Chapter 23 Of Training Trips and Other Things
On Thursday, Ranma and Akane ran home from school, both of them extremely excited about the upcoming trip. They had packed everything they needed the night before, so all they needed to do was get their gear, and wait for Dr. Tofu and Kasumi to get ready. Once they got to the house, Kasumi called out to them, saying, "There's a snack in the kitchen for both of you." They changed direction and entered the kitchen. There they found Kasumi dressed for the trip in slacks and a knit shirt. Her ever-present apron was hanging neatly on its hook.
"Thanks, Kasumi," they said in chorus as they began eating the snack she had prepared. "Akane, I'm beginning to feel sorry for Ukyo. Looks like Kuno has given up on us, but he sure is pestering her," Ranma said.
"I know, but she gave you such a hard time about Kuno trying to date you, that I can't help but think it's funny," Akane replied, with a smile, "I know I should feel sorry for her, but I put up with him for so long, it's kind of nice to see someone else as the focus of his attention."
"Tadaima," Tofu called from the entry. "Is everyone ready, our train leaves soon?" he said. Ranma and Akane jumped up and ran upstairs. Akane ran into her room, and quickly changed clothes. They met back downstairs, Ranma carrying a large backpack, and Akane carrying a smaller one. Tofu was carrying a backpack almost as big as the one Ranma had, while Kasumi was carrying a medium size backpack. They said their goodbyes to everyone, and headed off to the train station. After catching the train that would get them close to their destination, everyone collapsed into their seats.
"Where is this place that you're taking us to, Ranma?" Tofu asked after a bit.
Ranma unfolded a small map. "Here's the map that shows where it is. As you can see, it's a couple of miles into the forest from the village train station. As I remember, there's a good grocery store in the village where we can pick up whatever food we need that we don't already have packed. Once we've done that, we'll take the trail up to the campsite. The campsite is pretty good size, and runs on down to a small lake. There's a hot spring at the other end of the vale that'll come in handy after we practice, as well. We stayed there several times, but it's a little hard to find, so we should have plenty of privacy," Ranma said.
"Akane said that there where several things that you wanted to teach her, Ranma. Can you describe them?" Kasumi asked politely.
"He said that he thought I was ready to learn a few ki attacks," Akane said excitedly.
"Yep, there's a couple of those that I think both of you can learn. I also wanna teach her the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken, plus a couple of other things that Cologne taught me," Ranma said. "I'm glad you're gonna be with us Doc. You can kinda keep an eye on us while we're learning to make sure I don't do something stupid." After that, they all relaxed and watched the scenery go by until they reached the station.
After disembarking from the train, the four of them headed toward the grocery store. There they bought several perishables and some ice. Tofu was surprised when Ranma pulled a small ice chest out of his backpack and put the food and ice in the chest. He put it all back into his pack, and they headed off up the trail. It was still several hours until nightfall, so Ranma led them up the path at a moderate pace. The path continued to climb, getting narrower as they went, and then began to wind around through a small narrow ravine. Once they got through that, the path opened up again and they could see the lake in the distance. "Oh my, it's lovely," Akane said, stopping to look at the vista unfolding before her, "How did you two find it?"
"I don't know. Pop brought me here when I was young, but I don't know how he knew about it. He never said. I remember finding some carvings in a couple of the trees though. One of them was Pop's initials, in a heart, with what I guess must be Mom's initials, so they must have been here before I was born. It's always been kind of special to me because of that," Ranma said, "That's why I brought you here. Kind of a family tradition, I guess."
"Ranma, I didn't know you were that romantic," Tofu said in surprise, "I'm impressed."
Ranma blushed at the unexpected praise. "It just felt right, ya know," he said, "There's another carving that I think will interest the two girls as well. I think it was their Dad and Mom."
Soon they reached the campsite that Ranma had remembered. It was several acres in size, sloping down to the lake as he had said. At one end of the large clearing were the remains of an old fire pit. Ranma dropped his pack to the ground next to the fire pit and said, "This here's the place. Looks like someone's been here since the last time we were here. We cleaned up the area pretty good, and I know we didn't leave the fire pit. I'm glad it's here, though. That's one less thing we have ta do." Everyone put their backpack on the ground and stretched. Ranma started unpacking, getting a tent, and a dining fly out of his pack. Tofu got a tent out of his as well. They both began putting up their tents. Both of them turned out to be nice size two-person tents. While they were doing that, Akane and Kasumi put up the dining fly, near to the fire pit, but far enough away that smoke would be unlikely to enter. Kasumi pulled a small camp stove out of her pack, and carried it over to the fire pit and began setting it up, while Akane ran down to the lake to get some water for tea.
"Ranma, put Akane's stuff in your tent, too," Kasumi said, sweetly, as Tofu put her pack in his tent. He took out the bedrolls and spread them out on the tent floor. Ranma looked a bit surprised at that, but shrugged his shoulders and complied.
Akane came up the slope with her bucket of water. She looked at what was going on and said, "I thought you guys were supposed to be chaperoning us. Looks like we're going to be chaperoning you two." Kasumi blushed, and then smiled. Akane put her water down next to Kasumi and walked over to Ranma.
"You okay with this, Acchan," he whispered.
She smiled and nodded, and then she said, "I trust you. Besides, if you tried anything, I'd beat you up."
Ranma grinned and said, "That's my cute tomboy."
Ranma took the foodstuffs out of his pack and gave them to Kasumi. As it turned out, most of her pack was cooking utensils and food. She had arranged with Tofu to have the rest of her gear in his backpack. Akane sat and provided Kasumi some company as she cooked, staring intently at what Kasumi was doing. Ranma and Tofu worked around the campsite to get everything put together for the next day and to add a few amenities to the campsite. Soon, Kasumi had dinner ready. Ranma had dragged a large chunk of wood from the woods and set it on end as a sort of makeshift table. It provided a relatively level surface once he dug it into the ground. They sat around relaxing in silence, eating the wonderful meal that Kasumi had provided.
Akane finally broke the silence and asked, "Kasumi, this is the first time I really paid attention to how you cook. You get all of your ingredients out first and then you always taste everything. Is that what I'm doing wrong?"
"Well, that's the two biggest secrets, other than following the recipe exactly. You should never make a substitution in a recipe until you've made it correctly several times. Once you have enough experience, then you can begin to experiment. I always check my recipes before I start anything. I laid the kitchen out so I know where everything is, and everything has a spot. That's been one of my biggest battles with Auntie Nodoka, her system is just enough different from mine that things aren't quite where they belong for either of us," Kasumi said with a smile, "If you noticed, when I started dinner, I put all the ingredients that I was going to use where I needed them, and put the rest of the food out of the way."
"Acchan, if you pay attention to what you are doing, and do it slowly, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to learn a few things this weekend. It's just like learning a kata. You start with simple steps, and slowly build up to a complicated routine. But you can't run it full speed the first time, ya have to learn it slowly, and then gradually pick up speed. You've just been doing martial arts for so long, ya just forgot how hard it was in the beginning to learn the simplest stuff," Ranma said quietly.
"Hai, sensei," Tofu teased, "That's an excellent description, Ranma. Is that how you plan on teaching Akane?"
"Yep, that's how I learned, both martial arts, and cooking," Ranma said with a wry grin.
"That's how I learned to cook as well, Akane," Kasumi said, "Mother started me off on simple things, and once I showed her I knew how to do them, she gave me more complicated dishes. Each one built upon the next."
"You've got to crawl before you can walk, and you've got to walk before you can run. Your problem with cooking is that you wanted to try to run first," Tofu said with a smile.
Dinner was soon over, and Ranma suggested, "If you two want to go clean up, I can show you the hot spring. Tofu and I can get the dishes done while you're doing that."
"That's okay," Kasumi said, "It won't take but a minute to do the dishes. Then we can all go soak in the springs, assuming there's some privacy."
"Well, I think there's actually two small pools, separated by some bushes. That's what I remember, anyway," Ranma said, with some surprise, "But I do have a question. Who are you and what did you do with the real Kasumi? The one I knew wouldn't have suggested some of the things you've suggested tonight."
Kasumi giggled. She leaned over and kissed Tofu, and then said, "I'm with the three people that I love the most. I don't have to pretend to be the staid homemaker, anymore. You and Tofu have given me that, Ranma. So if I'm a little out of control right now, it's understandable. I've repressed my real personality ever since Mother died."
Ranma looked at Akane. She shrugged her shoulders, and said, "I like you like this, Sis. You seem so much happier, almost giddy. It's fun to watch. Have you two set a date for your wedding?"
Tofu blushed. Kasumi giggled again, and then said, "Actually, we already are married. We went down to the courthouse yesterday and signed the papers. We'll have a ceremony for the family later. Aside from Father, you two are the first to know. This trip is our honeymoon."
Akane gasped in surprise, and then hugged her sister. "Sis, that's great. We're honored that you're sharing your honeymoon with us." She walked over to Tofu and kissed him soundly. She then said to the still blushing Tofu, "Welcome to the family, brother. You better take good care of my sister. She's a pretty good martial artist, you know."
Ranma walked over to Kasumi and kissed her, and then hugged her. He whispered softly, "Kasumi-chan, congratulations. He's a good man, and I'm just a bit jealous of him." Then he grinned widely, and said, "Doc, I second what Akane said. You've got a princess here; take good care of my friend."
They gathered up spare clothing and towels and headed down the path to the hot springs, each couple walking hand in hand. Sure enough, Ranma had remembered correctly. There were two pools, with an embankment covered with bushes between them, screening the two pools from each other. Kasumi pulled Tofu toward one of the pools, leaving Ranma and Akane staring at each other. Ranma said, "I'll go back to the camp while you relax in here, Akane." He turned to leave, but she refused to let go of his hand.
"Ranma, it's okay. Kami-sami knows we've seen each other enough times in the past," Akane said. She began to undress, Ranma's eyes widening in disbelief.
"Acchan, are you really sure about this?" Ranma asked.
Akane smiled gently, and said, "Ranchan, I know I'm being a bit forward, but I trust you. We belong together, and after watching Tofu and Kasumi dance around with each other for so long, I don't want to make that mistake. If it helps, turn your back and wait until I get in the water."
He promptly turned his back on her and closed his eyes and said, "Tell me when you get in the water, and then I'll join ya." He waited and as he heard her enter the water, he began to take his clothes off.
She called, "Okay, Ranma, I'm in." He finished undressing and entered the pool. They sat there, both of them blushing.
"Akane, tomorrow we'll start seriously working on your ki attacks. Tonight I want you ta sit back, close your eyes and relax," he said, "Try to empty your mind and just listen ta the sound of my voice. Find your center of being, it should feel very warm. Nod your head when ya find it."
After several seconds, Akane nodded her head. "Okay, now push some of that warmth to your fingertips. You will have to use the strongest emotion that you are feeling ta do that. Once you've done that, picture a small, glowing ball resting in the palm of your hands," he said softly. As he watched, looking at her hands, he saw two small glowing balls of blue light forming. "Open your eyes," he said. Akane opened her eyes and saw the two balls of light resting in her hands. She stared in wonder at what she saw. Ranma then said, "Let yourself absorb the ki. Just relax your will." She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and the balls of light vanished. "Acchan, what were you feeling when you were sitting there?" Ranma asked.
"Peace, contentment, love, mostly. Why?" Akane answered.
Ranma said, "I just hadn't seen that particular color before. How do you feel?"
Akane thought for a second and then said, "I feel great, there's a feeling of warmth all over my body." She waded over to Ranma and hugged him. Feeling her body pressed up next to him sent strange sensations up and down his spine as well as other places too.
"Akane," he said, through a throat strangely tight, "If I ever say that your not sexy, knock me into next week."
Akane smiled wickedly, and then said, "You liked that, huh, Ranchan?"
"Yes!" he said. He turned around and looked at her. "Acchan, love," he groaned, "I'm not sure I can wait til we're out of high school." He kissed her, and then resolutely, turned and waded out of the pool. He grabbed his towel and clothing and left. Akane slowly waded out of the pool, dried off and put her pajamas on. She then headed back toward the campsite. When she got there, she found that Ranma had transformed. Ranma smiled sheepishly, and then said, "Sorry, Akane, for running off like that. I suddenly needed a cold bath."
Akane walked over and hugged her. "Thanks for the compliment, Ranma." Then she entered the tent and rearranged the sleeping bags, changing them from two individual bags into one large bag. She then crawled into one side of the sleeping bag. Ranma watched from the tent flap, in some surprise. "Ranchan, dry yourself off, and then get in here," Akane growled. Ranma shook her head, and dried herself off. She then stripped down to her boxers and undershirt and got in the sleeping bag.
"Ranchan, I'm not sure I want to wait a lot longer, either. But we need to, anyway, at least for a while longer," Akane said. Akane then reached over and kissed her, hungrily.
"Acchan, this doesn't bother you?" Ranma asked, pointing at her chest.
"Ranchan, you're still the same person, no matter which form you're wearing. I love you. Once I figured that out, the curse didn't matter," Akane said. Then she giggled and added, "Besides you look so-o-o cute like this."
Ranma whispered, "Thanks, Acchan. You don't know how much that means to me hearing ya say that." She yawned, and then rolled over on her side, facing away from Akane. Then she felt Akane's arms wrap around her as she hugged her tight. "Goodnight, my beautiful tomboy," Ranma sighed.
"Goodnight, love," Akane replied yawning. They closed their eyes and soon were fast asleep.
The next morning, Akane woke up, feeling something tickling her face. She was cuddled up against a warm body. She slowly opened her eyes, and saw that Ranma's pigtail was in her face. "Hey, sleepyhead," she whispered, "It's time to wake up." Then struck by some mischievous impulse, she craned her head and kissed the back of Ranma's neck. Ranma whimpered in her sleep, and then rolled over facing Akane. Akane took that opportunity to kiss her nose. Ranma sighed in contentment.
Ranma's eyes popped open. As she registered where she was, she closed the remaining distance and kissed Akane passionately. Akane pulled Ranma close to her and held her tight. Akane's body started tingling where they touched. Reluctantly, she pulled away. "Morning, dear. I could really get used to waking up beside ya, " Ranma said, "Waking up in your arms felt so good. Are you always this playful in the morning?" She slowly pulled herself out of Akane's embrace and began searching through her pack for her clothing. She pulled out the things she wanted, and then took her undershirt off. She put on her sports bra and slid a pair of shorts on over her boxers. Then she turned to leave and saw Akane watching her with a puzzled look on her face. Ranma smiled and explained, "When I show ya how ta do the ki attacks, I want Doc to watch the flows he sees in me and compare them to yours. I suspect that they flow differently when I'm like this, so I'm gonna stay a girl for a while."
Akane's face cleared up and she said, "That makes a lot of sense." She turned and began pulling her clothes out of her pack. She quickly changed into a sports bra and shorts as well. The two of them left the tent.
When they got out of the tent, they saw Kasumi sitting under the dining fly, preparing breakfast. They walked over to her, hand in hand. As they neared her, they saw a very satisfied smile on Kasumi's face. Akane hugged her sister and then kissed her on the cheek. Ranma leaned in from the other side and kissed Kasumi on the other cheek. "Sis, you're almost purring," Akane said, "Where's your husband?"
Kasumi laughed wickedly, and then said, "The poor dear is still asleep. I must have worn him out last night."
Akane blushed and said, "Oh my, Kasumi, I can't believe you said that." She started giggling.
Kasumi said, "You two looked pretty comfortable this morning when I peeked in your tent.
"Sis!" Akane exclaimed, blushing.
Ranma grabbed the teakettle and a couple of buckets, also blushing. She ran down to the lake and filled them with water. She came back and put them down on the ground next to the fire pit. Then she started a small fire in the pit with some of the wood that she had gathered the night before. After it was going good, she threw a few handfuls of chestnuts into the blaze. "Akane, this is how Cologne showed me how to do the Kachu Tenshin Amagurikan. The idea is to get all of the chestnuts out of the fire without the flames burning your hand. Watch," she said. Her hands blurring with their speed, she plucked all of the chestnuts out of the fire. "Eventually, you'll be able ta do this, but after I spent a miserable week burning my hands, I figured out a slightly different approach," she said. She showed Akane the two buckets. In one of the buckets, Akane saw several minnows swimming around. Then Ranma said, "The idea here is to get all of the minnows from this bucket to the other one, without getting your hands wet."
Akane spent the rest of the time until breakfast trying to transfer the fish. Ranma watched her intently, encouraging her each time. Kasumi called them to breakfast, and they began to eat. "Akane, just practice that several times today and tomorrow. It looks like you're starting to get it," Ranma said.
"Ranma, what's you plan for the day?" Tofu asked.
"Well, I wanna show Akane how to generate a ki attack. I want ya ta watch me do it, and then watch Akane and compare how our ki flows. I think that way we can correct anything that might be wrong," Ranma replied, "I also want her to practice the Kachu Tenshin Amagurikan that I showed her. And I think the four of us ought to practice against each other some, as well. According to Kasumi, we need to build your stamina up anyway."
"Ranma!" Akane said as she swatted him on the head. Kasumi broke out giggling, as Tofu choked.
After cleaning up the breakfast dishes, the four of them gathered in a semi-circle. "Akane, we're gonna do the same thing as we did last night. Kasumi, you might want ta try this as well. Close your eyes and relax. Breath slowly and deeply. Empty your mind and listen ta the sound of my voice. Try to find your center, it should feel warm and be near your heart. Once you've done that, push some of that warmth out to your fingertips. It will take a strong emotion for it to move. Once you've done that, picture a small ball of light resting in your hand," Ranma said. Ranma looked at the two girls, and smiled. There in both of their hands were two identical balls of glowing blue light. Ranma's hand held a ball of white light. "Open your eyes, girls," Ranma said softly. Kasumi gasped in surprise. Akane wore a smile of pride.
"Ranma, I didn't sense much difference between how your ball formed and how theirs did," Tofu said, "However, your emotions were different. I sensed pride in your ki, whereas I sensed love from the girls."
"It does take strong emotion for this to work. I use pride as my emotion, that's why ya sensed it. Other people use anger, or depression. I think the more positive emotions are probably better ones ta use. I'm glad the girls use love," Ranma replied. "Okay, the next thing ta do is to focus the ki, and have it fly out of your hand." Ranma concentrated, and the ball of ki flew out of her hand and struck a tree trunk. "Okay, Acchan, you try. Focus on where you want the force ta go, and then concentrate on that," Ranma said.
Akane willed the ball to fly out of her hand. Try as hard as she could, nothing happened. Her frustration built, and she lost her concentration. The ball vanished. "That's all right, Acchan," Ranma said soothingly, "This will take a while." Kasumi tried, but she had no better luck. After letting them relax for a few minutes, they tried again. This time at least, Akane was able to get the ball to move. However, it only went a few feet before it vanished. Kasumi couldn't even get that much accomplished. After taking a short break, Kasumi tried again. The ball flew about halfway toward the tree she was aiming at, and then with a pop it disappeared. They spent the next several hours working on this one attack. They tried one last time before it time to break for lunch.
Akane frowned in concentration, and then the ball shot out of her hand and hit the trunk. Kasumi followed, and the same thing happened. They did it several more times to make sure that the first wasn't a fluke. Tofu just shook his head, and said, "It took me weeks to learn how to do that, Ranma. You are a tribute to your sensei that you were able to show them how so easily."
"Actually, it's easier for a girl to learn this. Besides, Akane was already using a ki attack. That's what the mallet she occasionally uses is," Ranma said, "And I bet Kasumi taught that to her."
With Ranma watching carefully, and slowing her down when needed, Akane prepared the rice. Kasumi prepared the miso soup, seasoning it carefully to taste. Once everything was ready, Kasumi dished out the food and they began to eat it. While the rice was a little bland, it was good. Kasumi smiled at her sister, and said, "Just remember to take it slowly Akane. The rice was fine, but you needed a little bit of salt in the water." Akane smiled in thanks, and then hugged Ranma.
After the lunch dishes were cleaned up, after changing back, Ranma led the other three to the two trees that he had mentioned that had the carvings in them. First he showed the tree with his parents initials carved into the tree. Then he showed them the one he suspected had been carved by Soun. Both girls wept upon seeing the heart with their parents' initials and the word forever. Ranma took his knife and carved a heart in the tree with his parents' initials and then inscribed "Akane and Ranma" in the middle. Kasumi stood there misty-eyed, sheltered in Tofu's arms.
Akane drew Ranma away from them and they walked back to camp, allowing the older couple their privacy. Once they got to the camp, Akane went back to practicing with the minnows, while Ranma did some katas. After a couple of hours, they started sparring together. Ranma started smiling at Akane as he realized how much faster Akane had gotten with her punches. Finally, both of them were sufficiently tired, that Ranma called a halt. They both went and got cleaned up, and soaked for a while in the hot spring fed pool. By the time they returned, Kasumi and Tofu had come back, and Kasumi was starting the dinner meal. Kasumi had Akane cut up the vegetables that she was going to need, while Kasumi did the rest. Ranma only had to caution Akane once about trying to go too fast.
After dinner, Tofu and Kasumi went off for another walk. Ranma went down to the lake and changed back into a girl. She came back and lounged by the fire. Akane went into the tent and changed into her pajamas, and crawled into her sleeping bag. Ranma joined her in the tent, and slipped out of her top and shorts. She got into the sleeping bag, and kissed Akane on her cheek. Akane hugged Ranma.
"Good night, Acchan," Ranma said as she closed her eyes.
Akane replied, "Good night, Ranchan." Akane closed her eyes and the two of them drifted off to sleep.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Monday morning dawned brightly. After having a quick breakfast, the two men began taking down the tents while the women cleaned up. Soon, the four of them were heading down to the village. After a stop at the local bathhouse, where the four of them washed up, they caught the next train to Nerima. After finding their seats, the four of them talked about the trip. "Acchan, Kasumi-chan, I'm proud of ya. You picked up the Mouko Takabashi pretty well, but I need ta remind ya ta use positive emotions. Ones like anger and depression can be pretty dangerous," Ranma said.
Tofu said, "I was also pretty impressed by you learning the Kachu Tenshin Amagurikan, Akane."
"Thanks, you two," Akane replied, "I'm glad we went. I know I had a good time."
"I certainly enjoyed the trip," Kasumi said, "We need to do that more often."
"What are two planning on doing when we get home?" Akane asked.
Tofu smiled and then answered, "Your father invited me to move into the house. We thought we would take him up on that. It seems he didn't want to miss her cooking, and my apartment is pretty small after all, so I didn't mind. Your family is pretty nice after all."