-dono (degree of lordlike respect higher than the esteemed –sama)
"Curses and Kami"
----------------------
Entering the seedy 'Martial Arts Genealogy' storefront, Ranma-chan tried to look helpless. Strands of hair jutted out of her pigtail, and she had deliberately dirtied her face and clothing at a nearby abandoned lot.
She panted in mock exhaustion, a noise that attracted a besotted stare from the cross-dressing receptionist. An indifferent observer of Japanese society would have admiringly used the word 'bishonen' in describing the receptionist rushing to Ranma's side. That unfamiliar gender, lean body, and high tenor voice indicative of a beautiful person who could be either male or female. This particular bishonen made a sympathetic noise, and wore a teal green dress with matching seashell earrings.
With terrible acting, Ranma-chan wailed: "Woe, Odiousness, and Bad Noodles! You'll protect me, won't you?"
The receptionist embraced her, brushing her hands low enough to squeeze Ranma's cute ass. A soothing dulcet voice whispered assurances in her ear. Leaning into this hug, deliberately smearing filth over her ' hero's ' dress, Ranma made a face at the obvious lack of deodorant.
"What's wrong? I'll solve this little problem little lady." Said the receptionist, hoping to play hero for later rewards. Shuddering with fake tears, but really trying to hide amused disgust, Ranma contained her laughter.
"I was chased here by an evil man using noodles in a decidedly phallic way! He ranted incessantly about powdered crystals and aphrodisiacs!" No matter how badly Ranma failed at keeping a straight face, the secretary was looking at her chest.
"Fear not, young blossom, I'll take this perv and his slutty martial art down!" Striking a pose, the bishonen brushed an elbow against the bottom of Ranma's breasts while dramatically pulling away, and left seeking glory. Unnoticed, the kanji for 'easy slut' was now written on the back of 'her' green dress in mud.
Whistling cheerfully, Ranma-chan put the 'Closed' sign up and locked the front entrance. "Oi! Yusaku! I got 100,000 and an untranslated Grecian manuscript!" Cologne had wonderful things if you knew where to look.
Plodding out of his cubby, the fashion-impaired scholar noted everything. "Good job disposing of Lin. . . she'd get in the way. Let me lock the back, and we can do business."
-
"Wow, I've never seen results like this! I'm amazed you're still alive!"
Puzzled, Ranma-chan stared at the humming curse-diagnosis crystal. Dangling from a golden chain in front of her, it swung like a pendulum, and alternated between teal, purple, and a storming black/white plaid pattern.
"First, you've been to Jusenkyo, which interacted competitively with a family curse from your mother's side. Essentially the Spring of the Drowned Girl and the Bane of Heirs fought it out over the magical side of your soul. Jusenkyo won, but the other curse will be especially powerful in your children unless you dispel it. I recommend the daughter of Suseri-Hime and O-Kuni-Nushi; that little brat knows her stuff.
"Secondly: the good news! The ultra-powerful "Life in Interesting Times" curse your father fobbed off on you is nearly expired! According to the spell structure, it thinks you've died a couple dozen times, meaning its purpose is fulfilled. It should fade in 48 hours; meanwhile be careful.
"Finally, you are suffering a condition outside my experience." Holding up the crystal, currently set on the vortex of black and white patterns, Yusaku gazed into the depths of his device. The strange magical static reflected off his bald head, making him look mystical.
"These patterns of yin and yang indicate you've crossed over the technical boundary that separates mortals from the spirit plane. Have you eaten any major items of power, like a Silver Bough, rancid Ambrosia, or Chimera's Tongue?"
Thinking hard, Ranma recalled countless crazy things. "What about a Dragon's Whisker?"
"Nope; good cure for baldness though." Yusaku sounded wistful.
"How about accidentally inhaling some ashes from the rebirth of phoenix-god?" Those made Ranma feel like sneezing for days.
"According to Aoi, that increases latent ki abilities, but should not generate this." Yusaku gestured to his crystal, producing wisps of white static over a black background in time with Ranma's heartbeat.
"Being exposed to ki from a Dragon's descendant? Erasing a Mark of the Gods? Pissing off a Ghost Cat? Being stuck in a demi-plane? Possession by a Sanity Drinker? Touching the Water of Life from an Orochi? Incidental exposure to a Reversal Jewel?" Rattling off these and more, Ranma looked pleadingly at Yusaku.
"Hmm. That 'Interesting Times' curse wasn't cast by an amateur; but no. Those experiences could not have dealt such redefinition to your metaphysical reality. An active Greater Artifact of Traveling is about the only possible culprit, and then you'd have to grind it up and internalize it somehow -- sound familiar?"
Shaking her head sadly, Ranma looked dejected. Looking for a bright side, she asked, "If I remove my curses, will it stick if I'm stuck outside normal time?"
"No."
"So you can't help me?" Ranma sounded resigned.
Squinting at his client, the scholar pulled out an amulet from his back pocket. The chain was a fine silvery metal, with a centerpiece of an octagonal polished woodcut depicting a bonsai tree. Entering into a lecture a used-car salesman would envy, he exhorted with gusto.
"This here is a genuine rare artifact from the Kami's Domain. If you wear it, it wears you! This means if you're stuck, and it sticks, Kami curse removers do too. Permanent! However, this little beauty was not obtained easily. Yours for cheap cheap rental fee of only 400,000 yen! Bargain!"
"Sold!" Ranma reached for Nabiki's stash, but was stopped by Yusaku.
"Now, now, girl, if you're in a time paradox I won't git paid! Take the Amulet of Presence, but bring it and the cash back in one week my real time. If you don't, I'll curse you nine ways to Purgatory!"
"What's the catch?" When people acted like Nabiki, something was up.
Looking slightly nervous, Yusaku blandly replied, "No catch."
"Then draw up a contact which is outside of time." Uncomfortable, the small man unconsciously backed away, a sign this bargain was bad news.
"Give me your word of honor." Yusaku thought that 'outside of time' stuff was spooky! It reminded him too much of home, where he was no longer welcomed.
Smirking, Ranma-chan replied "I swear by Musubetsu Kakuto Ryuu, and all that is dear to me: I'll give you back this piece of junk in a week with 400,000 yen if it works, if it doesn't kill me, and if you've told me absolutely everything. Oh, and you have to be here to get it, otherwise I keep it."
Matching the smirk, the proprietor of the Genealogy shop spoke his half of the deal in a cultured, snobby tone: "I, Yusaku no Kami of the aspects of Ancestry and Curses, do hereby swear to abide by these terms, with the provision of full disclosure being contingent upon Ranma Saotome staying long enough to hear the history of the Amulet of Presence, and with the provision of delivery having the failure clause of the renter's future happiness, which is itself contingent upon my presence to receive the object."
The bargainers, deep inside their essences, felt a metaphysical vibration like a striking gong. The Amulet of Presence disappeared from Yusaku's hand and reappeared around Ranma's neck.
"Wait a second; if you're domain is 'Ancestral Curses' couldn't you remove mine?" Ranma felt more complications from that 'Interesting Times' curse in the near future, as she patiently restrained herself from killing the small smirking kami.
"Those aren't my curses; it would be like using someone else's toothbrush; disgusting unless they were your lover. I've never met who set these, so, No!!"
Sitting down, Yusaku began a long droning lecture about the history and significance of the Amulet....
--12 hours and one gender change later--
With the kami-posing-as-scholar still talking, Ranma woke up for the fifty eighth time. The receptionist no longer slept on his lap, having left for the night. His daily reset approached.
"Hold it!"
Obligingly, Yusaku stopped with the murmured protest of only being a third done.
Summing everything he'd been told so far, Ranma held up the Amulet of Presence. "Basically this oversized paperweight is responsible for thousands of feuds on the spiritual plane, and its only trick is invisibility to kami by channeling power through it?"
"In a nutshell, yes. But you can't lose it, ever, and it will always hang around your neck in the Kami Plane. The only way to transfer it is to give it freely, otherwise it will find a way back."
"Is there any Kami, who -won't- be pissed off at me because I'm wearing it?"
Pensively, Yusaku looked toward the heavens. "Just me, Amaterasu, and anyone younger than five centuries, otherwise have fun! The best entrance for you to take into the Kami plane is at the Temple of the Ghost Boar; he'll think you're me and let you pass."
Groaning, Ranma felt himself fade out, still wearing the Amulet.
He completely missed Yusuku's final warning, "Watch out for Izanagi, she's still mad about that little prank 2500 years ago!"
----
"Nabiki!"
The middle Tendo pushed her perverted doshinji away, and stared icily at this unexpected intrusion. Surreptitiously, she took her hand out of her shorts, wiping two damp fingers on her sheets.
"Don't you know to knock before entering a lady's room Saotome?"
Answering would be fruitless, leading to a loss of conversational initiative, so Ranma changed the subject, "I need the location of Temple of the Ghost Boar."
Examining her customer and finding a new feature, Nabiki decided upon maximum mischief. "Today is your lucky day! All I need is that cute charm locket you're wearing." Whichever fiancée had gotten it for him would doubtlessly cause Ranma's intense suffering at its absence. Serve the moron right for entering a girl's room uninvited during her special private time.
Contemplating the scraggly bonsai tree on the Amulet of Presence, and wondering how it could be termed 'cute,' Ranma sighed. "Just tell me a price in yen."
Resting her head on the pillow behind her, Nabiki pondered. By his defeated tone, the sap knew losing the love token meant dire consequences. Thus she named an impossible price: "30,000 yen upfront, and I get to hold the locket."
Flinching, Ranma produced money, and gently unclasped the metal chain around his neck. Letting Nabiki win like this bothered him, but he wanted to hurry.
Delicately counting her fee, amazed it had been met by a non-Kuno, the greedy girl snatched the locket out of Ranma's hand.
As her appraiser's eye analyzed, she immediately identified the silvery metallic chain. Recognizing intricately worked platinum, the Mercenary Tendo made a swift mental calculation. . . . . if he wasn't upset over the wedding, this stunt wouldn't bother Ranma one bit more!
Shoving the mysterious trinket inside her panties, and surprised at its warmth, Nabiki gave the answer: "You can find where the Temple of the Ghost Boar is at our wonderful local library!"
Not disappointed he had wasted yen or lost his trinket, Ranma left, gently closing the door behind him.
Slightly flushed, Nabiki noticed the charm locket caused her sensitive areas to slightly tingle, a most wonderful experience. She picked the doshinji back up, and settled down to enjoy herself.
Puzzled at the lack of protests over her obvious confiscation of such an expensive token, Nabiki noted the tingling gaining intensity...
---
Whistling as he walked out the Tendo gate, Ranma felt the familiar weight of the Amulet of Presence settle around his neck, accompanied by a muffled scream? The tomboy didn't sound like that, and he knew Nabiki wasn't in any danger, so he swiftly looked in on Kasumi in the kitchen.
Wrinkling her chef's nose at him, the eldest Tendo chided harshly, in a whisper, "You and Nabiki need to be more discrete!"
At his blank look, Kasumi sighed and explained: "I wash our sheets every weekend; as an unforeseen consequence, I know what my sisters smell like."
Blushing slightly, Ranma was halfway through a stammering explanation when a small blur entered the kitchen. It moved frighteningly fast, bouncing off two cabinets and an intractable obstacle before stopping on a countertop.
With a small footprint on his cheek, Ranma glared at Happosai, who contentedly rubbed Kasumi's panties, a random bra with little pigs on it, and the Amulet of Presence over his tiny body.
"Ah placid Kasumi, satisfied Nabiki." A mallet shattered the countertop as another enraged female made her presence known, "And rambunctious Akane makes three!" came a muffled voice from his attacker's cleavage.
"Give it back and get off, you pervert!" Pulling on the parasite occupying her chest, Akane succeeded only in making herself very uncomfortable. Happi's wandering hands had a firm grip.
"What's this?"
Noting the magical signature coming from the Nabiki-scented trinket, Happosai was oblivious as Akane extracted him and gently set him down. Backing up, and not questioning her luck, the girl used the same tricky half-sprint favored by multimillion-dollar professional football punters.
Turning to Ranma, and holding up the Amulet of Presence, which buzzed with magic, the withered grandmaster asked seriously, "The next time you and Nabiki go at it, can I watch?"
With a textbook connection, the old man went flying out the open kitchen door, up, up between the two telephone poles outside the Tendo compound in a perfect parabolic arc.
"Fierd-goal." Said Kasumi in passable English.
Knowing that she jumped to conclusions occasionally, Akane decided to give Ranma a little leeway. Turning to her older sister, Akane looked for clarification.
Like a Roman Empress, Kasumi signified the outcome by holding her hand out, thumbs down. Sadly, the substitute mother of the Tendo family shook her head.
Sensing danger, Ranma took one look at Akane's face and left in a massive sprint. This situation wouldn't matter tomorrow. After a hundred feet, a familiar weight settled about his neck as his kami-charm returned.
Sighing, Akane absently brushed away a tear. "That coward!" She muttered. "I guess it really is over between us." Defeated, the girl returned to her room, and fell into a depressed sleep, dreaming of flames and phoenixes.
----
"Shikoku!" Shouted Ranma in triumph. Two dozen maps and books were scattered across the sturdy oaken table in front of him. Shelves and shelves of books filled the room, interrupted by an occasional padded chair and reading alcove.
Three older people with glasses glared in irritation before returning to their novels and magazines.
"Sir, this is a library, please be quiet." Whispered a threatening figure that appeared beside Ranma in an instant. It was an old woman wearing a black kerchief pulled low over her face, like a burglar's mask. The rest of her conservative outfit, designed for economy of movement, was a tasteful dark gray, though she wore a cute pink button stating 'Read or Die' in kanji.
Elated at his discovery, he bowed low to the ninja-librarian and left with no further disturbances.
Upon exit, he began running, and with a mighty jump summoned a vacuum blade of gliding air.
--
Dusk settled in as Ranma landed in the general vicinity of Shikoku. Using the orange light of the setting sun to look his map, he muttered: "I knew I should have taken that right at Kanzaki!"
Shrugging, he tossed the useless piece of paper over his shoulder. He'd know for tomorrow.
"Ranma Saotome!" Yelled a voice from behind him in righteous anger. "It's not enough that you trifle with the hearts of women whose feet you are unworthy to kiss, but now you interrupt my contemplation of perfect zen!"
Brightening at the familiar voice, Ranma turned around and beheld his long lost friend Ryouga, wearing a familiar oversized map of Japan on his head. A convenient gust of wind brushed the chart away, sending it hurtling into the upper reaches of the sky.
"Hey buddy! Long time no see!" Feeling elated, Ranma realized how much he missed Ryouga over the years.
Wondering briefly at Ranma's reaction, Ryouga thought for once he wasn't the only one who had lost his way. The face of his rival openly welcomed him, like a long abandoned brother reunited with his twin; those emotions-- they could not be faked.
In a strange moment of clarity, Ryouga remembered Yoiko, his long lost sister, who turned out to be Ranma in disguise. He remembered a canoeing date that had been broken up by a strange person, who turned out to be Ranma in disguise. Other flashes of this recurring theme in his life, led to a decision involving a little pleasant closure.
Approaching his joyous nemesis, Ryouga punched Ranma as hard as could in the stomach.
Curled up on the ground, Ranma slowly calmed his dry heaves and looked up at his friend. Pain and fellowship tempered a long steely stare. "That hurt."
"It was meant to." Ryouga's calm voice hid his surprise. Ranma hadn't flown twenty feet in the air and broken into ten thousand pieces, like the last granite column he'd hit like that in the ruins of Sumatra.
After a comfortable silence, the two martial artists walked over to Ryouga's campsite.
Ranma did most of the talking, and the stars were out when Ryouga had worked his mind through the stories and experiences related to him.
"You, Ranma Saotome, are a spineless worm who can't decide between a gleaming pearl and the dross of the sea. How many years did you intend to string Akane, Shampoo, and Ukyo along? I didn't yield in the race to Akane's heart so your indecisiveness could drag it through the mud!"
Noting the shine of anger, and the fang sticking out of Ryouga's mouth, Ranma subserviently delivered his comeback.
"Ah, P-Chan, so your virtue has shown through, eclipsing my sordid existence. Do you want relish or barbecue sauce on your carcass when I watch you reveal your Jusenkyo curse to Akane? Trifling with her heart is wrong you know, I have it from the authority of a righteous and noble man."
As both tensed for the coming fight, Ryouga suddenly relaxed, leaning back on his pack.
"Normally I would fight you for such ignorance, but the kami have seen fit to punish you far worse than I. Tomorrow I will be in sweet Akari's arms, but tomorrow you'll relive everything again." Looking at his rival, Ryouga chuckled. "You create your own hells Ranma, that's perhaps the best lesson I've learned seeking my revenge."
Nodding solemnly, Ranma asked: "Any advice?"
Snorting contemptuously, the bandanna wearing man turned to his lost companion and replied harshly: "Get your head out of your ass and make a choice. Prolonging the inevitable doesn't stop the inevitable from happening; reality is an avalanche that way. While I understand the need of curing family curses, in the end such fool's quests are another form of running away. You're very good at running away Ranma. Make sure Akane is happy or I'll hunt you down across the ends of the Earth!"
Returning to a normal tone, the fanged one continued: "Oh, and the mayor of Shikoku can tell you about the Ghost Boar. It's a nice place; I visit every other time I go to Furinken High School. It's on the way."
--Next afternoon--
The mayor of Shikoku was a stooped over middle-aged hick who was balding at the top. He helpfully directed Ranma to where (and how) the Ghost Boar manifested.
They walked to a secluded clearing in the side of a terraced hill, about a mile away from Shikoku. The mayor pointed out a fairly large cave. The mouth of the cavern displayed a cute looking sign with a piggy on it. Mentioning the school took a yearly field trip out here, the old hick explained the legends surrounding this local landmark. Ranma, however, only registered one fact.
"What do you mean he only comes out of his cave during thunderstorms!"
Looking up the clear blue sky, Ranma knew Shikoku wasn't getting rain today.
Exploring the cave after the old guy left, Ranma easily found the back end. It wasn't special as small caves went. No intimidating rocky formations, no bats or insects. It resembled someone's front porch, and right now Ranma had no way of knocking on the door.
Disgusted as his focused ki-blast shattered tons of debris in the back of the cave, Ranma felt no spiritual presence approaching to investigate. The breaking point hadn't worked either.
How was he going to get thunder and lightning?
----
"I challenge you, oh Master of Voltage and Lights. How about the park two streets over, in ten minutes?"
The electrician nodded. It was not everyday a 'mainstream' martial artist called out a master of Martial Arts Wiring. Most fools knew better, but at least his advertisement in the phonebook was worth something!
Nodding in anticipation, the pigtailed challenger introduced himself: "Ranma Saotome."
"Seiji Yuusato." The polite reply hid the man's contempt well as they approached a wide-open area of Kyoto National Park.
Two joggers passed as the white-gloved professional electrician and the teenager in red Chinese clothing bowed respectfully. One of them had a walkman turned up very high, and a song echoed in the sunlit clearing: "Yap-pa Paa, Yap-pa Paa, Don't know what to do. My heart is not a game, it's all Mah-Jong to you..."
In the traditional opening of Musubetsu Kakuto Ryuu, Ranma waited calmly for his opponent's attack. Seiji met his eyes, and they tested each other with stares. Soon the joggers passed, the song fading away.
Sweating under the sun's warmth, the electrician blinked, and elected to begin.
A strand of black and red wiring behaving remarkably like Kodachi's ribbon flew towards Ranma, who easily flowed with it. Noting that wiring behaved slightly differently than cloth, he bobbed and dodged for a minute before understanding how plastic and metal changed a ribbon's movement.
When he effortlessly caught the weapon with his left hand, halting its momentum, his opponent smiled and flipped a switch on his utility belt.
Voltage surged through Ranma's body, causing his muscles to spasm and the hand holding the whip to uncontrollably twitch. With a mighty leap, he left the ground, leaving the electricity from the live wire no place to flow. Airborne, he vacuum-slashed the weapon, cutting the contact. A melted portion of the wire-whip remained fused to his palm.
Catching several mounting screws that served as his opponent's shuriken, Ranma frowned. His left hand spastically twitched and hurt like a dozen bees had stung it. With his right hand reflexively dodging, Ranma entered light meditation. Slowly the overloaded nerves in his body returned to normal while bathing in calming ki.
Ignoring the opponent is never a good plan, regardless of mastery. The huge squirt of glue hit the area around Ranma's feet, neatly entrapping them. Seeing his opponent stuck, the Electrical man brought his shortened wire-whip back around.
Conversationally, while Ranma dodged, Seiji gloated: "The glue trap is a fairly new technique; laying fiber optic cables was so frustrating our school immortalized it recently with this move. We call it the 'Stick-To-Your-Ground Attack.' "
With a precision flip, Ranma landed ten feet away on clean grass, leaving his footwear behind.
"Nice! But that counter only works once." Seiji expected his next shot to end it.
"It works all the time, if you don't have a glue gun!"
Noting his own mounting screw jamming the nozzle of the glue gun, the Master of Martial Arts Wiring tossed the device like a grenade. When it approached his impertinent challenger, Seiji touched a second button on his utility belt.
Leaping thirty feet, Ranma watched in satisfaction as the make-shift bomb exploded, drenching the area under him with glue. At the apex of his jump, he pitched another mounting screw with great velocity, forcing his opponent to dodge and adjusting his descent away from the sticky areas.
---
"Damn corporate types, no respect for the environment." A passing pedestrian spoke with conviction, after being splattered with glue.
"And when you have that outfit dry cleaned with twenty industrial solvents, you're a shining example?" His date sounded less than pleased, scratching at a glue-spot on her forehead.
Sighing, the salary man wallowed in misery. Not only was his suit ruined, but it looked like he wasn't getting that nooner!
As he wondered what else could go wrong, a flock of low-flying sparrows became lodged on his back.
---
Ducking his own mounting screw after Ranma's masterful dodge, the electrician scratched his head. His best moves had failed, and he could tell going hand to hand would be a mistake. While the young fellow was trapped in glue, he'd snapped his shortened wire-whip in pseudo-random patterns, breaking the sound barrier. Not one hit. Seiji knew himself outclassed.
"I guess the conventional techniques just won't work against you. Prepare yourself. The other guys said I could never get this to work, but I had a breakthrough last Tuesday. Behold the final attack of Martial Arts Wiring: The Twenty Thousand Volt Special!"
Interested, Ranma watched his opponent glow with what appeared to be an intermixing of electricity and ki. This was the move he needed.
Invoking the Essence of the Sea, he watched thirty seconds of needless posturing. With poses ripped off from popular sentai shows, Seiji tossed off a crackling ovoid of energy. A true ki-master could throw blasts without looking ridiculous, and he mentally downgraded the threat rating of Martial Arts Wiring.
With electricity crackling around the main ki-form like a rumbling cloud, the projectile streaked unerringly at Ranma's chest. Smiling and bracing himself, he prepared his body.
After a thunderclap, Ranma stared at the cloudy sky, his ears ringing. He lay on soft grass, and had briefly blacked out. Raising his head, he watched Seiji's face turn as white as his gloves. His hands still twitched in the traditional gesture of warding. Sparks played between outstretched fingers as the attack's dregs discharged.
Resuming focus, he understood. The ki flowed precisely; the electricity from the "20000 Volt Special" was another matter. Springing up, pigtail poofy from the voltage, Ranma stuttered at his opponent: "H-h-how av-about a draww?" He recognized Seiji wasn't able to use his ki-attack again. He'd return tomorrow, for another demonstration.
Seiji rapidly nodded. His battery packs were depleted, and he was not getting in grappling range of that monster! Telling himself he feared shocks from the ambient static, the electrician bowed. "Good match Saotome-san."
----
"Akane." Ranma said her name seriously, with great tenderness. They were walking home from school together, in a comparatively normal day.
"Yes, Ranma?" Her heart thudded in her chest; maybe this was it!
"The short version is I'm visiting a place apart from this world, and I'd like your blessing for this trip. No matter what though, I'll see you tomorrow."
Puzzled at the strange request, Akane nodded at Ranma. "Trying to cure the curse again? I'll tell Kasumi you won't be home for dinner."
-
"Ucchan." Ranma said her name seriously, with great friendship. He was sitting at her counter before the dinner rush.
"Yea Ranchan?" She leaned closer, this sounded important.
"I'm gonna go kick some kami-ass and dump this lame curse from my mother's side of the family. The catch is, I have to go to them."
Smirking at her fiancé, the chef cracked her knuckles and asked, "So when we leave?"
Answering the smirk with his own, Ranma told her. "I'm planning on around 10 am tomorrow. You can come with me if you can remember."
Fist clenching with determination, Ukyo exclaimed "I won't let you down Ranma-honey!"
-
"Shampoo." Ranma spoke her name with overtones of impatience and intimacy. He stood out behind the Nekohaten, near the garbage bin.
"Airen!" Exclaimed the Amazon as she hugged him tightly.
Unclenching her fingers, he spoke quickly in Mandarin. "Wanted to tell you I'm going to the kami-plane on unfinished business; I'd forgotten how immature you are when I don't defeat Cologne first."
Prying the girl off and roof jumping away, Ranma didn't hear her shouted warning: "My love, be careful, that world has worse traps than spirits and demons!"
-
Flying through the evening hues of reds and pinks, Ranma touched down at Fushimiinari. Hauling his burden with him, Ranma felt Kodachi's ki struggle within his prison of pressure points. Because her face was tied up securely with her black satin bedroom curtains, the demon inside didn't sense much.
When the Sanity Drinker came exploding outwards, the monks were on hand for exorcism, a matter swiftly dealt with by true professionals.
"Kodachi." Ranma spoke her name with wariness and respect. They stood under the stars, bathed in light from lanterns next to the ceremonial cleansing fountain of the shrine. Her tangled hair and pallid forehead gave her the 'wretched girl' look.
"I don't know how to thank you Ranma-sama. I'm not even sure what to think now; much of my older behavior wasn't me."
Curious, he replied, "You mean the 'fighting in all fairness,' the drugs, and underhanded tricks?"
"No, nothing like that! Obviously they didn't work because I was possessed!" Kodachi laughed, not a particularly nice laugh, but nothing like her previous trademark. "Ranma-dono, you have been my hero twice over, and I consent to anything you desire." Blushing demurely at the last word, Kodachi showed rare hesitancy.
One of the monks interrupted the awkward moment by asking Ranma how much he knew of Kamis and demons. Admitting general ignorance, Ranma named the books from Cologne's collection he had read in preparation.
Scowling at him, Brother Yojin launched a tirade against visiting the kami plane unprepared. He concluded with "We at Fushimiinari have the tools to make sure you can return relatively sane."
Sighing, Ranma absently shifted in Kodachi's embrace as she gently hugged him from behind. This might delay him further, but one thing he had in abundance was time.
--A great deal of days later--
The setting sun turned the sky into a portrait of burgundy and burnished orange, and Ranma completed the final tracery on his masterpiece.
Holding up the ki-forged ward of containment, made with inks of ash and tears, he inspected it a final time. Finding nothing wrong in the crisp calligraphy, with a small flourish Ranma presented to his gray robed instructor.
Examining the scroll-ward, the monk unfurled it at arms length and proceeded with the testing. A hungry, pestilent ki pulse struck the paper scroll in the center, and with a bright answering flash the darkness flew down into the floor, blackening a polished marble tile.
Carefully rolling the scroll back up, Brother Ichiro presented it back with due ceremony. "Congratulations, Saotome-san! We at Fushimiinari have nothing further to teach about creating sutras and supernatural wardings."
Bowing low, Ranma solemnly expressed his gratitude by maintaining the position for thirty seconds before speaking. He passed the time staring at the cracked and festering stone tile, wondering at the hardships his teacher endured to create that blast of malevolent bitterness.
"Thank you sensei, but according to the sacred books, I'm barely a novice with the intricate patterns." This statement brought a memory of a centennial pattern into Ranma's mind; the monks battled against creatures of dire prophecy, and they prepared powerful traps over hundreds of years.
"Nonsense, Saotome-san! You have mastered the rigor and concentration for proper construction; you merely must practice. One day you'll surpass us all! Maybe even this day, eh?"
"Perhaps. But I feel indebted to this shrine for sharing its knowledge, though tomorrow you will have forgotten me again, sensei."
"Do not worry student, the pattern of life flows in mysterious ways. If you wish to discharge your self-appointed debt, use our teachings well. Go and banish demons from this Edo."
"I will." Ranma bowed again briefly. "Could you answer one final question?" Demon wardings and banishments would make his life easier, but in mastering this new discipline Ranma found it incomplete. On the outer edges should lurk true magic, an answer to his dilemma.
Looking flattered, brother Ichiro inclined his head. "Of course, but enlightenment is elusive; my answer may be meaningless until you die."
Breathing deeply, Ranma asked his hopeful question: "What magic might help me leave this forever day? I had thought supernatural containment would be overflowing with magic, but it is a discipline like any other Art."
Pausing for minutes, Ranma's teacher of wards and traps answered: "The only magic you need, Ranma-san, is an unclouded heart."
Striving to hide his disappointment, Ranma Saotome left the Fushimiinari Shrine. With his pigtail swaying in the wind, he didn't look back as he passed through the sacred torii with heavy steps. The kami-planes awaited; perhaps his answer was there.
-
Another gray robed monk entered the testing chamber. Frowning at the blemished floor, he traced Purification in the air above the contaminated tile. With a flash of power, the smooth marble floor reflected the sunset in harmony again.
"Ah, Brother Ichiro, did your time-lost prodigy leave at last?"
Staring into the horizon through a secured window, Ranma's teacher moved into a better vantage point beside his senior. "Yes, but his spirit is clouded with false expectations. He believes he has not what he seeks, and therefore searches the wrong places."
"Much like poor Nasrudin. Was showing him so much wise? Such weapons are dangerous in the wrong minds. If he fails, the karmic repercussion will strike harshly."
"If he breaks his dilemma, we will have no need to worry. For his remarkable ability, he has yet to understand his self created contradictions."
Settling on the floor, the second monk spoke wistfully: "Unloading his heart requires making the choice deforming his inner aura. Apparently he has tried, only to be faced with the same choice again and again. His answer has not always been the same."
The issue discussed, the two monks assumed the half-lotus position and meditated as black twilight slowly overcame the fiery sunset.
-
Hours later, Ranma's teacher remained. Thinking of the dynamic man who had convinced him of the echoes between moments, and bemused such a one had come to him, of all people, for enlightenment, Brother Ichiro reflected upon his emotions.
Tranquility remained elusive, and his mind kept returning to a puzzle: 'So who will you chose as your love, Ranma Saotome?' A beam of moonlight illuminated the monk's shaved head, then slowly traced across the white marble floor as time passed.
Pondering the abstracts of time and choice while counting stars, Brother Ichiro wondered if his prodigy was already too spiritual to accept the inherent flaws in a human woman.
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next: "Open the Gate!"
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--Edo is an archaic Japanese term for 'world.' During the Edo Period (1603-1867) of Japanese history it referred to the capital city Tokyo, perceived to be the center of the world.
--sentai is a genre of Japanese television known for, among other things, transformation sequences with poses. #essay