Thyself Known
a Ranma ½ fanfiction by Zorknot
DISCLAIMER: Johnny wiped the sweat off his brow, and formed a solid grip on the wood of the bat. The bases were loaded at the ninth inning with two outs, and if he could just hit the ball even a little bit there was a chance he could be a hero. He concentrated on the pitcher, trying to pick up any clues about what kind of ball he was going to throw. The pitcher wound up, lifted his knee and let loose the ball. Gauging the trajectory as much as possible, Johnny swung with all his might… but unfortunately Ranma ½ and characters and situations from the show are the intellectual property of Rumiko Takahashi and various affiliate companies, and not the author of this work.
~~~~~Ch.11: Demons~~~~~
"When one rows, it is not the rowing which moves the ship: rowing is only a magical ceremony by means of which one compels a demon to move the ship."
-Friedrich Nietzsche
~~~~~madness~~~~~
The Tendos were such louts, Kodachi mused. They couldn't even be bothered to move the tree that fell on their property. What an eye sore.
Kodachi perched on the thick branch of one of the trees that was still standing on the Tendo property, along with two of her ninja, waiting for Shampoo and Ukyo to leave the dojo. A foreigner and a merchant, they were truly no match for her beauty and upbringing. Were it only them, she might have made an appearance and taunted them for their lack of sophistication or, indeed, talent. But they were talking to Tendo Nabiki, as was plainly evident by the content of the loud one's coarse speech. That meant her target was here and she should exercise caution.
Another reason she found to exercise caution was that were it not for the obvious impossibility of such a thing, Kodachi would have sworn that the Nabiki Ukyo and Shampoo were talking to was actually a man. Was this all some elaborate farce for her benefit? But that slop hocker Ukyo wasn't good enough an actress to pull off the anger she was emoting. It was all very curious.
She waited a few minutes after Ukyo and Shampoo departed to be sure that Ranma-sama wasn't around. She needed to deal with Nabiki alone first. She would force the girl to admit her worthlessness, (she had equipment back at the Kuno mansion that she really wanted to try out), and then she would show her beloved the pathetic little peasant whore's true nature. Kodachi had seen Nabiki's desperate display on the news the previous night. She could do so much better. She would show Ranma that Nabiki was nothing but a manipulative little slut. Then she would force Ranma to have sex with her and he would see that Kodachi was the only one worthy of his godliness.
A green glow emanated from the Tendo dojo, disrupting Kodachi's thoughts. It grew slowly brighter as she watched, like the diffuse light from a spinning fire works display, or the light from a firefly, and then it was extinguished, and a cloud of smoke, or fog, or something similar issued from the open doorway.
Kodachi blinked, all the thoughts in her head quieting to a dull murmur as she watched the nebulous form rise.
The nature of the mist was decidedly not natural. It was driven by imperceptible winds, almost as if it were alive, and searching for something. With alarming speed, it rose and coalesced about Kodachi's hiding place. She sucked in a breath, eyes wide. What was this? Magic?
Kodachi felt a sickening sensation as the fog thing touched her. She desperately attempted to wave it away with hands, but it didn't disperse at all. Kodachi's heart raced, what was this nightmare? But then it left, seeming to do so of its own accord.
This, along with the male visage Kodachi had witnessed talking in Nabiki's place, forced her to make some disturbing conclusions.
There was something supernatural going on with the Tendo girl.
She turned to Orochimaru, her second best ninja after Sasuke. "Assess the situation and report back to me," she ordered in a harsh whisper. The four-foot tall, and very pale practitioner of the dark arts nodded and promptly fell off the tree branch with a loud crash.
Kodachi grimaced. As much as a fool as Sasuke was, he could at least be counted on to be somewhat competent. Unfortunately, he was no longer completely loyal. The Tendos poisoned his mind against the Kuno family much the same way they brainwashed Ranma-sama. It was all extremely frustrating. Of course the only way to have some one love you is to brainwash them, but Kodachi had always thought she was the best at it. Her tactics had worked fine on the other men to whom she had taken a fancy, yet Ranma seemed, if anything, to avoid her. She had thought that it was his superior willpower that kept him from her, and so she had attempted numerous times to destroy those barriers to her happiness, but nothing she did seemed to work. Sasuke's growing adulation of the Tendos however, led Kodachi to suspect there was something else at work.
Orochimaru and the other ninja she brought with her, Kabuto, were Sasuke's subordinates. They seemed to be from the same stagnant gene pool as Sasuke, only Orochimaru was pale and prone to fainting spells, while Kabuto had long, white hair and was abysmally nearsighted. One just couldn't get quality ninja nowadays.
Orochimaru managed to right himself and moved in a black blur of speed from the base of the tree Kodachi and Kabuto were perched in to the side of the dojo entrance. Using a hand mirror, he surveyed the inside and after a short time, he gave the sign to come quickly.
Kodachi leapt from the tree, touching down gracefully as Kabuto fell on his face. She bounded to Orochimaru practicing a few flips on the way. "Nabiki is lying unconscious in the dojo, mistress Kuno," he whispered when she arrived on the scene, "but we don't have much time."
Kodachi nodded. She entered the dojo quickly, assessing the situation herself with a quick scan of the room. It was just as Orochimaru said. Nabiki was practically gift wrapped for her. Already unconscious. She had to be careful though. Unlike the other harpies that vied for Ranma-sama's affection, Nabiki had some smattering of intelligence. And she apparently had the ability to craft illusions about her person and release some sort of sentient mist.
Kodachi ceased her approach, caught by the realization that maybe she would have to alter her plans. Nabiki could not be human. There was no way a human could cause a green glow like that, or make that wicked fog thing. Apparently Nabiki was some sort of kitsune. A shape shifter, a fox spirit, a mischievous worker of illusion. And if Nabiki was a kitsune, perhaps SHE was the reason for both Ranma's and Sasuke's inability to see Kodachi's otherwise obvious superiority.
Her hand moved to the battle ribbon she kept in her hair. This creature could not be allowed to survive!
Kodachi took a breath. This was not the place for murderous acts. She would just have to kill Nabiki when she was back at the mansion. She just had to be careful. As defenseless as the creature seemed lying motionless on the torn tatami floor of the dojo, there was no telling what mischief it might wreak.
She retrieved a single black rose from her hair, placed it under Nabiki's nose and triggered the gas release mechanism. Now Nabiki would be paralyzed regardless of her mental state. Assuming of course that kitsune physiology was similar enough to that of a human's for the gas to be effective.
Gases being unpredictable by nature, Kodachi herself had made sure to develop an immunity to the airborne toxin in case there was a strong breeze or some other trick of the weather. In fact, she had gotten to the point where she rather liked the buzz she seemed to feel from it.
Kodachi allowed herself a brief explosive chuckle at Nabiki being so incapacitated before she stifled herself. Soon Ranma-sama would be free of Nabiki's influence. Soon, she would be able to bend him to her will.
Directing Orochimaru and Kabuto to take the wretched ersatz girl back to the Kuno mansion, she had her minions leave a bouquet of roses to go off as soon as someone entered the dojo. This time she used a sleeping gas, which was a little slower to act but lasted longer as well. Also, Ranma-sama would likely be the first one in the dojo, and while he was almost as immune to the paralysis gas as she was by now, he had less resistance to the sleep gas. It wouldn't do to have him catch her before she had time to show him how mistaken he was about his infatuation with the kitsune. So while she left him the tiny inconvenience of a highly potent sedative in a time released capsule, it was just to slow him down a little so she'd have time to prove her love to him.
It made perfect sense.
Kodachi heard quick foot falls and looked toward the main building."Nabiki! Are you alright! I felt something!" The red-haired harridan who shared Ranma's name was running toward the dojo just as Kodachi was leaving. A moment passed, then the low born nuisance found her in the tree. "Kodachi! What did you do to her?" Signalling Orochimaru to toss her another sleep bouquet, this one a fast acting variant, Kodachi laughed as she spun the bouquet, directing the petals to fall toward the uncouth miscreant.
The idiot predictably thought the petals were for mere effect, and bounded through them toward Kodachi. The girl fell victim to the gas in a matter of moments.
Letting out another laugh as she saw the little worm collapse to the ground, Kodachi bounded off to follow her ninja charges to her home.
~~~~~searching~~~~~
The demon was not used to this.
Usually it waited. Usually its hosts would come to it, not the other way around.
Already it felt weak from the incense two days ago. The incense opened up all the doors in Ranma's mind, making all personalities and demons equal.
Ranma's psyche became a chaotic swirl. A bagful of demons of which the Jusenkyo demon was only one.
The demon escaped with Ranma's male form into Nabiki, but even across that short distance the form degraded from Ranma's form into merely his masculinity.
The demon tried to find sustenance in the Nabiki girl, but she had a powerful demon already and in a weakened state, it was unable to stand its ground.
Nabiki's demon, which she called Control, pushed the Jusenkyo demon out with a great expelling of energy.
Now the demon searched.
The girl in the leotard that had been in the tree had initially looked promising, but she would not work as a host.
She had very little soul left on which to feed, and a powerful demon was busy gnawing contentedly on the last shreds of her humanity.
Ranma was soon available, but there was nothing in the afflicted youth for the demon to latch onto any more.
While Ranma was becoming a girl, that was still not the youth's true form.
The martial artist was still in flux and was actually feeding off of the part of the Jusenkyo demon still inside…
… instead of the demon feeding off of the martial artist.
By the end of the week, if nothing changed, the youth would be truly female…
… then the demon would have a space to enter…
… but for now, reentering the Saotome child was about as desirable a prospect for the demon
… as a butcher would find sticking his right hand into a running meat grinder after already losing his left.
So it journeyed outward, even as it lost cohesion.
It found Kasumi, Nodoka,
….but these women were too centered. They knew who they were.
They were like smooth marble to Ranma's rusted, jagged metal.
They had desires,
…but they were all so cloying
…and sweet
…they were actually repulsive.
Out farther,
…less substance now.
…Farther down road.
…Ukyo.
…Almost.
…Not enough though.
…And scary. Doughy. A mercurial soul, desires form, get filled, change.
…Shampoo.
…Desire!
…So much desire! Like a hollow cave.
…But already a demon inside.
Two demons.
One a Jusenkyo demon like itself, the other a demon emissary of Bast.
…But those demons were completely ignoring the vast space of Shampoo's desire.
Like a dying man in the desert, the demon crawled into Shampoo's body. It found a source of new energy.
And drank.
~~~~~late~~~~~
Ukyo was tired. She no longer felt any anger toward Ranma or Nabiki or anyone else. Right now, all she wanted was to get back to her home and go to sleep. She would fight Ranma, and she would give it her all, but it would just be for closure now. Seeing Nabiki like that, it made her think.
Whoever loved Ranma would have to change for him, would have to adapt to his style. Could Ukyo do that really? Adapting yes, she was fine with doing that. But she had her own style. Could she allow herself to be changed like Nabiki was? Could she give up her dreams, for some contract signed by two buffoons so many years ago?
It was strange, but it was like Ukyo now had a choice similar to the one Ranma's father had given him. Ranma, or okonomiyaki? And okonomiyaki was the answer yet again. Ukyo chuckled mirthlessly. Perhaps the end to her chance at love came about because both she and Ranma loved Okonomiyaki more than each other.
Ukyo owned a restaurant now, and she was successful at it. That hadn't happened until she had settled in Nerima. Before, it was always brief stints at abandoned restaurants in various cities, just enough to get by and then leave. But she had been in Nerima for a year. She had regulars, and she could really no longer imagine leaving.
She was a woman too, and an attractive one. That she was aware of that was Ranma's fault as well, but it was no longer something she questioned. She would never be very feminine, she found dresses and lace impractical and down right silly. But she didn't feel the need to hide her figure either.
All the anger Ukyo had felt only a few minutes ago just seemed pointless now. And she still wasn't entirely sure why. Maybe she had grown up.
Ukyo watched the concrete pass slowly under her feet. The world was a massive boulder rolling inexorably into the future, and right now, walking next to Shampoo, a girl who she used to hate, but now seemed so lost and so much like she would have been were it not for her restaurant, right now she felt curiously old. Old and lonely.
"I so ashamed," Shampoo was looking down. She seemed fragile. Not like an amazon warrior at all.
"You've got no reason to be, Sugar. It's just your curse making you act like that."
Shampoo shook her head. "I think I love Ranma. Take him for husband. But it just fair moans. He really just strange boy. Like random mans on street."
"It's not that bad. Ranma had good qualities, you didn't just want him for his body." Of course Ukyo herself had accused Shampoo of just that many times. She winced at the irony.
"I not love him. I not want baby from him. He choose mercenary girl over me. Force me be cat for good soon. I so angry. So hurt. But he not know. He just react, just take what can get. He just want to be best. He like me in village. But I not like me in village anymore. I get weak being lovesick bimbo for him, and he just react. Fight everyone. Be everyone's enemy. Ranma make good amazon. Old ghoul right."
"Wait just a second, there, sugar. We didn't act any better, and just because what you said might be true, it doesn't mean Cologne's right."
"What it matter? Ranma girl now. Shampoo fail. Ukyo fail. We do challenge to make feel better, but at end of day I still doomed."
"Ranma is not a girl. Besides this thing with Nabiki can't last. Maybe when they break up one of us can console him."
Shampoo shook her head. "Boy-type Nabiki feel just like boy-type Ranma. Ranma curse already change one way. I think it change again. I think it move to others now."
"You mean…" Ukyo tried to wrap her head around what Shampoo was saying, "Ranma's contagious now?"
"Not Ranma. She girl now. Boy-type Nabiki. I think boy-type jump to other people now."
Ukyo patted herself quickly. She had everything she had before and no new additions. She was a little surprised at how relieved she felt. "We should warn people."
Shampoo nodded. "But I not know who to warn. Everyone I think of… deserve it."
Ukyo didn't like this new depressed Shampoo too much. She also didn't like how part of her agreed with her. If it wasn't for the restaurant, Ukyo felt she might just go on a homicidal rampage, just for shits and giggles. Instead she said, "Well, I don't know if they deserve it, but I don't exactly want to tell people at school to watch out for extra penises. I mean would it do any good anyway?"
Shampoo went quiet for a long moment as a wisp of fog drifted in from behind them, curling around their ankles.
"What is it?" Ukyo punctuated her question by kicking at the fog, which was annoyingly cold.
Shampoo laughed nervously and started walking briskly down the road. "Is nothing. Just odd thought."
"Come on, tell me," Ukyo pressed, keeping pace.
But then Shampoo stepped a little too forcefully into a puddle and the purple-headed girl was now a purple headed cat. Strangely the fog was suddenly gone.
Sighing, Ukyo shrugged, picked up Shampoo and kept walking, absently rubbing the fur on Shampoo's head. After a while, to Ukyo's surprise, Shampoo began purring.
Ukyo adjusted her hold on Shampoo, hoping for an arrangement that would be comfortable for them both. It was odd, but there was something different about Shampoo's cat form. Ukyo couldn't put her finger on what it was.
Until, accidently, she DID put her finger on what it was.
~~~~~pleasant grease~~~~~
As soon as Hoko entered her garage, she felt a wave of contented exhaustion.
She had taken Hiro on some of her favorite stretches of road, slaloming between cars when necessary, the g forces almost tearing them from the seat as the tires squealed in agony. The extra weight provided a challenge for her as she negotiated the turns, but it was the challenge she was looking for. She stayed on, kept control of the bike even when death seemed imminent. That semi that nearly hit her, or that construction zone that appeared out of nowhere. She hung on and maneuvered in split second intervals, doing pirouettes on the edge of destruction. It took a quick wit and an iron will, traits she never much showed anywhere other than on the road before.
That shit was going to change starting tomorrow. Hoko told herself. Life was too damned short to be shy. She gripped the handle tightly with her right hand as she guided the bike into the garage and stopped. The engine idled happily under her. They had had a good run. This was her bike. Her body. Her mind. This was her life, and she wasn't going to let anyone else take control of it.
"This is where you get off, Hiro-kun." Hoko said. "Maybe I'll call you sometime, ne?" She felt a thrill. She was underage and she wasn't even sure she liked Hiro, but he was cute and what the fuck. She could die tomorrow. Again.
Hiro got off the bike and took off the spare helmet. Then he took off his sunglasses, and even in the darkness of the garage with only her machine's headlight and the street lamp outside giving illumination, she could see Hiro's pale blue eyes. Kicking down the kickstand and turning off the engine and headlight, she got off the bike herself. She took off her helmet, static electricity making small sparks around her head as she did so. His eyes were all she could see now. His irises two pale rings in the night. She flew to them, standing on tiptoe until her lips found his. She kissed the fuck out of him, and kami-sama, he kissed back, embracing her and lifting her toward him like he was the moon and she the swollen sea.
And then, like the tide, his embrace receded. He stepped away. "You're seventeen," he said, "Maybe that shouldn't be a big deal, but damn it, it is. I'm a cop, it's how I'm wired."
"Come on, I turn 18 next month." Hoko marveled at Hiro's ridiculousness. The age of consent in Nerima was 18, but that varied by prefecture. In some areas of Japan she was already legal. Not that she was going to just sex the guy up in her parent's garage, though that might be fun... Point was, in principle, there shouldn't be a problem.
"Then we don't have long to wait."
Okay, Hiro had a point. Hoko wasn't sure if the whole age of consent thing was stupid or smart. Probably both. Like a red light on an empty street, sure you can keep on going, but you've got to be more cautious. Maybe there's a cop around somewhere, or a speed demon zooming in from three o'clock. There was a subtle difference between flaunting the laws and completely ignoring them, but it was an important one. If Hiro lost his job or went to jail because of her, that would really suck. "Alright, but I'm expecting one hell of a birthday present." Hoko rethought the context of her statement and added, " And I mean like an expensive dinner somewhere. Not just your penis."
"Dinner and a penis?" Hiro chuckled, "Sounds good to me." Hiro paused, " When's your birthday?"
"It's on the tenth." Hoko said in a small voice. Suddenly there was a definite date for her deflowering. The end of innocence, the popping of the proverbial cherry. Was she ready for that?
Curiously the answer she found within herself was "YES." In fact she was rather anxious about it because…
Because she wasn't really a virgin was she? After what Copycat had done to her, she was far from "intact." Hoko clenched her fists against memories, the pain and revulsion. Maybe it was just trading one neurosis for another, but she would not, could not agree to that. Getting manhandled by somebody controlling your body against your will might be the same thing as rape, but it wasn't the same thing as sex. Or more precisely it most certainly wasn't making love. She WAS still a virgin in every way that counted.
She wanted her body to be hers. She wanted to wash away the evil in something beautiful, something she wanted. If she allowed herself to be led around by her hormones, that wasn't going to make things any better. She looked up at Hiro, his pale eyes seeming to glow in the darkness. "You will call me before then. You are now officially my boyfriend. We will date. We will get to know each other better, and then…"
"Coitus?" Hiro asked, smiling.
Hoko tried to smile back but she was still a little too raw from remembering what Copycat did to her. "I don't want to be a bitch, but I have to feel like I'm in control here okay? I'm a little fragile right now, still getting my shit together."
Hiro put his hands up, backing up to his bike as he said, "As long as you keep telling me to do things I already want to do, you can order me around as much as you want." Hiro swung his leg over his bike. "Hoko-chan" With that, he revved his engine, which after the roar of Hoko's jets, sounded a bit thin, like an old man grumbling into his beard. Nevertheless, Hiro still managed to look properly dashing as he spun around and zoomed out of Hoko's driveway.
Hoko waited until Hiro was out of sight and then squealed in delight. That was so cool! She had to call somebody. Nabiki!
A thought hit Hoko suddenly as she opened the door to her house. As far as Nabiki knew, she was still dead. True, Mrs. Saotome might have said something, but the lady had her own issues to deal with and Mrs. Saotome didn't really know Hoko's relationship with Nabiki.
It was getting kind of late, but Hoko had to call Nabiki tonight. She had to. Not only to let her know she was still alive but to find out what her friend had been going through the past couple of days. Last Hoko had seen her, Nabiki was somehow male and arm and arm with Ranma Saotome. That was something she had to know more about. She had seen Nabiki and Ranma get kind of chummy in Dr. Tofu's clinic yesterday when Copycat Ken was driving her body around, but she never got the whole story.
Running now into her home she almost knocked over her mother who was in her bathrobe and slippers. This she did NOT need.
"Where have you been? Some police officer takes you away and you don't get back until," Hoko's mom checked the grandfather clock in the hall, "Ten thirty? Ten thirty??? Where were you for three hours?"
Hoko held up a hand "I really don't have time for this right now, Mom, I've got to call Nabiki and..."
"And what? Tell her what's going on? I have an idea, let me fly this past you. Maybe you could tell your mother who loves you and would do anything for you what's going on and then maybe you could tell your friend with the loose morals all about it afterward. That sound good? Hmm?"
"Nabiki doesn't have loose morals!"
"Honey, I'm really being kind. Based on what I saw on the news last night I'm not entirely sure if Nabiki has any morals at all. Acting like that in public, in the middle of the street! Well, I'm sorry that's just not the way a young lady should behave."
"Yeah? Well maybe a young lady should behave however she damn well pleases!"
Mom just stared back at her, looking shocked. Hoko had never talked like that to her mother before. Ever. It actually shocked Hoko a bit too, but it also gave her a thrill.
"Tomo Hoko. What on earth possessed you to talk back like that?"
"That's a good question, Mom. What on earth possessed me? A freakin' sex pervert murdering bastard possessed me. I only just now got control of my body back thanks to that cop and probably Nabiki and Ranma loose morals and all. Not to mention this isn't even my real body. This is some weird copy. My real body is cut up into pieces and rotting in various dumpsters across town. And I'm sorry none this makes sense, Mom, I really am. I can barely make sense of it myself. I've been raped, murdered and brought back to life, and all I really want to do is fill in the gaps, figure out what happened and understand it maybe a little more. Can you help me do that, Mom? Do you even have a fucking clue what's going on?"
Mom was silent, her expression a study in shock and concern. Her mouth was open. She closed it.
"I didn't think so." Hoko ran the rest of the way upstairs into her room. She slammed the door behind her. She wiped tears from her face before she knew she was crying. She leaned back against the door and took a few shuddering breaths. I'm being a bitch, she realized. She opened the door. "I love you, Mom!" she cried out. And then softer, "I...I love you." And then she was in full out bawl mode leaning against the door frame as the tears poured down her cheeks.
A few minutes later she felt mom put her arm around her. She eased into the embrace, still blubbering uncontrollably. She hated crying like this. Not being able to stop. Nabiki never cried. Nabiki was always able to control her emotions. The best Hoko could do was ride them out. Sometimes, if she was lucky, she felt better afterward.
"I really can't imagine what you're going through, Sweety. I've never had anything like that happen to me. But I'm here for you. No matter what. "
Hoko took in and let out three shuddering breaths as her mother stroked her hair, then she felt her rising. "Your father should be back in a few minutes. He may be able to help."
"No. Mom, it's okay." Hoko wiped her tears away and stood up herself. "We don't need to tell him."
Mrs. Tomo shook her head. "We are going to tell him. One, because he is your father and he loves you almost as much as I do. Two, because we do not keep secrets from each other in this family. And three," she lowered her eyes for a moment before continuing, "Your father may know a few things I don't."
"Like what?"
"Do you remember that earthquake that happened when you were six? The fire?"
Hoko frowned and shook her head. "That was eleven years ago I…"
~~~~~***~~~~~
Her mother is screaming. Everything hurts. It's hard to breathe. She feels panic rising. She feels like she's drowning but she's not in the water. It's outside. Night time. It's snowing. Her father picks her up and it hurts but she doesn't have any energy left to cry out. There's a wave of heat and light. It's not snowing; the white stuff that is coming down is ashes.
"What are you doing!" her mother cries out. The heat and light is all around her now and it hurts. Smoke fills her lungs and she coughs even though that hurts worse. Her father coughs too, causing his body to shake, sending a stab of pain hurtling through her. Then the heat begins to burn, and the burning hurts too, but it is a good kind of pain, like ripping off a bandaid. Her father sets her down and she realizes her clothing is burning. Flames are everywhere, everything is bright. Her father is burning too. Especially his eyes.
~~~~~***~~~~~~
"I remember." Hoko said, astonished. It was the memory of a child: broken and dreamlike, but it was a memory. It couldn't have really happened, she had probably been hallucinating from the smoke or something. She'd been burned after that, she got blisters and such just like everyone else. How could getting burned heal her?
But she had felt it. She had felt the heat melt her pain away, she had felt her father hold on to her, to keep her from drifting off, because she had been light as a feather, so light she could have flown away if it weren't for his grip.
No. There was no way that could have happened, Hoko decided. True she lived in Nerima and theoretically it was perfectly possible that she had some supernatural bent even before she was forced to dismember herself while under the thrall of a perverted doppelganger. Didn't she know a girl in junior high who could make little lights dance around her head? She had seemed normal too at first. But… no. Maybe the whole idea of 'normal' was fundamentally flawed, but still, her memory of being healed by fire after her father carried her back into a burning building, had to be some kind of trick or something.
There was no way her father could have ever been that cool.
~~~~~steam~~~~~
Akane sat in the onsen with Sayuri and Yuka, thinking. Thinking was her new favorite pastime it seemed. Making up for lost ground. The round person with the red eye said two curious things. One of them was that Sayuri now had some kind of parasitic soul sucker called a demon. Of course there were many things that were called demons, Akane herself being one of them, usually when she was in the kitchen, but this seemed different. Something older, something more dangerous.
The other curious thing was that Akane apparently had a demon inside her as well. She could of course dismiss this as some strange attempt to scare teenagers or something. If it weren't for Cologne releasing her from the effects of Shampoo's shampoo she might have done just that and enjoyed herself. The problem was Akane was almost positive the man was right about Sayuri, and so that meant he was probably right about everything else.
"How are you feeling, Sayuri? Any different? Any strange thoughts?" Akane asked for what must have been the eleventh time since they got into the onsen.
"No, Akane, for the last time if I notice anything I'll let you know okay?"
"So you still feel the camera and blanket?"
"YES! Okay? I know they're like invisible or something but they're inside me somehow. Like I could just reach in and pull out…GAH!" Sayuri yelped as she produced the camera in her hand, seemingly out of thin air. She dropped it in the onsen water and the camera floated there. It didn't sink, nor did it float in any way one might expect a camera to float. Instead it made a hemispherical indentation in the water and it seemed to hover a few centimeters above the surface. "Yeah. That's weird."
"But I don't get how that could be a demon," Yuka pointed out.
Akane meanwhile was wide eyed and felt her nerve center jangle like a 50 yen coin in a tin can. "But that's... It can't be." Akane closed her eyes. Stop it Akane. Stop denying what's in front of you. You don't do that anymore remember? Akane took a breath. She let it out. "I think I know what the police officer was talking about. About me having a demon." Akane reached into null space and produced a wooden mallet.
"Wow," Sayuri said in subdued wonder. "I think I saw you do something like that before, but I always figured you just found something lying around."
Akane nodded looking at the perfectly normal looking oversized wooden mallet. "When I started fighting with Ranma I would hit him with anything that was around. Then sometimes there wouldn't be anything around and I would still… find things. I just shook it off as not a big deal. I just didn't see it before or something. But seeing what you just did with the camera..."
Yuka nodded, "Plus you aren't retarded anymore."
"Hey!" Akane protested.
"What? I'm just telling the truth. You used to be the smartest of us before that technique froze your mind."
Akane blushed. "That means a lot coming from you, Yuka. I don't believe it, but thanks."
"I guess I was never in the running, huh?" Sayuri asked sullenly.
Akane laughed nervously. She wanted to make the girl feel better but really aside from recent developments she was almost abnormally normal. "I don't know what me not being retarded, as you so tactfully put it, has to do with me having a demon."
Yuka shrugged. "Nothing, I suppose. I just think now there's a good chance of you being able to steal back the title of most popular girl in school from Ranma."
"Ranma's not a girl, Yuka." Akane said, trying to keep her anger in check. Ranma wasn't here. There was no reason to get angry, but simply hearing the name was enough to set her off.
"Except when he is. Didn't you tell us yesterday that it was his girl side you found the most frustrating?"
"I guess you're right. She's like the annoying new girl that has everything going for her and who everybody likes, and yet she thinks she's the one with all the problems. Only she's been the annoying new girl for, like, a year, and she's also a boy who I sort have crush on and ARGGGHHH! "
Yuka nodded sadly. "You've always been something of a joke, haven't you, Akane? Terrible cook, terrible swimmer, terrible martial artist."
Akane stood up "HEY! You take that…" Akane paused just before her mallet connected with Yuka's head. She sat back down. She let the mallet disappear into nullspace.
Yuka cocked her head to one side in thought. "How many times have you used that mallet?"
"I don't know. It's not always a mallet. I just kind of think of something I need and it appears."
"Ooh! Make a beach ball!" Sayuri exclaimed.
"What? I don't think…" Akane started.
"It shouldn't be a problem. A beach ball is an object same as a mallet. Unless you're too stupid to figure it out."
"I'm not stu-!" Akane paused as she suddenly found herself carrying a multicolored beach ball.
"Yay!" Sayuri squeed. "Toss it!"
Smiling Akane threw it over to Sayuri's side of the onsen. She batted back to Akane, and Akane batted it to Yuka. Yuka caught it.
"Make another one." She said.
Akane tried, but nothing happened. "I can do it!" she assured them and she closed her eyes.
"Uh, Akane?" Sayuri said.
"What?" Akane asked opening her eyes. The largest beach ball she had ever seen was now resting on top of all of their heads. The other beach ball was gone. "Sorry." Akane said sheepishly and the beach ball disappeared.
"Hmm, " Yuka said thoughtfully, "try two at the same time."
Akane went for it and suddenly there were two beach balls. There wasn't a pop of pressure or anything, one second there was nothing, then next, two beach balls.
"Yes," Yuka nodded. "Now try some thing extremely heavy. Like a large stone."
Akane shrugged. She suddenly felt a tremendous weight in her hand and she let go causing the meter-wide rock to sploosh in to the water next to her.
"Can you make it heavier?"
Akane tried again, she got distracted at first by the feel of the onsen water lightly brushing her skin as it filled in the space left by the first rock. Then she thought heavy heavy heavy. She again felt a weight in her hand, but it was more or less the same as before. She could hold it for just a moment before she let go.
"Far as I can tell," Yuka said, "there are two main limitations and a caveat. First you can only make an object with one thought at a time. You couldn't make one beach ball and then another, but if you thought 'two beach balls' you could do that because you could visualize two beach balls together. Second, you can only create something that you can carry. I suppose this makes sense, because otherwise you could accidentally crush yourself. Finally the caveat is that the more effort you put into it, the larger or more exaggerated the thing becomes."
Akane nodded, that made sense!
"Now for the scary dangerous bit." Yuka said. "Make a sword."
Akane put forth the effort and she felt a solid weight in her hand. She looked and there was a katana. It looked pretty sharp.
"Okay. That's scary enough but…try a gun."
Akane shook her head. "No. I'm not going there. I don't like guns. I can't even stand squirt guns. They creep me out."
"Right. I don't blame you. For proof of concept though, try making a radio."
"I'm actually kind of getting sick of this," Akane complained.
"I think this will be the last one."
"Fine" Akane shrugged and visualized a radio. A plastic radio, predictably now, appeared in her hand.
"Does it work?" Yuka asked.
Akane tried it out. She pushed the button and nothing happened.
"Let me see it," Yuka asked.
Akane handed it to her.
Yuka inspected it, feeling, hefting it up in the air a few times and finally shaking it. "Heh, you don't have to worry, Akane. You couldn't create a gun even if you wanted to. This radio doesn't have batteries or anything inside it. It's just a hunk of plastic with buttons. You can only create something you can visualize and you can't visualize all the parts of a radio because you don't know how it works. Chances are even if you did know how it works it would still be too complicated for you to visualize all at once and it would still not work. The human brain is only capable of thinking of seven things at once the theory goes."
"I'm kind of exhausted from all this, Yuka, I mean I guess we know a lot about my 'demon' though I still don't see why it's called that. Seems more like an ability than an entity. But now what?"
"The police officer said the demons were like parasites right?"
Akane nodded.
"Well different parasites are attracted to different things. Ticks like blood, tape worms steal nutrients from the digestive system, dust mites eat dead skin cells and so on. So these demons are probably the same. They attach to people based on certain personality traits that they can feed on. In your case, your demon feeds off your wish to be noticed, to be taken seriously. I don't think the trick with being able to materialize things out of thin air is the demon itself, but rather a side effect of its presence. As long as your desire to be acknowledged remains strong, the demon inside you will be content. You may have a problem though if you become content. If you start to be truly happy with how everyone treats you, well then the demon might show its uglier side."
"So I'm doomed to never be worth anything?" Akane's mood darkened. That sounded about right actually with how her track record had been going.
Yuka shook her head, "Not necessarily, but I think if you really want that you're going to have fight that thing inside you and either kill it, or become its master. I mean we all have demons inside us we have to fight, you just have to fight yours in a somewhat more literal sense."
"Well what about Sayuri?" Akane asked.
"Sayuri's demon is different. She can't change the objects. There must be something important about them. Whatever the case though, the thing I'm sure of now is that the demon latched on to her because she has something it wants. Some innate desire that it can feed off of."
"I don't have any innate desires." Sayuri said waving her hand in denial. "I'm not like you or Akane. I don't have anything I really want out of life. I kind of wish I did, but I don't." As soon as Sayuri said this, the blanket appeared under the water. It rose up slowly to cover Sayuri's body and then the blanket receded and disappeared. Where Sayuri had been sitting, there was now a perfect clone of Yuka.
Akane stared as several things clicked into place for her all at once. Copycat Ken! He had a blanket he could change form with, and he was always carrying around a camera too! But if the blanket and camera belonged to Ken why would Sayuri have it now? The police officer…what did he say? The blanket was sort of evidence in a murder investigation, but it wasn't needed anymore. Could Copycat Ken have been murdered? No, that didn't seem right. If Ken was murdered then the blanket and camera could still be used for evidence. Copycat Ken himself was the murderer! And he was killed and now…
The Yuka on the left was shaking her head grimly as she looked at the Yuka on the right. "I'm sorry, Sayuri, you always seem so happy all the time I never knew."
"Wha-what?" Sayuri asked, looking a bit startled at how her voice sounded.
"The desire for a purpose, to know who you are and what you want, I think that might be the strongest desire there is."
And now Sayuri was doomed to never reach that goal, to watch it slip further and further away the more she tried to reach it.
Akane remembered Copycat Ken's fight with Ranma. He kept trying to find the right form to fight Ranma, only none of them would work. He got more and more panicked changing form one after the other, until they started to blend in grotesque ways. Ranma had long since left him but Akane approached him, asked him if he was okay.
~~~~~***~~~~~
"I can't find it!" he yells in a myriad of different voices, "I can't find my real body!"
"Use mine for a while," Akane suggests, "You just need to calm down for a while."
Copycat Ken settles on her form and stops. "Thanks," he or rather she says. "You're probably right I just need to relax."
Akane nods and walked away, feeling better. But that is the last she ever sees of Copycat Ken.
~~~~~***~~~~~
"Sayuri." Akane said in a commanding tone she wasn't used to using. "Return to your true form. Now."
The Yuka on the right nodded slowly and using the blanket, returned to Sayuri's form.
"Take a picture of yourself."
"Huh, why?"
"Just do it."
Shrugging Sayuri did what Akane asked. The camera produced a photo out of the end.
"Let me see it," Akane ordered.
It wasn't a Polaroid, because it was rectangle shaped instead of square-shaped and already fully developed. Sayuri's face was large in the frame, but the picture was sharp enough. It was her. Akane gave the photo back to her. "Don't lose this photo, whatever you do." Akane said in a tone of such grave seriousness she surprised herself. "Do not forget who you are, Karakyou Sayuri"
"But, Akane…" Sayuri's eyes glinted with desperation and hope, "that's exactly what I want to do!"
~~~~~shock~~~~~
"It's true Hoko-chan. We named you that for a reason. It was my mother's name and her mother's before that." Hoko's father stood before her. He had come home from work. He was wearing his suit. He was still slightly overweight. He still looked mostly the way he normally did. Except two large wings protruded from his back, and small fire was burning in the palm of his hand. It was either completely ridiculous or the most awesome thing Hoko had ever seen. Then again, this was Nerima, there was no reason why it couldn't be both.
"But I can't be a…" Hoko didn't want to say it. "I don't have wings, I don't control fire. I've never been to this Jusendo place you were talking about."
Her father, Tomo Seiji was a fairly tall man, who, aside from a light paunch, had managed to age gracefully, retaining much of his youthful charm. A lot of people thought he styled his gunmetal gray hair to make it wavy like it was, but he didn't. It was just naturally that way. Also at the moment, it was a rather bright shade of orange and it seemed to be glowing. "You're only an eighth phoenix. And since you had a replacement body when you died, the changes will come more slowly, maybe not at all. "
Her mother, Harumi, touched Seiji's arm lightly with her hand. "That night your father died saving you. The firemen rushed in to get you back out, but they didn't have time for your father. He burnt to ashes."
"The rest of it's kind of a cliché." Seiji smiled awkwardly. "As for controlling fire, you've been able to do that for at least three years."
"What?"
"Most people have to buy gas for their motorcycles, honey," Harumi said.
"They just don't know how to build them right," Hoko dismissed, "Nabiki doesn't need gas for hers either."
Seiji extinguished his flame and looked around. "I'm going to go back to full human form. I feel like I'm going to knock something over." With that, his wings disappeared and his hair went back to being a dynamic gray. He sat on the couch, picked up his cup of tea, sipped from it, and sat it back down, as if being a freaking phoenix wasn't a big deal. "Your friend Nabiki…I think she inherited some, if not all of her mother's powers. But as for you, if you don't believe me, go ahead and try it. Just imagine a flame coming from your…Yeah that's it, but please don't burn the carpet."
Hoko raised her hand up and was surprised to discover little flames popping in and out of existence in the air around it. The popping was very rhythmic, very precise, almost like…Hoko closed her eyes. Like a combustion engine.
"There's really only supposed to be one phoenix. Lord Saffron. If he knew about us he'd kill us until we were mindless birds. The original phoenix was just a very powerful, very magical creature without any human intelligence. But it decided to bathe in the waters of Jusenkyo. Nyannichuan to be precise. The same spring as that Ranma kid. Long story short, the girl that came out of that spring had kids, and those kids had kids and so on. The more the blood line gets diluted, the more times we can die, but in the end, the last incarnation we take is an egg, and after that we're no better than any other demon."
"Demon? Phoenixes aren't demons, are they?"
"Yes, they are. Demons feed off spiritual energy, either through people's belief in them or directly from an individual. A full phoenix would hatch from an egg and then immediately imprint on the closest source of spiritual energy available, usually a human being, and then feed off their energy until they've drained the person dry, or they become mature enough to no longer need to feed. "
"So that phoenix egg that Kuno found…"
Seiji nodded. "That was your grandmother."
"You're joking."
But Hoko's father looked dead serious.
"Okay, maybe you're not joking. Fine. What about Nabiki, what powers did she inherit? Is she some mythological creature too?"
Seiji looked at Harumi. "Ah, well Soun Tendo is a summoner. He has a demon that allows him to conjure up almost anything except what he truly needs. As for his wife, Kimiko…"
"Yeah?"
"Well, this is one of the reasons why your mother doesn't approve of you hanging around Nabiki so much. You see, Nabiki's mother was a sort of demon, or mythological creature if you want to call it that, that isn't generally regarded as being especially benevolent."
"Kimiko was so nice," Harumi said, "She was so good to her kids and Soun. I really couldn't believe it when I found out."
"Found out what?"
Harumi looked at her husband, took a breath, then told Hoko. "Kimiko's demon gave her the power of absolute manipulation. It's a very powerful demon that shows up periodically, usually where it's not wanted. You know the expression 'absolute power corrupts absolutely?' Well, as I said, I thought Kimiko was a very nice person, so maybe it's not as bad as all that, but the common name for the demon Kimiko had, and I suspect Nabiki has it as well…is Evil."
Hoko gasped. "You've got to be shitting me!"
Seiji raised his index finger angrily "Hey watch your language, young lady! "
~~~~~liquid warmth~~~~~
Genma swallowed the last of his sake and slammed the cup down on the wooden table with gusto. "Pah! This is the life, eh, Tendo?"
Soun nodded, sipping from his own glass, though his expression seemed to disagree.
"What is it? I thought you wanted to relax?"
Soun rubbed the bridge of his nose with one hand and fished in his pocket for a cigarette with the other. "I miss her." Soun patted a cigarette out of pack, pulled a match out of null space and used it to light the cigarette. The match disappeared with a flick of Soun's hand. "Eleven years. And it's like it happened only yesterday." Soun put the cigarette to his mouth and looked out the window as he inhaled the smoke. This late at night there was nothing to see out the window but blackness and Soun's ghostly reflection.
"You're starting to remember too, I take it." Genma was serious now.
"I couldn't save her. My blood limit was worthless. My skills in the art were nothing."
"Tendo, we all have our strengths and weaknesses. In another situation you would have prevailed. That creature was not natural, it could not be fought physically. Kirika died saving her family, just as you were prepared to do."
Soun gave Genma a level stare, and Genma lowered his eyes, not able to take the pain he saw in his friend.
~~~~~***~~~~~
Nerima is in bedlam as fires spire up from houses on either side of the street in the wake of the giant woman monster. "Are they safe?" Soun asks Genma. Soun is unarmored, waiting to know the nature of his enemy before summoning anything.
Genma nods. "The dojo's intact, and nothing's come up through the floorboards. Nodoka's keeping the kids calm."
"You should be in there with them," Soun says to his wife.
Kimiko, dressed in her kimono, torn purposely at mid thigh to allow her freedom of movement, and with her short wavy hair, gave her husband one of her graceful smiles. "My place is here with you, my husband."
Genma chuckles softly at this. What Kimiko is really saying is that she is as much a fighter as Soun and she isn't about to let her husband face their enemies alone. Still he wishes she would join the others inside as well, although for other reasons. Nodoka has Hayama should anything get past their defenses, but that might not be enough.
People are running out of their houses, some of them chased by oni or other low level demons that would do no more than terrorize their victims, though the victims could not know this. Genma, Soun, and Kimiko were watching for the ones that were doing more than just cruel pranks.
They don't see the enenra right away. The smoke from all the fire bellows and someone collapses. It's sad, but an otherwise natural occurrence. As much as they want to help there are worse dangers this night than smoke and they have to conserve their energy. It is Kimiko who first realizes that there is something more to the smoke.
"It's killing them!" she cries.
"What?" Soun looks around.
"The smoke! It's killing them!"
"I know, Ka-chan, but we have to guard the children. We can't…"
Genma shakes his head, "No, Tendo, that's not what she's saying. Look." Genma points as wispy tendrils of ink black smoke find a man running out of his home. The man takes three more steps and then collapses.
Soun's face goes pale even in the firelight. "Kami-sama! How do we fight something like that?"
Genma rubs his chin in thought. The creature is made of smoke, so physical attacks will likely be useless. "Maybe you could summon a giant vacuum cleaner? Or one of those things that turns smoke into dust?"
Soun shakes his head. "Too complicated. I could maybe do a fan, but it would have to be really large to have any effect."
Kimiko's hand lightly touches her husband's shoulder. "This is me." She kisses him and then addresses Soun and Genma both. "Back me up, boys." With that, she's off, running at full speed toward terrible danger.
The rest Genma remembers as though through clouded glass. He makes himself large the way the master had taught him, hoping to be able to wave the smoke demon way some how, while Soun, not sure what else to do, summons his armor and runs after his wife. Kimiko reaches the smoke and, though it has no face, it seems to acknowledge Kimiko as an opponent a split second before enveloping her in darkness. Kimiko sends her power out. An extension of her aura in shades of red. Kimiko so full of passion, so full of life. She wraps the smoke up in her own power and it begins to disintegrate, falling apart because Kimiko wills it to be so. But then the aura flickers, grows dimmer.
Something is wrong.
~~~~~***~~~~~
The doctors said it was lung cancer. But Kimiko had never smoked in her life. It was the demon she had killed. It had killed her as well. Kimiko had not died right a way, but she was quickly hospitalized, and she never recovered.
"I've always been a joke. I've never been able to do anything right. Before that day, I thought I was a hero. I thought that when it mattered, I could pull through. But it never mattered more than that day, and all I could do was watch that false enenra, that evil creature of smoke, suck the life out of my beloved." Soun pulled on his cigarette and blew out.
"And you think that letting smoke kill you the slow way is some kind of atonement for that? Tendo, you don't respond to failure by giving up. You respond by becoming stronger."
Soun smiled sadly. "You used to know me so well, Saotome. But I did give up. I've grown weak. I'm not the young man you once knew. It's been good having you here the past year, old friend, but the hurt's still there. Sometimes it gets so bad I can't even move. My daughters are all nearly grown. I tried to be there for them, but I know I wasn't. And the guilt just makes things worse."
Genma put a hand on his friend's shoulder. " Tendo, I keep telling you. Live in the now. Enjoy your sake, have a good time. Let the past pass." Genma stood up. "Either that, or stop loafing around and start being the man you're supposed to be. Whatever it is, do it now. As for me, I've got to take a piss."
Genma turned and left. Truth was, he didn't have to go to the bathroom all that much. Truth was, he was just as angry at himself for what happened to Kimiko, and now he was angry at Soun for it too, and if he stayed at that table a moment longer he would have exploded. But Genma believed what he told Soun. It was his mantra all through the years since the last awakening, and while it caused him a good deal of grief, it kept him moving. That and the contract he signed with Nodoka. Nodoka… and the Oiwa demon.
Genma banged open the restroom door with such force he almost knocked it off its hinges. It was necessary. There was no other way. Maybe if he had been smarter he could have figured something out, but he was only as smart as he was. He had done as well as he knew how to do. How could Soun be so selfish? How could he sit there smoking his cigarette while the rest of world continued to fall apart around him? There was so much at stake! And yet wasn't he, Genma, guilty of much of the same? Could he honestly say he was any better, rolling around as a panda, Playing shogi with Soun while Ranma dealt with whatever crisis occurred? Genma felt the soft buzz of the sake turn into the beginnings of a hangover. He leaned against the bathroom wall holding his temples. He had just wanted to forget everything tonight. Why couldn't Soun have just let him relax?
And what could he do now, anyway? Go back and start being a good dad all of a sudden? He had tried being a good father several times, but Ranma just laughed at him. He had screwed up so many times with the boy, there was no way he could make up for it. Was there love there? Sure. Maybe even a grudging respect, but Ranma wouldn't take anything Genma did seriously. And Genma didn't really deserve that. Not after the Nekoken. Not after Jusenkyo.
Genma sighed, walked to one of the holes in the floor the bar used as a urinal and let it all go.
There was something calming about knowing that you're damned beyond redemption.
Letting all his worries and regrets drain away with the contents of his bladder, Genma felt better. He still didn't know what to do about Ranma. But he couldn't do any worse than he already had.
Maybe Soun's problem was that he hadn't hit rock bottom yet. Maybe what Soun needed was some kind of training trip that could show him just how bad things could get. Nodding to himself, Genma collected himself and exited the restroom, ready to talk to his friend again.
Except Soun wasn't there. At their table there was only the empty cups and the bottle of sake. Genma went outside to check there and found a collection of black rose petals. When Genma touched one of them it made the tip of his finger go numb.
That Kodachi girl wasn't that crazy was she? Soun was her elder, and she was a traditional girl after a fashion. But Genma wasn't entirely sure how crazy Kodachi was, and he had a bad feeling. This was really NOT a good time for the Kuno girl's mischief. As precarious as things were, things could get bad real fast.
Genma went back inside. He eyed the sake bottle. Then the night outside. He sighed, dropped some money on the table and headed off toward the Kuno mansion.
~~~~~cold sharp grass~~~~~
"Ranko?" Ranko felt a hand gently jostle her shoulder. "Ranko-chan? Imoto-chan?" Younger sister. Someone was calling her their younger sister.
Ranko opened her eyes. She had fallen awkwardly in the grass, landing on her arm, which now itched with the indentations of the many blades. She sat up slowly, her head swimming. Kasumi stood over her, though only her outline was visible against the light from the streetlamp. "Oneesan" she said touching Kasumi's hand. "Thank you."
"Are you alright? I was looking for ah, your other half?"
Ranko felt Nabiki through her link. Nabiki was female. She was unconscious too. Something was very wrong. "She's Nabiki now, she's in danger. I have to…" Ranko tried to get up but she was still too dizzy.
Kasumi held her arm to keep her from falling. "Father and Uncle Saotome haven't returned yet either. It might be a coincidence, but I think you may have to visit one of your friends and see what's going on. Come inside first, though, and collect yourself."
A distant part of Ranko was impatient to leave and felt an urge to hurry to wherever Nabiki was, but Ranko was still too dizzy to walk, much less run, so she relented.
"I came out because a friend of Nabiki's called. Tomo Hoko? She said she wanted to let her know she was still alive and that there was something else she had to tell her. Do you know anything about that?"
Ranko felt a surge of joy pass through her. "Hoko's alive? Nabiki's been thinking she was killed all this time. She was taking it kinda hard. I'll be sure to tell her as soon as I save her."
"Do you know where she is?"
Ranko nodded regretting the motion as soon as she did. "She's at the Kunos. Kodachi kidnapped her. It might not be a big deal, but Kodachi is more... serious than some of my other... friends."
Kasumi nodded, not saying anything. It struck Ranko how Kasumi seemed less aloof than usual, more aware of the danger of the situation.
Inside the kitchen Kasumi released Ranko next to the table and fixed a pot of tea. It wasn't until after the water had been on the range for a few minutes that Kasumi spoke. "How are you going to save Nabiki, Ranko?"
"Hmm? I don't know, 'neechan. Same way as usual I guess," Ranko shrugged.
"Maybe you should call the police in this matter. From what I saw today and yesterday they seem competent."
Ranko frowned, "What's wrong, Kasumi? Kodachi might be a psycho, but I can handle 'er."
Kasumi was silent for a moment and then smiled. "As long as you feel confident about it, then I'll leave it to you, little sister."
Ranko was about to say something, and then a different sense of what Kasumi said sunk in. Was she confident? Well she hadn't really thought about it. Saving Nabiki was just something she had to do. But the more she thought about it, the more the idea of fighting Kodachi scared the shit out of her. What if she went too far? What if someone got hurt or killed? She wasn't sure she could go through that again.
The tea kettle began to make a sharp high pitched whistle which Kasumi cut off by putting the kettle on a cold burner. She poured two cups of tea and brought them to the table.
"Maybe you're right. Maybe we should see if the police could do something. I mean they have that weird martial artist policy, but Nabiki's not a martial artist so..." Ranko lowered her head. "Crap. I forgot, they changed her status after yesterday. Kodachi and Nabiki are both martial artists now, so the cops can't do anything." Ranko blew some of the heat off her tea and took a sip, willing it to wash the grogginess out of her system.
"But some of them are friends. Detective Inamura and Officer Kawagami seemed nice."
Ranko considered this. "I don't think Inamura could come, he's way too busy. Kawagami might though. I don't know his number, do you?"
Kasumi shook her head. "Tomo-san might though. I could just call her back."
Both of them deciding upon this course of action, Kasumi called the Tomo residence while Ranko, stood unsteadily, took a sip of tea and managed to reach the area next to the phone. When Kasumi got a response from Hoko, Ranko took the receiver. "Hoko-chan! I'm so glad you're alive!"
"Um…I'm glad too." There was a long pause.
"Hello?" Ranko spoke, "are ya still there?"
"Ranma?"
Ranko frowned. "Um…"she reached back to grab her pigtail to be sure. "Yeah."
"Shit shit shit shit shit shit SHIT! Is Nabiki there with you? I really want to speak with her."
Ranko felt an icicle stab her in the chest. This was Nabiki's friend. Not hers. Ranko didn't have any friends. She shook her head. She had Nabiki. She had Kasumi. She had her Mom even she could only act like an aunt and she had her Pops even if he was an idiot. She wasn't abandoned. Still, she felt something stir deep in her chest, so deep it almost seemed to be in her back...She shook off the feeling and responded. "Nabiki's kinda in a jam right now, actually. I was going to try to go save her, but I'm not...ah feelin' a hundred percent right now. I was wondering if you could get me in touch with officer Kawagami. I could use some back up."
"Couldn't you ask Ryoga, or Ukyo or somebody?"
Ranko smiled grimly. "C'mon, Hoko, you know my situation. Ukyo probably hates me and Ryoga is kinda difficult to contact what with him being somewhere between here and the Serengeti at any given moment. So you got Kawagami's number or not?"
"I know your situation, but how do you know that I know your situation? I don't think I ever spoke a word to you before." Ranko was about to respond when Hoko interrupted her, "You know what? Nevermind, there's probably some weird, fucked up reason why you know about me all of a sudden, and I've about had it with weird and fucked up. I can get in touch with him I think. Where is Nabiki?"
"Kuno Kodachi kidnapped her. She's probably got her in the mansion. Tell Kawagami to watch out for traps if he gets there before I do."
"Saotome?" Hoko said after a pause.
"What?"
"Nothing. You sounded just like Nabiki there for a moment. I guess we're going to have to have a nice big pow wow after we save Nabiki."
"Wait a minute, 'we?'"
"She's my best friend, Saotome. If she's going to dive into all your mess, then I'm going in after her. You're just going to have to deal. Besides, as it turns out, I'm part phoenix. I can move fire around if it's already there and some…other stuff. I figure I can at least provide a distraction."
"Wait, you're part phoenix? Since when? Your one of the most normal people I know. Sharp. A good asset, but a little shy and…normal."
"Okay, so we're going to play a game of 'let's fuck with Hoko's head', huh? Fine. I've never even talked you, and yet, for some reason you're acting like you know me? How about this? How about we go with you don't know me as well as you think you do? I was killed and then I was reborn. And while I was dead I did some thinking and decided that I died a loser's death. And when I came back to life, I decided I would not ever let that happen again. I'm not going to let other people take away the things that are important to me. Nabiki is important to me. Deal with it." Hoko hung up.
Listening to the dial tone, Ranko blinked.
She was your friend and now she hangs up on you like you're nothing.
Ranko shook her head. No. She wasn't her friend she was Nabiki's friend, and she didn't abandon anybody she was just upset.
They all abandon you sooner or later. Kasumi is only being nice to you out of fear. You can see it in her eyes. Your mother sleeping in the other room? She will kill you as soon as she finds out you used to be her son.
"I still am her son!" But the words sounded hollow in her girl's voice.
I don't think so. Face it, Ranko. You're a girl. That's what your father called you isn't it? That's what Akane called you. That's what you are. A weak little girl. The moment your mother finds out who you used to be she'll kill you. She'll kill you because you killed her son.
Ranko felt something ice cold race up her spine. She gripped the kitchen counter tightly enough to cause it to crack. The telephone receive crumpled in her other hand.
Ranko felt Kasumi's gentle hand on her shoulder. "Little sister, what's wrong?"
Little sister, she calls you. She used to respect you. She used to think you were powerful. Now you can't even take care of Kodachi. Kodachi shouldn't even be a threat, but you're cowering behind Kasumi's skirts.
"It's just temporary. Nabiki has my bravery. I just got to get it back from her."
What makes you think she'll give it back? It suits her far better than it ever suited you. You've felt it yourself how well she takes to it. She should have been born a man. Just like you should have been a girl from the start. Soon Nabiki will realize you're just dead weight and cut you off. You can feel the bond between you weakening even now, can't you? Soon you'll be all mine, my little death doll.
"Ranko-chan, who are you talking to? Look at me, Ranko."
Ranko was so tense it took great effort simply to turn her head to Kasumi, "Help me," she croaked, eyes wide and brimming with tears.
HA! Asking Kasumi for help? Kasumi? You've got to be kidding. Besides I'm only telling you what you already know is true.
"It's NOT true! It's a lie! You're only taking the bad side of things. You're distorting everything making it all look bad!"
Am I, Ranko? Do you really think anybody in this town loves you? You just like the pain, girl. You get off on misery. It's what you grew up on. Your father beat you, all your so called friends hit you. If someone beats you up you chase after them just so they can beat you up again. It's your version of affection. It's the only thing you know. I can give you pain, Ranko. I can give you sweet exquisite pain.
Ranko felt something in her hand.
Kasumi had put a large knife into it.
The first thought Ranko had was that she could stab herself with it. But the voice was gone now. She blinked.
"Would you help me with the tomatoes? I'm making a salad for tomorrow." Kasumi's throat was very exposed. All Ranko would have to do is sweep her hand just so and…
She shook her head.
Kasumi trusted her.
She trusted her so much she was willing to risk her life.
Ranko nodded, lowering the knife. The emotions that had seized her earlier were still roiling within her, but they had settled into a low boil. Kasumi handed her a tomato, and Ranko slowly took it to the cutting board and manipulated the knife through the meat of the red fruit. Gradually, she was able to breathe normally, growing more calm. She loved cooking. It was the first thing she knew she could do outside the art. She didn't have to hurt anybody to do it either. It didn't have to cause any pain at all.
She had to get to Nabiki. It wasn't just that she didn't have her manliness. Nabiki was her thyself known. The more she was away from her the more she became unsure of herself. Nabiki was probably feeling the same thing. Airanman had infected her with his liquid iron. Where her soul of ice used to be, now there was his evil snickering face. It wasn't safe for Kasumi to be around her either. Maybe it was dangerous for her to go, but it was still safer to reach Nabiki and get some measure of self control back rather than stay here and slowly unravel.
After she was done with the tomatoes, Ranko carefully set the knife down on the counter. Taking measured breaths she turned to Kasumi. "I appreciate what you're trying to do for me, Kasumi, but I don't think I can stay here. I'm going to try to fight this thing inside me, but... I can't do it here. My mate is... Nabiki's in trouble. I should probably stay here, wait it out, but" Ranko shrugged and favored Kasumi with a shadow of her usual smirk. "I just gotta go do the dumb thing."
Kasumi nodded tiredly. In that moment she had such a serious expression on her face that Ranko would have asked her what was wrong, except of course she already had a pretty good idea of what was wrong. Ever since her mind meld with Nabiki she had known the truth about Kasumi's apparent flightiness, but even though it saddened her a little to see Kasumi so affected, it also reassured her a little. Kasumi was human. Her aloofness, her indirect solutions to serious problems, it wasn't an act so much as a defense mechanism. But there had been a little too much to defend against recently and it showed now on the eldest Tendo sister's face. Nevertheless, Kasumi's warm smile returned as she said "Well, if you're going out anyway... Maybe you could bring back a carton of eggs? I think we might be low."
Ranko smiled back. "I'll do that, oneesama. I'll be back. I...I promise" Ranko turned quickly away and headed out of the door as the tears started gushing down her face.
You won't be back you little cunt. You're running away.
Ranko gritted her teeth and waited until she was outside and some distance away from the house before she responded out loud. "You shut up, you got that? I don't know what your game is. Maybe you want something from me, maybe you're really some dark part of me that was always there. Don't know. Don't care. I AM coming back. I am NOT running away. I'm going to save my fiancé and return to this location WITH a carton of farm fresh eggs and a pocket full of change and that's that. Maybe Nabiki will leave me. Maybe I do like pain a little. Maybe I'm really a girl. Screw it. I don't care any more. Even if all the terrible things you say are true, I'm still going to keep on trying to do the right thing. I'm still going to protect the people I care about. That's one part of myself that I'm sure about. And if I can't hold on to that, then all the pain or pleasure or whatever other emotion you or anything else might throw at me won't matter. I'll be gone already."
Ranko stood outside the gateway to the Tendo residence just out side the circle of light from a streetlamp. For a long moment there was silence both in Ranko's brain and outside it. Ranko used a sleeve to wipe at the tears that were still leaking out of her eyes. She was just about to start running toward the Kuno estate when she felt something cold and sharp move inside her.
You aren't going to protect SHIT, little girl. The voice seemed to carom off the inside of Ranko's skull with the timbre of a concentrated scream, of nails on chalkboard amplified to glass shattering levels. I am not going to let you.
Ranko first felt something inside her make a sickening crunching noise. Then she felt herself falling. She waved her arms around to catch herself and her palms slammed against the concrete, small stones scraping across the skin. An agonizing twang of pain erupted from her back and she tensed all her muscles against it, willing it away.
It was only when she realized she could not feel her legs that she let out the scream that had been building up within her.
~~~~~end of Chapter 11~~~~~~
Authors Notes: I'm going to put a forum thread for this chapter I think, but a few things one should know. I have the next chapter drafted and I'm doing edits on it. It should be ready by next week if not sooner which is why I figured I'd be able to end on a cliffhanger. This has not yet been seen by other eyes. If you see anything wrong with it, please let me know.
It shall continue to be weird.