Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, I do not claim any rights to any of the characters or concepts created or owned by Viz Video or Rumiko Takahashi. This is just the work of one fan to the others. The only characters or concepts that I claim are the ones I created or introduced. That said, I bring you:
Broken Mirrors, chapter 39
Wednesday, January 6th. The Kotohira-gu shrine. 3:00 PM
Hikari eyed his guests more than a little suspiciously. The dark-haired one radiated power and confidence, in fact she seemed to be overflowing with chi. She had introduced herself as Akane Tendo, a name that he was not familiar with. He knew his senses were much more tuned than others, what with his old hobby and all, but it was almost ludicrous. The supple rippling of her muscles and the ease that she carried her companion gave him a very good idea of her physical abilities.
The little redhead posed quite the mystery as well. First, there was her name. Ranko Saotome. Even he was at least somewhat acquainted with that name, but she was not what he had expected. It was obvious that she was crippled in some way, but the power that flowed from her was daunting. If the dark haired woman's chi was like a large hot spring fed lake then the best way to describe the other woman was as a vast glacial lake.
Then there was Kodachi. He had hoped to never see that hell-spawned demon woman again. Ever since he had called her to him by accident, his life had been out of his own control. He had thought that by coming here, she surely would never find him again. Or, at the very least, she would not come here to find him.
Hikaru tried his best to smile for the other two, but he was well aware it looked more like a pained rictus, something befitting a man who was being tortured, or perhaps was facing his own death.
But, he supposed that might not be that much of a stretch with Kodachi here. He gathered his rather plain tea service, and pulled the kettle of water off the stove. He had been about to have his own tea when he had been summoned, and the coincidence seemed a bit out of the ordinary. He had a feeling that the timing was entirely Kodachi's doing, and that meant she knew his daily routine.
Another fact that did not settle well with him.
He cleared his throat as he served the tea, and sat down on the opposite side of the table, as far away from Kodachi as he could manage. He cleared his throat and gave them another death-rictus smile. "I am Hikaru Gosunkugi, a humble shinto monk and at one time a dabbler in the occult."
"A dabbler, he says…" Kodachi said with a little laugh. She turned to the two other women and smiled that silken smile of hers. "This peasant is one of the very few true occultists and spiritualists that still exist here. He could tap into the power of the infinite, caress the very strings of destiny if he just so desired. He could thrust himself wantonly into the heart of creation and fill the void with his essence. But no, instead he cloisters himself here where he thinks the rest of the world can not reach him."
"It was less the rest of the world, and more you Kodachi. After what happened… I never wanted to experience that again, so I came here. And, now here you are." Hikaru said as he took a sip of his tea and glared at Kodachi over the rim of his cup.
Akane and Ranko looked at each other and tried to be as small and quiet as possible for the moment. It felt very much like they had just landed in a spat between two lovers who had not parted on good terms.
Hikaru sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose before he pointedly ignored Kodachi and addressed the other two. "So, it is some sort of cat-like creature? And you are sure it wasn't just a wild cat?"
"It definitely was not a wild cat. It seemed intelligent, and not entirely there. Our attacks barely affected it. It was like a collection of solid shadows." Akane said as Ranko smiled shyly and shrugged.
"I can't really tell you much. I… Have a bit of a problem with c...ca… Those fur covered monsters." Ranko said.
Hikaru nodded slowly, a thoughtful look on his drawn, pale face. "Yeah… I'd say something slipped through. But how? Did someone summon it?" He said quietly and glanced at Kodachi, then shook his head. "I doubt it, but how could it end up here otherwise? The barrier around this world is much too strong. Magic and chi arts are basically not even possible here…"
Akane and Ranko exchanged looks, then Ranko smiled and nodded as she focused for a moment, then cupped her hands like she had a ball between her palms. After a moment, a ball of blue light swirled into existence and she held it there for a few moments before she dispersed it.
Gosunkugi blinked and rubbed at his tired looking eyes before he looked at Kodachi who just shrugged, nodded and smiled. After he had finished shuddering, he looked at the other two and cleared his throat. "I see… Something must have weakened the barrier around this world." He thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "I will do what I can, on one condition."
Ranko nodded and looked at him. "What's your condition? What kind of payment do you want?"
Gosunkugi looked at the couple, then pointed a shaking finger at Kodachi. "Promise me that I will never see that demon again!"
Kodachi pouted. "Gosunkugi, dear! You wound me!"
Gosunkugi glared at Kodachi. "I wish."
Kodachi pouted again. "Is that any way for a monk to speak? Fine, fine. I will leave you now on."
Gosunkugi relaxed and looked other two. "If you will come for me tomorrow, I should be able to gather what I will need. A bit before sunset. I would like to start around sundown, when the world is in transition." He cast one more wary look at the smiling Kodachi, then turned his attention back to Akane and Ranko. "I do hope you know what you are getting into, associating with someone like her. It's none of my business, as long as she stays away from me. I will have one of the novices take you out. Goodnight, and stay safe tonight." He said before he walked out of the room to fetch one of the young novices.
"He seemed…. Nice?" Akane said hesitantly.
"He is a strange, creepy little road of a man, but he is skilled and available." Kodachi said dismissively. "I will walk with you to your car,. see you next week Akane dear."
Shortly, they are joined by a young novice, who leads them back to the stairway at the entrance to the shrine proper. After they reached the bottom, Kodachi parted with them after she winked at the two, then sashayed off.
"She is… An interesting woman." Ranko commented as Akane nodded, then the pair made their way back home to where Ukyo waited for them, having finished her shift.
Akane and Ranko exchanged greetings and hugs with Ukyo, then all three sat down together to talk about their days. Ukyo had a slow, rather boring day as she had worked with one of her new clients on the basics for what they had needed to work on. Ranko and Akane, on the other hand, had a bit more to share.
"So, I heard about someone who might be able to help with that shadow cat." Akane said.
Ukyo gave the two of them a curious look. "Someone who can help with that thing? And who told you about this person?"
"Kodachi Kuno, an acquaintance of mine. She helped us find a Shinto priest and spiritualist who she says should be able to help." Akane said as she held Ranko's hand. "We went and visited this priest ourselves. He will be visiting us tomorrow to see what he can do."
Ranko nodded. "I sensed something from him. It wasn't chi, but it was… Something. And he seemed confident that he could help us. Mind you, he also seemed to be terrified of Kodachi for some reason. We might want to be cautious around her. Her chi has an… Odd feel to it. My chi senses are still not great, but they seem to be coming back slowly but surely."
"I can't help but feel it's all connected, you know what I mean, sugar?" Ukyo said as she sipped her tea.
Ranko nodded as she bit her lip. "It's happening like Natsume warned us of. She had said that the barrier around the world might start to weaken, and that we would possibly see things getting stanger over the years." Ranko sighed as she sipped her tea. "I had hoped that we might have more time, though."
"Well, we will see what this monk has to say, and hope that he can at least keep that thing from coming back." Akane said as she drank her tea, and gave Ranko's hand a tight squeeze.
Akane stood up and stretched as she looked at the other two and smiled. "Let's head to bed, you two. I(t sounds like we will have a big day tomorrow, and I want to make sure that we have time for our morning workout."
"You think I should still stay with you two?" Ukyo asked as she got up as well.
Ranko nodded as she placed her cup on the table and started to wheel towards the bedroom. "Of course, Ukyo."
Akane looked back and grinned a wicked grin that immediately set Ukyo on guard and made Ranko sigh, since she had an idea where this was going.
"And we promise to be quiet, and not writhe too much. Unless you want to join in?" Akane said with a grin.
As Ranko blushed even redder, Ukyo shook her head and smiled a sweet smile. "I'd break you, sugar. After sleeping with Ranma? I don't think you have anything big enough to be worth it."
Ranko held her hands up and waved them. "Enough! No no no! Not going there! I do NOT need to know ANYTHING about my brothers sex life, or that he HAS a sex life. Akane… Behave or you will be sleeping on the couch and I will cuddle Ukyo."
Akane laughed and nodded. "Okay, you win. Sorry, Ukyo… I guess I went a bit too far there."
"A bit?" Ukyo said with a shake of her head as she ducked into her suite long enough to grab her most comfortable set of pajamas. "You need to learn to play nice, or your better half is going to combust."
Ranko shook her head and didn't comment as she wheeled into the bedroom, with the other two in tow.
They had a quiet night, the first truly quiet one in a few weeks.
Thursday, January 7th. The Saotome Residence, 2:00 PM.
The monk looked over the edifice before him as he adjusted the bag slung over his shoulder. It had been years since he had worked any sort of true occult ritual, and he hoped that he was up to what lay before him. One hour until the sun went down, and he had to get most of the preparations done in that time.
He hoped that they did not have too many mirrors.
Hikaru Gosunkugi squared his thin, frail shoulders and nodded to the driver that had brought him here before he walked to the doors. He was not surprised when they opened before he arrived at them, but instead of a servant, the person who was there was Akane Tendo. He could see Ranko sitting in her chair behind her, with a brunette he hadn't seen before standing next to her.
"Thank you for coming today. You know Ranko already, this other nice lady is Ukyo Kuonji, she is the fiance of Ranma Saotome. She is here often, and was the one that had the… encounter… with the creature." Akane said as she held the door for him.
Ukyo bowed to Gosunkugi, then smiled at him as he returned her greeting. "Thank you so much, sugar. What can we do? How can we help?" She asked.
He smiled that creepy smile of his. "I will need access to the entire household, and any other buildings that need to be warded. Specifically, any mirrors that are here. I know, it sounds like an odd request, but often mirrors function as gateways to other realms of existence." He noted that the three women shared a look, and that Ranko in particular had an odd look on her face. He noted that fact, as he smiled again.
"You… Need access to every mirror? You aren't going to have to destroy them or anything… Right?" Ranko asked in a worried tone of voice."
He shook his head. "That should not be necessary. I would not want that much bad luck, after all." He said as he smiled at Ranko.
Ranko laughed weakly and returned his smile. He noticed that her face had paled significantly.
"Is there a mirror that holds some special significance? Some family heirloom, perhaps? Or some sort of religious artifact?" Gosunkugi asked with a curious expression.
"Ummm… Something like that…'' Ranko answered, then cleared her throat. "We should probably get started, right?"
He nodded as he adjusted his bag again. "We should. Sunset is nearing, and I have much work to do before then. You will have to show me this mirror that you are worried about, and explain its significance. I would hate to leave an entryway, if it can be avoided."
He noticed that all three of them exchanged looks, then nodded as the women started to lead him through the house, starting with the large mirrors that adorned the foyer. He carefully placed a seal on paper on each, and explained that they could not be removed, and should not be touched.
The women nodded as they led him deeper into the house.
It would seem that this might be even more interesting than he had expected.