The night had been the same as any other, the cool summer breeze traced through her dark hair, refreshing, cooling her body, she leapt from rooftop to rooftop in the direction of the domain where her beloved resided. Her leotard hugged her curves and revealed the beauty of her body as it always did, her ribbon twirling beneath her to show her elegance. Tonight was to be the night she would finally capture his heart as the light of the full moon enhanced her beauty and elegance.
The houses soon came a temporary end and she dropped down onto the ground below, she continued her journey on foot, suddenly wishing she hadn't been barefoot but it was too late now.
'Nothing will keep me from you Ranma-sama not even that hussy the pigtailed girl' Kodachi inwardly vowed, a spark glowing in her eyes, her determination growing. An image of her rival appeared before her mind's eye, she felt her cheeks tinge pink, she shook her head to clear the image.
'No, I made my choice, I am not my brother, Ranma is my beloved not that pigtailed hussy' Kodachi berated herself, ignoring the impure thoughts that so enjoyed to torment her, like how obvious it was the top heavy girl neglected to where a bra.
'Note to self stop mixing lust potions before going out' she continued to berate herself, recalling the many failed attempts she had when confronting Ranma, she couldn't get anywhere near him or her rival with acting like a complete psycho and even she could see he was naturally shy, she had hoped her lust potions would help his confidence so she could be around him long enough to calm down…the only problem was she kept mixing the lust potion with paralysis power. How the hell she did it she'd never know.
She slowed her pace as she drew near the bridge, she couldn't afford to arrive at the Tendos tired and sweaty now could she. A flash of red caused her to come to a stop, she turned to locate the source, shifting her body weight back she noticed a redhead in a red shirt sitting beneath the bridge, she narrowed her gaze, squinting so as to see them better, her eyes widened when she saw the pigtailed.
'It's the pigtailed girl…but what's she doing out here at this time of night?' Kodachi mused, glancing up to see the full moon high in the sky. She knew she was pushing it to see Ranma tonight but she had to try. Her gaze returned to the pigtailed girl. She felt her cheeks begin to burn once again, she took a deep breath and did her best to supress her instinctive reaction and for once she was successful.
She began to walk down the grassy hill towards the younger redhead, unaware of how silently she moved, she drew closer.
'Sniff'
Kodachi froze, her whole body stiffened, the sound came again a long with the sounds of dripping water.
'She's crying…silent tears' Kodachi inwardly gasped. Not wanting to startle the girl she cleared her throat, the girl flinched from the sound, her head bolting round, her expression one of fear, Kodachi saw the glint of a small blade, her eyes widened.
"Kodachi!?" the redhead gasped in shock.
Earlier…
Ranma was currently sat at the dining table of the Tendo household, he had been hoping to have a nice meal before getting some much deserved rest. Kasumi entered with a multitude of portions and began to set them down at the respective places where everyone sat before she herself took a seat. Ranma frowned as he looked at the empty space his food normally was.
He glanced towards Kasumi, wondering if it had been simply a slip up and his was still in the kitchen, the elder Tendo sister merely smiled back at him.
"Yours will just be a moment Ranma, Akane will be out in a minute" Kasumi said, Ranma stiffened, his gaze moved to Akane's seat where her meal sat having been prepared by her elder sister.
'How come I'm the only one who has to eat her cooking' Ranma mentally muttered, absentmindedly rubbing his wrists through his braces, finding some small relief as he felt the small hunting knife within them nick one of his scars.
Akane emerged from the kitchen, a soup dish in hand, within was a black, bubbling goo like substance and Ranma swore he heard it growl, Akane thrusted it out at him, eyes lighting up with glee.
"Here Ranma, I made it just for you" Akane said proudly, reminding many of a six year old girl giving her daddy a cupcake she made at school. So innocent and full of joy, Ranma let out a small sigh, he didn't have the heart to insult the meal anymore.
"What is it?" Ranma asked as he took the bowl, ignoring how the substance continued to growl.
"It's my own recipe, okinomiyaki" Akane replied proudly, Ranma looked back at the goo, recalling Ukyo's okinomiyaki, comparing the mental image with what he was holding, he let out another tired sigh.
"What's wrong?" Akane asked, her cheerful demeanour cracking.
"Nothing" he sighed in response, taking a spoon and placing a spoonful into his mouth, he felt the liquid burn his taste buds but showed no reaction before swallowing it.
'3…2…1' Ranma counted before it struck, pain thundered throughout his body from his stomach and he fell back onto the floor, the bowl falling onto the floor and smashing, Ranma's gaze moved towards the sound of the shattered object and watched as the liquid burned the floor boards.
"RAAAANMAAA! YOU JERK!" Akane roared, summoning her mallet and striking his head, his body shot through the roof, leaving a whole where he had struck it.
'Bet I'll be the one paying for that' Ranma thought to himself as he felt his body go limp at its own accord, he felt his body begin to descend.
SPLASH
Seconds later Ranma-chan's head erupted from the river, spitting out the water that had invaded her mouth, she dragged her body out of the water before collapsing beneath the bridge, breathing heavily, her eyes tearing up, not caring as her wet clothing clung to her body and was now near transparent, not caring the once pleasant light breeze now froze her to her very core, she unclasped her braces and placed them beside her, fishing out the small knife and admiring the work from her previous experiences. She took the knife, staring into her reflection, into her empty blue eyes, all emotion now gone.
'What would have happened if pop never engaged me to anyone?' Ranma mused, on several occasions the questions popped into his head, what girl would want him, at a single drop of water he went from he to a she and vice versa.
Freak
Pervert
Wrong
These words echoed throughout her mind, she took her blade and sliced her lower arms, one for every word on each arm, each one deep. Blood began to spill out and trail down her arm.
'Who would want me?' was the next question.
'Akane? She'd rather kill me than be with me'
'Nabiki? She'd rather sell me off as a prostitute…but even she has more of a heart than me…I'm empty just a hollow shell, just waiting to death, unable to love and unable to be loved'
'Kasumi? She sees Akane hit me and abuse me to a point that would kill anyone else and yet all she does it smile'
'Ukyo? She wanted to kill me before I called her cute…she just wants her honour back otherwise…I'm just a freak she couldn't careless about…even when I asked about our future I was waiting tables as a girl, using my body without morals for more tips…she doesn't want me, just to use me…even when my strength was gone she didn't care and saw me as entertainment for future kids'
'Shampoo? All she wants is my genes, I'm just semen to her, a way for her to have strong children, if she took me home after she had kids I'd be less than a slave, a foreign male in that Amazonian village'
'Kodachi? She'd kill me the second she saw I turned into the pigtailed girl'
'Even my own parents, my mother would be happy to watch me commit seppuku if don't become the son she wanted, she's even tried to enforce it already, pop? Most abusive person I've ever known, even more than Akane, the Neko-ken training put me on the edge of death and he didn't so much as bat an eyelid and continued to train me in it'
With every name she made four more deep slices, her arms were now more red than tanned, she felt her blood flooding out.
'Maybe this time I'll die…maybe this time this empty shell is broken enough' Ranma inwardly muttered.
'I don't even have any friends for support' she sighed.
'Ryoga? He's been trying to kill me almost since day one and over what? Bread? That shows how valuable he sees my life as'
'Mousse? Wants to kill me too'
'Ukyo? Tried to kill me when she found me…if I don't marry her to restore her honour she'll kill me anyway, shows how much she cares'
'The guys at school…keep their distance and only hand around me in hopes of catching the girls who enjoy making my life a living hell so that they could date them'
'Hinako? As far as she's concerned I'm a delinquent and the world would be a better place without me in it'
"The truth it I have no friends" Ranma muttered as she began to sniff, trying to hold back or at least silence the tears that began to fall and mix with her blood.
"Everyone seems to want me dead, so I might as well grant their wish, go with the majority and all that, who'll care anyway?" she muttered as she positioned the blade at the left side of her neck, pressing it against the thin flesh forcefully, felling a single trickle start.
"Just once cut and it'll all be over" she muttered, sniffing one final time, her vision beginning to blur. Just as she was about to drag the blade across the flesh of her neck and slice open her neck, end her life the sound of someone clearing her throat interrupted her. Ranma stiffened. Her head bolted round, she moved her hand back as to hide the blade on reflex, not that it would do much good, she was covered in her own blood.
"Kodachi?!" Ranma cried out in a mixture of fear and shock, her eyes were wide with horror and…worry? Why would she be worried.
The gymnast rushed to Ranma's side, snatching the blade from her and tossing it away from her and into the river.
"Hey, I was using that" Ranma interjected, Kodachi turned to face the redhead, making eye contact with her.
"Not anymore you're not" Kodachi replied sternly.
'She probably wants to do it herself as to win her 'Ranma-sama' by eliminating the competition' Ranma mentally muttered.
"We need to get you to a hospital" Kodachi stated, Ranma was stunned by this, this wasn't like the Kodachi she knew, she usually tried to kill her or at least maim her whenever they met, then again this time Ranma had done her job for her. Kodachi brought Ranma's arms together and bandaged them with her ribbon.
"That should slow the bleeding, for now but you need medical attention and fast" Kodachi stated, her tone deadly serious with a hint of panic, she scooped the redhead up and began leap towards the hospital.
"Why?" Ranma asked.
"Huh?" Kodachi inquired as she quickened her speed of roof hopping.
"Why are you trying to save me?" Ranma clarified.
"Why wouldn't I?" Kodachi responded, instantly wishing she hadn't said that, recalling her past actions.
"Because I'm the obstacle between you and Ranma and you've tried to seriously injure me before…so why help? All you had to do was pretend you didn't see anything and your problems would vanish" Ranma objected.
"I don't you dead…I don't know why I act like that around you or why I act like that around Ranma…whenever I get nervous or meet new people…it's sort of an instinctive reaction…Sasuke calls it one of my quirks" Kodachi chuckled, silence fell between them, they could now see the hospital.
"Why were you…?" Kodachi drifted off.
"Trying to commit suicide…why wouldn't I? Everyone seems to want me dead, so why not give everyone what they want?" Ranma answered, lightly sniffing as she tried to stop her tears.
"Why would anyone want you dead?" Kodachi asked incredulously.
"Let's see, I'm a worthless, freeloading, freak, I can't pass my classes, attract chaos to Nerima, everything about me is wrong, my existence has only ruined the lives of everyone it's touched, need I say more?" Ranma spat.
"That's all a lie" Kodachi spat "You're not worthless, you're not a freak, you don't bring chaos to Nerima, nothing is wrong about you and you haven't ruined anyone's lives"
They landed at the door to the hospital, the double doors opened automatically, Kodachi ran in and up to the desk, ignoring the line of people waiting to be seen.
"She needs a doctor, she's lost a lot of blood" Kodachi said her voice frantic, not allowing the receptionist to get a word in, minutes later a couple doctors had arrived and were taking Ranma away, a nurse came up to her, she cleared her throat and Kodachi turned away from the doors she watched Ranma go through.
"I just need to ask a few questions, what's her name and relation to you?" she asked, Kodachi opened her mouth to answer when her eyes widened with horror.
'I don't even know her name…all this time and not even a name' she mentally gasped.
"I don't know" Kodachi answered, her voice filled with shock from her revelation, the only time she ever asked the girl had replied with 'Ranma Saotome' she used a fake name back then and she had never asked since.
"Okay…do you know what happened?" she asked.
"Yes…she was cutting herself and…tried to take it too far" Kodachi stammered, the nurse nodded, noting down the details.
"How long ago did you find her?" she asked.
"Five to seven minutes I'd guess" Kodachi answered.
"Thank you for your co-operation" the nurse said before taking the information to where it was needed, leaving the still stunned Kodachi behind.
'I don't even know her name' the phrase repeated over and over again in her mind. Kodachi moved to the waiting area and took a seat, waiting for news, though she doubted she would be given it but no way was she going to desert her now, especially not after hearing what she said as there was no doubt in her mind that if she did leave that the girl would only try again and perhaps even succeed.
…
The twin doors opened from the room and the stretcher was pushed out, a blanket covering the girl's entire body one doctor behind the bed and the second pushing, Kodachi rose from her chair and approached them, they stopped and turned to face the girl.
Kodachi had tears brewing in her eyes, she knew what, what she saw meant but didn't want to acknowledge it.
"I'm sorry…she lost too much blood, we couldn't save her, do you know of any immediate family or friends we can contact?" he asked.
"No" Kodachi admitted, she'd seen her with the Tendos but whenever she did she saw either the younger Tendo hitting her or the mercenary Tendo charging her, she just assumed she'd been there in attempts to get Ranma's heart but from what she knew of the fiancés and Ranma's life, despite rumours she doubted Ranma even knew the girl existed.
'I don't even know her name' she mentally gasped, pulling the cover back to look down upon her features one last time, she looked at peace, the picture of beauty and innocence, perfect in every way, at least to her anyway.
She arched over, lowering her face to that of the young girl's before delivering a small peck on her cold pale lips.
"I'm so sorry…I should of made more of an effort to control myself around you…maybe then you would have known that you weren't unloved" Kodachi whispered to her before pulling away from her and allowing her tears to flow freely.
…
A beep sounding as the sign above the double doors shut off, Kodachi stirred in her chair, her eyes opening , she bolted forward, tears still streaming down her cheeks, she turned to face the double doors as a nurse emerged and approached her.
"She's in room 015" she said, Kodachi's eyes widened, she ran past the nurse, through the double doors and straight to the room, scanning numbers as she passed them. She halted at the room, mentally cursing there was no window on the door. She raised her hand to knock, hesitating, afraid of what she might find. Even with her logical mind telling her the redhead was alive.
She knocked on the door before opening it and slipping, she turned to face the bed and there on the single hospital bed laid the redhead, eyes closed and deathly pale, a tube feeding blood into her system. She approached the girl and took a seat besides the bed, she couldn't help her gaze travelling to her exposed arm, her lower arm had several stitches that would certainly scar.
"I'm sorry…I should of shown you…that you're wrong, not everyone wants you dead if anyone" Kodachi gasped out, her voice but a whisper.
"You couldn't have changed anything Kodachi" a rasped voice replied, so frail and weak, Kodachi's gaze shot up to meet the weak gaze of the redhead, she blushed at realizing she'd been caught.
"Sorry…I didn't mean to wake you" Kodachi replied, her voice low and quiet.
"Don't worry about that…it's a nicer wakeup call…than I get back home" she wheezed.
'Home? Yeah right the Tendo household is anything but a home' she mentally chuckled.
"What do you mean?" Kodachi asked, she merely shook her head in response.
"If you're not happy…at home…you know…I'd be happy to have…to have you stay with me and my family for a while…I can't promise my brother won't bother you but I'll do my best" Kodachi offered, the girl turned to face her and just stared at her like she'd grown a second head.
"You've done enough Kodachi" she replied, lightly shaking her head, Kodachi couldn't help but feel disappointed at the reply. Silence filled the air, Kodachi opened her mouth to ask the question only to close it again, holding her breath as she forced herself to ask the question.
"I'm sorry…but I didn't realise till today but…I don't even know your name" Kodachi stated, the girl took in a small breath before exhaling an answer.
"My name is Ranma Saotome" Kodachi resisted the urge to sigh.
'That's okay, if you don't want to tell me your real name yet fine, I can wait, you'll tell me when you're ready' Kodachi thought to herself as she gave Ranma a warm smile.
"You said earlier everyone wants you dead…that's not true" Kodachi said.
"Yes it is, name one person who doesn't want me dead, look me in the eye and tell me someone who genuinely wants me to stay alive" Ranma countered, Kodachi placed her hand on the mattress and pushed herself up so to make eye contact with the redhead, resting the desire to smirk when the redhead's cheeks tinged red.
"Me" Kodachi replied before leaning in and placing a small but meaningful kiss on the redheads lips.
A/N First ever one shot and first ever Ranma Kodachi pairing, plz review.