Chapter Text
Today was going to be a strange one for Ranma. She had never been on one of these ‘train’ thingies before. She never had to handle one of these weird hard-shelled bags with wheels, either. But she was going on a very special trip with her pack, so she could handle the strange stuff for this.
She was going to see where her Akane had come from, her first territory. She was going to help Sayuri see if there was any way to be magic like the dark lord was supposed to be. Ranma was going to have a good time with her pack.
Her hair was fully braided, she had a nice comfy shirt on, and she was ready to take on the world with her claws if she had to. Ranma was a good girl, so she'd be ready to protect anyone if she had to. She'd be the best at protecting ever, actually. It was a very important game.
Right now, though, Ranma had the very important job of holding her wheelie bag and keeping it with her. That was the good thing about human hands, and Ranma hands. They could hold stuff super well. She'd rather hold Akane's hand, though. But the bag was important too! Just not as much as Akane.
So she held the bag as she paced near the entrance to the Oozora house. Kasumi had said there wouldn't be much of a chance to get energy out on the train, so Ranma took every chance to move about that she could.
It was thanks to the proximity to the door, and her amazing hearing, that she heard something scary. Something she really didn't want to hear on a day so special and important. Something drunk and wandering the streets, angry.
“Boy! Where are ya, boy!?” Pops shouted, “I know ya might be round here, somewhere!”
It took every bone in her body not to respond. Kasumi, Hibari, especially Sayuri and Yuka, had been saying that Pops was not someone to play with. It had been scary, that night Sayuri made Ranma promise. Promises were important. Pops was bad for Ranma, he shouldn't know where to find her, she had to be quiet.
“Boy! Go on!” His speech sounded slow, and it was distant enough to be just down the street, “You know whatcha gotta say, right!? Y'know I want ya here! We can play, I promise…”
It was bad. It was evil. Ranma had to stay quiet, she had to keep a hold of her bag, she had to…
She had to get energy out. And she was very, very good at being sneaky. Ranma wasn't allowed to play with Pops. She wasn't wanting to play with Pops. But, despite him being multiple times her size, she wanted to hunt.
The hard bag stayed firmly in her hand as she quietly leaped onto the wall for her vantage point. Her razor sharp vision let her see that the fake panda had picked a poor position if he didn't want something jumping across streetlights to hit him from above.
“Boy! Come out, boy!” Pops lied and lied over and over again, “I promise I won't hurt ya, b-”
The hard shell of Ranma's wheelie bag slammed into her prey's face, a small red stain remaining from the impact with his nose. The bag was a heavy one, and Pops had never seen it coming. He was cleanly knocked out.
“Girl.” She hissed at him before running back to where she should have stayed.
Ranma hadn't been a good girl. She didn't stay where she was told to. But, all in all, she felt like not just a good girl, but the best girl. She could protect her pack just fine. Her new life was safe, handled in her own hands.
○○○○○
“Morale check!” Sayuri and Hibari called out in unison, moments into the train leaving the station.
“Overwhelmed but okay!” Dai gave her thumbs up, a little louder than normal due to her noise cancelling headphones distort her perception.
“Currently on girlfriend support duty!” Asami giggled as she roped the himejoshi next to her into a hug. There were absolutely no complaints from Daiya, her instead melting from the affection, so that was a positive.
Sayuri walked down the carriage to come face to face with her favourite feral animals, offering a hand out for headpats that Akane immediately leaned into. “I take it you're both in good shape?”
“Very good! Mhm!” Akane yipped happily as she got the headpats.
Ranma was nodding, incredibly happy. She was on some kind of massive high today, like if she had suddenly won the lottery and knew how money worked. Maybe she just didn't get all the zoomies out before the trip? Mind reading powers couldn't come back to Sayuri soon enough.
“Some of us could use a personal Oozora brand morale check really soon!” Yuka called out from dolls seat, teasingly, “Isn't that right, Kasumi?”
“...It would be rather nice.” Yawned the polar bear, only slightly embarrassed. She must have lost sleep panicking about keeping everything organised.
“Aww, Kas, you don't have to be shy about it!” Hibari said with that flirty tone that meant she was being tricky, “You sure weren't shy when-”
“Morale check, I don't wanna hear about what my older sister does with her girlfriend!” Interrupted a very flustered ghost girl, currently in her teenage body, “Come on, there could be kids listening! There isn't right now, but there could be!”
“Aww, Nabs, so you wouldn't wanna talk about…” Whatever Ryonami was about to say turned swiftly quiet as she whispered in the blushing brunette's ear.
“Wait, about what?” Kikuko asked while leaning over the ghost, “Ryonami, what is it?”
It'd be too easy to get distracted by those three all day, as Daiya was already demonstrating. So, Sayuri moved on to a different booth. “Morale check, how are you going?”
“Pretty good,” Ukyo said with a light-hearted sigh, “Though I was planning to read or somethin’.”
“We'll let go of your hands eventually…” Hiroko giggled a little as she trailed off.
Hiroshi leaned into Ukyo, giving a catlike smile. “No promises as to when, though. Martial Arts Handholding is the best.”
Sayuri decided to leave those three be, the morale obviously being high. Her family and friends were all perfectly accouted for. Why, there was only one more both to check before settling in with her plushie partner, and-
Azusa Shiratori stared down Sayuri in a way that even the Dark Lord feared. “Disturb them, and Azusa will not be happy.”
The curly haired girl was being smothered by sleepy cuddles from Ryoga and Shampoo, the latter of which was actively purring. The two had been on a bit of a wild trip last night, trying to get something from the Hibiki household required actually finding the place. This nap was well deserved.
A good ruler of dark forces knows when to back down, so Sayuri simply smiled at the cute cuddle pile, quietly retreating to right beside her plushie at the other end of the train car. Yuka chuckled at Sayuri's tactical cuddle.
“Morale check?” The plushie asked.
“High, very positive,” Sayuri omitted the fact she thought she saw Azusa's eyes glow red, “I'm proud of our colleagues.”
“And we're proud of you, cutie,” Yuka let dollself get comfortable in the hug, as much as the train seats could be comfortable, “You're going to show the world just how strong a Dark Lord can be.”
Sayuri's small amount of doubt that she'd find nothing was drowned out by her partner's affection. With the gifts she got for Yuka, a large amount of clothes that would fit dolls proper plush form, hopefully Sayuri would return that affection tenfold.
“How strong a Dark Lord can be with her beloved by her side.” Corrected a very happy girl, both eyes smiling, even if one was hidden by her eyepatch.
○○○○○
For the past ten years, there had been a specific inn the Tendous had stayed at when visiting Ryugenzawa. The same one that they had on that trip where the youngest daughter disappeared. The same inn, in the same room when possible, that had been the last place Mrs Tendou had slept besides the Tendou household and a hospital bed.
Kasumi was oddly, painfully relieved to be somewhere the memory of her mother hadn't touched, and that didn't have her imagining a blue haired human child in the corners of her vision.
First of all, even though some of the pack would be visiting the proper forest in the morning, this inn was on the side of town furthest from it. Maybe that was a comfort because it made it harder for anyone to run off this time. Kasumi didn't want to think about it like that, so she thought about the different view for once.
The second point of note was that this place was fancy. The only reason the old inn had been chosen at first was because it was the only one available, then it became tradition. This was more of a luxury. This was pure comfort, with larger rooms and heated water.
The biggest thing of note though was just how much quieter it was. Maybe it was the time of year, maybe it was the fact the old inn was cheaper and had more visitors as a result. It was nice, though. Calm. Peaceful. Kinder on the senses.
Kasumi basically collapsed on the bed once she knew everyone else was settled in. She had no interest in seeing the festival that night, she just needed to rest and prepare for tomorrow. She had to be ready for tomorrow.
It'd be tough. It had been tough. Ever since seeing what was left of her youngest sister for the first time, it had been tough to not imagine the new, the current Akane, going missing again in the same place. It had been tough to say goodbye.
But she was. She was saying goodbye to a lot. Goodbye to a long gone six year old girl, properly this time. Goodbye to a seven year old girl she was responsible for killing. Goodbye to arguably the last truly living Tendou sister, the last little illusion of normalcy.
Hibari collapsed right next to Kasumi, though immediately closing the small distance with a hug. “Hey there, teddy bear. How's it going?”
“Mmmmmmmnngnggggg… Good, but…” Kasumi nuzzled into the hug for comfort, “... I just need to be ready, I think. Tomorrow isn't going to be easy…”
“Well, I'll just have to make sure the rest of the week afterwards is a cakewalk,” A small kiss on the cheek punctuated Hibari's promise, “And I'll be beside you all of tomorrow, anyway.”
So, maybe the Tendou sisters hadn't made it out of the last ten years unscathed. Maybe Kasumi was damaged to the point that she survived just as much as her sisters did. Maybe she had been twisted and bent out of shape so badly that what was left of Kasumi Tendou, human girl, was a hollow mess that almost hurt others like her.
But that was what Kasumi would move on from. That's what allowed this polar bear to thrive. A fresh start…
○○○○○
Amidst the noise of the crowd, the sounds of celebration, something wonderful was ending. Something so earth-shatteringly amazing that one of those affected by it could now only separate her life into before and afterwards.
Daiya had just had her first full on-the-lips kiss, with a girl, as a girl.
Her face buzzed with the giddy energy pulsing through her brain, and it was all Jupiter's fault. She couldn't even maintain eye contact now, her vision trailing back down to the lips she'd been separated from. Her night was made, she could probably die happy if not for the billions of reasons why her brain couldn't cope with that idea if taken literally.
Jupiter's kiss had been bold, confident, and in control. It felt electric, yet sweet, and it overpowered all other sensory input that might have caused tonight to go awry. It was distinctly Jupiter of The Conspiracy System, and Daiya loved it.
As if to taunt her girlfriend, Jupiter licked the strawberry chapstick taste left behind on her lips. “So, how was that? Because I'm very happy.”
“I need to kiss the rest of my girlfriends in a row.” Daiya said without thinking, fidgeting with her yukata sleeves.
“W-what?”
“It felt like I was kissing you, specifically you. If I can kiss Fu-chan, Queen, and Asami, then presumably they'd all feel a bit different. So, if I want to know for sure, I'd just have to compare directly,” The fidgeting turned into excited hand flaps, “Call it a theory, I guess.”
Jupiter's face flushed pink, and it took a moment for her thoughts to gather. Obviously, by the end of her sputtering, they weren't her thoughts anymore, so she switched out the green hairclip for the yellow one.
“I can't promise the others coming next,” Fu-chan leaned forward, “But yes. Please. Right now.”
There was a not-zero percent chance that Fu-chan was a corruptive influence. But Daiya spoke the system's language, she shared her theory knowing the consequences. And, as a girl about to be potentially kissed by at maximum two other girls tonight after this? Daiya was really happy.
○○○○
That morning was a tough morning to wake up to, and her mind blurred a little. There was a pretty girl on one side of her, and another pretty girl on the other, and she was in the middle feeling weird and fuzzy and-
Nabiki felt too alive. She had a big, difficult day ahead, and she felt too grossly alive, and she was pretty sure she felt smaller than she did when falling asleep. That was okay. Nabiki was allowed to wake up feeling like a ghost kid.
As best as she could, she got out of bed without waking up either of her best friends, and it seemed successful! They shouldn't have to wake up this early. Nabiki’s family was only supposed to be up super early like this, so the rest of the day would be easy.
With quiet, stealthy steps, Nabiki got to the bathroom. A small spill of water let her reveal her proper form as a Zashiki-warashi, and she felt way better. No weird living body feelings would get to her today, and her excited celebration with hand flapping was well deserved because of it.
Maybe it would have been smarter to stay in her bigger body, just because she knew there were going to be some hard emotions. But it was for the same reason it was better to let herself be the seven year old spectre. She needed as much comfort as possible.
The ghost of Nabiki Tendou was comfy and safe when she was small. Knowing the plan was to do something a little sad before something really happy, she could make sure that the little bit of pain was something she could push through.
She changed out of the fancy ghost clothes that came with this form and picked something that would blend in more. The shorts she picked were soft, but it was the t-shirt with a wolf on it that made her happiest. Nabiki really liked wolves lately when small like this.
A bit more moving about, preparing for today, and Nabiki was glad she had planned ahead of time. Her bag for hiking had a water bottle and snacks, her shoes were sturdy, and her plush polar bear was all ready for additional comfort should all hell break loose.
Nabiki was going to go and help her family help a friend. She was going to see the last resting place of little Akane Tendou. And, if Kasumi was being right about the little stop they were going to take beforehand…
Nabiki the ghost girl was going to see her own funeral.
She had to make sure it was something she was comfy for.
○○○○○
Akane knew this place. She knew it so, so well.
This clearing, right at the forest's edge, was amazing for running, for hunting, for finding Kasumi what felt like forever ago. She felt the grass below her bare feet, and wondered if the human she knew lived in Ryugenzawa had finally passed this clearing.
It was a nice, quiet morning. Her Ranma, her Juliet, stood beside her with their hands intertwined. Sayuri and Yuka were much the same, as were Hibari and Kasumi. Nabiki had taken turns holding everyone's hands to get here safely.
No one had said a word once they had gotten out of town, into this patch of Akane's old territory. It was a bitter-sweet feeling, and Akane could feel that deep in her bones. There was almost a fear in the air that Akane would want to run off again… But she didn't. She wouldn't. She refused to leave her pack.
“... Alright, here seems good.” Kasumi whispered, right as she pulled out a few slips of paper from her pocket.
The first piece was a picture of Kasumi herself, hardly any younger than she was now, but held back, smiling fakely, wearing that safe look in her eyes that wouldn't hurt anyone. It was a human Akane knew wasn't real.
The second paper was weird. Some official picture of Nabiki, age seven, in a school uniform. Her arm was in a cast, and she had an unreadable expression, far too cold for a girl so small. It was a body being kept on ice.
Akane didn't recognise the third photo, but Ranma's eyes widened. A black haired girl, smiling, hugging a black and white dog in a house Akane didn't recognise. She looked so happy in that dress, with that bandanna on. Maybe it was the writing on it, ‘Yoiko Hibiki’, that Ranma recognised.
And finally, Akane knew the last photo well. It was a slightly colour faded copy of one actually back at the new Home. A small, blue haired human, with an older brown haired one. A human girl named Akane, and a human the animal still swore she recognised.
The photos were placed gently on the ground, and a small pebble was left to hold them down. They could have been disturbed any time between then and forever. Akane wouldn't know, she wouldn't be staying there long enough to see.
The group remained silent, just staring at the photocopied memories of four long-gone girls.
“... Good riddance, I think,” Sayuri broke the silence, “I prefer the ones with us now.”
“Yeah, no offence, but I don't think a single one of those normal girls were nearly as cool,” Yuka shrugged, “I like the pack we have.”
“I know which Kasumi is happier, at least,” Hibari held a hand out to her girlfriend, “You ready to go, Kas?”
Kasumi took a deep breath in before taking the hand offered to her. “... I think so. Let's go look for some magic.”
Nabiki took a few steps forward already, waiting for everyone to follow. “Please, it's too sad staying here…”
“Onwards, then!” Cheered the excited dark lord, her and her plushie leading the charge just as much as the small ghost.
Ranma started to walk forward, excited to take in the new environment, but she was stopped by the fact that Akane was still staring at the photo of the young and oldest human together. “Mrrp?”
A word sat on the back of Akane's tongue, something she knew. Something she always knew. She just had to work it out, then move on. Akane had to move on. She… She just…
“... Bye, mum.”
Akane could smile now. She was a very clever creature, and could go forward knowing that she was wanted as she was. Hand in hand, the red and blue haired creatures followed after this portion of the pack, not to be left behind or lost again.