Disclaimer: I neither own Ranma ½ or Rurouni Kenshin, I am only borrowing the characters, I promise to give them back, honest.
Summary: Has nothing to do with a Phantom of the Opera rip off. Ranma/Rurouni Kenshin crossover- Akane, Ranma and Ryouga come across something that has been hidden somewhere on the Tendou's property, it just so happens these hidden objects belongs to their resident spirit who has been there and watching them all along without anyone knowing it.
Last time on Phantom of the Dojo:
Akane looked at all sides of the crate, it wasn't like there were demon wards or anything on it. For all she knew that through the hole was the original closet. She put her hand to her chin in thought. What if it was money, or treasure? Her eyes lit up that would really help out the family.
Feeling a strange sensation behind her, she turned around looking in all directions thinking that Ranma had come back, but he wasn't here. Shifting her eyes from side to side she wondered just what that was? The sensation then moved next to her, there was a slight difference in air temperature. Man they really needed to get the air conditioner fixed, this was really starting to bug her. Hearing loud arguing from Ryouga, she was brought to the attention that Ranma was back, she turned her head towards the open dojo doors and found Ranma walking in with crowbar in hand.
"All right, let's get this sucker open." Ranma approached the crate…
Phantom of the Dojo
Episode 2— Through the eyes of a Spirit
Hitting the crowbar against his palm, Ranma stood next to the crate.
"Where did you find that crowbar anyway Ranma? I didn't think that my dad had one." Akane looked at the long iron bar that was slightly curved at the edge.
"Well it was in the old Freak's stuff, I knew I had seen it there before." Ranma held the crowbar against the top of the crate when something small and maroon dropped from the ceiling.
"AKANE, BABY!" The little imp jumped up to latch itself onto Akane's chest, who screamed and lifted her fist to attempt to smash the little creep into the floor. Ranma's foot appeared from out of nowhere kicking the little pervert up and away from its desired target.
Ranma held the crowbar threateningly. "Geeze, where did you come from?"
Happosai jumped up from off the floor and turning to face the three teenagers. "Ranma, how dare you do that to your master." His tone was warning. "I expect and apology so start groveling."
"Yeah right," Ranma crossed his arms, then he saw the wicked look in the little creep's eyes.
"But I'll forgive ya," Happosai pulled a pink frilly bra from his gi. "If ya wear this?" He panted.
Ranma stomped his foot. "Why you little… I'm a guy!" He swung the crowbar at the little man, who dodged it. "Grr, stay still you little freak!" Ranma swung again but Happosai seemed to have disappeared.
"Too slow Ranma." Happosai snickered.
Feeling a new weight on his back, Ranma heard the old man laugh and hit him on the back of the head, making Ranma fall forward landing on his face. What the old man wasn't counting on was Akane grabbing him by the back of his gi and lifting him up.
The little man swung his arms and kicked his legs. "Hey, lemmie go!" Happosai cried, "Lemmie go!"
Akane was growling. "What do you think you're doing!" Her eyes were narrowed the fire of anger burning within them.
"I just wanted to see what you were up to." Happosai rubbed his eyes. "How dare you treat an old man like this."
"You started it!" Ranma said from the floor as he got to his feet. "Little freak" Ranma's fist hit the little man on the top of the head.
"Why are you being so mean to me?" Happosai whined. But in a quick flash Happosai slipped out of Akane's grasp and jumped onto the crate. "What's in this thing?" He jumped up and down on the top, "Oh I know it must be a hidden stash of bras and panties, you really shouldn't have kept such lovelies from me." He hugged it, while little hearts seemed to fill his eyes.
"What?" Ryouga, Akane, Ranma shouted all at once.
"Get off a there." Ranma grabbed Happosai and tossed the old man like a sack of potatoes behind his back, where the old man skitted across the floor.
"No fair, no fair!" Happosai waved his arms back and forth, while still seated on the floor. He then noticed that all three of them were ignoring him. "Hey! Are you listening to me!" Happosai demanded jumping to his feet.
Seeing that they weren't paying attention to him, Happosai found Ranma to be using his crowbar to lift to the top of the crate off; it took a few minutes for the rusty nails to be lifted out of the wood. Happosai drooled at the prospect of the thousands of pieces of underwear that were in that crate. Seeing the lid to the crate hit the floor, Happosai jumped up into the air heading for the crate.
"Oh lovely bras come to Happi!" He just about stopped in mid air and fell into the crate out of disappointment. "It not lovely panties!" he cried. "It's nothing but a bunch of old junk."
It was Ryouga who grabbed the old man this time, pulling him out of the crate. "You're in our way! Get lost!"
"Is it just me or is Happosai a bit more annoying today than usual?" Akane asked the boys, who both shrugged.
Happosai sniffled. "Akane! How could you say such a thing?" He wiped his eyes and then began reaching for her while his eyes were directed to her breasts. "You can make it up to me by letting me cry into your soft—" He was interrupted by Ranma's fist in his face.
"Oh no ya don't ya old lech." Ranma pulled his fist back and lowered his arm to his side. "Just keep a hold on that weasel will ya?" Both he and Akane looked into the crate.
Ryouga groaned, "Hey, I'm not gonna be in charge of this little runt Ranma, do it yourself!" He noticed that the Ranma and Akane were ignoring him.
Akane was a little disappointed that it wasn't like a hidden fortune, but the stuff in the crate did look rather interesting.
Ranma reached in the crate and pulled out some colored fabrics that seemed to have faded over time, this one was yellow and pink with flowers. "Hmm, well old man it's not underwear." He looked at the old man who was seated quietly for once, Ranma cleared his throat and went back to his search, he held up the yellow garment. "I think this is for a girl?"
"What gave that away?" Akane rolled her eyes. "Perhaps the colors and flowers?"
Shrugging Ranma set the garment aside, and finding a pink one inside the crate as well. There were some other pieces of clothing that Ranma and Akane pulled out of the crate, most of it had holes, probably from moths and age.
"How old do you think all this is?" Akane asked while looking down at the floor at all the garments they took out of the box.
The Spirit hovered near by watching, its hand went into the crate to feel the things from its life, but its hand seemed to go right through the fabrics. The spirit sighed, longing to be able to touch the soft fabrics.
Akane looked up. "Ranma, did you say something?"
He too looked up at her, his brow creasing, "Uh, no." Ranma then went back to look in the crate. "I think I solved the mystery of this crate." He pulled out a picture frame looking at it. Ranma then showed it to Akane.
The picture was obviously a black and white, but turned yellow due to age and improper care. There was a picture of four males and one female. One was tall with spiky hair who looked a little freaked out, the man next to him was a lot shorter, his long hair (that looked a little fluffy perhaps?) was pulled back resting against the base of his neck. There was some kind of marking on his face. Sitting in a chair was a pretty young woman, wearing one of the fabrics that Ranma had already taken out of the crate. The last person in the picture was a boy that looked about eleven years old, his hair stuck up all over, had the really messy look that stylists now make people pay a fortune for. In fact all four of them looked a right mess.
Akane smiled at the picture. "Looks like a nice family."
The Spirit also smiled at the picture, and a memory flooded its thoughts of when the picture was taken, it was right after an attack from pirates trying to rob the train.
"Oh hey what's this?" Akane pulled out something that was long, heavy and hard wrapped in purple silk, she set it in her lap upon her knees. Ryouga scooted closer to see what Akane had.
Ranma leaned closer. "Looks like one of those old fashioned carriers that held weapons." He reached out and pulled the white string which held the end together, which loosened the end. Akane pulled the silk down and her eyes widened as the hilt of a katana came into view. "So it was a weapon after all."
Akane was glad for one thing about Kempo was that there were usually no weapons involved, it was all hand to hand. Weapons could kill, well fists could too but there was more of a chance to die when using a weapon. She swallowed hard as she gripped the handle and pulled the sword all the way out of the fabric. It was slightly heavy. "I can't believe they actually used things like these back in the old days."
Ranma blinked. "Yeah, if you think Krazy Kuno waving around his wooden sword is a hassle just think if he got his hands on something like this, and how much worse off everyone would be."
"No kidding." Akane agreed, while she gripped the weapon.
Ryouga groaned, cradling his forehead in his hands. "I have a strange feeling about that thing, I'm telling you."
"Oh Ryouga you always over react, you're so paranoid, almost too paranoid if you ask me." Ranma commented while crossing his arms over his sleeveless red Chinese shirt clad chest.
The sometimes piglet boy shook his head. "No I'm not Ranma," His head shot up where he glared hard at his rival. "I'm paranoid the right amount. And you should be too when you find strange crates hidden in walls." He stood. "Like I said before, there's a reason why it was hidden away!" The sound of the katana being unsheathed brought Ryouga's attention to Akane as his head whipped around to face her. "Akane what are you doing!" He grabbed his face with his hands while seeing the confused look on her face as she was staring at the blade that had gathered rust over the period of time.
Akane sighed. "Ryouga I don't think there is anything to worry about, it wasn't hidden away. This place has gone through a lot of changes over the years, they didn't really tare down anything, just added to the dojo as well as the house." Her brows creased as she looked at the blade. "This is strange, the blade is on the wrong side."
"Ah it must be a reject then." Ranma commented, pressing his back against the crate.
"Do you think its maker was dyslexic or something? That could be the reason it's reversed." She held up the sword. "Hmm, it could use a shine up."
Ranma's eyes bugged out as he shot forward more. "What are you stupid? You could slice your fingers off, Dummy."
Akane shoved the katana back into its sheath rather forceful as she felt her temper spark. "The sharp part is on the wrong side, plus its rusty, Moron!"
"You'll cut yourself on the underside of it then!" He wasn't going to have it, there was no way Ranma was going let Akane mess around with something as dangerous as that, even if it was backwards or whatever. Akane could get hurt. Ranma reached out and grabbed the sheathed katana from her hands before she could resist. "Akane, this is not a toy. This is a serious thing and I don't want you messing around with it."
"What! Stop treating me like a child, Ranma!"
This time the Spirit let out a softer sigh, the Saotome boy was right. The sword wasn't something to be taken lightly, even if the blade was reversed. The Spirit understood why the boy was so frantic it is visible in his eyes that he was only thinking of protecting the youngest Tendou daughter. Which the Spirit felt that same need to protect the youngest Tendou daughter as well as the rest of the family. But even when watching over all the Tendous for all these years, the Spirit seemed to have become especially close to the youngest daughter. So much fire and well…spirit, so much like someone from the Spirit's past. Seeing her so upset and looking insulted, trying to console the young lady was a disappointment as it tried to set a comforting hand on her shoulder and found once more it going right through her. One would think it would have learned by now.
Seeing Akane shiver, she looked around quickly before returning her angry gaze back to Ranma. It was hopeless! This see through phantom body was useless! The Spirit was frustrated quite a lot, only being able to stand around and watch as this family has gone through pain and suffering and not even being able to offer a kind word of support.
Perhaps the Spirit thought that it felt a certain closeness to the youngest daughter since she was alone most of the time, spending a lot of time in the dojo perfecting skills, which according to the Saotome boy, still needs a lot of work. The Spirit was sure that when the youngest daughter was but a small baby that itself was visible to her eyes, for she often waved wherever the spirit was standing, speaking in baby babble. The Spirit had often waved or made a silly face in the youngest daughter's direction.
Once she learned to walk and move about, the toddler would often play outside and next to the Spirit, looking at it and trying to throw a ball around to it. Children's senses were much higher and more in tune with what was going on around them than adults were, but the senses seem to diminish as they grew older.
What made the Spirit feel even more useless was many years back, when the youngest daughter at five years old ran into the dojo tears streaming down her face…
Akane collapsed onto the dojo floor upon her little knees, she hugged her self so tightly as the tears fell. "Mom—my." Her eyes just…they just wouldn't stop watering.
The Spirit then knew what had finally happened, and bowed its head for a brief moment of silence for the passing of Mrs. Tendou. The Spirit watched the young girl sorrowfully and slowly moved from the end of the dojo down to where Akane was, where it kneeled down in front of her. It knew it was no longer seen by the child. The Spirit opened its mouth to speak her name but no sound fell from its lips, it lifted its hand to touch its own mouth and sighed. It tried to reach out to touch her but its hands went right through her.
There was nothing he could do for her and hung his head in shame clinching its fists on its knees.
Hearing the dojo door open the Spirit looked up and saw Mr. Tendou run in. Akane jumped to her feet and ran to her father, where the man of flesh and blood held his daughter tightly while shedding tears of his own.
Soun picked up his youngest daughter; he felt her small body shaking hard, hysterically as Akane buried her face into his chest as all her sadness was pouring out. Soun spoke soothing words, while running a comforting hand through his daughter's hair. He carried her back out the doors. The Spirit followed him.
"Akane, you're being unreasonable!" Ranma shouted.
The Spirit was taken from the memory back to present with the familiar arguing.
Akane shook her head, after having grabbed the katana back from him. "No I'm not! I'll be careful."
"Oh right, a klutz like you being careful! That's a joke!" Ranma argued back.
"Why you…" Akane growled and lifted the sheathed katana to hit him on the head with it, but Ryouga grabbed it in his strong hand and pulled it away from her.
Ryouga didn't want to make Akane unhappy, but it was for her own good. "For once I agree with Ranma, which means hell must have frozen over."
Crossing her arms in front of her, Akane was seething mad. How dare they not trust her! It was outrageous and unfair!
Happosai cleared his throat. "It's probably best Akane dear that you don't play with that weapon."
Akane turned to the old man, "I wasn't playing with it!"
Happosai put his little hand to his little chin as he started pacing back and forth. "You know, I've seen that sword before now that I think about it. It was something that will be forever seared into my mind. It was about one hundred and fifty or so years ago I don't remember the exact date. I was here in Tokyo during that time uh taking in the culture and looking at all the new influence that was coming into Japan.
"Yeah right old man, I bet you were terrorizing women by stealing their underwear." Ranma commented while shaking his head. Ranma had this vision of the old man with a sack on his bag running through the dirt and stone streets of developing Tokyo shouting 'What a haul! What a haul!' Ranma shivered in disgust.
Happosai tried to look innocent, but all three of the teenagers knew that he was so guilty.
Akane rolled her eyes. "The Japanese didn't have bras and panties like that back in those days, in fact ladies never wore those until like nineteen twenty."
Ranma shrugged and leaned against the crate. "So what, fine he went around groping women then, whatever it was the little letch was not just taking in the new sights that's for damn sure."
Happosai grunted crossing his arms over his chest. "Never mind that, I'm telling you my story." He sat down Indian style. "Yes, yes I am quite sure of it now."
"Will you just spit it out?" Ryouga bellowed, holding the katana on his knees as well. He made sure he had a firm grip on it that way Akane couldn't steal it from him.
"All right, all right, you don't have to yell." Happosai would explain. "I remember it like it was yesterday. It happened many years earlier though, during the time of the revolution, it was hard to travel from one end of Japan to the other developing my Kempo skills without getting caught in the middle of a fierce battle."
The Spirit stopped paying attention to Happosai's story, and drifted off to another memory that involved two of the Tendou girls…
Arms held downward at it's side as it waited for Akane and Nabiki's head to round the corner, Akane was thirteen and Nabiki was fourteen now. Akane was a much faster runner than her sister so it wasn't long before the Spirit saw her as she raced towards her family's gate with a bright smile on her face. She passed right by the spirit who smiled at her return. And as usual in a few minutes Akane appeared back outside in her yellow gi ready for some training and her hair pulled back into a pony tail at the base of her neck where she headed to the dojo. Of course with the Spirit following after her.
She stepped into the dojo. "Hmm I think I'll try six today." Akane said out loud with a smile on her face as she gathered bricks and set them up in the middle of the room. She stood facing the thick gray bricks and closed her eyes, breathing in deeply, centering her spirit as well as her mind.
The Spirit watched her, saw her eyebrows crease. Her eyes then popped open and she lifted her hand high in the air.
"Hiya!" Akane shouted bringing her hand down on the bricks breaking them all completely in half. A large smile appeared on her face at her accomplishment. After she cleaned up the mess, she got down to practicing, kicks and punches and other moves.
It was Kasumi's familiar voice that called from the dojo doors. "Akane? It's time for dinner."
Akane was sweating but she looked happy as she lowered her arm and turned to the sound of her sister's voice. "All right Kasumi, I'm coming."
Kasumi took a deep breath. "You know Akane, I am worried about you."
"Hm?" Akane was confused, that was plain to see.
"I have accepted that you wanted to follow in father and mother's footsteps and become one to pass on the Anything Goes Martial Arts. But, Akane. It's not very lady like, how are you ever going to catch a husband always acting like, well, a boy."
Akane looked towards the ground. "Do I really act like a boy Kasumi?" Her eyes squinted shut tightly, thinking if Dr. Tofu thought of her as a boy? But her hair was longer now, wasn't it?
"You should learn to be more feminine, like a lady. Not always doing this." Kasumi pointed around herself. "Mother was always caught up in it and you know what happened to her."
Lifting her eyes to her sister, Akane shook her head. "Mom had cancer Kasumi, this as you say, didn't do anything to her." Her eyes narrowed and she squeezed her fists at her sides. "Mom was strong and beautiful and I wanted to be just like her. I'll be even better than our mother was." Her head shot up and tears of frustration, anger and pride shone as brightly as diamonds in sunlight. A determined tone added to her appearance, "Kasumi I will not stop doing Kempo because you think it makes me seem like a boy. I enjoy it and nothing is going to stop me from it."
Kasumi smiled, "Oh Akane. She sighed deeply. "I am your sister and I love you. I see how much you love doing Kempo…so I will support whatever it is you wish to do."
The Spirit couldn't help but feel proud at what Akane had just said and how she stuck up for herself…
Everything changed when the Saotome boy came to live here, the Spirit looked over at Ranma as he leaned against the crate…
"You wanna be friends?" Akane asked the red headed girl who stood before her. "You study Kempo right, well why don't we have a little match?"
The red head known as Ranma smiled, as Akane took her stance.
The Spirit hovered near and wondered about the smile on the strange girl's face. Was this the one that was arranged to marry one of the Tendou daughters? Would the head of the family insist on one of them marrying a girl? It was unheard of, unbelievable. It watched as Akane went to attack but the red headed girl avoided all her punches and kicks. He could see how frustrated Akane was getting at the fact that she wasn't able to land a single blow when she could easily take out the entire High School boy population so that was heard by Nabiki.
The red head girl flipped over Akane and then tapped her on the head. Akane turned around and instead of an angry glare on her face started smiling and laughing. The Spirit was relieved, as it has seen what Akane was capable with those hands of hers.
"Wow, you're pretty good." Akane said. "And here I was worried about you being a boy."
Ranma blinked, "uh…"
The Spirit sat with the other Tendous and Mr. Saotome listening to the almost impossible tale with extreme interest while the red headed girl and Akane went to take a bath. It wasn't long until Akane's scream reached downstairs; a second later she zoomed by and stopped. "There's a pervert in the bathroom!"…
Life for Akane seemed to have gone on a crazy whirlwind after the arrival of the Saotome boy. But it also fell into a simple routine as well.
Something brought the Spirit's attention back to Happosai when the old man said the name that it hadn't heard in a very long time.
"Yes, the Hitokiri Battoussai The Man Slayer. A man with god like speed and grace, so fast that one wouldn't even see him move." Happosai looked with narrowed eyes at Ranma. "Even faster than your techniques Ranma." HE saw Ranma's eyes widen slightly but then roll a bit.
"Yeah sure," Ranma said waving his hand in the air. "Not many can stand up to my Kachü Tenshin Amaguriken."
Happosai scoffed. "Ranma! You don't know what you're talking about. If you had seen what I had, then perhaps you'd be a little less quick into saying that you're the best."
Ranma clinched his fists, he always prided himself at being the best and even if he wasn't at a certain technique he was always sure to master it soon. "It is you who doesn't know what he's talking about old man.
Ryouga looked down at the katana on his lap. "So you're saying this sword belonged to that person, this belonged to a murdering man of the revolution days?" He got this panicked look in his eyes, "See I knew it! I knew it! Ranma this is all your fault! What if his evil spirit is going to come back and kill us or something! Ranma you're going to pay for this!"
"Ah, shut up will ya! Your loud mouth voice is gettin' on my nerves!" Ranma made to punch Ryouga in the face but he backed away just in time. "I didn't do anything, there is no evil spirit attached to that thing." He pointed to sheathed Katana, "If there was it would already have come out when I opened the box. When I did that nothing happened!"
Akane gasped, her hand pressing against her mouth. "Such a fierce and unbeatable guy, if one was caught in a battle with him they would not come out of it alive." Akane looked right at Happosai, "we just learned about the revolution in great detail in history not too long ago, as well as that individual. It was said that the man disappeared."
"Not true!" Happosai jumped up exaggeratingly pointing his finger high in the air. "I had seen the man I was sure of it, while on hunt for ladies' lovelies." Happosai grinned, then cleared his throat. "I saw the man here in Tokyo ten years after the Revolution, and I know for sure that it was the same man as before. Who could ever forget the red hair, or the cross shaped scar on his face. I saw him use that very sword but I didn't stick around to see what became of the other guy. For all I know, this man…" He pointed to the sword, "…was killed not too long after his arrival in Tokyo."
The Spirit felt the urge to roll its eyes, 'actually, it was a disease that I died of, and it was many years later, in the arms of my wife who I loved very much.' It thought to itself. He wondered if they would ever realize that they had the spirit of Kenshin Himura residing in their home? Of course not, how would they ever know?
"Are you telling me old man that you were afraid?" Ranma snickered.
Happosai's eyes narrowed. "Ranma! It was a smart move on my part. Let me tell you something, if you met up with this person you wouldn't be making such smart aleck remarks, that's for sure."
Ryouga interrupted anything that Ranma was going to reply to. "Lets just put this back where we found it, all right? I don't need any angry spirits coming after me or Akane."
"What about me?" Ranma jumped to his feet.
A smirk appeared on Ryouga's face. "You deserve whatever you get, you life wrecking idiot."
Akane's eyes were directed to the sword in Ryouga's lap, something didn't make sense about it, if this man of history was such a terror, then why in the world would he have a sword where the sharp blade is reversed?
Ignoring Ryouga's banter, Ranma was more concerned about Akane as he saw her eyes still focused on the strange sword. "Akane!"
"Huh?" She looked up at him, irritation expressed in her dark chocolate eyes. "What is it Ranma?" She asked slightly bitter.
Reaching down Ranma grabbed a hold of the sword. "I want you to stay away from this thing, do ya hear me?" He threw it back in the crate.
"Ranma!" Akane also got to her feet. "You are not going to tell me what I am allowed to do, do you hear me!"
"Stop being a stubborn brat! Can't you just agree with what I say for once!"
"No!" Her face was practically in his. "It's stupid!"
The Spirit knew exactly where this argument was going to lead; he looked down into the crate at the sword that was once at his side. There was something definitely strange about it. It was like he could hear it calling to him, and his hand stretched forward his fingers barely touching the hilt when the lid was placed on the crate by Ryouga. The Spirit sighed with disappointment.
"What did you say Ranma?" Akane growled, she lifted her fists up in the air just an inch away from her breasts.
Ranma blinked, gosh she was cute when she was angry, her cheeks were flushed a bright red and her eyes seemed to shine in a much darker chocolate color when she was like this. A slight blush was staining his cheeks, and she didn't even seem to notice. Ranma didn't even realize that he had taken one step forward, putting himself directly in her personal space.
Her eyes widened as she practically jumped away, but Ranma's hand quickly lifted and grabbed her about the shoulders keeping her still. "Ranma!" What was he touching her for? "Ranma what are you…" This was just so weird.
Ryouga's growl didn't even seem to reach Ranma's ears, as he stood there wanting to beat the stuffing out of Ranma Saotome. The growl alerted the Spirit as he turned to see just what Ryouga was growling about this time. Ranma and Akane weren't arguing anymore, the Spirit's eyes widened slightly.
"Akane, I..." Ranma swallowed hard, as his blue gaze held her brown. "Akane, I just want…want you to be…"
She felt her heart thundering hard within her chest, 'he is usually so confident, what's making him behave like this?' Akane wondered to herself as a blush was staining her own cheeks. Why wasn't she clobbering him for being in her personal space like this?
Ranma no longer cared that there were other people in room, in fact he seemed to forget about them all together. One of his hands left her shoulder and slid up to cup her cheek, where he saw her eyes widen. She gulped down the knot that seemed to be stuck in her throat. He moved, closer and closer, and to Akane it seemed like it was all happening in extreme slow motion. She could feel the soft tickling of his breath against her lips.
"Nihao Ranma!" Shampoo's cheerful voice alerted both Akane and Ranma and they both sprung away from each other as if burnt.
Turning around Ranma saw Shampoo standing there with a take out ramen box and her jaw dropped. "Shampoo, what are you doing here!"
Shampoo stomped over to Ranma. "What you doing with pervert girl!" Shampoo demanded calmly.
Akane twirled around, stomping her foot. "Who you calling a pervert girl?"
Shampoo turned her angry gaze to Akane. "You no touch airen! Airen belong Shampoo!"
"Nothing happened!" Ranma shrieked out.
A noise that the Spirit could describe as anger and frustration mixed together seemed to force its way out of Akane as she clinched her fist tightly at her side.
"Like I would want anything to do with that tomboy," Ranma said carelessly, even though he had been just seconds away from kissing her.
Akane felt her heart twist, 'Why didn't he just tell Shampoo the truth, why was he being such a coward? Akane thought to herself. He was making her so mad, frustrated and disappointed. "Ranma, you Jerk!" It appeared in her hands by will alone, her large mallet and she lifted it high in the air, bringing it down on Ranma's head knocking him unconscious.
Shampoo gasped. "Wha, what you do to Airen?"
Akane turned her jealous ridden anger to Shampoo. "Ranma is not your airen."
"Is to," Shampoo looked slyly at Akane. "Ranma just need accept truth. Airen need beautiful Amazon woman like Shampoo, not ugly kitchen destroyer, pervert girl."
That did it! Akane was not going to stand around and let some bimbo like Shampoo insult her like that! Akane swung her mallet managing to knock Shampoo through the roof where she seemed to fly gracefully from Tendous.
Ranma was seeing stars as Akane's face appeared in his line of sight. "Ranma, you are such a coward." Was all she said before turning away from him and walking out of the dojo.
The things he heard his rival say was really starting to irritate him to no end, while Ryouga was at least pushing the crate back into the closet. Wiping his hands off from the dirt he whirled around, his anger directed to the pigtailed boy. "Ranma I sware if you do anything to hurt Akane, I will kill you and that's a promise!"
Sitting up Ranma put his hand to his head. "She didn't have to hit me so hard."
"You deserve a lot more than that, you dumbass!" Ryouga shouted. "Can't you see what a good thing you have with Akane, I would kill to be in your position."
"Hey! What happens between me and Akane ain't any of your business P-Chan."
Ryouga walked over to Ranma and hit him on the head. "Who you calling P-Chan?"
"Ow! I'm injured you idiot." Ranma reached up and rubbed the bump on his head, cursing Ryouga in his mind.
Ryouga felt his knuckles turn white at how tightly he was clinching his fists. "So help me Ranma, if you …"
"Yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before Bacon Bits." Ranma interrupted the sometimes pig boy as he walked out of the dojo. He really needed to find a way to apologize to Akane about what happened earlier with Shampoo. But how? She probably wouldn't even want to talk to him right now as it is. But he would think of something, he just had too.
The Spirit sat against Akane's door as the house was dark and silent, the living beings were all sleeping. Spirits no longer needed sleep, he stood on guard even though he knew he couldn't do much to stop any unwelcome guests to enter the bedroom. He could hear wrestling around inside, Akane was having a hard time sleeping tonight, something must be bothering her.
Akane pressed her wrist against her forehead as she stared up at the ceiling, she was not finding it easy to get to sleep at all tonight, too many thoughts were plaguing her mind. Why does Ranma act like a jerk most of the time, why won't he tell the other girls exactly what is on his mind? Akane rolled his eyes, well they probably wouldn't listen even if he tried. Or perhaps he likes the attention he gets from the other girls and doesn't want to admit it? Any normal guy would give up his right eye for what Ranma has.
Then there were the thoughts on that sword that she and the guys found earlier today, why would someone make a weapon like that? Akane sighed, wanting to hold it again. She sat up slowly and the covers felling to her waist. Turning a little she looked out her window over at the dojo. It was still in there. Ranma at dinner suggested to her father that they donate the crate to a museum or something.
Throwing the covers off, Akane got to her feet. No matter what Ranma said and how many times he had expressed that it was dangerous, Akane just couldn't see that sword locked away like that. With determination set in her mind as well as on her face Akane decided that there will be one less object going to the museum.
The Spirit listened closely at the door; he did not want to put his head through the wood for that would be in invasion of privacy. He thought he heard the window sliding open. What if a prowler came in through that way? He could wake her up by talking to her subconscious. That settled it, poking his head slightly in through the door, he saw Akane awake and jump onto her windowsill. What was she doing? Sneaking out perhaps?
Akane jumped out the window, to the tree branch and then to the ground, where she ran towards the dojo. The Spirit entered Akane's room and walked to the window watching what she was doing. He saw her running along the ground and enter the dark dojo. The light suddenly came on for he could see it through the windows. Was she going to practice this late at night?
It wasn't long before he saw Akane running out of the dojo after it had gone dark. She had something held securely within her arms, and the Spirit knew exactly what it was as he watched her race across the yard, but this time she did not use the window like before, she ran towards the back door that led into the kitchen. Why didn't she come back up the way she left? The Spirit was confused.
Akane's heart was beating so fast as she held the sheathed katana in arms, if Ranma sees her with it she would never hear the end of it. She wondered why he was making such a big deal about it. After having grabbed the necessary polishing supplies she headed up the stairs as quietly as possible. Passing by Ranma's door Akane heard Genma's loud snoring. Slowly opening the door just a little Akane looked in and found Ranma asleep snoring his brains out. The blanket was only covering half his body as he slept in his usual white tank top and underwear. Closing the door so very softly, Akane tiptoed back to her room.
The sound of the door opening alerted the Spirit and he turned around, Akane came inside holding that all too familiar sword against her chest. She closed the door behind her with a soft kick from her foot. Akane flipped the switch on the wall which turned on the bedroom light. She walked closer to the Spirit who backed away slightly, he watched as she sat down on the floor sitting Indian style. There were some cloths and something in a can held in her hands as well.
Akane sat the sword on the floor as she opened the can of polish, the smell of the polish filling her senses. It wasn't exactly a pleasant smell and Akane was glad of the window being open. Akane gripped the hilt of the sword and pulled the sword out of it's sheath. As she pulled the entire blade out her eyes widening slightly as she finally got a good look at it. This was actually used to kill people? How? She shrugged not wanting to think about that right now. Akane placed the sword on the floor. "All right then, let's get you cleaned up." She said with slight humor in her voice as she stuck part of the rag into the polish and set to work on cleaning up the blade.
The Spirit kneeled in front of her, watching how Akane was so very careful as she cleaned and shined up the sword. Her head was lowered as she concentrated on not cutting herself. Her fingers took the cloth in small circles over the steel; it was almost graceful and gentle. The Spirit could see how much force she was using though as her fingers were slightly bent as she applied just the right pressure.
Akane smiled at how shiny the blade was becoming as she surveyed her handy work. Well that side was done so she turned over the sword and began shinning up the other side. It wasn't too long until she was done. Akane wiped her brow with the back of her hand, "All done." She grabbed the sword by the hilt and lifted it up, she turned it a little and it caught the light sparkling a little. She could see her reflection in the blade. "A nice job if I do say so myself."
The Spirit agreed with a nod of his head and a smile on his face. 'yes it was a good job, that it was.' He thought to himself while lifting a hand to press against Akane's shoulder in thanks, but his hand went right through her once again. She shivered and her head snapped up looking around in all directions.
Why did he have to always forget that he couldn't touch anything solid, his hand continued to pass through the live person until it hit something solid, he looked down as his pinky finger rested against the top of the blade, his finger didn't even go through it. 'What the…?' The Spirit's thoughts were interrupted as Akane made a loud noisy yawn, her eyes were closed. The Spirit could feel a small tingle running through his pinky, he made a noise and gasped quickly pulling his hand away from it.
Akane jumped about an inch up into the air, startled as she had heard a voice. She looked around frantically "Is someone there? Ranma?" She called out, still looking around she stood up warily. "A—are you there?" After a few moments of not getting an answer she covered her face with her hands groaning. Great now she was hearing things. Akane shook her head. Well it was time to get to sleep before her mind decided to play more tricks on her tonight.
Turning around, Akane reached down for the sword and sheath, where she slowly slid the blade back in into it. Walking over to the window Akane slid the glass closed and set the sword under the windowsill up against the wall. After turning off the light she crawled back into her bed and hoping she'll finally be able to get to sleep.
The Spirit approached the sword slowly, looking at it in nothing but complete confusion. His brow was creased, eyes concentrated on the blade that seemed to be drawing him closer. Hearing the even breathing of the girl in the bed, was making it known that she was indeed asleep. The Spirit stood before the sword watching it. What did he feel, what was that before? Bending down he lifted his hand and reached out to touch the hilt, he was expecting his fingers to go right through it as it has for everything else. Instead his fingertips grazed the hilt and he practically jumped back as tingles ran through his hand. 'What is going on?'
Narrowing his eyes slightly in concentration, he reached out again his hand wrapping around the hilt, he felt some kind of surge rush through him, while keeping the sword held firmly in his hand. He felt the carpet beneath his feet and looked down. He found that he was no longer hovering a few inches off the ground and that he had feet! He was now more than confused. Something caught his attention and he looked up, seeing his reflection staring back at him in the window, no words could describe how surprised he was as he stumbled backwards rather ungracefully, his feet shooting out from underneath him as he fell on his backside making the room shake.
A loud pounding roused the sleeping girl, the noise made Akane sit up straight in her bed, her eyes slamming open. Her vision was blurry and she saw a swirl of colors a pinkish color, red and white along with the darkness of her room. She blinked her eyes open and closed a few times to try and get her vision to clear. "Ranma is that you?" She asked while lifting her hands rubbing her eyes.
'Can she see me?' Kenshin thought to himself.
"Ranma, I'm going to make you pay for being in my room without my permission." Her vision was starting to clear as a head of red hair came into view.
If she could see him then why would she think that he was Ranma? The realization hit him, oh that's right Ranma becomes a red head when he turns into a girl. She must not be able to see clearly enough yet. Which was kind of a good thing, but how did this happen, what is going on? What would Akane think of this? What would she say? He could feel his heart beating hard within his chest, his hand that was holding the sword released it and he reached up to touch his chest.
As soon as Akane's eyes focused from lack of sleep to the darkness, she looked around her room. She could have sworn she saw Ranma-Chan in here. She quickly jumped out of her bed and switched on her light. Her eyes were instantly directed to the sword that was nearer to her door. "Didn't I put you against the wall?" She looked back towards the piece of the wall that was beneath the window.
The Spirit still lay backwards onto the floor as Akane came forward. He didn't understand what was going on, one minute he could feel things and the next thing he knew he was like this again. He looked up as Akane appeared over him, she surely did not see him. She reached down and grabbed a hold of the sword. "Maybe you are cursed, I don't want any trouble from you, do you hear me sword?" She scolded it while holding it tightly in her hand heading to her free standing closet that rested up against the wall.
She pulled open her white closet doors and there were a few drawers inside, she pulled open the first drawer and placed the sword in it and slammed it closed. Hurrying back to her desk she grabbed the key that was hanging on a string pinned to the wall and rushed back to the drawer. "So that you won't cause any mischief, I'll keep you in here for awhile." She turned the key in the hole and it clicked locked.
Akane looked over at the clock that read three thirty. "Man, I really gotta get some sleep." Switching off the light Akane got back into bed, surprisingly enough she started drifting to sleep rather quickly.
Still lying or rather hovering a little off the ground, the Spirit looked at the closet, his own sword locked within it. Now he couldn't experiment with it anymore, why was this happening? Sitting up, he looked over at Akane. Did she see him, or didn't she? Will he ever know if she did or not? 'Did you even see me Miss Akane?' He mouthed, finding that no sound came from him. How great it would be to feel and be seen again, he sighed and hung his head feeling so disappointed.
Well that's it for episode two. Interesting or silly? Let me know what you think all right. Well stay tuned for Episode 3, Krazy Kuno's Kendo. It's sure to be a blast.
Ryoko Blue