Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and all its characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi and have been used without permission. This fanfiction was written for personal enjoyment, and hopefully the enjoyment of the readers.
Key:
"speech"
::thoughts::
flashback
Carousel:
Usotsuki
by Rain
Part Ten.
"Tadaima," Ranma called wearily into the darkened clinic. It felt a bit strange to say coming here, rather than back at the dojo, but he wanted to stay the night here. He didn't feel right leaving Akane here alone. Sure, Toufuu would be there, but even so.
"Toufuu-sensei?" he tried, when he got no reply from the seemingly empty hallway to the doctor's office.
"Strange," supplied Shampoo, setting her pack down behind him. "Where doctor with foggy glasses?"
"I'm not sure…" Ranma replied, his eyes scanning the room. "Sensei?"
Something in the hall caught his eye, and he glanced around the corner towards the rooms in back. Under the crack between the floor and Akane's door, light seeped out. Ranma walked quietly over to her room, and went in, Shampoo close behind.
Toufuu was bent over Akane, looking haggard and frazzled, his face gaunt and drowsy. "Oh, Ranma-kun, I didn't hear you come in. Welcome back."
Ranma skipped the small talk. "Is something wrong, sensei?"
Toufuu sighed warily, and motioned to the chair that usually remained in the corner. "Perhaps you should sit down, Ranma-kun. You've had a long trip."
Ranma sensed that this was not going to be good news. Toufuu knew Ranma would have sat down if he really felt the need to. Regardless, Ranma remained standing, bracing himself for some unpleasant developments.
"Ranma-kun, Shampoo-san… I am relying on you now."
"We understand, sensei," Ranma replied. Shampoo agreed as well.
"Shampoo… Shampoo like Akane, even though she not supposed to. Shampoo want to help."
"Well, I hope you two succeeded in finding something, anything, to help. Because from this point on, I can only assist you in using what you have found, but other than that, there is nothing more I can do for Akane. She fell into a coma about fifteen minutes ago."
Ranma visibly wilted under those words, dropping to the chair, overwhelmed in spite of what he had expected to hear. Shampoo put a hand to her mouth in shock.
"Aiya… What… What if charm no work?" she worried aloud.
"It has to," Ranma resolved sharply. "And if it doesn't, there's still…" he looked pleadingly to Shampoo. "I know this is a lot to ask, Shampoo. But if something should go wrong…"
"Shampoo do whatever it take to make up for what Shampoo done. Is no question," she countered proudly.
"Thank you," Ranma said simply. "For your help. You didn't have to."
"Yes Shampoo did. Is duty. Even if no duty, is what Shampoo want to do."
"Did you find what you were looking for?" Toufuu asked, motioning to the scroll Shampoo still carried.
"We find scroll. Shampoo to use sepia ink to mark on Akane, like it say," she showed Toufuu the drawings on the scroll. "Then Shampoo chant ki charm. Is all. Should clean blood from ki attack."
"Well, let's hope this works," Toufuu replied, rolling back his sleeves, as Shampoo extracted a tiny bottle of reddish-brown liquid from the chain around her neck.
* * *
"来, 来, 被感染的血液。洗涤这种罪恶的你的受害者内。" Shampoo stood over Akane, who lay on the hospital bed, her covers removed, and the sleeves of her gi removed. The top of her gi had been loosened a bit, and her hair pushed back onto the pillow, to expose the cut along her upper neck.
"逐出火热邪魔的举行在你的灵魂, 变得自由死亡切片。" The ancient symbols Shampoo had painted carefully along Akane's arms, neck, shoulders and face were now pulsating with a low, deep-red light. The marking on the crest of her forehead was the brightest, and her bangs seemed to shift in an unseen wind.
Shampoo continued to chant for many minutes, as Ranma and Toufuu watched cautiously in the background.
Finally finishing with a muttered "是自由的," she lowered her hands that had been clasped before her, and turned to the two.
"Aiya, is more difficult than Shampoo think," she breathed wearily, running a hand across her forehead. "But that all need be done for now. We not know if work until early morning maybe."
"How will we know?" Ranma asked, hoping for some sort of sign that Akane would be all right that they could risk counting on.
"Most likely, if she wakes up. But she'll probably rest for a day or so before then, even if it does work," Toufuu speculated carefully. "But I'll be able to tell, I've been monitoring her closely, I should have enough to go by."
Ranma sighed with a mixture of relief and anxiety; relief that the first battle was over, but anxiety that another was just beginning. ::You're just being jumpy:: he told himself firmly, ::Relax. Read. Sleep. Whatever, do something.::
"Ranma-kun, you aren't staying the rest of the night are you?" Toufuu asked curiously, as Ranma eased himself into the chair again. "It's after one o'clock. Why don't you go back to the dojo and rest up before morning? You need some sleep."
Ranma stifled a yawn at the mention of sleep, waving a pacifying hand to Toufuu. "I honestly don't think I'll sleep any better there than here, sensei," Ranma stated frankly, glancing over at Akane's sleeping form. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, I'd like to stay here…"
"Oh, not at all, Ranma-kun. Would you like me to bring in a futon for you or anything?"
"No, no, I'll be fine. I don't think I'm going to get much sleep."
"Be sure you give it a try," Toufuu chastised lightly, clapping a hand on his shoulder before heading for his room upstairs for the rest of the night.
* * *
"Shampoo going to stay at Tendo dojo for rest of night." Shampoo hadn't left yet, and she still stood behind Ranma, whose back was now facing her. "Nice apron girl invite Shampoo stay. Ranma stay here?"
"Yeah, I'm staying," Ranma said simply.
"Ok. Shampoo go now. Sleep some if can. Ranma feel better maybe if he sleep too. Beera." She moved to the door. Ranma turned to her as she left.
"Shampoo?" She twisted around again, halfway out the door. "Thanks again for all your help. I don't know what we would have done without you." Shampoo knew it was sincere.
The same calm, yet proud look came to her pretty face again. "Is no question what honorable Amazon warrior do. Is question what honorable woman do. Shampoo glad to help."
Without another backward glance, she slipped out, closing the door behind her.
Ranma got to his feet again, dragging the chair over to the side of Akane's bed. Sitting a second time, he leaned over her slightly, pulling the sheets up over her once more, tucking them up under her chin. ::Don't want you to get cold:: he thought absentmindedly as he smoothed her hair across her forehead softly.
The fingertips of her left hand were just barely uncovered, and Ranma pulled her hand into his, tenderly caressing her smooth palm with his thumb. He found himself whispering in a peaceful, hushed voice to her, even though he was sure she couldn't hear him.
"You know, Akane, that Jintsu guy who helped us out, he asked me to write him when this was all over. Said he wanted to know how it all ends. Well, I just hope everything manages to work out all right. Because I need a second chance to prove myself to you. Maybe even to myself, in a way. I need to prove that I deserve that second chance to start things over again, the right way this time. Because I need the chance to spend the rest of my life with you. That's all I need, and that's all I've ever wanted. To love you. And maybe, this time, you can love me too."
He fell asleep that way for a while, her hand in his, his head pillowed on the sheets.
* * *
Enveloped in the blackness that had swallowed her senses so many hours upon hours ago, a small point of warm, bright light pierced through, and Akane's spirit stirred.
Almost regaining consciousness for the first time in over a day, her eyes quivered, adjusting to the dark room, which was brighter still than the abyss she had been hovering in so long. She felt as though she had been indefinitely suspended underwater, with unidentifiable movements, colors, lights and sensations only skimming the surface of her perception, while she observed mutely from below.
At her side, she could barely make out a wonderfully welcome sight. Even with her vision blurred, she knew. She knew the colors; the patches of the deep red of a silk shirt, the deep black of the unruly hair against the white, hospital-like sheets around her… the pleasantly familiar face; soft, kind eyes she knew even when he slept, a small, half-smile that was meant just for her… But mostly she recognized the gentle, loving touch of his hand on hers that seemed to warm her all over from her fingertips on. She found herself managing a small smile herself.
"Ran…ma…" was all she could whisper before the blackness swept her senses from her once more.
End Part Ten.
Fair warning: I am working tomorrow night, so I probably will only be able to churn out one chapter. Sunday I may only have time for one too, got a big physics test to study for. But during the week, I'll have more time (as backwards as that sounds, it's true, lol)
P.S. "beera" is one of the conversational Chinese phrases Shampoo uses (like "nihao," "airen," etc) and is the equivalent of a casual goodbye, pronounced "beh" (sounds like "bei" as in bake) "rah."
Also, if anyone is interested in the mantra that Shampoo chants, this is the translation (She chants it in Chinese). This is probably a poor translation, but it was the best I could do on short notice:
"Come forth, come forth, tainted blood.
Cleanse your victim of the evil within.
Expel the fiery demon's hold upon your soul,
to become free from the Slice of Death.
Be free."
The kanji, for anyone who is interested, for Shampoo's attack, the Kire no Shi translates to "the slice of death, and the kanji for the ki charm that counteracts its effects, the Te Na Dameru translates to "the useless hands," as in the sense that it is a spirit cleansing, free of the clumsy work of the hands. Idunno, it probably only makes sense to me, but meh.
Until my next post; next day delivery or sooner, guaranteed!
::Rain
P.S. Contact me at creepyoldmanwink@yahoo.com
I am not a creepy old man. I am a teenage girl. It's a joke with a friend. So there. ^_~