Chapter 10 – Late Night Conversations (Kirika's POV)
I put the phone down after talking with Ranma. If he was going to come over, I'd have to clean my room up a bit.
I looked around me and sighed. For most girls this would mean tidying up cloths. The closest I could get to that was the rag I'd just been cleaning my guns with.
The call I'd gotten from Ranma earlier in the afternoon had caught me unprepared. I'd let my guard down over the past while. Not against threats, but against my life. For a month now, or even longer, I had a pretty normal life. I'd been taking some courses online at a university, so I had reading to do for them. I'd been spending time with Mirelle, and actually gone shopping for cloths with her.
I had another friend now as well. I'd been sparring with Ranma in the mornings, and meeting up with him sometimes after he finished work. We'd never really talked about it, but I guess he was sort of actually my boyfriend.
Was I blushing again?
Then he'd called me up. The attack on him reminded me that I was a professional assassin being hunted by a vast international secret society, not just an average student. I hadn't been prepared for what the attack on Ranma had made me feel either. Just thinking about the whole thing was enough to make me angry again.
Damn them, hadn't they taken enough from me already? I have no real life. I have no real memories. I have no real skills. They'd taken all of that away from me, and now they wanted to take Ranma away from me as well. Darn it. Thinking about it was making me tear up.
He'd probably think I'm some sort of weepy, clingy little girl if he knew. He'd probably think I was pathetic. But of all my memories those of the times I'd spent with him were the very best.
Now they wanted to take that away from me as well.
I would show them no mercy. None at all.
Fuck them.
I slapped a full magazine into the second pistol and the submachine gun, and then cleaned the rest up. Mirelle had been a bit surprised to see all of weaponry I had with me, but I knew she probably had a few survival kits hidden around the city that I didn't know about. Speaking of Mirelle, I had to warn her that Ranma was going to visit me, just so she wasn't surprised when he arrived. I wondered what he meant when he said that he was going to tap on the window. We lived on the top floor after all.
I had to decide what to wear before he got here. I could ask Mirelle since she'd helped me shop for the new clothing, but she'd probably spend more time teasing me than helping. Honestly, sometimes the way she went on about Ranma and I… it was so frustrating.
It was going to be fairly cold this evening for the time of year, and it seemed maybe that we would be talking up on the roof of our apartment. If I wear the black blouse, then I would probably get cold up there. Of course, if I got cold, then maybe Ranma would put his arm around me… I stopped myself from thinking anymore about that before my blush got any worse than it was already. No need to think of that, silly girl. What would he think of me if he turned up to get me and I wasn't wearing clothing suited to the situation? It took me a while, but I made a choice. The shirt and pants were pretty comfortable, and I thought they looked quite nice. I stepped up close to the new mirror in my room and looked at myself. Mirelle had said that the colour of the shirt brought out my eyes well.
I wasn't sure about that, but the brown shirt and black pants would have low visibility on the roof and if I didn't tuck the shirt in, I could wear the back holster for the one of the FN pistols. They were almost twice the length of my usual Beretta, and quite a bit harder to conceal. Luckily they were almost the same weight, so they weren't quite as much of a problem as they might seem.
Sighing, I settled down on my bed and pretend to do reading for my history class. I didn't actually get any reading done though. I wonder about what Ranma had said to me on the phone. He wanted to protect me? Maybe it was some sort of code? Were we going to be attacked? Was he being forced to lead Les Soldats into the apartment? Or maybe, just maybe, he thought I was worth protecting.
Just a minute before 10:00 I heard a gentle tapping on my window. I jumped up and opened the heavy blackout curtains, only to find Ranma hanging upside down outside the window, holding a backpack in one hand.
"Ranma, what are you doing out there? It's not safe!" I said.
"Aw, it's fine," he said. "Give me your hand, and I'll pull you up onto the roof, ok?" I reached out to him. As he pulled me up, dangling over the street five stories below, I was just glad that I hadn't worn a skirt.
What a strange thought to have.
We sat down together, leaning up against one of the chimneys. It was actually one of the things that made me comfortable being with Ranma. Both of us would instinctively sit so we could both cover all the sight lines in a situation. Paranoia seems a lot easier to take when there's two of you acting the same way.
"Are you alright, Ranma," I asked. "Who was it that attacked you?"
"It was my partner on the task force, of all people," he said. "Stupid… idiot." I could tell he'd wanted to call him something else.
"Yeah, he led me out into the cemetery where he had this grave dug for me and everything," he continued. "Yeesh, I mean not only was he trying to kill me and all, but what sort of idiot sets up some sorta big drama production like that?"
"But he hurt you," I ask him. I know I'm sounding like a worry wart to him, but I don't know how badly he's been hurt, or where.
"Well, he went for me hand to hand. I don't know… he managed to scratch me with a knife hidden in his shoe, but look, you can't even see it anymore," he said, leaning over and pulling the neck of his shirt open a bit.
He was right, I couldn't see anything. He must have heard my sigh of relief, because he looked at me with this funny little smile he gets sometimes.
"Anyway, I beat him around a bit and left him there. I told him I'd be back to talk with him later. I'm not sure what's going to happen; I mean, I suppose he could tell everyone in the department that I'd attacked him or something. If he's still around, I'll talk to him and try to find out what he knows. I just didn't want to kill him, that's all." I nodded at him. Maybe it would have been the smart thing to do.
"But your partner?" I asked. "That's bad. I know you got along with him."
"Yeah," he said. "I sorta feel it, you know. I mean, I'd trusted him to cover my back, and he turned around and tried to stab me in it instead."
I smiled a bit. It was sort of a bad try at humour, but I know that Ranma was probably hurting more about it than he was letting on.
"That's actually sort of why I wanted to talk to you tonight," he said. "I mean, I haven't been telling you much about stuff that's happened to me before I got here, so I want to make sure that you don't find out something later that's gonna hurt you. Also I gotta make sure that if you run into someone who's out for my blood, you don't get hurt by them. So I'm just going to tell ya everything, and hope that you'll still want to hang out with me when I'm finished."
"Ranma, you don't have to tell me everything if you don't want to," I started to say.
"I don't know," he interrupted. "I've been keeping you from getting too close this whole time, and keeping you outa my life. Not cause I don't want you there, but because my life can be really, really weird, and I didn't want you to have to deal with it like I have to. But… umm… I'd sorta like to make you part of it. You know… more." He trailed off, looking down at his hands.
I didn't know… had he just… but why me? I stared at him there in the moonlight, thinking about what he'd just said, but not really understanding yet.
"But I've got some stuff to tell you, and some stuff to show you before you make any sort of decision, ok?" he said.
And then he opened up a thermos, and dumped some water over his head.
And turned into a girl.
I stared at her. She looked back, almost wringing her hands. She was terribly nervous, I could tell that. I looked her in the eyes, and she flinched, looking down at her hands. She didn't really look anything like him, except the eyes.
"Ranma?" I asked. I'd seen it, but… But… "Wait, I've seen you before," I said. "You were at that restaurant two weeks ago where they had that problem with the washrooms, and in that ice cream parlour too! And you were there in the street market sneaking around with that funny fake nose and glasses on after they had that accident with the fire hydrant!" I looked as she seemed to shrink into herself more.
"Ranma, it is you!" I said. I started to giggle, and then laugh at her. At him.
She looked up at me, surprised. She opened up the other thermos and poured some more water over her head, and just as suddenly, she was back to being a he.
I just laughed harder.
"Kirika… umm… are you ok?" he asked.
Obviously he thought I couldn't take it. Maybe I couldn't.
I lurched forward and wrapped my arms around him.
"It's ok Ranma," I said. "I… just…" I felt his arms around me then, just lightly, barely touching me really. It was enough though.
"It's some sort of magic, is it?" I asked. I felt him nod. I closed my eyes and twisted around, burrowing into his arms, feeling the warm wetness of his shirt on my cheek.
"It makes things almost easier for me," I said. "I couldn't understand why someone like you wanted to spend time with me. I've loved being with you, and you kept seeing me again and again, and now you said what you did about… well… being part of my life, you know, and I just couldn't believe it. I mean, why? I've done so many terrible things, and I'm such a terrible person. But I understand now," I stumbled, trying to find words. "You changing… it's magic just like meeting you that first day."
I hoped tears wouldn't make him change, because I was crying now.
"And Ranma… I like you… so much."
Then his arms tightened around me as he pulled my closer to him, and I relaxed. Something inside me that had been tensed up sort of unclenched, and I wondered how I'd thought I was comfortable ever before in my life. I could feel Ranma relaxing as well; he must have been really nervous.
"Kirika, you aren't a terrible person," he said. "I mean, you've been thrown into the middle of some pretty bad stuff, and I'm sure you've done stuff you ain't proud of, and me too. But you aren't terrible. You're fighting to get someplace better than where you are now."
"Anyway, I don't think I'd like you so much if you really were terrible," he added.
I looked up at him, a bit overwhelmed. I looked into his eyes until I was blushing so badly I had to look down again. I must have looked terrible with my hair messed up, my eyes all red from crying, and a big dorky smile on my face.
"Anyway, so I'm sort of fighting for the same thing you are, but I thought I had to do it totally on my own," he said. "But maybe the best way to do it, you know, since we're fighting for the same thing, would be to, you know, fight for the same thing, except together, and you know… together." He trailed off.
Out of all he'd said, there was only really one word that was important: together. Gosh. And he liked me.
Lots.
He was still floundering around looking for more words when I looked up at him again.
"Why don't you tell me why you change into a girl when you get splashed with water, and we'll go ahead from there, 'k?" I asked.
"Well, it's sorta a long story," he said, and unwrapped his arms from around me so I could get up.
"We've got time though, right?" I said. I smiled up at him, wrapped my arm around him, and got comfortable.
He looked surprised for a bit, then blushed, and wrapped his arms back around me.
And he told me his story, and I told him mine.
When he'd said that he had a weird life, he really wasn't kidding. Most of his story was strange, and sort of funny in a lot of places, but then things started to get a bit out of control, and then a lot out of control. The last few years of the story weren't funny at all.
And then there were all his fiancees. I suppose it should have bothered me, but it all seemed to be part of another world he didn't live in anymore. We were still sitting up there on the roof when the sun started to come up, mostly thinking, and absorbing all the information we'd shared with each other.
"I suppose soon it'll be time for me to go to work," he said. "I'm a bit worried I'm gonna get there and they'll all want to blow my head off or something. I mean, Frank could have told them anything at all after I left yesterday."
"I'd suggest that we get Mirelle to contact some of her informants and see what she can find out, but I'm not sure we have time for that," I said.
"Yeah. I guess I'll just have to head there and see what happens. Don't worry though, even if they toss me in a cell, there ain't a jail around I can't bust out of."
"Is it normal for a policeman to say something like that?" I asked.
"Urk. Got me there," he said with a grin. "Anyway, even if the lockup is really high security, it'll cause a bit of confusion when they find a girl in the cell instead of me. See, when that happens I can just pretend that bad 'ol Ranma trapped me in there and get them to let me out."
"Ranma, you must promise me never to clasp your hands together like that and make your eyes go big and glinty when you're not a girl."
"Right, heh heh," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I'm just teasing," I said, and smiled at him. "Anyway, get off to work, and I'll see you this afternoon, that is… if you…" I trailed off as I realised what I'd just assumed.
He gave me a hug, and murmured in my ear. "Of course I'll see you this afternoon. Now go get some sleep." He pressed a quick kiss on my cheek, and then he was away. I heard him running down the stairs in our building, and then watched as he ran off down the street towards his apartment.
I wandered back in to our apartment. I think I still had my hand up against my cheek when I fell asleep.
I woke up about seven hours later, feeling incredibly well rested. I fixed myself a little snack, and then headed up to the roof again.
I started into what was now my usual warm up of a couple sets of Tai Chi. I thought about last night. I felt like I was lighting up with a warm, happy glow, just like some kind of light bulb.
A couple minutes later that warm happy glow got shut off just like it was attached to a light switch.
There was someone watching me.
End Chapter 10
-Just a note at this point, Ranma has never sparred full out against Kirika, and she hasn't seen any of his special techniques in use. As a result she and Mirelle really have no idea about what Ranma going full out would do at this point in time. By the same measure Ranma might have seen some crime scene photographs but doesn't fully understand what Kirika is capable of.
-Going back to a comment I made at the end of last chapter… wow… I wasn't certain what Kirika would be feeling for Ranma until I started writing. Then I thought about what you know about her life based on the series, and I figured that maybe her feelings would be deeper than I'd figured on before. Don't worry that a bit of emotion is going to turn Kirika into a softy though. I tried to convey a bit in this chapter how she'll react to threats to Ranma.
-Ok, my first cliff hanger. I must be entering the Big Time for real now! Next chapter Ranma's gonna get stuck as a girl, and then meet up with Sailor Moon! Pretty Magic Girl Ranma, Make Up! Ahem. No, none of that's gonna happen. Promise. (well at least not in this story) Sorry about the cliff hanger even… I'm not into them usually. It's just a good place to end the chapter, and find out what's happened to Ranma.
I put the phone down after talking with Ranma. If he was going to come over, I'd have to clean my room up a bit.
I looked around me and sighed. For most girls this would mean tidying up cloths. The closest I could get to that was the rag I'd just been cleaning my guns with.
The call I'd gotten from Ranma earlier in the afternoon had caught me unprepared. I'd let my guard down over the past while. Not against threats, but against my life. For a month now, or even longer, I had a pretty normal life. I'd been taking some courses online at a university, so I had reading to do for them. I'd been spending time with Mirelle, and actually gone shopping for cloths with her.
I had another friend now as well. I'd been sparring with Ranma in the mornings, and meeting up with him sometimes after he finished work. We'd never really talked about it, but I guess he was sort of actually my boyfriend.
Was I blushing again?
Then he'd called me up. The attack on him reminded me that I was a professional assassin being hunted by a vast international secret society, not just an average student. I hadn't been prepared for what the attack on Ranma had made me feel either. Just thinking about the whole thing was enough to make me angry again.
Damn them, hadn't they taken enough from me already? I have no real life. I have no real memories. I have no real skills. They'd taken all of that away from me, and now they wanted to take Ranma away from me as well. Darn it. Thinking about it was making me tear up.
He'd probably think I'm some sort of weepy, clingy little girl if he knew. He'd probably think I was pathetic. But of all my memories those of the times I'd spent with him were the very best.
Now they wanted to take that away from me as well.
I would show them no mercy. None at all.
Fuck them.
I slapped a full magazine into the second pistol and the submachine gun, and then cleaned the rest up. Mirelle had been a bit surprised to see all of weaponry I had with me, but I knew she probably had a few survival kits hidden around the city that I didn't know about. Speaking of Mirelle, I had to warn her that Ranma was going to visit me, just so she wasn't surprised when he arrived. I wondered what he meant when he said that he was going to tap on the window. We lived on the top floor after all.
I had to decide what to wear before he got here. I could ask Mirelle since she'd helped me shop for the new clothing, but she'd probably spend more time teasing me than helping. Honestly, sometimes the way she went on about Ranma and I… it was so frustrating.
It was going to be fairly cold this evening for the time of year, and it seemed maybe that we would be talking up on the roof of our apartment. If I wear the black blouse, then I would probably get cold up there. Of course, if I got cold, then maybe Ranma would put his arm around me… I stopped myself from thinking anymore about that before my blush got any worse than it was already. No need to think of that, silly girl. What would he think of me if he turned up to get me and I wasn't wearing clothing suited to the situation? It took me a while, but I made a choice. The shirt and pants were pretty comfortable, and I thought they looked quite nice. I stepped up close to the new mirror in my room and looked at myself. Mirelle had said that the colour of the shirt brought out my eyes well.
I wasn't sure about that, but the brown shirt and black pants would have low visibility on the roof and if I didn't tuck the shirt in, I could wear the back holster for the one of the FN pistols. They were almost twice the length of my usual Beretta, and quite a bit harder to conceal. Luckily they were almost the same weight, so they weren't quite as much of a problem as they might seem.
Sighing, I settled down on my bed and pretend to do reading for my history class. I didn't actually get any reading done though. I wonder about what Ranma had said to me on the phone. He wanted to protect me? Maybe it was some sort of code? Were we going to be attacked? Was he being forced to lead Les Soldats into the apartment? Or maybe, just maybe, he thought I was worth protecting.
Just a minute before 10:00 I heard a gentle tapping on my window. I jumped up and opened the heavy blackout curtains, only to find Ranma hanging upside down outside the window, holding a backpack in one hand.
"Ranma, what are you doing out there? It's not safe!" I said.
"Aw, it's fine," he said. "Give me your hand, and I'll pull you up onto the roof, ok?" I reached out to him. As he pulled me up, dangling over the street five stories below, I was just glad that I hadn't worn a skirt.
What a strange thought to have.
We sat down together, leaning up against one of the chimneys. It was actually one of the things that made me comfortable being with Ranma. Both of us would instinctively sit so we could both cover all the sight lines in a situation. Paranoia seems a lot easier to take when there's two of you acting the same way.
"Are you alright, Ranma," I asked. "Who was it that attacked you?"
"It was my partner on the task force, of all people," he said. "Stupid… idiot." I could tell he'd wanted to call him something else.
"Yeah, he led me out into the cemetery where he had this grave dug for me and everything," he continued. "Yeesh, I mean not only was he trying to kill me and all, but what sort of idiot sets up some sorta big drama production like that?"
"But he hurt you," I ask him. I know I'm sounding like a worry wart to him, but I don't know how badly he's been hurt, or where.
"Well, he went for me hand to hand. I don't know… he managed to scratch me with a knife hidden in his shoe, but look, you can't even see it anymore," he said, leaning over and pulling the neck of his shirt open a bit.
He was right, I couldn't see anything. He must have heard my sigh of relief, because he looked at me with this funny little smile he gets sometimes.
"Anyway, I beat him around a bit and left him there. I told him I'd be back to talk with him later. I'm not sure what's going to happen; I mean, I suppose he could tell everyone in the department that I'd attacked him or something. If he's still around, I'll talk to him and try to find out what he knows. I just didn't want to kill him, that's all." I nodded at him. Maybe it would have been the smart thing to do.
"But your partner?" I asked. "That's bad. I know you got along with him."
"Yeah," he said. "I sorta feel it, you know. I mean, I'd trusted him to cover my back, and he turned around and tried to stab me in it instead."
I smiled a bit. It was sort of a bad try at humour, but I know that Ranma was probably hurting more about it than he was letting on.
"That's actually sort of why I wanted to talk to you tonight," he said. "I mean, I haven't been telling you much about stuff that's happened to me before I got here, so I want to make sure that you don't find out something later that's gonna hurt you. Also I gotta make sure that if you run into someone who's out for my blood, you don't get hurt by them. So I'm just going to tell ya everything, and hope that you'll still want to hang out with me when I'm finished."
"Ranma, you don't have to tell me everything if you don't want to," I started to say.
"I don't know," he interrupted. "I've been keeping you from getting too close this whole time, and keeping you outa my life. Not cause I don't want you there, but because my life can be really, really weird, and I didn't want you to have to deal with it like I have to. But… umm… I'd sorta like to make you part of it. You know… more." He trailed off, looking down at his hands.
I didn't know… had he just… but why me? I stared at him there in the moonlight, thinking about what he'd just said, but not really understanding yet.
"But I've got some stuff to tell you, and some stuff to show you before you make any sort of decision, ok?" he said.
And then he opened up a thermos, and dumped some water over his head.
And turned into a girl.
I stared at her. She looked back, almost wringing her hands. She was terribly nervous, I could tell that. I looked her in the eyes, and she flinched, looking down at her hands. She didn't really look anything like him, except the eyes.
"Ranma?" I asked. I'd seen it, but… But… "Wait, I've seen you before," I said. "You were at that restaurant two weeks ago where they had that problem with the washrooms, and in that ice cream parlour too! And you were there in the street market sneaking around with that funny fake nose and glasses on after they had that accident with the fire hydrant!" I looked as she seemed to shrink into herself more.
"Ranma, it is you!" I said. I started to giggle, and then laugh at her. At him.
She looked up at me, surprised. She opened up the other thermos and poured some more water over her head, and just as suddenly, she was back to being a he.
I just laughed harder.
"Kirika… umm… are you ok?" he asked.
Obviously he thought I couldn't take it. Maybe I couldn't.
I lurched forward and wrapped my arms around him.
"It's ok Ranma," I said. "I… just…" I felt his arms around me then, just lightly, barely touching me really. It was enough though.
"It's some sort of magic, is it?" I asked. I felt him nod. I closed my eyes and twisted around, burrowing into his arms, feeling the warm wetness of his shirt on my cheek.
"It makes things almost easier for me," I said. "I couldn't understand why someone like you wanted to spend time with me. I've loved being with you, and you kept seeing me again and again, and now you said what you did about… well… being part of my life, you know, and I just couldn't believe it. I mean, why? I've done so many terrible things, and I'm such a terrible person. But I understand now," I stumbled, trying to find words. "You changing… it's magic just like meeting you that first day."
I hoped tears wouldn't make him change, because I was crying now.
"And Ranma… I like you… so much."
Then his arms tightened around me as he pulled my closer to him, and I relaxed. Something inside me that had been tensed up sort of unclenched, and I wondered how I'd thought I was comfortable ever before in my life. I could feel Ranma relaxing as well; he must have been really nervous.
"Kirika, you aren't a terrible person," he said. "I mean, you've been thrown into the middle of some pretty bad stuff, and I'm sure you've done stuff you ain't proud of, and me too. But you aren't terrible. You're fighting to get someplace better than where you are now."
"Anyway, I don't think I'd like you so much if you really were terrible," he added.
I looked up at him, a bit overwhelmed. I looked into his eyes until I was blushing so badly I had to look down again. I must have looked terrible with my hair messed up, my eyes all red from crying, and a big dorky smile on my face.
"Anyway, so I'm sort of fighting for the same thing you are, but I thought I had to do it totally on my own," he said. "But maybe the best way to do it, you know, since we're fighting for the same thing, would be to, you know, fight for the same thing, except together, and you know… together." He trailed off.
Out of all he'd said, there was only really one word that was important: together. Gosh. And he liked me.
Lots.
He was still floundering around looking for more words when I looked up at him again.
"Why don't you tell me why you change into a girl when you get splashed with water, and we'll go ahead from there, 'k?" I asked.
"Well, it's sorta a long story," he said, and unwrapped his arms from around me so I could get up.
"We've got time though, right?" I said. I smiled up at him, wrapped my arm around him, and got comfortable.
He looked surprised for a bit, then blushed, and wrapped his arms back around me.
And he told me his story, and I told him mine.
When he'd said that he had a weird life, he really wasn't kidding. Most of his story was strange, and sort of funny in a lot of places, but then things started to get a bit out of control, and then a lot out of control. The last few years of the story weren't funny at all.
And then there were all his fiancees. I suppose it should have bothered me, but it all seemed to be part of another world he didn't live in anymore. We were still sitting up there on the roof when the sun started to come up, mostly thinking, and absorbing all the information we'd shared with each other.
"I suppose soon it'll be time for me to go to work," he said. "I'm a bit worried I'm gonna get there and they'll all want to blow my head off or something. I mean, Frank could have told them anything at all after I left yesterday."
"I'd suggest that we get Mirelle to contact some of her informants and see what she can find out, but I'm not sure we have time for that," I said.
"Yeah. I guess I'll just have to head there and see what happens. Don't worry though, even if they toss me in a cell, there ain't a jail around I can't bust out of."
"Is it normal for a policeman to say something like that?" I asked.
"Urk. Got me there," he said with a grin. "Anyway, even if the lockup is really high security, it'll cause a bit of confusion when they find a girl in the cell instead of me. See, when that happens I can just pretend that bad 'ol Ranma trapped me in there and get them to let me out."
"Ranma, you must promise me never to clasp your hands together like that and make your eyes go big and glinty when you're not a girl."
"Right, heh heh," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I'm just teasing," I said, and smiled at him. "Anyway, get off to work, and I'll see you this afternoon, that is… if you…" I trailed off as I realised what I'd just assumed.
He gave me a hug, and murmured in my ear. "Of course I'll see you this afternoon. Now go get some sleep." He pressed a quick kiss on my cheek, and then he was away. I heard him running down the stairs in our building, and then watched as he ran off down the street towards his apartment.
I wandered back in to our apartment. I think I still had my hand up against my cheek when I fell asleep.
I woke up about seven hours later, feeling incredibly well rested. I fixed myself a little snack, and then headed up to the roof again.
I started into what was now my usual warm up of a couple sets of Tai Chi. I thought about last night. I felt like I was lighting up with a warm, happy glow, just like some kind of light bulb.
A couple minutes later that warm happy glow got shut off just like it was attached to a light switch.
There was someone watching me.
End Chapter 10
-Just a note at this point, Ranma has never sparred full out against Kirika, and she hasn't seen any of his special techniques in use. As a result she and Mirelle really have no idea about what Ranma going full out would do at this point in time. By the same measure Ranma might have seen some crime scene photographs but doesn't fully understand what Kirika is capable of.
-Going back to a comment I made at the end of last chapter… wow… I wasn't certain what Kirika would be feeling for Ranma until I started writing. Then I thought about what you know about her life based on the series, and I figured that maybe her feelings would be deeper than I'd figured on before. Don't worry that a bit of emotion is going to turn Kirika into a softy though. I tried to convey a bit in this chapter how she'll react to threats to Ranma.
-Ok, my first cliff hanger. I must be entering the Big Time for real now! Next chapter Ranma's gonna get stuck as a girl, and then meet up with Sailor Moon! Pretty Magic Girl Ranma, Make Up! Ahem. No, none of that's gonna happen. Promise. (well at least not in this story) Sorry about the cliff hanger even… I'm not into them usually. It's just a good place to end the chapter, and find out what's happened to Ranma.