On we go... as always, C&C is quite welcome. 

- Grayson Towler
http://www.talesfromthevault.com/relentless

               =========================
                      RELENTLESS
                A Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction

                   By Grayson Towler
               =========================

-----------------------------------------------------------
                      CHAPTER SEVEN:
                      Inner Strength
-----------------------------------------------------------

She stood in the darkening forest with a knife clutched in her 
trembling hand, trying to work up the nerve to end it once and 
for all.

One cut was all it would take.  A decisive moment, a slash of 
edged steel, and she would be done with the pain and the 
frustration.  It would be that easy to put an end to her 
suffering, to finally have some peace, if only she had the 
courage to do this one simple thing.  The knife was sharp 
and she was strong.  A single slice was all it would take.

All Akane had to do was cut the rope and let the rock fall.  

The sun had almost set, and the boulder loomed like a great 
shadow overhead, swaying ever so slightly as it dangled from 
the trees.  She had never hated anything so fiercely in her 
entire life.  Every day for over three weeks she'd come here, 
smashing herself against this damnable stone again and again.  
Today she had repeated the ritual, once more with the same 
result.  It seemed as if she'd been crushed by this rock a 
thousand times.  

She was getting nowhere with this.  Perhaps she was a bit 
quicker to recover now than she had been at first, perhaps 
she'd learned to face the rock with courage rather than 
panicking before it hit, but those were insignificant 
achievements.  The training was pure insanity.  She wasn't 
any closer to finding the breaking point than she'd been 
when she'd begun.

Akane seemed to hurt all the time now.  She limped through 
the days in a haze of aches and pains.  Everything in her 
life felt diffused and indistinct, like she was watching the 
world through a perpetual fog.  She knew that her grades at 
school were suffering.  She hadn't spent time with her friends 
in what seemed like an eternity.  She hadn't done any other 
sorts of training since she started trying to break this 
piece of merciless stone.  Now, it was the only thing that 
seemed real in her life.  She could see it swinging towards 
her every time she closed her eyes.  The boulder dominated 
her dreams, an angry planet of pain which hurtled relentlessly 
towards her through the blackness of the night.  Those dreams 
were starting to seem more like reality than her waking life.

The only respite she had was the time she spent in Dr. Tofu's 
office, where his gentle hands and soft voice made her forget 
the punishment she'd endured for a while.  It reminded her 
of a time when her life made sense, when she'd been in love 
with Tofu and the world had seemed simple.  Before Ranma had 
come into her life, before everything had become so hard to 
understand.

She could go back to that now.  Ranma was gone, and maybe 
that was for the best.  In time, she'd forget about him - 
sometimes she wondered why she missed such an infuriating 
person at all.  She could go back to being the best martial 
artist at Furinkan, she could be done with magic and curses 
and monsters.  Ranma might come back someday... and if he 
didn't, she would heal.  All she had to do was cut the rope, 
and the pain would be gone.

Akane steeled her resolve and began to climb the tree.

Five minutes later, she was strapped into the harness and 
pulling the release cord, hurtling towards the swinging 
rock with her finger extended like a lance before her, 
screaming in rage.  The black stone pounded her once again, 
sweeping her along in its path as if she were no more than 
a mote of dust.  The shock of the impact overcame her, and 
the world went dark.

She wasn't sure how long she hung there, but by the time 
she came to she and the rock had stopped swinging.  The 
moonlight filtered through the leaves of the trees, and the 
night had grown cold.  Tendou Akane moaned and began to 
work herself slowly out of the rope harness.

<That was really stupid,> she chastised herself.  <Twice 
in one day, and you didn't even put the pads on this time, 
you idiot.>

Nobody was here to help her down this time.  It was a pretty 
long drop to the ground and she wasn't sure if she could 
land on her feet.  Besides, the knife was down there 
somewhere - she couldn't remember when or where she'd 
dropped it.  The last thing she needed was to impale herself 
on Kasumi's bread knife when she fell.  

There was nothing for it but to climb back up the rope to 
the branch, and then down the tree.  She just about passed 
out when she tried to pull herself up with her right arm - 
a sharp, fiery pain crackled from her shoulder along the 
length of the limb.  She settled back into the harness and 
inspected it gingerly.  It wasn't broken, at least, but it 
hurt like the devil.

She started again, using her feet and her left hand to haul 
her aching body up the length of the rope.  She'd added 
another set of bruises to her ribs, and every breath she 
drew left footprints of agony up and down her side.  She 
eased her way carefully along the branch and over to the 
trunk for the climb down, placing every step and handhold 
with deliberate care.  If she'd concussed herself again, 
she knew she couldn't trust her balance.

Akane leaned against the tree trunk when she finally made 
it down, taking shallow breaths and trying to collect her 
wits.  She didn't know what time it was, and she had no 
intention of waking Dr. Tofu up in the middle of the night 
for this.  She knew he'd be upset with her for going back 
to the rock a second time in one day, and she couldn't bear 
the shame of telling him.  

Akane fumbled around for the knife, cursing herself for not 
bringing a flashlight. She was afraid she'd have to leave 
it behind, which meant Dr. Tofu would probably see it when 
they came back, and ask her about it.  But the moon was 
almost full, and she caught the glint of silvery light off 
metal just as she was about to give up.  Gratefully, she 
recovered the kitchen knife and set off, limping her way 
through the woods back towards home.

The lights were out in the Tendou house by the time Akane 
shuffled through the gate, though Kasumi had left the front 
lamp shining for her.  She wondered how late it was.  She 
was impossibly weary, but she knew that she wouldn't be able 
to get to sleep until the pain subsided a bit more.  School 
would be pure hell tomorrow.

She decided to try to eat something first.  Maybe that would 
help her sleep.

Akane barely registered the cluster of jars and containers 
which were stacked off to the side by the clean dishes, most 
of which were full of thinly sliced meats and vegetables.  
If Kasumi had packed them up, she must need them for 
something.  Akane grabbed a couple of slices of bread and 
rummaged around amongst the leftovers for something which 
would make a decent sandwich.

Her father found her slumped in front of the television, 
bleary-eyed but still awake, with her half-eaten sandwich 
on the floor beside her.

"Akane?  Are you all right?  It's so late, we were worried."

She blinked up at him.  Normally it would have upset her 
that she hadn't noticed him enter, but she was well past 
the point of caring about such a trivial matter of pride.  
"Oh, hi Daddy.  I couldn't sleep."

Tendou Soun nodded.  The rigorous training his daughter was 
enduring had taken its toll on her, but she couldn't be 
talked out of quitting.  "I see.  Is Kasumi up?  Did she 
make you that sandwich?"

"No, she's asleep.  You can have it if you want," she 
murmured, taking a sip of tea.

Soun eyed the sandwich with suspicion which bordered on 
fear.  His youngest daughter's legendary disasters in the 
kitchen had made everyone in the household wary of the 
food she created... and yet, the sandwich was half-eaten...

The martial artist swallowed hard and forced a smile.  
"D... don't mind if I do," he said, then reached a trembling 
hand to pick up the remains of the sandwich.  He sniffed it 
carefully, then closed his eyes and took a small bite.

He chewed, swallowed... and took another bite.

Tears trickled their way down familiar pathways on his 
cheeks.

"Oh my sweet girl!" he exclaimed.  "I'm so... I'm so proud 
of you!"

Akane, who hadn't been paying the slightest attention to 
what her father had been doing, blinked up at him in 
surprise.  "What?"

"This..." he held the sandwich before him like a treasure, 
"this... is a decent sandwich!  My girl can make a decent 
sandwich!"

Akane boggled at him, unable for a moment to understand 
what on Earth he thought he was talking about.  She'd just 
thrown some leftovers onto a piece of bread, and her father 
acted like it was cause for some sort of national holiday.

A small burst of laughter escaped her.  Her cooking again... 
that was the big deal.  All the effort and sweat and tears 
she'd poured into trying to make herself into a good cook, 
and now finally she'd made something that someone liked for 
a change without even trying.  What would Ranma have said?

She laughed some more.  Her father laughed with her, 
practically dancing a jig with the sandwich in hand.  Only 
when he realized that his daughter's laughter had changed 
into sobs did he break off his own celebration.

"Akane?" he asked.  "Are you all right?"

"I've been..." she gasped, her face buried in her hands, 
"... I've been so stupid... so stupid..."

Soun set the sandwich aside and knelt to embrace his 
daughter.  Akane trembled and wept uncontrollably in his 
arms, not caring how much her ribs hurt every time a sob 
jolted its way up from her chest.  All she could think 
about was how angry she used to get about her cooking, how 
much stupid, pointless energy she'd wasted on something so 
utterly trivial.  Scores of arguments she'd had with Ranma 
replayed themselves in her head; fights about cooking, about 
other girls, about some comment or another, about any number 
of petty, idiotic things.  They'd fought like it didn't 
matter, like they had all the time in the world, but now 
he was gone and she might never see him again.  Was that the 
sum of the memories she would have?  Bickering and teasing, 
angry blows and cruel words?  Did she really waste the time 
she was given with Ranma on such foolish, foolish things?

"I want him back!" she wailed into her father's shirt.  "I 
want... I want..." Her words lost cohesion and she just 
cried.

Soun rocked his daughter gently, like he had when she was 
still a baby, and stroked her hair.  He did not weep.  His 
tears would do Akane no good, and he realized that he had 
been useless to her for too long.

He was so proud of her, of how hard she was trying to learn 
this dangerous technique, of how much she wanted to help 
Ranma.  He couldn't tell her to stop, not now.  His daughter 
was a true fighter, more than he had ever been himself, all 
he ever would have wanted in an heir to his school.  But she 
needed the skills to back up her spirit, skills which he 
could not teach her himself.

Tendou Soun knew his own limitations.  If he could be a hard 
and strict teacher, he might help Akane hone her abilities.  
But he had learned years ago that such a thing was beyond his 
reach.  He had taught her what he could by the time she was 
ten.  While his friend Genma could push his son for the sake 
of the Art (sometimes too far), Soun could never bring 
himself to physically hurt his own child, no matter what.  

That didn't mean he had to sit back and watch his daughter 
try to learn on her own.  If her father couldn't help train 
her, he could find someone who could.

Akane's sobs had subsided - she was asleep in his arms.  
Tendou Soun gently lifted his daughter and carried her back 
to her room.  Tomorrow would be a hard day for her, but he 
knew what he had to do.

- - - - - -

Nabiki forced herself to relax her white-knuckled grip on 
the spatula and took a deep breath.  She eased the edge of 
the spatula underneath the sizzling okonomiyaki, trying to 
keep her hand steady.  <Come on, you lousy little monster, 
don't you dare...>

Someone came through the door of the restaurant in the 
middle of her flip, and her attention wavered.  The pancake 
immediately formed a ragged split down the middle and flopped 
off her spatula onto the grill in two uneven pieces.  
 
Nabiki wanted to scream.  She wanted to jump up and down 
shout obscenities at Ukyou, at Konatsu, at her customers, 
even at Kasumi.  She wanted to hurl the ingredients on the 
floor, slop the batter onto the walls, smash the tables and 
chairs to flinders and set the whole restaurant on fire.  
Instead, she brushed her limp hair back from her eyes and 
forced a smile at the customer at the counter.

"I'm sorry," she said.  "It'll just be a few more minutes, 
I'm afraid."

"That's okay," the older gentleman assured her.  "I'll eat 
it in two pieces.  I really don't mind."

She hated the part of herself that wanted to collapse in 
gratitude.  The man obviously saw that she was struggling 
and wanted to help her out.  He could tell she was inept, 
and she couldn't bear his pity.  

Unfortunately, she WAS inept.  There was no denying it.  
It took her ten minutes to do a job that Konatsu or Kasumi 
could do in one.  She smiled at him and thanked him, scooping 
the two pieces of okonomiyaki onto a plate.  

Nabiki's okonomiyaki were sad things to behold, especially in 
comparison to the creations of the other cooks who had worked 
this griddle, but the customers bought them and nobody had 
thrown up yet.  That was about the best she could say for 
the day so far.

Kasumi had spent three or four hours in the kitchen with 
her last night teaching her what to do.  Nabiki had made a 
point of not cooking anything more complicated than rice 
since her mother had died, but she'd seen no other way out 
of her dilemma.  She couldn't make Kasumi work for her for 
free - she refused to take that step.  But asking Kasumi to 
teach her was another matter.  Her elder sister had been 
more than willing to help.

She'd made it look so easy.

Cooking the actual pancakes was really the simplest part.  
The true secret to making good okonomiyaki was in the 
preparation.  The sauce was especially critical, but all 
the ingredients had to be diced, marinated, sauteed, and 
seasoned as well.  Preparing the individual okonomiyaki 
itself was just a matter of mixing the right ingredients 
into the batter and dumping it onto the griddle.  

It sounded so simple, and it hadn't been that difficult 
last night, with Kasumi looking over her shoulder and 
telling her what to do.  But today, with the hot grill 
sizzling and hungry customers staring at her, every aspect 
of preparing the food seemed to be a task worthy of Hercules.  
The batter wouldn't pour evenly, so her pancakes came out 
looking like dying amoebas rather than smooth, appetizing 
discs.  The okonomiyaki would come out burned on the bottom, 
or mushy in the middle, or both.  The ingredients seemed to 
disappear on her sometimes, and she'd end up clawing through 
a clutter of jars and bowls to find what she needed.  And 
she had a devil of a time keeping the damned things intact 
when she flipped them.

"May I place an order?"

"In a moment," she called.  There was something she was 
supposed to do.  She ran through Kasumi's checklist in her 
mind... oil the griddle.  She always forgot that.  No wonder 
her okonomiyaki fell apart so often.

"Can I help you?" she asked her customer when she'd 
finished.  It was only then that she recognized the person 
at the counter.  "Uh... hi."

"Why hello, Tendou-san," the girl in the tennis outfit said 
sweetly.  "I'd heard about your latest job, but I had to see 
it for myself."

Nabiki gave her a weak, wary smile.  Watanabe Mari was 
captain of the junior girl's tennis team at Furinkan, and 
not a person who had much love for Nabiki at present.  She 
had been one of Nabiki's last delivery slaves before the 
Ucchan's take-out enterprise had collapsed.  Nabiki had sent 
Konatsu to follow her for three nights in a row, until he'd 
finally come home with photographs of the girl and her 
boyfriend checking into a love hotel.  Mari had bought the 
negatives with four days of hard work carrying okonomiyaki 
through the streets of Nerima.  Had the girl come to mock 
her, or take her revenge?

"Can I get you anything, Mari?  Er... Watanabe-san?"

Mari raised an eyebrow and grinned.  "You're really cooking," 
she observed.  "The great Tendou Nabiki, who always seemed 
to find a way around having to take Home Economics.  What 
did you call all the girls who were 'chained up in the 
kitchen?'  You had some term that was so clever, but I can't 
seem to remember it."

Nabiki sighed.  Part of her wanted to snap back in defiance, 
but she couldn't muster the energy.  "I don't remember 
either," she lied.  <I called them a bunch of wall-eyed 
cattle, I seem to recall, but I really don't want to admit 
it.>

"Oh well, no matter.  The team voted to get okonomiyaki for 
lunch.  I need to place an order," she said cheerfully, but 
with an unmistakable undertone of malice.

"Okay," Nabiki collected her pad and pencil.  "What would 
you like?"

Mari produced a list from her breast pocket and unfolded 
it.  She cleared her throat, and began to read.  "Three of 
the number four sliced pork.  One of the number three 
sliced pork, double meat.  Two of the number seven eel, 
but one of them with no green onions.  That's Akiko, she's 
allergic to onions.  Three of the number two squid, but one 
of them should have the ginger sauce and one of them needs 
to have water chestnuts.  Two of the number three chicken, 
both without soba noodles.  Two of the number four chicken, 
one with soba noodles added, one with extra sauce.  Three 
of the vegetarian special, one of those without peppers, 
one of those with extra boiled cabbage.  One fish-lover's 
special, with a sprinkle of wasabi.  Not too much, Miaka 
gets sick if she has too much, even though she loves the 
taste.  And for me, one salmon okonomiyaki with tangy mirin 
sauce, heavy on the pickled ginger."

Nabiki had stopped writing about a third of the way through.  
Outside, she tried to keep her composure, but her mind was 
already spiraling in a black vortex of helplessness.  It 
would take her FOREVER to fill that order, if she was even 
capable of it at all.  Ukyou could have done it in three 
minutes flat.  Mari smiled at her with artificial warmth.

On the other hand, she realized, this sale would probably 
put her over the top for her budget.  The restaurant would 
stay afloat another day.

"If you get it done in thirty minutes," she said, "I've got 
a big tip waiting for you."

She was a woman lost at sea, and there was nothing to do 
but to dog-paddle her way towards shore.  "Could you... 
please read that again?  I want... to make sure I got it 
right."

Mari handed her the list.  "Here, just take this," she said 
gaily.  "I'll be back in a few!"  She twirled, her long 
ponytail swishing out in a graceful arc behind her, and 
all but skipped out of the little restaurant.  

Nabiki watched her go, brushing the greasy strands of hair 
out of her eyes.  The scheming mercenary girl who would 
have plotted vengeance for this was long gone.  Nabiki the 
cook was just trying to figure out how she could get these 
okonomiyaki prepared before Mari came back.  

<This,> she thought as she assembled the ingredients, <has 
been the most tiring day of my entire life.>

The next day was even worse.  But somehow, she made it 
through anyway.

- - - - - - 

Akane trudged up the sidewalk towards the gate to Furinkan 
High School, trying to ignore her weariness.  In a few 
minutes, she'd get to class and be able to sit down.  The 
combination of physical abuse and lack of sleep from the 
day before had left her a total zombie.  Her bookbag felt 
like an anvil bolted to the end of her arm.  She'd considered 
skipping the day, but sheer force of habit had carried her 
through her morning routine and out the door.  <Maybe I'll 
skip gym class,> she thought.  <I seriously need to get 
some rest.>

She turned the corner to enter the gate, and was rather 
astonished to see the entire student body of the school 
gathered on the front lawn.  They were all staring straight 
at her.

"Wha..." she gasped, blushing.  "What's going on?"

It was then that she noticed the podium.  Her father stood 
elevated above the sea of high school students, a megaphone 
in hand.  Behind him, a panda with a pair of flags translated 
his words into semaphore for the benefit of the hearing 
impaired.  

"Students of Furinkan High!" he addressed them.  "As you 
know, my daughter has been engaged to your fellow classmate, 
Saotome Ranma.  However, Ranma has taken a leave of absence, 
and we do not know when he will return."

Murmurs rippled through the assembled teenagers.  Various 
rumors had circulated regarding Ranma's conspicuous 
vanishing, but nobody seemed to be certain of the truth.  
Akane had been less than forthcoming about the matter, and
few people at school wanted to talk to Nabiki right now.

Tendou Soun continued.  "It grieves me to see my beloved 
daughter left alone while her dear fiancee is away.  
Therefore, I have determined that she should be allowed 
to socialize as she pleases while Ranma is away!"

Akane's jaw dropped.  The muttering in the crowd 
intensified.  

"So I declare," her father shouted through the microphone, 
"that whoever can best my daughter in combat... will have 
my permission to date with her!"

Akane gasped in disbelief and horror.  It had been bad 
enough when Kunou had made this insane proposal the first 
time, but her own father.... 

The girls in the crowd scattered, along with many of the 
boys.  The remaining throng of young men advanced on her, 
smiles on their faces, adoration in their eyes, and hands 
curled up into fists.  

Akane took a step back, but the urge to bolt quickly 
vanished.  In its place swelled a familiar surge of rage. 
It had been a while since she'd gotten really genuinely 
angry, not since Ranma had left, but her wrath returned 
to her like a trusted friend and filled her limbs with 
strength.  

She stomped forward, hand clenched around the handle of 
her bookbag, battle aura simmering to life.  "You have got 
to be kidding me!" she growled.  

"We love you, Akane!"

"Date with me, Tendou-san!"

"SHUT UP AND DIE!" she shrieked, and launched herself into 
the crowd.

For the first minute of battle, she tore through her 
classmates like a chainsaw through a stack of champagne 
glasses.  She was stronger and faster than she'd been 
when she'd last fought the student populace in bulk, and 
they fell like flies before her blows.  But her body began 
to fail her as the fight dragged on.  The sprained muscles 
right arm screamed in protest with every punch she threw, 
and her aching ribs made every breath seem like a lungful 
of liquid fire.  Her blows became weaker, her kicks slower, 
and her attackers started to land some of their strikes.

Akane took her bookbag in both hands and flailed madly in 
every direction, abandoning technique for sheer strength 
in her attacks.  She battered her attackers in a frenzy, 
practically blinded by her own pain and anger.  The handle 
of her bag snapped, spraying books and loose papers in a 
broad fan across the trampled grass.  She charged forward 
and set into her opponents, heedless of her own defense or 
the counterattacks they landed on her, praying that she 
could finish them before her strength finally abandoned 
her.

She smashed two heads together and tossed the dazed boys 
aside, then cast about for other foes to hit.   Nobody 
attacked.  Was it over?  Had she finally finished them...?

"Truly, these lowly curs are unworthy to date with thee."

Akane turned slowly, her heart full of despair.  Of course, 
Kunou had held back until the end.  He advanced on her in 
his kendo stance, wooden sword held out before him in steady 
hands.  Akane's vision was blurred around the edges, she 
could barely keep herself standing. 

She wanted to cry.  It was hopeless - Kunou was better than 
all the others she'd faced put together, and she was dead 
on her feet.  In a one-on-one fight, in her condition, she 
didn't stand a chance.

Inspiration struck.  "Oh Kunou!" she cried, throwing her arms 
wide and beaming at him.  "Come to me!"

"Tendou Akane!  At last we are together!"  Kunou Tatewaki's 
face was bright with joy.  He rushed forward to embrace her, 
his arms spread and his defense forgotten.

>From somewhere deep within, Akane drew forth the last of her 
strength for one final blow.  Kunou never knew it was coming.  
Her brutal uppercut connected with his chin with a loud 
crack, and Kunou's body hurtled away from her like a rocket.  

She never saw where he came down.  She was on her knees a 
second after she landed the blow, gulping down breath after 
agonizing breath.  Akane was at the end of her strength, and 
for several long minutes she could not have moved even if 
she wanted to.  Her friends cluttered protectively around 
her, chattering worriedly and trying to soothe her.  Akane 
was grateful - if any of the boys who'd held back attacked 
her now, she'd never be able to defend herself.

Her father shouldered his way through the crowd of girls 
and dropped to his knees to embrace her.  "Oh my sweet 
girl!  I'm so proud!" he wept.

"Why..." she heaved, but she was too racked with agony 
to speak more than that.

"It's for your training," her father explained.  "Even with 
the bakusai ten-ketsu regimen, you can't afford to neglect 
the rest of your training.  Now, you'll have no choice but 
to fight every morning."

"Thanks a lot," she croaked.  He called this training?  
Akane would have argued further, but she simply didn't 
have the strength.  She couldn't remember ever being so 
utterly spent and exhausted in her entire life.  

The next day was even worse.  But somehow, she made it 
through anyway.

- - - - - - 

Ranma nearly lost his balance when he dodged the kick, and 
recovered just in time to get out of the way of the 
roundhouse strike which followed.  He hopped backwards, 
trusting to luck that he'd find firm footing when he landed 
instead of loose stone or treacherous roots.  He recovered 
his fighting stance and ducked away from the next series of 
blows with a little more ease.

There was no question about it.  Ryouga was getting faster.

Ranma threw a couple of kicks at the Lost Boy, getting him 
to drop his guard towards his abdomen, then sprung up and 
bounced off his head.  The momentum of his leap carried him 
up over his opponent, and Ranma knew it was a move that 
always got on Ryouga's nerves.  Instinct told him to tuck 
his feet up, and he barely avoided Ryouga's backhanded 
counterattack.  He rolled in a somersault when he landed, 
finding his feet an instant later and pivoting to face the 
bandana-clad martial artist once again.

Ryouga flashed him a fanged smile and unlimbered his battle 
umbrella.

"Not too shabby," Ranma called.  "You're almost keepin' me 
awake this time."

"Heh," Ryouga snorted.  "See if you can sleep through this!"

With that, Ryouga launched himself at Ranma, holding his 
umbrella with both hands as if to impale his foe on its 
blunt end.  The pig-tailed boy dodged the first attack, and 
then suddenly the red umbrella flew like a piston, striking 
towards him with blow after rapid blow as Ryouga pressed his 
attack.

"This is... Kunou's trick!" Ranma shouted indignantly as he 
dodged.  The rapid-strike umbrella barrage was indeed 
reminiscent of Kunou Tatewaki's favorite special attack, 
though Ranma thought Ryouga might be going just a bit 
faster than the kendo artist usually did.  

Kunou's attack was powerful enough to crack stone with the 
air pressure alone.  Ryouga's umbrella was thicker than 
the wooden sword that Kunou used, and probably thirty times 
heavier.  It displaced a LOT more air.  The leaves flew 
from the trees around them, branches cracked and twigs flew.  
Ranma felt a colossal rush of air with every stab of the 
umbrella.  He was profoundly glad that he was fast enough 
to dodge each hit.  Anyone caught in the fury of this 
attack would surely be pulverized.

Suddenly, bright red filled Ranma's vision, and then he 
was off his feet, hurtling through the air in the grasp 
of a typhoon-force gust of wind.  His body bounced off a 
thick tree trunk and clattered through a tangle of brittle 
branches.  

He ended up sprawled on his back, wondering what had 
happened.  When he pushed himself painfully up to get a 
look, he saw Ryouga standing a few dozen meters away, his 
open umbrella held out in one hand beside him.  He was 
breathing a little hard, but he looked immensely 
satisfied.

Ranma understood.  Ryouga had opened the umbrella on that 
last strike, and the resulting burst of wind had hit him 
like a battering ram.

"What do you think?" Ryouga asked.  "I think I'll call it 
my 'Storming Umbrella Monsoon.'"  He propped his umbrella 
up over his shoulder and twirled it slowly.

Ranma wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and climbed 
to his feet.  That last hit had really stung, but he was 
tough enough not to let it show.  He grinned at Ryouga and 
brushed a few stray leaves from his shirt.  

"You ought to thank me," he asserted.  "You never coulda 
pulled that off without my Amaguriken training."

"Feh," Ryouga spat.  "You didn't teach me anything."

"What?" Ranma snapped.  "I showed you the training method, 
you numbskull!"

"You gave up trying to train us after the first night," 
Ryouga shot back.  "I was the one who stuck with it!"

"Why you ungrateful little..." Ranma took an aggressive 
step forward.

Ryouga dropped his head a little, hiding his eyes under 
his bangs and smiling.  A hint of fang showed from beneath 
his lip.  "Face it, Ranma, I could've done the same thing 
if I read about that technique in a book.  And as for 
Ukyou... she needed more encouragement than a lout like 
you could ever give."

"Encouragement?" Ranma echoed.  "I gave her plenty of 
encouragement!  She was just scared of the fire..."

"I DID IT!"

The shout came from the direction of their camp, where 
Ukyou had been setting up the campfire for dinner.  Ranma 
and Ryouga both turned to see the okonomiyaki chef spring 
out of the undergrowth and bound towards them, a huge smile 
on her face.  She pounced towards Ryouga and grabbed him by 
the hand, pulling him so hard that he came off his feet.

"Come look!  Come look!" she sang as she dragged him back 
through the forest.  Ranma followed shortly after, a confused 
look on his face.

Ryouga didn't seem to mind being so unceremoniously hauled 
away from his spar.  He sat down opposite the roaring 
campfire and watched attentively.  Ranma stood at a 
distance.

"Here goes," Ukyou announced.  She picked up two heaping 
handfuls of acorns and tossed them into the heart of the 
blaze.  

Her hands moved surely towards each one, penetrating the 
sheathe of flame with such alacrity as to dodge the heat 
itself.  The hesitancy she'd once showed between her strikes 
was gone, replaced by a confidence in her aim and agility.  
Her arms churned with blinding speed as she deftly plucked 
each acorn, one by one, from the orange jaws of the hungry 
fire.  Ranma's stared open-mouthed.

"YES!" she shouted in voice full of pure triumph after she 
snatched the last acorn.  She held both handfuls aloft, two 
fistfuls of acorns which steamed with the sweet fragrance of 
victory.  Her arms and face were smudged with soot, but 
Kuonji Ukyou glowed in her joy.  

"You did it!" Ryouga exclaimed.

"WE did it!" she shouted back.

"You... you mastered the technique too?" Ranma asked Ryouga 
with wide eyes.  

"Heh... not yet," Ryouga said.  "I'm still not quite fast 
enough."

"You'll do it!" Ukyou assured him.  "If I did it, you can 
too.  I'll keep helping you out!"

He nodded gravely, but broke into a smile again.  "You did 
it," he repeated.

Her eyes were full of gratitude.  "I never could have done 
it without you," she said, looking at Ryouga until he coughed 
and blushed.  

Ranma felt a stab of jealousy, but mostly he was embarrassed. 
How had this happened?  Ukyou hadn't responded to his 
attempts to train her at all, but somehow Ryouga had managed 
to help her learn a technique that he didn't even know 
himself. 

Ranma had watched them training, but hadn't believed they 
were really getting anywhere.  Ryouga seemed to be going so 
easy on her, doing simple little speed exercises and playing 
impromptu dexterity games, always telling her how great she 
was doing even when she hadn't achieved anything special.  
For Ranma, encouragement had never been a matter of kind 
words or praise - it had always been a swift kick in the 
rear whenever he'd slacked off.  He'd always thought that 
a gentle martial arts trainer was about as useful as a 
sponge roof in a rainstorm.

But Ukyou had learned the technique.  And he had to admit, 
it wasn't due to anything he'd done.

<No way Ryouga is a better trainer than me,> he snarled 
inside.  <I ain't finished yet, not by a long shot!>

"I'm proud of you, Ucchan," he said, interrupting their 
celebration.

She smiled, her cheeks turning pink.  "Thanks, Ranchan.  
It was your technique and everything."

"And you mastered it.  Now, you're ready to move on to the 
next phase of your training," he told her.

Ukyou's eyes went wide.  Ryouga turned to look at him 
curiously.  "What are you going to teach her?"

"Another special technique?" Ukyou said, her voice quivering 
a little.  "Ah... I won't let you down!" she said with 
deliberate bravery.

"I know you won't," he said confidently.  "We'll start 
your new training tomorrow.  I want your mind clear, and 
your body well-rested."

She gave him a single, vigorous nod.  "I'll be ready."

"Good," he said.  "Now let's eat, huh?  I'm starvin'."

Ranma chewed on his food thoughtfully.  <Now all I gotta 
do is think of somethin' to teach her...>

- - - - - - 

"Oh, Akane!" Kasumi called to her as she began her climb 
up the stairs.  "We have guests!"

Akane closed her eyes and pressed the heel of her hand 
against her forehead.  She didn't feel in any shape to deal 
with guests right now.  She knew full well that she looked 
a fright - the black eye she'd gotten from a member of the 
Furinkan bowling club was in full bloom, she was wearing a 
very prominent wrist brace at the insistence of Dr. Tofu, 
and she'd split her lip on the boulder today during her 
training.  Really, she felt much better than she had just 
a few days ago, but she looked appalling.

"I think I'll have to miss them, whoever they are," she 
called back down to Kasumi.  "I'm gonna take a bath."

"But Akane, they're here to see you," Kasumi insisted.  
"They're already waiting at the dinner table."

<Me?> she thought.  <Who would be here to see me?>

"And father has an announcement to make to the family," her 
elder sister continued.

This was starting to seem just a bit familiar.

<He CAN'T have,> she thought angrily.  <He can't possibly 
have... given up on Ranma and engaged me to someone ELSE!>  
But he had gone so far as to make that crazy announcement 
at her school.  He'd claimed it was just for her training, 
but what if there was more to it?  Nobody had heard from 
Ranma in weeks, the old ghoul had all but predicted he 
wouldn't survive...  

What kind of fiancee had he found for her THIS time?  
Assuredly a martial artist - he was totally fixated on 
getting an heir to carry on the Anything Goes School.  
Probably some smooth-talking playboy who he thought would 
charm her off her feet and make her forget about Ranma.  
He probably figured she'd turn to this smug womanizer in 
her time of grief, looking for a shoulder to cry on, and 
then the next thing she knew she'd be a brood cow for the 
Tendou Dojo.  What kind of bleary-eyed milksop did he take 
her for?   The gall of him!  Well, she wasn't going to take 
this lying down, that was for sure.  This slimy pervert 
her father had dragged home to marry her had better have 
come with a helmet, because she would sooner stave in his 
skull than go through with an engagement to some scumbag 
she'd never even met...

Akane spun and stomped back down the stairs.  Kasumi 
followed in her wake as she stormed into the dining room, 
battle aura flaring and face already darkening with rage.

"ALL RIGHT!" she shouted as she flung open the door.  "WHAT 
is the BIG IDEA HERE?"

Nabiki raised a cynical eyebrow.  Her father and Mr. Saotome 
vainly attempted to hide behind one another.  The guests 
pivoted to stare at her in astonishment.  

Both of them, she noted, were girls.  In fact, she recognized 
them both.

Akane let out a little embarrassed laugh.  "Heh... excuse me. 
 Um... I... er... had the wrong room.  For that entrance.  
Let me try that again."

She slid the door closed.  

"Oh dear," Kasumi said.  "Are you all right, Akane?  I 
didn't realize our guests would upset you so much..."

"No, sis.  Sorry.   Just got carried away there."  Akane 
took a deep breath to settle her nerves, arranged a smile 
on her face, and opened the door once again.

"Natsume!  Kurumi!" she said cheerfully.  "It's good to see 
you again.  What are you two doing here?"

Her father and Mr. Saotome, upon seeing that she was no 
longer in the grips of a violent rage, scrambled back to 
the table with as much dignity as they could muster.   
Nabiki shook her head and picked at her rice.  The two 
martial artists who had once thought they were her 
half-sisters looked relieved at her change of attitude.

Natsume stood to give her a formal bow as a way of 
greeting, her face a well-composed mask of dignity.  She 
was a splendid-looking young woman, with a strong, elegant 
figure and a long, graceful ponytail which flowed in a black 
wave behind her.  Everything about her bearing spoke of a 
true warrior.  Akane had no doubt that her severe expression 
and penetrating gaze had served to dissuade many a rogue 
who would have thought to take advantage of two girls 
traveling alone.  

Kurumi popped up like a cork beside her sister, bounced 
her way through a bow of greeting, then beamed happily at 
Akane.  She fidgeted as if she wanted to rush over and hug 
her, but the presence of her more formal elder sister held 
her back.  Kurumi was bright and energetic in all the 
places where Natsume was cool and composed, yet she was 
as quick as a striking snake and a fearsome martial artist 
in her own right.  "Hi Akane!" she chimed, waving 
vigorously.

"I'm very pleased to see you again, Akane-san," Natsume 
said.  

"Come and sit down, Akane," her father said.  "I have an 
announcement to make."

Akane eased herself into place at the table, and Kasumi 
did the same.  Kurumi eyed the food on Akane's plate with 
unmistakable longing - she'd already demolished the meal 
that Kasumi had set before her.  The girl had an appetite 
as bad as Ranma's, though she wasn't as finicky about what 
she ate.

Tendou Soun cleared his throat and began to speak in his 
best patriarchal tones.  "Akane, I want to take this 
opportunity to tell you how proud I am of the way you've 
pushed yourself in your training.  The dedication you've 
shown to your fiancee brings such joy to your old father's 
heart.  This is a time of great adversity, but your love 
for Ranma is finally beginning to shine through."  Tears 
trickled down his cheeks.

Akane blushed.  "Daddy, please..."

Soun regained his composure as he continued his speech.  
"In the face of your dedication, I promised myself that I 
would do everything in my power to help you with your 
training. Therefore, I have called Natsume and Kurumi here 
to act as your personal teachers.  They are both 
practitioners of Anything-Goes Martial Arts, and we have 
seen how skilled they are."

That much was true.  When the two girls had believed 
themselves to be potential heirs to the Tendou Dojo, they'd 
given Akane and Ranma all they could handle.  Losing the 
first challenge had been one of her most embarrassing 
defeats, and winning the rematch had been one of her sweetest 
victories.  She didn't know how much more training she would 
be able to endure in her condition, but there was no denying 
that these two had a lot they could teach her.

Her father turned to the two girls to continue.  "Natsume, 
Kurumi - I know that you've had no success in your search 
for your real father.  To express the depth of my gratitude 
for your help to Akane, I offer you a place in my home.  
You may keep the name of 'Tendou,' study at my dojo, and 
consider yourselves a part of this family for as long as 
you would wish to stay."

Akane felt her jaw loosen and drop.  Mr. Saotome seemed to 
have much the same reaction.

"Oh, how wonderful!" Kasumi exclaimed.

Even Natsume's composure failed.  She bowed deeply to show 
her gratitude and to hide the look on her face, but her 
voice threatened to break as she offered her thanks.  Kurumi 
made no effort to conceal her own reaction.  Her eyes went 
wide as saucers and filled with tears.  With a cry of 
delight, she flung herself at Tendou Soun and hugged him 
so fiercely that the air rushed out of his lungs in a 
squeak.

Nabiki's reaction was somewhat less positive.  "Oh GREAT 
idea, Daddy.  Yet another bottomless pit to feed.  Someone 
help me contain my enthusiasm, please."

"Nabiki!" Kasumi seemed shocked.

The middle Tendou sister stabbed her rice with her 
chopsticks angrily.  She'd never been the most tactful 
girl in the first place, and the stress from her work had 
made her as short-tempered as a badger.  "I mean, with 
Ranma and the old freak gone, it just didn't seem the same.  
I'm SO glad you found a couple of replacement freeloaders.  
We really needed them."

Soun looked mortified, and Kurumi shrunk away from the open 
hostility in Nabiki's words, but Natsume faced her without 
flinching.  She bowed her head respectfully as she addressed 
Nabiki.  "It is not our intention to be a burden on this 
family, I assure you.  I promise that we will both do 
whatever it takes to pull our weight in this household.  
My sister and I are not afraid of hard work."

Nabiki snorted.  "Work?  Don't expect ME to give you a job 
in my restaurant, 'sister.'  A pair of notorious food 
thieves are not exactly my idea of reliable help."

"Please, Nabiki!" Kasumi cried in dismay.  "Where are your 
manners?"

Natsume's brow knit in confusion.  "I thought... that is, 
it seemed that the most obvious way for us to earn our keep 
would be to teach lessons in the dojo.  Surely with more 
teachers, we can support more students..." 

Nabiki made a disparaging noise.  "Sorry, wrong answer.  
Nobody's taught regular lessons at this place for over a 
year.  Better think of something else."

Natsume and Kurumi turned to Tendou Soun with questioning 
looks.  He looked a bit chagrined.  "Er... yes, it's true, 
I'm afraid.  You see, I took a break from teaching when I 
heard Ranma and his father were coming, to give the family 
time to adjust.  I intended to resume instruction, but then 
the Master came back.  You see, the Master is very... 
possessive about Anything-Goes Martial Arts.  He refused 
to allow us to teach lessons, even basic self-defense, 
without his direct involvement in the training.  And when 
the Master trains a student, he... uh... he tends to... 
er..."

"He tends to torture them and get them to steal panties 
for him," Nabiki finished.  "It was hard enough to harbor 
a wanted criminal around here without letting him corrupt 
the minds of a bunch of students."

"Yes, well, anyway," her father continued, "when we thought 
the Master was dead it was safe to teach, but now that the 
Master has forbidden us to reveal the secrets of 
Anything-Goes Martial Arts..."

Akane interrupted.  "You keep saying 'the Master, the 
Master,' but he's NOT the Master anymore!"

Her father and Mr. Saotome looked at her with frank 
astonishment, then at one another.  Clearly, this had 
not occurred to them yet.  They were so accustomed to 
thinking of Happosai as their Master that they had never 
bothered to consider the implications of his abdication of 
that title.  Akane had been so absorbed in her own problems 
that she hadn't given it much thought either, until now.  

"Ranma is the Master, remember?" Akane insisted.  "The old 
pervert said so himself, and everybody heard him.  That's 
what got us into this stupid mess in the first place, so we 
MIGHT as well get something GOOD out of it!"

A long silence reigned in the Tendou dining room.

The next day, the word hit the streets of Nerima that the 
Tendou Dojo was accepting students once again.  Two new 
Tendou girls registered for classes at Furinkan High.  
And Akane discovered that, in spite of the strain she had 
endured thus far, she still had the energy left to train 
with her new sisters.

She was getting stronger.  But the rock would still not 
break.

- - - - - - 

Ukyou snatched at the throwing spatula as it spun towards 
her and missed.  Her rhythm was broken, and the next two 
which were already airborne clattered to the ground as 
well.  

Ranma caught the pinecones he'd been throwing into the air 
before they fell.  

"Sorry, Ran-chan," Ukyou said, breathing hard.  "It's 
getting kind of dark for this."

Dusk was upon them, and she could barely make out Ranma's 
features at this distance, but his voice was firm and 
gentle.  "I know it's dark.  I want you to hit the targets 
without seeing them."

She frowned.  "How am I supposed to do that?"

He tossed a pinecone in the air and caught it again.  "The 
spatulas spin when they come to you, and the pinecones catch 
a lot of air.  You should be able to hear 'em both just 
fine."

Ukyou sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.  This 
training was starting to get really hard.  

At first, the exercise had seemed laughably easy.  Ranma 
had a pile of pinecones, Ryouga had her throwing spatulas.  
Ranma would throw the pinecones into the air one at a time, 
and Ryouga would throw her weapons to her.  All she had to 
do was catch the spatulas and throw them at the targets 
before they hit the ground.  After the grueling Amaguriken 
training, this was almost a joke.  She said as much to Ranma 
after their first session.

"I'm just gettin' a feel for how good you are," he'd told 
her.  "We're gonna step things up next time."

And so they had.  He'd started by moving farther away from 
her, and by picking up the pace.  She'd handled that easily.  
Then he'd told Ryouga to start moving around as he threw her 
weapons to her, so she'd have to compensate for the new 
angles, and he'd picked up the pace.  That had been a little 
harder, but not much.  She was proud of her new speed.

Ryouga had seemed as confused as she'd been.  He'd stopped 
in the middle of one of their training exercises and demanded 
to know exactly what technique Ranma was trying to teach 
her.  Ukyou was curious about that too - the training would 
help her speed and accuracy, but he wouldn't tell her its 
ultimate purpose.  She'd hoped he was going to provide them 
both with an answer then.

Instead, he'd pulled Ryouga out of her hearing range and 
talked to him in hushed tones.  She'd watched them as Ranma 
ran through an explanation, and Ryouga's face had slowly 
filled with comprehension.  The Lost Boy had considered 
Ranma's words for a while, then he'd given a curt nod.  
They'd returned the training again, with Ukyou itching to 
know what had passed between the two boys.

Ranma had made each session more difficult.  He'd gotten 
smaller pinecones and moved even farther away.  He'd started 
throwing two at a time, then three, mixing it up in 
synchronization with Ryouga.  He'd told Ryouga to start 
moving faster, then he'd started moving as well, until 
they were all circling each other in a weird looping 
dance as the pinecones flew and the spatulas hissed through 
the air.  And every time, he'd picked up the pace even 
more.

Now he wanted her to do this when she couldn't even see.  
It was too much.

"Ranchan!" she shouted in exasperation.  "This is hard... 
but what IS the point?  Can't you at least tell me that?"

Ranma crossed his arms and contemplated a bit.  Ryouga 
regarded him with curiosity.  Finally, he set down his 
pinecones and approached her so she could hear him 
better.

"There's a lot of different purposes to this trainin'," 
he said.  "But one of them is to develop your dairokkan."

"My... dairokkan?"

"It's your sixth-sense to danger," Ranma explained.  "It's 
one of the marks of a great martial artist."  He nodded 
at Ryouga.  "His ain't bad.  I've seen him catch arrows 
before he even sees 'em coming.  Mine's real good.  It's 
why people have a hard time layin' a finger on me."

"How come Akane can nail you all the time, then?" Ukyou 
asked.

Ranma looked mildly irritated.  "That's different.  Anyway, 
that ain't the point.  What I'm sayin' is that you're real 
strong and quick, Ucchan, but we gotta work on your 
dairokkan."

She leaned forward eagerly.  "What should I do?"

"Trainin' in the dark like this is gonna help," Ranma 
explained.  "You gotta learn to rely on all your senses, 
not just your eyes."

"'Your eyes can deceive you, don't trust them,'" she said 
in her best Alec Guiness voice, and giggled.  Ryouga 
looked confused.

Ranma just nodded.  "That's right.  You gotta learn to 
look with more than your eyes, hear with more than your 
ears.  There's a mental space you have to achieve where 
everything comes to you by instinct.  You've been there 
before, but you ain't learned to apply it to your martial 
arts."

"What do you mean?" she asked, listening raptly.

"I've seen you get into that zone when you're cookin'," he 
explained.  "You've felt it, haven't you?"

She nodded.  "Yeah... I know what you mean now.  It's 
like... it's like the world narrows down and opens up at 
the same time.  The distinction between who I am and what 
I'm doing fades away, and I... I become the task.  It's 
like the act of cooking takes over and I just ride the 
wave.  Does that make any sense?  It sounds sort of 
corny..."

Ryouga shook his head vigorously.  "No, that's just it!  
That's what you have to do!"

Ranma nodded.  "He's right.  If you can get to that same 
kinda focus in your martial arts, your dairokkan will take 
over.  It won't matter if you can see your targets or not.  
And you'll have taken your martial arts to the next level."

Ukyou's heart was beating fast with excitement.  Most of her 
combat skills had been self-taught.  To have Ranma and Ryouga 
train her like this was an extraordinary experience.  She 
nodded and wore a serious expression.  "All right.  Let's 
try it again.  I'm ready!"

Ranma jogged backwards towards his pinecones and grinned.  
"Good!  'Cause tomorrow, I'm gonna blindfold you!"

Ukyou gulped, but she refused to let herself be intimidated.  
She could do this.  She wouldn't let them down.  She adopted 
a ready stance and waited for the training to begin again.

- - - - - - 

"Oh no!  Not you again, sir!"

Pantyhose Tarou smirked as the Jusenkyo Guide stumbled away 
from him, holding his chubby hands up in a futile gesture of 
warding.  He took a step forward and regarded the Guide with 
disdain.  "Yes," he said with a chuckle.  "Me again."

The Jusenkyo Guide had dealt with Tarou more times that he 
would have liked.  Tarou had never done him any actual harm, 
but the encounters in the past had always been harrowing and 
unsettling for the caretaker of Jusenkyo.  Tarou saw the 
cursed springs as a resource, a place to gain power, and he 
had used them in his schemes in the past.  Exploiting the 
magic of the springs went against the Guide's beliefs about 
how they should be treated, but he had no strength to stand 
up to Tarou.

"Why you come again to this place, sir?" he asked nervously.  
"What you want with accursed springs now?"

"Nothing terribly complicated," he said casually.  Then he 
told the portly man what he was looking for.

The Guide mopped his brow and looked nervous.  "Oh sir, what 
you want that for?  Is very dangerous to tamper with springs 
like that!"

Tarou snorted.  "Spare me your superstitious prattle, man.  
I know what I'm doing." 

The Guide looked about with shifty eyes.  "Is... is very 
difficult to do what you want, no?  Even for me, who has 
been the Guide in this place for many year, yes, is still 
very hard to find specific spring in the way you ask.  Maybe 
the springs move, maybe they cloud the minds of men.  Even 
I do not know what really happen, nor any other man.  No map 
of cursed springs of Jusenkyo ever survive for very long, 
sir, did you know that?"

"Yes I did," Tarou grumbled irritably.  He'd encountered 
the problem before in his attempts to harness the power of 
the springs.  There was some aspect of the magic which made 
the place seem to shift, though he suspected it was only in 
memory rather than reality.  Locating an individual spring 
in the enchanted region was a treacherous task indeed.  
Careful testing was required to make certain the spring you 
found was the one you'd sought, and even then Jusenkyo 
played tricks on the unwary.  He'd found that out when he'd 
attempted to use the water of the Spring of the Drowned Good 
Samaritan on Happosai, and ended up with a flask of the 
wrong water in spite of his precautions.

It was harder with some springs than others, it seemed.  
Those who came to search for a cure always seemed to 
encounter difficulty, though he'd never had that problem 
himself.  He'd searched for weeks trying to find the pool 
into which Rouge had fallen to gain the godlike power of 
Ashura before finally giving it up entirely.  

Still, he knew he could do what he wanted to this time, and 
he would not be stopped.  Jusenkyo's mysterious nature was 
an inconvenience, nothing more.

The Guide continued to rattle on.  "There other persons who 
try to use springs in such a way recently, sir," he stammered.  
"Did you know?  Is very tragic story..."

"Shut up," Tarou snapped.  He reached out and hauled the 
Guide into the air by the collar of his shirt.  "You keep 
chattering and telling me things I already know.  I think 
you're trying to stall me, fat man."

"Put him down!" came an imperious command from behind them. 

Tarou released his grip.  The Guide fell to the ground in 
an ungainly heap and crawled backwards.  Tarou pivoted 
slowly towards the source of the voice, a menacing look 
in his eyes.  

A thin man in a uniform similar to the Guide's stood with 
his finger pointed at Tarou.  "So, we finally meet... 
Pantyhose Tarou!"

Tarou smirked.  "Let me guess.  You must be one of those 
idiots from the so-called Jusenkyo Secret Preservation 
Society.  I've been wondering when you'd show the guts to 
finally come after me."

"Ha!" the man barked.  "Long have you eluded us, villain, 
but at last your time has come!"

Tarou had heard about the Secret Preservation Society and 
their ridiculous agenda, though he had managed not to cross 
paths with them up to now.  They seemed to have some sort of 
ludicrous set of standards about how a Jusenkyo curse should 
or shouldn't be used, and they tended to chase down any 
unfortunate soul who had fallen into one of the springs and 
try to inflict their values upon them.  From what Tarou had
heard, their punishment tended to involve a lot of pointless
dunking and shouting until they finally got tired and moved 
on to the next victim.    

When the Guide had described them to Tarou, he'd spoken in
much the same tone that a person uses when referring to a
particularly embarrassing family member.  The self-appointed
guardians of Jusenkyo had never successfully protected the
springs against a single threat - they were always conspicuously
absent whenever they might actually have been useful.  Their
lives seemed to consist of traveling about and annoying 
people with curses.  Tarou suspected they were either 
blatantly stupid or just sick-minded.  He had no doubt that
it was sheer coincidence that brought him to the springs
at the same time as the Secret Preservation Society, rather
than some actual effort on their part to protect Jusenkyo 
from his "abuses."

The whole thing would have been a total joke, if not for 
one factor.  

A shadow shifted in the forest, and a hulking figure emerged 
from the gloom.  Tarou knew him by reputation alone, but what 
he'd heard had been enough to command his respect.  It was 
Kiini, the enforcer for the Jusenkyo Secret Preservation 
Society, and the only reason anyone had to fear them.  

The muscle-bound Chinese warrior stepped forth into the 
light.  He brandished a great curving blade in one hand, 
twirling the monstrous weapon as easily as if it were a 
toothpick, and smiled down at Tarou.

The spokesman crossed his arms and looked satisfied.  
"You have abused the Springs of Jusenkyo as much as any 
man in history," he said.  "The time has come for you to 
pay for your crimes!"

"Oh please, do shut up," Tarou said with a yawn.  "My 
business is with your thug here, not you."

Kiini took an earth-shaking step forward and swung his 
sword to point at Tarou.  "Yes," he rumbled in a seismic 
voice, "your business IS with me!  I've been waiting for 
this chance, Pantyhose-boy!"

Tarou's hand crept behind his back, almost by instinct, 
towards his flask of water.  From what he knew about Kiini 
and his legendary Muscle Sword technique, this was not a 
man to be taken lightly.  Even in his monstrous cursed 
form, he had to be wary of a warrior who could part stone 
as easily as water with his powerful blade.  But he knew 
Kiini's weakness - he had a curse of his own which rendered 
him utterly harmless.  The warrior was quicker than his bulk 
would suggest, but Tarou was confident that his own speed 
was greater, and that he could slip the water through Kiini's 
defenses.  One splash was all it would take to end this 
fight...

<That's right, Garden-Hose,> came an unexpected and 
unwelcome voice in his head.  <Throw some water at your 
problems.  That's all you ever do.>

He ground his teeth in rage.  Who cared what that fanged 
idiot had said?  Tarou had always prided himself on never 
letting his emotions rule over his intellect.  What was the 
point of risking a dangerous fight when the path to victory 
was so easy?  Perhaps he should test his adversary's reflexes 
before trying to splash him, but there was no reason not to 
transform into his mighty cursed form.  

He drew the flask from behind him with the speed of a 
gunslinger.  Kiini flinched back, but no water splashed 
forth from the container.  Tarou had not opened the 
stopper.

Tarou smiled.  "Afraid of this, are you?" he taunted.  
Then, somewhat to his own surprise, he tossed the flask 
aside.  Part of him screamed that he was being a fool, but 
he refused to listen.  "I wouldn't want to scare you," he 
said.  

Kiini regarded the fallen flask suspiciously for a moment, 
as if suspecting some sort of trick, but then a grin spread 
across his angular features.  "So, the child wishes to test 
himself against the master of the 3,000 year old Muscle 
Sword technique, does he?"

The huge man spun the sword above his head like a propeller, 
and suddenly the wind rose and the ground shook.  The Guide 
and the spokesman of the Jusenkyo Preservation Society ran 
for cover as the earth trembled and rocks hurtled themselves 
skywards.  Power flowed from the swordsman in waves, and 
Tarou shielded himself from the storm of debris.

"Come on!" Kiini shouted in a thunderous voice.  "Fight me!"

With a snarl of rage, Tarou leaped forth to battle.

- - - - - -

Ranma shimmied his way along the narrow ledge towards the 
outcropping of stone and looked back towards his friends.  
There wasn't too much room here, but it would be a good place 
to take a short break before pressing on to the second half 
of their climb.  He saw Ryouga making his way towards the 
ledge, with Ukyou following in the handholds he'd punched in 
the stone face and occasionally steering him back in the 
right direction.

Ranma took a drink from his flask and looked up the mountain 
wall.  It shouldn't take them more than two hours to clear 
this, he decided, and after that it was all downhill.  By the 
end of the day they'd reach the river, and the villagers had 
assured them that it would be easy to hitch a ride on one of 
the numerous junks and barges which traveled the running 
water.  

Ukyou and Ryouga were soon beside him on the ledge.  "Ain't 
gonna be long," he assured them with a smile.

"I can't wait to get out of these mountains," Ukyou said as 
she adjusted the ribbon which held her hair back.  "When we 
get to a real town, we're going out to eat!  Somebody else 
gets to do the cooking for a change."

Ryouga nodded.  "But first we take a hot bath," he insisted.  
"The first hot bath after a long journey is like a trip to 
heaven."

Ukyou grinned.  "I heard that, sugar.  I'm gonna soak my 
troubles away."

Ranma cracked a smile.  "I think we found somethin' we can 
all agree on," he observed.  The three of them laughed.

In truth, there really hadn't been much dissention in their 
small party since he began Ukyou's latest training.  
Concentrating on traveling and martial arts gave them 
plenty to think about, and there was little room for the 
kind of bickering that usually seemed to arise on its own 
accord between them.  He'd even gone back to trying to 
help Ryouga with his Amaguriken training, though he suspected 
that the Lost Boy might never quite have the speed to truly 
master the technique.  Ukyou's training was coming along 
better - even if he wasn't able to teach her what he really 
wanted her to learn, her general skill level was improving 
dramatically.  And he was almost there with the self-training 
he'd been doing in his dreams; a couple more nights and he 
was sure he'd have it down cold.

"I'll take the lead again," Ranma said.  "You guys think 
you can keep up?"

Ryouga smirked.  "Heh.  See if we don't beat you to the 
top!"

The competitiveness between Ranma and Ryouga would probably 
never go away, but there wasn't an angry edge to it anymore.  
They challenged and pushed each other, but there was a 
mutual respect between them now.  Ranma kind of liked it 
this way.  He also liked the way Ukyou seemed to have stopped 
dropping little hints and overtures all the time.  She could 
be pretty reasonable when there weren't other girls around, 
he decided.  Maybe it was because she'd pretended to be a 
boy for so long.

Ukyou was scanning the rock face, probably trying to plan 
out their route up.  "I wish we could climb like them," she 
said, pointing to a pair of mountain goats on a distant 
boulder.  "We'd have been out of these mountains a long time 
ago."

Ranma shielded his eyes and looked at the goats.  "Maybe we 
need to develop an Anything-Goes Mountain Goat Climbing 
Technique or somethin'..."

As he was watching, the two shaggy animals both tensed 
suddenly, staring back the way they'd come with ears 
pricked.  One of them let out a frightened bleat, and 
then they clattered out of sight.

The three martial artists looked at each other, smiles 
vanishing from their faces.

In the distance behind them, somewhere in the sparse 
mountain forest through which they'd just traveled, a 
monkey was screeching in a piercing, shrill voice.  

"Oh no," Ukyou whispered.

A flock of pheasants suddenly burst into the air, sunlight 
glimmering off their iridescent feathers as they beat their 
wings in fear.  

"Damn it!" Ranma shouted.  "Let's go!"

The other two needed no encouragement.  Ukyou followed close 
behind as Ranma scrambled up the cliff, while Ryouga took 
the rear.  He tried to keep his wits about him - climbing 
in a panic was an invitation for disaster - but his heart 
was thundering in his chest.  Even pushing themselves to 
their limit, they could only scale the cliff so quickly, 
but their pursuer was hindered by no obstacle.  After weeks 
of relative peace, the Reikoku had finally found them at 
the worst possible time.  

Ranma spared a look back down to see how his friends were 
doing, and he saw it.  It was little more a shambling black 
smudge at this distance, barely visible against the 
shadow-laced boulders below, but he could feel its presence 
like a hot, terrible wind in his face.  It was already at 
the bottom of the cliff face and beginning to climb.

"We're not gonna make it!" Ukyou cried.

She was right.  Ranma felt the terror coursing through his 
blood and knew they couldn't run.  There was only one 
chance.  He secured his handhold and fished in his backpack 
with his free hand, trying to concentrate and focus his fear 
where he wanted it to go...

"Ranma!" Ryouga shouted, interrupting his concentration.  

"What?"

"You'd better take care of her, damn you!" 

Ranma didn't know who he meant, but he realized what Ryouga 
intended to do.  "Ryouga... no!  Don't!"

"BAKUSAI TEN-KETSU!" Ryouga cried.

The face of the cliff exploded beneath Ryouga's striking 
fingers, and a torrent of stone erupted forth.  Rocks and 
boulders plummeted through in a chaotic tide of dust down 
the side of the mountain, burying the Reikoku under a wave 
of angry stone.  

Ranma watched in dismay as Ryouga dropped through the air 
as well, red umbrella in hand as he fell... 

- - - - - -



                    end of chapter seven



-----------------------------------------------------------
                      AUTHOR'S NOTES
-----------------------------------------------------------

A bit about some of the more obscure characters from this 
chapter...

ROUGE - A sweet, harmless-seeming girl who fell into the 
most powerful spring yet revealed in Jusenkyo.  According 
to the very tragic story of the Ashuraniichuan, a statue of 
the goddess Ashura was dropped in this spring 4,000 years 
ago, any person who falls in gains the power to turn into a 
giant 6-armed fireball throwing demigod.  She and Pantyhose 
Tarou clashed in one of the later manga stories, and she was 
demonstrated to be significantly more powerful than Tarou.  
Though it is not ever stated in the source material, I have 
taken the liberty of supposing a certain enchantment over 
Jusenkyo which makes some of the springs more difficult to 
find than others, because I'm pretty sure that such a 
powerful spring would be actively sought by ambitious 
sorts...

NATSUME and KURUMI - I tend to use the manga as the primary 
canon for "Relentless," but when there's an anime episode 
that I think contributes to the series in a faithful fashion 
I like to weave that into the continuity as well.  The story 
of the martial artists who thought they were Akane's sisters 
is a 2-episode OAV which is commercially available in the 
U.S., and the characters appeared in the anime version of 
Ranma 1/2 only.  I liked the story and the characters, and 
we'll be seeing more of them as "Relentless" continues.  But 
why do they practice Anything-Goes Martial Arts?  Where did 
they learn it?  Hmm...

KIINI - Another anime-only character.  I wasn't overly 
thrilled with the "Once Upon a Time in Jusenkyo" episode 
of the anime from which Kiini originated, but it wasn't a 
bad show either, and it provided me someone to fight Pantyhose 
Tarou in this circumstance.  Kiini turns into a Buddhist monk 
when splashed by water - his is one of the curses which 
dramatically alters the personality as well as the body.  


There has been much debate amongst fans about whether there 
are actually students taking lessons in the Tendou dojo, 
since we never see them.  In one of the anime episodes, Soun 
says something about having "no steady source of income," but 
other than that we aren't given much clue.  My explanation 
is not to be taken as canon by any stretch, but I thought it 
fit the evidence well enough.


COMING SOON:  Ryouga vs. the Reikoku, round two... does 
he have a plan to keep from becoming P-Chan?  Can Tarou 
win his fight without resorting to using water?  What IS 
Ranma trying to teach Ukyou, anyway?  Can they ever hope to 
find Happosai after being out of touch so long?  Will Akane 
master the breaking point technique?  These questions and 
more will be answered in Chapter Eight...

REVISION NOTES: A nip here, a tuck there, but this chapter is
one of the ones I liked the best.

COPYRIGHT STUFF:  All the Ranma characters belong to Takahashi Rumiko,
and are licensed in America by Viz Communications.    

GRT - March 1999
MODIFIED - April 2005
thunderstruck_comic@comcast.net

All existing chapters of this story may be found at:
http://www.talesfromthevault.com/relentless





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