Chapter Two: Training commences
Ranma-onna sat back in the spot she had occupied earlier while Hiko and Kenshin stared at Ranma with suspicious eyes.
"Ok, now let me get this straight. You got that curse while training with your father in China. I'll believe that only because I've watched you change a couple of times, but what the hell. What kind of idiot father does something so stupid?" Hiko asked incredulously.
"Mine." Ranma grumbled under his breath.
'Damn, I forgot all about the curse. Should have been a bit more careful." Ranma thought.
Flashback:
Ranma had run out ahead of Kenshin. Kenshin shot out of the hut after him and commenced a chase when Ranma noticed Kenshin was carrying something. Ranma tried to see what it was, but when he found out it was too late and the water was already in his face. The change occurred in Ranma instantly leaving Kenshin to stare wide eyed, as Ranma stood completely wet. It took a second for it to register in Kenshin's mind, and then he bolted for the hut. Ranma sighed and headed back as well.
End Flashback.
Ranma sighed again. He had been through one hell of a day and it wasn't looking to get any better. However, for once in his life things got better.
"Well, it doesn't matter. I don't care what you look like as long as you're good enough and I can tell you're good enough, of course not as good as me, but who is?" Hiko asked no one in particular.
Ranma's right eyebrow rose as he was finally exposed to the incredible ego that was Hiko Seijurou. Kenshin just sighed and waved his hand as if telling Ranma to ignore him. Ranma didn't even see him as he was staring at Hiko who was staring right back. What Kenshin didn't know of was the astronomical ego that was Ranma Saotome. Whatever Kami's thought it would be funny to put these two egos together, were laughing their heads off now. As Kenshin looked at Ranma and Hiko, who were still staring at each other a chill ran up and down his spine. A large sweat drop formed on Kenshin's forehead. He slowly crept out and sighed. He looked up into the sky. It was looking to be a very interesting future, but he was glad he wouldn't have to go it alone.
*****
Ranma rose from the futon he had been resting on during the night. He rubbed his eye and looked around for Genma only to find a young red haired boy lying next to him. That was when everything that had happened returned to him. He slowly stood up and stretched his body. He still wasn't used to being stuck in his younger self. He was weaker, slower, and didn't have nearly the amount of chi reserve he had had before. He had drained himself almost completely the night before. Using the Moko Takabishi and the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken had been taxing without the proper training in his system. He sat down and closed his eyes again and began to channel his chi through his body. With his chi flowing throughout his body his senses skyrocketed. He felt Hiko's chi at a low level as if he was hiding it. Kenshin's was at a steady pace running through his body normally. Ranma listened to the world around him and just meditated for a while when he felt Kenshin wake up. He opened his eyes and greeted his new roommate.
"Looks like sleepy head finally woke up," Ranma said with a smirk.
"Huh? Oh yea." Kenshin said unused to having someone else there.
"Well I can't wait till breakfast! I'm starving!" Ranma shouted as he stood up.
'Man, I'm so hungry I could eat a horse! I haven't eaten anything since. the dinner before I came here.' Ranma thought silently.
Kenshin watched with an upraised eyebrow then shrugged his shoulders and slowly got up. Both of the boys walked outside and washed their faces. The splash from the two boys threw up more water then Ranma cared for and both of them found themselves soaking wet. Kenshin turned around only to look at the now red-haired girl. Momentarily shocked he jumped back then caught himself.
"This. is going to take some getting used to." Kenshin muttered.
Ranma just let it go and went to heat up some water. Kenshin sighed. It was obvious that Ranma didn't enjoy the curse. Kenshin put the thought into the back of his mind and found a towel and dried himself off. As soon as he was dry he walked back into the hut to see Ranma, once again a male, staring at the cracked mirror he had brought the night before. A towel was slung over his shoulders as he just stared at the mirror. Kenshin thought to ask but decided not to. If Ranma was going to tell, he could tell whenever he wanted to. Besides it wasn't his business anyways. Kenshin sat down and started to eat some of the bread that had been left over. Kenshin broke half of the bread and tossed it up to Ranma who grabbed it and started eating, never once taking his eyes off the mirror.
Ranma stared at the Nan-ban mirror sadly. There was a huge crack that ran from the top to the bottom splitting the mirror in two.
'Shit, what the hell am I supposed to do now?' he thought silently when Hiko came in.
Ranma looked up while licking his fingers, the piece of bread long since devoured.
"Hurry up you two. We don't all the time in the world. You're lucky to have a sensei so kind and generous to let you linger around this much as it is," Hiko stated, feeding his already huge ego once again.
Both boys just sweat dropped and followed Hiko out the hut and up to the waterfall. Ranma walked slightly faster then Kenshin, an eager expression on his face. Kenshin walked slightly slower knowing already what they were in for. As they approached the waterfalls Ranma looked over the edge.
'Hmm, not too bad. There's an element of risk and its got one heck of a view. This place is great for a training place. Hiko got himself one hell of a training place,' Ranma thought silently.
"Ok Ranma, since its quite obvious that you've had some previous training I'm gonna train you both at the same time. Any problems with that?" Hiko asked.
"Aren't I a little better then him?" Ranma asked in his cocky voice while pointing at Kenshin.
In a moment Hiko was in front of Ranma and hit him on the head. Ranma buckled over and rubbed his now bruised head.
'Shit, how did he get there so fast? He wasn't that fast last time unless. damn, he wasn't trying his best. That means I'm a lot slower then I thought I was. I could barely pull of the Amaguriken last time and I might not be able to handle it if I don't get my training back. Well, might as get started,' Ranma thought through in his head.
With that Ranma took in a deep breath and found his center and took up a ready stance. Kenshin watched him and followed suit. Both of them radiated their chi to their max. Ranma stood amazed as Kenshin exerted a lot more then Ranma was expecting. With a little more training Kenshin may be faster then him. As it was at the moment they were about equal in speed, however when Ranma was a girl his speed increased quite dramatically. In his guy form Ranma was quite a bit stronger but in his girl form he was about the same strength, so as it stood Ranma was still the superior fighter but not by all too much. Hiko took one of the two swords he had been carrying and tossed one to Ranma. Kenshin stood holding his at his side. Ranma looked down at his looked up at Hiko.
"What do you want me to do with this?" Ranma yelled.
"BAKA! You're going to need to know how to handle a sword much better then you were earlier," Hiko started when Ranma interrupted.
"Why do I need to? Weapons just limit the number of ways you can attack and it also limits the number of ways you can defend. It just makes you weaker then you really could be," Ranma spouted cockily.
"Oh really? So what are you going to do against all the people carrying swords huh? Some of them are going to be much to quick for you to just defend with your hands Saotome-chan. If you can get to a point where you can defend yourself for more then ten minutes against me then I'll consider you good enough to take on over ninety percent of the swordsmen out there. Until then you listen to what I say, no questions asked," Hiko said quite sternly.
"That's fine with me. Set the date and we'll have ourselves a rematch," Ranma spouted cockily.
"If that's the way you want it, we'll have a rematch in one week. During that time I won't teach you a thing and I expect you to never watch us train. You manage to get good enough with a sword to defend yourself from me for ten minutes then I'll let you do whatever you feel like. If not I'm gonna make sure you have a lot of fun after the match," Hiko stated evenly.
"Then its set. We meet here in a week's time. Until then I'm gonna take a little trip and train myself. Don't worry, I'm not gonna stray too far from the property," Ranma said, and with that he walked away.
Kenshin just watched the two and sighed. He turned his attention to Hiko. He found himself staring at a bunch of leaves being sliced in half as they approached Hiko's body as his ken ki raged. Kenshin sighed. Today was not going to be very fun. Kenshin held up his sword in a ready stance and awaited his next orders.
*****
Ranma found himself in a clearing after about a ten-minute run. He lifted the sword he had been carrying and looked at it. He took the sword out of the sheath and held it up in the light. It was a very well made sword, that much he could tell. He swung it quickly to his side and watched the air pressure move. He needed to get stronger if he were to be able to take any of Hiko's hits. Ranma steeled himself for his coming training. He was not about to let anyone change his way of fighting. A sword was unnecessary to him. With that in mind he began to gather materials for his training. Eventually a pile of sticks, a couple boulders, chestnuts, and numerous pieces of wood was formed. Ranma wiped the sweat from his head.
"We'll see who needs to use a sword."
Author's notes: Looks like Ranma is going to go through all of his past training methods again and maybe a few new ones. We'll see how things turn out. Will he be able to stand up to Hiko for ten minutes? Shouldn't be a problem, right? We'll see. Please R&R!
Ranma-onna sat back in the spot she had occupied earlier while Hiko and Kenshin stared at Ranma with suspicious eyes.
"Ok, now let me get this straight. You got that curse while training with your father in China. I'll believe that only because I've watched you change a couple of times, but what the hell. What kind of idiot father does something so stupid?" Hiko asked incredulously.
"Mine." Ranma grumbled under his breath.
'Damn, I forgot all about the curse. Should have been a bit more careful." Ranma thought.
Flashback:
Ranma had run out ahead of Kenshin. Kenshin shot out of the hut after him and commenced a chase when Ranma noticed Kenshin was carrying something. Ranma tried to see what it was, but when he found out it was too late and the water was already in his face. The change occurred in Ranma instantly leaving Kenshin to stare wide eyed, as Ranma stood completely wet. It took a second for it to register in Kenshin's mind, and then he bolted for the hut. Ranma sighed and headed back as well.
End Flashback.
Ranma sighed again. He had been through one hell of a day and it wasn't looking to get any better. However, for once in his life things got better.
"Well, it doesn't matter. I don't care what you look like as long as you're good enough and I can tell you're good enough, of course not as good as me, but who is?" Hiko asked no one in particular.
Ranma's right eyebrow rose as he was finally exposed to the incredible ego that was Hiko Seijurou. Kenshin just sighed and waved his hand as if telling Ranma to ignore him. Ranma didn't even see him as he was staring at Hiko who was staring right back. What Kenshin didn't know of was the astronomical ego that was Ranma Saotome. Whatever Kami's thought it would be funny to put these two egos together, were laughing their heads off now. As Kenshin looked at Ranma and Hiko, who were still staring at each other a chill ran up and down his spine. A large sweat drop formed on Kenshin's forehead. He slowly crept out and sighed. He looked up into the sky. It was looking to be a very interesting future, but he was glad he wouldn't have to go it alone.
*****
Ranma rose from the futon he had been resting on during the night. He rubbed his eye and looked around for Genma only to find a young red haired boy lying next to him. That was when everything that had happened returned to him. He slowly stood up and stretched his body. He still wasn't used to being stuck in his younger self. He was weaker, slower, and didn't have nearly the amount of chi reserve he had had before. He had drained himself almost completely the night before. Using the Moko Takabishi and the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken had been taxing without the proper training in his system. He sat down and closed his eyes again and began to channel his chi through his body. With his chi flowing throughout his body his senses skyrocketed. He felt Hiko's chi at a low level as if he was hiding it. Kenshin's was at a steady pace running through his body normally. Ranma listened to the world around him and just meditated for a while when he felt Kenshin wake up. He opened his eyes and greeted his new roommate.
"Looks like sleepy head finally woke up," Ranma said with a smirk.
"Huh? Oh yea." Kenshin said unused to having someone else there.
"Well I can't wait till breakfast! I'm starving!" Ranma shouted as he stood up.
'Man, I'm so hungry I could eat a horse! I haven't eaten anything since. the dinner before I came here.' Ranma thought silently.
Kenshin watched with an upraised eyebrow then shrugged his shoulders and slowly got up. Both of the boys walked outside and washed their faces. The splash from the two boys threw up more water then Ranma cared for and both of them found themselves soaking wet. Kenshin turned around only to look at the now red-haired girl. Momentarily shocked he jumped back then caught himself.
"This. is going to take some getting used to." Kenshin muttered.
Ranma just let it go and went to heat up some water. Kenshin sighed. It was obvious that Ranma didn't enjoy the curse. Kenshin put the thought into the back of his mind and found a towel and dried himself off. As soon as he was dry he walked back into the hut to see Ranma, once again a male, staring at the cracked mirror he had brought the night before. A towel was slung over his shoulders as he just stared at the mirror. Kenshin thought to ask but decided not to. If Ranma was going to tell, he could tell whenever he wanted to. Besides it wasn't his business anyways. Kenshin sat down and started to eat some of the bread that had been left over. Kenshin broke half of the bread and tossed it up to Ranma who grabbed it and started eating, never once taking his eyes off the mirror.
Ranma stared at the Nan-ban mirror sadly. There was a huge crack that ran from the top to the bottom splitting the mirror in two.
'Shit, what the hell am I supposed to do now?' he thought silently when Hiko came in.
Ranma looked up while licking his fingers, the piece of bread long since devoured.
"Hurry up you two. We don't all the time in the world. You're lucky to have a sensei so kind and generous to let you linger around this much as it is," Hiko stated, feeding his already huge ego once again.
Both boys just sweat dropped and followed Hiko out the hut and up to the waterfall. Ranma walked slightly faster then Kenshin, an eager expression on his face. Kenshin walked slightly slower knowing already what they were in for. As they approached the waterfalls Ranma looked over the edge.
'Hmm, not too bad. There's an element of risk and its got one heck of a view. This place is great for a training place. Hiko got himself one hell of a training place,' Ranma thought silently.
"Ok Ranma, since its quite obvious that you've had some previous training I'm gonna train you both at the same time. Any problems with that?" Hiko asked.
"Aren't I a little better then him?" Ranma asked in his cocky voice while pointing at Kenshin.
In a moment Hiko was in front of Ranma and hit him on the head. Ranma buckled over and rubbed his now bruised head.
'Shit, how did he get there so fast? He wasn't that fast last time unless. damn, he wasn't trying his best. That means I'm a lot slower then I thought I was. I could barely pull of the Amaguriken last time and I might not be able to handle it if I don't get my training back. Well, might as get started,' Ranma thought through in his head.
With that Ranma took in a deep breath and found his center and took up a ready stance. Kenshin watched him and followed suit. Both of them radiated their chi to their max. Ranma stood amazed as Kenshin exerted a lot more then Ranma was expecting. With a little more training Kenshin may be faster then him. As it was at the moment they were about equal in speed, however when Ranma was a girl his speed increased quite dramatically. In his guy form Ranma was quite a bit stronger but in his girl form he was about the same strength, so as it stood Ranma was still the superior fighter but not by all too much. Hiko took one of the two swords he had been carrying and tossed one to Ranma. Kenshin stood holding his at his side. Ranma looked down at his looked up at Hiko.
"What do you want me to do with this?" Ranma yelled.
"BAKA! You're going to need to know how to handle a sword much better then you were earlier," Hiko started when Ranma interrupted.
"Why do I need to? Weapons just limit the number of ways you can attack and it also limits the number of ways you can defend. It just makes you weaker then you really could be," Ranma spouted cockily.
"Oh really? So what are you going to do against all the people carrying swords huh? Some of them are going to be much to quick for you to just defend with your hands Saotome-chan. If you can get to a point where you can defend yourself for more then ten minutes against me then I'll consider you good enough to take on over ninety percent of the swordsmen out there. Until then you listen to what I say, no questions asked," Hiko said quite sternly.
"That's fine with me. Set the date and we'll have ourselves a rematch," Ranma spouted cockily.
"If that's the way you want it, we'll have a rematch in one week. During that time I won't teach you a thing and I expect you to never watch us train. You manage to get good enough with a sword to defend yourself from me for ten minutes then I'll let you do whatever you feel like. If not I'm gonna make sure you have a lot of fun after the match," Hiko stated evenly.
"Then its set. We meet here in a week's time. Until then I'm gonna take a little trip and train myself. Don't worry, I'm not gonna stray too far from the property," Ranma said, and with that he walked away.
Kenshin just watched the two and sighed. He turned his attention to Hiko. He found himself staring at a bunch of leaves being sliced in half as they approached Hiko's body as his ken ki raged. Kenshin sighed. Today was not going to be very fun. Kenshin held up his sword in a ready stance and awaited his next orders.
*****
Ranma found himself in a clearing after about a ten-minute run. He lifted the sword he had been carrying and looked at it. He took the sword out of the sheath and held it up in the light. It was a very well made sword, that much he could tell. He swung it quickly to his side and watched the air pressure move. He needed to get stronger if he were to be able to take any of Hiko's hits. Ranma steeled himself for his coming training. He was not about to let anyone change his way of fighting. A sword was unnecessary to him. With that in mind he began to gather materials for his training. Eventually a pile of sticks, a couple boulders, chestnuts, and numerous pieces of wood was formed. Ranma wiped the sweat from his head.
"We'll see who needs to use a sword."
Author's notes: Looks like Ranma is going to go through all of his past training methods again and maybe a few new ones. We'll see how things turn out. Will he be able to stand up to Hiko for ten minutes? Shouldn't be a problem, right? We'll see. Please R&R!