Permanent

Part 22

The deal.

+++++++++++++

Ryoga Hibiki stood up from his seat in shock as the words sunk in
slowly. "What?!"

Ranma merely ignored the discomfort of Ryoga and Akane while she
exchanged pleased looks with Soun. "Well, that should take care of any
possible problems later on," thought the pigtailed girl to herself.

"You can't do this to me!" screamed Akane in shock as she backed
away from the table and Ryoga.

"Why not? You two seem to like one another just fine," said Ranma
as she gave them a surprised stare.

"You don't have any right to do this to me Saotome!" screamed
Ryoga as he grabbed the girl by her shirt and lifted her off the floor.

"Cut it out Mr. P, you know that I do," replied the girl coolly
from his grip.

The boy froze and slowly placed her on the floor as a
comprehending and frightened look crossed his face. Akane looked at him
and stepped forward. "Ryoga, are you all right?"

"I'm fine...it seems I have no choice but to accept this," he said
coldly as he glanced between Ranma and her father. He seemed dazed almost
as if he wasn't there anymore.

The pigtailed girl settled back into her seat calmly and turned
back towards Soun. "How long do you think we should wait?"

"Give them a little time to get to know one another, a few months
of him living here with us should do it," replied the man sagely. Ryoga
sat calmly beside the girl with a completely serene look about him.

Akane turned and grabbed Ranma by her collar in anger, "What did
you do to him?"

"Nothing," replied the girl with an icy edge appearing in her
voice for a moment. She pushed the Tendo girl away gently and returned to
her seat.

"I'm fine Akane, really," said the boy mechanically.

"You're making him do this aren't you?" screamed the girl, she was
terrified beyond belief. If Ranma could do this to him, what else was she
capable of doing? "If she wants me to marry him I might not have any
choice!" screamed her mind in desperation.

Ranma looked between them and frowned as she began to understand
what was wrong with the girl. "Akane, I'm not controlling Ryoga. He is
just accepting what he cannot change, it is too late for me to go back on
my word."

Soun seemed puzzled by the conversation and said nothing.

"Ryoga say something!" cried the girl in shock as she took him by
the shoulders and shook violently.

"There's nothing I can do Akane," he replied simply before turning
away from her in shame.

"How can she do this to you? She's not even related to you! Do
something!" she pleaded with him.

"Akane, I belong to Ranma, he can do with me what he wishes,"
replied the boy as he continued to sit calmly despite her shaking him.

"What?" gasped the girl as she scooted across the floor away from
him.

Ranma merely stood and turned towards the door, "You're staying
here now Mr. P, don't think you can be late for work because of it."

The boy nodded dumbly and continued to sit with the exact same
expression on his face. "See you later Ranma."

Soun watched this coolly and placed a neatly folded piece of paper
into his sleeve. He had not been expecting this sort of reaction from his
daughter, she seemed to like the boy a lot. Ranma had explained to him why
she had the right to do this for the boy, but Soun decided that it would
be best if she explained it to her; or the boy himself could do it. He
didn't really see the need to involve himself in the matter.

++++++++++++

Ranma walked down the street with an icy air about her, she pulled
the cloak she had draped around the kimono tighter and shifted the katana
in her arms, it was bundled up in a long cover that kept it hidden from
prying eyes. Gently as if carried by the breeze a few words floated into
her head.

"Do I love her? Or is it just you Ranma?" she turned and gave a
quick glance back at the Tendo home pulling the hood further over her
head.

"I wish I knew Mr. P," with that said she started towards the Cat
Café once again, all the while thinking that maybe she had made a mistake.
She forced the thought out of her mind and grit her teeth, "So what? If I
love her, so does he! What difference does it make? I sure as hell can't
marry her!"

"Saotome," said a familiar voice from behind her. Ranma turned
slowly and noticed Kuno standing there with a thick book in his arms. "You
seem troubled, are you well?"

"Hello Kuno, I'm fine; just sorting through some family business,"
she replied calmly.

"I see, the best of luck to you, Gosunkugi asked me to give this
to you," he held out a small amulet to her and placed it in her palms.

"Hey, not bad! He's improving," she replied with a small smile on
her face. "Still hasn't figured out how to fix his arm yet though."

"And you do?" asked the boy in surprise.

"Not off hand, I'm sure I could look it up though. I want him to
do it himself though, an incentive to work harder." She looked up at him
and snorted when she noticed he was wearing his kendo uniform again.

"I had a match today," he replied noting her gaze.

"I see, watch yourself," she nodded at him cautiously.

"I have no intention of becoming that again, I assure you of
that," snapped the boy a little impatiently.

"I see, you and Gosunkugi have been spending a lot of time
together," Ranma switched the topic quickly and started walking again
with the boy keeping up beside her.

"We get along well, and our experience in the house of Kuno..." he
trailed off still unwilling to converse much about it, but it was a
drastic improvement none the less.

"Someone to speak with if you have to right?" said the girl with
another knowing smile appearing on her face. Kuno noted that she seemed
strangely reserved keeping her face hidden in the shadows of the cloak
almost intentionally and not looking directly up.

"That is part of it. Tell me something Saotome, why do you seem so
tense all of a sudden?" he asked looking her up and down.

"Something is coming Kuno, I don't know what it is," she replied
simply.

"This is not good, I've felt a strange darkness lately. I feel
cold, as if a dark presence was there, like in the mansion." He returned
from his thoughts and noticed the girl had stopped.

"I was hoping it was just a dream myself, but if you can feel it
as well..." she looked up at the dark rain clouds that hung over their
heads.

"Once someone feels evil that potent it is easy to recognize,"
replied the boy simply.

"You're being awfully loose tongued about this lately. Finally
feeling better?" she smiled at him again causing him to stop and frown
slightly.

"I have accepted what I cannot change," was his answer. Ranma
nodded and continued walking.

"I wouldn't worry about this presence too much Kuno. It is an evil
presence, but there is no doom or dread in the premonitions I've been
getting. Perhaps it will not even involve us." The boy nodded and they
parted ways.

Ranma's face returned to a scowl as soon as she was away from the
boy. She was not so foolish as to believe this evil would not involve
her. She looked towards the sky again as it roared angrily with a flash of
light appearing inside the clouds over her head. The evil was potent
indeed, she would have to deal with it when the time came and she knew
that very well.

++++++++++++

"Ranma! You come back already?" asked Talcum as she walked through
the door and saw her two Amazon sisters working at the tables.

"Yeah, my business is finished," she replied removing her cloak and
hanging it by the door.

"How did it go?" asked Cologne as she bounded from the kitchen on
her staff.

"Not as well as I'd hoped, neither one of them took it well," she
replied flatly as she tied an apron around her waist.

"That's too bad, I'd halfway expected those two love birds to jump
on a chance like that," said Ko li as she walked by the group with a tray
of food in her hands.

"To be honest so did I," replied Ranma coolly.

"Give them time child, they'll come around after spending a little
time together. We'll send over his things tomorrow," the old woman
returned to her place in the kitchen and continued to cook while Ranma
started waiting tables. She was glad for the distraction.

Cologne stuck her head out of the door and frowned. Ranma seemed
rattled and disturbed still, the girl did not shake easily and it must be
something important if it caused her to act this way.

"This does not bode well," she said simply as she turned away
again.

++++++++++++

Ryoga sat with Akane on the back porch of the Tendo home, he was
calm and reflective while Akane just fumed with anger.

"I don't believe her! I can't believe she had the nerve to do that
to us!" cried the girl angrily.

Ryoga merely turned his head slightly and sighed. "She had every
right to do what she did Akane; we don't have to like it, but we do have
to accept it."

"What are you talking about? I thought she was using some sort of
mind control on you!" growled the girl, "I think you gave up a little too
easily!"

Ryoga looked at her and chuckled to himself. Akane's scowl
deepened and she glared at him. "You had this planned in advance didn't
you! Pervert!"

"No, I didn't, I don't have a choice Akane," replied the boy
simply.

"Of course you do! What are you talking about?" replied Akane in
frustration.

"Akane, Ranma owns me," he said simply as he laid on his back and
gazed into the stars with a wistful look on his face.

"What?" said the girl in surprise.

"The contract I sighed when I became Ranma's familiar, basically
I'm a slave," his face didn't seem pained or troubled, it was almost as if
he was remembering a pleasant memory.

"Ryoga that's terrible!" said the girl as she tried to imagine
Ranma doing something like that to someone. It surprised her when she did
it quite easily.

"It was necessary, ask me about it again sometime and I'll tell
you the story about how it happened," said the boy wistfully.

"What do you mean necessary?" cried the girl in shock.

"I did it of my own free will Akane," snapped Ryoga almost too
harshly.

Akane jerked back, but calmed considerably.

"It happened in China just before we came back. We ran into some
pretty strong evil force, she just didn't have the strength to beat it. We
almost died that day, all three of us." The boy paused and took a deep
breath as he remembered.

"Three?" Akane noticed the look on his face and did not press the
matter. "One of them must not have made it."

"By becoming her familiar Ranma was able to use my soul to
strengthen her own magic, basically boosting the amount of energy she
could handle by letting her use mine. In order to do magic you have to use
your own soul to control the energy, you can't use anyone else's. That's
why I can't do magic, even though I know how to." Akane still didn't
comprehend what he was saying and he smiled. "I sold her my soul Akane,
gave it to her. Since it is her soul now, she can use it to do magic with.
In a sense I'm just loaning it."

The girl's eyes just about popped out of her head as the boy told
her this. "Ryoga, that's terrible!"

"If it was someone besides Ranma it would be, she'd never force me
to do anything; I trust her completely," replied the boy with a shrug.

"What would you call this?!" screamed the girl in frustration.

"Ranma isn't going to hold my hand when I walk down the isle, I
could run and she wouldn't stop me; I'd have to sacrifice my own honor,
but I could get out of this pretty easily," replied the boy .

Akane felt tears fall down her face, she wasn't sure exactly what
she was feeling right now, but whatever it was just would not stop. Her
left eye glowed, it was bright enough that she could see it with her right
eye.

+++++++++++++++++

Ryoga seemed to ignore her as he lay stargazing. "Do I love her?
Damn you Ranma, this is all your fault!" There was no real heat behind the
statement, but the question was still there. He had yet to receive an
answer from Ranma. Experience had told him that it was very possible that
his master's feelings for the girl could be spilling over on him,
especially since they had used the link recently in the battle with that
demon in Kuno's home. "I can't even tell what I feel anymore, is it really
mine? Or does she belong to you?"

++++++++++++

Akane was having troubled thoughts of her own. She started to
seriously wonder just what Ranma Saotome was capable of doing. She wasn't
sure how she felt for the boy she now called a fiancée, but it was damn
sure too soon for marriage to be even considered. Another thought entered
her mind, "What is Ranma to me anyway? Friend, sister, or lover? She
definitely had a real love for her, but how serious was it? It disturbed
her how often she thought back to that kiss she had received from her that
day. It seemed so long ago now, but the feeling was still there. The
warmth and safety she had felt was far too strong to be ignored. She had
never thought of herself that way before, but Ranma had forced her to
think about her own sexuality; she couldn't say she liked the way it was
going either. Even if it was true, what would she do? Probably marry the
boy sitting next to her anyway, that's what her mind told her; but her
heart was another matter entirely. Uncertainty flooded her mind as she
stretched her back across the wooden floor and joined her fiancée in
stargazing.

++++++++++++

Somewhere in a forest just outside Tokyo a small shadow dashed
through the woods breathing heavily as it struggled with the rough path
ahead of it. A single word escaped it's lips as it crawled slowly towards
the city limits. "Akane!"