Separately, the fact that stealing a recipe exploded into the near murder of an entire family line just... You know, that sounds like something that would happen in Nerima.
The update being referenced there is the Night Market raid one where we got the Gumiho's backstory.
Now I'm extremely skeptical of the claim that she's somehow responsible for Nerima's... Nerima-ness, but that stuff did actually happen in the place that would would become Nerima.
Well I've never seen that post by OP before now so this is new information to me.
Still, the only castle I know of from Ranma Canon is the Kuno's home, so I'd expect a line curse on them in particular before suspecting a curse on the entire prefecture.
As I pointed out earlier, if the whole Guminho thing was metaphysically potent enough to create Cursed Land, the majority of Japan would be Cursed Land.
The Sengoku Jidai was a time when just about all of Japan had omnicidal assholes running around butchering people just because they could (and in Inuyasha, had both carnivorous1 and evil Yokai as well as more Western Demons adding to the carnage).
There's also that Demon Hunter series set in the same world (Seshomoru and possibly Inuyasha have offspring cameoing) where the demons kill the MCs parents and (IIRC) his sisters get turned into Demons.
In Inuyasha canon, we see at least two cases of noblewoman whose marriages were arranged (one was an evil Yokai being Evil, the other was included in a Naraku plot) and both of them respected the institution of marriage and were loyal to their husbands if they didn't come to love them. Although I might be remembering baseless fanon.
1: Remember, carnivorous Yokai eating humans isn't an inherently Evil act, since to a carnivorous Yokai meat is meat and Humans aren't special to them.
Edit: added mention of that Demon Hunter series set in the same world as Inuyasha. Also reminder that carnivorous Yokai eating humans isn't inherently Evil.
Either way, the city/land/geographical area of Nerima is fucked up or it attracts people who are fucked up to live there. It doesn't exactly matter how and why Nerima is fucked up, but it is undeniably fucked up, beyond Ranma and their situation happening to occur there.
Just because Guminho was accused of stealing a family recipe doesn't mean she did, anymore than Councilman Hino is actually childless simply because he claimed to be in front of an entire team of Precures and their schoolmates.
I think Lunaryon may have confirmed that Ahnjong was actually trying to steal the recipe, though that's neither the reason that branch of Clan Kurayami turned on her, nor the reason she ultimately wound up enslaved.
That's about as logical as blaming Soun's bioparents, because they probably fucked at least once, and if they hadn't, this whole incident wouldn't have occurred.
Ehhh, in all fairness, Akane has pre-existing grievances against Ranma. I think this just took the existing grievance goulash and stirred it up.
Ultimately, Akane does have a valid general grievance against Ranma in that he's thrown her life into chaos. Some though far from all of the ways that this has happened are legitimately his fault, in that they are problems he could solve if he weren't absurdly inflexible about promises, or things like that. Recent events surrounding ownership of the dojo don't increase the magnitude of Ranma's fault, but they do increase the magnitude of the damages and likely future consequences for Akane, which may be enough to put her in something of a slump when combined with her own personal misfortunes.
I'm not saying she's being fair, but there are very few outlets for her under the circumstances apart from "just hunker down and take it," and it's not like she has much of an emotional support structure helping her make good choices any more than anyone else in Nerima does.
The update being referenced there is the Night Market raid one where we got the Gumiho's backstory.
Now I'm extremely skeptical of the claim that she's somehow responsible for Nerima's... Nerima-ness, but that stuff did actually happen in the place that would become Nerima.
My gut instinct is that it's the other way around- that Nerima's Nerima-ness explains why an entire clan of samurai warriors stupidly and recklessly expended themselves against a yokai far above their weight class, and that all the marriage and then betrayal and then death had as its root cause something as petty and inane as a recipe.
Separately, the fact that stealing a recipe exploded into the near murder of an entire family line just... You know, that sounds like something that would happen in Nerima.
A woman taking advantage of naturally outliving their husband to aquire (Family) secrets that they wouldn't otherwise hand out doesn't mean she betrays her husband or his family while he's still alive unless she's an idiot.
A marriage is only valid as long as your spouse lives, after all.
Taking advantage of naturally outliving your husband to aquire secrets that they wouldn't otherwise hand out doesn't mean she betrays her husband or his family while he's still alive unless she's an idiot.
I'm not really. If she openly betrayed the family instead of being loyal and leaving after he died (through no fault of her own), then she was an idiot.
And Word of God has established that Guminho did actually do this, so Guminho was an idiot.
I'm not really. If she openly betrayed the family instead of being loyal and leaving after he died (through no fault of her own), then she was an idiot.
And Word of God has established that Guminho did actually do this, so Guminho was an idiot.
Having gone back and read what happened, it seems you need to reread things because that's not what happened at all. She was fully willing to wait until her husband died to take the recipe, but her husband went all "eww a fox!" and his whole family decided that attempting to kill her was a smart move. She tried to run away, but was chased down until she was forced to kill her pursuers again and again, even using some common scare tactics (eating your opponent's heart and liver) in an attempt to get them to let her be, and they (stupidly) never quit. I don't think it was even that same family who caught her in the end, as she was sold out by someone else.
A woman taking advantage of naturally outliving their husband to aquire (Family) secrets that they wouldn't otherwise hand out doesn't mean she betrays her husband or his family while he's still alive unless she's an idiot.
A marriage is only valid as long as your spouse lives, after all.
I'm not really. If she openly betrayed the family instead of being loyal and leaving after he died (through no fault of her own), then she was an idiot.
And Word of God has established that Guminho did actually do this, so Guminho was an idiot.
Ahnjong marries some son of a Lord Kurayami to steal their 11 herbs and spices recipe, planning on going home to her family in Korea after she outlived him in like 20 years. But the husband found out he married a fox demon, and tried to kill her. He lost. So the family sent wave after wave of foolish samurai warriors to try and kill her. They lost. Sanko gets hired to solve the problem, and the rest of the Inuyasha team had run out of leads on the big bad so decided to come along. They win, but don't kill Ahnjong. Instead, Kagome was going to tell the Lord who hired them that she was dead, while Ahnjong fled the country. Something went wrong and the Kurayami clan somehow found and captured her before she could leave. Queue four and a half centuries of enslavement and forced cannibalism for Ahnjong.
Separately, the fact that stealing a recipe exploded into the near murder of an entire family line just... You know, that sounds like something that would happen in Nerima.
It also makes sense why a couple of psychotic idiots would have a ninja servant and a casual acquaintance with the occult—the Kunos were the last remnants of that old family, and the rest of Onogoro thought they died out. They never went to check, because that would mean going to Nerima.
It also makes sense why a couple of psychotic idiots would have a ninja servant and a casual acquaintance with the occult—the Kunos were the last remnants of that old family, and the rest of Onogoro thought they died out. They never went to check, because that would mean going to Nerima.
More than a little overwrought, and tired from bursts of running, Tsubomi closes her eyes. Later, she'll need to at least open some of the books from her new school. Later, she'll need to help Mom unpack the rest of the dishes and get them washed and ready to be put away.
Tsubomi Hanasaki wakes up with a gasp. She'd flopped down on her bed for just a moment, and she got enough sleep last night... so... it's this again. For weeks, turning into months now, it seems like something's been plucking at her, urging her to drop off, just for a few minutes here and there, seemingly for no reason but to have strange recurring dream again and again. It hasn't caused problems yet, but sometimes she worries and wonders if she needs to see a doctor.
Tsubomi straightens up and stretches. She draws a deep yawning breath and adjusts her clothes. The dress Erika gave her fits amazingly well for something that she must have made before Tsubomi had ever met her. The dress and Tsubomi's comfy blue jeans don't make very natural pajamas, but they smooth down well enough from such a short nap.
Sasorina, Desert Apostle, materializes high on a forested hill above Cure Flower's city, stretching to try and work out her aches and pains with mixed success. The exploding car last week was a nasty surprise, and no mistake. She'd made it back to the palace, sure... bloodied, and with a broken arm. At least that was all, though. Whatever attack spell the sneak-thief used on Sasorina just before she escaped hurt, but it didn't do any real harm compared to the explosion. Whatever he was trying to do, he missed his chance.
She'd sort of collapsed onto a couch, after that, while the Sunakies fussed around her. Cobraja came by, soon after, when he got word of what had happened. He was... honestly concerned, surprisingly. It's been kind of touching, really, to see him worry about something other than his own face in a mirror. He's even set aside his usual cattiness to her and his endless petty bickering with Kumojacky to look in on both of them.
Kumojacky's injuries are taking longer to fade; he must have been blown up even worse than she was. Once in a while, he still coughs up blood, and sometimes it's green and fuming. But Sasorina, herself, is at least back to walking wounded now. The scarring's not fading as fast as she'd like and her left arm still aches terribly when she tries to do anything superhuman with it, but she's up and about and back on the job. Though NOT without lessons learned, and consultation with her supervisor!
The Professor's a frightening man. But he does, sometimes, respect an honest request for help, especially if it doesn't actually involve him doing much work. And Sasorina's not too proud to admit that having the right tool helps for the right job, or to ask for it. So he led her into a storeroom of old devices, and she turned up just the thing to deal with that back-bombing sneak who tricked her!
It doesn't take superhuman strength for Sasorina to lift her left hand and raise the Desolation Lorgnette to her eyes. Its polished crystal lenses bear a sickly green glow that hungers for falsity, devours illusions, and erodes figments of the creative imagination away into lonely wisps of smoke. Which is just what the Professor ordered for a time like this…
The unpacking's done, mostly. Most of the important stuff, though she's still looking for Grandma's music box. Mom and Dad encouraged her to explore a bit over breakfast this morning. She really should go see more of the town, besides the school and what she's seen on visits from Kamakura to see Grandma at her apartment or the botanical gardens. And besides, Tsubomi could use a walk to clear her head. Maybe the recurring nightmare is coming from not getting enough fresh air and time to clear out the stress...
As soon as Chypre and her brother Coffret got Mr. Oshima's amulets on the day that Cure Flower told them was called 'Thursday,' they tried them out at once, of course! They swooshed back and forth across the city, pushing their magic into the amulets to make themselves invisible. They held hands so as not to lose track of each other, crossing the city again and again, low to the ground and hoping that the Heart Perfumes would find someone.
But that just made them think that what they were afraid of all along was true. There are at least two almost-right people somewhere in the city, maybe more. But not right enough, not so that the Heart Perfumes click and home in. It took them all of Thursday and Friday to cover most of the city, and Saturday to sweep over the outskirts, but… nothing. Still nothing.
Maybe they missed someone who's been moving around a lot. But what… what if they didn't?
Chypre is starting to worry.
Then the tiny five-millimeter amulet strung lightly around her neck, clinking against the heart brooch that pins her neckpiece together, starts to heat up.
She starts to worry faster.
Tsubomi Hanasaki walks quickly, crossing several city blocks and steering for the great radio tower on top of the hill. Though that's just the landmark; what she wants is Hillside Park, where Grandma used to take her to play sometimes. She passes the bollards dividing the footpath up into the park from the streetside. She starts hiking her way up the hill. Then she breaks into a jog.
Chypre can't see her brother because of the magic, but she hears Coffret's voice from the thin air beside her. Feels his hand tense on hers.
Feels the plucking sensation from the Heart Perfume that tells her there may be someone down there, somewhere, who might be a friend- or even a hero.
"Something's happening to the invisibility magic-desu!"
She nods slightly, which sets her ears to flutter in the slipstream. "It feels like a Desert Apostle-desu!"
It really does. There's a hunger to their sinister, world-ravaging magic. Something very distinct, something that the Heart Tree has taught each generation of fairies to recognize for centuries. And now it's in the sky, plucking at them. Or not at them, but Mr. Oshima's magic. But that gives Chypre an idea.
Tsubomi looks up into the sky, staring at the wide blue between streaks of clouds, looking out down the flower-speckled grass of the hillside. She looks down at Kibougahana stretched out below her, flinging her arms back and letting the breeze pluck at her ponytails. Which are twinned now; she redid her hair this morning the same way Erika had it because weird and rude as it was for Erika to do it... it feels right.
She breathes in the wind. She feels peace and delight at the view. Wow!
But wind brings back memories of rushing wind in faintly lavender hair. Her dream.
Cure Moonlight... Who is that? What does that mean? A legendary warrior... like that? Her dream reminds her of some of the speculation and bits of news she's caught lately. But it feels different somehow- and certainly looks different!
Why am I so hung up about it when it's just a dream?
Chypre thinks it over for just a moment. If the enemy spell is hungry for another spell, and isn't aimed at them directly...
"Try releasing your invisibility-desu! We'll head for the ground-desu!"
Coffret is invisible, but his voice is still there. "We have to get back to Cure Flower-desu!"
The fairies swoop down towards a nearby hilltop. But just as they release their hold on the spell in the amulets, that cruel hunger intensifies and pulls and they can feel their energy draining away. Among other things, this reduces their fine control over their flight.
"Whoooaaa!"
"Desu!!!"
Tsubomi will never be sure whether it was because she was staring blindly into space thinking, or because they just literally appeared out of nowhere right in front of her, but either way, she has exactly no time to dodge. Two high-pitched screams, raised still higher by a hint of Doppler shift, plummet towards her and she looks up with shock on her face.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
"UhhhhHHHhh..." Tsubomi reels on her feet. Whatever just hit her in the face drops to the ground.
"WHAT!? What on earth!?" They're... plushies. Did someone just shoot plushies out of a cannon at her or something? From where!? Why would anyone do such a thing?
Then, almost instantly, the plushies pop up off the ground and zoom through the air towards her! They paw desperately at her, squeaking frantically.
"We're being chased by bad people-desu!"
"Please help us-desu!"
At the sudden insanity, Tsubomi can only stare, goggle-eyed and confused. Then the words come. She stumbles backwards, not that this does any good when they're clinging to her clothes and pleading.
"AAAH!? Why are the plushies talking!?"
"We don't have time to explain-desu!"
"I'm sorry, she's too close-desu!"
The flying talking plushies dive at her neck- under the front of her dress!?! Awkwardly, Tsubomi flails, then clasps her hands across her chest, willing them to stay still because ACK and them bouncing around would make it so much worse and why would a pair of flying talking plushies even do that!?
Looking down, Tsubomi snaps at them. "What are you doing? Sit still!"
And then she hears shoes crunching on gravel behind her. The crunching approaches slowly. At last, the person responsible for that crunching speaks. And her voice is an airy, confident contralto.
"Hello there, missy! I don't suppose you saw a couple of little white fairies fall out of the sky around here, did they?"
Tsubomi, still hunched slightly and clutching her chest, turns around nervously. The woman's strange outfit- a gold miniskirt and a brief top fixed to a white half-cape- shows a lot of tanned skin, and its style is part of the woman's strangeness. But the outfit also shows the stranger's big, angry scars from head to toe. In a flicker of curious compassion, Tsubomi wonders if the woman's been in an accident or something recently, even if she's obviously out of the hospital.
The stranger walks quickly towards Tsubomi with only the slightest hint of a limp. Tsubomi knows she shouldn't judge, given how few people over thirty have her hair and eye coloring, but something about the strange woman's piercing golden eyes seems… wrong.
Whatever her question is about 'fairies,' Tsubomi doesn't think it means well for the flying talking plushies. Mutely, anxiously, she shakes her head.
La, Sir, I Am But A Humble Plushie Activates! Magical Teamwork Activates! Walking Wounded Activates!
CHYPRE-TSUBOMI-COFFRET: There Is Nothing To See Here!
d10 + (4+10) + 0.5*7 + 0.5*0.5*4, rounds to d10 + 19
5 + 19 = 24
SASORINA: On The Contrary...
d10 + 17 - 1 (Walking Wounded)
3 + 16 = 19
Team Heartcatch Victory!
The tall woman scowls at her- stares suspiciously at her chest!? Tsubomi hazards a glance down and the plushies aren't moving or anything but this is really weird and awkward. Then the woman snorts and spins on her heel, walking away. She begins to descend the long flight of stairs leading down the hill, off to the side towards the playground at its foot.
"What's with her? She seemed kinda suspicious..." Tsubomi mutters under her breath.
The plushies- the fairies?- whisper back.
"She's 'Sasorina,' one of the Desert Apostles-desu!"
"They're evildoers who steal people's hearts and are plotting to destroy the world-desu!"
"By the way, I'm Chypre-desu!"
"And I'm Coffret-desu!"
Well. Um. Ack. Okay! introductions, she knows how to handle. "And I'm Tsubomi Hanasaki."
Even if she's never introduced herself to talking plushies who are hiding from a heart-stealing evildoer, and certainly not in such a manner... She's absolutely, 100% sure they're not doing it to be creepy. And they seem far too squeaky and childlike and generally innocent for her to be worried. But it's weird.
And they keep talking as if this is normal. As if they can't even imagine why it wouldn't be normal. Maybe they can't.
"Well then, Tsubomi, could you please carry us like this to Cure Flower?"
What, like this?
...This had better be another opportunity for Tsubomi to practice her assertiveness.
This is definitely going to be one of those days.
Tsubomi, now that she thinks about it, can't quite put her finger on why, but she's quite confident that this is going to be one of the most 'one of those days' days of her life.
Oh, well. She isn't sure why the flying talking plushie fairies want to talk to a 'Cure Flower,' but if they're this scared of Sasorina, then 'hiding from Sasorina' is probably a good reason to do nearly anything. Even… this. Probably! Come to think of it:
"Excuse me, but where is Cure Flower? I can't take you to someone I don't know where to find…"
"Cure Flower's at the Botanical Gardens-desu!"
Hm. Maybe she's a friend of Grandma's. But Grandma never mentioned a 'Cure Flower.' But the good news is, that's probably the most familiar place in town!
She smiles a little. "Good. I know where to find those."
She starts down the hill.
Insufficient maturity to roll a Common Bloody Sense check!
A hundred meters further on, the talking plushies start talking again. Softly.
"Uh, Tsubomi, I've got a bad feeling about the direction we're going in-desu…"
"I sense something. Are we following Sasorina-desu!?"
"Sasorina is very dangerous-desu!"
"Look, it's the shortest way to the Botanical Gardens, okay?" Tsubomi whispers to the fairy-plushies. They whisper, too, as if speaking only to each other. Their high-pitched piping voices wouldn't be so noticeable if they weren't hiding under the front of her dress ack ack ack!
"I think hiding fairies like this makes humans unhappy-desu."
"Poor Mr. Cologne's human culture lessons never covered this situation-desu…"
"Maybe Lord Coupe will be able to explain it all to us-desu."
"Should we stop, Ms. Tsubomi-desu?"
She suppresses a sigh. "Yes."
"Yes-m'm-desu!"
"Sorry-desu!"
A moment later, the fairies are hiding behind her, which is a considerable improvement to her concentration and general calm.
Tsubomi picks her way down the stairs from the hilltop to the nearby playground, hoping that Sasorina will have gone on ahead and out of sight. For a time, it works well, as though the strange woman has vanished. But as she climbs down the last stairs, Tsubomi sees her!
Wait, Sasorina's hanging around? In the playground? Tsubomi… hadn't planned on that. Hadn't expected that at all, really. She ducks down behind a crawl tunnel that seemed huge when she was five but not quite so huge now. She whispers to the fairies.
"I'm sorry, you two. You were right." She bites her lip anxiously. "You may need to rush away from me in a hurry…"
Because if Sasorina really steals people's hearts and wants to destroy the world, she's probably not going to leave the fairies alone just because they're hiding behind her. She squeezes her arms to her chest, shivering for a moment. Chypre and Coffret clutch at the shoulders of her dress, shivering too.
She gulps. "Let's just try to hide…"
Moments earlier…
Sasorina tilts her head, looking at the little girl on the bench.
Erika Kurumi sits disconsolately on a bench. Normally the little-puffed-sleeves-and-bow combination cheers her up when she's in a bad mood, but nothing that subtle is doing any good today.
The world is unfair. Erika's sister Momoka floats through life like a beautiful swan, effortlessly popular, surrounded by people telling her she's right and pretty and wanted for modeling. But Erika, herself, just flails around like a drowning monkey. And no matter how hard she tries to do what would obviously make things better...
"No, Erika, you can't introduce the shy new transfer student to Sailor Moon chic, not even the twintails which are obviously just right for her!"
"No, Erika, you can't build giant geodesic football costumes for the girls to wear and lead a protest demanding that the school found a girls' football team!"
"No, Erika, you can't hide the fake blood that Keiko was going to use for the disturbingly realistic liver-eating ghost costume at the costume dance Miss Tsurusaki's going to be chaperoning!"
"No, Erika, you can't run for student council president on a platform of making the incumbent wear a dress for a week, no matter how graciously Myoudoin-san is taking this!"
"No, Erika, the Crystal Millennium is just going to send you a polite form letter saying 'no thank you' when after you thank Sailor Mercury for saving you, you ask if she's recruiting junior sidekicks because you just know you were meant to be a blue-haired water-themed beautiful magical guardian when you grow up and you included sketches and also she should try a bit of jewelry on her choker and a heart on her bow and maybe some very short decorative sleeves and oh yeah a bigger bow in back and these are all very good ideas that were revealed to you in a dream!"
Uuuugh!
The closest she's ever had to a real win in her life was in that dream last winter! The one about the tall, mysterious, dashing, hauntingly familiar, yet disturbingly confused man with terrible, terrible ideas! Though a few thwomps with the giant foam-rubber mallet did persuade him to just give up and wear a tuxedo! Which seemed like a great victory for everyone for some reason!
Sasorina calls out to the girl. "Hey, missy! You haven't seen any fairies, have you?"
The blue-haired girl jumps up, gaping at Sasorina. "ACK! A weirdo!"
Sasorina's eyes narrow. "What an insolent child." She sniffs. Then she looks closer with her sixth and seventh senses, peering into the blue-haired girl's soul. She smirks. Maybe if she can't find the fairies, she should just brute-force her problems. Plow right through any magical tricks that the back-bombing sneak has come up with. After all, everything she needs to get started is right here!
Well, mostly right here. This girl's inner daisies aren't so much wilting as starting to change color and droop a little. But even that should be enough to make a start of things along with the Desolation Lorgnette!
"Your heart flower is wilting from your suffering, little one." Sasorina extends her hands, grinning evilly. "Flower of the Heart, come forth!"
Tsubomi peers nervously around the corner of the concrete tunnel, hoping that being on the shadowed side will let her go unnoticed. The strange woman, Sasorina, does... something... and... oh no, is that girl Erika? She is…!
A burst of golden light erupts at Erika's feet. She screams as it seizes her, stretching her arms and legs spread-eagle. The whiteout radiance of the pillar of light obscures her, with only a faint outline to hint at her presence. An outline that… changes. When the light fades, Erika is nowhere to be seen! Where the girl stood, a meter-high pink crystal floats in midair. Sasorina reaches to the lower tip of the pointed crystal and snaps off a glowing sphere that fits in the palm of her hand, then casts it aside with a shrug. It flies far through the air, rolling off to Sasorina's side… towards Tsubomi, and down into the concrete crawl-tunnel she's crouched beside.
Coffret, still clinging to her skirt, moans in a low, tiny voice. "She pulled out that girl's heart flower-desu!"
Well that tears it! Tsubomi takes a deep breath, feeling her face twist with anger. She whispers back to the fairies. "Stay here."
Tsubomi stands up.
She strides with her best face of determination toward Sasorina. But she tries to be polite, partly on general principles, and also very much because she very, very much doesn't want to be turned into a crystal and have part of her heart torn out because that sounds very bad.
"Excuse me, ma'am! Can you give back her 'heart flower,' please?"
Sasorina makes a sudden quarter-turn and stares at her. "...Wait, you're the girl from before!" That piercing golden gaze rivets Tsubomi, and she feels a shift, a squirm, at the back of her dress. Wait… the fairies… they didn't stay put!
Sasorina cackles. "And my my, but you've lost some stuffing in a hurry, haven't you, girl? I think I understand now. HA!"
The tight bun on top of Sasorina's head suddenly uncoils into a braid- impossibly long, and it's moving, sharp-tipped, lashing towards her like a whip or a spear!
"AAACK!" Tsubomi recoils in horror and confusion.
Little Things Count A Lot! activates! Walking Wounded activates!
And in a display of the skills that almost got her on the gymnastics team, Tsubomi springs aside, turns her spring into a flip she wouldn't have been able to pull off on a mat, and thumps hard to the ground. She takes a second to gather herself and bounce to her feet, expecting to be struck again, but by the time the whoosh of air from Sasorina's hair-tentacle comes back, she's already upright and sprinting for the nearest cover-
*thwap*
-and something plucks at her dress, followed by a shocked squeak as Sasorina's braid withdraws with a tiny, struggling white-furred figure trapped in its coils.
Oh no!
Chypre wails in despair. "Coffret-desu!"
Tsubomi dives and rolls into the tunnel-
"HA!" Sasorina cries out in triumph. There's a whoosh of wind outside the tight concrete confines, and the light at the end of the tunnel is partly blocked. Tsubomi can see the strange woman's legs, standing several meters from the other end of the tunnel. And she can hear Sasorina's low, cruel laughter as she slowly eases herself back towards the end she came in by, trying to gain some distance from whatever comes next.
And then they hear a shout as Coffret defies the limits of his tiny voicebox as far as he can.
"No, Erika, the Crystal Millennium is just going to send you a polite form letter saying 'no thank you' when after you thank Sailor Mercury for saving you, you ask if she's recruiting junior sidekicks because you just know you were meant to be a blue-haired water-themed beautiful magical guardian when you grow up and you included sketches and also she should try a bit of jewelry on her choker and a heart on her bow and maybe some very short decorative sleeves and oh yeah a bigger bow in back and these are all very good ideas that were revealed to you in a dream!"