Chapter Nine: Kama Itachi – Spirit of the Wind
Iori watched the boy with an amused smirk. He liked the kid already, from that little scene he and Terry had walked in on. Truth be told, the boy pissed Kyo off to no end, and that was a huge plus in Iori's book. Plus, Iori recognized the girl. After all, her father had been a friend of his father's.
Okay, so they weren't really related, but he remembered the fond times he spent when he and his father passed through the area while training and stopped by to visit them. He felt sorry for Kasumi, after all, they had stopped visiting after her mother had died, but he had always liked her. She was, after all, the little sister he never had.
Yagami Iori, family guy. He snorted in disgust, praying that no one ever found out. His image would never survive it.
Actually, Iori mused, watching Kyo trying to cower behind Kasumi was kind of funny. The Yagami heir snorted. First he ran away from him, now he was hiding behind a girl. Wait till this got out to the public. He tried to stop it, he really did. It started as a low chuckle, and grew into a full-blown laugh as he tossed his head back and laughed out loud to his heart's content.
"Hey, don't laugh at me!" Kyo's protest only caused Iori to laugh harder. It proved infectious, as Terry chuckled and Kasumi and her companion broke into identical smiles.
"Now, Kyo, there's no need to start a fight in the middle of the street," Terry noted with a grin. "We don't want to cause any property damage, now, do we?"
The Kusanagi heir glared at the American, but relented. He did, however, snap at Ranma, only to have his wrist painfully twisted behind his back in a perfect Aikido grip as he tried to reach for the young man's shoulder.
Said pigtailed martial artist arched an eyebrow. "He always like this?"
"Cousin Kyo, you really shouldn't be attacking my fiancee like that," Kasumi admonished him, causing his eyes to widen in shock. "It's better for your health."
"Never!" Kyo roared as he sprung to his feet. "I'll never allow you to marry Kasumi!"
Kyo's lunge at Ranma's throat was interrupted by Iori's fist. The Yagami heir growled as he moved in between Kyo and the couple, and fell into his usual slouched fighting stance. "Leave them alone, Kusanagi scum," he snarled.
Across from him, Kyo likewise fell into a combat stance, magatama beginning to coalesce in his hands. "Get out of the way, Yagami. This is none of your business."
Ranma sighed half-heartedly. "Not this again."
"Well, Ranma-kun, at least he hasn't said 'it' yet," Kasumi giggled. Ranma marvelled at how his chaotic life always seemed to amuse his fiancee. After all, it wasn't every day that you found a girl with her sense of humor who found his life interesting enough to put up with him.
"Geese Howard, prepare to die!!!"
Four heads whipped around at the familiar war cry that, oddly enough, had a different target than Nerima was accustomed to. Terry merely sighed in disgust.
"Duck," he told the others as he crouched. Shrugging, the others followed suit.
Moments later, a white and yellow blur shot through the space their heads had just occupied with a cry of "Chou Reppa Dan!" It crashed into a nearby wall with enough force to break through. It was quickly followed by a purple blast of ki from the sky as Geese Howard landed on his feet easily.
The crime lord eyed Terry carefully. "Well, Terry?"
The elder Bogard glared at Geese but held himself back, instead busying himself with digging out his brother from the collapsed wall.
Meanwhile, Ranma and Kasumi were watching the scene curiously. "Looks like you're not the only one who seems to get that a lot, Ranma-kun," Kasumi noted.
Iori and Kyo, in the meantime, had returned to their staring match, until Geese knocked them both upside the head.
"Save it for the tournament. Kusanagi, the rest of your parade has arrived." Geese glared at the Kusanagi heir, and even Kyo was smart enough to realize that the fighting would be best left for another day.
Iori shrugged, clearly disappointed, and turned around to grin at Kasumi. "How've you been, Kasumi-chan?" He didn't miss the dangerous gleam in Ranma's eyes at the term of affection.
Kasumi smiled and leaned forward to give him a brief hug. "I've been well, Iori-kun. It's been a long time." She turned around, catching Ranma's eye, and the pigtailed boy relaxed, something that didn't escape both Iori and Geese.
"Touching. However, Yagami, we still have something to discuss. Namely, your lack of a team this year."
Iori sniffed disdainfully. "I can take out those nitwits by myself."
"That may be true," Geese chuckled, "but the rules are the rules."
Iori grunted noncommittally as his eyes settled on Ranma, and an idea began to form. He grinned, causing Geese to wonder what the Yagami heir was up to now.
"How about it, kid?" Iori asked.
"Me?" Ranma's eyes widened. "Do you even have to ask?"
Iori smirked at Geese. "One more."
"If I recall the team listing correctly, Howard-san," Kasumi added from the sidelines as she realized what Iori was planning, "you're not in any team, either."
Geese took a sudden step back as their plan hit him. "Oh no. I'm not partnering with you two. We'll have too much fighting each other." He grinned at Ranma meaningfully before turning around. "Besides, my team's just arrived."
Kasumi pouted slightly at their failure. Ranma saw it and leaned up, placing a quick kiss on her lips, blushing as he did. Iori merely turned away.
"Get a room, you two," he mumbled, hiding a grin behind his hands.
"Say, Iori-kun, do you have a place to stay?" Kasumi's question brought him back around to face his friend and her boyfriend.
"Not really." He shrugged. "I was planning on renting out a room somewhere till all the fighters got together."
"Then you'll stay with us," Kasumi announced. "Won't you?"
Iori looked confused for a moment at the piercing look she was giving him when Ranma took a step forward and whispered, "Better accept, if you know what's good for you. Kasumi gets mean if you turn her down."
The Yagami heir shuddered at the thought of the ever-friendly Kasumi he knew being "mean," so much that he didn't even want to think about it. "Sure," he told her, and a moment later, all three were headed back to the Tendo dojo.
V---------------------V
When they got home, they had a surprise waiting for them. The smell of ramen was wafting from the kitchen, and animated chatter was coming from the living room. Ranma opened the door, only to find his arms full of lavender-haired amazon. He stumbled backwards into Iori, who pushed him back forward with a smirk.
His martial arts training took over, and Ranma turned his body as he fell, and wrapping his arms around the girl clinging to him. The end result was that he ended up on his back, on the ground, with Shampoo right on top of him in a rather compromising position.
"Wo da airen! Wo ai ni!" Shampoo's voice and words took him back to a different time, and he blanched, completely missing the mischievous glint in her eyes.
The next thing Ranma saw out of the corner of his eye was Kasumi's hurt look, and he shot to his feet, letting go of Shampoo as if his hands were burned.
"It isn't what it looks like! Honest!" He began waving his hands in front of him, screwing his eyes shut in light of the coming lecture.
"Ranma-kun," Kasumi began slowly. "You really should have kissed her. She was so looking forward to it."
The pigtailed boy's eyes shot back open as he fell down back to the ground. "Wha-?" he squeaked intelligently.
Kasumi and Shampoo finally couldn't stop it anymore and broke out into soft giggles. "Honestly, Ranma-kun, you're so easy to tease," Kasumi smiled as she gave the amazon a hug.
"It good to see Ranma no change." Shampoo agreed as she turned from Kasumi to Ranma, and smiled, giving him a quick hug and a peck on the cheek. The amazon then turned her attention to the red-haired man. Kasumi noticed and introduced him.
"Shampoo, this is Yagami Iori. He's an old friend of mine, and he'll be participating in the King of Fighters."
Shampoo eyed him appreciatively, before grinning. Iori eyed her with an appraising glance for a moment, before nodding and grinning in return. "You interested in joining me and the kid?" At her quizzical look he elaborated as the group moved to sit down at the table. "Every participant has to be part of a group of three fighters. The way the tournament works," Iori stole a glance at Ranma, noticing that the pigtailed martial artist was listening with rapt attention as well, before continuing, "is that the fighters in the ring stays till they drop. Winning team is obviously the one with the last man standing."
Iori smirked. Hook, line, and sinker. He could see the glow in the girl's eyes as they lit up in anticipation, and was pleased to note that his initial impression of the two had been correct. They're fighters to the bone, through and through.
V---------------------V
Her arrival was not heralded with a puff of sulfuric smoke, or any of the other fancy effects that usually accompanied the arrival of major divinities. Hild sighed as she stepped out of the shadow of a large tree in the Morisato temple's yard; if one looked closely, they would be able to see the slightest sign of weariness in her usually immaculate features.
Though Hild, queen of Nifleheim would never admit it to anyone else, the last few weeks had left her drained emotionally and mentally. She even felt a few centuries older. The reason for this was quite simple – for the second time in only a few years, a mortal had managed to rattle at the very foundation of their divine society. And it was the same mortal that had defeated a rogue demon just a few years back, to boot.
She had been following the events of Amatsu Mikaboshi's revival, naturally, and had been prepared to step in – after all, it would not do to tip the already fragile balance of power between the gods and demons by adding such a rogue element, but as she continued to listen and watch, she had to admit that the daughter of Amaterasu had quite a few valid points.
Hild distinctly felt regret about the mortal lives lost – not just because it led to more paperwork for herself, but because of the senseless deaths that had been caused by either side in the brief, but brutal, conflict. She sighed as she remembered processing Cologne. The ancient woman had been around for a long time, and Hild had met her once or twice while visiting Midgard; the elder demoness had been impressed with the knowledge Cologne had displayed, but what had awed her far more was how she lived. It always amazed Hild how mortals could live such a simple life, without any magic whatsover, without the constant peace and stagnation afforded by the realm of the gods.
When she had first met Cologne, back when the amazon was a mere young woman, she had scoffed at the fact that Cologne had simply smiled and shrugged and told her she was happy as it was. As time went on, however, Hild had found herself fascinated by her, and she visited a number of times. Though for the elder demoness it was but the blink of an eye, decades passed for Cologne, and soon Hild found herself faced with a wizened old woman whose arcane knowledge could rival some of the gods.
Still, despite her years, despite all she had seen, Cologne continued to be content in the simple way of life she led, and Hild found herself admiring her ability to live life with such a simple intensity, such determination to squeeze the most she could out of every single day.
It was then that she realized that mortals might not be such inferior creatures, after all. Despite their lack of magic, or anything truly powerful, they had managed to band together, form a civilization, and make advances in technology that had equalled or surpassed almost anything that could be found in Asgard or Nifleheim.
It had pained her to see Cologne's soul pass through the gates of the underworld, on the way to the afterlife, and she had personally seen to it that Cologne had a place amongst those in the fields of Elysium. Valhalla, Paradise, Nirvana, it was just a different name for the place of rest for those who'd been deemed worthy, and whose souls would await their rebirth if they so chose. She had finally met Cologne in her true form, and the amazon had merely smiled at her, recognition in her eyes.
"It's been a long time," she had said. "I've missed your visits and our chats, but now it seems I have all eternity to sit and talk." Cologne had laughed at her shell-shocked expression. When asked how she had seen through her disguise magic, Cologne had merely shrugged. Her ki-signature had given her away.
With a smirk, Cologne had explained. "Rarely have I seen such a strong lifeforce, child. I knew from the moment we met, when I could feel your ki, that you were one of the immortals. I never thought it mattered all that much, after all, when two friends talk, does it really matter who they are?"
Her complete disregard of her divinity had thrown Hild for a loop, but she smiled fondly when she remembered another person who had been impossible to awe with her divine status. She had shown Cologne the way, and promised to visit soon, for tea and a chat about the old times.
Cologne had chuckled and promised to keep a kettle on the stove in preparation, and had asked one last thing of her before she had stepped through the gates of Elysium.
"Please, old friend," Cologne had begun, "watch over them. Watch over my great-granddaughter, and watch over Ranma. I know that Ranma will blame himself for our deaths, and I know he won't stop until he's either convinced he's not at fault, or he has found a way to bring us back, even if it means challenging the gods. They both deserve some happiness in their lives, and I'm afraid that some gods may not take it lightly when he comes looking for vengeance."
Hild had thought about it for a moment; from what she had seen of the pigtailed boy's character when she had met him briefly a few years ago, she knew Cologne was right. The boy had such a determination, such an iron will, that he would move Heaven and Earth to right a wrong. She also knew from watching his little altercation with Amaterasu that he wasn't afraid of going up against someone whose power apparently dwarfed his own.
In the end, she had given Cologne a curt nod and walked away. Ever since, she had been watching him, and she'd been happy to inform Cologne when Ranma had come out of his funk. The two had spent quite a lot of time at Mimir's Well, staring down onto Midgard, watching them live their lives.
It was this, that had brought Hild to visit her daughter. While watching Ranma deal with the fallout of the events in China, she had also seen Urd's trouble in dealing with the same. She knew he daughter had a soft spot for Ranma, especially after all they had been through together during the demon incursion in Joketsuzoku a few years back. Hild allowed herself a wry smile. It was funny, how fate tied them all together, demons and gods and mortals, into the huge tapestry that was life.
Hild's musings caused her to miss a certain robot, and she was rudely shaken from her thoughts when she found herself coughing up baking flour.
"Stay away, demon!" A young voice was shouting from the other side of the makeshift smokescreen, causing Hild to arch an elegant eyebrow.
The flour in the air finally cleared, and Hild wiped the white powder from her face in irritation as she turned to glare at her would-be attacker.
"Eep!"
Hild caught the barest flash of a young girl with long black hair as she hid behind the mechanical contraption that still had its flour-covered barrel aimed at her.
"Oh my!" Belldandy stood in the open door, attracted by the commotion. She had her hand covering her mouth in shock, while Urd, who was standing next to her, wasn't quite as restrained. The Norn of the past let out a soft giggle, causing Hild to soften her glare. With a mischievous grin, the elder demoness teleported behind her daughter, with a summoned bag of flour in hand.
Ignoring Urd's shriek of indignation, Hild dumped the contents of the bag on her daughter, drenching her in the white powder. Urd coughed away the flour and whirled around but her retort died on her lips when both Hild and Belldandy broke out into laughter.
"What brings you here, Hild-san?" Belldandy asked after their initial laughter had calmed down.
The queen of Nifleheim shrugged. "Can't I spend some time with my daughter?"
Urd grinned. "Don't tell me that's the only reason you came."
"Just the major one. I also haven't had any decent whiskey in ages." Hild matched her daughter's grin; however, it quickly faded. "Seriously, Urd, how've you been?"
"Well, I suppose." Urd shrugged. "I told them. We're…kinda unsure how to deal with it."
Hild smiled. It was nice to see her daughter finally opening up and seeking support from her sisters; after being shunned because of her half-demon, half-divine heritage, it had become natural for her to recluse herself.
"How's Ranma?" Belldandy's question surprised Hild. As far as she knew, neither Belldandy nor Skuld had had much contact with the pigtailed young man.
"He's doing well. I have it on good authority that he'll be back to his stubborn, obnoxious self shortly."
"Can we visit him?" Both Urd and Hild turned around as Skuld spoke for the first time other than an apology for Banpei's attack.
"Why?" The question came out of Hild's mouth before she could stop herself. Urd and Belldandy wanting to visit the boy was understandable – Urd knew him fairly well, and Belldandy had met him often enough to be concerned about his well-being; then again, Belldandy was concerned about everyone's well-being.
Skuld blinked at the counter-question. "I-" She struggled with words for a moment, before giving up and hanging her head. "Forget I asked."
"No, we can go visit him, I just wanted to know why you asked. I understand why your sisters would, but you only met him once, and briefly at that." Hild noted with amusement that Urd was just as confused as she was, while Belldandy seemed to know something, or at least had a guess.
"I don't know…I guess, I just want to meet him, okay? "
"What Skuld is trying to say, I think," Belldandy added, "is that from what Urd told us, Ranma-kun has suffered quite a bit, and we all would like to see how he is doing, and offer our condolences."
"Sure, kid," Hild smiled. "That can be arranged."
V---------------------V
"Howard-san, you have a visitor."
Geese frowned. He was willing to bet good money that it was either of the Bogard brothers – after all, they broke into his office often enough back in Southtown. Not that he could begrudge them that, he did, after all, kill their father, and he was intimately familiar with the concept of revenge.
What annoyed him to no end, however, was that Andy Bogard couldn't even come close to hitting him, and while Terry had gotten much, much stronger, for some reason Geese had lost interest in fighting him. There were more pressing concerns he had to consider, like the divorce papers his wife, Marie, was currently in the process of filing.
She had apparently had had enough of his reputation as a brutal crime lord, and with a heavy sigh he admitted he had been neglecting both her and her son. He should never had let it come this far, he admitted to himself, that his quest for finding and fighting stronger and stronger opponents led him to forget about his family.
Now that the deed was done, he was pulling the reins as hard as he could, trying to turn the train around, but deep down he knew it was already far too late. He'd known it was too late the night Marie had told him Terry Bogard had come for a visit and told her quite a few things about him.
It was sad, really. After Marie had kicked him out of the house, Billy had informed him that Terry was spending more and more time with Rock. More time than he, Geese, ever had. He had pretty much given up on ever getting her back, instead, throwing himself into organizing the next King of Fighters tournament in the hope to forget about it in the heat of battle.
However, the person walking through the doors was not Terry Bogard. In hindsight, Geese should have suspected something was odd the moment he didn't hear the usual sounds of gratuitous violence from the usual fight between Billy and Terry. The crimelord arched an eyebrow when Ranma walked in. The pigtailed young man strode forward with a sureness and confidence that caused Geese to smirk inwardly. That boy would make for a good fight.
"What can I do for you?" He steepled his fingers as he braced his elbows on his desk.
"I want a rematch."
Geese shrugged. "There's always the tournament."
Ranma matched his smirk. "Yes, but who's to say you're going to make it to the finals?"
"Who's to say you're going to make it? You're still one short."
"Not anymore." Ranma was positively grinning now. "How about it? Just you and me, and we'll finish what we started in the dojo."
Geese thought about it for a moment. It was a tempting offer, a one-on-one fight with someone he had handpicked to send an invitation to, and for good reason. Now that the boy had apparently recovered from whatever funk he had been in, he should be much more of a challenge. Geese could see it in his eyes. They were alive and burning brightly with a keen desire to fight.
"How about-" He was about to make his counter-offer when the doors burst open again, and a rapid series of ki-blasts tore through the newly-made hole, heading straight for Geese's desk.
The two leapt apart, allowing the energy blasts to pass in between them harmlessly, unless you counted the obliterated desk. Geese smirked. This particular attack, he knew, though he wouldn't have expected Terry Bogard to start throwing around ki-blasts in a busy office building.
However, the man walking through the blasted remains of the door was not quite what Geese had expected. Usually the elder Bogard was relatively calm in stating his challenge, but this time Geese could see nothing but hatred burning in his blue eyes. They were expressionless, except for this one emotion, and the crime lord instinctively found himself backing up.
Behind Terry, Geese could see the charred remains of what had been hired security guards. They weren't moving, but he could still feel their ki. Despite the warning signals his brain was sending, he straightened, sliding into his favored defensive stance. "So, what brings you here this time, Terry?" His smirk lacked the usual bravado.
"Your death." Terry's voice was deathly quiet, but to Geese, it seemed to echo impossibly loud in the room. For one of the few times in his life, he admitted to himself, he was frightened. This was not the regular Terry Bogard. Something had to have happened in the week since he had last seen him.
Ranma, likewise, eyed the younger blonde warily. Like Geese, he could feel the hatred rolling off Terry in waves, and he shuddered involuntarily. This was worse than Ryoga at his lowest. What struck Ranma, however, was the change in Terry's eyes; they held a bloodlust he had only seen a few times before, on those handful of opponents he had been forced to fight to the death. It was the desire to kill, without remorse or regret. He didn't really seem to regret almost burning the two guards outside to death, Ranma mused.
No, this wasn't Terry Bogard at all. This was some devil who'd taken his form.
"Couldn't wait till the tournament, eh, Bogard?"
Ranma turned around at Geese's voice. He could see the older man was more than a little afraid of the sudden change in Terry's behavior, but their only answer was a wave of energy speeding towards them as Terry slammed his fist into the ground with a cry of "Power Geysir!"
Ranma soon found that jumping back wasn't an option. The pigtailed martial artist's back hit the back wall of the office, and the wave continued to race towards both him and Geese, expanding in size as it went.
That's gonna hurt, he thought, crossing his arms and pooling his ki into a shield before him. He could easily feel the massive amounts of power that radiated off the attack, and it dwarfed any ki-blast he had ever thrown except the ones he had summoned on Jusendo.
He was still braced for the impact when his senses tingled with a new energy springing up before him, just moments before he heard Geese's roar.
"Raging Storm!" The dark blue ki flared upwards, wild ribbons slashing into the air around the crime lord, warring with Terry's Power Geysir, until, with a blinding flash, the two attacks cancelled, leaving a drained Geese kneeling on the ground where he had unleashed his technique.
Ranma eyed the elder Bogard nervously. That massive attack must have taxed his opponent's energy reserves heavily, but it wouldn't do to dismiss his enemy just because he was tired. In fact, Ranma had to duck and roll under a flying kick that broke through the plaster wall behind him, exposing the next room over. The pigtailed martial artist rolled to his feet, falling back into a defensive stance as Terry rose from the rubble.
"What's with you, man? Snap out of it!"
The reply he got was a rapid series of punches as the blonde man charged towards him, forcing Ranma to flip out of the way. The pigtailed martial artist frowned as he spun in mid-air as a snap-kick clipped him. He grabbed a hold of the offending leg and, using it as leverage, propelled himself over Terry in a somersault.
The back kick Ranma snapped out as he landed staggered the blonde forward, and both spun around to face each other. Before Ranma could move, Geese slid in behind Terry, kicking his legs out from under him. Before either could take advantage of the situation, however, Geese flew straight up into the air as Terry connected with his trademark move.
"Rising Tackle!"
Ranma gaped as the crime lord was sent airborne. He recovered fast! Shaking himself out of his stupor, the pigtailed boy rushed in, hoping to catch Terry off-balance. The rising kick Ranma launched himself into angled in towards the other man's turned back. Ranma barely had time to turn his grin into a frown when he saw Terry begin to flip in the air, and then his world spun out of control.
The pigtailed boy careened away from Terry's counter, crashing into the remnants of the heavy wooden desk Geese had been using. Ranma rose from the broken wood, shaking the cobwebs from his head as his eyes narrowed at his opponent. He's pushing it. "Moko Takabisha!"
The ki-blast slammed into the elder Bogard, sending him flying out of the hole that had once been the door to the office. Ranma bolted past a rising Geese, intent on pressing his advantage, only to flip out of the way of Terry's return attack. The ki wave travelled along the ground, passing by underneath him as Ranma took to the air. The pigtailed martial artist allowed himself a satisfied smirk when Terry leapt up to meet him.
"Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken!"
Terry found himself bombarded by hundreds of punches as he crashed back into the ground. Ranma twisted in mid-air as he came down, his fist glowing with his ki. Let's see if it works, he thought.
Geese was about to rush the downed Terry when a massive explosion forced him to shield his eyes.
"Kama Itachi!" The whirlwind of energy that exploded around Ranma as he slammed his fist into the ground next to Terry could easily rival that of Geese's own Raging Storm as, impossibly, the wind in the lobby picked up to near-hurricane levels and waves of ki pulsed off the pigtailed boy.
After a minute, the glow faded, and Geese lowered the hand he had been shielding his eyes with, to see Ranma standing over Terry's unconscious body. The Japanese boy turned around at him and grinned.
"I've been saving it for our rematch," he chuckled, "but I figure it was worth it." When Geese said nothing, Ranma laughed. "Wish I had a camera. That look on your face is priceless."
Geese managed to close his mouth, shaking his head in amazement that this boy had somehow managed to emulate the succession technique of the Hakkyosaiken Ryu. Both of them turned their attention to Terry when he groaned and sat up.
"What the heck hit me?" The blonde rubbed the back of his head as he stood, then looked around him in confusion. "What the heck happened here?"
Ranma glanced around the destruction the fight had caused. "Dunno. You kinda went nuts and tried to kill him." The pigtailed martial artist jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at Geese. "Now that you're back to normal, mind telling us why you went on a murdering rampage?"
Terry's eyes widened in horror. "Dear God…what have I done?"
V---------------------V
"That is your idea of a succession technique?" Ranma felt for Terry, he really did. After four years he still hadn't completely gotten over the fact that he had killed in anger. He'd learned to live with it, sure, but that didn't mean he had to like it. At Terry's explanation, however, he had to shake his head.
"What in the world possessed you to go and try something so stupid?" Apparently, Geese didn't have quite as much trouble voicing his opinion. "There is a reason Tung Fu Rue didn't teach you the entirety of the Hakkyosaiken Ryu."
The younger blonde hung his head. "I didn't think it'd end up like this. I thought maybe I'd just-"
"The Hakkyosaiken Ryu is powered by dark ki," Geese interrupted roughly. "You're almost completely incompatible with dark ki, because you don't have the mindset for it. You can't generate ki based off of negative emotions, it's almost as good as poison for you. What you saw is the result."
"You mean he lost control and went nuts because he tried to use the same negative-emotion based ki you're using?" Ranma frowned, glad that both of them were considerate enough to hold their conversation in Japanese. He was fluent enough in English, but he appreciated the gesture nontheless.
Geese nodded. "That's essentially right."
"Wait, why are you even using emotion-based ki? It's not nearly as powerful if you need emotions to generate it."
The crime lord stared at Ranma for a moment. "If you don't let it control you, you'd be surprised how strong it can be. That pure ki you're referring to is what Bogard's trying to achieve, to become one with the Earth."
The pigtailed martial artist stared back until Geese smirked. "What?" Ranma blinked, slightly annoyed at the older man's quick change in demeanor.
"It's got a lot to do with a lot of stuff I don't particularly care to get into, so don't worry about it, kid." Geese turned towards Terry. "Look, Terry, we may not get along particularly well, but at least take this advice from me: don't try and use a power that's so obviously incompatible with something you believe in." His expression softened somewhat. "Even I can see how much killing those two men out there hurt you."
"I thought you wanted me dead?" Terry frowned. "Why not just let my own technique kill me?"
Geese chuckled. "I think all that negative ki is still scrambling your head. You came here looking for a fight, forcing me and the kid here to fight back." He shot a pointed look at Ranma, who merely shrugged, having correctly interpreted it as "We'll talk later."
"Besides, I never wanted you dead," Geese continued.
"What?"
Geese stood, moving over to look out the window of his temporary office. "You're the closest thing Rock has to a father figure right now. I'm not going to take that away from him."
"What?"
"You heard right. Just because I don't live with Marie and Rock doesn't mean I don't know what's going on around them. Marie probably hates me, but I won't just abandon them."
"What?" Terry's mouth hung agape.
Geese turned around, a sour look on his face. "I don't like repeating myself. I still love Marie and Rock. Killing you would achieve nothing but hurt them. Period." His eyes narrowed, and Terry gulped inadvertently, knowing that if he brought up the subject again he would be pummeled rather painfully.
"I don't really know what's going on," Ranma mused from the sidelines as he watched, "but maybe you should take your own advice." He stared pointedly at Geese.
"What exactly do you mean by that, kid?" The older blonde's voice took on a dangerous undertone.
Ranma merely smirked. "You're wallowing. Someone once told me feeling sorry for yourself isn't going to help anyone. As long as you can still fight, get up and fight. I'm thinking if you really want your wife and son back, go talk to them and get them back."
"You don't understand, boy." Geese sneered. "It's a little late for that."
"Never too late to teach an old dog new tricks." Ranma grinned. "I'm betting ya that if you legitimized your business and actually spent time with them, you might have a much easier time getting her back." The pigtailed martial artist made a note to thank Nabiki for digging up as much information about her new business partner as she could.
"Besides," the Saotome youth added, "if she married you in the first place, she can't really have been the kinda person to carry about someone's past."
"He's right, you know," Terry added. "Marie's been missing you, but she's almost as stubborn as you."
Ranma slid off the table he'd been sitting on. "Looks like we'll have our rematch some other time." He waved at the two as he walked out of the office. "It's always worth to try," he shot over his shoulder, leaving the two men lost in thought.
V---------------------V
"Ranma?" Said pigtailed martial artist turned around at the sound of the female voice.
"Come in, Shampoo."
The lavender-haired amazon closed the door behind her, then sank down to sit on the ground next to him, hefting a small jewelry box. "This for you."
"What is it?" Ranma arched an eyebrow, not really sure what to make of this.
Shampoo placed the box in his lap before following his stare out the window. "Great-grandmother wanted you to have these. They're some of our family heirlooms. She said it would be something to remember her by, in case she…died."
Ranma slowly looked down, his fingers playing over the smooth wood of the simple box. Cologne…his mind wandered to the ancient woman for a moment. I hope you're smiling down at us, wherever you are, granny. Taking a deep breath, he opened the latch and flipped the lid. The moment he caught sight of what was inside, the tears he had been fighting so hard to hold back spilled over, dropping onto the red velvet that lined the inside of the box.
Inside was the single most beautifully crafted ring he had ever seen. A slender gold band was dotted with a mosaic of gems that glittered in a myriad of colors in the sunlight.
"This is…"
Shampoo nodded. "This is great-grandmother's wedding ring. She wanted you and Kasumi to have it."
"Thanks, Shampoo." His eyes never left the ring inside the box. Wordlessly, he placed an arm around Shampoo's shoulders, pulling her close, knowing without having to look that she, too, was shedding tears.
After what seemed like a small eternity in companionable silence, he finally rose and took the ring out of the box, placing it in his pocket. "Let's not keep the old ghoul waiting for the show in the afterlife, then."
Shampoo trailed behind him as he walked through the house, passing through the living room, the kitchen, across the yard and into the dojo, and back into the house. With a glance at the clock, he chuckled as he realized where Kasumi would be at this time of the day.
Stepping through the sliding doors into the backyard, he vaulted himself up onto the roof and raced off towards the market. Shampoo smiled at his speed, but frowned when she began falling behind. The amazon pushed herself harder, if she was late, she'd miss the show!
Nerima's marketplace was usually busy around noon time, but after that, things began calming down, since most people had to return to work, or home. Kasumi picked this time to stroll through the market because it gave her time to pick out the best she could find from the various stalls without having a throng of people around to rush her.
She was, as usual, picking out fresh vegetables and indulging her usual conversation with the man who owned the stand when a sudden red-and-black blur fell from the sky to land next to her. Kasumi only took a single glance to know who it was – after all, there was only one roof-hopping person who wore that kind of color combination.
"Good afternoon, Ranma-kun," she greeted her fiancee. "How did things go with Howard-san?"
"Not bad. Didn't get to have the rematch, but not bad either way." Ranma straightened from the crouch he had landed in, and looked up. To her surprise, Kasumi could see he had been crying.
Ranma noticed and quickly wiped at the tear tracks on his face, before giving up and shrugging. "Been thinking about Cologne," he told her in ways of an explanation.
"Ranma-kun-"
He waved her off. "It's all right. Just remembering some of the fun times we had." He turned towards the vendor, and grinned. "Mind if I borrow my fiancee for a second?"
"Not at all." The vendor, a burly but friendly man named Koichi, smiled. He'd gotten to know Ranma pretty well over the last three years. Kasumi usually talked about him when she came to buy vegetables, and he often accompanied her when she went shopping. He held a great deal of respect for the pigtailed young man, after what he had heard from Kasumi.
"Actually, mind if I borrow you, too?" Ranma's grin turned positively devious.
"Huh?"
"Just play witness a sec, okay?"
Koichi nodded, unsure of what was going on. His eyes lit up in understanding, however, when Ranma dropped to one knee in front of Kasumi.
"Tendo Kasumi-" the pigtailed boy began, when a a female voice shouted from above.
"Ranma wait!" Shampoo tumbled from the nearest roof as she stumbled in her mad dash across the rooftops to keep up with him.
The amazon righted herself in mid-air and landed lightly on her feet. "Ranma no start without Shampoo!" She finally noticed everyone giving her weird glances and blushed. "Uh…Ranma go tell Kasumi now?"
Ranma chuckled at her antics, before resuming where he'd left off. "Tendo Kasumi, the last three years of my life have been wonderful with you by my side. You were the first person to care for me when I arrived in Nerima. You were my first friend. You cared for me, healed my scrapes and bruises, but most importantly, you listened to me. You've done more for me than I could ever hope to repay. You tried to help me when all I did was push you away, and you stuck by my side through all the chaos that's come into my life."
He took a deep breath reaching into his pocket, and pulled out the ring. "What I'm trying to say, Kasumi, is…we've been engaged for three years now, and known each other even longer. Will you marry me?"
A small crowd had gathered around the two fiancees by the end of Ranma's proclamation. Most of them knew the pigtailed martial artist, or at least knew about him, and all of them knew Kasumi, and all of them heartily approved of the happy tears that were flowing down her cheeks now.
"C'mon, Kasumi, don't cry…did I say something wrong?" Of course, there was one person who was completely oblivious to the meaning of said tears.
"Yes, Ranma, yes!" Kasumi practically fell into his arms as she placed a long kiss on his lips.
Koichi's grin split his face as he looked on at the scene. He slowly raised his hands and started clapping. Within moments, the entire square was filled with thunderous applause.
Shampoo, however, ended up scratching her head in confusion. "Shampoo thought that Ranma already ask Kasumi to marry?"
"I'm thinking they just made it official." Ryoga grinned as he walked in on the square, having followed the clapping. "Looks like we'll be needing a priest soon." The lost boy left to congratulate his best friend, but ended up as usual – very, very lost.