Hey guys! It's been so long huh. I've uploaded chapters 13 and 14 and pretty soon this story's going to end. I'm sorry for the wait but I appreciate your patience all this while. I hope you're not really frustrated. Anyway, go ahead and read on.
Chapter 13 The Plot Develops
His senses started coming back to him as he drifted back to consciousness. The first thing he noticed was that he felt what may be a person close to him – real close. Then he noticed the distinctive smell a person's hair would have. It was nice. Ryoga's eyes then slowly opened and he caught sight of bright red hair. Even with his eyes opened, his mind still felt foggy, heavy enough to threaten him to fall asleep again.
He inched away slightly and marveled at the girl in his arms. His hand slowly traveled down Ranma's exposed arm. Her pale skin was cool to the touch and felt smooth. He froze when her arm twitched a little. He had probably tickled her. Ryoga's hand then went back up her arm to her shoulder and then descended to rest on her ribs. He watched as his hand rose and fell accordingly to her breathing. His hand moved towards her waist and left it there for a few moments. Then it moved further down to her hip. He heard her moan softly as he moved his hand around in steady small circles.
Ryoga looked back at her face, a small smile etched on it. He stared at those lips and slowly he inched his closer. He felt her breath arousing him. His lips brushed hers when he suddenly pulled back, eyes wide open.
Quickly he jumped out of the bed. He stared warily and held his hands up in defence but all Ranma did was turn over her side and faced away from him. Ryoga's hastened breathing gradually slowed down.
'Damn, what the hell was I thinking?' he held his head, still shaken by his subconscious actions. He glanced at Ranma and stared at her back for a while.
"Man…," he said quietly, shaking his head a little. Then, he turned and walked out of the room unaware that Ranma was very well awake. She could feel her heart pounding and her face was burning. She was relieved that Ryoga didn't notice that.
'It was…so close,' Ranma thought. She stared at her hands that gripped the bed cloth. She then recalled how his hand had moved gently across her skin. It sparked a strange excitement within her. It was unlike anything she had imagined. And she hadn't wanted it to stop.
She could still feel the vague ghostly touch of his wandering hand, replaying the feeling over and over in her mind. But then slowly her grasp on that feeling started fading. Though, one brief touch they shared remained tingling. Her finger went to her lips. She barely resisted the smile resulting from remembering his lips hovering so close to hers. She toyed gently with her lips for a while before kicking away the bed sheets and rising up to the morning.
Ryoga walked into the kitchen to find Akane preparing something for them all. He was still wary whenever Akane was in the apron. Somehow things just go wrong around her. And even if she did manage to produce something, it was way off from satisfying. He could understand how everyone would try to make excuses to get her away from the kitchen or to just run away from Akane. However, he couldn't find the heart to outright tell her how it was a sickening, horrible and rather torturous experience.
'Okay, maybe that was a little exaggerated,' Ryoga thought.
But now, she was noticeably better. Thank Kasumi for that! Ryoga had helped too occasionally. Now the family had less to fear…comparatively. Their stomachs could now handle Akane's cooking. Though, it was probably due to all the torture they had endured. In the kitchen, rarely things blew up around her and she was more attentive with the things around her. She just needed to get REALLY used to the kitchen as Kasumi said. Eventually she did.
"So, what're you making?" Ryoga asked. He flinched when she jumped at his question. Luckily nothing disastrous happened...yet.
"Ryoga, you surprised me," Akane scolded, though it had a sort of playful tone. Ryoga chuckled at that. "I'm just making something simple," she answered his question. Ryoga went over to the island and pulled up a seat while Akane went back to finishing preparing breakfast. None of them said a word so the kitchen was quiet save for the hissing of the eggs and Ryoga's fingers drumming the smooth wood.
Just then, Ranma walked into the kitchen. Ryoga was first to notice her. Their eyes met and Ryoga quickly turned away, his face already reddening. Ranma smiled a little and felt her face burning a little too. At that moment, Akane turned around and noticed the two's curious expressions.
"Something happened between the you guys?" Akane asked.
"No! N-Nothing happened!" Ryoga hastily said. Akane was stunned by his sudden response. Quickly she figured that he was hiding something but left the question for later.
Just then they heard the doorbell ringing.
"Mail man?" Akane asked.
"Dunno, I'll go see," Ryoga said, immediately leaving his chair. He went to the door and opened it.
"Ukyo?"
"Hiya," she greeted.
"What are you doing here?" Ryoga asked.
"Just wanted to visit," she replied.
"Why?"
"What? Is there something wrong with that?" Ukyo asked, lowering her tone.
"Uh…no, not really," Ryoga replied awkwardly.
"Great! So…"
"Oh, yeah, come in," Ryoga said.
Shampoo watched as Ryoga closed the door. Taking that as her cue, she leaped onto the roof of Ryoga's house. She dropped and hung on to the edge of the roof and hastily moved around the house to find Ryoga's room. She then came across a window that had the curtains drawn. Curious, she tried to open the window, finding it locked. She then moved to the next window – the master bedroom window.
Shirokuro perked up and barked once before hurrying up the stairs. Everyone was surprised, especially Ukyo.
'Dammit, forgot about the dog!' Ukyo thought frantically.
Ryoga quickly went and led the others up the stairs. They followed Shirokuro all the way to the master bedroom. Shirokuro was already searching around for whatever she had sensed.
"There's nothing here girl," Ryoga said as he scanned around for anything unordinary in the room. Nothing seemed out of place but the dog disagreed and barked at her master. Ryoga knew she was warning him of something but he didn't see what. Though, he along with everyone else now felt edgy.
"Let's go back downstairs," Ryoga suggested. "C'mon girl," he called for Shirokuro. The dog whined but nonetheless followed his orders.
Shampoo waited patiently as the small group exited the room. She exhaled, realizing that she had been holding her breath and that she was flat under the small bit of roof above the window. She surprised herself - how did she get into that position so quickly? Confident that it was clear, Shampoo went back into the room. Only then did she notice that it was the master bedroom, an unlikely place to find more information on their target. Though, she looked around just to be sure. Once satisfied that nothing was there, she decided to search the next room.
'No one there,' she thought. Shampoo then crept silently to the next door which she remembered to be the room with the locked window. Slowly she inched the door open and slipped quietly into the dark room. Once the door was closed, she whirled around and her eyes impulsively set upon a crib near a bed. She went closer to it and she could see a small figure.
She stood still a few feet away, staring at the baby blankly. Dark thoughts began filling her mind. Right now she had the opportunity to possibly ruin their lives in the worst possible way. There was no need for an elaborate plan. Ending it now would be a simple act but would have a huge impact on them.
Shampoo caught herself and shook her head. She staggered backwards a little. She looked again at the baby but this time with remorse. She tore her sight away from the baby and went for the drawers. She dug under the piles of other things and found a small piece of paper that felt like those kinds used for photos. She could make out a silhouette of a person. Shampoo went over to the window and moved the curtain slightly to shed light on the photo.
To her benefit, it was a photo of Akari. She knew from Ukyo's description of the girl. She turned it over and found writings she couldn't understand. She needed to bring it back to Ukyo. Shampoo kept the photo safe and then quietly unlocked the window. She looked back at the baby when she gave out a soft moan. The light from outside was shining down on the little girl. Shampoo let go of the curtain and once more the room went dark.
She frowned at the baby and her hand trembled in anger. She reached into her clothes and pulled out a tiny blade. She was gripping it so hard that blood started to paint the metal. Then, she heard footsteps approaching the room and quickly Shampoo hid her weapon and leapt out the window.
Ryoga heard a faint thump coming from the baby's room. He went to the door and opened it slowly. Kizuna was still sleeping soundly in her tiny bed. Nothing seemed unusual with the room. As everything seemed fine, he shrugged and closed the door. He walked back down the stairs and joined the others in the living room.
"Still asleep," he simply said.
"Ok, so then who's Akari?" Ranma asked impatiently. The question had an ominous feeling to it. He glared at Ukyo for suddenly asking about Akari's whereabouts earlier. She grinned innocently and took that as a cue to escape.
"I guess I'd better be going now. Need to open the place you know," she said as she backed out of the living room and turned to the front door.
"See ya," she said and walked out. After some distance away, she sighed in relief. She just hoped that she didn't arouse any suspicions.
She could see her restaurant now. As she neared it, Shampoo came up beside Ukyo, startling her a little.
"Here, I found a photo of her," she said, handing it over to Ukyo.
"Huh, strange," Ukyo said. "Why would he have a photo of Akari? And address too," she continued after turning the photo over.
"She probably gave it to him," Shampoo offered.
"Hm…come on, let's head inside," Ukyo said as she unlocked the front door of the restaurant.
"So what's next?" Ukyo asked once inside.
"You go find Akari," Shampoo lightly ordered. Ukyo frowned in response. "Hey, you the only here that can read that." A blank expression appeared on Ukyo's face but then she smirked.
"Glad you're aware of that," she said smugly. Shampoo glared at Ukyo but didn't continue the argument.
"You do that while I try get help from the Kuno," Shampoo said.
"Them?" Ukyo responded skeptically.
"We cannot face them on our own. We need allies and they would be perfect," Shampoo explained.
"You do know how they are right?" Ukyo said, still doubting Shampoo's idea.
"You just go do what you need to do," Shampoo said with a blank expression.
"Fine," Ukyo drawled.
"How soon can you leave?" Shampoo asked, adopting her seroious tone again.
"I guess I'll leave after lunch. The sooner the better," Ukyo said. Shampoo nodded in agreement.
It was a little crowded in the kitchen with three young women preparing dinner for the whole family visiting later. Despite assurance from Kasumi, Ranma was still wary of Akane being in the kitchen. Ranma looked over at Kasumi and could make out the slight tension she tried masking. She was even trying to stay away from Akane without looking so obvious about that.
"It's so hot in here," Akane suddenly said. "I think I'll go take a bath for a while," she continued.
"Okay, sure. We'll be able to handle things here while you do that," Kasumi assured.
"Alright," Akane said before leaving her work and then walked out of the kitchen. The two girls sighed synchronously in relief once Akane was out of earshot. With the tension lifted, Ranma and Kasumi carried on at a normal and relaxed pace.
Ranma was distracted though. Questions about Akari surfaced in her mind but she tried subduing them, not wanting to meddle further into it. Strangely, she didn't want to cause any arguments between her and Ryoga on that topic. As if it would create a rift between them and she didn't want. The more she thought about this, the more worried she was about where her mind was going to.
"Ranma, something bothering you?" Kasumi asked, noticing her phased out manner.
The question startled Ranma and instinctively her mind formed a statement of denial as a response. But then Ranma paused as curiosity got the best of her.
"Kasumi, do you know who Akari is?" she asked.
"Hmm…not really," Kasumi replied. "Just that she came once and met Ryoga."
"Anything else you know about?" Ranma pressed on. Kasumi paused as she gave it a thought.
"There was something about pigs," Kasumi finally said.
"Pigs?" Ranma said.
"I don't quite remember. It's been quite a while," Kasumi said.
"She didn't come in and say that she owned P-chan did she?" Ranma said, amused.
"No," Ryoga piped in, sounding annoyed. Ranma and Kasumi, startled, looked over at Ryoga as he casually walked into the kitchen.
"I beat her pet pig and a little problem arose from that," he went on.
"Wow, I thought with you being a pig and all would give you some sense of sympathy for them," Ranma said.
"It was a sumo-pig and it was terrorizing the town," Ryoga replied.
"Oh…why didn't you say so in the first place?" Ranma said, turning to face him.
"You cut me off before I could explain," Ryoga replied as he went to the refrigerator to get a drink.
"Yeah, whatever," Ranma shrugged it off. "Anyway, what problem came up then?"
"Her grandfather said that whoever beats her pig would be a suitable person for her to marry," Ryoga answered simply. He was a little worried when he saw Ranma frown.
"So then…"
"I managed to explain and get myself out of trouble," Ryoga replied, keeping his cool.
"That's right," Kasumi added.
"Oh, okay," Ranma said, her tone more relaxed now. "So where is she now?"
"Probably back at her home," Ryoga said. "What're you making?" he asked, trying to peek at the stove.
"Ahh, back!" Akane came in. Everyone was startled by Akane's sudden entry.
'That was quick. Did she actually bathe?' Ranma thought. She could see, for a short moment, everyone had worried expressions.
"Wow, it's getting crowded in here. I'll step out and give you all some room," Ryoga said, backing out of the kitchen. Ranma and Kasumi gave him an understanding look.
"Okay," Akane said innocently. She turned back to her workplace and picked up her materials and started again.
"I know, I know," she suddenly said. "I didn't really bathe properly. Just rinsed myself and then got dried," she continued.
"And now here you are, barely two minutes," Ranma added.
"I just get really fired up when cooking sometimes," Akane said, smiling at Ranma. Though, that smile seemed sort of dangerous as if warning Ranma not to make any stupid comments. So Ranma didn't and continued on.