Child of Love Children of Hate chapter zero by jay f kominek Sailor Moon is the property of Takeuchi Naoko and some corporations. Ranma 1/2 is the property of Takashi Rumiko and some other corporations. I only claim ownership to the plot. It is not my intention to violate their copyrights, but instead to entertain. I can only hope to do so with a fraction of their skill. This story is meant to be distributed for free. Please do not change it, or stick your name on it. Pre-readers, to whom I am grateful: elfman, Weeb, Octavian, hachiman Comments and feedback in all forms are appreciated. Insults are not. This story takes place after the ends of both Ranma 1/2 and Sailor Moon. I mix and match the manga and anime continuities as I see fit. Minor details of the original series may go out the window in the face of artistic freedom. :) Past, present and future chapters are available at: http://ucsub.colorado.edu/~kominek/fanfiction/ - - - - - - - - Ransou and Ayane Aino stepped up to the front door of their modest Juuban home. But before they had even put the key in the door, they knew something was wrong. "Minako! We're home!" They waited. Sure, it was sunday night, but it was only 9:00pm or so, and Minako had a nasty habit of staying up late. "Minako! Where are you?" There wasn't any response. Ransou and Ayane began searching through the house, getting increasingly worried. By the time Ransou made it to the stairs, he was glowing with ki, and as he ran up the stairs at sub-sonic speeds, the carpet smoked under his feet. "MINAKO!?!" "WHERE IS SHE?!" *bzzt* *bzzt* *bzzt* *bzzt* "Whats that?" "Idiot, thats the doorbell." "Oh." Ayane sighed as she walked down the stairs to get the door. Carpeting wasn't cheap. At least this wasn't anything compared to having to fix holes in the walls. Reaching the door, which was left open in their earlier haste, she saw a group of girls standing outside. She recognized four of them as Minako's best friends, the other two seemed familiar. Maybe she'd seen them on the street before. *The girl with the long blonde hair done up in two balls and two pony tails, what was her name? Ah, Usagi, yes...* Usagi was standing in the front, flanked by a tall brown haired girl and a girl with long black hair. *Wish I would've paid more attention to Minako's friend's names. Oh well.* The other three were standing at the bottom of the stairs, and she couldn't see them very well. *Ah, Ami is there in the back... she always reminds me of my sister.* "Yes? What can I do for you?" Ayane inquired in a rather exasperated voice. She had just come home to find her daughter missing, and here were a bunch of Minako's friends, all safe and sound. The Usagi girl spoke up, "Mrs Aino? Ah, well, er, you see, uh, Mina, well..." Ayane perked up instantly at the mention of Mina. In fact, it sounded like Ransou had heard and was coming down the stairs, too. "Minako? Do you know where Minako is?" "Well, er, I mean..." Ransou had most certainly heard, and was staring at Usagi with rapidly decreasing patience. * * * Usagi was getting increasingly nervous as she walked towards the Aino home. She was fairly sure about how the Aino's would react, they were usually fairly calm people (except with each other). Just thinking about Ransou Aino was calming, he seemed sort of like her Mamo-chan, tall, with dark hair he kept in a pig tail, and strong looking. She could see where Mina got her good looks, both of her parents were very attractive. They must've had any number of people chasing after them when they were young... Ami's voice snapped her out of her day dreaming. "Usagi! We're almost there, have you figured out what you're going to tell them?" Usagi got sort of nervous as she mumbled, "Not exactly..." her voice beginning to trail off before she even finished the first word. Academically, she understood that this was part of her job as team leader, but she didn't ever actually expect to have to do it... *Oh boy, I don't feel so good... I could use some ice cream right about now...* By this time, they were arrayed in front of the Aino's door. For some reason, it was wide open. Well, it wouldn't be polite to just walk in. Even with Rei and Makoto right behind her, and Ami, Haruka and Michiru behind them, Usagi didn't feel very confident. Sadly, that didn't stop what had to be done. So, she rang the doorbell. Ayane, Minako's mother, came to the door. It was odd, she didn't seem like she belonged in glasses. "Yes? What can I do for you?" Ayane inquired in a rather peevish voice. Usagi nervously began, "Mrs Aino? Ah, well, er, you see, uh, Mina, well..." "Minako? Do you know where Minako is?" Ayane's eyes had gotten very bright at the mention of Mina's name. "Well, er, I mean..." was all Usagi managed to get out before she noticed that Ransou had come down the stairs. *Hey, what are those foot prints doing on the stairs...? And, whoa, I could swear Ransou's eyes are glowing. Nah, I've just gone too long without ice cream.* Usagi gulped. Ransou was staring at her and did *not* look at all pleased. In a dreadfully calm and level tone, Ransou asked "Do you know where my daughter is?" *Oh boy. He doesn't look at all happy.* "WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?!?!" At this point, Usagi's mind pretty much locked up. She never was one to handle danger very well, and Ransou was looking pretty dangerous right about now. She may have fought off evil invaders from the past, present, and future, but she'd never been too successfully in dealing with angry parents. At this point, however, Usagi was at least temporarily saved from dealing with Ransou, as Rei and Haruka had quickly stepped in front of her. Rei's non-trivial temper wasn't going to help much of anything. Too bad. Usagi was dimly aware of Rei telling Ransou to back off before things got really confusing. * * * Ami watched as Usagi stepped up to the open door and rang the door bell. *I wonder why the door is still open.* Minako's mother, Ayane came to the door. Ami and Mrs Aino spoke quite a bit whenever Ami stopped by. She wasn't sure why, they really didn't have much in common, Ayane was a housewife and a small time actress. Unfortunately, all the way in the back, and at the bottom of the stairs, Ami was having trouble hearing exactly what was being said. Ayane seemed upset. With a sigh, Ami realized that Usagi wasn't doing a particularly good job of breaking the news to Minako's parents. Things seemed to get worse after Ransou came down the stairs, though. His deeper voice carried much better. "Do you know where my daughter is?" *mumble* "WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?!?!" *Thats odd, Mr Aino is usually so calm, I never would've imagined him shouting, even about this. Oh my, it looks like Rei and Haruka have gone on the defensive.* "Hey! Back off, you don't need to shout at Usagi!" Rei always was the most defensive of their princess, even if she wouldn't admit it. The next bit took them all completely by surprise. Ransou started to glow. Then he pushed through Rei and Haruka and grabbed Usagi by the shirt, and lifted her off the ground. "TELL ME WHERE MY DAUGHTER IS!" Ami's analytical mind was going into over-drive at this point. There were a number of things wrong here. First, Ransou was glowing. Normal people tend not to glow. Second, Ransou had lifted Usagi off the ground with one hand. Usagi may be a teenage girl, but she packs away enough ice cream that she certainly isn't anorexic. Next, Ransou had gotten through Rei and Haruka. Admittedly, Ransou was a gym teacher, so he would be strong, but Haruka was a strong fighter, and Rei wasn't a slouch. You don't fight youma, cardians, droids, daimons and who knows what else without learning a few things. Oh, and, finally, Ransou was glowing. In her time as Sailor Mercury, had cataloged a number of groups of people who glowed. People possessed by youma, people being drained by cardians, people being drained by droids, etc, etc, etc. Generally people being drained passed out rather quickly. This left her with just one remaining category, people possessed. People possessed by youma and other evil things usually started draining other people, though. Hmm. It appeared as though Rei, Haruka, and Makoto were charging Ransou to save Usagi. Why did Ransou have a 5 yen piece in his left hand? "HAPPO GO-EN SATSU![1]" *Oh my.* Ami watched dumb-founded as tendrils of energy snaked out from the coin, hitting Rei, Makoto and Haruka, all three of whom started to glow. *Why, it looks like their energy is being drained!* Ami's mind, still being in analytical over-drive, went over her last train of thought. Ransou was glowing. He wasn't being drained. Rei, Makoto and Haruka were glowing. They certainly almost weren't possessed, but they were being drained. Ami came to the only conclusion possible for somebody who had never seen a age-shifting ki-vampire deal with juvenile delinquents. Ransou was possessed by some sort of energy draining youma, and it was her job as a Sailor Senshi to save him. "MERCURY CRYSTAL POWER, MAKE UP!" Michiru picked up quickly, too. "NEPTUNE CRYSTAL POWER, MAKE UP!" Unfortunately, Rei, Makoto and Haruka were still suffering from the effects of being drained. Usagi was mumbling incoherently under Ransou's stare. They needed some sort of distraction... "SHABON SPRAY!" With the area obscured in fog, Mercury worked to pull Rei, Makoto and Haruka back. "MARS CRYSTAL POWER..." "JUPITER CRYSTAL POWER..." "URANUS CRYSTAL POWER..." "MAKE UP!" When the fog cleared, they saw a rather confused looking Ransou and Ayane standing there, with Usagi set down on the ground. Ransou was still glowing, though. "Taking over our friend's parent's and attacking teenage girls is unforgivable! In the name of the Moon, we will punish you!" Ami wasn't quite sure why she didn't punish people in the name of Mercury or something, but she decided to worry about that some other time. All Ransou could manage was a "Huh?" This sort of put a damper on Mercury's plans. Daimons and what not usually responded with threats against her life, rambled on about how she was a little girl and they were going to drain her energy, yadda yadda. They didn't "Huh?" at her. * * * Ayane watched helplessly as Ransou picked up Usagi and shouted at her. There wasn't a whole lot she could do at time like this. In fact, there probably wasn't anything anyone could do to stop him about now. *Hrm, those three girls think they're going to get to him?* "HAPPO GO-EN SATSU![1]" *Ah, a Happo Go-en Satsu. Wasn't exactly expecting him to use that technique. Always used to make him so nervous to even hear those words.* *Whats going on back there? Ami seems to be reaching for something... Wow, thats a nice light show. Shabon Spray? What kind of a techni...* "Hey? Where'd everyone go to?" *More of that same light show. I wonder if its anything like building up a battle aura.* Ransou's burning battle aura managed to get rid of the fog rather quickly, leaving Ransou and Ayane standing in front of Usagi, with a 5 teenage girls in rather short skirts arrayed behind her, on and at the bottom of the stairs. The girl in the short blue skirt began shouting, "Taking over our friend's parent's and attacking teenage girls is unforgivable! In the name of the Moon, we will punish you!" Ransou managed a fairly confused sounding "Huh?" Deciding that something probably needed to be done before the situation got any further out of control, Ayane spoke up, "Excuse me? Nobody is taking over anyone here. Now, sure, my idiot husband over-reacted and picked up Usagi but it isn't like he could bring himself to hurt a young girl." The young girls all seemed sort of confused at this point. The one in the blue skirt seemed to have some sort of visor over her face now, and was looking particularly confused. The girl in blue's confusion became painfully evident when her unsure voice spoke up, "Um, guys, I'm not reading any evil coming from them. In fact, they're normal except for a bit of magic clinging to Mr Aino and whatever power it is that he is glowing from." That definitely seemed to put a damper on the girl's spirit. Here they were, all ready to punish some daimons or youma or what have you, but nooo, they had to turn out to be humans. Weird humans, but humans all the same. "Why would we be evil?" inquired Ayane, her concern over Minako temporarily pushed to the side. Again, the girl in blue spoke up, "Well, um, first Mr Aino was glowing, and then he, er, lifted Usagi off the ground, and then he sucked the energy out of Rei and Makoto and Haruka..." "Yeah, and...?" "Well... er, thats about it." Ayane was getting sort of exasperated at this point, "Whats evil about battle aura, being strong, and using a ki-draining technique to calm people down? If they hadn't run off in that fog, he probably would've given them their ki back after he got an answer." Apparently, Ransou was in no mood to discuss things, and most certainly hadn't forgotten his daughter. "WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?!?!" Snapped out of her trance, finally, Usagi spoke up, "ShegothurtreallybadsowetookhertothehospitalohboyI'mreallysorry!" After Ransou took a moment to properly parse Usagi's statement, a non-trivial feat having been deprived of prosedy, realization sunk in and his eyes took on a somewhat depraved look. With a scream of "NOOO!!!!!", Ransou took off running, his ki charged legs burning with a light like that of thermite flares, and tearing into the concrete sidewalk like a pair of jack-hammers. "MORON! Get back here! You don't even know which hospital!" Turning back to Usagi, Ayane asked "Which hospital did you take her to?" Usagi managed to blurt out "Seasidehospital" as a single word. With a burst of light almost matching Ransou's, and a brief thanks, Ayane barreled her way through the dumbfounded girls. Following the trail of ruined sidewalk, Ayane's own ki-charged legs managed to do little more property damage to the already thrashed concrete. * * * * * * * * "Wow. That was weird." Usagi had this tendency to understate things. She just did it again. Sailor Mercury spoke up, wondering, "What do we do now?" "I guess we should try to follow them or something." * * * * * * * * Apparently, even though Ayane hadn't caught up with Ransou before he made it to the hospital, he had miraculously made it to the right hospital. "Minako Aino! What room is she in?!" "Now sir, listen here, you can't just come barging into a..." Ransou was in absolutely no mood to be lectured. Letting the fire of his ki show itself in his eyes, he stared at the nurse, and asked, again in strained tones, "Where is Minako Aino?" Not used to being confronted with people whose spirit burnt so powerfully that it could be seen in their eyes, the nurse clammed up for a second. Admirably, her emergency room training kicked in, and she was able to choke out "five forty-two" with a minimum of stuttering. No sooner than the last syllable had left her lips, Ransou was gone, charging for the stairs, his ki flickering across his body. Showing uncommon restraint, he avoided ripping up the tiles or stairs with the speed of his feet. * * * * * * * * Panting, Ayane Aino reached the main desk of the hospital, and encountered a rather frazzled looking nurse. "How can I help you?" "I'm Ayane Aino, Minako Aino's mother. What room is she in?" The nurse suddenly got nervous, *I hope she isn't like the last one...* "Excuse me? What room is my daughter in?" Lucky for her, the nurse managed to stammer out "F... five f... forty t... two" With a curt "Thanks", Ayane took off running towards the stairs. * * * * * * * * Ayane found room 542 easily enough, apparently Ransou had taken lessons from her father on how to cry so she just had to listen for the water-works and avoid the puddle. "Ranso... oh god! Minako!" Pausing between sobs, Ransou asked aloud, "Who did this to my poor baby?" By this time Ayane had joined Ransou at Minako's bedside, and was looking at her daughter through tear-clouded eyes. One leg lifted in traction, the other and an arm in casts, with bruises and burns covering a good bit of her exposed skin she certainly didn't look like the idol singer she wanted to become someday. *Whats that?... heavy ki buildup?* Ayane quickly began looking around, but it didn't take long to locate the source. Ransou had begun glowing with the greenish color that signified depression ki buildup. She should know what it looked like, she'd certainly seen it coming off of Ryouga often enough. *This kind of buildup isn't healthy, but I can't blame him.* * * * * * * * * Much to the unknowing nurse's relief, Usagi and the Senshi didn't have to ask which room Minako was in. And on a night filled with strangeness, the sight to which they were treated upon entering Minako's room was actually quite normal. On the far side of the bed, Ransou and Ayane sat, teary-eyed, watching their daughter sleep. The girls all gathered into the room, standing near the door (they were wary of the Ainos after their last encounter, understandably). Working up the courage to disturb the Ainos, Usagi spoke up, "So, uh, I guess you know our secret now, huh?" After a few painful seconds, Ayane looked up at Usagi. "Your secret?" "Yeah, you know, that we're the Sailor Senshi." "You're the Sailor Senshi?!" Ayane's eyes had lit up at this revelation (but not with the burning light of her ki) All of the girls face-faulted. "You didn't realize that we were?" "Nope." Groans rose up from the collected girls. In a soft voice, Ayane asked, "Does this mean... that... Minako is one, too?" "Yes. Mina is Sailor Venus." "So, all of it, everything we worked for, it was pointless." This time, it was Ami who spoke up, very quietly, "What do you mean? What was it that you worked for?" Ayane turned back to watch Minako breathe, her chest ever so slowly rising and falling. Her shoulders drooped as she thought about it. "Minako... We were trying to give her the normal life we never even had a chance at, and now look at her, caught up in this." "She's happy being Sailor Venus... she likes to help people." Simply staring down at her injured daughter, Ayane took a moment to digest that bit of information. "Who did... this to her?" "It was a demon, we're not sure who is responsible for them." Finally, Ransou spoke up, quietly at first, "They're going to pay... whoever did this... however many of them there may be... they'll pay." A bit confused, but still thinking that Ransou had gone over the edge, Makoto asked "And what could you do? These are demons, they did this to Mina while she was Sailor Venus, our magic protects us from harm, and they still did this!" She obviously thought the idea of Ransou helping the Senshi was ludicrous. Ransou didn't even turn around, instead he simply let go of the mental cap he keeps on his ki at all times. Slowly, it seeped out from his flesh and flowed across his body, tracing out lines revealing major nerves and arteries. In a calm and collected voice, he told the girls, "I'm Ranma Saotome. Of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. I suspect you've probably heard of me." "You mean to tell us that you're _the_ famous Saotomes?" Makoto didn't believe them in the least and was taking no pains to hide the fact. Mr and Mrs Aino both wore glasses, they were never seen practicing martial arts, and until tonight had always been very peaceful people. They could hardly be the world famous Ranma and Akane Saotome, grand masters of Anything Goes Martial Arts, greatest living martial artists and quite possibly the greatest ever. "Yes" came the response, in stereo. Makoto shook her head, "No. Way. I've seen them at tournaments before, and Ranma Saotome has that curse that turns him into a woman. You don't look like them, and you sure don't turn into a woman. Besides, even if you are the Saotomes, you're just martial artists. Those rumors about what you can do can't possibly be true." "So, you're saying you don't believe us?" "Right." "Ranma" and "Akane" exchanged a look with each other, and then they started to turn to the right and then... they blurred. Their entire bodies turned into big blurs. And, just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. Two people were standing there. They were wearing matching red and black chinese clothes, an embroidered dragon curled its way across Ransou(?)'s chest, down his right arm, up Ayane(?)'s left and across her chest. Neither one had glasses, and they both exuded the raw power and confidence that comes from being the very best, and knowing it. "Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken, Saotome revision #7, Clothing Rearrangement Whirlwind[2]." "Ranma Saotome..." spoke first. "...and Akane Saotome." spoke second. Makoto whistled. All the other girls kept the same dumb look on their faces. "Now, what was that about being _just_ martial artists?" - - - - - - - - [1]: A number of people pointed out something along the lines of "Ranma can't use the Happo Go-en Satsu because he hasn't had the changes made to his body that Ms Hinako did." I went back and perused the translations of the manga. While I'm certainly human, I didn't see anywhere that it said that everyone who wanted to use that technique would need those changes, just her. The fact that no other characters actually used the technique doesn't mean anything. Presumably a number of characters knew techniques which they never demonstrated. IMO, those changes were simply a quick route to the ability to manipulate ki. The slow, and normal, route, was the one which Ranma, Ryouga, Happosai and Cologne used. Becoming high-powered martial artists. Hence sufficient desire could easily allow Ranma to learn the technique. [2]: I got the name of the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken revision from Richard Lawson's "Serendipity", set in the "Thy Outward Part" universe. Thy Outward Part is a good story, you should read it if you haven't.