Wheel of Fire Special #3: Identity
Written by Razorclaw X (spiceoflife@NYChotmail.com)
http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/ranma/ranff.html
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and characters belong to Rumiko
Takahashi. And all that other good stuff. Proper
licenses belong to respective properties and
characters. The manga has precedence over material in
the anime.
This file can be freely distributed so long as it
appears in its complete form and proper credit. No part
may be reproduced for monetary gain without permission
from the author.
------------------------------------------------
If there was one thing that bothered Shizuka of the
hunt, it was the fact that it took her back to Tokyo.
Again.
"I should've listened to Mizuki," she muttered under
her breath. "Maybe then I would've learned to keep my
mouth shut, and then I'd be a good girl like all the
others back home."
Home seemed a long way, however. In fact, it was a
long way, since the Shrine of the Four Gods was all the
way across the country.
Shizuka stalked the concrete jungle of Tokyo, what
others called the market section of the Nerima
district. She walked with deliberate steps in the
moonlight, her sandals barely making a sound. She had
her trusty shotgun low toward the ground in front of
her, with left hand on the barrel and right finger at
the trigger. Shizuka's eyes scanned the empty street,
looking for any signs of the demon.
The priestess of Genbu's infamous reputation spread
far and wide, and it was no wonder, since she was
considered quite the troublemaker wherever she went;
Shizuka jokingly proclaimed that she was 'banned' from
walking into every prefecture. Somehow, though, it
also enabled her to get jobs, even in places across the
country. It was particularly the request of a local
shrine that Shizuka track down an accursed,
shape-shifting imp that managed to escape from his seal
somehow. The head priest refused to divulge in the
details, but somehow Shizuka knew the answer.
It irked her, however, that the priest could not tell
her the limitations of the imp's power. For all she
knew the little pest could change into a crane and fly
away, which made tracking it all the more difficult; it
would mean a lot of cranes would be dead before she was
through, in that case.
Yet, judging from her apparent ease in tracking the
imp, Shizuka knew the pest didn't shape-shift in that
manner. In fact, it shape-shifted in the WRONG way.
She spotted the knee-high imp tearing out of a shop,
stuffing apples in his face. The blue-tinted pest
appeared in the form of an upright badger, save with
tiny horns on its head, and a barbed tail with many
rows of spikes protruding from the end. His eyes
shined with intelligence as well as greed, the imp
downing his ill-gotten meal voraciously.
The badger-creature's name was Kode, and it looked a
little taller than Shizuka remembered. That was NOT a
good sign.
The demon hunter raised her shotgun, and took aim;
the imp barely showed signs of recognition of the
danger. "I hope you eat lead as well as the fruit,"
she muttered under her breath, and squeezed the
trigger.
Many would think the bullet was meant to kill the
demon, but Shizuka alone knew that it would serve only
as a distraction; mythic beasts had to be fought in
mythic ways. The point was moot, however, as the
badger-creature held up one claw and caught the bullet
easily. Shizuka lowered her shotgun in disgust as the
Kode crumpled it to dust with one effortless crush.
Shouldering her firearm Shizuka reached down to the
twin swords tied to her left waist. "O-kay, you're not
as easy as you look."
Kode's eyes narrowed, and suddenly the priestess knew
she was in trouble. "Ah, you're the hunter," the
creature hissed. "Those idiots sent an outsider, I
see; you're not one of them."
"Damn straight," Shizuka replied, pulling out her
swords under-handed. "I'm your worst nightmare."
"Oh puh-leeze," Kode snorted, shaking his head. "I
can't be beaten by the likes of you."
"Feh, to be ridiculed and insulted, it's
unforgivable!" Shizuka declared angrily, rushing the
enemy.
---
Ranma stifled a yawn, stretching his arms up and out
in the air as he walked down the stairs, moving almost
automatically. Eyes closed the martial artist folded
his arms behind his head, and with each step against
the wooden floor he made his way out.
He soon found himself standing out the back porch
overlooking the yard, where he could hear the chirping
of the morning birds and feel the light breeze against
his cheeks. Ranma took in a deep breath, taking in the
fresh morning air, a sensation that seemingly
revitalized him every morning. He opened his eyes and
took in the surroundings. The bushes cast long
shadows into the yard, covering much of it in a light
layer of darkness that marked the rising of the sun.
Ranma almost expected the fish in the pond to jump up
out of the water at that moment, but it was then he
realized there was something wrong.
There was a hand resting on the stone surrounding the
pond, and the arm ran back down into the cool water.
Ranma took off automatically, realizing that someone
was probably drowning in the pond... or taking an
idiotic bath.
He landed at the rim of the pond, and stared down,
deciding it was the latter. Lying in the water up to
her chest was, without a doubt, Shizuka Minazuki,
despite the fact her back was toward the air. Her head
was resting against one of the lower rocks, keeping
her from being submerged completely and drowning, with
one arm slumped over the rim.
Ranma caught a glint in his eye, and glanced toward
his left. He saw what was likely the priestess's two
swords, damp with the morning dew. Ranma realized that
they did belong to Shizuka, as each weapon had a snake
head molded on the end, fangs barred. If the pair of
swords was not ornamental it was probably very valuable
and old. It was a wonder that the crazy girl wasn't
robbed blind already.
Especially considering this was Shizuka.
Bending his knees, he reached his right arm down and
prodded Shizuka on the side of her head. "Hey," he
said, "don'cha think you oughta sleep somewhere else?"
"Mm? Tell that to the badger..." she mumbled,
obviously out of her mind. Again.
"Geez, don't you ever stay home?" Ranma asked,
reaching down to pull the girl out himself.
Shizuka remained limp, making it all the easier for
the martial artist to pull her out of the cool water.
Ranma half-lifted her out, ending up having to drag her
feet out and over the rim of the pond, as Ranma was in
no mood to get himself wet over this.
He set the priestess down on the ground and propped
her back against the rim. "Hey, you listening?"
"Stop yellin', and maybe I will," Shizuka muttered
groggily. She took a wild swing at Ranma, but he
avoided it easily.
"I'm not yelling," Ranma pointed out.
Nevertheless, Shizuka covered her ears. "It's too
loud."
Ranma groaned, and spread his hands out wide, then
clapped them together quickly. Shizuka jumped in
place, startled awake from her drunken daze.
"Hey!" she protested.
"Figures," Ranma snorted. "The guys have been sayin'
that a girl in a hakama was going around town lately.
Should've guessed it was you."
"Well, sue me; it's not like I'm the only one who
walks around in one."
"The only one YOUR age," Ranma pointed out bluntly.
"Oh, you wanna fi...?" Shizuka stopped mid-sentence
as she reached her right hand up her left sleeve, then
realized something was wrong. "Oh shit."
Ranma glanced down at the girl's sleeve, noting that
there were good tears in it, at several key places. "I
see you got in trouble. Again."
Shizuka's eyes betrayed sadness and panic, as she
picked up the bottom end of the sleeve, noting that the
chord hanging there was torn. "Even the summoning
beads are gone, too...."
Whoever it was, they knew all about the inner pockets
in Shizuka's sleeves, Ranma decided. While it was no
big deal for someone like him, to a wimp like the
priestess it meant her fighting ability was seriously
demolished.
---
Akane's eyes drifted toward the stairs as she stood
in the hallway of the second floor with Ranma at her
side, waiting outside the door to their own shared
room. It took a good amount of convincing before any
of the residents of the Tendo household could persuade
the priestess to get out of her soaking clothing, but
Nodoka Saotome, using her way of words, somehow did
it. It was Ranma who pointed out that Shizuka didn't
have any of her pre-made talisman ready, and that her
clothes would have to dry first before she could mend
the sleeves.
On the other hand, Akane somehow got the feeling that
Shizuka didn't resist so much on the idea that she
would have to dry out her clothes instead of use her
magic to do it for her, but the fact that she would
have to put up with borrowing some of Akane's clothes
in the meantime. Akane didn't like the idea any more
than Shizuka did, but, as the others pointed out, her
size was the best fit for the younger girl.
The eerie part of it was, Shizuka had not opened the
door since walking in.
"Oh dear," she heard Kasumi say. Akane saw both her
older sisters ascend the steps. "Has Shizuka been in
there long?"
"Gee, Akane," Nabiki said, "your taste isn't this
bad, is it?"
"How could it?" she countered. "You're the one
borrowing my clothes all the time!"
"C'mon," Ranma replied, sounding almost bored, "you
know she's embarrassed to death."
"Of what?" asked Akane.
"Of putting on your girly clothes, y'know."
Before Akane could react Kasumi intervened. "Is that
possible?"
Nabiki shrugged. "Maybe, if you consider that she's
wearing the same thing all the time. Who knows when
her laundry gets done...."
"Hey," they heard through the door, "shut up."
"What are you doing in there?" demanded Akane. "My
clothes aren't THAT bad, are they?"
"By the time we drag her out her clothes'll be dry,"
Nabiki said, shaking her head.
But contrary to her words the door swung open, and
Akane couldn't help but stare, and it seemed to be the
same for the others. It was a short-sleeved, soft
lavender dress, with white frills running in a half
circle from the shoulders down the bodice. It was tied
off at the waste with a white sash, with a neat bow in
the back, and somewhat betrayed the girl's slender
figure. The skirt was similarly laced along the rims,
falling just over Shizuka's knees and matching white
knee stockings. She wore arm-length white gloves,
holding them neatly together in front of her as if she
were presenting herself to a prospective husband.
Akane looked into the girl's eyes, and saw both fear
and embarrassment. Shizuka's cheeks flushed red.
"Wow," was all Akane could say, blinking.
It was more than obvious, however, that Shizuka was
clinging to her old ways, grasping at straws when
forced to improvise; she was still trying to conceal
her body, as if it was taboo for her. "Uh... I...
well...."
"Damn," muttered Ranma, apparently also taken in by
the transformation.
"I guess I could've picked something MORE
conservative..." the priestess rambled.
"Geez, Akane," Nabiki said, "she looks better in that
dress than you do."
She felt her blood boil, but somehow Akane knew that
Nabiki was echoing her own sentiments.
It was better than RANMA looking good in it, at any
rate.
"You look kinda cute," said martial artist told the
priestess, acting nice all of a sudden.
Yet somehow Shizuka beat her to the punch, and the
attack was over in the blink of an eye, with Ranma
having caught a concealed sword in his hands.
Shizuka's teeth grinded, her body quaking in place
as if she was going to burst out and cry. "Don't call
me 'cute,' buster."
Slowly she withdrew her blade, and Ranma relaxed
himself, sighing.
Kasumi pointed a finger to a point beyond Shizuka's
head. "That doesn't match your outfit." Akane's eyes
followed the path her sister was making, and she
realized she meant the red chord tying off Shizuka's
pony-tail. She reached to tug at one of its shoelace-
knot ends.
There was another blur of motion, with Shizuka's
sword arm, but this time it was Nabiki who caught the
blade. Kasumi took the opportunity to undo the knot
without resistance.
"I don't believe this," the priestess muttered, her
hair falling loose behind her. "I got stopped by
YOU?!"
"You're slow," Nabiki pointed out. Akane nodded in
agreement.
"Come now," Kasumi said, heading down the hall to her
room, the red chord bunched in her hand, "I'll let you
use some ribbon for that."
Grudgingly, Shizuka lowered her sword, and followed
after the eldest Tendo girl. Akane's eyes followed the
two until they disappeared into Kasumi's room.
"She's not just a bad girl," her other sister said,
"she's bad at BEING a girl."
"I could've told you that," Ranma snorted. "Worse
than Ukyo; doesn't even take a compliment."
"Shizuka's just like Ukyo," Akane added. "Probably
more than she's willing to admit.
---
"'If I had another son I'd marry him to you,'"
Shizuka tongued, mimicking the very line that scored
Genma a one-way ticket into orbit. "Oh please."
"Geez, he was kidding already!" Ranma insisted, and
he looked toward Akane, but it looked as if she wasn't
buying it, either.
The priestess walked ahead of the couple, after
having an argument before they left the gates over
Shizuka's desire to be behind the two. However, as
Akane pointed out, neither of them knew where the
shrine was, and Shizuka was the one who wanted to
resupply her missing talisman she lost in the last
fight with Kode the imp.
It was not necessarily the fact that she was scared
to go out, but that Shizuka didn't want the attention
she was getting, as she was drawing stares from any
who passed by.
Even though her hearing was sub-par at best, Shizuka
couldn't help but listen to passing comments and
whispers from those who thought they couldn't be
heard. Whether it was pity, praise, or awe, she didn't
know, but the pit in her stomach said, "Pity."
It got worse when some of them actually recognized
her.
She noted that several guys toward her left were
making some sort of side bet, and making macho sounds.
One of them finally got the courage to approach her,
and while Shizuka would prefer to avoid the riff-raff
there was nowhere to run.
She felt naked without her weapons, which were left
at home.
"Hey, sweet thing," came the lame-o opening line.
"Mind if we talk a bit?"
Shizuka stopped in her tracks, and it seemed the rest
of the pedestrian traffic stopped as well, waiting for
her reaction. They were about to be disappointed.
"How do you feel about castration?"
Instantly the boy's temper flared. "That wasn't
called for!"
"Hey, just leave her alone," Ranma suggested.
"What's she to you?" demanded the thug. "Aren't you
the womanizer!"
"Do you know who I am?" the martial artist asked,
surprised the weenie didn't know him.
"Stay out of this," Shizuka ordered him. Addressing
the thug, she said, "Tell me, bud, when you see a
pretty girl, you think about the many ways you can
score one in bed, yes? Shallow, shallow boy."
"You wanna make something of it?!"
"You've been watching too much anime; things simply
don't happen that way. Get a life. Better yet, go on
a real date, otaku."
"Why you...!"
But before the thug could make good on his
threatening attitude the ground seemed to collapse
beneath his feet. Shizuka stared down at a perfectly
circular black hole in the ground, and immediately
recognized who did it before she emerged.
"Shizuka, is that you?" asked Hokuto, emerging from
her shadow along with a darkness-chilled thug. "That
looks cute on you!" she declared, putting on her
'darling' voice.
"Hokuto?" Akane gasped.
"Oh great, not you again," Ranma groaned.
"I could've handled him," the priestess said.
"Not from where I'm standing," the Shadow Weaver
replied smartly, putting one foot on the shivering
thug. Bystanders were already backing away from the
traveler of the darkness.
Hokuto sized up Shizuka, looking up and down at her
outfit. "When'd you decide to get serious?"
"Shut up."
"It's so nice," she added, running a hand up and down
Shizuka's side, feeling the texture of the dress.
Instantly touching a nerve Hokuto joined the thug on
the ground, her face red from the quick blow to the
cheek. "Hands off, bisexual whore."
"That hurt, Shizu," Hokuto complained, rubbing her
cheek.
The priestess's eyes glanced toward Ranma and Akane,
who were both staring without blinking, as if in
shock. She glanced all around at the crowd of people,
noting their stares, and suddenly her anger was
replaced by embarrassment. Fixated her eyes in the
space between the couple's heads she pushed her way
past without another word.
She didn't realize she was running until after her
eyes were blinded from the tears.
---
Kode enjoyed sorting through his hunter's trinkets,
spilling them all out of a sack he stole from one of
the stores earlier. In the solitude of the abandoned
warehouse no one could disturb the badger-creature's
fetishes.
With a quick swipe of the claw Kode snatched up a
steel card, a projectile weapon thrown by the hand
with edges that could split a hair. He held it on its
long side and swept away all the obvious talisman,
knowing that touching one of the dangerous devices
directly could sting bad. He was disappointed to see
that the paper was the general consistency of the
priestess/hunter's belongings.
His eye caught sight of a shiny object, buried under
the pile and hidden from sight before the sifting.
Throwing the steel card aside Kode lifted up a string
of porcelain beads, each painted a different color and
glowing with mystical energy.
If there was anything in the junk that would make a
good meal, it was the beads. Kode opened his mouth
wide, and dangled the string overhead.
---
"So that's where you're hiding," Akane called,
climbing her way to the top of the Tendo roof where
Shizuka was sitting, obviously hurt.
"There's not one damn place to hide in this city,"
Shizuka muttered under her breath. "Not for me, at any
rate; I draw stares no matter where I go because of
this stupid dress."
Akane pulled herself up aside the other girl,
silently offering to listen. Shizuka took her up on
that offer.
"It's not just because I was being nasty to Hokuto,"
she explained, "because she's used to it. It's...
it's, wretched."
"You're a girl, and yet you're not a girl," Akane
finished.
"That, too!" she admitted. "And because I'm also
attracting boys and girls while I'm at it!"
She turned and faced Akane suddenly. "Akane, allow
me to challenge you!!"
"W... why?"
"Because if I can't beat even your sister, what good
am I? I'm supposed to be the successor of the
Shimozuki-school of sword-fighting!"
---
Mizuki peered into Shizuka's room, concern in her
eyes as she watched her charge take several practice
swings, using two swords. "You know," she stated,
"you don't HAVE to use both of them at once."
Shizuka took another practice swing. "Hey, you gave
me BOTH of them, so I'm going to use both of them.
It's not my fault you can't use twins."
"If you were meant to use both at once I would've
taught you that way," the elder priestess said, shaking
her head. "You're so difficult sometimes."
---
Shizuka took a quick swing, and Akane caught it bare
in her hand. "Maybe you ought to take it out of the
scabbard first," she suggested, feeling absolutely no
pain from parrying the sudden attack.
"I've been jinxed," the priestess muttered. "Damn
that badger...."
"You're judging yourself too hard," Akane tried to
say, but Shizuka wasn't listening.
"Ever since I was born I've been dodging the bullet,
the one reserved for girls," Shizuka ranted. "All
there's in store for me is to become a cute housewife,
learning worthless crap like flower arranging, tea
ceremony, dancing... and being submissive. To a man,
no less."
She clenched a fist. "Bloody hell, I LOOK like a
cute girl."
Before she could continue, they heard a loud
explosion in the distance. Smoke rose from the east,
in the direction of the docks, followed by a growing
mass of... whatever. Sharp claws glistened against the
sunlight, made of sharp steel. The monstrosity had a
distinct snout, and it quickly towered over the smoke.
"Kode," Shizuka knew. She cursed, slamming her fist
down on tile. "He ate my beads."
"A giant badger?!" exclaimed Akane, unsure if her
eyes were playing tricks on her. "Is THAT what you
were trying to hunt?"
"The imp's metabolism allows it to grow in size once
it consumes a certain amount of energy," the priestess
explained. "Sealed away Kode barely had enough energy
to survive, so he was pretty puny. My summoning beads
have loads of magic in them, so it's no wonder he grew
so fast."
Shizuka got up to her feet. "I'm going to have to
get more beads, too."
"Wait, Shizuka!" Akane cried, trying to reach out to
the single-minded girl. "You might get killed this
way!"
"It's my mess, so I've got to clean it up," she
replied lowly. "I'll do it, or die trying."
The priestess vaulted off the roof, heading in the
direction of the carnage over Akane's warnings.
---
Mizuki, you were once like me, long before. You
were alone, left behind, discarded, with the death of
your parents. You, without any known living family
were cast to the same fate as I, to become a priestess
of Genbu.
You were just like me, without family. You were
alone, and had no one to turn to, so you took up the
sword, and the lonely task of chasing down the demons
rather than wait for them to come calling, as the other
exorcists do. You were the first of your kind for a
long time, and you had no other desire until I came
into the service.
I was just like you, cast out by the world, and given
the lonely task of exorcism. You finally found kinship
in another's company by adopting me as a younger
sister. No, it went both ways; you're both my mentor
and big sister.
You told me how it was, to live such a lonely life.
You taught me that it was better to take the initiative
and find the demons before they could bring harm to
people. You instilled in me a sense of justice, to
help those who could not help themselves. I learned
everything from you.
That is, until you changed, when you entered the
Genbu Tower for the sealing rite. The succession
of Genbu's power rejected you, and it scarred you
deeply for the rest of your life. It not only affected
you, but more myself as well.
You no longer took up the sword, passing it on to me
to take care of. Your change of heart forced you to
remain at the shrine, to tend to the functions you now
hold today. You changed... you changed....
Along with that change you also fell in love. You
became weak, Sister, by leaving behind all that you
loved for a man. You became a senior long before your
time, and all you do is carry out the whims of others
where before you took initiatives. I barely recognized
the changes in you.
Until now.
I see them clearly, for the first time. I see for
the first time that I'm falling into the same trap as
you, without the help of the stars of Genbu to show me
the way. My heart beats for a man, and my grace is
being slowly stripped-away before my eyes. Am I to
become nothing more than a weakling?
No! I'll cling to my freedom as long as I can. I
can't lose. I can't betray service to the people for
personal whims. I won't lay down the sword like you
did, and I won't accept this monstrosity I'm turning
into.
I just wish the chamber of my shotgun would dry
faster.
---
"Where's Godzilla when you need him?" Ranma wondered
as he stared up into the air at the giant badger
monster. The demon was easily twenty-times taller than
the martial artist, and things definitely weren't
looking good in his direction.
"We leave this all up to you!" the head priest said,
the same one who hired Shizuka earlier. The cowardly,
inept man was already bolting.
"Right," Ranma muttered. "I've faced half-dragons to
demi-gods, so giant badgers shouldn't be too bad....
I hope."
The hulking giant's snout leveled downward, and
Ranma saw his own reflection in the monster's eye. "I
see... you're my next opponent?" he rumbled, sounding
bored.
"You're Kode, right?" the martial artist shouted,
trying his best to fight his inner fear of getting
trampled on by the beast. "Give it up, I've beaten
things stronger than you!"
"Were they as tall as me?" Kode sneered, rearing his
left claw back, bearing steel nails.
The claw came crashing down, and Ranma leaped
backward as the broken concrete was scattered about
from impact. Suddenly he wondered how in the world he
was expected to fight the beast.
"You're not going to beat him that way," he heard
Shizuka say from behind. Ranma craned his neck enough
to see the lavender-dressed girl out of the corner of
his eye.
"What're you doing here?" he demanded. "Don't you
need your spells and stuff?"
"I'll beat this monster, I owe him," she insisted.
Shizuka withdrew one of the swords from the two sheaths
hanging off her left waist, holding it overhand instead
of her usual underhand.
"Oh, it's you," Kode recognized, peering down at the
newcomer. "And my, aren't you a sight?"
"Hey, this is embarrassing enough as it is!" Shizuka
cried. "I don't need demons hitting on me, too!"
"Why do you think everybody's hitting on you?!"
Ranma wondered, but his question went unanswered.
She raised the sword up high over her head, grasping
it with both hands. "Get ready! Shimozuki-school
attack... Sonic Slicer!"
Ranma watched Shizuka bring the sword down, and
flinched a little in anticipation of a good, solid
attack, but the only thing he felt was a brief slice of
wind. He facefaulted. "What the hell was that?"
"That's what I want to know," Kode said, also a bit
confused. He lowered the claw he raised to shield his
eyes, and simply stared at Shizuka intently.
"Why didn't it work?" she wondered aloud, angry at
herself.
---
"Now Shizuka," Mizuki said, unsheathing her sword
and turning her back to the younger girl, "pay close
attention to what I'm about to do. Half of the
technique is the form...."
Unfortunately, had the older sister paid attention
she would have noted that Shizuka was too busy
scribbling in a sketchbook to pay attention to her
sword techniques.
---
"Oh shit," Shizuka cursed, remembering why she
couldn't reproduce Mizuki's sword techniques.
"Then why are you using those, anyway?" Ranma
demanded. "Where's your shotgun or your spells or
something?"
"Shotgun's still drying out," she replied, "and I
never got to the shrine anyway. So I couldn't prepare
any spells."
With the revelation of the news the badger-creature's
spirits soared. "Well, then! I guess I don't have
anything to worry from you."
"You've still got me, imp!" Ranma cried. Cupping his
hands together, he threw a huge bolt of ki. "Moko
Takabisha!"
Despite the fact that the energy bolt caught Kode
square in the chest, it apparently did not faze him.
"Was that supposed to hurt me?"
"Dummy," Shizuka cried, "you can't get him like
that! Kode's too powerful to get hurt by those
anymore."
Amidst the chaos between the two, the badger demon
was trampling off in the other direction, smashing cars
with his huge feet.
"Then why were you trying to do it?!" Ranma demanded
angrily.
"I CAN do it!" Shizuka cried. "It's just... it's
because I've gotten weaker. Weaker than before, that
is. The whole culmination of my weakness is this
dress."
"Eh?" Ranma blinked in confusion.
"I've become as weak as a normal, helpless girl.
Weaker than your sister Nabiki. All my life I've made
myself strong so I could avoid such a fate as being a
weakling, but it's becoming inevitable the longer I
breathe."
"Shizuka," the martial artist stated plainly, "that's
the dumbest thing I've ever heard. You ain't getting
pity from me. You think too much; that's your
problem."
"No, I...."
"Look, you're FAR from weak, and I know it as a
fact," Ranma insisted, trying his best to encourage
her. "You gotta stop thinking in terms of measuring
with me; of COURSE I'm better than you, but you're
better than a lot of normal people are, guy or girl.
Most girls run scared from mice, but you just catch
them and feed them to your snake. Heck, you're not
afraid of snakes, either. At least you've got the
sense to look past some silly fears. Not to mention
you aren't afraid to speak your mind."
"And who cares about the dress, anyway? Why are you
making such a big deal out of nothing? It's not like
signing a death warrant or something...."
"'Big deal...?' You're not the one wearing the girly
dress."
"I'm a guy! And besides, clothes don't make you who
you are, it's you."
---
"The other part of it is your mindset," finished
Mizuki. "There's no simple, clear-cut way around it;
the way you think affects how you fight."
"You sure?" asked Shizuka, poking her head out of her
sketchbook.
"Shizuka, you need to learn how to focus," Mizuki
told her, turning around to see that the younger girl
wasn't paying attention. "I mean, it's interesting
that you like to question the world and everything,
but sometimes you've got to set your mind on one goal,
and throw the rest away."
"But that way you might miss something," the younger
girl pointed out, waving a pencil in emphasis.
"That's why you don't do it all the time," the elder
said with a smile. "Part of training is to learn when
to do and when to relent, and when to give your all."
---
"Why are you quitting, Sis?" Shizuka cried, her
voice filled with confusion and great sadness as she
watched Mizuki store her tools of the trade in a box.
"Why aren't you hunting anymore?"
The elder priestess offered a smile, but Shizuka
could not tell if it was genuine. "Dear Shizuka,
I've found my calling. I can't continue to hunt; it's
not my way."
"It's that man!" the younger pouted. "He's making
you quit! Why?"
"Don't be so difficult!" Mizuki pleaded. "This
decision wasn't made lightly; you know that as much as
anyone. If I were called to do so I would continue the
hunt for as long as I could... but it's over. I'm
tired. I need to move on with my life. It's not like
I'm going away or anything...."
"But it won't be the same anymore! I need you! I
can't do it by myself!"
"Shizuka, if the world didn't change, mankind should
have died out a long time ago... from boredom."
Mizuki reached down into the box again, and produced
her snake-pommel sword, the twin to the one she
presented Shizuka earlier when she deemed her training
period complete. She held it out carefully in both
hands. "Shizuka, I want you to have this."
"Because you're not going out anymore...."
"It's not that," she insisted. "Whenever you take
this sword out on a hunt, I'll be there to help you.
Always. Remember that, Little Sister; no matter what
happens I'll always be the same Mizuki as before. You
can do it; you have to believe that you can, or you're
doomed to fail before you even started."
---
Mizuki, your calling was always to train me. What
you saw in the Genbu Tower was divine inspiration to
guide me on the path so I would succeed in learning the
sealing rite. You knew all along, and so did I... but
I never allowed myself to realize it. Yours is to
watch and guide... mine is to learn and grow....
...because you're far too mature for your age, and
I'm far too immature for my age.
This sword I hold in my hand, the one you gave me
last of your pair... it guides my hand even now, Sis.
I'm Shizuka Minazuki, and nothing changes that fact,
just as nothing changes the fact that you are Mizuki,
to whom I owe everything to. I am not weak.
I will not count on others; I will believe in myself
and defeat this demon by myself.
The priestess held her sword parallel to her body
in front of her, and thought back further into the
recesses of her mind. Somewhere, somehow, she knew she
was the successor of the Shimozuki-school of
swordsmanship, despite her utter lack of dedication to
the blade. She knew, despite her general disinterest
in swords.
I just didn't want to know them, she realized. I was
too fixated on guns to care.
She glared in Kode's direction, and shouted out the
demon's name. The badger-creature glanced over his
shoulder to see what the girl was up to, but that was
all the time Shizuka was going to allow him.
"Raw energy fails to harm a being as powerful as you,
Kode," she knew, "but even you can't stand the force of
basic nature!"
Raising her sword high, she brought it down,
shouting, "Sonic Slicer!"
A visible, yet quick wave zoomed across the sky,
booming and echoing off any surface available. Both
Ranma and Kode, along with any other bystander in
earshot, covered their ears from the sudden blast of
sound. In the area that counted, the badger-creature
collapsed onto his side on the ground, crushing and
destroying even more cars, but was nonetheless
disabled from the sonic attack.
"Didn't expect that, did you?" Shizuka muttered,
laboring for breaths for several moments. "Gotta love
the bass, though; I should've learned the drums."
The priestess smiled to herself, knowing that a
sound-based sword technique was the last thing anyone
expected out of her. It was one of the benefits of the
Shimozuki-school's teachings; unlike most other sword
schools its ki was not based on the absence of air,
but rather the basic wave motions in physics. Of
course, the trick was the user also had to get used to
the noise, too.
Quickly sheathing her sword, Shizuka walked to
Ranma's side, as the martial artist, too, was on the
ground in pain. "And you thought my singing voice was
bad," she muttered, smiling slightly.
---
"You should've seen it!" Ranma yelled, finishing
his recounted tale of Shizuka's sudden confidence
boost. It did little to help that he could barely hear
himself thanks to his proximity to the Slicer attack.
"Well, I would've seen it too, but I was too busy
covering my ears to notice."
"Oh, stop it," Shizuka scoffed, flushing in
embarassment despite herself. Her eyes passed to each
face of the residents of the Tendo household over
dinner, as they offered her this meal out of kindness.
It beat the clean-up job the shrine priests had to do
in order to get the writhing Kode back in his seal.
If there was something just as bad as drawing stares,
it was getting praised over nothing.
"Wish I were there to see it," Nabiki said, sounding
a bit regretful. "It's not every day you see giant
badgers crushing cars."
"Around here, how can you be surprised?" Akane
replied jokingly.
"Oh, one more thing," Kasumi interjected. "Shizuka,
your things are dry, and I went ahead and sewed-up
your sleeves for you."
"Thank you," the priestess said.
"I've set them aside upstairs in Akane's room, so
feel free to change whenever you like."
"Bet you're itching to get out of that dress, huh?"
Ranma whispered to her.
"What?" replied the priestess aloud, for everyone
else to hear. "Are you dying to see how well Akane
looks in it?"
"Uh, well...."
"Ranma...?" Akane said, expecting an answer.
"That's fine," interrupted Shizuka. "I'll be out of
your guys' hair in no time." She turned to face Soun
Tendo at the head of the table. "If I may be excused,
sir...."
---
"The world changes a lot, and so do people," Mizuki
explained. "But that'll never change the fact that we
are who we are."
"That's the corniest thing I've ever heard," Shizuka
replied, rolling her eyes.
"Well, you know, there's a ring of truth to a lot of
those corny sayings," the other girl said with a laugh.
"Be those changes our own doing, or the doing of
another, we continue to define ourselves because we
have the will to do it. It's one of the things that
defines us as human beings. You'll understand
someday."
"Yeah, after I've heard all the rest of the
cornies," she scoffed.
---
The door of Ranma and Akane's room shut behind her,
Shizuka was glad to be away from the others, to be
given a chance to make use of Mizuki's preaching.
True to Kasumi's word, her clothes were folded neatly
on a chair next to Akane's bed, along with her now-dry
shotgun resting against its side.
Yet, that hardly interested her at the moment, as the
priestess turned her attention toward the standing
mirror. Experimentally, as if she only just put the
dress on, Shizuka ran the fabric between her gloved
fingers, understanding for the first time how soft and
smooth it felt despite being unable to touch it with
her fingers directly. She reached to the zipper on
the back of the dress, but paused, and lowered her
arms.
Shizuka stared at herself long and hard in the
standing mirror, basking in the thought that there was
something good in her appearance, after all.
Well, I grant, it does look kinda cute... but it's
still not me. Still, it couldn't hurt... if just for a
while longer....
Her expression hardly faded as a ghostly visage
appeared behind her reflection. Two coals of pupils
stared back at her.
"Do you find this to your liking?" Deathclaw asked
finally, breaking his long silence during the entire
ordeal. There was no hint of malice in the creature's
tone, as Deathclaw's cavernous voice remained even
throughout.
The priestess closed her eyes, lowering her head
slightly, feeling relieved that the ghost dragon, too,
would accept this. "Yes."
-----------------------------------------------
Author's Rant
Okay, so it was ANC-centric (well, I'm not entirely
certain if Shizuka qualifies for the standard Annoying
New Character mold; sure she's annoying but she doesn't
have the solution to everything... if anything she
makes things worse). Jack-of-all-trades, master of
none; so she can do a lot but is pretty bad at all of
them.
Shizuka was the only one of my characters I could see
that would be actively embarrassed at the trappings of
girls; it's an extension of her atypical behavior, I
suppose. After a little prompting from inspiration I
took this untouched issue and ran with it. I'm also
looking into the same with the other characters....
-- Razorclaw X (spiceoflife@NYChotmail.com)
http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/ranma/ranff.html
<!-- End File -->