Chapter 32

Ranma was busy looking through some stuff while Kasumi, Nabiki and Akane were watching the TV. Akane had P-chan on her lap as they watched the news. Suddenly a special report came up on the screen. What they saw was a white and black dog on the television. The reporter was talking while the dog held up a sign that asked for Ryoga. The girls were surprised by what they saw.

"Ryoga has a dog? And she had babies?" Akane asked. Ranma looked up to see the dog.

"Oh, it's Shirokuro. I can't believe that she had puppies." Ranma said.

"You know that dog?" asked Nabiki.

"Yeah, she's like the Hibiki's housekeeper. She's pretty smart for a dog and the only one in the family with a sense of direction." Ranma said.

"Wait, his whole family is like that?" Nabiki asked.

"Yeah, it's a family curse or something. Anyway, let's hope Ryoga is near a TV. He should go and see the new members of his family." Ranma said.

"Well, why don't you help find him and take him there? You remember where his house is right?" Akane asked.

"Yeah but why would I help that jerk? Since the day he's found me, he has blamed me for every bad thing in his life. He reminds me of this girl I live with." Ranma said with a smirk. Akane bristled but did not say anything. Kasumi decided to stop any type of arguments.

"Look Ranma, maybe this one good thing can get you a little bit of favor with Ryoga. I'm not saying that you're wrong about the boy but it might make your life a little better." Kasumi said, playing peacemaker. Ranma sighed and looked at Akane.

"Fine, I'll help the moron. Let me just get some stuff for me to work on and well go find him. Who knows, he might just appear knowing him." Ranma got up and when to his room to get some things. Akane followed, letting P-chan roam around the place so that she could get ready. Kasumi went to the kitchen to get some hot water. She returned after a few moments and poured the water on the pig. Nabiki was right there to throw him a towel.

"Thank you." Ryoga said.

"Your thanks are not wanted or needed. Personally, we shouldn't even let Ranma help you but just because Akane is bitch doesn't mean that we will leave her alone in a house with you." Nabiki said seriously. Ryoga looked appalled by her words.

"I would never do anything inappropriate to Akane!" Ryoga exclaimed.

"Your actions say otherwise. If you truly cared for my sister, you would be a gentleman and ask her out. Instead, you continue to use your curse to learn her secrets and thoughts. What you are doing is inappropriate and I will never trust you. Now, you probably have some clothes here. I suggest you get dressed." Kasumi said seriously. The two walked away while Ryoga quickly found his pack and got dressed. Akane's sisters were really starting to scare him.

XXX

Ranma, Akane and Ryoga arrived at the Hibiki home by noon. Like Ranma predicted, Ryoga was at the entrance of the Tendo home. Ryoga acted like a nervous idiot around Akane who acted surprised to see him. He came up with the story that he saw the news from a window and made his way to the dojo for Ranma's help. Ranma couldn't help but ask how he got here without getting lost. Ryoga quickly came up with the lie of someone leading him here. He pointed at a random person and got a dirty look for his troubles. After a little bit of laughter, Ranma led the group to the house.

Along the way, Akane and Ryoga talked about things. Akane talked about school while Ryoga talked about his travels. Ranma ignored them, not really caring what they talked about. Akane noticed this and couldn't help but get angry. Outwardly, it was because she thought it was rude to Ryoga. Inwardly, it was because she felt that Ranma didn't care about either of them. When Ranma led them here, Ryoga was instantly greeted by Shirokuro. Ryoga was happy to see him and the two happily reunited. Shirokuro led him in and the other two followed.

The dog led the group to a basket where her puppies were. There were five in total. Akane awed at the puppies and knelt down to play with them. Ryoga looked to prepare some treats from the group leaving the two alone with the puppies. Akane took the puppies to Ryoga's room and Ranma followed. As Akane played with the puppies, Ranma looked around the place that Ryoga called his room.

"Man, he's been all over Asia." Ranma said. He picked up a scroll and saw the words 'Kempo' on it. "That explains that."

"You know, you've been very rude since we've met Ryoga." Akane said.

"Oh yeah, what exactly have I been rude about?" Ranma asked with a sigh.

"You've ignored me and Ryoga for the whole trip. I thought you were going to do what Kasumi said and gain a little good will?" Akane asked.

"The reason I ignored the both of you is because you two were reuniting and I did not want to be a part of it. Ryoga and I aren't exactly friends. You don't like me for some reason. While Kasumi might have had a point, Ryoga isn't going to just let everything go after one good thing I helped him with." Ranma said.

"You don't know that. If you would just try to understand him and apologize," Akane began but she was cut off.

"You see, that's it right there. Do you think I haven't apologized to Ryoga? I have. I apologized for my part in making him who he is. Guess what, he didn't accept it. I take responsibilities for my actions and I apologize when I know that I did wrong. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" Ranma said with a tone. Akane looked ready to explode when Ryoga entered the room. He did not look happy.

"You shut up Ranma! You don't talk to Akane like that!" Ryoga shouted. Ranma just sighed and shook his head.

"Look, I got you here. If you need me, I'll be downstairs. I'm not going to sit up with you two and listen to you two complain about how I act or how I think." Ranma said. He brushed by Ryoga and made his way downstairs. Ryoga stewed and clenched his fists. Akane just looked at the door with a frustrated expression. Ryoga saw this and quickly put the plate down next to her.

"Don't listen to that jerk. He's just being a big baby." Ryoga said. Akane just nodded and focused on the puppies. Ryoga didn't like to see her sad face or that she was unhappy. He growled and planned to make Ranma pay.

XXX

A week later, Ranma, Nabiki and Happosai were looking over the student roster. They were going over who was going to do what. Out of the fifteen students, only seven were able to gain the funds to participate in the local tournament in Tokyo. As they looked on, it seems that they had come to a decision.

"Okay, so we can have Homura and Date do forms. They were the best at my new form and the first three forms that you taught. Iba should do the physical competition and forms. Kento and Jinpachi should compete in sparring. Ume and Shinto should do both as they are the most advance of the class." Happosai said.

"That's should work. I'll be joining too but in the advance level." Ranma said. Akane entered the room and saw what they were doing. It looked interesting.

"What are you guys doing?" She asked.

"We're preparing for a tournament in Tokyo. We are assigning events to who we believe will succeed and improve." Ranma said.

"Why would you need to do that? Why would you even need to participate in a tournament? They aren't a really show a skill." Akane said with a superior tone. "Besides, you lost the last tournament you were in."

"The fact that you can say that with such a tone only proves that you are not as skilled as you say. I guess that beating you suffered from the Dojo Destroyer did little to curb that arrogance." Happosai said. Akane growled at him for that comment.

"Look, let's just focus on this alright. We've set up what we want done. We train them hard and we help them in areas that they are having trouble in. They'll need it since Shampoo's fellow Amazons are participating." Ranma said. It was a great day for Furinken High School when five new girls entered the school. Their names were Soap, Lilac, Lavender, Jade and Ling. Ling, Lilac and Jade were all Shampoo's age and new students. Soap and Lavender were two adults who always dreamed of coming to civilization. They were both hired as teachers of the school, Soap the new nurse and Lavender the new History teacher. The males were very happy to see them and the females, while envious, enjoyed to new addition to the school.

"Wait, those bimbos are joining this tournament?" Akane asked hotly.

"Hey, that's my girlfriend and her friends! If you don't have anything nice to say, then leave." Ranma said hotly.

"Yeah, we're trying to plan here." Nabiki said. She then faced Ranma. "So Kodachi and her crew are joining as well right? They are mostly doing forms." Ranma gave Nabiki a look and she just smirked. Akane steamed and stomped away. She was going to see her father about entering her in this stupid tournament.

XXX

Two weeks later, the participants entered the Tokyo dome for the tournament. The group was signed up as the Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū Gakuin (Anything Goes Martial Arts Academy). The symbol was sown into their uniforms, which Kasumi made for the group. She was also there as the doctor. Everyone signed in at the table and got their numbers. Everyone else got to the stands to watch the tournament. They went to the locker rooms and got dressed in their fighting clothes. They entered the main floor and were in awe at the amount of people on the floor.

Happosai and Ranma led their students to ever event that they were going to participate in. The first was the Physical Fitness competition that they signed Iba in. It started with how many push-ups, sit-up and jumping jacks everyone could do within a minute. Then there was a test of strength, braking boards or stone. Finally, there was a test of stamina, seeing how long a competitor could stand in a particular stance. Iba did well in the first and third parts, coming first. He came third in the second part, behind two others but in front of Akane. At the end, he was given first place due to the average. Nabiki was right there as she took pictures, one with his trophy and another with his family.

Next they went to forms. Iba pulled out due to how hard he pushed himself. Ume, Shinto, Homura and Date participated in the forms. Homura and Shinto did the kata that Ranma invented while Date and Ume did one of the forms that Happosai taught. Everyone did well with Ume gaining second, Shinto placing fifth and Date gaining fourth after three rounds. Date and Shinto got a small wooden plank for being finalists while Ume got a trophy. Again Nabiki took pictures of the four. While Homura was knocked out of the second round, Happosai did tell him that he did well and he has nothing to be ashamed of. This made him feel better about his lost.

Finally, there was the sparring section of the tournament for the beginner students. Ume competed with the women while Jinpachi, Kento and Shinto competed with the men. Ume did not place but Ranma did not expect her to. While she got pass Akane pretty easily, she was overwhelmed by the Amazon, Jade. Jade would later go on to win. Shinto did well, coming first in the men's. Jinpachi and Kento came in fifth and fourth respectfully. Everyone was happy with their performances with the exception of Akane.

She did not accept her losses well. She didn't even like the fact that she was fighting in the beginner level. She argued that she was the heir to the Tendo School but since she never competed in a tournament before, she was not placed in the advance level. After calming down, she accepted the decision and went to compete. She signed up for all the events just to prove just how much of a martial artist she was. It went very badly for her.

She placed fourth in the Physical portion, dead-last in the forms portion and last in the sparring. When she lost to Ranma's student, she threw a tantrum, stating that she cheated. The judges were not amused with her actions and she had to be physically dragged out of the ring. Many masters watched and were laughing at her. To a certain extension, they were laughing at Soun as well. Akane stormed off, shouting all the way. Soun was very embarrassed and quickly left to get his daughter. Everyone else stayed and waited for the advance level to start.

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Authors' Notes: Here we go a new chapter. I really liked writing this chapter and I have briefly introduced five new characters. They will be playing a minor role but I will talk about them. Anyway, enjoy the new chapter.