[Episode 25427] [Episode 25427]All eyes in the room turned on Kodachi. The demented would be noble just looked around at the accusing stares. "What? How could it be me, I would never hurt my Ranma-sama!"
"No," Stated Nabiki. "You hurt him all the time. You would just never intentionally kill him. Unfortunately for Ranma, unintentional damage can still be fatal."
Kodachi was getting very tense now. How could these commoners dare think she could harm her strong and noble hero! "Speak plainly Tendo, so that when I thrash you for making this unfounded accusation, you will know the full measure of my ire!"
Nabiki just looked at her calmly from where she sat. "You were the one that sent him a package three days ago." Nabiki produced the mentioned evidence from behind her and presented it to those gathered. "Knowing he would usually toss something from you right in the trash, you made it look like a food based challenge letter to trick him into a date."
"So?" Kodachi asked simply. "I included none of my usual concoctions in those pastries. They were bought commercially, at great expense. How does this make me responsible for Ranma-sama's supposed demise?"
"Must be lie or trick. Ranma to to strong. No could be killed by Ribbon Girl." Shampoo really wanted to believe that but she was getting a cold feeling in her stomach that told her otherwise. She was well aware Kodachi was clueless about Ranma's curse.
"Unfortunately," Nabiki said sharply before taking a breath and going on in a more subdued tone, "it turns out Ranma had an unknown food allergy."
Shampoo, Ukyo and Kodachi all gave Nabiki a look that begged for this to be some sort of sick joke so they could pummel her and get on with their lives. Nabiki bore the looks without flinching and the trio of would be romantic interests was forced to sit quietly as Nabiki passed around to them copies of the official reports. They each took the time to stare at the documents, even if they didn't really see them with the exception of the cause of death. Asphyxiation as a result of anaphylaxis. A lethal allergic reaction.
Ranma, one of the most capable martial artists on earth. Who would leap small buildings for the hell of it and dance along fence tops as easily as anyone else walked on the ground. Who could walk away from a car accident unharmed and leaving the car a wreck. Someone able to forcibly redecorate the local geography if he were in a bad enough mood. Killed by an allergic reaction to a puff pastry?
"How?" A shuddering Kodachi managed to choke out.
"Nobody was quite sure what was going on at first. He'd just opened the box, looked over the note and started to toss those things down." Nabiki let her usual mask drop and for the first time the other three girls could see she actually looked drawn and very tired. Nabiki didn't like reminders of mortality, they brought back unpleasant memories. Memories she would have to put aside for the moment. "We thought maybe he had just eaten to fast and was having trouble swallowing one. Akane was pounding him on the back and screaming at him to stop playing around.
"It wasn't until he fell over that Kasumi realized something was very wrong. His trachea had swollen shut and his neck and hands had started to swell. That was when Akane went to call for paramedics. Kasumi had enough of her wits left in her to attempt to open his airway, first with a makeshift breathing tube, then an attempt at a tracheotomy with a kitchen knife. If she had ever been able to get any sort of training, instead of just reading medical books in her spare time, she might have actually saved the lug." Nabiki shook her head sadly and the usually unflappable girl had to take a moment to calm herself.
"The paramedics that arrived tried to revive him but he hadn't been breathing in so long that even if they had managed he would have been brain dead. Ranma's mother already had the body cremated and taken to the Saotome family shrine. Considering nobody knew he had any allergies, there will be no formal charges. His death was listed as accidental." The mercenary Tendo stood up slowly. "I think that about covers everything. You know the way out." And with that she left the Dojo.
Kodachi left first, running at her best speed and sobbing. Ukyo and Shampoo briefly considered the idea of cutting her down but discarded the thought. Each of them had often used food as a means of tempting Ranma to them and they shuddered at the idea that one wrong ingredient could have meant that they could have killed him themselves. So both shuffled out of the silent building and towards their own homes.
The days and weeks that followed would see...
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(Posted Fri, 25 Oct 2013 22:15)
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