Ryoga stared at Ranma for only a few, agonizingly long, moments, neither he nor Ranma dared to moved, Ryoga harboured no delusions that he could defeat a vampire, even during the day he knew he wouldn't be able to defeat Ranma if they fought, he knew vampires were once the top of the food chain so to speak, they were stronger, faster and more powerful than most if not all supernatural beings and no matter how much a human trained they would never be able to defeat a vampire in a fair fight, then again humans never fought fair.
Ryoga remembered a few things about the war, he had been extremely young when it ended but he knew how it worked, he lost his parents because of the war and he knew how the war ended, how humans won, attacking during the day, using holy objects and symbols to weaken vampires, using alloys created to drain vampires of their powers as well as killing them, slowly and painfully.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Make your move already" Ranma snapped, Ryoga flinched, taking a step back before letting out a tired sigh.
"Ranma…I have no qualms with vampires and neither did my parents…besides you're the last of your kind and I'm not a killer…and I…wouldn't be able to live with myself if I caused the extinction of another species" Ryoga replied, Ranma raised an eyebrow at hearing this.
"Really?...From what I've seen all humans seem thrilled my kind no longer walks the night and had no problem with slaying my mother and attempting to slay me…so tell me…what makes you different?" Ranma asked, focusing on his hearting to tune in on Ryoga's heartbeat, knowing that in this situation where for all Ryoga new his life was in danger if he lied his pulse would quicken.
"Not all humans are like that…were like that…my…parents during the war they…helped some vampires, the vampires were weak…injured so they took them in and treated them, a mother and her baby girl…neighbours found out…spread the word…I was only three when it happened, my first memory, that day scarred me…people came, I was restrained, deemed too young to be involved in what happened, innocent, all I could do was watch,
"the mother and the baby were slain in front of me, turned to dust and then my parents…all I could do was watch before been dragged away and dumped into a family that despised vampires…they raised me to kill vampires on sight as well as other supernatural beings…trained me until my body could take incredible amounts of damage without so much as a scratch, my strength is unrivalled among humans, except when it comes to Akane,
"But still at the end of all this…I don't care what they taught me, I believe what my true parents believed, we're all the same and deserve to be treated as equals…I'm not prejudice towards other races" Ryoga explained.
"So since your parents wanted to help vampires and by helping them were murdered and you were made orphan and now you find the last vampire and you…don't want me dead like the rest of the world" Ranma stated his tone near sarcasm.
"Yeah that's about right, people like that made me an orphan, no way in hell am I going to be like that, ever" Ryoga responded.
"Maybe humanity does have a chance after all" Ranma murmured before sitting atop his bed, glancing back at Shampoo, reaching up and lightly scratching her behind her ears, the Neko purred in response, her tail sliding up and down the bed sheet, not once waking up.
"How have you survived for this long without anyone finding out there was still a one vampire left?" Ryoga asked in a near amazed tone.
"Keeping a low profile, keep moving, never staying in one place for too long and never feeding on humans unless I have to and if I do I make sure no one finds out" Ranma replied "Now if you don't mind I'm tired and need to sleep" he stated before slipping back into bed and closing his eyes, not letting his guard down, he picked nothing up when Ryoga answered his questions meaning either he was telling the truth or a very good liar but he couldn't risk drawing attention to himself by having a student vanish so he'd just have to watch his back for a while.
That Night…
Akane was currently searching for Ranma, deciding she'd pluck up the courage and ask Ranma to the festival and hope that he didn't go ballistic at been asked to attend something that celebrated genocide.
She had attempted to talk to him once their lesson finished only to lose him fairly quickly, she already searched most of the campus and was currently entering the woodland area once again.
'Who knows maybe I'll run into Ranko again and she'll know where I can find him' Akane mused as she headed deeper into the small woodland, it wasn't long before she saw Ranma, a small smile growing on her face, she was about to approach him only to see someone was with him, a girl, she ducked behind a tree, peeking out.
The girl was a little taller than average height and wasn't exactly lacking in the chest department, her hair purple, unusual, even in Japan but that wasn't what caught Akane's attention, it was the fact the girl had fur, cat ears and a tail.
'A Neko?' Akane gasped within her mind, Ranma was currently leant against one of the trees with the Neko stood opposite him, within a clearing, Akane began to weave round the trees to get closer to them while staying out of sigh, edging round the clearing.
Ranma currently wasn't aware of Akane and neither was Shampoo, the two were in deep conversation, in mandarin of course, much to Akane's dismay.
[I'm telling you Xian…mom's contacting me here] Ranma stated.
[But that's impossible and you know it, by coming here all you would be able to get at best is flashbacks of her life…not contact her spirit…unless…] Shampoo drifted off.
[Unless what?] Ranma asked as he raised an eyebrow.
[I'll have to speak with great grandmother first Ranma, she may know more] Shampoo replied, Ranma nodded, gaze narrowed slightly.
[Yeah that old ghoul knows more than either of us when it comes to the past] Ranma agreed, knowing his mother had given him what she could but there was still a lot he didn't know.
[So what did she say?] Shampoo asked.
[Among other things, I am not alone, that there's another vampire, one more in all the world] Ranma replied, Shampoo froze, she'd never even considered that there could have been other survivors like Ranma, the wind changed and the duo got a strong whiff of Akane's scent.
[We're not alone] Shampoo stated.
[Yeah and I know that scent] Ranma responded, turning to face the direction the scent was coming from.
"Come on out Akane" Ranma called, switching back to Japanese, Akane swallowed nervously, eyes widening in surprise that Ranma had realised she was there when she was so careful.
"How did you know I was there?" Akane asked as she stepped out of her hiding place and into the clearing.
"Never underestimate me Akane" Ranma responded as he grew a sly yet cocky smirk.
"Ranma who she?" Shampoo asked as she switched to her very poor Japanese.
"Ah, that's right you haven't met, Akane this is my old friend Shampoo, Shampoo my classmate and sparring partner Akane Tendo" Ranma introduced.
"Tendo?" Shampoo gasped, eyes widening as she stumbled back a step, Akane blushed and averted her gaze.
'I guess she's heard of my family name' Akane sighed within her mind, beginning to hate the fact that she came from a family of famous slayers.
"Don't worry Shampoo she isn't like them, well not that I've seen" Ranma replied, Akane outstretched her hand, hoping the Neko would trust her, Shampoo glanced at Ranma who gave her a slight nod, she timidly reached out and clasped hold of Akane's hand, shaking it.
Akane grew a small smile when she felt the Neko take her hand and shake it.
"So…how did you…two meet?" Akane asked.
"We met when I travelled to China, found myself in the mountains and met her tribe, Shampoo here is a Chinese amazon" Ranma explained, keeping it brief, giving her just enough so that Akane didn't start diving into questions Shampoo would be uncomfortable with.
"Oh…an amazon?" Akane questioned, not been too familiar with the concept of modern day Neko amazons.
"Yeah, but please don't ask too many questions, it will take a while before Shampoo will reveal certain things, especially when it comes to her village" Ranma responded.
"Oh, ok" Akane replied, averting her gaze.
"Yeah, so Akane what brings you here?" Ranma asked.
"Well…you actually…you see…Ranma I was wondering…you know the festival is only six days away…I know you're not too fond of the reasons for it…but I was wondering if you would mind going with me, just for fun, to have a good time" Akane stammered, Ranma was stunned, Akane was asking him to attend a festival, that celebrated the death of his mother and his apparent death, yet he wasn't furious.
'Why? I should be resisting the urge to tear into her throat for even suggesting I go to the festival…yet I actually…want to say yes…why?' Ranma asked himself.
Shampoo took a couple steps back, terrified how Ranma would react to such a question, she had seen him when one of the musk had tried to kidnap one of the warriors of her village, one he didn't even know, he tore the guy apart, literally and she had no idea what he would do when someone was asking him to go to the festival celebrating his mother's death.
"I'm sorry…I know you don't believe in…celebrating such things" Akane said, her voice filling with emotion despite her efforts to control them, she turned to run only to have her wrist encased in Ranma's fist, she glanced at the hand before her gaze nervously followed up his arm to Ranma's face, his expression serious.
"I've never, ever even considered going to that festival…but…this time…I'll make an exception…I would love to go with you…as long as certain things don't come up while we're there" Ranma replied, surprising himself, a large smile grew on Akane's face, she was positively beaming.
"Okay, so when should we meet up?" Akane asked.
"I'll pick you up just after sunset" Ranma responded.
"Oh great…here I'll write down my dorm number for you" Akane replied, her face enveloped in a bright blush as she quickly pulled a small piece of scrap paper and noted down her dorm room number, Ranma returned her smile as he took the paper.
"So I guess I'll see you then, oh and nice meeting you Shampoo" Akane said before heading off, her cheeks burning, her heart pounding, unable to believe she'd just done that and actually succeeded.
[Why are you going to that festival…I would of thought you'd kill her for even suggesting it?] Shampoo asked in a confused tone.
[I know and anyone else I probably would have but something about her…she seems to disarm me in some way…I don't know how she does it…either way I intend to find out] Ranma responded, while hoping he could control himself at the festival, especially if he ended up seeing her father, after all, her father Soun Tendo was the one who had slain his mother and had tried to do the same to him.
A/N Hope you all liked the chapter, sorry it took so long, plz review and as always I am open to suggestions.