This is the Permanent side story; it starts during chapter 28 of the
main story line.
Devil Hunter Ukyo.
Part 1: The way of light.
Ukyo Kuonji stood alone in the field after the light that surrounded him
died down. His battle spatula was gone and was replaced by a long simple
looking spear. The handle was black wood that was polished to an almost
glass like surface and the tip was a simple but sharp looking blade that
shone in the moonlight. He staggered for a moment, as feelings washed
over him that were unfamiliar yet comfortable. Finally he fell to the
ground unconscious.
When he woke up the sun was rising in the distance and a great calm ran
through his mind as he sat up and crossed his legs. He had never felt so
rested in his entire life. The spear lay at his side covered in a long
cloth bag of black velvet. He sucked in a few quick breaths and stood up.
"What happened?"
That was when he appeared. Long golden locks fell from the white cloak
that covered his body and head. "Welcome to the land of the living Devil
Hunter."
He stared at him for a moment and sighed. "Who are you? Do you know what
happened to me?"
The man smiled looking up at him, his face was young and he glowed with
a strangely calming golden light. "I am called Azriel, I am an
archangel. You have been given the power to hunt and slay the demons that
threaten our world."
Ukyo blinked and sat back down on the ground across from him crossing
his legs. "All right, let's say I believe you. What the hell do you have
to do with this?"
"Me? Nothing really. I am merely an archangel on a mission similar to
yours on this plane. You'll understand soon enough. I will help guide you
through your first trials."
He nodded seeming to accept this almost immediately. "I'll bite, what do
I do first?"
"Wait for the night to come of course," replied the man as he vanished
in a flash of light.
"Great," muttered the boy as he sat alone watching the sunrise.
A few hours later he was wandering through the streets of Nerima, school
was out for the day and he didn't have much to do. Speaking with Ranma
was something he didn't really want to deal with at the moment so he went
into the shopping district in order to avoid any accidental contact. He
paused and looked into a clothing store.
To say the day was going well for Kurume would be something of a
problem. Her long time crush, Hiro, had finally found someone to love.
Needless to say it wasn't her; to make things worse, it was to a girl she
absolutely despised, Auska Shiranu. The loud mouthed friend to that
strangely brooding Keiko girl who was in her class. The girl was beyond
obnoxious; her family was well off, owning an electronics firm of some
kind. She was a snooty little bitch with curly brown hair and glasses.
She was pretty herself, long blonde hair and a thin, if not quite
developed body. She was only fifteen after all, so what if it took a
little longer for her to fill out? She kicked a small stone that rested
on the sidewalk as she walked. "It's just not fair."
"Life seldom is sugar," said a soft voice from beside her. Kurume turned
to see a boy turn his attention away from a store window for a moment to
regard her. He moved silently away through the crowd taking his time as
he strolled down the street. He was handsome and mysterious, dressed in a
dark blue boy's uniform with a long bundle carried casually over his
shoulder. He vanished into the crowd leaving her alone to her thoughts.
"Who?" she shook her head and turned to the shop he was looking at. "A
dress shop? He's probably got a girlfriend or something." She continued
on her way giving a few quick glances back over her shoulder in the hopes
of catching a glimpse of the handsome boy again. "He was kind of cute
though..." She smacked herself across the face and steeled her will. "No
Kurume! We have to remember Hiro!"
About two blocks down the street a hissing sound caught her attention.
She paused and looked around. She almost jumped in shock when she found
the source.
In the alleyway next to her was a dirty looking figure covered in a
filthy brown shroud; a wrinkled finger lifted up and beckoned her to it.
"I don't have any money! Leave me alone!" she screeched as she started
to hurry away.
The figure grabbed her arm and stopped her. "I don't want anything from
you girl. I think I can help you with your little problem."
"And what problem is that?" snapped the girl angrily.
"Why, that boy you've been pining over for the last few hours," said the
figure. Her voice was cracked with age, but still very feminine.
Kurume paused and looked at her in shock. "How did..."
"You want him to notice you? I have a way that he will. No one will be
able to say no to you again, you'll become much better than you are now."
The old hag held forth a leather-bound tome that looked worn and old.
"You mean..." gasped Kurume.
"Yes child. Power over men, over everything. The world could be yours if
you so wished."
"Then, this will really give me bigger breasts?"
You could almost hear the old woman's eyes grow wide. "What?"
"I know if I had a real chest I could get men to do whatever I want!
It's all I'm lacking!" cried the girl dramatically.
"Unfortunately, no. This book doesn't grant such things," said the woman
with a sigh.
"Then I don't want it, bye!" Kurume cheerfully turned away on her heels.
It seemed as if she had completely forgotten that she was supposed to be
depressed.
"What if I told you...this book would guarantee that no one would ever
be able to push you around again. That you could rule completely over all
around you?"
Kurume paused again and looked at the woman with a serious face again.
"But it doesn't increase the size of my bust?"
A large drop of sweat appeared on the hag's head. "Uh, no."
"Oh well, I guess I'll take your stupid book." The girl shrugged her
shoulders and skipped away.
She never noticed the small evil looking glint appear in the old woman's
eyes beneath the shadows of the rags. "Well, that wasn't so hard. Soon
the doorways will be opened." The rags fell to the ground as whoever was
filling them vanished into nothingness.
Ukyo was almost out of the shopping district when something stirred
inside him. There was no immediate danger, but something felt not right
nearby. He glanced around for a moment stopping in his tracks forcing
pedestrians to walk around him. Almost as a reflex he frowned and tore
his attention away from the disturbance. "What the hell was that?"
Nearby Azriel stood on a rooftop watching the boy intently. "You should
follow your instincts more Kuonji." He turned away from the edge and went
about his business.
Keiko sat next to Auska at the public bus stop and frowned. "Have you no
shame? In public no less."
The girl pushed her glasses up her nose and snorted. A blush crept onto
her face for a moment as she turned her attention away from the boy who
was walking away at the moment. "You're just jealous."
"Jealous of what? Having a hormone crazed boy shove his tongue halfway
down my throat?" replied the girl as she pushed her blond ponytail over
her shoulder.
"I seem to recall a certain boy you bumped into on the street got an
interesting reaction out of you..."
Keiko blushed remembering the person in question. Something about him
made her feel uncomfortably warm. He was handsome, almost beautiful.
"That's different, I still wouldn't let him stick his hand down my shirt
at a bus stop."
"If not here, then where?" prodded the girl with an evil looking smirk.
"Let's not talk about this!" screeched Keiko in embarrassment.
"Ha! You're so easy to tease Mrs. Devil Hunter, you'll be an old maid in
no time with your attitude."
Someone cleared his voice behind them. Both girls turned around to see
Ukyo standing directly behind them. "Excuse me, I hate to interrupt such
an interesting conversation...say do I know you?" He broke off for a
moment and looked directly at Keiko.
"Eep!" cried the girl as she turned completely red.
"Whoa! What a babe!" noted Auska out loud.
Her companion promptly punched her in the leg. "We met the other day..."
"Oh right, you're that devil hunter girl. I'm looking for a restaurant
nearby, could you point me in the right direction?"
Both girls stared at the boy in shock. It was as if what he said didn't
register with him completely. "I'll take you there! I'll buy you lunch!"
said Keiko cheerfully. "I know it's supposed to work the other way around
but he's a real babe!" she thought privately.
"No thanks, I'm all right on my own," said the boy nervously as he
backed away with an odd look on his face. If Auska didn't know better
she'd have thought it was fear.
"But...wait! I mean..." it was too late, Keiko watched in confusion as
the boy rushed away.
"Such a shy boy," noted her companion.
"You keep your hands off him! He's mine!" snapped the demon hunter.
"All's fair in love and..." started Auska.
"You forget that I run around the city at night with a sword," said
Keiko calmly.
"He's all yours. Wow, that's the guy you were talking about?"
The devil hunter nodded and blushed demurely.
"Now I know you'd let him put his hand down your shirt at a bus stop!"
said Auska with a crude laugh.
"Damn it! Don't say things like that!"
Ukyo breathed a sigh of relief as he ducked into a restaurant a few
blocks down the road. "Whew, that was close."
"Welcome to Cat Caf�! How can Talcum help you today?" said a cheerful
looking Chinese girl.
Ukyo blinked and looked up at the menu; it mostly consisted of Ramen,
with a few regional Chinese dishes thrown in for good measure. "Uh, I'd
like a table for lunch please."
A few moments later his order came; it was a bowl of steaming hot Ramen.
He glanced up at the girl as she looked at him quizzically. "Is something
wrong?"
"You is Ranma's friend, Ukyo, yes?" said the girl a little nervously.
"My name is Ukyo," confirmed the boy. He did not elaborate on that.
The Chinese girl nodded and walked away silently. Ukyo blinked and
started on his lunch lazily.
He didn't get far though. Almost a half-minute later the chair in front
of him pulled out attracting his attention. He looked up and froze in
surprise; Ranma Saotome was looking at him nervously across the table.
Ukyo smiled at her weakly. "Hello Saotome."
"Ukyo," replied the red head as she shifted slightly in her seat. After
a long moment of silence between them Ranma spoke up. "We need to talk
Kuonji."
"We sure do honey," agreed the boy. "What's she up to?" he wondered
nervously. Something about her just didn't sit well, perhaps the fact
that he had thought she was a boy for the last ten years.
Ranma ignored his informality and raised her hand. "First off, what in
the world did my father do to you to get you so mad at me?"
This caught Ukyo by surprise. "You really have no idea?"
Ranma grit her teeth and shook her head from side to side slowly.
"Well, I guess I can't really blame you then can I?" replied the boy
with a smile. Somehow he felt relieved at this. His old friend didn't
appear to have betrayed him after all. There was still a twinge of doubt
though, enough to keep him distant.
"I guess not, but still. I'd like to know Ukyo," said the girl guiltily.
He gave her a wry grin and chuckled. "Well Ranchan, that's in the past.
I'm convinced you didn't have anything to do with it. Let's just forget
about it all right?" Something about the girl's face was slowly melting
the ice he had placed around the name Ranma Saotome. It was honestly the
most unusual experience he had ever had up until now. He hadn't even
noticed his usage of the old nickname until it was too late.
Ranma blinked and stood up in her chair she wasn't sure if she should be
happy or just frustrated. "Ucchan?"
"See you around Ranchan, I'm going to be hanging around town for a
while." The Okonomiyaki chef walked out the door after placing his money
on the table in front of Ranma. As he left he looked back. Somehow he was
unable to stay angry with the girl for long. It was something that defied
explanation. Even though she represented everything he had suffered for
all those years ago, she could not place the blame on her no matter how
hard he tried.
As he started down the street again he sighed. "I guess I'm going soft."
TBC...
I know it's been a while since I've written Permanent, I've had a few
people whine about it from time to time. Now it's time to make excuses. I
can't really continue it until I'm done with this side story. There I
said it.
Some important stuff happens in here that effects the current story line
in important ways. In other words, if I continue writing the main
Permanent story, people will wonder what the hell is going on, plus it
will give things away in this story. So anyway, here it is...Devil Hunter
Ukyo part two.
Devil Hunter Ukyo.
Part two
The Summoning.
Kurume sat alone in her room and stared into the worn looking pages of
the strange book with a disgusted look on her face. "What the hell is
this?! It's disgusting!" Various pictures depicting demons and human
torture filled the pages with the odd looking words that made up some
strange ancient language. "What kind of girl did that old hag think I was
anyway?"
She turned the page and almost shrieked in embarrassed disgust as a
picture of a nude man was revealed. She paused and lifted the pages
staring at it in wonder. "Th...that looks like Hiro." Her eyes wandered
down and stared at his naked body. "Oh my god, is it really that big?"
Her cheeks began to burn with an unexplainable heat and she quickly
slammed the cover closed, but not before book marking the page with a
cute rainbow and puppy bookmark. Apparently right on time as her mother
walked into the room with a glass of juice and some snacks.
"Kurume dear, are you studying up here?" said the woman with a pleasant
air about her.
"Yeah mom. I'm doing a book report for school," muttered the girl as she
shoved the tome under her pillow.
Naturally the woman noticed this and lifted up the pillow to look at
what her daughter was hiding. "What book is it?"
"No mom! I..." stammered the girl in shock.
"Oh my, what are they teaching you in school these days?" exclaimed the
woman as she set the book gently down on the bed again after flipping
through a few pages. Kurume noticed that the woman paused for a moment
longer than her normal browsing on the page she had book marked. "Just
don't stay up too late dear."
Kurume watched the woman leave in shock and almost passed out on the bed
with a look of fear still frozen on her face. Moments later her mother
reentered the room. "Oh! I almost forgot! You really shouldn't use this
in a book like that dear." The woman picked up the book again and took
out the bookmark. She pulled something from her pocket and placed it
inside the pages before setting it down and leaving the room again.
Kurume blinked and looked down at the tome again. There was a plastic
black skull bookmark jutting from her page. "Okay, that was just weird."
She picked it up and began to read again.
After a few moments of frustration she realized that she really should
have paid more attention in school. The book looked like it was written
in Romanji, but it definitely wasn't English or any other western
language. "Lets see here, what the hell does this say? Koritan, shinkara,
uhhh...Sukorni?"
The girl blinked as all the light seemed to be sucked out of her room.
She paused in her reading and glanced at the floor. A strange glowing
circle appeared in front of her. She began to tremble in fear as
something slowly rose from the floor. Something that looked like it was
made out of leather, teeth, and claws. She sucked in a quick breath and
started to scream as she turned and desperately clawed her way across her
bed towards the window.
"AAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"
"What is it that you wish of me master?"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHH!"
"..."
"AAAAAAAAUUUUUGGGG...what?"
Ukyo Kuonji stared at the boy walking by in front of him and gasped. he
had never seen him before at Furinkan. He was skinny, with a weak
complexion, and pale skin. "Who the..." He looked again, there was no
mistaking it. He looked just like him. He stood up and walked over to
him.
Hikaru Gosunkugi blinked as a shadow fell over him. He was no stranger
to bullies, as of late though they pretty much left him alone, thanks to
a few 'don't notice me' spells he had found. Unfortunately there was a
side effect to the spells, he had been counted absent several times in
class, even though he sat in the front row. He had to make sure he got
the teachers attention every day during role call. He looked up and
blinked at the rather handsome boy who stood over him with a smirk on his
face. "Er...can I help you?"
"Maybe, who are you?" asked Ukyo flatly.
"Hikaru Gosunkugi, freshman, group E," replied the boy almost
mechanically.
"That's nice, tell me something. What do you know about devil hunting
kid?" said Ukyo with a small frown appearing on his face. At this point
he was certain of it, this had to be the same man.
"Uh, devil hunting?" asked Hikaru nervously.
"That's right Azriel," said the boy in a harsh whisper.
"Who's that?" said Hikaru before he realized what he had said.
"My mistake, never mind," replied Ukyo with an embarrassed flush. For
some reason he suddenly became certain it wasn't him. Something almost
forced it out of his mind. He was about to turn away when the boy grabbed
his arm.
"Can we go somewhere more private and talk about this?" said the boy
softly as he pulled him along.
Ukyo nodded and followed behind Gosunkugi towards a vacant area of the
campus. They still had about fifteen minutes of lunch left.
"Who are you? Why do you want to know about devil hunting? If you really
need help I've got someone I can contact. First you have to tell me who
told you about me though."
This caught Ukyo by surprise and he stepped back. "Someone you can
contact?"
"You need an exorcism right?" stammered the boy nervously.
"No, but...you know a devil hunter?"
That put Gosunkugi on the defensive. "Is this some sort of practical
joke? I don't have time for this..."
"Wait! Maybe you can help me out. Who is this devil hunter you know?"
asked Ukyo with a strange gleam in his eyes.
"Why do you want to know?" snapped Hikaru. He placed his hands behind
his back and reached for the pack of wards he had hidden in his belt.
Ukyo watched him for a moment in silence. "I guess I can tell you, but
first you have to tell me how you seem to know so much about this."
Hikaru considered this for a moment. He glanced around for a moment and
licked his lips as he tried for some easy answer to his problem. "I'm an
agent for a hunter. I put an ad in the papers with a number to call if
you need help like that. It's been surprisingly busy as of late. I was
about to ask you how you found me. I didn't leave an address or a name
with the paper."
"An angel must have led me to you," replied Ukyo with a smirk on his
face. "I'm a devil hunter as well. I must say, I wasn't expecting this."
It was then that Hikaru noticed the bundle on Ukyo's shoulder. It sat
across his back and seemed almost transparent. "What's that?"
Ukyo looked at him for a moment and then back over his shoulder. "You
can see it?"
"Of course, it's huge," snorted the boy.
"And invisible," said Ukyo with his eyes narrowing.
Gosunkugi sighed and slumped his shoulders. "I...I'm a kind of an
apprentice sorcerer also..."
Ukyo looked at him for a moment in silence. "Bwahahahahahahahaha! That's
the dumbest thing I've ever heard!"
"Who are you to talk devil hunter!" snapped the boy in retort.
Ukyo paused and looked at him again. "Y...you're serious?"
The boy merely nodded in reply looking embarrassed.
"Who's your teacher?" asked Ukyo.
"None of your business," replied Gosunkugi sharply.
"Well, that changes things a little doesn't it," replied the boy as he
reached for his spear slowly.
Gosunkugi pulled his hand from behind his back and pointed the ward
towards him. "What do you think you're doing?"
Ukyo froze in place and could not move. "What the hell?! I can't move!"
"Of course you can't, that's what this spell does," replied the boy with
a dangerous edge to his voice. "What are you doing?"
Ukyo answered without thinking. "I'm going to kill you!"
"Why?" said the boy almost casually.
"Sorcerers are evil! Everyone knows that!" snapped the boy.
"Dope, I've got a demon hunter working for me! I'm not evil! I could
kill you if I wanted to right now! Stop being stupid!"
The boy looked at him and growled, he was right about that. He couldn't
even move, if the little sorcerer wanted to kill him, it wouldn't be very
difficult at the moment. "All right, let me go."
"Are you going to behave yourself?" said the boy in a warning tone.
"Yes," snapped Ukyo.
"Fine," Ukyo replied.
"..."
"Well, are you going to let me go?!"
"Um, I can't move either..."
Ukyo blinked and stared at the boy in shock. A wind blew by the scene
causing the ward in his hand to flutter slightly. He growled when he
realized what had happened. The idiot had pulled out two wards by
mistake, apparently they had been stuck together.
Ranma Saotome walked around the corner after school ended for the day
and sighed as she felt a magical field nearby. "What is that idiot doing
now?"
"Did you say something Ranma?" said Akane cheerfully.
The pigtailed girl blinked and looked at her friend. "Huh? No, just go
ahead home, I've got something I need to take care of. Walk with your
fiancee for once."
"I thought we went over this, we aren't engaged," snapped Ryoga as he
walked up to the group with a schoolbag slung over his shoulder.
"Oh come on, lets just go. I'd rather not get into this again," muttered
the Tendo girl as she pulled him away by his arm.
"Ow! Quit pulling so hard Akane!"
Ranma smiled to herself as she watched the pair wander away. Her mood
quickly soured as she realized that she still had to discover the source
of that field.
Hikaru and Ukyo started to sweat as the redhead walked around them in
circles assessing the situation. Ranma paused and stuck her head between
them as they stood in battle ready poses opposite each other. "What the
hell do you two idiots think you're doing?"
"Well, we talked it over for the past few hours..." muttered Gosunkugi.
"At least we aren't going to kill each other anymore."
"Ranchan, would you please take that paper out of his hand? I'll explain
all of this in a minute..."
The girl snorted and shrugged her shoulders. "That won't work anyway.
Ukyo, why the hell are you wearing that spear to school? I've been
wondering about that all day."
"Er, you can see it?" said the boy nervously. He was beginning to have
his doubts that it was invisible at all. The magic cloth was supposed to
hide it from view.
"Of course I can see it, it's huge," replied Ranma curtly.
"She's a devil hunter," said Gosunkugi.
"I'll kill you!" growled Ukyo in a sudden anger. "That's supposed to be
a secret!"
"Could we just stay this way a little bit longer Ranma, I don't want to
die!" whimpered the boy nervously.
"You aren't going to kill anyone Ukyo," said the redhead as she pulled
something out of the folds of her skirt.
Ukyo's eyes went wide as the girl slapped another ward across the ones
in Gosunkugi's hands and muttered something under her breath. "Dispel."
The pair fell to the ground rather roughly after that. "If I had tried
to take it out, the spell would have caught me too. Then we'd all be
stuck here."
"R..Ranchan?" gasped Ukyo in shock. "Y...you're a...a..."
"Yes, I've been teaching this fool magic. If he'd stop being such a
careless idiot he'd do pretty well. I'm sorry I can't stay and explain
things, but I'm sure Gosunkugi here can fill you in if you really want to
know. Just don't say too much." She looked back at him as she said the
last part and turned away from the pair with a slow and deliberate
stroll.
"I guess I'll see you later Sensei?" muttered the boy nervously from his
place on the ground. He got no response from her and nodded to himself as
if he had.
"I she always like that?" asked Ukyo in shock.
"Most of the time, you seem to know her pretty well. Ranchan was it?"
"We were childhood friends...she's changed...a lot." Ukyo couldn't think
of anything more to say at the moment. She stood up and dusted herself
off. "Well, shall we go? I'd love to hear what you have to say about all
this."
"Um, yeah..." stammered Hikaru nervously.
TBC...
Next time: The abduction.
C&C to Carrotglace@juno.com
URL: Http://www.geocities.com/misatira/