Ranma 1/2 was created by Rumiko Takahashi and its characters belong to her, and her alone. I'm just kinda borrowing them. The story below is for entertainment purposes only, and not to be used commercially. ...Obviously.
"Learning Curve"
Part XIV (v1.4)
by: J. Wagner
"Kasumi! Kasumi? ...Damn it. Where are you?" Ryouga stood on his tiptoes, and looked over the heads of the crowded market. He'd turned around for a second, after finding some chocolates Nabiki probably would've loved, and she'd just disappeared. Box of chocolates in-hand, he'd been about to wander around a bit trying to find her, when he'd thought the better of it, and decided to stay put, hoping that Kasumi would double back and find him.
That had been ten minutes ago.
Looking up from his watch, Ryouga groaned in annoyance. Why did this kind of thing always happen? He was tempted to blame it on Ranma, just for the hell of it, but even this predicament was a little 'out there' in respects to the pigtailed boy. Besides, he'd been trying to kick that habit of blaming Ranma for everything. While Saotome was directly or indirectly responsible for the greater bulk of the things that haunted his life with pain and torment, that still left what he estimated to be a good ten or fifteen percent that Ranma wasn't the least involved in.
"Come on, Kasumi. Where are you?" Ryouga looked around again in vain, before leaning back against the side of the stand and closing his eyes.
"Charlotte!!!"
"Oh no." Ryouga's eyes snapped open. "Oh no!!"
"Charlotte! It really is you! Come to Azusa, Charlotte!"
"Woah, hold on there, Azusa!" Ryouga held out his hand, stopping the charging Shiratori Azusa short of glomping onto him. She blinked large brown eyes at him in what seemed to the lost boy to be confusion. She was wearing a fairly typical looking and overly frilly white skating dress and a white bow - a change from her normal pink, if he remembered correctly. She was also, of course, in skates of a sort: roller blades.
"My name is Hibiki Ryouga, first of all..."
"You'll always be my 'little Charlotte' to me!" With surprising strength, Azusa pushed his arm aside, and caught him with a full on squeeze - Ryouga gasped for air. He reprimanded himself; he had forgotten just how strong the martial arts skater was. Ryouga let out a deep sigh, and using a fair amount of the more-than-formidable strength at his disposal, broke out of the hug.
"Listen here, Azusa... Don't do that to me in public, alright?" He slipped out from her grasp, and took a few steps back and away.
"I guess Azusa will just have to take you home then!" She giggled vacantly and lunged again, but Ryouga twisted, and she ended up squeezing a wooden stand holding up a sign.
The sign promptly broke in half.
"You know what I meant!"
"No I didn't." Azusa let go of the remains of the sign, her lower lip trembling. "Please don't yell at little Azusa..."
"I'm sorry, geez, don't cry or anything." Ryouga groaned inwardly. "It's just... wait just a second, Azusa..."
"Now..." Azusa slid forward gracefully, her roller blades remarkably stable in holding her upright, and from out of nowhere pulled out a small collar with a little pink heart on it. Ryouga recognized it instantly, and broke out into a nervous sweat. "You'll be coming with Azusa, Charlotte. One way or another."
Ryouga's brow furrowed, and he slid a foot forward, bringing his arms to his sides. "Stay back... or I'll use my Secret Technique!"
"Secret Technique?"
"YAAH!" Ryouga faked a lunge, causing Azusa to stumble a bit in hesitation, and then the lost boy simply turned and ran. Azusa was on skates, and anyone familiar with her particular brand of martial arts wouldn't underestimate her speed or agility on them, but when a Hibiki wanted to move, heaven help anything in his way or those trying to catch him. Give a Hibiki a day, and he may not even be in the same time zone.
It was only when that thought set in that Ryouga stopped and looked around.
"Well this is just... Wonderful. Just wonderful."
Lost.
Lost as usual.
"This is all Azusa's fault. What was she doing? What was she thinking?" He yelled at the heavens for answers, "Shouldn't all the crazy people be after Ranma? Huh? Huh?"
In another state of mind, most people probably would have realized that talking to oneself wasn't the most normal, or productive, thing to do at the moment, but that state of mind was just as lost as the lost boy was. Walking in the usual arbitrary direction, Ryouga drooped his head in defeat.
"That's it. Don't say anything." No sooner had the words left his mouth then an ominous thunder came from the south. Looking upwards, he confirmed it. A storm, which meant rain, and while a little rain probably wouldn't be enough to make him transform, not after using Jyusenkyou waterproof soap as religiously as he did over the last two weeks, which had been amazingly buta-free, but it would get him wet. And getting wet was both an unpleasant experience, and an uncomfortable one - too many memories he'd rather not have in the first place. And if it turned into a downpour, and he got careless, he could very well end up as a walking side order of bacon.
Ryouga took out his umbrella, tested it, and nodded to himself in obvious relief. It was reinforced through steady Ki infusion, and more than sturdy. This particular one, Umbrella #6, he'd nicknamed 'Natasha' after a nice girl he'd met when he'd wandered through Russia, months ago. While naming his weapon was a little secret he wasn't about to tell anyone (they wouldn't understand the affection a Hibiki feels for his weapon of choice) Ryouga felt very conventional about it. He only named one of them if they lasted for more than two months of steady use, and he had a lot of hard work and effort invested in 'Natasha.'
Looking around, his eyes searched out for some kind of landmark that could identify his present and unknown geographical location. There were the signs, of course, but the street names may as well have been in Hebrew, a language he always swore to get around to learning, just for the hell of it, for all the good they did him. Luckily, he had one of his backup packs with him, so he'd be prepared for the next few weeks of mindless wandering. Then something caught his eye, or to be more exact, someone caught his eye.
"Excuse me, sir." He approached the vendor, and gave him a small smile.
"Yeah, kid?" The man looked down from the paper he was reading. "You want to buy something?"
"Um... sure." Ryouga picked out a copy of the Tokyo Herald, and put down the money for it - there was an interesting article on a recent surge in wild animal attacks. "I was also wondering where I was."
"You lost?"
"Yeah, something like that. Am I still in Tokyo?"
"You're in Nerima ward, kid. ...Tokyo, obviously." The middle-aged man went back to his reading. Ryouga took the paper and headed off, a smirk on his lips. Nerima! He hadn't wandered off too far, then. All he had to do was take it slow and carefully, and sooner or later; he'd run across someone who could take him to the Tendo Dojo. He'd come to learn that public transport, especially subways in a city, were better than random meandering, but there didn't seem to be a station nearby on the poster that hung from the vendor's overhang.
Stupid complicated maps.
"Then again..." He looked up, at a nearby roof, and jumped. A distance of thirty feet wasn't a problem, and a tiny application of Ki to his leg muscles more than gave him the power for it. He held his arms wide for balance, and landed softly on the roof. Walking up to its highest point, at the crest that ran down the middle of the top of the house, he looked out, hoping to spot the Tendo yard or house.
It wasn't in sight, but he did make out part of Furinkan High, which was a start. Jumping easily from roof to roof, Ryouga felt fairly confidant that he'd be able to make it back home in time for dinner, provided Kasumi didn't herself wander around looking for him. At the thought, Ryouga stopped in mid jump, and went over that again in his head: since when had the Tendo place been his 'home?' His home was the Hibiki house, nearby, but out of practical reach for the time being.
He licked his lips, and pondered that. He wasn't really heading home; he was going back to mooching off the Tendos. Additionally, he had been in one place for a long time - he hadn't really felt the soft ground under his feet for a long time. True, it had only been a few months, but to Hibiki Ryouga, months without wandering off and getting well and truly lost in a forest or mountain range of some sort or another... it was both a miracle and a very unusual feeling. Did he really miss the wandering?
He could just walk off, in some random direction, and come back later, and at that thought, that impulse, he almost did. The wanderlust was well known among all those with Hibiki blood. Even those only slightly related to the line, Ryouga knew of distant relatives he had scattered all over the planet; all an unexplainable urge to see the world and keep moving. He'd always thought of himself as a shark of sorts, moving from place to place, eating what he wanted, doing what he wanted, never really... grounded. Never chained down.
"What to do?" He looked from the Furinkan clock tower to the horizon, and something deep inside wanted to head for the horizon itself. ...If only for a few weeks.
"No," he finally decided. He would have the common decency; at least, to tell them he was going off on a quick mountain training trip. Nabiki would be annoyed, he suspected, and she really had every right to be. He was, from a certain point of view, running away from her, and from 'them.'
He remembered, instantly, that first time she'd gotten him. He'd expected it, yes, but he'd also feared it. It was their second date, and they'd walked in the backyard afterwards. He'd been sulking a bit, and looking down at the koi in the pond, when, pretty much out of the blue, she had called his name, and smiled mysteriously. Before even he could react, she'd literally bounced up and into his arms, and when she darted her face forward, a few stray strands of hair had come between them. Without even thinking, he'd reached up, and brushed them aside, and she'd seemed to materialize into crystal clarity in front of him. She seized the initiative, and kissed him quickly, in a curious way he'd never suspected could come from her.
He'd passed out seconds later, and fallen into the pond, but the feeling still lingered, even now. He had to see her again, tell her that he wasn't leaving, just... just getting some fresh air. And if she insisted that he stay, well, he would. She was the most important thing in his life, without a doubt, but he knew she'd understand.
She always did.
Ryouga's thought instantly changed, and acting on a level usually reserved for instinct, his umbrella moved, like a blur, and a hard 'splash' sounded on the other side. Dripping cold water, the umbrella slowly lowered. Ryouga's mouth moved from impartial, to scowling, as he stared at the cloaked man, who descended from above, empty bucket in hand. The man's cloak, unlike the parkas Ryouga himself occasionally wore, concealed him almost completely from view, but underneath the dark hood, the lost boy was sure this man was smiling.
The two stood, in silence, for several seconds, when Ryouga felt a drop of cool rainwater land on his left cheek. Raising his umbrella, silently, he watched this man carefully. He seemed calm, and relaxed, even as he faced the lost boy down, and he seemed to largely ignore the rain even as it turned from sprinkle to downpour in typical Nerima fashion.
"Do you know," Ryouga began, dangerously. "That you attack Hibiki Ryouga?"
A single, hard laugh was the man's only response, as he clutched the collar of his cloak, and undid a single button. The laughter paused, as two predatory eyes looked up at him. There was an animalistic quality to them that stabbed Ryouga in the gut, on some primal level that couldn't be explained with words. With a flourish, the man's cloak left his shoulders, and immediately, as the cloth drifted to the roof tiles, the rain beat down on the stranger's arms, back, and face.
There was a crack of thunder, and the fight was joined.
***
"It's raining pretty heavily." Tendo Akane had steadily come to dislike the rain. In years past, it had been almost comforting, the faint tap-tap of raindrops on the roof, but over the last two years, the rain generally meant trouble. It generally kept the Jyusenkyou cursed indoors, and in close proximity to each other - never a good thing for the structural integrity of the house, or for peaceful appreciation of the sound of the rain itself.
Oddly, however, things had been quiet lately.
Suspiciously quiet.
Downstairs, Ranma was reading a magazine and snacking on a bag of potato chips. A small stack of schoolwork and books sat on a nearby table, untouched. P-chan sat on his haunches next to the books, and she noticed that his ears perked up when she entered the room. She'd wondered where he had run off to earlier, and now the answer was obvious.
"Ranma, have you been feeding P-chan potato chips?" She walked over in a semi-annoyed fashion. "You know you're just encouraging him to beg."
"It was only one," Ranma lied, and shrugged it off, going back to reading.
"Well, you're spoiling him." Akane reached down and scratched the little black piglet behind the ears.
"I'm spoiling him? I've seen you sneak him food when no one's looking. At least he's smart enough not to try and eat your leftovers."
"Baka," she rapped him on the side of the head halfheartedly. "What are you reading, anyway?"
"Jyusenkyou Products Catalogue. Shampoo let me borrow it."
Akane frowned.
"I'm thinking about ordering some of that waterproof soap Ryouga uses. They've got some of that instant Nanniichuan powder Shampoo used the other day, and a whole bunch of other weird stuff."
"Didn't the Instant Nanniichuan only work once, and then it wore off?"
"Well, yeah," Ranma said, and turned the page, "But most of the time, I only get splashed once a day, or once every few days."
"You are not turning our furo into a Japanese Jyusenkyou, Ranma."
Ranma seemed about to say something, but caught himself.
"No, I ain't planning that. It's just a precaution, you know. I mean, it's not a cure, but it's better than nothing. The problem..." He sighed, and quickly skipped two more pages. "The problem is money. None of this stuff is cheap. And then there's the shipping and handling costs. I just can't afford any of this. I've been thinking about asking Nabiki for another loan."
"Another one?" Akane leaned in closer, from where she sat on the edge of the couch. "She'll eat you alive, you know. She doesn't even give you the family 'discount.'"
"I dunno. She's mellowed out a little." Ranma looked up at her. "Since she and Ryouga started getting along. The alternative is asking Ryouga for money, and I won't do that."
"He'd probably be happy to give it to you," Akane answered, and Ranma nodded.
"Yeah, but he'd never let me forget it. Besides, I don't want his pity."
"Why can't you two just get along? Honestly!" Akane stood up, and looked around. "And where is Kasumi? It's not like her to be late."
"The rain probably just slowed her down a bit." Ranma cocked his head: half worried, half dismissive. "She's fine."
"Saotome-san hasn't come back either. Or Ryo-kun." Nabiki's voice came from behind, and the two teens turned as the older girl walked down the stairs. At her feet, Dollar jumped carefully from one step to the next, her size hindering her ability to efficiently transverse from up to down stairs. At around twelve weeks old, Dollar was still just barely a puppy, but possessed of a remarkable intelligence and understanding. Her large brown spots had darkened, especially over the colored half of her face, and she was growing quickly. At the bottom of the stairs, the dog waited for Nabiki, slightly impatient, but restrained.
P-chan was not so held back. With a loud 'bwee' he jumped up and at the dog. The younger Hibiki dog dodged, swiftly, and P-chan had to roll to recover himself. Dollar's tail started to wag, but she held back, waiting.
"Go on." Nabiki waved her hand, and the dog and the pig clashed, jumping at each other. Akane rolled her eyes in annoyance, but Ranma watched the two carefully. No doubt neither Akane nor Nabiki saw it, but both animals had some semblance of a technique. The small pig used some unusual and crude combination of Judo and Sumo, while the dog used a swifter, more economical movement style, batting with his paws. It was unlike anything he's seen before - though considering that he was trying to analyze the 'fighting' techniques of a canine probably said enough right there.
And, if he recalled correctly, Ryouga had put off bringing Dollar to the Tendo Dojo, or even selling any of Shirokuro's puppies, until they were all almost ten weeks old. Thinking back, Ranma also remembered that, back when they were younger, Ryouga had mentioned that his house was 'well guarded.' It was obvious to those that knew her that Shirokuro was not a normal dog. Ryouga practiced an unusual and largely informal style of martial arts himself, could the family dogs have been taught similarly? It was a possibility.
"You don't think he transformed, do you?" Akane asked her sister.
"No. Not unless he got really careless." Nabiki went to the open living room door, and looked out over the yard.
"Excuse me? This is Ryouga Hibiki we're talking about." Ranma smirked at his joke, though no one laughed. 'Hmfing' he went back to his magazine. Mentally, he kicked himself for blurting that out. If anything, he had to get on Nabiki's good side, or else he could end up owing an arm and a leg.
Nabiki gave him a quick, disapproving stare, before looking back outside, through the rain. "That idiot better not have gotten lost out there."
The door opened and a familiar voice called out.
"Hello everyone!"
"Kasumi!" Akane headed for the kitchen, and found a very wet version of her older sister, minus the groceries she had supposedly gone out for, and instead holding a familiar umbrella, with some difficulty, over one shoulder and a beaten and unconscious piglet in the crook of her other arm.
"Oneechan!" Nabiki wasn't far behind her sister, but openly gasped when she saw what she was carrying. "Ryo-kun?"
"Um... Kasumi...?" Akane pointed to the umbrella. "Isn't that a little heavy?"
"Oh my, yes it is. *Very* heavy for an umbrella."
Carefully, Kasumi put the umbrella down against a corner in the room. Hopefully, it wouldn't fall and break anything. Nabiki and Akane were both speechless, but Kasumi's next words broke them out of the surprised funk. "Nabiki-chan, could you please warm up some water?"
"Um... yeah. Sure." Nabiki reached out for the black piglet in Kasumi's arms. "Is he...?"
"He's been in a bit of a fight, I'm afraid." Kasumi watched as her younger sister's fingers trailed down one of the Buta-Ryouga's bruises. In the living room, Ranma quietly got up from the couch, and headed over. Ryouga had been in a fight? That alone was unusual - Ryouga didn't have any real enemies, and while occasionally he and Kuno would fight half-heartedly, anyone in the area who did fight knew to avoid the lost boy and try someone else if they had an itch to hit something. Naturally, people still came by wanting to tan Ranma's hide, but Ryouga hadn't been in a serious fight since their last spar in the dojo.
And he was hurt?
That was stunning. It took a hell of a lot to actually bruise the lost boy, Ranma could attest to that first hand, and even as the pig-formerly-known-as-P-chan, he wasn't to be underestimated. His speed could be phenomenal in his porcine form, and the piglet itself, despite appearances, was mostly tight muscle, steel-hard bones, tough as all hell cartilage, and unnaturally long and sharp teeth. Girls may find the little piglet to be cute, but it could be a real monster when Ryouga was sufficiently pissed off. Ranma had once called Ryouga's pig form a 'walking piranha' and it was an appropriate description.
"Let me see him!" Akane looked more closely at Ryouga, even as he lay cradled in Kasumi's arm. The real P-chan, and Ryouga's dog, had already come over. P-chan seemed confused, and jumped up onto a nearby table, while Dollar seemed a bit more withdrawn
"What's that he's wrapped in? Pantyhose?" Akane felt the odd fabric. "It is Pantyhose!"
"Quiet! You'll wake up the old freak yelling like that!" Ranma rushed over and clasped his hand over Akane's mouth. For a second, there was stunned silence, and everyone half expected the cackle of 'Pantyhose! How Sweet!' to ring through the house, but there was nothing. Ranma's hand fell, and he sighed in relief a heartbeat before Akane pounded him soundly.
"Baka." The youngest Tendo removed her elbow from the back of his head.
"Ranma," Kasumi addressed his beaten form. "Could you please go get something to ...something for Ryouga-kun to wear?"
"Yeah. Sure." Ranma got up, rubbed his sore neck, and headed off quickly.
"Here: it's pretty warm." Nabiki held out the hastily heated kettle of water, after only a few additional seconds to test it with her finger. Luckily, the family kept a kettle of fairly warm water available at all times for Jyusenkyou related emergencies. Kasumi nodded, and put Buta-Ryouga down on the floor, on a soft washing towel.
"Alright, everyone." Nabiki pointed to Akane and Kasumi. "Turn around."
"Oh? What about you, Nabi-chan?" Ranma smiled broadly, yellow towel in hand, back from upstairs.
She at last had the decency to blush, before handing the kettle over to the pigtailed boy. The three Tendo girls turned around, red by varying degrees, and Ranma knelt next to his... enemy? Rival? Maybe friend... no: not that just yet, he didn't think. Regardless, Ranma had another reason for not wanting Nabiki to be the one snapping him out of his cursed and unconscious state at the moment.
Splash.
"ARGHHHHH!!!" Ryouga's human eyes opened, frantic, and his right hand shot out like a snake, catching Ranma by the throat. Ranma gritted his teeth, and as Ryouga's eyes focused on him, and where he was, all strength in his iron grip faded. Gasping in surprise and shock, Ryouga grimaced in obvious pain.
"You ok, man?"
"Yah," Ryouga finally spoke, "Yeah. Ranma, we need to talk... Kasumi... Kasumi, you found me, didn't you? How?"
She pointed at the television. "It wasn't really that difficult."
"What do you mean?" Nabiki asked.
Ryouga got up, and wrapped a towel around his waist, nodding to Ranma in silent thanks. Akane quickly ran into the living room, and picked up the remote control. In a second, the Television was on. Nabiki, meanwhile, ran up to him and checked one of the larger cuts he had along his left arm. "Ryo-kun! What the hell happened?"
"Reports of extensive damage over several city blocks... reports indicate that some type of creature, what some could only describe as a monster... fled the area and disappeared after fighting with an unknown martial artist, who also seemed to disappear soon after. I'm in front of a local coffee shop that took heavy damage to its roof when, allegedly, the creature landed on it. Whether or not this incident is related to numerous reports of a monstrous pig attacking seemingly at random are..."
"Ah, well, there you go." Ryouga scowled, and rubbed the bruise on his left arm. It had scabbed over and was slightly scratchy. His other arm found Nabiki's waist, and he pulled her close, even though she ended up getting wet. A silent moment passed between them, and Ranma was about to leave, when Ryouga turned a bit and faced him.
"Ranma. Like I said. We need to talk," Ryouga's voice was calm, but beneath that, strained. "This wasn't the work of just some monster... I think we need to see Cologne."
***
Shampoo hated the rain.
More to the point, she hated making deliveries in the rain. Normally, it was a job that Mousse got shouldered with, but ever since he and Kuonji had gone to China for Jyusenkyou, and a cure, she had been forced to take his place. In fact, she had been forced into picking up after all Mousse' responsibilities in the store. At first, she hadn't really thought it would be much trouble, remembering that she had handled most of the Nekohanten's menial work by herself when Cologne first came. But at the time, the store had been new, and not nearly half as popular as it was now. Mousse not being around was turning out to be much more of a hassle than she liked.
"Stupid Mousse. Stupid, stupid Mousse," she repeated, running with great care while keeping herself sheltered from the elements with a sturdy umbrella. Normally, deliveries would be a quick affair - her bike could match the midrange speeds of most cars. It always seemed to surprise people when they realized she wasn't riding a motorcycle. But with the rain out, there was no way she could bicycle around without getting soaked.
As she walked, her thoughts turned to Mousse and Ukyou, and her other friends. The last time they'd all been together had been that crazy Hot Springs Race. Mousse had walked into the store one day from one of his deliveries, and in an abnormally calm voice, told her about the race, and the prize: a trip to any hot springs in the world. He then showed her the ticket, and asked if she'd like to go with her.
"You and me, Shampoo. It's as good as a cure for our curses! Agpft!"
Without really thinking about it, she'd overturned a bucket of water (dirty water at that) on him, taken the ticket, and ran off to find Ranma. It bothered her, now, how she'd treated him. He knew that she would have liked the trip to Jyusenkyou the most; out of all the girls he knew and could have gone with. He'd then gone on to partner with the violent Tendo girl, and Ryouga and Ukyou had somehow ended up at the same place.
Oddly, Mousse had been very quiet around her. Only when the race began, and he and Ranma started fighting for first place, did he start to talk at all. Only then, in the fights with Ranma and Ryouga did his normal, boisterous self come through. Then they'd all gotten splashed, and it was then that Shampoo began to remember exactly why she was here, or at least why Mousse was here. He didn't care about whom she wanted to be with anymore, he just wanted to be cured - he wanted her to be cured, because they were friends. Or at least he seemed to think so, despite how she treated him.
When they'd finally all found each other, Akane had ended up with Ranma, and Shampoo with Ryouga. Ukyou and Mousse had apparently found each other, and headed off on their own. Inwardly, she wondered if Mousse had even looked for her. At the time, teaming up with Ryouga had been fun. She still had a soft spot for the clueless boy, even if they did end up getting lost somewhere in the attic of a building. Finally, they'd heard familiar voices, and smashed through the roof down into the 'Smiling Tiger' bath, which Akane and Ranma had stumbled into.
Ranma had made a snide comment, Ryouga attacked, and both boys ended up totally plastered by the hot sake before one could drown the other. It took a half hour to drag them out of the bath, singing 'sea shanties' and laughing about crude jokes all the way. Needless to say that, by then, Mousse and Ukyou had won the race, and the two had been off for China two days later.
"Stupid Mousse. Stupid rain. Stupid Japan!" She grumbled, angrily, and checked to make sure she had come to the right address. It took only about twenty seconds before some kid answered the door. He looked to be around fourteen, with a set of freckles.
"I bring delivery from Nekohanten." Shampoo handed the boy the bill. "You order?"
"Yeah." He snickered, but Shampoo kept a smile on her face, ignoring the sound. "Yeah. 'I order.' Hold on, lady."
He came back in a minute with the money, and Shampoo handed over the order of food. The horny kid gave her a long look over that made Shampoo want to knock his jaw into low-earth orbit, before giving her a quick appreciative smile and closing the door. Shampoo's smile disappeared, and she headed back to the store, when halfway down the street, something black and white caught her eye.
"Mr. Saotome?" For the life of her, she couldn't imagine a real wild panda lose in Tokyo, it had to be her panda-cursed father-in-law. As she got closer, it certainly looked like him. In Shampoo's experience, few pandas stood on their hind legs waving a sign that says, 'I'm just a helpless little panda! Don't hurt me!' He looked to be limping, and while she normally had no real feelings towards Saotome Genma, simple decency demanded that she do something, if only because he was Ranma's father.
But... why was there pantyhose tied around his neck?
***
"The Jyusenkyou Visitor Registry has been stolen?"
"Yes." Cologne hung up the phone and hopped over to the table, balancing effortlessly on her staff. "The Guide himself has confirmed it. He was attacked in his home over two weeks ago."
"The Pantyhose Perpetrator and the Registry Robber are almost certainly one and the same." Ranma rested his chin on his knuckles, the two wooden hashi chopsticks in his hand twitching slightly. Ranma's eyes fell on his father, still in panda-form, currently stuffing his face with dumplings, then to Nabiki, who was engaged with picking at her bowl of ramen somewhat suspiciously. Behind him and off to the side, Ryouga stood, leaning against a wall. He had bandages around his left arm, but otherwise took to his injuries naturally. He had been quiet since they came here, and seemed to be brooding.
Or meditating.
Truthfully, Ranma still couldn't quite understand what ran through the lost boy's mind half the time. Only Nabiki seemed to have a clue as to what he was thinking or feeling. Ryouga guarded his true self too carefully for anyone to get too close to seeing the real him. It was frustrating, because Ranma really didn't want the lost boy as an enemy anymore. It'd be nice to have one real best friend again that he could talk to freely, and just be himself around.
"So basically." Akane looked up from her food. "We don't know anything. Except that Ryouga and Saotome-san were attacked by a man wearing a cloak, and that this man has a Jyusenkyou curse."
The panda grumbled something and went back to eating. Ryouga was silent, save to grunt in acknowledgement. Cologne shook her head. "No. There is one other thing we know about him."
"That's for sure." Happosai nodded gravely from his position on the table, his ramen finished. "He had great taste in lingerie!"
A second later, Happosai was twitching on the floor. Cologne cleared her throat. "As I was saying, we know one other thing... He was looking for a man who had visited Jyusenkyou. The Guide remembered that much, before he was knocked out."
"Hmf." Ranma smirked, leaning back in his chair. "That means we have the perfect bait. With Mousse gone, I'm the only guy in town who's been to Jyusenkyou. Which means I let him come to me."
Outside, the rain dwindled, if only momentarily. High above, clouds brewed, building up for an encore performance over Tokyo. The roof was quiet, as usual, and Ranma felt a sort of ease seep into him as he sat and watched the clouds roll and wrestle with each other in the night sky. It was a sort of neutral ground, now, by mutual agreement. Ryouga usually went up here to think and brood, and Ranma enjoyed the sense of isolation, serenity and calm that came from getting away from things ten feet below them.
They rarely talked, however. But they listened - they listened to the sound of fish jumping out of the pond to try and catch an unsuspecting fly, to far off sirens, or to the occasional cricket and bird, going about its life. They listened to the same things, and there was a sort of understanding that this they could share, without having to fight or spar over. And sometimes, Ranma would talk, and Ryouga would listen. He didn't always reply, preferring silence and guarded words, but he would listen and hear Ranma out, even if he didn't call the other boy a 'friend.'
It was enough.
But today, Ryouga was the first to speak, "Hey. Ranma. You remember that movie we watched on TV the other day? 'Rashomon?'"
"Yeah." Ranma only remembered it partly. The premise was simple, though Ranma found it a bit dull: a rape and a murder, seen from four different points of view - a bandit, a woman, her husband, and a woodcutter. They all agreed on a few facts, but in the end, the stories were all very different, each altered to put the narrator in the best light. As it turned out, even the murder victim, the husband, wasn't a reliable witness when his spirit was raised up from the dead to testify. Only the woodcutter, who seemed to be merely an observer, had anything approaching an objective view. And yet the film cast doubt on even his version of events, leaving Ranma with the frustrated revelation that he could never know for certain the truth of what had happened.
"You know... I've been thinking. It was the victim himself... his version of events was the most doubtful out of all four," Ryouga said, as much to himself as to the pigtailed boy. Obviously, in reality, there was only one true set of events that took place. But no observer could be objective, the one most affected by it least of all.
"Yeah. I guess so." Ranma wasn't quite sure where the lost boy was going with this. "What's up man? You look awfully serious, considering that it was just a movie."
"I was just... thinking about you and me. I was thinking about the bread feud. About lots of things, really." Ryouga looked up at the sky. "You'd better watch yourself, Ranma."
"Huh?"
"I will give you one warning. This Pantyhose Perpetrator is... a Demon of Jyusenkyou."
"What?" Ranma's back straightened up. "A Demon?"
***
"Ranma, are you sure you're going to be all right? Ryouga isn't exactly a pushover, you know. If he got hurt..."
"He also turns into a little pig when he gets wet," Ranma cut her off softly. The sky was still overcast, and threatening to rain at any second. Akane brought an umbrella of her own, just in case, but Ranma wasn't as worried. Or his thoughts were just on other matters.
"Still... I remember that fight you and Ryouga had." Akane sighed, how could anyone who had been there forget that fight? "This Pantyhose person must be pretty powerful, aren't you...?"
Ranma wasn't looking at her - his eyes were on a rapidly descending form, clad in a flowing cloak, obscuring his form. Ranma's body tensed, but didn't jump until the figure had already committed his bucket of water to splashing the pigtailed martial artist. A part of the fence Ranma had been walking on got soaked, but both fighters landed on the ground, at the same time, dry and untouched.
"So, you've finally found me, eh?" Ranma threw off his backpack. "I've been waiting for you... and unlike the others, I won't be so easily beaten!"
Uncharacteristically, Ranma took the initiative and charged. Without so much as a word, or a hint of hesitation, the cloaked stranger met him, the light pink pantyhose tied like a scarf around his face fluttering in the wind. Ranma stopped short, leaned back, and opened up with a barrage of snap kicks, just below his normal Amaguriken speeds, but fast enough to blur visibly. He was pulling his punches slightly to feel out his opponent. The cloaked stranger pulled back, and brought his arms up, blocking the blows from different angles by pivoting slightly at his knees and waist.
With a flourish, and a single hard laugh, the man spun out, his cloak billowing and hiding his movements. A sharp heel kick exploded from the confusion, and Ranma was hard pressed to dodge it. He'd anticipated an attack, but as used to distractions as he was from fighting Mousse, he had underestimated this opponent's speed. Sensing an opening, Ranma ducked, and sweep kicked low, catching his opponent's ankle just as it flexed, sending the cloaked fighter into the air in the form of a tiny jump. In midair, the pantyhose scarf undid, and the cloak fell from the fighter as he twisted to land perfectly to Ranma's right.
"You shall regret this." A tall young man was revealed as the cloak drifted to land nearby. He wore loose baggy pants, an odd dragonscale vest coupled with matching forearm bracers, and a pantyhose sash tied about his waist. He had a wild crop of dark brown hair, thick eyelashes, and a pair of earrings. Akane blinked - he was handsome in a bishounen sort of way, but he certainly didn't look like the type that could do damage to a walking tank like Hibiki Ryouga. Ranma took a step towards the other boy. Akane suspected he was thinking the same thing.
"Ok, pal. Just who the hell are you?" Ranma growled, advancing. Overhead, the clouds thundered. The other fighter only chuckled softly to himself, as the raindrops started to fall.
"Ranma! Be careful! It's starting to rain!"
"Yeah, I know!" Ranma broke into another charge. "I'll just worry about that after I've made this guy talk!"
As Ranma left the ground, committed to a jump kick, Akane saw it - a flash in the other boy's eyes. Instantly, in between the spatters of cold droplets on flesh, hair tore out from the formerly cloaked fighter's arms and face. At the same time, his muscles bulged and expanded, suddenly at first, and then with increasing intensity. His Chinese slippers dug into the hard ground, sending bits of concrete into the air at his feet, even as they began to twist and distort, his ankles rising and reforming higher up and into what might have previously been his calves. Ten feet he grew, then twenty, until the mass of dark wet fur was almost thirty feet tall, slightly hunched over. For something of its sudden size, the creature moved insanely quickly, and batted the surprised Ranma-chan out of the air easily.
"Ranma!" Akane could only gasp, as Ranma skidded and slid across the slick ground and almost to her feet, wincing in pain.
"What... what is he?" Ranma's voice was soft, and barely heard over the now thundering pounding of the rain. Lightning flashed, for an instant, revealing the massive creature. It had the head of a bull, crowned by twin arching horns, but it stood on what looked almost like the body of a man, shaggy and heavy with medium length hair. Wings sprouted from the shoulder blades, and flexed eagerly. The creature's legs were like that of a beast, and ended in large hooves that would easily dwarf those of a large horse. Behind the monster, a slick looking tail waved back and forth hungrily, and for a second, Akane could swear that the tail had... eyes? It took a single step forward that sounded almost like a thunderclap, and both girls felt the vibration through the ground into their bodies.
"A demon." Ranma-chan gasped, and scrambled back a bit as she got to her feet, bumping into Akane. "The Demon of Jyusenkyou! Akane... keep back!"
The creature lunged, and with a titanic fist that barely missed the jumping Ranma-chan, pulverized the ground where she had been standing a blink of an eye before. The demon's other hand, however, was quick to make good where its comrade had missed, and a huge palm again swatted Ranma-chan like one would a large insect, sending her crashing, head first, into a concrete wall.
With another thunderous step, the giant creature pivoted, and brought back a fist to finish the job. Akane frantically readied to run to Ranma's side, and nearly missed seeing large and fast jump from behind, past her, and into the amalgam monster. It roared from the blow, and in front of the creature, a man in dirty yellow and black landed with a splash.
"Akane! Nabi-chan! Get Ranma out of here!" He splayed his arms wide and faced the beast, one hand fiercely clutching his closed umbrella. "Ready for round two, freak? If I can't beat the hell out of Ranma, you sure as hell can't either!"
It leaned forward, and snarled with a tooth filled maw almost three feet long. Ryouga jumped, and the monster spun, trying to catch him as it had the other boy. Ryouga was slower, but this wasn't the first time he'd danced with this creature, and he ducked his head, avoiding the strike, and kicking out towards for the beast's jugular.
"Akane! Come on!"
"Nabiki?" Akane was more than a little surprised to see her sister, soaked to the bone, and pulling at her left arm.
"Who do you think led him here?" She answered, referring to Ryouga.
"But he'll be killed!" Akane yelled, over the din of the fighting and the rain. Ryouga had obviously given himself another treatment of the waterproof soap, but it wouldn't hold up forever in heavy rain like this, especially with him jumping, avoiding, and fighting that ...creature at the same time.
"Don't worry about Ryo-kun," Nabiki yelled back, as they reached where Ranma-chan still laid, amid the debris of the destroyed wall, watching the fight, shock written on her features. Ryouga had stepped in to help her? Why?
"We brought reinforcements!" Nabiki pointed to a far roof, where a black and white blur, and a small one, were converging on their location.
"Fall, damn you!" Ryouga back flipped, his feet catching the creature's jaw as he evaded another titanic fist. He turned just in time to see the other one, filling his vision like a wall, slam into him at full force. The lost boy dully felt the ground beneath him crumple and deform as he fell, but it lasted only a second before he recovered, rolled back, and got onto his feet. He was about to jump at the creature again, umbrella first for a crushing blow to one of the joints, this time, when he noticed the tiny bubbles forming on his arms.
"No," he cried, shaking his head, not believing it totally. "Not already!"
A vicious haymaker ran into the distracted martial artist before the last word had even left his lips. For a thought's length, Ryouga imagined his body being torn in two, his torso flying through the air for over a mile, by the sheer power behind the blow, even cushioned as he was by his Ki and his training. As it turned out, the blow did twist him around, and sent him off his feet. The lost boy could distantly feel his heels scratching against the ground as he flew horizontally through the air and directly into a parked car.
"Ryouga!" Ranma jumped to his feet. In the distance, through the heavy rain, he could just make out the car Ryouga had plowed into flying back several feet, into a street lamp. The girls spun, looking for what he saw, but he doubted they had anything like his vision, honed and enhanced as it was by his Ki. The monster turned its massive bulk, and Ranma caught its eyes - turning back to them.
"Shit. Both of you get out of here!" Ranma pushed the girls behind him and got into a quick stance. The creature seemed distracted for only a second, to swat away something else that had hit the side of its face, before drawing back a fist and heading straight for the pigtailed boy. Behind him, Nabiki and Akane screamed, but when the blow came, there was only silence. Happosai stood between the monster and its targets, a single index finger stopping the patchwork monster's fist short.
"That's enough!" Happosai sneered, and laughed evilly. "I'm taking over this match!"
"The pervert?" Ranma blinked in surprise. Was Happosai really here to help?
"Happosai?" Akane took a hesitant step backwards.
"About time." Nabiki wiped a bead of nervous sweat from her brow, mixed with the rainwater that seemed to have brought this monster out in the first place.
"If you value your life... you'll hand over all of your pantyhose!" Happosai flexed his left hand, in preparation. The monster's eyes simply narrowed, his head lowered, and two horns flashed out to cut the old pervert down. Happosai didn't even flinch.
His hands found purchase, and he smiled. "HAPPO DAI KARIN!!"
The shockwave from the blast hit first. Ranma weathered it, even in her weakened form, but Akane and Nabiki were easily knocked off their feet. Before Ranma could even check on them, the cloud of dust and debris from the bomb expanded, and everything became obscured. Her ears rang as if the tympana had been replaced by brass gongs, but that didn't disorient the combat hardened Ranma-chan for more than a few seconds. Her senses picked up something large moving nearby, and a brush of fur seemed just beyond reach.
"You fool!" She heard Happosai's voice from somewhere above. "You're finished!"
"Akane! Nabiki!" Ranma yelled, frantically. They had been behind him a second ago!
"Ranma! Ryouga! Anyone!!" Someone screamed, and Ranma recognized Akane's voice as being above her.
"Akane!" He yelled up, as the dark power clouds began to disperse, he could see Happosai, stopping short of delivering a punishing blow to the monster from above. The creature held Akane up in one hand and in the other held Nabiki, who seemed to be unconscious. Flexing its massive shoulders, the creature's wings began to flap, and amazingly, defying all logic, it took to the air.
"Damn you! Come back!" Ranma-chan jumped, with all her strength, and managed to get hold of the tail, but it was a slippery as a fish, and her grip only held for a second. Falling on her face, Ranma-chan could only look up as the monster flew off, gaining speed and height.
"Akane... damn him..." Ranma screwed her eyes shut, powerless to do anything, "Damn him..."
Author's Notes:
The promised chart (formerly in chapter 6) has been moved to here in version 1.4. Again: this version is more exact, I feel, than the old one. But still, take it with a grain of salt. These sorts of things are, at best, just a guideline.
Spd = speed. This represents overall both the speed of a character's strikes, and also their ability to maneuver and dodge. The Amaguriken technique dramatically increases a character's speed when learned, not just because it is a speed based technique, but because its use shifts a fighting style to focus more on maneuver in general.
Str = strength. Raw physical hitting power, based almost entirely on Ki enhancement of muscle groups. In that respect, it is related to speed (which is also based on Ki use, and not so much muscle mass/development), but is quite different in that the muscles and Ki are used differently. Strong people hit harder, though not necessarily better (Ryouga is a perfect example of this).
End = Endurance. This is both the ability to endure pain/punishment and the ability to keep fighting off exhaustion. In terms of Ki, this number represents the ability to properly and expertly channel Ki into the body at a pace that can be maintained for longer periods of time. This is the 'Well of Power' Ranma experiences in chapter 8.
Tec = Technique. This is pure fighting form and technique and (more importantly) the ability to put it into practical use. It involves a mastery of basic and conventional martial arts, and growing knowledge of the ability to use those martial arts in conjunction with growing mastery of Ki. Ukyou, for example, improves dramatically in Technique as she adapts and improves her formerly 'cooking based' style through contact with other martial artists like Mousse and Ryouga.
Ada = Adaptability. A somewhat amorphous attribute, this represents a character's ability to pick up new techniques (usually special techniques) and use them in a variety of situations. Those with a high number in this (like Ranma, Ryouga and to a lesser extent, Mousse) are always thinking of ways to experiment and modify their techniques, often improving on them dramatically. Ranma is the undisputed master of this attribute, able to consistently come up with adaptations 'on the fly.'
Stec= Special Techniques. This attribute is basically the number, power and effectiveness of a character's 'special' techniques. These are martial arts moves that always involve use of Ki, in some manner or another. These are the Final Attacks, Secret Techniques, etc... This trait is (usually) closely tied to Adaptability.
Saotome Ranma
(Arrival in Nerima / BT Fight / Final Duel)
Spd: 10 / 16 / 20
Str: 10 / 10 / 15
End: 10 / 14 / 20
Tec: 10 / 12 / 16
Ada: 20 / 20 / 20
Stec: 10 / 14 / 24
Hibiki Ryouga
(Arrival in Nerima / BT fight / Final Duel)
Spd: 08 / 15 / 18
Str: 15 / 16 / 26
End: 15 / 20 / 30
Tec: 08 / 10 / 14
Ada: 16 / 16 / 16
Stec: 14 / 16 / 24
Kuonji Ukyou
(Arrival in Nerima / Early Book One / Late Book One)
Spd: 06 / 08 / 10
Str: 06 / 08 / 08
End: 05 / 06 / 07
Tec: 05 / 07 / 09
Ada: 08 / 10 / 10
Stec: 04 / 04 / 05
Shan Pu
(Arrival in Nerima / Early Book One / Late Book One)
Spd: 05 / 05 / 07
Str: 08 / 08 / 08
End: 05 / 06 / 07
Tec: 08 / 08 / 09
Ada: 04 / 04 / 04
Stec: 05 / 05 / 05
Mu Tzu
(Arrival in Nerima / Early Book One / Late Book One)
Spd: 08 / 09 / 11
Str: 06 / 08 / 08
End: 06 / 07 / 09
Tec: 09 / 09 / 11
Ada: 10 / 12 / 12
Stec: 06 / 06 / 06
Pantyhose Taro
(Manga version / Fanfic Human / Fanfic Transformed*)
Spd: 14 / 16 / 16
Str: 10 / 12 / 38
End: 10 / 10 / 32
Tec: 09 / 10 / 10
Ada: 08 / 08 / 08
Stec: 00 / 00 / 02
* Some notes on Pantyhose Taro. For the purposes of the fanfiction (and my somewhat altered version of Taro's origins) he became stronger than I feel he is in the canon manga. Reading Book Two (past chapter 15) and into the China Story, the reasons for this become very clear. He also fights unfairly and with a measure of craftiness none of the characters are used to, which doesn't hurt his chances. Finally, I determined the strength/endurance of Taro's transformed state by the fact that it took a blow from Ranma and Ryouga and Mousse and Shampoo to the back of his skull to stun him. At the same time, he had shown the ability to knock himself out with a hard blow to the head.
Saotome Genma (tentative)
(When Ranma's age (17) / during Happosai Training / Present)
Spd: 12 / 17 / 13
Str: 12 / 16 / 14
End: 10 / 15 / 08
Tec: 08 / 12 / 10
Ada: 15 / 16 / 15
Stec: 05 / 12 / 20
Prince Herb
(Intro Scene)
Spd: 20
Str: 24
End: 50
Tec: 24
Ada: 15
Stec: 50
Saffron "The Terrible" (circa 1973/1974)
(Book Two Child / Book Two Adult)
Spd: 05 / 18
Str: 02 / 12
End: Not Applicable
Tec: 04 / 05
Ada: 04 / 05
Stec: 06 / 80
"Learning Curve"
Part XIV (v1.4)
by: J. Wagner
"Kasumi! Kasumi? ...Damn it. Where are you?" Ryouga stood on his tiptoes, and looked over the heads of the crowded market. He'd turned around for a second, after finding some chocolates Nabiki probably would've loved, and she'd just disappeared. Box of chocolates in-hand, he'd been about to wander around a bit trying to find her, when he'd thought the better of it, and decided to stay put, hoping that Kasumi would double back and find him.
That had been ten minutes ago.
Looking up from his watch, Ryouga groaned in annoyance. Why did this kind of thing always happen? He was tempted to blame it on Ranma, just for the hell of it, but even this predicament was a little 'out there' in respects to the pigtailed boy. Besides, he'd been trying to kick that habit of blaming Ranma for everything. While Saotome was directly or indirectly responsible for the greater bulk of the things that haunted his life with pain and torment, that still left what he estimated to be a good ten or fifteen percent that Ranma wasn't the least involved in.
"Come on, Kasumi. Where are you?" Ryouga looked around again in vain, before leaning back against the side of the stand and closing his eyes.
"Charlotte!!!"
"Oh no." Ryouga's eyes snapped open. "Oh no!!"
"Charlotte! It really is you! Come to Azusa, Charlotte!"
"Woah, hold on there, Azusa!" Ryouga held out his hand, stopping the charging Shiratori Azusa short of glomping onto him. She blinked large brown eyes at him in what seemed to the lost boy to be confusion. She was wearing a fairly typical looking and overly frilly white skating dress and a white bow - a change from her normal pink, if he remembered correctly. She was also, of course, in skates of a sort: roller blades.
"My name is Hibiki Ryouga, first of all..."
"You'll always be my 'little Charlotte' to me!" With surprising strength, Azusa pushed his arm aside, and caught him with a full on squeeze - Ryouga gasped for air. He reprimanded himself; he had forgotten just how strong the martial arts skater was. Ryouga let out a deep sigh, and using a fair amount of the more-than-formidable strength at his disposal, broke out of the hug.
"Listen here, Azusa... Don't do that to me in public, alright?" He slipped out from her grasp, and took a few steps back and away.
"I guess Azusa will just have to take you home then!" She giggled vacantly and lunged again, but Ryouga twisted, and she ended up squeezing a wooden stand holding up a sign.
The sign promptly broke in half.
"You know what I meant!"
"No I didn't." Azusa let go of the remains of the sign, her lower lip trembling. "Please don't yell at little Azusa..."
"I'm sorry, geez, don't cry or anything." Ryouga groaned inwardly. "It's just... wait just a second, Azusa..."
"Now..." Azusa slid forward gracefully, her roller blades remarkably stable in holding her upright, and from out of nowhere pulled out a small collar with a little pink heart on it. Ryouga recognized it instantly, and broke out into a nervous sweat. "You'll be coming with Azusa, Charlotte. One way or another."
Ryouga's brow furrowed, and he slid a foot forward, bringing his arms to his sides. "Stay back... or I'll use my Secret Technique!"
"Secret Technique?"
"YAAH!" Ryouga faked a lunge, causing Azusa to stumble a bit in hesitation, and then the lost boy simply turned and ran. Azusa was on skates, and anyone familiar with her particular brand of martial arts wouldn't underestimate her speed or agility on them, but when a Hibiki wanted to move, heaven help anything in his way or those trying to catch him. Give a Hibiki a day, and he may not even be in the same time zone.
It was only when that thought set in that Ryouga stopped and looked around.
"Well this is just... Wonderful. Just wonderful."
Lost.
Lost as usual.
"This is all Azusa's fault. What was she doing? What was she thinking?" He yelled at the heavens for answers, "Shouldn't all the crazy people be after Ranma? Huh? Huh?"
In another state of mind, most people probably would have realized that talking to oneself wasn't the most normal, or productive, thing to do at the moment, but that state of mind was just as lost as the lost boy was. Walking in the usual arbitrary direction, Ryouga drooped his head in defeat.
"That's it. Don't say anything." No sooner had the words left his mouth then an ominous thunder came from the south. Looking upwards, he confirmed it. A storm, which meant rain, and while a little rain probably wouldn't be enough to make him transform, not after using Jyusenkyou waterproof soap as religiously as he did over the last two weeks, which had been amazingly buta-free, but it would get him wet. And getting wet was both an unpleasant experience, and an uncomfortable one - too many memories he'd rather not have in the first place. And if it turned into a downpour, and he got careless, he could very well end up as a walking side order of bacon.
Ryouga took out his umbrella, tested it, and nodded to himself in obvious relief. It was reinforced through steady Ki infusion, and more than sturdy. This particular one, Umbrella #6, he'd nicknamed 'Natasha' after a nice girl he'd met when he'd wandered through Russia, months ago. While naming his weapon was a little secret he wasn't about to tell anyone (they wouldn't understand the affection a Hibiki feels for his weapon of choice) Ryouga felt very conventional about it. He only named one of them if they lasted for more than two months of steady use, and he had a lot of hard work and effort invested in 'Natasha.'
Looking around, his eyes searched out for some kind of landmark that could identify his present and unknown geographical location. There were the signs, of course, but the street names may as well have been in Hebrew, a language he always swore to get around to learning, just for the hell of it, for all the good they did him. Luckily, he had one of his backup packs with him, so he'd be prepared for the next few weeks of mindless wandering. Then something caught his eye, or to be more exact, someone caught his eye.
"Excuse me, sir." He approached the vendor, and gave him a small smile.
"Yeah, kid?" The man looked down from the paper he was reading. "You want to buy something?"
"Um... sure." Ryouga picked out a copy of the Tokyo Herald, and put down the money for it - there was an interesting article on a recent surge in wild animal attacks. "I was also wondering where I was."
"You lost?"
"Yeah, something like that. Am I still in Tokyo?"
"You're in Nerima ward, kid. ...Tokyo, obviously." The middle-aged man went back to his reading. Ryouga took the paper and headed off, a smirk on his lips. Nerima! He hadn't wandered off too far, then. All he had to do was take it slow and carefully, and sooner or later; he'd run across someone who could take him to the Tendo Dojo. He'd come to learn that public transport, especially subways in a city, were better than random meandering, but there didn't seem to be a station nearby on the poster that hung from the vendor's overhang.
Stupid complicated maps.
"Then again..." He looked up, at a nearby roof, and jumped. A distance of thirty feet wasn't a problem, and a tiny application of Ki to his leg muscles more than gave him the power for it. He held his arms wide for balance, and landed softly on the roof. Walking up to its highest point, at the crest that ran down the middle of the top of the house, he looked out, hoping to spot the Tendo yard or house.
It wasn't in sight, but he did make out part of Furinkan High, which was a start. Jumping easily from roof to roof, Ryouga felt fairly confidant that he'd be able to make it back home in time for dinner, provided Kasumi didn't herself wander around looking for him. At the thought, Ryouga stopped in mid jump, and went over that again in his head: since when had the Tendo place been his 'home?' His home was the Hibiki house, nearby, but out of practical reach for the time being.
He licked his lips, and pondered that. He wasn't really heading home; he was going back to mooching off the Tendos. Additionally, he had been in one place for a long time - he hadn't really felt the soft ground under his feet for a long time. True, it had only been a few months, but to Hibiki Ryouga, months without wandering off and getting well and truly lost in a forest or mountain range of some sort or another... it was both a miracle and a very unusual feeling. Did he really miss the wandering?
He could just walk off, in some random direction, and come back later, and at that thought, that impulse, he almost did. The wanderlust was well known among all those with Hibiki blood. Even those only slightly related to the line, Ryouga knew of distant relatives he had scattered all over the planet; all an unexplainable urge to see the world and keep moving. He'd always thought of himself as a shark of sorts, moving from place to place, eating what he wanted, doing what he wanted, never really... grounded. Never chained down.
"What to do?" He looked from the Furinkan clock tower to the horizon, and something deep inside wanted to head for the horizon itself. ...If only for a few weeks.
"No," he finally decided. He would have the common decency; at least, to tell them he was going off on a quick mountain training trip. Nabiki would be annoyed, he suspected, and she really had every right to be. He was, from a certain point of view, running away from her, and from 'them.'
He remembered, instantly, that first time she'd gotten him. He'd expected it, yes, but he'd also feared it. It was their second date, and they'd walked in the backyard afterwards. He'd been sulking a bit, and looking down at the koi in the pond, when, pretty much out of the blue, she had called his name, and smiled mysteriously. Before even he could react, she'd literally bounced up and into his arms, and when she darted her face forward, a few stray strands of hair had come between them. Without even thinking, he'd reached up, and brushed them aside, and she'd seemed to materialize into crystal clarity in front of him. She seized the initiative, and kissed him quickly, in a curious way he'd never suspected could come from her.
He'd passed out seconds later, and fallen into the pond, but the feeling still lingered, even now. He had to see her again, tell her that he wasn't leaving, just... just getting some fresh air. And if she insisted that he stay, well, he would. She was the most important thing in his life, without a doubt, but he knew she'd understand.
She always did.
Ryouga's thought instantly changed, and acting on a level usually reserved for instinct, his umbrella moved, like a blur, and a hard 'splash' sounded on the other side. Dripping cold water, the umbrella slowly lowered. Ryouga's mouth moved from impartial, to scowling, as he stared at the cloaked man, who descended from above, empty bucket in hand. The man's cloak, unlike the parkas Ryouga himself occasionally wore, concealed him almost completely from view, but underneath the dark hood, the lost boy was sure this man was smiling.
The two stood, in silence, for several seconds, when Ryouga felt a drop of cool rainwater land on his left cheek. Raising his umbrella, silently, he watched this man carefully. He seemed calm, and relaxed, even as he faced the lost boy down, and he seemed to largely ignore the rain even as it turned from sprinkle to downpour in typical Nerima fashion.
"Do you know," Ryouga began, dangerously. "That you attack Hibiki Ryouga?"
A single, hard laugh was the man's only response, as he clutched the collar of his cloak, and undid a single button. The laughter paused, as two predatory eyes looked up at him. There was an animalistic quality to them that stabbed Ryouga in the gut, on some primal level that couldn't be explained with words. With a flourish, the man's cloak left his shoulders, and immediately, as the cloth drifted to the roof tiles, the rain beat down on the stranger's arms, back, and face.
There was a crack of thunder, and the fight was joined.
***
"It's raining pretty heavily." Tendo Akane had steadily come to dislike the rain. In years past, it had been almost comforting, the faint tap-tap of raindrops on the roof, but over the last two years, the rain generally meant trouble. It generally kept the Jyusenkyou cursed indoors, and in close proximity to each other - never a good thing for the structural integrity of the house, or for peaceful appreciation of the sound of the rain itself.
Oddly, however, things had been quiet lately.
Suspiciously quiet.
Downstairs, Ranma was reading a magazine and snacking on a bag of potato chips. A small stack of schoolwork and books sat on a nearby table, untouched. P-chan sat on his haunches next to the books, and she noticed that his ears perked up when she entered the room. She'd wondered where he had run off to earlier, and now the answer was obvious.
"Ranma, have you been feeding P-chan potato chips?" She walked over in a semi-annoyed fashion. "You know you're just encouraging him to beg."
"It was only one," Ranma lied, and shrugged it off, going back to reading.
"Well, you're spoiling him." Akane reached down and scratched the little black piglet behind the ears.
"I'm spoiling him? I've seen you sneak him food when no one's looking. At least he's smart enough not to try and eat your leftovers."
"Baka," she rapped him on the side of the head halfheartedly. "What are you reading, anyway?"
"Jyusenkyou Products Catalogue. Shampoo let me borrow it."
Akane frowned.
"I'm thinking about ordering some of that waterproof soap Ryouga uses. They've got some of that instant Nanniichuan powder Shampoo used the other day, and a whole bunch of other weird stuff."
"Didn't the Instant Nanniichuan only work once, and then it wore off?"
"Well, yeah," Ranma said, and turned the page, "But most of the time, I only get splashed once a day, or once every few days."
"You are not turning our furo into a Japanese Jyusenkyou, Ranma."
Ranma seemed about to say something, but caught himself.
"No, I ain't planning that. It's just a precaution, you know. I mean, it's not a cure, but it's better than nothing. The problem..." He sighed, and quickly skipped two more pages. "The problem is money. None of this stuff is cheap. And then there's the shipping and handling costs. I just can't afford any of this. I've been thinking about asking Nabiki for another loan."
"Another one?" Akane leaned in closer, from where she sat on the edge of the couch. "She'll eat you alive, you know. She doesn't even give you the family 'discount.'"
"I dunno. She's mellowed out a little." Ranma looked up at her. "Since she and Ryouga started getting along. The alternative is asking Ryouga for money, and I won't do that."
"He'd probably be happy to give it to you," Akane answered, and Ranma nodded.
"Yeah, but he'd never let me forget it. Besides, I don't want his pity."
"Why can't you two just get along? Honestly!" Akane stood up, and looked around. "And where is Kasumi? It's not like her to be late."
"The rain probably just slowed her down a bit." Ranma cocked his head: half worried, half dismissive. "She's fine."
"Saotome-san hasn't come back either. Or Ryo-kun." Nabiki's voice came from behind, and the two teens turned as the older girl walked down the stairs. At her feet, Dollar jumped carefully from one step to the next, her size hindering her ability to efficiently transverse from up to down stairs. At around twelve weeks old, Dollar was still just barely a puppy, but possessed of a remarkable intelligence and understanding. Her large brown spots had darkened, especially over the colored half of her face, and she was growing quickly. At the bottom of the stairs, the dog waited for Nabiki, slightly impatient, but restrained.
P-chan was not so held back. With a loud 'bwee' he jumped up and at the dog. The younger Hibiki dog dodged, swiftly, and P-chan had to roll to recover himself. Dollar's tail started to wag, but she held back, waiting.
"Go on." Nabiki waved her hand, and the dog and the pig clashed, jumping at each other. Akane rolled her eyes in annoyance, but Ranma watched the two carefully. No doubt neither Akane nor Nabiki saw it, but both animals had some semblance of a technique. The small pig used some unusual and crude combination of Judo and Sumo, while the dog used a swifter, more economical movement style, batting with his paws. It was unlike anything he's seen before - though considering that he was trying to analyze the 'fighting' techniques of a canine probably said enough right there.
And, if he recalled correctly, Ryouga had put off bringing Dollar to the Tendo Dojo, or even selling any of Shirokuro's puppies, until they were all almost ten weeks old. Thinking back, Ranma also remembered that, back when they were younger, Ryouga had mentioned that his house was 'well guarded.' It was obvious to those that knew her that Shirokuro was not a normal dog. Ryouga practiced an unusual and largely informal style of martial arts himself, could the family dogs have been taught similarly? It was a possibility.
"You don't think he transformed, do you?" Akane asked her sister.
"No. Not unless he got really careless." Nabiki went to the open living room door, and looked out over the yard.
"Excuse me? This is Ryouga Hibiki we're talking about." Ranma smirked at his joke, though no one laughed. 'Hmfing' he went back to his magazine. Mentally, he kicked himself for blurting that out. If anything, he had to get on Nabiki's good side, or else he could end up owing an arm and a leg.
Nabiki gave him a quick, disapproving stare, before looking back outside, through the rain. "That idiot better not have gotten lost out there."
The door opened and a familiar voice called out.
"Hello everyone!"
"Kasumi!" Akane headed for the kitchen, and found a very wet version of her older sister, minus the groceries she had supposedly gone out for, and instead holding a familiar umbrella, with some difficulty, over one shoulder and a beaten and unconscious piglet in the crook of her other arm.
"Oneechan!" Nabiki wasn't far behind her sister, but openly gasped when she saw what she was carrying. "Ryo-kun?"
"Um... Kasumi...?" Akane pointed to the umbrella. "Isn't that a little heavy?"
"Oh my, yes it is. *Very* heavy for an umbrella."
Carefully, Kasumi put the umbrella down against a corner in the room. Hopefully, it wouldn't fall and break anything. Nabiki and Akane were both speechless, but Kasumi's next words broke them out of the surprised funk. "Nabiki-chan, could you please warm up some water?"
"Um... yeah. Sure." Nabiki reached out for the black piglet in Kasumi's arms. "Is he...?"
"He's been in a bit of a fight, I'm afraid." Kasumi watched as her younger sister's fingers trailed down one of the Buta-Ryouga's bruises. In the living room, Ranma quietly got up from the couch, and headed over. Ryouga had been in a fight? That alone was unusual - Ryouga didn't have any real enemies, and while occasionally he and Kuno would fight half-heartedly, anyone in the area who did fight knew to avoid the lost boy and try someone else if they had an itch to hit something. Naturally, people still came by wanting to tan Ranma's hide, but Ryouga hadn't been in a serious fight since their last spar in the dojo.
And he was hurt?
That was stunning. It took a hell of a lot to actually bruise the lost boy, Ranma could attest to that first hand, and even as the pig-formerly-known-as-P-chan, he wasn't to be underestimated. His speed could be phenomenal in his porcine form, and the piglet itself, despite appearances, was mostly tight muscle, steel-hard bones, tough as all hell cartilage, and unnaturally long and sharp teeth. Girls may find the little piglet to be cute, but it could be a real monster when Ryouga was sufficiently pissed off. Ranma had once called Ryouga's pig form a 'walking piranha' and it was an appropriate description.
"Let me see him!" Akane looked more closely at Ryouga, even as he lay cradled in Kasumi's arm. The real P-chan, and Ryouga's dog, had already come over. P-chan seemed confused, and jumped up onto a nearby table, while Dollar seemed a bit more withdrawn
"What's that he's wrapped in? Pantyhose?" Akane felt the odd fabric. "It is Pantyhose!"
"Quiet! You'll wake up the old freak yelling like that!" Ranma rushed over and clasped his hand over Akane's mouth. For a second, there was stunned silence, and everyone half expected the cackle of 'Pantyhose! How Sweet!' to ring through the house, but there was nothing. Ranma's hand fell, and he sighed in relief a heartbeat before Akane pounded him soundly.
"Baka." The youngest Tendo removed her elbow from the back of his head.
"Ranma," Kasumi addressed his beaten form. "Could you please go get something to ...something for Ryouga-kun to wear?"
"Yeah. Sure." Ranma got up, rubbed his sore neck, and headed off quickly.
"Here: it's pretty warm." Nabiki held out the hastily heated kettle of water, after only a few additional seconds to test it with her finger. Luckily, the family kept a kettle of fairly warm water available at all times for Jyusenkyou related emergencies. Kasumi nodded, and put Buta-Ryouga down on the floor, on a soft washing towel.
"Alright, everyone." Nabiki pointed to Akane and Kasumi. "Turn around."
"Oh? What about you, Nabi-chan?" Ranma smiled broadly, yellow towel in hand, back from upstairs.
She at last had the decency to blush, before handing the kettle over to the pigtailed boy. The three Tendo girls turned around, red by varying degrees, and Ranma knelt next to his... enemy? Rival? Maybe friend... no: not that just yet, he didn't think. Regardless, Ranma had another reason for not wanting Nabiki to be the one snapping him out of his cursed and unconscious state at the moment.
Splash.
"ARGHHHHH!!!" Ryouga's human eyes opened, frantic, and his right hand shot out like a snake, catching Ranma by the throat. Ranma gritted his teeth, and as Ryouga's eyes focused on him, and where he was, all strength in his iron grip faded. Gasping in surprise and shock, Ryouga grimaced in obvious pain.
"You ok, man?"
"Yah," Ryouga finally spoke, "Yeah. Ranma, we need to talk... Kasumi... Kasumi, you found me, didn't you? How?"
She pointed at the television. "It wasn't really that difficult."
"What do you mean?" Nabiki asked.
Ryouga got up, and wrapped a towel around his waist, nodding to Ranma in silent thanks. Akane quickly ran into the living room, and picked up the remote control. In a second, the Television was on. Nabiki, meanwhile, ran up to him and checked one of the larger cuts he had along his left arm. "Ryo-kun! What the hell happened?"
"Reports of extensive damage over several city blocks... reports indicate that some type of creature, what some could only describe as a monster... fled the area and disappeared after fighting with an unknown martial artist, who also seemed to disappear soon after. I'm in front of a local coffee shop that took heavy damage to its roof when, allegedly, the creature landed on it. Whether or not this incident is related to numerous reports of a monstrous pig attacking seemingly at random are..."
"Ah, well, there you go." Ryouga scowled, and rubbed the bruise on his left arm. It had scabbed over and was slightly scratchy. His other arm found Nabiki's waist, and he pulled her close, even though she ended up getting wet. A silent moment passed between them, and Ranma was about to leave, when Ryouga turned a bit and faced him.
"Ranma. Like I said. We need to talk," Ryouga's voice was calm, but beneath that, strained. "This wasn't the work of just some monster... I think we need to see Cologne."
***
Shampoo hated the rain.
More to the point, she hated making deliveries in the rain. Normally, it was a job that Mousse got shouldered with, but ever since he and Kuonji had gone to China for Jyusenkyou, and a cure, she had been forced to take his place. In fact, she had been forced into picking up after all Mousse' responsibilities in the store. At first, she hadn't really thought it would be much trouble, remembering that she had handled most of the Nekohanten's menial work by herself when Cologne first came. But at the time, the store had been new, and not nearly half as popular as it was now. Mousse not being around was turning out to be much more of a hassle than she liked.
"Stupid Mousse. Stupid, stupid Mousse," she repeated, running with great care while keeping herself sheltered from the elements with a sturdy umbrella. Normally, deliveries would be a quick affair - her bike could match the midrange speeds of most cars. It always seemed to surprise people when they realized she wasn't riding a motorcycle. But with the rain out, there was no way she could bicycle around without getting soaked.
As she walked, her thoughts turned to Mousse and Ukyou, and her other friends. The last time they'd all been together had been that crazy Hot Springs Race. Mousse had walked into the store one day from one of his deliveries, and in an abnormally calm voice, told her about the race, and the prize: a trip to any hot springs in the world. He then showed her the ticket, and asked if she'd like to go with her.
"You and me, Shampoo. It's as good as a cure for our curses! Agpft!"
Without really thinking about it, she'd overturned a bucket of water (dirty water at that) on him, taken the ticket, and ran off to find Ranma. It bothered her, now, how she'd treated him. He knew that she would have liked the trip to Jyusenkyou the most; out of all the girls he knew and could have gone with. He'd then gone on to partner with the violent Tendo girl, and Ryouga and Ukyou had somehow ended up at the same place.
Oddly, Mousse had been very quiet around her. Only when the race began, and he and Ranma started fighting for first place, did he start to talk at all. Only then, in the fights with Ranma and Ryouga did his normal, boisterous self come through. Then they'd all gotten splashed, and it was then that Shampoo began to remember exactly why she was here, or at least why Mousse was here. He didn't care about whom she wanted to be with anymore, he just wanted to be cured - he wanted her to be cured, because they were friends. Or at least he seemed to think so, despite how she treated him.
When they'd finally all found each other, Akane had ended up with Ranma, and Shampoo with Ryouga. Ukyou and Mousse had apparently found each other, and headed off on their own. Inwardly, she wondered if Mousse had even looked for her. At the time, teaming up with Ryouga had been fun. She still had a soft spot for the clueless boy, even if they did end up getting lost somewhere in the attic of a building. Finally, they'd heard familiar voices, and smashed through the roof down into the 'Smiling Tiger' bath, which Akane and Ranma had stumbled into.
Ranma had made a snide comment, Ryouga attacked, and both boys ended up totally plastered by the hot sake before one could drown the other. It took a half hour to drag them out of the bath, singing 'sea shanties' and laughing about crude jokes all the way. Needless to say that, by then, Mousse and Ukyou had won the race, and the two had been off for China two days later.
"Stupid Mousse. Stupid rain. Stupid Japan!" She grumbled, angrily, and checked to make sure she had come to the right address. It took only about twenty seconds before some kid answered the door. He looked to be around fourteen, with a set of freckles.
"I bring delivery from Nekohanten." Shampoo handed the boy the bill. "You order?"
"Yeah." He snickered, but Shampoo kept a smile on her face, ignoring the sound. "Yeah. 'I order.' Hold on, lady."
He came back in a minute with the money, and Shampoo handed over the order of food. The horny kid gave her a long look over that made Shampoo want to knock his jaw into low-earth orbit, before giving her a quick appreciative smile and closing the door. Shampoo's smile disappeared, and she headed back to the store, when halfway down the street, something black and white caught her eye.
"Mr. Saotome?" For the life of her, she couldn't imagine a real wild panda lose in Tokyo, it had to be her panda-cursed father-in-law. As she got closer, it certainly looked like him. In Shampoo's experience, few pandas stood on their hind legs waving a sign that says, 'I'm just a helpless little panda! Don't hurt me!' He looked to be limping, and while she normally had no real feelings towards Saotome Genma, simple decency demanded that she do something, if only because he was Ranma's father.
But... why was there pantyhose tied around his neck?
***
"The Jyusenkyou Visitor Registry has been stolen?"
"Yes." Cologne hung up the phone and hopped over to the table, balancing effortlessly on her staff. "The Guide himself has confirmed it. He was attacked in his home over two weeks ago."
"The Pantyhose Perpetrator and the Registry Robber are almost certainly one and the same." Ranma rested his chin on his knuckles, the two wooden hashi chopsticks in his hand twitching slightly. Ranma's eyes fell on his father, still in panda-form, currently stuffing his face with dumplings, then to Nabiki, who was engaged with picking at her bowl of ramen somewhat suspiciously. Behind him and off to the side, Ryouga stood, leaning against a wall. He had bandages around his left arm, but otherwise took to his injuries naturally. He had been quiet since they came here, and seemed to be brooding.
Or meditating.
Truthfully, Ranma still couldn't quite understand what ran through the lost boy's mind half the time. Only Nabiki seemed to have a clue as to what he was thinking or feeling. Ryouga guarded his true self too carefully for anyone to get too close to seeing the real him. It was frustrating, because Ranma really didn't want the lost boy as an enemy anymore. It'd be nice to have one real best friend again that he could talk to freely, and just be himself around.
"So basically." Akane looked up from her food. "We don't know anything. Except that Ryouga and Saotome-san were attacked by a man wearing a cloak, and that this man has a Jyusenkyou curse."
The panda grumbled something and went back to eating. Ryouga was silent, save to grunt in acknowledgement. Cologne shook her head. "No. There is one other thing we know about him."
"That's for sure." Happosai nodded gravely from his position on the table, his ramen finished. "He had great taste in lingerie!"
A second later, Happosai was twitching on the floor. Cologne cleared her throat. "As I was saying, we know one other thing... He was looking for a man who had visited Jyusenkyou. The Guide remembered that much, before he was knocked out."
"Hmf." Ranma smirked, leaning back in his chair. "That means we have the perfect bait. With Mousse gone, I'm the only guy in town who's been to Jyusenkyou. Which means I let him come to me."
Outside, the rain dwindled, if only momentarily. High above, clouds brewed, building up for an encore performance over Tokyo. The roof was quiet, as usual, and Ranma felt a sort of ease seep into him as he sat and watched the clouds roll and wrestle with each other in the night sky. It was a sort of neutral ground, now, by mutual agreement. Ryouga usually went up here to think and brood, and Ranma enjoyed the sense of isolation, serenity and calm that came from getting away from things ten feet below them.
They rarely talked, however. But they listened - they listened to the sound of fish jumping out of the pond to try and catch an unsuspecting fly, to far off sirens, or to the occasional cricket and bird, going about its life. They listened to the same things, and there was a sort of understanding that this they could share, without having to fight or spar over. And sometimes, Ranma would talk, and Ryouga would listen. He didn't always reply, preferring silence and guarded words, but he would listen and hear Ranma out, even if he didn't call the other boy a 'friend.'
It was enough.
But today, Ryouga was the first to speak, "Hey. Ranma. You remember that movie we watched on TV the other day? 'Rashomon?'"
"Yeah." Ranma only remembered it partly. The premise was simple, though Ranma found it a bit dull: a rape and a murder, seen from four different points of view - a bandit, a woman, her husband, and a woodcutter. They all agreed on a few facts, but in the end, the stories were all very different, each altered to put the narrator in the best light. As it turned out, even the murder victim, the husband, wasn't a reliable witness when his spirit was raised up from the dead to testify. Only the woodcutter, who seemed to be merely an observer, had anything approaching an objective view. And yet the film cast doubt on even his version of events, leaving Ranma with the frustrated revelation that he could never know for certain the truth of what had happened.
"You know... I've been thinking. It was the victim himself... his version of events was the most doubtful out of all four," Ryouga said, as much to himself as to the pigtailed boy. Obviously, in reality, there was only one true set of events that took place. But no observer could be objective, the one most affected by it least of all.
"Yeah. I guess so." Ranma wasn't quite sure where the lost boy was going with this. "What's up man? You look awfully serious, considering that it was just a movie."
"I was just... thinking about you and me. I was thinking about the bread feud. About lots of things, really." Ryouga looked up at the sky. "You'd better watch yourself, Ranma."
"Huh?"
"I will give you one warning. This Pantyhose Perpetrator is... a Demon of Jyusenkyou."
"What?" Ranma's back straightened up. "A Demon?"
***
"Ranma, are you sure you're going to be all right? Ryouga isn't exactly a pushover, you know. If he got hurt..."
"He also turns into a little pig when he gets wet," Ranma cut her off softly. The sky was still overcast, and threatening to rain at any second. Akane brought an umbrella of her own, just in case, but Ranma wasn't as worried. Or his thoughts were just on other matters.
"Still... I remember that fight you and Ryouga had." Akane sighed, how could anyone who had been there forget that fight? "This Pantyhose person must be pretty powerful, aren't you...?"
Ranma wasn't looking at her - his eyes were on a rapidly descending form, clad in a flowing cloak, obscuring his form. Ranma's body tensed, but didn't jump until the figure had already committed his bucket of water to splashing the pigtailed martial artist. A part of the fence Ranma had been walking on got soaked, but both fighters landed on the ground, at the same time, dry and untouched.
"So, you've finally found me, eh?" Ranma threw off his backpack. "I've been waiting for you... and unlike the others, I won't be so easily beaten!"
Uncharacteristically, Ranma took the initiative and charged. Without so much as a word, or a hint of hesitation, the cloaked stranger met him, the light pink pantyhose tied like a scarf around his face fluttering in the wind. Ranma stopped short, leaned back, and opened up with a barrage of snap kicks, just below his normal Amaguriken speeds, but fast enough to blur visibly. He was pulling his punches slightly to feel out his opponent. The cloaked stranger pulled back, and brought his arms up, blocking the blows from different angles by pivoting slightly at his knees and waist.
With a flourish, and a single hard laugh, the man spun out, his cloak billowing and hiding his movements. A sharp heel kick exploded from the confusion, and Ranma was hard pressed to dodge it. He'd anticipated an attack, but as used to distractions as he was from fighting Mousse, he had underestimated this opponent's speed. Sensing an opening, Ranma ducked, and sweep kicked low, catching his opponent's ankle just as it flexed, sending the cloaked fighter into the air in the form of a tiny jump. In midair, the pantyhose scarf undid, and the cloak fell from the fighter as he twisted to land perfectly to Ranma's right.
"You shall regret this." A tall young man was revealed as the cloak drifted to land nearby. He wore loose baggy pants, an odd dragonscale vest coupled with matching forearm bracers, and a pantyhose sash tied about his waist. He had a wild crop of dark brown hair, thick eyelashes, and a pair of earrings. Akane blinked - he was handsome in a bishounen sort of way, but he certainly didn't look like the type that could do damage to a walking tank like Hibiki Ryouga. Ranma took a step towards the other boy. Akane suspected he was thinking the same thing.
"Ok, pal. Just who the hell are you?" Ranma growled, advancing. Overhead, the clouds thundered. The other fighter only chuckled softly to himself, as the raindrops started to fall.
"Ranma! Be careful! It's starting to rain!"
"Yeah, I know!" Ranma broke into another charge. "I'll just worry about that after I've made this guy talk!"
As Ranma left the ground, committed to a jump kick, Akane saw it - a flash in the other boy's eyes. Instantly, in between the spatters of cold droplets on flesh, hair tore out from the formerly cloaked fighter's arms and face. At the same time, his muscles bulged and expanded, suddenly at first, and then with increasing intensity. His Chinese slippers dug into the hard ground, sending bits of concrete into the air at his feet, even as they began to twist and distort, his ankles rising and reforming higher up and into what might have previously been his calves. Ten feet he grew, then twenty, until the mass of dark wet fur was almost thirty feet tall, slightly hunched over. For something of its sudden size, the creature moved insanely quickly, and batted the surprised Ranma-chan out of the air easily.
"Ranma!" Akane could only gasp, as Ranma skidded and slid across the slick ground and almost to her feet, wincing in pain.
"What... what is he?" Ranma's voice was soft, and barely heard over the now thundering pounding of the rain. Lightning flashed, for an instant, revealing the massive creature. It had the head of a bull, crowned by twin arching horns, but it stood on what looked almost like the body of a man, shaggy and heavy with medium length hair. Wings sprouted from the shoulder blades, and flexed eagerly. The creature's legs were like that of a beast, and ended in large hooves that would easily dwarf those of a large horse. Behind the monster, a slick looking tail waved back and forth hungrily, and for a second, Akane could swear that the tail had... eyes? It took a single step forward that sounded almost like a thunderclap, and both girls felt the vibration through the ground into their bodies.
"A demon." Ranma-chan gasped, and scrambled back a bit as she got to her feet, bumping into Akane. "The Demon of Jyusenkyou! Akane... keep back!"
The creature lunged, and with a titanic fist that barely missed the jumping Ranma-chan, pulverized the ground where she had been standing a blink of an eye before. The demon's other hand, however, was quick to make good where its comrade had missed, and a huge palm again swatted Ranma-chan like one would a large insect, sending her crashing, head first, into a concrete wall.
With another thunderous step, the giant creature pivoted, and brought back a fist to finish the job. Akane frantically readied to run to Ranma's side, and nearly missed seeing large and fast jump from behind, past her, and into the amalgam monster. It roared from the blow, and in front of the creature, a man in dirty yellow and black landed with a splash.
"Akane! Nabi-chan! Get Ranma out of here!" He splayed his arms wide and faced the beast, one hand fiercely clutching his closed umbrella. "Ready for round two, freak? If I can't beat the hell out of Ranma, you sure as hell can't either!"
It leaned forward, and snarled with a tooth filled maw almost three feet long. Ryouga jumped, and the monster spun, trying to catch him as it had the other boy. Ryouga was slower, but this wasn't the first time he'd danced with this creature, and he ducked his head, avoiding the strike, and kicking out towards for the beast's jugular.
"Akane! Come on!"
"Nabiki?" Akane was more than a little surprised to see her sister, soaked to the bone, and pulling at her left arm.
"Who do you think led him here?" She answered, referring to Ryouga.
"But he'll be killed!" Akane yelled, over the din of the fighting and the rain. Ryouga had obviously given himself another treatment of the waterproof soap, but it wouldn't hold up forever in heavy rain like this, especially with him jumping, avoiding, and fighting that ...creature at the same time.
"Don't worry about Ryo-kun," Nabiki yelled back, as they reached where Ranma-chan still laid, amid the debris of the destroyed wall, watching the fight, shock written on her features. Ryouga had stepped in to help her? Why?
"We brought reinforcements!" Nabiki pointed to a far roof, where a black and white blur, and a small one, were converging on their location.
"Fall, damn you!" Ryouga back flipped, his feet catching the creature's jaw as he evaded another titanic fist. He turned just in time to see the other one, filling his vision like a wall, slam into him at full force. The lost boy dully felt the ground beneath him crumple and deform as he fell, but it lasted only a second before he recovered, rolled back, and got onto his feet. He was about to jump at the creature again, umbrella first for a crushing blow to one of the joints, this time, when he noticed the tiny bubbles forming on his arms.
"No," he cried, shaking his head, not believing it totally. "Not already!"
A vicious haymaker ran into the distracted martial artist before the last word had even left his lips. For a thought's length, Ryouga imagined his body being torn in two, his torso flying through the air for over a mile, by the sheer power behind the blow, even cushioned as he was by his Ki and his training. As it turned out, the blow did twist him around, and sent him off his feet. The lost boy could distantly feel his heels scratching against the ground as he flew horizontally through the air and directly into a parked car.
"Ryouga!" Ranma jumped to his feet. In the distance, through the heavy rain, he could just make out the car Ryouga had plowed into flying back several feet, into a street lamp. The girls spun, looking for what he saw, but he doubted they had anything like his vision, honed and enhanced as it was by his Ki. The monster turned its massive bulk, and Ranma caught its eyes - turning back to them.
"Shit. Both of you get out of here!" Ranma pushed the girls behind him and got into a quick stance. The creature seemed distracted for only a second, to swat away something else that had hit the side of its face, before drawing back a fist and heading straight for the pigtailed boy. Behind him, Nabiki and Akane screamed, but when the blow came, there was only silence. Happosai stood between the monster and its targets, a single index finger stopping the patchwork monster's fist short.
"That's enough!" Happosai sneered, and laughed evilly. "I'm taking over this match!"
"The pervert?" Ranma blinked in surprise. Was Happosai really here to help?
"Happosai?" Akane took a hesitant step backwards.
"About time." Nabiki wiped a bead of nervous sweat from her brow, mixed with the rainwater that seemed to have brought this monster out in the first place.
"If you value your life... you'll hand over all of your pantyhose!" Happosai flexed his left hand, in preparation. The monster's eyes simply narrowed, his head lowered, and two horns flashed out to cut the old pervert down. Happosai didn't even flinch.
His hands found purchase, and he smiled. "HAPPO DAI KARIN!!"
The shockwave from the blast hit first. Ranma weathered it, even in her weakened form, but Akane and Nabiki were easily knocked off their feet. Before Ranma could even check on them, the cloud of dust and debris from the bomb expanded, and everything became obscured. Her ears rang as if the tympana had been replaced by brass gongs, but that didn't disorient the combat hardened Ranma-chan for more than a few seconds. Her senses picked up something large moving nearby, and a brush of fur seemed just beyond reach.
"You fool!" She heard Happosai's voice from somewhere above. "You're finished!"
"Akane! Nabiki!" Ranma yelled, frantically. They had been behind him a second ago!
"Ranma! Ryouga! Anyone!!" Someone screamed, and Ranma recognized Akane's voice as being above her.
"Akane!" He yelled up, as the dark power clouds began to disperse, he could see Happosai, stopping short of delivering a punishing blow to the monster from above. The creature held Akane up in one hand and in the other held Nabiki, who seemed to be unconscious. Flexing its massive shoulders, the creature's wings began to flap, and amazingly, defying all logic, it took to the air.
"Damn you! Come back!" Ranma-chan jumped, with all her strength, and managed to get hold of the tail, but it was a slippery as a fish, and her grip only held for a second. Falling on her face, Ranma-chan could only look up as the monster flew off, gaining speed and height.
"Akane... damn him..." Ranma screwed her eyes shut, powerless to do anything, "Damn him..."
Author's Notes:
The promised chart (formerly in chapter 6) has been moved to here in version 1.4. Again: this version is more exact, I feel, than the old one. But still, take it with a grain of salt. These sorts of things are, at best, just a guideline.
Spd = speed. This represents overall both the speed of a character's strikes, and also their ability to maneuver and dodge. The Amaguriken technique dramatically increases a character's speed when learned, not just because it is a speed based technique, but because its use shifts a fighting style to focus more on maneuver in general.
Str = strength. Raw physical hitting power, based almost entirely on Ki enhancement of muscle groups. In that respect, it is related to speed (which is also based on Ki use, and not so much muscle mass/development), but is quite different in that the muscles and Ki are used differently. Strong people hit harder, though not necessarily better (Ryouga is a perfect example of this).
End = Endurance. This is both the ability to endure pain/punishment and the ability to keep fighting off exhaustion. In terms of Ki, this number represents the ability to properly and expertly channel Ki into the body at a pace that can be maintained for longer periods of time. This is the 'Well of Power' Ranma experiences in chapter 8.
Tec = Technique. This is pure fighting form and technique and (more importantly) the ability to put it into practical use. It involves a mastery of basic and conventional martial arts, and growing knowledge of the ability to use those martial arts in conjunction with growing mastery of Ki. Ukyou, for example, improves dramatically in Technique as she adapts and improves her formerly 'cooking based' style through contact with other martial artists like Mousse and Ryouga.
Ada = Adaptability. A somewhat amorphous attribute, this represents a character's ability to pick up new techniques (usually special techniques) and use them in a variety of situations. Those with a high number in this (like Ranma, Ryouga and to a lesser extent, Mousse) are always thinking of ways to experiment and modify their techniques, often improving on them dramatically. Ranma is the undisputed master of this attribute, able to consistently come up with adaptations 'on the fly.'
Stec= Special Techniques. This attribute is basically the number, power and effectiveness of a character's 'special' techniques. These are martial arts moves that always involve use of Ki, in some manner or another. These are the Final Attacks, Secret Techniques, etc... This trait is (usually) closely tied to Adaptability.
Saotome Ranma
(Arrival in Nerima / BT Fight / Final Duel)
Spd: 10 / 16 / 20
Str: 10 / 10 / 15
End: 10 / 14 / 20
Tec: 10 / 12 / 16
Ada: 20 / 20 / 20
Stec: 10 / 14 / 24
Hibiki Ryouga
(Arrival in Nerima / BT fight / Final Duel)
Spd: 08 / 15 / 18
Str: 15 / 16 / 26
End: 15 / 20 / 30
Tec: 08 / 10 / 14
Ada: 16 / 16 / 16
Stec: 14 / 16 / 24
Kuonji Ukyou
(Arrival in Nerima / Early Book One / Late Book One)
Spd: 06 / 08 / 10
Str: 06 / 08 / 08
End: 05 / 06 / 07
Tec: 05 / 07 / 09
Ada: 08 / 10 / 10
Stec: 04 / 04 / 05
Shan Pu
(Arrival in Nerima / Early Book One / Late Book One)
Spd: 05 / 05 / 07
Str: 08 / 08 / 08
End: 05 / 06 / 07
Tec: 08 / 08 / 09
Ada: 04 / 04 / 04
Stec: 05 / 05 / 05
Mu Tzu
(Arrival in Nerima / Early Book One / Late Book One)
Spd: 08 / 09 / 11
Str: 06 / 08 / 08
End: 06 / 07 / 09
Tec: 09 / 09 / 11
Ada: 10 / 12 / 12
Stec: 06 / 06 / 06
Pantyhose Taro
(Manga version / Fanfic Human / Fanfic Transformed*)
Spd: 14 / 16 / 16
Str: 10 / 12 / 38
End: 10 / 10 / 32
Tec: 09 / 10 / 10
Ada: 08 / 08 / 08
Stec: 00 / 00 / 02
* Some notes on Pantyhose Taro. For the purposes of the fanfiction (and my somewhat altered version of Taro's origins) he became stronger than I feel he is in the canon manga. Reading Book Two (past chapter 15) and into the China Story, the reasons for this become very clear. He also fights unfairly and with a measure of craftiness none of the characters are used to, which doesn't hurt his chances. Finally, I determined the strength/endurance of Taro's transformed state by the fact that it took a blow from Ranma and Ryouga and Mousse and Shampoo to the back of his skull to stun him. At the same time, he had shown the ability to knock himself out with a hard blow to the head.
Saotome Genma (tentative)
(When Ranma's age (17) / during Happosai Training / Present)
Spd: 12 / 17 / 13
Str: 12 / 16 / 14
End: 10 / 15 / 08
Tec: 08 / 12 / 10
Ada: 15 / 16 / 15
Stec: 05 / 12 / 20
Prince Herb
(Intro Scene)
Spd: 20
Str: 24
End: 50
Tec: 24
Ada: 15
Stec: 50
Saffron "The Terrible" (circa 1973/1974)
(Book Two Child / Book Two Adult)
Spd: 05 / 18
Str: 02 / 12
End: Not Applicable
Tec: 04 / 05
Ada: 04 / 05
Stec: 06 / 80
