Every night, I have the same dream. Come to think of it, nightmare would be a more appropriate term. Every time I close my eyes to sleep, I relive the same tragedy over and over. The memories of that terrible day will haunt me until the day I die.
Despite my efforts and desire to wake up, the scene unfolds as it did so long ago.
I see myself and my friend Shin, along with our mystical partners, prowl the docks of Osaka. The darkness of the night covered our approach or so we thought. How little did we know...
My shikigami Kourin, a kitsune, sniffs the air and yells a warning but it was too late. We had walked right into a trap.
We were surrounded and outmatched. Kourin is struck down, the pain of her death crippling me through our bond. Once again, I see Shin taking a deadly blow to save my life.
I look at his face, covered with blood and tears. I hear him telling me "It's over for me... But not for you" He smiled sadly "Live... For me... For us all..." Then he used the remains of his strength to cast a last spell.
The wind picks me up and throw me away into the nearby sea. And all I can do is scream "NOOOOOOOO!!!"
******
My eyes snap open. I put a hand on my face and groan "Not again..."
A few minutes later, my alarm clock rings, telling me a new day is beginning. I finish waking up and get out of my futon. I need coffee.
While I'm waiting for my morning brew to be ready, I start to reminisce on what brought me to this place in Shinjuku, a ward of Tokyo the initiated call the 'Demon City'.
My name is Ranma Saotome. I currently work as a private detective and troubleshooter of sorts. Nine cases out of ten turn out to be mundane affairs, ranging from investigating spouses' fidelity to find lost persons and items. Nothing very exciting, this routine work isn't what you usually find in private detective fiction. The job isn't glamorous and quite frankly sucks more often than not but it's a living.
However, once in a while, I have to tangle with the supernatural in one of my investigations. That's when my more esoteric talents come into play.
You see, in addition of being a martial artist of no small talent (One of the best in my age bracket), I am also a powerful mage. I use oriental sorcery, combining my chi with various ofudas (Prayer papers) and other material components, to cast spells. Thanks to all the near death experiences of my early martial arts training, my life force is unusually high, making me ideally suited for this spell casting tradition. Wards, exorcisms and calling on elemental forces are a big part of what I can do with my powers.
I was orphaned very young when my birth father had the wondrous idea of training me in a forbidden martial arts technique called the Neko-ken. In his defence, he couldn't have known that it was in fact a ritual calling for a vicious cat demon to possess the unfortunate trainee. All I know is that one day, I woke up, drenched in blood, the dead carcass of my father not far from me.
After that, I ended up in an orphanage. A few days later, I was 'adopted' by people working for the 'Organization'.
The 'Organization' is a powerful and secretive crime syndicate. One could describe it as a federation of many of the traditional crime groups of Asia (China and Japan in particular). They often take orphans in to mold them into agents, loyal to the extreme. It has ascended to its current position thanks to the use of magic and mystical creatures in its operations, an edge its competitors often lack.
I was an agent of the 'Organization' until that fateful mission in Osaka. Me and Shin were practically brothers, raised together and training under the same master in oriental magic. When I learned that our assignment had been a suicide mission, that our superiors knew this and sent us anyway, I deserted, disgusted at the pointlessness of Shin's death.
Of course, I am now hunted down for betraying the 'Organization', even though I only want to live my life in peace. Freedom is all I ask but they don't see it that way. This is why I'm hiding in Shinjuku right now. One more mage in the 'Demon City' doesn't attract much attention.
"Master! You're awake!" The voice of my shikigami breaks through my reverie "Good morning!"
What is a shikigami, you ask? Oriental mages can bind themselves to a magical creature or a spirit after defeating it in combat. Once it is decided, a mystical contract is made between the two of them, linking their souls.
Why do this? Well, the mage gains a bodyguard and assistant. His life is extended thanks to the shikigami's own life force. The shikigami no longer needs his usual source of nourishment since he is sustained by his master's own chi. Their traditional weaknesses are muted for the most part too (A must for creatures like vampires). The main reason why such contracts are made is because the mage and his shikigami can boost each other when casting spells or using their natural powers.
After Kourin's death, I had sworn to never have a shikigami again. Fate had other ideas, it seems. When I had found her, she had been so weak that binding myself to her was the only way to save her life. Her plea had sparked something I had thought long dead in me and here we are...
It has been weeks since we crossed paths and I have no regrets. In fact, she has slowly and subtly revived my desire to live through her support. Without her, I would still be a drifting loose cannon with a death wish.
By my speech, you must have realized that my shikigami is a girl. Her name is...
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Jamil Nate
(Posted Thu, 12 Feb 2004 23:22)
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.