Ranma 1/2 is the property and invention of Rumiko Takahashi. The following story is not produced for any monetary or personal gain. Its sole purpose is to entertain using the characters and plots developed by Takahashi. ALL rights reserved.
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The Eye of the Storm |
EOTS 11: Dawn breaks
Ranma Saotome centred his spirit; something that had become intensely hard to do with the amount of insanity around him. He had to reach far within himself and concentrate to the greatest degree. The last of the dreams had been about meditation. It was a strange exercise he had to do, very strange. It was a challenge though and challenges were what he liked.
He was within the cocoon of his mind where no thoughts interrupted him. He realised after reaching that point a few times that his magical abilities were replenished three times as fast when he used the technique; something that would be vital after a lengthy battle. The calmness and serenity surrounded him as he sat on the roof awaiting the coming of dawn. He was in his own place and nothing disturbed him. No thoughts invaded the wall surrounding his consciousness as he focused on the stone he had placed in front of his eyes.
Later in the day he would reflect and think that he should have stayed on the roof for the whole day.
Ranma, Nabiki and Akane were sitting watching television or to be more precise, Nabiki and Akane were watching television while Ranma was watching Akane. He was in a quandary. He should have stayed on the roof. As soon as he had come down from the roof, Akane had grabbed him and shoved him into her room. While he was accustomed to that, he was not accustomed to Akane talking excitedly about what had transpired between her and Kanma and how she hoped that Kanma would come back soon.
He had been so confused that he just gave her short answers. She had been so excited that he did not have to say much to keep her carrying on. He really was confused. He knew she liked his boy-side but he did not realise that she liked his boy-side that much. He had not caught most of what she had said since her first admission that she liked him had him in a daze. He thought that one of Dai's spells had caused her to act so strangely the night before but she had actually said that she liked him of her own desire. He had not seen the residue of any weave upon her that morning. How was he supposed to respond to that?
He really didn't know what to think. Should he tell her? It was an option. He did not want to hurt her. He liked having her as a friend, but should he tell her? Could he take that step and form that kind of relationship with her, could he afford to?
Why couldn't things be simpler? As if things couldn't get worse! Now he had four women after him granted that one just wanted anyone to marry him first, preferably Akane. And, he had two men after him. He was trying to learn two different arts while not giving in to either one, and he had to contend with an old shrivelled prune as a teacher. He scratched his head...could life get any worse.
He would have thought about it more but when Akane grabbed his hand and headed for the Dojo, he realised that all time for thinking had just gone through the window. At least the martial arts was something he could afford to lose himself in. He never had to think that much when fighting. It came to him as naturally as breathing and he just let himself relax into the sparring session.
He could afford to go a bit harder against Akane today and so he tried new attacks against her to see what she would do. Not surprisingly, she was unable to defend herself from most of them and also not surprisingly, Ranma pulled most of the weight out of his punches. They landed as feather taps and although Akane would have preferred to have Ranma hit her harder, the taps proved that Ranma could have landed a devastating hit yet still allowed her to spar.
Ranma was troubled so that meant that she really wanted to spar. Therefore, this sparring session lasted a very long time as Ranma pushed Akane to the edge of her stamina and beyond. Ranma had not had enough time to train Akane in the area of stamina so Akane was huffing and puffing as if she had run a marathon. Ranma smirked as Akane finally collapsed on the Dojo floor wheezing then passed out from exhaustion. It wasn't usually a good thing to train your students until they passed out but with Akane he was willing to make an exception. She had a very strong will and the only way he could move he was prove that she still had something to work on. From today he would be able to give her move interesting tasks to increase her stamina. That should take her out of his way for a while so that he could think a bit.
He couldn't just leave her there so he heaved her over his shoulder and marched back to the house. He had almost reached inside when his senses alerted him to another presence coming towards him at a very fast clip. Acting from years of training, he slowly his pace and held a hand out clothes-lining the attacker who, with his speed, flipped twice in the air before imbedding himself in the wall. That ragged gi and that bald head...
"Pops!" exclaimed Ranma
"Ranma, your father arrived this morning and told me some things about you. It is strange that you haven't told anyone about the curse," spoke someone else behind him. He did not have to turn around to know who was speaking and Ranma felt a twinge of something he had to felt in a long time, fear.
"I must say my boy, I approve!" shouted Soun as he glomped him in a tight hug. Ranma already burdened with Akane almost had the life squeezed out of him by Soun.
"First you lower my little girl's defences, then you pop the question! How did you figure out that Genma and I engaged you and Akane before you were born? Never mind, finally the schools will be joined!"
(Groan)
"Ah Genma, it's time to celebrate," shouted Soun as he scraped him off the wall and dragged him to his room.
Ranma stood stunned for a second until the words sank into his head.
"Engaged?"
His mind then decided to flee the world for a while.
When next Ranma awoke, he was in Akane's room being attended to Kasumi who had happened to find him piled on the floor with Akane. He blinked then started to get up ignoring Kasumi's question about what had happened. Well he had wondered what else could go wrong and the answer came up and bit him in the derriere.
He half stumbled out of Akane's room and into his room. For some reason being there now just made him uncomfortable. Casting a simple spell, he cleared his head to think.
Akane was fiancée number four. What was he supposed to do? This was not supposed to happen and to him of all people. This only happened on those soaps that Akane and Kasumi liked to watch. He just watched them because there was nothing better to do. That and Akane was really strong.
He lay down on the futon and sighed. That was just like the old man. Would he ever stop causing problems? Probably not. So far, everything had to be his pops fault. He was the cause of both curses and from those curses came the fiancee problem. Life would have been so simpler if he had not gone on the trip with his pops.
A presence tickled his mind and then a shimmering appeared over him. he soon found himself pinned to his futon by invisible hands while Dai appeared over him then on him, massaging his lips as she did so.
"So airen, how are you? I see your best friend has decided to become more than a best friend."
Ranma was not too appreciative of her initial greeting but Dai was actually one of the few people he could talk to who would not judge him and who would not act on impulse against him anymore. She had simmered down quite a lot after they had talked before confronting the Amazons. He found that he liked the more sociable side of Dai. Without death threats or shouts of marriage in his ear, she was quite easy to get along with, as long as he went along with her strange idea of greeting him with a kiss every time she saw him. He had escaped at first but that seemed to goad her into becoming more creative. Sometimes he wondered is she and Xian compared notes. He would never ever figure out girls.
"It's a bit more than that Dai. Pops is back..."
It wasn't hard to notice that Dai's face darkened.
"I'm engaged to Akane."
"That's great," shouted Dai. "Now all you have to do is marry her and you'll be rid of the Amazons!"
"It's a bit more complicated than that."
"I'm sure she'll forgive you for not telling her that you're really a boy."
"It's not that! I...I...just don't know if she's the right one. I mean, I never had a girlfriend before, what am I supposed to do with a fiancee?"
"Marry her," replied Dai without question.
Ranma scowled.
"Just kidding, jeez."
Ranma sighed and sat up.
"I just don't know what to do Dai. I mean, she is my best friend and I think I owe it to her to tell her but I really don't want to tell her."
Dai was about to retort with the famous 'I can't believe you're scared' phrase, but that would not make the situation any better. She actually sat down and thought about how she could use this situation to her benefit without hurting Ranma. She had grown more affectionate towards him. He was the first boy she had ever met who was innocent and truthful. She liked him and she did not want to see him hurt.
"Well, how long have you got?"
"Don't know. Mr. Tendo seems to like the idea about me getting to know Akane better as a girl."
"Well just wait until I can think of something. If I can show that Nabiki a thing or two I can definitely..." She stopped when she saw Ranma staring at her suspiciously. "Oh...I mean, I've learned so much about business from Nabiki-san," she continued in a guarded tone.
Ranma turned away. He did not want to hear this and thankfully Dai did not continue.
"Anyway, we can just bide our time until..."
"I'm afraid you can't do that," spoke a voice.
Ranma and Dai were immediately drawn to the image that appeared at the window.
"Master Sung!" they exclaimed.
"Hello you two, glad that you haven't been doing anything naughty in the bedroom but we have serious matters to discuss. Daisan is loose and he's coming for the emerald. We can't do anything since we are bound by the Contract but you two are too young to take the oath. Both sides are counting on you to stop him. He must not take the emerald. If he does, the entire contract may be lost and invasion will begin."
"What!" shouted Ranma. "But you said the Contract was forever."
"It is," replied Master Sung. "But once the emerald is removed one of the power sources upholding the Contract will be lost. That is not good. We are nowhere as strong as we were when we forced its signing. If it is broken, hell on earth will be like a holiday."
"How do we stop it?" asked Dai.
"You two must go, along with someone else, someone who is good in Ranma's art."
"What!" replied Ranma and Dai simultaneously.
"Dai is strong in the magical arts while you Ranma are a hybrid of both although you are stronger in the martial arts. You must find another to help you who is weaker than you are in the martial arts but strong enough to battle with Daisan. You must leave tonight. He is in the Bannai forest. Goodbye and good luck."
Ranma and Dai stared after the fading image. Then in a shout of anger, Ranma smashed a hole through the wall startling Dai. She idly waved her hand over it to patch it up. He stared at the hole as it was healing. He never had let it get to him like this before. He was still angry though!
"I don't believe this!" he exclaimed, "First Akane kisses me, then pops returns, now I'm engaged, and I have to go after a creep bent on world destruction! What ever happened to going to Japan for a holiday to get away from all the craziness."
Suddenly he found himself held up in the air with Dai looking sternly at him.
"Ranma. You know as well as I do how serious this is."
Ranma deflated.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. But I don't have to like it."
"No one said you had to like it," she answered.
"So who's the third person?" he asked.
"Akane."
"What! NO!"
"You've trained her Ranma. I've seen her, She's not as good as you but she's good enough."
"What about Shampoo," he pleaded.
"You know I can hardly stand her," replied Dai. "We won't work well together. I've been watching Akane and you train. I can work with her."
"I still don't want her to go."
"Ranma I know you care for her and you don't want her to get hurt."
"Damn right I don't. She's my best friend!"
"Do you think she would want you to leave her behind?" rationed Dai.
"No, but I still don't want her to come."
Dai did not have to wonder. Now she knew the answer to Ranma's heart fully there and then. The only problem was that the boy was so captivated by the girl that he couldn't even see what he truly felt for her. Then, given Ranma's upbringing, it was no surprise that the boy did not recognise just how much he loved Akane and how mush he was showing it. She had guessed from that first touch of their lips when they had been fighting and from the feelings she had been getting from him when he was with her. The boy had strong feelings that she could not ignore even when she did not open herself to them. She wondered if he had any idea what love was. Best friend was more than what Akane was to him. If only she could open his closed eyes!
"It's the only way."
Ranma nodded, defeated. Only Mages and the Art working together were able to stop the sorcerers before. It was a tried and true method and one Ranma knew he could not afford to change.
Dai led the way out of Ranma's room to Akane's. There were things to be done.
Akane sat down listening in disbelief to what Dai and Ranma were telling her. They had to go stop a sorcerer and they needed her help!
"Let's GO!" she exclaimed, throwing her gi into a bag with some underwear just in case they were gone for a while.
Ranma was a bit appalled.
"Akane, this is going to be dangerous," reminded Ranma.
"Exactly," she replied. "I'm a martial artist and I'm supposed to protect others. Finally I am getting to do just that."
"But Akane this is serious stuff."
Akane smiled. Ranma was always looking out for her. She would definitely make a beautiful Maid of Honour. Wow, she was getting way ahead of herself. She gave Ranma a kiss on the cheek.
"But you'll be there just in case, right."
Ranma nodded.
"Then there's nothing for me to fear."
Ranma swallowed. This was going to be a tough trip.
"What are we going to tell our parents?" wondered Akane.
"I wouldn't tell pops anything. Stupid had to go out with your dad to celebrate. What a lame excuse!"
Akane stared at him unbelievingly.
"Alright. Just leave a message saying that we're going on a training trip. I always go on training trips and I don’t think your dad would mind if I carry you along."
"That's a great idea Ranma," exclaimed Akane. She hurriedly scribbled the message down so that Kasumi could give it to her father when they came back from town.
"Oh by the way Ranma, what are they celebrating?"
Ranma froze.
"That I let him live," replied Dai in a cold tone, letting Ranma off the hook. Akane backed off slightly confused by the sudden change in the girl.
Ranma, Akane and Dai met at the Dojo. Dai was at the moment teaching Ranma a couple of spells that she needed him to know for the occasion. Ranma was listening attentively. As soon as Dai thought he was ready, she addressed Akane.
"You should hold Ranma's other hand while we do this. The faster we get to the Bannai forest, the better. Alone I can't take all of us but with Ranma helping, it will be possible."
"Uh okay," replied Akane with a bit of scepticism. Ranma gave her a quick smile and that eased her nerves a bit, but not a lot.
"Okay Ranma, are you ready?"
"Yeah, let's do this."
Ranma and Dai closed their eyes and opened their minds like they knew they could. They sensed each other's preparations and excitement. With a mental count they produced a shared image of what they wanted and charged the spell with energy.
Akane found herself faced with the strange sensation of finding herself floating. The only problem was that nothing was around her but darkness. There was only complete darkness around her. It was night and so it had been dark when they had left so she had not noticed them leaving but looking around, she did notice! Ranma and Dai were there with her too. That was probably her only consolation. They had their eyes closed and so she followed their lead. They were after all the leaders in this expedition. Closing her eyes would probably that vertigo she had.
"Akane, you can open your eyes now," called a familiar voice.
"We're there?" she asked.
"Yeah."
She opened her eyes and looked around. It seemed to be a normal forest. At least that was what she thought before she saw some weird looking creature pass by them. It was normal enough in that it had a head and a body with four legs and a tail. Of course, she had never seen a four-legged animal with a beak, scales and a tail that was as long as its body. She vowed that she would be staying pretty close to Ranma on this trip.
Dai began cooking some of the provisions they had carried. Ranma was nodding off as Dai cooked.
"Um, Dai, why is Ranma looking so tired?" asked Akane.
"That's probably because he, uh…she's tired from using so much energy for the spell. Why don’t you go set up a tent for her to sleep in."
"Hai, that sounds like a good idea."
Dai took a deep breath. She had almost led the cat out of the bag. She did not want Akane finding out like that, her reactions might not be as compassionate as she wanted. Dai wanted Akane to feel some sort of sympathy for Ranma because of the curse. If she did, Dai knew that Akane would mother Ranma and if she continued to mother Ranma, Dai knew that eventually Ranma would fall for her. She did not care how long that took. She did not mind waiting, as long as she knew that her Ranma would be safe in the capable hands of one Akane Tendo. Ranma had been training the girl and Dai knew that in a few years, Ranma would have made her just as good as he was in the martial arts. With Akane able to protect herself, Ranma just might find himself inventing new marital arts moves… Oooh she'd better not start thinking like that again. It would not do if Akane saw her kissing Ranma she might get the right idea.
She walked over to her sleeping fiancee and wove a simple spell. He stayed awake long enough to devour a plate of food, then dropped off to sleep again despite the spell. He really must have been tired!
Akane pitched the tent and laid out two futons inside. They had brought three tents, but since this was a camp out and it was a bit cold outside, she didn't think Ranma would mind if she slept with her. Akane walked outside to find the redhead sleeping peacefully near the fire by Dai.
"Ranma's already eaten," announced Dai as she handed Akane a plate. "Eat now. Daisan has not arrived so make the most of your time before he comes. I suggest you go take a rest."
"Nah, I'll probably just walk around for a bit after I put Ranma to sleep."
Akane ate quickly since she had not had anything since breakfast. Finished, she carefully picked Ranma off the ground, marvelling at how light such a feisty girl was, and walked slowly towards the tent being careful not to wake Ranma. Inside, she undressed Ranma and put on those pyjamas that she had brought specifically for her. Then Akane let out a huge yawn. Maybe she was a bit sleepy. She changed and lay down on the futon next to Ranma's.
A sudden breeze forced her to close the tent flaps as it chilled her to the bone. Her sleepy gaze fell upon Ranma again. She looked very comfortable snuggled under those blankets. Another chill ran down Akane's spine. Akane shrugged it off and after a mild deliberation she headed over in Ranma's direction and lifted off the covers. She embraced the redhead and piled the covers back on. It was warm and cosy under the covers with Ranma. Akane felt the redhead's hand wrap around her waist and she smiled. Subconsciously she knew she would have a decent night's sleep that night.
Seconds after Akane fell asleep Dai entered the tent. Those pills she had put in Akane's food had worked marvellously. Who knew that the elder Tendo sister kept such things in her kitchen? The wind was also a nice touch. Dai crept in and allowed a trickle of water to splash on Ranma's face instantly converting girl from to boy form. Dai smiled. The pills would have them out until way into the morning so there was no way Akane would find out about the curse, but Dai knew that the more time Ranma spent in intimate proximity with Akane, the more attached their spirits would become.
She had known from the first time that she had felt his emotions that his feeling for Akane ran very deep. The only problem was that the boy was as blind to his feelings as a deaf man could hear! It was depressing. The good thing though was that the Akane girl shared that those feelings. Once they started dreaming about each other while holding each other, the bond between them would grow. That was one of the benefits of being a magic user. Once the bond was made, it could not be broken.
Dai watched the two as they slept. She wanted to join in but to do so would jeopardise all her previous work. She watched amusedly as Akane snuggled into Ranma's chest and pictured in her mind where she would be when she joined the picture. She giggled and had to force her mouth shut. Still repressing the urge, she stumbled out of the tent. She had other things to do. Daisan was not there yet, but he soon would be.
The dream visited him again that night. It was the same dream and he knew who was talking to him. However, unlike the previous ones, these dreams did not speak of training. Instead, these dreams gave him a message. The woman was there beckoning to him as she always had but instead of showing him a technique, she showed him two lives. In one he was a martial artist and a really good one at that and in the other he was weaving complicated spells. The kanji for choose faded into his view once again and again the dream ended.
Ranma had the chance to wake up from the disturbing dream but his mind told him that he was in a comfortable position. Being unused to extremely comfortable positions since he refused to sleep on anything that could dull his edge, Ranma went back to sleep.
Ranma, female and feeling miserable when he fell asleep awoke feeling refreshed and very comfortable. So comfortable in fact that he did not move or open his eyes for a long while, enjoying the warmth under his cheek, until something stirred. His eyes opened and he found his head resting against the partially exposed breast of one Akane Tendo. He was beginning to think that any time he ever slept with a woman his head would inevitably end up next to her breast. Ranma closed his eyes and tried not to think about what he had just seen but the only problem was that he had seen it too often when Akane chose to bathe with him and he had to make a hurried exit. The net result was that he was able to trace every single contour of her body with his eye. Trying to ignore what he had seen had somehow made him commit it to memory. At that moment, he wondered if he could recreate a whole knew Akane from his thoughts.
Still trying at least to control his hormones, Ranma wriggled out of Akane's grasp. Something that did not go so well as he had planned since Akane grabbed for him and pulled him into an even tighter embrace where she imbedded his head against the cleavage of her bosom even more tightly. Ranma grimaced, not because of the intensity of Akane's grip, but because he knew that this position was not very honourable. He did not like peeking in on girls and this was definitely more than peeking. Wriggling his fingers slightly, he was able to cast a spell that allow him to extricate himself from Akane's powerful grip.
After he had removed himself, he popped his neck with a loud crack and exercised a few of his joints that had become a bit stiff. That would not do, especially if battle could be around the corner. Ranma sprinted outside and started one of his more intensive katas, doing it slowly to warm up and then more fiercely to stretch the muscles.
Afar, Dai watched with enthusiasm. Ranma had been teaching her a little too but she was no where in either his or Akane's league. She just liked watching the acrobatic displays. It was amazing to see his body move in either form and gazing upon him always made her feel all gooey inside.
She had set up a wide array of wards to detect Daisan's presence. He was not in the area at the moment but she knew he would soon be, or he was not using any of his magical abilities within the area. Any spells he had cast before she had warded would remain invisible but at least any new ones would mark him like a flame in the night. She would enjoy her time here with Ranma and Akane. She was confident about her abilities and knew Ranma could handle himself. Akane was the unknown in the equation but she knew that if it came down to the line Akane would be able to handle herself. That was her only worry in the whole equation. She knew that they could stop Daisan but she did not know the costs and that was what bothered her.
Hopefully this trip would also have its advantages. Maybe Ranma would finally come out from behind the mask and make a choice about his future wife. She knew what he wanted. All she had to do was convince him that that was what he really wanted.
With time to spare before battle, when Akane awoke, Ranma began training her fervently. Akane of course, followed the instructions of her sensei. Ranma pushed Akane to her limit but not over her limit. If Akane was going to be a force in this equation, Ranma knew that she had to be in top shape and training was the only way to have Akane in top shape. Ranma made Akane defend while he forced her to attack and when they were well into the day, Ranma finally decided that Akane had had enough much to the relief of both Dai and Akane.
After Ranma cooked lunch, Akane hungrily devoured the food, her eating skills not unlike Ranma's normal eating habits when no one was around. After lunch Ranma excused himself from the others.
On reflection, Ranma thought he might have been a bit hard on Akane but he knew the training would do her good. He had taken the training well into the afternoon and there were only one or two hours of sunlight remaining. Ranma started on his little hike to the hot spring that he knew must be nearby. Dai had told him of it earlier that day and after a couple of minutes walking he soon came to the spot. With danger lurking he was not intent on letting Akane alone but he was smelling a bit awful and even though personal hygiene was not one of his better points, he did not want to smell rancid. Besides, that gave him a perfect opportunity to relax in the warm water and think about what he was going to do about the situation with Akane.
She was progressing faster than he had previously thought she would. It was amazing what a little goading with the girl would do although some of her ideas were very strange. He bet ice cream since that was one of his most favourite treats and Akane had to buy him that ice cream. She wanted him to try and wear more girlish clothes. He had never lost a bet yet so he never had to wear anything in Akane's wardrobe. She was no where near the ability of beating him but probability lay in her favour that something would happen that would cause him to lose. He could just imagine his pops getting a good hit in and Akane finishing him off. That would be a victory to her. He hoped he would never have to face the other part of her bargain. Ranma Saotome did not go on dates with men!
The said Ranma Saotome would rue that he was so preoccupied since at that moment the said Ranma Saotome felt something wet press against his back and his mind flew into action. He grabbed whatever it was- his mind telling him after a second that it was a hand- flipped the person over his body and prepared to execute a prefect fist into an area that would hurt a lot. Instead, he froze where he was and allowed himself to be tackled back to the edge of the spring. The person doing the said tackling was very strong and no matter what Ranma did, he could not get the person off of him. Of course, to hold down someone as strong and resourceful as Ranma Saotome, the person had to made sure that Ranma could get no leverage to push her off or throw her.
Ranma knew it was just a matter of time before he was able to squeeze out of the situation. Ranma knew what he could do to release himself but before he tried, he realised something that shocked him. This was turning him on. He stopped struggling for a minute and gazed into his captor's eyes. Then he closed his eyes again. He had to control himself. He should not have feelings like that for his best friend. He had to control himself. He could not believe he had just thought that he should kiss her. He couldn't do that.
"Y…you win Akane," stuttered Ranma, trying to control his impulses.
"Ha I finally beat you," smirked Akane, completely clueless as to what just happened. Akane heft Ranma off the side and into the middle of the spring in one fluid motion that Ranma was not expecting and to the utter dismay of the shorter girl, Akane began to scrub her back.
Ranma stood frozen there for a minute until Akane brought him out of his reverie with her hand as she began to soap his back. Ranma flinched at first but he knew if he ran away at that time, he would make Akane feel bad so he just knelt there and allowed her to scrub his back. When she was finished, he knew he had the task ahead of him of washing her back.
Ranma flipped over Akane and closed her eyes as she began to wash Akane's back. During the exercise, he was wondering how he knew Akane's form so well. He had not missed a spot since he had started and then he began to worry as he realised that he actually did have a mental image of Akane in his mind. Shaking himself out of a bad area of thought, Ranma finished quickly and in a matter or seconds, he was dressed, leaving Akane alone in the spring.
Akane stared at him, confused, when Ranma's face lit up in excitement.
Ranma hurried towards Akane with her clothes.
"Come on Akane, Daisan is here!"
