Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Balance of Power ❯ An Early Arrival ( Chapter 1 )

Volume 1

Chapter 2

An Early Arrival

Ryoga woke with a start; his body protested the movement, as he was still quite sore from the training he and Ranma had endured the other day.

"Damn," Ryoga cursed, rubbing his shoulder. "Those wax bullets hurt."

Ryoga got off the couch and walked the short distance to the washroom. Remembering the instructions Seiji had given him, Ryoga washed his hands and face with warm water.

Upon returning to the room, Ryoga discovered Ranma on the other couch, still sleeping.

Now what are the ways you can make Ranma wake up? Ryoga asked himself. Hitting him works, but he hasn't done anything to deserve that. There's yelling in his ear, no, that doesn't work to often. Splashing him has always worked.

Ryoga walked back in the bathroom and filled a bucket with water. Cold water. Ryoga walked towards Ranma's still form and emptied the contents of the bucket onto Ranma.

"Yahhhh!" Ranma yelled as she leapt from the couch.

"Mornin`," Ryoga smiled, setting the bucket onto the floor.

"What the hell was that for?!" Ranma glared, she started squeezing the water from her clothes.

"Just trying to wake you up," Ryoga said, the same smile on his face.

"Yeah well, thanks a bunch," Ranma muttered as she removed her shirt.

Ryoga quickly spun around before he had a nosebleed from seeing Ranma bare-chested.

"Jeez Ryoga, I am a guy y`know," Ranma said.

"Yeah well, that still does not change the fact that you retain the parts of the female anatomy. So I would greatly appreciate it if you would put a shirt on."

"Okay, but what's going to happen to when you and Akari try and take you're relationship to the next level?" Ranma asked, a coy smile playing across her face.

"I'll deal with that when the situation arises," Ryoga stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh ho, so does this mean you, have, thought about it?" Ranma asked.

"So what if I have, I'd like to see you try and deny that you've never thought about having sex with Akane," Ryoga said sarcastically.

"S-Shut up man," Ranma stuttered out and cast his eyes to the floor, hoping the blush that radiated across his face would not be noticeable.

"Oh, so this means you have given thought to it," Ryoga smiled facing Ranma again, thankful that she had put a shirt on.

Ranma was now the one that wouldn't face Ryoga. But Ryoga knew she had to be big-time blushing.

"I know you love her," Ryoga said, not smiling anymore.

Ranma turned and looked straight at Ryoga.

"You don't know anything," Ranma said evenly. "And I would appreciate it if you kept your nose out my relationship with Akane."

Ryoga sighed and placed his hand on Ranma's shoulder.

"Okay, I won't try and meddle with anything, but, if you can't talk to me about this, than whom can you talk to?" Ryoga didn't wait for Ranma to respond. "I can't tell you that I know what it must have felt like to have held her in your arms, but I do want you to know that there is no doubt in my mind that you love her, more than any of the other girls."

"Yeah, it hurt Ryoga, it hurt more than anything that's ever been done to me in the past," Ranma admitted.

"Than why don't you just admit that you love her than?!" Ryoga shouted.

"Because Ryoga!" Ranma yelled back, rage building inside her. "Because she doesn't love me."

Ryoga was taken aback by this. He stared at Ranma incredulously, silently waiting for her to continue.

"When the wedding was ruined, I realized that Akane only agreed to the marriage so I could get the nannichuan water. She was just taking pity on me."

"And that doesn't tell you anything!?" Ryoga shouted again.

"Huh?" Ranma took a step back when he saw the enraged look in Ryoga's eyes.

"She was willing to change her whole life around, just for you. Just so you would get your cure. She was going to marry you because of that, just to have you get what you wanted most in the world."

"I don't want a marriage out of pity," Ranma said.

"That's not what I meant," Ryoga replied. "Do you not think that Akane would have agreed to the wedding even if the nannichuan water was not a consolation prize?"

"I-I don't know, maybe," Ranma said weakly.

"Let me put it this way," Ryoga paused, he realized what he was saying here could change Ranma's perception on his relationship with Akane. He knew he had to choose his words carefully. "Do you think you could live your life without Shampoo?"

"Yes," Ranma answered with no emotion.

"Could you go every day without seeing Ukyo?" Ryoga asked, watching Ranma's face intently.

"Yeah," Ranma answered, his voice still absent of any emotion.

"Now, I want you to truthfully tell me if you have ever given any thoughts to living your life without Akane."

Ranma seemed to stop and consider Ryoga's words for a moment. "No, ever since Pop and I moved here, I've always thought of Akane as the only girl for me. She's been the only constant thing in my life other than Pop that I've really wanted to spend more time with."

"Do you think it's any different for her?" Ryoga asked, watching Ranma's face.

Ranma was caught short by Ryoga's question.

"Akane loves you Ranma. All the nights I would spend with Akane as P-chan, all she would ever talk about is you. Whether it was about how you and her fought, or if it was about how the two of you spent the whole day being close, she would always talk about you. You guys have been unlucky in the respect that whenever the two of you would be close to doing anything, someone would interrupt. If any of those instances had just happened to not have been interrupted, than I'm sure it would have ended up with the two of you in bed together."

Ryoga realized he was close to making Ranma understand.

"Both of you have a lot to figure out Ranma, but don't take too long, otherwise you will miss your chance," Ryoga told him, ending the conversation by walking out of the room.

Ranma stood there thinking about what Ryoga said. Finally he turned.

"That might have been more dramatic Ryoga, if you hadn't walked into the washroom."

===============

Akane and Akari boarded a bus and took their seats.

"It'll be nice to see the pigs again," Akari said.

Akane could see it in her eyes. Akari had one of those far away looks. She knew Akari was thinking about Ryoga. Akane wished she could help but, she was thinking about Ranma probably as much as Akari was thinking of Ryoga.

Come back to me Ranma, I don't know what I would do without you.

===============

Ranma and Ryoga crouched low in the pick-up truck. They were limiting their visibility but it was necessary for them to avoid being spotted by any scout that may be out there. The infiltration was scheduled to be a night-insertion, but that didn't mean they could take it easy.

They both had there minds elsewhere as the truck rolled down the road.

Ryoga silently thought about how the previous night's practice run had turned out. Everything had been going smoothly and soon he and Ranma had gotten to their hill without pause, but then they had received a shock when they found a team waiting for them on their destined spot and they realized they had failed. It was a costly lesson, more so that they did not have time to do another practice run.

Ryoga felt the truck began to slow; he collected his pack and glanced over at Ranma. Since their talk the yesterday, Ranma had been very quite. As the truck passed under an overpass and they leapt into the reeds that surrounded the fields.

Ranma led as they ran across the rice fields. Reaching their destined ridge, Ranma and Ryoga settled into a cleared spot that overlooked the fields and was close to the main road.

Ryoga searched through his pack and checked the food and other supplies.

"Aw, c'mon Ryoga, worry about that stuff later. Come over and check out the beautiful sky," Ranma said as he gazed up at the night sky.

Ryoga shrugged and laid down beside Ranma and stared at the stars that adorned the night sky.

"So what are you going to do after all this?" Ranma asked.

"I don't know, Akari has been dropping hints about marriage for awhile, but….," Ryoga trailed off.

"But what?"

Well, it is kind of fast and I would like to maybe travel a little more and build up my martial arts," Ryoga said.

"Ryoga," Ranma began, irritation in his voice. "In case you haven't noticed, you are one damn fine martial artist. You are the only guy I consider to be my rival. You don't rely on a curse like Pantyhose Taro, you aren't some weird inbred guy like Herb was, and you aren't some type of god like Saffron was. You have learnt all you're techniques on your own, except the breaking point. In the beginning you even trained yourself, and you were almost as good as me, and I had been trained since I was six. I've learnt my two strongest techniques because of you, the hiryu shoten ha and the moko takabisha. Don't you ever doubt your martial arts ability or I'll beat some sense into ya."

Ryoga stared at Ranma. To hear Ranma say such nice things about him was completely out of character for him.

"Thank you Ranma."

"Just repaying the favor man. You helped me with that stuff about Akane," he paused. "Also, I was thinking that maybe it's time you proposed to Akari. There isn't really anything that's keeping either of you tied down."

The conversation ended there and the two slowly drifted off to sleep, still facing the night sky.

===============

"So the shipment will be picked up tomorrow?"

"Yes sir."

"Good, dismissed."

The secretary bowed and quickly left the office. When she got to her desk someone approached her.

"Is Maruyama in?" he asked.

The secretary pressed a button on her phone. "Mr. Inafune is here to see you."

"Good, send him in," the voice replied.

"You can go right in," the secretary told Seiji.

"Thanks," Seiji said as he walked into the office, making sure to close the door behind him.

"A pleasure to see you looking so well Seiji," Toshi smiled.

"And the same to you Toshi," Seiji said with feigned respect.

"A trust the little mishap at the factory has been taken care of," Toshi said.

"Yes, the workers have all been properly punished," Seiji reassured him.

"And the culprits?" Toshi asked.

"Ah, they have yet to be caught," Seiji lied.

Toshi stared at Seiji. "You had better not be lying to me."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Seiji said sarcastically.

Toshi came out of his chair and leaned across his desk.

"You know that I can make you disappear in the blink of an eye," Toshi snarled.

"And you know that if I were to disappear there would be too many questions and your sorry ass would finally be tossed back into jail, where you would be introduced to the wonderful world of having your inmate try and screw you every time you bent over," Seiji smiled at the man he hated more than anything.

Toshi's entire face turned red and he had to fight the urge to lunge across the table and kill the fool that sat before him.

"The only thing keeping you from committing suicide is that damn mind block you've developed you bastard!" Toshi yelled. "And let me remind you that if you do ever betray me you will be sent into the Sea of Japan in a nice sack filled with bricks!"

"Well, I've made my report, I'm leaving," Seiji said, getting up and exiting the office.

Toshi waited in his office for a few minutes so he could calm down. Seiji was the only person that could piss him off so thoroughly. He couldn't wait until he was done injecting this stupid country with drugs so he could finally have the satisfaction of seeing the look in Seiji's eyes as he ripped his heart out of his chest.

Feeling much calmer, Toshi stepped out of his office and turned to his secretary.

"Has Minoru arrived yet?" he asked.

"Yes sir, he is waiting in room 132," she replied.

Toshi exited and walked down the hallway and made his way to room 132. He paused before entering and took a deep breath, and entered.

"Greetings Minoru," Toshi smiled friendly. Minoru merely nodded his head.

"And what news have you brought me?"

"It seems the two people Seiji has recruited have been deployed at the main drop-off point outside of Tokyo. Now," Minoru began, "I have yet to learn about there objective. It appears that I have been kept out of this mission, whether this is intentional or not, it is unsettling. Can I count on you to give me refuge if I am caught?"

"Of course," Toshi smiled.

"Good," Minoru smiled. "What I do know is, you should push whatever pickups you have planned for the next few days."

"I see," Toshi said.

"I hope by the next time we meet, I will have learned the names of the new recruits."

===============

Akari flicked on the light upon entering her home.

"Those piglets are so cute," Akane said after sitting down on a couch.

"Yeah," Akari replied, no hint of emotion in her voice.

Akane surveyed the room she was sitting in; the house had an obvious pig motif, but it still appeared to be very empty. The house was large, far too large for just one person, or two, whenever Ryoga happened to find his way here.

Akane nearly gasped when she made this observation. She had never realized just how much Ryoga and Akari needed each other. Akari, living alone without someone to talk to other than her pigs; and Ryoga, never being able to find anything or knowing where he could end up if he walked to the bathroom. Ever since Ryoga had met Akari he had seemed so happy, and he had even begun to get along with Ranma. Akane stopped thinking when she realized Akari was talking to her.

"-ane, what would you do if Ranma didn't come back?"

Akane let the surprise show on her face. She had never even thought that Ranma might not come back.

"I didn't mean to surprise you Akane but, I would really like to know," Akari said.

"I-I don't know. I've never thought about it," Akane admitted.

"So you just have confidence that the man you love will come back to you?" Akari asked.

"I guess so."

"Okay," Akari said, and just went back to staring at the wall behind Akane.

"Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't the only one."

===============

Ranma and Ryoga watched as the trucks rumbled down the road.

"What the hell is this?" Ranma wondered as he pressed the binoculars to his face.

"Maybe there early," Ryoga suggested, as people got out of the truck and began digging trudging through the rice fields.

"Well, whether their early or not, those guys are loading the drugs into the back of those trucks," Ranma said as he turned around and grabbed his pack. "Let's go pay them a visit."

They trudged down their hill and quickly ran across the road. They crouched down in the reeds and began to crawl towards the trucks. They made it to about twenty feet from the trucks before they could see into the back of the truck.

"Does it look like they have all the drugs in the back?" Ryoga asked, his voice barely audible.

"I can't tell," Ranma said.

"Well then just use the binoculars," Ryoga told him.

Ranma turned and gave Ryoga a sheepish look.

"You idiot," Ryoga said as he shook his head. "There isn't enough time to go back and get them so I guess we can just dispatch the trucks now."

Ranma nodded and pulled out three standard military grenades.

"Ready?" Ranma asked.

Ryoga nodded and they both pulled the pins out and released the safety clips.

The grenades sailed through the air and they landed in two of the trucks, a third grenade landed in the back of the last truck. The explosions knocked Ryoga and Ranma off their feet.

They quickly jumped up from the ground and stood above the reeds to meet any of the men that made it out of the trucks. But no one came out.

"Something's wrong," Ryoga said.

From the other side of the road they saw movement and something went sailing through the air.

"Oh shit! Run Ryoga!" Ranma shouted.

Ranma began to run towards the tree-line with Ryoga right behind him. An explosion confirmed that it was a grenade that had been thrown. They reached a slightly wooded area and Ryoga lost sight of Ranma. When he emerged from the trees Ryoga didn't see Ranma. What he did see was 12 men waiting.

"Let's get this over with," Ryoga said, dropping back into a fighting stance.

===============

Ranma ran as fast as he could, he emerged from the trees and he finally noticed that he could no longer hear Ryoga running behind him. Ranma glanced back and then came to a complete stop.

"What the?" Ranma scanned the field. "Ryoga!"

Ranma couldn't see any sign of the lost boy.

"Oh shit."

===============

Ryoga dodged another attack. He had knocked out seven people already and he hadn't even broken a sweat yet.

"Is this all you little girls have to offer?" Ryoga asked, mocking them.

Ryoga began to advance on them, but stopped when he felt the cold steel of a muzzle press against his head.

"You move, your brains are going to be splattered all over this field."

===============

Ranma found a payphone and quickly dialed a memorized number.

"Seiji," the voice announced.

"They got Ryoga."

"What!" Seiji was very alert now.

"A bunch of trucks showed up and started loading up the drugs, we dispatched them but when we were about to round up the people, there was no one there. Then someone threw a grenade so we took off, we ran into a forest and I lost Ryoga. Maybe he got lost but-"

"Listen," Seiji cut Ranma off, "I will have a car come and pick you up. Just stay where you are."

"Okay," Ranma said and hung up. He turned and stepped out of the booth.

"Dammit Ryoga, what the hell am I going to tell Akari."

===============

Author's Notes: Chapter 2 has now been fired off. I have already posted these chapters before and I finished this big rewrite during the simultaneous release of the final chapter.

Hope you have been enjoying the story so far.