Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and it's characters are the product and property of rumiko takahashi and viz video.
A Bengal Tale
Part Eight
By Michael Fetter
The morning exercises over the koi pond in the Tendou backyard were relaxing and pleasant . . . for Ranma.
"Baka! Stand still you bouncing twit!" Akane screeched as she failed to connect with any of her rapid flurries. It seemed whenever she had Ranma right where she wanted the redhead that Ranma would suddenly vanish. Agitated and glowing with a red aura, Akane whirled about to where Ranma must have reappeared behind her.
For her credit, Akane had guessed right and almost clocked the insane martial artist with a wild right hook. Instead, Ranma ducked the punch, grabbed her follow up roundhouse kick, and stood back up with a grin.
Akane wavered for a moment, swinging her arms about as she realized how close Ranma had taken her to the pond. The fact that her leg was trapped and over her head made it difficult to balance on the uneven patch of grass.
"Woah! Ranma, I'm slipping!" Akane swung her arms about desperately to right herself.
Ranma only smiled and grabbed a piece of Akane's yellow gi to help her stand up. "Pussycat save you!"
Huffing a breath of relief, Akane looked back up at the redhead to suggest they call it quits when her forehead came in contact with Ranma's extended pointer finger.
Ranma waved with her other hand. "Bye-bye!"
"AAAHHH!" Akane screamed the length of the trip to the bottom of the pond, which wasn't really that long, but time moves differently when you're the one falling.
A large wet tiger with scraps of clothing hanging off of her body emerged from the water and glared at Ranma with hostile intent.
Unconcerned with the threat, Ranma giggled as she resumed bounding about the yard with the Bengal tiger in hot pursuit. Akane could keep up much better with her in the straight-aways in this form, but her ability to corner was much more hampered. The chase ended as Ranma made a quick turn, bouncing off the perimeter wall, and Akane didn't.
"Oh! Poor Akane!" Ranma mock sympathized for the dazed tiger. Stroking the air-dried fur with a small hand, she soon found herself tickling as Neko-Akane made a strange guttural sound that would be a laugh in human form.
Akane struggled to catch her breath as Ranma finished the tickle attack. It was her own fault for ever revealing her true weakness to Ranma. The redhead had teased her about it mercilessly each night before bed. After a round of the delightful torture, Akane would be too weak to hold Ranma off. Not that she would really want to.
Ranma ended up lying atop the Neko-Akane as they finished. She stroked the dark fur lazily, snuggling up closer to her lover. "Pussycat love Akane."
"Breakfast!"
At Kasumi's call Ranma sprang from Neko-Akane's back and rushed into the house. Cooked food had become one of the great treats Ranma had rediscovered since returning to Japan. Kasumi had to get accustomed to the large amounts the redhead ate in one seating, but she took the change with a smile.
Akane padded into the house at a more sedate pace, taking a seat beside the human vacuum that was her lover. Nabiki was still slightly disturbed by the whole ordeal, but was slowly beginning to return to her old self.
Kasumi walked back into the dining room soon after with a hot tea kettle in hand. She was about to pour some of the liquid onto a waiting Neko-Akane when Ranma placed one finger in the spout.
Akane growled in protest, but Ranma just ignored her.
"What's wrong Ranma-chan?" Kasumi asked.
Smiling prettily at the angry tiger, Ranma patted Akane on the head before turning back to her meal. "Akane pretty kitty!"
"But she needs to be human to go to school." Kasumi noted. Talking to Ranma was often like dealing with a small child, but despite the way she acted, Ranma was a smart enough person.
"I go to school and take notes. Akane be my kitty today." This idea seemed to make her very happy.
Sighing in what Akane knew was going to be a losing battle, she settled herself down on the floor beside Ranma, hoping the day would be over soon. It was only fair that she be a tiger today after enjoying having a Neko-Ranma alongside of her the past week at school. Dealing with the morning mob was much easier when they were frightened of the Bengal tiger she could command.
"Isn't that nice. I'll go get you some tiger food then Akane." Kasumi responded pleasantly, heading off into the kitchen.
Nabiki had to hide a malicious grin as she announced she had to leave for school early that day.
As usual, Ranma bounded about the area, leaping and cartwheeling over anything that could be called an obstacle. Akane rolled her eyes more than once at the redhead's jubilant nature, but did nothing to halt Ranma's antics. It was a rather pleasant view after all.
A block ahead, Akane could hear the murmurs of a large crowd of people. Kuso, she thought, I forgot all about the morning mob. Maybe they wouldn't bother with Ranma. Following the redhead skipping across the fence with her eyes, Akane felt a sick knot of doubt to the unheard prayer.
"Aiyah! There Ranma!"
The two cursed martial artists finally came into full view of the high school entrance. Ranma went straight into her usual offensive stance against the Amazons when an idea struck her and she looked back at Akane.
Neko-Akane had been opening her stance to stay at Ranma's side for the upcoming battle. Her sharp claws bit into the concrete as she growled in anger. Hopefully all the training she had been getting from Ranma would come to some use today. This was their first fight in a long time with this many Amazons.
"Akane." Ranma tried to pull off a serious expression as Akane had with her on the first day at school. She patted the large tiger on the head and spoke in a sweet, low voice. "These stupid Amazons. No bad so I deal, yes? You be good." She finished, handing off the pack she had been carrying to the tiger. It was Akane's pack, but Ranma had been only mimicking what she'd seen before.
Akane wanted to protest, but Ranma was already striding confidently into the middle of the street to stare at the new mob at school. Thinking for a moment, Ranma recalled how the ritual went and screamed a war cry, which was repeated by the Amazon horde.
Things went just as they would for Akane, only at a faster, harder, and deadlier pace. Ranma flipped, rolled, and dodged in a pattern that would be a breath-taking ballet if not for the swinging blades and unconscious women she left in her wake. Unlike Akane's fights, there were only a dozen challengers, but they fought with such vicious precision that it made up the difference and then some.
Ranma was enjoying the playtime until she caught sight of something terrible. "Ahhh! Pussycat going to be late!"
The Amazons turned a sick green color when Ranma paused in the middle of their fight and began to glow a bright blue. Many of them had been a part of the search party through the Quinghai mountains and recalled how painful the redhead's aura could be. On a last ditch effort to defeat the pigtailed girl before unconsciousness, the Amazons screamed in a united cry of defiance and rushed Ranma with weapons held high.
She paused for only a moment and watched the play of emotions on the attacking Amazons' faces. When they rushed, Ranma uncrossed her arms to extend them straight from her body. The resulting ki attack swept across the battleground like a typhoon, plucking her opponents from the ground and tossing them through the air.
Dusting off her hands, Ranma turned to the front doors of the school and skipped off. Behind her it was raining scantily clad female warriors.
"S-So f-f-fierce . . . p-pig-tailed goddess . . . must have . . . mm, covered in whip cream . . ."
Akane had stayed off to one side as Ranma entered the fight just in case she was needed. Of course, she should have known better, but she couldn't help but worry. Ranma was very special to her.
It was just unfortunate that she had picked the tree Kuno always hid behind before their morning duels. Scowling, as a tiger can, at the drooling kendoist, Akane let one heavy paw smack him upside the head, smashing him face first into the ground.
What a pervert, she thought and trotted after her lover.
"Hey, what do you suppose that was about? I didn't see anything about that in Nabiki's pamphlet." Diasuke asked of his friend.
Hiroshi shrugged. "You know how those guys challenge Akane every morning."
"You don't think?!" Hiroshi nodded. They both began to drool at the idea of so many naked women. Maybe there was some way they could get in on this.
The bell rang and class was just getting underway. Most of the students had books open and ready for the day's history lesson. A few were looking at the cute redhead in Akane's seat with glazed over eyes, in their hands, a small pamphlet of information and pictures concerning the Ranma. One was giving her a strange look. He stood at the front of the class, head cocked to one side, and large spatula thrown over his back.
"Class, this is a new student. Would you please introduce yourself, young man." Requested Sukiyaki-sensei from his seat behind the desk.
The young man bowed to the class, his name spelled out on the board behind him. "I'm Ukyou Kounji and I'm the greatest Okonomiyaki chef in Japan." He announced with a flourish, whipping out a small grill from nowhere and serving up a sample for each of the students.
Ranma reached out and grabbed the okonomiyaki flying through the air in her direction, examining it with some curiosity. She was about to take a bite when a grumble sounded from beside her. "Akane hungry?"
Neko-Akane nodded sheepishly. She'd eaten a full raw salmon before leaving home and had thought that enough to satisfy her appetite.
Ranma smiled and hand-fed the food to the tiger. "Akane such hungry kitty."
"Excuse me?"
Ranma snapped back around in her seat, pencil ready and book open, a fresh smile on her face as she waited for the teacher to begin.
"Who are you?" The teacher asked. Ukyou was making a slow path down the isle on Ranma's left, staring strangely at the hyperactive redhead.
Blinking, she pointed to herself and received a nod from the teacher. "Pussycat. I Akane's Pussycat." She cocked her head slightly as if she were questioning the teacher's sanity.
The teacher stared at her a moment trying to think of what to do. The tiger looked different, bigger, but it was the same kind that Akane Tendou had brought to class when she returned from China. Maybe the tiger is a bodyguard, he thought. Everyone had seen the tiger defend Akane against Kuno. Eyeing the new girl carefully, he sighed and nodded his head. "If you're here to take notes for Akane then that's fine. Just don't disturb my class."
Ranma nodded and waited, pencil poised over a blank sheet of paper.
On her side, Ukyou stared at Ranma intently, getting a strange feeling of familiarity.
For her part, Akane was quite proud of how well Ranma was doing in school. She had been certain that the Neko-ken combined with the curse would've turned her into a totally different person. She was pleased to see she was at least partially wrong while Ranma became a very studious and proficient student.
Being on the road most of his life, Akane understood that Ranma wouldn't know that much. She still wasn't sure how smart Ranma was, but she was taking very thorough notes and remaining awake during every class. Perhaps there was hope that the old Ranma would return. He was obviously shining through the insanity now.
(The author snickers.)
They had just sat down to math class, one more period before lunch, Akane noted with some relief. The okonomiyaki was good, but hardly filling for a tiger. Taking some advantage of her cursed status, Akane tried to look pathetically at Ukyou, hoping the boy would make her another meal.
She was about to try again when Ranma reached down and rubbed the side of her head. Akane noted that the redhead was staring at the problem she had been puzzling over with the class for the last minute. Ranma seemed to come to some conclusion, scribbled frantically on her paper and squealed happily. "Akane, I solve!"
"Pussycat!" the math teacher felt silly calling the little redhead that, but she had claimed it was her name. Mrs. Sashimi had given the same warning as the other teachers. "I warned you about disrupting the class."
The scolding rolled right off of Ranma's back as she held up her paper with a smile. "But I solve problem, teacher!"
Sashimi-sensei frowned then made a wave to the board. "Then why don't you share with the rest of the class."
Nodding, Ranma jumped from her place near the back of the class, landing in front of the chalkboard and began scribbling. The class's attention was now entirely on Ranma as she set to work. They hadn't expected her to jump the distance or scribble across the board with such speed. Ranma was finished before most of them could gasp in surprise.
Smacking her hands free of the chalk dust, Ranma turned around to see the class staring at her. She blinked.
Coughing to clear her throat, the teacher stood up to get a good look at what was written on the board. She blinked when she discovered it was right. The problem had been chosen as an example to a new series of trigonometry lessons that no one in the class had seen before. Obviously this new girl was ahead in her studies, the teacher thought proudly, though she had little to do with Ranma's education.
Akane was so proud.
Ranma was so smart and studious. No wonder he was such a good martial artist. The redhead had continued to answer questions during math class. Mrs. Sashimi had never had someone actually want to learn in her class before and was thrilled to get a student who wanted to participate. All too soon for the teacher, the class period was over.
The next class, Akane thought darkly, was her worst subject.
Seemingly just to push her buttons, Ranma had done well in that class too. She finished her project and had set about to helping everyone else. Akane had heard classmates whisper their hopes that Akane would send Pussycat to take notes for her more often. It was safer for the environment, they noted.
Neko-Akane growled again from her place next to Ranma in the courtyard. The insane martial artist still had the perfect layer cake balanced in one hand while she sat down for lunch.
"My pigtailed goddess!"
Akane tried to hide her face beneath one of her paws as she heard the entrance of the greatest moron to ever walk this earth. Kuno, she growled, can't you just take a sick day sometime.
"Stick Boy? What you want?" Ranma asked, frowning for a moment. She very well remembered the stupid boy who didn't know how to play keep away.
"Ah, I see my noble personage is known to you as I can plainly understand. You who have descended from the heavens should understand such great spirits as myself. But calm, I speak to quickly, tis proper that I introduce myself regally for such beauty that you represent. I am the rising star of the Furinkan Kendo Club, Noble of the Morning Sun, Knight of Divine Command, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, Tatewaki Kuno, age seventeen!" He finished the tiring and monotonous monologue raising his bokken high in the air as blue thunder flashed behind him.
". . ." Ranma waited, looked at Neko-Akane who shrugged, back to Stick Boy, and sat back down to lunch. "Stick Boy leave Pussycat alone." She commanded.
Kuno paused, expecting the pigtailed goddess to rush into his arms. Opening his eyes he saw her sitting down with a decorated and delicious looking cake in her hands. "Ah, I see, my pigtailed goddess. You wish me to sit with thee and partake of your delicacies, baked of your own tender hands."
Striding forward, Kuno picked up the cake and began to eat.
"HEY!" Ranma jumped to her feet, glaring daggers at the annoying boy. "That for Akane!" She screamed in outrage. Ranma was ready to severely maim Stick Boy when a loud clang rang through the courtyard.
"Go sit on a hot grill, jackass!" Ukyou shouted, pressing the full weight of his combat spatula onto Kuno's head, which happened to be pressed flat into Ranma's little masterpiece.
Ranma looked at Ukyou for a moment then down at the unconscious Stick Boy. The whole courtyard seemed to go silent as she stared. Then, with gut-wrenching sincerity, Ranma started to cry, whimpering into her hands.
"H-Hey, sugar. It's all right." Ukyou had been torn about how to approach the redhead. She reminded her so much of . . . It didn't matter. The girl was very upset over what happened and needed someone to soothe her nerves. "I'm sure Akane," weird name for a guy, he thought. "will understand what happened. You still got time to make another one before he gets here."
It was awkward and felt weird, but Ukyou sat down beside the sobbing redhead and put an arm over her shoulder. Or would have if not for the Bengal tiger that had nosed up to the girl.
Ranma turned around to see Neko-Akane staring at her.
Akane had been very touched that Ranma would make such a nice meal for her and felt heart-broken when the cursed martial artist started to cry. This was actually the first time Ranma had ever cried. Akane scowled for a moment at Kuno for having caused it and vowed to not hold back so much the next time that they met.
Seeing Ranma's red eyes and tear stained cheeks, Neko-Akane licked the girl's cheek and nuzzled her to show support.
Ranma pouted for a moment then clung to Akane's neck, pressing her face hard into the tiger's mane. After a moment, life began to return to the courtyard and Ranma pulled away from Neko-Akane with a new smile. "I make new one at home, yes?"
Neko-Akane nodded and followed the slightly relieved Ranma back to the shaded area under the tree. Behind them, Ukyou was peeling her battle spatula off of Kuno and wiping the pink frosting on his hakama. Smirking at a job well done, he sat down across from the redhead and her tiger.
"Sorry I flattened his face on the cake, sugar." Ukyou commented with a small grin.
"Yes." Ranma agreed, still hugging Akane around the neck where she lay in Ranma's lap. "Too bad cake soften fall some."
Ukyou chuckled then stuck out her hand. "Name's Ukyou Kounji."
"Pussycat." Ranma mumbled around the Akane's dark mane. Ranma watched Ukyou, half-hidden by the fur, for a moment before shaking hands. Ukyou didn't seem to be a bad person though he carried another big stick on his back.
"You mind if I join you for lunch, Pussycat?" I wonder if they got their names backwards when they were born.
Ranma shook her head and watched as the strange boy pulled out a grill again. She already knew he was a martial artist by the way he moved and the power of his last blow. He had long brown hair tied back in a ponytail and a long slender neck. His features were a bit feminine, especially his mouth.
"Would you like an okonomiyaki? I make'em for all my friends." Ukyou stated as he mixed up a new bowl of batter.
Ranma shook her head. "Lose appetite." Scratching the tiger behind the ears, she ducked down lower until she could look into Neko-Akane's eyes. "Akane hungry?"
Perking up quickly, Neko-Akane stood, salivating in Ukyou's direction, her stomach growling to be appeased.
Grinning nervously at the hunger in the tiger's eyes, Ukyou set himself to working on a big okonomiyaki. "So you're, uh, Akane, huh?"
Neko-Akane nodded.
Ukyou gulped and put on a little more batter. He was certain he'd heard somewhere about treating intelligent tigers very nicely.
It was the last period of the day. Ranma was walking through the girl's locker room with Akane at her heel. For some reason that the students couldn't understand, Neko-Akane growled if Ranma looked up from the floor. Ranma found Akane's locker with Yuka's help.
"Let me know if you have any more problems, Pussycat." Yuka waved and headed back to her locker.
Ranma nodded and watched the panty clad girl head off for a moment before Neko-Akane growled again. Blushing, Ranma set about going through Akane's locker for the gym clothes everyone else was wearing. When she finished dressing, Neko-Akane along with a number of the girls developed a strange twitch in their eye.
The white shirt was stretched very tightly across Ranma's chest and the shorts looked like a few sizes too big. It was a good thing they were elastic or Ranma would have left the lockers half dressed. Ranma only stared blankly as most of the girls scowled at her. A few gave her a lingering glance before leaving.
Shrugging, Ranma headed for the softball field, hoots and hollers from the male class following her.
The sun was out, keeping the class hot and sweaty. Akane was hiding beneath the dugout bench to escape the heat a little. Panting was one thing she was uncomfortable with. She was a girl and it was undignified to pant like a dog.
"Panda Bear, what this game?" Ranma was sitting on the benches waiting for her chance at bat. Playing catch had been fun, but she had caught to many of those balls and now they were in trouble, she assumed. Catch was much more fun than sitting.
"Panda Bear? My name is Sayuri. Why did you call me Panda Bear?" Akane's friend asked. Akane was also interested. The nickname had come out of left field as far as she was concerned.
Ranma pointed to one of the opposing team's basewomen. "I see you talking to Pink Lace."
Sayuri blinked. "That's Yuka. Who told you our names were Panda Bear and Pink Lace?"
Cocking her head to one side as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, Ranma explained. "No know names, but know underwear from locker room."
Inside the dugout several girls fell out of their seats in fits of laughter. Yuka sweatdropped as many of them began to point at her, giggling. Trying to avoid the snickering around her, Sayuri turned bright red and stared straight ahead. Confused by the reaction, Ranma blinked, but remained quiet when Neko-Akane growled at her. She didn't want to make Akane angry so she would ask about what happened later.
"Pussycat!" The coach, a middle-aged woman with a strong build held out a bat for Ranma to take. "You're up to bat."
There was little time to examine the stick in her hands as Ranma was directed to the plate where another girl in a mask was waiting. She stood there a moment, turning the bat around in her hands.
The catcher smirked, made a signal, and waited.
In a sudden flash of motion and explosion of energy, the catcher was skidding along the ground. She looked back up to see Ranma standing over the plate, a bright blue flame surrounding her body and the ball gripped in one hand. Ranma was growling at the unprovoked attack, but seemed to calm after a moment, then study the object in her hand.
Noting the quiet of the field, Ranma looked around for help. "Panda Bear?" the dugout started to chuckle again. "What Pussycat do?"
Swallowing her embarrassment, Sayuri ran out to the plate. "My name is Sayuri." She hissed. "You are supposed to hit that ball with this bat when the pitcher throws it, get it?"
"Hit where?" Ranma asked.
Smacking her head with one hand, Sayuri pointed in the direction of the outfield.
Understanding bloomed on Ranma's face. It made sense now. It was the other team's turn to play catch. Nodding her head, Ranma threw the ball back to the pitcher. "Pussycat ready now."
Pitcher and catcher shifted nervously, but tried to continue the game. Receiving a signal from her the catcher, the pitch was made, the bat swung, and the crack, like a gunshot, ran through the area.
Smiling, Ranma watched her good work.
Everyone looked up to see a shooting star exiting the atmosphere.
"You are such a pervert." Akane scolded.
Ranma simply looked at the tiled ceiling, not denying the accusation. Some of the other girls had been very nice to look at. She would've followed them into the shower, but Neko-Akane growled and so she waited until everyone else had left.
Snorting, Akane grabbed some soap and started to bath the cursed martial artist. She wasn't really angry with Ranma; it was hard to be mad with the redhead for long.
Ranma smiled and grabbed another piece of soap to work over the other girl's body. Akane acted so strangely sometimes. Why wouldn't Akane want to look at other pretty girls? Maybe being in love meant devotion to only each other, but did that really mean no more looking? Shrugging internally, Ranma washed a little lower. She could live with that as long as she had Akane with her.
"Pussycat, your hand doesn't . . . unh-belong there . . ." Akane moaned in protest though she didn't do anything else to discourage the action. "At least no one else is around this time."
"Oh, there someone here." Ranma whispered into Akane's ear.
"What?!"
Jumping down from the ceiling, Shampoo glared at Ranma and pulled out her bonbori. "Ranma too too good for Shampoo."
Quirking an eyebrow at the statement, Ranma moved forward slowly. "Why you here, Shampoo? Pussycat should kill for hurting Akane."
Glancing briefly at the dark haired girl, Shampoo returned the look Ranma gave her evenly. "Master tell Amazon tribe to kill Ranma. No want Akane. You come and Akane no get hurt."
"Master?" Akane asked.
Shampoo nodded. "Very powerful demon. He take control of Council. He lead Joketsuzoku Amazons now."
Ranma considered her options. A few weeks ago she would have given her life over without a second thought, but she had Akane to protect. Now that she was so close to the other girl and was developing such a wonderful life with her, Ranma no longer wanted to leave Akane, not even for all the salmon in the world.
So surrender was not good. Ranma could take on the Amazons and possibly win, but the demon would likely get another group under his control. There was another option.
Standing tall, which still fell a half-foot shorter than Shampoo, Ranma crossed her arms over her chest. "Pussycat challenge Demon then."
Shampoo blinked. Could Ranma do that? Amazon tradition did allow for formal challenges, but they were hunting Ranma. This was something for the Elders to decide, but it sounded fine to her. Shampoo nodded.
Smiling, Ranma stepped closer to press her dominance. "Pussycat fight Demon in soccer field tomorrow."
Sweating for some reason, Shampoo's eyes shifted about the room nervously. "Uhm, that no good."
Ranma blinked. It was inconvenient for the Demon to fight tomorrow?
"How about one week. Is good yes?" Shampoo asked. It was so embarrassing. She couldn't exactly tell Ranma that the Master was lost somewhere in Japan. At least they hoped he hadn't left the island nation.
Ranma blinked again, but nodded. She watched Shampoo tuck her bonbori back into place on her back and leap out of the locker room.
"That weird." She commented to herself.
End Chapter Eight
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Ja ne.