Obsession , for Kodachi By Kyokukou Disclaimer : I don't own the characters from Ranma 1/2 only the characters that I write myself . So please don't sue me ! But if you try to use my characters .....there will be ...unpleasant consequences if I find out . Do not repost or reprint this without my permission , however if you do ASK there is a good chance I will let you . " A king of shreds and patches ..." -Hamlet; III , iv Chapter 10 whatever nightmare had disturbed him , was past In the course of the Tendo's training trip shortly after their mother's death many things had happened to the youngest Tendo . Of those she had been poisoned before on several occasions . Once she had even been paralyzed by a evil spirit . Presently she could not decide which this was more like . After Otama had cried herself to sleep and thus faded from their shared haven she had returned to retake control of her body . Only to find that she could not even open her eyes much less move anything else . Thankfully she did not panic . While she could not move at all , she still could feel everything , hear , and smell . So she felt safe in assuming that if her eyes would ever open she could still see as well . For a moment she had debated whether or not to 'awaken' Otama to consult her on the situation . In the end she felt that as she did not appear to be in any immediate danger and since she could not really see what Otama could do that she could not she let the poor girl rest . As there was not much else for her to do she listened to the rest of the house intently . The muted snoring from the guest room confirmed that Genma and her Father were back from their trip to a local bar . Otherwise upstairs was still , downstairs , however , was full of life . She had returned to hear a conversation between Ranma and someone else . It ended when both left the house only to return a few moments ago . Now that argument was heating up she could tell it was Nabiki Ranma was bickering with . She only wished one of them would come up and find her . Her nose was threatening to itch . * * * " She does this every year ?" Ranma looked from the girl he cradled in his arms to her . " I'm afraid that tends to be the least of it ." She shook her head sadly . " What else then ?" " She has a real bad obsession problem ." " How bad ?" Ranma was beginning to look like he wanted to hold the young Kuno at arms' length . " She got fixated on reptiles a few years ago ." She began , taking a seat on one of the living room cushions . " So she ran away to Africa to get one ." Ranma stared at her . " Then she brought it back home ." Ranma's jaw fell open and proceeded to wag loosely . "I believe he's called Mister Turtle ." Managing to close his mouth Ranma looked down at the girl as if seeing her for the first time . " When was this ?" He asked . " She was in seventh grade ." Ranma only twitched an eyelid this time . " Once she fixates on something she will not stop until she has it ." Carefully laying the girl on the floor in front of him he sighed in resignation . " I guess that she'll make another one ." " Another what ?" " Person that wants to kill me ." Ranma looked at her with a expression that was all too normal for what he was saying . Almost as if he thought it an everyday occurrence . " I got like fifteen hundred of 'em already ." " In this time ?" She asked . " Naww , in this time it's only like two hundred that actually wanna kill me . Most of 'em wanna piece of Pop too ." " Sounds interesting ." She commented . " My life is waaaay too complicated ." Ranma shook his head to himself before looking at her . " So how many do you have out for your head ?" " Touché ," She admitted , turn about was fair play . " All together I would say only ninety or so out for my head , and twice that out to give me a sound beating ." " Better stop while you're ahead , making enemies is a real bad habit ." " So I've been told ." She rolled her eyes in a familiar fashion . * * * " They better find me soon ." She thought darkly . The itch's threat had turned out to have been a valid one . Now her nose was itching in full swing and she still could not do so much as open her eyes . Now the itch had a taste of power it made a new threat , to spread from her nose to her chin and neck . * * * " What do we do when she wakes up ?" Ranma asked her , eyeing the girl in his arms warily . " You ," She pointed to Ranma meaningfully . " hold her still and make sure she doesn't get away . I'll interrogate her ." " Alright ....um...Nabiki...." He looked at her sheepishly . " What ?" " Could you search her for weapons ?" Ranma reddened . " Why me ? You know more about that sort of thing don't you ?" " Yeah , but she's a girl and she's only wearing a leotard ." " Oh ." * * * "AAAAAAAAAHHHGGGGGRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH !" She mentally screamed from the torture . The insidious itch's conquest had claimed her nose , chin , neck , and between her eyes . Drunk with power the itch proclaimed it's plans to spread it's maddening prickling to her scalp . The torture brought tears to her closed eyes . If she didn't get relief soon she would flip out . * * * " Ah , you're awake ." She smiled at her captive evilly . " So I am ." The Kuno girl looked genuinely surprised . " I could have sworn that I was about to fall on some rocks when I was robbed of consciousness by you , witch ." The comment did not ruffle her at all . " You would have if Ranma here hadn't caught you ." The Saotome boy opened his mouth to say something , only speech became impossible for a moment as his lips were presently being caressed by those of the young gymnast . Ranma's eyes went wider than she thought possible before he jerked his head back , sputtering . " N-na-nan-nani ?" The Kuno girl was undeterred by his reaction , she pushed herself closer to him and laid her head on his chest . " You saved me from death ." She breathed softly . " Even my own brother would have not . Truly you are my love ." Ranma's expression said it all as he stared at her : HELP MEEEEEE ! * * * " I'll count to three hundred ." She thought , desperately . " Then if they haven't found me by then I'm waking Otama ." The itch was now the happy ruler of a empire that spanned her entire head and most of the upper torso . With new colonies on the bottom of her feet . Still , the capital and origin of it all was her nose . * * * " You heard me ." She repeated . For the first few moments she had let the gymnast nuzzle her new found obsession . But that had prevented her from answering any questions coherently . Now she had worked out a system . She would ask a question and Kodachi would be allowed to give Ranma a kiss as a reward . Not a system Ranma particularly liked . So far they had pieced some of the puzzle together . Kodachi had found out about Akane being the replacement . So she had come to the house to neutralize the threat . The last question had been 'Why didn't you try to get in the house to get at Akane ?' Her answer had yet to come . " Get him to open his mouth first ." Kodachi pouted at her . " I can't believe this ." She thought . If it wasn't for her feeling guilty about nearly killing the girl on accident she would have just physically forced the nut to talk . Not that she would let on about any of this . " Ranma ." She turned to the paling boy . " Please ?" If he had shook his head a firm negative more vigorously there might have been a whirlwind . " Ranma , it's just a kiss ." She rolled her eyes . " It's not like you're sleeping with her ." " OH ! There's an idea !" Kodachi's eyes lit up . " We'd have to be wed first , though . Do you mind a Catholic wedding , Ranma-sama ?" " Nabi-" Ranma started out angrily only to have his open mouth attacked in a amorous fashion . " Whatever works ." She shrugged as Ranma struggled . " Now .." She prompted once the kiss had gone on long enough . " Very well ." After breaking the kiss Kodachi Kuno sighed . " I used a blowgun to deliver a capsule of paralytic powder through her window . I made sure to watch her succumb to it ." " Not that stuff again ." She shook her head at memories . " How long does this batch last ?" The 'MMPH!' caused her to look up . Obviously they were not going to get away with freebee questions . " I should say that by the day of the match she will be walking fine , but her motor skills will be shot and her reaction time will still be only one tenth of what it was ." The gymnast made no effort to hide the pride in her voice . " In other words Akane will be reduced to a normal girl by that time . But what about now ?" " Wait-MMPH!" Was all Ranma got out before the girl attacked him again . " I should say that right now.." Kodachi Kuno thought for a moment . " she's comatose for all intents movement-wise . She can think , hear , and feel just fine but no voluntary movement is possible ." " Nabiki wai-" Ranma began . " Antidote ?" She asked regardless . " MMRPH !" Ranma exclaimed as he was cut off in mid word once again . " None ," Kodachi Kuno smirked . " I've already fostered a high tolerance for it so I saw no use in creating any antidote . She'll be fine once it runs it's course through her system ." " We'dbettergocheckonher ." Ranma said quickly before shutting his mouth tight . " Of course ." She stood and lead the way to her sister's room . Opening the door she saw her sister lying peacefully on the bed . She would have thought her asleep if it wasn't for the fact Akane was fully clothed and lying on the covers instead of under them . " Is this normal ?" She turned to Kodachi Kuno . Who had been waiting for another question . " I do wish you would be more enthusiastic ." Kodachi Kuno pouted at the sputtering Ranma afterwards . " I should say so . But we have no way of telling if she is awake or asleep . By tomorrow she'll be speaking and moving more . This batch is intended to last long and weaken , full paralysis is shaken off too quickly by the body ." " Um..." Ranma suddenly looked a bit surprised as he stared at Akane . " I think we should duck ." She didn't bother asking why , she just hit the floor rather quickly . Ranma tackled Kodachi Kuno to the floor as he went . Soon enough she was nearly blinded by a brilliant flash of blue light that sent all her instincts and senses jangling at once . Thankfully it lasted for barely a second . By the time she opened her eyes Ranma was already walking over to Akane's still form . " What was that ?" He asked her from over his shoulder . " Quite an interesting sensation ." Kodachi Kuno commented , still prone . " Otama's idea of a distress call ." She explained . " It's designed to be hard to ignore ." " Very ." Ranma nodded . She stood and make sure to keep one eye on the gymnast and one hand around the gymnast's neck . Ranma was already standing over Akane and examining her with a look that she could only describe as medical . He reached down and lifted one of Akane's eyelids and peered into it . " Here ?" He asked raising his finger to her forehead . " No ?" " What are you doing ?" Kodachi Kuno asked , amused . " She can't respond ." " Oh ! Here ?" Ranma began to scratch Akane's nose with one finger . To the astonishment of both onlookers Akane's body relaxed from a tension barely visible . Her little sister audibly sighed in relief . " Impossible ." Kodachi blinked . " She shouldn't be able to do that ." " Why ?" Ranma asked , now scratching the top of Akane's head . " It's an involuntary reaction to the relief ." He looked down and suddenly let go of holding Akane's eyelid open . " Sorry ." He switched to the other eye . " Forgot you can't blink when I do that ." Curious , both girls approached Ranma and the motionless Akane . " How do you know what she wants ?" She asked . " Telepathy ?" " I'm not psychic and I don't have the magic for that ." Ranma shrugged , and began scratching Akane's chin before switching eyes again . " I just look at her eye and she tells me ." She leaned over and stared into Akane's eye for a moment . While she could see life in her sister's eye she got nothing else . " How ?" She reiterated shortly . " You have to learn ." Ranma shook his head . " Sorry , I'll let you do that when you can , I promise I won't interfere ." Ranma told Akane . " What now ?" Kodachi snorted . " Naturally Akane wants to reduce you to a gibbering pulp ." Ranma snorted in return . " But she'll have to wait until she's able ." * * * She looked in on Ranma and Genma before she retired to her own bed and the sleep it offered . Genma slept soundly , snoring for all he was worth . Ranma , however , slept in a different manner . In the pale light offered by the streets and waning moon she couldn't make out his expression . However , his body tossed and turned almost as if in pain . But before she could rush to him , he relaxed completely . After a moment more she left , sure that whatever nightmare had disturbed him , was past . (Despite every effort of his instincts , his mind and body complied to the verse tumbling from his Lord's lips . As always the process that took barely an instant lasted for hours by his perceptions . It was the process of his mind being torn from him . His heart raced , his muscled tensed , his limbs quaked . Everything writhed in agony . Then it was over . What little of himself that made the True Kodachi was torn away to give the Pure Kodachi it's rebirth . As always he stood there , slack . His face and body lacking tension of any sort . His eyes , now a hundred times keener than an eagle's , wide and seemingly unfocused as if blind . His limp expression held no more than the slack arms that hung at his sides or the legs that carried his weight without so much as a hair's breath of sway . " Kodachi-kun , see those skilled warriors there ? Please kill them for me , and once you are done with that task please return here ." His Lord calmly ordered him . Without a second's hesitation he leapt out into the battlefield . That initial leap took him flying high into the air nearly eleven arrowshots separated his landing and the cloud of dust that now marked his starting point . In the instant he landed all senses took in the battle about him . Seven Masters fought on the side of this Lord . The rest would die . They were ten . The sword was in his hand the instant he was aware of the man charging his back . The hilt fit into his hand , the blade slid from it's scabbard , they were one . He turned to see the man closing the vast distance . His pumping legs carrying him to his death far faster than a normal arrow flew to bring death . The man's blade met his own . His eyes saw all . The rocks falling so slow by his viewpoint they nearly froze in the air . The sapphire sky , so clear and concord even with battle below it . The sparks of electricity and ki that erupted in the instant edge met edge . The completely translucent shield that the man wore on his left arm . The silk weave of the other man's blood soaked clothing . The old scars across the muscles straining against him . Even his own refection in the man's eyes . He straightened his bent arm with little effort . The two planted feet tore shallow gouges in the earth as the man was thrown back . He was upon his prey the next moment . The vitreous shield flashed up desperately , separating death and life . In the faint reflection he watched his arm raise the blade once more and strike . Each successive stroke flowed into the last . The fusillade of blows merging into one continuous assault . Feeling the burning ki of two attacking from behind he altered his final blow . The stroke glanced off the shield as if in error . His body flowed with the blade , whirling . The edge met the charge of one , his body continued to flow into the turn . The stabbing spear of the other tearing through the cloth he was clad in . Only to continue through the empty edge of the sleeve . The shielded man had raised his protection to strike out at his attacker . Only to have the spearhead of his savior pierce his breast . His free hand lanced out and took a hold of the shaft . The added leverage gave further swiftness to his final turn . His body spun , his blade arced grandly . Three corpses tumbled through the air before he ended his revolution . The shockwaves of the battle about him carrying the limp forms away . No opponent before him , no purpose for being , he lowered his arms . Once more he stood inert . His eyes did not blink even as shockwaves battered the land about him , stones shattering upon his quiescent frame . His sword arced up at the last moment possible . Blade met blade . The earth buckled under the force now channeled through his legs . His feet plunged deep into the crumbling land . The man had fallen from a mountain's height above him , seeking a new path of attack . He held his blade above him by one hand , the man balanced on his own sword . He looked up at his new prey . The man glared back and screamed his rage at him . In the reflection of the man's furious eyes he watched his own jaw open impossibly wide . His answering scream of rage shattered stone . He straightened his bent legs . The punished earth he had stood on erupted . The two ascended into the air . The valley floor fell below the two , trees becoming grass blades , men mere specks of dust leading the great waves of their passage . Keeping the distance between them within an arm's reach the man lashed out with a flurry of strikes . Each slash designed to slay . His blade turned each aside . All were seen before the other man had done more than thought of them . Finally , the swordsman attacked with a assault designed to appear to utilize eight slashes at once . His blade met them all . With the final parry the man held the contact before thrusting himself away . He watched the man hate as they fell to the waiting earth . Masters dueled about them , weapons flew , ki flowed and blasted like the ocean enraged . He landed , his sword raised , his other hand resting on his wakazashi's hilt . " You're not a monster , you're not a man ." The swordsman seethed at him through clenched teeth . " What are you ?" For a moment that saw the death of three Masters and perhaps a short heartbeat of a faraway onlooker the swordsman waited for any response . " Answer me !" The man shouted , thrusting his sword into his scabbard and taking a battou-jutsu stance . " Then die !" The swordsman's eyes blazed , his ki pulsed within his frame like a sun constrained and molded . The man threw his entire being into his final assault . The swordsman's attack was foreseen the instant his left leg was thrust out when his right should have been . Blade met blade . He let the natural spin of the other's attack carry his body along with it . Gouges ripped through the earth . His feet never wavered from their proper stance . The spinning slash pushed him about his prey in a full circle . The man , his circling slash spent , stared agape at him as his blade turned aside the now motionless sword . He resumed his inert posture at the end of his own spinning slash . Two halves of a whole man drifted off on the successive waves from the chaos about . He did not blink until the drifting bead of life's blood collided with his eye . Only once did he blink . But the blood remained . He leaned to his left by a handspan , the wooden shaft slashing it's way through his hair . The arrow from afar continued on , pointlessly . Returning to his previous state he waited until his newest prey was almost upon him . He turned . Blade met blade .) Long ago he wondered if he should wake screaming from these memories . But no matter how many he had or how much emotion filled him the instant he was awake , he never made a sound . He was not drenched in sweat , nor was he shaking . If anything his physical form remained as inert and blank as it had been in the memory . A fact that prompted his fist to lance out and strike himself upon the forehead . Only a bit of blood showed on the knuckle . He found himself in the bathroom without much recollection of the journey . Fearing what he would find he looked in the mirror . In it he saw himself , a fearful expression resting on his face . He nearly lost his footing in relief . He had yet to revert to the Kodachi for anything other than those phrases . But , he feared , as the memories became more frequent night visitors since his curse that it might be the Kodachi trying to reassert itself as he had done to it . It had been the shock of losing Midori that had brought the Kodachi out for a time , and the much earlier shock of realizing his love of Megumi that had brought him back to the surface before that . Perhaps this curse , with the repeated shocks of it's change , was allowing the Kodachi to return ? He splashed warm water on his face . In the mirror he saw the turmoil plainly written across his face . In his life he had lost so much of himself . Was there still more to lose ? Had the little he had reclaimed been only a temporary victory ? Would the Kodachi rend his very being asunder once more ? Hands that had once crushed stone and torn metal gripped the wall on either side of the mirror . Emotions , warred within him like winds of a storm . All the questions , implications , possibilities , thousands of each . Each vying to have his entire mind . He drew breath slowly , with a control over his body he sought to extend into his mind . The hands shook in their gentle grip upon the wall . His head lowered , his breathing became shallow and infrequent . The storm within would not abate . He pressed his resolve to it's own . Looking up into the mirror once more he was met with a calm , tired expression . He fell to the floor , exhaling his relief . For now he had won back his calm , his center . Laying on the cold tile floor another memory surfaced . He glanced at the mirror and softly laughed . Relaxing once more he remembered a time when he was still the Living Kodachi , but when he was content as thus . When Megumi would use his mirrored irises to fix her hair and his Lord would howl with laughter every time she did so . He would never go back to being the Kodachi willingly , but he could not bring himself to regret his time with those he cared for . As Samurai and as the Kodachi . In the dead of night he felt the rest of the house sleep . Kasumi curled up around a stuffed animal . Nabiki sprawled out on her bed . Akane and Otama deep in their own dreams . Genma snored as always , a sound clear to him even from this distance . Soun tossed and turned in his own dream , still sleeping on one side of the bed . He , however , laid with open eyes , now darkened to indigo , on the cold tiles of the bathroom , and remembered people and an age long dead to the world . But ever so alive within his heart .