The Missing Tale



Preface


    This idea started with the thought of wanting to write at least one story where Ranma becomes a kitsune. It took me a good while to think of something substantial to build around such a superficial idea, until I had a real — if short — story. Well, it could be longer, but I didn't want to commit to anything of significant length, especially when the details beyond what's written here are sketchy at best. Of course, now the story's not so much about Ranma being a kitsune anymore... Consider that a fair warning.
    I ended up with another crossover with Sailor Moon, as you can see. However, I think trying to avoid it really paid off in the end: when I explored elsewhere and came up with nothing special, by then certain ideas had been percolating in my mind long enough to make connections that I may not have made otherwise by the time I gave the series some serious consideration.
    So, yeah. Enjoy being disappointed and all that jazz.


Story


    From an otherwise-vacant corner of the dojo, and hidden by an illusion, a kitsune observed the farce that was playing out before her with ever-growing displeasure. She had been watching her many-times great grandson, Ranma, ever since his return from China, often using the short-ranged clairvoyance and clairaudience that was at her disposal as a four-tailed kitsune. It was with those abilities that she had seen the conception of the wedding trap from the very start, which had begun when Soun had chanced upon a call from the Jusenkyo guide. Upon receiving and secreting away the guide's gift, which happened to be a barrel of nannichuan, he had roped his youngest daughter, Akane, into the plot by holding Ranma's cure hostage, because he would only get said cure at the reception that would follow the ceremony.
    Once everything for the wedding had been prepared, Ranma had been ambushed, knocked unconscious, then dressed up in a white tuxedo. When he had gone to confront Akane about her so-called consent, regarding the wedding that would take place if he went along with it, things might have worked out if the bride hadn't remained stubborn until the very end. Not only had she tried to reverse who confessed their feelings to whom, despite being the only one of the two who had been aware of — and in agreement with — the wedding, but she had said that her prospective husband would regret it if he didn't marry her.
    If there was ever a funny way to express one's love for another, she believed that Akane had provided a perfect example. The girl could have tried to get the nannichuan to Ranma upon learning about it, or pointed out its location so he could get it himself, but she hadn't cared for him as much as she did her own pride and selfishness. In the end, she finally lowered herself to the level of the other girls who sought out her great grandson's hand in marriage, by resorting to manipulation and trickery.
    Of course, Ranma couldn't help asking what Akane had meant by saying such a thing, about regretting a decision to remain unwedded, and it had only taken that much for her to give up on being married — for the time being — and revealing the nannichuan's existence to him, since it hadn't looked like she would get the confession that she desired. Understandably upset, he had raced to claim it, and she had watched — with her own eyes — the pandemonium that had followed as soon as he had entered the dojo.
    It had begun with him being hit with exploding food that had been meant for Akane, thrown by Ukyo and Shampoo. Kodachi — who wore a black wedding gown — had raced to his side while he had been dazed, but she didn't get a chance to do more than tell him not to die when he had to dodge her brother's sword. Said brother had proceeded to press his attack until Ranma slipped and fell on a pail of water, thus becoming a girl, and Tatewaki had discarded the sword in favor of suggesting a double wedding instead. In the meantime, Ryoga, Mousse and Genma had been fighting over the nannichuan, and Happosai had drunk it all up — thinking that it had been sake — before Ranma could reach it. When all four of the cursed men had tried to make Happosai disgorge the nannichuan, he had blown them up and escaped. That's when Ranma's homeroom teacher and classmates had arrived, with him unconscious, the dojo trashed, no organization for an event to be seen, and said event over before it could even begin.
    Seeing these events, and the result of them, had been the final straw for her: she couldn't tolerate remaining a mere watcher, and allowing the status quo to remain as it was for her great grandson. He wasn't a part of the main branch of the family, or in real need of the service that she offered to the members of said family, but she was thoroughly disgusted with the circumstances of his life. No one really cared that much about him, and most of those that he acquainted himself with were toxic in some form or another. While he had flaws of his own, he was ultimately too dependent and stupid to escape his problems without aid.
    Ordinarily, she wouldn't have a good enough excuse to pull Ranma out of his current situation and use her own authority to resolve anything, because she wasn't supposed to dictate what her descendants were supposed to do with themselves or prevent them from making mistakes, but he was a special case. Most of those involved in Ranma's life would probably disagree with what she planned to do with him, including Ranma himself, but he was asking for it whether he knew it or not. He had so much potential, and she would rather see that potential realized instead of wasted on any more foolishness, insanity and abuse. A descendant of her late husband deserved that much, at the very least, if her own blood was not enough justification for what she intended to do.
    As she raised herself onto her hind legs, her tawny and white fur gave way to flesh, tails, ears and muzzle pulled in, and limbs began to reconfigure and distinguish themselves as arms and legs. Paws became hands and feet, torso conformed to the shape of a beautiful woman, new ears pushed out from the sides of her head, long, auburn hair sprouted from her scalp and cascaded down her back, and her now-human face possessed the kind of features that were alluring, slightly exotic and hinted at her concealed nature. With practiced ease, she created the illusion of wearing clothing, consisting of a white T-shirt, a brown, leather jacket, blue jeans and sneakers. On the left breast of the jacket she added a distinctive crest that bore her family name, "Komemori," for the benefit of a specific individual.
    With a speed that could only be matched or surpassed by a few individuals present in the dojo, she bounded over to where Ranma was being fussed over by Ukyo and Shampoo, plucked him out of their midst, then returned from whence she had come, with him being held underneath an arm. If not for the two girls drawing attention to Ranma's sudden disappearance, it would have been unlikely that anyone would have noticed his absence so soon, since everyone was either preoccupied or had their attention elsewhere. It didn't really matter to her, though, since she had intended to make herself known to at least one person before she left.
    Without an illusion to hide her presence, she was quickly noticed, and she soon had everyone's attention in some fashion or another. There were cries of outrage from some, mostly from the more possessive and honest of those who desired Ranma, while many of his peers from school began to murmur about what was going on. Questions were asked, demands and threats made, but she didn't really care about any of them. Among those who had gathered in the dojo for the wedding, only one person mattered, and she saw that their eyes were wide as they gazed upon the crest on her jacket.
    With Ranma seemingly at her mercy, no one had yet to do more than try and engage her verbally, but she could see that many were ready to act when they perceived an opportunity to do so. Except for Happosai, whose revelrous attempt to grope her had rewarded him with a painful encounter with a barrier that warded against anything with evil intentions, which left him twitching on the ground after his screaming had ceased. Fortunately, that seemed to make everyone else more wary of approaching her, and she intended to take advantage of that.
    Turning her full attention to Ranma's mother, who now regarded her with a mixture of confusion and concern, she coolly said, "Saotome Nodoka, I could abide the training journey, the seppuku pledge, and everyone's designs on your child. But this?" She made a sweeping gesture with her free hand, indicating the damaged dojo, ruined wedding arrangements, and its occupants as a whole. "This is madness. I will not allow these circumstances to continue any further."
    Stunned, and even more worried than before, Nodoka asked, "W-what do you intend to do...?"
    Rather than answering her, she leapt backward and faded from sight before reaching the wall. Nodoka stared at the last place where she had seen her son, unable to comprehend what had just happened, and why. She didn't need to look to know that she was the center of attention, but she couldn't bring herself to face them because she knew little better than they did about what had happened. That, and what she did know would likely reflect badly on her, so she was reluctant to share it.
    The silence that had followed the mysterious woman's departure was soon broken by Cologne, who confronted her and asked, "I take it that the kidnapper is known to you?"
    Nodoka closed her eyes and nodded her head, resigning herself to whatever may come from sharing what she knew. "That was Komemori Hanako-sama... My family's mamorigami."
    There were a few gasps upon hearing that, and some murmuring, as the possible implications of a guardian kami kidnapping Ranma began to occur to those present. Cologne simply hummed as she considered that information, before she thoughtfully said, "Is that so... An ancestor, I take it?"
    With an almost imperceptable nod of her head, Nodoka opened her eyes and admitted one additional detail that might be worth mentioning. "She is a kitsune, as well."
    With that knowledge now in mind, Cologne's visage became one of worry, even as no one else recognized the significance of the mamorigami being a kitsune. Fearing that it was probably already too late to do anything about the situation, she regarded Nodoka with an intense look and asked, "Do you happen to know where she might be found?"

    When Hanako entered her living room and saw the figure that rested on her couch once again, she still couldn't believe it. Instead of the one-tailed, normal-furred kit that she had expected to see once she had completed the ritual that would transform Ranma, the result had been a fully-grown, nine-tailed, silver-furred kitsune. She'd never heard of such a thing happening before.
    She had considered the curse as a likely suspect for this development, since the spring had been created well over a millennium ago, but she had neither the skills or experience to test that theory. She had already sent a message to a friend who could help in that regard, but she had no idea if they were available at the present time. She was pretty sure that she wasn't the only one who was aware of Ranma's abnormal transformation, especially after his recent exploits in China, but she had yet to see or hear anyone respond to this development yet.
    Nine-tailed foxes, who had the ability to see and hear anything around the world, tended to follow individuals like Ranma, who were exceptional or special in some way, or were in a position to cause significant and/or widespread changes — for better or worse. What she knew about his life had mostly come from her nine-tailed grandmother, who had spared a fair bit of her attention on him early on, because his father — who, if nothing else, was an exceptional martial artist — had the potential to raise a son who might one day surpass him. If they were lucky, said son might also prove to have a more... likeable personality as well.
    Certainly, Ranma had proved himself to be worthy of such attention, but she had never thought that it would lead to something like this. His transformation into a kitsune had deviated in a way that was — to her knowledge — unprecedented, even though everything but his curse had been normal and routine. While it was true that his curse had brought out his yōkai heritage to a degree that would allow a conversion from human to kitsune in the first place, she couldn't figure out how it could have altered the end result. After all, even a fifteen-hundred year old kitsune would naturally have fur that was one of two main colors, and neither was silver.
    Since she wasn't going to get anywhere by dwelling on it, and she had just finished sending out her message-bearing shikigami, she decided to rouse Ranma from the spell that she had placed upon him. She hesitated to do it, though, since she had no hope of protecting herself from the power of a nine-tailed kitsune if Ranma were of a mind to object what she had done to him with violence. She didn't expect him to respond in that way, but sometimes one could never be too sure about such things. While her intentions were meant for good, that didn't mean that the one on the receiving end of said intentions would see it that way as well.
    After preparing herself mentally for the coming confrontation, she lowered her hand upon Ranma's head and cancelled the spell that had ensured his slumber while she had been busy with the ritual, composing letters and making her actions known to the current head of the Komemori family.

    Ranma knew that something was different — wrong — upon waking up. It was readily apparent because he seemed to be getting hints from all manner of things and places, especially from those that he didn't even recognize. There were relatively small things, like the position of his limbs, which were easy enough to discern underneath the weight of his body. Then, there was the mass of sensations that seemed to be attached to his lower back, just above his posterior, which defied explanation. Once he opened his eyes and stared at the vulpine muzzle that projected itself well into his field of vision, however, he began to realize the nature of his situation for what it was.
    He managed to raise himself up with his arms, but failing to feel the expected splay of fingers made him look down at his hands before he did anything else. Much to his surprise and dismay, he saw paws instead of hands. "What the hell!?"
    He was surprised that he could speak with his new mouth, and that his voice sounded like that of a woman's, but that was quickly forgotten in lieu of checking the rest of his body out. However, there wasn't much to see that wasn't already plainly obvious to him, with the sole exception being his tail. It wasn't because he had one, but because he had nine. He knew what a kitsune was, and he was pretty sure that he knew enough about them to know that one didn't start with nine tails. The silver fur was a bit odd as well, but he was less sure about that detail being out of the ordinary for a kitsune. Of course, that was assuming that being a silver-furred fox with nine tails made him one.
    He raised his hindquarters and acclimated himself to standing on four legs, which was made a little tricky because of the pliant cushions beneath him, then looked around so he could take in his environment. He appeared to be in a living room, and himself on a couch. There was a love seat on one side of the couch, and a recliner on the other, with a low table set between them. Directly across from the couch was a sizeable television inside of an entertainment center, accompanied by speakers, a VCR, and a couple of video game consoles. When he looked up, he saw the ceiling fan that provided the room with light.
    Wherever he was, it certainly wasn't the Tendo's place, and he didn't recognize it as belonging to anyone that he knew. Of course, he was more concerned about waking up in an unexpected place after what had happened back in the dojo, so he made the curtained window beside the love seat his next means of inquiry. After carefully dismounting from the couch and walking to one of the windows in an ungainly manner, he pushed aside the curtain with his snout so he could maneuver his head between it and the window.
    Unfortunately, said window was difficult to see out of, since it was dark outside and the backlit curtain was being reflected upon the glass. It was easier to see through his own reflection, since his face didn't catch much light, so he was able to make out that the house was facing a bunch of trees — a forest, possibly. They weren't that far away, and a narrow dirt trail ran parallel to them, which made him wonder if he was far from civilization or not. Other than that, he had a bit of trouble figuring out if the size of the trees were due to their proximity or because they were larger than expected; it was kind of weird that he couldn't tell.
    As soon as he backed away from the window, an unfamiliar, feminine voice asked, "Like the view?"
    Startled, both from the suddenness of the voice and having not sensed its source before it had gotten directly behind him, he jumped into the air and made to cling to the ceiling. Unfortunately, said ceiling was flat and his paws couldn't even scratch its surface as he scrambled for purchase, so he ended up falling onto his back with a grunt. Ashamed by his embarrassing display, he nonetheless looked up at the figure that was now standing over him.
    It was a fox, and a quick glance past its legs revealed that it was a four-tailed kitsune. Unlike himself, the coloration of her fur was what he would have expected of one: mostly tawny, white from belly to chin, and black feet. They were around the same size, as far as he could tell; about the size of a large dog.
    Since this kitsune probably had something do with his current predicament, he tried to roll to the side and face them in a less prone position. While he succeeded, he ended up getting to his feet rather clumsily, and he had only been saved from falling over by bumping into the side of the love seat. Even though he didn't want to get used to his new body, he silently wished that he would so he'd stop looking stupid.
    "Who are you?" He demanded, with as much dignity as he could muster.
    "Your great grandmother, Komemori Hanako," Hanako casually introduced herself.
    Ranma opened his mouth to reply, then shut it when the significance of her words registered to him. It would make a bit of sense regarding his situation, if it were true, but it was still a lot to accept immediately. "...What?"
    "You heard me," Hanako said, who spared the other's ears a very noticeable glance. "To be more precise, I am the first to pass on the Komemori name through a human line."
    Ranma stared at her blankly.
    "...Do you know much about your genealogy?" Hanako asked. When Ranma shook his head in response, she sighed and said, "Well, my husband came from a low-ranking samurai family. His father had been blessed with many sons, and had secured many successful marriages on top of that. Arata was the youngest, and by the time he was of marriageable age his father was willing to let him be adopted into another family. To make a long story short: he took my name when we married, we had many children, and you are one of my descendants from your mother's side."
    Ranma considered that information as he gazed at her four tails. "You must be pretty old, then."
    Hanako hit him across the snout and retorted, "Someone with as many tails as you have shouldn't speak about another's age. I'll have you know that I'm still considered to be young by our standards."
    Annoyed at having a new piece of his anatomy smarting, Ranma unhappily muttered, "That might explain how I could become a kitsune, I guess, but not why, or what your deal is."
    "That's quite simple," Hanako replied, who decided to rest on her haunches. "When my beloved was on his deathbed, I made a solemn vow to protect his descendants. I have been the Komemori's mamorigami ever since."
    "And what's that got to do with this?" Ranma inquired, who was slightly confused by her explanation. After all, if she was supposed to protect her descendants, she should have been helping him out a long time ago.
    "Normally, 'this,' as you say, wouldn't happen," Hanako admitted, without any indication that she regretted her choice of action. "My mother made me realize early on that I could be spread too thin if I were too active in my family's lives, especially as they grew in number over the generations. As such, I restricted myself to protecting them when their lives were endangered by enemies or war, or when they contracted an illness that had the potential to kill them."
    She ignored Ranma's growing look of impatience as she continued. "At first, I didn't concern myself with you because you were born as a Saotome. Nothing personal, but I would be mad to extend my protection every which way my blood branches out into the world. Much later in your life, you had become strong and capable in the field of martial arts, and if you had been under my protection I still wouldn't have interferred if you happened to be in danger."
    "Then," she said, in a tone that suggested that she was getting to the point, but not quite there, "you began to make a name for yourself, because you kept encountering — and ultimately besting — individuals that our kind keep an eye on. During your time with Herb, I was getting suggestions that I should adopt you into the kitsune side of the family if you didn't free yourself from the seal that had been placed on your curse. I didn't consider it seriously until I'd gotten word that you had 'slain' Saffron, despite his regeneration and using his power without being able to restrain himself."
    She looked Ranma right in the eye, who tensed up as he prepared himself for what he might learn next. "I was finally convinced to see if there was a place for you among the kitsune. You see, since my love for my husband transcends death, I've never lain with another man. Nor have I ever seen it fit to convert any of my descendants before now, either due to the fact that my heritage was thinned out too much after several generations, or because none who could have been converted had ever expressed a desire to become a kitsune. The magic of your curse had brought out the supernatural side of your bloodline strongly enough for the conversion to work, so I decided to watch you personally for a while, even though I'd heard so much about you and your situation already. I was going to assess whether I should make you an offer, ideally to adopt and raise you as my child, or leave you to your own devices."
    "Obviously, you did neither," Ranma groused. "So? Why'd you do it? And can it be reversed?"
    Hanako calmly replied with, "I'll answer the most pertinent question first: it's beyond my ability to transform a kitsune into a human, though that's assuming that I would be willing to do it in the first place."
    "What!?" Ranma shouted with outrage, who bore his fangs without noticing. "You did that after everything you just told me? What gives!?"
    Hanako hid her nervousness well, since she was dealing with a nine-tailed kitsune, and cocked one side of her brow as she asked, "And what's wrong with that? You don't seem to have much of a problem when others force you into situations that you don't like. Why am I an exception?"
    "Huh?" Ranma voiced his confusion. "What do you mean?"
    Giving Ranma a pointed look, Hanako said, "Allow me to ask you this, first: did you like or want your circumstances before I entered the picture?"
    It took Ranma a few seconds to divine the nature of the questioning, and his realization was plain on his face when he figured it out. As such, he didn't answer, though he knew that that was answer enough since even he knew that he wouldn't be able to lie convincingly enough in light of the subject. That, and he certainly didn't want to say that he liked the way that his life had been going as of late. What would be the purpose of saying something like that, anyway?
    Hanako allowed a measure of sympathy to show on her face. "You couldn't help yourself, so I took it upon myself to act on your behalf. You were of my own blood, moreso in your cursed form than many of those who had preceded you in recent generations, and I'm sure that my beloved wouldn't have remained idle and allowed your situation to continue either. It was really only a technicality that kept the purview of my protection from extending to you, so I decided to make an exception."
    "The life that I removed you from," she continued, her voice even and facial expression neutral, "was pretty much all that you knew, so it's not surprising that you didn't know any better. You're welcome to return to it; you can still assume the shape of a human, after all. However, it's my hope that you will take the time to think about the opportunity I've given you. Not many are lucky enough to get a chance to start fresh and explore their options."
    Normally, Ranma would have decided right then and there to leave. However, not only was the individual responsible for him being there not acting as an obstacle if he were to make such a decision, or had accomplished what they had done for mostly-selfish reasons, but she had a point. He didn't like to think about it, much less explore it with any great depth, but it was true that he didn't like his situation all that much. Frankly, he'd like nothing more than to be free of his problems; especially those that were being imposed on him by others.
    Of course, if it had been easy to just drop everything, he would have done it already. There were a host of things that tied him down, though — some of them social, others emotional. He had to live up to people's expectations and the ideas that they believed in, to be accepted among others and feel good about himself. While he didn't like to admit it, he wasn't stuck in a rut simply because so many of his choices started at bad and went to worse, but because he would feel better if he got someone's approval instead of silencing their feedback entirely.
    Take his mother, for instance. He hadn't lived with her for over a decade, hadn't remembered her, couldn't even conceive what was so special about having a mother, but that all changed when certain parties — especially the one that had mattered to him the most — had made a big deal about it. They had expected him to be interested in her, to accept her and become close. Unfortunately, all that did was complicate further an already-complicated situation. His only consolation was that matters probably would have been worse if he hadn't invested himself in her approval, since she probably would have sought to fulfill the seppuku pledge despite his rejection of it anyway. There was no telling what other complications might have arisen from that, either.
    Normally, Akane would have been the strongest anchor to the status quo, but he was having mixed feelings about her at the moment, now that she was being brought to mind. She'd known about the nannichuan, she'd known, yet hadn't seen it fit to tell him about it until he had balked on the matter of getting married. What had stopped her from telling him about it? She knew how much it meant to him to rid himself of his curse. If he didn't know any better, she might have been holding out on him.
    He didn't like the idea — the possibility — of being betrayed by the person that he cared about the most, especially with something as important as the nannichuan involved, so he closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind. If he was going to be making an important decision, he didn't want something like that influencing it, what with everything else that he had to take into consideration.
    Eventually, he decided that he could probably use his transformation to his advantage, so he could remove some of his problems without completely divorcing himself from everything. After all, if he pretended to be beyond saving from beasthood, how could he be expected to marry anyone? The transformation had been beyond his control, so it wasn't like he could be faulted for a lack of manliness either. And if he removed himself as an eligible bachelor, Ukyo and Shampoo would no longer perceive Akane to be enough of a threat to attempt another attack. Ideally, they — as well as others — would lose interest in him or otherwise go away, and then he could try to pursue someone romantically without unwanted parties getting involved.
    Well, he could spare a day or two trying to flesh out a feasible plan, so he opened his eyes, locked them with his great grandmother's, and feigned resignation as he said, "Fine. I guess it won't hurt to think about it." Then, because he wouldn't be so cooperative without this being possible, he eagerly asked, "So, how do I change myself into a human?"
    "That's easy," Hanako replied, just before she assumed her own human shape, which was made quite apparent by the fact that she was nude. "All you have to do is visualize the form that you wish to take, then enforce the change with your will."
    That sounded easy enough to Ranma, who closed his eyes as much for the sake of concentration as it was to avoid gazing at bared flesh that need not be seen. When he followed her instruction, however, he didn't change. Instead, he experienced something akin to what he felt when he sensed someone — or something — attacking him from where he couldn't see them, only it felt much farther away and didn't warn him of danger. In fact, it felt inviting, like he was being drawn to it.
    After a few more attempts and failing to make any progress, he glared at his great grandmother — ignoring her nudity — and complained, "If it's so easy, then why can't I do it?"
    Genuinely confused, Hanako reassumed her natural form and said, "That's a good question. Shapeshifting is one of a kitsune's innate abilities, so any skill involved is in maintaining the shape, not achieving it. Am I to assume that you were trying to become what had once been your natural form?" At his nod, she added, "Before we address it any further, why not try to shapeshift into something else, first."
    Ranma regarded her with a dubious expression, but gave it a try nonetheless. He ignored the most obvious choice, since he assumed that its requirements would be the same as the form that he had already tried, so he began with small animals, like mice, squirrels, snakes and various birds. He didn't try being a cat, for a very obvious reason. He also passed up on becoming a dog because — if he remembered correctly — kitsune didn't get along with them, and he wasn't sure if that would affect him as the dog either, assuming that he could become one. In the end, though, it didn't matter: nothing he tried had resulted in a change of form.
    Finally, his aggravation got the better of him, and he tried to assume his cursed form, thinking — emotionally, not rationally — that he could settle for that much. To his surprise, which took the wind out of the sails of his building ire, he felt his body shifting around, although said surprise had distracted him enough for his body to shift back into that of a kitsune. Knowing what to expect, and satisfied — for the moment — that he could become human at all, he refocused his will and soon found himself human once more.
    As he sat there and made sure that everything was accounted for, Hanako asked, "Is that the form that you have been trying to achieve all this time, or was it just the final one?"
    "The last one," Ranma replied, after he returned his attention to the one person who might be able to tell him what was going on. "I tried a bunch of things until I got fed up and went with my cursed form. It hadn't been planned, since I figured it would be no different than trying to become a man, but..." He shrugged his shoulders, in lieu of trying to explain — and thus share — his thoughts and feelings at the time.
    Hanako's brow furrowed in thought, as she tried to work out this latest mystery. "That's very unusual... You're turning out to be a very strange case." She ignored the unamused snort that she received in reply to that. "Well, let's try this, then: hold out your hand, palm up, and try to summon your kitsunebi."
    Upon failing that, Ranma regarded his great grandmother with a half-lidded stare.
    After suggesting that he try to change little things about his appearance, and getting no result, Hanako had become truly baffled by her great grandson's lack of ability as a kitsune. It wasn't just that a nine-tailed kitsune could have done the things tested so far, but that even a freshly-born one would have been able to do them. Well, natural-born kitsune couldn't shapeshift right away, but those who had once been human were an exception, what with already being intimately familiar with the aforementioned form. Either way, it just didn't make any sense.
    There was only one thing left to test, and that was the creation of a hoshi-no-tama. It was essential for kitsune to be able to seal away their power, to whatever degree desired or necessary, in order to avoid detection by those who were sensitive to their energy. It was sometimes used as an expression of good will or trust, but was more commonly needed to avoid being captured by evildoers or exterminated by indiscriminate demon hunters and the like. If Ranma couldn't create a hoshi-no-tama, he would essentially be a cripple by kitsune standards, being vulnerable to dangers that they could naturally avoid if given the chance.
    So, it was with a grave expression on her face that she solemnly said, "Ranma, there is one more thing that I would like for you to try. If you are unable to do it, then I'm afraid that we may have a serious problem on our hands."
    "What do you want me to do?" Ranma queried, who was only now beginning to realize the gravity of the situation. At first, he had just assumed that his inability to do various things — that kitsune could do — to be typical of his luck. It was the kind of problem that he would expect to encounter instead of having an easy or fun time of things, but his great grandmother's concern was enough to tell him that said problem might not be a simple, passing annoyance.
    "Watch," Hanako directed, who felt that it would be better to demonstrate the final ability before giving verbal instruction on how to do it. First, she separated a portion of her energy and drew it out of her body, which Ranma could see as something resembling wisps of white smoke. Then, she focused on the wisps and made them coalesce and condense in the air beside her, right above where she had placed one of her four tails. Once the energy appeared to be compacted enough, a transparent sphere appeared around it, sealing the energy inside. With the energy no longer being controlled, it filled up the sphere, roiling around like smoke yet with a luminescence that suggested a nature like that of fire.
    Ranma had watched with interest as the hoshi-no-tama — for that was what he supposed it was — had been formed and settled on the end of his great grandmother's tail, looking like a large and somewhat mesmerizing marble. He knew about hoshi-no-tama, of course: anyone who pursued information about kitsune were almost guaranteed to know at least that much about them. It was the first time that he'd ever seen one, though. The closest that he had ever come to seeing anything related to kitsune, before his current situation, had been many years ago, when he had momentarily glimpsed some kitsunebi near a stream at night. Now, not only had he seen a kitsune, but their most guarded aspect as well.
    Following the demonstration, he was taught how to create a hoshi-no-tama, step by simple step. Ordinarily, such instruction wouldn't be necessary, but it was now quite obvious that he was not an ordinary case. He got the impression that if he didn't succeed this final test, despite the manual help, then he probably had more to worry about than being restricted to shapeshifting into a human girl.
    His attempt went awry right at the start, when he tried to find and manipulate his yōki, which was separate from his ki. Not only did it feel like he had no such energy within him, but his attention was once again drawn to something elsewhere, only the pull was so great that he had turned his head to face the exact direction of the aforementioned something before he had even realized that he had moved at all. Whatever it was, its call was stronger than before, and he began to experience something akin to a feeling of inadequacy with its absence.
    Upon seeing the suddenness and focus of his distraction, Hanako was compelled to ask, "What is it?"
    Ranma wondered that himself as he tried to fathom what was going on, but he eventually gave up and returned his attention to his great grandmother, only then noticing that he had returned to being a kitsune while he had been distracted. With a sigh, he said, "I don't know... Whenever I've tried to do any of this kitsune stuff, I feel like there's something out there that feels wrong being, well... out there." He turned to look in the direction of the source of said feeling once more. "That feeling was a lot more intense when I tried to make a hoshi-no-tama."
    A silence fell upon the room following those words, as they each became occupied with their own thoughts. While Ranma continued on the subject of what was attracting his attention, Hanako considered that and more. Despite feeling that she was out of her depth, there were obvious connections to be made about what was going on. She didn't know if it was possible, but the best explanation that she could come up with involved reincarnation. If it were possible for a kitsune's soul, body and hoshi-no-tama to remain separated after death, and then somehow reunite, that may very well explain Ranma's situation.
    There was more than one problem with that theory, however. To begin with, hoshi-no-tama — as far as she knew — were unable to sustain themselves when the kitsune who owned them perished; their life was akin to a keystone in regards to its construction, after all. Another issue were the tails, since they weren't supposed to carry over into any future incarnations, what with it being a physical achievement rather than a spiritual one. Also, it was rather peculiar that Ranma could only shapeshift into one, specific form and be unable to do anything else, even though she could not sense any yōki available for it.
    She was pretty sure that she had done the conversion ritual correctly, so the only other explanation was that something about Ranma had caused the conversion to go awry and it transformed him into something that may not be a kitsune despite his appearance. However, that didn't explain what he was sensing, especially when he tried to create a hoshi-no-tama. If what her great grandson was sensing was his yōki in a hoshi-no-tama, irrespective of whether it was possible or not, then retrieving it may very well solve the riddle.
    With that last idea and hope in mind, she finally broke the silence by getting Ranma's attention and saying, "If you want, you can track down what you're sensing and find out what it is. It may resolve your situation, and we can move on with our original plan from there. If not, I'll find someone who can transform you back into a human, because having you in this kind of position and condition wasn't my intention, nor is it a good idea for you to stay this way."
    "Okay," Ranma replied in agreement, glad that his great grandmother was looking out for him. Since his ability to find whatever-it-was that he would be looking for could be affected by the time of day, and he was too rested to go back to sleep, he asked, "When should I start?"
    Hanako tilted her head as she considered his question, and it wasn't long before she began to voice her thoughts on the matter. "Well, day and night have their share of advantages and disadvantages, so it would depend on what we're looking for — and we don't know what that is." Her expression grew more pensive, and something about her vulpine visage suggested something of a frown as well. "Your family and... friends could be here in the morning, or even within the hour if they intend to intrude at this time of the night, and I can foresee many problems with allowing them to get involved in this. It may be best for you to go now, on your own, and not risk what could happen if certain individuals took advantage of your current condition, or whatever may result from someone taking possession of what you'll be searching for."
    Ranma nodded his head glumly, knowing that there were just too many people who could makes things more complicated than they needed to be, if not make the situation worse whether their intentions turned out to be well-intentioned or not. There were just too many unknowns in that regard, and he had enough sense to err on the side of caution as a result.
    "In the meantime," Hanako continued, "I'll remain here and entertain them, should they arrive while you're gone. I'll explain as much of the situation to them as they need to know, if they are willing to listen, and keep them from interferring if necessary."
    She didn't want Ranma to be alone, due to his vulnerability, but she figured that he would be alright. At least, it was her hope that her grandmother would be watching him, if not anyone else, because she was a little uneasy about seeing or hearing nothing from those who must surely know about her great grandson's situation. She could only hope that there was a reason for that, one that was beyond her understanding, and that she wouldn't be endangering his life by handling one issue while he took care of another.
    Once Ranma agreed to the arrangement and assumed the only human form that he could, she provided him with illusion-borne attire that was to his liking, since she had discarded the damaged, sullied and otherwise unsuitable tuxedo earlier. That, and due to the fact that he couldn't create his own attire in the same manner. Before he left, she warned him that the illusion would only last for a short time, and that he should seek something to replace it before he focused on the business at hand. She also made sure to remind him to not allow himself to get too distracted, or else he risked exposing his non-human form when it would be best not to.
    When he was gone, she sighed, hoped for the best, then began to prepare herself for the unwelcome company that she would likely end up entertaining sooner rather than later.

    Ranma "borrowed" some clothes from a store just before it closed, since the tuxedo that he had been forced into earlier hadn't included any money and his great grandmother — for whatever reason — hadn't any to offer him. He couldn't be picky about his choice of outfit, due to both business hours and not knowing the exact time that his imaginary clothing would disappear, so he had snatched up a simple pair of slacks and a T-shirt in the first open store that he had found. As for shoes, he had forgone picking up a pair of those since they weren't absolutely necessary.
    After that, he got on top of a train that was traveling toward the source of whatever he was sensing. From the Gunma prefecture, where his great grandmother lived, it didn't take all that long for him to reach the heart of Tokyo via public transportation. He had a good idea of how far away his quarry was, so he knew when he could start searching on foot, which happened to be in the Minato ward. It was slow going at first, amidst the tall buildings, but he eventually entered a residential part of the ward that had more modest-sized buildings and homes that were suitable for roof-hopping.
    He eventually came upon a two-story house, whose roof he abruptly halted his roof-hopping on because he could feel what he had been searching for coming from below instead of ahead. To make sure that it was inside of the house, rather than underground, he dropped to the yard and sensed the thing that he was after slightly above him, which suggested that it might be located on the second floor. After circling the house once, in order to pinpoint where exactly it was inside, he was fairly confident that he had found the window that would provide the closest means of reaching it.
    After securing himself on the sill of said window, which was of the casement variety, he peered through the slightly-open drapes on the other side of it in order to see what awaited him inside. He couldn't see much, between it being dark inside and having to look around the two window frames where they met in the middle, but he was fairly certain that he was looking into a bedroom because of the bed that he could see near the window. He could see enough of the bed to tell that it was occupied, and he was relieved that what he was looking for wasn't coming from their direction because there was no telling what that might have entailed had that been the case.
    The windows shared the same latch, and it would have been easy for him to open if he'd had the right tool with him. He didn't, unfortunately, so he did his best to force the windows open without making too much noise. Between his strength and a few tricks, he was able to mitigate the noise and make it brief, though breaking the latch had still been loud enough to make him wince. He wasn't about to be deterred when he was so close to his goal, however, so he eased the windows open and pushed aside one of the drapes so he could get a better look of where he needed to go before he entered the room.
    His eyes had just settled upon something that was hanging on the wall beside the door, where his quarry seemed to be, when he was both surprised and frightened by the yowl of a cat. He jumped back involuntarily, with his head plowing through a part of the eave above before he tumbled into the yard below. Between the scare, hit on the head, and tearing his pants when he transformed back into a kitsune, he only barely noticed the two voices coming from the bedroom above. All that he knew was that he was in pain, his pants were ruined, there was a cat nearby, someone might see him in his current form, and he wasn't in a good position to stick around and continue with his task.
    With that being the case, he kicked off the remains of his pants, scrambled to all fours, and ran as fast and ably as he could — which wasn't very. It didn't occur to him to change himself back into a human until a few blocks later, but he couldn't focus well enough to do it. In order to facilitate said change, he found an alley where he could hide and relax. It wasn't easy, since his tails were still smarting from when they had been squashed in his pants just prior to them being torn apart, but he was eventually able to concentrate well enough to transform himself back into a human.
    Before he could plan his next move, however, a cat ran into the alley from the same side that he had used to enter it, and a step behind it was an oddly-dressed girl who had long, blonde hair that was done up in a pair of buns and pigtails. He turned about to run out of the alley, but he found it blocked by another girl who wore a similar kind of outfit, with the color scheme and absence of wings being the major differences between her and the other one. After stopping short and sparing the cat a glance, who seemed content to block the only other exit with the girl that it had arrived with, he sought escape from above. Much to his dismay, he found three more girls up there, with their purpose for being at such a location distracting him from the fact that he could see up their skirts.
    Simply put: he was trapped. Even worse, he'd turned back into a kitsune, between being caught off guard, made nervous by the presence of the cat, and worrying over what kind of situation he'd gotten himself into and how he might hope to get out of it. It wouldn't have been so bad if he had been human, but he kept losing hold of that form and he wasn't very good at moving his current one. On top of that, he knew enough about yōkai to know that he was susceptible to certain things that humans normally weren't, things that weren't at all nice if the intent wasn't to simply kill him.
    "Is that a kitsune?" The girl in red asked, who was blocking one of the alley's exits.
    "Does it matter?" One of the girls from above responded. "Let's get this over with so I can get back to sleep. I don't want to be tired before the concert starts tomorrow. Or is it today, now?"
    Right when the girl with the wings had readied some kind of girly-looking scepter, in preparation for whatever she intended to do with it, he suddenly experienced vertigo as a white haze interferred with his vision of the world, just before said world changed from a cramped and dark alleyway to something completely different in the blink of an eye. When the haze faded, he found himself standing in a spacious and bright throne room, which made him wonder if he were dreaming or not. After being converted into a kitsune, tracking something mysterious down, being chased by girls in strange outfits, and then suddenly finding himself in a place out of someone's fantasy, it was hard to not think of that as a possibility. The only thing that kept him from believing it was the pain that he had experienced earlier, which still lingered on to some degree.
    "What's going on?" He heard someone ask, which alerted him to the fact that he wasn't alone. When he turned toward the source of the voice, he found the girl with the wings standing nearby, who had a confused look on her face.
    Upon noticing him, the girl leapt backwards to put more distance between them, and it was with a rather determined expression on her face that she cautiously asked, "Was this your doing?"
    "No," a new voice said, before he could reply. "It was mine."
    When the girl turned her head away from him, in order to regard whoever had just said that, he felt that it would be alright to follow her example. What he saw at the base of the dais was a woman who wore a slim yet fancy gown and had a hairstyle that was identical to the blonde's. The resemblance between them was apparent, too, so he assumed that they were probably related in some way. He wasn't sure what kind of relation, however, since the woman in question was translucent, which suggested that she might be dead rather than alive.
    "Why?" The girl responded, who was no less confused than before.
    Rather than reply to her, the woman regarded him and placidly asked, "What were you doing at that house?"
    He stared at her for a moment, then looked over at the only other person present and saw that they were awaiting an answer as well. He was hesitant to answer truthfully, but he doubted that he would have anything to gain from lying. On top of that, he was in an unknown place facing an unknown fate, and he didn't know what kind of chances he had at making an escape. Aside from the possibility that he might be transported right back to his starting point, he wasn't confident that he would be able to concentrate well enough to stay in a human form during said escape, which he had a whole lot more experience and skill with when it came to utilizing his body.
    Since he had a better idea of what could happen if he didn't cooperate, and he still had an opportunity to learn more about the nature of his situation, he decided to dip a figurative toe in the water. "I was looking for something."
    "What were you looking for?" The woman inquired.
    "I don't know," he answered honestly. "My hoshi-no-tama, maybe?"
    The woman's facial expression either flinched or twitched ever so slightly, betraying an emotion of some kind, but it was too brief and subtle for him to do more than notice that it even happened. "Did you lose it?"
    He shook his head. "I never made one. I became a kitsune only a couple of hours ago, but I couldn't do anything like a kitsune should. Whenever I tried, I could sense something in the distance..." Absently, his mind sought out that something, which caused him to stare at the girl and hesitantly add, "And whatever it is, it's coming from you now."
    "Me?" The girl questioned, before she caught a certain detail. "Wait; it wasn't coming from me before?"
    Rather than have that addressed, he suddenly noticed that the woman was standing only a few feet away from him, nearly invading his personal space, and he hadn't sensed any movement from her in any way. If that wasn't unnerving enough, then the somewhat intense look in her eyes was. He got the impression that she was very interested in him, but he didn't know in what way.
    After a brief and somewhat awkward silence for him, and possibly the girl, the woman asked, "Can you show me your human form?"
    Not seeing any harm in doing that, or in standing before two other females while everything below the waist was exposed, he assumed the form that had once been granted by his curse, which inspired the woman to inquire further. "Why did you choose to look like that?"
    Her line of questioning made him pause, and he noticed that the girl was wondering about it as well. He didn't know what to expect at that point, but he figured that it would be stupid to put on the brakes after going as far as he had already, especially since he was still wondering what this confrontation was all about. "I didn't. I don't have a choice in how I look; this is all that I can do as a kitsune."
    The woman held his gaze for a few seconds more, struggling with something that he could barely perceive through her eyes, before she deliberately turned to face the other girl and softly said, "Sailor Moon, I know that this request will sound strange, but I implore you to give the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou to this kitsune."
    It really must have been a strange thing to request, because the girl who had been referred to as Sailor Moon was looking at the woman like she had gone mad, and there was a hint of suspicion in her expression as well. He didn't know what to think about this development, though he certainly wondered why the woman — a perfect stranger — would make such a request for his sake, and what drove her to do it.
    When the woman didn't receive a verbal answer soon enough, she said, "Please," in a near whisper. He couldn't see her face well, but he could hear the strain in her voice, from holding her emotions back. Whether from her voice or face, however, it seemed to hold some sway over Sailor Moon, who bit her lip and began to look between him and the woman with uncertainty. When her eyes finally settled on him, as if he might reveal something that would help with her decision, he shrugged his shoulders, trying to express that he had as much of an idea of what to do as she probably did.
    Sailor Moon closed her eyes, with her brow furrowed, and he watched as she contemplated what to do. He spared the woman a glance, and despite her stoic appearance he could tell that the wait was beginning to take its toll on her, in the way that she jeld herself too stiffly, aside from the slight trembling in her hands. For a ghost, or whatever she was, it was rather alive-like.
    With a sigh to signal the end of her deliberation, Sailor Moon opened her eyes and stared into his own. He could still see some uncertainty and worry as she approached him, raised her cupped hands and made a crystal appear above them. His eyes couldn't help being drawn away from hers to gaze upon what she was offering, knowing without a doubt — now that it was within touching distance — that it was his; he could feel it intensely, on a level that he couldn't describe in words. One of his hands had begun its trek toward it without him realizing it, and he'd almost pulled it back reflexively once he had noticed it, but managed to stop it in its tracks instead.
    It wasn't easy, but he raised his eyes to Sailor Moon's, to check her resolve. This was a big deal for her as well, and he had some of his own misgivings about the situation. After all, it would seem that finding something of his own that was already apart from him, yet never having been created or released into the world by himself, was not normal for a kitsune. If he accepted the crystal, the aforementioned Maboroshi no Ginzuishou, there was a good chance that something more would occur than simply fixing his inadequacies as a kitsune.
    "Are you sure?" He quietly asked, as much for his sake as hers.
    With a nervous chuckle, Sailor Moon said, "No."
    They were both stationary for a moment, but his ongoing reservation must have cleared up at least some of her worries about him: because she eventually nodded her head, encouraging him to take the crystal. In response, he moved his hand toward it again, only stopping briefly when his fingers were a hair's breadth away. Upon touching it, he found himself drowning in light.

    Usagi had experienced a lot of surprising and unbelievable things in her life, even despite her past life as a princess who had lived in a magical and technologically-advanced kingdom on the moon, but this development was really baffling and unexpected. It didn't help that there had been a lot of things to take in once the all-consuming light had faded away.
    The first thing that she had noticed, which was too large and close not to, was what she saw in place of the red-haired girl: a kitsune that was at least twice as tall as she was while it sat upon its haunches. Its fur was still silver, but the way it moved gave it the appearance of being submerged in a liquid, and the light that was reflected by it was a rainbow of colors. Although she knew not their number just then, due to having more important things to do than focus on one thing and count, the kitsune's tails now numbered ten.
    The next thing that had caught her attention, nearly at the same time as the first, was that the throne room was a lot less empty than it had been before. From floor to ceiling, in every direction save the space above her head, kitsune were on the ground, attached to vertical surfaces or floating in the air. Most of them were gold or white in color, but some were tawny or brown. Considering the large kitsune within their midst, she could imagine why they had appeared, if not the particulars for the reason.
    By the time that she had noticed the hologram that had been her mother in her last life, she found her on her knees and gazing up at the giant kitsune with tears in her eyes, seemingly on the verge of sobbing. In the past, she would have been lucky to catch her mother's melancholy, because she had made an effort to hide it, but this was something else entirely. Just who was this kitsune, who could inspire her mother to give them the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou and drive her to tears of... Actually, she couldn't tell if it was happiness, or if it was mixed with something else.
    Finally, her mother managed to croak out, "Mother..."
    "Mother...?" She parroted incredulously.
    If she had heard and understood that one-worded statement right, the implication was obvious: not only did she have a grandmother that she'd never heard about before, but said grandmother was a kitsune. Actually, considering the difference in appearance and size, she may not be an ordinary kitsune. Of course, that was assuming that her appearance didn't belie her true nature. Either way, it could very well explain why she had been surrounded by other kitsune at the moment of her appearance.
    In response to her mother, her grandmother gazed upon her affectionately and said, "My precious daughter..."
    She saw one of her grandmother's tails separate from the rest and try to caress her mother, and she gasped when she actually succeeded, as if her mother were a living, breathing person again. In fact, that's exactly what it looked like, since her mother was not only just as surprised as she was when the tail made contact instead of passing right through her, but she was opaque as well. Regardless of the truth of it, it was enough to open up her mother's floodgates, and before she knew it her mother was clinging tightly to her grandmother's chest and weeping for all that she was worth.
    She could do no more than watch as the scene between her mother and grandmother played out before her, because she simply didn't know what to do, aside from not interfering. So, she observed in silence despite the many questions that she was burning to ask, and witnessed as the kitsune around her family — as if by some kind of signal — bowed their heads reverently before disappearing. As soon as they had, her mother was engulfed in a hug consisting of all of her grandmother's tails, as said grandmother lowered her head and pressed her cheek against her mother.
    It was rather awkward to just stand there and watch them, but she didn't know what else to do. Despite the ability to stand still not being one of her more... noteworthy traits, she managed to do so and leave them their moment — well, however much one could call it theirs, what with her being present for it and all. She wasn't sure how long it had taken her mother to cry herself out, but she had apparently fallen asleep afterward, at which point her grandmother put her to bed among her tails.
    Which looked rather comfy...
    "I've put your mother to sleep with a spell," her grandmother suddenly said, before she turned away from said person and regarded her for the first time, "and I sent my children away so that we may have some privacy."
    She understood what was being suggested, but she found something kind of odd about it. It wasn't enough to dwell on, though, so she began with an obvious question. "So, um... You're my grandmother?"
    "Technically speaking," her grandmother unhelpfully replied. At her look of confusion, she added, "If you believe yourself ready for the knowledge of your creation, I will explain our relationship."
    She hesitated before she nodded her head. She had suspected that her birth probably hadn't been natural, what with there being no mention or evidence of a father at all. Knowing the particulars had never mattered to her before, so she had never taken the initiative to look into the matter. Now that she had met her grandmother, and due to the circumstances, she felt that learning some family history would help her understand what was going on; especially now that the most powerful object that she knew of, which had been guarded for so long, had left her possession and transformed that red-headed girl into her grandmother.
    After lying down and folding one paw over the other, her grandmother only had to look up at a slight angle as she spoke to her, saying, "After my passing, your mother created a shell with which to house my star seed, basing it off of how I looked when I interacted with her in human form. She tried to use my hoshi-no-tama — the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou, as you call it — to find and move my star seed into the shell. Failing that, she had gone to the Galaxy Cauldron to get assistance from its guardian, where she learned that it had no ability or authority to help her with one such as I. When she finally gave up, she asked the guardian to create a new star seed, so that she might have a daughter of her own."
    Now that her grandmother mentioned it, she seemed to recall the guardian of the Galaxy Cauldron saying that her mother had brought a star seed's shell to it, and that it was similar to her own. So, when her grandmother used the word "technically," it was because she was as much a product of her grandmother as she was her mother, since she was based on the former and made by the latter. Genetically, she supposed that she was either closer to being her grandmother's sister, or a daughter to both her and her mother.
    Somehow, that sounded like something that a royal family might do with their bloodline.
    How her grandmother knew about her mother's actions, however, raised a question: had she somehow been aware of the things that had occurred with or around the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou? At least, as far as she could guess, her grandmother had been "dead" until now. Something like that would certainly explain her mother's behavior, at any rate.
    There were so many questions, and it was difficult to choose which one to ask next. Eventually, though, she decided on what to address next, since her grandmother's answer might cover enough ground to answer more than one question. "About my mother..."
    Her grandmother seemed to understand what she wanted to know, because she said, "She was young and inexperienced when I was murdered, and she blamed herself for it. You see, I was seeking a formal alliance with the kingdom of the Earth at the time, and to prove my sincerity I assumed the form of the girl you saw before and approached the Golden Kingdom's sovereign without the power to do anything more than that. I gave my daughter my hoshi-no-tama for safekeeping, but she was at that age where she felt ready for greater responsibility and wanted to do something more direct to help."
    "She thought that she had found someone trustworthy in the palace to help her with her plan to disrupt the meeting, so that I might see a reason to accept her help in making the alliance a reality. However, the handmaiden that she had sought aid from, originally from Earth, was of the kind who envied the long lives of the kitsune and their powers, and had done well to hide that fact from my daughter. Instead of seeking out individuals that would merely disrupt the meeting, she got in contact with a group of rebels who sympathized with her and wished to assassinate both myself and the king of the Golden Kingdom. I, being powerless and unaccompanied by guards, was slain."
    She gasped and covered her mouth in horror as her attention turned to her mother, who looked too serene — at present — to suggest that she had once suffered such a traumatic experience.
    "Yes," her grandmother said, as if replying to an unasked question, "she did not take the news of my death well. Using my hoshi-no-tama to find my reincarnation, all she found were those possessing star seeds of a special nature, notably all of this star system's sailor senshi. After that, she used my hoshi-no-tama to create the Door of Time, so she could look for me in the past. When that failed, she eventually came up with the idea that ultimately begat your existence. Even after all of that, she kept scouring the Earth for my reincarnation, which led to rumors of her spying on the Earth's kingdom."
    While that was certainly enlightening, there was one part that had confused her, so she asked, "Why couldn't she find you in the past?"
    She couldn't be sure, since she wasn't experienced with expressions that were being conveyed with pronounced muzzles, but her grandmother appeared to smile slightly as she said, "You have an idea of the power that had been contained within my hoshi-no-tama, but did you ever wonder why the amount you could use was limited by how you felt?"
    "I've wondered," she conceded, "but I didn't worry about it since I was following what my mother taught me." Her eyes widened when it occurred to her what her grandmother might be suggesting. "You're not saying..."
    Her grandmother nodded her head once in acknowledgement. "Those notions — like love and justice — reflect only a portion of myself. They are what my daughter strongly associates with me, through reception and instruction respectively, but as fundamental traits they pale in comparison to another."
    Seeing the question in her eyes, which she hesitated to verbalize, her grandmother added, "Knowing the extent of my power could... complicate matters. Especially for my daughter. It would be for the best if I kept that knowledge to myself."
    She didn't know what to think about that. While she was willing to heed her grandmother's words, she couldn't help wondering just how powerful she was, and in what way it could make things complicated with her mother. However, since she knew next to nothing about her grandmother to begin with, and her mother from her past life was alive once more, she felt that she should see how things play out first; she would worry if she was ever given a reason to be worried.
    Of course, the loss of her main source of power made her worried for another reason, so she awkwardly asked, "So... What now? I didn't expect the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou to be your hoshi-no-tama..."
    In answer, white streamers of energy came out of her grandmother's body and met in the same spot in the air, well within her reach. When it was all gathered together and compressed into a particular size, it solidified into a familiar-looking crystal, only it was in its pre-bloomed appearance. Well, that would explain why it looked like that again, so it could blossom for her daughter as well.
    When she looked at her grandmother questioningly, just to be sure of her intent, she was told, "That holds as much power as you have ever used before, and it's not limited by how you feel. I have no need for it at the moment, so use it however you see fit. At present, my daughter and children take precedence. After that, I have a life to return."
    "What do you mean?" She asked, confused by that last part.
    "The girl that you saw prior to my awakening," her grandmother clarified. "She has her own life, and she was at a crucial juncture when my memory subsumed her own. To give her freedom, I must sleep."
    "Okay..." She replied, not sure if she wanted to know why she would want to "sleep." She had worried about being a different person when her own past memories had returned, but it hadn't really changed anything substantially. It might be different for her grandmother, though, so she assumed that she would know what she was doing with herself.
    With all of the major issues that she could think of out of the way, it was only then that she realized something: she still didn't know her grandmother's name. Embarrassed by how long it had taken her to bring it up, she demurely said, "Oh, um... I don't know your name..."
    "I have no name," her grandmother answered, in a rather matter-of-fact way, "but I'll be known as Ranma once I am asleep once more."
    She looked at her grandmother strangely, wondering how someone could say something like that with a straight face. How and why wouldn't someone have a name? What kind of life did her grandmother lead?

    After everything that had happened, Ranma was still in a daze as he followed the forest path that led to Hanako's shrine. It was hard to believe that he was actually a powerful and omniscient being who had no name, yet he had the power and some of the memories to prove it. He was still coming to terms with the fact that he was essentially a dream to his other self, in order to have fresh experiences that were essentially beyond her control and expectation. He could kind of understand that, intellectually, since he would be rather bored if he knew as much as she did and could foresee the near-future so easily that he — quite literally — didn't even have to try.
    He felt that he should be more disturbed by this arrangement than he was, but he hadn't felt different when he had been his other self. It was hard to put into words, even to himself, but it had felt natural despite all of the alien-seeming knowledge and experiences, where "Ranma" was just a speck of sand among many. However, he was reassured by the fact that he could live however long he wished, and do whatever he wanted to do, before "waking up." He supposed it was an existence that he could accept; it was better than having a human's lifespan and limitations, at least, and this way his memory was guaranteed to live on.
    In all honestly, what unsettled him the most was the amount of choices that were now available to him. He had so many that he could sum it up easier with a single, simple question: what couldn't he do? He honestly didn't know the limits of his options, even with his "reduced" status. Heck, after his other self had spent quite a number of years with her daughter, she had traveled through time with the same power that he had now, just so he could pick up his life where it had left off.
    Since he didn't really know what to do with himself, aside from starting out "normal" and figuring out what to do from there, he had decided to return to Hanako's shrine and follow the original plan. With the kind of power that he now had at his disposal, he could probably alter the minds of certain people and improve his situation just like that. There was an ethical problem with doing something like that, of course, but that didn't stop such a tempting action from being thought about.
    When he came upon the clearing where Hanako's shrine was located, he found something else in its stead: a large pile of things that had once been inside of the altered space within it. He could see parts of the small shrine buried beneath its prior contents, which suggested that someone had destroyed it, which would have released everything within it all at once. He found the owner of the shrine in her natural form, bound to a tree. She was unconscious, and he could clearly see that she had been roughed up a bit. She also had a paper ofuda placed on her head, which sealed away her power.
    Of course, it was hard to miss Soun, who was keeping an eye on her, and the camp that had been set up nearby. Soun's back was facing him, so he hadn't noticed his arrival, but it didn't take long for those outside of their tents to notice him — looking as he usually did as a man — and get the attention of everyone else. With the exception of Soun, his father and Cologne, the rest of the group had been in their tents, consisting of his mother, Shampoo, Ukyo and Akane, and it was apparent that some of them had been asleep despite it being well after sunrise.
    A lot of them began to speak at the same time while the girls and his mother vied for the space around him, asking questions before he could answer any of the ones posed already, so he waited until Cologne cooled them down. At which point, he "innocently" asked, "What are you guys doing here?"
    "Why do you think?" Akane immediately retorted.
    "We came to rescue you," Ukyo added for clarification.
    "Rescue me?" He questioned, pretending to be confused. "From what?"
    "You were kidnapped," Shampoo said, who looked worried. "Remember?"
    "Oh, that?" He remarked, with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I've been kidnapped by worse."
    His mother looked relieved, but still asked, "So, you are alright?"
    "Why wouldn't I be?" He asked, giving his mother a perplexed look. "Sure, I wasn't expecting to be kidnapped by an ancestor I never knew about, but she was just looking out for me."
    "Speaking of whom," he continued, with a frown, as he made a point of looking at said ancestor, "what did you do to her?"
    Cologne had the good grace to look a bit embarrassed. "Well, being a kidnapper, we weren't inclined to trust her when she said that you would return after running an errand. When we accused her of hiding you in her home, she offered to allow us entrance, but — being her domain — we thought that it might be a trap. It was decided that it would be safer to destroy the shrine and release everything within it, and she resisted our effort."
    With a sigh, he stepped around the crowd that had gathered before him and went to extract his great grandmother from her bondage. First, he removed the ofuda, which he tore in half before discarding. Then, as he untied the rope, he held his great grandmother up so she didn't fall over. Once the rope was tossed aside, he settled his great grandmother on the ground and made sure that she was comfortable.
    "So," Cologne spoke up, who had waited patiently for her chance to continue speaking, and had — he'd noticed — prevented his father from saying anything during the interim, "you went out on an errand, then?"
    Turning to face them once more, he nonchalantly said, "The conversion didn't work quite right; something about the curse had messed it up. I figured it would be a good idea to follow her recommendation on how I might get it sorted out."
    "You're a kitsune, now, I take it?" Cologne inquired, though from her expression he was pretty sure that she already knew what the answer would be.
    "Yup," he replied, and released a pair of ears and tail for effect, choosing a normal color and a single tail to hide his true nature. "I don't know what to make of it yet, but at least I have control over how I look." Having noted Cologne's expression, he added, "Disappointed?"
    Cologne shrugged her shoulders and said, "It isn't something that the nannichuan can't fix. We're just particular about the merit of earning one's strength, rather than seeking out strength regardless of its source."
    His father perked up at the suggestion of getting more nannichuan, and he could already see the gears in his head turning, trying to work out a way to take advantage of Cologne's — and likely Shampoo's — desire to see him as a human man again. The rest didn't seem to have any obvious objections to him being a kitsune, and both his mother and the girls seemed a bit preoccupied with his non-human traits. He wondered if he should keep an eye out for wandering hands: girls could be funny about certain things, and he knew that they were liable to gush over animals.
    "Well," Soun interjected, before he could lose his chance to move things along in a more desirable direction, "now that this whole mess has been sorted out, let's head back home."
    While a few of the others made replies in agreement, he said, "You guys can go on ahead. I'm gonna stick around for a bit."
    His mother looked confused as she asked, "Why?"
    He regarded his mother with a neutral expression on his face, touched the index finger of one hand against the one from the other, and patiently said, "One: I'm going to help our family's mamorigami with the repairs to her home." He proceeded to touch his index finger to his middle finger. "Two: I figure I should get to know her better, since it was for my sake that she acted." Then, he touched his index finger to his ring finger. "And three: I need a break."
    "A break?" Akane questioned, with a slight frown. "From what?"
    He sweat a little, knowing what kind of position he had just put himself in, but he was reassured by the fact that he had a good — or so he thought — excuse. "Everything that's happened recently. Particularly, getting used to being a different, um... species? And who better to help me with that than another kitsune?"
    They agreed with him on that last point, some grudgingly, and things proceeded without incident from then onward. Well, aside from an argument about who got to touch his ears or tail first, which was resolved when his mother did exactly that, since she didn't feel that she needed permission to touch her son's new features. After some less serious conversation, they eventually packed up and left, but not before being given a promise to not stay away from home for too long. He was just relieved that they were finally gone, because he really didn't want to deal with that part of his life at that precise moment, all things considered.
    When he was sure that they were out of sight, and used his new power to make sure that no one was around to see what he was about to do, he utilized said power to restore his great grandmother's shrine — and home — in an instant, along with all of the things that had been inside of it. Next, he healed his great grandmother's wounds, before he transported both of them into her newly-fixed home, with her in bed and him in the living room.
    It wasn't long before his great grandmother awoke, and he could understand her confusion when she entered the living room, digested the fact that everything had been restored, and asked, "What happened?"
    "I fixed everything up," he replied. When that didn't appear to be a satisfactory answer, he added, "Let's just say that I work fast and leave it at that for now."
    His great grandmother didn't seem to like that much, but acquiesced. He proceeded to update her on the situation, mostly having to do with those who had recently paid her a visit, his desire to stick around for a bit, and the discovery that his power had been sealed away in a past life. Of course, he didn't reveal that it had been sealed away through ordinary means, via a hoshi-no-tama: before he even considered sharing the fact that he was a ten-tailed kitsune who just so happened to be the mother of the self-same race, he would prefer to know his great grandmother better first.
    Now, it was just a matter of figuring out what to do with himself and his life. He had a lot of options, so much so that he couldn't even begin to fathom the number, but he was relieved by the fact that he had more than enough time to consider them. He had plenty of important stuff to think about, too. Not that he was in any particular mood to think about them just then. After recent events, he was of the mind that he could really go for something fun.
    Decisions, decisions...


Afterword


    There were a couple of details that I didn't get to include, for one reason or another, but many of them can be figured out with some thought. All in all, though, it's not much of a loss.
    I left the ending open for a couple of reasons. To begin with, a lot of possibilities began to develop as the story evolved in my head over the course of... two years, I think? There were also some ideas of where the story could go, beyond what's written here, but — like I mentioned in the preface — I didn't really have anything solid. (For instance, one idea would have made the story a crossover with Tenchi Muyo as well, where Ranma is something like a Chousin or beyond, but heck if I ever figured out what to do with an idea like that.)
    Considering the possibilities, I also presented the characters as neutrally as possible; I didn't even specify who fought Hanako or who destroyed her home. In the astronomically unlikely event that another author picks this story up, I figure it'd help them more if the future of any particular character isn't pretty much decided for them already, regarding certain matters.
    Personally, I've got mixed feelings about this story. It's not so much about what I wrote, although I can't say that I'm confident — or really satisfied — about what I've done with the perspective and use of pronouns in this one, as well as a few other things. It's just that many readers will probably find this story boring. (Not that I'll blame them, of course, since I can understand why.) I also don't expect many to know the Sailor Moon manga or kitsune well enough to get a comprehensive understanding of what I did, although I did try to include as much information as the circumstances and restrictions in perspective allowed.
    Well, whatever happens, I'm just glad that I finally got to write it all out and share it. Just finishing the things that I start is a noteworthy accomplishment for a lowly creature such as myself.