HALLOWE'EN IN NERIMA   O_O
By Kayu-chan.
The author holds no rights to the great Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma 1/2
characters. Honest. Really, I don't.

PART 1
~~~~~~

The night captured the sky in a constant silhouette of never-ending
darkness. The stars glinted like the edge of a knife in the pale moonlight.
Leaves shivered as the cold, gentle zephyr moaned through the murky street,
lit only by the occasional streetlight. Silence reigned supreme on the night
when the gates of hell opened, creaking and shuddering open onto the
unsuspecting, innocent world. Such silence....

"Ohohohohohohohhh!" a low voice cackled wildly,  their black cape billowing
in the brittle breeze. "Ohohohohohooohohohh!!"

<Clang!!>

"Hey! Akane, watcha do that for?!" the dark, vampiric figure grumbled,
rubbing their sore head. Walking a full metre away from Akane -- as they're
not in love or anythin', oh no -- Ranma shot her a foul look.  "I've gotta
top that creepy voice Ryoga did the other day when we went to the fancy
dress shop. Ohohoho-"

<Whang!!>

"Ranma, stop it with the Kodachi impression, already! It's grown really old!
Plus, we're nearly there." Akane put away the spare frying pan under the
folds of her long, flowing white dress. Her face, paler than the whitest
white, glowed as they strolled under a flickering streetlight.

"At least I don't look like I've been involved in a freak accident at a
flour factory." Ranma grinned cockily, baring his fake fangs, as for once,
he avoided Akane's blow. "Is too, too tragic story of very uncute girl
who--"

<Thump!>

Her foot tapping audibly in the quiet street, Akane impatiently waited for
Ranma to pick himself out of the wall.

"I don't know what's with you, tonight," she snapped, her arms folded tight.
"You're too hyper and chirpy for even you."

Ranma brushed off the dust, re-adjusting his askew cape and jet black
trouser suit and posed moodily. "I am the hunter of the night, and I come to
suck your blood!! Nyahahahaah!" Despite the fact that he looked pretty
handsome in the tight, black suit with that dark gaze, Akane wasn't
impressed with his pseudo-acting.

"Idiot! We're going to be late for the Kuno's Hallowe'en party, so stop
acting all weird!"

"Oh, there's not a ghost of a chance of that happening."

"Stop doing Hallowe'en jokes, you've been doing them *all* evening!" Akane
was getting more than visibly upset, her teeth grinding maniacally together,
her fists even more so.

"I see right through you Akane, you're really a sucker for this--"

"Rrrannnnmmmmaa!" She stomped towards him and he dodged with obvious -- and
to Akane, frustrating -- ease.

Ranma stuck out his tongue at the enraged Akane. "Can't catch me! You
haven't got my spirit!"

The angry ghost chased the vampire into the depthless night, neither
noticing the dark figure watching them from a distance, intent on following.

"Mocking me, is he?" a low, moody voice uttered to the night air,  showing
their own set of fangs. Except that, unlike Ranma's, his were real. Very
real.

O_O

By the time that they reached the front gate of the Kuno household, Ranma
had run out of creepy puns and Akane's temper had calmed down somewhat. They
looked up at the bright lanterns sitting on top of the wall, casting shadows
on the threads of black roses wrapped around them and slithering down the
walls. But Ranma wasn't scared. Not at all. Even that faint, moaning
classical music being played somewhere inside the Kuno house didn't faze
him.

"Feh, it's just like Kodachi to go for black roses," he commented as lightly
as possible.

"Um, yeah," Akane answered weakly, her voice full of barely hidden fear. It
was stupid but the atmosphere was just so spooky.... She slowly edged closer
to Ranma, who suddenly stared at her, locking his eyes with hers. "What?"
she whispered.

"You're scared, aren't you? Just like in that cave of lost loves. Hah hah!"
he laughed into her face, turning her fear into anger.  She had her frying
pan at the ready, gripped steadily in her hand so that she could wipe that
grin off his smu-- "You should know that you've got nothin' to fear with me
around! I'll protect you from anythin' that tries to hurt you! Ha-ha-haa..?"
Ranma's laughter died in his throat.

<Clang!>

The frying pan dropped to the ground. Both Ranma and Akane stood still in
silence, gazing into each other's eyes, as they both realised what Ranma had
just said.

"Ranma...." Akane sighed. "Did you really mean that?"

"Akane, I...."

Unbeknownst to the sighing two,  the fanged one who had been following them
was closing in fast.

"Ranma, I just want you to know," Akane said sweetly before punting him into
the air, "I don't need *your* protection!!"

As Ranma came falling back down to earth from far, far up, he noticed out of
the corner of his eyes, someone approaching Akane. Someone dark and
mysterious with a flowing cloak coming at her from behind. And here he was,
falling in the air from a great height. Fantastic.

"Akaaaaaneee!" he shouted, his words lost in the wind as he plunged further
toward the ground inside the Kuno mansion. She didn't hear him and stood
there, still, obviously waiting for him or in a sulk. "Move, Akane, get away
from him!" Ranma twisted his body and flipped and curved in mid-air,  trying
to aim himself at the shadowy figure. "Akane!" The figure was only a metre
or two away from her as she stood there, less like a ghost and more like an
angel, illuminating the darkness. She looked so fragile. "AKANE!"

The figure said something and Akane turned around to face whoever it was.
Only a few metres to the two, Ranma managed to aim himself just above the
figure, who had short, dark hair. They did, indeed, wear a long black cape
and acted suspiciously, their tense movements telling Ranma everything he
needed to know. How dare such a figure try to attack a lonely Aka--women
late at night?!

"You leave her alone!!" Ranma cried fiercely, landing just to the side of
the figure. He prepared to kick the stalker away when he saw the face and
the fangs and gasped in recognition. "Ryoga?"

"Ranmaaa, what do you think you're doing? Scaring Akane like that?!" Ryoga
growled, looking slightly different without the tell-tale bandanna.

"It's really alright, Ryoga, I'm not sca--"

"You should talk!" Ranma interrupted Akane as he looked at Ryoga in relief
but anger. "Sneakin' up on her like that! What was I supposed to think,
moron?! That you were a trick-or-treater, wearing that long, black cape
and--" Ranma examined Ryoga more closely, noticing something important. "I
don't believe it, you copied me, I'm the vampire!"

"Wrong, you're the one who copied me! Plus, I'm a better vampire than you
are!" Ryoga bared his small fangs.

"No, I'm so much cooler," Ranma cockily answered, baring his much larger
fangs.

"Um, guys...?"

"At least mine are real!"

"Hey, you two--"

"Yeah, what's with that freakish grin, anyhow, P-chan? Or should I say,
Count P-chan?"

"Excuse me, guys, but--"

"How dare you mock me, you half-girl!"

"What did you call me, pig?!"

"Hey, ahem,  STOP FIGHTING YOU TWO *RIGHT* NOW!" Akane shouted, her very
short patience having ended its tether and jumped off it. "Remember, the
party, the invitations?!" She whipped out hers with the words 'The Beauteous
Akane, I give you the pleasure of attending my sister's Hallowe'en party
this Saturday. I shall be waiting for you'  written on it. "At this rate,
it'll be finished before we get in!" She slammed open the Kuno's' gate and
stormed down the path, muttering something about "macho" and "men".

Ranma and Ryoga stood quietly, their ears ringing like church bells.

"She sure can shout!" Ranma said loudly.

"What?" Ryoga leaned his ear towards Ranma, the bells still ringing.

"What?"

"Sorry?"

"Eh?"

"Excuse me?"

O_O

As she walked up to the door, Akane noticed how dark curtains were draped
across the windows, spectres of orange burning through the curtains. As she
looked at them more closely, she realised that they were just lighted
pumpkins. She decided to ring the bell on the front door, a soft but creepy
tune playing out of it:

"In the darkest night, I wait for you.
In the coldest night, I'll watch you shiver.
On a night full of mist, you won't even see me.
On a lonely night, no-one will even miss you when I come.
No-one missed me, no-one missed her, no-one will miss you."

The last few lines floated out of Akane's head as her instincts slashed
through her, telling her someone was watching her. Her heart went to her
throat, choking it. She flicked her head around to see only night and
nobody.

"Ranma? Ryoga?"

No reply.

She frantically pressed the doorbell again and again until a few seconds
later, the door was opened... by a man in a hockey-mask, with a strange
glint in his eye. Akane tensed even more, her nerves already fraying off the
deep end,  as she stared fearfully up at the strange man. Very strange. She
had seen those horror movies about men with hockey masks and what they were.
And it wasn't to do with hockey.  Oh, no.

"Nuh-nuh-nooooooo!!" Akane screamed, kicking the hockey-mask man down as she
stampeded through the house blindly.

The man in the mask lay there, contemplating his current position.  "Hmmm,
perhaps I should not have listened to my sister about my costume. She is my
sister, after all."

"What did you say, brother dear?" A women in a long, leather black catsuit
looked down upon him in amusement, her face partially hidden by a black mask
over her eyes and nose, with little whiskers pointing out of it. Long, black
hair was draped down her back.

Kuno got up and brushed the dust off his fake straitjacket, raising an
eyebrow in a disapproval as he looked at his sister. "You were correct in
your assumptions when you commented that Akane Tendo would react strongly to
this suit. However, I feel that there's something about this hockey
character that you have failed to mention."

Kodachi held a hand to her face in mock offence. "Why, you are not accusing
me of tricking you, are you? I would never dream of it."

"And to think," he grumbled, "I helped you in choosing your party outfit in
order to impress that enemy of all women, Saotome!" He spat out that last
word as if it were poison.

"Ranma-sama will nearly be here, elder brother, so why don't you go find
that witch Akane and that dreadful pig-tailed girl? I think I just saw her
come in through the back."

"Oh, pigtailed girl, I'm coming!" Kuno cast off his mask and predictably
rushed off around the house, decorated as it was with drapes of pure silken
black and red, masks of various monsters and devils and gods. Special
low-light, red bulbs had been placed in all the rooms to give a creepy,
devilish feel. Kodachi smiled at her decorating efforts.

"Hallowe'en -- for a Western idea, it is simply sublime. I wonder how
darling Ranma will see it?"

"I'm sure he'll appreciate it," someone suddenly said, interrupting
Kodachi's thoughts. "Especially with that outfit."

She looked to the open doorway to see an all too familiar face, smirking.

"Oh, it's you, Nabiki Tendo," she replied, casting a critical glance over
the girl's clothes. "I don't remember inviting you. "

Nabiki, her short, cropped hair lengthened by fake dark hair, wore a long,
ankle length black coat that hid her costume but dark circles rung round her
eyes and dark, metallic lipstick graced her lips. Her face was as pale as
Akane's. She held up an invitation in her black-gloved hands signed by Kuno.
"It's amazing what a few pictures of my little sister will get." As she
stared to walk into the house, Kodachi blocked her way, looking straight
into her eyes.

"Oh, alright, here you go," Nabiki sighed, tossing a picture of a pig-tailed
figure into the air. Kodachi grabbed for the picture and smiled in
satisfaction as she looked at the photograph.

"I suppose that I can let you in, Miss Ten-" Kodachi stopped as she realised
that Nabiki was already past her.  "Hmph! Oh well, I shall wait and surprise
my Ranma-sama."

Nabiki slinked into the large living room, her lips pursed into a secretive
smile. She stopped the CD that was on and put on a supernaturally themed
dance CD, gaining everyone's attention.

"Boys," she announced smoothly, slipping slowly her long-coat off to reveal
a very tight, very flattering slinky long black dress that lingered right
down to her feet, hidden in an Addam's Family-style outfit. She posed in a
sultry manner. "So, who wants to have the first dance?" Most of the men
clamoured around her, all except Mousse, Kuno and Tsubasa, who'd grown an
unhealthy obsession with Kodachi. "Right, bids start at a hundred yen for
the first dance. Do I hear a hundred yen? Two-hundred and fifty? Three
hundred?"

"I'm glad that the pig-tailed girl and Akane would never stoop to such lows
for money," Kuno announced loudly in a low, proud manner.

"You're right, Kuno-baby, nobody can stoop quite as low as me," Nabiki
coolly replied, turning her attention back to the crowd. "So, what was the
bid at? Did I hear five hundred?"

O_O

"Brrr... it's cold out here." Akane's freezing teeth clattered together as
she shivered, huddling her arms against her chest. "It wasn't this bad a
minute or so ago." After running away from the hockey-man she now deduced to
be only Kuno, she had run deep into the back of the Kuno garden and couldn't
find her way out. She'd never remembered the Kuno garden being *this* big.
"Perhaps I'm turning into Ryoga."

She laughed a little but the rustling of the bushes and the cold breeze soon
silenced her. The nights clouds were slowly drawing back to reveal a full
moon. Akane stared around her settings, trying to figure out where she was
and how she could get back to a place where people were. Even if one of the
people went by the name of Ranma, the insensitive jerk that he was. A place
like this, covered by shadows cast by the pale moon, with undefined shapes
and movements wouldn't be half as bad if he was there.

She turned around and started to head in one direction, hoping that it would
take her somewhere, anywhere. Suddenly, her instincts sharpened as she felt,
like a knife at her throat, eyes on her back. She stood still, shivering
even worse than before. Oh, no, oh, no, not now, not all alone, oh, no.

"Who's there? Who's there?!"

A hand touched her shoulder and she gasped sharply, fear slashing through
her chest.

"What--?!"

O_O

Inside in the Kuno house, the quiet but haunting dark dance music, filled
with wails and screams filled the room. But nothing could top Kuno's glare
at Nabiki, who was currently the main attraction in the room and on the
dance floor,  yen-signs fluttering through her eyes and jading, in his
opinion, her smile.

"What's the matter, Kuno-baby?" Nabiki smirked lightly. "Jealous?"

"Don't be so ridiculous!" he protested. "You're a corrupting influence on
the good people of this world! How can you turn a simple, innocent party
into a reason to make money?!"

She smiled enigmatically, her lips curled at the end and her hair swayed
from side to side with her body. "Very easily, that's how."

"I--"

"Aiiiiiiiieeeee!!!!" A scream whiplashed through the house,  shattering the
relatively calm mood.

O_O
Fini, for now....
I know, it isn't very long, or even near complete, but this quickie was
baked up in a hurry for Hallowe'en and it kept getting longer until I
realised that I could never finished it before midnight.
This is my first seasonal fanfic, I just *had* to do one for Hallow's Eve
for once, or I'd have to wait another year. The next part should be out in a
week or two. I wrote this in a few quick nights so be kind in C&C, after
all, it is so dark outside and the night air, so cold on your skin....
Ohohohohohohohohhh! *Ahem*  Ideas for future part(s?) welcomed.