Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma 1/2: The Truth and the Tempest ❯ Back to Work ( Chapter 15 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

[Author’s note: The characters and setting herein- with the exception of one or two O.C.’s of my own design- are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I apologize for the slight delay in posting; work and life decided to overload me this week. Still, I try my best. And now…]

Ranma ½: The Truth and the Tempest

Chapter 15: Back to Work

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As morning gave way to afternoon, several residents of the Tendo household were starting to get very bored. Nodoka and Kasumi were out shopping, Shingen was holed up in his rented room, Ranma and Akane were resting up from the previous night and Soun had his nose buried in the newspaper, leaving Genma with very little to do. Normally he and his old friend would have been engrossed in another game of shogi, if only somebody hadn’t hidden the game board. Something about ‘work before play’ and a warning not to get so embarrassingly drunk again. He scowled slightly. So maybe I overdid it a little last night, but why not? I felt I had reason to celebrate! The boy’s cured, meaning I could be cured soon as well, I had every right… but that look on No-chan’s face this morning… He shuddered. Well, at least I did get the dojo floors clean enough to soften her up a bit. A little more buttering up and maybe we can be back to normal; I still can’t believe she ORDERED me not to spar with the boy this morning!

He is the future of this school, after all… a far better martial artist than most anybody, if not the best! But I couldn’t let that go to his head, he’d just let himself go soft… and without our daily ritual, he’ll just get softer! Well… okay, so he did endure something of a trial by fire last night, but gods know that son of mine’s trained under conditions like that before. Genma let out a long sigh, staring up at the clouds. After a moment, he blinked and a sly smile crossed his face.

Hmm. No-chan did say give the boy time to recover from last night… knowing him the way I do, he should be fit enough by now. And with her out of the house, there won’t be any disapproving glances!

“Saotome?”

Genma blinked, shaken out of his reverie. “Um… huh? Did you say something, Tendo?”

“I was just commenting on how it seems our two stubborn children finally seem to be making a connection, and you had this odd look on your face. Didn’t seem to hear a thing.” Soun put the paper down. “Are you feeling alright, old friend?”

“Sorry, Tendo, I just got lost in thought,” Genma chuckled. “So… you were saying?”

“Just that in the past few days, Ranma and Akane seem to have made a few steps in the right direction. They didn’t fight at all at breakfast yesterday, and she offered to help him out with that strange ritual last night.” Soun smiled, a faint tear running down his cheek. “Something tells me it won’t be long before the houses are well and truly joined. Your wife may have been right, Saotome; leave them to their own devices and let what will happen, happen.” Just then a pair of voices wafted in from the TV room.

“Well, that’s an hour of my life I’d like to have back.”

“Oh, come on, Ranma! What was so bad about that show, I thought you’d like it!” came Akane’s reply.

“Hey, I’m not sayin’ it was bad, but you know I hate watchin’ anything with subtitles, ‘kane!” Ranma said as the two of them came in from the TV room, her in shorts and a t-shirt, him in black pants and a tank top.

“I just thought it might be interesting to see something on the import channel, that’s all; besides, even you have to admit it was kind of funny to watch.”

“Well… yeah, you do have a point, do people actually think that junk is real???”

“What’s all the fuss, you two?” Soun asked.

Akane shrugged. “Just some mindless stuff we found on channel 56. Some kind of American reality series, I think.”

“Couldn’t understand half of what they said, an’ now I got a headache from the subtitles,” Ranma scoffed.

“Sounds like you might be getting a little soft there, boy,” said Genma in a taunting tone. “A headache just from watching TV? I thought you were tougher than that!”

“Hey! Watch it, pops, you try goin’ through what I went through last night an’ see if you don’t get a little sore the next day!” Ranma shot back. “Besides, you prolly got worse than me just off that damn sake bottle!”

“Don’t you take that tone with me, young man! I’ll have you know I was up and cleaning the dojo long before you were even awake!”

“Probably because Mom told ya to,” Ranma growled.

“At sword point…” Akane added, not-quite-under her breath.

“That’s it, boy, I knew I made a mistake in letting up on your practice the past day or two! Looks like you need a little lesson in respect!”

Soun glanced up sharply. “Now, Saotome, there’s no need to fly off the handle today; remember Tofu’s orders to let the boy rest?”

“Ah, let him rant, Mr. Tendo, you know full well he couldn’t do a damn thing to… GACK!!!” Ranma was abruptly cut off as a livid Genma grabbed him by his tank top and hurled him, head-first, into the koi pond. Soun stared at his old friend in disbelief as Ranma hit the water while Akane’s eyes went wide. Genma shut his eyes and took a deep breath before stepping off the porch; in the moment his eyes closed, he failed to notice a brief yellow flash underneath the surface of the pond.

“Alright, boy, you still think I haven’t got what it takes to put you in your place?” Genma chuckled.

A few bubbles drifted across the pond, followed by the water’s surface lurching up with a loud splash. Genma’s chuckles instantly died down as Ranma emerged, soaked, tense and furious. And female.

For a moment, there was nothing but dead silence. Soun blinked. Genma’s jaw practically hit the ground, and Akane’s hand flew to cover her mouth. Ranma-chan blinked once, glanced down at herself and stared in shock. Her head snapped back up, giving a full impression of a deer caught in the headlights as the redheaded girl began to hyperventilate.

“Wha… what the… how is this…” Genma started, taking two hesitant steps forward. “I thought… you said that… you said the curse was…” Ranma-chan said nothing in response, but clutched her arms to herself and squeezed her eyes shut as a despairing look swept over her face.

“Great Kami, how can this be??” Soun whispered in shock. “That Yamashira boy was supposed to have… he said it would… but he… and you…” Akane’s left hand joined her right over her mouth as her shoulders started to shake.

“No… this can’t be possible!” Genma lamented. “He SWORE it would work, and you said you were cured, boy!!! What… what does this mean… was he lying… did something go wrong… does this mean I’ll never be able to…”

Genma would have babbled incomprehensibly for another ten minutes if it hadn’t been for the sudden fist to the gut he received. Faster than the eye could follow, Ranma-chan sprang forward and delivered a series of devastating strikes to Genma’s belly and across his face. He staggered back, his face one giant bruise, just in time to fall backward into the redhead grappling him from behind. She quickly turned him into a form more befitting a pretzel and booted him into the koi pond himself. A few hops and Ranma-chan was on the porch; she wiped her forehead and beamed the cockiest smile in her arsenal in the general direction of the battered panda.

“Heh. Guess you got put in yer place instead, old man,” she snickered before bursting into full-blown laughter. Akane couldn’t hold back her own laughs any longer and dropped her hands away from her mouth, holding her stomach as a slew of giggles racked her body.

“Oh, Ranma that was terrible! But gods, that was so perfect, did you see the look on his face?” she gasped, unable to wipe away the grin she’d been hiding.

“Now ya know why I only told ‘em about certain things at dinner last night,” the redhead guffawed in reply.

Genma-panda stared in disbelief. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? he asked, courtesy of his ever-present signboard.

“Yes, what is going on here?” asked Soun, staring at the two laughing teens in general bewilderment.

Ranma-chan took a deep breath, wringing some water out of her now translucent tank top which did very little to conceal her breasts. “Just a little something I call payback for the old man,” she said. “I figured he’d try an’ pull something like this, so I decided not to clue him in on all the details till I had a little fun.” A pale yellow aura surrounded Ranma’s body for a brief second before turning into a bright flash; in the blink of an eye, Ranma was back to his normal form. “Fact is, pops, I am cured… well, half-cured, anyway. Dunno if that’s how it’ll work for everyone, but that’s how it did for me. Don’t ask me why.”

The panda flipped the sign over. HALF CURED? it said.

“Like I said, old man, don’t ask.” He brought his hands over his head, stretching out. “Thanks for the warm-up exercise, by the way.”

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“You sure you’re feeling up to this?” Akane asked a half hour later. They were in the training hall, her in her yellow gi, Ranma in the white gi he almost never wore outside of practice. Both were going through some light stretches and warm-ups, having finally convinced Kasumi they had rested enough for one day.

“Hey, don’t worry ‘bout me, Akane, fact is I feel great.” He finished stretching and stood up. “We oughta stay home from school more often,” he added with a smirk.

“Why? You sleep at your desk about as much as you do around here, baka.”

“Yeah, but ‘round here I don’t get attacked every five minutes… or… uh… never mind.”

Akane giggled. “So now what do you want to work on, sensei? Remember, you did say you were going to help me get better.”

“Well, right now what I want to do is…” He blinked. “Sensei?”

“What’s so wrong with that? You are technically my instructor at the moment, Ranma.”

Ranma sighed. “Yeah, but… I dunno, that just felt a little weird hearing ya call me that.”

“You don’t like it?”

“It’s not that I don’t like it… it’s, I dunno, it just sounds strange is all. Like some kinda teacher-student division thing… ah hell, I can’t explain it. Just, for now I’d rather ya just call me by my name, not sensei.” He flushed a bit, scratching the back of his head.

Akane blinked, then nodded. “Okay, if that’s the way you want it.” She finished her own stretches and jumped to her feet. “Anyway, what’s your plan for today?”

“Well, we’re still not gonna go on to the really hard stuff yet. I wanna run you through a few katas and then some speed drills, see if we can’t get you moving faster and maybe a bit more agile. Remember, ‘kane, you’ve got great power, but that doesn’t do you any good if you can’t connect with your opponent.”

Akane’s face fell slightly. “Are you trying to tell me I’m slow or something?”

“No, I’m trying to say you aren’t using your speed to your advantage. You put too much into a single punch sometimes and ya wind up overextending yourself, and if ya miss on that one punch, it leaves you wide open. Here, let me show you.” Ranma concentrated for a second, initiating his transformation into his girl form.

“Huh? Hey, what’d you change for?” Akane asked. Ranma-chan heaved a sigh before looking up again.

“Akane, it’s still gonna take me a while to get used to sparring with you; I’ve been thinking about it since Monday after school and I really don’t see any way out of it. If I wanna help you get better, I gotta start hitting back, but I don’t want to really hurt you either. At least in this body I’m not as strong, and besides, if I’m training ya in speed it’ll help if I’m faster.”

Akane nodded slowly, allowing herself a small smile. “Ranma, I’m not made out of glass, you know; I can take a hit or two if it’s part of training. But… I do appreciate the thought. And I am glad you’re at least going to try and fight back a little; it just means you’re actually taking this seriously.”

“Thanks, Akane. Now, try and hit me once. Nothing fancy, just a straight punch.” Akane nodded, falling easily into a fighting stance. Ranma-chan settled into her preferred loose stance and took a deep breath. A second later, Akane sprang forward, thrusting her right fist at the redhead’s face as hard and fast as she could. Ranma-chan darted to the side easily, grabbed Akane’s wrist and pulled, using her own momentum to send the taller girl tumbling to the floor.

Akane staggered up. “Okay… what’d I do wrong…” she sighed, acting confused, but in her heart she already knew how Ranma had done it.

“One, you telegraphed your intended moves,” Ranma-chan replied. “The way you shifted your weight, the movement of your elbow, everything. Two, like I was trying to show you, you put too much power into it. All I did was use your own power against you with a little leverage. That’s my second lesson to you, Akane. Power is good, but speed is better. And if you have both, you can do just about anything.”

Akane took a deep breath. “So how do I start getting better speed?”

Ranma-chan gave her a wry smile. “We’ll start with a simple kata, then move on to a more complex one and finally some sparring. Just watch and learn, ‘kane. And above all, remember my first point. Don’t think. Just do.”

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The next half-hour seemed to pass at lightning speed. What Ranma had described as a simple kata turned into something more complex than Akane had been expecting; she stumbled more than once as the two of them spun and kicked their way around the room, prompting Ranma to stop and correct her stance. The third time she stumbled, Akane started to get flushed and began gripping the sides of her head, almost ready to tear her hair out. She might very well have done so if her redheaded sensei hadn’t pulled her wrists away and admonished her on not losing her cool.

“You saw what happened to my old man when he lost it earlier; he got distracted, and got turned into a pretzel ‘cause of it. It’s the same thing with you sometimes, too; it’s okay to get a little angry in a fight, but if you let it take over you start losing your focus rapidly. Hell, I’ve done that myself and paid the price, but I’ve learned from that as well. That’s lesson three, Akane. Lose your cool and you lose the fight.”

As much as Akane hated to admit it, it was the truth. She knew her temper was a problem, and could also recall other times when emotion had caused her focus to waver at a crucial moment. It wasn’t something she appreciated having pointed out to her, but she realized, with a heavy sigh, there was no getting around it. I’ve got to get myself under control, she told herself as the two of them resumed work on their speed kata. Calm… need to focus, I don’t want to be an angry tomboy the rest of my life. Least of all around him… I can do this. Don’t think, just do…

By the time they had finished the kata, both of them had worked up a good sweat and Akane was practically glowing. The moment she had calmed down, it was like a switch had tripped in her mind; everything started to come together more easily. Her movements had become more fluid and her feet felt like they were walking on air. She was also tired and a bit sore, but she didn’t care or really notice. Gods, I really am getting better! she thought to herself. I don’t know if it’s because I’m calming down or if it’s the kata… maybe Ranma’s just a good teacher and doesn’t know it… hell, maybe it’s all of the above, I don’t care. This feels great!!!

The two of them took a five minute break for water and to wipe the sweat off themselves. “How ya feeling so far, Akane?” Ranma-chan asked as she took a hefty swig from a water bottle before dumping the remaining contents over her head.

“A little tired, but other than that I feel fine,” Akane replied, wiping her forehead with a towel. “Better than fine, actually; I didn’t think I’d get a handle on that kata as fast as I did!”

“Yeah, it does get a little tricky the further ya get into it, but I had a gut feelin’ you could handle it.” The redhead gave her a wink. “Just more o’ that potential comin’ out, tomboy.”

Akane gave her a playful swat. “Thanks to you, baka.”

“Hey… you get the feeling we’re always gonna be callin’ each other those names?” Ranma-chan said with a smirk.

Akane shrugged. “I don’t know… I mean, we’ve said them so many times it’s like it’s almost a reflex, you know?” She paused, then smiled warmly. “But the way you say it now… it really doesn’t sound like an insult or a jab. I… I guess I kinda like it.”

“Yeah, I kinda thought the same thing myself,” Ranma-chan replied. She finished toweling her hair and stood back up again. “So… ready for the baka to teach you a little more?”

“If you don’t mind a tomboy student,” Akane giggled as she stood up. Just then a loud crack sounded above her head. Akane froze in place, glancing up in time to see dust drifting down from the training hall rafters. Another loud cracking noise echoed through the hall.

“Akane, get back!” Ranma-chan shouted as she grabbed the taller girl’s wrist, yanking her forward just as a large section of rafter broke loose and came crashing down on the spot where Akane had been standing. A cloud of dust billowed out from the timber, causing both girls to choke and sputter for a moment. Ranma-chan staggered backwards a few steps before another loud crack echoed through the training hall. Suddenly she dropped several inches in height and flung her arms out to either side, just as her back collided with the floor; her foot had plunged through a weak section of floorboard and had caused her to flop backwards.

“Ouch…” she groaned.

“Ranma, are you okay?”

“I will be as soon as I get my foot out of the floor, Akane,” the redhead grumbled, yanking herself out of the floor as she did so. “What’s the deal, why’d the roof give like that?”

“Or the floor?” Akane mused, looking at the hole where Ranma-chan’s foot had previously been. “That doesn’t look like it was rotting wood.”

“Maybe they didn’t get the dojo fixed as well as they should have,” Ranma-chan scowled, remembering the damage they’d endured at the botched wedding just a few days earlier. Just then several wooden practice swords fell off the wall rack on one side of the dojo.

Akane stared; the rack hadn’t broken, the swords had just lifted up and fallen to the ground. “I don’t think it’s that simple, Ranma,” she said in a darkening voice. “I’m starting to get the feeling something’s doing this on purpose.” In answer to her question, a calligraphy print on an upper wall promptly lifted off its hook and hung in the air for two seconds before rolling up and hitting the floor.

Ranma-chan stared as well, before clenching her fists in anger and standing up. “Damn it… Happosai, you old lech, is this yer work? Huh? You sore that I booted ya outta town, is that it? Come on out and face me, then! This ain’t funny!” At that moment the far doors slammed open, followed by a voice that neither teen was expecting or wanting to hear.

“Fair maidens, it doth make my heart grieve to hear of thine misfortunes, but I do rejoice to see thou art not laid so low as others dare to think!”

Both turned to face the backyard doorway very slowly, and promptly face-faulted at the sight of Kuno brandishing twin bouquets of roses and identical boxes of chocolates, with a surgical mask over his nose and mouth. “Thine illness has not escaped my attentions, my dearest ones, thus I have made haste to bring you comfort in your time of need!” He paused for a moment. “Yet, it would seem thou art not as far gone as I have been led to believe… indeed, thou art the prime examples of feminine well-being! Truly, your recovery was surely expedited by the knowledge that my comforting embrace was imminent!”

Akane glared at Kuno square in the eye as she got up. “Kuno, you really are full of it, you know? Did you forget any of my little warnings over the past week, or are you some kind of masochistic pervert?”

“Personally, I’d have to say both,” growled Ranma-chan.

“Pray, fair ones, hide not your true feelings any longer. I know that vile sorcerer Saotome has compelled thee to act against thine wishes, yet the fiend dares not approach this hall. Were he a man of honor, he would have met me at the gates, yet no sign of his presence has been made. Thou art free to act on thine true feelings; come to me, my loves!!!” Flinging his arms open wide, he lunged into the training hall.

And promptly flew into the backyard again with matching footprints on either side of his face. He whimpered in pain briefly before shaking his head and jumping to his feet again. Akane and Ranma-chan were both standing in the doorway, fists clenched.

“Take one more step towards this dojo,” Ranma-chan snarled, “and I swear you’ll be singin’ soprano for a month, jackass.”

Kuno stared. “My pig-tailed goddess, surely you mean not what you say! That villainous cur’s sorcery must be deeper rooted than once I thought!”

Akane started to snicker. “You know, Kuno… maybe you ought to be more careful who you’re calling a villainous cur,” she said. “He might be a lot closer than you think.” Turning her head slightly towards Ranma-chan, she whispered, “Wanna make him really squirm?”

A wicked grin flashed across the redhead’s face. “Bout time we clued him in anyway…” Kuno wasn’t paying any attention to their whispering.

“My dearest ones, I make to thee this vow; I shall not rest till this injustice has been corrected and thy hearts freed from…” A sudden rustle stopped him in the midst of his latest spiel. He blinked, then noticed both girls before him had gone wide-eyed. A faint cooling breeze washed over him, and the confused expression on his face grew more so. Glancing down, he realized what had happened as Akane and Ranma-chan started laughing. His hakama had fallen open, revealing a rather uniquely decorated pair of boxer shorts.

“Oh, that’s NICE, Kuno!” Akane chortled. “I never knew you liked teddy bears that much!”

“Oh gods, I wish Nabiki was here with her camera!” Ranma-chan gasped, holding her stomach as she laughed even harder. “Who would’ve… haha… thought the… hehehe… the Blue Thunder wore somethin’ like THAT?”

“Laugh if you must, there was nary another garment to be found this morn,” Kuno stammered, tying his hakama back in place rapidly as he turned beet-red. “I will have to discipline Sasuke for not finishing the laundry on time.”

“Oh, don’t bother, Kuno,” Akane giggled. “You ought to thank him for us, I never thought I’d see the day Tatewaki Kuno would be embarrassed like that! Truly priceless.”

The second she finished talking, there was a rush of air in her vicinity. Suddenly her belt and Ranma-chan’s unraveled and sprang off, followed by their gi tops flapping open. Both girls gasped and turned red; for Akane, who was wearing a sports bra, it wasn’t as bad, but Ranma-chan hadn’t worn anything under the gi and was completely exposed. Kuno blinked once, his eyes locking onto the redhead’s prodigious bosom before collapsing backwards in a fountain of nasal blood.

“What the HELL was that?” Ranma-chan snapped as she yanked her gi top closed. “Dammit, I’ll bet that old lech IS behind all this!”

“Whatever did that, I want first crack,” Akane growled dangerously as she fixed her own gi top. “I can’t believe we just wound up flashing Kuno!”

“I knew I shoulda worn a tank top under this,” Ranma-chan sighed before stomping over to Kuno’s prone form. “Okay, bokken boy, the show’s over, time for ya to get up and get the hell outta here!!!” She grabbed him by the collar and hauled him up before banging him on the top of the head with her right fist.

Kuno shook himself awake, wincing at the sudden pain. “My… my pig-tailed beauty… such a truly… bounteous beauty…”

Ranma-chan made a gagging sound and belted Kuno in the gut before dropping him to the ground. “Hey, ‘kane, wanna get in a few hits of yer own?” The taller girl quickly nodded, stomped over and the two of them proceeded to play Kick the Kuno for a solid minute. Fists and feet flew like crazy, threatening to disfigure his face and, in three instances, adding further injury to a still-sore spot between his legs. Finally, the two yanked the samurai-wannabe to his feet, bleary-eyed and in a great deal of agony.

“Now before you say goodbye, Kuno, I’d just like to emphasize a certain point,” Ranma-chan said in a low voice. “Neither one of us is very fond of your advances, in fact they make us both sick. Your attitude sucks, your language gives me headaches, and your cluelessness is a wonder to behold. So for the last time…” Ranma-chan began to glow; her voice suddenly deepened and red hair was replaced with black, causing Kuno’s eyes to widen. “LEAVE. US. ALONE!!!”

The next thing Kuno saw was a foot connecting with his jaw, rocketing him out of the Tendo estate and over the skies of Nerima.

Akane heaved a sigh. “Think maybe now he’ll finally get the message?”

“I sure as hell hope so; he saw me shift right in front of him,” said Ranma as he straightened out his gi. “Now to find that old lech.” Just then a loud crash echoed from the training hall.

“What the… what was that?” Akane asked.

“Dunno, but I didn’t like the sound of it,” Ranma replied as he broke into a run. Akane followed just a step behind.

They hadn’t taken one step into the dojo before staring in shock. A virtual hurricane was sweeping through the hall, chucking everything in its path to one side or another. Two wooden swords were jammed into the far wall with a training dummy balanced precariously on top of it. The calligraphy print that had fallen off the wall was dancing about in the middle of the dojo like a snake-charmer’s serpent. Broken bits of roof and rafter tumbled across the floor, and the shelf on which the family shrine sat was trembling ever so slightly. Both teens stared as a sudden burst of laughter struck their ears. It was gleeful, yet ever so slightly malevolent at the same time.

“What the hell is going on?” Akane cried. The whirlwind seemed to pause for a moment, then shifted directions, heading straight for the doorway. Ranma promptly threw himself into the path of the wind, bracing himself for impact. The wind hit, and the impact came… just not in the form he was expecting. There was no pain, just a sudden rustling, and suddenly he realized his pants had just hit the ground. He groaned and yanked them back up just in time to hear Akane’s yelp.

“Are ya okay?” he shouted, turning to face her- then stared, wide-eyed. The same thing that had happened to him, had happened to her. The something behind the whirlwind had dropped her pants to her ankles… revealing a rather skimpy pair of white lace panties. Ranma winced, slamming his eyes shut and turning around. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean ta… I wasn’t tryin’ to…“ Akane blushed madly and yanked her pants back up.

“We’ll talk about that later, Ranma!” she hollered. “In the meantime, what’re we gonna do about this?” she added, gesturing to the room around them; the practice swords had removed themselves from the wall and had begun using the practice dummy as a calypso drum.

“If this is the old lech’s doing, it sure as hell is more than he usually does!” Ranma replied, narrowly dodging a piece of flying timber. At that second, the house-side doors slammed open and Shingen burst in, pulling on his jacket as he did so.

“What in the name of Miyamoto Musashi is going on in here?”

Ranma glanced up. “That’s what we’re tryin’ to figure out ourselves, Shingen!”

“Everything just started going wrong,” Akane cried over the rush of air. “First the ceiling starts falling off, the floorboard gives way, next thing we know we’ve got shinai dancing around the room and something trying to yank our clothes off!”

“Thought it was the old lech, our Grandmaster, but all this junk’s movin a little to fast even for him!” Ranma added.

“This isn’t the work of human hands, my friends,” Shingen said in a dangerous tone as he tightened his gloves and straightened out his black bandanna. “Looks like we’ve got a little visitor.” He brought both hands up before his eyes, first and fourth fingers extended. “KAMI NO SHISEN!” His hands swept outward, followed by a burst of white-gold energy emanating from his eyes and washing over the rest of the dojo. The whirlwind shuddered, then dispersed as the air within seemed to unpinch itself. Akane stared; it was like seeing Ranma emerging from the Umisen-ken… or one of Toma’s minions emerge from the shadows. Standing in the middle of the dojo was a three foot tall gray creature with absurdly green eyes, six-fingered hands, odd little bat wings on its back and the most lascivious grin she had ever seen on anything, human or non-human.

“What the hell is that thing?” Ranma expectorated. Before Shingen had time to answer, the goblinoid beast launched itself into the air, cackling insanely before landing on Ranma’s shoulders, where it proceeded to slap and poke his cheeks and try to yank his pigtail off. Ranma promptly grabbed the thing off of his head and threw it against the wall. It recovered, smirked and made a beeline for Akane, lunging forward with its hand outstretched. Akane stood still for a brief second, but just before it actually latched onto her and grabbed at her breast, she dodged to one side, grabbed it by the wrist and sent it tumbling end over end through the air. The beast tried to twist around and stop its fall, but promptly got propelled in another direction, courtesy of Ranma’s foot. It skidded across the dojo floor, flipped over onto its feet, but before it could go anywhere, a gloved hand seized its wings and hauled it off the ground.

“Figured it was a matter of time before one of these came to say hi,” Shingen sneered. The creature whined pathetically, flailing its arms and trying to bite Shingen’s wrist. The tall man grimaced, then flipped the green-eyed thing into the air in front of him. “Jinrai Tekken revised, TWIN THUNDER!” Yellow-gold ki flared around both his clenched fists; an instant later, both fists smashed into the creature’s head, squeezing its skull into a bizarre balloon-like shape. The thing promptly exploded into white shards of light that quickly blew away in the wind.

Shingen straightened his jacket. “Annoying little bastards, aren’t they?”

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“What’d you say that thing was again?” Akane asked. They were sitting in the tearoom some time after the incident in the dojo. Kasumi was beginning preparations for dinner while Nodoka hung some laundry to dry. Nabiki sat at the far end of the table with a can of soda and an amused smile on her face. Gods, if only I’d been here with my camera, she thought to herself. Who would’ve thought Kuno baby wears teddy bear- print boxers?

“An imp,” Shingen replied. “The practical joker of demon kind. They just love to make life ‘interesting’ with the occasional accident or bit of misfortune, but they aren’t really overtly harmful.” He folded his arms. “Mostly what they are is annoying. Especially to Hunters; they love to irritate us and pull us away from the really dangerous demons. I’m actually surprised one hadn’t shown up earlier.”

“You mean those things follow ya around?”

“Not exactly, Ranma. They just tend to show up if a job keeps a Hunter in one area for a protracted length of time.”

“And you neglected to tell us this… why?” Nabiki asked, giving him a half-lidded glare.

Shingen sighed. “Because I’d warded the room I’m renting, Nabiki-chan. I figured since I’d be spending a good deal of prep time in that room it’d be best to keep it protected. That usually keeps an imp away for at least a little while.”

“But it showed up anyway and tore part of the training hall up,” Akane groused. “You could’ve mentioned something.”

“I’m sorry, but I’ve been kind of focused on something a lot more important than a mischief demon,” Shingen replied coolly. “I’ve been trying to get a second Purge ward ready for the better part of the day now; I was just putting the finishing touches on it when I heard the commotion outside.”

“Oh, yeah…” said Ranma. “So does that mean ya can take care of another infection now or what?”

Shingen shook his head. “No, it still needs some more time to dry. I’d say by sundown it should be ready.” Squaring his shoulders, he sat up and cracked his knuckles. “Anyway, from what I heard earlier it sounded like that imp wasn’t the only thing creating a ruckus.”

Akane groaned. “Yeah, like I said, that baka Kuno tried to pay us a house call… and I wonder just how he heard that we were out sick, anyway?” She leveled a gaze at Nabiki; Ranma did likewise.

“Oh, come on, sis, it’s not like he wouldn’t have found out anyway. Besides, I figured you two would’ve enjoyed breaking the bad news to him- not to mention the look on his face when he realized he’d been head over heels for a guy.”

“Lemme guess. He paid ya off, didn’t he?” Nabiki laughed nervously; Akane and Ranma both groaned.

“I just figured you two could use a nice sparring dummy, that’s all,” said Nabiki with a shrug.

“Dummy being the operative word,” Akane sighed. “I just hope he got the hint once and for all this time.”

The sound of a phone ringing wafted in from the front hall, followed by Kasumi picking up the receiver.

“And if he doesn’t?” Ranma asked. Akane looked up and grinned slyly.

“Then we may have to practice place kicks with ‘little Kuno’ again.” She giggled, prompting everyone at the table to start laughing. Just then Kasumi stepped into the tearoom.

“Shingen-kun? You’ve got a phone call; it’s the Neko Hanten.”

Shingen stood up. “The Amazons? Huh. Wonder why they’d be calling now. Thanks, Kasumi-san.” He turned on his heel and headed for the phone. Kasumi returned to the kitchen.

“Why would the Amazons want to talk to Shingen?” Akane mused.

“Maybe the old bat wants to trade exorcism recipes,” Nabiki quipped.

“I wouldn’t think so, Nabiki.”

“Oh? Then what do you think it could be, Ranma?” she replied.

“I’m not sure…” he said quietly. “But I do know that Cologne and he were talkin’ about collaborating on this whole Jusenkyo infection thing. If that’s the case, then they could be callin’ here about that… maybe about somethin’ going wrong.”

Akane stared. “You mean like someone going out of control?” At that moment, Shingen’s voice began to waft down the hallway.

“How long ago?… Are you sure?… I see. That bad, huh… and what steps have been taken already?”

There was a pause. Akane and Ranma glanced at each other; the look in their eyes was identical. What’s going on?

“Okay… and already heading this way?… I see… Yes, of course… I’ll do what I can. Thank you for the warning. Goodbye.” The sound of the phone hanging up, followed by rapid footsteps before Shingen re-entered the tearoom.

“What’s going on?” Akane asked. “Is Shampoo in trouble or something?”

“Yeah, what’s the deal, man?” Ranma added.

“That was Mousse on the phone just now; he wanted to relay a message from Elder Cologne,” Shingen replied.

“Yeah? So, what’d he say?” Ranma asked, almost shouting. Shingen took a breath.

“They’ve found Hibiki.”

Ranma blinked. “Huh? They actually found Ryoga?” he exclaimed, jumping up. “Where the hell was he? Is he okay?”

“Please tell me he didn’t lose control and hurt someone…” Akane murmured.

“From what Mousse told me, the Elder was using some divination magic to locate his ki. Something caused it to flare early this morning, so she tracked it down as fast as she could. Apparently he was at an estate outside of the city proper.”

“So what happened then?” Nabiki asked.

“From what I’ve been told, the Elder made her way there as fast as she could. It sounds like he’s not in the best of shape, but she did have several tribal techniques that appear to have calmed him in time; fortunately, it sounds like nobody got seriously hurt yet.”

“Well, that’s a relief, I guess…” Ranma sighed. “Hey, did I hear ya say something about heading this way? Does that mean she’s bringin’ him back here?”

“That was my understanding. Given what Mousse told me, they should be arriving any time…” An incredibly loud crash echoed from the front gates of the Tendo estate, causing the walls to shudder and everybody except for Shingen to flinch. “Now,” he finished with a sigh.

“Hello?” came a faint female voice from just outside the front door. “Is anybody there? Please, somebody come help us, Ryoga-sweetie’s in really bad shape and Granny here said you could help him!!!” The voice was followed by a low grunting sound, not unlike the snort of a certain sumo pig.

Shingen nodded to the others in the room. “Let’s go to work.”

To Be Continued…

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Author’s Note: Well, I think I managed to get this posting done in a pretty reasonable amount of time; I only hope that the quality hasn’t suffered because of it. I'd like to thank Taro MD for your support; I may or may not take you up on the suggestion to have Nodoka do something to Genma, but gods know he deserves it. (BTW to anyone curious, the use of 'gods' instead of God in the story is meant to reflect the Shinto belief of spirits or 'kami' in all things; the Greater Kami could be considered God while the lesser kami watch over smaller things. This is something I picked up reading other fanfics on this site and others.)

Thank you to all who read this, and remember that reviews are a writer’s friend! Until next time.

-Neon Ronin
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