Kamiko trembled at the sight of the boy. "No," she said quietly.
Young Tatewaki walked past them, through them. His shirt was torn and the blood from his nose and mouth had soaked into the collar. He opened a door and disappeared into the room.
The scene shifted and the two observers were in young Tatewaki's parents' bedroom. The child looked defeated and pathetic, his hair a complete mess and bruises visible on his arms. There was a single tear rolling slowly down his cheek. He went immediately through the open bathroom door.
Again, the two changed vantage points, and were now in the bathroom. Young Tatewaki stood in front of the sink and reached up to open the medicine cabinet. He opened it and pulled out a small bottle of aspirin, but his gaze lingered on the contents of the cabinet.
Kamiko was frowning, tears trickling down her face. "No... Don't... Stop this."
Young Tatewaki set the bottle down on the sink and reached one trembling hand into the cabinet. His breathing was ragged as he held back the flood of tears. He pulled out a small prescription bottle, mostly full, and stared at the label.
He was a smart boy, he knew what the pills in the bottle were for. He had a pretty good idea what would happen if he took a large amount of them. He managed to open the bottle and dumped about half the little blue pills into his hand. A noise from the hall made him look fearfully out the door.
He closed the bathroom door three quarters of the way, clutching the pills carefully. He sniffled, a few stray tears betraying him and mixing with the blood on his face.
He held up one pill and looked at it. "It's not my fault..." The little tablet looked so innocent. It wasn't a demon's gift or a snake about to strike; it was only a pill. He shook his head, more tears escaping. He put the pill in his mouth and swallowed. "Not my fault..." Another pill in his mouth and down his throat. The tears refused to be controlled any longer and spilled freely down his face.
Kamiko had dropped to her knees, trying not to look at the scene unfolding in front of her. "Stop it... Stop it..." The pain in her voice made Kuno's heart ache almost as much as the memory he was reliving.
Young Tatewaki kept mumbling, putting two more pills in his mouth, his arms feeling like concrete. Another pill and the leaded feeling spread through his body until he crumpled to the floor, the bottle's contents spilling all over the floor. He closed his eyes and began to drift off to sleep.
A voice from very far away reached his ears. "Where's your worthless brother?"
A frightened, high-pitched voice followed. "I don't know."
The voice grew louder. "Tatewaki, you worthless little snot. I told you to come right back!"
He tried to open his eyes but they would not. Then there was a heavy hand on his shoulder and the voice was right in his ear.
"What the fuck did you do, you little shit?" His body was shaken and lifted as if he was nothing. "Wake up!" His head rolled like he had a broken neck. "Don't disobey me!" The voice was loud, but rapidly fading.
Another voice joined the first one. "What's wrong with him?"
"Look what your stupid son was doing!"
There was some noise, very quiet, very faint, and then liquid was dumped into his mouth. His body reflexively swallowed it, and then he felt himself be dropped to the floor, his head hitting the tile.
"He's not my son," was the last thing he heard before he winked out of existence.
The bathroom and the people disappeared, replaced by the whiteness again. Kamiko and Kuno were alone in the deafening silence.
Kuno looked down at his feet and wiped his eyes on the back of his sleeve. "No one... No one ever knew about this before. Not even Kodachi," he said.
Kamiko shook her head, the feelings, which Kuno had mostly come to grips with over six years, washing through her. "Why? Why?"
"Why did I do it?"
"Why didn't they care? How could they feel that way? What kind of monsters would do that to their children?"
"They weren't monsters," Kuno said defiantly. "They were my parents. They... they loved me." But he knew it was a lie. They had never loved him or Kodachi; they had been inconveniences, a pair of liabilities. "I wish I was never born." He did a most un-Kuno like thing and let his tears go.
Kamiko looked up at him. "Don't say such a thing. That's what they would say."
"Then we would have gotten what we both wanted." She knew all his thoughts and memories, but it just wasn't the same as living it, being on the receiving end of it. "She hurt me. They both did. They hurt me so much, and they're still hurting me. You just don't know..."
"But I do."
"No, you don't. No one can." Was it self-pity or self-loathing he was feeling? What difference would it make though? Who would care? "They never loved me. I was just an aborted body that managed to survive... And they punished me for it." He wanted to explode right then. There was so much built up inside, so many emotions that would never find a healthy release. "I know now. I can accept it; I have to. No one loves me. No one ever will. You can't understand what that feels like, but you know."
How two people could destroy the lives of their own children like that... Kamiko felt ill. She could understand the powermad insanity of Kaiyanwang, but this... Looking at the boy in front of her, the one that, in 17 years, knew as much pain and sorrow as she did, Kamiko knew he needed the help that she could give.
"You need to sleep now. You've had a hard day, you deserve the peace." Kamiko waved her hand and Kuno's vision was filled with a pleasing darkness.
"Oh crap! What happened to him?" Ryoga looked at Kuno, who was slumped in his seat.
"I... I don't know." Akane sat Kuno up and leaned his head on her shoulder, an action that stunned Ryoga. "I think he's asleep." An awful thought occurred to her. "I hope this isn't like at the airport."
Ryoga nodded; he didn't want things to end up like before either. His eyes remained glued to Kuno and Akane, hot jealousy running through his veins. It was always everyone except him. He was never anything but her friend...
"Sempai, wake up." Akane patted Kuno's cheek, confident that he was only asleep. "Come on, sempai."
"Is everything alright back there?"
"Huh?" Akane looked at the driver, who was glancing back at them in the rear-view mirror.
"Is your friend OK back there?"
"Uh, yeah... He's just kind of... narcoleptic. He does this every so often. Right, Ryoga?" Akane looked over at her other traveling companion, who was almost glaring at Kuno.
Ryoga nodded, but didn't bother to say anything. He knew it was wrong to be jealous, but it was so hard. Why didn't she care for him? How could she care more for Kuno than him? The depression, the anger began to well up within him.
Ryoga's eyes ticked back and forth between Akane and Kuno, then rested on the sleeping Kuno. Maybe with Kuno out of the picture, Akane would learn to love him. "A... Akane..."
"What is it, Ryoga?" Her attention was on Kuno and not on him.
"Akane, I..."
"Akane, what has happened?"
Ryoga looked sourly at Kuno.
"I don't know. You just fell forward. I think you were asleep. You're not sick again, are you?"
"No. I feel..." He tilted his head to one side, then the other. He concentrated briefly and saw the silver thread. "Fine."
"That's good. You scared me."
Kuno seemed to take notice of where his head was and sat up. "I scared myself."
"What?"
He looked at her, looking a little lost, a little frightened. "I will tell you at a later time."
Akane blinked twice. "Ohh kaay..."
Neither of them noticed Ryoga looking at them with open jealousy and even hatred.
"There! Did you feel it?"
The others looked at her blankly. "We felt nothing."
"Fools. I should have known better. You are far too limited in your sight." She looked in the flames, wishing they would show her... "It was slight, but that was most definitely it."
"That couldn't possibly..."
"It was! You can just sit here, looking for something you don't know anything about, but I'm going."
"But..."
"I know that was it. I've felt it before, I've done it before. Sheah." She stood up, the others watching her. "I'm going to tell him, even if you don't believe me."
The young woman left the circle of firelight, leaving the group of elders to watch her.
"I've found it! I've found it!" she exclaimed, bursting through the door of the ramshackle cabin.
"What is it, Loreanna?" the elder of the two men inside asked.
"A third! I felt it!"
The younger man, looking to be of comparable age to Loreanna, looked up, surprised. "How... Are you sure?" His green eyes shone in the dim light.
Loreanna nodded enthusiastically, her short hair bouncing.
The young man stood up quickly and took Loreanna by the shoulders. "Tell me! Where?"
"Not so rough, Isiah," she complained, holding his arms.
"I'm sorry," he replied, releasing her. "But, where?"
"It was Japan... Tokyo..."
"Japan," Isiah said thoughtfully. Something about Japan was bugging him, but he didn't know why. "Japan's an awfully long distance. I think we should prepare right away. What do you think, Lor?"
Loreanna nodded, her face deadly serious suddenly. "I think we should. Who knows what kind of trouble they're in."
"Isiah, are you sure? What if it's..."
"It's not him, Daren," Isiah said angrily. "It's not. Lor knows better."
Daren nodded. There was no use trying to dissuade Isiah once his mind was made up.
"I'm glad. I don't want to lose your friendship. You've done so much to help us."
"You won't," Daren said, his voice quiet and emotional. He rose and embraced Isiah. "You two take care."
It was a good thing Ranma hadn't been there. He would have gone through the roof, seeing her with Kuno's head on her shoulder like that. That was the one thing that told her Ranma cared, no matter what he did or said. There was a deep connection between the two of them that she didn't always understand, but wished she did.
She sighed wistfully and pulled out the phone. It seemed silly to use it when they were so close to home, but she really wanted to hear Ranma's voice. Akane fumbled with the phone, unsure if she should use it. "Sempai? Do you think I should..."
Kuno looked at her and the phone in her hand. "If you feel you must. I am sure your family would appreciate hearing that you are safe." he couldn't help himself from thinking, 'And I'm just baggage.'
Akane nodded, though she had seen the pain on his face. It was becoming an all too common thing and worried her. Maybe it had something to do with what he had said he would tell her...
She opened the phone, activated it and dialed her number. It rang three times before Nabiki answered.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Nabiki!"
"Akane? When are you coming back?" She didn't waste time with any pleasantries.
"As soon as possible. Did Kasumi tell you we got the statue?"
"Yeah...." Her voice had seemed to lose a little of its cheer.
Akane noticed. "What's wrong?"
"Well, just that after you called..."
"What? What happened? It wasn't Ranma was it?" She stopped to make sure she wouldn't panic.
"No. It's not Ranma. After you called, some people stopped by."
"Oh. What kind of people?"
"Some... not very nice people. They were looking for you," she said all matter-of-factly.
Akane's face paled. "Looking for me?"
That got Kuno's attention. His eyes narrowed.
"Yes. They said they'd be back only after Ranma, Daddy and Uncle Saotome pounded half of them into the ground." It had been a rather ugly sight... especially the way their bodies had simply disappeared, leaving nothing behind except a smoking crater.
"Oh no," Akane said quietly, her face slack. "Is everyone OK?"
Kuno's lip twitched, wanting to lift into a snarl.
"Yeah, we're all fine. But I wanted to make sure you were OK. You're SURE you're OK?"
"Yes. Fine. The statue's fine. We're on our way home now."
"That moron's taking care of you?"
Akane flushed a little. She probably shouldn't let her call him that, but she was still embarrassed about it, and that made her angry. Why should she be embarrassed about it? He had done everything possible to protect her. "Yes. He's fine," she said. "And he's not a moron," she added defiantly.
There was silence on the other end of the phone. Then, very hesitantly, "Whatever you say, sis."
Akane smiled satisfactorily. "We'll be there real soon, I promise. And say hello to Ranma for me."
There was more silence, then a quiet voice. "Hi, Akane."
"Ranma..." She heard Kuno sigh heavily. "How are you?"
"I'm good. So you're doing OK?"
"Yes. Fine. I'll tell you all about it when we get back," she answered, trying to sound optimistic even if she was still frightened. She knew things were far from over.
"Good. I'll be waiting to hear it." He sounded like he wanted to say something else, but didn't.
"Ranma..."
"Yes?"
"I..." Open feelings, let them out... she knew she could do it. "I'll be happy to see you." OK, so maybe she couldn't. Either way, Ranma sounded pleased when he spoke.
"Me too, Akane. Bye."
"Bye, Ranma." She switched off the phone and put it back in her pocket. Maybe, just maybe, this whole fiasco was a good thing. Maybe, when everything was back to normal, things would be better. There was no 'if' in her mind, only when.
She settled in the seat and counted the seconds until when they would be back and she would be able to see Ranma.
Unexpectedly, the cab began to slow, caught behind a long line of vehicles nearing a stop. The driver cursed under his breath.
"What is this stoppage? We have someplace we must be," Kuno demanded.
"If the cars in front of me aren't moving, then I can't either," the driver replied casually. He picked out some flashing lights from far ahead and assumed there had been a traffic accident. Not surprising with all the foreigners running around like they owned the city.
Kuno didn't like the situation. Being in the cab wasn't so bad, but sitting still was. Walking was a possibility, but it was a long walk and they were fairly tired. It was imperative that they return to the Tendo home, though he couldn't ask for their help in good conscience. He felt bad enough about Ryoga Hibiki following them around, even if it was by the boy's own choice.
Kuno felt a sudden urgency. He needed Akane to trust him and believe in his decision making. He needed her to believe in the things he was saying since that was the only way Kamiko could be heard. He turned to face as best he could in the close confines. "Akane?"
"What is it, sempai?" She was straining to see what was going on at the head of the jam.
"I must ask something of you, and I beg that you seriously consider what I am about to say."
Akane looked at him, surprised by his seriousness. "I will. What is it?"
"How... how do you feel about me?"
"Uh..." Akane had absolutely no idea what to say. "I... don't..."
Kuno closed his eyes and nodded. "As I thought. You hate me."
"No, that's not true. I don't hate anyone. I just think you... need help. And the same with your sister. Why would you think I hate you anyway?"
"Everyone else does, why should you be any different?" Kasumi probably hated him, even. "Do not be ashamed of your feelings. I am accustomed to it."
"I'm not like everyone else. I don't really like being angry or upset at people." Akane blushed a little, and looked at her hands. "That's why I get so... mad. I'm upset at them and myself." She always got upset at herself for never being able to let her feelings show like she really wanted. Upset that there were so many things that she wanted to say, but just couldn't; things she wanted to say to Ranma.
"I know you are not. That is why... You have always been so different, so... I could never, never force you to... stay with someone like me. You deserve so much more."
"But what about all those times at school?" All the challenges, all the fights, all the bouquets and declarations of love...
"You thought it was simply that you were of the fairer sex that my efforts lessened. It is untrue. I could never live with myself..."
"You did it so I wouldn't have to..." What was she thinking? She wouldn't have gone out with him even if he had beat her.
"Yes. You, in my company, would be like a rose sharing a garden with a dandelion. It is better that you are never subjected to my... worthlessness." He grimaced at the sound of the word. No matter what Kamiko said, her words could not override 17 years of being called less than human.
"Sempai, I don't know what to say."
"Please... please say that you will be my friend. That is all I ask." She didn't even have to be his friend, as long as she didn't ever think he was worthless. A person could only be rejected so many times before they think they ARE worthless, and his parents had succeeded in doing so when he was very young. He didn't need the one person that would talk to him to do it too.
"I'll be your friend, sempai." Simple as that. When she thought back to all those fights, she could remember the strange look on his face. She had always thought it was just him concentrating on the fight... But she had seen the same look on Ranma's face when she had left. It appeared to be intense concentration, but really it was pain. "I'm sorry. I will be your friend."
