Starting Over: Do You Want to be Friends?
Chapter 14
Written by Senshi of Valis
Ranma ½ created by Rumiko Takahashi
Card Captor Sakura created by Clamp
I don't own any of these series or the character in each.
It was later in the day when Nodoka was finally getting home but she wasn't going to be able to stay long. Kodachi was in her indoor garden unconscious. As soon as Nodoka entered the house she felt that there was something wrong and as soon as entered the garden she felt sick herself so immediately grabbed the younger girl and pulled her out of the room. A quick call brought an ambulance to take the girl to the hospital where Nodoka followed after dealing with Tatewaki.
She found him in his room staring at two huge pictures of her daughter and Akane that were hanging on the wall. He had a strange, crazed look in his eyes that scared her a little. It took some doing but she finally got him to go to her brothers while she checked on Kodachi.
When she got to the hospital to check on Kodachi she learned that she had overdosed on some kind of drug but they had no idea what it was, they had never seen anything like it before. Nodoka told them about her garden and how it made her feel sick as soon as she entered it. The agreed that it was possible that it could have been some kind of exotic pollen since it was breathed in. They sent a hazmat team out to investigate the mansion and close it off until they found what had caused it.
After spending most of the morning and midday at Kodachi's bedside the girl finally did wake up but she was very weak and could barely talk. Nodoka was happy that the girl was awake though, even if she did fall back asleep soon after. At least the doctors said that she was going to be okay.
Right before she left the hospital, she had gotten a preliminary report of what was found in the garden. Apparently Kodachi had been experimenting with splicing different exotic plants together, some of the new hybrids releasing pollen into the air that acted like drugs. Some of the effects they believed some of them caused was delusions, aphrodisiacs, and most likely steroidal.
Nodoka sighed as she shut off the car and went inside to find Ranko, Nabiki and Akane at the table with Ms. Mackenzie hovering around looking over their shoulders. "It looks like you all are set for the exams. If you want, come to the school Monday after classes and I'll have your finals ready to take."
"Really?" Nabiki asked, a little surprised.
"Really." Ms. Mackenzie said with a smile.
Nodoka noticed how tired her daughter looked though she didn't seem depressed. As she walked past the room she heard Alita talking with two familiar voices in the living room. Taking long enough to peak in she noticed that Sakura and Tomoyo was on the couch and looked just as exhausted, if not more so, than Ranko herself.
Walking back to the dining room where Ranko was she noticed Ms. Mackenzie just shutting the door behind her as she left. "Hi, mom." Ranko said from the table.
"Auntie said she was running behind and was sorry that she couldn't stay longer." Akane said.
"Thanks, Akane." Nodoka said, "I have to go back to the hospital for awhile tonight with Kodachi but its nothing major, she's okay now."
"What happened?" Nabiki asked, curious.
"When I went over there this morning, she had collapsed in her garden." Nodoka said, "She's doing better but I want to be there in case something else happens…can't trust her worthless father to show up. If you want me to stay though Ranko, I will. You always come first to me, okay?"
"It's okay mom, I'm fine." Ranko said with a smile.
"There's no school tomorrow Ranko so Naomi is having a sleepover. If you want you can come." Akane suggested.
"Are you sure, Akane?" Ranko asked.
"Yeah, I think it'd be fun." Akane said.
"You should think about going Ranko, just be careful." Nodoka said.
"I will, mom, thanks." Ranko said, hugging Nodoka, "I'd like that Akane."
"Okay, I'll go call her." Akane said, getting up to leave, "I'll ask Sakura and Tomoyo if they want to come to."
Ukyo looked up at the building in front of her wearily, the Cat Café, the Amazons home and restaurant. She was tired, not sleeping much since she last saw her Ranchan. She kept trying to figure out what was real and what wasn't. If her Ranchan was truly a girl that was cursed at some hot springs, then she didn't know what would happen.
But why would she be lied to, who would make up a story like the one that strange woman had told Ryoga and her. She needed to know if their really was hot springs that cursed people like the training ground did. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Ukyo entered the restaurant and was met by Shampoo.
"Is you?" Shampoo asked, agitated for some reason, "What spatula girl want here?"
"I want to talk to Cologne." Ukyo said.
"What is it I can help you with, Ukyo?" Cologne said as she pogoed out from the back, "Does this have anything to do with my son in law's disappearance?"
"Kind off…" Ukyo said, "I need to know something."
"Of course, child, but in exchange I want to know why son in law has disappeared." Cologne said, "And why that fool panda is now a wanted man. Something is going on and I want to know what."
"I can't." Ukyo said.
"Then I'm sorry but I can't help you, child." Cologne said as she started to turn around.
"Wait…I-I'll tell, but I can't tell where he is." Ukyo said.
"Agreed, child. It's only a matter of time until we find him anyways." Cologne said, sitting at a table and motioning towards a seat in front of her. "The dinner rush is over for the night so we can go ahead and close up and have some privacy. Mr. Part Time, put up the closed sign." Cologne told Mousse as he walked by.
"Do it yourself, you dried up old mummy." Mousse grumbled causing a quick rap to the head from Cologne's staff. "Right away elder."
"Now child," Cologne said as Shampoo sat down next to Cologne, "What is going on?"
"Is there a hot springs of Jusenkyo?" Ukyo asked.
"Yes child, but they are even more dangerous than the training grounds. It would take an idiot to venture to the training grounds but someone would have to be without a brain to go to the hot springs. The curses of Jusenkyo can be affected by outside magic such as a few treasures that we have but the hot springs…its magic is stronger than most other magic that we know of. We have nothing that will affect them."
"Is it true that if a girl…is cursed to be a boy there that the curse will be activated by hot water?" Ukyo asked, fearful of the answer. She lost Ranma, she knew it and what ever Cologne said next Ukyo knew would seal that.
"Yes child, the curses are direct opposites of another." Cologne said, "What are you getting at?"
"Ranma…Ranma isn't Ranma, she's Ranko." Ukyo said, "Both her mother and herself said so. And so did this really strange woman."
"You lie!" Shampoo growled.
"Shampoo, settle down." Cologne said, "I always had a feeling that something was up, especially since she didn't seem as sad as she showed about the full body cats tongue. What about that fool panda though, child, where does he come in on all of this?"
"He used Ranko just to steal dowries through the years, including mine. I…I don't think Ranko had anything to do with it really beyond being forced to act like a boy. He beat her…and I think raped her."
"If that fool did and this was all true then this would release Ranko from both kisses." Cologne said sadly, "According to Amazon law, she is tainted now and is no longer worth becoming a member of the tribe. As for the kiss of death…it is believed to kill someone tainted as her would be to taint yourself in the process."
"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!" Ukyo growled, "Just because…"
"Quite girl," Cologne said bopping Ukyo on the head, "I said that's what law states, what is law and what I believe in are two separate things. Is she okay?"
"I'm not sure…last I saw here she was crying as her mother held her." Ukyo said.
"I'll kill Genma myself if I ever get a hold of him…or better yet…maybe some spring of drowned girl…yes, I think the zoo would like a new female panda, I believe I seen on the news where they just got a new male one." Cologne muttered. Ukyo had to smile at that, it sounded like a good plan. However the way Shampoo looked worried Ukyo, it looked like the younger amazon was really mad, worse than Ukyo could ever remember.
"Wh-what are you?" the small man in a ski mask asked in terror as he cowered in the back of an alleyway as Bakura slowly walked up to him, his millennium ring glowing.
"Why did you shoot that child?" Bakura asked, disgusted with the coward in front of him. He had seen the police surrounding a convenience store as paramedics bandaged up a girl's arm. The girl must have been the clerk on duty and according to what he could here from the cops some man in a ski mask had robbed the place and shot her then ran.
It didn't take much to find the little creep either, he was trying to hold up another convenience store. Luckily he didn't shot anyone but Bakura managed to follow him into this alley which was a dead end. He matched the police's description perfectly and even pulled out the same gun and shot at Bakura. A simple shield made from shadows blocked the bullets though scaring the man causing him to cower in the corner.
"She is okay but if you had aimed a little more over, she could be dead." Bakura said.
"Piss off!" the man said.
"How about a game?" Bakura asked, "A shadow game? The winner can have this." said Bakura as he pulled a bag from the shadows, filled with jewels and gold, all ancient artifacts from his time though they were just illusions. He smiled as the man looked at the bag greedily. "The loser…well, their soul will belong to the shadows."
"What kind of game?" the man asked.
"I'm sure you heard of Russian roulette?" Bakura asked pulling out what was obviously a child's cap gun. "We will use this, of course."
"Fine with me!" the man said as his greed gave him courage. Grabbing the gun he opened the chamber and looked at the single good cap. With a click he closed it and spun it, aiming it at his head and pulling the trigger, there being no sound. "Ha, your turn."
Bakura took the gun and with a smirk aimed it at his head and pulled a trigger, the gun not making a sound. He handed the gun back to the man who opened the chamber again and looked at the caps.
"There are grave consequences for those who cheat in a shadow game." Bakura warned.
"Piss off…" the man mumbled under his breath, "Even if I lose I'm going to kill you and take those jewels."
A loud bang echoed through the alley as a bullet ripped through the mans head killing him almost immediately. Bakura smirked, these were his kind of shadow games…he may of enjoyed the card duels, but people like this deserved something a bit more…permanent.
Ranko nervously walked up to the door of the house next to Akane, beginning to rethink the whole thing. What did she truly know about slumber parties anyways, she never had a normal childhood. If she even thought about bringing up going to something like this when she was little, Genma would of beat her badly for it.
"Hi Akane." An older woman said with a smile as she answered, "Who's this?"
"Hi, Mrs. Ozaka." Akane said, "This is my friend Ranko, Sakura and Tomoyo couldn't come."
"It's okay dear," Mrs. Osaka said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ranko."
"Thanks, it's an honor to meet you and be here, Ma'am." Ranko said.
"The girl's are in the living room watching a movie," Mrs. Ozaka said.
Ranko followed closely behind Akane to the living room where Naomi, Sayuri, Yuka and two other girls Ranko didn't know was scattered around watching Ranko's favorite anime, Magic Knight Rayearth. Ranko was beginning to think this could be fun.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Naomi asked, venom filling her voice, "No perverts allowed."
"Ranko isn't a pervert." Akane said, "And you said it was okay if she came."
"I said a Ranko could come, not RANMA!" Naomi growled.
"Naomi, please listen." Sayuri said.
"Yeah, get out of here you worthless freak." The first unknown girl demanded.
"I-I should just go, Akane." Ranko sniffed, fighting back tears as she backed up.
"Don't Ranko. Yuka said, "Please stay."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Naomi said, "I don't want freak boy here!"
Ranko couldn't stand it anymore, she spun around and took off passing Mrs. Osaka by as a stream of tears was freely flowing from her eyes. She vaguely heard Akane calling after her but she ignored it as she ran.
Mariko didn't understand what was going on until she heard freak boy come from her daughters mouth then she put two and two together as Ranma who must have been pretending to be Ranko took off crying with Akane hot on the pursuit.
"I can't believe you!" Yuka growled, "How could you treat Ranko that way?"
"Only thing I seen was that freak Ranma!" Naomi said.
"There is no Ranma!" Yuka growled though Sayuri was trying to stop here, "That bastard Genma forced Ranko to pretend to be Ranma. The bastard beat her and RAPED HER! DO you think SHE enjoyed THAT?"
"Wh-wh…" Naomi tried to say.
Mariko just shook her head, disgusted. How could anyone do that to there own child. She knew what happened to Naomi and hated it but knew the kind of pain something like that could cause. That bastard who hurt her own daughter was in jail and would hopefully rot there.
"You heard me!" Yuka growled, "How the hell could you call her crap like that?"
"I-I didn't know…" Naomi said.
"Yuka…we wasn't supposed to tell…it was Ranko's place to tell." Sayuri whined, "Now Akane is going to kill us if Ranko doesn't."
"Your lying." Naomi whispered though Mariko could see the pain in her daughters eyes.
"No, I'm leaving." Yuka said.
"Me too." Sayuri seconded following after Yuka.
Ranko finally stopped, leaning her head against a light pole as its light shined down from above. She shook as she sobbed, leaning against the pole for some support. They was right, she was a freak and there was no changing that. She was a dirty, worthless freak who wanted to die.
She knew Akane was behind her at first but Ranko only increased her speed until she lost the girl. Now though Ranko was at a loss for what to do, she was alone and it was getting dark, Usually this wouldn't bother her much but with Genma out there somewhere and after her, she was scared.
"Hey there." A strange boy said, drawing Ranko's attention. He had the strangest bluish/white hair that she had seen, a long blue dress shirt left hanging open and a striped shirt underneath and a pair of jeans. Around his neck hung an odd looking ring with long shards hanging from it with an eye like design in the middle. "Are you okay?"
"St-stay away from me." Ranko cried, backing away.
"You've been touched by Bast!" the boy gasped.
"Yeah, I'm a worthless whore, I get it!" Ranko cried which brought a confused look to the boy's face.
"What does that have to do with being given a gift from Bast…" the boy asked, "You don't know who Bast is, do you?"
Ranko was really confused with this boy, what was he talking about a gift from Bast. Was it some kind of new word for what she was? Even this strange boy knew what she was…
"Shhh…what's wrong, kitten?" the boy asked, "It doesn't suit an avatar of the goddess Bast to be crying. If you tell me what's wrong maybe I can help you."
"A-A goddess!" Ranko exclaimed.
"Yep, and you look like one too…" the boy said with a genuine smile. "So how about it, kitten? What's buggin you?"
"I'm no goddess…" Ranko laughed bitterly, "I'm a worthless piece of trash…"
"That sure the hell ain't what I see." The boy said. "What happened…did someone hurt you?"
"What happened…how about being my father's punching bag and plaything!" Ranko sobbed, "How's that for starters?"
"Wh-What?" the boy asked shocked, "In my time kitten, bastards like him would pay dearly for such an act…If you take me to him…I'll make him pay, I'll feed him to the shadows."
"I don't know where he is…" Ranko said, scared a little from the evil looking grin that spread across the boys face.
"You shouldn't protect the bastard…people like him deserve to be punished severely." The boy said, "The shadows hunger for people like that."
"I-I'm not protecting him…he escaped when they arrested him…" Ranko said, backing up from the boy who was advancing on her. She backed into a wall of the house and started to tremble as the boys hand came up to gently wipe her tears away.
"You don't have to worry about me, kitten." The boy said, "I'd never hurt an avatar of Bast's, especially one as beautiful as you. And no avatar of Bast is worthless, kitten. What that bastard did to you…he will pay for it, that I swear to you."
"Ranko!" Cried Akane's voice as it grew closer.
"Is that your friend?" the boy asked.
"Y-Yeah." Ranko sniffed, nervous at how close the boy was.
"Then I take it your name is Ranko." The boy said with another genuine smile, "You can call be Bakura. I'll see you again, kitten. Take care."
With that said the boy backed away out of the light and disappeared into the shadows just as Akane came into view.
"Are you okay, Ranko?" Akane asked the shaking Ranko.
"I-I don't know." Ranko cried as Akane enveloped her in a hug.
"Come on, let's go home." Akane said.
"I'm s-sorry I messed up your party." Ranko cried.
"Shh…don't be. I don't want to hang around people like that." Akane said as she led Ranko home.
AN: Hi everyone, sorry if I changed Bakura some. I may of made his shadow powers a little more stronger than in the anime or manga. Bakura is supposed to come in after the whole Marik thing and I'm enhancing his powers from being in the shadow realm so far. The shadows had seeped in him so much that it even bonded both souls together. So even if the ring disappears or gets destroyed they will still be together but their powers will be diminished some. I don't know if that's even possible but that's the great thing about fanfiction. I hope you all enjoyed it and aren't too upset with his changes.
Review Responses:
RubberNeck: Thanks and yep, Kodachi sort of showed up in this chapter and the Amazons now know about Ranko. While Cologne does feel sympathetic, I'm not sure what she will end up doing now. As for Shampoo, she will probably feel humiliated for being beaten numerous times by a weakling in her opinion. Though she may not, I still haven't decided what she's most upset about, sorry.
Dragon Man 180: Thank you so much, I love the scripts and everything on that sight. As for the maze, it probably did go into shock, a mere human hurting its perfect walls so easily.
Goku: Because I like Bakura and want his abilities in the story but I doubt their will be much Duel Monsters gaming going on in this story though there will be some shadow games.
Mgsaintz: Thanks, and I'm sorry about it seeming a bit rushed. As for Bakura, believe me I do have plans for him but this will not become a Yugi or Duel Monsters fic. Bakura will add to the plot especially now that he has found someone he both likes and admires and truly wants to help. He can see that Bast has touched her (neko-ken) though he doesn't know it was tainted with Genma's stupidity by using that training manual instead of a Mau (I hope that's the correct spelling) bestowing the gift on her freely.
Reaper 2040: Thanks, I'll have to figure out someone who can do that for Tofu/Yue, perhaps Kasumi.
Rubel: To tell the truth, I've been using what I can remember from the American show along with my manga and the limited number of episodes I've seen of the Japanese version. Unfortunately, American television producers has a bad habit of chopping up anime like they did do with Card Captor Sakura. Thanks, I hope you liked this chapter.
Smith: Yep, she is. Bakura is the new guy and he already does like her. In his opinion, she's beautiful and must be special to have been touched by Bast. No problem, just be careful on your trip.
Lov3the3vil: Yep, he did and he's already creating mischief somewhat though I think his victim deserved it and Genma will as well, whatever Bakura does to him.
Den Scurman: No prob, I myself haven't read too many bad ones though. I loved Equal Halves, Genma's Daughter and Sailor Ranko. Bakura is in now but he will definitely be a good addition to the story. The fiancés reactions will happen more in the next couple of chapters. Whatever Shampoo does will happen in the next one for sure. Thanks, I wanted to give the clow cards a little more emotion here and show that they actually care for Ranko. Thanks, I'm glad that you are.
Ss4-link: Thank you, I'm glad you liked it.
TheWhiteMonk: Thanks for the info on Yugi, to tell the truth I never saw it up to that point yet. I just used what I saw from the first few seasons for my basis on Bakura, the farthest I seen is where they are finishing up the battle city tournament after the part with the virtual world where the big five was trying to get their bodies. I'm going to go ahead and use Bakura/Ryu for now but I will probably go into more detail later about the thief king stuff. Li's mom probably won't make it in this story but she will in the sequel when Ranko chooses who she wants to be with. Thanks again, this really helps out a lot.
Ss4-link: Thanks, I hope you like Bakura in this chapter.
Isumo 1489: Thanks, that really helps a lot. I love the part about how powerful they are together, maybe that can come into play later. As for Bakura, there will be shadow games, I'm not sure how much the actual card game will come into play though. Thanks, and Yue will make an appearance in a bit.
Thanks everyone for your kind reviews and thank you ss4-link, Ranger5 and RS-103 for prereading.
Until Next Time,
Ja Ne.