[FFML] [Ranma]Hengeyokai 5

"Have you heard any word about your sister?" Sayuri
asked as Akane walked into class the next day after
wading through the morning boys.
"Dr. Tofu said she looks like she's going to be
fine," Akane answered. "Whatever happened to her is
winding down or something." Akane fixed Ranma with a
suspicious glare as she said "whatever happened." The
red-haired martial artist winced as he felt the look
and heard the accusation.
"I feel so sorry for you, Akane," Yuka said in a
sort of dreamy voice. "I mean the way you lost your
mother and now..."
"Nabiki isn't dying!" Akane declared loudly. "This
is some freak flu or something!" Yuka flinched back
away from Akane.
"Akane, if it's epilepsy she'll be having these
sort of seizures off and on all her life," Sayuri
said.
"It can't be that," Akane said. "Dr. Tofu said it
definitely wasn't epilepsy, and it's going away."
~Nope,~ thought Ranma. ~Which is good, because I
think the rest of her life could amount to a few
hundred years. If we're all lucky that is.~
"Well, I know just the way to ease off the stress,"
Yuka said. "A slumber party!" Sayuri and Akane
looked at each other hesitantly at that.
"I'm not sure about that Yuka," Akane said. "I
should be watching over Nabiki to make sure that
noone," she glared at Ranma, "tries anything funny."
"And I have some studying to do," Sayuri added.
"Oh, come on," Yuka said. "You can do your
studying at my house. And I'm sure Dr. Tofu won't let
anything bad happen to your sister. I know that YOU
can't possibly think anything bad about Dr. Tofu, can
you?"
Akane flushed brightly, showing signs of
infatuation that Ranma had thought he was imagining
before when they brought in Nabiki. He filed the
information away for later.
"I've got a new party game," Yuka said teasingly.
"I'm certain all fourth of us are going to have a lot
of fun."
"Ehh, what's this one?" Sayuri asked. "And who's
the fourth?" That question caught Ranma's ear.
"Oh it's something called a ouiji board, it's some
sort of way to contact the world beyond," Yuka said.
If Ranma had been in fox form, every hair on his
back would have been raised. He'd never heard of wigi
board before, but if it had to do with the spirit
world, he already didn't like hearing about it in the
current situation.
"Supposed to be very spooky and everything," Yuka
finished.
"Okay, and who's the fourth," Akane asked. Yuka
smiled and seemed about to answer when the teacher
walked in.
"Saotome," the teacher said. "You look as if you'd
seen a ghost. Is something wrong?" The girls about
him giggled, though Akane frowned at him for
easedropping.
"Couldn't sleep last night, teach," Ranma said.
"Worrying about...stuff, you know?"
"Oh yes," the teacher said. "I hope she pulls
through. Excellent....student, if somewhat...vicious
at times."
"Nabiki?" Ranma asked. "I got the feeling she
could get rather tenacious. Seems to run in the
family actually."
"Tenacious," the teacher said. "That is a way to
put it. Now everybody, open your books to page 13..."

************

Yuka broke off from her friends and strode happily
towards the restroom, promising to meet them in the
cafeteria. As she parted from them, not noticing the
large spider skittering across the ceiling above her,
her step became less happy and more doubtful.
Curiously enough she walked right by the bathroom
and continued on out the rear entrance of the school.
In a few moments she was off the grounds and furtively
walking across the street.
The spider leaped from the wall and suddenly
started flapping a set of white wings as Ranma sensed
what was in the building and made a rush forward to
try to stop the girl. He was too slow.
There walked through the door of the house, and
Ranma stopped at the edge of the yard. Blocked by
that same power that had kept him out of the Tendo
dojo until...
Ranma's wing smacked his head, then he hastily
returned to flapping until he found a windowsill to
settle on. He couldn't go into homes without being
invited, duh. All the stories said that about stuff.
You always had to invite a spirit in for it to help or
hurt you.
"Do you feel something?" a voice inside the
building asked.
A demon's aura began approaching the window. Ranma
dropped down below the sill, taking spider form again,
and counting on the small size of his aura and body at
the moment to hide him.
"Nothing, master," another said. Ranma recognized
both voices and would have frowned if he had been in a
humanoid form.
"Can't be too careful," the first said. "You did
meet that fox yesterday."
"Hello, Kuno-sempai," Yuka's voice called out.
"Tarou-sama....it's me...Yuka."
"We can hear you Yuka," a voice Ranma assumed to
"Tarou-sama" said. "Go ahead and come in."
"Tarou-sama!" Yuka said happily. "It worked,
they're coming...but," her voice turned hesitant.
"Are you certain this is a good idea? If it doesn't
work, they're going to hate me."
"After this night," Tarou-sama, Ranma could almost
feel the smile. "Your Sayuri will be more than
willing to return your feelings."
"And there's no way that Akane...?" Yuka started.
"She is already promised," Kuno insisted angrily.
"Come, come," Tarou-sama said. "I'm certain that
none of us would feel opposed to sharing, if it came
to that."
"I suppose," Kuno said. "That would be
acceptable."
"And, uh, Tarou-sama," Yuka said nervously. "What
did you want me to come right now for?"
"Because right now," Tarou-sama said. "We're going
to go through the ritual you'll use tonight, and make
sure you understand it properly."
"And no more weaklings after this," Kuno said in
the ancient tongue. There was a sense of anger and
Kuno continued in a meek manner. "Please master.
After this Sayuri girl we shall have two non-fighters.
The reluctance an enemy will have to harm an innocent
soul is useful, but we shouldn't have too many that
rely only on the power we provide to them."
"And just how many of the strong do you think we
can trick into inviting us in?" Tarou-sama asked.
"You do make a point, however. Perhaps some ambushes
are in order."
"I...think that I'm ready," Yuka said faintly.
"Tarou-sama."
Ranma dropped from the window sill and landed on
all fours. The little red fox ran away from the
building, unwilling to listen helplessly while that
girl invited a demon into herself.
If he only knew one mortal willing to help, they
could have snuck in and invited him. He thought so
anyway, but as it was. He could do nothing. Except
perhaps stop the other two girls from getting caught.
Now how to do that.
Well, Akane was easy, in one way. In another way,
getting into a position to kiss Tendo Akane would be
practically impossible. Plus, he really hoped that he
could have avoided doing that so soon.
"I only have until Nabiki wakes up, or Dr. Tofu
decides to compare notes with Kasumi anyway," Ranma
muttered. "Why am I waiting."
Sayuri on the other hand. Sayuri didn't have the
physical conditioning of any of the Tendo sisters.
While Nabiki and Kasumi didn't seem much, Ranma
thought they'd probably do well in any conventional
tournament. At the very least they were in top shape,
far surpassing even most athletes as they lacked some
of the habitual injuries of more dedicated athletes.
Sayuri on the other hand was slightly above average.
The change wouldn't just "possibly kill" her, like
it would one of those soccer girls for instance. It
would tear her to pieces. So that left the question,
how to keep her from joining the enemy, willing or no.

************

"Yuka certainly is taking an awful long time in the
restrooms," Sayuri said, looking toward the school.
"Hey, do you mind if I sit here?" a voice asked.
"Why don't you go sit with the other..." Akane's
voice cut off as she saw the person that was talking
to her. Sayuri's jaw also dropped.
"It's him..." Akane whispered. "But our age."
"Go for it girl," Sayuri whispered back. "The guys
always say the best way to get over someone..."
"...is to dump someone that looks just like them,"
Akane finished. "You WANT me to act like a boy,
Sayuri?"
"Umm, if it's any trouble," the Tofu-Jr said
pleasantly.
"No, no," Akane cut him off. "Go ahead and sit
down. We were saving a seat for a friend, but."
Akane looked around. "I think she found something
else to do." The young man actually seemed to look
pained at that.
"Is something wrong," Sayuri asked.
"I'm just worried about your friend," the young man
said. "That's all."
"Well, don't," Sayuri said. "That's her over
their." Akane looked toward Sayuri hopefully. "Why
don't I go sit with her and keep her company. There's
no room here for her anymore." Akane mouthed a thanks
as the Tofu-Jr looked toward Sayuri.
"Are certain we can't make room?" he asked.
"That's fine," Sayuri said. She thought she saw
just the tiniest amount of dislike leaking out of
those eyes and directed toward Yuka. She frowned and
took her lunch, cutting off Yuka. "Let's go sit
somewhere else, Yuka. Akane is working on her Tofu
fixation."
"Oh," Yuka said, with an odd tone of voice. She
glanced in that direction and shrugged, not really
paying attention to anything in the sea of people and
souls. "Well, I suppose this is a chance for the two
of us to get to know each other for tonight."
"Don't talk like that, Yuka," Sayuri said as they
walked off. "You're giving me the creeps."

************

"Are you new in school?" Akane asked. The Tofu
look alike blinked and looked up. "I mean, I've never
seen you before."
"Yeah, I sort of started today," the boy said.
"I'm Kanzai."
"I'm Akane," Akane answered. "Do you do martial
arts?"
"Some," Kanzai answered. "I'm sort of looking at
being a doctor though." Little red hearts began to
appear in Akane's eyes, though for some reason this
seemed to make the would-be doctor slightly green.
Fortunately Akane didn't notice the guilty pallor.
"Say," Kanzai, said. "I'm uh...supposed to go to
my music class next, would you know where that room
is?"
"Sure," Akane said faintly, dreamily. "There's
nobody there now though." Kanzai shrugged.
"Well, I couldn't be late then," Kanzai suggested
as he finished his bento. Akane nodded vacantly.
"Umm hello."
"Hiii," Akane said, then she blinked. "Ummm...I
mean, yeah, that makes sense. Here, let me finish up,
and I'll take you there right now."

************

"Does anybody know where Akane is?" the teacher
asked as he scanned the classroom.
"I saw her showing some new kid around, I think,"
Sayuri said. "Did you see her Yuka?"
"I had my attention elsewhere," the girl said in a
way that mostly sounded innocent, though still put
Sayuri on edge somehow. "Ask her brother-in-law
here."
~Did she recognize me?~ Ranma wondered as he
frowned. "Nah, I haven't seen her."
~Those jerks,~ Yuka thought to herself. ~They had
to just go and take her on their own. I could have
worked some fun in before that pervert Kuno joined us.
Well, there is still Sayuri-chan. Isn't that right
Yuka-chan?~
The last was directed to a pained and pitiful soul
chained deep within her mind. Of course she had to be
stuck with the one soul so far that wasn't willing to
help the demons now that she knew what was going on.
The demon smiled at Ranma, who glared back. Sayuri
looked back and forth between them and shivered.
"I have to assume that she has..." the teacher was
interrupted as someone walked into the room and
tentatively walked to the teacher to hand him a note.
"Saotome, it seems you are excused from classes
again."
"Err," Ranma said looking around. "Why is that?"
"They found Tendo Akane," the teacher said
hesitantly. "I'm afraid she...has acquired the same
condition as her sister." The dominant whisper was
suddenly along the lines of "it has to run in the
family," and "you know how their mother died."
Yuka, rather the demon in Yuka's body, meanwhile
seemed to be enraged.
"WHAT!?!" she shouted. "What happened to her!"
"Calm down, Yuka," Sayuri said. "She'll get
better, Nabiki is, and Nabiki isn't as strong as
Akane."
"Of course," Yuka said, calming down dramatically.
"Of course. I'm just...worried that's all."
Ranma refrained from smirking at the demon and
revealing his involvement. Which isn't to say he
didn't REALLY want to do it.
"I'll go get her to the Doctor's I guess," Ranma
said glumly. That he didn't have to fake, he REALLY
hated this method of getting "allies" that were
probably going to want him dead more than the demons
did.
"I think I could use that slumber party after all,
Yuka," Sayuri said behind him, eliciting a wince from
Ranma.

************

Ranma had NOT liked the reception he had received
from the doctor as he brought in Akane. He had helped
getting Akane in ice like they had with Nabiki, and
then checked on her sister.
The only thing that probably kept the doctor from
trying to exorcise him on the spot was the fact that
Ranma had apparently been nowhere near Akane after
morning classes. In fact, Ranma had to be told about
the situation like anyone else, something that had
been confirmed by calling the school.
Now all he had to worry about was Kasumi's
reaction, and then he had to save a mortal girl from
becoming a demonic servant of hell or whatever.
Ahhh...life was good.
"Akane is what?!!" Soun demanded. "Oh, my poor
babies. Struck down in the prime of life." Genma
narrowed his eyes and pulled Ranma to the side.
"Are you doing something her, Boy?" Genma demanded.
"What am I, nuts?" Ranma asked. Through it all
Kasumi had been strangely silent, then she spoke.
"Ranma, could I please speak to you alone?" she
asked quietly.
"Umm sure," Ranma said.
"Nothing funny, boy," Genma warned, Soun was to
distraught to notice as Ranma and Kasumi parted the
company had headed for her room.
The door closed behind him and Kasumi turned about,
tears threatening to burst from her eyes.
"Are you responsible for this illness that is
striking my sisters?!" Kasumi demanded.
Ranma took a breath and considered his situation.
Looking about he sighed reluctantly and took another
deep breath. Kasumi waited patiently hands gripped as
she waited for an answer.
Ranma leaning forward to place a kiss on her lips
that seemed to literally set her body afire was not
the answer she was looking for.
"Sorry, 'bout this," Ranma whispered. "Please
don't hate me when you wake up." He laid Kasumi back
as her eyes started to close, and she started shaking.
He looked around desparately, he needed a plan.
Suddenly an idea presented itself.

************

Genma and Soun were galavanized by the sound of
crashes upstairs.
"Pop! Mr. Tendo!" Ranma shouted. "Get up here!"
The two old men were up in a flash, arriving in the
room in time to see a strange young man throw
something about the size of a human body out the
window. The sight of Kasumi on the bed, shaking and
unconscious did not help matters.
"How dare you attack my family!" Soun demanded
launching forward.
The youth smirked evily before jumping out the
window into the night. Soun and Genma followed him to
the window and looked out but couldn't see him
anywhere.
"Oww, damn it," Ranma said from below. "I see 'em
Pop!" The young martial artist shouted before
vanishing into the night, apparently after Kasumi's
attacker. "Just take care of Kasumi!"
"Why, I'll tear that wretch limb from limb!" Soun
declared. "I'll..."
"Easy, Tendo," Genma said. "Ranma has it handled,
let's get your daughter to the doctor's." Soun
regretfully agreed, nodding, though still looking
angry.
"You're right, Genma," he said. "I let my passion
blind me to the true necessity here."

************

Ranma bounced through the night, hoping that Genma
and Soun wouldn't notice the lamp and some clothing
was missing. And he still had to keep Sayuri from
getting to that slumber party.
Ohh yeah...life was wonderful.

=====
"Caffeinated Kender? What's that, a berserk spell?" -
Tribble, Kender Warrior of the Celestial Kingdom
"God has to have a sense of humor, it's the only explanation for sex." - my father
"I have to write a how-to paper for class, so I'm writing a paper on how to be psuedo-evil." - my brother

http://members.aol.com/thrythlind/snake.html

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