Chapter 24
"I'll just bet you preformed an exorcism!" Akane snarled again.
Kagome
arched an eyebrow as she eyed the young woman, taking a breath to calm
her own spiking temper. It was just as Ranma had told her. The girl was
quick to anger and didn't look before she leapt. Perhaps she could help
the Tendo girl to see the error of her ways.
"I preformed an exorcism," Kagome continued when Akane made no other comment. "Ranma, would you care to show them?"
"Let me Mama!" Shippou chimed enthusiastically. He'd love an excuse to dunk his father and get away with it.
All
the Higurashi family and demon's present tried vainly to stifle their
chuckles of amusement. They knew what the fox was thinking.
"I
don't think so," Ranma said sharply as he raised a glass of water and
dumped it over his head, shuddering at the cold temperature.
Sesshoumaru's earlier use of the Soul-of-Ice Technique had turned it
into liquid ice.
The Tendo's and companions stared in shock as with a dog-like shake Ranma shook off the excess water, but still remained male.
"I though the only cure was finding the Nanniichuan!" Mousse cried out, the first to find his voice.
"No,
there are other ways to remove a Jusenkyo Curse," Kagome said gently,
"And given time I could also remove the curses you have yourselves."
Akane
fumed even more as the others with her bombarded the Higurashi woman
with questions. Forgetting in their enthusiasm the real reason they'd
come here. And it was not to exchange pleasantries with the witch.
"Enough already! Remember why we're here!"
"Why are you here Akane-san?" Ranma asked curiously, eying the tomboy.
"Because of your disgusting conduct! Especially with that woman!" Akane replied enraged, jabbing a finger in Kagome's direction. "Nabiki-chan, show them."
With a sly smile Nabiki placed the multiple pictures, perfect blackmail if she did say so herself, onto the table.
Ranma
groaned, what had Nabiki managed to get on film this time? With a
felling of dread he reached for a few of the photographs and looked. His
eyes widening and he flushed a deep red when he saw just what Nabiki
had taken.
"I didn't need to see that!" Shippou yelp in dismay as he slapped the images facedown, "That's something no son needs to know!"
"Ah!" Mrs. Higurashi exclaimed happily as she flipped through a handful, "Grandchildren!"
Souta
followed Shippou's actions, only he passed the photographs onto Kagome,
saying dryly, "I agree with you nephew. I didn't need to know anything
about my sister's sex life either."
Biting her lower lip, Kagome
with a growing sense of outrage flipped though some photos. How dare
they invade her and Ranma's privacy! She would feel embarrassed later.
"Humm…"
Sesshoumaru hummed softly, "They're very well done." Everyone stared at
him. He raised a white eyebrow at the expressions on their faces. "They
are superbly taken you can not deny that. This woman is an excellent
photographer."
"My brother, the mercenary." Ranma said in dismay
as he slapped his palm against his forehead. "You and Nabiki-san are
going to get along like a house on fire."
"Just as long as it's not my house," Rin quipped. Evicting chuckles from the demons and Higurashi family.
"Akane-san,
we are still waiting to learn the reason for your visit." Kagome drew
everyone's attention back to the matter at hand. "Though those
photographs prove that you've been spying on my self and my family, I
still wish to know why. After all isn't it you who are the first
to insist that the former engagement between Ranma and yourself was
arranged by you parents and you had nothing to do about it?"
"Yes but—" Akane began indignantly.
"Than
I really don't see the problem here." Kagome stated, cutting her off.
"You did not wish to be engaged to him. He did not wish to be engaged to
you. In fact, it was his father who arranged two of his marital
prospects, first to a member of the Tendo family and than to Ukyo. The
engagement to Shampoo came about through her tribal law, and was something he would have avoided at all costs if he'd know the results. In short, Ranma has never actually proposed marriage to anyone!"
"That's not the point here!" Akane shouted, glaring at the older woman.
"Than what is the point?" Kagome demanded, leaning forward across the table to pin everyone with a steely look.
"It's… he can't just…" Akane's angry answer was disjointed, as she groped for a logical response.
"He can't just what?" Kagome edged on.
Akane
fumed silently, not knowing what to say without revealing her own
feelings. No one, especially not Ranma, had the right to cast her aside.
Wasn't she the most sought after girl in school? Wasn't she the one who
all the males fought over? She was the only one who could break up a
relationship.
"He has his duty to perform," Genma stated
arrogantly. "A son's duty to his father. A practitioner's duty to his
martial arts school. And a man's duty to marry."
"Duty…" Kagome said slowly, drawing out the word distastefully. "How do you Saotome-kun, define duty? Is this duty
you speak of allowing yourself to take advantage of his sense of
family, his honour of the martial arts, and his desire for his own
family? Is his duty to you, to allow you to control him for the rest of his life?"
Genma
shifted upon his seat uncomfortable, what the woman was saying was a
little to close to the truth for comfort. Ranma was his son. It was only
right that the boy did such things for him.
"What about my duty
to myself?" Ranma asked rhetorically, his voice silky with barely
concealed menace as he eyed the man who had fathered the body he now
inhabited. "The duty to honour my own self. To hold true to what I
believe and do what I know is good and right, even if it gains me
nothing. But especially to honour what I once was and may be."
"What
do you mean by that?" Ryoga asked without his usual belligerence,
understanding what his rival spoke of for perhaps the first time since
they'd meet. "What I once was and may be?"
"I am a reincarnation," Ranma replied, a little surprised by the directionless boy's perception.
"What?" Chorused eight voices.
"A
reincarnation," Kagome repeated, enjoying the blank looks wreathing the
faces of those that had caused Ranma so much trouble and now threatened
the new future he was trying to create.
"What is reincarnation?" Shampoo questioned, not understanding the term and unable to translate it mentally into Chinese.
"A
reincarnation is someone's whose soul has been reborn into a new body
and time," Mrs. Higurashi explained kindly, hearing the Chinese accent
of the young woman, and guessing the reason for the question.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Akane demanded.
"Everything Akane-san, everything." Ranma replied seriously.
"Sealed Past" Ch. 23 [novella, Kagome/Ranma(Inuyasha), M]
Chapter 23
Stopping to catch her breath, Akane rested at the top of shrine's strenuous staircase. Just how many steps had there been? She'd quit counting at two hundred seventy-six. Squaring her shoulders she marched up to the house and pounded on the door.
An immaculately dressed, russet haired young man in a dark business suit opened the door, his eyebrow quirking upwards when he saw the odd-ball crowd gathered outside the door. "Yes. How may I help you?"
"I want to talk with Saotome Ranma." Akane said through gritted teeth.
He opened the door wider and stepped back, "Please follow me, I'll see if he's available." As soon as they had all filled in, he shut the door and turned down the hall, gesturing for them to follow.
Pausing he motioned for them to wait as he entered a room, from within they could hear him speak. "Father, some people are here to see you."
"Oh," Everyone heard Ranma's voice answer in annoyance. "Well come in than."
Stiffly they entered the room. The occupants re-seated themselves to make room for the new numbers. A stunningly handsome man, wearing glasses with short-cropped white haired in a charcoal suit sat beside an equally beautiful woman who was dressed in a soft pink blouse and skirt, her long black hair elegantly restrained atop her head in a chignon.
Beside the woman was the youngest Higurashi child, the boy Souta. A rather ordinary teenager wearing the navy coloured uniform of a private high school. Too his left was his grandfather, in his usual Shinto priest garments, as well as his mother. Matching dark brown hair and dark eyes, she wore a blue sweater and floral print skirt.
Beside the eldest Higurashi woman was her daughter, the young woman named Kagome. She was wearing a green turtleneck and black slacks. Beside her was Ranma, in his customary kung-fu pants and Chinese-style shirt.
It was at Ranma's side that the man who'd answered the door seated himself beside another lovely black haired and eyed woman whose hair was confined in a single long braid that hung down her back. She was dressed in a woman's business suit that was a warm golden-brown.
"Good evening," Mrs. Higurashi greeted cheerfully, giving them a smile reminiscent of Kasumi's.
"Good evening," Akane returned stiffly, "I am Tendo Akane, and this is my father Soun and my sister, Nabiki. With me are Hibiki Ryoga, Kuonji Ukyo, Shampoo, and Mousse, as well as Kuno Tatewaki and his sister Kodachi. And this is Saotome Genma."
With each introduction, a name was attached to a face in memory, and a thorough and brutal inspection made. Each member of the Nerima Wrecking Crew had to fight the urge to fidget when they were evaluated in turn.
"As I'm sure you already know," Ranma drawled as he looked pointedly at Nabiki, "This is Seibuinutaiso Sesshoumaru and his wife Rin. This is the Higurashi family, Higurashi Asami, her father, and her two children Kagome and Souta. And these two are Toyota Shippou and his wife Souten."
"Excuse me for a moment," Kagome murmured as she stood, "I have to go make a phone call."
Ranma gave a brief nod as he continued to eye his visitors. "Well what do you wish to talk about?"
"You're disgraceful attitude and recent actions my son!" Genma began angrily. "It's time you come home and do your duty!"
Ranma merely gave a humph of amusement as his lips almost twitched into a smile. His answer was bland and toneless, "I have done my duty."
"How dare you make such a claim! You—"
"Well if it isn't 'father abuse'," Sesshoumaru interrupted smoothly as he leaned forward, the room in the temperature seemed to drop visually. The martial artists quelled beneath the most brutal Soul-of-Ice Technique(1) they'd ever had the misfortune to encounter.
"Enough," Ranma said softly, his demeanour unruffled as he flicked a sudden rim of hoarfrost from his glass.
"As you wish… brother." The man settled back, his frozen gold eyes never leaving Genma's face. Giving the man a definite hunted feeling. Everyone else blinked at the man's deliberate statement.
"Thank-you. I have no wish to clean up your mess."
"Ah… but that's what one's employees are for," came they very urban reply.
Kagome chuckled softly as she re-entered the room and took her seat beside Ranma once again, as she had caught the last of the two brother's comments. "I think that a more detailed explanation is needed by many of them. Ranma's never been really good with words and that seems to be the problem here. Now where to begin? Three months ago… or five hundred years?"
"I think you better start with your first meeting," Shippou suggested, eying the confused expressions before them, "I don't think they're really ready for the extended version but there doesn't seem to be much choice."
"Okay, here goes. One day on a girl's fifteenth birthday she fell through a magical well located on a shrine grounds. The well was a time travel portal between two periods, Japan's Feudal Era and the present day 20th Century. While there she meet a half-breed dog demon named Inuyasha and learned she was the reincarnation of a priestess. Also during her first visit she broke a magical item and soon she and Inuyasha had to travel about Japan collecting all of the pieces. During their travels they were joined first by a fox demon, than a Buddhist monk, and lastly a demon exterminator and her two-tail cat demon hunting companion." Kagome took a sip of water before continuing.
"They had trouble along the way though, as a half-breed Inuyasha was ostracised, especially by his pure demon brother. The brother was after the sword their father had left Inuyasha because it was capable of slaying a thousand demons with one blow. There was also an evil demon that was seeking the pieces of the magical item and he would stop at nothing to collect them. Soon, their quest became more of a battle between the friends and the evil demon than a search of the item's pieces. But in the end they managed to kill the evil demon, reassemble and purify the item and fall in love in the process."
"Who did?" Mousse asked eagerly, he rather enjoyed this rushed story and wanted to hear the detailed version.
"The girl from the future fell in love with Inuyasha. And trust me, that was really bizarre than, as religious people and demons were constantly trying to kill each other. It took her a while to convince him she was telling the truth. However, she was from the future and thus had no place among the past so the gods sent her home. But not before promising the two lovers they would be together again."
"That's so sad," Kodatchi murmured as she passed a tissue to her snuffling brother.
"Yes well," Kagome said with a dismissive shrug, "Three months ago I bumped into Ranma on the street and when he returned my purse to me we actually started talking about his Jusenkyo Curse. Anyway I mentioned an exorcism and started talking about performing one for him—"
"I'll just bet you did you bitch!" Akane snapped, angry at the woman's pointless story and craving to take a swing at both her and Ranma.
"Pardon me?" Kagome said with a surprised blink.
Footnote:
(1) Soul-of-Ice Technique: one extreme end of the "Hiryu Shoten Ha" or "Dragon's Heaven Blast" technique which was taught to Ranma when he became weak due to Happosai's Moxibustion technique. The manoeuvre is executed by allowing the opponent to have a "hot" battle aura, while Ranma's aura remains "cool." Ranma then draws the opponent in a spiralling path and executes a punch. The resulting collision of hot and cold plus the spiral creates a tornado. (Cited from "Ranma ½: Perfect Edition.")
Stopping to catch her breath, Akane rested at the top of shrine's strenuous staircase. Just how many steps had there been? She'd quit counting at two hundred seventy-six. Squaring her shoulders she marched up to the house and pounded on the door.
An immaculately dressed, russet haired young man in a dark business suit opened the door, his eyebrow quirking upwards when he saw the odd-ball crowd gathered outside the door. "Yes. How may I help you?"
"I want to talk with Saotome Ranma." Akane said through gritted teeth.
He opened the door wider and stepped back, "Please follow me, I'll see if he's available." As soon as they had all filled in, he shut the door and turned down the hall, gesturing for them to follow.
Pausing he motioned for them to wait as he entered a room, from within they could hear him speak. "Father, some people are here to see you."
"Oh," Everyone heard Ranma's voice answer in annoyance. "Well come in than."
Stiffly they entered the room. The occupants re-seated themselves to make room for the new numbers. A stunningly handsome man, wearing glasses with short-cropped white haired in a charcoal suit sat beside an equally beautiful woman who was dressed in a soft pink blouse and skirt, her long black hair elegantly restrained atop her head in a chignon.
Beside the woman was the youngest Higurashi child, the boy Souta. A rather ordinary teenager wearing the navy coloured uniform of a private high school. Too his left was his grandfather, in his usual Shinto priest garments, as well as his mother. Matching dark brown hair and dark eyes, she wore a blue sweater and floral print skirt.
Beside the eldest Higurashi woman was her daughter, the young woman named Kagome. She was wearing a green turtleneck and black slacks. Beside her was Ranma, in his customary kung-fu pants and Chinese-style shirt.
It was at Ranma's side that the man who'd answered the door seated himself beside another lovely black haired and eyed woman whose hair was confined in a single long braid that hung down her back. She was dressed in a woman's business suit that was a warm golden-brown.
"Good evening," Mrs. Higurashi greeted cheerfully, giving them a smile reminiscent of Kasumi's.
"Good evening," Akane returned stiffly, "I am Tendo Akane, and this is my father Soun and my sister, Nabiki. With me are Hibiki Ryoga, Kuonji Ukyo, Shampoo, and Mousse, as well as Kuno Tatewaki and his sister Kodachi. And this is Saotome Genma."
With each introduction, a name was attached to a face in memory, and a thorough and brutal inspection made. Each member of the Nerima Wrecking Crew had to fight the urge to fidget when they were evaluated in turn.
"As I'm sure you already know," Ranma drawled as he looked pointedly at Nabiki, "This is Seibuinutaiso Sesshoumaru and his wife Rin. This is the Higurashi family, Higurashi Asami, her father, and her two children Kagome and Souta. And these two are Toyota Shippou and his wife Souten."
"Excuse me for a moment," Kagome murmured as she stood, "I have to go make a phone call."
Ranma gave a brief nod as he continued to eye his visitors. "Well what do you wish to talk about?"
"You're disgraceful attitude and recent actions my son!" Genma began angrily. "It's time you come home and do your duty!"
Ranma merely gave a humph of amusement as his lips almost twitched into a smile. His answer was bland and toneless, "I have done my duty."
"How dare you make such a claim! You—"
"Well if it isn't 'father abuse'," Sesshoumaru interrupted smoothly as he leaned forward, the room in the temperature seemed to drop visually. The martial artists quelled beneath the most brutal Soul-of-Ice Technique(1) they'd ever had the misfortune to encounter.
"Enough," Ranma said softly, his demeanour unruffled as he flicked a sudden rim of hoarfrost from his glass.
"As you wish… brother." The man settled back, his frozen gold eyes never leaving Genma's face. Giving the man a definite hunted feeling. Everyone else blinked at the man's deliberate statement.
"Thank-you. I have no wish to clean up your mess."
"Ah… but that's what one's employees are for," came they very urban reply.
Kagome chuckled softly as she re-entered the room and took her seat beside Ranma once again, as she had caught the last of the two brother's comments. "I think that a more detailed explanation is needed by many of them. Ranma's never been really good with words and that seems to be the problem here. Now where to begin? Three months ago… or five hundred years?"
"I think you better start with your first meeting," Shippou suggested, eying the confused expressions before them, "I don't think they're really ready for the extended version but there doesn't seem to be much choice."
"Okay, here goes. One day on a girl's fifteenth birthday she fell through a magical well located on a shrine grounds. The well was a time travel portal between two periods, Japan's Feudal Era and the present day 20th Century. While there she meet a half-breed dog demon named Inuyasha and learned she was the reincarnation of a priestess. Also during her first visit she broke a magical item and soon she and Inuyasha had to travel about Japan collecting all of the pieces. During their travels they were joined first by a fox demon, than a Buddhist monk, and lastly a demon exterminator and her two-tail cat demon hunting companion." Kagome took a sip of water before continuing.
"They had trouble along the way though, as a half-breed Inuyasha was ostracised, especially by his pure demon brother. The brother was after the sword their father had left Inuyasha because it was capable of slaying a thousand demons with one blow. There was also an evil demon that was seeking the pieces of the magical item and he would stop at nothing to collect them. Soon, their quest became more of a battle between the friends and the evil demon than a search of the item's pieces. But in the end they managed to kill the evil demon, reassemble and purify the item and fall in love in the process."
"Who did?" Mousse asked eagerly, he rather enjoyed this rushed story and wanted to hear the detailed version.
"The girl from the future fell in love with Inuyasha. And trust me, that was really bizarre than, as religious people and demons were constantly trying to kill each other. It took her a while to convince him she was telling the truth. However, she was from the future and thus had no place among the past so the gods sent her home. But not before promising the two lovers they would be together again."
"That's so sad," Kodatchi murmured as she passed a tissue to her snuffling brother.
"Yes well," Kagome said with a dismissive shrug, "Three months ago I bumped into Ranma on the street and when he returned my purse to me we actually started talking about his Jusenkyo Curse. Anyway I mentioned an exorcism and started talking about performing one for him—"
"I'll just bet you did you bitch!" Akane snapped, angry at the woman's pointless story and craving to take a swing at both her and Ranma.
"Pardon me?" Kagome said with a surprised blink.
Footnote:
(1) Soul-of-Ice Technique: one extreme end of the "Hiryu Shoten Ha" or "Dragon's Heaven Blast" technique which was taught to Ranma when he became weak due to Happosai's Moxibustion technique. The manoeuvre is executed by allowing the opponent to have a "hot" battle aura, while Ranma's aura remains "cool." Ranma then draws the opponent in a spiralling path and executes a punch. The resulting collision of hot and cold plus the spiral creates a tornado. (Cited from "Ranma ½: Perfect Edition.")
"Sealed Past" Ch. 22 [novella, Kagome/Ranma(Inuyasha), M]
Chapter 22
"What's wrong Ranma?" Kagome questioned softly as she stroked his damp hair.
"I lost control today during my talk with Akane." Ranma's shame filled reply was muffled against her breasts.
"Tell me about it," she encouraged him, nudging him more to the side to allow her more breathing space. He complied but his arms closed more firmly about her.
"I'm not sure where to start. I was going to start off by talking about the exorcism and then move on to how we'd both changed and weren't suited to each other. But somehow I got side tracked and we started arguing like usual."
"Then she hit me and I just… lost it for some reason, it was like a switch had been turned inside of me." Ranma confessed.
"It was probably your demon instincts," Kagome reassured.
"What'd you mean?"
"Well it hasn't happened yet during your training with Shippou, because you know you're learning. But in ordinary circumstances, an alpha demon, when challenged, such as being struck, by a beta demon, will react to reinforce their command, usually in a very physical manner."
"Alpha?"
"You're an alpha, a pack leader. A beta is what you would call the other members in a pack, and the omega is the outcast, the scapegoat. You were an omega yourself before becoming an alpha actually. As it is, you're still an alpha even though you now have a human body."
"Huh," Ranma said as he propped himself on his forearms and looked down at her still flushed features. He nodded slowly, now that he thought of it from that perspective, it made sense and he wasn't ashamed about losing control like that. Akane's slap had triggered his instincts and because he wasn't use to controlling them yet in this body, his reaction had been automatic and brutal. Just as it would have been if he'd been disciplining a demon under him.
"Also the fact that's she's a girl might have also contributed to it," Kagome continued.
"How?" Ranma asked curiously. As Ranma he hadn't like fighting girls. As Inuyasha he hadn't cared one bit whether his opponent was male or female. What did Kagome mean?
"You see, you're mated and the insult might have been twice as offensive to you." Kagome explained. "You don't really get along with her from what you've told me, and you have been engaged to her for a long time as well. Your instincts might have seen it almost as a form of adultery and in guilt, and an attempt to make amends to your mate, me, you overreacted. Now that's just a guess, I might be way off and it's just the alpha thing." She concluded with a sensual smile as she looked up at him.
With a purely male smile of response Ranma shifted his body more firmly over hers. Practically purring with pleasure at the sensation of her bare skin gliding against his. His satisfaction increased as he felt her passionate tremble beneath him and smelled her growing arousal.
"Enough of that," he growled as his head dip down towards her. They had the rest of the evening to themselves and he knew just what they were going to do.
Nabiki nodded to herself with satisfaction. It hadn't even been a week since Ranma had moved out and she'd got just the ammunition she needed to stir things up. She'd even be considerate and not charge Ranma's rivals, her family, and Genma for the pictures she was about to show them. The damage they'd cause in revenge would be more than enough compensation for her.
"Well Nabiki-chan?" Akane demanded, as she drummed her fingers against the table top. Ever since Ranma had drawn blood and insulted her honour, she'd been itching to get even.
"I've found out where dear Ranma-kun's moved to."
"Well don't keep us in suspense Nabiki-san, tell us where that honour-less bastard's hid himself!" Ryoga growled. He hadn't witnessed the incident in the dojo but he'd certainly heard the story that an upset Akane had poured out to P-chan.
"He's moved into the Sunset Shrine."
"A shrine?" Kuno said in disbelief, "How dare he befoul a holy place with his base presence!"
"Yes, well," Nabiki replied as she fanned out some photographs on the table. They were no where nearly as scandalous as some others she had but she was saving them for later.
The colourful pictures drew a rather usual picture of a regular family. Only Ranma was also featured in them in surprising ways. Playing Blind's-Men's-Bluff with a group of black, white, and red-haired children and he was the one blindfolded. Battling it out with video games against a brown-haired teenager about his own age. Sparring in usual free-style fashion against a slightly older looking guy, creating the usual devastation to their surroundings. Than there was a shot of him actually making supper! The last one was of him having what looked like a rather heated debate with a middle-aged silvery-white haired man wearing glasses.
One thing that also stood out in all the pictures was the presence of a black haired and bronze eyed young woman. Sometimes she was in the background and at other times right up front. In some she was wearing a university uniform or regular street clothing, in one traditional garments of a shrine maiden, and still others medical attire.
"I see her!" Shampoo said suddenly, pointing at one of the pictures where she was clearly shown. "Since she go to café, Shampoo no see arien."
"She actually visited your restaurant?" Ukyo asked in surprise. Making a few mental connections of her own. This must be the priestess that Ranma had mentioned during his visit.
"Her name is Higurashi Kagome." Nabiki said as she placed three main photos before her. "The white haired man's name is Seibuinutaiso Sesshoumaru and his wife is Rin. This is Toyota Shippou who incidentally calls Higurashi-san mother. His wife, Souten, is the woman beside him. "
"Mother?" Kasumi questioned incredulously as she picked up the photo for a closer look. "She looks so young."
Nabiki shrugged and placed more profile shot photos onto the table, "That's practically the only thing I've heard him call her. Anyway onto the others. The brown-haired guy that's about Ranma's age is Higurashi Souta, Higurashi-san's younger brother. That's her mother and the senior in the priest clothes is her grandfather."
"So that worthless son of mine is trying to find a new family is he?" Genma grumbled, he was not about to let his future of easy living off the boy go so easily.
"It seems he's done a little more than that." Nabiki said slyly as she swiped the pile of photographs to the side and place five, larger ones onto the table. What they portrayed stunned everyone.
They all started in bug-eyed incredulity. Though none of the shots were shockingly graphic, the clearly naked, entwined limbs, devouring kisses, passion flushed skin and often tangled hair, painted a brutally truthful picture of what the two people were engaged in.
"That bastard!" Akane hissed furiously as she stared at the images. A sediment vocally and violently echoed by all Ranma's former fiancées and his three rivals. That deceitful, two-timing son of a bitch! Saotome Ranma would pay!
"Oh how could he dishonour the agreement between our families!" Soun bawled as tears streamed relentlessly down his cheeks.
"He has shamed the Saotome name," Genma said as he drew himself upright. It was time that he took a firm hand to his disobedient son. Even if he had to use the Forbidden Technique, he would make the boy see reason.
Without a word, Akane, Ryoga, Kuno, Kodachi, Shampoo, Mousse, Ukyo, Soun, Genma and Nabiki stood and left the Tendo house. Their destination and less than honourable intentions written clearly on their faces.
"Heh!" Happousai crackled gleefully as he looked at the pictures again, "I didn't know the boy had it in him!"
"What's wrong Ranma?" Kagome questioned softly as she stroked his damp hair.
"I lost control today during my talk with Akane." Ranma's shame filled reply was muffled against her breasts.
"Tell me about it," she encouraged him, nudging him more to the side to allow her more breathing space. He complied but his arms closed more firmly about her.
"I'm not sure where to start. I was going to start off by talking about the exorcism and then move on to how we'd both changed and weren't suited to each other. But somehow I got side tracked and we started arguing like usual."
"Then she hit me and I just… lost it for some reason, it was like a switch had been turned inside of me." Ranma confessed.
"It was probably your demon instincts," Kagome reassured.
"What'd you mean?"
"Well it hasn't happened yet during your training with Shippou, because you know you're learning. But in ordinary circumstances, an alpha demon, when challenged, such as being struck, by a beta demon, will react to reinforce their command, usually in a very physical manner."
"Alpha?"
"You're an alpha, a pack leader. A beta is what you would call the other members in a pack, and the omega is the outcast, the scapegoat. You were an omega yourself before becoming an alpha actually. As it is, you're still an alpha even though you now have a human body."
"Huh," Ranma said as he propped himself on his forearms and looked down at her still flushed features. He nodded slowly, now that he thought of it from that perspective, it made sense and he wasn't ashamed about losing control like that. Akane's slap had triggered his instincts and because he wasn't use to controlling them yet in this body, his reaction had been automatic and brutal. Just as it would have been if he'd been disciplining a demon under him.
"Also the fact that's she's a girl might have also contributed to it," Kagome continued.
"How?" Ranma asked curiously. As Ranma he hadn't like fighting girls. As Inuyasha he hadn't cared one bit whether his opponent was male or female. What did Kagome mean?
"You see, you're mated and the insult might have been twice as offensive to you." Kagome explained. "You don't really get along with her from what you've told me, and you have been engaged to her for a long time as well. Your instincts might have seen it almost as a form of adultery and in guilt, and an attempt to make amends to your mate, me, you overreacted. Now that's just a guess, I might be way off and it's just the alpha thing." She concluded with a sensual smile as she looked up at him.
With a purely male smile of response Ranma shifted his body more firmly over hers. Practically purring with pleasure at the sensation of her bare skin gliding against his. His satisfaction increased as he felt her passionate tremble beneath him and smelled her growing arousal.
"Enough of that," he growled as his head dip down towards her. They had the rest of the evening to themselves and he knew just what they were going to do.
. . .
Nabiki nodded to herself with satisfaction. It hadn't even been a week since Ranma had moved out and she'd got just the ammunition she needed to stir things up. She'd even be considerate and not charge Ranma's rivals, her family, and Genma for the pictures she was about to show them. The damage they'd cause in revenge would be more than enough compensation for her.
"Well Nabiki-chan?" Akane demanded, as she drummed her fingers against the table top. Ever since Ranma had drawn blood and insulted her honour, she'd been itching to get even.
"I've found out where dear Ranma-kun's moved to."
"Well don't keep us in suspense Nabiki-san, tell us where that honour-less bastard's hid himself!" Ryoga growled. He hadn't witnessed the incident in the dojo but he'd certainly heard the story that an upset Akane had poured out to P-chan.
"He's moved into the Sunset Shrine."
"A shrine?" Kuno said in disbelief, "How dare he befoul a holy place with his base presence!"
"Yes, well," Nabiki replied as she fanned out some photographs on the table. They were no where nearly as scandalous as some others she had but she was saving them for later.
The colourful pictures drew a rather usual picture of a regular family. Only Ranma was also featured in them in surprising ways. Playing Blind's-Men's-Bluff with a group of black, white, and red-haired children and he was the one blindfolded. Battling it out with video games against a brown-haired teenager about his own age. Sparring in usual free-style fashion against a slightly older looking guy, creating the usual devastation to their surroundings. Than there was a shot of him actually making supper! The last one was of him having what looked like a rather heated debate with a middle-aged silvery-white haired man wearing glasses.
One thing that also stood out in all the pictures was the presence of a black haired and bronze eyed young woman. Sometimes she was in the background and at other times right up front. In some she was wearing a university uniform or regular street clothing, in one traditional garments of a shrine maiden, and still others medical attire.
"I see her!" Shampoo said suddenly, pointing at one of the pictures where she was clearly shown. "Since she go to café, Shampoo no see arien."
"She actually visited your restaurant?" Ukyo asked in surprise. Making a few mental connections of her own. This must be the priestess that Ranma had mentioned during his visit.
"Her name is Higurashi Kagome." Nabiki said as she placed three main photos before her. "The white haired man's name is Seibuinutaiso Sesshoumaru and his wife is Rin. This is Toyota Shippou who incidentally calls Higurashi-san mother. His wife, Souten, is the woman beside him. "
"Mother?" Kasumi questioned incredulously as she picked up the photo for a closer look. "She looks so young."
Nabiki shrugged and placed more profile shot photos onto the table, "That's practically the only thing I've heard him call her. Anyway onto the others. The brown-haired guy that's about Ranma's age is Higurashi Souta, Higurashi-san's younger brother. That's her mother and the senior in the priest clothes is her grandfather."
"So that worthless son of mine is trying to find a new family is he?" Genma grumbled, he was not about to let his future of easy living off the boy go so easily.
"It seems he's done a little more than that." Nabiki said slyly as she swiped the pile of photographs to the side and place five, larger ones onto the table. What they portrayed stunned everyone.
They all started in bug-eyed incredulity. Though none of the shots were shockingly graphic, the clearly naked, entwined limbs, devouring kisses, passion flushed skin and often tangled hair, painted a brutally truthful picture of what the two people were engaged in.
"That bastard!" Akane hissed furiously as she stared at the images. A sediment vocally and violently echoed by all Ranma's former fiancées and his three rivals. That deceitful, two-timing son of a bitch! Saotome Ranma would pay!
"Oh how could he dishonour the agreement between our families!" Soun bawled as tears streamed relentlessly down his cheeks.
"He has shamed the Saotome name," Genma said as he drew himself upright. It was time that he took a firm hand to his disobedient son. Even if he had to use the Forbidden Technique, he would make the boy see reason.
Without a word, Akane, Ryoga, Kuno, Kodachi, Shampoo, Mousse, Ukyo, Soun, Genma and Nabiki stood and left the Tendo house. Their destination and less than honourable intentions written clearly on their faces.
"Heh!" Happousai crackled gleefully as he looked at the pictures again, "I didn't know the boy had it in him!"
"Sealed Past" Ch. 21 [novella, Kagome/Ranma(Inuyasha), M]
Chapter 21
Ranma paused in the doorway, watching with amusement as with a yell Akane demolished the stack of cinder blocks before her. "What's the point?"
"What?" Akane asked as she whirled about to face him.
"What's the point? All you're doing is ruining some perfectly good blocks." Ranma said as he leaned against the dojo door frame.
Akane merely glared at him, declining to answer his comment. "What'd you want Ranma?" She demanded angrily.
"To talk," Ranma replied without rancour.
Akane raised her eyebrows in obvious disbelief and said sarcastically, "You talk? That requires some thinking. Are you sure you're up to it?"
Ranma ignored her poor attempt to rile him. "I really think that this fiasco should end."
"What 'fiasco'?"
"This thing with me being engaged to practically half the population of Japan and China."
"We can talk about it when you get rid of your other fiancées!" Akane snapped in a dismissive manner.
"I have."
"What!" Akane screeched, stunned.
"I've ended the 'engagements' with everyone else already."
"So what do you want to talk about?" Akane asked warily.
"I want to end the agreement between you and myself as well."
"Who do you think you are? That you can just, out of the blue, one day decide that you don't want to be my fiancé anymore?" Akane demanded, storming over to him and jabbed him repeatedly in the chest with a finger.
"It wasn't out of the blue," Ranma said with a shrug, "I've been thinking it for a while. Besides, you've never said at any point that you agreed to marry me. It's always been something that's been decided for us."
"So, what about our duty to our families and our martial arts schools?"
"What about our family's duty to us Akane?"
"What'd you mean?"
"Pop's always preaching about, 'being a man', 'honouring your father', and 'doing a son's duty'. Well I'm sick and tired of hearing it!" Ranma growled as he moved away from her. "I hate those words—honour, duty, bah! They have no real meaning for Pops or you!"
"How dare you say I have no honour Ranma!" Akane screeched as she whipped out her mallet and sent it flying towards him.
"Sankon Tetsusou!"(1) Ranma snarled, his suddenly clawed hand lashing out and ripping the wooden hammer to shreds.
The force of the energy moving through the air knocked Akane harshly to the floor. Leaving her staring aghast, up at Ranma in sudden wide eyed fear. This was an attack he had never used before and something told her that it was even deadlier than his others.
"That wasn't what I said. That's the thing about you Akane, you never really listen to me. Which is only one of your faults, you overreact to every little thing. And I hate to admit it, but you do have penis envy."
She sucked in a breath, anger burning. How dare he say such things about her! It just wasn't true!
"I'll tell you the same thing I told Ukyo Akane, grow the fuck up!" Ranma snarled mercilessly as he crouched over her.
She slapped him, eyes burning with rage. Taking deep pleasure as his head snapped to the side and a red mark slowly began to appear.
With deliberate slowness he turned back to look at her, and then a clawed hand closed without mercy around her jaw. Claws digging into flesh, drawing drops of crimson blood.
Akane's fear returned and escalated into pure terror. As she watched as Ranma drew her face inches from his. His grey eyes turning a glowing, pulsing blue than the whites of his eyes bled red. Along his cheekbones, ribbons of a dark purple appeared. A wild, purely predatory aura radiated from him.
"I've made my decision Akane. And just so it's clear to you, I am no longer engaged to you, Ukyo or Shampoo. I'll be moving out tonight." Ranma said with excruciating deliberateness. His voice all the more menacing for its reasonable, gentle tone.
"And Nabiki-san? I wouldn't develop those pictures if I were you. I don't think you'll like what they'll show you." Ranma said aloud as the mysterious markings and dangerous aura around him faded. With a jerk, he pushed Akane away and stood, then turned and left the dojo.
Akane touched her hand to her chin and started in incomprehension when her fingers came away damp with blood. In all their fights, Ranma had never actually physically hurt her.
"Nabiki-chan?" Akane said faintly as she looked wide-eyed up at her sister.
Nabiki stared after Ranma. She'd heard the entire discussion between her little sister and the Saotome son. Then that transformation that he'd undergone…. she had seen signs of it before the night following his disappearance. What did it all mean?
In any matter he could not be allowed to treat Akane in such a disgusting manner. He would have to pay for the insult to the Tendo family. And she'd start by having a long talk with the boy's father, Saotome-kun.
Footnote:
(1) Sankon Tetsusou: lit. "Soul Shattering Iron Claw", but in the anime this claw based attack of Inuyasha's is called "Iron Reamer Soul Stealer". (Cited from… I forget where. Oops.)
Ranma paused in the doorway, watching with amusement as with a yell Akane demolished the stack of cinder blocks before her. "What's the point?"
"What?" Akane asked as she whirled about to face him.
"What's the point? All you're doing is ruining some perfectly good blocks." Ranma said as he leaned against the dojo door frame.
Akane merely glared at him, declining to answer his comment. "What'd you want Ranma?" She demanded angrily.
"To talk," Ranma replied without rancour.
Akane raised her eyebrows in obvious disbelief and said sarcastically, "You talk? That requires some thinking. Are you sure you're up to it?"
Ranma ignored her poor attempt to rile him. "I really think that this fiasco should end."
"What 'fiasco'?"
"This thing with me being engaged to practically half the population of Japan and China."
"We can talk about it when you get rid of your other fiancées!" Akane snapped in a dismissive manner.
"I have."
"What!" Akane screeched, stunned.
"I've ended the 'engagements' with everyone else already."
"So what do you want to talk about?" Akane asked warily.
"I want to end the agreement between you and myself as well."
"Who do you think you are? That you can just, out of the blue, one day decide that you don't want to be my fiancé anymore?" Akane demanded, storming over to him and jabbed him repeatedly in the chest with a finger.
"It wasn't out of the blue," Ranma said with a shrug, "I've been thinking it for a while. Besides, you've never said at any point that you agreed to marry me. It's always been something that's been decided for us."
"So, what about our duty to our families and our martial arts schools?"
"What about our family's duty to us Akane?"
"What'd you mean?"
"Pop's always preaching about, 'being a man', 'honouring your father', and 'doing a son's duty'. Well I'm sick and tired of hearing it!" Ranma growled as he moved away from her. "I hate those words—honour, duty, bah! They have no real meaning for Pops or you!"
"How dare you say I have no honour Ranma!" Akane screeched as she whipped out her mallet and sent it flying towards him.
"Sankon Tetsusou!"(1) Ranma snarled, his suddenly clawed hand lashing out and ripping the wooden hammer to shreds.
The force of the energy moving through the air knocked Akane harshly to the floor. Leaving her staring aghast, up at Ranma in sudden wide eyed fear. This was an attack he had never used before and something told her that it was even deadlier than his others.
"That wasn't what I said. That's the thing about you Akane, you never really listen to me. Which is only one of your faults, you overreact to every little thing. And I hate to admit it, but you do have penis envy."
She sucked in a breath, anger burning. How dare he say such things about her! It just wasn't true!
"I'll tell you the same thing I told Ukyo Akane, grow the fuck up!" Ranma snarled mercilessly as he crouched over her.
She slapped him, eyes burning with rage. Taking deep pleasure as his head snapped to the side and a red mark slowly began to appear.
With deliberate slowness he turned back to look at her, and then a clawed hand closed without mercy around her jaw. Claws digging into flesh, drawing drops of crimson blood.
Akane's fear returned and escalated into pure terror. As she watched as Ranma drew her face inches from his. His grey eyes turning a glowing, pulsing blue than the whites of his eyes bled red. Along his cheekbones, ribbons of a dark purple appeared. A wild, purely predatory aura radiated from him.
"I've made my decision Akane. And just so it's clear to you, I am no longer engaged to you, Ukyo or Shampoo. I'll be moving out tonight." Ranma said with excruciating deliberateness. His voice all the more menacing for its reasonable, gentle tone.
"And Nabiki-san? I wouldn't develop those pictures if I were you. I don't think you'll like what they'll show you." Ranma said aloud as the mysterious markings and dangerous aura around him faded. With a jerk, he pushed Akane away and stood, then turned and left the dojo.
Akane touched her hand to her chin and started in incomprehension when her fingers came away damp with blood. In all their fights, Ranma had never actually physically hurt her.
"Nabiki-chan?" Akane said faintly as she looked wide-eyed up at her sister.
Nabiki stared after Ranma. She'd heard the entire discussion between her little sister and the Saotome son. Then that transformation that he'd undergone…. she had seen signs of it before the night following his disappearance. What did it all mean?
In any matter he could not be allowed to treat Akane in such a disgusting manner. He would have to pay for the insult to the Tendo family. And she'd start by having a long talk with the boy's father, Saotome-kun.
Footnote:
(1) Sankon Tetsusou: lit. "Soul Shattering Iron Claw", but in the anime this claw based attack of Inuyasha's is called "Iron Reamer Soul Stealer". (Cited from… I forget where. Oops.)
"Sealed Past" Ch. 20 [novella, Kagome/Ranma(Inuyasha), M]
Chapter 20
"Okay, care to tell me what that medallion is?" Ranma asked impatiently, as he watched her tuck the metal disk back into the jewellery box upon her desk and carry the box towards him.
"What it is, is a mon(1)of the Chinese Amazons oldest lineage." Kagome explained as she climbed onto the bed beside him, placing the open box between them.
"Then why do you have one and how did you get it in the first place?" He asked with exasperation, as he looked at the medallion resting among other treasures in the box.
"Why I have one is easy. I am an honorary sister of the Jo-ketsu-zoku and a Lady-Elder." Kagome answered.
"And the difference between an Elder and a Lady-Elder is…" Ranma trailed off suggestively, momentarily sidetracking.
"Is that, one precedes the other, much like a General outranks a Lieutenant General in the army." Kagome explained.
"Fine, I get that now. Back to the part where you explain how you got it."
"I am one of the founding women."
Ranma blinked. Then blinked again. "The whole story please, no more bits and pieces, it's too confusing."
Kagome chuckled and began. "It begins back in the Feudal Era, about the time you and Miroku were recovering from your battle with the demon from the Continent, Menomaru. Where he was from was the Kingdom of Qin, which is called China today."
Ranma nodded, he knew that. What was she getting at?
"Specifically he was from the area of Jusenkyo. And while you were occupied with healing your wounds, Sango, Shippou, Kirara and I with Myoga's guidance returned to Menomaru's home after hearing that a particularly large amount of men had been slain in retaliation for the demon's death by Menomaru's followers that had remained behind in China."
Sengoku Jidai, China, Jusenkyo
"Are you sure this is the place Myoga-jiji?" Sango questioned the elderly flea demon as she looked down at the ground Kirara was flying over, taking note of the abundance of springs.
"Certainly," the flea assured her as he sat upon the demon slayer's shoulder.
Sango felt Kagome's arms tighten around her waist, glancing back at her friend she was surprised to see a slightly sick expression upon the priestess' face. "What's wrong Kagome?"
Kagome grimaced as she fought to quell her queasy stomach.
"Miasma," Shippou guessed correctly from his place between the two women.
"Not just miasma," muttered Kagome sickly, "Hatred as well. Can we land please? I think I'm going to throw up."
"Down Kirara," Sango ordered hastily, directing the fire cat towards a nearby ridge. The small group settled onto the ground, Kagome sitting down with her head hanging between her knees and taking great gulps of air.
A shrunken Kirara jumped onto Sango's shoulder, causing the flea demon to scramble for a new perch, finally locating one atop Shippou's head.
After some long moments, Kagome raised her head, feeling that she had successfully stilled her rolling stomach.
"Is it better now Kagome-chan?" Shippou asked anxiously.
"Yes, Shippou-chan, but I think it would be best if we walked from here." Kagome reassured the fox kit wanly. Climbing to her feet she slung the bow and quiver case over her shoulder and picked up the demon to reassure him. Nodding that she would be alright to Sango, the two women and three demons began to walk.
Sango's eyes constantly scanned the forest around them, comforted by the weight of Hiraikotsu against her back, part of her attention also on Kirara who would warn her of any danger.
"Wow," Shippou breathed large eyed as they broke through the trees onto a ridge over looking a grassy plain. It was not the beauty of the sight that struck him, but the carnage that lay below, great furrows torn into the earth, corpses of humans and demons alike scattered about the battle field.
"Myoga—Myoga?" Sango asked, looking about for the flea, "Damnit, Inuyasha's right, that demon runs off every time there's a hint of danger."
"Listen," Shippou suddenly said as he swivelled his head to the right, Kirara's own ears flicking towards a sound only the two demons could hear.
"What does it sound like?"
"Fighting," Shippou said sadly.
"Come on then, let's get going," Sango said as the sounds of battle drew close enough for the two humans to also hear.
Conditioner
snarled at the boar demon bearing down at her as she levered her dead
father's sword up. The beast may kill her but she swore that she would
take it down with her.
"For my village!" She screamed as she lunged forward, gasping in pain as another demon swiped at her, claws slashing though her side. Raising her weapon at the new threat she gasped once more when the moth demon exploded.
Blinking in astonishment, she heard something large and heavy whirl though the air, jerking her head to look behind her she stared in shock as a massive weapon smashed though a line of advancing demons.
The weapon doubled back tearing through other demons, her jaw dropping Conditioner watched as it returned to the black clad figure that wielded it, the weapon's force dragging the woman back across the ground.
The woman shouted something in a foreign tongue to another strangely dressed woman.
The second one, wearing garments of green and white drew back her notched arrow and let it fly towards a clump of demons. The arrow glowed with a spiritual light, passing through the demons and causing them to explode just as the moth demon that had threatened her had.
The battle drew to a sudden standstill. Humans and demons alike shocked at the ferocity and deadliness of these new fighters. Suddenly the demons snarled in renewed anger, Conditioner barely managed to duck beneath the blows of another boar but her sword was wrenched from her hands.
Wide-eyed in horror she scrambled backwards to avoid the slashing hooves and tusks.
Suddenly another demon, far smaller than the rest appeared between them. He shouted something, his tongue as strange as the women, blue fire blasting from his hands to envelop the boar. Green eyes glanced back at her for only a moment before the demon disappeared into the fray once more.
Kagome rolled her shoulder muscles as she looked at the carnage, relieved that they had arrived in enough time to save all but a handful of the women the demons had been fighting.
"That was a lot of demons," Sango commented as she watched a giant Kirara gnaw on the skull of a bird demon, keeping a wary eye on the foreign women who were watching them and their two demon companions with equal wariness and a great deal of fear.
"Yeah, but most of them fled," Kagome said grimily, shadowing her eyes as she raised them skyward and looked at the direction the demons had run.
"Aye," Sango said grimly, "And they'll be back."
Kagome nodded in agreement as she unstrung her bow and turned her full attention to the Chinese women.
Conditioner watched the strangers warily, grateful that she'd been able to find her father's sword, as she wrapped up Perfume's ribs.
"We must thank them," Perfume said as her ribs were bandaged.
Conditioner glanced up in surprise at the woman that had become their leader since their men's deaths. "What do you mean? They consort with demons!" She protested loudly.
Perfume gazed serenely down at her younger sister as she spoke mildly, "Those demons also saved us. I even recall the fox saving you in particular."
Conditioner scowled as she looked down at her work, tying the bandage off. "I could have saved myself."
Perfume did not state the obvious, that Conditioner had been in dire need of saving. "No matter, we shall thank them none the less."
Conditioner's scowl deepened as her sister stood and joined by some of the other young widows, walked towards the two women, making sure to give the cat demon a wide berth.
She listened resentfully as Perfume expressed the gratitude of the village and invited the two women and their companions to join them. Scowling even more as the magical archer replied slowly and uncertainly, but clearly in their own tongue.
Conditioner was down right furious when the two women offered to stay and help fight the demons and Perfume accepted! They could fight the demons without those women's help!
21st Century, Japan, Sunset Shrine
"So, what happened?" Ranma questioned, turning the ancient mon over in his hand.
"We stayed, Sango taught them how to fight and gave them instructions on how to create weapons and I helped the two priestesses in training that they had." Kagome said with a shrug as she stretched out on the bed. "It wasn't till we were leaving though, that one of the girls gave us that… the younger sister of the leader actually."
"I remember being so surprised when she did, she hadn't liked us being there… I think she was resentful of us because our presence meant that they couldn't fend for themselves against the demons."
"What was her name?" He asked curiously as he placed the mon back into the ancient box and set it onto the floor.
"Conditioner," Kagome answered quietly, staring up at the ceiling, remembering the scene clearly, the young Chinese woman running up to them and pressing the mon's into their hands just as they had stepped thought the village gates to return to Japan.
Ranma grunted as he stretched out on his back beside her, they'd had names like that back then too?
"Kagome?"
"Yeah?"
"How'd you know Chinese?"
Kagome chuckled as she rolled over to look down at his face, "Sango asked me the same question you know."
"Well? How do you?"
"I've got Chinese cousins. It's been a few years since I've seen them but we still phone each other on special occasions like birthdays.
Footnote:
(1) Mon: n. family crest (heraldic)
"Okay, care to tell me what that medallion is?" Ranma asked impatiently, as he watched her tuck the metal disk back into the jewellery box upon her desk and carry the box towards him.
"What it is, is a mon(1)of the Chinese Amazons oldest lineage." Kagome explained as she climbed onto the bed beside him, placing the open box between them.
"Then why do you have one and how did you get it in the first place?" He asked with exasperation, as he looked at the medallion resting among other treasures in the box.
"Why I have one is easy. I am an honorary sister of the Jo-ketsu-zoku and a Lady-Elder." Kagome answered.
"And the difference between an Elder and a Lady-Elder is…" Ranma trailed off suggestively, momentarily sidetracking.
"Is that, one precedes the other, much like a General outranks a Lieutenant General in the army." Kagome explained.
"Fine, I get that now. Back to the part where you explain how you got it."
"I am one of the founding women."
Ranma blinked. Then blinked again. "The whole story please, no more bits and pieces, it's too confusing."
Kagome chuckled and began. "It begins back in the Feudal Era, about the time you and Miroku were recovering from your battle with the demon from the Continent, Menomaru. Where he was from was the Kingdom of Qin, which is called China today."
Ranma nodded, he knew that. What was she getting at?
"Specifically he was from the area of Jusenkyo. And while you were occupied with healing your wounds, Sango, Shippou, Kirara and I with Myoga's guidance returned to Menomaru's home after hearing that a particularly large amount of men had been slain in retaliation for the demon's death by Menomaru's followers that had remained behind in China."
. . .
Sengoku Jidai, China, Jusenkyo
"Are you sure this is the place Myoga-jiji?" Sango questioned the elderly flea demon as she looked down at the ground Kirara was flying over, taking note of the abundance of springs.
"Certainly," the flea assured her as he sat upon the demon slayer's shoulder.
Sango felt Kagome's arms tighten around her waist, glancing back at her friend she was surprised to see a slightly sick expression upon the priestess' face. "What's wrong Kagome?"
Kagome grimaced as she fought to quell her queasy stomach.
"Miasma," Shippou guessed correctly from his place between the two women.
"Not just miasma," muttered Kagome sickly, "Hatred as well. Can we land please? I think I'm going to throw up."
"Down Kirara," Sango ordered hastily, directing the fire cat towards a nearby ridge. The small group settled onto the ground, Kagome sitting down with her head hanging between her knees and taking great gulps of air.
A shrunken Kirara jumped onto Sango's shoulder, causing the flea demon to scramble for a new perch, finally locating one atop Shippou's head.
After some long moments, Kagome raised her head, feeling that she had successfully stilled her rolling stomach.
"Is it better now Kagome-chan?" Shippou asked anxiously.
"Yes, Shippou-chan, but I think it would be best if we walked from here." Kagome reassured the fox kit wanly. Climbing to her feet she slung the bow and quiver case over her shoulder and picked up the demon to reassure him. Nodding that she would be alright to Sango, the two women and three demons began to walk.
Sango's eyes constantly scanned the forest around them, comforted by the weight of Hiraikotsu against her back, part of her attention also on Kirara who would warn her of any danger.
"Wow," Shippou breathed large eyed as they broke through the trees onto a ridge over looking a grassy plain. It was not the beauty of the sight that struck him, but the carnage that lay below, great furrows torn into the earth, corpses of humans and demons alike scattered about the battle field.
"Myoga—Myoga?" Sango asked, looking about for the flea, "Damnit, Inuyasha's right, that demon runs off every time there's a hint of danger."
"Listen," Shippou suddenly said as he swivelled his head to the right, Kirara's own ears flicking towards a sound only the two demons could hear.
"What does it sound like?"
"Fighting," Shippou said sadly.
"Come on then, let's get going," Sango said as the sounds of battle drew close enough for the two humans to also hear.
.
"For my village!" She screamed as she lunged forward, gasping in pain as another demon swiped at her, claws slashing though her side. Raising her weapon at the new threat she gasped once more when the moth demon exploded.
Blinking in astonishment, she heard something large and heavy whirl though the air, jerking her head to look behind her she stared in shock as a massive weapon smashed though a line of advancing demons.
The weapon doubled back tearing through other demons, her jaw dropping Conditioner watched as it returned to the black clad figure that wielded it, the weapon's force dragging the woman back across the ground.
The woman shouted something in a foreign tongue to another strangely dressed woman.
The second one, wearing garments of green and white drew back her notched arrow and let it fly towards a clump of demons. The arrow glowed with a spiritual light, passing through the demons and causing them to explode just as the moth demon that had threatened her had.
The battle drew to a sudden standstill. Humans and demons alike shocked at the ferocity and deadliness of these new fighters. Suddenly the demons snarled in renewed anger, Conditioner barely managed to duck beneath the blows of another boar but her sword was wrenched from her hands.
Wide-eyed in horror she scrambled backwards to avoid the slashing hooves and tusks.
Suddenly another demon, far smaller than the rest appeared between them. He shouted something, his tongue as strange as the women, blue fire blasting from his hands to envelop the boar. Green eyes glanced back at her for only a moment before the demon disappeared into the fray once more.
.
Kagome rolled her shoulder muscles as she looked at the carnage, relieved that they had arrived in enough time to save all but a handful of the women the demons had been fighting.
"That was a lot of demons," Sango commented as she watched a giant Kirara gnaw on the skull of a bird demon, keeping a wary eye on the foreign women who were watching them and their two demon companions with equal wariness and a great deal of fear.
"Yeah, but most of them fled," Kagome said grimily, shadowing her eyes as she raised them skyward and looked at the direction the demons had run.
"Aye," Sango said grimly, "And they'll be back."
Kagome nodded in agreement as she unstrung her bow and turned her full attention to the Chinese women.
.
Conditioner watched the strangers warily, grateful that she'd been able to find her father's sword, as she wrapped up Perfume's ribs.
"We must thank them," Perfume said as her ribs were bandaged.
Conditioner glanced up in surprise at the woman that had become their leader since their men's deaths. "What do you mean? They consort with demons!" She protested loudly.
Perfume gazed serenely down at her younger sister as she spoke mildly, "Those demons also saved us. I even recall the fox saving you in particular."
Conditioner scowled as she looked down at her work, tying the bandage off. "I could have saved myself."
Perfume did not state the obvious, that Conditioner had been in dire need of saving. "No matter, we shall thank them none the less."
Conditioner's scowl deepened as her sister stood and joined by some of the other young widows, walked towards the two women, making sure to give the cat demon a wide berth.
She listened resentfully as Perfume expressed the gratitude of the village and invited the two women and their companions to join them. Scowling even more as the magical archer replied slowly and uncertainly, but clearly in their own tongue.
Conditioner was down right furious when the two women offered to stay and help fight the demons and Perfume accepted! They could fight the demons without those women's help!
. . .
21st Century, Japan, Sunset Shrine
"So, what happened?" Ranma questioned, turning the ancient mon over in his hand.
"We stayed, Sango taught them how to fight and gave them instructions on how to create weapons and I helped the two priestesses in training that they had." Kagome said with a shrug as she stretched out on the bed. "It wasn't till we were leaving though, that one of the girls gave us that… the younger sister of the leader actually."
"I remember being so surprised when she did, she hadn't liked us being there… I think she was resentful of us because our presence meant that they couldn't fend for themselves against the demons."
"What was her name?" He asked curiously as he placed the mon back into the ancient box and set it onto the floor.
"Conditioner," Kagome answered quietly, staring up at the ceiling, remembering the scene clearly, the young Chinese woman running up to them and pressing the mon's into their hands just as they had stepped thought the village gates to return to Japan.
Ranma grunted as he stretched out on his back beside her, they'd had names like that back then too?
"Kagome?"
"Yeah?"
"How'd you know Chinese?"
Kagome chuckled as she rolled over to look down at his face, "Sango asked me the same question you know."
"Well? How do you?"
"I've got Chinese cousins. It's been a few years since I've seen them but we still phone each other on special occasions like birthdays.
Footnote:
(1) Mon: n. family crest (heraldic)
"Sealed Past" Ch. 19 [novella, Kagome/Ranma(Inuyasha), M]
Chapter 19
"Tell me again why you're coming with me while I have my 'talk' with Shampoo?" Ranma asked as he escorted Kagome to the Nekohanten.
"From what you've told me about Shampoo is that she has a very strong sense of honour, especially towards her family. So the way to deal with this fiancée thing is not through her, herself, but the matriarch she answers to, her great-grandmother." Kagome explained with a mysterious smile, "And I've got an edge that will simplify things nicely."
Ranma shook his head in bafflement, privately wondering just what trick she had up her sleeve.
"Airen!" Shampoo squealed excitedly as Ranma stepped through the door, but barely suppressed a hiss of outrage when she saw that he was accompanied by a strange woman. "Who's she?"
Ranma merely grunted, "Shampoo, where's Cologne?"
"Airen wish to speak with great-grandmother?" Shampoo said wide eyed.
Ranma nodded curtly.
A huge smile broke across Shampoo's face. The Amazon nodded enthusiastically as she latched onto his arm and dragged him to her family home above the café. "Great-grandmother! Airen speak with you!"
"Mukodono(1)," the Amazon elder greeted warmly as her great-granddaughter dragged him into her spell room. "Nii hao(2), who is this mukodono?"
"Cologne, this is Higurashi Kagome and would it be possible we talk about something without Shampoo or Mousse?"
Cologne suppressed the urge to frown. Higurashi… that name was important, very important. Eying the cool, composed woman who stood patiently at Ranma's side, a premonition shivered up her spine. "Of course, Shan-pu(3), you and that boy take care of the café while I talk with Ranma."
"B-but—" Shampoo protested in confusion.
"Go child!" Cologne ordered as she made a shooing motion with her hand. "Please, have a seat." She gestured to her two guests, her unease becoming more pronounced when Ranma actually insured his companion's comfort before sitting beside her.
"Elder Cologne, as Ranma has said, my name is Higurashi Kagome and I recently corresponded with you about an exorcism for a Jusenkyo Curse." Kagome began.
Cologne nodded sagely, now she remembered, but there was something else… "Ah, so you are the priestess that contacted me. You performed exorcism? It successful?" She had attempted her own exorcism on her great-granddaughter but had not had the power capable for the spell to be successful.
The woman nodded. "Yes, it was successful. Ranma no longer has his Jusenkyo Curse or any other."
Cologne felt her eyes widen, "Such power in one so young." She murmured, thinking furiously. There was something else that was teasing her mind. And her sinking feeling of doom deepened.
"Yes, well I am the Shikon-Priestess."
Cologne nearly fell out of her seat. The Shikon-Priestess? What was the woman who was called the Queen of the Priestesses doing performing a mere exorcism? And if the spell was successful, then what was she still doing with Ranma?
"However, during the exorcism the soul memory seal that all humans have was destroyed by the complex spell. And Ranma's previous lifetimes were revealed to him."
Cologne tisked, this was not a very good thing. It caused a great deal of confusion in one's spirit.
"Elder Cologne, I would like for you to look at his spirit now."
Casting a glance of curiosity at the priestess, she did so, slipping into the Third Eye trance that allowed all magic users to see a person's true self.
"Aye-yah!" She screeched as her eyes flew open in shocked fear. "He's a demon!"
"Demon souled," Kagome corrected, "Yes in his previous life he was a half-breed dog demon."
"But that is impossible! Demon souls can not be reborn in a human body!"
"I don't believe you were listening to me," Kagome reprimanded gently. "I said he was a half-breed, thus his soul is capable of being born into either race." She waited patiently for the elder Chinese woman to regain her equilibrium before continuing. "I would like you to take another, deeper look please Elder."
Cologne took a fortified breath and allowed her senses to awaken on the metaphysical realm once again. This time she had previous warning, so was not surprised by the overwhelming demonic soul that was now awakened within her son-in-law's body. As the priestess had requested, she probed deeper, looking past the obvious. Trying to ignore when the demon soul poked back.
What she saw surprised her as badly as the demon soul. Ranma's soul was what romantics would call 'soul-bonded' with another. But what the supernatural bond was, was a union of souls chosen by the very Gods themselves. Not human convention. Two separate souls mended into a new soul and then divided between two bodies. And it was with who the other half of this soul resided that upset her deeply.
"You are a single soul," Cologne said flatly as she returned to the physical plane. "Bound by your very souls, promised beyond death, you can love no other. No wonder none of my potions or spells worked. He was already sworn to another."
"Yes Elder Cologne and that is why I request that, as a prior claim that can not be disputed has been made, that your great-granddaughter, the Chinese Amazon Shampoo cease her pursuit of Ranma as her husband."
"And if I do not?" Cologne questioned. Even if they were soul bound, as this priestess was not of the tribe there was still a possibility of her great-grandchild's success.
"Do so, or be foresworn," Kagome replied evenly as she held out a medallion towards the Chinese woman.
Cologne felt her world tilt on its axis. That medallion was one of only five that had been given throughout the tribe's existence to honorary sisters—sisters that were Elders of Elders. Two had been given centuries ago to a priestess who hunted the Shikon-no-Tama and the other to the demon slayer that had begun the fighting arts for the tribe.
Why had she not made the connection? Higurashi… it was also the name of one of their founding women—the priestess that had trained the tribe's foremothers in magic. And this woman was something neither mortal man nor immortal demon could ever hope to stand against. For some would say she was a goddess given a physical form.
"I see we are in agreement then?" Kagome said with a bland smile as she tucked the medallion back away.
Cologne nodded solemnly, "Yes my Lady-Elder, I shall see to it that Shan-pu ceases her pursuit of your soul-half."
"Good then, I hope you have a good evening then and I hope you enjoy your journey home." Kagome said formally as she stood and accompanied by Ranma she left.
For long moments the Amazon Elder stared without sight into the empty space before her. That fire, skill and tenacity had not quite been lost to the tribe. But the honour of his marriage was not to be bestowed upon their house lineage. Perhaps it was for the best... For it was obviously not meant to be. And the Lady-Elder Shikon-Priestess was right. It was now time to return home.
Footnotes:
(1) Mukodono: (Cantonese) son-in-law
(2) Nii hao: (Cantonese) hello
(3) Shampoo's real name in Cantonese. (Confirm? Deny?)
"Tell me again why you're coming with me while I have my 'talk' with Shampoo?" Ranma asked as he escorted Kagome to the Nekohanten.
"From what you've told me about Shampoo is that she has a very strong sense of honour, especially towards her family. So the way to deal with this fiancée thing is not through her, herself, but the matriarch she answers to, her great-grandmother." Kagome explained with a mysterious smile, "And I've got an edge that will simplify things nicely."
Ranma shook his head in bafflement, privately wondering just what trick she had up her sleeve.
"Airen!" Shampoo squealed excitedly as Ranma stepped through the door, but barely suppressed a hiss of outrage when she saw that he was accompanied by a strange woman. "Who's she?"
Ranma merely grunted, "Shampoo, where's Cologne?"
"Airen wish to speak with great-grandmother?" Shampoo said wide eyed.
Ranma nodded curtly.
A huge smile broke across Shampoo's face. The Amazon nodded enthusiastically as she latched onto his arm and dragged him to her family home above the café. "Great-grandmother! Airen speak with you!"
"Mukodono(1)," the Amazon elder greeted warmly as her great-granddaughter dragged him into her spell room. "Nii hao(2), who is this mukodono?"
"Cologne, this is Higurashi Kagome and would it be possible we talk about something without Shampoo or Mousse?"
Cologne suppressed the urge to frown. Higurashi… that name was important, very important. Eying the cool, composed woman who stood patiently at Ranma's side, a premonition shivered up her spine. "Of course, Shan-pu(3), you and that boy take care of the café while I talk with Ranma."
"B-but—" Shampoo protested in confusion.
"Go child!" Cologne ordered as she made a shooing motion with her hand. "Please, have a seat." She gestured to her two guests, her unease becoming more pronounced when Ranma actually insured his companion's comfort before sitting beside her.
"Elder Cologne, as Ranma has said, my name is Higurashi Kagome and I recently corresponded with you about an exorcism for a Jusenkyo Curse." Kagome began.
Cologne nodded sagely, now she remembered, but there was something else… "Ah, so you are the priestess that contacted me. You performed exorcism? It successful?" She had attempted her own exorcism on her great-granddaughter but had not had the power capable for the spell to be successful.
The woman nodded. "Yes, it was successful. Ranma no longer has his Jusenkyo Curse or any other."
Cologne felt her eyes widen, "Such power in one so young." She murmured, thinking furiously. There was something else that was teasing her mind. And her sinking feeling of doom deepened.
"Yes, well I am the Shikon-Priestess."
Cologne nearly fell out of her seat. The Shikon-Priestess? What was the woman who was called the Queen of the Priestesses doing performing a mere exorcism? And if the spell was successful, then what was she still doing with Ranma?
"However, during the exorcism the soul memory seal that all humans have was destroyed by the complex spell. And Ranma's previous lifetimes were revealed to him."
Cologne tisked, this was not a very good thing. It caused a great deal of confusion in one's spirit.
"Elder Cologne, I would like for you to look at his spirit now."
Casting a glance of curiosity at the priestess, she did so, slipping into the Third Eye trance that allowed all magic users to see a person's true self.
"Aye-yah!" She screeched as her eyes flew open in shocked fear. "He's a demon!"
"Demon souled," Kagome corrected, "Yes in his previous life he was a half-breed dog demon."
"But that is impossible! Demon souls can not be reborn in a human body!"
"I don't believe you were listening to me," Kagome reprimanded gently. "I said he was a half-breed, thus his soul is capable of being born into either race." She waited patiently for the elder Chinese woman to regain her equilibrium before continuing. "I would like you to take another, deeper look please Elder."
Cologne took a fortified breath and allowed her senses to awaken on the metaphysical realm once again. This time she had previous warning, so was not surprised by the overwhelming demonic soul that was now awakened within her son-in-law's body. As the priestess had requested, she probed deeper, looking past the obvious. Trying to ignore when the demon soul poked back.
What she saw surprised her as badly as the demon soul. Ranma's soul was what romantics would call 'soul-bonded' with another. But what the supernatural bond was, was a union of souls chosen by the very Gods themselves. Not human convention. Two separate souls mended into a new soul and then divided between two bodies. And it was with who the other half of this soul resided that upset her deeply.
"You are a single soul," Cologne said flatly as she returned to the physical plane. "Bound by your very souls, promised beyond death, you can love no other. No wonder none of my potions or spells worked. He was already sworn to another."
"Yes Elder Cologne and that is why I request that, as a prior claim that can not be disputed has been made, that your great-granddaughter, the Chinese Amazon Shampoo cease her pursuit of Ranma as her husband."
"And if I do not?" Cologne questioned. Even if they were soul bound, as this priestess was not of the tribe there was still a possibility of her great-grandchild's success.
"Do so, or be foresworn," Kagome replied evenly as she held out a medallion towards the Chinese woman.
Cologne felt her world tilt on its axis. That medallion was one of only five that had been given throughout the tribe's existence to honorary sisters—sisters that were Elders of Elders. Two had been given centuries ago to a priestess who hunted the Shikon-no-Tama and the other to the demon slayer that had begun the fighting arts for the tribe.
Why had she not made the connection? Higurashi… it was also the name of one of their founding women—the priestess that had trained the tribe's foremothers in magic. And this woman was something neither mortal man nor immortal demon could ever hope to stand against. For some would say she was a goddess given a physical form.
"I see we are in agreement then?" Kagome said with a bland smile as she tucked the medallion back away.
Cologne nodded solemnly, "Yes my Lady-Elder, I shall see to it that Shan-pu ceases her pursuit of your soul-half."
"Good then, I hope you have a good evening then and I hope you enjoy your journey home." Kagome said formally as she stood and accompanied by Ranma she left.
For long moments the Amazon Elder stared without sight into the empty space before her. That fire, skill and tenacity had not quite been lost to the tribe. But the honour of his marriage was not to be bestowed upon their house lineage. Perhaps it was for the best... For it was obviously not meant to be. And the Lady-Elder Shikon-Priestess was right. It was now time to return home.
Footnotes:
(1) Mukodono: (Cantonese) son-in-law
(2) Nii hao: (Cantonese) hello
(3) Shampoo's real name in Cantonese. (Confirm? Deny?)
"Sealed Past" Ch. 18 [novella, Kagome/Ranma(Inuyasha), M]
Chapter 18
Ranma sat on the edge of Kagome's bed, bent over with his head braced upon his hands. The image of Ukyo's tear streaked face still haunting him. His own emotions in turmoil. On one hand, he was relieved to finally be free of the emotional entanglement he had with the young woman. But on the other hand—he also hurt because he knew that he'd hurt her very badly and could… no would do nothing about it.
"Ranma?" Kagome questioned softly as she pushed the door open with a slight whisper of sound. "Do you want to talk about it? Or do you want to be by yourself a while longer?"
"No. Stay." He replied shortly without looking up.
She stood for an indecisive moment in the door frame, looking at his bent head, his body expressing total dejection. Wondering what to do, before kneeling onto the bed and manoeuvred her body behind him.
He heard the bed-springs shift within the mattress as the bed gave under her weight and was comforted when she settled into position behind him. A little surprised when her hands began to run soothing circles upon his back.
"Who did you tell first?"
"Ukyo," Ranma replied.
"I take it things went rather badly with her?" Kagome said sympathetically.
Ranma sighed heavily and answered sourly. "Rather."
"There's a saying about love. That if you love someone, set them free to fly away. And if they return to you, they are yours, but if they don't, they never were."
Ranma frowned for a moment in thought. "I don't get that. How does it apply to Ukyo?"
"It doesn't really, but in another way it does." Kagome replied with a shrug, trying to arrange a better explanation in her own mind. "Ukyo loves you, right?"
Ranma nodded slowly as he raised his head and twisted it about to look at her.
"The thing is, she's used that love in the wrong way."
"How?"
"She's using love to create feelings of guilt and remorse within you, by saying in a way, "I love you, why don't you love me?" But that's not love. Not true love anyway," Kagome said with a shake of her head, her brown eyes growing momentarily unfocused with memory. "Yes, with true love, you also experience the emotions of jealousy and possessiveness on occasion, but you also want the other person to be happy. No matter what the cost to yourself. You just… want them to be happy."
Ranma twisted around on the bed, going onto his own knees as she was. He knew what she spoke of. What memory was haunting her eyes. Reaching out he framed her face with his hands, drawing her attention back to the present as he had intended. "I choose you Kagome. Don't ever forget that. I choose you."
She gave a weak smile in response, still haunted by the pain. He had almost not chosen her, but fulfilled a promise made to a dead woman. She closed her eyes for a brief moment and shuddered before pushing the memories away.
Ranma watched her eyes open after a small tremor had racked her body. Her eyes were clear now, no shadowy memories within. But how long would they remain clear? He wondered. He had almost not returned to her when she had set him free to fly. It didn't matter anymore though, he had a lifetime to make her forget.
"So, who are you going to tell next?"
He blinked at her, momentarily confused by the sudden change of subject, as the emotion charged moment was lost. "Tell…? Ah, tell. Well, Ukyo I wanted to tell first, because she was once my friend and in the memory of that friendship I owed her that honour." He grimaced with a frown, "I don't really want to tell Akane yet because she isn't talking to me at the moment. Kodachi… pop's never betrothed me to her in the first place, that was something she thought up on her own so I don't have to tell her anything. So I guess that leaves Shampoo."
"The Amazon?" Kagome asked idly, glancing over to an ancient jewellery box from the Feudal Era that rested upon her desk.
"Yes," he replied with a great deal of evident dislike.
"What? You don't like Amazons? Strong, independent women who are able to think and fend for themselves?"
Ranma snorted in a very canine manner, "Kagome, if that's your definition of an Amazon, then yes I like them. I like you don't I?"
Kagome chuckled at his very diplomatic response, shifting her attention from the ancient box.
"It's those particular Chinese Amazons that I have a particular disliking for, particularly their blasted tribal customs. Like, where's the point of marrying a man if the only credential needed is that he defeats you in a fight? If a guy defeats an Amazon in a fight anyway he's most likely not a very nice person."
"No, he might not be." Kagome agreed, finding it rather barbaric herself. Why would any woman, particularly an Amazon, want to marry a man who she knew could defeat her in a fight? That way she had no way of defending herself if he turned out to be a real bastard who enjoyed beating up women.
"It probably started out as a requirement for the tribal man to prove that he could provide for his wife, but somehow got expanded to include anyone, which might not have been the best idea for the Amazons." Kagome hypothesised.
"Back to the main point. How the hell am I going to break my engagement with Shampoo? It isn't only her I have to deal with, but her infuriating great-grandmother as well."
"Hum… they're both Amazons, with an Amazons' honour to those they see as a matriarch or elder, correct?" Kagome questioned, her brow furrowing with thought.
"I guess so," Ranma replied with a negligent shrug. Not seeing where she was leading to.
"So all we need is for… hum…. You know, I think I'll come with you this time."
Ranma blinked. Okay, that had made no sense at all. "Are you sure you want to come with me? The confrontation with Ukyo wasn't pretty, I'm sure that the one with Shampoo is going to be even uglier."
"I'm sure," Kagome replied confidently as she once again looked at the wooden box that sat across the room. "I'm very sure."
"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you." Ranma warned.
Ranma sat on the edge of Kagome's bed, bent over with his head braced upon his hands. The image of Ukyo's tear streaked face still haunting him. His own emotions in turmoil. On one hand, he was relieved to finally be free of the emotional entanglement he had with the young woman. But on the other hand—he also hurt because he knew that he'd hurt her very badly and could… no would do nothing about it.
"Ranma?" Kagome questioned softly as she pushed the door open with a slight whisper of sound. "Do you want to talk about it? Or do you want to be by yourself a while longer?"
"No. Stay." He replied shortly without looking up.
She stood for an indecisive moment in the door frame, looking at his bent head, his body expressing total dejection. Wondering what to do, before kneeling onto the bed and manoeuvred her body behind him.
He heard the bed-springs shift within the mattress as the bed gave under her weight and was comforted when she settled into position behind him. A little surprised when her hands began to run soothing circles upon his back.
"Who did you tell first?"
"Ukyo," Ranma replied.
"I take it things went rather badly with her?" Kagome said sympathetically.
Ranma sighed heavily and answered sourly. "Rather."
"There's a saying about love. That if you love someone, set them free to fly away. And if they return to you, they are yours, but if they don't, they never were."
Ranma frowned for a moment in thought. "I don't get that. How does it apply to Ukyo?"
"It doesn't really, but in another way it does." Kagome replied with a shrug, trying to arrange a better explanation in her own mind. "Ukyo loves you, right?"
Ranma nodded slowly as he raised his head and twisted it about to look at her.
"The thing is, she's used that love in the wrong way."
"How?"
"She's using love to create feelings of guilt and remorse within you, by saying in a way, "I love you, why don't you love me?" But that's not love. Not true love anyway," Kagome said with a shake of her head, her brown eyes growing momentarily unfocused with memory. "Yes, with true love, you also experience the emotions of jealousy and possessiveness on occasion, but you also want the other person to be happy. No matter what the cost to yourself. You just… want them to be happy."
Ranma twisted around on the bed, going onto his own knees as she was. He knew what she spoke of. What memory was haunting her eyes. Reaching out he framed her face with his hands, drawing her attention back to the present as he had intended. "I choose you Kagome. Don't ever forget that. I choose you."
She gave a weak smile in response, still haunted by the pain. He had almost not chosen her, but fulfilled a promise made to a dead woman. She closed her eyes for a brief moment and shuddered before pushing the memories away.
Ranma watched her eyes open after a small tremor had racked her body. Her eyes were clear now, no shadowy memories within. But how long would they remain clear? He wondered. He had almost not returned to her when she had set him free to fly. It didn't matter anymore though, he had a lifetime to make her forget.
"So, who are you going to tell next?"
He blinked at her, momentarily confused by the sudden change of subject, as the emotion charged moment was lost. "Tell…? Ah, tell. Well, Ukyo I wanted to tell first, because she was once my friend and in the memory of that friendship I owed her that honour." He grimaced with a frown, "I don't really want to tell Akane yet because she isn't talking to me at the moment. Kodachi… pop's never betrothed me to her in the first place, that was something she thought up on her own so I don't have to tell her anything. So I guess that leaves Shampoo."
"The Amazon?" Kagome asked idly, glancing over to an ancient jewellery box from the Feudal Era that rested upon her desk.
"Yes," he replied with a great deal of evident dislike.
"What? You don't like Amazons? Strong, independent women who are able to think and fend for themselves?"
Ranma snorted in a very canine manner, "Kagome, if that's your definition of an Amazon, then yes I like them. I like you don't I?"
Kagome chuckled at his very diplomatic response, shifting her attention from the ancient box.
"It's those particular Chinese Amazons that I have a particular disliking for, particularly their blasted tribal customs. Like, where's the point of marrying a man if the only credential needed is that he defeats you in a fight? If a guy defeats an Amazon in a fight anyway he's most likely not a very nice person."
"No, he might not be." Kagome agreed, finding it rather barbaric herself. Why would any woman, particularly an Amazon, want to marry a man who she knew could defeat her in a fight? That way she had no way of defending herself if he turned out to be a real bastard who enjoyed beating up women.
"It probably started out as a requirement for the tribal man to prove that he could provide for his wife, but somehow got expanded to include anyone, which might not have been the best idea for the Amazons." Kagome hypothesised.
"Back to the main point. How the hell am I going to break my engagement with Shampoo? It isn't only her I have to deal with, but her infuriating great-grandmother as well."
"Hum… they're both Amazons, with an Amazons' honour to those they see as a matriarch or elder, correct?" Kagome questioned, her brow furrowing with thought.
"I guess so," Ranma replied with a negligent shrug. Not seeing where she was leading to.
"So all we need is for… hum…. You know, I think I'll come with you this time."
Ranma blinked. Okay, that had made no sense at all. "Are you sure you want to come with me? The confrontation with Ukyo wasn't pretty, I'm sure that the one with Shampoo is going to be even uglier."
"I'm sure," Kagome replied confidently as she once again looked at the wooden box that sat across the room. "I'm very sure."
"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you." Ranma warned.
"Sealed Past" Ch. 17 [novella, Kagome/Ranma(Inuyasha), M]
Chapter 17
Ranma's steps slowed as he came up to the door of Ucchan's. This one was going to be the hardest, for he actually had a genuine friendship with Ukyo. Even if this whole fiasco with the fiancées had almost ruined it completely.
He was grateful as he entered the restaurant to note that there were no customers present, probably because of the odd time he'd picked. Too late for breakfast but also too early for lunch.
"Ran-chan!" Came the cheerful call, followed by a brilliant smile. Ever since she'd paid Nabiki to find out what Ranma was up to Ukyo hadn't seen him herself and she'd been fighting this sensation of impending disaster ever since.
Ranma didn't smile in return, causing her worry to intensify. It didn't matter what they'd done or how bad the situation was, Ranma always had a smile for her. When he spoke, his tone was gentle, "I need to talk to you, Ut-chan. Some place private."
She gave him her brilliant smile again as she forgot her unease, maybe he was here to propose! Gesturing for Konatsu to take over she ushered Ranma upstairs into the private quarters.
"Well?" She said expectantly as she served him a soft drink and sat down across the table from him.
"Three month's ago… when I started disappearing in the evenings, the reason for that was I bumped into a woman who—"
"You met another girl?" Ukyo demanded sharply, cutting him off.
"I said a woman," Ranma replied just as sharply, "She's a senior at the Tokyo Medical and Dental University and almost has her medical Ph. D."
"Oh," she replied, relaxing, an older woman, so he hadn't been seeing someone else like she'd feared.
Ranma saw the tension ease from her body, and suspected the conclusion she'd come to. But he had no inclination to correct her false assumption. That'd just mean more questions. "Anyway, she is also a trained Shinto priestess and she was able to see my Jusenkyo Curse."
"Got splashed with some water did you?" Ukyo said sympathetically, just imagining the scene. No one really took well to seeing the Jusenkyo Curse… especially for the first time.
"No, I mean she saw the curse on me, not my cursed form. I had to tell her that myself."
Her eyes widened, Ranma had actually told someone about his curse? How weird.
"The point that she was interested in though, was why I hadn't had the curse exorcised."
She blinked, "I don't think anyone ever thought about that as a cure. Everyone's always been so focused on finding the Nanniichuan(1) that the other possibilities were ignored."
Ranma nodded in agreement, "Well she told me about the exorcism and offered to perform it."
"You didn't pay her to perform it did you?" Ukyo asked wide eyed once more, "You know that most priests and priestesses are quacks."
"No," Ranma said with a shake of his head, "She never mentioned anything about payment, just help doing the proper research."
Well that explained the frequent trips to the library that he'd been seen making during the first month.
"She managed to gather all the ingredients within three weeks of meeting me and then she performed the exorcism ceremony."
"Oh Ran-chan I'm sorry," Ukyo said sympathetically, jumping to conclusions again and believing what he was going to tell her. No wonder he'd been so distracted these last two months, to have hope offered and then so cruelly dashed, it made her want to strangle this unknown priestess.
"About what?" Ranma asked, confused by her sudden change in topic.
"That the exorcism failed."
"But it didn't."
"What?"
"The exorcism didn't fail." Ranma stated with a broad grin, "In fact the reason the preparation took so long was that she wasn't just going to exorcise my Jusenkyo Curse. But every magical incantation that I've ever drank, smelled, or been dropped into."
Ukyo blinked rapidly, unable to imagine in her mind the power needed for such a spell. "My god, everything?"
Ranma nodded happily and to demonstrate reached for his pigtail and un-knotted the dragon whisker he still used as a hair tie. His black hair unravelled from its confinement and although it was thicker and longer after his initially demon transformation, it no longer grew at a magically induced rate. For good measure he reached for the vase of flowers on the table and stuck his hand into the water.
Ukyo had to blink rapidly once again to clear the tears that unexpectedly came to her eyes. Ranma was cured!
"The thing is something did happen, like it usually does for me."
"What?" Ukyo asked sharply, her earlier anxiety reasserting itself.
"The exorcism overshot, not really an unexpected occurrence because of the amount of curses laid on me. But what the spell affected was rather significant."
"Significant? How?"
"What the priestess's spell damaged was the memory seal that is placed on all souls to be placed within a new body. Sometimes, if the soul's a really old one, the person will have dreams about it, actually residue memories, which most people have. Sometimes the soul memories are extremely strong though and a reincarnation can make the connection that those events happened in a previous life."
"So… what's happening? Are you having flashbacks about a murder or something?"
"No, I suppose affect and damage were a rather poor choice of words. She destroyed the memory seal entirely Ut-chan." Ranma said bluntly, "Every waking moment, he's there, in the back of my mind telling me things. Even when I'm asleep, it's his dreams that I have."
"You mean you're possessed?"
"No, he—I—we are the same. It's just a little hard blending the lifetimes together," Ranma said as he rubbed his forehead. "I'm actually what you could call a reincarnation, for not only do I look like what he used to, but now I am him or we're me. It's rather confusing."
"The priestess, who is actually a reincarnation herself, same soul but individual personalities and experiences for each of her lifetimes, her memory seal is still intact, is helping me through this."
"How can I help Ran-chan?" Ukyo asked, fighting her growing sense of dread that he wasn't telling her something.
Ranma took a fortifying breath before he began, he was not looking forward to this last little bit. "You can help me by no longer calling yourself my fiancée and leaving me alone."
"What! Why?"
Ranma didn't even flinch at her scream of denial. "I can't live like this anymore. A prize that you, Shampoo, Akane, and even Kodachi are constantly bickering over. I can't handle his memories and experiences and balance it with my life with you guys."
"What'd you mean?"
"Oh don't worry Ukyo," Ranma said with a bitter laugh, "My fiancées aren't the only thing I can't handle. I'll be moving from the Tendo house and taking up residence elsewhere. I feel it best if I simply cut ties with everyone."
"But why Ran-chan?" Ukyo sobbed.
"Because not only do I have the memories of my previous life I also have all of the instincts and training. Ever wonder why I have such an affinity for martial arts? Even when they preach peace and harmony, the martial arts are still ways of killing a man. And I used to do that—a lot." Ranma said grimly. "What's more, I am a demon soul."
"No, no, nooooo!" Ukyo wailed as Ranma stood.
"This is goodbye Ukyo," Ranma said gently, "The only promise I made to you still stands. The promise I made of friendship. It was foolish of you to cling to the promise made to you by my father all those years ago—the offer was never his to give."
"I won't give up Ran-chan!" Ukyo shouted as she surged to her feet.
"And as I said before, I am not a prize you can win. Goodbye and Ukyo...?"
Ukyo wiped away her tears and looked at the unyielding face of the man she loved.
"Grow up." Ranma said without mercy.
Ukyo crumpled to the floor, tears blurring her vision so badly that she never saw him leave. Something deep in her gut told her, that it was over. It was truly over.
Footnote:
(1) Nannichuan: the Spring of Drowned Man (Cited from "Ranma ½: Perfect Edition")
Ranma's steps slowed as he came up to the door of Ucchan's. This one was going to be the hardest, for he actually had a genuine friendship with Ukyo. Even if this whole fiasco with the fiancées had almost ruined it completely.
He was grateful as he entered the restaurant to note that there were no customers present, probably because of the odd time he'd picked. Too late for breakfast but also too early for lunch.
"Ran-chan!" Came the cheerful call, followed by a brilliant smile. Ever since she'd paid Nabiki to find out what Ranma was up to Ukyo hadn't seen him herself and she'd been fighting this sensation of impending disaster ever since.
Ranma didn't smile in return, causing her worry to intensify. It didn't matter what they'd done or how bad the situation was, Ranma always had a smile for her. When he spoke, his tone was gentle, "I need to talk to you, Ut-chan. Some place private."
She gave him her brilliant smile again as she forgot her unease, maybe he was here to propose! Gesturing for Konatsu to take over she ushered Ranma upstairs into the private quarters.
"Well?" She said expectantly as she served him a soft drink and sat down across the table from him.
"Three month's ago… when I started disappearing in the evenings, the reason for that was I bumped into a woman who—"
"You met another girl?" Ukyo demanded sharply, cutting him off.
"I said a woman," Ranma replied just as sharply, "She's a senior at the Tokyo Medical and Dental University and almost has her medical Ph. D."
"Oh," she replied, relaxing, an older woman, so he hadn't been seeing someone else like she'd feared.
Ranma saw the tension ease from her body, and suspected the conclusion she'd come to. But he had no inclination to correct her false assumption. That'd just mean more questions. "Anyway, she is also a trained Shinto priestess and she was able to see my Jusenkyo Curse."
"Got splashed with some water did you?" Ukyo said sympathetically, just imagining the scene. No one really took well to seeing the Jusenkyo Curse… especially for the first time.
"No, I mean she saw the curse on me, not my cursed form. I had to tell her that myself."
Her eyes widened, Ranma had actually told someone about his curse? How weird.
"The point that she was interested in though, was why I hadn't had the curse exorcised."
She blinked, "I don't think anyone ever thought about that as a cure. Everyone's always been so focused on finding the Nanniichuan(1) that the other possibilities were ignored."
Ranma nodded in agreement, "Well she told me about the exorcism and offered to perform it."
"You didn't pay her to perform it did you?" Ukyo asked wide eyed once more, "You know that most priests and priestesses are quacks."
"No," Ranma said with a shake of his head, "She never mentioned anything about payment, just help doing the proper research."
Well that explained the frequent trips to the library that he'd been seen making during the first month.
"She managed to gather all the ingredients within three weeks of meeting me and then she performed the exorcism ceremony."
"Oh Ran-chan I'm sorry," Ukyo said sympathetically, jumping to conclusions again and believing what he was going to tell her. No wonder he'd been so distracted these last two months, to have hope offered and then so cruelly dashed, it made her want to strangle this unknown priestess.
"About what?" Ranma asked, confused by her sudden change in topic.
"That the exorcism failed."
"But it didn't."
"What?"
"The exorcism didn't fail." Ranma stated with a broad grin, "In fact the reason the preparation took so long was that she wasn't just going to exorcise my Jusenkyo Curse. But every magical incantation that I've ever drank, smelled, or been dropped into."
Ukyo blinked rapidly, unable to imagine in her mind the power needed for such a spell. "My god, everything?"
Ranma nodded happily and to demonstrate reached for his pigtail and un-knotted the dragon whisker he still used as a hair tie. His black hair unravelled from its confinement and although it was thicker and longer after his initially demon transformation, it no longer grew at a magically induced rate. For good measure he reached for the vase of flowers on the table and stuck his hand into the water.
Ukyo had to blink rapidly once again to clear the tears that unexpectedly came to her eyes. Ranma was cured!
"The thing is something did happen, like it usually does for me."
"What?" Ukyo asked sharply, her earlier anxiety reasserting itself.
"The exorcism overshot, not really an unexpected occurrence because of the amount of curses laid on me. But what the spell affected was rather significant."
"Significant? How?"
"What the priestess's spell damaged was the memory seal that is placed on all souls to be placed within a new body. Sometimes, if the soul's a really old one, the person will have dreams about it, actually residue memories, which most people have. Sometimes the soul memories are extremely strong though and a reincarnation can make the connection that those events happened in a previous life."
"So… what's happening? Are you having flashbacks about a murder or something?"
"No, I suppose affect and damage were a rather poor choice of words. She destroyed the memory seal entirely Ut-chan." Ranma said bluntly, "Every waking moment, he's there, in the back of my mind telling me things. Even when I'm asleep, it's his dreams that I have."
"You mean you're possessed?"
"No, he—I—we are the same. It's just a little hard blending the lifetimes together," Ranma said as he rubbed his forehead. "I'm actually what you could call a reincarnation, for not only do I look like what he used to, but now I am him or we're me. It's rather confusing."
"The priestess, who is actually a reincarnation herself, same soul but individual personalities and experiences for each of her lifetimes, her memory seal is still intact, is helping me through this."
"How can I help Ran-chan?" Ukyo asked, fighting her growing sense of dread that he wasn't telling her something.
Ranma took a fortifying breath before he began, he was not looking forward to this last little bit. "You can help me by no longer calling yourself my fiancée and leaving me alone."
"What! Why?"
Ranma didn't even flinch at her scream of denial. "I can't live like this anymore. A prize that you, Shampoo, Akane, and even Kodachi are constantly bickering over. I can't handle his memories and experiences and balance it with my life with you guys."
"What'd you mean?"
"Oh don't worry Ukyo," Ranma said with a bitter laugh, "My fiancées aren't the only thing I can't handle. I'll be moving from the Tendo house and taking up residence elsewhere. I feel it best if I simply cut ties with everyone."
"But why Ran-chan?" Ukyo sobbed.
"Because not only do I have the memories of my previous life I also have all of the instincts and training. Ever wonder why I have such an affinity for martial arts? Even when they preach peace and harmony, the martial arts are still ways of killing a man. And I used to do that—a lot." Ranma said grimly. "What's more, I am a demon soul."
"No, no, nooooo!" Ukyo wailed as Ranma stood.
"This is goodbye Ukyo," Ranma said gently, "The only promise I made to you still stands. The promise I made of friendship. It was foolish of you to cling to the promise made to you by my father all those years ago—the offer was never his to give."
"I won't give up Ran-chan!" Ukyo shouted as she surged to her feet.
"And as I said before, I am not a prize you can win. Goodbye and Ukyo...?"
Ukyo wiped away her tears and looked at the unyielding face of the man she loved.
"Grow up." Ranma said without mercy.
Ukyo crumpled to the floor, tears blurring her vision so badly that she never saw him leave. Something deep in her gut told her, that it was over. It was truly over.
Footnote:
(1) Nannichuan: the Spring of Drowned Man (Cited from "Ranma ½: Perfect Edition")
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