Hayate was only a few yards from his dorm when he noticed that he was being followed.
Konatsu kept a low profile behind him, but didn't expect Hayate to suddenly turn around to face the other direction, right in front of her. Nevertheless she stood there, prim and proper in her kimono, gazing at his face.
“Why are you following me?” Hayate asked. “Don't you have anything else better to do?”
Konatsu simply shook her head. “Not really. Ukyou-sama needs some time alone with Ranma-sama and Akane-sama, and I don't want to interrupt her while she's... working out her issues with Ranma-sama.” Her face flushed, and to her surprise, so did Hayate's.
“So...” Hayate began, clearly uncomfortable. “You're one of Ukyou's friends, right? Were you converted as well?”
Konatsu nodded. “Of course. The Shouzouki never valued my manhood, or what little of it could be called as such. There are some other gynoids here who were once men as well, converted by similar reasoning. Thankfully, Ukyou-sama found Ranma-sama not long after I was converted, and I managed to avoid other attentions...” She lowered her gaze away from Hayate. “I thought that Ukyou-sama would have Ranma-sama imprint on me too, out of necessity.”
Hayate grimaced at Konatsu's words. “Would you have really gone for it? Being made to unquestionably love Ranma-sempai?”
Konatasu nodded gently, her gaze still lowered. “It would have had to be Ranma-sama then. The risk of me being used to kill Ranma-sama or somebody else against my will would be too great. Neither me or Ukyou-sama would be able to disobey a man who would imprint on us, no matter how much we'd hate that man, or how vile his wishes are.”
Konatsu raised her eyes to look at Hayate's eyes, gazing upon her in return. “You understand, don't you?”
Hayate nodded, his brow creased. “I was still at home when the virus hit. My dad told me that she was acting strangely recently, but he didn't go on past that. When I came home from school yesterday, they were both gone, so I went out to the Tendou Dojo. It wasn't until today that I realised what was going on. I wish I knew know. Then I know I could have done something about it. I could have done something to save my mother...”
Konatsu gently slid an arm around Hayate's waist. “Hayate, be strong. We'll find your mother, soon. But we also have to look out for each other as well.”
Hayate pulled himself away from Konatsu's grasp. “I'll try. But every time I think about what's happening with her, I feel scared. I don't want to lose her to some asshole who'll just abuse her.” He paused, his eyes shying away from Konatsu. “Even if that asshole is my own father, or my friend.”
“I know you're feeling pain right now...” Konatsu began, taking Hayate's hands again.
“No, you don't!” Hayate snapped, pulling his hands away again.
“Yes, I do!” Konatsu shouted back, roughly grabbing his hands. “You've seen us lose everything... Our bodies, our minds, our souls! We were turned into machines overnight, and we lived in fear that we would become slaves to people we called friends! Any man, any man, would be able to force us to love him unconditionally, and we were lucky that Lum and the other gynoids found us when they did!”
Hayate stared at Konatsu's eyes, which were wet with tears. His attempts to break free from her grasp died suddenly in the face of Konatsu's rant, and her fingers slackened around his wrists. “I'm sorry. I thought...”
Konatsu pulled Hayate into another hug. “Don't be sorry. I... I didn't mean to let my feelings out like that.” She pressed her face into the crook between his shoulder and his neck. “We've been afraid for ourselves ever since we were converted. We were looking behind our shoulders constantly until we found Ranma. We were willing to give everything we were to him. If someone else found us before then, we wouldn't know how long it would be before he decided to imprint us.”
Hayate quietly held Konatsu close. “I... I don't want to think of that. I don't want to think of what might happen to my mother, or Shampoo-chan, or anyone else.”
“Then stay with us, and fight the Converters. Then you will be able to save them, and every other gynoid made by them.”
Konatsu looked over Hayate's shoulder to see a young woman with long brown hair and tan skin that spoke behind him, wearing one of the strange military uniforms that some of the older women in the Bunker all wore. On her cheek was a small insignia, a dagger resting on a musical note. “I'm sorry! I was just...”
“Uh, we were just talking.” Hayate quickly said. “I just felt like I've got this massive weight on me...”
“Because you've seen what has happened to the women here?” The woman asked. “My name's Priss. I'm one of the superiors here in the Mausoleum... I mean, the Mendou estate. We've been researching what's going on in the Furinkan area with great interest. Especially the Tendou dojo, and the people who live there.”
“In other words, you were spying on us?” Hayate asked.
“Not so much as just observing you.” Priss replied. “We were planning on making contact anyway until, well... Until the virus spread into Furinkan. I believe that you've seen the effects for yourselves.”
“He's seen some of us with our torso and chest panels open, he saw Akane get repaired, and he helped Ranma through a charge and diagnostic scan.” Konatsu said. “I think he's familiar with our new nature.”
Priss smiled. “Good. And I think you guys should pair up pretty soonish. The ladies here are getting antsy. seeing Ranma here and all. That girl is one riot waiting to happen.”
Konatsu smiled wanly. “Thank you, Priss-sama...”
Priss grinned, and walked past Hayate and Konatsu. After a while, Hayate looked down at Konatsu. “Do you think she knows about Ranma-sempai's... Switching?”
“Right now, I really hope that nobody here does...” Konatsu replied fearfully.
Hayate entered the dorm quietly, looking about the room in search of activity as Konatsu moved past him. Akane laid naked on one of the beds, her breastplate hatch left exposed, a cable trailing out of it. Probably charging, Hayate surmised, especially with her weak power cell. Ukyou was over by the windows, working over a large portable grill she's set up, the smell of Ucchan's famous okonomiyaki filling the room. Konatsu quickly moved over to join her mistress, offering her help at the grill.
Hayate stepped inside warily, shutting the door behind him. It looked like the others are settling in already. Better than he can right now, all things considered.
His head turned towards the en-suite bathroom door, left half open with light spilling out from inside. He quietly approached the door, and knocked on it firmly, only for the door to unexpectedly swing open. Hayate swallowed as he saw Ranma, in male form, standing in front of the mirror over the sink.
Hayate's eyes moved from the back of Ranma's head to look down on the sink, only for his heart to freeze as his eyes fell on it.
Sitting on the sink was Ranma's face.
Everything from forehead to chin, including the ears, was sitting, disembodied, on the side of the sink. There was no trace of blood on the sink, and for all Hayate could tell, his face just came clean off of his skull.
Hayate choked audibly. Ranma, hearing the noise he made, turned around to face him fully.
Ranma's eyes sat, large and blue, supported in the gap in his facial cavity by special metal sockets attached to his CCU, which Hayate could see fully, glowing blue as it processed the signals from his sensory inputs. Below that was Ranma's mouth, covered by a set of gleaming white formic teeth sitting freely where his face and lips would cover it, connected with a thin metal structure that connected and supported his teeth.
Hayate stared at Ranma's uncovered head, his mind trying to process the sight.
“H... Hayate-kun?” Ranma's voice sounded, a metallic tinge punctuating it. His teeth didn't move, obviously realising there would be no need without lips or a face to keep up the masquerade.
Darkness flooded Hayate's vision, and he felt his body fall to the floor as...
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Thu, 07 Mar 2013 18:29)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.