I added a dream sequence in the beginning and I fixed
a few grammar and logistical errors. An html version
of the chapter can be found here:
http://www.geocities.com/zorukonotsu/tk7.htm
And previous chapters can be found here:
http://www.geocities.com/zorukonotsu/TK.html
or here:
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/377434/1/
I should be sending out the next chapter shortly.If
you see any formatting or grammar errors you would
like to tell me about, or if you just want to tell me
how great/mediochre/terrible this fic is, feel free.
The aisleways through which you entered and the
passageways designated by the illuminated emergency
exit signs visible to you at either the left or right
of the forward section have been checked and are clear
exits from the building in the event of an emergency.
Thank you for your time and attention.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
-- Attached file included as plaintext by Ecartis --
-- File: tk7ffml.txt
-- Desc: 81575941-tk7ffml.txt
Thyself Known
Ch.7: I, Ranma
By Zorknot
Disclaimer: Ranma1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and
her cohorts.
What Has Come Before: Ranma and Nabiki's mind meld
caused them to exchange weaknesses as well as
strengths, as evidenced by the fact that they were
recently featured on the six o'clock news, screwing
each other's brains out and making wild cat noises.
Now they are both in prison for exposing themselves,
but its been a day and they haven't been let out yet.
Turns out Detective Inamura has some questions to ask
regarding the death of a friend of Nabiki's, Tomo
Hoko.
~~~~~Ch.7~~~~~
"Has he lost his mind?
Can he see or is he blind?
Can he walk at all,
Or if he moves will he fall?
Is he alive or dead?
Has he thoughts within his head?
We'll just pass him there
why should we even care?"
-Black Sabbath
~~~~~dream~~~~~
Ranma is a cat. A leopard or panther or something
equally fierce. He paces back and forth behind the
bars of his cage as people pass by. His mate, Nabiki
is watching with a bored expression. She begins to
lick herself. Shampoo, the other female is in the
other corner of the cage. She will not attempt to
mate again for some time.
There is a noise. The door to the cage is opening.
There in the entryway stands a human female. She
laughs covering her mouth with the back of her hand
"OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!"
She flings out a ribbon. It wraps around Shampoo's
throat. "This one will look good on my wall!" She
pulls and the head comes off.
Ranma lunges at the girl but a smaller cage comes
down around him from the ceiling and he bangs against
the bars brutally but to no avail. "You're mine,
Ranma-sama," the girl says. "Mine and no one else's"
"No one's" She wraps her ribbon around Nabiki's
throat. She laughs.
~~~~~reality~~~~~
Ranma woke up in a cold sweat. He had that feeling
again that his dream meant something. That it
foretold the future somehow. It was different this
time, but most of it was the same. Kodachi killing
someone he loved, and him powerless to stop it.
Someone he loved. He had loved Akane, he still did a
little, but now, he was madly in love with Nabiki.
I'm such a hypocrite, Ranma thought as he lay on the
top bunk of his prison cell, staring at the dim
fluorescent light of the ceiling. Until yesterday, he
hadn't had any feelings at all for Nabiki, and
now...He wanted to spend the rest of his life with
her. He had spent a year saying that he didn't want a
fianc�e...that he wasn't ready. But after she
intercepted him yesterday in that intersection, and
kept him from going after Shampoo... He wanted to
marry her right now, ready or not.
It wasn't just the sex, though that had been awesome;
it was...well, she was literally a part of him, and
he of her, but that didn't describe it well enough
somehow. At any rate, he was now sure that at least
two parts of the legion of personalities he carried
with him were in love with Nabiki: the Nekoken and
his "base" personality, the one he seemed to come
back to all the time.
Ranma sat up and gazed at the white metal bars of his
cell. They had kept him here an awfully long time.
The guy with the sunglasses said it would only be for
a few hours, but that was yesterday afternoon. Ranma
really didn't mind too much. He kind of enjoyed the
peace and quiet, and had used the time for training
and meditation.
He stretched his legs idly on the bunk. He was
wearing gray prison clothes now, as his Chinese shirt
and pants weren't functional as clothing when he was
arrested. The material was kind of scratchy and stiff.
Okay for now, but he would be changing back into his
silk Chinese outfit as soon as possible.
It was strange, though... He would have thought that
a prison would be noisier. And weren't they supposed
to serve food? Ranma's stomach growled in agreement.
Still, Ranma had been in far worse places than this.
It was wondering what had happened to Nabiki that
really made him want out of here.
Looking at the bars and remembering the level of
security in the hallways, he had already come up with
seven different ways of escaping, two of which would
only take some five minutes, and one of which could
be accomplished without much effort at all, and that
wouldn't even really be illegal.
Nodding to himself, Ranma decided to go for this last
one. He closed his eyes and thought of buying ice
cream, of beating up Happosai, of cooking, of...
being pretty. He thought of little things...the way
people looked at her, the way people did things for
her...the way she could do things for other
people...if only they weren't so violent...
Ranma felt her body change from male to female as she
thought of feminine things�
She went a little too far.
"Oh dear!" Ranma exclaimed out loud as she was filled
with revulsion at the memories she now had. "Nabiki's
just a good friend! I would never..." But she did, or
rather he did.
It helped to make the distinction. That crass boy was
not her. If it hadn't been for Genma, none of that
would have happened.
Ranma blushed a little, realizing that she couldn't
bring herself to regret the memory, and now all of a
sudden she felt like thanking her father. She shook
her head. She was not a lesbian. It was a valuable
experience, and she would be able to use it when it
came time for her to please her husband maybe, but
she wanted a family with children and neighbors and
afternoon tea, just like when she was young and she
and Akane would play in the yard, and Mom and Dad
were still together...
She'd never have that if she were a lesbian. Besides,
there were plenty of handsome men around. Ranma
wondered idly if she'd be able to tear their clothes
off with as much vigor as Nabiki had shown with her
male counterpart... She blushed a little deeper at
that.
It was really a revelation to her though...apparently
some men were actually attracted to strong women. She
had thought for so long that a woman had to be quiet
and submissive in order to attract a man. "Maybe I
should be more like Nabiki," Ranma considered aloud.
In truth, she was a little jealous of Nabiki, so
powerful and yet so undeniably feminine...
What was she doing? Ranma wanted to know. She was
suddenly worried. What if something happened to her?
"I gotta get out of here." Ranma murmured to herself
and stopped her line of thought as she noticed the
changeover of her personalities from uber femme hit
on the head Ranma to normal everyday female Ranma.
"Woah. I don't know if I'm ever going to get used to
that....kind of hope I don't really..."
She jumped off the bunk, her bare feet landing on the
cold concrete. Shoes were always a problem. The
moment someone invented truly adjustable footwear,
Ranma planned on buying it in bulk. Again she stopped
herself. She would only need to do that if she
planned on keeping her girl form. Do I really want to
get rid of the curse? she asked herself, as she had
in the past. And now it seemed stupid. It wasn't even
a curse really anymore. The only reason she was a
girl at all was so she could see Nabiki again.
Ranma reflected on recent events while she rolled up
the sleeves of her prison shirt and made cuffs in her
pants. Really, ever since she did that mind merge
with Nabiki things had been going so much better. She
hadn't even had to use those earrings...
The earrings that were now somewhere in the streets
of Nerima, getting run over by countless vehicles and
pedestrians...
Ranma slapped her forehead chuckling, "Dammit why
didn't I think of that when I was having hot sex in
the middle of the city?" She wasn't really concerned.
Still, she'd ask Tofu about it when she got out.
First things first...
"Excuse me� Mr. Warden sir?" she called out sweetly
to the somewhat gaunt looking man in uniform down the
hall.
The hall, Ranma realized with a start, seemed quite a
bit longer than she remembered. Idly looking up, she
couldn't find the ceiling. Just pale green,
flickering fluorescent lights that seemed to float
above the floor. She blinked, shook her head and
tried to look again, but there was no change.
Probably just a weird optical illusion, Ranma told
herself, not quite believing it.
The warden sauntered lazily toward Ranma's cell. He
had a strange gait, keeping his left leg completely
straight and swinging it around his other foot to
progress a step. His face reminded Ranma of Gosunkugi,
only with a rakish, toothless grin added to the
already sickening countenance. "What can I help you
with?" he asked with a good helping of sarcasm.
This was giving Ranma the creeps but she stuck to her
plan, "As you can see, there's been some kind of
mistake. This is a prison for guys, and I'm a girl.
Could you please let me out?"
The warden smiled. "So...you're a girl now, are you,
Ranma? That's nice. I wonder what your pussy tastes
like?"
"Excuse me?" Ranma backed away. This guy knew her?
And apparently he had a perversion that didn't just
end with inanimate objects. "Who are you?"
The warden laughed and it sounded like the engine of
an antiquated diesel trying to start. Then he shove a
spindly arm through the bars of the cell snatching at
Ranma, "I feel you. Feel you come undone. Like a
present. Like string. You flow. Flow into different
molds, different worlds You burn white hot liquid
fire!"
Ranma backed farther away, her back touching the bowl
of the sink behind her. She wished she could use the
Tobu Sennuki she came up with yesterday on the creep
but she didn't have the soul of ice going, and after
what it did to Happosai, what if it killed the guy?
She looked around for things she could use to attack
the man through the bars. She swallowed and tried to
calm herself. It was just an old guy with a limp. She
could take him no problem...but he gave her the
creeps. "Listen, man, I don't know what your problem
is. I just...I haven't had my phone call yet. Can I
get my phone call?"
"No phones in Hell! No phones in Hell!" he screeched.
Then he grabbed the bars with his hands and laughed
his carburetor laugh. "I've been here so long waiting
for a way out. Waiting for you! And here you are all
wrapped in a pretty package. I am the master of this
space. I am...Iron man."
Ranma guffawed before she could stop herself. "Iron
man? What kind of name is that? You play too many
videogames or something?"
The bars that the warden held started to glow. Ranma
felt intense heat wash over her, and she had to
shield her eyes against the light. Suddenly she felt
a terrible pain in her gut, a pain that increased
exponentially as she felt herself lifted up and
pinned to the glass of the mirror above the sink. She
smelled something burning. Flesh. Cloth. Her eyes
adjusted to the brightness enough to see the cackling
face of the warden, his arm now ending in long sharp
spear that impaled her stomach.
Smoke curled around her head and the weight of her
body pushed her down, the hot metal cutting up her
torso like butter melting on a knife. She couldn't
scream, it was too painful. Too much. She saw spots
in her vision...the room grew darker.
"That's it, pretty one. Pass out. Let me inside that
body of yours. Let me escape into the world of
men..."
Ranma snapped her eyes open. If she passed out this
bastard would kill her. She was probably dead anyway
but...she had to keep going... if only just to see
Nabiki one last time. "Nabiki..." Ranma wheezed out,
a wisp of smoke coming out of her mouth.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Nabiki was startled into a standing position out of
her chair in the interrogation room, jingling the
links of her handcuffs.
"Sit back down, Tendo. You aren't leaving here until
I get some answers," Detective Inamura ordered. His
eyes burned with a fire Nabiki had never seen before
in the man's eyes. His aura, Nabiki noted, was a deep
purple. It darkened and brightened in flashes, like a
bladed weapon wielded in the light.
One of Nabiki's closest contacts was Inamura's
daughter Yuki, and so Nabiki had met the man a few
times before. He had seemed positively silly then,
although he had a rather macabre sense of humor. Now
though...She almost sat down again without thinking,
compelled by the intense glare of the goateed man's
eyes.
It was however Nabiki's custom to resist another's
strength when she encountered it, and remained
standing, defiantly. "Ranma...where is he?"
"I told you already, he ran off. He wasn't in his
cell this morning and he hasn't contacted your family.
Now please, Tendo, sit and explain to me again how it
is that your fingerprints are all over what's left of
Tomo Hoko."
Nabiki gritted her teeth and sat. "Detective, you
know I wouldn't hurt Hoko. We've been to your house.
Your daughter is a friend of mine and so was Hoko.
Ranma isn't the kind of person who would run away
from something like this. I've got to see him. You
can tail me if you want, but I have to get out of
here or..."
"You aren't leaving this room, Tendo. I know you
didn't do it. But you know something you're not
telling me, and that makes me wonder."
Nabiki had known as soon as she had seen Hoko at
Tofu's that something had gone terribly wrong. Hoko's
aura had been normal on the surface, but underneath
it...almost imperceptible was this terrible
flickering blackness. Nabiki thought at first that
maybe Hoko was having problems at home or that maybe
her sickness earlier that morning was some kind of
curse, and if it hadn't been for Shampoo showing up
and chasing after Ranma she might have looked into it.
But now, after Detective Inamura showed her the
gruesome pictures of Hoko's body parts, she knew
exactly what happened.
It was then that Nabiki first found that Ranma was
missing. She had wanted to talk with him about it,
wanted to see what he would say, needed to really.
But he had apparently escaped his cell and was no
where to be found. It just didn't make sense...
Something had killed Hoko and was now pretending to
be her. Nabiki wanted to grieve. She wanted to cry,
but it was too much to take in. The cold darkness
overtook her. It was worse than ever. She didn't just
want death, she wanted to crush throats, to expose
entrails, to tear apart bones and suck the marrow.
She bit her hand, trying to stop having the images
parade through her head.
Her teeth drew blood before she could regain
composure. So ironic. Thinking of death used to give
her composure...
She came to some rather unpleasant conclusions as she
gathered her thoughts in the restroom of the police
station. First, by announcing that Hoko was dead, the
police had probably lost their best chance of finding
the killer. The bastard would surely change bodies
and then there'd be no way of knowing who he, she or
it would show up as.
Second, Nabiki would have to be extremely careful
what information she gave to the police. The killer
could be one of them, and if she revealed that she
could detect who it was, then it would only be a
matter of time before she was the next victim.
The police would not be able to solve this. It was up
to her.
Which brought her to her present predicament. She was
holding back something. And while she had an
excellent poker face, there was no getting past
Detective Inamura.
Normally she'd suffer through the interrogation, and
manage to provide an alibi and a viable reason for
her apparent lack of cooperation, but now she had a
terrible feeling...a certainty really. Ranma was in
danger. Ranma was dying.
Even though she knew the fastest way out of the room
was to calm down and give the detective some
semblance of what he wanted, she couldn't do that now.
She was thinking through desperate escape
plans...maybe she could throw a chair through the
silvered observation window on the wall, jump
through...
An officer came in with a cup of coffee. It was
officer 542, Kawagami Hiro. The man who had helped
save her life.
She still couldn't quite get over that one. She had
died, and any doubt about that fact was countered by
bright patterns of energy she could now see around
every living thing around her. Kawagami's eyes were
blue, she noticed. His sunglasses were in his breast
pocket of his white uniform shirt. There was nothing
abnormal about the aura at first, but Nabiki looked
closer...and there it was.
A dark flickering, behind the visible pattern.
Inamura accepted the coffee with a grumbled out
"thanks," took a sip without letting it cool at all,
and set it down on the table.
"Is there anything else I can help with?" Kawagami
asked.
"Just let me know if anything new turns up in the
investigation," Inamura said gruffly.
"Of course. Sorry to disturb you," the blue-eyed man
smiled and turned to leave.
After Kawagami shut the door, Inamura's brow furrowed
as he noted Nabiki's expression. "You look like
you've seen a ghost, Tendo. What's wrong with you?"
Nabiki got a hold of herself. She was finding it
harder to keep her emotions from showing since the
mind meld with Ranma. She really wasn't sure if that
was really a bad thing or not, but she couldn't
afford to be read so easily in these circumstances.
"I need to make my phone call," she said. "Now."
Inamura nodded slowly. "I suppose that'd be a good
idea."
~~~~~*~~~~~
The real Kawagami Hiro was, of course, tied up in
Hoko's closet, catatonic from the sleeping pills
Copycat had found in Tomo-san's medicine cabinet, and
would stay that way until he was sure that Nabiki was
in jail and hopefully Ranma along with her as an
accomplice. He chuckled as he returned to his desk in
the precinct and organized some papers to make it
look like he was working. Soon it would be a simple
matter of taking a prisoner's body and organizing a
trap for the hapless pigtailed boy and then he'd
finally have his vengeance.
And then what? Once he's dead...what will I do?
Copycat shook his head free of the thought. Killing
Ranma was all that mattered. After that, he'd be free.
This was the first time he had ever incapacitated a
real police officer for a disguise. He did it in
desperation when he saw the cop come to the door of
the Tomo residence yesterday. He surmised immediately
why the cop was there and as soon as Copycat, in the
guise of Hoko Tomo, opened the door and the cop
entered the house, he struck a pressure point at the
base of the cop's skull and the man collapsed
predictably to the floor.
Force feeding him sleeping pills while he was
unconscious was more difficult, but Copycat wasn't
the squeamish sort and so he had just opened Hiro's
mouth and used his finger to shove them down the
throat. Tomo-san was in the backyard attending her
flowers while Copycat dragged the tall muscular body
into Hoko's room and shoved him into the closet. Then,
after telling Tomo-san that he was going to go see
Nabiki and might be staying over, he took a picture
of Hiro with his cursed camera to get his personality
and appearance down, tied him, gagged him, used the
blanket to change into him and left.
Now Copycat wondered why he hadn't taken over a cop's
life before. He was learning so much about police
procedure. He had made so many stupid mistakes; he
would have never made it without the cursed blanket.
But he was still in a dangerous situation until he
was sure the search for Hoko's killer was over. Sure
he could escape if he absolutely had to, but then
he'd have to find another way to get close to Ranma
and that could take months, and they might be
watching for him.
He was a little worried about Tomo-san finding the
cop. It'd been a day now, and while Copycat had
checked on him in his Hoko disguise, a lot of things
could have happened while he was away.
Copycat actually jumped when the phone on Hiro's desk
rang. He smiled at his own nervousness. It had been a
long time since he was this excited. He was so close!
But he had to be careful.
On the third ring he picked up the receiver. "Nerima
Prefecture Police Station. Officer Kawagami
speaking."
The voice on the other end was strong, clear, and yet
unmistakably feminine. It was Tendo Nabiki. "What do
you want?" she asked. It seemed emotionless... almost
robotic, but Copycat fancied he heard a trace of
desperation all the same.
After a pause he answered, "I want what every cop
wants, lady. Justice" Copycat smiled. He should have
been upset that Nabiki found him out, but for some
reason he was actually glad.
"Justice? Against whom? For what?" Copycat closed his
eyes, imagining Nabiki's face as she asked the
questions...so calm...so composed. If he could see
her, would there be the slightest twitch of an
eyebrow? A small disgusted sneer to the lips? Or
would she just show her anger in her fierce burnt
sienna eyes? Those pools of emotion that even her
great control could never quite hide.
"He's gotten you too now hasn't he? All this time
you've stood back, amused at all the girls who threw
themselves at him, and now you're just another
flunkie, no different from your homicidal sister, or
the airheaded Amazon, or that pathetic codependent
crossdressing caterer."
"This is about Ranma," Nabiki said simply.
"Yes, I gather you know the perpetrator then? The
identity thief? The soul stealer?"
"That sounds more like your department." There was a
definite tone of acidity in her response.
"Hoko knew exactly who she was when she died. When
you killed her. You know what she said when she
looked up from her stabbed stomach and saw your face
looking down at her?" Copycat was speaking in hushed
tones now, his voice barely above a murmur, "She said
she understood. She understood, Tendo. Will you be
able to say that if you died right now?"
"You want to kill Ranma."
"Don't you? You used to be so sure of yourself. Now
you don't even know what you want anymore, do you?"
"You won't be able to kill him in prison. He'll just
escape and leave the country, and then you won't be
able to get near him."
Copycat winced. She was right.- Hadn't he already
done just that? In a day no less. "True, that is a
setback, but I'll find a way."
"I can help you. I can give you the chance you need
to kill him."
"What?" he almost yelled out the question.
"You heard me. I just want a few things in return..."
"No. You can't fool me, Tendo. You love him. This is
some sort of trick."
"No trick. I can supply all the resources you need
and can get you closer to him than anyone else. Of
course I can't do that if I'm in prison."
"What is your proposal?"
"The police are looking for Hoko's killer. Right now
all the signs point to me and I'll likely be stuck in
jail at least until there can be a trial. But Hoko
isn't necessarily dead, is she? If she were to show
up, then the arm and torso would have to be an
elaborate fake. The police would spin their wheels
for a little while trying to find out what happened,
but in that time you could have your chance with
Ranma."
Copycat forced himself to be cautious. "How can I be
sure you won't just point me out as the killer as
soon as I show up as Hoko?"
"You could always say the dead Hoko was trying to
kill YOU. Tofu will confirm that you are the real
thing and at that point no one would believe me even
if I did say something."
"This chance...you'll let me have any means at your
disposal? You won't obstruct me in any way?"
"Not at all. You have my word."
"And the moment I get the slightest idea that your
word is worthless, that is the moment you die. You
understand that, right?"
"Of course."
Copycat stood up behind Kawagami's desk with the
receiver to his ear, not bothering to hide the wide
grin that plastered his face. "Then, Tendo, I believe
we have a deal."
~~~~~*~~~~~
Nabiki put the receiver of the pay phone back onto
its cradle and shuddered. She was not the religious
sort, still she prayed to the gods that she was doing
the right thing. All she knew was that Ranma was in
trouble NOW...that she had to get to him NOW and that
an unsure danger later was at best a secondary
concern. Not only that, but this way she would know
exactly who the doppelganger was. Still, she had just
agreed to become pals with Hoko's killer, and while
there was something to be said for keeping enemies
close, this seemed to be taking it a bit too far.
Was there any other option? Maybe. But she couldn't
see it now. Every other thought was a voice screaming
at her to move, to run. She had to struggle not to
knock down the officer that watched her and make a
break for it, even knowing that unless she had the
power to bend metal and burst through concrete, which
she didn't, she wouldn't get far before they managed
to detain her. It was so frustrating knowing so many
of Ranma's moves, but lacking the strength and poise
to make them effective.
The conversation on the phone had exhausted her, but
still her heart raced. Hardly realizing she had
entered again, Nabiki found herself in the
interrogation room once more.
Inamura's dark brow furrowed. "I've never seen you
this nervous, Tendo. I've never seen you nervous at
all. What's bothering you?"
"I need to see Ranma. He's in trouble," Nabiki said
without thinking. It was only then that it occurred
to her that it was odd that she would be able to know
that. And that made her wonder just how it was she
expected to help him.
"Do you think the killer might be after him? Is that
it?"
"Yes. No..." Nabiki mind needed to rest, to
recuperate from that conversation, "it's a long
story."
"Why don't you tell it to me, Tendo. Is your lawyer
coming?"
"Something like that. Ranma's in trouble, Detective.
Isn't there any way you can let me out?"
"I'm afraid not, Tendo. But if you tell us where he
is we'll be happy to..."
"You can't do anything! He hasn't left his cell. He's
still there, only...Detective, believe me, I respect
your profession, but there are things in this world
that are completely beyond your jurisdiction and this
is one of them."
Inamura leaned back in his chair. "So," he pulled out
a cigarette from his pack and lit it. He took a puff
and blew the smoke out of his nostrils before turning
his head once more to Nabiki. "You're saying that
Ranma is trapped in some sort of alternate reality
and that you're the only one that can save him."
Nabiki squelched her urge to reach across the table
and strangle the goateed man. She looked into his
eyes stonily and said, "Yes. That is exactly what I'm
saying."
Inamura studied Nabiki's expression for a good minute
and took another pull off his cigarette. He held it
with all four fingers and his thumb as if it were a
joint. He looked up at the fluorescent light and blew
out the smoke. He lowered his gaze to Nabiki again.
"And Hoko Tomo?"
"Killed by a doppelganger that's going to come into
the police station in an hour or so looking exactly
like her."
"So in other words, the reason your fingerprints are
on Hoko's arm is that this...doppleganger...was using
a perfect copy of your body while disposing of her?"
"Yes."
Another pull off the cigarette, and Inamura asked,
"You're aware of how inane this is right?"
"Regardless, it is the truth."
Inamura stubbed the cigarette directly on the table,
since there was no ashtray. "How old do you think I
am, Tendo?"
"I mean you no disrespect, Detective I'm only..."
"How old?" Inamura interrupted Nabiki.
"You're at least as old as my father. I don't see..."
"I'm fifty-seven years old, Tendo. And guess where
I've been living all this time."
Nabiki just remained silent.
"Nerima, born and raised. And yet you, a seventeen-
year-old slip of a girl think that you know more
about what's going on than I do."
"You knew?"
"In the real world, people don't hit their heads and
forget all about police procedure. And Kawagami would
never be in here without his sunglasses on. His eyes
are sensitive to the light. Calling him was very
dangerous, and now things aren't going to go as
easy."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, of course we had your conversation tapped. I
have to say, Tendo that was pretty stupid what you
did. Extremely dangerous, lying outright to someone
like that. You could get killed. Of course we'll be
watching now, but still. You're walking a thin line.
A real thin line."
"Wait a minute. You're saying you knew it was a
doppelganger all a long?"
"The M.O. matched that of another body part found
about a year ago. A Tanaka Buntaro. If we went on
fingerprints or DNA we'd have had to conclude it was
a suicide, but even if the kid was talented enough to
manage sawing his own arms and legs off, the wounds
were post mortem; so either Buntaro had an evil twin
that his mother didn't know about, or there was some
kind of doppelganger loose. We had a similar incident
back in '75 when Dark Sombrero the Mexican mad
scientist created an android that could duplicate
human forms. Thankfully we found some pop idols and
dressed them in sexy robot suits and were able to
stop the problem."
"Why are you joking around! Ranma's in danger!"
Inamura shrugged "You have nothing to worry about.
The only transdimensional demon we have here is
Airanman and someone has to have a serious mental
disorder in order for him to be any threat."
Stifling her throttle reflex, Nabiki said, "Ranma is
going through something called the Ijuu. He isn't the
same person from one minute to the next. Does that
count as a serious mental disorder?"
"Crap." Inamura hurried behind Nabiki and unlocked
her cuffs. They fell off her wrists and rattled to
the floor. Then he unholstered his pistol, cocked it
and pointed the barrel to the ceiling. "We don't have
much time."
Inamura explained as he and Nabiki hurried through
the corridors of the police station. "The precinct
exists in a quantum irregularity. Time gets distorted
more and more as you approach the jail and often we
get dimensional crossover. It can get pretty nasty,
but if we take the right path I can get you to Ranma
before whatever's happening starts to happen."
"Don't you have any larger weapons?" Nabiki asked.
"Just �ole reliable here." Inamura waved his pistol,
but Nabiki's growing sense of imminent doom made it
seem terribly inadequate. "Won't need anything else.
The only way to beat Airanman is through force of
will. Don't think there's a weapon around that'll
dent that guy."
"Then what's the gun for?"
"For your boyfriend, in case Airanman takes control
of him."
"You can't shoot him! He didn't do anything!"
"Look, Tendo, I'll try to help out if I can, but I
suggest you think of some pretty words to say to your
fianc�, cause this might be the last time you see him
alive."
~~~~~*~~~~~
The pain wouldn't stop. It grew. It seemed to be
trying to cover Ranma's entire body. Something else
was happening too...something was telling Ranma who
she was. She wanted to fight back to stop the pain
but...
You don't want it to stop. You like pain. You like
the hot searing fleshiness of it. You're a girl. A
little whore. Your name is Airanko. You like it when
people hit you. You like it when people hurt you. The
more they hurt you the more they love you. See how
much I'm hurting you. You're my little bitch. My
painsickle. My vessel...
"No..." Ranma tried, "Nabiki..." the pain subsided
somewhat, but that was worse. Ranma wanted it. It
made her feel complete...the pain...
What you had with Nabiki wasn't real. It was a wet
dream nothing more. You cannot expect Nabiki to drop
everything to marry you. What have you to offer her?
Martial Arts? Please. She's destined for greatness
while you're destined for street fights. You'll have
your fling maybe. She'll use you for a while and then
you'll be discarded. Just like your mother discarded
you. Just like your father discarded you. Just like
Akane...
She felt the pain growing, filling her, flowing
around her.
I'm going to surround you. I'm going to make you
impenetrable.. You'll never feel the torture of love
again. You'll have me, my little death doll, forever,
and you will never need anyone else again.
"Yes..." Airanko whispered and she felt the liquid
metal encompass her as it started to cool. The pain
was positively sweet now. And it would all be over
soon.
"No!" A clear alto voice rang out. It was familiar to
Airanko but... Oh no! The pain! The pain was leaving!
"Go away! Go away whoever you are!" she screamed. She
wanted the pain back. The beautiful pain that made
her numb...
"Ranma, it's Nabiki."
"My name's not Ranma, it's Airanko!"
"No. You are Saotome Ranma. You are the heir to the
Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. You saved my
life and now you're my fianc�...the one I love. I
name you. I claim you. You're mine, Saotome, and I'm
not letting you go. So hurry up and kick this guy's
ass."
A flash. Airanko felt the metal recede further. "No!
He gives me pain. I need pain. Must have pain. I feel
so numb...so numb."
"Ranma...if it's pain you're looking for, wait till
we're married. I'll make you're life a living hell."
"Promise?" Airanko asked.
There was a pause.
See? She can't give you what you need. Only I can.
She'll throw you away like scrap. I will mold you
into something new and shiny and sharp. You'll have
more pain than all your little friends could ever
give. You'll be immortal, my little injury queen, and
your screams will make the earth melt and the heavens
burn away.
Nabiki's voice came through again though. It was dark
and cold. "Ranma, what the fuck does that thing know
about pain?"
Airanko frowned. The pain was ebbing, and this was a
new exquisite pain. Airanman didn't seem to
understand. He was trying to get her to take him back
in but he didn't understand. Nabiki...Nabiki could
take everything Airanman told her and multiply it by
ten. Getting hurt by Nabiki would be worse than any
burn, any fracture, any laceration. Because it would
be from her.
Ranma shook her head free of the smoke. She grimaced.
"Get the fuck off of me, you creep!" she yelled.
And confronted with the force of Ranma's new-found
will Airanman nearly did exactly that. But he rallied
forth one last ditch effort and lunged, screaming
like metal across metal, "NOOOO!"
Ranma's eyes widened as she felt the searing hot
liquid metal pass once again into her stomach... felt
it somehow against her back. "I am not your BITCH!"
Ranma screamed and Airanman was blown away into the
bars of the cell opposite Ranma's.
Ranma slid down the wall, and passed out.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Akane sneezed.
Cologne opened her eyes and glanced in Akane's
direction. "Someone talking about you?"
"I guess," She was sitting with the Amazon elder in
the office of the assistant principle, who was
fishing some papers out of Principle Kuno's office
and so would probably be a while in coming back. She
rubbed her nose and moved to a different position in
her seat. For some reason she thought of waiting
outside of the classroom with Ranma, holding buckets
of water, and she felt like crying again.
"Last night was hard for you," Cologne observed, "I'm
glad. If you showed up bright eyed and cheerful I
would have been worried."
"I just..." Akane tried, but there was no easy way to
crystallize the shame into words. Every time she
thought she had finally reached emotional rock bottom
she thought of some other terrible thing she'd said
or done to Ranma and it drove her deeper into the
dirt. "We could have...but the fianc�e stuff and then
Shampoo..." she spoke the name with more venom then
she intended. She wanted to blame her for everything,
but she resisted. Even if Shampoo was to blame for
Akane being unable to learn how deal with Ranma, it
was still Akane that had mocked Ranma, jeered at him,
attacked his greatest weakness with a gusto that was
sickening. And there was no way she could make up for
that now. She once... had something with Ranma. There
was... love there once, but now... Could they even be
friends? How could he ever trust her again? How could
she trust herself?
The family was getting ready to see Ranma and Nabiki
in jail when Akane left home with Cologne to get here.
She could barely face her father and Kasumi, she knew
seeing Nabiki or Ranma was completely out of the
question. She had done too much to even begin to ask
for forgiveness. And what made it worse was knowing
they would give it to her if she asked. They would
forgive her when she had blamed them for everything.
Becoming Amazon was the only thing that kept Akane
from losing it all together. She had a new chance now.
A new code of honor she could adhere to after she had
shattered her old one. She would not let herself be
weak. She would not fuck this up.
Cologne nodded. "It's over now. It's good that you
realize that. And Shampoo deserves your vengeance.
But if you want to stand a chance in challenging her,
you must have patience. You are entering a period
where learning will come very easily and patience
will be difficult to maintain. That is why you must
learn patience now. Reckless knowledge is as
potentially disastrous as reckless ignorance."
Akane closed her eyes and tried to calm herself.
Patience. That was why they were both in this office,
waiting for the assistant principal to return instead
of helping him find the necessary forms so she could
work at the Nekohanten while attending school. Akane
could only imagine what sort of booby traps the
Hawaiian madman might have set up, and it could very
well be that the assistant principal was unconscious
underneath a pile of coconuts or something. She knew
it would be faster to go herself and get the papers,
but she would stay. As maddening as it was, she would
sit and think. And she thought about all the times
where sitting and thinking would have done her so
much good.
And she felt like crying again.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Ukyo had never seen so many customers. They just kept
coming in! Ukyo was making three okonomiyaki at once
and still she was working non stop. She knew what it
was of course, but she didn't want to think about it
too much. Her new room mate was more than paying for
herself already. In fact, Shampoo was almost too good
of a waitress.
Ukyo had evened out Shampoo's shortened hair for her
and she looked cute in the Ucchan's uniform. Ukyo
herself didn't swing that way, but she had spent
enough time in a boy's school to know what guys liked,
and Shampoo was it. She could kid herself that she
was cuter, but it was a conceit that didn't stand up
to scrutiny. If it weren't for the fact that Ranma
liked tomboy types, Ukyo wouldn't have a chance.
That sneaky bitch Nabiki...
Ukyo flipped an okonomiyaki too soon and the batter
spattered on her hand, burning her skin. "Fuck." Ukyo
seethed, and she tried to get the image of Nabiki
doing just that to poor innocent, defenseless Ranma
in a city intersection while helicopters flew over
head... out of her troubled mind. They were still
showing it on the news at regular intervals with all
the naughty bits blurred by computers.
But of course Ranma wasn't innocent. Anybody could
see he was participating just as much as Nabiki. It
just wasn't fair.
Ukyo focused on the okonomiyaki. She envisioned
pouring all of her negative energy into the batter
letting it all go into the mix. When she finished her
next okonomiyaki, she felt a lot better. She wouldn't
want to serve it to anyone though. It simply wasn't
ethical to serve an okonomiyaki that wasn't made with
love. Taking a short break without letting Shampoo
know, Ukyo took the okonomiyaki with her out the back
door to the yard outside. She threw it Frisbee-like
into the thick trunk of a large deciduous tree. She
wasn't exactly surprised when it exploded, but when
the tree toppled over, Ukyo knew it was time to close
for the day.
She was getting too many ideas.
~~~~~*~~~~~
"Unnnh..." Ranma moaned, holding a hand to her head
just above her right eye. "Did anyone get the number
of that �?"
"Over-used clich�?" Nabiki finished for him. She sat
crosslegged in a plastic chair in the recovery room.
She put down the latest issue of Forbes and tsked.
"You're a bit high maintenance, aren't you, Ranma?"
"Huh?"
"I mean I'm just after free food and money, but you,
you expect to be rescued from sado-masochistic demons
from the fifth dimension, and on the second date no
less!" Ranma sat up and Nabiki helped her to her feet.
"Daddy and Kasumi are here, having a worrying contest.
So far Daddy's winning with his trademark waterfall
of tears, but Kasumi may be a dark horse candidate
with her incessant hand wringing ."
"What about Pops?"
"Oh he came by, but then he said he had to leave.
Family business, he said."
"Well, sheesh, you're family, why couldn't he tell
you?" Ranma felt odd. Her balance was a little off
and she felt strangely numb. She could feel things
but she couldn't really FEEL them.
Nabiki kissed Ranma. She felt THAT.
"What was that for? Not that I'm complaining."
"I don't know. I haven't been myself lately. So many
things have happened I haven't even really
assimilated and then you�It feels good to be part of
your family, Ranma. I don't know why, but it does."
Ranma found herself rising to meet Nabiki's lips
again. When she was done she frowned, "Why are Daddy
and... I mean why are your father and Kasumi worried
about me?"
Nabiki smirked "They saw us having intimate sexual
relations on live television while we were both
acting like cats. More recently they found out while
in jail I was six feet away from a raging demon that
almost killed you. Daddy is beginning to think I'm
standing a little too close to the fire," Nabiki
nudged Ranma. "Kasumi, well...she's just Kasumi."
Ranma nodded.
The next second a wooden door with a square window
opened and Kasumi came in. "Oh my," she said.
Ranma and Nabiki gave themselves a quizzical look.
"What's up, Kasumi?" Ranma asked.
"We don't have much time. Father will be back soon. I
need to talk to you both."
"Okaaay�what about?" Nabiki asked.
"It's rather difficult to explain I'm afraid. Ranma-
chan, do you still have the Saiserefu Noon?"
"Ah�heh, heh," Ranma scratched the back of her head,
"I kind of lost it when Nabiki and I were�"
"Hmm yes," Kasumi interrupted, "Please, I want you to
think. When exactly was the last time you wore it?"
"The earrings kind of just fell out after I did that
mind meld with Nabiki"
Kasumi nodded. She turned away from them and looked
through the window of the door, checking the hallway.
"What is it, Kasumi?" Nabiki asked."
Turning to face them both again, Kasumi wrung her
hands and said, "Ranma, Nabiki, I want you to promise
me something. Ranma you're family now too and I think
you respect our family more than your original one.
So I want both of you to swear on the honor of our
departed mother."
Ranma and Nabiki swallowed. "Swear what exactly?"
Nabiki asked.
"Don't ever leave each other's side."
"I swear," Ranma said solemnly
"Nabiki?" Kasumi asked.
"Of course I swear, but why the theatrics, Kasumi? We
weren't planning on being apart anyway."
"I think something about the� mindmeld caused the
Saiserefu to move from Ranma's earrings to you. You
are now Ranma's Thyself Known."
Nabiki nodded slowly."That would explain how I knew
what to do when Ranma was fighting Airanman,"
"That's not all I'm afraid. I think it goes both ways.
Nabiki, Ranma is your Saiserefu just as much as you
are Ranma's. As long as you two are together you'll
be perfectly fine. But if you're apart for very long,
I'm afraid your personality may fracture just as
badly as Ranma's has."
"How romantic," Nabiki deadpanned.
"Hold on a second," Ranma interjected, "How do you
know this, Kasumi?"
Kasumi's brow furrowed. She checked the hallway again.
"Father mustn't find out. It's too dangerous to tell
you everything. When Tofu was fifteen, he lost
something precious�a part of himself. I had to give
him part of myself or he would have died. I was nine
then. You were seven, Nabiki."
"That was when mom�"
Kasumi nodded somberly. "Remember I had pneumonia
that month?"
"It wasn't pneumonia, was it."
"No." Kasumi checked the hallway again.
"So you and Tofu did a mind meld too?" Ranma asked,
"But I thought you had to be identical twins or
something?"
"It wasn't the same thing. It can last a decade,
maybe fifteen years and then�"
"Death?"
Kasumi nodded, "'The two will become one.' Tofu and I
had our own Ijuu. We too were our own Thyself Knowns,
but for us, in order to stay ourselves we had to stay
apart. I'm just starting to remember everything that
happened. Tofu must be remembering too. We're�we're
running out of time�" she wiped a tear from her cheek.
Ranma found herself standing up and putting an arm
around Kasumi before she even realized it. She sat
Kasumi down in one of the chairs and sat next to her.
"We'll find a way to fix this. There has to be
something we can do."
It was then she noticed that she was holding Nabiki's
hand even as she was comforting Kasumi with the other.
She realized she had said "we" twice. Not "I" but
"we". And she knew then that whatever it was she was
going to do, she was going to do it with Nabiki.
~~~~~*~~~~~
When Hiro Kawagami woke, his entire body felt like
fruitcake. His eyelids were particularly heavy
fruitcakes, the kind passed around for generations.
When he finally got them open the sandpaper sensation
the air from the dank closet provided made him close
them again promptly.
His stomach was angry at him about something, it
kept trying to throttle him, but thankfully all it
succeeded in doing was forcing the warm, chunky
remains of the hot dog and coffee he had some twenty
hours ago at the Hot Dog and Coffee out of his
burning esophagus past his epiglottis and all over
the hard wood floor by his head. The vomit stank a
great deal.
He managed to get into a sitting position, which
seemed like a good idea at the time, but his inner
ear mistook this as an attempt to do a back flip off
world's fastest rollercoaster right after the third
loop. His stomach tried to throttle him again, and in
the midst of all this violence, he fell over, his
shoulder splatting in the puddle of vomit, which had
become cool but no less fragrant for the two or three
minutes he had spent trying to sit up.
A minute or so passed as Kawagami lay there thinking
of vomit flavored fruitcake. There were a lot of
fruitcakes in Nerima he mentally segued. Maybe
getting tied up, shoved into a closet and drugged was
a normal thing. He wasn't getting paid enough if that
was the case.
He was just about to try sitting up again when the
closet door opened almost blinding him for a moment
with the light from outside.
"Morning, sunshine," his own voice taunted at him.
"Well it's two in the afternoon actually, but who the
fuck gives a shit."
"What do you want?" Kawagami groaned.
"Revenge. No wait. That's not it. Satisfaction. If it
were just revenge, I'd just let the Ijuu take its
toll on the bastard and watch him fall apart. That'd
be eye for an eye. No, I want the fucker dead. Him
and his bitch."
"You mean Ranma and Nabiki?"
"No, I mean the Pope and the Queen of England. Of
course Ranma and Nabiki!"
Still recovering from his stupor, Kawagami said "Come
on, the Pope and the Queen of England have nothing to
do with each other."
The figure seemed to ignore him. "They bought you
some time. I was going to kill you chop you into bits
and spread your remains across the countryside, make
a day trip out of it, see the sights. Now that plan's
fucked. The bitch is giving me a way to get close to
her manwhore. Of course it's not going to go down
like she thinks. She thinks I'm going to go
galavanting in there screaming �I'm alive! Please
arrest me!' But I've got an idea."
"I suppose you're going to tell it to me, huh? I
thought evil masterminds only did that in movies."
"Yes, I'm telling you the plan, because you're going
to make it work."
"Yeah well I'm not going to help you so you might as
well think up a new one."
Kawagami's eyes had adjusted enough to see the smirk
on the doppelganger's face. Then the fetch waved some
dark cloth across his field of vision. It was like
his entire body were taffy being pulled and
compressed and molded. He felt extremely odd.
"You're going to help me, or you'll never be Kawagami
Hiro again."
" What do you�" Kawagami started, but then he stopped.
That was not his voice. Much too high. That was�that
was�
"Get up, Tomo Hoko, I'm taking you to the police
station. Inamura's going to have a lot questions to
ask, but I'm sure between the two of us we can set
him straight, don't you think?"
~~~~~[Author's Note]~~~~~
Okay. It's been a long time since I did a chapter on
this. I'm sorry to have left you hanging with that
last, but there were several problems I had with the
politics of the police station and such. I'm sure
someone will catch some glaring error and I'll have
to go back and change something, but for now this is
the chapter.
I suppose I have to face facts, the plot point that
I'm planning between Ranma and his mother has been
irrevocably sublimated by everything else. I'll
eventually get to it, but not before a hundred other
things happen, and that's likely to take a very long
time. I'm in Grad School now and I'm working on
several original fiction works and so chapters are
going to come even slower. I only finished this
because several people emailed me about it.
Anyway I do plan on continuing this, and I thank you
for bearing with me as time slogs forward like a
forwardly slogging thing.
It gets weirder.
###
7/15/05 : Added Ranma's dream. Made some other
changes.
Thanks, Abdiel, for critiquing
And thanks as well to the reviewers of Fanfiction.net
.---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
| Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
| Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
| Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject |
`---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'