[Ranma][FanFic] Permanent, Parts 23-25

[Ryoga P Hibiki]

Ranma 1/2

Permanent

Part 23

The greatest evil...

Ranma stood next to Akane as they walked towards the Tendo dojo,
Ryoga walked a few paces ahead of them silently while the two girls
conversed.
The pigtailed girl's thoughts were not on the conversation though,
"The evil presence I've felt has subsided, the calm before the storm."
"Ranma, are you ok?" said Akane with a shocked look on her face.
"Huh? Why?" said the girl as she realized she had been running on
autopilot for a while now.
"I just asked you if you thought Hiroshi was cute and you said
'Sure'"
Ranma turned completely red and hung her head. "Oh, I'm sorry my
mind was somewhere else Akane."
Akane merely smiled and continued walking, "So, maybe she is a
normal girl after all, this is great!"
Several screams erupted from around the corner as a group of girls
ran up to Akane in a panic. "Akaneee!" squealed a voice as a small blur
jumped over the fence and attempted to land in Ranma's chest. It met with
a sphere of invisible energy and hung for a moment as it was electrocuted
by the girl's magical barrier.
Ranma blinked and looked down at the smoking form and kicked it
slightly with her foot. "What the hell is this thing?"
"It's a pervert!" screeched one of the nearby girls as she pointed
at it in disgust.
"Huh?" Ranma looked up at them in surprise and looked back down at
what appeared to by a small troll. "It shouldn't have set off my barrier,
unless..."
Akane looked at her friend in shock. "Ranma are you ok?"
"I'm fine, but...I think this is the great evil I've been feeling
over the past week," she looked down at the creature and poked it lightly
as it roused. In an instant it jumped into Akane's chest screaming again.
"Akaaaaneeee!" The girl shrieked before punching it back into the
ground.
The thing laughed while patting the small of its back as it stood
again. "Such a spirited girl, you're Soun Tendo's daughter all right."
Ranma and Akane both stopped cold in their tracks, the energy
forming in the pigtailed girl's hands dissipated. "You know my father?"
asked Akane.
Ryoga stood over the scene with a look of surprise as Ranma
allowed her attack to vanish. "She isn't going to kill it?"
"What? You mean you really are Soun's daughter?" said the thing as
it looked at her in surprise.
"You've got some explaining to do old man," said Ranma darkly as a
sudden calm overtook her.

The group walked into the Tendo Dojo with the imp in tow. The
creature talked excitedly as it walked eyeing every young girl that came
near them with a hungry stare. "So, how is old Soun? Is that fool Saotome
still hanging around with him?"
"You could say that," replied Ranma simply.
Akane looked at her and smiled slightly at the statement, from
what she knew Genma Saotome had died in China, to hear Ranma speak so
lightly of that was a small consolation to her. Unnoticed by her Ryoga
gave a small knowing smile from behind her.
"Who are you?" asked the troll giving Ranma a careful stare.
"Ranma Saotome," replied the girl simply.
"I always thought Genma had a son," it said after a moment of
thought.
"So did I," replied Ranma cautiously.
This statement took Akane by surprise, but she dismissed it easily
since Ranma was more than a little tomboyish. Her friend's attitude had
her wondering about several things recently, including which way she might
swing, so to speak. "Ranma, how does he know us?"
"I don't know, but I mean to find out before I destroy him,"
whispered the girl in reply.
"What?" gasped Akane in shock.
"Akane, this is the evil I've been feeling. I don't care how
harmless he looks, this thing is pure evil," replied the girl quietly out
of earshot of the troll.

Soun Tendo turned to greet Akane as she walked into the house and
froze in place. The thing looked at him and waved pleasantly causing his
hair to stand on end as he screamed in terror. Ranma noted her father
freeze in place for a moment before he continued to eat his bamboo
nervously.
Soun recovered quickly and smiled at the creature. "Why master,
it's been such a long time!"
"Master?" asked Ranma quizzically.
"Soun my boy! It's been a long time, what are you doing?" the
creature stopped and stared as Soun loaded his belongings and his
daughters onto a cart. Genma was climbing into the back of the cart with a
large beach ball slung over his shoulder.
"Why, moving to China master!" exclaimed the man cheerfully.
"Relax, I didn't come for revenge!" said the old man calmly as he
sat down with his pipe.
"I've come to eat your souls!" Ranma imagined that the creature
would show it's true form now and attack the Tendo's a small fire spell
was ready in her hands.
"I've come to train my true heir in the Anything Goes School!"
said the old man happily.
Soun Tendo had no real reason to stop as he started pulling the
cart towards the gate. "And it won't be you or Genma either," added the
old man in annoyance.
Soun relaxed and set the cart down.
Ryoga was sitting calmly at the table waiting for Ranma to unleash
her fury on the troll, but for some reason she kept stopping. "Hey Ranma,
what's up?"
"I'm not sure, I don't know what to think of this," replied the
girl simply as she let yet another spell dissipate harmlessly.
"You sure are nervous for a sorceress," commented the creature as
it looked at her.
"Who are you?" asked Ranma.
"Happosai! Grand Master of the Anything Goes School of Martial
Arts,"
Ranma stared him down and sat at the edge of the table quietly.
"Oh."
Soun looked at her expectantly. "Ranma, is there anything you can
do?" he whispered harshly as Happosai made himself perfectly at home by
walking up the stairs and taking over one of the extra rooms in the house.
"I'm not sure, I'll look into it, but there might not be anything
I can do," replied the girl simply. "He isn't a threat to humanity from
what I can tell, and I've got no real feelings of danger from him."
Soun hung his head in defeat as he looked over and saw Happosai
had already returned downstairs and was torturing Genma. "So, Genma my
boy, it's been a while!"
This got a definite reaction from Ranma and Ryoga, but no one else
seemed to notice. The panda backed away from the man waving a sign that
said "I'm just a cuddly little panda!"
Ranma tossed a rock that hit the animal on the back of the head
causing it to drop the sign before anyone would notice it. Genma turned
and growled at her before turning his attention back on the master.
Ryoga leaned in to his own master and whispered. "He knows!" Ranma
merely nodded and watched the situation carefully.
"I think he's lost it," commented Akane as she watched the old man
badger the panda.
Nabiki shot a knowing glance at Ranma and received a nod from her.
"Well, this is certainly interesting."

A few minutes later Ranma walked towards the door reluctantly, she
didn't like leaving Akane alone with the pervert, but she had to return to
the Cat Cafe and do a little research. Genma followed behind her walking
quickly and hoping not to be noticed.
As soon as they where outside Ranma turned to her father. "Where
do you think you're going? I thought you didn't like the restaurant."
"It's better than staying here with him!" replied the animal with
a sign.
"All right, you can come, but you're working while you're there,"
retorted the girl in disgust.
"Treating your own father that way!" replied the panda.
"Those aren't my rules and you know it!" snapped the girl. "I've
got some questions for you later so don't try hiding out. Your just lucky
I've got Ryoga here to keep an eye on him for now."
"I don't know how much help I can be, my memory is kind of..."
Ranma stopped him before he turned the sign over.
"I'm going to check up on it first pops, don't worry, I just need
you to fill in the blank spots," she turned and started walking away
holding a small piece of brown cloth in her hand.
"When did you?" said the next sign.
"While we where walking with him earlier, I hit him with a
defensive spell and it wrecked his clothes a bit."
"You're such a good son!" said the sign.
"Yea, whatever old man," snorted the girl as she started down the
street again.

Cologne stared into the crystal ball with Ranma as they sat around
the small table in the center of the upstairs room. Genma was sitting
nervously by the window glancing out into the street while the other
tenants of the restaurant worked down stairs.
"Looks like some tough training, the old guy is a pervert and a
thief," commented the girl lazily as she waved her hand around the orb.
"Hmm, I think I know him," said Cologne as she peered into the
images inside the ball. A small man running away from the Amazon village
in his youth appeared and the old woman gasped in disgusted shock.
"Happy!"
"That's right, robbed the village did he?" noted Ranma with a
smile on her face. "At any rate, he hasn't done anything to deserve total
destruction yet."
"What do you mean? He destroyed Joketsuko and has stolen countless
priceless relics of our past!" snorted Cologne.
"It's not my place to deal with thieves and perverts," responded
Ranma carefully.
"Not even as a martial artist?" asked Cologne.
"That's different, I'm pretty much out of my league here as far as
that is concerned," replied the girl. "I'll deal with him, I just can't
kill him."
Cologne nodded and lit her pipe as she thought about the figure
from her past reappearing. "Most unexpected indeed."
"It's going to take some planning, and I need to find out more
about his past first though," said the girl as she closed the book in her
lap. Cologne noted the title, "Finding out about the past, for fun and
profit."
Ranma sighed as she turned towards her father. "You can go, I'm
going to use an unbiased source for this."
He blinked in surprise and started to waddle for the door. "Head
for the kitchen, Ryoga is off today," said Cologne before he could protest
or run off and hide. "Another source?" she looked at Ranma and blinked.
"I've seen some of the training he went through, I don't think
he'd willingly betray that old fart. I've got to find someone who knows
him, but isn't afraid," replied the girl simply.
"That could be difficult, I could help you, but he left my life a
long time ago," said the old woman as she puffed on the pipe lazily.
"I'll remember that, but I still need someone who had active
experience with him, trained with him. I need to know his weaknesses, and
his strengths," said the girl as she pulled a few more books off the
shelf.
"Like who?" said the old woman with a frown.
"Old students of his, he's had a few in the past, even some of the
people who trained him," replied Ranma with a smile. In her hands was
another book. "An idiots guide to seances."
"Good luck," replied Cologne simply before she turned away. As she
left she heard Ranma mutter something under her breath.
"Happo dai karin indeed, stupid old man."

Akane glared at the pervert shaped hole in the ceiling and growled
under her breath as the glow in her eyes died down. Ryoga dusted himself
off as he stood from the place where he had landed after trying to catch
Happosai and failing miserably. "You've really improved."
"Thanks, no one touches me unless I say," she replied simply.
She didn't notice him turn away with a worried look on his face.
"Ranma needs to know about this."

Tatewaki Kuno stared down at the creature that had slammed into
him as he landed on the pavement lightly. He had been flying home after a
visit to an old friend and had been hit as the thing rocketed into him
from below. "Who are you?"
Happosai stopped and looked at the strange creature in surprise. A
wicked smile crossed his face as he jumped to his feet and introduced
himself.

That same night on the other side of Nerima Hikaru Gosunkugi
stared at the passage in the book in awe. "I've found it!" he cried
triumphantly. He pointed down at the page and recited the passage out
loud. A moment later an M-16 fell onto the desk followed by several
handguns and a few rifles. "Oh, I get it, an arms spell, cute." He sighed
and pushed the weapons into a pile by the desk before sitting down to read
some more.

A lone figure stood on a slope in Hokkaido, he stared down at
another city that he had wasted time in and growled in frustration. "I
still haven't found you yet, but soon. Ranma Saotome, you shall pay for
your insult!" he raised his hands into the sky and stared into the stars
above him pointing at the brightest one. "I swear by this star I shall be
avenged!" He jumped in shock as a shoe slammed into the back of his head.
"Go swear vengeance in someone else's back yard!" cried a tired
sounding voice.
"Oh, sorry!" called the figure as he started walking away in
embarrassment.

Early the next day Ranma walked out of the Cat Cafe and started
towards Furinkan High, she stumbled over a familiar wooden bokuten and
frowned as she lifted it up and inspected it. There where several cracks
and abrasions in it that almost made her think it belonged to another.
"So, Kuno's met him as well?" An audible groan came from a nearby alleyway
and Tatewaki Kuno emerged from the garbage. "What the hell happened to
you?"
"Happosai," replied the boy in annoyance.
"So you've met him already?" she replied with a small smirk.
"Yes, such an evil little man," snorted Kuno in disgust.
"What happened?" asked Ranma as she tossed the bokuten to him.
"He offered to train me, I agreed," said the boy simply.
"You let him train you?" asked Ranma in shock, she had not been
expecting this from the boy.
"I did for about five minutes," replied the boy angrily.
"And?" snorted Ranma impatiently.
"It involves a women's bath house, a window, and thirty angry nude
women," replied the boy simply. "I take it this is the great evil we've
been feeling?"
Ranma nodded and helped him over to a bench where they sat down
together. "I wouldn't worry about it, I'm planning something for him."
"What is it?" asked Kuno with only mild interest.
"Something I picked up in China, I found out a little about him
last night," replied the girl with a small giggle.
It still bothered Kuno that Ranma could giggle and not think much
of it. He let the matter pass and relaxed. "Are Hibiki and Tendo still
angry with you?"
"A little, but they realize it won't do them much good if they
are. I think they're starting to get a long again already," replied Ranma
with a shrug.
Kuno nodded and stood up from the bench before walking towards
Furinkan. "Come, we don't wish to be late."
"Come on, you need to get cleaned up first," said Ranma as she
pulled him by the arm and started back towards the restaurant. Ko li and
Talcum emerged giving them odd looks.
Ranma realized that she was dragging Kuno by his arm and let the
boy go. "Is anyone using the bath right now?"
"Just panda," responded Talcum with a distasteful frown.
"Good, we'll get him cleaned up and meet you there," said Ranma as
she waved Kuno into the restaurant.
"What do you think happened to him?" asked Ko li as she watched
the scene in confusion.
"Lucky boy get to take bath with Ranma," replied Talcum with a
shrug of her shoulders and a slightly angry look.
"Somehow I doubt that," said Ko li as she turned away. "He must
have had a rough night."
The other girl merely nodded as they started walking towards the
school.

Kuno relaxed in the furo and sighed as he looked up at the
ceiling. "So, have you been well Saotome?"
The panda held up a sign that said "Well enough, yourself?"
"I've felt better," replied Kuno with a snort as he stood and
grabbed a towel. He realized the ridiculousness of the situation as he
ruffled his wings to help dry them off.
"Don't worry about it boy, everyone has a hang over on occasion,"
said the next sign.
"Actually, I had a run in with a being called Happosai," replied
the boy.
Genma froze and looked away. Kuno raised his eyebrow and did not
push the matter any further. He walked out and dressed himself in his
clothes, they were still slightly wet from the being washed, but still
cleaner than before.
"Come on Kuno, we'll get you something to eat before we go, my
treat," said Ranma as she met him at the changing room door.
"You didn't have to wait outside, I know what you really are,"
replied the boy as he looked her up and down.
"It makes pop feel weird," she replied with a shrug.
Kuno accepted that and walked with her, "We'll be late if we eat."
"We're already are late, and I already ate. Don't worry about it,"
replied the girl as she forcefully sat him down on a stool in the dining
area.
"I suppose you're right, I accept," replied Kuno as he gave up.

Ryoga frowned as he walked up to Ko li and Talcum and noticed
Ranma wasn't with them. "Where is she? I need to talk with her."
Talcum looked at him blankly and shrugged. "She help bird boy, we
find him outside restaurant this morning."
Ryoga cursed under his breath and notice Akane was walking up to
him. "Ryoga, have you seen Kuno today?"
"No, why?" the boy looked at her questioningly.
"It's just that it's unlike him to not show up, he even comes when
he's sick," replied the girl as she glanced around.
"He's with Ranma, why are you so worried about him all of a
sudden?"
"I don't know, I guess I kind of like him now that he's changed,
he's a pretty good friend now," replied the girl with a worried look on
her face. "I hope nothing is wrong with him."
"He probably has a hang over, we found him outside the restaurant
this morning," said Ko li as she pulled her Amazon companion towards the
school.
Akane frowned, that was unlike him, but still possible.
"If he's with Ranma he's fine, maybe they're just coming late,"
said the boy as he started towards the school himself.
"I guess you're right," with that Akane turned and looked towards
the gate. "That would explain why Ranma isn't here either."
They all finally went inside and started classes for the day.

Next time: Find out some of the things Ranma dug up in her search,
why Ryoga needs to speak with her so much; Akane has a little secret as
well, and Happosai begins his reign of terror in Nerima.

C&C to Carro...@juno.com

URL: Http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/fountain/3203

Permanent

Part 24

Potions and Devils.

Ranma Saotome walked calmly into the gates of Furinkan with Kuno
following closely behind her. The pair remained relatively silent after
leaving the Cafe and walking to the school Ranma had briefly considered
skipping for the day to continue her research, but quickly dismissed it.
She didn't want to worry Akane and Ryoga unnecessarily. She sighed as she
walked into the building, a few moments later she was standing out in the
hallway with a bucket in her arms. She could see Kuno lazily reading a
book while holding a pair of them in one arm down the hallway.
"Since when did he become such a book worm?" she wondered idly,
she really had no room to talk, when she wasn't with Ryoga or Akane she
also had a similar hobby, at least she had a real reason for it though.
Despite the distance between them she could still make out the title,
'Birds of Japan.' She snorted in mild amusement and looked out the window
across from her. "It figures."

Class was relatively silent for the rest of the day and lunch came
quickly. Ranma found herself standing next to Ryoga again. "Go eat with
your fiancee."
The boy merely looked at her and frowned. "No."
"You can't ignore this forever, I know you've been avoiding her.
It won't last long, just accept it," said the girl with an evil, yet
amused smirk appearing on her face for a moment.
"Watch me," replied the boy stubbornly as he sat down next to her.
"I've got other business Ranma. We need to talk about Akane."
"I'm not breaking the engagement," replied the red head lazily.
"I don't care, something's up with her, she's a lot stronger than
she should be," replied the boy with a shrug. It was easy to hear the
slight anger in his voice.
"So? She's been busy since I arrived in Nerima," replied the girl
with a shrug.
"I don't think so, she's improved too much," Ryoga dropped off the
conversation as Akane approached them cheerfully.
"Hi guys!" Ranma frowned when she noticed Akane wasn't looking at
Ryoga at all.
"So, that's how it is eh? Oh well, it's not my problem, let Tendo
deal with them," she returned to eating once again and peacefully
exchanged pleasantries with both of her friends.

That evening Ranma sat in her room with a small pouch with Chinese
writing on it. She smiled and poured the concoction onto a small piece of
cloth and rubbed it in while wearing a thick pair of rubber gloves.
"Ranma, how are you doing? Will you be working tonight?" asked
Cologne as she poked her head through the door.
"Sorry, not tonight, I've got other work to do," replied the girl
simply as she focused on the task she was performing.
"What are you doing?" said the old woman as she hobbled into the
room and looked down over Ranma's shoulder.
"It's something I picked up in China, the old man has a serious
weakness. He's extremely perverted, and he gets most of his power from
that," replied Ranma with a shrug.
"Did those spirit's tell you that last night?" asked Cologne.
"Most of them weren't very helpful, they thought he was a good
student. I had to deal with a few guardian demons too. A few of them were
pretty miffed and a little vengeful," said the girl without paying much
attention.
"Guardian Demon?" the term seemed contradictory to her.
Ranma smiled. "Special demons, they keep tortured souls from
escaping hell. Not really all that evil actually. They are a bit imposing
though, and if you summon a spirit up from hell one of them comes with it,
to make sure it doesn't get away," explained Ranma. "Most of your crack
pot sorceresses and mediums either don't see them or ignore them. That's
where I found most of the people I talked with last night."
"I see, tell me what are your plans for this evil pervert?" asked
Cologne warily.
Ranma handed her the packet and smirked. Cologne couldn't help
herself as she snickered and gave it back. "I like the way you think
child."
"Yea, well I think I can whip up something to make sure it doesn't
just wash off of him or wear off."
"Are you certain you can't kill him?" asked the elder hopefully.
"Pretty sure, he isn't a demon, and he isn't a threat to humanity,
or anyone else for that matter, he's just annoying. With a record like his
I don't think anyone will mind if I torment him to death though," replied
Ranma with a shrug.

Happosai jumped from the rooftops of Nerima and glanced around in
search of more of his ill-gotten prizes. A large sack of panties and bras
was thrown over his shoulder and he cackled to himself as he spotted
another clothes line nearby.
He easily hopped along the tops of cars and signs to reach the
line and hummed merrily to himself as he plucked the undergarments off of
the rack. He stopped cold and looked at one of the pieces in his hand.
Caught between two bras was a pair of silk boxers. "Gah!" he tossed it do
the ground in revulsion. "How dare someone make a pair of those out of
silk! A waste of good material!"
He froze in place while balancing on the line as he felt a
presence behind him. He slowly turned around to see a cloaked figure with
glowing yellow eyes standing on the line behind him.
"Happosai," said a warped and inhuman voice as the creature stared
him down. The old man wasn't sure what it was exactly, but he didn't
really want to find out.
"Bye now," chimed the pervert as he jumped from the line and
landed neatly on the street. He looked up only to find the mysterious
figure was gone. He spun around, quickly jumping away barely in time to
avoid a well placed punch that shattered the pavement.
"Who the heck are you?" snapped the old man angrily.
The thing merely laughed and stalked forward. Happosai saw the
cloak flutter in a slight breeze for a moment and gasped as the gentle
peek of cleavage was visible for a moment. "Sweeto!" Happy found himself
sailing away as soon a he jumped towards the prize, easily swatted away by
the creature.
"Hey!" A new voice entered the fight and the cloaked woman stopped
for a moment turning slowly around.
"You leave that sweet little old man alone!" cried a young blonde
as she stepped forward pulling what looked like a broad sword from her
side. The creature's eyes dimmed for a moment as she glared at the
newcomer.
The girl was dressed in a green Chinese style dress and had her
hair put up in a ponytail. She also had a strange design on the chest of
the dress, a circle with a twin dragon embroidered into it. The girl took
up a fencing stance and smirked at her. "Youma Slayer Keiko is here to be
your opponent now!"
The girl looked down suddenly as Happosai rested between her
breasts. "Thank you for saving this defenseless old man from this evil
monster!" She planted her elbow in his head and he fell away for a
moment. "Hands off pervert!"
The creature wasted no time, it quickly charged forward slamming
it's fists into her face before jumping up over her head and onto the top
of a neon sign waiting to see what she would do.
Keiko reeled from the blow momentarily and staggered back, she
turned and looked at it for a moment growling under her breath as she
jumped upwards after it swinging her sword with amazing skill and slicing
the sign into small sparkling pieces.
The thing reached around her strikes and twisted both of them into
the air using her body to cushion the landing. Keiko seemed out for the
count and it turned towards Happosai again. Happy jumped away and onto a
rooftop laughing madly as he vanished into Nerima. A low curse was
muttered under the thing's breath as she walked towards a patch of shadows
leaving Keiko alone on the ground.
The girl woke up slowly and stood just as she vanished into the
shadows. "No you don't! I'm gonna kick your ass for that!" she screamed
as she reached into the front part of her dress and tossed several
throwing stars into the shadow where it had vanished. Jumping to her feet
she raised a spell ward over her head and gasped as the light from the
paper revealed nothing.
A crackling sound erupted in her ear and she winced. "Keiko, did
you get it? Are you all right?" called a high pitched voice from the small
earpiece that rested in her ear canal.
"No, sorry Auska-chan, the Youma got away. I met this really weird
old guy, I think he's the one that's been in the papers lately," said the
blonde with a heavy sigh.
"Did you get him?" said the voice with a small hint of hope in her
voice.
"No, he got away, besides it's not my job to catch him," retorted
the girl lazily as she replaced her sword and turned away.
"If you see him again, cream him! My favorite pair got stolen last
night!" retorted the angry girl on the other end.
"I'll remember that Auska," said the girl with a sigh.

Happosai sat on a rooftop looking thoughtful. "Hmm, why would I
have a monster after me? I haven't done anything to them in a long time."
He tried his best to think, after a moment he slapped his palm. "Maybe
it's that power orb I stole...nah...could be that time I got my hands on
the queen of hell?...nope, she's the only one who actually enjoyed it.
Hmm," Happosai would have sat longer trying to remember, but the call of
the lingerie was too much for him to resist. "Oh well, maybe I'll remember
later!" He forgot about it completely within five minutes.

Ranma stood in the Tendo home and handed the patch to Akane. "Why
me?" said the girl with a heavy sigh.
"Because he won't trust me enough to do it, he knows what I am,"
replied the red head angrily.
Ryoga sat nearby at the Shogi table ignoring the events around
him. Soun looked up from the game they had going and frowned. "It isn't
wise to anger the master Ranma."
"What's he gonna do to me? I'm a sorceress," replied the girl with
a shrug.
"Remember Akane, put it on him real good, once it takes hold there
isn't anything he can do to get rid of it so get clear." The Tendo girl
nodded reluctantly and looked at the patch. "Don't hold it too long
either, I don't want any of this stuff to get on you."

Meanwhile, Hikaru Gosunkugi stared at a book in frustration. "Damn
it!" He fumbled through the pages, he had found a spell that boasted it
grew arms. His shoulders where killing him and he felt like his back was
about to break. The seven arms, and one stub flailed about wildly. He
could only control two of them at a time and the others grabbed, smacked,
and basically destroyed anything they touched. Including him. "Ow! Quit
it!" he snapped as one of the hands repeatedly slapped him in the face.
It stopped and went off looking for more interesting things to do as he
desperately searched for the counter spell. The arms did everything they
could to stop him, flipping pages randomly and basically making a pain of
themselves.

Tatewaki Kuno stood admiring the fine morning, it was a weekend
and school was out for the day. He sighed contentedly and looked out over
the porch of his newly constructed home. It was a small house for the
grounds, only slightly larger than the Tendo home; he didn't need such a
grand home as he once had any longer; he lived alone now. The thought was
very unpleasant, but much more bearable than it had been before. At one
time he had actually been afraid to think about his tragic family,
especially on the grounds. Now he was strangely contemplative.
After a few moments he had a whim, he opened his wings and jumped
upwards catching an air current and sailing out over the rooftops of
Nerima. He dove and rose flying where the winds took him and not really
caring. After about an hour he slowly descended and landed quietly on the
opposite side of Nerima ward.
"Hello," said an aged voice.
Kuno turned slowly and saw the creature staring him down with a
smirk on his face. "You were late for your training today."
"Pardon?" asked the boy in confusion.
Happosai merely smiled at him and sat down smoking his pipe. "Oh
well, it can't be helped, we'll start now."

Ranma stared down at the broken and beaten form on the ground and
sighed. She lifted him off the ground and frowned as his wings hung limply
behind him as she dragged Tatewaki Kuno away from the mob of angry women.
"What the hell is wrong with you Kuno?"
"It isn't my fault!" snapped the boy in anger as he struggled to
sit down on the bench she had led him too.
"What the hell were you thinking running around with that old
fool?" snapped the girl as she sat with him and looked towards a fountain
in the center of the park they had stopped in.
"That thing had apparently decided that I am to be his heir,"
snorted the boy in disgust. "Whether I want to be or not."
"I see, hopefully that will be taken care of tonight. I don't know
if it will help you or not, but if we're lucky he'll leave Nerima
altogether."

Akane smiled at her work and looked on nervously. Somehow she had
managed to screw up the beautiful patch Ranma had made for her to put on
his back.
"Oh, Akane! Thank you! I'll never take it off!" cried the old man
with tears of joy on his face as he planted himself firmly between her
breasts.
Moments later he was sailing into the air above Nerima. Akane
huffed for a moment and turned away. "I hope she knows what she's doing."

A few minutes later Happosai looked on in confusion as he
struggled to walk. Everywhere he went women ran screaming away. That in
itself was not unusual, what was unusual was the fact that he hadn't done
anything to them yet. The aged pervert turned slowly around when he heard
an unfamiliar laughter.
Ranma stood over the scene laughing hysterically as she watched
the pervert dance around in confusion. Happy turned slowly towards her and
simply stared. "How do you like my woman repellant old man? It's a very
special mixture I put into that patch," she smiled even wider as a slow
dawning crossed his face.
Happosai snorted, "I'll just take it off then!" he took off his
shirt and pulled at the patch ripping it off easily.
"You old fool, you don't really think I'd let you off that easily
do you?" called Ranma playfully. "There is a spell around you that will
hold that sent for years."
Happosai froze and stared at her in disbelief. He shook with rage
and anger, there was nothing more horrible that she could have done. He
burned angrily letting his aura show before resorting to his final attack.
He sat down on the ground and cried.
"Boo hoo! How could you do such a thing to a poor little old man!?
What have I ever done to you?"
Ranma turned away from him never once losing the smile on her
face. "Your perverted and pathetic existence is enough Happosai, you can
thank Kojiro Hadoshi for that patch by the way. He asked that I use the
symbol of the school you abandoned." With that said Ranma jumped away
vanishing into the streets of Nerima.
Happosai's eyes went wide with shock. "Kojiro? He's been dead for
years!" The old man slowly began to realize that this young sorceress
might be a bit more trouble than he had originally planned. He had to do
something fast, but there wasn't much he could do without a recharge.
Weakly he staggered off in search of a young girl, even an old one would
do. "Damn you Ranma."

Inside the Cat Cafe, Cologne sat in front of the crystal howling
with laughter as she watched the events play out in front of her. Ko li
watched the scene uncomfortably nearby and turned away.
"She always act that way when borrow Ranma's ball?" asked Talcum.
"You would know as well as I do," replied the other girl with a
shrug.
Talcum blinked and continued her work.

Soun Tendo walked along the street with his arms full or
groceries. He stopped cold when he saw a strange sight, in front of him
was Happosai. The old man looked almost dead, he was crawling on his
hands and knees reaching towards a young girl who staggered back as if she
had been hit with tear gas.
"Master, are you all right?" he said as he dropped the bag and
rushed to the man's side.
"P-p-pretty g-g-girly!" managed the old man.
Soun looked around and saw a box nearby, thinking quickly he
rushed over and grabbed it. When he returned Mr. Panda was standing with
Happosai in his claws. He blinked and stopped for a moment as the panda
made an attempt to smile at him. "T-thank you," he said dumbly as the
animal put the old man in the box and produced a book of stamps, a marker,
and some tape.
"What are you doing?" said a weak voice from inside the box.
"Why, we're express mailing you to the North Pole Master!" replied
Soun cheerfully.
Ranma stood on a rooftop and frowned as she watched the scene play
out below her. She felt a twinge of anger as she watched Genma and Soun
package the old man away and attempt to stuff him into a mailbox.
"You stupid old man! Stop acting like that, he might figure it out
dope," she snorted and mentally noted that she'd have to have a talk with
him later about this. Fortunately Soun didn't seem to notice.

Ryoga sat at the table and sighed as Ranma, sat with Soun toasting
the end of the evil master together. He glanced at Akane and sighed,
something wasn't right with her and he couldn't figure out what it was.
After a moment he tore his gaze away from her as she passed him a warning
glare and said nothing.
"Man she can be frigid when she want's to be," he thought
privately as he went back to watching Ranma celebrate her victory. She
wasn't drunk, but Soun insisted that she have a glass with him after what
she did for him. She had been very polite and accepted, the glass still
sat half full in front of her as Soun steadily became more and more loose.
Ryoga seemed to notice that she seemed more reserved than usual
tonight. A thoughtful look stayed on her face as she sat with the older
man. She turned to gaze at him for a moment and he turned away in disgust
shutting off his mind to her. He didn't particularly want to hear what she
had to say right now.
Something did slip through though and he froze. "It's not over
yet," he whispered quietly repeating what the girl had told him.

For the first time that night Akane looked at him without trying
to hide it. She remained silent and sipped at the cup of tea in front of
her. Her thoughts that evening had been preoccupied with trying to get out
of this mess Ranma had seen fit to place her into. The evil was gone for
now and she had other concerns to deal with. She liked Ryoga well enough,
and he was a good friend, distancing herself from him had been difficult.
Fortunately he seemed to have the same plan. She wanted to spend more time
with Ranma and try to talk her way out of it; unfortunately, the girl
wasn't very receptive and seemed to be hard to get a hold of. Akane
suspected she knew what was going on between her and Ryoga and was trying
to keep to herself more. She had a lot of feelings to sort out and all
this excitement wasn't helping that process any at all.
Ranma looked back at her as she watched her and her father. She
could see a small amount of pain in the girl's eyes, but something else
was there too. It almost looked like hope, and desire. She shook
uncomfortably at that, but the feeling quickly faded and she realized that
it was never there to begin with.
"What the hell am I thinking?" she thought as she shook her head
and turned away from the girl once again.

TBC...

Next time: Wheee! I get to play with some new characters! You may
be wondering what the hell is going on right now, but don't worry it will
get cleared up soon. Ranma has a new problem to deal with and Happosai is
nowhere near dead. You'll just have to read and find out for yourself!

Ja ne!

URL: Http://geocities.com/tokyo/fountain/3203

C&C to: Carro...@juno.com

Permanent

Part 25

Shadows of demons.

To say Ranma Saotome was drunk would be an understatement. After
Soun Tendo had passed out she turned a few thoughts over in her head.
Ryoga and Akane were acting more and more distant, Nabiki was sitting
nearby watching television in a pair of cut off shorts that she found
herself staring at every few moments, and worse yet, something still
didn't feel right in the air. Happosai was well on his way out of Japan
and things still didn't feel much better. She was also starting to get
visions about some strange traveler at night, the figure seemed familiar,
and yet distant somehow. Whoever it was had something long and menacing
across their back and a longing feeling accompanied them. She wasn't sure
if the feeling was from her or the figure. Ranma sank lower and lower into
an odd depression and started to knock back sake as if it was water.

"Ranma! Haven't you had enough?" snapped Akane as she snatched the
glass away as the sun slowly fell below the horizon behind her.

Ranma looked up at her and turned away in a sort of disgust. "Ya
know -kane, you don't -preciate nothin I do for ya! I got you a cute
fiancee, a future, demonic super powers, and you don't thank me or
nothin!"

Akane froze and stared at the girl in shock dropping the glass on
the ground shattering it as both her sisters and Ryoga stared at her.
"W-what?"

Ranma giggled to herself and leaned on her shoulder. "What? You
think-think, you can keep secrets from me -kane-chan?"

Akane slowly turned and looked at the room as they stared at her.
"Akane, what's she talking about?" said Ryoga carefully.

The Tendo girl blushed and looked away. "I got stronger somehow, I
wasn't sure why, but I think it might have something to do with this."
She pointed at her eye and sulked for a moment. "I was afraid of what
might happen if I told you..."

Ranma slapped her across the face and snapped at her angrily.
"What are ya stoopid? I knowed it all along!"

Ryoga narrowed his eyes at the red head and sighed. "Akane, when
was the last time you got some sleep?"

"I haven't slept since I woke up from my injuries," she replied
turning an even deeper crimson.

"Damn you Ranma! How dare you engage me to a Youma!" snapped Ryoga
angrily as he lifted the drunken girl by her shirt and shook her. A moment
later he was sprawled across the ground with a look of shock on his face.

Ranma stood over him with a hard glare as she lowered her fists
and smirked. "Remember your place Mr. P."

The boy bowed his head and simply sat there staring at the floor.
"This is beyond belief! You don't have any right to do this to me!" He
jumped to his feet and stared her down.

"Ryoga, if I didn't know you cared, I would have never done it in
the first place. Stop hiding your feelings fool, I know you love her," she
sat down calmly and simply stared forward watching Akane closely.

"Youma?" said Kasumi as she stepped back away from her sister with
her hand over her mouth.

Akane smiled and looked down at her hand, it was a bittersweet
revelation. "So...that's it is it?"

Ranma nodded grimly and sat back. "You should be more careful
Akane, every amateur demon hunter in the city will be after you if you
push your luck and run around at night like you have been. Sooner or later
one of them will get lucky."

"How?" said the girl simply as she looked up and ignored the
others completely.

Ranma shrugged her shoulders and laughed. "Those things you fought
in the mansion turned you into one, they assimilate humans. If they had
killed you the change would have been complete. I managed to stop most of
the transformation while you were out, that's why it took you so long to
wake up. I almost didn't make it in time."

Kasumi looked between her sister and Ranma with a worried look in
her eyes. "Isn't there anything you can do Ranma?"

"Without killing her? No," replied the girl simply. "She isn't a
full youma, if she chooses to live as a human she can quite easily. She
can have a family and grow old and die."

Akane slowly nodded her head and relaxed. "If that's true, I can't
carry on the Tendo blood line without tainting it," Everyone in the room
froze and looked at her in shock. "I can't accept the engagement to
Ryoga."

The boy looked at her coolly and smiled, "She's right Ranma." A
faint flash of disappointment appeared in his face for a moment before he
looked away. "I'm sorry."

The girl stopped and stared at them as her plans crumbled slowly
to dust. "If that's the way you want it Mr. P."

For a long moment nobody spoke, Akane sat uncomfortably as Ranma
started to drink directly from the bottle. The pigtailed girl idly
wondered if she should tell Soun about it or not. If Akane didn't want him
to know she really didn't have any reason to give the girl's secret away.
She stopped drinking and looked at the room. "Damn, I wasn't gonna tell
anyone about that."

They all looked at her for a moment and she shrugged and lifted
the bottle once again. "Ranma! You're unbelievable!" screamed Ryoga
angrily as he stomped up to his room and slammed the door.

"Is he going to be all right?" asked Nabiki; she had been feeling
kind of left out of the conversation. She had known about Akane's
nighttime trips, but this was a little more than she expected.

"He'll be fine, we get this way every once and a while," replied
Ranma with a half-hearted shrug. She promptly fell face first onto the
table as the alcohol finally overpowered her.

"Well, that was certainly interesting," commented Kasumi as she
started to clean up the mess.

Akane looked at her sisters and sighed, "Look, don't tell daddy
about this OK?"

"As if he'd believe us," commented Nabiki dryly. She knew that he
would if she said something, especially considering what he had seen since
Ranma had come into their lives. Still, it seemed to make her sister feel
better. "You do realize that you'll have to come up with something to
break the engagement with Ryoga if you don't want him to know about this."

Akane froze and looked up at the room where her former fiancee
was. "Oh, yes. I'll have to talk with him about this."

Ryoga Hibiki was not happy, Ranma had betrayed him terribly. The
Hibiki line...he stopped and realized that the Hibiki line would have to
carry on without him anyway. His responsibility to his family ended the
day he signed the contract with his master. As far as he was concerned he
belonged to her. "There in lies the problem."
He hung his head and sighed trying to sort through his problems.
"What am I going to do now?" It was becoming more and more obvious that
Ranma wanted him to be independent and live his own life from now on.
Unfortunately that conflicted with what he felt was a sacred and honorable
duty. "I can't just leave her...can I?" He hung his head and mulled over
the problem turning it over and over again and again in his mind. "Damn
you Ranma, this is all your fault!"

Akane pulled Ranma up by her arms and grunted as she hefted the
girl up the stairs helping her stagger along the ground. She had almost
forgotten Ranma was drunk for a moment before she keeled over on the
table. She was halfway awake at the moment though. Ranma held onto the
rail and allowed herself to be placed in her old room.
Happosai's things still lay in the room scattered across the
floor. Ranma took one step into the room and shuddered as the evil energy
of the old man enveloped her body. She stood upright screaming in terror
as a deluge of imagery flooded her mind and the perverted feelings washed
over her body. Instinctively she lifted Akane up into her arms and jumped
from the room.
The Tendo girl screamed a short cry of protest as she was thrown
from the room and landed with Ranma on top of her just outside the
doorway.
The pigtailed girl chuckled slightly and rubbed her head against
her chest. "You know Akane, you're kind of soft here."

She blushed and jumped away pulling Ranma up with her. "What's
wrong with you?"

"How long has that old man been in that room?" said Ranma flatly
as she gave the door an evil looking stare.

"I donno, about a week?" said Akane as she tried to remember the
exact number of days.

"I can't sleep in there," replied the girl simply as she shrugged
Akane's grip off. "I'll just walk home."

Akane frowned and grabbed her again, "You aren't going anywhere
like that, come on." She shoved the girl into her own room and lay her
down on the bed.

Ranma giggled slightly and allowed Akane to push her into her bed.
She smiled and sprawled out on the bed for a moment before reaching down
and pulling Akane into her arms. "I love you Akane!"

The girl smiled at this and gently pushed her away. "I love you
too Ranma, now come on. You've got to get some sleep or you'll feel even
worse tomorrow morning."

Ranma grabbed her again and kissed her on the lips, Akane fell
back with a blush forming on her cheeks as she shoved the girl back
instinctively. "What are you doing?" she asked as Ranma pushed herself on
top of her forcing her onto the bed and kissed her again.
Akane felt heat rush into her face as Ranma rubbed her body gently
and probed her mouth with her tongue. She pushed gently away as he
struggles lessened slightly under the girls forceful prodding. Finally
Ranma stopped and relaxed on top of her clutching her shoulders and
wrapping her legs around her torso. Akane froze in shocked horror as the
girl suddenly stopped moving and simply lay there with her on the bed.
After a moment she shook her head and stared down at her friend in shock.
Ranma was snoring softly curled up in a little ball with her head
resting against Akane's chest. The strong smell of sake dominated Akane's
senses as she simply watched her for a moment unable to become angry with
her for some reason. Finally she sighed and put a pillow over her head as
the confusion of her emotions took over at last.
"It was probably just the alcohol," she muttered under her breath.
She looked down one last time and vowed never to let her friend drink
again.
Something else popped into her mind as she watched the redhead
sleep peacefully in her bosom. The way Ranma had reacted to being in
Happosai's bedroom, perhaps that had something to do with the slightly
upsetting events that had taken place only moments before. Akane mulled
over it for a long time before looking down at the girl one last time,
"Shouldn't I be angry with her?" She pushed the thoughts away and lay down
to stare at her ceiling for the rest of the night.

Hikaru Gosunkugi stared at the book in front of him and tried his
best to hold his head up as the night dragged on. He wanted badly to find
a cure for himself, and luckily most of the students never even noticed
him. If he managed to cure himself soon there was a good chance nobody
would notice any change at all. He sighed and looked down at the pages of
the powerful white magic tome that sat before him on the desk, after a
long moment he felt his eyes droop shut as his head slammed into the
center of the book. He began to snore violently not noticing the white
light that emanated from the pages surrounding him completely. A golden
shadow fell behind him as the light poured fourth through his body in a
blinding and spectacular light that seemed to vanish suddenly. Finally all
that remained was the strange shadow behind him; it seemed almost like
there was a spot of pure gold on the ground behind him as he lay there
peacefully. His stump rose up as if to scratch his head as he lay there
dreaming, not knowing of anything that had just happened.

Tatewaki Kuno stood on the roof of his home watching over Nerima
in the darkness for a final few moments before retiring for the evening.
Something in his mind pulled away that he felt he should be aware of, but
it faded away. Most people would dismiss such a feeling easily, but Kuno
had learned that actions like that were not wise. In his dreams he had
seen a dark shadow standing over Akane Tendo, and a golden light that
could be both savior and demon to him. The uncertainty and vagueness of
the dreams haunted him, but since his present condition had been caused
they always seemed to come to some true in some way or another. Even that
did not bother him though, the wizard Saotome should be able to handle
anything that came. What worried him was the darker feeling he was getting
from the future, an evil presence that seemed to threaten all that he held
dear with a strange familiarity.

"Perhaps I worry too much for the future, when the present is so
turbulent as of late," it seemed like an intelligent thing to say, in the
past he would have written such a thing down; but now he seemed to become
enlightened more often with such musings. A wisdom long forgotten to his
old self. His speech was far more normal nowadays, but it still amused him
to think that way on occasion while in private.
The wind blew from the east sending a whirlwind of fallen leaves
through the air as he looked out over Nerima one last time. "The wind is
changing." He spread his wings and gently landed in the courtyard before
heading inside the home for the evening to settle down for the night.

The next morning at the Tendo Dojo the sky seemed calm as the sun
peeked over the horizon. The birds began to sing and life started to turn
as the streets of Nerima slowly crawled to life. All seemed peaceful with
the world, that is until Akane Tendo and Ranma Saotome woke up.

Ranma slowly opened her eyes, it took all of her willpower to do
so, she struggled to raise her head from the pillow and fell face first
back into place as a thousand daggers of pain slammed into her head at one
time.

"It's about time you woke up, it's a good thing it's the weekend
Ranma," snapped Akane angrily. She looked down and saw the redhead in her
chest and smiled at her with a little maliciousness in her eyes.

The pigtailed girl snapped to attention and fell back onto the bed
again as she realized where she was. "What happened?" she struggled
painfully.

"You got drunk and accosted me you pervert!" snapped the girl
without much heat. "I think you must have absorbed some of the perversion
from that room last night. I guess you're a little sensitive to things
like that when you're drunk."

Ranma's eyes went wide, "Accosted? Drunk?" that would go a long
way towards explaining the headache. She slumped back into the pillow
after rolling on her side to allow her friend to get up. "Wait a minute,
what do you mean accosted?"

Akane snorted and kicked her leg lightly. "You almost raped me
last night you pervert!" She had time to think it over while Ranma slept
off her liquor, she had concluded that Ranma had absorbed some of
Happosai's perverted energy. That must have been why her best friend had
acted that way, there was no other explanation. The thing that scared her
the most was that she had almost let her do it.

Ranma was having different thoughts as she lay there staring at
the wall in silent horror. "I did what? Oh, oh no..."

Akane seemed to understand her distress. "Ranma relax, I'm not
angry, you were drunk...and after what happened in your old room I think I
know what happened to you."

Ranma felt comforted slightly by this, but not too much. If what
Akane said was true she could have let her personal little secret slip
very easily last night. "Did I say anything strange last night?"

Akane thought about it, "No, not really. You stay here for a while
and I'll call Cologne and tell her what happened."

Ranma rolled over and looked up at the ceiling shielding her eyes
from the sunlight that came through the widow. "Thanks." Ranma felt a new
fear in the pit of her stomach, how much had she done last night? What had
happened exactly? She felt the surest way to find out was to ask Akane,
she might get an honest answer from her, but then again she had been
keeping a pretty important secret from her, or trying to until last night.
Revealing that was one of the few things she remembered.
"What the hell have I done this time?" She rolled over and felt
the pain that seemed to cover her entire body now slowly throb. "I'll
worry about it later, I don't need this right now."

TBC...

Sigh, more foreshadowing for things yet to come, some things way
later. This one was more of an exploration of the characters and a set up
for some things I've been wanting to do with the characters.
The thing with Akane, Ryoga, and Ranma has actually been requested
many times. It was planned that way since the beginning, but I've been
getting a lot of mail asking me to break up Ryoga and Akane, and hook her
up with Ranma despite the fact that she's a girl.
This is by no means decisive and Akane isn't going to just decide
she's a lesbian either. There's to much that lets them deny anything that
might have happened in this chapter right now; besides, I'm not so sure I
like the idea of Akane the raving lesbian either. If and I say -if- it
happens it will be a slow and gradual process.

Next time: All kinds of stuff, Gosunkugi's changed, but is that a
bad thing? And what's it got to do with Akane? Plus Ryoga, Ranma, and
Akane deal with their torrid love triangle some more. Things aren't
looking good for some reason as a jealous interloper interferes, but who
could it be?