Ranma Tales ½: Chapter 11- Aftershocks
Part 1: School
Monday morning things were starting to get back to normal after the events of Saturday night. Nabiki had already called the construction crew to fix the dojo again. The amazon's were at their new place already, so none of them were present. Kasumi was serving breakfast, Nabiki was still trying to wake up, and the pair of Ranma and Akane were eating. Soun of course spends most of his time reading the newspaper, though he's proven that reading the newspaper at this time in the morning is something he'd do even if the world was about to end.
Soon Ranma, Akane, and Nabiki all leave for school after the new ritual of thanking Kasumi for breakfast. Ranma even manages to avoid the water from the old woman watering her front walk. Kuno of course adds his two cents this morning as well, with Akane getting dibs on knocking him out.
The classroom however was different. Only Yuka and Sayuri from the girls last night were even in class, the other four were absent. Yuka and Sayuri looked like they'd rather be curled up in their beds than in the classroom. In fact everyone was avoiding them like they had the plague. Which since they were pale as can be, might be what the students actually thought was the case.
Akane goes over to where Yuka and Sayuri are. She asks "How are you to doing?"
Sayuri looks ill at just having to think about how she's feeling and says "Like I was in the middle of some sort of supernatural war last night... Oh wait I was..."
Akane sighs and says "Your right, but I hope you don't blame me and Ranma for what happened. Neither of us knew that crazy amazon would show up. I hope you also realize we did everything we could to keep you safe. Neither of us wanted any of you to get hurt."
Yuka and Sayuri look somewhat embarrassed and Yuka says "We understand Akane. We don't blame you or Ranma. We just Aren't sure about anything right now..."
Sayuri nods and says "Two days ago, ghosts and monsters were things that couldn't hurt us so they were fun to imagine... Today they are real and can bite your head off without even noticing... That does not make for the best of dreams... waking or asleep."
Akane sighs and says "Really the world didn't change, your as safe as you ever were from what Ranma says... It's just now you know they exist and how real they are... That still doesn't mean they'll come eat you just because. You guys just got caught in the middle of a crazy girls revenge on Ranma. It's not like that can happen everyday..."
Yuka and Sayuri aren't sure if they believe that line of reasoning. Akane however adds "To make it up to you, how about I invite you over to my place tonight for a sleepover? We could all use a bit of normal right now..."
Yuka and Sayuri tentatively agree, after all Akane and Ranma did win last night. So that made them safer with them than away from them if strange things did happen.
Right about then is when they are interrupted by the teacher calling the room to order. She then announces to the class that their will be a new student attending from now on and that he'll be in their class. "He's been studying abroad in china for the last six years and has only recently returned, so he should fit in with our other new arrival. Why don't you introduce yourself to the class?"
A young man wearing the normal school uniform except for a yellow and black bandanna around his head and a thin golden bracelet around his wrist nods and says "I'm Kazuki Kyouda. Pleased to meet you all." Several girls swoon when they take a good look. Only a few guys here were better looking than he was. Tall, muscular, and an aura of ability were the basis for this stance on his looks.
The teacher says to Kazuki "Please take the empty seat behind Akane Tendo." She points out Akane to him. He nods again and heads to his seat.
Kazuki is an able student and seems to be personable enough for most. The girls create their own following since he seems to be the best looking guy who isn't attached to anyone. He however treats them all equally. Yuka and Sayuri fall into this group fairly easily, which helps get them back out of their dazed state since they can obsess over the new guy instead.
Akane just smirks and thinks 'He's ok, but my Ranma is better...' Then she freezes and glancing around worriedly to make sure she didn't say that out loud she adds to herself 'Now why did I just call him 'my Ranma'? Even if our parents, fate, and even my friends want us together we're just friends... Aren't we?"
Ranma however can't help feeling he's meet this young man before. 'I could swear their's something about this guy that rings a bell. The name however doesn't mean anything to me. Maybe it's just because he wears bandanna's like my old friend Ryoga did. That could be it, I know I've missed Ryoga often since pop forced me to leave for the springs when we were ten. I guess Kazuki just reminds me a bit of him." He lets go of these thoughts after a bit since they really aren't helping.
The day goes by without any other real incidents. Kuno at lunch was his normal self, but that can't be counted as strange. Even if most would think deranged kendoists proclaiming their love for a girl and being kicked into orbit for it, this was Nerima and the same scene could be seen up to six times a day on occasion. The bell signaling the end of the day can't ring fast enough for Ranma and Akane, as they'd rather be at home.
Part 2: Dojo Discussion
After getting home Akane and Ranma go train. It also happens to be fixed yet again after Shampoo's creature attack last night. Of course this time Akane doesn't bother to change clothes. After a hour of sparring Akane and Ranma take a break against one of the dojo walls. This is normally when they would talk about anything related directly or indirectly with what Ranma and his sensei called 'the path'.
Akane decides to ask something that has been bothering her for the last couple of days. "Ranma what exactly is a 'taint'? Both Shadow and Cologne mentioned it when they were talking the other night..."
Ranma sighs since this wasn't exactly something he wanted to talk about with her. He knew however he needed to and it would happen eventually. He had just hoped it would happen much later on. "Well the easiest way to describe it is a corruption of the spirit."
Akane stares at Ranma and says "Oh now that was helpful... So what do you mean by 'a corruption of the spirit'?"
Ranma looks like he'd rather not be where he is talking about what he's talking about. Finally he says "It's kind of hard to explain, lots of things can corrupt the spirit. The worst are most likely things like enjoying murder, or enjoying rape, or any other violent act that that dehumanizes another against their will. In fact I guess dehumanizing another person is probably the core to the whole thing. Well that and a certain level of enjoyment from whatever dehumanizing act it is. Beyond that it's pretty hard to explain... Certain emotions taken to far can cause the same thing to end up happening as well."
Akane frowns and asks "Ok, how do you recognize this taint?"
Ranma frowns and says "It normally shows up as a shadowy edge to someones aura."
Akane blinks and then remembers when she has seen such a thing before. She goes pale and asks Ranma "Have you seen people like that around here?" Not wanting to believe her own sight in this case.
Ranma sighs again and nods "Sure, besides Shampoo I've seen a few others... Even Kuno has a fairly weak taint... He'd probably be worse off if he didn't live in his own little fantasy world..."
Akane tries not to sound upset as Ranma seems to avoid saying what she dreads hearing. "Anyone else closer than those two?"
Ranma slumps against the wall and says "I think you already know the answer to that. I'll tell you first though that I can't tell what caused a taint, just that it's there or not. Even little things can taint a person. It doesn't imply they are a murderer, or that they rape people, or any of the more major things I'd rather not think of. Time also has a tendency to expand even little things out of proportion if you never end up regretting them."
Akane tears up a bit and says "Daddy has a taint to doesn't he?"
Ranma just nods. After awhile he adds "Just remember what I said. I have a feeling since he hasn't done anything that we know of whatever caused it is something in the past. While a taint ends up making it easier to do the wrong thing as it builds up. It doesn't mean he's evil or anything."
Akane moves over to Ranma and hugs him as tears run down her cheeks. "I know you say that, but I can't help worrying about him... It can't be good... I've known something was wrong with him for a long time... It just has a name now."
Ranma tries to comfort Akane and says "I knew you'd realize eventually... I just didn't want to have to tell you. I think pop was the same way. Of course he died before I could have ever known for sure... Or help him try to overcome it..."
Akane looks up hopefully at Ranma "Is that really possible? Can someone get over their taint?"
Ranma nods "It's not very common without help, but it's possible. It means the person has to want to change though. That's normally easier said than done... While I'll help you any way I can to get your dad to come closer to what he once was, I don't know him nearly well enough to help..."
Akane nods and says "I'll think about it and let you know if I come up with anything..." She pauses and then says "I'm feeling a bit better now... Want to start practicing again?"
Ranma smiles and says "Sure." Though inside he wonders why he didn't really want Akane to let him go...
Part 3: Sleepover
Yuka and Sayuri arrive after dinner is over and head on up to Akane's room. They set up a few sleeping mats and a bunch of pillows and blankets. They start talking about all sorts of things.
Akane was enjoying herself and thinking about things as they all talked. Even if school and being girls was the only real thing they had in common, in this case it didn't matter. Sometimes she just needed to feel like a girl and Yuka and Sayuri were great fro that. While she enjoyed being around Ranma more since they had more in common (Martial arts, temperament, interests in general), she couldn't see Ranma wanting to do to many girlish things with her like this. Even as a girl Ranma was never really girlish, which she had to admit wasn't really such a bad thing...
Yuka asks Akane "So how are you and Ranma doing? Has he asked you out on a date yet?"
This brings Akane back from her thoughts. "We're not like that Yuka! We're just friends!"
Sayuri smirks and says "Sure keep telling yourself that, we see how the two of you look at each other..."
Yuka nods and adds "I'd almost pay to have a guy look at me like that... If he doesn't get around to asking you you should try to talk him into it. Otherwise some other girl may come along and try to steal him away from you."
Akane blushes and gets slightly upset about the last part. She replies "It's really not like that with us... He's nice and good looking... and helpful... Kind and honorable..." She starts getting a dazed look in her eyes and Sayuri and Yuka start to giggle. This snaps Akane out of it "What? He is..."
They say the same thing in exactly the same time "Girlfriend you've got it real bad." Before giggling some more.
Akane sighs and says "That's quite enough about me... How about another topic...?"
Sayuri smiles and says "Well how about that new guy Kazuki?"
Yuka grins and says "He's such a hotty, I wish he'd look at me... So far he seems kinda distant to all the girls..."
Sayuri replies "Well I don't know he did smile at Hikaru... But I know what you mean he can ask me out anytime..."
Akane, much like earlier, says "He's still not as good as my Ranma..." Before blushing furiously as she realizes this time she did in fact say it out loud...
Sayuri and Yuka just start into another fit of giggles. This sort of thing continues well into the night
Part 4: Behind closed doors
A shadow moves through a part of Nerima few choose to walk at night. It's home to the seeder element and wasn't safe for most at this hour. While the locals may not like it, no one seemed to ever be able to get rid of it. It just seemed to take root somewhere else.
The shadow enters a five story apartment complex that has seen better days. Quickly heading down the halls and quietly up two sets of stairs until it stands in front of a door marked '26'. The hand of the shadow glows a dull red before the lock clicks open. The shadow moves into the apartment.
Inside is a single large room, with a small kitchen and a bath on the left as the only other areas to be seen except for the central room. In the room was a some furniture and a sleeping mat. The only source of light was from a lamp on a small table in the middle of the room. Since it was the only light source in the room the lamp cast shadows all over the place. The shadow made note of those.
The only person in the room beside the one hidden in the shadows was a young Chinese woman with purple hair. She sat up on the sleeping mat and stared at the shadowy figure in front of her.
"Why you here?" was all she said.
A young man dressed in black except for his usual yellow and black bandanna steps out of the shadows. He frowns and says "As blunt as always. If it wasn't for your temper you'd be so much more attractive."
Xian Pu looks faintly ill at this and says "Shut it, lost boy. I amazed you make it here."
The young man growls and says "You know they fixed me getting lost a long time ago! Also if you hadn't blundered on your mission to kill Ranma I wouldn't' be here. You had your chance and you failed so they sent someone who could do the job instead." The last part is said with a viscous grin on his face.
Xian Pu looks angrily at the young man "Ryoga you had best watch your tongue or I make sure I put you in place you belong. I handle Ranma just fine if not for violent little bitch helping Ranma fight my pets."
Ryoga smirks and says "Sure whatever. So who was this girl that helped him?"
Xian Pu replies "Not sure her name, but violent girl have short black hair and wear a leather jacket... Pet took a piece out of jacket last night, to bad it didn't get more."
Ryoga smiles somewhat evilly "So that cute Akane Tendo girl Ranma was with earlier is the one who messed up your plans, huh? Well I know how to take care of her."
Xian Pu smirks "Sure lost boy, I believe when I see it."
Ryoga smirks again "Trust me on this. She'll be my toy soon enough. It's to bad I tend to break my toys though since she is rather cute..."
Xian Pu laughs "She may not break so easy, hope you prepared."
This line of argument continues for some time. Unnoticed by the pair a shadow darker than the others moves as if to leave. The person that is the shadow decides their isn't anything else useful to be had here. This shadow however leaves no trace at all and makes no noise. It also seems to walk straight through a wall when it goes outside...
Author's Notes:
I'll put in some replies to comments this time around:
Sterling-Ag: First, Shadow intentionally takes in Ranma. By chapter 10 you have a good idea he already knew where Ranma needed to be and when he needed to be there. As for Ranma not wanting to be with family... Well Ranma doesn't know of any, it's made pretty clear Genma never tells Ranma anything about his mother being alive or not and he never even finds out her name until she comes to visit the Tendo home. Also Ranma was in shock during that scene where Genma died, he wasn't yet in grief/mourning. He also never entirely liked his father, so he had lots of things to deal with. It may make a good side story sometime.
Now I intentionally leave some things nondescript. This is fan fiction and I expect some existing knowledge of a series (at least in the case you mention). Sometimes I leave out details because I'll spend more time on them later though. Add to that things like my often repeated 'normal day in Nerima', which I do because otherwise no real time would ever pass and we'd be at chapter 45 now, having tried to describe each day in detail... Lastly anything in ( ) is something I added for one reason or another... Normally it's to be funny. In that case it was to point out that they are really talking in Japanese and I'm just writing things in English. My focus is on writing an entertaining story, not to write the most 'correct' work ever...
Firebird2083: Your wish has been granted, I've started working on what seems to be on it's way to becoming the 'Fall from Grace' series. Consisting of each character who has gone 'bad'... Just don't expect to see anything all that soon.
Also it's quite possible he does have the dragon whisker curse. He hasn't specifically said anything about it (of course), but Genma did stay in China for almost three years in this series trying to find a cure for himself and Ranma. The whole time Genma believed learning Chinese would be silly, so it's probably safe to assume so.
Jerry Unipeg: Who trained Kasumi, huh? Well you'll find out for sure in time, but I'm going to lead you all over before I get to the point of actually telling you... However I've already said enough you could make a leap in logic and figure it out... Btw I'll give you a hint... I mentioned martial artists aren't the only ones who can use ki or have second sight... Who ever said Kasumi was a martial artist? ;)
I guess I'll make a few comments as well:
Ryoga- Well here is Ryoga... A somewhat different Ryoga than you may expect... He's still the angry and scheming person he was before... He still ends up liking Akane... As well as a real pervert... Though his perversions are probably more intense this time around since he became the (sexual) plaything of his recruiter into the same group as Shampoo. I haven't introduced the group yet though, so no details on that yet... He is of course using an assumed name, so he can get in close and do far more damage than he could otherwise. Expect him to cause a lot of the same trouble he did the first time and then some...