Ranma 1/2: New Challenges Trouble with a Capital `A' Chapter 5 Bright and early the next morning, at the Tendo household, the day began as normal. Ranma had his strength back and was feeling great. Akane had Ranma back and was feeling even better. Well, that and they were leaving on their training trip today was another reason she was excited. They had packed the day before, so they could head out after breakfast. Ranma had said that the place they were going to was pretty far away, but was perfect for all the stuff he wanted to train her in. Akane was in her room, packing a few last essentials when Nabiki entered. She went to her little sister's bed and sat down, watching Akane move around her room. Avert enduring her sister's probing gaze for several minutes, Akane couldn't take it any longer. "What is it, Nabiki?" Akane asked with a bit more anger than she wanted. "I'm trying to decide how long it'll take." Akane did a double take. "What do you mean?" Nabiki smirked. "I mean, which night do you think you'll seduce him?" Akane's face would now make an excellent match with onna- Ranma's hair. "NANI!?" "Oh come on, sis. You and him, all alone, cuddling in the same tent. That boy is way too honorable to do anything on his own, so if anything happens, you'll have to initiate it." Akane scowled. "Yeah, IF. We're going to train, Nabiki and we'll have seperate tents! With all the crazy things that happen around here, we need to be better prepared to handle it, me especially." She added that last part reluctantly. Nabiki watched as Akane turned away partially to glance out the window, her attention now somewhere else as she continued in a softer voice. "It was my fault that I nearly died at Jusendo. If I was a better martial artist, I could've avoided that. If I could've beat Kima, then she wouldn't have been able to use my form to trick Ranma." She sighed, her eyes returning to the present. "Just because some of our problems are gone, doesn't mean new ones won't show up. Plus," she smiled, "we could use the vacation." Nabiki stood up and looked at her sister appraisingly. "I'm impressed sis, you have grown up. But just in case," she walked over to Akane's pack and produced a small box. Akane's eyes widened in shock as she realized what they were. She watched Nabiki place the small box of condoms in one of her pack's pouches. "Just in case," she repeated, smiling, then winked and left. Akane went to remove them, but stopped and shrugged instead. She shouldered her pack, walked downstairs, and took note of her family waiting for her. She took turns hugging them all. "Take care Akane-chan," Kasumi said, then whispered in her ear. "And I've started on that special project for you." Akane replied her thanks and moved on. She tried to hug Nabiki, but was stopped. "Not in public, sis. I have a reputation to keep." Akane ignored her and wrapped her in a big bear hug over the older sister's protests. "And don't think of charging me for that, `cause I'll pay you back in the dojo," Akane threatened. Nabiki closed her mouth, then giggled. "My little girl is going out into the world, alone," Soun wailed, but nowhere near the crying he used to do. "Daddy! I won't be alone. Ranma will be with me and I can take care of myself!" She pried herself from her father's iron grip. "Have a good time, my future daughter-in-law," Nodoka said, embracing Akane. She also whispered in her ear, "And I'm trusting you to make sure my son acts manly." Akane blushed, then whispered back in the affirmative. When she got to Genma, he stuck out his hand. Apparently, he'd rather have a handshake than a hug. Akane felt the same way and took his hand. Before he could say anything, she twisted and flipped him into the pond with a move that would make a judo master proud. The family got a laugh out of that and Akane stepped up to Ranma. "Ready to go?" Ranma noticed something for the first time. Yesterday he was too concerned about other matters, but today he realized something: Akane was dressing different. Yesterday she was wearing one of his blue Chinese shirts and today it was one of his red ones. As they left the house and began hopping rooftops, he asked her about it. She smiled. "Remember what you said awhile ago when I asked why you wore this stuff? You said it was because you wear what's comfortable when you have to fight, and you have to fight almost all the time. So I decided to see for myself. Most of the time I'm wearing some type of dress when fighting breaks out, so I've decided to start wearing casual outfits I can fight in if needed. Plus, wearing your clothes might help me understand you better." "Well, don't expect me to understand you. Ain't no way I'm gonna wear your clothes." Akane giggled at the image of Ranma in one of her dresses. "But you'd look so cute in them, Ranma-chan!" He frowned. "That's not what I meant. They wouldn't fit me since they'd be too tight in the chest and too loose around the waist..." Akane growled. "Ranma!" He laughed at her as she chased him across the roofs of Nerima. She wasn't really angry at him. Well, okay a little. But she had learned that he would still say stupid stuff from time to time and she should just deal with it. Of course, `dealing with it' usually meant some type of punishment. By the time they arrived at the train station, she was out of breath however, and couldn't do much. She looked up to see him grinning at her. "No bad, you almost caught me," he said. "Not bad for your first day of training." "First day? I thought we were going to start tomorrow?" He shook his head. "You're playing my game now, and your training started this morning. From now on, you do as I say." She groaned and he moved closer. "By the way, I really meant that you'd never get me to wear your dresses, since you look cuter in them than I would." "Baka. You said that just to motivate me." He nodded and grinned. "Yep. One of your main problems is you get mad too easily. During a serious fight, an opponent can use that against ya. Why do ya think I taunt Ryoga? Once he gets mad, he starts ta get sloppy." He looked up as the boarding call was annouced. "Time to get on the train. Let's go." Three stops and 60 minutes saw them deposited at their drop-off point. Ranma told her, from here on out it was a vigorous climb and she could turn back if she wanted out. She stuck her tongue out at him and began the climb ahead of him. Five hours later, she was struggling to keep up with Ranma who, seemingly was still in perfect form while she was getting tired and her feet her starting to hurt. Thankfully, Ranma called a break and they broke out the lunch Kasumi had packed for them. Akane was surprised when Ranma removed her shoes and began to massage her feet. "Mmmmmm, that feels so good," she moaned in pleasure. "Where did you learn to do that?" He shrugged. "Picked it up at one of the many dojo's we went around to, don't remember which one. It helped quite a lot with all the travelin' me and pop did." He finished up by pressing a few points on her heels. "And that I learned from Tofu-sensei." Akane put her hiking shoes back on and stood. She was surprised at how good her feet felt. They still hurt a bit, but the pain was anulled for the most part. Ranma began to move off and Akane ran to catch up with him. Sometime in the afternoon, Ranma annouced they had arrived. Akane moved beside him, plopped herself down on a fallen log, and took a look around. It was a small clearing in the forest. The sound of running water could be heard nearby, and a rocky cliff face could be seen in the distance. Birds could be heard singing, and the whole place gave an impression of... serenity. "It's beautiful," she said. He nodded and removed his pack. "I discovered this place shortly before me and pop left for China. We actually camped somewhere farther off, but I came here to meditate and practice by myself. I never told him about it, since pop never did go for meditatin'. He always thought the Art was something physical. Lately, I've seen that it's more than that." Ever since she had let down her guard and let herself love him, she was surprised more and more with what made up Ranma. His admission of how nice it was to have a home, the foot massaging thing, and now this. Who knew Ranma meditated? "Well, let's get camp set up," he said while dropping his pack and removing the tent. Akane put her pack down. "You set up camp, I'm going to take a bath. You may be fine, but I feel dirty and sweaty." He laughed. "Consider yourself lucky, me and pop used to go for weeks without bathing. Here, you've got a waterful fed stream and a hot spring." "There's a hot spring near here?" He nodded and pointed. "Straight through those trees if I remember correctly." Akane gathered up some supplies and began to walk toward the waterfall. "Scream if you need help." She stuck her tongue out at him. "And no peeking!" she called as she disappeared into the forest. Ranma laughed to himself and finished setting up his tent. He looked at Akane's pack and decided to set hers up, too. As he searched her backpack, he realized she didn't have a tent. He stopped himself. He stopped and thought about it. He shuddered at the thought. When Akane returned from soaking in the hot springs, she found Ranma cooking something over a fire. She frowned when she saw that only his tent was up. "What are you cooking?" she asked, going through her pack. "Rabbit." He frowned when he saw her go through her pack. "Our dad's must've removed your tent." Akane scowled. "You're right. Oh well, at least your tent is big enough for both of us." She glanced over at him to see him studying the meal. She sighed. They ate the meal in silence and turned in. Despite being nervous at their closeness, they eventually went to sleep in their own sleeping bags. "Akane, you're falling behind!" onna-Ranma taunted. Akane only gritted her teeth and tried to keep up with the bounding redhead. They were both wearing heavy mesh weights strapped on their legs, arms, and body, yet Ranma was moving from the ground to the tree tops and back again as if they weren't there. "I'll get you, Ranma!" she shouted back and increased her speed. After a couple more minutes, Ranma suddenly turned on her and attacked. "What are you doing!?" Onna-Ranma said nothing as she struck out with various kicks and punches. Akane could tell they weren't at full speed or strength, but still were moving very fast, though the actual contacts were little more than light taps. She could just barely block or dodge one, when the next one came flying at her. "Come on, Akane, attack back!" Ranma scolded. "If ya stay on the defensive, you let your enemy attack with a major offensive. Sooner or later, you're gonna lose." Akane growled. She timed her attack. Letting a punch slip through and strike her shoulder, then lanced out with her counterpunch. He dodged, but that was okay since it was only a feint. The real attack, a side-kick, did connect, albeit with less force than she would've wanted. The match continued a bit more evenly for a few more minutes after that, when Ranma called a halt. Akane saw the look on him that told her he was going over something in his mind. She waited a few minutes until he was ready to talk. "Akane," he began. "I've been thinkin' `bout some things. You know I don't like to hurt you, but if I`m really gonna be your sensei, then I have ta do some things that will hurt you a lot. It's the only way you'll advance in the Art as much as me. This ain't gonna to be the kind of light trainin' you did with your father. If we take this hard path, you'll advance faster than if I just trained ya lightly this week. So you have to decide if you wanna go ahead and take the pain." Akane stood there for a few seconds. Inwardly, she did want to be as good as Ranma, but she had heard of all the things Ranma and his father had done on their training trips and wondered if she was up to it. In short, was she willing to what it took to perfect her skills? She smiled, knowing what the answer was. "Yes, I want to go for it. Not only because I'm an heir to the Musabetsu Kakuto, but for me. Martial arts are as much a part of my life as they are for you." Onna-Ranma nodded slowly. "Okay, then I will fight you all out. It ain't gonna be fun and it ain't gonna be pretty, but it'll toughen your endurance and tighten your defense. Also, from now on you wear those weights. You'll sleep with them, eat with them, and take a bath with them. You can remove them at the end of the week, or when we decide to head back." Akane gulped. "For now, you chase me again and be waitin' for an attack from any angle." The redhead leaped up into the trees without waiting for a reply. Akane groaned and took off after him. Sometime later, a tired and bruised Akane made her way back to the campsite. Onna-Ranma was already there, going through a kata. Several times during their chase, Ramnahad seemingly disappeared and attacked her. Near the end of the session, Akane was starting to sense her fiance's motions and could almost tell from what side her next attack would come from. Then the redhead told her to meet her at camp and disappeared again. A half-an-hour later, Akane managed to find the site. "Feeling tired?" Ranma asked as the raven-haired girl plopped down on the ground and nodded in reply. "Well, this next exercise won't require you to move much, so you have some time to recover. Now sit up and close your eyes. Take a few minutes to listen to the world around you. Extend your ki." She did so. She heard the running water, the birds singing, the wind in the trees. She felt the warmth of the sun on her skin. She sensed movement and instinctively brought her hand up. When she opened her eyes, she was holding Ranma's fist, which was a punch aimed for her face. She blinked, several times, startled at what she had just done. "Not bad," Ranma commended. "But I was going slow. Now, close your eyes and do it again. I'm going to move around and I want you to follow my movements based on the sounds and senses you feel." For rest of the day, Ranma continued to drill her student in the use of her aura and ki to feel out her surroundings. She would move around as silently as possible and Akane would move to him with her eyes closed. Eventually, Ranma would intermittently spring attacks on her and she would dodge or block, again with her eyes closed. She was successful about half the time. When night fell, she endured another sparring session in the darkness. Or rather, it was a beating session. Ranma seemed to come at her from all angles and it was all she could do to fend him off. Once she calmed down some and extended her senses, she was able to partially detect her sensei's aura with her own. Dodging became a whole lot easier. They turned in some time later with Akane hitting her sleeping bag and falling asleep almost immediately due to exhaustion. Ranma stayed awake for awhile watching her before he too let sleep claim him. Elsewhere, another couple was training. "Bakusai Tenketsu Ha!" Ryoga hit the ground with a finger and watched in satisfaction as the ground exploded. A split second afterward, another patch of ground exploded, then another, and another. He frowned. "Cool!" Akari exclaimed from the sidelines. Then she noticed his frown. "What's wrong?" "It didn't turn out so well," Ryoga said. "I'm tryin' to start a line of explosions but I have trouble getting them to go where I want them to. The line of ki I send out through the ground goes off course." Akari cocked her head, not really understanding. "You'll get it eventually." Ryoga sighed. "You don't understand, I need to develop some more moves to compensate for the lack of my Shishi Houkodan." She frowned. "That's your depression thingy, right?" "Yeah. But since I've been staying with you, I'm not as depressed as I used to be, so it's not as strong as before." Akari thought for a second. "You said Ranma modified it by using a different emotion. Why can't you do the same thing?" "That was my thought, but I don't know what emotion to use. I haven't really had any emotion become strong enough that I could rely on." She jumped down from Katsunishki's back and walked over to him. "You'll find one, I'm sure of it!" She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. Ryoga was stunned for a second, then slowly tried to return the kiss. Normally he would've passed out, but Akari had given him an old Unyru family remedy that seemed to calm him some. He was still nervous, but she was understanding and didn't pressure him with more than he was comfortable with. She broke off the kiss. "So, you ready to do some more exercises?" Ryoga asked. Akari nodded vigorously. Ryoga was surprised at how well she could defend herself. Of course, she was the one who trained Katsunishki, so he shouldn't have been too surprised. She knew a bunch of holds and throws and ways to toss her opponent off balance, but she wasn't very fast. She was stronger than a normal girl her age, but not as strong as Akane or Shampoo. For her part, Akari thought it was great. The more she learned, the more she could teach her sumo pigs and the better they'd do. Ryoga was still thinking about what emotion he could use as they headed back to the farm that evening. As he rode atop the giant sumo pig his arms crept nervously around the girl in front of him. The girl who, byond his ability to comprehend, loved him. While most of his emotions were in flux, he was able to identify one particular feeling that had long been absent from his life. He was actually starting to feel happy. "This better be good, Kuno-baby," Nabiki huffed. "Indeed, I think you shall find it worth your while, Nabiki- kun," Kuno replied, throwing another board out of the way. They were in the remains of the Kuno mansion, and Tatewaki was currently digging in a certain spot, trying to find the entrance to the basement. Whatever was too big to move, was sliced up via Kuno's bokken. Nabiki wouldn't admit it, but she was very curious about what secrets this basement of his held. She also wanted to know what was with the sword tricks he pulled on that night with they fought Galfgar. So far, he had been tight lipped about it, but Nabiki would lay odds Kuno didn't have much of a clue either. So, here they were. Hoping to find the answers in this basement room if the ruined Kuno mansion. Kuno stopped. "I believe the term is, `paydirt'." Nabiki hopped down off the rock she had been sitting on and walked over to him. Looking down, she saw a small stone staircase that spiraled downward into darkness. Without another word, Kuno brought out a flashlight and started down with Nabiki hesitantly going following. By the time they had reached the bottom, Nabiki estimated they were five stories underground. The air had turned into something quite unpleasant, and was laden with moisture. Despite that, Nabiki felt her mouth go dry. Kuno flashed the light down the stone hallway, revealing many a musty cobweb and cracked stone blocks. "Something tells me nobody's been down here in awhile," Nabiki half-joked. Tatewaki nodded. "This area wasn't very important to a family without it's right mind." He gestured down the hallway. "Well, shall we continue on?" Nabiki replied in the affirmative and they continued on, eventually reaching a small steel door at the end of the hallway. Kuno handed the flashlight to Nabiki and turned his attention to the door. Finding the handle, he grabbed ahold and pulled. It didn't budge. The kendoist frowned and Nabiki smirked. He placed both hands on the handle and pulled again. Their was a small creaking sound, but the door remained closed. "Don't strain yourself," Nabiki joked. Tatewaki merely grunted, took a deep breath, and tried again. Putting all his strength into it and bracing a foot against the door jam, he yanked hard and was rewarded when the door whined as it slowly opened. He stopped when it became wide enough for a single person to pass through. "After you, milady," he intoned. Nabiki hesitated for a second. She wasn't scared, no of course she wasn't. But still... "That's okay, Kuno-baby," she replied, handing him the flashlight "It's your house." The barest hint of a smile graced his face. "Very well." He stepped into the room beyond with some trepidation, but quashed any hesitations as unbecoming a samurai, even a dishonored one. Shining the flashlight around revealed a couple of dusty bookcases and a pair of equally dusty tables between them. Obviously, this room had not seen human life in many decades, perhaps a century or more. "Whoa, talk about your family secrets," Nabiki whispered from behind. She walked over to a shelf and apparently selected a book at random. Pulling the large tome off the shelf, she set it on the table and opened it up, flipping through the pages. "Judging by the content in this one, there's a virtual treasure trove of information here. It's gonna take quite awhile to sift through it all. I suggest we get a few others to help." Kuno walked up behind her to glance at the book. "I do not think that's such a good idea. These are Kuno family secrets and..." Nabiki cut him off. "Oh stuff it, Kuno-baby. I'd say the fact that a demon was being kept in your house gives justifiable cause for others to know what's going on here. Forewarned is forearmed and I'd wager there's important info in here that needs to be known." She looked up at him to see his frowning face. "Don't worry, the only ones who will look through this will be ones who can keep secrets, I'll make sure of that." He sighed and conceded the point. "Very well, but I suggest we move these books out before the mansion is rebuilt." "Of course," she replied while closing the book and selecting two more. "Come on, you can carry these for me." She took the flashlight and Kuno grumbled as he picked up the three books. As she followed him out, she noticed for the first time he was carrying his katana strapped to his side. "Say, is that the same katana you used against Galfgar?" "Indeed." Intrigued, she decided to probe for more info. "So what's the story behind that and the lightning show you put on?" Tatewaki was silent for a few moments, as if debating what to tell her. In the end, he decided he might as well be truthful since he needed her help. "It's name is Raijin, and it's the Kuno family blade. Legend says it was forged eons ago to be the Kuno family guardian and only one of the Kuno family can wield it." He looked down. "I did not know what it's powers were until that night. I do not know how I knew to do those miraculous feats, nor how to repeat them; the sword has remained silent since that night." Nabiki tapped her chin with her finger. "Interesting. Well, maybe one of the books has the info..." Late that night, under the cover of darkness, a small boat pulled up onto the shores of Japan and two small figures disembarked. They glanced at their guide who landed beside them. On of the small figures produced a hot water thermos and used it on their guide. After pulling their boat up on shore and hiding and securing it, the trio headed inland. They had a mission and they were going to complete it at all cost. Further north, another, larger ship was pulling into Tokyo Harbor. Several figures carrying backpacks and supplies jumped from the ship to dry land. They gathered around an older woman perched on a staff. After making sure that all seventy of her warriors were there, they headed off into the night as well. For they too had a mission they were going to complete at all cost. Somewhere else, two girls had fought and conquered yet another dojo. They left the sign that was theirs by custom, taking only some food with them instead. To the duo, improving their skills was the only reason they fought, but food was a good secondary motivator. The older sister was especially driven to become better because there was a certain dojo they would claim once they could finally beat the current champions. She held her rugbeater staff and glanced at her younger sister who had replaced the ribbon in her hair and was now stuffing her face with some fish cakes. "Where to now, oneechan?" she asked. The older sister looked to the horizon. "I think it's finally time to pay some old friends a visit. It's time to test our skills." The younger sister jumped up and down. "You mean we get to see Akane-chan again?" The older one nodded. "Yipppppeeee!" As her youthful sibling skipped down the road, Natsume grinned to herself and started after Kurumi. ---------------------------------------------------- Author's notes: They're baaaaaaaack! Not only Natsume and Kurumi, but some other old friends as well!