Heavenly Intervention
Chapter 08
For Love or for Okinomiyaki
Akane groaned as she woke up, her mind was a haze and she couldn't seem to think straight as she fluttered her eyes open only to shut them again, the light around her seeming far more intense than it actually was. She blinked a bit and let her eyes adjust to it before making any moves to get up or look around. Her hearing seemed to be off as well as faded voices came from around her. "Where am I?" She wondered, sitting up slowly and looking around at her surroundings.
She noticed Dr. Tofu standing nearby looking over some X-rays and other medical stuff. He turned around when he'd heard her speak and smiled. "Ah. Akane. You're awake. That's good." He stated, walking over to her bedside. "How do you feel?"
Akane sighed and rubbed the back of her head feeling a sharp pain there. "What happened?" She questioned. "Everything's all fuzzy."
Tofu smiled. "You were knocked unconscious for a short period of time. I did some checking and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with you. You seem both physically and mentally fine, you're ribs weren't upset from your fight so there's no real damage to heal."
"So can I go home now?" Akane asked the good doctor.
Tofu smiled his ever reassuring smile. Akane couldn't help but think how cute he looked when he smiled like that. "Just keep those healing ribs out of harms way and you're good to go home." He said.
Akane blushed slightly at her thoughts and nodded. "Thank you Tofu Sensei. She said quietly before getting up and slowly walking out the door.
Tofu stared after her with questioning eyes. *Her demeanor seems different.* He noted mentally. *I'll have to call her to come in for an exam once in a while.*
***************
Akane frowned as she walked through the streets towards home. She frowned as she thought about her wardrobe at home, which was very boyish and didn't seem very appealing to her any more. The furinkan girl's uniform was the only thing she owned that was at all feminine. "Echhh!" She muttered, sticking her tongue out at the thought of going home looking like this, the uniform was dirty from the fight she barely recalled from earlier.
Akane looked around and noticed that there was a road that led to the shopping district that she could take that would eventually lead her to a ladies store somewhere. "It's just a quick detour." She muttered. "I won't take long." Akane then looked down at her watch, which was bulky and masculine and frowned at the size of the thing, but smiled as she realized that she had lot's of time.
It had been about a day since her fight with Ukyo so it was in the afternoon at the moment, when everyone would be at school. Akane, having decided on a course of action, began to almost skip down the smaller road towards the shopping district. *I'll have to pick up a present for to apologize.* She thought happily. *I can't have my best friend staying mad at me forever.*
With that Akane was off on her merry way.
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Kimiko frowned as she sat waiting with the rest of the Tendo family and the two Saotomes who had come to live with them for a while. Everyone was already done dinner and Kasumi was starting to put everything away. "Where IS that girl?" She wondered, looking at the clock which read 9:00.
She had delayed dinner as long as she could for Akane to return home on time, but she didn't show so she was forced to start without the girl. Dr. Tofu had called when Akane had left the clinic and told her that she was fine, on her feet, and on her way home. But that was almost 9 hours ago. Ryoga had been there earlier and stayed for diner but he'd gotten lost around 8:00 while looking for the bathroom. Ranma was excited at first and now looked somewhat worried, which she knew probably mirrored her expression. The two fathers where bawling like little children, thinking that something terrible had happened to her. Soun was in his female form which bothered Kimiko sometimes, especially when she was feeling affectionate. It didn't feel right to her.
Just then everyone's ears perked up as the front door opened and closed, and in walked Akane... in a pink, revealing sweater, and a black skirt that hugged her curves quite attractively. She had a new haircut and was wearing what looked like light make up. She also had her nails done up and was wearing feminine sneakers with a blue and white pattern. She smiled widely as she set her shopping bags full of female clothing down and smiled. "Good evening!!" She said bright and cheerfully.
Everyone's jaw dropped at the sight, from the revealing and attractive clothing to the sudden bright and cheery demeanor. This was not the Akane that they were used to. "Tofu said she was acting slightly different." Nabiki mused. He didn't say she'd gone off the deep end."
Ranma's face was in a state of shock. "Akane?" He muttered not knowing if he was truly awake or not. "Is... is that... you!?" He wondered flabbergasted.
Akane giggled and jumped at Ranma, hanging onto his arm. Ranma shivered at the giggling sound. He'd gotten to know Akane all right and as far as he knew this was not her. "Look at this Ran-chan!" She said, holding up a teddy bear in front of him. The bear was incredibly cute and was holding a little engraved plate in a heart shape that had a little message that read: "Ukyo, I'm sorry we had a fight. Let's be best friends. Love Akane!"
Ranma looked utterly scared from the physical affection that she was giving him and let go of the breath he didn't know he was holding when she finally let go of him. *What's gotten into her?* He thought.
Akane looked over to her mother and smiled at the woman. "Mommy. I'm going to go get changed and go give this to Uuchan." She said. With that Akane ran up the stairs to her room giggling the whole way.
Kasumi covered her mouth. "Oh my."
Soun and Genma were bawling and celebrating with saki the affection momentarily displayed between Ranma and Akane. Tetsuo walked up to Kimiko and frowned. "What happened to Akane?" He asked. "I'm scared." He stated.
A few minute later Akane came running back down the stairs in some tight, slightly frayed, blue jeans and a white T -shirt that had the Kanji for princess printed across in black. "Sweety!?" Kimiko called out to the teenaged girl. Stopping her in her rushed trek to the Uuchan where Ukyo would surely be at the moment.
"Yes? What you want Mom?" she asked.
Kimiko slowly walked towards her youngest daughter and grasped her shoulders. "Are you alright? Is there something you'd like to talk to me about? It's okay... you can tell me." She stated, worried.
Akane giggled and shook of her mother's grasp. "Oh Mommy I'm fine! I just want to go give my best friend Uuchan a present to say sorry." With that Akane turned and rushed out the door.
Kimiko and the rest of the household just stared after the girl. Their expressions never moving. Soun and Genma just sat in the background getting drunk, yelling about the joining of the schools.
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Ukyo sighed as she sat at the grill at the Uuchan, making another okinomiyaki for a customer who sat before her on one of the bar stools she had around the counter. She hadn't seen Akane since they had dropped her off at Dr. Tofu's Clinic. She was feeling kind of bad that she turned on her best friend just because she was also forced against her will to marry Ranma. She knew that Akane knew of Ranma when they were growing up, in fact Akane had been the one to spurn Ukyo to chase after Ranma for love and not Revenge. It made Ukyo smile when she thought about how Ranma thought she was a boy because she dressed so tomboyishly. She had thought the same thing about Akane when they first met so long ago. *Akane's the biggest tomboy I've met in my entire life.* She thought.
"UUCHAN!!!" Came an excited voice from the door as it practically skipped through towards the Okinomiyaki chef.
Ukyo gasped at what she saw. It was Akane, wearing very, VERY feminine clothes that accented a voluptuous figure that would put most women to shame. "A...AKANE!?!?" Ukyo spat, completely caught off guard by the other girl's sudden appearance and change of style. "What... what are you doing here?" She asked, not able to take her eyes off of the well formed breasts and shapely hips and... Ukyo just couldn't believe that this was the same Akane that she knew.
Akane giggled and held up the sickeningly cute teddy bear to her friend. "I came to say sorry."
Upon being prompted Ukyo took the bear and shuddered at the bear and the awfully kiddy message on it. "It's... it's... nice." She stuttered.
Akane then jumped up and down repeatedly, throwing her hands in the air in excitement with each leap. "WAI WAI!!! I'm so happy you like it Uuchan!!" Akane then gave the other girl a big hug and then rushed over to the counter were the stools were and sat down. "Can I get an Okinomiyaki please?" She asked politely.
Ukyo reluctantly nodded and walked around to the grill. "W...What would you like?" The chef asked.
Akane smiled. "I'd like a chicken and shrimp combo."
Ukyo made up the order while throwing an awkward glance at the overly energetic teenager. It was just 2 days ago when she'd last seen her and she didn't seem at all like the same person. "So Akane?" Ukyo started, clearing her throat. "How are you feeling?"
Akane continued her ever vigilante smile. "I'm fine. Tofu said I was good as new."
"So are you going to school tomorrow?" Ukyo asked as she finished the okinomiyaki and put it on a plate, setting it down in front of Akane.
Akane's eyes lit up as she quickly took a bite, ignoring the question. "That's so good, you've improved a lot."
Ukyo smiled proudly. "They don't call me the best for nothing."
Akane laughed and the two girls continued to talk for some time, catching up on things and putting their rivalry behind them. It was awkward for Ukyo since Akane had changed so much overnight but she didn't really mind. It was still the same Akane, no matter how different she was. Akane left later on and Ukyo decided that it was about time to close up shop. Just as she was about to go close and lock the door a figure dropped down in front of her. Ukyo gasped, having been startled by the sudden appearance but quickly put on a happy face as she saw who it was.
"Ranchan!" Ukyo called out, wrapping her arms around her fiance.
"Hey Uuchan." Ranma said rather nonchalantly while trying to squirm his way out of the tomboy's embrace. "Did Akane come by here?" He asked.
Ukyo frowned a little upset that he hadn't come her to see her. "Yeah. Why?"
Ranma frowned, holding her out at arms length. "Was she acting weird with you?" He asked.
Ukyo blinked a little but nodded. "Yeah. She was really..." Ukyo let it drag on not being able to let the word roll off her tongue all too easily, so Ranma said it for her.
"Girly?"
"Yeah. I've known Akane since I was little... and even back then she was really boyish. I'd have to say she was downright manly." Ukyo stated.
Ranma smirked and let go of his 'old pal', who he'd just learned recently was a girl and not a guy and he was engaged to her. "You don't know the half of it."
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Shampoo sat against the wall that separated her village from the rest of the world. She sighed occasionally, thinking about Akane and the circumstances that brought them together. Shampoo often confused as to how easily she had fallen in love with another girl. It hadn't even been a month since she'd arrived back in China and she missed the other girl with all her heart. Cologne was trying to make the purple haired amazon forget about Akane and Shampoo felt it best to pretend for her great Grandmother's sake that she was indeed getting over it. But the truth was... Shampoo cried herself to sleep a lot. She was careful not to let Cologne see that. It would only mean that she thought she was weak and would push her to train harder.
That was how Cologne tried to make Shampoo forget... training. Day in, day out, she made Shampoo train. She was getting much better than she had originally been and there was no doubt at all now as to who the best fighter in the village was. She was even being taught some of the secret techniques and chi manipulation techniques as well. Shampoo didn't care though. No matter how much she trained she couldn't forget, if anything it just made her loneliness worse. A tear fell from her eye as she thought this. She frowned. As she thought about the many attempts leave the village weeks before, every time thwarted by Cologne. The only time she was allowed out of the village was when she was accompanied by one of her friends for training reasons. Shampoo thought hard everyday how she could get away. She couldn't find even a remnant of an idea in her head as she thought about it. As soon as she was away from everyone by herself one of the scouts would notice and recognize her immediately. Shampoo then suddenly smiled wickedly as an idea so absurd yet so good came to her mind.
**************
Shampoo smiled bubbly as she walked towards the gates of the village a day later with her friend Gel, both of them carrying various weapons and giggling as they talked about random things in Chinese. As Shampoo reached for the gate a voice rose up amongst the others. "Where are you going Shampoo?"
Shampoo looked towards Cologne who was standing not far off, with a scowl plastered across her features. "We're going to go train for a bit." Shampoo stated in her native tongue as she held a few weapons up for her grandmother to see as proof of this.
Cologne looked suspicious but nodded her approval and allowed the two girls to leave.
Shampoo smiled as soon as her back was turned to Cologne and walked calmly towards her destination, leading not only Cologne but Gel on as well. Neither of them had a clue what she was about to do.
**************
Gel frowned as she followed behind Shampoo. Shampoo had told her that they were going to go train but they had passed the outer training ground a long time ago and were now headed through the mountains. She was getting irritated at the purple haired girl's silence as well. She hadn't said anything more than follow me since they'd left the village. "Shampoo." She asked hoping to get a decent response.
"Follow me." Shampoo stated for the millionth time that day.
Gel growled, she'd had enough. "Shampoo where are we going!" She demanded, stopping where she stood.
Shampoo just smiled and turned, pointing to a little sign written in both Chinese and Japanese. The sign read: "Jusenkyo 1 mile"
Gel gasped, she hadn't even noticed that Shampoo was following the signs. It was obvious to her now but she couldn't fathom why the girl would want to go to such a place with such a high risk of being cursed.
"I'm not going to make you come with me if you don't want to." Shampoo stated. "I just need to be with you. We're not going there to train. I need to get something from there."
Gel looked confused. She was still afraid of the prospects of entering the cursed training ground, but she had known Shampoo a long time and trusted that she wouldn't lead her astray, no matter how different she had been acting since she came back from Japan. "Alright." Gel agreed. I'll stay with you Shampoo."
Shampoo nodded and continued to walk. Gel reluctantly followed after gulping the lump in her throat.
***************
Upon entry to the training grounds of Jusenkyo Shampoo noticed that the guide was nowhere to be seen. She shrugged however. She could read all of the small signs that had been placed at every spring so she went about looking for the spring she wanted.
"What are you looking for?" Gel asked.
Shampoo smiled, more to herself, "Wings." She said. "I need wings." Shampoo had considered hopping into a Jusenkyo pool of some sort of bird but decided to look around a bit to see if there was one around that would help her to defend herself as well. Shampoo smiled as she noticed a particular sign up ahead, She smiled almost evilly as she looked at the plain white sign with the dripping black writing. Shampoo began to walk towards the spring.
"Where are you going Shampoo?" Came a voice from above.
Shampoo gasped and spun around to see her great grandmother standing atop one of the many bamboo poles, holding a bucket, that appeared to be dripping with water. "Great Grand mother... how..."
"Please Shampoo spare me the stupid act." Growled the old woman. "I'm 300 years old. You don't think I'd be able to tell a lie from the truth by now? I've known all along. You're still in love with Akane."
"So what if I am?" Shampoo snarled. "I may be a part of the tribe but you can't control my feelings like you do everything else."
"If you get yourself exiled I'll have nobody left to carry on my families bloodline!" Cologne snapped.
"You're just making up excuses!" Shampoo snarled at the woman. "You could train my cousins Ling Ling and Lung Lung just as well."
"They were orphans that your aunt adopted when she found them. They are not blood related." The old woman started. "You are the last blood relative I have... you're my last hope."
"I don't care." Shampoo said calmly. "Even if you do bring me back I'll just tell the council and get myself exiled on purpose."
Cologne smirked at Shampoo's words. "Well I will bring you back... but I will not be as lenient as I was before. I'll just have to erase the memory of that girl from your memory myself." With that Cologne pulled out a bottle of shampoo from her robes. "I should have used the Xi Fang Hang Gau in the first place. A simple mistake to rectify."
Shampoo didn't say anything, she knew she couldn't beat the old woman in a hand to hand fight... let alone any fight. She glanced over to the spring of drowned Wyvern, estimating the amount of time it would take her to reach the pool and dive in. Cologne however noticed this and the moment Shampoo made a run for it she threw the contents of the pail towards her, Shampoo connected with the spring at the same time that the Nyanichuan hit her.
Cologn jumped down to the ground, directly in front of the pool where Shampoo was, she charged up her chi, fearful of what Shampoo had become. Cologne didn't have to wait for long as a giant pair of leathery wings roses up from the water and a figure followed close behind. The wings quickly began working and pulling the figure off the ground into the air. "My god!" Cologne stated as she realized what she had done. She had mixed the curses. What stood in front of her was Shampoo, only now she was a scaly, winged, half wyvern, half human. In place of her hair were long tendrils, her fingers and toes ended in sharp, dangerous, looking claws, and two gigantic wings sprouted from her back.
"DAMN!!" Cologne shouted. " There's no way to reverse a mixed curse!" In the old woman's shock Shampoo took advantage and screamed. A sonic ear piercing sound that threatened to shatter the woman's eardrums.
Gel too fell to her knees from where she stood.
Shampoo then took to the skies with a mighty screech and was quickly out of even Cologne's reach. "NO!!" Shouted the old woman, her hand outstretched towards the demonic looking creature that flew away from her. "SHAMPOO!!!"
******************
Shampoo grinned as she glided through the air the wind whipping her hair like tendrils about wildly as she performed loops in the air, slowly making progress towards her destination.
The feeling of being so high up was exhilarating. She almost couldn't believe that she was actually flying. She was though and she had even managed to get away from her great grandmother Cologne. She was most surprised about that, being that the woman was so old, though in her tribe that meant power.
Soon she and her fiancé would be together again. With the speed at which she was flying, she would make it to Japan in a matter of days.
*****************
"WHAT!?!? SHAMPOO'S GONE!?!?" Screamed a long black haired Chinese boy as he stared at the old woman that stood before him. "WHERE DID SHE GO!?" He demanded of the old crone.
She quickly rapped him across the head with a long gnarled staff. "Watch you're tone boy." She demanded.
The boy rubbed his head and frowned, clearly not liking the old woman. "Where did my Shampoo go?" he asked.
"She was kidnaped." Cologne stated simply.
"WHAT? Who! Who kidnaped her!?"
"It was a dragon hybrid." Cologne said grimly, her smile secluded to her inner thoughts. "They are a race of man-dragons half breeds that were thought to be extinct long ago. They are severely powerful and should not be underestimated Mousse. You won't be able to take it alone, you'll need help to do so."
"I'm more than a match for some lizard." Mousse snorted in disdain of her warning. "Where did it go?" He asked.
Cologne smiled, doubting that the boys could really see. "The dragon being was last seen headed towards Japan, with Shampoo in her arms."
"Her?" Mousse asked. "It's a woman? How could you tell?"
Cologne waved it off, "You can tell these things with even a moment's glance at my age sonny. Do not underestimate the creature, fight to your full potential right from the start."
Mousse nodded, and slid a long sword out of his long, baggy sleeve. "I will, I'll do anything to save Shampoo!" With that he took off running.
Gel was nearby, hiding in the shadows as she watched the conversation between the two people. She was a master at stealth and was the best youth in the village at such techniques, she was also a very sufficient fighter and would probably have won the annual tournament against Shampoo had it not taken place on a raised log in broad daylight. So keeping herself unnoticed was no big trouble for her.
"She's going to sick him after Shampoo?" She wondered quietly to herself. "Why? Does she not care about her own granddaughter?"
Gel frowned at the implications of such an action by the elder and disappeared deeper into the shadows to follow Mousse.
Cologne smiled as she watched Mousse run eastward. "Fool." She muttered. "If you don't fall at the hands of Shampoo, then she will revert to her normal form in death, we'll see how many birds we can hit with a single stone."
Cologne then began to laugh to herself and walked away as well.
*****************
Akane giggled as she walked into her room. She then frowned as she looked around. She had been there several times and had slept there but she hadn't really taken the time to notice all of the things that occupied the room. There was a stereo, which was nice but all the cd's on the rack beside it were all heavy metal and hard rock stuff. She cringed and then jogged downstairs, coming back in moments with a garbage bag. "Makeover time." Akane giggled moments before getting to work rearranging her room to suite her personality.
She managed to get some frilly, bed sheets and blankets from the closet. Kasumi had pointed her in the right direction and soon her entire room was completely devoid of anything manly, or even boyish for that matter. It was actually pretty bare now, save for the stereo and the frilly pink blankets. Akane smiled at it and brought the garbage bag full of stuff down to the curb for the garbage men to pick up.
Akane made a mental note to pick up some things the next day. She had found the stash of money she had saved up while traveling with her dad while cleaning up and there seemed to be more than enough to get some cute knick knacks and girly things. "Maybe Ukyo would like to go shopping with me?" She wondered out loud. She then opened up her closet and prepared to get some rest. She frowned at her closet's contents and then smiled. "A few more clothes wouldn't hurt either."
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"What's wrong with Akane?" Asked Kimiko to anyone in the small circle that might have a clue.
Ranma, Soun, Tetsuo, Kimiko, Ukyo, Nabiki, Kasumi, and Genma were all occupants of this little gathering.
"She started acting like this as soon as she woke up at dr. Tofus." Ranma started.
"After our fight." Ukyo added.
Kasumi smiled. "She's so much nicer."
"Sickeningly nice." Nabiki offered as she rolled her eyes.
"She seems a little more interested in Ranma." Tetsuo piped up.
"It's a sign." Soun started with tears running down his cheeks.
"The schools will soon be joined." Genma noted as he sat in the same pose as Soun. Though he had many bruises on his face from a quick beating by Ukyo, who needed to vent her frustrations on him.
"I don't like it." Kimiko stated, crossing her arms.
"Neither do I." Ukyo seconded with a frown.
"Maybe it's something Cologne did before she left for China again?" Ranma offered. "She seemed pretty skilled in, like, magic and stuff."
Ukyo looked inquisitive. "Didn't you say they left somewhere around a month ago?" Ukyo asked her fiance.
"Well yeah..." He started.
"Maybe it was something that happened during your fight with her Ukyo?" Asked Nabiki.
"That is when it started." Kasumi added in. "It makes sense."
"But what could have done it?" Nabiki queried. "Akane's fought more dangerous people, like Cologne, and hasn't suffered any major personality changes. What's different about this one?"
Ukyo point her finger to her lips and looked thoughtful."Well... I hit her on the head pretty hard."
Everyone just blinked.
"I don't... quite think... that would really work." Nabiki said.
"Well I've read somewhere that it is possible for some one to go through just such a radical personality change by getting hit in the head... I think they called it an internal... cerebral shift?" Kasumi offered. "Some people come out of it, after a while and some need a similar blow to the head to revert back to normal." she said.
Ukyo smiled. "So it's agreed, we'll all get together and hit Akane in the head really hard."
Kimiko looked horrified by this solution. "NO! I won't have all of my babies loved one's ganging up and beating her! Absolutely not!! That's assault!"
"What choice do we have?" Ranma said. "I mean... how hard could it be? Just a quick knock on the head and she's back to normal."
"Yeah." Ukyo said, standing up and hefting her battle spatula onto her back.
Kimiko looked thoughtful as she contemplated this. "I'll phone Tofu tomorrow while you're all at school. If he agrees then I'll allow it."
"Can I hit Akane too!?" Tetsuo asked in excitement.
"No." Kimiko said. "Tetsuo she's still your sister. Let her friends deal with it. They're martial artists after all. And I still haven't talked to Tofu-san about it yet. So lets just wait until tomorrow."
Everyone nodded and they all retired, Akane was still out shopping so they didn't have to worry about being heard. Soun and Genma were the only ones that stayed where they were.
"This could be bad." Soun started.
"Akane just started acting attracted to boys when this happened." Genma added for his friend.
"If they succeed..."
"The schools may never be joined."
Soun and Genma looked at each other, a silent agreement shared among them through their eyes. "Operation amnesia protection program." They both said simultaneously.
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Author's notes: {Shocked and amazed are you all as you realize the power of love, and amnesia, and a big chunk of concrete, and a spatula. Yes you see... I am getting Heavenly Intervention moving along really fast. I'm thinking I'll get to about chapter 10 before I actually start working on my other fics. Evan will be doing a guest chapter of Adamantium Rage since I don't want to re-write it a third time. Well my brother confessed that he did indeed delete all of my files from the computer that one time just because he was mad at me. I almost beat him up because of that. It took a lot of will power to keep myself from busting out the katana... Oh yeah... I had a big fight with him a while ago... he used to be active enough that he would shoot back and threaten physical harm unto me as well, but now he just cringes like a little girl. Seriously though guys, as soon as I raised my fist into the air as a warning he moved back into a fetal position and covered his head with his arms. It kinda surprised me... he's gotten really lazt.
Well that's probably enough of me making fun of my brother. He'll probably cry about it later. So anyway I've decided to change my fics from a small 10 font to that of a 12, for easier readability. I can't really pay attention well to my own fics when I'm re-reading them because of it being so small. Well that's all from me. Bye.}
Morden Night: mordennight@hotmail.com
TBC