Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma's Hour of Darkness ❯ Chapter 02 ( Chapter 2 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: mimizukujin 
Reritten, hopefully with better story flow.
Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Supernatural / Hentai | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 03.20.2006 | Updated On: 03.27.2006 | Pages: 6 | Words: 4.2K | Visits: 4.3K | Status: Completed
Reritten, hopefully with better story flow.
Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Supernatural / Hentai | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 03.20.2006 | Updated On: 03.27.2006 | Pages: 6 | Words: 4.2K | Visits: 4.3K | Status: Completed
Ranma's Hour of Darkness - Chapter 2
Disclaimer - I own neither Disgaea nor Ranma 1/2.
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Cindy is standing before me, hopping around bouncily. Very bouncily, I notice. I quickly look up to find her smiling at me. "This is a dream," I say.
She looks at me with surprise, and says, "How do you know? What gave it away?"
"I looked at another girl, and not a single fiancee has hit me." I say.
She looks slightly upset at that. Finally shrugging, she says, "I'm here to get you ready to be my vassal, Ranma. You need to know some things before you get to the Netherworld."
I nod.
"First, all demons are vassals. There is only one that isn't, and he's the Overlord. Every other demon is his vassal. If a demon disagrees with that they can challenge him, but nobody has ever won," she says.
"I'm your vassal, so my allegiance is to you if you ever decide to revolt, right?" I ask.
She nods, and says, "That's right, Ranma. When you opened that gate, I was lucky to be the closest demon, and I entered it quickly. There are other demons that you could have summoned that wouldn't have been as nice, understanding, or nonviolent as I was."
I close my eyes, and sigh. "I could have summoned a demon too strong for me to handle, right?" I ask.
"That's right, Ranma," she says. "Usually when you summon a demon, you use their name."
"There wasn't one," I say.
She shrugs. "Back to the topic. If another demon tells you to do something, you can refuse. You may have to fight them though, some demons will try to make you do what they want," she says.
I nod. 'That really isn't anything new.'
"Most demons will leave you alone. You're much, much stronger than I am. Stronger than almost all demons are," she says.
I nod again. 'Of course I am.'
She catches a hint of my confidence in my expression, and says, "Most demons are less than two years old, Ranma. Most of those are less than two months old."
"But where do they all come from?" I ask. "Why are they so young?"
"Most of them are demons that got killed, and are reborn. Demons lead violent lives, Ranma," she says. "Most of us die when other demons gang up on us. So far, I've been lucky to escape that kind of notice."
"What about the other demons?" I ask. "The older ones?"
"They're different, and dangerous. You're more powerful than some of them, too, but you should still try to avoid them," she says. "The oldest demons are all members of the Dark Assembly. They rule the Netherworld."
"I thought that the Overlord ruled the Netherworld?" I ask, feeling confused.
"The last Overlord, King Krichevskoy, died about a week and a half ago. He choked to death on a pretzel," she says.
I look up at her with an annoyed expression. She's making fun of me.
"No, really. I'm serious," she says.
I study her expression. She doesn't look like she's joking.
"The Overlord died by choking on his food?" I say incredulously.
She nods, and continues, "Since then it's been crazy. His vassals have been fighting each other more or less constantly."
I shake my head. It still sounds like a joke.
"Anyway, the Overlord does rule the Netherworld, but it is too big for him rule the whole thing in person, there are just too many demons. The Dark Assembly actually makes most of the rules," she says. "They're the ones that control transfiguration."
"Transfiguration?" I ask.
"Your curse is attached to your body, not to your soul. If it was attached to your soul I wouldn't be able to do anything for you, but since it's attached to your body you can just transfigure yourself and the curse will be gone. It's like getting reborn in the same or a similar body," she says. "Once you attain transfiguration, though, you will have to retrain your body."
"So I won't be... me?" I ask.
"Of course you'll be you. Your soul will be the same, and you'll even remember almost all of your previous life, if you spend enough mana on the process. In order to not be you anymore, your soul would have to be inhuman or something," she says.
"Mana?" I ask, feeling lost.
"Mana is the magical energy I was talking about from before. When you kill a demon, some of it's essence stays with you. Powerful demons can use that essence in magical rituals, so they trade it back and forth, and give favors to other demons for it," she says.
"So it's like money, then?" I ask.
She shakes her head, and says, "Not by itself. For smaller things we use money called Hell, or HL. Only the older demons use mana."
"And my memories? I'll remember almost all, you said?" I ask.
She nods, and says, "That's right. The more mana you spend, the more you'll remember. But even the best type of transfiguration isn't perfect."
I nod, thoughtfully. "So I might lose part of my Art, then?" I ask.
"Your fighting ability, you mean? You won't lose all of it, but...", she pauses. "Ok, let me explain it another way."
She holds up a glass of water, filled to a 500ml mark. "This is your art, ok?" she asks.
I nod.
She pours the water into another glass, but doesn't pour quite all of it. It fills the second glass to 475ml. "This is your art after you transmigrate. It's almost all there, but you'll have to work to get the rest of it back. Nothing in the Netherworld is free," she says.
"Ok," I say. I am used to that, after all.
Looking annoyed, she looks up past me at something I can't see, and says, "Looks like your lesson for tonight is over."
Just as I'm about to respond, a deluge of water washes me away. I awaken gasping and sputtering out the water that got in my mouth and up my nose. Akane's smile seems a little different today, a little more like a sneer. 'Am I seeing cruelty where there isn't anything?'
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I walk to school with Akane, thinking over what my new lord taught me last night. When I get to the end of the dream, I frown. 'Akane seems really petty today. She woke me up half an hour early. Why is she still mad at me? I'm going out of my way to avoid the other fiancees, not to get in fights with Ryouga. I even ate her cooking last night without complaining.'
I sneak a peek at her. When she catches me, her expression darkens. I avoid her gaze for the rest of the walk to school.
Kunou approaches as we reach the gate to the school. He sees me and immediately attacks. This time instead of fighting back, I just dodge around his strikes and head to class. Like the moron that he is, he follows me still trying to hit me. I sigh.
Using minor amounts of hot and cold chi, I spin in a quick circle. Leaving the moron with his head embedded in the ceiling, I enter the classroom and sit down in my seat. I studiously ignore the silence of the other students as I wait for Ms. Ninomiya to arrive.
I can feel Akane's glare boring into me as she sits down, and I slump in my seat. I find myself stroking my bundled athame, and relax marginally as the teacher enters.
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I look around. New lord, bounciness and all, check. Lack of other fiancees, check. I find myself relaxing, as this is obviously a dream. I kneel before her, head bowed.
I can hear the surprise in her voice as she asks, "What are you doing, Ranma?"
Without looking up, I reply, "I'm your vassal. This is how vassals act."
"Only in the human world, Ranma," she says. "Now get up. You look silly."
I stand up again, and she says, "You fell asleep, so I thought that I'd teach you some of the other things that you'll have to expect, Ranma."
I grin sheepishly at her. "My classes are boring."
She smiles tolerantly back, and says, "I'll try to make this a little more exciting, then. But first, tell me more about vassals in the human world."
"As long as you are my lord, my life is yours to do with as you wish. I must follow any order. If I'm ordered to do something too dishonorable, I may perform the ritual of seppuku afterwards to cleanse myself of dishonor," I say.
"Ritual suicide? But I'll have to bring you back, you know. You have to pay the full amount of your debt," she says.
I am stunned. 'Coming back from seppuku? What does that do to someone's honor?'
She holds out a glowing hand, and says, "Here. It isn't real, so it won't affect your waking body, but you'll need to get used to your new equipment."
"Equipment?" I ask.
She nods, and pushes the glow into my chest. Immediately I feel a difference, as my muscles become more defined.
"What was that?" I ask.
"It's one of the pieces of equipment I got for you," she says. "It makes you more muscular, and harder to hurt. I have a few other things for you as well."
I nod, and flex my bicep to get the feel for the new me. It feels good, but I can tell that I haven't really gained more strength as much as more toughness.
She holds out a glowing hand again, and touches my hands this time. When the glow subsides, I study them. They don't look any different, but they feel stronger. When I clench my fist, I notice a feeling of power that hadn't been there before.
I look almost disappointed when the other things turn out to be a pair of tabi and a tough-looking belt, but I slip them on as well. The belt makes me look like one of those heroes in the shoujo manga that I've seen the girls at school reading. The tabi are surprisingly comfortable.
"I'm really not sure about getting stronger like this, though," I confess to my lord. "It feels like cheating."
She shakes her head, and says, "Every opponent you face in the Netherworld will have the same or better equipment. You will have to get used to the idea."
I sigh, and nod. 'The path of a demon's vassal is fraught with peril.'
She says, "Only some demons use equipment like what I gave you. Others can use various other types of weapons, and a lot of demons use beaks, tentacles, and other monstrous weapons..."
As she trails off, I ask, "What's wrong?"
"Your lesson is over for now. Wake up," she says.
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The bell rings as I jerk awake. The first things I notice are the student in front of me backing up with a look of fright, and someone behind me saying, "RANMA!" Sighing, I go limp just before the desk hits me from behind.
Almost as soon as I get settled down to eat, I hear a bell ringing in the distance. Looking around, I see Ukyo coming towards me, and Akane following right behind with what looks like another home-cooked lunch.
Honestly, I'm in the mood for neither a cute fiancee, an uncute fiancee, nor a Chinese Amazon wife. I calmly wait until they begin to fight, and take both myself and the food they brought elsewhere.
I can hear the fighting all the way across the campus. The sudden silence followed by even more noise tells me that they just noticed my absence. I quickly eat the food, then look for a place to dump Akane's offering.
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'Only thirteen days left, then I'm off to the Netherworld. Who knows how long I'll be gone for?' I stare up at the classroom ceiling, and sigh a little. 'It could be a long time, but at the end of all of it I'll have my cure, and I'll be able meet my mother as me, and not pretend to be Akane's cousin. That will make it all worth it, no matter what else happens.'
'I can do this. It's not like I'll be killing people, just demons. More importantly, if my lord can bring me back, then their lords will be able to do the same. It will almost be more like I'm practicing killing things, instead of really killing things.'
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Akane looks up at me, and says, "So, which one do you really like?"
I sputter for a moment, then realize that she isn't angry. Glancing at the featureless surroundings, I hesitantly say, "Cindy?"
She nods, and I ask, "Why do you look like Akane?"
She laughs at me, and as she melts back into her original form says, "I'm a succubus, Ranma. It's one of my powers."
"So you can look like anyone at all?" I ask.
She shakes her head, and says, "No. I can only take on the forms of females."
"What other powers does a succubus have, anyway?" I ask my lord.
"We'll go into that later, when we have more time," she says. "For now, let's continue your lesson."
I nod. Suddenly I have on my 'equipment' again.
She says, "Each of these things is magical."
'I sort of guessed that.' I nod.
"Each one is magical because the spirits inside it are awake. When the spirits in an item are awake, they help out the person using the item," she says. "Everything has spirits inside of it, but only the ones that are awake can help."
"So spirits are inside them cheering me on?" I ask.
"Not quite," she says. "They live in their own little world, inside the items. They really don't know about us."
"What kinds of spirits are they?" I ask.
"When we meet them, they look like demons," she says. "There are a lot of different kinds. Some of them are really strong, especially in old or powerful items. Some of them have special powers over the items they live in."
"That's why I'm telling you about them. A lot of the fighting you'll be doing will be inside these items, finding those special spirits and subduing them," she says.
"So, we can go into these worlds?" I ask.
She nods again, and says, "That's right, Ranma. When we beat the spirits in their world, they start working for us. The item gets stronger because of that. Sometimes the spirits have better items that we can win from them, too."
"So if we went into this belt, we might find someone with a better belt inside of it?" I ask. "And we get to keep it when we're done?"
"Yes, and if we went into that belt, we might find an even better belt, or armor, or a gun. The spirits have all sorts of items," she says.
"Weird," I say.
She looks off into the distance, and says, "We have a little more time, so why not tell me about your life, Ranma?"
"It might take a while," I warn. She motions to continue, so I begin. "My father made a contract, and had me 'sign' it using finger-paint..."
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"... and then I summoned you," I finish.
My lord thinks about it for a bit, and then asks, "Is it all right with you if I hurt your father?"
I don't even have to think before I nod.
"Good. Now, wake up.," she says.
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'I'd forgotten about PE class. It's not that I mind it, but the shower room...'
I almost go berserk as the cold water hits me in the shower, then reconsider. 'I'm probably the closest that any of these poor guys will come to a girl for years to come.'
With a smirk that I only partially hide, I look around the room, and say, "No touching. Right?" The stunned looks change to rapid nodding as I flare my chi. I turn back to the shower, and work on getting clean.
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"You enjoyed yourself earlier, didn't you?" my lord asks.
I don't have to ask what she means. There's only one thing that she could mean, and it was really the only part of the day I enjoyed anyway. I nod, and she smiles brightly at me.
"It was nice of you to do that for them," she says. "When people focus their lust on you, I gain a small amount of power. More from males than females. If you want to continue, then please do."
'As long as it's just people looking, it's not that bad. But it should be.'
"Is it because I'm your vassal?" I ask. "That it's not bothering me, I mean?"
"No, Ranma. The only thing that your being my vassal changes is that I gain a small amount of power from you. That's all," she says.
"Good," I say.
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I wake up and look at the clock. There's still two minutes until school is out. When I look around the room, I find that Akane is pointedly ignoring me. 'I guess that it's better than being hit.'
When the bell rings, she leaves with her friends. Feeling a little hurt, I take the quick way out through the window. As I land on the ground, it starts to rain.
I arrive home damp and female a couple of minutes later, only to see Kasumi inviting my mother in the front gate. Just as I'm about to turn around, she catches sight of me, and says, "Ranko, Auntie Nodoka is here to see Ranma. Have you seen him about?"
'That's it, I'm stuck.' As I walk up, I put a smile on my face and say, "No, I haven't seen him anywhere, Kasumi. Good afternoon, Auntie Nodoka."
My mother says, "Good afternoon, Ranko. I'm sorry, Kasumi. I was just stopping by because I was in the area. I'll try again later."
"I could walk you home if you like, Auntie," I say. 'I get to spend so little time with her.'
Both my mother and Kasumi smile at me. Moments later, we are on our way.
As I walk my mother home I note how similarly we move. That part of my mind that watches and catalogs everything takes notice, and I find my posture and walk sliding into perfect harmony with hers in moments.
We walk in silence for a while, then my mother says, "I notice that you have a new burden. May I inquire as to it's meaning?" She nods to my athame.
I say, "It's to remind me of my honor. It makes me feel comfortable to carry it around."
She nods. I cannot tell if it's just in confirmation or approval, but I feel good about it either way.
"Is it something that you need help learning to use?" she asks.
I shake my head, and say, "It's not for that. I'll never fight with it."
She nods once again. We spend the rest of the trip in silence.
When we get to her home she invites me in. I can't help myself, and accept. 'I never get to spend time with my mother without interference, so today I'll take every moment I can. I may be selfish, but I need to do it.'
I bask in the conversation we have, and the feeling of being by my mother. When she asks to see my blade I show her, and she is not insulted when I do not let her touch it. I feel that she understands, though I can't explain how.
When it is time to go, she asks me how I feel about her son. I stare at her, feeling sad and not knowing what to say. She doesn't ask for any other answer, and before I know it I'm on my way home.
I catch myself walking like my mother again, and regardless of it being manly or not, I just can't bring myself to think of it as a bad thing.
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Even though I spent the last few hours as a girl, I'm still happy with the way it turned out. At least I'm happy until I open the door to the living room, and a furious Akane sees me. 'This is getting old.'
I endure the beating without much comment. Although it seems more vicious than normal, it's also over sooner. 'It's like her anger burns out quicker when it doesn't have anything to feed on. Weird. Or maybe it's because I'm still a girl?'
After she goes upstairs, Kasumi brings in food. 'Dinner!'
I give her a grateful look, and start in on it.
Disclaimer - I own neither Disgaea nor Ranma 1/2.
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Cindy is standing before me, hopping around bouncily. Very bouncily, I notice. I quickly look up to find her smiling at me. "This is a dream," I say.
She looks at me with surprise, and says, "How do you know? What gave it away?"
"I looked at another girl, and not a single fiancee has hit me." I say.
She looks slightly upset at that. Finally shrugging, she says, "I'm here to get you ready to be my vassal, Ranma. You need to know some things before you get to the Netherworld."
I nod.
"First, all demons are vassals. There is only one that isn't, and he's the Overlord. Every other demon is his vassal. If a demon disagrees with that they can challenge him, but nobody has ever won," she says.
"I'm your vassal, so my allegiance is to you if you ever decide to revolt, right?" I ask.
She nods, and says, "That's right, Ranma. When you opened that gate, I was lucky to be the closest demon, and I entered it quickly. There are other demons that you could have summoned that wouldn't have been as nice, understanding, or nonviolent as I was."
I close my eyes, and sigh. "I could have summoned a demon too strong for me to handle, right?" I ask.
"That's right, Ranma," she says. "Usually when you summon a demon, you use their name."
"There wasn't one," I say.
She shrugs. "Back to the topic. If another demon tells you to do something, you can refuse. You may have to fight them though, some demons will try to make you do what they want," she says.
I nod. 'That really isn't anything new.'
"Most demons will leave you alone. You're much, much stronger than I am. Stronger than almost all demons are," she says.
I nod again. 'Of course I am.'
She catches a hint of my confidence in my expression, and says, "Most demons are less than two years old, Ranma. Most of those are less than two months old."
"But where do they all come from?" I ask. "Why are they so young?"
"Most of them are demons that got killed, and are reborn. Demons lead violent lives, Ranma," she says. "Most of us die when other demons gang up on us. So far, I've been lucky to escape that kind of notice."
"What about the other demons?" I ask. "The older ones?"
"They're different, and dangerous. You're more powerful than some of them, too, but you should still try to avoid them," she says. "The oldest demons are all members of the Dark Assembly. They rule the Netherworld."
"I thought that the Overlord ruled the Netherworld?" I ask, feeling confused.
"The last Overlord, King Krichevskoy, died about a week and a half ago. He choked to death on a pretzel," she says.
I look up at her with an annoyed expression. She's making fun of me.
"No, really. I'm serious," she says.
I study her expression. She doesn't look like she's joking.
"The Overlord died by choking on his food?" I say incredulously.
She nods, and continues, "Since then it's been crazy. His vassals have been fighting each other more or less constantly."
I shake my head. It still sounds like a joke.
"Anyway, the Overlord does rule the Netherworld, but it is too big for him rule the whole thing in person, there are just too many demons. The Dark Assembly actually makes most of the rules," she says. "They're the ones that control transfiguration."
"Transfiguration?" I ask.
"Your curse is attached to your body, not to your soul. If it was attached to your soul I wouldn't be able to do anything for you, but since it's attached to your body you can just transfigure yourself and the curse will be gone. It's like getting reborn in the same or a similar body," she says. "Once you attain transfiguration, though, you will have to retrain your body."
"So I won't be... me?" I ask.
"Of course you'll be you. Your soul will be the same, and you'll even remember almost all of your previous life, if you spend enough mana on the process. In order to not be you anymore, your soul would have to be inhuman or something," she says.
"Mana?" I ask, feeling lost.
"Mana is the magical energy I was talking about from before. When you kill a demon, some of it's essence stays with you. Powerful demons can use that essence in magical rituals, so they trade it back and forth, and give favors to other demons for it," she says.
"So it's like money, then?" I ask.
She shakes her head, and says, "Not by itself. For smaller things we use money called Hell, or HL. Only the older demons use mana."
"And my memories? I'll remember almost all, you said?" I ask.
She nods, and says, "That's right. The more mana you spend, the more you'll remember. But even the best type of transfiguration isn't perfect."
I nod, thoughtfully. "So I might lose part of my Art, then?" I ask.
"Your fighting ability, you mean? You won't lose all of it, but...", she pauses. "Ok, let me explain it another way."
She holds up a glass of water, filled to a 500ml mark. "This is your art, ok?" she asks.
I nod.
She pours the water into another glass, but doesn't pour quite all of it. It fills the second glass to 475ml. "This is your art after you transmigrate. It's almost all there, but you'll have to work to get the rest of it back. Nothing in the Netherworld is free," she says.
"Ok," I say. I am used to that, after all.
Looking annoyed, she looks up past me at something I can't see, and says, "Looks like your lesson for tonight is over."
Just as I'm about to respond, a deluge of water washes me away. I awaken gasping and sputtering out the water that got in my mouth and up my nose. Akane's smile seems a little different today, a little more like a sneer. 'Am I seeing cruelty where there isn't anything?'
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I walk to school with Akane, thinking over what my new lord taught me last night. When I get to the end of the dream, I frown. 'Akane seems really petty today. She woke me up half an hour early. Why is she still mad at me? I'm going out of my way to avoid the other fiancees, not to get in fights with Ryouga. I even ate her cooking last night without complaining.'
I sneak a peek at her. When she catches me, her expression darkens. I avoid her gaze for the rest of the walk to school.
Kunou approaches as we reach the gate to the school. He sees me and immediately attacks. This time instead of fighting back, I just dodge around his strikes and head to class. Like the moron that he is, he follows me still trying to hit me. I sigh.
Using minor amounts of hot and cold chi, I spin in a quick circle. Leaving the moron with his head embedded in the ceiling, I enter the classroom and sit down in my seat. I studiously ignore the silence of the other students as I wait for Ms. Ninomiya to arrive.
I can feel Akane's glare boring into me as she sits down, and I slump in my seat. I find myself stroking my bundled athame, and relax marginally as the teacher enters.
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I look around. New lord, bounciness and all, check. Lack of other fiancees, check. I find myself relaxing, as this is obviously a dream. I kneel before her, head bowed.
I can hear the surprise in her voice as she asks, "What are you doing, Ranma?"
Without looking up, I reply, "I'm your vassal. This is how vassals act."
"Only in the human world, Ranma," she says. "Now get up. You look silly."
I stand up again, and she says, "You fell asleep, so I thought that I'd teach you some of the other things that you'll have to expect, Ranma."
I grin sheepishly at her. "My classes are boring."
She smiles tolerantly back, and says, "I'll try to make this a little more exciting, then. But first, tell me more about vassals in the human world."
"As long as you are my lord, my life is yours to do with as you wish. I must follow any order. If I'm ordered to do something too dishonorable, I may perform the ritual of seppuku afterwards to cleanse myself of dishonor," I say.
"Ritual suicide? But I'll have to bring you back, you know. You have to pay the full amount of your debt," she says.
I am stunned. 'Coming back from seppuku? What does that do to someone's honor?'
She holds out a glowing hand, and says, "Here. It isn't real, so it won't affect your waking body, but you'll need to get used to your new equipment."
"Equipment?" I ask.
She nods, and pushes the glow into my chest. Immediately I feel a difference, as my muscles become more defined.
"What was that?" I ask.
"It's one of the pieces of equipment I got for you," she says. "It makes you more muscular, and harder to hurt. I have a few other things for you as well."
I nod, and flex my bicep to get the feel for the new me. It feels good, but I can tell that I haven't really gained more strength as much as more toughness.
She holds out a glowing hand again, and touches my hands this time. When the glow subsides, I study them. They don't look any different, but they feel stronger. When I clench my fist, I notice a feeling of power that hadn't been there before.
I look almost disappointed when the other things turn out to be a pair of tabi and a tough-looking belt, but I slip them on as well. The belt makes me look like one of those heroes in the shoujo manga that I've seen the girls at school reading. The tabi are surprisingly comfortable.
"I'm really not sure about getting stronger like this, though," I confess to my lord. "It feels like cheating."
She shakes her head, and says, "Every opponent you face in the Netherworld will have the same or better equipment. You will have to get used to the idea."
I sigh, and nod. 'The path of a demon's vassal is fraught with peril.'
She says, "Only some demons use equipment like what I gave you. Others can use various other types of weapons, and a lot of demons use beaks, tentacles, and other monstrous weapons..."
As she trails off, I ask, "What's wrong?"
"Your lesson is over for now. Wake up," she says.
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The bell rings as I jerk awake. The first things I notice are the student in front of me backing up with a look of fright, and someone behind me saying, "RANMA!" Sighing, I go limp just before the desk hits me from behind.
Almost as soon as I get settled down to eat, I hear a bell ringing in the distance. Looking around, I see Ukyo coming towards me, and Akane following right behind with what looks like another home-cooked lunch.
Honestly, I'm in the mood for neither a cute fiancee, an uncute fiancee, nor a Chinese Amazon wife. I calmly wait until they begin to fight, and take both myself and the food they brought elsewhere.
I can hear the fighting all the way across the campus. The sudden silence followed by even more noise tells me that they just noticed my absence. I quickly eat the food, then look for a place to dump Akane's offering.
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'Only thirteen days left, then I'm off to the Netherworld. Who knows how long I'll be gone for?' I stare up at the classroom ceiling, and sigh a little. 'It could be a long time, but at the end of all of it I'll have my cure, and I'll be able meet my mother as me, and not pretend to be Akane's cousin. That will make it all worth it, no matter what else happens.'
'I can do this. It's not like I'll be killing people, just demons. More importantly, if my lord can bring me back, then their lords will be able to do the same. It will almost be more like I'm practicing killing things, instead of really killing things.'
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Akane looks up at me, and says, "So, which one do you really like?"
I sputter for a moment, then realize that she isn't angry. Glancing at the featureless surroundings, I hesitantly say, "Cindy?"
She nods, and I ask, "Why do you look like Akane?"
She laughs at me, and as she melts back into her original form says, "I'm a succubus, Ranma. It's one of my powers."
"So you can look like anyone at all?" I ask.
She shakes her head, and says, "No. I can only take on the forms of females."
"What other powers does a succubus have, anyway?" I ask my lord.
"We'll go into that later, when we have more time," she says. "For now, let's continue your lesson."
I nod. Suddenly I have on my 'equipment' again.
She says, "Each of these things is magical."
'I sort of guessed that.' I nod.
"Each one is magical because the spirits inside it are awake. When the spirits in an item are awake, they help out the person using the item," she says. "Everything has spirits inside of it, but only the ones that are awake can help."
"So spirits are inside them cheering me on?" I ask.
"Not quite," she says. "They live in their own little world, inside the items. They really don't know about us."
"What kinds of spirits are they?" I ask.
"When we meet them, they look like demons," she says. "There are a lot of different kinds. Some of them are really strong, especially in old or powerful items. Some of them have special powers over the items they live in."
"That's why I'm telling you about them. A lot of the fighting you'll be doing will be inside these items, finding those special spirits and subduing them," she says.
"So, we can go into these worlds?" I ask.
She nods again, and says, "That's right, Ranma. When we beat the spirits in their world, they start working for us. The item gets stronger because of that. Sometimes the spirits have better items that we can win from them, too."
"So if we went into this belt, we might find someone with a better belt inside of it?" I ask. "And we get to keep it when we're done?"
"Yes, and if we went into that belt, we might find an even better belt, or armor, or a gun. The spirits have all sorts of items," she says.
"Weird," I say.
She looks off into the distance, and says, "We have a little more time, so why not tell me about your life, Ranma?"
"It might take a while," I warn. She motions to continue, so I begin. "My father made a contract, and had me 'sign' it using finger-paint..."
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"... and then I summoned you," I finish.
My lord thinks about it for a bit, and then asks, "Is it all right with you if I hurt your father?"
I don't even have to think before I nod.
"Good. Now, wake up.," she says.
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'I'd forgotten about PE class. It's not that I mind it, but the shower room...'
I almost go berserk as the cold water hits me in the shower, then reconsider. 'I'm probably the closest that any of these poor guys will come to a girl for years to come.'
With a smirk that I only partially hide, I look around the room, and say, "No touching. Right?" The stunned looks change to rapid nodding as I flare my chi. I turn back to the shower, and work on getting clean.
------------
"You enjoyed yourself earlier, didn't you?" my lord asks.
I don't have to ask what she means. There's only one thing that she could mean, and it was really the only part of the day I enjoyed anyway. I nod, and she smiles brightly at me.
"It was nice of you to do that for them," she says. "When people focus their lust on you, I gain a small amount of power. More from males than females. If you want to continue, then please do."
'As long as it's just people looking, it's not that bad. But it should be.'
"Is it because I'm your vassal?" I ask. "That it's not bothering me, I mean?"
"No, Ranma. The only thing that your being my vassal changes is that I gain a small amount of power from you. That's all," she says.
"Good," I say.
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I wake up and look at the clock. There's still two minutes until school is out. When I look around the room, I find that Akane is pointedly ignoring me. 'I guess that it's better than being hit.'
When the bell rings, she leaves with her friends. Feeling a little hurt, I take the quick way out through the window. As I land on the ground, it starts to rain.
I arrive home damp and female a couple of minutes later, only to see Kasumi inviting my mother in the front gate. Just as I'm about to turn around, she catches sight of me, and says, "Ranko, Auntie Nodoka is here to see Ranma. Have you seen him about?"
'That's it, I'm stuck.' As I walk up, I put a smile on my face and say, "No, I haven't seen him anywhere, Kasumi. Good afternoon, Auntie Nodoka."
My mother says, "Good afternoon, Ranko. I'm sorry, Kasumi. I was just stopping by because I was in the area. I'll try again later."
"I could walk you home if you like, Auntie," I say. 'I get to spend so little time with her.'
Both my mother and Kasumi smile at me. Moments later, we are on our way.
As I walk my mother home I note how similarly we move. That part of my mind that watches and catalogs everything takes notice, and I find my posture and walk sliding into perfect harmony with hers in moments.
We walk in silence for a while, then my mother says, "I notice that you have a new burden. May I inquire as to it's meaning?" She nods to my athame.
I say, "It's to remind me of my honor. It makes me feel comfortable to carry it around."
She nods. I cannot tell if it's just in confirmation or approval, but I feel good about it either way.
"Is it something that you need help learning to use?" she asks.
I shake my head, and say, "It's not for that. I'll never fight with it."
She nods once again. We spend the rest of the trip in silence.
When we get to her home she invites me in. I can't help myself, and accept. 'I never get to spend time with my mother without interference, so today I'll take every moment I can. I may be selfish, but I need to do it.'
I bask in the conversation we have, and the feeling of being by my mother. When she asks to see my blade I show her, and she is not insulted when I do not let her touch it. I feel that she understands, though I can't explain how.
When it is time to go, she asks me how I feel about her son. I stare at her, feeling sad and not knowing what to say. She doesn't ask for any other answer, and before I know it I'm on my way home.
I catch myself walking like my mother again, and regardless of it being manly or not, I just can't bring myself to think of it as a bad thing.
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Even though I spent the last few hours as a girl, I'm still happy with the way it turned out. At least I'm happy until I open the door to the living room, and a furious Akane sees me. 'This is getting old.'
I endure the beating without much comment. Although it seems more vicious than normal, it's also over sooner. 'It's like her anger burns out quicker when it doesn't have anything to feed on. Weird. Or maybe it's because I'm still a girl?'
After she goes upstairs, Kasumi brings in food. 'Dinner!'
I give her a grateful look, and start in on it.