Ikioi - Part Five

Ikioi smiled slightly to herself as she stood beside Ryoga’s futon and contemplated his sleeping form. He lay curled in the blankets, exactly where she had tucked him the night before, eyes lightly shut and breathing softly. She resisted the urge to reach down and run her fingers through his soft heavy bangs. It might disturb him, and he needed his rest.

She simply couldn’t believe her good fortune. He really was so very beautiful, and when he was asleep there was a certain openness and vulnerability to him that seemed as close to perfection as one could get. He truly was everything she had imagined he would be, and far far more. Ikioi had not anticipated loving Ryoga as much as she already did, but that just heightened her burning desire to give him everything he wanted, to make his life perfect. The love added fuel to her convictions. She -would- make him happy. Truthfully, she already had, just through the simple act of loving him. He had been so starving for affection and caring, that she knew that he would allow her to do anything she wished, as long as those emotions remained pure and strong.

Ikioi rested her hand over her chest and felt the precious treasure that hummed within her.

Perfect. Everything was perfect.

And it would get better. Ikioi knew this as she left his room and descended the stairs, looking as if she were floating as her long flowing kimono ruffled around behind her. She whispered into the kitchen, where the aborted remains of last night’s dinner still waited exactly as she had left them. Ryoga had been too tired to even think about eating, but it had been his first time being fully drained, after all. She would see to it that he ate this morning, as he had to build his strength back up.

The energy he had given her was still warm within her body, and it was strong, so very strong! Ikioi had never felt so much power at once, and had never felt so vibrantly alive. It was wonderful, and using his energy, she had already taken care of two of her beloved’s most distressing problems. He would be so pleased when he discovered what she had done! Ikioi couldn’t wait to see the light of happiness in his eyes. Perhaps it would even prompt him to smile, truly smile. That would be a sight worth dying for.

And as for today . . . Ikioi pondered as she absently thought the remains of dinner out of existence and filled the near-empty refrigerator with appropriate groceries. Today she would work on fulfilling Ryoga’s desire to . . .

A low menacing growl interrupted her thoughts. Ikioi turned towards the doorway which led to the dining room and frowned heavily.

A large two-toned dog crouched close to the floor, glaring at Ikioi though narrowed eyes. Behind her, in the dining room proper, a group of five beanbag-like puppies peered around their mother, eying the girl in the kitchen nervously. The dog took a slow step forward, showing her teeth in a plain expression of intimidation and threat.

Pausing for a moment, Ikioi pulled the dog’s name out of Ryoga’s mind. Shirokuro. She was a valued member of the family, and Ryoga loved her and the puppies very much.

"Hmm . . . " Ikioi glared coldly at the dog.

Shirokuro crouched lower, reacting to the immediate waves of dislike that were coming from this strange young woman. The dog was rather confused, however, and unsure about attacking the intruder. She wasn’t exactly a vicious dog by nature, but she protected her own, and Shirokuro considered Ryoga one of her own, as much as her puppies were. But she was confused because she could -feel- Ryoga -within- this stranger. Somehow, Shirokuro’s beloved master was not only asleep upstairs, where she smelled and sensed his physical form, but also down here . . . a part of this stranger.

Shirokuro could make no sense of it, but there was a threat here, and that’s what the dog reacted most strongly to. Her Ryoga was somehow inside the stranger, and that didn’t feel right. In fact, it felt very -wrong-. Her master was in danger, and though Shirokuro couldn’t exactly figure out how, the source of it all was this young woman with the strangely ill-feeling aura.

Somehow . . . somehow the dog knew that she had to get her Ryoga out of the stranger . . .

Ikioi was a bit surprised when the animal sprang for her, but reacted quickly, throwing her hands up and drawing on the energy Ryoga had given her. Shirokuru’s attack was abruptly halted as she slammed head-first into an invisible barrier that had come into being between herself and the young woman. There was a zapping sound and a spark of blinding light as the dog thudded against the shield and crumpled to the floor in a whining heap. The puppies all scurried away, yelping in fear. Three of them retreated under the diningroom table, while two others vanished out the back patio door.

Ikioi glared down at the wounded dog who fluttered brokenly at her feet, her aquamarine eyes glistening like glacier ice. Shirokuro looked up at her, saw the expression, and began to fear. All of the perplexing pain in her body inhibited her movements, but she tried valiantly just the same, using her front paws to drag herself along the tiled floor of the kitchen, small whimpers escaping her throat as she did. She had puppies and a master that she -had- to protect!

"Ryoga loves you," Ikioi told the dog in a low flat tone. "I can’t allow that."

The young woman threw a careless gesture out towards the dog and smiled to herself as the animal, along with the shapeless puppies beneath the table, abruptly disappeared as if they had never existed.

***********************************

Sitting casually in one of the windows of his first period classroom, Ranma crossed his arms over his chest and stared out at the morning, concentrating his attention on the movements of the trees as their leaves rustled in the wind, and on the students who were still hurrying up the front walk leading to Furinkan High School, rushing not to be late. The pig tailed martial artist’s dark blue eyes narrowed ever so slightly as his thoughts turned predictably from the scene outside to the subject that had been taking up quite a bit of his attention for the past three days.

As soon as Ukyo made the comment about Ikioi knowing Akane’s name, Ranma had known in his deepest of hearts that something was dreadfully wrong . . . or rather - that something was about to become wrong. He had wanted nothing more than to tear out of Ucchan’s and chase after the source of that ill feeling, the girl who had led Ryoga away from the restaurant. Every danger instinct that he had developed and cultivated over the years of training screamed at him to spring into action, but he’d ignored them all. He hated himself for it, but he somehow managed to squelch down his feelings of guilt and unease.

In the first place, how was he suppose to explain his concern to Akane and Ukyo? Sure, maybe he could have gotten away with rationalizing it as nothing more than Ryoga being his friend, and he was suppose to look out for his friends, right? After all, both of the girls were suspicious of Ikioi as well, but Akane had made it very clear that the situation was none of their business. And she was right. There really was no conceivable reason for Ranma to interfere, aside from the extreme wrongness he felt from Ikioi. But, he had to privately ask himself, did that wrongness really exist, or was he just imagining it to be worse than it was simply because he hated the thought of Ryoga being engaged to someone?

Ranma hadn’t felt this way towards Akari . . .

Secondly, if he interfered, how would he explain that to Ryoga himself? The nomadic martial artist wouldn’t buy the ‘concerned friend’ bit, not in a million years, and he’d be hurt and furious with Ranma for butting in on what actually appeared to be a good thing, on the surface.

But Ikioi -wasn’t- a good thing. Ranma could feel that, damn it, and he was almost positive that his perceptions were accurate. So, he wrestled with himself on whether or not to confront the admittedly nebulous threat, or just stay out of it. He didn’t like his decision very much, but Ranma chose to retreat into his usual indifferent and callous shell, and covered his uneasy feelings with comfortable mental insults directed toward the wandering martial artist.

Stupid Ryoga anyway. The moron. Couldn’t even tell when he was in danger.

"You guys see Ryoga at all yet?"

Ranma looked up, his thoughts interrupted by Ukyo’s question, which she directed toward Akane. The okonomiyaki chef was wearing her usual boy’s uniform, had her giant spatula slung on her back and looked like she was ready to stir up trouble. The light in her eyes was one of annoyance and concern, and she was aiming both emotions straight at Ranma.

The pig tailed young man did his best to ignore her, quickly shifting his gaze back outside. When it became apparent that he wasn’t going to answer, Akane shot him a glare and replied for him.

"No, not since he left your place with Ikioi."

"Damn," Ukyo frowned, crossing her own arms and half sitting on the nearest desk. Her eyes continued to bore into Ranma, wishing that somehow she could force him into moving . . . into taking action. She had hoped, three days previously, that her comment about Ikioi would have prompted him into doing . . . something. But it hadn’t. Perhaps her perceptions about Ranma’s feelings towards Ryoga had been in error - the arrogant pig tailed jerk was so hard to read sometimes, but even still Ukyo would have laid money on Ranma being at least willing to help out the Lost Boy. Especially since they had all felt something strange about Ikioi. But obviously Ukyo was mistaken.

"Hey, who is that?" As usual, Ranma’s sometimes friends Hiroshi and Daisuke were hanging around close by, and the pig tailed boy looked up in time to see Hiroshi pointing out a newcomer to the classroom. Ranma, Akane and Ukyo all stiffened and watched with suspicious speculation as Ikioi Kaitou followed the instructor into the room.

"Take your seats everyone," little Miss Hinako ordered sternly, looking lost under the huge pile of books and papers she was carrying. Ranma did as she instructed, but his gaze never left Ikioi.

If possible, she looked even prettier than she had when they first met, as she waited patiently at the front of the room while Miss Hinako straightened the books and papers on her desk. Wearing the basic girl’s uniform, hands clasped demurely in front of her, Ikioi seemed fresh and bright, her unusually colored eyes shining with anticipation as she gazed at the other students and shared friendly smiles of greeting with some of the girls sitting close to the front. She wore her long shimmering black hair pulled back in a loose full tail, secured with a pale blue ribbon. The style was attractive on her, complimenting her alabaster face almost perfectly. There was something rather familiar about the look, however.

Ranma worried his lower lip with his teeth as he tried to put his finger on what seemed familiar. A few seconds later it hit him. Ikioi was wearing her hair in exactly the same way that Akane had worn hers when it was long.

On the surface, there shouldn’t have been anything wrong with that. Ranma reasoned there were probably only so many ways that girls could wear their hair in the first place. But this . . . this just seemed like too much of a coincidence. (( Like she knows how Ryoga feels about Akane and is trying to make herself look as much like her as possible . . . ))

"Class, this is Ikioi Kaitou," Miss Hinako introduced the girl, having finally gotten things organized on her desk. "She comes to us from Nagoya."

Ikioi bowed properly.

"Miss Kaitou, you may take the empty desk beside Mr. Saotome."

"Thank you, Miss Hinako," Ikioi bowed to the instructor then moved down the aisle to claim the seat that had been indicated. Ranma noticed that the eyes of more than one boy in the classroom followed her, which really was no surprise. Ikioi admittedly -was- extremely pretty. Which was one of the things that made her interest in Ryoga seem so unlikely.

Preoccupied as he was, Ranma didn’t even notice the unfairness of his own thought.

She took her place and class began, but Ranma found it extremely difficult to concentrate. Though she never actually looked in his direction, the young man got the uncomfortable feeling that Ikioi was watching him, observing him for some reason, and that bothered him a great deal. In retaliation, he poked around a little as well, trying to get a sense of her aura. He was a bit surprised to realize that it was much stronger than it had been three days ago and there was something about it . . . something that was familiar, but out of place . . . something that caused Ranma’s nerves to stand on end.

It almost felt like . . . like . . . (( Ryoga? Her . . . her aura feels like Ryoga’s. Sort of . . . but not quite. Like his, only mutated. )) In fact, the more he concentrated on it, the more it did feel like Ryoga, as if the wandering young man were here in the room with them, but shadowed and unseen somehow. Ranma shivered deep within himself, trying unsuccessfully to concentrate on the lesson Miss Hinako was giving. Now he could brush aside his earlier feelings of doubt. There was definitely something very very wrong about this Ikioi and the nebulous feeling that Ryoga was in . . . in danger . . . whispered around the edges of Ranma’s mind.

That feeling grew stronger as the day wore on.

Ikioi was in every one of Ranma’s morning classes, and in each she was somehow placed in an empty desk either next to him or behind him. Though she never said a word to him directly, Ranma knew that she was watching him. He could feel it, especially when she was positioned behind him. Without looking, he knew that those aquamarine eyes were boring into him, and by noon hour, he was as nervous as a cat from being so closely targeted. And -targeted- was exactly how he felt. If she had pulled out a gun and shot him, Ranma would not have been at all surprised.

But she was, to a fault, consistently polite and respectful to everyone, quiet during class, and prettily shy . . . just as one would expect a new student to be.

Ranma was almost relieved when Akane and her friends finally managed to corner Ikioi on the way to lunch, with the intention of grilling her with questions, as seemed to be the female custom whenever there was a new girl in the school. As the tittering chatty group of young women headed toward the cafeteria, Ukyo walked directly behind them, carefully monitoring the conversation. For his part, Ranma tried to look as if he just happened to be nearby, as he kept pace with his own friends, and caught bits of the interrogation.

Most of the talk was useless girl stuff, but Ranma’s interest was peaked when Akane finally got around to mentioning Ryoga.

"He’s fine," Ikioi replied pleasantly to Akane’s question concerning Ryoga’s welfare. "He was a little stunned to begin with, but I think we’ve gotten past that now."

"What do you mean?" Yuka asked, obviously confused by the statement.

"Well, Ikioi is Ryoga’s iinazuke," Akane informed them in the normal gravely serious tone of a teenaged girl who thought she was divulging important information. There was a collective gasp of surprise from the gathered girls, then a chorus of comments that fell one on top of the other, most of which Ranma couldn’t follow. He did manage to hear a couple, however.

"Iinazuke?"

"Oh, Ikioi-chan! You’re so lucky to be engaged already!"

"No she isn’t. Yuck! I wouldn’t want to be betrothed like that. I want to choose my own husband."

"Ryoga?" Sayuri mused thoughtfully, then glanced at Akane. "Isn’t that your friend? The one who shows up to fight with Ranma now and then?"

"Hai, and he sometimes protects us from that old pervert," Yuka nodded in confirmation.

"That’s him," Akane agreed.

Sayuri turned to look at Ikioi with a bit more interest, in a manner that Ranma recognized, much to his chagrin, as a female sizing up possible competition. "Hmm. You -are- lucky, Ikioi. I’ve always thought that Ryoga-san is very handsome," she said in a quiet tone.

"You have?" Akane blinked in surprise. Ranma was floored too, but remained silent, though his attention was completely on the conversation now and his friends had long since gone on without him.

"Why didn’t you ever say anything?" Ukyo frowned, an angry little light appearing in her eyes. She knew that Ryoga would have been thrilled to know that someone liked him and thought he was attractive. Ukyo didn’t realize that Akane and Ranma were thinking almost exactly the same thing.

"Yes," Ikioi’s smile faded and she fixed her brilliant-eyed gaze squarely on Sayuri, her sizing-up-the-competition expression far more severe than the pony tailed girl could have ever managed. "Why didn’t you?"

"Well, you know . . . " Sayuri hedged nervously, now obviously sorry she had said anything. "He’s not very approachable, I mean, it seems like he’s always mad about something. And he gets lost all the time . . . "

"Oh, yeah," Yuka agreed, apparently oblivious to the little altercation going on in front of her. "He does. Ikioi, you do know about that, right? It seems like he has a real problem with directions."

"Hai, I know that," Ikioi said slowly, still glaring a bit at Sayuri. Ranma watched her carefully, wondering about the expression on Ikioi’s perfect little face. She seemed to be trying to decide whether or not Sayuri was really a threat, and when the girl quickly backed down and brushed away her mild interest in Ryoga as being nothing, Ikioi seemed very satisfied.

"Ryoga told me all about his curses," Ikioi continued, the polite demure smile returning to her face. "We have no secrets from each other."

"Curse?" Akane asked wonderingly, tipping her head with interest. "I didn’t know that the wandering problem was a curse. I thought he was just bad with directions."

The conversation continued, but Ranma’s thoughts went no further than that, having gotten firmly stuck on Ikioi’s comment. She had said -curses- . . . plural . . . then that meant . . .

Ranma waded quickly through the group of girls and nabbed Ikioi by the arm. Ignoring the protests raised by the young women, Ranma pulled his captive out of the group and back down the hallway, so that he could have a private word with her. She didn’t seem to mind the intrusion, for some strange reason, as if she had been expecting this, and even promised her new friends that she would catch up with them in a moment. Only Akane and Ukyo seemed unwilling to accept Ikioi’s assurance, and both stopped in the hallway to stare at Ranma with questioning surprise.

"Do you mind?" he snapped at them.

Obviously not pleased to be addressed in such a tone of voice, Akane looked as if she were about to discuss the issue with a readily drawn mallet. But Ukyo managed to steer her away, herding her down the hallway after the others, and glancing back at Ranma once with a knowing nod.

Ikioi disengaged her arm from Ranma’s grasp and pertly smoothed down the sleeve of her uniform. "Is there a problem, Ranma Saotome?" she asked lightly, apparently not concerned with him in the least.

"Yeah, there’s a problem. I wanna know what the hell you’re up to and what you want with Ryoga," Ranma seethed, edgy after having been essentially stalked all day. (( It’s like she’s keeping an eye on me for some reason . . . ))

"What do I want?" Ikioi blinked, her tone one of sweet innocence that hardened as she continued. "I’m not sure I understand. I’m his iinazuke, I want only to be with him and to make him happy. Surely you feel the same toward your own intended?"

Ranma derailed for a moment. His own intended . . . ? How did she know . . . ? Of course, Ryoga must have told her. But the way Ikioi had delivered the statement . . . with just a touch of venom that was meant to remind . . .

"I don’t believe that for a minute," Ranma growled, getting his mind back to the matter at hand.

The pleasant expression on Ikioi’s face faded, to be replaced by a diamond edged look very similar to the one she had directed at Sayuri. "Why? Why is it so hard to believe that I care about Ryoga?"

"Because no one likes Ryoga!" Ranma replied hastily, again not thinking about what he was saying. "And especially not . . . well, I heard what you said - that you knew about Ryoga’s curses. Plural. That means . . . "

"Hai, that means I know about P-Chan," Ikioi said icily.

"And you -still- want him?"

Her blue-green eyes widened, only to narrow again almost immediately, and if looks were capable of killing, Ranma knew that he would have been fried on the spot. He was bewildered for a moment, but then it suddenly occurred to him what he had said - what he had been not only saying, but thinking as well. (( This iinazuke thing can’t possibly be on the level because no one likes Ryoga . . . ))

"Ranma Saotome," Ikioi hissed lowly. "I am sure that I will not be the first to tell you that you are a viciously insensitive person."

Ranma blinked, taking a step backwards. But . . . but she was right. Despite how he felt about Ryoga, Ranma -was- insensitive toward him, and always had been. Sure, now and then he felt guilty about picking on the wandering martial artist, but despite that, Ranma was always ready to tease him again the next time. He was constantly pointing out all of the young man’s faults, badgering him, working to make him feel as bad about himself as possible. He’d been doing it for so long that it had essentially become second nature.

But why? Why on earth did he act like that around Ryoga when deep in his heart . . .

When deep in his heart . . .

"Eechan?"

They both looked up at the quiet questioning voice, Ranma momentarily startled, and Ikioi with a sweet shining smile. She moved away from the pig tailed boy immediately, reaching out a small hand to grasp the offered one of the young man who now stood with them in the nearly deserted hallway. A young man who wore the standard boy’s uniform of Furinkan High.

A young man it took Ranma a moment to recognize.

"Ryoga?" he asked in astonishment. He couldn’t believe how different the Lost Boy . . . seemed. The uniform fit him nicely, emphasizing his long lean lines, and even the color seemed complimentary, a total change from the earth tones that Ryoga normally wore. Though it was still mildly unruly and held in check by the familiar yellow and black bandanna, his thick black hair had been carefully cut and tended to and the heavy bangs lay over his eyes in a manner that was at once coy and attractive. And those eyes were regarding Ranma now with speculation and suspicion as he pulled Ikioi closer.

But there was something else, it wasn’t just the uniform or grooming, something that nagged at the edges of Ranma’s perception . . . Frowning hard and recalling how Ikioi’s aura had felt earlier, he experimentally tried feeling for Ryoga’s and discovered . . .

Discovered that it was barely there.

Shocked, Ranma double checked. Ryoga’s presence had always been stronger than most people’s, and Ranma was as familiar with it as he was his own. But this . . . this didn’t feel like Ryoga at all. It was more like a weak shadow of the Lost Boy’s formally powerful energy signature. Weak . . .

And when he looked closer, Ranma could see a weariness in Ryoga’s dull weighted eyes, something that had never been there before. The whisper of danger flirted through Ranma’s mind once again. Something was wrong here . . . but what exactly?

"Hai. Ranma." Ryoga’s greeting was flat.

"What are you doing here?" Ranma asked, confusion evident in his tone.

"Ryoga took the entrance test with me," Ikioi offered, pressing her hand against her iinazuke’s chest in a loving gesture. Ryoga flinched reflexively at the touch, but it would take Ranma a few minutes to register that reaction and the implications behind it.

He was currently too busy being astonished. "You mean you’re . . . "

"Attending school again," Ryoga finished with a nod, a brief look of happiness crossing his face, though it wasn’t exactly a smile, and it didn’t remain for long. "I didn’t think I’d do very well on the test, but it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. I guess Akane’s tutoring did some good after all."

Ranma thought he saw Ikioi’s gaze darken a bit at Ryoga’s mention of Akane, and it brought back to mind the fact that she was wearing her hair just as Akane had.

"Don’t belittle yourself, Ryoga-kun," she ordered firmly. "And don’t act so surprised, Ranma Saotome. Ryoga is far smarter than you give him credit for."

"Well, yeah, of course he is," Ranma retorted, a bit defensively, then realized what he was admitting. "I mean . . . I mean, that’s good. Ryoga, buddy, that’s cool. I’m glad to see it, man."

Ryoga shifted away slightly. "You are?" he asked guardedly.

"Sure," Ranma nodded, getting back his normal composure at last. "It’s good to see you doing -something- besides wandering around aimlessly and constantly trying to kill me. Hey, you know, I’m kinda surprised you weren’t in any of my morning classes." (( Especially since Ikioi was in every one . . . )) "Or, maybe you were and you just couldn’t find your way to any of them."

Ryoga shrugged, looking mildly tired once again, not the reaction to an insult that Ranma might have expected. "I don’t have that problem any more, Ranma," he said simply, then turned all of his attention pointedly back to Ikioi. "Eechan? Ready for lunch?"

"Of course, my Heart," she replied with a beautiful smile directed at him alone. Still wondering over Ryoga’s comment, Ranma almost didn’t notice the way Ryoga stiffened slightly as he looked into the girl’s aquamarine eyes. After only a second of faltering hesitation, which any one else might not have noticed, Ryoga’s expression smoothed and he slipped am arm around Ikioi’s shoulders, turning her away from Ranma and starting down the hallway with her.

No one else would have noticed, but Ranma did. Then Ryoga’s earlier flinch came back to him as well. After years of reading Ryoga’s body language in fights and battles, the pig tailed boy had learned to guess even the Lost Boy’s most hidden emotions with accuracy.

And Ranma knew the behavior of a prisoner when he saw it.

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