No jibber jabber here.  Just don't jump to conclusions
cuz they'll probably be wrong.. <wg>


			Twisted Destiny 6

{insert all disclaimers}

"Nabiki," Akane said with surprise.  She hadn't realized that her
sister had called her Kamiko.  "What are you doing?"  She tried to
pull away from Nabiki's grasp, but to no avail.

"Found you at last," Nabiki said, grinning.  Her grip was getting
stronger.

"Nabiki Tendo, or whatever you may be, unhand her."  Kuno pointed
his bokken threateningly at Nabiki.

"And if I don't?"  She directed her grin at him.

"Then you will force me to do something drastic."  He was swinging
his bokken in a very slow, deliberate pattern.  It did not appear
threatening... for the moment.

"Kuno-sempai, what are you..."  Akane was basically oblivious to
the danger she was in.

The bokken seemed to move with infinite slowness until Kuno had
it drawn back and ready to strike.  "Release her now."

Nabiki snickered.  "Like you're really going to... Urg!"  Nabiki
jumped away, releasing Akane, as the bokken moved forward with
surprising speed.

Nabiki landed about ten feet away, her face twisted into a snarl.
She raised her left arm, pointing it toward Akane.  It seemed to
bulge, then a thick green tentacle ripped through the skin and
shot towards Akane.

The crowd of students had retreated to a safe distance to watch
what was happening.  They were getting quite a show, and were so
enthused, Ranma couldn't push his way through them.

The tentacle would have plunged directly into Akane's chest if
Kuno had not shoved her aside.  He swung his bokken in an attempt
to sever the green limb, but found that it had been pulled away
already.  He looked at Nabiki, putting his body between the two
sisters.

Nabiki's other arm spewed forth another tentacle, heading for
Kuno's face.  He swung his bokken in a tight arc and sliced
through the incoming tentacle.  A spray of pale green goo shot out
of the stump and coated the group of onlooking students.

Akane was standing motionless behind Kuno, not quite able to
comprehend what was happening.  Why had Nabiki attacked her?  And
more importantly, why did Nabiki have tentacles?

The damaged tentacle withdrew and Nabiki glared at the stone-faced
Kuno.  There was a rumbling sound and more tentacles, thick as
small trees, ripped out of Nabiki's legs and rooted themselves in
the ground.  The thick, green stalks grew quickly, sending
Nabiki's body high into the air.  Even though she was grinning,
pain could be seen in her eyes.

"Retreat, Akane Tendo.  This is beyond your open-handed
techniques," Kuno warned.

Akane found she couldn't move, she was rooted in place by fear.
This was beyond anything she had experienced before.  "Na...
Nabiki."

"This is not your sister.  Do not get within her striking range."

"Move it!  What's going on?"  Ranma pushed through the crowd
finally to see the standoff going on.  "Akane!  Get away from
there!"  He took two steps forward, trying to keep one eye on
Akane and one on Nabiki.

"Stay back, Saotome!  This is not a fight for pride, it is a fight
for Akane Tendo's life!"

"I can handle this mys..."  Ranma skipped away from a tentacle
that exploded up from underneath him.  He knocked it away as it
tried to wrap itself around him.  He slapped it away again and
ducked his head as a stream of yellow liquid shot out the end.

Akane backed up, watching the battle unfold before her.  Ranma was
holding his own, even as two more tentacles began assaulting him.
Kuno was simply standing with his bokken held at the ready.  It
seemed to be a test of wills between him and the Nabiki monster.

"She can't be allowed to live!  Kaiyanwang will not allow it!"
Nabiki screamed in a voice that was not her own.

"I will not allow you to harm her.  And I will do my best to free
Nabiki Tendo from your vile clutches."  He didn't know if she
could be saved, but she deserved the effort.

"Don't worry, guardian.  Once the sanjiyan is dead, you'll have
your peace."  Even while Nabiki laughed, a tear rolled down her
cheek.

Kuno snarled, tuning out Ranma and the other students.  The
monster in front of him and Akane were his only concerns.  He
watched a dozen more tentacles rupture forth from Nabiki's trunk
and wave in the air menacingly.  He raised his bokken to defend
himself, knowing there was only one reason for the tentacles.

"Kuno-chan...  Help me..."

He took a step back at the sound of Nabiki's true voice and
lowered his guard.

The tentacles struck.

He tried to move to the side, but his ankle was suddenly held by
another snakish tentacle poking up from the concrete.  He gave a
half-hearted swing at the oncoming tentacles as he stumbled,
actually managing to slice off three of them.  The others got
through without a problem.

Each tentacle pierced his body like a spear, tore apart his
insides and exited out his back.  They smashed through the
sidewalk and buried themselves in the ground, suspending Kuno's
body.

Ranma stopped his dodging for a second to look at Kuno's body,
then resumed his evasive maneuvers.  He found that no matter how
many he managed to destroy, there were always more to take their
places.  'Kuno couldn't protect an elephant from a fly,' he
thought angrily, twisting away from a strike.

"A..."  He rolled to the side.  "Akane..."  He grabbed a spiny,
green skewer and ripped it off.  "Akane, get out of here!"  He
leapt after a tentacle going after his legs and deflected some
airborn thorns.

He spared a glance at her, spinning away from a shower of
corrosive, black ichor.  Akane was staring blankly at Kuno as the
monster advanced on her.

"Akane!" he shouted and felt a stinging in his hand.  Numbness
immediately spread up his entire arm and into his shoulder.  He
yelled with inarticulate rage, his arm hanging limply at his side.

He vaulted away, trying to reach Akane, but more tentacles
appeared in front of him.  With only one arm he felt nearly
useless.  His ki attacks would suffer, if he could even manage to
pull them off.

Ranma gave himself a little more room, keeping the writhing
enemies in front of him.  Kamiko had not even come close to
warning him of how powerful they really were; and how tricky they
could be.  He wasn't tired, but he was not as confident as usual.
'Crap, this is just what I need,' he thought, shaking his arm a
little.

He saw the tentacles tense, ready to strike.  He prepared to leap
away, knowing they would be easy enough to avoid.  Akane on the
other hand...

There was a great 'oo'ing noise from the students still watching
and Ranma was forced to shield his eyes from the intense light
coming from his left.  He felt another sting in his leg and nearly
collapsed to the ground.

Barely able to support himself with one numb leg, he concentrated
on blocking, unable to spare a look at what was causing the light.
He had a pretty good idea though.

The ground shook again, but instead of more tentacles appearing,
the ones he was fighting disappeared back into the ground.
Finally able to catch his breath, he looked towards the light,
squinting.  He tried to walk over but couldn't coordinate his leg.
He settled for hopping.

There, standing before the possessed Nabiki, was Akane.  Kamiko
had taken her cue and was giving off a glaring light, her third
eye open and showing malice.  The spear-like tentacles that had
been holding up Kuno were withdrawn, dropping him to the ground,
bokken still clutched in hand.

Whatever Kamiko was doing with the light seemed to be working
because the monster was emitting some noises Ranma was sure Nabiki
would never make.  It was also backing up, giving up ground to
Kamiko.

With the tentacles removed from his body, Kuno recovered quickly
and staggered to his feet.  He looked at Kamiko, the silvery light
almost blinding, then at the monster.  There was rage on Nabiki's
face, an inhuman anger, but also terror and pain.  His hand
tightened on his bokken; oh yes, they would pay dearly.

"Strike her down," Kamiko said in a whisper only he could hear.

He looked back at Kamiko.  She actually wanted him to kill...  He
couldn't kill a person, especially an innocent.  He shook his
head.  "I can not."

"You must.  It is the only way to free her.  Strike the base."

He looked back at the monster, seeing the mass of deadly tentacles
he would have to cut through.  But what did death mean to him?
Nothing.  There were others, however, that death was far more
permanent for.  He looked back up at the face, unable to believe
it was a monster to simply be destroyed.

Would it always be a matter of killing defenseless people?  If so,
he wasn't sure he would be able to do it.  "I can not," he
repeated, staring at the face he had known for so long.

"Then we will all die," came Kamiko's voice.  "And all of our
deaths will be for nothing.  Especially hers.  You can do nothing
and let her die as a pawn.  Or you can strike her and drive off
that which possesses her."

"Die for nothing..."  Her asking him to help her, whether it had
been a trick or not...  The pain and tears he saw were no trick.

He raised his bokken and with a battle cry, charged forward.  He
sliced through a mass of small tentacles before executing a
diagonal slash through the pair of trunk-like tentacles supporting
the creature.

True to form, he cut cleanly through them, bringing a howl of
inhuman pain as the creature began to topple over.  Ranma hobbled
out of the way to avoid being crushed.  The light from Kamiko
slowly faded as she looked on with detachment.

She was afraid she had been mistaken in taking someone so weak as
her guardian.  Could he not even do what was necessary to protect
her?  If only she had found a person like Benares...  But Benares
was an abomination; an evil man who cherished the suffering and
misery he caused.  No, Tatewaki Kuno would do.  He had to.  Once
the souls were merged, there was no way to seperate them, except
by her becoming human.

He was not so bad; he had many of the same beliefs the sanjiyan
had hundreds of years ago.  Naturally it would be difficult for
him to fight against someone he knew, was fond of.

She watched him attend to the unconscious form of Nabiki.  The
demon that had possessed her had fled, leaving her physically
unharmed.  "Ranma," she said, her attention turning to him as he
tried to work the feeling back in his arm.  "Feeling will return
in time.  That was merely a stunning technique."

"Oh, thanks."  He was uncomfortable talking with her.  The idea
that it was someone he knew but did not know unnerved him.  "Will
Nabiki be OK?"

"Physically, there is no damage.  It is the mental strain that
will have to be watched closely."

Ranma nodded, looking at Kuno seeing to Nabiki's safety.  Would he
be able to attack, with intent to kill, someone he knew?  If
everyone's life depended on it?  A friend, or even someone
closer?  Sure, he had killed Kuno, but that had been an accident
and he didn't particularly like Kuno.

"Things will be more difficult than I anticipated," Kamiko said in
that whispery voice.

Ranma saw Kuno look back at them.  Kuno had heard even though
Kamiko had only whispered.  "How are you... connected with your
guardian?" Ranma couldn't help but ask as Kuno continued to look
at them.

"Our souls are merged, that binds us on levels most humans will
never know or understand."

Ranma felt sick to his stomach.  "What kind of levels?"

"It is like a sharing of thoughts and feelings, telepathy and
empathy if you will.  I can read his thoughts and feel his
emotions when I choose to.  He could do the same with me if I
allowed him to.  I can communicate with him, as well.  Like you
just saw."

Ranma felt a little better, though still shaky on the whole idea
of merging souls.  How do you share a soul anyway?

"I know you already share your soul with Akane.  It is similar,
though one is emotional while the other is more mental.  The
emotional sharing can be much more powerful."  She didn't think he
would take kindly to the idea that many sanjiyan and their
guardians fell in love, both as a cause and effect of the mental
bond.

"But you can tell what I'm thinking..."

"As I said, even if you hide your feelings, the bond exists.  When
your feelings are strong, I can use that bond."

"Oh.  So you know..."  Ranma was trying his best not to blush.

"I know and there is nothing to be ashamed of.  I lost a love
once to Kaiyanwang."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be."  Kamiko faded faded away.

***

"How is she?"  Akane tried to pull away to check on Nabiki.

"She'll be fine.  Let Kuno take care of it."  'He's the one that
did it.'  That wasn't fair, though, and Ranma knew it.  "Kamiko
said she'd be fine."

"That's good."  There were tears in her eyes and her lower lip
quivered.

"Hey, what's the matter?  Everything's fine," Ranma said, seeing a
tear roll down her cheek.

"Nothing."  She put a hand over her mouth, trying not to make any
noise, trying to hide her weakness from Ranma.

"Come on.  I can see there's something.  You can tell me."

She looked in his eyes, searching for the mocking in them.  She
found only concern and couldn't help herself.  She threw herself
against him, her tears escaping freely.  "I can't stand it!  I
hate finding out what happened afterwards.  What if something
terrible happens and I can't do anything to stop it?"

Ranma patted her back, holding back his first thought about using
her cooking as wards.  Instead, something a bit more diplomatic
came out.  "Kamiko can handle it.  And if she can't, you wouldn't
be able to.  I'm not sure I'd be able to."  He grinned.  he had to
salvage a little pride there.

Akane continued to cry against his chest.  "I just hope Dr. Tofu
finds something fast," he added, watching Nabiki recover.

***

They were excused for the rest of the day for obvious reasons.
Ranma had regained all the feeling in his arm and leg and felt
fine.  Nabiki complained about a headache and sore neck, but that
was to be expected.  Ranma suspected she was complaining to hide
how scared she really was.  He couldn't blame her.

Ranma watched her trip over a crack in the sidewalk and stumble.
Kuno moved over to help her regain her balance.  He figured Kuno
was feeling guilty for attacking her.

She flashed Kuno a weak smile as he grabbed her arm.  She got her
feet underneath her and leaned heavily against him.  She felt like
hell and knew she looked it.

"Thank you," she whispered so only he could hear.

"It was my duty," he said simply.

"I still have to thank you.  I don't know what would have..."

"You need to do no such thing.  I would have done the same even if
your sister had not been in danger.  I can not sit idly by while
someone without the skills to defend theirself is in mortal danger.
I could not bare to see it happen to you."

"Well, I want to thank you anyway...  And say I'm sorry."

"Sorry?  Whatever for?"

"For what I said before, I guess.  I didn't really mean it."  She
wasn't sure if she did or not, but she knew there was more to him
than she had given him credit for.

"No.  You were correct; I was being foolish.  I had no right to
doubt you when you spoke with nothing but honesty.  I...  I fear
for my sanity oftentimes, and your words represented that which I
was most afraid of."

"You don't have to use my last name anymore, if I don't want to,"
she said.

"I'm pleased to hear that you have forgiven me, Nabiki.  It was a
most unfortunate situation that I hope is never repeated."  For
some reason, her leaning against him gave him a pleasant feeling.

He turned to address Ranma and Akane, who were having their own
whispered conversation.  "At the most convenient time, I would
suggest that we detour to my domicile so I may retrieve a more
worthy weapon."

"Why don't we go after we talk to Dr. Tofu next," suggested Akane.
"It's sort of on the way... kind of."

"Acceptable.  Now let us return to the Tendo home to await the
doctor's call."

"Kuno-chan, you'll never change."

***

Akane's head hurt.  Nothing she did seemed to help.  Aspirin
didn't do anything, she wasn't hungry, laying down didn't relax
her, even her cinder blocks provided no comfort.  She snarled as
Ranma stuck his head in her room.

"Hey, Akane.  What's up?" he asked cheerily.

"My head hurts.  Can you leave me alone so I can try and rest?"
She wasn't upset, but her pounding head irritated her to no end.

"Sure.  If you need anything, just let Kasumi know."  He pulled
his head back and shut the door.

"That..."  She didn't finish the sentence, but she was smiling.

***

"So, Kuno...  I've always wondered how you did that thing with
your bokken," Ranma said casually.

"What 'thing', Saotome?"

"You know, cutting down trees and breaking rocks and stuff."
Ranma knew about the whole air pressure thing, but there was
something more to it.  Air pressure couldn't be responsible for
all of it.  He had never seen Kuno display any sort of ki
abilities, but there was really something...  It reminded him of
Ryoga's bandanas.

"I have practiced in the use of the sword since I was old enough
to wield one.  Constant and dedicated training has honed my
skill."

That told Ranma absolutely nothing.  Nothing that he could
recognize anyway.  Otherwise, he might have realized that their
two lives were quite similar.  "Yeah, so when do you think you're
going to need to split some watermelons to protect Akane?"

Kuno gave Ranma a dark look then proceeded to ignore him.  He
stood up and walked outside, distancing himself from distractions.
He kneeled on the porch, staring at the pond.  He closed his eyes
and began to meditate on his situation.

The day had most definitely tested him and his abilities.  He
learned more about his enemies and the depths to which they would
sink.  He had also learned a little bit about forgiveness.  That
made his heart swell with pride.

Next time there would be no hesitation.  He would defeat any who
opposed Kamiko Kuraii's will and he would do anything to protect
her.  It was that simple.  He had finally found a bit of peace.

Akane, who had been thrashing in her bed, was suddenly still.  Her
headache had disappeared as abruptly as it had begun.  Quickly, she
feel into a deep slumber...

-o-o-o-o-o-o
-- 
Lara

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