Disclaimer time: Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty and Viz Communications
own Ranma 1/2. Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, Gainax and ADV Films own
Neon Genesis Evangelion.
A big thanks to my pre-readers for this chapter: James Merritt,
Merc-for-Hire and Thomas Hackwood.
Corwin (ely7@inter.net.il or corwin@virtuallyjeannie.com)
http://www.virtuallyjeannie.com/ranma.html
* Previous chapters can also be found at:
http://members.xoom.com/phu_lam/index.htm
http://tannim.anifics.com/rfics.html
http://ranmaxovers.tripod.com
http://www.fanfiction.net
--------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------
A Couple of Angels
Chapter 18
Throughout the planet, Second Impact is believed to have been caused by a
large meteorite that hit Antarctica on September 13th, 2000, melting the ice
caps. Incidentally, First Impact is believed to be another such meteorite;
the one responsible for the death of the dinosaurs billions of years ago.
An elite group of people around the world with the highest security access
knows this to be a lie. These men and women know the truth behind the
experiments the Katsuragi expedition had done in the Antarctic on the First
Angel discovered there, Adam.
A handful of these people are the true rulers of the world. They exist in
the shadows, setting events in motion to advance their one and only ultimate
agenda. They are the men behind the Human Instrumentality Project, and they
know the entire Truth...
--------------------------------------------------
The play had ended, yet its legacy lives. They're dead... all of them.
Did Nabiki join them? I wonder.
I wonder, I wonder...
What if Ryoga moved faster?
What if the stem hadn't been cut?
What if...
Was there a way to save them? Save... her?
At least those bastards died along with them.
A heavy price.
A price? Does it make me feel better?
I made them pay. More than that! I killed them; killed him.
He had to pay.
I guess I do feel better knowing that he died. Some people must not be
allowed to live.
Not after what he did.
I hope he's in hell. I hope he's still there when I come for him.
He got off too easily last time.
--------------------------------------------------
"Class, today we have a new student. Ranma... Saotome?" Mrs. Gosunkugi
blinked. The woman looked at the admittance papers in her hands, and then
back at the pigtailed boy standing next to her patiently. "Any relation to
Ranko Saotome?"
Ranma smirked. "You might say that. I'm replacing her."
Akane looked at him disapprovingly. "All children should be in school, young
man! When you see Ranko next--"
"Who said anything about seeing her?" Ranma asked with a shrug. "She ain't
never coming back."
"Oh, I see..." the science teacher drawled out slowly. "She must have
transferred out of Tokyo-3 after all these Angel attacks."
The pigtailed boy shrugged again, offering enigmatically, "Something like
that..."
Mrs. Gosunkugi nodded absently. "Mr. Saotome, please take your sister's
seat."
"She ain't my sister," Ranma corrected her with a frown.
"Your cousin, then?"
"Nope." Ranma shook his head for extra emphasis.
Akane threw her hands up in exasperation. "Alright, Mr. Saotome. Would you
like to explain to us how exactly are the two of you related, and..." the
woman put her right index finger to her lips, "are you relatives of a
certain Ranma Saotome that used to live in Nerima and disappeared without a
trace years before the Second Impact? The last is something that has been
bothering me for quite some time now."
"I'm Ranma Saotome," he replied curtly. "I was also Ranko Saotome, but that
phase of my life is over."
"I know you have the same name as--"
"There is only one Ranma Saotome, and I'm him."
"That's ridiculous, young man!" Mrs. Gosunkugi bristled. "That Ranma Saotome
would have been in his late thirties now! Didn't your parents teach you not
to lie?"
Ranma smirked. "I never really knew my mother, and my father made lying into
an art." Winking at the teacher, the pigtailed boy added, "I am the real
thing, though. The one and only Ranma Saotome."
The teacher was about to respond when she noticed a commotion near the back
of the classroom. "What is it now?" she asked in exasperation, causing Ranma
to turn around as well.
The pigtailed boy's eyes widened upon seeing a familiar boy climb on top of
his desk, another boy, a scrawny one wearing glasses, futilely trying to
hold him back by pulling on the back of his shirt.
Finally shaking Kensuke off, Toji whipped out a bokken and posed
dramatically, glaring at Ranma. "The arch-fiend! The legendary demon I had
been born to defeat with this righteous blade!" Pointing the wooden practice
sword at the dumbfounded pigtailed boy, Toji declared, "Ranma Saotome,
relinquish thy vile hold on the beautatious pigtailed goddess at once!"
Ranma gaped openly at the boy, as he continued his speech.
"Women are created to worship those of mine high stature, not to please each
other in a depraved mockery of this fine tradition!" Toji waved his bokken a
few times threateningly for good measure. "Dispel the foul lesbian curse
thou have put on the lustful goddess of fire so that she may date with me!"
Several boys nearby started drooling slightly at the implications of Toji's
speech, and Ranma had to fight down an urge to go and take a shower; or, at
least, to cover his currently male chest with his arms.
Girls caught the implications as well and started growling. Unable to keep
her cool any longer, Asuka stood up rapidly, her chair falling backwards and
crashing onto the floor. Cracking her knuckles, she smiled nastily. A low
growl escaped the girl's throat. "Perverts..."
Ranma gaped as he saw a faint red battle aura surround the red-head.
"C-Class... please..." Mrs. Gosunkugi stammered, hardly believing her eyes.
'Is this the same class I have been teaching from the beginning of the
school year?!'
Juri stood up silently, and slowly unbuttoned her jacket. Taking it off, she
threw it high into the air, the article of clothing drawing everyone's eyes
to it. When the students and their teacher looked at Juri again, they did a
double-take. The orange-haired girl was standing in a ready pose with a
rapier in her right hand, a rose matching the color of her hair adorning the
lapel of her shirt. "Attacking the rights of lesbians... unforgivable! I,
Juri Arisugawa, shall be your opponent," she declared, pointing her rapier
at Toji.
Hikari jumped to her feet, pointing at the orange-haired girl. "So that's
where those props went!" she shouted in accusation, stomping towards Juri.
"Give them back, thief!"
Shinji tried to calm the class representative, looking at her instead of at
where he was going. That proved to be a fatal mistake, as Asuka executed one
of the attacks in her school of Righteous Mongoose and accidentally hit him
from behind.
The boy collapsed onto the ground with crossed eyes, yelling expletives that
Mrs. Gosunkugi would have never in her life expected to hear coming from his
mouth. Looking at the pigtailed boy, she saw him cringe with every new
battle cry, his eyes darting around frantically as if looking for a good
place to hide.
"What's going on here?!" a young voice asked angrily, and the door to the
classroom opened to reveal a young blonde girl that Akane recognized as
Toji's little sister.
Ranma's eyes widened in as a coin appeared in the little girl's hand, and he
jumped at the teacher, bringing her down onto the floor with him.
"You are all delinquents!" Akane heard the blonde girl, Usagi, shout. "Take
this! Princess of Silence Special Punishment Technique: Cute Silence Moon
Rod Surprise!"
There was an explosion of power, and everyone was knocked off their feet.
Ranma shielded Akane with his body, also preventing her from seeing much of
the attack. She did find it odd that Rei Ayanami was able to stare at the
attack and merely will it to stop a few inches away from her body somehow.
Getting up to her feet and idly noticing that the pigtailed boy was now
hiding behind her back, Akane almost fell back onto the ground again when
she saw a beautiful silver-haired woman in her early twenties stand where
Usagi had been previously. The woman seemed to be just as shocked to be
there, Akane noted absently.
The male students groaned and raised their heads to look at Usagi, finding a
barely clothed adult woman in her place, wearing rags that once were an
elementary female school outfit. Drooling, the conscious boys started
crawling towards her, powered by their inner perversion. Most of the female
students could only glare at their classmates darkly, shaking their heads in
disgust. Some of them, however, were alternating between gazing fondly at
Ranma and giving the teacher that stood rather closely to him the evil eye.
Toji groaned from the floor. Seeing what happened to his kid sister, he
opened his mouth and yelled as loudly as he could, "Ranma, this is all your
FAULT!!!"
Hearing a pathetic whimper from behind her, Akane massaged her temples.
"Alright, I believe you. Nothing... I mean, no one else... hell, in all my
years..." Shaking her head, she commanded, "Just take your seat, Saotome."
Ranma nodded quickly and bolted towards the seat he had chosen when he had
first come to the school as Ranko, ducking under a huge blast that sent the
perverted boys flying away from the woman and returned her back to her
original child state.
--------------------------------------------------
Ranko?
I suppose that's me. I must stop running away.
Does that mean I lied to Ritsuko?
I don't know.
But if I did lie to her then... as our ship departed for Antarctica...
It would mean I had lied to her at least twice; the second time when I told
her I hadn't lied to her yet.
Or was that before? I don't remember.
It's funny. I usually have eidetic memory. Don't I?
I'm confused.
I suppose... I suppose it's a good thing.
Isn't it?
I'm even confused about that. It feels like I'm always confused about things
lately.
But I prefer that over the alternative.
Back then... back then...
Back then I was never in doubt. I always knew what I wanted to do, and
didn't consider how it affected others.
That was wrong.
I know that now.
Therefore, it's good when I'm confused about things.
Isn't it?
--------------------------------------------------
"Please wait up, Shinji."
The boy in question stopped in his tracks and turned around timidly to look
at the red-head that called out for him. "H-Hey, Ranko."
Ranma walked over to him and bowed. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" Shinji blinked. "For what?"
Ranma smirked. "You're so used to letting people walk all over you that you
accept it as the norm?"
Shinji squirmed uncomfortably.
"Don't worry, you don't have to answer this." Ranma waved her hand at him.
"Anyway, I just wanted to apologize for... well, the way I used to treat you
and everything." Suddenly looking him in the eye, the red-head added, "Don't
think that makes us friends or anything!"
Shinji blinked, unsure of what he could say. "Umm..."
"I still don't like you. I think you're a wuss or the worst kind, even
despite the semi-transparent spine it seems you've grown." Ranma snorted
roughly. "But that still doesn't give me any right to bully you around."
"Apology... accepted, I guess," Shinji muttered lamely.
"Thank you." Ranma bowed again. She rose from her bow with a smile on her
lips. "So, ready to defend the world? Take on the rest of the Angels?" The
red-head chuckled. "There're five of them left."
"Five?" Shinji asked curiously.
"Umm, six," Ranma corrected herself, rubbing the back of her head in
embarrassment. "I forgot to count Tabris."
"How do you know this?" Shinji interjected, looking at her curiously. "And
why are you here at all? Ranma said that you were gone for good..."
"I'm taking care of some unfinished business, that's all," Ranma replied
with a shrug. "After this, Ranko won't have any more reason to stay."
Smiling, Ranma winked at Shinji. "As for the other question... it's a
secret!"
The red-head turned around, as if to leave.
"Wait!" Shinji cried out urgently, grabbing her hand. "What about Rei? And
Asuka? They need you! How can you just disappear again like that?!"
"I'll still be with them... in spirit," Ranma offered over her shoulder, not
looking back. "This needs to be done, and I hope Asuka can forgive me." She
lowered her head sadly. "I... I never meant to hurt her... hurt anyone..."
"If that's your final decision..." Shinji left the sentence open.
"It is." Ranma finally turned back to face Shinji and smiled at him. "If one
of you is ever in need... just go and see Ranma." Looking at the imaginary
watch on her left hand, Ranma said, "Oh, goodness! Look at the time! Gotta
jet..."
Before Shinji could say anything, the red-head's body melted away in broad
daylight, shimmering for a moment before winking out of existence
completely. "Man, Ranma wasn't kidding when he said Ranko would disappear!"
--------------------------------------------------
I feel better now.
I'm selfish.
It's a human trait. I'm glad.
I'm glad I'm still human. At least... some of me.
The part that matters?
I don't know. Another human trait. Being generally unaware of anything in
the grand scheme of things.
The boy... Shinji.
Does he know?
Would it change anything, if he did?
Hikari seems like a nice girl. She reminds me someone...
Who?
It's too painful to remember.
She just reminds me of someone; someone I... used to know.
Not anymore.
Would she help Shinji?
Would he be alright on his own?
I don't know.
He is Rei's friend. I must protect him. I can't let Rei down.
She must be counting on me to save his life. I can do that?
But would she accept the price involved?
I don't know.
I'm not going to present her the choice. It's not fair to her.
I will lie to her.
An act so human... yet it feels wrong. Not only my Angel side feels wrong
nowadays.
But... at least... I can feel my human side now.
It hurts. It's not pleasant. It's not supposed to be.
But I'm glad. Glad for a chance to be human again.
Even if it's only for a little while...
--------------------------------------------------
"Hey, Rei... what's that?"
The blue-haired girl blinked, glancing down at the piece of paper in her
hand. "This is a ticket."
Asuka shook her head in disbelief at the answer, but decided to humor the
other girl. "You're right, that it is. What's the ticket for?"
"Disco Mobeus."
"I see. Why are you holding a ticket for Disco Mobeus, Rei?" Asuka asked
patiently.
"Ranma gave it to me."
The red-head sighed. "You're not going to tell me, huh?"
"Ranma asked me out on a date today. He asked me to meet him there."
"A date? Wow!" Asuka squealed, clasping her hands in front of her face.
"Aren't you excited?"
Rei nodded, saying monotonously, "I am."
Asuka slapped her forehead in disgust. "Rei, Rei, Rei... we'll have to work
on this."
"Why?" the blue-haired girl asked innocently.
"You have to be more expressive, that's why!"
"Why?" Rei repeated insistently.
"Because everyone expresses their emotions!"
Rei blinked, looking at Asuka. "Should I do something simply because
everyone else does it?"
It was the red-head's turn to blink. "Well, I..."
"You?" Rei asked. "Do you always act like everyone else?"
"Well, no..." Asuka stammered uncomfortably, before sighing. "You have a
very good point here, Rei." She smirked. "Copying others' behavior and doing
everything they are told to do - by friends, regulations, society - that
would make us all dolls." Asuka shook her head in amusement, chuckling.
"Humanity is, as a whole, nothing but a big doll. We... every last one of
us... we are all parts of the same doll. All but you... and Ranma."
Rei looked at the ground, downcast. "Ranma and I do not belong with
humanity."
"That's how I feel sometimes as well," Asuka said with a grin, raising Rei's
chin with her right hand and forcing he other girl to look at her. "Don't
worry about it."
"We're not..."
Asuka shook her head, pressing a finger against the other girl's lips.
"Shh... I know more than I'm letting on."
Rei glanced at her in surprise.
"Hearing about Ranma was a surprise, but I expected that much. Once you had
confirmed it, all of the pieces of the puzzle fell into their places." Asuka
smiled fondly. "Ranko is one of you as well, isn't she?"
"Ranko is... something else," Rei replied enigmatically.
"Oh well." Asuka smirked confidently. "Don't tell me! I'd like to find this
secret out on my own."
"All right." Rei nodded in agreement.
Asuka's face suddenly sported a mysterious grin. "About this date of
yours... what are you going to wear?" She winked at the other girl. "Even
Angels have to dress well."
"They do?" Rei asked in confusion.
Asuka nodded. "They do... when they look like you."
--------------------------------------------------
'It is better to love and lose, rather than never have loved at all.'
I heard that phrase once.
I have loved... no, to think that would make her loss so infinitely more
painful. I... was involved with a girl once.
I loved her.
She died. I lived.
In a way. And in a way, I died with her.
And, yet again, I survived.
Am I better off, because I loved once?
Was I loved? I think so. But the time... all the lost time...
Maybe that was what the saying means. To feel regret over lost - wasted -
time.
But if that were true, wouldn't it be better to never have loved at all?
You can't miss what you never had.
Unless the heart knows. And it feels regret at what could have been.
I'm going to lose another girl.
Do I love her?
I don't know. My heart tells me yes. It is enough for me.
I know her heart.
I know her soul.
Is it... love?
I will lose her. Would my heart feel pain in Hell?
I think... she will cry. I will make her cry again.
I am a bastard.
I am a selfish bastard.
I choose to take her place. I choose her to live.
I want her to understand.
'It is better to love and lose, rather than never have loved at all.'
Will she realize that?
I want her to realize that. I want to leave her a memory.
Am I deceiving her?
My heart doesn't lie.
Does she love me?
What is love?
Stupid questions I don't know the answers to. How human of me to ask them.
--------------------------------------------------
"I understand you have a date today."
Ranma brushed off the comment, giving a lazy snort in return. "Don't try to
mother me, Rit-chan."
The blonde scientist smiled.
"Don't give me that look! I know what you're thinking about!"
Ritsuko pouted, batting her eyelashes at the pigtailed boy innocently.
"Moi?"
Ranma groaned. "You won't leave me alone about this, will you?"
Ritsuko shook her head amiably. "All I want is to give you some moth--
sisterly advice. That's it!"
"Is it, really?" Ranma looked at her out strangely, watching the woman's
face for any signs of deception. 'Her voice is too sweet...'
"Why, yes! Please come with me, Ranma!" Ritsuko grabbed his hand and led the
boy into another room.
Once he got there, Ranma's eyes widened in shock and he frantically
scrambled to get away, only to find the door locked. Ritsuko's smile
widened, and Ranma shivered unconsciously.
"S-Sempai?" a timid voice asked from behind him. "I d-don't understand w-why
I have t-to be here..."
"It's elementary, Maya," another, much more familiar voice answered her.
"You're going to help us teach Ranma Sex Ed."
The pigtailed boy turned around in horror, staring wide-eyed at Maya and
Misato.
"Sex? Sempai and I?" Maya's eyes crossed and she fainted on the floor with a
goofy smile.
Blanching as Misato's smile only grew - at the prospect of teaching sexual
education to two people, no doubt - Ranma decided to join the bridge bunny
in forced slumber.
--------------------------------------------------
End of Chapter 18.
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