Send C&C to: oddball22@hotmail.com Find my stories at: www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000 DISCLAIMER: Ranma 1/2: New Challenges Minor Disturbances Chapter 8 Ryoga awoke. And immediately regretted it. He had spent the night in a large steel construction tube in order to avoid the rains that had fallen that night. Needless to say, his awakening was greeted by the pained protests of his body for the hard surface and cramped conditions he'd been forced to endure. He was used to sleeping on the ground, but hard steel was a tad more uncomfortable, and the angle his body was in added to that torment. Of course, he wouldn't have needed to seek such living conditions if he hadn't have been stupid enough to wander off and get lost yesterday. Of course, that was probably because of the depression he had sunk back into after Akane had found out about his curse. It wasn't as bad as his previous depressions, thanks to Akari, but it was still bad since Akane had refused to talk to him afterward. Even when he tried to make it up to her, she consistantly ignored him. He never knew rejection from Akane could be so painful. Akari helped lessen the blow, but it still hurt. He had figured out that the happiness he got from Akari helped counteract his directional problem somewhat, so he could find his way around some of the time, but drop back into depression and he got lost again. Ryoga sighed and crawled out of the tube, careful not to step into any of the puddles that remained. Once out, he stretched his kinked muscles in the contruction yard where he stayed. "Ah, that's better," he remarked to himself. He was still a little sore, but not as stiff as he had been. He then sat down on a nearby pile of bricks and contemplated what he should do now. He supposed he should head back to the Tendo Dojo, but how would he find it? And should he go back? Akane didn't like him, and Akari had been a bit distant ever since that Sakura chick showed up. Was Akari having second thoughts about him? he thought glumly. Unknowingly, his body had started to glow a pale yellow and green color as his despair set in, and he instinctively brought his hands up. "Why does this happen to me!" The blast of ki energy exploded out of him rocketing away into the air, and if he had been paying attention, he would have seen it was only slightly short of a Full Shishi Houkodan. So drained, he collapsed back onto the pile of bricks. "The world is a dark and lonely place..." "Yep, that's him sensei," he dimly heard a voice saying. "Hibiki Ryoga. Some say he's the second best fighter in the area." "Hello there!" came another voice. Ryoga continued to stare at the ground. He heard steps walk over to him and a hand waved in front of his face. "I said, hello there!" Ryoga looked up into the face of the man who greeted him, and nearly recoiled in shock. "Wh-who are you? What are you?" The man bowed gracefully. "I am Sukebe, and I would like to interest you in a little match. What do you say?" "A fight?" Ryoga asked. "With you?" He noticed another man slightly behind and to the left of Sukebe. "Sasuke?" Sukebe frowned. "Naw, that's my student, Denoki." The smile returned. "So, what do you say? Think you got what it takes to face me?" Suddenly, Ryoga realized that a fight was just what he wanted. And since Ranma wasn't immediately available, this guy would have to do. "Yeah sure, why not?" Sukebe grinned evilly as the two men readied themselves. He had found another sucker. His previous matches had been too easy, but if what his student-servant had told him, this guy should give a good challenge. Now it should be noted that, in the savage combat that took place, Ryoga wasn't exactly at his best. He was still stiff and sore from sleep, hungry, and he had just fired off a pretty huge Shishi Houkodan. Which, incidentily, was what led Ranma to him a couple hours later. "Oh man," was his first words upon seeing the battered and all but destroyed construction site. And upon seeing the lost boy half- buried in it. "What did you do, Ryoga?" he asked walking up to him. Ryoga was out cold, so Ranma just shook his head and began to dig his lower half out. "Well, I guess I better get you back to the dojo." He pulled a few more heavy construction beams off him, then pulled the lost boy out. He set him down and slapped him a few times. "Earth to Ryoga! You in there buddy?" Ryoga only groaned and tossed his head a few times. "Man, you look like crap. What happened to you?" His clothes were in tatters and he was sporting numerous cuts and bruises. Ranma sighed and picked up the lost boy, throwing him over his shoulder. "Well, I guess you'll have ta tell me later." He turned and leapt out of the yard, starting for home. "And just think, today's your girlfriend's challenge match, too." "Ryo-chan!" the girlfriend in question exclaimed. "Ranma-kun, you found him!" She gasped as Ranma set his load down on the Tendo living room floor. "What happened to him?" Ranma shook his head. "Don't know. He was half-buried in steel when I found him. Don't worry about him though, he's tough." Akane nodded. "Yeah, in the meantime, you've got a match coming up in an hour. Nabiki's already down there setting up the field and the details." Her eyes narrowed. "We'll make sure this match is a fair one. "Right!" Akari said, then turned her attention to her unconscious fiance. She gave a soft kiss on his cheek. "Wish me luck, Ryo-chan." "It's time to get dressed for battle, Akari-san," Natsume announced as she entered the room. Akari looked reluctant to leave "Don't worry, I'll get pig-boy down to the field as soon I get him patched up and conscious," Ranma volunteered. The sumo pig farmer nodded and, with a last look at her love, she allowed the other two girls to lead her off to get dressed. "This is your last chance to place bets!" Nabiki yelled through the megaphone at the assembled crowd. "Unryuu Akari vs. Sakura. Rumor has it their last match ended in a draw, and Akari-san has been training at the Tendo dojo for the past week. Will it be enough to take on Sakura for the hand of Ryoga?" A few more kids came forward to make bets with Nabiki's trusted lietenants: Yuka, Sayuri, and Tomoe. She smiled, satisfied that everything was going to plan, and handed off the megaphone to Yuka. There was nothing like a good martial arts duel to raise money for the Nabiki poverty fund, with a minor cut for her assistants, of course. She checked her watch. "4pm. Where are they?" There was a commotion at one end of the soccer field, and Nabiki looked up to see an older man and woman arrive with a younger girl in a sailor fuku. As if to answer her, she turned to see Akane, Natsume, and Kurumi leading Akari onto the field. She was dressed in one of Akane's gi's, her hair tied back into a pony tail with one of Ryoga's bandannas. Another one of his bandannas she wore around her forehead. Ryoga was sitting in a chair, sporting various injuries and bandages, with a `1st place' sign around his neck. Ranma and Katsunishki stood nearby. Nabiki grinned, all was in readiness. "I'm so nervous!" Akari said, trembling. "What if I lose? Ryoga- chan will hate me..." Akane gripped the trembling girl's shoulders with both hands. "No he won't! You're going to win, you've got to believe that! Just remember what we taught you." Akari smiled wanely. "Thanks Akane-chan. I really appreciate all you've done for me, despite the fact of what Ryoga-chan's done to you..." Akane sighed. "It's okay. I guess I can understand why he did it, but he still should have told me. I'll get over it in time." She smiled at the other girl, then gave her a hug. "For luck." Akari nodded and left her to take her place on the field. Akane went to stand over by Ranma and noticed the way Ranma was looking at Sakura. She felt a momentary jealous twinge, before suppressing it firmly. Taking another look at the stretching Sakura, she noticed what he was doing. "Do you think Akari has a chance?" she asked lightly. Ranma let out a breath. "I don't know. Sakura is a martial artist, and Akari has only being training sumo pigs. Akari's got good strength, but Sakura looks to be pretty fast. From the way Ryoga explained their last match, I'd say it was Akari only won because Sakura didn't adapt fast enough to Akari's moves. The tricks we taught her might help, but..." he shrugged. "I dunno. Sakura looks pretty good. You could take her easy. Kodachi could as well if she used her gymnastics tools." Akane blinked in surprise. "You know, sometimes you really surprise me, Ranma. That was a really good assement of abilities and the fight hasn't even started yet. You really do have a brain up there!" Ranma rolled his eyes. "Gah." Akane giggled, then settled down as Nabiki calmed the crowd. "This is it!" Nabiki yelled through the megaphone. "Akari vs. Sakura. No time limit. Victory to be determined when one is unable to continue. Are you two girls ready?" They both nodded at her. "Then, begin!" With that, the battle was joined. "What took you so long, `nichan?" Yuri asked as her older brother arrived, out of breath. Ukyo looked over at him from her okonomiyaki stand. "Yeah, we could've used your help. My okonomiyaki has been selling like hot cakes." "Sorry, had a few things to take care of," Kenji replied, grabbing an `Ucchans' apron and an order pad. The chef gave him a wan smile. "Well get up up into the stands, Kenji-kun, and start taking orders! Yuri-chan, why don't you head back to the store and see if Konatsu and Selah need some help?" Yuri nodded and left. "See ya later, Ucchan, nichan!" Kenja waved to his sister, then started up into the stands. He took a moment to gauge the action going on in the field, and winced when he saw it wasn't going well. Akari was hard pressed. The other girl seemed to even better then before, she was dodging every attack Akari tried. Sakura was also managing to get a few blows through that had begun to wear the sumo pig farm girl down. Sakura jumped back from Akari's latest punch and smirked. "You really are pathetic,' she taunted. "You can't beat me with such weak skills. I can't see why Ryoga-sama ever tolerated a pig-girl like you." The `pig-girl' smirked. "Thanks for the compliment, but this fight isn't over yet. Besides, I know for a fact Ryo-chan wouldn't be interested in a dumb-as-a-brick, small-chested bimbo schoolgirl." She waved a hand in front of her nose. "And pig manure smells better than you." On the sidelines, Ranma winced. He had learned on the road never to get involved in an insult throwing match with a farm girl. He knew this was gonna get nasty. Sakura steamed as she realized Akari did have the slightly larger chest. "You... You... Arrrggghhh!" And she attacked, sliding forward with a mid-level punch. Akari blocked the first blow, sensing it was a feint, and grabbed the following up kick that was the real attack. She pulled the leg foreward, sending Sakura off-balance. Then Akari grabbed her opponent in a bear hug, pinning the fuku-clad girl's arms to her side, before tripping her up and falling on top of her. There was an audible *oomph* from Sakura as her back hit the ground with Akari on top. Despite the momentary loss of wind, Sakura managed to kick Akari off of her and the other girl went flying to land several yards away. She landed and rolled badly, but was able to regain her feet at the same time as her rival. Akari was about to advance again when she noticed her rival standing still and concentrating. Akari thought, right before Skaura launch the glowing ball at her. Yuri stepped into the empty restaurant. She continued walking inside, back to the kitchen. She didn't see him in the kitchen, and there was no one behind the grill, so she surmised he must be in the bathroom. Unfortunately, he wasn't there either. Walking softly upstairs, she heard a faint sound that almost sounded like... crying? Tiptoeing over to the room Konatsu shared with her brother, she put her ear to the door but heard nothing. Concerned, she knocked. "Konatsu-kun, are you in there?" she called. She heard a weak voice call for her to enter, so she opened the door and stepped inside. The male kunoichi had his back to her and was kneeling on his futon. He was dressed in a floral kimono. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked, coming behind him. "I-I'm fine, Yuri-sama," he replied meekly. She kneeled in front of him to see his eyes slightly red, and she frowned. "No you're not. You're upset. You want to tell me why?" Up close, she could see the tiny bit of make-up that he still wore, and a few tears had marred it somewhat. He sighed. "It's... It's just... Ukyo-sama. She doesn't love me..." The ninja girl had learned of the attraction Konatsu had for Ukyo in the past couple of months, but also kinda got the feeling the sentiment wasn't returned. "How do you know?" "After our date a couple of weeks back, she told me," he sniffed. "That she only really thought of me as a friend. That she didn't feel that way about me. I thought it would be okay, so I tried to go back to the normal routines, but it just isn't helping..." Yuri couldn't resist giving him a sympathetic hug. "Oh, Konatsu-chan, I'm sorry. But you'll find someone else. There's got to be a special girl out there for you." "I thought Ukyo-sama was the one for me," he said dully. She pulled back to look at him. "What made you decide that in the first place?" His face took on an odd look of happiness and sadness. "She was so nice me, compared to my step-family. She gave me a place to stay with enough food and she even paid me to work!" Yuri laughed lightly. "There are plenty of girls out there that are just as nice as Ukyo-chan. But unless you try, you'll never know." She then sat back on her shins and studied him. According to some other people she talked with, Konatsu used to dress VERY feminine, and it was hard to tell he was guy since he acted so much like a girl. But she hadn't met him until he had returned to the restaurant a couple of months ago. While he did have several feminine qualities, Ukyo had told her he wasn't dressing very feminine anymore. The result was a pretty cute guy who wasn't afraid to show his emotions, and was very respectful of others, women in particular. That was important, since all the men Yuri had encountered were macho braggarts who seemed only intent on one thing. So, she had decided that men were beneath her and a waste of time. But Konatsu was different, and she found herself feeling a bit attracted to him. Konatsu hadn't missed the expressions that flitted across the girl's face, and he was puzzled by what she was thinking. Then she half- smiled deviously and, before he knew what was happening, leaned over and lightly kissed him on the lips. He promptly fainted. Yuri sighed. "Well, what do ya know..." She smiled. "There may be some hope for you after all, `Natsu-chan..." He knew she was losing, and there was nothing he could do about it. His heart felt every single punch and kick she took. And then he wondered how he could've been stupid enough to let his parents talk him into this. And for the one-hundreth time, Ryoga prayed Akari would win. "Not long now," came the too-happy-for-Ryoga's-tastes of Dan Hibiki, aka Ryoga's father. "Gotta admit, that pig girlfriend of yours is tough, though." He placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "I know you might be a but upset now, but you'll see the wisdom of your parents decision in time." Ryoga whacked his dad's hand away. "Upset!? I'm way past upset, *dad*!" He put quite a bit of distaste into the word `dad'. "I can't believe you'd do something like this to me! And here I thought it was Ranma's father who did stupid things like this..." His gaze turned back to the almost finished battle. It had been clear for most of the match who would win. Sakura had fairly danced around Akari, avoiding and deflecting most of her attacks. That and she was throwing a light ki attack she called a `Hadoken.' While Akari had gotten some good blows in, she didn't have the skill of her opponent. She was limping on her left leg, and Ryoga could tell by the way she moved that her ribs were bruised. Then his heart stopped as he watched Sakura deliver the final attack, a dashing multi-punch combo that seemed to go in slow motion. With the final hit, Akari dropped to the ground. There was stunned silence in the crowd. After checking to make sure her opponent was okay, Sakura leapt up in victory, then rushed to glomp her new fiance while Akane and Katsunishki moved out to check on Akari. Ryoga wanted to go too, but the tight grip Sakura had on him was making it impossible for him to move. Out in the field, Akane was relived to see that the pig-farmer was okay, just bruised and unconscious for the moment. She watched as the recently-defeated girl came around under Katsunishki's nosings. "Uhhhmmm," Akari groaned. "Katsu-chan." She reached a hand up to scratch her pet pig's chin, then looked at Akane. "I lost, didn't I?" Akane nodded slowly. "I'm sorry..." Akari hauled herself up to see Ryoga and Sakura embracing. Tears leaked from her eyes as despair filled her. "No... I've lost him..." With ease that came of familiarity, Akari climbed onto to Katsunishiki and the sumo pig took off. Akane watched her go, knowing she wouldn't be able to catch up. She hoped this was something Akari could work out on her own. Ryoga, who had been trying to squirm out of Sakura's glomp, managed to catch a glimpse of Akari's tear-filled face before she mounted the sumo pig and took off. "AKARI!" he yelled, but she either didn't hear him, or chose not to respond. With a last mighty shove, Sakura ended up on the ground and Ryoga took off after the rapidly disappearing sumo pig. Ranma tried to stop him, but was flung aside and in moments, the lost boy lived up to his nickname and was gone. Ranma picked himself up as Akane came over to him. "Man, I really feel bad for Ryoga now. This has gotta be tough for him." His fiancee nodded. "Poor Akari, too. After all her hard work, it still wasn't enough. I wish there something more we could do to help them." She was finding herself feeling sorry for Ryoga, the first signs of sympathy since she found out he was P-chan. Oh sure, she was still upset at him, but Akari loved him and she had to admit they made a cute couple. "Nothin' we can do," Ranma replied. "Ryoga'll be difficult to find, and who knows where Akari is headed. Best thing is to head home and wait to see if we hear from one of them." Akane nodded and the pair started for home. Behind them, Nabiki and her cohorts collected on the various betting pools. Hours later, the middle Tendo sister finally arrived home. It had been a good day, having generated a modest amount of money from the fight. Afterwards, she had gone to celebrate with some of her friends. It wasn't like she didn't feel for what happened to Akari, it was just that it wasn't really her business. By the time she arrived back, it was already dark and she was feeling pretty sleepy, so she decided to call it a night. As she passed the living room, Nabiki noted her younger sister snuggled up to the side of her fiance on the couch, her head resting on his shoulder while they watched the TV. For a moment she was tempted to do something about the sickening sight, but decided she was in too good of a mood herself, so she left them alone. No, it wasn't a real bad thing Ranma and Akane were getting along, and it seemed all but assured they were going to be married. It was just the lovey-dovey act they put on occasionally that annoyed her. She was still too used to them fighting and arguing like they did for the past year. This new Ranma and Akane seemed... unnatural. Oh, they still argued and fought from time to time, but nowhere near the level they used too. And the fights never lasted very long either. She still thought her sister could do better than Ranma, but as long as Akane wanted him and was happy, Nabiki had to accept it. She smiled as she heard them start up another argument about what TV program to watch. It seemed Ranma wanted to watch an old Bruce Lee movie, and Akane wanted to watch a magical girl anime. Nabiki waited at the bottom of the stairs for the conclusion. *Crash!* It was decided to watch the anime. Nabiki peeked back into the room to see the same situation as before, only with a bump now displayed on Ranma's head. She shook her own head and headed to her room, falling asleep in her bed an hour later. She awoke some time later to a strange noise, almost like air being let out of a balloon. Opening her eyes, she decided to see what time it was, and that's when she realized she couldn't see anything. Her room was pitch black and their was an odd scent in the air. Logically, she realized there should be at least some light from her window, or even her digital alarm clock by her bed. She sat up slowly, and detected a chill in the air that caused her to wrap her blankets tightly around her body. "Alright, what's going on here?" she asked herself in a whisper. "Naaabiiiiikiiiii...." came a very distorted whispered reply. "Who's there?" she demanded. "Naaabiiiiikiiiii..." came the voice again, a little louder this time. "Yoooouuuu've beeeen baaaad...." A hideous cackling sound followed that. "I liiiike yooouuuu..." For the life of her, Nabiki couldn't tell who that voice belonged to. "I'm giving you just three seconds to get to the point or get lost!" A louder cackling sound resounded, and she noticed the wind currents begin pick up. They were cold enough to make her shiver and form goosebumps on her skin. Unconsciously, her teeth began to chatter. "I'v cooome... for youuuuuu, Teeeendoooo Naaabiiiikiiii..." the voice intoned. "Your souuulll is miiiiiiine!" The middle Tendo decided she had had enough of this, and fumbled around for the lamp on her nightstand, but couldn't find it. "Where's my nightstand!?" she gasped, surprised. "Youuu are in myyyy world, Naaabiiiikiiii....heheheheheh! Because of your ruuuuthless treeeatment of people in the pursuuuiit of moneeeeyyy, I welcome youuu into Hell!" "Well, you're in my room!" Nabiki yelled back, her voice somewhat shaken. She decided to see if she could make it to the light switch across the room. No sooner then she shifted her legs to the side of her bed, then a very hot blast of wind hit her in the face. "Gooooiing somewhereee?" Nabiki trembled. "Who are you!?" She woudn't have admitted it, but she was... a little scared at the moment. "I shall shoooow youuuu!" In the next instant, a glowing red face appeared in front of her. It was a cracked and bleeding skull covered by a hood. "I am Death!" A scythe came up to rest under her chin. "It's time to goooo....!" Nabiki's eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she collapsed on the bed. `Death' took off it's mask, exhaled, and grinned. Then he uncovered the Nabiki's window and moved her nightstand back. Taking a last look around the room, Kenji smiled, then leapt out the window.