A bit slower this time 'round. Enjoy...

Ch 15 - Recuperation

	"Well..." Akuji Oto mused, watching the body of his drone being carried 
away into an ambulance on television. "That certainly was quick. So you've 
survived, Nabiki Tendou. Such a shame. And you've brought your coven out to 
fight me. Ahh... I see you've set two more experienced vampires on my trail 
as well." He shook his head and sighed dramatically.

	"It shall amount to naught, girl. I will feast on your blood, virgin or 
not. I'll butcher your sisters and your mentors before your eyes, just to 
savor your expression as they cry out for mercy."

	"Another drink, sir?" the cocktail waitress offered, completely unaware of 
the ravener king's monologue.

	Akuji touched her cheek with one perfectly formed finger. She shuddered.

	"Yes, I think so," he responded. "Bourbon. Straight, double, if you don't 
mind."

	The girl quickly scurried away from the table. It was rather a pity she 
was impure and would be of no use to him. She was terrified of him and his 
gaze on her lithe body. He enjoyed terror in his victims, even if he could 
no longer savor the torture of slowly violating them.

	"And now I have this 'Ranma' fellow to deal with as well. What *is* he I 
wonder?"

	He gazed at the continuing coverage of the fight scene on the evening 
news, sipping his bourbon. It was obvious that the entire coven knew of his 
existence and his plans, or they would not have converged on the summoning 
point so quickly. He could continue his work, and have them stop it again 
and again in this way while they concentrated their forces or...

	"Or, I could switch to plan 'B'." he announced cheerfully.

* * *

	The group of women staggered back into the peaceful walls of the Tendou 
Dojo. The police, perhaps embarrassed by their repeated failures to capture 
the 'Tokyo Slashers' had questioned them all on the scene of the ravener's 
death at length. Nodoka, and to a large extent, Nabiki had smoothed over 
the inconsistencies in their stories. Worse, Shampoo and Ukyou had both 
regained consciousness shortly after the police had arrived. One of the 
police officers who happened to speak Chinese took it upon herself to 
question Shampoo. While Ukyou was apparently descending into hysteria, 
Shampoo had been humiliated, and required to produce both her passport and 
student visa to keep from being referred to the naturalization services.

	Konatsu, the crossdressing ninja, had been sent to the hospital. His 
injuries were relatively minor, but widespread enough to merit medical 
observation. Confused and in tears, Ukyou had apparently returned to her 
restaurant alone.

	Ranma and his friend had taken to the trees and disappeared immediately 
after the fight, leaving the rest to deal with Kodachi who had shown up 
just after the fight to 'justly offer her reward to Ranma for the fruits of 
his righteousness'. In turth, the girl's reward conisted of publicly 
propositioning him over live TV in front of all Tokyo.

	Nodoka and Nabiki ended up feeding the same story to the police that they 
had last time. Even repeated, it was self consistent. Ranma had pinned the 
rapist, who bore unmistakable physical similarity to the 'first' Tokyo 
Slasher,  down as it was attacking his friend from school. Shampoo, Ukyou 
and Konatsu, as entrepreneurs and martial artists, had come seeking the 
reward, got in over their heads, and were saved from certain death by the 
prize student of the Saotome-Tendou school. None of the three found reason 
to counter the story, so Nodoka and Nabiki found no reason to force the 
police to believe it anyway.

	It all came together nicely... *except* for the now missing Ranma.

	As the four exhausted women made their way into the Tendou-ke, Ryouga and 
Genma met them at the front door.

	"Did you find the monster?" Ryouga demanded.

	Nabiki meekly nodded, feeling more exhausted than she had since she had 
been wounded.

	"Ranma-kun and his new friend kept it from attacking Ukyou-chan." Kasumi 
explained, her grin trying not to crack.

	"Have you seen the news yet?" Nodoka asked.

	Genma shook his head. "We heard something on the police band, but not 
enough to get a clear picture."

	"We'll explain inside," Athia commanded. "It's been far too long a day to 
stand outside."

* * *

	"What news have you, Shampoo?" Cologne asked wearily, after clicking the 
television off.

	"Very bad," the angry girl hissed. "Something very bad. Something wrong 
with violent girl whole family and Airen mother."

	The humiliation plain on her face, Shampoo glared at the ceiling to keep 
her frustrated glance from meeting her grandmother's. "That no killer. It 
demon!"

	"Tell me what you saw, Shampoo," Cologne demanded anxiously.

	Shampoo broke down at this point, tears beginning to stream from her eyes.

	"What is it, Child?"

	"Shampoo see *NOTHING*!!!!"

	"What?!"

	"Someone... Shampoo no know... Someone knock Shampoo out. Shampoo sleep 
through fight!!!!" the warrior cried out loud.

	Cologne grit her teeth. Such was one of the gravest things that could 
happen to a warrior. She exhaled breathily, keeping a firm grip on her staff.

	"Do you know who did it."

	Shampoo shook her head. "Monster, maybe. Maybe vulture womens. Shampoo 
think they doing bad black magic."

	* * *

	After checking on the still-sleeping Akane, the women had collapsed around 
the table, Soun, Genma, and Tofuu standing protectively over them. Ryouga 
would have been there, but had gotten lost between the door and the front room.

	"What I still don't understand," Nabiki complained, her head resting on 
her folded hands. "Is who knocked out Shampoo?"

	"*I* didn't do it," Athia commented.

	"Did you, Auntie?" Kasumi asked Nodoka. The woman merely shook her head in 
puzzlement.

	"Well *I* didn't do it either," Nabiki noted. "And I kind doubt... Kasumi?"

	The fatigue showing at the corner of her eyes, Kasumi shook her head as well.

	"Who did?" Nabiki wondered.

	* * *

	"And what of the others," Cologne continued her debriefing. "Did you learn 
anything from any of the other girls?"

	Shampoo, siting tiredly in a restaurant chair, rubbed her forehead and 
shook her head. "No. Spatula girl crying like little boy, Crazy ribbon girl 
get there late, Shampoo think. She make like she make baby with Airen. Stupid."

	"And what of the Tendou girls?"

	"Violent girl no there. Just Airen mother, greedy girl and nice-nice 
girl.   White-hair-lady, too. They leave before Shampoo done talking to 
police."

	Cologne raised one withered eyebrow, causing Shampoo to shift 
uncomfortably in her chair.

	"Police. I see. And what did they want?"

	Shampoo gulped and gritted her teeth. "They want see Shampoo passport and 
visa."

	"And did you have them with you?" Cologne asked angrily.

	Shampoo nodded.

	Cologne sighed at great length. "There's no help for it, I suppose. It was 
bound to happen sooner or later. You had better start studying, Shampoo."

	"Huh? I no understand, Hibaa-chan."

	"I'm not surprised, Shampoo. You're going to take entrance exams so you 
can go to school."

	The blank look on her granddaughter's face rather disappointed Cologne. 
She sighed again, wondering if it was even worth explaining.

	"If the police or immigration finds out that you've been living and 
working in Japan with a student visa and not going to school, they'll 
depport the both of us. Mousse as well, most likely, if that moron even 
bothered to obtain a visa. If you want to stay in Japan and have *any* hope 
of winning Mouko-dono, then you're just going to have to start high-school, 
Shampoo. It's that simple."

	"Aiyah..."

* * *

	*click*

	Kasumi started, apparently waking up from a cat nap. She noted that she 
was still sitting in front of the table, her head resting on her folded hands.

	She looked up to see Genma adjusting the shoji slightly.

	"Oh, my. I seem to have fallen asleep," she announced tiredly. "I should 
really start dinner."

	"Don't bother," Genma advised.

	"I already ordered takeout," Tofu announced.

	Funny, Kasumi thought. She hadn't heard anyone use the phone. There was a 
hunger deep inside her, though. She was glad Tofuu had ordered food. 
Frankly, she felt, she really didn't have the strength to really get up and...

	*YAHWWNNN*

	"stp it, ksmi," a muffled voice whispered from next to her. Kasumi forced 
her jaws shut and turned her head to see Nabiki trying to doze next to her, 
the girl's face buried in her arms.

	It was funny how tired and hungry everyone looked to her eyes... Even 
Nodoka and Athia were the images of famine, as they sat across the table, 
sipping tea. Nodoka's image of serenity had cracked, and several hairs were 
streaming from her normally tight bun.

	Tofuu... didn't look so much hungry as concerned. It was funny, Kasumi 
thought. For the first time, she seemed to be looking at his eyes. Had she 
never noticed how green they were before?

	She hoped that he had ordered a lot of food, because Kasumi felt like she 
could eat a horse... raw... and lick the plate clean afterwards...

	Nodoka sighed and snapped her Katana down on the table.

	"This isn't going to work," she complained.

	"Auntieeeee..." Nabiki whined, irritated by the noise.

	"Eating food will help the hunger, but it will not sate it entirely. To 
replenish our strength after such exertion, we must have blood. Genma--"

	"Yes dear," the martial artist replied, moving over to his wife's side.

	"I had hoped that this could wait until later in the evening, but 
apparently it will not."

	"To the bedroom, then?" Genma asked.

	"Hmmm..." Nodoka purred.

	"And afterwards?" he asked, unashamedly.

	Her eyes drooping, she managed a smile, and took Genma's hand as he lead 
her from the room.

	"Oh my," Soun muttered.

	"Mmmmm... Has been kinda a workout," Nabiki noted. "Ryouga-kun!" she 
called out.

	A bump from an odd side of the house was her only answer. Happily finding 
new strength, Nabiki hopped up from her doze and began to search for the 
lost boy.

	Soun's eyes narrowed grimly in suspicion. He had a sinking feeling in his 
gut just what his second oldest daughter had planned.

	Kasumi watched her sister leave on her search. Suddenly, realizing just 
exactly what it was that she was so hungry for, both Father and 
Tofuu-sensei's necks seemed to stand out, amidst all the other various 
smells and sights in the room. She could hear both their hearts beating, 
and could literally see the heat emanating from Tofuu's body as it drifted 
in and out of the infra-red range.

	"Mmmm...."

	Tofuu, feeling those large, liquid brown eyes on him, began to tremble 
slightly. His glasses fogged over instantly.

	"K-K-Kasumi-san!" he shouted. "How odd to see you here, of a-a-all 
p-places!!!!"

	"Tofuu-sensei?" she asked demurely. She was so tired and so hungry. Tofuu 
was such a nice, *strong* man. His blood would taste so sweet, and it would 
be so wonderful to be held in his arms.

	"Oh my!" Tofuu exclaimed.

	"Tofuu-sensei..." Kasumi began again, trembling slightly herself. An odd 
smell began to permeate the room. It's origin seemed to be the gentle 
doctor. "I... I... have to drink someone's blood this evening, 
Tofuu-sensei," she explained calmly.

	"I... I... I..." the chiropractor stammered.

	"May I drink your blood... Tofuu-sensei?"

	Soun's expression sank even further. He looked in judgment at the man. 
Tofu certainly was shaking around a little bit. For a moment, Soun doubted 
the doctor's ability to do anything untoward to Kasumi.

	"What should I do, Betty-chan?" Tofuu asked.

	"The skeleton's back at your office, Sensei," Soun advised him, trying to 
drop a hint at where the best place for the doctor was at the moment..

	"Oh yes... Of course, Saotome-san... How forgetful of me... What's your 
opinion, Betty-chan? Should I let Kasumi drink my blood?"

	"Certainly is scary, Tofuu-Sensei!" Betty answered.

	"Hmm... You're right, Betty-chan. We have to consider all the consequences 
however. Kasumi might starve right to death if we don't feed her unholy 
hunger."

	"Mm-Hm!" Betty agreed. "Besides, we might get to see Kasumi naked if we do!"

	"YEOW!" Tofuu shouted aloud. "I'll be there in a second, Kasumi-san!"

	Odd boy, Soun thought to himself, and shook his head sadly while watching 
the wildly gyrating doctor trail after his oldest daughter.

	"Hmm... dearest daughter," Soun called out.

	"Yes father?" her voice came from the top of the stairs. Had she moved 
that quickly.

	"Remember... Remember that Doctor Tofuu has not been to his clinic in 
almost two days. You shouldn't keep him up very late."

	"Oh, I won't father," her voice seemed even further off. Soun guessed that 
she was already inside her room now. "I'm certain that he'll sleep *very* 
soundly this evening."

	"Oh that's good, Kasumi. Just tell me when you're done and I'll walk the 
doctor ho--"

	*CLICK*.

	The sound of Kasumi's door lock sounded very loud to Soun for some reason. 
Very loud and final. His left eye began to twitch.

	"They grow up so fast..." Athia commented.

	"Not tonight they won't!" Soun vowed.

* * *
	
	Ranma growled in frustration. First, the nameless girl had disappeared 
*AGAIN* as usual after the ravener had been killed even though he had told 
her he had more questions he wanted answered. Then, after he managed to 
evade the police and TV crews, Ukyou had refused to answer the door at 
Ucchan's. A bit of eavesdropping below her bedroom window told him nothing 
except that she was crying, and sounded like she had been for quite a while.

	So he was down to this. Rather than deal with what madness was infecting 
the dojo, Ranma returned to his camping roots. He had built a small fire 
under the bridge near Furinkan, and was doing his best to keep warm. Clouds 
were gathering, and a cool breeze was beginning to blow in from the north.

	*I've slept almost naked in worse than this,* Ranma thought to himself, 
unconsciously huddling closer to the tiny fire. *That time in China, when 
Shampoo chased me and Pop into Den-Nang, for one.*

	He tried to think of another.

	The time Genma and Soun kicked him out for not bowing to Happousai. That 
had been rough. It had even flurried a bit that night. But he had toughed 
it out. Yup. Even with those takeout pork-buns that Akane had--

	Ranma cut the thought off and stared intently into the fire. He was 
suddenly very hungry for takeout pork buns for some strange reason. And 
warm tea.

	Ranma gritted his teeth, and did his best to focus on the situation at hand.

	"Lesse," he began to catalog out loud. "Can't go back to the dojo. Ukyou's 
not letting me back into Ucchan's."

	That left two places where he could reasonably, or unreasonably, spend the 
night. If he risked the Nekohanten, he chanced going to sleep in Japan and 
waking up in China.

	"Under the circumstances," Ranma mused aloud, "Not an option," he sighed. 
He had to stay in Nerima, if for no other reason than to fight the raveners.

	The second option left much to be desired. In fact, Ranma was cross with 
himself for even thinking about it.

	"...ranma-sama..." a faint voice cried out from high above the roof tops. 
"...oh-hohohoho..."

	"Not a chance," Ranma muttered quietly to himself.

	"Ranma-sama!" the voice grew slightly louder.

	Ranma shook his head and gritted his teeth. Allowing himself to consider 
such was very nearly as dangerous as visiting the Nekohanten, if not moreso.

	"I've got dim-sum chicken, Ranma-sama!!!!"

	*rrrrrrr* Ranma's stomach grumbled.

	*Just shut up,* Ranma scolded himself, not daring to open his mouth.

	"Can't you just smell the dinner that your loving bride has prepared, 
Ranma-sama!?!?!"

	*RRRRRR* His stomach insisted.

	*NO!!!!* Ranma screamed to himself.

	"It's quite a shame you're insisting on winning our little game of hide 
and seek, Ranma-sama. I guess I shall just have to treat myself to dim-sum. 
Woe unto meeee!!!" the voice cried.

	Before he knew what had happened, Ranma's stomach took control. He stood 
up, and poked his head out from under the concrete support beam that made 
up the side of the bridge. He looked around for the source of the voice.

	"Ranma-sama!" Kodachi's face appeared out of nowhere, right in front of him.

	"YAAAAHHH!!!" Ranma jumped back, already realizing that the gymnast was 
hanging upside down over the side of the bridge.

	"I found you, my darling!" Kodachi exclaimed gleefully. "Now take your 
clothes off!"

	"Uhhh..." Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

	"Or would you rather I take *my* clothes off? I would allow you to pursue 
me in such a manner if it would please you, my husband to be! Wouldn't a 
wild, unclothed chase across the rooftops be grand, my love?"

	Ranma's eye began to twitch.

	"Listen!" He snapped. "I ain't interested in any of that stuff. I thought 
you said you had some food?"

	"Why yes, Ranma-sama!" the inverted gymnast confirmed. "All the food you 
want and more awaits you at the impeccable Kunou estate."

	Ranma sighed deeply. This was not turning out like he wanted. "Maybe some 
other time then."

	"But Darling," Kodachi pouted, "Won't you claim your reward?"

	"Reward?" Ranma asked. "Reward for what?"

	"For slaying the Slasher, of course! You silly thing!" Kodachi let her 
eyelids droop lustily, as she closed in on her prey. "I should be spanked 
for thinking that my Ranma-sama would undertake such a quest for the sake 
of some base monetary compense." Still hanging upside down, she draped one 
unclad arm on Ranma's shoulder next to his neck. The other began to run up 
and down her leotard clad waist.

	"Spanked at length..." She continued. "It is a husband's duty to 
discipline his wife when she has been naughty, Ranma-sama..."

	Ranma narrowly ducked out of her upside-down embrace. "LISTEN!" he 
shouted. "I ain't interested in any o' that. I... I did what I did because 
I had to. Not 'cause I wanna do anything with you, or for any reward, or 
'cause I knew anyone who got hurt. I could tell ya' what to do with your 
reward..."

	"But, Ranma-saamaa..." the gymnast wheedled.

	Ranma's stomach grumbled again, audible to both him and Kodachi.

	"But I ain't gonna stop you from givin' me some food, okay?"

	Kodachi's expression brightened fifty shades. She was fairly beaming as 
she turned a somersault, letting her ponytail brush his face as she turned 
in the air.
	
	"Oh, Darling..." She cooed, reaching to embrace him again.

	"Listen!" Ranma yelled as he dodged. "This is just between friends... 
Okay? Just friends!!!!"	

	"Friends, then!" Kodachi announced loudly. "Let us away to the fabulous 
Kunou mansion, Ranma. There I shall ply you with a feast until your stomach 
threatens bursting, and then I shall bend all my charm to seducing you, my 
most handsome and wonderful *friend!"

	Ranma sighed out loud. "Whatever. Come on, I'm starvin' to death here."

	"Of course, Ranma-sama!" Kodachi shouted and pinched Ranma hard on the 
left cheek of his buttocks. She leapt into the air before he could react. 
Ranma groaned in frustration, but his stomach had already cast the deciding 
vote. He had to run up the palisade and jump a fence to keep up with her.

* * *

	"IT'S A GOOD THING I HAVE SUCH RESPONSIBLE DAUGHTERS," Soun stated, 
bellowing loudly enough that most of the neighborhood was forced to agree 
with him.

	"That Kasumi," Mrs. Suziki down the street noted as she climbed into her 
futon. "Such a responsible girl."

	Soun's eye twitched as he heard a giggle coming from up the stairs. He 
couldn't tell which of the girls it came from.

	"You love your daughters very much, don't you?" Athia asked.

	Soun nodded grimly, mentally going through all the campfire pork recipes 
he could remember from his time with the master.

	"It's quite a task making sure that they're taken care of properly isn't it?"

	"Yes, quite," Soun noted. "You sound as if you speak from experience, 
Madam. Do you have children?"

	Athia nodded. "A daughter. She's grown now, but I remember her adolescence 
very clearly."

	Soun nodded appreciatively at the woman's statement. Nothing was so 
difficult as taking care of your family single handedly.

	"Her father?"

	"He died in the first world war."

	Soun goggled. Nodoka had said that they had long lifetimes, though.  He 
did his best to contain his incredulity.

	"He was a British spy," she continued. "And the Kaiser had a very dim view 
of intelligence agents at the time, you understand. My daughter was three 
at the time."

	"I'm very sorry," Soun answered sadly. "I... I do understand, though."

	"Your girls' mother?"

	"She died when my Akane was six," he noted, careful to keep the emotions 
at bay. Over a decade, he had learned not to let them cripple him so badly. 
"A congenital heart defect, the doctors said. There was no way of knowing 
until it actually happened."

	"I'm so sorry," Athia sympathized. "The world is a much darker place 
without those we love the most. It makes it so much more important to stay 
close to your children."

	"Your daughter?"

	"A spy, like her father. She works for a special branch of German 
government under the jurisdiction of NATO."

	"How ironic. It must be hard to speak with her then," Soun guessed.

	"Our 'gift' makes it a little bit easier to stay in touch but I do miss 
her very badly. She has her own life now, so full of love and adventure. 
I'd be a fool to intrude more than I am welcome."

	"I fear that I have much the same problem," Soun agreed. "I feel that 
they're slipping through my fingers. I can't squeeze too tightly though, or..."

	"Or they'll slip away altogether," Athia finished for him.

	There were several seconds of silence. Soun briefly considered checking on 
each of his daughters, and was about to get up when he noted that Athia was 
trembling very slightly. Instantly, he suspected that she was as fatigued 
as the other women.

	"It occurs to me, Madam--"

	"Athia, please," she instructed, her voice carefully controlled to hide 
any signs of her fatigue.

	"It occurs to me, Athia, that for a vampire, I have seen you take very 
little *drink*," he extemporized. "Don't you need some... well... *blood* 
to keep your strength?"

	Athia raised one eyebrow speculatively.

	"Honestly?"

	"Honestly," Soun prompted.

	"Honestly," Athia admitted. "I was waiting for the rest of you to go to 
sleep, so I could go out to feed."

	Soun raised one eyebrow questioningly.

	"Nodoka has never taken blood from someone who is unwilling. I find... 
that doesn't leave many opportunities. Instead," she whispered. "I look for 
crimes. Robberies, murders, rapes..."

	"And you take the blood of those responsible," Soun surmised.

	"I will not lie to you, Sir," Athia stated coldly. "I kill in cold blood. 
Quite often as a matter of fact. If you would have me leave your house..." 
she trailed off, allowing Soun to fill in the blank.

	Soun considered her carefully for several seconds.

	"There is no call for that," he assured her. "You must eat, and crimes... 
such crimes *must* be punished. Speaking of which, there's a certain 
martial arts master I would like to introduce you to...."

* * *

	"Why don't I cook dinner," Ranma offered, standing behind Kodachi as she 
began to gather a large assortment of pots and pans.

	"But, my darling, it is the duty of a wife to cook for her husband..." she 
countered.

	"But you ain't my wife, and I ain't your husband," Ranma riposted, 
glancing darkly at Kodachi's extensive spice cabinet. Labeled with an 
embossed black rose, the cabinet fairly exuded evil. In some the places 
where normal jars of herbs and powders would go, yellowish brown medicine 
bottles sat, their diabolical contents waiting to do damage to some poor 
soul's unsuspecting stomach.

	"I must cook for my love," she protested.

	"An' if I'm gonna eat," Ranma stated flatly, "It's gotta be food I can 
trust. Now, do you want me to stay or not?"

	Kodachi began to pout. Ranma *almost* gave in. One glance back at the 
'spice rack', however, made up his mind.

	"Uh-uh. You want me to stay, then I getta cook."

	Kodachi's expression became angry, and then petulant. She turned, and 
stormed away. "Fine then," she hissed. "Sasuke!" she yelled. "To the 
kitchen at once to assist Ranma-sama."

	Ranma raised one eyebrow in irritation. In seconds, however, the little 
ninja had rushed into the kitchen and was bowing and scraping in front of him.

	"What's her deal?" Ranma murmured aloud.

	"What, Ranma-dono?" Sasuke queried.

	"Kodachi. Got all pissed off 'cause I wouldn't let her cook."

	The ninja winced.

	"What is it?" Ranma jerked his head back conspiratorially.

	Standing on his tiptoes, Sasuke shook his head and began to whisper 
quietly so that his mistress could not hear.

	"It's the young master. He started refusing to eat her cooking last week. 
She's taking it rather hard. Can I assume that you two are--"

	"No." Ranma cut him off. "Just friends. Havin' dinner."

	"Ah," Sasuke guessed. "Akane kicked you out."

	"Yeah," Ranma answered in a dead tone. "Somethin' like that." He looked 
back to the open restaurant style refrigerator. "So is all this stuff 
clean, or do I gotta worry about paralysis powder?"

	"Not unless she's gotten to it since this morning," Sasuke whispered.

* * *

	Plan 'B' was really quite an evil piece of work, Akuji noted as he kissed 
the palm of the young woman lying in front of him.

	"And I couldn't have started without you, Dear," he congratulated her. 
"You're the first, but why, with your help, I'll have the entire city!"

	He let the hand drop. It landed limply in a puddle of blood, sending 
splatters everywhere. Akuji smiled warmly and blew her a kiss.

	She was junior high school girl, since it was so much easier to find 
virgins among them than it was amoung the population of high schoolers. It 
was fairly early, so her parents were probably just now making the leap 
from concern to outright worry. The thought of the news they would no doubt 
receive in the morning warmed his heart and made him smile.

	Grinning, he pulled a white leather bag out of the breast of his sport 
coat. He pinched open one end and began to trail a stream of dark powder 
into the blood. Carefully, he used the powder to draw a square shape in the 
blood around the girl's naked, lifeless body. Just before he closed the 
square at the corner near her face, the powder caught fire and began to 
burn a sooty red color.

	He began a second square at forty-five degrees to the second one, creating 
an eight pointed star. It caught fire as well. While it didn't burn the 
girl's pale skin, the blood began to pop and sizzle from the dark heat. 
Several other shapes and curves began to burn as well as he poured the 
powder into them. Finishing, Akuji tossed the bag into the fire near the 
girl's head and walked away.


	"Eight more... Now, where will we start?"

* * *

	Ranma had made a light stew. It was something that he had learned on the 
road, and its ingredients could be varied according to the available flora 
and fauna.

	Having the most well stocked refrigerator he had ever seen, Ranma diced a 
whole chicken breast into it, as well as potatoes, carrots, radish, and 
because he was in the mood, shrimp.

	Kodachi had apparently already forgotten her upset when Ranma had brought 
the steaming bowls out of the kitchen.

	They ate quietly at the Kunou dining table, with the exception of Ranma's 
occasional grunts as he attempted to keep Kodachi's naked toes from 
climbing up his legs.

	Ranma, of course, sucked down his stew with a minimum of ceremony. Sasuke 
was eating the leftovers in the kitchen, but there was enough for seconds 
and even thirds.

	Kodachi moaned appreciatively as she finished her bowl. She licked her 
spoon suggestively. Ranma looked on with slight interest. She moaned with 
satisfaction, and leaned back and stretched against the hard back of the 
dining room chair. Ranma noted that she was obviously displaying her 
breasts for him, causing her hard nipples to stand out against the tight 
fabric of her leotard.

	Rather than becoming aroused, Ranma had an insight. He glanced around at 
the room around him. It was opulent in a way he had never seen before he 
met the Kunous.

	"Who put this room together?" he asked.

	"Ranma-sama?" she asked. "Whatever do you mean. This room is hundreds of 
years old."

	"I mean, who picked out the pictures. The statues." He pointed to the 
corner, where a little fountain trickled merrily, drowning out any eating 
or digesting sounds.

	"Why I did, of course. Tatchi placed the ceremonial katanas of course," 
she noted, gesturing demurely to the pair of swords hanging above the 
kitchen door.

	No real interference from parents. No father to drag her around, to 
discipline her. No mother to enforce her vows.

	She let her lids droop sleepily at him, and giggled slightly.

	Ranma knew, but he had to ask.

	"You're a virgin, aren't you?"

	She jumped at the question.

	Her innocence was like that of a big ca-- big wild animal of some kind. In 
the jungle, Ranma corrected his thoughts. She played with her food because 
she didn't understand that it hurt. She hurt and maimed because she thought 
it was fun, and didn't have anyone to tell her it was wrong.

	"R-r-ranma-sama?" Kodachi wrung her hands, and stared down at the carpet 
in embarrassment.

	"I gotta know," he said seriously.

	"I... I..."

	Ranma raised one eyebrow. Was it possible that she wasn't.

	"W-w-well... there was t-t-this slumber party in e-e-eighth grade and--"

	"Any guys?" Ranma had heard stories about girls's schools.

	Kodachi began to tremble with shame and embarrassment. "I-I-I-I... no..." 
she eeped.

	"I don't think it counts."

	He could see her future on her face, suddenly. He *knew*. That thing, what 
ever it was, would be drawn back to St. Hebereke.

	"You gotta leave the country," he commanded.

	"What?!?!" she demanded incredulously.

	"There's something here... in Tokyo," Ranma told her. "That thing at St. 
Hebereke today was only a small part of it. It's.... It's utterly evil. 
It's... It's a kind of evil magic that comes from the deepest pit of hell," 
he quoted. "An... it kills only virgins."

	Kodachi started, holding a hand to her mouth in shock. "Kayuma was a 
virgin," she whispered. "She told me in the strictest of confidences just 
last week."

	Ranma guessed that that was the name of the girl who had been killed. He 
hand't stopped long enough to find out, or to see what her relationship to 
the gymnast really was. It sounded like they had been pretty tight.

	"If she wasn't," Ranma explained seriously. "It probably would have been 
someone else who was."

	"Ranma-sama..."

	"So... I think you're gonna get hurt," he finished. "An' I want you to 
leave the country. Go on a vacation or somethin'."

	"I... *You* could save me, Ranma!" Kodachi pleaded. "Take me now! My 
virginity is yours to rend, beloved. Your loving embrace will save me from 
this evil."

	Ranma turned her down with a look. There was a pain in his eyes. Pain and 
fear. She had never seen fear before in her Ranma-sama.

	It was deeper kind of hurt than anything Kodachi had ever seen before. It 
was like the hurt she felt when Mother... went... away...

	Kodachi gasped, feeling the entire weight of Ranma's seriousness.

	"I will do as you command, beloved one," she murmured. "Father is in Oahu 
for the week. Tatchi and I will join him, and I will persuade him to extend 
his stay. It won't be very difficult."

	"When can you go?" Ranma asked.
	
	Kodachi put a finger to her chin. "Flight 208 leaves at six in the 
morning. It is Father's usual flight out."

	Ranma nodded.

	"How will I know when it is safe to rejoin you, Ranma-sama?" she asked, 
reaching out for him."

	"Kodachi," Ranma began. "You know that I don't feel the same way you do. 
If you go to Hawaii, and expect to come back and get married, you're gonna 
be disappointed. I think you're my friend, though, an' I don't wanna see 
you get hurt when the shit hits the fan."

	Kodachi turned her head away, tears streaming down her face.

	"How will I know when it is safe to come back, Ranma-sama?" she asked 
again. Ranma took her outstretched hand, and tried to hold it reassuringly.

	"Send me your room number when you get a hotel or somethin'," Ranma 
prompted. "An' I'll write you a letter when it's safe to come back."

	Kodachi nodded, her face still turned away. Ranma could see a drop roll 
off her chin and fall to the carpet below.

	"Keep an eye on a Tokyo paper," he continued. "The obituaries section. If 
you see mine... or any of the Tendous, and I don't write you, then don't 
come back to Japan. Not ever."

	"Why..." Kodachi asked, her voice trembling with the fear Ranma felt.

	"'Cause it'll all be too late then."

- To be continued...

What evil is Akuji planning?
Who knocked Shampoo out during the battle? (and why?)
*Who* *who* *who* is the mysterious red-head who keeps pestering Ranma?

Hmmmm....

Chris



* * *
Chris Jones - guilty@arn.net
The Ranma 1/2 Gallery - http://cyberwheel.simplenet.com/ranma

It's 1999. Do you know what your children are?

"The impeachment scandal tarnished everyone who caused it. On
the Democratic side, that would be: President Clinton. On the
Republican side that would be: The United States House of
Representatives."       - Jack Hitt