Chapter Fifteen: Clues Shadowed in Mystery.

Sunday mornings were reserved as a time of relaxation for students throughout the country since it was the only day they did not attend school. However, at the Tendo household, Ryoga and Ranma had no intention of sleeping in or relaxing. As their fists clashed near the koi pond under the early morning sun, Kasumi watched them spar with a measure of interest. As Ranma landed a particularly nasty blow, she winced. That looks like it hurts.

Both Ranma and Ryoga's bodies were still aching from the beating they had received the day before. Even though the action was toned down, they made up for it with determination. Ranma's faster attacks kept Ryoga on his toes but his increased strength helped even the score. They had been going at it for two hour, far longer than their normal sparring matches usually lasted.

Ryoga leaned back, barely dodging one of Ranma fastest swings yet. "It's been a pretty good workout; how about we go out with a bang."

Ranma grinned. "Fine by me!" Seeing an opening, he swept Ryoga's legs out from under him. However in his haste to attack, he left himself open to one of Ryoga's punches which connected soundly with his face. Flailing off balance, the two fell into the pond, sending water and fish flying high into the early morning sky.

A loud cackle echoed around the yard as female Ranma dragged a sopping wet P-chan from the water. Craning her neck upwards, Ranma saw the source of the irritating noise and her face hardened in disgust. Happosai, the ancient midget master of the Anything Goes School stood on the stone wall that encircled the yard. Perched on his back was a huge sack that Ranma estimated at over ten feet tall. No doubt there would be many confused girls in America searching for their essential undergarments over the next few days.

"You've improved, m'boy." He took a puff from his thin tobacco pipe, nodding his head. "Though it looks like you've seen better days with the bruises all over your body and all."

Ranma shot him a withered look. "Yo' Gramps, back already?"

Happosai laughed again. "America is a holy land! Beautiful women flood the very streets. Why I even saw girls freely wearing skimpy outfits in some restaurant place called Hooters! It was truly a land of treasure." His eyes grew wide as he fondly recalled the memories.

Ranma rolled her eyes. "Good for you. If it was so good, why didn't you just stay there?"

Happi dropped his bag onto the ground and lumped onto her chest, squeezing it with delight. "Oh, what a sight for sore eyes! I could never forget about you... or your little dearies here! It's so good to be home! American girls are so different from Japanese girls. Not my style at all!"

Ranma decked the three hundred year old master into the stratosphere. Let me introduce you to my style!"

She brushed herself off. "He's still as perverted as ever! P-chan oinked in agreement, folding his trotters and nodding his head.

Ranma held tight to the bandanna clad pig as she walked upstairs to take a bath, drained but feeling good after her workout. Filling the tub with hot water, she flung off her clothes with shameless abandon. P-chan averted his eyes, blushing. "Ok, Mr.P, in you go!"

She tossed the little pig into the water. Washing herself off with cold water, she cleaned her body, and then stepped in herself. The hot water activated her counter-curse properties and when she resurfaced her manhood restored itself to the way nature had originally intended. Back to a male as well, Ryoga leaned back, enjoying the heavenly feeling of hot water on his skin. They sat at opposite ends of the tub sighing with pleasure as the water loosened up their tense muscles. Nothing beat a cleansing bath after a spirited fight!

"Since the freak's back, I guess we should see if he knows anything about this shadow guy. Then, tomorrow, I'm going to the Neko Haunten to talk to the Ghoul," Ranma said.

"I'll go with you," Ryoga offered. Ranma nodded; he would have asked Ryoga to come even if the boy hadn't volunteered his aid. After he told Shampoo he didn't want her chasing after him he'd have to deal with Cologne and her wrath. It would be nice to have someone to guard his back when that happened.

A thought along those lines struck Ryoga like a lightning bolt. "What will you tell Shampoo? She won't like hearing that you're… with Akane and you won't be able to keep it from her for long."

"I'll tell her the truth," Ranma said. "She's got to accept the fact that Akane and I are… ya know… kinda together." He averted his eyes, mumbling the last part almost to himself. His eyes suddenly went serious. "Look Ryoga, I don't know what's going to happen between Akane and I but it needs to stay between us three. My dad and Mr. Tendo don't need to know nothing. OK?

"Fine. Hey, if you do tell Shampoo the truth then wont that mean Cologne won't help us," Ryoga pointed out.

Ranma sighed in exasperation. "I realize that, Ryoga. We'll just have to take our chances. We need her help if we're going to win this thing. I'm sure she'll understand once she realizes that our lives are on the line."

"We could just create two new attacks by ourselves," Ryoga pointed out.

Ranma shook his head. "That would take too long and neither of us have much practice in doing that sort of thing. We only got six days left until the match and we don't have time to experiment."

A wonderful aroma filled the house and Ranma's more primal instincts took command over his rational thought. "Come on, Ryoga!" He jumped out of the tub, forgetting about their conversation entirely. "It smells like Kasumi made something really delicious today!"

They dried off and dressed in their regular clothes before speeding eagerly downstairs. Everyone else was already at the table, waiting anxiously for another great meal. Seeing them enter the room, Akane jumped up and gave Ryoga a hug that just so happened to be a bit firmer than usual.

"Good morning, Ryoga!" She smiled brightly. Ryoga smiled back, showing his little side fangs. He sat down at the table next to Ranma, inhaling a delicious aroma that wet his mouth. Kasumi brought in breakfast and served the hungry group. She put down dishes at everyone's place except Ryoga's. He noticed this and quickly grew depressed. He wondered if this was her way of saying he was no longer wanted in their house. How could she do this to him after their talk the night before?! Had he misinterpreted what she had told him?

Suddenly, Akane set a dish down in front of him. The plate was filled with western style eggs, bacon, and toast. He looked up at Akane in confusion.

"Here you go, Ryoga," she said. "I made it myself!"

A look pure horror crossed Ranma and Ryoga's face.

"Don't worry, I used this." Her eyebrows knit in annoyance. In her hand was a half full bottled labeled 'Water of Life.'

Ryoga sighed in relief. He had heard of the water and its remarkable capabilities when he had stumbled on Ranma in the forest of Ryogenzawa. He grabbed a fork and impaled a piece of scrambled egg. He put it in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully.

Everyone, especially Akane, watched him intensely. Ranma shuttered and quickly muttered a small prayer for his brave friend. Ryoga chewed thoughtfully and swallowed and a look of absolute delight crept across his face. "Its delicious, Akane!"

Living on his own for so long, Ryoga fully appreciated the wonders of a home-cooked meal. To cook up a meal for his sake alone was an act of kindness he had never before known. Soun began to cry, flooding his plate of food. "My baby girl can cook at last! Wahhhhhhh!"

Kasumi smiled happily. "Well, isn't that nice Akane!"

Even Nabiki seemed surprised. "That must be some water!" She quickly calculated how much it would be worth on the calculator in her brain. Genma ignored the whole thing as he happily chewed on a stick of bamboo, growling happily.

Ryoga was wolfed down the rest of the food, shouting compliments left and right when a question suddenly popped into his head. "Why is she doing all this for me?" He asked Ranma.

"Maybe she's making up for being so dense these past two years," he whispered back.

"What do you mean?"

"Follow me, I'll tell you outside." They got up from the table and jumped out into the yard. When he was sure that they were beyond prying ears, Ranma turned to face Ryoga. "Last night, I told Akane everything."

Ryoga's face paled. "E-everything?"

"Yeah. I felt that she didn't need to be kept in the dark over anymore secrets. She even knows about your feelings for her."

Ryoga nodded. "Then this is her way of apologizing..."

"And showing her friendship at the same time," Ranma added.

Akane opened the screen door. "Hey, how long are you two going to stand out there?"

"We're coming now," Ranma called back. He turned back to face Ryoga but the boy was already moving past him to face Akane.

He bowed to her. "Thank you for the breakfast, Akane. I've rarely had such delicious food."

Akane bowed back. "I owed you. Besides, its the least I can do for a friend. You've always been there for me, and I haven't forgotten that."

At one time, Ryoga would have gotten depressed at the mention of 'only being a friend'. But now that the situation had changed, hearing her say that meant more to him than anything in the world. He grinned happily.

The regular routine of the Tendo household commenced as usual. During this time, Happosai added his over sea's haul to the already huge pile of underwear stocked in his room before going off on his regular panty raid, eagerly awaiting the chance to terrorize the pretty females of the city with his antics. During this time, Ryoga and Ranma trained, awaiting the midget master's return.

As the bright red sun slowly began to sink into the horizon, Happosai returned, cackling happily. The two boys hid behind the large plum tree in the backyard, waiting for the little pervert to come into range. When he ran by, Ranma jumped up and ripped Happosai's bag off his back and tossed it to Ryoga.

Happosai landed and whirled to face him, all two feet of his body going tense with anger. "You little traitor, what's the big idea!?"

"We've got a couple of questions to ask ya' Gramps. Give us any trouble and you'll regret it."

"Ha! You steal my precious collection and expect me to help you?! Fat chance!" He knocked Ranma into the recently repaired stonewall with a light tap from his pipe.

"Bakusai Tenketsu!" Ryoga tapped his finger into the ground and sent a shower of rocks whirling at the master from behind, effectively knocking him out cold. Ranma proceeded to tie the midget up then poked at him with a stick until his large eyes snapped open. The master quickly noticed he was lying between them and a small fire as he struggled to free himself from his bonds.

"Ok, listen up! You have two choices in this situation, old man. You can either help us out or we'll make you watch us burn your 'precious collection'. The choice is yours." Ranma cracked his knuckles threateningly.

Happosai's eyes narrowed and a tight grin tugged at his lips. "Ha! You wouldn't dare!"

Ryoga tossed a handful of bras into the fire. "Boy, these sure burn well!"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Stop! I'll help you, I'll help you! Don't hurt my darlings!" Happi strained against his bonds, wailing pitifully.

Ranma smirked. "That's more like it! Now listen up!" He told Happosai all about their fight with the mysterious Warrior and described his physical features and armor as best as he could recall.

"Hmmmmmm." Happosai thought for an endless moment after Ranma finished his tale. "I've heard of such a class of warrior before, but I've never seen one in person. This 'Shadow Warrior' is probably from China because the armor you described is only forged in the rural Western territories near Jusenkyo. I know that it is used by only a single tribe but I can't think of its name off hand. I do know that the armor is called Mazakin combat armor... if memory serves, that is. It's extremely flexible and stronger than steel. Only a person who has mastered at least three different styles of martial arts will be considered eligible for the training by the village elders.

"After these hardships, the trainee must pass numerous tests, both mental and physical. They require him to push his endurance and tolerance to the absolute limit. Once this is accomplished, the head elder will teach that person some sort of secret attack that I hear can steal part of person's memories. I don't know if this is true or not."

"It's true, Ryoga said."We saw him use stolen attacks first hand."

Happosai nodded. "But I don't know why he was going around challenging martial artists in the first place. Supposedly, a person who receives the Mazakin armor is required to stay in the village for the remainder of their lives to protect its citizens from harm. This Warrior must be some sort of renegade."

"He's a monster..." Ranma massaged his jaw line, remembering the pain the Warrior's fists had brought.

"We had no idea what we were up against! This guys is years beyond us in skill and energy projection." Anger filtered into Ryoga's voice and it was plain to see it was anger born of frustration.

Happosai looked up at Ranma with large, pleading eyes. "That's all I know. Will you untie me now? I gotta' go to the bathroom!"

Ranma nodded and untied the old man's binds while Ryoga stomped out the fire. Freed at last, Happi sped over to the remains of his night's haul and gathered them back into his bag.

While high-tailing his way towards the house, he tossed back two of his dreaded "Happo Fire Bursts" at them. "No hard feelings boys! Hahahahahahah!"

An explosion rang out, temporarily enveloping the yard in a dome of fire and light. Singed and highly pissed off, the two boys made their way up to Ranma room, uttering curses and promises of death to the midget master.