Okay....took a bit. Hopefully it's worth it. C&C, people. ;)
--------------------------------------------------
^_- I L L M E T B Y S T A R L I G H T ^_-
--------------------------------------------------
by Susan Doenime and Mike Loader
Based on characters and situations created by Rumiko Takahashi, and used
without knowledge.
We ask that you obtain permission from us before printing, posting, or
storing this story in any form.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 4 - ...What Are Friends For.
I stumbled out of bed
I got ready for the struggle
I smoked a cigarette, and I tightened up my gut
I said this can't be me, must be my double
And I can't forget.....
- Leonard Cohen
Akane woke up feeling a lot better than she had in the past
few days. Ranma's first week of school was over, and he
seemed to be adapting nicely.
Kuno had ceased to bother them, for the most part. He did,
after all, have a broken leg; not even Kuno was stupid enough
to start a fight in that condition. He was settling for baleful
glares at Ranma and mooning glances at her. And the
occasional phone call.
"Moshi moshi?"
"Mine ears rejoice to hear thy golden voice, your dulcet
tones..."
*click*
Fortunately, Nabiki had agreed to screen her calls. For a
small fee. Smaller than she had expected, actually. Nabiki had
been very generous to her of late, going easy on her
pocketbook. In fact, one day...
"Oneechan, I need someone to tape my cooking show while
I'm at the store. How much?"
"How much what?"
"Don't play with me, Nabiki. How much will it cost?"
"Nothing."
"Oh. So what's the favor you want in return?"
"There isn't one."
"You're just going to do it for free?"
"Yes."
"Oh. Um. Well, thank you."
"You're welcome."
This wasn't like Nabiki. Akane knew her sister, and she knew
that Nabiki never did anything for free, even if she honestly
liked you. She just made it affordable.
It wasn't that she was greedy...well, she was, but that
wasn't the real reason. Nabiki simply couldn't bear to pass up
an opportunity to make money. She couldn't help herself.
It was frustrating, very frustrating at times to have a
mercenary for a sister. Granted, Nabiki poured most of the
money back into the family accounts; a lot of the money she
extorted from her sister was money that had been earned for
the family by Nabiki in the first place. And she gave wonderful
gifts...not just expensive things, but ones that had a lot of
thought put into them.
But having to pay for every little thing was irritating in a
way that made Akane want to beat some common courtesy into
her older sister. And while she went fairly easy on the family,
she was ruthless with others. One of Akane's friends had
fallen so deeply into Nabiki's debt that she had to take a job
after school to pay it off. Suki had never been quite as close to
Akane afterwards, and it was all Nabiki's fault.
And now Nabiki was doing things for little or no money.
Akane reached the only logical conclusion. Nabiki wanted
something from her, and was trying to butter her up.
And she was willing to bet it had something to do with
Ranma. Maybe Nabiki thought he had some sort of life's
savings, or wanted him to play enforcer. Or felt pictures of his
female form would sell well.
Akane scowled, pulling on her shirt. If Nabiki even thought
about trying something like that, Akane would take her into
the dojo and "spar" with her.
She smiled. Nabiki actually wasn't that bad a martial artist.
She just wasn't anywhere near Akane's level, and hadn't
practiced in years. A few bruises in uncomfortable places
would give her the message to back off.
^_-
ntendo@furnkn7%:
pine
[Opening....3 New Messages]
ls
N 54 Mar 25 Urd (3,682) Re: Investments or Risk?
N 55 Mar 25 dedwards (8,059) Monthly Letter! :)
N 56 Mar 25 Hikaru (8,817) Saotome Report
56
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1996 18:54:25 -0500
From: Hikaru <hikarut@furnkn.nerima.edu.jp>
To: "Nabiki Tendo" <ntendo@furnkn.nerima.edu.jp>
Subject: Saotome Report
Tendo Nabiki-san;
Saotome's not really doing anything threatening, unless you
count voluteering to tutor in Phys Ed after school as
threatening. He seems quite normal, although a bit...distant. He
hasn't made any friends, although quite a few people feel that
if he beat up Kuno he deserves respect and admiration.
I saw the "Umbrella Guy" walking with a girl as I went to
school this morning. They seemed to be examining the street,
casing it. They also seem quite fond of each other, and the girl
carries an umbrella as well.
Off the subject, I collected the fee from Higako today, plus
the usual interest.
- Hikaru
+==================================================+
| "There's a sucker born every minute" - PT Barnum |
| hikarut@furnkn.nerima.edu.jp |
+==================================================+
d
q
[Really Quit Pine?]
y
[Expunge deleted message from "inbox"?]
y
ntendo@furnkn8%:
logou
^_-
The cat padded across the garden, its steps slow and
uncertain. Food had been scarce of late, and it was taking the
risky step of exploring new hunting grounds. This one looked
promising...bushes ideal for nesting birds, ample places for
small furry mammals to shelter, and a pool filled with tasty-
looking - if uncomfortably large - fish.
There was no scent-marker, so competition from others of
it's kind would not be a problem. The rank odor of dog was
nowhere to be smelled. Just prey, and sunbeam-stones, and
lush green grass.
And man-thing. That was the deciding factor. If the humans
were of the tolerant sort, life would be good. And if they
weren't...well, the clumsy things were never awake at night
anyway.
A sparrow landed on the lawn nearby, oblivious to the
hunter's presence. Experimentally, a paw batted out, intended
to tease instead of rend. The bird was bowled over, gave an
alarmed squawk, and took to the air.
Lazy. Careless. Wonderful traits to find in prey. This would
be...
"Hello there."
The cat spun at the noise. Careless was good for prey, but
_not_ for it. Especially when it got so lax as to allow a human
to sneak up on it.
The human dropped down to his knees, his red shirt flapping
in the light breeze. "Here, kitty. Nice cat. Yes, nice kitty."
The voice was friendly, comforting. Not at all like the
booming roar that the more savage man-things made at it. No,
this was one of the hospitable ones.
Slowly, ready to bolt, it padded over. Man-things were not
very subtle, but could also be unpredictable at times.
"Nice kitty. Pretty cat."
The hand descended, slowly, and began to stroke the fur.
Ahhh. Humans, despite their many faults, were good for
something.
"Such a nice kitty." The gentle hand moved up along the back,
rubbing the muscles in a wonderfully soothing way, evoking a
low purr. "Kitty's nice. Wouldn't claw me. Wouldn't bite me."
Wonderful. Humans were simply perfect at this, and they did
it for no apparant reason.
The hand moved to stroke the head, scratching under the
ears. "Kitty wouldn't tear me to pieces. Wouldn't kill me.
Wouldn't rip at my eyes. Wouldn't eat me. No. Good kitty."
A wince, the hand had been a bit tight there. Humans could be
clumsy.
"Kitty won't do any of that."
There was a sharp, sudden snap.
The boy stood, and padded out of the garden.
^_-
ntendo@furnkn8%: logou^H^H^H^H^H
pine
[Opening....2 New Messages]
c
To : dedwards@post.comstar.com
Cc :
Attchmnt:
Subject : Monthly Letter
----- Message Text -----
This may be the last letter I write you.
I saw something, just now, from my bedroom window. It
frightens me, and I begin to think that I might not last the
month. Or the week.
This seems cryptic and overly dramatic, I'm sure. You know
me, at least as well as you can know someone a world away.
I'm not a romantic.
I should leave. I could start a business somewhere, I could
apprentice myself to a firm, I could do hundreds of things. I
want to live. I want to grow up, and have a job and have my
own house, and maybe, one day, children. I don't want to die. I
have so much I haven't done yet.
But I love my sister. I can't leave her. I am not a nice person,
but I will not run away and leave her tethered like a goat for a
wild beast. I will not.
I will fight in my own way, and maybe I will win.
But I can see the garden from where I type this, and a
horrible cold feeling fills me.
This is a wonderful medium. I would not tell my own mother
these things, if she were still with us.
I don't want to die.
If I do not write again, remember that Nabiki Tendo loved
something more than money. I need someone to know that.
Feh, I'm being melodramatic. I'll have the stock tips for you
next month, bet on it. ;)
-NT
^X
[Send Message?y/n?]
y
[Message sent]
q
ntendo@furnkn8%:
logout
^_-
It was, for most people, a fine day. But it was a bad day to be
a particular oak tree in the park. Mostly because it was getting
the snot beat out of it by a girl with an umbrella.
Thrust. Parry. Parry. Feint. Thrust.
Her brother, Mariko reflected, had an annoying habit of
making things difficult. If it had been up to her, she simply
would have hired a gunman, a hitman of some sort, and that
would have been the end of Saotome. Simple, quick,
uncomplicated.
But no, her brother was almost fanatical about his "honour",
and hiring someone to gun down the source of their family's
anguish simply wasn't honourable. They had to do it themselves. And in a
fair, ma
n-to-man fight. Until Saotome
cheated.
Thrust. Riposte. Feint. Jab. Parry.
Stupid boys and their stupid male egos. What damn
difference did it make whether Saotome died from a kick to
the neck or a bullet in the brain? Either way, he'd be dead, and
Ryouga could rest, and they could get back to their lives.
Thrust. Backhand. Thrust.
She had half a mind to walk up to Ranma and just blow his
head off. But her brother would never forgive her. Gotta kill
him with _honour_, Mariko. He'll still be dead, and it won't
bring back a life, but the family honour would be satisfied,
yippie yay.
Parry. Charge. Feint. Thrust.
Not that she didn't want Ranma dead just as much as her
brother. She wanted to see his blood on the floor. She wanted
to watch any family he had weep over the corpse, wanted to
hear the cries of pain and anguish. There was a _payment_
owed her, and she was damn well going to collect.
"You're pretty good."
Startled, Mariko turned. A girl, probably about 16, in
excellent physical condition. Possible threat. "Thanks."
The girl smiled. "What form is that? It reminds me a bit of
Juban Escrima, but the stance is more like Zanji."
Threat. Definite threat. "It's a family school. We picked up
parts from many different styles, and combined them to form
something far better." Pride filled her voice; the Hibiki-Ryuu
_was_ one of the most devastating schools in the world. "I
take it you study the Art as well?"
The other girl nodded. "I'm the heir to the Tendo School of
Anything-Goes."
Mariko estimated the distance she would need to cover to
execute the sweep-kick, the likely dodge, and the force needed
to crush the girl's skull. A millisecond later, she decided
against it. It would be unfair to hold Ranma against other
members of his school. At least to that extent.
"Anything-Goes, huh? I've heard of that. Focuses on
underhanded stuff, right?"
The girl frowned. "No, not really. It teaches adaptation to the
enemy, not twisting of honour or anything."
Interesting words to choose, dear. Perhaps the lady doth
protest a bit too much? "My mistake. Would you care for a
match? Nothing rough, and I'll go easy on you..."
A snort. "I'll go easy on _you_."
Mariko executed a short bow, and then sprang forward in a
kick. To her surprise, the girl dodged, retaliating with a flurry
of straight punches that almost connected. Almost. Her
umbrella got in a graze at few seconds later, at the price of a
glancing blow to the arm.
The girl was good. But she was better.
^_-
Soun stared at the board. He was still winning.
This was odd, considering that he had just left Genma alone
at the shoji table for a good ten minutes. Without hanging a
"Please Cheat Now" sign around his neck, he didn't see how he
could give his old friend more of an opening.
Soun had reversed five pieces already while Genma's
attention was distracted.
The thought that Saotome Genma was being more honest than
him both alarmed and worried him. Especially because it had
become a trend. Genma was actually taking responsibility for
his actions, telling the truth, playing fair. Especially when his
son was around.
His son.
Soun wasn't sure how he felt towards Ranma. The boy was
polite enough most of the time, and had been through quite a
bit, and was a superb martial artist, and Akane liked him a
lot...
But there was something wrong about him. Soun trusted his
instincts, and his instincts told him to get the boy as far away
from his family as possible.
"Saotome-kun."
Genma didn't look up, his eyes scanning the shoji board. "Yes,
Tendo?"
"You are my oldest and dearest friend. We suffered under and
defeated the Master together, and you were the best man at my
wedding. Please, what's wrong?"
His eyes remained on the board. "I've done a terrible thing to
the boy, Tendo-kun. It's my fault he's what he is."
"You couldn't have known what Jyusenkyou would..."
"Not Jyusenkyou. Tendo, I was so proud of how far he had
come, and I thought I could teach..."
"Mr. Tendo. Pop."
Soun slowly turned. Ranma was sitting on the sofa, looking
politely bored. He was sure no-one had been there a second ago.
Almost sure. "Ah, Ranma. Glad to have a day off from school?"
Ranma smiled. "I guess so. I'm really enjoying school,
though...so many things to learn. I haven't been in class since
Pop and I left for China..." The plastic smile melted, and Soun
saw a flash of something very unpleasant in his eyes. "Well.
Have fun with your game. Don't let Pop cheat." With a curt nod,
he stood and slowly walked upstairs.
Soun turned his attention back to his old friend. "You tried to
teach...?"
Genma gave a strained smile. "I meant to say I pushed him a
bit too hard. Stress. Nothing to worry about. Your move, Tendo-
kun."
Nodding, Soun turned his eyes back to the pieces. Genma
would tell him in his own time.
^_-
Akane stumbled, took a kick to the upper body, and fell. A
second later, the stocky girl's umbrella rested a centimeter
from her windpipe.
She looked up at her opponent and laughed delightedly.
From under the tan baseball cap, the other girl grinned back,
and extended a hand to help her up. "That...was the best match
I've had in a long time. You really are good."
Akane chuckled ruefully, accepting the offered hand. "Maybe,
although you did win all three matches." The other girl pulled
her easily to her feet; Akane had noticed during the match that
her opponent was far stronger than she had any right to be.
"I'm Akane Tendo. I live at the dojo a few streets down."
"Pleased to meet you, Akane. I'm Mariko." She squinted at
Akane, as if trying to figure something out, and Akane suddenly
had the feeling that she had seen her somewhere before....
"Do you go to Furinkan, Mariko?" Maybe she had seen her in
the halls, or in the lunchroom.
The other girl shook her head. "I'm supposed to start there on
Monday, but I don't really know where it is." She blushed a bit.
"I've got this problem with directions, and I'm afraid I'll be
late the entire first week. Maybe the entire first month."
Akane blinked. "Entire first month? It can't be that bad..."
Mariko's blush grew a bit deeper. "It's that bad. I get lost in
closets."
"Well...I'm already walking Ranma to school. If you want, I
could take you as well..."
In the blink of an eye, the blush vanished, and Akane felt a
wave of uneasiness wash over her. "Ranma? Who's that?"
Akane opened her mouth, wondering how best to put it
"He's...he's the son of a friend of my father's. They're staying
with us for a while."
Mariko smiled, which somehow didn't make Akane feel any
easier. What was wrong? "That's really nice of you, Akane. I'd
appreciate it. Could you two pick me up here?"
She nodded. "Sure! Maybe then after school we could do
something?"
Mariko smiled again, and this time it wasn't as strangely
unnerving. "I'd love that. I'm new in town, and I haven't really
had a chance to make many friends." She grinned. "Besides, you
give quite a workout. How on earth did you manage to do that
spin-kick? That kind of movement shouldn't be physically
possible..."
"Well, it's like this. You have to move your leg out of line
with the rest of you while tilting your chest back...see, like
so..."
^_-
Kasumi hummed and cooked and cooked and hummed. It was
time to make dinner. Her life was complete.
Akane hadn't come home yet, but that was all right. It
ensured that the meal would be safe for human consumption. It
ensured that the salt wouldn't be mysteriously replaced by
clorox. It ensured that Kasumi wouldn't have to carry off the
rather difficult feat of smiling and looking pleasant whilst
vomiting uncontrollably.
It was making Ranma-kun seem a bit on edge, though, which
was too bad. He obviously didn't know that it was far better
for Akane not to be here. She would have to tell him. Sometime.
When she wasn't so busy.
Ranma-kun was a nice boy. A complete psychopath, but a nice
boy. Kasumi was sure he and Akane would be very happy
together. And he ate a lot, which was the mark of a healthy,
growing young man.
^_-
Akane opened the front door to come face-to-face with a
blank-expressioned Ranma.
"Um, hi, Ranma."
"Where have you been? You were gone all day." A flat tone.
Eyes hard, no hint of laughter, mocking or otherwise.
"I was sparring. With a friend. Then we went and got ice
cream, and stopped by Furinkan, and went into the city for a
bit. Why?"
"Who is he?"
"It's a her. Mariko." Akane began to feel irritated. "You
haven't answered my question. Why?"
He looked at her, and his mouth twisted slightly. Akane met
his expression with a scowl of her own. What was his
problem?
Then he smiled. "Oh, nothin'. Just was a bit worried about
you, y'know, being gone all day. You almost missed dinner.
Mariko, huh? Have I met her?"
Akane shook her head, the momentary annoyance vanishing. "I
don't think so. She's new in Nerima, that's why I was showing
her around. We're going to be walking her to school Monday."
Ranma nodded, looking a bit absent. "So you sparred with her,
huh? Hope you didn't hurt the poor girl too badly."
She smiled. "She actually seems better than me, to tell the
truth. She won all three matches." It would be embarrassing to
admit, normally...but Ranma was so far above her in skill that
it somehow didn't matter as much. And he certainly had
respect for her abilities; perhaps his curse had given him an
insight into how annoying it was to be underrated because of
one's sex.
He looked surprised, then curious, then...she didn't know, a
different sort of curious. "Yeah? You let her win?"
Akane shook her head again. "No, she's just really good. Not
so good I couldn't fight back, not like you. Just slightly better
that me."
He blushed, and scuffed his foot. "Aw, I'm not _that_ good...I
mean, I've just been trainin' all my life, and nothin' but
that...you'd be as good as me if you had lived that way, maybe
even better."
Would she have been? She trained every day, normally...
except when she had something to do with her friends, or when
she had schoolwork to complete, or when, for whatever reason,
she just didn't feel like it...
Yes, she trained for a whole half an hour.
Maybe, Akane thought, a twinge of jealousy running through
her. Maybe if I had worked harder, I would have been as good as
Ranma.
And as lonely as Ranma. As rootless as Ranma. As haunted.
For a brief second, Akane gave silent thanks that her father
had been content to let her train at her own speed, in her own
way.
"I could teach you some stuff, you know."
She blinked. "What?"
Ranma leaned forward, the crooked half-smile appearing.
"The Art. Your dad's real good, but he's limited. Just like mine.
There are things they don't know, and I could teach you them."
"Like...like what?"
"Ways of moving. Ways of training." His eyes seemed to glow
for a second, and she felt her heartbeat begin to quicken.
"Ways of using ki. Pop has no idea, and I haven't told him."
"So why are you telling me?"
That was the big question, wasn't it? And...
And she didn't know what she wanted the answer to be.
Ranma closed his eyes, and the half smile vanished with the
unsettling suddenness with which it had appeared. The
confidence was gone, and in it's place was a lost, helpless,
scared boy, staring at her like a drowning man stares at a life
preserver. "Because ...I trust you. You're the only one who
listens, really listens. Kasumi's nice, but she's a bit vacant.
Nabiki just wants my money, and...wants me to..." He blushed a
bit, and the despairing look got deeper. "Your Dad's nice, but
he's Pop's friend. You're the only one who really..." He stopped,
suddenly, and stared at his shoes.
Slowly, gently, she reached out, placed her hand on his
shoulder. He began to look up, and it seemed the world turned
on the movement.
"Dinner's ready!"
Akane jerked around to see Kasumi standing at the end of the
hall, apron slightly stained. Almost guiltily...why? all she was
doing was comforting Ranma...she withdrew her hand from his
shoulder. "Thanks, Oneechan!" She turned back to see Ranma
gazing at the wall. "I'm hungry. C'mon, Ranma, let's go get
dinner."
He turned to her and the smile came out again, twisting his
mouth. "Sure. I'm pretty ravenous myself."
Together, they walked into the dining room.
^_-
Mariko cursed as the tent once again collapsed into a heap of
poles and fabric. "Where on earth did you get this damn thing?
And how do you put it up?"
Her brother looked up from the cookfire and gave her a toothy
grin. "Hey, we had a deal. If I finish supper before you put up
both our tents, I get the better cuts. You think I'm going to help
you beat me?"
She scowled. "You set me up."
The grin broadened. "Yup."
Mariko sighed, and flopped down on the heap of canvas. "Okay.
At least tell me where you got it."
"Mongolia. It's a sort of modern yurt."
"That would explain the big red star it has on it. How much
did it cost you?"
He winced. "Um.....nothing."
"Nothing? They just gave it to you?"
The wince turned into a pained look. "Not exactly."
Mariko eyed him speculatively. "Okay, brother mine, now
you've got me interested. Spit it out."
"Well....I was following Saotome through China and
accidentally wandered into Mongolia. And then I wandered into
that tent, and, well..."
"Well?"
"It was being used by, um, a lady."
"Ooooooo. Was she cute?"
"Yes....Hey! It wasn't like that!"
"Ah, so she was decent at the time."
"Well....no, actually she was, um, not wearing anything."
"Boy, sure sounds like it was 'like that' to me..."
He glared at her. "Do you want me to tell the story or not?"
An innocent look. "Go on, by all means."
"Anyway, as soon as I saw her I sorta froze...."
"Was she good in bed?"
"MARIKO!"
She giggled. "Sorry, just joking. Go on, really."
Her brother muttered darkly under his breath. "Anyway,
about then her husband came in."
She shrugged. "Why didn't you just beat him up?"
"Because her father and five brothers were with him. And
their axes."
"Oh dear. So you ran, right?"
"Yup."
"Good to see you aren't completely stupid when it comes to
these things."
"Thank you so very much."
"You're welcome. So you got away, right?"
"Well...I'm here, aren't I?"
"Okay...that still doesn't tell me how you got the tent."
Her brother sighed. "I made a dash for the tent flap,
and...sorta went in the wrong direction. When I ran, I kinda took
the tent with me."
Mariko smirked. "Yeah, that sounds right. Is the meat done
yet?"
"Almost. Pass me the cayenne pepper from my pack, okay?"
She wrinkled her nose. "Uh-uh, I'm not rooting around in
there. You probably keep your dirty laundry at the top."
"Huh."
"I almost feel bad about this, y'know."
He turned, face impassive. "If you're having second thoughts
about killing him, you don't have to help."
"Not that. I want to rip his heart out of his chest and dance
on it. It's just..." She sighed. "I just feel a bit guilty about
using that girl."
"This Akane person?"
"Yeah. She seems nice. I like her. I could be friends with her,
easy. And I'm going to use her to kill someone."
Her brother shrugged. "You said she's living with him, right?
That she seemed almost attracted to him?"
"Yeah. She was real complimentary to him when I pried
information out of her. Nervous, too. I don't think she even
knows she's in love."
"Then you're doing her a favor, Mariko. Think, how would you
guess a love affair with him would go? She'd be lucky if abuse
was the worst that happened."
"Akane won't see it that way," she said softly.
He gripped her shoulder. "If you really like Akane, getting rid
of him is the best thing you can do. You'll be giving her a few
weeks of grief in exchange for her life. He'll kill her, sis, you
know he will. Just like he killed..."
"Yeah. And he dies. But I wish..."
"I know."
^_-
Monday morning, and everyone was racing to school. The word
was out - Kuno was up, and mobile, and _pissed_. It was going
to be a good show.
In fact, the only people who weren't racing to school with
baited breath were Ranma and Akane. They were walking into
the park.
"How come we didn't just pick her up at her house? Does she
live across town or something?"
Akane shrugged. "I don't know. She just asked me to pick her
up here."
Ranma grinned. "Maybe she likes the great outdoors." He
made a sweeping gesture with one arm. "The untamed beauty
of the city primeval."
She giggled. "It could be. Apparently she's traveled a lot,
just like you."
He nodded. "If she's as good as she'd have to be in order to
beat you, she probably has been on a training trip or two. It's
necessary to reach the higher levels of the Art."
Akane looked at the ground. "I've never been on one."
Ranma nodded. "I thought so. Your dad's a nice guy, but he's
letting your potential go to waste. You could be really great, ya
know."
She looked up, eyes brightening. "Do you really think so?"
He nodded. "I really do."
A blush appeared on her face, and they walked on in silence
for a while, Akane peering around for her absent friend.
Finally, she pulled to a halt. "She must have gotten lost."
He laughed. "You'd have to be an idiot to not be able to find
this park. It's huge, and it's right next to a subway station."
"Yes, but apparently she has this horrible sense of
direction." Akane laughed. "She told me she gets lost in
closets..."
Suddenly she was on the ground, with Ranma's livid face
inches away from hers. "Mariko. I knew I had heard that name
before. Hibiki Mariko. You led me right to her, didn't you."
Akane just stared at him in shock.
He laughed bitterly, and stood up. "And you don't get it even
now. I'm..."
"...Going to die now."
She watched as Ranma's face went white and impassive.
Slowly, almost reluctantly, he turned to regard the boy in the
yellow on black bandanna who perched atop a nearby rock. The
boy from the street that day. The one he had called...
"Hello, Ryouga."
The boy laughed, and Akane shuddered. So much hate in a
sound normally used to express happiness. So much pain, and
desire to share it.
"I bet you thought you'd never see Hibiki Ryouga again, did
you? I mean, you left with such closure." He hopped down from
the boulder, gracefully landing in a crouch.
Ranma didn't move, didn't react to what was obviously a
combat posture. What the hell was he doing? "I didn't mean for
it to happen."
The boy's expression moved to one of contempt. "Oh, right.
You didn't mean to turn a friendly duel into a God-damn death
match. You didn't _mean_ to execute that last kick. Yeah,
execute is just the word I was looking for, cuz your target
wasn't even awake, right? But hey, you didn't _mean_ it. Not
your fault at all."
As Akane watched, mesmerized, Ranma bowed his head a bit.
She saw, barely, a look of agony and shame...just for a fleeting
second, like a passing breeze...race across his face, vanish,
replaced by a impassive stare. "You were the one, Ryouga. That
thing with the umbrella....you could have killed me. I still have
the scar." He looked back up, and he slowly extended a hand.
"Look. There was no harm done. I was your friend, sort of, and
you were mine. Can't we bury it?"
"Bury it." The boy laughed again, the sound harsh and bitter.
"I've already buried it. And it nearly killed me too, you know?
I'll bury one more before you and I are done. No harm done?
Don't you remember that snapping noise? The angle to the
head, the glaze in the eyes? The way the nosebleed stopped
running, just as you started running yourself? Remember, you
bastard?"
And Akane saw a horrible, sick expression move over
Ranma's face, like a man hearing himself sentenced to death. A
realization, a dissolving of hope, the fears, the nightmares,
the denials coming true.
"You aren't Ryouga."
"Oh, you're a bright boy. Hibiki Koji. For the honor and peace
of my murdered brother, tonight you burn in hell."
The red umbrella swept in low. Ranma jumped over it, and
launched a kick at his opponent. To Akane's surprise, it didn't
connect; Koji had already flung himself to the side, his feet
coming across in a arc that almost took Ranma in the stomach.
Almost. Ranma executed a backwards tumble at the last
moment, coming to rest in a ready stance.
Koji smiled a shark's grin at his opponent. "Ready to die?"
Ranma smiled back, and the emptiness in his face was
somehow worse than the bloodlust in the bandanna'd Hibiki.
"No."
"Too bad. I insist."
And with that, he opened and threw his umbrella like a top. A
top married to a buzzsaw.
Akane numbly watched the thing whirl towards Ranma. It was
an umbrella. Just an umbrella. How...?
Ranma easily evaded the spinning edges. It whirled onward,
cut a tree in half, and spun back in an arc that nearly
decapitated Ranma from behind.
She stared for another few seconds, and then scrambled to
her feet. Ranma was going to need help.
They were close, now; Koji thrusting and lunging, Ranma
jumping, weaving, trying to get in a hit. And he did, on
occasion. A jab would connect, a kick to the shoulder would get
in a graze.
And Koji didn't even seem to notice. Either he was berserk,
Akane decided - which wasn't likely, the rage in his eyes was
a cold one - or he was more durable than she had thought
humanly possible.
And Ranma...he was no weakling himself. Why didn't he just
take a hit or two, giving a flurry of rapid, knockout blows as a
trade?
Two seconds later, the umbrella shattered a boulder as it
missed Ranma's head by a few centimeters.
That answered that.
Akane suddenly realized that the boy meant everything he
had said. He was trying to kill Ranma. Kill him dead, and damn
the consequences. This wasn't a playground duel, it was a
attempt at murder.
Suddenly, Ranma froze. "Shit, the cops!"
Koji spun in the direction Ranma was looking, and failed to
see any policemen. And then his umbrella was ripped from his
hands.
He glared at the grinning Ranma. "You dishonorable bastard."
Ranma raised his hands in mock defense. "It's called
'Anything-Goes' for a reason. Now...about this dying bit...ready
to practice what you preach?"
And Akane saw Mariko, saw her emerge from the trees behind
Ranma, saw that she was raising an umbrella...
...saw her pump the umbrella, heard the *slide-chunk* sound
of a shell being loaded, knew exactly what was about to
happen...
...heard herself scream, and charge for the Hibiki girl,
knowing with a terrible certainty that she would be too late...
...and then realizing with shock and resignation that she was
within the line of fire, and hoping that her body would be
enough to shield Ranma.
^_-
Mariko was possessed by euphoria. His back was to her, his
focus on her brother, there was NO WAY IN HELL he could dodge
the bullet, literally...
And then Akane was screaming like a madwoman and directly
in between the umbrella barrel and Ranma.
Mariko hesitated. The AP-round would hardly notice Akane on
the way to its target, but to kill the girl would be...
Her sort-of friend...
Ryouga. Koji. Saotome.
Hell with it. Should have chosen your friends more carefully,
bitch.
Her finger came down on the firing stud, just as Akane's kick
knocked the barrel out of line. She had waited a millisecond
too long.
The umbrella bucked and roared, the bullet coming close
enough to Akane's head to clip a large lock of hair. The Tendo
girl crashed into her, bearing Mariko to the ground in a tackle.
She was ruining everything!
Well. As Akane's fist descended towards her face, Mariko
kneed her in the stomach and rolled away, struggling to her
feet. The umbrella, she wasn't holding it, where had it gotten
to...
Akane leaped up, her eyes gleaming with anger. "Hi, Mariko.
Ready for me to walk you to school? I'll give you a nice, long
tour of the infirmary!"
Damn, the umbrella was lying in the grass behind the Tendo
girl. "Get out of the way, Akane. I don't want to hurt you."
"Oh, right," came the enraged reply. "You just want to
murder my friend. If you want your gun, come and get it, you
lying, honorless..."
Something snapped. "That bastard killed my brother, girl.
Murdered him. He was the one who started fighting dirty, and
we'll finish it. Yeah, I tricked you. Sorry. It was for your own
good. Now move."
"For my own good? Killing my best friend? What kind of
twisted..."
"He's going to kill you, you little idiot! He's a psychopath!
Are you blind or something? He'll kill you, just like Ryouga!"
Akane's face contorted. Whoops. Maybe that hadn't been the
best tact to take....
She barely dodged Akane's first roundhouse, and the kick
caught her in the shin. Muttering a curse, and wishing like hell
she had her umbrella, Mariko grimly began counterattacking.
^_-
Koji watched in despair as his sister squared off with Akane.
Their plan was in tatters, and he was begining to be in real
danger of sharing his brother's fate.
Ranma came on, like some unstoppable force of nature. The
blows connected more frequently...without his umbrella, Ranma
could afford to be hit.
A spinkick clipped his jaw, sending him stumbling back. If
this didn't end soon...
Standing, he began his final surprise. Summoning his ki, he
began to move in a strange, sudden kata, arms and legs
whipping back and forth.
It would probably puzzle Ranma; hard to tell with that mask
of cold fury on his face. It appeared that he was coming in
regardless.
"Doing the macarena isn't going to help, Hibiki. Good night."
And Ranma unleashed a flurry of punches, which connected,
knocking Koji backward.
It seemed to take Saotome a few seconds to notice that his
hands and arms were now gushing blood from several slashes.
Koji struggled to his feet, the world swimming in and out of
focus. "Neat trick, huh? Cloth can be as sharp as a sword; my
brother taught me that. I never quite got the hang of the
bandanna thing, but my shirt seems to do nicely."
Ranma started forward. "I'm going to make you suffer. Now
that Akane's busy with her playmate...."
Koji painfully grinned. He had succeeded after all. "Come and
give it your best shot."
But Saotome stopped, and eyed the flow of blood from the
slashes along his wrists. "On the other hand, maybe I'll visit
the clinic before I bleed to death. Some other time, Koji.
Oh...and your brother was almost as easy as you."
And with that, he darted away.
^_-
Out of the corner of her eye, Akane saw Ranma dash out of
the park. Behind him, Koji fell to his knees, on the verge of
collapse. Mariko's punch caught her a second later, and she
reeled back, preparing to fend off the next series of jabs.
They never came. Mariko had noticed Ranma's flight and was
running to her brother's side, the umbrella forgotten.
Turning, Akane walked away, slowly at first, then more and
more quickly. By the time she left the park, she was running as
if every demon in hell was hot on her heels.
^_-
Hikaru walked away through the trees, chuckling to himself.
Nabiki would be very interested in this, and things Nabiki took
an interest in were generally good for business, one way or
another.
He would tell her in person. Perhaps the ice queen's mask
would slip. Perhaps.
-< End of Chapter Four >-