Ranma Tales ½: Chapter 16- The Longest Day
Part 1: Dreaming
Ranma was in his little dream world again. It was a nightly ritual except when he took a break from his nightly training to think of Akane. Of course just the merest thought of his fiery girlfriend set him off in very different directions.
With a sigh he stops practicing. 'God... I really need to get a grip... While I do control my dream, thoughts like this keep reminding me of that kiss we shared. If I let myself think about that I'm likely to end up having a very different dream than I need right now..."
His thoughts are interrupted by clapping behind him. He glances over his shoulder to see his sensei calmly standing behind him looking 'up' into the 'sky' of the dream world. Ranma follows his gaze and sees the sky painted with an image of him and Akane kissing. At the sight he just starts to blush furiously.
Shadow smiles and says "Well I see your not still quite as dumb as a brick... So did you kiss her or did she kiss you?"
Ranma sighs and says "She kissed me."
Shadow grins widely and says "I'm taking it you enjoyed yourself?"
Ranma blushes and says "Sure... Her lips are so soft and her tongue... Not to mention the feeling that went through my whole body..." Then he realizes he said more than he needed to.
Shadow laughs and then says "Well good for you. I hope you two are very happy together. Now just make sure you don't screw it up..." He pauses and says "Now what has gone on while I was gone?"
Ranma nods and then relates the incident with Kodachi to which Shadow seems to already be aware. Then he starts into explaining the whole incident over the 'date'. Shadow's reaction is dark when Ranma talks about what Ryoga did, but he motions for Ranma to continue. This is where Ranma pauses.
Slowly Ranma says "Sensei, things after that didn't go so well. Ryoga and Shampoo attacked the Tendo residence the next morning."
Shadow frowns and says "I wouldn't expect things to have gone to bad. I heard from my clan that something was brewing and made sure they sent help."
Ranma nods "They came, in fact they are the only reason nothing truly awful happened..."
Shadow continues to frown and says "Tell me what happened..."
Ranma sighs and says "Well I was to tired from having watched over Akane all night to stop them by myself... In fact I didn't put up a good fight at all... I didn't help that I found out one of my old friends was the guy who tried to rape Akane..." He trails off. If looks could kill Ranma's would have leveled a small city. Then he sighs again and says "Between the two they stomped me into the ground."
Shadow sighs and comments "Tactical mistake one. Never take on two opponents of your own skill at once even if you are in top shape."
Ranma nods "Yeah I know, but I got mad and I didn't really have anyone else to call on for help..."
Shadow shakes his head and says "You had Kasumi, who I know is quite powerful... Though she's largely untrained. By then you should have known she could do something. I don't think she's the type who wouldn't stand up to all the demons of hell if it was to save her family."
He takes a breathe and adds "Then there is Dr. Tofu. He's not as good as you and knows almost nothing about any unique Ki tricks, but he's not so bad he couldn't have helped."
He pauses again and says "Lastly you had Akane. Regardless of anything else she's your student and you should trust her to help you. She may not be your equal yet, but I'm sure her rage over at least one person you were fighting would have made up for some of it. You two need to learn to work together anyways..."
Ranma frowns "I didn't want her to get hurt... Though from what I heard she went nearly berserk after they took me out and got at least a few good hits in before they took her out as well..."
Shadow looks at Ranma and says "She walks the same path you do. I made this mistake once myself. I couldn't stand to see her hurt, so I was overprotective to someone who should have been able to take care of herself." He looks incredibly uncomfortable and adds "I paid for my mistake. My wife at that time was a warrior and walked the path as well. She lost her edge since I kept taking all the challenges she could have handled on her own. So when I couldn't be their to protect her fate challenged her to a match she wasn't up to handling. I had to come back to find her dead body as her murderer tossed her corpse at me..."
Ranma almost winces at the bitter look on Shadow's face when he retells the story. It does however make him think and he says "I guess that is a very bad idea... Just thinking about it gave me an image of Akane's dead body being tossed to me by Shampoo..." He pauses to clear his head. "I guess I'll follow your advice on that point. In fact I think I've been a bit to lax in training her. I taught her the basics, but I've been letting her just perfect them rather than adding more to what she already knows."
Shadow smiles. "That's a good idea" Then he frowns and adds "In fact since you seem to have some nebulous enemy out their wanting to kill you, I think it's the only choice you have."
Ranma frowns "What are you talking about? I thought Shampoo just wanted my head because I defeated her then she got mad because we worked out that deal with Cologne? I'm not even sure what I did to Ryoga, but he seems to want my head for fairly personal reasons as well..."
Shadow continues to smile "No, while each feels a reason to fight you without any other outside reasons... That wasn't the only reason they came... I can't give you answers as to why someone wants you dead, but they do..."
Ranma doesn't look all that happy "Well that's great news..." He sighs and then says "I guess I need to step up Akane's training... As it stands she manifest her power and can use her power to perform a seal... That's not a lot, but I was hoping we'd have a lot more time..."
Shadow smirks "Make sure you remember to take the young lady on a date or two during all this new training as well..."
Ranma looks at him and says "Do we really have time for that though?" He then blushes and says "I'd love to take her out somewhere and all, but if things are that bad..."
Shadow shrugs "Training time isn't useless for getting to know a woman, but I think she may prefer spending some time together... Alone... And without possible physical violence... At least most women are that way..."
Ranma frowns "She's a tomboy why should I worry about that?"
Shadow grins and says "Some things stay in a woman's heart regardless of how much they act out of the 'role' society sees for them..." He pauses and says "Let me tell you about another moment in my life with my last wife..."
Ranma interrupts "I think I've had enough stories about your wives for one night..."
Shadow frowns "Are you sure? It is a useful story..."
Ranma nods "I'm sure..." The two slowly move to other topics as they talk through the rest of the night.
Part 2: Bad Weather
All the residents of the Tendo household once again gather for breakfast. However conversation is not so quiet this day. Soun tries to demand Akane and Ranma stay home after the events of the last couple days. Akane however insists she's ok. Ranma however was worried, his own experience told him it was probably to soon. However he knew Akane wouldn't take it to well if he said that. Since their was no way he was letting her out of sight, he figured it didn't really matter anyways.
"No daddy, I won't stay home and that's final!" was how Akane ended that argument.
Ranma takes Akane's hand in his in a comforting gesture. While it seemed to relax her as planned, he had a harder time with it. Besides the last couple days he'd never really touched a girl at all. A near electric thrill seemed to go through him every time he touched her no matter where. Even after that little shock passed he felt a sort of warmth at the contact between them. While not a bad thing, it did prove distracting as very different thoughts would tend to wander through his brain.
Nabiki choose to change the subject "So Kasumi when are you and the good doctor going to see each other next? You did seem pretty close the other day..." That 'I know a secret' sort of smile playing across her lips as she looked at her older sister.
Kasumi had the grace to blush and replied "Nabiki! He's just a nice young man, their isn't anything between us!"
Nabiki smiles wider and says "Sure sis... Nothing at all between you two..." She pauses then says "I guess that means he forgot to ask you out huh? You must have been keeping him awfully distracted then..."
Kasumi blushes a deeper shade of red and says "Nabiki!"
Nabiki however just keeps smiling and says "Why don't you go ask him out then? Anyone with eyes can tell you two like each other... And now that his... Issue seems to have cleared up I don't see why you shouldn't..."
Kasumi replies "I can't ask him out! That would be entirely to forward for a woman such as myself!"
Akane speaks up and says "Kasumi don't pass up the chance, go talk to him!"
Nabiki glances over at her younger sister and winks at her. Akane smiles back at Nabiki. Kasumi finally sighs and says "I guess it wouldn't hurt to take over a afternoon snack to his office..."
Both of the other girls glance at each other and smile.
Breakfast is soon over. Even though there is plenty of time they agree to leave early. Akane leads Ranma off toward school with Nabiki walking behind them. A few minutes after they leave rain starts to fall and they all pull out their umbrellas.
Nabiki was rather enjoying the light rain as she watched Akane and Ranma tease each other. It was actually rather nice to have her little sister act like this. Of course in Nabiki's opinion Akane had been denying her own feelings for way to long. Of course Nabiki and Kasumi hadn't been doing much better. Her sisters seemed to be getting somewhere however, now she just needed to figure out how to fix things.
Her thoughts where interrupted however when she noticed both Akane and Ranma tense suddenly. On top of their actions she felt... Well she couldn't really describe it. She felt like their were eyes watching her. Eyes that had no good intentions in them...
Akane and Ranma could both hear a low growl coming from a small clump of bushes nearby. Both could also feel several presences similar in certain ways to the creatures Shampoo tended to use. They automatically feel into step together and faced the direction they sensed they would come from.
Within moments a series of long feline-like forms about four feet long came racing out of the bushes toward them. These were much smaller than Shampoo's creatures however. Each was about twice the size of the average house cat, though if these were house cats they'd be furless and covered with scales. The glowing red eyes were another dead give away.
Nabiki however couldn't see what they were, but for some reason she could make out a group of blurry shadow sort of things. She immediately opted for the better part of valor and jumped back behind Akane and Ranma so they were between her and the creatures.
The first leapt toward Akane since she was closer. Akane instantly called on her ki and let loose a punch that caught it in the air and sent it flying back into the bushes. It made a sort of whimper sound as it landed.
Ranma called on his own ki and leapt forward to intercept the second with a kick that sent it bouncing off the ground. Two of the other creatures jumped toward him and he was forced to leap backwards. The first went low and the second went high as they resumed their attack. The one going low had the misfortune to get caught by a downward driven heel and was pinned hard to the ground. The other however ended up latching on to his arm as he tried to hit it with a open handed punch. It launched itself upwards and grasped the edge of Ranma's umbrella.
Ranma tosses the umbrella and sends a ki assisted kick in a blur toward the airborne creature. The kick landed on the creature hard, but the creature itself shot though the umbrella due to the kick. Leaving a now wet and female Ranma standing there looking at the ruins of the umbrella.
Meanwhile another three creatures attacked Akane. The first got caught by a kick in the face. The second she dodged and caught in the side with her elbow. The third she blocks, though it tries awfully hard to cling to the arm she blocked with. The third lands on the ground and springs back at her again. This time she speeds up her attack and catches it with a drop kick and it crashes into the ground.
Akane glances around and sees all the creatures are dispersing on their own. These were obviously not much of a threat. She sees the now female Ranma standing their glaring at what had been her umbrella. Ranma glances around to the creatures and then says "In case your wondering it doesn't feel like it was Shampoo."
Akane nods "Yeah these felt different..." She pauses and then adds "Um, Ranma what are we going to do about school?"
Ranma sighs and says "Your going to go. I can't. Everyone would just find out about my curse if I showed up as a girl and I can't change before we arrive. Heck I was lucky with the umbrella as is. Normally I ends up changed much quicker." She pauses and then says "While you do that, I'm going to go see if I can track down the cause for these little guys. I'm not sure they could pose a threat to real people, but they could mess up the recently deceased or any spirits who haven't managed to disperse on their own yet like those ghosts we meet awhile back."
Akane frowns "I guess that makes sense... I really wanted you with me today though..."
Ranma nods "Trust me I wanted you with me all day as well. Looks like we don't get our wish though. If it ever stops raining I'll see about meeting you for lunch."
Still frowning Akane nods "Be careful, ok?"
Ranma smiles "Hey it's me we are talking about... Careful is part of my job..." She pauses and then adds "You be careful yourself, ok?"
She nods in reply and Ranma glances at Nabiki "Keep an eye on her, ok?"
Nabiki nods. Akane frowns and angrily says "Hey now, I can handle myself!"
Ranma looks into Akane's eyes and says "Do it for me, ok?"
Akane's anger fades some and says "All right fine. Only for you though..."
Ranma leaps over a wall and is soon out of sight. Akane starts to walk toward school again. Nabiki soon follows.
Nabiki however is left with some nagging questions 'How did I manage to see those critters? I couldn't see them well, but from what they've told me I shouldn't have been able to see them at all. I was also hoping Ranma could be there today for Akane, this is gonna be harder for her than she thinks... Oh well, no choice. Ok self, let's see what we can do for little sis...'
Part 3: Classroom Blues
As Akane and Nabiki walked up to the school gates the rain continued to fall. That, however, didn't stop one person from standing out in the rain. Not to anyones surprise that person was Tatewaki Kuno. Also not to anyones surprise he flew right into a speech the moment he saw Akane.
"Ah, Akane Tendo! Such a beautiful flower looks even lovelier than normal in this gentle shower. That evil Saotome seems to have decided to flee my presence today, however. So come and leap into my arms my love!" Yeah, that was his speech.
He then leapt towards Akane in an attempt to hug her. That was just about the worst possible thing to do. Akane's hands flared to life with dark red flames as he closed on her and just before he could touch her she screamed "Don't touch me you pervert!" That was followed by a foot to the ribs including a loud cracking sound and roundhouse punch on landing that caught him in the side of the head. He went flying at least twenty feet before he landed on the ground.
Akane nearly in tears takes off running toward the school building as the flames die down on her hands. Which leaves a very stunned crowd of students to watch as she runs. After some time the students start to move off to class once more.
Nabiki walks over to a crumpled Tatewaki Kuno and looks him over. 'Well that cracking sound had to be a rib. He also looks very pale... Well except for that bruise already forming on his jaw. It's a really good thing he gets his ass handed to him regularly by Ranma and Akane or he'd be dead after that sort of abuse.' She looks toward where her sister ran off and adds the thought 'Sure Akane, your just fine.. Just be careful sis, ok?'
Inside Akane had arrived at her classroom marginally under better control. Well at least she was near tears anymore. 'Why can't that bastard just leave me alone?' was her last thought on that as she sat down in her seat.
Yuka and Sayuri came over once she sat down and after looking at each other Sayuri asks "Akane um... What was up with the light show when Kuno showed up down there?"
Akane frowned "Light show?"
Yuka nodded "Yeah Akane, your hands looked like they were covered in flames..." Yuka nods to add her agreement.
Akane frowns even more and says "Sorry, I guess I lost control a little... It's a type of high powered battle technique I guess you would say... It let's me do a lot more damage than normal."
Sayuri and Yuka starred at Akane and after exchanging a glance Sayuri asks "You really think Kuno needed to be hurt worse than normal?"
Akane sighs and says "No... like I said I guess I just lost some of my control..."
Wanting to change the topic Yuka asks "So how was your date with Kazuki? He hasn't shown up today or we would have asked him..."
Both got scared when Akane's hands ignited again at the sound of Kazuki's name and actually jumped back a few feet. The look on Akane's face promised unimaginable pain to whoever had pissed her off. Eventually she gets her temper under control again and the flames went out again. Cautiously Yuka and Sayuri came back over.
Akane practically hissed when she finally said "I can't tell you guys right now. Just stay away from that bastard." after a short pause she adds "If I ever see him again he'll need a stay in a hospital for a very long time."
Yuka and Sayuri look at each other and then say "Ok, we won't ask anything else about it right now." The teacher walked in just then and they had to take their seats.
Part 4: Warning
Ranma was getting very annoyed. She had been following an almost constant stream of nasty spirit creatures for hours. Never more than a handful at a time however. Even after all this time there was only one thing that she was certain of, these things had been created, and recently at that. Also whatever had made them wasn't all that good, as most were horribly bad against a real opponent.
The problem was that most human spirits that these things would like to eat weren't fighters. Most were accident victims or elderly people who had died in their homes. Neither would put up much of a fight against a hungry spirit creature. Those newly 'freed' spirits often took several days or weeks to fade if nothing held them to the earth and since they only had the skills they possessed in life were open season.
The creatures themselves felt like they had been house pets. That was very much like what Shampoo had used. Shampoo however tortured them and then bound their spirits together to build stronger and smarter creatures. These were simpler. Whatever created them just made them hungry and then let them roam loose without binding them together. It made them weak compared to Shampoo's creatures, but their were tons as opposed to dozens and that was their advantage.
Sighing inwardly Ranma spotted yet another batch of spirit creatures and drop in on them. 'This is going to get pretty bad if I can't find the cause pretty soon...' was the last thought she had before battle began.
Part 5: Lunch Time
Akane has searched all over for Ranma when lunch arrived, but the rain hadn't let up and apparently he hadn't managed to return yet. She sighed and sat down at her seat back in class. She really wanted Ranma around right now. His presence alone was comforting and today hadn't been going well, so comfort would be a good thing.
'Ok, face it. You don't just want his presence. You want him to touch you again so you can feel that tingly feeling whenever you touch each other...' She thought to herself. 'Heck, if it were him rather than that animal touching you... You'd be more than willing to let him put his hands anywhere he wanted to put them. More so if he'd share another kiss with you. Honey you have it bad...'
Her thoughts are interrupted as Sayuri and Yuka appear. Both sit down next to her and Yuka quietly asks "Akane we heard some news from Nabiki. She's been saying Kazuki is some sort of rapist. She refuses to give details, but she says she has evidence to prove it. She also said he's got some sort of other name and that he's not even really Kazuki at all! Do you know what's going on?"
Akane sighs trying not to stress out over his name again and says "Well as a matter of fact I do." The girls just stare at her waiting for some sort of reply.
Finally she sighs again and says "We know both of those things are in fact the truth. The first part we know because he tried to rape me on our date and only Ranma's timely arrival stopped him from doing so..."
Both girls manage to interrupt with loud gasps that attract the attention of everyone else in the room and then Sayuri exclaims "Oh my god Akane! Are you ok?" Yuka adds "Yeah... What a bastard!"
Akane looks around the room and says in a whisper "Not so loud.. And yes, I'm basically ok... But it doesn't end there..." She pauses and sighs again, wondering how much she should say here. "He showed up the next day at the house with that crazy Shampoo bitch and they attacked us together... Apparently they two are some sort of friends and both seem to have a grudge against Ranma..."
Yuka exclaims "They did what?" She looks around as they attract the eyes of everyone else in the room again. Then eyes downcast she mumbles "Sorry."
Akane sighs "It's ok, but that's all I'm gonna say here in school... I really don't want everyone else to know what exactly happened."
Sayuri nods "Ok, I guess we'll just have to invite you over to one of our houses and get the details..."
Akane shakes her head "No, I need to be home when Ranma gets back. You can stop over if you want though..."
Yuka nods "I guess that could work... Um Akane where is Ranma anyways? He wasn't hurt or something was he...?"
Akane sighs "No he wasn't hurt... something came up on the way to school however and he had to go take care of it... I wish he was here though..."
Any further conversation ends as the bell for the lunch period sounds. The girls quickly promise to walk home with Akane and hurry off to take their seats. Akane looks out the window and thinks to herself 'Ranma please be careful...'
Part 6: The Spirit Master
'Well as if being wet wasn't bad enough, now I'm hungry and tired as well...' Ranma thought as he continued searching for the thing creating the spirit creatures. 'I'm also really worried about Akane. I hope school hasn't been to bad for her.'
She was however getting closer to whatever was making these things. How could she tell? These ones were more complex and larger than the first ones had been. Apparently it was figuring out how this sort of thing worked. Not a good thing.
In fact at this point she could tell it had wandered around for awhile, but now it seemed to have settled down to one spot. This spot was a small playground beside a drainage canal. Not a good place to find it.
She landed next to the park entrance after leaping from the last rooftop before the park and looked inside. Nothing seemed to be around. Which was good. She didn't want to think what would happen if their were kids here. Not just because they'd be scared senseless during any sort of fight, but because whatever was doing this could use kids just as well as it could pets. Killing the deranged spirit of someones pet cat was bad enough. Having to kill the spirit of someones innocent child just didn't feel right.
'That however is something I don't want to have to think about, so let's find this thing shall we? Time to stop the bad guys again.' She thought to herself. Then she entered the playground.
Her senses told her something was nearby, but couldn't really point out a direction. Most spirits and most people adept at wielding their spirits could learn tricks to mask their presence. You couldn't however normally suppress your presence.
'Well Sensei could. In fact when he wanted to be hidden you had to hope he wanted to be found. Of course that probably does have something to do with how he got that nickname he gives everyone. Of course he also tells me he's been known as Shadow so long he can't remember what his given name was anymore.' She thought.
A low growl interrupted her chain of thought however. Soon their were growls from all sides. Taking a glance around, she could make out at least ten forms in the area. One last form moved out from underneath the slide which had a large open area for kids to crawl under it.
That form however was different than the others. The other forms were animal-like. This wasn't. In fact it looked a lot like a person if they were twelve foot tall, super muscular, dark grey skinned... Had claws like knives for hands... Oh yeah and that face. The face looked more like a mask than a face. It had no nose. Just glowing amber eyes and a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. All in all it didn't look very friendly.
Ranma shuddered as the thing spoke "A fleshling has come. This fleshling however knows of the spirit. I can sense it. Why fleshling? Why have you come to me?" It's voice sounded like it was speaking through a twenty foot long tube. It also hissed as it spoke. All in all not a pretty thing to spend time with.
Ranma stares at it as the rain drips off of her and slowly speaks "What your doing is wrong. You shouldn't be hurting these poor spirits. Let me banish them back to the normal spirit flow and then we can work things out."
It gurgles for lack of a better word and then says "I am the Spirit Master. They are my toys. I like my toys. If you wish to banish them than we shall have to play with us fleshling..."
'Great. Just what I need. It seems a human spirit has been corrupted and festered long enough to turn into some sort of spirit controlling thing. Can my day get any worse?' she thinks to herself.
"Fine. Lets get this over with I have places to be and things to do." was all she said. With a movement of her hand she calls on the sword of her soul and like always it comes forth as the form of a katana. Specifically a katana with a reverse curve near the hilt and a blood channel along it's length to the tip. Ever since she had learned how to create this weapon it had been the same. It had been over a year now and it was becoming quite familiar in her hand.
At the sight of the sword the creatures attack in a rush. Using a burst of ki Ranma launches herself straight up into the air over their heads. Gathering ki into her hands she calls out "Lightning Flash." as a wave of electricity snaps out from her fingers to lance one of the creatures. It crumples to the ground in a heap. Another burst of ki and she uses the air like it was the ground leaving the earth even further behind as she leaps upwards again.
'It's good to cut loose for a change. No one else to get hurt. No one else to protect. Just me and the evil beasties from hell... Or at least the bad part of the spirit world...' She smiles as she thinks about how long it's been.
One of the creatures however had wings and decided if it's prey was going to take to the air it would follow. It launches itself upwards and shrieks as it rushes towards Ranma. She however simply rolls into a spin in midair and meets the creatures point first with her blade. The blade slices through it's head, down it's throat, and deep within it's body till all two and a half feet of blade are buried inside. A whispered word from Ranma's lips and the creatures starts to fade. Ranma however uses it as yet another springboard before it's gone and stays in the air getting even greater height.
Gathering power yet again she points her hand down and sends another bolt of lightning to finish off a third. She turns slightly still up in the air and not quite yet falling toward the ground and launches another attack with the words "Wind's Fury." A blue glowing ball of high speed wind forms between her hands and then hurls itself toward the earth. It strikes one creature head on and the winds shear straight through it's body to strike the earth. The earth explodes outward and another creatures is buried partly under the debris.
Finally gravity catches up to her and she begins to fall. One of the creatures launches itself upwards jaws snapping only to eat the length of the katana blade and with yet another whispered word it to disappears. Rather than staying airborne however this time she bounces off it's head to change directions.
Her new course lines her up with yet another creature and she lets herself fall with her blade back until she gets within reach and then lashes out with the blade with all her strength and the strength provided by gravity. The blade starts at the creatures head and continues carving a path through it's body till her feet touch the ground. At that point the blade had passed through the creatures entire body and come out the other side. A quick turn brings the blade in line with another creature as the two halves of the first fall away from each other having neatly cut it in two.
The new creature tries to block the incoming strike only to have it's clawed hand cut in half. She lashes out with the sword again and it opens the creatures head and then takes off the hand of another creature, which tried to rush into the fray, at the wrist. Then she brings it back along it's path with a flick of her wrist to cut open the first creatures chest. A ki assisted kick follows up with the creature that had just now lost it's hand and sends it flying into a set of monkey bars.
The creature that had ended up buried in under debris from the wind's fury attack comes in next. It had probably once been some sort of dog or at least it may have once been. Now it was easily three times the size it had been in life. It leaps at the end of it's run and Ranma dodges sideways to avoid it. A brief twist of the angle of the blade brings it along the length of the creature belly as it passes and it lands with a loud yelp. A follow up kick to the head seems to end it's existence.
The creature that had ended up against the monkey bars comes in again. Lashing out with it's left claw now that the right was missing. Taking a short leap into the air she meets it's oncoming slash with another kick, this time to the head, and a backwards somersault. She lands and it rolls back up to it's feet to attack yet again. This new attack is meet with a sword slash to the throat which leaves it twisting on the ground.
She looks around for the last creature and the 'Spirit Master'. Her sense even can't seem to spot them. 'Did they run away while I dealt with the others?' was her thought right before something dropped toward the ground behind her.
The last creatures seemed to have had wings as well, but rather than attacking her when she had been up in the air it had waited up high to have the advantage of speed over something on the ground. It didn't land in this attack, no it hugged the ground with it's wings outstretched and all it's speed intact as it slammed into her body. The creatures claws shredded part of her shirt and pants as she moved, but the damage wasn't more than a series of scratches.
She was taken off guard, but quickly brings her foot into it's gut after being knocked into the air. A quick strike with her sword passes through the creatures neck. It's decapitated head flies from the rest of the body.
Only then does she get a look below her body. Only then does she realize it had knocked her over the edge of the playground and toward the raging storm flooded waters of the canal below. Only then did she realizes she could answer the question she'd asked herself only minutes ago. Yes in fact today could get worse.
Soon however their isn't time for thought as she tries desperately to keep her head above water.
Part 7: The Tendo Home
Akane and her escort of Sayuri and Yuka finally arrive home after a long day of school. Well long for Akane at least. Outside the rain still continued to fall. She couldn't get the thought of Ranma's absence out of her head. Or the thought of his touch against her skin... But that was another matter entirely.
She called out to let Kasumi know she was home and then added that she'd brought Sayuri and Yuka with her. Kasumi meet up with them as they entered the living room. After a quick glance Kasumi asks "Akane, where is Ranma? Shouldn't he be with you?"
Akane sighs and says "He should yes, but something came up this morning and he had to go take care of it. I take it that means he hasn't come home yet either, huh?"
Kasumi nods with her normal look on her face, but her eyes showed her worry "No I haven't seen him. I do hope he's ok." She pauses and says "Let me go grab some tea for you."
Sayuri and Yuka thank Kasumi as she heads back toward the kitchen. Then they sit Akane down and Sayuri says "Ok now explain. Before I try to strangle you and you end up hurting me." The last part was said with a pseudo-silly smile.
Akane nods and says "Ok here goes... First I have to tell you that Ranma's sensei has a group of sorts that works for him. They keep track of the stuff that goes bump in the night or something like that. No one's ever really explained it all to well to me either. He is the one however who helped get you all home that night after the incident at the school with Shampoo."
The girls nod and she continues "Ok... I got ready for my date as usual and left early because I was trying to annoy Ranma. But he'd made me really mad after he practically pushed me into the date with you know who... So from what I hear Ranma ends up getting some information from the group his sensei runs that I'm in danger. After some convincing from Nabiki and Kasumi he follows us on our date."
Both girls wince at that. Akane though doesn't even notice as she recounts her story. "Well I am used to Ranma now and can sort of... Feel his presence when he's nearby because of my training from him. Well I picked up on his presence pretty quickly, but I ignored it until I could send you know who off to get some food. Then I confronted him."
Both girls winced again. Akane's voice seems to get more and more of a monotone to it as she goes on. "Anyways I said a lot of cruel and hurtful things, because I thought he was trying to ruin the date he helped push me into going on. He left looking like a kicked puppy, but at the time I didn't care."
She pauses, but by this time both girls have realized things had gone extremely bad and don't even bother to once at the worst of it. "We finished the date, but near the end he told me he knew a great spot to view the whole rest of the park from... I didn't realize what he had planned so I went with him. He led me to an area out of the way with no one else around. Then he told me how it was time I..." She takes a deep breath and continues "Told me that I'd enjoyed the date so I had to put out for him."
Both girls frown, but Akane has long since closed her eyes and can't see that. "I told him I wasn't like that. He told me he'd enjoy my body whether I went along with it or not... Then he tried to rip off my clothes and he pawed me over with his hands while keeping me pressed against a wall so I couldn't fight back. He had just ripped off my panties when Ranma showed up and made him stop. He had fooled us though and he was a martial artist as well nearly equal to Ranma. Ranma however manage to win and he carried me home."
Neither girl could believe the story they were hearing. The Kazuki they had seen for the last month was a nice guy, who would help old women across the street. However the look on Akane's face proved to them beyond a shadow of a doubt that what she said was the truth.
Akane continued starting to look a little bit better now that the hardest part was over. "The next morning I woke up to find You know who and Shampoo in the yard standing over the unconscious body of Ranma on the ground as Daddy, Nabiki, Kasumi, and Dr. Tofu stood stunned off to the side. I leaped out the window the help Ranma and pay back that bastard who had hurt me. Unfortunately I didn't fair to well against both of them at once and I got knocked out as well."
Now the girls were worried, Ranma and Akane defeated? That on it's own was impressive.
Akane finishes up the story "I have to go by what Nabiki told me of the next series of events, but Kasumi and Dr. Tofu apparently protected me and Ranma until two nice girls named Hitome and Kaori came to help. They are in the service of the group Ranma's sensei runs. Between everyone at that point they took out Shampoo and Ryoga. At the last moment however someone else interfered in favor of Ryoga, that's you know whose real name by the way, and Shampoo. So both got away."
The girls reach over and give Akane a double hug and a whole bunch of comforting words. Eventually the three pull apart and Akane with tears in her eyes says "Thanks for understanding. If it hadn't been for having Ranma and my family around the last few days things would have been bad."
Before the girls can ask about the Ranma part of that comment Kasumi returns with tea and soon forget to ask as the conversation turns to less painful topics.
Part 8: Just Not My Day
'Well today officially sucks and it's not even over yet.' was Ranma's thought 'I'm soaked through, worried about Akane, tired, hungry, and I went several round with a bunch of spirits by myself. Then to add insult to injury I get tossed in a canal in the middle of a storm to nearly drown. Then of course when I finally pull my nearly drowned ass out of the canal via a drainage pipe and climb out, what else could happen? Well that would be when I get held up. By a bunch of teen delinquents of all things. Welcome to my life.'
"Hey she's not bad" was the first thing from one of the thugs.
There were five of them carrying a variety of weapons... 'Knives, chains, and even a big guy with a giant stick Probably intimidated most people with those. To bad I'm not most people.' was Ranma's answering thought.
"Having a little swim, babe?" the closest one asked with something of a sneer. He was tall and lean, wearing his jacket open with nothing underneath except pale skin and a few ugly scars. Ranma just stared at him as the others circled around, hooting and making disgusting animal sounds.
"Hey, girl," the guy said. "I'm talking to you."
Ranma looks at him and calmly replies "What do you want?" Then watched as she thought 'This guy sure seems to be having some trouble believing I'm not scared the way he seems to think I should be. Maybe he can hesitate some more and keep me waiting.'
"Well, first," he continued, his sneer reasserting itself, "you give us all your money."
"Money?" Ranma asked wryly. "Let me get this straight. You think I loaded my pockets with money and jumped into the canal. That about right?" The punk stopped cold, confusion and rage warring on a face that girls probably went bananas for, all heavy lips and brooding eyes. 'Oh yeah, this guy thought he was something. Well,' Ranma thought 'I think he's something, too. I think he is the last straw in a long, frustrating day.'
"She's a mouthy one, huh, Gotou?" the big guy with the stick chuckled. Gotou apparently agreed.
"Shut up and listen, bitch," Gotou snarled at Ranma. "Me and my gang own this part of town. You gotta pay a toll, see? You do us all real good, and we won't cut you up. In fact, we'll be real nice to you. Get it?" He emphasized his point by gesturing with the razor-sharp stiletto in his left hand.
Ranma sighed mentally and thought 'Oh Yeah, I get it all right.'
"I'm goin' first," another one said, circling around in front of Ranma. He was bald and bulky and had rings in his nose and eyebrows, and he eyed her the way a starving man looks at a steak.
"You ain't going first," Gotou snarled. "I'm the leader, I'm first." Then he turned to me, an ugly light in his muddy brown eyes. "Whip those puppies out, bitch" He grinned. "I wanna play with 'em first before we get into the real fun stuff."
The others closed in from behind her, waiting for her to try and run. 'As if' Ranma thought. 'I may hardly be in top form, but whatever kind of trouble these guys are, they weren't a pissed off master of martial arts, much less one who was having a extremely bad day. I however am. Of course it doesn't hurt that I hate rapists anyways and after the last couple days I like them even less. Even on my worst day I'm not about to lose to a bunch of amateur small-timers like this.'
Quicker than the eye could follow Ranma jabbed her hand into the guts of the guy on the left and he promptly curled up on the ground as he was violently ill. Without pausing she launched a roundhouse kick into the face of the man behind her. His jaw snapped shut with a sharp cracking sound. Again without pause she rolled back through the gap she'd just made and came up on her feet.
The big guy with the stick decided it was his turn and charged with a yell. He didn't get to far though as Ranma dashed in and sent a quick kick into his balls. His eyes promptly rolled up into his head as he screamed and collapsed like a felled tree on the ground.
The last guy other than their leader Gotou decided to try with his chain then. Ranma sidestepped the chain with the smallest of movements possible and grabbed the chain as it came past. With a quick step she went behind him and brought the chain across his throat to choke him. Then launched a series of kicks to his knees, which each made a popping nose as they were struck, and finally one last to his head which knocked him out leaving him hanging in the chain around his throat. She unwrapped the chain before he died from it and let it fall to the ground.
It was Gotou's turn now and he came forward with the knife leading. Which proved a bad choice when Ranma grabbed the arm as it came by and with one step had the guys arm wrapped behind his back. A slight amount of pressure on the correct part of his wrist made him drop his knife. All he had the chance to do was say "Gack!"
'It took longer than it should have, but final score... Thugs zero. Ranma five.' Was Ranma's thought as she his arm a little harder and edged her new unwilling friend toward the canal.
"Gotou... Can I call you Gotou?" She asked him. He gritted his teeth and she applied some more pressure until he nodded frantically. "Great! Gotou, let me be honest. You are a rapist bastard scumbag."
"Kiss my Ass!" was Gotou's reply. Figuring he was a slow learner she twisted harder yet as screamed.
"A total rapist bastard scumbag," She clarified. "I bet you robbed a lot of people today, right?" He chuckled, or tried to at least, in an attempt to sound arrogant. Which doesn't work to well when your gang just got their asses kicked and you have your arm in a painful lock, all by a woman half your size.
"Damn right!" He hissed. "We took a whole bunch of guys today by here."
Ranma smiled and says "So where is the money?"
His intelligent reply was "Huh?"
"The money. Is that it?" She says as she reaches out with her other hand and taps a small bulge in his jacket, which was rewarded with a metallic jingle. Gotou started to squirm and she applied even more pressure to his arm, much more and it would snap like a twig. She reached around and took the small bag out of his jacket. Then she eyed it critically.
"Gotou," She says , "There's a lot of cash here, but it's all in coins. A person might think that you guys didn't actually rob anyone, you know? That person might think you had only done extremely small-time stuff, like ripping off vending machines..."
"Hey shut up!" He spat.
Ranma shook her head, then sadly says "Gotou, you aren't even a good rapist bastard scumbag... You know that?"
She releases his arm and he staggers froward to the edge of the water. Then he turns around rubbing his arm. "That's my money, bitch!" He snarls.
Ranma smiles at him and says "Not anymore. I just robbed you. Don't you love the irony?" He muttered something in reply under his breathe implying that he didn't. She adds sweetly "Oh, just one more thing."
He looks at her darkly and says "What?"
"I hate being called a bitch... Well that and I hate rapists... Even bad ones..." Was the reply as she kicked him into the canal. As he surfaced in the canal she adds "Oh hey, I forgot to ask... Can you swim?" Unfortunately or fortunately he couldn't really reply at the moment.
'Well I really shouldn't keep the money, but he deserves it less and turning it over to say the police isn't likely to help. Maybe Nabiki can make a good use of it... Anyways that was kinda fun...' She thought as she tossed the other would-be gang members into the canal to join their leader.
Her introspection was cut off as she felt a familiar, at least by now, tingle at her senses. Glancing around she spots the dark shape moving between buildings. A smile lights up her face and she thinks 'Well now to finish things and I can go home. It's a good thing a soul sword can't be lost..."
Summoning her sword once more she heads toward the dark grey shape once more. It doesn't take long to catch up. She adds some ki to her movements and rushes toward the creature's back. At the last moment it's huge body turns and blocks the sword with it's large clawed hand.
"So fleshling, you oppose me yet again..." It says.
Ranma nods "Yeah I'd really like to finish this. Todays been... Unpleasant for the most part. I'd like a hot bath and some clean dry clothes right about now, but I need to take care of you before I can have those things."
It manages to smile, showing it's huge collection of sharp teeth. "Very well fleshling... Let us play."
It charges forward arms outstretched claws at the ready. Ranma however was tired of this whole mess. She knew she'd be tired after what she wanted to do next, but right now ending this thing was all that mattered.
She drew on her ki yet again and holding her sword in both hands she slashed outward with it as she nearly hissed the phrase "Silver Winds". The creature was still several feet away when it collapsed to the ground. Rather large parts of the creatures body split away from it's trunk and slid to the ground until a dozen individual pieces were all that was left. Each had been sliced apart by a series of razor thin gusts of wind.
"Next time listen when I tell you I can solve this really easy and you don't need to get hurt." She kicks the remains as the start to fade. Then she smiles and adds "Oh wait.. I guess you are dead, so I guess you can forget the part about listening to me now."
'I guess my day wasn't to bad after all... Though I really want a bath... That and I really want to hug Akane... Geez it's almost like she's some sort of drug... Oh well, if she is she's an awfully nice one.' A cocky grin spread across her face she thinks of home. Even with the continued drizzle keeping her wet, her step seems much lighter as she walks away.
Part 9: Rest for the Weary?
A battered and bruised, as well as wet, Ranma enters the Tendo house. She wearily says "I'm home."
Akane comes rushing into the entryway saying "Ranma!" She stops dead when she sees her however and says "God! What happened to you?"
Ranma just sighs and says "I'll tell you later, ok? Right now I just want a hot bath..."
Nabiki and Kasumi came in then with Sayuri and Yuka to check on the shout Akane had let out. When Ranma sees Nabiki, she pulls out a small bag and tosses it to the startled girl. "Some thugs decided to give me their money as a 'chartable act'. I figure you'd be the best person to do something useful with it."
Nabiki raises an eyebrow and says "I have to here this story."
Ranma sighs and says "Bath first. Story later." Then she walks up the stairs leaving a concerned Kasumi and Akane behind. As well as a confused Sayuri and Yuka.
Yuka speaks first "Uh, who was that...?" Sayuri nods her agreement with the question.
The other three girls all look at each other and Akane says "When he comes back down we'll explain it to you ok?"
Sayuri raises an eyebrow "Him? That's a pretty strange looking 'him'..."
Akane sighs and says "It's a long story... We will explain things though." Nabiki just shrugs and Kasumi goes to check on putting together a dinner for Ranma.
Part 10: No Rest for the Weary
Akane, Nabiki, Kasumi, Sayuri, and Yuka are all talking as Ranma comes back down stairs. They were to busy to notice him. Now that he's had a bath, was dry, had dry clothes, and say Akane everything seemed so much better. He still however had to feel Akane's body in his arms though, so with a silly grin on his face he manages to come up behind her before anyone notices he's there and wraps his arms around her waist and leans his body against hers from behind.
Akane, who tensed at first, feels that tingle spread through her body and knows exactly who it is so she relaxes her body back against his. Everyone else however is taken up short at this strange scene and Ranma softly says "Sorry I couldn't be there for you today Akane. I didn't want you to have to go through today alone."
Akane turns her head to look into his eyes with a smile on her lips and says "It's ok, I understand. Just don't do it again, alright?"
Sayuri stares and says "When did Ranma get here?"
Yuka stares as well and adds "Yeah and when did you start acting like lovers?"
Both Ranma and Akane blush at Yuka's words. Akane finally says "Well Ranma has helped me a lot the last couple of days and we decided in the end we were good for each other as... More than just friends. So were kinda going out now..."
Sayuri has an almost glazed expression, but manages to ask "So, wait a second here... You guys become a couple and you never once bother to mention it to us?"
Yuka adds "So I guess your officially engaged now, right? No more just family obligation that may cause you to get married one day?"
Both Ranma and Akane blush more at that and Ranma stammers out "Well we aren't going that fast... Were both still to young to get married... We are just together..."
Yuka grins and says "Sure..." She pauses and adds "Anyways where did you come from just now anyways? And will you guys finally tell us who that strange red headed girl was?" She glances around at Akane, Ranma, Nabiki, and Kasumi. Sayuri nods her agreement.
Ranma sighs and says "That girl was me..."
Sayuri blinks and says "No offense Ranma, but you can't expect me to believe that well built girl is you... Even if I'm willing to believe your a cross dresser..."
Akane shakes her head and says "He's not lying... His father got him cursed several years ago... Cold water like the rain today causes him to turn into a young woman. Hot water, like the bath he just took, changes him back."
Sayuri and Yuka both stare at them like their insane, but Nabiki and Kasumi nod their agreement with Akane and Ranma's story. Yuka looks back and forth "Your not serious are you? Ranma really changes genders like that?"
All four of them nod. Sayuri shakes her head and says "I can't believe that at all... It's just to weird..."
Ranma sighs again and asks "Kasumi, can you bring me some hot and cold water?" She nods in reply and he turns to Nabiki "Nabiki, think you could come up with something... like, I don't know... a pamphlet or something for me? I getting really tired of explaining this thing over, and over, and over again..."
Nabiki smiles "I may be able to work up something. I'll get back to you on it..."
Sayuri looks at Yuka and says "Did I just imagine that? I could swear I just saw the Ice Queen of Furikan smile... And not only that she agreed to do something without charging anyone..."
Yuka nods and replies "Yeah I can't believe it, but I think I saw it as well..."
Nabiki frowns and says "I think I remember both of you owing me money..."
Akane exclaims "Nabiki!" as both girls nearly turn white.
Nabiki sighs "Ok, here is the deal... You don't go blabbing that I have a soft spot for my family and I don't go calling in all your debts. Get it?"
Sayuri and Yuka look at each other and in unison say "Sure. Whatever you want."
Nabiki nods "Good." Then she smiles and says "Now that you know however I'm not going to pretend when your around..." and she reaches over and hugs Akane and Ranma, much to their surprise. She also whispers in Ranma's ear "I'll forgive you for leaving my little sister alone just this once, got it?"
Ranma nods his agreement. Akane blushes profusely. Then Nabiki pulls away to take her seat again as Kasumi comes back with the water and a towel. Very reluctantly Ranma pulls his arms away from Akane's waist and moves over a bit so he's at the table.
Ranma says "Ok, obviously I'm a guy right now..."
Nabiki smiles and says "We'll have to take your word on that as the only one here who has a chance to check is Akane..."
Akane blushes and says "Nabiki!". Kasumi says "Oh my!". Both Sayuri and Yuka giggle. Ranma blushes, but winks at Nabiki much to her surprise.
Ranma goes on "Anyways... Right now I'm a guy." He reaches out and takes one of the containers of water and picks it up "This is cold water." He pours just enough on his head to change into girl form.
Two startled girls stare at the now very female looking and familiar red headed young woman. Ranma says "As you can see, now I'm a girl..." She picks up the other container and says "This is hot water." She then pours it over her head and changes back into a guy.
Sayuri and Yuka start asking questions at mach one as they recover from their shock. Finally the calm down just enough to be understandable. Ranma dries himself off in the meantime.
Sayuri asks "Does this mean your really a perverted lesbian girl that is using her secret power to corrupt Akane?"
Ranma squawks and then frowns "No I'm a guy. Have always been a guy until I was cursed. I was born one." Akane just continues to blush, by now it's a near continuous thing.
Yuka asks "So when you look like a girl, how um complete is it? Is it just like some sort of illusion?"
Ranma shakes his head "When I'm a girl I'm completely a girl. There is no physical difference between me and any other girl... My mind, emotions, and everything non-physical however stay the same. Just my body changes. It does sometimes make things more uncomfortable that way... Women are always women, so there is a definite disadvantage mentally to having two genders..."
Sayuri asks "So have you ever abused your ability to spy on women or do other perverted things because you could in that form?"
Ranma sighs "It's not a ability, it's a curse. If it was my choice I'd rather stay a guy. Over the last six years I may have come to accept being a girl part of the time, but internally I'm always a guy." He pauses "I've also never taken advantage of my curse to spy on women. Well at least not intentionally, the odd event has happened that has had me end up being in a place with naked women while I was a woman as well. But I don't seek those out."
Yuka asks "So have you ever played with yourself as a girl?"
Ranma laughs and says "I'll only answer that if you tell me if you touch yourself or not first..."
Akane elbows Ranma in the side. Sayuri and Nabiki laugh. Kasumi says something about things you just don't talk about. Yuka herself turns six shades of red and sputters.
Sayuri stands up and before anyone realizes it pours cold water on Ranma again. He promptly becomes a she. Sayuri then takes advantage of the shock to pour the hot water to turn her back into a him. Sayuri smiles widely and goes "This is so fun."
Ranma gives her an evil look and says "I'm not a toy you know!"
Akane adds "Sayuri! Leave Ranma alone!"
Sayuri shrugs "Ok, Ok. Your safe... For now at least." She then takes her seat again.
Yuka says "I can't believe the hottest guy in school could also be the hottest girl in school..."
Ranma says "You think so? Hmm... I thought I was going out with the hottest girl in school..." Akane blushes once more and Ranma reaches over to put his arm around her, pulling her close.
Nabiki asks "So what was your day like anyways Ranma?"
Ranma sighs "Well it all started with the rain... Then getting attacked by small spirit creatures... Then I spent hours hunting down tons of small spirit creatures... I got hungry by then since it was lunch time... I finally find the big spirit creature creating all the little ones, put down his strongest minions, and then get knocked in a flooded storm canal... I pull myself out of the canal eventually only to have a group of thugs try to steal any money I might have or get some 'fun' out of me if I had none... I kicked them silly, stole their illgotten loot, and tossed them in the canal... Oh then I finally find the big spirit creature again and kicked it's ass... However I spent another couple of hours hunting down more spirit creatures it had created, so now their are no more evil spirit creatures roaming around town."
Everyone stares at him for a few minutes once he gets done talking and he finally asks "What?"
Nabiki just says "And here I thought I had a busy day..."
Part 11: In the Dark of Night
A young woman probably between sixteen and eighteen wearing a long black lace dress with red trim enters what most would take as the average Japanese teen girl bedroom. She wears long black silk and lace gloves with red accents that go all the way up to her elbows. She also has a red silk and lace bow tied in her dark black hair. She fits the perfect Japanese Gothic Lolita image as if she stepped out of a magazine.
As soon as she enters though the light in the room dims until the room becomes shrouded in shadows which seem to dance madly about. The girl drops to her knees and bows her head as she simply says "Mistress."
On a chest across the room a lone figure stirs. One most wouldn't look at as more than a decoration. It's the form of a two foot tall doll wearing a black satin version of a sixteenth century European gown. Only when the eyes open on their own to show glowing red orbs within is it obvious this is not a normal doll.
The doll says "Report, my servant." It's voice seems fairly normal for a girls voice, except it seems to have an icy dark edge to it.
The girl nods and without looking up says "The Spirit Master has failed as expected. However one of the doll servants managed to watch a red headed girl destroy his minions and them him. Shall I give you the details now, or would you rather she report directly to you?"
The doll smiles evilly and says "That won't be necessary. All is as expected. Make sure the servants keep a watch on this girl. We need as much information as possible on her."
The girl nods again and replies "Yes Mistress. Have you any other needs?"
The doll replies "Not right now my servant. Return to your normal duties." It seems to settle itself down once more and all the shadows except for one seem to leave the room. The lights grow back to their normal brightness. The girl stands up and moves over to a schoolbag on the desk within the room. The final shadow dances across the wall a moment longer and then vanishes itself.
Author's Notes:
Sorry for the long delay, things didn't quite go as planned... The Fall from Grace side stories are still in progress, but I want to release both chapters (one for Shampoo and one for Ryoga) at the same time. So instead you get this chapter from the normal series... ;)
Now first I have to say that while I normally treat each chapter as the equal to a half hour TV episode (I think I mentioned that before at least). This chapter is different. I could have tried to cut it up, but I couldn't think of a good place to break it up... So instead this is a 'one hour special' type episode... Without even checking I'm going to say it's the largest chapter I've written yet. Don't get used to them being this long though... It's quite time consuming to write something this long... So it's going to be rare.
The 'Sword of your soul' that I mention is something you'll see in both Demon Hunter Yohko (if your old enough to remember that series) or Bleach. It's got roots though in a lot of Japanese martial arts myth. Katanas in general were thought to be imbued with spirits when they were forged. Of course they were also thought to be linked to the soul of the wielder as well. It however doesn't have to be a sword here, in fact Hitome and Kaori both used their 'soul swords' in the big fight. Ranma's however is a sword. The idea here is that if you gain enough skill to forge your own soul into a weapon that you unlock deeper powers in yourself and since the weapon is made out of solid ki energy it has a greater effect on creatures of the spirit world.
Some of you may recognize the scene with the thugs in part 6. It's a modified version of the fight scene in Ranma ½ Shadow Chronicles: On a Clear Day You Can See Forever Chapter 2 by Mark MacKinnon. I read it recently and I just loved the witty banter in it, so I played with the scene from that to fit in in here. I did mention in an email that I was doing that, but as of right now I haven't heard back whether he minds or not. I hope not as I love that scene the way it turned out.
Some comments on the last round of feedback:
SkyDragon2083: Hitome actually has very little Inuyasha influence. Unfortunately when it comes to Miko's and combat they only ever used a very brief list of items... Mostly bow, naginata, sai, and staff traditionally... In the end I decided on her being a master of Kyudo (what most would probably call 'Zen Archery'). She has other skills as well, but didn't need to use them this time around.
As for saying 'attack names', I think I mentioned it before... But they say the name only as a focusing tool. That's why the balls of wind Ranma used a couple chapters back had no name attached to them for instance, he was completely focused and had no need to use them. It's also why Hitome doesn't use them much, she uses it before starting a barrage of arrows and then she's good till she has to dodge or she pauses to her shots. It also has a dramatic quality however which is why it's common in anime to begin with.
JakeTheSheepy: I think I kinda set it up from day 1 with those two getting together. Ukyo will make things more... chaotic. Not to mention a few others such as Kodachi, but like Rumio I am a true Ranma and Akane fan... They just have enough issues trying to keep them apart which includes two seriously screwed up childhoods... Nerima is frankly a psychiatrists wet dream, everyone has problems and issues... It's what causes the chaos... Well besides strange martial artists deciding to drop by to kidnap Akane for reasons unknown...
I hope to hear from all of you! Leave me feedback! Cya next chapter.