Disclaimer: I do not own either Ranma or Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi has that honour. I'm just borrowing them for a little while.
Ranma smiled a little as he sat on the roof of the Tendo home, hands behind his head, taking in the sunshine. All things considered, it had been relatively quiet.
For that day at least.
There hadn't been any surprise appearances from any of his fiancée's or rivals, he hadn't woken up through contact with the pond and he and Akane hadn't fought.
He only hoped it would last.
The last few weeks had been a lesson in the supernatural in a way Ranma had never thought possible. Since school had let out for the summer, he had been spending more and more time at the Higurashi shrine, mostly to keep out of the way of Shampoo, Cologne and Ukyo, all of whom were getting fed up with him not siding with her over the whole marriage issue. They had yet to find out his hideaway but he didn't really think it would last too long.
Akane was the only one that knew he had been spending time at the shrine, mainly because of his slip up at lunch a few weeks prior. He hadn't thought to say that he hadn't seen them since then, only that he hadn't asked how Inuyasha had stopped Happosai. And in doing so he had inadvertently given away his little sanctuary. But she hadn't said anything to anyone about it and when he questioned why not, she simply said it wasn't her place to.
That had shocked him into silence. Not something easily accomplished.
She had then confided in him that she had her own escape that she went to when she couldn't cope and that she understood. He didn't ask her where it was. That was for her to tell him.
Since he had made his request of her, his relationship with Akane had improved a lot. They were able to talk without it devolving into an argument. Well, not every time at least. They still had their spats but thankfully, none of them had ended up with him going flying.
Unfortunately, his and Akane's slowly deepening friendship had not gone unnoticed by Shampoo and Ukyo. They had been around a lot more since school had let out. Fortunately, they both had obligations to their respective restaurants so he always had a chance to sneak away while they were busy.
Didn't mean he didn't keep an ear out for that damned bicycle bell.
His father hadn't been too happy when Ranma had started spending time away from the dojo during the day. Fortunately for Ranma, his father wasn't as covert as he thought he was so he was always able to dodge him. Though the other day, he had had to avoid both his father and Soun Tendo which made things slightly more difficult. He had made sure to head in the completely wrong direction to head them off.
Over the last few weeks he had learned that there was so much more to the world than he had previously thought. Sure he had seen a lot in his life, knowing that there were more than just humans out there since he had come to Tokyo and while he and his father had been on their journey but there was no much more to it.
He had learned that both Kagome and Inuyasha were in fact over five hundred years old. A thought that still made his head spin considering that they both looked as though they were in their twenties. Maybe they should share their secret with Cologne since they were both older than her. Actually at his flustered response Kagome had casually told him that Inuyasha was actually over seven hundred years old, having been in his two hundreds already when they had met.
Although apparently to Inu-youkai, even being that age was still considered a pup.
They had told him bits and pieces of their past, how they had first met after she had fallen down the ancient well on the shrine grounds. He almost dismissed the idea completely as being ridiculous before he remembered the little jaunt he and the others had taken into ancient China through Cologne's magic mirror. They further reinforced the knowledge of the well by taking him to see the well itself.
He shook his head, thinking about the creepy as hell well. Even though they told him that the well had been silent since Kagome had jumped through it the last time, it still gave him a bad vibe.
Kagome had regaled him of how she had been pulled into the well by a demon and had climbed out to find herself in a dense forest. Inuyasha didn't really have much to add at that point because apparently, he had been pinned to a tree by a sacred arrow.
Ranma's brain had started to hurt when he'd learned that. They had taken him to the sacred tree he had seen every time he had come to the shrine and neatly stepped over the small fence surrounding the tree that he had learned was called the Goshinboku. Inuyasha had hoisted Kagome up onto his shoulder and she had shown Ranma a small groove, barely noticeable in the bark, stating that even after five hundred years it was still there.
The point where the arrow had struck the tree after piercing through Inuyasha's chest.
He had found the part where she had first found Inuyasha, still under Kikyo's spell, pinned to the tree and couldn't help but play with his ears amusing though. The hanyou in question did not. Though she had told him what had happened in that first sighting of him many years before, he would still huff and give said ears a flick at the mention of it.
He had also met some of their youkai companions as well. The first one he had met had been Shippo, a kitsune that he had learned had lost his parents in a gruesome way, Inuyasha avenging them for the young boy.
He had learned that when he had first met Inuyasha and Kagome, Shippo had been nothing more than a one-tailed kit, trying to make his own way after the death of his parents. Now, however, he had the appearance of a young man, when under a concealment spell that is. Once that was removed, it seemed like his entire lower body changed. Gone were the human feet, replaced with fox paws. His eyes changed from the light brown of his human form to bright turquoise and his ears sharpened to a point. Much like Inuyasha, his teeth changed, elongating to become deadly looking fangs. His hair had remained the red he had shown when under the concealment spell, not standing out like Inuyasha's silver did.
The main thing Ranma noticed about Shippo was when he dropped the concealment was five glossy tails, twitching and quivering behind him. Ranma's jaw had dropped and the others couldn't help but chuckle. Shippo shrugged, brushing off the teenager's reaction. Like Inuyasha and his ears, Shippo often got attention due to his tails. Though maybe for a different reason.
Ranma had been warned to keep an eye on Shippo. When he had queried why he had just been told that he was a kitsune and that kitsune's were tricksters. It was practically written into the DNA and the more tails a kitsune has, the more power they have.
Ranma had learned that they were being serious by the end of that afternoon when he got caught in a little set up by Shippo, involving him, Inuyasha and a lot of water. Needless to say, the hanyou hadn't been too happy about getting drenched and add that with the fact that he'd somehow managed to get water in his ears, he had been pissed.
Unfortunately for Shippo, even though five hundred years had increased his power, it had increased Inuyasha's as well. And despite his own growth, the hanyou was still bigger than him.
Kagome laughed, her mind flashing back to when Inuyasha used to chase the little kit around when they had been hunting for Naraku and the jewel shards. Of course back then she would have most likely used the beads that had hung around Inuyasha's neck to subdue him before he could get to the kit.
However, this time, Shippo kinda deserved it.
The scene had amused Ranma greatly, appreciative of the fact that it wasn't just his own life that seemed to be completely chaotic. Kagome told him that the majority of the time, things were quiet but adding Shippo into the mix always livened things up. She also warned him that what Shippo had done was nothing compared to what he could do and that he was going easy on him cause he was a newbie. Ranma got the hint. 'Keep your guard up with a kitsune in the vicinity'.
Ranma had also been introduced to Totosai, a demon sword-smith with enormous eyes. He had made Ranma a little uncomfortable as he stared at him. It somehow felt like the demon was judging him as he stood there in front of the teenager. Sizing him up.
Maybe he was trying to judge whether or not he could be trusted with the knowledge that youkai existed. He had shared a look with Inuyasha and it appeared something passed between the two of them. He hadn't had a chance to ask Inuyasha about it.
He had been the most disturbing one that Ranma had met. He had also met another hanyou called Shiori. He wondered if having silver hair was a hanyou thing. Both Inuyasha and Shiori had silver hair but that was pretty much the only thing that they had in common.
While both were lithe and clearly strong, Shiori's skin was tanned whereas Inuyasha's was pale. She also had deep violet eyes which were a complete contrast to Inuyasha's amber. Shiori also had an innocence about her that Inuyasha didn't have.
Kagome had made him aware that even though they had both grown up as hanyou, Shiori had grown up with her mother in a village. While they had not been completely accepted, after the bat demons that lived not too far from the shore of their village had been destroyed, they had been left alone. Before that, Shiori had been bullied by the other children and adults alike. Once her mother had passed away, she had been taken by Inuyasha to the western fortress, whom by that point was on much better terms with his brother. She had spent the majority of her life there, relatively safe from the scorn and hatred she would have faced if left alone.
Inuyasha, Ranma had learned, had not been so lucky. Kagome had told him that the reason he seemed so much older than Shiori – despite the fact that he was actually older than her by roughly two hundred years - was because he had had to learn how to take care of himself while still a child. She had educated Ranma on Inu aging and as far as Ranma knew, when Inuyasha's mother had died, he would have been considered little more than an infant to other Inu's.
Ranma's father had put him through a lot sure, but he couldn't imagine growing up completely alone. He had quickly been told that Inuyasha did not respond well to pity and Ranma would be best not bringing up Inuyasha's past. If he wanted to know more about it, then he'd have to ask the hanyou himself.
And Ranma didn't think he'd be doing that any time soon.
He had a feeling that there was still so much more that he had to learn about the new world he had been brought into. And there was a part of him that couldn't wait.
~I~R~I~R~I~R~I~R~I~R~I~R~I~R~I~R~
Kagome smiled to herself as she placed the last dish on the draining rack, looking out of the window that looked out onto the shrine. She was happy that Ranma had been coming round more and more lately.
While he had been a little overwhelmed by the knowledge he had been given over the last few weeks – something Kagome could understand – he appeared to have accepted it without too many issues.
That she could see anyway.
His reaction to Shippo had been amusing. The look on his face when Shippo had revealed his tails to Ranma. His jaw had dropped when the kitsune had removed his own concealment spell. While he had become used to seeing Inuyasha in his hanyou form, he had never seen a kitsune before. Well, not that he had known about, anyway. Shippo's tails were impressive, especially if you'd never seen them before. He'd come far since she and Inuyasha had come across him as a grieving kit.
She could see that Ranma and Shiori seemed to be getting along. He had been quite right when he had seen that Inuyasha seemed more hardened than Shiori did, even though they were both hanyou. She had told him that if he wanted to know more then he would have to ask Inuyasha himself but from the look on Ranma's face, he knew better than to do that.
She could tell that Ranma hadn't been too impressed with Totosai. She could understand that. She hadn't been too impressed when she'd first met the demon sword-smith. He had immediately butted heads with Inuyasha, challenging Inuyasha's worthiness of his father's fang. If there was any way to upset her hanyou, Totosai had managed it within moments.
Insulting his pride.
That was a trait he hadn't grown out of. Although, he now dealt with such challenges in a much more graceful manner, rather than blindly running into a fight as he had done when he was younger. As a hanyou, even now, there were still many around that believed he was an easy challenge. Many wanted to prove themselves to the Lord of the West and they figured the easiest way to do that would be to defeat his younger brother, his heir.
What none of them realised was how strong Inuyasha actually was. Or if they had heard, they obviously paid no attention. Youkai and hanyou born over the last few centuries had been brought up on the stories of the Inu-hanyou and the miko that had defeated the evil Naraku. While she had heard many different versions of what happened centuries ago, none of the fictional versions even came close to what happened. Those telling the stories clearly wanted to try and make them more fantastical to the little ears that would be listening, praising and cheering for the heroes to prevail over the evil but she had to admit, even the exaggerated tales seemed tame compared to the events she and her mate had lived through.
She had seen a few of the challenges that had come his way, the first one being about sixty years or so after she and Inuyasha had been accepted by Sesshomaru. They had steadily built bridges and a relationship with the Inu-youkai and he and Inuyasha had called a truce in their father's name. She had been surprised when both brothers had adhered to their agreement not to try and kill each other. That's all the promise had been to start with.
But hey, it had been a start.
Inuyasha and Kagome had still lived in the village that had become their home base during their quest against Naraku, mourning the passing of Kaede first and then as the years went on, they also lost their dear friends, Miroku and Sango. It wasn't long after that that Inuyasha and Kagome decided to take Sesshomaru up on his offer and move to the Western Fortress. Shippo had declined moving with them, stating that he wanted to continue his Kitsune training and it would be too far to travel. He did promise to visit them often.
It hadn't been long after they'd moved that Inuyasha had been instated as the heir to the Western Lands. While Sesshomaru had taken Rin for his mate, they hadn't had a child which would have left the West open to assault had anything happened to Sesshomaru.
There had been a few grumblings for a few decades, which Sesshomaru found tiresome and Inuyasha found aggravating but after watching the Inu-hanyou in a challenge, that had ceased.
Kagome couldn't help but smile to herself as she remembered him walking out into the arena that was housed in the grounds of the fortress. The majority of the time it was used when the full blood youkai's trained in their true forms. Or when Inuyasha and Sesshomaru sparred.
Because even though they were no longer out to kill each other, the fur still flew when they went at it.
She remembered her hanyou walking out into the grounds looking so much like he used to. He had been wearing the fire-rat robes he had always donned before moving to the fortress, preferring them to the traditional armour worn at the fortress, Tessaiga at his hip. If it hadn't been for the purple markings on his face, he would have looked just like he had decades before.
Kagome had sat next to Sesshomaru while they watched, her eyes never leaving the red and silver blur that continuously dodged his opponent, an enormous bear youkai carrying an equally enormous battle-axe. She remembered watching her mate continuously dodge the broad strokes of the youkai's weapon whilst simultaneously landing strikes of his own. It had been a minute or so into the fight that Kagome had realised that Inuyasha wasn't going in for the killing strike as he would have normally done.
He was toying with the youkai.
She knew that her mate wouldn't kill the challenger, he was too honourable for that. It hadn't been labelled as a fight to the death and Inuyasha's honour hadn't been slighted. Sesshomaru had warned the two of them that this could happen so they had been prepared for it.
The entire thing had been over in less than three minutes.
While none of Inuyasha's strikes had been deadly, they had counted, hitting the bear in all of the weak spots his armour didn't cover. She had smiled to herself when the dust had cleared at Inuyasha had been stood, blade of Tessaiga across the neck of the bear, light pressure drawing a trickle of blood while the hanyou stood over him, his intentions clear. Submit and accept defeat or fight and kill himself on the blade currently resting across his throat.
The bear had given up.
After that, the grumbles over Sesshomaru's decision to have Inuyasha as his heir until a he and Rin had a male pup stopped.
There had been many more challenges made against the hanyou prince, some had been worse than others but he had prevailed. The last one had been over a hundred years ago. The demon world had accepted Inuyasha and his miko mate.
Something Inuyasha had never thought would happen.
She shook her head, bringing herself back to the present. Things had livened up a little since Ranma had come onto the scene. There was a magnetism and a charm about him that drew people in. Humans and youkai alike.
She hadn't been too impressed to hear that Akane knew he had been coming here, her opinion of the girl still low considering the damage she could have done to him. She knew that he was strong and that he would brush off any words of warning – much like her mate had many a time and still did, if she were honest – but she hadn't put up with five centuries of whiny youkai not to come out of it more stubborn than she had been before. Ranma had explained that she knew where he came and that she had not told anyone where he went off to when he disappeared, knowing he wanted to get away from the madness of the dojo. She had joked that he was exchanging one lot of madness for another and he laughed, claiming that the madness at the shrine, he could deal with.
Kagome knew that in a way, she was being unfair to the girl, not really knowing her but hey what else could she do?
She knew that he had confided in Inuyasha about his situation with his fiancée's and what he could do about it. Thankfully, none of them had followed him here as of yet. It probably wouldn't last much longer but at least he had some relative peace while he was here.
While he had confided in Inuyasha about his fiancée's and rivals, he had talked to her about his relationship with Akane. She had no doubt that he had spoken to the hanyou about it too but she was glad he felt like he could come and speak to her. Maybe since learning more about the two of them, he could see that they may have a view that others around him didn't. Or maybe it was because he knew she was still miffed at Akane and wanted to soften her up a bit.
Either way, it didn't matter to her.
He had explained about her promise to him and that she had actually been following through. They hadn't really argued, a few little spats that were nothing compared to what they had been before and they had been getting on a lot better than they ever had. She could tell that he was confused and reluctant to show his feelings for the girl but she had been through it before. She sighed to herself, thinking about the chat they'd had.
"Be honest," she pulled her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her knees as they sat on the step that led into the house. "Do you like her?"
"Huh?" He looked over to her, a faint pink hue appearing on his cheeks as he glanced around.
"Don't worry, he's on an errand for my mother." She waved off his worry that a certain sensitive eared hanyou was lurking about somewhere. "Ranma-kun, do you like Akane-chan?"
He bit his lip looking away before nodding. "Yeah, I do."
"Then, trust me, you need to tell her." He looked at her, mild panic in his eyes. She chuckled mentally about how alike he and Inuyasha were. If she had been talking to Inuyasha this way back when they had first met, he would have been spluttering and denying anything until his face turned blue.
"Tell . . . Akane?"
She nodded, looking out towards the shrine. "I speak from experience when I say don't leave it too long. There were so many times when I could have lost Inuyasha because I didn't speak up. There were so many paths that we could have taken which wouldn't have led to where we are now. Now, I'm not saying it was all on me because he had some issues too but . . . we waited so long and we could have lost it all."
"But you didn't."
"No," she smiled, thinking back to the day she had finally told him how she loved him and he had returned it, "but the chance was there."
Neither of them said anything else, no other words needed.
Kagome had looked at the teenager in front of her, seeing so much of Inuyasha in him. Extremely confident in everything he did, overly so a lot of the time, except when it came to expressing himself. She knew where it came from with Inuyasha. The fear of another rejection in a life that had already been full of loss. When she was fifteen, she couldn't understand what he had been through, thinking him nothing more than an insensitive jerk.
She knew better now and she hoped that her experience could help Ranma.
~I~R~I~R~I~R~I~R~I~R~I~R~I~R~I~R~
Ranma panted as he rested his hands on his knees, glancing up at the hanyou in front of him. The hanyou that wasn't even breaking a sweat as he stood there, arms crossed, watching the teen martial artist in front of him, ears flicking occasionally.
Inuyasha had taken to removing his concealment spell when Ranma was around, just as Shippo had. Whether it was to get Ranma used to seeing youkai as they really were, he didn't know but Inuyasha always appeared more intimidating when not in his human form.
Inuyasha had surprised him when out of the blue, he invited Ranma to spar with him, leading him towards a large open area behind the shrine property. It couldn't be easily seen from the main shrine, anyone having to walk around the back of the buildings to find the way there, which was most likely why Inuyasha decided that it would be there they would spar. It also allowed him to remove the concealment ring he wore.
"You're holding back," he said sternly as he walked over to Ranma. Ranma looked up at the hanyou, noting the way the markings on his arms rippled with the movement of the muscles underneath, able to see them in their entirety as the Inu was only wearing a ribbed tank top and sweats. He had nothing on his feet, which Ranma had quickly learned he preferred.
"I can promise you, I'm not," Ranma stood up, coming face to face with Inuyasha.
The hanyou chuckled, shaking his head, his cheek stripes crinkling as he grinned. "Not consciously, no." Ranma stared at him, confused. "I'm gonna take a wild guess. You're not moving as fast as you normally do, not feeling as strong, as confident as you usually are. Tiring more easily." None of these were phrased as questions but as fact. Ranma swallowed as Inuyasha hit the nail on the head. He had been feeling that way for a while but hadn't figured out why. "Don't look so panicked, kid, it's nothing physical. You're too caught up in here." He finished the sentence by smacking Ranma on the forehead with his palm, sending the teen staggering back a few steps.
Inuyasha waited for a moment as Ranma recovered, watching him as he stood up straight. He had heard much about the boy and his talents as a martial artist. Inuyasha had been doing his own discreet investigations into the boys' strength and had been pleased with what he had discovered. That had been the reason he had invited the boy to spar with him but it seemed the teen was not performing as he usually did.
Thinking back on his conversations with Ranma, it was clear that he wasn't allowing himself to let go as he normally would. And considering the amount of trouble he seemed to find himself in, that could be dangerous.
"You got too much whirling round in your head, you need to separate yourself from whatever else is going on." Inuyasha crossed his arms, watching the boy as he caught on. "If you don't you could be in trouble."
"You mean like the 'Soul of Ice'?" Inuyasha smirked at the name of the technique the Amazons had taught him. Inuyasha wondered if he should let Ranma in on the fact that it hadn't actually been the Amazons that invented that but his brother. The whole 'nothing affects me' shtick that Sesshomaru had going on wasn't an act. It literally didn't.
"Kinda," Inuyasha nodded, "but instead tamping down your emotions, you gotta focus on your mind. Block everything out and focus on your opponent. Even if you're not trying to be, you're too much in your own head. Clear your head."
Inuyasha backed up a little, his ears creasing back slightly as he smirked at Ranma. Ranma took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he cleared his mind of everything, trying to apply what he had learned for the Soul of Ice technique and applying it in the way Inuyasha had described. He didn't hear Inuyasha move as much as feel the subtle shift of air behind him, his leg swinging up to instinctively block the blow he knew was coming from behind. His eyes flew open to see Inuyasha's fist inches from his face. Using his own momentum, he swung his other leg round, launching himself towards the hanyou, forcing him backwards to avoid Ranma's foot impacting with his face.
He watched as Inuyasha executed a graceful somersault in the air, landing on the balls of his feet. "That's more like it." The Inu grinned, his fangs glinting in the sunlight before he literally vanished in front of Ranma's eyes.
Ranma launched himself to the side a split second before Inuyasha landed where he had been standing, the force of his impact creating a crater in the ground but Ranma didn't have the time to think about what that would have done to him if he hadn't moved as Inuyasha came at him again. Ranma managed to volley the majority of the attacks but he felt the ones that connected and they were more frequent than he liked. Ranma hurled his own attacks at the hanyou using the techniques taught to him by the Amazons to push the Inu back, causing Inuyasha to once again launch himself out of the way to avoid being struck. The low ponytail the hanyou had tied his hair back in had come loose, his long silver hair trailing as he appeared to literally float towards the ground.
He smirked at Ranma, crossing his arms over his chest as his ears flicked. "Not bad, kid." Ranma blinked as he watched him, prepared for another attack. "You're good for a human."
"Uhh . . ."
"Inuyasha! Ranma-kun!" The two of them turned to see Kagome standing by the edge of the area they were in, waving at them. "Dinner's almost ready."
"Come on, kid," Inuyasha walked towards him, throwing an arm around his shoulder and pulling him along. Ranma allowed himself to be led over to Kagome who stood there with a raised eyebrow.
"Inuyasha, I hope you weren't too hard on him," Kagome scolded lightly as they met up with her. "He is only human after all."
"Nah, what do you take me for, woman? I'm not about to go full pelt on a human," He crossed his arms behind his head and she shook her head at him before turning to Ranma.
"I called the dojo. They know you're not going to be home for dinner tonight." Ranma swallowed, slightly worried that his escape would be discovered by the Tendo's. Coming to the shrine meant that he didn't have to deal with everything there. "Don't worry. It was Akane that answered the phone. She said she'd make something up." He breathed a sigh of relief.
"Still not told them, huh?" Inuyasha asked as they walked back across the shrine grounds to the house. Ranma noticed that there was no one else about and reasoned that it must have been after closing for the shrine. That would have been why Inuyasha didn't put his concealment ring back on.
"Nah, I dunno, I just . . ." He felt like such a wimp admitting that he didn't want to deal with anyone there. "I mean, Akane knows where I am but the others . . . I don't want them to know."
Once they were inside, Kagome immediately shoved Inuyasha upstairs to shower, claiming he smelled like 'sweaty dog' which confused Ranma. As far as he was aware, dogs didn't sweat. Inuyasha went upstairs with little argument and they heard the shower switch on not long afterwards. Ranma didn't get off either. Once Inuyasha had come back downstairs wearing a t-shirt and dark jeans, he had been corralled up the stairs by Kagome, who insisted that he shower before dinner. Inuyasha snickered behind her, shrugging when he was looked to for help. The look on the hanyou's face just said 'give it up, kid'.
Ten minutes later Ranma was showered and came back downstairs wearing a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt that must have belonged to Inuyasha. He had found the clothes there in place of his own.
Inuyasha chuckled as he entered the kitchen, seeing the teen dressed in clothes knowing he'd been 'Kagome'd' as he called it.
"Where are my clothes, Kagome-san?" He asked and she pointed to a bag that was down by the door.
"Wasn't about to let you put dirty clothes on after a shower." She said matter of factly as she set the table for dinner. Ranma glanced at Inuyasha who just smirked again.
"There's no point in arguing, kid." Ranma was starting to get the hint on that one.
It turned out it was just the three of them that night. Kagome's mother, brother and grandfather had gone to a show and wouldn't be back until later on that night. Ranma revelled in the quiet as they ate, nothing like the table madness at the dojo. Even the meals he had where it was just him and his pop were more rowdy. Kagome told an amused Ranma about how she had brought modern food back to the Feudal Era and how they had marvelled at the 'ninja food' she had brought them. Inuyasha had shrugged reasoning that they had never seen it before and how were they supposed to know what it was.
Ranma found the story of Kagome taking Inuyasha shopping for the first time and his astonishment of all the different types of ramen there were particularly funny. Again the hanyou shrugged, not embarrassed in the slightest.
Kagome had just brought out a tray of tea when Ranma stiffened, sensing someone or something standing behind him. Inuyasha's eyes flicked behind him before he took one of the cups of tea off the tray his mate had just laid on the table.
"So," Ranma stiffened a little more at the cool, detached voice behind him, turning to see a man standing there, his eyes fixed on the teen, "you are the whelp my little brother has taken interest in."
So Ranma's about to meet Sesshomaru.