Chaotic Waters

by JeweledDreams

Having had enough with the madness of Nerima, Ranma flees so he can come up with a plan to fully free himself from it, only to discover something worth far more.

4. Fire and Water

Chaotic Waters, Act 1 Chapter 4: Fire and Water.

Nerima, two weeks before Ranma's disappearance.

Ukyo frowned as she watched Ranma fill his dummy pack with supplies and other things, nervously chewing her lip in thought. She needed to know the answer to two questions before he left and they couldn't contact each other for a while. She'd meant to ask him back when he first came to her with this ridiculous plan but fear had kept her from asking.

"What is it Ucchan?" Ranma asked as he zipped up his pack. He'd need Ryoga to drop it off somewhere remote, maybe in Egypt or something. He was probably being a little paranoid taking so many extra steps to avoid being found, but Shampoo had been able to track him across China and into Japan, and who knew what Cologne could do. "I can feel your furrowed brow from here."

"...Why did you come to me for help?" She asked after a moment, choosing to ignore the aquatransexual's furrowed brow comment. "Don't think I didn't notice you change the subject to the wedding when I asked before."

He was silent for a few minutes as he seemed to think over his words. "I wasn't going to, in the beginning I mean." He said eventually. "Originally I was just going to ask Konatsu for help and that was it." He sat the dummy pack down, sitting in the chair next to him. "I was so angry with you, I didn't want to look at you again. I'm still angry with you if I'm being honest."

"Then why did you...?"

"Konatsu wouldn't agree to help me unless I asked you as well." He said simply, looking out the window.

"...that's it?That'swhy you asked me for help?!" She screamed, slamming her palms on the table and glaring at him, only to get a bland look in return.

"Yes, Ukyo. That's why I asked, because I needed Konatsu's help and you were the price I had to pay to get it." His words were spoken without even the smallest trace of emotion, or affection as his eyes grew cold and distant. "Why else would I talk to you after what you've done?"

"What I'VE done?! What about you? You've led all of us on for almost two years, all of this could have been solved if you had just picked one of us!"

"And why would I want to do that?" The cold void of space was warmer than Ranma's voice when he spoke, not one single iota of warmth could be found in either his tone or his eyes as he said his piece. "None of you, not one, has ever asked me what I wanted, how I felt, or even if I was okay. The only thing any of you cared about was whatyouwanted, you never even considered my feelings on the matter!"

That couldn't be true...could it? She had to have asked him those things at least once, right?

"On top of what they haven't done, let's go over the things my "fiancées"havedone." Ranma stated firmly, leaving no room for argument. "Shampoo has repeatedly attempted to drug, enchant, manipulate my mind, or control me in some way, shape, or form. Akane is excessively paranoid,alwaysthinks the worst of me in any situation, and has a tendency to hit me for any perceived slight, whether it's a misunderstanding or not. The last time, she cracked three of my ribs and knocked me out for six hours." His eyes narrowed as he glared at her sharply. "As for you, you've repeatedly tried to manipulate me or others to make sure you "won" me like I'm some kind of prize and threw bombs around like they were confetti when it looked like you were going to lose." He grabbed a water bottle and opened it, taking a long drink before continuing. "So yes, Konatsu's help is theonlyreason I'm even talking to you right now."

He didn't so much as twitch when she slapped him, or slammed the door after running out of the room, or even when Konatsu held a knife against his throat.

"That was unnecessary, you didn't have to go that far." The kunoichi's words were as cold as Ranma's had been and far,farmore deadly. "If it weren't for the fact she would never forgive me, I would kill you now and leave your body for the crows."

"...she needed to hear it though. Out of the three of them she's the only one I can tolerate anymore...she's also the one with the best chance of getting out of this mess." He said, exhaustion clear in his voice.

"...what do you mean?"

"Akane's the heir to the Tendo dojo and barring some unbelievable bad luck is set to inherit it. Shampoo's from a warrior tribe that will either banish her, kill her, or permanently lock her in her cursed form if she fails her mission to bring me back as her husband. But Ukyo? All she has holding her here is her restaurant and me, and I just made myself seem like an ass so she'd question whether I'm worth sticking around for." He closed his eyes before slowly turning his head to look at the kunoichi, ignoring the small drops of blood dripping down his throat from the knife she was holding. "And no matter what she decides about that, she has you to help her through it."

"...you really are a bastard Ranma-san." The kunoichi said, slowly pulling the knife away from Ranma's throat and cleaning it with a spare rag she kept on hand for just that reason.

"I know."

Juban, Hikawa Shrine.

"Why is it that whenever I make an effort to stay out of trouble it always seems to find me?"It really was ridiculous how unlucky he was when it came to these kinds of situations, he was starting to wonder if the universe hated him or something. Though with Genma's history it wouldn't surprise him if he was just collateral damage to his pop's bad karma.

"Akuryo Taisan!" The girl shouted, flinging the ofuda at him with surprising speed.

Normally, flinging a piece of paper wouldn't do much, the wind would catch it and it would never reach it's intended target...but spiritual energy changed the rules. Imbuing an object with spiritual energy or even ki had a tendency to alter how an object was perceived by the world. A rock could be thrown with the force of a bullet, a sword could cut a boulder in two without chipping, or a piece of paper could fly straight at a target and not be affected by the wind.

Not that it would make a difference.

"Takeo" might have only studied martial arts enough to protect himself and his sister in the story Ranma had concocted, but Ranma himself had studied them his entire life. Years of practicing the Art had not only honed his body and reflexes, but also his mind...well when it came to combat at least. At a subconscious level he was constantly observing and reading even the most minor of muscle twitches.

With as little movement as possible he turned to the side, just enough for the ofuda to fly past him without so much as brushing against his clothes, before facing the girl again. The movement was so smooth and fluid it wouldn't have surprised anyone if they had been told he was made of water. "Look, I don't know why you've decided that I have an "evil aura" or whatever, but attacking someone just for being at a temple isn't something shrine maidens are supposed to do." He said, only for the girl to pull out three more ofuda in response. Already he could see heatwaves starting to appear above the seals."Seriously?! I didn't even do anything and this chick just decides to attack me!"

"I won't let you hurt any-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" An elderly voice shouted, cutting off the girl and causing both her and Takeo to stumble. It was an old man in a white robe, the head priest of the shrine if Takeo had to guess going off of what the he was saying.

"Grandpa?!"

"Apparently they're related."Takeo thought blandly, rubbing the back of his neck.

The old man was glaring at the girl harshly which, unknown to Takeo, was something he had only done twice in the in the entire time he had known his granddaughter. "Have I failed in your training so much that you can't tell the difference between someone who is actually evil and someone who is cursed?!"

"Cursed?" The girl looked at Takeo in surprise, her grip on her ofuda loosening enough for them to fall harmlessly to the ground. "But no curse I've sensed ever felt this strong!"

"I thought that might be it, though I'm surprised the curse can be sensed...wait is that how Shampoo was able to track us through China?! If so, that means this entire plan will fail the second I get in her sensing range let alone the old ghoul's, and who knows how huge that could be."Takeo thought, his mind racing to come up with any idea other that running to another country right here and now.

"And I suppose you've felt a person with an aura as evil as this curse, perhaps in the last month or two?" The old man asked with a raised eyebrow, seeming to hint at something if the girl's taken aback look was anything to go by.

"Grandpa, you...?"

The old man sighed, before gesturing for the two to follow him. "Come inside, the both of you, we'll speak there." He turned back towards the temple before pausing and looking back at the girl sternly. "This is the second time you have attacked an innocent because you misunderstood what you were sensing Rei, donotlet it happen again."

"I...yes, grandpa." The girl, now revealed to be called Rei, responded despondently.

~~~D5S~~~

The wind blew across the Great Sea of Neptune, brushing against Nerida's hair as she watching as Sol set from her place on the smallest of the Emerald Cliffs. The Cliffs were a sacred place, for it was here that the first Guardian of Neptune, one whose name had long been lost to history, had awoken to her power. Only The Guardian and the High Priestess of Neptune were allowed to set foot on the Cliffs even the airspace around them was forbidden, surrounded by a natural anti-magic barrier that disrupted mana, including the mana-drives all of their technology utilized. Only the Guardian and the High Priestess were immune to the barrier, something about how their magical signature had the same wavelength as that of the barrier itself, or so Nerida had been told, allowed them to pass through without being affected. Her gaze on Sol's light did not falter as she heard the click of heels behind her, already knowing what the High Priestess would say.

{"Are you just going to brood all day Mother?"} There it was, the High Priestess' usual greeting for her.

She turned, giving the High Priestess an unimpressed look before looking back at the sunset. {"I'm not your mother Kymopoleia, I have never shared a bed with anyone, let alone a man.}"

{"Are you sure? It was your Awakening that brought me into being, it is that way with all of the High Priests and Priestesses. As such, in a way, youaremy mother."} The Siren said with a fond smile, sitting next to her soul-sister. Despite spending the majority of her time deep within the depths of the Great Sea, inside the Core City of Atlantis, Kymopoleia had the appearance of one who spent their days under the sun. A deep tan colored her skin, contrasting beautifully with the sapphire scales that dotted her face, arms, and legs gracefully. She laid her tail on her lap, gently running her fingers across the delicate fin at the end. {"Atlantis is eagerly awaiting your next visit you know."}

Nerida shook her head, her shoulders slumping as the last rays of Sol's light disappeared. {"Right now I am needed here, the Core City will have to wait until I can resolve the issue with the Cult."} She said quietly, resting her head on the High Priestess' shoulder. {"It is the same reason none of the other Guardians have been to the Core Cities in some time, the cult is simply too dangerous right now."}

{"Well that's not entirely true, Endymion was in Elysion just recently."} The Siren argued, pouting slightly. {"Helios has been quite insufferable because of it."}

{"Terra's Guardian doesn't count, the Golden Kingdom's Capitalisthe Core City, of course he would be there."} Nerida stated, waving off the siren's words before pausing with a small smile. {"Well, when him and the Lunar Princess aren't sneaking around together that is."}

{"Ah yes, their "secret" trysts."} The siren shook her head in amusement, her shoulders shaking slightly from her silent laughter. {"Those two couldn't fool a blind man with how they act around each other."} Kymopoleia paused, her expression becoming concerned as her wrung her hands together. {"The Lunar Queen has known about those two from the beginning...do you think there will be an issue?"}

{"I admit, I'm not as familiar with the Royal families these days, aside from the Guardians of course, but from what I have seen, so long as they don't get caught, the Lunar Queen shouldn't interfere. She is after all, quite fond of her daughter, no doubt she plans on ignoring the issue so she doesn't have to give an execution order on the girl. From what Father has told me she is not one to rush into snap decisions."}

{"...We are talking about the same woman who nearly started a war with the Martians after finding their princess in bed with her daughter right?"}

{"...you might have a point there."}

The two sat there together for a while in comfortable silence, simply enjoying one another's company in a rare moment of peace. There were no romantic feelings between the two, there couldn't be, for they were two parts of the same being. Guardian and High Priestess, warrior and guide, connected in a way that was impossible for anyone else to understand. Feelings, sensations, thoughts, all of these things and more flowed between them, when they fully utilized the link between them. Theycouldactually hide things from one another, though they rarely had reason to do so and almost always eventually told the other what they were hiding. They could always feel one another, and while distance did affect how strongly they could feel one another that wasn't the case on their planet. On Neptune, there was not one single place where they could not feel everything about the other, but on the few occasions Nerida had left her beloved planet, the farther away she went, the fainter Kymopoleia became. It was why they spent as much time as possible together when Nerida needed to leave Neptune. It had been this way since they met nearly thirty years ago, back when Nerida was eighteen after the Gathering where she had met Prince Ziaza. Their shared power keeping them looking no older then twenty, something that wouldn't change even at the end of their life. Guardians and the High Priest and Priestesses always lived almost fifteen hundred years, five hundred more than the average lifespan of those in the System.

{"You lied before...about not sharing a bed with anyone."} The siren said after a moment. There was no accusation in her voice, she was merely stating a fact that they both knew to be true. {"I knew the moment it happened a month ago."}

{"...I'm sorry."} Nerida whispered, giving Kymopoleia an apologetic look. {"I-"}

{"-I am not angry with you, I know why you did it. You've always been private with your feelings, even with me."} The Siren interrupted with a fond smile, giving Nerida a small squeeze on her forearm. {"I just wanted to know who won your heart, I can feel the love you have for them even now."}

{Uranus' Guardian, Ziaza."} The Guardian said after a moment, hiding her face with her delicate hands as her cheeks and ears began to burn in embarrassment.

The Siren threw back her head and cackled loudly, her laughter sounding like waves crashing upon the rocky cliffs. {"I should have guessed! You were so jealous when they were talking with Pluto's Guardian, I thought you were going to start an inter-planetary incident for a moment with the way you were glaring at her."}

{"I was not glaring at her."} Nerida grumbled, crossing her arms like a defiant child. {"I would never disgrace my house publicly like that."}

{"Uh-huh, sure you weren't."} Kymopoleia smirked. {"So tell me...are the rumors about what Uranians are like in bed true?"}

{"KYMOPOLEIA!"}

~~~D5E~~~

"My name is Hikawa Kenji, I'm the priest of this shrine." The old man said as he prepared some tea after leading them all to a room inside. "I apologize for my granddaughter's actions, she should never have attacked you."

"Hino Rei." The girl stated, introducing herself, her voice tinged with remorse as she bowed low for a moment. "I'm sorry for attacking you."

Takeo took a sip of his tea, glancing at a small pitcher of water with ice in it."I have a feeling I know what that is for."He groaned internally. Why did the curse never want to let him stay in his birth form for any length of time? "I'm Kaioh Takeo, but...Hino? I thought your grandfather said your name was Hikawa?" He asked Rei quizzically.

"Rei's mother was my daughter, when she married she took her husband's name of Hino." The priest explained, taking a sip of his own tea before setting his cup down on the small table, staring at the tea as it rippled inside. "It's been some time since I met someone who has been touched by Jusenkyō." He commented, making Takeo freeze, his tea mere centimeters from his lips.

"Jusenkyō?" Rei asked, looking between the two. "What's that?"

"Jusenkyō, or Zhòuquánxiāng in Mandarin, is a legendary training ground in the Bayankala Mountain range of China that is known for being cursed. It is said that none who attempt to train there ever leave without falling into one of over 800 pools, the medium by which the curses are inflicted."

"...I didn't expect anyone here to know about Jusenkyō." Takeo said quietly, looking into his tea. "How'd you know I was cursed there though?"

"There are only three places on Earth that I know of that inflict curses strong enough to seep into one's aura, and I highly doubt you've been to either the Bermuda Triangle or Roanoke Island." The Priest replied, shaking his head. "But, I knew for sure for one reason, one of my daughters was also touched by Jusenkyō's waters, Rei's Aunt, Asami."

"Aunt Asami was cursed?" Rei blinked in surprise, her eyes widening . "I never knew about that."

"In fact, if I had to guess, it was the same curse that our guest has. I would recognize that pattern of twisted spiritual energy anywhere." The priest muttered, looking at Takeo with understanding. "Would you mind demonstrating your curse to my granddaughter?"

Takeo groaned audibly before nodding his head, his reluctance easy to see. He reached behind his head and freed his hair from it's ponytail before grabbing the pitcher of ice water and dumping it over his head. Once again he felt it, the pleasent tingle down his spine that always accompanied his transformation into a girl. He, now she felt herself shudder as the cold seeped into his bones, she'd never been good with the cold. Already she could feel herself slipping into her Michiru persona, her posture shifting into a more feminine one without any conscious effort.

Rei jerked back as if slapped, her eyes wide as she looked up and down Michiru in shock. "Wha, how?!" She exclaimed, a light flush appearing on her cheeks at the sight of a water droplet sliding down Michiru's neck. "This can't be real." She muttered to herself, reaching out her hand towards Michiru's chest only for her wrist to be snagged in an iron grip.

"I assure you, they're real." Michiru stated firmly, looking Rei in the eye with a stern look. "And I would appreciate it if you didn't grope me to confirm that fact."

"Grk!"

Both of the girls paused and looked to the priest at the strangled noise coming from him only to see him twitching on the floor with blood leaking from his nose. It was only then that Michiru remembered something important, something she had forgotten when she had agreed to demonstrate her curse, she'd put on a white shirt this morning."Pervert!"Her thoughts exclaimed, giving the priest a frigid glare.

"Really grandpa?" Rei muttered, pulling her had away from the distracted Michiru. "I'm sorry about him, he's not usually...well no, actually he's like this a lot."

"It's fine...I'm used to it." Michiru muttered, shivering slightly.

"...you must be uncomfortable in those wet clothes, we have some things here you can wear." Rei said after a moment, giving Michiru an odd look.

"Can I ask you something, about your curse I mean?" Rei asked when they got to the changing room.

"...go ahead." Michiru sighed. "I have a feeling I know what you want to ask."

"Does it hurt, to change I mean?"

She paused, giving Rei a strange look before shaking her head in amusement. "In the two years since I've gotten this curse, you are the first person to ask that. I thought for sure you were going to ask if I was really a boy or a girl." She giggled, smiling at Rei. "It doesn't hurt at all, it actually feels...nice in a way." She said, accepting the white kosode and red hakama that Rei held out for her. "Well changing into a girl feels nice, changing back into a guy feels...wrong somehow, like the cursewantsme to stay a girl."

"I admit I am a bit curious about that. It must be hard, switching back and forth like that, I can't imagine what that's like."

"It can be, it's gotten me in a lot of trouble since I got it. Most people don't...react well." Michiru said, wincing slightly. "Most girls that find out seem to think I'm a pervert that's going to use it to spy on them and most guys seem to think I use this form for, shall we say, less than honorable reasons."

Rei scowled, already knowing exactly what kind of comments her guest must have received. "Disgusting."

Michiru nodded in agreement, scowling as she remembered some of the guys from Furinkan that had kept trying to splash her with cold water in the changing room to get a free show. She turned around so her back was facing Rei before taking off her wet shirt. For the second time today, she heard a sharp intake of air behind her, people always had that reaction. It was a little irritating honestly, she didn't need the reminder that she was unattractive. That made her pause, since when had she thought her female form was unattractive? Usually, when someone claimed that it wasn't attractive, she'd be defensive and try to prove them wrong like with Tsubasa...actually whydidshe always get defensive? She was really a guy, so why did it make her angry, no anger wasn't the right emotion...pain? But pain was a sensation, not an emotion...except it wasn't. There were certainly times where someone had said something that had hurt her without physically injuring her so maybe it was an emotionanda sensation? But even if that were the casewhy, why did being called ugly hurt her, she was a guy...things like that weren't supposed to hurt...right?

Rei's eyes were wide as she stared at the myriad of scars on her guest's back, what kind of life had this...boy? Girl? This person, had to have lived to received such scars? "What...what happened to you?" She whispered.

Michiru paused for a moment before stripping herself of her pants, and beginning to put on the outfit that had been given to her. "Most of it is from a fire I was in a year ago...someone I knew was in trouble and, like a fool, I jumped in to help and got hurt. The rest of of it is from when I got lost in the woods when I was around ten". She explained, giving Rei the cover story Ukyo had come up with. "I'd run out to this cliff during a camping trip my parents had taken me on and it collapsed underneath me, from rain damage I think. My back got cut up by some rocks in the fall and I ended up being found by some wolves soon after." The story was actually true, in a way. The only differences between it and what had actually happened was that she'd had to fight off the wolves herself and there hadn't been any rain damage, Genma had shattered the cliff himself with an especially powerful stomp, to test her survival skills he'd said. "Thankfully my father found me and scared them off before I was hurt too badly."

"That's...I'm sorry you went through that, you must have been so scared."

Had she been scared? The initial fall had been a little nerve-wracking sure, and the wolves showing up had made her anxious, but scared? That...didn't seem right somehow. After the Neko-Ken a lot of things didn't seem scary, after all whatcouldbe scary after that hell? "To be honest...I'm not sure I was." She mused to herself, completely missing Rei's incredulous expression.

"My apologies for earlier young man." The priest said, giving Michiru a deep bow looking every bit like a contrite old man...were it not for the two tissues stuffed up his nose, completely ruining the image. "Back to what we were speaking about earlier, Jusenkyō curses seep into and alter the victim's aura, giving them an "evil" feeling to those who can read them like myself and my granddaughter. It's one of the main reasons a lot of Jusenkyō victims go into hiding, that evil in their aura attracts misfortune to them." The priest explained, tucking his hands into his sleeves.

"He knows."Michiru thought to herself, her eyes narrowing sharply."He knows I'm running from something."She took a sip of her tea, wrinkling her nose at the fact it was now less than lukewarm. "What about your daughter, Asami was it?" She asked. "Was misfortune attracted to her?"

Rei winced as she watched her grandfather nod his head in sadness. "It was indeed, though she managed it as well as she could. She stayed in China after getting cursed and got married, she was even expecting a child the last time we talked. Unfortunately there were...complications... during labor. Neither her nor the baby made it."

"I...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." Michiru started to apologize before drifting off, not able to find the words.

"It's quite alright, you couldn't have known." The Priest said with a sad smile. "This was over sixteen years ago you understand, I've long since come to terms with the fact that both of my children have died before me." He clapped his hands loudly, as if to clear away the depressing mood that had started to envelop the room. "Now, I'm sure you did not come here just to listen to an old man talk about his grief. What can I do for you?"

"To be completely honest, I was just entranced by the spiritual energy of this place, I've been to a few shrines, but none of them ever felt this...alive?"

"Ahh, yes," The priest chuckled, gesturing to his granddaughter. "That is all because of Rei here. She still has much to learn, especially about not judging a book by it's cover-"

Rei winced, a slight blush forming on her cheeks from embarrassment.

"-but she has quite a large amount of talent and I have no doubt in my mind that she will be the perfect person to take over for me." He smiled at Rei, a fond look in his eyes. "Should she choose that path of course."

"I've already told you grandpa, I'm not changing my mind about taking over the shrine." Rei stated firmly, her determination easy to see in her expression.

"I don't doubt that either, she's definitely got a huge amount of spiritual power, honestly it wouldn't have surprised me if you told me shewasin charge of this shrine." Michiru said, a small laugh leaving her lips as she watched Rei's ears turn red. It was nice to see she could still embarrass the younger girl...wait still? She frowned internally, why did it feel like she had embarrassed this girl before, she'd never met her till now...actually now that she thought about it Reididseem familiar, but from where?

"..io..an?" She heard distantly as she tried to find the source of the familiarity.

There was something there...something buried in her memories that made Rei seem so familiar...wait it wasn't just Rei! She'd had this feeling of familiarity with Tenoh at school earlier as well, just what was going on? Why were two random people in this district so eerily familiar, Tenoh-san was her age from what she'd been able to gleam from her classmates, but Rei? She had to be three, maybe four years younger than her, and She definitely didn't remember hanging out with any kids that young on the training journey. Both of them felt familiar, but Rei was more of a...distant familiar, like a relative you knew and saw occasionally, but rarely was involved in your day to day. Tenoh though? He wasveryfamiliar, like an old friend you saw every day for years, or a sibling...no that was wrong. He definitely wasn't familiar like a friend or family, it was more like...like-

"Takeo-san!" Rei shouted at her, startling her from her thoughts. "Are you okay? You've been staring blankly at the wall for ten minutes."

"Was I? My apologies, I was lost in thought." She paused, feeling a small feeling of revulsion settle in her stomach at being called Takeo in this form. "And please, call me Michiru when I'm like this." She said gesturing at her currently female body. "It's the name I use in this form, people ask less questions about two "siblings" than they do two nearly identical people with the same name." She explained with a small laugh.

The priest nodded, looking up at the ceiling in thought. "A wise decision." He seemed to hesitate for a moment before looking Michiru in the eye with a serious expression. "Tell me, do you intend to cure yourself of your curse?"

"Of course I..." Michiru started to say before drifting off, did she still want to cure her curse? Her current situation required the curse to work, and even if she got rid of it, it wasn't like it would solve any of her problems. Akane would still be angry at her all of the time, Shampoo would still be trying to drag her to the Joketsuzoku, the Kuno's would be even worse than they were now. Even her parents would be the same, her father would still be the way he was, a greedy idiot that would just sell her for a bowl of rice, one fish, and two pickles. And her mom...her mom would just keep holding Michiru to her own insane version of manliness, a situation where failure meant death. As for Michiru's own feelings on the matter...she didn't know. After almost two years of having the curse she'd gotten used to her cursed body, she felt at peace in it, even if it was just a trick of the curse. Peace was a rare commodity in her life and one she had long since learned to treasure. "I...I don't know." She whispered after a moment, fiddling with her hands in her lap.

"It is good you haven't decided yet, if you had told me you were going to stop at nothing to see it cured, I would have had to try my hardest to convince you otherwise." The priest said firmly.

"What, why grandpa? Shouldn't we be trying to help her...him...them! Help them be rid of such an evil curse?" Rei interjected, stumbling over Michiru's pronouns for a moment.

"Normally, you would be correct, but the fact that they were cursed by Jusenkyō changes things." The priest's eyes never left Michiru's as he spoke, seemingly watching for even the slightest sign that Michiru had decided to cure her curse. "The only cure for a Jusenkyō victim is death."