Darkness Within

Discaimer: No profit is intended to be made by this fic. No characters are creations of mine except for Rosefewyn. Love Hina, Sailor Moon, GTO, and Video Girl: Ai are all the property of their creators.

Don't sue.

Warning: some mildly gory depictions of trauma to unborn fetuses. Please do not read if you have a weak constitution or are pro-life. (Oh god, now i'm gonna get flamed!)

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Urashima Haruka kept her face in iron-clad control. The news of last night’s adventure at the restaurant upset her more than she admitted to the others. Naru reported that Keitaro promised to be right behind them, but Haruka’s nephew was gone all night. And far into the day as well. It was fast approaching suppertime, and the boy’s AWOL status was maintained.

She lit up another cigarette. The influx of nicotine and cancerous tobacco steadied her nerves. The dear nephew who caused those nerves to be unsteadied was perhaps the only reason Haruka hadn’t tried to quit years ago. She worried unceasingly for the poor boy. Ever since puberty, he’d suffered. Oh, he put on a brave face, but Haruka wasn’t fooled.

‘Damn you, Nao. Hell of a job you did raising my nephew. Damn you to all the Hells, one at a time.’

Haruka took another ragged puff on the cigarette. Motoko was still upstairs in her room, sleeping off a concussion-induced hangover. Su gallivanted off God-knew-where, and Haruka held a sinking suspicion the foreign girl was out looking for Keitaro. The fact that Naru joined her only added further weight to the theory. Mitsune accompanied as “chaperone.”

Shinobu was the only reason Haruka hadn’t followed along with the trio. The girl was utterly distraught. She hadn’t done anything more than sit in her room, staring at the collection of sketches on the walls. Haruka wanted to go and comfort the girl, but Shinobu went to great pains to make it obvious she wished to be left alone. A young girl under her care was falling apart over worry for her nephew and Haruka didn’t have the foggiest what to do about it.

The door creaked open. Keitaro’s head slipped in, scanning the room. He stopped still when his eyes lit upon Haruka.

“You’re home,” she noted. Keitaro made no response other than a nod. Finding his shoes interesting, her nephew made his way to the stairs.

Haruka quietly stood and followed. She watched as he ascended the stairs, sending furtive glances back at her with every step. The older woman continued to follow him, maintaining a blank face and hoping her eyes didn’t express any pity.
Stiff and brisk, Keitaro marched down the hallway to his room. He slid open the door and slammed it in Haruka’s face. She calmly opened it back up.

Sitting down just inside the doorway, she addressed her only nephew. “Kei-kun, is there something you want to talk about?”

“No.” Amazing how much he managed to sound like a petulant child.

“Fine then. You don’t want to talk about it, but you need to talk about it,” Haruka said in a level voice. “I’m not here to judge you, you know that. I never have.” That statement, she knew, would drag up all sorts of memories in his mind. Keitaro’s face began to slacken, his lower lip quivering. “Now please Kei-kun, what happened last night?”

He turned to face her. Fluid danced in his eyes. “The Sailor Senshi. You know them, right?” Haruka affirmed that, letting Keitaro continue. “They were there, out there, fighting right outside the restaurant. One of ‘em… One of ‘em got thrown through the window, and Motoko got knocked out, and I told the girls to run, and… And… AUNTIE!”

He threw himself at her, hugging her tight and burying his face in her shirt. She heard him sob out ‘Auntie’ again, like when he was a child. Haruka stroked his hair, also like when he was a child.

“You lost control didn’t you?” He stiffened at her question, before going on another crying jag. Haruka nodded absently to herself. Next came the most difficult question. She didn’t want to ask it; fearing what reaction her nephew might have.

“Who?”

She hated being right: Keitaro didn’t like that question at all. He tensed even further, tightening his grip around her. It hurt, but Haruka decided the boy’s mental state was far more important than a few bruised ribs.

Finally, Keitaro worked up the nerve to whisper, “The monster they were fighting.”

His head came up from her shirt. Haruka looked down to see panic in her nephew’s eyes. “Get away from me, Auntie! Get away! For your own damn good, get away!” She struggled with him; he trying to push her away, she trying to hold him close. He’d sometimes done that as a child, too. But Keitaro was much stronger now than back then.

Haruka fell back. She was lying almost horizontal, with Keitaro on his knees, looking down at her. Tears continued to fall from his eyes.

“I’m dangerous, Auntie, can’t you see?” he wept. “I killed her. And I did a helluva lot worse than that before I did. I… I… I raped her, Auntie,” he finished in a whisper.

Surging up, Haruka planted her face barely three centimeters from his. “Dangerous? Screw that! You’re not going to do anything here. Not to anyone you love. You’ve got too much self-control to do that.

“And even if you didn’t, you’re still family. Killing yourself, tearing yourself up over something you MIGHT do? I’d stand by you even if that THING unleashed the bowls of Hell on me. Because that. Isn’t. You! Got it?”

Keitaro managed a weak voice. “Yeah. I got it. But it’s just…”

“Just what?” she probed.

“It’s like an addiction. I’m a junkie who can’t kick the habit. I think I’d die if I ever did.”

“Then,” Haruka breathed, not liking what she was suggesting, “we might have to find you a pressure valve.”

“How? Random peeks and gropes only ease it. Today was the first day the beast has been quiet in a long time. So that means sex is best. Oh wait, I sucked her dry! Does that mean I have to kill people?” He began laughing uncontrollably. More tears leaked from his eyes as he did.

She seized hold of his shoulders. “Kei-chan! Kei-chan!” she soothed, hoping the child name would calm him some, “calm down, please!”

“Calm? How the hell can I be calm? I’ve got to spend the rest of my life having sex just to stay alive and sane? On top of that, I also have to worry about killing my bed partners. I can always go to the whores, of course. No one will care if they die by the truckloads!”

Keitaro collapsed into tears again. Haruka held him until he cried himself to sleep.

Shinobu was waiting outside the room when Haruka exited. Red eyes and puffy cheeks told the woman exactly what the girl had been doing all day. Hinata House had turned into a regular tear-fest today. Haruka giggled at the thought, then forced herself to stop.

“Sorry Shinobu,” she apologized to the girl, “I gotta laugh to keep from falling apart at the hinges.” Haruka giggled a few more times.

“Is Sempai okay?” the girl asked, patent worry on her face.

Haruka had to think about the question. Much as she would never lie to Shinobu, she didn’t think the full explanation would reassure the girl. Best to just dance around the truth. For now.

“Physically, he’s fine. But, last night was very hard for Kei-chan. I think for now it’s best just to let him sleep.”

The girl nodded. Together they went back downstairs. Haruka, despite Shinobu usually doing this sort of thing, made them both some tea. The younger girl took meager sips, staring at the tabletop.

Which was fine with Haruka, as she had some thinking of her own to do. Keitaro might not fancy the idea of finding a ‘pressure valve,’ but his aunt knew the importance. Haruka learned a long time ago that denying desires didn’t work. It only made them poison and fester. All a person could do was to try and express their desire in a healthy manner.

So what did that mean? She was no expert, but Keitaro might be right; one girl might not survive him. And that left either a long train of hollow one-night stands or a harem. Both ideas were distasteful to Haruka. She’d had enough of the former to know they solved nothing and tore you apart in the end. And the thought of women as property made her want to chew nails and spit tacks.

So she remained sitting there, both she and Shinobu staring at the table, drinking in the same room but by no means drinking together.
They were still there when Naru, Su, and Mitsune returned home.

“We couldn’t find him,” Mitsune reported. Naru might have said it, but based on appearances, the girl was in her own private hell.

“He’s here. In his room.” Haruka understood why Shinobu said that, but didn’t feel that the situation would improve any. She was soon proved right.

“That… That… That… That JACKASS!” roared Naru. “That stupid, perverted moron. We were out all freakin’ day looking for his sorry butt, and he’s here the entire time!” Haruka didn’t bother to correct the girl as Naru was already aiming for the stairs.

She settled for halting Naru by grabbing her wrist. She met the girl’s fiery gaze tit for tat. “However shitty your day was, I can promise you that Keitaro’s was ten thousand times worse. And if you think you’re about to go up there and bully my nephew while he’s recovering, you better think twice. Try it, and you’re on the street!
“Keitaro will see us when he’s good and ready. Not before. And when he does come down, you will treat him with courtesy and respect, if you can’t manage a caring mindset. Do you understand that?”

Naru appeared not to stopped hearing halfway through Haruka’s rant. “Kei-kun’s hurt?”

“No, but he’s beat inside like he just found out the Devil is his father and he was Adolf Hitler in a past life.

“We’re lucky he came home at all.” Haruka didn’t think she was lying about that.


Moteuchi Yota stepped out of the changing room, towel draped over his shoulders. The girl he… ‘met’ on the train was there outside, sitting on the sofa. Her blonde hair fell in wet strings around her Japanese face. Two eyes, one blue, one brown, raised up to meet his own.

He walked over and sat down beside her. “So, uh, well, I think” His hemming and hawing fell flat, trailing off.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! He’d just… THAT with her, and here he was losing his voice trying to talk to her. Thoughts of Moemi came up, but Yota pushed them back down. Now was not the time to get mopey! He needed to THINK for God’s sake! But this whole mess was just so freakin’ stupid! He’d lost his virginity in an orgy on the loopline!

“Kanzaki Urumi.”

“Huh?” Yota snapped out of his funk. “What did you say?”

“That’s my name: Kanzaki Urumi,” she said, a light blush rising to her cheeks.

“Moteuchi Yota.” Saying that made the boy feel even worse. They hadn’t even known each other’s names! This was a fiasco. “So, uhh… Now what do we do?”

Her eyes narrowed at him. “You want a repeat of earlier?”

Yota completely missed the teasing note in her voice. He blushed cherry red, and commenced to panicking.

He continued denying the insinuation until Urumi cut him off with a hand over his mouth. “I was kidding,” she said through a sarcastic expression, “You don’t have to have a heart attack.”

Yota got a handle on his panic, willing his heart back to normal speeds. That still left him with a rather uncomfortable erection. He hoped it wasn’t obvious.

“Well, uh, where do you go to school?” Boy, was that a stupid question.

Apparently, Urumi agreed with him. She graced Yota with an incredulous look. “We snogged each other’s brains out not half an hour ago and you want to do introductions?”

“I’m sorry, I’m a little new at this.”

The girl just buried her forehead in her hand. “Holy Forest Academy, third year of junior high.”

“Just a year under me,” he said after some thought. “Meiritsu High, first year.”

Silence pressed in on them.

“Your parents aren’t about to come home are they?” she wondered. “I’m really not looking forward to trying to explain why I’m sitting here in a towel.”

Yota could agree with the sentiment. “No, no one’s gonna barge in. Dad practically lives at the office, and well…” he trailed off from mentioning his mother.

“I see.” Yota looked askance at Urumi after her comment. After a minute, he decided that she really did understand.

“What about your parents?” Yota asked after he thought about it.

“My darling mother has probably heard about the rail lines breaking down. If I could borrow your phone?”

Yota nodded and motioned Urumi to follow him to the kitchen. There, the girl set to work.

“Mother?” she questioned into the receiver, “Did you hear about the rails?” Something was said on the other end that mad Urumi’s expression turn cold. “No, I can’t make it home. Oh, all right. Okay. Bye.”

“That’s it?” asked Yota when she hung up. “She didn’t want to know if you were okay, where you were, any of that?”

Urumi told him flatly. “No.”

“What kind of mother is she?” he wondered aloud.

“The kind that goes to a sperm bank because she wants a genius daughter to show off to her friends.”

Yota wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He was horrible at expressing emotions. And he knew damn little about helping other’s problems. Hell, he couldn’t even fix his own. Finally, he just asked if she wanted some water.

They sat there, sipping the mineral water, while trying to make small talk. And failing miserably.

“Moteuchi…er, Yota?” she asked in a whisper. “Can I stay here tonight?”


Night. It seemed that night was always the time when the Senshi encountered their worse opponents. From that frightening first time for Sailor Moon, to the utter disaster during the battle with the homunculus. This time was no exception. But this time, they could not wail on their opponent until the enemy gave up and died. This time, they had to negotiate. Something they’d never been forced to conduct before.

At least, these were Jupiter’s thoughts as they bounded along the rooftops. The short, ugly little man with the clawed hands and the red hat hustled along the alleys below, leading them onward to his queen.

Mercury was the first to notice the little man. Unknown energy pattern registering on the Mercury Computer. They dispatched, but memories of the homunculus made them cautious. What they encountered was the nasty little creature whom Venus called a ‘red cap.’
Whatever that was.

It, or he, carried a white banner. The only reason the man was even alive right now was because Neptune recognized the meaning of the banner. Parley. Negotiation. Peace talks. It confused Jupiter, who disliked politicking and positively made Uranus snarl.

The red cap pointed them to a quiet café, nearly emptied this late at night. Emptied of human patrons, that is. Mercury reported that nearly all of those assembled at the café were of inhuman origins. Eight slender, bishonen men dressed in gilded armor, and eight rough, brutish thugs in leathers.

The woman seated in the center of the patio, tall and thin, fair of face, rose to greet them. “Well met, Sailor Senshi. I am Lady Rosefewyn of the Unsidhe Court. I have come to speak with you, as terms of parley, to discuss matters that out-weigh us alone."

Jupiter didn’t understand any of that, but got the idea that the Senshi were way in over their collective heads.

“I have the most experience at negotiations of our number,” she heard Neptune claim. “I will handle the matters of diplomacy, but I can not answer for our Princess.”

Lady Rosefewyn nodded her head, sending waves rippling down her long blonde hair. “That is fine. If ever you need privacy to consult with your leader, we shall provide.”

“Agreed, but it would be in our best interests to conclude these matters as quickly as politeness allows. Our conversation here may come under public scrutiny.”

“Understandable,” Rosefewyn pronounced. “Before we come to the true heart of the matter, we would like to apologize most sincerely for the homunculus. I will not pretend it was an accident, or some misunderstanding between your people and mine, but it is imperative we put it behind us.”

Jupiter watched Neptune nod thoughtfully. “We had heard the Unsidhe Court dealt in homunculi. But we are far more concerned with the creature that killed your homunculus.

“Physically, it resembled a male human, with pale skin and dark hair. It wore a mantle of what appeared to be raven feathers, and a black cloak. Our spiritualist reports that the creature emitted an aura of sexuality and aggression.”

“Your spiritualist is correct,” Rosefewyn agreed. “The Hiasin has long known of their existence. They are loathed by all the Hiasin, even by the more debase spirits.

“They are called the manasili by us. If they have a name for themselves, or if so, what it is, we neither know nor care. They are beasts of rape, worse than any act humans or even those of the Hiasin can achieve. Each individual is nearly unstoppable, possessing great power, power that only rises in potency with each defilement.

To put it in perspective, when last these beasts were seen in the Hiasin was in the time of my grandmother. Two, only two, were able to force themselves upon the Sidhe Court. They cracked the grand castles of Fenemar, struck down the men and violated the women.

“They raised an army of thralls and sent it to crash against the gates of other realms. But when the thrall army was slaughtered and the fortress of the manasili ransacked, the beasts were gone. The soldiers of the Unsidhe Court found only one survivor: A maid named Usuivyn. She was wracked with the pains of afterbirth, but her mind was strong.

“Usuivyn recited a terrible tale. She spoke of racks of women held prisoner, raped many, many times a day. All became great with child. But the manasili beasts were not satisfied. They gobbled up the babies they found insufficient, tearing them straight from the mother’s womb. Usuivyn survived because she bore the only child not found wanting.”

Jupiter was appropriately horrified. She heard a retching sound, and looked over to see Mercury attempting to keep her gorge down. The Outers stared with intense looks at nothing in particular.

“Why on Earth would they do something like that?” Jupiter couldn’t keep from blurting.

Rosefewyn rounded on her. “Because they are monsters. Our scholars tell us that up unto that point, the manasili never actively tried to mix their line with any other race. Mongrels before then were always accidental and always executed.”

“A child!” exclaimed Moon.

“A child of beasts more foul than any. Attempts were made by some to properly raise the mongrels, but always they followed in the footsteps of their wicked fathers. It is off topic, but after the mongrels were found to be impossible to save, Vyton the Sword raised a crusade against them. There are none of the manasili line remaining in the Hiasin.

“To return, the best our scholars could decipher is that the manasili desired some quality in the fae blood to enhance their own line. We have only recently discovered why. It is because the manasili desired a half-flesh, half-spirit child.”

“Explain, if you please,” prompted Neptune.

“The greater the spirit, the harder it is to cross into the world of flesh. Fae may do it easier than others, because we were once flesh and became spirit. Ghosts remain because their will is so great that they cannot easily pass into the world of spirit. Minor spirits may come and go relatively as they please, but neither ghosts nor spirits may effect the flesh to any great degree. Greater spirits may possess flesh, and even work wonders with it, but always, they must have flesh.

“By the same token, a human finds their way barred if they attempt to enter into the Hiasin. Not impassable, but quite difficult. And many enough humans have problems simply peering into the Hiasin, much less sending their minds into it.
“But for a creature that is both flesh and spirit, travel is easy. Even more so, they influence both worlds just as easily. And magic may not banish them from either.”

“I believe I understand. The manasili with the fae for a parent might find it easier to come to this world, because they are partly physical,” thought Mars.

“But that would mean…” Mercury trailed off. And turned very, very pale.

“That is true. It is our belief the mongrel manasili mixed its line with a human woman.”

The Senshi were silent at that. Finally, Jupiter decided to speak up. “Why exactly are you telling us all this.”

“The Sidhe Court is still licking its wounds from long ago. Others of the Hiasin have closed their borders and their dens, thinking only of protecting themselves. Some even laugh at the threat of the manasili. I do not. My grandmother told me of the horrors of Fenemar and Usuivyn many times, until I can recount the tales in my sleep. I have met Usuivyn, who bares the scars of those villains to this day.

“But above all, I am a woman. I believe you know what that means.”

Lady Rosefewyn met the eyes of the Senshi, one by one. Personally, Jupiter found herself looking away from that gaze.

Rosefewyn continued. “I would have gone to the Joketsuzoku, but they were slaughtered by the Phoenix People. I would have found the mortal Saotome Ranma. But he died in battle against the phoenix god-king Saffron. I even would have begged assistance from Saffron himself, pledging my loyalty and my lands, if only he would aid me. But he was slain by the mortal Saotome Ranma.

“The devil hunter clans are scattered to the winds. There are no allies for Rosefewyn other than the Sailor Senshi.”

“Agreed. You have our support.”

“Princess!” Uranus and Mars hissed in tandem. The other Senshi only stared at Moon for her sudden, unexpected, and whole-hearted agreement to a vague alliance.

“It’s as she says,” Moon declared, “She is woman.” Mars tried to speak, but Moon whirled on her. “How can you even consider disagreeing? You were the one who felt that thing better than any of us. And don’t try to act like it wasn’t anything; we all saw how shook up you were.”

Moon began speaking to all of the Senshi. “You all felt how frightening that thing was. This woman is asking us for our help, and by God, we could use some help ourselves!”

Venus seemed to think about it. “All right, let’s bury the hammock.”

Rosefewyn chuckled, bringing attention back to her. “If you mean ‘bury the hatchet,’ then I am agreed.”

“Right then,” Uruanus mused, “Do you know where the manasili is?”

“Not its location,” allowed Lady Rosefewyn. “But, we know it lives with in walking distance of… ‘Hinata Station’ I believe is the name.”

Mercury tacked on her computer. In a few minute’s time, she got a result. “That would put it in or around the Hinata Ward.”

“A long distance from our,” Jupiter stopped, not wanting to say ‘homes.’ “…base of operations.”

“Well enough. We must spy on it longer. We have not yet formulated a plan of attack. And headlong assaults tend not to work on manasili.”

“I suggest we all see what we can find out,” opined Mars. “Let’s discuss a regular meeting place and time. To best pool our resources.”

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Author's Notes: No sex in this chapter. Aw, i got carried away writing the stuff with Rosefewyn anyway.

i'm trying to get away from describing everything that happens around Keitaro from his point of view. i'm thinkin' maybe an introspective scene from Kei's POV, then a "Don't fuck with me," reaction from him against one of the Hinata girls from their POV.

Oh, and it's back to school in another week, so posts'll probably be even rarer than they have been.