[FFML] [Ranma][SI] Hybrid Theory Chapter 2

[Aaron Peori]

C&A Productions Presents

A Work of Blatant Self-Insertion


Hybrid Theory


Chapter 2: Numb


Ukyou stood in front of the archaic gate that led into the Tendo
compound. Akane was already stepping through the arch, moving without
hesitation. Of course, she had every reason to: this was her home. She knew
exactly what to expect beyond those doors. Ukyou... had only ever seen the
place
once. Still, she knew the layout of the building almost as well as if she'd
been
there repeatedly, thanks to her uninvited "guest"'s memories of the
so-called
Ranma 1/2 manga series.
"Ukyou," Akane's voice snapped her out of her reverie. "Are you coming
or not?" Akane motioned into the household. Ukyou felt herself smirking
self-
consciously at that. Aaron was apparently amused by the concept of being
invited
into the household. Still, his amusement faded slightly and the familiar
numbing
fog began to fill Ukyou's heart again. Her breath evened out and her heart
stopped pounding as her unwilling companion's influence spread through her
nerves like frost on a windowpane.
"Indeed," Aaron offered as he made Ukyou step through the gate into the
front yard. "I was just... caught off-guard by the reality of this. I've
been
looking for Ranma for... ten years."
Akane perked up at this. Aaron had purposefully let the information
slip. He and Ukyou had agreed to be secretive about the real reason they
were in
Nerima. At least, they would be until Ukyou figured out whatever actual
reason
she was here for. But the little slip had appeased Akane's curiosity and
allowed
Aaron to move them towards their goal with a minimum of interference.
"Do you know where Ranma is, now?"
"Well, no," Akane admitted with a shrug. "He and his father are staying
in the guest room. I could show you to there..."
"No," Ukyou spoke up. "I think... if you don't mind Akane, I'd rather do
this on my own."
"But Ukyou, I'm your friend, I can-"
Ukyou held up a finger, forestalling Akane's argument before it could
get started. "I just need to do this alone, Akane."
(As alone as we'll ever be until this is over.)
Akane nodded and sighed.

*

Ranma leaned against the cherry tree, looking up at the star-speckled
sky. It was so much more... empty here in the city. On the road, the stars
had
been everywhere. Too many to count, but they were always the same. They were
always there, guiding, illuminating... But here, in the city, the stars were
lost.
Ranma had never been a deep person. He didn't like to think of life in
the grand cosmic sense of things. Ranma was a man of action and instinct.
When
the world seemed to get confused and out of whack, Ranma knew he could
always
rely on his instincts to put him on the right path and his abilities to
allow
him to take whatever actions were necessary. Now, his instincts were telling
him
that this place wasn't for him. It wasn't that he felt more at home in the
country than the city; he had spent almost half his life in one town or
another.
Nah, it was more that this place was...well, for lack of a better word,
strange.
Every other time that he and the old man had settled down for a bit, Ranma
had
seen the signs of Genma being ready to leave at a moments notice. He had
always
seen Genma working on his latest money-making scheme, or been involved in
some
stupid adventure to acquire the secret teachings of some local martial arts
master.
Somehow, this time felt different. It was the first time Ranma could
ever remember his father ever being WELCOME somewhere, for one thing. Also,
despite the fact that this place was a dojo, Genma hadn't tried to convince
the
master here to show Ranma all his tricks. The old man was certainly making
himself comfortable, too. Ranma couldn't avoid the image of his father
somehow
taking root here. The idea of taking root anywhere didn't appeal to Ranma,
for a
number of reasons.
The biggest of those was the trio of lunatic lesbians that lived here
and that he was supposed to marry one of. The short-haired girl was the most
calculating. Ranma could smell a sneak from miles away. He had his dad to
thank
for THAT skill. And that one was a sneak, all right. One who looked out only
for
herself. The eldest was the most subtle about it. Trying to confuse you with
her
sweet and innocent act, only to pounce on you when you last expected it.
Worst
of all, she made decent food. Why did such a good cook have to be such a bad
person? But personally, the one Ranma disliked the most was the youngest,
the
little psychopath. That one just gave him the willies. The sooner he was out
of
her sight, the better.
The problem was that he was stuck here. His father just didn't see those
three nutcases the same way Ranma did. He had tried talking sense into his
father earlier, but the old man stayed stubborn no matter how much Ranma hit
him. He was beginning to get the sickening feeling that this whole situation
was
for real, and not just another of his father's elaborate con games.
Even putting aside getting his old man to agree to let him leave, there
was the question of where to go. There was only one real place Ranma wanted
to
go to, and unfortunately it was the one place he didn't feel safe journeying
toward. At least, not alone. He knew he could beat that -other- psycho girl
handily. But even he had to sleep sometime, and Shampoo had shown herself
more
than willing to attack him whenever he let his guard slip for a moment.
There had to be some way out of this. He found himself wishing that
someone would claim responsibility for it all, someone he could beat black
and blue to solve the whole problem. Ranma grunted and shielded his eyes
with
one hand. He didn't like thinking. There had to be something he could DO
about
this situation. Action, not thought, that was the key to keeping himself one
step ahead of the problems here. But what direction to go in?
"Ranma..."
The voice snapped Ranma out of his brooding. He sprang up to his
feet, cursing himself for allowing someone to come so close without him
noticing. That's what thinking did to you, throwing you off your game.
The boy who stood in the backyard with Ranma was shorter than him, with
long black hair and a boyishly handsome face. He was wearing a black school
uniform, with a harness around his right shoulder. Hanging on the back of
that
harness was a ridiculously oversized metal spatula with what looked like a
very
sharp edge to it. The boy was standing there, staring at Ranma with wide
eyes.
Yet the eyes were clouded, distant. It was like the boy was looking through
Ranma, not at him. Something about him was disturbingly familiar, but the
identity didn't leap to mind, so Ranma shrugged off the feeling.
"Who are you?" he asked cautiously.

*

"Who are you?"
Ukyou couldn't work up the willpower to answer him. Her knees felt weak
and her throat was dry. Nervously, she ran her fingers through her bangs -
and
stopped herself halfway through the gesture. That wasn't her. That was
Aaron.
Creeping into her mind, filling her posture and expression and movements
with
his little tics and foibles.
What was Ranma seeing on her face? Was he seeing the conflict in her
mind? Could he see her shock? Her mind refused to grasp what she was seeing.
This was Ranma. This was her Ranma. He was taller and older and more mature,
but
he was the same Ranma. She could see the child in his soft black eyes. She
could
hear the echoes of his pre-pubescent voice in his words. She could SMELL
him.
That same scent of woods and dust and old-sweat and mixed in was something
new, some subtle musk about him. If she reached out and touched him she
would
feel HIM, not some two-dimensional image of him. His body was round and full
and
there. His presence was unmistakable. This was Ranma Saotome. This was the
heir
to Anything Goes Martial Arts. This was the boy whom she had fallen in love
with
at the tender age of six and hated for the last ten years of her life.
Before her was the star of a popular manga and anime series.
She was a cartoon character.
(My god? Who AM I?)
Aaron felt Ukyou's reactions. His stomach lurched and twisted as she
went through the rollercoaster of emotions. He tried to pull back, to rein
in
her feeling. But he might as well have been trying to avert an avalanche
with a
twig. Ever since he was twelve Aaron had been learning to suppress his
desires
and feelings, for the good of others
(or so you told yourself)
and for his own well-being. But controlling Ukyou's emotions was
different. Her feelings were more alive, more intense than any Aaron had
felt
except one... Ukyou felt ALIVE in a way that Aaron had never experienced.
She
boiled over with desire and sadness and guilt and anger, a complex web of
personality that left Aaron baffled. How could she doubt herself now,
feeling
the way she did? She was more alive than Aaron had ever been.
Somehow, Ukyou felt herself growing more at ease with Aaron's
vindication of her... fundamental reality. He was right. She felt and lived
and
breathed. If you pricked her, did she not bleed? She was Ukyou Kuonji, no
matter
what passengers she had picked up along the way. And she was here. Here, at
last, with Ranma. The object of ten years of preparation and sacrifice was
now
within her reach.
What the hell was she supposed to do about it?
Ranma was growing uneasy in front of her. His body kept shifting
slightly. He looked like he wanted to raise his fists, but never got around
to
actually doing it. "Hey, you deaf? I asked you a question." Ranma grunted
and
turned his eyes away from Ukyou, apparently unable to stand her stare for
much
longer. She WAS staring. With a jerk she forced her eyes away from him. The
Tendo's backyard was quiet and serene in the starlight. Nobody was around.
They
were alone.
"I said, 'Who are you?'" Ranma was growing annoyed now.
"You don't... you don't remember at all, do you?" Ukyou spoke out loud.
Ranma stared at her quizzically for a moment, but then shook his head ever
so
slightly. He had forgotten her. Ukyou's hands clenched into fists, her
knuckles
cracking as they strained a harsh white. The old rage filled her again.
Abandoned. Alone. Mocked. Outcast.
Aaron came to her rescue. THIS emotion he understood. With consummate
ease he eased their breathing and closed their eyes. For a few seconds she
listened to the sound of her own heartbeat. The technique was really quite
simple, once you knew how to do it. The fire wasn't sealed away, it was
snuffed.
When she opened her eyes again Ukyou felt composed and relaxed. Distant.
"You don't remember your old buddy, Ucchan?"
Ukyou's voice was calm and detached, two feelings she wasn't sure she
wanted to be projecting at the moment.
"Ucchan..." Ranma stared at her. Then his eyes widened and she saw
recognition flare in his features. And in that exact moment she felt Aaron's
iron control crumble again and her heart started beating a mile a minute. He
was
smiling, genuinely smiling and happy. He was even beginning to laugh. It was
the
exact same laugh. The laugh of a child with no worries and no limits.
"Ucchan!" Ranma cried out and grabbed her by the shoulders. "It... it
really is you! Wow!" Ukyou blushed as his hands gripped her tightly. She
could
feel Aaron's displeasure, his physical unease at the closeness.
Aaron shrugged them out of Ranma's grip and took a step back. It was
best to retain some distance between them, especially since Ranma didn't
know
(how much Ukyou wanted him to touch her)
that Ukyou was a girl. The boy was a bit touchy about such distinctions
at the moment. With his own curse and all. It was best not to risk anything,
and
he did mean ANYTHING, that could expose their secret.
"Hi, Ranchan," the words sounded so right in Ukyou's mouth and so wrong
in Aaron's. "It's been... a long time." Ukyou allowed them to smile, a bit
nervously.
"Wow, it has!" Ranma clapped and took another step closer to her. "You
don't know how glad I am to see you, Ucchan. All the people here are crazy!
I
was beginning to think that there wasn't a single good thing in Tokyo.
Now...
this is great!"
Aaron could only stare at Ranma in shock and dismay. After a moment his
heart started pounding again. The boy was so exuberant, so alive. It was
just
the way Ukyou had remembered him, and just the way Aaron had imagined him.
It
sent flashes of heat and cold up and down his spine, the way he was looking
at
her. The way he was talking about her. Even if he didn't know, he was saying
all
the right words.
Then Ukyou remembered what Akane had said. She and Ranma had been at
each other's throats, and Ukyou was looking for a way to prevent the
inevitable
engagement. Akane thought the best way to do that was for Ukyou to keep
pretending to be her boyfriend. But Ukyou knew a better way to help
(yourself)
Akane out. She could assert her own claim. Ukyou knew she could play
Genma like a flute. Aaron knew all his buttons, so therefore Ukyou did as
well.
If she wanted to claim Ranma as the sole fiancee, then nothing could stop
her.
It would help out
(Who do you think you're trying to kid, here?)
...it would help out Ukyou.
"So, where have you been, what have you been up to?"
"I..." Ukyou paused at Ranma's question. She could tell him the whole
truth, right here. She could tell him about her being a girl, and about
hiding
her femininity so that she could
(preserve yourself...)
avoid the humiliation he had left her in. And after she got through
convincing him that this transformation was not the result of Jyusenkyo, he
would say the words. She KNEW he would say the words. Telling her she was
cute.
She was, despite her ten year campaign to denounce and destroy her feminine
self, still attractive and desirable. And she knew she could have him, if
she
wanted to. Aaron knew how to do it. Aaron knew that patience and kindness
and
taking it slow... not forcing him to do anything, always making it -seem-
like
he was in control... yes. It could work. The fairytale ending...
Aaron suddenly pushed them away from Ranma. Ranma staggered as Ukyou's
hand thumped into his chest and
(No!)
he fell against the cherry tree. Aaron felt his self-control slipping.
His eyes squeezed shut as the flood of sensation from Ukyou's subconscious
threatened to overwhelm him. He was losing it, losing his sense of self
piece by
piece to her... her stupid senseless physical NEEDS! Needs that were base
and
disgusting at that. How could she risk this? How could he fight it? Then he
felt
it. Not her, but him. His anger. His rage. He had suppressed and controlled
it
for so long, but now she was wearing that away in her silly, selfish little
desire. Well, fine. She wanted to give into emotions, then it was only fair
she
give into his as well!
Ukyou swayed under Aaron's mental onslaught, her hand flying to her
head. She felt dizzy. Her head was splitting. It was like the mother of all
migraines, except there was no relief from this. No retreat from it. The
clash
of two different emotions, two different desires in her head was tearing her
apart. Fuck this! This was her life! She would live it the way she pleased,
and
fuck Aaron and the horse he rode in on!
Ukyou felt Ranma grab her around the shoulders, and she snapped her eyes
open again. He was worried about her. Ranma was being sweet and... and what
right did he have to think he could solve her problems anyway? No. Wait. She
shook her head. She didn't mind Ranma touching her, perhaps even... even...
even
if he was a deceitful little prick! What kind of a friend was Ranma, that he
would just abandon her and never even think about her for ten years? He
didn't
care about anyone but himself. Even if he did touch her THAT way it was only
because he... no... he... he wasn't like that. He could be a decent person.
He
just usually wasn't.
Ukyou felt her knees weaken as Ranma suddenly found himself supporting
her weight. But she was seeing red. She could stand up for herself. She
didn't
NEED him. How could he touch her without her permission? He was no better
than
that freak Tsubasa, demanding, possessive... She felt dizzy. He was leaning
in
closer, trying to say something she couldn't hear through the mental
cacophony.
But words weren't what reached her. It was a flash of thought, a neon
daydream image of Ranma leaning even closer, pressing his lips against hers.
That single image cut through the fog of anger like a gale. She clung to it,
focused on it. Pursued the daydream to its logical and inevitable
conclusion.
Imagined the rough texture of Ranma's fingers, as he helped her remove this
boyish facade once and for all-
Aaron gagged. His anger was faltering, and in its place he felt only a
sick sort of warmth. The images suddenly flooding their connected mind were
primal, disgusting, made him sick just to feel them. Submitting to those
alien
feelings struck at the core of his being. Aaron felt his gorge rising... and
before Ukyou could stop him, he submitted to the vicious thought and didn't
even
try to repress the reaction.

*

Ranma wasn't sure how to react when Ukyou opened his mouth and promptly
vomited into his face.
On the one hand, he was now covered in vomit. On the other, Ukyou was
obviously sick. Pride or concern? Ranma debated the concepts briefly, but
decided it was best to go with his instincts. And his instincts were saying:
"GAH! I'M COVERED IN VOMIT!"
With a cry Ranma dropped Ukyou and leapt into the nearby koi pond. He
felt the water splash around him, and began to wring it into his hands.
Moving
with inhuman speed, he rapidly scrubbed his face clear of the offending
substance.
Once he was finished Ranma turned his gaze back towards his old friend.
Ukyou hadn't fallen completely to the ground. He was kneeling in the grass
where
Ranma had left him, staring at Ranma in that same detached manner. His right
hand was clutching the top of his head and the left was covering his mouth.
He
was blushing beet-red in embarassment.
"Geez, what's the matter, Ucchan? You sick?"
"Something... something like that," Ukyou spoke up softly. His voice
seemed to change cadence in mind-phrase, going from cold to shy in the space
of
a single syllable. "Did you just turn into a girl?" he asked, in an oddly
unsurprised voice. Ranma stared down at himself and confirmed that yes, that
was
indeed his current gender. With a sigh, he pulled himself out of the pond
and
sat on a nearby stone. He might as well get the explanations over with.

*

"So, this is your mysterious boyfriend?"
Ranma relaxed against the wall as the Tendo clan gathered around the
dinner table. His father was sitting opposite him, giving long nervous
glances
at Ukyou. For her part, Ukyou seemed content to ignore Genma completely. In
fact, she seemed to be ignoring virtually everybody at the moment. His old
buddy
had recovered from his earlier sickness, but now he was just sitting near
the
door, almost oblivious to everyone else. His eyes had that same distant,
veiled
quality that he remembered from when he had first shown up in the yard.
It was weird. Ukyou had barely even reacted when Ranma had explained
and demonstrated his curse. The only response out of his mouth had been
"Indeed." Now he was just sitting back, responding only to direct questions.
"Yes," Akane was saying with a fierce nod. "So, as you can see, I have
no intention of marrying Ranma at all."
"Wait a minute..." Ranma held up his hand. "You two know each other?"
Ranma gestured between Akane and Ukyou.
"We know each other very well," Akane said, with a sneer in Ranma's
direction. "We're dating." Ranma could only stare in open mouthed shock at
this
proclamation. Ukyou... and Akane? He was having a hard time picturing it.
Ukyou
was such a, well, Ukyou was a nice guy. He didn't deserve a psycho like
Akane.
"That's what you say," Nabiki pointed out with a flip of her hand. "But
we've yet to hear anything from your knight in shining cookware over there."
"Nabiki has a point," Soun said with a stern nod. "I know very little
about this person who is supposed to be dating my youngest daughter."
Ranma looked over at Ukyou, expecting some response. But Ukyou was
only twirling a small spatula between his fingers absently and staring off
into space.
"Well, Ukyou, is there anything you'd like to say?" Kasumi took the
initiative with the reticent guest.
"Huh?" Ukyou looked at Kasumi, cocking his head to the side in
puzzlement. Everyone was looking at him expectantly. "I'm sorry, I don't
understand the question. What exactly do you want to know?"
"Let's start with the truth about whether you are dating my daughter."
"Dad! Don't you trust your own flesh and blood?"
"Ah, he's just being protective," Ukyou said with a shrug. He ran his
hands through his bangs, pushing them out of his eyes. "To answer your
question..." He paused. "I like Akane, and I want to hang out with her more.
If
she wants to call that dating, that's her prerogative."
"How non-committal of you," Nabiki drawled.
"We've only known each other for two weeks, Nabiki," Ukyou pointed out.
"This isn't exactly Romeo and Juliet. I prefer to let my relationships
develop
slowly, and go wherever they happen to go. If Akane wants this to grow into
something more serious, then that's up to her." For some reason, Akane
snickered
at this statement. Ranma frowned briefly in her direction. The girl must
think
her whole relationship with Ukyou was some kind of joke. Ukyou was obviously
stuck on her, from the way he kept placing all the emphasis on Akane's
importance in the relationship. Now Ranma -really- knew that Akane didn't
deserve him. There had to be some way he could get Ukyou out of this...
without
getting himself more involved with the black-haired tomboy than he had to.
"You're lying!" Genma suddenly burst into the conversation. He was now
standing and pointing his meaty finger into Ukyou's face. The boy had turned
his
attention to the older man, and was holding his throwing spatula in a much
more
steady grip. "You can't possibly be dating Akane! This is just some scheme
to sabotage the union of the two schools!"
"Indeed?" Ranma could have sworn he saw frost form in the wake of
Ukyou's response, so cold his tone had been. "And why is that, Mr. Saotome?
Do
you know something about me that you want to share with the rest of the
people
here? Something special about you and me, and the relationship we share,
that
you think the Tendos ought to know? Hmmm?" Genma seemed to freeze solid at
Ukyou's question. Ranma frowned and looked back and forth between the two.
Ukyou's face never changed expression, retaining that placid but dangerous
flatness. Genma's, on the other hand, seemed to be going through every kind
of
expression in the book as rapidly as he could possibly form them. Not to
mention
the beads of sweat slowly trickling down from his kerchief to drip off the
end
of his nose. Pops was definitely hiding something.
"Well, do you want to say why Akane and I can never be together? Why you
think Ranma and her are SO much better for each other? All about the real
truth
about us?"
"No... No!" Genma sat down and stared at Ukyou hard. He began to pull at
the collar of his dirty white gi. A sudden gasp caught Ranma's attention and
he
flipped his attention to Akane. She was staring at Genma, and her face had
drained of all blood. Then, she began to shake. Shake, and grit her teeth,
and
clench her hands into white-knuckled fists. Her eyes narrowed at Genma.
Ranma
suddenly found imself desiring the wall he leaned against to be further away
from her.
"You... YOU BASTARD!" Akane yelled suddenly. "So -that's- what you did
to Ukyou!"
"No!" Genma waved his hands in the air between them. "You have it all
wrong. It wasn't my fault! I just couldn't stand to turn down such a golden
opportunity!"
"What you did... is UNFORGIVEABLE!" Akane screamed and grabbed the table
with both hands. Ranma watched her lift it easily over her head and bring it
down on his old man with enough force to crack the floorboards. Everyone
else,
including Ukyou, had thought to retrieve their rice bowls from the table
first.
But Akane wasn't finished there. She drew back the table again and brought
it
down once more. Genma gave a weak moan of pain as the floorboards further
protested their ill-treatment. Then Akane hit him again. This time the table
snapped in two down the center. As Akane lifted up her arms for a fourth
strike,
Ranma watched Ukyou step in between the two of them.
"That's enough, Akane," Ukyou said in a low, toneless voice.
"But... but he..." Akane was seething so much she seemed to have lost
the ability speak.
"What he did was between us," Ukyou said slowly. "He's not worth it,
Akane." This seemed to calm Akane down a bit. Ranma found himself staring at
the
two of them. Geez, what could Genma have done to Ucchan that was so bad?
"Besides, if you kill him, I won't get my chance to pay him back
personally."
Ukyou quipped with an easy smile. Ranma found himself sighing in relief.
Ukyou's
entire posture had changed, and his face had suddenly become animated and
vibrant. This was more like the Ucchan Ranma remembered. Akane looked at
Ukyou's
face for a few seconds, and then she started giggling and nodded.
Ukyou turned around to retrieve a piece of broken table, and held it up
towards Kasumi with a raised eyebrow. Kasumi surveyed the living room, then
sighed and gestured outside. Ukyou smiled and held out his hand for Akane's
half of the former table. Sheepishly, Akane handed the large wooden club
over.
Then Ukyou noticed Genma was beginning to stir and moan. With a shrug he
clubbed him with Akane's half of the table once, soundly, on the head. Genma
didn't continue reviving after that.
"Who gave you permission to regain consciousness?" he asked flippantly
as he tossed the table halves outside. This caused Akane to giggle a bit
again,
and even Ranma found himself chuckling softly at the sight. Its not like he
hadn't seen Genma take worse punishment. Heck, Ranma had done worse to the
old
man himself a few times.
"Now, young man, I'm not sure I approve much of you beating up my old
friend," Soun pointed out as sternly as he could once Ukyou was no longer
armed
with the table halves. Ukyou just shrugged and went back to sitting down
near
the door.
"I'm just glad Akane found a young man who suits her so well," Kasumi
added vibrantly. This caused Akane to chuckle again. Nabiki seemed less
pleased
with the idea. She was glaring at Ranma and muttering softly to herself.
Ranma
frowned right back. Like he had any intention of getting himself hitched to
any
of the screwballs in this house. And if he had anything to say about it,
neither
would Ucchan.

*

Ukyou noticed Ranma following her as she leapt across the rooftops of
Nerima ward. She cursed inwardly. She had hoped to avoid having to tell him
about what was wrong with her until she and Aaron had a chance to work out a
plausible story. She still wasn't even sure she wanted to go through with
any
kind of story. No matter what she told him, it would be a lie. And the truth
was
unacceptable. Aaron didn't much care if Ranma knew, but she knew that
telling
him the whole truth was likely to frighten him off at best, or make him
think
she was insane at worst.
Then again, was she really not insane already?
There was no point in debating the question internally. Aaron was
quiescent at the moment. Not silent. It was impossible to escape the
constant
mental static of his thoughts. Just passive. He seemed uninclined to think
about
what had happened in the yard back there, despite Ukyou's attempts to pry
information out of him.
Personally, Ukyou thought he was afraid. Afraid of himself. Ukyou
couldn't blame him. But then, she couldn't forgive him either.
Finally Ukyou stopped and allowed Ranma to catch up with her. If Aaron
wasn't willing to talk with her - as much as "talking" covered what they did
-
then she would just take the chance to talk with Ranma.
"Hey, Ucchan, wait up!" Ranma called needlessly. Ukyou only smiled and
waved at him as he settled down on the roof Ukyou had stopped on. "With
everything that happened at the dojo, I never got a chance to talk with
you."
"Indeed," Ukyou said and then frowned momentarily before forcing herself
to smile cheerfully. Ranma was standing under the soft moonlight. His dark
hair
glimmered in the silver radiance, and his eyes seemed to shine with their
own
inner fire. Even as she found herself admiring the view of him, she felt her
stomach stirring and writhing. She sighed and slumped a little. Aaron may
have
been acting quiet, but he was still willing to employ his weapon if she
got too... mushy.
"I'd almost think you were avoiding me," Ranma laughed and rubbed the
back of his head.
"Well..." Ukyou suddenly felt a flash of inspiration hit her. She almost
didn't use it, because she knew where it came from. But it was too good to
waste... too perfect to discard, no matter which of them had thought it up.
"I
was avoiding you, Ranma."
Ranma blinked and opened his mouth slowly, then closed it again. Wait
for it, Ukyou felt herself thinking. She wanted to fly through the entire
explanation, but the number one thing about telling a good lie was pacing.
Allow
the mark to reel himself in.
"What do you mean? Do you... not like me?" Ranma said slowly.
"Actually, it's exactly the opposite, Ranma." Ukyou turned away. Mostly
so that he couldn't see her face. It wasn't that she couldn't feign the
proper
emotions. Heck, in many cases she would actually be feeling them. The
problem
was that she was beginning to feel like a worm. Stringing Ranma along like
this.
She could have told herself it was for his own good, but there was an
annoying
voice in the back of her head which wasn't letting her cling to such a
tempting
illusion. "You aren't the only one of us who is cursed."
"W-what?"
Ukyou reached up and unbuttoned the top of her shirt, moving slowly. She
could hear Ranma's feet shift on the tiles as he backed away from her.
Still,
she had committed to her course of action, and Aaron was in agreement for
once.
Soon she was pulling down her shirt, revealing the taut bandages along her
back
to Ranma. "This is just part of my curse, Ranma."
"You're... hurt?"
"No, Ranma, this form you see is a disguise. In reality..." she spun
abruptly to face him, allowing him to see her tighly bound breasts for the
first
time. Ranma's eyes snapped open as he did his best impression of a fish.
Ukyou
felt herself flushing in mingled embarrassment and excitement. Still, that
queasy feeling remained in the pit of her stomach, so she quickly pulled the
shirt back together to conceal herself from him. "In reality, I'm a girl."
Ukyou double-stepped back to avoid the sudden stream of hot water as
Ranma tried to up-end a kettle over her. She sighed and lashed out with her
fist, smacking him on the side of the skull. "You idiot! This has nothing to
do
with Jyusenkyo!"
"But... my good old buddy, Ucchan..."
"Was a girl all along, dumbass."
Ranma seemed to need a moment to digest this. Ukyou waited patiently.
Finally Ranma rubbed his eyes and looked at her real hard.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes..." she sighed again. "I'm sure, Ranma. I'm really a girl. I was
born a girl. I was a girl when we first met and a girl when you aban... when
you
left." She concentrated for a moment. What was some memory only she and
Ranma
would share? Something even that asshole in the back of her skull didn't
know
about? Oh... perfect... "I was a girl that day we went to the hotsprings
outside
the village. That's why I kept beating you up every time you tried to get in
the
bath with me."
"It was?" Ranma blinked. "I just thought you really wanted to spar that
day."
"Obviously," Ukyou sighed into her hands. "Didn't you ever wonder why I
kept using the girl's restrooms when we were kids?"
"Uh..." Ranma scratched his brow. "I never noticed. Back then, I used to
just mostly do my business in the bushes..."
Ukyou hit him again, lightly.
Ranma rubbed his head absently, but was now slowly nodding. "So...
you're a girl..." Then Ranma shrugged and grinned. "Well, I guess that's
okay.
You certainly aren't like any girl I've ever met, though."
"That's part of the problem," Ukyou pointed out as she stepped back. Her
voice was choked up with emotion, but her head was perfectly clear. Aaron's
numbing influence had filled her mind again. He didn't want them messing
this
up, and was more than happy to help out in the acting department. Apparently
a
dozen years pretending to be more...normal...had made him quite the actor.
Ukyou
was almost glad for his help. Almost. "I'm cursed like you are Ranma, but in
a
slightly different way."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm really a girl... but I have to pretend to be a guy."
"Have to pretend... but why?"
"I'd rather not get into the specifics," Ukyou waved her hand through
the air. "The gist of it is that... some bastard cursed me. Now, whenever I
try
to act or be like a girl... I get sick. Really sick."
"Sick?" Ranma frowned. "Like earlier this evening?"
"Except it can be worse. I could really hurt myself." She turned and
looked out across the sea of houses. "Even my thoughts aren't safe. My
feelings..." Ukyou allowed some of her real anger at the situation to creep
into
her voice. But the anger was cold, like back in the house with Genma. "I
can't
even risk feeling like a woman until I'm cured."
"But wait. You were acting like a guy back at the house," Ranma pointed
out as he scratched the back of his neck again.
"Ah Ranma," Ukyou turned and punched him softly in the arm. "You're such
a clueless idiot. Don't ever change."
"Clueless?" Ranma blinked. He obviously had no idea what Ukyou was
talking about. Ukyou found herself gazing into his eyes... and then was
forced
to look away again as her stomach roiled violently. Damn, it would be so
easy to
catch his heart if that bastard Aaron wasn't there refusing to go along with
it.
"It's not important, Ranma," Ukyou pointed out as she slipped her hand
over her mouth. Ranma stepped closer to her and she held her hand up between
them and mimed feeling a bit sicker, even if she wasn't feeling ill at all.
"What is important, is that I'm just as cursed as you are. Maybe even worse.
You
can at least act like a boy when you're in that girl's body. Me, I have to
spend
the rest of my life living a life I never wanted to live..."
"Ukyou," Ranma's voice was soft and clear. "I... are you serious?"
"Of course I'm serious!" she spat. Her voice was full of frost and
malice. She took a deep breath, listened to her heart beat for a moment.
Anger
wouldn't serve her well right now. Even if Ranma did appear to like them
with a
bit of a temper... Ukyou forced her mind away from that line of thought. It
wouldn't do her any good at the moment.
"I'll... I'll get that jerk for you, Ucchan!" Ranma suddenly cried out.
Ukyou felt herself spun in place to face him as the taller boy latched onto
her
shoulders in a grip that was both firm and gentle. "I swear it! Whoever did
this
to you... I'll give them hell!"
"Ranma... that's sweet. And don't think I'm not tempted to let you..."
Ukyou sighed. A vicious little part of her imagined Ranma beating Aaron into
a
bloody pulp. Aaron didn't even flinch, mainly because he knew Ukyou would
never
go through with it. She may hate him for what he was making her do, but she
couldn't seriously blame him. Besides... after the car crash, she doubted
anything much scared Aaron as far as physical pain went. She shuddered in
remembered agony of that day... that last day. No, best not to dwell on
that,
either.
"The fact is, the man who is responsible for this is beyond your
ability to touch." She looked down at her feet. "He's already dead."
"Ukyou! Did you..."
"No. He died... a long time ago. I had nothing to do with it."
"Geez, that sucks," Ranma muttered slowly. "I was all set to beat up
SOMEBODY."
Ukyou laughed.

*

"School?"
"Of course! It's the same school Akane and Nabiki go to," Kasumi added
cheerfully, as she handed him a boxed lunch. He reached out and snatched it
from
her hands like he would snatch an apple from a snake's mouth. He may not
trust
the girl as far as he could spit, but Ranma never turned down free food.
Which
reminded him, he would have to see if Ukyou still made those delicious
okonomiyaki.
"Right, see you there!" Nabiki called out from the front gate.
"Nabiki, wait a moment." She slid to a halt with a sigh as her father
stepped out of the house. A rolled up newspaper was tucked under his arm and
he
had a serious-looking frown on his face. Ranma cocked his head to the side
at
the man's gait. Last night, he could have sworn the man was spineless. But
he
was moving like a serious warrior at the moment. "I think you should walk
with
Ranma to school."
"Daddy..." Nabiki moaned. "Why do I have to walk with him to school?"
"Don't argue with me on this," Soun gripped the newspaper under his arm.
"This isn't just for the sake of the schools."
"Huh?"
Soun flipped out the paper and displayed it to her. Ranma read the
headline quickly. "Foreigner Found Murdered In Police Box," the huge title
read.
The paper was too far away and Soun held it up too briefly for Ranma to
catch
any of the story. Apparently Nabiki felt the same way, since she stalked
over
and snatched the paper from her father's hands. She gazed over the paper for
a
moment. Ranma slipped over and snuck a glance over her shoulder. Before
Ranma
could get very far, she rolled up the paper in her hands and used it to
smack
her father over the head.
"Oh Daddy, you silly little worrywart," she said in an exasperated tone.
"This happened all the way out by Narita. That's nowhere near here!"
"Well, still," Soun wrung his hands, his fierce warrior expression
melting under his daughter's assault.
"I think I'm safe enough walking through broad daylight with crowds of
other students along an open road in a nice neighbourhood halfway across the
city from the first murder in six MONTHS in Tokyo."
"Uh, well..."
"I'll walk Ranma to school," Akane piped up suddenly. Everyone turned
their attention to her, especially Ranma. She was holding her school bag in
one
hand and was giving Ranma a long, careful stare. Ranma frowned back at her.
What
was she up to now?
"Thanks, Akane! I owe you one," Nabiki called as she fled through the
gate.
"You're welcome," Akane called back. Then she turned her attention back
to Ranma. "Well, are you coming? We don't have all day."
"I'm not ready yet!" Ranma pointed out. Only to have his father shove
his packed school bag into his face. Ranma sighed and grabbed the pack from
him.
There was no use grumbling about it. The old man had this thing about
schooling.
He'd even delayed a few of their trips for a few months, just long enough
for
Ranma to earn his credits and move on. With a sigh, he followed Akane out of
the
building.


*


Ranma strode along the top of the fence as he followed Akane to the
school. His bookbag was slung behind his back, and he kept an eye on the
slowly
accumulating clouds overhead. Ever since his curse, Ranma had gained a new
appreciation for watching the skies. Plus, it kept him from interacting with
Akane in any significant way, which was a plus.
"So, Ranma..." Akane started. Ranma sighed. So much for that. "I think
we need to talk, before we get to school."
"Ain't nothin' to talk about," Ranma grumbled. "I don't like you, you're
a psycho tomboy with a breast fetish."
"I am NOT a psycho tomboy!" Akane shouted and swung her bookbag at his
feet. Ranma nimbly danced over the few strikes until Akane got tired with
trying
to trip him into the nearby canal.
"But you didn't deny the breast fetish!" Ranma laughed while pulling
down one eyelid and sticking his tongue at her.
"I don't...I'm not like that!" Akane protested loudly.
"Oh right," Ranma grumbled. "That why you're takin' advantage of Ukyou's
problem so blatantly?"
"Wha-what?"
"Don't think I don't know what you're really up to with my best buddy!"
Ranma snapped. "Ucchan ain't got no choice than to do what she's doin'. You
do,
so don't expect me to forgive you."
"Forgive me? It was Ukyou's idea! All of it." Akane growled. "Not that I
expect you to understand. You just don't know the whole truth at all, do
you."
"Whole truth?"
"About you and Ukyou, and your father, and the connection between all
three of you."
"What does pop have to do with Ukyou?"
"Only everything!"
"Yeah right," Ranma shrugged. "You're blowing smoke."
"Oh really?" Akane sneered. "Tell me, Ranma, how much do you remember
about your mother?"
"My mother?" Ranma glared at her. "What does she have to do with this,
you tomboy?"
Akane swung at him a few times, which Ranma nimbly evaded. Then she
smiled and smacked her fist into the fence under his feet. Ranma blinked as
the
chain-link buckled under her blow. He suddenly found himself without support
under his dancing legs. With a cry he plummeted down, breaking the surface
of
the drainage canal with a resounding splash.
Ranma climbed out of the water with a sigh. A single leap propelled him
over the damaged fence and into the street next to Akane.
"Now look what you did," Ranma grumbled as he pulled off his shirt to
wring it out.
"Ack!" Akane covered her eyes. Paused. Then rushed over and started
trying to grab Ranma. "Have you no feminine modesty?"
"Uh, no?" Ranma deadpanned as he dodged around the girl's attempts to
grab him. Damn, his center of gravity kept shifting in this shape. He had
almost
been grabbed that one time. "And can't you stop trying to molest me for a
minute?"
"Just put your shirt on and I'll stop trying to conceal you from
view!"
Ranma muttered to himself but did as she asked. It was better than
dodging her freaky violent advances all day. Akane sighed, obviously in
disappointment. She turned her nose up on Ranma and started walking again.
Ranma
shrugged at the girl's behaviour and followed.
"So, tell me about your mother," Akane started up again after a few
steps.
"Didn't we just go through this?"
"Do you want me to dump you into the canal again?"
"Fine, fine..." Ranma snapped. He wasn't really worried about Akane
besting him in battle. He was just worried about having to fight her as a
girl.
Who knew what perverted thoughts ran around in that dim little girl brain?
"My
mother..." Ranma trailed off.
He realized that this was the first time he had even thought about his
mother in years. His father never brought her up, and never seemed to pine
for
her in any special way. Then again, Ranma had never seen him out chasing
skirts.
Though if all girls acted like Akane and her sisters, he could understand
why
the old man would avoid the problem.
"I... don't really remember my mother," Ranma began slowly. His voice
was soft and steady. He noticed Akane looking at him over her shoulder. "I
just
always assumed she was dead. Pops never talked about her."
"You never met her?"
"No."
"How... interesting."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ranam snapped, a bit irritably.
"Just that it's interesting," Akane snapped right back. Ranma grumbled
and crossed his arms - or tried to, those damn things on his chest kept
getting
in the way. "Look, Ranma..." Akane's voice had changed tone completely.
There
was no hostility in her words, just a sort of... calm acceptance. "I think
we
got off to a bad start."
"And whose fault is that?"
Somehow Akane managed to smack him in the head with her bookbag before
Ranma could react. He glared at her and rubbed the sore spot on his forehead
while she turned around with an audible "hmpf".
"I'm trying to be the bigger person here!" Akane snapped over her
shoulder.
"Whatever..." Ranma slipped his arms behind his head again. For some
reason, seeing him walking in that pose caused Akane to glare balefully but
she
turned away from him again to see where she was going.
"I was just going to say that I don't really blame you for what happened
to Ukyou," Akane began again. She was talking softly. "It was just your
father,
taking advantage of both of you at the same time." Ranma stopped in
mid-step.
What was Akane talking about? Did she know something about what had happened
to
Ukyou that Ranma didn't? And if that was even possible, why would Ukyou
reveal
it to AKANE, of all people?
"Let's just say I consider you a neutral party in all this mess," Akane
pointed out as she flipped her long hair from one shoulder to the other. "I
don't really know how I can prove any of this, and Ukyou asked me to stay
out of
it anyway. But just know that I know exactly what's going on, even if you
don't."
Ranma blinked in confusion. Just then, he noticed the clock tower of the
school coming into view around the next corner. It was just like the clock
tower
at any other school, anywhere else in Japan. He secretly suspected somebody
went
around with a giant cookie-cutter and just stamped these things into
existence.
Oh well, at least in a few moments he wouldn't have to worry about hanging
around with the mercurial Tendo sister anymore.
It was about then that he realized he was about to walk into the school
grounds and he was currently female. Just great. Now everyone he met was
going
to consider him some freak, and he had she-of-the-violent-temper to thank
for
it.
Ranma's ears perked up as he heard a loud retort of wood off metal.
Akane seemed to notice as well, but she just sighed as she walked into the
yard.
He could see a smallish crowd of students just beyond the front gate,
obviously
watching something.
"Hold still, you vile miscreant!" an unfamiliar voice cried angrily from
within the group. Another retort of wood off metal followed.
"I think that would probably be pretty stupid, actually," a more
familiar voice said back in a familiar uninflected tone. Ukyou was involved
in
some sort of fight. Without a glance at Akane or a word in her direction
Ranma
took two steps and launched himself through the air, easily clearing the
five
meter span across the street so he could land atop the school wall.
From his new vantage Ranma cold see the entire courtyard. It was pretty
standard. A few trees along the sides and placed sporadically across the
manicured lawn. A concrete path leading up to the three story building.
Ranma
quickly memorized the layout of the area, just in case. The big attraction
was
near the center of the grounds. Ukyou and some guy in samurai robes were
dueling
back and forth across the concrete path. The other guy had the advantage of
height, and obviously knew how to use the wooden sword rather well, but
calling
it a duel was giving him a lot of credit.
Ukyou was spinning around his assaults, deflecting each of his strikes
with her twirling spatula. She was even using the unwieldy weapon to parry
attacks that wouldn't have even threatened her. She was playing with him.
"You cannot win! My victory is inevitable, why not just lay down your
arms and admit it to yourself?" the taller boy crowed pompously. Apparently,
he
didn't realize what was going on.
"Indeed?" Ukyou casually deflected another four or five strikes. "You'll
have to prove your hypothesis, then."
"My what?"
"Ukyou!"
Ranma snapped his head to the side and watched as Akane pushed through
the screen of on-lookers. She had a smile on her face, but was still shaking
her
head back and forth.
"I'm kind of busy, Akane. Can this wait?" Ukyou frowned and stepped to
the side, dodging one of her enemy's strikes at the last instant. The boy
tipped
forward, unbalanced by the sudden lack of blocking force. Ukyou spun around
him
and twirled her spatula like a staff. The ring opposite her blade impacted
with
the back of his cranium. The boy's eyes crossed and his slight tip turned
into a
full topple. "Okay, I'm finished."
It was true, the boy wasn't rising from his induced slumber.
"You know I can handle him on my own, right?"
"Hey, it wasn't my fault!" Ukyou protested, in a much more animated
manner than she had held during the fight. "I was just waiting here at
school
for you guys to show up when he attacked me."
"Right..." Akane sighed. "And the thought he would attack you just
didn't occur to you?"
"Well, maybe..." Ukyou giggled a bit.
Ranma frowned and leapt from the top of the wall. He landed in front of
the crowd of students and began to walk up to Ukyou with an easy slouch to
his
steps. He heard the sudden increase in noise behind him, but dismissed it as
irrelevant.
"Heya, Ucchan!" Ranma greeted easily.
"Indeed," Ukyou smiled back. Ranma leaned back once he was within
talking distance of his old friend, lacing his arms behind his neck once
more.
Ukyou's smile was really quite cute. It was a wonder anybody mistook her for
a
guy.
"What's this?" Ranma poked the unconscious teenager on the ground with
his toe idly. The boy shifted a little in response, then fell still again.
"Nice
work, by the way."
"Problem not," Ukyou replied with a shrug. "But I have to give him most
of the credit. I've been fighting him off and on for over a week. He never
changes patterns, never adapts to others styles. Once you know how he
fights,
it's rather easy to beat him."
"I guess," Akane said as she nodded and rubbed her chin. "That would
explain it."
"Whatever," Ranma shrugged. "It was still a good takedown. Not often
you get a one-shot KO in our business." He looked at Ukyou and smiled slyly.
"Maybe I should test just how good you've gotten in the last ten years,
Ucchan?"
"Aw man, first Akane now the new babe! This guy has all the luck,"
someone cried from behind Ranma. The boy-in-girlflesh flicked a glance over
his
shoulder and saw a few of the boys near the front row crying streams of
tears.
One oily haired kid was patting another blond-haired boy on the back and
making
'there, there' noises. Ranma turned his attention back to Ukyou, not really
sure what they were so upset over.
"I see you couldn't avoid water this morning," Ukyou commented
sardonically.
"Yeah, blame this psycho tomboy," Ranma said as he jerked his thumb at
the girl in question.
"You had it coming, you jerk!" Akane cried as she tried to thump him
with her bookbag again. What did she put in that thing, a brick? Ranma
decided
not to test the theory and nimbly slid back away from the assault. He stuck
his
tongue out at her again. Akane just growled and and clutched her bookbag in
her
white-knuckled hands.
"Yeah, yeah," Ranma replied flippantly as he moved closer to Ukyou. For
some reason, the girl-in-boyclothes found the entire situation funny, at
least
funny enough that she couldn't stop chuckling lowly into the ball of her
thumb.
"Don't you three make a lovely little group," a new voice intruded.
Ranma gave a hooded glance as Nabiki stepped towards them, coming much
closer
than most of the other students. A few were entering the building, but a lot
of
them were milling around just within earshot, doing there best to appear
anything but interested. Some guy was in the bushes nearby, taking pictures
with
a professional-looking camera. Ranma turned and flashed him a toothy grin
complete with V-sign just as he took his next picture. The boy seemed to
decide
to leave just after that. Nabiki was looking at him strangely when Ranma
turned
back to the trio of girls, but nobody commented on his odd behaviour.
"Anyway, I just wanted to point out that if you three stand out here
reminiscing all day, you're going to be late for class."
"It's actually five minutes until first bell," Ukyou pointed out
placidly with a glance at her watch.
"And you would know? You don't even go here," Nabiki pointed out. "By
the way, the administration is beginning to get annoyed at you showing up
and
constantly beating one of their students into the ground."
"Off and on, huh?" Ranma chuckled. Ukyou had the decency to shrug. Akane
rolled her eyes.
"Tell them that if they want to complain, I'm sure your sister would be
more than happy to press charges for assault," Ukyou replied easily. "But I
doubt it will come to that. These things have a way of getting swept under
the
carpet. Especially when it involves the rich, or the powerful." From the way
Ukyou emphasized the word Ranma didn't think she was referring to politics.
"Plus I don't think Kunou is ever going to lodge a formal complaint. That
would
mean admitting he was beaten, which is probably beyond the limits of his
delusions."
"Okay," Nabiki shrugged and stepped past the group as she made towards
the entrance.
"So... you wanted to talk to us?" Akane prompted once Nabiki was out of
earshot.
"Well..." Ukyou looked around at the loitering student body. "Maybe this
place is a bit too public. I tell you what, we'll meet after school. I have
a
feeling the three of us are going to need to have a talk." Ranma and Akane
nodded in unison, then glared at each other for doing so.
"Oh, and Ranma," Ukyou snapped her fingers and caught Ranma's attention.
"I thought you might need it, so..." she trailed off and pointed. Partially
hidden behind a nearby tree was a portable grill, on top of which was a
small
brass kettle.
"Oh man," Ranma said, leaning and clapping Ukyou on the shoulder.
"You're a champ, Ucchan!" Ukyou was blushing slightly, but seemed unable to
say
anything.

*

Ukyou sat on the lip of the wall, kicking her feet idly against the
stone. Above and to her right was Ranma, lounging in a treebranch. Below and
to
her left was Akane, sitting on a more prosaic bench. Around them the park
was
reasonably well-inhabited, clusters of anonymous humanity treading their way
past them. In and out of sight like extras on a movie set. Did these people
look
at her and see her as just a strange boy sitting upon a wall? Or did they
immediately assume that she was a special person by her demeanour and
appearance? Or did they even notice her? It was entirely possible some
extant
law of creation kept her and her friends from even entering the minds of
these
people for more than the few seconds they would use to note the existence of
a
field mouse or a dandelion. A boy sitting atop a wall with a giant spatula
on
his back? Somebody else's problem.
The other two looked at her strangely when she burst out into a fit of
uncontrollable giggles. She waved off their concern and got herself under
control quickly. Aaron helped; he was very good at that sort of thing. Then
she
opened her mouth and tried to decide what to say. The storyteller part of
(Aaron)
her was both excited and repulsed by the idea of saying, "I guess you're
all wondering why I brought you here today?" Of course, anything else was
just a
variation on the same. But, as Aaron knew, it was sometimes best to avoid
starting conversations. Best to let the curious walk their own path. That
gave
you control. That gave you power over them.
"I bet you two want me to clear up a few things, right?"
"Yeah," Ranma said from his perch. Like Ukyou had asked, he was keeping
an eye out for uninvited eavesdroppers, so his face was currently turned
away.
Akane echoed the sentiment, but her attention was all on Ukyou. So far, in
all
the time she'd seen them together there had been only open antagonism
between
the two. No long, quiet stares when they thought nobody else was paying
attention. No unexplained embarrassment or sudden spurts of shyness between
them. Ukyou sighed. What she was about to say might disarm some of their
hostility towards each other, but it was unlikely to lead to a sudden
blossoming
of adolescent love. It appeared Destiny
(with a capital D and everything)
held no sway over these two's hearts. That made Ukyou feel better, on a
great variety of levels.
"First off, I want to say that there are some things I haven't told
either of you, and I have good reason. They're private things. Things I plan
on
dealing with myself." She could see that neither of them quite liked that
statement. But Ranma was nodding in understanding. Akane was shifting her
feet a
bit and looking at Ukyou with huge doe-like eyes. Was that pity? Ukyou
suspected
it was.
"You don't have to tell us everything, Ukyou," Akane pointed out. "It's
not like some of it isn't obvious in retrospect anyway."
Ukyou gave a mental "Huh?" at that but didn't let it show on her face.
It was okay to let Akane leap to a few conclusions. If Akane had a few
"facts"
in her head, she would ask less questions. The less lying Ukyou did in
response
the better.
"I just wanted to talk because you two don't seem to be talking much,
and I think you've both sort of come to some wrong ideas here." Ukyou ran a
hand
through her bangs. "I just want to clear the air here. You're both my
friends.
Ranma, I've known you since we were six and Akane, I know more about who you
are
now than I do Ranma. But you're my friends, and I like you both. I don't
want to
be at the center of some little war you two wage on each other."
"Hey! This isn't my fault!" Ranma cried indignantly. Akane only turned
her nose up on him. Which looked kind of funny, considering he was perched
in a
tree over her head.
"I'm not laying blame," Ukyou pointed out at Aaron's prompting. "Nor am
I trying to dictate how you to interact. If you want to hate each other,
fine by
me. I would just rather not have to choose between the two of you."
That seemed to quiet Ranma right down, and made Akane smile a bit.
"First off, both of you know that I'm not really a guy." Ukyou noted
their nods. "So Ranma, before you get any ideas, no, neither Akane or I
swing
that way."
"Huh?" Ranma spun around in place, shifting his eyes over the two of
them. "But I thought you said that you weren't-"
"I never said anything about being a lesbian, Ranma."
"Finally!" Akane said as she threw her hands into the air. "This moron
has been going on about me being like that all day!"
"Well, technically I can't speak for Akane..."
"Ahah!"
"Ukyou!"
"I'm kidding!" Ukyou protested as she warded off a few flung pebbles
from Akane's direction. "Akane isn't a lesbian either, Ranma." Ranma looked
at
her with a raised eyebrow, and his arms crossed casually over his chest.
"She
just doesn't like the guys at her school and they couldn't get that through
their heads. So I stepped in to help with this fake dating thing. It helps
the
both of us."
"But this crazy chick-"
"Ranchan!"
Ranma blinked at the harshness of Ukyou's tone.
"Part of you two to not involving me in your feud means not trying to
kill each other in my presence. So maybe we can keep this civil?"
"I guess," Ranma mumbled sullenly and cast a glare at Akane. For her
part Akane returned it with equal smugness.
"Akane is a fully functional heterosexual," Ukyou pointed out with a
shrug. "Just ask her about Ono Tofu some time."
"Ukyou!" Akane blazed red as Ukyou smiled down at her.
"Who?"
"He's... our family doctor..." Akane said she she twiddled her fingers
together. Ranma blinked at this, but seemed to accept it with a shrug.
"Fine, if Ucchan says you're not that way, then you aren't." He grinned
down at Ukyou. "I trust her, she doesn't lie to me."
Ukyou could only stare speechlessly at him for a few moments. She didn't
wince, Aaron saw to that. There weren't any tell-tale signs of the turmoil
in
her heart on her face at all, once again Aaron's work. She wanted to say
something but couldn't seem to form the right words. In this part of her,
Aaron
couldn't help at all.
"See! I told you this wasn't about me feeling THAT way about you," Akane
pointed out smugly. Ranma seemed about to retort, glanced at Ukyou, thought
better of it and shut his mouth with a shrug. "And I already told you I'm
willing to be the better person here, so once you apologize for the way
you've
treated me-"
"Apologize!?" Ranma snapped.
"Never mind whose fault what was now," Ukyou pointed out loudly,
catching the attention of both of them. She held up her hands. "Let's just
make
a clean break of things. No matter who saw who naked or under what
circumstances
or how many insults have been thrown in either direction, let's just start
over
from here, okay?" The two of them looked at her in confusion. "Its really
simple. All this malice is just because of stupid misunderstandings. It's
kid
stuff. You can't let one or two incidents rule the rest of your life..." Oh
man,
those words tasted bitter in Ukyou's mouth. "Just start over from scratch,
okay?"
"Okay..." Akane said slowly.
Ranma looked at Ukyou, then back to Akane and then to Ukyou once more.
He shrugged and looked up at the leaves of his tree-perch. "Whatever."
"Now, Ranma, say 'I'm Ranma Saotome, pleased to meet you' and Akane, you
do the same." They both stared at her. "Humor me." They did, and managed to
do
it without sounding snide, or hostile or anything. Ukyou felt rather proud
of
the two of them.
"Like I said, I'm fine with working things out between us," Akane noted,
apparently noticing some expression on Ukyou's face. Ukyou cocked her head
to
the side. and Ranma looked down at her. "Well, given what the two of you
have
been through, what Genma did to both of you... I can accept that. It's not
your
fault. It's really all Genma's doing."
Ukyou blinked. This was unusual. Aaron would give higher odds to the sun
rising in the north tomorrow than to Genma admitting the truth about what
had
happened ten years ago. This meant that Akane was probably off in some
strange
self-delusion about what was going on. An amused part of... one of them, she
wasn't sure, wanted to tease that out and see what it led to. A bigger part
realized that this could (and probably would) lead to the wrong kinds of
misunderstanding, and it was more trouble than it was worth.
"But... we can't let this lie, you two. This whole situation is just
poison. I know that you don't want to talk about this, Ukyou, but you have
to
put your personal friendship with him aside. This isn't right. What happened
between the two of you needs to come out in the light." Ukyou blinked again.
"I
know it's personal and it hurts, and it involves bad feelings... but Ranma
deserves to know the truth about you and him and how you feel and what Genma
is
really after! It's sick and twisted, and talking about it might hurt, but if
we
get this all-"
"Hey, Ucchan! Hear about that murder this morning?"
Aaron snapped her head towards Ranma so fast Ukyou felt her tendons
protest. The boy was squatting on the branch, clutching it with both hands
and
sweating nervously.
"Murder? What murder?" Aaron said in a implacably calm voice. Ranma
blinked at the sudden shift in his friend's demeanour.
"Just some guy killed half-way across the city," Akane pointed out from
behind her. Her tone was annoyed and dismissive. "Dad got all worked up
about it
this morning and tried to convince Ranma to escort Nabiki to school-"
"Wait!" Aaron cut Akane off with a sharp motion of Ukyou's hands. "Soun
told you about this? Soun Tendo?"
"Well, yes..." Akane trailed off, obviously confused now.
"Yeah," Ranma agreed with a nod when Aaron stared at him in that cold,
expressionless manner.
Ukyou felt herself frowning. Aaron was worried about this, but for
reasons she wasn't sure she agreed with. This world existed beyond the
confines
of the story Rumiko Takahashi had defined. Murders happened the world over
and
it certainly wasn't 'out of continuity' for them to occur so that the cast
of
her little manga would become aware of them. But still... there had never
been
anything like that in the manga, or the anime for that matter. And if it had
been serious enough for Soun to be worried about Nabiki's safety, it should
also
have appeared in the actual story. Except maybe whatever prescience
Takahashi
had to see this actual world and draw it up had been tainted by her desire
to
tell a funnier story and...
Ukyou clutched her head. She was giving herself a headache. Such mental
debates with Aaron always did. They always led themselves in circles until
they
finally decided to just stop thinking about it.
And of course, there was the fact that Sailor Pluto was interested in
Ukyou.
Okay. Something was going on here. Something had gone wrong with the
continuity of this world. And Aaron was damn sure that nothing he had done
had
led to someone getting killed in Tokyo and Setsuna Meiou acquiring a sudden
interest in Ukyou Kuonji. Not now. The timing was just too damn convienient.
"Ukyou, are you okay?"
"Where did this happen?" Aaron spoke in a level voice, but didn't look
up at either of them.
"At the Tendo place-" Ranma began but Aaron cut him off quickly.
"The murder! Where?"
"Uh, I dunno... it was in the paper this morning..."
The newspaper. Of course. Aaron berated himself and Ukyou internally. He
had been so sure that this world was the same - as far as most news went -
as
his own that he didn't need to bother reading the news. It wasn't like he
was
interested in the human interest stuff, and he knew all the major news
stories
for the next dozen years. How could he have been so stupid?
"Ukyou, where are you going?"
Ukyou looked over her shoulder at Akane. She had already leapt down from
her seat before she even realized it.
"To get a newspaper," she explained.
"Wait, why?" Ranma also leapt down from his perch. His muscles were
tense, and his eyes flickered across the landscape quickly.
"For nothing, I hope," Ukyou said slowly. "Listen, you two..." Ukyou
pondered how to phrase her request. "Just go back home. I have to see about
this. It's just a bad feeling I have, and I have to make it go away."
"I'll come with you," Ranma informed her, in a manner which made it
clear this was not a request.
"Ranma, I..." Ukyou sighed. What harm would it do? "Okay." Ranma nodded
to himself.
"I'm coming too!" Akane pointed out, standing and flexing her arms.
"No you're not," Ukyou pointed out. "I hate to be harsh, Akane, but
you'll just slow us down. Speed is our advantage here. And you can't leap
across
the rooftops like we can."
"But..."
"Just go home, Akane," Ukyou waved her hand towards the houses in view
nearby. "This is probably nothing. I'm just overreacting to bad news. But I
don't like surprises, and I need to..." Ukyou sighed. "Just trust me, Akane.
I'll come back to the dojo as soon as I've cleared this up. Okay?"
Akane stared back at Ukyou defiantly. Aaron loosened up his grip on
their emotions and Ukyou let a bit of her concern for the girl show in her
expression. Akane couldn't met her gaze after that. After a few seconds of
staring at her shoes shuffling in the dirt, Akane sighed and nodded.
"Great!" Ukyou nodded happily. "Come on, Ranma. I don't think this is
anything, but I want to make sure."
"Whatever you say, Ucchan."

*

Sitting in the pipe, listening to the water flow, he wished the Internet
had been invented a little earlier. It existed, but it'd be years before it
was
really useful. Luckily, he'd thought of that before, and gotten the
information
he needed before leaving the police box. The Tendo Dojo was close. She was
close.
He felt...something. It might have been a shiver running up his spine,
but not quite so bold. It was more...dull. More blunted. Less alive. Of
course, so was the cold from the water that rushed around his naked body,
the
feeling of wetness. So dimmed.
But why had he felt it? Was he having second thoughts? Damn, he
couldn't afford that. He had told himself before. Had to be done. Had to
be
done. It was the only way. She was the only one. The only one he was sure
about, anyway.
He grimaced. Telling himself that didn't make it any easier. But what
else could he do?
It was with mild surprise that he realised he could no longer see. So
night was falling. Time flew when you were...hiding naked in a pipe draining
into one of those ubiquitous canals? Or perhaps it just flew when you
were...well, best not to dwell on that. Besides, it was time for action.
His joints, despite being still all day (fifteen hours? Perhaps.),
moved fluidly and effortlessly. And, of course, he felt no discomfort. The
cold and wetness were distant, shadows. He crawled from the pipe, glanced
cautiously around. No one was near, no one took notice of the faint
splashes.
Good, good. He'd picked a good area. But of course, he knew that.
Near his hiding place, he dug the bag of clothes and towel from the
ground where he'd secreted them early that morning. Using the canal wall
for
cover, he dried himself. The uniform was a little musty and wrinkled, but
nothing too bad. She wouldn't really have any reason to be suspicious. Of
course, the police would be looking for him by now. But he knew how to
avoid
them. It wouldn't take long, anyway.
Finishing dressing, he threw the towel and bag into the canal. The
money he had retrieved from their bank accounts, he'd hidden elsewhere.
Best to
get that afterwards. He turned, facing in the direction of where he knew
the
dojo to be. His perspective was a bit off, too slanted. With a small,
irritated noise, he reached up and straightened the broken neck.
It wouldn't take long at all.

*

It would be sunset soon, and the lengthening shadows were beginning to
make their mode of transport more hazardous. Still, Ranma moved with ease as
he
followed Ukyou along the rooftops. He could have moved maybe half again as
fast
as she was, but he had to admire her style. The girl seemed to have a great
deal
of practice moving quickly and efficiently. For a moment, Ukyou paused and
looked down from the lip of the building they had landed on. Frowning, she
flipped open a city map she had pulled out and consulted it, then looked
down at
the street again.
"Haven't these people ever heard of street signs?" she muttered, before
putting away the map. "It's that way," she said pointing north. "Probably
about
ten more blocks."
The trip went relatively quickly, and there was no doubt they were at
the right place once they arrived. The area below was a bustle of controlled
chaos. The police box rested near the sidewalk, out of the main pathways but
clearly available to anyone who needed it. It was dark and silent now,
surrounded on all sides by flashing reflective police tape. A single police
cruiser was parked nearby, and two uniformed officers were leaning against
it,
calmly directing the flow of humanity away from the incident. Near the
corner, a
newsvan was packing up its gear.
"Well, we're here," Ranma pointed out.
"Indeed..." Ukyou murmured softly as she surveyed the scene herself.
They were too high up to be easily spotted by the people below, so their
presence went unnoticed. Ranma began to fidget as time passed and Ukyou
seemed
content to examine the scene without pause. She was spinning a minature
spatula
between her fingers, but otherwise not doing anything.
"Whatcha lookin' for here, anyway?" Ranma asked when the silence finally
got to him. He had been hoping for something blatant and obvious here. Maybe
a
lurking monster to beat up or something. That would have been cool.
"Small details," Ukyou said as she stepped back from the edge of the
roof. "But this place has been cleaned up. Too much time has passed I
guess."
"Small details?"
Ukyou looked at him with an unreadable expresion for a few moments then
shrugged. "Not much you'd really get. I have... a unique perspective. But
nothing I see suggests this was anything but a regular murder."
"Except for the where," Ranma nodded.
"Yeah," Ukyou crossed her arms and leaned backward slightly. "Still,
maybe I'm just being paranoid. This looks perfectly normal."
"So there's no danger?"
"Not here, at any rate." Ukyou looked up at the descending sun. "It's
late, and I don't want to hang out here anymore. I could learn some more by
questioning the people down there, but I don't think I want to get involved
with
this."
"Probably for the best," Ranma nodded. "I've dealt with the police
before, they're nothin' but trouble."
"I'm not surprised you think that, given your father," Ukyou chuckled.
Ranma grinned a bit himself. "Come on, let's get back. Akane's probably
worried
sick. I want to tell her this was all for nothing." Ukyou took a few steps
forward, then paused and looked over her shoulder at Ranma. "But let's hurry
anyway."
"Why?" Ranma shrugged. He wasn't really adverse to another long run
across the city, but was curious.
"Because I still don't like surprises."

*

Akane was really trying to do her homework. She understood how important
math was. Normally she was very good at it. Or, at least, she was very
diligent
at it. But outside the light was fading and the day was coming to a close,
and
Ukyou and Ranma were out there somewhere.
She was worried. What was Ukyou up to? Why get so concerned over an
anonymous murder half-way across the city? It didn't make sense. Plus, Akane
was
a bit annoyed with her. Akane was a martial artist, too. Whatever problem
Ukyou
thought was coming up, Akane could help. She just knew it.
"Akane, you have a visitor," Kasumi called from downstairs. Akane bolted
up, barely noting the distressed tone of her sister's voice. Her only
thoughts
were on Ukyou and Ranma. She had never doubted the girl would live up to her
promise. Still...Akane grinned wickedly. That didn't mean Akane was going to
spare her a stern lecture, or let her get away with anything less than a
complete accounting of every detail.
At the bottom of the stair Kasumi was talking to someone standing just
outside the door. Akane would have to remind her sister to let Ukyou in
right
away next time and-
The man outside the door was not Ukyou. He was tall and thin, and
dressed in blue. It took Akane a few moments to note the glint of a badge on
his
familiar uniform. On his belt hung a leather holster and a simple firearm.
For a
moment his face was cloaked in shadows by the angle of the light and the
door.
Akane stopped in place, a cold chill running up her spine to rest like a
hard
knot against the base of her skull.
The officer moved forward a bit into the light, and his face came into
view. It was just a normal face. Not especially handsome, but not ugly
either.
Perfectly normal. When the man saw Akane he smiled, a wide and pleased grin
that
utterly failed to reach his eyes.
"Hello there," the officer said. "You would be Miss Akane Tendo, I
believe?"
Akane bowed deeply before responding. "Yes. I'm Akane Tendo. May I help
you, officer?" Kasumi, seeing she was no longer needed, stepped around Akane
and
back into the house. Akane noticed her and Nabiki standing just out of the
officer's line of sight in the background.
He bowed, slightly less deeply, in return. "Yes you can. I need you to
come with me to answer a few questions."
Akane opened her mouth to ask why, but thought better of it. Still, she
didn't want to be somewhere else when Ukyou showed up. Maybe if she
cooperated
right away, this could be over quickly. "Of course, officer. But can we stay
here? I'm sort of waiting for somebody to show up..." Akane trailed off.
The officer bowed again, apologetically. "I'm sorry, that won't be
possible. I need you to come back to the box with me, so I can fill out
some
forms. However, I promise it won't take very long. Your..." he hesitated,
"...older sister, is it? I'm certain she would be able to entertain your
guest
for a few minutes, correct?"
Akane resisted the urge to frown and nodded slightly. She turned towards
her sisters. "Kasumi, if Ukyou shows up tell... him to wait for me. I'll
just be
a few minutes with the officer here." Kasumi nodded.
She felt, more than heard, a sharp intake of breath from behind her. But
when she turned around, the policeman's expression was calm and composed.
"All
right, Miss Tendo. Let's see if we can get this over with as quickly and
painlessly as possible." He smiled, but again the expression never seemed
to
reach his eyes. Akane suppressed a shiver but gestured for him to lead the
way.
She was going to be with a police officer, after all. Whatever premonition
of
danger she felt, she would be perfectly safe with him.

*

Aaron was about to leap down to the street when Ranma stopped him by
laying a hand on his shoulder. He peered casually back, wondering what was
up.
"Can, uh, we go in the back way?"
"Back way?" Aaron asked.
"Yeah," Ranma fidgeted. "I sorta wanna avoid... uh..." Ranma trailed
off. Aaron smiled to himself. The way Ranma kept trying to avoid saying he
was
scared of something was kind of endearing in-
Aaron frowned and cut that line of thought off right there. He silently
berated Ukyou to keep her feelings to herself. She gave him the mental
equivalent of a raspberry. This caused them both to frown as the feedback
gave
them a small headache.
"What's up?"
"Well..." Then Ranma's eyes brightened. "You may want to avoid too much
time with Akane's sister, ya know?" Aaron raised an eyebrow and stared at
Ranma
for a few moments until the other continued. "Well, they're real perverts,
get
it? They like, have this thing for girls...and if they ever find out you're
a
chick, with you being so cute and all, they might get some ideas in their
heads
and never leave you alone... why are you laughing?"
"Nothing, nothing," Aaron tried to stifle the chuckles with reasonable
success. "I'm just... you've suddenly reminded me that I don't know how you
and
Akane met."
"Well..."
"I think I'll want to hear her perspective on this, too," Aaron said as
he ran his hand through Ukyou's bangs. "Let's go in the back."
They landed in the backyard without preamble. Ranma seemed more than
happy that none of the various residents were available. "Since you're
concerned about me, why don't you go in and fetch Akane?" Aaron teased
before
Ukyou could stop him. Ranma jerked a bit, then looked at Ukyou and sighed
before
wandering into the house.
Aaron began to pace casually about the yard. Ukyou wasn't too upset with
him for playing with Ranma like that. It was her intention to play neutral
mediator in their disputes. The Tendo's were really very good landscapers,
he
noted idly as he waited for Ranam to make a reappearance.
Ranma emerged from a second floor window and dropped gracefully to the
ground. Aaron rolled his eyes at the boy's antics. He really was going to
have
to learn what had happened here if he was going to be able to manipulate the
situation to his needs. Not that Ukyou really liked to use the "M-word" when
it
came to Ranma, but Aaron had no illusions about how they were playing the
boy
like a ten cent flute.
"Akane isn't here," Ranma said with a shrug.
"What?" Aaron blurted out.
"I said-"
"Please hold the comedy for a moment," Aaron said as he held up his
hands. Akane wasn't likely to have left. It wasn't in-character for her
to...
unless she decided to take off after them anyway. Which meant Akane could be
halfway across the city right now. Damn, he should have seen this coming.
Without bothering to say anything to Ranma, Aaron directed Ukyou into
the house. It didn't take long to locate Kasumi, she was busy cleaning up
the
kitchen and preparing it for tomorrow. Ukyou noted with a professionally
critical eye that the place was kept meticulously clean and well-stocked.
She
would be okay with using this place herself.
"Oh, Ukyou!" Kasumi gasped when she looked up. "I didn't see you there."
"Sorry." Aaron shrugged. "Where's Akane?"
"Oh she left. She asked you to wait for her," Kasumi explained
cheerfully. Then again, Kasumi did everything cheerfully, including becoming
a
homicidal maniac. Heh. But...
"Indeed," Aaron said with a frown. "When did she leave, and why?"
"I think she and the officer left a little over ten minutes ago," Kasumi
said as she tapped her finger against her chin.
"Officer?" Aaron stepped forward and did his best to loom over Kasumi,
despite being shorter than her. Kasumi blinked. "What officer?" Aaron had a
bad feeling about this. Too many coincidences.
"Officer Takashita," Kasumi pointed out, after another moments thought.
"Takashita..." Aaron stepped back and frowned. The name was unfamiliar
to him, it certainly wasn't from any anime or manga he had ever read. At
least,
not the name of any major character. But why on earth would any police
officer
talk to Akane? No, this was just too convienient.
"Thanks!" he shouted over his shoulder as he dashed out into the
backyard. Ranma was pitching small stones into the koi pond, staying well
out of
splash radius. "Ranma!"
Ranma leapt up, having heard the urgency in Ukyou's voice.
"We have to find Akane, quickly."
"Why?"
"Just being cautious," Aaron noted as he leapt up onto the roof of the
Tendo home. Ranma followed him easily. Damn, it felt good being able to do
that.
Ukyou never really did appreciate how mobile she was until Aaron had arrived
to
show her what life was like without mad martial arts skills. "She's with a
police officer, so she's likely at the local police box or station. You head
off
there and look for her. I'll check around here myself, see if I can catch up
with them before they get where they're going."
"Okay..." Ranma murmured. He looked about to object, but Aaron felt time
was of the essence. His horror movie instincts told him it was a bad idea,
but
splitting up really was the fastest way of finding Akane.
"I'll be fine," Ukyou pointed out for him with a genuine smile. "This is
probably nothing. At least, it's nothing I can't handle."
"If you say so," Ranma grumbled before leaping off in one direction.
Ukyou opened her mouth to point out that he didn't know where the police box
was, then closed it and shrugged. He would find his way there soon enough.
With
a quick step Aaron propelled them in the opposite direction. Ukyou may not
be
much of a tracker, but it shouldn't be too hard to spot a police officer
with
the streets nearly deserted.

*

"This isn't the way to the police box, is it?"
The officer looked at her for a moment, then rubbed the back of his
head. "I'm sorry, I'm not from your local office. We're going over that
way,"
he said, and pointed vaguely in another direction. "But it's not too far, I
promise."
Akane mulled over that for a few seconds. They walked further onward,
though Akane noticed they were actually moving away from the main
thoroughfares
to the other parts of the city. It was certainly posisble to get to other
places
through the back roads, but not very efficient. She was opening her mouth to
ask
Officer Takashita about this when he cut her off.
"So," he said conversationally, "I'm sorry to have kept you from your
friend. Ukyou, wasn't it? Are you two close?"
"Well s-," Akane stopped herself. She had promised not to reveal Ukyou's
condition to anyone. Besides, the officer didn't really need to know
details.
"Ukyou and I are... really good friends." Akane made herself smile a little
wistfully, trying to affect the 'dreamy girlfriend' expression she had seen
on
more than a few girl's faces from time to time. "But it's not like we had a
date
tonight. He just wanted to talk to me. I'm certain it can wait a little
while."
There was a long pause, and then the officer smiled again. "Ah, young
love. I remember being young myself. How'd you two meet?"
"Uh..." Akane blinked. "Well he was stalk-" Akane cut herself off. Wrong
word to use when you're talking to a police officer, you dummy. "He was...
following me around and we just sort of, um, hit it off?" Akane ventured.
She
really wasn't sure she wanted the man to dig any further.
The officer seemed to have a small coughing fit, covering his mouth
hastily. "Umm, yes," he continued. "Well, I'm glad to hear you're...getting
on well. I'm sure you make quite a cute young couple."
They walked on in silence for a few more minutes. Akane tried to look
anywhere but at the officer. The strange way he was looking at her set her
nerves on edge. It was something about his eyes. Not the way Ukyou's eyes
sometimes seemed guarded or hidden. These eyes were just...wrong, in a way
she
couldn't place her finger on.. Akane sighed to herself as they passed a
landmark
she recognized. They were heading further into her neighbourhood now, going
in
circles as they entered increasingly deserted areas.
"Officer, are you sure this is the right direction?"
"Ah, yes. Well, now that you mention it..." he hesitated, biting his
lip, and then suddenly his eyes widened, and he pointed behind her. "What's
THAT!?"
Akane spun around, adopting a fighting stance. The shadows in that
direction were deep, but empty. She frowned and turned around to ask the man
what was going on.
There was a scream.

*

Ukyou propelled them across another street with a graceful leap. Aaron
was letting her do the 'driving', as it were. He was too busy thinking,
planning
and theorizing. He did that a lot. He was trying to think of every anime
series
he had ever seen, remembering which ones involved the police in some
fashion.
Recalling faces and identities and names. But none of it was adding up in
the
back of her head.
But the number of possible things this COULD be was beginning to
frighten Ukyou a bit. Akane could be the target of some soul-sucking plot by
the minions of the Dark Kingdom, or whatever villian Sailor Moon was
fighting
this season. She certainly had energy to spare. And there were other things
that
were even worse. Psychotic demons from the Yuu Yuu Hakusho universe?
Zoanoids?
Insane martial artists with a thing for little girls, like M. Bison? The
list
was - almost literally - endless. But he wasn't willing to worry too much
about
it. It was just a strange series of badly-timed events to him.
Ukyou felt her heart beating like a triphammer as she bounced across
another alleyway, glancing down to see if there was any movement. They
couldn't
find them. It was dark, Ukyou had never really trained herself to be a
tracker, and while Aaron was good with directions, that only helped if they
knew
where to go. And they didn't.
Akane could be literally anywhere. Anywhere at all. It could already be
too late.
Aaron warned her to calm down, but Ukyou wasn't willing to listen. The
desperation seemed to lend energy to her flagging strength, which she
definitely
needed by now. Her legs seemed to be made out of lead, having already
sprinted
across the city not once, but twice. Plus it didn't help that she barely
slept
anymore.
Ukyou let out a small prayer of thanks to the Kami when she spotted
them. They were walking in a street below, heading, oddly enough, towards
the
area of town where Ukyou was staying. That was not a nice part of Nerima
Ward,
and at night it was practically deserted and empty. Her first instinct was
to
leap down and ask what the hell was going on, but Aaron restrained her. The
two
were just walking, slowly and surely into the neighbourhood, and nothing was
happening. It could all still be just something... innocent was the wrong
word.
At the very least, it wasnt necessarily something to get involved in. Yet.
Aaron directed them to a rooftop across the street from them.
Deliberately keeping the officer between himself and Akane. He wanted a good
look at the man's face. Unfortuneatly, the officer was busy staring down at
his
feet, obviously thinking hard about something. They couldn't see his face,
as
the brim of his hat cast his face in shadow.
Ukyou fidgeted and slipped her hand up to her bandolier.
"Officer, are you sure this is the right direction?"
"Ah, yes. Well, now that you mention it..." he hesitated as he looked
up at Akane, away from Ukyou. "What's THAT!?"
He pointed, off into the shadows behind Akane.
Akane spun, adopting a fighting stance.
Ukyou looked up slightly. The shadows were empty. Her eyes drifted down.
The man's hand was resting on his gun, gripping the handle.
"AKANE!"
Ukyou wasn't even aware she had screamed before her feet hit the
pavement. The throwing spatula impacted into the man's hand with a meaty
thunk.
But he didn't react as if he felt the pain. Instead, he turned around and
looked
at her, his eyes narrowing. Ukyou pulled her battle spatula from her back
with
ease as she closed in.
He continued to stare at her as she approached. And then his eyes
snapped wide at the last second as Ukyou body-checked him away from Akane.
The
man flew like a rag doll across the street and landed limply against the
other
sidewalk. Ukyou spun around and briefly checked on Akane, Aaron's practiced
eyes
noting a lack of any injury. Her mouth was open in a small 'O' of surprise,
but
that was okay. Ukyou turned her attention back to the man across the street
without saying anything, shifting her grip on the spatula to bring the wide
plate in front of her.
Damn, would this thing stop bullets?
"Ukyou! What on earth are you doing? That's a police officer!"
"He was reaching for his gun and-"
"He saw something! Oh my god! You're going to jail!"
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. Let's see what he has to say about it."
Akane began calling out to the downed man - Ukyou refused to think of
him as a police officer - as she tried to rush around Ukyou. Ukyou's arms
moved
as Aaron interjected her spatula in the girl's way.
"Ukyou, stop it! He's hurt!"
"I should hope so," Aaron pointed out coolly. "I hit him really hard."
Akane was gaping at Ukyou, but Aaron refused to look away. The man was
lying there, seemingly unconscious. But his eyes were open and pointed in
their
direction. Still, there was a glaze to them. He really could be unconscious.
Ukyou felt the first niggling threads of doubt begin to worm their way into
mind, but Aaron kept their expression icy and unreadable.
"Yes. Yes, the young la...man did indeed hit me quite hard," came a
weak voice. Akane looked over, seeing the police officer rising to his
feet.
His good hand dropped to his pistol, but he made no attempt to draw it. "And
I
think you and I, young man, definitely need to have a talk."
"Indeed," Aaron said coolly. "Let's talk. First, you can tell me who you
are, and why you were with Akane."
He narrowed his eyes at them again, penetratingly. Then he glanced at
Akane. "Given the seriousness of the situation, I think you, young lady,
should
go home. We will have to talk another time."
Ukyou and Aaron began a furious mental debate back and forth. Ukyou was
all for getting Akane out of here, the better to lessen the amount of danger
she
was in. Aaron, on the other hand, was more inclined to keep her there. For
one,
there was no guarantee that Akane would go all the way home. For two, she
would
make an excellent witness if things began to become more serious than they
were
now. Ukyou tried to point out that things couldn't get much more serious
than
they were now, but Aaron only rolled his metaphorical eyes at that. Akane,
for
her part, was spending the few seconds Aaron and Ukyou spent psychically
debating looking back and forth between Ukyou and the man.
"This is very serious." His voice cracked like a whip. "Go home NOW,
young lady."
That decided it.
"She's in no danger here," Aaron pointed out. "She makes an excellent
witness. Why don't we just have her stay and keep notes."
"Believe me, she will undoubtedly be called as a witness. But she has
no reason to stay here to be picked up by the authorities. I want her to go
home, now." His face softened a little. "I'll make sure someone calls you
later to update you on the situation and your...friend. But please, go
home,
Miss Tendo."
"Doesn't that hurt?" Ukyou noted, pointing with her free hand at the
spatula still resting in the man's hand. She didn't see any blood.
"Yes," he noted, "but I'm trained to ignore that sort of thing.
Besides, it doesn't seem to have penetrated very far."
Aaron narrowed his eyes. This guy was good. He could see Akane
hesitating out of the corner of his eyes. He was across the street and it
was
dark out. It was hard to tell exact details at this range, probably even
harder
for Akane, who he knew had the medical skills of a hyperactive second
grader.
Ukyou still felt that small butterfly of doubt in her stomach.
"Ukyou... I think I should probably go home," Akane said after another
minute of hesitation. She began to edge away. "I'm sorry, but I don't
think-"
"Akane, the only reason for you to leave is if you think I'm a danger to
you in some way," Aaron pointed out calmly.
"I'm afraid I'd have to respectfully disagree," the man said. "She has
been told to leave the area by an officer of the law. I've been patient so
far...but as I said, this is a very serious matter. Miss Tendo, if you
insist
on staying here, I'm afraid you will be obstructing justice."
"Bullshit," Aaron pointed out, still keeping his voice level. "No
officer of the law would want a witness to leave the scene." He paused. "Why
haven't you called for back-up yet?"
"You don't seem very familiar with how the law operates here, ma'am," he
noted, with a hint of irritation. "Miss Tendo has not committed a crime.
Her
residence and contact information is known to the police. She will be
called
upon to dispense her statement in due time. I do intend to call backup, but
as
you have not made further threatening moves, I felt it more immediately
necessary to get the innocent bystander out of the area."
"Hmm...fine," Aaron said, with a smile. He reached into his pocket and
pulled out ten yen before flipping it to Akane. "Akane, be a dear. There's a
payphone nearby, no doubt. Go find one and call the police. Tell them to
send a
few officers along."
Akane hesitated and looked at the coin in her palm before nodding and
running off.
"I figure we have a few minutes before they show up," Aaron told the man
laconically. "Whatever you have to do now that she's gone, I suggest you
make it
fast." Ukyou was a trifle worried about what might happen if this turned out
to
be all her fault. But Aaron was willing to spend a few days in jail, if this
all
turned out to be completely unfounded. But there was the fact the man wasn't
bleeding. Aaron couldn't see for sure. But his and Ukyou's ears were quite
good,
and that had been a strong throw. There was no sound of dripping blood.
Something was wrong here, he'd lay money on it.
The policeman glanced off in the direction Akane had run, hesitated a
moment, then shrugged. Grabbing the spatula, he removed it from his hand.
"Indeed," he noted. "So let's start with who, exactly, you actually are,
'Ukyou'." The snide emphasis on the last word was unmissable.
"What the hell do you mean, you jackass!?" Ukyou pointed at her chest.
"I AM Ukyou Kuonji!" Ukyou felt her nerves fraying at that. That hit a
little
too close to home for comfort. "Why don't you tell me who you are, before I
beat
it out of you!"
The officer smirked. "Ha. Nice try, but Ukyou doesn't say 'indeed',
'bullshit', look at me the way you have been up until now with that icy,
detached stare....and oh yes, Ukyou wouldn't attack someone out of nowhere
and
drive a spatula into their hand without provocation." He spread his hands.
"And, since you DID attack me first, I think it's only fair you give me a
little
bit of explanation, whoever you are."
"How would you know what I would or wouldn't do?" Ukyou replied evenly.
All doubt had just evaporated from Aaron's mind, and thus, from Ukyou's mind
as
well. "No wait, don't answer that." She held up a hand to forestall him
saying
anything. Aaron began to think, trying to find a question that Ukyou could
ask
but that wouldn't play his hand too much, and would trap this man if he gave
the
right - or wrong - answer. "If you know so much about me that I can't
possibly
be Ukyou, then why don't you ask me something only Ukyou would know."
He paused for a moment, considering, then smiled again. "As I recall, I
just said you owed me an explanation first. And you should probably hurry,
since I imagine Akane is already calling the police, and you're in a fair
bit of
trouble already. I suppose you could run away - and be a fugitive - or try
to
pound my skull in with that spatula of yours - which I'm sure Akane would
love
to return to see - but wouldn't it be much easier just to cooperate a
little?"
Aaron paused and considered. Then he and Ukyou shrugged as one. "Fine."
Without taking her eyes off him she walked to the curb and sat down. "Let's
sit
down and wait, then. Unlike you, I have nothing to hide."
"Aside from attacking an officer of the law?"
"Then I'll go to jail," Aaron said with a shrug. "If I really did do
something wrong, I'm willing to live with it. If not..." he paused. "Well,
I just have a feeling that this has something to do with this." Aaron
plucked
his newspaper out of storage and flipped it into the center of the street.
"Isn't that right, Officer Takashita?" Aaron put on his best poker face as
he
stared back at the man.
The man, whoever he was, just looked at them for a moment, his
expression unreadable. Aaron didn't like to bluff like that. He had no clue
whether this had anything to do with the murder last night. Except for those
storyteller instincts of his. It was too good a coincidence. Akane hears
about a
murder at a police box, which leads to him hearing about it, which leads to
a
desperate flight across Tokyo, which leads to this moment. It was a pattern,
and
Aaron was good at recognizing patterns. Ukyou had her doubts, and for that
matter so did he. But he wasn't about to let that show on his face. The key
to a
good bluff was -always- appearing to know more than you did.
The pause stretched out another couple of agonising moments. And then
the man suddenly laughed, twirling the mini-spatula around in his fingers.
"All
right, it seems we've both called the other's bluff. Fair enough, then,
'Ukyou'. I'll tell you what. You can leave and we'll go our separate ways,
or
we can head off somewhere before Akane gets back and have a more candid talk
while she worries herself sick. Though you'll need to come up with a good
explanation for the police, I'm thinking." He paused, then smirked again.
"I
can probably help you out, there, actually. A little favor, if we can be
civil."
Aaron opened his mouth to say yes. If this really was something beyond
the pale, then he rather suspected the police would be ill-equipped to
handle
it. Plus, he had the power. But Ukyou wasn't about to let it go that easily.
"Before we go anywhere, tell me what you were doing with Akane." She looked
off
into the distance for a second and mimed hearing something, even though she
couldn't. "And hurry."
The man pursed his lips, considering his words. "As it turns out, I
wasn't going to do anything to her. I thought...but she's not the right
sort
for what I wanted. You needn't worry. Even if you hadn't showed up, she
was
perfectly safe. And she will continue to be so in the future."
Aaron frowned. He certainly sounded sincere. Ukyou still didn't trust
him, but was willing to admit that Aaron was right. The police would likely
be
completely unable to handle this situation. Now it just remained to defuse
it
when they showed up.
"Okay, I agree," Ukyou began, standing up and returned her oversized
weapon to its harness. "But I don't relish explaining this to the proper
authorities. What do you suggest?"
"As I said, let's get out of here first. I've got a good story for you
to give when you get back. But come on...do you expect me to give
everything
away when you haven't told me jack? A little good faith here, please."
"Fine." Ukyou paused, and then started towards him with her hand
extended. "Your weapon?"
He laughed. "As if I could hurt YOU with it. But sure, whatever makes
you happy." He unbelted the gun holster and tossed it casually at her.
"Mind
you, that's just a loaner. I expect it back once our business is
concluded."
Ukyou caught it with one hand and smiled back at him in a reasonably
pleasant manner. Now that he was unarmed, she felt much better about the
whole
situation. Aaron might think a martial artist's skin could stop a bullet,
but
Ukyou wasn't anywhere close to wanting to test that theory. "I hope you
don't
get motion sick," she warned him before reaching out and grabbing his
collar. In
a few leaps she leapt clear of the street. Before she left, she did note one
thing: there was no blood on the pavement.

*

She was looking for the blood. Sharp of her to notice that. Well,
couldn't be helped. But it distracted her attention, looking as she grabbed
him, and he took that opportunity to study her closely. She certainly
LOOKED
like Ukyou, or like what he had expected Ukyou to look like.
As she jumped up to the rooftops, he noted closely the rising and
falling of her breast. Mind you, his chest was also rising and falling,
but...ah yes, the breathing sped up as they started to move. Whoever she
actually was, she was either a DAMN good actor with a lot of practice at
looking
natural, or that body was alive. He was betting on the latter.
Interesting.
Very interesting indeed.
Of course, that also neatly destroyed his previous theory. So, if this
'Ukyou' wasn't like him...what was she? Possessed? A doppleganger?
Shapeshifter? Any way he sliced it, it didn't make sense. Akane had had
long
hair, and he wasn't even sure if Ranma had arrived yet. Ukyou had no
business
being here, and even less business being the one saving Akane from danger.
That thought left a bitter taste in his mouth. All that preparation,
that perfect plan...and he couldn't do it. It was his own stupid fault for
TALKING with her. He should've found some other way to distract her, keep
her
quiet until they were alone. But once they had talked...ah, it was like
staring
a rabbit in its innocent, frightened eyes before strangling it for dinner.
Not
that he'd ever done that, but the concept was similar.
Of course, it turned out for the best. He doubted he'd be having much
of a civil conversation with this pseudo-Ukyou if he'd actually tried to
kill
Akane. As it was, there was no way she could be sure killing Akane was
actually
what he'd planned to do. And he intended to keep it that way...at least
until
he knew a little bit more about why this person didn't act like Ukyou
should,
talk like Ukyou would, and was in Nerima long before Ukyou was.
And on that note...she'd decided on a nondescript rooftop as their
rendezvous point, apparently. Smart idea; normal police probably wouldn't
be
looking there. And Akane couldn't leap to rooftops to check. They'd have
some
time. She let him go, and he brushed himself down. About time he took a
more
aggressive role in this conversation. "So, I've cooperated with you and
told
you what you asked. Now it's your turn."
Ukyou held up a hand to forestall him. She spent a few minutes examining
the edges of the rooftop and checking about. "You asked who I am, and I've
already told you. My name is Ukyou Kuonji. As for why I'm here..." she
trailed
off and stared at him in the placid, dispassionate manner that had first
niggled
at his perceptions. "I was looking for someone. I found him staying at
Akane's
place. Akane and I are friends. I heard about her going off with a police
officer, so I followed her. When I caught up I watched your conversation...
right up until the point you distracted her and tried to shoot her."
He allowed himself to smirk openly. Really, how stupid did this person
think he was? "Please. I give you my good faith, and you reward me with
this
load of crap? I asked for some answers, not a thinly-veiled attempt to get
more
answers from me." He raised his hand to cut off her response, ticking off
points on his fingers. "First off, don't think I didn't notice how you
evaded
the question of who you really are. Second off, don't treat me like I'm
ignorant. I KNOW Ukyou Kuonji. You don't talk like her. You don't act
like
her. And Ukyou Kuonji is not, at this point in time, supposed to be in
Nerima,
being friends with Akane. You can avoid it all you like...but I -know- the
truth. Thirdly, you obviously know more than you're letting on...since,
after
all, why on earth would you follow Akane if she'd gone to answer some
questions
for a police officer? You were worried for a reason. Now, I'm going to ask
you
again: give me some real information. You've attacked me without warning,
threatened me, taken my weapon, and spirited me away here. I've cooperated
with
you up until now, and I'm willing to cooperate with you further. But don't
think I'm willing to keep spilling my guts while you sit there carefully
avoiding saying a damn thing."
"I didn't lie at all," the not-Ukyou said simply with a shrug. "And what
do you mean, I'm not supposed to be here yet..." She trailed off, and her
eyes
widened. "No... you can't be. There's no way that -she- sent you after me."
She
began to look around again, her expression worried and guarded. Then she
looked
back at him, her eyes alive with worry. Then she closed them and took a
single
deep, cleansing breath before mastering herself again. "It doesn't matter.
Even
if she did, I plan on clearing up that misunderstanding in the next few
days."
'She', huh? Heh. He kept his expression neutral and waited for her to
give more away.
"Listen, I don't like you very much," the girl pointed out as she
grabbed her weapon's haft. "And while it isn't my style to kill people, that
doesn't mean I'm not willing to beat you black and blue a bit, or just chain
you
down and give you a thorough medical exam to figure out why you don't
bleed."
She paused then, letting the threat sink in. "Or we can be civil about this.
You've cooperated, I'll give you that, but I've also cooperated. You asked
me if
I'm Ukyou Kuonji, and I told you the truth. I AM who I say I am. If you
don't
believe me, that's your problem. I answered your question, now you answer
mine. Quid pro quo."
First rule of debate: Never let them see you sweat. Less of a problem
when you didn't sweat anymore. He glanced at her spatula with casual
disinterest. "Thorough medical exam, huh? Kinky. And kindly don't
threaten
me. I am unintimidated by your oversized cooking utensil." Not true, of
course...he sure as hell couldn't even hope to escape from a superhuman like
Ukyou. But she didn't know that. And she didn't know WHY he didn't bleed,
or
what it meant. Best keep it that way. "Fine. You're Ukyou Kuonji. You
still
evaded the real question, and you're hiding something. If you actually WERE
just the normal super martial artist/okonomiyaki chef you say you were,
you'd be
utterly confused that I thought you weren't yourself. But instead, you're
being
evasive and defensive. Just letting you know I noticed that. But since you
-
technically - answered one question, I suppose you're right. So, ask one
question...Ukyou."
"Now we're being civil," the girl said cheerfully. He repressed the urge
to react to how quickly her expression changed. Her entire face lit up and
became much more animated in the space of a heartbeat. "Now that we know my
name, all I have to do is know yours and we're properly introduced. So why
don't
we start with that. Tell me your name, and don't try to convince me you're
actually Officer Takashita."
Hmm. Easy answer. Stupid answer. Why'd she ask? She had to know his
next question wouldn't be so easily wriggled out of. But, of course, he
didn't
know what she WAS, yet...fishing for a "true name"? He couldn't think
off-hand
of a series that used that cliche, but there were probably some. That could
be
bad, given his circumstances. Well, two could play the semantical game.
"All
right, simple enough question. My name is Chris."
Chris blinked in confusion as the girl's mouth dropped open and she
began to open and close it soundlessly. She stared at him, pointing a single
finger in his direction for almost a minute. Then she physically closed her
mouth with one hand and shook her head, seeming to regain control of her
reactions again. "Indeed... your name is Chris." She paused thoughtfully.
"That
probably means you're from a long way from here..." she trailed off. "Okay.
Pleased to meet you, Chris." She bowed. "I believe it is your turn."
Okay, what was THAT all about? Unless...that "indeed"...but it didn't
make sense. That body was ALIVE. Maybe it was a trick. He frowned
slightly,
considering the phrasing of his next question. Then he grinned a little bit
as
a recent memory occured to him. Chew on this, 'Ukyou'. "Hmm. So it is.
So,
when you first met Akane, you were stalking her. Might I ask why exactly
you
were doing that, or even knew who Akane was?"
Ukyou didn't react, keeping her face impassive. She considered her reply
for a fraction of a second and then answered easily. "That's two questions.
I
was following Akane because I wanted to know as much about her and her
family as
I could. I was given to understand the person I was searching for would soon
arrive at her household, and wanted to know exactly when that would happen.
I
had learned from a reliable source that the Tendo family had... has a family
pact of honor with the person I am looking for, so I came here searching for
them."
Slippery. But he wondered who that "reliable source" was. And he also
wondered why she was looking for Ranma. Did that mean Ranma hadn't arrived
in
Nerima yet after all?
Ukyou affected a look of concentration for a few moments, then finally
spoke. "Since you asked two questions, I'll ask two questions, just to be
fair.
I'll even keep them related. What makes you so sure I'm not 'supposed' to be
here, and, for that matter, how do you know me at all?"
Well, that was ea