The waitress glared down at the two of them, "Will you two stop that? You are disturbing the other customers!"
She placed her hands on her hips and an expression of disgust appeared on her face, "If you are that way inclined, you can just go to one of those filthy clubs up the street. This is a respectable coffee shop."
Ranma stared at her, a puzzled look on her face, until she glanced down at the crying girl, "EEEP!!!"
At some point Pai had stopped crying on Ranma's shoulder and had found a more comfortable resting place - her chest. With Pai's body quivering with sobs, Ranma didn't even want to consider what the situation looked like from the waitress's perspective.
Some time later, after calming Pai down a little and apologising profusely to the waitress, the two were once again sitting across from each other in the coffee shop.
Ranma glanced down at the envelope that Pai had produced; the name was definitely hers, but she didn't recognise the address as any that she remembered staying at.
Glancing across at Pai, who stared back expectantly, she opened the envelope and pulled out the letter, wondering if this was all some kind of hoax.
My dear nephew Ranma,
You probably do not remember me, as the last time I saw you, you were only 2 years old at the time. However I am sure that you will have heard my name, as your mother will have certainly mentioned the 'unmanly bookworm' that married her sister and the messy divorce that ensued.
Ranma blinked, "I have a mother?" she whispered. She had never really thought about her mother before; she wondered why her oyaji had never mentioned her.
I pray that your mother has not poisoned you to me too much, and that she has raised you to be an honourable man. I fear what effect your father will have had upon you.
Whilst I do not wish to cause you insult, the few times that I have met your father have proven to me that he is a greedy man, only interested in personal gain. I can only hope that you have not turned out to be like him, and receive this plea with an honourable heart.
Ranma shuddered at the idea of turning out like her oyaji, but whoever had written this did appear to know her father's character, so perhaps it wasn't a hoax.
The girl who has delivered this letter to you is named Pai. She has aided me in my last few days, and it is about her that my plea relates.
For you see, if you are reading this, then I am dead and Pai has not been able to locate my son, Yakumo, your cousin.
Ranma blinked again, "I have a whole family out there that oyaji never mentioned once," she muttered, "I'm gonna sell him to a zoo for this one."
No matter what your mother has said about me, I doubt that she has cast my work in a good light. So I will explain it to you in my own words, and let you be the judge.
I am - or in your view, was - a history professor studying ancient civilisations and cultures. My particular expertise lie in studying ancient religions and some of the more occult beliefs of those religions. Though I hesitate to use such a base description myself, you may have heard my line of work described as demonology - the study of demons.
Now, I beg you to continue to read with an open mind what I have written below. There are many strange things in this world that cannot be explained by modern science, and I hope that you remember that as you continue.
Ranma chuckled slightly; things that can't be explained by modern science? she thought, looking down at her cursed female body.
My work frequently takes me away from Japan, and on this trip I have travelled to Tibet.
For the last seven years now I have been searching for a race whispered about in the legends of many lost civilisations - the Sanjiyan Unkara. It is said that the Sanjiyan Unkara hold the secret of immortality, but in seven years I have found little besides rumours and a few artifacts - until now.
It is ironic that I have caught an intense fever at the moment of my greatest triumph. For you see, I have found what I believe to be the last of the Sanjiyan Unkara.
Pai.
Though she says she has no knowledge of the secrets of immortality, she claims to be about 300 years old...
Ranma gave a low whistle as she looked up from the page she was reading. Pai was still watching her, an intense expression of hope mingled with fear on her face.
"300 years?" Ranma asked in as casual a voice as she could manage.
Pai nodded her head, the fear of not being believed shining in her eyes.
Ranma shook her head slightly, "You certainly look good for your age."
The fear in Pai's eyes immediately changed to relief as tears began to roll down her cheeks again.
Ranma gulped and quickly looked around for the mean waitress, "Hey, enough with the water works, okay? You are going to get us thrown out." Watching Pai take a deep breath to calm herself, Ranma gave her a reassuring smile and continued, "Why don't you pop to the ladies room and get yourself cleaned up a little? I'm probably going to be a little longer reading this thing anyway."
Pai reached a hand to her cheek - between the tears and the dirt, she looked a complete mess, though Ranma barely restrained herself from saying so.
"Thank you, Pai will," she replied before standing up and walking to the rest rooms.
Ranma watched the sway of her hips as she walked away and was reminded of her earlier desire to get to know a girl other than as part of one of her oyaji's schemes.
Tearing her gaze away from that near hypnotic sight, Ranma took a sip from her now lukewarm tea to clear the sudden dryness in her throat. Squashing any introspective thoughts as to why her throat was dry, she quickly went back to the letter before her.
As you may have surmised by her age, Pai is not human.
Whether the Sanjiyan Unkara are evolved from another branch of primates, are descended from normal humans who gained knowledge of magic and immortality, or are simply demons, I cannot say.
But in all the legends that I have discovered about the Sanjiyan, there is nothing to indicate that they are any more evil than humans. Indeed, most of the stories show them in a benevolent light.
I say these things to show you that whilst she isn't human, Pai isn't less than human either. Her soul has an equal value to your own. Though I suppose she will prove that to you herself, given time, with her kind heart and caring nature.
"Boy, this guy is arrogant," Ranma said shaking her head, "Like I'm going to allow the words of someone I don't even know to cloud my judgement one way or the other?"
Whilst they are apparently immortal, the legends say the Sanjiyan developed a means to become human to allow them to fade away when they grew tired of this world. I assume that all of the other Sanjiyan became human and died off centuries ago, though I cannot figure out why Pai alone remains.
The key to the transformation process is said to be the Ningen no Zou [statue of humanity]. I acquired this artifact some years ago, and it now rests in the safe keeping of the Yogekisha company in Hong Kong.
I have also written a letter to my son Yakumo, asking him to take Pai to Hong Kong and retrieve the Ningen no Zou, but either Pai has not been able to find him, or he has refused my dying wish.
If you have grown to be an honourable man, I beg you to take up your cousin's burden. Please take Pai to Hong Kong, retrieve the statue and help her to become human...
Ranma glanced up as Pai sat back down across from her.
"What do you think?" asked the non-human girl as she gazed at her with an intense expression.
Ranma gulped nervously at the sudden dryness of her throat, "You look kind of cute beneath all that dirt."
Pai just stared for a second before launching into a fit of giggles. "Not me, silly," she said between giggles, "What do you think about the letter?"
"Oh," responded Ranma, her face lighting up with a deep blush of embarrassment, "Well...
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Murasaki no Tsuki
(Posted Mon, 22 Dec 2003 02:39)
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.