Nerima Ghost Detectives R Us

 

 

By Ashuri

 

__~*~__

 

Chapter Five: “An Uninvited House Guest: Part II”

 

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Nabiki slowly closed her eyes. This was NOT happening. Sometimes, on those rare occasions when the middle Tendou daughter was overwhelmed she closed her eyes, trying to block it out before she could be calm again. However, closing her eyes would not stop the furious vibrations that rocked her whole body.

 

She had managed to make it up the stairs with Ryouga, only to feel… off balance. It didn’t take long for her to realize that the stairs had begun to rock and shake like a wild, thrashing snake of sorts. She gripped onto the stair railing for dear life. Finally, with one violent shaking motion, Nabiki lost her death grip on the railing and sailed back into Ryouga for the second time that day. They toppled down the stairs, Ryouga using his instincts to hold (a rather calm) Nabiki up while they fell down the stairs, him taking the brunt of the fall. They, finally, reached the ground floor, Ryouga having the air knocked out of him. Nabiki looked down at him in surprise. “Geez, thanks Ryouga-san,” she said, not loosing her cool demeanor. “It’s no problem,” Ryouga said, sounding slightly dizzy. Finally, regaining his senses, he stood up, glaring at the twisting stairs. “I’ll take it out with one attack!”

 

Nabiki recognized it immediately. She saw it was what Ryouga used (though it never quite worked) in some of his battles with Ranma. His forefinger stuck out menacingly at the stairs. “Ba—!“ he was cut off almost immediately as Nabiki grabbed his forearm, her face looking like she had just been violated.

 

“You can’t!” she screeched.

 

“Why?” Ryouga demanded.

 

“If you do that, you’ll destroy the entire staircase!”

 

“So?”

 

“If you do that…we’ll have to PAY for it,” Nabiki said in an almost horrified tone. Ryouga tried not to fall over.

 

__~*~__

 

“Did that just happen?” Ranma asked Akane, looking shocked. “I think it did,” was the meek reply. One of the shadows had just stretched out its arm an amazing six feet, smashing into the cement wall just a hair away from Ranma. They’re blocking the exit, Ranma realized. It looked like he would have to make his way out the not so nice way. He cracked his knuckles for emphasis.

 

“Hyaah!” was Ranma’s battle cry as he plunged his fist into the nearest shadow with an almost godly speed. It felt like his hand had hit nothing but cold air. He saw his fist embedded deep into the shadow, the shadow seeming to shudder from the impact. Then the red eyes narrowed into slits. It gripped a dark hand on Ranma’s forearm, pulling him deeper into its chest with an inhuman strength.

 

“ACK! Get the hell offa me!” Ranma slammed his foot into the creature. Bad mistake. More of them group around Ranma, pushing against him, pulling him into an unfathomable darkness…

 

Then there was light.

 

Akane who had been watching this for a few seconds began to move towards Ranma, in a vain attempt to save him from the shadowy doom. She ran fast, only to trip over a conveniently placed object on the floor. Akane’s head was acquainted with the basement floor. “Ouch,” she murmured rubbing her head, “what did I trip over?” Slowly she reached out, her hand gripping over a smooth, cool, cylinder item. A…flashlight? On impulse, she turned it on.

 

Call it dumb luck, but it seemed to hurt the shadows. Go figure.

 

The shadows screamed in agony before slowly giving into the light, disappearing in thin air. Ranma fell on his back. His first instinct was to look up. Everything was slightly hazy at first. Was he dead? What was the bright light? Looking, he saw it was Akane, her face surrounded by a brilliant glow. Was she an angel? So beautiful…

 

“Akane, you’re beautiful!” Ranma declared, reaching his hands in the air to cup around Akane’s soft, round, lovely face. If he was dead, he might as well do something useful with it. That was before he heard Akane yell, quite loudly: “WHAT?!”

He looked to see her looking down at him, embarrassed, confused, and a little ticked. He then realized his heart was still beating, and the holy light from earlier was actually a flashlight in Akane’s hands.

 

Time to think fast.

 

“What am I doing touching an un-cute tomboy like you?” he said, removing his hands as if they had been burnt. Yes, that sounded very acceptable. Akane reared back in anger. “What did you say…after I saved your life…you jerk!” Akane brought the flashlight down with amazing accuracy onto Ranma’s cranium. “Urk.” Ranma groaned, and pulled back. “We should get out of here,” he reminded no one in particular. “Yeah,” was Akane’s reply.

 

Then the flashlight went out.

 

Both Ranma and Akane’s eyes bulged at the sound of an unreal roar in the basement. “EEP!” was the outburst from both the adolescents. Ranma didn’t even blink before he wrapped one of his arms underneath Akane, safely under her knees, his other hand holding her back and shoulders. He leapt up, rebounded from the wall, and leapt through the hole near the top of the basement…the hole that used to be the darned mat!

 

Safely upstairs again, Ranma and Akane paused at the doorway (out of the zero gravity effects of the foyer) both breathing hard. After a few moments Akane realized something wasn’t right. Ranma was still holding her tight to his chest. Her face buried in the soft sky blue fabric of his Chinese shirt; she crimsoned. She probably would have been grateful, but reflecting on the past events in the basement, her temper got the best of her.

 

“Let go of me you pervert!” she screamed, flipping Ranma off and over her. He almost fell back into the hole.

 

__~*~__

 

Nabiki’s ears perked up at the sound of familiar bickering. “It must be Ranma and Akane,” she informed Ryouga. Nodding they headed back near the kitchen, not daring to enter, but shouting out to their colleagues. “Ranma-kun, Akane-chan! We’re right here!” Nabiki cried. Ranma and Akane looked up from their bickering. “We’re coming, onee-chan!” Akane called, running to her sister, Ranma right after her. They were halfway through the foyer, suspended in mid-air, when one of the two Kuno children awoke.

 

Thus the chaos began.

 

“Akane, my sweet, valiant, Akane!” Kuno proclaimed, and wrapped his arms tightly around Akane’s waist, bringing her to him. “Like a Buddha in Hell, you’ve surely arrived as a miracle, my sweetest,” he said softly, nuzzling his face in the divide of Akane’s neck and shoulder. Akane’s fast twisted into an unattractive mask of anger mixed with annoyance. “I don’t have the time Kuno-sempai!” she cried, trying to be polite, pushing herself out of the kendoist’s grip. Still, he held on tighter. “Akane, my love!” he shouted.

 

He then felt the foot of his despised foe on the back of his head, “Yo, Kuno!” Ranma said snidely. “Saotome! Fiend!” he declared, and thrust his bokken at Ranma. Ranma moved back through the air with ease. He was exhilarated. While Akane, and the other Kuno children might not have been enjoying the prospect of flying through the air, Ranma’s heart was fulfilled with the prospect of doing what he had always dreamed, but knew he could never accomplish.

 

He could fly.

 

He soared through the air with a simple, yet deadly accurate elegance, carefree, happy…excited. He kicked the air, twirled in a graceful circle. He was almost tempted to grab Akane and dance with her, dance in the, the…lightness of it all. His heart swelled with meaning, looping through the air fast and wild. Sometimes, those spirits seemed good for something! It only took one voice to bring him back to reality.

 

“Ranma are you okay?” Akane’s worried voice burst through his fancies. “Did I…um…hit you too hard?”

 

Ranma almost fell over,” Um…no, I was just happy…I guess,” he admitted sheepishly. Akane’s eyes took on a look of understanding. “Don’t lie, you fool! We all know it ‘twas you who tainted this house with your vile black magic! I shall smite thee!” Kuno said, and then grabbed Akane’s hand, “My dearest, Akane! Let us beat him together! Ranma Saotome, prepare to be vanquished—!” he was cut off as Akane flicked him away hard with her arm, sending him flying into the opposite wall. Kuno slid off the wall slightly, before being picked up by the air, once again unconscious. “Prepare…your…yourself…Saotome,” he murmured before his eyes rolled up in the back of his head.

 

Nabiki allowed herself an amused chuckle from the kitchen entrance way.

 

__~*~__

 

After a chance encounter with rabid microwaves, flying kitchen utensils, and monstrous refrigerators, Ranma and Akane made it out of the kitchen. They both panted feircly, hands on their knees.

 

“Ranma-kun,” Nabiki said softly, a serious tinge to her words as she met them from the other side.

 

“Yes?” Ranma demanded breathlessly.

 

“You have a fork in your pigtail.”

__~*~__

 

“So, these are the stairs, huh?” Ranma said, his old cockiness coming back to him. “Yup,” Nabiki replied, hands clasped behind her back,” So how do you suppose we go about doing this?” Ranma just grinned,” I’ll show you,” he said confidently before he leapt up the stairs, faster into the air, closer to the top of the stairs, closer…closer….

 

WHAP.

 

The railing ripped itself from the wall, slapping Ranma in the face, and sending him sailing back down the stairs, landing into Akane, who landed into Nabiki, who landed into Ryouga. Frankly, the lost boy was having enough for one day. He was just about to rant on Ranma when a giggle was heard from the top of the staircase.

 

All eyes turned upwards to see a little girl, not horrifying, but cute and adorable. She was transparent in the light that came from the window. In front of her was a small house that resembled the Kuno’s in everyway. She giggled, and removed her hand from the miniature railing, which she had just pulled from the wall of the toy house.  She looked down at the group on the floor, and burst out into a fit of giggles.

 

This was the poltergeist that had sent the house in havoc?! It was slightly unbelievable. Akane was the first to react, her calmer, caring side showing through, making her seem unremarkably like Kasumi. “Hi, there,” Akane said sweetly, approaching the girl. The stairs stopped thrashing, returning to normal. “Hi,” the girl said, still giggling. Akane took this as an invitation. Walking up the stairs, she smiled, hands behind her back, implying to the little spirit she meant no harm. “You’re a cute little girl,” Akane said truthfully, still smiling. The girl giggled and nodded, ringlets of blonde hair bouncing around her head. The other three downstairs were amazed to see how Akane handled the situation with ease.

 

“What’re you playing?” Akane asked, kneeling besides the girl. “House,” the girl said, with a slight lisp. Akane smiled,” Sounds fun,” she said. “Wanna see?” the girl said, and then grabbed the house on either side and shook it softly. Akane almost fell over as an earthquake rampaged through the entire household. “Whoa,” Akane said, catching her breath. The girl giggled. Akane smiled back, but her eyes were serious. “You know, even though its just a game, it’s not really fun for the people in the house,” she said in a calm voice, scolding, but not in a spiteful manner. The girl pouted, sticking out her bottom lip. “So,” Akane said reaching over to the house,” maybe we should stop play—“ she was cut off as the girl’s eyebrows furrowed, her eyes themselves reduced to slits. “MY HOUSE!” she bellowed, and an invisible, amazingly strong force burst forth from her little body sending Akane sprawling painfully down the stairs.

 

Her body twisting and turning, Akane landed in a painful heap at the bottom of the stairs. She was still breathing, but barely. It was all so surreal at first. Nabiki’s scream sent them back to reality. Nabiki ran to Akane, Ryouga and Ranma following. Ranma looked down at Akane’s body, seeing her eyes pulled tight in pain. Ranma then slowly, looked up at the stairs, a dark air around him. His eyes burned with a bright blue fire. No. One. Hurt. HIS. Fiancée! The girl twitched and changed into a stunted, small, hairy troll like creature. Ranma, Nabiki, and Ryouga almost fell over in shock. He snickered,” My house,” he said between crusted yellow teeth.

 

Ranma grinned. It made it all the easier to beat the living crap out of the creature now that it presented its true form and not some guise of a cute little toddler. “I’ll kick your face in!” Ryouga shouted, sprinting up the stairs. “HEY! Ryouga wait!” Ranma shouted, following his rival up the stairs. The creature screamed in shock, and scurried to get away, its fat belly proved troubling in its feeble attempts to get away. Ryouga was the first to grab it, sending a skull shattering punch to its head.

 

Grunts from the two martial artists and squeals from the creature in question echoed throughout the house. Nabiki finally turned away when the violence was a bit too much for her. “Hey, Akane-chan…are you okay?” she asked, as her sister started to move. She then noticed her sister was not looking at her, but straight ahead up the stairs. “I’ll KILL that thing!” she yelled, and sprinted up the stairs, joining the other two in the carnage. Nabiki sat there, dumbfounded. “Hey, guys,” she said after finally finding her voice,” don’t kill the thing! We still have to capture it or we won’t get our money!”

 

Ranma smirked at Nabiki from up the stairs,” Don’t worry, we’re almost done,” he said teasingly before he sent the creature another painful blow. There were yet more sickening squeals. Nabiki rolled her eyes.

 

 

__~*~__

 

“Thank you for your services, noble Akane, business Nabiki, and whoever you are,” he said shooting Ryouga an odd look.

 

“Yeah, yeah, sure, Kuno-chan, our money please,” Nabiki said, growing impatient. Kuno nodded,” That I shall!” he said, and produced the payment. Nabiki grinned, rolling the bills in her hands. Another job well done, and plenty more to come! She just hoped they all weren’t as…weird…as the other two had been. Looking over she saw Ranma was having trouble, though it wasn’t supernatural.

 

“Oh, Ranma-sama, you were so brave! Please, let this adorable Kodachi kiss you for reward!” Kodachi declared, and began to lean dangerously close to Ranma. Ranma pulled away desperately, “Please, Kodachi…don’t…just, don’t—“ Ranma turned to see Akane leering at him, her arms crossed. “Um…Yo, Akane…it’s, um…not how it looks. Really,” Ranma didn’t get to finish as Akane sent him hurling through the stratosphere. “I don’t care!” she declared loudly, arm still high in the air. Kodachi looked up in disappointment. “Oh…and I was so close to getting that kiss as well!”

 

At least something had stayed normal in the relatively strange town of Nerima…

 

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Author’s Notes: Remember that reviews, comments, questions, and criticism are all appreciated! Tell me what you think of the fifth chapter of Nerima Ghost Detectives R Us!

 

 

Next Chapter:

 

What happens when ghosts find their way to Furinkan High? No end of trouble, and a possessed Ms. Hinako can’t be anything good! What are our Ghost Detectives to do? Find out next time!

 

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