Ranma ½ is the property of Rumiko Takahashi
-Thoughts-
~ Demon Speech ~
Which Way?
One End has Light and Peace
The Other Darkness Eternal
Which Way?
Left or Right?
Up or Down?
I cannot see my Way
I Am Blind
So
Which Way?
Akane turned her head away in shame and losing some hope at the fear in Ranma's father's face.
- So it wasn't Jusenkyou. Damn, I doubt I could be cured that way then. -
Her nose twitched slightly.
Demon stench.
She looked around her eyes beginning to glow brightly as she sought out the source of the smell.
Not far off a small building had an aura of creeping black around it.
Akane had warned them, most Demons stayed away from Nerima, and it was HER territory.
Besides…
She was hungry.
~ Hello little Demon. ~ She said in singsong, the language of demons rolling melodically off her tongue unlike the gravelly quality most demons affected. Her face was a mask of cold indifference as she looked around.
~ Demoness Akane. ~ The squeak of terror made her laugh, low and cruel.
~ Little Demon I warned your kind, Nerima is Mine, Juuban is yours and the rest of Tokyo is a free-for-all. ~
~ But Demoness Akane, Juuban is Senshi territory. ~
~ I know, that's why I offered it. ~
~ But that isn't fair! All the rest of Tokyo has Lords; new demons can't establish rights there! ~
"Oh but Little Demon, I know, I killed a Lord in another district last month, he was ~ Delicious ~ " She could feel the creature shudder.
~ You know Little Demon I hate zombies, you like zombies I can tell. ~ She sighed.
~ They are already dead and the magic animating them is SO hard to get out, it's like a piece of meat stuck in between your teeth. The only thing that's worse then zombies, are those who MAKE zombies. ~ The demon's whimpering was growing louder as she examined the soulless corpses manning the store.
She touched the first zombie and watched it fall down, it's body hardly decayed at all. The other two followed.
~ Though I have to admit you did do well on preserving these. Your what? A demi-Lord? Well too bad. ~
She added the hunger she felt in her voice. "I would have preferred a Lord, ~ You will have to do! ~"
Finally she spoke in proper Demon, adding the sound of huge boulder's grinding together into her voice. ~ Die Little Demon! ~
"Dark." Light began to gather in her cupped hands.
"Crimson." The ball grew in size and darkened to the color of arterial blood.
"STRIKE!"
The light shot out of her hands moving quickly yet seemed to flow like a river of blood, the chair in the way was ignored, the light swirling around it like the liquid it resembled.
When it struck the frozen clot of darkness there was a large shriek as the light tore away at the protective shadow, revealing the multi-legged abomination. Then the blast also dissolved that.
Her strike having destroyed the true body of the demon leaving it's essence behind dissipated.
A voice spoke from where the Demon had stood.
~ Mercy Demoness Akane, I beg mercy. ~
~ Mercy? I'm going to be blamed for these three's deaths; I might as well take your life so you can't place the blame on me anymore! I hate being blamed you know… I was blamed for my mother's death! By my father! Then there were those poor kids, I kill those bastards who had a demon rape and murder them and what happens? I get blamed for the kid's deaths and the six Necromancers are awarded as heroes! The list goes on and on, I seemed to be blamed for ALL supernatural activity around here. ~
She sighed theatrically. ~ At least there were three _yummy_ demons, not very filling, but very tasty. ~
~ Please? ~
~ No. ~ Akane the Demoness, Eater of Demons, Bane of All, moved closer and began inhale the demon's essence slowly.
The screams continued throughout the night.
Akane was thinking as she flew high above Nerima, maybe she had become a little jaded with death, she had treated the three poor people who had died with only a little sympathy and had actually enjoyed making the demon scream.
Was she turning into one of them?
Was she actually becoming the Demoness Akane everyone feared and hated?
Maybe Ranma hadn't come a moment too soon. Akane desperately needed a friend.
Someone she could talk to.
Maybe if she gradually told him her story he would understand.
If not maybe he could at least be there for her.
A friend.
She had a friend.
Akane's melodious laughter rang through the air, her magic twisting it and making the laugh sound cruel and filled with menace.
Children woke crying and ran to their parents.
Lovers shivered and held one another.
A panda cringed and curled into a ball fearfully awaiting death.
Shadows watching Nerima shrank back in fear.
One young man smiled at the joy in the laugh while dreaming pleasant dreams for once not of those of cats in a pit biting, and scratching.
Ranma grumbled, somehow the hot water had been shut off. Even the teakettle had gone missing.
Glancing at her 'fiancée's' face she had a sneaking suspicion on just who was responsible for this.
She would have to get hot water at the high school again. Maybe deal with the Kuno guy. If that guy thought he was going to hit on her again she would show him the error of his ways.
Maybe she could get him interested in Nabiki, those two deserved one another!
Laughing at the thought she ran out of the door grabbing a bento from Kasumi and yelling her thanks.
Still laughing she ran along the fence occasionally bouncing off the houses on the opposite side.
"What is so funny?"
He turned his head and saw Akane leisurely flying alongside him.
"Just thinking on how to get Kuno and Nabiki together." Akane smiled at that.
"Why do you say that."
"They both seem to be pains." Akane laughed at that. "You coming to spar after school Ranma?"
"Yep, wouldn't miss it for the world, mind if we talk first though I wanna hear more of your experiences."
"Sure Ranma, as long as you do the same!"
"Ja!"
"Ja ne!"
Rounding the corner Ranma put on a burst of speed and managed to get into the gates just as the ten-minute warning bell rang.
"Fair pig tailed goddess, I would date with thee!"
Ranma groaned. "I should have known"
Ranma leaped into the air and did a classic spin-kick, slamming the older boy into the same spot he had hit yesterday, in the exact same position.
"Nothing but wall!" She grinned.
Ranma headed for the restroom and saw the same two guys outside.
"Heya." Ranma waved as she opened the door not noticing their stares. A few seconds later they're eyes bulged out of their sockets as he emerged.
"C'ya around guys."
Just as he predicted class was once again boring, at least he didn't have to stand out in the hall.
Boring or not he was determined to do well, he's show his pop he could run a Dojo.
At lunch he sat under a tree that everyone seemed to avoid as he listened to the other students conversations.
"Did you hear that the Demoness Akane killed three people last night?"
"Ya, though Doctor Suki thinks it was a different demon that did it and the Demoness Akane killed it for invading her territory, I hear she's very territorial."
"You think so?"
"You never know."
Ranma's eyebrows raised at that. Maybe he'd ask her later, or he could wait until Akane brought it up when she talked with him after school.
"Psst." Ranma looked around at that.
"Huh?"
"Ranma look up!" Ranma did so and his eyes widened at the sight of Akane's smiling face above him, her big gold eyes twinkling in amusement at him.
"Akane? What are you doing here?"
"I like to watch the people go by, people avoid this tree because I always sat here when I was normal."
"Hmmm, so ya hear what people are talking about?" He began to probe to see if she would talk.
"Yes, they are partially right I don't like demon's coming into Nerima, I could have banished it back to wherever it came from but I don't do that."
"What did you do?"
"I ate it"
Ranma's eyes widened. "You ate it? Why."
"Yep, as to why, well I was hungry." She grinned at his flabbergasted expression.
"Couldn't you have stolen a sandwich or somethin?" Akane laughed again.
"Sorry, about that but, this was a different type of hunger. I can't live on food and water alone anymore." Ranma was looking at her wide-eyed.
"What DO you need to eat besides food and water." Ranma's tone was somewhat shaky.
"Unbalanced chi." At his confused expression she explained fully aware that the bell would ring the first warning in seven minutes.
"You see most humans have extremely well balanced chi, when their chi becomes sufficiently unbalanced they die unless they have tons of it. Humans just never have enough unbalanced chi. Demons on the other hand are born unbalanced, and grow more and more unbalanced as they grow more powerful, the truly unbalanced ones that can still come to our world are known as Lords. Lords are fairly uncommon since only the most powerful sorcerers can summon them."
She glanced at the clock
"Lords to me are precious as gold, since they allow me to exist at full power for thirty days. If you want I'll tell you how I discovered I needed unbalanced chi to survive after school."
Ranma nodded still a bit dazed at her explanation. He knew that he wouldn't be a paying any attention to class this afternoon.
Ranma glance at the clock still thinking about what she had said. Basically she said she ate the demon's chi, that would mean the demon was still alive when she ate them!
He shuddered at the thought.
His eyes narrowed, she had said nothing about good and evil, just balanced and unbalanced chi. Then what caused unbalancing in chi?
Saving that question for Akane he wondered how unbalanced his own chi was.
Ranma closed his eyes and slipped into a meditative trance, he had learned this one from some monks in a temple in southern Japan, which allowed to him to access and direct his chi to enhance his body.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
In his mind eye the similar ball of light he saw every time he did this appeared. Instead of just focusing on it to become one with his body he examined it.
It was largely uniform a gentle glowing ball of light blue. Looking closer at the slowly revolving ball of light he could see occasional discolorations.
His meditative state was almost halted when he saw one place; he saw one large discoloration and the feelings he got from it were pure confidence.
It was if his confidence was unbalancing his chi.
With a rare flash of insight he amended that, not confidence, overconfidence!
Maybe he could solve this on his own. He could feel the growing power in the unbalanced chi, yet Akane had said Demon's liked unbalanced chi.
He could also sense that he was actually channeling his balanced chi, if he balanced his chi he would be able to become even better in the Art!
Maybe if addressed his feelings over overconfidence he could smooth out the discoloration.
Slipping deeper into the trance he addressed himself.
Normally Ranma wasn't this self-aware of himself besides his body.
He had been taught his emotions weren't important to the Art, so they should be ignored.
But if certain _emotions_ were causing him to be less then what he could be, then he couldn't ignore them. He could also sense some emotions were actually helping him to channel his chi better.
Like his newfound friendship with Akane.
The competitiveness of sparring with her.
The feeling of wanting to help her improve in the Art.
All these subtle feeling helped him achieve a better balance.
So why was he overconfident?
Like usual it was all his father's fault!
He had been taught that he had been the best, was the best, and he would always be the best.
He acknowledged that these feelings were deep-rooted.
It would take time to convince himself otherwise. The first was obviously not true; his father had been better then him for most of his life.
The second was also spoiled by his father's revelation that he had been holding back on Ranma most of his life.
But the third…
Well Saotome Ranma was determined to be the best.
And he would be the best!
He felt his overconfidence begin to disappear, replaced by confidence…?
What was the difference?
He realized why, he had always been confident of exactly what his body could do, since Jusenkyou that belief had been shattered because his body did something he didn't want it to.
His overconfidence had stemmed from the fact that he had been habitually beating his father since he was twelve.
Now that he had established it didn't matter what shape he was in, thanks to him actually beating his father in sparring this morning in girl-form and knowing intimately just how his body responded while in that shape his confidence had been restored.
Ranma couldn't wait to spar with Akane.
Just as he was slipping out of his trance he saw something in his chi that chilled him to the bone.
It was small, maybe the size of a pinhead in his minds-eye.
It was pitch black.
And it reminded him of the Pit.
He could hear the yowls.
He could feel the tearing, the scratching the furry small bodies and sharp claws and teeth.
He could smell the fish-sausage.
His only response?
"C-C-C-CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT"
The entire class stared at Ranma as he screamed and their eyes bulged as he ran… Straight through a wall.
He couldn't escape… he couldn't escape… he couldn't escape…
No matter how fast he ran the cats were there.
The glowing eyes, the yowls of hunger.
Shivering he curled up into a ball.
Unknowing to his surroundings.
Under a bridge.
Ranma slipped deeper into the Pit.
To say Akane was startled when Ranma came bounding on all fours across the street meowing like a cat was an understatement.
She stopped and landed on the roof opposite from him.
Ranma-neko stopped and cocked his head at her. With two leaps Ranma was on top of Akane which bowled her over and nearly knocked her off the roof.
When Akane was about to smack her new friend on the head she noticed Ranma was actually purring.
It was a real purr, like it would come from a cat!
Wondering why her friend was acting like a cat her eyes flashed gold.
What she saw startled her.
It was a Shadow.
A Shadow had bonded itself to her friend!
Wondering why a Cat Shadow had chosen a human for its avatar she didn't know but she began to try to pry it away, she wanted a human to talk to not a cat with a man's body!
This Shadow's bonding was old, almost ten years. She cursed.
It would be impossible to remove it without killing her friend also.
What was worse was the Shadow had begun adding Jusenkyou's magic with it's own. Cure Jusenkyou and the Shadow would die, and with it, Ranma.
She didn't have many encounters with Shadows; they usually were fairly balanced and based themselves on a particular animal and emotion.
She could tell this one was Cat and Fear.
She did know that if Ranma could master both the Cat and the Fear the Shadow would meld with him.
If he didn't meld with the Shadow there could be some trouble for him; some beings didn't like Shadows. They were too powerful for they're own good, and they were highly noticeable to most demons. Since they basically were they're hosts in memories and feelings they could be dangerous bonded to the right or wrong person.
Since she attracted a lot of supernatural powers to the area his mere presence and her friendship could be a problem.
Maybe the Shadow would talk to her, after all it did bond to a human, it might not be wholly Cat.
~ Little Shadow can you understand me? ~
She watched in fascination as shadow coalesced around Ranma, taking on the vague form of a cat, she could barely see Ranma through the Shadow.
She saw the Cat sniff at her, still purring in her lap.
~ Friend is Demon? ~ The voice came from the Shadow, not Ranma.
Pleased that the Shadow could talk she smiled and replied. ~ I have been called a Demon, but I am not, I treat Demons as prey Little Shadow. ~
~ Ooh Friend is Hunter of the Hunters! All Fear the Hunter! Why not Host? ~
~ Maybe because of you Little Shadow. ~
The Shadow seemed to think at that.
~ No, would only cause Host to fear Hunter less then normal. ~
Akane thought a bit for another reason.
~ The only other thing I can think of is Jusenkyou Little Shadow. ~
~ Pools of Sorrow? Yes, yes Death Magic strong, it cancel out Fear Magic when Neko-Ken is present. ~ The Shadow grinned at solving the mystery.
~ Neko-Ken? ~
~ Is name Human's gives self, I am one of the thirteen Shadows of Neko-Ken. Others join me in Host, this Host is strong! Pools of Sorrow make stronger! ~
This alarmed Akane, she had never heard of more then one Shadow bonding to the same person.
~ What will happen to Ranma if all thirteen join Little Shadow? ~
~ Nothing Hunter, Host will be able to fully bond with Neko-Ken with all thirteen! ~
Akane was somewhat placated, she would watch and see what would happen to her friend.
~ Host is waking Hunter. Talk later yes? Friend with Neko-Ken as well as Host? ~
~ Yes Little Shadow friends. ~
The Shadow seemed to nod once, smile and dissipate.
Ranma groaned.
"Hello Ranma, how are you?"
"A-A-kane? Where are the c-c-cats?" Ranma had leapt out of her lap and was looking around fearfully.
"No cats Ranma. Ranma I think I have some bad news for you."
She proceeded to tell him of her suspicions of that the only cure for Jusenkyou would be death.
"No, damn."
"I'm afraid so Ranma, though there is one good thing about your curse."
He replied, nearly spitting out the words. Still downcast of the news that he would be stuck as a girl at least part-time for the rest of his life. "Like what?"
"It allows you to not hate me Ranma."
Ranma's head jerked up. "Huh?"
"Ranma, thanks to your Shadow and Jusenkyou you are canceling out the magic that makes me feared and hated by everyone."
Ranma could hear the capitalization on the word Shadow and wondered what she meant.
"Shadow?"
"Shadows are beings that can only survive if they are in a host with a set time limit before they die out after their current host dies. Usually they exist in the back of their hosts mind only coming out when certain conditions are met."
"You mean like me and c-c-c-cats?"
"Yes, it's pretty much the Shadow controlling your body while you're asleep from the fear."
"So the Neko-Ken isn't an ultimate martial arts technique, Oyagi no baka."
"Ultimate martial arts technique?" Akane wondered what he was talking about.
"Ya, he read it in this training manual. It goes something like this: Take trainee and wrap in fish sausage, throw trainee in pit of starving cats, repeat until trainee learns Neko-ken."
Akane's eyes were wide in horror, no wonder Ranma was scared of cats!
"How many times did he toss you in Ranma?"
"I lost count after the first five times."
Her face became a set mask, like it had last night when she had seen the zombies. "Would you mind if I killed your father Ranma?"
Her voice was cold.
Ranma shivered and said slightly panicked. "Ah. No… that's alright." He might not like his father but he didn't want him dead.
Trying to take Akane's mind off his oyagi he changed the subject. "So you were going to tell me more of your life?"
"Hmmm. I guess, Where was I?"
"Umm… I think just after your father had chased you out of the house?"
Akane nodded then began "Right, for the next week or so I spent my time hiding in abandoned buildings, it scared the hell out of me that even animals seemed to run away from me. Everyone I approached that weak seemed to be scared and treated me as if I was evil incarnate. I was out trying to use my wings when I encountered Kuno; he was holding a glowing katana. I knew I had more strength and speed then I did before the Change but I didn't exactly have enough control and I was afraid of accidentally killing Kuno, so I dodged and ran instead of fighting him."
She laughed. "To make a long story short that continued for two weeks, culminating with him trapping me in a building and almost hacking off my arm and me breaking his arm and taking his sword."
"That scar you showed me?"
"Yes"
Akane shuddered as she recalled those next few weeks. She began to speak again; "You remember how I told you of my temper?"
Ranma nodded.
"Well I learned then that my temper could be fatal, to me and those around me."
1 FLASHBACK
Akane panted as she lay against the wall, that strange girl had been chasing her for hours, shouting something about how she wouldn't let Akane get away with her evil ways.
"Awwww, is the poor little demon fwitened? DIE DEMON BITCH!" Akane jerked around at the voice, it was a different girl then before.
The words slowly penetrated and Akane saw red.
With a screech of rage Akane charged the girl, exhaustion forgotten. The girl dodged and tried to strike out with her sword. Responding with her martial arts training she attacked with a sidekick that sent the girl into a nearby wall.
Lunging once again at the girl Akane held her hands like claws, not noticing the dark glow to them.
The only reason why the girl wasn't gutted was because something had grabbed onto her wings, as it was Akane's claws had left bloody furrows across the girl's stomach.
The jerking to her wings was enough to snap her out of her rage and she noted what she was about to do.
Akane's eyes widened in horror, she had almost killed the girl!
Akane then felt a pain in her side, looked down and saw the girl's sword in her side. She had ignored it in her rage!
Akane leapt unerringly into the sky; through the branches her wings had caught on and began to fly away tears over what she had almost done in her eyes.
2 END FLASHBACK
"…So I haven't lost my temper since."
Ranma blinked once. - Ok maybe bringing up her past wasn't such a good idea. - "Want to spar again? Then I'll show you what you are doing wrong, k?"
Akane smiled, her earlier melancholy forgotten immediately.
"Sure, Race you!"
Akane bounded to her feet and begun to run from rooftop to rooftop.
"Hey wait up." Ranma laughed at Akane's exuberance.
They were almost at the spot when Akane suddenly stopped.
"What is it Akane?"
"I smell magic." Akane was sniffing the air delicately.
"Smell magic?" Instead of replying Akane leapt into the air wings slowly flapping to maintain some distance over the roof.
She slowly resolved until her gaze settled onto something in the distance.
Ignoring Ranma's questions she flapped her wings twice and headed into a dive, dodging people as she made to grab what she had seen.
A small black piglet…
Ooh cliffhanger!
Well maybe not, hope you like it so far.
-Thoughts-
~ Demon Speech ~
Which Way?
One End has Light and Peace
The Other Darkness Eternal
Which Way?
Left or Right?
Up or Down?
I cannot see my Way
I Am Blind
So
Which Way?
Akane turned her head away in shame and losing some hope at the fear in Ranma's father's face.
- So it wasn't Jusenkyou. Damn, I doubt I could be cured that way then. -
Her nose twitched slightly.
Demon stench.
She looked around her eyes beginning to glow brightly as she sought out the source of the smell.
Not far off a small building had an aura of creeping black around it.
Akane had warned them, most Demons stayed away from Nerima, and it was HER territory.
Besides…
She was hungry.
~ Hello little Demon. ~ She said in singsong, the language of demons rolling melodically off her tongue unlike the gravelly quality most demons affected. Her face was a mask of cold indifference as she looked around.
~ Demoness Akane. ~ The squeak of terror made her laugh, low and cruel.
~ Little Demon I warned your kind, Nerima is Mine, Juuban is yours and the rest of Tokyo is a free-for-all. ~
~ But Demoness Akane, Juuban is Senshi territory. ~
~ I know, that's why I offered it. ~
~ But that isn't fair! All the rest of Tokyo has Lords; new demons can't establish rights there! ~
"Oh but Little Demon, I know, I killed a Lord in another district last month, he was ~ Delicious ~ " She could feel the creature shudder.
~ You know Little Demon I hate zombies, you like zombies I can tell. ~ She sighed.
~ They are already dead and the magic animating them is SO hard to get out, it's like a piece of meat stuck in between your teeth. The only thing that's worse then zombies, are those who MAKE zombies. ~ The demon's whimpering was growing louder as she examined the soulless corpses manning the store.
She touched the first zombie and watched it fall down, it's body hardly decayed at all. The other two followed.
~ Though I have to admit you did do well on preserving these. Your what? A demi-Lord? Well too bad. ~
She added the hunger she felt in her voice. "I would have preferred a Lord, ~ You will have to do! ~"
Finally she spoke in proper Demon, adding the sound of huge boulder's grinding together into her voice. ~ Die Little Demon! ~
"Dark." Light began to gather in her cupped hands.
"Crimson." The ball grew in size and darkened to the color of arterial blood.
"STRIKE!"
The light shot out of her hands moving quickly yet seemed to flow like a river of blood, the chair in the way was ignored, the light swirling around it like the liquid it resembled.
When it struck the frozen clot of darkness there was a large shriek as the light tore away at the protective shadow, revealing the multi-legged abomination. Then the blast also dissolved that.
Her strike having destroyed the true body of the demon leaving it's essence behind dissipated.
A voice spoke from where the Demon had stood.
~ Mercy Demoness Akane, I beg mercy. ~
~ Mercy? I'm going to be blamed for these three's deaths; I might as well take your life so you can't place the blame on me anymore! I hate being blamed you know… I was blamed for my mother's death! By my father! Then there were those poor kids, I kill those bastards who had a demon rape and murder them and what happens? I get blamed for the kid's deaths and the six Necromancers are awarded as heroes! The list goes on and on, I seemed to be blamed for ALL supernatural activity around here. ~
She sighed theatrically. ~ At least there were three _yummy_ demons, not very filling, but very tasty. ~
~ Please? ~
~ No. ~ Akane the Demoness, Eater of Demons, Bane of All, moved closer and began inhale the demon's essence slowly.
The screams continued throughout the night.
Akane was thinking as she flew high above Nerima, maybe she had become a little jaded with death, she had treated the three poor people who had died with only a little sympathy and had actually enjoyed making the demon scream.
Was she turning into one of them?
Was she actually becoming the Demoness Akane everyone feared and hated?
Maybe Ranma hadn't come a moment too soon. Akane desperately needed a friend.
Someone she could talk to.
Maybe if she gradually told him her story he would understand.
If not maybe he could at least be there for her.
A friend.
She had a friend.
Akane's melodious laughter rang through the air, her magic twisting it and making the laugh sound cruel and filled with menace.
Children woke crying and ran to their parents.
Lovers shivered and held one another.
A panda cringed and curled into a ball fearfully awaiting death.
Shadows watching Nerima shrank back in fear.
One young man smiled at the joy in the laugh while dreaming pleasant dreams for once not of those of cats in a pit biting, and scratching.
Ranma grumbled, somehow the hot water had been shut off. Even the teakettle had gone missing.
Glancing at her 'fiancée's' face she had a sneaking suspicion on just who was responsible for this.
She would have to get hot water at the high school again. Maybe deal with the Kuno guy. If that guy thought he was going to hit on her again she would show him the error of his ways.
Maybe she could get him interested in Nabiki, those two deserved one another!
Laughing at the thought she ran out of the door grabbing a bento from Kasumi and yelling her thanks.
Still laughing she ran along the fence occasionally bouncing off the houses on the opposite side.
"What is so funny?"
He turned his head and saw Akane leisurely flying alongside him.
"Just thinking on how to get Kuno and Nabiki together." Akane smiled at that.
"Why do you say that."
"They both seem to be pains." Akane laughed at that. "You coming to spar after school Ranma?"
"Yep, wouldn't miss it for the world, mind if we talk first though I wanna hear more of your experiences."
"Sure Ranma, as long as you do the same!"
"Ja!"
"Ja ne!"
Rounding the corner Ranma put on a burst of speed and managed to get into the gates just as the ten-minute warning bell rang.
"Fair pig tailed goddess, I would date with thee!"
Ranma groaned. "I should have known"
Ranma leaped into the air and did a classic spin-kick, slamming the older boy into the same spot he had hit yesterday, in the exact same position.
"Nothing but wall!" She grinned.
Ranma headed for the restroom and saw the same two guys outside.
"Heya." Ranma waved as she opened the door not noticing their stares. A few seconds later they're eyes bulged out of their sockets as he emerged.
"C'ya around guys."
Just as he predicted class was once again boring, at least he didn't have to stand out in the hall.
Boring or not he was determined to do well, he's show his pop he could run a Dojo.
At lunch he sat under a tree that everyone seemed to avoid as he listened to the other students conversations.
"Did you hear that the Demoness Akane killed three people last night?"
"Ya, though Doctor Suki thinks it was a different demon that did it and the Demoness Akane killed it for invading her territory, I hear she's very territorial."
"You think so?"
"You never know."
Ranma's eyebrows raised at that. Maybe he'd ask her later, or he could wait until Akane brought it up when she talked with him after school.
"Psst." Ranma looked around at that.
"Huh?"
"Ranma look up!" Ranma did so and his eyes widened at the sight of Akane's smiling face above him, her big gold eyes twinkling in amusement at him.
"Akane? What are you doing here?"
"I like to watch the people go by, people avoid this tree because I always sat here when I was normal."
"Hmmm, so ya hear what people are talking about?" He began to probe to see if she would talk.
"Yes, they are partially right I don't like demon's coming into Nerima, I could have banished it back to wherever it came from but I don't do that."
"What did you do?"
"I ate it"
Ranma's eyes widened. "You ate it? Why."
"Yep, as to why, well I was hungry." She grinned at his flabbergasted expression.
"Couldn't you have stolen a sandwich or somethin?" Akane laughed again.
"Sorry, about that but, this was a different type of hunger. I can't live on food and water alone anymore." Ranma was looking at her wide-eyed.
"What DO you need to eat besides food and water." Ranma's tone was somewhat shaky.
"Unbalanced chi." At his confused expression she explained fully aware that the bell would ring the first warning in seven minutes.
"You see most humans have extremely well balanced chi, when their chi becomes sufficiently unbalanced they die unless they have tons of it. Humans just never have enough unbalanced chi. Demons on the other hand are born unbalanced, and grow more and more unbalanced as they grow more powerful, the truly unbalanced ones that can still come to our world are known as Lords. Lords are fairly uncommon since only the most powerful sorcerers can summon them."
She glanced at the clock
"Lords to me are precious as gold, since they allow me to exist at full power for thirty days. If you want I'll tell you how I discovered I needed unbalanced chi to survive after school."
Ranma nodded still a bit dazed at her explanation. He knew that he wouldn't be a paying any attention to class this afternoon.
Ranma glance at the clock still thinking about what she had said. Basically she said she ate the demon's chi, that would mean the demon was still alive when she ate them!
He shuddered at the thought.
His eyes narrowed, she had said nothing about good and evil, just balanced and unbalanced chi. Then what caused unbalancing in chi?
Saving that question for Akane he wondered how unbalanced his own chi was.
Ranma closed his eyes and slipped into a meditative trance, he had learned this one from some monks in a temple in southern Japan, which allowed to him to access and direct his chi to enhance his body.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
In his mind eye the similar ball of light he saw every time he did this appeared. Instead of just focusing on it to become one with his body he examined it.
It was largely uniform a gentle glowing ball of light blue. Looking closer at the slowly revolving ball of light he could see occasional discolorations.
His meditative state was almost halted when he saw one place; he saw one large discoloration and the feelings he got from it were pure confidence.
It was if his confidence was unbalancing his chi.
With a rare flash of insight he amended that, not confidence, overconfidence!
Maybe he could solve this on his own. He could feel the growing power in the unbalanced chi, yet Akane had said Demon's liked unbalanced chi.
He could also sense that he was actually channeling his balanced chi, if he balanced his chi he would be able to become even better in the Art!
Maybe if addressed his feelings over overconfidence he could smooth out the discoloration.
Slipping deeper into the trance he addressed himself.
Normally Ranma wasn't this self-aware of himself besides his body.
He had been taught his emotions weren't important to the Art, so they should be ignored.
But if certain _emotions_ were causing him to be less then what he could be, then he couldn't ignore them. He could also sense some emotions were actually helping him to channel his chi better.
Like his newfound friendship with Akane.
The competitiveness of sparring with her.
The feeling of wanting to help her improve in the Art.
All these subtle feeling helped him achieve a better balance.
So why was he overconfident?
Like usual it was all his father's fault!
He had been taught that he had been the best, was the best, and he would always be the best.
He acknowledged that these feelings were deep-rooted.
It would take time to convince himself otherwise. The first was obviously not true; his father had been better then him for most of his life.
The second was also spoiled by his father's revelation that he had been holding back on Ranma most of his life.
But the third…
Well Saotome Ranma was determined to be the best.
And he would be the best!
He felt his overconfidence begin to disappear, replaced by confidence…?
What was the difference?
He realized why, he had always been confident of exactly what his body could do, since Jusenkyou that belief had been shattered because his body did something he didn't want it to.
His overconfidence had stemmed from the fact that he had been habitually beating his father since he was twelve.
Now that he had established it didn't matter what shape he was in, thanks to him actually beating his father in sparring this morning in girl-form and knowing intimately just how his body responded while in that shape his confidence had been restored.
Ranma couldn't wait to spar with Akane.
Just as he was slipping out of his trance he saw something in his chi that chilled him to the bone.
It was small, maybe the size of a pinhead in his minds-eye.
It was pitch black.
And it reminded him of the Pit.
He could hear the yowls.
He could feel the tearing, the scratching the furry small bodies and sharp claws and teeth.
He could smell the fish-sausage.
His only response?
"C-C-C-CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT"
The entire class stared at Ranma as he screamed and their eyes bulged as he ran… Straight through a wall.
He couldn't escape… he couldn't escape… he couldn't escape…
No matter how fast he ran the cats were there.
The glowing eyes, the yowls of hunger.
Shivering he curled up into a ball.
Unknowing to his surroundings.
Under a bridge.
Ranma slipped deeper into the Pit.
To say Akane was startled when Ranma came bounding on all fours across the street meowing like a cat was an understatement.
She stopped and landed on the roof opposite from him.
Ranma-neko stopped and cocked his head at her. With two leaps Ranma was on top of Akane which bowled her over and nearly knocked her off the roof.
When Akane was about to smack her new friend on the head she noticed Ranma was actually purring.
It was a real purr, like it would come from a cat!
Wondering why her friend was acting like a cat her eyes flashed gold.
What she saw startled her.
It was a Shadow.
A Shadow had bonded itself to her friend!
Wondering why a Cat Shadow had chosen a human for its avatar she didn't know but she began to try to pry it away, she wanted a human to talk to not a cat with a man's body!
This Shadow's bonding was old, almost ten years. She cursed.
It would be impossible to remove it without killing her friend also.
What was worse was the Shadow had begun adding Jusenkyou's magic with it's own. Cure Jusenkyou and the Shadow would die, and with it, Ranma.
She didn't have many encounters with Shadows; they usually were fairly balanced and based themselves on a particular animal and emotion.
She could tell this one was Cat and Fear.
She did know that if Ranma could master both the Cat and the Fear the Shadow would meld with him.
If he didn't meld with the Shadow there could be some trouble for him; some beings didn't like Shadows. They were too powerful for they're own good, and they were highly noticeable to most demons. Since they basically were they're hosts in memories and feelings they could be dangerous bonded to the right or wrong person.
Since she attracted a lot of supernatural powers to the area his mere presence and her friendship could be a problem.
Maybe the Shadow would talk to her, after all it did bond to a human, it might not be wholly Cat.
~ Little Shadow can you understand me? ~
She watched in fascination as shadow coalesced around Ranma, taking on the vague form of a cat, she could barely see Ranma through the Shadow.
She saw the Cat sniff at her, still purring in her lap.
~ Friend is Demon? ~ The voice came from the Shadow, not Ranma.
Pleased that the Shadow could talk she smiled and replied. ~ I have been called a Demon, but I am not, I treat Demons as prey Little Shadow. ~
~ Ooh Friend is Hunter of the Hunters! All Fear the Hunter! Why not Host? ~
~ Maybe because of you Little Shadow. ~
The Shadow seemed to think at that.
~ No, would only cause Host to fear Hunter less then normal. ~
Akane thought a bit for another reason.
~ The only other thing I can think of is Jusenkyou Little Shadow. ~
~ Pools of Sorrow? Yes, yes Death Magic strong, it cancel out Fear Magic when Neko-Ken is present. ~ The Shadow grinned at solving the mystery.
~ Neko-Ken? ~
~ Is name Human's gives self, I am one of the thirteen Shadows of Neko-Ken. Others join me in Host, this Host is strong! Pools of Sorrow make stronger! ~
This alarmed Akane, she had never heard of more then one Shadow bonding to the same person.
~ What will happen to Ranma if all thirteen join Little Shadow? ~
~ Nothing Hunter, Host will be able to fully bond with Neko-Ken with all thirteen! ~
Akane was somewhat placated, she would watch and see what would happen to her friend.
~ Host is waking Hunter. Talk later yes? Friend with Neko-Ken as well as Host? ~
~ Yes Little Shadow friends. ~
The Shadow seemed to nod once, smile and dissipate.
Ranma groaned.
"Hello Ranma, how are you?"
"A-A-kane? Where are the c-c-cats?" Ranma had leapt out of her lap and was looking around fearfully.
"No cats Ranma. Ranma I think I have some bad news for you."
She proceeded to tell him of her suspicions of that the only cure for Jusenkyou would be death.
"No, damn."
"I'm afraid so Ranma, though there is one good thing about your curse."
He replied, nearly spitting out the words. Still downcast of the news that he would be stuck as a girl at least part-time for the rest of his life. "Like what?"
"It allows you to not hate me Ranma."
Ranma's head jerked up. "Huh?"
"Ranma, thanks to your Shadow and Jusenkyou you are canceling out the magic that makes me feared and hated by everyone."
Ranma could hear the capitalization on the word Shadow and wondered what she meant.
"Shadow?"
"Shadows are beings that can only survive if they are in a host with a set time limit before they die out after their current host dies. Usually they exist in the back of their hosts mind only coming out when certain conditions are met."
"You mean like me and c-c-c-cats?"
"Yes, it's pretty much the Shadow controlling your body while you're asleep from the fear."
"So the Neko-Ken isn't an ultimate martial arts technique, Oyagi no baka."
"Ultimate martial arts technique?" Akane wondered what he was talking about.
"Ya, he read it in this training manual. It goes something like this: Take trainee and wrap in fish sausage, throw trainee in pit of starving cats, repeat until trainee learns Neko-ken."
Akane's eyes were wide in horror, no wonder Ranma was scared of cats!
"How many times did he toss you in Ranma?"
"I lost count after the first five times."
Her face became a set mask, like it had last night when she had seen the zombies. "Would you mind if I killed your father Ranma?"
Her voice was cold.
Ranma shivered and said slightly panicked. "Ah. No… that's alright." He might not like his father but he didn't want him dead.
Trying to take Akane's mind off his oyagi he changed the subject. "So you were going to tell me more of your life?"
"Hmmm. I guess, Where was I?"
"Umm… I think just after your father had chased you out of the house?"
Akane nodded then began "Right, for the next week or so I spent my time hiding in abandoned buildings, it scared the hell out of me that even animals seemed to run away from me. Everyone I approached that weak seemed to be scared and treated me as if I was evil incarnate. I was out trying to use my wings when I encountered Kuno; he was holding a glowing katana. I knew I had more strength and speed then I did before the Change but I didn't exactly have enough control and I was afraid of accidentally killing Kuno, so I dodged and ran instead of fighting him."
She laughed. "To make a long story short that continued for two weeks, culminating with him trapping me in a building and almost hacking off my arm and me breaking his arm and taking his sword."
"That scar you showed me?"
"Yes"
Akane shuddered as she recalled those next few weeks. She began to speak again; "You remember how I told you of my temper?"
Ranma nodded.
"Well I learned then that my temper could be fatal, to me and those around me."
1 FLASHBACK
Akane panted as she lay against the wall, that strange girl had been chasing her for hours, shouting something about how she wouldn't let Akane get away with her evil ways.
"Awwww, is the poor little demon fwitened? DIE DEMON BITCH!" Akane jerked around at the voice, it was a different girl then before.
The words slowly penetrated and Akane saw red.
With a screech of rage Akane charged the girl, exhaustion forgotten. The girl dodged and tried to strike out with her sword. Responding with her martial arts training she attacked with a sidekick that sent the girl into a nearby wall.
Lunging once again at the girl Akane held her hands like claws, not noticing the dark glow to them.
The only reason why the girl wasn't gutted was because something had grabbed onto her wings, as it was Akane's claws had left bloody furrows across the girl's stomach.
The jerking to her wings was enough to snap her out of her rage and she noted what she was about to do.
Akane's eyes widened in horror, she had almost killed the girl!
Akane then felt a pain in her side, looked down and saw the girl's sword in her side. She had ignored it in her rage!
Akane leapt unerringly into the sky; through the branches her wings had caught on and began to fly away tears over what she had almost done in her eyes.
2 END FLASHBACK
"…So I haven't lost my temper since."
Ranma blinked once. - Ok maybe bringing up her past wasn't such a good idea. - "Want to spar again? Then I'll show you what you are doing wrong, k?"
Akane smiled, her earlier melancholy forgotten immediately.
"Sure, Race you!"
Akane bounded to her feet and begun to run from rooftop to rooftop.
"Hey wait up." Ranma laughed at Akane's exuberance.
They were almost at the spot when Akane suddenly stopped.
"What is it Akane?"
"I smell magic." Akane was sniffing the air delicately.
"Smell magic?" Instead of replying Akane leapt into the air wings slowly flapping to maintain some distance over the roof.
She slowly resolved until her gaze settled onto something in the distance.
Ignoring Ranma's questions she flapped her wings twice and headed into a dive, dodging people as she made to grab what she had seen.
A small black piglet…
Ooh cliffhanger!
Well maybe not, hope you like it so far.