Guys, the explanation of all is at the end of this chapter. But i'll say one thing. Thing that I haven't said for about…urm… "you count them" chapters. I DON'T OWN THE CHARACTERS! Just the plot. WOOOOHHOOOOOOOO! Yeah, i'm listening to "Song 2" From Blur, go figure.
Chapter 12: Surprise, What's that?
The next day was weird. Ranma woke up early (See what I mean by weird?) and prepared breakfast (SEE?) while Shampoo was still asleep. An hour later he came back to the room and she was starting to get up.
"Good morning." He said and she nodded
"Morning." She replied groggily and sat up slowly. He waited besides her with the tray from yesterday with the dinner. When he could, he placed the tray on her lap.
"Today I'm going to train all day. If you want you can be outside and watch." He proposed and she nodded fervently
"Sure. Shampoo like idea." She added and he smiled a bit. Half an hour later, both were outside. Shampoo was sitting on a chair after Ranma helped her walk down the stairs. Ranma was going through the toughest katas of the Anything Goes style in her girl form. It was meant to be that way. The contest was supposed to be in her girl form.
"Ranma, go faster. Use Amaguriken to speed whole body, not just arms." Shampoo advised. Ranma tried it and had problems with her bones.
"OW!" She exclaimed as her leg impacted on the other in such speed. He needed to practice more that, after all, it was completely new to her. She got up again and kept practicing. At almost lunch, she had it almost under her control. Shampoo's comments and recommendations really helped.
"Now, practice "Dance of Death" Shampoo ordered and he did so. Her speed had improved significantly but still lacked more speed that Shampoo was sure Ranma could get.
"Lunch!" Cologne exclaimed very Kasumi-like. Both smiled to that and Ranma helped her get to inside to eat (Still, this is weird!). Ranma barely touched her food, she just kept playing with a bunch of ramen. (SEEEEEE?)
"What wrong, Ranma?" That seemed to snap Ranma out of it.
"Uh? What?" She asked looking at her
"What wrong? Ranma seemed spaced out." Shampoo repeated and she looked down
"It's just that…I don't know. It's your fight after all. I don't want to interfere in it." Ranma explained and narrowed her eyes in a pain way
"Ranma, if Shampoo want to fight this fight, Shampoo would make it clear. Believe Shampoo when Shampoo say it." She assured her placing a hand on her shoulder
"I suppose you're right." She smiled to that. It was true. When Shampoo was trying to make one thing enter your mind, she had her ways to make it. Some painful ones.
"Now, after eat, we continue training, ok?" Ranma nodded cheered up "Good." Shampoo ended the conversation and Ranma started eating finally.
While later. Both were in the back with Shampoo "helping" Ranma train. Her "advices" were helpful like the past ones but the tone wasn't helping too much.
"Is way Shampoo trained." She explained and Ranma whispered
"Trained, my foot." She growled after the fifth explosion of Shampoo. Even so, Ranma got the "Dance of Death" technique pretty well but he lacked a few parts. Mostly where he had to dodge and move around ducked. He could do the mid-air part without any trouble but unluckily for her, it wasn't full mid-air.
The "Dance of Death" technique was very complete. It had lots of Amazon styles in it but keeping its own uniqueness against other less-complex moves but less-efficient also. It had to be developed with a weapon, preferably a sword for its fast manoeuvring with only a hand. Ranma had another peak of vantage there because a katana was even more flexible than any Amazon swords, thing that she noted alone when she started using her katana to train for the technique. Also the technique was a bit old, around 400 years, but almost all of the Amazon techniques never wore out. They were useful for some purpose or another.
"I'll take a bath. I'm all sticky." Ranma informed and Shampoo nodded in acknowledgement. After helping her get to the restaurant part where she could sit, Ranma went upstairs and prepared for taking her well-deserved and relaxing bath. Just how I'm supposed to beat an old friend of Shampoo without feeling regret? I know that she treated her like dirt in that fight in the backyard but I don't think she'd agree completely to this. After all, it's her fight. He thought as the water ran all over his body.
Not much later, he was in the restaurant part sitting besides Shampoo with a big smoking bowl of ramen in front of him. He was looking at how the ramen kept circling around but never stopping, it was enticing and somehow relaxing in a way. It made your thoughts leave your mind and you stopped thinking and worrying about anything.
"What Ranma thinking about?" Shampoo asked worried about his strange acting since lunch. She was even more concerned that he was starting to leave the will of fighting. It started when she almost made him fight against Bambou. What should I do? Do I really make him fight against her or do I fight? Maybe, and just maybe, I would have to fight. He isn't well since that moment. She reached and smiled sourly
"Just…about the fight. I was thinking and I reached that I will fight. I doubted about battling but then I…" He trailed off. He remembered the look Shampoo had in the fight yesterday and didn't like it. He would never let her be that damaged again. It was his duty of martial artist and friend. What am I to her? I mean, do I really think of her as just a friend? I made too much for her, things that I never did even for Ucchan and she's a long known friend… He was deep impacted (Had to do it…) about that realization but somehow he wasn't scared. And it didn't even count as a realization, it was just a doubt.
"Shampoo think that Ranma decide if Ranma want to fight. If Ranma don't want to fight, then we can wait until Shampoo is okay and train Shampoo for fight." She said and he shook his head. He's concerned about me? I never saw him acting like this after a fight someone was hurt.
"No. If Bambou doesn't show up and you are ok, then we can train and you can battle her, but something tells me that we won't have that luck, so I'll fight." He added And besides I don't want you to be hurt like that again… He finished mentally
"As Ranma want…" She said and lowered her head in defeat. Bambou was really good, even better than she was, as hard as it was to admit it…
"Thank you for understanding me." He said and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him for a second before smiling content of her achievement.
The next day, before school. Both were walking with a mixture of boredom and awe of entering the safety of the school. They knew for some reason that someone was going to attack them that day, Kuno didn't count. It was two blocks before the school. A shadow jumped over them and shouted:
"TODAY YOU DIE, SAOTOME!" (You had it coming, do you? And after all, this guy bugs in every single fic I have ever read.)
"Ryoga." Both standing ones said before even Ryoga had landed. Both rolled her eyes and kept walking oblivious of him.
"Don't walk away from me! Coward!" Ryoga yelled and Ranma stopped but he was not annoyed, he had better things to worry about
"What do you want, Hibiki?" He asked seriously "I have better problems to attend now. Your lousy tries of beating me are getting boring and only time-consuming." He added with a yawn. He had not slept well. Maybe it was the use of his last name or the final face-throwing of Ryoga's true threat-value to Ranma that shocked him.
"I-I…You are trying to confuse me! But no more!" He shook out of it but Ranma rolled his eyes and moved his arms to the back of his head
"I'm not trying to confuse you in any way, I'm opening your eyes, idiot." He replied and turned to leave with Shampoo in tow still with some bandages but none of them visible.
"Saotome!" Ryoga's tone was infused with anger, deep and intense anger. "You have abused of my patience for the last time! This time is the end!" He shouted
"Know what, Ryoga? Why don't you run off to Akane? I left her a while ago and she's available, so why don't you stop wasting my time and go fuss around her?" That did it. Ryoga calmed down completely and looked at him wide-eyed. He crossed the short distance in a blink of an eye and looked directly into Ranma's own eyes.
"Is this…true?" He asked full of hope.
"Yes. You can ask Shampoo here if you want but she'll tell you the same. It's true." He repeated and Ryoga noticed her for the first time.
"What is she doing with you?" He asked with a brow up. I disappear for a month and all this changes? He thought
"It's a really long story and we're going late to school, so would you please let us go? If we run into each other later, I'll explain you everything I can, ok?" Ryoga nodded and left. The pair continued their short trip just to be stopped at the entrance of the school by non-other than Kuno.
"Your vileness ends here, you vile sorcerer! Another innocent girl falls into the cloches of the evil Saotome! Get away from him, girl." He ordered and Shampoo approached him bored.
"Shampoo say, stop saying crap and lets us walk through before Shampoo hurt you bad." She spat and Kuno just looked at her
"You want a date with the great Tatewaki Kuno? The Blue Thunder of Furinkan?" A dramatical lighting struck behind him.
"This is too much." Ranma replied and walked into the school not before punching Kuno as far as he could. All his stress exploded in that instant when he punched him. All his worries left with Kuno and all his feelings of sorrow and sadness too. "Hey, that felt really good. Now I understand why that tomboy smashed bricks…" He commented to Shampoo, she raised a brow "I mean, it really helps you let go your stress and worries. You should try it." He added with a nod as they entered the classroom.
"Out! Carry buckets!" The Sensei ordered and both teenagers groaned but complied with the request. Outside both were fuming
"Today is not good day." Shampoo whispered just enough for Ranma to hear.
"I completely agree with you about that, Shampoo." He smiled and nodded.
Lunch. Peace. That is the key-word of lunch in a normal Japanese high-school, but you must remember one thing. And that is that this school is in Nerima, officially the craziest city on the whole Japan.
Both were sitting at one corner of the cafeteria with their own home-made lunches eating peacefully when disaster struck.
"Only one thing is missing for this day to be complete." Ranma's lips curled to a side bitterly.
BLAM!
"And here it comes. Shampoo, would you hand me that glass of water? Thank you." He smiled as he poured the glass over him and triggered his curse. Ranma-chan looked around for the obvious source of chaos. He didn't have to look too much when the point of a sword was at his face a second later. "Bambou. I wondered how much time you would take to find this." Ranma said seriously. Ryoga and Kuno were complete losers but this girl was different. She had great potential and already possessed a lot of power.
"Meddling girl." She addressed the one in front of her "Bambou see that you have enough nerve to face Bambou." She added with a smirk
"Anytime." Ranma replied and smirked back.
"What about today? After school, in park?" She raised a brow with the challenge "Is meddling girl up to challenge?" She spat and Ranma's eyes narrowed with hate.
"After school." She sealed her fate with that blue-haired girl in that moment.
"See you in your funeral later!" She exclaimed and left immediately.
"Today, we settle the score." Ranma smiled to Shampoo and the two began planning the fight. Both already knew her whole fighting style so they knew what to expect. That made the planning even easier.
Wow…I finished this chapter while I studied Astronomy. It's completely boring but with some rock and roll and coffee it goes by much easier and can learn quite a bit of things. Besides that, I'm glad i'm back! I kinda missed you guys and your reviews! Now, on with the story comments. Ranma is fighting Bambou in the next chapter! Piglet appeared! And Kuno's after Shampoo! Aren't you happy about life? Uh? UHHHH? AND I'M AS CRAZY AS EVERRRR! GO FREAKAZOID! GO RANMA 1/2 AND MOSTLY, GO METROID!SAMUS ARANIS DA BEST!