"Did you get the stuff ?"
"Like I said, the old witch had what we needed."
"Damn. He deserves this and more, but I hate relying on those ..."
"I know. Don't worry, we're just taking advantage of a convenient resource. It seems - appropriate - to use the bitches to take care of some of little sister's other problems."
"Whatever, let's go or we'll be late."
"Ranma! Boy! Where is that lazy son of mine?"
"Good morning Saotome-san! I believe Nabiki took him to school early to get registered. She mentioned something about 'taking care of some problems.'"
"Registered? But I had already registered him?"
Akane Tendo was going to school, accompanied only by a set of drab, low hanging clouds. This was not unusual. Every Japanese teenager went to school. However, the vast majority of Japanese teenagers did not have to prepare to be assaulted by what amounted to half of the male students in their school in some sort of weird dating ritual. The thought of being forced to date someone who could, and would, beat her up was terrifying. Thus, Akane Tendo not only had to travel to a destination, but do a certain amount of psyching up as well.
"I hate boys. I hate boys! I Hate Boys! I HATE BOYS! Er ..."
Akane's tirade careened around the corner of the gates and was promptly lost in the general tumult. For once, Akane found she was not the center of attention, and was not being attacked. Instead, the ire of the crowd of hormone laden boys was directed at another figure.
"Who the hell are you to tell us what to do?"
"Yeah! You can't stop us from dating Akane!"
"No way can you take on all of us!"
Several yards in front of her, a red shirted Ranma crouched in preparation against the braying of the crowd, slowly flexing his fingers. "Only warning, back off Akane, or fight me."
The boys attempting to 'date' Akane had little patience. Blind stupidity they excelled in however. With only such few mental resources available, by this point in the confrontation the group of high school students was little more than a mob.
Often, the final trigger for mob violence was only the actions of one person, it was in this case. "Out of the way, kid, or we'll break you" one particularly large teenager from the baseball team threatened, and made the mistake of swinging his bat at Ranma.
What followed was one-sided, brief, and brutal. The rest of the mob attacked as well, and Ranma was heavily outnumbered. If Akane wasn't distracted by the bloodthirstiness on display, she might have been surprised at the outcome. Even for someone who had been fighting several dozen hormonally crazed boys on a daily basis, it was not an appetizing sight. Just from her position at the gates Akane could see several broken bones and other serious injuries among the fallen boys, scattered chaff like across the school yard.
Akane felt sick. She may not have liked the daily assaults, okay, she vehemently hated them, but still, she had never seriously injured anyone. What the hell was Ranma doing? She didn't need him to fight for her, especially like this! Unbidden, the image of that Chinese girl pinned against the wall came to her mind. This was ..., this was frightening, perhaps moreso than Kuno.
Akane gathered her courage and made a tentative step forward, "Ranma, what ..." However, whatever she might have said was never completed.
"What brutal demon is this, which strives to keep me from my holy quest for the fiery and spirited Akane Tendo? I, Kuno Tatewaki, the blue thunder of Furikan high shall smite you and send you back to the pits from whenst you came!"
This new, unwelcome, voice drew Akane's eyes across the courtyard. There stood her nemesis, the primo idiot Kuno Tatewaki, in all his so called glory. Bokken raised, he poised in all his righteous arrogance.
"What I said for them goes double for you, too, idiot. You been, uh," Ranma carefully enunciated, "inciting kids to attack and try to hurt Akane, and you been assaulting her yourself. Nobody else is doing anything about it. The assaults on Akane stop now, or you fight me."
"Very well demon, but know that the forces of heaven shall not be defeated! When I have slain you and vanquished you to the hells, I shall claim Akane Tendo as my rightful prize. I strike!"
Akane couldn't help herself, she shrieked as Kuno's wooden bokken struck the wall behind where Ranma stood, shattering it into dust and rubble. Somehow, though, Ranma was no longer there. Instead, he appeared to be standing, impossibly, parallel to the ground with his feet planted halfway up the trunk of a sizable tree.
Kuno struck again, diagonally downward, and again inexplicably missed Ranma. His stroke incredibly sliced entirely through the several foot diameter tree trunk, toppling it.
Akane could only stand and watch in shock. What? How was this possible? A, A, mere wooden bokken, shattering a concrete wall and cutting through a tree? Wouldn't that kill someone? What was happening? Ranma was, was, brutal, and Kuno, Kuno was trying to kill?
Ranma stood now with his back to a statue, his apparently casual stance only belied by his serious expression. Likewise, Kuno stood poised several feet away. The dramatic moment was broken by a clap of thunder as the clouds began dumping their promised rain.
Akane never quite saw what happened. One moment Kuno was charging the still form of Ranma. Then, something happened. The statue behind Ranma exploded, Kuno's strike apparently having demolished it. A now female Ranma landed easily behind Kuno, gently drawing a hand down his neck and back, apparently having flipped over the other boy, and unconcernedly walked away. Kuno was left standing rigidly in place, empty handed, surrounded by a rapidly settling mist of wood splinters mixed with some blood.
Only by her movement did Nabiki come to Akane's attention. Akane's older sister had a cold expression somehow more callus than even Ranma's. Walking in front of the unmoving kendoist, she slapped a strip of paper on his forehead. For just a moment, the black ink on the paper seemed to shimmer. Kuno slowly and rigidly toppled over, landing with a splat, more like the tree he had earlier toppled than a person.
Nabiki gestured to two of her flunkies standing a short distance away sporting matching pale expressions, scared even. One carried a video camera, the other a first aid kit. After a start, the one with the first aid kit moved hesitantly closer.
Akane's gaze followed the hesitating girl forward. She could now see Kuno's hands were a flayed, bloody wreck, exposed to the bone. What flesh remained was deeply embedded with sharp quills and wood splinters.
Akane turned aside and threw up into the remains of the school wall. By the time she felt able to look up, Nabiki was gone, and Ranma had apparently helped her to in front of the bathrooms. Akane ignored the concerned expression on the smaller girl's face, shook her off, and dashed inside, leaving the nonplussed redhead outside.
Cologne settled herself as comfortably as she could on the hard backed restaurant chair, taller than she was, and sipped her morning tea. Other similar chairs were stacked around her against the dusty counter and on the small tables. As before, she was able to purchase the small, currently closed eatery which would have become the Nekohanten. It would have to have a different name, Cologne thought, but the surroundings felt comfortingly familiar.
There would be much to do to ready the establishment for business, but there was no real rush. As before, she was in Japan for a different purpose. The restaurant need do no more than provide a place to stay, food, and an excuse for the immigration officials.
So, Cologne sat with her tea and considered the morning's events. Despite the expected initial hostility of Ranma and Nabiki and the disastrous first meeting, events looked hopeful. Already, the teenagers had approached her for help; in a rather uncharitable manner, true, but it was a start.
Perhaps she could win back some measure of trust from them. She only prayed that Ranma and Nabiki would recover some sense of their humanity in the process.
"Had to show off again, Saotome? No need to try to make your fight with Kuno exactly the same as before," Nabiki coolly addressed her partner, currently in male form, waiting in the hall outside the vice principles office. Obviously, he had had time to change back sometime after the fight. She had asked Ranma to meet here when they planned the morning. Better to deal with the official reaction on their own terms rather than wait to be summoned.
Casually leaning against the wall a few feet away, Ranma shrugged, responding with a tinge of amusement. "What can I say? It's not like the jerk's original or nothin. Heh, he did call me 'demon' instead of 'sorcerer' this time."
"Well, at least it was a clean fight, I have it all on tape. There's no question the horde and Kuno attacked first, and used far greater force than you. Even if criminal charges were justified, none of the families could file them without losing face by admitting they were assaulting little sister. There should be no problems."
"Good. We have a few more to take care of."
The silence in the hallway filled with a cold sense of satisfaction.
"Ranma, what did you do him?"
It had taken a little while before Akane could bring herself to talk to the black haired youth holding buckets beside her in the hall. Even now, her query came out as little more than a whisper, and she couldn't raise her eyes to his.
When she finally managed to pull herself together in the bathroom and make it to class, Akane had been sent out to the hall. The teacher had not done so without sympathy, however. Uncharacteristically observant for a Furikan faculty member, he could see that time alone was what she needed. After he had returning from wherever he had been, Ranma was sent out to the hall with Akane.
Ranma raised his view from where he had been glaring suspiciously at his buckets of water, held at arms length as if they contained live serpents. Even through the impatient glaring, Akane had not missed the frequent concerned glances he had given her.
"You mean that jerk Kuno?"
At Akane's nod, Ranma continued. "Hey, I didn't do nuthin to him. I just blocked the ki he tried to feed into his bokken, so when he tried to hit somethin, it shattered like a real stick instead'a cutting. If he wouldn't've attacked, nothing would have happened. Then I just hit a few pressure points to lock his muscles. I shoulda done a lot more to the creep."
"But Ranma, his hands! And all those other boys!"
Ranma came the closest thing to glaring at her Akane had yet seen. "Hey, they were each try'n to do a lot worse on me. You want me to just let 'em? Maybe I shoulda just let that baseball bat crack my skull. Or you want to one of 'em to beat you? Hell, we even did Kuno a favor."
Not having a ready argument to this, Akane did something very uncharacteristic. She backed down. She was confused, conflicted, and not a little frightened, and she almost wanted to like Ranma. Perhaps this was justifiable, no matter how bad it looked. Wasn't it?
Still, no-one ever accused Akane of not being stubborn. Summoning her courage, she made one more attempt to question Ranma. "A favor?"
"Yeah, that ofudo. That's some magic of the old ghoul's. It made it so Kuno can only perceive and utter the truth, even the ones in his head. No more telling himself that you love him, or that you want these fights, or nuthin. Pretty neat, eh?"
"Um, yeah. Look Ranma, I think I should be going home for the rest of the day. Um, tell the teacher for me, okay?" Never raising her eyes, Akane carefully set down her buckets and slowly walked down the hall. Shadow and sunlight played across her as she passed each window, her subdued footsteps fading in the stuffy silence.
Nonplussed, Ranma looked back and forth between the classroom door and the retreating Akane. "What? Was it something I said?"
"Nabiki! Ranma! Stay a moment. There's something we need to discuss."
The pair in question settled back into their positions at the Tendo supper table and met the stern gaze of the Tendo and Saotome patriarchs. The pair of youths had only returned to the Tendo home shortly before dinner, Nabiki uncharacteristically wearing a comfortable but long sleeved formal kimono, and Ranma in his semi-formal Mao style Chinese army outfit. Curious, Akane and Kasumi also settled back at the table. The responses to this request remained entirely in character, disappointing no one in the floor show.
"What is it daddy?" Cool.
"Yeah Ojayi, whatcha trying to do this time." Caustic.
"Silence boy! This is a serious matter!" and Bombastic.
"Indeed it is. We hear that you may have taken some actions which reflect seriously on the honor of our families." Only this response was abnormal, showing the occasional sternness that still lurked in the depths of Tendo Soun's persona.
"Honor, now there's an idea," the barely audible caustic mutter drifted about the room in response. "Ojayi wouldn't know honor if it bit him in the butt."
Genma choose to ignore that comment from a finely tuned sense of self preservation. He had been regularly having his hind end handed to him on a platter during the last several day's sparring sessions, and he was no longer quite certain about being able to control his son. He had the disturbing feeling that his son might stop holding back at any moment. It was something in his eyes. The same look was in the second daughter's eyes too, come to think of it.
Genma affected his best "pose of authority," hands on knees and leaning forward with arms akimbo. Possibly intentionally, the light reflected dramatically on his glasses, outlining the serious face he assumed. "We are informed of certain incidents at the hospital the Kuno boy was taken to which involved other members of his family."
"They nutcase sister? Hey, they should both be grateful. We got 'em help insteada squash'n 'em like ..." Ranma was interrupted by a splash, "Hey what'd'ya do ooof," and her sudden alto again interrupted by a strategically placed elbow.
Some people just don't learn, Nabiki reflected, pulling her elbow out of Ranma's side and absently rubbing the new bruise it now sported underneath her long kimono sleeves. If she had to do that again, she'd likely end up reopening the stitches on her arm.
"Daddy, Uncle Saotome. We did only what was necessary. In both cases, it was the Kuno sibling's own actions which caused their hospitalization or commitment."
Soun and Genma's incipient response was effectively quelled by Nabiki's stare. It only lasted for a second, but it silenced the duo. Deciding the grind in the point, Nabiki continued, "If someone had not neglected their duties, this may not have been necessary, father. We only acted to stop the morning assaults on your daughter when others failed to do so." It was shameful to skirt so close to direct accusation, but only family was here. More important, this would likely keep the father's off their backs.
"Committed?" a pensive Akane asked, quietly.
"Hey, you try go sprouting off like that in a hospital. In front of a cop, too. 'Lowborn harridan shall feel my wrath'. What a load of crap. The bitch cut Nabiki, too."
Nabiki instantly regretted having foregone elbowing Ranma again in favor of sparing her arm as the alternative manifested: her father exercising his best performance art pieces, giant head -o- doom alternating with human fountain revision 103. Chin in hand, she could only sigh at her family's idiocy and pray it wasn't genetic.
"What! My daughter is hurt! Ranma! How could you let this happen!"
Akane excused herself and went to her room, disturbed and unhappy for reasons she wasn't quite certain of. Her eldest sister Kasumi only sported a barely visible frown as she cleared the table. The slight extra distance that Kasumi kept from Ranma and Nabiki went unnoticed by all, perhaps even Kasumi herself.
The ring of the bell signaled the end of another day's classes at Furikan high school. Immediately, the building and grounds overflowed with active, chattering students. Many students merely went to another room or location in order to participate in some club or other, but many also immediately headed for the school-ground's gate, often in the company of small groups of friends or family.
Akane unwittingly formed the core of one such group, followed as she was by Ranma, and met by Nabiki. Bidding goodbye to others of her friends Akane led the trio toward the gate, musing lightly on her putative boyfriend cum fiance's and sister's behavior. It certainly hadn't been normal for Nabiki to accompany her, especially to the apparent detriment of her betting pool. It might be her imagination, but it almost seemed like the two of them were, well, guarding her, for lack of a better term. Especially so with the flanking positions they seemed to habitually take, and the way they constantly seemed to be watching ...
Lost in thought, Akane missed the small signal exchanged between her companions.
Out of the blue Ranma suddenly moved from his position beside her. His motions were so smooth that it was only after the massive, crater creating impact that Akane reacted. Only later would she remember the sequence of events; Ranma suddenly being covered by a shadow, him smoothly taking a half step to the side, reaching up and grasping something above him, and giving it a sharp, diagonal tug, sending whatever it was tumbling into a hard, uncontrolled landing.
What 'it' was lay unrevealed in the dust and crater for a second, long enough for Ranma to step forward and give a smooth, obviously targeted soccer style kick. The dust was immediately after washed away with a splash of water, revealing an apparently empty set of clothes, a broken bamboo umbrella, a oversize backpack, and an irate female Ranma.
"Geez, Nabiki, didja haveta hit me too?"
Akane blinked. Sure enough, Nabiki stood just opposite her across from the small crater, holding an empty bucket.
"Stop whining, Saotome. Now, give me the pig, and take care of the rest of this stuff."
Ranma grumbled, but fished around in the yellow and black clothes for a moment, revealing an apparently unconscious small pig with a black spotted yellow bandanna around it's neck and an obvious bump on it's head. Ranma appeared to examine the piglet, turning it over in her hands and muttering under her breath. It was obvious the upside down pig was a male. Ranma finally poked the piglet in the chest, then turned it over. She repeated the procedure on it's back, only when she pressed it's back a small wisp of smoke rose up, and the piglet jerked awake and began to squeal and ineffectually struggle.
"There, that handles the hot water problem, and the strength thing too" Ranma exclaimed with satisfaction, handing the squealing piglet to Nabiki with a flourish.
"It took you long enough. I don't have all day if I'm going to get it down to the pound, you know."
"Hmp. You know those spots aren't the same as on a human body. And it's not like you're going to carry it yourself, anyway."
"Wait, isn't that someone's pet? And where'd they go? Shouldn't we find whoever was here?" Akane interjected.
"No" Ranma smirked, not the confident, teasing, happy smirk Akane had begun to see too much of during their sparring sessions, but a cruel, malicious smirk. "The pig would like to be, but he's not. Won't ever be if I have my way. Hey Nabiki, think you can get them to neuter it?"
Sure enough, Nabiki handed the piglet, who had suddenly gone impossibly wide eyed and redoubled it's struggle, to one of her 'assistants'. "You know what to do, Shiho," Nabiki told the girl. Interestingly, despite the apparent energy displayed by the flailing piglet, the slight girl had no problems holding it. Turning back to her companions, Nabiki continued as the girl carried the piglet away. "If we're lucky, no-one will want it. And they don't have an infinite amount of room at these places, you know." For a moment, Nabiki's normally cold face matched Ranma's cruel sneer.
Ranma had meanwhile made the clothing disappear and slung the umbrella and huge backpack across her shoulders. She nodded, glanced at Akane, and changed the subject. "Let's get some hot water and go home."
The expressions on her two companions faces continued to bother Akane long into the evening. However, it was only late that night combing her hair when her suspicions finally gelled. Akane stared at her suddenly bleached white face in the mirror and asked herself, "Those clothes, and the water. Was that a person ?"
Ranma slumped at his desk and tuned out the drone of the teacher. He had no clue what the heck the man was going on about, and even less desire to know. Why the heck was school so boring, anyway? Did they make it this way on purpose or what?
Glancing around, the pigtailed boy let his eyes settle on Akane, who was currently attentively taking notes. Despite himself, the sight of the blue haired girl brought a small smile to his face. Just seeing her still made him feel good. Beside, the last couple of weeks had been good, especially by his standards.
It was easy to let his mind drift off into reminiscing. Akane and he had been able to do several things together. They had gone to a spring festival, which was a lot more fun than he would have thought; seen some sappy American movie, okay, it didn't have any fighting in it and the lead character was a wuss, but Akane seemed to enjoy it; and even just sat in the park one evening and talked. He had also trained with her nearly every day, and he had to admit, she was improving noticeably. Teaching was a lot more interesting than he'd have thought.
He found it a bit odd that Nabiki included herself on several of these activities, but her explanation of wanting to help watch over Akane did mostly make sense.
The girl who had captured Ranma's attention, on the other hand, was having considerably different thoughts. While Akane presented the appearance of being a dutiful student, in truth, she was consumed more by an inner turmoil. She had to admit, spending time with Ranma this last little while had been sort of fun, if a little nerve wracking. She had gradually started to feel a little less nervous about him and her sister when no further unsettling events happened after the pair's meeting with Kuno's sister at the hospital, and even started to open up a little, especially the one afternoon they had spent at the park.
Yesterday, however, yesterday brought all her fears back, and then some.
She remembered when a friend's father had insisted on giving a largely neglected year old dog to the pound. As happens too often with Japanese pets, the family had bought a puppy because it was a fad and the animal was cute. However, no-one had invested any significant time into raising the animal, and when it got to be a nuisance it was given to the pound. After a week, it had been gassed.
Ranma and her own sister had, as far as she could tell, just condemned a Jusenko cursed person to that fate.
What was she going to do? Fortunately, Kasumi had agreed to go looking for the piglet. She hoped that they could save him. But Ranma... What was she going to do?
At that moment, the bell rang, startling both of the introspecting students slightly. At least the distraction provided some surcease for Akane's musings, but it only brought a new anxiety forward. At least while class was in session, she had a reasonable excuse to not talk to Ranma, but now...
"Hey Akane. You wanna go for ice cream or something?"
Akane started involuntarily. This was exactly what she had been fearing. What to do? What to do? "Uh, not today Ranma. I don't feel up to it, okay?" she replied, never quite looking at Ranma.
"Well, okay, maybe tomorrow. We can just go home and train, then."
"Um, not today, okay? I think it'd be better if I just go lay down." Akane finished stuffing her bookbag and stood up, making for the door.
"Ah, if you think so, but hey, wait up a minute!" Ranma frantically tried to stuff his notes and books into his own schoolbag, thereby succeeding only in creating a greater mess. Finally finishing, he lept through the classroom window to try to catch up to Akane, to no avail, she was already gone.
"Now what was that about?"
The sign above the building entrance read, 'Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Animal Protection and Consultation Center, Nermia Ward'. The small black pig had read it while being carried, struggling, into the facility. Now, it was confined into a small wire cage, where it had been for the last 4 days.
He, for it was a he, was deep in despair. It was odd, perhaps, to think of a pig in despair, but this wasn't exactly a normal pig. For the past four days, he had watched as some of the literally hundreds of thousands of pets abandoned by the notoriously fickle Japanese reached the end of their seven day grace period and were taken to the gas chamber in the back. The same fate would be in store for him, he knew, unless by some miracle one of the vanishingly small number of people who came here to adopt picked him.
The piglet sighed and rested his snout on his hooves. Like that was likely to happen. Damn that Ranma! If only he had a chance for revenge! The coward had begin by stealing the only meal he sometimes received in a day, and then had run away from his just revenge ! Worse, it was Ranma's fault he had been cursed. Given a couple of days with nothing to do but think he had eventually put two and two together and realized that the redhead in the schoolyard was Ranma. He even recognized her as the one who knocked him into the cursed spring to begin with.
Then, as if stealing his humanity was not enough, the asshole had somehow stolen his strength, even the little he had as a piglet, and made him unable to tolerate even the slightest touch of warm water, as he had unfortunately discovered when the staff had tried to wash him. He was still suffering from the burns.
Now, he had been sent to die in this cold, emotionless, prison; gassed to death like the animal whose form he wore, with just enough of a taste of hope to make the torture exquisite.
Lifting his head, Ryoga the piglet bwee'd his piggy challenge to the heavens. Damn you Ranma. Damn you. Damn you. Damn you. May you rot in the lowest depths of hell.
"Goodness, Buta-san. You certainly have a loud voice!"
Diverted from his piggy rant, Ryoga cast his gaze outside the cage where he saw a most heavenly sight indeed. A young woman stood outside his cage, obviously led there by one of the facility's staff members.
"Is this the piglet you were referring to Tendo-san?" the staff member asked the housedress clad young woman.
"Well, let me see. If you'd be kind enough to open the cage door for a moment. Yes, just that way. Buta-san, if you are who I think you may be, my sister was concerned and sent me to look for you. I have something here which you may find useful. I think that if I prop up this clipboard in the corner, you could probably hold this brush in your mouth, and here is some ink."
"Wow! How in the world did you train the piglet to make kanji? I can see why you'd want him back!"
"Yes, thank you," Kasumi replied while trying to read the inexpert and messy kanji Ryoga was fumbling over in his haste, anger, and ill equipped body. "Buta-san, it took me several days to find you, a little more time is not likely to hurt. If you'd be kind enough to wait while I finish the paperwork we'll soon have more and better opportunity for you to practice your writing. Also my sister would like to meet you. I'll be back momentarily." Kasumi gently closed the cage door and followed the attendant back to the front, wearing a pensive and worried expression.
The piglet sat back on his haunches, still clutching the brush in his teeth. Ryoga wasn't sure how to deal with this situation, but it seemed an angel had come to rescue him. At least now he had some hope. Hope to live. Hope that someone knew what he truly was. And maybe, just maybe, hope of revenge.
The ink splattered piglet sat on his haunches and grunted for Kasumi to take the latest sheet of paper. Kasumi sighed sadly from her seat on the park bench and arranged the answer to her last question at the end of pile of several similarly scribbled sheets. Idlely, she flipped through them again as she thought.
"My name is Ryoga."
While this method of communication left something to be desired, a piglet's mouth was not the most ideal of calligraphy instruments after all, it sufficed for simple questions.
"I'm a person, not a pig. I'm cursed." "Ranma cursed me."
The piglet's name was Ryoga, and indeed, he was a cursed person, similar to Ranma.
"I can't turn back" "Warm water burns"
He was a person who Ranma had apparently cursed, then with Nabiki's help, locked into cursed form and left to be killed at the animal pound.
"The girl, Nabiki, helped him"
This was so not good. Akane's worst fears were justified. Kasumi was worried and scared. Her middle sister and their houseguest had arranged what appeared to be cold blooded murder.
"She sent me to the pound." "I would be killed there."
What had happened to Nabiki that she would do such a thing? What had her sister become? And Ranma, who was Ranma, and what had he done? What else would he do?
"Well, Ryoga-san, we have to find a place for you to stay at. I don't dare take you home with me. Perhaps Mrs. Yamaguchi down the street would take you for a time. She's alone and wouldn't mind a companion. I think we can at least convince her that you are no normal pig. Meanwhile Akane and I will do what we can to find a cure. Please stay there until we come for you, alright ?"
The seated piglet nodded firmly, the motion accentuated by the brush hanging ludicrously from the corner of it's mouth. Rescue from the brink of death! Recognition as a human! Someone who helped him, rather than being repulsed by his curse! By now, Ryoga would do nearly anything for the wondrous angel before him.
Resolve filled him. He would wait, as asked. Then, when his angel succeeded in curing him, as she surely would, well, then he would be able to help her in his turn, by protecting her from the evil that was Ranma Saotome. He only prayed it happened soon. It galled him to think of the gentle angel Kasumi and her sister Akane under the same roof as Ranma, with no one to defend them.
Kasumi fretted as she gathered up the piglet and various writing materials. This was very serious indeed. Perhaps she could talk to her father? No, that was unlikely to work, her father would ignore the situation. The police would be of no help, she was certain, magic was not something they would accept. Well, at least she could tell Akane that she found the poor boy. Perhaps together they could come up with another idea.
"Hey Nabiki. You know what's going on with Akane? Kasumi seems awfully nervous too."
"Miracle of miracles. A Saotome actually notices something before it's shoved down his throat."
Ranma glared at his sometime partner. "Stuff it with the attitude. This is serious. The last couple of days Akane hasn't so much as stayed in the same room as me if she didn't have to. She's been skipp'n on practice, try'n to walk to school alone, and everything. That ain't like the tomboy." The next bit came out in a mutter almost too low to hear "I'm worried."
"I know, and we can't watch her if she's actively trying to avoid us. Sanzanin and Mousse at least are still coming in the near future, and then later we'll have to handle Happosai and Tarou." Nabiki paused a moment, then shook her head and continued, puzzled. "I'm not certain why. I'll try to talk to Kasumi and find out, if I can. Kasumi's been avoiding me, too. For now, just be discrete. Use the Umi-senken if you have to."
Ranma nodded, still obviously fretting.
Nabiki hesitated a moment, then tentatively reached a hand to Ranma's shoulder, only to drop it uncertainly a moment later. Attempting to cover her uncertainty with action, Nabiki stood and slowly walked from the room. "Let's get going Saotome. Long day tomorrow."
Authors notes
Whoot! School's out, no family emergencies, Christmas gifts are done, and work's little less stressful. I can write! Hope you've enjoyed.
For any who care, I'm also working on the next chapter of Requim Jam.
Authors notes
Okay, next installment. Hope it's enjoyed after the long delay. It's not huge, but moves the story along.
This chapter was largely set-up and character development, something I find much harder to write than action scenes. Ergo, I didn't show as much of (read any) Ranma and Akane's interactions as I'd have liked. Perhaps more of that next chapter.
Oh, credit to a Carrotglace story for the idea of the 'curse of truth' spell used on Kuno T., 'Permanent' I think it was (without checking).
Kindly let me know your reaction !