The words 'never meet again' meant very little to Ranma. They were there, like a curse that worked in whatever way made life most difficult and un-enjoyable for him. There were people he would be very happy to meet again, but was fairly sure he wouldn't get the chance to. The words bound most of those types like the strictest of laws. There were also people he hoped to god he would never have the misfortune of being near again. Those were the kinds of people those words never seemed to apply to. People like Shampoo.
He and Genma came across that 'innocent little Chinese village' just after stopping in jusenkyou. Finding it was something he regretted more than the actual trip to jusenkyou itself. Why? It was a village entirely dedicated to the eradication of demons. Their stay in Joketsuzouku had been short lived, to say the least.
When they first arrived, they had been welcomed kindly, as a girl and a panda. He and Genma had even been offered a free meal. That the meal had been filled with a natural tranquilizer and disabler could be overlooked. If you discounted the attempt to murder them upon their discovery of the extra ingredients.
Ranma suspected that the elders of the village all had innate miko abilities, such as sensing magic and demon blood. He was sure they had known all along that he was no girl, their village being so close to Jusenkyou. That Shampoo had recognized him as a male only confirmed that belief and gave him reason to suspect that she was a miko herself. He was sure she couldn't purify him, at least without some outside help, or else she would be doing that now instead of trying to bash his head in with her bonbori.
Ranma leapt over a strike and vaulted behind his opponent, swiping an arrow from the bundle on her back. He ran it under his nose and tried to identify it. He really hoped they weren't magic arrows, but… damn. They were. Sealing arrows, too. The faint scent of magic at the head was enough to tell. Arrow in hand, he moved to the side of another of Shampoo's bonbori and noted she seemed to be focusing on him more than Akane. He sincerely hoped that was a mistake on her part.
"Akane! Destroy her arrows!" Ranma told the other hanyou. She looked at him, then back to Shampoo, and a fierce, determined look appeared on her face. She went straight for Shampoo, but Shampoo was too fast for her and Akane was distractedly batted away by the exterminator. Ranma cursed under his breath and pitched his voice towards the spot he saw Akane fall. "Dodge! You're too headstrong!"
If they weren't both fighting for their lives he might've laughed at her for being hit so easily, but since they were he wouldn't count that against her until later. Ranma destroyed the first arrow and forcefully shoved an offending bonbori aside. He couldn't break them yet, or Shampoo would have to use her arrows, he only hoped her Japanese was bad enough that she wouldn't understand what he had told Akane. Shampoo lost her balance for a fraction of a second and Ranma snagged another arrow, snapping it in half with one hand. The things were dangerous, but undeniably flimsy.
By this time Akane had gotten back up and was trying to keep out of Shampoo's notice as she came closer. Just as Ranma grabbed his second arrow, Akane took the opportunity to move in from the opposite side and take two at once. She wasted no time in breaking them in two and tossing the pieces over one shoulder.
There were a few more rounds of this. Ranma would get past Shampoo's guard and Akane would use the opportunity to their advantage, grabbing more arrows and sometimes landing a blow when the timing was right. They had only slightly dented her supply when Shampoo turned to a different tactic. She fell back and cast off her bonbori, slipping the bow from her shoulders and fitting an arrow to it in one fluid motion. Her face remained impassive as she took aim and fired.
Akane gave a startled yelp and stumbled to the side as an arrow embedded itself in the shrine post that she had been standing in front of. Ranma guessed she had heard it coming. As quickly as he could he moved in front of her and matched iron stares with Shampoo while whispering about the arrows to Akane.
"Get out of here, Shampoo," he said, with a threatening growl. Maybe he could talk her into leaving. And maybe cold water will cease to exist or my curse will magically disappear. Things were getting serious now. He couldn't let Akane get hit with those arrows.
Shampoo knocked another arrow and sent it straight at him. Before it could hit, Ranma moved aside and pulled Akane along with him as he inched forward. It would give Shampoo better targets, but what else could he do? He stared at Shampoo's grim expression and knew she would not hesitate to kill them.
Ranma stopped his forward crawl, grabbed Akane around the waste and took to the air, leaping across the roofs of Nerima. He had no other option but to run. Shampoo would undoubtedly follow, unless he left Akane behind, in which case she would kill Akane and then follow. He could put Shampoo at a disadvantage if he and Akane could shed their disguises and use their claws.
Ranma looked down at Akane where she was tucked under his arm. Instead of kicking and struggling like he had half expected, she was being useful and looking out behind him for Shampoo. She didn't turn to him, and only spoke when she said: "She's coming" a few moments later.
Meanwhile, Ranma had discarded the abandoned lot idea in favor of the school roof as a place to hold their battle. School had let out hours ago and no one ever went on the roof anyway. He came to a halt over the middle of the building and watched Shampoo approach.
Her solemn expression was still in place, but fury burned behind her eyes, and she pulled her bow up as she landed to take aim at them. Ranma dropped his disguise and headed towards her at the fastest pace he could manage. She hadn't yet knocked another arrow and he wouldn't give her time to do it. He swiped at her bow, in an attempt to shred it, but she pulled it out of his reach… and right into Akane's. She slit it down the center, corkscrew shavings flying off of it and bow string falling slack. The three stared at each other for a few brief seconds. Then Shampoo stared darkly at them.
"Demons," she said, backing away and leaving her word as a promise. "I Kill."
And then she ran, leaving Ranma and Akane to collapse on the rooftop. Neither had real injuries and neither would do more than bruise, but still they sat, panting in silence, until Akane gained her breath and spoke.
"That wasn't so bad."
Ranma narrowed his almost feline eyes at her. "She was testing us," he growled. Akane said nothing and looked down. They both sat, undisguised, and let silence reign. Ranma watched her ears, the same deep blue as her hair, as they twitched and quivered in the wind, turning automatically to any semblance of a sound. He looked to his clawed hands and back to her ears and sighed.
"You're not good enough," he said, turning his eyes to her face. It was still the same face, in this form, but the subtle softening of her features made her look older and delicate, when she was neither.
"I know."
Ranma almost growled at her submissive tone. How could she be like that? If she didn't get better, she would be killed. "You're going to get better."
"How?"
"I'll help you," he stated with much more conviction than he felt. He thought back to the night she had asked him to spar. Had she felt so lost amidst his questions? He didn't even know what she was getting at. Doesn't she care about this?
"You want to train me?"
"I have to," Ranma answered. And then she looked up at him, her expression unreadable. A moment passed and she disguised herself again. He followed suit, but inwardly frowned at the loss of the ears he enjoyed watching.
"Fine," was all she said, and he was sure he had given her the wrong answer.
The world was a pretty frustrating place for Nabiki Tendo. Normally the world was a satisfactory place in her book, but not today. And for two reasons: one of them being Ranma, and the other being Akane. They wouldn't say a thing about what happened that afternoon. Her father, Kasumi, and Mr. Saotome saw it, but they didn't seem to care. Well, her father had been all for going after them, under the impression, of course, that the attacker was a demon. Nabiki snorted. Oh, suuurre. Ranma's useless father had actually proved capable of doing something when he convinced her father that Ranma and Akane could handle it themselves.
At the time, it had seemed like too much of a hassle to actually have to follow the two. Now, however, she very much wished she had. Ranma and Akane wouldn't budge an inch. They weren't talking about it, even to each other, as was evident in her recording of their training in the dojo. She didn't have to record it, since they were yelling insults at each other so loud the neighbors could hear them, but you never knew what came in useful sometimes.
After watching them spar for a few minutes, Nabiki decided she'd just have to spend more time with the cute couple. After all, ice-skating was almost in season and she knew Akane wanted to try it. It was a sport Nabiki had been quite partial to, herself.
A/N: Well, I tried to make this chapter longer, but it didn't really work. O well. I'll try to make longer chaps in the future, but school + homework = less writing time, so I think this is a pretty good length for now. Also, I've seen various spellings of jusenkyou and joketsu, but I don't know how to spell either, so if they are wrong, sorry. If you've got something to say about this fic, please review it! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! Bye.