Chapter 51: The Touch
Ranma did her best to meditate, despite the noxious scent of the splitting incense making it hard. If she didn't concentrate though... Cologne had warned things might not end well. She hoped Hibari was managing to concentrate too.
For a brief moment Ranma felt as if she'd lost connection to the world, and worried she'd somehow messed up severely. Then her physical form felt real again, just as the incense began to run out. As the smell began to dissipate, Ranma slowly opened her eyes, wondering if it had worked. Looking around, she felt a little disoriented. Hadn't she been sitting a bit closer to that other wall?
Suddenly, she found herself tackled. After a moment of disorientation she realised her tackler had red hair... and not much in the way of a chest brushing against her with the hug. That was Hibari! They'd switched back!
Which also meant he was a he again. It amazed Ranma for a moment that he had managed to not notice that. Remembering that Hibari was hugging him, Ranma returned the gesture, smiling at the feeling of things being as they were supposed to be.
"I just want to make sure, you are Hibari, right?" he whispered.
The redhead looked up at him, a little unimpressed. "You hugged me before checking?"
Ranma shrugged. "The tackle seemed very 'you'. But, I suppose it could also fit Shampoo."
"Well, I'm me," Hibari replied flatly.
At that moment the door to the room swung open, revealing Cologne, Shampoo, and Ukyo, who all spent a moment sniffing the air.
"Ah, good, the incense has dispersed. And you are both yourselves?" the old woman asked.
"We are!" Ranma and Hibari replied in unison, before both breaking into laughter at the accidental synchronisation.
And instant later the pair found themselves tackled by Shampoo, as if she wanted to prove Ranma's earlier point.
"I was so worried about ai—tongzhi!" Shampoo said, squeezing the pair a little too tight.
"Careful, Shampoo... Hibari's ribs are still sore," Ranma muttered.
"Aiyah! Sorry!" Shampoo replied, backing off a little.
"It's okay, it's okay," Hibari said. "Honestly, I didn't think I was that sore before... what were you doing, Ranma?"
"A lot of running," Ranma said. "I've also learned that, once you're healed up again, we're going to have to work on your conditioning. You're still a little fragile."
Hibari grimaced. "Let's savour the moment of things being back to normal now, and talk training later, alright?"
"It's important thou-" Ranma began to protest, only to be silenced by a kiss from Hibari that left him blushing to the point he was sure he glowed.
Tired, after a long and chaotic day, Ranma and Hibari walked quietly along the streets of Wakaba-chome, arms interlocked as they went through the peaceful residential nighbourhoods. It was nice to be themselves again.
Suddenly a chill ran down both their spines, causing both of them to shift into a defensive position, standing back to back. There was a threat somewhere around, but... where?
A tiny mass zipped past at a barely visible speed. And then again. Who, or what, it was, Ranma couldn't say, but he felt like he was being toyed with and didn't like it.
"Quit dancing around and show yourself!" Hibari shouted.
The figure appeared on a roof, suddenly flaring up his battle aura to make a more unsettling version of himself.
Ranma and Hibari both narrowed their eyes.
"Happosai," Ranma hissed.
"You've upset me, Saotome. And you've shown you have no respect for your manhood. You don't deserve the strength of a man!" the battle aura infused form of Happosai bellowed.
Then he charged, launching himself down from that nearby roof towards Hibari and Ranma. Both moved to strike him, Ranma going high and Hibari going low, trying to guess at where his actual diminutive form was within the aura projected. Unfortunately both ended up missing.
Neither received the forceful blow they expected as a counter, Ranma only feeling a brief burning sensation on his back.
Happosai's aura began to laugh as the other two spun to glare at him.
"Maybe you'll learn to be a proper young woman someday, Ranma-chan. Need to drop those tomboyish behaviours," Happosai said laughing to himself.
"I don't know what you're talkin' about, but I'll enjoy wipin' that smirk off of your face," Ranma shouted, charging in for another strike.
Happosai let his aura dissipate, causing Ranma to stumble as his punch hit nothing but empty air. Ranma didn't let himself be off balance for long, however, and turned to launch another strike. Only, as his fist collided with Happosai's cheek, he felt all forward inertia vanish. In the end the force of impact was like Ranma had barely managed to brush against Happosai.
"What sorta trick-?" Ranma asked, trying another punch that fizzled.
"I am merely helping to encourage you to utterly abandon the path of manhood, since you've half abandoned it already," Happosai replied.
Ranma launched a flurry of punches and kicks at the diminutive old creep, but none did any damage to him. All that happened was Ranma found himself growing more and more tired.
"It's no use, child. The moxibustion I used is irreversible, your strength has been permanently removed," Happosai declared. "You're as weak as a baby. It's best you live the life of a delicate maiden."
He began to laugh, only to suddenly be launched into the air a split second later by the mallet of a rather ticked Hibari. In all his gloating, apparently Happosai had forgotten about his second opponent, and she launched him like a croquet ball in response.
Ranma was in no position to celebrate, however, collapsing onto his knees and staring into space. "I... I've lost my strength?"
Hibari bent over to fill his view with her smiling face. "I'll bet it's not half as permanent as he said it is. Let's just turn around and ask Cologne for help again."
Ranma opened his mouth to protest, only to find himself receiving a quick kiss from Hibari.
"No use dawdling," the girl said after breaking the kiss.
Cologne gave Ranma a once over shaking her head a few times.
"I don't know how you manage so much bad luck, child, but this is not a technique I know the cure for," the ancient woman said at last.
"But there's probably a cure, right?" Ranma asked.
"I know of no truly irreversible moxibustion techniques, so: yes," Cologne replied.
Ranma lit up. They could reverse this!
"I'll consult with some associates I have in Yokohama. Maybe write for help from back home... I'm not sure how long it will take, but we'll find a way to fix this, child," Cologne replied, her tone reassuring.
"If not, tongzhi has many strong friends to turn to for help. I would be happy to be a bodyguard," Shampoo added with a smile.
"I like havin' friends I can rely on, but... I don't like the idea of having to rely on people," Ranma replied softly.
"That's fair," Hibari said, "but if it's for a week or two, Shampoo, Ukyo, and I can handle it. And don't worry about any sort of debt or anything, we know you'd help us if things were reversed."
Before Ranma could say thank you the phone rang. Shampoo rushed over and picked it up.
"Nihao, this is the Neko Hanten. We are the closed now, but open-"
"Is Hibari there?" Ibari's voice asked, sounding worried. "We tried the Fairy Tale café and Fumiko said Hibari would be there?"
"Ask about Ranma too," Genma's voice added from the background.
"Tongzhi are both here, yes," Shampoo replied. "Has been a long day, but I shall walk them home now."
"No need, no need. I'll send Sabu over with a car," Ibari replied.
Shampoo was glad she was on the phone, so Ibari missed her disappointed expression. "Very well. I shall give the relay of the information."
"Thank you," Ibari replied, before hanging up.
Shampoo wandered back into the room where the others were, all trying to ask Cologne about ideas on how to fix Ranma's current issue. Ukyo had heard of a mythical noodle that granted superhuman strength, but Cologne seemed unconvinced that would overcome the moxibustion.
"Ranma and Hibari, your fathers have phoned. They will be sending sword man around with a car," Shampoo relayed to the pair.
"A car? Why?" Hibari asked.
"It would seem not being home at 10:54pm on a school night has them worried?" Shampoo replied.
"Pops was worried about me?" Ranma asked, eyes lighting up in a way that tore at Shampoo's heart. Was Ranma really so uncertain of his father's love?
"I'll bet dad wants to yell at me," Hibari muttered, her cold certainty not quite as sad as Ranma's hope, but still made Shampoo feel for her.
The short wait for the arrival of Sabu was dominated by Hibari, Ukyo, and Shampoo discussing various plans for how to better protect Ranma if anyone tried anything. They saw no reason anyone should, but knew that with Ranma's luck they'd face at least one fight in the (hopefully) week or two it would take for Cologne to find a cure.
Knocking drew the group downstairs, Ranma and Hibari hopping in the car after some quick goodbyes. This led to a slightly stiff moment as Shampoo and Ukyo were left alone in the restaurant. Shampoo really didn't know what to say to the chef.
The stiff silence was broken by the arrival of Rie, a small black cat following after her down from the bedrooms upstairs.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I lost track of time!" Rie exclaimed, hurrying over to give Shampoo a quick bow. "I didn't mean to stay at your home so late! I—oh, Ukyo-kun, you're still here?"
"Heh, yeah. Lost track of time a little myself," the chef replied. "You know, it's right late, might not be the best for a cute girl to be walking home on her own. What do you say I walk you to your place?"
The black cat at Rie's feet growled up at Ukyo.
"Don't worry, Mousse, I ain't planning to steal your girlfriend. I just want to make sure one of my waitresses stays safe," Ukyo said, looking down at the cat.
The bespectacled feline turned nervously to Rie, who crouched down to give him a scratch behind the ear. "Don't worry, I trust Ukyo-kun."
Mousse seemed much happier after the ear scratch and gave a contented sounding meow. With that, Rie and Ukyo set off into the brisk October night.
Mousse ran off as soon as the pair were out of sight, Shampoo telling him 'good night' and getting a meow from the cat-cursed lad. Shampoo pulled her hair out of the buns she kept it up in as she went upstairs herself. She then walked down a little past her own room and knocked on the door to her father's room.
The tired man emerged a couple minutes later (as the morning cook he'd been in bed a while). «What is the matter, my child?»
Shampoo replied by hugging her father. «Thank you.»
«I... your welcome? But, what for?» her father asked, his tone uncertain.
«For being a kind and understanding father.»
«Are you comparing me to the fathers of your fiancées?» her father asked, an eyebrow raised.
Shampoo nodded. «Yes, why?»
«You must remember that they were raised quite differently. Surely, with your curse, you have noticed how the gender divide here is so very different, and also stronger, than our own back home? And for your beloveds especially... the pressure Japanese families are under to have sons is quite strong, so a daughter mistaken for a son, or a child who has a foot in both worlds will cause panic here. Cultures vary.»
«Cultures may vary, but surely some things must be seen as wrong all the same?» Shampoo asked, a feeling of righteous anger in her gut.
«That is true, but... still, do not judge me too kindly for the successes of our culture,» her father replied softly.
«Either way, good night father,» Shampoo said with a quick bow.
Knocking on his bedroom door woke Ranma up. Looking around, it was still a bit dark in his room.
"Are you decent, boy?" Genma's voice asked from behind the door.
"Yeah, yeah... what's goin' on?" Ranma asked as he wandered over to open the door.
"I was just thinking it would be a good day for some early morning sparring. But... well, I learned yesterday that surprising you might not always be the best idea," Genma said, growing a touch flustered towards the end.
"Oh, uh... today might not be a great day. Feelin'... off?" Ranma offered.
"You know it's most important to train on days you're not feeling well!" Genma blurted, before dropping his voice down to a more appropriate volume for the early hour. "You want to know you're strong at your weakest point."
The mention of weakness made Ranma wince. Half of him wanted to try to fight his father right now, to prove he could overcome what had been done. The other half of him, the half that was slowly learning the usefulness of communication and that others could be relied upon, said that he should be honest.
Of course, then he remembered just who it was that was responsible for so much of his mistrust of others. Communication wouldn't work with Genma. Expressing weakness with his father wouldn't be a smart move. He needed to come up with another excuse. Something his father wouldn't question...
"It might be feminine issues," Ranma blurted, before the bulk of his brain had processed what those few rogue neurons had come up with. How was he going to explain that, especially in his current form... "Uh, I've been in girl mode enough lately, I think the magic is confusin' my, uh, body... bodies?"
Genma paled. "Oh, uh... well, I think Tsugumi is awake. I suggest talking to her... b-boy."
Ranma nodded and walked stiffly down to the kitchen, not sure how to explain things to Tsugumi. Unfortunately, as large as the Oozora home was, it only bought him a couple minutes before he was at the kitchen.
"Oh, good morning, Ranma. What has you up so early?" Tsugumi asked as she looked up from gathering the breakfast ingredients.
"Uh, pops wanted to spar, but, uh... can you keep a secret for me?" Ranma asked.
"Sure, of course?"
Ranma nodded. "Thanks. Well, I got hit with this weakness moxibustion thing... so, I can't really fight right now. And pops wanted to spar, but, I couldn't tell him 'cause I know he'd start lamentin' about it, and then your old man would probably have me in a weddin' dress while I can't really fight back."
"Oh. Things are always interesting around you," Tsugumi replied, shaking her head a little. "Will it last long?"
"We're workin' on it," Ranma muttered.
"Good luck with that," Tsugumi said, before turning back to her cooking for a few moments. "What brought you down to me though?"
Ranma blushed a little and pressed his fingers together. "I, uh, I excused myself by claiming I'm, uh... havin', y'know... feminine issues?"
Tsugumi turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "You did, did you?"
Ranma shrank a bit. "I-I wasn't properly awake. And pops said I should talk to you, so, uh, I didn't wanna raise suspicions."
Tsugumi smiled in a way Ranma couldn't quite read. It felt a little menacing though. "Well... how about I tell you what to do if it does somehow happen, while you help me with breakfast?"
Ranma paled a bit. "Y-ya think I could actually have that happen?"
"Maybe? Seems better to be safe than sorry."
Ranma and Hibari were waiting on their walk to school at the point they usually met up with Shui. The cursed girl was usually ahead of them, so they were both curious where she was. A few moments later they spotted her handsome form with Mousse in tow. The lad was holding a sheet of paper of some sort.
"What's up?" Ranma asked.
"I woke up with this letter tucked into my windowsill," Mousse said, handing it over to Ranma.
Ranma unfurled it, and read (with a bit of difficulty, due to the poor handwriting) the message of 'Saotome Ranma is now weak. Show Saotome she's too fragile for the path of manhood now... don't go to hard on her though, girls deserve some chivalry'.
"I think he believes we're still enemies, and that I would attack you with that information," Mousse said, a hand moving to adjust glasses he wasn't wearing, that he tried to play off as fixing his hair.
"Great, he's probably passed these out to everyone he could," Ranma muttered.
"Luckily your defense squad is ready," Hibari said, giving Ranma a wink.
"We will keep you safe!" Shui added with a salute.
"I was hopin' it'd be a one off at best. I don't wanna have to be under constant security," Ranma muttered. "I don't like the constant feelin' of fragility."
Ranma had barely gotten a chance to sit down in class when Shiina strolled up and leaned deep into his personal space.
"Hey there, Saotome. I hear you're feeling a little under the weather today?" the tall boxer asked, an obnoxious grin on his face.
"We're in class right now, Shiina. It ain't really time to be pickin' a fight," Ranma snapped, glaring up at Shiina, and trying not to shake with anger too much.
He wanted to wipe that glare off the lanky boxer's face soo badly, but knew he couldn't. He needed this issue fixed immediately.
"So, you got one of those letters from the old creep then?" Hibari asked, suddenly at Ranma's side.
"I got a letter. I wasn't sure who it was from," Shiina said.
"Don't be a pawn for that old slime," Hibari replied. "He's an underwear stealing old pervert. You don't want to be on his side."
Shiina's face fell. "Seriously? I finally get a chance to let out some stress on Saotome and I can't because I'd be helping some total slime? I'm glad you warned me, Hibari-chan. Bleh."
Shiina sighed and wandered off to his desk, where he proceeded to pout most of the morning. Hibari had to admit she was glad the lanky boxer afforded her at least some respect.
By lunch, Ranma needed some fresh air, and went for a walk in the cool(ish) autumn air (it was Tokyo afterall, so it was only so cool). He needed something to calm himself down after trying to glare through the back of Shiina's head for the last three hours.
"Saotome!" a voice bellowed.
Ranma turned, only mildly surprised to see Sparta Kotatsu glaring at him.
"You got a letter two then?" Ranma asked.
"I did indeed! I'll get my vengeance now!" Kotatsu shouted.
"Vengeance for what?" Ranma countered. "I've only fought you when you attacked me!"
"You made me fall in love with you!" the spiky haired boy replied.
The pair glared at one another, Ranma hoping he could summon enough of a battle aura to make Kotatsu doubt the letter. That, however, did not work, and Ranma found himself having to desperately dodge Kotatsu's strikes.
"Someone's not a good boy," Ranma said as he dodged. He could manage physical jabs, but maybe verbal ones would work?
They felt good at least.
"I'm not dog!" Kotatsu hissed.
"Well, not currently," Ranma replied, smiling as his sidestepped a punch. "Heard there's a chance of rain today though."
A backflip allowed Ranma to dodge a kick from Sparta. He was pretty easy to dodge. Ranma just wishes he could launch a counter attack.
"Kotatsu. Come here, Kotatsu," Hibari's voice called out in a singsong tone.
The young Sparta paused for a moment, before turning to Hibari. "What do you want?"
"I have a present for you," Hibari replied with a large grin.
"You do?" Kotatsu said, starting to blush before he ran over to her. "What-what is it?"
"Close your eyes and count to 5, please," Hibari said.
Due to Sparta's dark sunglasses they could only hope he'd actually closed his eyes as Hibari handed over a small object, before running to grab Ranma's hand and pulling him around a corner. A few seconds after they made it there was the sound of a not insignificant explosion. Curiosity got to Ranma and he poked his head back around the corner to spot a singed Kotatsu with his shirt blown off. After a second or two he fell over.
"Was that a bomb?" Ranma asked.
Hibari shrugged. "A grenade."
"A grenade!? Is he alright?" Ranma yelped.
"He'll be fiiiine. Dad's accidentally had one of those ones blow up in his face before and emerged fine on the other side. He's not even a martial artist," Hibari said with a grin.
"I hope so," Ranma muttered.
The rest of school had gone well enough. Shiina managed to give Ranma noogies at one point, only to have Hibari and Shui both stomp on one of his feet as a response. Ranma's fear about gym class had ended up being hollow, after questioning led to Shiina saying that he'd not let Ranma's secret out there. (And the tall lad had complained the noogies really hadn't warranted having his feet stomped on.)
Now it was time for an actual shift at the Fairy Tale Cafe, Ranma doing his best to function despite limits on his strength. It was honestly going quite well, as embarrassed as he felt about Hibari having slid a flower into his hair. The customers didn't seem to care much, however, and Fumiko assured him he looked quite handsome.
Surrounded by Fumiko and Hibari's mischievous femininity, Ranma accidentally slid into feminine behaviours from time to time as well.
This peace and quiet ended as a tall lad in a kendo uniform, a bokuto on his shoulder.
"I have been informed that Saotome Ranma has taken refuge in this restaurant!" the tall kendoist shouted.
"It's more of a cafe," Hibari replied.
"Very well, if that is the term peasants prefer these days, then cafe. Now, wherefore is Saotome?" Kuno demanded, leaning over the counter in an effort to intimidate Hibari.
"Wherefore? Do you mean 'where'? They're two different terms," Hibari asked flatly.
"Quite thine evasions and tell me where Saotome is!"
"Who's tall and grumpy? Shiina's cousin?" Ranma asked as he walked out from the back room.
"Shiina's cousin? Shiina's cousin!? I have no relations beyond his being a family friend!" Kuno bellowed.
"Okay, then who are ya?" Ranma asked.
"Thou hath forgotten the Blazing Thunder of Furinkan High School?" Kuno shouted.
"The... wait, you're the one who showed Akane my curse, ain't ya?" Ranma replied.
"It was mine duty to defend fair Akane's feminine innocence!" Kuno roared, pointing his bokuto at Ranma. "And yet! And yet photographic evidence shows that thou hath wormed back into Akane's trust! And violated her personhood!"
Ranma blinked, only to be poked by Hibari.
"Oi, oi. What's he talking about?" Hibari asked, a grin on her face revealing she knew he was innocent, but couldn't resist getting a kick out of this.
Kuno produced a set of photographs, showing Ranma and Akane engaged in judo practice. Of course, they were both female in all the pictures shown, which left Ranma confused.
"Those pics just show two girls practicin' our ground grapples?" Ranma asked, utterly confused.
"Thou art no woman!" Kuno shouted, putting the photos back into his gi.
"Wait, but you're attacking him now... does that mean you got that letter?" Hibari asked.
"Perhaps. What does that matter?" Kuno asked, pausing midway through drawing his Bokuto back.
"Wasn't the letter about trying to teach Ranma not to be a man?" Hibari asked, while Ranma tried to find an efficient escape plan.
"The author of that letter was clearly a madman, but I shall miss no chance to punish unchivalrous behaviour. Especially when directed at mine fair Akane," Kuno retorted.
"Then ya'd better go beat up your reflection, pal!" Ranma hissed, charging over to glare at Kuno. "Harassin' her everyday is pretty unchivalrous!"
"Knave!" Kuno shouted, swinging his bokuto at Ranma.
The pigtailed boy dodged, but the counter could not, and received a rather nasty gash. Kuno then leapt over the counter and gave chase to Ranma. The smaller boy dodged and swerved, while mugs and plates were shattered. Hibari watched in horror as one of Kuno's swings collided with a cappuccino machine. Hot water sprayed across the room, drenching Hibari and turning her hair blonde (and making her chest a little flatter).
"Hah! Ya couldn't hit Godzilla!" Ranma said, sticking his tongue out afterwards.
Hibari could tell he was getting lost in the fight and forgetting about collateral damage. She'd have to deal with this. Slipping forward, she launched her best amaguriken style barrage into Kuno's back in the general area of his left loin.
The tall kendoist stumbled forward in pain, letting out a gasp. Spinning around, he seemed ready to strike at Hibari, until he saw who was attacking him. His... unique sense of chivalry caused him to freeze for a moment, giving Hibari the chance to go for a simple and effective groin kick.
The large lad crumpled swiftly. To be safe, Hibari kicked him in the chest, sending him skidding across the tiles into a counter. She then pulled the wooden sword from his hand.
"Fightin' dirty I see," Ranma said, wincing a bit in sympathy.
"He was wrecking the cafe! As an employee, it's my duty to end fights quickly," Hibari replied with a shrug.
At that moment Ranma looked around at the damage done to the counter area, and the two scared customers in the corner. "Oh... right. Sorry."
"W-what happened?" Fumiko asked as she emerged from the back room. She paled more and more as she noticed new bits of damage.
"M-my dad can probably help!" Hibari blurted.
Ibari had shown up only twenty minutes after Hibari had phoned him, Sabu and Seiji accompanying him. The trio took in the damage fairly quickly.
"It's a fair bit of damage, though nothing I couldn't afford to cover, to apologise for my future son-in-law's involvement," Ibari said, before turning to a firmly tied up and gagged Tatewaki. "Unless our would-be samurai friend here is willing to pay for the damage he did to a lovely woman's restaurant?"
Kuno muttered something unintelligible beneath the gag. Ibari turned to Sabu and gave a quick nod. An instant later the gag had been sliced in two, freeing Tatewaki's mouth while leaving him staring down Sabu's katana, which had just proven its sharpness in cutting the gag.
"What was that, kid?" Sabu asked.
"I... I," Tatewaki muttered, as he grew slowly more pale while staring at the sharp steel blade. Bokuto and shinai were one thing, but actual hardened steel... it was certainly more hardened than his resolve. "Very well. I suppose mine behaviour hath not been the most becoming of a samurai, destroying the cafe of a beautiful woman."
Sabu removed his katana with a grin.
"There we go, he's showing some remorse," Ibari said, smiling and giving Fumiko a thumbs up.
The cafe owner smiled and blushed a little as her response. She knew Ibari was going to take some work, but... she liked having a man so in love with her.
"I do have to wonder, how did he manage to do so much damage? Shouldn't you have stopped him, Ranma?" Ibari asked, walking up to the pigtailed boy.
"Uh... well... I thought it'd look bad on the cafe to fight?" Ranma offered.
Ibari raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
Shampoo was cleaning up as the Neko Hanten neared closing hour when Ranma and Hibari appeared with a ringing of the front door.
"Tongzhi! What brings you here tonight?"
"I can't take it anymore," Ranma muttered. "Tell me Cologne's found a cure?"
"Not that I know of," Shampoo replied. "I will go ask."
Ranma and Hibari sat down at an empty table and waited a few moments before Shampoo returned with Cologne. The old woman gave Ranma a kindly smile.
"Hello child. I have good news and bad news," Cologne said.
"Bad news first?" Ranma tried.
"The cure is likely in the hands of the one who inflicted this upon you," Cologne said. "We need to work out a way for you to acquire it."
"So, another theft scheme?" Ranma asked. "Shouldn't be too hard."
"Depending on if his security is as lax as before. He already knows we robbed him before," Hibari replied. "And would know what we're after this time."
"I guess that's fair. Still wish I knew what got him so ticked off anyhow," Ranma muttered.
Hibari blushed a little. "Ah, well, I think I might know..."
"You do?" Ranma asked.
"Well, the little creep apparently was after pinups of your girl side, so, uh... we gave him pinups of your guy side instead," Hibari explained with a slightly strained smile.
Ranma blushed. "Oh... I... I'm a little, er... embarrassed, but... that also sounds like poetic justice."
"Are there any spare pictures?" Shampoo asked, leaning up and whispering to Hibari just barely loud enough for Ranma to hear.
"Nabiki kept the negatives," Hibari replied.
"I have to give the Tendo home some free ramen tomorrow," Shampoo whispered, an almost feline smile on her face.
"I... uh... what's our back up from stealin'?" Ranma asked, not sure what to think about the idea of those pictures.
"That brings me to the good news: I know a technique that would offer you a chance to defeat this old man, even without any strength. I am sure a practitioner of your art couldn't resist a challenge," Cologne explained.
Ranma's eyes sparkled a little. "A new technique you say?"
I just want to apologise for the lateness of this chapter. I've accidentally fallen into reading Detective Conan, with it's 1000+ chapters for the manga. Been eating a lot of time and decreasing my writing output.