"How do you suppose we got by them so easily?" Akane whispered to Kuno, occasionally tugging on Ryoga's arm. They had just passed security, who hadn't even glanced at their bags.
"Now is not the time to question good fortune. We need only be thankful for it," he replied.
Akane gave Ryoga another tug to keep him going in the proper direction. She was glad she had stopped in the bathroom to clean herself up or things might not have beens so easy. "I'm still not sure about flying. It's an awfully long trip."
"There are both advantages and disadvantages to flying. I believe they equal each other."
"Oh really? Such as?" Akane really needed someone to convince her of the advantages.
"While 'tis true our options for escape will be extremely limited..."
"Extremely? Try nonexistent."
Kuno cleared his throat. "As I said, extremely limited. This also means that they can not take you where I can not reach you. And the narrow confines make for a more strategically defensible area."
"Oh." Well, it helped a little. She turned to Ryoga. "What do you think Ryoga?"
Ryoga was gazing far off in the distance, every touch by Akane cementing him more firmly in fantasyland. He could see her face in the stars (even though it was the middle of the day and they were inside), like she really was a goddess... A goddess sent to Earth especially for him (not Ranma!) so he would never be lonely or depressed again. He sighed, a tear stubbornly refusing to fall. 'Oh, Akane. If I could only tell you how I feel,' he said to the heavenly Akane.
She looked down at him, her eyes twin stars, sparkling, and smiled. 'I know how you feel, Ryoga,' she said, making his heart soar. 'I feel the same way about you.' Ryoga could die a happy man.
Akane looked at Ryoga's blank face. "Ryoga? Anyone home?" She passed her hand in front of his face. "Hello?" She shrugged and looked at Kuno. "I don't know. Maybe he didn't get enough sleep or something. Maybe it's from whatever gave him that big bruise."
Kuno nodded. "What little I know of Hibiki, he seems a bit odd."
"He's always been this way. It's probably something to do with being away from home so much. No stable environment." Akane spoke with the authority of a wisened cab driver.
"I can imagine," Kuno replied a bit absentmindedly.
After paying what they figures was a little too much for another ticket for Ryoga, the three were on a 737 and on their way to Japan. Thankfully, the flight was fairly empty and they had a modicum of privacy. Ryoga was still dazed, which worried Akane.
Akane sighed and released her seatbelt as the sign flashed off. She reclined her seat as far as it would go and closed her eyes. She just couldn't believe how tired she was all the time; she had never been so exhausted. Of course, she had never been so totally afraid for her life.
She felt herself being covered by a blanket and opened her eyes. Kuno was tucking in the edges of the blanket so it wouldn't slip off her. She smiled a little, too tired to put any real effort in it. "Thanks," she said and closed her eyes.
For a few minutes, she stayed that way, caught somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, unable to achieve either. "Kuno-sempai," she said, her state tilting towards alertness. "Why am I so tired all the time?" She didn't open her eyes.
"Perhaps the expenditure of large amounts of energy has drained you. It is also feasible that significant mental strain may cause you to become physically exhausted." He knew a thing or two about mental strain and its unpleasant side effects.
"Oh. I wish Ranma was here," she side, not even realizing it.
Kuno deflated in his seat. He had been stubbornly clinging to a notion that she might give up Ranma, but there was no use denying the reality of it all. She loved Ranma; there was no hope that she would care for him at all. "Akane," he said quietly, trying to keep it just between the two of them.
"What?" she mumbled, slowly heading back to sleep.
"I never got the chance to thank you."
"For what?"
"For helping me two nights previous."
"Oh. S'no problem..." A small frown appeared as his words sank in. Akane opened her eyes. "Wait a minute. Helping you when?"
"Please give me a little credit. My sister would never help me, no matter how much I begged. If she did... she would have been beat as soundly as I. 'Twas best that only one of us suffer the physical punishment and not both." He looked quickly out the tiny window. "She deserved it less than I."
"I don't mean to be... rude, but what did you do?"
"I ran away from home one day. I was nine. My mother did not appreciate having to look for me. She said I ruined her day. She used me as an example for Kodachi." He continued to stare out the window, watching the clouds.
The entire sky was revealed to him, the vast openness visible to him like his future had been at one time. And then the dark, stormy clouds had blotted it all out.
"I begged her to stop. I was nine years old and I begged better than any starving man. But she was used to it and hit me until I could only lay there and take it. I could barely breathe, but I could still beg. Just to be sure I had learned my lesson, she hit me across the back of my head. I woke up in the hospital."
Akane's heart was racing, like she was watching a scary movie, waiting for the next surprise to jump out. Her mouth was very dry and her hands were shaking under the blanket.
Kuno looked back at her, tearing his gaze away from the window. "My father was there when I woke up three days later. He told me he was disappointed that I had wasted so much of his time, that he had more important things to do than watch over me. Then he left and I learned what a concussion was. I was there for three more days, alone."
"When the doctor thought it was fine for me to return home, they had to call to get someone to pick me up. When no one came, they took pity on me and got a taxi. I was in that hospital for three days all alone. I... I cried every night." He looked down at his hands in his lap. "I was frightened, I was in pain, I was alone. But the thing I was afraid of more than anything was returning home." He looked back out the window. "So I want to thank you for making a painful memory more bearable."
"I'm sorry."
"Do not be. I realized too late that relying on others is a futile thing. I relied on my parents to protect me; they did not. I relied on my sister to help me; she could not. I relied on you to... save me; you would not. There are many others, but their names do not bear mentioning."
"It pains me to tell you this now, but never put your trust in others. I know you are forced to put your trust in me now, but when we are successful... Never wait for someone else to do what you can do yourself."
"You sound like Nabiki."
Kuno nodded. "She knows the wickedness of the world as I do. You would do well to listen to her."
To say Akane's mind was blown would be an understatement. It was hard to comprehend that Kuno was telling her to listen to Nabiki; it was just wrong. She nodded to Kuno anyway, no words formed a comprehensible sentence in her mind.
"So I thank you. Your actions gave me peace for a few moments, and that is all that can be asked." He sighed, the weight of his story crashing down on him. "Please go back to sleep. I did not mean to burden you."
"No, I don't think I can sleep." Akane looked for a flight attendant, and pushed the button when she didn't see one. She briefly considered getting a drink, but dismissed it quickly. Getting trashed and losing control was about the last thing they needed.
The flight attendant appeared and hurried over. "What can I do for you?" she asked in a pleasing tone.
"Can I have a soda?" Akane asked, really wishing for a five course meal.
"Of course. I'll be right back." She hurried away.
Akane started to speak to Ryoga. "So, Ryo..." She looked at him closely. His eyes were still vacant and he was still wearing that silly grin. Akane rolled her eyes and shook her head. What a joy-filled trip home it was turning out to be.
The woman returned with Akane's soda and handed it to her. "Can I get you anything else?"
"No. That's all. Thank you." Akane put on her cheeriest smile until the flight attendant left. She sipped her soda and frowned. "Kuno-sempai, I don't like this. I've got a bad feeling."
"It is too late to worry about what is wrong and what is right. We on our way to Japan and there is no way we can change that." He felt a ball of ice in his stomach, though. Things were bad, worse than he could have imagined, and there was nothing he could do. But there was one thing he could do: he could be strong for Akane. Even though she didn't care.
He resisted putting his arm around her as a comforting gesture. She tended to react without thought and his simple gesture could be taken the wrong way. He looked down out the window, catching glimpses of the water far below them. As well as things seemed to be going, he knew there was more trouble ahead.
"Come on, Ryoga." Akane tugged on Ryoga's arm as she stood in the aisle. "We have to get off the plane now." She pulled harder, Kuno standing behind her with their bags.
Ryoga blinked his eyes a few times and looked up at Akane. She didn't appear all that happy. "What? Akane?"
"Of course it's me. We have to get off the plane now." A bit of irritation made it into her voice. Ryoga seemed even more moronic than Ranma sometimes, or even Kuno. But he really was a nice guy; Ranma was lucky to call him friend.
Ryoga's standard sheepish grin reappeared and he stood up. He scratched the back of his head and got his bag and umbrella. He had almost made a complete fool of himself to Akane. He would have to keep control of his little daydreams; they tended to get out of control sometimes. He followed Akane and Kuno off the plane, chuckling nervously to himself.
The sparse number of passengers meant the flight wasn't treated quite as hospitably as others. The plane stopped, but there was no walkway extended. Instead, a set of steel stairs was rolled over and braced against the side of the plane. The door opened and people began heading down the steps.
The three teenagers were the last people off, and trudged down the stairs. They were all in various stages of jetlag and still had a considerable distance to travel.
"No bus this time, sempai," Akane said tiredly. Riding on a public bus all the way back home was not her idea of a homecoming. Or at least a happy one.
"Agreed. This travel is becoming tiresome."
"Becoming? I'm already there."
"Hey, what's wrong with you two? Haven't you ever traveled before?" Ryoga, in contrast to Akane and Kuno, looked fresh as a daisy, his jetlag considerably less. He grinned good-naturedly at his two companions, his fangs peeking out.
He was met with glares from the other two. "Ryoga, the travel is only half of it. If I was just getting back from vacation, I wouldn't feel like this." Akane didn't normally get kidnapped, assaulted and almost killed on vacation. Well...
The three walked across the concrete and entered the terminal. There was an immediate buzz of voices all around them, families with their luggage walked by, and a cart with three elderly men cruised past.
"I wish we could get one of those," Akane said wishfully. Even with all her training and exercising, keeping herself in shape all the time, she had exerted herself far too much in the past few days.
Ryoga walked with a spring in his step, pleased he didn't need to search all of Japan to find the Tendo dojo to see Akane. She was already with him! He turned to smile at Akane but found a middle-aged woman with a baby at his side instead. He stopped abruptly, looking at the encroaching sea of people.
How could he have lost them so easily? He growled in frustration, his hands clenched into fists. He was about to yell out when there was a hand on his shoulder.
"Next time, Ryoga, wait for us," Akane said. "We're not in as good a shape as you."
Ryoga looked around, Akane at his side with Kuno behind her. "I... uh... I'm sorry. I didn't even notice." He wanted to smack himself. 'Didn't even notice what an idiot I am!' he chided himself.
"So, we're in Kyoto?" he asked, changing the subject.
Akane giggled briefly. "No. We're in Tokyo. It was where we were going, you know?"
"Oh, yeah. I guess I just usually expect the worse." It was the only way to cope when your name was Ryoga Hibiki.
Akane looked back at Kuno. "Do you think I should call home and tell them we're coming? They could get Dr. Tofu and..."
"As you wish." It was getting harder to think, his head was really beginning to throb. He had never felt so rotten... except for that time he died. And when he was stabbed, and that time at school, and when Kodachi poisoned him, and that electric shock... 'Stop!' he yelled at himself.
"I believe I need to... rest for a moment," he said just loudly enough for Akane to hear. He dropped all the bags and nearly doubled over.
"What's wrong?" Ryoga asked, looking at the two quizzically. They were so friendly, friendlier than he had seen them be to other people, let alone each other.
Akane stood in front of Kuno, looking a tad worried. "What is it? We're almost there..." She was very concerned; nothing short of unconsciousness and death (and not even that all the time) could get him down. Yet, there he was, standing in the middle of the airport, gasping for breath, looking like he was ready to heave.
Kuno's legs gave out and he collapsed to the floor, people walking past and giving them annoyed looks. Akane knelt down. "Kuno-sempai, what's wrong?"
Kuno hugged himself, unable to force any words out. He tried to look at Akane but his vision was all blurry. The noise around him made him want to throw up and he was chilled to the bone. He shivered violently.
Akane wasn't just a tad worried anymore, she was a lot worried. If Kuno died, that was fine. He'd just come back. But if he were incapacitated for some reason... Akane's worry turned into fear. She got the horrific idea that whatever happened to Kuno, whatever made him sick was doing exactly what it was supposed to. "We have to go. We can't stay here," she said, hiding the growing panic within her. She looked at Ryoga. "Help me. We have to go."
Akane gathered a bag, then tried to get one arm under Kuno. She got a whiff of him and knew there was something wrong. He smelled... diseased. Like half-rotted meat, or a running infection. She grimaced and tried to lift him.
Ryoga gathered the other bags and tried to help Akane. As soon as he got his arm under Kuno, he pulled back. "Whew! When's the last time he had a bath?" Ryoga asked, holding his nose.
"You smell that too?" Akane asked, looking thoroughly disgusted.
"How couldn't I? That really reeks." Ryoga began waving his hand back and forth, trying to clear the stench. He swallowed hard, trying not to gag.
Akane, equally disgusted, continued to lift Kuno. "Come on. Just don't breathe through your nose. We have to go." She strained to lift Kuno's dead weight, but it seemed his muscles were locked in place.
Kuno watched and listened to everything, unable to move or even talk. Every few moments he would feel a roiling in his gut and a strange tingling in his side. His side where the woman... had clawed... him.
He wanted to scream as Ryoga and Akane tried to lift him. His muscles were fighting their every effort and refused to relax in the least. It was like trying to straighten out a bent stick... except sticks didn't feel the agony he did.
They managed to get him upright, but could not make him stand. So he was looking down the hall, everything spinning, when he saw her. Unlike the other people, who were indistinct blurs, she was as clear as day. He could see the expression on her face as she advanced on their group. He thought he might be hallucinating as she appeared to pass through a luggage cart; surely she couldn't be there.
Akane and Ryoga didn't seem to notice. They were discussing whether they should get medical help or not and weren't paying attention. Kuno tried to point, say 'Look behind you', use sign language, anything to make them look. He couldn't even manage a whimper of frustration.
"Look at him. He looks mad," Ryoga mentioned.
Akane looked closely at Kuno. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes were a bit wide, but she just thought it was from whatever was making him sick. "How can you tell?" she asked.
"His eyes. They were kind of rolling around, like he was mad."
"Oh."
Couldn't they see? Couldn't they feel? She was right behind them, looking at him. She smiled and put one finger to her lips to shush him, as if he could make a sound anyway. He struggled, or tried to struggle, tried to speak. The woman removed her finger and grinned broadly at him, her long fangs exposed.
'I killed you! I destroyed you!' he screamed mentally, still trying to fight the sickness that held him.
"You think that puny sword of yours could actually hurt me?" she said aloud, though no one heard her. "I may have allowed you to think so. And the way you took care of Alexander was oh so helpful. But now, your little wench and I have some business to attend to with Kaiyanwang. And I'll be taking the statue as well."
She had her hand at Akane's neck when Kuno groaned loudly. It was supposed to be a scream, but a groan was the best he could do. The woman looked at him, still smiling. "I see you like what I've done to you. It took a bit longer than I anticipated to take hold, but it appears to be doing nicely." She looked at Akane. "I won't even need to bother with it on her; she'll likely fall like a lamb anyway."
"He groaned. I think that's a good sign," Akane said worriedly to Ryoga. "Maybe we should call an ambulance." She and Ryoga were oblivious to the danger they were in.
Kuno's rage was beginning to boil over. He couldn't let Akane be taken again. He couldn't be caught helpless, left on the floor as Akane was taken away. He couldn't remain paralyzed as his fate was decided for him.
"Don't worry," the woman said, noting the subtle signs of his rage. "They'll take very good care of you in the hospital when they discover there's nothing they can do. You'll like living off an IV, never leaving your room. I think it would suit you. If Kaiyanwang decides to let the sanjiyan live..."
"NO!" Whatever had held his voice had shaken loose.
Akane was caught off guard by Kuno and fell backwards. "What the..." she said as she landed on her rump. She felt a pair of legs behind her and looked up. "Who...?"
