Chapter 6: "Who the hell is Hikaru?"
Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu got off the bus in Nerima. At Fuu's
suggestion, Hikaru had willed her armor to vanish. The other two
girls blinked when it was replaced by a red Chinese shirt and black
trousers.
"So, Hikaru-chan...where have you been these last two years?" Fuu
asked.
Hikaru sighed. "It's been even longer than that, they tell me."
"Who are 'they' anyway?" Umi asked. "You've been awfully
mysterious..."
Hikaru blinked. "Anou...actually, I never got their names. I guess
I was still in shock at being alive again..."
"Alive again?" Fuu and Umi chorused.
"Then...you *did* die?" Fuu asked.
Hikaru frowned. "Apparently I did."
"But...you said..." Umi began.
Hikaru laughed softly. "Confusing isn't it? I still haven't really
dealt with it myself. It's too much for me to think about. Well, the
simplest answer is that Zagato's spell sent me someplace else, I was
there two years, then I died. And now I'm back."
The other two stared at her nervously. "You're...a ghost?"
Hikaru giggled. "No, I'm alive." Then, sadly, she added, "In a
sense...I've sort of occupied someone else's body."
Fuu and Umi looked *really* nervous about that one. Hikaru noticed,
and put on a sad half-smile. "It's a VERY long story, and a lot of
it is going to sound too strange."
Umi smirked. "Hikaru-chan...we got zapped into Cephiro, learned
magic, fought monsters, met Mokona...saw you get blasted...and
everything else that happened after that...I don't think you can tell
us anything too strange."
All three girls giggled at that one.
Suddenly, Hikaru stopped. Fuu and Umi looked at her with concern.
"Hikaru-chan? Daijobu?"
"I...I'm not sure," she said. She blinked rapidly. "Something...
happening..." Her eyes widened. "Oh...I think I understand." With a
sad sigh, she said, "Umi-chan, Fuu-chan...I have to go away for a bit,
I think. I hope I'll see you again soon."
"Anou...what do you mean, 'go away'? What's going on?"
Umi received no answer. Hikaru slumped to the ground, unconscious.
Ranma slowly awoke, with a splitting headache. She opened her eyes,
and the blurred faces of two girls she'd never seen before (or had
she?) slowly came into focus.
"Wha...where am I?"
"Hikaru-chan! Are you alright?" the one with sandy-blond hair
asked.
Ranma frowned. "Huh? Who're you?"
The blue-haired one frowned. "You haven't lost your memory, have
you Hikaru-chan?"
Ranma blinked. "I think ya got me mixed up with someone else. My
name ain't Hikaru, it's Ranma. Saotome Ranma."
Fuu noticed something strange. "Umi-chan...her eyes. Look."
Umi gasped. "They're...blue. What's going on here?"
Ranma sat up, and glanced around. "How'd I get here? Last I
remember I was at Nekohanten..."
The two girls looked at her in confusion. "Anou...what's going on
here?" the blue-haired one asked.
Ranma shrugged. "Don't ask me. I just woke up."
The pig chose that moment to make its presence known. Ranma
frowned. "Ryouga? What the heck are you doin' here?" he whispered to
the piglet.
Ryouga was hopping up and down and squealing intently. "Do you
know what's goin' on, pig?" Ryouga nodded. Ranma thought for a moment.
"Alright, man. Let's getcha some hot water."
Ranma scooped up the piglet, then said to the two girls, "Umm...
wait here a sec." Then as an afterthought, he said, "I didn't get
your names...?"
The girls looked at each other, shrugged, and introduced
themselves.
"Ryuuzaki Umi."
"Hououji Fuu."
Ranma nodded. "Nice t' meetcha. Be right back." With that, Ranma
entered a nearby coffee shop, piglet in hand.
A moment later, inside the coffee shop's restroom, Ranma splashed
the piglet with a cup of hot water. Ryouga mysteriously found clothes,
and Ranma asked, "So, pig, what's goin' on?"
Ryouga grumbled, then said, "Ranma...you probably won't believe
what I'm about to tell you."
Ranma smirked. "Think who you're talkin' to here, Ryouga. I seen
so much weird shit I'll believe just about anything."
Ryouga shook his head. "You won't believe this..."
"Man, just spit it out already! Sheesh."
Ryouga proceeded to give Ranma the short version of what had taken
place that day. Ranma's eyes were wide at the end of the story. "You
mean," said the now-male Ranma, "Some girl that disappeared from
Tokyo Tower two years ago, went to some crazy magic world, got sent
back to ancient China, and drowned in the same spring I got cursed in.
..is still alive inside me?"
"That's pretty much it, Ranma."
Ranma shook his head. "You're right. That one's a stretch."
Frowning, he mused, "Although it'd explain a lot of stuff that's been
goin' on lately...hey man, you said the old ghoul can fill me in on
all the details?"
Ryouga nodded.
"Alright then, we'd best get goin'." Ranma made for the exit.
"Ranma...you should go back out there as a girl, or they won't
recognize you."
Ranma frowned. "Those two girls outside?"
Ryouga nodded. "They're Hikaru-san's best friends. They need to
know what's going on."
Ranma sighed. "Alright, but it's best if I wait till we're outside
to turn into a girl."
With that, they left, snagging some cold water on the way.
Fuu and Umi were waiting, talking quietly. "What's going on here?"
Umi wondered.
Fuu shook her head, frowning thoughtfully. "Hikaru-chan said she's
'inside someone else's body'...maybe the girl we just talked to is
that person. In any case, that definitely wasn't Hikaru."
Umi nodded. "Hai...I really want to find out what's up."
Just then, two young men, about their age, emerged from the coffee
shop. One had black hair in a pigtail and wore similar clothes to
what Hikaru and the other girl had been wearing. The other wore a
yellow bandana much like the one the piglet had worn, and a yellow
tunic and black trousers.
The two boys approached them. "Sorry about the wait," the
pigtailed one said.
Umi frowned. "Anou...who are you?"
The boy smiled. "This is gonna seem odd, but considering what my
friend here told me, you girls are probably used to this kind of
thing." With that, he poured the cup of water over his head. Umi and
Fuu stared, wide-eyed.
"What in the...?" Umi asked.
Fuu commented, "You're the girl from before, right?"
Ranma nodded. "Yeah, but I'm really a guy. It's a long story. I
have a curse, that turns me into a girl when I get splashed with cold
water." Gesturing down the street, she said, "I can explain some of
it on the way to Nekohanten. Then we'll all find out about what's
going on here."
The girls looked dubious, but the other boy said, "If I'm right
about Hikaru-san, she'd probably want you to know what's going on.
And if you want to find out, you need to trust us, because he--" He
pointed at Ranma-- "is carrying Hikaru-san's soul around with him."
Umi and Fuu blinked at that. Finally, Fuu said, "Well, if that's
true, then we won't find out what's going on without trusting you."
Umi sighed. "We don't have a choice. Alright, Ranma. Lead on."
"By the way," the other boy added, "My name is Hibiki Ryouga."
The foursome began the short journey to the Nekohanten.
When the group arrived at Nekohanten, everyone was still sitting
around talking about this recent turn of events. They looked up,
surprised to see the two new visitors.
Shampoo blinked. "Great-grandmother, that Ranma and not Hikaru
right?"
Cologne nodded. "Yes, child."
Shampoo squealed with joy and promptly glomped Ranma. Akane and
Ukyou scowled. Akane reached for her mallet. "RANMA..." Ukyou hefted
her spatula and warned Shampoo, "Get off Ranchan you hussy."
Fuu and Umi blinked. Ranma sighed. "Shampoo, please get off of me.
"
"Shampoo no let go Ranma! Ranma no turn into Hikaru again, yes?
Ranma alright now, take Shampoo to date?"
To everyone's (well, everyone who knew Ranma) surprise, Ranma
pushed Shampoo off of her. "I'm not in the mood for you right now,
Shampoo."
Shampoo looked hurt, then angry. Turning to the other two girls,
she said, "Who you? What you do here? Restaurant closed."
"They're with me, Shampoo," Ranma said.
Akane raised her mallet. "Two MORE fiancees? Ranma, you PERVERT!"
Umi and Fuu blinked. "Fiancees?" Fuu asked.
"TWO MORE!?" Umi wondered incredulously.
Ryouga raised a hand. "Umm...guys? Can I say something?"
EVERYONE blinked. Ryouga was the last person anyone ever expected
to come to Ranma's defense.
"Well, Ryouga?" Akane prompted.
Ryouga looked nervous and sheepish, but pressed on. "Akane-san,
you're wrong this time. These girls don't even *know* Ranma."
Akane scowled. "I didn't know him either until I found out I was
already engaged to the baka."
Ranma groaned. "Jeez, you stupid tomboy, it ain't like that!
Wouldja just listen for once instead of blaming me?"
Suddenly, Nabiki interrupted. "You..." she said, pointing to the
blue-haired girl, "are Ryuuzaki Umi. And you," she continued,
indicating the girl with glasses, "are Hououji Fuu."
The two blinked. "That's right. How did you...?" Fuu asked.
Nabiki tapped the laptop in front of her.
Akane blinked, and lowered her mallet. "You're...those two girls.
The ones who were with Hikaru..."
The two nodded. Akane sighed. "Ranma...I'm sorry."
Ranma didn't comment. Cologne sighed. "I think everyone needs to
calm down so we can straighten everything out."
As the gathering became even more crowded, Cologne filled Ranma in
on the details about Hikaru's tragedy, tactfully leaving out what the
two Musk warriors had done to her. She then filled Umi and Fuu in on
Ranma's curse, and how it was related to Hikaru.
When she was finished, everyone finally had, more or less, an
understanding of what was going on.
"So," Umi said, looking at Ranma, "You're a boy, but because you
fell in a spring in China, you turn into a girl when you get hit with
cold water."
Ranma nodded. "Yeah."
"And," Fuu interjected, "Because of Zagato's spell, Hikaru-chan is
the girl who drowned in that spring 1500 years ago. So, because of
your similarities to her, you freed her soul from the spring when you
fell in."
"That pretty much sums it up," Tofuu said.
Ranma groaned. "As if life wasn't complicated enough already. At
least this Hikaru girl is a fighter. As often as weird things happen
around here, it'd be too dangerous if she was weaker."
Cologne nodded. "I think if it had been a weaker girl who had
drowned there, her soul would have been lost. It's Hikaru's magic and
the strength of her spirit that kept her in that spring. And that's
why she was able to reawaken."
Akane frowned. "So, how will we know when it's Ranma and when it's
Hikaru?"
Cologne chuckled. "That should be obvious. Not only by their
behavior, but in case you forgot, when Hikaru was in control her eyes
were red, and Ranma's are blue."
"Oh yeah..." Ukyou said. "She's right."
Fuu smiled. "At least that's one thing we don't have to worry
about...telling them apart."
As the discussion continued, Hikaru stirred. She could hear, and
see, what was going on, but it was like watching a movie. She
realized what had happened--Ranma had taken back his body. She wasn't
upset. He had a right; after all, she was the intruder here and not
him. But, she was still disappointed.
And bored. There really wasn't much to do in here.
Idly, she wondered what kind of person Ranma was. How he lived,
what he liked, what he did...
An idea hit her. <I wonder...can I look at his thoughts?> She
briefly debated whether or not she should try. <It would be impolite,
she thought. <Disrespectful of Ranma-kun. I wouldn't like it if
someone poked around in my head without my consent.>
But ultimately, curiosity and boredom got the better of Hikaru.
Tentatively, she reached out with her consciousness, and brushed
against Ranma's. Surface thoughts unfolded:
<This sucks. How much worse are things gonna get?>
<But that girl, that Hikaru...guess I can't blame her. It ain't
her fault.>
<It's sad, that somethin' like that happened. Sounds like she was
a really nice girl.>
<But this is gonna suck. The tomboy's gonna find more to get angry
with me about, and who knows what else is gonna happen? And I gotta
hope this girl can take care of herself if she's gonna keep waking up.
Not everyone's gonna go easy on her if they see her eyes are red and
not blue.>
<I hope she ain't gonna fall for some guy and start wantin' to
date and....and...eeew.>
At that, Hikaru mentally blushed. In the process, something
slipped. <Hey!> she thought. <That's mean!>
<Huh? What the...?>
Hikaru froze. <Uh oh.>
Without warning, Ranma's eyes glazed over, and he slumped forward
onto the table. Everyone crowded around him.
Nervously, Hikaru thought, <Umm..guess you can hear me in here,
huh?>
Ranma tried to shake off his confusion. <Hey, what the hell's
goin' on?>
Hikaru decided she might as well see how far this communication
could go. Concentrating, she pushed further up against the walls of
Ranma's mind.
Ranma felt something pushing against him, and recoiled. Then,
curious, he pushed back.
Suddenly, both found themselves sprawled, tangled up in one
another, in a boundless, misty grey space.
Untangling, and blinking, they stared at each other in shock.
<What the hell's this? Who...> Ranma thought. He stared at the
girl before him. She had waist-length red hair, in a braid. Her eyes
were crimson, and she wore some sort of school uniform, with some
type of armor placed on and around it.
Hikaru blinked. <Oops. Sorry about that. I didn't know that was
going to happen.> She took in the appearance of the boy in front of
her. She had to admit, he was pretty handsome. She flushed at that
thought.
Ranma was also flushing, thinking about how cute this girl was.
Then they noticed each other flushing, and simultaneously realized
*why*. Both flushed brighter and laughed nervously.
<Ummm...I guess you're Hikaru, then?> Ranma asked.
Hikaru nodded. <Hai, and you'd be Ranma.>
Ranma nodded. <Umm...I'm confused. What is this? How can we see
each other?>
Hikaru frowned. <I'm not sure. I believe this is all going on in
our mind.> She blushed. <I kinda woke up, and I got bored in here,
and I got curious about you, so I tried to get a peek at your
thoughts.>
Ranma blinked. <So...that's what that was? What I heard? Was you?
Hikaru nodded, blushing. <Hai. I'm sorry. I was trying not to
alarm you.>
Ranma shrugged. <Hey, it's okay. Actually, this is pretty cool.
Weird, but cool.>
Hikaru giggled. <Yeah, it is. And it means we can talk to each
other like this.>
Ranma nodded. <Seems like it.> A nervous silence ensued.
Finally, Hikaru said, <Ranma-kun...I'm sorry. About all this.>
Ranma blinked. <Huh?>
Hikaru sighed. <About your curse, about me being in here,
disrupting your life...>
Ranma took a step closer and put his hands on her shoulders. <Hey,
don't be. It ain't your fault or nothin'. Besides, even without the
curse I ain't exactly got a normal life, y'know?>
Hikaru looked down. <No, I don't know. That's why I was trying to
find out about you. I just wanted to know who it was I had become
part of...>
Ranma instinctively drew the smaller girl into a hug. She returned
the hug, looking up at him. Ranma smiled. <Well, looks like this is
our chance to get acquainted.>
Hikaru smiled, and they began to exchange life stories.
"He's been out for a long time," Genma noted.
Tofuu nodded. "He seems to be in a trance."
"What kind of trance?" Ukyou wondered.
Cologne examined Ranma more closely, inspecting his aura. "Well,
this is interesting," she chuckled dryly. Where earlier she'd seen a
red aura surrounding Ranma's yellow aura, now there was a solid
orange aura.
"What's interesting?" Umi asked.
"Well, if my guess is right, Ranma's in a trance because he and
Hikaru are communicating."
Everyone blinked. "WHAT?" they all shouted.
<So,> Ranma said, <Whatcha wanna know?>
<I dunno,> Hikaru shrugged. <Just, whatever. Like, who are you?
What do you do? That kind of thing.>
Ranma nodded. <Well, you probably already know my name. I'm a
martial artist.>
<Really? What school?> Hikaru asked.
<Saotome-ryuu Musabetsu-Kakutou,> Ranma said proudly.
Hikaru frowned. <I don't think I've ever heard of it.>
<Not many have,> Ranma told her. <It's a pretty limited school now.
Only two families even practice it, the Saotomes and the Tendous.>
<Oh.> Hikaru pondered that.
<Anyways, that's where one of my problems is. See, my pop and
Tendou-san kinda agreed to engage their children, to carry on the
school.>
Hikaru's eyes widened. <So you're engaged then?>
Ranma nodded. <Yeah. Remember the girl with the short hair?>
Somehow, Ranma managed to will up an image of her, which stood
between them. Ranma blinked at that. Hikaru just nodded.
<I remember her,> she said.
<That's Tendou Akane, my fiancee.>
<She's cute. You're lucky,> Hikaru offered. Ranma snorted.
<Cute ain't the word. She's violent, she's a horrible cook, she's
a lead weight in water, she's got a horrible temper...>
Suddenly, the image of Akane came to life, weilding an enormous
mallet. <RANMA NO BAKA!> the image cried, and smashed Ranma into the
mist. Hikaru stared.
<See what I mean?> Ranma groaned, as the image gave a "hmph" and
vanished.
<It can't be that bad,> Hikaru said.
<It's worse,> Ranma replied. <Anyways, as if that ain't bad enough,
she ain't the only one I gotta worry about.>
<What do you mean, Ranma-kun?>
<Well, there's that purple-haired girl, Shampoo.> An image of
Shampoo appeared and promptly glomped Ranma, gushing in broken
Japanese. The image promptly vanished as Ranma told Hikaru the story
of how he'd met Shampoo. Then an image of Ukyou appeared, followed by
Kodachi, and explanations of each. Then Ranma went on to expound
about some of the other problems he had, Hikaru's eyes widening more
and more as he continued.
<So then there's Kunou. He's a real idiot, and has a crush on my
girl side.> An image of Kunou appeared, and Hikaru gasped.
<I saw him! When I woke up the first time! He was trying to kill
me!>
Ranma blinked. Then he remembered the previous day at the clinic.
<So that was you who did that,> he mused.
Hikaru nodded. <Yeah. Him, and then this horrible little old man...
She shuddered at the memory.
Ranma nodded grimly. <Happousai,> he said. <Everyone hates him.>
Hikaru shivered again.
<And then there's Ryouga,> Ranma continued. An image of an
umbrella-weilding teenager with a leopard-print bandana, and a black
piglet with a similar bandana, appeared.
<KAWAII!> Hikaru gushed at seeing the piglet. <That's the piggy I
met at the bus stop today!>
Ranma smirked. <Don't get too attached. That's Ryouga, in his
cursed form.>
Hikaru deflated. <Oh.>
Ranma proceeded to tell Hikaru all about "P-chan" and his
activities with Akane. By the end of the tale, Hikaru looked quite
upset.
<That's so wrong of him. He's abusing both you and Akane.>
<Tell me about it. And there ain't a thing I can do about it until
the tomboy gets a clue.>
Hikaru silently vowed to have a little talk with Ryouga.
Finally, Ranma's tales wound down, and Hikaru spoke of her family
and her friends and her adventures in Cephiro. Then she told Ranma
about what happened to her in China, weeping as she finished her tale.
Ranma looked grim. <If I ever see Herb again, I'm gonna pound him
just on general principles.> Then, he again hugged Hikaru, and said,
<Hey...they're probably getting scared spitless out there. I mean,
neither of us is awake, right?>
Wiping her eyes, Hikaru nodded.
With a smile, Ranma said, <Why don't you go ahead and take over
for a while.>
<Are you sure?> Hikaru asked, worry evident on her face. <I don't
mean to put you out...I mean, I don't even have a right to be in here.
..>
Ranma shrugged. <Nah, it's cool. Your friends miss ya, and I don't
feel like puttin' up with Shampoo and Akane and all them right now.
I'll letcha know when I'm ready to wake up again.>
Hikaru smiled, and kissed Ranma on the cheek, causing him to flush
bright red. <Arigatou, Ranma-kun.>
With that, Hikaru vanished, leaving Ranma alone in the grey mist.
Cologne closed her eyes. "Their auras are overlapping so perfectly
as to form one. The only explanation is that they're both awake, and
talking to each other inside their mind. Since that kind of thing
takes a lot of effort, the rest of the body had to shut down."
"Aiyah! Great-grandmother, Ranma be alright, yes?"
Cologne nodded. "Of course. Sooner or later they'll quit talking,
and one of them will wake up."
Almost as if on cue, the redhead groaned, and sleepily opened her
red eyes. Hikaru sat up, and smiled at everyone. "Hi," she said.
____
------------------------------------------------------------
Ryodachi Kouma
"The Eternal Lost Lurker"
squn29a@prodigy.com
http://pages.prodigy.com/EtLostLurker
no da.