Chapter 6 – The Hag’s last stop

The night air was thick with tension as the Ayase residence stood shrouded in shadows,
illuminated only by the pale glow of the crescent moon. Akane sat cross-legged by the Torii,
staring her cousin's frame slowly turning into a dot on the horizon. She made a fist with her right
hand and turned to her grandma. “Are you sure she's going to be alright?”

Seiko, in full priestess gear, closed her eyes, and gave her a quick nod. “She's got Ken Takakura
with her; she's not going to die.”

Something about the way her grandma told her this eased Akane's worries. Was it mere chance
that the boy Momo met had the same name as the famous actor? Maybe not, considering it was a
common family name, and even more common first name.

She frowned. “If I run after them, I could catch up, give them a hand.”

Seiko shook her head, her expression a mixture of calm confidence and a flicker of worry that
Akane couldn't help but notice. She adjusted her priestess garb and exhaled slowly through her
nose, her fingers lingering on the edge of her cigarette. “If you're with them, then Takakura will
need to carry you as well as Momo,” she said, her voice steady but tinged with that
grandmotherly concern she always tried to mask. “You might help for a bit, sure, but soon
enough your safety would be another thing they'd have to worry about. And I’m not letting my
girls take any more unnecessary risks, not on my watch.”

Akane hated having to stand by while her cousin risked her life for a boy. Her good fist clenched
at her side as she wrestled with her frustration. She’d trained so hard to be useful in situations
like this, but deep down, she knew the truth. She couldn’t match Okarun’s speed in Turbo
Granny mode, nor did she have anything that resembled Momo’s psychic powers. Even if she
wanted to help, she’d only slow them down. Her grandmother’s reasoning was sound, but that
didn’t make accepting it any easier.

She stood up, her resolve hardening. If she couldn’t join the fight directly, she would make sure
to help her grandma make the trap flawless. She wasn’t about to let her cousin's efforts go to
waste. “If I can’t fight, I’ll make sure Turbo Granny doesn’t stand a chance when she gets here,”
Akane thought, a fiery determination lighting up her eyes.

“So, let’s get going then, that trap won’t get set up on its own, huh?” Akane crossed her arms,
tapping her foot impatiently, her irritation barely concealed.

Seiko lit her cigarette with deliberate precision, the small flame casting flickering shadows on
her calm but focused face. “Already called a cab; it’ll be here in a few minutes,” she said, her
voice even but with an undertone that hinted at the weight of her responsibility.
She glanced down at her priestess garb, smoothing out imaginary wrinkles with practiced care.
“I’ll get changed, and we can leave,” she added, the faintest hint of urgency in her movements as
she adjusted her sleeves. Her eyes softened slightly as she met Akane’s gaze. “Can you get my
gear?” she asked, her tone warm but firm, as though entrusting Akane with an important part of
the mission.

Akane nodded, and strode to the house, moving as fast as her feet could carry her. Her stomach
churned slightly; she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of anxiety over such a simple task. Seiko’s
gear was essential, and the last thing she wanted was to forget something important or grab the
wrong item.

As she walked, her eyes flicked toward Ranma’s door. A shadow moved inside, and her mind
briefly wandered to him. She barely knew the guy, but she already envied how cocky and sure of
himself he was, even reduced to a shuffling figure wrapped in bandages. Before she said she had
wanted to face Happosai herself, but what kind of nightmare was that monster if Ranma was left
in such a state? She pushed the thought aside, though it lingered in the back of her mind.

She reached the storeroom, inhaling deeply to steady herself. The familiar scent of incense and
old wood calmed her nerves. With deliberate care, she gathered Seiko's tools. Her hands were
trembling slightly as she checked she had enough nails and paper talismans to set up dozens of
barriers. “I might not be able to fight like Momo or run like Okarun, but I can do this,” she told
herself, her grip on the bundle tightening as she prepared to head back.

As Akane made her way back to the front with Seiko's tools bundled in her arms, she slowed as
she passed by Ranma’s room again. The door creaked open, and the pink haired boy-turned-girl
shuffled out, his entire body still wrapped in bandages. Somehow even more than before? He
leaned heavily on a crutch, each step slow and deliberate, what little she could see of his face
was a mix of frustration and defiance. “Yo! Tendo! Why am I stuck here doing nothing while
you all get all the fun?”

Akane paused, her grip tightening on the tools. She studied Ranma for a moment, her irritation
gradually giving way to a flicker of sympathy. He looked like a mummy brought to life, each
step a testament to how close to breaking like a China doll he must have come. Despite
everything, there he stood, defiant and ready to fight, as though sheer willpower could keep him
upright. She could almost admire his determination if it didn’t make her so exasperated.

Her thoughts drifted to the past, to a moment that still haunted her. She could still see her father’s
silhouette, broad and unwavering, stepping between her and the explosive blast that had torn
through half their house. The sound of the explosion was deafening, a violent roar that seemed to
shatter her very being. For a brief, heart-stopping moment, she felt overpowered by admiration
for her dad, expecting him to go on and fend off the monster. When the dust settled, she saw
him, keeping his protective stance. Her dad wouldn't go on to fight the monster. Nothing was left
of him. Only tears and dust.

The memory often came unbidden, clawing at her when she least expected it. It wasn’t just the
image of her father’s sacrifice that lingered—it was the guilt. The unbearable thought that his life
was the cost of her safety. Nights when the house was quiet, she would hear the echoes of that
explosion and feel the phantom weight of debris pressing down on her chest. The scars weren’t
visible, but they were there, etched deep into her mind, reminders of what it meant to be
protected and of the price it demanded.

Looking at Ranma now, battered but unbowed, she felt a pang of the same protective instinct
rising within her. It wasn’t just about fighting but about understanding the line between courage
and recklessness. “You’re stuck here because you look like a walking mummy, you numb-nuts,”
she said, forcing a smirk to mask the unease knotting in her chest. “And besides, I’d rather not
explain to Momo how you tripped over your own crutches and ruined our hard work.”

Ranma huffed but did as he was told, plopping down on the middle of the hall with a scowl on
his face. “This is stupid. I’m fine. I could’ve handled this.”

“Sure, you could,” Akane muttered, rolling her eyes as she shifted the weight of the bag with her
grandma's gear so it wouldn't hurt her shoulder. “Just don’t do anything reckless while we’re
busy.”

Ranma frowned. "Don't get into trouble, Tendo. I did make an oath to keep you safe."

The silhouette of her father shielding her from certain death flashed through her mind's eye a
second time. Akane's cheeks reddened, then she got furious. "I don't need you for that! Worry
about yourself you idiot!" She tapped Ranma with her foot, eliciting a cry of pain.

"Ouch!" Ranma bit his lip to not scream in pain. "What was that for!?"

Akane glared at him and pressed hard with her foot. He groaned, but didn't do anything to defend
himself. He looked almost like a confused puppy. She forced her lips into a thin line as she
fought to steady her voice. "So, you know I’m not someone you need to throw your life away
for!"

Ranma blinked when Akane let go and stomped off, only to stop by the doorframe.

She was trembling, her voice a mess. "Sorry for that, I… I just don't want anyone risking
themselves for me. It’s not worth it."

He frowned, deep in thought as Akane slammed the door, leaving him to his own devices.

-------

As a train passed by, and people shuffled around getting ready to board. Akane wondered if she
had been too hard on Ranma.

She couldn’t add this boy, this hobo that showed up on her doorstep, to her nightmares. She
wouldn’t allow it.
The chill in the air deepened as Seiko finished a chant asking for the local god for help with their
exorcism. The tracks on the Kamigo City stop were filled with barriers, candles, and nails.
Akane tensed, her eyes fixed on the horizon, where a faint glow marked the incoming train.

She wouldn’t allow Momo to be part of the nightmares either.

“Get ready.” Seiko warned.

Akane checked the time on her phone and nodded at her grandma. “She really got her on the
train.”

“Of course she did it,” Seiko murmured, a hint of pride in her voice. She stared at the incoming
train, a small smirk on her face. “Welcome to Kamigoe City, you damn hag.”

The confused cries of Turbo Granny echoed in the distance, growing louder as the train
approached. Seiko stepped forward, her unlit cigarette glinting in the moonlight. “Akane, if this
fails, be ready for a fight. This is our last stand.”

The train screamed past, its wheels screeching against the rails as a massive, mystical explosion
erupted on its roof. Akane’s heart jumped into her throat as she watched the brilliant flash engulf
the top of the train, shaking the platform beneath her feet. The normies didn't seem to feel the
shockwave, but she had to steady herself to stay standing.

Akane felt tears on her cheeks when she noticed the spiritual bodies of dozens upon dozens of
girls floating in the sky, like drifting into an endless ocean of stars and darkness, fading into
nothingness. She felt every single soul that her grandma sent to the afterlife in that second. Their
worries, their fear, their suffering.

Moments later, Momo came hurtling out of the light, her body poised as if she fully expected to
land on her feet. Her arms were outstretched, and her eyes narrowed in determination, but the
sheer speed of her descent betrayed the fact that she was probably not going to make it in one
piece. The sight sent a jolt of panic through Akane.

Akane didn’t think—she sprinted forward, her heart pounding in her ears. Tossing her arms
wide, she caught Momo just as her cousin’s downward momentum became too much. The
impact drove Akane to her knees, her muscles straining under the weight, but she held firm.
Momo’s face was tense with effort, but as she realized Akane had caught her, a flicker of relief
crossed her expression.

“Momo!” Akane shouted, her voice shaky. She shook her cousin gently, eyes scanning for
injuries. “Are you okay?” Momo gave a weak nod, her breathing shallow but steady, and Akane
allowed herself a moment to exhale in relief.

Before Momo could respond, she extended her spiritual arms, catching Okarun mid-fall just
before he hit the platform. The ethereal hands glowed faintly, shimmering like ghostly tendrils,
and gently lowered him to the ground. Akane watched in awe as Momo, despite her exhaustion,
managed to save Okarun with precision and care.

Okarun groaned softly as he landed, still sprawled but far less battered than he might have been
otherwise. Momo let out a long breath, her spiritual arms fading as she collapsed further into
Akane’s embrace. “Is it done?” Akane asked, glancing between the two of them, her voice tinged
with worry.

“The crab went boom,” Okarun mumbled, his glasses askew as he tried to sit up. “Did you get
Turbo Granny?” He tapped his crotch and sighed in relief.

Momo let her weight settle fully against Akane, her eyelids fluttering with fatigue. “I think… I
think we won,” she said with a faint smile, her voice barely above a whisper.

Akane adjusted her grip, making sure Momo was steady before exhaling a small laugh. “Well, at
least you’re both still alive.” She looked at the two of them, feeling an odd mix of relief and
admiration for their determination. No matter what horrors they’d faced, they’d pulled through
together.

Akane giggled, no, her cousin would never be added to the nightmares.

-------

Later, Seiko stood alongside Momo, Okarun, Akane, and Ranma by the entrance of Turbo
Granny’s tunnel. The air felt heavy, as if the earth itself carried the weight of the atrocities
committed there. Seiko’s voice was calm but solemn as she explained the tunnel’s dark history.

“It’s a shame,” Seiko said as she prepared a ritual for the deceased. “I didn’t want to be rough
with her.” She nodded at Akane as she put up a huge frame with a picture of thirty two girls.
“Akane managed to find the identity of all these girls, most of them your age—some, even
younger—. This place was cursed because it's where they were violated, chopped off, and tossed
away, left to rot.” Seiko said each word with less, and less unrestrained rage. “None of these girls
deserved what they got, they didn’t want to end up as an evil spirit.”

Akane lit a candle and bowed. “Then they became the bound spirit, fused into a… crab.”

Seiko paused, her gaze sweeping across the group. “For ages now, mediums have long hunted
Turbo Granny, trying to figure out what her deal was. We know one thing about her: she’d
always show up near the spirits of murdered girls. Irrational, unneeded deaths. We didn’t know
why.”

Seiko kneeled before the photo-frame and makeshift altar. “I always thought she was trying to
console the spirits of the girls who couldn’t rest in peace, help them move on to the afterlife.”

Ranma looked like he had no clue why he was there, but he thought he could understand where
Seiko was getting at. “I guess Turbo Granny wasn’t so bad after all?”
Seiko shook her head. “No matter the situation, the dead shouldn’t assault the living. Only way
to help them move on is by force.”

The silence that followed was profound. Akane tightened her grip on her jacket, glancing toward
the dark abyss of the tunnel. She could almost feel the weight of the tragedy Seiko described
pressing down on her chest. Next to her, Momo and Okarun exchanged uneasy looks, their
exhaustion evident but their determination unbroken.

Ranma shifted his feet, unable to stay still for more than a few seconds, his voice subdued but
thoughtful. “Maybe she got angry at the world… at men. Maybe that’s why she stole Okarun’s…
uh, ‘friend.’”

Akane snapped her head toward him, her eyes narrowing. “Now’s not the time to be a joker,
Ranma,” she hissed, her voice sharp with frustration. But as she looked closer, she realized there
was no humor in his face, just a genuine sadness spoken aloud. She bit her lip, turning away,
unsure whether to feel guilty for snapping or unsettled by the sincerity in his words.

The group lingered by the entrance of the tunnel; their faces illuminated by the dim glow of the
candles. The battle was over, but the tension in the air still clung to them like a heavy fog. When
they started walking away, Okarun stretched his arms, his movements slow and deliberate, a
faint grin tugging at the corners of his lips as he turned toward Ranma.

“Hey, thanks for opening my chakras,” he said, his voice carrying a mixture of relief and
gratitude. “I don’t know how you did it, but being able to go all out a third time? That was
clutch. We would’ve been toast out there if Turbo Granny’s… uh, zombie army had caught us.”

Momo, leaning heavily against Akane for support, managed a weak chuckle. “Those weren’t
zombies,” she corrected, her tone soft but firm. “They were people possessed by the ghosts from
the graveyard. It’s not the same thing at all!” She winced as she shifted her weight, her body still
aching from the ordeal.

Ranma raised an eyebrow, tilting his head slightly. “Ghosts, zombies… does it really matter?” he
asked, a faint smirk tugging at his lips.

Akane shot him a sharp look, her voice tinged with exasperation. “It matters because those were
innocent people, Ranma, not corpses. If you ever face something like that, you gotta know if
they’re also victims.” Her words hung in the air, a sobering reminder of the gravity of what they
had faced.

“I was going to quote a certain fat panda, but…” Ranma’s shrank a little, looking like he wanted
to kick himself. “But yes, I get where you’re coming from.” Ranma forced himself to laugh, and
patted Okarun on the back. "Nice to know my first student is such a badass!"

“Ah, Miss Ayase did most of the work." Okarun smiled and adjusted his glasses. “And those
things were creepy as hell either way. I wouldn’t have crossed my mind that they were innocent
people.”
Akane rolled her eyes. “You barely taught him anything, that's not much of a student, if you ask
me.”

------

Later that night, granny served them a huge serving of crab. Enough for a small army.

Ranma was crying with happiness. “I’m so lucky I found you, granny. Your cooking is a out of
this world!”

Seiko grinned. “You ARE a genius!” She materialized a huge bowl from seemingly nowhere and
put it in front of Ranma. “Here, have your fill! And if you keep this up, I’ll pay for the wedding
myself!”

“Damn it, granny!” Screamed Momo launching herself at the bowl. “Don’t get fooled by his ass-
licking! Give me some of the big ones. And don’t just gift Akane away over some
compliments!”

“What do you take me for? I’m not going to be fooled by anyone!” Seiko butted heads with
Momo. “And Akane is a big girl, she knows better than to run off with the first boy that smiles
her way and calls her cute!”

Momo tried to steal the crab in Ranma’s hands, but it instantly went to his mouth, and he slurped
it all in one go. She made a face, turned to Akane, seeing her silently eating, the bell around her
neck gently tingling. She turned to her grandma and saw her sneaking one of her own pieces of
crab onto her plate.

“Hey, give that back you greedy old hag!” Momo exclaimed and took hold of one end of the crab
Seiko was trying to eat. “Give it back or I swear I’ll throw all your Bakatono DVDs to the trash!”

Seiko’s eyes widened. “Try me you ungrateful little delinquent! If anything happens to
Bakatono, I’m going to set all your Ken Takakura merch on fire!”

“WHAT!?” Momo stood up, her aura flaring. “How dare you take Mr. Ken as a hostage!? You
really aren’t human! You monster!”

“Oh, blow me, you took my Bakatono DVDs hostage first.”

Akane frowned and set her plate down. “Oy, Momo, stop annoying grandma.”

Momo turned to Akane and eyed her cousin’s crab. “Oh, maybe I should take hostage your
Dragon Ball collection!?”

Akane narrowed her eyes. “If anything happens to a single tome, you’re gone from this world.”
Okarun leaned towards Ranma, who was happily oblivious of the family brawl that was bubbling
around them. “What’s their deal?”

“Huh?” Ranma slurped two pieces of crab at the same time. “Dunno? I’m more of a Yu Yu
Hakusho kinda guy. But I lent my collection to a friend back in middle school, I think he lost it.”
He frowned. “Next time he dares to show his face around I’ll have a word or two with him!”

“Not that!” Okarun exclaimed. “Why are we even eating crab to celebrate!?”

Seiko narrowed her eyes at the boy and pointed a piece of crab at him as if it was a sword of
sorts. “Ok, you picky little punk! Then how about you tell us what do you want to eat, eh, Mr.
Princess?”

Momo rolled her eyes. “You have crab right in front of you but no appetite? Only losers act like
that, you know.”

Akane solemnly nodded at that. “Jackass.”

Seiko had a sort of proud look on her face at her granddaughters, and agreed. “A loser, a jackass,
and a monster!”

“Hey, that’s going too far!” Okarun said, holding his glasses close to his face. “It’d eat right now
if I could! But not crab after all we went through!”

“So, go on, tell us what you want to eat, you whinny nerd!” Seiko said, raising her fist.

Okarun opened his mouth but realized that anything he say could and would be used against him.
He looked downcast. “I’m done talking about this.”

“More for me!” Momo exclaimed as she stole all the contents of his plate and began eating like a
maniac.

Seiko narrowed her eyes at Okarun, turned to Ranma who was still in female form, and back at
Okarun. An idea crossed her mind. “You’re way too bitchy for a guy. Are you sure you got your
weenie back?”

Ranma stopped eating, suddenly interested in what was going on around him.

Okarun blushed. “Yes, I do!” He said all too quickly. “And thank you again so much for
retrieving it for me!”

“Show me.” Seiko said and proceeded to crush the crab she was holding. “I need to see if you
got your pecker back!”

“Stop! Have you lost your mind!?” Okarun said as he scrambled away from Seiko, who blocked
his path like some basketball pro. “Miss Ayase! Miss Tendo, Mister Saotome, please help me!”
He turned to Momo, seeing her still eating like a maniac, then Akane, who was devouring the
food like she was a street cat, and finally at Ranma, who was back to slurping like he was the
second coming of Kirby. “Ugh, you’re all too busy pigging out! Is everyone crazy in this
house!?”

He barely dodged the crab Seiko was using like a whip. She looked determined, ready to pounce.

“And what’s with that face!?” Okarun exclaimed as the granny, glaring at him, chased him
around.

------

By the time Okarun managed to slip past Seiko; Ranma, Momo, and Akane had already eaten
their fill of crab.

Ranma was snoring on top of the table.

Momo grinned at Akane. “Guess you’ll have to princess carry him to his bed again, huh?” She
waved at her and went to the door. “I’m going to say goodbye to Okarun and be right back.”

Akane rolled her eyes but did just as her cousin said. Ranma was surprisingly light when he was
a girl. Akane wondered for a second where all his mass went when the curse was activated.

“Stop” Ranma mumbled in his dreams, making Akane stare at him like a deer in the headlights.
“Don’t, don’t kill my old man. Stay away.”

Akane felt bad for hurting Ranma earlier. She tucked him into the futon they had set up in the
guest room and sighed and came to a realization.

He really was the same as her.