Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Sealed Past ❯ Chapter 25 ( Chapter 25 )

Chapter 25

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Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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Akane continued to fume as she listened to Ranma and that—that witch continue to talk. Hah! `Like I believed in any of this crap,' Akane mentally sneered. `No way in hell Ranma is the resurrection of some feudal demon.' There were no such things as demons! And it was lunacy and bordering on delusional to state that those two were soul-mates.

 

`What's was so special about the witch anyway?' Akane wondered spitefully as she eyed the black haired and brown eyed woman seated across for her. `The witch isn't nearly as attractive as myself,' she thought smugly, in fact the witch's features were unremarkable and one could almost call them plain. `Nor does the witch seem to be any sort of fighter—probably one slap would take her out and send her bawling home,' Akane though with a great deal of satisfactory pleasure.

 

`And she's old! Probably older than Kasumi is.' That was one point that bugged Akane the most, the fact that she hadn't apparently lost Ranma to a younger woman but to an older one!

 

“Look,” Akane rudely interrupted the witch's speech about some deal with the gods, ha! as if, “I don't give a damn about any of this. All I care about is that Ranma has—”

 

“You haven't been listening to a word we've been saying have you?” Kagome cut the tomboy off with amusement.

 

“I told you I don't give a shit—”

 

“It isn't about you,” Kagome cut the youngest Tendo off again, growing impatient, “It has noting to do with you, it's about Ranma and me. There is no you.”

 

“You thieving bitch!” Akane snarled as she lunged across the table, her rage boiling over at that statement.

 

A streak smashed her backwards.

 

Akane crashing through a wall out into the shrine grounds to lie sprawled in a heap of wreckage upon the flagstones.

 

A snarling demon crouched before her.

 

The Nerima Wrecking Crew were on their feet, feeling as they were moving though molasses at the speed of Ranma and the others who were on their feet and scrabbling though the new exit hole long before they had even registered the attack.

 

“Akane!” Ryoga cried out disbelievingly as he and his companions scrambled after them all, watching horrified as Akane scrambled desperately to avoid Ranma's attacks.

 

The Wrecking Crew were in shook. Ranma had never done this before. Yeah, he'd beat Akane constantly in sparing matches, but he had never been so brutal.

 

“Filthy bitch,” Ranma rasped in a low snarl that was not his voice, “How dare you attempt to attack my mate.”

 

The Wrecking Crew all shuddered at the hateful menace they heard resonating within the stranger's voice. This was not their Ranma, but a wild predator who radiated a viciously powerful aura to their marital art's senses. All their instincts were screaming at them that to interfere was to die.

 

And that was Akane's fate—she was going to die, they had no doubt about it.

 

“Father!”

 

The Wrecking Crew barely spared a glance at the russet haired man or the term of address he had used, their eyes locked on the gut churning scene before them as Ranma beat Akane down again and again, toying with her.

 

“Father stop it! She's only human! You'll kill her!” Shippou tried once again to get though to the enraged demon, knowing that Sesshoumaru would do nothing. The Demon Lord may live in a modern age but he was archaic when it came to demon matters, especially demon family matters.

 

“Father!” The fox demon yelled again, finally lunging at the dog demon souled human.

 

Shippou only got one hit in before a fist smashed into his cheek, sending him skidding backwards to crash up against one of the torii pillars. The wooden structure shuddered beneath the bone crunching impact.

 

But the fox had achieved his aim, Ranma was momentarily distracted allowing Akane a few desperate moments of breathing space.

 

Those from Nerima stared in shock, not because of the force of the impact which was not an uncommon feat among them, but by what they now saw.

 

While still wearing a dark business suit, it was no human that lay slumped against the column. Nine golden red fox tails were now evident, lips curled back in a grimace to reveal canine incisors, claws upon his fingertips, elf ears framing his face, slitted green eyes glittered at them.

 

The silver haired man snorted dismissingly, never taking his eyes off the two combatants. “Foolish kit, you know better to stand before a demon in basukanda[1].”

 

“Bah-sue-kan-dah?” Shampoo piped up questionably, sounding the term out, recognising it as not being Japanese.

 

“A demon defending his mate,” Souten translated loosely as she looked with sympathy and some amusement at her mate before turning her attention back to the still raging battle.

 

Kagome steeped forward, a rosary string hanging loosely in one hand. Her bronze eyes cool, expression calm and serene. She could feel the rage burning though her soul link with Ranma but knew that if he did kill the girl he would never forgive himself when he regained himself. It was time for her to put a stop to this.

 

She raised the string of beads before her and let herself slip into the Third Eye trance.

 

Those around her hastily backed away, the Nerima Wrecking Crew in particular stared wide-eyed as it seemed as though she was caught within a windy vortex, clothes and hair flying upwards the stone beads beginning to glow.

 

***

 

Images flashed thorough Ranma's mind as he easily avoided Akane's retaliating attacks unleashing brutal ones of his own that the Tendo girl was having greater and greater difficulty avoiding.

 

A conflicting clash of memories. Memories of his childhood as Inuyasha. Memories of his childhood as Ranma. Memories playing, overlapping, snippets of events that had made him and had lead him to this fight.

 

Akane constantly bashing him. Bad mouthing his honour and manhood. Constantly belittling him and now trying to take from him the one reason for his existence. Lunging at his mate. Awakening everything that was demonic within his soul.

 

Than he felt something, a stirring of power that was not his own. Kagome. Her power rippled out, sliding against his own, caressing and merging with his aura. Bring with it the soothing touch of reason.

 

Yes Akane may be a self-centered, spoiled brat, throwing tantrums whenever she didn't get her way, letting pride rule her actions and her sharp tongue. But that merely showed what she was… a child who'd been coddled by all those around her.

 

The red haze clouding his vision faded, leaving him to look down at the battered form that lay snivelling before him.

 

A child. That was all she was.

 

“Pathetic,” he finally spat and turned on his heel. She was worth no more of his time.

 

He regarded all of the people gathered before him that had witness the fight. Genma, Soun, Nabiki, Ryoga, Kuno, Kodachi, Shampoo, and Mousse. They were all of his—no Ranma's—past and that was were they would remain. He may be called Ranma now and to a certain degree be Ranma, but he was Inuyasha in his soul, his future was with his demon family, his brother, son and most importantly his mate.

 

“Take her home,” he spat out, “I disown the lot of you.”

 

Genma drew himself up, affronted by the boy's words, no son could disown his father! “As your father I forbid it!” He raged, “You have a duty to the school—”

 

Smack!

 

The sound of flesh striking flesh resonated in the air. Surprised they all looked from where Genma lay on the ground to the man in the grey suit that towered menacingly over him. Even Ranma was surprised at Sesshoumaru's interference.

 

“Listen and listen well panda,” the pure dog demon began, golden eyes glittering within the icy mask of his face, “You may have fathered that body but the soul is of my brother. As he is of the Seibuinutaiso lineage and a Lord himself this makes this issue a demon matter.”

 

The elder martial artist looked up with disbelief at the form towering over him. He was a master of the Indiscriminate Grappling Technique! No man should be able to attack him unaware!

 

Canine gold eyes narrowed though Sesshoumaru's expression remained stone cold as he realised the man upon the ground was not really paying attention to what he had to say. Well, that could be fixed.

 

Jaws slackened and half steps were taken backwards as the image of the silver haired business man wavered to reveal a predatory creature with red slashes across his cheek bones and a blue crescent moon crowing his brow, silver fur draping over his right shoulder. Pupils elongated and grew slitted as they remained their burning gold colour. He also had elegantly pointed ears and nails that were now claws.

 

“Demon!” Genma shouted, a shout echoed by many others.

 

“Keh!” Ranma snorted, “You only realise it now? After my son has shown his true fox self?”

 

“Son?” Ukyo squeakily asked assisting Akane to her feet, wide-eyed as the nine tail fox climbed to his feet to stand beside the silver haired demon. Shippou gave the pizza cook a toothy grin and chuckled when not just she flinched away.

 

“Yes,” Ranma drawled in amusement, declining to clarify the true relationship.

 

“Demon or not!” Genma shouted surged to his feet, preparing himself to unleash the Forbidden Technique upon the foul creature, “I will beat you!”

 

Ranma rolled his eyes, `please, as if a human could ever defeat the Lord of the Western Lands.'

 

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at the human. `The panda reminds me of that poisoner that almost took Inuyasha's mate from him during their quest to restore the jewel.'[2] But unlike then he couldn't just kill the infuriating bear off and be done with it. Modern legalities, how he cursed them sometimes.

 

“Die cursed demon!” Genma shouted as he lunged at the great demon lord.

 

Sesshoumaru sighed, humans, as stupid as ever. Two fingers flicked out, a whip of golden light emerging to slash through the air. Intercepting Genma's charge.

 

A flick of a red lined wrist and the end of the whip curled around the human's ankle. Fingers twisted, the energy whip snapped forward yanking Genma's feet from beneath him.

 

The martial artist stumbled but soon regained his footing and began the dance that would unleash the Indiscriminate Grappling Forbidden Technique.

 

One of Sesshoumaru's silver brows quirked upwards as the human began a familiar move. `Does the panda really think he can take me down with a flea attack?'

 

Other eyes familiar with recognising demon attacks noted the move with disbelieving interest as well. When executed properly the demon attack was quite effective and would allow an attacker to use their opponent's energy against themselves. But you did not use a flea attack on a dog. It was just plain stupid—not to mention suicidal.

 

Genma leaped forward after performing the last deadly step—and crashed into flagstone.

 

“Stupid panda,” a voice growled in his ear from behind, Genma's eyes widened in pure fright. How had the demon avoided the Forbidden Technique?

 

“I am the Demon Lord of the Western Lands and you're only a cursed bear,” Sesshoumaru snarled as he unleashed a vortex of energy upon the panda, battering the bear's physical and spiritual body.

 

The Wrecking Crew who were witnessing the battle realised that like Akane's fight against Ranma, Genma's battle against that truly demonic creature was no contest. Genma would only live if the demon deemed it so.

 

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Footnotes:

[1] Basukanda: a purely fictional term that I just randomly slapped together.

[2] The reference specifically is to Mukotsu the fat poison user from the Band of Seven (Shichinin-tai).