Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Noir Fan Fiction ❯ Chrysanthemum Blends ❯ Failure ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer:

"Ranma ½" is the 1993 copyright of Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Inc., and Viz Communications, Inc.

"Noir" is the 2001 copyright of Ryoe Tsukimura, Bee Train, Victor Entertainment, and A. D. Vision, Inc.

"Neon Genesis Evangelion" is the 1997 copyright of GAINAX, Project Eva, TV Tokyo, NAS, and A. D. Vision, Inc.

All characters and settings herein used without permission and no copyright infringements are intended.

Author's Foreword: Well, it's been a long time coming, but I finally decided to pull this one out of closet and gave it a shot. I have altered Ranma ½'s continuity by adding an event; it will all be explained later.

+++++++++++++++++

Chrysanthemum Blends

Chapter 1: Failure

By ToastedPine

+++++++++++++++++

Her head really hurt . . . .

The light stung her eyes as she blinked a few times to get her bearings. She could hear footsteps slowing down before they passed her by but did nothing else. Why was she lying on the ground like this? Had the cleansing been completed?

Sitting herself up, she took a good look around. Judging by how high the sun was up in the sky, it was sometime in the afternoon. Out the corner of her eye, she could see an old couple staring back at her, a preadolescent girl in dusty blue overalls sitting upon the gravelly yellow road.

A small wind picked up and brushed upon her small form, causing her to shudder a bit and pull her blanket closer. It was amazing how the sea could make winds cold despite how sunny it was. She took a moment to look towards the seemingly endless expanse of water before her. Even at this high altitude, she could still sense the faint traces of the water below-wait a moment, blanket? She looked down upon the red material nearly covering her entire body.

Holding out the cloth in question revealed that it was actually a red shirt. Probably Chinese style if she remembered correctly. Sister Marlene had shown it to her once when she was allowed to go to the study. "Let there be water and light for the tree," were the words imparted to her. She still could not understand what it meant but she had learned eagerly, because she knew that the more she learned, the more she was loved.

An image of a woman in her twenties appeared in her mind, the very image of the Virgin Mary with her flowing chestnut hair and gentle countenance. They often had tea together . . . why had she thought of that all of a sudden?

The wind picked up again, blowing through the shirt and onto her face, which caused her to pick up a familiar scent. The shirt smelled just like tea from home!

Home . . . The Mansion . . . she really wanted to go back. Her gun was missing and she did not have time to look for it. The instructions given to her for such a situation were clear, head to the nearest rendezvous point for pickup. She checked herself for injuries and found a large bruise on her head which she decided would not hinder movement much.

Gently, she pushed herself up and walked away. Little did she know that the cleansing of blood assigned to her had already been completed by hands tainted with darkness in place of her own.

And in the wake of all that had passed, a child's tears fell unheard.

+++++++++++++++++

*PAIN*

Agony was all she remembered when she came back and found that she had failed in her mission. She was greeted by the woman who gave her so much love. The brown hair and gentle countenance were still as she remembered them, but there was hardness to her gaze.

From behind the woman came a girl her age, Chloe. In her hand was the missing gun. Sneering at her, Chloe struck the first blow. The blow which signaled her suffering long after its immediate results faded. Women in coiffures came out of nowhere carrying blunt instruments and fell upon her from all sides. She cried desperately out to her guardian to stop the torture, promising to do anything, but relief never came.

"Please . . . I'm sorry." She begged weakly.

As if by some miracle, the woman turned around. This time, the steely gaze had vanished and the wall of sadistic strangers parted to make way. The older woman knelt down and caressed her tear streaked face before gracefully pulling away. "There is hope for you yet little one. Know that I have not abandoned you my dear Kirika."

Her suffering never stopped until years after that fateful day. Battered to near breaking point by brutal training, her only comfort at night during those cold lonely years was a red Chinese shirt, and memories of a loving woman enjoying tea with her.

Eventually, Kirika surrendered herself to oblivion's merciful embrace.

+++++++++++++++++

Evening came peacefully to Nerima. No super powered martial arts challenge, no destruction, not even the scuffle of the neighborhood's strays could be heard as Ranma walked back down the road. Ukyou, Akane, Genma, Cologne, and Ryouga had decided to go ahead while he stayed to reflect upon what he had just learned.

Three days of training to attain the Hiryuu Shotenha. Tomorrow he could see if all the humiliation was worth it. He could still feel the Strength Sapping Moxibustion now reduced to an irritating mark upon his upper back. He had gotten a slightly better understanding of his ki thanks to the training.

He theorized that his ki pathways were altered so that only lighter ki could pass. Lighter ki he could use for jumping, dodging, and flowing attacks like the Hiryuu Shotenha. In contrast to how Ryouga and the others pumped substantial amounts of heavy ki into their legs to catapult themselves upwards, Ranma along with other practitioners of Anything Goes did the opposite. Making one's ki lighter and releasing it in stable streams instead of having it explode like mini grenades made it possible to move quickly without having to expend much energy. Walking across bridge made of a few sheets of paper glued to a wooden frame suspended on a tree was one of the first training exercises Ranma had to master.

Genma was actually very adept at this technique despite his massive bulk. Breaking into houses had given him plenty of practice, having light feet was a way of survival.

No one else knew yet, but he guessed that the moxibustion could be temporarily overloaded. The price was steep though, he estimated nearly all of his ki reserves needed to be released upon the point, leaving him with just enough to fight normally for a few minutes before collapsing. Being weak for the first time since he could remember had forced him to do some thinking. He needed to be prepared for the worst. Hopefully his ace would have to be enough to surprise Happousai.

Speaking of the old freak, why had Cologne been so eager to teach him? Amazon techniques were supposed to be closely guarded secrets, yet he was not asked to do anything else in return. Just having Shampoo's "Airen" back was too flimsy an excuse. Ranma shook his head, he was getting too paranoid. Cologne must have decided that having him back to normal was in everyone's best interest.

"Mister Saotome Ranma I presume," spoke a voice from behind. It was a guy clad in a dark teal suit and wearing an ivory mask with tiny red slits above the places where his facial features were.

"Yeah, who's askin'?" Ranma unconsciously took aggressive posture.

His danger sense spiked. Whoever this guy was looked trained but nowhere near enough to be a threat. So why was his gut crying out to him to run? His eyes widened. The stranger's aura was creepy, similar to the type permeating maximum security prisons. He had gotten lost once at the age of seven and ended up wandering into one. The warden had been kind enough to let him stay until Genma literally tracked him down.

"I'm part of a certain group who seeks to invite you under their employ." The man's stance became loose, seemingly relaxed as he lit a cigarette and put it into the hole leading to his mouth.

"And if I say no?" These guys were bad news, yakuza maybe? Nah. He had caught the foreign accent.

The pigtailed martial artist could tell that the masked man's face darkened at his answer, "I certainly hope not because that would force me to do something most . . . unpleasant."

"Look pal, I ain't in no mood to be dealing with trash like you." He stepped towards the masked man. At his level now, he could barely hurt a fly. Despite his handicap, he knew he could take this guy down.

"Oh well, do not say that I did not give you a chance to reconsider." He slowly reached into his pocket, "Last chance, you'll regret not taking my offer."

Ranma smirked at that. A gun was not a big deal considering how close they were to each other. "Anytime, anywhere, pal. You can't handle me and I ain't never going to be a buncha rich sickos' plaything."

His only warning of what was to come came as a quiet metallic click . . . a gentle prelude to catastrophe.

Waves of heat hit his back when the explosion came. Fire's roared behind him, taunting him to face a sight he knew would haunt him for the rest of his days.

Nerima . . . was in flames. The fires' orange glow seemed to sprout from the depths of hell, swallowing all his hopes and dreams in one infernal moment.

"NO!!!"

"I told you you'd regret your decision." said the mocking voice.

"DIE!" Ranma fist shot out of its own accord, blasting the man into a nearby wall.

He stood there with murder in his eyes, blazing red aura surrounding him. Had anyone else been around, they would have sworn that the devil himself stood on earth that day . . .

. . .Until the mask slid off and time slowed as Ranma saw himself reflected in the man's eyes even as life's light faded away. A distorted image stared back at him, smiling sadistically.

Ranma sank to his knees and vomited. He'd become monster! How could he have taken a life so easily? There hadn't been any hesitation, just pure unadulterated malice. Nothing could forgive-

His thoughts were derailed by crippling pain. Every cell in his body felt like they were tearing themselves apart. His mind had miraculously put together what had happened.

The moxibustion had finally latched on to the heavy ki and forced it through his channels. Only by reigning in his ki could he hope to survive. He had to calm down, the Tendous and Akane flashed in his mind, quelling his loss of control quickly. He could make it in time, he had to!

He ran like the wind regardless of how much of him felt like his fiery surroundings, but hope plummeted with every inch he covered. There was nothing left but a bunch of kindling. Fire had spread allover the district worse in some places than others. It seemed that the Tendou Dojo was the epicenter and where fire burned the hardest.

Shadows covered him from all sides, running, screaming, begging for help; it was all too much for the inexperienced young man.

It just could not be! Why was this happening to him? What had he done to some Kami to deserve this?! His eyes glazed over, preparing for sweet unconsciousness . . . .

*Slap*

"Snap out of it!" a woman in what looked like her mid to late twenties screamed. She had a badge hanging from her waste. Had he more presence of mind he would have noticed that her long waist length purple locks were singed from exposure to the raging inferno. "You're a martial artist aren't you? Start acting like one!" Someone called for help and his mysterious purple haired assailant had left as abruptly as she appeared.

She was right, he blinked. Akane and the others would never let him hear the end of it. They probably survived. There was no way Ryouga would let anything happen to them. Maybe everyone already left to lend a hand someplace else. Martial artists were supposed to protect the weak. It looked like he had a long night ahead of him.

By daybreak, most of the fires were out. Ranma had been protecting people and destroying buildings that were at risk of toppling over and injuring those below. He had not dared to risk using a larger Hiryuu Shotenha to put out the flames due to the debris his technique would invariably fling into the air.

He could not move anymore because of last night's strain combined with his earlier self inflicted injury. They had found him lying face first nearly drowned in a pool of his own sweat.

So here he was, staring up at the cold white ambulance roof parked in front of what had been his home, waiting for news. He had demanded that they took him there when he had regained consciousness. He prayed that they were alright, they had to be.

Outside, two women grieved loudly. His heart rate went up when he heard it. He tried to find the source by tilting his head to see past his feet. One of the men holding onto who was presumably his wife was Sayuri's father. Ironically, a fire fighter who had come to Furinkan during last month's career day. Ranma would not remember such things normally, but it was rare to run into a practitioner of martial arts fire fighting.

A tear trickled down his cheek. Sayuri must have died.

+++++++++++++++++

The police officer steeled herself. She had to tell him now or regret it later.

Looking at the clipboard, left her in wonder at how tough the boy before her really was. He had suffered from mild to severe dehydration and did not look any worse for wear, aside from the IV fluid being fed into his wrist there were no other indicators.

She felt responsible and nothing was going to change that, God give her strength to go through what was to come.

+++++++++++++++++

Ranma looked up in surprise at the woman. "Ranma Saotome I presume? My name is Misato Katsuragi, call me Misato."

"Yeah, that's me." There was a tension in the air.

"I . . . do not know how to say this. I'll do the easy part first." She tucked a bit of heat treated hair to the side. "I'm sorry for slapping you earlier."

Ranma felt his body loosen and gave her an incredulous stare, "That's it? You came all the way here lookin' for me just so you could apologize for slapping me?" At any other time, he may have considered it a miracle considering his passed experiences of being slapped for no good reason.

Her answer froze his veins solid, "No . . . ."

She looked away and said, "No one could've survived. There were six dead and what looked like the remains of a very large animal so far." She handed him the objects she had been holding her black hands. "I went through everything as best I could. These should've been held as evidence but I figured the forensics division wouldn't need these as much as you do."

A pair of broken glasses, a yellow bandana, a partially melted mini-spatula, and a square tin weighed almost nothing in his hands. He felt numb until the full meaning of everything sank in.

There was nothing else to do. He lunged towards the nearest source of possible comfort and wept.

The good officer's surprise did not last long from being pinned against the wall; she soon wrapped her arms around the unfortunate teenager and cried her own tears of sorrow. I'm sorry Ranma. I'm sorry for not being able to save them.

+++++++++++++++++

The stars looked so beautiful, mocking her misery. She had lost almost everyone and had found out that she had been betrayed. The betrayal itself was not such a big deal in light of recent events. Ryouga had made up for it by laying down his life; she was ashamed of what her reaction had been to the discovery.

She wheeled herself to face various electronic monitors, looking at the vital signs, listening to the rhythmic bleeping of lifeless machines. Her back still stung from the second and third degree burns. "Nabiki, please come back. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you too."

As Akane went back to her room down the hall, she could not help but wonder where Ranma was, what he was doing or even if he was still alive. Why had their home been bombed? Who was going to pay? She tightened her grip on the wheels at her last thought. There was a way. Genma had shown her something of unparalleled destructive ability in his last attempt to save everyone. If she could piece together how that technique was performed she would be unstoppable.

Calling a nurse for assistance to get onto her bed safely, she decided that now was not the time to think about revenge no matter how tempting. Tonight she would pray for her only remaining family. Searching for Ranma could wait until she was sure Nabiki was alright.

Author's notes:

For most of you, seeing Misato around in what looks like a major role must've felt like a boot to the head. It is still only a combination of Ranma and Noir storylines with almost no bearing in the Eva universe. Misato has her own tale to tell here, a tale which doesn't revolve around angels or NERV.

The Hiryuu Shotenha arc takes place early in the Ranma. I've set Kirika's awakening to happen at around this time. I couldn't match the years together without destroying the very reason I wrote this so I flushed concrete years down the toilet.

Thanks go to Thermopyle for suggesting how to power down Ranma.

Thanks also go to Hitokiriratosai and Mr. Yukatado for their invaluable help as my proofreaders.