Many thanks to Grayson Towler, Brian Payne, Latin_D, Mad Hamlet, and
Kyle Emmerson for all their input. Thanks guys!
==========================================
"What'd I tell ya?" Kyle asked as he and Ryo stepped into the spacious
room. "Party of the YEAR, man!"
"Yeah, it's really packed in here," Ryo commented as he made his way into
the moving ocean of flesh. Heay industrial music thundered throughout the
main room of the dance hall Nanase Takeuchi had rented for the occaision,
rattling his teeth with each roar of the bass. The frantic movements of the
colored lights above assaulted his eyes in a rapid fire deluge of primary
colors, the forms of the other guests blinking in and out of the shadows. It
was almost enough to give Ryo a headache just from being there.
WHY did I come here, again? he asked himself as he attempted to maneuver
his way through the dancing throng of people, his head already starting to
hurt from the noise and lights. The aroma of smoke and sweat tinged the air
around him, teasing his nose as he made his way to a clear spot.
He spotted Kyle in the middle of the dancing throng, easily a head taller
than most of the dancers on the floor. His head bobbed in time with the
music, hinting at the motions the rest of his body was performing. Ryo had
to admit, Kyle really got into the party scene.
"I was wondering when you'd show up!" Ryo turned toward the voice that was
barely audible over the cacophony of music to see Nanase sidling up next to him.
Her raven's wing hair spilled over her shoulders in a shimmering wave, the
ultra-tight miniskirt outfit leaving little of her creamy skin to the
imagination. Her blue eyes sparkled with a mischevious light, a sly smile
playing her ruby lips. Ryo found himself staring at her for a tad too long
and forced himself to look at her face. As if that was any less attractive...
"Hey, what can I say?" he shouted in reply. "Couldn't miss it!"
"Glad to hear it!" Her body moved in time with the music, as if screaming
for him to stare at it. Oh, what wonders.... "Whatcha doin' in the corner?"
"Um... well..." Before he could make any more a fool of himself, Ryo felt
Nanase grab him by the wrist and drag him out to the floor. "HEY!"
"GO, RYO!" Kyle watched as Nanase hauled Ryo out to the center of the
floor, her body gyrating in such a way as to cause a severe nosebleed. Ryo
just stood there, looking as lost as... well... as somebody he couldn't
quite recall. Come on, you dolt! he mentally screamed, MOVE!
Tentatively, Ryo began to dance with Nanase. His movements were stiff,
wooden even as he tried to find the rhythm of the music. Kyle wanted to go
over and strangle his friend. He was blowing the chance of a LIFETIME!
After a few moments, Ryo's movements became more fluid and Kyle breathed a
sigh of relief. Finally, the kid gets into it! As the dance went on, and Ryo
became even more immersed in the thundering rhythm, Kyle began to wonder
just where his Japanese friend had learned such moves.
Ryo dropped into a split and then sprang back up into a backflip, all
without missing a beat before moving with Nanase again. Holy SHIT! The man's
better than I thought!
Hey, this is fun! Ryo thought as he danced with Nanase. The movements
started coming naturally to him as the music invaded his brain, his body
moving almost on instinct with the rhythm. He met Nanase's approving gaze,
that glint of mischief brighter than ever. Oh, he was starting to be happy
he came.
Ryo didn't know what came over him when he pulled off a split in the middle
of the beat, then sprang up to a backflip. Something had just told him to do
it, to show off a little. Cheers met his ears as he resumed dancing,
Nanase's lips curled into an impressed grin.
I didn't know I had it in me! he thought as he kept moving, letting his
body take complete control. He almost didn't notice the sour glare that
manifested itself on Nanase's face until he felt a presence behind him.
"I didn't invite you!" she shouted over the music. Ryo turned around to see
what the trouble was, and nearly groaned.
"Hey! We get invited to ALL the good parties! Didn't you know that?!" Hyo
Imawano strode into the circle around Ryo and Nanase, other people halting
as they saw him pass. His long white hair hung in a ponytail that started
almost at the top of his head, his face set in a confident smirk as he
swaggered up to Nanase. Black, loose fitting jeans hanging over his sneakers
whit a red muscle shirt showing off his highly toned torso. Behind him stood
his two cronies, a small-fry named Yuu and a hulking sumo-type named Morita.
"Not this one," Nanase snarled as the music abruptly stopped. The air
became charged with tension as everyone formed around the group. Everybody
knew that a fight was about to happen. Wherever the toughest guy ever to
walk the halls of Taiyo High went, someone got his ass kicked.
"Is that right?" Hyo chuckled. "C'mon, girl, let's dance." Hyo's hand was
caught midway to Nanase's wrist and jerked violently away as Kyle appeared
next to them.
"The lady said get out," Kyle growled, leaning into Hyo's face.
"And who's gonna make me? YOU?!"
"You wanna try it, boy?"
Ryo watched the events spiral out of control, anger singing in his blood.
He felt it wash over him like a tidal wave, sweeping him away in a current
of confidence and rage. Deep within, Ryo was terrified, but that didn't
matter. This punk had to PAY!
"HYO!" Every eye turned to him, but Ryo didn't care.
"What do YOU want, punk?" Hyo snapped, glaring daggers at him.
"For you to take your ass-buddies and clear the hell outta here!"
"Well! The pretty-boy thinks he can fight?"
"Ryo, don't do it!" Nanase said in his right ear, the words quickly
proceeding out his left.
"Don't worry," he replied, "I ain't gonna lose."
"EAT IT, BOY!" Ryo read every move the other man made, how he shifted his
weight to the left, leading into a lunging punch aimed for his head. In that
moment, he realized that Hyo's only advantage was reach and brute strength.
As far as technique went, he wasn't from shit.
Ryo easily parried the punch, using the second the other spent recovering
to his advantage. He came in low, fists flying into every vulnerable spot he
could reach. Solar plexus, throat, each blow coming with a speed and
strength Ryo never knew he possessed. Somewhere within the dyzzing wave of
confidence, however, Ryo wondered just how in hell he was doing all this.
Ryo stepped back, taking in Hyo's stunned and slooping form for a brief
moment before twisting around and unleashing a roundhouse that slammed into
his opponent's head. The sound of Hyo dropping to the floor rang out in the
now-silent dance hall, snapping Ryo back to his senses. Oh, shit, what had
he just done?
Drained, he looked around at the sea of faces, all bearing looks of stunned
surprise. Kyle looked at him as if he were some kind of alien, while Nanase
stared as if she really hadn't known him after all. Numbing cold began to
seep into him as Hyo moaned on the floor, and the impact of what he had just
done hit him.
"I... I gotta go.." he stammered, bursting through the crowd to the exit
across the room.
"RYO! WAIT!" Kyle started after him, worry for his friend battling with a
sense of confusion. Ryo had never, EVER fought before. As far as he could
remember, Kyle had never even seen him swat a fly and now he was knocking
the shit out of the toughest guy in school?
"I ain't gonna lose." Those words played again in his head as he came into
the cool night air. Ryo had never spoken like that, either. What was wrong
with him?
===============================================
Hyo awoke to the sounds of car horns, every inch of him wanting to throb
from the beating he had been thrown.
Hey, wait. Somebody had beaten HIM?
Memories began to return, that little Ryo twerp's fists slamming into him
again and again before the roundhouse that had put his lights out. Hyo felt
his hate for the little pretty-boy skyrocket as he regained his feet. Oh,
that little shithead was gonna PAY!
"You okay, Hyo?" asked Yuu.
"Yeah. Let's go, boys. I'm not done with Ryo Suzaku yet."
================================================
Ryo ran until his legs finally refused to move anymore, spilling him
against a nearby wall. Thunder rumbled in the distance, heralding yet
another violent storm to come soon. He didn't care. He was too confused to
care about some stupid storm.
What came over me?! In those moments back at the party, something had taken
control of him. Something Ryo had never known lurked inside his head that
flattened Hyo in less than a minute.
His lungs burned for air as he took oxygen in deep gasps, stinging his
throat with each breath. Ryo's legs felt rubbery and weak, the stained brick
wall the only thing holding him upright.
He had never felt so... so... confident. So powerful. In that brief span of
time, Ryo had felt he could do absolutely anything. But what scared him,
terrified him, was that he also felt that he was someone else entirely.
"RYO!"
He turned his head to see Kyle charging up the empty sidewalk toward him,
his face mostly obscured in the dim light. He waited as his friend slowed to
approach the wall, wishing that he was anywhere but here.
"Hey, Kyle."
"Man, what the HELL was THAT?!" Ryo flinched at the confused inflection in
Kyle's words, fear lurking at the edges. Great, even Kyle thinks I've gone nuts.
"I don't know."
"Don't hand me that! You just pasted Hyo Imawano! Do you have any idea just
what you've done?"
"You were about to do the same thing!"
"That's not the point," Kyle replied, shaking his head. "Ryo, dude, I have
never seen you fight before, and here you plaster the toughest guy this side
of Los Angeles! Jesus, man, who pissed in YOUR corn flakes this morning?"
"Kyle," Ryo began, his irritation fighting to ward off his fatigue, "I
don't want to talk about it. I.. I... I just want to go home."
"Ain't that touching?" Kyle and Ryo turned as one as Hyo Imawano stepped
out of the mouth of the alley before which they stood, his two goons
flanking. Ryo's heart sank at the sight. Aw, why NOW? "Pretty boy just wants
to go home," he continued in a mockingly sweet voice. "Let's send him home,
huh?"
"Ryo," Kyle said into his ear, "If you got any more of that karate mojo,
now is a great time to use it."
"Yeah, pretty boy," Hyo snarled, "let's see some of that shit again!"
"Back off, asshole!" Kyle shouted, moving in front of Ryo.
"Fuck you!" From behind his friend, Kyle saw Hyo lunge in, Kyle raising his
arms in defense. Unfortunately, Yuu and Morita joined in. The sumo grabbed
Kyle's left arm, yanking Kyle off balance as Hyo's fist slammed into his temple.
NO! Ryo screamed inside as he saw the three jump his friend as one, the
sickening sounds of fists slamming against flesh and bone invading his ears.
Come on, he pleaded, where is that thing when I need it!
"He's had it," Hyo chuckled, the three of them backing away from Kyle.
Ryo's horrified gaze fell on the American, lying on the damp pavement in a
state of semi-consciousness. He looked up when Hyo's smoldering gaze fell on
him, fear sinking into his heart. "Your turn!"
Ryo backed away from the wall, raising his fists. Okay, don't let me down!
Yuu and Morita charged him first, grabbing his right and left arms
respectively and holding them tight.
The first punch nearly doubled him over, the air pushed from Ryo's lungs in
a rush just as the second blow rocked his head, then the third, and a fourth
to the body, and then...
"What the fuck?" Hyo exclaimed as the large black shape shot past his head.
Ryo followed its trajectory as it arched upward, circling to perch on the
rail of a fire escape above. An angry caw filled the night, as if the bird
(Crow)
were screaming for them to stop.
"Let him go."
Hyo, Yuu, and Morita started at the sudden voice, soft and quiet while
filled with an unmistakeable malice. Ryo, however, felt a shaft of ice lance
his stomach at the sound. That voice... the voice from his dreams...
"The hell are you?" Hyo shouted at the form that stalked out of the
shadows. The figure stopped at Kyle's prone form, kneeling to help the
recovering American to his feet.
"Are you okay?" she asked, holding him up and guiding him to the wall.
"Yeah, I'll be alright," he replied as she gently leaned him against the
bricks.
"Just take it easy. This won't take long."
"You want what they're gettin'? Huh?" Hyo shouted.
"Do you?" she replied.
Akane glared at the white-headed man, searching for any reason at all to
justify ripping his head off.
[Do not kill them,] the Crow warned, [they are not the ones you seek.]
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
"Lookit this," the man said, "she's talkin to that bird! Now I've seen
everything!"
"The Crow's a friend of mine," Akane replied, taking a step toward him.
"That right? Well, you oughtta take your friend and leave, freak!"
"I think you should take your own advice." This was getting nowhere. Akane
had been brought back for a purpose, and it wasn't to play the Good
Samaritan. She didn't have much time to waste on punks like these. But she
couldn't turn a blind eye to something like this, either.
"Alright, bitch," the man snarled, "your funeral."
Akane stood her ground as he approached, reading his every move as if it
were a manga. This guy wasn't a threat, he was a joke! But still, best to
handle this fast. She had things to do, and not much time.
His punch came with surprising speed, aimed at her head, but Akane was
ready for it. Centimeters before his fist would have connected, she grabbed
it in a two handed grip and began to twist around. She caught a satisfying
glimpse of the shock on his face as she whirled around twice before
releasing his limb.
"AW SHI... OOF!" He slammed into the smaller man, the two tumbling end over
end out of the alley. Without pause, Akane leapt skyward toward the largest
of the three, who had by then released the boy. Time moved in slow motion as
Akane completed her somersault, extending her right leg in a vicious kick
that slammed into his chest. Akane bent her knee slightly before springing
back into another flip to land on the pavement in a crouch.
"Oh... fuck..." the white-haired man moaned as he regained his feet. Akane
stood rooted in place, glaring at him as he fought to stand.
"You oughtta leave," she said, "now."
The smaller one rose to his feet and promptly heeded her advice, with the
big one close behind. The last looked after the retreating forms of his
cowardly comrades before shooting her what was supposed to be a menacing
glare before turning tail and running away himself.
Poor guy, she thought as she crouched before the kneeling form of the
gaijin's friend. Might as well help him up...
[DO NOT TOUCH HIM!]
A thousand images invaded her mind, destroying her sanity and rebuilding it
only to smash it all over again. They came far too fast for her brain to
process, jagged scenes from a life long ago that tore at her consciousness
like a million shards of glass.
The agony exploded in her brain, rushing to fill the rest of her body. It
reverberated within her like the sound of every torment without release,
shaking her down to the molecular level as each disjointed scene seared her
very soul. Her scream was lost in the raging maelstrom of hellish torture,
leaving her unsure if the sound of her own ragged voice was real or imagined.
"WHATEVER IT TAKES, I'LL FIND YOU!!!" His voice, oh, God his voice...
nononono NO!
Ryo stared open-mouthed at the wailing woman before him, terror and
sympathy fighting for dominance with terror rapidly gaining the advantage.
Her scream - no, scream didn't do justice to the sound ripping from her
lungs - shook him to his very soul as it ricocheted off the narrow walls of
the alley.
"Jesus, man, what's wrong with her?" Ryo ignored Kyle's shocked question,
kneeling next to the girl who had since curled up into a fetal position.
Violent shudders ran through her body, visible even beneath the black
trenchcoat she wore. Ryo reached a tentative hand out to her shoulder,
intending to relay perhaps a little comfort to the obviously disturbed girl.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" she yelled, springing to her feet and launching herself
away from him and down the alley.
"Ryo, man, we gotta get the hell outta here!"
As Kyle desperately shook his shoulder, Ryo stared after the girl as she
vanished into the shadows, the cawing of the crow fading into the distance.
"Yeah. Yeah, let's go." In his entire life, Ryo Suzaku had never been so
terrified.
========================================================
Yusaku Kikato glanced across the room at Kazuo, who sat in the only other
chair in the living room, as the two waited for Tenchi to gather his wits.
The shaded bulbs on the ceiling bathed the room in their false glow,
glistening off the sheen of sweat that coated Tenchi's exposed skin. Yusaku
looked at the digital clock that sat above his television. One-fifteen in
the morning.
"Now," Kazuo said, leaning back into the cushions of the recliner, "tell me
what's so important that you had to drag me here at one in the morning."
Tenchi reached for the tumbler of scotch which sat on the table between
them, his hand trambling violently as he brought the squat glass to his lips
and took an unsteady gulp.
"She came to my place," he began after he set the empty drink on the table.
"Who did?"
"HER, man!" Yusaku took in the wild look in Tenchi's eyes and found himself
wondering who on earth could have spooked him so bad. "The crazy bitch did
Gensao and Yoshi!"
Yusaku took in a startled gasp as a cold feeling bloomed in his stomach. He
looked over at Kazuo, whose eyes had widened slightly at the news. He had a
bad feeling about this...
"How do you know?" Yusaku asked in a surprisingly calm voice.
"She was wearin' one of Yoshi's fuckin' coats, man!" Tenchi shouted. "She
even admitted it! Said they had a habit of stickin' shit where it don't
belong or somethin'!"
"But that doesn't prove that this woman murdered Gensao and Yoshi," Kazuo
returned, reaching for his own drink.
"I'm tellin' ya, man, she did it. She told me to tell you that she's comin'
for you. For US, man!"
"And you just decided to do what she told you?" Yusaku asked as he tried to
process what Tenchi was trying to say. Someone was gunning for them, that
was certain, but who? And, more importantly, why?
"She.... she..." Tenchi hesitated as if the words were sticking in his
throat. "She kicked my ass."
"Say what?" Kazuo half-laughed.
"Bitch beat the shit outta me!"
"You mean you let some girl kick your ass?" Yusaku chortled, unable to
believe it. Tenchi was as tough as they came. Yusaku himself had seen the
man tear apart groups of three or more at once. The thought of him losing to
one woman was... it was ridiculous!
"I'm fuckin' serious, you one-legged ass clown!" Tenchi screamed, shooting
to his feet and fixing Yusaku with a smoldering gaze. "That bitch is fucking
weird! I don't mean funny weird, I mean scary weird!"
"Tenchi, calm down."
"FUCK you, Kazuo!"
"Tenchi, I won't tell you again. Plant your ass back on that couch now!"
Tenchi continued to glare daggers at Kazuo, the latter merely sitting
comfortably in the recliner. After a few moments the standoff ended with
Tenchi relenting and retaking his seat.
"That's better. Now, did she leave those scratches on your face?"
"No, that was the damn bird."
"Bird"?
"Yeah, Yusaku, a big goddamn crow. Bastard nearly ripped my face off."
"So, you're convinced that this girl is responsible for the deaths of
Gensao and Yoshi?"
"Damn straight, Kazuo. She did it, and we're next." Outside, the thunder
cracked again, the sound far closer than before.
======================================================
The Crow bore silent witness as Akane lay on the damp surface of the roof,
legs curled to her chest as her hands desperately gripped her head. With
each passing moment, it saw another spasm of agony rip through her body.
Frightened whimpers escaped her lips as the thunder roared overhead, a
perfect mirror to what it knew to be the storm raging in her mind and heart.
Others had been in this position before, fighting desperately to be with
the ones they loved only to find that they had been brought back to the
world of the living in a new body. Even the Crow had to admit that it wasn't
fair.
Often, such things tended to be the downfall of those its kind returned.
They would lose sight of why they had been brought back, not completing what
they had started. The soul would return to the land of the dead and never
have peace, forever roaming the afterlife searching for a love they would
never find. There were no second chances at vengeance. It cawed softly to
the pain-wracked woman, telling her to rise again.
"Why?" A single word that conveyed a universe of questions, all compressed
into three letters. Why should I get up? Why should I even bother to go on?
"Why didn't you tell me?"
[You were not meant to know...]
"DON'T YOU GIVE ME THAT CRAP!" Akane rose to her feet, the old familiar
anger burning in the depths of her despair growing quickly into tormented
rage. "You said we'd be together! You said I'd find Ranma after I was done!"
[And you will.]
"BULLSHIT!" Akane screamed at the bird, who was perched on a small
satellite dish. "You lied to me! Ranma's HERE, don't you get that? He's
here, and when I'm done, I'll be dead while he's alive and..."
[Listen to me, Akane...]
"NO! I'm through listening to you!" The raging torrent of emotions nearly
made her ill, swirling and roaring as the storm of hatred and sorrow reached
up from her soul. "Ranma's alive, and I'm gonna go to him!"
[He does not know you.]
"Ranma..."
[HE DOES NOT KNOW YOU! Ranma's soul is dormant within the body of that boy!
You may know him, but he will not recognize you!]
Akane stood rooted in place as another blast of thunder rent the air around
her. She didn't believe it, no way. Ranma would never forget her. Never!
[The only way you can be with him is to punish the men who pulled you apart.]
"And go back without him?" she asked, her voice choking with tears she
thought she had cried out. Akane felt them collect at the corners of her
eyes, spilling over down her cheeks to leave wet trails of salt on her skin.
"How long will I have to wait, huh? Twenty m-more y-years?"
[Time has no meaning to the dead,] the Crow replied. [Twenty years or a
hundred, it will all seem as one.]
"Well, I'm not gonna wait that long." She would not wait ever again...
[Where are you going?]
"I'm going to find him. To find Ranma," Akane said as she strode to the
edge of the roof. On the street below were the lights of cars and
storefronts, people moving about like ants under the light of their false suns.
[You must not!]
"Listen up, you overgrown feather-duster!" she roared, whirling to face the
Crow. "I don't give a good goddamn WHAT you think I have to do! I'm going to
be with Ranma, and I don't care what you think about it! Now, are you going
to guide me, or do I have to go it alone?!"
The Crow stayed silent, the heat of its gaze threatening to burn a hole in
Akane's very soul as they stared at each other.
[Very well, Akane,] it replied, its voice casting a frost over her mind, [I
will guide you. But always remember that you are the one who started on this
journey. At the end, you will never be the same again.]
==========================================================
Ryo lay awake in the darkness of his room, his body throbbing incessantly
from the beating he had recieved at Hyo's hands. The pale glow of the
streetlamp outside did little to illuminate the space which he called his
sanctuary, merely casting a strip of weak blue light on the ceiling. Aside
from the stray blasts of thunder, all was silent.
Within his mind was another matter altogether. The scene from the alley
kept playing over and over, the girl who saved him and Kyle coming in and
out of focus. Each time, he became more and more certain. It was her, it had
to be! The girl from his dreams, the girl whose likeness he constantly
placed on paper. The girl named Akane.
And just how is that possible? his rational brain asked. She's a figment of
your imagination.
Yeah? countered his more open side. Why don't you tell her that? She's real.
It was a coincidence!
Says you!
Ryo stared up at the ceiling, wishing his brain would shut up and let him
sleep. He closed his eyes only to find the image of Akane staring back at
him, her face white as death with lined with black around the eyes and mouth.
He awoke with a start, unsure of where he was. Had he dozed off? What...
Ryo felt the presence beside him, soft and rhythmic breathing teasing his
right ear. His chest tightened with fear, as he lay on the bed still as a
stone. Was it Hyo again?
"LIGHTS!"
Akane started at the boy's shout, a sudden burst of illumination stabbing
her eyes. She leapt backward, squinting to clear her eyes as the boy
scrambled to his feet. He was... afraid of her. The Crow's warning came to
her unbidden, that he wouldn't know her. Had it been right after all?
"Who..." She heard the words die on his lips as her vision cleared. That
body, while a bit slender, was very well muscled. His long chestnut hair
fell unbound to his shoulders, his face framing a set of sea blue eyes that
seemed to have endless depth. For a brief moment, she thought she was
staring at Ranma in the flesh, rather than in spirit.
"I won't hurt you." Hope, so powerful that it hurt, rose into her chest as
she approached him. He looked at her with a confused expression, as if he
didn't know what to make of her.
"I... I know. I'm Ryo. Ryo Suzaku."
"I'm..."
"Akane, right?"
Akane felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach with a concrete
fist. He... he knew her name! The Crow was wrong, he DID know! She had been
right!
"Yes! It's me!"
"But who are you?" No, he knew her name, he'd know the rest! He had to!
"Don't you know me?" she pleaded. "Don't you know who I am?"
"I don't know who you are," Ryo answered, shaking his head. "All I know is
that you've been haunting me for the past month."
"But..."
"Who are you, Akane?" In that instant, Akane felt her hope shatter like a
glass dropped onto the floor by a careless child. The flutter of wings drew
her attention to the window through which she had entered, the Crow standing
on the sill as if to say I told you so.
"I... I..." Please, she pleaded to whatever kind-hearted diety happened to
be listening, help me! Let him see!
She saw Ryo's face pale at the sight of the Crow before returning to hers.
In those eyes she saw no recognition, no sign of Ranma. Just confusion and fear.
NO! I won't give up! That's Ranma in there, and I'll MAKE him see who I am!
"I want to show you something, Akane," Ryo said, walking past her to the
small desk that rested against the wall behind her. Her eyes traced every
line of muscle on his back, her heart aching at the sight of him as he
pulled open the bottom drawer.
Ryo came to his feet, a large sketchpad in his hands. His eyes shifted from
the pad to the Crow then to her before he pulled out a chair. He motioned to
the small seat, Akane walking over to him. The urge to just reach out and
touch him was powerful, almost overwhelming as she sat on the worn cushion.
Here was the man she loved, trapped in another body with no real idea of who
she was.
"Take a look at these."
Akane took the pad from him, her jaw dropping open at the first picture.
She remembered that day, sitting at the shore of the lake, seeing it
captured on paper bringing it back into sharp focus.
Akane could feel the grass through the material of the white sundress, the
light breeze brushing against her bare arms on that perfect Spring day so
long ago. The day the wind had taken her hat, and Ranma had given her that
flower. Such a small display, yet it spoke volumes more than mere words ever
could.
In a flash, it was gone. With each drawing, she saw another fragment of her
life parade before her eyes in a never ending cadre of memories. The tears
came again as she realized just how much time she and Ranma had wasted, how
many opportunites both of them had botched. It wasn't always him, why had
she thought that?
"Did you do these?" she asked in a tight voice.
"Yeah. I just... well... I see them. When I dream."
An image of them all on Togenkyo flared to life, everyone posing for the
picture that had been taken just before they returned to Japan, the one
Ranma had framed for her that one Christmas. The sweetness of his gesture
had touched her heart in a way nothing else had before.
The scene vanished into the mists of time with the turning of the page,
and her heart froze. The picture before her was a detailed sketch, with the
stark white of the paper counterbalancing the thick, dark shadows laid down
by the pencil. A face - her face, yet different, more menacing - was
staring vividly out at her as if alive, half-hidden in the shadows. The
Crow was there, too, its wings spread in flight in the background. This was
not from her past... it was from now.
"That's the most recent one," Ryo said quietly. "It's the one I've been
seeing the most."
Akane continued to stare at the picture before her, an odd feeling creeping
up from the back of her mind. All of a sudden, she wanted what she saw. She
wanted to BE the woman on the paper.
"I, um, have some paints..."
Akane looked up into his beautiful eyes, and simply nodded. Without a word,
Ryo slid open a drawer just above the one where the sketchpad had once
rested. He reached into its depths, pulling out two small glass jars and
setting them on the desktop. Next came a small, fine bristled brush and a
tiny rectangular sponge. Ryo unscrewed the cap of the first jar, taking a
short dowel rod from the drawer and stirring the mixture within before
dipping the sponge.
The first touch was cool to her skin, the sensation sreading as he gently
applied the paint to her face. Akane sat motionless as he worked, coating
her face in the purest of all colors. Her eyes remained locked on his,
trying to find any signs of Ranma.
The sponge traced her jaw, softly caressing the skin as he worked. The
sight, the nearness of him made her heart want to leap from her chest. It's
me, you jerk! I'm here, Ranma, answer me!
Ryo put the sponge on a sheet of paper that rested on the desk, twisting
the cap on the other jar afterward. With the other end of the dowel, he
stirred the paint with quick and precise motions.
Akane closed her eyes as Ryo set to work again. The small brush rubbed her
eyelids in concentric circles that moved outward to the edges, first the
left and then the right. She then felt the brush touch her forehead, tracing
a line down over each eyelid down to the rise of each cheek. Her lips came
next, the brush applying the black paint on each one before stretching out
on each side with slight upward curves.
"Okay, I'm done."
Akane opened her eyes, feeling the paints harden on her face as the air
dehydrated them. Ryo handed her a small mirror, and she felt her stomach
clench at the sight.
It was just like the drawing she had seen, but in real life was much more
terrifying. Her face served as a reminder of what she was, of what she had
come here to do. But, she wanted to be HERE, with RANMA! She shifted her
gaze from the mirror to Ryo's face, and decided to try one last gambit.
Their lips met in a kiss; the smallest, yet in many ways most intimate,
symbol of love. She felt the heat of him as the kiss continued, not caring
at how unresponsive he was until the pain returned again.
"Hey! You okay?" Ryo asked as she stumbled backward. No, it wasn't right.
The kiss, the sudden feel of pain and disgust at herself, had cinched it.
This wasn't right. She couldn't do this.
"I..."
"Akane?"
"I have to go."
"Akane, wait!" She paid no heed to his plea as she vaulted out the window,
and into the cold and lonely night.
Ryo stared at the still-open window, a hundred emotions and twice as many
questions storming throughout his entire being. Why had she kissed him? Who
was she? Where was she going?
And why had that kiss felt so wrong - and yet so right - at the same time?
Whatever else, Akane Tendo was real, and he had to do some digging. Things
were getting serious now, and he had to have some anwers before the
questions drove him mad.