Chapter 6

As the glowing scroll arced toward Ranma, he positioned himself to take the brunt of whatever bizarre attack which might occur. To his surprise, all that happened was that he and Kasumi were enveloped in some type of a blue glow. At the same time, he saw a very agitated Cologne burst in through the door. She took one look at him and threw him a key that she seemed to carry around her neck. She was shouting something that sounded like "Goku thawillij", as she and the others became transparent. As he caught the key, which quickly went from transparent to fully opaque in his hand, he saw everyone but Kasumi fade from view. As the others faded, Ranma felt an immediate wrongness around him. He didn't have any words to describe the feeling. It was a combination of not being able to breathe, a huge weight applied to him, and the feeling that there was a Ki vacuum around him, wanting to draw the life force from him. His immediate reaction was to fight the drawing at his Ki, but his inner danger sense started screaming at him so he instead decided to shoulder the burden and to try to support the draw on his inner energies. He wasn't sure, but initially the room seemed to grow gray and lifeless, but when he allowed the surroundings to draw on his Ki, the room returned to normal. Within a few more seconds, the glow faded and he and Kasumi stood in an empty room.

What the heck was that he thought. Ranma looked back at Kasumi. "Are you all right Kasumi?"

"Yes, I believe I am. Ranma, where did everybody go?" asked a somewhat worried Kasumi.

Geesh, even a little worry on Kasumi looks pretty serious thought Ranma. "I'm not sure Kasumi. Gosunkugi threw that stupid glowing scroll at us, but instead of doing something to us, it seemed to make everybody else seemed to disappear." Not to mention creating this weird draw on my Ki he thought.

Kasumi looked around the house, and saw nothing out of place. "I hope that everyone is OK. It looks like nothing happened to the room. I wonder what that scroll did to them."

"Don't know Kasumi. What worries me is that I'm not sure who to ask. We don't seem to have the scroll, and I'd guess that only Cologne would know what it did." Ranma looked down, obviously trying to come up with some solution. I wish I knew why things feel so…lifeless around here. Within a few moments his face lit up with a smile. "How about Doc Tofu? He might be able to help!"

Kasumi beamed at Ranma. "That sounds like a wonderful idea Ranma!"

Oh heck, why did I suggest Tofu. With Kasumi here, we'll never get any answers. Ranma quickly tried to think of how to handle the potential dangerous situation he was putting himself in. Crap, I guess I'll have to ask Kasumi to wait outside when we get there. Got to be careful about mentioning her name though.

They both headed for the door, eager to find answers to the mystery before them. As they walked through house, it was eerily quiet. It didn't take long for them to realize that the missing people in the house were not the only thing wrong. As they went out the front gate of the Tendo compound, the continuing silence hit them both. Gone was the normal background hum of the normally busy district of Nerima. Instead, what greeted them was an absolute, uncanny silence.

"Ranma, something is wrong…it seems so quiet? We seem to be the only ones here."

"I don't know" agreed Ranma. "It sounds spooky…or it doesn't sound spooky…oh you know what I mean."

"Yes I do" she whispered in the dead quiet of the middle of the day. She was amazed at how she could hear the slightest bit of gravel crunch under her shoes. As they walked out the front gate, they looked up and down the quiet street.

"Let's try next door" she suggested. Ranma nodded in agreement and followed Kasumi next door where an older couple lived. She knocked on the front door only to be greeted by continued dead silence.

Ranma once again used his keen powers of observation and stated the obvious. "Looks like they're not home."

"You may be right Ranma, but do you hear anything at all?"

"Nope"

"Not even their dog?"

Ranma felt a chill go down his spine. The neighbor's dog was always home even when they went somewhere, and was one of those small dogs who was constantly barking at the slightest sound. That darned dog used to drive him bonkers whenever he walked by the house. In fact, the couple owned one dog, several cats, had a large fish tank... "No, not even their dog" he agreed. He stepped around Kasumi and opened the door.

"Do you think we should?" worried Kasumi.

Ranma looked back over his shoulder. "Yeah, we might as well check this out first before we go to Tofu. Maybe it will give us a clue." He stepped in through the door. "Anybody home?" he yelled to the empty house.

Silence and the echo of his voice was the only answer. They both stepped in through the door and tentatively made it down the hall, their steps sounding exceptionally loud in their ears. When they came to the main room, they both looked around, looking for any clue as to where everyone went. Most people mistakenly thought Kasumi was oblivious to her surroundings, in fact, she was just incredibly calm and centered. She didn't see anything out of place, instead, it was the lack of something that increased her level of concern.

"Ranma, I'm starting to get worried now. I don't think our family disappeared after all."

Ranma stopped his searching and looked back at Kasumi, confusion written on his face. "What do you mean?"

She walked over to the large fish tank. The large…empty…fish tank. She looked at Ranma and simply said "The fish are gone too."

"Ok, so the fish are gone, what does that mean?"

Kasumi knew Ranma was trying to figure this out as well, so she decided to try to be patient with him. "Ranma, if the people just went somewhere for a little bit, or for that matter even a long visit, do you think they would bring their fish with them?"

"No, they wouldn't bring them" he agreed. "So, what does that" he stopped in mid-sentence. He looked around the room again and it finally hit him. No dogs, no cats, no fish, no people…that overall lifeless feeling he felt around him. No! Please not that! He extended his senses to detect the ever-present fields of Ki that were a part of all life around them, only to find that the only other Ki signature he could detect was Kasumi. Period. "Come on Kasumi, let's get to Tofu's right now. I hope you're wrong about this, but I have a bad feeling you aren't"

They walked back out of the house and proceeded to Tofu's clinic. As they walked along the streets, the same sights greeted their every step. No people, no animals, nothing moving at all. Ranma was concerned enough about what had actually happened that he didn't even plan on having Kasumi stay out of Tofu's office when they got there. Neither of them said a word during this silent journey, and by the time they reached Tofu's clinic, they both knew what to expect even before they opened the door.

They weren't surprised to find that Tofu's clinic was as empty as everywhere else they had been. After touring the lifeless clinic, they both sat down on a couch in his waiting area. Kasumi was the first to break the awkward silence. "Ranma, I think that the scroll didn't do something to everyone else, instead it did something to us after all. We seem to be the only ones left…or maybe the only ones here. I'm not sure how, but it seems like this looks like Nerima, but somehow it isn't really Nerima."

"I'm not sure what happened either" he agreed. "But I think you may be right. I can't feel anybody else's Ki signatures. It's funny, I never really noticed it before, but it was like a familiar background buzz. Now that it's gone, it feels just as strange as this silence sounds." He turned to look at her worried face.

"Do you really think we're the only ones left?" she asked.

He gave her a weak smile. "Yeah, it kinda feels like it." He couldn't keep her gaze and looked back across the vacant street again.

"Do you know how to get us back?"

Man, he hated to admit when he was stuck! "No Kasumi, I don't. But don't worry, I promise I'll get us back, heck nothing's ever stopped me before has it?" He boasted. Just saying the words made him feel a little better. "We'll figure out something, let's go back home and come up with a plan there." He stood up and said. "Come on, let's go home."

They made the unnaturally quiet walk back to their house and went inside. As they took off their shoes, the ever present Saotome hunger let itself be heard with a noticeable rumble. Ranma looked sheepishly at Kasumi. "Sorry Kasumi, it's been a while since I had something to eat."

She laughed. "Now it's my turn to tell you to not worry. It's nice to now that not everything changed. I'll make us some dinner." She headed into the kitchen while Ranma sat down in front of the TV. He was surprised to see that some stations were broadcasting, and others were not. "Hey Kasumi look there's some stuff on TV!"

Kasumi quickly came out of the kitchen. "Really! Maybe we aren't the only ones after all!" She sat down next to Ranma and watched as he searched through the channels. Their hopes were soon dashed as they both realized that the News channels were blank, and it was only stations broadcasting recorded programs that were on the air.

Her smile faltered a bit, and she finally admitted. "Oh well, looks like we are alone after all. I guess the only shows working are the ones that were on automatic" she said.

Ranma didn't have anything else to add and Kasumi stood and went back into the kitchen to make dinner. "Kasumi, if you don't mind, I'm going to go to the dojo to do some katas for a bit. Could you give me a call when dinner is ready?"

Kasumi hid her disappointment. She really didn't want to be alone right now, but she knew that Ranma would find comfort in his art, and she was willing to work in the quiet for a bit if it helped him. "Certainly Ranma, I'll call you when I'm done"

--

Kasumi hadn't finished preparing dinner when she heard Ranma come back into the kitchen. "Ranma, dinner's not ready yet. You could have stayed longer….."

Ranma felt awkward about this, but he knew how quiet it was while he was practicing. In many ways, it was a wonderful new experience. He could sense how much it had bothered Kasumi earlier, and as he worked out he started feeling…guilty…about leaving Kasumi by herself. He decided that he should probably come and keep her company in the kitchen. His instincts (and the voice of his father) told him that he shouldn't worry about a girl's feelings, but the quiet around him kept reminding him how abnormal their situation was. In the end, the quiet helped convince him to go visit Kasumi. Ranma looked at her sheepishly, before he finally said. "Well, it was kinda quiet in there. I never thought I'd say this, but it was too quiet to practice. I thought I'd…ah…see if you needed any help?"

The smile that appeared on her face confirmed that he had said the right thing. "Why thank you Ranma, I'd love to have the company. I know what you mean; it seems so quiet without all of your silly friends barging in."

"Yeah, and without Akane screaming at me for one thing or another." He finished.

"Why don't you set the table while I finish this last dish"

"Sure thing!" He immediately grabbed the dishes, cups, bowls and utensils and with a mad flurry of activity, set the table for their meal.

Kasumi brought over the meal and the two of them made short work of the delicious food, or rather, Ranma made his usual short work of the meal.

"You know Ranma" she said as the last of the noodles seemed to teleport off of his plate. "Without your father here, I don't think you need to eat quite so fast." Her eyes twinkled with amusement as she watched his realization of the situation.

"Uh…yeah…I suppose you're right Kasumi. I'll try to do better next time." Ranma looked down at his plate. "Sorry…"

"Oh that's quite alright. I understand what your father put you through. I just thought we might as well look at this as a vacation until we figure out how to get back. You know, nobody can bother you while you are here."

Ranma sat and thought about what Kasumi said. A smile slowly spread across his face. A vacation…yeah! Nobody to bother me, no un-cute tomboys, not violent Ryoga, no lunatic Kuno, or plotting fathers! "Ok, I think I can do that. I don't think I've ever had a vacation before. I've always been with Pops…never had any quiet…except up on the roof sometime."

"Well, I have a feeling that finding quiet will be the least of your problems." She paused, and Ranma could tell she was considering something. "I suppose…I could…make sure and not bother you while we are here." Kasumi looked down at her plate as well.

"Kasumi, you are the one person who has never bothered me! Besides, even though quiet is nice, it's kinda nice to have you around." He paused, looking contemplative. "You know, you're the only I can ever think of that's ever really been always nice to me. I feel…peaceful when you're around. I…kinda like it"

"Why thank you Ranma. I must admit, it was nice when you came back from the dojo before dinner was ready. I liked the company as well"

"Great. OK. Well let me help clean up…if that's OK" he said softly.

"Thank you, I'd love the help." She was only somewhat surprised that Ranma had offered to help. She knew that he normally kept up the image of tough guy to satisfy the bizarre desires of his father and mother. Without them around, the nice part of him that was normally hiding in the background could safely come out. She led the way to the kitchen, with Ranma following behind.

----

Ranma and Kasumi didn't realize the impact they had on the world they had been sent to, but the others certainly did. Just as an inoculation can protect the target host, so did the presence of Ranma, the human Ki battery, on this world. Cologne was correct in her identification of the scroll. It had indeed sent Ranma and Kasumi to "yesterday", a normally dreary lifeless world that had a very limited lifespan. That lifespan being terminated by uncaring creatures whose sole bizarre responsibility was to remove said world from existence. Ranma's life force was enough to effectively keep this current world in a 'standby' status, rather than letting it 'shutdown' in its usual manner. Of course being in standby was far different than normal operation, which eventually would become evident to both human inhabitants. All in all, they were extremely fortunate that Ranma had the natural Ki reserves that he was sharing with the world around them.

Hikaru Gosunkugi, however, was not so lucky.

----

Hikaru was somewhat disoriented as he started to awaken from Cologne's pressure point attack. His vision was just clearing as he heard Cologne recite the words that he had just recently spoken himself, and he didn't have the coordination yet to even attempt to get out of the way when she lobbed the scroll in his direction.

As he lay on the floor of the dojo, he watched the people surrounding him become translucent and then fade from view. This was no surprise to him, as he knew how the scroll worked and where he had been sent. By the time he was fully recovered from his condition, the finality of his situation hit him and he continued to sit on the floor in an uncontrolled fit of depression.

"Why, oh why did this have to happen" he wailed. "All I wanted was to be with the beautiful Akane. The only reason they probably did this to me was to avenge the disappearance of their sister. Didn't they realize that was an accident?"

He surveyed his surroundings and noticed two things immediately. First, everyone was gone as he expected. Well, actually it wasn't that they were gone, as much as he had been sent to the past. The scroll described this place as "Yesterday", a place where the static pieces of the world were sent as life moved on. Judging by the plants he still saw in the yard, the scroll meant animal life, not all life.

The other thing he noticed was the overall dull, lifeless look that everything had. Colors seemed to be washed out and as he got up and walked around the room he noticed that any noises he made seemed to be unusually muffled. His own clothes, even though they were mostly black, seemed to stand out with their darker and less muted colors. His skin also seemed to have its normal pasty shade, and was not as drab as his current surroundings. The scroll had referred to something that lived in this place named "Lan-goh-leers" or at least, that was the closest he could come to the pronunciation. If he was lucky, they would be friendly and they were some type of people that might help him return home. He went to the kitchen looking for food and was able to find some rolls in refrigerator. He returned to the table and sat down, inspecting the food he had found in his trip to the kitchen. The food seemed as washed out as his surroundings. He suspected that it had to do with this place and was not indicative of the quality of the food itself. He took tentative bit, only to grimace as he swallowed the strangely tasteless but unpleasant bite of food. Oh great, I won't be able to eat anything while I'm here. This sent him into another round of depression, where he merely sat and brooded at the table, still holding the roll in his right hand.

After a short while, he decided he should at least force himself to eat the bland food before him. As he looked at the food in his hand, he noticed that the roll he was holding now seemed to be brighter, and more normally colored than those on the plate

That's odd. He thought to himself. I guess I must have 'warmed it up' by holding it long enough. He confirmed his theory with the next bite. He quickly downed the roll and then with quick insight, placed some of the rolls in his pocket. I'll just 'warm them up' by keeping them with me and then I can eat them later. He was pleased; he would figure a way out of this. Now all he had to do is find those langalo-somethings and see if they could help him.

Like a lamb to the slaughter, Hikaru set off to find the inhabitants of this strange dead world.

Author's Note: I'd like to thank again everyone for their kind reviews. I'm glad that so many seem to be enjoying the story.