A Second Chance Ch. 9

At Friends or At Enemies III

Hey Everyone! Sorry about the long, long update delay. I've been really busy lately and I… Ok, Ok I admit it, I'm just lazy. Please forgive me. Oh, by the way, I'm starting college tomorrow, so hopefully my writing will improve. And as always; enjoy.

Ranma sighed as he continued walking forward, every few feet shooting a glance behind him to the right or left. What had he ever done to deserve this? He was a pretty good person wasn't he? He didn't pick on the weak or steal or purposely hurt other people. So why did it always end up like this for him? Did someone above get a laugh out of seeing him suffer?

He leaned back against a tree and tried to get some sense of where he was. The forest around him looked vaguely like some of the places he had seen in China, but he had no reason to be there. Normally he would be able to find his way but the mist that wove its way around the pines and firs of the forest at some point merged above the forest to make a thick cover of fog. This not only made navigating difficult, but it also made it cold. On top of all that he was also fairly sure that he was late for school.

Ranma couldn't even remember why he wasn't in school. Pressing his hands against his eyes hard enough to make a light show in his head, Ranma tried to remember what had happened that day.

"Let's see," he said out loud, the dead silence of the area was a bit unnerving, even for a fearless (Well, almost) martial artist. "I woke up, did some training, and took a quick bath. Then I got breakfast form Kasumi, just avoided letting Nabiki sell tickets to watch me spar, and went to school with Akane, and… Argh! How did I get here?"

Ranma realized his arms and let his chin come to rest against his chest and let his hands down. For a few moments he stared at the thick cover of needles that cushioned his resting place. Then his eyes grew huge. The absolute still of the woods was shattered as Ranma's head shot up. "No! Can it be? Have I… Did I get Ryoga's curse? Crap, how am I going to find the skating rink today?"

Ranma's monologue was cut short as a rustling noise to his right caught his attention. The pigtailed martial artist spun around just in tome to see a boar charging at him. In the blink of an eye Ranma was hanging from the low branches of the tree he had been resting on. The boar came to a skidding stop a few feet behind him and turned around. As it stared up at Ranma it seemed to have an almost human face, Ranma chuckled for a second and wondered if this was how Ryoga saw himself. The fact that he had saved the lost boy this time escaped his notice. Although Ranma was well out of reach the pig stayed at the base of the tree and grunted angrily every so often.

Now Ranma was generally pretty calm, unless Akane, or water, or cats, or insults to his honor or manliness, or, okay so maybe Ranma wasn't the calm type. But he normally would have just waited for the pig to leave him alone and moved on. However today he was in a less than patient mood. So instead of waiting he opted to drop down on the animal and knock it out.

Ranma used the momentum from his foot impacting the pig's skull to flip over and land at the base of a large pine. "Sorry, but if I'm late meeting Akane after school today I'll never hear the end of it." Ranma muttered over his shoulder as he started walking again.

Ranma swung his head around to face forward and stopped dead in his tracks. He was pretty sure if he could breathe his scream would be heard by the dead. Unfortunately his shaking and whimpering did little to divert the attention of the tiger that he was now face to face with. The animal pounced and Ranma finally managed to get out sound, barely a whisper. "I'm sorry, Aka…"

A dull thud had been the only result of the first few erasers that had impacted with Ranma's skull but the fifth one produced the desired result. Ranma's head sprang up and he looked around for a moment, blinking the sleep from his eyes.

"It's nice that you finally decided to join us, Mr. Saotome, now if you wouldn't mind," The teacher, in lieu of finishing his sentence held out two buckets.

Ranma glanced behind him to make sure Akane was there and all in one piece. After filling the buckets with water he stood in the hall, silently repeating his mantra for the moment. 'It was just a dream. Just a dream. Just a dream.' After he managed to calm down he realized something. Since he had managed to meet Akane again he hadn't had a single nightmare. The dreams in which he was powerless to wave her were gone, and Ranma wasn't the type to have bad dreams normally. Why was it starting now?

And what was up with that dream anyway? The outdoors didn't scare Ranma, so unless it was all leading up to him running into that c, ca, furry animal what was it? Ranma pondered it deeply for about ten seconds before visibly shrugging and moving on. For the next hour he applied his entire mind to a more daunting problem. Akane had asked him to come with some friends of hers to go skating, and Ranma had the feeling that the main reason for him coming was that the girls they were going with there wanted to meet him. But even so it was something to do with Akane. That made it kind of like a date.

Now Ranma wasn't a master of social matters but he was fairly sure that it was usually the guy that asked the girl out on a date. That meant that he would eventually have to ask her out. Privately that idea made Ranma giddy; and terrified. He knew he wasn't the best at, well at pretty much anything but martial arts so asking her was, for Ranma a daunting obstacle.

And it seemed like fate would provide no help to him. White day had passed a bit before he arrived and was still far off; in fact there weren't any holidays that he could use as an excuse coming up. He wasn't even really sure of Akane's birthday, though he knew it was some time in June which, again, was too far away. It looked like he would have to bite the bullet and just ask her. That brought him to his second problem; his pockets were consciously free of yen. He simply hadn't had any time to make money since he got here, and even if he did it would probably end up in Nabiki's purse.

Maybe he could (shudder) ask Nabiki for a loan. He knew he would suffer for it, but he would probably suffer anyway. And as frightening as the idea of being indebted to Nabiki was it had its perks. After all he didn't want to wait a couple weeks to raise enough money for a good date, and the only other ways of getting a quick buck were either illegal or dishonorable.

Then there was the problem of Ryoga, who still hadn't showed up. Was it possible that since he didn't get cursed Ryoga wasn't going to follow Ranma anymore? And if so how was he going to find a good training partner? Kuno seemed much saner this time around, and he used the same basic style as Gicho. On the other hand, even as sane as he was Kuno just wasn't as good as Ryoga. His rich upbringing had deprived him of the inhuman durability and strength that Ryoga had. Maybe he could ask Tofu, or spar with Akane a bit when she got better.

Ranma shook his head; all this thinking was giving him a headache. This was probably the worst part of going back in time. Ranma was used to head on confrontation, meeting an opponent and fighting and winning. All this planning was something he was unused to. That added to the constant underlying knowledge that he had to fight a man who was still a lot better than him was really wearing him down.

What if… No Ranma stopped himself. He wasn't the kind of person who worried all the time. When the time came he would be good enough. He smirked slightly, after all Ranma Saotome don't lose.

With that the bell for dismissal rang and students started pouring out of their classes. Ranma dumped out the buckets and put them away while there were still a number of students in the classroom. The last thing he needed was a lecture from his teacher. He made his way down the crowded halls to the exit and the school gate where he waited for Akane.

Scanning the crowd that surged towards the gate Ranma was soon able to pick out Akane with a few of her friends. She was talking and laughing about something and Ranma's impatient expression softened a little. He would never admit it, but that smile was one of the only two things that kept him from leaving in the past. During the times he and Akane were fighting, when everything seemed to be against him it was the prospect of never seeing that smile again, coupled with the fact that Ranma Saotome didn't run, that had kept him in Nerima.

Akane led her friends up to Ranma with a slight blush. Ranma, these are my friends, (Generic Japanese schoolgirl #1, 2, and 3). And this is Ranma."

Ranma smiled and bowed slightly. "Hi, it's nice to meetcha'" And with that the group headed off to the skating rink.

Apparently Akane had warned them not to bring up their engagement, or else they were just cautious about bringing up the subject because for the entire trip it wasn't mentioned once. Instead the girls mostly gossiped about other kids at school.

Ranma wondered if this was the way normal teens acted, talking about who dumped who and who was failing instead of how to tell if a root was edible and how to properly land after jumping off a train. Ranma had to admit it felt, good. It was nice to be able to listen to people talking about normal, everyday stuff. He would never trade his life for a normal one, but every once in a while it was alright to just be Ranma Saotome, instead of the Pigtailed Martial Artist.

Once they arrived Ranma scanned the large rink in the center as well as the booths surrounding it. He didn't see either of the cracked skaters around, and found himself letting out a breath he hadn't noticed holding. P-Chan might not be in the equation, but if there were martial artists around Ranma invariably found himself fighting them. Not that he thought that was a bad thing, but he just really didn't feel like fighting right now.

After renting a locker and swapping out of his shoes Ranma headed towards the ice. The moment before he reached it he stopped. 'Damn!'

"What's wrong Ranma?" Sayuri (Ranma had at least managed to pick up her name on the trip here) asked.

"Uh, I…"

"Hmm? You what, Ranma?" Akane asked as she walked up next to him.

If Ranma's face was calm it was because years of training had made him an expert at hiding his thoughts. 'Crap! I still don't know how to skate. What am I going to do? I would look pathetic if I just sat around, but I would look like an idiot if I went out there now."

"Hello, Ranma? What's the hold up?" one of Akane's friends asked.

It seemed Ranma had no choice. Today the enemy was the ice. He cautiously stepped out and almost immediately fell. The ground seemed to be flying by under him. Every time he got balanced he started falling in another direction.

Fortunately Ranma managed to reach the opposite side of the rink and held on to the short barrier that separated ice from cement. For a few seconds Ranma just stood there trying to catch his breath, he had faced more foes than he could count, but this ice was by far the worst.

A slight grating sound alerted Ranma that someone was coming up behind him. He turned around to find Akane and one of her friends, he thought her name was Shiori, were looking concerned at him. "Is everything alright Ranma?"

"Huh, Oh yeah, sure. Everything fine Akane."

"Then why don't you come out and skate with us. It's no fun hanging around the edge."

"Oh, um well I actually, I uh… hurt my, leg! Yeah that's it. I was training and I landed wrong this morning, and my ankle got tweaked."

"Huh, but you seemed alright on the way over here." said Shiori.

"I was uh, just ignoring it. After all what kind of a martial artist would I be if I let something like that stop me."

"But what if you really hurt your leg? Maybe you should go sit down" While her friend tried to get him to relax Ranma noticed something strange. Instead of looking concerned Akane seemed to be getting irritated at him. Maybe it would be best to give her some space. Yeah, that was sure to work.

"Alright, I think I'll go order something to eat. Do you want anything Akane?"

"No, just go sit down Ranma."

'Crap' now there was no question, Akane was mad. But why, Ranma wondered as he faked a limp along the side of the rink. After all he hadn't said anything about her; in fact he hadn't done anything to bother her. "Argh, why does this have to be so tough?" he muttered under his breath.

Suddenly something struck him. He considered this ice to be his enemy. And now he was using an excuse to get away from it. Well, maybe it wasn't that big of a deal. So what if he couldn't skate? He was just delaying the encounter. He was… He was running. Well not any more! Ranma Saotome didn't lose and he didn't run away! With that he launched him self from the edge with all his might.

Later people would describe it as one of the most amazing events they had ever witnessed. Who would have believed that a human could skate up a wall? And who could survive a fall from that high, much less land on his feet.

A few minutes later, after their orders had arrived at the table Ranma was once again listening to stories from high school. He was amazed by just how much teenage girls could eat, much less while talking. Then again the only girls he had spent a lot of time around were the Tendo sisters, Shampoo and Ukyo, none of which, he suspected could be considered normal.

However other than spending a bit more than he had planned on snacks everything was going well. Almost too well. Ranma sensed danger even before the only of Akane's friends he didn't know the name got up. "Hey Akane, why don't we go skate a bit more."

"Hmm? Oh, sure Motoko (That was it!). Hey Ranma lets go."

Sigh "Sure I'll" Before Ranma could finish his sentence Shiori intervened.

"Actually, since you hurt your leg why don't you sit this one out."

"Oh, well I think I'm fine now, so."

"She's right Ranma, you shouldn't go if you're still hurt, you could make it worse." This time it was Sayuri who interrupted him.

"It's alright Ranma I'll be back in a little bit." Akane said as she headed off to the rink. Ranma immediately felt the kind of like he did before some one jumped out and tried to kill him. When he turned back to the table he knew why.

The two remaining girls were leaning in towards Ranma with a look that sent shivers down his spine.

"So, Ranma," Sayuri began, in a voice that was too casual to be trusted, "You and Akane seem to be getting along pretty well."

"Huh? Uh, well yeah, I guess so."

"That's good; after all it just wouldn't do for her and her fiancée to be fighting all the time."

"Um, where did you, Nervous chuckle , you hear about that?"

Now Shiori leaned in. "So tell us Ranma, how do you feel about Akane?"

"What!?"

"Well? Do you love her, or do you hate her?"

"What kind of a question is"

"Forget that" Sayuri broke in, "Tell us what have you to been doing?"

"Um, I don't know what you mean."
"Come on, she's your fiancée, not to mention the good mood she's been in lately, and today especially. You've probable done already this and that with her."

"Hold on! This and that?" What,"

"Wow! You've already gone that far?"

"I don't even know what I'm being accused of!"

"Oh come on, don't expect us to buy the innocent and naive act." Sayuri said folding her arms across her chest.

"Yeah! Oh, oh, I know! Tell us what kissing feels like."

"WHAT?"

"Well, it's not like we have boyfriends, so come on, tell us."

"Yeah."

"Um, is it getting hot in here? Whew, I think I'll go get some water."

"Hey wait! Come back!"

Ranma moved much quicker than likely for an injured person to the vending machines. Now he had a real problem. It was obvious that he couldn't go back to the table, but he couldn't go out on the rink either, and it wasn't like he could just head home without Akane. 'I wonder how long I can spend in the bathroom before it becomes weird. Crap, maybe I should just tell Akane my foot hurts and head home.'

Ranma turned to the skating rink and scanned the crowd. It didn't take him long to pick Akane out. When Akane was doing something she was happy, and when she was happy she seemed to glow. Ranma shook his head; he would die of embarrassment if anyone knew he thought about things like that. But as long as no one knew…

"Geez, look at him." Sayuri said, crouching behind a potted fern.

"What's wrong sempi? I thought we wanted Ranma to like Akane."

"We did, but did you hear him back there? He may look good but it's obvious he got shortchanged in the brains department. A guy like that is no good for Akane. We have to do something."

"But, they were engaged since before they were born, is it really alright for us to do anything about it?"

"We're Akane's friends; we have to do what is in her best interests. But for now let's get out of here."

"But aren't we going to do something?"

"Yeah, but first I gotta' figure out what. And I told my mom I would be home to help with dinner, so I have to head home. Come on, let's go get Motoko."

"Aren't we going to take Akane too?"

"Nah, we can start planning our strategy on the way home."

"Say, why don't we just talk to Akane?" Shiori asked as they walked over to the rink.

After saying good bye to her friends Akane turned to Ranma. The look on her face boded ill for the pigtailed martial artist.

"Hey Ranma, Your leg isn't really hurt, is it?"

"Huh? Ah, what do you mean? It's hurt. Look."

"Oh come on. On the way over here you were fine, and a little fall like that wouldn't hurt you."

"No I, um I… Yeah, yeah alright. My leg is fine, it's just that,"

"I understand, it's fine Ranma. After all why would you want to go skating with me?"

"I just never… wait. What? It's not that, I just don't."

"I'll see you at home Ranma." Akane said over her shoulder as she walked toward the locker that held her back pack.

"Hey wait. It's not what you think, the truth is I," Ranma called out as he got up and pursued her.

"Forget it. I already said it's alright" Akane said in a tone that gave Ranma a moment for pause. But of course Ranma wasn't one to give up. Akane came to a quick stop as Ranma seemed to materialize in front of her. She never could believe just how fast he was.

"Akane, the truth is I mumble, mumble, mumble."

"You what?"

"I, Sigh I can't skate. I never learned how."

"…" Akane just stared at him. For a second he felt sure he was about to get sent into orbit. Then her face broke into a smile and she started laughing.

"Hey! I don't see anything funny here." Ranma felt a hit to his only weak spot, his warrior's pride, more commonly known as ego. He turned to go but before he took a step Akane's hand landed on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, heh, I'm sorry. It's just that, well it's kind of absurd that a someone who can jump buildings in one leap and flip around like you can can't even ice skate."

"Yeah, well it ain't like it's my fault. Pops just never taught me." Ranma said as he wondered what 'absurd' meant.

"Heh, well then I guess there's no time like the present." Akane said after she managed to quench the last of here giggles. "If you want I can show you how."

Ranma turned and once again nearly froze. He wondered how it was possible for a tomboy like Akane to look so cute. Mentally he sighed; a better question would be why it took him so long to see it. And as little as he enjoyed the prospect of humiliating himself by trying to skate he desperately wanted to spend some time alone with Akane.

"Sure, fine. If you really want to I guess I could try to learn." Akane smiled again and turned to grab her skates. Ranma wondered if it was possible to skate when your feet weren't touching the floor.

Akane sighed exasperatedly and Ranma wondered if it was possible to skate when you couldn't feel your feet. They had been at it for almost an hour and a half and all Ranma could manage was to stand and move forward. Turning and stopping were, as far as Ranma was concerned, impossible and therefore useless. Still, as much as he disliked this sport, which he was now fairly certain was invented by sadists from some god forsaken pit, the prospect of holding (or hanging on to, as it may be) Akane's hand was more than worth the suffering.

Akane, on the other hand was just getting irritated. "Why can't you get it Ranma? It's not that hard."

"Maybe for you, but I'm pretty sure all forms of cold water have it in for me. Hey by the way, your friends said you were in a better mood than usual lately."
Akane blushed slightly and turned her head away from Ranma. "Yeah, and so what? Is there a problem with me being happy?"

"No, I was just wondering why."

Akane froze. She couldn't tell Ranma the truth; his ego didn't need any more inflation. She had to figure out and excuse. For a moment she considered just belting Ranma and leaving, but that idea was discarded. "Uh, well it's that… it's that I… that I get to start training with Dr. Tofu tomorrow. I can hardly wait. Ahe he he."

"Oh, so that's why." For some reason Ranma's voice at that moment hurt. And Akane suddenly felt an absolute need to tell Ranma the truth.

"Well, that's not the only reason. Actually I was really happy that I got to," But Akane's words were interrupted as she found herself flying through the air. Any sounds she could have made were interrupted by a thunderous cracking sound and the screams of the other skaters. When the world around her stopped moving she found herself in Ranma's arms as he stood on the short wall around the ice rink.

"RANMA SAOTOME, PREPARE TO DIE!!" At first Akane thought the words were coming form the PA system of the building, but after moment she spotted a green and yellow shape standing on one of the floating chunks of ice that were the remains of the rink. It seemed to be a boy about Ranma's age with short hair covering most of a bandana. But there was something odd about him; it seemed like all the air around him was distorted, almost like the thermals rising off the road in the middle of summer. And immediately around him she was almost certain there was a glow. Akane felt the floor under her skates as Ranma put her down.

"Akane, I want you to go home."

"What!? But this guy is serious. He could"

"AKANE!" Ranma cut her off and turned to face her, the look one his face frightened her more much more than the person who had just appeared. It was the first time she had ever seen a look so sad. But what was worse was something that was almost invisible, something anyone else would have missed. Ranma was afraid. "I need you to go back home. Stay there and wait for me." Normally Akane would have argued, but Ranma's tone and his expression caught her off guard. Akane simply nodded and headed for the door.

Ranma heaved a sigh of relief as Akane made her way to the exit and out the door. Then he turned his attention to the matter at hand, and for a moment he shivered. Something had gone wrong, very, very wrong. There was no way Ryoga could be like this; hell at his best Ranma wasn't even that intimidating. Ryoga seemed to be radiating power, almost as if it was overflowing from his body. The ki that poured off him seemed polluted, and his aura was black with flecks of sickly green floating here and there. The overall image was, even to Ranma, more than a bit unnerving.

"Well Ranma, are you ready? For what you've done I'll show you seven hells!"

"Ryoga what's wrong? Why are you" Ranma didn't get to finish as he had to launch himself back to avoid being made into a piece of graphic modern art. The wall he had been on half an instant earlier was now powder and Ryoga's fist didn't even slow down as it impacted the floor. Suddenly there was an explosion of concrete shared and Ranma found himself blocking and dodging desperately. "What? Who taught you the Breaking Point Ryoga?"

"Oh, so you know about my new technique? What a shame, let's try this one instead." And with that Ryoga launched himself forward. Ranma managed to move out of his range, but the arrogant expression he normally wore while fighting Ryoga was gone. It seemed that all the time he had been absent Ryoga had spent training; he was much faster than Ranma remembered him being at this stage. That and the fact that he already had one of his signature moves bothered Ranma. It wasn't like Ryoga to try speed training on his own, and the only ones who knew breaking point were the amazons. Had Cologne rescued him and sent him to bring back Shampoo's groom? No, there was no way the amazons would allow a man to do that for them.

Ranma didn't have much time for contemplation as Ryoga was headed for him again. A quick blur to his right was all the warning Ranma had of Ryoga's attack. He threw his arms up and jumped back. Pain ripped through his arm. He landed and saw four thin slices in his arm that were starting to turn the sleeve around them crimson. Ranma chuckled slightly to himself.

"Well, it looks like I'll have to get serious." Ryoga just responded with an arrogant grin.

Somewhere across town Akane was running franticly towards the Tendo dojo.