Okay, it's still a working title, but I don't think it's too bad.
Anyway, I did a little brainstorming on this, and here's the result. Fasten
yer seatbelt, it's gonna be a bumpy ride. ^_^ BTW, this is set between the
end of Volume Five and the start of Volume Six.
===================================
Another day, another yen. Akane rose from her bed, staring with
bleary eyes at the invading sunlight that filled her room. Aw, why did
mornings have to be so bright?! She covered her eyes from the light, wishing
like anything for a few extra minutes of sleep.
She padded over to the closet, yawning openly as she pulled open the
slitted doors. Akane stared into the space for a few long moments, unaware
that the uniform she was looking for happened to be right in front of her face.
"I really hate mornings," she mumbled as she drew the blue dress off
the rack. Akane gathered her clothes for the day and set off for the
bathroom when it hit.
The sensation started in her chest, spreading throughout her body
with tingling fingers that lit every nerve like a roman candle and sending
her head into a tailspin.
It passed quickly, leaving her panting in its wake. Akane shook her
head clear, fear nibbling at her stomach. What was this? What was wrong with
her?
It had started a month ago, the spells coming on all of a sudden and
leaving just as quickly. Akane had just chalked it up to a case of nerves
the first time, and the second a few weeks later.
Recently, the attacks had grown worse, happening up to four times
daily and with greater intensity.
"Maybe I ought to see a doctor," Akane mused as she made her way out
the door. Had she turned around, she would have been startled to see her
digital alarm clock was reduced to a smoking pile of charred circuits.
========================================
Nabiki knelt at the low table, eating her breakfast at a more sedate
pace than the two near her. She had learned to ignore Ranma and Genma's poor
table manners, tuning out the sounds of martial arts breakfast training as
she absorbed herself in the morning news.
Hmmm... That's good, she thought as her keen eye followed the stock
quotes from the Nikkei Index. She had a little money of her own tied up in
there, and the news of said cash growing never failed to brighten her mood.
God was in His Heaven, and all was right with the world.
"Hey, what gives?" Nabiki said after swallowing her latest mouthful
of miso. The image on the screen, which had been clear as a bell, suddenly
went haywire. Lines jumped in every direction at once, distorting the
anchorman as static poured out of the small speakers.
"What's wrong with the TV?" Ranma asked.
"How should I know?" Nabiki retorted. "First it's fine, next it's
going crazy!"
"Oh, Good morning, Akane," Kasumi said in her usual good cheer.
Nabiki turned to look and became concerned. Akane's face was pale and
strained, her eyes squinted shut as if she were in pain.
"Akane, are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah... I'm fine."
"You look ill, little sister," Kasumi stated.
"WHAT!?" Soun was on his feet in an instant, hovering over his
youngest daughter and leaving his discarded newspaper hanging in space.
"What's wrong with you?"
"I'm okay, Daddy, really."
"Ya don't look it."
"Shut up, Ranma..."
"You do look pale, Akane," Kasumi said gently as she reached for
Akane's forehead. "Let me check for a fever."
"I said I'm okay!" Akane shouted irritably, moving aside before
Kasumi's hand could make contact. "I'm not sick, and I am going to school!"
Nabiki stared after her younger sister, who was storming out of the
house in a huff and leaving everyone stunned in her wake. Something was
wrong with Akane, it was plain to anyone, but what was it? Was Akane really
sick? If so, it wasn't surprising. Akane tended to be stubborn as a mule at
times, especially about illness.
"Hey, the TV's working again," Genma said, interrupting Nabiki's
train of thought. She unconsciously looked over at the cathode screen and,
sure enough, the picture was crystal clear again. Nabiki finished her
breakfast, paying the malfunctioning set no more heed.
"And in world news, anti-mutant hysteria is still gripping the
United States of America and most of Europe, as militant factions gather
strength and continue to lash out at what is called the "Mutant Menace..."
the anchorman droned.
==========================================
Oh, no, that just clinched it, Akane thought as she walked beside
the fence, for once not having to try to ignore Ranma's presence. Now
everyone KNOWS I'm sick. Kasumi's going to keep badgering me to get some
rest, Dad'll be pulling his hair out, and all the while I'll be stuck
between them!
But that wasn't Akane's only cause for worry. Never, not once, had
two attacks come at such a close interval nor had they been quite as severe.
And, of all the times she could have another, it would have to be in front
of everyone in the house. Just great...
This is getting serious, Akane thought with no small amount of
dread. What if there's something really wrong with me? What am I going to do
then?
Oh, stop it! Akane, you're turning into a first-rate hypochondriac!
"Is that her?"
"Yes."
"Are you certain?"
"I already told you, Isao, she is the one."
They stood in the shadows, watching the girl's retreating form as
they debated the latest recruit. Isao Tanemura looked over to his
compatriot, whose beady eyes were glowing with an almost unnatural light
that made him want to cringe.
"What about him?"
"The boy is powerful," the other replied, shifting his luminous eyes
to the red-shirted man atop the fence. "He practices a highly esoteric form
of martial arts."
"Is he..."
"No. Just the girl."
Just the girl, Isao thought as she vanished from sight. A girl with
the destructive potential of a hundred martial artists, and she didn't even
know it. Yet.
"How long?"
"At this rate, it could be as soon as today."
"Positive?"
"I never misread one's aura, Isao," the other growled.
"Damn. That doesn't leave a lot of time."
"I will tell you what you need to know about her. From there, you
are on your own."
"Good."
================================================
Akane sat beneath the tree, languishing in the cool shade provided
by the canopy of leaves above. Another day of beating the tar out of
Furinkan's entire male populace, then Kuno, then a trig test had really
taken it out of her.
At least she hadn't had another attack.
Ranma was nowhere to be found, which suited her just fine. What she
didn't need right then was a cocky boy who thought way too much of himself.
But he IS a good martial artist.
So what? So he beat her without laying a hand on her. So he mastered
that speed punching technique. He was still a jerk!
A pretty cute jerk, though.
"Yo, Akane."
"What do YOU want?" she replied irritably as she stared up at Ranma.
"Listen, you... um... feelin' okay?"
"I'm fine, Ranma."
"Ya sure?"
"Yes, Ranma! I don't need a nursemaid!"
"Jeez, I'm just trying ta see if yer okay! Ya don't gotta bite my
head off!"
"Go away, Ranma!"
"Ya look so damn bad, and..."
"Ranma, you..."
Akane's next words were choked off as another spasm hit her. The
tingling sensation spread like wildfire, as if thousands of ants were
crawling across her body. Breath refused to come into her lungs as terror
hammered her mind. Oh, no, not again!
"AKANE!"
She couldn't reply, desperately gasping for air as the tingling
turned to pain. What was happening! Oh, God, help me! She felt Ranma's hands
on her shoulders, gripping painfully tight as he screamed her name, and then
came the release.
Her unbelieving eyes bore witness as Ranma's back arched severely,
his mouth open in a silent wail as tendrils of brilliant azure light arced
across his body.
Ranma! she silently screamed as his body began to convulse as if he
was being electrocuted. Akane fought desperately to stop what was happening,
fear giving her the drive to do battle against whatever force had possessed her.
The pain ended once Ranma's hands released her. He flew backward
like a missile, ramming into the outer wall of the campus with enough force
to leave a deep crater in the stone. Ranma dangled in place for a moment,
crooked arcs of energy crackling across the ruins of his clothes before he
slumped to the ground.
Akane could only stare in horror at what had happened. Ranma's body
lay face-down, smoking from the power that had been dumped into him by
touching her.
NO! This is NOT my fault!
Deep inside, however, Akane knew that it was.
"What happened?" asked a voice from her right.
"Ranma touched Akane," replied another.
"She electrocuted him!" Shouted a third. "He just touched her and...
ZZAP!"
No! I didn't mean it! Akane rose to her feet, her eyes registering
the gathered crowd. Their faces were filled with fear, eyes locked on either
her or Ranma.
"I..."
"Akane did it!"
"Is she..."
"Oh, my..."
"I never..."
The fear grew in her heart, leaving her numb in its wake. Akane
backed away from the ever-growing crowd of students, eyes darting from one
face to another to find only horror staring back at her.
"FREAK!"
Tears brimming in her eyes, Akane Tendo turned and ran. I didn't
mean to...
Isao watched from the roof of Furinkan, his heart going out to the
poor kid below. He knew exactly what it was like to first discover the power
that lurked inside all his kind, the fear of the initial experience as fresh
in his mind as if it had been yesterday. Of course, that was nothing
compared to what was to come for Akane.
Isao turned and walked away, pushing the past from his thoughts. He
had to concentrate on the here and now. He had a job to do, and a girl to help.
================================================
Nabiki watched as the paramedics loaded Ranma into the waiting
ambulance, unable to believe what her eyes and ears were conveying to her brain.
Okay. Ranma had been electrocuted, so the popular concensus said,
but how? If the voices of the lingering students were to be believed, then
Akane was responsible.
Nabiki's mind went on auto pilot, processing the jumbled voices
around her. Ranma had touched Akane, and had been fried by a massive jolt of
electricity. Akane did not carry a stun gun, Nabiki was certain of that, but
then how could it have happened? Static electricity didn't have anywhere
near that kind of power.
Dread blossomed in her chest as the unthinkable settled in. No, that
wasn't possible. It COULDN'T be! There had to be some other explanation,
there just had to!
But there was none, and Nabiki knew it. Akane; her youngest sister,
the one she used to call "Baby"... was a... mutant.
Nabiki fought against the urge to collapse into tears, barely
maintaining her cool facade. She had to think, to place things in their
proper perspective. First thing to do was to call the others, let them know
what happened. Then she would go after Akane.
============================================
The hunter's moon rose full and bright in the evening sky, its cruel
pale light slicing the darkness like a knife. Akane had collapsed on a lone
bench in the middle of the park, gulping the frigid air that burned her
throat with each breath. The glow of streetlamps made the night seem colder,
somehow, less hospitable than the daylight.
She cradled her head in her hands, hitching sobs wrenching her
chest. Confused, disoriented, afraid, Akane cried in the night. Thought and
emotion swirled around a central truth, one that she desperately sought and
shied away from all at once.
Her head snapped up at the sound of footsteps off to the right. Her
eyes searched the pale night, finding the approaching form easily through
the glow of the moon.
He moved slowly, deliberately, drawing nearer as if he was in no
hurry. Features began to make themselves clear, ebony hair drawn back tight
on his head to cascade into a long tail down his back. His features were
slightly sharper than average, steel blue eyes resting in a face that was a
study in seriousness. Those eyes fell on her and instantly softened.
"Akane Tendo, I presume?"
Akane looked up in surprise, mouth working ineffectually for a
second before sputtering,
"How do you know my name?"
"I know a lot about you, Akane," he replied with a slight smile.
"Mind if I sit down?"
"You really don't want to." With each passing moment, Akane grew
more confused. Who was this guy? How did he know her name? What did he want?
"I don't?"
"You don't," she replied, becoming defensive.
"Why?"
"What do you want?"
His smile faded, replaced with the serious expression he had worn
moments before.
"I want to help you."
"Help me?"
Isao gazed at the girl before him, studying her responses carefully.
She was confused, disoriented, and he was partially to blame for catching
her off guard. Isao had to get her to trust him, never an easy feat, and
time was of the essence. He wished there was another way, another way for a
lot of things, but he couldn't change what was practically set in stone.
"I saw what happened at Furinkan." Isao saw Akane flinch, and he
became a little more disgusted at himself and at the world. "I..."
"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!?"
Isao was taken aback at the force, the pain in her voice. This was
going to be harder than he had thought.
"I didn't do this to you."
"I..."
"Nobody did this to you. What happened was not your fault."
Akane remained silent, her eyes shimmering in the pale moonlight.
Isao knew that this was the most crucial part, the one place where
everything could go to pot. He knew the truth, as did she, yet Akane would
refuse to face it at first. They all did, himself included. But the only way
to truly help her was to make her face the truth.
"Why are you here?" Akane asked in a small voice that made Isao's
heart hurt.
"Because I know what you are," he replied in his gentlest voice. "I
know, and I can help you.
"Akane... You are a mutant."
"NO!" Her fist lashed out wildly, landing a glancing blow against
his shoulder that hurt far more than it should have. If nothing else, the
girl was strong as an ox. "I... I'm NOT a... MUTANT!"
"You are, Akane," Isao said, firming his voice. "You have to accept
that."
"WHY?!" She had leapt up from the bench, fists clenched to the point
of turning her knuckles white. Isao could feel the rage and the pain that
flowed from her in waves. It was never easy, especially not in Japan, for a
mutant to accept what he or she was. Often, when it was discovered sepukku
was the preferred; even expected, way of dealing with it. Would Akane's
family expect that of her? Would they be so damn coldhearted?
Don't think about that. Just calm her down before she loses control
of her powers again!
As if on cue, the lamps that lined the concrete walkway that wound
through Tokyo Park began to burst. A faint blue glow enveloped Akane, making
the hairs on his arms and neck stand to rigid attention. This was no battle
aura, this was a manifestation of her mutant powers. She had to learn how to
control that, then she could learn how to use it.
"I can't answer that," Isao said, praying that she would rein in her
powers.
"I can't be a mutant!"
"You are. Now will you calm down?!"
Gradually, almost reluctantly, the glow around Akane faded into
nothingness, leaving only the light of the moon behind. Isao took a deep,
soothing breath of relief as Akane sank to her knees. He remained still for
a few moments, allowing her the space to breathe. She needed to collect her
wits, and he wouldn't help by hovering over her.
"You said you want to help me."
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"Because I know what it's like," Isao replied, struggling to keep
the pent up bitterness out of his voice.
"How can you know what this is like?" Akane hissed, swivelling her
head to glare balefully at him.
"Do I really have to spell it out for you?"
"Don't tell me..."
"I won't. I'll show you." Isao came to his feet and siezed the
center of himself where his power lay. Nobody was around for miles, Taki and
Batsu would make certain of that, and nobody would miss one little park bench.
Akane's glare changed to a look of amazement as Isao's eyes began to
glow an arctic blue. Goosebumps raised all over Akane's skin, the sudden
drop in temperature stealing her breath while Isao continued to glare at the
bench she had recently vacated.
She turned to look at the small structure of thin metal and wooden
slats, wondering just what would happen. As if to answer her unspoken
question, a sheet of ice quickly formed over the object in question. Akane's
mouth hung agape at the sight of the bench freezing so suddenly, scarecely
noticing her breath coming in white crystalline clouds.
The cold feeling ceased, leaving Akane slightly numb from the
experience. She continued to stare at the frozen bench, the moonlight
refracting off the sheen of ice that coated it like a million tiny diamonds
in the night. Despite how it had formed, the effect was breathtaking.
"You're a mutant, too?"
"Yes," Isao replied.
Akane saw him walk to the far edge of the path, picking up a
baseball sized stone from the bushes before striding back to her side.
"Now watch this," he said as he cocked his left arm back. The stone
flew free nearly at the termination of his swing, sailing toward the frozen
bench and smashing through it.
Akane could only watch in shocked amazement as the stone punched a
hole through the center of the bench. A fine webwork of cracks spread out
from the impact, the sound of splintering ice reaching her ears before the
entire bench collapsed into a heap of frozen shards.
"How did you do that?"
"Easy. I practice."
"Wow..."
"Mutant powers are a blank slate, Akane," Isao said as she continued
to stare. "Merely having them isn't enough. You have to learn how to use them.
"I can help you master your gift, Akane, but only if you let me."
"This is all just too much." Akane rose to her feet, more lost than
she had been before Isao had shown up. Could she trust Isao? Did he really
want to help? He was a mutant...
She was a mutant. She had powers like other mutants, powers that
martial arts training could never bestow. Powers she couldn't control...
"I... I have to go."
"Where?"
"The nearest hospital."
"You want to see how that Ranma boy is doing."
"I don't care about him," she protested half-heartedly.
"Whatever. I'm not a relationship counselor. I'm here to help you
master your gift, not bring you and your boyfriend together."
"He's not my boyfriend."
"Either way, mind if I tag along?"
Akane considered it for a moment, yet gave up.
"Whatever."
Isao followed close behind Akane, mentally checking off just how
much of Taki's information had been correct. So far, he had been dead on.
The man had told him a great deal about Akane's home situation, and about Ranma.
However, that whole Jusenkyou bit was something he'd have to see
before he'd ever believe it.
He wouldn't follow her to Ranma's room, nor would he have to. He
knew, as well as any mutant, just what the reaction would be. They would be
terrified of her, afraid of the mutant girl that stood in their midst.
Nobody would demand sepukku, of course, but most of them would expect it.
Honor and purity of the race, and all that other happy shit. Sometimes, the
Japanese were too homogenous a culture for their own good. What a thing for
another Japanese to think...
============================================
Nabiki waited in the lobby, unwilling to be with the others
upstairs. The cold reception area held the same motif as the rest of the
hospital: sterile, antiseptic, and just plain alien. Quite the place for
supposed angels of mercy, huh?
She had searched high and low for her little sister without any
amount of luck. Akane had been at none of her usual haunts, nobody having
seen her at all that day aside from the students at Furinkan. And boy, did
they have stories to tell.
Nabiki would not soon forget the looks most of those little peons
had given her, nor the whispers they thought she could not hear. The rumor
of Akane being a mutant was spreading like a cancer, touching all those
around her.