Permanent 9
Ranma's apprentice.
++++++++++
Ranma walked beside Akane towards the school as
usual. Akane hung back with her friends and talked
vigorously. Ranma looked back at her and sighed. "Hey,
Ranma what's up?" asked Yuka.
"You'll find out when we get to school," said Akane
with a small smile.
"I got a hundred yen that says he's calling
himself 'Black Eagle,'" commented Nabiki as the group
caught up with her.
"You're on, I think it's 'Dark Angel' myself," said
Ranma from her perch with a smile.
Akane smiled as Ranma cheerfully walked towards the
school and argued happily with Nabiki over Kuno's new name.
Kuno smiled as the group of girls walked towards
the gates of Furinkan. "Ah, Ranma-kun, I the Dark Eagle,
the Black Angel of Furinkan high would spar with you," said
the boy dramatically as he pointed his bokuten at Ranma.
His ten-foot long wings were spread wide and he held the
bokuten in his clawed hand, a dark smile was on his lips.
"Draw," said Nabiki and Ranma in unison. They
looked at each other and started laughing.
"Are you mocking me?" asked Kuno with a frown.
"No Kuno, Its just something that happened on the
way to school," said Ranma as she eyed him carefully.
"You know Ranma, the curse was not completely
removed, I can still 'see' a lie," the boy frowned slightly
and then dismissed the matter.
"Well, I was trying to be polite Kuno, you could
return the favor," Ranma eyed him carefully and smiled a
little.
"Ah, very well then you accept my challenge?!" said
Kuno as he gave a rough snort to dismiss the conversation.
"What the hell is he thinking?" muttered Daisuke as
he looked at Kuno's wings skeptically.
"Those things look ridiculous who is he trying to
fool? I guess he thinks those fake wings make him look like
one happening dude," said Daisuke from next to him.
"Happening dude?" said Hiroshi with a strange stare.
"Shut up man," muttered Daisuke. "Kick his ass
Ranma!" he cried as he waved at her.
"Man you've got it bad," muttered Hiroshi as he
watched his pathetic friend drool. Then he looked at Ranma
for a moment. "Kick his ass Ranma!" he cried with his
friend.
"I thought you thought she was creepy," said
Daisuke with a slightly annoyed look.
"I saw the light my friend, she just jumped."
"Yea, heheh heh heh," agreed his friend.
"I think they actually make him look kind of regal
for once," said one of the nearby girls. Her friends looked
at her strangely and backed away. "What?!" she cried
defensively as she glared at them.
+++++++++
From a nearby set of bushes Hikaru Gosunkugi
watched in awe. He was very near to the pair and could see
Kuno's back closely. He could see the muscles tense up and
move as Kuno moved around. He lifted his camera and began
to snap photos despite his shock. "The wings are real," he
thought over and over. "How?!" he asked himself out loud.
+++++++++++
Kuno swung at Ranma with blinding speed and she
ducked under the strike easily. Kuno was much faster but
his patterns were still readable. Then the kendoist
changed; Ranma took a light blow on her side and backed
away with a surprised look.
Kuno smiled. "Point, You can learn a lot about
yourself when you can only hear the truth Saotome," said
the Kendoist with a smile. Ranma grit her teeth and charged.
Kuno was not expecting her to rush him he swung
wildly; Ranma dodged skillfully around his blows barely.
How ever fast he was now Ranma was still faster. "Damn," he
said as she struck his chest.
"Point," she said with a smile.
Then Kuno did something completely unexpected.
Ranma charged again and Kuno began to beat his
wings. Ranma was taken by surprise and thrown back from the
sheer force of the wind created. She grit her teeth and
struggled to keep her balance. Kuno smiled and jumped up
into the air, he spread his wings and soared up.
"They work?" said Ranma in disbelief. "Now I know
why he wanted to keep them."
The entire student body of Furinkan high stared at
the spectacle in disbelief. Kuno was flying around and
diving at Ranma at high speeds in an attempt to tag him
from above. She kept away pretty well but almost took
several of the strikes.
"Oh! He really is an angel!" cried
one of the girls in delight. No one said anything.
"Damn!" cursed Ranma as she rolled on the ground
away from another of the kendoist strikes. She turned and
saw him diving again. She stood and jumped into the air.
Kuno was taken by surprise and swung clumsily at Ranma who
dodged and grabbed his shirt. She shifted her weight and
drug him to the ground The pair rolled for about twenty
feet when they hit and came to a stop near a tree. Ranma
landed on top and punched at Kuno's face stopping just
before the tip of his nose. "Point. I win," she said with a
smile.
Kuno grinned and nodded. "You took me by surprise
Saotome, tomorrow will be different," he said as she let
him stand.
Ranma smirked, she could get to like this little
game. For the first time in a long while she had a
challenge.
+++++++++
During lunch Akane Tendo sat with some friends at
her usual spot. She laughed and smiled as she conversed
with them. Ranma was strangely absent and she glanced
around occasionally.
Hikaru sat in the bushes and sighed as
he snapped a few photos. "Today Akane Tendo I will have
you!" he said to himself as he pulled out a voodoo doll and
nailed it to a tree with tears in his eyes. He took a small
bag out of his pocket and dumped its contents onto the
ground. An assorted array of strange things fell out,
things like dried eyes and tails. He looked at a small
piece of paper and began to read directions off as he
followed them.
"All right, First I take the eyes and place them in
the yak urine and then I add the herb mixture, and then I
tie the leather on top of the bottle with the lizard tail
and shake it up. It should glow pink and then I just say
who I..." he looked at the bottle in disappointment. He had
a rather disgusting stink bomb for his work and he knew
it. "Stupid salesman, it didn't work," he said to himself.
"That's because you didn't do it right," said a
feminine voice. Hikaru froze and turned to see Ranma
hanging upside down from a tree branch just inches away
from him.
"Auuuuggghhh!" he cried in surprise.
"Shut up fool. Who ever wrote those instructions is
a moron, the ingredients are right but you mixed them
totally wrong," said Ranma casually.
"Um, you've done this before?" asked Gosunkugi as
he turned completely red.
"No," said Ranma with a cold stare. "You must be
Hikaru Gosunkugi, the other 'Sorcerer' Kuno mentioned,"
said Ranma as she jumped down beside him.
"Uh, yeah, please don't tell Akane about this." said
the boy pathetically.
"Don't worry it wouldn't have worked anyway, love
is fates favorite toy and she doesn't like sharing. It
wouldn't have come out the way you wanted it to, you might
have ended up dating Kuno. Even if it had worked I would
have destroyed the spell," said Ranma as she assessed the
boy.
Gosunkugi shuddered as he thought of the
possibility of dating Kuno. "Wait a minute. How do you know
that?" said the boy as he turned and stared at Ranma in
disbelief.
"How do you think I know brainiac?" said Ranma
smugly.
Gosunkugi backed into a tree. "You're a witch!" he
cried.
"Keep it down, and I prefer the term Mage thank
you." Ranma replied curtly.
"What do you want?" said the frightened boy.
"You and I need to talk kid, I've been watching you
and you've been using some pretty dangerous and stupid
magic, luckily you've never gotten it right. This is as
close as you've come," said Ranma as she held up the bottle
he had just mixed and made a slightly disgusted look. She
looked even cuter than normal for a moment and Gosunkugi
had to cover his nose with his hand.
"I don't want to clean up your mess on the off
chance that you get something right or really screw
something up in the wrong way. I can guarantee that if the
kinds of spells you've been trying to use do come out right
they aren't gonna react the way your expecting, magic is
very dangerous for some one like you. You don't think about
what might happen, only what you want to happen and that's
not the way it works I'm afraid. You had better find
something else to do with your spare time got it?" said
Ranma with a warning glare.
"B-but I..." stammered the frightened boy as he
backed into the tree.
"Look no buts here, this is some dangerous crap
your messing with, I want the book your getting it from -
now-," growled Ranma.
"I...I don't have it with me," stammered the boy.
+++++++++
After school that day Ranma followed him home. "But
if my parents find me with a girl when they come home..."
stammered the boy.
"They'll probably cry tears of joy," said Ranma
flatly.
Hikaru just hung his head in defeat. "Here we are,"
he said as he turned into his yard. It was an average home
normal really. Even Gosunkugi's room looked normal when he
opened the door. Ranma shielded her face and backed into
the wall as the force of the book's power overwhelmed her.
"Jeezus kid what have you got?!" she cried in
anger. Voices screamed in pain and cursed in various
languages as she entered. A book sat opened on the desk in
the corner. "You left a magic tome opened? Are you dense?!"
she screamed.
"No one told me I wasn't supposed to!" retorted
Gosunkugi.
Ranma ran over and slammed the book shut. She
glared at the cover and pulled her hand away in
revulsion. "Just as I though, Necronomicon exmortum. I'm
sick of these things," she muttered.
"You've seen it before?" asked Gosunkugi in
surprise.
"I have seven, I had to 'confiscate' them from
idiots like you," grumbled Ranma bitterly. She placed her
hands over the book and mumbled something. All the power in
the room seemed to move in reverse for a moment and a lock
appeared on the book.
"What did you do?" asked Hikaru from behind Ranma.
"I sealed it," she said as she placed the book
under her arm and began to walk out of the room.
"Cool!" exclaimed the boy as she left. She turned
to see that he had sealed his math book.
"Idiot. You can't open it now! How are you going to
do your homework?" she said angrily.
"I hadn't thought of that," said Hikaru with a
defeated stare.
"Exactly why you shouldn't be using magic; I had to
learn the hard way," said Ranma coolly.
"What if, you taught me?" said Gosunkugi with a
withering stare. He was having trouble speaking to her if
he looked at her. It was easy to think she was a boy if he
didn't see her.
"No," said Ranma.
"Please I'll do anything!" cried the boy.
"So you can go and screw up like this again? You
lucky this book didn't eat your soul the moment you opened
it! I've seen it happen and it isn't pretty," said Ranma
angrily.
Hikaru shrunk back, "But no one told me..." he
started.
"You couldn't tell this thing was evil the moment
you touched it?! You knew! Don't give me that bullshit you
little worm!" screamed Ranma as she slapped him hard. "You
could have done things you don't even want to think about
with this if you had screwed up."
"Please teach me, I'll change, I won't use it to
make Akane love me or hurt anyone, I swear!" cried the boy
as he fell to his knees.
"Why do you want to learn magic?" said Ranma with a
cold stare. "If he says 'to help people' I'm walking out
the door," she thought coldly.
"Because without it I'm nothing, I'm just some
creepy kid with no friends. Nobody. Just someone people
will half remember in the year book, they'll look at me and
go, 'hey look its that creepy Gosunkugi kid, remember him?'
I don't want to be like that," said the boy, tears began to
fall down his face.
"Stop crying you're a boy aren't you?" said Ranma
angrily, she then winced as the words brought back a bitter
feeling in herself. Hikaru stood and tried to gain back
some of his dignity.
"You will never touch another book like this. Do
you understand?" said Ranma as she glared at him. He nodded
and a weak smile formed.
"I'll help you learn, but I can't really teach you,
you have to learn on your own," said Ranma as she turned to
leave. She stopped just as he was about to thank
her. "Let's get one thing straight, I am only doing this
because I know you'll just go and try this on your own if I
don't. I don't want you getting another copy of this or
something worse," said Ranma as she walked out.
"Worse?" said Gosunkugi to himself as he watched
her leave. He paled and sat down on his bed. He began to
realize what the book was doing to him while he had it,
with out its influence he felt his head clear and he
realized just how evil it was. The feeling he had gotten
but foolishly ignored when he had found it became clear. He
knew she was right, he already felt an unbelievable urge to
find another copy. Then he thought again. "Worse? Is that
possible?" The urge died down suddenly and he felt much
better.
"Yes boy, it is," said a voice in the back of his
mind. He looked out the window to see Ranma staring at him
from the street. She turned and began to walk home.
TbC....
