Chapter 10: To walk a mile or ten, part 2

If things can go bad in Nerima, they will go bad in the most improbable and chaotic way possible.

-Modified Murphy's law

Things not going bad is considered an improbability and thus can happen.

-Addendum to modified Murphy's law.

- - -

"Ranma, prepare to die!"

Akane had heard this particular cry many times before and yet she only now started realizing the lost boy actually and sincerely meant it. The realization was delivered quite bluntly when she saw a lightning-fast fist trying to cave her face in. Still flatfooted, she half dodged out of the way, half blocked with her forearm. The deceptively simple attack merely clipped her arm. It was still strong enough to launch her off her feet and towards a stone fence that crumbled around her.

"That actually hurt quite a bit" she muttered under her breath, leaping to her feet fast and cringing as a chi-imbued bandana whizzed past her neck. Her eyes went wide as it traveled in an arc, embedding in a wall just before it could behead an innocent bystander that had dropped his briefcase and was currently busy hyperventilating.

Ryouga either missed or ignored that detail. "Stop running around like that!" he bellowed, wielding his umbrella like a rapier and attempting to skewer the Tendo girl.

Akane leaped backwards as fast as she could manage and almost injured her own neck as inertia had other designs. She landed haphazardly on a three-story high roof and tried to regain her bearings. Ryouga's words chose that moment to register in her mind. Run around. That's it! Ranma always runs around at first when he has to fight Ryouga. Usually at a park or empty lot. Of course! It's to protect the rest of Nerima!

Akane realized that fact just as her opponent decided to abide to the general rule that states that the shortest way between two points is a straight line. That rule, being general, fails to take into consideration any obstacles in-between. But then of course Ryouga also fails to consider most obstacles as such. Leaping in the air, the lost boy smashed through the building's wall and roof tiles like a missile, missing Akane by a hair's width. The displaced girl saw her chance and leaped to the adjacent building, soon picking up a tempo and leading her pursuer to a merry chase along Nerima's scenic route.

The Tendo girl hoped Ryouga would get lost in the way and spare her from engaging in combat with what she knew was a much better opponent. What she failed to consider was that as long as Ryouga had 'Ranma' in his sight and chi-senses, it would be very difficult to get lost. It should also be noted that Akane Tendo is not a paragon of patience. Therefore, it should not come as a surprise when after a while she stopped running and stood still waiting for her foe in the middle of a thankfully deserted park.

Ryouga did not disappoint, emerging through the ground like a mole seconds later by means of a breaking point. "Now you have nowhere to run, Ranma," he exclaimed, failing to grasp the fact that the park was open from all sides. Sides rarely added up for Ryouga anyway. Discarding his umbrella and backpack, he closed in.

A smart idea came to Akane at that point. If she could distract Ryouga long enough, she might be able to start a real conversation with him. Perhaps she could even learn why on earth Ryouga and Ranma fought that much. The youngest Tendo was not naive enough to think a bread feud and some insults qualified for a real reason. A gut feeling would frequently hint the answer is right before her eyes, but up to that point truth eluded her.

A determined Akane is a very dangerous person...

"So, why are we fighting again?" she asked, as casually as possible.

The question only seemed to infuriate Ryouga more. "Why should I need a special reason to fight you?" he demanded, launching a clumsy attack. Akane contemplated to attempt an overhead throw, but decided against it. Even if the lost boy was not baiting her, she wasn't confident enough in Ranma's body. Ryouga went on, however. "Not only have I seen hell because of you, you had to go and commit your crimes against Akane-san!"

Akane realized relived that her plan was working. She was still hard-pressed to dodge everything the lost boy was throwing at her, but thankfully he was not really trying. Her curiosity was even more piqued, though. "What 'crimes' are you talking about?" she asked, genuinely surprised.

"Don't bother to lie, Ranma. I heard all about it from reliable sources. You abandoned Akane-san on the aisle and went to mess around with your other fiancées. One of your classmates told me everything."

"Classmates?" she inquired, leaping above and behind Ryouga in a barely conscious dodge. She was slowly learning that even if she didn't know how to fight such an opponent, Ranma's body did. She just had to relax and stop trying to go against its instincts.

In the meanwhile, Ryouga was puzzled. By that point, Ranma should have stopped talking and should have started fighting seriously. "Yeah, I think I've seen him before. Scrawny and pale like death, black circles around the eyes and carries a straw doll around."

Gosunguki! Reliable sources my ass. "It wasn't like that. The wedding never even started and it was all our fathers' idea. We only learned it at the last minute!"

The reasoning passed right through Ryouga's mind and touched nothing. "Enough with your feeble excuses. When I heard about the wedding, I decided to step aside, but you blew your chance! I can't believe I even thought of forgiving you for giving me this wretched cursed body."

Akane was lost, having no clue what he was talking about. "What do you mean step aside? And I know your curse is hereditary" she wanted to add more questions, but could only gasp as Ryouga attacked in earnest, delivering a kick she only partially blocked and sending her staggering backwards.

Ryouga was more or less on autopilot by now. "Today I will defeat you and claim Akane-san for myself!" he exclaimed, mostly talking to himself.

That caught Akane completely off guard. The body she was currently occupying, though, had other designs stored in somatic memory. She absently noted her one foot funneling chi towards the ground and latching firmly, while her other leg came upwards faster than she could follow. Between the force behind the attack and the impromptu leverage she had gained, Akane's kick caught Ryouga right at the forehead and send him flying head-first towards a tree trunk. The tree trunk had no hope to remain intact.

The Tendo girl was too involved to gawk at the technique she had somehow just used. "What do you mean claim Akane for yourself?" she demanded.

Ryouga jumped to his feet as if he had not just reduced a tree to toothpicks. He decided Ranma was a bit off balance today. Perhaps he could gain an advantage by angering him, as the pig-tailed martial artist would often do. "Did you really think Akane-san has any feelings for a loser like you? She only pitied you so that you may get the Nanniichuan water" he answered, smirking in elation as he noticed 'Ranma' seemed stunned.

Akane was stunned all right. This was too much to digest at once. Did that mean she and Ranma were in the same boat. Would Ryouga feed her fiancé such lies all the time when they were alone? What right did her so-called friend have to say something like that? Could it be that Ranma was-heavens forbid-insecure? Too many emotions, too little time, a voice in her head noted as she subconsciously evaded a double kick.

Ryouga decided to go for what he thought would be the 'coup de grace'. "You almost failed Akane at Jusendo, Ranma. A delicate flower like her needs someone like me to protect and love her."

Akane blinked. There were at least three things wrong in that statement, she decided instantly. Her mind went blank, however, when two specific words were repeated in her mind, their meaning sinking in. "Delicate... flower..." she intoned incredulously. HOW DARE HE!

Akane resisted valiantly for a whole second, but her mental defenses were already low. To her credit, she didn't go berserk. Instead, using what her spars with Ranma had taught her, she exploded into a fit of tightly contained anger. She decided to prove, if only to herself, that 'delicate flowers' can be perfectly omnivorous.

- - -

As Mousse kept leaping from rooftop to rooftop, he decided that if he went on sighing like he had been doing today, it would deteriorate to a tic. Even though he knew he had nullified Shampoo's potion, he still had a feeling something was wrong. As soon as he learned his life's love had left searching for Ranma, carrying an order of ramen nonetheless, he had decided to follow and monitor the situation. Unfortunately, between his bad eyesight and the fact that while he was fast, Shampoo on a bike was faster, he had lost her. Then his luck had decided to deal him a Hibiki and he had gotten hopelessly lost somewhere in the outskirts of Nerima.

At first he had tried to find his way back on his own. Standard procedure really. Go a street back, a couple streets forward, futilely try to get your bearings from the highest roof, get lost some more then finally swallow your pride and ask for directions. Mousse had entered that last phase when he decided to enter a bar. Since it was still afternoon, only a couple of patrons were in. The amazon decided he might as well order something before asking. He guessed that by now Shampoo's plan would have either succeeded or failed. His presence would be redundant.

Letting the old ghoul without help was an added bonus.

Mousse felt his way up the barstool and ordered a cup of sake. The bartender shot him an inquisitive glance, then complied. He was ready to down the beverage when he heard a voice coming from beside him.

"Well, I'll be. What are you doing here sugar?"

Mousse raised a brow and turned towards the voice, valiantly trying to make out the owner. Disgusted with himself, he retrieved a pair of glasses from his robes and tried again. "Kuonji Ukyo" he exclaimed. "It is a small world, as they say."

Ukyo snorted. "That was a lame pick up line, Mousse. Why don't you try again."

The amazon noticed a slight slur in her voice. "You are drunk" he noted.

The okonomiyaki chef shook her head. "Nope, not yet but I'm getting there. Believe me, sugar, you'll tell right away when I'm drunk."

Mousse sighed and tried his cup. "You seem to be awfully anxious to get drunk" he noted, examining the rest of his drink. "You are insane to start from so early" he added, eventually finishing and asking for another cup.

Ukyo regarded her own glass, appeasing it as if it were made of gold. "I was never in the sane boat, Mousse. The man I hunted for ten years gave me a silly compliment and I fell in love. Again. And now I'm afraid I botched his friendship, too. Ranchan was mightily pissed off over the explosives. How's that for sane?" she asked swallowing her glass's contents in a single gulp.

The amazon rubbed his chin. "I wouldn't know. I fell in love when I was three. At least you are friends with Ranma. I'm lucky if Xian notices I'm in the room. And they call me blind."

Ukyo giggled as Mousse emptied his second cup, promptly ordering a third. "At least Ranchan cares about Shampoo even less than he cares about me. An instant water cat and an ailourophobic? You have nothing to worry about. It's always about Akane, you know. Little miss shrew had him around her finger from day one. Doesn't even know it, either."

After upending the third drink, Mousse started feeling tipsy. "You think Ranma is better than her? He's just as clueless. I'm jealous, you know."

Ukyo let a single sob, then grinned. "Don't tell me 'bout jealousy, jackass. Jealousy got me in this mess. I'm so much of a bitch I even yelled to poor Konatsu. What the hell does Akane have that I don't, anyway? I can bash people too."

The amazon shook his head to clear it. "Does Ranma like pain? Many fighters are like that. I know I like it even when Xian hurts me. I'm one sick puppy" he replied, now also slurring. "This place's nice..."

"I tried even that, sugar. No damn effect. This place's nice cause they don't ask for any ID. If you have the yen, you get the Zen. I sure hope you can pay for these" she noted, indicating the ever-growing pile of cups.

Mousse simply nodded and resumed drinking.

- - -

Ryouga had great respect for his gut feelings. Even when his other senses, mundane, chi based or directional failed him, gut feelings never did. Currently, he felt that something was very very wrong with 'Ranma'.

"Delicate... flower..."

The lost boy shuddered at that. Even with Ranma in female form, he could almost taste the savage emotions behind the repetition. When a large battle aura appeared around her body, he decided it was time to get worried. Ranma rarely let his chi run so rampant and the color was wrong. Instead of the usual confidence blue, the great corona was a deep crimson.

While Ryouga intended to anger his opponent to unbalance him, he certainly didn't expect such a reaction. Ranma would rarely fight with real anger. He would seem angry or mad but he would always stay in control.

Lost in his reverie, the lost boy barely dodged the first punch Akane threw at him. It was much slower than usual, he noted. Then his eyes went wide as he felt blood running down his cheek just as one of the park benches behind him exploded. Akane was also stunned. She knew that in her original body her blows would generate enough air pressure to occasionally damage the dojo walls but this was ridiculous. Her anger vanished at the thought of what would have happened to Ryouga if that hit had connected. Surely she was still confused and angry about her 'friend's' words and wanted to hurt him, but had no intent to injure him that much. There were limits to the protection granted by the breaking point conditioning.

Ryouga, on the other hand, had no such qualms. Seeing as 'Ranma' was apparently distracted, he gathered his strength and tried for a powerful uppercut that would break even Ranma's jaw if it connected. Akane noticed the attack too late to dodge or even block. She could only watch horrified as the fist reached centimeters from her chin... then stopped as a flash of light came from behind her opponent.

"Wha..?" she managed, just as Ranma appeared out of thin air, cursing and blowing air at her blackened fingers.

"Even if I stuffed you in a bottle, you'd still find a way to get into trouble, wouldn't you tomboy?" she asked, causing Akane to glower. She decided to ignore the comment in favor for other, more nagging matters.

"What happened to you and what did you do to him?" she asked, secretly awed. Ranma had just dropped Ryouga while in her body with a single strike after all.

Ranma shrugged. "I used the Umisenken to sneak behind him, then pressed his Takahashi sleep point. He'll wake up in a while." At that point she frowned, regarding the tips of her fingers. "Problem is, Ryouga has chi shields thicker than the Great Wall of China. I had to channel more chi through your fingers than your body is used to. You're welcome, by the way."

"I... I would have won" she declared, although her voice was a bit meeker than she'd like. "But thanks anyway" she added, discarding her pride for a second. After that, her eyes went wide. "You mean my body has enough chi to use the Umisenken?" she asked incredulously.

Ranma sighed. "The Umisenken is about control, Akane. It hardly uses your own energy. Instead you 'ask' the rest of the world to hide you. And while I can't start running around lobbing chi balls right front and center, your body has a lot of chi. Nowhere near mine, of course." At that point, Ranma's mouth turned to a smirk. "It's mostly your control that sucks" she added, dodging a half-hearted swing from Akane.

"You are very lucky I don't want to injure my body" she grumbled as they both left Ryouga behind and started walking home. "Ranma" she went on after a period of silence. "What is the real reason you and Ryouga-kun fight all the time?" she asked calmly.

Ranma almost stumbled at that. "You know, the bread feud, the insults..." she blurted, laughing nervously.

The now pig-tailed girl shook her head. Ranma had become no better at keeping a poker face. "Come on, Ranma. Even before I heard what he said today, I knew there is more to it."

Ranma was at the verge of panicking. "You talked to him? While he thought I was you? Don't believe anything he said!" she responded, talking frantically.

Her fiancée sighed. "I mean, I knew he had a crush on me, but I thought he has Akari now," she said, frowning as Ranma's eyes went wide. "Of course I knew he has a crush on me. I've known ever since the breaking point disaster. How dense do you think I am?"

Ranma did not answer that, deciding for once that discretion was the better part of valor. The conversation was around too sensitive matters and he was determined to keep his mouth doubly checked.

Akane would not let it rest, however. "Can it be that the two of you have been fighting for my shake?" she asked slyly. She had already determined that to be at least partially true, but after seeing Ranma's reaction, who started running around her like a headless chicken, she became certain. Part of her was appalled for being regarded as a prize, but she also couldn't help feeling gratified. She could use such a confidence boost any day.

"No, it's not like that at all. Why would I want to do something like that for an uncute tomboy like you? I...I only try to protect pig-boy from you. Pig boy... protect... that's all."

Akane ignored the denial, unable to keep her triumphant smile in check. It did not last, however, as she recalled something else that had been bugging her the whole time. "But what did you have to do with Ryouga's curse?" she inquired, thinking hard.

This time Ranma fell face first on the ground. "You know about his curse?" she gasped, eyes wide.

Akane shot him a curious glance. Why wouldn't she know? Only because of magic can someone become lost in a room with one door or teleport around the world at random. "Of course I know about his curse. I'm neither stupid nor blind. So spill, what's the matter?"

As most of Ranma's brain struggled to find an answer, a small part of him wondered why pig boy was still alive. She also wondered, betrayed, if Akane enjoyed having Ryouga shoved between her breasts. And if she would mind if Ranma took his place...

- - -

18-04-07: And this concludes chapter 10. While I don't really hate Ryouga and while there are times he really shines, I'm still peeved with some of the shit he pulls in both manga and anime. I haven't even started with him yet 'insert insane laughter here'. One of the main problems between Ranma and Akane is lack of empathy. While they work a lot on it, both in the original story and here, misunderstandings have a lot of plot potential. As for the Ukyo/Mousse part, I'm not sure where it came from. I haven't really planned to have them together. Yet. They might as well end up as mere drinking buddies. Special thanks to Alex Ultra for submitting this story's best review up to date. Yes I have thought of everything he mentions. The first chapter does need an overhaul, but what doesn't...

Remember: most things never get finished. They are just abandoned. Make sure to abandon a review on your way to the back button. I'll take good care of it.