Cursed

CHAPTER 5


Kaede circled the odd looking youkai, puzzling over the implications of the boy’s appearance. “I’m sorry, Kagome child. I’ve never seen anything quite like him before.”

Kagome sighed, it was too much to ask that the old priestess would have an easy answer. She reached over and patted Akane’s hand. “This doesn’t mean we’re going to stop trying,” she said.

Ranma rubbed the back of his neck. He was mortally embarrassed by what had happened in the woods. It seemed like a crazy dream, his body was taken over by something he didn’t understand. He looked up and met the eyes of the demon exterminator, flushed and ducked away. He hoped she hadn’t been able to tell what was going through his mind.

Akane came over to sit next to him. He glanced over at her, apologetic. “Something came over me,” he said simply. “Everything just hit me all at once, all these smells and feelings like I’d never had before. I didn’t want to hurt anyone.”

“It was very lucky for everyone that the first person you encountered was Sango,” Miroku said. “I can tell you from personal experience that she won’t put up with any inappropriate behavior from a youkai, or a human for that matter.”

Sango grinned. “Doesn’t stop you from trying though, does it, houshi-sama?” She had recovered her sense of humor about the situation and bore no ill will toward the young demon. “Listen Ranma, I know you didn’t mean to make me uncomfortable. I’m willing to put the incident behind us if you are.”

“Thanks,” he said, recovering his equilibrium a bit more. “I promise you won’t have to hit me with that thing again.”

Kagome planted her chin on her hand and looked around the room. “So does anyone have any ideas? The poor guy can’t go home looking like this and we sure can’t have him running around and going crazy on people. He needs to find some way to get his youkai instincts under control. Maybe we can find a cure.”

“You’re talking like it’s some kind of disease,” Inuyasha rumbled. He sat a little bit away from the rest of the group. “Even if he started as a human, he’s a youkai now and he’d just better face the fact. There ain’t no cure.”
Kagome leaned over. “You’re not being helpful, Inuyasha.” He scowled and bounded to his feet. “You’re not being realistic,” he snapped. He paced around the room to stand in front of Ranma, looking down at the young man with undisguised contempt. “Just because everyone here is feeling sorry for you doesn’t mean that I’m going to put up with any shit. You get out of line around me and I’ll put you down so fast you’ll wonder what hit you.”

Ranma’s face flushed with anger. “You think because you got the jump on me once means that I’m going to let you push me around?”

“Punk, if you want to go another few rounds, I’m there.” He turned on his heel and stalked out of the hut. “I’ll be outside if you have the balls to come after me.”

Ranma jumped to his feet and stamped out the door. “Looks like you really need someone to take you down a few notches. Lucky for you that’s my specialty. Let’s settle this thing right now.”

“Damn it,” Kagome hissed, following them. “Demons are so stupid. They’ve always got to fight to prove their dominance. It’s disgusting, really.”

Akane grinned. “Ranma was like that before he turned into a demon. He’s always been that full of himself.”

The girls followed the pair of demons into the woods, Sango and Miroku trailing behind them. Inuyasha stopped when he reached a clearing, turning around to eye Ranma with an open hostility.

Ranma just shook his head, it was obvious to him that the hanyou was used to bullying people to get his way. He cracked his knuckles, anticipating a good fight if nothing else. Some guys just had to learn the hard way.

Inuyasha looked him over, a familiar sneer on his face. No weapons would be needed, he decided. He drew the Tetsusaiga in its sheath from his sash and held it up in front of Ranma. “This sword was left to me by my father. I’m only just beginning to understand some of the things it can do. I just want you to know, in the interest of a fair fight, I’m going to hold back and not use its powers against you.”

Ranma laughed. “Sure, whatever you say. You sure you can handle a fight without your precious widdle sword?” He smirked, looking over at Akane. “Get a load of this guy, he thinks he’s doing me a favor or something.” He laughed again, turning back to the hanyou just in time to see a blur of motion. Inuyasha had rushed at the young demon, bringing his scabbarded blade down across his face in a vicious blow. Even Ranma’s reflexes couldn’t compensate and he fell hard to the ground.

The onlookers winced in sympathy. “That was a dirty move,” Akane shouted, outraged by Inuyasha’s tactics.

“Dirty’s the only way Inuyasha fights,” Shippo commented, climbing up Miroku’s shoulder for a better view. This was going to be good, he just knew it.

Inuyasha casually tossed his sword to the side. “I didn’t think you could back up your mouth, punk. You need to pay more attention when you’re fighting someone like me.”

Ranma got to his feet, his face still stinging. “That’s okay, I’m used to people who need to pull tricks in a fight. It’s all part of the game.”

“Then let’s play,” Inuyasha grinned. He made another blinding rush at Ranma, his fist cocked for a serious blow. He swung and missed, Ranma simply wasn’t where he had been a moment ago. He had jumped just out of the hanyou’s reach, landed lightly behind him and now delivered a stinging kick to the back of Inuyasha’s head. The half-demon went face down into the dirt.

“That looked like it hurt,” Miroku told Sango. The exterminator just shook her head. “He has it coming, houshi-sama.”

Ranma chuckled, the cocky bastard didn’t know what hit him. He was used to fighting with opponents who relied on more than brute strength to get the job done. Ranma moved easily into a classic stance. “Excuse me, I’m over here asshole. Did you just trip over your own feet or something?”

Inuyasha got up, snarling. He rushed the demon again, Ranma only spun gracefully around him, letting the hanyou’s wild swings graze just out of range. “God you’re slow, you sure that you don’t want to admit defeat now? I promise to go easy on you.”

“I love it, he can barely land a blow on this guy,” Shippo breathed excitedly. He’d been on the receiving end of far too many of Inuyasha’s temper tantrums to not enjoy seeing him get beat.

Sango poked the kitsune. “Who’s side are you on, anyway?” She watched as Ranma did a neat handstand and evaded Inuyasha’s angry attack. The hanyou took another hard kick in the face and staggered back a bit, surprised by the amount of force the new demon could put behind his footwork.

“Getting tired?” Ranma taunted, unable to keep himself from goading the half-demon again. Inuyasha rushed him, making a vicious strike with his claws. “I’m going to rip off your head and feed you your balls, bastard!”

“Oh great, the blood’s rushed to his head again,” Kagome muttered. She knew she could stop this fight before it got ugly, but part of her wanted to see how Ranma would handle himself. The guy was obviously well skilled as a martial artist, but youkai blood changed everything. Maybe it wasn’t kind to let Inuyasha take the brunt of her curiosity, but he’d never forgive her for a sit right now.

Akane covered her face with her hands. “They’re going to kill each other,” she said, wondering if anything she could say would make them stop the insane fight.

Ranma danced out of the way, avoiding Inuyasha’s berserker attack. Inuyasha struck the ground with his claws, opening a great gash in the earth from the energy behind the blow. Ranma laughed. “Are you almost ready to start fighting for real? I’m getting bored waiting for you to rip off my head.”

“I show you what bored feels like!” The hanyou charged him again and this time Ranma couldn’t avoid the blinding speed of his attack. There was a sickening CRAAACK as their heads collided and they both went down.

“Oh my god,” Akane gasped, raising her hands to her cheeks in horror. Kagome’s mouth was open in shock. Miroku leaned on his staff, an amused expression on his face. “There he goes using that rock hard head of his again.”

Ranma rolled over, gasping from the intense pain. It felt like a thousand Chinese gongs were ringing in his head. For a long uncomfortable moment, he thought he might actually be sick from the pain. A few feet away, Inuyasha sat up woozily. He could see three or four Ranmas on the ground in front of him. “Just stay there,” he panted, trying to crawl over to his opponents. The blow had made him dizzy. “I’ll finish all you guys off.”

Slowly, the two combatants got to their feet. Ranma felt something taking over inside his body. He’d been having fun with this fight just a moment ago, now he was angry. A cold, livid feeling rushed into his body, filling him with the desire to tear and shred his enemy. He wanted hot blood on his hands. His fingertips burned with his desire to rip the hanyou’s heart out and eat it raw.

Inuyasha sensed the youki building in Ranma’s body and welcomed the change. Things were about to get serious and he was finished with this dancing around crap. His own battle fury was beginning to flood his senses and he reveled in the power his bloodlust woke inside him. A thin trickle of blood ran down his chin, the taste and smell of it excited him. He wiped his chin with the back of his fist. “Now that’s what I’m talking about,” he growled.

The air above the clearing harkearkened and the wind began to crackle with electricity. The humans watching the fight felt their hair stand up on their scalps at the power the two youkai were giving off. A nameless dread washed over them, human reaction to the presence of strong youki power.

“What’s happening?” Akane cried, shuddering. She was familiar with the powerful battle aura that Ranma could produce, but this was something entirely different. It felt nothing like the boy’s ordinary ki. Ranma and Inuyasha seemed oblivious, as if they had forgotten the humans who were watching the fight. She started to back away, some instinct triggered in her body, telling her to get out of the way.

Sango’s eyes went wide, her nerves ringing with reaction. As a youkai exterminator, she was familiar with what could happen when two demons fought each other with charged youki. “Get the hell out of here!” she screamed, turning and dashing into the woods. Miroku grabbed Akane and Kagome by the arms. “Run for it, damn you,” he shouted, dragging the girls.

“Inuyasha!” Kagome tore her arm out of the monk’s grip and ran back into the clearing, trying to reach the hanyou in time to stop him.

Ranma was filled with an ecstatic feeling. His blood was pounding in his veins and he felt drunk on the dark power that was singing through his body. Ahead of him, he could see a dark pillar of youki building around Inuyasha. He didn’t care, the clash would be devastating and spectacular. All he knew was that at long last he was free to vent the horrifying power inside him, the demonic energy that made him twitch in his sleep and left him with red smeared dreams of conquest. He raised his arms, preparing to unleash his battle aura even as Inuyasha ran at him, snarling with a wicked fury. Ranma laughed, he didn’t even recognize his own voice when something at the edge of his vision distracted him. A girs rus running toward him, her long dark hair whipping out behind her in the crackling wind of youki.

Suddenly a vision flooded him from somewhere deep inside, a memory or an instinct, he wasn’t sure. His heart froze in horror when he realized what would happen to a human caught up in a storm of youki. A hundred devastated villages, blood soaking into the ravaged earth. Farm animals screaming in agony and innocent women and children begging for mercy. His eyes went wide in shock at the sight of mutilated bodies, people running away from him, screaming in terror and pain as the youkai battled on, heedless of the unfortunate humans caught in their raging power. He gasped, trying to force back the flood of memory’s sights and smells even as Inuyasha’s claws closed around his neck. He grabbed the hanyou by the arms, and desperately forced the youki blast into the ground, trying to spare the girl who had fallen to her knees only a few yards away.

Kagome gasped as the huge shockwave of power flooded the glade and exploded under the two young demons who were locked in combat. She tried to protect her head and face as the terrible fire roared around her. Their bodies went spiraling wildly over the trees. She pulled herself her feet, trembling as she realized how very nearly she had been caught up in the violent blast.

Sango and Akane ran to her side, supporting her as her knees seemed to be wobbling underneath her. “Kagome-chan, are you alright?” Sango asked. “I thought you’d be torn apart.”

“So did I,” she murmured. Okay, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to go rushing in like that. She looked around, glad that no one else had been so stupid. Everyone was intact. Akane was staring at the large crater where Inuyasha and Ranma had been standing. “Did Ranma do that?” she wondered aloud.

Miroku grimly looked around at the devastation. Another moment or two of hesitation and they all would have been caught by the destructive youki. He reached over and ran his hand over Sango’s bottom. It was good at times like this for a man to remind himself that he was alive.

Sango spun around and cracked him across the face. “You digusting pervert, we were all nearly killed and all you can think about is getting in a cheap grope?”

“It wasn’t cheap,” he mumbled, rubbing his face. Sango’s fury left one hell of a sting.

Akane was nearly in tears. She didn’t know if even Ranma could have survived the explosion, the ground under them was a smoking hole. “Where did they go?” she asked. “What’s on the other side of those trees?”

Kagome reached over to comfort the girl. “They’re okay, Akane. There’s nothing over there, just the river.”

“The, the river?” Akane asked, her eyes going wide. “Oh my god, Ranma!” The girl tore off through the trees, stumbling over through the underbrush.

Kagome stared after her, confused by Akane’s reaction. “Did I just miss something?” she wondered out loud.

Shippo hopped into her arms, snuggling against her. “I think we all missed something,” he said, looking over her shoulder at where the youki had torn the earth apart.

*****

Ranma tried to crawl out of the water, coughing and sputtering. He wasn’t sure what had just happened to him. His mind was full of horrors that he couldn’t shake away. It wasn’t me, he thought frantically. I swear I didn’t kill all those people, Akane. I’m not a murderer. He felt an intense pain between his eyes, like someone was jabbing a sharpened blade in his forehead. “Oh god,” he groaned, wincing away from the pain and the visions.

He splashed his face with the cold water, trying to erase the memories that haunted him. Cold water, he thought, his face dripping. Oh shit, I don’t need this right now. He pulled himself up the riverbank, grimacing at the sharp stones that were grinding into his palms and knees. Still staggering a bit, he managed to stand up and started to climb away from the water.

A heavy blow from behind slammed him back down, hard hands grabbed him by the back of his shirt and flung him across the water. “You bastard,” Inuyasha shouted. “Did you think I was done with you?” He splashed angrily over to where Ranma was floundering, trying to get his feet undere him and fell on the young demon with a murderous intent. “What’s the big idea throwing us into the river, asshole?”

Ranma splashed and struggled under him, fighting for air. Inuyasha sat on him, grinning as he tried to hold down the drowning demon. “Why don’t you die already?” he said sadistically. A fist shot out of the water and hit him in the mouth. “Oh so you still want to play,” he spat. He fended off another frantic blow and dug around under the water trying to get a grip on the squirming bastard. His hands buried in Ranma’s shirt to yank him up when he felt something strange. “What the h”
”

He stood up, pulling the struggling demon with him. He stared, a she-demon glared furiously at him from under a mop of wet red hair. “Who the fuck are you?” he demanded.

“I’m Ranma, you moron,” she growled, her blue eyes glinting in fury. He sniffed the air cautiously, not believing her. No way, he thought furiously, it’s gotta be a trick. He tore the demon’s shirt open. “No WAY,” he shouted. He was still staring at her chest when Ranma cocked back her arm and hit him hard enough to throw the startled half-demon into the woods. His last thought before his head cracked against a sturdy tree was that it has been a really strange day.

*****

All in all, Kaede thought, the life of a village priestess was an uneventful one. She enjoyed the quiet duty of tending to the village’s needs as healer and spiritual guide to her people. They observed the cycle of the seasons with festivals and prayer, appeasing the gentle kami of the forest with their offerings. It was a peaceful life, nothing like her sister’s tenure had been. At least until young Kagome had appeared out the mystical well carrying the Shikon no Tama within her body.

She genuinely liked the young girl, thinking of her as she would one of the village’s children, someone to teach and nuture. It wasn’t Kagome’s fault that trouble seemed to follow her, right now the trouble was sitting on the far side of the hut, deliberately facing away from the rest of the group. He’d flopped down on her floor, soaking wet, tracking mud and leainsiinside her home. Kaede prayed silently for patience.

She looked up from the pot of water that was starting to simmer over her fire. “How hot does the water need to be, child?”

“Doesn’t have to be boiling, just hot,” was the sulky response. Ranma sat hunched on the floor, arms crossed protectively over her impressive chest. She stared steadily at the wall, refusing to look around or even meet Akane’s eye. On top of everything else, the damn curse had mutated to match his youkai blood.

Akane stared at the she-demon, not quite knowing what to say. Ranma’s new female form was quite unusual. The fire red hair was the same, but now her body was covered in a light golden fuzz, silkily soft to the touch. Her features had migrated from a cute teenage girl to a stunning female demon. Her eyes were still the same shade except for the oddly slitted pupils. And then there were the ears, a perky set of golden furred ears were perched atop her head. Akane’s fingers twitched to stroke them and she decided it might be best to restrain herself due to Ranma’s foul mood.

Shippo was more than fascinated by this change in the new demon. He bounced over to peer into Ranma’s sullen face. “You’re beautiful,” he pronounced. “How can you be so sad about that?”

“I don’t want to be beautiful,” Ranma snarled, shoving the kitsune away. She put her head on her knees and felt vastly sorry for herself.

Miroku cleared his throat. “So, this happens whenever he’s hit with cold water you say?”

Akane nodded. “And hot water will change him back. It’s the curse of Jusenkyo springs that causes the change. I’m just guessing that it took on a new form in response to his new demon appearance.” She reached over and patted Ranma awkwardly on the shoulder. “It’s okay Ranma, it’s really no worse than it was before.”

“Thanks,” the demoness said in a sarcastic tone. Akane sighed, fed up with the attitude while she tried to be nice. “Quit sulking already, we’ll have you back to normal soon.”

“You call that NORMAL?” Inuyasha snapped. “I’d call IT a freak.”

Kagome glared at him. “Inuyasha, shut up already. You don’t have to make him feel worse.” She’d been as startled as the others when they’d burst out of the forest to see Inuyasha holding up a half naked she-demon and staring fixedly at her chest. The sight of the hanyou flying headfirst into a tree wasn’t one she was going to forget easily either. “Pig!” One of his ears twitched for once he had the sense not to answer back.

Ranma stood up, feeling not for the first time like a circus freak about to do a trick. “Okay, I think it’s hot enough. Splash me.”

Kaede took a small dipper from a hook that hung on the wall and filled it with the steaming water. Almost reverently, she threw the contents into the young woman’s face. “It’s that simple?”
“It’s that simple,” Ranma repeated. A sense of relief washed over him, demon or not, at least he was a guy again.

“This is just sickening,” Inuyasha stat He He got up from the floor, glowering at Ranma. “What kind of a freak are you anyway?”

“I told you, it’s a fucking curse,” Ranma growled. His hands clenched in front of him. The series of humiliations he’d been enduring were building up against his normally easygoing nature.

The hanyou stared him down. “If I had a curse like that, I think I’d kill myself. I wouldn’t want to live with that kind of shame.”

Ranma flushed, his face going an ugly red. “You think you cat met me out of my misery, I’d like to see you fucking try it.” He swung at Inuyasha and they crashed into the wall.

“Stop it!” Akane shrieked, jumping to her feet. She ran forward and started whaling on Ranma’s back. “I’m sick of this shit!” Ranma pushed her away, trying to get at the hanyou. Inuyasha growled low in his chest and edged around the girl, trying to get a clear shot. Miroku and Sango scrambled out of the way and he jumped over them to try for Ranma’s throat.
t!” t!” Kagome screamed, yanking Shippo out of the way as Inuyasha crashed into the floor. Wood and splinters went flying. “You fucking bitch!” he howled.

“He came to us for help, is this the way you help someone?” she cried, backing away from the outraged hanyou.

“I don’t need his fucking help!” Ranma exploded. He pushed Akane back as she tried to reach him and stormed to the door. “I’ll figure it out on my own, damn it!” He stepped outside, drawing the curious stares of the villagers. “What are you looking at?” he demanded. They dodged away from him fearfully. He felt ashamed of scaring the peasants but he was too angry to go back inside the hut. Ranma started towards the forest. “I don’t need anyone’s help.”

A tiny white form stepped in fronthim him and Ranma froze in horror. An adorable twin tailed kitten was looking at him curiously, her eyes wide and soft. “Myew?”

Ranma started to back away from the horrible thing. “C,c,ca,” he stammered, quite forgetting his anger and the fight with the half-demon. Kirara sniffed at his feet and he started badly, like he’d been burned with a hot wire. “Get away from me!”
The kitten hissed, catching a whiff of the youki that still clung to the demon’s body. Strange youki could be dangerous youki and Kirara was raised by exterminators. She transformed into her protective neko-youkai form and yowled a challenge.

Ranma turned and ran for it, the terror of the Cat Fist was upon him and he was no longer in control of his body. He sprinted back into the village, screaming in the grip of his terror, a long toothed sabrecat behind him. So consuming was his fright that he didn’t look where he was heading and went headfirst right into a water trough. SPLASH!

“All right!” Miroku and Shippo shouted, running out of Kaede’s hut. Sango was at their heels. “Get back here, you perverts!”

Akane darted past them. “Ranma, are you okay?” Kaede watched from the doorway of her cottage. “I’ll start heating some more water.”

Inuyasha just stared at the sight of a wet, buxom demon shrieking with terror at the tiny kitten. Kirara had changed back into her lovable form and was enjoying giving chase to her new playmate, closely followed by a kitsune and a monk. Inuyasha scratched his head, a slow grin starting to pull at his face.

“Akane, help me!” Ranma cried, shooting up the side of a tree. She clung desperately to it as Kirara bounded up the bark, playfully attacking her new friend. “Aaagggh!” The tree branch she was perched on gave way suddenly and the demoness and kitten tumbled to the ground. They were immediately set upon by Shippo and Miroku who were trying to help them up, and Sango, who was trying to keep them from helping too much. Akane dove in to rescue Ranma from Kirara, who was trying to reach her face for a friendly nuzzle.

Inuyasha fell to the ground, laughing so hard that tears were coming from his eyes. Kagome gave him a disgusted look. “Stop that, you moron,” she hissed, kicking him in the side. The hanyou just howled harder, filling the small village with the sounds of his delight.

END CHAPTER 5