DiScLaImEr: Rumiko Takahashi and a bunch of rich corporations own all
the characters in this fic. My use of them in no way is meant to
undermine those claims, and suing me would be a huge waste of time.
If, for some reason, you actually think this meager tribute to RT's
genius deserves to be further distributed, you may do so, so long as
you: a) reprint this disclaimer; b) give me credit (blame?) for the
story and; c) don't actually sell it (Yeah, like that's a concern!).
And now, on with the fic.
*****************
* Illuminations *
*****************
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* A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction *
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***************
* By Freemage *
***************
*Author's Note: This story draws on both the anime and the manga.
This is a dark story, with several sexually suggestive scenes,
although no outright Lemon scenes. If such material offends or
disturbs you, please consider not reading this story--Unless, of
course, you like being offended and/or disturbed....
Thoughts are denoted by {X}, text/Panda signs by [X].*
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* Chapter Eighteen *
* Pursuit & Capture *
*********************
Akane sped through the night, pushing herself to new extremes
of speed and balance as she chased the flash of red hair and
shirt that was the only part of her fiance she could make out
in the gloom of the streetlamps.
{Nuh-uh. No way. I let you down once, not again.} This
litany, with slight variations, had replaced conscious thought
several minutes prior, when she had realized she was about to
lose sight of the redhead.
A whiplike arc of lightning brought a brief illumination to
the obstacle course that was Ranma's regular stomping grounds.
Chimneys, TV antennas and power lines were cast in stark relief
by the harsh, unforgiving light before plunging back into
darkness.
Even as the rolling thunder began to fade, Akane felt the
first drops of what promised to be a bear of a storm, judging by
the winds that had picked up over the previous half hour. {Just
great. More rain. Why does the weather around here feel the
need to punctuate every fucking disaster?!}
Redoubling her efforts yet again, she pressed onward over the
Nerima rooftops and fences.
***********************************************************
Soun Tendou moved with all the stealth of a mute ninja in a
silent movie. Without so much as the squeak of a hinge, the
stairwell to the attic unfolded from the ceiling and settled
noiselessly to the hallway floor.
With the skill of long experience, he moved up the steps,
skipping the third, which he knew to be unreliable when it came
to silent passage. Clutching his jar of petroleum jelly in one
hand, he eased himself through the hole in the ceiling which he
had come to regard as the Gates of Paradise.
He paused, listening to the sound of the remaining female
occupants of the house easing themselves into the furo. Soon,
very soon now. As quietly as a cat's padded foot, his hand
settled to the floor so that he could hoist himself up into the
gloom of the unlit attic.
*CRACK!!* Soun howled with shock and pain as his hand was
snared by what felt like the maw of a snapping turtle, painfully
cutting into the knuckles of his first three fingers.
Thrown off-balance, he tipped over backward, the lower part of
his back striking the far edge of the attic entrance. Momentum
caused him to slam, back first, to the attic floor. As he
struck, the impact knocked the wind out of his chest even as it
knocked the jar from his other hand.
He retained just enough presence of mind to realize he was
about to fall off the ledge, and not enough to even consider the
possibility that that might be preferable to remaining where he
was.
With a Herculean effort, he brought his legs up from the hole
and tucked in a roll to his right. As he came down on his side,
*CRACK!!* another vise closed on the fleshy part of his right
bicep.
He began to thrash wildly, almost unaware of the subsequent
attacks by his unseen foes. It seemed as if dozens of the
beasts were seizing his garments and his flesh in their steely
pincers.
Finally, after an eternity of pain crammed into a few seconds'
time, another assault scored, severing a piece off the top of
his left ear. Maddened beyond rational thought, the Tendou
patriarch tumbled frantically to, and then through, the hole
leading to the relative safety of the upstairs hall.
He landed poorly, smashing the fold-out staircase to worthless
kindling, and lay crumpled in a defeated heap. As he slipped
into unconsciousness, some dark corner of his mind realized that
four legs approaching him were very wet, very well-formed and
very naked.
"Father!"
"Tendou-san!"
***********************************************************
It was a cold, driving rain, the kind that bites the flesh
like a thousand thousand knives, each painful slice leeching the
life and warmth out of anyone unfortunate to be caught in it.
The chill night wind ripped at the back of Akane's throat as
she gulped it down, not so much breathing as devouring the air,
and yet still she pressed on.
Sometimes she would close to within mere feet of Ranma, while
other times she fell back nearly a full city block, but she
never once lost sight of the fiery red ponytail which drew her
on, a lighthouse guiding a ship to a safe port during a tempest.
Suddenly, she did lose sight of her quarry, as the other girl,
only half a block ahead, whipped around the corner of a
deserted-looking building without even slowing her breakneck
pace.
Fear drew out strength she didn't even know was within her:
fear that if she failed to catch up, immediately, she would
never see Ranma again; strength to run with a speed that made
her previous efforts seem feeble by comparison.
She dashed around the corner of the building, ready to upturn
the city if that's what it took.
It wasn't necessary.
Ranma was there.
***********************************************************
Pain greeted him as he awoke. A huge throbbing pain from his
right hand. A searing heat from his left ear. A sharp,
stabbing pain from the back of his skull. Dull aches from
innumerable locations across his entire body.
Slowly, Soun Tendou forced his eyes open, wincing at the
sharpness of the rays of light that cut into his eyes like a
thousand knives.
The two most beautiful faces he had ever seen hovered over
him, guardian angels who had obviously been caring for him while
he slept. A pity that they had apparently had time to get
dressed.
"Father?" The voice had a subtle, musical quality that
stirred both the soul and, truth be told, the loins. "Are you
all right? I've made you some tea. I'm so very sorry."
"Now, now, Dear, it wasn't your fault." A second voice;
gentle, yet firm; sweet, yet substantial; soothing, yet erotic.
"You were just trying to help."
"Yes, but if I hadn't--"
The second voice, interrupting. "No. I won't hear of it.
Far too much has gone on today for you to be heaping more
anxiety upon yourself."
Nodoka turned her attention to the fallen man. "You see,
Kasumi explained to me while you were... resting."
{Ah, Saotome. I understand now why you married this woman.
Her understanding, and compassion, allowing me to keep my pride
undamaged.... I shall watch over her, as I know you would wish,
were you still here to say so.} The thoughts flashed through
his mind even as he spoke. "Whatever do you mean, Nodoka-chan?"
Shifting, as though this sudden familiarity were
uncomfortable, the matriarch of the recently reduced Saotome
clan still managed a smile. "Well, it seems Kasumi has been
hearing noises in the attic of late, and was concerned it might
be rats. So, she took the precaution of laying out a series of
traps to catch the beasts. Unfortunately, the whole affair with
that blasted Panda completely overshadowed any thought of
informing the rest of us about the arrangement. Regrettable,
given the result, but not incomprehensible."
Soun turned his head to meet his eldest daughter's gaze. As
he did so, he realized he had been moved while unconscious to
his own room. Mustering his best 'Stern Father' expression, he
asked her, "Kasumi, is this true?"
Blushing, she nodded mutely, the faintest hint of a tear
glistening from her left eye. Seeing that expression, he could
no longer maintain the ruse.
Both women sat back, startled expressions dominating their
features as Soun laughed aloud. "Is that all? Please, Kasumi
my dear, set it aside. Think nothing of it. Honestly, the way
you were carrying on, I thought you might have gone on an
axe-murdering spree."
Now both women joined in with his laughter, although Kasumi
still had a slight blush giving her cheeks a subtle color.
"Now that that's settled, I shall partake of a bath myself,
and clean some of these cuts a bit more." Soun sat up, stood,
and fell in a painful-looking heap.
"Oh, no!" He wasn't sure which of his companions had uttered
that exclamation, but he agreed wholeheartedly.
With a hiss, he explained, "My ankle seems to have twisted
somewhat in the fall. Do you two mind helping me to the bath?
I hate to impose...."
Reaching over and moving herself into position to support most
of the weight on his left side, Nodoka interrupted. "Nonsense.
It is no imposition at all. Really, you men."
Kasumi simply smiled and took her father's other arm, and the
trio moved somewhat unevenly down the hall to the bathroom.
***********************************************************
"So."
"Uh... So."
"Well?"
"Well... what?"
"What. Do. You. Want?"
Akane frowned. This conversation was going nothing like she
had been hoping. Onna-Ranma was being way too cold for her to
feel comfortable. The position the redhead had taken, standing
on a fence with a streetlight just behind her head, so that she
seemed like some sort of living shadow, wasn't helping matters.
{It's almost like she planned that pose....} Akane dismissed
the thought as unnecessarily paranoid.
"I want to talk."
"So talk."
Akane swallowed, counting to five in her head before
responding. "No. I want _you_ to talk. I want to listen.
You... you've had a horrible shock. You need to talk to
somebody."
The shadowed figure, so familiar and yet so alien, emitted a
derisive snort. "Will wonders never cease? First my worthless
fleabag of a father decides to find his honor, and now my
fiancee is showing signs of actual empathy. Now all's we need
is for your father to grow a spine, Kasumi a brain and Nabiki a
heart, and whole house will actually qualify as members of the
human race. Even if my mother is stuck in the feudal era."
Akane reeled under the litany of anger, as if Ranma's words
struck her with greater impact because she was below the other
girl. "Why are you doing this?" she asked, tearfully.
"Maybe because I'm tired of it all. Because I'm tired of
fiancees, challenge matches and neurotic families. Or maybe
because I'm tired of watching the body count around this place
rack up, wondering when it'll be--when it'll be me that gets
it."
"So. You're just going to leave us here?"
"You got it. Whatever's going on, it probably won't be
striking two different places at the same time. My best bet is
to get as far away as possible."
"I--I don't believe this! You'll just get out and leave me
and my family... and--and head for the horizon? What about your
mother? What kind of son leaves his--?" A sharp, barking
laughter ended her retort.
"Son?! What son? Take a look, Akane!" The redhead turned so
her profile was highlighted by the streetlight. "I don't see
any sons here! As long as I've got these...." She paused,
running her hands over her cursed form's ample curves to
accentuate her point. "... I'm not anyone's son! Do I look
like much of a 'son' to you?"
Finally, the familiar rage, stung into wakefulness by her
fiance's hateful words, took hold. "No. No, I guess I don't.
And I don't think I'd see one even if you had the 'manliest'
body on Earth." Tears streaming down her cheeks to mix with the
rain water, she fled into the darkness.
Onna-Ranma stared after the fleeing form until the other girl
was lost to sight. "Just keep telling yourself: It had to be
done." Turning to the abandoned building with a sigh, she
placed her hands on her hips. "Now down to business."
***********************************************************
"Here we are, Father," Kasumi said cheerfully, if somewhat
unnecessarily.
"Thank you. Thank you both." Carefully he allowed himself to
be lowered to the stool, still in his robes.
"We'll be downstairs, making some more tea. Let us know when
you are finished, and we shall assist you in returning to your
bedroom, Tendou-san."
"Again, thank you."
As the two women reached the door to the outer room of the
bath, they heard a sharp intake of breath that bespoke of
vicious agony.
"Oh, Father, are you all right?" his eldest daughter asked
worriedly, as she turned to check on him again.
He was clutching his arm to his side, his face obviously
struggling to keep a firm facade of control. He said, in
short gasps, "It would seem... that my... leg is not... the only
thing... I have sprained...."
Nodoka studied the situation for a moment, then spoke. "Well,
I guess it's up to one of us. Kasumi, do you want to help him
bathe, or do you trust me to be in here alone with your father?"
The last was said with a twinkle of humour that the younger
woman completely missed.
"Oh! I'm sure you would never do anything inappropriate,
Auntie Saotome. Still, it might not look totally proper....
Perhaps it would be best if I handled him, and you took care of
the tea." Soun was uncertain if it was real or just wishful
thinking, but he thought he detected a look of disappointment in
the sultry depths of Nodoka's eyes.
"Yes, I suppose that would be best." The elder woman nodded
and turned to leave. "Be sure to call if you need any help."
"I will, Auntie," replied Kasumi, before turning her full
attention to her father. "Now, how should we do this...." Her
voice trailed off for a moment as she stepped behind her father,
only to be replaced by the whisper of cloth on skin.
"Kasumi? What are you doing?"
"Well, Father, I can hardly wash your injuries in my
bathrobe--it would get soaking wet. Besides," she added with
obvious humor, "it's not like you haven't seen it all before."
Her words had an electric effect on Soun. Panic at being
discovered warred with relief at the secret being out and done
with. Keeping his voice calm with an iron will, he started to
phrase his next question. "You... you mean...."
"Well, after all," Kasumi interrupted, "you did bathe all of
us when we were growing up, now didn't you?"
If Soun didn't think it would have killed him with agony, he
would have facefaulted.
***********************************************************
A forlorn P-Chan wandered the empty halls of his current
maze-like prison in confusion and frustration. He had, at
first, managed to keep Akane barely in sight, even as she
pursued her overwhelmed fiancee.
Then the rains had come. It had taken no time at all for
P-Chan, with his short legs, to fall hopelessly behind his
peers. And with the course the trio had been following around
the city, he probably would have been lost even with a normal
sense of direction.
So he wandered, lost, confused and frustrated, until he
managed to slip into an open door and out of the rain. Now he
wandered the halls, which always seemed so cavernous in this
form, trying to find some hot water and slip out unnoticed.
"Well, there you are! I was wondering about where you had
gotten to!" Ryouga froze at the familiar tones. It was only
with great trepidation that he managed to look over his
shoulder.
And into the eyes of Nodoka Saotome.
Panic flooded the piglet, locking his muscles with a paralytic
fear. Unable to move, he was helplessly lifted up the mother of
his greatest rival.
"I think you should come with me. We've had enough pets lost
in this household for one day. You can sleep with me tonight."
The mental picture of Ranma's reaction to walking in on _that_
was enough to break P-Chan's paralysis. He began squirming,
desperate to get away, and so ensured his doom. For his
struggles, and Nodoka's efforts to contain them, caused her
bathrobe to slip open, enough to offer a view that Soun had been
attempting to acquire for days.
Nodoka carried the fainted piglet back to her room, and lay
down to sleep.
***********************************************************
End Chapter 18
Author's Notes:
Gah! It just gets sicker and sicker, don't it? It's interesting to see
how far I can go without actually crossing the line set up by the
GeoCities regs, you know?
Much of the next chapter is already mapped out, so it should follow in
less time than it took to bring out this one (I hope).
As always, C&C, MSTs, even some flames fervently requested, either to
the list or directly to me. (Okay, you can send it to Hoboken, but it
won't do a whole lotta good, there.)
--Freemage
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