Curse of the Nanban Mirror

Chapter Fourteen: Unwanted Visitors

"Kaaaaatsu! It's hot!" Ranma-chan whined as we stalked up the stairs of a shrine.

"I'm not using my fan to fan you," I said dryly as I pulled my hood over my head and slinked further into the shade of the tree.

"Why are you wearing long sleeves anyway!?" she hugged her body against the metal pole, hoping it would be somewhat cooling… if I really was a guy, I might've had some interesting thoughts that might earn a good beating from Akane, but since I'm a chick, not really… she jumped away from the pole yelping almost immediately from the heat.

"You do know metals heat up quite quickly in this heat," I commented tiredly. There's one thing I never liked about the summer, the extreme tiredness I always get from the heat. And I'm wearing sleeves because I would get sunburns in this sort of heat. "Come on, it's not that much further."

You must be curious to why Ranma and I are going to a shrine… well, something very odd has happened. It's actually only April and the weather is already burning hot hell. This never happened in the series, so I really have no clue to what this can possibly mean. Cologne and Happosai had no clue either… but Shiyu seems to have an inkling of what might be happening… but she's having an evil moment. Her hints were a bit vague.

"Why are we going to the shrine in this horrible heat?" she whined and dragged herself up the flight of steps. I glanced over to her a bit worriedly. These steps shouldn't bother her at all; the heat must be affecting her more than usual.

"If you talk less it wouldn't be as hot," I mumbled before hauling myself up the remaining steps. It was a humble shrine, nothing really out of the ordinary to actually be noticeable.

"Alright! We're here! Now what?" Ranma grounded out.

"If you're that exhausted, go sit in the shade before you get a stroke." I rummaged through my bag and tossed her a bottle of water. "I'll be quick… I hope," I mumbled the last part before walking over to the service booth. "Excuse me?"

"May I help you young man?" the Shinto priestess asked as she came to the table from the back. She doesn't look familiar either, so I guess she's not the problem either.

"I'm curious if there's anyone doing a fire reading here?" I asked.

"In this heat?" the stared at me in disbelief. "I'm sorry, but this shrine doesn't do that sort of reading. We do have a sand reading if you're interested."

"Sand?" I asked curiously.

"Grandma Chiyo does those readings. If you're interested, I can…" Whatever she said I hadn't heard her because I saw a tanuki dressed in a kimono run past Ranma… well, I guess that's what Shiyu was hinting at… Wait, how are vampires and tanukis even connectable? Damn literary law defying supernatural beings and mythological creatures.

"Um thank you, maybe next time!" I quickly bowed before running after the tanuki.

Ranma was already tired enough I don't need her passing out on me, but it can't be helped, she already passed out under a tree. The tanuki was running down the steps, I really had no time to wake Ranma if I don't want lose the creature… man, just my luck. I can just see myself getting eaten.

"What the hell, you only live once…" I muttered under my breath as I hurried after the tanuki, but at a later thought, I would be calling myself an idiot and wondering how the heck I get myself in these messes.

"I'm late! I'm late!" I nearly fell over with a sweat drop when I heard that, but kept a close watch on him as he disappeared behind a lamppost.

"This must be some cosmic joke… I'm fate's bitch aren't I?" I sighed before slipping through the small gap between the wall and the lamppost. The myths did say the entry to the spirit world is a bit odd. Once through the tight space, the street was no longer hot nor was it bright with the sunlight. The sky is filled with stars and a gentle breeze, but the tanuki was no where to be seen.

"Oi, young lady!" I glanced back to see an oden shop, noticing there weren't any other person around, I guess the owner was talking to me… but I'm technically a guy at the moment. I raised a hand and patted my chest just to make sure… Nope, still flat.

Since I lost track of the tanuki, might as well see if the owner have seen him. "Are you calling…" I trailed off when I noticed who was behind the curtains of the oden shop. "Me?"

"Of course I'm calling you! Who else is around?" the fox said cheekily. "You know, false bodies like that can't trick an old fox like me! What's a cute human girl like you doing here in the spirit realm anyway?" He waved to motion me to sit.

For some reason, my body doesn't seem to be listening so I sat… and answered. "I was following a tanuki."

"Ah, he was running an errand for Lord Futsu Nushi." He said as he tossed the prepared a bowl of oden.

"Lord Futsu Nushi?" I pondered curiously, it sounded somewhat familiar. "Would that be Amaterasu-sama's war general?" I vaguely remember Futsu Nushi being the fire and lightening god that changed over to become a war god for something. Amaterasu-sama is the goddess of the sun and the grandmother of someone important… my mythology sucks.

"Ah, so there are still humans that are familiar with the spiritual world," he nodded to himself before placing a bowl of oden in front of me.

The smell was intoxicatingly delicious; I want nothing more than to dig in, but if memory served me correctly… Nothing is exactly free in the spirit world. "Um… I don't think I can pay for this," I mumbled.

He chuckled. "It's already paid for."

I glance up curiously. "Already paid for? Who paid for it?"

"You're Katsuki Shinochi right?" he grinned.

My eyes widened. "How did you know that!?"

"A vampire said you would come here one day," he chuckled. "A very odd one that one is."

I blinked, must be Shiyu… she is pretty odd for a vampire… "Oh…"

"Said you might enjoy some of my uden, so eat up little lady." He said brightly and handed me a pair of chopsticks.

"Thank you…" I guess. There really wasn't anything else to do beside snap the chopsticks and dig in.

"So, why were you following tanuki-san?" he asked curiously.

"I was looking for something and tanuki-san just happened to run past… so I followed out of curiosity." I laughed sheepishly. "The oden is delicious!"

"Why thank you, but you know, curiosity is a dangerous thing. You shouldn't follow creatures you don't know. It's a good thing you lost tanuki-san on your way." He said as he poured me another cup of water.

"Why is that?" I asked curiously before I took a sip of the drink. I blinked and glanced down at the glass, it tasted… funny…

"Lord Futsu Nushi's son, Hinokou, ran off to the human realm a few days back in a childish fit. His lordship is quite furious. Tanuki-san has been searching for the young lord." That probably explains the heat wave problem back in Nerima… We have a son of a god wandering in Nerima… If my Japanese serves me right, which it should, Hinokou means child of fire… we're going to be burned to death.

"Thank you for the meal Kitsune-san," I said as I placed down my chopsticks. My face feels a bit warm. "I think I'll return to the human realm now." I stood up to leave, only to find myself swaying.

"Careful on your way back young lady," the fox said as he cleared the bowl and glass away. I nodded before walking out of the oden stand. Just as I was walking out I ran into someone I felt myself fall before a hand caught me… wait, hand?

"Mr. Estat! Miss Shinochi already had what you ordered for her… But she doesn't seem to be able to hold her liquor." My eye twitched. Liquor?

"I see... I shall escort her home." His hand shifted my arm over his shoulder before he picked me up… Damn it! Why can't I move!? Who the hell is this guy!? "Good day Takeshi." I found myself heating up quite a bit as he carried me off somewhere. What the hell did I drink? He laughed. "Shiyu's little new toy really can't drink at all. Pity, are you really a girl? You look so much better as a guy."

"…" I have no clue how to respond to that. I'm quite certain I was used to being accused of being the uke to Ranma, Ken and possibly Kuno at the same time… Excuse me as a shudder in horror… that was the most disgusting thought I had all day. However, apparently this Estat person managed to disturb me by being attracted to my guy side… Though who isn't attracted to my guy side! AHAHHA!

…

…

…

I think I'm being punished for my vanity… that's must be why I'm here.

"I'm almost jealous of Shishi." Shishi? Does this guy have a death wish? Wait… the fox said the person who paid for my meal was a vampire… then… FUCK! Another vampire!? How many fucking vampires am I going to run into!? "Ah, your pulse has quickened. How delightful! Pity I don't like the taste of a woman's blood."

"…" Stupid queer vampire… I bet if those fan girls see me now, they'll be screaming their silly little heads off… stupid girls… oh wait, I'm a girl.

"I am quite queer aren't I? Shishi always did find that annoying," he cracked up laughing. Is he… "Reading your mind? Quite clearly! Kind of hard not to, you think quite loudly. I'm assuming Shishi hasn't gotten a chance to teach you how to block your thoughts?"

"…" What?!

"Ah, I see she hasn't, wonderful!" he said as he hauled me about with ease. "Then you probably have many, many juicy blackmail items about her! Come on! Your purest memory of Shiyu being completely—" He shifted his weight quickly before bounding onto a fence. I heard the distinctive crack of a whip that haunted my nightmares.

"Had I known I would run into you, I would have brought vodka," Shiyu's dry voice clipped the air.

"Aw how sweet!" he chirped. "But you know we can't drink what mortals drink."

"It's so I can burn you to a crisp you bloody fruit tart! Put the brat down now!" I'm quite sure my face is stuck in between a laugh and a sweat drop.

Estat jumped away as she cracked her whip down at him. "Aw, you never share your toys!"

"I'm warning you Estat!" When did I become a toy? Hmm… I guess the same time I became Fate's bitch. I'm getting drowsy.

"Ah, looks like the little princess is…"

Snore…

o.o.o.o.o

"Oiiiiiiiiii, onee-chan!" I groaned as I felt someone shake me awake. "You shouldn't sleep here! Wake up!"

I raised a hand to my pounding head as I sat up. "Ow, where am I?" I blinked when I saw a pair of crimson eyes only inches from my own. "SHIT!" I shouted and stumbled back in surprise. The kid that woke me bounced back with a curious tilt of his head. I grunted in pain as my head pounded again.

"Are you okay?" He asked again, squatting in front of me with wide innocent eyes… A little too innocent for someone his age, he looked about ten or so. "These two vampires were fighting over you. It was so cool! The girl vampire was like snapping around the whip and the other one holding you was like jumping around! And then—"

"Do you know where they went?" I asked quickly before the kid decides to go off in a rant without breathing. I know. I've done many of those as a kid myself.

"Well, after a while the guy vampire said something to the girl vampire before tossing you here. She seemed pretty angry when she pulled out that scythe."

I have to sweat drop at that… a scythe… I wonder if Shiyu is a shinigami pretending to be a vampire… I tried getting up, but ended up falling on my ass again. My head hurts like a bitch. What the hell did I drink?

"Are you okay?" he asked again.

"I'll be fine in a little while…" I mumbled as I held my head before noticing it was wet… blood? Crap, it's not a hangover! I busted my head!

"The guy vampire did drop you on your head," the boy grinned.

"I see," I grumbled before pulling my bag off my shoulder and rummaged through the bag for bandages. Are you surprised? With my accident rate, I'm waiting to see how long before I'm in the hospital again.

"What are you doing?" Why is this brat still here? "Can't you just heal it?" I paused and glanced at him. "Well, can't you?" A breeze caught my attention before I glanced up at the sky, it was still dark. I'm still in the spirit world. "Geez! You're so rude! Father said…" he paused as he realized something before pouting angrily. "It's rude to ignore people!"

I raised an eyebrow. "It's also rude to yell at people," I responded as I started cleaning out the wound gently before binding my head tightly with the bandages. I better go check it out with Tofu sensei later, but for now, this'll do.

"So why didn't you just heal it? Wouldn't the pain go away faster?" he asked again.

"Not everyone can heal themselves." I said as I packed away the trash from the items I used. I don't want to get hunted down by spirits by littering in their world.

"So you can't right?" he trailed after me as I got up and started walking.

"I'm only mortal you know," I chuckled as his eyes widened.

"Wait! You're human!? How did you get here!? Father said—" he bit his tongue and shook his head. "Humans shouldn't be able to get here!"

"Well this one managed to get here," I replied snippily as I glanced around. "Drats, where is that Kitsune Oden stand?"

"Why? Are you hungry?"

"I came in from there; obviously, I need to go back there to get back to the human world." I reasoned.

"Why don't you just go that way? It's much closer," he pointed to the small gap below the fence. There was probably a foot of distance that a kid or a girl might be able to squeeze through… but in my guy form even though it's slightly bigger than my normal form, it'll be a very tight squeeze… I might even get stuck. "It won't be a problem if you turn back into a girl right?"

Hey, hey! What is with everyone in the spirit world knowing I'm a girl!? Is there a lie detector here somewhere!? "Are you sure that's a way back to the human world?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "I always use this one to go to the human world! It opens to this cool place! But they won't let me play with any of the stuff because I don't have money." He trailed off mumbling.

I sighed and squatted down to his eye level. "Why don't you just make up with your dad? And ask him to take you there?"

He glanced up at me with wide eyes. "How did you—"

"You only made faces whenever you happen to mention your dad." I commented dryly.

"I don't want to. He's a big meany! I hate him; he's a poop-face!" I flicked a finger at his forehead. "What did you do that for!?" he whined.

"You shouldn't call your dad names." Ha! The kettle is calling the pot black. My dad is a douche… I just wanted to say that for no reason.

"But he is!" he stomped his feet childishly.

"Well too bad, he's your dad and you're stuck with him regardless what you think. You have only one father and you can't choose who he is." Don't I know it? "How long have you been gone from home anyway?"

"He won't care!" he argued.

I dipped my head forward and sighed exasperatedly. "Fine, let's say he doesn't care. Where are you going to stay?" His angry pout faded as he looked down to the ground with his foot drawing invisible designs… Don't tell me… "How many days were you out here alone?"

"…Five…" he mumbled… five days… this brat was out here for five days… alone… Whoever his dad is should get shot.

I sighed. "Are you hungry?" His stomach growled. "Come on." I flattened myself against the ground and started to crawl through that crawl space he told me.

"Eh?" He looked at me curiously.

"You're hungry right?" I grumbled in irritation. "Come on, I don't have all day." I squeezed my way through, feeling the scorching heat from the other side. I felt a headache coming on when I heard excited screams. When I sat up and looked around I gave a dry laugh at the irony. It was a water park, talk about being a water magnet. "What are you hungry for brat?"

Five bentos and six ice cream cones later, I found myself surrounded by girls gushing over the brat and trying to get my number. I didn't even bother talking to them; it's too much effort in this heat. Instead, I watched as the brat conned them into getting him more ice cream. What do they teach kids in the past? I don't remember ever pretending to be cute to con someone of a meal… though, I do remember complimenting them. Either this kid really doesn't know what shame is, or he's just using his innocent look to his advantage. I must applaud him if that's the case.

Of course, I can only watch so long before I get bored. "Hey kid! I'm leaving!"

The girls turned to me in disbelief. "EH!? You're just going to ditch your little brother here!? How cruel of you!" they screeched.

"I never said he was my brother," I grinned.

"But you were with him and bought him food!" another argued.

"Ah, that was a thank you for giving me directions." I turned back to the brat. "Don't stay out too late and make up with your dad already!"

"Okay onee-chan!" he said brightly waving at me.

The girls froze in horror before turning to me again. "You're a girl!?" But by then I've already ran off. Hehe, this is kind of fun. "HEY! GET BACK HERE!"

I can't help it but giggle a little as I ran away from the angry mob of girls. I must've landed on my head harder than I thought… I shrugged, oh well! "Onee-chan, you run pretty fast!" I blinked and glanced down, the brat was keeping up with me quite easily.

"Why are you following me?" I asked exasperatedly.

He smiled brightly. "Because you're fun! I'm going to stay with you!"

"Say what?" I nearly ran into a pole when he said that.

"THERE!" screamed the mob of girls.

I sighed before grabbing the brat and jumping onto my fan and flew a good distance away from the horrid mob of girls. "WAI!!! You can fly?" He said excitedly as he glanced around excitedly. I quickly found a spot to drop him off.

"I don't have time to baby sit you! Go home already!" I snapped before turning to leave. Unfortunately, this brat is persistent and latched onto my neck. "I said I don't have time!" I growled trying to pry him off of me.

"No! I want to stay with you!" He whined.

"No means no! Now GET-OFF!" I snapped yanking him off of me before taking flight again. I didn't get more than a few meters when I heard his voice again.

"Onee-chan isn't going to get away from me that easily!" he chirped brightly with a ball of fire propelling him upwards.

"Then try to keep up brat!" I said before zooming off in a hurry.

I purposely went through what little clouds that was around in an attempt to put out that fire he's using for flight, but it doesn't seem to stop him at all. The chase went on for a while, my chi stores would probably allow me up to two hours of flight without doing any other stunts, but once those two hours are up, I'll need to rest if I don't want to suffer from chi exhaustion. It's already been thirty minutes and I can feel my chi slowly diminishing.

However, it wasn't until I noticed the slight change in temperature that I remembered that the air in the higher atmosphere is much thinner. A grin spread across my face as I too a deep breath before flying upwards. Glancing back I saw the bewilderment on his face as he forced his flame to flare up in an attempt to propel himself higher, but the more he tried to make the flame bigger, the faster it burned out. I had to pop my ears many times to adjust to the altitude and breathing was starting to become a problem as well.

With Shiyu as a teacher, I've learn to breathe as little as possible to avoid detection, (when I was trying to hide from her), but at this height, whatever little air I can get would be important. I should really head back down though; I could feel my skin starting to burn. The kid wasn't fairing that much better. His breath was short and his head was drenched with sweat with the amount of times he tried to flare up that flame of his.

"Give up already," I murmured to myself, wishing he would just return to the ground already.

"Onee-chan!" He struggled to shout out before his eyes closed and he started to fall.

"Hey, that's not going to fool me you know!" I shouted to him, but he wasn't responding. I frowned, sitting on my fan watching and waiting to see when he was going to cut the act and start up his fireball again… but it never came. "Oh come on!" I almost whined as I jumped off the fan with my arms and legs pressed tightly against my body in an attempt to fall faster to the ground to catch up with the brat.

I winced in pain as the air pressure changed on my flight down. My ears popped again and the wind was starting to hurt my eyes. Just a little more… a little… and… GOTCHA! I grabbed hold of his arm before pulling him into a tight one-arm hug. I materialized my fan and quickly grabbed hold of it before the draft blew it to who knows where. The upward draft was worst than I thought, I nearly disjointed my arm when the fan flipped over and twisted to a different direction.

"Fuck!" I hissed in pain as I pulled the fan under us.

It shifted a little uncontrollably from my injured arm, but eventually I managed to get it back in control. I glanced around quickly and cursed again, I don't see any ground. I have about fifteen minutes of flight time left and I have no clue which direction to fly towards. I glanced down at the kid and cursed again. He's exhausted, why hadn't I noticed before? Even if he's from the spirit world, he's still a child. The sun is starting to set as well. What the hell am I supposed to do now!? I looking around frantically hoping for some sort of sign that I might be close to land. Then it appeared an explosion of flame in the sky from the east.

Shifting the fan, I moved as quickly as I can back to land as possible. My fifteen minutes was nearly up. I could feel my grip weakening on the brat, but I still hung on as much as I can. Even if this brat is annoying, I just can't let him drown. I could see the faint outline of the coastal line.

One minute left!

"COME ON!" I begged as I angled the fan.

Thirty seconds!

I felt something leaking down to my face… blood?

Fifteen seconds!

My vision is starting to fade…

Ten seconds!

My fan was starting to shake…

Five seconds…

I'm not going to make it.

Three… two… one…

I faintly recall myself falling off the fan before everything turned black. I was fully expecting to never wake up, but oddly, I woke up. My eyes opened to a starry sky, the ground was soft and sandy. The sounds of waves? I glanced around and noticed I was on the beach somewhere. I sat up quickly when I noticed the brat was missing.

"Shit!" Did I get washed up to the beach? Where's the brat!?

"Ah, so you're finally awake, that was some feat you did out there." I kind voice spoke. I turned to the owner's voice and found the boy slumbering peacefully in his arms.

I let out a sigh of relief before collapsing back onto the sand; for once I didn't mind it. "Thank goodness he's okay."

The man chuckled. "He's a handful, isn't he?"

"Yeah, but at least he's safe." My body felt like jello.

He chuckled again. "Thank you for watching him."

My eyes drooped tiredly. "So you're his dad… Good, so now he can go home and…"

Snore…

You can't blame me; I'm tired as hell already. There's nothing I could have done to stay awake. "Thank you," what a nice voice…

o.o.o.o.o

The next time I awoke, I was sleeping in Tofu sensei's clinic bed with Nabiki sitting at the seat next to it. "Welcome back to the living Katsuya. I must say, this must be the stupidest thing you've ever done up to date."

"What?" I asked groggily and I rolled onto my stomach and buried my face into the pillow. "OWWWWWWWWWWWW!" I screeched jumping away from the pillow and holding onto my face. "OW, OW, OW, OW, OW!"

"Sunbathing with Ranma in this heat, it's no wonder the two of you got sunburn and a heat stroke!" Nabiki commented dryly.

"Ow," I bit back the tears as I gingerly touched my face.

"Well, seeing you're fine, I'm heading back home." She said with a grin.

"Ah, Nabiki-chan, you're heading home?" Tofu's sensei's voice came from outside. The two exchanged pleasantries while I tried to remember how I got here.

"Yay! Onee-chan is awake!" I twitched nervously as I lowered my hand and glanced down.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" I screamed and scrambled back against the bed. "W-Why?" my voice cracked at seeing the crimson eyed brat.

"Katsuya-kun!?" Tofu sensei ran into the room in a hurry at my shout.

I raised a shaking finger at the brat. "W-what is he doing here?!"

Tofu placed a hand on the brat's head fondly. "He was the one that called for help."

"Onee-chan turned red as a lobster!" the brat laughed.

"That's ONNI-chan to you!" I snapped at him before Tofu decides to ask.

Tofu chuckled. "Well, he managed to find one of Nabiki's friends before they contacted Nabiki to come get you and Ranma. You should really take better care of yourself."

I glared at the brat who grinned innocently. "Onee-" I hauled him up by the collar.

"It's ONNI! Say it right before I become an oni and eat you." I hissed. "Why are you still here? I thought your dad picked you up!"

"Ah, so you know this boy, I'll leave you two to talk. I'm going to get some salve for your face," Tofu sensei said before he walked out of the room.

The kid bounced onto the bed excitedly before I caught him again to toss him back onto the ground. "What are you doing here?!" I hissed.

He pulled out a letter with a bright grin. "Father told me to give you this when you woke up. He told me about how you saved me and everything! Onee-chan you're so cool!"

I frowned as I took the letter and flipped it open. As I've said before with my previous letters, I'll just give you the gist of it. The beginning was mostly just pleasantries and whatnots about taking care of the brat. It wasn't until I reached the middle that my eyes widened in horror and I glanced up to the smiling brat.

"What's your name?" I asked cautiously.

"Hinoko!" he chirped. "What's your name onee-chan?"

I gave a dry laugh as I hung my head. I've been just given guardianship to one Lord Hinoko and am responsible for his well being until he is ready to accept his duties as lord. The fates loves to fuck with my life don't they?

"Neh! What's your name?" he asked again.

"Katsuya Shinochi and call me onni-chan not onee-chan!"

"But you're—" I quickly covered his mouth when Tofu sensei walked in again.

"Ah, I see you two get along quite well." Tofu smiled brightly.

"I hope so, since I'm going to be stuck babysitting him for a while." I muttered in irritation as the brat bounced excitedly in my lap. Apparently, he doesn't know I'm stuck babysitting him.

"What about his parents?" Tofu asked curiously.

"That's what I want to know," I sighed. "But it shouldn't be too hard right?" I'll learn to regret the words that come out of my mouth… I wonder what happened to Shiyu and Estat?

Unknown to me, Shiyu was elsewhere tracking down Estat and plotting to decapitate the flamboyant vampire and burn his body into cinders… I almost feel bad for that queer vampire to have this defective one go after him.

o.o.o.o.o

CM Aeris: YAY! New character to play with! At first I wasn't really sure if I wanted to keep Hinoko, but after a while, he just kind of grew on me… so… yeah, he's staying.

Koganei: The next few chapters might be on or off the manga/anime listing.

Mokuba: So FRI and until the next chapter!