Chapter 21: The Aftermath and The Wish
Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha and Ranma ½ no one would know about these world wide phenomenons, would they?
I seemed to have left out some explanations about Ranma's new attacks, so I have them here:
Ryu no Kizu (Scar of the Dragon or Dragon Scar): Ranma's equivalent to Inuyasha's Kaze no Kizu and Kongousouha. It consists of Ranma focusing his energy into his sword, focusing on an enemy and releasing all the energy. The results are spear-shaped energy blades which fly around, similar to the Adamant Barrage (Kongousouha) but each have the equivalent power of Inuyasha's Wind Scar (Kaze no Kizu) divided by 8. The difference from this attack to the Adamant Barrage is that these spears are actually homing, so they target one enemy, no matter where the spears are released. Much more complicated to use, but the results are definitely worth it.
Mukaino Gogyou Shuuku (The Hellfire Wave): Ranma's answer to the Bakuryuuha (Backlash Wave). Ranma focuses his energy into his sword and lets it fly forth: the result is that it spews a red hot lava-like wave of energy which obliterates everything it comes into contact to. This is, however, not the only thing that it is limited to. This is, as you may have guessed, its normal form. If the attack it used the same manner as the Bakuryuuha, the red lava turns white and the rest is exactly he same as the traditional Bakuryuuha.
Why did I make this attack a normal attack and a counter attack? I was running short on ideas and so I needed to bend the attack a bit so it can be used under different circumstances.
Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken Revised: Ryu Kiba no Rippuku (Rage of the Dragon's Fang): This attack is the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken done with the Kaze no Ryu. A Kuno-esque attack but done a lot faster.
Why did I make Kaze no Ryu stronger than Tessaiga, as some of you might think? In truth, Tessaiga is still stronger than Kaze no Ryu. Although Ryu no Kizu is stronger than both Kaze no Kizu AND Kongousouha, Inuyasha still has one attack that is stronger than the Ryu no Kizu: Meidou Zangetsuha. This attack creates a portal straight to hell and begins to suck everything into it, much like the Kazaana. So, if Inuyasha were to use this attack, he could simply absorb all of Ranma's attacks straight to hell.
Bringing in elements from the manga has allowed me to enhance Inuyasha's strength. If I were to use just the anime, as most people are familiar with, and I have read many stories which has done this, this story would be no better than a crappy fanfic. So I decided to break away a bit and introduce new elements which have not been seen by most people. Some of these elements are: the Meidou Zangetsuha, the dragon scaled Tessaiga and the Bakusaiga, which was introduced in the last chapter.
The only problem with the Tessaiga is that it is more limited by its size and weight. Kaze no Ryu is easier to wield but harder to use in terms of attacks as both execution methods for both attacks are very similar. Therefore, the only way to actually use the attack properly is to have prior experience in controlling your energy and focus. However, as we all know, Ranma has a natural talent for these things. That is why Ranma is mores skilled in the sword than Inuyasha is.
And as a last note, Ranma still has one more attack which he has yet to unleash. And, if the previous attacks are anything to go by, it is gonna be one hell of a show. Wanna sneak preview? Here you are:
"HIRYU SHOTEN HA REVISED: UIZUSOGUSAN/KYOKUJITSU/NOBORIMASU! (RISING SUN)"
Vote for your favourite one, they all mean the same thing.
What does it do? The only thing I can say is that it involves Hiryu Shoten Ha.
Anyway, now that I'm finished rambling, on with the chapter!
All was quiet.
No one moved, no one breathed.
Naraku lay dead.
It was at an end. The end of their journey. The end of their suffering, theirs and many others.
Inuyasha was the first to move, sheathing his sword and looking at the burns he got from Kikyo and the gashes he'd received whilst fighting Naraku. Nothing to superficial but those burns would hinder his movement for about a week. Spiritual burns were not as easy to heal as conventional burns because of his demon blood. He then walked to Kagome and picked her up, checking her for wounds. When he was satisfied with her state, he walked her over to the Shikon no Tama, where she gained back some sense of rationality and picked up the Jewel. She purified it, combined it with the shards she had on her. There were now only three shards left. The one Sango had and the pair in Koga's legs.
Whilst Inuyasha and Kagome were dealing with the purification of the Jewel, Ranma was looking at Akane and checking her any injuries. She had broken wrist, nothing superficial, but it would require a splint.
Once Ranma had finished splinting Akane's arm wordlessly, he got up and walked to Ryoga.
He was, Ranma immediately noted, severely hurt, especially on his back where his faux father had used Haku Dato Shin Sho (White Snake Venom Reliable Fist). It had messed up Ryoga's back and he was lucky not to have anything broken. His back was bleeding, probably from the excessive times it was hit repeatedly. Had it not been for his interference, he may have ended with something worse.
Ranma lifted him gingerly from his resting place, beckoned Kirara to come forward and placed him on her back, trying to fight down the fear he was feeling from the giant neko and successfully doing so, but it was hard. But he had to do it or Ryoga could be scarred for life.
He then sent Ryoga to Kaede's village, deciding that no one else was hurt as badly as he was, since everyone else was able to walk.
Akane looked around at the battlefield. Sesshomaru simply stood there, his face impassive, Miroku and Sango together, her crying, he comforting her. Koga was looking jealously at Inuyasha and Kagome, despite the fact of his full knowledge of their confession of love to each other.
She got up and walked to Ranma, holding her arm gingerly, despite the fact that it was splinted. She reached him and said, "What do we do now?"
Everyone seemed to look at her at the question. Without question, Koga handed over his two shards to Kagome and Sango walked up to Kagome and gave her the last jewel shard. She prayed and the jewel was whole once more.
"Well, then? Who wants it?"
Koga shook his head. "I've no need of a power which can taint you. What I've got is more than enough to take the mutt over there."
Inuyasha shook his fist at him. "What was that, Wolfy?"
"You heard me, mutt, I'm still strong enough to take you on!"
"Bring it!"
"Fine!"
"OSUWARI!"
SLAM!
"WE ARE DISCUSSING WHAT TO DO WITH THE JEWEL, NOT TO PROVE WHO IS STRONGER, HERE!"
Ranma, Akane, Miroku and Sango sweat dropped.
Once she was sure the pair had calmed down, she turned to Sesshomaru.
"This Sesshomaru does not have a need of a power. This Sesshomaru is strong enough."
She sweat dropped and turned to Inuyasha. "I guess that leaves you, Inuyasha. You're the only one who wanted it in the first place."
She gave it to him, but he only pocketed it. He didn't know what to do, now that he had the intact jewel. He often boasted of his desire to be a full demon but he now knew that he didn't want it, after seeing what his demon transformations were like. He had no desire to kill the ones he loved.
Everyone, save Sesshomaru and Koga, stared at him. "WHAT?"
They all looked away; evidently more than surprised at the fact that Inuyasha did not fulfill his desire to become full demon. They had always thought that was the only thing that he wanted. Evidently, they were wrong. However, they could poke Inuyasha for information later, now they had to make a proper burial for Kohaku.
Inuyasha picked up the young taijiya and turned to Sango.
"We should find a proper burial place for him, I'm sure you don't want him buried anywhere near this bastard's death place."
She was surprised at the act of kindness. She had never known Inuyasha to be this caring towards anyone before, especially on a topic so sensitive. Then he lowered his voice so that only Sango could hear it.
"I know what you're going through. I had to bury my own mother."
He then stood up and started to leave, beckoning Sango, Miroku, Kagome, Ranma and Akane to follow, leaving the wolf and half-brother behind.
Koga was thinking about what he should do with his life. His clan had been avenged and now he had nothing to do. Kagome couldn't be his because she already belonged to the mutt. Then he got a brainwave.
It was time he reneged on a promise he mad years ago. One he'd made to a certain, white-haired wolf.
Sesshomaru was looking at the disappearing backs of his half-brother's group. He remembered that he had left a certain girl in the care of a certain toad demon's care and decided to check up on said girl before said girl killed said toad demon with her enthusiasm.
She really was too much for the toad demon to handle, after all, if any precedents did anything to show.
The motley gang arrived back at Kaede's village 3 days later, Ranma having explained where Kirara and Ryoga were to Sango and the others so she wouldn't worry about her little friend. They walked into the hut where Kaede was. She looked up and found the group, tired, sweating and begging for a good sleep. But, most of all, they were happy, happy at a new future. But now, they had to rest.
She set up different places for everyone to sleep, with the help of Ranma and Inuyasha, both of whom were too tired to complain about doing the job.
The group soon settled down to sleep and rest their troubles away. Except two people.
Ranma was talking to Kaede about Ryoga's condition, caring greatly for his friend. He was the first he'd ever made and now he had developed a mutual understanding with him. A friendship based on combat.
Kaede said despite the numerous scratches, wounds and injuries that he got, he would be fine by tomorrow. At this news, Ranma gave her his thanks and went to his futon to give his body some much needed rest.
Inuyasha was still contemplating on how on to use the jewel. He didn't need to change himself, anymore: there were people who accepted him for what he was.
Instead, he pondered on his position with Kagome. He knew that once the jewel was gone, the gateway between her time and his would disappear. But, he wanted his friends to know the wonders of the modern world.
He knew what he was going to do with the jewel.
Ranma and co. had a good night's sleep and now they were all hungry. They had not had anything to eat for a while so Inuyasha and Ranma volunteered to go fishing. No doubt that this would eventually turn into a fierce rivalry and some entertainment, so everyone decided to tag along.
"Hey," said Shippo, deciding to start some excitement. "I bet all of you that Ranma will catch more fish than Inuyasha."
Big mistake.
"Hey, I bet you that I will out do pigtail boy there by at least double his amount!" Inuyasha yelled, retaliating back.
Another big mistake.
"HAH! As if you could out fish me! I bet you, Inuyasha, that I will out do you by triple your amount, at the very least!"
"HAH! You're on!"
The rest of the group just sighed.
They walked to the river, their stomachs still growling for food and Ranma and Inuyasha staring at each other. Or rather, Inuyasha was staring and Ranma smirking, knowing that he had this one in the bag.
Ryoga and Akane just shook their heads. Of course they knew who was going to win. The rest of the group, however, wasn't sure. So Kagome decided to ask.
"Ne, Ryoga, who do you think is going to win?" The reason why she hadn't sat Inuyasha yet was because at least this fight had no way to hurt Inuyasha or Ranma and they were getting some food in the process.
"Ranma," he said simply without doubt.
"Hontou? How could you rule Inuyasha out so easily?"
"Just watch, Kagome-san," he replied.
She sweat dropped at such a vague answer. Deciding that she wasn't going to get much out of him, she turned to Akane. "Ne, Akane, who-"
She was cut off by Akane answering swiftly. "Ranma."
"Now, you can't be saying that just because you love Ranma, can you?"
"Even if I hated Ranma to my guts, I would still put everything I had on him. Just watch, Kagome-chan."
She sweat dropped even more because she had gotten pretty much the same answer from her as from Ryoga. She decided to take their advice and watch.
They soon reached the river. Inuyasha and Ranma stood by the river and waited for the count down.
"Any last words before you I thrash your ass?" boasted Inuyasha confidently.
"You'll regret ever saying those words to me, Inuyasha," said Ranma, confident.
Then, a huge splash was made and Ranma turned into Ranma-chan.
"It's been a while, but this is gonna make me feel so much better after I whoop your ass when I'm a girl," Ranma-chan said as she got out of the water.
Ryoga and Akane already knew the end result. If Inuyasha was gonna be beaten by male Ranma, he was gonna be thrashed when he was female Ranma.
Kagome decided to do the countdown.
"3…2…1…GO!"
Inuyasha leapt into the water and started catching fish as fast as he could. Ranma-chan, in the mean time, just sat down and observed him.
Doing that seemed to be an insult to Inuyasha, so he doubled his resolve and proceeded to fish even faster.
50 minutes later and Inuyasha had caught 30 fish. It was a good catch but Ranma-chan decided to make her move.
She knelt next to the river and her aura glowed.
"KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!"
And she proceeded to snatch fish from everywhere he could reach. In three seconds, she managed ten fish, in 6 seconds, she caught 20 fish.
By the time she exhausted her own strength, she managed 120 fish.
Everyone but Ryoga and Akane stared at Ranma in shock. Ryoga had known this was gonna happen because he had seen fishing being done in a similar way: Cologne, on the Bakusai Tenketsu training trip.
Akane had known this would've happened because Ranma learned this technique this way. The she got a brainwave.
She walked up to the river and proceeded to imitate Ranma in the technique. She figured it would be better than plucking chestnuts from a roasting fire. After 5 minutes, in which time Inuyasha had caught a further 3 fish, though he nearly gave up, seeing the pile Ranma had made, Akane had managed to perform the technique, though not as fast as Ranma. She managed in the remaining time, to catch roughly half of Inuyasha's amount.
After the competition ended, Inuyasha managed to carry most the fish, though he did so grudgingly. The rest was carried by Ranma-chan.
"YOU CHEATED!"
"No, I didn't. I just used everything had at my disposal, which included my fighting techniques."
At this remark, everyone had to agree with Ranma-chan. He did nothing outside the rules and the rules stated no defined catching method.
"KEH!" he said indignantly and he stuck his nose in the air.
"What? I beat you, fair and square, so don't give that 'KEH!' of yours. You know it, I know it, even everyone here knows it. I'm just better than-"
"RANMA NO BAKA!"
WHAM!
"Akane, why'd you do that for?"
Akane had her mallet out and she dropped Ranma where he stood. Or rather, she squashed him as hard as she could.
"Don't rub it in! Ever heard of good sportsmanship?"
Ranma-chan just stayed silent and pouted.
Apparently, Ranma had caught enough to feed the whole village so he gave most of the fish he caught away to the villagers. The rest, he saved for the incoming feast later that night to celebrate the end of another evil and they finally managed to have a late breakfast. Ranma gutted and cooked the fish over the fire pit in Kaede's hut and everyone had a good share of food.
After breakfast, Inuyasha went hunting as requested by Kaede and 'persuaded' by Kagome to hunt some animals for the feast later that night. Miroku and Sango went to pay their respects for Kohaku, whom
was buried the previous night before everyone went to the hut. He lay at the base of the Goshinboku. This left Ranma, Akane and Ryoga to help with the preparations with the feast.
Ranma and Ryoga were setting up the tables for everyone to sit at while Akane just set up the cutlery. Initially, she complained ("I actually want to do something helpful around here, for once!" she yelled) but they both kept refusing until they compromised that they would both spar with her later in the future. It had taken the pair a lot of persuading in order to have Akane agreeing to their terms but she eventually gave in.
They both finished faster than what would've happened if the whole village were doing the exact same task. Akane, with careful precision, used her newfound abilities to place the cutlery on the table. She punched each piece of cutlery, but not to hard, since they would break if she did so. She punched the cutlery into their position while they set up the tables and clothes to cover the tables.
They finished faster than what most would've predicted, so Akane, under the supervision of Kaede, went to prepare the vegetables to be used later that night and Ranma and Ryoga used their skills to gut and prepare the fish they had caught in the fish off.
During this time, Kagome went home and broke the good news to her family and informed them that Ranma, Akane and Ryoga would come back tomorrow.
Inuyasha soon returned with a couple of boars, a deer and some rabbits for Ranma and Ryoga to prepare. They soon did so and by nightfall, everyone had come back and it was nearly time for them to start the feast.
Once it did start, everyone had fun settled into it really quickly. Ranma and Akane stayed together, having their own intimate moments. Miroku got drunk and started flirting with the village girls. This, in turn, fired Sango up and more than once, she had to whack the 'holy' monk in the head more than once for either going too far with the flirting or the groping in which Miroku did.
Kagome stayed near Kaede and talked to her about the battle and what had happened. She was surprised when Kagome mentioned the Purifying Twin Waves attack.
Inuyasha and Ryoga, on the other hand, stayed away from the party. They were never the social type, really, seeing as Ryoga spent most of his life lost, on the road and Inuyasha was sealed to a tree for 50 years and that he'd spent most of his life avoiding other people and demons who were trying to kill him.
They, of course, were either training or in the Goshinboku, thinking about their life and what the future held for them.
The party went well into the night, lots of sake being poured out and lots of drinking, celebrating the end of an era of evil.
Later that night, Ranma and Akane were still up, talking to each other about their journey.
"Well, Ranma, the end of another journey," Akane said, putting her head on Ranma's shoulder.
"Yeah, and thank Kami-sama that no one was seriously hurt," he replied.
"So, what do we do now?" she asked.
"We need to get back and explain everything to our parents. Otherwise, they are gonna flip if we can't explain where we've been this whole time. However, seeing what the whole town has been through, I don't see why they can't accept a story of us travelling 500 years back into the past."
"And, I managed to get stronger. What do you think my level is?"
"Well, you managed to hold off the ex-fiancé brigade all by yourself, when they were at full strength. Which reminds me: I need to pick up your training again. I think we can move up to chi blasts, now."
Akane, however, was asleep at this point. Ranma just put her into her futon, but the moment he let go of her, she latched back onto her warmth. Ranma chuckled.
"Well, might as well make myself comfortable then," he said to himself.
He lay down on the hard ground, Akane still clutching his arm like a lifeline, but at this point, Kagome walked in, back from her bath.
"Ranma?"
He looked up and saw the girl dressed in her school uniform.
"Kagome?"
"Oh good, I was hoping to talk to you," she said. "About…umm… you-know-what."
At this, Ranma stiffened visibly. He got up and after a few seconds, managed to have Akane let go of him.
"I thought we agreed to never have that brought up again," he said seriously, looking into her eyes.
"I know, but I still think we need to tell them sooner of later."
"Yeah, but I don't think we need to tell them that much. We can start explanations once we're back in the real world."
"All right, then Ranma, but I don't think we should hold off on it much longer. I think we need to tell them soon, otherwise, it would hurt much more if we left it until it was too late."
"Deal, then. We'll tell them once we're back in our time."
They turned away and got into their futon to rest up for the long day ahead of them.
However, little did they know that Ryoga was still awake and heard every word of their conversation.
'What on earth were you talking about, Ranma?' he thought.
They got up the next day and had some of the left over fish from the fish off. Inuyasha had returned to the hut and Ryoga was shooting both Ranma and Kagome looks, which did not go unnoticed by either of them. However, these ceased once Inuyasha had made an announcement.
"I know what I'm going to wish for," he said.
This effectively stopped everyone from what they were doing and looked at him.
"Well? What is it?" Kagome said.
However, Inuyasha said nothing as he pulled the jewel out from his haori (the red fire rat robe he wears on the outside) and held it in his hands. He waited a moment and the whole hut flashed pink.
After a moment, this remained so and Inuyasha stood at the center of the flash of pink. However, this only lasted for a few more seconds as the jewel disappeared.
There was silence for a while until Ranma said, "Well then? What did you wish for?"
There was silence until Inuyasha picked up Miroku and ran out of the hut, much to the monk's protest. They all ran after him and they found him at the well. He waited for a moment and he threw the man into the well. There was a flash of pink and he disappeared through the boundary of time.
Everyone was speechless for a moment until Inuyasha picked up Shippo and threw him into the well. He screamed as he fell but the flash of pink engulfed him. Kagome then ran into the well and jumped, excited at the prospect of having her friends from the feudal era come into her time. Sango and Kirara were next, jumping in, complete with her weapons. Ranma, Akane and Ryoga were next. Finally, Inuyasha jumped.
Well, it hasn't been a long time since I updated but I needed to get this thing off my back and so I don't leave you in the dark for too long.
In case you're wondering what that huge chunk of writing was at the top, in case you skipped it, it was just an in-depth explanation about what Ranma's new attacks were like.
Also, there is a small poll I am running as to what I should name Ranma's final attack. The English translation is 'Rising Sun' but there are three variations on this translation. So I want you to pick the best one!
UIZUSOGUSAN
KYOKUJITSU
NOBORIMASU
Also, repeating what I said last time, I wanted your opinions on whether I should write another version of this fic as a RanXKag story.
Make all suggestions via reviewing.
Also, I have left a small cliffhanger as to what the next few chapters will be like. The conversation with Ranma and Kagome is what I'm referring to. I guarantee that it will be a bombshell.
Till the next update, HitokiriHERO, signing off!