Chapter Text
“Do you smell that?”
The woman turned, her long black hair rippling down her silver robes. “Smell?” she asked, tapping her ebony handled fan lightly against her chin.
“Burning flesh,” her companion said. He was leaning back against the palace railing, his elbows propped up and his chin pointed to the sky. “Is it Matsumoto again? Or have the villagers finally put themselves out of their misery?”
“Hm,” said the woman. She didn’t bother calling him a fool. It would be a waste of her time.
The Summoning had started last night, so subtly at first no one would have noticed it. She hadn’t even noticed it, until she had seen wisps of red energy floating skyward from the tower on the other side of the palace. Only she could see that power, and she hadn’t troubled herself to inform anyone else about it. It came as no surprise now when a breeze carried the growing, horrid stench of fire on skin toward them.
“Hold on,” said the man, lifting his lazy head, nose sniffing the air. “Is that feathers?” He turned toward the red-roofed tower, leaning beyond the shade of the balcony they stood on. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the old fowl’s shrine. Looks like we’re going to have a friend for dinner.” His sharp grin and long canines made it unclear if he meant he would be feasting with or on that friend. He pushed away from the balcony and headed inside, stretching his thick arms over his head. “I suppose we should warn the others.”
The woman looked down at the edge of the palace, beneath the tower. The edge of the forest started only a few yards from the stone wall, dark green canopies casting impenetrable, black shadows below. A rustling drew her sharp eyes, and she saw a large, pale silhouette shift between the tree trunks, moving impossibly fast.
It seemed there would be two friends for dinner.
Instead of following her companion inside to correct him, she leaned against the railing, fanning herself slightly to get rid of the smell. It was only a matter of time before everyone knew what was happening, anyway.
Akane loved quiet days when Ranma forgot to care about what anyone thought and ended up walking too close. She liked to pretend it was normal, that anyone watching them head home from school might think they were a nice, normal young couple. Not that she’d ever tell him that. He’d probably never walk next to her again.
Although, she did think that he was starting to get used to the idea of him and her. She wouldn’t go so far as to think that he liked the idea yet, not in a romantic sense, anyway. But it had been too long—too many months, which turned into years, of fighting together and fighting each other and still managing to live under the same roof. It would be impossible not to develop a friendship, a companionship, at the very least. She had no doubts he felt at least that much for her. He’d proved it a hundred times, not just in the life-or-death chaos that seemed to follow him around like a hostile poltergeist, but in the day-to-day small errands and interactions.
On days like today, when nothing much had happened and they were meandering home at their own pace, conversation flowing effortlessly, Akane appreciated the friendship they had fought so hard to cultivate. It hadn’t taken long for him to become a permanent part of her life. Sometimes it felt strange to remember a time he hadn’t been there. Walking beside him now, she could feel his presence like a warm sun, a consistent glow beside her that she basked in, and he seemed perfectly happy to continue letting her do it.
If she laughed a little too hard at something he said, if she let her hand swing where it might bump his, if she hoped that his constant glances meant something more than friendship, she didn’t say it. They had made it this far, and if they were going to make it any further, they would get there in their own way and in their own time. Probably after several more years of living together, if she didn’t go crazy from the waiting and his stupid wishy-washy brain.
For now, she was content when he simply walked too close, as though she weren’t the last girl on earth he wanted to be seen with.
“He’s an idiot,” Ranma said flatly while Akane laughed. He’d just finished a story about his friend, Daisuke, who had slept through his alarm that weekend, and after a series of ridiculous events, one which included getting a ride from an ice cream cart that the owner made him pedal followed by a bad crash in the river, he barely made it to his college entrance exams.
“At least he got to take the test,” Akane said.
“Yeah, barely, the lucky jerk. He would have had to wait another full year if he’d been five minutes later, and then I’d never hear the end of his complaining about all of his plans being ruined.”
“Does he have a lot of plans?”
“Sure. Get into his top university the first semester; find a hot girlfriend the second semester; figure out a way into the coolest club, yet to be determined; graduate in exactly four years; find a fancy job downtown; marry his hot girlfriend, supposedly the same one from before; have two kids; get promoted; retire early; and die on the beach in his hot wife’s arms.”
Akane giggled, and Ranma smiled.
“Stupid, right?” he said.
She shrugged. “Well, at least he’s got dreams, and he seems to be working really hard to get there. Unlike some people.”
“What? I work hard. I just don’t gotta go to some fancy college to do what I want.”
She glanced up at him, but he was looking across the street at a couple kids chasing each other loudly. There was a shadow beneath his jaw that emphasized the muscle there, currently relaxed. He did work hard, training like crazy, she knew that. But to him martial arts probably didn’t feel that much like work. He loved it, more than anything, and he’d probably do whatever he had to in order to keep doing it. Like taking over the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. She wondered if he cared at all to run the dojo, cared at all to teach students who might slow him down. She wondered if he would think it was worth all the mundane work and having to marry her, or if he’d find some other way to keep doing what he loved. He had yet to give her any hint of his plans.
What would Akane do? This was the spring of their final year at school. Once they graduated, she knew her father would be pushing for her and Ranma to get hitched like his life depended on it, and no doubt he’d come crying to Akane as if it really did. Even if Akane tried to explain it to her father, she wasn’t sure he’d understand the delicate situation of her and Ranma’s friendship, or her intentions to wait it out and let Ranma come around on his own. If Soun and Genma tried to force something, Ranma would definitely be against it, and it would be left to Akane to try to please everyone. She was trying hard not to stress about the inevitable headache of this summer until she had to.
But even if Ranma did decide to marry her eventually, what would Akane do? With Ranma around, she wasn’t needed as a master at the dojo. When she was younger she dreamed of being the sole heir of her father’s martial arts legacy, and she had thought she was skilled enough, too. Not anymore. Not since Ranma and every random person who followed him across the world had shown her just how out of her depth she was. No one would come to challenge her, no one would come to learn from her.
So, what, then? Her father and sister, Kasumi, would try teaching her to be a housewife, but she was no good at that, either. The truth was, Ranma was better at cooking and sewing and remembering to clean the dojo. He didn’t need an incompetent housewife. Besides, Kasumi wasn’t planning on getting married and moving out any time soon, and her father Soun would still live at home. They would keep fulfilling the roles they had, and they didn’t need someone else trying to do the same thing. The house wasn’t big enough for that. Akane would be useless.
She could go to university, like her sister, Nabiki. It wasn’t too late to take entrance exams for some schools, and her grades were good enough to convince the teachers to pull some strings for her. But what would she study? She’d been so distracted the last few years, dealing with Ranma and every idiot who had it out for him and every girl who was always trying to get her hands on him, that she hadn’t had time to consider alternate future options. And if she did manage to get into a university, she would be gone all the time, and every rival she had for Ranma’s attention would descend like a vulture in her absence. Akane wouldn’t be there to remind Ranma that their friendship could turn into something more. He was too much of an idiot, and too inexperienced with girls, not to be swayed by someone else prettier and nicer and a better cook. So even if she did have something to study at university, she knew in her heart she wouldn’t go, too afraid to miss her chance with a boy she desperately wanted to recognize her.
“Akane?”
She snapped her head toward Ranma, who was two steps ahead, halfway turned back to her. She must have been lagging behind.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “You ok?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” She smiled, picking up her pace again. She pretended not to notice his frown when she passed him and said, “It’s warm today. Hey, I know, we should stop for ice cream! All that talk about the ice cream cart put me in the mood for some.”
“Uh, yeah. Sure.”
He caught up to her in two long strides and fell into step. She ignored the sidelong look he gave her and kept smiling, determined to return to the easy conversation and comfortable companionship they’d had before. The weather really was nice, the trees were in full bloom, and no one had shown up to bother them yet. There was no reason she shouldn’t enjoy a good day during her last few months of this time in her life before it ended. She had a feeling she’d look back and think that these were the simpler years.
The slightest tug on her uniform from behind, right at her waist, made her turn. Ranma was looking down at the tiny bit of blue fabric in his fingers with a furrowed brow. His blue eyes flicked up to hers, suddenly so serious that Akane felt her heart jump into the back of her throat.
“Hey,” he said. “Can I ask you something?”
She didn’t dare open her mouth, afraid her heart would fall out of it and she would have to embarrassingly pick it up off the asphalt. So, she nodded.
He looked back down at his hand, where he was still lightly pinching a piece of her skirt. It was amazing how much he had grown in the two years she had known him. He was taller and broader and all of his baby fat had melted away. He still hadn’t gotten out of the habit of wearing his Chinese clothes and growing his pigtail out, but he just wouldn’t have been him without them. She watched the muscle in his jaw clench once, twice, before he said, “I forgot my wallet. Can you spot me?”
She didn’t know if she wanted to laugh or break his nose. She shoved his shoulder, hard enough to make him step back, and turned around with a groan, completely aware that he was grinning widely now.
“What? What did you think I was going to say?” he said.
She wouldn’t let him see her pink cheeks. “Screw you. You can just watch me eat ice cream, then.”
“Aw, come on, Akane!” There was still a shit-eating-grin sound to his voice.
“Are you an idiot, or are your jokes just getting that old?”
He laughed, which wasn’t an answer. He probably knew she’d give in and buy him ice cream anyway. She always did. Damn him and his stupid pretty face.
He was calling after her, but she stomped ahead. Let him suffer for a minute. It was the least he could do after making her stew in anxiety all the time over everything he said and every unreadable look and every compliment he gave to other girls.
Her huffy advance was cut off when she turned a corner and saw someone speeding toward her. They both skidded to a halt to avoid slamming into each other, stopping just inches away.
She blinked up at the familiar square face and thick shoulders. “Hi, Ryoga,” she greeted. “Where are you going in such a hurry?”
Ryoga stared back at her, as if not registering what he was seeing. Then he gave her a surprised smile, seemingly bashful for almost barreling through her at sixty miles an hour. “Oh, heh, hi Akane. H-how are you?”
“Ryoga?” Ranma said, coming up behind Akane. “What’s going on, man?”
“Hm?” Ryoga glanced up at him. “Oh yeah!” Ryoga slung an arm around Akane’s waist, startling her when he jerked her to him. He jumped, lifting them both into the air, and in her surprise Akane dropped her school bag.
“Hey!” Ranma shouted after them. “What’s the big—gack!”
Ranma narrowly avoided the flaming streak flying toward the spot Ryoga had been. It hit the pavement and exploded, sending a blast of hot air in every direction. The flames died immediately, dissipating into the air without so much as a puff of smoke or a scorch mark.
“What the heck was that?” Ranma asked as he landed beside Akane and Ryoga.
Ryoga didn’t have to explain when a flurry of throwing knives barely missed them, accompanied by a familiar voice, “Stop running, coward!”
With a flounce of white Chinese robes and long black hair, Mousse landed in front of them with a bounce.
“Ah, Ranma Saotome! I see you’ve come to watch the show,” Mousse said, pushing his glasses back into place.
“Uh, what show?” Ranma asked.
“The one where I demonstrate my new technique by turning Ryoga to a pile of bacon and squealing ashes!” Mousse laughed—hysterically, if Akane was any judge—and stepped into a fighting stance. “He was kind enough to offer to train with me.”
“He offered to train with you and you’re going to reduce him to ashes?” Akane asked.
“I did not offer!” Ryoga snapped. “You attacked me out of nowhere!”
“I gave you fair warning,” Mousse said. He shifted, bringing a hand forward, a long dagger in his grip. “Which is more than I’ll give Ranma when I see him.”
“Yo, I’m right here,” Ranma said. “Did ya already forget you talked to me?”
“Silence! Observe my new prowess!” Mousse slashed the dagger toward them. He was too far to do any damage, but Ryoga quickly pushed Ranma and Akane out of the way. To Akane’s surprise, a streak of red light flew from the end of Mousse’s knife and hurtled through the air, growing to a disk as long as Akane. When it passed them, the heat from it was so intense Akane had to throw a hand in front of her face. The flaming disk splattered against a cinderblock wall, although this time the wispy red bits sat and burned for a minute before they slowly disappeared. Was it fire? It must be, although it seemed strange to Akane.
“Whoa,” Ranma said. “Is his weapon enchanted or something?”
“It’s not coming from his weapon,” Ryoga replied, his narrowed eyes on Mousse. “Don’t you see? There’s something up with his ki. He’s shaving off little pieces of it and throwing them, and somehow, they’re burning hot. A minute ago, he hit a car and the entire thing vanished. It didn’t catch fire or explode, it just disappeared.”
“Disappeared?” Akane said, raising her eyebrows.
“Yeah. I think it may have evaporated on the spot.”
“That’s insane,” Ranma said. “Since when can Mousse control his ki like that?”
“Since now, I guess.”
Akane glanced back at Mousse. There—if she concentrated, she could see a slight red shimmer surrounding Mousse. It flickered, like a hot haze, extending five feet all around him. The gravel on the street at his feet started to glow red from the heat.
More worrying was Mousse himself. He looked ragged. His shoulders slumped, his breathing was heavy, and there was so much sweat on his skin that his glasses were sliding down his face. Whatever he was doing, whatever technique this was, was eating him up.
“Ranma, he doesn’t look so good,” Akane said. He followed her line of sight.
“Alright, Mousse,” Ranma said, stepping wider. “Whatever this is, you gotta stop. You’re going to hurt someone, or yourself.”
“Ha!” Mousse said, pulling an identical dagger from a place hidden in his robes. “If you want to run away with your tail between your legs, be my guest! I’ll accept that as your defeat!”
Mousse lunged forward and Akane tensed, prepared to defend herself. At the last second, she felt Ranma’s fingers wrap around her arm before she was pushed out of the way. Mousse attacked, chains and daggers speeding toward Ranma and Ryoga, which they knocked out of the way. They shifted and attacked back.
They were all moving too fast for her. She stepped back, frustrated, but knowing she would just be in the way. She was used to that by now.
Mousse was obviously tired, his attacks aimless and haphazard, and Akane knew Ranma and Ryoga could have taken him easily if it weren’t for the balls of red fire flying with every thrust of Mousse’s weapons. Ryoga and Ranma barely dodged out of their way, arms flailing and running into each other, trying not to be touched by the fire. One exploded across the street, taking out part of a lamp post, sending the top half crashing to the ground and Akane leaping out of its way.
From the fight, she heard Mousse’s laughter and wheezing words, as well as Ranma and Ryoga’s conversation, shouted back and forth.
“Do you mind? You’re getting in my way,” Ranma told Ryoga.
Ryoga scoffed. “Your way? In case you forgot, this is a fight between me and Mousse!”
“Yeah, as practice for when he fights me. Why pretend when he can have the real deal?”
“W-why you cocky jerk!”
A small breeze through the short hairs at the back of her neck made her pause. Through the distraction of the fighting and the smell of burning cloth and garbage and whatever else, the distinct sensation of peaceful silence fell around her, as though she had momentarily been pulled from reality. The smell of rich soil came to her nose, and the rustling of trees sounded in her ears, far away and perfectly green. It lasted only a moment, and then Akane was standing in the street again, watching Ranma somersault backward, only to smack into Ryoga, who was swinging his umbrella, trying to douse a tiny flame on the top of it. But she couldn’t shake the feeling there was something behind her when another little breeze floated by.
Akane turned around.
A few feet behind her on a wall was a circle of red flames. As tall as she was, the entire diameter was nothing but fire, sitting on the cinderblock as though the stone was something to burn. A wave of heat emanated from it, and with it came another strange whiff of soil, cool and moist. The smell traveled through Akane to the depths of her bones, like the first tremors of an earthquake.
Before she knew it, she was standing in front of the circle of fire, searching the flickering shadows. They were deep, far deeper than the stone wall. As she watched, hypnotized, something moved. A chill shot up her spine.
“Ranma,” she called immediately, not taking her eyes off the wall. “You should see this!”
“I’m a little busy, Akane!” he shouted back. Something crashed and Ryoga yelped.
“There’s something in these fireball things,” she said. “Something’s moving in there.”
A scream split the air and Akane flinched, spinning around. Mousse was in the middle of the street, hunched over with his hands over his head. Ranma and Ryoga stared down at him.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Ranma asked, taking a step forward.
“Get it away from me, get it away!” Mousse shouted. “Monster! Monster! Don’t let it get me!”
“What monster?” Ryoga glanced around the street. “What are you talking about?”
“That one!” Mousse pointed up and they looked into the clear blue, spring afternoon sky.
“There’s nothing there, Mousse,” Ranma said. “Look, let’s get you back home. You look sick.”
“It’s there, it’s there,” Mousse repeated mindlessly, sweat dripping down his face. A thin film of red fire coated his hands, singeing his white bell-sleeves.
“Get a grip, man!” Ryoga said. “You’re setting yourself on fire!”
Akane should help. Maybe there was some water nearby, maybe a hose. But before she could spring into action, she felt a tug so strong from behind that she gasped. Resisting it made her feel like she was being torn in two, so she faced the burning circle on the wall again. The flames licked higher and wider, and between the deep shadows Akane saw the dark trunks of an ancient forest.
Mousse screamed again, followed by Ranma’s panicked voice, “Akane, get out of the way!”
Then something slammed into her back and sent her hurtling straight through the fire.
The ground was hard and cool. Akane groaned, feeling the ache in her chest from crashing so hard. Her palms stung, covered in dirt and small bleeding cuts. She moved to sit up, but there was something hot and heavy on her back.
It was Mousse. His glasses had landed a couple feet away, and when Akane pushed him off he flopped limply to the ground. His eyes were squeezed shut and his breathing was labored, but at least he wasn’t currently on fire.
Akane looked around. They were sitting at the foot of several trees, dirt and mulch exposed between thick tree roots. The towering trees grew as far as she could see, tall enough and close enough that she couldn’t see the sky. Shadows coated the forest floor, and at night she imagined it would be chilly.
“Ranma?” she said. Her voice seemed quieter, soaked up by the bark and moss. “Ranma? Ryoga?”
Where was she? The mountains? But how far from home? She had been transported somehow. She’d known there was something weird about those fireballs. Grabbing Mousse by the front of his robes, she tried to wake him.
“Mousse, what kind of technique was that?” she asked, shaking him harder. “Mousse! Don’t sleep now, you jerk! It’s your fault we ended up here!”
She slapped him a couple times with no success, until she noticed his skin was crazy hot. She pushed his bangs aside, wet from so much sweat, and felt his forehead. “You’re burning up, Mousse.”
He looked bad. Really bad. She glanced around the trees, but there was no sign of Ranma or Ryoga, although they were no doubt trying to figure out what had happened to her. She hoped they weren’t too worried. On the other hand, she hoped Ranma was worried. When he worried, it made her feel like she was important to him. Never mind that he was kind of a worrier when anyone was in trouble. He’d figure out how to get her and Mousse back, she knew that, but in the meantime, she hated sitting around, uselessly waiting.
She couldn’t get Mousse to return them back home in his current condition, and frankly, his fever was so bad right now she wondered if he wasn’t seriously ill. The least she could do was try and get some help for him.
Standing, she hoisted Mousse onto her back. She tried to memorize the small clearing in case she had to find her way back, then set off, keeping an eye out for a creek or any signs of a town.
It was funny. Maybe she should have been worried that she had fallen through a wall of fire and now had to wander around in these strange woods, but she wasn’t. The trees were dark and vast, but the sturdy earth beneath her feet was comforting. Wherever she was, she was safe. Ranma would find her soon, and then it would be back to normal life and her normal stresses yet again.
A twig snapped. A strong presence behind her made her suck in a sharp breath, and she barely dared turning towards it.
A beast towered among the trees. The shadows bent toward it, obscuring its full shape, but it’s short-haired hide was the pale color of a corpse’s skin. White eyes shown in its skull, fixed on Akane, and razor-sharp tusks as long as her arm curved around its snout.
Akane swallowed, carefully moving back, hoping she wasn’t a point of interest for it. She only made it two steps before the beast charged. In her panicked retreat, she tripped on a root, dropping Mousse unceremoniously on the ground. She wanted to run, but she couldn’t leave Mousse, and the beast was barreling towards her at break-neck speed.