Rain

Part 3

Ranma's new technique?

++++++++++++

Ranma sat at the table with the Tendos and his family. Akane had
been relatively silent since he had returned. He was currently in his
male form and enjoying the silence in the evening. There was one major
difference now, he had taken his hair out of his pigtail, and it hung
in a loose ponytail. True to form, the Tendo girls were looking at him
and quietly speculating about what was wrong.

"I think he lost a bet," said Nabiki, she was sitting next to
Akane, who was merely staring at the scene dumbly.

"Maybe, but I bet he just did it because Shampoo or Ukyo asked him
too," snorted the girl irritably.

Soun and Genma didn't particularly care; they sat playing shogi,
and ignored the whole scene.

"It's so peaceful this evening," commented Kasumi as she looked
outside the home.

"Count your blessings," said Nabiki casually as she ate a bag of
chips. They had finished dinner about an hour ago, and were all now
merely sitting around, doing nothing.

For once, Ranma actually looked content to do just that. As was
the law of the land, it was not to last.

"Aiya! Nihao Ranma!" Shampoo jumped over the wall with a takeout
box held over her head. "Shampoo bring too too delicious Ramen."

"Huh?" the boy blinked and looked up at the Amazon girl for a
moment.

"Aiya! Airen change hair? Shampoo like!" said the girl excitedly.

"Jus wanted somethin different," muttered the boy as he turned
away from her.

Nodoka narrowed her eyes at the girl for a moment and sighed to
herself.

"Ranma eat Shampoo ramen yes?" said the girl cheerfully as she
latched herself onto the boy's neck with her free arm, while holding
the Ramen over his head.

"I just ate, sorry Shampoo," said the boy with a small shrug. He
completely ignored her presence. "Oh now what? Will you quit looking
at me like that?" snapped Ranma as he returned Akane's glare.

"Fine! See if I care!" snapped the girl as she stood up and walked
by him angrily.

"Now Ranma go to date with Shampoo yes?" squealed the Amazon girl
happily since her only rival in the room had vacated, without pounding
her beloved into the ground.

Ranma got an annoyed looking frown on his face, but did nothing to
stop the girl from cuddling his head into her chest.

"There will be no dates tonight, my son has school tomorrow, and
he can be manly tomorrow evening," said Nodoka calmly.

"Okay," said the Chinese girl with a disappointed frown. "Shampoo
come and ask Ranma tomorrow then."

"I'll still say no," said the boy flatly.

"Ranma! How dare you cheat on my Akane that way?" said Soun's
demon head.

Ranma merely turned and gave the man a small serious looking
glare.

Soun stopped, his dreaded attack fading away in an instant.

"Ranma?" said Nodoka quietly. This was most unusual.

"I just don't feel like it tonight, I just want to sit here for a
while," said the boy calmly. "Leave me alone."

Genma stood up and frowned. "Boy, show some respect!" He jumped
into a flying kick aimed at his son's head.

Happosai appeared out of nowhere, a bag of underwear slung over
his shoulder. He casually deflected the kick after seeming to
accidentally jump in front of it. "What do you think you're doing
idiot?" snapped the old man as he glared at Genma angrily.

"Huh? Master! Forgive me! I..." Genma began to bow in front of his
master pathetically.

"Attacking your own master! Unforgivable!" said Happosai angrily
as he stared the man down hatefully.

"Master! Please!" cried Genma as he stood up and rushed outside,
hoping to escape the old man's wrath.

"Get back here and take your punishment!" snapped Happosai
bitterly as he gave chase.

"Shampoo must go now, Great Grandmother expecting her at
restaurant," said the Amazon as she stood up and walked out the back
door. "Shampoo come by tomorrow and ask for date!"

"Not if I can help it," muttered Ranma to himself as he gave her
an annoyed stare. The instant she was over the wall, a small shower of
rain started to fall. Ranma smiled, he looked rather pleased with
himself.

"So, it is coming," said Nodoka quietly to herself. She looked
over at her son for a moment. "That wasn't very nice Ranma."

The boy looked at her in confusion for a moment.

"Yes, I agree, you shouldn't look at your poor future father in
law that way Ranma!" said Soun with tears forming in his eyes.

The boy rolled his eyes for a moment and turned away again,
watching the rain in contentment.

"Oh my! I've forgotten about the laundry!" exclaimed Kasumi as she
stood up. "It's been out there all day!"

"Huh?" said Ranma dumbly. The rain outside stopped suddenly, just
as the girl rushed outside.

"Oh," said the girl as she looked up at the sky for a moment. "How
nice."

"You're welcome," muttered Ranma lazily as he put his chin into
his palm and continued to stare outside.

Soun blinked and looked up at him for a moment, not quite
understanding.

Nodoka merely smiled, but remained silent.

++++++++++

Raiden and Fujin stood on the roof of the Tendo home, smirking to
themselves as they watched the scene play out for a moment.

"Well, she seems to be doing well," commented Fujin.

"His memory is coming back, but its our doing not hers," said
Raiden calmly. "His contact with us has awakened his subconscious. He
is still unaware."

"That shouldn't take too much longer, perhaps another appearance
is in order?" said Fujin with his smirk turning into a grin.

"It'll piss her off if we do," said Raiden calmly. He then shook
his head, "All the better."

+++++++++++

Ranma was walking to school, he sighed and strolled along with
Akane moving ahead of him further and further away, not even seeming
to notice that he wasn't just behind her anymore.

Things were gradually settling in to normal standards with her
again. She had been acting weird over the last couple of days, but it
seemed to be calming down. The only thing was, normal wasn't good. He
glanced up at her as she continued to move farther and farther away
from him.

+++++++++

"Perfect," said Fujin as he watched the scene for a moment and
turned to his companion. Both of them were floating in the sky, just
below a few clouds.

"Well, I think we should appear flashy like," said Raiden as he
made a few sparks on his fingertip.

"No, we don't want to scare him to death. Then we'll have to go
through all this again," said Fujin with a slight shake of his head.
"We'll stroll up to him, casual like." Fujin nodded at his own wisdom.
"Besides, we don't want to scare the locals, as much fun as that'd
be."

The wind god started to float down, but was restrained as Raiden
grabbed his shoulder. "Actually, I think we should wait. Take a look
at that."

"Huh?" said the wind god dumbly as he looked up at his brother for
a moment, and then back down to the ground. A smile slowly formed on
his face and he chuckled. "Well, this should be interesting."

+++++++++

Urd was sitting over a bowl of instant Ramen inside a small booth.
It was early in the day, and she had not yet returned home from a long
night of drinking.

"Lady, are you sure you're all right?" muttered the shopkeeper in
mild concern.

"No," replied the goddess as she glared at him for a moment. Her
eyes were bloodshot and she didn't look well at all. She hung her head
for a moment and groaned painfully. "Stupid hangovers."

"I've got some coffee and raw eggs," said the bartender casually.

"That crap don't work! The only way to beat a hangover, is to
drink more. So gimme the damn sake," said Urd irritably.

"Sure thing lady," replied the man with a small shrug as he placed
it on the counter.

Urd wasn't paying attention, she was too busy looking just outside
the curtain. She paused and rubbed her eyes for a moment, before
staggering out into the street, seeming to sober up instantly. "Who?"

Ranma Saotome strolled by her, basically ignoring the world around
him.

Urd frowned, unsure about why this boy caught her attention. She
stepped out of the booth, ignoring the sake and followed him. "I know
him, I know I do. Who is he?" she muttered under her breath as she
watched Ranma stroll into the gates of Furinkan.

As he approached the gates, an angry girl started yelling at him.
He brushed her aside almost callously, giving her a snide comment in
reply.

The girl responded by punching him into the ground.

After a moment, the boy was back on his feet again, and was
already in more trouble. Some kid with a wooden sword was shouting at
him, some insane story about sorcerers and imprisoned maidens or
something.

This time the response to the threats were different. He promptly
pounded the boy into the ground without much effort.

The boy flicked his ponytail over his shoulder as he looked down
at the fallen boy and snorted. A casual and habitual gesture, it was
easy to tell. Urd smiled to herself as she saw this and continued to
follow the boy through his day.

++++++++++

It was amazing, no less than four separate girls had practically
thrown themselves at him. He had refused them all, not seeming the
slightest bit interested in any of them. The only one he seemed to pay
much attention too, was the angry girl who kept hitting him.

The worst part about it was that the boy almost seemed to be
trying to piss her off. Everything that came out of his mouth was some
sort of sexist or insulting comment towards the girl. Urd chuckled to
herself and posed proudly.

At the moment, he was flicking his ponytail over his shoulder
again as he looked down at the beaten Kendoist yet again. She saw
this, and something clicked in her mind.

"That's it! I have it! That's what caught my attention!" She
ignored the looks she was getting by the passers by on the street and
cackled madly for a moment. "Ho ho ho ho ho ho! He's in love with that
girl! I must help him!"

+++++++++

"It figures," muttered Raiden from a safe distance away.

"Yeah, well..." said Fujin with a small shrug. "This'll be more
entertaining anyway."

"Come on, let's go fan the fire a bit," said Raiden with another
smirk forming on his face.

"Right," said Fujin with a chuckle.

++++++++++

"Who the heck is this guy?" said Skuld as she looked at the photo
in her hand for a moment.

"That's what I want you to find out," said Urd cheerfully. "I
wanna know everything about him."

Skuld frowned. "Well, I could check in the system..."

"Good, get to work!" said the older woman as she pulled out a
Furinkan school uniform and put it over her body. Naturally she was
much too large for it.

Keiichi entered the room and paused, watching Urd for a moment as
she pressed the uniform against her body, seeing how it would look.
His nose promptly exploded in blood and he passed out on the floor.

"I suppose that would be a bit too much for the poor boy," said
Urd with a small sigh. She waved her hand and said a few words. In an
instant she was in the body of a sixteen-year-old girl. "There."
Unfortunately, she was still a pretty sexy looking teen, and the
uniform was still a little too small in some places. She ignored that
and smiled to herself cheerfully.

Belldandy walked into the room and paused as she saw Keiichi lying
prone on the floor. "Urd! Have you been teasing him again?"

"Huh? I haven't bothered him all day! I've got a new project," she
said cheerfully.

"Oh?" said Belldandy cheerfully.

"Yup, big sister is going back to high school," said Skuld as she
continued to work with a small laptop PC.

"Whatever for?" said Belldandy with a tiny confused frown.

"Love is in the air!" said Urd triumphantly as she pointed her
finger in the air and began to cackle madly again.

"Brother," muttered Skuld as she rolled her eyes. Her face became
a confused frown as she stared at the screen. "Urd, are you sure about
this guy?"

"Huh? Of course I'm sure," said the goddess as she turned too look
at the girl for a moment.

"I'm having trouble locating his file," muttered Skuld.

"Aw, it probably got misfiled or something. I'll work it out on my
own," said Urd as she waved her hand at the girl, dismissing the
matter.

"If you say so," muttered Skuld as she closed the screen.

+++++++++++

Meanwhile, at the Tendo Dojo...

"What the heck are you talking about?" snapped Ranma irritably. "I
didn't do nuthin!"

"Don't lie to me, Saotome!" screamed Ryoga as he jumped over the
wall and into the yard, chasing after his hated rival. "You got cured
and developed a new technique without telling me!"

"Oh dear," muttered Nodoka as she watched the scene play out from
her seat at the table.

"Oh my, I'm going to have to plant the garden again," said Kasumi
with a slight frown on her face.

Ranma had run into the eternally lost boy on his way home from
school. Naturally, things had only worsened from there.

"I told you I ain't cured! I ain't got no stupid new technique
either! I don't know what you're talking about!"

"I saw it! You can't talk your way out of this one, Ranma!"
snarled the lost boy angrily.

"Get lost pig boy!" snapped Ranma angrily as he whirled around on
his heels after avoiding a strike from Ryoga's umbrella.

Ryoga jumped up and dodged as a blast of water erupted from
Ranma's hands. The pigtailed boy paused and looked at his hands for a
moment, moving his mouth open and closed. "How did I do that?"

"So, you have been holding out on me," said Ryoga smugly.

"I have not! I dunno how I did that," said Ranma as he fell down
and continued to stare at his hands.

Ryoga paused and stared down at his rival for a moment. "What do
you mean?"

"What's happening to me?" said Ranma as he started to shake in
genuine fear.

"Ranma?" Ryoga looked up and saw the Tendos and Saotomes watching
them. "What's going on here?"

"Well, isn't this interesting," said Raiden as he jumped up on the
wall and looked down at the pair.

Ryoga stared at the god in shock. "Ranma? But?"

"I was wondering why you attacked my brother," said Fujin as he
appeared next to Raiden and smirked down at them. "Tell me, who are
you?"

"What are you two doing here?" snarled Nodoka as she walked out
into the yard.

"We were watching the fight between this boy, and the young man
who seems to look like us," said Raiden with a small shrug.

"That dream," muttered Ranma as he stared up at them for a moment.

"How interesting," said Fujin as he jumped down and looked Ranma
up and down for a moment.

Raiden followed and watched the Hibiki boy carefully.

"Saotome, are these your sons?" said Soun in a whispered tone as
he glanced at Nodoka nervously.

"Who are you?" demanded Genma. "What do you want?" He paused and
gave Soun an angry looking frown. "I have been faithful to my wife,
Tendo."

"Is that what you call it?" muttered Nodoka under her breath.
Nabiki turned and gave her a slightly surprised glance. No one else
appeared to notice this.

"You don't know us," said Fujin as he looked at the man coolly.
"We're from pretty far off, and we've come to visit this place.
Imagine our surprise when everyone started calling us 'Ranma'."

"I know you two?" said Ranma as he stared at them for a moment.

"Yes, but you don't remember," said Fujin with a slight smirk.
"We've seen what we wanted too. We'll just be leaving now."

"Wait!" cried Ryoga as he started to chase after them, and then
decided against it.

"Who are those guys?" said Ryoga as he turned to glare at his
rival for a moment.

"I...I don't know," said Ranma as he stood up and stared at the
way they left for a long time. After a short time, he fell to his
knees clutching his head painfully.

"Ranma?" gasped Akane as she rushed out to his side. "Are you
hurt?"

"No," said the pigtailed boy as he slowly rose to his feet.
"Whatever it was, it's gone now."

"Those two could be trouble," commented Nabiki with a slightly
sour frown.

"You have no idea," muttered Nodoka.

"You know something?" said Genma as he turned to stare at his wife
dumbly.

"I'm not at liberty to discuss it," replied the woman as she
picked up the bundle that contained the family katana. "And before
anyone asks, those two are not my children," she added with a little
malice in her voice.

Everyone immediately turned their attention away from her
deliberately as she walked up to her room and closed the door.

"I'll never understand women," said Genma with a frown forming on
his face.

"Boy, is that ever an understatement," commented Nabiki as she
turned into the home and sat down again.

Ryoga ignored the others and looked at Ranma and Akane for a
moment. "Ranma, explain this new technique to me."

The boy looked up and shrugged his shoulders. "It's like making a
cloud, but I condense the water more."

"Making a cloud?" said Ryoga in confusion.

"I can't explain it any more than that," said the boy as he looked
thoughtful.

"I'll return with a way to counter it," said Ryoga as he nodded
and turned away. "Be ready Saotome."

Ranma merely nodded and watched the boy wander away.

+++++++++++++

"Oh my!" said Belldandy as she opened the door to the shrine and
saw Raiden and Fujin standing in the doorway. Both of them had dumb
looking grins on their faces.

"Hello," said Fujin cheerfully.

"Hey, who is it sis?" muttered Urd as she walked up behind the
woman casually. She was still in her teenage form, and was wearing the
uniform now.

"Hello Urd," said Raiden with a slight smirk.

"You? What the hell do you want?" snapped the goddess.

"Nothing, we were in the area and decided to stop by, and see what
you were doing in Japan," said Fujin with a slight shrug.

"That's none of your business!" said Urd defensively.

"I beg to differ," replied Raiden calmly. "You're under our
jurisdiction after all. We're just being friendly, try to be nice."

"The hell I will!" snarled Urd as she rolled up her sleeves and
started forward with an angry scowl on her face. Belldandy held her
back and pulled her away from the door.

"Please come in, it was nice of you to visit. I'm sorry my sister
is acting this way..."

"Don't worry about it, she acts like she hates us, but we know
otherwise," said Fujin as he waved his hand and dismissed the matter.

"You got any food? We're starving!" said Raiden cheerfully.

"Don't you idiots think about anything but food?" snapped Urd as
she hit them over their heads with Skuld's hammer.

"Hey! Give that back!" said the younger goddess as she attempted
pull it from her sister's grasp.

"Hello Skuld, you've grown a bit haven't you?" said Raiden as he
bent down to look at the girl.

Skuld dropped the hammer and blushed, causing Urd to fall to the
ground. "Um, yeah..."

"So, what brings you too Japan?" said Fujin as he turned towards
Belldandy.

"Our work at the Goddess Relief Office," replied the goddess with
a slight blush.

"Mortal wish you to stick around or something?" said Fujin with a
small chuckle.

"Actually yes, I'm just visiting," said Urd calmly.

"She's stuck here, Father kicked her out," said Skuld.

"You shut up!" snapped Urd as she glared at her sister angrily.

"Well, seems you're stirring up trouble again," commented Fujin
with a light smile. "We always liked that about you."

"Hey, Belldandy," said Keiichi as he poked his head around the
corner. "We're out of..." He paused as he saw the two men standing in
the doorway. "Who?"

"Oh! Keiichi, I'd like you too meet Raiden and Fujin," said
Belldandy as she indicated the two gods. "They are old friends of ours
from our childhood."

"Hiya," said the pair in unison.

"Who's the shrimp?" commented Raiden.

Skuld chuckled in crude amusement as Keiichi's head fell.

"Great, more gods," grumbled the boy under his breath. He paused
and looked up at the two. They didn't have markings like the Norn's on
their faces.

"So how about that food? We're looking for a handout," said Fujin
cheerfully.

"Go buy some, you freeloaders," commented Urd as she turned away
and pretended to lose interest in the pair.

"Oh my," said Belldandy as she put her hand up to her cheek.

"What, is she going to school or something?" said Raiden as he
noticed her age and uniform.

"She's going to kill some guy by trying to help some girl fall in
love with him," said Skuld as she casually brushed aside the
conversation.

Urd appeared out of nowhere. "That was only one time!"

"Yeah, I remember pops got pretty pissed off about that," said
Raiden with a shrug.

"Really, you should be more respectful," said Belldandy with a
slightly worried frown.

"What's he gonna do? Hit me with a lightening bolt?" said Raiden
as he followed her into the home.

"Don't worry so much about it, we're still technically demons, so
he cuts us a little slack on things like that," agreed Fujin.

"Those two..." Urd was silenced as a bolt of lightening hit the
ground behind her. The words 'no cursing' were now etched in the
ground.

"Great, I wish he wouldn't do that so much," muttered Keiichi.
"Now I've gotta fix another hole in the roof." He sighed and wandered
off to find his tools.

Fujin turned his head at the sound and smirked to himself. "I
wonder if Benten knows she's around?"

"That should be interesting," commented Raiden as he turned and
looked back at his brother. "We'll go talk to her after we eat."

++++++++++

Ryoga Hibiki walked down the street with a cold scowl on his face.
Ranma had developed a dangerous technique indeed.

P-chan had vanished immediately after China, but the danger of
Akane discovering his shameful secret was still there. That was the
real danger in the technique, he had to find away around it.

"Damn you Ranma, finding a way to exploit my strongest and most
shameful secret," grumbled the lost boy irritably. There had to be a
way, finding it was the hard part.

++++++++++

TBC...

Next time: The first day, of the last day of my life.

C&C to Carrotglace@juno.com

Previous parts can be found at Http://www.fanfiction.net and R&C Books
International Fanfic Company at Http://www.rcbooks.org

Ja!