Disclaimer:
OH, COME ON!! DO I NEED TO WRITE ANOTHER?! FINE!!!
I do not own Ranma ½
As I learn to trust the universe, I no longer need to carry a gun.
Cologne sat in her room at the Nekohanten. She was doing something she rarely indulged in, but she found necessary at the moment. Meditating. Specifically, meditating on Ranma's behavior when under the full influence of the potion.
It wasn't right.
She knew the stories, knew them, memorized them, picked them apart just in case of inaccuracy.
Ranma just wasn't behaving exactly how he should have been. Of course, the Jusenkyo curse would alter his behavior as a girl, but she wasn't sure how, not wishing to be wrong and end up a small splatter mark on the Tendo floor. Of course, that was another thing that worried her. Perfume had, indeed, single-handedly killed an opposing army, with the full use of her martial arts skills, but she'd also been one step shy of a full-out berserker when she'd done it, like the neko-ken. Ranma had shown far too much capacity to think when he was trying to kill Ryoga, actually talking to him, reasoning out who was and was not fighting him, as evidenced when Akane Tendo had turned on Ryoga herself. Ranma had stopped fighting her, and had let her help him. And taunting the boy with his own twisted version of Ryoga Hibiki's usual greeting, but with a true deadly intent behind it. Of course, with potions that delicate, minor screw-ups on proportioning of the ingredients to each other as well as using the right amounts to be proportioned to had a drastic effect, causing abnormalities or anomalies in the intended effect in the victim.
Simply put, Cologne thought, the fucked up way it was made is screwing up the way it was supposed to work.
Another thing, one that truly worried her, was how Ranma fought when he was attacking Ryoga Hibiki. More specifically, how he attacked them. He'd been dodging or blocking all of their attacks, until the hot water had been splashed. Then, he'd ignored the oncoming blows, even hers. Cologne knew he was powerful, from his fight with Saffron, but she hadn't realized he was that strong. To not even bother with blocking them... he was truly a force to be reckoned with. She had underestimated him a great deal. Taking a breath, Cologne turned her attention back to the workings of the potion.
From the looks of things, the "love" part was working right, though there seemed to be a distinction between the kind of love one had for a family member and the kind of love one has for one's friends. Good thing, too, otherwise Nodoka Saotome might have found herself in a very disturbing position when her son saw her for the first time with breakfast. As for his love/hate complex with Nabiki Tendo, that was understandable. Cologne could see why anyone might have a hard time liking the young mercenary, and since the Tendo-Saotome agreement was for any of the Tendo girls, Ranma might very well have once entertained the notion of dating Nabiki. That thought could easily be applied to Kasumi Tendo, as well. No one failed to like her, and, by Japanese standards, she would be a perfect wife, once brought out of the shell she was in sometimes. Cologne was not sure exactly of Ranma Saotome's feelings for her great-granddaughter, but she more than understood why he had put her headfirst through the ceiling. If Ranma hadn't beaten her so many times today, great-granddaughter or not, Cologne would be upstairs beating Shampoo's head in right now. That, Cologne felt, covered love pretty well, but as for the hate...
Hate was more of a worry. Ranma didn't seem to degenerate into an almost-mindless, berserk killing machine, he was more like... a madman, with a single target, and nothing pleased him more than killing his chosen victim. Cologne had no doubts as to the fate of the Hibiki boy if Shampoo had not intervened.
Cologne wondered how she figured out about the pressure point. Dismissing that, upon remembering that Shampoo was smarter and much more clever than she liked to let on, Cologne made a mental note to tell the Tendo's that if Ranma should be cut, or otherwise caused to bleed, to let him take care of it.
Heavens knew what would happen if someone got his blood on them and a tiny portion of the potion managed to stay on them long enough to seep into their bloodstream. Brief contact might be alright, but if that damned potion stayed on them long enough... best not to think about that. Cologne blew out a breath. She couldn't really imagine someone getting blood all over their hands and not washing them afterwards.
Nerima was making her paranoid.
What was someone going to do? Drink his blood like a vampire?
After a more thorough checking of the amounts missing from her spice rack, and a very detailed examination of possible side-effects of each one in proportion to each other when used for this particular potion, Cologne believed she had mapped out the anomalies, and the side-effects that were not intended.
She was still worried, but she began to relax. Ranma was actually safer to be around this way than how he should have been if it was made properly. She'd rather face a maddened Ranma, who might be able to be talked to and delayed until help arrived, than face a crazed fighting machine with only the drive to kill running it. Further mapping of the effects showed a few others, one of which could have been a concern for her, but it was unlikely for the circumstances surrounding it to occur. Cologne took a breath of relief, and let the tension flow out of her.
After all, what were the odds of Ranma and someone else declaring their undying love for each other?
Nerima was definitely making her paranoid.
But last night, Ranma had made her laugh like she hadn't in years once she got back. The Court had turned out wonderful, just wonderful!
At the Tendo's, Ranma and Akane sat in his room, now that breakfast was finished. They had wanted to talk earlier, but Kasumi had actually insisted that everyone else help clean up in some small way. Akane and Ranma had had to take the dishes into the kitchen. Akane didn't mind, though. She was always glad to help her sister.
"So, um, what did you want to talk about, Akane?" Ranma sat with his back to the wall. Akane was between his legs, with Ranma's arms wrapped around her. She was a little slumped down, though, to keep from accidentally touching the top of her head to Ranma's chin. She felt comfortable in Ranma's arms, though it was going to take some getting used to. Part of her wanted to stay there, and another part wanted to bash him for touching her while screaming 'Pervert!' She was doing her best to ignore it.
"Something I... did. Involving you."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, I..." Say it! Akane admonished. If he finds out later from someone else, he's going to hate it, and he's going to be hurt, and he's going to hate you for not telling him! "I stole something. From you. And I... betrayed you. In a really, really horrible way."
Akane could feel her fiancée tense up, though he remained silent. Not like Akane, at the moment, needed him to speak to know what questions he wanted to ask her. Mental Ranma (as Akane had taken to calling that voice) was full of them all by himself. Akane noticed, however, that Mental Ranma was quieter than yesterday and last night, and much more organized, not like a string of sentences squashed together. Potion must be starting to wear off. Nervous, Akane began to fidget where she sat.
"Um, Akane?"
"I'm just... trying to figure out how to say it. Give me a second."
"I was going to ask if you would stop squirming like that. It's kind of, uh, not a good thing."
"Ranma, what is that supposed to..." Akane blinked as she remembered where she was sitting, and squashed her mind's attempt at another round of bash-the-pervert. "Oh," she said as she stopped moving. "Sorry 'bout that." Akane was glad that Ranma was blindfolded. She didn't want Ranma to see her blushing so much.
"Ain't that what I'm supposed to say?"
"Yeah, um, that's kinda what I meant to talk about. You see, I did something, and I'm... I'm..." Scared to death you're going to turn me away when you hear it.
"What is it, Akane? You can tell me."
"I know, I know, it's just so hard to say..."
"Why?"
"Because I'm scared."
"You're scared of saying something?"
"No! I'm scared you'll hate me!"
"C'mon, tomboy, you know I don't hate you."
Akane's voice was quiet. "You might in a minute."
There was a pause before Ranma spoke again. "That bad, huh?"
"Yeah. Just promise me something?"
"Promise you what?"
"You won't leave me or interrupt me until I explain why."
"Alright, Akane. I promise."
Akane took a breath, trying to figure out where to start and how to explain. "Okay, um, you remember the night before last? Where you and I were in the dojo, and we were... talking?"
"Yeah, I remember." Don't remember a damn thing I said, though. Wish I could. What did I say that made her hug me?
"That I wasn't uncute, and that you liked me as a tomboy."
There was a long, drawn out silence before Ranma spoke again. "How'd you know what I was thinking?"
"I don't know what you were thinking. Not exactly. Let me explain?"
Ranma shifted, as though he were debating it. "Alright."
"You said... a lot of things. Like how you wouldn't peek at me if you had the chance, because you don't do things like that, and how my outfit was very distracting to you-"
Akane suddenly bopped Ranma on the leg. "Mind out of the gutter, Ranma."
"I didn't say anything!"
"Good enough to eat," Akane said, mimicking a comment from Mental Ranma.
Ranma himself sputtered for a minute, and Akane smirked in amusement.
Akane's voice grew soft as she continued. "You also said that I was cute, and that you liked me as a tomboy. I'm not going to ask you if it's true. I don't know if you couldn't lie right then, but I'm not going to force it out of you like that. I refuse to force it out of you."
Behind her, Akane felt Ranma fidget a bit more. She sighed. Ranma had such a hard time talking about things like this. His father's fault, really. At least he was getting what he deserved. Or, Akane liked to think so. She really didn't know what was happening to him, especially since Nodoka had dragged him by his feet out to the dojo.
"I... do think you're cute. I know I call you kawaiikune a lot, but... I don't mean it. And... I... like tomboys."
Akane smiled gently. "What kind of tomboys?"
"Blue-haired martial artists that smell like vanilla even if they're all sweaty from working out," he said promptly. "Er, um, I mean..."
"Don't worry about it. But..." Oh, I don't want to say it. "But, Ranma, for me, that was a lot. I mean, you hadn't talked to us in so long, and that one night I find out all of that. I was so confused. And with what happened the next day..."
"Yeah, yesterday was one hell of a day."
"Mm-hmm. Anyway, I got so confused and everything... especially after I... you know, after I tried to strangle you, and we know how that turned out..." She blushed. "Anyway, I didn't understand it all, so I kind of, um, went and did something."
"What did you do?" Ranma's voice had more than a trace of nervousness in it.
"I... I stole Cologne's book... the one your mom used to show you the potion... and I... I made something out of it..."
"You didn't feed me it, did you?!"
Mental Ranma shrieked at the concept. Wincing, Akane said, "No. I drank it."
"What... what did it do to you?"
"It showed me something I wasn't able to understand until then."
"What did it show you?"
"You."
Genma, bruised, battered, beaten, and terrified, made another attempt at escape.
He made it to the door.
He actually got it open.
He took two steps out before being tripped and falling flat on his face.
Soun watched from the back porch as his friend was dragged back inside by his wife. As the doors of the dojo slammed shut, Nodoka Saotome's voice drifted to him.
"Threw him to a pit of cats?! What were you thinking?!"
Soun didn't think his friend would be up for an afternoon game of shogi today. A knock at the door distracted him. He rose to greet the visitor. Kasumi would have done it for him, but today she seemed so very out of it. It had taken her a while to do the dishes from breakfast. Well, Soun understood that. She was probably stressed from the more-chaotic-than-usual happenings around here, and with that horrible revelation last night...
Opening the door, he was met by a tall young man in loose black pants and a blue top. A bokken was tied to his waist, and he bowed low enough to give Soun the idea that he was trying to go for a yen on the ground. A martial artist, a kendo practitioner. Is this the Kuno boy Akane and Ranma speak of?
"Greetings, noble father of Akane Tendo. I, Tatewaki Kuno, am most honored to be in the presence of someone capable of raising such a splendid flower such as her, and a powerful martial artist of great renown unto himself."
Blinking at the odd manner of speech, but recognizing the respect behind it, Soun allowed the boy to enter.
Ranma sat in silence. He'd been quiet for a few minutes. Akane had told him everything about the potion she could remember. About how she lived through his 'training' after he had left his home as a child, through all of his father's bizarre ideas for perfecting his son's martial arts. How she saw everything that had happened to him since he arrived, and how much she knew it had hurt him. How much pain she knew she herself had caused him. About Mental Ranma, and the little things he said, that were a reflection of what Ranma thought, and how she couldn't control him from spouting off (which explained several of her comments to him during last night's training). And how, at the end, when she knew she loved him, she couldn't bear to see him live through another day knowing how much hurt everyone else's everyday behavior had caused him, and had ransacked his memories to become a better martial artist so much faster than any other way (even though, she said, she had no idea she could do that), so that no one would ever, ever, make him feel that way again. And she wouldn't take it back, not for anything, even if it cost Akane his feelings for her.
Akane waited, not wanting to press him, just waiting for him to say something. When he spoke, it was just a whisper.
"You're... you're the only person in the world who understands, aren't you? You've seen it. You saw what happened to me. You know everything."
"Not... not everything. I don't know everything that happened to you. Just the... training... you were put through."
"That we were put through," Ranma said, understanding that, to Akane, she might as well have really lived it.
Akane dropped her head to look at the floor. Even if Ranma was blindfolded, she couldn't quite look at his face. "That we were put through, yeah. I couldn't tell if it was you or me anymore. But I know I didn't go through it, I can tell what memories are yours and what are mine, but when I think about them... it still seems like it's me carrying his stupid hide away from angry villagers."
"You know what it's like to be me now. You understand why I am the way I am."
"Not... exactly. I mean, without Mental Ranma, I could probably guess, but..."
"When did I lose a father?"
"With the neko-ken," Akane automatically said. Ranma remained silent. "Okay!" Akane said. "I get it, I get the point! And... I know what you're thinking, and you're wrong again, Ranma."
"What am I thinking?"
"You're wondering if me being in love with you has something to do with the potion I took."
Ranma scratched the back of his head nervously. "...yeah."
"No, I love you for who you are. Not because of some stupid potion. I love Ranma, just like I said last night. I love you for being the rough, arrogant, unpleasant-"
"Hey!"
"-crude, egotistical, can't-ever-lose baka that I've known since you got here, and I want you just that way. You don't have to be something different for me." Akane wrapped her arms around her fiancée, both of them still sitting on the floor.
"Akane?"
"Mm?"
"Why?"
"Why what, Ranma?"
"I know you love me, but why do you want to... protect me from that kind of stuff?"
Akane knew what he meant. He meant the things he couldn't fight. Girls, his mother, Shampoo, anything he couldn't bring himself to fight until he won. That swell of possessiveness took hold of her again as Ranma said he knew she loved him. "Because, Ranma."
"Because why? I love you, I should be the one protecting you."
"Because some things you can't fight, and they hurt you. But I can. And nothing hurts you anymore."
"Why?"
"Because," Akane hissed, that possessive feeling coming over her again, "you're mine. All mine. I love you, and that means you belong to me now. Got that?"
Ranma's grin, hidden to Akane, was almost feral. "As long as you understand one thing."
Akane's arms gripped him harder, as though trying to show him physically her claim. "What?"
"That I love you, too. And because of that, I might be yours, but you're no one's but mine."
Akane's unseen grin grew to match Ranma's.
After listening to Ranma's mother drag Genma up to their shared room (and several of the rather nasty comments she had thrown at her husband), Ranma and Akane spent a few minutes laughing at the misfortune of Genma. Not normally a mean person, even Ranma had to admit that the man did deserve it. Akane, however, was trying to figure something out.
"What are you grinning about?" She knew it wasn't Genma Saotome's untimely beating.
"You."
"Ranma... don't make me force it from you... with questions..."
"You realize that half the time you're calling him Pops, like I do?"
"What?!"
"Oh, yeah. Pops this, your dad that, Pops something else..."
Akane groaned. "Stupid Mental Ranma. More annoying that the real one."
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
"I can't shut him up."
"You can't me up, either."
"Could too!" Akane jumped to her feet.
"Hah! You don't even stand a chance against me!"
"Oh, yeah?!"
"Yeah!"
"Well, I'll just-"
No please don't hit me anymore Akane I'm sorry I didn't mean it I was just teasing
In shock, Akane looked at her hands. Her mallet was there, and she didn't even realize she'd gone for it.
"Just what?" Ranma said. Only then did Akane hear the tone of his voice, and see the smile he had. He wasn't making fun of her, not really. Ranma was just playing.
How many times have I missed that? How many times have I hit him and he was just trying to have some fun with me? He doesn't even realize what I almost did, because he couldn't tell I'd picked it up. I really am a horrible person...
Akane dropped back to her knees.
"Akane? Oi, Akane? Hey, are you crying? What did I do?" Ranma reached for her, holding her shoulders in his gloved hands. "Whatever it is, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, really."
"It's not, y-you, Ranma. It's me. If I hadn't heard you in m-my head, I would have hit you again. I thought you were making fun of me..."
"Aw, I wasn't making fun of you. I was just playing."
"I know that now, but I almost sent you flying-"
"But you didn't. That's what counts, right? Now, cheer up, or I'll have to kick your ass."
"Jerk! You couldn't even hit me!"
"I could, but I don't want to. But I got ya smiling, right?"
Akane snuggled back into Ranma's chest, wrapping her arms around him. But she was smiling.
"Baka. My baka."
"My tomboy."
She didn't know why, but hearing it made her feel much better.
Voices from downstairs finally got Ranma and Akane's attention when they heard Soun and Mousse trying to warn someone off of going upstairs to see Akane. And the heated and annoyingly poetic response sounded like-
"Kuno," groaned Akane. "What's he doing here?"
"Making my life miserable. Shouldn't he be out somewhere being slapped around for harassment, or something? C'mon Akane, let's go beat him up."
Ranma started to get up, but Akane grabbed his arm. "Wait, Ranma. I've got an idea."
"What?"
"You wanna get rid of him for good?"
"Duh, of course I do. But how?"
Akane smirked. "You remember playing Romeo and Juliet?"
"Yeah..."
"Feel like acting again?"
"I don't know. What did you have in mind?"
Mousse really didn't care much about Tatewaki Kuno. As far as he was concerned, a thumping might actually do some good for him (not like any of the ones he'd already received had helped him any), but Mousse realized the potential for homicide if he let the delusional kendoist anywhere near either Ranma or Akane. It was the only reason he was trying to help Soun keep Kuno away from them. He also figured that Ranma would probably agree with him, since he knew where Ranma stood on murder.
Even if it was just Kuno.
So it was a bit of a surprise to him when a note flew through the air at him, just as Soun Tendo was attempting to explain to Kuno that if his daughter was, indeed, very ill, and visitation might kill her, a date with him would not be Akane's cure. The note said, of all possible things, to let Kuno see both Akane and Ranma, and that they would be waiting for him out in the dojo. A quick outline of their plan was included. It also said to make sure that Akane's father shouldn't know about it. It was signed by Ranma. At the very bottom, in hasty kanji, it was scrawled "Don't worry, we know what we're doing!"
Riiiiiiiiight. Sure they did.
So how was he supposed to get rid of Soun Tendo without causing suspicion?
And Nodoka Saotome stormed down the stairs, stomping into the kitchen, rambling under her breath about needing a calming cup of tea.
Ah, opportunity.
"Tendo-san, Saotome-san seems to be alone now, as his wife has finished talking to him." Temporarily, anyway. "Maybe you should go look after him. I'll deal with Kuno." Under his breath, to Soun, he added, "Even if I have to beat him up."
Hesitating for a moment about leaving Kuno, but hearing the threat in Mousse's voice, Soun nodded, and rushed up the stairs to see if his friend was still breathing. Upon reaching the room, he quietly slid open the door, and spied his best friend, horribly mangled and beaten, looking like a failed attempt at an origami crane.
"Saotome, are you alive?"
Genma made a gurgling sound, which Soun took as a yes. He sighed, before deciding to try to set his friend's injuries.
Several howls and many whimpers made Nodoka stick her head out of the kitchen and look up the stairs. She narrowed her eyes. It sounded like someone was trying to help her undeserving husband. She turned toward Mousse.
"Saotome-sama, I sent Tendo-san upstairs to put your husband back together, so that you may take him apart again later."
Nodoka smiled (It's so evil... thought Mousse) before resuming her tea back in the kitchen.
The confused look on Kuno's face did not go unnoticed by Mousse. "Training accident. Rigorous martial arts."
"Ah, I see. This is common when one truly tries to elevate one's power in form to a level close to mine own."
Suppressing the urge to gag at what he was about to do, as well as Kuno's statement, Mousse said, "Indeed. The life of a martial artist is fraught with much peril, endangering one's very soul if one places to high an importance on attaining perfection in the art."
Mousse's urge to gag came back with a vengeance. How does he manage to speak like that and not choke?
"One's soul? I should think not, fellow warrior. Thou may endanger thy body, or thy mind to the very point of breaking, but one's noble soul is never placed in the peril the body is placed in constantly. The soul, pure like my own, is only elevated to an even grander stature as the fires of nobility cleanse one's glorious self."
The urge to gag became the urge to retch. Why the hell had he ever helped this maniac?
"Not so, Kuno-san. If one's places perfection of the art and it's various forms higher than any other desire, even the will to protect your own soul, than one becomes in danger when forces willing to fulfill your wish come to hand, and the sacrifices necessary to grant their help are made." He mock-sighed. "Poor Akane-san and Ranko-san." He said quietly.
Kuno's attention was suddenly fully on Mousse. "Is the fiery soul of Akane Tendo in danger? Tell me, man, quickly! And who is this Ranko?"
Forcing his expression to look nervous, Mousse stammered, "R-Ranko is the name of Akane's cousin, Ranko Tendo. Sh-She's the girl with red h-hair in pig-tails..."
Kuno clutched at Mousse's robes. "Are the souls of the most beautiful pig-tailed Ranko and the spirited Akane in danger?! Gods, man, you must tell me, that I may liberate and restore them by allowing them to date with me!"
Gag! Mousse's mind screamed. Retch! It's touching me! Make it let go! He looked around, trying to look panicked. "I-I have said too much already! Let me go, noble sir, or we shall both perish!" He forced Kuno's hands from his robe, and collapsed onto the ground. He made a show of scrambling to his feet in fear, and make sure his mumbling was loud enough to be heard by Kuno.
"I have said too much. If Saotome-sama finds out, it shall be me in the dojo as well as Akane-san! I must hide and pretend that this never happened. That's right, Saotome-sama must never know what I have said..." Mousse trailed off, wringing his hands together, hoping that the look on his face resembled sheer terror and not the almost violent urge to throw up, as he sat himself down on the couch.
Kuno's eyes narrowed even further, and backed slowly away from Mousse. "I see," he whispered quietly to himself (though Mousse could hear him just fine). "Then the spirited Akane Tendo's soul is in danger, because she desired, like many before her, to become a truly great martial artist, like myself. Her innocence and purity must have kept her from realizing that she was dealing with dark forces out to taint her very being. The sorcerer Ranma Saotome! I must free her!"
As Kuno dashed out into the yard, Mousse quickly jumped to the door, and threw a small rock against the dojo wall. His part of this farce over, he spent the next few minutes quietly dry-heaving in a corner, thankfully being comforted by a confused Kasumi.
There was a soft sound of a rock hitting the wall. Akane looked up at Ranma, smiling. "Mousse did it. Are you ready?"
"I feel ridiculous. And stupid."
"You want to get rid of Kuno or not?"
"You know I do, but I still feel stupid."
Mumbles came from outside the dojo door.
"Kuno's here. Just play along, my baka." Akane said baka in a sweet enough way that Ranma couldn't help but just go along with her. Under his blindfold, Ranma rolled his eyes.
"I feel stupid."
Kuno inched his way along the wall of the dojo, heading for the door. It seemed he was correct in his belief that Ranma Saotome was, indeed, a most foul sorcerer, after the very souls of Akane Tendo and his pig-tailed goddess, named Ranko Tendo. He stood by the door, and, as quietly as he could, slid it open enough to peek inside.
The door of the dojo opened enough to allow Akane to see Kuno's eyes as he looked in. Here goes, Akane thought. The dojo was darkened, the few windows shut completely, blocking out the sunlight. A few well-placed candles lit the room, providing just enough light to let Akane and Ranma be seen. Ranma stood in the middle of the room, facing the wall opposite of the dojo door. Akane was on the floor behind him, bowed to the ground, her forehead placed against the backs of her hands.
"Forgive me, Ranma-sama. I have not yet accomplished what you asked," she said.
Ranma took his cue to start. "I gave you only two things I needed you to do. Is it really that hard? Must I force you to do what is necessary? Again?"
"No, Ranma-sama."
"Then why have you failed in bringing me Tatewaki Kuno?"
"He avoids me, Ranma-sama."
"Keh! Are you beautiful enough to capture his attention?"
"Hai, Ranma-sama."
"Are you willing to do what I tell you, like you did with your cousin Ranko?"
"Hai, Ranma-sama."
"Are you capable of bringing Tatewaki Kuno to my will?"
"Hai, Ranma-sama."
"Then why haven't you?" Ranma's voice grew cold.
"He avoids me, and I cannot touch him to let your spell catch him."
"I thought you delivered the love spell to ensure he would be infatuated with you."
"Hai, Ranma-sama. I did."
"Are you sure you did it properly?"
"Hai, Ranma-sama. I did it just as you told me. I always do... what you tell me."
"Oh?" Ranma turned his head, looking over his shoulder towards Akane. "If you always do what I tell you, then why am I standing here in the dark?"
"M-My Lord... Ranma-sama... I..."
"Did you think I had forgotten? It's not that easy to forget, not for me, though I imagine you would drive it from your mind whenever it was convenient."
"Hai- I mean, no, Ranma-sama."
"You asked for great martial art power. You asked for perfection of it. I am willing to give it to you, and all you had to do were two little things!! One you screwed up on, bringing me back into this world I had been banished from, and looks what your screw-up did!" Ranma splashed himself with a cup of water, and straightened, dripping wet and female. "All you had to do was kill your own cousin, at midnight, and make it quick, to properly perform the gouma jutsu! But no, you couldn't do that right! She died slow, since you couldn't bring yourself to perform the final blow, and now whenever I get wet, I take on her body! And on top of that, now I have to stand here in the dark because the light blinds me! Tatewaki Kuno is all I need to bring Japan to her knees in front of me, and for him to come to me, all I need from you is for him to willingly touch you. Are you going to bring me him, or have you changed your mind? I'm sure I can find someone else to teach the art to, someone more... capable than you. Someone who will appreciate being the best."
"No, Ranma-sama, I swear, I'll do it! I'll bring you Kuno!"
"Will you? I have my doubts about it." Ranma splashed himself with a kettle, reversing his curse.
"I will, I will!" Akane's voice was panicked. "But will you train me when I bring him to you?"
Ranma snarled at her. "You doubt me?! I may be... many things, but I still keep my word. I will train you to be the best human martial artist, but I must have Kuno!"
Desperation filled Akane's voice. "You will have him, Ranma-sama, I'll bring him to you, I swear, I swear, my Lord Neko-akki!"
Ranma was in front of Akane faster than Kuno could blink.
"Didn't I tell you never to call me that?! Didn't I?! Didn't I?!"
"I'm sorry Ranma-sama, I didn't mean it, it just slipped out, please believe me!"
With his face inches from hers, Ranma's mouth twisted into a cruel smile. "This time, I will let it slide. But we must do something about my sight, yes? How can I train you if I can't even see you?"
"Won't... won't bringing Kuno to you so it?"
"Yes, fulfilling that part of the contract will restore my sight, even if it won't give me the proper body, but there are other ways..."
"W-what ways, Ranma-sama? I'll... I'll help if I can." Akane's quiet voice reflected her fear.
"Oh, are you sure?"
"Y-yes, Ranma-sama."
Ranma smirked. "I thought you were saving yourself for the man you loved?"
In horror of that last statement, and at everything he had just been witness to, Kuno took and involuntary step back. Ranma wasn't a foul sorcerer, he was a true demon! Neko-akki?! A true cat demon! And Akane Tendo herself had killed the pig-tailed girl, her own cousin, in a gouma jutsu, a demon invocation, to bring him here in her body! And he desired to make himself, Tatewaki Kuno, his servant!
Ranma's head snapped up, looking in Kuno's direction. In a panic, Kuno jumped to one side, hiding behind the door.
He didn't see me, the devil Saotome could not have seen me. He is blindfolded, and cannot stand the light, as he himself said. For the sake of all that is righteous, I must leave these-
The dojo door shoved open behind him. Kuno reeled, trying to jump backwards from a sitting position, and only managed to land on his ass.
"Kuno-sempai..."
In horror, Kuno saw Akane Tendo standing in the doorway, and behind her, crouching on all fours, like the cat demon he was, was Ranma Saotome!
"What's wrong Kuno-sempai? You look scared. Come here, let me hold you..."
With a small shriek, Kuno launched himself to his feet, backpedaling from the former love of his life. "Stay away, stay away from me, foul sorceress! The demon Ranma Saotome has corrupted you! Stay away, I say!"
"Kuno, you must have been out in the sun too long, your being irrational. Let me give you a massage to relax your muscles..." Akane's eyes took on a glazed look. "It's not so bad, Kuno-sempai," she said in a voice devoid of any emotion or tone. "Ranma-sama is a great warrior, he can teach us to be the best. We will be better than anyone. All you have to do is say yes. Say yes, Kuno-sempai. Join him. Join us, Kuno-sempai. Join me. Join... my master."
Kuno ran, screaming.
Confused, Nodoka stuck her head out into the yard. Now what on earth was so funny about a cloud of dust that had her son and Akane rolling on the ground laughing so much? She could ask later. Right now, she had a few more questions for Genma.
Gobstopper: Sorry if I can't get Kuno-speak properly, but just trying to think like him enough to write him gives me a bad case of delusions of grandeur. Truly, he is difficult to write, but I, Gobstopper, the undefeated champion of martial arts fanfiction... AHH!!! SEE WHAT I MEAN?! DAMN YOU, KUNO!!
Someone want to tell me what PWP stands for? I see it on the descriptions of fanfics, and I'm lost as to what it means. I hope you enjoyed my little chapter. More to come. Reviews, as always, are more than welcome.