Disclaimer: Same as last time folks…
Ranma ½ and Ah!
Megami-Sama!
“I think you have some explaining to do Kasumi…” Ranma said calmly as the battle tension finally finished draining out of him. The adrenalin wore off, and he motioned for her to follow him with a hand.
“I think it’d be best if we talked somewhere else though…” She nodded and motioned for him to lead the way. He then leapt up onto a nearby rooftop, and she simply levitated to stand beside him. Grinning slightly, he tensed his leg muscles for another jump.
“Let’s see how fast you really are Kasumi! I’ll race you to the roof of Furinkan High!” He then sprung from his position and blurred along the rooftops, gaining more and more speed with every second. Kasumi shook her head at his antics and calmly took out a small mirror that she kept with her for emergencies.
Ranma laughed as he raced along the rooftops of Nerima, content in the knowledge that he was in his own territory. The wonderful, exhilarating sky as blue as his own two eyes. Here he was supreme, in the air he had no better. While he had not yet mastered flight, he knew that it could be done, after all, Herb had done it using advanced ki-manipulation, and Ranma knew that in time he could too. But for now he was content to enjoy the fact that he was closer to flight than any other normal human. He glanced behind him and noted that Kasumi was nowhere in sight, and smirked.
“Heh, guess being a Goddess doesn’t necessarily mean you’re faster than Ranma Saotome, but then, who is?” He thought with a smile. It widened as he saw Furinkan High’s clock tower in the near distance. Running out of roof, Ranma simply leapt onto a fence, then to a tree, and finally springing off of that to land on Furinkan’s roof. He smirked for about a second before he realized he wasn’t alone. A slender hand tapped his shoulder.
“I believe I win…” He whirled around and his jaw dropped. Standing there was Kasumi, who looked like she had been waiting for several minutes.
“No way! I got here in less than ten minutes! How did…” She smiled and walked over to the edge of the roof, staring at the vast expanse of busy little Nerima Ward, the place she had called home for many years, even if it wasn’t her real one.
“I believe you wanted an explanation Ranma?” He nodded, unsure of what she was going to say exactly. She took a deep breath, praying to her Father that this wouldn’t scare him or make him hate her, and forged ahead.
“You see Ranma, I am not actually Kasumi Tendo…” Ranma gaped for a moment, before his face hardened.
“Then where is the real Kasumi?” He asked with an edge to his voice. She sighed.
“How do I put this? There never was a “real” Kasumi…” Seeing his expression of disbelief, she continued.
“ Ten years ago. A woman named Rumiko Tendo made a wish on her deathbed. A young Goddess came and granted her wish that someone just like that Goddess would care for her family when she passed on. Since no one is like another person, the wish was interpreted to mean that the Goddess herself would take care of the Tendo family, and using the power of the Ultimate Force, reality was changed to make it seem that the Tendo family had always had three sisters instead of the original two. The Goddess became the oldest sister and did her best to take care of the Tendo family after Rumiko died.” She paused and gauged his reaction to the story. He looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking.
“So Kasumi Tendo never actually existed…” She shook her head.
“No, I am Kasumi Tendo, but I am also a Goddess…” Ranma nodded and he looked a bit sad.
“I see…” He said simply.
“So, all those kind words, all those caring gazes, were all just an illusion. All this time, Kasumi wasn’t even real…” It felt like she had died, and it hurt Ranma more than he could ever imagine. He then looked up at the concerned visage of… whoever this person before him was.
“Would you mind telling me who you are? I mean, what your real name is…” She nodded and closed her eyes. The marks on her face flared up and a flash of light temporarily blinded him. When it cleared, he saw a new woman appear where the form of Kasumi Tendo once stood. She looked about the same age as Kasumi, and had a flawless face, and a kind of beauty that no one he had ever met possessed. It was almost unreal how gorgeous she was. She had eyes that were even more crystal blue than his own, and brown hair a few shades lighter than Kasumi’s. She smiled at him.
“I am the Goddess Belldandy, First Class, First Category, Limited…” He stared at her for several long moments, causing her to become embarrassed. He finally got over his shock and spoke up hesitantly.
“So all this time, you were the one cooking our meals, and doing the chores… A Goddess!?” She nodded.
“Yes, it was part of my duty… I had to take care of the Tendo Family, although I came to enjoy it actually, especially when you came…” He looked puzzled.
“Why is that?” She smiled widely at him.
“You were the only one who seemed to honestly appreciate what I did… Even my “sisters” and my “Father” stopped thanking me after a while and seemed to just expect that I take care of everything, though I blame myself for that, and their other faults, particularly with Akane and Nabiki.” She bowed her head in sadness, causing her voluminous long hair to cascade along the sides of her head. Ranma for some reason became a little annoyed at her.
“Look, um, Belldandy, I think you’re being a little too hard on yourself…” She looked up at him, curiosity written plainly across her face. Ranma grew very embarrassed with her intense, yet friendly, gaze.
“What I mean is, you can’t blame yourself for things like, Akane’s temper, or Nabiki’s scheming. That’s just the way they are. You may have been entrusted with uh, taking care of them, but that doesn’t mean you can change their personalities… So don’t beat yourself up over things that no one, not even a Goddess can fix, besides I think you’ve done a fine job of taking care of the Tendo’s, me, and my Pop… I mean you’re the one who keeps that house running, without you, we all probably would have gone insane a long time ago, I know I would have…” He trailed off slightly as he saw her still puzzled expression.
“I’m sorry, I must sound really stupid…” He then watched in awe as her face lit up, enhancing her beauty ten-fold, until he was almost physically hit with just how pretty she became. She then ran over and to his immense surprise, actually hugged him. His brain proceeded to shut down.
“Oh Ranma! Thank you! I’m so happy that you at least support me. I mean, if you thought I was doing a bad job, I don’t know what I’d do. Your words mean so much to me…” Ranma’s brain sputtered and tried to restart itself, but Belldandy then proceeded to rest her head on his shoulder, causing it to die again.
Belldandy smiled to herself as she rested on Ranma’s shoulder. It felt nice, to just relax and not worry about everything. She was so happy that he didn’t seem to hate her or anything. She valued his opinion so much… Then she realized what she was doing.
“Oh my!” She mentally screamed as she shot up and released Ranma.
“I’m so sorry Ranma!” Ranma nodded weakly, but inwardly he was a little disappointed.
“Why?” He wondered. He then turned to Belldandy.
“Well, now that I know what um, you are, I guess you probably want to keep all this a secret huh?” She nodded frantically.
“Oh yes please! It would be for the best.” He smiled slightly.
“Well you’re secret is safe with me, “Kasumi” and I can assure you that I won’t tell a soul…” She grinned back at him.
“That’s good to hear Ranma. Shall we go back now? I’m sure the others are worried about us.” He nodded and she leapt off the roof, causing him to gasp in fear, before she simply levitated down to the ground. He blinked.
“I guess this will take some getting used to…” He muttered as he leapt off himself and slowed his descent with a mid-air flip, landing lightly on his feet. Belldandy had already reverted to her Kasumi form, and with that, the two headed back to the Tendo Dojo.
“There’s a lot more I’ll have to tell you Ranma, but for now, this is enough…” Belldandy thought to herself as they headed home. Meanwhile, back on the roof, a small figure slipped away to report back to his master.
“WHAT! The foul sorcerer Ranma Saotome, now has a Goddess under his dark power?” Kuno yelled as his loyal ninja Sasuke reported what he had seen on the roof of the Furinkan High. “Yes master, and what’s more, she is disguised as the one known as Kasumi Tendo!” Kuno growled low in his throat.
“The knave! He has gone too far this time! To hold a deity in his thrall, I shall not stand for it! But wait Sasuke, you say that this Goddess is actually Kasumi Tendo?” Sasuke nodded, knowing his master was about to come to some ridiculous conclusion again.
“Aha! I knew it! If the fair Akane Tendo’s sister is a Goddess, then that must mean, that Akane Tendo herself is of divine origins! Just as I always thought! Oh my warrior Goddess! My Valkyrie!” He then assumed a noble pose that looked rather ridiculous.
“I must double my efforts to free her now! She and the fair Kasumi Tendo that Ranma Saotome enslaves must be rescued! I shall save them! For I am Tatewaki Kuno! The great Blue Thunder whom the Gods themselves have gifted with the task of freeing Goddesses, so that they may shower me with their love and affection!” A figure observed all this in secret.
“Hmm, this delusional fool could prove useful after Krin gets his turn…” The figure chuckled.
“If the gods had chosen someone like that idiot to fight for them, “we” would have won a long time ago…” With that thought, the figure disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Belldandy smiled to herself as she put the finishing touches on her dinner. She just knew that everyone, especially Ranma, would love it. Finally it was done. Unajyu, and Miso soup, with some fukojin pickles as a side dish. With that done, she prepared to bring it into the dining room. Unfortunately, even a Goddess can slip, and she did, causing her, and the tray of food, to go tumbling to the floor. She quickly prepared to stop time before it was too late, but a strong arm caught her, and another one caught the tray of food before she had the chance.
“You alright Kasumi?” Ranma asked in concern. She looked up at him in gratitude and nodded.
“Ye-yes, thank you Ranma…” He set her down gently and calmly took the tray of food and set it on the table. He spoke again with his back turned.
“You should be more careful, Kasumi…” She nodded before realizing that he couldn’t see her and answered him vocally.
“Yes, I will do that Ranma…” Inwardly she was quite puzzled by his odd behavior. He was treating her very differently, almost coldly. This thought made her sad, and she struggled to try and not think about it right now. Ranma sighed and sat down, awaiting the other members of the household. Slowly they all trickled down to the table and everyone began to eat. The meal, although delicious, was strangely subdued. There was something in the air. Something that made everyone, even Genma, serious and alert. Ranma’s eyes suddenly darted to the side, and he tensed, making everyone take notice of him.
“Look out!” He yelled as he leapt and stood in front of “Kasumi” just in time to catch a throwing knife. His eyes narrowed and he scanned the darkness of the night in search of her mysterious assailant. His eyes then widened and he scooped her up in his arms jumped to the side. Several more knives embedded themselves where they were standing moments ago. With Belldandy held protectively in his arms, Ranma felt his anger grow.
“Show yourself!” He yelled. A sadistic giggling was heard, and all eyes turned to a short figure standing on top of the Tendo wall. He had wild blonde hair, and manic eyes, and he was dressed in black leather from head to toe.
“Well well, Ranma Saotome. You’re as skilled as he told me. But I do so love a challenge!” He held up a fist, which clutched several knives in it where before it had been empty.
“I am Krin, Demon Third Class, Second Category Limited, and I am here to kill you Saotome!”
“A lesser demon?” Belldandy thought to herself. Krin tossed the knives at Ranma with deadly accuracy, and he was forced to leap and twist in mid-air to dodge them all, Belldandy still held in his arms. He landed on the ground and set her down quickly. He then charged a ki-blast in his hand.
“I don’t give a rat’s ass what category you are! You picked the wrong guy to mess with freak!” He brought his hand up and shot an open-palmed blast of his own essence at the crazy demon. Krin smirked and dodged the bolt, and while in mid-air, he spun and threw out over five knives. All of which Ranma caught. Krin looked shocked for a moment before smirking again.
“Ha ha! A neat trick mortal! Very well, let’s see if you can handle this!” Krin leapt up into the air and seemed to hang there for a moment, before spinning in a ball so fast he became a blur. He hung in the air like that, and all of a sudden, tons of knives flew out of his blurred form towards the pig-tailed one. Ranma’s eyes widened, and he frantically started dodging them all. But they just kept coming. Several almost skewering him, and several hitting the house, and coming close to hitting the others. Ranma grimaced and knew he had to end this fast. Concentrating, Ranma threw another ki-blast, which knocked all the knives away for a moment. Running forward, Ranma leapt up and brought his hands up over his head.
“Eat this!” He yelled as he slammed his two hands onto the demon in a vicious hammer blow that sent Krin hurtling towards the ground. He hit the ground hard, and lay unmoving for a moment, before springing to his feet.
“Mortal! I’ll kill…” He didn’t get to finish his threat as Ranma was already there and executing his next move.
“Kachu-Tenshin Amaguriken!” Hundreds of blows struck the lower demon in seconds. What was left was a bloody, bleeding form that could barely stand. Ranma was about to finish him when he abrubtly disappeared with a puff of smoke to mark his passage.
“Tch, coward…” Ranma muttered, before groaning in pain and falling to the ground from the dagger stuck in his arm. As unconsciousness claimed him, he heard a voice yell his name.
“Ranma!”
Krin reappeared in an abandoned alleyway halfway across Tokyo and frantically looked around in puzzlement for who had brought him there. A voice spoke from the blackness of the alley.
“I’m very disappointed Krin, you were supposed to take care of the mortal…” Krin gulped and shook slightly in fear. Brahm appeared from the shadows, a calm unreadable expression on his face.
“No wonder you’re a lesser Demon Krin, you can’t even kill a stupid pathetic mortal… You’re nothing but garbage…” Krin knew he was as good as dead, and he prayed that it would be relatively painless. Brahm was after all one of the most powerful Demons around. Brahm smirked at the fear Krin was showing.
“Bah, get out of my sight…” He muttered as he waved his hand and sent Krin back to Hell to be properly punished for a few millennia. Brahm then leaned against a nearby wall, deep in thought.
“Hmmm, Krin was useful for testing out some of the mortal’s capabilities. Ranma Saotome is indeed strong, and I can’t fight him and the Goddess at the same time… But the Goddess can’t harm mortals… Not unless they attack her first, so if I were to use a mortal or two…” A shout rang through the night air.
“WHERE ON EARTH AM I NOW!!! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT RANMA!” Brahm grinned evilly as a plan began to form. One that would remove the mortal from the picture and leave the Goddess open to attack. His laughter echoed through the night, and caused many to involuntarily shudder.
He was falling, endlessly falling. He glanced to the sides of the infinite blackness, and saw faces. The faces of ones he knew. A boy with a bandanna, another with a bokken, yet another with glasses. Then there were girls, one with a ribbon, one with a spatula, one with bells, and one with a mallet. He looked to another side, or at least what he perceived to be a side, and saw a panda, and a woman with a katana. He grimaced and closed his eyes, or at least what he perceived to be his eyes, willing the images to go away, but they remained. Taunting him in a way.
“You will never have a normal life…” They
whispered.
“You’re life is one of chaos, defined by the fight…This will never change…” They seemed to grow louder and he continued to fall. He clenched his eyes shut and covered his ears.
“Stop it!” He yelled, but it did no good.
“It is your fate to walk this path alone… None shall aid you…The one whom you thought would bring you peace and love is nothing more than a fabrication… She does not exist and she never did…” He shut his eyes tighter.
“Stop it! Stop it!” He screamed.
“She can’t be gone! She just can’t!” He cried. The voices now grew fainter.
“Fool, you are deluding yourself, as always…” Then he heard her voice, and his eyes snapped open.
“Ranma… Ranma can you hear me!” He gasped and took in the scene. He was in his room, and to his side, a very concerned looking Kasumi sat. His heart leapt for joy before he remembered what he now knew.
“Uh… Damn it, what happened to me…” He muttered as he felt a bit dizzy.
“Well, after you defeated that lower demon, you collapsed, apparently one of his knives had hit you in the arm right before he got away…” She explained. She then looked around for a moment before speaking in a lower voice.
“It was mystical in nature and poisoned your spirit, so I had to use some pretty powerful healing spells to flush the dark energy out of your system. I’m afraid you’ll feel a little disoriented for a while though…” Ranma nodded his thanks.
“Thank you, Belldandy.” He said simply. She smiled at him, making him blush a bit.
“You’re quite welcome Ranma. I’m glad I could help.” She looked away for a moment and spoke in a quiet voice.
“I don’t know what I’d do if something were to happen to you…” She trailed off and the two sat in uncomfortable silence. Belldandy then stood up.
“Well, I’ll let you rest now Ranma. If you need anything, just call me…” He nodded and she walked out of the room, shutting the door on her way out. He sighed sadly and stared up at the ceiling.
“She’s really gone…” He whispered. Unnoticed, a small tear slid down his cheek.
Author’s notes: I hope this chapter helped explain things a bit, but of course some things will be revealed in later ones. You’re probably wondering why I keep making up demons huh? Well, let’s face it, AMG is a great series, but it isn’t really an action anime. Hence the fairly non-violent atmosphere to it. The fact that the main character is a wimp of almost Tenchi proportions is a probable cause of this. The demons in AMG are mean and nasty, but in a non-violent way. They screw up people’s lives by other means. Thus I had to invent some truly evil bad guys for our boy Ran man to fight, as Ranma ½ is by contrast a pretty action oriented anime. So I made up a couple of Demons with some pretty tough combat skills. Brahm is a very strong demon who draws his power primarily from fire. Krin is a crazed lesser Demon who does tasks for higher demons, like Brahm, in hopes of getting promotions. I know I’m taking a bit of a liberty here, but well, all I can say is sorry if you don’t like it. Anyway, I admit Ranma is a bit different now, but as I said before, he’s changed a bit after an experience like the one in China, and is going through a hard time now. Now on to other things…Okay, I admit that in the first chapter Rumiko’s reasoning for making her wish seems odd to a certain people, especially one who wrote a lengthy review about a line or two from that chapter. To this person I apologize. I did not mean to offend this individual, and as for my explanation as to why Mrs. Tendo did it, well, I’m not saying that she did it just because of her religion, or that the Catholic religion believes in accepting fate like that, but I wrote it as I saw fit, and if you don’t like it, well sorry. Rumiko made that decision based on what she felt was right, with some influence from her personal beliefs, both religious, and otherwise. I am sorry if I did not explain that very well. Mrs. Tendo’s character was never really shown in the Ranma series, only appearing once or twice in memories, so every author, including myself, has a slightly different version of what she’s like. (And am I the only one who doesn’t name her Kimiko?) You are taking a piece of fiction a bit too far I think, but thank you for the review regardless. I am sorry that that one part ruined the whole rest of the story for you. In response to another comment I received. The reasons why Nabiki and Akane are not “toned down” from canon, is because I am basically saying that this is canon. That the Kasumi we see in the regular Ranma storyline is actually Belldandy. Kasumi acts exactly the same as she does in canon. Thus Nabiki is the same, and Akane is the same. Bell tries to take care of them and help them with their problems, but not even a Goddess can repair the damage of Mother passing on, nor can she fix personal faults, as they are what make us human. And no Akane is not “normal” compared to the rest of the Tendos. She is just as nuts as the rest of them, but I like her anyway.
Whew! All right, enough of that. Next chapter should be out soon, but I am first going to try and do some more with “Heirloom.” Anyway, please review! Thank you!