Beep… Beep… Beep… Be-BAM!
A soft grown emitted from under the blanket covering someone, a slender arm extended from underneath the covers, a small looking hand covered the top of the electric alarm clock to the left of the bed on a night stand. Morning light filtered into the room through the window to the right of the bed. The person underneath the covers pushed herself up tiredly.
"Too early…"
The girl stared out of the window wearily staring at the birds chirping as they stand on the power lines that run over the streets. Rubbing her brown eyes of sleep, the girl stood herself up beside the bed, lazily scratching her head further messing up her already messy hair which flared out in every single direction, and stretched her left arm above her head while her right hand held on to her left elbow.
"I still can't believe I managed to get into Waseda University…" The girl scratched her head again, "Oh my GOD! I need to get ready and I haven't even taken a shower yet!" The girl looked at her clock and sighed, "Wait… I don't have classes till the afternoon."
Smiling cheerfully to herself and berating herself for her absentmindedness, the girl walked out of her room and headed right into the bathroom closing the door behind her.
"Izanami! Are you awake yet Izanami?"
The girl poked her head out from the bathroom, "I'm awake father! Just taking a quick shower!"
"Well, don't take too long, or else you'll have to ride your bicycle to school!"
The girl huffed and quickly closed the door behind her. "Well, it's better to be bored than it is to be tired." Izanami grinned to herself before taking off her pajama top.
A Ranma fic without any Ranma ½ characters in the intro by me…
Please save my heart from darkness
Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½ or any of it's characters or concepts or... whatever, but all original characters I own and if they in any way resemble any other character... well... screw them, not my fault!
Izanami stared out the window of the car as the buildings of Shinjuku whizzed by, "Father…"
"Yes?"
"Are you going to eat dinner with me tonight?"
A sad sigh sounded, "I'm sorry, the paper work I'm getting these days are overwhelming, I didn't get home last night till three…"
The girl shook her head, "It's ok, not like I can't take care of myself."
Izanami's father smiled, "I know, why don't we go out for dinner on Sunday, we still haven't celebrated you getting into Waseda U."
Izanami blushed, "I'd like that…"
"Well don't embarrass yourself too much." Her father said jokingly as he pulled his car into the University parking lot.
"DAD!" Izanami pouted and pushed open the car door roughly before putting on a teasing smile, "I'm more worried about you. After all, you're at the age where you start forgetting things."
Her father gave her a wiry look, "You behave yourself."
"Yes father…" The girl said rolling her eyes.
The father chuckled and watched his daughter walk towards the University, taking everything in.
Before tripping and landing on her face.
The father was about to walk out of the car to help her daughter but a young man, with a pigtailed hair style, wearing a pair of blue jeans and a white shirt, was already beside her helping her up.
"Looks like he's here too…" The father whispered to himself, "Best I don't show myself…"
Izanami blushed furiously as she pushed herself into a sitting position while clutching her nose, "That was SO embarrassing…"
"Hey…"
Izanami looked up and saw a guy extending his hand towards her. Taking his offered hand, Izanami let herself be pulled up by the man, "Thank you."
The man picked up her bag and handed it to her before turning away dismissively, "Just watch your step the next time you walk."
The girl watched as the man walk off slinging his pack over his shoulder, "That was weird…"
"You said it…"
Izanami jumped in fright and turned around, "Who are you!"
A guy wearing a plain grey shirt and khaki pants grinned, "Asai Kano, just call me Kano though, I hate formalities."
"Watanabe Izanami" Izanami said bowing slightly, "But what where you saying about…"
Kano nodded, "Yeah, that was weird…"
"What do you mean, Kano-san?"
Kano sighed, "Well, let's just say that Saotome-san over there doesn't usually gives a rat's ass about anything, period. I'm surprised he even talked to you."
Izanami blushed, "Well, I guess he's just being nice, I mean, wouldn't you help someone if they tripped?"
"Watanabe-san…"
"Just Izanami is fine."
"Right… Izanami, that guy wouldn't be nice even if he was suddenly possessed by a spirit of unusual niceness." Kano said before blushing, "That was stupid wasn't it?"
"That was…" Izanami giggled.
"I've never seen you around, are you new?" Kano asked curiously.
"Actually, I am. I just got in for the art's program." Izanami said
"Hmm, you want me to show you around? I don't have any classes until three o'clock." Kano said with a sigh, "Why do I even bother coming so early…"
"Well I don't have classes until one o'clock," Izanami said, "I wanted to look around the campus so I can get used to this. It's so much bigger than my senior high school."
"I sure hope so. If this is smaller than your senior high school, I'll be scared." Kano said jokingly, "Well if you just follow me, I'll give you the grand tour of Waseda University."
Izanami suppressed her mirth as Kano proceeds to lead her into the University and at the same time complaining about the school.
"So you're in the Art's program?" Kano took a bit out of his sandwich as himself and Izanami sat within a small café near the University, "You look more of a sporty type than the artsy type."
"I do?" Izanami said tilted her head to one side before answering, "Well, I use to do quite a bit of Kempo before I moved to Shinjuku with my father when he was transferred to the police department here."
"Kempo huh?" Kano said looking at the girl in front of him more intently, "Nope, still look like the sporty type, not the fighting type either, and definitely not the artsy type."
"What's that suppose to mean." Izanami said frowning slightly, "Are you saying I don't look like I can draw?"
Kano shook his head quickly and waved his hand in front of him defensively, "No no! Nothing like that! It's just that you have this active sporty look to you."
"Really?" Izanami blinked and took a sip out of her glass of juice, "I guess I was quite active when I was younger, but I enjoy painting and drawing more now."
"Can I see some of your work?" Kano asked eagerly and pointed to his companion's bag.
"Umm… I guess so." Izanami put down her cup and rummaged through her bag.
Kano watched in amusement as the girl frantically searched her bag for her drawing book, "Found it?"
Izanami looked up and gave Kano a hopeless look, "I forgot I put it in my other bag… And I have Art for my first class too!"
Kano sweatdropped, "There's an art store nearby, can't you buy your stuff from there?"
The girl shook her head in defeat, "I like using a certain type of paper, and they only sell those in a small shop in Nerima, that or I'll need to order some straight from the source…"
"I take back everything I've said… you ARE the artsy type." Kano said shaking his head, "Only artists can be picky about paper and pencils that they use."
Izanami glared at her companion, "I am not picky; I just have preferences."
"Right…"
"But seriously, I can't go back home and pick up my book now." Izanami groaned, "I didn't even begin my day in University and I'm already screwing up."
Kano chuckled, "I think we all felt like that when we first came here."
"Doesn't make me feel better…"
Izanami laid her head on her arms and sighed, "Geez… how am I supposed to take my art course now…"
A light tap on top of Izanami's head made her sat straight up and look side to side for the source. Kano stared with his mouth open as Izanami turned towards the source of the tap.
"This the book ya want?"
Izanami blushed and stared at the man that helped her up this morning. His hair, tied into a pigtail, laid on his shoulder. He wore his white dress shirt unbuttoned with a black muscle shirt underneath, tucked into his blue jeans.
"So?"
The girl quickly took the book from the man's hands and opened it, "yes…"
"Take it, don't need it, brought an extra by mistake."
"T-thank you… umm…"
The man flicked his pigtail from his shoulder casually and walked away, ignoring the thank you.
"I DO believe Saotome-san has finally snapped. That or he is trying to be less of an asshole." Kana said wiry
"He's not THAT bad is he?" Izanami said with a slight blush on her cheek while holding the sketch book she got, extremely bewildered.
"Trust me, if the rumors are true, you don't even want to talk to him." Kano said seriously.
"Rumors?"
Kano nodded, "Yeah, you know what happened in Nerima three years ago right; the one where some psycho killed his own fiancée and her family?"
Izanami nodded slowly, "My mother was… put into a coma because of that…"
"I'm… sorry…"
The girl shook her head, "It's ok, father and I are coping, but the doctors still don't know when she'll wake up."
"Yeah well… rumor has it that Saotome-san was involved in that somehow. Don't know the details, but people around says that he's somehow linked to the killer or something." Kano whispered.
Izanami gasped, "Are you sure?"
"Well, they're just rumors…"
The girl nodded and made a quick glace at the clock, "Wow, twelve forty-five already…"
Izanami did a double take, "TWELVE FORTY-FIVE! I'm going to be LATE!"
Kano blinked and watched the girl jump up from her seat.
"I'm sorry Kano-san, can you pay for my lunch, I promise I'll pay you back, thanks bye!"
A chuckle escaped Kano's mouth. "Man, I'm not dating her and I STILL need to pay for her lunch. I am serious; my luck with women is the worst…"
Izanami walked into her first class timidly scanning the classroom. Few people are scattered across the room, but mostly avoiding the center section of the room. Izanami raised an eyebrow at the peculiar seating pattern and took a random seat near the front towards the center.
Whispers echoed through the room making the girl wonder if she has made an error in choosing the seat. After a few minutes, Izanami was about to leave her seat due to the uncomfortable whispers, but the door opening once again interrupted her.
The man with the pigtail walked into the art room and walked straight towards her.
"Hey."
Izanami blushed, "Umm… hi?"
"I usually sit here, so can you not take that spot the next day?"
"Umm… I'll move, it's ok." The girl blushed bright red and started to move her utensils and sketch book but the pig tailed man placed his arm on her shoulder, stopping her.
"It's ok, no need for you to move, just saying, I'll just sit here today." He said taking the seat right beside Izanami.
Meekly nodding her head apologetically, Izanami faced the front of the room. Whispers once again broke out, but are quickly stopped as the professor walked into the room.
"Welcome to the Class, I hope you are all in the correct classroom so please check your schedules again to make sure…"
Izanami sighed for the umpteenth time, "That was so embarrassing…"
"What so embarrassing?"
Izanami jumped and turned around, "Oh hi Kano."
"Hello to you too." Kano greeted back with a grin, "So what happened?"
Izanami sighed once again, "I was in the same class as Saotome-san."
Kano nodded, "So?"
"I sat in his spot…"
"You know, when people avoid a certain part of the room like a plague when you walk into the room, you usually don't want to sit at that particular spot." Kano said logically and shook his head, "What on earth made you sit in the middle of a ring of other students?"
"Hey! How did you know?"
"It's the same with all the other classes he has for the past two years that I've been in the University." Kano said with a shrug.
"I don't know, it was close to the front, thought I'd sit closer so I could hear the teacher." Izanami said with a blush, "Didn't know HE would be there. Anyways, how would anyone know where Saotome would be anyways."
Kano chuckled, "That's a funny story actually, a bunch of programmers actually hack into the school schedule data base every year and post on a website where and when anyone goes to class, just need to e-mail them."
"Isn't that… illegal?"
"Yeah, but they aren't caught yet, so it doesn't matter."
"Have I mentioned that my dad is a police chief?"
Kano blinked, "Right… forget what I just said…"
Izanami giggled, "Right, right."
Izanami sighed out loud as she walked through a park. The sun is setting slowly, colouring the sky with a light orange color, but no one notices this as the buildings all around them hide the scene; that is, no one notices this but one man as he sat on a bench on the side of the path Izanami is walking on.
The girl stared at the man staring up at the sky and noticed his pigtail swaying lightly against the wind. It's that Saotome person…
As if picking up on the girl's thoughts, the man looked down and stared right into the girl's eyes.
"Umm… hi…"
The man ignored the greeting and stared back up into the orange sky.
Izanami frowned and sat herself down beside the man, "You know, it's rude to ignore someone when they say hi."
"So?"
Izanami blinked, "So? Aren't you going to apologize?"
The man snorted, "Look, why are you even sitting beside me? Isn't it considered impolite to butt in on someone like this without consent?"
"Look, I just want to thank you for everything today." Izanami said with a blush on her face.
"Don't worry about it Watanabe-san." The man said casually and stood up, "You should head back home, your father would be worried."
"H-how did you know my name."
"I know of you, mostly through your father." The man replied.
"Well, shouldn't you introduce yourself then? I mean, it's only polite."
The man shook his head in amusement, "You know, you're the only person who ever manage to talk to me for this long without blowing up on me somehow."
"Fine, if you don't-"
"Saotome, Saotome Ranma…" The man said suddenly and walked away.
"…"
"Ah, so you've met Ranma…" The police chief said as he ate a bowl of noodle in the living room. It's late at night already, and Izanami has waited for her father to come home to cook the bowl of noodle for him.
Izanami frowned at her father, "If you spill any soup on the living room, I'm not cleaning it up dad!"
A dismissive wave answered her, "Don't worry, I won't spill any."
"He was very rude…" Izanami said, a bit angrily.
"He's had a hard life." Her father replied.
"That's no excuse."
The elder Watanabe stopped eating and placed his chopsticks down on top of the bowl and sighed, "It is for him… he's not that bad a guy, he's just been in situations he couldn't control and not in his favor."
Izanami blinked at the cryptic answer, "So how did you get to know him? He doesn't look like he would hang out with an old man like you dad."
The elder Watanabe gave his daughter a dry look, "I'm not THAT old."
"Hey, I'm nineteen; you don't get to be young anymore. Plus, I don't think there's ever a police chief that's young" Izanami replied teasingly, "I'm going to bed dad, see you in the morning."
"Good night." Watching his daughter walk into her room, he closed his eyes and laid on the sofa, ignoring his bowl of noodles, "Saotome Ranma… you still blame yourself don't you…"
Izanami sighed as the end of the day comes, "That was SO boring."
The young women just left her class and met up with Kano who was lazing around the campus, waiting for his night class to start. The old boy pointed at the Japanese Literature text book and grinned, "You should've asked around about courses before you take them, five out of six profs teaching that course are slave drivers and the last one is insane."
Izanami sighed again, "Let me guess, you took this course before?"
Kano nodded, "Yep, dropped it on the second week."
"That is SUCH a waste of money." Izanami replied rolling her eyes.
"It's ok, I get scholarships to pay for it." Kano said casually and waved his hand dismissively.
"YOU scholarships?" The young women gave her companion a skeptical look, "Right..."
"Hey hey! You're talking to the top swimmer of the Waseda University you know!" Kano replied arrogantly, "You don't reach the top without getting SOME money!"
"So you're the fastest swimmer in the university?" Izanami stared at Kano dumbly, "You really don't look it."
"Well..." Kano's voice dropped to a small whisper, "Honestly... there's someone faster taking courses here, but for some reason he's not in the swim team. I guess I'm just lucky he isn't IN the team."
"Who?"
Kano looked around and pointed towards the exit of the university, "Who do you think?"
Izanami blinked and looked towards where Kano's finger led.
"Saotome, Ranma..."
Izanami sighed as she slowly walked back to her home. The day hasn't been nice to her. Already, her Japanese class has thrown a deluge of assignments at her and she still needs to cook dinner for herself. Her father won't be eating at home once again as his department is working on a certain case right now. Izanami has learnt long ago never to ask her father about the cases he works on, usually the elder Watanabe would just ignore the inquiry; but one time, he did answer and Izanami didn't dare to walk on the streets even with friends for a whole week after that.
The young women sighed again as her thoughts trailed back to the assignments she has to do due in a week, "Geez, I really am not fit to go to-"
A rough hand shot out from behind her and covered her mouth dragging her into a dark alleyway. Izanami opened her mouth to scream but her voice is muffled by the offending hand.
"Heh, quite a looker this time. Not like the last time."
Izanami's eyes widen in fear at the words. Once again, she tries to scream out loud, hoping someone will hear her.
"If you keep trying to scream like that, we'll have to knock you out lil' girl."
She tried to turn around to look at her captors, but she found herself pushed right against a wall of a building, "We can't have you looking at us now."
A rough piece of cloth is wrapped around her eyes, blinding her. Realizing her captor isn't covering her mouth anymore, Izanami cried out once again in hopes of rescue.
Sharp pain erupted from her cheek as her captors slapped her, "Did you forget my warning already bitch? I told you to shut up!"
Another piece of cloth is tied over her mouth, gagging her, "Heh, easiest money I've ever made."
Izanami felt tears forming in her eyes as her captors quickly tied her up.
"Don't you people know kidnapping went out of style ages ago?"
Still blinded and unable to speak Izanami curled up and huddled against a wall, trying to make herself as small as possible. Sound of violence surrounded her mixed with screams of pain. With every sound of fist meeting flesh, the girl winced praying that whoever won the fight would let her go.
Seemed like an eternity to Izanami since the fight began, but with a final meaty thud, everything became quiet. Footsteps sounded and grew louder with ever step. Izanami knew someone is coming.
She shivered.
Without warning, her blindfold and makeshift gag is removed.
"Don't worry, I'll get you home."
With that, Izanami fainted from fear and exhaustion only catching a glimpse of the blue eyes of her rescuer.
"...case are you on now?"
"I have to continue with this. This is the biggest case since... since... EVER! If this case goes through, a whole section of the Yakuza can be brought down and the big guys can't do anything about it."
"I suggest you stop while you're ahead Watanabe-dono."
"Saotome-kun, I'm already in too deep... it's my duty to end this now."
Izanami blinked owlishly and looked around.
"Iza-chan!"
The young women found herself being hugged tightly by her father, "Dad?"
"Thank god you're okay."
"Watanabe-dono, I'll be leaving now."
Izanami turned her head to find Ranma walking towards the door, "Wait!"
Ranma stopped and turned around to face Izanami, "Yeah?"
"Thank you..."
Ranma sighed, "Just doing what I have to do. Be careful, ask Kano to walk you home, I can't always be there to save you."
The pig-tailed man once again turned towards the door but is stopped by the elder Watanabe this time, "Saotome-kun!"
"I can't do what you ask Watanabe-dono, it's been too long." With that, Ranma exited the house leaving the father and daughter.
"What did you ask Saotome-san to do father?"
The police chief sighed and wrapped his arm around his daughter's shoulders protectively, "Saotome-kun is a very formidable martial artist, I have met him a few times when I was still working in Nerima."
Izanami nodded, trying to remember if she has seen him before.
"Right now, I'm working on a case..."
"Yakuza..." Izanami muttered, shivering slightly.
"Yes, the case is very delicate." Izanami's father sighed and strengthened his hug, "I guess he's been out of practice, I guess that make sense..."
"out of practice?"
"Yes, I was planning to ask him to be your bodyguard."
Izanami stiffened, "b-Bodyguard?" Implications of actually needing a bodyguard injected fear into the girl. Her body starts shaking violently as the memories of the attempted kidnapping of her flash through her mind.
"I'm sorry, we dug too deep. I thought it was only something small, but we dug too deep and now, all of us can't get back out."
"Oh god..."
The peaceful, cloudless night sky, decorated by the bright moon, covered the city filled with neon lights of Shinjuku. Before the month's end, something will happen in this busy city that would change many lives. At this time, not knowing what is to come, Izanami can only find comfort in her father as dark times loom over her family.
I have no idea what to make of this. When I first wrote this, I seemed really interesting, but as I wrote on, it seems more boring than I initially thought. Perhaps it's cause the plot haven't been developed enough yet, not enough action or drama or what not.
Another side project... crap, I need to concentrate... Anyways, I actually had to re-work the second act of Destiny of the Magi and wrote this to pass some time while I figure out what the hell I was thinking when I planned the second act. I figured I should post something to show people that I'm still well and alive (Even if some of you probably wants me to stop writing haha).
The kidnapping scene... I really had trouble conveying the feelings of terror. I'm bad at doing that I guess, I should stick with angst and drama huh? My hope is to learn how to write scenes like that a bit better, it'll make me more versatile I think... I think I did pretty good right up til the end where, I think, I was a bit out of my element. I'd love any suggestions and comments about the last parts for improvement.
Well, I estimate this to be around 5 chapters so plot should pick up very quickly and hopefully I'll have Destiny of the Magi sorted out before I manage to finish writing this fic...
Theres always hoping...
Well, comments? Suggestions? Flames? Death threats? All accepted! Just use the nifty comment thingy button down there and type away!