Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder of Furinken High, was restless. And so he wandered the late night street. The stars shone brightly and the moon was in its full splendor. Tatewaki edged towards the fence separating the road from the canal and sighed heavily. Seeing visions of his beloved reflected there.
"Oh Akane... Pigtailed Girl... How I yearn for they..." A bright light encompassed him from behind, casting his shadow on the far side of the canal. Turning towards the bright light he unsheathed his boken, holding it in guard. "Who goeth there!?"
The light kept approaching quickly and Tatewaki in desperation shouted "Halt!"
Ranma hurried down the paved street, "wait for me!", he yelled trying to catch up with the two Tendou sisters ahead of him. Nabiki paused and turned to him, however Akane continued right on walking in defiance.
Ranma pulled along side Nabiki and the two began walking at a casual pace.
"She's still mad isn't she?" Ranma whispered to the girl beside him.
Nabiki shrugged "what did you expect? I mean really Saotome what were you thinking--
"--I wasn't thinking okay!?" Ranma cut her off.
"Then Ranma... why WERE you wearing girls undergarments?"
The pigtailed boy blushed a deep crimson. "I uh...heh... SHUT UP!"
Nabiki giggled mirthfully "it's a shame I didn't get any pictures you know."
Ranma gave Nabiki a parting glare before running to catch up with Akane.
"Look I'm sor--
--Wham!
Akane brushed off her now slightly dented wooden mallet.
"Humph... pervert" she muttered walking to the canal to look down on her fiancé.
"EEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!"
The pigtailed boy landed with a Splash! and sat up as a redheaded girl.
"Damn Akane..." she mumbled depressingly. Then she felt something brush against her.
"Hello... what's this?"
Standing she Reached under the water and lifted the whatever it was up. Tatewaki Kuno stared back, a worried but determined frown on his impossibly white face. She fell backwards into the water that reached up to her neck, and screamed. The corpse of the Blue Thunder of Furinken High sinking back to the depths of the canal.
Shan Pu hurried down the street, container of ramen tucked under her arm. If Mousse hadn't broken her delivery bike yesterday she wouldn't have to be running so hard right now.
The blind foul had crashed head on with a street car, the bike was totaled and Mousse was back at the Cat Café, Cologne busy trying to heal his broken leg using various magic.
She ran through the gates and milling students, seeing her rival Ukyou from the corner of her eye.
"Not nice girl...what she doing here?" Shan Pu mumbled, her eyes narrowing.
Ukyou and Shan Pu both arrived at Ranma's favorite tree, only to realize he and Akane were no where in sight.
"Where Airen!" Shan Pu demanded. Ukyou held up her hands "hey I have no idea sugar... maybe he's at home recovering from Akane's cooking again?"
Shan Pu frowned "Aiyah! Airen need Shan Pu's special ramen lunch too too badly!"
Ukyou approached the amazon, reaching for the giant spatula strapped to her back menacingly. "I'm afraid Ranma honey will only be eating the lunch that I made for him."
"Not nice girl gonna regret this!"
The two girls leapt into battle, a giant cloud of dust obscuring them from view.
Students jumped out of way as the dust cloud rolled past towards the abandoned west wing of the school.
The west wing that was currently scheduled for demolition next week due to the massive damage
caused to it during a recent free for all between Ranma and Ryouga.
Ranma sat on the couch, trying to keep herself from shaking. Cold water from the canal dripping from her soaking wet hair.
"Pigtailed girl... I would date with you!"
The remembered voice making her jump and sending shivers down her spine.
How she'd give anything just to hear Kuno Tatewaki say those words just one more time. But now he was gone, forever.
No matter how annoying he'd been, she knew things would never be the same without him All of the crazy adventures they'd been on came to mind, especially the one with the phoenix egg only a short while ago.
Nabiki and Akane were hugging Kasumi and crying by the kitchen table, only ten meters away.
"My name is upperclassman Kuno. Junior Group E."
Ranma had told the police officer that questioned her everything she knew.
"Captain of the kendo club."
She wished she could do more though, despite appearances Kuno had been a friend of sorts. What saddened her most though was she hadn't admitted it to herself until after it was too late.
"Undefeated knew star of the highschool fencing world."
Now he was gone, forever. No more would she be subjected to his long winded, poetic speeches in archaic Japanese.
"But my peers call me... The BLUE THUNDER of Furinkan high!"
Soun and Genma watched idly, glancing from Akane to Ranma.
"You know Tendou, this is the perfect opportunity to bring our two children together" Genma stated matter of factually.
Soun nodded in agreement "I do believe you're right Saotome."
"Isn't their supposed to be a festival this evening?"
Soun nodded, "Yes, that will do. I'll work on the girls... you see to Ranma."
Ukyou and Shan Pu stood across from each other in what used to be the schools indoor swimming pool. There were two pools side by side, one for the girls and another for the boys.
Both were severely cracked, their sides literally caving in. It was in one of these pools that Shan Pu and Ukyou stood.
"Spatula girl prepare to meet maker!" Shan Pu shouted.
A piece off the pools side caved in, fragments of concrete hitting the pools bottom echoing endlessly. And the battle was joined.
Ranma followed his fiancee through the festival. The smells of food and the summers evening air pleasant to his senses. But he felt withdrawn and peaceful even. So unlike his usual energetic self.
"Ranma you can stop following me now" Akane said turning to glare at the pigtailed boy, "I'm a big girl and can look after myself."
Ranma held up his hands "whatever, I'm out of here..." he said watching as Akane left to join a group of her friends from school.
Ranma leaned back against the concrete wall, contemplative and trying to convince himself that it didn't hurt, not even just a little, when Akane brushed him off like that.
All around he could here laughter and excitement. Children ran around with wonder in their eyes. The same look that had graced Kuno's eyes every day of his tragically short life. Ranma began looking around for something, anything to occupy his attention.
Ukyou was swinging her spatula in a wild frenzy, in the dim light she couldn't see Shan Pu anywhere. Her giant spatula doing some major damage. The fight had left the empty pool shortly after the start.
B-BOOOOOOM! The wall behind Ukyou exploded towards her, using the spatula to guard herself from the flying debris she waited for the dust to clear.
However Shan Pu choose that moment to press her attack, jumping through the section of wall she's just shattered to swing both her bonbori at the unsuspecting Ukyou.
A loud rumbling echoed through the building.
Ukyou blocked Shan Pu's attack just in time to look up "Oh my..." she said seconds before the ceiling descended upon them.
Ryouga glanced around the shop, creepy looking magic artifacts all around. A flash of blue caught his eye, turning he saw a very beautiful flower next to the miniature crimson skulls. The petals looked almost transparent and the flowers core appeared to be glowing an amazing bright and pure yellow.
"Akane will love this" Ryouga though to himself as he grabbed it off the shelf, walking to the store counter where an old man stood patiently.
"Ah... I see you've the magic iris of sorrow.. Whoever you give it too will fall madly and deeply in love with you."
Ryouga looked confused "and what's so sorrowful about that?"
The old man laughed "the magic is very strong and never wears off, you could say it lasts forever. A long time ago this flower was used to force young maidens to fall deeply in love with those that would abuse them."
Ryouga nodded thoughtfully "I see..." Visions filled his head of Ranma giving Akane the flower and her willingly doing his bidden. Oh the torture she would have to endure, with no hope of escape, the thought made him sick.
Ryouga handed over a handful of yen coins, more than likely severely overpaying but not caring. He had to give this flower to Akane as soon as possible. Visions filled his head of Akane confessing her undying love to him as he exited the store and found himself in what appeared to be a festival of sorts.
Ranma gave up, it was time to head home. The old man would be pissed though, Oyaji had ordered him to show Akane a good time. Not that he cared what the old man said anyway. His eyes caught a flash of yellow and turning he saw Ryouga standing in the middle of the street looking bewildered.
"Hmmm... most be lost again..." he concluded, wondering if Ryouga would be up to a little sparing.
"Hey Ryouga!" he called out.
The lost boy turned around slowly, looking startled. "What do YOU want Ranma?"
"It's good to see you too pig-boy" Ranma replied sarcastically, that's when he saw the flower in Ryouga's hand.
The lost boy followed Ranma's gaze and tried to hide the flower behind his back.. If Ranma found out his plan to make Akane love him he'd be done for.
A group of young children ran down the street with water guns, Ryouga's eyes widening in panic...
Ranma-chan walked home, P-chan tucked under one arm, and Ryouga's flower in her free hand. "Stupid brats... stupid water guns" Ranma mumbled.
She'd put Ryouga's clothes in his large, but rather heavy pack, that she now wore slung over her shoulders.
"What do you carry in this thing?" Ranma asked angrily as her shoulders sank under the wight of the pack.
"Do you carry rocks in it P-chan? Do ya!?"
The pig "bweeed" resentfully.
Akane kept glancing over her shoulder, looking for a certain pigtailed boy. She hadn't expected him to just disappear like that. Usually he still hung around in the background and just yelled back a few insults once in awhile.
"Akane are you all right?" Yuka asked.
"Yeah... Just fine" she answered.
Sayuri approached her from the side "don't tell me you miss him already?"
Akane glared at her "miss who?"
Yuka nodded "Its obvious Akane. If you want to go after Ranma we won't mind... really."
Akane sighed in frustration "think what you want, but there is no way I'm going after that jerk."
"Hey Kasumi!" Ranma called out to the Tendou as she exited the change room.
Kasumi smiled "The furo's ready Ranma..."
"Thanks" she said entering the changing room.
The redhead striped her wet clothes off and walked towards the furo, her breasts jiggling very slightly with each step. She still held the flower in her hand, unsure of what to do with it. The flower was breathtakingly beautiful and probably expensive. Ryouga would kill her if she lost it on him, after all it was probably another gift to Akane.
Ranma threw the pig into the furo and she handed him the flower as he emerged from the water. "Here you go..."
Ryouga snatched the magic iris of sorrow from her hands scowling darkly.
"And don't ever say I never gave you any flowers" Ranma added jokingly.
The flower pulsed pink "oh crap..." Ryouga said depressingly.
Darkness began to fill the sky as night descended over Furinkan high. The rubble pile that was once the school's west wing creaked and groaned as it continued to settle.
"Shan Pu... Honey... would you please get off my face?" Ukyou's very muffled voice could be heard.
"Shan Pu no can move stupid not nice girl!" the amazon replied angrily.
The two of them being covered with many feet of debris and rubble were effectively trapped.
"We're doomed!" Ukyou cried out.
"Wait! Shan Pu have plan!"
"Really!? What!?"
"We think message to Airen!"
"Wow... that's amazing Shan Pu... that's exactly what I was thinking."
"Really?" Shan Pu asked in astonishment.
"NO! That's gotta be the stupidest thing I've ever heard you moron!"
'Whap!' Shan Pu struck the girl with the back of her fist.
"Shut up spatula girl!"
"Hey I thought you said you couldn't move!" Ukyou cried out.
"Shan Pu have go bathroom..."
"Hold it! Hold it! Oh god it's all over me! Bad Shan Pu! Bad!"
"Meow?"
Darkness so thick he was drowning. He choked in a long, painful, labored breath.
"Where am I?" his hoarse voice asked the silence and listened to his words echo.
His hands moved all around as he blindly searched. Finger tips finding nothing but a cool, smoothness much like that of metal.
He felt cold... so very cold.
Akane walked home in the dark, having said goodbye to the last of her friends about a block away.
Opening the front door she stepped into the house calling out "I'm home!"
Surprisingly she didn't receive an answer.
In the family room she found her eldest sister lying on the floor watching television in her nightie. She looked in Kasumi's direction "are Nabiki and Ranma back yet?" she asked.
"Why yes... I believe Nabiki is in her room."
"And Ranma?"
Kasumi shrugged her shoulders "I'm afraid I don't know" she said before turning her attention back to the sappy romance movie on tv.
"So let me get this straight. Your saying because of some crummy old flower your in love with me now?" Ranma-chan asked nervously.
Ryouga nodded his head reluctantly, avoiding looking Ranma in the eyes.
Ranma lifted his chin, bright blue orbs probing rich brown, as if looking for something. Ryouga leaned forward slowly, the moment blurring into reality so surreal it became dream like.