Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
Trouble with a Capital `A'

Chapter 5





Bright and early the next morning, at the Tendo household, the
day began as normal. Ranma had his strength back and was feeling great.
Akane had Ranma back and was feeling even better.

Well, that and they were leaving on their training trip today
was another reason she was excited. They had packed the day before, so
they could head out after breakfast. Ranma had said that the place they
were going to was pretty far away, but was perfect for all the stuff he
wanted to train her in.

Akane was in her room, packing a few last essentials when
Nabiki entered. She went to her little sister's bed and sat down,
watching Akane move around her room. Avert enduring her sister's probing
gaze for several minutes, Akane couldn't take it any longer.

"What is it, Nabiki?" Akane asked with a bit more anger than she
wanted.

"I'm trying to decide how long it'll take."

Akane did a double take. "What do you mean?"

Nabiki smirked. "I mean, which night do you think you'll seduce
him?"

Akane's face would now make an excellent match with onna-
Ranma's hair. "NANI!?"

"Oh come on, sis. You and him, all alone, cuddling in the same
tent. That boy is way too honorable to do anything on his own, so if
anything happens, you'll have to initiate it."

Akane scowled. "Yeah, IF. We're going to train, Nabiki and
we'll have seperate tents! With all the crazy things that happen around
here, we need to be better prepared to handle it, me especially." She
added that last part reluctantly.

Nabiki watched as Akane turned away partially to glance out the
window, her attention now somewhere else as she continued in a softer
voice. "It was my fault that I nearly died at Jusendo. If I was a better
martial artist, I could've avoided that. If I could've beat Kima, then
she wouldn't have been able to use my form to trick Ranma." She sighed,
her eyes returning to the present. "Just because some of our problems
are gone, doesn't mean new ones won't show up. Plus," she smiled, "we
could use the vacation."

Nabiki stood up and looked at her sister appraisingly. "I'm
impressed sis, you have grown up. But just in case," she walked over to
Akane's pack and produced a small box. Akane's eyes widened in shock as
she realized what they were. She watched Nabiki place the small box of
condoms in one of her pack's pouches.

"Just in case," she repeated, smiling, then winked and left.

Akane went to remove them, but stopped and shrugged instead.
She shouldered her pack, walked downstairs, and took note of her family
waiting for her. She took turns hugging them all.

"Take care Akane-chan," Kasumi said, then whispered in her ear.
"And I've started on that special project for you." Akane replied her
thanks and moved on.

She tried to hug Nabiki, but was stopped. "Not in public, sis.
I have a reputation to keep." Akane ignored her and wrapped her in a big
bear hug over the older sister's protests.

"And don't think of charging me for that, `cause I'll pay you
back in the dojo," Akane threatened. Nabiki closed her mouth, then
giggled.

"My little girl is going out into the world, alone," Soun
wailed, but nowhere near the crying he used to do.

"Daddy! I won't be alone. Ranma will be with me and I can take
care of myself!" She pried herself from her father's iron grip.

"Have a good time, my future daughter-in-law," Nodoka said,
embracing Akane. She also whispered in her ear, "And I'm trusting you to
make sure my son acts manly."

Akane blushed, then whispered back in the affirmative. When she
got to Genma, he stuck out his hand. Apparently, he'd rather have a
handshake than a hug. Akane felt the same way and took his hand. Before
he could say anything, she twisted and flipped him into the pond with a
move that would make a judo master proud.

The family got a laugh out of that and Akane stepped up to
Ranma. "Ready to go?"

Ranma noticed something for the first time. Yesterday he was
too concerned about other matters, but today he realized something:
Akane was dressing different. Yesterday she was wearing one of his blue
Chinese shirts and today it was one of his red ones. As they left the
house and began hopping rooftops, he asked her about it.

She smiled. "Remember what you said awhile ago when I asked why
you wore this stuff? You said it was because you wear what's comfortable
when you have to fight, and you have to fight almost all the time. So I
decided to see for myself. Most of the time I'm wearing some type of
dress when fighting breaks out, so I've decided to start wearing casual
outfits I can fight in if needed. Plus, wearing your clothes might help
me understand you better."

"Well, don't expect me to understand you. Ain't no way I'm gonna
wear your clothes."

Akane giggled at the image of Ranma in one of her dresses. "But
you'd look so cute in them, Ranma-chan!"

He frowned. "That's not what I meant. They wouldn't fit me
since they'd be too tight in the chest and too loose around the
waist..."

Akane growled. "Ranma!"

He laughed at her as she chased him across the roofs of Nerima.
She wasn't really angry at him. Well, okay a little. But she had learned
that he would still say stupid stuff from time to time and she should
just deal with it. Of course, `dealing with it' usually meant some type
of punishment.

By the time they arrived at the train station, she was out of
breath however, and couldn't do much. She looked up to see him grinning
at her.

"No bad, you almost caught me," he said. "Not bad for your first
day of training."

"First day? I thought we were going to start tomorrow?"

He shook his head. "You're playing my game now, and your
training started this morning. From now on, you do as I say." She
groaned and he moved closer. "By the way, I really meant that you'd
never get me to wear your dresses, since you look cuter in them than I
would."

"Baka. You said that just to motivate me."

He nodded and grinned. "Yep. One of your main problems is you
get mad too easily. During a serious fight, an opponent can use that
against ya. Why do ya think I taunt Ryoga? Once he gets mad, he starts
ta get sloppy." He looked up as the boarding call was annouced. "Time to
get on the train. Let's go."





Three stops and 60 minutes saw them deposited at their drop-off
point. Ranma told her, from here on out it was a vigorous climb and she
could turn back if she wanted out. She stuck her tongue out at him and
began the climb ahead of him.

Five hours later, she was struggling to keep up with Ranma who,
seemingly was still in perfect form while she was getting tired and her
feet her starting to hurt. Thankfully, Ranma called a break and they
broke out the lunch Kasumi had packed for them. Akane was surprised when
Ranma removed her shoes and began to massage her feet.

"Mmmmmm, that feels so good," she moaned in pleasure. "Where did
you learn to do that?"

He shrugged. "Picked it up at one of the many dojo's we went
around to, don't remember which one. It helped quite a lot with all the
travelin' me and pop did." He finished up by pressing a few points on
her heels. "And that I learned from Tofu-sensei."

Akane put her hiking shoes back on and stood. She was surprised
at how good her feet felt. They still hurt a bit, but the pain was
anulled for the most part. Ranma began to move off and Akane ran to
catch up with him.






Sometime in the afternoon, Ranma annouced they had arrived.
Akane moved beside him, plopped herself down on a fallen log, and took a
look around.

It was a small clearing in the forest. The sound of running
water could be heard nearby, and a rocky cliff face could be seen in the
distance. Birds could be heard singing, and the whole place gave an
impression of... serenity.

"It's beautiful," she said.

He nodded and removed his pack. "I discovered this place
shortly before me and pop left for China. We actually camped somewhere
farther off, but I came here to meditate and practice by myself. I never
told him about it, since pop never did go for meditatin'. He always
thought the Art was something physical. Lately, I've seen that it's more
than that."

Ever since she had let down her guard and let herself love him,
she was surprised more and more with what made up Ranma. His admission
of how nice it was to have a home, the foot massaging thing, and now
this. Who knew Ranma meditated?

"Well, let's get camp set up," he said while dropping his pack
and removing the tent.

Akane put her pack down. "You set up camp, I'm going to take a
bath. You may be fine, but I feel dirty and sweaty."

He laughed. "Consider yourself lucky, me and pop used to go for
weeks without bathing. Here, you've got a waterful fed stream and a hot
spring."

"There's a hot spring near here?"

He nodded and pointed. "Straight through those trees if I
remember correctly." Akane gathered up some supplies and began to walk
toward the waterfall. "Scream if you need help."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "And no peeking!" she called
as she disappeared into the forest.

Ranma laughed to himself and finished setting up his tent. He
looked at Akane's pack and decided to set hers up, too.

As he searched her backpack, he realized she didn't have a
tent. [Our fathers must've removed it somehow. They figure that we'll
share and tent and do... that. Ha! As if I'd do anything like that with
that sexless tom...] He stopped himself. [Well, I can't exactly say that
anymore. She is cute and... sexy?] He stopped and thought about it.
[Yeah, she is. But nothing like that'll happen. Heck, I don't even know
if I want it happen. Or maybe I do. If Akane hadn't gotten there in
time, Kodachi would've...]

He shuddered at the thought. [I'll think about this later.
Right now, I need to catch dinner.]






When Akane returned from soaking in the hot springs, she found
Ranma cooking something over a fire. She frowned when she saw that only
his tent was up. [Darn, I thought he'd set up mine, too. Oh well,
probably part of the training.]

"What are you cooking?" she asked, going through her pack.

"Rabbit." He frowned when he saw her go through her pack. "Our
dad's must've removed your tent."

Akane scowled. "You're right. Oh well, at least your tent is
big enough for both of us." [I guess it won't be so bad.] She glanced
over at him to see him studying the meal. She sighed.

They ate the meal in silence and turned in. Despite being
nervous at their closeness, they eventually went to sleep in their own
sleeping bags.






"Akane, you're falling behind!" onna-Ranma taunted.

Akane only gritted her teeth and tried to keep up with the
bounding redhead. They were both wearing heavy mesh weights strapped on
their legs, arms, and body, yet Ranma was moving from the ground to the
tree tops and back again as if they weren't there.

"I'll get you, Ranma!" she shouted back and increased her speed.
After a couple more minutes, Ranma suddenly turned on her and attacked.
"What are you doing!?"

Onna-Ranma said nothing as she struck out with various kicks
and punches. Akane could tell they weren't at full speed or strength,
but still were moving very fast, though the actual contacts were little
more than light taps. She could just barely block or dodge one, when the
next one came flying at her.

"Come on, Akane, attack back!" Ranma scolded. "If ya stay on the
defensive, you let your enemy attack with a major offensive. Sooner or
later, you're gonna lose."

Akane growled. [He's right. But how do I attack when I can
barely defend myself? I'll have to take some hits to break his rhythm.]

She timed her attack. Letting a punch slip through and strike
her shoulder, then lanced out with her counterpunch. He dodged, but that
was okay since it was only a feint. The real attack, a side-kick, did
connect, albeit with less force than she would've wanted.

The match continued a bit more evenly for a few more minutes
after that, when Ranma called a halt. Akane saw the look on him that
told her he was going over something in his mind. She waited a few
minutes until he was ready to talk.

"Akane," he began. "I've been thinkin' `bout some things. You
know I don't like to hurt you, but if I`m really gonna be your sensei,
then I have ta do some things that will hurt you a lot. It's the only
way you'll advance in the Art as much as me. This ain't gonna to be the
kind of light trainin' you did with your father. If we take this hard
path, you'll advance faster than if I just trained ya lightly this week.
So you have to decide if you wanna go ahead and take the pain."

Akane stood there for a few seconds. Inwardly, she did want to
be as good as Ranma, but she had heard of all the things Ranma and his
father had done on their training trips and wondered if she was up to
it. In short, was she willing to what it took to perfect her skills? She
smiled, knowing what the answer was.

"Yes, I want to go for it. Not only because I'm an heir to the
Musabetsu Kakuto, but for me. Martial arts are as much a part of my life
as they are for you."

Onna-Ranma nodded slowly. "Okay, then I will fight you all out.
It ain't gonna be fun and it ain't gonna be pretty, but it'll toughen
your endurance and tighten your defense. Also, from now on you wear
those weights. You'll sleep with them, eat with them, and take a bath
with them. You can remove them at the end of the week, or when we decide
to head back." Akane gulped. "For now, you chase me again and be waitin'
for an attack from any angle." The redhead leaped up into the trees
without waiting for a reply.

Akane groaned and took off after him.





Sometime later, a tired and bruised Akane made her way back to
the campsite. Onna-Ranma was already there, going through a kata.

Several times during their chase, Ramnahad seemingly
disappeared and attacked her. Near the end of the session, Akane was
starting to sense her fiance's motions and could almost tell from what
side her next attack would come from. Then the redhead told her to meet
her at camp and disappeared again.

A half-an-hour later, Akane managed to find the site.

"Feeling tired?" Ranma asked as the raven-haired girl plopped
down on the ground and nodded in reply. "Well, this next exercise won't
require you to move much, so you have some time to recover. Now sit up
and close your eyes. Take a few minutes to listen to the world around
you. Extend your ki."

She did so. She heard the running water, the birds singing, the
wind in the trees. She felt the warmth of the sun on her skin. She
sensed movement and instinctively brought her hand up. When she opened
her eyes, she was holding Ranma's fist, which was a punch aimed for her
face.

She blinked, several times, startled at what she had just done.

"Not bad," Ranma commended. "But I was going slow. Now, close
your eyes and do it again. I'm going to move around and I want you to
follow my movements based on the sounds and senses you feel."

For rest of the day, Ranma continued to drill her student in
the use of her aura and ki to feel out her surroundings. She would move
around as silently as possible and Akane would move to him with her eyes
closed. Eventually, Ranma would intermittently spring attacks on her and
she would dodge or block, again with her eyes closed.

She was successful about half the time.

When night fell, she endured another sparring session in the
darkness. Or rather, it was a beating session. Ranma seemed to come at
her from all angles and it was all she could do to fend him off. Once
she calmed down some and extended her senses, she was able to partially
detect her sensei's aura with her own. Dodging became a whole lot
easier.

They turned in some time later with Akane hitting her sleeping
bag and falling asleep almost immediately due to exhaustion. Ranma
stayed awake for awhile watching her before he too let sleep claim him.






Elsewhere, another couple was training.

"Bakusai Tenketsu Ha!"

Ryoga hit the ground with a finger and watched in satisfaction
as the ground exploded. A split second afterward, another patch of
ground exploded, then another, and another. He frowned.

"Cool!" Akari exclaimed from the sidelines. Then she noticed his
frown. "What's wrong?"

"It didn't turn out so well," Ryoga said. "I'm tryin' to start a
line of explosions but I have trouble getting them to go where I want
them to. The line of ki I send out through the ground goes off course."

Akari cocked her head, not really understanding. "You'll get it
eventually."

Ryoga sighed. "You don't understand, I need to develop some
more moves to compensate for the lack of my Shishi Houkodan."

She frowned. "That's your depression thingy, right?"

"Yeah. But since I've been staying with you, I'm not as
depressed as I used to be, so it's not as strong as before."

Akari thought for a second. "You said Ranma modified it by
using a different emotion. Why can't you do the same thing?"

"That was my thought, but I don't know what emotion to use. I
haven't really had any emotion become strong enough that I could rely
on."

She jumped down from Katsunishki's back and walked over to him.
"You'll find one, I'm sure of it!" She wrapped her arms around him and
kissed him.

Ryoga was stunned for a second, then slowly tried to return the
kiss. Normally he would've passed out, but Akari had given him an old
Unyru family remedy that seemed to calm him some. He was still nervous,
but she was understanding and didn't pressure him with more than he was
comfortable with. She broke off the kiss.

"So, you ready to do some more exercises?" Ryoga asked.

Akari nodded vigorously. Ryoga was surprised at how well she
could defend herself. Of course, she was the one who trained
Katsunishki, so he shouldn't have been too surprised. She knew a bunch
of holds and throws and ways to toss her opponent off balance, but she
wasn't very fast. She was stronger than a normal girl her age, but not
as strong as Akane or Shampoo.

For her part, Akari thought it was great. The more she learned,
the more she could teach her sumo pigs and the better they'd do.

Ryoga was still thinking about what emotion he could use as
they headed back to the farm that evening. As he rode atop the giant
sumo pig his arms crept nervously around the girl in front of him. The
girl who, byond his ability to comprehend, loved him.

While most of his emotions were in flux, he was able to
identify one particular feeling that had long been absent from his life.

He was actually starting to feel happy.






"This better be good, Kuno-baby," Nabiki huffed.

"Indeed, I think you shall find it worth your while, Nabiki-
kun," Kuno replied, throwing another board out of the way.

They were in the remains of the Kuno mansion, and Tatewaki was
currently digging in a certain spot, trying to find the entrance to the
basement. Whatever was too big to move, was sliced up via Kuno's bokken.

Nabiki wouldn't admit it, but she was very curious about what
secrets this basement of his held. She also wanted to know what was with
the sword tricks he pulled on that night with they fought Galfgar. So
far, he had been tight lipped about it, but Nabiki would lay odds Kuno
didn't have much of a clue either.

So, here they were. Hoping to find the answers in this basement
room if the ruined Kuno mansion.

Kuno stopped. "I believe the term is, `paydirt'."

Nabiki hopped down off the rock she had been sitting on and
walked over to him. Looking down, she saw a small stone staircase that
spiraled downward into darkness. Without another word, Kuno brought out
a flashlight and started down with Nabiki hesitantly going following.

By the time they had reached the bottom, Nabiki estimated they
were five stories underground. The air had turned into something quite
unpleasant, and was laden with moisture. Despite that, Nabiki felt her
mouth go dry. Kuno flashed the light down the stone hallway, revealing
many a musty cobweb and cracked stone blocks.

"Something tells me nobody's been down here in awhile," Nabiki
half-joked.

Tatewaki nodded. "This area wasn't very important to a family
without it's right mind." He gestured down the hallway. "Well, shall we
continue on?"

Nabiki replied in the affirmative and they continued on,
eventually reaching a small steel door at the end of the hallway. Kuno
handed the flashlight to Nabiki and turned his attention to the door.
Finding the handle, he grabbed ahold and pulled. It didn't budge.

The kendoist frowned and Nabiki smirked. He placed both hands
on the handle and pulled again. Their was a small creaking sound, but
the door remained closed.

"Don't strain yourself," Nabiki joked.

Tatewaki merely grunted, took a deep breath, and tried again.
Putting all his strength into it and bracing a foot against the door
jam, he yanked hard and was rewarded when the door whined as it slowly
opened. He stopped when it became wide enough for a single person to
pass through.

"After you, milady," he intoned.

Nabiki hesitated for a second. She wasn't scared, no of course
she wasn't. But still... "That's okay, Kuno-baby," she replied, handing
him the flashlight "It's your house."

The barest hint of a smile graced his face. "Very well."

He stepped into the room beyond with some trepidation, but
quashed any hesitations as unbecoming a samurai, even a dishonored one.
Shining the flashlight around revealed a couple of dusty bookcases and a
pair of equally dusty tables between them. Obviously, this room had not
seen human life in many decades, perhaps a century or more.

"Whoa, talk about your family secrets," Nabiki whispered from
behind. She walked over to a shelf and apparently selected a book at
random. Pulling the large tome off the shelf, she set it on the table
and opened it up, flipping through the pages. "Judging by the content in
this one, there's a virtual treasure trove of information here. It's
gonna take quite awhile to sift through it all. I suggest we get a few
others to help."

Kuno walked up behind her to glance at the book. "I do not
think that's such a good idea. These are Kuno family secrets and..."

Nabiki cut him off. "Oh stuff it, Kuno-baby. I'd say the fact
that a demon was being kept in your house gives justifiable cause for
others to know what's going on here. Forewarned is forearmed and I'd
wager there's important info in here that needs to be known." She looked
up at him to see his frowning face. "Don't worry, the only ones who will
look through this will be ones who can keep secrets, I'll make sure of
that."

He sighed and conceded the point. "Very well, but I suggest we
move these books out before the mansion is rebuilt."

"Of course," she replied while closing the book and selecting
two more. "Come on, you can carry these for me." She took the flashlight
and Kuno grumbled as he picked up the three books. As she followed him
out, she noticed for the first time he was carrying his katana strapped
to his side. "Say, is that the same katana you used against Galfgar?"

"Indeed."

Intrigued, she decided to probe for more info. "So what's the
story behind that and the lightning show you put on?"

Tatewaki was silent for a few moments, as if debating what to
tell her. In the end, he decided he might as well be truthful since he
needed her help. "It's name is Raijin, and it's the Kuno family blade.
Legend says it was forged eons ago to be the Kuno family guardian and
only one of the Kuno family can wield it." He looked down. "I did not
know what it's powers were until that night. I do not know how I knew to
do those miraculous feats, nor how to repeat them; the sword has
remained silent since that night."

Nabiki tapped her chin with her finger. "Interesting. Well,
maybe one of the books has the info..."





Late that night, under the cover of darkness, a small boat
pulled up onto the shores of Japan and two small figures disembarked.
They glanced at their guide who landed beside them. On of the small
figures produced a hot water thermos and used it on their guide. After
pulling their boat up on shore and hiding and securing it, the trio
headed inland.

They had a mission and they were going to complete it at all
cost.






Further north, another, larger ship was pulling into Tokyo
Harbor. Several figures carrying backpacks and supplies jumped from the
ship to dry land. They gathered around an older woman perched on a
staff. After making sure that all seventy of her warriors were there,
they headed off into the night as well.

For they too had a mission they were going to complete at all
cost.






Somewhere else, two girls had fought and conquered yet another
dojo. They left the sign that was theirs by custom, taking only some
food with them instead. To the duo, improving their skills was the only
reason they fought, but food was a good secondary motivator. The older
sister was especially driven to become better because there was a
certain dojo they would claim once they could finally beat the current
champions.

She held her rugbeater staff and glanced at her younger sister
who had replaced the ribbon in her hair and was now stuffing her face
with some fish cakes.

"Where to now, oneechan?" she asked.

The older sister looked to the horizon. "I think it's finally
time to pay some old friends a visit. It's time to test our skills."

The younger sister jumped up and down. "You mean we get to see
Akane-chan again?" The older one nodded. "Yipppppeeee!"

As her youthful sibling skipped down the road, Natsume grinned
to herself and started after Kurumi.




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Author's notes:
They're baaaaaaaack! Not only Natsume and Kurumi, but some other old
friends as well!