Please send all comments to the authors of this, RyogaLost@aol.com and
SMoonUsagi@aol.com. Enjoy! -- GK
Ranma 1/2 Naisen
Episode 1
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING RANMA
A Somewhat Canonical
Ranma 1/2 Story
SMoonUsagi & RyougaLost
(NOTE: This is our own interpretation of the universe created by
Ms. Takahashi. Some things may be somewhat altered from the way
they appear in the anime and very different from the manga. Try to
keep an open mind, OK? Oh, and by the way, the events of this
story take place sometime after the OAV "One Grew Over Kuno's
Nest".)
Tendo School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts
12:18 a.m., Sunday morning
A final, resounding crash shook the dojo, rattling the support
struts in their foundations.
Tatewaki Kuno slid down the pole into which he'd been slammed face-
first and crumpled into an insensible heap on the tatami matting.
Genma Saotome and Soun Tendo lay in an untidy heap, dazed and
battered. Kodachi Kuno writhed helplessly on the floor, bound
back-to-back with Shampoo by Kodachi's gymnastic ribbon. A
bespectacled duck squawked in impotent fury from underneath an
empty fire bucket. Ryoga Hibiki struggled frantically to pull his
head out of a hole made by its hard impact through the wooden
flooring. Cologne perched on her walking-stick in the corner, far
from the fray, watching with her wise old eyes.
In the middle of the room stood a trembling red-haired female in a
Chinese red tunic and black pants entirely too large to fit. Her
face was contorted in a mask of outrage. She was streaming sweat,
breasts heaving, bare feet planted apart, arms ramrod-straight and
fisted to either side. Her burning eyes fixed on the three sisters
standing in the doorway, particularly on the youngest, Akane, who
glared back with equal fury.
Kasumi, the eldest Tendo sister, moved timidly forward with a
kettle of steaming water. The petite female didn't move as hot
water cascaded over scarlet hair which suddenly turned black.
Instantly gaining about thirty centimeters in height, forty
kilograms of bulk, and a complete change of gender, Ranma Saotome
wore once again the shape he was born to.
"Is...is that better, Ranma...?" Kasumi ventured, stepping back to
join her sisters.
"Yeah, Ranma, get a grip, why don't you?" Nabiki surveyed the
carnage in the dojo. "Baby, when you lose it, you don't go
halfway, do you?"
Akane said nothing. She continued to fix Ranma with a look of
irritated contempt.
Ranma didn't seem to notice or care. "I...don't...believe you
people!" he growled, raising his clenched fists. "It's always my
fault, ain't it? All I want is to be normal again, you got that?
I'm going back to China for sure this time, and I'm not coming back
till I'm cured...Aw, what's the use, anyway? Nothing I say or do
makes any difference to you. You're all convinced that I'm a
pervert, a cheat and a liar as well as a freak. Every time I try
to get myself straightened out, you all gang up on me and try to
beat me into submission! Well, I've had all I'm gonna put up with,
do you hear me?!?"
"Son-in-law please..." Cologne tapped forward to face him. "You
are obviously upset; however, there is no need--"
"'Upset' ain't the word, Cologne." Ranma folded his arms and
turned his back on the doorway where the sisters stood, facing his
father. Genma was still half-slumped against the wall, shaking his
head from the blow he'd received from his son. "Old man, I'm gonna
say this once, so you better remember it, okay? All my life I've
done everything you wanted. I've busted my ass trying to live up
to your stupid expectations. I've bent over backwards trying to
please you, and all you can do yell about how you 'failed' and how
'ashamed' you are of me." He blinked angrily to hold back the hot
tears that threatened to emerge. "Well, fine, then. If I'm such
a goddamn failure, then I'm gonna stop trying to please everybody.
It never works anyway, so why bother?"
Genma Saotome adjusted his glasses and hauled himself to his feet.
"Ranma, that's no way to talk to your father."
"I'm only being honest, Pop. I can't please you no matter what I
do--I can't do anything right--so I'm gonna stop trying. From now
on, it's my way or no way, okay?" He jabbed himself in the chest
with his thumb for emphasis. "And if I wanna go to China, or the
North Pole, or go live in a cave somewhere, nobody's gonna stop me.
You got that?" He turned on his bare heel and headed for the door.
Not being fools, Kasumi and Nabiki moved out of his way. Ranma
stopped short when Akane didn't move.
Strangely, the hatred had gone from her expressive eyes. She
studied his furious face as though seeing it for the very first
time. "Ranma..." she whispered, "where...where are you going?"
"What do you care?" Ranma looked back over his shoulder at the
others. "What do ANY of you care?! So long as I'm out of the way,
ain't that enough?" He looked back at Akane, who hadn't moved from
the middle of the doorway. "Look, you broke off our engagement,
remember? Again. For only about the thousandth time. Well, this
time it's final. I ain't your responsibility anymore. What I do
and where I go is none of your business, okay? Okay??"
Akane's face darkened into a scowl. "Fine, then," she said with
deadly coldness as she stepped to one side. "Go back to China,
then. Go to hell for all I care!" She turned away, pretending she
hadn't seen the moisture glittering in Ranma's dark eyes.
Without another word or a look back, Ranma left the dojo. Once
outside, he broke into a run and disappeared into the night.
"Ranma, my son--!" Genma headed for the doorway, but by the time
he reached it, Ranma was nowhere to be seen.
"Son-in-law..." Cologne sighed quietly and closed her eyes.
"Ranma..." Akane turned away, her anger fading. "You dummy..."
* * *
The tears he'd been struggling to hold back poured from Ranma's
eyes, faster than he could swipe them away. His bare feet pounded
the sidewalk; he ran aimlessly, without direction, not knowing if
anyone else would be on the streets at this hour and not really
caring if anyone saw him.
(Why does it always hafta be my fault?) he wondered hopelessly,
trying to will himself to stop crying and failing miserably. (I
didn't ask for any of this. I didn't go to China and fall into
that stupid spring on purpose! It wasn't even my lame idea to go
there! I would have been just as happy staying home with Mom and
training under our own roof, but NOOOooooooo...Pop had to take me
to the one place on the planet that would absolutely RUIN my life
forever. Why couldn't I have just drowned when I fell in instead
of changing into a girl?! Then none of this would ever have
happened!)
A sudden bright flash of lightning seared the sky overhead. Hard on
its heels came a cold drenching rain. Within seconds Ranma was
soaked and female. She ignored the rain and kept running, not
caring where she was going.
The only thing that finally stopped Ranma's headlong flight was the
river. She stood at its edge, panting, staring across the dark
water, then collapsed to her knees and began pounding the ground.
"Why? Why?" she screamed over the wind and thunder. "Why can't I
be normal? Why can't I have a real life? Why doesn't anyone ever
believe me when I tell'em I'm not to blame? WHY????"
The storm made no answer.
Finally, shivering, Ranma pulled herself up. The idea of spending
the night outside was only slightly better than the thought of
going back to the dojo, but she had to find somewhere to get out of
the rain. She started trudging slowly back up the hillside leading
to the river.
As she walked along, the rain seemed to get colder and colder. She
could barely see; the storm seemed to have knocked out most, if not
all, of the streetlights. When a light flickered on at the edge of
her vision, Ranma wandered that way simply because it was a single
bright spot in the shadows.
As she got nearer, she realized she was standing in front of Dr.
Tofu's office. For a long moment she hesitated, then finally
walked up and timidly slid the door open.
The lone occupant of the office looked up at the sound. "Why,
Ranma!" Tofu exclaimed, his pleasant face concerned. "You're out
late, aren't you? And you're soaked through!"
Ranma nodded slowly.
"Well, come on in. Is something wrong at the dojo?"
"Everything's wrong," Ranma muttered miserably as she walked in.
Dr. Tofu gave him a long measuring look as he closed the door,
walked over to a cabinet, and brought out a towel. "Here, Ranma,"
he said gently. "You must be pretty uncomfortable. You dry off,
and I'll see if I haven't got some dry clothes you can change
into."
Ranma took the towel; looked at it; burst into a fresh storm of
tears and collapsed to the floor. Tofu knelt, putting his hands on
the youngster's shoulders. "Ranma..." he said softly.
"Th-they all hate me," Ranma forced out between sobs. "Nothin' I
say or do makes any difference... they don't care about me. Nobody
does! I wish I were dead!"
Without another word Dr. Tofu put his arms around Ranma, pulling
the slim girl's body to his chest and stroking her hair soothingly.
"It's all right, Ranma... it's all right. Go ahead. Crying isn't
just for girls, trust me."
After a few minutes the sobs trailed off into weak hiccups, then
silence. "M'sorry, Dr. Tofu..."
"Don't be." Tofu reached out and snagged the towel, started drying
Ranma. "Now, why don't you tell me why things are so bad, and I'll
start some water boiling for you."
Ranma took a deep breath. "I guess it all starts with this dumb
curse..."
* * *
Morning.
Sunlight.
Ranma opened his eyes slowly, frowning a little. (Gee, that's
funny, my room doesn't face the east...) Sitting up, he looked
around. (Hey, this looks like--)
"Good morning, Ranma!" Dr. Tofu poked his head in through the
door. "I've got some breakfast ready for you. I'm afraid it's
just miso soup, but I think it'll keep you from starving before
lunchtime."
"Uh, thanks, Dr. Tofu. Listen, about last night-- I didn't mean
to, like, you know, dump on you."
"That's all right, Ranma. You know, most people don't realize
this, but healing is as much spiritual as it is mental." Tofu
walked in and passed the young man a bowl of soup, which ranma
began eating at once. "Your problems aren't trivial. I know
people sometimes make light of them, but they're not living in your
shoes. You have to remember two things." Dr. Tofu held up a
finger. "First, the one person you always have to live with and
listen to is you. As long as you can think well of yourself, you
don't have to worry what others think. Second--" he held up
another finger. "You can't give up hope that someday you'll be
able to put this all behind you. I know how dedicated you are to
being a good martial artist, and how strong your fighting spirit
is. Let that strength sustain you when things get rough, okay?"
"I-- I'll try."
"Good. Now, there's someone waiting to see you."
"Huh?"
Tofu turned and held open the door. A bedraggled-looking Akane
stood there, face downcast, peeking up at Ranma through her bangs.
"Hi... Ranma," she said.
"A-Akane." Ranma cocked his head. "Jeez, what's with you? You
look like you haven't slept in a week!"
"I didn't sleep last night, that's for sure--thanks to you," Akane
snapped, then sighed. "Ranma, I'm... I'm sorry."
Ranma could almost feel his brain seize up. (Whoa. Wait a sec.
Akane said she was sorry? To me?) "Uh--what for?" he forced out.
"I wasn't trying to sound mean just now. You-- you had everyone so
worried, Ranma. We spent half the night looking for you. If Dr.
Tofu hadn't called the dojo, we'd still be looking for you." Akane
took one tentative step forward. "Ranma, I know you're not as bad
as a lot of people think. I mean, everybody's got their faults,
right? It's just that..." She hung her head. "Ranma, I did a lot
of thinking last night. Maybe... maybe if we'd gotten started off
a little differently... we might be friends now, instead of
fighting all the time. We might care about each other's feelings."
"What makes you think I don't care?" Ranma clapped a hand over his
mouth, but it was too late to stop the words. Akane gave a little
start and looked him full in the face, eyes wide. "...Ranma?" she
breathed. "Does... does that mean.... you do care?"
"Well, I--that is, I mean--" (No! This is what always gets me in
trouble! I never get the words out fast enough, she says
somethin', I say somethin' back and we start fighting. I'm not
gonna let it happen again!) "Aw, Akane, if I didn't care this
wouldn't be so hard! I ain't exactly spent a lot of time--you
know, hanging out with people. I don't know how I'm supposed to
act or what to say, and seems like anything I do or say is wrong."
His eyes fell to his lap, where his fingers were twisting nervously
around each other. "I like you plenty," he said softly. "I just--
it's real hard for me."
After a moment Akane whispered, "Me too."
Silence.
Ranma squared his shoulders and stood up, put out his hand. "Hi.
I'm Ranma Saotome."
"Huh?"
"Just play along, okay?"
"O-okay." Akane put out her hand. "I'm Akane Tendo."
"I, uh, I got this problem. I, um, turn into a girl when I'm hit
with cold water. It's a curse. I got it in China."
"That's-- kind of a problem, all right." Akane took another step
forward. "But you're really a guy, right?"
"Yeah. Hot water turns me back to normal, till the next time.
And--and I'm lookin' for a cure, but I ain't found one yet." Ranma
sighed. "Can... can we be friends? I could really use a friend.
People sorta don't understand how hard it is sometimes to have this
kind of thing happening to you."
Akane smiled a little. "I'll try. I... I don't like boys too
much. I'm always getting chased by boys who want to date me. They
don't know how to take 'no' for an answer. And I've got a really
bad temper, and, and I can't cook, and that really, really makes me
feel stupid. I'm not very good at being a girl."
"Yeah, me too. I mean, with the temper and the girl stuff and
all."
"Are you a good martial artist?"
"I think so. Pretty good, anyway."
"Maybe... maybe you could teach me a little?"
"Sure."
"Okay then." Akane's smile widened. "If you... if you don't mind
that sometimes I'm not a very good girl--"
"You won't mind that sometimes I'm not a guy?"
"Yes!"
"Okay." Ranma smiled. Akane, looking at him, felt a strange
little flutter in her chest. (Why haven't I noticed before how
cute Ranma is? As a boy, he's really good-looking!... I guess...
maybe... I didn't want to think of him that way.)
Ranma moved toward the door. "I guess... we oughta be gettin' back
to the dojo. My pop might actually be worried about me."
"I think he is."
"Everything all right?" Dr. Tofu asked as the pair walked out.
"Yeah..." Ranma looked at Akane. "It is. Finally."
"That's good. You two take care." Tofu watched as Ranma and Akane
made their way down the sidewalk. Just as they topped the hill, he
saw Ranma's hand steal out to take Akane's and smiled. "Yes, I
think things are going to be fine," he said, and closed his door.
As they walked into the dojo, Kasumi looked out of the kitchen.
"Who's-- oh, Ranma, Akane! You found him. Good. Are you two
hungry?"
"I had something already, but Akane's probably pretty hungry,"
Ranma said.
"I haven't had breakfast yet," Akane admitted.
"Why'n'cha go ahead? I'm gonna go take a bath."
"Ranma!" Mr. Tendo all but exploded through the wall and got in
Ranma's face. "There you are! How dare you stay out all night and
worry us all half to death?"
"What kind of irresponsible act is that? I raised you better than
that, boy!" Genma added, coming to stand at his friend's shoulder.
Ranma folded his arms and stared at both of them in turn. "You
raised me better'n that, huh, Pop? Draggin' me all over the world?
Never lettin' us stay in one spot too long cause you were scared
someone'd catch up with all the tall tales you were tellin'? You
call that 'raising me better'? I don't think so!"
"What? How dare you--"
"You shut up!" Ranma took a half-pace forward, fists clenching.
"Now listen up! Yeah, I'm back. Yeah, I'm gonna try to make
something of this dumb promise you made about me and Akane. But it
ain't for you two, got it? It's for us, Akane and me. We're gonna
have a life, and from now on we're making our own choices. We're
gonna listen to you, but in the end we're gonna do what we want to
and not what someone makes us do. Live with it!"
Both men stared at Ranma as if he'd suddenly turned blue, sprouted
horns, and grown 30 feet tall. "You... and Akane?" Genma finally
managed to force out.
"That's right." Akane moved to put her hand on Ranma's shoulder.
"Dad, I love you, but it's my life. It's Ranma's life. He's
right. We are going to try to get along, but please--let us work
things out. Stop interfering and pushing us together."
Tendo stood stock-still a moment, then began to bawl. "Kasumi, did
you hear how she's talking to me?" he wailed.
"Oh, good grief." Akane shook her head.
Ranma glanced back at her. "You go on," he said quietly. "He'll
get over it. He always does."
"I know. I just wish he didn't feel hysterics were an essential
part of life!" Akane went towards the dining room. Ranma climbed
up the stairs, first leaping over the huddled mass of Tendo in
front of him, who was sobbing his heart out as Genma tried to
console him.
After breakfast and bath (respectively), Ranma and Akane retired to
their rooms, Akane catching up on lost sleep while Ranma lay on his
back and stared up at the ceiling, thinking. (This ain't gonna be
easy... Shampoo ain't gonna like it. Neither is Ukyou... or
Kuno... or Ryoga... But they're gonna have to live with it, too.
Everyone's just gonna have to get used to it.)
Rolling over, he closed his eyes and napped.
* * *
The next day was Monday, and school. As usual, Ranma and Akane
were running a bit late-- but today Ranma didn't run the fence; he
stayed right beside Akane all the way. She rewarded him with a
quick smile as they made it to class barely in time to beat the
tardy bell.
The substitute teacher, Mr. Awari, stood up before the assembled
class. "We have a new student joining today--" he held out his
hand towards one corner of the room--"Miss Neko Tamamichi."
A soft murmur rippled through the class. Mr. Awari rapped the desk
with his ruler to regain order. "Our new arrival is to be treated
with the same respect with which you would treat any other new
student--no more and no less. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Mr. Awari," the students murmured, while Ranma wondered why
such an odd announcement was necessary.
He took a moment to look the new girl over--and did a quick double-
take, eyes open wide. On top of her head, poking through sandy-
orange hair, was a pair of unmistakable cat's ears. (Cats. Great.
Why does it always have to be cats??? No wonder her folks named
her 'Neko'.) People whispered back and forth as she passed,
remarking on this obvious novelty; she obviously heard what they
said, but ducked her head and moved on quickly, not meeting
anyone's gaze. (Well, she looks like a nice girl...maybe since
she's only a little bit cat, it'll be okay.) He turned to watch
her pass and noticed that in addition to the ears, she had a neat
little tiger tail, about 2-3 feet long, poking out through a hole
in the back of her skirt. It twitched nervously out of the way as
she sat down.
Mr. Awari began droning on about the subject of the day, but Ranma
barely heard. An ancient Chinese curse kept running through his
mind: "May you live in interesting times." He found himself with
the sinking feeling that his life was about to become a lot more
interesting.
At noontime everyone clustered together, murmuring about the new
student. Ranma rolled his eyes--he hated that; reminded him too
much of how people enjoyed passing around gossip about him. "Man,
I hate that," he grumbled.
"Me too." Akane scowled. "Can't people every find anything better
around here to talk about than other people?"
Ranma shrugged. "Beats me."
"Well, I'm going to go get P-chan out of the shed," Akane said,
standing. "Can you do me a favor and be nice to him?"
"Sure, I suppose." (As long as you get him to be nice to ME.)
"Thanks, Ranma! I really appreciate it." A smile lit Akane's face
as she ran off towards the P.E. equipment shed. It was beginning
to look like she and Ranma might really be able to be happy.
Swinging the door open, she called, "P-chan? P-chan!"
No little snuffles or squeals answered her. Looking around, she
noticed a pane broken out of one of the windows. That meant the
little pig could've have slipped out through the hole. "Oh,
no...." Immediately she began looking around. "P-chan? Come here,
baby!"
Her voice failed to carry to the other side of the campus, near the
little wooded thicket at the side of the exercise yard, where a
small black piglet was currently wandering around aimlessly,
completely lost and utterly miserable.
(You idiot,) Ryoga/P-chan told himself. (You should have known
better than this. You should've stayed in the shed until lunch.)
(But I was so thirsty...)
With a sigh he sat down, staring at the dirt beneath his front
trotters. (Hell. I'm in hell. And it doesn't look like I'm ever
getting out. Damn you, Ranma Saotome, this is all your fault! You
have it easy. At least you turn into a human girl. A beautiful
human girl. No one tries to sell you at the stockyards. When I
think of how easy life is for you, I could....I could....) he
gritted his teeth, feeling the anger rising up inside of him.
Something rustled in the bushes behind him.
Instincts at the alert, Ryoga/P-chan whirled, eyes narrowing--then
widening in surprise at what he saw. A girl (a pretty girl) was
crouched among the grasses, eyes wide and bright and fixed on him.
For a second they confronted one another, and in that brief pause
he could see the predatory gleam in her gaze, watched the cat ears
atop her head
(Cat ears????)
turn forward like two furry radar dishes, tracking his slightest
movement. Then, with a happy yowl, she leapt at him. Instantly he
whirled and ran, hearing her behind him, keeping up with him.
(What is this!!!!)
Squealing, Ryoga/P-chan put forth his best effort. It was usually
enough to leave anyone behind--the one thing he had going for him
in this form.
It wasn't enough.
He felt two arms sweep him up and went limp as the girl tumbled
head over heels in the grass, coming up with him snuggled to her
chest. "Got you!" she carolled. "Tag--you're it!"
He glared upward. (Tag? Tag?!? What do you think I...I...)
Soft green eyes flecked with gold, like shafts of sunlight through
a jungle canopy, met his. Lost in their cool depths, he could
only stare upward without a sound.
"Oh, you're so cute," the girl continued, stroking one finger
gently down the middle of his head from front to back and smiling
at him. "Are you someone's pet?"
Ryoga/P-chan managed a nod.
"Oh, and you're smart, too!" The smile grew sad and wistful. "I
wish I had a pet like you," she said in a softer tone. "I wish I
had anyone." Silver glittered amidst the green and she hastily
turned her face away, though not before he glimpsed a tear slide
free and dance down her cheek. "If only...if only I was just like
everyone e-else..."
Ryoga/P-chan's heart of glass promptly turned to melted butter.
Gingerly he put his front trotters up on the kitty-girl's shoulder
and craned his face up to hers. As his tongue lapped away the
wandering tear, she gasped softly, incredible eyes widening.
"Ohhhh..." She tightened her arms around him in a quick hug, then
ducked her head and drew in a quick breath. "I guess we'd better
find whoever you belong to. I'm sure they've missed you by now."
(Huh--? Akane!) Ryoga/P-chan grunted in self-reproach as the girl
stood up with him still in her arms. (How could I possibly forget
all about her, even for a moment? How could I allow myself to be
distracted by this--this girl? This amazing... beautiful...
lonely...girl...???) It wasn't as if Ryoga Hibiki understood
nothing about loneliness. The disconsolate sorrow resounding in
the cat-girl's delicate voice called forth an answering echo deep
in his wanderer's soul. (If only I could speak some word of
comfort to her...if only I could at least let her know that I truly
understand her pain...I think I could learn to like this
girl...What am I thinking?!?!?! Akane...I mustn't forget--)
"P-Chaaaan! Where are you, P-chan?"
Neko's ears pricked up. "I bet that's who you belong to," she
said, starting in the direction of the distant call. The world
blurred around them, so fast it almost took Ryoga's breath away,
and suddenly as they topped the hill he could see Akane.
Immediately he let out a shrill squeak of delight.
Akane turned, eyes widening as Neko slid to a stop and shyly held
out P-chan. "P-chan!" she said, taking the little pig and cuddling
him close. "Oh, baby, where did you run off to?"
"I, I found him back there," Neko said shyly, pointing behind her.
"I scared him a little, I guess. I didn't mean to. He ran away,
and I had to chase him."
"And you caught him? Wow. You must be really fast." Akane looked
at the other girl. "You're, um, Neko Tamamichi, aren't you? I'm
Akane Tendo. Thank you for finding P-chan for me. He kind of
wanders off sometimes."
Neko nodded. "You're welcome."
"Can--I ask you something?"
Neko gave a tiny nod.
"What were you doing in the woods, anyway? I mean, it's not that
we're not supposed to go there, but not a lot of people do, and
it's almost off-campus."
Neko opened her mouth to answer, but never had a chance. From
behind Akane came a chorus of voices:
"Me-ow-ow-ow..."
"Heeeere kitty kitty kitty...."
"Hey, cat girl! You want a bowl of milk? C'mon over here, I've
got some nice catnip for you, right here in my pocket. You want
it, kitty girl? Come and get it!"
"Hey, I got a collar and leash somewhere that'd fit you just
perfect. Wanna come home and be my pet, huh?"
Akane whirled, found herself staring at a group of upperclassmen
with smirks on their faces. She glanced back just in time to see
Neko shrink into herself, eyes full of pain, and drop to the
ground, covering her ears with both hands. Instantly her temper
burst into flame. "How dare you!" she shouted, letting P-chan (who
was snarling and baring his teeth in unconcealed rage at the
taunts) slip out of her arms. "You are so insensitive and
immature! How can you be so cruel?!!" Her hand closed around the
shaft of a mallet, plucked from somewhere, and she raised it high
above her head. "You--you--animals!!"
The boys scattered as she waded into the group and started
swinging, helping them on their way with a few well-placed blows.
Those that avoided her found a small black tornado masquerading as
P-chan snapping at whatever he could reach. Only when they were
well and truly gone did she turn back. "I'm sorry," she said,
sitting down beside Neko. "I guess now I know why you were out
here all alone." She clasped Neko's shoulder. "Don't pay any
attention to them. They're just--dummies, all of them. Boys are
all such dummies!"
Neko sighed. "I should be used to it. It's always the same.
Sometimes it just takes a little longer to start happening." She
reached out and petted P-chan absently as he nudged her hand.
"Is that why you transferred?"
"Uh-huh. Eleven times."
"Eleven??" Akane gasped. "You've been to eleven different
schools??"
"Twelve, counting this one."
"That must make it hard to keep up with your..." Akane fell silent
as something else occurred to her. She knelt in the grass beside
Neko and put a hand on her shoulder. "But you don't have any
friends to keep up with, do you?" she asked gently.
A tiny, miserable shake of the head.
Impulsively Akane hugged Neko. "Well, you do now. If those boys--
if anyone--dares to bother you again, I'll--I'll--knock their
blocks off!"
Wide green eyes looked at her hopefully. "Would you?" Neko
whispered.
Akane smiled back. "I sure would!"
* * *
Ranma glanced at the clock set in the top of the school tower.
(Man, I wonder where Akane is? She's gonna miss lunch!)
As if hearing the subject of his thoughts, Akane and another girl
came around the corner, chatting. P-chan was snugged in Akane's
arms, and at the sight of Ranma he snarled.
"Hiya, piggy boy," Ranma replied absently, looking at Akane's
companion. (That's the cat-girl. Figures. Akane would just have
to go and make friends with her...well, she ain't too bad. I guess
I can handle it.) "Hi, 'Kane. Who's your friend?"
"This is Neko," Akane said. "P-chan got out of the shed, and I was
looking for him--that's why I was gone so long. Neko found him and
brought him to me."
"Hello," Neko said softly.
"Hiya," Ranma answered.
Neko made a little bow and stood, eyes cast down shyly. For a
moment an awkward silence stood between the trio, none of them
knowing quite what to say next.
Fate took pity on them.
"Ranma Saotome!"
"Aw, man..." Ranma turned, hands slipping into his pockets. "What
d'you want, Kuno?"
"You will address me as 'Upperclassman Kuno'," the older boy said,
flicking a fan open with practiced ease.
"Whatever. So, Totally Wacky, what's up?"
Kuno's eyes narrowed fractionally. "You are fortunate I have other
matters to attend to shortly, or I would teach you to speak with
more respect to your betters."
"Sure--soon as some show up."
"Ranma...." Akane said, trying to defuse the situation. "Let's
just go to class, okay? Unless you like standing in the hall for
being late."
"In a minute, Akane. This is guy stuff." Ranma turned back to
face Kuno. "You ain't answered my question."
"It is merely this. Rumor has it that Akane has once more accepted
you as her fiancee. Is this true?"
"Man, that stuff travels fast. --Yeah, that's right, Kuno."
"And what business is it of yours anyway?" Akane added in an
irritated tone.
"Rogue! Base scoundrel!" With a whissh Kuno drew his bokken and
took a stance. "To toy with the fair Akane's affections! Indeed
you have no honor, Ranma Saotome, nor propriety; encouraging Akane
on the one hand whilst you dally with others on the side! Is this
another of your choices?" he added, gazing at Neko, who was looking
wide-eyed from him to Ranma to Akane and back again. "As delicate
as the first blossoms of spring, and of countenance most
fair...Ahem!" He threw off his romantic fugue as quickly as it had
come over him. "Nevertheless, I, Tatewaki Kuno, champion of women
everywhere, cannot allow this affront to stand. Prepare to be
chastised!"
"Be a pal, Kuno," Ranma groaned, "can't you wait till after school
or something? You're gonna make me late to class."
"You seek to escape? The vengeance of heaven is slow but sure, and
I am its appointed minion! Have at you!" Kuno charged, the blade
swinging up and back for a strike. All in one smooth action, Ranma
shoved Neko aside, wrapped an arm around Akane's waist, and leapt
into the air, soaring up and over the arc of the sword, to land
light-footed behind Kuno. "Just stay out of the way," he told
Akane. "This won't take long. Sorry about this."
Akane didn't answer, not with words. Her eyes were fastened on
his, a little dreamy, and the faintest pinkness colored her cheeks.
A soft half-sigh escaped her parted lips. For a moment Ranma found
himself caught up in her gaze, feeling it touch something deep
inside him. Then his fighting reflexes kicked in, pulling all his
attention to the threat at hand. Not that he considered it too
much of a threat--Kuno was extremely good with a sword, but relying
on a weapon to fight with wasn't a smart move, in his opinion.
After all, suppose your foe took the weapon away? Then where would
you be?
All of this passed through the back of his mind and vanished as he
circled, hands in a strike position, watching Kuno's stance, the
motions of his body, the barely perceptible narrowing of his eyes
as he darted forward again, sword sweeping in. Ranma clapped his
hands to either side of the blade, stopping it inches shy of his
chest, and rolled backwards, adding the momentum and weight of his
movement to Kuno's and sending the older boy sailing into the
nearest tree. Finishing the roll, he came to his feet. "Had
enough, Kuno?"
"You mock me, Saotome!" Kuno leapt to his feet, the red mark of
the tree-trunk plain on his face. "Indeed shall I take pleasure in
instructing you in common civility!" He ran at Ranma, the bokken
blade flicking out in thrust after thrust, so fast that the
individual strokes were invisible, and he appeared to be
surrounding Ranma with a fan of wood. Ranma retreated, drawing the
battle away from the girls.
Neko turned to Akane, worried. "Shouldn't we do something?"
Akane shrugged. "Why bother?"
"What? But--but he'll be killed!"
"You don't know Ranma very well, do you?" Akane's tone softened at
the obvious distress on Neko's face. "Don't worry. Just watch.
Ranma knows what he's doing." (I don't believe I said that.)
P-chan chose that moment to wriggle furiously, dropping free of
Akane's grasp, and darted towards the combatants. Akane cried out,
"P-chan! No!" and tried to catch him, but the tiny black piglet
moved neatly out of her range, heading for and throwing himself at
Ranma's legs, trying to trip him.
In the same second of time, three things happened:
Ranma dropped, catching himself on one hand, rolling clear of
Kuno's strike and bringing one foot up to block the incoming blow;
Kuno, a snarl on his features, brought the bokken down with such
force it made the air crackle;
A small orange and blond blur shot from the side and snagged P-chan
in mid-leap, shooting through the midst of the battle and pulling
behind it a wind so powerful it knocked both boys backwards about
10 feet. Unfortunately, both found objects waiting for them at
about 7 and 9 feet, respectively (Ranma left a perfect outline of
himself in the schoolyard fence, while Kuno attempted to become an
integral part of the side of a storage shed).
Skidding to a stop about halfway down the exercise yard (and
digging grooves in the grass as she did so), Neko looked back over
her shoulder. "Please forgive me," she called, heading back that
way at a considerably slower pace. "Did I hurt anyone?"
"Whoa..." Ranma peeled himself out of the chain-link, shook his
head to clear it, and looked up to see Kuno still performing live-
action impressionistic art. "What you'd do?"
"It's, I..." she stammered. "I run fast. If I'm not careful, the
slipstream knocks people over. I'm very very sorry, I was just
trying to keep P-chan from getting hurt!"
"Are you all right, Ranma?" Akane ran over to him, helping him
stand. "And P-chan-- oh baby, are you all right?" she continued as
she accepted the dizzy little pig back from Neko.
"I'm...not...but thank you...for asking..." Kuno slid down in a
crumpled heap to the ground and lay there. "Perhaps...I shall
just...rest here for a while..."
"That's some incredible speed." Ranma dusted himself off. "You
two okay?" he asked Akane and Neko.
Both girls nodded.
"C'mon, maybe if we hurry we can--" Ranma stopped mid-sentence as
the bell rang. "Aw, nuts!"
* * *
"It's all right, really," Neko said in a whisper, shifting the
bucket of water from one hand to the other. "I don't mind." She
giggled. "I've never been late to class before!"
"Get used to it," Akane whispered back. "Ranma has that effect on
people."
"Oh yeah, like it's my fault," Ranma hissed.
"Why do we have to hold these buckets?" Neko went on, peering at
hers curiously.
"It is meant to teach us discipline," Kuno muttered. "Though in
Saotome's case, I much misdoubt its efficacity."
"Kuno, don't'cha think you oughta cough up that dictionary before
you choke on it?"
"Silence, Ranma! What would you know of higher education, you
unlettered lout?"
"Hey!" Ranma shifted, scowled at Kuno. "I know my letters."
"Remarkable. How did they manage that? Oh well, I've heard it
said one can teach a chimpanzee to spell. Doubtless they used the
same method on you."
Ranma gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to pound a few dents
into Kuno's head with the bucket. A hand touched his arm and he
whipped around to stare into Akane's eyes. "Don't let him bait
you," she said quietly. "You know he's just trying to get you to
start another fight."
"...Yeah," Ranma admitted, and sighed. "So, um, Neko...how do you
like Furinkan so far?"
Neko dipped her head, smiling shyly. "It's very nice," she
answered. "Different from all the other places I've been. Usually
no one would bother to talk to me there for at least 3 weeks after
I started classes!" She cocked her head at Ranma. "I almost
couldn't follow you, you and, um, Kuno?"
Kuno bowed. "I am indeed Kuno, fair lady of the feline
persuasion."
"You were moving so fast. Do you practice martial arts?"
Ranma grinned. "You bet! Saotome school of Anything Goes Martial
Arts."
"Anything Goes? I've never heard of that."
"Well, yeah. There's not that many people that would have heard of
Anything-Goes. Only folks that teach it are my pop and Akane's
pop, pretty much. It's a form of kempo."
"Oh! Do you have a dojo?" Neko's ears cocked forward with
interest.
"Yep."
"Which our parents wanted us to inherit," Akane broke in.
"So that's why you were talking about 'fiancee'."
"A crass mistake, in my opinion," Kuno muttered.
Akane nodded. "Ranma and I had nothing to do with it at first,
but...we're decided to try to make the best of it."
P-chan, at her feet, chose that moment to let out a heart-rending
squeal and fall over on his side. Akane knelt. "Oh, P-chan!
What's wrong, baby?" She picked up the limp little piglet. "I
think he's fainted!"
"Probably got too hot today," Ranma supplied.
Akane nodded and dipped her hand in her own bucket of water,
sprinkling it on P-chan's skin to cool him.
"Having your parents decided you should get married...that must've
been very hard on you both."
Akane stole a glance at Ranma, who was studying the ceiling
suddenly. "You could say that," she said. "So, do you practice
martial arts?"
Neko looked shamefaced. "No," she admitted finally. "I usually
just run away, or climb a tree."
"You don't--" Ranma began.
"--Know how to fight?" Akane finished.
Neko shrank into herself just a tiny bit and shook her head.
Meanwhile, P-chan had recovered and was looking up into Akane's
face mournfully. (No... it can't be... please, Akane, say you
didn't mean that! It must be some trick of Saotome's. I have to
find some hot water and change so I can save you from him!) A
movement caught his attention, and he followed it over to Neko,
whose tail was twitching idly to and fro as she stood quietly in
the hall. (How could anyone be cruel to such a wonderful girl? If
I ever catch any of those boys bothering her again, I'll kill
them!...Wait. Why am I bothering? She doesn't even know me.)
(But she was worried about me...)
(So what?! What difference should that make to me? Let her fight
her own battles! I have Akane to think about.)
('I wish I had anyone...if only I was just like everyone else...')
Ryoga/P-chan shook his head violently, trying to dislodge the
memory. (The world is a dark and lonely place,) he reminded
himself firmly. (Everyone has to find their own way. If I start
concerning myself with everyone I meet, what will there be left for
me? I deserve a little happiness!)
"So what are you doing this weekend, Neko?" Akane asked.
"Nothing, really. Probably just stay in my room and read." Neko
sighed. "That's what I do most nights."
"I've got a great idea. Why don't you come over and spend the
night at my house? Do you think your parents would mind?"
"I don't know...I don't think so." Neko looked over at Akane
hopefully. "You wouldn't mind?"
"Of course not! I haven't had a slumber party since my best friend
Kiku moved to Osaka two years ago. It'll just be you and me, okay?
We'll have lots of fun."
"I'd like that. Is there anything special I should bring?"
Akane laughed. "Well, pajamas, of course, and a change of clothes.
But mostly just bring you!"
Neko nodded happily. "I'll ask my parents when I get home after
school, and give you a call."
* * *
That afternoon Ranma came straight home and sought out his father.
He found Genma sitting in front of the koi pond. "Pop...we gotta
talk," he said, crouching.
Genma Saotome sat cross-legged on a flat rock, a long pipe dangling
from his lips, arms crossed, eyes shut. If he heard his son, he
didn't respond.
"Look, Pop, I'm sorry about what I said, okay? I mean, it's not
like I didn't mean it, but I could've found a better way to say it.
Okay?"
Genma's eyes slowly opened. He reached up, adjusted his glasses,
and slowly looked at his only son. "Ranma..."
"Yeah, Pop?"
"Are you sick or something?"
Ranma blinked. "Huhwha? What d'you mean, Pop?"
"In sixteen years, my son..." Genma tapped the burnt-up tobacco
from his pipe. "This is the first time you've ever apologized to
me for anything you've said or done. Are you feeling all right?"
"Jeez!" Ranma straightened, fists clenching. "Why is it that
every time I try to be nice, people think I'm sick or something?"
"Maybe because you're usually such a jerk," Nabiki suggested
helpfully as she passed by the open door of the Tendos' living
room.
"Nabiki, you're not helping, okay?" Ranma turned back to his
father. "Look, if you don't wanna accept my apology, fine. I
just...I just wanted to let you know..." He dropped his head, the
tension draining out of him. "I just wanted to tell you I was
sorry for the way I said stuff, okay?"
He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up. Genma's expression
was oddly gentle. "Don't worry about it, son. What's past is
past. What we have to consider now is the future." With a sigh he
pocketed his pipe. "My boy.. I want you to know there are things
I've done in the past I regret as well. I also could've found a
better way to say things, or do things, I suppose. But as I said,
done is done." He stood. "And things are going to be better from
now on. Believe in that."
Ranma nodded. "I'm trying to."
Genma nodded as well and moved off towards the house.
* * *
Neko's parents didn't mind in the least; in fact, the idea of a
sleepover with a new friend was very good news to them. Mr.
Tamamichi dropped his daughter off promptly on Saturday at 6 p.m.
at the Tendo hall, just in time for dinner. By that time Akane had
had time to tell everyone about her guest, and threaten dire dooms
to anyone who made fun of the way Neko looked.
Considering the history of two people in the household, she had
nothing to worry about. Genma and Ranma were both on their best
behavior, and it proved very easy to overlook the ears and tail.
Somehow, Akane found, once you got past the initial shock Neko
looked...right, somehow. As if she were meant to be exactly the
way she was. When Soun and Genma unbent enough to start spinning
some of their stories of the road, Akane smiled happily, knowing
her new friend had been accepted.
"So," she said when they were settled in bed (with P-chan snuggled
between them), "what do you like to do?"
"Well, I like to read," Neko said slowly, ticking things off on her
fingers. "I can skate, but I usually only go on days when...you
know.. not many people will be there. And I wear a hat and tuck my
tail into my jeans. But it's not very comfortable. When we lived
in Shizuoka, we used to go boating on the weekends. Pappa was in
the merchant marine for a long time, until he got hurt in a storm
at sea. He works out of our home now, on the computer. I help
him, sometimes. Mamma is teaching me how to sew, I like doing
that--oh, and I love stargazing. Pappa gave me a little telescope
that I keep out on my balcony. Our house has two floors, and all
the upstairs bedrooms have balconies. Just little ones, though.
How about you?"
"Well, I'm trying to learn how to cook, but I'm not very good at it
yet. I can sew, a little, and I'm really good at martial arts.
And I like skating too. Maybe we could go to the skating rink
sometime." Akane shifted a little. "Hey, do you want to trade
secrets?"
"Like what?"
"Well, each of us tells the other one a special secret thing we
wish we could do, or have, and that makes us special friends,
because we know something special about one another."
"Okay."
"All right. Let me see..." Akane's thoughts drifted. "Once I got
lost in a forest in the mountains. It was really scary because
there were this huge animals. I mean, really really big. But this
boy named Shinnosuke found me and helped me get home. Sometimes I
wish I could've stayed longer, because he and his grandfather were
really nice people. Sometimes I think about them and wish I could
visit them, just to see how they're getting along." She turned
over, looked at Neko. "Your turn."
"I wish..." Neko cocked her head. "I wish I could get lost, just
once."
"Huh?" Akane said, sitting up and staring (as did P-chan). "What
do you mean, you wish you could get lost?"
"Well, it would be exciting--at least I guess it would. Kind of an
adventure." Neko shrugged. "I have a very good sense of
direction. I always know which way to go to get wherever I want to
be. I don't even need a map."
"Wow," Akane breathed. "That must be handy. You mean, even if
you've never been to a place, you can find it?"
Neko nodded. "I just start walking and I get there. Pappa says
it's almost like I have a world-wide homing instinct. It's very
handy in geography class." She yawned, then giggled. "Oh, that
was rude of me!"
"No, that's okay--" Akane stifled her own yawn. "I guess it's time
we slept, anyway. Good night, Neko."
"Good night, Akane."
"And good night to you too, P-chan," Akane continued, bending to
give the piglet (who was still staring at Neko) a kiss. Both girls
curled up and were fast asleep in moments.
(I'm in Hell,) Ryoga thought as he lay awake between them. (Why is
this happening to me? First Ranma and Akane decide that they want
to try to work things out--as if there'll ever be any peace between
them as long as Ranma keeps being the pervert he is!--and now
there's this girl. This beautiful, sweet-tempered, talented girl
with a perfect sense of direction...why are the Gods picking on me?
What did I ever do to deserve this?) With a disconsolate little
sound, he shut his eyes and finally managed to drift off.
The next morning dawned clear and warm. Akane opened the window
and let the breeze blow in, smiled up at the sky. "Today," she
announced to no one in particular, "is going to be an extra-
specially good day, and I won't hear anything different." She
walked out and stuck her head over the bannister. "Daddy, is it
all right if Neko takes her morning bath before you, since she's my
guest?"
"Of course, Akane," Tendo replied, leafing through the morning
paper. "Tell her to go right ahead."
A few minutes later, P-chan, stretching and yawning, trotted out
the door and spent several minutes wandering around in the hall
before he found the down staircase. Once on the ground floor, he
spent several more minutes wandering around until he found the door
outside. However, he was in luck; it took only ten more minutes to
find the pond straight ahead of him. Once there, he sat down and
stared into the water broodingly.
"Well, if it isn't P-chan," came from behind him. Ranma walked
over and grinned mockingly down at him. "Aw, what's the matter,
widdle piggy? Didn't you like having two girls at once last night?
Jeez, and they call me a pervert. If only Akane knew..."
Fire flashed in P-chan's eyes. With a squeal of absolute rage he
launched himself at Ranma, who ducked and struck at him. The
piglet dodged, crouched, and ran in to sink his teeth into Ranma's
ankle. Instantly Ranma's fist slammed into his head.
Simultaneously a bar-bell slammed into Ranma's head. He toppled
over, right into the pond. Akane strolled calmly out and scooped
up P-chan. "Serves you right for teasing poor P-chan," she said as
Ran-chan emerged from the pond. Turning on her heel, she walked
away, back very straight.
Ran-chan squinted after them. "One of these days, Ryoga," she
growled, "one of these days..."
"There you are, baby," Akane said, putting down the piglet. "Now
be a good boy and stay out of trouble, okay?"
The instant she left, P-chan leapt up and trotted into the hall.
He knew the bathroom was somewhere in the upstairs area. Tendo
should be taking a bath right about now, and that meant hot water.
Hot water, in turn, meant a return to humanity. Then Ranma would
be in for the beating of his life. At last locating the proper
door, he nudged it open and walked to the tub, leapt up and in.
In the second before he plunged beneath the surface, he caught a
glimpse of orange and blonde hair. (What the--???)
The second after he plunged beneath the surface, Ryoga found
himself staring at a very startled Neko.
For the space of a heartbeat neither one moved or made a sound.
Then Neko drew a deep breath, mouth starting to open. Instantly
Ryoga leaned forward, holding out his hands pleadingly. "No,
please, don't scream!" he said urgently.
"But you--you--" Neko blinked several times in rapid succession.
Her expression changed, softened. "Oh, your poor thing," she said
gently. "It must be horrible, not being able to let people know
you're not really a little pig!"
"It's Hell," Ryoga said, fists clenching and trembling with his
rage. "Pure Hell! You can't begin to imagine the torments I've
undergone. And this agony is all Ranma Saotome's fault. If he'd
stayed to fight with honor, I wouldn't be suffering under this
monstrous curse that makes me only half a man!..." he trailed off
helplessly.
Neko looked at him searchingly. "Akane doesn't know?"
"No." Ryoga smiled, half wistful, half bitter, eyes sliding shut.
"And if she ever learned the truth, it would break her heart...and
mine too. I would have nothing left to live for then. I long for
the day when I find a cure, when I can tell her how I truly feel
about her."
A touch on his shoulder made him start and look up, into the green
depths only inches away. "When your whole life's dark, you hold
onto any happiness you can find," Neko said gently. "No matter
what you risk for it."
"Yes..." Ryoga reached out, took her by the shoulders. "Of course
you'd understand. You know what it feels like. The loneliness,
the heartache..."
"If Akane ever finds out," Neko said simply, "it won't be from me.
I promise."
"Thank you. I knew you were as beautiful inside as you are
outside."
"B-Beautiful?" Neko shook her head. "I'm not--I can't be."
"Oh yes you can, and you are," he insisted. "Don't you dare
believe anyone who tells you otherwise. Just because you don't
look like one of those stupid, air-headed people on television
doesn't mean you're ugly. You're not. You could never be."
Neko blushed, just a tiny bit, and nodded slowly. "I believe you."
"Good." Ryoga let go of her and sat back, only then realizing that
both of them were stark naked and only a foot or so apart.
Apparently the same realization hit Neko at about the same time;
her eyes widened again and she immediately crossed her arms over
her breasts, sliding down a little farther under the water in a
vain attempt to conceal herself. Ryoga, for his part, turned beet-
red and immediately looked away. "Uh, uh, uh," he stammered, not
sure what to say.
The problem was solved--and compounded--by a knock on the door.
"Neko?" Akane's voice sounded. "Are you almost done?" She poked
her head in. "Breakfast is ready. I'm sure you'll like it--
Kasumi's a really good cook."
Neko, alone in the tub, smiled and nodded. "Be there in a minute,
Akane."
"Okay." Akane smiled. She withdrew and footsteps receded down the
hall. As soon as they were out of hearing, Neko reached down into
the water and hauled up Ryoga, who gasped for air as he broke the
surface. "I have to go," she said.
Ryoga nodded. "I'm eternally grateful. From now on, if I can help
you, please don't hesitate to ask. Anything."
"Well there's one thing you can do right now."
"What?"
"Tell me your name."
"Ryoga. Ryoga Hibiki."
"Ryoga." Neko beamed. "I like that name."
"Y-you do?" Ryoga shook himself. "I, uh, I've got to go, too."
Reaching up, he snagged the shower attachment and switched it on
cold, let the water stream over him.
As soon as he'd changed into a pig, Ryoga/P-chan closed his eyes
and sat down. The splashing of water was followed by the rustle of
clothes. Finally he felt Neko's hands close around him and he
opened his eyes to see her smiling at him. "Hot water makes you a
boy, cold water makes you a piglet?" she asked.
He nodded.
"I'll remember." The smile deepened. "You might just need someone
who understands."
Very emphatic nod. He nuzzled against her shoulder as she carried
him down the stairs.
Surprisingly enough, Ranma didn't make the usual snide comments at
the breakfast table as Akane and Neko took turns feeding Ryoga/P-
chan morsels from their chopsticks. (He must be on his best
behavior because we have company,) Ryoga decided. (We'll see how
long that lasts. I don't really think Saotome has the self-control
to hold his tongue for long.)
When Akane set P-chan on the table to drink out of his own personal
soup bowl, he managed to "accidentally" step on the edge of the
saucer, tipping the contents. "Hey!" Ranma yelled as miso dribbled
off the table's edge onto his pants leg. "Why you little...!"
"Skwee...?" Ryoga/P-chan squealed, blinking huge, innocent eyes.
"Ranma," warned Akane, reaching for her pet.
Ranma half-rose from his pillow, froze, then settled back down and
grabbed for a dishcloth. "Aw, man, I'm not lettin' a pig spoil my
mood, okay?" he grumbled--almost good-naturedly!--as he swiped at
his knee. "Akane, I'm sorry about pickin' on him earlier."
"That's very nice of you, Ranma," Kasumi beamed across the table at
him.
"How uncharacteristic," Nabiki remarked to the latest issue of
MonMon.
Ryoga/P-chan felt his mind approach vapor-lock. He dangled loosely
in Akane's arms, eyes the size of white pork dumplings. (He's gone
mad. Saotome's finally lost what mind he had! The poor man...I
knew he had a weak spirit, but I never thought...!!!) For the
first time in his life, Ryoga felt something like pity for his
rival.
"Oh, my poor little baby..." Akane cuddled P-chan close, mildly
alarmed at his lack of response.
"I'll go get him a glass of water," Neko said, standing up and
pouncing out of the room. Three seconds later a sound that was
half scream, half caterwaul, rang down the hall.
"Huh?--Neko!!" Ranma released Tendo and bolted out the door,
followed closely by Akane (still holding P-chan).
Out in the hall, Akane and Ranma found Neko on all fours, her back
arched, tail straight up and puffed out, and ears laid back. It
reminded Akane uncannily of the time Ranma had 'catted out'. She
was growling softly in the back of her throat. Standing over her,
with a remorseful look on his furry face, was a three hundred-plus
pound panda with a pair of loop glasses dangling from one ear.
"Aw, jeez, Pop...!!!" Ranma glared at the panda. "Pop, you gotta
be more careful! Look at what you made her do!"
"Rowr mowr..." Genma/Panda rumbled contritely.
"Neko?" Akane went down on her knees, holding out a hand slowly.
"Are--are you okay?"
Neko looked at her and Akane gasped. Neko's eyes were glowing a
soft green, and the pupils were no longer round, like a human's but
slit, like a cat's. Abruptly Neko shut her eyes and shook herself,
then sat down. When she looked around again, her eyes were
perfectly normal. "What? Oh--" she covered her face with her
hands. "I'm sorry! I-- oh, Akane, I was so rude!"
"Of course you weren't!" Akane put P-chan down and took Neko's
shoulders. "You got scared, right?"
Neko nodded. "When I get startled or scared or really mad, a lot
of times I... well...." her blush deepened. "My cat side sort of
comes out." She blinked furiously, trying to stave off tears.
"I'm so sorry!"
"It's all right..." Akane pulled her in for a hug. "Nobody thinks
you're weird or anything. That's what you're really afraid of,
isn't it?"
"Yes...."
"Trust me, around here, we have a lot weirder things going on than
you and your cat side."
"You're sure?" Neko gave Akane a pathetically grateful look.
"Cross my heart."
"Thank you, Akane," and Neko hugged the other girl back. "Um,
could I ask where the panda came from now?"
"It's my Pop," Ranma said. "He, um, he has this curse..."
"Ah?" Neko cocked her head. "But that's wonderful!"
"Lemme explain--huh? What'd you say?"
"Neko, what do you mean?" Akane asked.
Neko reached around and grabbed her tail, held it out towards the
others. "Me too," she said simply. "I was born like this. I'm
half cat and half girl. It's because of something my parents did."
"Boy, does that sound familiar," Ranma muttered, earning a clout
from Genma-Panda. "Ow! Hey, what'd'ja do that for?"
"Go on," Akane said. "I mean, if you want to."
"Well, my parents told me once that before I was born they weren't
very friendly. They weren't bad people, but they just didn't care
about anyone else but themselves. One day, though, as Mamma was
hanging out some clothes, a cat came into the yard begging for
food. It was awfully thin and dirty, and Mamma shooed it away.
When it wouldn't leave, Poppa threw a stone at it." Neko shifted
a little. "Well, when he hit it, the stone just bounced off, and
the next thing they knew the cat had turned into this handsome
young man in green armor. He told them he was Kitakaze no Ryu, the
Dragon of the North Wind, and that the Celestial Emperor had sent
him and his brothers, the other Dragons of the Wind, all around the
world to see what kinds of people live here.
"Because they were mean to a humble creature of the Buddah, he
cursed them. 'Your child will be born half cat and half human, to
remind you of the cat you were cruel to,' he said. 'People will be
unkind to her as unknowingly as you were unkind to me, and she will
know great sorrow because of it; and every time you see her
weeping, you will be reminded of your thoughtlessness. However,
since I know your daughter will be as forgiving and loving as you
have not been up to this point, I will give her a blessing that
will make up in part for the curse she will bear all her life long,
her and her children and all those who carry her blood. The first
part of my blessing is that she will always know where she is and
how to get to where she wants to be, without need of maps or
directions. The second part of my blessing is that no evil magic
and no creature of evil, neither demon nor wicked spirit, will be
able to harm her. The third part of my blessing is that she will
be able to run so swiftly that she will catch the wind before her
and leave the wind behind her as she passes.'" Neko shrugged.
"That's what they told me, anyway."
"Whoa...." Ranma shook his head. "Jeez, and I thought I had it
bad. Lemme tell you about Jusenkyo..."
* * *
Later that afternoon the four of them (Akane, Ranma, P-chan, and
Neko) went to the skating rink (Ranma under mild protest--it wasn't
exactly one of his favorite places to be).
As usual for a Saturday, the skating rink was moderately crowded.
Ranma sat on the sidelines, with P-chan as a reluctant companion,
while Akane glided effortlessly in and out of the crowd and Neko
skirted the edges, more out of shyness than lack of skill.
"You're pretty good!" Akane complemented Neko. 'Maybe you should
join the skate club at school. I'm part of it."
"You think so?"
"At least you can stand up by yourself," she said as they passed
Ranma, deliberately loud enough for him to hear (but smiling).
"Nyaaaaaaah," Ranma responded, poking out his tongue and pulling
one eyelid down with a finger. P-chan growled at his elbow. "Aw,
shut up, bacon breath."
<CHOMP!> P-chan's wicked fangs sank into the flesh of his upper
arm.
"Ee-yow! Cut it out!" Ranma flung his arm out, dislodging P-chan
and sending him sailing out into the middle of the rink. The pig
landed hard on the ice and skidded on his rump for several feet
before managing to stop.
"Ran-ma!!!" Akane shouted from the other side of the rink. "Stop
picking on P-chan!"
"Aw, he started it! Anyway, I didn't hurt him." Ranma rubbed his
sore arm ruefully. "Lousy jerk. Can't take him anywhere..."
P-chan got unsteadily to his trotters and began making his slippery
way across the ice towards Akane. Then a voice from his most
fearsome nightmares sounded behind him, freezing his feet to the
ice along with the blood in his veins:
"Charlotte! Azusa's little Chaaaaaaarlotte!!!"
"Skweeeeeeeeeee!" P-chan screamed in helpless denial. He tried to
break into a run, but he couldn't get any traction on the ice. He
heard swift blade-cuts approaching behind him; Akane was making for
him, but with a sinking heart he knew she would be too late to save
him.
Azusa Shiratori shrieked in ecstatic delight. "Oh, little
Charlotte! Now you come home with Azusa!" She skidded to a stop
and reached for the piglet--
Which was snatched away faster than her eyes could follow. A
slipstream of wind blew her back several yards; she barely kept her
footing. All she saw was an orangy blur, and then it was gone, and
so was--
"Charlotte!!!" She looked around frantically. "Azusa wants her
dear little Charlotte!!!"
Neko stopped and skated back, stopping several feet away from the
chocolate-haired girl. "Excuse me, but you're mistaken. This
isn't your pet. He belongs to Akane. His name's P-chan." She
cuddled the pig in her arms, who looked up at her with a
combination of stunned amazement and pathetic gratitude.
"Uh...?" Azusa blinked at Neko, cocked her head prettily, then
broke into a sunny grin. "Jacqueline!" she carolled sweetly.
"Wh...what...?" Neko was too puzzled to react before a pair of
tiny but strong arms encircled her. "Jacqueline! Jacqueline!!"
Azusa jumped up and down happily, hugging Neko tight.
"...oh..." A stricken look came over Neko's face. "...ohhh..."
"Jacqueline and Charlotte will come home with Azusa, and will live
with her forever and forever! Oh, you'll be so happy, little
Jacqueline, little Charlotte! You'll have so many friends at
Azusa's house! There's Francois...and Catherine...and
Antoinette...and Marlene..."
Akane finally fought her way through the gathering crowd. "Listen,
Shiratori--you'd better keep your hands off P-chan or I'll--" She
stopped. "Um...Neko?"
"...help..." squeaked Neko, barely audible.
"...and Michelle...and Felicia...and Georgina...and Rosalie...and
Elisabeth..."
"...help..."
"...and...and Angeline...and Marianne...and Jeanette...and
Delphine...and...Juliette...and Martine...and..."
"...help..."
Finally P-chan could endure it no longer. As much as he hated any
act of violence against a woman--even such an irritant as Azusa--
every woebegone cry for help from Neko's lips felt like a red-hot
razor blade slashed across his heart. He took a deep breath and
bit down on Azusa's little pink hand as hard as he dared without
breaking the skin.
"Owwwwwwwwwwwie!!" Azusa relaxed her stranglehold on Neko just
long enough for the cat-girl to bolt. A blur of white orange-
tipped hair, a brief squeal from a black piglet, a slipstream that
bowled over several dozen skaters, and Neko and P-chan were gone.
Akane, caught in the fringes of the slipstream, lost her balance,
flailed her arms, tried to catch herself, missed, and--
Didn't fall. A pair of graceful arms caught her up, sweeping her
effortlessly off her feet and cradling her. "Are you all right,
miss?" asked a smooth tenor near her left ear. "Why, it's Akane
Tendo. Fancy meeting you here again."
Akane turned, face already drawing into a scowl. "Mikado Sanzenin.
Don't you have something better to do than flirt with people?"
A predatory look blossomed in those marvelous eyes, the look a
hunting cat might have just before it sprang. "Why, how could
anything be better than the company of a lovely lady? And besides,
I haven't taken my reward for saving you from certain disaster.
Not to mention that kiss I promised you so long ago, at the
beginning of that competition we skated." Never missing a beat as
he glided over the ice, he brought his face close to hers.
Akane shrank back. "Don't you dare!"
"Don't be shy, now. No girl has ever refused my kiss...not for
long, anyway."
"Don't--!" She couldn't keep from screaming the word, but it
didn't faze him. Her hand drew back, ready to slap him with all
her strength before his lips touched hers.
"MIKADOOOOO!!!"
Sanzenin braked to a sudden halt, raising his head. Akane blinked
away tears of rage and looked at the figure blocking Sanzenin's
path. "Ranma--!"
He stood on the ice barefoot, feet planted apart, arms cocked,
hands fisted, head lowered like a bull ready to charge. His eyes
almost crackled with fury. "Get your stinkin' hands off her,
Mikado. Now. Before I break every bone in your worthless body."
"Well, well, well," Sanzenin drawled. "If it isn't Ranma Saotome.
Long time no see." Mildly he looked at the woman in his arms.
"You don't mean to tell me you two are still together, dear Akane?"
"That's no business of yours!" Akane struggled to get free. "But
as it happens, we are. Now let me go!"
Sanzenin chuckled. "Ah, so the kitten bares her claws. That's
good. I like a girl with spirit."
"Now!" Akane screamed, tensing to land a blow.
"Very well, for the moment at least, I will do as you ask...since
you put it so nicely." Sanzenin set Akane on her feet, giving her
an affectionate pat on the rear. "But I'll take a raincheck on
that kiss."
Akane whirled, lost her balance, regained it, and turned beet-red.
"Why, you--!"
Sanzenin only laughed again.
The next instant, he was flying backwards on the ice, and Ranma
landed next to her, having delivered a fierce kick to Sanzenin's
chest. One arm went around Akane to steady her; she put a hand on
his chest and felt his heart hammering.
Sanzenin quickly regained his footing and did a slow circle back
around. The rest of the rink skaters had gathered around the three
of them, gawking at the spectacle.
"Now listen, and you better listen good," Ranma growled as Sanzenin
stopped in front of him. "You leave Akane the hell alone. If you
don't--"
"You'll kill me?" Sanzenin asked.
"You bet your playboy butt I will! I beat you twice already,
remember? Don't think you'll get third-time lucky. Remember,
three strikes and you're out!" He drew the edge of his thumb
across his throat. "Don't push me any more than you already have,
Mikado. I don't give an inch, and I don't give up. Ever."
Sanzenin skated in a lazy circle around the two of them. "So..."
he murmured, "the lovely Akane says you're still a pair. Is this
true, Saotome?"
"Yeah, that's right." Ranma pulled her protectively closer.
"She's with me."
"Pity. I didn't think it was possible for a couple to survive our
'Goodbye Whirl'. Of course, you realize I can't let this fluke go
unchallenged. I am going to make it my personal mission in life,
Ranma Saotome, to see that you will never be happy. I shall pluck
this blossom from your grasp."
Sanzenin reached for Akane, but Ranma pulled her back and stepped
in front of her. "Don't do it, Mikado." Ranma's voice lowered to
a dangerous rumble, like distant thunder. "It'll hurt."
"Temper, temper." Mikado shifted the direction of his reach and
chucked Ranma under the chin.
Akane gasped; Ranma slapped the offending hand angrily away.
"That's it." He let go of Akane and dropped into a fighting
stance. "C'mon, then. Let's go for it!"
Sanzenin smiled--and his expression froze as a tiny fist descended
on his head, beating a rapid staccato on his skull. "Charlotte!
Jacqueline! Charlotte! Jacqueline!" Azusa's shrill whine rose
and echoed from the ceiling. "Azusa wants her Charlotte and her
Jacqueline!"
Sanzenin whirled on her in a sudden rage. "You stupid woman!
You're ruining the moment! Stop it!"
"Azusa wants Charlotte and Jacqueline now! You have to help Azusa
find her Charlotte and her Jacqueline!!!"
Sanzenin sighed. "Whatever." He looked back over his shoulder at
Ranma. "This isn't finished yet, Saotome. Another time."
As he turned and skated off after his mewling partner, Ranma
remained as he was, tensing to go after him. Then a small sound
behind him made him hesitate. Dropping out of stance, he stood up
and looked around. "Uh...Akane?"
Her back was to him, but she was visibly trembling, and her face
was buried in her hands.
(Mikado the Molester can wait,) he thought, and put a hand on
Akane's shoulder. "Hey...that guy didn't hurt you, did he?"
Akane turned around, her hands clenching into fists. Her eyes
snapped with fury behind unshed tears. "No, but he came damned
close to getting that flawless face of his ruined for good."
"Akane..." Ranma took her hands in his.
"If he hadn't had me off the ground like that, it would've been
'two balls, one out' before you ever got here." She looked up at
him with fierce eyes. "I can't stand guys like that. If he ever
touches me again, you won't have to fight him. I won't leave
enough for you to bother with! Who does that jerk think he is,
anyway?!"
Ranma looked at her as if seeing her for the very first time. On
the surface she looked and sounded like the same rough-and-tumble
tomboy he'd always known...but underneath he could see how much the
incident with Mikado had shaken her. "Uh...yeah. Whatever. He's
gone now." He put his arm rather clumsily around her shoulders,
glad when she didn't try to shrug it off. "C'mon, let's find Neko
and get outta here, okay?"
* * *
Neko perched trembling on the highest branch of the oak tree in the
square that would bear her weight. She clutched the little warm
pig's body close to her chest, her hair and the fur on her tail
standing on end, her black-tufted ears laid back almost flat
against her skull.
Ryoga/P-chan felt her heart racing. She was utterly terrified--of
Azusa? But why? The child was annoying as hell, but she was no
real threat if you could run fast enough to lose her.
He nuzzled against her, trying to grunt comfortingly. (She can't
understand me--there's no use--but I have to try.)
Her head bowed over him, curtaining her with her hair, and her
shivering eased somewhat. "Thank you," she whispered. "I'm
sorry...I just--oh, that girl just--I can't explain it." She shook
her head, her hair wafting with the movement. "I'm sorry." She
laughed feebly at herself. "I keep apologizing, don't I?"
"Eh-hehnk," P-chan agreed.
"I guess I should stop, right?"
"Eh-hehnk."
"It's just...that horrible girl...she made me feel like a-a thing,
not a person. It was awful."
"Skweeeeee." (Believe me, I understand completely.)
Neko blinked, raised up her head and looked at him. "Do you know
her?"
P-chan rolled his eyes. "Ehhh-heeeeeeeehnk," he admitted, nodding.
"Could you--could you tell me something about her?"
He looked at her incredulously. "Skwee skweeeeeeeeeeee skweee!"
(I can't talk, you silly girl!)
"Of course you can. And you really shouldn't call people 'silly',
Ryoga. It's impolite."
"Skw--" (I'm sor--) His eyes popped wide and he stared at her.
"Skwee...skweeeeee...?"
She laughed softly. "Of course I understood what you said." She
reached up and tugged at an ear. "I can understand a lot of what
animals are saying. I'm best with cats--for obvious reasons--but
I guess since you're really a person, you make sense to me too."
"Skwee."
"Oh yes, it's very convenient. Now...please tell me all about that
horrible girl?"
One long series of grunts, squeals and gurgled growls later, Neko
was fully versed on the subject of Azusa and Mikado, the Golden
Pair of Martial Arts Figure Skating.
"...So she's a brat and her partner's a playboy, and they're both
insufferable. Well, they deserve each other, then." Neko looked
out of the tree. "I don't see her. Maybe she's given up."
"Skuh-wee."
"For now? That'll just have to do. We can't stay up here
forever." She started climbing down, cradling P-chan in one hand.
"Don't worry; I never fall. We'll be down in no time."
And so it was that the girl with the world's best sense of
direction had, at that moment, the world's worst case of bad
timing. She had barely set one foot on the ground when she heard
that voice behind her--
"Jacqueline! Charlotte! Come to Azusaaaaaa!"
"FSSSSSSSSSSSST!" Neko hissed, ears flat, tail bristling. She set
off at top speed in the opposite direction.
Unfortunately, a fountain just happened to lay directly in her
flight path. This would not have been quite so unfortunate except
for the fact that Ranma Saotome also just happened to be directly
in her flight path. He saw her coming, but even his reflexes
didn't allow him time to get out of the way of the infamous
slipstream.
(Why do these things always just happen to me?) was his last
thought before Neko's frantic flight bowled him over into the
fountain. By the time he--she--came up, spluttering and buxom,
Neko was vanishing in a cloud of dust.
"Head for the Tendos, Neko!" she called, hoping she would hear.
She looked around and saw Azusa pitching a grand-scale temper
tantrum in the center of the square. (Well, that'll keep her busy
for a while...)
"...told you I'm not interested," came Akane's voice from across
the square. Ranma looked--and gritted her teeth. (Him again.
Doesn't that guy ever give up?!)
Mikado Sanzenin had Akane cornered against a high wall. "I really
must insist," he said, as Ranma jumped out of the fountain and
began pelting towards them. One hand on the wall beside her head,
he leaned in closer.
"Lay one finger on me," Akane said, very calmly, "and you'll regret
it."
"Oh," Mikado whispered, laying one finger on her cheek, "really?"
Ranma skidded to a halt as Mikado flew backwards past her to land
near the middle of the square several yards away. She tracked his
line of ascent back to its point of origin and saw Akane step down
from a flawless center-kick. Their eyes met. Before Ranma could
say a word, Akane waved a hand at Mikado, who was presently having
his head hammered on by his screaming partner. "I warned him,
didn't I? He wouldn't listen." She tugged her short skirt back
down. "Creep."
"Are you okay, Akane?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Did you find Neko or P-chan?"
"Yeah, Neko was running again-- from Azusa, I guess. I yelled
after her to go to the dojo. We oughta head there and see if she
heard me."
* * *
Neko had heard Ranma's shout, and the trio found her waiting at the
gate to the Tendo hall, P-chan still clutched in her arms.
"Oh thank goodness," Akane said, accepting the piglet back. "I was
so worried...Neko, I'm sorry. I should've thought...Azusa and her
partner are always practicing. Are you all right?"
Neko nodded. "That girl--Azusa. She just scared me, that's all.
If I'd had any sense, I would've just climbed up in the rafters
instead of running out the door. I was having lots of fun before
she showed up."
"Well, we'll just have to go back another time. And next time,
just--just punch her in the nose, or something. That should get
rid of her."
"Oh I couldn't."
"Huh? Why not?" Ranma asked, frankly puzzled. "Oh yeah! I forgot.
You don't know how to fight."
"Anyway, thank you again, Akane," Neko said. "I guess I need to
get home now. It's almost supper time."
"Won't you come have dinner with us?"
"I'd like to, but Momma's fixing my favorite tonight, tuna sushi
with rice cakes and phoenix and dragon soup. I'll see you tomorrow
at school, okay?"
"Okay!"
Once Neko was gone, Akane turned to Ranma. "Um... Ranma.... by the
way..I haven't thanked you properly for saving me from that Mikado
creep back in the rink. I mean, I could've handled him just fine,
but... it was really sweet of you to help me anyway."
(What th-?) Ranma barely stopped himself from saying. "Huh? Oh.
Yeah. Well...it's just that I can't stand playboys like that
either. Besides, I already got a problem with Mikado. And-- I
wouldn't want him-- you know-- especially not with you, Akane."
"Me either. If he'd actually kissed me, God knows what I would've
done to him."
"Yeah? Well, whatever you left, I would've turned to bean paste.
No problem."
"I can't stand the thought of being kissed by someone like that--
someone to whom a kiss doesn't mean anything at all but another
notch on his belt."
"So what kind of guy do you want to kiss you? --Oops." Ranma felt
a sudden urge to bite off his own tongue. "Uh, sorry. I didn't
mean--"
"Actually..." Akane smiled shyly up at him. "There...is a
guy...I'd like to have kiss me..."
Ranma leaned a little closer. "Um...yeah...?"
"Yeah."
"Really?"
"Uh-huh."
His face was so close to hers he felt her breath on his cheek. So
softly he almost couldn't hear himself, he whispered, "...me...?"
She bit her lip and nodded once.
Ranma put his other hand on the wall behind her, on the other side
of her head, and leaned forward just a little more, closing his
eyes...
SPLASH!!< Ice-cold water struck the back of his head, and
cascaded in a cold stream down her back--
"AW, NUTS!" Ranma shook herself off and glared at the pand that'd
just thrown the mop water over the fence. "Man, you got the worst
sense of timing in the world!" She glared down at the small black
piglet which was currently rolling on the ground in convulsions of
merriment. "What're you laughing at? Jeez!" She stomped off into
the dojo. Akane sighed, half relieved and half disappointed, and
picked up P-chan. "Come on, P-chan," she said. "Dinner time."
At the table Ranma (once again a boy) and P-chan kept throwing each
other dirty looks. Akane kept a worried eye on each in turn--it'd
been too good to be true, she and Ranma hadn't disagreed more than
a teeny tiny bit for almost a week and a half now. She was
expecting an explosion.
"Akane, would you come give me a hand for a minute?" Kasumi called
from the kitchen. With a little sigh, Akane called back, "Be there
in a minute!" and set P-chan on her cushion. "Be good," she said,
and departed.
"What's the matter with you anyway?" Ranma said when she'd left,
jabbing a finger at P-chan. "You've been looking kind of miserable
lately. Trouble with your friends? Oh, wait a minute. I forgot.
you ain't got any friends. You lost 'em, right?"
P-chan turned fiery eyes on him. A low growling squeal tore out of
him, rising rapidly in pitch until it was almost a shriek, and he
launched himself savagely at Ranma, fangs bared. Ranma merely held
up his plate, and the piglet slammed squarely into it, bounced off,
and landed back on the cushion, dazed. Before he could launch a
second leap Akane had come back into the room. Gritting his teeth,
Ryoga/P-chan shot his rival the dirtiest look he could muster.
(Just you wait, Ranma Saotome. As soon as I can find some hot
water, I'm going to kill you! Your days on this earth are
numbered, I promise you that!)
"Aw, did I hurt the widdle piggy's feelings?" Ranma murmured, just
loud enough for P-chan to hear. "You didn't get, um, porked off at
me or nothing, didja?"
(Damn you, Saotome! Damn you to Hell! How dare you talk to me
this way, in front of Akane?? If I were a human being, I'd make
you eat those words, along with half of Tokyo! Do you know how
you've made me suffer? Do you know how much I--I--) P-chan froze,
the word hanging in mid-thought. (I h--h--why can't I say it?!
Isn't it true? Don't I have cause to hate him? But...I don't. If
I really hated him, really wanted him dead, wouldn't he be dead by
now?) Stunned by the idea, P-chan sat almost totally silent for a
second. (Of course! He's not worth killing. That's it. I want
him to suffer, as he's made me suffer...)
(Why am I trying so hard to convince myself of that?)
Ranma gave the suddenly silent pig a wary glance, but finally
shrugged and ignored it.
That night Ranma couldn't sleep. Usually he had no problems
drifting off, but the day's events-- Mikado, the almost kiss-- had
his nerves wired. After a fruitless hour spent tossing and turning,
Ranma decided to try a hot bath. Maybe that would relax him enough
to let him drift off.
However, when he got to the bathroom, he found it already occupied.
For a long, long moment he and Ryoga stared at each other; then
Ranma shook his head wearily. "I don't wanna start nothing," he
muttered, walking forward and stepping into the far end of the tub.
"You leave me alone, I'll leave you alone."
"Oh, that would make it easy on you, wouldn't it?" Ryoga sneered.
"What makes you think I'm interested in doing you any favors,
Saotome?"
Ranma ignored the other boy's words. He sat down, crossing his
legs, and closed his eyes, letting the heat sink into him. "C'mon,
Ryoga, gimme a break. I had a hard day."
"Should I care? Personally, I think you deserve to be sent to--"
"To Hell, yeah yeah. I know. It ain't like you don't tell me that
every time you talk to me. Give it a rest, huh?"
Ryoga's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Then a thin, cruel smile crept
over his features. "Romantic troubles again, Saotome?" he asked in
a mockingly pleasant tone. "What's wrong, got too many people on
your dance card? Gee, let's see, there's Shampoo, Ukyou,
Kodachi... and don't let me forget Kuno! Having problems making
room for Mikado?"
"Aw, man, that's sick." Ranma ducked his head, surfaced, and
slicked back his hair. "Tell the truth, Ryoga. You're just
jealous 'cause me and Akane are finally starting to get along.
What did you think you were gonna do, anyway, if we'd gone splits
for good? You haven't even had the guts to tell her the truth
about yourself. How do you think she's gonna react when she finds
that out, huh?"
A splash, and Ranma opened his eyes to find Ryoga inches away, eyes
blazing. "Who's going to tell her?" Ryoga snarled, fangs bared.
"You? Don't make me laugh! You've been trying that for months.
She hasn't believed you yet; what makes you think she ever will?"
"What makes you think you can hide it forever?" Ranma propped an
elbow on the tub wall and his chin in his hand. "Face it, Ryoga.
You're scared to tell Akane you're P-chan, cause you think if she
finds out she'll hate you for hiding it from her to start with.
Otherwise, why are you sitting here taking a bath and sneakin'
around the house while she's asleep and don't know you're gone?"
"Shut up! Shut up!" Ryoga barely managed to keep his voice down,
but the anger thrummed through the words. "You don't know
anything!"
"Maybe I do and maybe I don't." Ranma stood up. "But at least I
got a girl that knows the truth, and still cares. What've you got,
Ryoga?"
Ryoga half-opened his mouth as if to say something, then simply
turned his face away, turned his back on Ranma. But for an instant
Ranma saw a stab of pain in the other boy's eyes, and knew that his
words had hit home in a way that not all of Ryoga's anger towards
him could deny. Quietly he picked up a towel, dried himself off,
and walked out.
* * *
Another Monday; school morning.
Ranma, as usual, was running along the top of the fencing that
stretched almost all the way to Furinkan. Akane was running along
on the sidewalk below. As they passed a side street, Neko darted
out and joined them. Akane moved over just a little, making room
for the other girl. "Morning!" she said.
"Morning," Neko replied. "It's a beautiful day!"
"Sure is." Akane looked shyly up at Ranma. He smiled down at her.
"Do you always run up there?" Neko continued, looking at Ranma.
He nodded. "Balance exercise."
The cat-girl giggled. "Is everything an exercise for you?"
"That's what his father keeps saying," Akane said. "That true
martial artists turn everything into a learning experience. Me, I
think Ranma's just showing off."
"Aw, you don't know nothing," Ranma grumbled, but softly. Akane
smiled a little to herself.
Leaping down, Ranma caught up with the girls. "So, um, how're you
liking living here in Tokyo?"
With a laugh, Neko shook her head. "It's wonderful! I finally
feel like I belong somewhere."
"Great!" Putting on a burst of speed, Ranma caught up to Akane.
"Listen, I was wondering--" he was cut off mid-sentence by a sudden
splash of cold water from the old lady on the corner, who (once
again) was throwing ladlefuls of water on the sidewalk in front of
her modest little house. "Aw, nuts," Ran-chan continued. "And I
ain't got time to go home and dry off!"
"You'll just have to live with it, Ran-chan," Akane called back
over her shoulder. "Here, let me hold that," she added, reaching
back and taking Ran-chan's schoolbag as the red-head struggled to
tie up her pants and keep running all at the same time. With both
hands free, Ranma managed to get the trousers snugged up and
resumed a full speed ahead pace. "Thanks," she said.
"Don't mention it."
As they were walking in the school's gates, Ranma stopped, then
suddenly grabbed both Akane and Neko around the waist and leapt
into the air. Caught by surprise, both shrieked and clutched at
Ranma's neck. Ranma grunted, but held on and flipped neatly over,
landing lightly on the balls of her feet and glancing back the way
they'd come, back at the small figure who'd just come at her with
a rather large mallet. "Azusa," she said.
Azusa Shiratori scowled. "You moved!"
"So, where's your partner, Mikado the Molester?"
"Mickey's not here. Just Azusa." Azusa pointed at Ranma. "You
helped take Azusa's little Charlotte and Jacqueline away from
Azusa. Now Azusa wants you to pay. Azusa challenges you!"
"Fine by me, kid. I'll skate your pants off."
"Azusa doesn't wear pants, stupid pig-tail girl!"
"Yeah, well if you did, I'd still skate 'em off. Remember who won
the last time we tried this?" Ran-chan thumbed her nose at Azusa.
"Unless you've gotten a lot better, I'll leave you eating my ice
crystals!"
"We'll see." Turning, Azusa flounced off, pausing just long enough
to shout, "Thursday afternoon, after school, skating rink. You be
there, or Azusa will tell everyone what a coward you are!"
"Little pest," Ran-chan growled under her breath. "Worse than
fleas." She set off at a jog to one side of the building.
"Uh--Ranma?" Akane took a step after her companion.
"You go on to class, Akane," Ranma called back. "I just gotta get
changed."
(In more ways than one,) Akane thought, and after a moment's
hesitation went on in.
Ranma appeared at the third-floor window and slipped into class
just before the tardy bell sounded, hair still damp. He winked at
Akane as he slid into his seat.
The morning and afternoon passed uneventfully, except for the Chem
Club's setting off an explosion at 11:35 a.m. that rattled the
glass and showered plaster from the ceiling.
As they walked out, Ranma moved over beside Akane. "Um, like I was
saying this morning...I got a few yen on me. You want to go to the
local snack shop for lunch?"
"Why, Ranma!" Akane giggled. "Is this a date?"
"Uh--well, yeah! It's a date."
"Then I'd love to." One slender arm stole into Ranma's. He stared
at it a moment, as if he'd never seen a girl's arm before; then a
look of pride crossed his features and he drew his elbow in a bit
closer to his body, holding onto Akane. They hurried down the
street together and walked into the shop. "Gimme two bowls of
ramen and some fish sausages," he told the counterman. "And two
Cokes."
They settled in one corner with their noodles. For several minutes
neither spoke as they slurped down the hot noodles, Ranma
ravenously, Akane more delicately.
When the normal buzz of conversation around them stopped suddenly,
Ranma paused in mid-bite, let his last mouthful fall back into the
bowl, and looked around warily. A tall figure was standing near
their table, waiting to be noticed. "Mikado the Body Snatcher," he
commented, shoving back from the table.
"Saotome," Mikado said, unperturbed. "I told you our fight wasn't
over."
"I'm ready when you are." Ranma held up an open hand and flexed
it, making the joints crack loudly.
"Thick-headed dimwit. Do you think I'm going to fight you here?
Absolutely not. I have far more style than that."
"Another skating duel?"
"But of course." Mikado lifted a comb out of one pocket and ran it
absently through his hair a few times, put it away. "You won last
time because Azusa interfered, not because of any real skill on
your part. This time there won't be any ridiculous 'Charlotte' to
distract her, and she won't get in my way when I crush you."
"Dream on, you drainage-ditch leech."
Mikado smirked. "What a charming turn of phrase you have.
Fortunately for me, being a person of culture and good standing, I
barely understood that gutter slang you call language. It's a good
thing you're still in school; maybe in 5 or 10 years you'll
actually learn to talk like a human being."
Ranma's eyes flashed rage, but before he could say anything Akane
stood up. "Do you mind?" she said frostily. "We're trying to have
lunch!"
Another faint smile from Mikado. "Thursday, after school, at the
skating rink. Don't back out--I'd be so disappointed." With a
final bow in their direction (and a mimed kiss to Akane), he left.
Glaring after him, Ranma sat back down. "Man, that guy's so
greasy, you could use him to oil a wok."
"Um, Ranma?"
"Yeah, Akane?"
"How are you going to fight Mikado on Thursday, when Ran-chan's
supposed to fight Azusa on the same day?"
Ranma stared at her for a heartbeat; then he dropped his head to
the tabletop with an audible thunk. "Why me?" he groaned. "This
is great. Just great. If I don't show for both those fights,
they'll think I ran out or something. But I can't show up as a
girl and a guy both!"
* * *
"This has to be the stupidest thing you've ever done," Akane
remarked. "Ranma, how could you?" She petted P-chan, who was
nodding emphatically from his perch in Akane's arms.
"Hey, it's not my fault!" Ranma folded his arms. "What was I
supposed to do, back out? No way!"
"That's our Ranma," Nabiki said, drifting past. "Love that
testosterone."
"You ain't helping, Nabiki!"
Nabiki paused, smiling mysteriously. "Well, if you wanted me to,
I could help," she said. "As a matter of fact, I know exactly what
to do to get you out of this."
"What?"
Turning to her younger sister, Nabiki beckoned. "Come on, Akane.
Let's go upstairs. Lucky for me I went shopping after school. But
then, I figured you'd be needing my help."
Completely bewildered, Akane followed Nabiki upstairs. About an
hour later Nabiki descended, struck a pose at the bottom of the
staircase, and said, "Presenting-- Miss Ranma Saotome."
"What the-?" Ranma looked up the stairs--and froze.
Ran-chan walked down, pausing at the bottom. "Hey, you big silly,"
she cooed to Ranma, "what's the matter? You act like you ain't
never seen me before!"
Ranma (by this time as white as a bedsheet) shook his head, holding
out a trembling hand to ward off the figure. "You--you can't--" he
stammered. Then his face changed. "Hey, wait. That voice--"
The red-head giggled and reached up, pulled off the red wig,
revealed a shock of dark hair. "It's me, Akane!"
"A-Akane?" Ranma sat down abruptly. "Wow..."
"Phenomenal, isn't it?" Nabiki said, draping an arm over Akane's
shoulders. "I couldn't tell the difference. I doubt Mikado or
Azusa will be able to, either. Amazing what a little makeup and
some acting experience will do for a girl."
"I wasn't sure about this until now," Akane said, kneeling by
Ranma. "But if it fooled you, even for a minute... I mean, I
didn't mean to weird you out, Ranma, but doesn't this solve your
problem?"
"Uh...yeah...I guess so. Yeah!"
Akane tucked the wig back into place. "I figure as long as I don't
talk too much, since I can't really do Ran-chan's voice, we should
be able to pull it off."
Ranma managed a nod, forcing down the impulse to shudder. It was
like looking at a living mirror, and it gave him a serious case of
the creeps.
For the rest of that afternoon they practiced intensively. By the
time night had fallen Akane's imitation of Ran-chan's moves was
nearly flawless. "I think.. we'll make it now," she said,
collapsing onto a bench.
"You'll definitely need all the help you can get," Nabiki observed.
"Hey!" Ranma sat up straight and scowled. "You sound like you
think we're gonna lose or something!"
"Not at all. What I meant was, you don't really work well as part
of a team effort. Mikado and Azusa have been a fighting team for
years. They're coordinated to attack in concert."
"So what--" Ranma broke off. "You know, you're right," he
finished in a completely different tone.
"Huh? Akane said, not sure she'd heard right. "Ranma, are you
okay?"
Ranma waved a hand absently in the air at her as he walked to the
edge of the rink, leaned on the protective fence, and stared at the
ice. "They work as a team," he said slowly. "Sure, Mikado can
fight on his own, but I ain't never seen Azusa skate in battle
without him. And that means they're used to fighting together.
And that means--"
"Separately, they're weaker than someone who ordinarily fights
solo," Akane finished.
"Exactly," Nabiki said. "But that also means you two are weaker
together than you are seperately."
"Yeah yeah. Question is, how do we turn that to our advantage?"
Jamming his hands in his pockets, Ranma turned. "Look, I gotta do
some thinking, okay? Gotta get some fresh air. I'll catch up to
you at the dojo." He ran out a side door.
Akane nodded and left with Nabiki (not noticing the small black
shadow which crept from under Akane's bench and tagged along after
the departing boy).
Outside, Ranma leapt casually to the top of the skating rink's
roof. He could see the girls making their way home, and waved to
both until they were out of sight, then made himself comfortable
and let his mind wander, turning over the tactics of team fighting
and ways to reverse that strength.
"Weeeenk."
"Huh? --Oh. You. What do you want, Ryoga?"
The small black piglet grunted and nudged Ranma's ankle.
"Well, since I don't speak pigese, guess I better find you some hot
water."
One cup of hot water (and a hasty change of clothing) later, Ryoga
sat down beside Ranma. For a long while neither boy spoke.
Finally Ryoga sighed and said, "I have no idea why I'm bothering to
help you out, except that Akane's involved in this too. I can't
let her get beaten by those two just because you dragged her into
this."
"So, you gonna say something worthwhile or just sit there flapping
your lips?"
"Shut up, Saotome!" Ryoga clenched a fist. "I don't have to be
polite to you, you know!"
"Sure, whatever."
"It strikes me that the most devastating attack Mikado and that--
that--thing he calls a partner have is their 'Goodbye Whirl'. They
base all their paired attacks on that. Everything they do is a
set-up for that final assault."
"I knew that!"
"But what you don't know is how to counter it. Right?"
"Maybe."
"So, in order to win on Thursday, you'll have to do one of two
things." Ryoga held up two fingers. "Either find a counter-move
for the Whirl, or find a way to keep yourself from ever being
caught in it to begin with."
"Problem is, watching out for that one move will leave me and Akane
wide open for anything else they decide to throw at us."
"Exactly. So your only option is to turn the attack back at them."
Ranma looked across at his rival. "You have to have an idea, or
you wouldn't be talkin' to me."
"Maybe." Ryoga folded his arms, looked smug. "If you asked me
nicely, I might tell you."
Ranma's eyes narrowed, but he kept his temper with an effort.
"Ryoga, would you p-p-" he gritted his teeth. "Would you please
tell me what you think me'n Akane can do about the Goodbye Whirl?"
Ryoga had the grace to look surprised for half a heartbeat before
the faintly sardonic cast descended on his face again. "Come on,
Ranma," he said, coaxingly, "you disappoint me! You're such a hot-
shot martial artist; you can think of a solution on your own."
"Is that all you have to say to me?!"
"Calm down!" A light pat on Ranma's shoulder. "Think about it.
When is Mikado most vulnerable during the set up for the Whirl?"
"Um...when he's standing still lifting everyone up off the ice."
"He has to be focusing all his strength at that point, right?"
"Yeah. It's their final technique--all or nothing."
"Now you're using your brain. Such as it is. So, that's the point
at which to strike, isn't it?"
Slowly Ranma nodded. Suddenly his eyes brightened and he smacked
a fist into the opposite palm. "That's it! Yeah! It'll work!"
Without thinking he clapped Ryoga on the back. "That's great,
Ryoga! Thanks!" Bounding to his feet, he ran across the roof and
dove off into a tree, swinging down to the ground. From there he
called back, "I owe you one!" before setting off in the direction
of the dojo.
Ryoga watched him go, eyes oddly pensive. "You're...welcome,
Saotome," he whispered, then clutched his head and screamed at the
top of his lungs, "WHAT AM I SAYING????"
* * *
Thursday dawned sullen, with thunderclouds moving in from the
horizon as the day grew older. Ranma bit his lip, looking at them
out of the window at Furinkan. "Jeez, if it rains, we could be in
real trouble."
"You mean you might get, um...before we get there?" Akane put a
hand tentatively on his shoulder. "Maybe we should try to
postpone...?"
"No way! Not after all the practice we put into that new move of
ours."
"I don't think I could forget it! My butt's still sore from
falling on it all yesterday afternoon!"
"Mikado's in for a surprise." Ranma smiled grimly, flexing his
hand and cracking the joints.
The final bell sounded almost like a call to arms. Ranma stopped
at the gates of the school, still watching the clouds. They were
growing progressively darker and larger, boiling about the sky
furiously. The wind plucked at his hair, sending his braid kiting
out in a raven coil. In the stormlight he looked fierce and proud,
a warrior readying himself for a lifetime of battle. Akane looked
at him, seeing that, and wasn't sure whether she felt frightened or
attracted. Maybe a little of both. She moved closer to him, gave
a little gasp when his arm snaked out and looped itself around her
waist, snugging her closer. Hesitantly at first, then more
assuredly, she half-twisted and nestled into his side as they set
off down the sidewalk.
The first roll of thunder sounded as they entered the skating rink.
Ranma reached out, clasped Akane's shoulder. "Trust me," he said,
and vanished down the hall to the men's dressing room. Akane
swallowed, willing her stomach to stop fluttering, and went into
the girls' dressing room. Thankfully, it was empty. She hastily
slid into wig and costume, stood in front of the mirror studying
herself for any imperfection in the disguise. When she found none,
she gave her reflection a saucy grin. "Mikado the Molester's gonna
get his!" she said in her best imitation of Ran-chan's voice, and
strutted out.
"Welcome to the second annual Charlotte Cup, hosted by Kolhotz and
Furinkan High Schools!" the announcer's voice boomed over the
tannoy. "This is a special revenge match, and things are shaping
up for an afternoon of incredible skating! First on the ice are
those champions of martial arts figure skating, the Golden Pair,
Azusa Shiratori and the Emperor, Mikado Sanzenin!"
A roar of applause rose as the pair skated into the spotlight,
Mikado preening to his female fans and Azusa flirting with the boys
who wore her colors.
"And the challengers, returning to the ice for a no-holds-barred,
winner takes all fight, Ranma Saotome and...Ranma Saotome?"
"Yeah! Yeaaaah!" "Ran-chan" shot out onto the ice, pirouetting
and throwing kisses to the crowd. Ranma followed more sedately, at
least until he turned sideways and sent a shower of ice crystals up
into the air to fall as glittering jewels around his partner. The
momentary silence of the crowd was broken by furious cheers and
applause, even more tumultuous than that greeting the Golden Pair.
Mikado's eyes narrowed as he listened. "So, you're popular," he
murmured. "I'll have to take that from you as well. By the time
I'm finished with you, Ranma Saotome, you'll have nothing."
"Hey, you talkin' to me?" Ranma demanded, skating a little forward
and pointing at his nose.
"Of course, you oaf."
"Is that so. Well, I got one thing to say to you, pretty boy."
Striking a pose, Ranma gave Mikado a mocking grin and extended the
middle finger of his hand. "And you can suck on that!" Turning,
he skated back to "Ran-chan's" side, lacing an arm familiarly
around her waist. "C'mon, let's kick these bozos' butts! Give it
your best shot, Mickey Mouse!"
"That's Mikado Sanzenin, you fool!"
Ranma shrugged innocently. "Could've fooled me. Oh wait--yeah, I'm
sorry. You ain't Mickey, you're Goofy. Or is it Dumbo?"
"Don't use so many words, little boy. You'll find them hard to
swallow." Mikado swept Azusa up in his arms and darted forward,
beginning to spin around, using his partner as a living scythe.
"Ready?" Ranma muttered under his breath as the pair bore down on
him and the disguised Akane.
"Ready," she hissed back.
Ranma tossed Akane to his shoulders and skated forward to meet the
Golden Pair, building speed furiously. Mikado crouched, expecting
Ranma to toss "Ran-chan" in the air, then dart in and under to
strike at Mikado's side. Instead, Ranma deliberately fell to the
ice, shooting daringly past the side of the flashing blades. At
the same time, Akane reached back and snagged Mikado's ankles,
tossing him off balance. He and Azusa went tumbling to the ice as
Ranma did a back-bend to impel himself back up, set 'Ran-chan' on
her feet. A wave of applause greeted them.
"What an incredible opening move!" the announcer shouted. "So far
the Saotomes are showing real cohesion. Their skating skills have
certainly improved since the last time we saw them on the ice. The
Golden Pair may have their work cut out for them!"
"Nonsense," Mikado growled under his breath as he rose. "Lucky
shot."
"Or maybe you were just clumsy!" Azusa supplied helpfully.
"Shut up, you stupid wench!"
Mock tears immediately sprang to Azusa's eyes. "You're being a
meany to me!"
"That was easy," gloated "Ran-chan" as the Golden Pair circled them
briefly, then clasped hands and started spinning in place.
"Don't count your eggs before they're chickens," Ranma answered.
"I think that's, 'don't count your chickens before they're--'
aiiieeeee!" Akane squealed as Azusa rocketed over her head, barely
missing her, and barrelled into Ranma, knocking him across the ice
and into the nearest wall. In the next second her breath whooshed
out of her as Mikado caught her up, sliding away down the ice to
the other end of the rink. "Finish him, Azusa!" he called back
over his shoulder. "And as for you, my sweet..."
"Lemme go!!" Akane pushed at Mikado's arms.
"Not until I've given you my special greeting. I know you'll like
it. You did the last time."
Akane froze, eyes narrowing. As Mikado leaned in to kiss her, she
ducked into herself, then straightened and gave him a nasty head-
butt. Started, he dropped her. "Serves ya right, you playboy!"
she shouted at him, getting to her feet and skating backwards away
from him.
"My, you are a shy, innocent little thing," Mikado said, rubbing
his lip. "You know, I really hate toying with your affections this
way. But I'm getting quite fond of you, you know." He headed
after her.
"Let's see how fond you are of me when I kick your balls up into
your throat!!"
"Such spirit. Such fire. I can understand why any man would fight
to keep you. But since Ranma is stubborn enough to hold on to
Akane, you must realize that now you are free to express your real
feelings toward me...and I promise you, princess, I'm ready to
welcome you with open arms."
Meanwhile, Ranma was dodging an extremely large mallet, wielded
with deadly precision by Azusa. (How does she lift that thing???)
he asked himself as the edge of the hammer barely grazed his arm.
"You hold still! Azusa wants you to meet her little Chantal!"
Azusa swung again, shattering a chunk of ice as big as Ranma's
torso.
"No thanks, I like my head the shape it is!" Over her shoulders
Ranma spotted Akane/"Ran-chan" fleeing from Mikado. "Hey! You
leave her alone!" he shouted, levelling an arm at the pair.
Unfortunately, that gave Azusa just the opening she wanted. The
mallet came speeding in, and Ranma barely noticed it in time to put
up any kind of defense. As it was, the hammerhead caught his
shoulder a glancing blow, sending sparks of pain dancing up and
down the length of the limb and knocking him to the ice. "Owww!
That hurt, y'know!"
Azusa giggled and jumped for joy. "Goodie, goodie, goodie!"
Turning, she waved at Mikado. "Mickeyyyy! We're readyyy!"
Gathering speed, Mikado leapt into the air, soaring over "Ran-
chan", Ranma and Azusa alike, to land neatly behind his partner.
Akane, seeing Ranma felled, dropped to her knees and slid to a
stop. "Ranma, are you okay?" she asked anxiously, putting a hand
on his arm.
In the same instant of time, Ranma felt hands grab his ankles. He
looked down the length of his body to see Azusa extending her legs
up to Mikado.
"This is it!" the announcer shouted hysterically. "The moment
we've been waiting for! The Golden Pair is about to launch into
their dreaded final technique, the 'Goodbye Whirl'! Can the
Saotomes survive???"
"Bet your butt," Ranma whispered under his breath. Faking dismay,
he clutched at Akane. She in turn locked her hands around his
wrists.
With a grunt of supreme effort Sanzenin hauled the three
interlinked people up, lifting them into the air, preparing to
enter the spin that usually meant victory for himself and Azusa.
But this time, as "Ran-chan" cleared the ice, Ranma jackknifed
inward fiercely, sending Akane hurling inward to hit Mikado hard in
the chest with both knees. As soon as she collided with him, Akane
bounced back slightly, just enough to give her a chance to wrap her
legs about his waist. "Surprise, Mr. Molester!" she yelled.
"Look, it's your favorite position, between a woman's legs! But
you're not gonna like it this time!" (I don't believe I said
that... but at least it sounds like Ranma!)
At the same moment, using the momentum generated by the body slam,
Ranma managed to wrench himself free of Azusa's grip, so that now
he was free and Akane was linking him to Mikado, who in turn was
holding Azusa. His body flickered blue as his battle aura hit the
visible spectrum, invoking gasps from the crowd. Focusing all his
energy, Ranma slammed himself to his feet on the ice and hauled all
three--Akane, Mikado, and Azusa--into the air in what was a near-
perfect replica of the "Goodbye Whirl". Akane's hands slid down to
brace on his shoulders, and he gripped her upper arms as tightly as
he dared. Then he began to spin in place, just as Mikado'd been
planning to do. "Saotome Reverse Technique Step One--the Sayonara
Spin!!" he roared. "Chew on this, Sanzenin!!"
The crowd leapt to its feet as Ranma's speed doubled, tripled. He
gritted his teeth and concentrated on anchoring Akane. She was the
'weak link' in the chain, and he wished with all his heart he'd had
more time to prepare her. Looking up, he could see her face
grimacing with the effort of holding on to him, but she wasn't
making a sound. "Hey, Mikado, had enough yet?" he shouted.
"AA--AA--AA--little--Azusa's--getting--dizzyyyy!" Azusa wailed as
she and Mikado whirled around in the air.
"Get off me, you stupid woman!!" Mikado opened his hands and
shoved at his partner, throwing her off his shoulders. With
nothing to hold her in place, Azusa cartwheeled screaming into the
heart of her fan club, which proved an adequate cushion.
Ranma grinned fiercely. "Hold on, Akane!" he screamed, hoping she
could hear. In answer, he felt her hands tighten their desperate
grip. With the last ounce of his strength he jackknifed again,
breaking the spin and slamming Mikado Sanzenin headfirst into the
ice with a crack like the trumpet of doom. He threw himself back
simultaneously, letting the momentum built up in the spin carry him
and Akane halfway down the rink, tossing Akane up in a half-spin
and catching her as she came down. Of course, he himself also
slammed into the ice, but it was a lot gentler than getting slammed
into the wall (as he had last time he and Mikado'd fought).
Silence. Then a rising wave of sound as the spectators broke into
screams and yells of pure excitement.
"Incredible!!" The announcer was fountaining tears, voice cracking
with emotion. "The Saotomes have not only survived the 'Goodbye
Whirl', but they found a counter to it! The Golden Pair is down
and out! The Saotomes win the match hands down!!"
"More like rear end down," muttered Ranma. He carefully set Akane
to one side and forced himself to his feet, hauling her up and
holding up their hands in victory as the crowd continued screaming
their names wildly. "We did it, Akane."
Surreptitiously tugging her wig back into place, Akane gave him a
wavery smile. "We sure did. But I'm never going to be able to
look a merry-go-round in the face again."
* * *
"I thought you were gonna change out of that get-up," Ranma said as
Akane walked out of the girl's dressing room, skates slung over her
shoulder.
Akane adjusted her pig-tailed wig. "I'm too tired to change. I
just want to get home, climb into a hot tub, and soak until I turn
into a radish." She marshaled the strength to strike a "Ran-chan"
pose. "What's the matter, you big silly? Ain't I good enough
company?"
"Cut it out! That's...that's creepy. You sound almost like me."
"Thanks for the compliment."
As they were walking towards the street, a tall figure broke free
from the crowd leaving the skating rink and barrelled towards them,
arms flung wide. "My pig-tailed Venus!" Tatewaki Kuno howled. "I
love you!!!"
"Oh, for--" In almost perfect unison, Ranma and Akane delivered a
pair of roundhouse kicks that met Kuno face-on and sent him
hurtling off into the clearing afternoon sky.
"So...you wanna grab a soda or something before going home to
radish-dom?" Ranma continued as they walked.
Akane considered a minute; smiled and nodded. "Yes!"
* * *
(Where is that skating rink?) Ryoga wondered to himself as he
trudged along the winding country road. (I knew I should have
allowed myself more time to find it...)
He trudged on towards the deepening forest, never noticing the
battered sign on one side of the road:
DANGER!
You are entering
the forest of
RYUGENZAWA
Turn back now!!!
===================
* TO BE CONTINUED *
===================
you be?