Spirit Hunters
Chapter One
First Posted 25th January 2005
Revised 9th July 2006
Revised 9th September 2006 by Hiryo
Pre-read by Hiryo.
Authors Note:
This is set at a random time anywhere in the series after the main characters have arrived.
Disclaimer:
Ranma 1/2 and all associated characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi.
Enjoy!
The house had been abandoned for a long time. The streetlights in front highlighted the windows that had been boarded over. A short crumbling concrete fence, which bordered it, hadn't stopped the vandals that had spray-painted gang logos and pointless symbols over its windows and walls. A thick overgrown garden surrounded the house, never mind a lawnmower a flame-thrower would be more useful clearing it.
The house was the typical kind that kids make up stories about, 'there's a witch in there,' or 'a werewolf lives in the basement.' But in fact, there was absolutely nothing wrong with the old house since it had been boarded up. No mighty magic cute teen force was going to be able to find any ghosts in this building.
It had just been caught in the middle of legal wrangling when a will was brought in front of the courts and it had been forgotten; who exactly owned it had passed out of the memories of those families living on the street.
It was past midnight, the sky's clear, the street lights lit up the pavement and if anything moved, it would have been clearly seen. This is not the setting for a scary story it lacks the dark depressing background serious readers demand.
A man walks down the street; he is quickly striding along with his arms filled with bulging plastic bags. The man wears a baggy black windbreaker and a scarf that covers most of his face. He is overdressed for the warm summer weather. A gentle summer breeze causes his hair to move, he looks perfectly normal.
Walking down the brightly lit street the man comes to a halt in front of the abandoned building, with a quick look around he jumps the fence into the yard. The plastic bags drag on the over grown plants leaving a dark trail behind them and he's forced to push his way through the hip high weeds. When he reaches the backdoor and finds it propped open, he quickly enters.
Now there was something wrong with the house.
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Ranma had been punted once again into LEO and through repeated trips, it wasn't really hurting like it use to. The walk back could be a drag. At least this way he could get a really good tour of Tokyo. Maybe he could suggest that to Akane, ''LEO tours' see Tokyo from the air and get acquainted with its many pavements.' A side benefit of the LEO meant that it would take at least another hour before anyone caught up with him.
Ranma had heard somewhere that Tokyo air control had cleared the air space over Nerima after too many pilots had come back with stories of flying people and the last straw was apparently a giant flying yeti thing, which the last pilot swore had tentacles.
Walking back to Nerima slowly Ranma was passing through a residential area, he could hear some one running up behind him, they didn't sound very fit and the heavy wheezing was loud. Stepping quickly to the far side of the footpath, the jogger managed somehow to trip over his own feet trying to dodge Ranma who had already moved and ended up with a perfect swan dive into the concrete.
Ranma winced at all the memories it brought back. "Oh are you all right?" Ranma reached down with a helping hand to lift the clumsy runner.
"Yeah, yeah," the boy who didn't look any older than he did shrugged off Ranma's hand. "It was my mistake I tend to kiss the cement a lot."
Standing in front of Ranma was a stocky boy, he wore jeans and an old black t-shirt with 'Hard Work never killed anyone but why chance It.' written on the front. His short black hair looked life it hadn't been washed in a few days and it was sticking up in tuffs.
Ranma, well we all know what he looks like, just stared at the boy. "Hi, my name's Ranma, and well, can I ask why you were running like the hounds of Heck were after you?"
Dragging a hand through his hair the boy sighed, "Okay, um my name's Ger and I really have to be going now."
In the distance, Ranma could now hear the shouts of what sounded like several disgruntled people to say the least, he could just hear on the wind, ". . . we're going to skin the freak . . . ." ". . . little b000 . . . ." It was getting closer and closer.
"Here I can give you a hand to lose those guys if you want?" Ranma asked Ger.
Ger had already shown his total lack of dexterity and figuring that anything was better than the idiots that following him, nodded his head. "That would be great. I don't really want those morons to catch up with me."
Ranma put an arm around Ger's middle and took a flying jump onto the roof of the house they had been standing before.
Ger just stood on the roof with a mild case of shock "You . . . you... what the . . . ."
Ranma held a finger to his lips and Ger stopped talking.
From around the streets corner five older teens appeared running down they paved street never looking up because none could imagine their prey would be able to climb a ladder let alone jump 4 meters on to the roof of a house.
Once the teens have run to the end of the block Ranma turned to Ger and asked him. "Do you have anywhere in particular you want to go. I have a bit of free time on my hands and I'm wondering why those guys were chasing you."
Ger grinned; he had escaped the idiots chasing him and was happy for the moment. "Sure, it's the least I could do. If we go to my place I can make sure, they haven't trashed anything. I'll tell you there." Ger was balanced on the crest of the roof but at that moment, a sudden gust of wind caught the boy off balance and Ranma could only watch him tumble down the roof and off the edge. "AHHHRRGGHH!" . . .Thump . . . .
Ranma sweat dropped. "Woops."
After checking Ger and making sure no important bones were broken, the boys walked back to Ger's apartment. While they walked, they both talked about the normal things people talk about in Tokyo.
"I heard there have been some more monster attacks in Juuban."
"Yeah, I don't understand why anyone would move into that area."
"Sure, you just go out and the next thing you know you're monster food."
"Must be a pain in the arse."
"It's like those American horror movies as soon as you do anything they attack."
"I heard that Nerima district is just as bad, with heaps of weird Martial Artists." Ger was forced to stop walking while Ranma picked himself up from his facefault. "Umm yeah it must be really weird to have nutty Martial Artists everywhere."
Ranma scratched the back of his head. "Well that's funny 'cause I am of those weird Martial Artists from Nerima."
Ger just stares as Ranma "That explains the amazing ability to jump onto that roof. You know you maybe able to help me with something."
And as always Ranma acts before he thinks . . . Okay."
Shortly after this Ger stoped outside a small three-story coffee shop. He pulled out a set of keys. "Here we are, my family owns a small chain of these shops, and my parents gave this one to me to run. It's supposed to teach me responsibility. I was out getting some groceries when the jerks caught me."
Inside it was only a small one room. The posters covered the walls for various movies and music events. Six little tables ran upsides of the shop to the counter; a large coffee machine sat in pride of place and next to it was a glass case filled with cakes, biscuits, and slices.
Ranma's attention focused completely on the large chocolate black forest gateau that sat in the middle of the case. It was very large and the chocolate icing gleamed under the shops lights; you could smell the cherry liquor that it had been drenched in. A strange growling noise started to echo in the small store. "Ger, umm do ya think I might have a bit of that cake, you know . . . just a little bit."
Ger stared in worry at Ranma's stomach, which was drowning out the sound of the nearby traffic. "Ranma, why don't I make us a coffee and get us something to eat, and then I can talk about those morons who were chasing me. We can celebrate the fact those jerks didn't smash any windows."
Ranma nodded his head quickly and wiped the drool that had formed off his chin.
Once they were sitting down at one of the tables Ranma attacked the piece of cake he had been given.
"Okay well, I really should start at the beginning. For a while, now some one or thing has been attacking people in this district it hasn't been seen by anyone but everyone around here is jumping at shadows. It takes the smallest prompting and idiots like the ones who chased me are all set off on a wild goose chase."
"Ummgh. This is really good cake did you make it?"
Ger stopped explaining as Ranma talked with his mouth full. "Ahh, no my Mum makes the cakes she delivers them to all the stores, but I did make some of the other things it's a family tradition I couldn't get out of learning how." Ger shook his head. 'Anyway, this thing has been attacking people and last night they found a dead hitchhiker. They say that it was like some animal had chewed on it. The reason those twits were running after me was because my family has this history of being weird and it doesn't take much for those morons to put two and two together and get twelve." Ger had made himself a pot of green tea and finished it while he watched Ranma finish eating.
"So, how can I help you? 'Cause it's the duty of a Martial Artist to help those that can't help themselves."
Ger smiled. "Well, you see if you could find out whatever has been attacking people I would be really grateful and I'm sure I can talk my Mum into making up one of those cakes you seem to like."
Ranma didn't take any time to think as his stomach reached up his throat and used his vocal cords. "Sure it's my duty as a Martial Artist. Do you know anything else about what is happening?"
Ger walked to the back of the store taking some of the dirty dishes with him, "I have some stuff I found out of the net back here." Ger came back with a manila folder and a glass of water for himself. The green tea had been good but after the run, he really needs a drink of cold water.
Of course, fate watched this and decided to stick his foot in, directly into the path of Ger's feet. As it has been shown, Ger doesn't have the best hand eye coordination and the glass of water took a short flight through the air forming a graceful arc, which ends up in Ranma's lap.
The now female Ranma sighs and stutters, "I.. .I ..can explain, could you just get me a glass of cold water and one of hot?"
Ger put the folder on one of the tables and returned with the requested water.
"There is this cursed training ground in China, and you know I'm a Martial Artist . . . well my Pop took me on a training trip for a while and went there. This place works like this. If you fall into on of the springs, you turn into whatever first drowned in it. In my case a girl." Ranma picks up the hot water, "cold water turns me into a girl hot water turns me back."
Ger has sat back down at the table and stares at Ranma. "Cool, umm I may not have been that truthful myself." Getting up from the table Ger makes sure that the front window of the shop are covered by the shades and no one can see in. "When I said that my family is known for being weird. You see there is a reason that every one thinks we are strange . . . we're all Rokurokubi."
Ranma just sits there slightly damp. "A what?"
Ger sighs. "You know a hundred years ago you didn't have to explain what I am. People just knew what a Rokurokubi was. Okay, Rokurokubi, well we obviously look just like humans but we're not. We don't do anything evil maybe pull a few tricks or something; we love frightening people."
Ranma looked puzzled. "If you look human, how do you scare people?"
"Okay, like this." Ger's neck stretches until it is two meters long and his face changed, his eye's bulged out growing big and round, his tongued stuck out reaching a foot and his skin turned red. "Boo!"
Ranma jumped back and fell off his chair. "Okay, so you're not human, some how my curse doesn't look that weird next to this."
Ger changed back to his normal appearance and draged his hand back through his hair. "We don't want to hurt anyone, it's just so tempting to scare people, but it's hard in the cities. We resort to frightening drunks and blind people it's not the same as the old days. Since these attacks started, I keep getting the feeling that something unnatural is connected to it. All the people who have been attacked have had some connection to the other world."
Ranma, while Ger has poured his story out, had started licking his plate "I've meet some really weird stuff, ghost, temple spirits, and other strange things a little bit more weirdness doesn't hurt. As long as I still get the chocolate cake if I help you, I'm ready."
Ger's happy, it's been a long time since a human knew about his family's secret and Ranma hadn't reacted as he thought he would. If he has a good idea of the supernatural, he will have a better handle on what ever is attacking people. Ger pried the clean plate out of Ranma's grasp and carried it through to his kitchen.
Ranma followed him grabbing the folder as he passed it. A picture of Genma and Soun appears in Ranma's mind. "I know of a couple of drunks that are just asking to be scared."
"Hey, I'm all up for scaring them. I haven't done a proper scare in months because of these attacks."
Ranma followed Ger up to the apartment. Ranma found a small sitting room with a table, comfy chair sitting in front of a T.V, sound system, and game center. "Oh right, you have some cool games here."
Some of the posters that are on the walls downstairs are spread over the walls up here and a window open out to the street below. Two doorways lead off on the left and right.
Ger gestured at Ranma to chuck the folder on the table and they both sat down. Pulling open the folder there are a series of photos they are the cheap digital kind and the detail is fuzzy, underneath them are a small pile of what looks like official documents with the words police and crime report written at the top. There wasn't much in the folder. Ger spread it over the table. "I really couldn't find much I was just thinking if I knew more I might be able to, some how help. Nothing but my gut says that there is some thing supernatural about them but I just know some thing isn't right."
The photos showed what at first looked like a collapsed mannequin covered in tomato sauce, as Ranma looked closer he could make out the details and it turned into a very 'dead' corpse. Closing his eyes Ranma shifted the victim's photos away. "How the hell did you get a hold of those?"
Pushing the photos underneath the folder Ger sighs. "You know how there are some strange people out there, well the photos were on one of those web sites that has cadaver shots and death certificates. When I did a search about the attacks these came up. Someone had taken some photos of the attack before the cops turned up." Ger pointed to something Ranma didn't notice yet. "I think that it shows that the victim didn't have any time to react before he was attacked it took him by surprise."
Ranma takes another look at the photos he can't see anything. "You know I think it's going to have to be two cakes at this rate."
Ger points at a tiny bit of white next to the body. "I had a quick look at this under a microscope and it's a cigarette but it has been put out by the blood it seems they guy was just taking a break and was attacked right there."
Ranma pulls the police reports Ger had some how got his hands on and scans them. A lot of words he doesn't understand are scattered throughout the paperwork. "What do these mean?"
Ger drags his hand back through his hair and sighs. "Well basically they describe some of the attacks that have been happening locally. Most talk of being hit by something and being knocked out they wake up soon after someone comes along and stops who ever attacked them. When they wake up there are usually cuts and bruising but nothing serious until this attack."
Ranma looks at the official papers. "I think I know someone who can help us find some information about what has been happening, she will want to be paid but if you bring some of that cake I think she will cut down the price."
Ger is reluctant to spread his problem around. "Look Ger, you need more than my help I have no idea about supernatural creatures as you know and this girl Nabiki will be able to get all the info that you need."
Ranma puts the photos and papers back into the folder. "Look if I take these she can get started looking for something and we can meet up with her tomorrow. Maybe I should take some of that cake with me to show how good it is? Maybe three pieces in case she needs convincing."
Ger grinned, and got up from his table. "If you think she can keep a secret I'm sure I can spare some cash if it keeps me from having my head beaten in by those idiots." Walking back down to the shop Ger pulled out takeaway box and put a couple slices of cake and some biscuits into it. "Here I'm pretty sure you'd like another piece of cake and if you can help me with this I'll be really grateful."
Ranma gratefully takes the small box and sets up a meeting with Ger the next day after work with Nabiki.
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From outside the shop a man who has been keeping an eye on Ger's shop watched Ranma leave, he didn't move, merely watching.
Authors Note:
Revised Note 09/07/06
I was looking back through my old stories and found this one. I had trouble reading my own words, so I have gone back and corrected some problems but have kept others because this is an old favorite of mine.
Hopefully, I will be able to finish this story before I get distracted . . . Again.
Original Authors Note
This story includes creatures from Japanese folklore they are all real creatures and information about them can be found at several web sites and books. What information I provide about them I hope is right if I get some things wrong please tell me and I will fix it. This is set at a random time anywhere in the series after the main characters have arrived.
I find the folklore of everywhere interesting and I just wanted to see what would happen when Ranma comes across some of the creatures from his own country, because they are great fun. I got my information about the Japanese folklore from in an article on the web by Sarah Davis.
If any one is willing to give up their valuable time to proofread, I would be really grateful.
Any response will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for reading this.
If you like this, read my other story 'Wild Wolf'.