Bunkyô, near Rakuyô Senior High School…
"Pure ki power, Ryofu-sama?"
"Yeah," Hôsen Ryofu said as her eyes focused on the nearly-invisible dot making its way steadily across the sky far to her south-southwest. While she couldn't exactly see the strange alien woman who had just arrived on Earth, she could feel the newcomer's ki, which not only was at a level that would be seen as super-A rang among the tôshi of the Seven Schools, it also seemed very…
Familiar.
As to the "how," she couldn't begin to guess.
"So she's a tôshi?" Kôdai Chinkyû asked, holding one of Hôsen's arms close to her.
"Clearly a warrior of some sort," Hôsen affirmed with a nod. "Possibly Kanami-chan's equal if not superior. But her power feels a little close to Fu-chan's type, too."
The younger tôshi blinked. "A dragon?"
"Possibly…"
In the air over Meguro Ward…
"Okay, so let me recap here," Tariko stated with a sigh. Lum had put the airbike on hover mode so that everyone could have a decent conversation with the woman who had just joined them from the Noukiite colony of Okusei via Triton. "Some years ago, one of Nengmek'i's friends came to Earth and had an encounter with Ranma Saotome. In that encounter, some of that dragon's power was passed on to Ranma. Am I right so far?"
"Hai," Kyech said with a slight nod.
"And over the last few months, you've been sensing the ki echo of someone touched by a Noukiite dragon emanating from somewhere on Earth," Lum added. "After you travelled throughout most of the worlds of the Outmarches to make sure, you were able to triangulate it enough to confirm said person was on Earth. And then you came here."
"Hai."
"After you left the house, you sensed Ranma-san, realised she was the one you were after — not to mention the fact that you also sensed Ranma-san's beloved, who is bonded to an Earth dragon — thus flew off to go find her," Hiromi finished.
"Hai."
The two Terrans and the Oni sighed. "So why didn't you come up to the ship and tell us this before you flew off to go see Ranma?" Tariko demanded as she waved over to the NHK news helicopter now off to the airbike's left at about a hundred metres. "You rather notice all the attention you just snared! I'll lay a very good bet that not only are all the people in Tomobiki are watching this now, but also all the people in Nerima, including all the dorks and idiots she wants to get away from so she could be with Tsueko-chan!" A moan. "Kyech, can't you think it through just for ONCE before you leap off to go on another adventure?! This is your first time here, remember?! You'd think that people might notice a Noukiite wandering around here, not to mention FLYING through the air in BROAD DAYLIGHT over a major city!"
"Darling, stop it!" Lum scolded as she gazed on her lover. "You know how much Kyech wants to do right whenever she senses something wrong! Don't get angry at her!"
Tariko stared at her, and then she sighed before patting the Noukiite's shoulder. "We'll talk about this later, okay?"
"Okay."
"So how do we proceed to Kimitsu and avoid the media?" Hiromi asked.
Kyech held up her hand. "I will deal with this."
A flash of light later, the Cleaver of the Heavens appeared in her hand. Before Tariko could scream out to her stop whatever she was doing, she twirled it.
"Wait! The newcomer has produced out what appears to be a double-bladed axe on a long staff…!" the NHK news reporter said before she gasped as the image of the airbike and its four passengers vanished. "Oh, my! They disappeared!"
Throughout all of Tomobiki…
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! BRING LUM BACK! BRING HER BACK!"
Near Rakuyô…
Hôsen gasped. "Gone?!"
"What happened?!" Kôdai fretted.
"I don't know!"
Nerima…
"She can even cloak herself?!"
"That's even better than your Umisen-ken trick, Oji-chan!"
Genma nodded. He, Happôsai, Cologne and Nabiki had just watched that remarkable disappearing act on the television set in the living room of the Tendô home. "No doubt, whoever Lum-chan's friend is, she clearly is a very close friend to her, yet she desires to keep meetings between them secret." A hum, and then he gazed at the middle Tendô daughter. "Nabiki-chan, do you have any intelligence connections in Tomobiki?"
Nabiki blinked, and then she nodded. "My chief bookie there is a classmate of Lum's and Ataru Moroboshi's, Momoe Marubeya. She didn't get roasted bad when Ataru-kun called in that dragon-thing at the end of the Second Tag Race, but things between Ataru-kun and his classmates at school are practically frigid these days. Lum doesn't even go to school anymore; she either spends her time on her ship or in the Moroboshi home." A sigh. "Atop that, Lum's cousin, Ten, was dragged off back home right after that mess. He was Momoe's chief source of information for all that went on inside that house."
A hum. "Pity." Genma then perked. "Wait! There's that other alien who lives there! Ran, was her name? Would Momoe-san be able to get information from her?"
Nabiki took a moment to consider that, and then she nodded. "Possibly."
"How much would you and she need for this?"
Hearing that, Nodoka perked. She had come down from her guest room on hearing of the strange incident occurring in the skies over Tôkyô. "Husband, I'm more than sure that Nabiki-chan will be able to do this matter for free, given how much she seems…!"
"My wife, be silent!" Genma snapped in an icy voice, one which made Nodoka freeze in place as her skin paled. Rarely did he ever speak to her in those tones, especially these days. "Nabiki-chan is being asked for a service and it is only right and proper for her to be paid for that service! Remember, she is asking a favour of someone else, who clearly deserves to be compensated for her assistance." He turned back to Nabiki. "My apologies, Nabiki-chan. Again, it appears my wife is forgetting herself and her place in this household. Shall we discuss this later?"
"I'll send you a bill," Nabiki said as she stood up. "I'll call Momoe-chan now."
She headed out of the room. Genma nodded as he turned back to the television. Cologne stared at him for a moment, and then glanced at Nodoka, who seemed to be fidgeting between either yanking out the Saotome honour blade from its carrying bundle and meekly submitting to her husband's unspoken demand to mind her own business. She then stared at Happôsai. "<<What's this all about anyway?>>" she asked in Mandarin.
"<<Tell you about it later,>>" he replied as he puffed his pipe.
At that moment, Nodoka jolted, and then she immediately moved to unsheathe her katana. Before the blade could leave the scabbard, Kasumi walked into the room, her eyes flaring with rage as she glared at the other woman. "SAOTOME-SAN!"
Nodoka froze in place, her head snapping over to gaze on the elder Tendô daughter, and then she wilted as that angry glare seemed to bore right into her mind and soul. "Do not EVER presume to draw that weapon inside this house ever again, Saotome-san!" she said as she moved to serve tea. "Do so again and I will summon the police here to have you removed from these premises once and for all time."
Nodoka gasped as her body turned to stone. Nearby, Sôun gazed tearfully at his eldest daughter. "Kasumi! How can you treat our guest like that?!"
A sigh. "Oh, how nice! Akane will be cooking dinner tonight."
"GLAAAARK!"
Eyes locked on Sôun, who was as frozen solid as Nodoka. Ignoring them, Kasumi gazed on Genma. "I assume, Oji-san, you and Ojii-san will be eating out."
"We may do that, Kasumi-chan," Genma said. "I'll also make sure Ranma stays away. Would you and Nabiki-chan care to join us this evening?"
"Oh, I don't wish to impose."
"It's no imposition, my dear."
"Of course I will, then."
Genma nodded as he turned back to the television. Happôsai and Cologne shared a snicker and a knowing look. Sôun and Nodoka STILL remained frozen in place…
Kimitsu, the Meguru home…
"So where do you think Lum-chan, Ru-chan and their friends went to, Ma-chan?"
"Don't know," Ranma said as she, Hakufu and Kôkin relaxed around the living room table enjoying late afternoon tea. They would head out soon to visit a nearby yatai to enjoy their supper; neither Kôkin or Hakufu could cook well and neither of them wanted to force Ranma to cook despite her considerable skill in the kitchen. "I do know that was the girl who found Lum and Tariko on a planet named Okusei right after both of them got transported off Uru just after everyone in Tomobiki met up with that Elle woman. She was their guide while they were there. They even became very close lovers, along with a whole slew of her friends from that planet and elsewhere." A giggle. "Matter of fact, Lum and Tariko kinda think of their time on Okusei as their first honeymoon."
"She's GOT to be a great fighter!" Hakufu immediately stated.
"What makes you say that, Hakufu?" Kôkin asked.
"You heard Ma-chan, Kôkin!" her cousin returned her look. "She was FLYING in the air using just her KI! Can you imagine what sort of power and training she's got?! Not even Ma-chan, her grandmaster or that nice old lady at the Nekohanten in Nerima can do that!" She then shuddered as twinkles appeared around her. "Wow! Could you imagine it?! The fighting styles of another whole PLANET to learn from! That would be the greatest training trip imaginable!" She gazed on Ranma. "What do you think, Ma-chan?!"
"Yeah, it would be a training trip. And a non-stop fighting trip, too."
Her hosts perked. "What do you mean, Ranma-san?" Kôkin asked.
A sigh. "From what Lum and Tariko have told me about their friends from Noukiios, they live in a part of that planet's territory that's nearly run over with outlaws, bandits and all sorts of lowlifes. People like that girl are always wandering around and fighting these creeps. Killing them if they have to; law enforcement doesn't get too far past the villages and towns on some of those planets."
Hearing that, Hakufu frowned. "I wouldn't want to kill anyone."
"I know, love," Ranma breathed out. "The one time I did that was more than enough in my eyes. But people like this friend of Tariko's and Lum's…not to mention all like her…are pretty experienced in this sort of stuff."
"They bring their fates unto themselves, Kanami. Do not mourn them."
All three gasped, and then spun around to see a figure in white-and-black, topped with red hair and decorated with a bony forehead and flower tattoos on her cheeks, standing there. Three other people stood behind her, two looking apologetic and one looking as if she was about to blow a gasket. "Kyech!" Tariko snapped as she glared at the Noukiite. "Couldn't you have teleported us into the YARD?! I don't think Ranma, Tsueko-chan and Yumi-chan appreciate you scaring them out of ten years growth…!"
"You have the blood of a dragon within you."
Tariko stopped as eyes locked on Hakufu, who had risen from the table to gaze intently on Kyech. Her eyes were now dragon-slit, showing to all that a certain heavenly entity had come out of wherever she went in Hakufu's subconscious mind and taken full control of her. Before anyone could say anything, Kyech smiled as her own eyes seemed to glow with an unearthly power of her own. "As was given to me in my first life three millennia ago, when I saved a hatchling who had disguised himself accidentally as a biped on my world and was being bullied by other children due to his strangeness." She raised her right arm, pulling back the sleeve to reveal a black tattoo resembling the tail and hindquarters of a dragon, it wound about her arm, to the three people before her. "Though I confess that I have never encountered a dragon willing to bond soul-to-soul with a biped."
"Such was the fate not just of myself, but others who also found themselves bound to the souls of noble warriors of eighteen centuries ago from the land across the sea from these islands," Hakufu/Shàobà stated with a light smile. "Only in this incarnation of my human-self have I been able to be fully accepted by her and she by me" She indicated Ranma with a hand. "Our beloved treasure helped us there."
Kyech blinked, and then she stared at Ranma for a moment before gazing back on Hakufu. "Your heart-mate?" Seeing the other woman nod, the Noukiite's eyebrow then arched. "Were you attracted to her by the touch of my friend's kinswoman she received some years ago, after she had undergone a considerable period of torture at the hands of her own sire under the disguise of warrior 'training?'"
Hakufu blinked, her eyes going back to normal as they went very wide and her jaw dropped to the floor. "MY MA-CHAN MET AN ALIEN DRAGON?!"
The whole house quaked at her shout, causing nearly everyone to grab their ears and hope they weren't ruptured from the sonic blast. "Um, Tsueko-chan, I don't think they heard you all the way in Kitakyûshû!" Tariko moaned. "Did you have to be that loud?!"
Hakufu jolted, and then she laughed. "S-s-sorry, Ru-chan!"
"Oh, man…!"
Eyes locked on Ranma. "What is it, Ranma-san?" Kôkin asked.
The redhead was shaking her head, grabbing her hair and yanking on it as she tried to chase the headache now throbbing in her brain away. "No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!" she groaned before looking heavenward. "WHO?! WHO DID I PISS OFF, GODS?! WHO?!"
"Kanami, it is not wise to yell at the Ch'uoeuk like that."
Eyes locked on Kyech. "'Ch'uoeuk?'" Kôkin asked.
"'King of Kings.' The deity who was once their founding worldwide king, Muchach," Tariko stated as she breathed out before glancing fondly at her Noukiite lover. "According to Kyech's beliefs, when you die, you face Muchach at the Pool of Reincarnation and are judged for your life's work and deeds before being given a chance to be reborn in a higher caste or get the Final Judgement and ascend to Heaven."
"But if you really foul up BAD in your life, he sends you back as part of a lower caste as punishment," Lum added with a raised finger to emphasize her point.
"Indeed, I don't think Kanami would like being resurrected as a t'ye."
Everyone blinked as they stared at Kyech. "'T'ye?'" Kôkin asked.
Tariko jolted, and then she spun on Kyech, waving her off from answering that.
Too late.
"A cat."
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! CAT?! WHERE?!"
As Hakufu moved immediately to calm a screaming Ranma down, Tariko sighed as she stared at Kyech. "Well, at least you were trying to respect Ranma's feelings!"
"Would it be more proper to kill her father first?" Kyech asked.
A sigh. "No. If you're gonna kill anyone, Kyech, it's the mother, not the father."
An eyebrow arched. "Why?"
Tariko crossed her arms. "Her father, despite all the screw-ups like that disaster with the you-know-whats and everything else, is trying to make up for his mistakes. Her mother, however, lies about her very ancestry to all that know her. What's worse, she wants to trap Ranma in that like and make sure it continues to perpetuate."
Kyech took that in, and then she nodded. "I understand."
Before anyone could say anything more, a doorbell pealed. "Who could that be?" Kôkin wondered as she stood up and walked over to the console that controlled the intercom to the front gate. "Hai?" she called into the speaker after opening the link.
"Kôkin? It's me, Shimei Ryomô. Are you alright?"
"Bring her in. She also has a dragon within her."
Kôkin blinked as she stared at Kyech, and then she turned to call back over the intercom, "Just a moment, Sempai. I'll come open the door."
Save for Hakufu and Ranma — the latter STILL moaning and glancing wildly around and the former trying to calm her down — the others exchanged looks.
And now we…
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(Posted Sun, 27 Sep 2009 01:59)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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