Heart of Fire, Soul of Ice
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Part 7: Not Going to Give Up
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Akane sat beside Ranma's bedside, her hand wrapped around his, the next day, holding his hand, and rarely leaving his side. He was still unconcious and it was almost time for her to go to school, yet she refused to come down to eat. Instead, she sat there, staring into his pale face, occasionally mopping his brow when he'd broken into fevered sweats in the night.
Nabiki had made a few calls to keep what had happened relatively quiet.
Akane was thankful for that. She couldn't stand to think how many people who would be here to try to either hurt him or rape him. She didn't want to go to school today either. She would rather stay home, beside Ranma, to wait till he woke up.
There was a soft knock at the door and it opened, revealing a concerned Ukyou. "Akane..." She walked in, sitting beside the girl and taking her hand, squeezing it lightly. "Are you okay?"
Akane sighed, nodding slightly. "I'm worried about him. I was so scared...he was so still...I thought it had killed him..." She felt the emotional strain she was under catch up with her and a sob struggled through her throat. She swallowed it hard.
Ukyou nodded. "We're all worried. But there's one thing I don't understand, Akane...how did you stop it?" She'd been eager to ask Akane this. She'd heard rather vuage story from Nabiki, but not much. Only that whatever the thing had been, all that was left was a pile of ashes and a light burn in the floor.
The other girl lightly caressed Ranma's face. "Ranma had been trying to teach me chi attacks...I tried so hard, but no matter what emotion I tried to use, I couldn't get one out...until..." Her lower lip trembled. "I was the first one there...I sensed something was wrong...and I went to the dojo. Oh, god, there was so much blood..." A sob escaped her. "I...I knew what it was...it had attacked me the other day. I was so scared for Ranma...and I...I just...tried...and it worked. The blast was red...and the emotion I used...was love..."
Ukyou stared sympathetically at Akane. "Oh, Akan-chan..." She put a comforting arm around her shoulders, her eyes sympathetic. "Don't worry, he'll come around. You know he's the strongest of all of us. He's invincible. Nothing can kill him."
With a shaky nod, Akane stood. "I guess..." she sniffed, wipping her eyes. "I should get to school, huh..." Akane gave a weak, but brave smile and straightened. "Thank you, Ukyou." She said softly, her eyes grateful.
The two had been friends since Ranma had officially broken up with his fiancee's, and were practically inseperable when Akane wasn't with Ranma. Ukyou was glad. She'd always liked Akane, and had never really considered her to be an 'enemy', like Shampoo had. Akane was equally glad, because Akane had always feared that Ranma would be the reason they would never be able to become friends.
She figured if Ranma had picked Ukyou, they wouldn't have.
"Mou..." Ukyou said, standing, and half-glaring at Akane. "What's it gonna take you get you to call me 'Ucchan', girl." Then, she smiled, and they walked out of the room.
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Akane had a right to dread dealing with the people at school that day. As usual with Furinkan High School, whatever she wanted to keep secret was spread around like a wild fire. It had been that way since she'd been a Freshman. If she wanted to keep something personal just that, it would become the most popular gossip at the school.
The first time this had happened was when she'd had her first boyfriend. She hadn't wanted the whole school to know, but he did. He started spreading the rumor that they were having sex and that she was an easy lay. Neither of which was true. In order to stem the rumor, she dumped him and hasn't gone out with a single guy since then.
Until Ranma.
When he'd arrived, she'd at first just been happy to have such a wonderful FEMALE friend. When she'd learned he was male, she was appauled. The school also got ahold of that news rather quickly, care of her sister, Nabiki.
Since his initial appearance, she's realized that he cared about her too, and would keep quiet about anything that might happen between the two of them. She was glad for that. He openly refused to have any feelings for her, but now...now that he's admitted that he loves her, things had begun to change. He'd openly pushed away every fiancee except her, and was more intent on sharing an occasional touch. No doubt it would be much worse since she was wearing the ring he'd bought her now.
Akane looked up at the looming structure known as Furinkan High School and tried to quell the urge to run back home. Ukyou walked along beside her, a rather comforting presence, a friend. The moment she walked into the gate, questions started being hurled at her.
"Is it true you and Ranma are sleeping together?!"
"Are you legitimately engaged?!"
"Are you having sex?!"
"Have you had sex with his female form?!"
"When's the wedding?!"
Tears began to pool in Akane's eyes. She couldn't handle this alone. She needed Ranma beside her. She saw Ukyou's eyes furious and tried to stop her, before she did something or said something that would get her in trouble.
No such thing happened.
Ukyou just guided the crying Akane to the entrance to the school, and turned towards the mob-like crowd. "Whatever is going on in Akane's personal life is just that, and will remain that. Don't pressure her, she's under alot of strain for reasons I will not devulge, and if you do bug her, you will answer to me, Akane, Ranma, and then, I suspect, Nabiki."
Akane stood crying next to her, her hands balled in tight little fists. It took quite alot of effort to control herself, but she did. She didn't doubt that it was partially due to Ranma's training her. She was learning that attacking without thought caused one to make mistakes. Mistakes are what get people killed.
And so are Three-Headed dogs.
The mocking voice in the back of her head caused her to tremble and she took off, running for her class. Tears streamed down her face. She wanted to go home. She wanted to be with Ranma.
She'd never wanted anything else so much.
She stumbled into her classroom, and tried to look dignified as she walked past the teacher and to her seat, where she pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed her eyes, drying her tears. She could sense the eyes on her, and fought to ignore it. They wouldn't understand anyways.
None of them would.
They didn't know what it felt like to see the person you loved more than life lying in a pool of his own blood. She shuddered, embracing herself. She saw Ukyou run in a short time after her, wearing a concerned expression. She offered her friend a weak excuse for a smile and pulled out a notebook. Concentrate on the work, Akane. She told herself, trying to force her mind off of Ranma. It didn't work too well.
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Shampoo stalked around the Nekohanten, her face angry, her big, purple eyes narrow with her rage. She totally ignored Mousse's attention's, and was rather cold to her customers. Her grandmother noticed this and pulled Shampoo aside.
"Does this have to do with Muko-dono?" Cologned asked, her eyes rather stern, and hard.
Shampoo felt tears of angry pain welling in her eyes, but she withheld them like the strong Amazon woman she is. "Yes grandmother." She said with a tremble in her voice. "Rumor is, he give ring to Kitchen Destroyer..."
Cologne frowned slightly. "He did? Has this been verified?"
"Stupid duck-boy say it true." She said, grumpily, her face angry.
The matriarch frowned deeply, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "You must go learn if this is true." She glanced at the clock. "It's five. They should be leaving school now. Find out if it's true and report back to me."
Shampoo left without another word.
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Akane didn't get much work done that day. She was too busy worrying about Ranma. She wanted nothing more than to run home and see if Ranma was okay. She didn't want anything to happen to him, and was afraid she wouldn't be able to protect him if she wasn't there.
But she couldn't. She'd promised Ukyou she'd wait up.
She felt so bad about what had happened to Ranma. She couldn't help blaming herself. After all, if she'd fought the dog the previous night, he'd would be walking with her today. If she'd gotten there sooner...
She felt the urge to cry welling up again, and forced herself to swallow her tears. She had to be strong for him. She had to. She looked up and saw Ukyou approaching and forced a smile. "Ohayo, Ucchan." She said weakly.
Ukyou smiled back and gestured towards the gate. "Let's get outta here before we get mobbed."
They walked out the gate and down the street in silence. Akane's thoughts were loud enough that she swore Ukyou could hear them too. Ukyou didn't however, instead, she remained silent, letting Akane think. The okinomiyaki chef understood that sometimes, you just want to be left to your thoughts.
Akane sighed heavily, her eyes sad, wishing she had accepted Ranma's proposal when she'd had the chance. Yet, she knew part of the reason she hadn't was because of this strange nervousness. She didn't want to marry him and have something happen where he was ripped from her side soon after the wedding. If she got pregnant, she didn't want to have to deal with it alone.
Besides, she wouldn't want to live without him.
She couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen, why did she feel all this tension, this electric charge of danger? She glanced towards Ukyou and silently wondered if she felt it too. Suddenly, she sensed a large amount of Chi, dark purple, and angry. Akane spun around, barely managing to block the blow from Shampoo.
Shampoo glared angrily at Akane. "Shampoo hear rumor saying that Husband proposed to Kitchen Destroyer. Is true?" She didn't back away.
Akane closed her eyes, lowering her head. "Yes." She said in a whisper soft voice. "I haven't answered him yet."
The angry amazon glared at Ukyou next. "It true Spatula girl didn't interfere with this? Shampoo already mad at Spatula Girl...she didn't let Shampoo kill Kitchen destroyer when had chance!" She began a joint effort of attacking both girls at the same time, her movements deadly and precise, obviously trying to kill both.
Akane, who hadn't recieved that much training yet, was struggling. She blocked as many blows as she could, trying not to panic. However, when Ukyou was knocked to the ground by a particularly hard blow, panic seized her. She stood perfectly still, and watched as Shampoo's fist sped towards her. It struck her stomache and the wind left her as she slumped to the ground.
The hand raised and Shampoo did a neat chop to the back of her neck. Akane dropped to the ground, curling up as kick after kick drove into her stomache. There was no skill involved in Shampoo's fighting. Only anger.
As the light of day started to fade, and her eyes to blur, she heard a voice call out to Shampoo, and the blows stopped. She relaxed, and let her consiousness slip away from her.
Ukyou looked up, sitting slowly, holding her head carefully. To her complete surprise, Mousse stood there, his face solemn, pozed having just knocked Shampoo out himself. The girl was slumped on the ground at his feet, her eyes closed in peaceful sleep, her hair spilling around her. He straightened, looking down at her, his eyes sad.
"Mousse?" Ukyou asked gently.
He just held up a hand and was obviously struggling with himself. "Just a moment please. That was difficult for me to do." After another moment of standing there, he knelt, effortlessly scooping Shampoo into his arms.
"How did you know who to hit?" Ukyou asked amazed. She'd heard of Mousse's legendarily bad eyesight before, from Ranma, and had seen it herself on more than one occasion.
Mousse smiled secretively. "Get Akane. She's taken some nasty blows. I'll take Shampoo back to Nekohanten."
"Wait a minute, isn't she going to be chasing you now?" She was thouroughly confused.
His eyes saddened again. "Read the manual closer, Ukyou-san. That particular rule only counts with outsiders." He turned and walked off without another word.
It didn't take long for Ukyou to realize that he had a point. He obviously could easily overcome the girl. She sighed heavily, bending down and picking up Akane. Slowly, she began to trudge towards the dojo, a trickle of blood falling down her face. She knew Tofu was still there, monitoring Ranma. She'd better get there fast, because Akane was NOT in good shape.
After a few moments, the sky clouded up and rain was falling in torents. Ukyou stood there for a long time, staring into the sky. She heaved another sigh. This must have been the worst day of her young life. The thought didn't comfort her any. She didn't realize that these events were only the beginning of a long line of events that would change everyone's lives. All she knew was, this was annoying as hell.
She was glad she wasn't Akane.
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Meanwhile, in a room in the Tendo Dojo, someone was awakening with a monstrous headache and an incredible feeling of anxiety. He hands shook as he lifted one to his face, and ran a hand across it, making sure he still existed, that he was still alive.
He could feel something was wrong. More now than ever before, it was so strong, he couldn't stand to think about it. Yet, everytime he tried to think about something else, his mind would go back to this nervousness, this anxiety. He didn't understand why this feeling was so strong now. Usually, right before something big happened, only a nervous tingle would make his insides squirm, and make him fear for his friends and Akane.
Even before the trip to Jusendo, it was never this bad. Merely a knot in the pit of his stomache. This...this was a boulder, so incredible was the sense of impending doom. His first fears were for Akane, then he remembered that she wasn't a little girl. She was a martial artist. She was stronger than she had been.
The next feeling he felt was mild disappointment that she wasn't here, by his side when he awoke. In fact, no one was. For all he knew, the world had come to an end, and he was the only thing left alive. It was too quiet.
He sat slowly, wincing and holding a hand to his head. "Shimata..." He whispered, his eyes screwing shut. Oh, yeah. This wasn't a pounding headache. This was a bloody migraine. He shuddered, and looked down, noting that his chest had been tightly wrapped, and whenever he moved, he felt slight twinges of pain. He unwrapped the binding layer by layer, till he saw the nearly shredded skin beneath. He could barely remember what had done this to him.
Then, flashes of images came to his mind. Images of the same types of scratches on Akane's arms, chest, and stomache. Images of a massive, three- headed beast looming above him in the dojo, with drool dripping down massive teeth.
Then, he remembered that Akane had called out to him before his consious had left him. His eyes widened in horror and he forced himself to his feet. He'd never felt so weak in his life. Even the weakness moxibustion, he'd felt like he could hold his weight, at least. He stumbled towards the door, his eyes determined. He ignored the fact that his hair was out of it's braid, and instead, pushed open the door and stumbled into the hall.
Akane...the name rang through his mind and he hurried towards her room. He threw open the door and found it in the same state as it was usually in. The bed neatly made, clothing in the hamper, along with a pale yellow gi on top...He picked it up, and saw a large stain of blood in it. Horror filled him. Was she? Was it possible that she had...died?
He stumbled from the room, clutching the gi. As he stumbled through the door, he ran almost headlong into Kasumi. He paid no attention to the shocked expression on her face, instead, he clasped her upper arms. "Akane? Where?" He asked breathlessly, barely able to string together a legible sentence.
"Doctor! Tofu-san! Doctor!" She called, her eyes wide, and he could tell she thought he was insane. Footsteps pounded up the stairs behind her, revealing his mother and father, as well as Akane's father, and Nabiki. In the lead was Doctor Tofu.
Tofu gently disengaged the two, his glasses remaining remarkably clear. He led Ranma back to his room and forced the boy to sit down, then pressed a cup of tea into his hand, with a relaxation agent in it. "Akane is fine, Ranma." He said evenly.
"But-but!" He insistently showed him the gi, his eyes wide with panic. "Where is she?!" He had to know, he desperately needed to know.
Tofu smiled, gently disengaging the gi from Ranma's hands. "She was so worried about you, she got blood all over her training outfit." He smiled at Ranma, patting his hand. "It's about five, Ranma. Akane should be on her way home now."
"But the blood?!"
"Yours." Tofu said. "Drink your tea and relax. When Akane get's here, you can ask her about the 'Fushicho Ai Ha'." He added with a smile. "You taught her how to do chi attacks?"
Ranma blinked in confusion. "Yeah...but she couldn't find an emotion strong enough to do one yet...you mean she-"
"She probably saved your life. You were unconsious when we all got there, and she was already there. She threw the blast at the dog and all that was left afterwards was a small pile of ashes." Tofu arched an eyebrow and nodded to the cup. "It's not a poison, you know." He said with a wry grin.
The younger man drank the tea slowly, feeling deeply relieved, and deeply confused at the same time. Akane threw a chi blast? Does that mean she found an emotion? He felt a swell of pride in his chest for having such a smart girl as a fiancee.
Tofu and Ranma talked for awhile, until Ranma shuddered again. Concern filled Tofu. He was a doctor, it was natural. "What's wrong?!"
"I...I can't shake the feeling that something's...well...wrong. I don't know what it is, but something is bugging me...and it's getting worse. I felt it a few weeks ago." Ranma admitted, and frowned deeply as Tofu nodded.
"I know. I've been doing a bit of research, trying to find out what was going on, but nothing." He saw the confusion on Ranma's face and smiled. "Surely you didn't think I didn't know some martial arts!"
"Well, to be honest-"
Ranma's answer was cut off quickly, by hollaring from downstairs. He heard people calling out to Akane and panic filled him once again. He jumped to his feet and ran, not noting the pain in his head or from the scratches.
To his horror, Ukyou was bleeding, soaking wet, carrying Akane, who was pale, and limp. "Akane..." He rasped.
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Fushicho winced, putting a hand to her head. She was sitting in the Kawaii Cafe, despite the sign outside reading closed. The other spirits were sitting at a table with her, including Oukami, who sat beside her.
"What is wrong, Fushicho-san?" Hotaru asked, her bright blue eyes confused. Her black hair hung loose around her shoulders, although part was pulled back in a barette, looking cute. Innocent. However, she could be a dangerous opponent if you went up against her. Her specialty was the quarterstaff and aikido.
"Indeed, why did you call us here?" A darker person in the corner asked. Taka, who had sheer white hair, and tanned skin with electric golden eyes was more serious than naiive, but a force to reckoned with when his friends were messed with. He studied secret magical techniques that were difficult and rare to inherit.
Fushicho brushed a strand of hair behind her ears. "The war is about to begin." She said softly.
Ryu's eyes flashed. "Impossible." He said coldly. Ryu was tough and almost arrogant sometimes, although he seemed in a permanent slump at times. His deep green hair was short and wild, and his dragon-like eyes were piercing. He fought with an enormous broadsword, and studied Tae Kwon Do.
"He is correct, it is not supposed to happen for another thousand years." Yuki flipped a long, ice blue strand of hair over her shoulder. She was pale in general, her eyes and skin almost white. Ghostly. She was highly accomplished at ninjutsu and jujitsu, although she was relatively well versed in chi.
"Even so, it is about to begin. Here, on Earth." Oukami was whom everyone believed was the strongest, and was, generally, their unspoken leader. His long white hair flowed down to his waist, and his silvery eyes were almost constantly in motion, darting here and there. He, Fushicho's teacher, was the most accomplished of all of them, as well as one of the oldest. He had studied all martial arts and was able to adapt their usage depending on what he was doing.
Hotaru trembled. "Demo..."
Fushicho held up a hand. "The God of Death." She said simply. "He has set out low level telepathic signals that trigger the urge to come to Nerima. It only works on people who have a passion for the arts, and they will come here in large groups." She paused, her black eyes looking around the table. "He is going to try to take over heaven by forcing the war to begin, and using humans as the fighters, rather than gods or spirits. I don't think Kami-sama knows of his plan yet, but only one other god should. The god of battle."
There was silence at the table. Utter silence. Suffocating silence.
She looked from face to face, until finally, her eyes rested upon Oukami's. "We must tell them." She said in a very even voice. "And we must teach them our arts."
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Part 7: Not Going to Give Up
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Akane sat beside Ranma's bedside, her hand wrapped around his, the next day, holding his hand, and rarely leaving his side. He was still unconcious and it was almost time for her to go to school, yet she refused to come down to eat. Instead, she sat there, staring into his pale face, occasionally mopping his brow when he'd broken into fevered sweats in the night.
Nabiki had made a few calls to keep what had happened relatively quiet.
Akane was thankful for that. She couldn't stand to think how many people who would be here to try to either hurt him or rape him. She didn't want to go to school today either. She would rather stay home, beside Ranma, to wait till he woke up.
There was a soft knock at the door and it opened, revealing a concerned Ukyou. "Akane..." She walked in, sitting beside the girl and taking her hand, squeezing it lightly. "Are you okay?"
Akane sighed, nodding slightly. "I'm worried about him. I was so scared...he was so still...I thought it had killed him..." She felt the emotional strain she was under catch up with her and a sob struggled through her throat. She swallowed it hard.
Ukyou nodded. "We're all worried. But there's one thing I don't understand, Akane...how did you stop it?" She'd been eager to ask Akane this. She'd heard rather vuage story from Nabiki, but not much. Only that whatever the thing had been, all that was left was a pile of ashes and a light burn in the floor.
The other girl lightly caressed Ranma's face. "Ranma had been trying to teach me chi attacks...I tried so hard, but no matter what emotion I tried to use, I couldn't get one out...until..." Her lower lip trembled. "I was the first one there...I sensed something was wrong...and I went to the dojo. Oh, god, there was so much blood..." A sob escaped her. "I...I knew what it was...it had attacked me the other day. I was so scared for Ranma...and I...I just...tried...and it worked. The blast was red...and the emotion I used...was love..."
Ukyou stared sympathetically at Akane. "Oh, Akan-chan..." She put a comforting arm around her shoulders, her eyes sympathetic. "Don't worry, he'll come around. You know he's the strongest of all of us. He's invincible. Nothing can kill him."
With a shaky nod, Akane stood. "I guess..." she sniffed, wipping her eyes. "I should get to school, huh..." Akane gave a weak, but brave smile and straightened. "Thank you, Ukyou." She said softly, her eyes grateful.
The two had been friends since Ranma had officially broken up with his fiancee's, and were practically inseperable when Akane wasn't with Ranma. Ukyou was glad. She'd always liked Akane, and had never really considered her to be an 'enemy', like Shampoo had. Akane was equally glad, because Akane had always feared that Ranma would be the reason they would never be able to become friends.
She figured if Ranma had picked Ukyou, they wouldn't have.
"Mou..." Ukyou said, standing, and half-glaring at Akane. "What's it gonna take you get you to call me 'Ucchan', girl." Then, she smiled, and they walked out of the room.
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Akane had a right to dread dealing with the people at school that day. As usual with Furinkan High School, whatever she wanted to keep secret was spread around like a wild fire. It had been that way since she'd been a Freshman. If she wanted to keep something personal just that, it would become the most popular gossip at the school.
The first time this had happened was when she'd had her first boyfriend. She hadn't wanted the whole school to know, but he did. He started spreading the rumor that they were having sex and that she was an easy lay. Neither of which was true. In order to stem the rumor, she dumped him and hasn't gone out with a single guy since then.
Until Ranma.
When he'd arrived, she'd at first just been happy to have such a wonderful FEMALE friend. When she'd learned he was male, she was appauled. The school also got ahold of that news rather quickly, care of her sister, Nabiki.
Since his initial appearance, she's realized that he cared about her too, and would keep quiet about anything that might happen between the two of them. She was glad for that. He openly refused to have any feelings for her, but now...now that he's admitted that he loves her, things had begun to change. He'd openly pushed away every fiancee except her, and was more intent on sharing an occasional touch. No doubt it would be much worse since she was wearing the ring he'd bought her now.
Akane looked up at the looming structure known as Furinkan High School and tried to quell the urge to run back home. Ukyou walked along beside her, a rather comforting presence, a friend. The moment she walked into the gate, questions started being hurled at her.
"Is it true you and Ranma are sleeping together?!"
"Are you legitimately engaged?!"
"Are you having sex?!"
"Have you had sex with his female form?!"
"When's the wedding?!"
Tears began to pool in Akane's eyes. She couldn't handle this alone. She needed Ranma beside her. She saw Ukyou's eyes furious and tried to stop her, before she did something or said something that would get her in trouble.
No such thing happened.
Ukyou just guided the crying Akane to the entrance to the school, and turned towards the mob-like crowd. "Whatever is going on in Akane's personal life is just that, and will remain that. Don't pressure her, she's under alot of strain for reasons I will not devulge, and if you do bug her, you will answer to me, Akane, Ranma, and then, I suspect, Nabiki."
Akane stood crying next to her, her hands balled in tight little fists. It took quite alot of effort to control herself, but she did. She didn't doubt that it was partially due to Ranma's training her. She was learning that attacking without thought caused one to make mistakes. Mistakes are what get people killed.
And so are Three-Headed dogs.
The mocking voice in the back of her head caused her to tremble and she took off, running for her class. Tears streamed down her face. She wanted to go home. She wanted to be with Ranma.
She'd never wanted anything else so much.
She stumbled into her classroom, and tried to look dignified as she walked past the teacher and to her seat, where she pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed her eyes, drying her tears. She could sense the eyes on her, and fought to ignore it. They wouldn't understand anyways.
None of them would.
They didn't know what it felt like to see the person you loved more than life lying in a pool of his own blood. She shuddered, embracing herself. She saw Ukyou run in a short time after her, wearing a concerned expression. She offered her friend a weak excuse for a smile and pulled out a notebook. Concentrate on the work, Akane. She told herself, trying to force her mind off of Ranma. It didn't work too well.
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Shampoo stalked around the Nekohanten, her face angry, her big, purple eyes narrow with her rage. She totally ignored Mousse's attention's, and was rather cold to her customers. Her grandmother noticed this and pulled Shampoo aside.
"Does this have to do with Muko-dono?" Cologned asked, her eyes rather stern, and hard.
Shampoo felt tears of angry pain welling in her eyes, but she withheld them like the strong Amazon woman she is. "Yes grandmother." She said with a tremble in her voice. "Rumor is, he give ring to Kitchen Destroyer..."
Cologne frowned slightly. "He did? Has this been verified?"
"Stupid duck-boy say it true." She said, grumpily, her face angry.
The matriarch frowned deeply, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "You must go learn if this is true." She glanced at the clock. "It's five. They should be leaving school now. Find out if it's true and report back to me."
Shampoo left without another word.
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Akane didn't get much work done that day. She was too busy worrying about Ranma. She wanted nothing more than to run home and see if Ranma was okay. She didn't want anything to happen to him, and was afraid she wouldn't be able to protect him if she wasn't there.
But she couldn't. She'd promised Ukyou she'd wait up.
She felt so bad about what had happened to Ranma. She couldn't help blaming herself. After all, if she'd fought the dog the previous night, he'd would be walking with her today. If she'd gotten there sooner...
She felt the urge to cry welling up again, and forced herself to swallow her tears. She had to be strong for him. She had to. She looked up and saw Ukyou approaching and forced a smile. "Ohayo, Ucchan." She said weakly.
Ukyou smiled back and gestured towards the gate. "Let's get outta here before we get mobbed."
They walked out the gate and down the street in silence. Akane's thoughts were loud enough that she swore Ukyou could hear them too. Ukyou didn't however, instead, she remained silent, letting Akane think. The okinomiyaki chef understood that sometimes, you just want to be left to your thoughts.
Akane sighed heavily, her eyes sad, wishing she had accepted Ranma's proposal when she'd had the chance. Yet, she knew part of the reason she hadn't was because of this strange nervousness. She didn't want to marry him and have something happen where he was ripped from her side soon after the wedding. If she got pregnant, she didn't want to have to deal with it alone.
Besides, she wouldn't want to live without him.
She couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen, why did she feel all this tension, this electric charge of danger? She glanced towards Ukyou and silently wondered if she felt it too. Suddenly, she sensed a large amount of Chi, dark purple, and angry. Akane spun around, barely managing to block the blow from Shampoo.
Shampoo glared angrily at Akane. "Shampoo hear rumor saying that Husband proposed to Kitchen Destroyer. Is true?" She didn't back away.
Akane closed her eyes, lowering her head. "Yes." She said in a whisper soft voice. "I haven't answered him yet."
The angry amazon glared at Ukyou next. "It true Spatula girl didn't interfere with this? Shampoo already mad at Spatula Girl...she didn't let Shampoo kill Kitchen destroyer when had chance!" She began a joint effort of attacking both girls at the same time, her movements deadly and precise, obviously trying to kill both.
Akane, who hadn't recieved that much training yet, was struggling. She blocked as many blows as she could, trying not to panic. However, when Ukyou was knocked to the ground by a particularly hard blow, panic seized her. She stood perfectly still, and watched as Shampoo's fist sped towards her. It struck her stomache and the wind left her as she slumped to the ground.
The hand raised and Shampoo did a neat chop to the back of her neck. Akane dropped to the ground, curling up as kick after kick drove into her stomache. There was no skill involved in Shampoo's fighting. Only anger.
As the light of day started to fade, and her eyes to blur, she heard a voice call out to Shampoo, and the blows stopped. She relaxed, and let her consiousness slip away from her.
Ukyou looked up, sitting slowly, holding her head carefully. To her complete surprise, Mousse stood there, his face solemn, pozed having just knocked Shampoo out himself. The girl was slumped on the ground at his feet, her eyes closed in peaceful sleep, her hair spilling around her. He straightened, looking down at her, his eyes sad.
"Mousse?" Ukyou asked gently.
He just held up a hand and was obviously struggling with himself. "Just a moment please. That was difficult for me to do." After another moment of standing there, he knelt, effortlessly scooping Shampoo into his arms.
"How did you know who to hit?" Ukyou asked amazed. She'd heard of Mousse's legendarily bad eyesight before, from Ranma, and had seen it herself on more than one occasion.
Mousse smiled secretively. "Get Akane. She's taken some nasty blows. I'll take Shampoo back to Nekohanten."
"Wait a minute, isn't she going to be chasing you now?" She was thouroughly confused.
His eyes saddened again. "Read the manual closer, Ukyou-san. That particular rule only counts with outsiders." He turned and walked off without another word.
It didn't take long for Ukyou to realize that he had a point. He obviously could easily overcome the girl. She sighed heavily, bending down and picking up Akane. Slowly, she began to trudge towards the dojo, a trickle of blood falling down her face. She knew Tofu was still there, monitoring Ranma. She'd better get there fast, because Akane was NOT in good shape.
After a few moments, the sky clouded up and rain was falling in torents. Ukyou stood there for a long time, staring into the sky. She heaved another sigh. This must have been the worst day of her young life. The thought didn't comfort her any. She didn't realize that these events were only the beginning of a long line of events that would change everyone's lives. All she knew was, this was annoying as hell.
She was glad she wasn't Akane.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, in a room in the Tendo Dojo, someone was awakening with a monstrous headache and an incredible feeling of anxiety. He hands shook as he lifted one to his face, and ran a hand across it, making sure he still existed, that he was still alive.
He could feel something was wrong. More now than ever before, it was so strong, he couldn't stand to think about it. Yet, everytime he tried to think about something else, his mind would go back to this nervousness, this anxiety. He didn't understand why this feeling was so strong now. Usually, right before something big happened, only a nervous tingle would make his insides squirm, and make him fear for his friends and Akane.
Even before the trip to Jusendo, it was never this bad. Merely a knot in the pit of his stomache. This...this was a boulder, so incredible was the sense of impending doom. His first fears were for Akane, then he remembered that she wasn't a little girl. She was a martial artist. She was stronger than she had been.
The next feeling he felt was mild disappointment that she wasn't here, by his side when he awoke. In fact, no one was. For all he knew, the world had come to an end, and he was the only thing left alive. It was too quiet.
He sat slowly, wincing and holding a hand to his head. "Shimata..." He whispered, his eyes screwing shut. Oh, yeah. This wasn't a pounding headache. This was a bloody migraine. He shuddered, and looked down, noting that his chest had been tightly wrapped, and whenever he moved, he felt slight twinges of pain. He unwrapped the binding layer by layer, till he saw the nearly shredded skin beneath. He could barely remember what had done this to him.
Then, flashes of images came to his mind. Images of the same types of scratches on Akane's arms, chest, and stomache. Images of a massive, three- headed beast looming above him in the dojo, with drool dripping down massive teeth.
Then, he remembered that Akane had called out to him before his consious had left him. His eyes widened in horror and he forced himself to his feet. He'd never felt so weak in his life. Even the weakness moxibustion, he'd felt like he could hold his weight, at least. He stumbled towards the door, his eyes determined. He ignored the fact that his hair was out of it's braid, and instead, pushed open the door and stumbled into the hall.
Akane...the name rang through his mind and he hurried towards her room. He threw open the door and found it in the same state as it was usually in. The bed neatly made, clothing in the hamper, along with a pale yellow gi on top...He picked it up, and saw a large stain of blood in it. Horror filled him. Was she? Was it possible that she had...died?
He stumbled from the room, clutching the gi. As he stumbled through the door, he ran almost headlong into Kasumi. He paid no attention to the shocked expression on her face, instead, he clasped her upper arms. "Akane? Where?" He asked breathlessly, barely able to string together a legible sentence.
"Doctor! Tofu-san! Doctor!" She called, her eyes wide, and he could tell she thought he was insane. Footsteps pounded up the stairs behind her, revealing his mother and father, as well as Akane's father, and Nabiki. In the lead was Doctor Tofu.
Tofu gently disengaged the two, his glasses remaining remarkably clear. He led Ranma back to his room and forced the boy to sit down, then pressed a cup of tea into his hand, with a relaxation agent in it. "Akane is fine, Ranma." He said evenly.
"But-but!" He insistently showed him the gi, his eyes wide with panic. "Where is she?!" He had to know, he desperately needed to know.
Tofu smiled, gently disengaging the gi from Ranma's hands. "She was so worried about you, she got blood all over her training outfit." He smiled at Ranma, patting his hand. "It's about five, Ranma. Akane should be on her way home now."
"But the blood?!"
"Yours." Tofu said. "Drink your tea and relax. When Akane get's here, you can ask her about the 'Fushicho Ai Ha'." He added with a smile. "You taught her how to do chi attacks?"
Ranma blinked in confusion. "Yeah...but she couldn't find an emotion strong enough to do one yet...you mean she-"
"She probably saved your life. You were unconsious when we all got there, and she was already there. She threw the blast at the dog and all that was left afterwards was a small pile of ashes." Tofu arched an eyebrow and nodded to the cup. "It's not a poison, you know." He said with a wry grin.
The younger man drank the tea slowly, feeling deeply relieved, and deeply confused at the same time. Akane threw a chi blast? Does that mean she found an emotion? He felt a swell of pride in his chest for having such a smart girl as a fiancee.
Tofu and Ranma talked for awhile, until Ranma shuddered again. Concern filled Tofu. He was a doctor, it was natural. "What's wrong?!"
"I...I can't shake the feeling that something's...well...wrong. I don't know what it is, but something is bugging me...and it's getting worse. I felt it a few weeks ago." Ranma admitted, and frowned deeply as Tofu nodded.
"I know. I've been doing a bit of research, trying to find out what was going on, but nothing." He saw the confusion on Ranma's face and smiled. "Surely you didn't think I didn't know some martial arts!"
"Well, to be honest-"
Ranma's answer was cut off quickly, by hollaring from downstairs. He heard people calling out to Akane and panic filled him once again. He jumped to his feet and ran, not noting the pain in his head or from the scratches.
To his horror, Ukyou was bleeding, soaking wet, carrying Akane, who was pale, and limp. "Akane..." He rasped.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fushicho winced, putting a hand to her head. She was sitting in the Kawaii Cafe, despite the sign outside reading closed. The other spirits were sitting at a table with her, including Oukami, who sat beside her.
"What is wrong, Fushicho-san?" Hotaru asked, her bright blue eyes confused. Her black hair hung loose around her shoulders, although part was pulled back in a barette, looking cute. Innocent. However, she could be a dangerous opponent if you went up against her. Her specialty was the quarterstaff and aikido.
"Indeed, why did you call us here?" A darker person in the corner asked. Taka, who had sheer white hair, and tanned skin with electric golden eyes was more serious than naiive, but a force to reckoned with when his friends were messed with. He studied secret magical techniques that were difficult and rare to inherit.
Fushicho brushed a strand of hair behind her ears. "The war is about to begin." She said softly.
Ryu's eyes flashed. "Impossible." He said coldly. Ryu was tough and almost arrogant sometimes, although he seemed in a permanent slump at times. His deep green hair was short and wild, and his dragon-like eyes were piercing. He fought with an enormous broadsword, and studied Tae Kwon Do.
"He is correct, it is not supposed to happen for another thousand years." Yuki flipped a long, ice blue strand of hair over her shoulder. She was pale in general, her eyes and skin almost white. Ghostly. She was highly accomplished at ninjutsu and jujitsu, although she was relatively well versed in chi.
"Even so, it is about to begin. Here, on Earth." Oukami was whom everyone believed was the strongest, and was, generally, their unspoken leader. His long white hair flowed down to his waist, and his silvery eyes were almost constantly in motion, darting here and there. He, Fushicho's teacher, was the most accomplished of all of them, as well as one of the oldest. He had studied all martial arts and was able to adapt their usage depending on what he was doing.
Hotaru trembled. "Demo..."
Fushicho held up a hand. "The God of Death." She said simply. "He has set out low level telepathic signals that trigger the urge to come to Nerima. It only works on people who have a passion for the arts, and they will come here in large groups." She paused, her black eyes looking around the table. "He is going to try to take over heaven by forcing the war to begin, and using humans as the fighters, rather than gods or spirits. I don't think Kami-sama knows of his plan yet, but only one other god should. The god of battle."
There was silence at the table. Utter silence. Suffocating silence.
She looked from face to face, until finally, her eyes rested upon Oukami's. "We must tell them." She said in a very even voice. "And we must teach them our arts."