Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Total Shock ❯ Jade Stone ( Chapter 4 )

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

ITT, introducing new characters ~ desu

Disclaimer: None of the series, characters, or locations mentioned in this story are owned by the author of this story unless stated otherwise.

Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Martial Arts / Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 09.23.2006 | Updated On: 10.30.2006 | Pages: 19 | Words: 18.3K | Visits: 898 | Status: Work In Progress

This chapter didn't necessarily turn out the way I imagined it would, but I really can't think of anything else to change. Seeing as how I wrote this entire chapter on Ranma, next one will probably include parts on all the characters I've been shafting lately. I'll be updating my profile soon to include information on all of the Anime/Manga featured in any of my stories, so look for that.

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“Satsugeki…Bukou Ken.” Ranma kicked the in one of it's leg joints and followed up with a round house, immediately going into an uppercut then following into the air, floating as he landed three more blows before spiking it down with a crescent kick and then falling on it with his kneed extended. He stood only for a second to effortlessly pick the thing up with a single hand before knife handing the thing's solar plexus.

His arm went right through its tough, lime-green hide before he intercepted its spine. He took a hold of it and crushed what was in his hands, the creature howled an inhuman cry as its life bled away. The blood, a thick sickening purple gunk fell onto the floor and released a purple smoke as well as an odd sound.

“That thing's blood is eating away the floor…” Chibi-Usa muttered.

“But Ranma's still fine even though that stuff is all over him,” Akane mentioned.

“Look at his clothes. His shirt's almost all gone and his pants are all torn up. Shouldn't he be dead? How did he do all that when it was all we could do to make that thing laugh?” Ryouga spoke up.

“He's not human right now,” Inuyasha explained. “The Shikon no Kakera somehow managed to wakeup some latent, long distant demonic heritage in him. In essence, he's possessed. We need to get that shard away from him.”

“Shikon no Kakera?” Everyone looked at Inuyasha.

“It's a jewel that can enhance your strength ten times over, but it has a tendency of driving people, especially demons or those of demonic descent to insanity. Just trust me about this, he's coming this way!” Inuyasha hefted up his Tetsusaiga as Ranma approached the group. “Hey you! Give me the shard!”

“Hm?” Ranma raised an eyebrow before pointing at his back. “You mean this?” He sneered. “No, I rather like it.”

“Dammit,” Inuyasha growled. He cracked his knuckles and sheathed the Tetsusaiga. `He's just a possessed human. I can't kill him,' He thought bitterly. `But I can sure as hell rough him up.' Inuyasha smirked at Ranma and leapt at him. “SANKON TESSOU!” Ranma dodged the attack with ease and countered with a swift fist to the gut, sending Inuyasha flying back into a column.

“Feh. Is that all you've got, hanyou?” He sneered.

“Half-Demon?” Everyone looked at Inuyasha with a confused look on their faces.

“You bastard,” Inuyasha grunted as he stood up and assed his opponent again. Ryouga turned to Ranma and frowned.

`Ranma with demonic powers isn't something I ever thought I'd face.' He narrowed his eyes and jumped at Ranma from behind with a green Chi Blast at the ready. Ranma raised a brow at the boy and jumped backwards just as Ryouga got close. Surprised, Ryouga fumbled mid attack, as he had expected Ranma to dodge, and was completely unprepared for the kick to his ribs.

Ryouga flew a good few meters before falling to the floor and skidding. He slowly rose, groaning in pain. `Damn, what the hell just hit me?! It's like my Bakusai Tenketsu training was all for nothing!'

Chibi-usa watched as Ranma surveyed the group. Strategically, they weren't a good group to begin with; almost none of them knew eachother each other, let alone worked together ever before, so coordinating an attack would be nigh-impossible. If things were as the Hanyou was saying and Ranma was indeed possessed, then if she could use her “Moon Healing Escalation” chances were he would be purged of whatever had him.

She was sure her mother had reached the same conclusion, but such a long, drawn out attack would be easily dodged and countered before they were even finished. `If I yell out my plan to everyone, he'll know what to expect, and if I don't tell them, I can't really expect them to distract him the way I'd like them to,' She cursed under her breath and decided to wait for an opportunity to strike.

“So the knave shows his true form!” Kuno's sudden outburst shocked almost everyone in the building. “And as such, I'll respond in kind!” Kuno's next move surprised everyone there. He struck horizontally with his bokken, sending a vacuum of air flying straight at Ranma. Ranma leapt over the attack and dodged several more.

“Shi Shi Hokudan!” Ryouga's shout brought most people out of their stupor as another fighter began launching projectiles at the boy.

“Sankon Tessou!” Inuyasha joined in the barrage of attacks that Ranma was dodging.

“Heh,” Ranma charged his palm with a white ball of chi and leapt at Kuno, dodging several more attacks on the way. He slammed his ki-empowered fist into the ground a good two meters away and the resulting explosion knocked the kendoist off of his feet. Ranma smirked and was about to jump again when he felt a sudden burst of energy from he side.

He turned towards Chibi-Moon in time to dodge a large magical wave of energy. “There's no way in hell I can let that hit me-” Ranma suddenly felt the same wave coming from behind him and somersaulted just as another attack crashed into the ground where he'd been standing. He noticed Sailor Moon standing at its origin and scowled. There was no way he could let two people with that kind of attack run around.

He fell down towards her with two Chi blasts at the ready and combined the two and shot off a larger blast. Usagi's eyes bulged as the attack neared, but after a sudden blue blur, she disappeared.

“Eh?” Ranma frowned as his blast impacted nothing but solid ground. He had to shift his position in the air as the same blue blur passed through. “What the hell is that?” He finally landed and had to jump again to dodge Inuyasha's next attack.

“Dammit,” Inuyasha muttered as he put a hand on the Tetsusaiga. `He's toying with us for the most part,' He unsheathed the raggedy blade and it transformed instantly. `I don't care if he is a human, he's definitely powerful enough to withstand a kaze no kizu and still live,' Inuyasha smirked as the familiar vortex surrounded his blade.

“Hey jackass!” Ranma turned to Inuyasha and smirked.

“So you're getting serious, hanyou? What a surprise,” Ranma stared at the Inu-hanyou's sword for a second before grinning. “I see, attacks based on wind,” He said. “You'll be easy to take care of with an attack like that,”

“Yeah, well we'll see about that,” Inuyasha smirked back as he held up his sword and slammed it into the ground, sending several powerful ground-hugging projectiles towards Ranma. Ranma simply jumped over them, noting their power was nothing to laugh at.

`Heh, the vortex around his sword is strongest when he fires off that attack,' Ranma's smirk only got bigger as he made his way towards the hanyou.

Ryouga sighed as he watched Ranma approach the hanyou, dodging the half-demon's attacks. Inuyasha seemed to suspect something was up and began moving when Ranma got closer. “I can't do anything,” He said. “None of my attacks have been hurting him at all. He just shrugs them off…no, he doesn't even seem to be noticing…” The boy looked at his hands with despair. “A single kick from him was enough to bruise me that way…” The boy clenched his fists, as a slight greenish glow surrounded him. “It's futile…no matter what I do, this boy…no, man…is always ten steps ahead of me.” The glow extended further and his aura could be visually seen now.

Sailor Chibi Moon and Sailor Moon had to turn to watch as the sudden onslaught of depressed chi rolled off of the unfamiliar boy in waves.

`That can't be healthy,' Chibi moon thought to herself as she watched. `But whatever we can use to stop Ranma right now,' She sighed as she turned towards Ranma. If she or Sailor moon used their healing powers right now, it might obliterate the half-demon who was fighting on their side as well, and they could both tell in this fight that no allies were expendable (And neither had it in them to kill someone who hadn't yet done anything wrong.)

Inuyasha was thoroughly confused (read: angry) as his current enemy approached him. `What's he laughin' about?!' The snarl on his face was enough to make his current foe laugh even more. “Hey, moron, would you mind tellin' me what's so funny?”

“Hmm, alright,” Ranma said, stopping on a railing above the first floor. “But first, let me ask you; what's it feel like having your own attack used against you?”

“What?” Inuyasha snarled. `There's no way he could use the Wind Scar…' He smirked and held up the Tetsusaiga again, preparing to use the Kaze no Kizu. “You think you can scare me with your bullshit claims?”

“Well let's see,” Ranma said, jumping towards Inuyasha. Inuyasha's eyes went wide in surprise and before he could react, the boy threw a punch that stopped no more than a centimeter short of the tip of Tetsusaiga. Inuyasha watched in confusion as Ranma jumped back.

“What the hell was that?” Inuyasha asked, shaking his head. “You must be the dumbest human ever.” He hefted the Tetsusaiga over his shoulder and and turned towards Ranma with a sneer.

“Let's test my theory, then. Try that technique of yours now,” Ranma said in a laughing voice.

“With pleasure!” Inuyasha snarled and slammed his huge fang onto the ground to create the effect of the Wind Scar. Almost instantly, there was an explosion and the vortex flowing around his Tetsusaiga expanded into a horizontal funnel of wind that cut both ways. The funnel expanded in both directions that the sword was pointing, meaning that even its wielder was enveloped. Ranma merely jumped over the funnel and smirked as he watch the funnel cut through parts of the building.

When it was over, Inuyasha had been thrown by the wind through one of the walls, and a glimpse at him told everyone the hanyou was unconscious and looking much worse for the wear.

“Looks like it hurts.” Ranma turned around and smiled, cracking his knuckles. “Who's next-!!” He suddenly jumped, dodging two beams of pure energy. “I guess that means you!” Ranma seemingly flew at the two whose eyes widened in surprise.

“SAILOR MOON!” Called out a concerned voice. It was in vain, however, as neither Sailor Moon nor Chibi Moon had the reflexes to dodge the insanely fast Ranma.

“Dammit!” Tuxedo Kamen fell to the ground and slammed his fist into it as Ranma's fists slammed into the two Senshi. “Is there nothing I can do!?” He growled. “The Senshi have so much power,” He shook his head. “Yet all I can do is distract foes…” He clenched his fists. “Wasn't there anything the old Endymion could do? It always comes back to this. I'm always so useless…”

Elsewhere, watching from the shadows, another person was yet echoing his thoughts.

“Ranma always is the one everyone can count on to help them,” Akane said sadly as she watched her fiancé demolish any opposition. Every single person there was many times stronger than she. “But now, when he needs us to help him defeat someone, no one can step up to the task…”

“It is indeed a depressing thought,” Said a familiar voice from nearby. Akane looked up in surprise.

“Kuno? I thought you were fighting?”

“Indeed, it was so…but he is obviously too strong for me as I am now, and even if it is only through demonic possession, it is something I can not ignore. Besides, we're not the only ones with depressing thoughts at this moment,” The young man nodded in Ryouga's direction.

“Ryouga's going to use a perfect Shishi Hokudan,” She noted.

“That is indeed what it appears to be,” Kuno said. “However…Look. He has already passed the point necessary to use that technique.” Akane blinked as she noticed he was right. Never before had Ryouga's aura expanded so much around him. The energy of his depression was also far more severe than she had ever felt.

“That must be why I feel this way. His aura is so powerful, no one weaker than him can resist feeling depressed.” Kuno only nodded.

“And that's that,” Ranma snickered as stood over the unconscious, bruised and battered bodies of two sailor Senshi. He started looking around. “I hear some whispering-” He suddenly jumped back as a blue blur slammed into the ground before him. He narrowed his eyes and trailed the thing moving at super sonic speeds.

“Heh, whatever you are, such a pathetic attack can't hurt me,” He said loudly.

Touya narrowed his eyes as he moved around the room, not stopping once. `He doesn't seem to know who I am.' He bounced off one of the columns and flew at Ranma with a foot extended in a kick. His eyes widened as Ranma matched him in speed and turned to catch him.

“Hello, friend,” Ranma said before slamming the boy into the ground by his leg. Without letting go of his leg, he span around several times and tossed the boy into a column. Touya instinctively rolled into a fetal position, and Ranma could only watch in confusion, as Touya's already impossibly long hair seemed to grow and expand around him like some kind of spiky barrier.

The boy crashed through the pillar and rolled until hitting a flat wall. He instantly jumped up, and his hair returned to normal and he flipped until he righted himself. `Dammit, if only I had some sort of projectile attack, I could formulate a better plan!' He cursed and blinked as he noticed Ranma's sudden blanch. Ranma turned away from Touya, and Touya took advantage of the boy's distraction.

“Hien Ren Kyaku!” The boy ran at Ranma full speed and leapt into a chain of kicks.

Ranma caught him with one hand by the foot and used his own momentum to spin around halfway and toss him. Touya's eyes bugged as he flew through a wall and out of the building.

Ranma caught sight of Ryouga. “How could I have ignored that for so long?!” He growled and watched as Ryouga stood, legs spread and eyes closed as a huge green fire burned around him. Before Ranma could react, however, the green fire condensed to a barely visible glow. Ryouga's eyes opened and they were glowing a bright green. The light extended and spilled from his eyes, floating upwards as it escaped his body.

`It's over for me,' Ryouga thought, his eyes closed. `I'm going to die here, like I did all those years ago…having accomplished nothing, as well as letting millions…no, billions die.' He opened his eyes and continued looking at the ground, doing his best to suppress an anguished scream.

“Junsei Teisuu…” He held up his hand, “ShiShi…” He slowly looked up as he continued saying the name of his attack. “Hokudan.” His eyes met with Ranma's as a sudden long beam of green light emitted from his palm in a continuous stream of energy. Ranma's eyebrows rose and he smiled.

“Finally, an opponent worth my time,” He said as he held up one hand. There was a great explosion of power as the green stream of energy continuously fed into a pure white barrier around Ranma. Just then, another large beam of energy began impacting the barrier. Ranma grunted as he noticed the two Sailor Senshi pouring all of their magical energy into a single spell, and that the attack itself was much stronger than their previous ones. “This could be troublesome,” He muttered as both beams chipped away at his barrier.

“Bakuryuha!” Inuyasha's voice cried out and he sliced at the air in a way that was different from before. Ranma blanched as, instead of just a Kaze no Kizu, a much stronger attack began forming all around him. Several funnels of wind much stronger than the one he'd used against Inuyasha began tearing at his barrier along with the other beams of energy.

“What the hell?” Ranma narrowed his eyes and fed more power into his barrier that he could feel rapidly fading. “All of this and you bastards still can't beat me? How pathetic,” He said in the most condescending tone he could manage from his position.

“Chaos Spear.” There was a calm, unfamiliar voice, and a sudden, great explosion of orange energy and Ranma was overwhelmed almost instantly.

“What…” was all he could manage before the attacks all converged on him and all he knew was darkness.

“Hah…heh…” Ryouga panted as he stopped feeding his attack with his Chi and watched as all of the other attacks subsided. “I don't think anyone saw that coming,” He said as he sat down where he was. A girl approached Ranma's unconscious body and easily removed the jewel from his back. Ryouga sighed in relief as he could sense the previously evil, dark Jewel was suddenly and completely purified at her touch.

“This is bad,” Kagome said as she stood over Ranma's unconscious body. “The jewel isn't in him anymore, but its influence hasn't left,”

“You mean he'll still be the same way when he wakes?” Akane had approached the girl when she realized it was safe.

“Not unless we somehow purify him, and I don't think I can do purification on that level,” Kagome confessed.

“Leave that to us,” Sailor Moon said as she limped over to the boy with Chibi Moon in tow.

Ryouga watched the colorful display with disinterest. He looked around and noticed all of the destruction around them. “Hey…doesn't look like this building is going to last much longer…” He noticed. When rubble suddenly started falling from the ceiling, he nodded. “Hey! We have to get out of here! This place is collapsing!”

“Eh?” Akane blinked at Ryouga's shout and noticed the rubble. “He's right! We have to get out, now!” Not waiting for anyone else, picked up Ranma, but instantly dropped him and screamed as a gelatinous, black substance started pouring out of his mouth.

The black stuff sped across the ground towards an odd crystal that was stuck in the ground. “Hey, that's the crystal that the first demon had brought with it,” She watched as it slowly sank back into the ground.

“Hey, come on!” Sailor-Chibi moon called from a large hole in the wall that led outside. A large piece of rubble landed no more than half a meter from her and she grabbed Ranma and ran out.

Akane sighed as she watched the building crumble and fall on itself. It had been a huge building, but as it's base was destroyed, the whole thing had no choice but to obey physics and collapse in on itself.

She looked at the two Senshi and counted to see everyone who was there. Kagome was there, Kagome's white haired companion was also there, looking quite beat-up, Ryouga was sitting next to Kuno, and the two sailor Senshi were being tended to by a concerned sounding Tuxedo Kamen. Touya was tending to one of his ankles and there was an unfamiliar black-haired man who bore a great resemblance to Touya standing behind him.

“Ugh,” Ranma coughed and Akane looked at him. “I feel so weak…what the heck happened?” He finally opened his eyes and noticed the group. “Why was I unconscious? The last thing I remember is that weird demon creature…”

“We beat him, Ranma,” Akane said. “He roughed everyone up pretty bad, but in the end our combined attacks were too much,”

“Why was I out, though? I should have been…helping…”

“He got a cheap shot on you while you weren't looking, It's not your fault,” she said.

“Hey…guys,” Touya said suddenly. Everyone looked at him and blinked. He was standing on a ledge that was above them. “Come here, you've got to see this.” He said, motioning for them all to join him. One by one, they all went to the ledge and peered over it.

Not too far below them was a great gathering of people. A loud cheer rang out as the two Sailor Senshi came into view.

“What the heck's going on down there?”

“That's everyone from the party, I think,” Ryouga said. “We're probably heroes or something now, even though we leveled the building,”

People began climbing up in droves to meet their saviors.

“Hmm,” Sailor Moon looked around. “Perhaps it would be best if we were to leave at this point,”

“I'll agree with that,” Tuxedo Kamen said.

“If you wish to leave now, everyone come here,” the black haired man with a resemblance to Touya announced as he stood in the middle of the clearance. He was holding an impossibly large gem of some sort and it was glowing with chaos energy. Chibi Usa, Ranma and Touya nodded, knowing exactly what was going on. “Put a finger on the Emerald,” He ordered them.

Once they were all touching the jewel, The man waited before saying something.

“Chaos Control.”

The group disappeared instantly.

Not twenty meters away, a voice chuckled and there was the click of a button.

“Things couldn't have gone any better,” Tendo Nabiki said as she put the lens cap on her DV camera and opened it, retrieving a small tape. She pocketed it and left the scene just as people began spilling over the ledge in search of the famed Sailor Senshi.

“Chaos Control.” There was a bright flash of light and the man put away the Chaos Emerald. “I have given you all twenty minutes to get to wherever it is you need to be. Touya, come. We're leaving.”

“Uh…Right,” Touya said, walking after the man.

“Wait a minute,” Tuxedo Kamen said. “What do you mean, `Twenty minutes'?” The man ignored him and started walking away. Touya shrugged and followed him.

“Just come on, Let's go,” Chibi-Usa said. “We're exhausted, physically and magically. I just want to get home and rest now.” Sailor Moon agreed and Tuxedo Kamen sighed as he followed them away.

“Let's go,” Ranma said, limping away on his own.

Ranma sighed as he lay in the furo. “Somethin's wrong…Akane didn't tell me everything that happened while I was out.” He got out of the water and dried himself off before getting the clothes he had set out for himself. The hot water had done wonders to help mend his aching muscles. “Well, whatever the case…I need to get to sleep,” He sighed as he walked into the dojo and grabbed his futon from the corner before unrolling it and taking some blankets.

---

One week later, late into the night…

---

Ryouga flicked the switch and the lights were on before he could blink. The kitchen he'd entered through the back door was covered in a thick sheet of dust. The light itself was smoking from the amount of dust it was covered in. He shook his head, and looked around the kitchen. There were absolutely no signs of recent life in the house. It had been, at the very least, months since someone had even opened the door.

He opened the refrigerator and instantly shut it, not having been prepared for the fetid stench that met him. He shook his head again and unplugged the thing before pulling it out and grabbing it by the sides to carry it out the door. He found a dumpster nearby and emptied the rotten food by shaking it. Once he was done with that, he took it back to his house and washed it out with hot water before taking it back inside of his house and putting it back where it belonged.

He plugged it in and stepped back, nodding. It was definite now; his sense of direction was fixed. `At least, for now,' he thought. He began cleaning his house in earnest, starting with the kitchen.

---

Negi looked at the girl in front of him with confusion. “Why does Chao-san want to expose magic to the world so much?” He panted and wiped some of the blood off of his forehead.

“Fufufu…” The girl looked at her teacher with a sad smile. “Fine, since you have been so persistent,” She said. “And your having lasted this long…” The girl took a relaxed stance. The boy watched her carefully, considering. “Negi-sensei,” She started. “Have you ever been in a situation…where lots of bad things could have been avoided if you had done something differently?” She asked him.

“What do you mean?”

“Hm,” She thought aloud. “Sensei's not as smart as I thought.” She turned away. “If you figure it out, come find me. I've already given you enough clues.” She started walking away, ignoring the boy.

“Wait, Chao-san!” He shouted. “Where are you going? I can't allow you to leave!” He grunted, using his wand to stand up.

“You couldn't stop me if you wanted to, Negi-sensei.” She turned her head to the side and sighed. “What a disappointment, too…” She vanished.

“…” Negi froze. He looked at the spot where the girl was for almost a minute when he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He looked at the ground. “No…”

He leaned against his wand, panting as he realized what had happened.

He'd lost. Chao had won…

And as a result, so much more.

Negi blacked out.

---

A man wearing an odd uniform reclined on the roof of a huge skyscraper. His uniform was black, made with an unknown material that seemed to move at the slightest wind. He sighed as he looked up at the evening sky. The abyss was dotted with the little white lights of the stars millions of miles away and several moving streaks that he assumed to be meteorites or other types of space rock. He turned his attention to the full moon and after staring at its crater-ridden surface. It was an object that looked so full of pain and despair to him.

The once beautiful mass, having been described as many more times appealing than Earth was now an ugly mass of holes from huge objects having crashed into it over the years. With no wind or water, or any form of erosion to cover it up, the space rocks all left permanent, scarring marks on the poor satellite.

He sighed again and closed his eyes. `What a mess. So much for the `Peerless' Moon Kingdom.' He thought to himself. `Although I've heard rumors of Sailor Senshi in Juban, the chances of them being the same are slim to none.' He stood up from his reclining position and overlooked Tokyo. The huge city was full of bright lights and other tall buildings dotted around.

Why had he even come here? He felt oddly drawn to this area, although nothing had happened the previous time he came and he couldn't remember ever having been here before. Suddenly, there was a feeling of being watched and he looked up at the sky, in the direction where he knew Sol's furthest planet to be.

“…?” He unconsciously raised a barrier around himself and turned his attention to a large sign in the distance. “I need to find Yggdrasill…” he muttered before walking to the edge of the building. “I don't even know what humans call it these days. They would obviously know about something that large…but, its name would have inevitably changed.” He took a step over the edge.

“I do wonder, though…it's impossible for magic to have died out with Yggdrasill still alive, and if it was dead, there'd be no life on Earth as well.” He paused for thought. “I will have to investigate this thoroughly.” He fell forward, off of the building.

Somewhere else on the building, a voice gasped out with surprise and it's owner ran towards the edge. However, when the pink-haired figure looked down, he was gone.

“…”

---

It was the time right before morning, when the sky was still dark and still littered with stars and planets. There was a light breeze this morning and Ranma savored the cool air as it met his skin. Even the Tendo Dojo was quiet at this time of day; no revenge crazed martial artists, no old perverted masters or angry tomboys to wreck the place.

Ranma sat on the roof of the Tendo Dojo, having slept there that night as opposed to his usual spot with his father. He'd woken up very early that day, not quite knowing why, but after only a few minutes, he decided he wouldn't be sleeping. He climbed down from the roof and entered the guest room where his mother was supposed to be staying. She'd disappeared a little over a week ago, something about seeing some old relative of hers…but he wasn't given all of the details.

He was about to shut the window after himself, but decided against it and yawned as he took in the room. The futon his mother used was away in the closet and she'd taken most of her clothes with her. For the most part, the guest room was empty, with the exception of many of her more important or valuable belongings, sans the Saotome Honor Blade which was always with the woman.

There was, however, an odd looking note sitting in the middle of the floor. He raised an eyebrow as he approached it; the note was addressed to him in handwriting he didn't recognize. He kneeled over and inspected it. He could tell there was something magical about it, but the residual magic aura wasn't malevolent or possessing any kind of evil intent.

He picked it up and looked around, unfolding it. "Makimasu ka? Makimasen ka?" He raised an eyebrow and shrugged at the note. “Makimasu, I guess,” He said to no one. He noticed some fine print with instructions and glanced them over. Shrugging, he folded the paper back and opened the closet, putting it away with the rest of his mother's things. She'd probably meant to give it to him before she left or something.

Ranma yawned and took a look out the open window. The sky was a light blue but the sun was still yet to be seen. He turned around and took a step towards the door—

And tripped.

“What the hell?” He groaned as he rubbed his head and the other sore spots of his body. He easily flipped over the obstacle and stood up, quietly as possible and turned to face it.

“I'll say it again; what the hell…” Ranma was looking at a large ornate chest that he was sure had not been there before. “There was no way I missed this when I scanned the room,” He said, narrowing his eyes. He knelt down to it and carefully opened it. He immediately let go as an extremely powerful magical aura blasted him in the face. “Whoa!” He fell backwards in surprise at the pure amount of magic that was in the box. He could practically taste it.

He shook his head and inched over to it, opening it again. This time prepared for the initial outburst of magic, he slowly opened it until the light from the full moon outside illuminated the box.

“It's…a doll.” Indeed, a very finely crafted doll that looked as if it could come alive any moment, but a doll nonetheless, and dolls weren't exactly manly. “But how'd it get here?” He shrugged and was about to close it when he noticed something. “This thing…” He noticed a small key looking thing and realized something.

“Wind, or don't wind…” He remembered what he'd said after reading the note. “I guess I have to wind it,” He said, picking up the doll in one hand and the other thing in another. “A bit heavier than it looks,” He noted. After three rotations, he set the doll down and watched. He was only slightly surprised when the doll began twitching and shaking. No, the really surprising part was how the doll was slowly but surely starting to generate chi…

The shaking increased in intensity and Ranma leaned in, as it stopped jerking.

`Where am I?' Suisei Seki slowly opened her eyes and looked around the room she was in. It was sparsely decorated but there were signs of life spread about the room. She blinked several times while trying to get a grasp on where she was and what had last happened. She'd felt incredibly sleepy the entire day, and when she finally went to sleep in her box, she woke up here, wherever here was…

Oh well, what could be worse than that old fool and his dying wife…

“Where am I -desu?” the doll asked aloud, although Ranma could tell it wasn't to him. He raised an eyebrow as the doll rubbed her eyes and looked the room over the same way he had only moments before. Ranma coughed loudly and the doll suddenly looked at him.

“Wha? W-who are you?” the doll asked suddenly, surprised.

“You're the one who suddenly appears in my room and you're asking me,” He pointed at himself with his thumb, “Who I am?”

“Yes! Now who are you?”

“What the hell? No! Who the hell are you? No, what are you? Who sent you here? Why me?!”

“Such a noisy human -desu,” The doll grumbled, annoyed. She climbed out of her box and began to survey the room.

“Hey, now. I wound you up, the least you can do is tell me all that stuff!” He said angrily.

“Humph, I don't have to tell you anything -desu!” The doll crossed her arms and looked away from him. She looked around the room and whistled. “What sparse decorations. Are you poor or something?” Ranma growled and clenched his fist.

“That's none of your business,” He spat. “But if you don't like it here, why don't you just leave?!”

“This room is smaller than I'm used to, but I suppose I could change it to meet my needs -desu,” She looked around.

“Hey, are you even listening to me?”

“Would you please be quiet? I'm trying to figure out how to fix this room.” The doll snapped. “Hmm, this could be moved…”

“That's it,” Ranma growled. He stood up and walked over to the doll, picking her up by the shoulders. “You're leaving right now,”

“Let me go! Put me down!” Ranma walked over to the open box and set the doll inside. She instantly jumped out and ran from the box.

“Come back here!”

“Eee!” Suisei Seki jumped out of Ranma's way as he lunged. The boy righted himself almost instantly and bounced at her new direction, but she was able to dodge him again. `This human is frighteningly fast! How is he doing that?' Her eyes widened as he came at her again and she ducked.

Unfortunately, it wasn't fast enough do dodge him. Ranma collided with her, sending them both sprawling into the wall.

“Ugh…” Ranma groaned as he looked up and tried to shake the dizziness out of his head. He looked down at the doll and found she was unconscious. “Great…just what I need.” He put a hand underneath himself when suddenly the door flew open…and there stood an irate looking Akane.

“What the hell is going on in here?” She asked as soon as she opened the door. She spotted Ranma immediately and… “RANMA?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH THAT GIRL?!”

“Akane, it's not what it looks-”

Ranma landed hard, face down in a cold pile of mud, sending the brown gunk flying as he splattered it. Suisei Seki followed shortly. “Dammit, Akane, I didn't even get a chance to explain! As always,” He said. “I don't think I can take this any more,” He got up out of the mud and tried to clean himself off as much as possible.

“AIEEEEEEEEE!” Ranma whipped his head to the left and spotted Suisei Seki, wide-eyed and looking at herself. She was practically covered head-to-toe in the stuff. Her dress was looking particularly bad, but even worse was her hair. It had clumps of mud keeping certain parts of it together and just looking horrible. The doll was looking at her self and in horror and disbelief.

Ranma had to stifle a laugh.

Suisei Seki looked at the sniggering boy and absolutely fumed. “YOU! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE -desu?”

“I didn't do anything, that was my moody iinazuke,” He admitted. “I have to say it's a nice touch.”

“YOU…DESPICABLE HUMAN!” She picked up a clump of mud in her hands and threw it at him with righteous fury. “I WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD ON A PLATTER -desu!” Ranma had to shield his face with his hands or the mud would have gotten in his eyes, and he was totally unprepared for the lunge the doll made for him. As he brought his hands down, he cried out in terror as the furious Suisei Seki collided with him.

---

Ryouga sighed as he took a look at the interior of his house. He'd cleaned the place up quite well. Maybe not as well as the Tendo Dojo always was before Ranma and his friends messed up (He briefly wondered how Kasumi did it), but it was good enough for him.

“I guess the same thing hasn't happened for mom and dad,” He sighed sadly.

“Oi, what a week,” Came a voice from the genkan. “Hey…why is everything so clean?”

“Eh?” Ryouga blinked. He approached the genkan and blinked again at what he saw.

There was a young girl, maybe ten or so, setting down a huge traveling pack and taking off her shoes. She was wearing a tight looking shirt and a skirt that was cut at the sides to allow movement better suited to fighting.

“Who are you?”

“Who am I?! I live here, you have no right to ask me who I am!” She accused, pointing at him.

“You must be joking,” He laughed. “I've been living here all my life,”

“You buffoon,” She snarled. “I'm not in the mood for any jokes. Tell me how you broke in and maybe,” She cracked her knuckles. “Just maybe, I'll go easy on you.”

“Feh,” Ryouga said, crossing his arms. “You're obviously confused, little girl. I didn't break in here. I wouldn't need to!”

“That's it!” She growled and assumed an offensive stance. “Prepare yourself for the beating of a lifetime!” Ryouga raised a brow; that was one of his stances, why was she-

“HYAAAH!” The girl yelled out suddenly as she leapt at him with a fist pulled back. Her closed hand smacked into his chest with a sickening thud and Ryouga's eyes opened a bit more. He'd felt that. He'd really felt that, it had actually, even if slightly, hurt. This was nothing compared to the girl's reaction, though.

Her eyes were opened wide as she looked straight up at him and jumped back. “You've gotta be some kind of monster or something,” She said, taking another stance. “Okay, pig,” She said, tauntingly. “You better be ready, because this time I'm coming for real!” She snickered as her taunt garnered the desired reaction.

“I…AM NOT…A PIG!” Ryouga yelled as his aura flared to life. The girl faltered slightly at his reaction but her resolve remained.

`I've just got to lead him outside somehow so that I don't break the house,' she thought to herself. She jumped backwards and sneered at him. Ryouga growled as he followed her outside.

Ryouga's thoughts were somewhat different, though. He did feel like blowing off some steam. But it was a girl, so he'd have to go easy on her. `It's just, no one calls me…that, and gets away with it. She doesn't know, so I'll just smack some sense into her and send her on her way,' His aura calmed down visibly and he assumed a defensive stance, ready to teach this girl a lesson in pain.

---

Ranma sat in silence along with the doll Suisei Seki in the mud. They were in an abandoned lot somewhere in Nerima where the weeds grew easily and the garbage was plentiful. It looked more or less like a dump without the human waste smell. The view was good, though, and the wild flowers most people considered weeds were always attractive to the boy; not that he would tell anyone, as liking flowers was especially feminine but they always reminded him of traveling.

As for their fight, it had escalated to the point where he'd almost considered using Chi blasts, but he could tell that she was tiring, so he decided to end it. The doll in question was currently mourning her own and her dress' fate.

“Such a wonderful design -desu.” She said, her voice empty of any emotion.

Ranma grunted.

“This dry, caked-in dirt will never come out -desu.”

Grunt.

“My hair is unusually heavy because of all the dirt -desu.”

Nod.

“This is all your fault -desu.”

“No way!” Ranma said finally. “I'm not the one who threw you all the way out here in the morning,”

“But you're the one who agreed to wind me and become my master-- err, that is-“ She stuttered.

“Eh?” Ranma asked with a glint in his eyes. “Master? What's this you're hiding?”

“Well, you answered positively to the question. And you wound me up like you said you would. If you had left me alone for a day or two I would have been sent elsewhere, as the spirits would have interpreted your inaction as a negative answer -desu.”

“So you mean…I could have avoided all this?” He looked up at the rising sun, annoyed. `Hey, wait a minute.' “You still haven't told me why this makes me your master. Good try, though,”

The doll sighed, looking down. “Heh…” She closed her eyes halfway, lamenting her fate even more.

“So what exactly does it mean?”

“Well…” She said, straightening herself. “It means…” She stood up and assumed a pose. “That you're my servant from now on!” Ranma gawked at the doll, as it stood in all its mud-caked glory.

“What?!” He asked. “Isn't that kind of the opposite-GYAH!” He cried out as the doll kicked him in the knee. A sinister smile appeared on her face and he was beginning to become genuinely worried.

“Eeeeee hee hee hee hee…you seem to have misunderstood,” She said, putting her hands on her hips. “Makimasu Ka, Makimasen Ka. Will you wind, will you not wind. It's not as basic as it sounds,” She said, sneering at him. “Will you care for me, feed me, love me…All of that is included in that question,” she said, laughing evilly. “You already answered positively,” She resumed before he could say anything. “So now you're obligated to take care of me until the day you die and Suisei Seki has to find another master,”

“You've got to be kidding me,” He put a hand on his head and shook it.

“Nope -desu. You're stuck with me,” She said, in a way that made her seem to be looking down at him.

“Well, Suisei Seki,” He sighed, lying back on the ground. “All I can say is come back in a few decades when I finally have some free time after all my current obligations.”

“N-nani?” She asked, faltering. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” He said with finality, “I couldn't take care of you or anything, `cuz I'm too busy fixin' up the old man's mistakes!”

“You…you dirty human,” The doll started angrily. “If you have any shred of honor,” she held her hand forward, demandingly. “You'd make the pact already and do your duty as my guardian!”

“Don't you dare talk to me about honor. I've had enough honor in my life to last several thousand years!” The doll looked at him, surprised, and took a step back, letting her hand drop to her side. Ranma stood up and dusted himself off. “I was annoyed before, but when you brought that up, I'd had enough,” He turned away from the doll and started walking away.

“But…but…”

“I'll see you around, Suisei Seki,” He said, waving a hand behind him.

The doll watched him in shock, not knowing quite what had happened.

“Why…why don't you want Suisei Seki?” She asked in a small voice.

“Eh?” Ranma turned around and looked at the doll. She was looking at the ground. “Huh?”

“Is…is Suisei Seki no good?” She brought her hands up to her face.

“Hey, that's not it at all,” He said, fully turning around.

“Suisei Seki…is junk,” She said, sadly.

“Come on now, that's not at all what I said,” Ranma tried to say. He sighed as a couple of tears dropped from her eyes and hit the ground. “Come on, calm down now,” He said. “I can't just put everything I have down for you and just do whatever you want.”

“Yes you can -desu.”

“Oh really,” He said, annoyed. “You know, everyone seems to think that. That I can just set everything down, alienate myself from any other friends and do what they want. It's damned annoying because I can never be selfish, yet I'm always accused of it.” The doll looked up at him, as a few more tears dripped down her face.

“But,” She sniffed, “Suisei Seki is so lonely! My twin sister, she's left me for some crazy, delusional old man,” She started. “None of my other sisters are awake right now, and even if they were, some of them would rather be after my life than anything else…”

“Wait, sisters?” Ranma asked.

“Yes,” She nodded, wiping her eyes. “Suisei Seki's sisters. Our father made all of us,” She said. “Suisei Seki is the third doll of the Rozen Maidens,” She curtsied as to make a formal introduction, but the effect was null as the tears on her cheeks and mud in her dress voided it. She turned her face down to the ground again.

“Rozen Maiden…” He sighed. `I am so going to regret this,' “Alright, Suisei Seki,” He caved in. “I'll…make this pact with you.”

“You will?” She asked, sounding slightly better. Her eyes flashed and for a second it looked as if she was smirking. Ranma took a step back in surprise then decided it must have been in his head.

“Yeah, yeah. Now hurry up before I change my mind,” He said. “What exactly do I have to do? Swear upon my blood or something?”

“Well, a blood oath would ensure that your descendants had the honor of taking care of me as well, so unless you want to go that far…”

“Nuh uh,” He said, crossing his arms. “I don't wanna be like oyaji, ain't none of my kids gonna suffer for stuff I did,”

“Alright,” she said, raising her hand. “Well then…you have to…”

“Really. You're serious?” When she shyly turned away, he sighed again.

---

Ryouga grunted as he dodged another strike from the girl. She was an ingenious fighter; she'd already figured out a way to… sort-of counter his frightening toughness.

She was using her chi to surround her fist every time she struck him so as to lessen the pain to herself. She wasn't nearly as fast or strong as either him or Ranma, but she was no joke and he acknowledged the fact that she could have easily taken Akane, maybe even Xian Pu.

The extremely worrying thing was her art. How had she learned his family's art? Her stances and attacks were practically mimicking his own, well at least before he'd modified them and made them better, anyway. As a matter of fact, that was the only difference.

The girl in question, however, was far from happy. `He's starting to dodge me now. This is so frustrating; I can tell he's holding back so much because his chi hasn't even gone down at all since we started fighting. I better find some way to end this soon, before he decides to get serious, or I could seriously get hurt.' She tried to keep a calm mind but she faltered when he suddenly found the sky more interesting than her. There was the loud crackle of thunder as lightning flashed across the darkening sky and he seemed to be mouthing something, but she couldn't quite make it out.

“Hey! Keep your eyes on the prize, asshole!” She yelled as she threw a particularly strong, chi-infused fist right at his face. There was a flash and she suddenly felt him tapping all around her body in many different places and she knew it was over. `Whah…so fast…' she blacked out almost immediately.

“It's a good thing granny taught me all that shiatsu or I'd have had to hurt her badly,” He said. “Come on now, kid,” He slung her over his shoulder and made his way into the house. He shut the door just as torrents of rain began falling from the sky. “Barely made it,” He sighed in relief and laid the girl across the couch.

---

Ranma was walking towards Nerima as Suisei Seki sat on his shoulders. The scenery was rather nice, as they were in a more rural part of the town. There were still some developed places around, though. He looked at his hand and the slightly, greenish glow it had on it as he walked down the street.

“Hey now, I've been meaning to ask you, how is it you're able to do all these human things like move and talk…even cry? What exactly is a Rozen Maiden?”

“Father made us this way. He gave us life, and through his love and the love of our masters, we're allowed to live this way -desu.”

“I see. Was he some kind of wizard or something?”

“I don't know. I can't remember much about father, other than the fact that he was always so warm…his voice could drive away any fear and he seemed to be constantly shrouded in light,”

“Hmm,” Ranma noted. “Hey, do all of your sisters have different colored eyes?”

“Uun,” She shook her head. “Only Suisei Seki and Sousei Seki have these eyes. Sousei Seki's eyes are the opposite of mine -desu.” She said.

“I see,”

The were silent for a little while when suddenly Suisei Seki looked up “Ame ga furu ~deshou,”

“N-nani?!” Ranma looked up, and indeed several ominous looking thunderclouds were gathering overhead. He quickly shifted the doll from his shoulders and leapt up to a nearby building. Suisei Seki's eyes bugged at their sudden change in speed and altitude, as well as her position.

“What are you doing!?”

“I'll explain it when I get home,” Ranma said. “I still haven't perfected this technique, but I can use it for this,” Ranma narrowed his eyes and Suisei Seki blinked in confusion.

Then suddenly, Ranma jumped from the roof and time seemed to slow down for Suisei Seki. Ranma was emitting a soft bluish light and energy could be seen flowing around him. She could see individual raindrops as they were slowly coming from the sky and lightning that crackled stayed in the sky for more than an entire second.

There was a bright flash as Ranma rocketed forward with a sudden blast of chi. Suisei Seki's senses blurred and almost as soon as it had started, it stopped. Before she knew it, they were above the dojo. Ranma and Suisei Seki fell to the ground in a heap.

`Ugh…I used up too much Chi doing that,' Ranma's consciousness slipped away as he made a mental note never to do that again until he knew how to do it correctly.

Suisei Seki did not know how to react to what had just happened, but she could feel through her connection with her medium that he'd exhausted all of his life force. `A human that can use life energy…that's unheard of,' She crawled out from under the boy and looked up. The rain began to downpour and Suisei Seki felt a large burst of magical energy from beneath her. She looked down and spotted a very different looking Ranma.

“N-nani?” She looked the girl over and shook her head. “What a strange human -desu.”

---

Negi sighed as he sat alone in the World Tree. The truth was that Chao's plan had been flawless. To travel back in time and change the fate of the world at a crucial time such as this…

There was nothing the home country could do right now; all of their greater minds and efforts were focused upon the World Tree, and anything that could happen as a result of its current status. The mana was practically overflowing already and yet an increase could be seen daily.

“Oi, Springfield-San!” Called a voice from below. Negi looked down and blinked in confusion, as there was no one to be seen.

“Negi-Kun,” Said the voice, much closer this time. “Do you mind if I call you that?” Negi almost fell off of the branch in surprise as he noticed none other than Hirohata Satoshi.

“Uh-uh, no,” Negi said. “How did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“You know what I mean,” Negi said, annoyed. “How in the world did you get up here so fast?”

“Oh…that's for me to know and you to guess,” The man winked.

“Okay, I can accept that,” Negi sighed. After a brief pause he shrugged and answered the affirmative to the man's previous question. “Pretty much everyone else calls me that, so I don't see why not,”

“Good, good,” The man nodded. “Say, Negi-kun,” He started. “Whaddya thinks gonna happen? I mean, the home country hasn't said much about turning anyone into ermines, yet videos of the tournament are being distributed via the Internet as we speak,”

“Yeah,” Negi nodded. “I thought that was weird too. We can try and play it off as special effects, or we can just let people make of it what they will,” He said. “But…”

“There's still a large number of people who will believe it's real, and as such we'll have waves of tourists, and eventually the media will find out and it'll become known worldwide,”

“It looks like it can only escalate from here,” Negi nodded. “Some part of this has me thinking though,”

“Hm?”

“What if…this isn't a bad thing? After all- if Magister Magi are allowed out into the public again without having to hide their powers…” Negi trailed off.

“Lots of things could happen. Normal people would try to learn magic…it could become a common tool for normal people to use in their everyday lives, but even tools meant for the most docile of tasks can become deadly weapons, and magic isn't necessarily known for being `docile'.”

Negi could only nod. “And that's just the whole magic exposure thing. With the world tree as it is, too many other things could happen.”

“Hm,” Satoshi nodded. “Well, now to the reason I'm really here,” He said. “Negi-kun, why are you brooding up here?”

“Brooding? I'm not brooding. Just thinking. And you know why.”

“Well, your students are worried about you, especially the one with mismatched eyes,” He said.

“Asuna-san?”

“She seemed to be the most worried of all,” The man snickered. “You sure she's just a student? Seeing as how you're in the same age-group, it wouldn't necessarily be a taboo if you got together,”

“Satoshi-san,” Negi said, his face beet red. “I don't think that's any of your business…”

“Hn,” The man chuckled. “Whatever you say. But she is worried. You should go find her.”

“Okay,” Negi nodded and stood up, grabbing his wand. “I'll go see her now,” He hopped onto his wand and drifted a little bit off from the tree. “Say, Satoshi-san,” He said. “What exactly is your job here at Mahora? Why hadn't I seen you before the meeting with the Headmaster?” He waited for a second before turning around and blinking. “Satoshi-san?”

The man was gone.

“Satoshi-san?”

---

“Nng, Oof…” Suisei Seki opened the door to the Tendo residence and dragged Ranma in behind her.

“Eh…” Soun looked up from his game of Shogi with Genma and watched as a doll, not much taller than Happosai or Cologne, dressed in an elegant green yet mud-caked dress, dragged Ranma into the house.

“What is it, Tendo-Kun?” Genma asked without looking up from the board.

“Nothing, old friend.” Tendo shook his head and looked back down at the board. `Wasn't this piece over there?'

Suisei Seki hefted Ranma into the furo and sighed as the girl transformed into a boy. “Such a troublesome human -desu.” She watched as bubbles erupted on the surface of the water and the boy surfaced after a good five seconds.

“W-what are you t-trying to do, kill me?!” The boy sputtered and spat water out as he phrased his question.

“Not really -desu.” The doll blinked. “If I was trying to kill you you'd be dead -desu.” She smirked.

“Oh really,” Ranma let the hot water drip from his face. “Care to test that theory?” He asked.

“It's not something that really needs to be discussed,” She said with a haughty look. She hopped over the furo and landed in it with a great splash.

“Hey! Hey!” Ranma said as the submerged doll surfaced. The mud came out of her hair and the water started looking cloudy with dirt. “You're supposed to wash yourself outside and get in when you're clean!”

“I know,” She said. “But this is faster -desu.” She playfully splashed the water with her hands.

“Now I'm gonna have to wash the furo,” He grumbled.

“Oh shut up,” she splashed some dirty water into his face.

“Hey!”

“Tsk tsk, such an irritable human -desu.” She stopped and pat her dress under the water to get more dirt off before climbing out of the furo. She looked herself over and sighed; Her hair was okay for now, but her dress still needed to be washed properly. “It's your fault we were in the mud. You can clean it up.”

“How many times do I have to tell you,” Ranma said, getting out of the furo. “It's not my fault my fiancé swings at the first thing she sees every morning!” He turned around and drained the furo. “Gah, now my clothes are all wet.”

“Better than all muddy.”

“I guess,” Ranma agreed. He concentrated and tried to use his chi to dry the clothes, but he was only able to do so partially. “I forgot how much Chi I used for that technique,” He said.

“Technique? You mean when you were flying?” She asked.

“Yes,” He said.

“How is it you can talk about it so casually?” She asked, confused. Last time she checked, Humans didn't have the ability to fly, let alone at such speeds. “And that magical transformation with the water, too. That was pretty weird -desu.”

“You're a walking, talking, breathing, LIVING doll and you have to ask…” Suisei Seki looked away. “Don't you have something to do?”

“Not really -desu. I don't really know much about you or this house.”

“I guess I'll introduce you to everyone,”

“This is Suisei Seki. She's a doll.”

Nabiki and Akane stared at Ranma. Suisei Seki frowned and kicked him in the shin.

“Ow!”

“Ahem,” The doll spoke up. “Through events that are beyond my control, this human has been selected to host me and any acquaintances I may have. You may refer to me as and ONLY as Suisei Seki-SAMA-” Ranma slapped her on the back of the head. “Itaiii -desu!”

“Quit being such a spectacle!”

“I'll show you a spectacle -desu!” She jumped up and tackled him, knocking him over.

“…” Everyone watched briefly as the doll relentlessly assaulted her “Servant”.

“Ranma, stop being so mean to her,” Akane said suddenly.

“Ow, ow…what?” He asked.

“She's just a doll, Ranma.” Nabiki spoke up.

“But…”

“Come on, she's a doll. Just let her have her way.”

“That's a good start -desu, ningen!” Suisei Seki smiled at the girl. She turned to her “Servant” and smirked. “You should be more like her!”

“Feh,” Ranma said. “If I were more like her, I'd have pawned you off to the highest bidder when you were crying and begging for my partnership,” He said.

“E-eh?” Suisei Seki looked at Nabiki with fearful eyes. Nabiki smirked and stared at her. “Wait,” She said suddenly, annoyed. She frowned and kicked Ranma in the shin again. “What are you talking about, sobbing and begging? Suisei Seki did no such thing! I seem to recall you, pitiful human, who was begging me to help you with all of your life's problems so you could prosper!” The doll started laughing.

“What?” Ranma asked as he rubbed his leg, sincerely confused. Suisei Seki growled and kicked him in the shin again. “OW! Stop that already!”

“Play along -desu!” She whispered.

“We heard that,” Akane commented, with a half-lidded stare.

“Eee….” Suisei Seki blushed.

“Well, that's that,” Ranma sighed. “Play nice. I'm going out,” He said.

“Where are you going?” Akane asked, annoyed. “You've been doing that a lot recently. Even during the school week.

“I'm heading over to Touya's,” Ranma said. “I need him to show me something.” Ranma shut the door behind himself and left the dojo. Suisei Seki blinked and then looked up at the two sisters.

“Hn,” Akane shrugged. “I guess I'll just go watch TV.” She walked away and Suisei Seki turned to Nabiki.

“Say, Suisei Seki,” Nabiki said. “Are there more dolls like you?”

“Of course -desu! If the purpose of making Rozen Maidens was to make the perfect doll, then it would be inevitable that there are more than one -desu.”

“I see…that's interesting.” Nabiki nodded and went up into her room.

Suisei Seki blinked. “Suisei Seki is alone once again -desu. There's got to be something around here to do…”

---

The sun had almost reached its apex in the sky. Traffic was slow on this day, and there were weren't so many people wandering around; maybe one or two other people had passed him the entire time he'd been out.

Ranma sighed. Having expended most of his Chi, he was forced to take a more normal route to get to Juban. He never imagined walking down the street like a normal person would ever be so boring.

“Yawn…I guess this is what it's like to be a normal, every day person,” He sighed. “Man, this sucks. I'd be there already if it wasn't for…” Ranma narrowed his eyes and suddenly jumped back. There was a dark blur and his hand shot up to catch something. He looked at it and raised a brow. “A black feather?” He looked at its point of origin and blinked. There was a silhouette of a person there, but the moment he noticed it, it vanished. He shrugged and tossed the feather to the side, continuing on his way.

Not too far away, a certain doll was laughing to herself…

“Fufufu… My, what impressive reflexes for a human. The gardener has found a good medium… but that does not change the fact that soon, her Rosa Mystica will be mine…”

<--