Red String of Fate

 

By: James Lee

 

Disclaimer: Nether Ranma nor AMG belong to me. No profit is being made of this fanfic.

 

Part one

            “Are you sure this is a good idea?” asked Kasumi, looking at the red string in the box. It was supposed to fix the biggest problem in her family, that being Ranma and Akane’s engagement. Kasumi, however, had never tried anything like this.

            “Yes, this plan cannot fail.”

            “I-I don’t know, it just seems…”

            “All you have to do is give the string to Ranma and make sure he hands it to Akane. They’ll want to be wed by the end of the day.”

            “But if Ranma finds out…” Kasumi was very unsure. The whole plan seemed kind of underhanded. The eldest Tendo girl knew she was one of the few people Ranma trusted and she didn’t know what would happen if he found out that she had set him up.

            “Don’t worry, he won’t. Not at least until after. By then he’ll be thanking you.”

            “Umm okay…I’ll do it.” Said Kasumi, still rather unsure.

 

            A little later Ranma was coming down the stairs, when he noticed Kasumi waiting at the bottom. In her gloved hands was a length of red string.  “Hey, Kasumi.”

            “Ah Ranma, can you give this string to Akane? She’s outside knitting.”

            “Sure. What’s with the gloves?”

            “Oh I was just about to do the dishes,” said Kasumi

            “Ok, see ya,” Ranma took the string, grinned, and walked outside to where Akane was. The youngest Tendo wasn’t having much luck knitting. She was trying to knit a sweater, however, much like her cooking it was looking like anything but a sweater. Every now and then she would throw down the needles, take a deep breath and try again. Akane was steadily getting more frustrated as things weren’t going her way. This in turn was making her angry.

            “Jeez Akane, what are you tearing apart now?” Ranma couldn’t see what girls saw in this sort of stuff. He had done sewing himself, mostly fixing his clothes. Ranma had learned that sewing anything by hand was long, boring, and tedious work.

            “Shut up, Ranma. I don’t need your help,” growled Akane. Knowing Ranma, he probably thought he was better at sewing than she was. Akane’s anger started to boil. Ranma always acted as if he was better than her in everything.

            “What’s with you?” asked Ranma as he held the red string out. “Here. Kas…”

            “I said I don’t need your help!” yelled Akane as she pulled out her mallet and hit Ranma in the face. This sent him (and the string) flying. Putting her hammer away, Akane stormed into the house. As she entered the living room she didn’t noticed the worried look on her sister’s face.

 

Three months later…

            Belldandy came out of the portal in the mirror at her home. She hoped that Keiichi was all right. Belldandy and both her sisters had been called away for a debugging job and it had taken a lot more time than expected. Stepping into the living room, the goddess stopped. Both Skuld and Urd were there, looking at the mess. The place looked as if in hadn’t been cleaned in months. All around there was empty instant food containers, dirty laundry, and newspapers. Suddenly Keiichi burst into the room.

            “Oh thank God,” cried Keiichi as he rushed over and hugged Belldandy. Belldandy was a bit surprised when he started crying. “You’re finally back.”

            Skuld glared at the college student. How dare he leave such a mess for her oneesama to clean up? Urd just shook her head. {You just can’t live without her, can you?}

            “Keiichi?” Belldandy blinked when he looked up at her. His frantic face was full of worry.

            “Please, you’ve got to help me find Megumi!”

            All three of the goddesses blinked. “Huh?”

           

            A short while later, all four were sitting at the table, drinking some tea Belldandy had quickly made. Keiichi had calmed down somewhat and was relating what had been going on since the goddesses had left.

            “So Keiichi, how long has Megumi been missing?” asked Belldandy.

            “Since you left.”

            “Wait a minute,” said Urd. “That was three months ago!”

            “You think I don’t know that?!” yelled Keiichi. He then calmed down. “I’m sorry. Its just that…”

            “I know,” said Urd. Megumi was a constant source of tension and was sometimes considered a nuisance, but Keiichi loved his sister and was now truly worried about her.

            “At first, I thought she went somewhere for spring break. But then, a week after spring break, her teachers started to call and say she hadn’t reported back for class.”

            “Did you check her apartment?” asked Belldandy.

            Keiichi nodded, “The only thing I found out was that someone had mailed a large amount of money to the landlord. Enough to pay the rent for several months.”

            “Where was the money mailed from?” asked Skuld as she typed on her laptop.

            “From Osaka. A few others and me went down there, but we didn’t find anything. Do you think Mara…”

            Urd shook her head. “I don’t think so. Although she’s the usual suspect on stuff like this; if she wanted to take advantage of us not being here she would have taken you. Besides, even if she did kidnap your sister, why would she go through the trouble of paying Megumi’s rent?”

            “I found her!” yelled Skuld, who was quickly surrounded by the others.

            “How did you find her?” asked Keiichi.

            “I used GA-19.”

            “GA-19?”

            “Guardian Angel-19,” explained Belldandy. “It’ss one of heaven’s surveillance satellites that we use to monitor Midgard. This definitely rules out Mara.”

            “Why’s that?”

            “Because,” Urd continued for her sister. “Demon Central knows about these satellites and can jam or hide from them. Mara wouldn’t let one of these satellites track her.”

            “So where is she Skuld?” asked Belldandy.

            “According to this, Guam,” answered the norn of the future.

            “Guam? What’s she doing there?”

            “Only one way to find out,” said Urd. “Ready to take a little trip?”

 

Guam…

            Urd popped out of the TV set carrying K1. Fortunately no one was around to see this. Nor was there anyone to see Belldandy come out of a mirror in the bathroom or Skuld pop out of an ice bucket.

            “C-C-Cold!”

            “Let’s get out of here,” said the goddess of the past. Quickly sneaking out of the hotel room, the four started heading to where GA-19 said Megumi was.

            Sure enough, there on the beach in a one piece swimsuit was Keiichi’s sister. She was not tied down like some had expected and in fact looked quite relaxed.

            “Megumi!”

            Megumi removed her shades and blinked. “Keiichi, what are you doing here?”

            “What am I doing here?” screeched Keiichi. “What are you doing here!?”

            “Oh I’ve been swimming, racing,” Megumi then blushed, “and doing other things.”

            “Megumi, you just disappeared. Everyone’s been worried about you,” said Keiichi.

            “Oh, I’m sorry. I did leave kind of suddenly didn’t I? I’ve been having so much fun I forgot to tell anyone.”

            Keiichi and the others just stared at her until they heard a voice from the side. “Hey Gumi, I got the ice cream. Is there a problem here?”

            Keiichi and the goddesses turned to see a boy holding two ice cream cones and looking at them warily. The boy looked to be Megumi’s age, maybe a bit younger, and was very well built. Keiichi hoped there wasn’t going to be any trouble. It wasn’t good for the goddesses to use their powers in such a public place and he didn’t know if he could handle this guy.

            “Oh thank you dear,” said Megumi as she rushed up and grabbed one of the cones. “I guess some introductions are in order. Honey, this is my big brother Keiichi, his girlfriend Belldandy, and her sisters Urd and Skuld.”

            Much to Keiichi’s relief, the boy seemed to relax some though he still eyed the goddesses cautiously. Megumi then continued, “Guys, this is Ranma, my husband.”

            Ladies and gentlemen we have just lost cabin pressure.

 

To be continued?