Based off of some C&C, I rewrote the last few scenes to this chapter and
chapter 3. Chapter 4 is in the works.
-Komodo
**********
Chapter 2
Akane beat Tofu to the front door by about one minute and she was fighting
mad.
"That stupid baka promised he'd meet me!" Akane shouted as she kicked off her
shoes and stormed into the house. "I'm gonna kill him!"
"Akane," Kasumi said quietly as she placed herself in Akane's path. "Ranma
has been hurt."
Like water down the drain, Akane's anger vanished.
"What happened?"
"Kodachi-" was as far as the older girl got before Akane's anger flared to
life again.
"I'm sick of her!" Akane exclaimed as she turned to the door. "I'll teach her
to mess with me!"
"Akane," Kasumi said. "What about Ranma?"
"Oh gosh!" Akane exclaimed and ran for the stairs.
"Ranma's in the living room!" Kasumi called.
"Oh! Thanks!" Akane called back and Kasumi heard the thunder of pounding feet
as Akane made her way back towards the living room.
Turning as the doorbell rang, Kasumi turned back to the door and let Doctor
Tofu in.
After escorting him to the living room and making sure he had everything,
Kasumi headed up the stairs to Nabiki's room.
Upon entering, she found her younger sister barricaded behind a pile of
cushions in the far corner, wrapped in blankets and shaking violently.
Remembering what her mother had told her, Kasumi sat on the bed and waited.
================
When Ranma opened her eyes, she found herself staring into Akane's and Doctor
Tofu's.
"Wha?"
"Well hello, Ranma," Tofu said as he shone a bright light into Ranma's eyes.
"Care to tell me what happened? Kasumi mentioned Kodachi and her paralysis
powder but she couldn't really give me any details."
As best she could, Ranma recounted the entire event. Tofu said nothing until
she was done.
"One question."
"Yeah?"
"How did you get out of the Nekoken?"
"Huh?"
"You were rescued by a giant white tiger?"
"Yeah, so?"
"A tiger is a type of cat."
"So?" Ranma looked from Tofu to Akane and back again. "What's with the funny
looks?"
"How many fingers am I holding up?" Tofu asked, holding up three fingers.
"Three," Ranma said. "You gonna cure me or not?"
"In a moment," Tofu said as he went to the phone. Neither Akane or Ranma
could hear what he said, but about five minutes after he hung up, Shampoo
burst into the room.
"Nihao!" she called cheerfully.
"Hello Shampoo," Tofu said pleasantly and upended a bucketful of cold water
on the Amazon.
Shampoo vanished to be replaced by a Siamese/Persian mix cat.
The effect on Ranma was immediately apparent.
"C-c-cat!" she screeched, leaping from the floor and half stumbling, half
running backwards until she hit the couch.
"Thank you Shampoo," Tofu said and emptied the tea kettle full of hot water
onto the cat.
"Why Doctor do that?" Shampoo demanded.
"It was an experiment," Tofu said and turned to Ranma.
"Was there anything else about this tiger that rescued you that struck you as
odd?"
"Well, it seemed kinda smart," Ranma said, staring up at the ceiling as she
relaxed.
"Why Airen not act crazy?" Shampoo whispered as she leaned over to Akane
"Tiger type of cat. Ranma should be acting crazy when tiger mentioned."
"We don't know," Akane whispered back. "That's probably why you're here."
"An intelligent white tiger?" Tofu mused. "Anything else?"
"It was. . .big." Ranma said after a moment. "Bigger then at the zoo."
"Now that's interesting," Tofu replied, as he poured himself some tea. "It
sounds like the Guardian."
"Who?"
"Its an old story. Nobody really knows where the Guardian comes from. She
appears when she's needed and disappears when she's not." He pushed his
glasses back up his nose. "A lot of people think you're the Guardian, Ranma."
"What this have to do with Ranma not acting crazy?" Shampoo demanded.
"At a guess? The Guardian doesn't trigger the Nekoken because she's not
really a cat."
"Shampoo not really cat."
"You are when doused with cold water," Tofu replied. "Let me put it another
way. When you get wet, you physically, for all intents and purposes, become a
cat. The Guardian, however, is a magical construct, or so my research
suggests. Therefore, she doesn't trigger Ranma's Ailurophobia."
"Well that's a big help," Akane grumbled. "And what about the ghost cat?"
"Same difference. It may be a ghost, but it's still a cat." Tofu paused and
took a sip of tea. Then he frowned as he set it down. "Still, I am bothered
about one thing."
"What that?"
"The Guardian awakens only when Nerima's in danger. What's going on that woke
her up?"
**********
Two hours passed before Nabiki spoke.
"Kasumi?"
"I'm right here," Kasumi said gently.
"What's happening to me?"
'Only that you're paying the price for an ancestor's sins.' Kasumi thought
darkly. "You're going to be fine, Nabiki," She said aloud.
"I don't feel fine," Nabiki whispered.
"It will pass."
"How long?" Nabiki demanded, a trace of her old self emerging.
"Soon. Why don't you come out of there?"
"Don't wanna."
"Very well," Kasumi said and resumed waiting.
================
Since Kasumi hadn't started dinner, the rest of the house elected to order in
from Uuchan's.
"So where's Kasumi?" Ukyou, who had been invited to stay for dinner, asked.
"Upstairs doin' stuff probably," Ranma said as he started in on his fourth
okonomiyaki.
"Oh."
================
It was dark out by the time the barricade of cushions finally came down and
Nabiki, stiff and red in the face from crying, emerged, still wrapped in
blankets and carrying a stuffed penguin. Kasumi smiled slightly when she saw
the stuffed bird. Mister Pen-Pen, Nabiki had named him.
"Hello, Nabiki," Kasumi said as though she had just entered the room instead
of sitting on the bed for four hours straight.
"I'm scared," Nabiki said softly.
"I know," Kasumi replied. "Would you like to tell me about it?"
Nabiki got on the bed and pressed herself against the wall, holding Mister
Pen-Pen against her chest.
"It was like I was me, but I wasn't me," Nabiki said, her voice subdued. "And
this voice in my head kept telling me to protect. Protect what? Ranma? He
doesn't need protection."
"He did today," Kasumi reminded her.
"Oh. Yeah," Nabiki looked away. "What's happening to me Oneechan?"
"You are the Guardian," Kasumi began. In the past four hours, Kasumi had
debated on exactly how much to tell her younger sister. The whole truth was
out of course, Nabiki could never accept it, not in her present state. Nabiki
would have to be told part of the truth then. "A long time ago, back when
Nerima was first founded, the villagers fell victim to a horde of bandits.
Every year, they had to pay a tithe to them or be killed. Then one year, as
the time for the tithe approached, one of the village women sought out a
witch, offering herself and her descendants in return for the power necessary
to defeat the bandits.
"The witch agreed, granting her the power to assume the form of any beast.
The woman went back to the village, and using the form of a giant white
tiger, defeated the bandits."
"Is that why I turned into one?"
"Yes. A white tiger is usually the form each new Guardian first assumes and
primarily uses throughout their lives. The Guardian's job is to protect."
"Protect what?"
"Nerima and all who are within it."
"But if that's true, then why now? Why am I changing now?"
"Because, between Ranma, the police, the town Martial Artists, magicians, and
such, there hasn't been anything they couldn't handle."
"So something's happening? Something they can't handle?" Nabiki asked,
sitting up straighter, her eyes narrowed in thought.
"Yes," Kasumi replied, pleased that Nabiki seemed to be adjusting to her new
situation.
"Who am I kidding?" Nabiki sighed and sat back against the wall. "I'm no
hero."
"Anyone can be a hero," Kasumi replied as she stood up. "But its late. Why
don't you sleep on it and we will talk some more in the morning?"
"Yeah, good idea," Nabiki agreed, sliding down onto the bed.
"Good night," Kasumi said as she tucked Nabiki in before leaving the room,
switching off the light as she closed the door.
Turning, she found herself facing her father.
"Kasumi?" he asked.
"Nabiki's running a fever," Kasumi said simply. "I was staying with her."
"Oh. We ordered from Uuchan's and Ukyou and Akane did the dishes."
"Thank you father," Kasumi beamed even though she was slightly irritated that
her kitchen had been invaded. "But I will just dirty them again to prepare
something for myself."
"No need for that, Ukyou left some okonomiyaki in the fridge. Looks like you
have some free time tonight." He chuckled slightly.
"How sweet of her," Kasumi said, a bit of ice in her tone.
"Yes, well, goodnight Kasumi."
"Goodnight father," Kasumi said and continued downstairs, consoling herself
with the thought that she could use the dishes from her dinner to keep her
hands busy while she worked on the problem of Nabiki being the Guardian.
Dinner, however, proved to be on paper plates.
"Of course," Kasumi sighed and reached in for the food.
================
Nabiki stared at the clock and then rolled onto her back, looking up at the
ceiling. Two in the morning and she couldn't sleep.
Being the Guardian had been so interesting. . .
There was a sort of raw power there, a force she could reach out and grab.
And then. . . .
'And then what?'
Grumbling to herself, she threw the covers back and sat up. She wouldn't be
able to sleep until she knew what she was going to do and she couldn't come
up with any answers here.
================
Awakened by a scraping noise, Kasumi peered out the window and saw P-Chan,
dragging a large pack over the wall near her room. Satisfied as to the source
of the noise, Kasumi went back to bed.
'Now then, Doctor,' she thought to herself as she got comfortable and closed
her eyes. 'where were we?'
================
The demon looked down at one of its pawns, who was sleeping peacefully, a
wooden bokken in one hand, and picture of a pig-tailed girl in the other.
So, amusing, these humans, such a belief in their own innate goodness. After
all, it had been evil that had led to the creation of this pit's precious
Guardian.
Seething, the demon left the room. So close, it had been so close! Sooner or
later, the town would have run out of tithes and then the bandits would have
burned the town to the ground. Then it could sift through the grounds at its
leisure and find the Key.
But then, the white tiger had appeared, bringing down its men with appalling
ease.
The demon had fought, or tried to, but the tiger proved to be powerful,
slaughtering the host and forcing the demon to flee.
But now it had its chance again. The Key was close, a tangible presence. The
spell that kept it safe was drawing near the end of its life and the one
person in the town who could re-cast the spell was unaware he had the power.
Once he was dead, there was nothing between the demon and its prize.
"Soon you shall be free, Master," The demon hissed to itself as it returned
to its host. "Soon we will have our revenge."