Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2, nor claim to.
Chapter Thirty: Another Day, Another Curse, Another Person:
"I want the things that I had before, like a Star Wars poster on my bedroom door. I wish I could count to ten and make everything be wonderful again." Everclear: Wonderful
Sauske sat on the edge of the bed, thinking over everything that had happened. Here he was again, seconds from using his aura, hurt, and his life on the verge of catastrophe. What would have happened if he let his aura go in that crowd? Eventually, Chii would have been beaten back, but that wouldn't stop him from attacking. Eventually, someone would run in to save the Amazon, and then . . .
"Sauske!" Ono said firmly, a tone of annoyance and worry mixing together in his voice.
"Huh!" Sauske replied, pausing, and then glancing up at his uncle.
"What were you thinking about?" Ono asked, calmly, watching Sauske carefully. The boy opened his mouth to speak, before paling a bit and turning away. "I see." the doctor replied, reaching around to swing the strap of the sling over the boy's shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Sauske sighed, running his free right hand through his hair, stopping his fingers halfway through. "I . . . I almost used it again. Already. I was this close," he swung his hand free of his black hair, scrunching his fingers close together for effect, "to using it again. This close!"
"But you didn't. You stopped yourself."
"Not by much. Chii just confused me, and then Aki broke up the fight. If either of those things didn't happen, I'm sure it would have come out."
"What happened?"
Sauske sighed, before taking in a deep breath and beginning. "I had just left school when Chii jumped out of a tree and challenged me. I tried to convince him to leave me alone, since I had gotten hurt, but he was insistent, so the fight began anyway. Then, during the fight, he told me he knew about my aura, and he wanted to see it. Now everyone at school knows that it exists, and unless I get lucky, people are going to want to see it too! And I can't do that!"
"Then what happened?"
"I . . . I freaked out! I didn't know what to do, I was so scared I might lose control! So, I decided to attack him with everything I had, and try to out race the thing. It wasn't working, though! When it finally started to come out, I couldn't . . . I couldn't pull it back. I crushed it, and it just kept growing! I . . . I didn't know what to do!"
Ono nodded before patting the boy on the shoulder. "It's simple, Sauske. You can't let your emotions take over. Don't think about it visually, think about it mentally. Don't crush it, . . . leave it. Focus on breathing, slowing yourself down, relaxing yourself. Eliminating the fear, the anger, the hatred, and that will get rid of the aura. Fighting it won't work. You have to replace it."
Sauske breathed out loudly, letting his shoulders slump. "I know. I . . . it's just . . . I held it for three years."
"That's quite an achievement, Sauske. Don't be upset about that."
"But only three!" He said loudly, looking worriedly up at his uncle's face. "Three years! My dad kept in the Neko-ken for eight! And now, he's got total control over it!"
Ono shook his head. "Not total control."
"Well . . . err, fine, not total control. But all he'll ever need!"
"Sauske, don't worry about it. Remember what happened a few days ago, what happened three years ago, all the things that set you off." The boy gulped, wondering what the point was and hoping none of those memories would kick out the aura again. "Now, think about all the times between those days where you got mad and didn't use your aura."
Sauske sat, saying nothing.
"You've held yourself back, Sauske. You've never let your aura out for a worthless reason." Ono reached up, taking off his glasses, and cleaning them on his shirt. After a moment, he slid them onto his face. "You've had your own control against something far more potent than the Neko-ken. You're much stronger than you think. Don't forget that, all right?"
Sauske paused, before nodding.
"Keira? Is that you?" a voice sounded outside, before the door shut loudly. Ono and Sauske looked up towards the waiting room.
After a moments pause, Keira's voice spoke up. "Oh, hello, Ganko. What are you doing here?"
"I'm looking for Sauske. Some of the kids at school said he hurt his arm, so I thought he would have come here. Is he?"
"Yes, he's inside with the doctor." There was a shuffling sound. "Here, sit down."
"Well, you're all set, Sauske." Ono said suddenly, patting the boy once more on the shoulder before sliding his chair back and standing up. "Leave your arm in the sling as long as you can, and you can take it off before you go to school tomorrow. Your arm will be fine by then. Just don't overwork it any more this week, okay?"
The boy nodded, standing up. "Thanks, Uncle." He said, a little shaken, but his face wasn't pale anymore.
"Oh, and Sauske?" Ono said, turning back to the boy. Sauske nodded, looking at his uncle. "Just remember what I told you. I didn't say it because you're family." He paused a moment. "I said it because it's true." Then he turned and walked into his office.
Sauske paused, watching him leave, before nodding and walking to the doorway to the waiting room. Scanning the room as it came into view, he saw the two girls waiting for him, quietly chatting in a pair of chairs facing the entrance, with the doorway to the examination room on their left side.
"Hi, Ganko." Sauske said quietly, causing both girls to glance up immediately, turning to him. "Is there something you wanted to see me for?"
Ganko blinked, watching him. He was wearing his school uniform, his left arm in a pasty blue sling, that hand slightly open and hanging down a bit at the wrist. His face was serious and distant, as if he had a lot on his mind. She had no doubt about that; Sauske may not have been the brightest kid in class, but he wasn't a dunce either. Besides, life's never been easy for anyone in Nerima all the time. Or anywhere else, for that matter. Sauske was proof of that.
After a moment, though, the black haired girl collected her thoughts, grabbing one of the two schoolbags she had with her. "Aki left her things behind in the classroom. When she ran, I waited around to see if she would come back, and she didn't. I wanted to know if you knew where she lived; I need to return her things."
The boy nodded. "I can show you; it's not far from here." Ganko smiled, standing up with the two bags in her hands. He turned to the brown haired girl next to her. "Are you going to come too, Keira?"
The Kuonji sat, thinking for a moment, before nodding and standing. "Yeah, I'll come too. I probably should." She flashed a smile in his direction. "I said I'd keep Naruto and goofy challengers at bay, right? I missed one, so I better be on real guard this time."
Sauske paused, thinking about that, before smiling too. "Yeah, that sounds good. Come on," he said, the smile remaining for the first time since lunch, "let's get going. I've got chemistry work tonight."
The other two girls laughed and nodded, following him out the door and onto the streets of Nerima, Tokyo.
-
The door creaked gently open. Aki ignored it, not moving any part of her body between her face and her feet. She laid prone on her bed, ignoring the rest of the world. She wasn't crying; no, this wasn't as bad as that second loss to Sauske. That didn't mean today was a basket of hearts and roses, either.
There was a gentle poke in her side. "No, mother, I do not want to talk about it."
There was a short pause.
Another poke. "Father, please just leave me alone."
Another pause.
Another jab. "Tenchuu, you can go away now!"
Another pause.
She felt her side get poked again. Aki rolled suddenly, leaning up. "Enough, Chii! I . . . oh." Aki looked down at the small, slightly surprised face staring up at her. The Amazon relaxed. "I'm sorry,Pai." She mumbled, before leaning back down ono the bed.
Squeaky-Squeaky! "What's wrong, Aki?"
Aki paused in her lean, glanced at the sign, and sighed. "Nothing, Pai. It's been a long day."
Squeaky-Squeaky! "It's only four-thirty!"
Aki sighed again. "What can I say? The clock is slow." She collapsed back down onto the bed.
Squeaky-Squeaky!
Aki didn't look up. "Can I just be alone for a while, Pai?"
Squeaky-Squeaky!
"Please?"
Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky-Squeaky!
"What are you doing!" Aki shouted, glancing up to see her sister randomly scribbling and doodling all over a sheet of paper.
Pai, noticing her sister was up, dropped the doodle-sign she was holding, and pulled out her last one, which had been drawn over a second time. "Do you want some help with your Japanese?"
Aki stared for a moment, before shaking her head. "No, someone at school was helping me. I'll talk to her tomorrow about it."
Squeaky-Squeaky! "Aki, what's really wrong?"
The blue haired Amazon paused at that, before turning and dangling her legs off her bed, leaning her upper body forward. "I want to go home . . . nobody cares here . . . not like home . . . not like China."
"AKI!" Shampoo's voice shouted upstairs. "You have some friends here to see you! Including someone here about your test!"
The girl glanced out her door, before sighing and shaking her head. She stood up, brushing her hair into a more presentable shape with her fingers before walking out the door and down the stairs.
There, sitting at one of the tables by the doorway in their still-closed restaurant, were three people. Two were dressed in Furinkan uniforms, one female, the other male. Both had short black hair, the girl's a little longer, the boy's a little messier. Sitting with them was a third girl with long brown hair, wearing jeans and a white sweater. Aki stopped dead at the bottom of the stairs.
What were they doing here!
Ganko muttered something to Sauske, before turning up and seeing Aki watching them. "Oh, Aki! There you are." Ganko said loudly enough for her voice to reach across the room. Standing up, she raced over to the Amazon, carrying a pair of school bags.
"Why . . . are you here, Ganko? . . . Did something happen?" Aki asked, incredulous.
"Huh? No, you forgot your bag at school. When you didn't come back for it, I had Sauske show me where you lived, so I could return it." She smiled pleasantly. "That, . . . and I wanted to ask if you wanted to meet again to go over your test and work on your writing."
Aki could hear her sister walk down a few steps to see them from upstairs, but she forced that out of her mind. "Um . . . yes, that would be . . . very helpful, Ganko."
The girl nodded, handing over the bag, which Aki took. "Well, um, the other thing is, while . . . uh, after the first . . . I, um . . . "
"Ganko, . . . just say it." Aki replied, watching the girl fumble with words.
"Well," Ganko replied, scratching her arm nervously. "I know I said today was on the house, which it is. And since we kind of . . . got broken up, we can continue it later, but after that, . . . well, this is my job, you know. I work as a tutor, so . . . eergh, this is never easy to say like this."
"You need money."
The girl nodded to Aki. "Yeah, . . . I'm asking for . . . six hundred yen an hour. But if . . ."
Ganko was cut off by some Chinese from Mousse. Aki glanced over at her father, saying several Chinese words back, which he responded to once, before disappearing behind a door into another room. Aki turned back. "That is fine."
"Oh, . . . okay then." Ganko replied, smiling again. "I have an open slot right after school on Thursday, and, if you want, I can meet you during the winter vacation coming up. I'll have all the time you need then."
"That sounds good." Aki replied. "Thank you."
"Oh, you're welcome!" Ganko replied cheerfully.
"Is there anything else?" Aki asked calmly.
Ganko glanced between Sauske and Keira. "I'm done. What about you two?"
Sauske shook his head. It was then that Aki noticed his arm was in a sling. "Sauske! . . . What happened to . . . your arm!"
"Huh?" Sauske replied, glancing down at it. "Oh, I sprained it while fighting Chii. I"ll be all right in the morning."
"I see." Aki murmured. "Sauske . . . I'm sorry for what happened."
The boy looked up at him, blinking, before shrugging. "Don't worry about it. My arm will be fine; it's not that important." The Amazon nodded. There was a pause. "Well, I guess that's all for us, Aki."
The Amazon nodded. "Thank you, everyone."
"Aw, don't worry about it." Keira muttered.
Ganko nodded. "We're here to help Aki."
"Yeah," Sauske added, "everybody's got problems. We just happened to be there to help. It was nothing, really."
Aki nodded as the other three teens turned, saying one last "Goodbye," before opening the door to the outside, walking through, and disappearing beyond it, hidden by the sheets of brown paper placed over the glass.
The Amazon looked down at her bag, before smiling. "Thank you, Ganko, Sauske . . . even you, Keira." The Amazon stood, staring off at the closed doorway for a moment, before smiling. "Maybe . . . there are reasons to stay."
-
CLICK! He finally turned off that annoying buzzing noise.
Lifting the strap up, the cloth tugged at his arm, dragging it upwards, before lowering down at the plastic buckle, which had dug into his neck all night, was finally released to the floor. It clinked as it hit the ground, followed by a quiet thumping sound as the whole sling dropped into a heap. And that was that.
He took a minute to stretch his arm, pulling it across his body to warm up his shoulder, before making some small circles to loosen it up. Interlocking his fingers, he swung both arms out straight, pulling on all the muscles in his arms, groaning a bit. Then he swooshed his arms up and over his head and behind his back, feeling the gentle tug on his body. He leaned his back into it, feeling the pull spread into his spine. After a moment, he released his hands, swinging them both around to the front and shaking them out.
Sighing a bit, he raised his left arm a bit, swishing his forearm back and forth, feeling for tension in his elbow. It took a moment, but after several swings, he began to realize that it was a lot better than before. There was still some pain, but if he stayed off it for a few more days, he should be fine.
And with that, Sauske smiled, and went to the bathroom to get ready for school, happily noting that his legs weren't stiff today. He wold not have to get up early tomorrow, and he could stay a little later this morning.
-
Sakura smiled a little to herself as she saw Sauske running along normally. It was good to see him with a smile this morning, only three days after he used his aura. That was definitely good to see; he . . .
"Sakura?" Sauske asked, glancing over at her. "Is something wrong?"
The girl shook her head gently. "No, I'm just glad to see you're feeling better today." she replied with a smile, dodging around a newspaper box, causing her raven-blue hair to flick around before settling back into a windswept ponytail.
"Oh, yes, I'm feeling good about today." He said with a smile, zipping his jacket up higher from the cold. Suddenly, something dawned on him, and his face dropped.
Sakura noticed his large change in expression. "What's wrong, Sauske? Do you need to go to Uncle's?"
Sauske shook his head, jumping over a box left on the sidewalk. He wanted to be on the fence, but he knew not to push himself. At least, not today. "No, it's not that." he said, and then stopped speaking again.
There was a pause. "Did you leave something at home?"
"No."
Sakura scruffed her brow, staring, annoyed, at her brother.
"Sakura? Is something wrong?"
"Yes! What are you so suddenly upset about!"
"Huh?" Sauske replied, blinking as he ducked under a low hanging plant. "Oh, um," he glanced ahead, seeing the school coming into view, "They know . . . about us."
"Meaning?"
"They . . . my friends know about my engagement to Aki." Sauske muttered. Letting his eyes turn towards the ground. "By know, half the school probably knows. The rest will now by the end of the day."
"Oh." Sakura replied, calmer, thinking. Was it such a bad thing? Then again, they were only sixteen. Being engaged already could be a problem to some. She probably wouldn't like it either. "Well, don't sweat it, Sauske. It'll probably just make you more popular anyway!"
"Huh?" Sauske asked, curious as he looked over at his sister.
"Yeah! You're not only the best sophomore fighter in school anymore." She snickered a bit as they ran side by side. "You're now engaged to the best-looking transfer student in your class!"
"You're not helping."
"Aw, don't sweat it, Sauske. You know what they say. A rumor only lasts seventy five days, right? Just play your cards right, and everything's okay!"
Sauske sighed, shaking his head, but the smile came back. "Why not?"
Sakura smiled as well, less out of humor, and more from hope, as they ran towards the building in front of them.
-
"So, Doc, how's Sauske?" Ranma asked as Ono walked into the waiting room.
"Oh, so I take it you didn't get beaten up today?" Ono replied with a smile, to which Ranma shrugged. "As for Sauske . . . Physically, he still needs some time to heal. He's much better than he was yesterday, and he didn't hurt his arm as bad as he thought at school."
"That's good." Ranma replied, nodding.
Akane, standing up next to him, looked on with concern. "And . . . mentally?"
Ono paused, scratching his upper lip with his teeth. "Better than three years ago." he said with certainty. "He's . . . still very angry at himself for what he did, but he seems to have matured over the years. He should be fine."
"But . . . ths time wasn't as bad a fight as last time." Akane replied, her face still worried.
"That's true too, but it doesn't change anything. This time wasn't as bad. He's handling it better. That's all I can really say."Akane nodded gravely. "Sorry, Akane, but there's nothing else. I wouldn't worry about him, though. It seems like he'll be able to control it better now." He smiled encouragingly, which worked, a little.
-
Sauske scooped a bunch of rice into his mouth, smiling to his friends. "And you say I leave school too late. You should have stayed later yourselves." Mayu and Hojo glared at him from their seats, before sighing and eating quietly.
Ganko nodded, sliding the desk into a better position in front of her. "Well, you didn't miss much. It ended up a draw when . . ."
CLUNK!
The four friends turned to see Aki drop another bento box in front of Sauske, before turning and leaving without a word. "Uh, Aki?"
The girl stopped in the middle of the classroom, turning back to Sauske. "What?"
"Um, is this . . ."
"Yes, it's for you."
"Oh, um . . . thanks."
Aki nodded, turning away. "You're welcome."
"Sheesh, what happened to her?" Mayu asked to nobody in particular.
Aki paused again, sighing, before glancing to one side, seeing her brother sitting there with one of the other boys in the class. She glared at him for a moment, before walking back to her own friends.
-
"So, that is your future husband?" The girl with red hair asked, looking up at Aki as she sat back down.
Aki nodded. The girl with light blue hair looked over at him, really studying him for the first time. "You were right. He does look quite plain."
Aki nodded again. "He's strong, though."
"I believe you, Aki. From what I saw of the fight yesterday, he seems to be able to hold his own, even when injured."
"He was scared halfway, through. Did you notice that?" the redhead asked.
"What do you mean?"
"When Chii remarked about his aura, his face paled and his eyes were fearful, even though he seemed to get stronger."
"Aki, do you know why that happened?" the blue haired girl asked.
Aki paused, before sighing. "He has a very powerful aura, much stronger than any one I've ever seen before. He doesn't like to use it, though."
"A powerful aura?" the girl replied, running her fingers through her bangs, before rolling the ends in her fingers, staring at the boy with much renewed interest.
"Don't even think about it, Ruby!" Aki said much louder than she wanted to, drawing the attention of the room for a moment. After the Chinese girls quieted, people turned back to their own conversations. Aki paused, calming herself, before continuing. "I promised I wouldn't try to draw out Sauske's aura anymore. And I don't want either of you to try."
"We will not hurt him, Aki." the redhead replied.
"That's not the problem. I made a promise to one of his friends that I wouldn't try anymore. If you go after him to get his aura out, she might think I sent you. I am asking you, as Amazons, to not fight him. Understand?"
"All right." the blue haired girl replied.
There was a pause. "Sapphire?" Aki asked angrily, glaring at the redhead.
"All right, I will not do anything either."
-
Sauske walked out of the school, sighing, before continuing forward. It was an ordinary day, with mundane events. Nothing to really think about.
"I guess that's a good thing." Sauske muttered to himself, before walking over and jumping up onto the fence, keeping his slow, walking pace along it. "I guess that means there's nothing to worry about. It's kind of quiet around here, though. Sakura's always got Kendo practice after school, and I haven't had a sparring match with Keira or a battle with Naruto for a while." He glanced down at his left arm. "I guess that's a good thing."
All of a sudden, the boy heard a deep sigh. He glanced down onto the sidewalk, and saw a familiar dark blue color. "Aki?"
The girl paused, turning to the voice to see Sauske walking along the fence. "What?" she asked angrily, simply noting his presence before starting to walk along.
"What are you doing here?"
"Walking to meet Pai . . . at the bus stop." She began to walk a little faster. "What else . . . would I be doing?"
"I just didn't know." Sauske replied, hopping down from the fence and walking quickly to catch up with her.
-
"Where's my watering can?" the woman asked.
Her husband simply shook his head. "I don't know. Um . . . here, you can use this." he said, handing her a metal wash bucket.
-
"Why are you . . . following me?" Aki asked, glaring at Sauske.
The boy blinked. "This is the way I always walk home."
"Of course." she replied sarcastically.
"Was it something I said?"
"No." Aki replied firmly. "I would just prefer to be alone right now." she muttered, turning a corner to head for the stop where she met her sister at. The fence next to them disappeared, as the buildings rode right up to the edge of the sidewalk.
"SAUSKE!" a voice shouted.
Sauske and Aki looked up. Blond, spiked hair. Bright orange cargo pants. A orange jacket. A yellow and black spotted bandanna tied around his forehead. "Naruto?' Sauske replied calmly. "What are you doing here?"
"What do you think, stupid! It's time for us to fight!" Naruto shouted, shaking his fist in the boy's general direction.
Sauske opened his mouth, before something caught his eye. Namely, Aki walking defiantly forward. "A-Aki?"
"Naruto-kun!" Aki commanded, causing the boy to shift his attention to the Chinese girl. "I hope that doesn't mean . . . what I think it means."
Naruto blinked. "Uh . . . what do you think it means, Aki?"
"That you were about . . . to attack Sauske."
"Well, then . . . um, you're right?"
Aki gave him a dead-eye stare. "Did you happen to forget . . . that Sauske is injured?"
"Uh, . . . no?" Naruto replied dumbly.
Sauske walked up to Aki, who was still a few meters away from Naruto. "Aki, it's okay. I'm not really . . ."
WHAM!
Both Aki and Sauske just stared. "Sauske?" Aki asked, in a calm, confused tone.
"Yes, Aki?"
"Why did Naruto just . . . get crushed by a bucket?"
"Um . . . I don't know."
-
"Whoops." the woman said to nobody.
Her husband walked up. "What happened?"
"I was watering the plants by the window, and I dropped the bucket of water off the balcony onto the sidewalk."
"Oh, I'm sure that's not a problem." He said knowingly. "Just be a little more careful next time."
"Right!"
-
"SAUSKE-KUN!" Keira shouted cheerfully, landing next to the boy while wearing her full ninja outfit. "How are you?"
No response.
"Sauske-kun? Is something wrong?"
The boy nodded. "Um, Keira, . . . did you just see that?"
"See what?"
"See Naruto get crushed by a bucket of water?"
The girl looked ahead. There was a bucket, opening down, sitting in the middle of the sidewalk. Several familiar clothing items of Naruto could be seen sitting under it, and water was splashed all around on the sidewalk. "You mean, that bucket?" she asked, pointing at it.
"Yes." Sauske replied.
SCRIGGLE! The bucket began to shuffle down the sidewalk, away from the voices. The teens watched it go for a moment, before running towards it.
BAM! The bucket hit a lamp post, before pushing against it, unable to move itself around. Mainly because it couldn't see.
Sauske stopped, leaning down and grabbing the bucket. SCHWIP! He lifted the large metal pail into the air immediately, revealing the form underneath. There was a gasp. "Is that . . ."
Aki blinked. "What is that?"
"It's not a Tanuka, it's . . . a raccoon?" Keira replied.
The small, furry creature looked up. It had light tan fur, with several black stripes, a big, fluffy tail, whiskers, a yellow bandanna around its neck, and a black stripe across its eyes.
"It is a raccoon." Sauske replied.
Keira reached down, picking up the raccoon. Noticing who was doing so, it turned frozen in fear. "Naruto?"
The raccoon nodded gently. "Squeak!"
Keira blinked a couple of times. "So, that's what . . . your curse is? Raccoon?"
Naruto nodded again.
Sauske stood up. Staring for a moment, rubbing the back of his head, he then sighed. "Well, that was . . ."
VROOOM! A large city bus drove by.
"OH NO!" Aki shouted, suddenly taking off. "I almost forgot again! PAI!"
Sauske and Keira glanced between each other, before running over, grabbing Naruto's clothes, and running down the street after her, carrying the raccoon along.
-
"So, here we are." he muttered to himself in the dark dusk. He had to be, nobody else was around. "Tokyo. If what people have told us is right, the person we're looking for is here."
"What is the plan?" A voice from nowhere said. It's source was invisible to the eye.
He paused, before licking his chopswith a SMACK! "A reputation. That's what I'll need." He sighed. "But we need to get set up first. We can work on that in a couple days."
"Understood."
Next Chapter: Two fights for different reasons: Chidori at the Rhythmic Gymnastics meet, and Akane in defense of her own dojo.
And that's the end of chapter thirty! Again, it's out extremely late. I'm sorry it took so long, but it's here! I feel like I'm getting back in the groove, so the story should be going along fine for a while. The next chapter's going to be great, too, and I think, despite the fact that it was a mix of two chapters (the last one was just part of it's original chapter), it turned out okay. Hopefully, I was right.
And,I just realized that took away the ability to write a ? and ! together. So, I'm sorry if the story doesn't look right.
Anyway, on with the reviews:
nonengle: Well, Chii got away easy because Aki had to run to find Pai. As for Tenchuu's actions, the reason is my own theory on Amazons. It's simple. If a girl was born first, her parents would expect herto watch over all her younger brothers and sisters, right? Well, if the first born was a boy, in this case Tenchuu, he would still be expected to look over his younger brothers and sisters. But, since the girls are above boys in Amazon culture, once they become mature, his job, instead of taking care of his younger siblings, is that he's supposed to protect them, but not be in charge. He's more of a bodyguard for Aki than an than actually having a ruling role over her, constantly reminding her what she nees to do but not actually able to control her without her consent. Well, that's whatI meant it to be. I hope that makes sense.
Oh, and yes, he will be playing a large role soon.
Drkjester: YAY! Another reviewer who likes my story! Thank you! As for the possibility of forgetting about Happosai's apprentice, that's sort of the point. Good writing often puts ideas and actions forward at the beginning, let them be forgotten, the bring them back to solve a problem (Like the horn whistle Akane gets from Shinnosuke, which dissapeares in the middle, then returns to defeat the Orochi). It makes for a good surprise without becoming a random solution to the problems. They'll be back, but I'll be honest. It won't be a few chapters from now. There's some important events which have to happen first, which means it will be a while. So, you'll just have to remember.
Paige C: Thank you for the kind words. I'm glad last chapter wasn't as bad as I thought it was. And yes, you're right. Aki and her brothers haven't really talked much during the story. But Chii and Tenchuu are really going to be a major part of the story in the next few chapters. Especially Chii. So, keep an eye on the Amazon brothers. They've got some interesting quirks that will come out soon.
The Liz: YAY! The fights are good! That's what I always love to hear. And it's good to know the characters seem more real; that's what I'm shooting for.