Send C&C to: oddball22@hotmail.com Find my stories at: www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000 Ranma 1/2: New Challenges Minor Disturbances Chapter 3 "Tendo Kurumi, it's Saturday morning and time to get up," Tendo Natsume said while nudging her sister. "Awww, can't a sleep a little more?" Kurumi mumbled into the pillow. "This is our home now we need to take care of it." She stood up. "Or would you rather go back to traveling on the road?" The younger sister was up instantly. "No! I wanna stay here! Please don't make me leave!" Natsume smiled. "I won't, we have a home now and a dojo. Isn't that what I promised? We also have a family." Kurumi finished getting her clothes and hugged her sister. "I'm happy, oneechan." They left their room and headed to the bathroom. Kasumi was already in and soaking in the furo, but she motioned her two new sisters in anyway. This wasn't the first morning they had met like this since Natsume and Kurumi proved to be as early a risers as Kasumi. The eldest Tendo rose the earliest so she could cook breakfast, and now the two new girls were learning to gradually take over her chores, so the Tendo household would survive when Kasumi left. After all, Ranma and Akane had school and then possibly college, and neither Nabiki nor Soun did much around the house. Well, Nabiki helped by managing the the few investments that kept the Tendo house and dojo afloat. Kasumi left the furo to get breakfast ready as her two new sisters finished washing and slipped into the furo. Akane came in little later and greeted the girls as she took a stool and began soaping up. "So, how are you finding life in a stable home?" she asked as she scrubbed down. "I love it!" Kurumi exclaimed. Natsume smiled at her younger sister. "I'll admit it is nice to have to a roof over our heads and warm meals. Though life on the road can be interesting." She frowned. "I was wondering though, why the dojo does not have any students?" Akane sighed. "Well, neither Ranma or I have time to teach, and daddy hasn't really felt like teaching since mom died." She dumped a bucket of cold water over her to wash the suds off then slipped into the furo with her newly aquired sisters. "Actually, daddy should be teaching. I think he's put it off long enough and doing this would probably be good for him." "I was thinking that maybe Kurumi and I could take on a few students and teach a basic self-defense course," Natsume suggested. "I feel we should do more to help out around here and this would bring some extra income in." "That's a great idea!" Akane said. "It would also give you guys time to work with dad and get to know him better. What do you think Kurumi-imoutochan?" The girl in question grinned wildly. It was clear she like the idea. "Great! Then we'll set it up. I'd also like to spar with you two later to see how far you've come and I think Ranma would as well." The two girls agreed and got out of the furo to get dressed and do their chores. Natsume and Kurumi watched as Ranma fought with his father after breakfast. Genma had made it a habit visit the dojo to test his son once a week, making sure his heir hadn't gone soft. It was something everyone else had grown used to, but the two sisters had only seen it a few times and they were impressed. Ranma and his father weren't just sparring, they were going almost all out and the sight was incredible. Mid-air leaps and attacks were common, as well as rapid series of blows that moved so fast they blurred. It was clear Ranma was better, but his father wasn't far behind. In fact, the only reason Genma could last against his son, was that he knew the styles and knew how his son fought. He also used several dirty tricks to gain the upper hand. The match ended with a downward thrust kick from Ranma that landed his father in the pond. The splash caught him as well, turning him into his redheaded alter ego. The two girls watching this were still amazed at the transformation, even though it had all been explained to them. What was more amazing, was that Ranma didn't even seem winded. "Feh, you're the one whose been gettin' soft, Oyaji," she said. "You didn't last ten minutes." The panda dragged himself out of the pond. [I was just going easy on you, boy!] "Yeah right. Akane provides a better challenge than you. You hear that? SHE could beat you easily." His iinazuke had just walked out so she heard that last comment and smiled with pride. "You think so, Ranma-chan?" She shrugged. "Sure. These past coupla months you've gotten a whole lot better. I'd say you're `bout as good as I was when I first arrived." Ranma found herself surprised to say that, though it was the truth. Akane had gotten a whole lot better. Once Ranma got it into his mind to train her, and train her hard, she began showing major improvements. It didn't surprise him too much though, since he had a strong feeling she had a lot of untapped potential. Just looking at her now, he could see the change in her. Baby fat was gone, replaced by lean muscle. She had even grown an inch. Together with the skin-tight, yellow tank top and jean shorts she wore, Ranma thought she looked absolutely incredible. Clearing her thoughts, onna-Ranma smirked. "'Course, I've gotten way better since then, so ya still gotta long ways ta go!" "Baka!" Akane launched herself into a jumpkick at her fiancee but with no real anger behind it. Ranma swung out of the way, however. "Just for that, you're meeting me in the dojo afterward! Oh, and we've got a match against against Natsume and Kurumi later today as well." "Is that so? I've been lookin' for some new challenges. Let me just get dried off." Ranma removed her shirt and wrung it out. Akane rolled her eyes. "Get your shirt back on Ranma! How many times do I have to tell you not to take off your shirt when you're a girl?" Ranma smirked, but put her shirt back on and Akane hook her head. "Let me get changed and we can get started." When she left, Ranma turned to the other two girls. "Why don't we see what you've learned while we wait for Akane? Both of you against me." "Are you sure about this?" Kurumi asked. "My sister's right," Natsume agreed. "You are good, but do you think you can take both of us?" Ranma cracked her knuckles. "Won't know unless I try. Let's go!" Akane quickly changed into the outfit she had asked Kasumi to make for her and grinned evily. Ranma hadn't seen it yet and she couldn't wait to see his expression. As expected, it felt good on her. When she had worn something similiar before, she had reveled in the freedom of movement and power she had felt and she had longed to feel that way again. When Ranma began to train her, she wanted something she could fight in. She had been wearing Chinese outfits like Ranma wore all the time, and she understood why he did. They were comfortable to wear and fight in; and with Ranma's life, he needed to be ready to fight anytime. However, she wanted something special for her, especially if she fought in a tournament or a duel. After checking herself in a mirror to make sure everything was alright, she rushed downstairs to find onna-Ranma already in combat with Natsume and Kurumi. Akane scowled as she watched Ranma dodge most the attacks sent her way and block the rest. "You Baka!" she yelled. "Why aren't you attacking back?" Ranma leapt out of the way of a ribbon attack and ducked under a staff swing before responding. "What, don't you *jump* know? I thought I taught you to *dodge* gauge an opponent before *block* you commit to an attack." The two girls redoubled their attacks. "Like... this!" Ranma swept in past Natsume's defenses, grabbed her rugbeater staff and flipped her. While she was in the air, Ranma grabbed the ribbon and yanked Kurumi forward since she was no match for onna-Ranma's strength. She quickly tied the younger girl up with her own ribbon. Natsume hit the ground and wound up a small whirlwind attack that Ranma countered with a small Hiryuu Shoten Ha, then closed the distance. Ranma was careful to take the staff strikes in her bracers, since Natsume had channeled cold ki into it. Seeing an opening, she slipped in and, with a twist of a wrist, disarmed her opponent and flipped her to the ground. When Natsume opened her eyes, she saw Ranma's fist hovering above her eyes. She blinked. "You ARE much better than you were when we first came here. I would be honored if you would teach us as it seems we have much to learn." Ranma turned the fist into an open palm and pulled Natsume to her feet. Akane untied the younger sister and helped her up. It was then that Ranma turned around and saw what she was wearing. "What the...!?" When Akane noticed Ranma finally notice her, she grinned. "Alright Ranma, you're mine! Come on, Do-chan!" And she leapt to the attack while Natsume and Kurumi making their way off to the side. Ranma's mind went in circles as he backed away from Akane's attacks. "What? How? I thought it was destroyed!" But Akane wouldn't say anything as she stepped up her attacks, punching and kicking while Ranma went on the defensive. He was hard pressed at first to keep up, but that was mainly because he had just fought a match with his father and then the two girls and he was starting to feel a bit winded. Akane was coming in fresh. Then he realized he was holding his own. He grinned. "Nice replica," he said nonchalantly. Akane grimaced. "Maybe... Why don't you fight back, Ranma? Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!" Her fists blurred with chestnut speed and onna-Ranma countered with her own. Akane's wasn't as fast as Ranma so she ended up taking several hits in return, but she had counted on that. Without missing a beat, she slipped down and swept Ranma's feet out from under her and sent the redhead to the ground. Her fist followed the motion and Ranma threw up her forearms to block, but still grunted from the hit. She flipped back to her feet to see Akane standing there, laughing. "Oh, you should have see the look in your eyes when you thought you were really up against Do-chan!" "I don't get it," Natsume said from the sidelines. Ranma growled. "Akane had an enchanted battle dougi just like that once. It made her nearly invincible; even I couldn't beat her. But I hit it's weak spot and it was destroyed." Akane twirled around. "So, how do you like it? Kasumi made it for me. I figure I could use it in tournaments and duels and such. It looks good and feels nice." Ranma snorted. "An outfit ain't everything. Most of the time you have to fight, your enemy won't give you a chance to change." "I think it looks kawaii!" Kurumi said. "I like it!" "I do, too," came another female voice. Everyone turned to see a bandanna clad boy and girl. "Ryoga!" Ranma exclaimed. "How ya been! Haven't seen ya in, what, a couple of months?" Ryoga grinned, showing his fangs. "I was thinking of greeting you with, `Ranma, prepare to die!', but Akari-chan talked me out of it." A round of greetings and introductions took place and Ryoga explained his reason for their visit. When he mention the arranged fiancee, Ranma couldn't help but roll on the ground laughing. "Raaannnmaaa," Ryoga growled. "HAHAHAHA, I'm sorry, HAHAHA, that's just rich! Now you know how I feel. HAHAHAHA, mmmph!" Akane removed her hand from Ranma's face. "That wasn't very nice Ranma, quit picking on Ryoga-kun! Why do you fight with him anyway?" Ranma calmed down. "Heh, we're martial artists. How're we gonna get better if we don't fight?" He grinned. "Ryoga'n me had some good fights." Akane's face slowly changed as she got it and Ranma nodded. "Ranma-san speaks the truth," Natsume spoke up. "Just like painters and muscians who improve by pushing their skills to the limits, combat helps us redefine our edge and make us better." "Wow," Akane breathed. "I've never looked at it quite that way. To me, the Art has always been something we use to defend ourselves." She smiled. "Well, who shall fight who now?" Ranma thought about it for a second. "Well, let's have Akane go against Natsume and Kurumi for now, then I'll gauge Akari's abilities in a sparring match." That sounded good to all present and they reconvened inside the dojo. Akane took up one side with the newest Tendo girls on the other, each preparing for the match. Ryoga and Akari sat down to watch while Ranma walked over to Akane. She noticed his approach and spoke quietly so that only he could hear. "You really think I can take both of them?" she asked. "I think you can," he replied. "Or am I wrong?" Fierce determination replaced the mild doubt as the primary emotion on her face. "No, I know I can do this!" Ranma smiled and nodded, then lightly grabbed her arm and pulled her closer. "And remember, nothing special. No Tora Dokiken or other special moves. Remember what I taught you." Akane nodded in understanding. "'Never let them see everything you've got.' Yeah I remember." He released her then and approached the center. He then spoke so everyone could hear. "Okay, is everybody ready?" All three girls nodded. "Then let the match begin!" As soon as he stepped clear, the match was on. Akane charged, hoping to seize the intiative. Kurumi met her opponent's charge with one of her own, while Natsume worked her way to the side. As the two girls met in the center, they exchanged a rapid series of strikes and counterattacks, but Kurumi was unprepared for just how much Akane had improved since their last encounter. All of her attacks were blocked or dodged, yet Akane still managed to land quite a few of her own. A last kick by Akane sent Kurumi flying away just in time, but she managed to twist in mid-air to land on her feet. It was at that moment that Natsume struck, sending a mini-tornado flying in. The battle dougi-clad girl dove to the side just in time to avoid it, but then Natsume was on her. Jumping to her feet, Akane prepared to meet her opponent when a ribbon snaked out and wrapped itself around her arm. So trapped, she could only block as Natsume brought her rugbeater staff into play with several strikes along her opponent's body. Akane could feel the ice cold sting of each strike, but she could do little to retaliate while Kurumi's ribbon was keeping her off balance. Ignoring the staff for the moment, Akane tugged hard on the ribbon and dashed to meet the oncoming girl at the other end. Unable to stop herself, Kurumi instead leapt into the air. Akane grinned and leapt after her, her powerful legs sending her up faster than her opponent. Kurumi's eyes widened in surprise as Akane zoomed past her in the air and rebounded off the ceiling. She was again unprepared for the angle of the attack as Akane lashed out with a few strikes, then grabbed and tossed Kurumi at her sister. On the sidelines, Ranma smiled with pride. Aerial attacks were a specialty of the Saotome school and Akane had just demonstrated how far she had come in that area. Natsume caught her sister and lightly tossed her away, knowing Kurumi would land on her feet. Unfortunately, that left her open to an attack from the still airborne Akane as she came down. Natsume twisted and took the flying kick to her arm. Grunting with the pain, she was forced back and to the ground. Akane was unable to follow up as Kurumi was attacking a second later. The ribbon lashed out again and Akane barely managed to dodge in time, but then something strange happened. The ribbon that had past her turned around and lashed into her backside. Akane gasped as a hot flash of pain burned it's way into her back. She realized Kurumi must be charging it with her own special brand of fire ki, but the controlling of the ribbon was a new thing. As the pain faded, she belatedly realized Natsume had sent another mini-tornado at Akane, and this one she couldn't dodge. The cold winds slashed into her and sent her tumbling backwards. Desperately trying to regain her feet, she had barely succeeded when the ribbon came flying in and she brought her forearms up to block. The burning sensations hit again and she fought back the scream, knowing how Ranma would react. She could already see his face and she knew how much he wanted to jump in. When her arms came down, Natsume was there and attacking madly. Akane realized that in order to stop these two, she needed to take away their weapons. As she evaded and and counterattacked with the elder sister, she activated a small amount of the Tora Dokiken and fed it into her arm. On the next swing of the staff, Akane caught it. Ranma frowned. Natsume gasped. "How...?" Akane grinned and yanked. Hard. The staff left the girl's hands and Akane brought it up to block the incoming ribbon strike. The ribbon wound itself around the weapon as Akane kicked out with a roundhouse, backing Natsume away. She then closed on the ribbon girl once more, wrapping more of the ribbon around the staff. Kurumi dropped her hold on her ribbon and leapt away, knowing she couldn't match Akane up close. Akane allowed herself a vicious grin as she tossed the weapons away and turned to confront Natsume. "Don't think you've won, just because we no longer have our weapons," Natsume intoned. "We are still formidable fighters without them." "Then come show me!" Akane taunted. Natsume did. Akane hadn't actually fought Natsume without her staff before, so she really didn't know what the girl was capable of. Still, she could see the basic Anything-Goes styles in her attacks, so she could deal with them. At least until Kurumi joined the melee. Now facing two different attackers up close, Akane was hard pressed to defend herself. Punches and kicks were getting through and she was delivering less hits. If this kept up, she might not win. She was tempted to use the Tora Dokiken again, when she heard Ranma's voice. "Remember the school yard boys!" he yelled. And Akane suddenly understood. She had always been good against multiple opponents, having LOTS of practicing fending off the boys each morning. It was one-on-one fights that Ranma was trying to help her deal with. But now she remembered how she dealt with them. She shifted her stance and moved between the two girls, as they were both in front of her. As they struck in unions, Akane kept moving and let their strikes continue past her and into each other. Natsume's punch struck the yonger sister and Kurumi's kick lanced into the other's stomach. Akane grinned as the her plan worked. That was something she had learned in those early morning fights of long ago. Now, she flowed foreward again and grabbed Natsume's arm while striking up Kurumi's body with her leg. Like Ranma had once done with Kuno, she had struck multiple vital points with her foot almost faster than could be seen. Kurumi stumbled back and collapsed while Akane tossed her other opponent into the wall. Natsume rebounded and managed a few weak attacks, but after seeing her sister go down, she knew it was over. Several solid body strikes later, Natsume went down and yielded. Only then did Akane realized how exhausted and spent she felt and collapsed to her knees as well. Instantly Ranma was there, proclaiming the victor and holding her up. An hour later saw the fighters somewhat rested and recovered. Onna-Ranma had begun to spar with Akari, to feel out her abilites. When Akane had recovered enough, Ranma let her take over Akari's training. Akane had been delighted at the fact that Ranma had felt she was ready to train someone. He didn't tell her it was because he still had problems hitting girls and Akari just seemed too sweet to attack. He did tell her it was because Akane could better understand where Akari was coming from since she was pretty strong, but lacking in speed. Natsume and Kurumi rotated in to help as well, until Akari felt she had couldn't take anymore several hours later. Then, the Natsume decided to spar with Ryoga, since he hadn't been doing much throughout the training sessions. It was going well and they seemed evenly matched since Ryoga didn't really want to hit girl's either so he wasn't at his best. Then the fight went outside, but Ranma didn't realize the danger until it was too late. A mini-tornado sped by Ryoga and into the koi pond, sucking up water and spraying it everywhere. Everyone froze as Ryoga disappeared and a little black piglet wiggled out of the remaining clothes. "Let me guess, he's Jusenkyo cursed too?" Kurumi asked Ranma quickly grabbed a kettle and upended the contents over the piglet, and Natsume and Kurumi looked away while the naked lost boy dressed. Then both Ranma and Ryoga nervously glanced at Akane. For several moments, nothing was said and no emotion could be seen on Akane's face. Ranma was unsure what to do. Then, without warning, she sped into action and struck Ryoga, plastering him into the outside wall. "You PIG!" she screamed. "HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME! Why didn't you tell me you were my pet!? You've heard my deepest secrets and slept in my bed! I though you were an honorable man. RYOGA NO HENTAI!" She struck him over and over again with her fists, before Ranma got there and held her back. "LET ME GO!" Ranma shook his head. "No, I can't let you do this to yourself." "No! He LIED to me! You lied to me! You had to have known about this! How could you!?" She looked up at him, accusation in her eyes, then she punched him into the same wall as Ryoga. "Neither one meant to lie to you," Akari said softly. Akane looked horrified. "Y-you knew, too!?" "I only found out recently," she said sadly. "Who else knew this!?" She looked around and suddenly felt very uncomfortable, so she took off. Leaping to the wall, and then the rooftops, she let her feet carry her, not caring where she was going. She finally stopped and and realized where she was. She collapsed as the tears flew down her face. Images came to her of Ranma and P-chan. Of P-chan attacking Ranma and Ranma attacking P-chan. Of Ranma seemingly jealous of a pig. Of a male Ranma sneaking into her room at night with a kettle. That last thought brought a revelation with it. She calmed down some. She closed her eyes. She began to cry again. "It was my fault he was cursed," came a voice. Akane looked up. "What?" "It was shortly after I got cursed," Ranma said softly. "I was so pissed I was chasin' Oyaji around the pools and I sorta bumped into him and knocked him into the spring. I didn't realize `til later who he was and what I'd done." He closed his eyes. "I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't. When I found out, he looked so upset that I promised I wouldn't tell anyone. Shortly afterward, you kissed his pig form and took him to bed. I-I think that's when he began to love you, since he had never been shown any affection before." "So why didn't you tell me!" her voice came in, full of accusation. "I made a promise!" Ranma retorted. "If I broke my word, I'd be no better than pop, who broke his word whenever it seemed convenient." He sighed. "Actually, I should've told you. You're honor is more important than mine. All I can say is I'm sorry." Akane stared at him and desperatly wanted to yell and scream at him some more. But even through her flood of emotions, she could see how he had tried to protect her. She stood up slowly and regarded him. Ranma avoided her gaze by looking down. Twiddling his fingers, he asked, "So, am I forgiven? Or do ya want me to go away?" He turned his back to her. She sighed. "No. You're not getting off that easy. You're going to make this up to me when I figure out exactly how." She walked foreward and studied his face, as if trying to determine something. "Your honor is one of the things I love about you, so I guess I can't really blame you for trying to keep it." He slowly pulled away and turned around to face her, surprise on his face. "You mean it? You don't blame me?" Akane sighed noisily and crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh no. You've still got some of the blame." She turned around. "So, will you still help train Akari? She didn't know `bout any of this until recently, and she still accepts Ryoga." She threw her hands up. "Why? I don't understand. Why would he become my pet and why would Akari accept him?" "I guess `cause she loves him. And..." Ranma paused. He leaned back in his chair.