[Ranma][FanFic] Dynasty - Chapter 4
Cele...@aol.com
DYNASTY - CHAPTER FOUR - PART A
By Sydney Kyle <jant...@hotmail.com> or <cele...@aol.com>
Author's notes: Visit the Dynasty homepage at
http://move.to/dynasty/
Now that was simple, wasn't it? ^_^ Anyway, on with the story...
=========================
* * * DYNASTY * * *
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
=========================
* * * * * *
=========================
CHAPTER FOUR:
Part A
Fairy Tales
=========================
It was extremely noisy at the Tendo Dojo later that night.
The reason for the noise was the fact that things had been restored
to more-or-less normal. Genma, Shampoo, Mousse, Ryouga, and Ranma were
back, and there was no holding back the inevitable.
"A-Akane! Y-You c-cooked?!"
"Yup! Now eat up, Ranma!"
"Ehhh...lissen, Akane, I just came back from the dead. I don't wanna
go back, okay...?"
*WHAM*
"RANMAAA! How DARE you speak that way to Akane!"
"Oh? Why's that, Ryouga-sama?"
"A-A-Akari! I--ah, aheheheh..."
"You are SUCH a jackass, Ryouga."
"Stupid crazy Akane, you no hit Ranma that way!"
"Buh-buh-but Shampoo--"
"Keep your hands off my Ranma-darling, you seducer!!"
"EX-CUUUSE ME?!"
"Silence! Speak not of the fair Akane Tendo in such desecrating
terms, little sister! And as for thou, my love, allow me to demonstrate
_my_ affections--"
*WHAM*
"Oh my."
"Must you hit Kuno-baby so hard, Akane?"
"Hey, if _you_ want him, he's all yours!"
"Oh, I don't want _him_--just his wallet."
"You know, Saotome, I think I'm beginning to think that I have too
much hospitality."
"Indeed, Tendo, indeed. In fact, if you don't watch out, you just
might find yourselves with a couple of freeloaders."
"Ehhh, Saotome...never mind."
They were all sprawled around the somewhat crowded dining room.
Genma and Soun were seated at the dining room table, with Genma
devouring bowl after bowl of soba. Ranma was at the other end of the
table, also gobbling up food like there was no tomorrow, with Shampoo
and Kodachi on each side of him, and Akane glaring at him from the
right side, beside Shampoo. Ukyou sat across from Akane, on the left
side. Beside her was Ryouga, who was helping himself to platters of
teriyaki--which, thankfully, was made of beef, and on his other side
was Akari, watching him in fascination. Katsunishiki snorted beside
her, and across the table was Mousse, squatting next to Shampoo, who in
turn seemed oblivious to him. Kuno, who had been unable to snag a place
next to his beloved Akane, had been relegated to a seat next to Mousse,
much to his displeasure. Nabiki sat beside Kuno, immersed in her scheme
to elicit some serious yen from him in exchange for a seat next to
Akane. Kasumi, was, as usual, busy in the kitchen as she prepared
second and third helpings for the guests' insatiable appetites. Cologne
had isolated herself in a corner of the room, seemingly absorbed in her
own ruminations.
"Hey," Ranma mumbled between mouthfuls of noodles, "haven't I seen
ya around b'fore?" He gestured at Akari with his chopsticks.
"Yes, it's me. Akari Unryuu. Nice to see you again, Ranma. Ryouga-
sama's told me so much about you." Akari smiled sweetly and draped her
arms around a flabbergasted Ryouga, who promptly began to cough.
"Oh, really?" Ranma cocked an eyebrow. "Like what?"
"Oh, like how you're a dishonorable, arrogant jerk, and the terrible
way you treat Akane all the time and--"
"I think I get the point," Ranma remarked dryly.
"Well, that's the truth," snapped Ryouga.
Ranma studied Akari inquiringly. "So...you're good friends with
Ryouga now, huh?"
Akari beamed. "Well, actually, we've been dating."
Ryouga nearly choked on a piece of meat. His face was burning as he
shot a furtive look at an intently listening Akane.
Ranma leaned closer to Akari, appraising her from head to toe.
"Whoa. You're aren't really serious, are you? You sure ya ain't sick or
somethin'?"
Akari shook her head.
Ranma let out a small whistle. "Oh, man. She's serious." He grinned
mischievously at a thoroughly embarrassed-looking Ryouga. "Nice goin'.
Didn't think you had it in you, pig-boy."
Ryouga glared at him, chopstick poised in midair. "Don't call me
that, you half-girl hentai!"
Shampoo retaliated for Ranma by glowering back at Ryouga. "You dare
no talk like that to Ranma!"
"Yes," declared Kodachi, "you leave my husband alone!"
Ukyou pinned her with a smoldering stare. "_Your_ husband, sugar?
I think your brain's gone off-duty." She tossed Ranma a bright smile.
"You're _my_ fiance, right, Ranchan?"
Ranma only managed an unintelligible mumble as he dug into the
teriyaki platter.
Shampoo objected. "You have brain many times smaller than your head!
Ranma _Shampoo's_ husband!"
"I can't believe you sometimes, Ranma," Akane hissed at him.
"Honestly, this scene's really getting old."
Ranma shrugged. "Lighten up, Akane. I can't help it if I'm more
popular than a kawaiikune tomboy like you now, can I? I mean--*urk*"
He barely managed to scramble away as Akane whipped out a gigantic
mallet out of nowhere and brought it down hard on the spot he'd been
sitting, birthing a small crater on the bamboo floor.
The entire party jumped to their feet in anticipation of a good
Tendo dojo free-for-all. Soun and Genma automatically retreated to the
patio.
"So, Tendo," began Genma, very solemnly, "have you found an
insurance company that'll accept you yet?"
Back inside, the players were getting ready to rumble.
"How DARE you try and harm my Ranma-darling!" shrieked Kodachi,
whisking out her gymnastic ribbon. "Akane Tendo, prepare to die!"
"Wait a minute, Ranma's MY fiance!" yelled Ukyou, unstrapping the
assault spatula from her back. "If anyone's gonna beat him up, it's
me!"
"Aaai-yah!" Shampoo fished out a pair of bonbori from behind her.
"None of you no hurt Ranma, or Shampoo KILL!"
"Worry not, fair goddess, and stand aside," said Kuno grandly. "For
I, the great Tatewaki Kuno, shall defend thee from that wretched
infidel Saotome!"
"Oh, no, rich boy," Ryouga muttered, cracking his knuckles. "I got
first dibs."
"No, _I_ do!" put in Mousse, blades dangling from his sleeves.
"This's for poisoning Shampoo's mind, you coward!"
"Aw, gimme a break!" Ranma exclaimed as they ganged up on him.
"After all I've been through today, don't I deserve some kind of rest
or somethin'?"
"NO!" Mousse, Kuno, Ryouga, and Akane yelled at him.
"Oh, for cryin' out loud--"
Without warning, Soun and Genma tore through the shoji and tumbled
to the floor in a tangled, squirming heap.
"Dad?" Akane burst out.
"Pop?" Ranma seconded.
The two adults turned toward them, and the expressions on their
faces were enough to silence the entire room. Then Soun raised a
shaking finger to point to the hole they'd inflicted on the shoji.
Outside, starkly outlined in the light of the silver moon, standing
steadfast on top of the wall that surrounded the Tendo dojo, was a
single figure garbed in the unmistakable armor of the Dragon clan.
For one tense, charged moment, the figure remained motionless as he
surveyed the now-silent domicile, watching, waiting.
Then he leaped down from the wall and vanished into the night.
* * * * * *
"I don't _believe_ this!" Ranma paced back and forth in agitation.
"Are you sayin' that they HAVEN'T given up yet? You mean they're gonna
follow us for as long as we live??"
"Basically, yes," Cologne responded, seemingly unruffled.
A growl of consternation rose from Ranma's throat, while Shampoo,
Mousse, Ryouga, and Genma looked stricken at the revelation.
"WAIT A MINUTE!" Akane commanded, penetrating through their fog of
shock like a knife through butter. "This doesn't make sense! They let
you guys go free--why'd they bother doing that when they were just
gonna keep on tracking you down anyway?"
"Ah, mayhaps they retreated at the sight of I, Tatewaki Kuno, the
invincible Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!"
They all ignored him.
"That was no retreat, nor was it any accident," murmured Cologne as
she relinquished her cushion at last and shuffled to the middle of the
room where she could apprehend everybody's attention. "Surely you saw
the way they were charging at us--they had no intention of retreating
or disappearing. Whatever happened, I am certain that they were brought
back to wherever they came from _without_ their permission."
Shampoo trained her startled gaze on the old woman. "You know about
all this, great-grandmother?"
Cologne gave her a tired replica of a smile. "Perhaps I do, great-
granddaughter. Perhaps I do."
"Then answer me this, old woman." Genma adjusted his spectacles,
his visage austere. "Why did they come after _us_?"
"Yeah, what did _we_ ever do to them?" asked Ryouga, crestfallen.
He was totally oblivious to the questioning glances that Akane was
throwing his way.
Cologne shook her silver-crowned head. "Nothing. Absolutely
nothing." She paused. "Except maybe falling into certain cursed
springs..."
"But why do they persist on chasing us?" Mousse clamped his fists
on his folded knees, straining forward. "I know what our connection
is--why we five were taken--but I still don't understand why that
fact is so important to those people--"
"Believe me, boy, that fact is _extremely_ important to them,"
hissed Cologne. "I was not even surprised when one of the Dragon Clan
showed up outside waiting. In fact, I was expecting him to come." She
stared at her hushed audience, her tarsieresque eyes narrowing into
slivers. "Did you really expect that the Dynasty would leave you be
after going to all that trouble to kidnap you and usurp you all of your
individual souls?"
Ranma laid his plate of teriyaki down on the table with an audible
clang. He studied the corner of the table like it was suddenly the
most interesting object in the room. "How did ya know that?" he said
at last, sounding strangled. "How'd ya know that they were after our
souls...?"
"_Our_ souls..." Genma repeated, as if in awe.
"It was the only thing I could think of," retorted Cologne,
searching through the pockets of her robes. "After all, I _did_ find
your soul's supposed 'vessel'."
And with that, she let a tiny object clatter onto the table.
Ranma gawked at it for several minutes, then picked it up with
slightly trembling hands.
It was a little box--specifically, a little lacquer box of
haunting exquisiteness, adorned with odd unfamiliar-looking stones
and tassels of red silk. Around it was an unfastened ivory-colored
silken cord.
It was the last thing Ranma saw before he'd felt himself drift away.
"You all might be interested to know that when the Dragon clan
vanished, they also took four more like it," Cologne informed them.
"What is it?" ventured Ukyou softly.
"It is the Tama-Tebako--jewel hand-box."
Akari spoke suddenly. "It looks like something out of a storybook,"
she mused, hesitantly stroking the tips of the tassels with her
fingertips. "The Tama-Tebako...the vessel of one's soul..."
Cologne appraised her, looking pleased. "Very good, child. I assume
that you're referring to the story of Urashima Taro, whose very soul
was nestled within a box of this sort."
"Since when do fairy-tales have to do with anything?" said Kodachi.
"You may call them fairy-tales at first," boomed the old crone,
wagging her stick admonishingly at her, "but if you will bother to
inspect them more closely, you will find that these 'fairy-tales' are
actually ancient chronicles, preserved over time, which are then
interpreted into nothing more than little concoctions of our ancestors'
flights of fancy. Fairy-tales indeed. Had Happosai been alive a hundred
centuries before, I have no doubt that there would be a 'fairy-tale'
devoted to him--the Lord Stealer-Of-Women's-Underthings." She glared at
all of them, jabbing her stick at each one in turn. "You are all
dealing with a force here that you cannot possibly begin to
comprehend--a force that has been alive long before your ancestors even
existed. If they single you out for one reason or the other, then you
cannot escape them. Do you understand me? You _cannot_ escape them. If
they decide that they are yours, then there they will follow you
anywhere, everywhere, even to the very ends of the earth, until the
day you die."
There was a brief pause as the gravity and despair of the current
situation settled on the group.
"Then...isn't there anything we _can_ do?" Ranma asked miserably.
"You know there is something," Mousse stated. "I don't know how you
know, but there has to be something we can do."
"Shampoo no want to live life being stalked," moaned Shampoo.
"They'll get us _before_ we even know that we're being stalked,"
said Genma, on the verge of hysteria.
"They're right," conceded Ryouga, nervously pulling at his black
wrist guards. "There's no way we can fight them--it's like they know
how to counter our best moves. We can't even touch them." He gestured
carelessly at a befuddled Ranma. "I mean, even Ranma couldn't handle
them."
Ranma glared at him. "Oh, yeah? If they didn't catch me off-guard--"
Cologne hopped from the table, her countenance even more wrinkled
than usual as she immersed herself in thought. "I must leave."
"--I'd have turned them inta--" Ranma stopped his monologue and
gaped, with the rest of the room, at a departing Cologne. "H-hey! Where
d'you think you're goin', old ghoul?"
The matriarch turned. "To consult with the elders, son-in-law," she
replied matter-of-factly. "There are some issues that I must clear up
first before I can explain to all of you just what exactly went on
today. I shall return tomorrow with the answers. But until then, wait
for me."
Shampoo blinked. "Tomorrow, great-grandmother?"
Cologne rewarded her with a fond smile. "Yes, granddaughter. I shall
close the Nekohantan for a day. You do not have to deliver anything or
serve as waitress tomorrow."
"But what about _me_?" Ranma wanted to know. "I got school tomorrow,
remember?"
"Then skip it, son-in-law," said Cologne indifferently.
Genma scrambled up. "Now hold on here! I'm not depriving my son of
his meager dosage of education just because of this nonsense!"
Cologne shot him a peeved look. "Fine. Would you rather that the
clan just kidnap your son again and suck the very soul out of him?"
"Hmmm," said Genma, thinking over the prospect of not having his
smart-mouthed, impudent son around. Ranma felt obliged to smack him.
"The rest of you can assume your everyday activities tomorrow. The
clan will be sure to leave you unmolested," continued Cologne.
She must have seen the skeptical looks on their faces, because she
followed it with a serious, "Trust me. They _will_ not go after anyone
else other than the Jusenkyo-cursed. Not even if they thought that you
would be the only ones who could bring these five willingly to them."
Then she shifted her gaze toward Ranma, Ryouga, Genma, Mousse, and
Shampoo. "As for the five of you, you will all have to be confined
_here_ in the meantime. It would be foolish to tempt danger by going
your separate ways tonight."
Continued in Part B
DYNASTY - CHAPTER FOUR - PART A
By Sydney Kyle <jant...@hotmail.com> or <cele...@aol.com>
Author's notes: Visit the Dynasty homepage at
http://move.to/dynasty/
Now that was simple, wasn't it? ^_^ Anyway, on with the story...
=========================
* * * DYNASTY * * *
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
=========================
* * * * * *
=========================
CHAPTER FOUR:
Part B
Fairy Tales
=========================
"Wh-WHAT??" shrieked Soun.
Mousse looked like he wasn't sure whether to be thankful or not.
Shampoo looked like she was in heaven. Ryouga looked dazed.
Different thoughts circled around their heads.
"Oh, good!" chirped Kasumi as she caught the last strains of
Cologne's harangue. "Overnight guests!"
"Oh, great." Ranma rubbed his temples. "As if we didn't already have
a certain pig to shelter in this house."
Ryouga was restrained by Akari in mid-lunge.
"What about you, great-grandmother?" queried Shampoo in concern, as
Cologne slid open the shoji.
"I will be fine," responded the old woman. "The clan will not bother
me." Before she let herself out, she oscillated one more time to
address them. "If you are adamant about going out there tomorrow, then
I cannot stop you from going. But expect them to show up. Expect them
to fight you." She set her mouth in a tight, grim line. "And expect
them to win."
"Not this time," Ranma said softly.
They all gaped at him, astounded.
He grinned. "I have a plan."
There was a lengthy stillness before Ryouga let out a long breath.
"Well, that's it," he announced with grave finality. "We're dead."
Ranma was restrained by Akane in mid-lunge.
* * * * * *
"Are you sure this plan of yours is gonna work, Ranma?"
Ranma sighed as they trudged together down the corridors that led
to their bedrooms. "That's the two hundred fifty-sixth time you've
asked me that question, Akane," he pointed out tiredly. "I toldja, it
_has_ to work. I mean, there ain't no way it can go wrong."
"What if they don't show up when you want them to?"
Ranma did a double take. "Uhm--ah--"
"What if they kidnap you before you can talk to them?"
Ranma scratched his head frantically. "I'm thinkin', Akane..."
"What if they go for one of the others first instead of you?"
He was racking his brain for some sort of comeback. "Not so fast,
Akane...I'm thinkin' here..."
Akane stopped walking and crossed her arms sternly in front of her
yellow cotton nightgown. "Oh, for crying out loud, Ranma," she snorted.
"Face it--this whole scheme's too dangerous. It's not going to work!"
Ranma stopped as well, his moonlit features contorted in an
irritated frown. "Well, would you rather that I _not_ go to school with
you at all, Akane? That it?"
Amazement and indignation flooded onto her countenance. "N-No!
That's not it at all...I..." She fixed her gaze on her slipper-clad
toes, her fingers bunching the soft canary cotton of her nightgown. "I
just...I just don't want you to disappear on me like that again,
Ranma."
Her last statement was nearly inarticulate and barely comprehensible,
but it hit Ranma like a full-force slap on the cheek. Was it possible
that she really _didn't_ hate him then? Not even after that joke of a
wedding? He hardly dared to even hope.
For a minute he stood there, in his sleeveless white undershirt and
worn yellow blue-lined boxers, unable to formulate some sort of
response to her sentence. Then he opted for the casual reply. "I
thought we weren't talkin' to each other, Akane," he said nonchalantly.
Akane stared at him, as if attempting to gauge what in hell had made
him address that topic, of all things. Then again, she felt obligated
to explain to him why they were suddenly conversing again after that
mutual unspoken agreement they'd made after that wedding disaster.
"Well, this doesn't count, Ranma. You were nearly killed..." She
hesitated for a moment. "And it's funny, but...after what happened
today, it seems silly to be mad about the whole wedding thing, you
know?"
"Yeah," agreed Ranma.
They were quiet again.
Then Ranma spoke. "Akane, the plan _is_ gonna work, you know."
Akane couldn't reign in the wave of doubtfulness that washed across
her face.
"Come on, Akane. You gotta trust me on this. Pop and the others're
all for it, and Shampoo's already placed in that Jusenkyo mail-order
product for overnight delivery. So if and when those jerks show up at
all, I'll be able to fight them on _my_ terms."
Her brows knitted together. "I still want _in_, Ranma."
Ranma looked at her like she'd grown another head. "We already
talked about this, Akane," he said as sensibly as he could. "It's too
dangerous for someone like y--"
"You mean for someone of my _skills_, right?" Her voice was
ominously quiet. Sort of like the gentle hissing of a cobra before the
bite.
Ranma gulped. If there was anything Akane didn't want to be reminded
of, it was her fighting skills--or lack thereof. "Uhm--no! No! 'Course
not!"
It was to no avail, of course. After all, it _was_ one in the
morning, and an Akane deprived of sleep was an Akane he didn't want to
mess with.
"Have it your way, Ranma," she huffed, then stormed down the hallway
ahead of him. A quarter-minute later, he heard her slam the door of her
bedroom with a force that initiated a tremor that could have registered
a 9.5 on the Richter scale.
Ranma stood there, motionless.
Then Akane poked her head one more time out of her bedroom door.
"And one more thing, Ranma Saotome--"
He looked up.
"--I don't care if I _do_ catch Shampoo on your bed again!!!"
This time it was a 10 on the Richter scale.
Ranma remained still. Then a tiny smile stole across his mouth.
"She's so cute when she's angry," he murmured.
And he retired to his room for the night.
* * * * * *
Ryouga waited for the aftershocks to pass before reclining back down
on his futon. He sighed, recalling Akane's outraged parting words to
Ranma after the first initial quake. Briefly he wondered if that was
the kind of goodnight that Ranma received every night.
How different it was when Akane had bid _him_ goodnight. She'd
graced him with that gentle smile of hers, made sure that he was
comfortable on the futon she'd rolled out for him on the floor, made
certain that he had an extra blanket, then whispered, "Good night,
Ryouga" before exiting the living room.
Akane had been so attentive toward him, and so hostile toward Ranma.
And yet, there was a certain _something_ between her and Ranma that
Ryouga could never, ever make out.
Mousse's snoring at the other side of the room intruded his
cogitation for a second, and Ryouga opened his bleary eyes. Mousse was
on his side, dead to the world, glasses perched atop his head in an
awkward angle, his long raven hair radiating from his head like the
spokes of a wheel, his mouth yawning open as he slept. Apparently, he'd
been too tired to arrange himself in a comfortable position or even
conduct his customary checks on his beloved Shampoo, who had taken up
residence in the Tendo dojo guest room. Not that Ryouga expected her
to actually _stay_ there, of course. She would probably find some way
to sneak over to Ranma's bed.
Ryouga scowled. What did that Chinese Amazon girl see in Ranma, any-
way? Yeah, he'd beaten her once or twice, but what kind of girl would
fall in love with a guy who defeated her?
A Chinese Amazon, of course.
Still, Ranma certainly didn't seem to return her sentiments. Mousse,
on the other hand, was crazy about her, and yet she shot down his
romantic fantasies the most ignominious ways conceivable.
Ryouga wondered briefly if that was some sort of parallel to his
predicament with Ranma and Akane.
Damn.
He turned restlessly in the futon and punched the pillow. All
thoughts of the Dragon clan and all that had happened tonight were
banished from his head. Instead he mulled over his dilemma.
What did Ranma have that _he_ didn't? Well, for starters, he turned
into a girl when he was splashed with cold water. He was the best
martial artist in Nerima. He had somehow managed to land himself four
fiancees--Akane, Kodachi, Shampoo, and Ukyou.
Come to think of it, what did Kodachi ever see in Ranma? Ryouga
wrinkled his nose. Never mind. He would rather not know. Shampoo--well,
with her it was all about some sort of nutty Amazon tribal law. And
Ukyou...Ukyou was the most stable one in that lot, along with Akane.
What the hell did _she_ see in Ranma, anyway?
Ryouga sat up and pulled off his long-sleeved travelling shirt. For
a spring night in Nerima, it was unusually warm.
He collapsed back on the sheets and shut his eyes. He was exhausted
from thinking. All he wanted was to drift off to sleep, where he would
be free to dream about Akane...
"Ryouga-sama?"
He laid himself flat on his stomach. Damn. He was already beginning
to hear things.
"Ryouga. Over here."
The next second he propped himself up on his elbows, shrinking
slightly back as his vision was accosted by a brilliant shaft of moon-
light. The glare softened somewhat as his eyes adjusted to the glare,
and he was astonished to see the slim silhouette of a young girl
outlined in the opened sliding doors that led to the patio.
"A-Akari?!"
In response, she closed the shoji, strode past Mousse to where
Ryouga was sprawled on his futon, and kneeled beside him. "Hi, Ryouga."
Ryouga stared up at her, his throat constricting. Akari Unryuu was,
without a doubt, one of the most beautiful girls he'd ever met--and,
seeing as how he spent about seventy percent of his life on a global
trek meeting countless girls of different nationalities, that
certainly meant something. "Akari...what--what're you doing here?"
She tucked a stray strand of brown hair behind her ear, a demure
gesture. "Grandfather was wondering where you were. I told him, and he
insisted that I stay with you, no matter what."
Ryouga chewed on his bottom lip. He'd long suspected that maybe the
old man was resorting to great lengths to fixing him up as his grand-
daughter's fiance, and now that suspicion had just been confirmed.
"You know...Akari, you really didn't have to do that--"
"It's all right, Ryouga," she interrupted him softly. "I _wanted_ to
stay with you."
The expression on his face was something between incredulity and
gratefulness. When she slipped onto the futon beside him, he didn't
protest. They'd spent more than one night curled up in the same bed for
warmth during the winter nights, in the guest room of Grandfather
Unryuu's country house. It was an example of the trust they retained
between each other, and oddly enough, the old man didn't seem to mind.
For some reason, he actually encouraged it.
Ryouga shifted his body a little, mildly surprised that he couldn't
even feel his nose heating, even though Akari's clothes were the only
things that separated his skin from hers. He supposed that it was
because he was already accustomed to her so close to him.
"Hey, Akari?" His voice was muffled in her hair.
"Yes, Ryouga-sama?"
"You're not mad at me, are you? Not even after I decided to leave?"
She snuggled closer to him. "No. And neither was Grandfather. He
just felt that you needed a little more time to think."
"Akari," Ryouga began tentatively, "you already know I love Akane."
She nodded, the crown of her head colliding gently against his chin.
"I know that, Ryouga-sama. But I'm not going to stand by and give you
up without a fight. Not this time."
He just nodded, not trusting himself to say another word. He
tightened his arms around her and fell asleep, too fatigued to care
what the other occupants of the house would say if they caught him in
this compromising position.
Akari promptly fell asleep as well.
And outside, several figures watched from hidden crevices, stoic and
unwavering, never ceasing their vigil on the Tendo dojo.
Inside, their targets slumbered in blissful ignorance.
* * * * * *
Ranma tapped his pencil faster against his desk.
The coil of tension in his stomach was stretched tight to the
breaking point, and he was literally aching for something--anything--to
happen in order to break the state of monotony that currently reigned.
The morning had gone off well enough. He'd woken up with Shampoo
curled up beside him on his futon, and Mousse had chosen that exact
moment to come barging in screaming, "How dare you defile my beautiful
Shampoo!!" This had only earned him the reward of getting up close and
personal with the bedroom wall, compliments of Shampoo. Ranma was only
glad that Akane had overslept, otherwise he was certain that he would
be would be getting intimate with the bedroom wall as well. He'd
showered, dressed himself in a sleeveless white Chinese shirt and dark
pants, then headed down for a hurried breakfast. On the way he'd bumped
into a sullen Akane, who'd promptly demonstrated to him in no uncertain
terms that she had no intention of speaking to him today. After nursing
his swollen jaw a bit, Ranma had quickly devoured his breakfast and
checked the living room to make sure that a certain someone was up and
about and hadn't wandered off in the night trying to locate the
bathroom. His sudden entrance, of course, had scared the hell out of a
shirtless Ryouga, who'd been cuddling in his futon with a sleepy-
looking Akari. Ryouga had practically flown out of his bed and dived
into his shirt with blazing speed, much to Ranma's amusement. A few
rounds of teasing and prodding from Ranma regarding Ryouga's nocturnal
activities had resulted in yet another blow to an already-sore jaw.
Ranma had staggered out of the room after informing Ryouga that he was
ready to depart for school, and was subjected to another round of
nursing by Kasumi before setting out with Akane towards Furinkan High.
The trip had gone smoothly, with no sign of any armored samurai
figures or whatnot. And of course, Akane ignored him the whole way.
<It's for her own _good_,> Ranma thought, his brow creasing. <These
people're dangerous. I ain't lettin' get mixed up into this 'cause of
me. Nope, I've seen that happen back on Mount Phoenix, and I ain't
gonna let _that_ happen again...not ever...>
He heard a snap and quickly glanced down at his hands. Great. He'd
broken his pencil in half. He fought back a chuckle.
<Geez, man, get a grip on yourself! It ain't like-->
"Perhaps you would like to share your thoughts with us, Mr.
Saotome?"
The stern, dry-humored voice of Sensei Tanaka was enough to bring
Ranma out of his trance-like state. "Yes, sensei?"
Sensei Tanaka drilled at him through strict steel-rimmed spectacles.
"You were not paying attention to the lecture, Mr. Saotome."
Ranma eased back languidly in his chair, acutely aware of his
classmates' eyes trained on him. "Uh, sorry 'bout that, Teach."
"Mr. Saotome," fumed the sensei, "I have had quite enough of your
sarcastic remarks. I see that your reputation indeed serves you well--"
Ranma sighed. The Hinako incident. His attack on the principal with
the pineapple fetish. His penchant for entangling himself in countless
exhibitions of martial arts violence in and out of the campus. His
reputation was notorious indeed.
"RANMA SAOTOME."
Ranma looked up, just in time to see Sensei Tanaka's admonishing
expression melt into one of shock and disbelief. A swift glimpse at his
fellow students revealed that this wasn't Sensei Tanaka speaking.
"RANMA SAOTOME. SHOW YOURSELF TO US NOW."
That voice...it wasn't human. Loud and soft at the same time, and
seemingly close yet distant. Smooth yet guttural, like one disemodied.
It reverberated throughout the history classroom's walls, sending
chills through Ranma's spine.
Ranma slowly got up from his desk, and the entire class followed.
"DID YOU REALLY THINK THAT YOU COULD ESCAPE US?"
Outside, through the enormous sliding glass windows of the room,
Ranma could see them, all thirty of them, clad in their iridescent
armor of red, gold, green, and black, gathered in a half-circle. In the
middle was a figure garbed in red and gold, whom Ranma pinpointed
easily as the leader of the throng. The same one who'd brought Ranma
down the first time he'd faced off against them.
"FACE US, SAOTOME!"
Furinkan High stood still and silent, with the entire student body
holding their breath as they congregated at the eastern windows.
Hiroshi and Daisuke appeared at Ranma's side, examining the regiment
below them with rapidly increasing alarm.
"Geez, what'd ya get yourself into _this_ time?" muttered Daisuke.
Hiroshi studied the grimness on his friend's face with growing
apprehension. "Ranma," he began cautiously, "what're you gonna do now?"
* * * * * *
Shiro snorted in derision as he turned away from the building. These
upperworlders. All cowards. He would not have even considered the
thought of calling out the target for a showdown if Lord Takuma had not
insisted upon it. Takuma had been certain that the target would come.
The clan wasn't even supposed to _be_ here. The emperor and empress
had forbidden them from hunting down the last five. But then again,
Shiro knew better than to question Lord Takuma's orders.
He was on the verge of commanding the others to disperse, when
without warning, a white blur streaked down from a third-story window
and came to a rest directly in front of the clan.
Shiro stared. In front of him was a boy, about sixteen years old,
clad in a loose white Chinese shirt and dark pants, with thick dark
hair tied tightly back into a pigtail. There was an unmistakable flare
of determination in his gray-blue eyes.
Shiro smothered a satisfied grin. "Ranma Saotome, I presume?"
The boy didn't bat an eye. "Bingo."
=end of Chapter Four=
Next: Ranma vs. the Dragon clan--with a few additions, and a cure...