"Ooof!" Mousse grunted as he bounced off the tree Ranma punched him into. Ranma wasn't using full force, the century old oak still stood. Mousse wasn't using full force either, the clearing in which they fought still resembled a campsite and not a war zone.
Standing ten meters away, Ranma taunted his opponent. "Ya left yourself wide open. Even with your eyes, ya shoulda seen that one coming."
Mousse moved left, slipping several short lengths of chain from his sleeve as he did so. Since it was a 'light' spar, there were no blades attached to the ends. As Ranma bored in, Mousse let fly with four chains and held the last two in reserve. Ranma dodged the first two with little effort, but avoiding the third set him up perfectly as the fourth struck his chest dead center with sufficient force to knock Ranma off his feet. "By the rules we agreed to, I believe that counts as a point."
A brief frown crossed Ranma's face before vanishing. The score stood four to three but had been three-zip in his favor. Mousse had seemingly found an exploitable hole and Ranma hadn't quite figured out what it was. As Ranma regained his feet, Mousse gathered the chains and other weapons he'd used in the encounter. Returning to the ready position, the sparring continued.
The male Amazon swung his blunted spear at neck height. Ranma ducked under the attack and launched a double punch. Mousse partially blocked the blow with his right arm, but lost his spear in the process. With his opponent temporarily disarmed, Ranma picked up the pace of his attacks. Mousse defended ably for thirty seconds, but Ranma poured on the speed and the part time duck gave ground. As the blocks became more and more desperate, Ranma went even faster. Mousse leapt backwards to gain breathing room, but Ranma had herded him so that his jump was straight into a large maple. Ranma's right hand blurred forward and stopped millimeters from Mousse's unprotected throat. "Match point?"
"Yeah, that's a 'gotcha'," Mousse agreed.
Pulling Mousse to his feet, the two returned to where Ranma had pitched his tent. "If you'd have been using chi techniques, you would've made mincemeat out of me and we both know it," Mousse said with memories of the battle against Saffron running through his head.
"That ain't what this was about and I'm tired of wreckin' things just because I can."
"It's never bothered you before."
"Maybe I'm growing up," Ranma replied quietly before asking, "What'd I do wrong?"
Mousse paused to clean his glasses. "If I still considered you a rival for Shampoo, I wouldn't say a word, but since you've made it clear that you want to marry Akane, I'll tell you. Your big thing is being unpredictable. Your attacks have like no rhythm and you never dodge the same way twice."
"Yeah, so?"
"So there are only so many ways to dodge. Since I know you won't repeat yourself, I can concentrate on paths you haven't used yet."
Ranma's eyes glazed over as he thought through Mousse's statement. "Sonuvabitch," he murmured. "I'm predictably unpredictable. Huh... Gonna havta work on that."
Mousse linked his fingers and stretched his arms over his head. "Well, I am pretty good at this stuff," he said breezily.
Puffy white clouds blocked the sun as they gathered deadwood for Ranma's campfire. Discussing Mousse's news over a late lunch of instant noodles, the two made a few observations. If Genma divorced Nodoka, fine. Ranma wanted nothing more to do with the woman. She'd had her chance at motherhood and blown it completely.
Nabiki's absence was a mixed question. If she had indeed disappeared, it might be a positive thing. No doubt her family was worried sick, but Ranma was certain the rest of Nerima was breathing a sigh of relief. Since she had packed, she'd left by choice and not force. But it was odd to think of Nabiki as running from anything. Ranma knew she had an almost magical ability to avoid consequences for her actions. Occasionally, Ranma acknowledged, by putting him in between herself and those consequences.
Mousse pointed out the only person that Ranma couldn't protect Nabiki from was Ranma. He agreed, but figured there was more to the situation. He'd been absent from the Tendo's before, but when he'd left Saturday night, it was without the intention of returning. Someone Nabiki had pissed off might have seen that as an opportunity for revenge.
Ranma didn't see himself as someone wanting revenge against Nabiki. Mousse did, but preferred not to give his vengeance minded companion any ideas. So after finishing his noodles, Mousse asked, "Since Ryoga's house turned out to be a bust, where are you planning on going next?"
The Hibiki home had indeed been a bust. No sign of Ryoga or his parents and the normally friendly Checkers had raised her hackles and growled at the mere scent of Ranma. Rather than challenge the dog, Ranma merely turned and left Yaizu via the road to Kakegewa.
"I was gonna try Akari's place next. If he ain't there, there's a little village near the south end of Honshu he goes through every so often. When he gets there, he knows he's missed Tokyo and needs ta head north."
"That's gotta be a good six or seven hundred kilometers southwest... Nevermind, I forgot who we were talking about."
Ranma snorted in lieu of laughter. "You'd better splash yourself and take off if you want to get back to Nerima before dark. And don't forget to ask Kasumi about what's goin' on. I may owe Cologne a hundred thousand yen and some favors, but that don't mean I'm dumb enough ta trust her."
Mousse opened his mouth to reply, thought better of it, and said, "I will, but unless you plan to wait here until I get back, how am I supposed to find you tomorrow?"
"Damn, you're right. Let me think..." Ranma pulled a map from his pack. "There's a buncha different ways to get to Akari's farm from here, but most of them go through... there. Gero Spa. I don't know if I'll get there tomorrow, or in five days, but I'll camp there before I go see Akari."
"Tomorrow?" Mousse asked. He tried to sound incredulous and hoped he succeeded. Shampoo and her hunting team were supposed to arrive at Gero Spa by nightfall. They too chose it as a convenient stopping point before searching the Unryu farm area.
"If I hop a bullet train to Nagoya, and get lucky with Japan Rail, I can do it," Ranma replied confidently. "If I gotta hoof it the whole way, I can still make it in five days."
"If you say so." Before Ranma could comment further, Mousse splashed himself with a tin cup of water set aside for that purpose earlier. After taking a moment to use his hidden weapons technique on his clothes, Mousse soon flew out of sight.
Afterwards, Ranma rubbed his chin in thought. If he wanted to make Gero Spa the next day, it would be much easier if he started from Nagoya in the morning as opposed to his current campsite. Thought led immediately to action as Ranma quickly broke camp. After making certain his campfire was completely out, Ranma began a kilometer eating jog toward Kakegawa. Even he wouldn't try to hop onto a moving bullet train. But while the train was at the station, it was a whole different story.
-----
Nabiki nervously wandered around Niigata, trying to get a feel for the place. Close enough to Nerima to return within hours, far enough away that no one would ever look for her there and large enough to be safely anonymous. That was the theory.
Reality, in the form of Ryoga Hibiki, proved otherwise. She'd turned a corner and there he was, two paces away and looking straight at her. She froze.
"Nabiki?" Ryoga said in confusion. He wasn't quite sure where he was, but he knew it wasn't Nerima or even Tokyo. But it was definitely the middle Tendo daughter standing in front of him. She looked... scared. Surprised as well, but more scared than anything. Which was unusual because he'd never seen Nabiki as other than calm, cool and collected. He found the idea of a scared Nabiki unsettling.
In response to the worried look on Ryoga's face, Nabiki relaxed. Ryoga, she could deal with. Ranma might have learned something in the past year, but the sappy ineptitude of the befanged young man in front of her was something that she could rely on. Finding out what he'd done to lock Ranma's curse was a mere question away. Or at least it would be once she led up to it properly.
"What are you doing here?" Ryoga finally asked.
Nabiki lied out of reflex, "Just scouting the local colleges. I don't want to stay in Nerima after I finish high school." It sounded plausible and from his expression, she could tell that Ryoga believed her. "What are you doing here?" she asked in return. "Lost again?"
Ryoga ignored the subtle dig, learning Ranma's status was more important. "Not really. If I don't care where I am, how can I be lost?" Unlike Nabiki's statement, his was true. Not that she believed it. Between his rivalry with Ranma, and his two 'loves', Nabiki believed the odds were that Ryoga was desperate to get somewhere. The only questions were how much to squeeze out of him before pointing him the right way and how much more to do it again after he screwed it up the first time.
"Well, if you want to see Akane or Akari anytime soon, I could point you in the right direction," Nabiki said in her best saleswoman voice.
"For a small fee," Ryoga added with surprising bitterness.
The sudden mood change caught Nabiki off guard. But the annoyance of Ryoga stealing her line overrode the subtle warning signal her subconscious mind gave. "No small fee. Just buy me dinner and I'll send you on your way."
Ryoga sighed internally. If he could escape Nabiki for the price of dinner, which would not be a small fee, that was fine. Besides, he was hungry for food cooked by someone else and, in her own way, she was pretty enough to look at for an hour or so.
Nabiki ordered the most expensive thing on the menu, ate two bites once it arrived and sent it back before ordering what she really wanted. "So what happened in that fight with Ranma?" she asked.
Ryoga swallowed a bit of eel tempura and answered, "Your plan worked. I challenged him to a Martial Arts chugging contest and he drank the bottle of stuff you gave me in nothing flat. After I was sure it kicked in, I stomped his ass. The bastard deserved it for almost getting Akane killed at Jusendo."
His anger at Ranma was nearly a tangible force so Nabiki back-pedaled a bit and concentrated on her meal for a few minutes. But eventually, she led the conversation back to subject matter that interested her as desert was winding down. "I'm glad our plan worked, but I'm curious about one thing."
"What's that?" Ryoga asked, puzzled.
"How did you stick Ranma's curse?"
"Huh?" This was something he'd been unaware of. Could it have had something to do with...
"Oh, you don't have to play coy with me Ryoga," Nabiki said in her most persuasive tone. She even leaned forward to present a little cleavage. "Knowing how to keep Ranma female when I want to could be worth quite a bit... to both of us. So tell me."
Ryoga came to the not so sudden revelation that he hated Nabiki Tendo. "Well, I can't really tell you," he said with a fang bearing smile, "but I can show you."
"All right."
No one who knew Nabiki Tendo ever saw her again.
-----
"Oh," Cocoa moaned as she soaked in the warmth of Gero Spa's best hot spring. "I think I could stay here a week."
"Two weeks. My feet are killing me," Jello added as she floated nearby with her eyes closed.
"C'mon, this trip hasn't been that rough," Soap observed as she slowly settled herself into the water. "Oh... wait... Oooh... This is nice," the youngest of the hunting party finished serenely.
Strong Gal scoffed at her tribal sisters from where she stood near the changing room. They had come to Japan on a mission for Elder Cologne and half their party was laying in hot water like ramen noodles just put in the pot. At least Shampoo and Susie were watching the roads for any sign of their target. But they too planned to take turns in idle decadence. Weak. They were all weak. Every last one of them.
Strong Gal was still disgusted with her fellow Amazons the next morning as they headed out. They were all treating the mission far too casually. They'd approached within three kilometers of the Unryu farm before Shampoo laid out her plan. Three kilometers. Yes, the lay of the land was such that it should be a safe distance. Yes, their target was one rather unmistakable man. But as unpredictable as this Ryoga was supposed to be, a casual approach was not tactically sound. Had she been leading...
Strong Gal quashed that thought harshly. She'd already tried a dominance ploy and failed. For better, or more likely for worse, Shampoo was in charge of the expedition and Strong Gal's own sense of pride would not allow her to do other than her best. Which made what happened even worse.
Soap and Jello had circled the farm at a distance to scout the northern approach. Strong Gal and Susie were to watch the southern route. Shampoo and Cocoa took the job of close reconnaissance. Shampoo even went so far as to activate her Jusenkyo curse, which had been meant as a punishment dammit, in order to keep a lower profile.
Half an hour after the other groups left, a break came in the monotony of observing the southern approach from concealment. A signal whistle, blown in the pattern for 'come' sounded in the valley containing the Unryu farm. Eager for action, Strong Gal charged in at top speed brandishing her spear-mace. Upon noting that her tribal sister was running flat out, Susie took off after her thinking she might have mistaken the call for one less urgent.
Upon finding only Akari at the farm, Shampoo had scratched out 'make peaceful contact' in the dirt in front of Cocoa. The Amazonian visitor had done so and even obtained hot water for Shampoo to return to human form. The signal whistle had been blown to call in the rest of the hunting party. It should have been simple.
However, Strong Gal's reckless charge drew a response from a source she'd never considered. She knew Akari Unryu raised pigs, she could smell that much. The fact that the young woman raised grand champion sumo pigs had somehow managed to escape Strong Gal.
Upon seeing a stranger charging the farm with something sharp and pointy, Katsu-nishiki leapt to the defense of his mistress. Squealing mightily, so as to alert the other sumo-pigs training nearby, the 14th Yokozuna of Pigdom dashed to cut off the incoming threat, reared up on his hind legs and stood ready for battle.
Strong Gal's charge collapsed into a slow walk as she took in the sight before her. Her weapon of choice dangled uselessly in her right hand. The largest pig she'd ever seen, even larger than the Russian boar she'd once hunted, was standing, on its hind legs no less, in front of her. It was an impressive specimen, easily capable of feeding her entire village. But it was just... surreal... how the animal stood there as if planning to attack her.
Katsu-nishiki got tired of waiting and attacked first, knocking the woman's sharp and pointy thing away from her. Her shock at this allowed the sumo-pig to follow up with a series of shoves that kept her off balance while guiding her toward a food trough.
Falling backwards over the obstacle, Strong Gal gathered her wits. Despite the odd nature of her opponent, she realized she was in a fight and unless she did something soon, she would lose. Pulling her knees to her chest, she reached behind her in an attempt to handspring away and put some distance between herself and her foe. On firmer ground, it might have worked. In the mud and loose dirt around the trough, her hands shot out from under her, leaving her face down and slightly stunned. Before she could return to her feet, a large porcine hoof placed itself in the middle of her spine.
After three failed attempts to heave herself free, and fully aware that if the animal wanted her dead she'd already be dead, Strong Gal very reluctantly accepted her defeat.
"Look! Strong Gal finally caught husband!" Susie said in broken Japanese before breaking down in gales of laughter. Soap joined her tribeswoman in excessive merriment while Jello merely snorted and smirked.
"Huh?" Akari asked of no one in particular.
Cocoa, whose Japanese was excellent, explained. "It is Amazon law that if a warrior is defeated by a male, she gives him 'The Kiss of Marriage' and he becomes her husband."
"Well, Katsu-nishiki is certainly male, but he isn't human. He can't be anyone's husband."
"Oh, we can fix that," Susie said between laughs. "Got two pouches of instant Nannichuan in pack."
Akari knew of Jusenkyo from her beloved Ryoga. Even though it had transformed him into a pig, Akari felt he wasn't that fond of the place. The chance to see the reverse in action was disturbingly intriguing to her. What would Katsu-nishiki be like as a man? Akari shook her head hard to dislodge the thought, but it refused to budge.
"You think I marry pig, you die first," Strong Gal ground out through clenched teeth from her place under the sumo pig's hoof.
Soap stopped laughing long enough to reply in her native tongue, "He wouldn't be a pig when you married him, just before and after like every other man." She managed to keep her face straight for two seconds before cracking up again.
"No hot water during the honeymoon," Jello added before she too began laughing uncontrollably.
-----
While the Amazons discussed the merits of wedding Strong Girl to Katsu-nishiki, Ranma Saotome walked north on the road leading to the Unryu farm from Gero Spa. He'd got lucky in Nagoya, arriving with enough time grab a late dinner before hopping the last train to Kanayama. His senses were on full alert as he traveled. If Ryoga was with Akari, he could walk into a trap or something far worse.
Ryoga Hibiki looked around and realized if that last town really had been Kamioka, he was only a day or two's walk away from Akari's farm, assuming he didn't get lost. While he had no desire to spend time with the pigs, the pigs' owner was another story. He felt confident and eager enough to try his romantic luck with someone who might actually be willing. So eager, that he hopped a south bound freight train that he knew passed within two kilometers of Akari's home. With luck, he would be there in two hours.