Ranma Saotome could feel his skin tighten as he walked down the narrow hallway. Funny, he didn't remember the school being so creepy; but then again, he usually didn't break in at night.
He sighed in relief as he reached the library door. Good, it was unlocked. He didn't want to have come all this way just to find out that he needed to find a different entrance.
"Is it locked, Ranma?"
He turned towards Ryoga and Mousse behind him, who held a bound and gagged Kuno. Kuno muttered in an angry muffled tone, attempting to break free from his bindings, but it wasn't working very well. Every time he squirmed, Mousse released another "hidden weapon" and pulled him back.
"No. Come on," Ranma said smoothly as he opened the door.
Ryoga and Mousse propped their captive up on a chair as Ranma pulled out a small case of mashed herbs. Kuno's eyes got big and he attempted to break free even more vehemently.
"Heh, the Anything-Goes-School-of-Martial-Arts Special Secret Tea will calm you down real quick," Ranma smirked.
"I hate to agree, but this is in the best interest for you, Kuno. You won't remember the information you find this way," Mousse added.
"AND, you're in special standing if you get caught having broken into the school, so WE won't get nailed for it." Ranma dipped the herbs in the hot water he had with him, stirring with a small set of chopsticks.
"Just remember that this is for Akane," Ryoga added sternly. This straightened Kuno up. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes.
"MMemm Miii Maamet My Mummmy mmimm Mmoommmooommm, Maaaommooomeee," He mumbled. Ranma figured it was something like "then I accept my duty with honor, Saotome." Either that or he was going to impale them all with spaghetti. Oh, well.
Ranma held the tea up under Kuno's nose as Mousse removed the gag. Kuno took a deep breath and drank the tea very quickly. The other three cringed; while powerful, the tea was not exactly delicious.
Kuno stopped drinking the tea, and his eyes quickly glazed over. Ranma grinned seeing that the tea still worked, and prepared to give the suggestions while Kuno's will was still open to them.
"You're spending the whole night doing research on the ancient Lofthouse Basement of this school. By morning, you will have exact details on how to rescue Akane."
Akane Tendo could never remember being so cold. Did anyone even know she was here? She thought that Ranma had been looking her way when she fell into the warphole, but now she wasn't so sure. Maybe he just thought she had run off, still being mad at him.
That Ranma. She had just found out that he had ANOTHER engagement of sorts. This one not even Mr. Saotome knew about, though this one was pretty bad. Turns out, Ranma was also engaged to some wandering girl who wanted to study Anything-Goes-Martial-Arts. The girl called herself "Chazuke," and carried with her a tea that Happosai had invented and abandoned years ago because he hadn't liked the flavor. When serving this Tea to Ranma while disguised as a free sample side attraction near a mall, she had activated its power of suggestion properties and had Ranma propose. Normally, Ranma would deny it, but she caught it on tape.
Come to think of it, Akane guessed that wasn't entirely Ranma's fault. But it just upset her so much that every time Akane turned around, Ranma had a new fiance to get in the way.
Not that she liked Ranma or anything like that. She just wished he would show some respect and decency to the Tendo Dojo.
Akane sighed, wishing she could shiver, but this place didn't allow it. "You will forever freeze without any way of escape; forever sees darkness, with no way to adjust or move. In the Lofthouse your body will freeze and shatter, without the comfort of the numbing normal cold provides. As time runs out for you, you will feel the pain of death that never dies." That's what the voice had said in perfect rhythm as she could feel herself falling forever into this endless darkness.
But Ranma always manages to save me, right? she thought to herself, her body feeling like it was freezer burned. If she did get out of here, would she not look like she had endured all this pain, or would the scars she could feel forming all disappear? One thing was for sure; if she got out, she was going to spend a week in a Hot Springs surrounded by as many lights as possible.
If she got out.
Passing casually by the library (or attempting to look casual, anyway) as she delivered her special cakes to a teacher in the building, Shampoo could see that obviously a lot of commotion was going on.
"RANMA SAOTOME!" she saw Upperclassman-Kuno yell, striking the air Ranma was previously occupying. "You will never have this successfully discovered bible of ancient fighting techniques and pick-up lines of which I, the great Tatewaki Kuno, have uncovered! Take THAT!"
Ranma was dodging easily, but Shampoo couldn't help but watch anyway as he gracefully darted through the shelves. "Look, Kuno, this is NOT what you were supposed to look for, rememb-- AAAH!" Ranma dashed beneath a table as a well-timed kendo-slash narrowly missed him.
"Why Ranma not fight back stupid man? What Ranma talking about, anyway?" she asked herself aloud.
"It seems the Anything-Goes-School-of-Martial-Arts Special Secret Tea had some unexpected effects on Kuno," Mousse said, having snuck out behind her.
Stupid duck. "What you talking about, Mousse?"
"Akane is trapped in some sort of 'Lofthouse' deep in the school grounds, and we tricked Kuno into doing some research, with the help of a tea that makes the drinker susceptible to anything the first voice near them tells them to do within a minute."
"Anything first voice say, huh?" Shampoo said as Mousse nodded. If Shampoo get hands on Tea, Shampoo make Ranma say he love Shampoo! "Hi-ya!" she shouted excitedly. In her moment of joy, Shampoo wrapped her arms around Mousse in a hug. "Mousse tell Shampoo who have tea, yes?"
Mousse blushed a deep shade of red. Shampoo...is... hugging me! "R--Ranma has it!" he confessed.
Shampoo grinned almost maniacally. "Mousse has made Shampoo have best day ever!" she laughed and jumped over the crowd, to land in a graceful flip between Ranma and Kuno.
"Ranma want Shampoo get information from stupid man?" she asked innocently.
"Shampoo?! What!? Get outta the way!" he snapped back.
"Suit self," she sighed, jumping out of the way and allowing Kuno to leave a good sized bump on Ranma's head. "If Ranma make deal with Shampoo," she said loudly as the two fought, "Shampoo make stupid man stop moving with one move so he tell Ranma how to save Akane." It no matter. When Shampoo give Ranma tea, Ranma forget all about stupid Akane!
How bad could one deal be? Ranma thought. He caught Shampoo's eyes as he dodged. Then again, it IS Shampoo we're talking about here. "What deal did you have in mind?"
"Ranma just promise to give Shampoo everything in pockets and problem solved," she said smoothly. Well, smoothly as a Chinese Amazonian can say when speaking Japanese she's not used to.
That's not too bad a deal... but it's not like Shampoo to be interested in material things... better be careful in this one. "Only if Sham--er, you, promise not to interfere in the follow-through of what Kuno has to tell me!" Ranma grabbed Kuno's kendo stick but Kuno lunged at him with the heavy book in his hand.
Too easy for Shampoo. "Deal." Shampoo gracefully flipped through the air, landing a kick on a sensitive part of Kuno's neck that he (Such stupid man) never guarded. Instantly, the upperclassman fell down, seemingly limp.
"Great!" Ranma yelled. Quickly he dumped out his pockets. "Thanks, Shampoo," he added before going to talk to the now limp Kuno. "Now, Kuno. Snap out of it!" he yelled, bonking Kuno on the head.
"OW!" Kuno yelped. "Ranma Saotome, I 'snapped out of it' earlier this morning! It seems the tea has lost effectiveness on me. But I wanted to find different information."
"What are you talking about?"
"This information, imperative to the rescue of Miss Akane, you would never listen to! So I, the brilliantly intelligent Tatewaki Kuno, devised an ingenious plan to distract you into thinking I had no cure, so that I might have more suitable time to find an escape!"
"Some genius plan. You let Shampoo beat you up."
"HOW WAS I TO KNOW THAT WOMAN WAS SO STRONG?!" Kuno snapped defensively. "No matter. Help me to some more conspicuous grounds and I will tell you the solution, though I doubt you will perform it."
Ranma shrugged angrily. "Fine. Come on." Helping Kuno up and out the door, he didn't notice Ryoga wandering on the roof.
"This isn't the library," Ryoga muttered. "NOW WHERE AM I!?"
Meanwhile, Shampoo flipped through the previous contents of Ranma's pocket: An I.O.U. to Nabiki for ¥10,000 (at a fixed interest of 3 percent). A bill for ¥1000 (About one tenth there, Ranma!). A button. A shopping list (rice, milk, large mixing bowl) in Kasumi's handwriting. A broken pair of sunglasses. Two hairties. A pencil (broken). Lint. A piece of yarn from that ratty scarf he always wore in the winter. (How much more did he have in there?!) A candy wrapper. A small, self-heating, emergency bag of boiling water (For those need-to-be-a-boy-again emergencies). A receipt for a school book. Matches. Twelve dice (Why so many?). And an empty tin...
With the word "Tea" written on it.
"HIYAAAAH! Special Tea all used up!" she cried in anger. Mousse, who, naturally, was watching her intently, adjusted his glasses and crept up behind her.
"Oh, yeah. Ranma used the last of that tea on Kuno."
Shampoo's eye twitched. "Why Mousse not say so EARLIER?!" she yelled, bashing Mousse in the head before stomping away.
"The key to releasing Akane that I have found, sadly, can never be accomplished. Allow me to look longer, Saotome," Kuno said solemnly.
"We don't have time to wait for another solution!" Ranma shouted back, the two conversing in Ranma's room. "You didn't hear what the voice said! It said, 'the pain of death that never dies!' Akane is in a lot of pain right now, and it's only going to get worse." Kuno stared at him, his eyes unreadable. "Look, Kuno, you care about Akane, so you should just talk. If it's impossible like you say, then we'll look longer."
Kuno nodded gravely. "Fine. According to some knowledge I found on the building of the school, a farmhouse used to stand nearby. After an earthquake shook the area, the loft of the farmhouse was actually tossed to the ground and sunk in a good few feet in the near liquidated earth.
"The owner of the loft, rather than move the many items left in the loft after years of accumulation, decided to rebuild an entire house over the area. The sunken area was dug out further and made into a basement, thus creating the 'lofthouse basement.'
"As years went by, the house was abandoned. A young peasant maiden traveled into the lofthouse one night in the dead of winter for shelter. The floor, however, was gravely in need of repair, and she fell into the basement of the building, with no hope for escape as the snowstorms of the year moved in.
"The girl froze to death, thawing and refreezing as the years went further by, no one ever finding her. The building was torn down, but the basement had become so eroded, that it stayed where it was. Later, two brothers went to the area and fell into a dry well. Attempting to climb out, the boys scratched at the sides, but instead uncovered a loose bit of wall leading them into an underground passage to the basement of the Lofthouse. Being as explorative as they were, they ventured forward. According to the account from one boy, they ran into a ghost-- the ghost of the girl that had died in that very basement!"
Ranma shivered a little. He hoped this story reached an end soon, but now he was REALLY starting to worry.
"The ghost asked them to tell someone where her remains were, so that she might be properly buried. Agreeing, she led them to the exact location of her bones.
"The bones sprung to life, clutching both the boys. The girl demanded that one of them give up their soul so that she could live again. Naturally, neither of them wanted to... at first. Then one of them realized where he knew the girl: his father had mentioned her going missing one school year before. It seems, the boys' mother had passed away, and since their father had loved this girl first, bringing her back to life would ease their father's suffering.
"The oldest made the sacrifice, but something went wrong. Rather than the girl being brought back to life entirely, only her spirit was free to roam. According to the other child's account, only the true love, or descendent of, of the girl in life, could sacrifice his soul to save her. Which means, apparently, the boys' father wasn't the one."
"And the one never showed up, then, huh?" Ranma added, deep in thought.
"No," Kuno continued, "and the almost free spirit of the girl vowed that until he did, any other girls would suffer her same fate." Uneasily, Kuno pulled out a small, tattered notebook. "This was that girl's diary. In it, she tells about a boy named 'Tatsuki,' whom she pined for. The boy's family name--" Kuno outstretched his arm dramatically pointing at Ranma. "--Was 'Saotome.'"
Still cold. Alone. This was it. She was never going to be saved.
Akane would cry if she could.
The whole time, she could feel a presence surround her. It seemed almost comforting, but only brought more cold.
"Is someone there?" There, she felt it again. More presences this time, different from the first. Scared, lonely. Yet, they knew where she was and what she was going through. She decided to attempt to communicate, though every thought she had only seemed to make her skin blister in the arctic darkness.
"Is there someone else here? If I can talk, you can, too, even if I can't see--" she heard at least a dozen female voices. All terrified, crying out in anguish but nevertheless happy to hear another soul. "Whoa..." Akane said into the darkness. "Slow down guys, one at time. All I hear is pain."
It was quiet for a long time, then a delicate, timid female voice answered. "That's all we know."
"What is going on here, exactly? Who are you guys?" Akane asked back, trying to hide the sorrow the girl's words had displayed.
"We're the other girls, just like you. We fell into the Lofthouse basement, too. And we died here, too."
"Is that it?" Akane sobbed. "Am I dead already?"
"Mostly. None of us are really dead, but we might as well be."
"That's horrible! You've all given up hope?"
There was a long pause, and Akane could almost see a small smile in the voice. "You will, too. Eventually, everyone does." Akane coiled into painful, wintry ball, just wishing she could feel her own body heat. "Don't worry, Akane. After a while, you get used to the cold. You get used to the darkness. Most of us don't even remember the light."
Akane, still stubborn as ever, didn't want to just give in to this feeling of complete indifference. "But... my friends and family will look for me." The icy laughter was almost more agonizing than the normal cold. "Come on! You can't just give up!"
"I have friends and family, too." Akane attempted a light smile. "But I have been here over 10 years."
"Four."
"Twelve."
"Two."
"Eighteen."
"Six."
"Thirty."
"Since the beginning," the last voice said, colder and more threatening than the others had. "I fell in here before this ever was a curse. Someone almost saved me, once. HE was willing to give his soul. But it wasn't enough..." Akane wasn't sure whether to hate or have pity on this last girl. "...I was always alone. Even then, I fell and spent winter after winter here, alone, neither family nor friends..." The girl paused, and Akane thought she heard her cry. "...nor love. With this death, I placed a curse on myself. Until I found love, I would never be truly free. My first attempt at freedom only ended in my spirit gaining mobility... The love was untrue. No true love will come, and I will show you all, first hand, that it is because no true love exists."
The boy's family name was "Saotome."
So, Ranma had to give up his soul to save Akane, and who knows how many others. Geez, why did it always end up like this?
Ranma sat on the roof looking up at the sky. Kuno and Ryoga were searching desperately for another way, but he needed time to think. His dad had cried, saying he was willing to take the place, but that, according to Kuno, wouldn't work. It had to be the most recent descendant. Mr. Tendo cried, too, at first afraid that Ranma wouldn't think Akane worth it, then was angry that Ranma hadn't saved her already (He was such an emotional guy...).
"Why do I always gotta be the hero?" Ranma asked himself, trying to hide his worry behind inflexibility. "It's not like I like her or anything, and at least this way I'd have one less fiance to worry about."
"You really don't feel that way, do you, Ranma-honey?" Ranma snapped around to see Shampoo, Ukyo and Kodachi standing nearby.
"If that's the case, you're pretty cold-hearted, even by my standards," Kodachi added.
"Shampoo no want see Ranma gone, especially for other girl," Shampoo threw in, and the other two stared at her. She sighed. "But Ranma not really such big jerk! Ranma no say such horrible things!"
Ranma turned away from them, angrily. "You're all part of the problem. You have no right to judge me, spending so long to tear me from Akane. You've never been in my shoes; it's not easy with so many brides-to-be!"
"You're right." Ranma and the girls turned to the other side of the roof.
"Chazuke," Ranma responded, acknowledging the girl who had used the tea to trick him into marriage. "What do you want?"
"To say I'm sorry."
There was a long period of silence, no one knowing quite how to act.
"It was wrong of me to trick you. I thought you were the one." The dark-haired girl looked away. "Truth is... I'm in love. And not with you." A shocker: a girl NOT in love with Ranma. "But you need to at least think about saving that girl Akane."
I am, Ranma thought, turning away.
"All the things that you said to Akane, calling her 'uncute' and such, really made her miserable, Ranma-darling," Kodachi sighed.
"The kind of abuse enough to hurt any girl's heart, no matter how much a tomboy they might be," Ukyo added.
"Even if gruff and unladylike, Akane still have feelings," Shampoo threw in halfheartedly.
Ranma stood up, clenching his fists. "You think you know me so well: exactly what I'm going to do or say. None of you have a clue." He turned to Ukyo. "I promised to take care of you was because Dad wanted the okonomiyaki cart and I thought you were a boy." He turned to Shampoo. "Some choice I had with you. Win and therefore win you, or let you kill me. I won to live, not to have you." Finally, he spun to Kodachi. "Don't even get me started with you," was all he said to her before turning to Chazuke. "At least you apologized. I hope you don't manipulate the person you love, because that's not what love is supposed to be."
Chazuke nodded. "I realize that now."
Ranma smiled weakly. "I'm outta here," he called out before leaping away.
Good. There's no water. If I'm a girl, this won't work.
Not too bad of a fall; just a few scrapes. Should've cleared those thorns first. Now where was it...
Here! The loose stone!
Ranma pushed the moss-covered stone aside, and the entryway sighed from the4 buildup of stale air.
So cold, Ranma thought, starting a small fire in his lantern. Okay, here goes.
His footprints echoed off the cave like walls. He could here the scurry of some animals that had snuck in as his light rounded the corner. "There better not be any cats in here," he muttered under his breath. The only response was an echoic drip from a nearby wall.
Guiding his hand along the mossy walls, he felt the rotting wooden walls where the basement had once stood. His breath caught in his throat when his hand moved from the cool, bumpy surface, to a smooth, frozen one.
Turning his lantern near the wall, he tried not to gasp. At least two dozen girls or so, all within a few years of Akane's age, frozen in the smoothest ice. He shivered and looked at the horrified faces; so many, some he even recognized from missing person reports over the years. The wall outstretched so far.
He took the lantern and pulled some dry brush from his pocket, setting it on fire for a makeshift torch. He held it close to the ice in an attempt to melt it.
No luck. This wasn't normal ice.
Ranma sighed in defeat, and mustered up his courage, turning from the wall and following its stretched out reaches. It got darker, colder; still more faces, more frozen girls. Finally, he spotted something vaguely familiar.
"Akane," he said, brushing a hand across the glass-like ice covering her face. She looked so sad, but still so stubborn. "Hang in there, Akane," he muttered.
I know he'll save me! I can feel it!
No one ever comes, Akane. Just give up; it's easier that way.
I...I can't...
Dodging some old chests and boxes, likely the former owners, Ranma made his way into the depths of this underground frozen wasteland. "I know it's around here... somewhere..."
So... cold...
You're dieing, Akane.
No...
Yes. It hurts the first time, but don't worry. The sooner you give in, the sooner the pain numbs you.
...I know... he'll be here... some one...
Do you even remember his name?...
I... an 'R?'
Can you even remember your own?...
A glint of dirty white, wrapped in a deep brown stretch of canvas-like fabric, beckoned Ranma's eyes. "Gotcha!" he cried out, heading towards it.
Please... I don't... I don't want to forget...
Why not? Forget the good, you have nothing to compare bad to. When pain is all known, it is all habit.
I... I don't want to die...
You will. And this is just the first time.
Ranma could see he was right as he attained a closer distance to the mass. Of all the bodies down here, only two were decomposed: a young girl, clutching the remains of a boy who thought he could help, but failed.
I... I remember...
No. You're fooling yourself.
R... Ra...
Goodbye, Akane. You're dieing.
Ran...ma...
Her glowing form grew out from the bones; pale skin, tattered peasant clothes, and lonely, cold eyes.
"Who are you?" she asked, confused and angrily.
Ranma swallowed the lump in his throat. "I'm Ranma. Ranma Saotome."
The girl's eyes widened, then narrowed again. "Sao...tome?" Ranma nodded, and the girl smiled weakly. "You... came for me?"
Ranma paused, unsure of the right response. Finally, he answered. "No."
The girl's eyes flashed in shock and pain. "So... Saotome... you never wanted to find me?" She looked away sadly. "I knew it. True love doesn't exist."
"That's not true!" Ranma snapped, his sudden vigor even startling himself. "Look, I'm sorry the guy you liked never came for you, but that doesn't mean he didn't want to! It's been a long time; he's probably passed away. But you're stuck here waiting. You need to move on, so you can finally see him. You don't need to live again; you need to move on!"
"You... pity me?" she questioned quietly. "I cannot die unless I live again and can finish what I set out to do. I can't live again until my love gives his soul to me in an act of love. Love isn't rea--"
"Don't be stupid!" Ranma yelled, tears in his eyes. "I'm here to give up my soul!"
There was silence. Even the ice-covered dead seemed to look on.
"For love?" she asked.
Ranma gritted his teeth. "Yes."
Warm...
It's warm...?!
Akane looked at her hands, a glowing light overflowing her. The light was so tender... She watched the ice melt away. Looking up, she saw the other girls, just as surprised as her, their limbs melting. They ran to each other, the only company they had had for so long, inspecting one another's suddenly lit, warm, friendly faces. Akane smiled, and spoke to herself, wrapping her arms around herself.
"He came."
The other girls stopped and stared at her, then exchanged worried glances. "What... what is it?"
The girls moved aside, and the supernaturally bright light faded... faded until it was only a light glow.
A light glow from a fallen lantern, inches from a dark-haired boys hand.
"RANMA!" she called out, running to his fallen body. She lifted his head onto her lap. "Ranma! Ranma, wake up! RANMA!" she cried, hot tears streaming down her face.
"Hey, Akane."
She looked up and saw his form looking down at her, standing nearby with a soft smile. "Ranma...?"
"Who else do you think would come down here to save you?" he laughed, leaning down to face-level. "Akane."
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and she could swear she could almost feel him. She started to sob as his near-transparent arms wrapped around her. I can still feel his warmth...
"Don't cry, Akane," he commanded, trying to sound tough. Reaching a ghostly hand under her chin, he smiled into her eyes, wiping away a tear. "When you smile, Akane... You look... cute."
This only made her cry more. "Oh, sure. Now you say it..." she muttered, but no matter how she tried, she couldn't be angry.
A faint wind blew, and Akane could hear a gentle chime; Ranma turned toward for just a moment. "I have to go, Akane. You should get out of here."
"...Ranma," she sighed, not knowing what else to say as a ghostly kiss was placed on her lips.
"I love you, Akane..."
She watched the small boats float away down the stream, their small candles leaving dim starlights against the setting sun. The warmth of those lights floated away, but Akane could still feel the strangely intangible sincerity of that last kiss against her lips. Pulling her coat around her tightly, she crossed the bridge leading to the hotel. She passed her family's rooms, knowing they would be out a bit longer for the festival. Going to her own door, she searched her pockets. Damn, she thought to herself, noticing her door key missing. With a sigh, she walked to the lobby.
Entering the door, she walked right past the man holding it open, not noticing that no one else saw him smile as she walked by.
"Yeah, um, I lost my door key. Can I get a spare?"
"Name, please," the attendant asked.
"Akane--" she paused, feeling warm arms wrap around her. She didn't dare look, fearing the warmth would disappear. A hand lifted hers and she stared straight ahead as it held her hand lovingly. Then she heard a chime, and it was gone.
Akane looked down at her hand, and tears welled in her eyes seeing a small ring of light on her finger.
Akane... a voice whispered lovingly in her ear.
"Your WHOLE name, lady?" the attendant asked, growing impatient.
She looked up at him, holding her hand to her heart as she smiled faintly.
"Akane Saotome."
-END- 3