Disclaimer: I don't own the Ranma 1/2 casts but I do own the fanfic.
This fanfic is a little dark and it's serious, contain violence and
blood shed and it's a little graphic about it, too. If you can't handle
that, please do NOT read this. Also, please don't say I didn't warn ya!
^_^

Night Owl
Part Two
By: Silver Star


Kuno stood in the center of his garden and stared at the full
moon. He thought.

He looked down from the moon and looked at the paper that was on
a board so he could write. In his right hand is a ballpoint pen.
He stood there as he stared at the paper in concentration of
deciding which girl is worth the beautiful night.

Kodachi was also staring at the moon in her room, which is right
above the garden. She knew her brother is below her, thinking up a new
poem for his two beloved. She also knew to never disturb a writer at
work so she left her brother in peace.

She stared at her brother for a few moments as he pondered on
which girl to write about. She looked up just in time to see a blur of
shadow passing the moon on the walls of the Kuno Estate.

She asked herself as her ribbon magically
appeared in her hand. Apparently, Kuno saw the shadow as well and was
staring at the general direction the shadow had gone.

After a few seconds without sounds and movements, a cat meowed
and then jumped on a tin garbage bin outside the estate, overthrowing
it and making a loud racket.

Kuno relaxed and loosened his hold on his pen. Kodachi also
relaxed and her ribbon disappeared.

With the recent attacks with the monster, nothing in Nerima
seemed to be very safe. Kodachi knew very well that the Ukyou is good
at Martial Arts. Knowing that the monster can defeat a good martial
artist with ease, not even the wealth of the Kunos will be able to keep
them from the attacks.

Kuno was about to get back to his poem when he heard a scream.
He dropped his pen and the paper in shock.

"HELP!!" Somebody screamed. There were struggling sounds and
they came from the gate of the Kuno estate. Kuno almost dropped from
shock as he recognized the voice.

"Sesuke!" He yelled and sprints toward where the scream had come
from.

"Master Kuno!!" Sesuke yelled and then screamed in pain as a
pair of claws brought a huge gash on his arm. "Help!!" Kuno didn't do
his usual speech about evil and justice. He just knocked the unknown
attacker off of the injured Sesuke bodily.

"WRRREEOOWWW!!" The attacker screeched in frustration.

"Get out of here, Sesuke!!" Kuno yelled, trying to disentangle
himself from what looked to be a monster. At that moment Kodachi
appeared with her ribbon, dressed in her leotard.

"Brother!" Kodachi yelled. "Look out!!" But it was too late,
the claws of the creature already brought a wound to his left shoulder.

"Get Sesuke out of here!!" Kuno yelled, backing away from the
now standing cat-like creature and trying to stop the flow of blood
from his shoulder with his right hand. "Go!" He yelled again when
Kodachi hesitated.

"Here!" Kodachi yelled, throwing something toward her brother.
Kuno looked up in surprise and caught the thing in his right hand.
It's his bokken.

Kuno held his bokken in front of him with both hands, ignoring
the pain of his shoulder when he tightened his hold.

The cat-like creature hissed but didn't move. The creature has a
half-human face with slitted cat eyes, sharp canine fangs, and furry
cat ears. It seemed to be female with short black hair that have a
faint navy highlight. Around her neck is a collar-like gold necklace
with a oval shaped black onyx on the center. She's wearing a loose
long-sleeved black shirt and the bottom of the sleeves was shredded. A
solid gold cuff was around each wrist. Instead of hands, she has paws
and sharp claws poked through the soft fur. Her loose Chinese pants
were black and the bottom was shredded also. Around her ankles were
two gold cuffs, just like the ones around her wrist. Like her hands,
instead of feet, she has two paws.

Kuno stared at the creature in front of him. He thought. He
jumped back to avoid another slash of the claws and then charged toward
the monster with his bokken held high. The creature spun around,
raised one of her legs and caught the side of Kuno's head, like so many
time "The Pigtailed Girl" and Akane had done.

Kuno shook his head to clear away the stars as he leaned against
the wall of the Kuno Estate. His eyes widened and then dodged just in
time to avoid a fatal kick.

Kuno rolled away, wincing as his injured shoulder pressed to the
ground. He got up, raised his bokken high, and charged toward the
creature. He slashed at the monster, followed by a series of shorter
slashes, but the creature dodged them all.

He thought
desperately as he dodged a series of punches. His ongoing thoughts
were suddenly disrupted when the creature slammed into him, knocking
the breath out of him.

He just lie there on the ground, gasping for breath, watching as
the sharp claw slashes down toward him...

"Brother!" There was a scream and something resembles a whip
slashed out, making the creature on top of him jump back. There was
sounds around him but he couldn't make out anything. His head was
swimming with dizziness.

After what seemed like hours, all the noises stopped and he felt
hands on his uninjured shoulder.

"Brother?" A tentative voice called out. Kuno raised his head
to see who it is but came right back down, wincing at the pain on the
back of his head. "Don't move. Help is coming."

After that, all is darkness.



"Woah, look at this." Nabiki said at the breakfast table with
the newspaper in front of her. "Kuno's attacked last night." A
flitting emotion of concern and fear appeared in her eyes but they
disappeared quickly.

"Kuno?" Ranma asked, surprised.

"Well, actually, Kuno's servant, that guy, Sesuke, was attacked.
Kuno got him out of the trouble." Nabiki corrected. She looked up
from the paper in front of her and looked across the table to the
youngest Tendo. "What do you think, Akane?"

There's not a sound. Shadows covered Akane's eyes. Her head was
bowed and she didn't even lift the chopsticks on top of her bowl of
food. There's something unnatural about the silence that was wrapped
around her, like the calm before the storm.

"Akane?" Ranma called tentatively, almost as if she's going to
lash at him.

"Let's go, Ranma." Akane said in a calm, dark voice that could
be heard even in the loudest room. She stood up with the grace of a
cat. She flashed him a look...and that's when Ranma saw the cat eyes.



"You have done well, Ignira."

"I know you will be pleased when I planted the demon seed inside
that girl." A pleased hiss followed those words, pleased at the fact
that her master approved.

"And now, all we need to do is to wait" The man smiled a
menacing smile. "The beast is hungry...and when its desperate, it will
do anything to get what it wants..." And the laugh that followed strikes
fear into the heart of all his minions.



Ranma looked down toward the silent girl worriedly. There's no
hint of the cat eyes or the cat fang that he saw that morning. He was
sure he saw cat eyes instead of normal human eyes. There was a glint
in there, a dangerous glint, that he'll never forget, so long as he
lives.

Akane seemed to be normal, now. Her face is still very pale but
there doesn't seem to be any dark circles under her eyes. Her head is
bowed, liked the last two days, and her eyes are dull, not glittering
like they usually are.

She didn't say anything since they left the breakfast table. Her
shoulder is hunched forward slightly, showing that she doesn't want to
talk to anyone right now.

She's thinner than before. The pale hand that was holding her
book bag was loose and looked as if she's going to drop it any second.

Under the bright morning sun, something glittered under the cuffs
of her uniform. Ranma wondered what it is but decided not to talk to
her right now. There's something about her right now that makes him
reconsider about making any insults.

Ranma was preoccupied by the change in his fiancée, so it took
him totally by surprise when a bicycle landed on him. He groaned
silently to himself when Shampoo attached herself to him again.

The last thing he need is this.

"Shampoo, get off!" Ranma yelled desperately, hoping to get away
before Akane decided to separate them herself.

"Ranma take Shampoo on date, yes?" Shampoo asked happily,
clutching Ranma's arm like her life depend on it. Ranma was still
trying to untangle himself from Shampoo when he saw the cold glint in
Akane's eyes.

And that's when he decided Neko-Hanten isn't safe for Shampoo.



"Ranma, what is the meaning of this?" Soun asked dramatically as
Shampoo bounded to Ranma from the open doorway and attached herself
permanently to him.

"My boy, you are Akane's fiancée." Genma added. "How can you
bring another girl home?"

"Yeah, Ranma." Nabiki said, annoyed and slightly angry. "How
can you bring Shampoo home without our permission?" She raised an
eyebrow inquiringly, asking silently what this all meant and where her
younger sister fit in.

"Ranma, does this mean that we'll have a guest for dinner?"
Kasumi asked, a small worried look entered her eyes. "We don't have
that much for tonight and the store is already closed. I'm afraid we
can't have another guest tonight."

"No worries." Shampoo said. "Shampoo brought food for Ranma and
self. No need cooking for us." She turned her attention to Ranma
again, beaming happily.

"Look, Pops, Mr. Tendo, I'll explain-" he stopped, frozen in
place, mouth suddenly dry with fear.

"Well, well, well. Looks like you finally brought the hussy
here." Akane's voice was calm, collected, and cold. "What? Are you
afraid the beast will eat her?" She laughed. The sound sends chills
up Ranma's spine. She stood at the top of the staircase, eyes covered
by the shadows. A smile stretched over her lips.

An evil smile.

"Shampoo no hussy." Shampoo said sharply, her face turned to
Akane, but her arms still encircled Ranma's arm. "And Shampoo can beat
creature any day."

"Oh?" Akane inquired mockingly. "Are you sure about that,
Shampoo? You better watch out. You just might get more than you can
eat." With those words, she disappeared back into the shadows. A few
minutes later, the soft sound of a door closing reached the silent
hall. The silence stretched on.

"Akane want scare Shampoo, but Shampoo have Ranma." Shampoo
said, finally breaking the uncomfortable silence. "Ranma protects
Shampoo, right?"

Ranma didn't answer, instead, looked at the place where Akane had
been a few moments ago. Something's going to happen.

Something really bad.


To be continued...


So? Any comments? Suggestions? Or questions? Anything but flames!!
Anyway, email me at bailuli@hotmail.com Please email me!! ^_^
Oh, and visit my page. It's better than before, now!!