A Sayian Tail.
Part 9
The ultimate rivalry.
Akane Tendo lay on her bed staring at the ceiling as every part of her
body ached. "You've got to be kidding me! That was training?" she
wondered out loud with a pained expression on her face. "I can't move."
Kasumi entered the room after a soft knock and placed a cup of hot tea
at her sister's bedside. "Are you feeling all right Akane?" she asked
looking worried.
"I'm fine, just a little sore that's all," reassured the youngest Tendo
cheerfully.
"Oh, that's good, I was afraid I'd have to call doctor Tofu," said the
older girl with a relieved sigh.
"Keep the number handy," muttered Akane under her breath. Kasumi didn't
seem to notice as she walked out of the room.
Akane found herself staring at the teacup unable to move her arm and
retrieve it. A small frown formed on her face at the thought of Son
Goku's words when they started the training. "We'll go easy today since
it's your first day." He had also mentioned something about getting up
early, and milk. She wasn't quite sure what he had meant by that. After a
long moment she rolled over causing a new surge of pain in her body as
she tried to fall asleep.
Akane Tendo gasped for breath as she jogged up to the house with a weary
and shocked expression on her face. It was six o'clock in the morning and
she and the Saotomes had just returned from a long delivery route. Since
milk delivery service did not exist in Nerima, they had decided to
deliver newspapers instead, to every home in Nerima. She collapsed
against the gates to the yard glaring at the two men as they continued to
jog in place beside the house. Each of them was wearing a fully packed
traveling bag that weighed at least a hundred pounds.
"I think you're right pop, these things are better than the turtle
shells, but maybe we should give Akane one of those since she's just
starting out," said Ranma after giving her a concerned frown.
"That's a good idea, we'll fit her up with one before breakfast," agreed
Goku cheerfully.
Akane sat at the table with a huge blush crossing her cheeks, she was
wearing a huge turtle shell on her back and enduring the stares of her
family and the stale wit of her elder sister Nabiki.
"Hey Akane, do you think you'll make it to school on time? You'd better
get started if you want to make it by lunch," the middle Tendo daughter
had a wry smile on her face as she eyed her sister.
"Shut up Nabiki," muttered the girl. There was no way she was going to
wear this thing at school.
"Cheer up Akane, I too endured the Kame Senin training regimen, you
should feel proud to wear such an honorable mark," said Soun sagely.
"Kame Senin?" asked Akane in shock as she stared at Goku and her father.
"Yes, these are the same methods employed by the Turtle hermit Akane,"
said Goku cheerfully.
Akane stared at him for a moment before returning to her meal.
"Come on Akane, we're gonna be late!" said Ranma as he jumped up and
grabbed her hand dragging her out the door.
"Wait! I've got to put this thing up!" cried Akane as she tugged at the
ropes on the shell.
Ranma looked back at her and frowned. "Akane, you have to wear it all
the time, it won't do any good if you take it off."
"You mean I have to wear this thing to school?!" the girl got a
mortified look on her face.
"Yup, the only time you take it off is when you sleep," said Ranma with
a smile on his face as he pulled her along forcing her to run.
Fortunately she didn't seem to notice they were running along the top of
the fence yet.
When they reached the gates of Furinkan Akane stopped cold as Ranma
finally released her. She staggered onto the school grounds and panted
desperately for breath. She turned completely red when she noticed the
male populace of the school waiting for her. They were all watching her
with shocked looks on their faces. Ranma rushed by them without a word
and dashed into the doors of the school. Kuno emerged from behind his
tree watching the girl in bewilderment.
"Akane Tendo, I see that fool Saotome has bestowed the ultimate
humiliation upon you," he blushed and turned his face away from her.
Several of the boys in the crowd coughed into their hands and started to
turn away from the gathering while others just continued to stare at her.
Akane felt something in the back of her mind snap as she started to walk
forward between the boys with an angry glare at them. "Just let one of
them say anything."
One of the boys gave a yell and charged her, "I don't care how crazy she
is; Akane Tendo I love you!"
The remaining males seemed to jar out of their stupor and the attack
began.
Standing over the remains of her challengers Akane panted for breath, it
had taken no longer than usual to defeat them, and she had the added
bonus of not having to watch her back as much. Still, she was noticeably
slower and had even taken a few blows. She grit her teeth and faced Kuno.
The boy was standing in a ready stance and not even looking at her in
shame, a deep blush crossed his face as he spoke. "I cannot bear to see
your humiliation, thus I shall fight you as best I can." The idiot
charged her with his eyes closed.
Akane simply sidestepped the rush and Kuno ran face first into a wall.
"A strong blow, I would expect no less my love," muttered the boy as he
fell over. Akane snorted and started walking towards the school ignoring
the stares she was receiving from the students. "If this is what made
Ranma so good I can take it!"
Lunch came and Akane sat with her friends, they all sat a comfortable
distance away from her and kept giving her pitying looks. "What are you
all looking at?" snapped the girl angrily at them.
Yuka was the one who finally got the nerve to speak. "Akane, I knew
Ranma was weird, but I had no idea he was into that sort of thing. I
mean, he keeps you on such a tight leash!"
Sayuri blushed and nodded in agreement. "I'd probably endure it too if I
had him."
"What are you talking about? This is martial arts training!" screamed
Akane the whole school turned to stare at her as she dumped her lunch
onto the ground as she jumped up to scream at them.
"You don't have to lie Akane, I mean..." Sayuri was cut off as Ranma
walked up to the group.
"Why would Akane lie? Why do you think he's called the Turtle Hermit?"
he sat down next to his fianc�e and looked at her friends in confusion.
"The Turtle Hermit?" gasped Hiroshi as he walked up to them after
overhearing the conversation.
"Yea, he trained me and my pop, and Akane's dad too," Ranma added the
last part in as an after thought.
"Your dad was trained by the Invincible Master?" screamed Daisuke as he
appeared next to his counter part. Akane nodded numbly and looked at the
boys in confusion.
Kuno frowned as he sat nearby at the base of a tree, "Akane Tendo
receiving such training? As if her mighty beauty was not enough, perhaps
I should learn more of this."
The day ended at the high school he had found himself at, Ryoga Hibiki
stood in a crowd of students and glanced around. He held his hand out and
one of the boy's walking by flew towards him as if pushed by some
invisible force. He hung in midair upside down directly in front of
Ryoga's face. The lost boy glared at him and frowned. "Where is Furinkan
high school?"
Daisuke just whimpered and wet himself as he hung in the air. The
strange boy was literally glowing with power; he was absolutely
terrified.
Ryoga felt something warm and wet on the top of his head and frowned as
he realized what it was. He frowned as his aura died down. The boy
crashed to the ground beside him and tried to scurry away. Ryoga grabbed
him and pulled him up by his collar.
"Tell me where Furinkan high is and I might not kill you for that."
The boy merely jerked his thumb indicating a nearby wall. Ryoga walked
over to the sign that hung from it and placed his hands on it carefully.
"Fu-Ri-N-Ka-N...High school." he read aloud, "Ranma Saotome, I've found
you at last." Turning back towards the boy he grabbed his collar
preventing him from fleeing again. "Where is Ranma Saotome?"
"Saotome?" whimpered the boy pathetically.
Ranma jumped into the air over Akane's head and smirked as she walked
slowly below him under the weight of the shell. It wasn't that heavy, but
wearing it all day had taken it's toll. As much as she was embarrassed by
it she had stuck to the training. Even to the point of wearing it during
P.E.
"What's wrong Akane?" asked Ranma as he looked at her face and saw a
long frown.
"This thing is embarrassing!" snapped the girl at him angrily.
Ranma was about to retort, but was forced to jump away as a mysterious
yellow blur slammed into the ground where he had once been creating a
shockwave that threw students to the ground for ten feet around it, Akane
included.
She staggered to her feet and frowned at the figure that stood in front
of Ranma with a strange snarl on his face. He was wearing a dirty yellow
traveling tunic and a huge backpack was slung across his back with a
bamboo umbrella strapped across the top of it. His hair stood up straight
in a strange spiky hairdo that sent chills down her spine as she watched
him.
"Ryoga! You're alive!" gasped Ranma in shock.
"No thanks to you Saotome," snarled the boy angrily.
"That's great! I was afraid you'd gotten hurt when I couldn't find you!"
Ranma seemed glad to see the stranger and it relaxed Akane a bit, until
she remembered the story surrounding him and Ranma.
"Well, I hope you've been keeping up with your training Ranma, because
I'm more than a match for you now!" Ryoga charged forward and slammed his
fist into the space Ranma had once occupied with enough force to create a
visible shift in the air.
He turned quickly and blasted some sort of energy beam at Ranma, the
pigtailed boy returned with his own. They were relatively small beams,
but a huge boom resonated through the school as they collided and
exploded on contact.
Ranma landed in a crouch with his hands behind his back as a glow
started to form in his hands. "Kame-"
Ryoga shot forward at an impossible speed and slammed his fist into the
boy's gut before he could complete the move. Ryoga was thrown away as a
yellow ball of energy seemed to envelop his opponent. Ranma screamed in
pain as he lost control of the blast and was thrown to the ground with
his clothes singed and torn.
Ryoga staggered to his feet and smiled, "Feh, that blast was nothing,"
his clothes were torn and burned as well. He smiled and Akane gasped as
she realized that he wasn't even scratched despite the fact that he took
the full force of the energy blast.
Ranma stood up and didn't look any worse, his hands were smoking
slightly and he had a painful looking snarl on his face. Suddenly he
stepped back in shock and pointed at Ryoga.
Akane turned and saw what he was looking at, Ryoga's pants where torn
and waving behind him was a tail. A tail just like the one Ranma had.
"Surprised Saotome? I've had a few interesting adventures since I met
you, would you like to hear about them?" The lost boy smiled viciously as
he stared the boy down and laughed.
"No way!" stammered Ranma as he backed away from the boy in shock.
I know you're going to hate me for this...TBC...
Next time: Find out what happened to Ryoga at Jusenkyo before the first
battle, and why he has a tail now. [It doesn't have anything to do with
Jusenkyo folks, well sort of.] All this in "Ryoga's new Chinese history!"