Our Own Damnation A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Alan Harnum All Ranma characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi, first published by Shogakukan in Japan and brought over to North America by Viz Communications. This copy of the story is from my centralized fanfiction archive at http://www.thekeep.org/~harnums/fanfic. I can be reached by e-mail at harnums@thekeep.org Part Four: Deep His Midnight Lair Cologne shut the door soundly behind her and stepped into the darkness of the storeroom. The tip of her staff found the lightswitch, being long used to serving as an extension for those things she was incapable of reaching from the ground, which were many. In her free hand, she held the dagger the gaki had wielded in the alleyway. It would serve as her link to to the creature, following the principle of association. But she would need more than the knife to perform the ceremony; laying her staff and the tanto upon the concrete floor of the storeroom, she went to the corner of the storeroom were she'd hidden the items she never wanted Shampoo to find. It was small box disguised with a warding charm she'd obtained long ago that caused it to blend into the wall. Unless you knew what you were looking for, you'd never find it. Cologne pulled it out and took it to where she'd laid her staff and the dagger. Seating herself on the floor, she pulled the thin key from its location in her robe and turned the lock. With a creak, the box opened, revealing its contents to her. She found what she was looking for under the flask that contained the antidote to the love pills on the bracelet that Happosai had stolen all those years ago. She smiled at the memory; it had looked as if she might have actually had to use it that time on the beach, when Akane had swallowed the permanent pill. Thinking of that time on the beach reminded her of the situation between her great-grandaughter and Ranma. As she'd told him, she'd seen this coming a long time ago. The ancient laws were important to tradition, but they were disregarded easily when it was inconvenient. The young Amazons tended to take them far more seriously than one such as she, who'd lived long enough to see the wisdom of never making any rule for yourself you're not willing to break when necessary. She'd seen far more use in Ranma as a way to teach Shampoo maturity and responsibility than as a husband; he was a fine physical specimen and a great warrior, but he didn't have much to offer beyond that. But if Shampoo had wanted him as a husband, and he had wanted her, Cologne would not have stood in their way. She wanted to participate in her great-grandaughter's life, not control it. From the beginning, though, she'd seen Ranma's reluctance to marry Shampoo. Complicated with his indecisive nature and the fact that he was a magnet for weird events on a scale she'd never imagined possible, what Cologne had hoped would take at most a month, at the end of which she and Shampoo would return to China either with Ranma as Shampoo's husband or with Shampoo learning a few valuable lessons about life had stretched into more than a year of constant plotting, scheming and fights, ending up with a broken heart for her great-grandaughter. All the schemes, all the magic, that had all been a part of what she'd been trying to teach Shampoo. Shampoo's interest in the ceremonies and rituals that went along with the Amazon warrior arts had always been minimal; now with seeing them as a chance to snare Ranma, she had thrown herself into them wholeheartedly. None had met with any particular success, though. Cologne never let Shampoo near anything she couldn't produce a cure for on short notice. The way to win a man was not through trickery or spells; that was something Cologne had hoped Shampoo would learn quickly. Unfortunately, she'd been wrong. "Well, it had to end sometime," Cologne said as she pulled out the folded white robe from the box. It was inscribed with powerful arcane symbols and wards, and Cologne had been in posession of it for nearly a hundred and fifty years now. It had been a gift to her from a great Chinese magician who'd been her lover for five years in the nineteenth century. He'd eventually ended up as a meal for a dragon he'd been trying to strike a bargain with when he stepped over his warding circle to stomp on a cockroach. He'd been a very spiritually powerful sorcerer, but in terms of common sense he'd been a little short. But he'd been a good man, and this was all she had to remember him by. Eventually, she would pass it down to Shampoo. And Shampoo would eventually pass it down to the one she chose as her heir. The robe was effectively unaging, and mended any tears or rips the instant they were made. The pristine white still gleamed like it had the day he'd given it to her. Under the robe were the four candles, red, blue, green and yellow. Cologne put those in a box shape on the floor and slipped out of her rough brown robe and into the delicate white silk of the astral robe. She picked up the tanto and lay down in the box formed by the four candles. The knife rested flat against her body, with the pommel tucked under her chin. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the feeling of the pommel against her chin and the smooth silk robe she wore. She felt the heat as the candles flared to life around her. Then there was the sensation of falling, of slipping into an infinitely deep and inestimably dark hole. It never became any less disconcerting each time she did it, even if it lasted only for a second. Then she was looking down at her own body, stretched out upon the storeroom floor. It looked nothing like the body she currently wore, the appearance she took on when she travelled like this. Cologne avoided mirrors scrupulously when she used the robe, but she knew what she looked like anyway. She appeared as the girl she was when she had first received the robe more than a hundred years ago, before the toll of the methods she'd used to keep her youth and strength had caught up with her and turned her into the shrivelled thing that lay upon the storeroom floor. She knew how hideous she was to people, but she'd stopped caring long ago. She had power and wisdom and had lived a life more than three times as long as the average person. But at times like this, when she wore the form of the beautiful girl she'd been, she hated what she had become more than anything in the world. That was why she used the robe so little; it reminded her of what she had given up. Cologne turned and walked through the wall of the storeroom, coming out into the dining area where the others sat. She could see them, dim shadowy figures of themselves. She noted the bright red cord that stretched from the little finger of Ranma's hand to the little finger of Akane's hand; as she'd known all along. Ryoga had one too, dim and stretching far away. Ranma's father had a cord too. Perhaps it had been red once, but was now a dull and tarnished black, twisted rather than straight. Cologne looked away, reminded too much of things she would rather forget. She concentrated on the astral version of the dagger she held in her hand, and watched as the thin silver cord streamed out like fishing line. She began to follow it, passing through buildings and trying to ignore the noctural activities of the occupants. The silver cord led her to a small, broken down warehouse located, as she'd thought, near the centre of the triangle formed by the attacks. There was a condemned notice under the faded sign, the only part of the logo visible a smiling, white hatted chef. Cologne blinked her eyes in confusion. Another building, one completely different, was overlaying the warehouse. It was a small, pleasant looking house, well cared for and neat. But at the windows pressed screaming faces, and dark blood flowed down the sides. The gate was made of bones, and the peaked roof shone razor-edged and blood covered. Terrible things had happened here long ago, enough to leave a lasting impression upon the astral plane. "A fitting lair for a monster," Cologne said. "I wonder how it found it?" "Oh, I didn't find it," said a whispering voice behind her. "I have always lived here, if at some times in spirit." Cologne whirled and turned, the tanto slashing to strike at where the voice had come from. There was nothing. She felt a stabbing pain in her chest. She looked down. The tip of a familiar looking throwing dagger protuded from the front, from where it had been driven through the back to reach her heart. She turned and looked into the face of the gaki, different this time, but the same. The same skinny body, the same wrinkled, bone tight skin, but where the thing in the alley had been bald and red-eyed, this one had white hair that fell to its shoulders and dark, human eyes that burned just as fiercely behind their gaze. A thin silver cord stretched from the tip of the throwing dagger to the finger of the gaki. "As you've said," the gaki said. "Don't underestimate your foe." Darkness rushed upon Cologne, and she felt herself falling again, but there was no end to the fall this time. ********** Ranma watched Shampoo go through the door in her usual way, which was by smashing a hole in the wall around it. When he got into the storeroom with the rest of them, Shampoo was holding down the screaming, thrashing Cologne. A white foam tinged with scarlet bubbled from Cologne's mouth. "MOUSSE! HELP ME!" Shampoo shouted frantically. Mousse dropped and helped her hold Cologne to the floor. Several burned out candles were scattered around the room, and Ranma realized that Cologne was wearing a beautiful white robe with the only aberattion the jagged hole over the heart. Dimly, he also realized that Cologne was beginning to make choking sounds. "GREAT-GRANDMOTHER!" Shampoo yelled. "WAKE UP!" Genma pushed past Ranma and knelt beside Cologne, his fingers pressing a point on her neck. Cologne stopped thrashing and seemed to relax. Coughing, she spat out some more foam, but there was no blood in it this time. "Where the hell did you learn how to do that?" she said weakly, looking up at Genma. "I didn't work at Dr. Tofu's clinic all that time for nothing," Genma said with pride. "Dr. Tofu showed you how to do pressure points?" Akane said. Genma coughed. "Actually, no. But I saw him do them lots of times," Genma said. Cologne tried to reach for her staff, but then her hand fell back weakly. "Shampoo, hit him for me," she said. "Yes, great-grandmother!" Shampoo said, smacking Genma in the head with a fist. "Ow! What was that for!" he yelled, glaring at Cologne and Shampoo. "Do you realize how lucky you were that you didn't kill me? That point requires years of training to use correctly on a target that's relaxed!" Cologne hissed. "A simple thank you would be nice," Genma muttered. "What happened?" Mousse said. "I broke one of my own rules," Cologne said. "I assumed the gaki would have no knowledge of the method I was going to use. Instead, it used a similiar method to seek me out and attack my astral form." "Astral form?" everyone said in bewilderment. "It doesn't matter now. You all have to go and kill that thing," Cologne said. "You no come with us, great-grandmother?" Shampoo said. "Child, I can barely speak right now. My spirit has been severely drained by the slaying of my astral form. I will need to rest for many days before I am back to normal. However, I was succesful in locating the lair of the gaki. There is a warehouse near the centre of the triangle we patrolled, condemned, with a chef on the sign..." "I know where that is," Ukyou said. "Good. That is where it lairs. I had feared that it would flee; I know now that it will not. That area provides a link for it to this plane, although I am not sure why. It will not abandon it for fear of rituals being performed that could drive it from this plane. They require more time than we have right now, though. Go now, and put an end to this thing. I must rest here." "We can't leave you here alone," Ranma said. "We already know there may be more than one of these things. What if one of them comes to get you?" "Your concern is appreciated, Ranma," Cologne said. "But there is no safer place from the gaki than this storeroom in the city. I have many powerful wards on this restaurant. I will rest here. You must go quickly, or it may flee. However, I doubt that it will, with the need it has for the location." "Alright," Ranma said. "Let's go, everyone." Shampoo embraced her great-grandmother tightly. "Bye, great-grandmother. We all come back safe." "I have no doubt you will," Cologne said. "Now, I must rest. Go, and good luck." They filed out silently from the storeroom, and from there to the street outside the restaurant. It was coming close to midnight now. Ranma looked up at the dark sky, the moon just a pale sliver. "Come on," he said, leaping to the rooftop of the Nekohanten. "It's time we end this hunt." As the nine bounded away across the rooftops, the figure that had been concealing itself in the alley walked out carefully. The door to the restaurant wasn't locked in any serious way. ********** The warehouse was as Cologne had said it would be. It was small, as warehouses go, and stood maybe two stories high. There were boards across the wide doors, but Sasuke found a side entrance that swung open easily. "Okay, everyone," Ranma said. "This thing is probably waiting for us. We've got the numbers and the skill. Just be careful and watch your backs." Ranma led the way inside, with the others coming behind him in a roughly circular group. Their penlights broke the gloom, exposing row upon row of shelves filled with dusty cardboard boxes. The smell of dust was overwhelming, but under it was a faint odor of blood. They spread out, keeping within sight of each other. Still, there was no sign of anything living. "Shouldn't there be rats, at least," Akane said as she stuck close to Ranma. "Places like this always have rats." "The thing probably ate them," Ranma said. Akane grimaced. Genma was sweeping his penlight to the left of the door they'd entered from when he heard the sound of metal scraping on the floor. That was his only warning as the shelf closest to him toppled forward. He barely threw himself out of the way as it crashed to the ground, cardboard boxes tumbling through the air as it fell. One of them caught him a glancing blow to the head where he lay on the floor, and with a jangle of metal it broke open, spilling pots and pans across the floor. As the voices of the others sounded out in suprise, Genma heard a dry rustling sound. Instinctively, he rolled to the side, still woozy from the hit to the head. The knife that had been aimed for his eye slashed into his shoulder instead. He yelled and kicked out in the direction the knife had come from, feeling his bare foot smash into something that felt like tissue paper over a steel frame. "It's here," he called, flipping to his feet and wincing at the pain that shot through his shoulder. There was a skittering sound from the shelf nearby, and Genma caught a glimpse of something thin and quick running along the top of the shelf. "Pop! You okay?" Ranma called, running up to his father. Genma nodded. "I'm fine. It's on the shelves," Genma said. "Be careful." There was a flash of silver in the beam of Kuno's penlight. He yelled and slashed precisely with his sword. The butcher knife spun away and hit the floor. "YAAAAAH!" Kuno shouted, rushing in the direction the knife had come from. The shelf in front of him toppled and fell, burying him under a pile of boxes before the shelf crashed down on top. "Master Kuno!" Sasuke shouted, rushing forward and trying frantically to lift the shelf. Another knife flew from the darkness and hit him in the arm. He gave a cry and fell back, clutching at the wound. "Try this on for size," Ryoga growled, throwing his cupped palms forward. "SHISHI HOKODAN!" The blazing yellow beam tore over the shelf toppled in front of Kuno and smashed into the ones beyond, sending them crashing to the ground in a cacophony of noise. Illuminated in the flaring brightness of its passage was the gaki, eyes glinting, standing on top of one of the shelves next to the row Ryoga had just demolished. "PUT YOUR LIGHTS ON IT!" Ranma shouted, turning and pointing his penlight in the direction of the gaki. The others did so as well, and it hissed and dropped from sight. "Watch the top of the shelves!" "I on it, Ranma!" Shampoo shouted, leaping to the top of one and balancing carefully. She began to run in the direction of the gaki, leaping from shelf to shelf and nearly sending them toppling to the ground. "Shampoo! Wait!" Mousse shouted, running along the ground after her. Ukyou followed him, spatula raised into combat position. "Come on! We'll flank it from the other side," Ranma said, grabbing Akane and his father by the hand. There was no time right now to check on Kuno and Sasuke. As they passed Ryoga, still recovering from throwing his chi attack, the lost boy gasped and headed after them. There was the sound of battle from where Shampoo had headed. Ranma could hear Mousse yelling something, and there was the sound of a chain smashing into metal. Ranma trained his penlight in the direction of the sound as he ran, and saw a chain wrapped around a shelf that the gaki stood upon. The chain pulled to side and the shelf toppled, the gaki leaping to the side and landing on another shelf as it did so. "I don't think so," Ranma said. He drew upon the feelings of confidence he had within him, the knowledge that he could defeat any foe, and let fly with a burst of energy from his hands. "MOUKO TAKABISHA!" he shouted. The gaki seemedd almost suprised when the blast smashed into it and sent it hurtling across the upper area of the warehouse until it smashed into the back wall. Its shriek was hideously human in sound. "Ukyou, Mousse, Shampoo, get to it while it's down!" Ranma shouted, running towards the spot he'd seen it fall. "I'm on it, sugar! Shampoo got herself knocked out, and you know Mousse isn't going to leave her side," Ukyou shouted from down the warehouse. "Ukyou! Be careful!" Ranma called. The only reply from Ukyou was a yell, and when Ranma arrived at the spot she'd been heading too, Genma, Akane and Ryoga close behind, she was dueling with her battle spatula against the gaki. The creature seemed to be moving slower than before, and one arm hung limp at its side. It feinted and thrust skillfully with the long knife it held in its good hand, though, and Ukyou seemed hard pressed, using the reach advantage she had to keep it at bay. As the four of them came to her aid, the creature leaped in close and kicked Ukyou in the face, knocking her to the ground. It was on her in a second, yanking her head back by the hair and placing the knife against her throat. Its injured arm seemed to have recovered awfully quickly, and Ranma realized it had been a ploy. "BACK!" it hissed in a whispering, choked sounding voice. "Back or I cut her throat." It pulled the knife back lightly, drawing a thin line of blood across Ukyou's throat. Ranma seethed, but kept cool. Up close, with his penlight trained on the creature, he finally got a good look at it. The gaki was a skeleton. A skeleton with skin, and eyes that burned red, but a skeleton all the same. It was nothing but skin and bone; human hands had become talons, as skin stretched tight over finger bones. Human teeth had become predatory fangs, cruelly sharp and jagged as lips and gums had dissolved away. "Let her go," Ranma said. "Leave," the gaki hissed. "Leave my home. I will release her when you're gone." "Don't listen to him, Ranchan," Ukyou said, her voice quavering. "He'll kill me as soon as you're gone. Just get him. Don't... don't worry about me." "Shut up," the gaki said. It yanked Ukyou's head back sharply and she cried out in pain. "You bastard," Ranma said. "Take me in her place." "Oh no," the gaki said. "I won't be tricked that easily. I think I'm just going to leave with your little friend here. I haven't had a snack in a while; that loud boy with the wooden sword stopped me last night." "So if she's dead anyway," Ranma bluffed. "What's to stop us from just going through her to get you?" The gaki grinned. "Because then you would be responsible for her death, you stupid boy. And you will not kill your friend, will you?" Ranma didn't reply, only clenched his fists at his sides. Behind him, Akane gave off a choked sob. "Will you, boy? Will you come towards me and make me slit your friend's pretty little throat? Will you watch her blood splash across the floor, and know it was because of you? Or will you let me go with her, and know at least that you are not responsible for her death?" the gaki said, ending the sentence with a rustling chortle of amusement. "Ranma, it doesn't matter! This thing can't go on..." Ukyou began. "I told you to shut up," the gaki said, bringing the knife up quickly and slashing Ukyou across the cheek. She whimpered softly, and Ranma swore silently that whatever happened, he was going to hunt this thing to the ends of the earth if he had to. The gaki began to bring the knife back down to Ukyou's throat. Time seemed to slow down for Ranma. "NOW!" The chain whipped from the darkness of a shelf behind the gaki and Ukyou, wrapping around the wrist that held the knife, still coming down from its attack upon Ukyou's face. It yanked back hard, and Ranma heard bone snap. The knife clattered across the floor and the gaki shrieked in rage and pain, slamming Ukyou's head into the ground by the hair and darting its head down, as if to tear her throat out with its teeth alone. It never got there. There was a flash of metal, and a throwing star buried itself in the gaki's left eye. Then Ranma and Ryoga were on it, having responded instantly when they heard Mousse's shout. Ryoga's doubled fist hammered into the gaki's head, sending it falling away with its grip on Ukyou's hair broken. Ranma's kick caught it in the side as it fell, knocking it into the wall. He was on it in an instant, screaming in rage and hitting it again and again, as behind him Ryoga helped Ukyou to her feet and wrapped his arms around her, pulling off his bandanna and wiping the blood off her face. The cut wasn't deep, and probably wouldn't even require stiches. "Ranma, Ranma, it's dead, stop!" someone was saying, dragging at his arm. Akane. The red haze dropped from his eyes, and he realized his hands were cut badly. He must have hit the throwing star embedded in the gaki's head a few times. He stood up and looked down on it, amazed at what he'd done. The face of the gaki was a mangled ruin, with the jaw obviously broken. The rest of it didn't look much better, with most of the ribs snapped and poking out through the parchment-thin skin. Mousse stepped up beside him. There was a rustle of cloth, and he was holding out a long, straight sword to Ranma. "Make sure," he said. "You have to make sure." "You do it, Mousse," Ranma said numbly. Mousse nodded and made a single quick slash, slicing the head of the gaki neatly from its shoulders. Ranma turned around to where Ukyou was in Ryoga's arms, sobbing quietly as he awkwardly patted her on the back, looking very uncomfortable with the whole situation. "Mousse," Ranma said. "You saved Ucchan's life. Thank you." "You can thank Sasuke as well," Mousse said. The ninja stepped out from behind a shelf, cradling his injured arm. "And with my bad hand as well," he said, wincing. "Is Shampoo okay?" Ranma asked. "The gaki grabbed her foot and tripped her off the shelf. She hit her head on the way down, but she'll be alright," Mousse said. "Stand back for a moment, would you Ranma? You too, Akane." They did so. Mousse reached into a pocket of his robes and pulled out a small flask. He poured a clear liquid upon the body of the gaki, and it immediately began to smoke and dissolve. The bones themselves crumbled when the flesh was gone. He poured a few drops upon the head, and the same happened. "What is that stuff?" Ranma asked. "Something Cologne gave Shampoo and I," Mousse said. "To take care of it once it was dead." "Why didn't she give any to the rest of us?" Ranma asked. "There are some secrets that must remain within the Amazons," Mousse said cryptically as he replaced the flask. Genma approached and laid his hand on Ranma's shoulder. "Good job, boy," he said. Ranma smiled at him and looked back to Ukyou and Ryoga. Ryoga was still holding Ukyou, and looking more embarassed by the second. "I'm going to go check on Shampoo," Mousse said, darting away quickly. "And then we should get out of here. The police may show up soon." "I'm going to go see if I can dig Master Kuno out," Sasuke said. "He sounded as if he were in pain, so I believe he will live." Ranma walked up to Ukyou and touched her on the shoulder. She looked up tearily from Ryoga's shoulder and broke into fresh weeping when she saw him. Ranma felt tears in his eyes as well as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. he prayed silently. And then he felt Akane's arm go around his neck, as she hugged him and Ukyou. Ryoga joined them too, and the four of them stood there for a few moments, holding each other, glad to be alive and together. Mousse came back with a semi-conscious Shampoo in his arms, and Sasuke returned to report that Kuno was alive and moderately well, and although he was heavy bruised, nothing appeared to be broken. They dug him out of the boxes, and Ryoga unceremoniously threw him over his back in a fireman's carry, ignoring the feeble complaints of indignities by Kuno. They heard the sirens in the distance as they walked out of the warehouse. Once again, they took the rooftop route and arrived back at the Nekohanten. Shampoo, now recovered, pulled out her key and put it in the lock, then stopped. "What is it, Shampoo?" Mousse asked. Shampoo didn't say anything, just pushed the door open without turning the key. "Mousse," Shampoo said. "I lock door, right?" Mousse nodded. Shampoo ran inside, the others quickly following. "GREAT-GRANDMOTHER!" Shampoo shouted desperately as they entered. "GREAT-GRANDMOTHER!" "She's still asleep," the man said, turning around on the stool at the counter. "Explain yourself!" Mousse said, stepping forward and drawing out a pair of throwing knives into his hand. The man had a gun in hand before Mousse had a chance to throw them. "Please?" Mousse finished. "Take a seat, all of you," the man said calmly. "We have much to talk about." They took seats warily at the tables, their eyes scanning the room for any hidden ambushers. Mousse still stood. The man put away his gun and gestured to a chair beside Shampoo with his hand. Mousse slipped the knives down his sleeves and sat. Ranma took a look at the stranger. He looked to be in his early twenties, with features that were certainly striking if not handsome. He was very tall and thin, with a long, narrow nose that looked somewhat like a beak. His black hair was cut to a medium length, and he wore a bodysuit of black material that bulged in places. "My name is Shigeki Kiyokuro. I am a hunter, of sorts, of monsters who walk upon both two legs and sometimes more," he said, steepling his long fingers in front of him and leaning forward in his seat. "Good for you," Shampoo said. "Now what you doing in restaurant?" "I want to talk to you all," Shigeki said, smiling. "There are certain things we must discuss." "Like what?" Ryoga said. "How about this question. Were you the guy we were chasing tonight?" "I believe so," Shigeki said. "I must commend you on spotting me." "Thanks," Ryoga said flatly. "First of all, I would like to tell you a few things," Shigeki said. "I believe there was a certain warehouse you visited tonight, no? You might be interested to know that before 1959, it was the location of a house belonging to a man named Kosaku Akamizu. Not that he lived there until then; he was committed to a facility for the criminally insane a little after the second World War, when it was discovered that his way of getting around the food rationing was to lure orphaned children into his house and butcher them. Everyone thought he was insane, of course. He claimed to be a sorcerer, and that the rituals he had performed using his victims would allow him to return upon his death. On the day he was sentenced to the hospital, he had these words to say: `Even if you cage me in walls of stone and bars of steel, a part of me shall roam free. One day, all of me shall join it'. A week ago, he died of from a wasting disease the doctors could not identify. He was buried in a graveyard nearby. The next morning the caretaker found his grave dug up. My examinations have shown that it was done from the inside." "And how do you know all this?" Ranma asked. "I have my ways," Shigeki said, making an impressive shrug that caused all of his thin body to shift slightly. "On to other things. I am very impressed with your efforts tonight, all of you. You were succesful in destroying the creature, were you not?" "Yeah," Ranma said. "It's not coming back." "Excellent," Shigeki said, and there was genuine warmth in his smile this time. "You have done a good service to the world." He stood up from his seat and stretched his long body. Ranma guessed he was nearly six and a half feet tall. "I like to keep lists of people who might be interested in joining me upon these hunts. I don't always go on them myself. Sometimes, I only point those who have proven themselves adept in the right direction. I had intended to deal with the creature myself this night; I was suprised to discover that others were hunting it, but I decided to see if you would be succesful." "What kind of benefits do you offer as a member of this list?" Genma said. "The chance to use your ability in service to the world," Shigeki said. "The chance to be that single candle and all such. I don't have a health plan or a payroll." "Why do you do it?" Ranma said somewhat suspiciously. "Because if I don't, who will?" Shigeki said. He reached into a pocket of his jumpsuit and pulled out a stack of cards, then walked around distributing one to each of them. "This number will reach a pager; if you are interested, call and leave the number you can be reached at. I'll get back to you as quickly as I can. I will be in this area, clearing up certain matters, for perhaps another week now. You can reach me in that time, and I will get back to within a few minutes. At any other time, it may take a while." He stepped to the doorway and opened it up. "I hope to hear from some of you, at least. I can't offer you money, and you will not know acclaim for your deeds, but you can at least know in yourself that you have worked to hold back the darkness." He slipped out and was gone, the door closing silently behind him. Ranma leaned back in his chair and looked around the room. "Well, that was a suitably strange ending to the day." "So what now, fearless leader?" Ryoga said with a yawn. "Beats me," Ranma said. "I've gotta get some sleep. I'm tired." "I'm gonna call home," Akane said. "Shampoo, can I use your phone?" "Sure, Akane," Shampoo said. "I go check on great-grandmother." Shampoo stood up from the table and headed into the storeroom. Ranma turned to Ukyou. "Ukyou, you wanna stay with us again tonight?" Ranma said. Ukyou nodded and looked down at the floor. She'd been very quiet on the way back from the warehouse, and Ranma wasn't even sure if he'd heard her speak. The cut on her face was bandaged now, but she was developing an ugly looking black eye from when the gaki had kicked her. He reached out and held her hand gently in his. "Ukyou, it's okay. It's over." "I... I nearly died tonight," Ukyou said softly. "And I didn't want to. I could have thrown my head forward, struggled, and then it wouldn't have been able to use me as a bargaining chip with you. But I couldn't find the courage." "Ukyou, that wouldn't have been courage. That would have been suicide," Ranma said. "Yeah," Ryoga said from his seat beside Ranma. "Besides, Ukyou, if you were gone, no one else would be around to tell me what an idiot I am." That drew a brief smile from Ukyou. "Ryoga, you gonna crash with us as well?" Ranma asked. "Yeah," Ryoga said. "I'd be grateful." Akane came back from using the phone. "Okay, I told them we're alright. Daddy's very relieved." "I was pretty sure he would be," Ranma said. "I believe we will be going now," Sasuke said, standing up from his seat. "Master Kuno, are you well enough to walk?" "Yes, good servant," Kuno said, standing to his feet a bit shakily. "No mere shelf can faze Tatewaki Kuno." "So long," Ranma said. The rest of the table joined in saying their farewells to Kuno and Sasuke, who bowed and left. Shampoo arrived from the storeroom, a relieved smile upon her face. "Great-grandmother still sleeping," she said. "Shampoo think sleep a good idea as well." "Sounds good to me," Genma said, standing up with a yawn. "Come on you kids, let's go home." They said their goodbyes to Shampoo and Mousse and left the Nekohanten, taking the path across the rooftops one last time that night, as the five of them made their way from the darkness of the night towards the light that waited for them at the Tendo house. ********** Ukyou sat under a tree, the bright sun streaming down between the canopy of leaves to play across her face. It touched the pale line that was the remembrance she carried of that night two weeks ago, and it seemed to her as if she could feel the sunlight less on that part of her. The night that she'd stayed at the Tendo's afterwards she had been fine, but the night after that, when she'd returned to her restaurant and stayed in her own bed, she'd woken up screaming from a dream she couldn't remember. Not knowing what else to do, she'd called the Tendo house, apologized to Kasumi profusely for waking her up, and asked to talk to Ranma. After a minute on the phone with her, he'd told he was coming over and hung up before she could make a response. He'd stayed the whole night with her, talking to her and helping keep the darkness away. That night, she'd begun to understand a little more how he felt about her; she supposed she'd known it for a long time. She wouldn't ever be more than his best friend, that was something she had to accept now. He hadn't told her in the same way he'd told Shampoo, but she realized it all the same. But, as she'd suggested to him in a time that seemed too long ago to have been less than a week, she was on a picnic with Ranma. And his father and mother. And Akane and her sisters and father. And Ryoga and Akari. And Shampoo, Mousse, Cologne, Kuno and Sasuke. Kodachi was still in hospital, but she was awake and making it hell for the doctors and nurses with her imperious demands to be released immediately. She could see Ranma trying to refuse a bite of something Akane had made, bobbing and weaving his head from side to side as he dodged the thrusts Akane's chopsticks were making at his mouth. Finally, it hit home and he swallowed it reflexively. Ukyou saw his eyes widen in suprise. "It's good," he said. "It's actually edible. Are you sure you made this, Akane?" "Kasumi helped me," Akane said. "But I mixed all the ingredients and everything." "Congratulations," Ranma said. "You cooked something nontoxic." "Thank you, Ranma," Akane said. "Have some more?" "You bet," Ranma said. Akane smiled and held out the chopsticks to him again. Ukyou could see where his heart was now; with her, where it had always been, even if the two of them hadn't realized it until recently. She saw Shampoo watching the two of them from her place by Mousse and Cologne. Mousse was saying something to her that she appeared to be ignoring. Ukyou was fairly sure that the same sad smile that Shampoo had on her face as she looked at Ranma was on her face as well. Kuno was making an impassioned retelling of his role in the hunt, which had basically amounted to having a shelf fall on top of him. Sasuke was nodding in all the right parts while eating one of the okonomiyaki Ukyou had brought as her contribution to the picnic. He noticed her watching him and gave her a smile before turning his attention back to his employer. There was more to Sasuke than she'd thought; he'd served admirably in his role as the technology expert for them, and he'd most likely saved her from injury or even death when he'd hit the gaki in the eye with a throwing star. Ryoga and Akari sat together, Ryoga looking comfortable but anxious with his arm wrapped around Akari's shoulders. Ryoga's girlfriend had seemed nice but a little shy at meeting all of them. She and Ryoga were talking quietly together. Nearby, Akari's gigantic sumo pig grunted as it dug through a plate of food. Shampoo turned and said something sharply to Mousse in Chinese. He shrank back, mumbling what sounded like an apology before standing to his feet and walking off. Ukyou stood up, and with a glance at Ranma, who was holding Akane's hand and glancing furtively around as if it weren't already obvious to everyone what they were doing, set off after him. She found him looking up at a tree some distance away, his arms folded into the sleeves of his robe. She walked up beside him, and touched him lightly on the arm. "Hey," she said as he turned his head to look at her. His eyes squinted, and suprise bloomed on his face. "Kodachi? I thought you were still in the hospital," he said. Ukyou laughed. "No, Mousse, it's Ukyou," she said. Mousse blushed and looked away. "Sorry, Ukyou," he said. His hand came out of his sleeve with his glasses, but Ukyou put her hand over his and stopped him. "Don't worry about it," Ukyou said. "I like to see your eyes. They're nice." They were, too. Deep and soulful, but with pain behind them. Mousse blushed even redder and put his glasses back. "Thank you," he murmured. "Have you given any thought to the offer we were made?" "Yeah," Ukyou said. "I'm still not sure whether or not to take it. It sounds like it could get really dangerous at times, even more so than it was the night I got this." She brought her hand up and touched the healing cut on her face lightly. "But who else will do it if we do not?" Mousse said. "We have a responsibility that comes with our skills." "Have you decided?" Ukyou asked. "I have discussed it with Shampoo," Mousse said. "We are both going to call him soon and accept. Shampoo does not wish to return to China yet; she believes she will be ridiculed for failing to fulfill the laws. Cologne is not interested in his offer. I think what occured to her has shaken her more than she would like us to believe." "How are things with Shampoo?" Ukyou asked. Mousse sighed. "Not too good. I fear that she cannot see me as more than a friend, no matter how I wish I could fill her heart and her thoughts as she does mine," Mousse said. "I know how you feel," Ukyou said. Mousse glanced over at her and smiled a bit sadly. "You do, don't you?" he said. "Birds of a feather." "Should stick together," Ukyou finished. "I never did really thank you for saving my life, Mousse." "It was the only thing I could do," Mousse said. "I thought you would have stayed with Shampoo," Ukyou said. Mousse shook his head. "I wanted to, but when I heard that... thing threatening your life, I could not help but go to your aid. What I did was dangerous, and I was lucky that you were not hurt," Mousse said. "You saved my life, dummy," Ukyou said. "I'm the lucky one." "Thank you," Mousse said. "No," Ukyou said. "Thank you." She put her hand on his shoulder, leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. His long hair brushed against her face like dark silk, and she felt him stiffen in suprise for a moment. Then he relaxed and put his arm around her, as Ukyou laid her head on his shoulder and looked up at the sky through the summer glory of the leaves. It stretched up, seeming infinitely blue and endlessly deep, without a cloud within it. THE END