Ok, after a little (ok ok, a LOT) of revision and some rewriting here is
Chapter 2 of 'Jusenkyo's Curse'. This chapter is a long one and contains a
lemon scene involving Ranma and Shampoo, if you're offended (who am i
kidding here? ;), plz don't read that one part, the story can still be
understood minus the lemon. I put in a lemon scene coz i don't believe in
'one-way' fics where it either is all 'clean' or all lemon. I like to mix up
both like stuff does happen in real life. Tell me whatcha think :)
PS. Don't kill me if u don't like the lemon, it is not one of my strong points.
"" = speech
<> = thought
** = action
------------------------------
Ranma 1/2 - Jusenkyo's Curse
a fanfic by Kyo Kusanagi
------------------------------
Chapter 2: I Feel My Tears
"Excuse me? Sir are you sure you are feeling ok?" an employee asked an
annoyed Jyusei who slapped a hand to his forehead in exasperation.
"Are you fucking deaf!? I said: Call the reporters and tell them that
Shimada Industries will be sponsoring the upcoming Tenkai-Ichi Bodukai after
all. Now is THAT too hard for your puny brain to comprehend?! Do it NOW!"
Jyusei snapped back to the employee who scurried off to carry out the order.
The employee’s general reaction wasn’t something unexpected though, the
entire office was buzzing when Jyusei announced his intention to act as the
major sponsor for the upcoming Tenkai-Ichi Bodukai, regardless of the pleas
from his Board of Directors who were trying desperately to get him to
reconsider his decision.
"Mr. Shimada sir, the reporters request an interview session, is that..."
"Yes yes, that’s fine, just get on with it!" Jyusei snapped, interrupting
the startled employee who hurriedly relayed Jyusei’s wishes to the person on
the end of the line. Jyusei smirked as he imagined the reporters dancing in
the streets at the prospect of an interview.
<Heh, what better way to announce the tournament than to talk to a bunch of
lames reporters?> Jyusei thought to himself as he strode into his office,
slamming and locking the door behind him. <Even though those fools have no
idea> he smirked to himself as he reclined on the couch, the events of the
past week running through his mind.
<...Though this year, the tournament won’t be the same as last year’s.> he
mused as he loosened his tie. In the dim light of his office, his emerald
green eyes appeared to glow softly with an inner light. <My plan is
immaculate, with any luck the ones I seek will be present at the tournament
as well...> he nodded silently <...After all, only those who possess the
essence, have any chance of victory>.
His reverie was interrupted by a loud knocking at the door.
"Mr. Shimada sir, the reporters are here..." an employee called through the
closed doublehung doors.
"Tell them I’ll be right there!" Jyusei called back as he stood up and
readjusted his tie and checked his hair in the full-length mirror that was
beside his desk. If anyone else was in the room at the time, they would have
seen that Jyusei’s reflection...was not his own.
"Mr. Shimada, would you please comment on your sudden reconsideration to
sponsor the Tenkai-Ichi Bodukai..." a reporter yelled, trying to be heard
above the others all wanting answers
"Mr. Shimada, is it true that you are planning on changing the tournament
this year?" another reporter yelled out, holding a microphone.
"Mr. Shimada, what of the rumors that..." another reporter yelled out
"Mr. Shimada, can you please tell our viewers about..." yet another asked,
straining to be heard.
"Alright everyone just HOLD IT!!!!" Jyusei Shimada yelled over the din in
the assembly room. No less than 20 reporters from various newspapers and
magazines were gathered to hear him speak about his plans for the upcoming
tournament. As usual the reporters were contesting with one another to get
their questions answered first.
"Ok, now when you are all quiet, I shall begin..." Jyusei said evenly as the
room fell silent, save for the sounds of tape recorders being clicked on and
the snapping of cameras as some took photos.
"All right. My decision to act as the major sponsor for this year’s
Tenkai-Ichi Bodukai was made of my own free will, reasons as to why I
reconsidered are unimportant..." Jyusei paused to let the reporters catch
up, the sound of pencils furiously scribbling on paper could be heard.
"This year’s tournament will be run differently to last year’s. It shall be
run on a much wider scale, with the best fighters from China as well as the
rest of Japan taking part..." This generated a buzz. Ever since it was
created, the tournament had been run only on a small scale, with at most
fighters from nearby towns participating. Jyusei held up a hand for silence
before continuing.
"...Also, the tournament system this year will also be different, this year
we are implementing a system of combat between teams of three fighters
each..." This generated a louder buzz, with lots of comments being thrown
back and forth. Their reaction was understandable. The word ‘Ichi’ in
Tenkai-Ichi Bodukai represented ‘single’ or ‘one’. For as long as anyone
could remember, team combat was never popular among the various Martial Art
Schools. Each school had a champion who, like anyone else, each wanted to be
the ‘Number One Martial Artist In The World’. The prospect of having a team
system would not be readily accepted. Jyusei held up a hand and waited for
silence, getting it, he continued.
"...However, in accordance to tradition, single entries into the tournament
will also be accepted..." A low murmur of approval echoed around the room.
"...As the odds of victory are much greater for any single entrant, the
rewards will undoubtedly be much greater..." Another murmur of approval
rippled through the crown of assembled reporters before him.
"...Finally, to ensure that competition is fierce, invitations will be sent
out during the next month to all fighters from the previous tournaments to
compete in what WILL be the greatest tournament of all time..." Jyusei let
out a sigh of relief as the reporters nodded and slowly broke into applause
as he stepped down to leave. Not suprisingly, security had to keep the
reporters at bay while Jyusei beat a quick retreat to his private office.
<So, it begins..." Jyusei thought to himself <...Now all that remains is for
the players to speak their lines...Foolish mortals, if only you knew what
lies in store for you...> Outside, as the sun set on the horizon, a
chillingly evil laugh could be heard to come from inside Jyusei Shimada’s
office...
*************
Ranma awoke with a start, from a nightmare in which he was getting buried
alive by Ryoga, possessed by some unearthly power. He sat up, breathing
heavily. As his vision refocused, he noticed that he was in a small room
that was decorated in the Chinese fashion. Small ornaments and wall hangings
depicting famous sayings from great masters of literature adorned the walls,
giving it a not-too-unpleasant appearance. Upon further inspection he found
that he was lying in a small bed and was buck naked under the covers. In
addition, someone had cleaned and dressed his wounds as well. Ranma felt
some kind of bandage on his head. Reaching to the back to touch what felt
like some sticky substance, he brought his hand forward, half-expecting to
see blood. Instead he saw some kind of clear paste vaguely smelling of mint
and other herbs.
<A poultice of some sort> he thought as he rubbed it off onto the bedcovers.
Across the room, his clothes were lying on a small stool, cleaned and neatly
folded.
<Where the heck am I?> he thought <The last thing I remember was lying on
one of the tables in the Nekohanten. I thought I heard Shampoo, then
everything went black...> Ranma climbed out of bed and dressed as fast as
his injuries would let him, wincing a few times as he overtaxed his body,
which was still healing. <Uhh, Shimatta! That Ryoga wasn’t half bad, if I
didn’t go all out I don’t know what might have happened *Uggg*> Ranma
involuntarily let out a yelp as a stab of pain shot through his badly
bruised ribs. He checked himself in the mirror. <Hmm, aside from a few rips
here and there, I guess these will pass for now> He smoothed out his clothes
as he examined them. <Now I gotta work out where the hell I am!> he mused as
he limped out the door.
Ranma wandered around the back of the Nekohanten until he found the way into
the restaurant, which was quite full, considering it was lunch hour. Shampoo
was busily delivering bowls of ramen thrown to her by Cologne from behind
the counter to hungry customers that eagerly dug into them. Mousse, as usual
was complaining at the amount of cleaning up that needed doing while wiping
up spills from the tables and the floor.
"Ai-ya!! Ranma!! What you doing out of bed?!?" Shampoo exclaimed as she ran
over to support Ranma who was looking extremely unsteady on his feet.
Mousse, cleaning the floor, perked up at the mention of Ranma’s name.
"Ranma?!? Where? Show yourself Saotome! Face me you coward!" Mousse, as
usual not wearing his glasses again, was talking to a plant. Ranma simply
sighed.
"I’m over here, come get me *Uhh* if you can!" Ranma winced again as Shampoo
hugged him a little too tightly. Mousse put his glasses on and saw his
beloved Shampoo hugging Ranma, which promptly infuriated him.
"Saotome!!! How dare you touch my beautiful Shampoo!! Prepare to die!"
Before he could try anything however, a splash of water was heard and where
Mousse was standing a moment ago, a large duck with glasses was flapping
around quacking madly. Behind the counter, Cologne smiled, her right hand
holding an empty bucket.
"Son-in-law, you shouldn’t be out of bed, go back and rest or your wounds
won’t heal properly." Cologne hopped over to Ranma to see if he was all
right. Ranma, now back to his usual self, was a little irritated at being
treated like an invalid.
"Ahh, quit fussing over me, you dried-up old mummy! I can stand perfectly
well on my *OW!*..." Ranma was interrupted by Cologne’s stick on the back of
his head.
"Who’s dried-up?" she inquired evenly with a glint in her eye. Mousse
quacked wildly, trying to get anyone’s attention. Everyone ignored him as usual.
*************
"Oh, hello there Akane, welcome home..." Kasumi smiled at Akane as she came
home from school. It was already late in the evening. Akane had spent most
of the day wandering around school and visiting all of Ranma’s hangouts
asking people if they’d seen Ranma anywhere. As usual she got the same
negative response.
"Hi Kasumi...did Ranma come home yet?" Kasumi shook her head. Akane sighed.
"He wasn’t at school today either. Miss Hinako was wondering where he was.
I’m beginning to get worried." Akane slumped her shoulders and walked into
the house.
"Hey you guys, take a look at this!" Nabiki called out from the living room.
She was watching TV. It was turned to the news channel which was currently
showing the interview that happened earlier today with Jyusei Shimada.
"What is it Nabiki?" Kasumi asked from the kitchen where she and Nodoka were
busy preparing dinner. Everyone was exhausted, the whole day was spent in
search of Ryoga for fear that in his current state and his cabbage-like
sense of direction, some harm would befall him before long. No one had yet
noticed the peach that was left outside the window of the guest room where
he was sleeping at the time. Akane came out of her room shortly after changing.
"Hey Akane, come listen to this! Gee, I'm starting to wish *I* was a Martial
Artist" Nabiki said with a sly grin.
"…And to other news, today, in an interview that shocked the community, Mr
Jyusei Shimada, CEO of Shimada Enterprises made the following statement…"
The screen cuts to a close-up of Jyusei as he speaks to the cordon of
reporters assembled before him.
"…between teams of three participants each…" Jyusei drones on as Soun and
Genma looked on in shock. Akane had calmed down a lot since Ranma’s
departure and was beginning to get back into her old cycle, though at the
back of her mind she was still wondering where Ranma was.
"…Furthermore, this year, we’ve upped the ante. The winning team shall
receive a total of 10 million yen in prize money…" At this Nabiki’s eyes
widened, dollar-signs circling her head. Soun and Genma(in panda form since
Nodoka was here) ranted and raved on about the change in the tournament
system and how it was unethical, a disgrace to martial arts etc etc.
"Disgraceful!! Who does he think he is?! Just because he is the richest
bastard in town doesn’t mean that you can alter a time-honored system of
martial arts combat!" Soun yelled, banging the table as Genma held up signs
saying "Yep!" and "Like he says!".
Kasumi simply watched the rest of the program in blissful ignorance, not
knowing what her father and Genma were carrying on about. Nodoka, in the
meantime, had come out to see what the commotion was and caught the end of
the interview.
"...Finally, to ensure that competition is fierce, invitations will be sent
out to all fighters from the previous tournaments to compete…" Jyusei was
finishing the interview and as the newscaster took over, Nodoka commented
that maybe this new system wasn’t too bad if it gave her a chance to see
Ranma. Genma flinched, a large sweatdrop running down the back of his head.
<If they are inviting last year’s participants, then Ranma will be there
too. I don’t believe that he can turn down an invitation like that…> Nodoka
mused with a smile on her face, thinking that this will be a chance for her
to finally meet her *manly* son. Genma saw the smirk on his wife’s face and
cringed, he had a pretty good idea what was running through her head and he
didn’t like it.
<Where’s Shampoo when you need her?> he thought miserably <I sure could use
some of that shampoo which she used on Akane once, the forgetfulness shampoo
I think it was…> Genma cringed when Nodoka turned to look at him, smiling.
Another large sweatdrop trickling down the back of his head as he met her gaze.
<Oh great…> he thought <Here’s where she suggests we all team up and go join
that so-called tournament…> However, Nodoka’s question surprised him.
"Has anyone seen Ran-ko lately?" Everyone cringed. "She’s been gone a long
time, it’s unlike her to stay away for this long without her panda…" Genma
scowled silently as she said ‘her panda’. It’s 1) as if he WAS her panda, 2)
he wasn't a panda(well in a real sense anyway) and 3) he was *his*(Ranma’s
aka Ran-ko) father. However, the scowl died as she directed her gaze at him,
another large sweatdrop running down the back of his head.
"Do you know where she’s gone, Mr.Panda?" she asked with a smile. Panda
immediately held up a sign reading "Nope, no idea!". Nodoka considered this
for a moment.
"I hope she’s all right, I'm sure you are all starting to get worried about
her…If she doesn’t come home soon, we better go look for her." Everyone
face-faulted but agreed. Akane however, said that she wasn’t feeling well
and asked if she could stay home. Nodoka agreed considering Akane was still
looking a little pale and sickly. Suddenly Happosai leapt in through the
window and latched himself on Akane’s bust. Akane face-faulted then reached
behind her for something looking and feeling very much like a mallet…
"My sweet little Akane! Sick are we? Let an old man make you feel better…"
Happosai managed to get out before being pancaked by Akane’s mallet then
punted into the stratosphere by everyone.
************
"*Uhh* Where on earth am I now?" Ryoga mumbled as he slowly regained
consciousness. The last thing he remembered was being encapsulated in some
glowing sphere of light flying toward some…mountain was it? Then he heard
voices, two, was it? No three, three voices, sounding incredibly familiar,
he had heard them somewhere before, talking about him, it sounded like,
before he passed out.
<This room…It’s familiar…>Ryoga thought as he looked around the room, he was
lying on a large double-bed, under the covers. To the left and behind was a
table with a semi-circular couch, at least that was what it looked like. The
table had a pink curtain, parted in the middle and tied to either side with
a pick strap.
<Now I remember!!> Ryoga eyes widened as he recalled. <Togenkyo!! But how
the hell did I get HERE?! I know I'm not that great at finding my way around
but come ON, there ARE limits!> Ryoga threw off the blanket, and immediately
threw it back on, he was naked under the covers!!
"*Yikes!* What the hell?!" Ryoga hastily looked around for his clothes.
Someone had cleaned and dressed his wounds while he was unconscious, and
quite possibly performed some kind of magical healing as well, considering
the fact that his broken bones were fully healed and he only had some minor
cuts and scratches. His clothes were neatly folded and laid in a heap on the
bedside table, something which took him the better part of 15 minutes to
find after wandering around the room looking for them. Ryoga quickly dressed
and noted that someone had mended his clothes as well.
<Wonder why Toma had me brought here, could he want something?> Ryoga
thought as someone knocked, snapping him out of his reverie.
"Who is it?"
The door slowly opened and someone looking half-monkey walked in.
"Hey, Sarutoru, what’s the big idea?" Ryoga quizzed the monkey-man.
"Good to see you’re up, Prince Toma wants to see you…Please follow me."
Sarutoru beckoned Ryoga who followed after a moment’s hesitation.
<Well, whatever he wants, I'm sure there’s a reason…> Ryoga mused as he
followed Sarutoru down long, seemingly endless corridors. As they walked,
Ryoga noticed that everyone looked worried…scared even. Some of the guards
shrinking away from him as they approached.
<Man! Whatever it is, it’s gotta be something big!> Ryoga mused as they
arrived at a large set of doors.
"Ah, so there you are" Toma smiled as Sarutoru led Ryoga into his chambers,
bowed and left.
"Hello, good to see you, what did you want with me?"
"First things first" Toma beckoned for Ryoga to take a seat across him. "How
are your injuries? I treated them to be best of my ability. I must say that
I am surprised at how you were still alive, considering the amount of
internal injury you sustained."
"Ah, so it was you who healed me, then I thank you. Damn Ranma, I swear I
will make you pay for what you did!" Toma’s eyes widened as he heard Ranma’s
name mentioned.
"Ranma!? Did HE do that!?…" Toma couldn’t believe that Ranma could be
capable of doing such harm to another person, even when he fought Ranma a
few months back during the Martial Arts Marriage contest. Ranma had fought
fiercely, but all his blows were controlled. "I thought he was your friend…"
"Friend?! Bah! Well..…he still is I guess, but we had a little, erm,
disagreement a few days ago…" Ryoga was surprised that he still thought of
Ranma as a friend, even though he wanted to avenge the beating he’d received.
"’Little disagreement’ well, whenever the two of you have a major one,
remind me to leave" Ryoga laughed at Toma’s joke, but soon became serious again.
"So…you still haven’t told me what you brought me here for?" Toma’s
expression immediately turned serious. Ryoga had a gut feeling that
something was definitely wrong.
"A few days ago, all our illusory powers went wrong for some reason. Being
illusions, our attacks technically do no physical damage to an opponent.
However, for some reason, our illusions now are no longer just that, they
have become substantial…"
"What are you saying? That your illusions do real damage now!?" Ryoga shrunk
back slightly, their illusory attacks were bad enough, but being REAL
attacks? A large sweatdrop trickled down the back of his head as Toma continued.
"…Yes, but that’s not all. For another unknown reason, Togenkyo, about 3
months after we left Japan changed course and floated back toward Japan,
against the current! We had tried to work out what was doing this but to no
avail…until we heard the news…" Toma’s voice trailed off. Ryoga was now
sweating profusely, he did not like what he was hearing.
"Um…so where do I fit in to all this? I'm just a martial artist, I don't
know about magic and all that…" Ryoga started to say but stopped when he saw
Toma’s worried gaze.
"Two days ago, we came within range of Japan, just far enough to pick up
television and radio signals. I assume you watched the news two days ago?…"
"Kinda hard to watch TV if you can’t even move right?" Ryoga smiled weakly.
"Well, it seems that the guide to the Jusenkyo springs has been killed…"
"WHAT! How can he be…" Ryoga was deeply shocked, if anything, he was the
only man alive who knew everything about the springs. With his death went
all hope of a permanent cure for his curse. "Do.…do they know…..how?" Ryoga
asked in a soft voice.
"The person who found the corpse at the site said that he wasn’t killed by
any normal means…It appeared that the body was mangled after he was killed.
As the state of the corpse shows that he had been dead for centuries. As
someone who knows a little about the workings of magic, we suspect that he
was killed by some spiritual being…"
"Spiritual….being? Come on, you’re not trying to tell me some ghost’s
wandering around Jusenkyo killing off people are you? Well I guess there are
ghosts wandering there…but what are you saying?"
"I'm saying, that quite possibly one of the spirits from the pools has
escaped…" Toma’s face, for once in his life, had none of the childish spirit
to it, it seemed dark and serious. Ryoga took a good long look at Toma and
saw that this had affected him too, he looked visibly older and like he
hadn’t slept in days.
"Um…Even if that is true, what does that have to do with me?" Ryoga asked,
his voice trembling slightly.
"Aren’t you Jusenkyo cursed? Like Ranma and a few others are?" Ryoga nodded,
his stomach churning at what Toma was getting at.
"…You aren't trying to tell me…that…anyone who's cursed will be…" Toma
nodded solemnly, Ryoga’s face immediately paled and he looked faint.
"…W…what’s this g...got to do w-with you though?" Ryoga asked in a shaking
voice.
"About the time our illusions started working wrong, the legendary spring
below the surface of the island began glowing. During the past few days, a
few of us have been getting…visions…" Toma’s voice trailed off.
"What kind of…visions?" Ryoga was now getting quite worried, losing the
chance of ever finding a cure for his curse was one thing, but this was
different. Oh, he’d dealt with situations on a spiritual level before, but
something that could affect the magic of Togenkyo was way beyond his league.
Toma paused a moment, as if recalling something.
"Have you ever heard of a demon named Kasunama Seijiiku?" Toma asked, Ryoga
shook his head.
"Well, according to a legend my mother once told me, he was the feared
demon-warlord who ravaged over half of China before finally being killed by
a martial artist who was able to use his own powers against him…He was
killed by being thrown into one of the Jusenkyo pools, then the pool was
covered, drowning him…The pool that the corpse of the guide was lying next
to…" Toma looked at Ryoga, who was sweating profusely.
"But what do you want me to do?! Even if this demon did somehow escape, how
can you expect me to defeat it?"
"The reason I brought you here to Togenkyo was to ask you, have you noticed
anything strange in the behaviour of your friends lately? Have they shown
any signs of change or anything like that?" Ryoga thought for a moment,
Ranma had seemed different during their fight, he had seemed
almost.…possessed. Though he doubted that he was, his reaction to Akane
after the fight proved that.
"N.…no, not really, I wouldn’t know what you mean by…different." Toma slowly
nodded and stood up, a smile on his face.
"Well, it was nice seeing you again, sorry if I seemed rude by simply
dragging you over here…" Ryoga smiled, he began to think it was rather amusing.
"One thing, why did you pick ME out of all the other guys? Why didn’t you
bring Ranma over here?" Ryoga posed the question that had been nagging at
him for a while. Toma smirked at Ryoga’s confused look.
"Sarutoru couldn’t find Ranma anywhere, you were the only other martial
artist that was on Ranma’s level..." Ryoga almost choked. "...Besides, if we
hadn’t brought you here and healed you, you wouldn’t have survived the
night..." Ryoga choked. Toma nodded gravely. "I don’t know what Ranma was
thinking when he fought you, but he sure knew what he was doing...Your
internal injuries were massive, the only way to save you was by magical
healing." Ryoga nodded, his mind still reeling.
"Then I must thank you...For saving my life..." Ryoga said uneasily to Toma.
"Think nothing of it, we need your help…What is worrying me at the moment is
that whatever is causing our illusions to become real is also what caused
the Jusenkyo guide’s death. If it came to Japan, think of what could
happen…" Ryoga blanched, he knew full well what a vengeful spirit could do
if it was let loose. "As much as I like our illusions being real…We can't
keep things this way. Something has to be done soon…Togenkyo in addition to
floating back toward Japan, is also sinking…Extremely slowly of course, but
if we ignore this…" Ryoga nodded, his mind struggling to make sense of all this.
<This isn’t the Toma I know…He’s so different! Back when we first met he was
a first-class brat! Now he’s so damn serious it isn’t funny…> Ryoga took a
good long look at Toma. He looked like he’d matured since the Martial Arts
Marriage Contest a few months ago. Ryoga smiled at the memory, it was one of
the fun times they had together, even though Ranma ended having to destroy
the spring to save Akane.
<Ranma again! Why do I keep thinking of him!! Damn it! Ranma! I will defeat
you someday!> Ryoga snapped out of his reverie when Toma spoke again.
"We are nearing Japan, we’ll probably reach it in a few days or so, you can
stay if you like. If not then we’ll return you to your friends, they must be
worried about you." Ryoga nodded, he could imagine Akane worrying about him,
that thought warmed his heart.
<She does care about me after all> he thought, a silly grin on his face.
"But please, if anything strange happens, will you tell us? Maybe we can
help deal with whatever is causing these strange happenings…I dearly hope
that it isn’t what it think it is that is causing them." Ryoga nodded his
affirmation, though his mind was on the fact that the Jusenkyo guide was
dead and with him, most probably any hope of a permanent cure for his curse.
He didn’t notice Sarutoru walk into the room.
"Sarutoru will return you to your friends, farewell…" Toma waved to Ryoga
who stepped over to Sarutoru and was encapsulated in a glowing sphere of
light before vanishing.
************
End Part One...
K u s a n a g i K y o
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"Kusanagi Flames, Yagami Tears, Orochi Blood"