Ranma/ Hannibal
'Mindgames'
Callow yellow eyes blending almost into the black pit void that lay beyond, focused ferally upon their prey, almost seeming to grow as they came closer; halting before they would launch with rending claws and saliva-drenched teeth that yearned to replace the liquid with the coppery, warm tang of crimson freshly drawn blood.
They made no further movements, staring angrily/balefully/longingly at the respite from their own nawing hunger. They knew their prey understood what it was to them, and both predator and prey knew there was but one thing that stood between them. One that kept the frightened child from unspeakable terror and trauma.
From behind the frightened, little girl, a pair of sharp, slate-gray eyes did nothing but stare maliciously back at the seemingly endles humorless and desperate yellow eyes among the sea of infinite blackness.
The little girl leaned closer into her protector, almost willing for the owner of the deadly gaze to tighten strong arms around her; to protect her always from the harm that she never knew could exist.
"Nice kitties." If they could be seen in the dark, gleeming white teeth exibited in a smile would match the gray, deadly eyes...
_____________________
Nabiki woke up with a start, her heart racing in a way that could never be associated with sleep. She knew fear, and her fear was overwhelming.
In desperate sobs, Nabiki frantically rushed from her room, disturbing the still silence of the night, as she raced across the hall, and into the guestroom.
The tired pigtailed boy sat up, disturbed by the sound of the sliding door opening. His eyes found Nabiki, just before she practically crashed into him, wrapping her femenine arms around him, and crying in heaving sobs into his chest. Ranma looked over to the panda that had sat up from the noise, returning the puzzled expression the animal wore with one of endeared concern.
_____________________
During breakfast, Akane felt like scowling at the sight before her. Nabiki hovered about Ranma, seeking seemingly intimate contact with him, as he seemed to console her. Her more negative emotions were kept in check by the cowed expression Nabiki, her infinitely confident sister, was currently wearing, and her silent vow to Ranma.
Nabiki's attentions did not go unnoticed by all others, as the Tendou Patriarch took it in favor, "Ranma-kun, it seems as if my middle daughter has warmed up to you!" Breaking out into tears near hysterics, he continued, "My daughter won't become an old maid, after all!"
Nabiki seemed to duck closer against Ranma, before he whispered comforting words into her ear, and turned to address her father, "Mr. Tendou, I got some... um... this isn't going to be easy to say."
"You're not about to tell me your disintrest in my daughter... ARE YOU?" The sobbing wreck suddenly became a pillar of indignant ire.
Ranma remained nonpluss about it, "Something happened to your daughter, last night."
"WHAT?" Two shouts, one from the father, and one from the youngest daughter, bombarded Ranma. Kasumi brought her hand to her mouth, barely able to utter her own exclamation.
"Some... someone attacked me... last night," Nabiki replied in a most timid tone, looking directly at her father while clutching Ranma like a safety blanket.
"WHO? WHO DID THIS?" Akane demanded, finding an area to reroute her growing and festering anger.
Nabiki shrunk away from her younger sister fearfully, causing Akane's anger to be derailed, as she baulked.
"She was following me last night," Ranma explained in a quiet, guilty tone, "It's my fault."
"You take responcibility for this, boy?" Genma addressed his son with a solumn tone that would brook no argument.
"He... he didn't know I was," Nabiki interjected with but a spark of vehemance, "He was the one that saved me, and brought me home last night."
All eyes were on Nabiki, including Ranma's. He was rather surprised at Nabiki interjection, but refrained from showing it. "Even so, I was told not to leave the house at night. I didn't listen, and Nabiki could have been hurt."
Ranma stood from the table, walked around towards Soun, and kow-towed, "I am deeply sorry about this. My carelessness and disregard for your and my Pop's wishes are not excuses."
"I..." Soun swallowed the lump that had built in his throat, before continuing, "...I'm just relieved my daughter is safe. But please, either of you, do not give this old man such a fright." Ranma nodded, and returned to his seat, as the middle Tendou sister seemed fearfully lost without his close presence.
Nabiki nodded quietly, keeping herself against Ranma, while hugging onto him like a life preserver. "I will make sure to protect your daughters from now on, with my word as a martial artist," Ranma replied with a solumn tone.
"Poor Nabiki," Kasumi whispered, barely recovering from her shock.
"Are you going to be okay?" Akane enquired, reaching over to her sister. Akane was shocked, as Nabiki jolted away from her, as if she were afraid of Akane.
"Ah, maybe we should both stay home from school today, Mr. Tendou," Ranma suggested, once again hugging a fearful Nabiki to him.
Soun nodded, "Nabiki seems secure with your presence, at the moment. I think the idea would be wise."
"Not only that, it would serve to bring the two closer, thus ensuring the joining of our schools!" Genma pointed out, before raising a fan of victory.
Before Soun could join in, Ranma shouted, "HEY! Nabiki was just attacked, and you two idiots want to celebrate engagements?!?"
Ranma stood up, taking Nabiki with him, while she kept her face buried against his chest, like she believed the darkness and warmth of his body would keep her safe. "You two make me sick. Come on, Nabiki, let's get you to your room." With that, they both went upstairs.
Akane stared up after them, before looking down at the table sullenly, and standing up herself, "I need to finish getting ready for school."
Soun watched his youngest leave the room, before sighing, "This whole ordeal is quite a mess, Saotome."
"Indeed, Tendou."
_____________________
Mousse checked the body that even the police had yet to discover. Him, Ryoga, and Cologne had found it in a desolate alleyway... in several locations.
"This man was pretty powerful, a martial artist," the Chinese young man commented in a particularly cold tone, "He was even attempting to fight back, what with the way the muscles had been tensed."
"Ranma killed him," Ryoga answered, "It's the same as before..."
Cologne turned inquizitively towards the bandanna-clad boy, "So, I thought you presumed this to be the work of some random killer, not our own prey."
Ryoga stared hard at the body, and then off to the three other places they had found the rest of him, "This is definitely his work, now that I've seen it once again. There's no mistaking it..."
"Recalling your initial meeting up with Ranma Saotome?" Cologne enquired, earning a solumn nod from the Lost Boy. He had told both Cologne and Mousse the story before. He had met Ranma in junior high, though the pigtailed boy didn't treat Ryoga with anything more than passing indifference. It was one night, when he accidentally happened upon the pigtailed boy during one of his lost excursions. Hoping he could at least get directions from the other boy, Ryoga kept his eyes focused on Ranma in the thin night crowd, wondering to himself what his classmate was doing out this late in the first place.
Ranma had rounded a corner, and Ryoga did the same, only to find Ranma had dissappeared. Blinking in confusion, Ryoga continued down the alleyway, until he heard sounds of a skirmish. Remembering his duties as a martial artist, Ryoga continued to follow the sounds of battle, until he happened upon the sight.
He had arrived too late.
The next day, Ryoga had felt drained from the disgusting sight of voilence, and the constant questioning from the police. He had told them that he didn't know who it was who had killed the other man, since he didn't get there in time. He decided that he probably just went the wrong way, as usual, when he was following Ranma, and missed him. It was at school that he learned different.
"Was there a reason you were out last night, following me?"
Ryoga stopped, and turned slowly towards Ranma. The pigtailed boy stared back with a dispassionate expression that seemed somewhat unamused with the fanged boy.
"I..." Ryoga didn't know what to say, since the accusation was reletively true.
"Was there something you wanted from me?"
"Directions," Ryoga finally answered, "I wanted to ask you directions."
"Was that it? 'Directions'?" Ranma snorted, "Ryoga Hibiki, you've lived in this area much longer than I have, why would I be able to answer that for you?"
"I didn't think about that, okay?" Ryoga retorted angrily, not wanting to reveal his particular problem.
"You don't seem to think much about things, do you?" Ranma taunted, before turning away. As he watched the pigtailed boy walk away, he knew right then and there that Ranma had something to do with the murder...
"Boy, pay attention!"
Ryoga snapped back from his recollections, once Cologne pounded on his cranium with her staff. He had to wonder how, even with his enhanced Breaking Point training, how she could manage to still harm him even the smallest amount, "What?"
"We're going to book a hotel room nearby, and then study reportings of the murders to see if we may identify a possible pattern. Please make sure to stay close to us, you're invaluable for us to stop Ranma. We also must report this to the local authorities." Ryoga nodded, before turning back to look at the body.
_____________________
Ranma gave one last look back to the sleeping girl, before leaving Nabiki's room. As he walked downstairs to the kitchen, he was intercepted by Kasumi.
Twisting her apron in her hands, nervously, Kasumi addressed the young man, "Ranma... I need to ask you, about Nabiki..."
"She's sleeping right now," Ranma replied, "And no, we didn't do anything." The last part was added with a faint smile.
"Oh no, I trust you not to take advantage of her while she is... like this," Kasumi hastefully replied, "I just wanted to know if you knew the reason she was lying this morning?"
Ranma's eyes widened a fraction, before he tilted his head, "About?"
"Her being attacked, I think, I'm not certain what it was about," Kasumi admitted, blushing slightly, "She wasn't... behaving amorally, was she?"
The pigtailed boy seemed to study Kasumi with more than passing intrest, before answering, "Honestly, she's telling the truth. She was attacked, but I brought her home safely."
"Okay, if that's all you can tell me..."
Ranma gave Kasumi a warm smile, before reaching out, and putting a hand on the older girl's shoulder, "Kasumi, whatever it was she was doing, I think she learned her lesson. It's just a good thing nothing happened to her, right?" At Kasumi's nod, Ranma's smile deepened, before he walked by her.
Kasumi went back to fidgiting with her apron. She was well aware of Nabiki's mannerisms when she fibbed. She tended to look people straight in the eyes, while keeping her own unfocused slightly, as if not directly looking at them, but past them. Since she had taken over as a surrogate mother to her sisters, Kasumi had gained fast experienced with Nabiki's white lies to the point she can spot them without even being the one they were being told to.
"I wonder what she's hiding..." Kasumi asked to herself.
'Mindgames'
Callow yellow eyes blending almost into the black pit void that lay beyond, focused ferally upon their prey, almost seeming to grow as they came closer; halting before they would launch with rending claws and saliva-drenched teeth that yearned to replace the liquid with the coppery, warm tang of crimson freshly drawn blood.
They made no further movements, staring angrily/balefully/longingly at the respite from their own nawing hunger. They knew their prey understood what it was to them, and both predator and prey knew there was but one thing that stood between them. One that kept the frightened child from unspeakable terror and trauma.
From behind the frightened, little girl, a pair of sharp, slate-gray eyes did nothing but stare maliciously back at the seemingly endles humorless and desperate yellow eyes among the sea of infinite blackness.
The little girl leaned closer into her protector, almost willing for the owner of the deadly gaze to tighten strong arms around her; to protect her always from the harm that she never knew could exist.
"Nice kitties." If they could be seen in the dark, gleeming white teeth exibited in a smile would match the gray, deadly eyes...
_____________________
Nabiki woke up with a start, her heart racing in a way that could never be associated with sleep. She knew fear, and her fear was overwhelming.
In desperate sobs, Nabiki frantically rushed from her room, disturbing the still silence of the night, as she raced across the hall, and into the guestroom.
The tired pigtailed boy sat up, disturbed by the sound of the sliding door opening. His eyes found Nabiki, just before she practically crashed into him, wrapping her femenine arms around him, and crying in heaving sobs into his chest. Ranma looked over to the panda that had sat up from the noise, returning the puzzled expression the animal wore with one of endeared concern.
_____________________
During breakfast, Akane felt like scowling at the sight before her. Nabiki hovered about Ranma, seeking seemingly intimate contact with him, as he seemed to console her. Her more negative emotions were kept in check by the cowed expression Nabiki, her infinitely confident sister, was currently wearing, and her silent vow to Ranma.
Nabiki's attentions did not go unnoticed by all others, as the Tendou Patriarch took it in favor, "Ranma-kun, it seems as if my middle daughter has warmed up to you!" Breaking out into tears near hysterics, he continued, "My daughter won't become an old maid, after all!"
Nabiki seemed to duck closer against Ranma, before he whispered comforting words into her ear, and turned to address her father, "Mr. Tendou, I got some... um... this isn't going to be easy to say."
"You're not about to tell me your disintrest in my daughter... ARE YOU?" The sobbing wreck suddenly became a pillar of indignant ire.
Ranma remained nonpluss about it, "Something happened to your daughter, last night."
"WHAT?" Two shouts, one from the father, and one from the youngest daughter, bombarded Ranma. Kasumi brought her hand to her mouth, barely able to utter her own exclamation.
"Some... someone attacked me... last night," Nabiki replied in a most timid tone, looking directly at her father while clutching Ranma like a safety blanket.
"WHO? WHO DID THIS?" Akane demanded, finding an area to reroute her growing and festering anger.
Nabiki shrunk away from her younger sister fearfully, causing Akane's anger to be derailed, as she baulked.
"She was following me last night," Ranma explained in a quiet, guilty tone, "It's my fault."
"You take responcibility for this, boy?" Genma addressed his son with a solumn tone that would brook no argument.
"He... he didn't know I was," Nabiki interjected with but a spark of vehemance, "He was the one that saved me, and brought me home last night."
All eyes were on Nabiki, including Ranma's. He was rather surprised at Nabiki interjection, but refrained from showing it. "Even so, I was told not to leave the house at night. I didn't listen, and Nabiki could have been hurt."
Ranma stood from the table, walked around towards Soun, and kow-towed, "I am deeply sorry about this. My carelessness and disregard for your and my Pop's wishes are not excuses."
"I..." Soun swallowed the lump that had built in his throat, before continuing, "...I'm just relieved my daughter is safe. But please, either of you, do not give this old man such a fright." Ranma nodded, and returned to his seat, as the middle Tendou sister seemed fearfully lost without his close presence.
Nabiki nodded quietly, keeping herself against Ranma, while hugging onto him like a life preserver. "I will make sure to protect your daughters from now on, with my word as a martial artist," Ranma replied with a solumn tone.
"Poor Nabiki," Kasumi whispered, barely recovering from her shock.
"Are you going to be okay?" Akane enquired, reaching over to her sister. Akane was shocked, as Nabiki jolted away from her, as if she were afraid of Akane.
"Ah, maybe we should both stay home from school today, Mr. Tendou," Ranma suggested, once again hugging a fearful Nabiki to him.
Soun nodded, "Nabiki seems secure with your presence, at the moment. I think the idea would be wise."
"Not only that, it would serve to bring the two closer, thus ensuring the joining of our schools!" Genma pointed out, before raising a fan of victory.
Before Soun could join in, Ranma shouted, "HEY! Nabiki was just attacked, and you two idiots want to celebrate engagements?!?"
Ranma stood up, taking Nabiki with him, while she kept her face buried against his chest, like she believed the darkness and warmth of his body would keep her safe. "You two make me sick. Come on, Nabiki, let's get you to your room." With that, they both went upstairs.
Akane stared up after them, before looking down at the table sullenly, and standing up herself, "I need to finish getting ready for school."
Soun watched his youngest leave the room, before sighing, "This whole ordeal is quite a mess, Saotome."
"Indeed, Tendou."
_____________________
Mousse checked the body that even the police had yet to discover. Him, Ryoga, and Cologne had found it in a desolate alleyway... in several locations.
"This man was pretty powerful, a martial artist," the Chinese young man commented in a particularly cold tone, "He was even attempting to fight back, what with the way the muscles had been tensed."
"Ranma killed him," Ryoga answered, "It's the same as before..."
Cologne turned inquizitively towards the bandanna-clad boy, "So, I thought you presumed this to be the work of some random killer, not our own prey."
Ryoga stared hard at the body, and then off to the three other places they had found the rest of him, "This is definitely his work, now that I've seen it once again. There's no mistaking it..."
"Recalling your initial meeting up with Ranma Saotome?" Cologne enquired, earning a solumn nod from the Lost Boy. He had told both Cologne and Mousse the story before. He had met Ranma in junior high, though the pigtailed boy didn't treat Ryoga with anything more than passing indifference. It was one night, when he accidentally happened upon the pigtailed boy during one of his lost excursions. Hoping he could at least get directions from the other boy, Ryoga kept his eyes focused on Ranma in the thin night crowd, wondering to himself what his classmate was doing out this late in the first place.
Ranma had rounded a corner, and Ryoga did the same, only to find Ranma had dissappeared. Blinking in confusion, Ryoga continued down the alleyway, until he heard sounds of a skirmish. Remembering his duties as a martial artist, Ryoga continued to follow the sounds of battle, until he happened upon the sight.
He had arrived too late.
The next day, Ryoga had felt drained from the disgusting sight of voilence, and the constant questioning from the police. He had told them that he didn't know who it was who had killed the other man, since he didn't get there in time. He decided that he probably just went the wrong way, as usual, when he was following Ranma, and missed him. It was at school that he learned different.
"Was there a reason you were out last night, following me?"
Ryoga stopped, and turned slowly towards Ranma. The pigtailed boy stared back with a dispassionate expression that seemed somewhat unamused with the fanged boy.
"I..." Ryoga didn't know what to say, since the accusation was reletively true.
"Was there something you wanted from me?"
"Directions," Ryoga finally answered, "I wanted to ask you directions."
"Was that it? 'Directions'?" Ranma snorted, "Ryoga Hibiki, you've lived in this area much longer than I have, why would I be able to answer that for you?"
"I didn't think about that, okay?" Ryoga retorted angrily, not wanting to reveal his particular problem.
"You don't seem to think much about things, do you?" Ranma taunted, before turning away. As he watched the pigtailed boy walk away, he knew right then and there that Ranma had something to do with the murder...
"Boy, pay attention!"
Ryoga snapped back from his recollections, once Cologne pounded on his cranium with her staff. He had to wonder how, even with his enhanced Breaking Point training, how she could manage to still harm him even the smallest amount, "What?"
"We're going to book a hotel room nearby, and then study reportings of the murders to see if we may identify a possible pattern. Please make sure to stay close to us, you're invaluable for us to stop Ranma. We also must report this to the local authorities." Ryoga nodded, before turning back to look at the body.
_____________________
Ranma gave one last look back to the sleeping girl, before leaving Nabiki's room. As he walked downstairs to the kitchen, he was intercepted by Kasumi.
Twisting her apron in her hands, nervously, Kasumi addressed the young man, "Ranma... I need to ask you, about Nabiki..."
"She's sleeping right now," Ranma replied, "And no, we didn't do anything." The last part was added with a faint smile.
"Oh no, I trust you not to take advantage of her while she is... like this," Kasumi hastefully replied, "I just wanted to know if you knew the reason she was lying this morning?"
Ranma's eyes widened a fraction, before he tilted his head, "About?"
"Her being attacked, I think, I'm not certain what it was about," Kasumi admitted, blushing slightly, "She wasn't... behaving amorally, was she?"
The pigtailed boy seemed to study Kasumi with more than passing intrest, before answering, "Honestly, she's telling the truth. She was attacked, but I brought her home safely."
"Okay, if that's all you can tell me..."
Ranma gave Kasumi a warm smile, before reaching out, and putting a hand on the older girl's shoulder, "Kasumi, whatever it was she was doing, I think she learned her lesson. It's just a good thing nothing happened to her, right?" At Kasumi's nod, Ranma's smile deepened, before he walked by her.
Kasumi went back to fidgiting with her apron. She was well aware of Nabiki's mannerisms when she fibbed. She tended to look people straight in the eyes, while keeping her own unfocused slightly, as if not directly looking at them, but past them. Since she had taken over as a surrogate mother to her sisters, Kasumi had gained fast experienced with Nabiki's white lies to the point she can spot them without even being the one they were being told to.
"I wonder what she's hiding..." Kasumi asked to herself.