Disclaimer: See Prologue
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Chapter Two: The Troubles with Rival's and Iinazuke's
Ucchan's had a light morning rush, which finally slowed a couple hours before going into the lunch hour rush. The one-time konnichi was bussing tables while his employer was finishing with the last of the morning customers. Or so he thought.
Ukyo hummed at the grill as she prepared a special okonomiyaki for her iinazuke. She needed to make some major points, after the disaster of a wedding. She couldn't believe that Ranchan had been ready and even willing to marry Akane. Didn't he realize that she was the best looking, had a sweeter disposition and could cook. She was perfect wife material unlike the others.
Frowning the slender young woman placed the masterpiece in a cardboard box. What did the youngest Tendo have that attracted all the guys to her? Was it that they liked being beaten up? The fact that they all thought of her as a challenge? Just what was her appeal? Ukyo shook her head not understanding.
"Konatsu, I'm leaving your in charge, I'll be back." She jumped over the grill, box in hand.
"Alright Ukyo-sama," the 'male' ninja waved as he moved to take over the grill. A teenaged male customer winked making the kimono clad young man blush.
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"Come on, Akane," demanded the pigtailed martial artist.
"I'm coming. You'd think you were the one with the doctor's appointment." She rushed down the stairs out of breath. She paused to put on her shoes standing she looked expectantly at her iinazuke. She was dressed in a white sundress that reached her knees, at the waist it was cinched in with a pink sash and on her head she wore a white hat that also had a pink ribbon around it.
Ranma stood staring at her mouth slightly agape. He shook his head abruptly as images of the white dress becoming soaked flashed briefly in his head, 'Get those hentai thoughts out of your head before she realizes what your thinking and hits you into next week.'
"Well, I'm ready Ranma." the short black haired martial artist said in faintly bemused voice.
"Yeah, I'm comin'," he said nervously as he followed behind her.
"Oh, joyous day, our schools will be united," cried Soun as he and Genma-panda did a happy dance complete with fans and confetti. The Panda held up a sign Son make your father proud!.
"Oh shut up old man I'm just makin' sure she makes it the doc's without gettin' trippin' into the road or somethin'." He kicked his father in the head knocking him out and glared at the Tendo patriarch, who began to sob.
"Well if that's your intent then you might want to hurry," Nabiki suggested as she pointed out the doorway that was now empty.
"Great she took off without me." Ranma sprinted out the door in an effort to catch up to the black haired young woman.
Nabiki smiled as she added another 1000 yen to Ranma's tab.
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The brisk business had kept those at the Nekohanten hopping, but with a lull in customers the purple haired amazon's thoughts turned to ways of getting her errant Airen. Though the previous nights attempt had ended badly nothing could deter her from getting the young man back to the Amazon village as her husband.
"Great-grandmother, it not so busy You let Shampoo go to see Ranma. I can bring him to to good bowl of Ramen." The young Amazon warrior jumped with enthusiasm at the thought of seeing the young pigtailed martial artist.
"Of course Shampoo." Cologne sighed inwardly. 'It could hardly hurt anymore than what she did at that wedding. I fear that she has already lost. Though any more escapades like last night could hurt any chance we have of getting son-in-law to consider being adopted into the Amazon Tribe.'
The aged amazon cackled at the thought that the best way would be to bribe the young man with her teachings of some other martial artist techniques.
The bespectacled young man looked up from wiping down an already clean table he gazed at the wrinkled form of the Elder Amazon, "Shampoo, there's no need for you to go chasing after that miserable excuse of a human being when I am right here." He stood tall at saying those last few words.
Sliding a bowl of the Nekohanten best take-out ramen into a container, Shampoo gracefully hopped over the counter and quickly made her way to the doors, the sound of her voice trailed back to those in the restaurant. "Ranma more man than you any day, even if he girl half-time."
Mousse turned and shouted at a patron sitting in a spot that the young lady had just passed by, "I'll show you, Shampoo I'm much more so than Ranma Saotome."
The man fell out of his chair spilling his soup. He had been so frightened by the unwarranted abuse the young hidden weapons master had unknowingly caused.
Cologne sighed again then a shiver unexpectedly passed though the old woman as if someone had walked over her grave: the feeling that something big was going to happen. 'I just hope that it doesn't equal that of the Saffron incident.'
The bungling of Mousse's attempt to appease the soup cover customer caught the elders attention from the unwelcome feeling of disaster that was to come. "Hey, Mr. Part-timer, take these and deliver them." She just wanted to get the inept young man out of the restaurant. Yelling at him helped to dispel what remained of the bad feeling she had just had.
The half-blind martial artist grumbled as he accidentally tipped over a couple of flower vases on his path to the doorway.
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It had been a while since Kodachi had last seen her Ranma-sama. She knew that her darling would have forgiven her for unintentionally helping those other girls in destroying his beloved mother's house. But to make amends she settled into the kitchen to make him some of her special cookies, for all women knew that a way to a man's heart was through his stomach. It had taken all morning but she was satisfied that they would be the way back into her love's heart again.
"Oh, Ranma darling, I'll make sure that this time you get these. That harlot Akane will not ruin our reunion. Ohhahahahahaha," the gymnast crowed.
"I need information on where Darling Ranma will be today." Kodachi frowned. "Sasuke! Sasuke! Where is that little man?" the crazed gymnast fumed as she went in search of the resident ninja.
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Elsewhere at the Kuno Residence:
Tatewaki Kuno had started his day by doing kendo practice with his loyal servant, Sasuke. They had gone through several scenarios that involved saving the beauteous Akane and his pig-tailed goddess from the vile sorcerer Saotome. Sasuke was acting as the evil villain so that his master had a moving target. Numerous bruises later the ninja collapsed from the Kendoist's blows.
"Master, is it possible that we could take a break now?" the pig-tailed impersonator lay in a heap were he had fallen, purple clothes peaking out of the disheveled red chinese shirt and black pants.
"My dear Sasuke, such a thing is not possible. For that villainous cur would not allow one such as I any pause to reclaim such energy."
"But Master, I do not have the same stamina as young Saotome," implored the exhausted ninja from his prone position.
"Saa..suu..kee," the shrill voice of the mistress of the house cut across the training area of the kendoist.
"Mistress Kodachi!.." the little ninja groaned as he went in answer to the lady of the house summons. 'Sometimes I wish they would hire another personal servant.'
"There you are you miserable excuse for a ninja." Kodachi's classic Kuno features where scrunched up into a dark scowl at the sight of the ninja's unusual attire. "I need you to find where my Ranma-sama is at once."
"Hold, Sister. The man is in service to my noble self this sunrise." Kuno gave a negligent wave of one hand while the other held his bokken at the ready. He was anticipation that his demented sister would take out her ribbon, as was her usual for an up coming argument.
"Dearest brother, I am only trying to ensure that Ranma darling and that wretched Tendo girl spend as little time together as possible," she declared smiling affably at her older sibling.
Taken aback the Blue Thunder of Furinken High looked thoughtful as he considered the benefits of separating his fierce tigress from the foul sorcerer. Once that was done he just had to rescue the fair pig-tailed girl; he would then have his two great loves. "Very well, my perverse sister, you may have the use of my faithful servant. Sasuke, go to the Tendo residence immediately to find where for that cur Saotome and the lovely goddess Akane Tendo are this day."
As the ninja left, Kodachi shrieked, "And change out of that ridiculous outfit before you embarrass the house of Kuno."
"At once master... mistress." In a blur of motion the overworked underpaid drudge vanished from sight. 'As if I could embarrass it anymore then it presently is.'
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As Ryoga sat before his morning fire he dredged up the previous night's incident. It began when he had found himself outside of the Tendo dojo and vowed to himself that Ranma would pay for not honoring his intent to marry Akane. Their fight had only lasted half the time it normally would have for the pig-tailed martial artist had quickly gotten the both of them splashed with cold water. Being turned into a pig so swiftly after they'd started had been such a shock that Ryoga had gotten lost, only to find himself in Akane's bedroom. He had been unable to stop the black haired girl from giving him a pleasant cuddled. When Ranma showed up unexpectedly, the small pig started to growl and tried to bite his rival out of habit and frustration over losing another fight.
The resulting couple's fight had been the usual for when the three were in that situation. Then had quickly escaped Akane's arms to go in search of hot water so he could seek revenge for the black haired girl's sake. But he had unfortunately found himself outside with no idea how he had gotten there. The only bright side was that he had found his pack, which contained all his survival gear. After taking the time to heat some water, he had ended up wandering around most of the night until he was so tired that he had decided to make camp. Coincidentally the site happened to be the Furinken High School soccer field.
'Ranma, you'll get yours someday. Poor Akane having to put up with your philandering ways.' Ryoga's shifting moods, in-affect caused his building aura's colors to change from red to yellow.
"Hey, man. You need take this little campout somewhere else. We need the field to practice." demanded a boy wearing shorts and sweatshirt with the Furinken High School emblem embossed in the left-hand corner.
The lost boy looked around and cringed to find that he was indeed in the middle of the soccer field, and that it was rapidly filling with the high school's soccer team. "Heh..."
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"The targets have been spotted Sir." A man in a black business suit lower his binoculars as he spoke into a headset.
Mild static was broken by a gruff authoritative voice. "Stay with them but do not engage until back-up gets there."
"Affirmative," the individual murmured. He watched with some astonishment as one of objects of their surveillance ran on top of a narrow fence before leaping down next to the other. The male had made it seem as natural as walking on the pavement.
At that same time, a lone shadow in a bush across the street shifted, briefly exposing purple material before it was quickly covered up once more.
Sasuke's stealth had improved so greatly that the resident martial artist of Nerima was less apt at seeing him. Of course it was even easier when they weren't even paying attention. He quietly made his way to the spot that he was certain he wouldn't be noticed leaving of the shrubbery. With a quick look around, he emerged, sprinting to the closest pay phone. 'It's times like these that I wish the master would get me a cellphone,' tired little ninja thought not for the first time.
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Running on top of the fence, Ranma could see that he was quickly catching up to his iinazuke. With a tremendous leap the pig-tailed martial artist came down on the sidewalk next to her. He unconsciously shoved his hands into his pants pockets. They walked in quiet, every now and then sneaking glances at each other.
Akane awkwardly broke the uncomfortable silence, "It's good that your teacher let you make up the stuff that you missed."
The black haired boy sagged with relief that the whole way wasn't going to be in absolute quiet. "Yeah, I suppose. I'm still not to sure why I need all that junk anyway."
"Ranma, even if you don't need that 'junk' as you put it, do you really want to have to repeat a year?" The dark haired girl's eyes sparked with frustration at the young man's lack of interest in school.
Ranma gazed, mesmerized by the fiery spirit in the girl that walked next to him. It always amazed him that she was so passionate about everything that she did. Even in the times that she was down, it never took much to get that light back into them. It was that bright flare of life that he figured drew guys like Kuno, Ryoga, Kirin and Toma (and even him, though he would only admit that to himself) to her.
Akane fidgeted at the close, undisguised scrutiny that the dark haired young man was giving her. Warmth crept up into her face causing her pale cheeks to pinken. "What? Is something on my face?" her normally defensive words came out sounding more a soft inquiry as she sought to control the urge to run. The intensity of his gaze left her feeling flustered and dizzy, though the dizziness could be attributed to the fact that she hadn't eaten that morning.
The blue-eyed martial artist swallowed as he also fought down the compulsion to react in what was a normal manner to such an innocent question. Those were usually the ones that got him in the most trouble.
"Ah... No," he looked away hoping that the young woman hadn't noticed how easily she could effect him. "So, when ya get done with the Doc and we eventually go home, do ya think you'll be up ta helpin' me with the rest of my homework."
The shorthaired girl didn't miss his hopeful tone of voice; she let the brief almost intimate encounter slide with some regret. "Sure, Ranma. I'll see Doctor Tofu; we'll spend a little time at the cemetery and then take a walk through the park before heading home. More than likely Kasumi will have dinner waiting. I'll help you with your math. Of course that's if your father decides to leave you alone for one night."
Ranma sobered a little at the mention of his old man, but soon brightened at how quickly his iinazuke had planned the day, even if she did seem to think that they were going on a date. Inside he was happier than he had been in awhile.
Akane almost stopped walking as she spotted a figure in the distance that was unmistakably one of the young pigtailed man's other suitors. The large Spatula was a dead give away that Ukyo Kuonji was walking briskly in their direction. Internally, the brown-eyed young woman sighed. 'I should have known today wouldn't be any different than the others,' though she had envisioned it briefly as such: an entire day of Ranma and herself, alone.
The young man in question was experiencing an unusual emotion noticing what had distracted his companion. Normally he wouldn't have minded seeing his oldest friend but for once he was irritated at the sight of her. Only a few days after the wedding, he had forgiven everybody, but he was still wary of those who had busted it up.
"Ranchan," the call that reached them made both wilt at realizing that they had been also spotted by the okonomiyaki chef. Not wanting to be rude Ranma waved, hoping that it wasn't going to be a trend for others to show up.
"Hey, Ucchan," he greeted without his typical enthusiasm.
They all came to a stop, of the trio the dark short-haired girl looked annoyed, and the one with long brown hair tied back with a bow was across between aggravated and smug. Stuck in the middle was the person who was unfortunately the cause of it all.
"I was just coming to see you and here you are. So, where are you two going?" Ukyo put on her sweetest disposition; she didn't want to provoke any hostilities. But she wasn't going to overlook that the pair had looked awfully comfortable before she had approached.
Before, anything more than a stuttering reply could be forth coming the sound of a bicycle bell could be heard, along with, "Nihao, Arien." The shadow of the vehicle was cast briefly over everyone prior to landing on the face of the pigtailed martial artist. The bubbly voice of the local Amazon sent the other two females backs to stiffening.
"Get off." Ranma just wanted to get out from underneath the Chinese girl's tire. He was unaware of the tension that radiated off the three young women.
"What Spatula girl and Kitchen destroyer doing with Shampoo's Airen?" the purple haired Amazon stood with one hand holding a takeout box and the other keeping her cycle upright. The fact that it was still on the prone pigtailed martial artist didn't go unnoticed.
"You should talk landing on Ranchan like that, besides if either of us where doing anything it wouldn't be any of your business." The chef stated still peeved at the buxom girl for talking her into the explosive food at the important wedding. It had only been after she saw the destruction and her iinazuke charred tuxedo that guilt settled in. She didn't agree with how Akane treated him but otherwise she liked her.
Frowning, Akane grumbled, "Shampoo maybe you should let Ranma up." She just wasn't up to the normal antics that was Nerima.
The black haired young man had finally extracted himself from beneath the tire; its faint impression still marked the middle of his face. With fists clenched he practically shouted at the young Chinese woman, "Would you stop doing that? I'm tired of ya always using me as a landing pad."
Three different pair of eyes looked at him, the brown soulful gaze of his black haired iinazuke held the same tiredness he felt, where as the green and purple gaze of the other two were both equally confused.
The purple haired young woman's confusion turned to angry suspicion as she whirled back to the others; "You did do something." Ukyo rolled her eyes while Akane just closed her's with a sigh.
Before the girls could start the next round, a shrill female voice interrupted. "Peasants! What are you doing to my darling Ranma?"
The young man in question sighed knowing that the day could only get worse instead of better, especially when distance shouts could be picked up coming from three different directions; dust clouds could also be made out from afar.
"Ranma Saotome, you vile sorcerer! Remove thyself from the presence of the beauteous vision that is Akane Tendo," the tall black haired teen wearing a hakuma command, his ever-present bokken at the ready.
"Saotome, defend yourself, for I shall regain my beloved Shampoo." The tall Chinese young man yelled as he charged from the direction of the Nekohanten, his hidden weapons poking out of his vast sleeves.
"Ranma, how dare you treat Akane that way?" Ryoga shouted, pointing his bamboo umbrella as he went in to attack.
The four girls turned, three glared angrily at the intrusion, the other just groaning in defeat. Their weapons were already drawn, as they had been about to fight over whose food that the pigtailed young man would eat first. They all yelled in unison, "You stay away from 'Ranma honey', 'Ranma darling' and Arien."
Ranma, caught between the six martial artists, fought to get out of the situation. It was certainly a challenge to defend himself and attack against both sides. He wasn't entirely sure which was which but it didn't really matter; 'Ranma Saotome' always won in the end.
"Ranma, I'm going to be late," Akane cried out after giving her watch a quick glance.
"You go ahead." The pigtailed boy managed as he dodged a bon bori, spatula and a gymnastics' ribbon. "I'll catch up," he said as he leapt up to kick Ryoga and Kuno.
The brunette shook her head and ran off, briefly looking back, hoping that the young man would be able to keep his promise this time.
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Captain Koizuri stood out of sight with his team of three on the ground; another team of three was spread out behind their prey. "Neko, the objectives have separated. The male is in a tussle with some locals. The female has abandoned her companion and is going on. Advise; out."
The close cropped haired man pressed the earpiece while receiving the in coming message. "Stay with the male. We'll take over following the female. Neko out."
"Confirm. Stay with male target. Inu out."
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Akane walked sulkily up the path leading to Doctor Tofu's office door. She hoped that Ranma would make good on his promise. But in the back of her mind she had the sinking suspicions that she was in for yet another disappointment.
The dark haired girl was so preoccupied that she was unaware of the white van that was peaking out of an alley.