Permanent 
Part 20
Aftermath
Tatiwaki Kuno stood outside the doors of his home in a thundering rainstorm. His 
hair was matted down against his forehead and his wings ruffled behind him 
nervously. The mansion was as it had always been a dark silent landmark in 
Nerima. He stood before the doors of the house and felt the cool air escaping 
the crack just under the front door. He frowned as he stared at it feeling fear 
encompass his heart. Without any real reason he stepped forward under the porch 
watching the doors without being certain of the strange fear he felt standing 
there alone. Slowly they cracked open the light inside was warm and inviting, he 
stepped forward and entered the house looking around and finding it as 
comfortable as it had always been. 
The hallway was brightly lit and the smell of traditional Japanese cooking 
floated softly through the air as he moved by the stairwell and turned deeper 
into the home. A flash of lightening crashed outside and for a moment everything 
seemed dark again, flashes and visions of that horrible night could be seen in 
the hallways as he walked onward towards his bedroom. Then just as quickly as 
the flash of light from the lightening ended it was gone again. 
Idly he turned into the dining hall and smiled slightly as the table was once 
again set with the expensive china. He brushed his finger across the table and 
frowned slightly as it was as flawlessly clean as it always had been before. 
Still for some reason it felt wet. Another flash of lightening revealed blood on 
his fingertips, he gasped in shock as the vision finished as the first one did. 
Stumbling back away from the table he fell against the floor as another bolt lit 
up the house and somehow darkening it again, his eyes widened in terror as 
Gosunkugi's head appeared against the doorway staring at him with dead lifeless 
eyes. Quickly he rushed from the room and dashed towards the doorway. 
Desperately he clutched the doorknob and shook it violently when it would not 
give way; he raked his clawed hand against the wooden frame leaving deep gouges 
in his terror. 
Suddenly he stopped, someone was standing behind him; slowly turning he held his 
breath as the footsteps came to his ears, they were soft and light sounds that 
almost seemed inviting. 
"Tachi?" said a familiar voice sweetly.
Kuno sucked in a breath as he stared at his sister in shock. Her face was 
peaceful and pleased. "Dachi?"
"Come, brother dear. I have made dinner for us," said the girl as she stared at 
him in confusion. He followed her cautiously back into the dining room. Before 
him was a small and modest dinner.
"I cannot eat in here," said the boy as he stood just inside the doorway 
glancing around fearfully.
"What do you mean brother dear? We always take our meals in here," she looked 
confused, but not unhappy with him. 
Kuno gasped as another bolt of lightening struck outside the home creating the 
cold darkness again. Standing before him with an empty plate was a dried out 
husk, almost a skeleton. He jumped back in shock as the pleasant scene replaced 
it once again.
"Come brother dear, we have to eat. I've been worried about you," said Kodachi 
as she took him by the arm and pulled him further into the room. Behind him the 
plaster on the wall started to swirl. He knew it was happening, but somehow 
didn't notice.
"Sister, are you well?" asked the boy.
"Well? Of course brother dear," replied the girl sweetly. At that moment another 
bolt of lightening hit outside. The room changed again, this time swirling 
plaster took on a pale blue glow. His sister did not turn into a husk this time, 
but took the form of a cadaver that had been rotting for weeks. Flesh hung from 
her face and her eyes were shriveled and dried; her cheerful smile had changed 
into a vicious snarl of blackened and rotting teeth. "As well as one can be in 
hell!" Her voice was dry, torn by venom and anger. "Come won't you join me 
there!?"
Kuno screamed in terror as a forceful wind pulled at his body lifting him and 
his sister into the air. They slowly floated towards the vortex that had formed 
out of the wall with Kodachi keeping an iron grip on him. He struggled 
desperately to escape clawing and tearing at her body sending chunks of rotting 
flesh flying into the porthole. She snarled at him in what could have been a 
smile as she vanished into the hole. His arm vanished into the swirling blue 
burning an unbelievable pain through his body. The flames of the tormented 
seemed to envelop his very soul as he struggled to escape only to be pulled into 
the liquid surface even further. Finally he felt his mouth fill with the fire as 
his head submerged, he stared into the cold dead form of his mansion and saw 
Sasuke's head laughing at him from the corner with a look of complete hatred in 
his eyes. 
"You left me to die! Now get what you deserve!" snarled the ninja angrily.
Akane Tendo was woken from her sleep by a scream of complete terror. She jumped 
from her bed and rushed into the hallway only to find Kasumi and her older 
sister standing there already with looks of complete concern on their faces.
Nabiki calmed suddenly with a sad look on her face as she realized what had 
happened. "Damn, he hasn't done this for a week, not since you woke up. 
Kasumi..."
"I know, I know," said the eldest Tendo with a heavy sigh. She rushed by them 
into Ranma's old room and almost immediately the screaming ceased. 
"What happened?" asked Akane nervously.
"Kuno is having nightmares Akane, really bad ones. I overheard him telling Ranma 
about them one day. You don't want to hear about it," said the girl as she 
pulled her sister by the arm and pushed her back into her room. "Kasumi is 
handling it, don't worry."
The girl frowned slightly imagining exactly what Nabiki had meant by overheard. 
The look on the elder girl's face told her she wished she hadn't heard. That was 
probably why Ranma had let her get away with it. Akane frowned as she forced her 
way back out and glared at the room. "Is Kasumi OK in there?"
Nabiki looked at the girl in shock. "Akane, believe me, that is the last thing 
on Kuno's mind right now. You have no idea what he's going through."
The young girl stared back at her sister and growled slightly. "I think that I 
do," she replied.
Nabiki stepped back away from her sister as the yellow eye she had hidden behind 
her hair glowed slightly showing through the mass of tangles that hung over her 
left eye. "Don't do that Akane, it gives me the creeps!" Quickly she went back 
into her own room and shut the door.
Kasumi sat with Kuno's head in her lap gently stroking the boy's head as he 
slept. A soft smile crossed her lips as she realized that his dreams were 
peaceful once again. "I'll have to thank Ranma for teaching me that little 
trick," said the girl as she pushed him gently back onto his futon.
The next morning Ranma moved about her morning work in the Cat Café, she rushed 
through the tables cleaning and bustling about with a cheerful humming. Talcum 
frowned slightly as she watched the sickening display. "Elder, she does not 
disguise her feelings well."
"I imagine not, the events of that night must have been truly horrible. It is a 
shame she will not speak of them, such techniques to banish demons would me most 
useful," replied Cologne.
Ko li frowned at the old woman slightly as she scrubbed tables nearby. "If she 
does not wish to speak of it, she must have a reason."
Ryoga sat nearby leaning against the wall staring off into space. His mind was 
wandering lately and it bothered him. "Akane," he sighed to himself. "Is that 
what I want? I can't just leave Ranma alone, as much as she'd tell me otherwise; 
but still...Akane." His face twisted into confusion as the memories of the girl 
wandered in and out of his consciousness. "Do I love you? Or is it just overflow 
from Ranma? I can never be sure about these things with our connection. I'm not 
even sure I can feel love anymore after all I've done and seen. I wonder if 
Ranma feels that way?" he looked over at her and she continued working 
pretending not to notice him.
Cologne turned to face him and was about to hit him over the head, his break was 
over now. Suddenly she felt a crack in her hands, after a moment she looked down 
and saw a small crack on the side of her teacup. "Hmm, an ill omen."
Talcum turned away from a table and collapsed onto the ground Ranma jumped 
forward and helped her too her feet. The girl looked down at the broken sandal 
and narrowed her eyes slightly. With one quick motion she tossed her apron to Ko 
li. "Finish this up for me."
The Chinese girl frowned and glared at the cloth in her hands for a moment, she 
was about to protest when Cologne's staff nearly struck her in the face. "Let 
her go child."
The pigtailed girl stood in front of a small green crystal staring into one of 
the flat smooth sides with extreme interest. "Come in Cologne, this is no secret 
to you."
The old woman huffed slightly and walked into the room. "Quite impressive girl."
"Not really, I have this whole room sealed; no one can enter it without my 
knowledge," replied the girl.
"What are you doing?" asked the old woman.
"Checking something, it deciphers bad omens. Unfortunately it can be vague 
sometimes," Ranma motioned for her to sit next to her and the old woman 
complied. 
Cologne jumped up in shock as she stared at the rock in front of her. "That is 
the emerald of sorrows! How did you come to possess it? It is one of the most 
closely guarded secrets of Joketsuko! It should never have fallen out of our 
control!"
"But it didn't, it is still in the possession of the tribe," replied Ranma with 
a knowing smile.
Cologne looked at her and just stared for a moment. "I suppose so, but still I 
must ask you to return it."
"Don't be so naïve, this is one of three stones, you possess only one of them. 
Or should I say two?" Ranma smirked at the old woman and noticed the look on her 
face.
"Naïve indeed," muttered Cologne as she turned her attention back on the stone. 
"Tell me child, what do you see?"
"A stone, with a Shinto ward tied around it," replied the girl mechanically. 
"Strange, what does this have to do with us?" asked the old woman, she wasn't 
really speaking to anyone in particular.
"There is a violent storm around the stone, it seems to be blocking something. I 
cannot see anymore than that," said Ranma with an almost icy chill to her voice.
"Perhaps it is nothing?" said the old woman hopefully.
"No, something wicked this way comes," said Ranma with a barely disguised smile.
"Well, all joking aside, how much trouble do you think we have on our hands?" 
said the woman.
"I'm not really sure, I'm not really getting any strong visions. No death, no 
large scale destruction. Just an ominous feeling more than anything else, I also 
feel a connection with our past, both yours and more indirectly to mine." Ranma 
waved her hands and the stone vanished from its spot on the ground.
"That's an interesting trick," noted Cologne.
"Not really, I just palmed it," replied Ranma as she produced the stone from her 
sleeve.
Cologne looked at her for a moment and frowned.
"Not all the magic books I came across had spells in them, I can do a few 
interesting tricks as well," said the girl with a shrug.
"Well, if there is no immediate danger..." said Cologne.
"Yes, I know, back to work," Ranma hunched her shoulders and walked out of the 
room.
Ryoga met her at the base of the stairs. "Ranma, are we going back to school?"
"Why do you ask?" said the girl with a look of surprise on her face.
"Well, we can't just hang around here forever, me and the girls are getting 
restless," the boy blushed as the two waitresses stood behind him.
"Oh, so you got elected to speak huh?" said Ranma placing her hands on her hips.
"Well, he is the only male," Talcum blushed and shrunk back behind Ko li.
"So go to school, I'm not stopping you," replied the girl as she tied her apron 
around her waist casually.
The three looked at her in confusion. "You can't avoid Akane forever you know, 
I'm surprised she hasn't come looking for you here yet," said Ryoga a little 
bitterly.
"That's because she has a little suggestion in the back of her head too keep 
that from happening," said Ranma curtly. "I'm not avoiding her, I'll go back 
next week. I've still got to sort through this mess through the proper channels. 
If we don't do that people are gonna start asking about where Kuno's sister is," 
she turned to face them and frowned at Ryoga.
"I know that, but I can still do the paperwork, the counsel isn't exactly picky 
about these things," the boy punched Ranma on the arm lightly and smiled. "Come 
on relax a bit will ya?"
Cologne and the two girls just stared at the pair for a moment. "Counsel?"
Ranma waved her hand and all three of the girls got a glazed look over their 
eyes. "You didn't hear anything about a counsel." They all nodded numbly and 
went back to their work ignoring the conversation. "I swear, I almost think you 
enjoy making me do that to people!"
"It doesn't hurt them, and we need to talk about it! Ranma, have you even gone 
to purify that house yet?" the boy looked concerned.
"No, He's gonna have it demolished in a few days, it's better if I wait until 
after. The ceremony is much easier. Remember? He's staying with the Tendos until 
he takes care of it," Ranma tapped Ryoga on the head and looked him in the eyes. 
"You havin some kind of memory problem?"
"No, it's just that, I worry," said the boy half-heartedly.
"Yea, well stop it. I'll start school next week after I purify the grounds, 
we'll see Akane then and she'll have time to think some," Ranma turned and 
cheerfully continued her work.
The boy stepped towards her again. "Isn't there anything we can do for her?"
"Oh, what is it now?" snapped Ranma.
"I was just wondering about her face..." Ryoga looked a little embarrassed.
"What about it?" asked the girl with a slight look of anger.
"I mean, you can't heal it right? Why not just cover it up?" he smiled weakly.
"You know that's a bad idea Ryoga, Glamoree is addictive. I'm not gonna do that 
to her just cause your ideal woman got a little banged up," she turned away and 
continued to wash her tables.
"More like your ideal woman," retorted the boy.
"I heard that!" Ranma tossed a wet sponge that slapped him in the back of the 
head. 
Talcum froze and stared at Ranma in confusion. "What did he mean by that?"
Hikaru Gosunkugi sighed as he flipped through the pages, he rested against the 
side of the desk lazily leaning on the stump where his arm used to be. Idly he 
flipped through the pages of the large book Ranma had lent him, it was a healing 
arts spell book. He looked at the stump and frowned slightly, perhaps one day he 
could become good enough to grow another one, but as it stood now he would have 
to do without it for a time. Ranma had used all her energy up saving Akane 
Tendo, unfortunately she only had enough left to seal up the wound to keep him 
from bleeding to death. That meant that basically there was nothing wrong with 
him anymore, so a healing spell wouldn't work. When he had asked her about it 
several days later, after she had calmed down a bit from the whole mansion 
episode and Akane Tendo nearly getting herself killed. Her reply had been a 
simple smile and a pile of white magic books with the words "Good luck."
He flipped another page and continued reading, "Man, this is going to take 
forever!" Each book was easily as thick as his head was, and he had to read 
every spell in the book to find the one he wanted since most tomes don't contain 
an index or table of contents.
TBC...
Next Time: Ranma attempts to purify the Kuno estate, not an easy task, but 
hardly as difficult as the battle that took place there. After which she returns 
to school, which prompts Kuno, Ryoga, and the Amazons to follow. Find out how 
everyone reacts to Akane's new condition, and Kuno's new attitude, which you 
don't know about either. HA HA HA HA HAA!
C&C to: Carrotglace@juno.com
URL@: Htp://www.geocities.com/tokyo/fountain/3203
 
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