So here's part 3.  Let me know if Kuno's little speech worked
OK.  It ended up totally different from how I had first written it.
C&C welcomed (you'll even get an answer back).  Or just C if you don't
have time for both...



			Twisted Destiny 3

{insert ALL standard disclaimers and even some nonstandard ones}



Akane's feet settled on the floor and she blinked twice.  "Is
dinner ready?" she asked.

"No!" yelled Ranma again, causing Akane to take a step back.  "I'm
better than that moron could ever hope to be!  What would it take?
I'll do anything!"

Everyone was staring at the two with disbelief, a little confusion
and even a bit of awe.

Akane put her hands up to keep Ranma back.  "Ranma, why are you
shouting at me?"  He was acting so strangely.

Ranma glared at Akane, but seeing it was only her and not Kamiko,
he focussed in on Kuno.  "You.  It's all your fault.  You caused
this.  You made her like this.  I'm going to give you the beating
of your life," Ranma hissed.  Cold fury shone in his eyes, his
muscles rippled as he stood and stalked towards the seated Kuno.

"Saotome," Kuno began.  He was confident that he could defeat
Ranma, but there was a little bell labeled 'self-preservation' in
the back of his mind; it was ringing.  He chose to ignore it.

As soon as he stood up, Ranma had grabbed hold of him.  "I am so
sick of your challenges and your grabby hands and your stupid
poetry...  And now you do this to Akane.  We're about to find out
how immortal you really are."  Ranma pulled his fist back, ready
to hammer it into Kuno's face.

"Ranma!  Stop it!  You'll kill him!" objected Akane, looking at
the two with worry.  She could see, feel, that Ranma wasn't going
to stop with simple unconsciousness this time.

"I know."

"What?  But if you kill him you'll be...  Hey!  What do you mean
immortal?"  She just joked Ranma hadn't lost it.

'No memory,' Ranma thought.  'If I do this without explaining
anything, she'll probably have a heart attack.'  He released Kuno
and shoved him away.  "You're right, Akane.  There are some things
we need to explain."  Ranma retook his seat next to his father.

"Hmph.  There is nothing to explain," stated Kuno.  "I was able to
protect you, Akane Tendo, while he was not."  He glanced
contemptuously at Ranma.

That brought a throaty growl from Ranma, who put a large crack in
the table.  Things would be explained, then he would have his shot
at Kuno.  He kept having to tell himself that Akane was his first
concern.

"Wait.  What do you mean 'protect'?  And how did I get down here?
Did I pass out again?"  Akane was getting more confused by the
moment; nothing anyone was saying made any sense.

"You could say that again," Nabiki muttered, returning to her
normal self.

"Akane, you gotta stop and listen," Ranma said with all
seriousness.  "We don't much, ourselves, so don't get too upset."

Akane frowned.  Why would she get upset?  Unless it was something
Ranma had done...

"Ranma, what did you do?" she asked, her gaze darkening.

"Ranma didn't do anything," Nabiki intervened.  "Just listen."

Akane was surprised by Nabiki's grave manner and sat down.  "So
talk."

"Well, you were..."

Nabiki held up her hand, silencing Ranma.  "Please, Ranma.  You
have the tact and subtlety of a rhino in heat.  And you weren't
there.  Let me."

"Yes, ma'am."

Nabiki proceeded to relate the days events, with input from Ranma
and Kuno, and some unhelpful crying from Soun.

"And then you came downstairs."

"But I don't remember coming down here."

"And here is where it gets sticky," Nabiki said uncomfortably.
"It wasn't you, Akane."

"Yeah," piped in Ranma before Akane could say anything.  "You were
like a goddess or something."

Akane blushed, taking Ranma's statement in the wrongest way.

"Except you were scary looking."

Akane scowled and her hand twitched, almost grabbing for her
mallet.

"And then you, but it really wasn't you, said your name was Kamiko
Kuraii and you, her, both of you, were immortal.  And that there
might be some people coming after you.  But not really you...
her."  Ranma ended there, not mentioning anything about Kuno.

"Ranma, the part you left out is just as important as the rest of
it," Nabiki said, frowning a little.  "Not telling her won't help
at all."

"What did he leave out?  What aren't you telling me?" Akane asked
Nabiki.

"Um...  Only that you, her, has a guardian to protect her, you,
from whoever these people are."  Nabiki looked at the table top.

"Really?"  Akane seemed to perk up.  No doubt she was thinking
about some thickly muscled, ruggedly handsome man, or a fiercely
loyal and insanely cute wolf guard.  "Where is he?"  Akane looked
around to see if she had missed a stranger in the house.

Nabiki pointed at Kuno but said nothing.  Ranma looked in the
opposite direction, frowning heavily.

Akane looked at Kuno, who was looking at her evenly.  "Oh come on,
Nabiki.  This is no time to make jokes.  Where is he?  Really?"

Nabiki pointed at Kuno again, her eyes still directed at the
table.

Akane looked at Nabiki, her smile fading, then at Kuno.  She
looked at the others; no one was laughing at Nabiki's joke.  She
started to get mad.  "Fine.  If you're going to make jokes at my
expense, then I'll just go upstairs."

She stood up, extra annoyed at her family, and marched upstairs.
She would just stay there until they all had their little laugh,
then someone would come up and tell her dinner was ready.  She
went into her room and slammed the door.  Laying down, she exhaled
heavily to get her anger under control.  What good would it do to
get mad if they were all in on it?

***

"Now I'm sending you on a trip to visit your namesake, 'Blue
Thunder'," Ranma said, anger coming off him in waves.  He stood
and watched Kuno do the same.

"Saotome, you think it shall be that easy?  You are sadly
mistaken.  I need not even use my full abilities."

"Good.  That'll just make it quicker."

Ranma and Kuno circled each other, moving away from the table.
Kuno had not acquired a fresh bokken, so was stalling.  Ranma
simply wanted to savor the moment before Kuno's trashing.

Genma, Soun and Nabiki were all watching with trepidation.  Nabiki
was ready to cover her eyes in case Kuno decided to die again.

"Nabiki, could you help me cut the carrots," asked Kasumi, coming
out of the kitchen with her big cooking knife.

The sound of her voice sent the two combatants charging at each
other.  Ranma, being quicker on his feet, reached Kuno first and
delivered an uppercut square on the chin.  Kuno flew backwards and
hit the unsuspecting Kasumi.  The two fell to the floor.

"Oh, geez!"  Ranma rushed over to the fallen pair and pushed Kuno
off Kasumi.  "Are you alright, Kasumi?  I didn't mean to knock him
into you."

"I'm fine, Ranma.  No harm done."  Kasumi straightened her apron.
She looked down at Kuno, who had gotten himself into a sitting
position.  "Are you alright, Tatewaki," she asked, always
concerned for others.

He looked up at her, his eyes wide and his face pale.  He rose to
his feet and leaned heavily against the wall.  "I don't think so,"
he said.

Nabiki covered her eyes.

Kuno reached one hand behind his back, as if he was grabbing for
something.

Ranma jumped back, expecting a bokken to come flying in his
direction.

Instead, Kuno reached back with his other hand.  His face was a
bit paler and his motions were becoming a bit more frantic.  After
several more moments of whatever he was doing, he turned his back
to Kasumi.  "Would you, please?"

"Oh my," Kasumi said, then removed the cooking knife from Kuno's
back.

Kuno fell face first to the floor, his back covered in blood.

"I do hope he'll be OK.  The hospital can be awfully expensive,"
Kasumi said before walking back into the kitchen.

Ranma looked closely at Kuno's back.  He could see the large wound
where the knife had pierced Kuno's flesh; he thought he could even
see some bone.  Probably a rib.

A hissing noise started to come from the wound and a dark vapor
coalesced in the air around it.  Then, amazingly, the vapor began
to flow into the wound.  In front of Ranma's disbelieving eyes,
the wound closed itself with a little *phip*.

Kuno stirred, then rolled to his back.  "That was most
unpleasant."  He scrambled to his feet and glared at Ranma.  "So
you have defeated me this time, Saotome.  But only through the
treacherous use of Kasumi Tendo.  If I had my weapon, you would
surely be reduced to supplication."

Ranma simply stared at Kuno.  How could someone be so... brain
dead?  He had just been stuck in the back with a knife the size of
Ranma's forearm and didn't seem to care.  Ranma wished he had that
kind of recovery power; it would be useful against Akane and her
mallet.

Nabiki peered between her fingers to see that Kuno was on his feet
and looking lively.  She sighed.  "I hate this family," she said
under her breath.

Ranma looked warily at Kuno, trying to decide if it was worth it
to continue the beating.  Glancing at the people seated at the
table, he decided not and returned to his seat next to his father.

His life never got simpler, only more complicated.

***

There was a soft knock on Akane's door.  Expecting it to be
Kasumi, Akane left her head buried in her pillow.  "Come in."

She heard the door open then close, but nothing else.  That was
unlike Kasumi, so she rolled to over to see who was there.
"Kuno-sempai.  What are you doing here?"

"I wished to apologize.  Things were said that were not meant to
be in jest."

"I... I know.  It's all so hard to believe, but deep down...  I
know," Akane said softly.  She had really hoped that, by
returning to her room, she would wake up from the dream she was
caught in.

Kuno sat in Akane's desk chair.  Akane could see he had a knife in
his hands.  "Are you angered at the situation?  Are you
disappointed that I have been chosen as your guardian?"

Akane looked away, staring blankly at the wall.  "Yes."  She
looked back at Kuno, tears in her eyes.  "It just isn't fair!  Why
can't my life be normal?  I wish I never lived here..."

Sadness appeared on Kuno's face.  "You don't like me," he said in
a singular moment of realization.

Akane looked at him, surprised and a little guilty.  "It's not
that," she said quickly.  "It's just that...  Well, you...
You're..."

"You don't like me.  I understand.  I think that if I could leave
and never bother you again, I would."

Akane felt like she had just been hit by a truckload of bricks.
"What?  Why?"  How she had longed to hear him say that, and now
that he was, she needed to know why.

Kuno looked out the window.  "I know that many consider me a
pillar of strength and stability.  It is a difficult position to
maintain and one that many a time I wish I could relinquish.
There are things expected of me, things I am not always pleased
with."  He looked back at Akane.  "My pursuit of you has become
one of those things.  It is not the noble quest it once was, yet
it is expected that I continue it."

"But to fulfill my duty as your guardian, I shall forego my
personal agenda and concentrate only on your safety.  I shall not
abandon you."

"But how can you..."

"Do you not believe what you have been told?  How can you deny the
truth that has been given to you?"

Oh boy.  Kuno lecturing her on truth was the last thing she
needed.  She rolled her eyes.  "Look, if you were in my position,
what would you think?  How would you feel?  And why did this all
have to happen now and not earlier?"  It was just the tip of the
mountain of questions she had.

"Let me prove it then, if you are still unsure."

"Prove it?  You don't have to..."

"I must.  Your confidence in my abilities is of the utmost
importance.  I must to prove the truth in my words, our existence,
my dedication."  He raised the knife.

"No!"

Kuno brought down the knife and plunged it into his stomach.  It
entered easily, sending a few spurts of blood onto the floor.

Akane watched with horrified fascination as Kuno wrenched the
knife across, slicing open his abdomen in ritual suicide fashion.
The blood drenching the floor went completely unnoticed.

Kuno pulled the knife from his gut and dropped it.  He had
suddenly lost feeling in his arms and was having trouble staying
in his chair.

"Kuno-sempai!" Akane cried, but could not make herself move from
the bed.  Her eyes were drawn to the slit visible through Kuno's
gi, and the blood gushing from it.  With great difficulty, she
tore her eyes away and looked at his face.

For some reason, she expected to see peace on it.  There was
nothing of the kind there.  More than anything, he looked like he
was drunk.  His eyes were half-lidded and his mouth was hanging
open a little.  He was teetering in the chair, ready to fall out,
his arms hanging down limply at his sides.

Akane squeeked as he finally did fall and hit the floor.

And just as Ranma had seen, Akane watched the wound heal itself
and Kuno regain his color.  She was totally speechless.  There was
no way she could deny that Kuno had an amazing power; the power
over life and death itself.  And with that character on his
forehead, how could she deny what the others had told her.

Kuno got up unsteadily and retook his seat at Akane's desk.  He
opened his gi and looked at his stomach.  There was a little
blood, but no scars, no marks, no nothing.  He exhaled deeply and
closed his gi.  He looked at Akane to see her reaction.

"Does it...  Did it hurt?"

He nodded.  "As if the deed were permanent."

"What's it like?  To die, I mean."  Sometimes, Akane's gentle
human touch rivaled that of Ranma's.

"'Tis the infinite abyss itself."  Kuno looked at something far
away.  "Then a light, brighter than the sun, and it's as if one
was being awakened from a deep slumber."  He looked back at Akane.
"Not an experience I wish for you to have."

Akane nodded, her gaze returning to the blood-stained gash in
Kuno's gi.  "I guess that proves it, doesn't it?" she asked more
to herself than anyone.

"Come.  Let us inform your family that you are well."  Kuno stood,
his legs a but rubbery and extended his hand to Akane.

Akane watched his hand shake slightly, then grasped it and allowed
him to help her stand.  It was the first time she really realized
that he was not the infallible, samurai lord he liked to make
himself out to be.  He was just like her, except his mental
problems seemed to far outweigh her physical problems.

As she walked behind Kuno, looking at the hole in the back of his
gi, she couldn't help but wonder what kind of person he was really
like.  And what did IT really feel like?  Could it change someone
as drastically as it seemed to have done to Kuno?

She didn't know if anyone else could tell, most likely Nabiki
could, just how different he was acting.  He still seemed
exceedingly amorous, yet severely subdued, even humble.  Humble in
the face of eternal life?  Or in the face of a series of
neverending deaths?

Eternal life... just like her.  She shuddered at the thought, her
teeth chattering a bit.  It was like a cold wind blowing over her
skin, to know that she would never die.  Unless someone killed
her.

Kuno turned at the sound of Akane's clicking teeth.  "Are you
positive you are well?" he asked, standing in the middle of the
stairs.

Akane hugged herself, trying to make the chill go away.  She
nodded.  "Just a little cold is all.  Kuno-sempai?"  There were so
many things she wanted to ask.  "Why do you chase me?  Why do you
think I love you?"

Kuno looked hurt.  "Why?  Because you possess grace and beauty and
strength the likes of which I have seen in no other.  You have a
grand and glorious fighting spirit that I admire.  And, I must
admit, the fact that you refuse me, even though you know the
depths of my love, only drives me on."  He saw the annoyance on
her face.  "But you already are aware of that."

Akane nodded, trying to form a response.  She always knew that's
what he thought, he never tried to hide it, but it was different
hearing it straight from his mouth.  "Kuno-sempai," she said
quietly.

"Akane, why don't you come down and have some dinner," Kasumi said
from the bottom of the stairs.

"We'll be right down, Kasumi," Akane answered, her response to
Kuno pushed to the back of her mind.

Kasumi smiled at them gently then headed back to the kitchen.

"We can talk about this later, Kuno-sempai."

"I'd like it if you would call me Tatewaki."

"I... I can't do that," Akane answered sadly.  "I just don't feel
that way about you.  And nothing you can do will ever change how I
feel."

"I see.  Saotome still holds you..."

"No!  Ranma doesn't have any hold over me!  And he's not an evil
sorceror!" Akane shouted.  "You've never understood before, I
don't know why I should expect you to understand now," she said,
exasperated.

She brushed past him, shaking her head, and went to eat.

Kuno watched her go.  "I see that Saotome still holds you close to
his heart, as you do with him," he said softly.

Dinner went ahead without further interruptions as soon as Akane
and Kuno had sat down.  Everyone ate in silence, paying attention
to their own food.  Even Ranma and his father declined to steal
food from each other.

"You know," Nabiki said, speaking with a mouthful.  "I bet Dr.
Tofu would be able to help you out, Akane."

Akane looked at Nabiki, a bit surprised.  "Why do you think that?"
She needed some good news.

"You know how he is.  He's probably got some book or scroll tucked
away that could help us out."

"That's a good idea.  We can go tomorrow morning.  It can't hurt
even if he isn't able to help us out."

"Unless Kasumi's with you," Ranma added.

Nabiki smirked.

***

The group, consisting of the three Tendo sisters, Ranma and Kuno,
were preparing to head over to Dr. Tofu's clinic.

"Uh, Kuno-chan.  Maybe you should cover that up," Nabiki said,
pointing to his forehead.

"I suppose.  We do not wish to call undue attentions to
ourselves."  He produced a long white strip of cloth, most likely
from the same place he kept his spare bokkens, and tied it around
his head.  "Is this acceptable?" he asked Nabiki.

She looked at it critically.  "Good enough.  I'll wave my
consultation fee this time."

"Thank you."

The group headed outside.

***

"Hi, Dr. Tofu," Akane called, stepping into the waiting room.

"Just a moment, Akane.  I'll be right out," he answered from his
examining room.

The group waited a few moments, then the doctor appeared.

He smiled, drying his hands.  "Good morning.  What seems to be the
problem?"

"Well, we were wondering if you could maybe investigate something
for us," Ranma said, his hand on the back of his head.

"Of course I c... c... Ka... Kasumi..."  The doctor's glasses
fogged up immediately as Kasumi came into his view.

Ranma ducked behind Kuno.

-O-O-O-O-O-O-O---

-- 
Lara

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