I'm not happy with the first chapter I wrote at all, which is why I took so much time to write this second chapter here.
Here's a little summary of the previous events: Ryoga meets Kodachi at her home and sees she is quite gullible, so he tricks her into doing a lot of demeaning things to please him, pretending to be her trainer.
When he discovers how much Kodachi hates Akane and how she is crazy for Ranma he uses it for his own gain, as he disguises himself as Ranma.
He then talks her into taking the actual Ranma, nearly everyone from the Tendo Dojo and himself on a cruise to the cursed springs, in a new attempt to lift his curse.
Plus he had promised to couple up Genma and Soun, and a cruise would be a good way to get them together.
The Rose of darkness; The end
"push it in!" I hear the man yell.
"One last time!"
"Is it just me or is it getting harder every time I push?"
Finally the boat is in the water and the journey begins, but I couldn't be making my journey without Kodachi making the journey.
They've warned me, they've warned everyone, she has lost her mind.
Nobody knows her story and perhaps the fact that nobody ever got close enough attached to know is part of all that, but that's not how my story, the story of my journey, began.
I woke up dizzy in the Tendo dojo, my whole arm was numb and when I tried to get up I could only change positions from flat on my back to curled up on my side, it was hopeless, I didn't know it back then, but something had changed me, it had changed me even before the journey had begun.
I rolled back on my back and my arm fell flat over my chest, with the hand resting over my shoulder, I still feel nothing of it in my fingers.
For a second I see myself piled up in bodies, is that what's happening?
No. It's just my arm and I'm certainly alive, although I don't feel like it, I don't feel like it at all.
This was supposed to be my Story, but you couldn't tell my story without telling the story of yusenkio.
So I went to the library of applied martial arts.
I found out quite some interesting stories about yusenkio, there is an antique police record about the unnatural deaths at the springs, the y-files.
Within the y-files there are many theories about "Charlie the curse", the killer who supposedly drowned all the people and creatures in the ponds. My senses started tingling as I read the name "Ben" in the y-files.
He was a boy. and he died in the cursed springs. maybe he was the key to reversing the curse!
Later I learned this track lead nowhere.
It was Kodachi, it was all Kodachi.
She and her boat were the key to freedom from the curse.
But I had never seen the boat.
Would it even be suitable for all of us?
There were the two fathers, Ranma and Akane, and the sisters of Akane.
I reached the house after a day's travel and gladly I found a brush to hide in.
It was already dark.
I could see the silhouette of a mighty ship in her gardens pond.
I crawled closer, the heat had set in the standing evening air and the headache from today's morning had come back.
I crawled through the bushwhack, closer to the ship. I heard a chuckle, it was the laughter of Kodachi.
I stopped right away, she didn't notice me.
I sat beside a great tree, I was too close to the ship to see it in whole anymore and so I could only see Kodachi.
She held something heavy in her hand, she had stretched out her arm.
All of a sudden a giant beast shot out of the water and into the air.
"The turtle" or something, that was what she had called it, her crocodile.
Seeing her now, so fearless, her laughter sounded almost maniacal.
It was so hollow, almost sad for some reason.
Kodachi made her way back to the estate.
I could now enter the ship.
It was big, there was a lot of space even inside, you could still see though this had once been a war boat.
I walked all over it, I checked the cabins through the windows, Hammocks were the only place to sleep there.
When I made it of the boat again the sun had already risen.
I still had to make it back to the Tendo dojo and from there on to the river with the others.
It took me a week to get back to the Tendo dojo, it had been a hard journey.
The others told me I was late once again. Well define others, everyone but Ranma had already left, that lazy slacker was probably planning on avoiding to push the boat into the water.
Ranma had always been a procrastinator.
Sure he was one tough guy in a fight, but his street smarts were what made him sting.
Everyone's Hero, what a joke.
We made our way to the boat with Ranma guiding me.
It wasn't as massive as I had seen it a few nights ago, must have had something in my eye or it was just darker than I thought.
PRESENT DAY
The boat is all set as Ranma and I enter.
We are first greeted by Akane and her sisters.
They were three pretty girls, but they couldn't have been more different.
The oldest one was very kind natured and had grown into a mother figure for her younger sisters.
The middle one was the dangerous type, cold blooded and probably smarter than anyone on the ship, but to no use of anyone but herself.
And then there was Akane, she was tough on the one side, but pretty hot headed if you pushed the wrong buttons.
She just wasn't the smartest kind of person, all due respect.
We quickly shook hands with each other, it was awkward here on that boat, that screamed "military" all over it.
I follow Ranma to our cabin, it had been clear to me from the start that we would have to share one.
Ranma wasn't a bad guy, we just had our fights over the same girl, Akane.
Did this spell trouble over our mission? I don't think so.
We could settle this when the curse was lifted and the odds were even. For now we had to work together, after all we were brothers in arms.
Soun and Genma entered our room, the two fathers.
two fathers from different families to be said.
Genma often talked a lot smarter than his wits could actually back up to and Soun had a touch for the melodramatic.
They bring us good news, Tatewaki Kuno has caught the flu, a sad, but not a rare fate.
He isn't joining our cruise, and Sasuke neither.
Kodachi is on her own with two families she hardly had any business with.
Heck, I remember my first night at the Tendo dojo, they are some tribe.
We haven't even met Kodachi yet and the boat is already going through the dense, unmerciful, Japanese jungle.
The times wouldn't turn out to be all that tough as I had feared before.
We had started with only little things prepared beforehand.
It took me some time to get used to the ships layout.
It is evening, I had eaten hearty, at this rate we will end up in a famine in a week's time.
It is a nice summer evening and the sun was almost gone, but if you know evenings like this you'll know it can stay this way for hours.
Suddenly I hear laughter from behind one of the wooden doors.
I open up and see it is my own room that I share with Ranma, what a lucky coincidence.
Ranma, Nabiki and Akane are also all there, they sit on the floor in lotus seats, I join in.
The bottle spins and misses me close before stopping at Nabiki.
She introduces me to the game saying that you'll either have to kiss or to answer a question honestly before further spinning the bottle.
I knew some basics in that matter, but this abomination was new to me.
"Hey Nabiki, riddle me that", Ranma says smiling nonchalantly, "If you did take pictures of me sleeping and sell them, who will guarantee you didn't do that with Akane too?"
You gotta see this.
If you'd think that would bring Nabiki on shaky ground you are mistaken.
She calmly balances herself on one hand, with the other one reaching out to Ranma, who sits opposing her.
Of course it all happens a lot faster as I see it now, but this is one of those moments you hardly ever forget
While she leans further into the kiss, which is actually probably against the rules, as she's practicing the concept of the game practically backwards, I see Akane moving the bottle over to me. It even happens fast although I'm still in that epic shock moment slow motion.
"The bottle points on Ryoga actually." she says as she quickly pushes the two away from each other.
What was Ranma thinking kissing Nabiki?
I know it was part of the game and I'm supposed to take advantage of every chance he gets to blow it with Akane, but why?
Probably he really is the jackass I'd always thought he'd be, but on the other hand you'd had to be one to participate in a game like that, probably.
I kiss Nabiki on her lips before anything else can even happen, only now I realize I would have been supposed to wait for Ranma's question.
I open up my eyes in a short moment of shocking realization only to see the godlike expression on Akane's face.
I had probably just made some points on her scoreboard if I do say so.
Revenge is sweet, suck it Nabiki, as I suck on her lips.
Ranma is obviously relieved now two, but more so amused.
Nabiki looks blurred before my eyes, her lips are wet to a point that would probably have grossed Ranma out, how was he not sea sick yet anyway?
It didn't gross me out anyway, heck I don't know why I'm doing all this lately, there must be something in the water or the sudden weather changes.
Meanwhile at Kodachi's room.
Ryoga is an Idiot, she thought to herself.
And that was probably just the case, luckily she couldn't see the shenanigans he's gotten himself into the moment she had thought that.
But she was just lying to herself now.
Deep inside she liked Ryoga, she was a rebel and an outcast for sure, but so was he.
The most people she knew wouldn't dare treat her like he had.
Maybe it was just his stupidity after all, but it had made a lasting impression on her and the way she felt towards him.
This was her cruise, the adventure of her lifetime, and she would make it special for the both of them, she promised herself.
"Heck," I thought to myself, "first day over."
I had gotten quite a beating from the sisters last night.
I'm not sure whether I should have been glad that Ranma had kept Akane from beating me up after the first few punches or if that was just one of his schemes to take her from me.
Whatever he wants from her anyway.
Now I didn't feel so mighty fine today, but you'll never know what comes.
Today's breakfast: fish from the river, caught by Genma.
Right, Genma and Soun, that was another problem I was left with to solve, and eagerly so. If Ranma's and Akane's father are together they were like brother and sister, that is strictly opposed to lovers.
I should have thought of that from day one but I never knew it could have been that easy.
It must be the ship, since you cannot leave it I didn't have to worry about finding the way anywhere.
That my mood had improved was an understatement.
"Hey Soun, have you been talking to Genma already?"
He scratches the back of his head and grins with his cheeks blushing red.
Just as I thought, he hadn't had the guts to tell him right away.
"Did you ever try to confess your love to anyone?" He asked me out of the blue.
Smile while you can, Soun, I'll be your cupid and you'll see who is gonna get the heart of their special someone.
Of course I said yes to him, but he wouldn't believe it, rightfully so.
But in front of him I could never confess to Akane, even if the time was right and my curse broken.
He would let nothing get in between his little arrangement with Genma.
I would get him in a spot first were he had to decide whether to never be married to Genma or to never have Akane be married to Ranma.
But it wasn't as easy as that, Genma had to love Soun back and I had to confess my love to someone but Akane before Soun's eyes without Akane ever knowing.
I must have been lying to myself earlier as I spent half an hour once again trying to figure out where me hammock is; feeling moody.
I lay there and stared up into the blue sky, with the dense canopy of the jungle trees covering my view on the sides and thought about my one perfect master plan.
I might just have figured out a way to get both Genma and Soun and Akane and me together before the boat would reach yusenkio.
Now if that will be the case Ranma's hopelessness once the love of his life is in my arms might just shoo him off the boat, so I'll be the only one to get his curse removed.
Or not, and he still couldn't be mad at me as I made his father happy and got Kodachi to take us to yusenkio.
Where was she anyway? probably bothering Ranma.
Another cursed fifteen minutes went and with the only result to prove my assumption wrong.
Ranma was peacefully training martial arts with Genma.
I would have liked Kodachi to nag him a little; if there was a scoreboard for Akane liking Ranma every word he says to Kodachi would be a minus on his list.
I went away from old Ranma, he was a too big boaster to train with.
I keep quite while I train, what's the use in talking, I can let my fists do the talking if I want, but that wasn't what was called for here.
A true martial artist finds peace in his training, not anger, I learned that the hard way, figuring out the breaking point technique.
I walked back and went inside the boat in a larger, relatively empty room, but alas it was already used for training by Kodachi now.
She hadn't heard me coming in so I stood in the door way and watched her spin her green ribbon through the air.
By the way she looked at it it seemed like she wanted to hypnotize herself.
She had potential, it hurts to know Ranma is still better than me, but I used to only train myself with the motivation of vengeance for too long.
Kodachi was not that way, she could beat Ranma anytime, given that she had the right training beforehand.
I was also getting dizzy from watching the spinning ribbon for so long.
I looked in her dark brown eyes from across the room, she was still fixated on the ribbon, smiling in peace for herself.
I didn't want to bother her now that she was so focused, but just as I thought that she seemed to have noticed me.
She came over to me, she was actually a bit smaller than me, and came to a halt.
Involuntarily I had to think of what Ranma had once told me about her, that she was always in action.
But the longer I knew her the less it seemed like that.
She greeted me calmly, was probably even more relaxed than I was today, I can still remember the way she had greeted me for the first time, this here was totally different.
Her hair was very dense when standing near her. "I'm sorry, I wasn't planning on interrupting your training." I said to her.
For a moment she just smiled at me with that puppy eyes of hers and then she pulled me to the middle of the room and we started training together.
Kodachi's moves had improved significantly and we trained for long and had a good fight.
To tell the truth she kicked my rear that afternoon, but I had had it coming, I'm not gonna lie.
As she sat on top of me, beating my face in, Ranma came in.
Kodachi moved, relief!
He chuckled, but as he saw my beaten face he knew we hadn't been making out, or he would have believed that this is what you get if you make out with her.
Either way with the two together I could tell them of my plan, as they had inevitably to be part of it.
Sounds strange, but I know Ranma well enough that he would do nearly anything to save face, even pretending he does not love Akane.
And he was even as arrogant as to think he could do so without ever having to fear anyone taking her away from him.
Little did he know he was just about to dig his own grave here.
So we all gathered around and talked a little about training and the journey, trying not to reveal anything about the curse to Kodachi, which was hard.
"Hey people, I have a little problem you need to help me with." I told them, "It's about Soun, he is in love with someone and afraid to confess it, so I have a few favours to ask for."
"Fine, Ryoga, what is it?" Ranma answered me in a voice I didn't like.
"You, Ranma," I continued, "need only do one thing, and that is distracting Akane while I falsely propose my love to you, Kodachi. And aside from that I'll have to ask for another favor from you, I need a love potion to ensure Soun and his love interest will get together."
Before Kodachi could even reply me Ranma shouted: "Who is this love interest of Soun anyway!?" He was in his anger stance already, I could tell.
Now I had to be careful about what I say.
"There's not many left if you are out of the way and Kodachi and I are already paired up." I said as calm as I could, "All he's left with is his own family."
"He has my father!" Ranma yelled and I could almost see his teeth getting pointier as he did that.
Kodachi laughed, I liked the sound of that, the attention was now focused away from me, but I couldn't let her take the blame now.
"I know it's your father but, think about it, the two of them will be happy and if they get married you will be Akane's brother, not her fiancé anymore."
And for a brief moment I saw something flash over Ranma's face, something like regret.
"What about Akane, you can't know how she will react to it." Now he was calmer, probably smug because he thinks that one's gonna be it.
Kodachi laughed and said, in a voice as high as she could. "My Ranma, why do you worry so about that meddler!?"
We exchanged looks, for like a second then Ranma flailed his arms through the air running wild to explain it was just out of politeness towards his new sister.
Kodachi had some potential indeed, in ways Ranma never knew to exploit, he was wiggling but it was quicksand we got him on.
"Pathetic." was Kodachi's only comment after he had left.
"How long is it going to take you to create a proper love potion?" I asked her and she told me it was three days, then she looked me in the eye and asked me if I was really going to propose to her and I said no, you know, like a liar.
But she was serious and so I apologized for that and all the other things I had done wrong leading to the situation with the boat.
It felt kind of funny now talking to her about all these different things.
She had wet herself because of me and my foolishness after all, and now she was looking into my face with that sad eyes of hers, through that long, thick hair of hers.
Another training session, this time Ranma joined us, and then I went to bed, tomorrow was gonna be the first of the three days on which Kodachi would work on the love potion.
Another morning, another fish for breakfast.
I got up and Kodachi and I got off the boat, I read that this is the one thing you should never do in the yusenkio journal I have, but I guess it was o.k. since we did not touch the water.
Now to the dangerous part, we had to move into the jungle, enemy territory.
"Pay attention to every little noise Kodachi, it's a jungle out there and we cannot allow us not to be the first one to strike, there may be no second strike after all."
"Thanks for the warning, but I was already aware of that before."
"Charlie is out here." I whisper.
"The Vietnamese?" She whispers back.
"Nope, the taxidermist."
Now we are out in the unmerciful depth of the jungle, searching for certain herbal ingredients for Kodachi's potion.
"Hey Kodachi, is this really going to work?"
"Trust me, it's an old family recipe."
"Figures."
"What was that!?"
Oh no, now I've done it, one careless word too much and I had her against me all over.
"Ryoga answer me, now!"
Uh-oh, she was back to that screaming she normally only does when Ranma is around.
"I meant to say that is why you are so lovely." I tried to save myself.
"'Guess I've heard of stranger things."
I didn't know what to make of that answer, but she didn't seem too mad anymore.
We were lucky, the day was only half over when we found our first ingredient.
"If you still don't believe me you can try a little of the ingredient and see for yourself." Kodachi said angrily.
I offered to grind the herbs for her which she luckily accepted.
Then suddenly there was a loud noise, a whistle of sort, and we both knew it was Charlie.
I grabbed the mortar and the rest of the herbal leaves, Kodachi really knew how to dry plants fast.
We ran off, spears and arrows flew behind us and the whistling continued, getting louder all the time, it sounded like an alarm now.
Charlie and his men must have been near; I just ran, one foot in front of the other, my eyes focused on the ground as not to trip over the dense undergrowth.
Good, I still had Kodachi's hand in mine, it was sweaty as we reached the deadfall.
I couldn't believe what I saw; a tree as huge as a house had fallen over in the middle of the jungle, it mustn't have been lying here for more than a day, but it was so enormously massive you needed probably a whole canister of nitro glycerin to blow a hole through it.
Even if we tried to walk around the tree we would probably just end up being cornered, eerily now the whistling had also stopped.
"What are we going to do now Ryoga!?" Kodachi broke the dead silence that had fallen.
I had to look around for a bit, it had to go quick, Charlie wouldn't give us a head start.
"There!" She yelled, and started to run, nearly dragging me along.
She had found a ditch under the fallen tree that would work as a tunnel for us to crawl through.
We nearly jumped in and landed on our bellies, robbing underneath the heavy log.
There was a puddle of muddy water in the ditch, but luckily it was warm water so I didn't turn into a pig now; if Charlie had dogs after us they would probably be even more eager to catch me if I was a little piggy like that.
We crawled through the muddy puddle on our bellies until we were way under the tree before we noticed we didn't see the light that was supposed to be on the other.
In a moment of shock Kodachi let go of my hand.
We dug what our hands allowed us to carry up in that confined space, reaching ever more down into the muddy water and throwing the dirt behind and besides us.
Finally we would eventually fit under the log.
We dragged ourselves forward into the pitch blackness, now with only our noses above the water and the wood massive and impenetrable above us only luck could help us now getting to other side.
Kodachi hit me with her arm unintentionally, good to know she was still there and moving, breathing.
But then, just as I could see the light, I got stuck underneath the wood, I had to dig myself free again.
I dug but it didn't do much, I had only made way for me if I arched my spine and held my face under water.
The gap was too small for me to keep my head above the surface.
I had to risk it, either that or death by the hands of Charlie.
I took a breath as deep as I could in that narrow space and heard Kodachi do the same, then I put my head down and pushed forward.
I did not come very far until I had to dig again; nervous was an understatement for what I felt in that moment.
I was desperate, I was no longer digging, I was clawing the earth with my hands, trying to pull myself forward, just somehow out of the water.
I hit my head on the wood, but all it did for me was getting one eye above the surface, not more.
I tried to wiggle myself on my back, but gave up, if I did that I might not have been able to dig anymore, and I would have drowned by the time I had turned back around.
I gave it all and barely made, I had no power left in my body and that as one of the most endured martial artists of all Asia.
I had my head above the water, but I wasn't sure for how long I could keep it that way.
I reached out for Kodachi and all I felt was her hair, I looked over and saw her lying there, her face still under the water.
It was good that I could see her, that meant we were close to the exit.
I grabbed her arm from under the water and with the little space I had left to move I pulled her further out, but it was worse than I had expected, she must have fallen unconscious.
I dragged her along, it had to go fast.
The ditch was on this side of the log too, but not so deep as it was on the other side, I could finally stand up again and take a breath of fresh, heavy jungle air. We were save from Charlie now.
I put Kodachi in recovery position and halfway through she luckily came to.
We sat, our faces black from the mud, with our backs against the tree and watched the sun sink through the dense fog that had built up in the jungle.
Neither of us spoke, I guess it was the shock.
I can't remember when we fell asleep, but not much had happened after escaping Charlie.
We woke up in the middle of the night and saw the ship in the distance, it must have driven around the big log while we were out exploring and fleeing from Charlie.
It would be an easy journey back, the jungle wasn't all that dense and it wasn't very far.
It must have been late as no one on the ship was awake anymore.
"Do you still have the ingredient?" Kodachi asked me out of the blue, in fact at first I didn't know what she was talking about, but then I found the tiny plastic bag in my pocket.
Hastily Kodachi opened it up and dust came out.
"So far so good, it has stayed dry." I said to her, she just smiled at me and told me I was smart for bringing the plastic bag.
"A plastic bag will outlive anyone you've ever known." I answered to her dry.
She looks at me for a second, her eyes are dark and serious, yet they reflect the moon like the muddy water in the river does.
A moody, soothing light is in her eyes. Then she smiles again.
"What's that smell?"
"That," she says and grabs me by my collar, "is our first ingredient."
She is really close to me now.
"What . . . ?" I reply, in that moment a swift reaction seemed more appropriate than a witty one.
I could not have better judged the situation, but I wasn't really expecting Kodachi to help me out on this one, given the late hour and that she had poisoned us yet again.
It might seem stupid, but with her so close to me now I had not more than one question in my mind: did she like Alice cooper or would she be affectionate to poison anyway?
Her hair was really dense and black and a little curly, she wasn't exactly a looker after all that crawling through the dirt but neither was I and it was pretty dark out here.
It felt like I was just watching this from a video or something, the moment with Kodachi so close before me.
It made me laugh, I suppressed it though.
I had to remind myself over and over that I was really there, that it was my life that just happened, that I couldn't just wait while someone else would figure out what would happen next.
I had to take actions and these actions would matter.
Kodachi embraced me, it was so warm and soft that I got that dreamy feeling right back again.
The only thing I did now was to let my head fall backwards, this must have probably prevented her from kissing me.
I reminded myself once again that it had been her who had spotted the ditch under the tree, she had saved my life only a few hours ago, I should spare her the shame of having kissed me under the influence of herbal drugs.
Finally she let go, relief!
I just turned around and wandered about the ship to find my room.
Unfortunately Kodachi came up behind me and pushed until I was right in front of the door, which wasn't that far from where I had started my search.
Then she kissed me on the cheek as I just opened the door, rats!
I went to sleep hoping she forgets that.
I woke up and we had breakfast.
I love the smell of fish in the morning *puke*
Kodachi and I went back into the unmerciful jungle, once again making easy prey for Charlie and his men.
Today we were very fortunate though, as it was foggy in the jungle and you couldn't see much.
Kodachi was very happy to have me with her, as I knew the way blind as well as open eyed.
We found all the ingredients we needed before noon and I thought we were going to go back now, but Kodachi had a different thing in mind.
"I need to ask you something, but don't laugh." Kodachi said to me, and an ominous and a bad feeling developed inside of me.
Was she gonna ask about the kiss or not?
"I promise." I answered shortly, what else was I to do?
"Did we kiss last night?" She asked me and blushed, I smiled, because my guess had been right, but Kodachi must have mistaken it for a different smile.
Then I remembered we still had six empty glass bottles with us to bring fresh water with, the river water wasn't pure and thus full of dangerous salmonella.
"No." I said, you know, like John Mulaney.
"But we could make it all happen right now." I said as suave as I could, and came closer to her, feeling her warm breath against my face.
She was smiling as I embraced her.
"Will you wet yourself for me?" I whispered, and only in doing so I noticed how heavy I was breathing.
I didn't wait for her to reply, I just kissed her on her lips and in that intense moment it felt like I was both her and me.
And she wet herself indeed, I was pressed so tightly against her body I could feel her building up pressure on her bladder.
And then I woke up with what felt like a gazillion degrees fever.
But the bottles in the dream were a pretty good idea, except that in my dream it felt like they were meant for some kind of impossible combination of spin the bottle and Russian roulette.
So Kodachi and I ate our fish, and I'm not gonna lie it was a weird weird morning, like Monday morning in a Garfield comic.
She must have not forgotten the kiss.
But after all she had initiated it, but I could keep telling myself that probably all day long and wouldn't have been able to shake that weird feeling off.
She was still wanting to get back into the jungle with me, but then I told her of my idea with the bottles and that the river water might really be full of dangerous salmonella and that bear grills had already drank his own piss and so on.
She agreed to take some bottles with us, then I noticed what horrible mistake I had made, what if the rest of my dreams now also came true, on the other hand the dream hadn't been so bad.
We found all the final ingredients and got some clean water with us, Kodachi didn't mention anything about last night to me, was her strange love potion really making her this scary oblivious?
I still didn't believe it.
Today we were lucky not to run into old Charlie.
We could already see the ship when Kodachi turned around gracefully, which was somehow weird, and said. "We've forgotten something for the potion."
Then she grabbed me by the hand, thankfully with haste and not graceful again, which would have been a lot weirder.
She pulled me right into a cave.
Since yesterdays encounter with Charlie I had actually had enough of narrow, dank spaces the likes of caves.
In the cave I bonked my head on things, Kodachi pulled me towards her, as to keep me from wandering off to far in the wrong direction.
I felt her standing before me now very closely, I could feel her warmth as if she was almost embracing me, it was awkward, I tried taking a step back and bumped my head again.
It was audible the way I had bumped my head on the rock, and it hurt too.
I tumbled forward again and closer to Kodachi, she didn't back away, probably couldn't.
There was stone everywhere in the pitch blackness of the cave and I wasn't sure if Kodachi could find anything in here.
"This is an awkward moment, please walk away." I said stubbornly.
"Very funny." Was Kodachi's reply.
She was holding onto me at this point, probably to keep me from tumbling into the walls again.
She let me go with one arm and scanned the walls with one hand, we were lucky we could still faintly see the exit, but Kodachi wanted to go deeper.
I held onto her hand tightly as we walked further into the dark cave.
Luckily the cave didn't go much deeper in, the exit though was now out of view.
Kodachi had found the rare dead-end-cave-petal or whatever she called it and we could leave the cave again.
Unfortunately another problem arose out of this immediately, Kodachi couldn't get around me so I had to lead on.
It wasn't one of those simple jobs where you were in a hallway so narrow there was only one way to go, but more like running into walls a lot.
Kodachi kept pushing me, playfully though, but when I finally fell I could catch myself, but she fell on top of me.
She just kept on giggling, it was this crazy thing again where we were high on some voodoo priest illegal herbs and secluded from everyone else.
Kodachi was warm and close to me and it looked as though she wasn't even planning on getting off of me.
The cave floor was covered in stinky cave moss which was also soft, so I didn't mind too much.
She was breathing in my face now as her giggling slowly subsided.
Her breath was warm, but not smelly or unpleasant, and I hoped she would feel the same way about my breath.
She came closer, part of me said not again, another part of me told me to get it over with.
Then we kissed, it was intense and lasted for a long time.
I felt what I had never felt before, it was better than it had been in my dream but it really did feel like I was both her and me.
I felt it all in the heat and the pounding and still rising heartbeat, it was like some sort of forgiveness, more than just letting go, or letting your mind drift off for a second. And I knew she felt the same way. Secure.
I could barely see her face in the seconds after the kiss but I knew what she was thinking.
We got out of the cave and I told her all about my dream and asked her about last night's kiss.
At that moment I no longer believed, no longer cared if her affection towards me was only just because of her herbs.
I could be as honest towards her as I wanted to now, and if she stopped sharing my feelings within the next few hours I would probably die over the broken heart and need not worry about my reputation.
It was simple as that, but this afternoon all the potential bitterness in bittersweet was absent.
Better yet, it was just sweetness, without the bitter.
We got to the point where the rotten potion was finally brewed and we could start with the coupling of Genma and Soun.
Kodachi and I had to find some way to secretly put it in their food unnoticed, after that we had to kiss.
We got everyone out on deck, we actually had to sink the anchor as no one would be their to steer the ship.
Kodachi had set up a table for everyone and we held it all very festive, but also very secretive as to why it was so festive.
Only Nabiki was involved in the plan, and she also only knew half the truth.
We had set up one of the big sails horizontal to shield us from the sun when we held our feast and proposal of questionable love.
Apparently Kodachi had already poisoned the food while she prepared it, or should we say seasoned.
I helped Kodachi in the kitchen or whatever they call it on a ship, mostly by taking taste samples.
I noticed she was nervous and frankly so was I.
I took Kodachi's hand and said: "Hey I'm just as nervous as you to pull this thing off, but let's just get out there and get it over with and then we'll just eat as if nothing happened." I teased her a bit.
"Not like we really mean it or anything." She said back and giggled; it was seldom that I had ever heard her giggle, it had only been since we were on the ship and growing a little closer to each other.
Surely her giggling felt a lot more honest than her over the top laughing.
We brought the food on deck and realized this story was far from over as he still had to find that stupid cursed spring.
The Lunch was finally served, it was a hot day and the air smelled distinctively of the Food we had cooked and still very much of the stale water underneath our boat.
After everyone was done eating Kodachi and I were supposed to make our proposal of mutual love for each other.
I was nervous, Kodachi wore a pretty white Kimono, and also it didn't make her seem any older or more mature than she really was the beauty of it combined with her body language showing she was absolutely at ease made the whole situation even harder.
Kodachi and I got up and I hoped that nobody would look up at either of us while we were still walking towards each other, and gladly this wish was fulfilled.
We finally came to stand next to each other and she laid her arm around my shoulder and I did the same to her, though we didn't look at each other.
My heart was pounding, Kodachi still seemed very much at ease, but I was so so nervous.
She was warm and she smelled good, familiar, but in this situation it didn't help at all.
In another life we might have been cousins at a family cookout holding a little speech, but now and here, in this reality we were a secret couple about to kiss ourselves in front of everyone we knew.
We finally looked into each others eyes, but only briefly, now I saw Kodachi was also smiling nervously.
She picked up a fork and hit a glass on the table, but as quiet as she could.
Only a few people looked into the direction of the sound, and only as they saw the two of us standing there together more eyes turned on us.
We looked into each others eyes again and Kodachi had that secure expressions again while I was literally shaking.
As if by remote control we came closer to each other.
I could feel Kodachi even before we actually embraced, much less kissed, this is hard to describe so I hope you'll know what I mean with that anyways.
We both had that shy smile on our faces like it was the first time we'd ever do this and I have to say it hadn't felt remotely like that the first time we had kissed.
This time I was far more nervous and it all was far more exciting. It wasn't naughty what I felt like in that moment, it was adventures.
A kiss into the unknown, whatever would happen from now on could not be changed or undone or ever taken back.
I'm close before her, her wonderful eyes take up my entire field of view and we're about to lock lips.
Then the entire boat rocked.
Kodachi and I were the closest to the edge and since we were busy holding on to each other we didn't actually held on to the boat and thus we fell off just before the kiss.
We fell and I was struck by an intense fear; If we landed in the water I'd turn into a guinea pig, if we landed on the land we'd turn into pancakes.
We fell through the branches of a tree, they were dense, but not hard.
The ship must have hit land while we were having lunch.
Finally we stopped falling, the landing was hard, but not painful or dangerous, seconds later however the dessert landed next to us, the only food we had spiked with the love drug.
I helped Kodachi up and then pulled her close to me.
I was still excited to kiss her, but now that we were out of view it all was a lot more relaxed.
She pulled her clothes back into place and looked really neat again.
She was so beautiful and inviting in that school uniform.
She smiled at me and I knew she still was as thrilled for the kiss as I was. At first we only hugged each other, it was nice to feel her body pressed against me so tight.
It was like before we kissed we had to test how tight exactly we could hold each other.
Then we kissed each other carefully, nobody could see us sure, but we continued playing this role of kissing each other in front of everyone and being extremely nervous about our performance, the thrill of that made it all even better.
Kissing meant no turning back and we both knew that, but it wasn't the commitment, it was the risks we ignored.
To boldly kiss Kodachi the way Ranma would never kiss Akane.
After this short, but powerful kiss we stayed hugged, and that possibly even more intense than before.
We pressed our foreheads together and I looked into her very dark eyes and she looked into mine.
It was funny to look at her looking at me, but at the same time it felt good to have somebody you'd look at like that look back at you the same way.
I wasn't just looking at her and wishing us two together like I had done once with Akane, but we actually were together, looking at each other, knowing it was our mutual wish.
Looking back at how it had all started this all seemed so much improved.
"Kodachi you are perfect." I said to her and kissed her a second time, this time more passionately.
When I opened my eyes again after the kiss I saw Kodachi looking at me a little differently, teasingly.
Her eyes said I know what you want, though I doubted she really knew what I'd want.
I put my hand on the back of her thigh and just said out loud what I thought.
"Would you wet yourself for me?" I had said it, and like with the kiss there was no going back now.
It had been exciting the split second before I had said it, but now it was embarrassing and I felt my cheeks turn bright red.
Kodachi looked at me the way she had looked at me before our almost kiss on the boat.
Nervous, not afraid to make a move, but pondering within herself whether she should make a move or not.
We were no longer hugging, just holding ourselves at our hands, her face still gave nothing away when she said: "I have to go, but only a little bit."
Now I was really excited, the kissing was forgotten, we were beyond kissing, this was something special.
One might argue that I had already seen her wet herself, but never in this way; and never in this Kimono.
"Is this Kimono like a skirt?" I asked back, and by the way my heart was pounding now I could hardly believe I got this sentence out straight.
"Yes it is." Kodachi answered, still giving nothing away.
"It'll be just your panties then, you could go for it." I said.
"I could go for it." She replied.
The tension was nearly tearing me apart.
She left me waiting for a few endless seconds before she finally made her decision.
"I guess I could relieve myself in my Kimono."
The way she had formulated it made the whole thing even more exciting.
She was the one going to wet herself while I was the one being bound to burst, with excitement, that is.
I still held her hands and she looked at me once more, then she wet herself.
I looked at her kimono only, while still holding her hands and suddenly I saw drops of pee dropping down between her legs, she really hadn't had to go so bad.
The flow subsided and I looked up again, Kodachi was still looking down.
I reached out and caressed her cheek with my hand, now she too looked up at me.
Her face looked feverish, but satisfied.
I kept my hand on her cheek and gave her a kiss on the lips which she replied more eager than I had anticipated.
After that kiss Kodachi gave me a coy smile, but then we heard shouts.
Genma and Soun had come down here to look for us.
Maybe they would also use the magic of the moment like we just did, but likely our attempt at coupling them up had failed.
Whatsoever Kodachi and I had to run for it, we wouldn't want her to be caught with wet panties, although they were not in view she still was afraid Genma and Soun might notice something anyway.
I took her hand and ran, as we left the shadow of the tree I saw something in the distance, I couldn't make out what, but it seemed important.
But first it was important to get Kodachi back on the ship so she could change and the others needed no longer worry about us having fallen off the boat.
I'd have to go, see what that thing is.
There was a good chance Ranma and the others had not seen it and this was my moment to finally be somewhere first.
Kodachi and I made our way to her room, it was easy not to be spotted because everyone was probably off the boat searching for us.
We both sat down and I told her about my plan to go to that spot I had just seen.
"Before you rush of into the unknown," Kodachi said, teasing me, "I'd like to talk to you about something."
"Can't that wait? I gotta go." I urged her.
She took my hand and laid it on her thigh, "That is sort of what I want to talk to you about." She said and smiled, but her eyes were serious.
"What do you enjoy so much about me wetting my pants."
I smiled, but I was ashamed. "That is a questions I would under normal circumstances never be ready to answer, but you are something else."
I leaned forward and whispered my answer into her ear.
She smiled and moved my hand, still on her thigh, a little closer to her.
I kissed her goodbye and went on my adventure then.
I had known it when I first saw it, this was it, the one thing I would find.
The one thing only I could ever find.
There was a definite gap between the trees, and I would assume at either sunrise or sunset the sun would probably perfectly shine through that gap.
At that point the gap would not only be revealed to Ranma and the rest of the people on Kodachi's boat, but Charlie could also easily spot everyone walking along that path.
To a trained eye the people's silhouettes would stand out like shadows on a white wall.
I hurried through the path before my own Silhouette would stand out like a shadow on the wall to my fellows back on the ship.
I walked and walked through that pass until I finally saw it again, a small concrete entrance to a bunker concealed by the earth above and around it.
I entered the bunker carefully, it was not the cursed springs I had found, but it was a start.
I snuck as quietly as I could, this may well be the bunker of good old Charlie, perhaps if I managed to take this dangerous man down I become a hero, and a bigger hero than Ranma, that is.
I went around a corner and came into a corridor, then another corridor and another corner.
This Bunker was a spiral if I ever saw one, but it was incredible, I really could orientate here.
Now I finally understand what the people meant I had a bad sense of direction.
I really did have had a bad sense of direction all this time, this here was much easier.
I took another and there, in a poorly lit room, he sat.
It was Charlie, he was just pouring a bowl of water over his head muttering: "The horror, the horror."
And I knew the look on his face.
I even knew the horror he had just been talking about.
I even knew his face.
Charlie was the fountain guard.
"Wait, I know you!" I said with determination, "Stop right there, criminal scum!"
He looked up at me and for some strange reason he looked younger than I remembered him.
"Who is this?" He said in a dry voice, like he was someone else entirely, but I was sure of it he was the fountain guard.
"I'm Ryoga, and you are the fountain guide or should I say Charlie?"
"Fine, you've found out." Charlie said, still in his dry voice, "What do you want?"
"Show me the pond in which the most tragic of all stories had happened: the one in which a boy drowned."
"Is that another one of those creepy pastas?" He asked back, I stayed in silence.
"Fine." He said and stood up, "It's just not that easy."
Then it struck me; He had looked younger to me, he had just poured water over his head and he had just experienced a horror.
"You! You've used the water from the pond of the drowned boy as a means to prolong your own life! You're not just a fountain guard, you are the Fountain guard."
I pulled out a machete and demanded him to lead me to the pond, but he wouldn't do it.
"See the pond has run dry, I just used the last of its water. What did you think why I came up with this Charlie scheme again?"
"You'll need to find another boy to drown." I said, pressing the tip of my machete under his chin. "You and what Army?" I then added.
"I need a pure boy. You already fell into another fountain, it wouldn't work this way."
"Fine, we'll work together." I said to him, but the only boy pure of the fountains curse I knew was the brother of Kodachi, and I wouldn't do that to her.
"How good are you at this? Fighting?" I asked him instead.
"Hunting, and I'm very good at it." With that said we made our way outside the bunker.
Our deal was sealed, at all cost did we have to find a boy that has never been to the fountains and sacrifice him there. It is the only way.
The End.
Started: 20th of October 2015
Finished: 4th of March 2017
Should I rewrite the first chapter or not?
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