A little different from my usual submissions

Let me know what you think

   Haunted

A Ranma 1/2 fanfic by June "KaraOhki" Geraci
November, 1998

Ranma 1/2 and Inu-Yasha were created by Rumiko Takahashi, and their
characters are being borrowed by this author.  This story is for
entertainment, not commercial, purposes.


HAUNTED

As might be expected, the cat noticed it first.  She was really no
more than a kitten, only a few weeks old, and had been living with the
woman for three days.

During those three days, the kitten (unnamed as yet), had gone through
a transformation.  She'd been very shy and timid, staying close to the
woman, when not actually curled up in her lap.  Once she'd become used
to her surroundings, though, she'd gone from shy to nearly savage.  As
far as she was concerned, the apartment belonged to her, and any small
intruder was not welcome.  Any crawling bug met instant death; that
is, nearly every crawling bug.

The woman was hard at work when her pet jumped into her lap.  Her hair
was standing on end, and she was crying pitifully.

"Baka neko!  What is wrong with you?"

The kitten meowed, jumped down, and ran into the kitchen.  She backed
out seconds later, hissing.

"It's a spider, isn't it?"

Spiders were the kitten's weakness.  She could take anything else on,
but spiders rendered her helpless.  A quick check of the kitchen
revealed nothing.

"Silly thing!  There's nothing there!  Now leave me alone, or I'll
never get this finished."

The kitten didn't understand human speech, but she did understand tone
of voice.  Her human was displeased with her.  That was why, when "it"
appeared again, she attacked, rather than run for help.  The intruder
ran past her, and her leap, though impressive for such a young kitten,
was somewhat short.  She fell awkwardly, scrambled to her feet, and
pursued.  The flash of pink stayed just beyond her reach, and vanished
through the kitchen wall.

The kitten wasn't so lucky.  She banged her forehead into the wall.
Sounds of anguished yowling made the woman lay down her pen and enter
the kitchen.  When she noted the empty food bowl, she assumed why her
pet was crying.

"I didn't realize it was lunch time.  No wonder you're crying."

Unseen eyes watched from the corner, and vanished.

*****

"You no say she have cat!  Shampoo nearly caught."

"There was no cat last week.  Did you get a look at the board?"

"No.  You try."

Ryoga nodded.

"I can run faster than you can.  What is she doing right now?"

"Having lunch."

A few minutes later, P-Chan came through the wall into the closet.
After turning around in confusion a few times, he passed through the
door into the main room.  The worktable was a few steps away, and he
jumped onto the chair, and got up onto his hind legs to view the work
in progress.

In the kitchen, the kitten's ears picked up straight.  She hissed,
turned her head, and dashed into the main room.

"This time I heard it", the woman thought, and followed.  She cried
out, and nearly fell when the kitten ran straight between her legs and
back into the kitchen.  It looked like she was chasing something, but
there was nothing to be seen.  The kitten leaped forward, and it
looked like she was fighting something unseen.  She was thrown several
feet, and the woman ran to pick up her crying pet.

"Sakura didn't say the cat was psychotic when she gave it to me", she
muttered aloud as she checked the kitten for injuries.  There appeared
to be none, but the woman was puzzled at the scrap of cloth she found
in her pet's mouth.  It was yellow, with a geometric pattern.  She
knew that pattern, all too well.

*****

Ryoga tried ineffectively to wring out his wet clothes, but was
interrupted by the glares of the assembled group in the hallway.  The
leader of the group crossed his arms, and just looked at him for a
moment before speaking.

"Well, what is she working on?"

"Same thing she's been working on, Ranma.  What did you think?"

"Damn it, then we have to act."

*****

Still holding the piece of cloth, Ms. Takahashi moved back into the
main room.  Something strange was going on, but she had to get back to
work.  She'd felt odd all morning, but so far it hadn't affected her
performance.

That was what she thought until she looked at her board.  The piece of
cloth fell from her nerveless fingers, and fluttered to the floor.

Kagome and Inu-Yasha were having a quiet picnic in the woods.  Kagome
had just come from school, but she was wearing the wrong uniform.  She
was also feeding scraps of her lunch to a small black pig, while
Inu-Yasha watched, a familiar jealous look on his face.

The next frame looked normal, until Ms. Takahashi looked carefully in
the shadows of the trees.  The picnicking pair were being watched by a
duck, and a bonbori leaned against the tree Mousse was sitting under.

Ms. Takahashi's forehead felt damp, and her hand went to the back of
her head.  Something was very wrong.  Then she looked at the next
panel.

Kagome's hair had changed.  It was now short and cute.  Inu-Yasha was
smiling at her, and braiding his mane.

"No......no.  Go away.  I sent all of you away a long time ago.  Why
are you coming back?"

Behind her, someone spoke.

"Do you really want to know?"

*****

Ranma repeated his question.

"Do you really want to know, Takahashi-sama?"

Ms. Takahashi looked at her board, and back at the scene that had
greeted her eyes when she'd turned around the first time.

The room was filled with the Ranma 1/2 characters she had created.
How they all fit was beyond her comprehension.  They had seemed
transparent at first, but as the seconds went by they became more and
more solid-looking.  Ranma was standing at the front of the group,
arms folded, a slight frown on his face.  Then she realized that he
was waiting for an answer.

"Yes, Ranma.  I want to know why all of you are here."

Ranma glanced over his shoulder at the group behind him.  They'd
chosen him to be their spokesperson, which made him nervous.  Then
Akane smiled at him, an encouraging little smile.  He returned it, and
turned around.

"It's the way you ended your story, ma'am.  We're not happy with it."

"In what way, Ranma?"

"You didn't resolve anything.  We still have our stupid curses, and
I'm still stuck with too many fiancees, and nobody else knows where
they're supposed to be!"

Ms. Takahashi was taken aback by this statement.

"That's odd.  I thought I'd resolved your relationship, Ranma.  Didn't
I make it plain that you and Akane would get married?"

"Yeah, fine, that's clear to me and Akane.  I mean, we love each
other, and we're gonna get married, but . . ."

Ranma was unable to continue to sentence due to the sheer amount of
noise in the room.  Ukyo was crying, Shampoo was screaming, and Kuno
had grabbed Ranma by the shirt and was shaking him.  Ryoga took a pill
from his pocket, swallowed it, and sat in the corner.  He soon looked
rather groggy, and Akari sat by him, looking at him worriedly.

"QUIET!"

Akane's shout made everyone stop and look at her.  When she was sure
they had her attention, she lowered her voice.

"You know we all agreed to come here, and that Ranma would be the one
to speak.  Let him talk!"

Kuno had been holding Ranma by the throat, and he released him,
allowing him to drop to the floor.  Ranma wanted to rub his throat but
his pride wouldn't let him show Kuno that he'd hurt him, and he simply
glared at him and returned his attention to Ms. Takahashi.

"You see what I mean?  No one is happy, and then we have the other
problem."

"Other problem?"

"The fanfic writers."

*****

Ms. Takahashi sat on the floor amid piles of paper.  She'd known that
Ranma 1/2 fanfics existed, and had even read a few, but the sheer
volume of them overwhelmed her.

"You should take this as a compliment - all of you.  If people like
your characters enough to put you in new stories, I'd think you'd be
pleased."

"Not if you have to act them out."

"Act them out?"

Ranma sighed.

"It started out just for fun, when the volume was low.  We'd pick out
a story, and act it out.  Then more and more people began writing,
and we began to argue about what to act out."

"What do you mean, Ranma?"

"Well, Shampoo and Ukyo wanted the stories where they got me, and Kuno
wanted the ones where he got Akane, and Mousse wanted the ones where
he got Shampoo - got the idea?  So we came up with the idea that we
wouldn't act anything out unless we got a majority vote.  Then we
started having problems with the lemons.  I mean, some of them are
embarrassing!  Look at Ryoga over there.  He's in terrible shape just
because he READ a lemon, not that he even acted it out!"

Ms. Takahashi took another look at Ryoga.  He'd jumped when Ranma
mentioned lemons, and now he was shaking.

"S-s-s-story . . . me and Ranma . . . no way I would do THAT with him
. . ."

"See what I mean, ma'am?  He's been depressed ever since he read that.
If it wasn't for the Prozac, I think he'd have killed himself by now.
Even Akari can't cheer him up."

A high-pitched laugh from the back of the room made everyone turn to
look at Kodachi.

"Weak fool!  I love the stories that allow me to be with my love.
Ranma dear, won't you act this one out with me?"

Kodachi was waving a fanfic at Ranma, who backed as far away as he
could, looking a little green.

"Get away from him, you perverted witch!"

Akane was going after Kodachi when Ranma grabbed her.

"Don't, Akane.  Let me finish what I have to say, and maybe this will
finally be over."

Akane looked into Ranma's eyes, and nodded.

"All right, Ranma.  I'm sorry I lost my temper."

Ms. Takahashi caught her breath.  Akane was growing up.  She watched
as Ranma gave Akane a loving smile, and turned around to her.

"So, ma'am, we're here to ask you to finish the story.  Give it a REAL
ending.  What do you say?"

*****

The group sitting on the floor was getting tired.  Ms. Takahashi had
asked for time to think, had put on her coat, and gone for a walk.
They were beginning to whisper among themselves when the door opened
and she returned.

"I'll re-start the series, and given it a proper ending, but on my
terms."

Ranma blinked.

"Your terms?"

"Yes.  First, you cannot spy on me as I write it.  Second, you must
agree that however I resolve the story, you will accept it without
argument.  Will you agree?"

Several voices rang out, and after a minute Ranma got them to speak
one at a time.  Shampoo managed to go first.

"Please, even if Shampoo no get Ranma, please no put Shampoo with
Mousse.  After so many fanfic, if Shampoo have to be with Mousse one
more time she vomit!"

Kuno was next.

"I must have the pigtailed girl!  Why is she not here!"

This went on for perhaps fifteen minutes, until nearly everyone who
wanted to speak had spoken.  Ranma and Akane had said nothing, but
Ranma had Akane's hand in his, and his knuckles were turning white
from the firmness of the grip he had on her.  Finally, Ms. Takahashi
raised her hands for silence.

"I've let you talk, but I can't give all of you what you want.
Remember that because you love someone, they may not love you back.
It also follows that if I make one or two people happy I may make
several others miserable, unless you choose to find your own
happiness.  If you've been floundering around in the same situation
since I stopped directing your lives, am I to blame?  I'll end the
story, but what happens after that is up to you."

Her listeners looked stunned, but one by one they agreed to the terms
that had been presented to them, and faded from the room.  Ranma and
Akane were the last to leave, mouthing silent "thank yous" before
vanishing.

*****

The phone had been ringing all afternoon, and the man whose desk it
sat on was in less than a good mood when he picked it up.  His mood
changed and he smiled when he realized who was calling him.

"Good to hear from you.  What can I do for you?"

"I need time off from Inu-Yasha.   Tell the public anything - that I'm
on vacation, whatever you need to.  There's another project I have to
do."

"Another project?  What could be so important?"

"I'm going back to Ranma 1/2."

*****

Ms. Takahashi put the receiver down, and tore the sheet she'd been
working on off the board.  She didn't pick up her pen, and looked at
the blank sheet, thinking.  If she was going to finish Ranma 1/2, she
was going to do it well, and that meant thinking it all out first.  A
warm body jumping into her lap distracted her.

"It's you, is it?  Smart little thing.  You can hunt all my ghosts for
me."

She stroked the kitten a few times, and laughed.

"It's about time you had a name.  How do you like Ryooshi*?  You knew
they were here long before I did."

The kitten purred, and jumped off her lap.

"Well, I'll take that as a yes."

*****

Outside, everyone was dispersing.  They had become transparent again,
and no one on the street noticed their presence as they went their own
ways.  Soon, no one was left on the sidewalk but Shampoo and Ukyo.
They looked at each other guiltily, and back up at Ms. Takahashi's
window.  After a minute, Ukyo spoke.

"Shampoo, do you think she noticed that we had our fingers crossed
when we made that promise?"



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

*Definition: "Hunter"  An appropriate name, don't you think?

Comments are always welcome
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