Ranma 1/2: New Challenges Minor Disturbances Chapter 2 Miyo tossed and turned in her sleep as yet another dream imposed itself on her... "So, let me get this straight," Akara was saying. "Your ninja buddies were some sort of test to determine if we were worthy to meet with you!?" The woman known as Kae nodded. "Well, that's plain stupid!" Tenma groaned and rested his forehead in his hand. He glanced up at the small group of Garou ninjas that formed the leadership and bodyguards. As long as Akiko kept shooting her mouth off, the mission to get this group as allies was in jeopardy. He wished Neko was with him, but he couldn't risk bringing the big cat on this mission. That, and she seemed to like Senshin so he left Neko in his care. "I assure you it was not `stupid,'" Kae retorted. "After all, if you couldn't stand up to a few ninjas, what chance did you have against the dark shogun?" That shut her up. Even Akara could see the logic in that. The three people who functioned as the leadership, which included Kae, conferred with each other in hushed tones for a minute before speaking again. "Saotome Tenma, is it true you trained under master Satsu?" Kae asked. Tenma nodded. "Then you can show us the proof?" Akara glanced at her traveling partner, confused. Tenma close his eyes and concentrated. She watched in awe as a blue aura began to grow around him, then it changed to red, then yellow. The aura grew and expanded as he held his hand out. Multi-colored light gathered in his palm as it slowly coalesced into a figure. Akara leaned closer and realized he was manipulating the various colors of his aura into making a picture. For once, she was truely stunned at the level of control one would need to do this. Tenma finished and opened his eyes. In his palm, was the picture of an old man. This seemed to impress the three leaders, even as they seemed to recognize the man. They conferred for a few more moments as Tenma allowed the figure to dissipate. Then, Kae stepped foreward and motioned the two back outside. Wordlessly, they followed as the female ninja led them back into the forest. "It's settled," she said after a short while. "The clan will help. We are not very big, but that works in our favor. I will accompany you back to your army now as a liason and advisor while the clan packs up and moves out. From now on, not even I will know where they are." "But, how will they help us?" Akiko asked. "We have our ways," Kae replied. "You must trust us as we trust you." Tenma allowed himself a smile. He froze, as did his two companions while a horrible sinking feeling assualted him. "That's, that's..." youngest Tendo sputtered as she pointed. He nodded. "I know. The camp." Faraway in the distance, clouds of billowy smoke rose into the sky. And it was in the direction they were heading; back to the camp. Again, Miyo awoke as the dream ended. While it was still fresh in her mind, she flipped on the nightlamp and opened the journal where she wrote down her dreams and proceeded to add this latest chapter. Once satisfied she had it all, she turned off the light and went back to sleep without a sound. "Hmmm, this one looks promising," Gos noted. He and Ariko had taken Miyo's latest suggestion to heart and were pouring over their magic books in Ariko's basement. They were looking for a spell or something to help them find a mage to study under. "What've you got?" Ariko asked, walking over to look over his shoulder. Briefly, she scanned the couple of pages. "A basic summon spell. Wait, you want to summon a teacher?" He nodded and she thought it over. "It might work." "I know it will work!" Hikaru insisted. "I know I flubbed previous magic attempts, but I just have a feeling I can do this. It's hard to explain, but ever since I was able to tap my magic and we had that body switching thing, I..." he searched for the right words. "Well, I just know I can do this." She smiled. "Hey, I never doubted you, Hi-chan." She looked over the spell components. "Well, we have some of this stuff here, but we'll need to go out and find the rest. Got any ideas?" He tapped his chin and nodded. "I think so. We can probably gather all we need today if we hurry, and do the summoning tonight or tomorrow." He grinned and looked at his partner. She nodded and the two picked up their things and left. His confidence and hope had soared in the time he had come to know her. She wasn't Akane, but she was nice, fairly good-looking, and most of all, she seemed to like him pay attention to him. Of course, that left a dilemma: Akane or Ariko. Akane was a beautiful warrior goddess, while Ariko was a nice, friendly, fellow magic user. He stopped and blinked. Kenji groaned as the last vestiges of sleep faded from his mind. His body was still a little sore from the beating he received yesterday. He had blacked out soon afterward, but then awoke later in Dr. Tofu's office. It was yet another instance of his incredible talent of awakening somewhere other than where he rembered passing out. After some treatment there, he was sent home to recover, which he did for the rest of the day. His sister and Ukyo merely looked at him in pity, but Selah took great delight in caring for him. She still had the same silly crush on him. He gradually forced himself out of bed and massaged his aching muscles. A few stretching exercises helped as well, while he planned his counter attack. He went through several ideas in his head, throwing some out, and keeping some for use another day. He smiled as he settled onto a good one and headed downstairs to help with the morning crowd. He got Selah to cover his shift while he went out to gather his supplies. He grinned to himself as he went over his plan in his head. With luck, he could have it ready by lunch. He had heard the story from Ranma, though he didn't plan to take it to such extremes so no permanent harm would be done. "Hey guys!" Kenji said as he sat down to lunch under the trees with the standard group of friends. That included: Ranma, Akane, Yuka, Sayuri, Hiroshi, Daisuke, Kuno, Yuri, and Ukyo. He picked a spot next to Ranma and his sister. "Hey, oneechan," Yuri greeted. "Where'd you go this morning?" "Had to pick up a few things," he replied while opening his lunch. "But you'll see in a few moments." Akane looked over at him questionably. "Don't tell me you're trying something with my sister again?" He grinned. "Okay, I won't. Oh, by the way, Ranma, you may want to take a postion up in the trees." He checked his watch. "It's almost time." "Why?" he asked. "Wha..." He stopped short as a scream echoed throughout the courtyard. Everybody's heads popped up and tried to locate the source of the female screaming. They soon found it as Nabiki bolted out of the equipment shed and ran across the schoolyard and through the gates. She was draped in something and her arms were apparently secured to her sides. A split second later, a dozen cats came running after her. "That's why, Ranma," he said and turned around, but Ranma wasn't acting that scared, merely a little nervous. "Hey, I thought you were scared of cats?" "We've been working on that," Akane explained. "It takes quite a bit to scare him now. If those cats were after him, he'd be in the tree." She frowned. "So, aren't you going to help my sister?" "Naw, I left a note telling her how to get out of it." "How?" Kenji washed down his food with a drink from his thermos. "Simple, cats can't swim, and there's the small lake in the park near here..." "Oh boy," Ranma said, understanding. "You got guts, man. Too bad Nabiki's gonna spill `em." He clapped a hand on his friend's back. "It's been nice knowing ya." Kenji looked around and most everyone echoed the same sentiments. He frowned. "Well, it's nice to see you all have some faith in me." Ranma shook his head and lunch continued while the talk turned to other matters. Just before the bell rang for lunch to end, a very wet and angry Nabiki stormed back into school and went into the women's locker room to change. When she passed Kenji in the hall later that day, she gave him a look that promised a painful death, then went on her way without saying a word. Kenji shivered and suddenly wondered if he should just try to end this now. Nabiki hung up the phone and smiled, then crossed off something on her notepad. "There, that's the last arrangement." Akane looked up from where she was sitting on the couch, reading a manga. "What are you working on, oneechan?" She smiled evily. "Oh, just making sure a neighborhood nuisance is dealt with. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some more work to do." Akane shrugged as Nabiki walked up the stairs. A few minutes later, Ranma came up behind her and placed his hands over her eyes. "Guess who?" Akane smiled. "Hmmm... Oh, Ryoga my love!" Ranma blinked. "Huh!?" "Or is it my other love, Tatewaki-chan!" Ranma facefaulted. "What!?" Akane giggled. "Stupid tomboy! And here I was gonna take you out for dinner. Feh." He started walking away. Kasumi was off with Tofu, and even Natsume and Kurumi were off having some fun so dinner was Get Your Own. Akane stopped laughing and went after him. "Wait Ranma! I'm sorry!" Without warning, Ranma turned around and poked her on the forehead. "Gotcha!" Akane stopped, then scowled. "Ooooh! Why you!" Ranma took off and she ran after him. "Come back here you pervert!" He stuck his tongue out at her. "Nyaaaa! Come and get me, tomboy!" The two ran around the yard as Akane tried to hit him, but he always managed to dodge and stay ahead of her. Nabiki glanced out her open window and watched the two in action. She smiled. She turned back to the folders on her desk and dove back into making sense of Kuno's companies. She had almost worked through straightening out all of them, only a couple remained. The ones she had already fixed were now showing a remarkable increase in profit and Nabiki felt she was earning the salary Kuno was paying her. She smirked(tm) since it also helped her pride that she was outperforming business men twice her age. She pulled up a file on her computer and began entering notes. Outside, Akane had temporarily lost track of Ranma. He had turned a corner and then was gone. "Ranma? Where are you, Baka!" She crept around the dojo, then thought she heard sounds coming from inside. She focused and extended her ki. She snuck up to the entrance and looked inside. Nothing. Of course, it was darkened since the lights were off. She slipped inside and let her eyes grow accustomed to the dark. She felt someone land behind her, then an arm wrapped itself around her waist and another went over her mouth. She was pulled aside and turned around, but before she knew what was happening or who it was, the hand was removed and a pair of lips replaced them. "Mmmppphhh!" was all she could get out. She smiled inwardly as she recognized the lips and melted into the kiss. When she sensed the arm around her weaken, she grabbed it and flipped the figure onto his back and jumped on top of him. "Hey, Akane, what was that for?" Ranma cried. She settled on top of him, her face inches from his. "I had to get you back, Baka. Couldn't let you think a kiss gets you out of anything." Before he could say anything, she was kissing him passionately, his mouth eagerly accepting her tongue. After a minute, Ranma realized something. He was enjoying the kiss, and that was being reflected somewhere else. he begged silently. She did, however. Akane broke the kiss when she realized the same thing. Her heart was beating fast and she was becoming warm, her face flushing with the excitement. But that was nothing compared to what was pressing against her thigh. "Oh, Ranma..." Gulp. "Y-yeah, Akane?" She bent down to whisper in his ear. "You really are a pervert.". His eyes grew wide. "B-but, Akane, I can explain!" He cringed and awaited the impending mallet strike. She sat up. "But I don't mind since you're my pervert. And it's nice to know you care." She grinned at his shocked expression, then leapt off him and ran to the door, partly because she knew if they continued, it would lead somewhere she wasn't ready to and she could tell he probably wasn't either. "I'm going to freshen up a bit and then we can go." She smiled that cute smile he loved so much and then she was gone. For several minutes afterward, Ranma tried to calm himself. He could still feel the softness of her lips on his, and the warm breath on his ear from when she whispered into it. When his heart and breathing slowed, he stood up and exhaled. He then looked down. "Now why'd you have ta go and do that!?" Several minutes later they were heading out the gate together, arm-in-arm. Ranma picked a direction and started walking that way and Akane let herself be guided along. She didn't know where they were headed, so she asked. "Nekohanten," he replied nonchalantly, causing Akane to frown. "Haven't had a chance to talk with Mousse, Shampoo and the others since they got back in town a week ago." She didn't know what to think. After the Amazon incident a couple of months ago, Shampoo had stated that they had certain matters to settle in Joketsuzoku. Then a week ago, Shampoo had returned with her two sisters, LinLin and RanRan. Mousse, of course, followed along. Akane had already beaten Shampoo and the Amazon had said she'd given up her claim on Ranma, yet Akane was still worried. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" she asked. "What about Shampoo?" She admitted a part of her relished the idea of showing off the fact that Ranma was hers to one of her (former) rivals, but another part of her wondered if the Amazon would pull some sort of trick to take Ranma away from her. He shrugged, seemingly unaware of her concerns. "What about her?" She scowled. Couldn't he see the danger? "Aren't you worried that she might try something?" He laughed and put an arm around her shoulders. "There's no need to worry Akane." He stopped and turned to look at her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Listen, if you wanna go somewhere else, I'll understand. But you're gonna have ta face her sometime." She sighed. What he said was the truth and she knew it. "Besides, I thought my violent tomboy could take the nasty Amazon now..." She growled and punch him in the stomach, before taking him by the hand and leading the way. "Baka. You win, I'll go." Ranma shook his head as he let himself be pulled along. Shampoo looked up to see the couple enter. She felt a momentary pang of loss in her heart at the site of her ex-airen holding hands with Akane. She looked over to the man in the white robes working in the kitchen. Lately she didn't know what to think of the hidden weapons master. Ever since they left after Shampoo's defeat by Akane, he hadn't professed his love for her once. Instead, he had been quiet, even withdrawn a bit. Above all though, he had striven to help her and be her friend. It was a side of him that she hadn't seen since they were children and she found herself liking it. She shook her head. Somehow, she didn't fully convince herself of that, but instead went to greet the customers. "Nihao Ranma, Akane!" she greeted the couple as she bounded up to them. Ranma looked happy to see her, but there seemed to be a bit of uncertainty? distrust? in her eyes. "Welcome to Nekohanten!" She turned slightly to call to someone behind her. "LinLin! Come seat guests!" One of Shampoo's little sisters approached and bowed politely before offering to lead them to an open table. Shampoo told Ranma to go ahead, she wanted to talk to Akane for a minute. They agreed and LinLin led Ranma off. "So, what did you want to talk about, Shampoo?" Akane asked warily. "Shampoo want to personally apologize for conduct over past year and half," she said. "I let you know I no chase after Ranma anymore. I remember you winning in fair combat, so laws that bind me to former airen no longer in effect. Akane have Ranma's heart, not Shampoo." She looked down. "Maybe never have." Akane's expression softened a bit. "Shampoo, it's nice to hear you say that, but time will tell if I will ever fully trust you again. Although I do forgive you if you really mean it." Shampoo looked up with a ghost of a smile on her lips. "Shampoo willing to work to earn trust again." She leaned close. "But Akane better hold onto her airen or else!" Akane nodded and smiled. "You better believe after all we've been through I'm not ever going to let him go." "Is good, then. Come, Akane join date now." Shampoo led her to the corner booth Ranma sat in and Akane slid in next to him. They placed their orders and she left. "What'd Shampoo wanna talk to you about?" Ranma asked curiously. She turned and smiled at him, taking his hand in hers. "That's between her and I. But, I think I can start to trust her again. Time will tell." He seemed to accept this. "Ya know, I'm glad things are working out. I'd really like all of you to get along. That was one of the reasons I never did choose back then. No matter who I picked, I had at least three other girls who would be out for not only my blood, but also of the girl I chose. I didn't want to hurt anybody's feelings, just wanted everyone to be friends. Never had much of `em." "And here I thought it was easy, just pick one and be done with it," She looked down. "I always thought you were a womanizer to have all these girls chase after you. I'm sorry, Ranma." He put her his arm around her and squeezed. "Ah, I forgive ya, Akane. I'd like ta think that's behind us now." He happened to notice Shampoo looking at him with a faint smile on her face. She gave him a wink and went back to whatever she was doing. Akane looked up at him with a smile. "I liked the way you said that, Ranma." LinLin came up then and delvering two orders of pork ramen for Ranma and a single helping of chicken ramen for Akane. Ranma began to inhale his but a swat from from Akane slowed him down to a more reasonable pace. Halfway through the meal, Hikaru came in and, after gathering his courage, went back to ask Shampoo for some ginger root and bat wings. She shrugged, but got him what he wanted. While he waited, he happened to glance across and see Akane laughing, smiling, and apparently getting along well with... with... Ranma? He watched as they finished the meal and Ranma whispered something in her ear. She laughed, elbowed him, then kissed his cheek. Shampoo returned with his ginger root and he absently took it and ran out of the restaurant, muttering a "Thanks." She shrugged and went back to preparing some more ramen. Hikaru ran through the streets with tears forming in his eyes. He had good reason to be upset, for his goddess had actually fallen to Saotomes charms. And even after he defended her against a more powerful wizard! He slowed down to a walking pace and thought. So wrapped up in his thoughts, he didn't look where he was going. He collided with something and fell down onto his butt. Nervously, he looked up at the big man he had run into and the big man looked down at him. "Hey guys," the big man said. "Look at the punk that tried to attack me." Two others, a short fat boy and a tall skinny boy stepped up to either side of him. The tall, skinney one spoke. "Hey Hiro, I know him. Goes to Furinken. He's a freak kid named Gosunkugi." Hikaru found his voice. "I-I'm t-t-terribly sorry. I d-didn't mean to..." All powerful wizards were one thing, but somewhere in his mind, the fear of bullies still lurked. The one called Hiro grabbed Gos by the collar and lifted him off the ground. "Well, I know how you can make it up to me, then. Give me all your money!" "Bu-but I don't have anything..." Hikaru tried to protest. Hiro then tossed the smaller boy to the ground where he landed in a small pile of trash against a wall. "Search him boys! And feel free to rough him up first." Gos cringed as the two boys approched him. He tried to plead with them to stop, but they wouldn't listen. Something inside of him snapped again. Reflexively, his hands went into motion, pointing out from his body. He then shouted something. "Flare Arrow!" A small reddish-yellowish arrow appeared and shot into the fat boy. He ran around and screamed as his clothes caught fire. Hikaru stared down at his hands and wondered how he did that. "Don't come near me!" he yelled in his best threatening voice. It didn't seem to faze Hiro who advanced on him while skinny tried to help fat boy. Hiro cracked his knuckles. "You're gonna pay for that, runt." Hikaru tried to duplicate the motions. "Flare Arrow!" A smaller arrow appeared, but fizzled as it hit it's target. "Ha! Looks like you're runnin' outta juice, freak!" Gos suddenly recognized that spell. He'd seen it in one of the books. He also remembered another spell. His hands went into the motion of holding a bow and cocked arrow. "Flare Bit!" Half a dozen small balls of light appeared and spread toward Hiro. They impacted all of his body and the same thing happened to him that happened to fat boy. His clothes caught fire, sending him running around and screaming. Skinney boy had just put out the fire on fat boy, when he saw his leader turn tail and run. Skinny boy and fat boy ran after him. Hikaru just stood there and glared at his hands and wondered just how the hell he did that. Then he turned and ran himself. At the restaurant, the couple had finished and were getting ready to leave when Mousse stopped them and asked if he could talk with them a bit. They nodded. "What can we do for ya, Mousse?" Ranma asked. He hesitated. "First of all, I would thank you, Saotome, for not pursuing Shampoo and I would congratulate you two on finally getting together. I was wondering, seeing as you are now a couple, if you would help me with Shampoo. I followed your advice, Akane, and became her friend, but so far nothing else has happened besides she no longer mistreats me." Ranma looked at his fiancee and she smiled at him before turning back to Mousse. "You've already taken the first steps. I do believe she does care for you deep down, you just have to give her time to realize it. The more you push her, though, the more she'll push you away. I know if Ranma and I had started as friends, we probably would've gotten together a long time ago." He squeezed her hand and nodded as confirmation of that. "Yeah, I think so, too. Listen Mousse, I consider ya a friend despite past actions. Akane and I would be glad to help you." The myopic Amazon eyed him warily. All his past encounters with Ranma, and his pride, were shouting at him to forget Ranma. But his love for Shampoo was telling him that maybe, just maybe, he could use a little help. "I guess I would appreciate that," he said carefully and evenly. The two bid Mousse goodnight. The lovestruck Amazon watched them go, then turned and gazed at the person of his affection. ------------------------------------------------------------ Author's notes: Mousse and Shampoo, another hotly debated couple. Will I? Won't I? Who can say for sure. One thing that is very clear in both the manga and anime, is that Mousse loves Shampoo. In the anime more than in the manga, Shampoo is shown to at least care about Mousse a little and maybe even show a little possessiveness, but she doesn't seem to like the obssessive way he pursues her (as I said before, Shampoo pursues Ranma the same way Mousse pursues her). And it's also kinda shown they were friends as kids. Therefore, if he were to back off a little and maybe return to being just a friend...