Akane slipped downstairs as she did every morning, noting in the back of her mind the sounds of breakfast being prepared before she opened the front door. Waking to her alarm clock, rather than the noise of one of the Saotomes throwing the other out of the window, had startled her, but she had settled and now she was ready for the second significant phase of her morning routine – jogging six kilometres around Nerima.
“Hey, c’n I come with ya?”
“Eyaah!” She jumped back from the doorway, her hands raised defensively. Only the sight of a pigtail fluttering behind the figure landing on the path in front of her let her recognise “RAnmAa!”
The redhead blinked. “Uh – Yeah?”
“Don’t DO that you idiot!” hissed Akane, pulling her t-shirt straight. “You sc-startled me!”
“Oh, um. Sorry?” said Ranma, tugging at her pigtail.
“What were you doing on the roof anyway?”
“Oh, I, sorta needed somewhere to think… C’n I come running with you?”
“Yeah, I guess – you finished thinking, then?”
“Got as far as I can without someone to talk about it with,” admitted Ranma. She pulled the gate open and cocked en eye at her friend.
Akane stepped outside, closed the door, and jogged gently down the path to the street. She gave Ranma a playful jab as she passed, which the redhead dodged effortlessly, and settled into a ground-eating lope that would work the kinks out before she picked up to a proper run for the last five kilometres.
Ionis led Lord Talon’s party off the aeroplane. There were several reasons for this; the reason he did it was that the sooner he got off the plane and through the boarding tunnel, the sooner the metal shell would stop interrupting his magical abilities. The reason the others let him was that until his magical powers returned, his most effective use in their mutual duties was as a human shield.
The thought lent added darkness to his scowl.
As he felt the ethereal stream once more, he made a discrete gesture with one hand as he reached for his spellbook with the other. Immediately, the others moved to change their formation, Zelda sauntering past him to take the point as Link and Daishi came up with Lord Talon and let Ionis take his normal position behind their employer, within reach to set the teleportation spell to pull the child genius (and himself) to safety.
Once in their normal formation, Ionis repressed a sigh of relief. Although he continued to sweep his eyes over the crowd, he was no longer tensed for immediate attack on himself and he had his powers available should the situation devolve to combat. Of course, they had never, to date, been assaulted in such a normal situation, and in fact had normally started any violent altercations themselves, but that was little consolation when he was out in front as target number one. Once out of that position of vulnerability, he felt less need to scrutinise his surroundings, and could rely on his more combative companions to spot incoming threats anyway.
Much more relaxed, he trailed behind the others as they made their way down the hallways to Passport Control. In accordance with their normal plan, Zelda slipped through first, casually letting an elderly couple between her and the rest of the group so she had time to pause on the other side and case the luggage-claim area for any surprises. Link passed herself off as Lord Talon’s family servant (her customary costume making that slight subterfuge much easier) and his guardian for the purposes of this trip – the preadolescent genius huffed and grumbled that he was perfectly capable of looking after himself and inadvertently gave the inscrutable Japanese customs officer the impression that Link was telling the exact truth. Ionis passed through behind them. Daishi met them on the other side; he had probably passed through a different gate, but Ionis couldn’t be sure.
Zelda was making a spectacle of herself picking up the luggage, flaunting her enhanced strength as normal, and he deliberately turned his attention away from her. As he did, he saw a vaguely familiar face; it didn’t register immediately, but a second or two later he gazed across the hall at a mop of brown hair.
“Hmm.”
“What is it, Ionis?” griped his employer. Lord Talon didn’t bother trying to see what had caught the mage’s attention; he knew he was far too short to see whatever it was across the crowds.
Ionis stepped aside, ignoring Daishi’s matching movement. The figure he had spotted stooped and stood again with a sturdy duffel bag, briefly revealing a similar but female figure behind him. “Sander,” murmured the mage.
“What? Speak clearly, Ionis,” snapped Lord Talon impatiently. “You know that mystical master nonsense doesn’t impress me.”
Ionis glanced down at his employer. “Sander, Lord Talon,” he repeated clearly, as Daishi continued to observe the couple across the hall. “Brother to Jetta, the werewolf…”
“Alpha!” exclaimed the boy. He rubbed his hands eagerly. “What luck! Daishi, change of plans – you track Sander. He’ll probably lead you straight to the hakken without any effort on our part. The rest of us will go to the hotel as planned.”
“Yes, Lord Talon,” intoned the ninja before fading into the crowd.
“So.”
“Huh?”
“So,” repeated Akane, now warmed up. “What were you thinking about?”
“Huh-uuh…”
“You did say you had to talk to someone about it.”
Ranma pounded pavement for a few metres before nodding. “Yeah, I did.”
Akane waited another few dozen metres before breaking the quiet again. “So…”
“So.” The redhead blew reflectively, and started, “Kodachi.”
“Uh-huh,” said Akane, gesturing her friend down a side road. “Seems nicer than her brother, at least.”
“So’s yer average rabid tiger,” noted Ranma. Akane laughed shortly. “No, ‘s about her…” she glanced around, checking that the early hour did grant them a more-or-less deserted street to talk on, “her scent.”
Akane frowned. “Her perfume? I didn’t notice she was even wearing any…”
“No, her personal scent,” clarified Ranma. “What she smells of herself. She wasn’t wearing perfume.”
“Uhh… this is a dog-girl thing, isn’t?”
Ranma granted her an irritated look. “Yes.” She ran on silently for a dozen metres. “Everyone has their own scent. Everyone smells a little like their family.”
“Oh. So what do I smell like?”
“I can’t describe it,” said Ranma. “The words don’t really exist – it’s like describing colours to someone who’s blind.”
“Oh.” They ran quietly for a way. “So, does she not smell like Kuno, then?”
“Oh, she does, but…” She trailed off. “They have a – it’s like they’ve got two scents, mixed up. Or an extra scent mixed in, or something. I can’t really tell in this body.”
They turned a corner, and she fell silent as they ran towards a dustcart and the men collecting the bins. One of the labourers waved genially at Akane and raised an eyebrow towards Ranma, Akane granted him a smile and a wave as she ran by.
“You don’t smell as well in that form, then?” she asked, when the men were safely behind them.
Ranma shook her head. “Better than you do, but not as well as in my other forms,” she admitted.
“So, what’s this extra scent like?”
“Well, it’s sort of mediciney,” said Ranma. “I thought it was some sort of, of aftershave or something the True Blunder was wearing, but both of them have it. ‘Dachi’s not got it nearly as strong, though.”
“So maybe they’ve got an odd smell in their family?” suggested Akane. “They’ve got enough else that’s odd…”
Ranma shook her head firmly. “It’s not a normal smell for people. Not even close. Not normal for any animal I know.” She huffed shortly. “It’s almost plant-like, nearly.”
They turned another corner, and Akane immediately dodged right to avoid a figure standing in the middle of the path. He was bent over, apparently inspecting the street name sign and comparing it to a scrap of paper.
“Yah! Careful,” gasped Ranma, stopping sharply so her friend didn’t run into her.
The boy stood up, revealing himself to be about their age and dressed in sturdy clothes rumpled from long wear, with a bandanna keeping his hair out of his eyes.
“Oh, sorry,” he said. His eyes tracked almost involuntarily from Akane’s face to Ranma’s bust, and he flushed faintly. “I-uh, that. Do you know the way to Nerima?”
“You’re in Nerima,” said Akane, her tone indicating profound displeasure.
His attention snapped to her face. “I am?” He grinned, unpleasantly. “Finally! Ah, do you know where I can find Saotome Ranma?”
“I’m Saotome Ranma.”
The boy turned to her, his face falling. “You are?”
Ranma nodded.
His face fell further. “You don’t know of anyone else called Ranma, do you?” he asked hopefully.
Both girls shook their heads. He slumped despondently. “Oh. Sorry to bother you.” He turned away, grabbing a huge backpack which leant against the fence, and stomped off around the corner. “Wrong Ranma,” they heard him mutter. “All the way from Nagasaki… wasted time, he could be anywhere by now… Saotome Ranma, because of you I’ve seen HELL!”
Akane peered around the corner after him. “Weird,” she said to Ranma. “I mean, ‘Saotome Ranma’ isn’t a common name – I wonder who he’s really following?”
Ranma shrugged. “Beats me.” She gestured along the road, and let Akane take the lead again as they picked up to running speed again.
“You know though,” she admitted, “I can’t help thinking I might have seen him somewhere before…”
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(Posted Tue, 20 Nov 2007 23:00)
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