Chapter 5
"Y-you were awake?" She asked. He shook his head.
"Nah, I just felt this calm feeling then I heard your voice." He replied, smiling up at her. She blushed furiously and looked away. When she looked back at him, he was still smiling. It was funny. When he was sick or weak like this, it's like he was a whole different person. *His emotional barriers must be dropped or something.* She thought. She also began to notice no hate towards him at this moment. It was kind of odd though. There was definitely some form of feeling for him. She just couldn't place it. She heard a soft form land on the floor near the far wall.
"How disgustingly cute! You make me sick!" DN said.
"You! Get out of here, or you'll be sorry." Akane said, anger flaring up inside her. How dare he attack Ranma in this weakened state. She moved between the two and took her fighting stance.
"Oh please, you know I could kill you without breaking a sweat." He said calmly.
"Just go ahead and try!" She replied. He shrugged and she saw the cold glint of steel. She also noticed it was coming directly at her.
"Akane get out of the way!" Ranma cried, diving at her legs. He managed to knock her out of the way as the shuriken flew just inches from her face. She fell on top of him and he cried out.
"You saved her yet again? I grow weary of this. Even in your weakened state you insist on protecting her. What will you do when she's no longer yours to protect?" He asked.
"What do you mean by that?" Akane said hotly.
"Your death will follow his. However if you get in my way again, it will preempt his own." He said, laughing and jumping through the window. He was invisible before he had even hit the glass. Nabiki stuck her head in the door.
"Say, what's all the noise in here? Some of us are trying to sleep you know." She said sleepily.
"Sorry Nabiki. As usual Mr. Saotome here is about as aware as ever, and that ninja just made another attempt on my life." Akane replied.
"Oh okay, well if he succeeds, I want your allowance." She said, yawning and making her way back to her room.
"Gee thanks for caring." Akane growled. She helped Ranma back to his bed and sat down.
"You okay?" He asked her, ignoring his own pain and weariness.
"I'm fine. Sorry I landed on you." She said blushing.
"It's okay, you're not that heavy." He said. Akane blushed furiously and was about to protest, but noticed that Ranma had already fallen back asleep.
"Stupid jerk." She said, even though she was smiling. She lay down next to him and let sleep consume her.
* * *
"How cute…" Nabiki said from the doorway. Ranma's eyes opened and saw Akane beside him. His fever was gone and his strength had returned. He waved her away and flipped himself up to his feet.
"Stupid Nabiki. I'm surprised she didn't take our picture." Ranma said to himself. He looked down at the sleeping Akane. She had stayed with him throughout the night. He decided to let her sleep a little longer. He walked down the stairs to the dining room, and sat at the table. Everyone was there waiting for him.
"Where's Akane? Her breakfast will get cold." Kasumi said.
"Oh I'm sure she's just recovering from her night with Ranma." Nabiki said with an evil smile.
"WHAT? Ranma is this true?" Soun demanded. Ranma raised his hands defensively.
"Whoa, hold it. It's not what you think. Pop here was off in dream land as usual, and she was just watching over me." He said. Soun sat back down.
"I wasn't sleeping; I was merely attempting to surprise the enemy." Genma said in his defense.
"Oh please Mr. Saotome, I kicked you three times on my way by." Nabiki said. Genma stuttered a bit, not being able to come up with a response. The phone rang and Kasumi went to answer it. A short while later she returned.
"That was Dr. Tofu. He says that Shampoo and Satsuke have recovered enough and have left the clinic. I also let him know that you've regained your strength." She said to Ranma. Akane came down shortly after. She let out a yawn and sat down at the table.
"Good morning Akane. Did you sleep well? I hope Ranma shared his blanket with you." Kasumi said while clearing the others dishes.
"WHAT?!" she cried. She remembered waking up in Ranma's room and the night before. She also remembered him calling her cute and the brief moment they had shared. She blushed lightly, but said nothing more. She quickly ate her breakfast then went up to her room and changed into her gi. She continued down to the dojo to practice, but when she got there, she found it was already in use... sort of. Ryoga was studying a piece of paper.
"Hey Ryoga, what are you doing here?" She asked.
"Oh hi Akane. I'm trying to find my way out of this maze. I've been stuck here all night." Ryoga said without looking up. Akane giggled softly.
"Silly, this is the Dojo. It's only got two rooms." Akane said. She walked over to him and pointed out the door.
"Oh sorry, how foolish of me." Ryoga said, brushing his hair back and laughing.
"Hey Ryoga, would you spar with me? I'm full of energy this morning and need to burn it off." Akane said, stretching.
"Sure Akane, i'll try to go easy on you." He said, happy to get to spend some private time with Akane. They had just started when Ranma bounded through the door, Genma close behind.
"Come on Pop, we just had breakfast. It's also Saturday and it's too early in the morning." Ranma complained, dodging a punch.
"Quit your whining boy. A true martial artist is ready for anything at anytime." Genma countered, leaping at him.
"Hey you two, take it outside!" Akane hollered, but she had to leap out of the way as Ranma jumped in her direction.
"Get out of the way, you tomboy!" Ranma cried, just missing her.
"Shut up you jerk!" She countered, lunging at him.
"If you're beating up Ranma, I want in!" Ryoga said, leaping into the fray. It turned into a four way sparring match. Ranma dodged a kick from Ryoga while swinging at Genma. Ryoga prepared to unleash his Bakusai Tenketsu technique when he felt something sting his neck. He shrugged it off as a bee, and had to jump to avoid Ranma's sweeping kick. Genma then was afflicted by the 'bee' sting but also ignored it. However, when it hit Ranma, he froze. There was something 'evil' about the stinging sensation. On all sides, the others dueled. That is until Akane was 'stung' in the chest.
"RANMA YOU PERVERT!" She cried while clobbering him with her oversized mallet. He was sent flying through the door and into the pond. Ranma crawled out of the water in his girl form.
"What'd you do that for?!" She cried.
"You grabbed my chest!" Akane screamed.
"Why would I grab a flat chested tomboy like you?" She countered. They heard loud laughter and looked at Ryoga with death in their eyes. But he wasn't laughing, nor was Genma.
"Priceless. I couldn't have done better myself. Though I will admit the Jusenkyo curse was somewhat unexpected." Came the voice. Ranma knew who it was.
"Show yourself DN. I know you're there." he growled. Sure enough the ninja appeared, perched on the wall surrounding the Tendo residence.
"I give Akane full points on damage for that amazing hammer attack." he said, still chuckling.
"Shut up you coward. That attack has worn off, and i warn you that it won't work again." Ranma said, cracking his knuckles.
"Relax. I'm not here to fight you yet. You are still unprepared." He said. He reached into a satchel he had hanging from the shoulder. All four prepared for a weapon, but instead the ninja pulled forth a video cassette. He tossed it to Ranma.
"I believe you will find this enlightening." he said. He jumped off the wall and was gone. Ranma looked over the cassette.
"Well I suppose all we can do is watch it." Ryoga said. They returned to the living room, and slid the tape into the player. After summoning the others, including Happosai, they sat down to watch it. An image of the ninja appeared on the screen.
"Salutations to you Ranma Saotome, as well as the others. There is no doubt you wonder why I have decided to contact you in this manner. I assure you there is a reasonable explanation." He said. The image shifted over to Mousse, restrained to a table and gagged. DN walked over to him and smiled.
"As you are well aware, this fool has the strange ability to see me in my invisible form, and I'm afraid I can't allow him to wander about during my mission. Therefore I have no choice but to reduce him to a pitiful shell. I'm sure you've noticed by now you have been marked by my venom. The sting you would have felt earlier today, or the wounds I gave those two earlier, have implanted a special virus in your bodies. It allows me to do this." DN moved to the side of the table and pulled the all too familiar dagger from his belt. He raised it above his head, and to the disbelieve of his viewers, plunged it deep into Mousse's stomach. Everyone gasped in horror.
"He just killed Mousse?" Ryoga said dryly.
"But look, there's no blood!" Nabiki stated. They looked closer and indeed there appeared to be no wound.
"What kind of game is he playing?" Ranma said angrily. The ninja laughed hard.
"I'm sure you're confused by now. Take a closer look at his face." he said. The camera moved closer to Mousse. There were no signs of life whatsoever. No breathing, no blinking, nothing.
"His soul is mine now and it gives me a hidden power that has been feared over my entire existance. However there is more. With this ritual I have drawn his soul into my own body while leaving his shell intact. His body will now follow every command with no concern for emotion." The ninja explained. He then moved the camera back to normal and got right up to it, his voice getting dark and sinister.
"This is my official challenge Ranma Saotome. In three days time, you will be nothing more than my puppet. Your soul will belong to my blade as will everyone you've ever cared about." With that the image vanished and the tape ejected. Everyone just stared blankly at the screen as it all sank in.