Please send all comments to the authors of this, RyogaLost@aol.com and
SMoonUsagi@aol.com. Enjoy! -- GK
Ranma 1/2 Naisen
Episode 3
THE PURSUIT OF RANMA
(Another of those crazy stories by)
SMoonUsagi and RyogaLost
It was a bright, hot morning, late spring fading fast into summer,
only a few weeks from mid-year break. Already the streets had
begun to shimmer with heat once the sun reached its noontime
height. Even at 8:20 in the morning, it was starting to be warm.
Ranma wiped his forehead as he ran along the fence towards school.
"Man, it's gonna be a scorcher this year," he complained. "Wonder
if we stand any chance of talking Kuno into another cruise?"
"After the way the last one ended up? I doubt it." Akane laughed.
"Of course, the pigtailed girl could always promise to reward Kuno
if he'd build another boat..."
"Yuck! Akane! That's not funny!"
"Sorry..."
"Aw, I'll get over it. It ain't like I haven't done it before--
sweet-talked Kuno, that is."
As they neared the school grounds, Neko swerved in from a side
street and joined them. "Morning, everyone," she said.
"Hi, Neko." Akane studied her friend. "Are you okay? You look a
little funny. Maybe you should go see Dr. Tofu."
"I'm just tired."
"Okay then." Akane wasn't sure at all, but she knew better than to
pry. Neko, for all her friendliness and sweet disposition, was a
very private person.
"Akane Tendo!" Something leapt out at Akane. Instinctively her
hands came up in a defense posture, but fast as she moved, Ranma
moved faster; his hand blurred in front of her--
And caught a rose that was heading straight at Akane.
"Ah, Akane Tendo," the familiar voice sounded. "Fairest flower of
the dawn."
Rolling her eyes heavenward, Akane groaned. "Oh, Kuno, give it a
rest."
"Nay, never, until I have won the right to date with you." Kuno
levelled his bokken at Ranma like a pointer. "And you, Ranma
Saotome... who are you who dares to snatch the token of my
affections from the air before it reached the delightful Akane? --
But wait! Is it not the custom that the challenger should give his
name first? Fine then! I am Tatewaki Kuno, upperclassman and
captain of the Kendo Club of Furinkan High School. My peers call
me the 'Blue Thunder'; my enemies call me their worst nightmare!"
Ranma handed Akane the rose, folded his arms casually, completely
unimpressed. "We've been through this before, y'know," he said
calmly.
A murmur of voices went up from the people leaning out of the
second and third story windows of the school, watching the fight:
"There they go again..."
"I don't blame Kuno. Akane's really beautiful..."
"Hey, isn't that the cat-girl with them?"
"You don't suppose Ranma's dating her now, do you?"
Kuno's eyes narrowed. "You do not deserve the gentle attentions of
the lovely and vibrant Akane Tendo, you miscreant and knave of the
lowest caliber. Therefore I, Tatewaki Kuno, defender of the fair
flower of womanhood, challenge you! Have at you!" He lunged,
sword coming down in a blindingly fast strike.
With equal speed Ranma leapt back, then forward in a roll over
Kuno's head and behind him. As Kuno pivoted, Ranma brought his
foot up in a horizontal circle kick and planted it firmly in Kuno's
stomach. All the air whooshed out of the upperclassman's lungs and
he sat down hard.
In seconds Kuno was up and charging again, bokken flickering out in
lightning-quick strikes. Ranma moved with him, blocking,
sidestepping, deflecting, and ducking the blows. One barely missed
his cheek, drawing a thin line of blood behind it as it clipped a
lock of dark hair.
"Ranma..." Akane breathed, eyes wide, hands clasped.
"Kashuu Tenshin Amaguriken! AYAAAAAA!" Ranma's hands disappeared in
a burst of speed, and found their mark ten, fifteen, twenty times
in the space of a single breath. Kuno catapulted backwards and
slammed into the trunk of a tree, hard, sliding down into a
crumpled heap at its base.
"Any time you feel like spendin' a couple of weeks in traction,
Kuno, come and see me again." Ranma smirked.
"Oh Ranma!" Akane ran to him and flung her arms about his waist,
forgetting where she was. "That was wonderful!"
"Yeah, um, well... thanks."
"Um, guys?" Neko said, pointing at the school's clock tower.
"We're going to be late?"
"Oh no!" Akane jumped back, looked at the clock.
"C'mon, tomboy," Ranma said, stopping long enough to wave a hand in
her face. "Or do you like standin' in the hall with a bucket of
water?"
"Don't you call me a tomboy!"
* * *
A brightly colored piece of paper tacked to the lamppost fluttered
in the breeze of every passing car, just another handbill among
several. The only reason it caught Neko's eye as she and the
others made their way homewards was its newness; the space it
occupied had been empty only a day or two ago. She paused to look
at it only because of that; she stayed to read it for entirely
different reasons.
"Ranma, Akane," she called, "come look at this."
"Huh?" Ranma Saotome leapt into the air, flipping twice, and
landed with a perfection that would've made an Olympic athlete
jealous. "What's that?"
"See for yourself." Neko held out the handbill to him. Ranma
studied it, face getting gradually both more serious and more
irritated. "I don't believe this!" he exploded, snatching the
offending piece of paper from Neko's fingers. "The nerve of this
guy!"
"What guy's that, Ranma?" Akane stood on tip toe to peer over his
shoulder. "'Notice--Grand Opening--New Fitness Training Facility--
the Sawara School of Martial Arts and Self-Improvement. State of
the art exercise equipment, highly trained, professional staff.
Bring this flyer in and get 3 free lessons, plus practice gi.'
Address... Ranma!" Akane grabbed the flyer and stared at it in
outrage. "That's right down the street from-- from--!"
After hastily checking to make sure he still had all his fingers,
Ranma turned on her. "From the Tendo dojo. Yeah, I noticed."
"But this can't be!" Akane's voice crept up half an octave, plus a
few decibel levels. "This is our neighborhood! Besides which, the
competition could ruin us." She looked up, distressed. "I know
Dad doesn't have that many pupils, but what few he has are our only
income."
"And anything that takes customers away from the Tendo school would
be a disaster." Neko studied the flyer. "If this is some fly-by-
night place, it'll fold in six months and there's no need to worry.
I mean, everyone around here knows you, right? The Tendo school
has a good reputation?"
"Of course." Akane swallowed hard and glanced over at Ranma. "As
a matter of fact... ever since Ranma moved in and people started
hearing about him... a lot of Dad's new pupils are coming because
of that."
"Huh?" Ranma blinked, nonplused. "How come?"
Akane whacked him on the arm (not hard). "Because you're good, you
dummy! --And if you tell anyone I said that, I'll make you sorry
you were ever born. But it's true. Kasumi told me she's heard
people talking in the marketplace about what a good martial artist
you are. And, and Dr. Tofu said... You know I took him some of
Kasumi's rice cakes last week. We started talking, and the
conversation worked around to you..."
"Huh. So that's why I started sneezin' my head off."
"And he said...He said he couldn't think of anyone that he would
want to recommend as a sensei than someone from our dojo, and
especially you. He says you have a very strong and determined, but
very flexible and adaptable spirit, and that makes a martial artist
almost unstoppable."
For the span of several seconds Ranma stood, eyes wide and
unfocussed, as he absorbed what Akane'd said. Slowly at first,
then more quickly, a smile appeared on his face. "Thank you,
Akane!" he said. "That's, you know, kinda nice of you to say
that."
Akane gave him a quick little smile, then scowled down at the flyer
again. "I wonder if Dad's seen this yet?"
* * *
Listening to the anguished wails and sobbing coming from the dojo,
Ranma shook his head. "He's seen it."
"Akane!" Soun Tendo came racing out and embraced his daughter,
tears geysering to either side. "It's a disaster. Another dojo!
We'll be wiped out. We'll lose our house. We'll be forced to
wander the streets, begging for scraps of food, sleeping in dimly
lit back alleys... "
"Sounds like some of our training missions, eh Pop?" Ranma remarked
to his father, who was sitting on the porch in his usual lotus
position, arms folded, eyes closed, a look of concentration on his
features.
The next moment he was flinching back from Tendo, who had seemingly
transformed into a fire-breathing devil. "This isn't funny,
Ranma!" he said. "How can you and Akane carry on the Saotome/Tendo
School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts when there won't even be a
school to carry on in?!" Falling to his knees, Tendo moaned,
groaned, clutched his head, and generally put on a performance
worthy of an Oscar nomination for 'Best Dramatic Actor in a Tragic
Role'.
"Tendo has a point," Genma said over the ongoing lamentations.
"The problem is that not many people know about 'Anything-Goes'--
only two families in the world practice it, the Tendos and the
Saotomes. New students are more likely to go to schools that can
advertise themselves, that can put themselves in the public eye,
and which teach a more well-known form of martial arts. And yet, if
we over-commercialize, we will lose the true spirit of martial
arts. (Although, come to think of it, making more money would be
nice.) --Ahem. Still, even though it means our financial ruin, we
must cling to the noble principles of 'Anything-Goes'. And that
means that with another dojo in the immediate neighborhood, what
potential new business we might have is going to vanish like
Kasumi's cooking."
"So? We already knew that," Akane said. "If you're so smart, tell
us what we're supposed to do about it."
Genma held up a flyer exactly identical to the one Akane was
carrying. "What we need to do is observe our rivals in action and
find out exactly what they can offer to entice people in. Then we
can make counter-offers that will attract more attention to our
school, thus increasing our business while keeping it out of their
hands, and hopefully convince the Sawaras to leave town gracefully
when their school goes out of business."
Ranma looked at his father in wonder. "Jeez, Pop. That actually
made a lot of sense."
Genma smirked and pushed his glasses a bit further up on his nose.
"Sometimes the old panda still has a few tricks up his sleeve, my
boy."
"It's a very good idea." Neko pursed her lips. "I volunteer to
go."
"Huh? Are you crazy or something?" Ranma rounded on her. "You
don't even know martial arts! What if you get into a fight, and
these guys know what they're doing?"
"That's exactly why I have to go, Ranma." Neko cocked her head "I
DON'T know what I'm doing."
"I don't get it."
"I do!" Akane pushed her way forward. "What you're saying is that
because you haven't learned how to fight, it's a lot more likely
they'd believe you're just another potential student off the street
and not someone associated with a school of long standing. You
won't have the instincts and moves that Ranma or I would have!"
"That's right! And, besides, I want to help. And I can run really
really fast if anything goes wrong."
"It... could work," Tendo breathed, temporarily forgetting to
whimper, whine, moan, sniffle, sob, or anything else from his
extensive repertoire of misery. Then he leapt at Neko in joy, arms
wide. "Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!"
She dodged out of the way barely in time to avoid a killer hug,
unfortunately leaving Ranma to receive the brunt of Tendo's
attentions. The two sailed out over the pond, hung there long
enough for both to get a good look at what lay below them, and then
dropped with a splash.
"It'll work," Genma said as Tendo and Ran-chan emerged from the
water, Tendo sporting a lily-pad (complete with the prerequisite
frog) atop his head, Ran-chan still clasped to his chest. "It has
to."
"Your success will spell the survival or destruction of the Tendo
school," added Tendo. "We will honor your memory forever!"
"Jeez, it ain't like she's going on a suicide mission or nothin',
Mr. Tendo."
"Hm?" Tendo glanced down, found his arms full of busty red-haired
girl, and promptly froze, eyes enormous.
"So, you done squeezin' me yet?" Ran-chan continued in a voice of
total boredom.
"Agh!" Tendo released her, stepped back, flailing his arms in
denial, and promptly fell backwards into the pool again.
Ran-chan sighed, rolled her eyes, and squished off towards the
kitchen. "Kasumi, y'got any hot water left?"
"It might be a good idea to take someone else with you," Akane
suggested. "Just in case there's trouble. I mean, I think Dad and
Mr. Saotome are over-reacting a little, treating you like some kind
of-- of ninja or something, but it couldn't hurt."
"But I don't really know anyone else to ask--unless you mean you."
"Oh yes you do. Right over there." Akane pointed to the kitchen,
where Ran-chan was waiting patiently for the water to heat.
* * *
They walked along in silence for a while. Ran-chan kept stealing
looks at Neko as they went; somehow the other girl seemed a little
less cheerful than she usually was. Struggling between
unfamiliarity with emotional matters and a desire to help, she
finally blurted out, "Uhh...look, Neko, is something wrong?"
"Hm? Oh, no, Ranma. I was just... I was just thinking about
someone."
"Anybody I know?"
Neko shook her head. "Not particularly. Just a boy."
"Oh, yeah?" Ran-chan linked her arm in Neko's. "Well, you're
talkin' to the expert on boy stuff. Is he, y'know, a special
friend or something?"
"Yes, he's very special." Neko caught herself, smiled a little.
"Well, to me he is. But he's not from around here. I... I didn't
know him very long. He moves around a lot, just like I used to do
before I came here. We didn't have a lot of time together. I
happened to think of him today, and started wondering where he is,
how he's doing..."
"Is he cute?"
Neko turned faintly pink. "I thought he was," she confided shyly.
"He has the nicest dark hair and prettiest eyes--sort of green and
brown mixed--what do they call that?"
"I dunno...some gaijin girl name...hazel?"
"Mm-hmm, that's it. Hazel." Neko sighed a little. "I think about
him sometimes, and wonder if I'll ever see him again. I don't
think it would do any good, though. I don't think he ever saw me
as anything but a friend."
"Don't be sad, Neko. Hey if he moves around as much as you say,
maybe you'll get lucky and he'll show up at Furinkan. Then you
could let him know how you feel about him. After all, it might
just be that he's shy." She lowered her voice. "I'll tell you a
secret...a lot of boys are like that. They hide the way they feel
about a girl because they don't know how to tell her." Ran-chan
stopped. "Hey, we're here!"
The inside of the Sawara dojo was neat and clean, with a faint
smell of new paint and sawn wood in the air, not completely
unpleasant. Ran-chan and Neko stood for a moment, looking around.
Almost directly beside the door was a reception desk, behind which
stood a handsome young man, with lean, angular features, dark jade-
green eyes, and long chestnut hair caught back in a ponytail that
spilled well past his shoulders. He was busily typing something at
an older-model computer terminal.
On one side stood a row of various exercise machines and weight
benches, not absolutely brand-new but still in good working
condition. Past them were two doors marked 'SAUNA' and 'BATHS'.
The middle of the room was devoted to gymnastics equipment:
parallel bars, a vault horse, a small trampoline, a set of rings.
To the other side was a squared ring and a series of mats padding
the floor and one corner. Two people were sparring on the mats
under the watchful eye of an older man, hair greying at the
temples. He wore a plain gi tied with a rope belt and looked
enough like the younger man to be a relative--most likely a father.
As the door swung to behind the girls, the young man at the desk
looked up. "I'll be right with you," he said, and made a few last
entries on the computer. "There. Okay. Welcome to the Sawara
School of Martial Arts and Self-Improvement. I'm Kenjiro Sawara;
how can I help you?"
Ran-chan put on her best "Hi-I'm-adorable-how-are-you-ya-big-
silly?" smile. "Hi! I'm--uhh, Ranko...and this is my friend Neko
Tamamichi. We saw your advertisement on the way home from school,
and we thought we'd come in for the free lessons."
Neko's ears twitched nervously. "Oh, dear--will the offer be good
for both of us? I only have one flyer!"
"Don't worry about me, I'm just here to watch," Ran-chan said
quickly. She put her hands to her face and made big, fluttery eyes
at the man.
Kenjiro chuckled. "Moral support? Well, you're certainly welcome
to take advantage of our offer too, Miss--Ranko, was it?"
Ran-chan giggled as girlishly as she could. "Oh, no...I don't like
fighting at all. I'm just a girl, y'know."
"So I see," Kenjiro murmured. "Well, if you change your mind,
let me know. It's never too early to start feeling great about
yourself, and that's what we're here to help you do. Exercise of
any kind is good for you, and learning the martial arts can bring
you into touch with yourself--" he broke off, smiled. "I'm sorry,
I was starting into the sales pitch. That's no way to win new
customers. Why don't I show you around, let my Dad finish his
morning class, then get you out on the mats for a quick lesson?"
"That'd be great!" Ran-chan cooed. (Man, this is makin' me sick,
but it's for the dojo. I gotta remember that.)
Kenjiro moved from around the desk and bowed, then gestured.
"Please, follow me."
The baths were spotlessly clean and bright, as was the sauna area.
Each had a male and female section, carefully partitioned off and
clearly marked as such. Fresh towels and slippers for use in the
baths were readily available. Again, not the highest grade, but
good quality nonetheless.
Kenjiro coaxed both girls up onto the exercycles and let them 'ride
around' for a few minutes, showing them how easy it was. then
walked them through the rest of the workout equipment. He paid
particular attention to Ran-chan, never letting his hands stray
anywhere improper, but prolonging each touch a heartbeat more than
necessary. Ran-chan noticed it and responded as she guessed he
wanted her to, by giggling and flirting a little. (This guy's
worse than Mikado the Molester--a lot worse, 'cause he's got a
brain. I'd better watch out. If he tries anything, and I give
myself away, the show's over.)
* * *
"...And after that, he showed me a series of practice moves--kata,
right?" Neko finished. "The funny thing is...it looked awfully
familiar."
"It should," Ranma, once more himself, muttered. "It was Anything-
Goes, or somethin' really, really close."
"But I can't imagine how... unless this Sawara...." Tendo scowled.
"Kenjiro. I don't recognize the name."
"Me either," Akane said. "Do you think he might've been an old
pupil, Dad?"
"Or possibly our master, Happosai, ran across the Sawaras and
taught them their fighting style." Tendo put his head in his
hands. "It doesn't matter. We still have the same problem as
before. They're even teaching the same art we do. How do we
compete?"
In the silence that followed Neko stood up. "I'm sorry, Mr.
Tendo," she said. "I wish we could've brought you better news."
"That's quite all right, Neko. --Oh, are you leaving?"
"Mm-hmm." Neko nodded. "I think I need to be going home."
"Thanks for going," Akane said. "See you tomorrow?"
Neko nodded again, trying not to look at the little black piglet
cuddled in Akane's arms. Slipping off the porch, she donned her
shoes and trotted out the gate. However, instead of turning
towards her house, she walked slowly along the sidewalk, trying not
to notice which way she was going. Right now she didn't feel like
having anyone around her.
(There's nothing left for me. I'm alone. Alone forever.)
Tears prickled at the back of her eyes.
(I... I could use a... a friend like you.)
Neko's vision blurred as the tears threatened to storm down her
cheeks. Shaking her head, she broke into a run, taking turns and
corners and alleys at random, trying to outrun her hurt and
bewilderment and worry. If only, if only Ryoga could
understand...Why? Why hadn't he known? Why couldn't she have
told him? He hadn't changed back for weeks now...was he intent on
staying a pig forever? Why? What had she done?
At last, exhausted, she dropped down onto the sidewalk, resting her
forehead on her knees. Despite her best efforts, she'd failed to
lose either her problems or her sense of direction; it told her
quite calmly that she was 5 blocks north and a block west of her
house. That just made her think of Ryoga, and how lost he could
get, especially as a pig, struggling through the darkness and
wondering where he was... not caring any more, she started crying
out loud, half sobbing and half mewling.
A few minutes later a hand touched her shoulder.
Startled, Neko glanced up. A girl about her age, bluish-violet
hair hanging around her face, was looking at her curiously. "Why
kitty-girl cry so, break Shampoo's heart to listen?" she asked in
a soft, high, delicate voice.
"I'm sorry..." Neko swiped at her eyes. "I didn't mean to bother
you--"
"Is no bother, but you answer question, yes?" The stranger sat
down beside Neko. "You maybe crying about boy?"
Neko gasped. "How-- how did you--?"
"Shampoo know about these things. Shampoo got somebody she love
with all her heart, but hard-hearted boy no like Shampoo back.
Make Shampoo very sad. Somebody with hurt in heart know sound of
someone else unhappy." The girl studied Neko. "What you name?"
"Neko."
"Is much pretty. My name Shampoo. Come from China. You like nice
cup of tea, yes? Make you feel better than sitting out here on
too-too cold sidewalk. You come inside Great-grandmama's cafe,
Shampoo get you all fix up." Standing again, Shampoo held out her
hand. Tentatively Neko took it and allowed herself to be led
inside the restaurant she hadn't even noticed behind her.
It was empty, with the lingering odors of good cooking wafting in
the still air. Over at one side of the room a striking young man
with long black-silk hair, clad in a long white jacket and pants,
was busy wiping down tables. As the two girls walked in, he paused
long enough to look up, pushing enormously thick glasses up higher
on his nose. "Shampoo?" he said.
"Mousse go make hot water for tea," Shampoo answered, steering Neko
to a table. "Two cups. Hop hop!"
"Of course, my darling! Your wish is my command!" Turning, Mousse
immediately tripped over a chair and fell to the floor, knocking a
table off balance. The bowl of water he'd been using to wipe the
tabletops down with promptly slid over the edge and drenched him in
cold water.
With a disgusted sound Muu-chan waddled out of his clothes and made
his way towards the kitchen. Neko watched the white duck, wide-
eyed. "Just like Ryoga," she whispered.
"Hm?" Another voice, this one cracking a bit with age. "Did you
say Ryoga? Ryoga Hibiki?" A rhythmic thumping sounded as a tiny,
wizened old woman hopped up to the table on a large walking stick.
"Haven't seen that boy around for awhile..." A low chuckle. "I've
been wondering where he got off to. I'm getting kind of attached
to the thick-headed lump."
"How you know Ryoga?" Shampoo asked.
Neko took a very deep breath, swallowed around the lump in her
throat, and started explaining why she'd come to Furinkan and how
she'd met Akane, Ranma, and Ryoga. By the time she'd finished,
Shampoo was almost in tears herself; Mousse, who'd used some of the
hot water for the tea on himself, was hoping his glasses hid how
furiously he was blinking back traces of suspicious moisture; and
Cologne was looking off into the middle distance with what amounted
to a wistful expression. "Typical," she murmured. "That Hibiki
boy's got about as much wits as a cabbage when it comes to matters
of the heart. Might've known he'd be too caught up in thoughts of
Akane... well, never mind, child, never mind." Very gently she
patted Neko's hand. "He's a tough one, a real survivor. I ought
to know. Trained him once for a while myself. He'll get over it
eventually."
Neko nodded. "I know. But I can't help it. I miss him so
much...being able to talk to him, helping him find his way
around..." One small hand curled against her chest. "I just... I
don't know, I don't know why I feel this way, but there's something
special about him. I'd give anything for him to feel about me the
way he feels about Akane. But how can I tell him that? He loves
her, not me."
"Hhmph." Shampoo frowned and crossed her arms. "Maybe Shampoo go
knock sense into silly pig-boy's head. Be a first for him!"
Cologne shook her head. "Don't bother, Shampoo. Things like this
have to work themselves out." She slid a cup of tea forward to
Neko. "Have a sip of this, child, and dry your eyes. We never
know what tomorrow will bring, so it's best to keep your spirit
strong. Who knows? Maybe he'll snag a clue."
"At least he has more brains than Saotome," Mousse commented.
"Ranma's not so bad," Neko said. "He's been very nice to me. Even
though I think I make him nervous for some reason."
Cologne and Shampoo exchanged meaningful glances. "Perhaps it's
your ears and tail," Cologne said. "I understand Ranma is a bit...
nervous... around cats."
"Oh." Neko shrank into herself a bit. "I guess that could be."
"Never you mind," Shampoo interjected. "Ears and tail very nice.
Very pretty. Make Neko-kitty-girl special person, not ordinary
boring. You be proud of being special, not let anyone tell you
different."
"Shampoo's right. You can't let the blind stupidity of some people
ruin your life. Personally, I think anyone who would make fun of
you deserves to be pickled slowly in sake." Mousse folded his arms
emphatically, not noticing that his sleeve was dipping into his
tea.
Cologne turned her head and fixed Mousse with a beady-eyed glare.
"Don't you have anything better to do than stand around and drink
tea, Mr. Part-time?" She jumped up on the counter and spun her
stick around, poking Mousse squarely in the chest. He went
staggering backwards, arms flailing, and landed on his backside.
"Get those tables ready for the dinner crowd, and hurry up!"
"Yes, Grandmother..." Mousse snatched up his rag and began
swabbing the tabletops again. "...you dessicated old hag," he
finished under his breath.
Cologne chose to ignore Mousse's impertinence for the moment.
"Shampoo, I've got a round of deliveries for you to make. Hurry
now, so you can get back before dark."
"Yes, Great-grandmama!" Shampoo snagged her delivery box and
hopped nimbly over the counter. "Neko kitty-girl stay and have
supper with Shampoo and great-grandmama, yes?"
"Um...all right, thank you." Neko managed a small, friendly smile
as the pretty Chinese girl skipped merrily out the door. Mousse
paused in his work to look longingly after her.
The gnarled top of Cologne's cane impacted smartly with the back of
Mousse's head. "Get to work!" she barked. Grumbling softly,
Mousse complied.
Neko sat at the counter, wondering if she should offer to help
Mousse with the cleanup. She needed something to do...something
that would help take her mind off her troubles. Her feet itched to
run--just run like the wind, racing so fast her surroundings
blurred into obscurity. Her tail twitched restlessly under her
skirt as one velvety ear flattened in consternation.
The phone rang, and Cologne answered it. Moments later she was
scribbling down a sizable order. When she hung up, she hurried
back to the kitchen. Minutes later, she returned with several
steaming delivery-boxes. She looked at the empty front doorway and
shook her head. "I hope Shampoo hurries back," she said, more or
less to herself. "This order has a rush on it, and I'm not sure
she can make it in evening traffic, even on her bicycle. You have
to get across the street in order to get to the roofs..."
"Um...Mrs. Cologne...?"
The old woman looked at her in surprise, then chuckled. "Just call
me Cologne, dear. Or 'Great-grandmother', if you prefer. Is there
something I can do for you?"
"N...no...but there might be something I can do to help you." Neko
stood up, her tail whisking behind her. "If you have to get that
order delivered in a hurry...I could do it."
"Hm." Cologne's eyes squinched shut. "It's sweet of you to offer,
child, but Shampoo has the only bicycle, and you'd never make it on
foot."
"Yes, I would!" Neko gasped at her own forwardness and lowered her
eyes. "Forgive me...I don't mean to brag..." She straightened up
and looked right at Cologne. "But I can run really, really fast.
Please, I'd like to help. Because you and Shampoo have been so
nice to me."
Cologne chuckled dryly. "Well, why not? It's going to be late
anyway, so I've got nothing to lose. Why don't you give it a try?
Here's the address," and she handed the order slip to the girl.
"It's clear across town, and it might be hard to find..."
"Not for me. Be right back!"
A tremendous burst of wind blew Cologne's snowy hair back like a
banner. She barely managed to maintain her balance on her walking-
stick. Mousse was hurled back into a large teakwood folding-screen
and crashed to the floor with much commotion and Chinese cursing.
Cologne blinked as the lanterns hung from the ceiling swung gently
in the stillness that followed. Neko was gone, leaving only a
settling dust trail outside in her wake.
"Amazing..." The 300-year-old Amazon felt something she seldom felt
these days: surprise.
Ten minutes later another burst of wind blew through the Cat Cafe.
Mousse managed to brace himself this time and only suffered the
loss of his glasses. As he scrabbled around on the floor for them,
Neko set the empty delivery boxes and the cash payment for the
order on the counter in front of Cologne. "Here you are...sorry it
took me so long, I had to stop for a wedding procession." She was
a bit flushed, but barely out of breath.
Cologne blinked. Twice. "...Thank you, child..." Slowly,
gradually, her bewrinkled face twisted itself into a wizened
grimace that approximated a smile. "Tell me...would you happen to
be interested in a regular job...?"
* * *
The mood in the Tendo household the next morning was not a happy
one.
Genma, in panda form, was sitting on the porch in a lotus position
(or what passed for it in his animal guise) smoking a pipe and
grumbling thoughtfully to himself. Ranma was staring down into his
bowl of rice. Akane was scowling. Nabiki was sliding one bead of
her abacus back and forth idly. Tendo, eyes streaming tears, was
pacing back and forth moaning. Only Kasumi seemed unaffected.
"Oh, Daddy, stop it," Nabiki finally said. "You're going to wear
a hole in the floor."
"We've got to think of something," Akane said. "We've got to."
"I dunno about anyone else, but I thought so much last night--"
Ranma stifled a yawn. "I hardly got any sleep."
"Neither did I." Akane pushed her breakfast away half-eaten.
"Come on, Ranma, we've got to leave now or we'll be late for
school."
"School. Yeah. Right." With a groan Ranma dragged himself up and
snagged his bookbag.
It was even harder than usual for Ranma to concentrate on studies.
The minutes dragged on like hours. Something was worrying at the
back of his mind--(and it ain't just the new dojo, either. It
ain't like I don't care about Akane and the Tendos, but there's
something else...oh, man, I hate this. I never thought I'd be
missin' the days when Pop and I were out on the road. At least
when you're worried about where your next meal is comin' from or
findin' a safe place to sleep for the night, nothin' else seems
real important.)
It finally hit him like a bullet train that evening after dinner,
when he saw Akane playing with P-chan. (Ryoga...that's it! That's
what's been buggin' me this whole time! I ain't seen Ryoga around
for weeks--ever since we came back from Ryugenzawa. Just P-chan.
I don't get it. I thought Ryoga hated bein' a pig...)
Akane giggled as she tickled P-chan, who squirmed and squealed with
delight. Ranma scowled and leaned in close. "Aww, do da widdle
piggy wike havin' his tummy tickled, huh?" he chided in his most
fake-syrupy voice.
"Ranma..." Akane warned.
P-chan looked up at Ranma with a complete lack of malice...and with
nothing that even resembled human intelligence.
"Huh...?" Giving his head a shake, Ranma crouched in front of
Akane and took the pig from her grasp. "Hey, what's with you,
anyway, huh?"
"Give him back, Ranma!" Akane demanded, reaching for her pet.
P-chan looked with wide, innocent eyes up at Ranma...then
deliberately bent and licked at his hand.
"Hey!!" Ranma dropped P-chan back into Akane's outstretched hands
and backed off. "C'mon, quit it, you're freakin' me out!"
"Why? Because P-chan wants to be friends with you, no matter how
badly you treat him?" Akane set the pig on her cushion as she
stood. "Now you be a good baby and stay there, okay?" She gave
him an affectionate scratch between his long black ears and shot a
warning glare at Ranma. "Don't you pick on him, do you hear me?
I'll be back in a little while."
After Akane had vanished, Ranma crouched in front of P-chan.
"Okay, Ryoga, she's gone. You can cut out the cute and innocent
act now. What, are you tryin' to make me mad? Well, it's workin',
okay?"
P-chan looked at Ranma, cocked his head, then bent to sniff
delicately at the cushion's yellow fringe.
"Hey, I'm talkin' to you, Ryoga!" Ranma reached out to grasp the
pig by the back of the neck--and realized that the habitual
leopard-print bandanna was gone. "Huh...?"
P-chan's velvety nose nuzzled Ranma's wrist, and he pulled his hand
hastily away. "Oh, man...Ryoga..."
The pig seemed to take no notice of the name.
Slowly Ranma's eyes tracked out to the yard outside, where a wide-
girthed panda prowled serenely in the moonlight, wrestling
playfully with a spare tire.
You see...this is my true self...
"Oh, no..." Ranma knew at last what had been troubling him so
deeply. It was a personal fear he had never fully acknowledged
until now. Seeing his father so comfortable in his altered state
only added to his apprehension.
(That time when Cologne used the Full Body Cat Tongue on me...I was
a girl for days, and I could feel myself starting to turn into a
girl on the inside, too.) Ranma suppressed a shudder. (Pop spends
more time as a panda now than as a man...he even acts like a big,
dumb, tame animal. And Ryoga...man, he's been P-chan for almost
three months now! Has he...has he turned into a pig for real? Has
he forgotten he was ever human? Oh, God--I can't let that happen
to him! I gotta save him before it's too late!)
Ranma snatched P-chan up and ran for the stairs. "It's gonna be
okay, Ryoga," he promised as he bounded down the hallway. "I
promise you, you're gonna thank me for it in the morning."
Ignoring the pig's squeals and struggles, Ranma bolted into the
bathroom. Conveniently enough, the tub was already brimful with
steaming hot water. Of course, the bath had been occupied moments
before, but the bather had just stepped out of the tub and had a
towel in her hand.
"Ranma!! You're unbelievable!!!" Akane swung and knocked Ranma
out of the window and into the garden outside. She then covered
herself with the towel, scooped up P-chan from the bathroom floor,
and stomped imperiously up to her room.
"Ow! What'd she have to hit me so hard for? Jeez!" Ranma rubbed
the swelling on the side of his jaw gingerly. "She ain't lost that
at least."
(I gotta figure some way to get at P-chan and get him changed back.
Probably won't have any better luck than when he first came to live
here, but I gotta try. It's for Ryoga's sake. We fight almost all
the time--but whenever I really need some backup, he's always
there, and he ain't the kind of guy who helps you out and then
stabs you in the back. He deserves better than bein' a pig for the
rest of his life. Heck, if he could just get off this dumb kick
about Akane and get over what happened at Jusenkyo, I think we
could be friends. Man, I could use a friend. THAT'S something I
sure don't have a big supply of.) Ranma scowled up into the bright
morning sky. (I'll think about it.)
A faint knocking towards the front of the house caught his
attention, and he scrambled nimbly up one side of the roof and down
the other to peer at the wooden gate, where the sound was
originating. "A hammer? I didn't think it was broke..."
In a few seconds the hammering stopped and Ranma could see someone
moving away from the dojo down the street. Curious, he leapt to
the clothesline, ran across it to the wall, jumped down into the
street, and walked over to the door.
Tacked to the very center was a folded piece of parchment, with an
address on the outside: 'To the members of the Tendo/Saotome School
of Anything-Goes Martial Arts'.
Ranma carefully peeled the paper loose, shook it out, and read it.
His eyes widened, then narrowed. "Why, those-!" Crumpling it in
one hand, he shoved the gate open and charged into the house. "Mr.
Tendo! Akane, Pop! Everybody! C'mere! NOW!!"
"What is it, Ranma?" Kasumi said, looking out of the kitchen.
"This had better be important," Nabiki grumbled as she came
downstairs, followed closely by Akane and Tendo.
Lumbering in, the panda held up a sign saying 'What is it, boy?'
Ranma held out the parchment. "It's a challenge letter," he said
grimly. "Looks like the Sawara dojo ain't gonna wait around for us
to figure out what to do."
Akane took the paper and read it:
To the Tendo/Saotome dojo--
I, Kenjiro Sawara, heir to the Sawara School
of Martial Arts and Self-Improvement,
challenge your dojo to an Anything-Goes
Martial Arts battle to decide which school
will remain in business, the loser to shut
down their dojo, leave town after publicly
acknowledging the winner's school to be the
better of the two, and never return. If you
accept my challenge, have your best pupil, the
one called Ranma Saotome, meet me at the
Barakaben Gymnasium on Sunday, one week from
today, at 1:00 P.M. for a public battle. No
time limit, no surrender, complete knockout
only.
"Oh, Ranma! What are you going to do? This is serious!"
"C'mon, Akane, what d'you EXPECT me to do? I'm gonna accept the
challenge!"
'Are you sure that's wise, son?' Genma-Panda hastily scribbled on
his sign.
"What else am I supposed to do, old man? If I DON'T show up, we
all gotta leave town." Ranma clenched one fist. "I ain't gonna
let that happen. No way!"
"Ranma!" Tendo took the boy by the shoulders. "Everything depends
on you! You have to defend the honor of the Tendo and Saotome
families. More than just this dojo is on the line!"
"Don't worry, Mr. Tendo. I don't lose."
"There speaks the humble man," Nabiki remarked to no one in
particular.
* * *
Somehow word got around, and by 12:30 Sunday the gymnasium was
crowded to overflowing. Akane looked around nervously. "So many
people..."
"Aw, this is no worse than that stupid rhythmic gymnastics thing,
Akane." Ranma stretched, limbering up. "I'll knock this guy for
a loop and that'll be the end of our worries."
"Don't be so overconfident! Remember what you were telling us.
This Kenjiro Sawara knows what he's doing."
"Hey, so do I." Ranma winked at Akane. "And I got a few tricks I
didn't learn from my Pop!"
The crowd grew quieter as Kenjiro Sawara appeared, followed by his
father. Confidently he strode forward and leapt into the ring,
bowed in Ranma's direction. "Ranma Saotome."
"Yeah, that's me."
"I've looked forward to this. The word on the street is that
you're the best."
"Well, y'know, people LIKE tellin' the truth."
Kenjiro laughed. "You don't lack courage or confidence, that's for
sure. Ready to begin?"
"Anytime you are."
Genma (in human form) pulled himself into the ring and walked to
the center. "This is a battle to test the skills of the two
schools teaching 'Anything-Goes' martial arts, the Sawara dojo and
the Tendo dojo. Knockout only, no time, no surrender. I want a
good clean fight in the tradition of our schools. All right..." he
backed off. "FIGHT!"
The two opponents circled for a minute, sizing each other up.
Kenjiro was older and taller, but he and Ranma were much of a size
otherwise; neither seemed more muscular.
"You might as well give up now, Saotome," Kenjiro said, smirking a
bit. "You haven't got a chance."
"If you know so much about me, you'd know I don't give up that
easy!" Ranma launched a flying kick, which Kenjiro ducked.
"Bad move, boy," Genma muttered. "Make your enemy come to you."
"Hey, old man, you know so much, YOU get up here and fight!"
"Nonsense. Wouldn't dream of depriving you of the pleasure of
defending our family honor."
"You're a fine one to talk--" Ranma broke off as Kenjiro threw a
quick barrage of punches, which Ranma blocked, then followed with
a few punches of his own. Kenjiro dodged. "Not bad, Saotome," he
said.
"Wait till I get warmed up."
"Don't take too long--I want a fight, not a dancing lesson."
"Oh yeah? Oh yeah?! I'll show you who's dancin'! HIIIYYAAA!"
Ranma charged in, dropping and sliding forward under Kenjiro's
guard and catching him a good blow in the side. Kenjiro grunted,
brought his elbow down to crack the back of Ranma's head, knocking
the younger boy to the mat. As Kenjiro came around, foot lifting,
Ranma rolled out of the way and flipped to his feet, shaking his
hand a little. (Man, that guy's got some way hard ribs. Felt
almost like punching Ryoga!... Okay, so he wants it tough. He
ain't SEEN tough yet.)
The fight continued like that for almost half an hour, neither one
getting in more than a punch or kick here and there. But of the
combatants, Kenjiro seemed to be tiring more slowly.
"It's like that fight in the forest," Akane whispered. "When Ryoga
learned the Breaking Point. Ranma's hitting him, but Kenjiro's not
slowing down. Could-- could he-?"
"Impossible," Cologne said, shaking her snowy head. "Outside of
our Amazon tribe, no one BUT Ryoga knows the Bakusai Tenketsu.
That doesn't mean the Sawara boy's not versed in some other
fighting form that requires a similar form of training, which would
toughen him appropriately. Still..." her eyes closed. "I haven't
seen him move in any patterns indicative of that. Everything
Kenjiro's done has been classic 'Anything-Goes', so far as I know
the style."
"Hm." Tendo nodded. "You're right. And some of those moves...
Genma. Aren't those some of the older fighting stances we learned
from Master Happosai?"
"They are. But surely the Sawaras would've made improvements on
the style--that's why it's 'Anything-Goes'. New moves are
constantly invented, and old ones improved on and refined." Genma
pushed his glasses up, studied the fight intently. "It COULD
possibly be a deliberate attempt to lull Ranma into a false sense
of security. --Be careful, boy!" he bellowed.
One corner of Ranma's mind heard the warning and stored it away.
The rest was bent on Kenjiro. (He's wearin' me down, just like
Ryoga. Fine. let's see how he handles the same return tactics.)
"Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken! --AAAAAAA!" Leaping in, Ranma rained
a series of strikes so fast they blurred into one, delivered at the
exact same spot in the middle of Kenjiro's sternum. The older boy,
unable to block, flew backwards and cracked into one of the
ringposts, splintering it. "Ha! Betcha felt THAT, huh?"
Painfully Kenjiro pulled himself up, took a stance something
similar to a 'crane' position. "N-not bad, Saotome... but how
about this? Noboru Bofunami Dageki--Rising Storm Wave Strike!"
With incredible speed he cartwheeled towards Ranma, coming up off
the mat to deliver a horizontally-spinning drop kick to Ranma's
torso. It was Ranma's turn to hit a turnbuckle, hard. He groaned
and slid down to the mat, clutching his chest.
"RANMA!" Akane came to her feet, as did most of the crowd. "Get
up, Ranma!"
"WEEEEENK!" P-chan shrilled, leaping to the ring apron. "SQUEEE!"
"Oh, no, P-chan, baby! Come back! You'll get hurt!"
"What about ME gettin' hurt?" Ranma muttered under his breath. He
spared a glance at the piglet which was trying (vainly) to balance
on his back legs and was waving his front trotters in Kenjiro's
direction. A light that had nothing to do with an animal's mind
burnt in those eyes now, and Ranma realized Ryoga was trying--
desperately--to tell him something. "HRRRIIIINNNK! HRINK SHREE
HIINK!"
"Huh?" Ranma blinked, looked over where Kenjiro was standing, a
pale red aura flickering into view as he summoned his ki for a
final shot. "Oh yeah!" Spreading his hands in front of him, Ranma
concentrated fiercely, hands seeming to catch fire with a pale blue
light. "Hiryu Shoten Ha Revised! Horizontal Attack!"
Even as Kenjiro brought his fists down and arcs of red lightning
began to crackle between them, the first wave of Ranma's attack was
racing at him. He hadn't time to dodge or block as the Flying
Dragon Ascension strike caught him full on-- sending him flying out
of the ring and over the bleachers to smash into the far wall. For
a second or two he wavered on his feet, then fell and lay still.
"I-I did it," Ranma said, managing to stand with the help of the
ring ropes.
"Here is your winner!" Genma shouted, leaping into the ring.
"Ranma Saotome!"
The building erupted into loud cheers and applause. Akane, eyes
sparkling, climbed onto the edge of the ring and threw her arms
around Ranma's neck. "Ranma! You won! You won!"
"Akane--c'mon--you're holdin' me--too tight--"
At her feet, P-chan snorted derision.
Kenjiro's father quietly circled around, helped his son stand, and
brought him back to stand in front of Ranma. "Congratulations,
Ranma Saotome," he said. "You've beaten my son, and won the right
to teach 'Anything-Goes' unopposed. You are clearly the better
martial artist, and we'll shut down our school and leave as soon as
possible." He held out a hand. "No hard feelings."
"Sure thing. I mean, hey, that's what it's all about, right?
Noble warriors and all that?" Ranma also put out a hand.
"We were certainly right to come here looking for you," Mr. Sawara
husked as both he and his son clasped Ranma's hand at once.
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"
"NOW, KENJIRO!" Mr. Sawara shouted. Instantly a strange greenish
light surrounded all three, and before anyone could move it faded
away... taking Ranma, Kenjiro, and the older Sawara with it.
"RANMA!" Akane, Tendo, and Genma all screamed at once.
There was, naturally, no answer.
* * *
Two hours later, a small group was clustered around the dining
table in the Tendo house, listening intently to Tendo's narration
of the fight and the events leading to it. As soon as they'd made
sure Ranma was nowhere on the premises of the gym, he and Genma had
sent out a call to those people they viewed as possible allies.
Cologne brought Shampoo and Mousse with her; Kuno and Ukyou arrived
almost at the same time.
When Tendo finished, the room was silent. Even P-chan seemed
disturbed by Ranma's disappearance; he kept wandering around the
room and looking out into the yard hopefully.
"This is evil magic," Mousse said finally. "It's obvious that this
entire situation was set up as a trap to catch Ranma. But for what
purpose?"
"It would seem these malefactors have some ulterior motive, 'tis
true. To strike so dishonorably..." Kuno shook his head. "Much as
I wish to see Ranma Saotome defeated, I would not stoop to such
tactics. We must find him and punish his kidnappers."
"The 'finding' is going to be the difficult part." Mousse took off
his glasses and cleaned them idly on one sleeve as he continued,
"I've heard about certain ancient techniques for disappearing that
seem to resemble what you describe. They all involve clouding
men's minds-- Ranma probably didn't actually disappear. It simply
SEEMED as if he did, and the Sawaras walked out with him. They
probably used something like acupressure to paralyze him so he
couldn't fight back. In any event, they couldn't have kept it up
for long, so they must still be somewhere nearby--relatively
speaking. They might've left town with him."
"But WHY?" Akane asked.
"When we figure that out, Akane Tendo, we'll have an idea where
they're going with Ranma."
"Too bad Ryoga isn't here." Ukyou sighed. "We could really use
that thick-headed son of a gun. Sense of misdirection or not, he's
one fine fighter."
The little black pig favored the group with a long, long stare
before heaving an enormous sigh and heading upstairs (after several
false starts).
"Poor P-chan," Akane murmured. "He and Ranma were finally starting
to get along--I think it bothers him that Ranma's missing."
"Does anyone have ANY idea who these Sawaras are?" Genma asked.
"They know 'Anything Goes', but it's an older form. They had to
have learned it from someone."
>From outside a voice answered, "And so they did!"
Everyone turned to look as Happosai, still clutching a bagful of
his most recent 'gifts from heaven', hopped down onto the middle of
the table. "Indeed you haven't, and as it so happens I DO know the
Sawaras. The father at least. His name is Isaoka Sawara, and he
was once my pupil--before I took YOU two lunkheads in," he said in
Genma and Tendo's direction. "Ah, he was a promising lad, that
one..."
"Get to the point, Happy," Cologne said quietly. "My future son-
in-law's life may be in grave danger."
"Isaoka had a great talent for the martial arts, but he was
impatient, hot-headed, and fundamentally weak of spirit. He craved
the skills, but was unwilling to master the principles and
spiritual dedication of 'Anything Goes' martial arts. I was
hopeful that with time he would learn patience and strengthen his
soul, but instead his vices only became greater ones. I was at
last forced to dismiss him as my pupil." Happosai folded his arms.
"However, there's just one problem. Isaoka Sawara was my pupil,
yes... a hundred and fifty years ago."
"A hundred..." Akane gasped.
"And fifty..." Mousse added.
"YEARS?!?" Ukyou finished.
"Aiyah!" Shampoo rubbed her head. "That very long time!"
"Then how is it he's still alive, master? Surely, if he failed to
learn well, he couldn't have-!" Genma said incredulously.
"The techniques for prolonging one's life are indeed deeply
immersed in the learning of martial arts, and are reserved for
those who are true masters, such as myself and Cologne," Happosai
agreed. "Sawara, on his own, could NOT have mastered them to the
extent that a man who was 20 years old a hundred years ago could
look and move like a man of only 30 or 40 today."
"Then he's not acting on his own," Ukyou concluded. "He's become
someone ELSE's pupil... or made some kind of deal with someone."
"Exactly right, my pretty young thing. --Have we been properly
introduced??"
With one smooth stroke Kuno brought the flat of his bokken down on
Happosai's head the second he took a step towards Ukyou. "Not now,
you lecherous dog," he said as he re-sheathed the blade. "We have
more important things to discuss."
"But that leaves us where we started," Ukyou said, scowling. "WHY
would they want Ranma-honey? And where did they go?"
"Ah!" Shampoo stood up suddenly. "Shampoo MUCH stupid, not think
of this before! Why we no go Sawara school and see they leave
something behind? Maybe that tell us which way they go!"
"What an excellent idea, my darling!" Mousse said, also standing
and throwing his arms around Genma. "Come, Shampoo, we'll go and
investigate at once! --Uh, when did you put on weight, my
sweetness?"
Genma simply slammed him face-first into the wall and let him slide
down. "It's rude to comment on a lady's weight," he said as Mousse
picked himself up and shook his features back into place. "Let's
ALL go."
When they reached the Sawara school, an unpleasant sight met
everyone's eyes. Instead of the neat, trim building they'd
expected, a deserted, dusty, run-down suite of offices, windows
soaped over, presented itself. The floors were dirty, the corners
cobwebbed, and the whole place had an air of long disuse about it.
"This... this CAN'T be it." Akane shook her head. "I thought
Ranma and Neko said it was all new inside!"
"Doesn't look it now." Ukyou shrugged. "Maybe we got the wrong
address?"
Mousse shouldered his way gently between them and moved to the
center of the main room, closing his eyes. He stood there for
several breaths, as if listening to something only he could hear,
then turned unerringly back towards the others, eyes still shut.
"More magic," he said simply. "Not the kind I use in fighting;
this is TRUE sorcery. Some type of illusion. I can feel the edges
of it lingering here and there."
"You-- you mean you really DO know magic?" Ukyou scratched her
head. "Well, knock ME down with a chopstick."
"Mousse indeed has a certain sensitivity to things outside normal
senses. It's been in his family for generations, though he's the
first male child to have it." Cologne also made her way inside.
"Yes... now that you mention it, I feel something also. But I
wouldn't have noticed it otherwise."
Tendo waved an arm. "Everybody spread out. Go over the entire
building. Leave no stone unturned. Akane's future depends on it!"
"And Shampoo's," the Chinese girl added.
"Hey! What about me? I'm not exactly teriyaki eels, you know!"
protested Ukyou.
A search of the front rooms turned up nothing; however, to the
rear, the building showed signs of recent occupancy. Still,
nothing solid turned up, until Akane stepped on a board and had it
crack underneath her foot. "AAAAA!"
"Akane!" Kuno rushed in, sword at the ready, followed by Tendo,
Genma and the rest. "Who dares attack the beauteous Akane?"
"Nobody, Kuno," Akane said, bracing herself and pulling her foot
out of the hole. "Hey! Look at this! It's a hidden cabinet, or
something..." Akane put her hand gingerly into the gap, felt
around, pulled out a piece of paper. "A... travel brochure?"
"Let me see that." Genma took it. "This is very new. This year's
printing."
"Where's it to?" Ukyou craned her neck. "'Visit the caves of the
Hoshihanji area, renowned for their vast mineral deposits.' Huh.
Somebody likes hiking, I guess."
"Listen to this!" Genma adjusted his glasses. "'The Caves of
Hoshihanji are famous for the legendary Tengoku Negai Fountain,
said to flow only once every five thousand years. According to the
legend, whoever defeats the Guardian of the Fountain is granted any
wish his heart desires, simply by taking a drink of the waters,
without end so long as the waters flow. When the fountain retreats
into the earth, its magic lies hidden for another five thousand
years.'"
"That's it!" Akane shouted. "That's why they wanted Ranma!
They're going to make HIM fight the Guardian of the Fountain while
THEY steal the water! Quick, Mr. Saotome, does it say anything
about when the waters are supposed to rise?!"
"No."
"But those Sawara guys must think it'll be real soon! Otherwise,
they wouldn't have gone to all this trouble to kidnap Ranma-honey!"
Ukyou drew her spatula. "Well, they're going to be sorry they
messed with THIS cute girl's fiancee!"
"Ex-CUSE me?" Akane's eyes narrowed. "WHOSE fiancee?"
"No time fight now!" Shampoo snatched the brochure from Genma's
fingers. "We go here, quick quick! They have big start on us
already!"
"Sasuke!" bellowed Kuno.
"Yes, Master Kuno?" The little ninja popped out of a (formerly)
empty closet.
"Quick! To Castle Kuno! Fetch the family car! We must away to
the Caves of Hoshihanji!"
* * *
Fortunately the 'family car' WASN'T a subcompact, but an old-
fashioned sedan. Despite Kuno's insistence on riding the running
boards outside (and leaving his impression on various road signs
along the way, quite involuntarily), an hour's drive found the
group (less Cologne and Happosai, who'd chosen to stay behind and
search the city again in case they were wrong about the Caves) at
the base of the mountains mentioned in the brochure.
"The map on the brochure indicates the trail to the Caves should be
right over... there." Akane pointed.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Mousse ran up the slope and
promptly impacted on a tree. "Very thick undergrowth here," he
mumbled around a mouthful of bark.
"Stupid Mousse..." Shampoo shook her head and took his sleeve.
"Up THIS way."
The trail was a bit steep but passable, and shortly the company saw
the mouth of the caves ahead of them. Kuno dropped to his knees in
front of the cavern. "Someone has indeed passed this way
recently," he announced. "Behold!" He pointed at two sets of
faint footprints.
"Kuno! That's pretty good!" Akane smiled.
"It was not in vain that I, as a mere lad, watched many a samurai
epic. Shall we enter? Sasuke!"
"Yes, Master Kuno?" Sasuke bobbed up from behind a rock.
"Some lanterns. Electric, I think, lest we run short of oil at a
critical moment."
The requested items were promptly produced.
"Where does he KEEP all that stuff?" Akane wondered aloud as they
proceeded inside.
Shampoo shrugged. "You asking Shampoo?"
As they wound their way deeper into the grotto and downwards,
Mousse kept looking around. Finally he stopped. "I sense
something," he whispered.
"More magic?" Tendo moved in closer to his daughter. "What--what
kind?"
"Old. Very, very old." The young Chinese man turned, glasses
glittering in the lights. "I think those legends the brochure
mentioned aren't as legendary as we could hope for."
"Then Ranma is in real danger." Genma ran ahead. "Ranma! Hang
on, my boy! Your father's on the way!"
"If I was Ranma, I wouldn't find that so reassuring," Akane
grumbled, speeding ahead to keep up. Everyone else followed close
behind her.
Faintly in the distance, growing louder as they ran down the
passage, came the sound of combat and a tiny wink of light that
grew into a sizeable opening. The nine adventurers emerged onto a
long cliff face above a huge natural amphitheater, its sides lined
with giant crystals that gave off a pale silvery light. The walls
all the way to the ceiling were stained with the marks of water,
indicating the area was usually completely submerged, but now it
was empty except for three things:
1) Isaoka Sawara, standing perfectly motionless towards the
rear of the cavern;
2) Ranma, his clothing tattered and one arm bleeding,
crouching behind a cluster of rocks; and
3) A huge dragon, its body a pale, translucent blue-white,
like the color of ice over a deep lake.
"Oh... my... God..." Ukyou crammed her fist to her mouth to hold
back a scream.
"That must be the Guardian of the Fountain!" Mousse squinted.
"But where's the Fountain itself?"
"Who cares? Ranma's down there!" Akane leapt over the edge of the
cliff and slid down the slope beneath. "Ranma!!"
Ranma looked up, eyes widening. "No! Akane! You idiot! Don't
come down here!!"
"Oh, right! I can take care of myself! --AIIEEEE!" Losing her
balance two-thirds of the way to the floor, Akane tumbled the rest
of the way, landing in a sprawl of arms and legs. A huge shadow
loomed over her and her gaze crept up to see its source. "Oh..
no..."
The dragon opened its jaws, but instead of roaring, an eerie hiss
emerged, along with tendrils of fog. Far back in the depths of its
maw Akane thought she could glimpse something whirling up. Then a
set of arms closed around her.
"Hang on to me tight, Akane!" yelled Ranma, leaping straight up.
As he did, a rush of white mist shot out and struck the area they'd
been occupying only a heartbeat or two earlier. As it played over
the ground, the entire area for about ten feet was sheathed in a
coat of ice. "That thing breathes COLD, not hot! One shot of that
and you'll be a frozen dinner-- for the DRAGON! He's already
gotten that Sawara guy's dad!"
They landed back behind the cluster of boulders, and Ranma dropped
to his knees, grimacing. "S'got claws, too," he muttered.
"Oh, Ranma!..." Akane looked at his arm-- really LOOKED at it--
and saw three deep cuts, still oozing blood. "Let me--"
"Keep your head down!" Ranma grabbed her again and forced her to
the earth as a second jet of freezing mist shot over the rocks,
barely missing them. "What the heck're you doing here, anyway?"
"We came to rescue YOU, you dummy!"
"Oh yeah? Don't'cha think I can fight my own battles?!"
"Against PEOPLE, yes! Against DRAGONS?" Akane ripped a
shirtsleeve free and tore it into strips, started binding up
Ranma's arm with it.
"Fear not, Ranma Saotome!" Mousse snapped a set of blades out of
his sleeves and leapt up into the air, launching himself at the
dragon's back. "Let US handle this monstrosity!"
"Have at you, spawn of the nether realms! aaaAAAA TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-
TA-TA-TA-TA!" Kuno slid down the slope at a full charge and ran in,
his bokken already lashing out in ten, twenty, fifty strokes as
fast as the eye could blink. Chips of a whitish substance flew
off, but after he'd charged past the others still above could see
that Kuno'd only barely scratched the beast's skin.
Mousse, on the dragon's back, found himself facing a completely
different dilemma. As soon as he'd landed his feet had gone out
from under him, and now he struggled to regain his balance. "Ice,
he gasped, "it's made of ICE!"
"I coulda told you that!" Ranma dove out of the way of yet another
arctic blast. "And it's really tough stuff, too! I barely cracked
its scales--there, in front, just at the base of the throat."
"Saotome! Let's go!" Tendo leapt down.
"Right behind you, Tendo!" Genma joined his friend. "Just like
the old days!"
"I've been meaning to ask you about that..."
"Why, what do you mean, Tendo?"
"Why is it always ME who goes first if it looks dangerous?"
Genma shrugged. "Just luck?"
"Don't leave me out of this!" Ukyou drew her spatula.
"Not leave Shampoo out either!" The Amazon girl drew her bonbori
and jumped out into mid-air.
Tendo and Genma moved first, striking in unison at the left front
leg, trying to injure the dragon's knee. Ukyou moved to the rear
and made a swipe there, attempting a hamstring. Mousse, above,
crawled along the back, raking at it with his black lotus. Shampoo
flung a bonbori at the creature's face. Angrily the dragon hissed,
lashed at Ukyou with its tail, sent her sprawling; reared up and
threw Mousse off; fired a blast of ice-mist at Genma and Tendo; and
ducked aside as Shampoo's mace grazed its muzzle.
"This-- doesn't seem-- to be getting us--anywhere," panted Genma.
"Its icy scales are nearly impenetrable."
"If it's anything like normal ice, cutting weapons will do less
well than blunt ones." Tendo gestured at Ukyou and Shampoo. "The
girls probably stand the best chance of hurting it."
"Then let us turn the very earth itself against the creature!"
Racing halfway up the wall and using it as a springboard, Kuno
launched himself in a mighty upwards leap, swinging his sword at
one of the stalactites hanging from the cavern roof and sending it
plummeting down. It struck the dragon across the back, shattering
one of the animal's wings in half and leaving a deep crack along
one shoulder. A clear fluid began to gush out, puddling on the
floor around the ice beast as it thrashed in pain.
"What the--" Ranma reached out from behind the rocks, touched a
small pool of the liquid, tasted it. "Hey, this is water!"
"Makes sense, I guess," Akane said. "If it's made of ice, it
bleeds water." Taking a deep breath, she added, "Ranma, stay
here," and leapt up over the rocks, running as hard as she could
past the dragon towards the bonbori Shampoo'd thrown at the beast
earlier.
"No way!" Ranma leapt up and followed her.
"You two jackasses!" Ukyou ran in and slammed her spatula
alongside the dragon's muzzle as it tracked them. It pulled back,
shaking its head, then tried to snap at her. She whacked it again.
"Next time just hold up a big sign saying, 'Here I am, monster
food', why don't'cha?"
"Thanks, Ucchan!" Ranma waved.
As Kuno, seeing the success of his tactics, prepared to launch
himself upwards again, something sharp cut the air just above his
head. He ducked barely in time to avoid decapitation. "What-!"
Kenjiro, a katana in his hands, shook his head. "Sorry, but only
ONE person can defeat the Guardian and claim its secrets--and it's
going to be me. So while I appreciate the efforts you've all made
in weakening it, I'm afraid you all have to die. And you,
swordsman, are going first!"
"Foul knave, the scion of the House of Kuno perishes not by your
mere say-so! --Or words to said effect. *ahem*. Challenge me and
fall!" Kuno grasped the flat of his bokken, pulled and twisted a
certain way, and flung the entire length of the blade away,
revealing that it was actually a sword-shaped wooden sheath
concealing a full-sized katana. Then he lunged forward to meet
Kenjiro's charge.
The swords met, struck sparks. Fiercely Kuno and Kenjiro circled,
each trying to penetrate the other's guard and getting nowhere. As
they passed the ice-covered form of the elder Sawara, Kuno spared
it the barest glance, suppressed a shudder. The man's expression
was one of horrified understanding--he'd obviously seen his death
coming. Then Kuno had to duck aside as Kenjiro attempted to back
him into the frozen figure, and watched in shock as Kenjiro sliced
through his father's form, shattering it into a million fragments.
Taking a deep breath, Akane said, "Ranma, stay here," and leapt up
over the rocks, running as hard as she could past the dragon
towards the bonbori Shampoo'd thrown at the beast earlier.
"No way!" Ranma leapt up and followed her.
"Don't be a fool, boy! You're in--WHOOF!" Genma caught the edge
of the dragon's fist and sailed backwards to crack into the far
wall. He fell forward face-first into a puddle, struggled back to
his feet seconds later as a panda. "rrrROWRRrr," he snarled, and
charged, ramming his shoulder into the dragon's side like a
football linebacker. The creature actually skidded backwards a few
feet and hissed as a new rivulet of water opened up where Genma-
Panda'd impacted.
"All right, Pop!" Ranma circled and pointed. "Akane! Hit it
there!"
"Got it!" With all her strength Akane swung the bonbori. The ice
dragon flung back its head and screamed in pain as she opened the
crack wider. A gush of frigid water poured out, drenching both
Akane and Ranma. "Oh, Ranma!"
"Never mind me!" Ran-chan darted in, hammering at the crack, then
darting back out to avoid a return strike. "We gotta keep hitting
it! C'mon, Akane, help me here!"
"NO!" Kenjiro howled, whipping around and bringing his sword to
bear on Akane. Instinctively she threw up the bonbori to block,
whipped a kick into Kenjiro's stomach. At the same moment,
Shampoo, seeing her chance, flung her other bonbori at Kenjiro's
face. Neither blow seemed to hurt him, but he staggered back hard,
thrown off balance--
Straight onto Kuno's sword.
For a heartbeat of time everything seemed to stop; all eyes turned
to Kuno, who was staring in shock at the man he'd just skewered.
"T'was never my intent... to slay the man...." he gasped, looking
a great deal younger than he usually did.
Then Kenjiro's head cranked up and he twisted half around, grinned
almost manically at Kuno. "You didn't," he hissed, sword coming up
in a killing strike.
Moving almost as swiftly as Ranma, Mousse hurled a chain-whip at
Kenjiro's weapon, snagged it and yanked back hard, snapping the
blade in half. Simultaneously Kuno pulled his katana free, face
twisted in repulsion. Under Kenjiro's clothing and skin, everyone
could see a thin layer of metal sheathing a complicated network of
wires, tubing and gears. Some of the tubes, severed now, dripped a
thin reddish-orange fluid. "This... this is no man," Kuno
stammered, then shouted, "YOU ARE NO MAN!"
"It's some kind of-- of machine!" Akane gasped.
With a snarl Kenjiro grabbed Mousse's chain and jerked the Chinese
boy towards him. "You're next, you blind simpleton!"
"In your dreams!" Leaping, Akane rocketed in and kicked Kenjiro's
head as hard as she could. It popped free and bounced across the
cavern floor, eyes still open. The body continued pulling on the
chain-whip, but by this time Mousse had let go and stepped back.
A whistling shriek behind them reminded everyone they still had the
dragon to deal with as well. Tendo and Genma-Panda, along with
Ukyou, had been trying to keep it busy, but now they were downed
and the great head was swinging around, seeking new targets. It
locked in on Ran-chan, the closest opponent still standing, and
advanced on her.
Ran-chan planted herself firmly in front of it. "Hey! Hey, you
ugly thing! I got a special delivery right here for you!" Her
battle aura flared to life. In the palm of one hand a globe of
light grew.
"No, Ranma, don't! You're too weak!" Akane screamed.
"I gotta, Akane! All my remaining strength--maybe I can shatter
the dumb thing! MOKO TAKABISHA!!!! YAAAAAAAA!" The Fierce Tiger ki
attack exploded out of Ran-chan's grasp and struck the dragon full
in the side as she collapsed, strength drained. With a thunderous
CRACK it fell over, body splitting into halves, then beginning to
crack elsewhere as water started fountaining out. Already the
floor of the cave was nearly knee-deep, and rising alarmingly fast.
"Wha-what's going on?" Tendo splashed his way across towards his
daughter. "Akane! Are you all right?"
"Aiyah!" Shampoo leapt up on a rock. "Cave flooding!"
"That's it! That's got to be it!" Akane hauled the exhausted
Ran-chan up, looping an arm around her fiancee's waist. "The
Guardian of the Fountain IS the Fountain!"
"And with its death, this cavern will return to its normal state--
underwater!" Kuno leapt over Kenjiro's headless form, still
wandering around swinging at random, and ran towards Akane and Ran-
chan, catching one up under each arm. "If we do not depart
swiftly, this will be our watery grave! Come, my twin beloveds--
allow me to assist you!"
"Shampoo!" Mousse leapt from boulder to boulder nimbly, catching
Shampoo up. "Shampoo, are you all right?"
"Stupid Mousse let Shampoo go! --Then again, maybe that not such
good idea," Shampoo added, seeing the water getting higher and
higher around them. "Never mind!"
"Let's haul butt!" Ukyou scrambled up the slope of the wall; the
others followed her, barely keeping ahead of the rising waves. In
fact, it was already lapping at their legs as they swung up onto
the ledge and started running back up the passage to the surface.
Behind them they could hear the thunder of swiftly-flowing water,
feel the ground tremble and surge under their feet, and knew that
a single misstep or stumble and it would be all over; there would
be no time to go back. It was flee or perish.
Bare seconds after they dove out the cavern's entrance, an enormous
gush of icy water geysered out, soaking and half-drowning everyone,
then subsided and vanished back into the subterranean depths.
When everything was quiet, Akane sat up. "R-Ranma?"
Wearily Ran-chan opened her eyes, essayed a smile. "Hi, Akane.
Guess we won, huh?"
"Oh, Ranma..." Akane simply threw her arms around Ran-chan, holding
her tight. "I was so WORRIED...."
Too tired to be macho, Ran-chan simply put her head down on Akane's
shoulder and hugged back.
"One question," Ukyou said presently. "Um, that was a magic
fountain, right?" She glanced pointedly around at Muu-chan,
Shampoo-Cat, Genma-Panda, and Ran-chan. "So, how come nobody
thought to drink some, then wish themselves normal again?"
Scant seconds later, once the idea'd sunken in, four voices raised
themselves in anguished screams.
* * *
Far across the ocean, a little round ball of a man nearly as big
around as he was tall knocked at an elaborate door.
"Enter."
Coming in, the little man doffed an elegant top hat that (again)
was almost as tall as he was thick and bowed deeply to a slender
figure on a throne. "Greetings, your Highness, and a most excellent
evening it is," he said in a voice bearing a definite Indian sing-
song accent.
"Ah. Toppahatti. What news do you bring me?"
"As you are of marrying age now, Best Beloved Ruler, we are being
searching most diligently for a bride befitting your most Excellent
Majesty's tastes. Many applications and pictures are being sent to
us, my yes. I am having the pleasure to inform you there is
possibly a most excellent choice very near. Yes, yes, very near to
hand." Producing a small manila folder, Toppahatti handed it over
to the other man, who opened it. "These are being photographs of
young ladies of eligible age from excellent high schools in Japan.
Please to be noticing the young lady at very top of stack."
The other man lifted a photo and held it to the light. His eyes
widened. "She... she is perfect, Toppahatti. PERFECT. Quickly.
Arrange a flight to Japan at once, to--" he turned the photo over,
studied the caption on the back. "To Tokyo and Nerima district."
"I am taking the liberty to having been doing this very thing
already, your Excellency," and Toppahatti bowed again. "We leave
in one week."
"Ah, Toppahatti, what WOULD I do without you." Turning the picture
over again, the man on the throne studied it. "How is her name
pronounced?"
"Neko, Most Radiant Prince. Neko Tamamichi."
"Neko Tamamichi." A long, deep chuckle. "In two weeks' time you
will be my bride... whether you wish to or not."
===================
* TO BE CONTINUED *
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