Ryouga held his ground. He couldn't run - outrunning Ranma was impossible - but he could stand his ground and fight.
He hoped. He tried to ignore the look in Ranma's eyes as he slowly approached...
Ryouga blinked. Slowly?
He looked at Ranma as his rival walked toward him. Slow movement, wide-open stance... what was he thinking? Ryouga swallowed, and took a gamble with a shot to his solar plexus. If he could knock Ranma down long enough...
"Ranma-AAUUGH!" The crunch Ryouga heard didn't sound pleasant to his ears; neither did the fireball of pain that came from his hand. He looked at the mangled mess that had once been his right hand, and back at Ranma's torso.
The man hadn't moved. Ranma wasn't wearing armor, but...
His thoughts were interrupted by Ranma grabbing him by the shirt. Ryouga could feel his skin; it was still skin, but it had a toughness to it, like he'd gone through a thousand hours of training for the Bakusai Tenketsu. Ryouga couldn't even dig into the skin, and knew then what everyone else would know soon.
Fighting Ranma had just become an exercise in futility. Ranma lifted him off of the ground, and cocked a fist back. Ryouga could see it in Ranma's eyes; he had just taken a step too far, and he would die as a result. Ryouga closed his eyes and muttered a quick prayer to his ancestors...
"Ranma!"
Ryouga felt a brush of wind against his face, and opened his eyes. A tan-colored blur sat next to his nose, so close he could feel wisps of hair from Ranma's knuckles brush against the tip of his nose. He also felt a trickle of hot liquid down his leg, and realized he needed a change of pants.
He muttered a small thanks to the Kami for creating Kasumi. The girl in question called out to Ranma, asking for help. Ranma turned back to her, then fixed that horrible gaze back on him.
"Ryouga, the game is over. You can chase after Akane all you want; what you do with her is between you and her. However, if you harm Nabiki ever again, I will kill you."
Ranma let go of Ryouga's shirt; new waves of pain coursed through Ryouga when he fell on his hand, but he didn't care. All that mattered was getting away from walking death, and fast. He'd worry about what to do about Akane later.
A few minutes later, after he'd stopped running, he'd found himself somewhere else. For once, his curse had done exactly what he'd wanted: get him away.
***
Ranma took a look at Nabiki's form as she lay on the ground. Her cuts were bad, but not terrible. She still needed to go to a doctor, though, if for no other reason than to get stitches.
He looked in detail at her aura, then gasped in surprise.
"Wh - what is it, Ranma?" Kasumi asked.
Ranma sat back, played the last month over in his mind, and realized what had happened. "Nothing of immediate concern, Kasumi. Let's get her to a doctor." He hoisted her in a fireman's carry, his steps so light that, had Kasumi been able to tell, not even the earth would have known he was there.
See other episodes by Nightelf
(Posted Fri, 15 Nov 2002 02:25)
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