Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma 1/2: The Truth and the Tempest ❯ This Is No Dream ( Chapter 31 )

[ 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. That said, we now return to our regularly scheduled fanfiction. Enjoy.]

Ranma ½: The Truth and the Tempest

Chapter 31: This Is No Dream

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It was raining. A light, breezy sort of rain that turned the roads and sidewalks slick and elicited many expletives from the bicycle riders who hadn’t paid attention to the day’s weather forecast. There wasn’t anything harsh about it, no immediate risk of being drenched- just a light summer shower. Pinpricks of water dotted the windshields of parked cars and collected on roofs, eventually dribbling down rain gutters and restaurant awnings in slow, steady streams. It might have begun to pool in the broken remains of one restaurant’s front door if a man in a leather jacket and a black bandanna across his forehead hadn’t moved it under the overhang.

It had started to rain not long after Ranma had begun to explain certain events to a somewhat impatient Ryoga, and just before Shingen had stood up from the table and excused himself. The taller man still stood just outside the doorway, arms folded and a tired look on his face. The others remained inside at the corner table, where Ryoga’s expression had slowly turned from impatient to incredulous over the course of the conversation.

“So anyway… that’s the long an’ the short of it, really,” Ranma said with a sigh, drumming his hand on the table.

“You mean…” Akari whispered, wide-eyed. “You’ve dealt with things like that before? And might be doing it again?”

“More or less,” Ranma replied. “I take it Ryoga didn’t tell you about what happened in China a week an’ a half ago, right?”

“Not much of it,” Akari admitted with a shrug. “He mentioned something about a fight at a place called Jusendo, but he didn’t go into too many details… ”

“I’m not surprised,” Akane murmured. “That wasn’t a fun day for any of us,” she added with a shiver.

Ukyo shivered slightly as well, glancing at both Ranma and Akane, then back over her shoulder in Shingen’s direction. I thought those stories were just tall tales till a few nights ago… but even then I thought that was him and me talkin’ over an okonomiyaki, just table talk … geez, I know Shin-kun said you two’d gone through something nasty out there, but I didn’t know it was that bad! She bit her lower lip. “Damn, sugar… talk about out of the blue…”

Ryoga sat up in his seat. “You’re telling me that… that you two somehow got roped into this whole mess… how?”

“We weren’t roped into anything, bonehead, it’s not like we weren’t offered a choice this time around.”

“Excuse me?” He glanced between the two of them, disbelief still swimming in his eyes. “You drop a bombshell like THIS on me- something about your blood being tied to this whole Hunter thing, not to mention that thing you said about a ‘bloodline obligation’- and you’re telling me there was some sort of CHOICE involved?” Ryoga sat back heavily, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, you might be able to convince me about the existence of otherworldly beasts- gods know I’ve fought a few in my time, mostly when you were involved somehow- but you can’t expect me to believe this wasn’t something else beyond your control, Ranma!”

“For your information, buddy,” Ranma growled, “when we found out about this we weren’t pressed one way or the other; Shingen told us we had the option ta suppress this gift if we didn’t want it- he was upfront on the whole deal, not like my old man, who you know just loves to wait till after the fact to clue ya in on things.”

“You can say that again,” said Ukyo frostily. Akane nodded.

“Okay, okay- so he tells you you’ve got an option to suppress this blood-thing of yours,” said Ryoga. “As if. I know you better than that, you think I don’t know you love to jump at any chance to put yourself up a few more notches? Add a little more glory to your reputation? Work yourself up to a level nobody else could ever hope to…”

“Sweetie, don’t,” Akari said as she gently squeezed Ryoga’s arm. “You’re getting yourself worked up again; I thought we talked about this.”

Ryoga paused, then slumped back in his chair with an embarrassed look on his face. “Sorry. Force of habit there… the point is, I know you. And I know how easily you get roped into doing something- anything- especially when it comes to martial arts. And now you’re getting Akane- your own fiancée- pulled into this as well? After what happened in China?”

Akane gritted her teeth. “Ryoga, didn’t you listen to what we’ve been telling you? I didn’t ‘catch’ this gift from Ranma, this is something that was inside me all this time- I just wasn’t aware of it, and neither was he! And you might as well know, he didn’t exactly ‘leap’ at accepting this, he didn’t do anything until he and I talked it over first!”

She paused a moment, giving Ryoga ample time to recover from his jaw abruptly falling onto the table.

“Look, I’m not going to deny this whole thing has me a little scared.” She sighed. “Okay, maybe more than just a little… especially with what just happened in here… but this is something that’s part of me. Part of us… and besides, the whole reason Ranma and I started training in the first place was to make sure that incident in China doesn’t happen again.” Akane paused, then leaned forward on the table, not looking at anyone in particular. “I don’t want to turn and walk away from something like this just because it happens to freak me out a little. A part of me may want to write it off as all some weird dream, but the rest of me knows it isn’t. I’d rather know what I’m dealing with than… than get blindsided again.”

Ranma reached over and took her hand in his. “Yeah, same here. Besides- at least this time we got offered some sorta choice before it was shoved into our hands.”

Ryoga looked at the two of them long and hard, and for a while no one said anything.

“So… what happens now?” he said at length.

Ranma shrugged. “We keep doin’ what we’ve been doing. Keep pushing ourselves, find out what we can and can’t do.” He turned and looked at Akane just as she turned and looked at him. “Just take it one step at a time, I guess.”

Ukyo tapped Akane’s other hand. “You really sure you’re okay with this?” she asked with a quirked eyebrow. “Livin’ with more stuff like what happened a few days ago, or a few hours ago?” Akane gave her an odd look as she continued. “Hey, I’m not tryin’ to swing your opinion, Akane, but geez… the way you two described it, this thing could really step on any long-term plans of yours. And what about your families, what’re they gonna say?”

Akane shrugged. “I’m not sure how Dad’s going to take it, but Ranma’s mom already knows… she was worried a bit, but she did say she wasn’t going to hold us back yesterday afternoon. And as far as ‘living with it goes’… I don’t know. It probably wouldn’t be much different from what we’ve dealt with already over the past year.” She paused, then smirked. “Geez, listen to me. Last year I probably would’ve screamed out for a little peace and quiet over more of the usual chaos.”

“Actually, I was just about to say that…” Ukyo drawled, giving Akane a slightly bemused look. “When I first met you, ya didn’t seem to be that big on craziness, ‘kane.”

“Guess that’s just something about this dummy that rubbed off on me,” she replied with a giggle, squeezing Ranma’s hand. “I got used to it.”

“C’mon, ‘kane, you had a thing for challenges way before ya ever met me,” said Ranma.

“Yeah, right, before you came by the only challenge I had to deal with was Kuno and his Hentai Horde.” Akane gave him a wry glare which quickly softened into a smile. “Although… I won’t deny there were a few moments when I wanted a little more variety than that…”

“There ya go.”

“I’m not saying I was expecting this kind of variety, mind you…” She paused, then glanced back in Ukyo’s direction. “But in a way… yeah, I am okay with this. And as far as long-term plans go, one thing I’ve learned in the last year and a half… plans change.” She shook her head almost imperceptibly. “Just wish I’d learned that a little sooner.”

Ukyo paused, then nodded slowly. “You’re not the only one, sugar,” she murmured. Plans change… you sure got that right. And they never really change the way you expect them to, either. Her eyes began to drift towards the doorway once again.

“Unbelievable,” Ryoga muttered. “You know, you think someone’s gotten as far as they’re gonna go, and then you turn around and find they’ve jumped up again. At this rate I’m never gonna get a fair sparring match against you, Ranma.”

Ranma groaned. “Good grief, man, are ya still harping on that crap even after everything else? I said I was sorry about the bread thing! And the curse thing…”

“Okay, that wasn’t what I meant,” Ryoga replied, holding his hands up. “Look, I’m not telling you to ‘prepare to die’ again, I’m just saying that… well…” He let out a long breath. “I just wanted one last match with you, for old times’ sake! You and me, bare hands, one time, and that’s it! Thought maybe we could finally lay this whole damn feud to rest after all this time…” He rolled his eyes. “But you just keep getting better, not to mention pick up some sort of long-lost family weapon…”

“Hey, I didn’t know about this sword, it just kinda fell into my hands…”

“That’s not the point! The point is, there’s NO WAY I can get a fair match with you right now! I just wanted one single fair fight, but I saw what you did in China, I know what you can do; how do you expect me to measure up now that you’ve got this to throw in my face?”

Ranma blinked, then smiled. “Hey, if all ya want is one fair sparring match I can give ya that.”

It was Ryoga’s turn to blink. “Huh?”

“I got no problem with a fair fight; I know what ya can do too, an’ if you want one last match then you’ll get one last match, man. Hell, I’d be insulted if ya didn’t ask for a match; you’re one o’ the best sparring partners I ever had, Ryoga- you, Mousse, the old ghoul… I’d hate to lose that just ‘cause you think you can’t catch up. YOU said it, not me.”

Ryoga’s eyebrow twitched. “Hey, I didn’t say I couldn’t ever catch up to you, Ranma.”

“That’s not what it sounded like, man… what’s the matter, giving up just because of one little new thing? Do you wanna fight me one last time or dontcha?”

“Of course I wanna fight one last time!”

“So why bother gripin’ about whether ya ‘measure up’ or not? Why not just do something and see what happens? C’mon, think I’ve forgotten the fact that ya hit like a damn jackhammer?” Ranma folded his arms and smirked. “It’s up to you, man. Win or lose, doesn’t matter to me.”

Ryoga sat back in silence for a moment… and then slowly nodded. “No funny stuff?”

“Nope. Just a match between buds.”

“Then you got a deal, Ranma.” He paused, then looked up with a vexed expression. “That is… soon as Akari an’ I finish that errand and take care of things back at the farm.” He looked at Akari, who nodded in approval. Akane rested her chin on her hand and smiled amusedly.

“Well, well… sounds like the beginnings of a fine friendship, you two.” Ranma started and whipped around in his chair; Akane did likewise as all eyes came to rest on Cologne, balanced on her staff not more than three feet from the conversation.

“GEEZ! Try not to sneak up on us next time, okay? Just about gave me a heart attack!”

“Oh, don’t be so melodramatic, sonny,” Cologne chuckled, hopping up next to Ranma’s chair and playfully tousling his hair. “I didn’t want to interrupt your conversation, that’s all… sounds like the two of you have been making a fair bit of progress.”

“Yeah, you could say that,” Ranma replied with a shrug.

“Well… I dunno, I just figured better to do that than keep bashin’ my own head in over something stupid,” Ryoga added. “My way of making up for a few big mistakes.” Akari said nothing, but patted his hand reassuringly.

“Well, that is an admirable way of going about it,” the Elder said with a nod. “I expected as much from young Ranma here- something I noticed about him, the way he seems to want to turn the majority of his foes into allies instead of… well, the other alternative.”

Akane nodded. “Yeah, one or two exceptions aside, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him really hold a grudge.”

“Geez, ‘kane, you trying to embarrass me here?”

“I think you have a knack for doin’ it to yourself most times, Ran-chan,” Ukyo giggled, eliciting matching laughs from both Akane and Akari. Ranma groaned, giving Ryoga a look that seemed to say, see what I gotta put up with?

“This is all well and good,” Cologne interrupted, “but there is a matter that I feel needs to be dealt with. Ranma, Akane, would you both come upstairs with me? Mousse and Shampoo were both wanting to see you.”

Akane stopped laughing. “Is something the matter?”

“Yeah, is that guy doin’ okay? Ya know he gave us one helluva scare,” Ranma added.

“He’s fine,” Cologne admonished. “Weak at the moment, but he’ll recover in time with some of my herbal remedies and a few ki treatments of my own.” She hopped away from the table; Akane and Ranma glanced at one another before getting up and following close behind.

“Though I daresay I would not have expected him to survive what apparently happened to him,” she added in a solemn voice as they headed up the stairs. “The Doctor and I examined his aura quite thoroughly; if you two hadn’t done what you did in conjunction with Mr. Yamashira, he would not have survived. I doubt even my own skills, by themselves, could have done much to close a wound like that in time, let alone fortify his damaged spirit.”

Akane gulped. “So if we hadn’t been in the neighborhood…”

“Then he’d be dead for real,” Ranma muttered as the three of them approached the door to Mousse’s room. Cologne opened the door, ushering the two of them inside. Dr. Tofu stood up from the bed as they entered, having finished manipulating several therapeutic pressure points on Mousse’s arm.

“Hey Doc,” Ranma quipped. “How’s he doing?”

“Well, given what he endured this afternoon and what I’ve been able to read in his aura, amazingly well,” Dr. Tofu replied. “Frankly, I’ve never seen anything like this in all my years; if I hadn’t seen some of the things Mr. Yamashira described with my own eyes, I probably wouldn’t believe it.”

Mousse shifted in his bed slightly, lifting a hand up to wave weakly at the new arrivals. “Hello, Saotome… Miss Tendo.”

“Hi Mousse,” said Akane as she moved to sit on the side of his bed. “How are you feeling?”

Mousse let out a long sigh, wincing slightly. “Like something tried to pluck and clean me,” he groaned humorlessly. “Stomach still hurts… but I think I’ll be alright in a while.”

“Of course you be alright,” Shampoo piped up from the other side of the bed. “Mousse be all better in no time, you see.” She looked at him with a slight smile, then looked at Akane and Ranma who were giving her odd looks. “Well… he the only waiter at Neko Hanten, so he got to get better; Mousse would no make Shampoo do all the work, after all,” she added defensively, attempting to portray the haughty air that she had used around him for so long. It wasn’t working; the blush on her face and the look in her eyes were betraying her.

“Just give me a little time to rest… I’ll be okay,” said Mousse with a nod of his head before turning to face Ranma again. “I guess I wouldn’t have been okay if you hadn’t done what you did…” He paused, then coughed lightly. “Thank you… both of you.”

Ranma nodded, moving to sit on the bed next to Akane. “No problem, man. Would’ve done it for anyone.” Akane didn’t say anything, but nodded in agreement.

“I’m really proud of both of you,” said Dr. Tofu from the side of the room. “As I’m sure your fathers will be when they hear you helped save a life.”

Ranma shrugged. “Akane’s father, maybe. I’m not so sure about my old man; might fault me for offering aid to a ‘rival’,” he groused, grinding as much sarcasm as he could into the ‘rival’ part.

“Oh, I don’t know… he might be more receptive to other people’s opinions now,” said Cologne with a mysterious smirk. “Now, if I may, we have a more pressing matter that needs tending to. You two, as well as Mr. Yamashira, have saved the life of this young man today. An Amazon male. Saved by three outsiders, not of the Joketsuzoku. In recognition of your actions, I give you this.” Ranma had wanted to ask what Cologne meant by her earlier remark about Genma being receptive, but this thought quickly exited his mind as the old Amazon shuffled forward on the bed, hopped up and kissed him right in the middle of his forehead. A second later, Cologne had scooted past him and had kissed Akane on the forehead as well.

Both teens’ eyes were as big as saucers as thoughts began to race between them via the Astral Link. ‘What the hell was that…’ ‘Ranma, she just kissed us both, and she did just mention outsiders…’ ‘Oh hell… that can’t have been the Kiss of Death…’ ‘Sure wasn’t the Kiss of Marriage, Ranma… what’s gonna happen to us now?’ ‘I dunno, Acchan, I dunno…’

“Oh, will you two relax?” Cologne chuckled. “Yes, I know full well you’ve had more than a few bad experiences with Amazon kisses, but I promise you, this one isn’t as bad as you think. Young Mr. Yamashira received his not long after he helped the good Doctor and myself to stabilize this young fool here,” she continued, pointing at Mousse, “and he didn’t complain about it or panic.” She paused, then looked down. “In fact, I’d almost considered giving him his even if he hadn’t helped save a life… as a sort of repayment of a wrong our tribe did to his fellow Hunters. Though I didn’t really have a chance to explain its meaning to him before he left to rejoin you downstairs…”

Akane shook herself out of her daze. “So what was that? And why?”

“You already know of the Kisses of Death and Marriage,” said Cologne, “and while I must confess I am beginning to doubt their necessity in these modern times, they are still tradition.” She smiled. “One that you may not be aware of is the Kiss of Sisterhood- or in Ranma’s case, or Yamashira’s- Brotherhood.”

“Is ancient tribal tradition, but rarely used,” Shampoo piped up. “Is not often Amazon’s life saved by outsider- but if outsider willingly save life of wounded or dying Amazon, then they become recognized Amazon too. Not subject to Kiss of Death or Marriage anymore, since they no longer tribal outsider.”

Ranma’s jaw nearly hit the floor; Akane goggled. “Wait a minute, you’re saying… what are you saying?” Ranma managed to get out.

“You saved my life,” said Mousse weakly, with a smile. “And you’re a damn good fighter. I would be very glad to call you my brother.”

“Shampoo know we fight lots in past,” the purple-haired girl murmured, “but Akane offer truce the night Ranma cured. Help with voice in Shampoo’s mind, too… if you no mind, I be happy to call Akane sister.”

Both teens in question looked at each other in disbelief- and then fainted.

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“Hey… you all right out here, sugar?”

Shingen blinked and turned his head to the right; Ukyo was standing next to him just outside the Neko Hanten’s ruined doorframe. He sighed heavily and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

“I’m well enough,” he replied. “Needed a little fresh air, that’s all.”

“You bugged out of that conversation pretty quick, ya know,” said Ukyo as she leaned against the wall, hugging herself to ward off the chill of the rain.

“Didn’t think I had much to offer to it,” he answered. “Those two had it under control; they wanted to be the ones to tell you about it anyways.”

Ukyo nodded slowly. “You mean that whole Hunter blood thing.” She looked up at the clouds, the drizzle still descending all the while. “Yeah, that was a bit of a shocker… I know ya told me the three of you were doin’ some combat training over the weekend, but I didn’t think it was… anything like THIS.”

Shingen shrugged. “Didn’t seem important at the time,” he said in a dull voice. “We had things to do.”

The rain continued to fall; for a moment, there were no sounds except for myriad tiny splashes all around.

Ukyo turned to look at Shingen. “Ya know, I might not be as good at reading auras as some of you guys,” she said softly, “but I can tell when something’s up. You’re not all right, are you?”

Shingen chuckled. “You sound just like my sister, Ukyo.” He folded his arms and let out another sigh, staring up at the clouds. “No… no, I guess I’m not exactly feeling ‘all right’ right now.”

“Is it about what happened here? That looked pretty rough…”

He shook his head. “There’s more to it than that,” he said, a look of concern creeping into his eyes. “The fact that I didn’t see it coming, that’s what got to me about this, but there’s the Hell Hound incident at the school as well… or any of what we’ve dealt with up to this point over the past week. Right back to when I first got to town and wound up trying to kill Ranma because I wasn’t thinking or seeing right…” He paused, then looked at her. “Something’s happening, Ukyo. Something big, and I can’t tell what it is yet… and even with everything I’ve dealt with in all my years as a Hunter… it’s starting to scare me.”

Ukyo paused, then nodded slightly. “Never dealt with this much stuff in a row, is that it?”

Shingen shook his head. “If it were just that I could deal… No, it’s the unknowns that’re getting to me. I couldn’t see Mousse’s infection for what it was… got distracted by those goddamned Hell Hounds… my father was right, something’s going down, and I’m just not sure if those two are going to be mentally ready for it.” He paused. “Or if I’m ready for it. I didn’t plan on things getting this out of hand. I know I can’t blame myself for what happened to Mousse today… but… I’ve lived by the Code so long I can’t help but feel partially responsible.” He put a hand to his forehead and grimaced.

Ukyo shuffled a bit closer. “Well, for what it’s worth, I kinda know how you feel, Shin-kun.”

The taller man blinked. “How so?”

“Not planning on things getting out of hand. Unknowns, things you get distracted by or can’t deal with in a calm manner,” she said softly. “With you, it’s this thing with Mousse or those Hell Hounds- and I won’t ask why, you don’t have to tell me what they did if ya don’t want to. With me… it was the whole mess with Ran-chan. I got so damn distracted with the blood feud that my old man burned into my brain, ya know.”

“Yeah, you told me about that the other night over okonomiyaki. You said it was either kill him and his father, or marry him. And I still think that was a stupid thing for your father to ask of you.”

“You and me both.” Ukyo folded her arms and let out a long sigh. “But I lived with that on my mind for ten years, ya know. I kept seeing my old man looking at me as if I was some kind of a failure… it got so bad it turned into a damn obsession. I didn’t… I didn’t even realize I was letting it take over my life till I wound up putting other people’s lives at risk… then after that…” She looked up at the sky. “When I had time to think it over… and then heard Ran-chan telling Shampoo what was what… well, that’s when the light bulb clicked.” She absently wiped her brow.

“I figured out I hadn’t really treated him like a fiancée should- well, Akane didn’t do that much better at times, but at least she didn’t treat him like some sorta door prize. She didn’t try to press him one way or the other; all I ever did was fight to try an’ claim him. Wound up forgetting part of our past friendship… and, well… now that I think about it, I dunno if I was ever really in love with Ran-chan in the first place. I care about him, sure… a hell of a lot, actually… but… I know some of the things he an’ Akane did for each other… and I dunno if I ever really felt close enough to him to do the same.” She heaved another sigh. “We were nothing more than friends… and to tell the truth, that’s enough for me now.”

Shingen nodded. “That’s when you decided to tell your father how you really felt, right?”

“Something like that,” she replied. “That’s what I was goin’ on about that night, that letter I told ya I was havin’ a hard time with.” She smiled weakly. “Just another thing I was having a hard time dealin’ with. I know it’s not the same as what you’ve got on your plate… but… it’s just one of those things, I guess…”

“You don’t know how your father might take it. What he might say.”

“Or what he might do…” She hugged herself for an instant. “But I did a little more thinking after our talk Saturday night, and the fact is… I don’t really care anymore. He’s in Osaka, we almost never talk, I’ve got my own life here, my own business… Ran-chan’s still my friend… fact is, I don’t really care if Dad decides to erase me from the clan scrolls anymore.” She paused, then looked up.

“I won’t deny I wasn’t planning for it to turn out this way, but Akane said it best a moment ago, Shin-kun. Plans change.” She reached over and gave him a playful sock in the arm. “You didn’t plan for this, I didn’t plan for that… so what. That’s life.”

Shingen raised an eyebrow at her, not saying anything for a moment. For a few seconds, there were no other sounds save that of the rain.

Finally, he smirked. “Did you come out here to try and cheer me up, Ukyo? Because if you did, it might be working just a tad.”

“Heh… don’t be silly,” she replied with a slight nervous chuckle. “I just… needed a little fresh air myself, that’s all.”

Shingen shrugged. “Well… thanks, anyway.” He looked back up. “I am still concerned about what the devil’s going on, though… if something big’s about to happen, I don’t want those two getting blindsided. They’re still coming into their power, regardless of how well they fight. I’d rather not see them hurt if I can help it.”

“You an’ me both,” Ukyo replied. “I still can’t believe it, though… never occurred to me that Akane would wanna take a risk like this. Or had that kinda potential.”

“Stranger things have happened,” Shingen replied. “Speaking of which, where’d they go? I can’t hear them inside…”

“They went upstairs to visit with that poor sap Mousse. The ol’ crone said she wanted to talk with them ‘bout something important. Akari’s on the phone with her granddad, something about medicine for one of their pet pigs; Ryoga’s probably with her.”

Shingen nodded, then smiled wryly. “Then Ranma and Akane have both been given their Kisses by now, I’ll bet.”

Ukyo blinked. “Huh?”

“I may not know much about the Joketsuzoku, but I am familiar with a few of their traditions regarding outsiders,” Shingen chuckled. “The Kiss of Death, the Kiss of Marriage… if Cologne is planning what I think she is, they’ve been given the Kiss of Sister/Brotherhood by now.” He shrugged. “I’m only guessing, of course… but that’s what she did to me, at least.”

Ukyo rolled the thought through her mind for a second, recalled Ranma’s history with Amazon kisses and coupled that with the thought of Cologne administering them… and promptly burst out laughing. “Hoboy, Ran-chan, ya never can get away from those damn Amazon lips, can ya?”

“What was that?” Ryoga had poked his head out the doorway and was giving Ukyo a bewildered look.

“Nothing, ask Ranma to explain it to ya,” Ukyo shot back, pushing him back inside. Shingen chuckled; Ukyo started giggling again. The rain continued to fall, but at a somewhat lighter pace as the two of them lapsed into a more relaxed conversation. Ukyo began to query Shingen about the training he had done, the things he had seen. Shingen, for his part, asked about the founding of okonomiyaki-style martial arts, voicing a desire to compare the art of halberd and spear fighting to the moves she used with her combat spatula. A few feet away from them, a highly bored sumo pig sat tapping one foot, staring up at the rain and wondering when it would be time for dinner.

Neither of them noticed a rain-dampened kunoichi in an Ucchan’s apron, concealed by some bushes and shinobi ki suppression techniques, turn and stealth away with head bowed and tears mixing with the raindrops.

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In a large house on another side of Nerima, another figure watched the rain through a window, tearstains adorning her cheeks. She sat in a well-furnished bedroom in a chair by the windowpane, one hand idly tracing patterns on the robe she was wearing. She picked at a loose thread peeking out of one of the many embroidered flowers on said robe- roses, all of them. Every one of them black. She sniffed and shivered, her eyes lifting back to the window once again. Her other hand stretched out and limply brushed the glass.

It has been said that a severe shock or mental trauma can send a person into a state of catatonia, even total non-functionality. Some people may take it a step further, slipping into states of denial or constructing their own view of the world where they refuse to deal with the realities facing them. The wearer of the robe had suffered one such shock days before. In her case, more than any others, most people would have expected one such as her- especially one such as her, from her family in particular- to have disintegrated completely into a private world all her own. Possibly with the addition of a straitjacket.

But this had not happened. The disbelieving laughter and occasional utterances of one man’s name had ceased. She sat in silence now, looking out the window as if for the first time. Which, in some ways, was true. Kodachi Kuno had not slipped into a world of denial regarding Ranma’s transformation and the love/hatred she held for both forms.

Instead, she was waking up from a world of denial she had constructed a long time ago. The shock of his shifting forms and his angry words had been the wake-up call, after a fashion.

She was remembering vague memories of an unhappy childhood. A father constantly preoccupied with ever-changing whims, seemingly a charming man to his peers… but behind closed doors, a stern taskmaster who never graced either child with love or affection. Endless amounts of lessons on social graces, usually more concentrated on her elder brother- a brother who seemed to be the very mirror of her father, but with more specific whims, his being classical literature and the art of kendo. Then more memories, darker ones that had been long hidden away.

Her mother, treated as little more than a serving girl by their father… constantly catering to his fancies when she could, and when she couldn’t… She winced as memories of their fights began to ring in her ears. Father’s voice never rising, but menacingly heartless.

The sound of his palm impacting against Mother’s cheek, time and time again… until the day she left the house in tears. And not of her own accord. Thrown out of the house and the clan by the man she had called husband. Kodachi had only been five or six at the time.

She remembered Tatewaki. Lashing out in anger at Mother’s disappearance. Blaming it on whatever he could think of, be it that she had been unable to cater to Father’s whims, or that she had ‘not known her place’. She shuddered as she recalled her own brother referring to their mother as ‘an ungrateful peasant’ and her shouting back that it wasn’t true. And that’s when he had turned on her. Blaming her for making their mother ‘soft’. For turning her ‘against Father’s wishes’. She remembered pushing him away, tears falling from her eyes as she demanded he take it back, beating at him with a cute stuffed turtle- her favorite childhood toy, Midorigame.

She remembered Tatewaki ripping the stuffed toy out of her hands with a cruel sneer before tearing it to pieces in front of her.

She remembered him saying that she ought to be ‘punished for striking the heir to Clan Kuno’. She remembered him lifting his kendo shinai…

Fresh tears began to fall as Kodachi slumped forward, hugging herself and running her fingers along her shoulders and sides. Phantom pains, long repressed, seemed to be pricking along her back like wildfire. Pain inflicted by her own brother. Pain that her father did nothing to prevent, preoccupied as he was with another random whim. Pain that she had wanted so desperately to forget…

She wanted to be loved. Wanted so desperately to believe that hers could be a loving family. But without Mother, all there was to be known was pain. And the lessons… the endless lessons. All based on appearances, social elegance. Being ‘the best’, though for some reason the social grace aspect didn’t seem to apply to the head of the household. His area of expertise seemed to focus on getting his own way, whether it be for business or for one of his random whims. He didn’t seem to care how he did it, either. Gradually it all began to blur together… the pain, the lessons, getting whatever you want by any means you can…

If that’s what life was all about, she had reasoned, that must be what it takes to be loved. And the Black Rose had been born. A means to an end. Graceful, elegant and beautiful, but just as capable of dealing out pain as well- and, now that she was looking back on it, a defense mechanism more than anything else. Kodachi may have been weak and made many mistakes, but the Black Rose was infallible. The perfect noblewoman. Incapable of error in the household or on the gymnastics mat. She would be the ideal. SHE would be the one to inflict pain upon the ‘peasants’. And she would be loved.

She bit her lip as an old phrase ran through her mind in the midst of numerous memories- ‘fight fire with fire’.

She knew at that point that was exactly what she had done. She had tried so hard to avoid the fate of her mother that she had become the very thing she was afraid of. She did not want to deal with the pain she had suffered, so she bid others suffer in her stead. More memories began to return, more recent ones- memories of Tatewaki calling her ‘my most twisted sister’. She shook her head ruefully as she admitted, for the first time in her life, that he was right.

He and her father may have been unbalanced, but she had become so much more so in defense against their madness- or more specifically, their irrational cruelties. If it was fighting fire with fire, then she’d thrown a can of gasoline into the bargain as well.

Kodachi blinked and looked out the window again. Bleary-eyed, she whispered a prayer that maybe it was all one big dream. That her family hadn’t been that cruel. That she hadn’t been chasing a mad, blind impulse for months now. A feeling was prodding at the back of her mind- a voice telling her that she had known all along that Ranma and the pig-tailed girl were one and the same, and that in her desperation for someone- anyone- to love, she had ‘conveniently forgotten’ and had gone so far as to ignore anything he had said that indicated his dislike for her. She wanted that to be a dream, too. She wanted to be able to open her eyes and tell herself that she hadn’t been a blind fool all this time, unable to deal with the demons of her past.

But in her heart of hearts, she knew the truth. It was no dream.

“I… I have played the fool too long,” she choked out, wiping her eyes. “I cannot… I cannot do this any longer. How long have I h-hidden myself away from thing because…” She sniffled. “Because of all that I… all that they did…” She took a deep breath and stood up.

“The Black Rose… dies today.” And she took hold of her embroidered robe and tore it from shoulder to hem.

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“I don’t believe it. After everything we just went through… now this?”

“You’re… you’re sure you heard right?”

“Crystal clear… I mean, you would’ve thought we could have found out before…”

“Yeah… and finding out now, of all times…”

“I know,” Akari said as she set the Neko Hanten’s phone down. “We head all the way out to get medicine for Katsushiro, and then Grandfather happens to remember he had some left over in the back of the storage shed!” She shook her head, and started to giggle.

“So we spent all that time looking for that shop for nothing?” Ryoga spluttered.

“Well, sweetie, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that,” Akari replied, stifling her laughs quickly. “I mean, if we hadn’t come out here, you and Ranma wouldn’t have been able to catch up- and whatever you say, I know you’ve been wanting to do that all weekend.”

Ryoga started to deny it, stopped, tried to say something else and failed, then sighed and scratched the back of his head. “Well… um… the thought did cross my mind… but I guess I was, well… sorta… afraid I’d get lost again and all…”

“It’s okay Ryoga, I know what you mean,” said Akari, reaching up and brushing his cheek gently. “I’d actually been hoping we’d have some time to stop and visit myself, and Grandfather said that since he found what we need, we don’t have to hurry back if we don’t want to.” She shrugged, blushing slightly. “Somehow I think it’s his way of giving us a little time to ourselves.”

Ryoga swallowed hard. “Uh… yeah, I guess… I, uh… heh, heh…” He scratched the back of his head awkwardly; Akari had to stifle a giggle when he put a hand up to his nose and blinked in surprise when he didn’t suffer a nosebleed.

“Oh Ryoga, you really can be so silly sometimes.”

“Oh, uh… sorry ‘bout that, old habit, I guess.”

“Still, this is a bit of luck, isn’t it?” she continued. “With Grandfather tending Katsushiro, you could probably have your little match with Ranma right now! Then you two could do some more catching up… and then maybe we could go out to dinner as a group or something! Would you like that, sweetie?”

Ryoga goggled for a moment. “Dear, slow down, you’re makin’ my head spin here.” He chuckled slightly, then paused, his face turning serious. “That is a nice thought, I’ll admit… and settling our one last fight might be a good idea, but… well…”

“But what?” Akari’s face fell slightly.

“Well… you know things are still kinda iffy with them an’ me right now,” he continued. “After all that I… you know… well, I still get the feeling I’m not incredibly welcome at the moment, after all I did… the duel’s one thing, but going out together? I mean…” He swallowed hard. “I made a really big mistake with them, and…”

“And what of it?” said an amused voice.

Ryoga practically jumped out of his skin and spun around. “RANMA! Dammit, don’t sneak up on me like that!” he bellowed.

“Hey, sorry man,” Ranma replied, hands up in a ‘who, me’ pose. “We just finished up upstairs, heard the two of ya talkin’, sounded like you’re coming up with some evening plans.”

“Uh… well, something came up… guess we have a little free time on our hands, that’s all…” Ryoga sputtered. “Just ideas, really… that maybe we could get that match outta the way…”

“Hey, if you wanna stay for dinner I’m pretty sure we could squeeze in an extra place setting or two,” said Ranma with a nod.

Ryoga blinked. “Huh? You… you mean that? You’re okay having me over for…”

Akane sidled up to Ranma and nodded as well, then gave Ryoga a wry smirk. “As long as you behave, I think I can convince Kasumi to leave pork-fried rice off the menu tonight.”

Ryoga paled. Akari’s eyes widened for a moment and she gave Akane a disbelieving look- at which Akane giggled. “I’m just joking, you two! Geez, talk about easy.”

“That wasn’t that funny, Akane,” Akari murmured. An image of Ryoga and one of her prized warrior pigs in a steaming pot was dancing through her head and giving her the shivers.

“Okay, I guess that was a little bit of bad taste,” Akane relented. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist,” she added, throwing a mock-dirty look in Ryoga’s direction.

And you berate ME for teasing the poor sap? Ranma murmured in their mind’s ear. Keep it up an’ you’re gonna send him into a nervous breakdown, Acchan.

Akane smirked. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna go that far… maybe just a little more to make sure he remembers that I won’t forget what he did to us.

You really can be devilish at times, my beautiful tomboy, he added with a wink.

Akane threw him a wink of her own. Handsome baka.

“So anyways,” Ryoga was saying, “enough about our plans, what about you two? Somebody said something about an Amazon kiss a moment ago, what was up with that?”

“Amazon kiss?” said Akari. “I didn’t hear that, was that while I was on the phone?”

“Oh, uh… that was sorta…” Ranma fidgeted slightly, pressing his fingers together. “Sorta a ‘kiss-and-make-up’ thing. You know, bad blood aside, water under the bridge an’ all that.”

“Yeah, just their… way of making amends after everything that happened between us,” Akane added in an awkward tone, sharing a quick Astral thought with Ranma. Better not tell them what just happened; we don’t want them making more out of this before we tell our fathers.

Don’t I know it, Ranma thought in response. It may only be honorary, like Cologne said, but those two’ll pitch a fit if they hear it from someone ‘sides us. Might think the old ghoul was asking us to move out to…

“So THIS is where you guys have been all this time; do you have any idea how worried Dad is?”

Everybody in the Neko Hanten jumped and turned towards the doorway; standing just inside, umbrella in hand, was Nabiki. “You know that little stunt at the school was on the news a little while ago, right? Of course, they didn’t say anything about the freaks from a horror movie cropping up, they were just talking about the gas line rip and structural damage- well, Dad sees this on the news and starts freaking out when I’M the only one who comes home! Now it’s all well and good to spend some time in town, Ranma, little sis, but the least you two could’ve done was call.” She paused and looked around the partially wrecked dining room, still bearing some signs of Mousse’s ordeal. “Geez, what happened here? I thought you two buried the hatchet with that purple-haired bimbo.”

Shingen stepped through the doorway and tapped Nabiki on the shoulder. “That wasn’t exactly what happened here, Miss Nabiki,” he said. “I was about to explain that when you breezed right past me.”

“Sorry, Shingen-kun, but I was kind of in a hurry to make sure my sister and Ranma weren’t off on some adventure or something, you never know with those two,” Nabiki replied, ignoring the dirty looks Ranma and Akane were giving her. “Besides, I didn’t want to interrupt your conversation, looked like you two were having fun.”

“It wasn’t really a conversation,” said Ukyo, stepping into view with a slight flush to her face. “We were just… talking, that’s all. Passing time.”

Ranma blinked. So did Akane. They looked at each other and a single thought flashed through the Astral between them. Are they… is that what I…? …No, couldn’t be…

“As I was saying, that was quite a little ruckus at school today, you two,” Nabiki was saying. “Can’t argue with an excuse to get out of classes, even if the reason why was a little odd… and I got some great footage of you two in action. I know some people who’ll pay big bucks for stuff like that… if it’s okay with you, that is.” She stepped in and whispered to Ranma with a meaningful look in her eyes. “If you say it’s okay, I might be inclined to forget the fact that someone pilfered my surveillance system this morning.”

Ranma groaned. “Do whatever you want with it, I don’t really care. Fact is, Nabiki, we’ve got a few more important things to deal with right now than whether or not you’re selling our faces to the tabloids.”

“Actually, I was about to ask you about that,” Nabiki replied. “I mean, first it was a gang of oni in the lot yesterday, then those things invade school property… it’s like the weirdness got cranked up ever since you got back from China, little bro. Care to explain?”

Akane looked up at Ranma’s eyes. I guess we’d better tell her as well. You know she’ll find out anyway…

Ranma nodded. “Okay, Nabiki… I’m not really so sure I can explain, but I can tell ya what we do know.” He heaved a sigh and looked around. “But not here. Let’s go home before your old man decides to call the Bureau of Missing Persons on us.”

“Now that I can agree on, Saotome,” Nabiki replied with a nod.

“Hey sis,” Akane piped up, “do you think it’d be too much trouble to have Kasumi set out a few extra plates for dinner tonight?”

“No, why?”

“Ryoga and Akari were thinking of joining us for dinner after he and Ranma have a ‘chat’ in the dojo.”

Nabiki blinked. “Really?”

“Yes, really, oneechan- you don’t have to act so surprised. It’s not like we didn’t clear the air a few days ago, right?” Akane punctuated her sentence with a meaningful look in Ryoga’s direction and a quick wink thrown surreptitiously to Nabiki. Ryoga flinched slightly; Nabiki caught the wink and couldn’t help but smirk.

“Oh, well… then I guess I’ll have to tell Dad to expect a little more company for dinner,” she said, flipping open her cellphone. “And speaking of dinner… what did happen in here? I swear, this place looks like one of your attempts at curry detonated in here, Akane.” She turned her attention to her cellphone, not noticing Akane’s visible flinch.

“Something tells me we’d best clue her in on what really happened in here,” Shingen said in a low tone. “This is getting serious.”

“My thoughts exactly, man,” Ranma replied.

To Be Continued.

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Author’s Notes 11/22/05: Well, it took me a while to get my thoughts in order, and some of this chapter did turn out a bit rushed. I hope the quality hasn’t suffered, but I did want to get this installment in before Thanksgiving. I can’t believe I’ve been working on this chronicle for nearly a year… but I promise you, there will be an ending at some point. Just not right now.

Some of you may be asking why I took the direction I did with Kodachi. Well… in truth, while many believe her destiny lies with a rubber room, I did some last minute thinking and decided that was too easy. All the Kuno clan members are delusional- but have you ever noticed how her attitude has always been more psychotic than the others? Perhaps wondered if there were a reason behind it? I’m not the first writer to think this way, probably not the last. But what fate has in store for the Kuno gymnast is yet to be seen. She’s still quite ill, make no mistake- but sometimes personal catharsis is the only way to grow. I will admit- I’m not terribly good at angst, IMHO.

One bit of trivia. The name Midorigame- if I remember correctly- is the name of Kodachi’s pet alligator. Just food for thought.

Everyone, thanks again for your support. I’ll be taking a bit of a break over Thanksgiving, but hopefully I’ll have a new chapter written in time for Christmas. Keep those reviews coming- I glean inspiration from some, and incentive from all of them. Until next time.

Neon Ronin