Okay, guys, everyone who isn't CEVGAR doesn't have to read on and may skip
straight to the start of this chapter .
Cevgar, your review has contained a lot of useful critique...which came far too late in some ways. I'm afraid changing the story from its intended course now is pretty much impossible...I planned it out too much for that. You have said there are style problems though, and if you don't mind I would like to have your input before releasing future chapters. To that end it would be nice if you please give me your e-mail address.
Chapter 12 – Dating Game - Part 1
****************
Ranma adjusted his fly for what must have been the tenth time since leaving the restaurant behind. The reason was pretty simple: he was nervous as hell. Ever since he had spoken with Akane about getting a date with Kasumi two months ago he had been on four dates with the eldest Tendo sister. The same could be said for Shampoo, who had insisted she didn't want to be left out. Ranma, being Ranma, had of course agreed. His latest date with Shampoo was nearing its end now and he was nervous.
Why?
He had had seven dates over the last 3 months and every single one had turned out ok without any interruptions. Looking back on his life, something like that simply didn't add up. Something had to happen tonight, and it had to be pretty damn big to make up for the relative calm of the past months.
Of course, the shapely body that was currently clinging to his side, only hidden by a sheer blue evening dress helped to increase his nervousness tenfold. Knowing what Shampoo would want at the end of their date wasn't helping very much either.
Ranma almost found himself wishing for the interruption he was dreading...almost.
****************
Across the street, said interruption was currently trying to struggle free of her current prison to save her Ranma-sama from the purple haired Amazon. She would have screamed in indignation, but the hand clamped over her mouth made that impossible.
Sitting behind Kodachi Kuno, who was currently wrapped up in several meters of sturdy rope, Shinji Saotome shook her head sadly. "Really Kodachi, You've tried this 7 times already and it didn't work once. Don't you think it's time to give up?"
Seeing the couple down on the street had moved out of earshot, Shinji removed her hand from Kodachi's mouth so she could answer. "Release me this instant, you little peasant! I will no longer tolerate your manhandling of my person!"
"I'll release you, but only if you don't go after Ranma."
"I shall not give into your petty demands! I must free my Ranma-sama from these harlots and return him to his proper place at my side!"
Shinji gave a resigned sigh and fastened the end of the rope around the trunk of the tree they were standing on. "All right, I give up. You really can't reason with loonies. Have a good night Kodachi!" Then she jumped down to the sidewalk to walk home.
Kodachi blinked. Normally Shinji just let her go after Ranma was out of sight. This turn of events was rather disconcerting for the girl. Then she found her (overbearing) voice again. "How dare you imprison the Black Rose to this ordinary tree? Free me this instant!" Shinji whirled around and glared (Gendotm) at Kodachi. "I'm letting you down there once you come to your senses, girl! I'm getting sick of making sure you don't ruin my brother's life!"
After taking a little while to recover from Shinji's glare, Kodachi 'hmphd'. "You are merely jealous that I have a prime example of a man while you don't, you lowly peasant!"
Shinji simply rubbed her temples.
Kodachi would be hanging on that tree a very long time. (1)
*****************
Back to Ranma
Shampoo and Ranma had finally reached the Cat-café, where they would part company for the night.
Shampoo, who was still leaning against Ranma, noted his stiff posture and sighed. "Why are you always so tense airen? I'm not going to bite."
Ranma fingered his fly again. "Sorry...but I'm just not used to this stuff."
Shampoo shifted her position to stand in front of Ranma and gave him a smouldering look. "You should use something else to apologize to me, airen."
Ranma swallowed. The look she gave him and the way she said it left no doubt in his mind as to what she wanted. Taking whatever he had left on courage he bent down to kiss her.
Once their lips touched, Shampoo snaked one hand behind Ranma's head, pressing their lips together forcefully. Meanwhile her other hand slipped down and squeezed his behind. As Ranma finally opened his mouth to allow her probing tongue entrance Shampoo smiled as best as she could while tonguing the young Saotome to death. 'This is more like it!'
On the other end of the lip lock Ranma couldn't decide between deepening the kiss, panicking like a chicken with its head cut of or simply melting under Shampoo's sensual attack. Seeing how his mind couldn't decide his hands took matters into their own hands and snaked around Shampoo's waist, pressing them together even more.
They held the kiss like this nearly two minutes until Ranma finally got back to his senses and withdrew. "Ah, I think we should stop now Shampoo."
Shampoo pouted cutely but did as Ranma said nonetheless. "Good night, airen."
As Shampoo walked up to the door and vanished inside Ranma grinned like an idiot. The only kisses he had shared had been short little pecks, therefore he was a little overwhelmed by what had just happened. "...WOW..."
Several moments later Shinji came along and walked up to Ranma. Her brother didn't acknowledge her presence, so she waved a hand in front of his eyes. No reaction, the silly grin remained in place. Shinji blinked. "Wow, looks like Shampoo did quite a number on you tonight."
Then she hoisted her brother onto her shoulder and walked home.
*****************
Inside Shampoo was preparing to take a _very_ cold shower. That last kiss with Ranma had been a little too involved...
*****************
Shinji calmed her breath as she stared into the flames, the chestnuts crackling within. She had been stuck female for nearly 3 months. Training her body to become faster, stronger and more durable had been nearly the only thing she had done during that time and now it was time to see if she was fast enough. "I can do this...Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!" Her hands blurred out of sight for a moment, only to stop suddenly. Shinji opened her fists to look at the chestnuts within, a smile slowly spreading over her lips. "I did it...I DID IT!"
Of course, the chestnuts were still very hot, a fact that finally penetrated her mind.
"HOT; HOT; HOT!"
Standing next to her window and watching as Shinji danced all over the lawn while blowing her hands, but still with a silly grin on her face, Nabiki couldn't help but smile as well. 'He's finally done...Maybe now I can find out what it is like to kiss him.'
*******************
Shinji walked into the Cat-Café with a spring in her step, only to be stopped cold by a hundred percent Amazon-proof double glomp. "Hello Shinji!" came the customary greeting from Pepper and Spice in stereo.
"Hey girls, nice to see you."
Both girls disengaged and frowned a little. "You haven't visited very often lately."
Shinji, normally easily ridden by guilt, smiled brightly. "True, but I used my time to train and I think I had a major breakthrough."
At that point Shampoo came up and ruffled Shinji's hair. "So, the shrimp has finally mastered Kachu Tenchin Ameriguken?"
Shinji gave Shampoo a mock glare. Nearly a month ago she had stumbled over the word 'shrimp' while Shinji had tried teaching her some more Japanese and had promptly made it into a new nickname. Ever since then Shinji had tried valiantly to get her to stop it, but had more or less gotten used to it. "I'm not a shrimp Shampoo and no, I haven't mastered the technique, but I need another demonstration from granny to complete my training."
No one questioned her and Pepper quickly dragged her into the kitchen, where Cologne, now called granny by Ranma and Shinji, was working.
"Shinji-kun! What a pleasant surprise. What does this old woman owe your visit to?"
Shinji bowed to her. "I'm sorry for not visiting more often, but the condition you have inflicted me with is more pressing than pleasant conversation. In that regard I humbly ask you to once again give me a demonstration. I feel that is all I will need to complete my training."
Cologne chuckled softly. In truth Shinji had visited pretty often considering her brutal training regime, but she just loved verbal sparring and since Shinji was the only person in Nerima who actually caught on to most of her veiled meanings while taking them in stride (unlike a certain Tendo daughter) she always engaged in a little banter when Shinji came by. Of course, if Shinji needed another demonstration to complete her training that took precedence. "Very well, Shinji. I shall demonstrate the technique again. If you would please follow me? Pepper, take over the kitchen for a moment."
Minutes later Cologne was sitting before a small fire with Shinji kneeling next to her. "Watch closely Shinji!"
Shinji didn't say anything and focused.
Cologne didn't notice his attention was not on the fire and struck out.
Time crawled to a stop as Cologne's hand moved towards the fire.
Shinji's whole focus came upon the Phoenix pill dangling from Cologne's necklace.
With Cologne's first hand halfway to the fire and the other a short way behind it Shinji made his move.
His right hand shot out at a speed nearly matching Cologne's, who was obviously not using her full power for the Chestnut Fist. When his hand was only an inch from the pill Cologne finally noticed his sneak attack. After it had closed around the pill she had finally overcome her shock.
Cologne did not try to stop her as Shinji ripped the pill from her person. Instead she regarded the blue head with respect. "You continue to surprise me child. I would not have thought you capable of such underhanded tricks."
Shinji grinned. "That just makes them all the more surprising, wouldn't you agree?"
Cologne cackled. "You are right on that account child. Nonetheless I would have liked to fight you for real, now that you have mastered the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken."
Shinji raised an eyebrow. "Forgive my rude behaviour elder, but are you nuts?! Ranma has mastered the technique before me and is nearly 50 percent faster then I am while using it and even he couldn't defeat you. I would have to be brain dead to even think about challenging you directly for the pill."
"I see your rapid improvement in skill and power hasn't gotten to your head; Keep it that way. Son-in-law's arrogance should not be taken as a role model. Now let's see about lifting the 'Full body cat's tongue'."
Shinji blinked. "What do you mean? I only have to swallow the pill, right?"
Cologne chuckled. "It isn't that easy child. The Phoenix pill Ranma ate was unique, what you hold in your hands is merely a fake. I will rid you of the little problem the same way I gave it to you: pressure points."
Shinji stood still as Cologne started pressing a complex pattern of pressure points all over her body. Once she was done she whipped out a kettle from...somewhere and dosed Shinji.
Shinji blinked and patted himself on several places just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He was male again! Not being able to contain his joy he hugged Cologne tightly. "YES! No more 'that time of the month' for me! THANKS GRANNY!"(2)
After getting carried all over the yard for two minutes Cologne extricated herself from his grip, causing Shinji to come to his senses. "I understand you are happy child, but I would still like to see how far along you have come these past months."
Shinji started sweating. He wasn't in the mood for a beating right now "Whatever do you mean elder?"
Cologne's eyes twinkled with mischief. "DEFEND YOURSELF!"
And the fight began...
Nearly 20 minutes later a blue and purple lump of flesh was moaning on the ground. "What did I do...to deserve...this...granny" It ground out slowly.
Cologne smiled apologetically. "This was not intended as punishment, but as a test child...I'm happy to say you passed it. You have another two weeks before we will take a little trip along with Ranma, Ryuoga and Shampoo. It's time you learned another technique." Seemingly finished with what she wanted to say Cologne hobbled back to the house. "You may rest for the time being. I imagine you're hurting all over right now."
Shinji would have glared at Cologne, but he was unable to lift his head. Instead he sighed. 'Great, even more training. At least now I'm a man again...I swear I'll never ever again make fun of a girl during 'that time of the month' he wriggled his toes a little 'Now if I could only get the feeling back into my legs so I can walk home...'
*******************
The next day
The bell on the front door rang, signalling a new costumer to the restaurant, and Shampoo quickly turned around to greet their guest.
She was greeted by the sight of a half naked man with long black hair that was a total mess and obviously cut short accidentally on the right side. For a moment Shampoo could only goggle at him, then she saw the glasses dangling from his right ear and she finally recognized the massive bruise that had just walked in. "Mousse? Is that you?
"...my love..."
Shampoo would have decked the poor guy for whispering that, but he took care of that himself and passed out, lying halfway on the street and halfway in the restaurant.
Shampoo grumbled something about love struck idiots and dragged the boy through the restaurant up into one of the rooms. Once she had deposited him somewhere, and it wasn't the bed, she came down and walked into the kitchen.
Cologne raised and eyebrow at her great-granddaughter. "What are you doing in here child; you should serve our customers you know!"
Shampoo ignored her scolding and started talking. "It is Mousse, elder. He has followed us all the way here."
Cologne's eyes flared for a moment. "I knew the foolish boy would pull something like that. Where is he right now?"
Shampoo pointed upwards. "He is unconscious in my room."
Cologne hopped from the kitchen at once. "Close the restaurant for today Shampoo, I may be unavailable for a while. When Pepper and Spice get back tell them to take the day off."
Shampoo smiled. That meant she would get to spend more time with Ranma!
*******************
Mousse dragged himself back to awareness and realized instantly that no part of his body was bound in any type or form. 'It was not a dream...my love has truly saved me! Oh Shampoo How I...'
"Nice to see you are awake."
The dry and ancient voice of Cologne charred him back to reality before he could lose himself in a pleasant fantasy. He propped up his upper body and realized he was lying on the floor. A small part of him noted it was exactly what he should have expected and he ignored it as usual. Instead he gave the diminutive figure before him a flat look. "Not nice to see you at all."
*Clonk*
"Don't speak like that to your elder, boy." said Cologne, her voice now hard as steel. "Now tell me, why are you here?"
Mousse snorted, not even slightly impressed. After the last three months there wasn't much Cologne could do to scare him. "What do you think? Making sure Shampoo isn't married to some outsider, of course."
Cologne nodded slightly. "I thought as much and I expect you to leave for China the instant you are strong enough again. I forbid you from taking any kind of action against Shampoo's intended husband or anyone involved with him. This is not your place Mousse, so leave it."
Mousse raised an eyebrow. "And what will you do should I stay and interfere?"
Cologne gave him another steely look. "Let's just say you will not be able to love Shampoo ever again if you choose to ignore my orders."
Mousse stayed silent for a moment, desperately trying to hold it in, but it was no use and his laugher echoed off the walls. "You can take everything from me" He said between guffaws, "but there is no force in heaven or hell that will allow you to rob me of my love for Shampoo."
Cologne didn't say anything else and left the room with a heavy heart. She had known from the beginning that talking with him would yield nothing, yet she had to try. The punishment she had in store for him was truly severe, but she felt it was justified. This wasn't just about marrying off her great grand daughter to a strong outsider anymore. This was about showing what Amazons were made of by contributing to the saving of a whole earth...it may not have been their own earth, but to Cologne that was irrelevant: A glorious battle was a glorious battle, no matter for what. A battle needed preparation though, and she would be damned to let some love blind fool interfere with that preparation.
***********************
Shinji swallowed nervously as he circled around Pepper wary for any kind of attack.
His two Amazonian fiancées had come over because Cologne had given them the rest of the day off. Seeing how they had so much time on their hands the girls had asked him to spar with them to see how much better he had gotten since they had fought each other the last time.
Needless to say he had disagreed and tried to weasel out by saying he had some training to do. Unfortunately all his teachers, namely Ranma, Ryouga and Genma had heartily agreed with the twins. Supposedly they wanted him to spar with someone on his level so he could see how much he had improved. To that end they had even agreed that no special techniques were to be used. Shinji could only laugh at the idea. 'Someone on my level? Yeah right...Spice and Pepper are going kick my ass, just like everyone else.'
While Shinji lamented his fate the audience was growing impatient and Genma tried to spurn him on. "Come on boy, I haven't taught you how to walk in circles the last three months. Start fighting!"
Shinji grimaced, but complied nonetheless. The sooner this was over with the better. In the blink of an eye he shifted his guarded stance to a more aggressive one and shot towards Pepper with lighting speed, a punch aimed for her head.
As he had expected the girl sidestepped his punch and he whirled around to deliver a back fist that was blocked. Jumping over a leg sweep he caught himself on his hands and pushed himself upwards to land on his feet again, only to block several quick jabs from his opponent. He noted that his forearms were smarting from only a few blows and started dodging instead.
Watching from the sidelines as Pepper and Shinji battled back and forth Ryouga couldn't help but smile. It was obvious Pepper was fighting all out and yet she couldn't gain the upper hand. It was clear that Pepper was still more skilled than Shinji, but the cleft was smaller than it had been. Nonetheless he knew the only thing keeping Shinji in the fight was his superior speed since both fighters were nearly equal in strength now.
Still, it was slightly disturbing. Shinji was learning as fast as him or even faster, a fact that could be attributed to Genma's teaching, which could be extremely effective if someone else, like Ranma or himself, helped out from time to time. Shinji's rapid increase in speed and strength wasn't explained away that easily though. Ryouga knew that it should not have been possible for a human to improve _that_ fast. Not the he was ever going to tell that Shinji. He would probably think himself a freak and start panicking.
The no-longer-lost boy would have been surprised to learn that Ranma and Genma were thinking along the same lines while watching the fight.
Sitting with Shinji's teachers, Spice wasn't thinking anywhere along those lines. She was too occupied with eyeing her intended future husband hungrily. He had gotten a lot more muscle on his frame over the last months. He was also a lot more skilled than when they first met. Even though she had seen him spar with Ranma or Ryouga occasionally it was still surprising that he could hold his own against Pepper now. What was more important was the smile that was slowly forming on Shinji's face as he fought with her sister. It was good that he liked fighting them. That meant she could look forward to more sparring in the future with additional more relaxing...activities afterwards. Noticing where her train of thought was leading she cleared her head to focus on the fight again.
It looked like Pepper was finally getting the upper hand. After fighting for this long Shinji had used up his bag of tricks and Pepper was scoring more and more hits. The next moment Shinji hit the floor thanks to a throw and before the boy could get up a foot was hovering inches over his face.
The girl, to whom said foot belonged to, grinned widely. "Do you yield Shinji?"
Shinji chuckled. "Yeah, I do."
"HOW could you boy! Losing to a ...UGH!"
As you have probably guessed Genma had not been happy that one of his pupils had lost to a girl and Ranma and Ryouga had been kind enough to stop his rant...with a fist to his head.
Spice ignored them, nodded and helped Shinji back to his feet. "You have improved a lot. We have to do this again sometime soon. And now I think my sister should get her turn."
Shinji blinked. "Now, wait a moment there...there's no way I can fight her now! I'm already tired!"
Ranma and Ryouga waved his concern off. "Nonsense, we're working you harder when training and you would be good for another hour even then."
Pepper jumped up and down like a little school girl. "Yes! Now I get to kick your butt and afterwards we can kiss and make it all better."
All present males sweat-dropped at the display but chose to stay silent.
Shinji simply hung his head in defeat and prepared himself to get his ass handed to him. Then he smiled lightly. 'At least I'll get a kiss out of it.'
***********************
Kaori Daikoku was very pleased as she regarded herself in the full length mirror standing in her apartment. Only clad in a barely-there lace bra and barely-there lace panties she was the dream of many adolescent boys. Kaori gave her mirror image a sultry smile causing her 'sexy factor' to climb another 50 points. "Tomorrow you'll be mine, Shinji-kun!"
After a moment Kaori pouted. "Who am I kidding? The chances of it happening tomorrow are almost zero." The next moment her smile returned again. "But it's still worth a try!"
Yet, despite her words Kaori wasn't too optimistic about the outcome of her plan. In the time she had known her fiancé, Shinji had been very reluctant to make advances, which was a great source of frustration for Kaori. After the great revelation of Shinji's origins over 2 months ago they had spent time together regularly, but only to talk. It had been very frustrating for Kaori, knowing she had a fiancée but not being able to do anything more than kissing. Neither she nor Shinji would have been comfortable with that while Shinji was in female form. Sometimes Kaori had wanted nothing more than to bash Cologne's head in for trapping Shinji in that form.
All that had changed a week ago, after Shinji had finally mastered the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken and managed to get the 'full body cat's tongue' lifted...or at least that was what she had hoped. Unfortunately, it had turned out her fiancé was very reluctant to take the next step in their relationship. It was a very pleasant, but very frustrating surprise that Shinji was one of two males on the planet who wouldn't try to get into their perfectly willing fiancée's pants, the other being Ranma. It was clear that Shinji did not want to commit himself to any of his suitors by getting more...involved There was just one problem: Kaori herself was a healthy girl of 17 and had certain...urges. Shinji, being her fiancé, was the logical way to quell those urges, even if he would marry someone else in the end. Of course, that didn't mean Kaori only wanted physical gratification. Fact was, after almost three months in his presence Kaori was pretty sure that she did indeed love him, even if he was three years younger. And so Kaori had decided to take matters into her own hands and had arranged a date with him the next day. While she knew that sex before marriage as well as asking a man out on a date was still frowned upon, even in modern Japan, she didn't much care about that. What was money good for if not for doing what you want?
All that didn't matter though, the important thing was that Shinji wouldn't know what hit him.
**********************
Soun Tendo smiled contently as the last pupil left the dojo, briefly wanting to kick himself for having stopped teaching after his wife died. Now several months after reopening the dojo with his old friend Genma he couldn't imagine stopping teaching anytime soon. The dojo was packed, their finances, something he hadn't cared to look at over ten years, were now looking up even without Nabiki bringing money in from various sources and he was feeling nearly ten years younger thanks to teaching and sparring with Akane, Ryuoga, Ranma and Shinji.
Looking over to his old friend Sound couldn't help but smile some more. Gone was half of Genma's overweight, once again revealing the battle hardened muscles underneath. It seemed between training his sons, adopted and by flesh, in the secret techniques of his school, teaching students and various sparring matches, the part time Panda didn't have time to indulge his excessive eating and drinking habits. Soun wasn't sure, but somehow, over the last months both of them had become better man...in a way it was humbling to see how low they had sunken over the years.
Soun shook his head. That was then and this was now. There was nothing he could do about it. "Another invigorating day comes to an end, eh Saotome?"
Genma nodded. "That it does, my friend. How far along are your daughters in their training?"
"Their progress is good. It seems some of the training from their youth has lasted over the years. It won't be long before we can start to let them spar. I just hope the master isn't too hard on my baby girl!"
Genma chuckled. "Akane isn't a baby, you know that Soun. Besides, he is merely trying to get her temper under control...knowing his training methods, he's probably only groping her till she blows up."
Soun nodded dubiously. "Still, they have been gone for two weeks..."
Genma shrugged. "No help worrying about it. How about a round of shogi, Tendo? We haven't played in a long time"
Soun nodded, his daughter forgotten for the moment.
******************
Somewhere else
Akane listened to the water rushing by in the near by river. When Happosai had taken her on this training trip she had already been resigned to a week of being groped in the name of the Art. She had thought that was bad...now she knew better.
Happosai had groped her, all right, and once she had gone berserk he beat her down soundly to give her a lecture about controlling her temper. It was a brutal, but also very effective method, seeing how she hadn't lost her temper for four days now. Now she also understood why Happosai had wanted to go on a trip...her father would have thrown a fit had he seen how she was treated. Nonetheless, Happosai may have been a pervert, but he was also a great teacher.
"What are you lying around for girl? We have another two weeks of training to do and I won't have you lying around on your lazy ass during that time."
As Akane dragged her abused body to a sitting position she revised her previous opinion slightly. Happosai was slave driver as well.
End Part 1
*******************
(1) Goes to show one thing: Don't mess with Ranma; Shinji does not like
that at all.
(2) Don't look so shocked, he's been female for two months...it's natural
that would
happen.
Pre-reading was done by kuracao and NuStrike. Thanks guys!
Cevgar, your review has contained a lot of useful critique...which came far too late in some ways. I'm afraid changing the story from its intended course now is pretty much impossible...I planned it out too much for that. You have said there are style problems though, and if you don't mind I would like to have your input before releasing future chapters. To that end it would be nice if you please give me your e-mail address.
Chapter 12 – Dating Game - Part 1
****************
Ranma adjusted his fly for what must have been the tenth time since leaving the restaurant behind. The reason was pretty simple: he was nervous as hell. Ever since he had spoken with Akane about getting a date with Kasumi two months ago he had been on four dates with the eldest Tendo sister. The same could be said for Shampoo, who had insisted she didn't want to be left out. Ranma, being Ranma, had of course agreed. His latest date with Shampoo was nearing its end now and he was nervous.
Why?
He had had seven dates over the last 3 months and every single one had turned out ok without any interruptions. Looking back on his life, something like that simply didn't add up. Something had to happen tonight, and it had to be pretty damn big to make up for the relative calm of the past months.
Of course, the shapely body that was currently clinging to his side, only hidden by a sheer blue evening dress helped to increase his nervousness tenfold. Knowing what Shampoo would want at the end of their date wasn't helping very much either.
Ranma almost found himself wishing for the interruption he was dreading...almost.
****************
Across the street, said interruption was currently trying to struggle free of her current prison to save her Ranma-sama from the purple haired Amazon. She would have screamed in indignation, but the hand clamped over her mouth made that impossible.
Sitting behind Kodachi Kuno, who was currently wrapped up in several meters of sturdy rope, Shinji Saotome shook her head sadly. "Really Kodachi, You've tried this 7 times already and it didn't work once. Don't you think it's time to give up?"
Seeing the couple down on the street had moved out of earshot, Shinji removed her hand from Kodachi's mouth so she could answer. "Release me this instant, you little peasant! I will no longer tolerate your manhandling of my person!"
"I'll release you, but only if you don't go after Ranma."
"I shall not give into your petty demands! I must free my Ranma-sama from these harlots and return him to his proper place at my side!"
Shinji gave a resigned sigh and fastened the end of the rope around the trunk of the tree they were standing on. "All right, I give up. You really can't reason with loonies. Have a good night Kodachi!" Then she jumped down to the sidewalk to walk home.
Kodachi blinked. Normally Shinji just let her go after Ranma was out of sight. This turn of events was rather disconcerting for the girl. Then she found her (overbearing) voice again. "How dare you imprison the Black Rose to this ordinary tree? Free me this instant!" Shinji whirled around and glared (Gendotm) at Kodachi. "I'm letting you down there once you come to your senses, girl! I'm getting sick of making sure you don't ruin my brother's life!"
After taking a little while to recover from Shinji's glare, Kodachi 'hmphd'. "You are merely jealous that I have a prime example of a man while you don't, you lowly peasant!"
Shinji simply rubbed her temples.
Kodachi would be hanging on that tree a very long time. (1)
*****************
Back to Ranma
Shampoo and Ranma had finally reached the Cat-café, where they would part company for the night.
Shampoo, who was still leaning against Ranma, noted his stiff posture and sighed. "Why are you always so tense airen? I'm not going to bite."
Ranma fingered his fly again. "Sorry...but I'm just not used to this stuff."
Shampoo shifted her position to stand in front of Ranma and gave him a smouldering look. "You should use something else to apologize to me, airen."
Ranma swallowed. The look she gave him and the way she said it left no doubt in his mind as to what she wanted. Taking whatever he had left on courage he bent down to kiss her.
Once their lips touched, Shampoo snaked one hand behind Ranma's head, pressing their lips together forcefully. Meanwhile her other hand slipped down and squeezed his behind. As Ranma finally opened his mouth to allow her probing tongue entrance Shampoo smiled as best as she could while tonguing the young Saotome to death. 'This is more like it!'
On the other end of the lip lock Ranma couldn't decide between deepening the kiss, panicking like a chicken with its head cut of or simply melting under Shampoo's sensual attack. Seeing how his mind couldn't decide his hands took matters into their own hands and snaked around Shampoo's waist, pressing them together even more.
They held the kiss like this nearly two minutes until Ranma finally got back to his senses and withdrew. "Ah, I think we should stop now Shampoo."
Shampoo pouted cutely but did as Ranma said nonetheless. "Good night, airen."
As Shampoo walked up to the door and vanished inside Ranma grinned like an idiot. The only kisses he had shared had been short little pecks, therefore he was a little overwhelmed by what had just happened. "...WOW..."
Several moments later Shinji came along and walked up to Ranma. Her brother didn't acknowledge her presence, so she waved a hand in front of his eyes. No reaction, the silly grin remained in place. Shinji blinked. "Wow, looks like Shampoo did quite a number on you tonight."
Then she hoisted her brother onto her shoulder and walked home.
*****************
Inside Shampoo was preparing to take a _very_ cold shower. That last kiss with Ranma had been a little too involved...
*****************
Shinji calmed her breath as she stared into the flames, the chestnuts crackling within. She had been stuck female for nearly 3 months. Training her body to become faster, stronger and more durable had been nearly the only thing she had done during that time and now it was time to see if she was fast enough. "I can do this...Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!" Her hands blurred out of sight for a moment, only to stop suddenly. Shinji opened her fists to look at the chestnuts within, a smile slowly spreading over her lips. "I did it...I DID IT!"
Of course, the chestnuts were still very hot, a fact that finally penetrated her mind.
"HOT; HOT; HOT!"
Standing next to her window and watching as Shinji danced all over the lawn while blowing her hands, but still with a silly grin on her face, Nabiki couldn't help but smile as well. 'He's finally done...Maybe now I can find out what it is like to kiss him.'
*******************
Shinji walked into the Cat-Café with a spring in her step, only to be stopped cold by a hundred percent Amazon-proof double glomp. "Hello Shinji!" came the customary greeting from Pepper and Spice in stereo.
"Hey girls, nice to see you."
Both girls disengaged and frowned a little. "You haven't visited very often lately."
Shinji, normally easily ridden by guilt, smiled brightly. "True, but I used my time to train and I think I had a major breakthrough."
At that point Shampoo came up and ruffled Shinji's hair. "So, the shrimp has finally mastered Kachu Tenchin Ameriguken?"
Shinji gave Shampoo a mock glare. Nearly a month ago she had stumbled over the word 'shrimp' while Shinji had tried teaching her some more Japanese and had promptly made it into a new nickname. Ever since then Shinji had tried valiantly to get her to stop it, but had more or less gotten used to it. "I'm not a shrimp Shampoo and no, I haven't mastered the technique, but I need another demonstration from granny to complete my training."
No one questioned her and Pepper quickly dragged her into the kitchen, where Cologne, now called granny by Ranma and Shinji, was working.
"Shinji-kun! What a pleasant surprise. What does this old woman owe your visit to?"
Shinji bowed to her. "I'm sorry for not visiting more often, but the condition you have inflicted me with is more pressing than pleasant conversation. In that regard I humbly ask you to once again give me a demonstration. I feel that is all I will need to complete my training."
Cologne chuckled softly. In truth Shinji had visited pretty often considering her brutal training regime, but she just loved verbal sparring and since Shinji was the only person in Nerima who actually caught on to most of her veiled meanings while taking them in stride (unlike a certain Tendo daughter) she always engaged in a little banter when Shinji came by. Of course, if Shinji needed another demonstration to complete her training that took precedence. "Very well, Shinji. I shall demonstrate the technique again. If you would please follow me? Pepper, take over the kitchen for a moment."
Minutes later Cologne was sitting before a small fire with Shinji kneeling next to her. "Watch closely Shinji!"
Shinji didn't say anything and focused.
Cologne didn't notice his attention was not on the fire and struck out.
Time crawled to a stop as Cologne's hand moved towards the fire.
Shinji's whole focus came upon the Phoenix pill dangling from Cologne's necklace.
With Cologne's first hand halfway to the fire and the other a short way behind it Shinji made his move.
His right hand shot out at a speed nearly matching Cologne's, who was obviously not using her full power for the Chestnut Fist. When his hand was only an inch from the pill Cologne finally noticed his sneak attack. After it had closed around the pill she had finally overcome her shock.
Cologne did not try to stop her as Shinji ripped the pill from her person. Instead she regarded the blue head with respect. "You continue to surprise me child. I would not have thought you capable of such underhanded tricks."
Shinji grinned. "That just makes them all the more surprising, wouldn't you agree?"
Cologne cackled. "You are right on that account child. Nonetheless I would have liked to fight you for real, now that you have mastered the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken."
Shinji raised an eyebrow. "Forgive my rude behaviour elder, but are you nuts?! Ranma has mastered the technique before me and is nearly 50 percent faster then I am while using it and even he couldn't defeat you. I would have to be brain dead to even think about challenging you directly for the pill."
"I see your rapid improvement in skill and power hasn't gotten to your head; Keep it that way. Son-in-law's arrogance should not be taken as a role model. Now let's see about lifting the 'Full body cat's tongue'."
Shinji blinked. "What do you mean? I only have to swallow the pill, right?"
Cologne chuckled. "It isn't that easy child. The Phoenix pill Ranma ate was unique, what you hold in your hands is merely a fake. I will rid you of the little problem the same way I gave it to you: pressure points."
Shinji stood still as Cologne started pressing a complex pattern of pressure points all over her body. Once she was done she whipped out a kettle from...somewhere and dosed Shinji.
Shinji blinked and patted himself on several places just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He was male again! Not being able to contain his joy he hugged Cologne tightly. "YES! No more 'that time of the month' for me! THANKS GRANNY!"(2)
After getting carried all over the yard for two minutes Cologne extricated herself from his grip, causing Shinji to come to his senses. "I understand you are happy child, but I would still like to see how far along you have come these past months."
Shinji started sweating. He wasn't in the mood for a beating right now "Whatever do you mean elder?"
Cologne's eyes twinkled with mischief. "DEFEND YOURSELF!"
And the fight began...
Nearly 20 minutes later a blue and purple lump of flesh was moaning on the ground. "What did I do...to deserve...this...granny" It ground out slowly.
Cologne smiled apologetically. "This was not intended as punishment, but as a test child...I'm happy to say you passed it. You have another two weeks before we will take a little trip along with Ranma, Ryuoga and Shampoo. It's time you learned another technique." Seemingly finished with what she wanted to say Cologne hobbled back to the house. "You may rest for the time being. I imagine you're hurting all over right now."
Shinji would have glared at Cologne, but he was unable to lift his head. Instead he sighed. 'Great, even more training. At least now I'm a man again...I swear I'll never ever again make fun of a girl during 'that time of the month' he wriggled his toes a little 'Now if I could only get the feeling back into my legs so I can walk home...'
*******************
The next day
The bell on the front door rang, signalling a new costumer to the restaurant, and Shampoo quickly turned around to greet their guest.
She was greeted by the sight of a half naked man with long black hair that was a total mess and obviously cut short accidentally on the right side. For a moment Shampoo could only goggle at him, then she saw the glasses dangling from his right ear and she finally recognized the massive bruise that had just walked in. "Mousse? Is that you?
"...my love..."
Shampoo would have decked the poor guy for whispering that, but he took care of that himself and passed out, lying halfway on the street and halfway in the restaurant.
Shampoo grumbled something about love struck idiots and dragged the boy through the restaurant up into one of the rooms. Once she had deposited him somewhere, and it wasn't the bed, she came down and walked into the kitchen.
Cologne raised and eyebrow at her great-granddaughter. "What are you doing in here child; you should serve our customers you know!"
Shampoo ignored her scolding and started talking. "It is Mousse, elder. He has followed us all the way here."
Cologne's eyes flared for a moment. "I knew the foolish boy would pull something like that. Where is he right now?"
Shampoo pointed upwards. "He is unconscious in my room."
Cologne hopped from the kitchen at once. "Close the restaurant for today Shampoo, I may be unavailable for a while. When Pepper and Spice get back tell them to take the day off."
Shampoo smiled. That meant she would get to spend more time with Ranma!
*******************
Mousse dragged himself back to awareness and realized instantly that no part of his body was bound in any type or form. 'It was not a dream...my love has truly saved me! Oh Shampoo How I...'
"Nice to see you are awake."
The dry and ancient voice of Cologne charred him back to reality before he could lose himself in a pleasant fantasy. He propped up his upper body and realized he was lying on the floor. A small part of him noted it was exactly what he should have expected and he ignored it as usual. Instead he gave the diminutive figure before him a flat look. "Not nice to see you at all."
*Clonk*
"Don't speak like that to your elder, boy." said Cologne, her voice now hard as steel. "Now tell me, why are you here?"
Mousse snorted, not even slightly impressed. After the last three months there wasn't much Cologne could do to scare him. "What do you think? Making sure Shampoo isn't married to some outsider, of course."
Cologne nodded slightly. "I thought as much and I expect you to leave for China the instant you are strong enough again. I forbid you from taking any kind of action against Shampoo's intended husband or anyone involved with him. This is not your place Mousse, so leave it."
Mousse raised an eyebrow. "And what will you do should I stay and interfere?"
Cologne gave him another steely look. "Let's just say you will not be able to love Shampoo ever again if you choose to ignore my orders."
Mousse stayed silent for a moment, desperately trying to hold it in, but it was no use and his laugher echoed off the walls. "You can take everything from me" He said between guffaws, "but there is no force in heaven or hell that will allow you to rob me of my love for Shampoo."
Cologne didn't say anything else and left the room with a heavy heart. She had known from the beginning that talking with him would yield nothing, yet she had to try. The punishment she had in store for him was truly severe, but she felt it was justified. This wasn't just about marrying off her great grand daughter to a strong outsider anymore. This was about showing what Amazons were made of by contributing to the saving of a whole earth...it may not have been their own earth, but to Cologne that was irrelevant: A glorious battle was a glorious battle, no matter for what. A battle needed preparation though, and she would be damned to let some love blind fool interfere with that preparation.
***********************
Shinji swallowed nervously as he circled around Pepper wary for any kind of attack.
His two Amazonian fiancées had come over because Cologne had given them the rest of the day off. Seeing how they had so much time on their hands the girls had asked him to spar with them to see how much better he had gotten since they had fought each other the last time.
Needless to say he had disagreed and tried to weasel out by saying he had some training to do. Unfortunately all his teachers, namely Ranma, Ryouga and Genma had heartily agreed with the twins. Supposedly they wanted him to spar with someone on his level so he could see how much he had improved. To that end they had even agreed that no special techniques were to be used. Shinji could only laugh at the idea. 'Someone on my level? Yeah right...Spice and Pepper are going kick my ass, just like everyone else.'
While Shinji lamented his fate the audience was growing impatient and Genma tried to spurn him on. "Come on boy, I haven't taught you how to walk in circles the last three months. Start fighting!"
Shinji grimaced, but complied nonetheless. The sooner this was over with the better. In the blink of an eye he shifted his guarded stance to a more aggressive one and shot towards Pepper with lighting speed, a punch aimed for her head.
As he had expected the girl sidestepped his punch and he whirled around to deliver a back fist that was blocked. Jumping over a leg sweep he caught himself on his hands and pushed himself upwards to land on his feet again, only to block several quick jabs from his opponent. He noted that his forearms were smarting from only a few blows and started dodging instead.
Watching from the sidelines as Pepper and Shinji battled back and forth Ryouga couldn't help but smile. It was obvious Pepper was fighting all out and yet she couldn't gain the upper hand. It was clear that Pepper was still more skilled than Shinji, but the cleft was smaller than it had been. Nonetheless he knew the only thing keeping Shinji in the fight was his superior speed since both fighters were nearly equal in strength now.
Still, it was slightly disturbing. Shinji was learning as fast as him or even faster, a fact that could be attributed to Genma's teaching, which could be extremely effective if someone else, like Ranma or himself, helped out from time to time. Shinji's rapid increase in speed and strength wasn't explained away that easily though. Ryouga knew that it should not have been possible for a human to improve _that_ fast. Not the he was ever going to tell that Shinji. He would probably think himself a freak and start panicking.
The no-longer-lost boy would have been surprised to learn that Ranma and Genma were thinking along the same lines while watching the fight.
Sitting with Shinji's teachers, Spice wasn't thinking anywhere along those lines. She was too occupied with eyeing her intended future husband hungrily. He had gotten a lot more muscle on his frame over the last months. He was also a lot more skilled than when they first met. Even though she had seen him spar with Ranma or Ryouga occasionally it was still surprising that he could hold his own against Pepper now. What was more important was the smile that was slowly forming on Shinji's face as he fought with her sister. It was good that he liked fighting them. That meant she could look forward to more sparring in the future with additional more relaxing...activities afterwards. Noticing where her train of thought was leading she cleared her head to focus on the fight again.
It looked like Pepper was finally getting the upper hand. After fighting for this long Shinji had used up his bag of tricks and Pepper was scoring more and more hits. The next moment Shinji hit the floor thanks to a throw and before the boy could get up a foot was hovering inches over his face.
The girl, to whom said foot belonged to, grinned widely. "Do you yield Shinji?"
Shinji chuckled. "Yeah, I do."
"HOW could you boy! Losing to a ...UGH!"
As you have probably guessed Genma had not been happy that one of his pupils had lost to a girl and Ranma and Ryouga had been kind enough to stop his rant...with a fist to his head.
Spice ignored them, nodded and helped Shinji back to his feet. "You have improved a lot. We have to do this again sometime soon. And now I think my sister should get her turn."
Shinji blinked. "Now, wait a moment there...there's no way I can fight her now! I'm already tired!"
Ranma and Ryouga waved his concern off. "Nonsense, we're working you harder when training and you would be good for another hour even then."
Pepper jumped up and down like a little school girl. "Yes! Now I get to kick your butt and afterwards we can kiss and make it all better."
All present males sweat-dropped at the display but chose to stay silent.
Shinji simply hung his head in defeat and prepared himself to get his ass handed to him. Then he smiled lightly. 'At least I'll get a kiss out of it.'
***********************
Kaori Daikoku was very pleased as she regarded herself in the full length mirror standing in her apartment. Only clad in a barely-there lace bra and barely-there lace panties she was the dream of many adolescent boys. Kaori gave her mirror image a sultry smile causing her 'sexy factor' to climb another 50 points. "Tomorrow you'll be mine, Shinji-kun!"
After a moment Kaori pouted. "Who am I kidding? The chances of it happening tomorrow are almost zero." The next moment her smile returned again. "But it's still worth a try!"
Yet, despite her words Kaori wasn't too optimistic about the outcome of her plan. In the time she had known her fiancé, Shinji had been very reluctant to make advances, which was a great source of frustration for Kaori. After the great revelation of Shinji's origins over 2 months ago they had spent time together regularly, but only to talk. It had been very frustrating for Kaori, knowing she had a fiancée but not being able to do anything more than kissing. Neither she nor Shinji would have been comfortable with that while Shinji was in female form. Sometimes Kaori had wanted nothing more than to bash Cologne's head in for trapping Shinji in that form.
All that had changed a week ago, after Shinji had finally mastered the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken and managed to get the 'full body cat's tongue' lifted...or at least that was what she had hoped. Unfortunately, it had turned out her fiancé was very reluctant to take the next step in their relationship. It was a very pleasant, but very frustrating surprise that Shinji was one of two males on the planet who wouldn't try to get into their perfectly willing fiancée's pants, the other being Ranma. It was clear that Shinji did not want to commit himself to any of his suitors by getting more...involved There was just one problem: Kaori herself was a healthy girl of 17 and had certain...urges. Shinji, being her fiancé, was the logical way to quell those urges, even if he would marry someone else in the end. Of course, that didn't mean Kaori only wanted physical gratification. Fact was, after almost three months in his presence Kaori was pretty sure that she did indeed love him, even if he was three years younger. And so Kaori had decided to take matters into her own hands and had arranged a date with him the next day. While she knew that sex before marriage as well as asking a man out on a date was still frowned upon, even in modern Japan, she didn't much care about that. What was money good for if not for doing what you want?
All that didn't matter though, the important thing was that Shinji wouldn't know what hit him.
**********************
Soun Tendo smiled contently as the last pupil left the dojo, briefly wanting to kick himself for having stopped teaching after his wife died. Now several months after reopening the dojo with his old friend Genma he couldn't imagine stopping teaching anytime soon. The dojo was packed, their finances, something he hadn't cared to look at over ten years, were now looking up even without Nabiki bringing money in from various sources and he was feeling nearly ten years younger thanks to teaching and sparring with Akane, Ryuoga, Ranma and Shinji.
Looking over to his old friend Sound couldn't help but smile some more. Gone was half of Genma's overweight, once again revealing the battle hardened muscles underneath. It seemed between training his sons, adopted and by flesh, in the secret techniques of his school, teaching students and various sparring matches, the part time Panda didn't have time to indulge his excessive eating and drinking habits. Soun wasn't sure, but somehow, over the last months both of them had become better man...in a way it was humbling to see how low they had sunken over the years.
Soun shook his head. That was then and this was now. There was nothing he could do about it. "Another invigorating day comes to an end, eh Saotome?"
Genma nodded. "That it does, my friend. How far along are your daughters in their training?"
"Their progress is good. It seems some of the training from their youth has lasted over the years. It won't be long before we can start to let them spar. I just hope the master isn't too hard on my baby girl!"
Genma chuckled. "Akane isn't a baby, you know that Soun. Besides, he is merely trying to get her temper under control...knowing his training methods, he's probably only groping her till she blows up."
Soun nodded dubiously. "Still, they have been gone for two weeks..."
Genma shrugged. "No help worrying about it. How about a round of shogi, Tendo? We haven't played in a long time"
Soun nodded, his daughter forgotten for the moment.
******************
Somewhere else
Akane listened to the water rushing by in the near by river. When Happosai had taken her on this training trip she had already been resigned to a week of being groped in the name of the Art. She had thought that was bad...now she knew better.
Happosai had groped her, all right, and once she had gone berserk he beat her down soundly to give her a lecture about controlling her temper. It was a brutal, but also very effective method, seeing how she hadn't lost her temper for four days now. Now she also understood why Happosai had wanted to go on a trip...her father would have thrown a fit had he seen how she was treated. Nonetheless, Happosai may have been a pervert, but he was also a great teacher.
"What are you lying around for girl? We have another two weeks of training to do and I won't have you lying around on your lazy ass during that time."
As Akane dragged her abused body to a sitting position she revised her previous opinion slightly. Happosai was slave driver as well.
End Part 1
*******************
(1) Goes to show one thing: Don't mess with Ranma; Shinji does not like
that at all.
(2) Don't look so shocked, he's been female for two months...it's natural
that would
happen.
Pre-reading was done by kuracao and NuStrike. Thanks guys!
