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
|
|
The Eye of the Storm |
The tide approaches, waves wash upon the shore breaking into surf. Slowly, slowly the tide rises. Watch it as it creeps up slowly towards the land. Hark and take note, for foolish men never do.
Chapter 9: Another turning point
Ranma sat in the middle of the Dojo meditating, practising something he knew he needed to perfect. His fingers wiggled slightly as he concentrated. He knew he would have to stop that sooner or later. He would have to increase his concentration and his imaging to such an accurate degree that he would not have to use fingers to feel for the pattern. He felt it though. He had traced out the first one and after two hours of intense mental work, he had managed to almost complete the other. It was not totally complete, but enough was finished for him to start attaching the two together with fine threads. The attachments were even more delicate than the patterns themselves. If one was not done properly, the two spells would refuse to work simultaneously or the entire spell could be changed. He painstakingly revised each woven thread in his mind, checking and double checking until he was certain there were not mistakes. There was no room for mistakes when dealing with spells. No room.
He sat there, finishing the attachments and finally satisfied that they were as perfect as he could make them, he began to complete the second weave. He had not left a lot to do, but it would take him another hour of hard work and concentration to get him to finish.
For another hour, he stayed there in the Dojo and completed the weave. When he was sure he was finished, he allowed himself to relax and allowed his ki to diminish around him. He had woven some recuperative spells over himself and they had worked to a certain extent. It would take him another week to refill his reserves, a lot shorter than for other people, but then other people did not seem to have the innate healing abilities that he had.
Sighing finally as he allowed himself to relax, Ranma felt the early morning sun rise from the sky and peek out from among the low lying clouds of the early morning. He closed his eyes and allowed his imagination to run free as he allowed his body to relax and take in the soft rays of sunlight as they danced across his body. The sun rose and Ranma's spirits rose with it
He loved to feel the warmth of the morning sun as it touched his body softly. As man or woman, the feelings they brought to his skin were no different. He felt calm. He felt peace. He felt warmth.
Exhaling deeply, Ranma released his final hold on his concentration and his senses reached out to his surroundings alerting him of a presence from the doorway to the Dojo. Slowly he turned around and found Akane leaning against the wall, her hands crossed, her face staring thoughtfully into oblivion.
He smiled. At least she seemed okay. Last night, he knew she had not been herself and he thought he knew why. She had been in shock before he brought her out of it. He guessed it was probably because of Shampoo's attack. He had been travelling around long enough to be in enough tricky situations for him to have lost the shock that came with the unexpected. His body reacted and he just went with the flow.
Akane was different however. She had not been through what he had had to live through for the last ten years. She had not tried to hide from enraged shopkeepers who attacked with objects ranging from brooms to extremely dangerous weapons. This was something new to her: her body reacting without her telling it to. He had trained her enough over the past couple of weeks. She was good and getting better. He knew this would only help her along the way. He was as vulnerable as anyone else was though he was a lot better at the Art than most people he knew. The sooner a martial artist embraced the fact that death and injury could come at any time the better it would be for them in the long run.
He slowly started stretching using some katas he had built upon from some Tai Chi he had learned somewhere. Akane knew the moves too. He started slowly, waiting for her. Finally, she seemed to come out of her daze and joined him on the Dojo floor. They proceeded through the normal morning exercises.
Ranma made her go through some of the more rigorous exercises he had taught her and from her face, he knew she was in pain. She might not have said it, but he could see it on her face. The cut had not been that deep and did not wound her badly, but he knew that every time she moved she probably disrupted the blood that had clotted to heal the wound. That could indeed be painful. The balm he had given her was to kill all the foreign organic agents that could have infected it. The wound itself however was still open. He needed to get the balm out of the wound since it would prevent it from healing. He could see a small wet dot starting to appear on her shirt.
Ranma stopped her and motioned for them to go inside. He had woken up way before anyone else in the house and had prepared something for her. Kasumi was in the kitchen already and quizzically glanced at him as he entered. He no doubt knew she was referring to the covered dish on the table.
He just smiled, retrieved the dish and led Akane to her room. He gave it to her to eat and although she did make a small fuss about eating in her room, she cleaned the plate.
He asked to see the wound again and she obliged. Again the colour rose to his cheeks at being so close to a girl's breasts, but he had things to do. He wiped away the wet white and red goo that began to solidify over the wound and was relieved when he only found broken skin and fresh blood underneath. That made his job all the easier.
He instructed Akane to lie down and began stroking the skin around the wound with his fingers as he tried to mentally picture it. The picture solidified in his mind and he wove a small pattern onto her skin. It disappeared within moments and seconds after he finished Akane was sleeping.
Leaving instructions with Kasumi let Akane rest since she was not feeling too well, Ranma headed out to school. He stopped when he felt a familiar presence.
"Come on out Dai."
The shimmering form of Dai appearing out of the air was not seen by any of the other people in the street, as she appeared walking in sync with his rhythm.
"We need to talk," he continued.
"Yes. I take it all those angry feelings are coming from your encounter with Xian?"
"You have feelings of resentment also," he added. "Though I do not know why nor do I want to know why."
"I've had my share of...discrepancies with Xian," informed Dai. "I never liked the girl I and still don't like her."
"She's dangerous. She almost killed Akane yesterday."
"What! Is she okay?"
"I stopped Xian in time but I never expected her to act like that."
"Neither did I. This is not good Ranma. I knew Xian was brash but I never expected her to even try and attack anyone in Japan. I don't think we need to worry though. Kho Lon knows of Japanese Laws. She is not a matriarch for nothing. I don't know what she will do to Xian when she learns of this but I don't think it will be nice."
"Be careful of them Ranma. They're very crafty. They haven't survived for 3000 years by luck."
"Oh I'll be careful all right, but first I want to meet this Kho Lon."
Dai stopped him in his tracks.
"Wait Ranma. You aren't thinking about revenge are you?"
"No. I just want to be prepared Dai. I want you to tell me everything you know about the Amazons."
"I can't. I'm bound by many oaths to keep the secrets of the Amazons."
"Then I guess you won't tell me their secrets, will you. Just give me useless information that may or may not be linked to them," replied Ranma with a gleam in his eye.
Dai smiled and hugged him.
"You're actually thinking Ranma. It's a change, for you."
"Thanks. Coming from you, that's a real compliment."
"Okay just wait a minute."
"Huh?"
Dai stopped in the middle of the road then closed her eyes. A soft light enveloped her and when she was done, Ranma gasped.
"I...I didn't know you could do that!" exclaimed Ranma.
"There's a lot you don't know you can do," retorted Dai. "Now let's get to school. It wouldn't be right for Akane to be late, would it?"
Ranma grinned and followed her as they raced to school, Dai being helped along by one of her spells.
Characteristically, Kuno was there to meet his loves and as always, he was not disappointed. The pigtailed girl was there along with Akane. Akane was different today though. She was smiling and she was walking differently. She was not walking as gracefully as she normally did. In fact, it looked as if she was struggling a bit to walk a the right tempo. The pigtailed girl was helping her keep her balance when she stumbled.
"Oh what a lovely sight..."
Dai turned to face Ranma.
"I hear his ranting everyday. Don't you get tired of hearing that every day."
"Don't remind me. Every morning he gives his speeches and during the day he hunts me to ask me on dates. I can't tell you the amount of times I tried to beat sense into him."
"Ranma, Ranma," scolded Dai playfully. "I thought you were using your brain. I guess I was wrong. Watch and learn."
To the others, Akane seemed to make a warding gesture in the air and most of them did not realise that they were correct. Dai had in fact made a ward and sent it towards Kuno.
As the speech continued, Kuno's voice became softer and softer and finally disappeared. Ranma stared at Dai, amazed.
"I admit. I never thought of that."
"No you don't think," replied Dai, receive a glare from Ranma for her statement. Dai waved it off and attempt to run into the school. She had not mastered the balance of a pseudo-Akane body however and tripped. She did not fall however as two hands wrapped around her body and held her aloft of the ground.
Dai just smiled wistfully and allowed Ranma to catch her and carry her to her feet. She remembered Ranma's touch from the last time. She had been close to other people before, but the bond they shared made contact with him feel even more special and elicited thoughts and ideas that were not proper. But she did not mind that.
"Hey Dai, you okay? You look a bit stunned there."
Dai couldn't stop some of the redness in her cheeks.
"Fine, fine, let's get to class."
"Okay."
*************
The two girls, one in disguise and the other as a result of a curse, found themselves in a parlour near the Cat Cafe going across a sketchy plan on how to approach Kho Lon amidst scoops and scoops of ice cream that did not have enough time to melt before they were vacuumed up. The other patrons stared at the girls. They were accustomed to seeing the redhead doing that but not both of them. No one said anything though since the girls did look cute while doing it and since their capacity for doing bodily harm was known throughout the Nerima district.
Even after the two huge bowls were finished, the two sat there talking. Dai was actually the one talking more so than Ranma except for the occasional comment of how their caretakers were stupid and the strange things they tried to get better in their respective arts.
Dai on the one hand was amazed at some of the training that had been forced on Ranma. She had never known that some people could be that stupid to force those kinds of things on their children. She did not have to ask how Ranma felt about the training because she could feel his emotions as he said the words. She knew he could feel hers too as she spoke of her parents and her father especially.
She had learned that he only knew his mother when she was young just like how she also only knew her father when she was younger. Ranma had held her hand while she talked about her father. She had been at the brink of tears but she had never told anyone about him and how he died and she felt relieved to let it all out. She was glad that that person had been Ranma. She knew her father was dead. He on the other hand did not know if his mother was dead or alive. His father had always evaded the question and Ranma had got tired of asking the same question over and over again with and without violence without receiving an answer.
She could feel the loss he felt, the pain of just wanting to know. She thought that Genma must really be a poor excuse of a human for leaving his son hanging about the fate of his mother. Even if the fat bastard could not admit to himself what had happened between him and Ranma's mom he should at least tell Ranma about her. Dai knew that something had to have happened between Genma and his wife. She could not see a woman marrying a man like that and being happy.
For her it seemed the more time she spent with Ranma the more he affirmed that her decision to marry him had been possibly one of the best she had ever made. He was brash, a bit insensitive and did not use his brain as much as he could. She knew he hated schoolwork and he did not apply himself half as much as he could towards spell casting, but it was those times he just smiled with that carefree and warm attitude that seemed to just pierce through all his faults. Ranma was not perfect, far from it, but he was cute in both forms and she was sure she could do a lot worse that him.
All that talk about the past and parents had come from the one question he had asked her: "Where are you from?"
One question had been enough to spark a deep conversation between them both. They stayed there, talking, until the sun began to descend. They both walked outside and Ranma helped her to one of the higher rooftops where they watched the sunset while talking about their plan that night. They talked then Ranma helped her off the rooftop.
Outside the Nekohanten, Dai changed back to her regular form. It was time for them to approach the elder. She gave Ranma a small peck on the cheek for which he deeply blushed and glared at her. She joked it off as being for good luck and the two of them entered the establishment.
"Airen, Dai, what you do here?" asked a surprised Xian.
"Do we need an invitation to come?" retorted Dai in her usual cursory manner.
Xian was confused for a second as the words were lost on her. She did not have the use of the translation spell Dai had. Fortunately, she recuperated quickly from her pause.
"No. Second wife and airen come any time..." she replied then gave Ranma a sultry smile before motioning for them to sit at a table near the corner of the establishment that was mostly hidden by banners hanging from the beams above. "Xian go tell great grandmother airen come."
On the table, Dai tried to play the innocent victim but Ranma's eyes held a glare that hinted untold and unknown pain. She was sure that he would also be able to deliver.
"Dai," growled Ranma. "Why was she calling you second wife?" asked Ranma.
Dai tugged against the side of her shirt. Wasn't it a little too hot inside the room?
"Well, hehehe...because I am an honorary Amazon and I'm engaged to you, Xian has it in her mind that I will be her second if you marry her. Hehehe...that's not to say you will marry her of course."
"I'm not marrying her!" growled Ranma in a very aggressive manner.
"That's good," replied Dai, "Because I don't like her." She hoped the last statement which was true, would alleviate Ranma's anger. It seemed to have done the trick as he visibly lost some of the tension on his face.
"So who would you have me marry?" asked Ranma as an afterthought.
"Me of course," replied Dai with a measure of certainty.
"Figures," replied Ranma. He saw a flash of purple but was unable to evade as Xian glomped onto him. He tried to pry her off, but she was too too strong and too too close for him to get any leverage.
"Xian not mind if second join too."
Dai thought for about a fraction of a second before Ranma found himself being squeezed to death between two very affectionate women. Luckily for the three no one else from the dining area could see them, otherwise they would be very worried about one girl being hugged by two other girls in a way that did not in any way hint of just friendship. Ranma however was saved by a very old woman who looked as gnarled as the staff she hopped on.
"If you girls would release son-in-law for a second, I have need to speak with him."
Ranma gladly gulped in huge amounts of precious air. He did not know that those two were that strong. When he finally caught his breath, he managed to stutter:
"I am not your son-in-law."
"Oh but you are Ranma. You have defeated Xian in fair combat and she has decreed that you are to be her husband. Therefore, you are her husband and therefore my son-in-law."
"She hasn't given me the kiss yet!" retorted Ranma.
"A minor technicality I assure you," stated Kho Lon. "Or do you think you can keep your guard up 24 hours a day."
Kho Lon smiled ruefully knowing she had drove home the point. Ranma glared at her, but he knew she was right in most of the aspects.
"I ain't marrying Xian Pu," he countered. "No one's gonna force me into marriage and I ain't marrying her!"
"Who are you going to marry then. The Tendo girl. From what I have seen you have a very close relationship with her."
"Hey it's not like that!" retorted Ranma, but he could not hide the slight blush on his face. "Me and Akane are just friends."
"So then you are free to marry Xian Pu."
"I told you already, I'm not marrying her."
"Don't worry son-in-law, I'm sure she will grow on you. I did not take this vacation in Japan to go back to China in a few days."
Ranma glared at her again.
She smiled back at him. Suddenly her hands blurred and Ranma found himself catching objects before they reached him. Of course, he was so intent on catching those objects that he did not see Xian Pu when she emptied a small vial of water onto his head. distracted by the coldness, a couple of the objects got through his defence and managed to impact on his face leaving bruises.
"So you have mastered the Kacchu Tenshin Amaguriken. That technique is an ancient Amazon secret, I would like to know how you were able to master it?"
Ranma did not want to answer. Who would believe him if he said that he was taught the technique while in a dream? They would think he was nuts!
"Hey. I learned it on my own. You don't have to be an Amazon to learn speed training!"
"Perhaps you are right son-in-law. But you are an Amazon and you are not as fast as you could be. You will come to the Nekohanten on afternoons to training."
"Yeah right ghoul! You ain't getting me to step foot in this place!"
"Is that right? Then I suppose you don't want this?"
She showed him a small vial in his hands.
"What's that for?"
Xian handed him a kettle of hot water.
His gaze suspiciously switched from one to the other Amazon in the room then he slowly poured the water on himself to change into a man. Somehow he felt that he should not have done that. Xian's was staring at him too strangely and was that drool coming from her mouth?
Kho Lon however, was not fazed by the transformation and splashed Ranma with a glass of water. Instinctively Ranma braced and when he opened his eyes, he found himself still male.
"I'm cured!" he shouted. He held Dai in his hands and started to dance a jig with her. She on one hand did not mind their close contact and was using it much to her advantage. Of course, Ranma was too elated with the knowledge that he was cured to notice.
Kho Lon was amused at the boy's behaviour, but then again, he still did not know the real reason for his so called cure.
"You might think of it that way son-in-law," interrupted Kho Lon, "but it is not a cure, just a simple addition to your curse. Just how the sun activates your curse, the lack of sunlight and water will activate your cure. Of course, this will mean that you will be a boy during the night and a girl during the day. I don't think you have told the Tendo's of your curse..."
She only had to see his face for her to know she was right.
"The Nekohanten is always open to future members of the tribe."
Only then had Ranma seen the trap. It was a trap to get him to come to the Nekohanten and to leave the Tendo's. A clever trap to make him Xian's husband. If he stayed there at night, he was sure that they would be able to trick him or use one of the potions Dai said they had, to get him to come with them to China.
"Or, you can stay at the Tendo's and try to get this."
She showed him another vial in her hands.
Ranma did not need to be prompted.
"Give me that you old ghoul."
"Uh uh uh...your still too slow to son-in-law. This is a small concoction that will reverse the binding of the curses."
"Come tomorrow. Tomorrow we will see if you are fast enough to get this from me."
Ranma tried to push the issue with the old crone, but was getting nowhere.
It was Dai's hand on his shoulder that stopped him from going further. She shook her head at him.
"You've lost this fight Ranma. Don't be foolish and try to lose the war too."
He knew she was right when she said it. He just didn't want to give up. He knew the ghoul had the cure in her hands, she was taunting him with it but Dai was right though, and the ghoul was right too. Tomorrow he would get the cure. Tomorrow.
Partially disgusted with himself, Ranma took to the rooftops when he noticed that someone was following him.
"What are you doing here?" he snapped and then immediately regretted the words. "Ah..uh...sorry."
Dai looked like she was about to sulk as she walked closer to him and looked as if she was actually going to slap him. However, all he felt was the brush on her hand against his cheek.
"I know that did not go the way we planned, but it will get better. I know it will."
"Yeah, I know. It's just that I don't know how I'm gonna stay with the Tendo's looking like this."
Dai frowned.
"Come on Ranma. you're not thinking. Think of something. You're not a dumb animal."
"Hey! Well they have seen me like this so I could say that I was in the area and too far from home. And for my girl side, I could say that she met some relatives and decided to stay by them. Of course, I could be stuck like this for a while so I guess I better make up a better excuse like I'm working somewhere in Nerima and it's too far for me to get home and my girl side said that I could stay with the Tendo's while she visited my parents..."
Dai stared at him then fainted -into his hands of course!
"You thought up all that in a moment!"
"Yeah but it just seems too simple. I mean who would believe that!"
Dai knew Ranma had to be crazy or something. It was almost a flawless story.
She hugged him then shoved him off towards the Dojo.
"Go go...I need some time to think myself."
After being lightly shoved forward, Ranma turned around just in time to see Dai disappear. He shrugged and starting hopping from rooftop to rooftop, finally finding himself on the stone wall surrounding the Tendo Dojo. He took a deep breath and walked up to the door.
His knock was answered by Kasumi.
"Oh Kanma, how nice to see you. I'm sorry but Ranma isn't home as yet."
"I know Ranma said to tell you that she would not be coming home since she met some family and wanted to spend some time with them. She also wanted to know if you could lend me her room since I can't get back home early..."
Kasumi waved him off from finishing.
"Of course we will let you stay." Kasumi was no fool and she thought she saw something the last time Kanma came. This time she would make sure if what she thought she had seen was real.
"Akane," called Kasumi.
"Coming oneechan."
Ranma only had time to turn before his jaw dropped. What he saw before him was a sight unimaginable before that day. He had never seen anyone look so...so...stunning. If he thought she looked kind of cute the first day he saw her, he definitely had to find a new word. She was simply...simply…he just could not find the word. Her body was framed by a yellow dress. The one she liked to wear, but that was not the striking thing. He remembered that her hair had been cut last night but her hair now was nothing compared to the mangled mass it had been before. It was a lot shorter than before. It reached just behind her ears and curled in, leaving her neck exposed. He almost wanted to reach out and touch her neck. He almost made a move towards her, he had not realised how close they were now. It seemed she had been on the other side of the room a second ago. He could not think she was so so...beautiful. She was his friend. His best friend! He could not do that to her. He could not think of her that way.
"I think you should show Kanma to Ranma's room Akane," spoke Kasumi very softly.
"H...hai oneechan."
Kasumi watched as Akane led Kanma silently to Ranma's room. People thought she was simple and indeed she was, but that did not mean that she was blind. She definitely was not blind. She wondered if either Kanma of Akane knew she had left them standing there for five minutes before she had returned from the kitchen. Hmm...this would be the perfect time for her to help her little sister like mother would. Akane had always been overly hostile to boys. Thankfully Ranma had partially nullified that but here was a boy that Akane seemed genuinely interested in although she had said nothing about it. Kasumi knew what mother would have done in this situation. When she was younger her classmates were always trying to play matchmaker for her. Now she knew why. It was exciting. Kanma and Akane: this would take some looking into.
Akane led Kanma to Ranma's room and left him quickly after he went inside. She half sprinted to her room and closed the door, leaning on it after she closed it. She had not planned on seeing him so unexpectedly. She could not believe how surprised she had been when she saw him standing there in her living room of all places. Her heart was still beating rapidly at the thought of him and her and...wait a minute she was supposed to be the one in school who hated boys. Okay, well maybe not hate boys, maybe just dislike most of them. Kanma had no right to make her feel like this. He had no right to make her feel as warm and sweaty as she did right now. This was all his fault. He should have told her he was coming so she could expect it. So she could at least have planned something before hand. That boy! Just showing up all unexpected like that. He should have called first. Better yet, Ranma should have told her. Where was Ranma anyway, she should have been home by now.
"Akane," called a soothing voice form outside her room. If it was one thing people in Nerima could not argue with, it was the kind and friendly voice of her big sister. Gathering herself, Akane opened the door.
"Akane, it seems that I did not buy some noodles today. Would you be a dear and go buy some from the store around the corner."
"No problem oneechan, just let me grab something."
Akane held her hand bag and was about to bolt out of the door into the night when Kasumi reminded her that she did not have the list of what was needed. Seconds later, Kasumi returned from the kitchen with someone in tow.
"Akane, Kanma had agreed to accompany you to the store."
Akane glared at Kanma, but the look on his face told her that he had probably been convinced of going with her by Kasumi's insistence.
"Well, come on Kanma. I don't have all day."
The walk to the store was quiet with nothing but an uneasy silence between the two teens. When they reached the store which was uncannily still open at that time of night, Akane took out the list that Kasumi had given her and read it out loud, becoming more agitated as she read.
Five founds of rice, ten pounds of flour! She knew Ranma ate a lot, but all that food! No wonder Kasumi told her to bring Kanma along.
Akane went into the store and started selecting the items, pointing them out to Kanma who added them to the cart. When they finished the cart was almost full to the brim. Akane walked towards the cashier who added up the total and paid. The real problem however, was getting all the groceries back home.
While Akane was pondering, she did not notice Kanma's blurring hands. Seconds later, she remotely noticed Kanma waving a hand in front of her face. That was when she was saw the packages in front of her. She had only two bags to carry while Kanma was seemingly loaded to the top. On his head, he balanced the large bags of rice and flour, while his hands contained numerous bags and packages that were lined up from his fingers to his wrists to his shoulders. She made an attempt to ask him what he was doing but before she could ask him, he just smiled.
"Training, this is excellent balance training!" he noted.
Kanma had to be at least as mad as Ranma. It probably ran in the family. Whoever heard of loading yourself down with groceries as a form of training? Maybe she would get to like Kanma as much as she did Ranma.
Exiting the store, she just had to ask him something.
"Kanma, do you practise martial arts?"
"Hm...oh yeah."
"Are you better than Ranma?"
"Yep, better but not by much." It was true to some extent. He felt more at ease doing martial arts in his male body than in his female body and that was reflected in the way he fought. He had compensated for his lack of reach in his female body with his increase in strength but he still preferred fighting in his male body. For him then, his male body was better.
"I don't believe you. I've seen Ranma fight and I don't think you could beat her."
"Oh yeah, well how about a little match between the two of us? You're a martial artist, you should be able to tell me how good I am from a little sparring."
He did not truly want to spar with her, but he had to prove to himself that he was better in his male body then in his female body and what better way to do that than to get an outside observer to give their opinions. He guessed he could also ask Mr. Tendo too. He had seen Ranma practice and if he was as good in the Art as Akane said he had been, then he should be able to gauge his level.
"You're on!" replied Akane excitedly. "And I'm not going to take it easy on you. Ranma has been showing me a couple of things."
Yes! She would defeat Kanma and have him grovel at her feet. She would stand triumphant before him and he would have to admit she was the better. Of course, she would have to make a wager and make him her slave for a little while. A little wager and she would have a cute boy as a slave. All the girls at school would be jealous of her once again and Akane was sure that Ranma would not mind if she had Kanma as her slave. She could see the ecstasy on Ranma's face when Ranma found out that she had beaten Kanma.
Kanma would be forced to be her little pet. She would of course have to tie a collar around his neck and have him hold up a sign saying that he was her property. It would not do having other girls look at him.
Slave...what other things could she have her slave do? Massages...a quick glance told her that Kanma had to be very strong and if he thought he had a chance of beating Ranma, he had to know how to give a massage. She could picture his hands roaming over her neck and shoulders, pulling out the knots form her muscles. Yes, roaming hands, He would knead her back muscles and then he would of course have to go lower. She would have need of a slave in the bath too to scrub her back for her and to...
"Akane!"
"What!" she shouted. It had been a good dream, why did he have to spoil it. Then she blushed, he had been the object of the dream.
"We're home already!"
"Oh..."
What had got into Akane all of a sudden! She struck up a conversation with him on the way then she suddenly became silent and had a distant look on her face. The bags had decided to tip while he had been walking when someone bumped into him and most of his concentration had gone into keeping them on a precarious balance until they reached home. Fortunately, he had not been bumped again along the way but Akane had been suspiciously silent. So silent and so distant that she had even forgot where she lived. Something was wrong with the girl's focus today. As Ranma, he was her trainer and should be asking her about that, but as Kanma, he was her guest and had no rights to ask her those sort of questions. Still it bothered him that something had her thinking so deeply that she would let her guard down and forget where her house was.
Kasumi gasped when she saw the two enter. she knew she had not sent them out to buy all that food. Where did Akane get all that food, and how was Kanma able to carry so much? She could hardly see his face as it was partially hidden by all that packaging.
"Akane," cried Kasumi. "What's all this?"
"It's everything on your list Oneechan," replied Akane.
"Everything?"
Akane nodded.
"But I only wanted some noodles for tomorrow. That was the only thing I didn't have ticked off. What's all this?"
Akane was starting to blush furiously.
"Well I didn't realise...besides, Nabiki is always complaining that we don't buy in bulk and with Ranma around..."
"I guess you were lucky to have a strong man like Kanma with you then," noted Kasumi offhandedly, causing both Ranma and Akane to blush but both for different reasons. Ranma because of the comment about his strength, Akane because of the 'have' part of her sister's comment. She still thought she could beat Ranma and 'have' him as her personal slave, without those perverted ideas. How could she have thought like that and about a boy for all that matter! She was supposed to dislike boys, well maybe except Kanma, but still she wasn't supposed to think about him like that. She hardly even knew him. What if he was some pervert?
While Akane was thinking however, Ranma was rapidly being unloaded by a quietly and gracefully working Kasumi who proceeded to find a place for everything that Ranma had brought. When she was finished, even Ranma had to blink. Not a trace of the goods had been found. Even the paper wrapping had been put away for another day when it could be needed.
"I'll be in the Dojo," mumbled Ranma as he left the kitchen, passing by Akane on his way back. Akane seemed to be frozen in action again. Ranma would have bothered to ask her why, but he was feeling for a little exercise.
Akane snapped out of her reverie however short-lived it was, and rushed to her room, intent on changing her clothes and challenging Kanma. Usually it took her less than five minutes to change but in her rush, she could not put her clothes on properly. Some were back to front, she couldn't get into the right pants leg. She shouted in frustration and heard a small rip from somewhere. She could not see where it had been. Oh well, she just needed to beat the stuffing out of Kanma anyway. She did not need a perfect gi.
Akane raced to the Dojo, still tying her belt. She ran to the door arch and froze when she got there. She found that she could not move. Her frozen state this time was not due to the fact that someone had cast a magic spell on her. Rather it was due to the fact that Kanma was doing a kata in the middle of the Dojo. It also mattered that it wasn't the run of the mill kata. What also helped was that Ranma was using his hands, as his feet and was thusly jumping to unprecedented heights in the Dojo, using his hands as his feet. Akane had seen Ranma do some kind of ballet like that before, but not on her hands. Kanma had to be showing off. He was probably some kind of gymnast and not a real martial artist like herself and Ranma. She would be able to take him down easily. She knew she would. She would and then she would be able to parade him around her school as her trophy.
But first, she would watch.
And watch she did. She stood there, leaning against the door watching. Of course -I keep using that phrase don't I- if she had known that it was all a warm up exercise and to help build the hands and shoulders and not a proper kata, she would have noted that she had better start warming up for her fight. Naturally, she never thought of it that way.
Ranma finally completed his last pirouette and landed facing the opposite direction from Akane.
"Come to practise Akane?" he asked. She sure was acting strange but at least this time, he could think of a couple of answers for that. His strange exercise or the fact that she had never seen him really workout in his male form among others.
"No, Kanma Saotome, I challenge you!"
"Challenge me? Why do you want to challenge me?" asked Ranma. This was something new. He had never told her to challenge others. she was not skilled enough for that as yet. Maybe in a couple of years, but challenges already. He already asked her for a little spar but a little spar was nothing compared to a direct challenge.
"I will prove myself to Ranma by defeating you. I'll show you that Ranma is better than you are."
Ranma was almost blushing. He didn't think Akane thought that highly of his skill of his female form but maybe he could make a training exercise out of this. He was still her sensei in either form. He could not overtly train her, but maybe he could train her in other ways.
"Let's make a bet," continued Akane. "If I win, you have to tell Ranma that I am your better and you have to be my servant for a week."
"And if you lose?"
"I'm not going to lose!" retaliated Akane.
"Okay then, since you are not going to lose, the same goes for me."
"What!"
"It's only fair."
"Oooh...let's fight then."
Akane heeded Ranma's training and did not attack like she usually did. This time she moved forward but held back so that she was out of arm's reach from Ranma.
Ranma saw this and smiled, at least Akane had been learning. She did not lose her temper and charge in. She was waiting. He knew he had the unfair advantage of knowing exactly what Akane would be planning and what moves she would use, but he was also intent on making this a competition. It would not be any fun if he didn't make a competition out of it. So Ranma did the exact opposite of what he had told Akane to do, he attacked.
With his knowledge of the Art, he knew the correct way of attacking an opponent and this was just like one of those times. He knew Akane was strong and powerful like the earth so he was going to counteract by being slowly degrading like the water upon the shore.
He attacked, slipping into Akane's defence which remarkably held against his onslaught. His attacks came in series and were not difficult to dodge, but they were numerous and required blocking. In between, Akane managed to get in a few good punches, hitting Kanma a few times, but they did not seem to phase him, much.
Akane was indeed getting a good workout. She had been mainly on the defensive as Kanma attacked her. The attacks were frequent, but not overwhelming. Akane however found herself using all the training and practise Ranma had given her to try and win. She had previously thought that beating Kanma would be easy. Now, she was not too sure about that.
A lull in Kanma's attack drew her attention and she realised that he had left himself open a little. Seizing the opportunity, she aimed a kick at midsection but did not gain any bodily contact as he amazingly dodged out of the way. She would have regained her balance quite easily and be back in the fight if it wasn't for the fact that before the fight began she had not warmed up her muscles. Due to this fact, and nothing else, she felt the twinge of the muscle as it was hyperextended. She felt the pain and in that moment of pain, she was unbalanced and falling. When she should have impacted again the hard wooden floor of the Dojo, she found herself cradled in the strong arms of a boy.
"What's wrong Akane?" asked Ranma
Akane clenched her teeth and refused to answer. She would not give Kanma the satisfaction of knowing that she had pulled a muscle.
"Well, if you aren't going to tell me, then maybe you should just surrender."
"What, no way!" shouted Akane, struggling out of his grip and trying to get on her feet. As soon as she began to extend her foot however, the pain came. The next thing she knew, Ranma was massaging the back of her leg with his hands. Strong hands she had to add. Very strong hands...that were rhythmic in their movement up and down the back of her thigh. Suddenly gravity disappeared and Akane found herself being carried to the house.
While on the way there, Soun managed to spy a look at them. He noted the contented look on his daughter's face and smiled. He then disappeared into the house again to make sure she would not see him. He thought his little girl hated boys. Apparently that rule had been changed for one boy at least.
Akane had never been carried by a boy in her life and as such, she was torn between trying to shove Kanma and telling him off and staying there in his arms. She was torn in her decision but even as consciously she was trying to make the decision, her subconscious had make up its mind. If she did decide to do something, IT would not let her. In fact, IT had decided to add injury to insult. IT had not felt this good in a long time. Years of dealing with nightmares about death and boy-hating had been soothed by a couple of weeks of boy dreaming. IT was not going to lose an opportunity for some more relaxing dreams. IT decided that IT should start some more pain to keep Akane in this boys arms. IT decided that IT needed a backrub and thusly several of Akane's back muscles started to spasm, causing Akane to clench her teeth again. IT knew that that pain would stop Akane from even thinking about leaving the boy hands. IT congratulated itself on a job well done.
Ranma saw the pain on Akane's face and carried her to her room. He had some across many herbs for this kind of thing during his travels and knew what he should use to relieve Akane's discomfort. Spells could be used, but they would not cure the problem, only make it disappear for a while.
Ranma returned to Akane's room with a small jar in tow that he had retrieved from his satchel.
Akane was sitting on her bed, trying to massage her pulled muscle and from the grimace on her face, she was not having any effect.
"Lie down," commanded Ranma.
She complied.
"Face down," he added. She turned around.
She vaguely remembered turning around when she felt the pants of her gi being removed. She grabbed at her pants, pulled the cover over her and tried to punch Ranma.
"What are you trying to do you pervert!" shouted Akane.
Ranma evaded the punch, loosened Akane's grip on her pants with a pressure point and pulled the covers back off.
"Well how do ya expect me to rub this onto your leg if you keep you pants on."
"I can rub it on myself!" defended Akane. "I still think you're trying something perverted."
"Yeah sure, you don't even know what it is I'm using and how to apply it. Now get back down on that bed."
Akane wanted to argue more but IT would have none of that. IT wanted this boy's massage and IT's response was to cause another wave of spasms which got Akane to twitch in pain and obey Ranma's instructions but not without muttering a few choice words under her breath.
"Take off you top to," added Ranma again. "I can tell that your back also needs some of this."
"What! No way!"
IT was getting impatient. What did IT have to do to get its conscience to agree? More pain.
"Fine, you can stay in pain for all you like!"
That's when another, combined, co-ordinated pain attack was released that immediately had Akane's resolve crumbling.
"Okay, Okay, just turn around."
She took off her top and lay there on her bed in just her underwear. Maybe she could have gone a night with the pain then visit Dr. Tofu in the morning...more pain...maybe not. She kept a mantra in her head though: it is only for the pain.
Ranma felt awkward in the situation he was placed in. He could not compromise himself though. He was her sensei and it was his duty to help her get better. This was just one of the tasks that came with being a sensei. That of course did not stop his heart from beating faster, or his face from becoming redder. He opened the jar and tipped a small trickle of the liquid onto Akane's thigh. He heard her gasp as the cold liquid toughed her skin. His hands made contact with her skin, sending ripples up through his veins that were bringing him to near dizziness, but her kept his calm and focus. He began to massage the liquid into the skin using a slow rhythmic massage that had been taught to him by another one of the persons his father had refused to acknowledge as a true martial artist. Of course, the man had never told him what the massage was truly invented for. He left that up to the person that Ranma gave the massage too. It was meant for women; that was the only thing the man had ever told him.
Ranma kept up the massage, trying to think of thoughts other than the girl in front of him. Other than the pale smoothness of her skin and the way it seemed to glow and beg for him to touch it. He tried to think of other thoughts to distract him from the curves of the body in front of him, from things hidden by cloth. He tried to think about his own female body and about those encounters at the bathing facilities at the temple and about all the ugly women that he had seen around. He tried to think about the old ghoul.
Akane tried to think about how she hated boys and how Kanma was a boy and she should hate boys and she should disagree with Ranma and hate boys still. And that boys were all perverts and about Kuno and his antics and how he always tried to beat her up and how he was so thick headed.
She probably would have succeeded too if it wasn't for the fact that two male hands were currents massaging one of her thighs and that those hands were move up and down and pulling and tugging at her muscles and causing them to send strange impulses to her brain. Impulses that she had never experienced before. Thoughts invaded her mind, thoughts about things that she should not be thinking of, thought about hands roaming in places where they should not be. She barely realised when the cool liquid was again falling against her skin, she felt a deep feeling of warmth against her back as strong hands danced across it. She idly noted that she had undone the bra strap on her back for those hands to roam better, but she did not turn around in case Kanma saw her face. She would not let him know how much pleasure this was giving her. She would not let him hear her moan into the pillow she was lying on. She would not let him...ohhh.
When Ranma finished untying all those knots in Akane's back and rubbing the liquid onto her skin, he noted that she was sound asleep in bed. He checked on his spell from that morning and from his position, he could only see the faint scar of what was the wound as it etched a fine line from the top of her breast to her side. He smiled. She would be fins and rthe line should disappear in a week. He draped the covers over her, walked over to her desk and proceeded to write a letter to her, one that he knew would make her angry in the morning. It was a good thing that he had met the old ghoul that day. Concentrating on her had helped him to keep focus on the fact that Akane was his best friend and on the fact at anytime, he would have to leave when his idiot father came.
