Opening Theme- Winner
Suzaku no Miko ½
by Starbrigid
Last Time on Suzaku no Miko ½!
We all know Ranma, Ryouga, and Tamahome's stories by now, right?
'Cause if we had to repeat them, that would be boring.
We mean, REALLY.
But hey, "LAST chapter, somebody NEW got introduced!"
The part in quotes was in sing-song.
Could you tell?
Probably not.
So anyway, that person was the beautiful emperor of Konan.
Hotohori.
He's cool.
He appointed Ranma "Suzaku no Miko," whatever the hell that is.
Who knows?
Not us, for sure.
We were too busy drooling over Hotohori.
Yeah, we know.
We're sad.
So anyway, Ranma also revealed his DARK SECRET!(TM).
You know.
His real gender.
That sounds a LOT worse when you don't know the back story, doesn't it?
Saotome Ranma, King of Cross-dressers!
-coughs-
Well anyway, Hotohori took Ranma's DARK SECRET!(TM) pretty well.
Tamahome just sort of existed during all this.
That was last episode's ender, for no particular reason.
And now we have another major jump in the plot.
Because frankly, long explanations bore us.
Except for the ones WE write.
And you'll pick up what's going on soon enough.
And so now, for our very FAVORITE FY character's appearance IN...
Episode 3- The Suzaku Shichiseishi
"So what are we going to do to find out if these people are seishi? A strip search?"
Ranma hadn't changed back to his female form. He'd remained male, and was now glaring at Tamahome sourly. "For Suzaku's sake, I AM here, I did agree to be Suzaku no MIKO, which was demeaning enough! Shouldn't I be able to get my wishes now? It's stupid to require me to find five more people before I get them!"
"Stop complaining, baka," Tamahome hissed. "Hotohori's making an announcement. If we FIND all the Suzaku seishi, then we can summon Suzaku and get your annoying ass the hell out of here forever."
Ranma blinked, startled by the animosity his words had behind them. "Why were you so much nicer to me when you thought I was a girl?" he asked curiously. Tamahome reddened at her question and didn't answer it, just motioned for her to hush and pay attention.
They stood on a platform above the stairs of the Konan palace at midday, the sun shining brightly down on them. Hotohori was seated on a regal throne despite their odd location, and even had attendants fanning him and shielding him from the sun. Tamahome and Ranma stood at his side, both trying clandestinely to duck into the umbrella shade when not occupied by arguing with one another. As per the suggestion Hotohori had made, the land's finest warriors were assembled before them. One of them might be a Suzaku seishi- one of Ranma's ordained protectors. They already had two seishi- Tamahome and Hotohori, but there were seven total, and they needed to have the other five before they could summon Suzaku.
"How do we know if people are seishi or not?" Ranma asked, putting his mind off Tamahome's strange behavior and onto the task at hand. "It's the symbols that indicate it, right?" Hotohori turned to him, nodded. "Well, will THEY know if they have symbols themselves?" Ranma asked impatiently, wishing Hotohori would hurry this process up or just do it FOR him. Man, this was boring.
"No, they won't," Tamahome rolled his eyes. "The characters only appear during combat. The seishi might never have been in combat, or at least combat severe enough, to make their symbols show up."
Ranma scratched his head in thought, twirling his pigtail around his finger. "So... the signaling character shows up when they fight real hard?" He grinned. "Then let me handle this, Hotohori. I'll 'test' em, all right."
Hotohori and Tamahome stared at him. Finally Tamahome spoke. "Shouldn't that be, say, MY job? We're the seishi, you're the miko. We're supposed to protect you. Even if you did turn out to be some idiot boy instead of a hot girl."
Ranma bristled. "Why do you have to make such a big deal about my being a guy? Hotohori isn't being a jerk about it! And I don't care what the roles are supposed to be for 'protectors' and all that crap! I can kick your ass any day, Tamahome!"
Tamahome growled. "Oh yeah?"
Hotohori stood up. He'd clearly had enough. "Stop! This is unseemly. Ranma, go test the candidates if you want to, just be gentle, alright?" He looked at the boy expectantly, so Ranma nodded his assent. He always liked Hotohori, unlike Tamahome. Konan's emperor WAS such a regal, powerful, charismatic person, even if his position and apparent vanity got on Ranma's nerves in a huge way. But it sure didn't hurt that the man WAS drop-dead gorgeous.
And Tamahome? Well, okay, Tamahome was cool, too, in a very different way. He was a person who reminded Ranma a lot of himself, a bit cutthroat, a bit dedicated, possessing a sense of justice and a love of fighting, wicked good looks- manly ones, and skill at brawling. He would have had a great time being friends with Tamahome or something. Too bad his fellow martial artist was acting like such a jerk! Man, just the thought made him really angry! Time to kick some sorry soldier ass!
Ranma stepped forward, sized up the warriors- then sneered. "This is gonna be a piece of cake," he said. Then he charged forward, aware of Tamahome and Hotohori's eyes on him.
In mere seconds, all the warriors had been plowed into the ground, and were left to lie moaning at Ranma's feet. Ranma shrugged, nonchalant about it. So much for being gentle with them. "Ah, well. Guess we can push them off the list."
Hotohori looked impressed, and even clapped a bit. Tamahome looked more annoyed than anything else, especially after his fellow seishi's reaction. "What was the point of that aside from showing off, Ranma?" he snapped.
"Get off my case, you jerk!" Ranma snapped at Tamahome, then turned with a softer expression to the seishi he could STAND. "Well, Ho-ri, bring in the next batch!"
Hotohori was taken aback by the hostility between Ranma and Tamahome, not to mention by the way Ranma had ordered him to bring out candidates, but did as his miko said anyway.
***
By the time the sky's brightness had almost completely faded, they were no closer to finding the Suzaku Shichiseishi than they'd been before. Tamahome and Hotohori both looked tired and frustrated. Ranma, however, had been invigorated by it all. Fights always gave him a rush, however pointless.
He pumped his chest proudly. "Well, at least I know I can still kick ass!" he yelled upwards, then if possible seemed to grow even more energetic. "Now for FOOD!"
"Why oh WHY couldn't Suzaku no Miko have been some gentle maiden?" Tamahome moaned to Hotohori when Ranma was out of earshot, collapsing against the side of Hotohori's throne.
Hotohori frowned. "That's what you'd like? I much prefer it this way."
Tamahome stared at Hotohori. "You'd rather have a BOY be our PRIESTESS?"
Hotohori looked genuinely perplexed. "You don't like Ranma?"
Tamahome sighed. "I- I don't know. Hey, Ranma?" he called, turning to say something to the boy. But Ranma had already ran off in search of dinner.
Tamahome sighed in a long-suffering way. Hotohori laughed. The sound was clear, like a low-pitched bell, rumbling into the dark.
***
That night, Ranma dreamed again.
In this dream, Ranma had Ryouga pinned down beneath him, defeated. The Lost Boy had been so heavily beaten that he couldn't even muster the strength to heave Ranma off him. He had to just lie there, helpless beneath his worst enemy.
Normally after Ranma trashed Ryouga, he'd leave his fellow martial artist where he'd fallen and wander off, satisfied. But not this time. Straddling the other boy's legs, he held Ryouga's hands down beside him so he couldn't break free. Neither of them was going anywhere.
Ranma could feel the heat of Ryouga's exhausted body beneath him, pressing against his, the other boy's heart pounding a fast, intoxicating rhythm against where he lay. The Lost Boy was flushed from the fight, red with effort, dark hair disheveled, innocent brown eyes wide, huge. His skin was oozing with, coated with, perspiration, making it glisten in the sunset. The ugly, poignant odor of it assaulted Ranma's nostrils, mixing with the smells that were purely Ryouga, instant ramen and little pieces of different places he'd been, dirt, raw nature and lostness- salty tears.
Ranma had no such stench. He hadn't even broken a sweat.
"What now, Ryouga?" Ranma asked. It was his usual nonchalant tone, but it had a trace of cruelty, forcefulness behind it. "What if I don't let you run away?"
Ryouga's eyes grew even bigger, and he began to struggle with Ranma anew. Ranma frowned and pushed Ryouga's muscular arms up, holding the other boy's wrists behind his head. "Uh-uh. It's not gonna be that easy to get away from me," he taunted. "You've never even been able to stay away, even when I didn't WANT you there. But what if I... DO want you here with me now?"
Ryouga stared up at Ranma uncertainly and Ranma glared down at him. "Don't freeze up now, Ryouga. I'm Saotome Ranma, the best martial artist in the WORLD. What I want, I'll TAKE. NOW." Ryouga's eyes shook with unshed tears, and Ranma sneered, leaning closer so their faces were barely an inch apart. "Come on, Ryouga," he hissed. "Isn't this what you wanted?"
He leaned in, closed his eyes- and bumped noses with someone who was Not Ryouga. It was- was- the ugliest woman he'd ever seen in his entire life!
"GAH!" Ranma cried, jumping back from the horrible vision assaulting his eyes. "What- what ARE you? MONSTER!"
In a second, the woman had whacked him hard on the head. "Don't say that! I came here to your (incredibly weird) dream to help you, you incompetent male excuse for a miko!"
"I didn't want to be here in this world in the first place, and I can't help my real GENDER," Ranma snapped, still disoriented from his abruptly-cut-off encounter with the boy from his world. "But for the love of Suzaku, lady, can't YOU help your FACE?"
Before he could say another world, he had been decked, and the world was full of shimmering, glittery stars. "Deh... pretty lights..." he moaned.
The old woman snorted in disgust. "This is all wrong," she sighed to herself. "They were supposed to have met Nuriko by NOW. And- why in the world DID Suzaku choose this BOY as his miko?"
"The lights are shiny... spinny, spinny..."
"I'm here to give you a little push along in the right direction, since you obviously need it," the old woman continued, turning back to the collapsed Ranma. She had been put in a very foul temper by his remarks. "Here. Take this." She threw something on him, much rougher and more callously than she needed to. "It's a magic mirror. It acts like a detector for your seishi. When you get near one of them, it'll react and you'll know."
"Swirl, swirl..."
The old woman snorted in disgust. "Again, what WAS Suzaku thinking?" she muttered. "His looks? His martial arts skills? Universe knows that's all he's got..."
Her faint murmuring faded away, and Ranma opened his eyes, which were still swirly circles. He blinked, the world becoming less blurry.
"Ryouga..."
"Huh? A... dream?" But his stomach hurt, weight resting on it. Sure enough, there was an ornate mirror lying on it, clearly having been thrown into his solar plexus, which had probably knocked the wind out of him.
"It wasn't a dream... or at least the part at the end I remember..." he mused. Then his eyes widened in horror. "A lady that ugly really exists?"
***
Ryouga woke up at the same time Ranma did, opening his eyes groggily. "Ugh... I was napping?" Then he remembered the book and began to page through it hurriedly. What had he missed? Had something happened to Ranma while he'd been out of it?
"Come on," he hissed. "Come on."
***
Ranma was STILL dressed in the clothes he'd come in. He hurried down the hall, holding the mirror with him. "Gotta find Hotohori or Tamahome, they gotta know about this-"
Of course, at that moment, a servant was pouring one pot of cold water into another, and accidentally missed and sprayed Ranma with it. With one cold touch of a drop of water, he was a she.
GREAT. Ranma cursed under her breath. It took her a while to find some hot water, practically dragging the first servant she could find to prepare some for her. She certainly had no idea where she'd find the supplies to heat water or what she'd do with them if she had them.
Ranma, male again, then set down the corridor. After questioning another servant rather violently- he had no time to waste, he'd already wasted enough- he'd found out where Hotohori's quarters were. He pushed past the guards outside them and walked into the room, looking around for a bed.
He whistled lowly at his first sight of Hotohori's bedchambers. The place was beautiful, stocked with every luxury, clearly designed and made with the finest materials available, no expenses spared. After wandering in a bit farther, honey-brown hair caught his eye, spilling from a head mostly obscured, curled up in a truly HUGE bed. That was Hotohori there, all right.
Ranma launched himself to the side of the big bed. He would have slapped anyone else awake, but Hotohori was an emperor, plus, well- Hotohori. Because of that, he only gently shook the man to rouse him. "Yo. Ho-ri. I've got something important to show you." Hotohori remained unmoved. "Oi! Wake up!" He prodded Hotohori's side underneath the blanket. "I'm talking to you!"
Hotohori's eyes opened slowly, long dark eyelashes fluttering, disoriented. It figured, Ranma thought, that even waking up would be such a grand, visual affair for Hotohori. "Ranma?" Hotohori asked drowsily, peering up at the boy through hazy, half-closed eyes. He pulled his head up off the pillow, hair sliding across the sheets. "What are you doing in here?"
"I've got something to talk to you about, Hotohori. D- d'you mind?" Ranma asked, hesitating a bit at the end. With anyone else he would have just gotten on with it, but this was an emperor, and it was HOTOHORI.
Hotohori stretched slowly, sheet falling off him as he sat up to face Ranma. One arm of his thin, light blue robe had slipped off, revealing a bare shoulder. His robe hung open, exposing just a tantalizing glimpse of its contents. His smooth chest inside, his coffee colored nipples, hard, erect points, brushing almost painfully against the soft, luxurious pale silk-
Ranma shook his head. SHIT.
He forced himself to look up, fixing his eyes solely on Hotohori's face. "I had a dream last night," he announced. "It was of- of this really ugly old lady. She gave me this mirror, told me it would react when we got near a seishi. It should help us." He handed the small, intricate piece of glass to the emperor, nearly stumbling over himself as he bent down to give it to where the other man still lay in bed.
Hotohori, holding the mirror and staring at it contemplatively, pushed the rest of the covers off him. His robe was only loosely tied, tangled haphazardly around long legs. For a second, Ranma caught a glimpse of one slender, rounded bronze thigh- And then Hotohori had gotten to his feet, robe falling back into place. "Do you mind if I keep this to look at?" Hotohori asked.
"Huh?" Ranma blinked.
"Do you mind if I keep the mirror to look at?" Hotohori repeated patiently. "I'll give it back, it's your mirror. I'd just like to examine it, if that's alright."
"Sure, if you don't forget to give it back," Ranma said hurriedly. "Um, that's all. I guess I'll be going." Then his eyes lit up. "When's breakfast?" The novelty of all the delicious free food now available to him was just becoming evident, it seemed.
Hotohori smiled. "You can go get food from the kitchens, if you wish. I told them that it would be alright. If you'd like to wait to dine with me, that would be nice as well."
Ranma looked down, red faced. "W-would you mind if I just went and ate right now? I'm kinda really hungry..."
Hotohori threw his head back and laughed, a purely masculine sound, his long, slender neck arching back, hair jumping like a live thing. "That would be fine. Ranma?"
Ranma was glaze-eyed, face still red. "Ranma?" he asked again, concerned. Was his miko all right?
"Y-yeah, I'm cool, bye," Ranma muttered, then fled.
Hotohori sighed. The boy WAS from another world, but Ranma still really was rather strange.
***
The next morning, Ranma walked along the same corridor again, back from breakfast. Hotohori hadn't managed to find anything Ranma hadn't noticed about the mirror, so Ranma had just decided to take it back. Now he had put his 'brilliant' plan in action. The plan? Walk around the palace and see if the mirror did anything.
Well, no one ever picked Ranma to be Suzaku no Miko for his intelligence.
Said Not-Picked-For-His-Intelligence-Boy was getting pretty frustrated. To distract himself, he started going over the Saotome Desperation Strikes in his head. He was on the 'Look! A 100 yen piece' one- he couldn't remember Pop's hokey name for it- when the mirror started to shine with a bright red light.
"Whoa!" he cried, staggering back flailing. He only barely managing to keep a hold on the magical object with his martial artist reflexes. He managed to catch it, and the bright red light began to fade. The symbol for 'willow' had appeared on the smooth surface, light pushing out from its center, ripples on a smooth lake.
He pointed the mirror one way, and the light receded. He pointed it in the opposite direction, and the light grew brighter. "Kind of a hot, cold type thing," Ranma observed. "That way, then?" He pushed the indicated door open and walked inside. He was surprised by the sight of an obscene number of pretty little girl servants, crowding the room. His gaze swept around the chambers he'd entered. A woman's room. A rather fine one at that, though unable to lift a finger to Hotohori's, of course.
For some reason, the girl servants looked very upset, though he couldn't figure out why. Then one of them pointed at him, tiny finger trembling, and her squeaky voice made everything clear. "You- you BOY! You're not supposed to be here! This is part of the emperor's harem!"
Ranma's eyebrows shot up. Harem? The palace had a harem? And more importantly, HOTOHORI had a harem? Somehow, he couldn't imagine the beautiful man ever using it. But he needed to be in this- harem, whatever it was. "Hey," he hastily defended himself, "Get off my case. I'm Suzaku no Miko, so you gotta do what I say."
The girls stared at him, dumbstruck. Then Squeaky Voice shrieked, "How can you be Suzaku no MIKO? You're a BOY-"
Squeaker was cut off a by a lower voice, a smooth alto, intruding in. "You're Suzaku no Miko? Not one of the seishi like I thought, then."
"Huh?" Ranma craned his neck. He couldn't see where the speaker was. Then he saw the girls moving out of someone's way. A woman emerged from amidst the crowd before him, servants parting around her like an absurd parody of the Red Sea. "You can't be Suzaku no Miko. Unless you're really a girl and you're hiding it very well. That would explain it, I suppose." And Ranma met Nuriko.
If Hotohori was the most beautiful man Ranma had ever seen, this person before her was the most beautiful woman. Her hair was thick, long, a rich blue-violet, impeccably arranged in an insanely complicated weave of braids and buns that only a woman could ever have thought of. Her rose eyes shone below her hair, bright and clear. Her lips were painted a blatant scarlet red, eyes adorned with dark makeup that made her eyes look slanted and false. She wore the bright concealing robes of a courtesan, evoking a flower- not the no-doubt-desired rose, but a willow, or a sprightly, energetic rain of somehow multi-colored sakura. While Hotohori's skin was bronzed, tanned, this woman was pale and untouched by the sun, yet unlike Hotohori's stunning perfection, her beauty was a colorful one, just as bright as her eyes, shining and human and alive if only in sheer physical appearance.
Those rose eyes locked on Ranma. He could somehow see a concealed, invisible character on the woman's chest- the character for willow. Her posture, her voice, her carefully tailored appearance all spoke of shallowness that was only on the outside, of a repression of strength- a wide, almost masculine strength, graceless but limitless. It spoke of brightness and a true self and a potential for selfless, stunning love pushed behind makeup and robes and stiff palace politics. A stout willow branch that had made up its mind to become an innocent little rose bud. Well, it sure as hell hadn't worked. Ranma looked INSIDE the stranger at that moment, and somehow- Knew. This 'woman' was really a boy-
No, that was impossible! 'Forget it, Ranma,' he told himself. 'She's obviously a girl. You're being stupid.' Some part of him still protested. 'But-' He sighed inwardly. 'SHUT UP!'
"You're Nuriko, aren't you," Ranma said, pushing his strange ideas aside and stepping forward to his new seishi, the WOMAN (he was sure, what a strange idea! Ranma no baka!)
Nuriko frowned. "I- I'm called Korin, but I'm also known as Nuriko, yes-"
"Then come with me," Ranma cut HER off. "I'm Suzaku no Miko- you've heard of the legends, right? And yeah, I'm a guy, but I'll explain later. And you're one of my seishi, my protectors- even despite you being some weird harem lady. Got it?" He said all this fast, coarsely, trying to push away the strange connection with Nuriko he felt running through his body, the strange thoughts rushing through his head.
He'd felt an instant affinity with Nuriko, an link in his head somehow. Ranma was usually horrible at reading people, but somehow, Nuriko was almost clear, transparent to him. Maybe it was just because Nuriko's seishi symbol was shining beneath her robes. Or maybe it was just the combination of strength and vulnerability he sensed in her, which reminded him so much of Ryouga. Yet she was very different from Ryouga, it was clear. For one thing, Ryouga didn't wear a mask.
***
Ranma arrived in Hotohori's throne room with Nuriko, as usual not bothering to announce himself. Hotohori was consorting with a group of advisers, but he dismissed them as soon as he saw Ranma. Then his happy expression melted into mild confusion when he noticed the woman at Ranma's side. "Who's this, Ranma?"
Ranma looked at Nuriko, who seemed to have frozen up. She was just staring up at Hotohori with a sort of shock. Ranma nudged her. "Hey. Don't be afraid of Hotohori. He's one of my seishi, too. He's actually really nice."
"Baka, I wasn't staring because I'm AFRAID of him," Nuriko hissed. She straightened herself up and looked the emperor in the eye, full boldness back. "My name is Korin, but I'm really Nuriko, and as Ranma's told me, one of the Suzaku Shichiseishi."
"I found her with the mirror," Ranma offered, feeling generous.
Hotohori's eyes narrowed. "Can she prove her identity to us?" he asked. Then he brightened with an idea, clapped his hands in command. "Ranma, a demonstration."
Ranma's eyes widened. "Hotohori, I can't hit a woman!"
Hotohori looked alarmed. "I hadn't considered that. Nuriko, do you have any idea what your powers are?"
Nuriko blinked several times. "I dunno. What's going on?" When she spoke to Hotohori, the tone of her voice grew higher and sweeter. Somehow, with those words, Nuriko's demeanor seemed to have changed. Or perhaps it was just an adjustment to her new surroundings- it was quite a big difference. But this new, composed, false Nuriko was a lot less likable than the real one- if there was such a one...
Hotohori frowned. "I'll explain later, Nuriko. Ranma, please, it's necessary."
Ranma looked uncertain. "Pop always told me, NEVER hit a girl..."
"Heika-sama, tell the boy to get serious about whatever you want," Nuriko said, everything about her, especially her voice, completely transformed from 'normal person' to 'sugary-sweet bitch.' Did she have some sort of sudden beef against Ranma?
Said Ranma shifted uncomfortably. "You do it, Hotohori. YOU hit her." Nuriko looked a bit alarmed. Had she just noticed for the first time how very familiar Ranma was with the emperor? Or had she just realized they were telling each other to HIT her?
Hotohori's frown deepened. "I'm the emperor, so I REALLY cannot."
Ranma sighed. "Fine." To be honest, after Nuriko had put on those airs, hitting the harem woman was beginning to seem more and more appealing. He drew his fist back warily. "Here goes. I'll hold back, okay?"
Nuriko nodded, so Ranma charged at her, deliberately holding back most of his force. She still cried out at the impact of his fist- and then, he could see something GLOW beneath her robes- the symbol he'd seen before. She drew HER fist back and hit him just the way he'd hit her.
Ranma had been expecting a girly hit- after all, she was a stupid girl, how much damage could she do? But, after he had gone through the second wall, he rethought that opinion.
When he landed, he felt as if a train had ran into his stomach, but he quickly jumped to his feet anyway. "Damn, she's strong," he winced, then his eyes widened in almost comical realization. "That must be her power! She's super-strong!"
Hotohori looked very impressed. Nuriko had looked a bit worried about what she'd done to her new miko, but when she saw the admiration on Hotohori's face, she seemed to forget all about Ranma completely.
"How was I, Heika-sama?" she simpered. She tossed one of her long braids over her shoulder, shooting a last, triumphant glare over her shoulder at Ranma before turning back to Hotohori. Ranma stared. Why did she have a problem with him? She'd just MET him!
He began to wonder if he'd really felt something from her after all.
But still, from the force in that punch he'd taken, Nuriko was as strong as Ryouga. Maybe- maybe even STRONGER.
Ryouga...
Why did being around Nuriko, even when she was acting like an annoying, petty schoolgirl, make him feel like Ryouga, with his strength and his vulnerability, was right there in the room beside him?
He turned away. Hotohori could explain why Ranma was Suzaku no Miko. He should probably go tell Tamahome of their first success.
***
That night, Ranma didn't dream of Ryouga. He didn't manage to get to sleep at all, just lay awake. He didn't know why, but he couldn't stop thinking of everything, of Ryouga and Hotohori and Nuriko and Tamahome. Faces played in his mind like a litany. Maybe he was just having trouble sleeping because he hadn't gotten as much exercise as he was used to, but-
He was drawn outside, drawn by a force he didn't understand, drawn out of his room. He ran lightly down the hall of the palace, aware everyone was sleeping, everything dark and quiet. He was drawn outside, to the garden behind the palace, a gathering of dark silhouettes of trees looming above him, yet still below the incredibly clear, starry sky. In the center, guarded by the circle of tree silhouettes, was the full moon and stars again, reflected by the surface of a large koi pond.
Ranma began to turn away, not wanting to risk getting wet and turning into a girl at this time of night, then stopped. He'd missed something. There was a figure in the pond, bathing in the moonlight, naked as the day she was born. It was Nuriko.
Nuriko, who hadn't noticed Ranma yet, stood in water that was halfway up her body, exposing her entire torso. Her hair was not in a complicated hairstyle but bound in a long, simple braid. She was much more attractive now than she had been before, moonlight transforming her. Against his will, Ranma's eyes swept down from her bare face to her body-
Nuriko was a boy! His chest was not the expansive one of a woman's, but flat. He was thin, water droplets dripping down the planes of his stomach, past the blades of his straight, narrow hips and back into the water. He was a startling picture there, make-up and color and femininity stripped away to just reveal a thin, pretty young- MAN!!! Instead of the dark concealing any of this, the moonlight illuminated Nuriko, causing his pale skin to glow. It made it all the more painfully obvious what his true gender was.
Ranma's jaw dropped, and he face-faulted to end all face-faults as only Saotome Ranma, Heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts could. "What the-"
Nuriko turned, startled, then his eyes widened at the sight of Ranma there before him. "What- why- what are you DOING here?"
"Out for a walk," Ranma gasped, voice high-pitched and strained. 'Ranma is shocked!'
Nuriko raced out of the water and grabbed onto the shorter boy, effortlessly hauling up by the collar so they met eye to eye. "Forget what you saw here, understand me? If you tell ANYONE, I don't care that you're Suzaku no Miko, I'll KILL you!" An almost frightening desperation and intensity ran through Nuriko's voice and body. He was... scared?
Ranma frowned. "What kinda pervert guy dresses like a girl all the time?" he blinked.
Nuriko hit him, HARD. Ranma flew back. Nuriko ran, grabbed his clothes, began to pull them on angrily. "It's none of your business! I'm not a PERVERT, I have my own reasons!"
"Then what are they?" Ranma pushed his way to Nuriko, trying to ignore the other boy's nakedness.
Nuriko was ten times more beautiful in that moment than he'd been dressed as a haughty woman, water droplets running down his wet, slender form, bare to the world, his face torn between anger and sadness, his hot tears falling crystals. "My sister! She's dead because of me, so I'm her, and she's not dead anymore! That's why! I HATE YOU, SAOTOME RANMA!"
Ranma watched Nuriko, uncertain. "I-"
Nuriko's eyes were full of loathing. "GET. AWAY. FROM. ME!" He grabbed his garments and ran away as fast as he could.
Ranma plopped down hard on the ground, shallow teenage mind unable to process the feelings and deepness that had just passed. But...
He wanted to make things right again.
Somehow?
***
Ending Theme- I Wish
Those stars that twinkle in the darkness
Must have made you lose your way as well.
We're both looking for a different tomorrow
So very much alike,
You and I.
Even though I know believing in someone,
Will only end up hurting me in the end...
I wish for your love
I wish for your love
Why? Please tell me, blue star...
I wish for your love-
I can't become strong
With a broken heart.
***
Next Time on Suzaku no Miko ½!
We can't think of anything witty to say.
We're still too torn up on behalf of our beloved Nuriko-sama.
Nuriko-sama!
-sniff sniff-
-WORSHIP WORSHIP-
No, we're not biased!
Really!
To prove it, we'll write witty things now!
Okay...
Maybe not.
We're SAD!
But we can tell you that next episode will be spectacular!
Full of character development!
Raging feelings!
Raging yaoi!
-yaoi fangirl readers cheer, non yaoi-fangirl readers look murderous-
Lots of action and fighting!
ACTION!
Tamahome and Ryouga AREN'T ignored!
We try valiantly to keep everyone in character! Really!
The plot advances! (scary, huh?)
And... it includes...
-heart heart heart-
NURIKO-SAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Soooo, join us for next time on Suzaku no Miko ½-
"NURIKO-SAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Oh, no, wait, sorry. Wrong motto.
"We're going as fast as we can."
Yeah, that's it.
Sorry.
Eh... -weak grin- LOVE AND PEACE!