The Dreamers'
Chapter 2, Village Folk
Author's Notes: And she's back! :) Thanks to *all* of my nice readers. Yeah! Really, though, thank you. :) Now, onto this little ficcie. Enjoy...
Disclaimers: You mean it doesn't belong to me?! *looks around at pile of fanfics* Um...right...it belongs to the great Rumiko Takahashi!
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[Is the leash really necessary?] the panda signed.
Akane grinned as she left the public toilet, pulling the panda along behind her.
"Tekken says it is."
[Tekken's an idiot]
Her eyes wide, Akane ran over and pulled the sign from Genma's hand. Immediately, it disappeared in her own.
"Do you want to get us caught?" she asked in a harsh whisper. "You're just an ordinary panda! Act like one!" Inside her mind, she could practically feel Tekken grin in satisfaction. He always grinned when Genma got yelled at.
[It's not fair] a small, wooden sign appeared in front of her face before quickly disappearing.
//Few things in life are//
The panda just glared into Akane's eyes to silently convey his own message.
Rolling her eyes, Akane pulled Genma along with her through t he busy street into the hotel.
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When the young boy left, Akane used the key to opened the door to her hotel room. She walked inside. The room was pretty small, with only one bed, small table, a closet, and a candle every night. At least it had it's own private bathroom and she didn't have to share with the other occupants of the hotel. Genma walked in a grumbled to himself as he flipped a sign.
[I call the bed]
//Animals on the floor, old man. Hotel rules// came Tekken's pleased snicker.
[Hmph! Only weaklings need a bed anyway] then seeing the girl's glare, he quickly flipped over the sign [...not to say that Ne is a weakling, of course]
Giving him a look that said 'that's better, Akane yawned and made her way toward the door to the bathroom.
"You guys are gonna have to argue later. I am going to take a bath...and then a long...long nap," in which she yawned again to emphasize her point. The blue-haired girl pushed open the door to the bathroom-
-and her ears were cut off by a shriek. She only caught a flash of red before a hand connected with her cheek. When the stars were gone, Akane's shocked eyes turned to stare into a pair of flashing, blue ones.
"Hentai!" the other with the blue eyes yelled and the dark-haired girl noticed that her blue-eyed companion was clutching a towel to herself.
"Wha-I...wha-...what?!" Akane yelled, herself now angry. Who was this girl? What right did she have to hit her? How dare she hit her and call her any names! Her anger brewing, she didn't notice her two traveling companions to come back to her; Tekken from the recesses of her mind where he was so she could bathe and Genma from the other room.
"Who are you?" the flashing, red-head asked. "And what are you doing in my room?"
"Who am I?" Akane yelled in indignation. "Who are you? And what are you doing in *my* room?"
The red-haired girl bristled a second before narrowing her large blue eyes. Akane couldn't stop staring at them. Who in the world had eyes that large and that bright?
Akane's own eyes started to wander down the girl's body before snapping back up again with an angry blush.
"Tekken!" she whispered harshly.
//Sorry// he said, not sounding sorry at all. //I'm still human, ya know//
Unfortunately, the other girl noticed Akane's wandering eyes and not understanding the true situation behind it, she jumped on her first assumption.
Pushing the blue-haired girl out of the way, she grumbled, "I got to find the manager. I can't stay in a room with this pervert."
"What? I am not a pervert!" Akane screamed as she heard both Tekken's and Genma's snickers. Her anger getting the better of her, like it always did, she saw a hammer in her mind...and in the next second it was in her hand. With a swipe, she swung the now materialized, wooden mallet towards the walking red-head...
..but the other girl turned around at the last minute and caught it.
Her eyes glimmering with a slight humor, the red-head asked, "So, you're a dreamer, huh?"
"No!" Akane yelled, her anger forcing the truth out of her.
Still holding onto Akane's mallet, the red-head's eyes shaded in confusion for a moment before lighting as though a great realization came through her. She looked Akane up and down again as though seeing her for the first time.
Feeling self conscious, Akane pulled the mallet back and it disappeared in her hands.
"What?" she asked the red-head.
After a moment's consideration, the other girl mumbled to herself, "Maybe I won't go to the manager after all..."
Having enough of this, Akane tightened her mouth and started to walk out the room.
"Well, if you won't...then I will."
The red-head's eyes widened (if it could), before she ran after Akane and pulled at her arm.
"Listen," she said, "It's just one night. Where are you traveling?"
"Why should I tell you?" the blue-haired girl said. For a moment, the red-head wondered why she didn't noticed how brown the other girl's eyes were....and how warm.
Snapping out of her stupor, she said, "My name's Ranko. I don't have anywhere to go. Can't I travel with you?"
"Why would you want to do that?" the ever-suspicious girl asked.
"Because," the red-head said, her voice quivering ever so slightly, "I don't have anywhere to go... my parents were killed by a bunch of dreamers awhile back...and...I...I really need a friend." The answer sounded so sincere...so utterly heart-breaking...Akane fell for it.
"Well...alright...come on..." Akane sighed as she headed back towards the room. She missed the victorious grin that covered Ranko's face.
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"Is he your panda?" Ranko asked from her place outside the bathroom door. She looked sigustedly at the snoring, fat panda on the floor.
"Yeah," Akane yelled over the sound of running water.
"How'd you get him?" the red-head asked.
"Um...I guess you could say I found him. His old owners were um...quite fruity in the mind...t tell you the truth. They had no business taking care of a panda when they couldn't even take care of themselves." At least it was true...in a way...
"Cool," was all Ranko said.
They continued to talk for another half hour as Akane bathed. Then, the door opened and Ranko looked up to stare at a wet Akane with only a large shirt on her. Blushing, the other girl looked down and reprimanded herself...trying to get her mind to focus on her mission...and not on how...Akane...looked.
"So, who gets the bed?" she asked flippantly, then clenched her mouth shut in instant regret. *Sheesh! You're supposed to be a girl!* she shouted to herself. It was sure getting hard to remember how to act in this body.
"I mean," Ranko quickly said, "I'm not used to sleeping in beds. I've been on the road for too long. I'm more comfortable sleeping on the floor." Akane just shrugged and went to turn off the light before going to sleep.
So, that was how Ranko ended up with a sleepless night beside a smelly, snoring panda...with thoughts of dark brown eyes haunting her till morning.
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The next morning, Akane was awoken by the sound of grunts and the breaking of wood. Groaning to herself, she walked over to the window just in time to see a flashing form beat the crap out of a wooden board. Over to her left she could hear Genma still snoring, despite the racket and in her mind, she could feel Tekken's soothing 'breaths' of sleep.
"Ranko!" she shouted down from the window and the other girl stopped to look up. "What are you doing up? The sun hasn't even come up yet."
"Oh sorry, Akane," the other said sheepishly as she scratched the back of her neck. "I'm just used to waking up really early to train, that's all."
"Train?"
"Yeah," the red-head replied brightly to the questioning tone. "I study Martial Arts."
"Really?" Akane's face had brightened up considerably. "I do too! Do you mind if I come down and train with you?" The prospect of having another person to train with was so wonderful, Akane forgot all about the fact that it was around three in the morning.
"Sure." With one last grin, Akane rushed from the window to change.
Outside in the lawn, Ranko was anticipating the match more then Akane would ever know.
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A few minutes later, Ranko turned around to see Akane standing in the yard, dressed in an old, yellow gi. The girl herself was wearing dark, silk, black pants and a large, silk, red shirt.
"Where'd you get the gi?" the red-head asked.
The blue-haired girl just nervously answered, "Um...I found it. Now, are you ready?"
Getting into a fighting stance, Ranko answered, "You know it."
The two...*ahem*...females circled each other for awhile in the dark of the night, both with grins on their faces.
"You gonna attack first or should I?" Akane asked.
"Why don't we-" but her sentence was cut off by a jab to the left side of her face.
Moving to the right just in time to duck it, Ranko laughed, "No fair. You cheated."
"There's no such thing as cheating when you fight," Akane grunted out as she threw some more fast jabs at Ranko...only to have them all miss. Angry, the brown-eyed girl threw some more fast punches and kicks at Ranko, only to have them all miss.
"How'd you get so fast?" she asked as she threw an over-head kick at the girl.
"I practice," Ranko said, grinning.
"Why won't you attack me?" Akane shouted in frustration as she started to back Ranko up against a wall.
"I don't like to hit girls," came the tart reply. Ranko was so caught up in the way Akane's eyes flashed sparks of anger that she almost missed the fist flying her way. Almost. With a flip, she missed the fist by a mere seconds.
Akane stared at where her fist was now embedded into the wooden wall as she replayed what happened? Where was Ranko? Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Ranko saw Akane turn around in shock with her mouth agape. Oh boy, she thought, now she's angry.
Slowly...Akane broke into a smile.
"Boy, am I glad I don't have to fight you seriously," Akane said, laughing, before she turned around towards the door. "Now, come on, we don't want to be here when the manager finds that dent in his wall."
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"Okay, Ranko, since you're going to be traveling with us, I think you should know some things," Akane said that morning at breakfast. The red-haired girl had to snap her attention away from the panda who was rapidly putting the hotel into bankruptcy.
"What things?"
Sighing, Akane said, "Well, for one, there's a guy in my head. His name's Tekken."
"What?"
The girl gave another sigh before explaining, "Yeah, it's true. When Tekken died or whatever, somehow he got stuck in my head. You can't hear him but Genma and I can. I'm telling you this so you won't think we're crazy when we start talking to ourselves. Second, Genma isn't an ordinary panda. He's different...you can say he's a man stuck in a panda'a body. When he talks, he does signs. Watch. Genma say something."
Ranko turned over to see a sign in her face saying [Do you want that last roll?]
She shook her head and in the next second the sign was gone...and so was her roll.
"So..." Akane asked. "What do you think?"
Ranko's blue eyes sparkled with amusement as she commented dryly, "It sure makes life more interesting, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, it does," Akane smiled.
//Now, that you told her about me, can we hurry up and move on//
"What's your rush?" Akane asked...though ti did seem more strange now that she had company to watch her talking to Tek.
//I don't know. It's just a feeling. I want to get back on the road//
Rolling her eyes, Akane dropped some money on the table and grabbing Genma, she said to Ranko, "Let's hit the road. Tekken's afraid the boogey-man might get him."
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Ranko gave a sigh of satisfaction as she lowered herself into the hot spring. It had been so very long since she allowed herself the luxury of a nice, hot bath. It was easy enough to convince Akane about her being a privacy fanatic out here in the middle of the woods. Akane had said just to call if she needed anything. Akane...with her dark brown eyes that flashed and glowed...with her long, dark black-blue hair and laughing lips...with her-
Ugh! She was doing it again! Even after the transformation took place, Ranko still ranted at himself for thinking about the blue-haired, brown-eyed paradox of a girl. He had been traveling with the group for nearly two months now and still he could not figure any of them out! Genma was obviously a fat slob...but there was something about him...an edge...an observant eye...something that just didn't settle right with Ranko. It was as though his whole demeanor was really just an act...like the Martial Arts of the Drunken Master. The appearance was not what really was.
Then, there was that guy in Akane's head, Tekken. Right away, Ranko didn't like him...not because of any real reason...just...why did he have the right to talk to Akane whenever he wanted? Why did Akane always act as if...he...he was...
Ranko shook her now male head in disgust. He was not jealous! He wasn't! Of course not! He wasn't getting attached to the blue-haired girl! No way! He was just fulfilling his duty to his people and to the T.H.R.O.W.N to see what Akane's true purpose was. Through the weeks, Ranko had noticed Akane slipping every now and then...and performing something that only a Dreamer could. The girl had feigned innocence afterwards and refused to say anything about it...but Ranko knew that Akane and the spirit in her head was hiding something from her. If only she could just-
A scream broke through her thoughts and Ranko sat up in shock. His senses had been alert as he waited for it to come again. There it was! Akane was screaming! Jumping up, Ranko picked up his pants and pulled them on quickly, forgetting to note how more fitting they seemed. His shirt forgotten, Ranko made way towards where Akane's scream had come from.
Once he made it to the campfire, he saw Genma knocked out unconscious on the floor and Akane struggling in the arms of a thin, willowy guy. The guy had a hand around Akane's neck and instead of fighting, the girl was just screaming in pain...all of her instincts and fighting skills gone. Two other tall, thin guys stood behind the first.
"Tell us where he is," the guy with his arm around Akane's neck commanded. Before Akane could answer that confusing question, Ranko...too driven by his anger to proceed with cauting...had ran head-long towards the group. He gave a hard kick at the first guy's abdomen and when the guy bent over in pain, Ranko grabbed onto Akane and pulled her from the other's grip. The pain gone and her wits back, Akane turned towards one of the guys and took enjoyment from beating him into a bloody pulp. Ranko was too busy handling the other two.
By the time they were done, the three tall guys were on the floor, unconscious.
That was when Akane noticed her rescuer.
"Akane, you okay?" her rescuer asked. Akane turned around to tell him that she had things under control until he came along, but at the sight of him...her breath caught.
There in front of her stood a boy about her age with dark, black hair tied into a pig-tail. That wasn't what made her breath leave though...it was the large, blue-gray eyes. It was the color of the sky before rain fell and a storm hit.
"Akane, you okay?" the guy asked again, his voice concerned as he walked over.
"Huh? Yeah...I'm fine...thanks," she said, blushing slightly. What was wrong with her? Why was she acting this way? Akane dimly noted that Tekken was saying something in her head.
"What?" she whispered hoarsely to Tekken.
//If you would stop drooling over him a moment, you would notice that he knows your name. Who is he?//
Berating herself for acting this way, Akane's suspicions were back up.
"How do you know my name? Who are you?" she asked.
The boy suddenly noticed his predicament. So, like a kid that still knows how to ride a bike after seven years, he reverted back to what he did whenever he encountered a suspicious female. He charmed them.
"A friend," he whispered softly.
"Oh really?" Akane said dryly, now out of her stupor. "Might I ask how this certain friend knows my name or will it be too rude of me?" He should have known the charm thing wouldn't work on Akane.
Now what? Well, when in doubt...improvise.
"Nothing gets pass you, huh?" he asked wryly and when all Akane did was put a hand on her hip he sighed.
Gesturing towards the unconscious attackers he said, "These guys are out to get me and my sister. There's probably more of them."
"That still doesn't answer my question."
"My sister's name is Ranko," he said and seeing the dawn of comprehension in Akane's eyes, he continued, "Ever since our parents died, I've had to go off. She had to travel by herself for awhile, but she still wrote to me so that I'm never far. She wrote to me about you, the panda, and Tekken. I guess I should say thanks for taking care of her."
//You're not going to believe that bunch of baloney, are you?//
Ignoring Tekken, Akane gave a small, "Oh."
"Well, I guess that makes sense. Now, what are we going to do about them?" she questioned, her eyes toward the trio of attackers.
"Just leave them here and move on," the boy suggested. "There's nothing we can do about them. They'll report back to whoever they came from and then you and Ranko will have some company. Just...if they do come again...send Ranko out to get me, okay?"
"Hey!" Akane said, indignantly, her temper starting to flare. "I can take care of myself."
The guy gave a crooked, half-grin and Akane felt something flutter inside her. Flutter? Did something just flutter? Oh no, the stress of the day was really beginning to get to her if she felt something flutter.
"I'm sure you can. I just want to make sure my sister's okay." Then, the boy turned to leave.
For some reason Akane didn't want to see him go just yet.
"Wait!" she said, latching onto his arm. "What's your name?"
"Ranma." He said...and then he was gone.
//I don't like him//
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"You may leave now," the Council dismissed the trio of fighters.
In agitation, Thebes, the Head of the Council turned to the Doctor standing against the left wall.
"Well, what do you have to say?" he asked.
Dr. Tofu looked up from his thoughts and said, his voice sincere, "I honestly do not know where he is."
"But you know why he has left and you will not tell us!" Amie shouted shrilly from her seat.
Shooting a stern look at the woman, the young doctor said calmly, "What secret is it whenever that boy leaves? He always leaves and he always comes back."
"There is something you are not telling us, Tofu," Thebes snapped.
"It is nothing of importance," Tofu snapped back. "I have had enough of this discussion. I am not to be interrogated because the boy has left. He has his own feet and he may do as he wish." With that the doctor turned to leave but Thebes words halted him at the door.
"By the way...how's your Original female doing, Tofu? Is she still healthy? I might have to pay her a visit some time."
His hand tightening on the doorknob, Tofu grinded out, "You will not dare touch a hair on her head."
"Do not tell the Council what they can and can not do, Doctor. We make the rules here, it's best that you remember it," came Thebes cool reply.
"Too bad your rules can't control one youth," Tofu countered sharply before leaving the room.
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He stared at her soft face for awhile while she slept, the sunlight dancing off her pale face. The young man's heart ached at the knowledge deep inside him. How surreal she looked...like an image or a ghost...an illusion to break one's heart and soul. One sent to destroy with it's soft touch.
Her lashes fluttered for a second before opening and her light golden eyes centering on him.
He gulped.
"Hello, Dr. Tofu," she said, her voice soft and angelic.
"You should rest, Kasumi. You shouldn't be out of bed," he said as he walked over and picked her up. She was so light...so weak...even the thick blanket around her didn't have much weight to it.
"Oh, I know," she said. "It's just I wanted to be here when you got home from the meeting. What did the Council say? Have they decided about that they are going to do?"
"No," he said as he gulped down a lump in his throat. He had reached her door and with one hand had opened it.
"Well, I hope they decide to leave Ranma be. He's such a sweet boy, Tofu," she said softly as she gave a small yawn. That sweet boy can mean the death of you Kasumi, the doctor thought but didn't say as he tucked her into the small bed.
Her eyes started to close again and with a contented look, she was asleep.
Dr. Tofu had to swallow back the tears as he looked at her. It just had to be his luck that he would fall in love with a 400 year old Original.
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