RANMA ½ is the creation of Takehashi Rumiko – all rights belong to her and her authorized distributors, Shonen Sunday Comics, Shogakukan, Kitty TV and Viz Communications.
OH MY GODDESS is the creation of Fujishima Kosuke – all right belong to him and his authorized distributors, Afternoon Magazine, Kodansha and Pioneer Entertainment.
ALL PURPOSE CULTURAL CAT-GIRL NUKU-NUKU is the creation of Takada Yuzo – all rights belong to him and his authorized distributors, Movie, King Records and Futaba Sha.
The characters are used without the permission of the above. This fanfiction is in no way meant to infringe upon their legal and financial rights nor does the author in any way benefit financially from this endeavor. This work is done in appreciation to the hours of enjoyment the above creations have given me.
Ki Cutters: 1
The Path of a True Martial Artist
"You cheated."
"Did not!"
"Cheater!"
"Ranma!" Akane said peevishly, "I did not cheat! He who hesitates is lost and you hesitated."
"What you did was… was…" Ranma flushed and spluttered.
"It was exactly what you would have done," Akane said confidently, smirking. "In fact, didn't you tell me once, you did something like that to Herb on Mount Horaison?"
oOo
They stood in the center of the dojo following Ranma's ignominious defeat by Akane. His consciousness, absent for several months from his body, had a lot of catching up to do. So many things had happened during his absence and with the normal misunderstandings that occurred on his return each of them had painfully assumed the relationship was over. Then a stroke of luck and Ranma's penchant for mementos – Akane's hair and ribbon from back when it was first cut and the tape with Akane's lipstick on it, carefully preserved from the Romeo and Juliet fiasco – had tumbled into Akane's lap. Akane's heart-broken observation that Ranma must once have loved her had broken down the pride-locked gates of Ranma's heart and driven him to show her what he felt by word and deed. He loved her, he always would, and please forgive him for kissing her breathless, it wouldn't happen again.
Akane had enough breath left to inform him it better happen again, baka! Then she had proceeded to reciprocate. For once they were not interrupted. Where another couple might have ended up in bed, they ended up in the dojo sparring, with Akane challenging that Ranma audition for the Nutcracker Prince, the male lead in the class play, as a forfeit if he lost. Though Akane had taken great strides in achieving her potential as a martial artist prior to his Nekoken-induced expulsion, he had not realized how much she had been forced to achieve, both physically and emotionally, since then. Confident as ever, Ranma had accepted her challenge – then lost when after a brief exchange in which he had been suitably impressed by her improvement in speed, Akane had seductively shed her top as she closed with him. He had ended up on the floor with Akane straddling him, unwilling even to attempt further conflict with… those staring him in the face. He had lost, big time.
oOo
Ranma grumbled and kicked at the floor. He couldn't deny it. Heck, he wasn't sure why he was complaining, but… "Grumble, grumble… tomboy!"
"Tomboy?" Akane asked with a hint of irritation. "Do you want me to do it again?" Ranma glanced at her sidewise and blushed. Judging from his expression and other things, Akane suspected he wanted to say yes, but didn't dare.
Ranma changed the subject. "Somebody staked Taro out back. I don't know what he did to you guys, but he's gonna really stink things up if somebody don't wake him and get him cleaned up." He flinched as Akane looked like she was about to declare him insane.
"You want to know what he did?" she demanded.
"Yeah."
They faced off in a staring contest for a moment. "He stole Kinjakan, burned down your mother's house, toasted the neighborhood, kidnapped me, destroyed a small park, wrecked part of the school…"
"Yeah… But you know Taro. This had to have something to do with the freak. An' he ain't got Kinjakan anymore, right?"
"Uhhh…" Akane really didn't know how to respond. Taro had said something about Happosai, but the previous evening's events were a little scrambled to recall clearly in her present emotional state.
"I mean, everybody's alright, right? At least he's the only one I seen who looks beat up."
"Ranma!" She rubbed her temples and tried to see where his arguments were weak. "I almost lost you because of him." She glanced at him, then played a trump she was immediately ashamed to use. "You almost lost me." She flinched a little at the tightening around the eyes that betrayed his anger.
"Well, then…" He straightened and clenched his fist. "Then maybe I wanna pound on him a while. After all, I don't know that Barry did a good enough job."
"Ranma…" Akane growled. She couldn't think of anyway to reassure him without wounding his ego. "Cologne put him out. Are you sure you can…?"
"Feh! Tsubo techniques are ki techniques done by touch. I'm sure I can unblock him directly." He nodded to himself. "C'mon, Akane, I think I wanna talk ta this boob!"
Hesitantly, Akane followed Ranma out behind the dojo, to where Taro lay under a small tent, trapped in a tsubo-induced coma. As Ranma ducked in she followed, uncertain of where this was going. She watched Ranma kneel beside his long-time adversary and gaze at him intently. Taro's skin was swollen and a tapestry of burns and bruises. He almost looked as if he'd painted his body in black and blue camoflage. With her own ki vision, she watched how he reached out and loosened bonds on the lines of energy that bound him from his body. Taro groaned and shifted. A sob escaped his lips. Akane's brows scrunched up. She tried to resist the pain and hopelessness she heard in that sound. She reminded herself repeatedly that Taro had been trying to kill them last night, but it didn't do much good.
"Hey, Taro! Wake up, man! I really don't wanna hafta drag yer butt to the bathroom."
"Whhhhat…" Taro breathed out, his throat sounding raw in the dim shadows of his personal hell.
"Take it easy, man," Ranma said in a calm voice. Taro flinched and his head rolled toward the sound. Eyes, crusty with sleep, blinked open slits.
"I'm sorry," Taro whispered. Akane flinched herself. This hardly sounded like the voice of a bloodthirsty monster. "I'm so sorry."
Ranma sighed. "I have a feeling that there's a lot more to this than you goin' nutso and tryin' ta burn down Mom's house and half the city. Are ya gonna give us any more trouble?"
"No," Taro whispered.
"Akane and me'll help ya up…"
"Akane?" Taro gasped. His head flopped sidewise and Akane blushed at how his eyes opened wide, taking her in. She shifted uncertainly. "You're alive?" A tear trickled down his cheek and she looked away embarrassed. Ranma was quick to see his distress and grimaced. Damn! Was he going to be fighting Taro over Akane, now?
He decided to punt and change the subject. After all, bull-boy was hardly in condition to fight. "Jeez, man, I know those stupid tsubo point things Cologne does can hurt wearin' off. Don't lose it, okay?" Together, he and Akane shifted him out of the tent and helped him to his feet. His limbs flopped uselessly and they were forced to support him through the doors into the bathroom where Ranma finally got irritated at how Taro was 'ogling' Ranma's fiancée. They sat him down on one of the stools. "Get lost, Akane. I'll wash him off and get him in the furo." She nodded and retreated.
Ranma efficiently stripped him and dumped the clothes in a bucket. When Taro's hands proved too numb to hold the sprayer, the pigtailed man began the long tortuous process of spraying him off with carefully adjusted hot water and rubbing feeling back into his limbs. Taro winced as those ministrations also stimulated pain in the massive bruising covering his body. The ringing in his ears didn't help, either.
"I thought she was dead… That we all were dead," whispered Taro. He looked down at his feet, his bangs covering his eyes.
"Yeah?" Ranma supported him, stumbling, to the furo and lowered him in. "I guess I got a little nuts, too. Appearances can be deceivin'." Ranma watched him carefully as he hosed off then stepped in with Taro. "You were lucky, man. Nobody got hurt or killed …this time. But if you'da hurt Akane…"
"I would have deserved it," Taro mumbled. "Saotome, I need to know. How did Akane get so good? And where did you people learn the ki techniques you used?"
"I'm a good teacher," Ranma shrugged easily. "Akane's a damn good student, though I'll thank ya not to repeat that. As for the ki techniques…" Ranma flushed and sank lower in the tub. "Let's just say it was a cooperative effort between a bunch of us here in Nerima." He watched as the older man digested this information.
"That bastard, Happosai," snarled Taro. "I should have known!"
"The old fart tricked ya again?" Ranma concluded. "I sorta figured that. What did he tell ya?"
"That you two had become his sex-toys in return for training in ki techniques."
Ranma looked shocked then disgusted. "Man, how could you think that? I mean…"
"And he said he'd rename me if I got him Kinjakan."
"Whoa!" Ranma looked confused. "But ya had Kinjakan. Ya mean he went back on his word?" Ranma was astonished. Happosai would lose incredible face for something like this. Then he saw Taro's face. "Uh-oh. What's yer new name, monster-boy?"
"What's it to you, fem-boy?" Taro snarled back. Ranma returned him a level look. Finally he mumbled, "Lacy Darlings…"
"What?" Ranma wasn't sure he heard him right.
"Lacy Darlings! Lacy Darlings!" Taro snarled, splashing water everywhere. "Are you satisfied?" Ranma shrugged. Taro looked like he was beginning to feel better. "Where's my vest, anyway? I'm kind of attached to it."
Ranma grimaced. "That vest turns out to be the only reason yer still alive, Taro. The old ghoul said it was made of authentic dragon hide. Back when we trashed Jusendo and Phoenix Mountain, when Akane touched Kinjakan, it shrank her down like that!" Ranma snapped his fingers. "Only dunkin' her in the cold cursed waters at Jusendo brought her back, and it was a damn near thing. I don't appreciate the danger ya put her in." Ranma looked distant and quietly added, "I killed Saffron for that."
"You trashed that place? I thought the volcano erupted or something!" Taro looked at Ranma with new eyes.
Ranma waved a hand as if it was past and unimportant. "Things got outa hand."
"Like they almost did here, dammit!" Taro subsided. "So, where's my vest? I don't give a damn what you do with Kinjakan."
"I think…"
The door to the bathroom banged open and Cologne, followed by Akane, Shampoo, Ling-Ling and Lung-Lung, Ukyo, Mousse, Ryoga and others out in the hall, tried to crowd into the room. Ranma and Taro sank down to their noses, covering their privates.
"Ranma," croaked Cologne. "What's the meaning of releasing Taro from my tsubo points? The representatives from Phoenix Mountain will be here any day now and they will probably demand we turn him over to them!"
"They can go screw pigeons in the park for all I care, old ghoul," Ranma retorted.
"Ranma…" she growled warningly.
"Happosai caused this mess over Taro's name again. Musta heard some of my nightmares about Jusendo and figured if he got Kinjakan he could hold it over my head." Ranma glowered at his audience. "So he told Taro here, if he got Kinjakan, he'd change his name. If Phoenix Mountain can catch Happosai, they can keep him!" he concluded.
Cologne hissed in frustration. "They won't be happy about this."
"Tough." Ranma was increasingly agitated by the audience. "Do you people mind?"
"Hey, old ghoul," Taro growled after the giggles subsided, "Where's my stuff? I want it back."
"Tough!" Cologne mimicked Ranma. "We don't all get what we want in life."
Taro smirked and rose higher in the tub. He wasn't shy around girls, except for his name. "Wanna bet?" he asked sweetly.
"Jeez, Taro!" snarled Ranma. "Quit tryin' ta seduce my fiancées!"
"What did you say?" snapped Akane dropping her hands.
"He say fiancée… with multiple counter," offered Shampoo, looking Taro over thoroughly.
"Pantyhose Taro, leave my beloved Shampoo alone!" snarled Mousse to Ranma.
"Over there, Mousse!"
"I knew that," the male Amazon said with a sweat drop.
"I thought this was settled," demanded Ukyo with a hint of irritation and an un-slinging of her spatula.
"Ranma! If you two-time Akane now, I'll kill you," shouted Ryoga.
Taro sank back in the tub and shook his head, staying as far from Ranma as possible. "Morons," he muttered, and then added more loudly, "I guess these girls are all so hard up, they gotta peep at guys any time they can."
His remark induced blushes in Akane and Ukyo and an amused snort from Shampoo. Cologne gave the man-monster and Ranma hard looks before retreating, shooing along Ling-Ling and Lung-Lung who were busily chirping, 'we hard up'. They heard Ukyo and Akane agreeing simultaneously that they had to get ready for school, followed by Cologne's grumbling tones about the restaurant. Ryoga and Mousse had been dragged off by the girls, which left the pair in privacy once more.
"I owe ya one, man," Ranma smirked.
"Whatever." Taro sighed and considered what would happen next.
"Taro-san?" a different voice called in at the door. Nodoka Saotome did not enter, but they could almost see her standing just outside, her katana in its silk wrapper. "I'm going over to what's left of my house. You are planning on doing something about the damages, aren't you?"
Taro paled. Ranma shook his head. "Fiancées are one thing. Mom's house…" Ranma shook his head again. "You're on your own, man."
"Gee, thanks, Saotome," Taro muttered.
Akane stared shocked at the damage that Furinkan had sustained in the fight with Taro. Behind her, Shampoo, Ukyo and Ryoga gaped as well. They had not really gotten a good look at the damage last night, being too concerned with pummeling Ranma for certain misdeeds they assumed he had committed. The soccer field and the gymnasium were a wreck. The corridor that ran along the equipment room and locker rooms totally collapsed by Taro's attempt to force his monster form through the inadequate spaces. Rescue workers roamed about, digging through the rubble. The smoking ruins of the playing field lay nearby, the steam and water shut off at the main.
"It was like… wow!" said Daisuke, to no one in particular. He was dressed for his morning run around the now charred track. "Hiro and I were gonna do our laps and we found this instead. We called the police and they brought along the fire department to see if anyone was trapped." Behind him, Gosunkugi snapped pictures.
Hiroshi glanced at Daisuke, then sidewise at the Nerima Wrecking Crew. "Uh, you guys wouldn't know anything about this, would you?"
None of them were terribly good at lying off the cuff, their sweat drops and guilty expressions betraying their involvement.
"It Happosai's fault," Shampoo said brightly, after a moment of thinking up and discarding several possible scenarios. She frowned at Gos as he swung the camera their way.
"How was it his fault?" asked Jiro, who had come bouncing over with a scowl. Jiro had been hanging out with the perverted pair a lot lately. Some people were beginning to refer to them after a certain American comedy team of Larry, Moe and Curly. When noticed, Gosunkugi was labeled 'Shep'.
"It not Ranma's fault," Shampoo countered. "Maybe big demon come with great burning eyes, call up by Happosai because he too-too chicken face Ranma, now Ranma strong."
Jiro scowled at her and looked away at the school. After his elation and notoriety at being the only male to get a kiss, no matter how chaste, from Shampoo, he had totally struck out in attempts to date her.
"Where is Ranma, anyway?" asked Hiroshi, concerned.
"At home… resting up," Akane replied. Actually, he was reading the journal of his missing months, left by the spirit that had inhabited his body during that time, but they didn't need to know that. She offered some of the truth. "We went out to that new karaoke place Saturday night and… Well, you know how he is with cold liquid! Apparently, a couple of guys decided they'd like to get to know his girl-type better and drugged his drink." Her audience shuddered with expressions of suppressed laughter and concern. "He survived, but it was a bit chancy there, for a while."
"Call it a cautionary tale for pretty girls in public places, who leave their drinks unattended," drawled Ukyo, fingering one of her small spatulas. "I wonder if we're having school or not?"
"Maybe we should look around for one of the teachers," Daisuke suggested. He jogged off.
"Wow, Akane! Did you guys do this?" Yuka queried as she skipped over. There was a math test scheduled for today that Yuka was dreading.
Sayuri grinned and pulled out a notebook assuming her roll of reporter for the school paper. "Can I get a scoop?"
Akane shuddered. They had all come awfully close to dying last night and she knew deep in her heart just how close she had come to losing Ranma forever. "No comment."
"Awww!"
Mrs. Morisato and Ms. Kamiko made their way across to the school, the husband of the former waving a fond farewell before departing in a silver Honda coupe. As their normal mode of transportation was an old but powerful motorcycle and sidecar, it looked odd to the students. The two teachers took in at the damage as they joined the growing crowd of student milling around the yard.
"My goodness!" exclaimed Mrs. Morisato. "Does anyone know what happened here?"
"Looks like someone was using a flame thrower," Ms. Kamiko offered clinically, looking toward the field. The students shuddered. "I wonder why they didn't do the school, though. Pyros normally try to burn buildings, not open fields." She looked at the assembled martial artists and noticed the missing one. "Where's Ranma?"
"He didn't do it!" barked Akane. She looked embarrassed. "He's, ah… at home, sensei."
Ms. Kamiko raised an eyebrow and grinned mischievously and knowingly. "We'll talk about it later," she said easily. She turned back to the building. "Anyone seen Principal Fruitcake this morning? (Koucho Kudamonkeeki)"
The other girls giggled at the descriptive used, but Akane suddenly paled. "Oh, kami! He has a room under the gym. He could be trapped down there!" She rushed toward one of the firemen, gesturing wildly.
"It's hard to believe that girl," Ukyo shook her head. "All the crap the principal has dished out to her and Ranchan, and she still wouldn't wish anything bad on him." She sighed and glanced at the others. They nodded and followed Akane over to the debris-strewn wall. Ryoga didn't have to use his Bakusai Tenketsu but he did have to put some muscle into moving steel beams. Finally though, they found the battered door leading down to the principal's sanctum.
"What's going on here?" Ms. Hinako walked up. Now that her curse had been physiologically reversed, she was wearing clothes that better suited her adult form.
"We think Principal Kuno's been trapped all night in his office, Ms. Hinako," Akane said worriedly. "We're trying to get him out."
Ms. Hinako looked around as the firemen pried off the door. It had been jammed from the other side with yen coins, paper clips and a pair of shears.
"Oh, boy," she muttered. "Gentlemen?" she said huskily to the firemen. "If I could have your attention, please? Let me go first. Yes, I know I'm a lady, but in this case I must insist."
The unit leader rose to his full height and still had to look up into her face. Hinako was tall. "Ma'am, this is our job! Stay here. It's dangerous," he pontificated.
"Bet this isn't in your job description, honey," she replied. "Happo-go-en-satsu!" She shrank and swam briefly in her too-large clothes. Then she held her hands overhead and yelled, 'Coin Return!" releasing the ki-charge she had developed.
"Akane-san? I've noticed over the past months your improvement in the Art," the ki-vampire remarked after she had recovered. "Could you assist me please? I think Kuno-san has gone a bit strange."
"Compared to what?" someone muttered.
Hinako didn't even glance their way. She simply remained focused on Akane.
"Of course, sensei," the young woman replied.
"Do you want backup, Akane?" Shampoo asked. Ukyo and Ryoga nodded and flanked her.
"Not enough room down there," Akane said quietly. She scanned ahead down the stairs, noting how hazy it got to ki-vision as it approached the Principal's hidden office. Loose emoted ki hung in the air like a cloud. "I think we'd get in each other's way," she added.
The others exchanged glances. "Do you… want us to get Ranchan, sugar?" Ukyo asked hesitantly.
"Ukyo, think about what you just said, okay?" Akane retorted testily. To most onlookers, it sounded like the old Akane chaffing in Ranma's limelight. The assembled martial artists understood that, at the moment, Ranma might not compete with Akane's expertise. "Besides, she asked me! You know what my dad always says…"
"Not that 'path of a martial artist' crap?" Ukyo grimaced.
Ranma scowled as he flipped through the journal he was skipping school to review. The large, 150-page soft-back, spiral-bound tablet had several envelopes taped to it with 'Read First!' written in large block symbols. Heh! Read first… Which one? His head rested solidly on his left hand. After some debate, he extracted for his initial effort, pages from an envelope titled Nekoken. He was pretty sure he had left that problem behind, but was curious as to why his guest felt that was an important topic. He browsed the initial dry summary of advantages of the technique. Apparently, Barry Barlowe had complete access to its potential. Wouldn't that be something! Nekoken under conscious control! He rubbed the back of his head as he stared into space, at the possible advantages of the concept.
"You know, Saotome, I don't think I've ever seen you study before," commented Taro, sipping some tea, courtesy of Kasumi. "Can't say I'm impressed." The Chinese martial artist smirked across the table's corner.
"Shut up, bull-boy." Ranma shuddered and returned to his studies, shivering as the words in the notebook activated memories and reclaimed small bits of his life. He was shocked at the way simple notes about events brought the information into harsh focus in the mind's eye, playing back like a piggyback camera with a digital audio track. Ranma prayed nothing like this ever happened to him again. As much as he disliked studying, it just wasn't worth it. But you never knew… He seemed to have a weird proclivity for ending up with mental problems from head blows or magical attacks.
"'Shut up, bull-boy'," mocked Taro, "How original." He shifted stiffly in his seat. Taro wore a cotton polo shirt and jogging pants, courtesy of Ranma's wardrobe from his latest personality makeover. His scaled vest and bracers had been hidden by the Amazons to prevent him from taking up Taochinpang once more.
He didn't have a clue about Ranma's troubles, but had nothing better to do than watch his old foe fight his way through some sort of diary. He had no idea why Ranma was doing this but the expressions on the pigtailed boy's face were terribly entertaining. He felt bad about attacking Ranma and his friends but not sorry enough to miss this show. Taro had nearly gotten them all killed over possession of the Kinjakan/Gekkaja fusion and had nearly killed Akane in the bargain. He was still feeling sick and guilty about that. Taro did not consider himself a 'bad guy', just misunderstood and triply annoyed by Happosai. He hoped that, by sticking around, he could get a lead on the location of his missing accessories. Meanwhile since he had overheard Ranma and Akane proclaiming their undying love… "Fem-boy and Hammer-girl. I wonder what your kids will be like?" He snickered. "Or who's on top when the fun begins."
"D-d-dammit, just shut up," Ranma snarled. He was, in his turn, terribly embarrassed. It brought to mind just how Akane had 'cheated' that morning!
oOo
They squared off alone in the dojo, Ranma his cocky confident self and Akane apparently her usual intensely focused self. "Remember, Ranma," she warned, "first one pinned or unable to continue loses. I win, you go with me to tryouts for Nutcracker Suite."
"Yeah, right," Ranma grinned. "Just remember, Akane, since the lake, it's been real sparring — no holds barred."
"Tell me about it," Akane had retorted circling. "We'll see how you handle this attack, Ranma Saotome!" She closed the distance smoothly and confidently. Her speed had been twice what he'd expected, tagging him and forcing him to block where he had dodged before. He adjusted quickly and soon regained control of the competition, much to her dismay. He had nodded admiringly as, instead of getting mad, she had concentrated and worked on trying to force him into a mistake, willing to take a hit from him to launch her own attacks. If Barry-Baka hadn't kept Ranma's body at 100 percent, at least Akane had progressed. She stepped back, frustrated for a moment, then straightened up and with a sneaky, seductive smile, slipped her top off to let it drop to the floor.
Ranma gaped like a fish, struck nearly senseless by the sight and a musky tantalizing scent. Her skin was so smooth looking… Silky… Her breasts… He came to with Akane straddling him, one fist in the shirt at his throat, the other hand back as if ready to punch one of several critical areas on throat or face. He was mesmerized anew by the view and offered no further resistance.
oOo
He found he was staring off into space at the memory.
"If you're going to study, fem-boy, turn the pages at least, dammit," Taro snickered with contempt.
Ranma blushed and jerked a page over, then had to go back because he hadn't finished. He gritted his teeth and concentrated. His eyebrows rose as he read about finding a long-missing Ukyo with Ryoga. So, Ryoga might have it bad for Ucchan after all? He grinned over the simulated cat-fist episode then frowned. Had that been a familiar tremor at the second-hand sight of Shampoo's cursed form? While he had been gone, he thought he had dealt with his ailurophobia. 'Cat', he thought. He shuddered, the hair at his nape prickling. Hmmm… The notes hinted that conscious control of Nekoken depended on control of that fear. He snapped the notebook shut.
"You have no staying power at this kind of thing, do you?" sneered Taro.
Ranma glanced over, irritated. Taro wasn't looking at him though. He was watching Kasumi move through the house with a wistful look, obviously appreciating the view. Ranma's hand slapped the table. "Hey, Lacy!"
Had Taro's eyes been gun ports, Ranma would have died then and there. "Don't call me that!" he hissed.
"What if I call ya 'Pantyhose'?" Ranma smirked. He was a bit surprised when the other relaxed.
"That isn't mine anymore, Saotome," he replied, more at ease.
"But if I told Kasumi that yer name was now Lacy Darling?"
"I'd kill you."
Ranma grinned. "Ya fallin' for Kasumi?"
"Why not? She beautiful, soft-spoken, nice… She never sneered at me! I'm older…"
Ranma tried to look for objections. "I'd be yer brother-in-law."
"Not unless you hurry up and drag that gorilla-girl of yours to the altar," Taro smirked. "I don't know, I might object to having you for a brother-in-law."
"Yer movin' pretty fast, ain't ya?" Ranma's eyes narrowed.
"I'm not getting any younger." Taro coughed.
"I can hear yer joints creakin' from over here." They scowled at one another. Then Ranma grinned. "How ya gonna formally introduce yerself to Kasumi if ya don't tell her yer name?"
Taro looked uncomfortable. "Well, since she already knows me, I thought I'd just let her call me 'Taro' like she always does."
"Uh-huh! I'd love to hear what you say at the omiai. 'I'm the martial artist formerly known as Pantyhose Taro.' That'll go over good!"
Taro grimaced, his face falling. "Damn Happosai!"
"Tell ya what, Taro," Ranma grinned. "You help me; I'll help you."
"Again?" Taro looked suspicious. "How? Your help in the past hasn't exactly inspired me."
"I'll help ya catch Happosai, of course! As for me… I need to round up some c-cats." Ranma frowned at the catch in his voice. "I need to get over my fear of ca-ats as part of the trainin' I'm doin'."
"Oh? You gonna try to get closer to that Amazon cutie chasing you?" Taro looked surprised. "I didn't take you for suicidal, Saotome."
"No, baka!" Ranma glared. "I really need to control Nekoken. It's gettin' too dangerous." Ranma remembered the discussion after the training in the woods with Akane. As a female neko-Ranma in season, she had been noisy and rather embarrassing. Potentially, Ranma was at risk in the future if she went neko at the wrong time of the month. He frowned and reread a section of the journal and paled. Going neko as a male might be far more hazardous! "I want you to get a couple of dozen c-cats and put them in the tool shed. Then I'll go in and…"
He jerked away as Taro put the back of his hand against Ranma's forehead. "Hmmm… No fever," Taro muttered.
"Hey!" Ranma objected, batting the hand away.
"Saotome, as much as I would love to see you twist yourself inside out with this thing, I have to object."
"Why?" Ranma growled.
"That's not how you deal with a phobia. Going all or nothing like that will more likely drive you insane than cure you." He raised a hand as Ranma tried to object. "I know about these things, Saotome. I'm well read. You need to learn the kitty won't hurt you. Get a bunch of cats in a small space like that and they're most likely going to be scrapping and upset and that's going to affect how you react to them."
Ranma was silent. He remembered a streaming horde of cats running past his feet to feeding bowls. "Okay, that makes sense."
"You need a single, laid-back animal that likes people and won't be upset if you get nervous," Taro recommended.
Kasumi had been listening at the door to the kitchen. "I know just the cat for you, Ranma," she smiled, and Ranma shuddered in remembrance.
"Hanachiyo!" they said together.
Ranma's father might have said, 'A martial artist must face his fears. The path of a martial artist…'
Hinako and Akane moved carefully down the steps. They each held a flashlight in one hand as the lights had been removed from the fixtures of the stairway. Even the emergency lights were out. Akane quickly found a simple tripwire attached to a brace of pineapple bombs. The principal must have really freaked at the sight of monster-Taro charging down the corridor.
"I thought you and Ranma had gotten a lot better at detecting things," Hinako commented softly as they disarmed the trap. "Ranma seemed to be able to tell when Kodachi or Shampoo were trying to drug him and I've seen both of you stop and hide when someone you wanted to avoid was still out of sight around the corner from you."
"Yes," Akane admitted without being specific. "Hold on!" Before them, a thin paper pad covered the width of the stairs. The chemicals within were unfamiliar and did not quite meet the criteria of explosives, poisons or any of the little preparations Kodachi had been so fond of. They did seem to have considerable potential energy. "When did he become a chemist?" grumbled Akane.
"That's where he and his first wife met," Hinako replied. "I believe he was working at Kuno Industries Chemical Division as part of his training to take over for his father. He's actually quite competent in chemistry."
"Oh, joy!" Akane probed gently for the method of activation. Here and there in the package were little vials of liquid. If stepped on, they would crush. Though she wasn't that good in chemistry, she could tell that the combined energy would create a significant reaction. Akane gingerly leaned down and gently picked up the pad, laying the lethal, little trap aside.
Thinking the way now clear, she stepped down on the landing in time for four pineapples swinging on strings at various heights. "Watch out!" she yelled, ki-shielding and jumping back. (POW! POW! P-POW! K-k-k-k-KRACK!) There was thunder as steel and concrete found new levels.
"Is everyone all right down there?" called Ukyo's voice.
"Just… (coff! coff!) …peachy, Ukyo!" Akane replied.
Hinako was better off but stared at the gaping hole that had been the lower stairwell. "How do we get down now?"
"Don't read anything into this, okay?" Akane said. She picked up the larger woman in a cradle-carry and dropped off the remains of the landing into the dark below.
"What are you doing?" shrieked Hinako.
Akane landed lightly, despite the debris-strewn floor. Setting Hinako down, she scanned the area.
"Could you warn me next time?" Ms. Hinako grumbled. "How can you see anything? We lost the flashlights in that explosion."
"Same way Ranma can detect poisons, Ms. Hinako," Akane said grimly. "I can see using my aura instead of my eyes." She pointed. "And I can see a door over here."
"That's good, because I'm totally disoriented." Hinako felt Akane grasp her hand.
"Pick your feet up and place them carefully. Watch! There are some steel rods near your right knee. Okay, you're clear."
"It's too late now, but it occurs to me we could have come through the basement and broken through the wall directly into his office," Hinako said thoughtfully. "I understand it used to be a big room that backed the boiler rooms and storage areas."
"How big an area?" asked Akane.
"No idea." Hinako shrugged. "He doesn't invite people down here. It's not like his 'office' on the roof." Akane walked over to the door. Ms Hinako heard the movement and spoke sharply. "Please don't leave me here, Akane. I hate to admit it, but the dark makes me nervous."
A light suddenly illuminated the bottom of the stairwell as Akane called a ki-ball into being. Frowning slightly in concentration, the young martial artist let her hand drop away, leaving it suspended in the air.
Hinako gulped. "Have you, ah… become a magician, Akane?"
Akane smirked. "Of course not. It's just my ki. C'mon."
"What are you doing, now?" asked the teacher.
"I'm trying to see if he has any more traps set for us. That's kind of hard to do with people like the principal." Her head was pressed up against the surface of the door. "He's so projectively unfocused he clouds the aura of everything around him."
She looked up to see Hinako checking out her ki-ball. "Do you like it?"
"If I had been my old self, I would have said this looked yummy!" Hinako giggled softly. "Did you find anything?"
"Yeah," Akane nodded. "He's got the door all jammed like he did at the top of the stairs and has trip wires all over the place."
"Poor man," Hinako murmured. "He's gone completely around the bend."
"'Fraid so." Akane walked over to the wall. "We'll go through here." Before Hinako could question or protest her actions, Akane began popping chunks of concrete out of the wall with Nekoken. She grimaced as she worked. It was really amazing sometimes how new uses for these techniques would crop up. Ryoga's Bakusai Tenketsu would have been faster, but it would have also set off the bombs by the door. She knew there were more traps to come. She could almost hear her father chant his favorite mantra, 'The path…'
Ranma, in girl-form, looked at the pictures of cats, lions, tigers, leopards and other felines. Taro sat beside her, flipping through books looking for good photos to stimulate Ranma's ailurophobia. "Here's a good one!" He handed it over.
It was a picture of a cute, adorable huge-eyed kitten.
"Arrgh!" groaned Ranma softly. She slumped over, her face contorted.
"Yer pathetic, Saotome," Taro said with a smirk.
"No, not that," Ranma gagged. "It's so… cute!"
Taro face-faulted, looked at the picture again and had to grant that it was a bit much.
Kasumi walked in with some dusty old albums. "Mother had a cat when we were little," Kasumi said. "We have some pictures here."
Ranma grinned. "Got any of Akane in embarrassin' situations?" At Kasumi's look she added, "I wanna tease her for somethin' she did to me this morning."
Taro groaned. He didn't know what had been going on but he had gotten an earful of the two screaming 'You cheated!' 'Did not!' at each other before Akane left for school that morning.
Kasumi's smile became mischievous. "Perhaps." She opened the albums and began looking through the photos there. Taro suddenly reached out and laid his hand lightly on top of hers.
"I'm sorry," he said hoarsely. "But who is that?" He pointed to a pleasant woman who resembled Akane with her short hair.
"Ah? That is my mother, Taro-san, shortly after my sister Nabiki was born." Taro simply stared at the picture.
Ranma leaned over and smiled. She looked sidewise at Kasumi, comparing her face and the face in the photo. "I always thought you were the one who looked like Mother Tendo, Kasumi," she stated. "But she does kinda look like Akane, doesn't she?"
"Yes," Kasumi nodded, the picture obviously affecting her. "Actually Akane is far more like our mother than she realizes." She then pointed. "Oh! There is our cat, Mr. Three-socks." The cat was draped over the arms of a very young Kasumi who was trying to lug an animal nearly as large as herself. "He was black and had white socks on each foot except one."
Taro stared at the picture of Mrs. Tendo. "I've gotta find my vest," he muttered, his face pale.
Ranma glanced over and shrugged. "It was hard for me, too, when I first came here. I couldn't remember what a family was like and…"
"Oh, shut up!" Taro growled almost savagely. "You have no idea what I'm thinking." Ranma and Kasumi exchanged glances, shrugged and turned their attention back to Taro. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"Is something wrong, Taro-san?" asked Kasumi gently.
"I… Kasumi-san, did your mother have any sisters?" he asked, suddenly very polite.
Kasumi blinked, uncertain. "There is Aunt Makiko."
"I mean did your mom have a sister that moved away or uh... disappeared, or anything," Taro ended lamely, a strange look in his eyes.
"Not that I know of." Kasumi blinked then rose to her feet. "Let me ask Father. He might remember." She slid open the shoji. "Father?"
Soun turned at his daughter's call. He had been sitting, despite the cold, by the pond. "Yes, Kasumi?"
"Did Mother have any brothers or sisters other than Aunt Makiko?"
"There is Ichiro Sayobara. You've never met him. He lives in the United States I believe, in California."
"Any others?"
"None alive. I believe there was an older sister named Kitsuke but she died in a bad earthquake in the town outside Nagasaki where they lived then. Why do you ask, dear?"
"Simply curious, Father. Thank you." She closed the shoji. "Did you hear, Taro-san?" she asked. Taro nodded.
Ranma looked puzzled. "What's with the questions, bull-boy? What's so important about Akane's family?"
"I can't tell you," Taro sighed. "Damn! I wish I had my vest."
"Well, if you're doing so well with the pictures, Ranma, shall we try a real cat?" Kasumi asked. Ranma swallowed then nodded. "Do you like cats, Taro-san?" she asked, turning to the bemused young man still staring at the picture.
"Ah… Sure, they're okay with a little soy sauce," he muttered absently, not really listening. He looked up startled as Kasumi's laughter followed her out of the room. "Did I… say something funny?"
"Not at all," Ranma snickered. "Ya outa try 'em with wasabi, though. They're a little bland otherwise."
"If you say so." Taro went back to looking at the album.
Kasumi returned with a large orange and white cat. Good-natured, purring loudly, it lolled in her arms, accepting her attentions and pushing its head under her hand to be stroked and scratched. She stopped in the doorway and observed Ranma. "Do you want me to come closer?"
Ranma looked at the softly buzzing fur-ball and finally nodded. Her throat felt tight. She was sweating, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it had once been. She took this as a good sign. Kasumi covered half the distance to her and stopped again.
"Keep coming," Ranma said hoarsely. Taro suddenly realized that Ranma was in the same room as a cat. He had no desire to face an uncontrolled Nekoken. He scooped up the albums and backed away. Kasumi came closer as Ranma's focus narrowed down further and further.
The eyes… Yellow eyes that sought you in the darkness… Whiskers that touched and touched, then claws…
"NO!" He felt himself blacking out.
Kasumi stopped, eyes wide. Hanachiyo simply turned his attention to Ranma. Why had she shouted? Then the cat began purring again as Kasumi stroked it behind the ears.
Ranma shook himself. It was a lousy cat! "K-keep coming, Kasumi…" Ranma said raggedly. Damn! He'd thought he was over this. "Stupid Pops."
Ranma knew intellectually, that she had nothing to fear. Hanachiyo was a well-fed, pleasant animal and the room she was in was large with numerous exits. She had prepared herself for this moment. She just hadn't realized how much the subconscious, physiological reaction played in her fears. Body memory from ten years ago…
oOo
He landed, that first time, lightly on his feet and saw the gleaming eyes of the cats as they crowded against the walls. He was covered in fish sausage — Genma said it was the only way a little boy could carry so much. His father, breath heavy with the fumes of cheap sake, told him that if he fed the kitties, they would teach him a special martial arts style and Mommy would be so proud! "Here kitty, kitty, kitty…" he called as the lid on the pit closed.
The cats moved with swift rustling steps, avoiding him. Their eyes were so large and yellow before the trap door closed. "Here kitty, kitty…" He broke off one of the fish sausages and threw it into the dark ahead of him. There came a sudden rush and he could hear the bodies impact with one another as they snarled over the food. He began to get nervous, but his dad had always told him to face his fears, to be a man. They were only cats, after all. He reached out, and by chance ran his hand over a cat's back. For an instant, he could feel the heat of its body, as well as the thin fur covering hard bones and stringy muscles, before it whipped away. So thin — the poor cat!
He broke off some more sausage and threw it into the darkness. He wished he could be sure that skinny one was getting some, but… Something ripped at his leg near the knee. He reached down and found some sausage was gone. "Wait your turn!" he scolded with a six-year-old's lack of fear.
For some reason, the pit seemed to be getting smaller. At least it felt like it was. He was often feeling the tickle of whiskers as the cats approached closer, but he hadn't really been able to pet them yet. They were very skittish. And very rude; they kept stealing his sausage! Oh well, that was what he was there for. Then he remembered how, with his mother, he had fed birds in a park from his hand. She had told him to lie down, very still on the ground and let them come to him. He decided to try it…
oOo
Ranma stiffened and gulped, and Kasumi stopped again. Taro watched with a stiff expression on his face. Saotome was crazy! His dad was worse, but this was nuts! Then Ranma swallowed and nodded to the eldest Tendo to continue.
"Ranma, if this is too much, why don't we wait till Akane comes home?" Kasumi suggested. "Just in case…" She glanced aside at Taro. "After all, she's the only one who can control you when you go neko." Taro nodded in understanding, remembering the 'neko-fit' he inadvertently caused recently.
"No, Kasumi," Ranma rasped. "I have to do this." She pointed to her lap. "Go ahead. Put him in my lap and I'll try to pet him."
"Oh, Ranma! I think that's going much too fast." She glanced at Taro who glided close. "Go; let Akane know what we're doing!" she said in a whisper. "She's at the school you fought at last night."
"Are you going to be all right?" Taro asked the girl quietly.
"Ranma doesn't attack people unless they've hurt him in the past and I've never hurt him." At his look she added, "I know Akane hits him all the time but, for some reason, that's different. Now, go!" Taro took off as Kasumi moved closer to Ranma. "Now Ranma, why don't we try… oh… using a whisp of straw to play with him first?"
"Keep coming closer, Kasumi," Ranma whispered, her eyes on Hanachiyo. "Really! It's not that bad."
"You are so stubborn sometimes, Ranma," she chided. Stupid martial artists and their paths, she grumbled to herself.
Taro jogged onto the grounds at Furinkan and did a double take. Had he caused all that damage? He drifted through the sea of students and teachers, looking for a certain face. As he moved about, he noticed a group of emergency workers by the collapsed side of the building and caught a flash of violet hair. Taro grimaced but approached. He really didn't want to deal with the Amazon but, knowing her, she would know where Akane was. As he approached, the older martial artist realized Shampoo was not the only member of the Nerima martial artist crowd present. He slowed as he was met by a multitude of hostile stares.
"What are you doing here, Taro?" Ryoga demanded. Taro saw Ukyo there as well, but no sign of Akane. He suppressed a grimace and suppressed, as well, his guilt at the damage he had caused. Why had he been so stupid?
"Just looking for the un-cute fiancée," he replied, glancing around.
"Why you want Akane?" demanded Shampoo aggressively.
Taro noticed Ukyo beginning to move to flank him. He started to sneer, his first reaction to such an overt threat, then reconsidered Something had been shot at him from ambush the previous evening. Ranma had admitted that all of these individuals were involved in the ki-research he had mistakenly attributed to Happosai. What had they learned and how much had they improved? He could be in serious trouble here if he wasn't careful. He eyed them a bit more cautiously, trying to assess their potential.
"Don't get lathered up," he smirked at them. "I'm not in the mood for kidnapping today." He noticed that their expressions did not lighten at his attempt at humor. "Kasumi asked me to find Akane for her," he added almost as an afterthought.
"Why didn't Ranma…" began Ryoga.
"What wrong with Ranma?" demanded Shampoo.
"Oh, he's just trying to learn how to use a litter box like you do, Miss Kitty," Taro sneered, giving in to his dislike. "The damn fool's trying to pet a cat!" He broke off at the string of curses that poured from Shampoo's lips. His mouth twitched. He would never have suspected such eloquence from her.
Shampoo whirled into the building leaping to the open door.
"Akane!" she yelled into the darkness of the stairwell. "Akane, come now! Very important!" There was no answer. She cursed some more.
"She's down there?" Taro asked. "Why?"
"Stupid principal hiding in basement!" explained Shampoo.
"Miss H thinks Principal Fruitcake has gone around the bend," added Ukyo. "They have to get him out so the workers can go in safely. He's got the whole place rigged with bombs and traps."
"And you guys let her go down there?" Taro's eyebrows went up. Then, "Oh, that's right! If she's out of the way, you guys lose your biggest competition." His sneer grew derisive. "Well, if you won't back her up, I will." He jerked a finger at Ryoga. "I would have expected better from you, though."
"Hey!" growled Ryoga. "Akane's a martial artist!" But Taro was already moving down the steps. They looked at one another.
"Stupid monster-boy!" Shampoo grumbled. "Sometime path of martial artist inhabited by idiots!"
Akane and Hinako worked their way back through a maze of walls of hard plaster, textured to resemble the walls of a grass hut. In many cases, Akane had to cut through the walls when the traps were too tricky to circumvent. There were several rooms in the maze, startlingly neat when you considered the sloppiness of the occupant's normal mode of dress. Many doors were hanging beads, often rigged with gas or explosives.
Finally they came to a wall with the normal concrete texture of the school foundations. A huge hole had been blasted through it, shredding the nearest walls with stone shrapnel. The hole was somewhat rectangular in outline.
"This must be the original door to the basement," Akane suggested.
"I wonder if he's still in the school?" Hinako peered into the darkness. "This leads through the boiler room and into the halls beyond."
"Oh, he's up ahead somewhere," Akane whispered. "Trust me…"
Suddenly a hand came to rest lightly on Akane's shoulder. As she had hold of Hinako's wrist and the hand was large…
She tried to put the hand's owner through the wall.
Taro managed to twist, however, saving himself from a nasty blow.
"Hello to you, too!" he complained in a whisper.
"What are you doing here?" Akane snapped, barely remembering to keep the volume down. "And how did you make it past all those traps?"
"For the first; Kasumi sent me. As for the second; you don't spend fifteen years being paranoid about bandits trying to kill you off, without developing a sort of sense for things like that." Taro turned his head from side to side. "Are you going to go get him? He's doing something over by the boiler on the left."
Akane frowned and looked toward the boiler. The aura of the entire area was twisted and fuzzy. "How can you tell?" she asked.
"I have ears, don't I?" he retorted. "Just put it down to experience."
Akane pointed Hinako in the proper direction.
"Happo-go-en-satsu!" the ki vampire declaimed softly. Nothing happened. "Drat! He must be behind something fairly solid."
Akane hissed as she peered ahead. "I see about a dozen trip wires, some fastened to other trip wires and all attached to explosives! What is he — a principal or an urban terrorist?" She looked at the floor. "He's got the floor covered with some kind of powder. I can't even begin to guess what it does."
"Are there any hanging pipes up at the ceiling?" Taro asked.
Akane looked. "Pipes and ductwork and all sorts of garbage. Ah!" He felt her glance toward him with understanding. "Taro, we really don't want to hurt Kuno-san."
Not far away, Principal Kuno giggled softly to himself as he continued his preparations.
"No sirree! No bad kupua gonna get this kahuna! No way!" A weird figure of startling contrasts, he moved beneath the light of the portable work lamp with jerky precision. He patted his handiwork, lovingly. "Good ting Kodachi-wahini set up a chemistry lab ober here! De Headmaster hab everting he need to make that kupua wish he neber born, yah!"
He picked up his ukulele and jittered across the floor to its sound. On his head, his standard palm tree swayed about on the outer shell of a coconut he was using as a helmet. He tucked the ukulele under his arm and picked up another coconut and two pineapples and began to juggle them. "Yassah! When dat big bull-a-pus kupua turn up again, de big kahuna ready to take down whole school to get him!" Suddenly tears streamed from his eyes. "Ahui! Poor Furinkan! But you go out with thunder and glory, yah!"
Nearly six meters above:
"Just how am I going to use my coin if I have to use both hands to hold on to you two?" Hinako grunted as Akane and Taro moved hand over hand from the pipes and beams in the ceiling of Furinkan's basement. Her hands were well occupied; one twisted in the side of Akane's uniform, the other in the pantyhose that Taro still wore wrapped around his waist.
"When we get in range, we'll grab your belt, Miss Hinako," Akane explained their stratagem. "Then you can use your ki-technique and put him down gently."
"Better than nothing, I suppose," grumbled Hinako. "Wait! I think I see him, now." She pointed to a shadow moving beneath the solitary lamp. "We'll have to be careful. He might be able to see us, too."
"Concentrate on your coin, ma'am," Taro suggested. "Don't look at him, don't think of him. Just think about your coin."
"It's an old ninja trick, Miss Hinako," Akane elaborated. "If you do it right, you'll be nearly invisible. We'll let you know when we need you." The two martial artists concentrated on closing with their quarry while the teacher thought of the beautiful, shiny fifty-yen piece waiting in her pocket.
The cabana-clad figure hummed a merry luau song as he placed bombs about the boilers. He didn't see the figures in the rafters above him. He heard, but had no time to react, as someone said, "Happo-go-ju-en-satsu!"
Principal Kuno went for a nice sleep with dreams of sandy beaches and waving palm trees. Akane, Taro and Miss Hinako dropped to the floor; the last mentioned, a very disheveled and embarrassed looking twelve-year old in appearance. When she had used her technique and shrunk to her present size, she had almost fallen out of her clothes, being saved only by quick, rough grabs by the other two. She quickly jerked her clothing back into place and checked her employer. She could not 'coin-return' here — too many explosives lying around, begging to be activated.
Taro nodded at the explosives and their location. "This nut was going to blow up the place. Would've done it too, given a little more time."
"Honestly! How are we going to get rid of all this stuff?" Akane grumbled. "He's got booby-traps on his booby-traps! We have to get out of here…"
Taro cursed and snapped his fingers. "Damn! That's right!" He turned back to her. "Kasumi sent me to get you. Your idiot boyfriend — girlfriend, right now — is trying to overcome her fear of cats by having Kasumi dump a cat in her lap. She thought it would be better…"
Akane was gone like a ghost. Taro located her by sound, first, at the other exit from the boiler room. She peered down the hall and growled. Apparently boobie-traps abounded there, as well.
"Baka! Jerk!" Taro heard her snarl. "Doesn't think he needs any help from me? Jackass! Well I'm not gonna put up with that again!" Taro jerked with alarm as he felt her aura flash. "Mouko Takabisha!" The ki-ball rocketed down the corridor, sweeping everything with it. There were a series of explosions followed by the detonation of the ki ball sending clouds of dust surging back down the hall.
(blam!blam!blam!blam!blam!blam!blam!blam!blam!blam!blam! – KABLAM!)
Akane dropped her shielding technique, dusted herself off and watched some mortar and concrete fall to the floor of the corridor. She staggered and put her hand out to catch herself. Breathing heavily, she glanced back at the two conscious members of her audience and muttered, "This way's clear, now," enigmatically. Then she was gone.
Taro released the breath he was holding and turned to the teacher. "Damn! She's an absolute maniac–! She could have blown us up!" He started following with intent to maim.
"Hold it right there," Hinako said holding up her coin. "You are going to carry Kuno-san out for me."
"I am?" he asked glancing at the coin.
"Yep!" Hinako backed off so he couldn't reach her before she drained him. "Be a good boy," she husked, as she finally absorbed the ki she had drained from the principal.
Taro blinked and grinned appreciatively. Heh! What were a few bombs? It was the first time there had been enough light to see her in her adult form. "For you, anything!" he grinned. He easily hoisted Kuno to his shoulder.
Hinako frowned. "Don't be a delinquent," she said frostily. They began to follow Akane's path out of the school. "By the way, didn't Akane call you 'Taro'?"
Taro suddenly began to sweat. Had Hinako ever heard of Pantyhose Taro, the martial artist who turned into a monster? If she had, he might be in big trouble here, as the corridor was too narrow to dodge that weird technique of hers. "Actually my name is Darlings… Lacy Darlings."
Hinako stared. Taro grimaced and wondered whether it was time to fight, run or simply die of embarrassment.
"I… see," she said. She motioned him onward.
Taro let out a breath. The path of a martial artist…
Ranma looked into the yellow eyes, flecked with gold. The slit pupils seemed to pulse as they searched his soul. The silky whiskers quivered and twitched. The martial artist barely restrained a yelp as the mouth suddenly opened, revealing the needle-sharp teeth and rough tongue. Ranma remembered other teeth gleaming in the light of the trapdoor as his father peeked in.
He saw the scrawny bodies withdraw into the shadows of the pit, smelled the blood, his as well as other cats that had fought for the sausage. He staggered to his feet and held up his hands.
"D-d-dad-d-d-dy…"
And Genma drew him up.
"No! No! No!" screamed Ranma as the trap door opened again. "Bad kitties!"
"Come now, boy!" Genma said gruffly. "You got worse when you took that fall through those thorns! Go on, take it like a man!"
Ranma swallowed, thinking of his mother and how proud she'd be. "O… okay." He dropped into the pit covered with fish cakes…
"Come on, boy, they're just a bunch of stray cats! You can take them!" Genma said, sweating as he pushed his whimpering son into the pit.
"No! No! No…!" wailed a small boy as the trap door closed.
"Get in there, boy! You're a martial artist!" Genma growled as he pried the boy's hands free from his gi and then from the edges of the trapdoor. He absently noted the slices in the cloth and in the wood that could not have been caused by the child's fingernails. "You're almost there!" he added encouragingly. Genma's condition and reasoning was not improved by contents of the three empty bottles of sake nearby. He was getting worried. Ranma had to get it this time or he'd call it off. The boy's clothes were in ribbons and some of the gashes from the cats' claws had gone deep. This was it! Do or… He didn't finish that thought. "Think like a cat, boy! You can do it!"
Ranma landed badly and, crying, curled waiting the cats' attack. They had gotten bolder as their hunger was partly satisfied, swatting and sometimes biting the boy if he dared move while they fed. Their feral growls echoed in the old cellar that was Genma's trap. Suddenly a fight broke out on top of Ranma's back.
"MMMMMMMEEEEERRAUUUU! KSHHHSHSHSHHSHTT!ARRRAU…! MIIIIRRRRRRrrrrrrrrr! FSST! FSSTT! MmmmmMMMMMRREEEEERRRAAU!"
Ranma tried to roll away from the ripping claws and writhing bodies, but was hooked by the claws of other cats on all sides, struggling to prevent their meal from escaping. Some bit down hard, determined not to lose their place.
"NO!" the boy screamed. "Bad kitties!" The cats ignored him and the fight began to involve more of the felines. "NO! DAAAD-DY!" He struck out then and had his hand savaged as a reward. "NO!" He began to struggle. He couldn't breathe with the weight of the fighting bodies. He heaved against the imprisoning mass, the slicing claws and the needle teeth that trapped and abused him. "HELP Mmmmeeeeeeeemmemmmmrmrrrrororuuruuuauauau…"
Something snapped. Those eyes… deep, yellow eyes!
The path of a martial artist is fraught with…
"RrrraaaannnnMMAA!" Akane screeched to a stop outside the front door and almost jerked it out of its frame. She shucked her shoes and stomped in. "Ranma, where are you!"
"In here, Akane," came Kasumi's soft voice. Akane stomped into the main room and drew up short.
Ranma was sitting at the table with the neighbor's cat, Hanachiyo, in her lap! She was a bit wild-eyed. But she was slowly stroking the cat from head to tail to the cat's visible delight. Almost mechanically, the redhead turned to her fiancée.
"What is it, Akane?"
"…" She stared at the sight. Ranma's hand slowly stopped its motion.
Hanachiyo, jealous of the loss of attention, sat up and placed his paw gently on Ranma's nose. There were several gasps. Peripherally, Akane realized that she and Kasumi were not Ranma's sole audience. Standing quietly in a corner, Genma and Nodoka stood cautiously not far from the shoji to the engawa.
Ranma's eyes crossed as she focused on the paw on the end of her nose.
"Miya?" They all jumped, but the noise came from Hanachiyo.
Ranma flinched but then slowly smiled. "I'm still a bit unsteady, but I think I've made a good start," she said finally, tickling Hanachiyo's tummy, making the cat squirm and take a mock bite. "Bad kitty!" she accused, giving the cat a gentle tap on the nose with her finger. "Ya know," she said looking back up. "I'm gonna hafta work at this some more and it wouldn't be fair ta borrow Hanachiyo all the time." She pursed her lips thoughtfully and suggested, "Maybe we can get a cat?"
Akane, Genma and Nodoka slumped to the floor. Kasumi leaned unsteadily against the doorframe of the kitchen. Genma began to weep, reliving his shame and the terror of the time so long ago, when a drunken idiot kept pushing his child into a pit, again and again and again…
The path of a martial artist is fraught with peril.
That evening, Ranma sat alone in the dojo and flicked off the flashlight he had used to finish reading the section of the journal on the Nekoken. "Hell!" was his only comment. Not only did he have Nekoken, but apparently so did Akane and probably Kodachi and Sasuke as well. And that wasn't counting the other people who had been 'Ranma' during that cursed-pool incident Kodachi had pulled. It was Akane that worried him though. If Barry's conclusions were valid, he and Akane might be in big trouble.
He shuddered but it turned into a shiver. It was getting really cold tonight. He could warm himself with ki. He had often done so, but that was an emergency measure. He decided to bounce over to the house and get an extra blanket. That's what they were there for. He could check on his fiancée while he was at it. He really wanted some personal confirmation and now that he knew what to look for…
Ki-vision was very useful at times. He scanned the bedrooms quickly as he ghosted up the stairs. Soun flopped wide on the big bed in the master suite. Kasumi curled on her side, facing away from the window. Natsume and Kurumi, his unexpected sisters, were in Nabiki's room. Kurumi was in a ball on her stomach — how did she sleep that way? Natsume was curled up like Kasumi but facing her window. His mother and father spooned together, Genma's arms wrapped about her in a very comfortable and intimate manner. Embarrassed, he turned toward Akane's room.
She lay on her side facing him; he could almost believe she was watching him. He smiled as he examined her ki. She had this extra sense now, too, and she was awake. He waved, reassured by the calm colors of her aura and turned toward the cupboard where the blankets were kept. He froze as he heard the click of a latch and turned back.
Akane had been unable to sleep, her mind drifting out to the young man in the dojo. Unconsciously, she was using ki-vision to keep an eye on him and reassure herself that he was still near. When he started to move, she shifted, letting her inner eye follow him as he approached. She noted with her ki-vision that his skin temperature was down and his movement toward the cupboard, where the spare blankets were stored, confirmed it. He was cold. What he didn't know was that, with his sisters and parents here, the extra blankets were all gone. She got up to offer him one of her blankets.
And suddenly, everything subtly changed, a wave of heat raced through her body as she watched him through the gap between door and jam. As she moved out of her room, she could hardly feel the floor. She was floating, looking for an anchor. He turned toward her. Slowly, hesitantly, she glided out and stopped again, her feet in a pool of light from the windows. Her eyes glistened in the dark. A faint scent and sense of her warmth reached Ranma. He heard a faint moist sound and realized she was licking her lips. For some reason, he wanted to lick his own as well. He gestured toward the closet but froze again as she whispered his name. "Ranma…"
So soft and so alive… He never could figure out just when or how or who crossed the intervening space. Her lips were soft and trembling against his and his hands were shaking as they stroked the smooth, shivering skin of her back and ribs. He realized absently that her top had ridden up when she put her arms around his neck, leaving plenty of space for his wandering hands. It was so strange. Her skin was cool, but where he touched, it burned his skin. He didn't object at all when she shifted, then drew her arms up the inside of his T-shirt. Her fingers drew fiery lines of their own up his chest. The scent of her made his heart hammer.
She felt the tears pour down as she kissed him. She still couldn't believe that this was happening. His hands comforted, stroking and caressing, feeling the muscles of her back, responding to curve and tension. Their tongues danced a kata, teeth nipping delicately at swiftly withdrawn tips. She groaned but it came out, "Mrrrrrrrr…"
Ranma still had enough ailurophobia to flinch from that sound. With his concentration broken from Akane, he had mere heartbeats to regain control, assess the situation and determine…
He had absolutely no idea how to get out of this! Any moment, someone would find them making out in the hall. He felt Akane shift her shoulders and heard an odd slither of cloth. Her pajama top hit the floor. The temperature seemed to rise to hot, summer-sun levels. There was a louder 'ri-i-i-ip!' and his T-shirt was history. Skin to skin, the temperature just kept rising.
There were two things that kept Ranma from sinking into this whirlwind of sensation. One was the journal's notation about Ranma's extreme sensitivity to the scent of a woman in her fertile period. The other was the attraction to males that female neko-Ranma was beginning to exhibit. Taken together, it told him that Akane was out of control and, quite possibly, out of her mind. He didn't want a mallet in a couple days when she became normal again. He wasn't ready to become a father in nine months either.
He twisted his head aside to gasp, and had real cause, as her mouth traced delicious nibbles down his throat. "A-ka-a-ne! You don't know… Eeep! …what you're doing!"
Her response was a throaty chuckle and a sudden, swift jerk that took them through the door of her room. It banged shut on their heels and Akane whirled again, throwing them both down on her bed. Her wild-looking smile both terrified and exhilarated the object of her attentions. Straddling him, much as she had in the contest this morning, she grabbed the pigtail at the base of his neck and sank down in a deep, searing kiss as she tried to imprint her body on his.
There was a knock at the door and two sets of eyes snapped wide. 'Caught!'
Kurumi, scrubbing at her eyes, opened Akane's door and shuffled in. In one hand was Akane's pajama top and Ranma's torn T-shirt. "Y'know, y'should be more considerate of people sleepin'," the girl mumbled, extending the clothing to its owners. "Need m' beauty sl'p." She yawned wide and scratched. "Makin' all that noise. Keep it d'wn, 'kay?" She shuffled out. Eyes like saucers, Ranma and Akane looked at the closed door, looked at each other…
Akane's door banged open again and Kurumi stood in the doorway, eyes wide and searching. Akane lifted her head from her pillow and blinked at her. She sat up, revealing her pajama-clad form as Kurumi marched stiffly in, glanced under the bed, in the closet and checked the latch on the window.
"Kurumi, what's wrong?" Akane asked.
The other girl looked at her suspiciously then blushed. "I'm sorry, Akane. I guess I had a dream …or somethin'." Embarrassed, she left, closing the door behind her.
After a minute or so, from under the bed…
"Is she gone?" came Ranma's whisper.
"I think so. Did you use the Umisen techniques?" Akane asked, peering under the box springs.
"Yeah. Handy little gimmick." Ranma remained under the bed. "Though Barry really shouldn't have unsealed them."
"Are you coming out?" Akane asked.
"That depends. Are you gonna jump me again?"
"Depends," Akane retorted playfully with a wistful smile.
"I ain't comin' out," Ranma grumped, withdrawing further.
"You… don't love…me?" Akane's whisper was a whimper of pain.
Ranma's arms circled her as she sat back on her bed. "Don't ever say that!" he rasped, the pain in his own voice causing it to break. "I love you — Urk!"
She glomped him and rolled him back on the bed. "Sucker!" she grinned, kissing his nose. "Now where were we?"
"Akane,doyawannabeamother?" Ranma rushed out. Akane stopped and frowned. He tried again, slower. "Akane, I asked if ya wanna be a mother?" She blinked. He held his breath. When he began to turn blue, he took another breath and added softly, "Yer, ah …fertile now. I can tell and so can you, if ya think about it. Nekoken is just pushin' yer instincts," he continued. "Don't let it decide for ya, tomboy."
Slowly, Akane smiled at him. His heart thumped hard in his chest and he knew he was totally in her power.
"Oh, Ranma." She held him close. So close he could almost touch the core of her being. "I love you, you big dummy. Yes, I do want a baby… babies… your babies! But I know we're not ready for that yet." She sighed. "I have obligations to Shampoo, as well, before we can take that step," she added with another sigh.
"Obligations?" he asked with an annoyed twitch. She silenced him with a finger on his lips. "I know. Read the manual."
"Yes, I guess. You'll find out soon enough." She smiled and burrowed closer, if possible. "Will you stay with me?"
"Akane…"
"Please?"
He gave in. "Get up a second. Let me shift a bit." He took her pillows and tucked them in the corner and leaned back into the makeshift nest. "Now sit back and lean against me." Akane smiled and slid quickly into his arms, pulling the blanket up with her and tucking it securely around them. Ranma's arms went around her waist, pulling her close. "Urk!" Somehow, Akane had gotten rid of her top again.
"Shhh," she said, snuggling against him, feeling the warmth of his chest against her back. "I promise I won't seduce you …this time," she added huskily. She shifted his arms. "That's better." She laid her head on his shoulder and went swiftly to sleep, comforted by his presence.
Ranma wasn't so lucky. "Kami!" he groaned, trying to suppress his reactions. "She's a real handful!" He winced at the unintentional pun. "Oh, man! How can she do this to me?"
In Nabiki's room, Kurumi giggled, put the glass she held up against the wall on the desk and returned to her futon. She knew Ranma and Akane needed time and she was determined to give it to them. But teasing them would be fun. She hugged herself. This was simply another form of the Anything-Goes School — the art of not getting caught.
The path of the true martial artist is, indeed, fraught with peril. And that's even without someone coming along and greasing the path. Kurumi hugged herself and heard Natsume talk in her sleep about Ryu. Yes, this… This was gonna be fun!