Author's note: The title of this Chapter comes from a song by a Korean Girl group called SNSD. If you're the sort of person who likes to imagine fanfics have an Opening Theme, RDR would be it. Anyway, sorry this took awhile. I'm subject to an absurd 'real life' than includes a full time job and a slew of 'issues' that distract from sitting down to write. But hey! New chapter! Flees during the distraction
Fate, Stay Ranma
Chapter 3
"Run Devil Run"
"Oh. Well, crap."
It wasn't the most intelligent of responses to such a grave statement, but Ranma found that she honestly couldn't think of anything to say, staring at his spectral friend in shock. Fate, in contrast, was getting more and more alarmed, and the sudden severing of the eye contact (If those things could really be called eyes) had broken the uneasy standoff.
A ragged gash in the obsidian slab that passed for the creature's face opened wide, the 'mouth' lit from the inside, as if it's belly was full of glowing hot coals. A shrieking roar that sounded alien and painful to human ears raged from it's gut, like a million panes of glass being run through a trash compactor. It began to move, taking one step, then two, then three-it picked up speed slowly, the ground shaking a little with each step-Ranma noted with growing alarm that each step was also gouging out chunks of the concrete beneath it's feat. She watched it's charge with an almost horrified fascination, dimly aware that Fate was screaming at her.
"-YOU CAN'T BEAT THAT! IT'LL HOME IN ON MY LINKER CORE! FIND HOT WATER! RUN!"
Ranma dimly wondered why Fate was screaming before she realized she'd been unresponsive-almost too long. The ground was shuddering now, and the creature was almost in range- "Holy crap!" She yelped, leaping as high as she could.
The monster nearly grazed her feet as it thundered through the spot where she'd been not a moment before, smashing headlong into the stone building that had been behind her on the sidewalk. Stones joined Ranma in midair, and she felt a heavy thump against her side followed by a sparkling burst of pain that threw her off her arc in midair. Her heart sank as she realized she was going to overshoot her landing point-
Reflexively, her hand shot out and snagged a lamppost she was sailing past, and she shifted her momentum, glad momentarily that her female form was so light, as she easily changed momentum to flip herself around and up, perching on the thin metal bar to catch her breath, rubbing at her side. It throbbed in response. "That ain't good." She muttered softly.
"Ranma, please!" Fate pleaded. Ranma glanced over and saw the blonde girl utterly ignoring the usual rules of nature she tended to abide by to make herself feel more 'real', floating beside the neo-girl in empty space. "You have to run. My body will get you killed!"
"I can't just run away!" Ranma protested, watching the hole in the building intently-there were sounds of movement inside-some screams which made her teeth grind, and the distinctive thudding step of the monster. "...Fate-chan...Is it killing people in there?" She asked, anxiously, tensing her leg muscles to dive in after it.
"It shouldn't be..." Fate replied nervously. "When there's a source of magic around, it ignores almost everything else to kill and eat it. That means YOU, Ranma-kun..."
"And you." Ranma noted. "You don't have to worry, Fate-chan...I'll keep ya safe."
"No!" Fate burst out, her eyes wide and urgent, an exclamation that drew a startled look from the blonde girl. "I'm already dead...I don't want you to-"
The sound of cracking masonry drew both their attentions, and with another painful roar, the beast tore free of the building, it's eyes and face orienting on Ranma immediately. The glowing mouth opened inhumanly wide, like a snake about to consume a wild animal whole, and the brightness within abruptly began to intensify dramatically-
Ranma's combat senses went absolutely bonkers, and she dove desperately off the lamppost, followed by a scream from Fate as a loud, angry gout of flame engulfed her former perch. She landed on the pavement fluidly, dropping into a crouch to soak up the majority of the impact, then rising again, giving the creature a frustrated look. "Man, that just ain't fair!"
"Ranma-kun-" Fate was wringing her hands, and Ranma gave her friend a confident smile. "Don't worry. Really, I got this. I don't lose."
"It's charging up again!" Fate warned, and Ranma reflected that it was probably good she didn't have a body at the moment-She was going to give herself a heart attack, she looked so stressed. Then she looked over at the...the thing, jaws agape and glowing, and decided a LITTLE caution might not be amiss.
"Nyah! Can't hit me!"
Caution manifests somewhat differently in members of the Saotome family.
She danced from side to side, skittering back and forth just enough to see the beast's head track her movement, and cursed to herself as it was made abundantly clear that she would have to dodge at the last moment, or come up with a more cogent plan, especially if Fate was right, and she couldn't get close and beat it with her bare hands. Her eyes were already roaming the street, looking for ideas, when inspiration began to form-
-right around the same time as the beast let loose once more, and a writhing gout of flame vomited forth, scorching the air in a continuous stream, and Ranma yelped, leaping and rolling out of the way as quickly as she could, only this time, the flames weren't stopping, and they were licking closer and closer as she dodged for her life, and she was glad at least for the clothes as anything that covered more would be on fire by now and as it was she was going to need a tube of burn cream, and a respite to finish the partly formed plan but it didn't look like it was going to happen, and she was beginning to tire-
The sound of a rather meaty crunching noise from the general area of Ranma's tormentor shocked the transformed boy from his rather desperate train of thought as she skidded to a stop. The sudden, sputtering death of the flames licking at her legs was suddenly replaced by the cool, sprinkling blanket of rain. Both Ranma and Fate, who had been watching with both hands covering her mouth to keep from distracting Ranma at a critical moment, gave twin sighs of relief-the latter looking up as the former's knees wobbled, and she thrust out an arm, propping herself up with a street sign. She looked over at the monster as she tried to recover as quickly as she could.
It was a startling, but enlightening sight. The Monster was standing stock still, most of it's head replaced by what looked to be a sizable chunk of building masonry-most notably, building masonry with clean, smooth edges, as if someone had hewn it from it's building with something incredibly sharp.
"Ranma-kun!" A quick look at her ethereal companion revealed that she was still looking up, and Ranma snapped her eyes skyward in time to see a dark red shape detach itself from the roof of a nearby building-conveniently, a roof that was missing a sizable chunk of it's stone overhang- and landed directly in front of Ranma.
Ranma blinked as he eyes focused on the shape through the rain, and it resolved itself into a girl. Almost as tall as she was, in a red cheongsam that fluttered around the curve of generous hips suggestively, and long, mahogany brown hair bound up in twin tails, braided and looped tightly against her head. Ranma couldn't help noticing the stance, and that she was brandishing an ornate sword that fairly reeked of chi. Definitely a fighter, then...like Shampoo. That ain't no Amazon stance, though. Kinda looks like ninjutsu.
The girl looked back at Ranma, who was dismayed to suddenly realize the girl had been protecting her. She looked over her shoulder, and fixed Ranma with an appraising look, and finally, her jade green eyes softened as she smiled at the neo-girl. "Hi. I didn't mean to butt in, but you looked like you could use an opening. You should run-an injury like that won't stop them for long." She told Ranma tensely, sneaking a glance at the beast-
-sure enough, the monster's head was making sickening noises as it was beginning to shuffle around, stumbling and waving it's arms-
"What about you?" Ranma objected, red-faced, pointing at the girl's sword with wounded pride. "Finish him off with that thing."
"I can't. My Soul sword is powered by me, but my ring's magic gives it a shape. That thing would eat the magic and my chi would dissipate if I got too close."
"Wait, you know what that thing does too?"
"Ranma-kun!" Fate called in warning and Ranma's reflexes snapped head toward the monster once again to see the beast reaching into it's head and pulling out the stone, the mouth beginning to reform instantly as it lunged for them, gigantic hands outstretched-
The pair reacted in Unison, both girls each diving out of the way as the beast stormed through the space they had occupied, rolling fluidly to their feet as the behemoth charged between them. The Thing's mass made maneuverability a pipe dream as it skidded and shredded the concrete under it's feet as it tried to stop and turn.
"Ranma, please-" Fate began urgently, unusual anxiety writ large all over her face as she watched her best friend/twin roll to her feet, bouncing lightly. "Get away-there's no Jusenkyo to save you, and it'll definitely kill you if it gets the chance." She begged.
Ranma flashed Fate a grin...a grin that Fate felt was far more confident than the situation warranted as her eyes flickered in quick sweeps up and down the street. "No worries. I've got an idea."
(((((((((())))))))))
Nabiki Tendo was running. The sight was unusual to say the least-even in gym class, she let things happen around her. Seeming anxious or intense about something was leverage for others to use against her. She needed her mask in place at all times if she wanted her position as 'Ice Queen' to stay in place, and access to extra money to keep coming in.
Ranma had upset her mental applecart something fierce, and she was finding the experience an adrenaline rush, but extremely vexing. For instance, she was running. That was bad enough. But she was running -toward- noise and screams.
Seriously, what the hell?
Ranma was screwing with her mind. Had it really only been yesterday that he'd come to her home? Granted, she'd been the most enthusiastic of her sisters about the potential fiance. The curse had been a deal breaker, or so she thought, even if he was the perfect combination of stud-muffin and jock to raise her stock around the school. Not to mention add an extra layer of protection from people who thought they could strongarm her when she used...questionable tactics to make them pay up.
But it had been Ranma-as-Fate that had started seriously messing with her head. If he had been a cute guy, those same earnest but awkward social graces from the blonde girl had been a shock to her mental system. Ranma in his girl form gave her a serious case of the warm-and-fuzzies. She couldn't help teasing him, of course-the cute top and the hotpants had been an impulse but looked so good, she'd picked up a similar outfit.
It wasn't all repressed hormones and questionable sexuality bubbling to the surface, however. Real, actual magic-somehow the curse didn't make the same impact as a magical henshin and a talking wand reached down deep inside her, past her practicality and into a place she hadn't touched since she was very little. An opportunity to shed her mask-however temporarily-and live a life ungoverned by ruthlessly practical goals made her heart swell almost breathlessly. Not to mention help someone. Fate was every bit as adorable as Ranma, and the ghostly girl needed help that fit her expertise perfectly.
She had a chance to feel like a good person for a change.
And now Ranma, the stupid idiot was going to go and get herself killed.
Himself. She meant himself.
Whatever was happening was close now-just up around the corner. When she saw it, she skidded to a stop, her jaw dropping.
Ranma-chan was fighting alongside another girl, both facing off against a huge, hideous monster that looked like the unholy union of an alligator and a stone quarry. It was thrilling and terrifying all at once...especially since Ranma-chan had elected not to transform for some reason.
"Saotome, you had better live through this, so I can kill you."
(((((((((())))))))))
"Idea?"
Ranma nodded quickly to Fate as she watched the other girl yelling and throwing things at the magic-sucker, presumably to try and lead it away from Ranma. Once she was certain her improvised partner had the thing's attention, Ranma bolted across the street, blonde hair flowing behind her like a comet's trail.
"Ranma-kun?" Fate inquired anxiously as she followed along in her twin's wake, wringing her hands nervously. The boy was headstrong and impulsive, and she had a sinking feeling she was watching the end of him without being able to do a single thing about it.
"No worries." Ranma grinned again with a demonic glee. Fate started as She notice Ranma beginning to glow a faint, but noticeable blue. "If we can't use your powers, we'll use mine."
"But...magic-"
"Not magic. Ki." That said, Ranma leaned down, gripping the Stop sign she'd run to tightly. "My control isn't really as precise as the monk that taught me says it should be, but I can do well enough for one fight, I think." She grunted softly, closing her eyes-
-and tore the metal pole from the pavement.
The noise shocked Fate as much as the ease of the action. The sign protested being removed from it's mooring in the concrete with a hideous metallic shriek that stopped the fight going on a few feet away as both the girl with the sword and the monster stopped to look at Ranma and Fate.
Ranma's grin stretched from ear to ear as she spun the stop sign like a bo staff, spinning the heavy metal pole around as though it was a broomstick. She brought it to the ready position like a naginata, using the sign itself as a blade. Slowly, the blue glow seeped out from her to envelop the pole itself.
"All right, Ugly. Let's rumble!"
(((((((((())))))))))
The battle was met.
Ranma had never tried to use this much ki in a fight before-the monk had been very clear. Usage of ki to reinforce his arms or legs was a minor action, one that had limited consequences, but pumping it all through his body could kill a human opponent, or worse, eat up all his reserves and he would collapse before a fight was over.
The latter would be a huge problem here, and it would be all over, but that only meant she had to win quickly, didn't it?
The Magic-sucker rushed at her, and she did the same, dipping low to duck under the massive arms swinging at her, and she swung her improvised weapon in a short, clean arc into it's unprotected gut- If I don't have enough ki, this'll be the shortest offensive in history...
She needn't have worried. The pole impacted with impressively satisfying clang, and knocked the beast backward several steps. Ranma glanced at her weapon. The ki she'd pumped into it had done it's job, and there was almost no damage from the blow, not even bent. She laughed, her grin widening even more as she looked up at her opponent.
The monster was shaking itself off, as though uncertain what had just happened, like it was psyching itself up to renew the offensive.
The other girl was staring at Ranma as though her approach had been a revelation, and she darted out of her line of sight for a moment. Ranma hoped she wasn't running away-she could use a hand in conserving ki, but that hardly mattered. Before the monster could work up the nerve to rush her again, she took the initiative, rushing it. The monster set itself as she closed, and Ranma had an unsettling feeling she'd wasted the chance for a really good surprise attack.
The clash of her weapon against the rocky plating in it's arms echoed up the street. She was faster, but it was bigger, making up for the speed difference with smaller moves.
She began to funnel more and more ki into herself and her weapon, and it began to blur as she slashed and smashed against the monster. The monster replied in kind, hastening it's pace. It was unable to mount a counter attack, but it managed to block the lion's share of the swings.
Ranma pressed the attack, the swings of her polearm becoming more and more ferocious. The clashing noise grew more and more intense, the glowing edge of the stop sign beginning to carve furrows deep in the plating of the beast that weren't healing before she could inflict another. And another-finally, the standoff broke as the monster stumbled back a step.
Ranma was breathing heavily, but her grin was triumphant. It was working! If she could only hold out long enough to batter the monster into the construction site at the end of the road-
-The Magic Sucker found an opening, finally able to swing at Ranma, and she yelped, bracing herself-
CLANG!
A blur of red sliced past Ranma's head close enough to flutter her hair, and slammed into the monster's face, vibrating with the impact. Ranma blinked at the crosswalk sign that embedded itself into the rocky dome like a shiruken. She looked over her shoulder, and the girl with the circle-braided ponytails was crouched on the roof of a nearby car with a stack of street signs that had been liberated from their poles.
"Keep going! I'll cover you!" She called, picking up another and flinging it at the monster's legs, making the beast stumble as it tried to wrest the foreign object from what passed for it's face.
"Thanks!"
Ranma was grinning again, redoubling her efforts. This time, she had backup, the brunette behind her flipping into view and hurling metal street signs into various opening caused by Ranma's attacks, and Ranma's attacks finding holes left when the beast tried to intercept the incoming metal throwing weapons.
"Chanchan bara, chan bara bara~" Ranma sang along with each clash of her weapon or the other girl's, as they relentlessly knocked the monster back. The battle raged for nearly a block as they knocked it back, over and over and over, and finally, they were at their destination. "Samurai Sentai Shin-ken-jaa!" She punctuated the exclamation in the song by dropping to one knee and swinging the pole hard, abandoning technique for power as it impacted the Magic-sucker's midsection. The pole exploded under the force of the blow and repeated infusions of ki, but the hit scored blew the thing into the construction yard, sending it tumbling head over heels before it slammed into the concrete foundation. Ranma stayed where she was, panting for breath as she tried to suck up whatever reserves she could still scrape together...
The girl in the red dress landed beside Ranma lightly, offering the blonde girl a thin metal pole with a Japanese flag still attached. "I thought you might need this when I figured out what you were doing."
"Heh. Thanks." She murmured, taking the 'weapon' without complaint.
"So...you have a plan, right?" She asked, still looking at where the thing was struggling to his feet.
"Don't you?"
"Yes, but the idiot is late." She replied testily, looking skyward. "The rain is letting up, so he has no excuse. My partner's boyfriend is constantly getting lost, and we kind of need him for this." She added, by way of an explanation to Ranma.
"Sounds...familiar, somehow." Ranma replied, and pointed up the iron skeleton of the building being built. "See that crane, and the girders it's holding? Can you cut the cable and drop them while I keep it busy?"
"What? Drop it on you?" She asked, appalled.
Ranma stripped the flag free of it's pole, testing it's size and weight. "No worries." She flashed a grin. "When you're ready, lemme know somehow. I'll get up about three floors higher than the thing, then cut it."
"If you're sure."
"Yeah." Ranma nodded. "Maybe We can't kill it, but I think we can keep it from runnin' around."
"Alright." The girl hesitated. "My name's Yohko. Yohko Mano."
"Ranma Saotome." Ranma nodded.
"Good luck Ranma-san." Yohko ventured.
Ranma smiled. "I make my own luck. But thanks, Yohko-chan."
Yohko nodded, smiling and saluting as she ran to the crane and jumped atop the cab, vaulting and swinging up to the apex where the girders were held...
(((((((((())))))))))
Nabiki had followed the entire battle with wide eyes, from the safest vantage point she could. Having seen Ranma in action now, the fight with Kuno in the morning was cast in an entirely new light. Ranma had enough ability to have done far, far worse in a much shorter time. The other girl was a revelation as well-she had enough ability to put her leagues and leagues above her little sister, almost on par with Ranma herself. Not to mention that sword she could summon and dispel at will.
The world was a far different place than it had been in the morning.
They were paused now, and Ranma was noticeably tired. That was mildly worrying, but moreso was the fact that after Ranma and the other girl had exchanged words, the other ran off toward the construction equipment, while Ranma herself took her new weapon, a flagpole, and advanced on the monster.
The new battle was intense-Ranma was visibly tired, but with a smaller weapon, she was moving faster, and she swarmed around the beast, harrying it with smashing swipes that didn't appear to be doing any damage.
Nabiki swallowed, debating covering her eyes, but she couldn't. Sheer reflex demanded she record every bit of the conflict...in fact, she had an idea. Fishing in her bag, she brought out her secret weapon, a tiny little digital camera, and turning the flash off, lest she distract Ranma at a critical moment, she began snapping pictures.
Ranma's head jerked skyward, and Nabiki's heart jumped up into her throat as the monster swung, and Ranma almost didn't notice. The blond girl threw herself out of the way just in time as the jagged arm tore her top. Grinning, she ignored the near miss, and leapt up onto the iron girders that made up the skeleton of the building, jumping higher and higher as the beast hesitated, confused...
A number of different things happened at once. There was sudden snap up above, and a creaking, deep metallic groan as the crane the brown haired girl had run to released it's load of iron girders, and they dropped, seemingly in slow motion at first, but gradually accelerating-
The deep booming clangs as they fell sounded like the rumbling chimes of an enormous clock, and Nabiki stopped taking pictures to clap her hands over her ears so she wouldn't be deafened. She almost didn't notice the blonde streak as Ranma jumped out from the safety of the building into the rain of girders, clutching one of them tightly and riding it down to the ground, all the while, the blue glow from before was reasserting itself, and very, very faintly encompassing the massive iron bar as well...
The girder Ranma was riding somehow managed to fall without twisting and turning like the others, plummeting to earth and slamming into it like a giant nail-at the same time impaling the beast through the chest and into the ground behind, mounting him like a massive specimen of butterfly. Ranma let out a triumphant cry, and in that moment, the rest of the girders smashed to earth around them, obscuring the blonde girl from view.
(((((((((())))))))))
"Ranma!"
"Ranma-san!"
The screams of two very alarmed girls echoed in the eerie silence that followed the deafening crash, and Nabiki and Yohko rushed to the pile of girders. Nabiki abandoned her bag and camera, and began climbing onto the pile, peering into the gaps to look for any sign that Ranma was buried, intact, hurt...SOMETHING. Yohko almost did the same, but she hesitated, grabbing her arm. "Miss, wait. If you climb up there and they shift..."
"We can't just do nothing!" Nabiki exclaimed sharply. "Ranma might be hurt, and being in there with that thing..."
"I know." Yohko replied soothingly. "Just stand back, I'll try to get to her without letting it out." Yohko took a deep breath, and held out her hand. "Sword of my soul, come forth!" In a swirl of sparkles that seemed almost too cheerful for the situation, the sword that had appeared and disappeared intermittently throughout the battle resumed it's place in Yohko's hands. The braided girl quickly went to work, carefully cutting through the outlying girders into small pieces so the two girls could move them.
It took about twenty minutes of painstaking work until they finally uncovered Ranma, ten scant feet from where the only upright girder in the pile was pinning the Magic-sucker. The blonde was bruised but mostly intact, though her clothing was shredded leaving her in the underwear Nabiki had bullied her into. Working carefully, they managed to get the unconscious girl out of the pile of metal and dragged her a few feet away.
Ranma's eyelashes fluttered and her soft red eyes took in the girls hovering over her worriedly. "Did we win?" She murmured groggily.
"Hai. You were great." Yohko encouraged, touching Ranma's hand.
Nabiki wasn't sure how to feel when Ranma's cheeks turned pink at the contact, but she pushed those feelings down deep, and coughed gently. "How do you feel? Are you hurt?"
"Jus' tired."
"Okay, just rest." Nabiki agreed, smiling softly with relief, pulling Ranma's still-damp Chinese tunic from her bag and draping it over her as a cover. "We'll worry about the cleanup."
Ranma nodded weakly, her eyes fluttering closed. Nabiki fumbled with the tattered remains of the hotpants, finding what she was looking for, and fishing the triangular medallion out of the pocket. "Bardiche, if you can do anything for him, I'd appreciate it." She murmured, pushing the medallion into Ranma's hand.
Compliance.
Yohko started slightly at the booming voice from the little jewelry, and looked from it to Nabiki in surprise. "What...?"
"Oh, come on. You can summon a sword from thin air, but talking gems throw you?" Nabiki replied dryly.
"Uh...I never thought of it that way." Yohko admitted. "I-"
Whatever she might have been about to say was never aired as two new arrivals chose that moment to rush into the construction site, looking around frantically. The taller of the two was a boy, black haired like Ranma, but cut short in the back, and the shaggy front part held away from his eyes with a tiger-striped yellow bandanna. The shorter was a girl, dressed like Yohko, only her green hair had a headband similar to the boy's, white and tied off to look like bunny ears in the back, and her dress was less sexy, almost like an oversized tunic instead. On seeing Yohko, she grabbed the boy's arm and dragged him over to where Ranma, Nabiki and Yohko waited, waving her arm.
"Yohko-saaaan~" She called, looking around, puzzled. "Sorry we're late, but...where is the demon?"
Yohko pointed at the pile of girders. "Hi, Azusa. The big one in the middle is pinning it to the ground. Ryoga-kun can take his time with this one."
The boy, Ryoga, stared. "How on earth did you-?"
Yohko smiled ruefully, looking down at Ranma and gesturing to her. "I only helped. She did the hard stuff."
"But how did she...?" Ryoga insisted, but Azusa tugged on his arm.
"Ryoga-kun, let's deal with that thing first, Okay?" She urged, glancing at the pile nervously.
"But I-"
"Ple~ase?" she smiled winsomely at him and he blushed, caving completely.
"All right, all right..." He muttered embarrassedly, and Azusa handed him a thermos. He took it from her, unscrewed the lid, and dumped it over his head. At once, in a rippling change that Nabiki was already well familiar with, the tall, muscular boy was replaced...
Nabiki was not an easy person to scare, but the wash of Jusenkyo passed in an instant, and Ryoga had been transformed into another of the magic-eaters, with the same horrifying armored visage and glowing mouth. The only difference was a pair of wings on it's...his? back. In contrast to the rest of the beast, the wings were delicate, and almost gem-like, reminiscent of a dragonfly. It grunted and growled at the assembled girls and then stomped off to the pile of girders, beginning to dig out the other beast.
Nabiki turned slowly toward the girl beside her, her blood feeling frozen in her veins as she a turned an utterly shocked expression on Yohko.
The braided girl winced at Nabiki's expression. "I'm sorry, I should have thought to warn you...you just get so used to it after awhile, you don't really see the cursed form, just him."
"Jusenkyo?" Nabiki asked as her mouth resumed working, though it was drier than a desert from fright.
Yohko blinked at the short haired girl. "Yes, actually. How did you-?"
Nabiki shook her head and pointed to Ranma. "-He- has been there too. I think we should talk. I have a lot of questions."
(((((((((())))))))))
"RANMA SAOTOME?"
The cleanup at the construction site had been simple, to Nabiki's relief. Ryoga's cursed form had simply uncovered the monster they had been fighting, grabbed it and sucked all the magic out of it, and it had simply fallen to pieces. Once that had been finished, they had picked up Ranma and Nabiki had led them to a private place to talk, the back room of a dry cleaning shop owned by the parents of a classmate who owed her several favors. Hot water was on the boil, and Nabiki rather reluctantly peeled off the remnants of the clothing she'd picked up for Ranma and covered the blonde with a blanket while Ranma's clothes were trying.
"You know her...him?" Yohko asked Ryoga.
"Of course I do! That's the bastard that ran out on our Man-to-man fight, and led me to Jusenkyo!" His voice caught, and he ground his teeth together as he bowed his head. "The place that cost me half of my humanity..."
Yohko just rolled her eyes, but Nabiki held up her hands, trying to deflect the irate boy's train of thought. "That doesn't really sound like him, but be that as it may, Yes, his name is Ranma Saotome. He fell into the pool of a drowned magical girl...mage, maybe? And managed to inherit her...let's call it a wand. He can still see her and talk to her through it. Maybe that's how he knew not to use magic on it. But I'm more interested in why and how you guys came to be here."
Surprisingly, it was Azusa who supplied the answer, looking up from trying to calm Ryoga's anger. "Um...well, when we found Ryoga-kun, and he explained about his cursed form, we found out he could sort of...sense when another one was nearby."
"And when he found two in one week, we kind of figured that there's an awful lot of these things, and they don't seem to care about who they kill to get to a source of magic to eat, so we've been hunting them, and with Ryoga's help, killing them, in between our regular demon hunting." Yohko added.
"I wonder if Fate-chan's friends would know what this is all about. I wish she could talk to us without Ranma." Nabiki mused.
"That's the mage that drowned in the spring he fell in?" Yohko wanted to know.
"Yes. We were talking about how to find her friends when Ranma got a testosterone rush despite that hot little body and rushed off to get himself killed." Nabiki grumbled. She shot the blonde girl a look, and stood up, picking up the kettle. Testing the water with her finger to make sure it wasn't too hot, she moved over and carefully poured it over Ranma's head.
The transformation was like watching a muscle unclench. She seemed to...relax, the soft curves of a girl swelling into the firmer lines of a boy, her hair pulling in and darkening until it re-affirmed Ranma's customary pigtail. Ranma sat up, flailing and gasping for breath, spitting water out as he looked around frantically.
"Huh? What? Where!"
Yohko sucked in a sharp little breath as Ranma awoke and transformed, her eyes widening. "Oh wow..." She murmured, biting her lip as small, burning spots of pink erupted on either cheek. Azusa looked vaguely bemused as she slid a glance at her mentor, but just smirked and didn't comment. Ryoga simply glowered,
"Easy does it, Ranma-kun." Nabiki soothed, casting a sidelong glance at Yohko as she heard the younger girl's observation under her breath. To her irritation, a small spark of jealousy danced about her interior, though it was mingled with a puzzling ambivalence as well. "Listen, he's had a long day. Why don't you swing by our dojo tomorrow, and we can have this all out properly. Maybe we can help each other."
"What about my revenge?" Ryoga protested, but was summarily ignored by all the girls, save for a not so-subtle pinch from Azusa that sent him into a sulking funk.
Nabiki nodded, and noted that the other participant in the conversation had gotten lost staring at Ranma, who had yet to notice. Strangely, she didn't feel at all offended, despite her...odd feelings around the boy. "Mano-chan?" Nabiki prompted.
Yohko started, flushing a little as she tore her attention away from Ranma's face to look at Nabiki. "In the afternoon? We're supposed to see about attending school while we're in Tokyo..."
"Sure. Where are you going to go to school?"
Yohko looked to the green haired girl.
"Yours is called Furinkan High school." Azusa supplied helpfully.
Nabiki's smile grew broad and her eyes gleamed. "I have the most extraordinary co-incidence to report." She smirked.
(((((((((())))))))))
It took awhile, but Nabiki was finally able to convince them to postpone the discussion to the next day. Her efforts were made difficult mainly by Ryoga insisting on revenge, but Nabiki promised to hear him out tomorrow as well, which made him flash a nervous look at Azusa, but she smiled sweetly and nodded, and the three new kids left the back room. At the same time, she finally got Ranma up and moving under his own power. Once they were gone, Nabiki turned over his newly clean clothes and left him to get dressed. She waited outside the door, and once he emerged, she smacked him on the arm, hard.
"What'dja do that for?" Ranma protested.
"Because you scared me, you idiot." Nabiki huffed. "Seriously, what kind of moron just charges toward an explosion without so much as a second thought? Or sticks around when there's giant, fire breathing Magic Sucker out there?"
Ranma looked completely confused, and Nabiki noticed his eyes were sliding into the space slightly past her left shoulder, then back to her as he spoke. "Ah...hm...Sorry?" He fumbled.
"Fate is coaching you, isn't she?" Nabiki accused.
"Not really." Ranma grumbled unhappily. "She says you're right, and she's mad at me too."
That managed to crack Nabiki's mood, and she managed a smile as she took Ranma's arm and led him out of the shop and onto the street, heading back to the dojo. Well, no point in trying to get someone to school today. I hope Ryonami managed things while I was gone. "I like her. We need to figure out how to get her out more. Maybe she can get through to you."
"She says 'not likely-Hey!" Ranma scowled at where Nabiki assumed Fate was, then at Nabiki herself. "What was I supposed to do? Leave everything to Yohko-chan and her friends? It's a martial artist's job to protect the weak." He protested.
Nabiki raised an eyebrow at the lack of mention of Ryoga. He was supposed to be Ranma's mortal enemy, right? She'd have to ask more questions later. "Use a little common sense. I mean, you got -iron girders- dropped on that thick head of yours. What would we have done if you'd killed yourself? What would FATE have done?" She insisted.
"...Uh." Ranma opened his mouth, then closed it, stumped.
"This is all I'm saying." Nabiki went on, satisfied that she'd made her point. "If you're anything like Akane, trying to keep you from fighting is completely impossible. All I ask is that you kick your brain into gear BEFORE you charge the monster of the week."
"Of the week?" Ranma echoed blankly.
"Figure of speech." Nabiki dismissed with a wave of her hand before changing the subject. "Listen, about that deal we made...I think I've got an idea how to kick start the search for Fate's friends, and make a little money in the deal. I don't usually do this, but I'm asking you for permission to use pictures I took of your fight with that thing."
"You took pictures?" Ranma seemed honestly puzzled. "Why?"
"It's just a reflex." Nabiki replied, a trifle defensively. "But they could be useful. If I can sell them to a paper...or more likely, a tabloid, it might catch the eye of her friends."
Ranma paused, blinking and looking slightly away from Nabiki again. Now that she was looking for it, She noted that he seemed to 'zone out' to listen to Fate quite a bit. "She says it's a good idea." Ranma grinned. "She's excited, actually. Thanks."
Caught off guard, Nabiki didn't have time to suppress the blush that tinted her cheeks. It was just a compliment, dammit. Although, granted, with the way she was in social situations, she didn't get many of those. "Don't thank me yet." She huffed defensively to hide her 'moment'. "I still need your help at School."
"Eh, how bad can it be?"
Ranma did not look happy at the ominous 'Fu fu fu' of laughter that his offhand statement had elicited.
