Permanent
Part 31
Ryoga's night out...
Akane stood on the rooftops of Nerima and sighed. Standing next to her
was her newest companion, one severely annoyed Ryoga Hibiki.
"Akane, why don't you just stay home? That would solve a lot of your
problems you know."
"Who asked you? Besides, I don't sleep anymore, I'd keep everyone else
up if I stayed home," replied the girl sharply.
"Whatever, lets get this over with," muttered the boy as he pushed off
the edge of the roof and jumped into the city.
They paused above a small clothing store and Akane leaned against a
wall. She relaxed slightly as the sounds of the late-night city
occasionally broke the silence around them. "It's peaceful tonight. Maybe
nothing will happen?"
"Somehow I doubt that," grumbled Ryoga. He was certain Ranma knew
something was going on. Otherwise she wouldn't have bothered to send him
out with her. Naturally she neglected to mention what it was he was
guarding her against. Most magical girls he knew he could probably
handle, but something Akane couldn't handle on her own in her present
state was something Ryoga Hibiki didn't want to meet.
"Is this your normal route?" he turned to her and raised his eyebrow
slightly.
"No, I change it every night," replied the girl.
Ryoga's face fell slightly, that would have explained why the demon
hunters were still tormenting Akane. This was a bit more complicated,
with an amulet of protection on her she should have been able to hide
from them. Her movements alone wouldn't give her away, her demonic half
was naturally stealthy, he almost lost her in the shadows several times
already. "What the hell is going on here?" He paused when Akane's left
eye started to glow slightly.
"Keiko," said the girl quietly. "I can feel her, she's close to me."
"You getting that signal?" asked Auska from the headset Keiko wore.
"You bet, loud and clear," replied the magical girl as she jumped onto
another rooftop. "I'm right on top of her."
"Go get that evil bitch!" cheered the other girl.
"Akane Tendo! Prepare to...oof."
Keiko blinked as she fell flat on her butt after running into a rather
handsome looking man. The look he was giving her was anything but
friendly.
"So, you're Keiko?" Ryoga stood with his arms crossed as he stared the
girl down with Akane standing directly behind him. She was in a defensive
stance and growling to herself in an almost inhuman tone.
"Who the hell are you?" cried the demon hunter as she stood up and
dusted herself off. "Get out of the way or you'll get hurt!"
Ryoga extended his arm as if feeling for something and smiled at the
girl coolly. "Somehow I doubt that."
"Idiot boy! She's a demon!" screamed the girl in a rage as she jumped
back and pulled out her sword... or rather tried too. It wasn't there.
"What the? What have you done? Who are you?" she hissed through her
teeth and stepped back. "Another demon?"
Ryoga sighed and turned away waving Akane to follow. "You don't even
know do you?"
Keiko looked down at herself in horror and screamed. She was dressed in
her civilian clothes. "What's going on?"
Ryoga paused and looked back at her with a pitying stare. "Fool, don't
you know you've lost your powers? You don't have any magical energy."
Keiko fell to her knees and began to sob uncontrollably. She held her
shoulders and shook with fear and confusion. "You did this to me?" She
looked directly at Akane as she said this; her voice was laced with
venom. "Go ahead and kill me then!"
Akane walked up to her with her cowl covering her head and her eyes
glowing a maddening shade of gold. Keiko looked directly into her eyes
and saw the smirk on her face as the girl gave a snort of laughter before
turning away to follow Ryoga off the roof. "Goodbye Keiko."
"You! I'll get you for this! I swear it!" she rushed up to the edge of
the roof and peered down the side, only to find them long gone. For
several minutes she simply watched the street below with nothing but numb
hatred coursing through her body. She paused when she felt a comforting
hand on her shoulder.
"You don't realize," Ukyo stood watching her with concern written across
his features.
"Ukyo..." gasped the girl. She suddenly felt embarrassed and very
vulnerable. Another familiar figure walked up behind the boy and smiled
at them.
"You again..." said the girl as confusion set in.
"My child, do you not yet realize that Akane Tendo has not stolen your
powers away from you?" His golden hair fell into his face from behind the
pure white cloak.
"What?" Keiko blinked and stared at the pair in confusion.
Ukyo sighed. "Keiko, your hatred of Akane Tendo has slowly eroded your
powers away to nothing. Your own weakness is at fault."
"No!" gasped the girl as she realized he was right. Her power was based
on love and justice. When her negative emotions started to override those
feelings inside her, she grew weaker.
The cloaked figure frowned slightly and watched the city. "Do not worry
my dear. Akane Tendo will be dealt with, severely. Her threat cannot be
ignored."
The girl whirled around angrily and glared at the pair. "No! She belongs
to me! Her life is mine!" She jumped off the edge of the roof into the
street below performing a complex assortment of flips of walls and fire
escapes until she hit the ground.
Ukyo tensed up and prepared to follow, but the cloaked figure placed a
restraining hand on his shoulder.
"Let her go, we cannot force her back on the correct path. She is lost
to us."
The former Okonomiyaki chef stared at him and growled slightly, he did
not speak. "I refuse to believe that, she was the strongest of all. She
can be saved still." Her thoughts wandered slightly as he remembered how
happy she looked when he met her on the street.
"Do not worry, others are dealing with the Tendo demon," said the
mysterious figure as he walked away and vanished into the shadows leaving
Ukyo alone.
Akane smirked as Ryoga struggled to keep up with her. He was strong and
fast, but her powers kept him slightly below her class. "Stop slouching
and keep up! How are you supposed to protect me if you can't stay with
me?"
Ryoga snorted distastefully and suddenly stopped cold in his tracks.
"Energy? From... there!" he jumped up into the air and came down on top
of a dumpster right next to Akane. His face scrunched up in anger as he
looked around.
"What's up?" said Akane in confusion.
"We're surrounded," replied Ryoga coolly.
The Tendo dojo was quiet and peaceful in the late night. No sounds save
for the crickets and the occasional bark of a nearby dog broke the
serenity. A lone figure stood across the street staring at the gates to
the home. It spoke a single word, very softly before moving along
silently. "Ranma." In it's hand was a postcard. Written on it where only
a few words...
"You will find Ranma Saotome at the Tendo Dojo."
Ranma sat up in her bed and screamed. She glanced around the room and
found herself covered in a cold sweat. Talcum lay next to her nuzzled up
comfortably to her chest. She blinked and realized neither of them was
wearing any clothing. "What have I..." she started to say.
The Amazon's eyes slowly fluttered open and she slid up her lover's body
and kissed her. "Sister is having bad dream?"
Ranma shook her head slowly and hung her head down as she remembered the
reason she had woken from her comfortable sleep. "I don't remember what
it was about..."
"Ranma say 'I no want die!' then wake up," said the girl as she pulled
the sheet up over the both of them.
The ponytailed sorceress shook her head and found only fog. "Someone was
going to kill me, and I was going to let them...it's all I can remember.
I don't even know why."
"Is ok darling, go sleep now," comforted the young Amazon as she pushed
Ranma back down on the futon.
Cologne sat in the restaurant with Ko li drinking tea. The younger
Amazon smirked and looked at the stairs wistfully. "So, your little plan
worked out well didn't it?"
"Of course, it was only a matter of time," snorted the old woman
playfully.
"The Tendo girl could still cause problems..." noted the younger girl.
"Maybe, but I don't believe she would ever have a relationship like that
with another woman. She is strong, but..."
"She might surprise you," retorted Ko li.
"Ranma is honorable, the fact that Talcum has bed her will be enough to
keep her in line," snorted the old woman indignantly.
"Matters of the heart cannot be judged by honor," was the simple reply.
"You are certainly too wise for your age," said Cologne indignantly.
"She still has much to do before we can return to Joketsuko," said Ko li
carefully.
"I am aware that it will be some time before we can coax her back to our
home, but the commitment is now in place. She will return with us."
Cologne sipped her tea delicately and sighed in contentment. All of her
plans where coming together quite nicely. "Yes. She will return with
us...eventually."
The beach, the soft murmur of the waves as they gently broke against the
sand; the shine of the moonlight against the water, the cool breeze that
washed across the open sand. The perfect spot for a romantic date. Such
was the idea that Soichiro had. He had not expected what he found when he
brought Ayane here for a late night picnic and perhaps a little privacy,
and intimacy.
"Sweeto!"
"AAAAAAAUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH!"
It was the last thing he heard after he attacked the evil little troll
who had attached itself to his girlfriend's chest, right before he hit
the sand on his way down from the sky.
Happosai rubbed the sore spot on top of his head where the woman had hit
him. He felt much better after the long voyage back to Japan, but still
nowhere near where he needed to be. The girl Ranma was cunning and
strong; he needed much more power than he had just to be sure. What
better place to recover than the beach? He cackled evilly to himself as
he rubbed his hands in anticipation of the daylight. Soon the bikini-clad
women would come to him in droves; he would have ample time to recuperate
the energy he used during his cold slumber. In a few weeks time he could
return to Nerima and have his revenge. Of course he would then make up
with the girl and she'd let him have her most frilly pair of
undergarments, but that would just have to wait. The sound of evil
laughter overtook the crash of the waves suddenly causing all the young
couples along the beach to shudder in unexplainable fear.
Hikaru Gosunkugi studied diligently over an aged tome. He blinked and
realized he had only gone over two pages since the evening started and it
was almost three o'clock in the morning. "What the? How could it take
that long?" He looked over to the window and out at the night sky. After
a moment he paused and realized something was wrong. "How did that get
open? The air conditioner is on, my parents will kill me if they find out
I've left this open."
TBC...
Next time: Akane and Ryoga run into trouble, Ranma discovers a new
surprise, [and I know you will be too!] and Kuno philosophizes some more.
P.S. just so you know now, this is not the end of Keiko.
Before anyone tries to tell me about it: Ranma does not sleep with the
girls for three basic reasons.
1. Honor: He isn't married to them, and it would dishonor the other
fianc�e's if he did sleep with one of them.
2. Akane: Her simply because of stubbornness, and the others because she
would kill them.
3. Multiple fianc�e's: simply because he has so many, sleeping with any
one of them would basically mean he would have to marry them.
These are problems this Ranma doesn't have. She doesn't have any
fianc�e's, she's a lesbian and can't get married, and as far as she is
concerned Akane is straight and a friend.
C&C: to Carrotglace@juno.com
URL: http://www.geocities.com/misatira/
BTW: my site should be updated on Monday night, check on it Tuesday
morning and all the newer chapters to my fics should be there.