My Life's Stranger Than Yours
(A/N: First off, let me just say...HOLY CRAP! This story's already a year old!? How the heck did that happen!? I guess time flies when you go through one hiatus after another [Insert Hunter x Hunter joke here]. Secondly, I just wanna say thanks to everyone who's stuck around thus far and apologize to my Shattered Academia fans for not updating that story in a long while (I prefer to do update one story then go to the other, before doing the same one again. Obviously that's not happening anymore, but I'll try to get the next chapter back on track. Just sort of hit a roadblock. With all that said. Let's not waste time and get right to it.)
The End of One Crazy Day; Prelude to New Encounters
As Ranma and Akane entered, they were greeted by none other than Kasumi, with everyone else, sans Nabiki assembled in the living room.
"Oh, you guys are back."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," snarked a visibly irritated Ranma.
"Ranma..." Nodoka chimed in with a warning tone.
Flinching at his mother's nigh silent warning, Ranma let out a sigh and left the room. "If ya need me, I'll be in the dojo."
As the girls watched Ranma storm off, they were joined by Nabiki who was viewing the scene from the staircase. "Huh, what's eating him this time?"
"Ohhh nothing. He just lost a match, and is still pretty sore about it," Akane answered.
"Yup, that'd do it all right," Nabiki deadpanned.
"Akane, if you don't mind my asking, who exactly was Ranma's match against?" Soun interjected.
Akane was about to reply but had a brief moment of pause.
'Wait...should I really tell them about Goten?' Akane wondered. Initially, she didn't see any harm in giving them the details of the fight. On the other hand, she could easily visualize what their families could do with that information.
[Akane's Imagination]
Soun and Genma were towering over a defensive Ranma bellowing about how no heir to their glorious martial arts sanctuary. Meanwhile, Nodoka was weeping in the corner, her sword unsheathed, muttering something about how her only son had his pride and manliness stripped away. Nabiki on the other hand was surrounded by numerous students from their school all lining up for details on Ranma's most pathetic loss.
[Reality]
Akane shuddered as her fantasy ended. She didn't know how long she'd been out daydreaming, but she recalled her father's question and quickly blurted out, in faux excitement, "Oh it was nothing TOOOO bad. Ya see we were sparring, then Ryoga showed up, and he and Videl double teamed him...it was actually kinda funny! HAHAHAHAHA...!"
Both families sweatdropped at Akane's mostly uncharacteristic outburst, though they had no issues with the story she gave them...at least everyone except the eagle-eyed middle sister.
"Anyways, think I'm gonna go take a bath and turn in. Ranma and I already ate so you don't have to worry about dinner for us. G' night!"
While Akane dashed up the stairs to wind down the night, Nabiki viewed her little sister's retreating frame with skepticism in her eyes.
'Okay, I don't know what that was all about, but it's clear she's hiding something,' Nabiki thought ascending the staircase.
As the two girls left, Kasumi and Nodoka resumed relaxing in the living room while Soun and Genma huddled up over their shogi board.
"Well...do you think the boy found out anything?" Genma asked.
"Well, we won't know until we ask him now won't we?" Replied Soun. "Still, Akane's story about him losing a match intrigues me. Shall we inquire with him about that as well?"
"Yes, but first things first Tendo."
The two partners in crime shot each other a nod of agreement before slinking out of the living room to the dojo.
[The Dojo]
As soon as Ranma entered the dojo, he threw his shirt off and immediately began punching and kicking the air, frustration behind every strike and grunt. Ranma continued to 'shadow-box' for an unknown stretch of time until his body had a thin layer of sweat running down it. Dashing into a handsprint, Ranma flipped forward three times before landing upside down on his hands.
As Ranma remained still in his handstand, he kept thinking back to his fight with Goten. There's no way he should've been taken for a ride like that by a little kid. It didn't matter who his family was or what kind of special training he may have had, no small boy should be able to match him to the degree he did.
'This sucks...' Ranma thought. 'How in the hell could I lose to an 8 year old brat!?'
Flipping back onto his feet, the bout continued to replay in Ranma's head, and the more he thought about it, the more baffled he became. Above all, two unanswered questions lingered in Ranma's mind: First, where did Goten's unnatural physical strength come from, because no amount of training should make a child that strong. Second, what did Goten's abilities say about Goku and Gohan's true power?
It's obvious that one or both of them taught Goten what he knew, and if their teachings made him that strong, they themselves have GOT to be nothing short of master level. Ranma had gotten a small taste of what Gohan was made of before, and while he was obviously powerful, he didn't think he could be THAT strong. After fighting Goten however, he had a feeling that...
"Ranma mah boy, we need to have a word with you!"
A startled Ranma twitched and leapt into a defensive stance as he was harshly stirred from his internal musings by his father and Mr. Saotome barging into the dojo.
"Geeze Pops, ya don't have to shout!" Ranma exclaimed. "What do you want anyway?"
"Don't play dumb boy!" Genma shot back. "Tell us what you learned!"
Ranma raised a confused eyebrow. "Learned about what?"
"Ranma...don't tell us you forgot!" fumed Genma.
"Forgot what?"
Both men crossed their arms in disappointment. Soun let out a calming sigh before he reminded Ranma of his 'secondary purpose'. "During your trip to your friend's home, you were supposed to learn everything you could about the Turtle Hermit so he could potentially defeat the evil master!"
Ranma's eyes lit up as he finally recalled that detail. "Oh yeah...sorry. Guess I did kinda forget about that."
"RRRRRRAAAAAAAANNNNNMAAAAAAA!" Soun screeched.
"Eeeeeeek!"
Ranma shrank back as Soun descended upon him with his demonic face.
"But I do remember learning one thing about him!" Ranma quickly defended.
"Oh...?" said a now completely neutral Soun.
Ranma panted heavily, clutching his chest after Soun's startling outburst.
"Well Son, don't keep us in suspense. What did you learn?" asked Genma.
"Well, it ain't much, but you guys were on to somethin' after all. Remember how you told me Gohan had the same name as one of this turtle guy's students? Turns out our Gohan's old man was a student at the Turtle School when he was younger."
"You're right, that isn't much at all," said a dejected Genma.
"Still it is something, and a rather interesting something at that," added Soun. "What did you say your friend's father's name was?"
"It's Goku," Ranma simply replied.
"Goku...hmmmmm..."
The two older men paused in thought for a moment as they attempted to recognize the name. There was a small familiarity, but neither one of them could quite place it."
Ranma crossed his arms as he stared at the two men deep in thought. After a few minutes of complete silence and immobility, Ranma's patience reached it's limit.
"Well, if you two are done playing 20 Questions, I'm gonna go take a bath." Ranma stated rising to his feet.
Before he left, the duo finally came out of their contemplative 'trance' and quickly halted him.
"Wait Ranma!" Genma snapped.
Ranma paused and turn to face his father and Soun.
"The next time you go visit that friend of yours, you must learn more about the Turtle Hermit," Genma reminded him.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Ranma dismissed.
As Ranma exited, Soun and Genma turned to each other and began discussing amongst themselves.
"Well, what do you make of this Tendo?" asked Genma.
"It's as Ranma said, we were on to something with this. A boy who's father was once the Legendary Master's student who also shares the name of another, it's almost too convenient. All we can do now is hope Ranma actually remembers next time and wait for what he brings back next time." Soun replied.
"Then I guess it'll be a long wait."
THWOOOM!
The two were brought out of their discussion by the unmistakable sound of Akane's furious yell followed by Ranma crashing through the roof.
[A few moments earlier]
Akane sat submerged in the warm bath water, her kness hugged against her chest. She was trying to unwin after the eventful day she had, but considering what she was planning to do, it was hard not to be anxious.
'Okay...so I'll drop by the Cat Cafe after school tomorrow and talk to Cologne. The problem is, how am I supposed to convince her to train Videl?'
Cologne wouldn't listen to her unless it involved letting him go with Shampoo, and Akane was not about to let that fly. Then again...maybe Videl herself could convince her. She was an inspirational figure in the martial arts world...right? Akane sighed feeling at a loss of what to do when suddenly...
Sliiide!
The bathroom door slid open to reveal Ranma wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.
"Man I really gotta...GAH!"
The startled Saotome flinched as he lay eyes on Akane, submerged in the bathtub (blocking her uncovered form from his eyes) before freezing up in pure fear for he knew what was coming next.
"Uh...whups...!"
"RAAAAAAANMAAAAAAA!"
THWACK!
"Sooooooooryyyyyyy...!"
[Present]
"Wait...didn't Ranma say he was going to take a bath?" Genma asked.
"Oh right...Akane said the same earlier. Guess this one's on us then."
[Later]
Akane sat on her bed in a familiar position of contemplation. Akane had no idea how she should play out her meeting with Cologne tomorrow. After a brief moment of thought, she made up her mind. Darting out of her room, she made her way to the nearest phone.
A few minutes later, Akane dialed the Cat Cafe and waited a brief moment before she could hear a familiar female voice on the other line.
"Nihao. This is Nekohanten! How may I help you?"
"Shampoo?"
"Akane? What happen, you wreck kitchen again?" Shampoo teased.
"No, and I didn't call to order food. I need to speak with Cologne," Akane demanded.
"Why you need see Great-Grandmother?" Shampoo asked.
"Let's just say...I need help and I think she's the best one who can." Akane replied.
"Sorry, but even Great-Grandmother can no perform miracle and teach you to cook," Shampoo snarked.
"It has nothing to do with FOOD!" Akane yelled.
"Oh...?" Shampoo paused for a moment. "Alright I go get Great-Grandmother, if you leave Ranma alone and let him take Shampoo out on date, yes?"
Akane could only facepalm. "Okay, I get it. Sorry for calling." On that note, she hung up the phone and let out a defeated sigh.
Akane was about to head back to her room, but quickly stopped herself. Turning back to the phone, Akane stared at the keys before her expression tightned.
'I guess whatever happens from this point on is up to Videl herself.' Akane steeled herself before taking the phone in hand once again.
[Meanwhile]
The well known yellow aircraft finally touched down before Mr. Satan's manor and a disgruntled Videl capsulized the plane before entering. As she walked through the door, her eyes widened to the scene of the entryway being a total mess and a handful of servants were hard at work fixing the place back up.
"What...what happened!?"
'Rarf!'
"Bee?"
Videl followed the sound of barking to the rear where she could found Buu glancing upward at...something and Bee by his side barking furiously at that same thing.
"Buu?"
The big pink djinn turned to Videl and a gleeful smile grew onto his face.
"Satan's daughter is back!"
Bee also welcomed Videl by playfully running around her legs.
"Glad to see you guys too." Videl grinned.
Getting back on track, Videl turned seriously to Buu and asked, "Buu...you wouldn't happen to know what wrecked the house would you?"
"Bee was playing with new friend!" Buu answered.
"New friend?"
"Mmhmm. Friend to weak to play with Buu so Bee play instead."
Bee responded by letting out a low threatening sounding growl. It didn't take Videl long to realize that their house was visited by some uninvited guests and the duo here must've chased them off, whether Buu realized it or not.
'It's a good thing Bee's such a good guard dog,' Videl thought rubbing the canine's head. 'Still, I wonder who'd even try to make an attempt at our house. Dad is still thought to be the strongest man on Earth so it'd have to be someone with either nerves of steel or absolutely no brains...maybe both.'
"Hey Buu, your new friend, what did he look like?" Videl asked.
"He wore some really weird clothes and spoke in a really funny voice!" Buu replied. Reaching behind him, Buu pulled out a long wooden stick. "But he real nice. He brought stick so Bee could play fetch!"
On that note, Buu chucked the stick across the yard and Bee instantly shot after it barking excitedly. Once he returned with the retrieved stick, he dropped it in front of Videl who, upon closer inspection recognized the stick as a wooden sword. None she knew fought with weapons, but she' been to enough dojos to know how common they were (one pretty recently in fact).
'Well, this rules out Ryoga at least sense he fights using that heavy umbrella, but this doesn't really narrow anything down either,' Videl internally lamented. Ultimately though, Videl opted to worry about this later. She'd had a pretty eventful day already and needed some time to relax.
That relaxation time however, would be delayed by the sound of her cell phone ringing. Heading back indoors, leaving Buu and Bee to their own, Videl picked up the phone as she made her way to her bedroom.
"Hello?"
"Videl?"
The black haired fighter's eye's widened at the sound of none other than Akane's voice on the other line. She hadn't expected her to call back again so soon.
"Akane? What's up, is there something wrong?" Videl asked.
"No, nothing like that it's just..."
Videl couldn't help but notice the hesitance in her voice. There was definitely something wrong.
"What would you say if I told you I know someone who could probably prepare you for your fight with Ryoga?" Akane asked.
Videl momentarily paused as Akane's question sank in. "I'd say...go on..." she replied, a contemplative look on her face.
"What if I also told you that this person is someone who's not really the 'helping' type and would most likely want something in return for them teaching you...if you coud even convince them to train you at all?"
Videl's expression changed to a cocky smirk. "I'd say...I'm interested."
"Really?" asked a surprised Akane.
"Yeah. They can name whatever price they want. I'm willing to take the heat from my Dad if I have to," Videl said firmly.
"This person isn't someone who's easily swayed by money," Akane warned.
"Well, whatever the 'payment' may be, I'm willing to at least hear them out," Videl replied.
Akane let out a breath that sounded like she'd been holding in for a while. "That's great. We can go there tomorrow after school. We'll meet up at my place then I'll take you there. But one more thing...you may wanna brace yourself."
"Akane, I know my reaction to Ranma's curse was rather extreme, but after that, I don't think there's anything I'm not prepared for anymore." Videl told her matter of factly.
"If you say so. Then I'll see you tomorrow?"
"For sure."
With that, Videl ended the call and after a pregnant pause, she fell backwards onto her bed and let herself bounce before laying down, unmoving.
'So...I'm going to meet a new teacher tomorrow huh?' Vdel thought. 'I won't lie, I'm kind of excited. But at the same time...I'm really kind of nervous. The way Akane described this guy, he sounds like some kind of creep, and what does she want me to prepare myself for?'
Videl rolled over, so she was now laying flat on her stomach, deep in thought about what to expect tomorrow. 'Well, like I said, it wouldn't hurt to at least check this person out, cause if they actually can help me stand a fighting chance against that Ryoga guy, then I guess I've got nothing else to lose."
Unbeknownst to her, her newest friend was in a similar position both physically and mentally as Akane, clad in her sleepwear, laid down on her bed staring up at the ceiling.
Both girls from their respective homes also had one similar simultaneous thought running through their heads.
"I hope I don't regret this tomorrow."
(A/N: And that's that. Apologies for the shorter than usual chapter, but I'm back again, and while my new job doesn't leave me as mentally drained during the holidays as my last one (I worked at Toys R Us beforehand, you can imagine what that's like), it still leaves little mental energy for writing. Thankfully, it leaves enough mental juice in the ol tank to where I don't feel like I have to put the story on hiatus again. Onto the chapter itself...not much to say. This was my first time writing Buu and Shampoo. I wasn't 100% on how to write their speech so I kept their appearances brief. Don't know when or if Buu will appear again (or how I'll bring Mr. Satan in cause honestly, while he may be necessary for some future events I have planned, I am not really a fan of him. Don't hate him [anymore], but he's someone I don't like seeing on screen. He'll have to show up sooner or later since this story's Videl centric, but when and how that'll happen is up in the air), but we'll almost definitely be seeing Shampoo again real soon cause next Chapter, we return to Nerima. Also, a little subplot I may have set up in the beginning is finally going to make some headway. How much headway is anyone's guess, but it'll definitely start going places. Where will it go? Stay tuned to find out.
PS: HAPPY THANKSGIVING! [I didn't plan for this to happen, but we take those!]