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 Eleven.
It was the faint buzzing sound that woke him an hour or so later.
::What was that?::
Reluctantly releasing his soft hold on Akane's small hand, Ranma rose from the chair, and stiffly wandered into the hallway. ::Was that Toufuu? What would he be doing up? Strange… There aren't any other patients tonight…:: Ranma thought cautiously.
He heard it again. It sounded a bit like a light bulb burning out.
Suddenly, the darkness seemed much more acute.
There was a creak from the staircase, and Ranma turned to find a tired Toufuu stumbling blindly down the stairs, a candle in hand. "You heard it too, Ranma-kun? Not surprising, you've got ears like a fox, but all the same, when you're asleep…"
"I told you I probably wouldn't sleep too well tonight, sensei," Ranma reminded him.
"True," Toufuu agreed sleepily. "It sounded like a power outage. Maybe a brownout. I'm going to go check out the fuse box."
Ranma nodded, and made to follow him, when a strong sensation of a disturbance in the air invaded his senses. He whipped around to face the dark, empty hall.
"Something wrong, Ranma-kun?" Toufuu's voice drifted in from the entrance.
"I just got a weird feeling…" he began. Toufuu tensed and walked briskly back to the hall, and entered Akane's room.
As Ranma came in, Toufuu was examining her again, testing various pressure points. From what Ranma could make out in the light of Toufuu's candle, he looked extremely worried. ::Oh no.:: Ranma thought.
"We need Shampoo right away," he said gravely.
* * *
Fifteen minutes later, a sleepy Shampoo and a harassed Nabiki rushed into the clinic.
"Aiya…" Shampoo yawned. "What going on?"
"Toufuu-sensei, nothing personal, but it's-" Nabiki glanced at her watch, "3 am."
"This is very serious. Shampoo, you have the scroll?" Toufuu hurried on, leading the pair into Akane's room. The sight that met their eyes was a very strange one indeed.
Akane's aura was bright and glowing hotly, not her usual flame-red that surrounded her when she was furious, but a dark, poisonous-looking purple. The mark on her forehead, that had supposedly been washed away after the mantra had been finished, glowed bright again, seemingly from beneath her skin. The only thing keeping her condition stable was Ranma.
He was sitting in the chair again, holding tightly to one of her hands with both of his own, his strong, blue ki flowing through the bond, keeping her in check. Nabiki simply raised an eyebrow.
"Damn. This cannot be good." Trust Nabiki to put it bluntly.
"Shampoo…" Ranma turned to her, uncertain of what he was about to ask, although they had already discussed it earlier. Now that it was actually happening, everything from before suddenly seemed to have been thrown into doubt.
"Shampoo know what to do," she stated plainly. Ranma still looked skeptical.
"Foggy glasses doctor?" she motioned to Toufuu. "It be better if have bandages and ointment ready. Shampoo must reopen Akane's cut." Toufuu left, and returned shortly with the necessary items.
Moving close to Akane, drawing her pocketknife, Shampoo laid a hand on Ranma's reassuringly. "Everything be just fine." She looked resolute and brave, and there was no trace of fear in her eyes. She was as ready as she would ever be. He stepped back, leaving her space.
Taking some of the sepia ink from before, Shampoo performed a short cleansing ceremony of the blade, before turning to Akane's glowing form.
Wincing only slightly, Shampoo turned the blade on its side and streaked a small incision along her upper arm, drawing a steady trickle of blood.
Catching a few drops along the curve of the blade, she bent over Akane. Ranma turned away.
Cupping Akane's neck with a towel, Shampoo ran the blade along the healing wound, her own blood running into Akane's. Taking hold of Akane's corresponding upper arm to the one she had cut, Shampoo made a new cut, drawing unmixed blood, collecting it on the length of the knife, and allowing it to seep into her own wound.
"洗涤血液。债券一起血液契约。永恒连接。" she chanted deeply, repeating it three times.
The glow around Akane's body dissipated slowly. Soon the mark vanished from her forehead, and the sheets that had been rustling softly from the wave of heat she had been giving off settled gently once again. Ranma let out the breath he hadn't been able to help holding in. Toufuu looked impressed, as the cut along Akane's neck faded away as well.
Shampoo stumbled slightly as she moved to sit down. "Shampoo just need rest for while. Charm hard on ki energy. But Shampoo be okay to go back to dojo with sinister money girl," she gasped, putting a hand to her forehead.
"The name's Nabiki," she interrupted formally. "Come on, girl. Let's get you home."
Ranma stopped the two before they stepped out the entrance, Nabiki supporting Shampoo.
"Shampoo… Thank you. Again. No matter what got all of us here, we're friends. Got that?" he insisted seriously, but Shampoo could see the usual kindness in his eyes.
She just smiled drowsily, and went on one step at a time, her arm slung over Nabiki's shoulder.
* * *
"Well, I'm glad that's over," Ranma sighed. Toufuu seemed to agree.
"But I'm still not sure what to do about the brownout…" he mused to himself distractedly.
"Well, it's almost morning anyway," Ranma reiterated groggily. "The sun'll be up soon, and you can call someone to come check it out then."
"Yes, but all the power is out," Toufuu insisted. "The heat isn't coming on. It's getting fairly chilly in here." Ranma, warmed from the increased ki flow he had used to steady Akane, just nodded slowly.
"And…?"
"These rooms can get quite cold at night," Toufuu continued. "Akane isn't dressed very warmly, and normally I would be heating her room throughout the night, so her condition will remain stable. Low temperature could cause some serious problems while she's in such a weak state."
"You don't mean-" Ranma had caught on, blushing furiously.
"You'd only be keeping her warm, Ranma-kun," Toufuu chuckled, pushing Ranma down to sit on the edge of the bed. "And it's only a few more hours until daylight, like you said."
Ranma gave in with a sigh, exasperated, and too tired to argue. Toufuu, apparently, could be quite the sadist. He sure was looking awfully amused, anyhow.
Ranma slid carefully under the white covers beside Akane, who had now fallen into a deep sleep. He was glad to see her skin had gotten some of its color back.
Drawing Akane gently to him, pulling the sheet up over her shoulders with one hand, and holding her around the waist with the other, Ranma tried, without much success, to slow his heartbeat down. She wasn't too chilled yet.
Toufuu took one last cheery look at the two, ruffling Ranma's hair playfully, before stepping out. "Sleep well, Ranma-kun." Ranma would have glared, if he could have taken his mind off how good it felt to hold her in his arms.
Yep, he was a sadist all right.
But Ranma, not surprisingly, didn't object.
Finally settling down a bit, Ranma rested his chin on the top of Akane's head, running his hand through her hair.
It wasn't long before he was lost in sleep, and thoughts of her.
End Part Eleven.
"Aha, there's the WAFF" exclaim my readers. A few exasperated sighs echo somewhere, no doubt.
It was probably pretty obvious that I was going to have some good-natured fun with the brownout. *laughs maniacally, running off into the sunset, although it's 11:57 pm*
Again, in case anyone gives a damn, the charm Shampoo performs reads as follows (Chinese, of course):
"Cleanse the blood.
Bond together of the blood pact.
Eternal connection."
OK, so I was at work all morning and most of the afternoon, so I only barely managed to churn this one out. But I got off on a technicality, it isn't midnight yet! Hehe. I know, I'm such a bad girl.
Again, got a big test to study for tomorrow, so only one is promised for sure tomorrow.
Ja, minna.
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. ^_~