Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma 1/2: The Truth and the Tempest ❯ Consequences ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

[Author’s Note: The characters and setting herein- with the exception of one or two O.C.’s of my own design- are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. Now it’s time for things to start heating up a bit more. Enjoy.]

Ranma ½: The Truth and the Tempest

Chapter 5: Consequences

Ranma’s breathing turned harsh as he grasped his side and tried to struggle up to his feet. His body was screaming at him to back down, but his mind spoke differently. I am not gonna let this guy get the upper hand. I can’t let him take me down…

“Ranma, stop it!” Akane cried, pushing down on his shoulder gently. “You don’t have to do this, you’re just going to make it worse! I’m not going to let you fight him again!”

He stared at her in disbelief. “A… Akane, get out of here, please… you’re gonna get hurt…”

“I’m going to get hurt?” she exclaimed. “What the hell is wrong with you? Gods, look at yourself! You‘re a wreck…” She pressed her right hand harder on his left side, trying to keep his blood loss to a minimum. “Just stop this and let’s get away from this maniac and get you fixed up…”

“Please, ‘kane… I gotta stop him. I can’t let him finish me off… I’m not gonna let him…”

“Damn it, Ranma Saotome!!!” His eyes went wide as he realized her voice had taken on a pleading tone and tears were starting to run down her face. “If you keep this up… instead of him killing you, you’re just going to kill yourself! You… you do this every single time… every fight that gets really bad, you get so focused on winning that you don’t even bother to think about your own safety! You just dive in headlong, regardless of how badly you wind up getting hurt… how do you think that makes me feel?” Her left hand stopped pressing on his shoulder and rested lightly on it instead as she began to shake. “I… I know I never said much about it before… mainly because I didn’t know how you felt… but every time you do this, whether it’s against Kirin, or Cologne, or even Azusa and Mikado, you scare me so much… that m-maybe you’d really wind up f-fighting to the d-death… I don’t want that from you, please! It’s not that I don’t want you to fight, I j-just want you to be able to come b-back from that fight…” She leaned forward, wrapping her left arm around his neck and resting her head against his. She could feel his breathing slow, no longer harsh but measured, calmer. The blood coming from his wound had slowed to a dribble.

“You don’t have to prove anything to anyone,” Akane cried into his ear softly. “I know how strong you are. I believe in you… but I won’t let you tear yourself to pieces trying to beat him… I- I love you too much to let you do that…”

Ranma let out a long breath. He knew she was right; there’d been many of his fights when he hadn’t given a single thought to his own well-being. A lot of those times had simply been mule-headedness or his own pride that he felt was on the line, but just as many times he’d been more concerned for her. He remembered throwing himself in harm’s way countless times just so she wouldn’t get hurt- the ice skating challenge being one of the more vivid times he had done so. His eyes clamped shut as he realized he had never thought she would be so concerned about him… but back then, he had no idea if she cared or not. I always thought her spirit was so strong she could shake anything off, even if I got banged up a bit… now look at her… I never noticed how sensitive she really is…

He brought his left arm up and rested it on Akane’s back. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I… I didn’t know I was hurting you that much…” He broke off and gasped as a fresh wave of pain shot across his gut and his forehead.

“It’s okay… come on, we need to get out of here. Dr. Tofu’s isn’t far…” She trailed off as she suddenly became aware of a gentle warmth enveloping the two of them. She opened her eyes and stared at the soft golden aura that was washing over them- not a battle aura, and not coming from either one of them.

“Naosu Kousen,” said a voice behind her. Her eyes went wide and she glanced back behind her; Shingen was standing just a foot or two away, his index fingers and thumbs pressed together in a triangle formation. His eyes were closed as if in meditation, and the golden light surrounding them seemed to be emanating from his outstretched palms. The glow seemed to intensify and Akane winced, expecting something nasty to happen any second. Instead, the warmth of the aura stepped up a fraction- not uncomfortably, but soothingly. For a second it felt like they had been immersed in a hot spring. Akane glanced down at Ranma and was startled to see his bruises rapidly fading… but more surprising, the wound that had been inflicted by Shingen’s naginata was closing. In a few moments, the gash had disappeared with only a faint pink line as evidence that there had been any harm.

Ranma blinked, taking in a deep breath- and wincing slightly. “I don’t believe it…”

“Did… did that really just happen?” Akane asked with a catch in her voice. “How does it feel?”

He probed his side gently, wincing again. “Still hurts… but nowhere near as bad.” He looked up at Shingen, who was standing perfectly still, arms at his side and eyes closed. “What was that? And for that matter, why?”

Akane stared at Shingen with a look of fury as well as trepidation. “Yeah, what’s going on? First you attack him and almost cut him in half, then you do something and his wounds disappear… and for that matter, why the hell did you attack him in the first place? What are you, some kind of a sadist or something?”

Shingen dropped to one knee before them, his head bowed. “I… I’ve done you both a terrible wrong this day. I became so caught up in my mission that I lost sight of my goal…” He let out a long sigh. “I acted rashly, not giving myself time to ponder the facts or even allow my own abilities time to recover. Father was right… I should have waited to recover before pursuing this quest… and by assaulting you with Hunter techniques I have left a black stain on my honor.” He clenched his fists fiercely. “I left myself open to misdirection and my own obsession with the Code, and because of that I very nearly took a fellow human’s life. I cannot ask you to forgive something like that…” A single tear worked its way down the side of his face.

Akane blinked. The anger that was in her eyes faded, with a trace of confusion rising. “You’re really not making much sense right now…”

Shingen sighed. “I, and others of my family bloodline, are Hunters.” He looked up. “Demon Hunters, to be precise.”

“Demon Hunters?” Ranma asked, confused.

“Families sworn to fight that which would poison humanity. Few are even aware of our existence… some even believe our kind to be extinct. But a few bloodlines still remain… and still fight.” He looked at Ranma, contrition painted on his face. “I have only recently returned to Tokyo after an… exhausting ordeal, and in my own impetuousness felt I needed no recovery time. I was wrong. I made a grievous error in judgment… taking one man’s words at face value without bothering to probe further. And because of that…” He trailed off. “May I ask you something, please?”

“Uh… yeah, I suppose…” Ranma said hesitantly, still taking in all Shingen had said.

“You did say you could take on a female form… is it something you can do at will?”

Ranma shook his head. “If you mean can I change whenever I want to, no. I’m cursed… sometimes I can control the trigger, sometimes not… an’ I’m not real fond of it, either. I‘d rather be normal again if I could help it.”

“I see… a metamorphic curse, then. Not a natural shapeshifter…” Shingen mused. His eyes suddenly narrowed and his fists clenched. “How could I have been such a fool. This is inexcusable…”

For a few moments there was silence. Akane stared off in thought; Ranma winced as he tested his healing laceration. Shingen sat on bended knee and held his forehead in one hand, his teeth clenched.

“So that’s why you kept calling him a demon,” Akane said softly. “You thought that’s what he was, and when he said he could become a girl, you took that as proof.”

Ranma coughed. “I… I think this is all a case of a major misunderstanding. Gods know I’ve seen enough to last me the rest of my life…” He shifted his weight, gingerly standing up. “I won’t deny, you whacked me pretty good there- but I can understand wanting to follow your instinct. I guess you figured you were just doing your job.”

Akane stared at him. “Ranma! Are you just going to let this go? He tried to kill you!” At her words, Shingen visibly winced.

“I know that, Akane… but he didn’t.”

“He might have…”

“But he didn’t. He saw what was happening, and he pulled back. Even patched me up, from the looks of it.” Akane looked at the torn spot on Ranma’s shirt again, and her expression softened. Even the red line was fading; the only evidence left of his injury was the blood which had soaked the fabric.

“I truly did not intend to harm any human this day,” Shingen continued. “I was so intent on locating the nexus of the chaos stream in this ward, even in my tired state, that I allowed someone else to influence my actions…” His voice grew harsh. “Someone who claimed you to be a demon, or more precisely, chaos incarnate.”

Akane’s eyes widened. “So you were duped into fighting him… by who? And why?”

Shingen rose to his feet, a cold rage settling on his face. “I think we’d be best served to ask him directly,” he said in a low voice before striding across to the tree nearby. He grabbed Ryoga by the collar and yanked him forward roughly, snapping him out of his daze. “Get up!”

“Huh? You mean…” Akane stared in shock. “Ryoga?”

Ranma blinked. “He’s the one?” Not really surprised that he’d call me a demon, though… I just didn’t think he’d be that serious about it…

Ryoga shook his head wearily, blinking hard as he refocused his eyes. He remembered dashing around a tree, trying to catch Ranma chatting it up with another girl- then the shock of realizing he was having an actual conversation with Akane- then a massive blow to the back of his head, and it was lights out. “Wha… what was the number of that truck that hit me…” he mumbled before his eyes snapped open and stared up. The sight of Shingen’s eyes seething with rage just about made his hair stand on end.

“Shingen? What… uh… what just happened…”

“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, Hibiki,” Shingen growled; the tone of his voice could freeze gasoline.

“Huh? What? What’d I do?”

“You LIED to me,” came the reply. “Did you or did you not tell me that you had had trouble with a demon for the better part of a year?”

“Well, um… yeah, but I was just…” Ryoga was about to laugh it off as a figure of speech when Shingen interrupted him again.

“You understood me when I told you I was a Hunter, correct? I TOLD you it was my duty to return demons to the hell they were spawned from, did I not?”

Ryoga’s eyes went wide. “Um… uh… y-yeah, I guess you did say something like that…”

“And you told me this ‘demon’ you had dealt with was ‘chaos incarnate ‘, correct? Those were your words exactly.”

“Okay, maybe I did say something like that, what does this all…” A movement off to Ryoga’s side caught his eye; he glanced over and trailed off immediately, eyes widening even more at the sight of Ranma being supported by a speechless Akane, his shirt torn and bloodstained.

“What this all adds up to,” Shingen continued, his voice rising, “is that you were at least somewhat aware of how I might react to hearing of the presence of a demon in Nerima. I told you I was investigating recent paranormal fluxes in this ward, at which point you gladly provided me with a tale of a shape-shifting demon you had struggled against. You even went so far as to point him out to me… and as an end result, I very nearly killed another human being on the assumption that he was this ‘demon’ you rambled on about.” Shingen’s grip on Ryoga’s shirt tightened. “If my perception hadn’t been suffering from backlash at the start of our fight, I would’ve seen his aura much sooner and none of this would be happening, but as it is, my senses were dulled to the point where I was relying on YOUR say-so. Is that what you wanted?” He jerked a now thunderstruck Ryoga off the ground and spun him around, pushing him away from the trees.

“What did you think- that I wouldn’t take this seriously? Did you just tell me all those things because you were JOKING? Did you really not know what I would do if you fingered him as a demon… or were you aware of what I‘d do, and actually wanted to set it up so that I would take another’s life?” A moment passed; Ryoga remained silent and shocked. Shingen’s aura was rippling and turning a violent shade of ice blue. “ANSWER ME!!!”

Ryoga gulped; clearly things had taken a turn for the very worse while he was out of it. This wasn’t what I wanted at all! I just wanted to make him realize how much of an ass he’s been to her… I didn’t want him DEAD!!! He scrabbled for words, but something inside him caused him to freeze up; he could barely even stammer. “I… l-look, this isn’t all t-that cut an’ dried… it ain’t that simple! H-he started this all a l-long time ago when…” He clamped his mouth shut- both as a shocked reaction to his age-old defense, and in response to being lifted off the ground another three inches.

“I don’t give a rat’s ASS who started what, or what your problem may be with him!” Shingen retorted, releasing Ryoga’s collar and pushing him backward, causing him to stumble and scramble to his feet. “Answer the question!!! Did you intend this as a joke, or did you want me to kill him?”

“I… I…” Ryoga was now completely flustered, at a total loss for words. Not only was Shingen rounding on him with the vengeance of a wounded tiger, he was too aware of the shocked looks he was getting from both Ranma and Akane. “I didn’t mean…”

“Didn’t mean WHAT? Didn’t mean to cause such pain? Didn’t mean to leave him alive when it was all over? Which one was it? Stop dancing around the issue and answer the question!!!” Shingen snarled, pressing forward and causing Ryoga to back up again. Neither of them noticed they had edged onto a large patch of rocks and debris created by Shingen’s earlier Sekkai Katto Sutoraiki- or that they were right next to the park fountain.

“Ryoga, how could you?” Akane’s plaintive voice hit Ryoga like a lance to the shoulder. “Why won’t you just answer him? Did you… did you really want Ranma to… to…”

“No, wait! Please, you don’t understand… I… I just wanted to… I…” He trailed off. Nothing he was preparing to say was going to smooth things over. He saw the battered look on Ranma’s face, not to mention the shock and pain in Akane’s eyes… and the way she had her arm wrapped around his waist, almost protectively. They were actually talking… they aren’t fighting, and she looks really worried about him… oh gods, what have I done? His brain locked up and he began to mutter incoherently. “What was I doing… I don’t know… don’t know…”

“You don’t know? What kind of an answer is that?” Shingen shot back, stepping forward once more and giving Ryoga a hard shove. “How can you not know what it is you wanted? Are you that STUPID?” Ryoga staggered back, and several things happened at once. He felt his feet lose their grip in the midst of the gravel he was treading on. He became acutely aware of the backs of his knees colliding with the edge of the fountain, felt his center of gravity shift back, sensed his arms shooting out to reclaim his balance, but with his mind so focused on the angry warrior in front of him, and his battered rival standing off to one side with a stricken-looking Akane at his side, he completely forgot about stopping his fall in time and splashed, head-first, into the fountain, banging his head on a concrete water spout as he did so.

For a second, nothing happened at all… followed up by Shingen staring in bewilderment. “What in the hell… What is this?” Ranma cringed. I knew it… I knew this would happen one way or another, he groaned inwardly, shaking his head. Akane’s stricken look had turned to surprise as Ryoga fell in, but as she looked on her surprise turned to shock… and slowly became a look of pure horror.

Oh… my… God…

Shingen’s hand darted forward, yanking a soggy and very dazed bandanna-wearing black pig out of the fountain, along with a soaked beige shirt. The remainder of Ryoga’s clothes slid into a crumpled heap at the base of the fountain. “What is going on here? Is this some kind of a sick joke or something?” He shifted his perception slightly, still wincing at the exertion of what power was available. There’s a disruption in the aura… I can’t quite place it, though. Still too damned fuzzy to figure out what’s causing it, but there’s a definite human aura in the mix. Not unlike this Ranma’s aura. Wish I could get a focus on the type of disruption it is, or what its cause is. “This is too strange to be a coincidence. Two people with metamorphic curses, and both in the same district of Tokyo? This is getting bizarre, and I know bizarre when I see it.”

A sudden flare of light in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned slightly- and stared. Akane’s body was wreathed in a cold blue aura. Her head tilted forward, causing her bangs to obscure her eyes, and her hands were clenched so tightly her nails were on the verge of drawing blood.

“My gods… all this time… I never saw it… not once…” Her voice was barely audible and devoid of emotion. Thoughts were racing through her mind at lightning speed, suddenly coming together in a moment of revelation, much like a person finally locating the missing piece of a jigsaw underneath the table. “They were never in the same place at the same time… he always carried that umbrella…” Other images began to flash through her mind, like how Azusa had called them both ‘Charlotte’ much to her own confusion… the similar rune pattern that had become etched on both of their bodies at roughly the same time… the bandanna… even the way they both behaved in Ranma’s presence… Her body began to shake as she walked slowly towards her book bag. With a trembling hand she yanked out the thermos she’d packed that morning, spun on her heel and marched over to the fountain.

“What are you do…” was all Shingen could get out before she grabbed P-chan and stuffed him into the crumpled pants lying on the ground. A quick twist and the thermos was open, followed by Akane splashing half its steaming contents violently on the pig at her feet. The shock of hot water shook Ryoga out of his daze; he looked up and instantly froze. Whereas his last glimpse of Akane’s face had seen her as shocked, his new perspective showed her in a boiling rage.

“Akane… please, I can explain…” He got no further as she punched him in the face so hard his jaw almost dislocated.

“You BASTARD!!!” She stood over him with her fists clenched, tears beginning to form in her eyes. “You… you… so it was really you the whole time, wasn’t it? All this time… and I never even gave it a second thought, either! I thought it was odd that I never saw you both at once… I never even put two and two together… the bandanna, the umbrella… the w-way you both acted around Ranma… I didn’t even see it! And… oh, gods how could I have been such an idiot?!?” The tears were starting to flow rapidly now, her face a mask of one who had been betrayed.

“And you never said a damned thing about it… you didn’t tell me, didn’t try to stop me… I… I… oh gods, I took you into my BED!!! I thought it was just a cute black pig who needed a friend, some harmless animal I could take care of, and all the while it was you!! And you didn’t say anything then, either!” She grabbed his hair and yanked him to his feet before winding back with her left hand and slapping him across the face hard enough to actually draw blood. “I… I t-told you some of my d-deepest secrets… I d-didn’t think twice about changing in front of you… my gods, you saw me in the NUDE, you twisted pervert!! And here I’d thought you were kind of a nice guy, Ryoga, HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME????”

Ryoga stood shaking, overcome with shock and guilt. He knew full well he should have said something to her sooner, but he was so wrapped up in the charade by then that he hadn’t had the heart to tell her. Part of him had still held a glimmer of hope that she might still accept him as a pet, if nothing else, but face to face with her wrath as he was, he knew he had been making a giant mistake. But this wasn’t my fault! I never meant to be this way; he’s the one who’s responsible… “Akane, it’s not what you think! T-this is all Ranma’s fault! He was the one who got me cursed in the first place! He’s known all about it and never said a word…” He trailed off as Ranma began limping closer with a scowl on his face.

“I would’ve told her long ago if you hadn’t forced me to swear on the Warrior’s Code and my own honor that I wouldn’t say anything,” he growled, his scowl more at himself than at Ryoga. “I felt sorry for you… you’re right, I was sorta responsible… but I knew I made a mistake when you started usin’ my silence to get to her. I’m a man of my word, so all I could do was hint or chase you off… I shoulda jus’ told her in the first place, my honor and that oath be damned.”

Ryoga’s shoulders slumped; he looked apologetically towards Akane, who now looked more furious than he had ever seen her before. “I… I’m so sorry, Akane, I n-never m-meant…”

“Never meant what?!? Never meant to take advantage of me? Never meant to toy around with my feelings? Never meant to ogle me? Never meant to lie to some stranger on the off chance he might do you a favor and try to KILL RANMA?!?” A quick motion, and Akane had produced her preferred weapon and took a stride towards a now-terrified Ryoga. “All this time I’d made the mistake of calling him a pervert, and now I find out that the real one isn’t just a pervert, he’s a TWISTED SON OF A BITCH!!!”

Shingen had not said a word in the entire exchange, merely standing off to one side in surprise at the drama unfolding before him. He had seen more than his fair share of quarrels, of course, but this was one he could not fully fathom. His eyes widened as Akane proceeded to give Ryoga the worst thrashing he had ever seen between ‘normal’ humans; Akane’s fists, feet and- most especially- her mallet became a violent blue blur. Then almost as soon as it began it was over, and one final crash sent Ryoga soaring skywards, courtesy of Air Akane.

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A moment passed. Her mallet clattered to the ground- where it disappeared to no one was quite sure- and she dropped to her knees, tears coming faster now as she held her face in her hands. “Oh God… how could I have been so stupid…” she whimpered.

Ranma was at her side in an instant, resting his hands gently on her shaking shoulders. “I’m so sorry… Damn me and my sense of honor, I shoulda told you. I thought my hints would be enough, but…”

She turned around and flung her arms around his neck, crying into his chest. “But I ignored you. I… I t-thought you were m-making f-fun of one or the other… all those pig jokes you made when h-he was around… I s-should’ve listened to you.” She pulled further in to him, resting her head in the crook of his neck. “H-he said you were… that you got him cursed? How?”

Ranma stroked the back of her head gently. “Right after Pops and me got cursed. I was so mad at my old man that I chased him all over the valley for the better part of a day,” he whispered.. “I didn’t even notice when I collided with someone… an’ knocked ‘em off a cliff into the valley… didn’t know it was Ryoga until he showed up here in town the first time.” He couldn’t see her face, but hoped desperately she wasn’t getting angry again. “When I found out, I felt really bad…”

“So then he played on your feelings and honor and forced you to shut up?” Akane whispered back.

“Yeah… gods, I’m so sorry Akane…” She responded by hugging him tighter and crying a bit harder.

“No… I’m the one who should be sorry, I made it worse when I yelled at you to stop saying bad things about P-chan.” The name almost stuck in her throat. “And knowing you the way I do… I’m not really surprised you agreed to an oath like that. I don’t like it… but at least you were trying to tell me indirectly…” Her tears turned into full sobs and she began shaking like a leaf. “And I never paid any attention! I just thought you were b-bullying that pig, and all the while you were trying to k-keep him from t-taking advantage of me… weren’t you?”

“Yeah… I didn’t want him hurtin’ you, Akane.” For a few moments, neither one said anything. Akane cried into his neck, cursing herself inwardly for how blind she had been. Ranma held her up and gently stroked her back, whispering reassurances that everything was going to be alright. Gradually her cries lessened and she relaxed, almost going limp were it not for the support of his arms.

The sound of a throat clearing reminded them both that they had company. They pulled away from each other just enough to glance in Shingen’s direction; neither one let go of the other. Shingen had kneeled some distance from them, hands on his knees. He lightly bowed his head in their direction.

“I won’t presume to understand all that has just transpired,” he said in a low tone. “Some of this is more than likely none of my business. But what I do know is that because of a misunderstanding I now owe you a debt of honor. I thought I was acting in accordance with the Code; I was wrong.” He shrugged his leather jacket off, straightening out his camo t-shirt and producing a tanto blade as he did so. The implications hit Ranma like a freight train and his eyes went wide.

“Hey, wait a second, man! What’re you doing? You’re not gonna…”

Shingen smirked. “You misunderstand. Hunter bloodlines are too few these days for us to be concerned with such a thing as seppuku… at least in circumstances where no innocents have perished.” With that, the tanto flashed through the air, scoring a red line across his left forearm. Blood welled out of the wound in lethargic drips, running down his arm to the ground below. “I swear upon what remains of my honor and my blood, I shall repay my debt to you, Ranma. Something tells me our meeting- violent though it was- is not some simple coincidence.”

Akane gazed levelly at him, wiping a tear away. I haven’t heard a blood oath sworn in a long time- except maybe by the Chinese Amazons, and then even they didn’t spill their own blood… maybe this Shingen’s not so bad after all.

Ranma took a deep breath. “I wasn’t gonna ask you to do that, Shingen. This was all just a big mistake.”

“Mistake or no, I want to repay you for what I did,” Shingen replied. “And if it’s not too much to ask, I would like to know a little more about you… it would seem the chaos stream winding through this ward may be affecting you in more ways than one.”

“Chaos stream?”

Shingen smiled. “Perhaps we both have stories to tell.” He ran his right hand along his forearm, generating the soft golden aura once more. Seconds later his wound had closed, though he made no effort to wipe the blood away.

“Ranma…” Akane said weakly.

“Yeah?”

“Can we go home now? I just want this day to end…”

It was Ranma’s turn to smile. “Anything you want, Akane.” He rose to his feet, gently helping her up.

To Be Continued…

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A/N: I had some spare time so decided to try and complete this chapter faster. I do hope it lives up to everyone’s expectations. And now, the featured move of the day.

Naosu Kousen: Healing Light. A therapeutic manipulation of ki energy, synchronizing with the body’s natural healing processes and accelerating them. A bloodline technique that can’t really be learned, only brought out. One of the many secret gifts the Hunter bloodlines are blessed with. Can be used to heal oneself or another, but cannot bring the dead back- there must be a living aura to synch with.

Hope you are all well. Stay tuned for the next installment- Shingen begins to learn more about the chaos in Ranma’s life, and a new revelation emerges. I look forward to your reviews and comments. -Neon RoninConverting /tmp/phpWiaW9m to /dev/stdout