercury’s attacks which then shot towards Iron Mouse from all sides. The Animamate tried to dodge but she wasn’t fast enough as tendrils of icy water snaked their way up from her ankles and snagged her wrists where they froze in an icy prison.

Iron Mouse struggled against her icy bonds. “Chuu!” she yelled out in frustration, and the ice holding her wrists shattered from the energy blasts her bracers released.

Knowing that Iron Mouse had absorbed their best attacks without even a bruise, Uranus and Neptune snapped out some of their quicker attacks to keep her off balance until the bigger guns could take her out.

“Space Sword Blaster!”

“Submarine Reflection!”

“Star Serious Laser!” Sailor Star Fighter contributed to the attacks pounding away at the imprisoned villain.

Seeing their foe at least temporarily incapacitated, Eternal Sailor Moon decided to wind up her cleansing attack. She threw her moon rod above her head and power started to gather around her. Catching it, she spun and pointed the rod at Sailor Iron Mouse’s struggling and battered form as yet more attacks slammed into the Animamate. With a shout of “Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss!” Sailor Iron Mouse’s form was obscured by a brilliant pink light and feathers swirled around her silhouette while the ice dissolved in a flash of steam. With a cracking sound, her golden wrist bracers shattered and disintegrated.

“Chuu, free, I’m finally free, thank yo-“ Iron Mouse gasped before she fell unconscious to the stage in a heap.

“Uranus, grab Iron Mouse, we need to get out of here,” Pluto commanded. The Starlights made their customary escape.

“Right,” Uranus responded, picking up the dazed and shivering form of Sailor Iron Mouse. The senshi leaped away from the theater and gathered on a nearby rooftop, Ranko flying up after them to land next to Saturn.

“So, Taru-chan, something you want to tell me?” Ranko put her hands on her hips, flipped her hair back over her shoulder from where it had fallen loose during the fight and pinned Saturn with a stare.

“I, uh, don’t know what you’re talking about Miss,” Saturn said hesitantly.

Ranko’s head dropped a bit and she turned away from the group. “Whatever Hotaru, I can’t believe you’re don’t trust me,” she said sadly. She looked over her shoulder with tears glimmering in her eyes and sighed. “You know I’d never lie to you about something like this.”

As Ranko walked towards the edge of the building Sailor Saturn slammed into her from behind, hugging her fiercely. “I’m sorry Ko-chan, I’m really sorry,” Hotaru gasped out. “Please don’t leave.”

Ranko shot a mischievous smirk to Chibi-Moon. “What do you think Sa-chan, should I forgive her yet?”

Pluto and Chibi-Moon both fell laughing to the rooftop. Uranus erupted in chuckles and Neptune giggled into her fist.

“Oh! You were playing with me? I oughta, ooo I can’t believe you!” Saturn shoved Ranko away and stomped back towards the group pouting, causing the Inners to join the Outers in helpless giggling.

“Sorry Taru-chan, but you were asking for it,” Ranko said.

Saturn shot Ranko an indignant look before deflating slightly. “That’s fine, I guess I deserved it. Yes, we’re the Senshi, though I guess you know that already. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.”

“That’s okay,” Ranko said and Hotaru brightened, “if you’ll let me fight with you from now on. I don’t want you guys to get hurt if there’s something I could have done to help.”

Saturn was about to protest when Pluto laid a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at one of her mother figures with a questioning look.

“It’s alright Saturn. I don’t see why Ranko shouldn’t be able to fight with us. We’ll have to figure out the details later and she’ll definitely need a disguise if she does join us. But, we have more important things to discuss,” Pluto said. She gestured towards Iron Mouse. “Like what we’re going to do with her, for instance. Oh, and Ranko-chan, please call us by our Senshi names when we’re transformed like this. I know that you can see our faces (‘for some reason you always could,’ she muttered under her breath) but most people cannot and it is very important for us to keep our identities secret.”

“Oops, sorry about that,” Ranko said chagrinned.

“Is she safe?” Venus asked, poking the unconscious form of Sailor Iron Mouse gently in the shoulder causing her to groan.

“She did thank us for freeing her,” Mars said.

“I think we can trust her. She’s probably a good person inside,” Moon said.

“Well, I guess she can stay at my apartment until we can figure something out,” Jupiter added.

“That would probably be best for now,” Pluto said. “We need to get out of here, you girls have school tomorrow.” Everyone groaned. “We’ll meet up sometime next week.”

Mars helped Jupiter carry Iron Mouse off towards her apartment over the rooftops. Moon, Chibi-Moon and Tuxedo Kamen dropped into a nearby alley together where they detransformed into their civilian forms to walk back to the Tsukino residence together. Venus threw up a victory sign quickly before bounding off towards her own home while muttering about how her mother was going to kill her for being out so late.

The Outers and Ranko dropped into the alley a few minutes later where they powered down and Ranko hid her wings. Ranko and Hotaru both yawned, neither had realized just how tired they were after the fight finished.

“Come on Ranko we’ll give you a ride home, you look exhausted,” Haruka said.

“Thanks,” Ranko shot her an appreciative grin. She turned and punched Hotaru playfully in the shoulder. “I can’t believe you guys are the Sailor Senshi, that’s so cool! And I can’t believe you thought you could hide it from me Taru-chan.”

“Yeah yeah, I know. I should have told you. Or at least I shouldn’t have tried to deny it,” Hotaru responded. “I’ll make it up to you, how about an ice cream, my treat?”

Ranko blushed heavily and squeaked out,” That’d be great.” She was confused at her own reaction, but too tired to really think about it. The group piled into Haruka’s convertible and she drove off at a relative sedate rate. In other words, she only violated the traffic laws of every major nation in the world four times over on the drive back to Juuban.

Half an hour later they pulled up in front of the Tanaka house and Setsuna shook Ranko awake. The energy spent in the fight and the late hour had finally overcome the middle schoolers and she had dropped into a light doze in the back seat with her head resting on Hotaru’s shoulder while Hotaru’s rested on the slightly shorter girl’s head. “Mwha?” she mumbled as she woke up. “Oh, thanks for the ride. Bye everyone!”

“Ranko-chan, please don’t mention your involvement in the fight until after our meeting, okay?” Setsuna said.

“Alright.” Ranko got out of the car which drove off into the night and dragged herself inside.

“Ranko-chan, you’re okay!” Nodoka gathered her daughter up in a tight embrace. “I got a call from Ukyo saying that the concert had been attacked by monsters, I was so worried.”

“ ‘m fine mom,” Ranko yawned. “I’m so tired. I saw the Sailor Senshi take care of the monsters though, it was so cool.”

“Up to bed with you missy, you can tell me all about it tomorrow.” Nodoka shooed her daughter up the stairs. Ranko barely managed to change into her pajamas before she fell sound asleep.

oXooX

Nodoka let Ranko sleep through her normal morning practice the next day and rushed her out the door to school. At lunch, Hotaru and Usa helped their frantic friend come up with a good story about what happened at the concert the previous night; both of the senshi had plenty of practice evading awkward questions about Senshi business.

When Ranko got home that evening, she wowed Nodoka and Kasumi with a tale of the battle from the night before claiming that she wasn’t involved at all but that it took her and Hotaru a while to find Haruka and Michiru in the chaos of the attack. They laughed with her when she commented in a dreamy voice that she “wanted to be able to be a senshi too so she could fight for love and justice in a cute costume.”

The following day, Thursday, Ranko woke up with a throbbing headache but brushed it off after taking some ibuprofen. She had a decent training session with her mother and ate a rushed breakfast before taking off for another day at school. Nothing particularly noteworthy happened during the day but she was loaded down with homework for that evening. Hotaru came home with her to work through it and they didn’t finish until nearly dinner time so Hotaru stayed. After dinner, the two girls watched a few episodes of anime on television before Haruka swung by to pick Hotaru up for the night.

“Hey Ko-chan, why don’t I take you for that ice cream I owe you tomorrow after school?” Hotaru asked as she walked out the door.

“It’s a date,” Ranko said before blushing cherry red. “I can’t believe I said that, you know what I meant!” Hotaru just laughed and walked out to the car but Ranko stood frozen in place for a long time, her imagination betraying her by working overtime.

0oX0o

At four in the morning, Ranko woke with a gasp as a sharp pain twisted through her abdomen and her headache came back worse than before. “My stomach,” she moaned. “Did I eat something funny last night?” Suddenly, she felt a wave of nausea. She staggered to her feet and groggily stumbled down the hall to the bathroom. “Ungh, I hope I’m not going to get sick.” She knelt before the toilet until the nausea passed. ‘Phew, that was close,’ she thought.

Ranko splashed a little water on her face and looked blearily into the mirror, baggy bloodshot eyes staring back out of the frame. She felt another sharp twinge in her stomach before shrugging and stumbling back to bed to just sleep it off. Maybe things would be better in the morning.

A few hours later, Ranko was awakened to Kasumi gently shaking her shoulder. “Time to get up Ranko-chan,” she said.
“Unh,” Ranko groaned. “I don’t feel so good Kasumi-neechan. I have a really bad headache and my stomach hurt really bad overnight.”

Kasumi gently placed her hand on Ranko’s forehead. “Well, you don’t have a fever, I hope you aren’t coming down with anything. Why don’t you go get cleaned up and have a nice relaxing soak. I’ll tell your mother that you’re not up to training today and we’ll see if a bath helps, okay?”

“Thanks ‘neechan.” Ranko smiled appreciatively but grimaced as standing redoubled the pain in her head. She winced but trooped off down the hall towards the furo.

“AHHHHHHHH!”

Kasumi and Nodoka charged into the bathroom to see Ranko sitting on the toilet staring blankly at the inside of her panties. The bloody inside of her panties.

“Ranko dear?” Nodoka said.

Ranko looked up panicked. “Eugh! Don’t look at me, I’m all gross and messy!” She frantically tried to cover up.
Nodoka just giggled a little. “That’s perfectly normal dear. It just means you’re growing up.”

“I-I know that mom but it’s so gross!” Ranko said dejectedly.

“I know it is. We’ll leave you alone to get cleaned off. There are supplies above the sink. I’d recommend a tampon, they’re less obvious and you’ll be able to move around better in them. Oh, this is so exciting, we need to celebrate. Kasumi, bring Tofu over for dinner tonight. I need to go to the market to get a few things!” Nodoka gushed.

“Moooom, do you have to embarrass me like this?” Ranko whined as she washed herself off with cold water before getting in to the furo.

“Sorry dear, but you only have your menarche once and we have to celebrate it,” Nodoka said through the door.
Kasumi meanwhile opened up one of the cabinets and took two pills out of a bottle labeled ‘Midol’ and walked into the furo.

“Ranko-chan, take these.” She offered the pills and a small cup of water. “They’ll help you deal with some of the more unpleasant symptoms.”

“Thanks ‘neechan!” Ranko said. Her head *was* killing her and the cramping that started last night was really unpleasant.

“Why does mom want to make a big deal out of this ‘neechan? It’s so embarrassing and I’d just rather forget about it.”
Kasumi giggled. “It’s every parent’s job to embarrass their children,” she replied sagely, eliciting a grimace and a chuckle from the soaking adolescent. “Auntie is just proud of you Ranko-chan. I remember making red beans and rice for Nabiki and Akane and now I get to help make it for you too. I’ll see you after school.”

After her bath, Ranko grabbed a tampon and sat on the toilet to put it in. She stared apprehensively at the… thing she was supposed to place inside herself. Shrugging, she spread her legs and tentatively pushed the applicator into her womanhood. The sensation was indescribable. On the one hand, it was very uncomfortable to feel anything inside her body like that but at the same time it stretched a part of her in a rather pleasant way that she had never experienced before. She bit back a gasp as her hand touched something sensitive as she removed the applicator and her face flushed slightly. Mortally embarrassed, yet strangely excited, Ranko dashed back to her room to get dressed.

On her way out the door, Nodoka called out, “Oh Ranko, why don’t you invite Hotaru and Usa over for dinner tonight?”
“Okay mom. Gotta go, I’m late!” Ranko rushed down the street.

School that day was an absolute nightmare. Her head started throbbing by second period and when Jun looked at her coldly in third period she almost burst into tears without knowing why. Gym class was a struggle. They were running track that day and her stomach kept clenching painfully when she tried to get up to speed. Her friends looked at her concerned until they noticed a little string plastered to her leg in the showers but they were discreet enough to not mention it.

During one of the quick breaks between classes Ranko pulled Hotaru aside. “Taru-chan, would it be okay if we didn’t go to get ice cream today?” she asked. Disappointment momentarily flashed across Hotaru’s features. ‘Why doesn’t Ko-chan want to hang out with me?’ “It’s just, I’m,” Ranko blushed heavily before whispering, “my… my period started today and I don’t really want to be out around people. I feel like they can all tell and I’m so embarrassed! Can we go another time, please?”

Hotaru giggled lightly. “Sure Ko-chan. I understand, it sucks doesn’t it,” Ranko grimaced and nodded her head, “we can go another time.”

“Great, thanks so much! You’re such a good friend!” Ranko paused. “I know I’m forgetting something. Oh right! Mom wanted me to ask you if you and Sa-chan wanted to come have dinner with us tonight. She’s making a real big deal about it and I think we’re having a party.”

“That sounds great! I’ll just come over after school. Maybe Haruka-papa will give us a ride,” Hotaru responded.

XXXXX

Haruka gave the three girls a ride back to Ranko’s house after school. After finding out the occasion, she shot Ranko a commiserating look but decided to, for once, pass on making an embarrassing comment for which Ranko was grateful. The entire process was already mortifying enough.

Nodoka and Kasumi had prepared a very impressive meal. The featured dish, of course, was red beans and rice but they also prepared most of Ranko’s favorite foods to commemorate the big event. In spite of her physical discomfort, Ranko had a really good evening with her friends and the food was excellent. She had been completely embarrassed though to find that her mom had made and hung up a banner saying ‘Congratulations Ranko’ on it while she was off at school.

It took five days before Ranko’s period finally stopped, a very long five days. The cramps, fortunately, tapered off by day three but then the bleeding got much worse and she was mortally embarrassed when she had a little bleed through at school. By the fifth day, the headache disappeared and the bleeding died down to just a few spots.

Ranko rose on Sunday morning bursting with energy. When she found that the tampon she had placed in the previous night was completely dry and literally floated through her morning. That afternoon, Ranko, Hotaru and Usa spent some time doing their homework in the park, taking advantage of the crisp fall weather while they still had a chance. They spent the rest of the afternoon in the Crown playing games and snacking.

After dinner that night, Nodoka retrieved a small object from a case in her bedroom. “Ranko-chan, come over here for a moment dear,” Nodoka said.

“What is it mom?” Ranko asked.

“Well, since you’re already so grown up,” Nodoka said, referring to Ranko having had her first period earlier in the week, “I thought you would be ready for this.” Nodoka held up one of the vials of water that Saffron had sent earlier in the year. “Your uncle Saffron said that they would help your powers mature if you took them once a month once you caught up to your age group so I thought maybe we’d make it a tradition for you to take them after your periods.”

“Mooom, do you have to embarrass me about that still? I’m just glad it’s over,” Ranko said. She blushed as she thought about the preceding week. Periods were absolutely no fun. The cramps and bloating sucked and they were just so messy. It was absolutely mortifying, and only the fact that every other woman went through it made it even remotely tolerable. Ranko still didn’t like talking about it though.

“Sorry dear, but you’ll have to get used to it,” Nodoka soothed.

“I know,” Ranko pouted.

“Here, drink this. If it tastes funny, I can get you something afterwards to wash it down with. I’m really not sure how this is supposed work,” Nodoka said, handing Ranko the sealed vial.

“You’re sure about this mom?” Ranko asked. Nodoka looked over to where Kasumi and Tofu were on hand just in case something went wrong and nodded. “Okay, here goes!” Ranko popped the seal and downed the magically charged water like a shot. “Huh, tasted just like water, I don’t know what the big deal i-“

Ranko’s body went stiff and her wings pulsed incandescently with her heartbeat. Her arms jerked out to her sides and she floated slightly up into the air, her legs locking out at shoulder width and her muscles spasming. Her head lolled forward before jerking back and bright blue light seemed to build up behind her eyes. Her mouth opened in a silent scream as her wings pulsed brighter and brighter.

Tofu and Kasumi had to restrain Nodoka from smothering her daughter. “Ranko! Let me go!”

“Stop, it’ll be okay, I promise Nodoka,” Tofu said. “We can’t stop it and what if it causes problems to interrupt whatever is happening?”

Ranko’s back arched and her wings curled around her body before congealing in a thick layer of frost which shattered. A wild cacophony of images bombarded her brain in an incoherent stream. Places and faces and names and images and sound and lights hammered into her very being in a hallucinogenic soup of experience. Completely overwhelmed, Ranko slumped to the floor and welcomed the reprieve of blessed unconsciousness.

“Ranko!” Nodoka broke free and gathered her daughter’s slumped form in her arms, sobbing. Tofu and Kasumi silently added their support. Tofu checked her pulse and watched her breath for a few minutes.

“She seems to be stable Nodoka, but her ki seems low. Physically at least, she seems perfectly healthy but I’m not an expert on magic. I think we’ll just need to wait for her to recover. I’ll write up a note in case she isn’t strong enough for school tomorrow but I don’t think there will be any problems,” Tofu said after examining her further.

“Ranko-chan, please be okay!” Nodoka sobbed out. She carried her daughter’s limp form up to her bedroom before changing Ranko into a pair of her pajamas. Nodoka then tucked Ranko under the covers and sat down in a chair next to the bed. She would eventually drift off to sleep.

[Dumbledork]

Great stuff. One question, though. At the moment Ranko's atacks are rather weak, but when she's older will her attacks rival the senshis' in power? And how would she fare against Saffron, one having the power over fire and the other over wate/rice?

[Shanami]

I honestly haven't thought about how powerful Ranko is going to be by comparison to a senshi at the end of the day. I figure that she will become increasingly more powerful over time, where the senshi seem to max out with their Galaxia arc transformations. I'd say that a fully ascended Saffron would be at least on par with a mid-story senshi in terms of raw power and a maxed out Ranko would be somewhere around that level. I also figure that Ranko is more adaptable magically than the senshi, who seem to have very specific attacks (though I'm interpreting them as being able to add plasticity to their magic through training that they haven't had the time for yet).

The way I see it, Ranko adds something to the mix that the senshi didn't have before, very high adaptability and precision. Her attacks are more inconveniencing at her current power level, but when the goal is to hold someone still for Sailor Moon to blast that becomes quite useful. It's a lot easier to smack someone with a 10 foot tall giant pink heart if they aren't capable of moving after all.

And her magic will grow exponentially as she uses it to fight and takes doses of charged Jusendo water.

Currently, Saffron would completely crush her as his power is more mature than hers. If they were at equal basal power levels, I'd see it as a tie, opposite elements and the like. It'd be an endurance/skill match since their magics would cancel each other out. Ranko clearly would have the edge in skill but his power right now at least is magnitudes above hers.

[frice2000]

How does she have an advantage in skill right now? She has yet to recover her memories and I really don't think Nodoka is as good a trainer as Genma was. Right now I would think Saffron would wipe the floor with her without sweating in Skill and power...Of course if Saffron came around he'd have to deal with rabid Senshi out for blood so that may balance things slightly. Though, the Phoenix seem to have some concept of stealth and recon so they could conceivably kill them as well when they're not expecting it. Of course neither of those will happen in this fic I'm just saying.

[Shanami]

Oh, I apologize. I didn't mean to imply that it was now with the skill thing. That was when I was talking about a fully powered up Saffron versus the fully powered up version of Ranko. I was speaking hypothetically about something far enough down the road that she'd be fully developed if that makes sense. Currently, Saffron could incinerate her before she could move so it wouldn't even be a contest remotely.

Well, she could probably dodge a few fireballs before he nailed her, but Saffron would still wipe the floor with her completely. But, by the time she hits equal power to him, she'd have had plenty of time to recover all of her memories/abilities.

[Shanami]

Alright. I posted the edited and completed second half of this chapter in the post at the top of this page. Let me know what you think and if it feels like anything is missing. I went through it with spell check and read over it a few times, so I think that it should be alright from a typo/grammar perspective but I might have missed things anyway.

This took entirely too long to write.

[deathgeonous]

Well, I for one didn't see anything wrong with this. Looks very clean now.

[Spokavriel]

Sorry it took me so long to respond but it took until yesterday to get caught up in the last of the Spamville threads that I was behind in which were at risk of being deleted too soon. Here are my notes.

I’ll be you went to see your Ami-sempai this morning and forgot all about little old me,

Lost a t on bet.

They wouldn't even let her give a response. That had to be annoying.

Behold! The POWER of Cookies!

Chun-Li is my favorite too.

Second Post

Great way to incorporate the First Kiss of Ranma in that date situation. It was nearly completely seamless and fit beautifully.

With Setsuna they parted ways a little too quickly after the revelation about the Lesbian relationship with Hotaru's Parents. It doesn't have to be on camera but I still think they should have had a bit more time to reconcile.

Once again, the night after the Break Up, the emotional play out of the scene was a little short. There doesn't have to be anything else shown but some comment before the break of how she spent that night wouldn't go amiss.

Its just that to me both of these scenes, Setsuna talk and Night after breakup, are ending at a moment before things are set in how they play out. So having a little more conclusion to settle her feelings on things or to say how it progresses from the moment would help keep it from cutting away on the raw moment.

“Whatever Hotaru, I can’t believe you’re don’t trust me,”

you not you're

Ok with the level of detail you went into over the use of the Tampon you now have to mark this as a lime.

Thanks for rescheduling the Ice Cream. That was one thing I was confused a bout when I looked through the earlier posted parts. Did it happen or not.

You know there are no mentions of Haruka embarrassing anyone this chapter. And teasing in earlier chapters was kinda light. You might have to play up that angle of her later on to balance out how much you hung a lantern on her not teasing twice this chapter.