Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Mahou Sensei Negima! Fan Fiction ❯ In the Shadow of the Moon ❯ Chapter 33 - What Mau? ( Chapter 33 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Depending on the translation you read Fei Wang Reed is either Clow's ancestor or descendent. I am going with ancestor so I can make him more evil. Besides if Clow had any children during his life then I don't think Kero would have forgotten that.

<engage inner Kuno> cute angels like Hikaru or Arm Slaves... Angels or Arm Slaves... Angels or Arm Slaves...I MUST HAVE THEM BOTH!! <Axe kick stick boy and punt into LEO on bounce>

single quotes (' ') denote thoughts or telepathy
forward slashes (/ /) denote translated speech

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the series mentioned in this story. This story is created solely for entertainment and no intention of profit.

Chapter 33 - What Mau?

One group was not watching the fallout of Kotaro getting caught up in Kari's latest game. This group consisted of all the cabbits, except Akiri, and Mokona. They had all gathered around the large screen TV in the common room and were watching a set of DVD videos that Akiri said they might enjoy. Mokona was still humming the opening theme, and could not resist singing "Mi-ra-Ku-ru-mi" shortly after Kotaro yelled. Eliciting miyah's that were half giggle, half groan from the others.

At the same time Eva was walking over to where Kari was hugging a young blond haired girl dressed like flight attendant with black bike shorts. "Please tell me you did not make them to bond with whoever activated them."

"Nope they have free will to act on their own, but dryads tend to be playful anyway." Kari grins. "Akiri just left that as a suggestion in the programming of the A.I. of the construct."

Kotaro meanwhile is doing his best to escape from the hug of a pink haired girl wearing a short blue maid's outfit and white apron. Ranma turns to the demurely smiling brown haired girl his angel turned into. "Do you think you could help me separate your sister from Kotaro before he has a nervous breakdown?" The girl nods and grins as she grips the taller girl's arms and Ranma takes ahold of the wildly struggling boy.

A quick pull later and Kotaro is safely out of reach. The girl stands up, dusts of her skirt and bows to both boys. "Forgive me masters for my behavior desu. The young master just made me think so much of Nakahito-kun I could not resist desu."

"Allow me to introduce us masters." The brunette in a long blue maids outfit, without an apron, says with a bow from beside the taller girl. "I am called Saki." Pointing to the taller girl. "This is my older sister Kurumi."

She then turns towards Kari, but the blond with a blue triangle on her forehead jumps from the enchantress' embrace and holds up a V sign with her fingers. "I'm Karinka, were all happy to be here."

Kari looks to where her sensei is standing and barely keeps from sighing in relief at the wide eyed glee showing in the senior enchantress' eyes. Eva leans in and whispers in her ear. "I want my videos back, and if you tell anyone about them I will make you regret it."

Kari smiles. "Akatsu promised she would get them discreetly back to your library." To which Eva nods.

Ranma spends several minutes calming the young hanyo down with Negi's assistance. Tomoyo finally convinces Kotaro to forgive Kari with a peace offering. The black trench coat he liked so much from the photo shoot with Akiri. Unfortunately for him, he was looking at the coat rather than the gleam in her eyes when he put it on.

With the food stores exhausted for the moment and everyone recovered from their experience. The group decided to return to normal time. Tomoyo gives security keys to everyone to access the new club room in the dorm for the "British Cultural Research Group". Which is where Kari had setup the diorama.

The newly minted Steel Angels assure Kari they can look after the ongoing construction, and cheer when Tomoyo offers to come back with new clothing for them.

So Eva finds herself ready to return to her own resort and from there to her private cottage. Only to be stopped by a straggler. "Might I ask a small favor of you Evangeline-san" Li-sensei asks while walking up to her.

"It depends on the favor." Eva replies with a raised eyebrow.

"I find myself in need of a safe place to practice some of my spells." The sorceress replies while taking five cards from her pocket. Evangeline finds they are labeled The Thunder, The Earthy, The Firey, The Wood, and The Watery. "These are my most powerful attacking spells. I mastered them with a staff I received when I was ten years old. Since I made this new staff several years ago, trying to use them with precision has been like trying to sew with a broadsword."

"There seems to be plenty of space here. Why use my resort?" Eva asks with a speculative smile.

"You have something Kari is lacking at the moment." Sakura replies with a sinister grin. "A moving target I will not feel bad about hitting with more power than I had intended."

"As long as I can observe and make suggestions." Eva's eyes take on an equally sinister gleam. "I don't mind. If! you agree to repair any of the grounds you tear up."

Both of them laugh as they use the portal to Eva's palace.

--

Most everyone is surprised to see large round game tables in the club room when they arrive back in normal time. "Okaa-san what are these?" Setsuna asks when looking at the one of the chairs, with places for cables to plug in, set at opposing sides of the table.

"These are Layers." Kasumi squeals while looking like a kid in a candy store. "I watched the tournament Hikaru won last year against Athena on TV."

"The Diadoji Toy Company premiered the game several years ago. These are practice Layers for all of you to play with." Tomoyo says with a grin. "The Angels on these, and the ones in shopping centers all over japan, are the size of dolls, but as a special promotion during Mahora Fest this year the best players or 'deuces' will get to have a tournament using life sized versions of their Angels."

"Why during the festival?" Negi asks from the other side of the table.
Tomoyo shrugs. "The power circuitry I acquired from building Lingshen Chao's robot army last year only works when the world tree is active."

There is almost a universal shriek of outrage in the room, the exceptions being Mana, Syaoran's group, the Himuras, and the Tendos. Tomoyo stands serenely and waits for it to die down. "Li-sensei and I were aware of Chao's plans through Kari, and faced a choice. Either let them try with the limited manufacturing capabilities of the university and resort to possibly lethal attacks, or offer the advantage of numbers and convince them to use relatively harmless attacks instead."

"I suppose being embarrassed is better then being dead." Yuna says from the side of one of the other tables. The others nod quietly.

The manager ushers most everyone out of the room. "If you all want to try the game out you can do so tomorrow evening." Tomoyo quietly asks Kari to escort princess Sakura and the others to a unoccupied suite they can use for the night.

Mana was about to leave the room, but is stopped by Tomoyo's hand on her shoulder. Now Konoka, Setsuna, and their respective roommates are the only ones still in the room. "I have a proposition for all of you. Since I am now the manager of this dorm, I have a suite with four bedrooms. I was hopping you might consider moving in with me."

"Aside from me being Setsuna's roommate why are you asking me?" Mana asks suspiciously.

"Tatsumiya Kaho and Eriol have been good friends of mine for a number of years." Tomoyo says with a grin. "I told them about what happened tonight, and they expressed concern for your safety. When I told them I was going to ask Setsuna if she wanted to move in with me they asked me to look after you as well."

Mana tries valiantly to argue that she is an experienced exorcist and does not need to be looked after. The protests crash impotently against Tomoyo's serene smile. Eventually, the young woman sighs in defeat and follows as they walk to Tomoyo's suite.

The others, having quickly decided discretion is the better part of valor, followed along without protest. Negi just shakes his head when they find everyone's things had already been moved.

the girls each share a room with their previous roommates. Negi and Tomoyo each have their own room that doubles as an office for them. Tomoyo quietly tells Negi that he is welcome to sleep in her room if he feels lonely during the night, but for the moment he declines on his way to his own bed.
Konoka gives the woman a hug full of affection before she and Asuna turn in. Mana had turned in for the night without further comment, leaving Setsuna and Tomoyo alone in the living room. Setsuna looks into the warm expression the woman gives her, and steps readily into her embrace.
After several minutes Setsuna sighs. "You did not have much trouble convincing Mana. I am curious Okaa-san, where were you during the festival last year?"

Tomoyo winks at the girl, and pulls a picture book from a nearby shelf. "You and Negi looked so cute in those bunny costumes you rented from my costume shop last year." Opening it to show it is all pictures of Setsuna from the festival. "You hardly noticed which costume I gave you. I thought the little wings were so adorable." Tomoyo giggles at the deep blush the girl now has.

"Hey I look pretty good in this picture too." Chamo notes from Tomoyo's shoulder.

"Yes Kero-chan has always been happy to help me make small costumes." Both women now laugh at the ermine fairy bluster about being better than some plushie cat.

--

Eriol and Kaho were enjoying their breakfast. More to the point Kaho was near laughter at Eriol studiously trying to ignore the rapid pace their current guest is setting eating her own breakfast.

Finally it becomes to much for the young man and he turns to the dark skinned woman. "Yoruichi-san are you even tasting the food?"

The violet haired woman turns her amber eyes towards him and grins like a cat. "Otouto you enjoy good food your way, and I will enjoy it mine." The mage grumbles about her being easier to deal with as a cat.

Eriol bows to the two women and takes his leave. He gets outside before he hears both women start to laugh.

Yoruichi takes a while to get her giggles under control, and then pouts. "Ah you think he would be more appreciative of my presence. Especially after I covered up the exponential decrease in hollows when Ruby Moon decided they looked tasty."

"Yes Nakuru-chan really put a lot of effort into convincing Eriol to agree to adopting Mana." Kaho chuckles happily.

"Tell me truthfully, how has Mana been since she came back to the academy?" Yoruichi asks quietly.

Kaho smiles sadly. "She is recovering, but she still seems very disconnected emotionally. I am surprised that your not more angry that she left with that mage at such a young age."

"I really can not fault her taste." The other woman says with a grin. "Her noble young man should prove to be an impressive shinigami once he finishes his training at the academy."

Kaho smiles conspiratorially. "You know I heard from Sakura that there are Amazons living in Minato-ke now. Maybe they would be eager to see their princess returned from the dead."

"No thank you. Five hundred years as the eternally young and shapeshifting ruler of the tribe was more than enough for me." The woman says while shuddering.

Kaho looks at the other woman curiously. Yoruichi sighs and continues. "I almost was grateful when Fei Wang forced my transformation into a cat and drowned me in the spring near the village. The stress really had gotten that bad."

"What is Okaa-san calling herself now? Noriko wasn't it." Yoruichi ponders for a moment. "I never realized how angry the outsider laws made her when she came back as the tribe's sorceress. The tribe's numbers had been so reduced I could hardly see any other option. I should have known it would not end well when that bastard mage defeated her using cheap tricks."

"Eriol has always been worried that you had some resentment for Clow Reed and by extension him." Kaho offers mildly.

"No matter what his father did, Clow was innocent." Yoruichi winks at the other woman. "Clow was just always so much fun to tease, and Eriol is just like him."

"Well you can be satisfied now that your killer's ambitions have been brought to an end." Kaho says politely.

Yoruichi snorts. "I just wish I could have helped rather than having to leave it to Sakura-chan and her children to correct. I honestly think Okaa-san would have just killed him if he had not tried to use a copy of me to try controling the Amazons. I enjoyed watching his expression when she banished him to another dimension and swore he would never get to see their son." She then groans. "Then I finally made my way to Soul Society, and was almost immediately made a clan princess again. I simply can not catch a break."

"Well you said they made you princess of the amazons because of your ability to shape shift." Kaho states with a giggle. "Why do you spend so much time as a cat anyway?"

"I like being a cat. Okaa-san just said it was proof I was Artemis' daughter." The woman shrugs helplessly. "Which makes no sense, since that was just the name she used with the Amazons."

--

In a computer room beneath the crown arcade a white moon cat shivers. 'I only dreamed of a red furred Mau during the long cryosleep. Luna can't kill me over a fantasy.'

Said female moon cat interrupts his introspection. "Have you been able to find anything useful in the data Ami received from Pandra."

"Other than the frighteningly detailed logs of all the things Pluto changed with the time gates." Artemis shivers again. "The information is largely things that were already in the Mercury database. Cross referencing is revealing how some things were given a largely different spin in the official records."

Luna coughs and Artemis rolls his eyes. "I did happen to find something useful in Hakubi-sensei's notes. Her last log after Serenity's final attack was a damage assessment. I seems a quarter of her research database had been moved to the experimental organic crystals she developed from studying Pandra. During the backwash they vaporized. Her notes theorized that the massive power from the Ginzuisho might have acted as a bridge and some of the souls trapped within might have taken new residence in the storage crystals transforming them into soul crystals."

Luna tries to hide her shock. "Is there any supporting evidence for this?"
The white cat chews on his lower lip. "I cross referenced what the research data pertained to with current information in the world's high security databases. There is a large number of references to people called the Whispered. They all seem to have large amounts of information on high technology locked in their subconscious."

"Do you think we should tell Usagi?" Luna asks quietly. "She might think it's a way to undo the imprisonment of the souls in the crystal."

He responds with a quick negative shake of his head. "The only thing we can be certain of is that using that spell cost Queen Serenity her life. I am going to ask the elders to get me in contact with Noriko-san. At the worst she can hire this 'Mithril' mercenary group to bring some extra firepower to bear if this get worse."

notes:

Mi-ra-Ku-ru-mi - Mira Kurumi "look its Kurumi" - Line from "Kiss Kara Hajimaru Miracle" the opening theme from all anime version of Steel Angel Kurumi

Nakahito - Kagura Nakahito - In the first series, he is the eleven year old boy who activates Kurumi with an accidental kiss. (Kotaro other than also being 11 bares almost no resemblance, but even though I enjoy the series I decided not to think too deeply about Kurumi's justifications, fewer headaches that way.)

Let's see Layers, Angels, and Deuces. Angelic Layer will be played in the future.

To Permur1 - ask and ye shall recieve :)

Yuna - A.K.A. Yuna Kid - Akashi Yuna the class basketball star whose father is also a mage. One of the top scorers during the mages vs. mars activity on the last day of the festival.

I found an interesting compatibility test for Negima characters and a colored picture of Setsuna's costume. Both are now on my blog teturosfanfictionnotes.blogspot.com. Kaede was one of my best matches, no wonder she is my favorite character.

Otouto - "little brother"

Nakuru - Akizuki Nakuru - the name Ruby Moon (Eriol's guardian of the moon) uses when trying to appear human.

Mau - name given to the race the shape shifting moon cats come from in sailor moon.

Enter Full Metal Panic mode :) I can't promise more cabbits though.