Ranma 1/2 was created by Rumiko Takahashi and its characters belong to
her, and her alone. I'm just kinda borrowing them. The story below is
for entertainment purposes only, and not to be used commercially.
...Obviously.


"Learning Curve"
        Part XIV    (v1.3)

by:   J. Wagner



"Kasumi! Kasumi? ...Damn it. Where are you?" Ryouga stood on his
tiptoes, and looked over the heads of the crowded market. He'd turned
around for a second, after finding some chocolates Nabiki probably
would've loved, and she'd just disappeared. Box of chocolates in-hand,
he'd been about to wander around a bit trying to find her, when he'd
thought the better of it, and decided to stay put, hoping that Kasumi
would double back and find him.

That had been ten minutes ago.

Looking up from his watch, Ryouga groaned in annoyance. Why did this
kind of thing always happen? He was tempted to blame it on Ranma, just
for the hell of it, but even this predicament was a little 'out there'
in respects to the pigtailed boy. Besides, he'd been trying to kick
that habit of blaming Ranma for everything. While Saotome was directly
or indirectly responsible for the greater bulk of the things that
haunted his life with pain and torment, that still left what he
estimated to be a good ten or fifteen percent that Ranma wasn't the
least involved in.

"Come on, Kasumi. Where are you?" Ryouga looked around again in vain,
before leaning back against the side of the stand and closing his
eyes.

"Charlotte!!!"

"Oh no." Ryouga's eyes snapped open. "Oh no!!"

"Charlotte! It really is you! Come to Azusa, Charlotte!"

"Woah, hold on there, Azusa!" Ryouga held out his hand, stopping the
charging Shiratori Azusa short of glomping onto him. She blinked large
brown eyes at him in what seemed to the lost boy to be confusion. She
was wearing a fairly typical looking and overly frilly white skating
dress and a white bow - a change from her normal pink, if he
remembered correctly. She was also, of course, in skates of a sort:
roller blades.

"My name is Hibiki Ryouga, first of all..."

"You'll always be my 'little Charlotte' to me!" With surprising
strength, Azusa pushed his arm aside, and caught him with a full on
squeeze - Ryouga gasped for air. He reprimanded himself; he had
forgotten just how strong the martial arts skater was. Ryouga let out
a deep sigh, and using a fair amount of the more-than-formidable
strength at his disposal, broke out of the hug.

"Listen here, Azusa... Don't do that to me in public, alright?" He
slipped out from her grasp, and took a few steps back and away.

"I guess Azusa will just have to take you home then!" She giggled
vacantly and lunged again, but Ryouga twisted, and she ended up
squeezing a wooden stand holding up a sign.

The sign promptly broke in half.

"You know what I meant!"

"No I didn't." Azusa let go of the remains of the sign, her lower lip
trembling. "Please don't yell at little Azusa..."

"I'm sorry, geez, don't cry or anything." Ryouga groaned inwardly.
"It's just... wait just a second, Azusa..."

"Now..." Azusa slid forward gracefully, her roller blades remarkably
stable in holding her upright, and from out of nowhere pulled out a
small collar with a little pink heart on it. Ryouga recognized it
instantly, and broke out into a nervous sweat. "You'll be coming with
Azusa, Charlotte. One way or another."

Ryouga's brow furrowed, and he slid a foot forward, bringing his arms
to his sides. "Stay back... or I'll use my Secret Technique!"

"Secret Technique?"

"YAAH!" Ryouga faked a lunge, causing Azusa to stumble a bit in
hesitation, and then the lost boy simply turned and ran. Azusa was on
skates, and anyone familiar with her particular brand of martial arts
wouldn't underestimate her speed or agility on them, but when a Hibiki
wanted to move, heaven help anything in his way or those trying to
catch him. Give a Hibiki a day, and he may not even be in the same
time zone.

It was only when that thought set in that Ryouga stopped and looked
around.

"Well this is just... Wonderful. Just wonderful."

Lost.

Lost as usual.

"This is all Azusa's fault. What was she doing? What was she
thinking?" He yelled at the heavens for answers, "Shouldn't all the
crazy people be after Ranma? Huh? Huh?"

In another state of mind, most people probably would have realized
that talking to oneself wasn't the most normal, or productive, thing
to do at the moment, but that state of mind was just as lost as the
lost boy was. Walking in the usual arbitrary direction, Ryouga drooped
his head in defeat.

"That's it. Don't say anything." No sooner had the words left his
mouth then an ominous thunder came from the south. Looking upwards, he
confirmed it. A storm, which meant rain, and while a little rain
probably wouldn't be enough to make him transform, not after using
Jyusenkyou waterproof soap as religiously as he did over the last two
weeks, which had been amazingly buta-free, but it would get him wet.
And getting wet was both an unpleasant experience, and an
uncomfortable one - too many memories he'd rather not have in the
first place. And if it turned into a downpour, and he got careless, he
could very well end up as a walking side order of bacon.

Ryouga took out his umbrella, tested it, and nodded to himself in
obvious relief. It was reinforced through steady Ki infusion, and more
than sturdy. This particular one, Umbrella #6, he'd nicknamed
'Natasha' after a nice girl he'd met when he'd wandered through
Russia, months ago. While naming his weapon was a little secret he
wasn't about to tell anyone (they wouldn't understand the affection a
Hibiki feels for his weapon of choice) Ryouga felt very conventional
about it. He only named one of them if they lasted for more than two
months of steady use, and he had a lot of hard work and effort
invested in 'Natasha.'

Looking around, his eyes searched out for some kind of landmark that
could identify his present and unknown geographical location. There
were the signs, of course, but the street names may as well have been
in Hebrew, a language he always swore to get around to learning, just
for the hell of it, for all the good they did him. Luckily, he had one
of his backup packs with him, so he'd be prepared for the next few
weeks of mindless wandering. Then something caught his eye, or to be
more exact, someone caught his eye.

"Excuse me, sir." He approached the vendor, and gave him a small
smile.

"Yeah, kid?" The man looked down from the paper he was reading. "You
want to buy something?"

"Um... sure." Ryouga picked out a copy of the Tokyo Herald, and put
down the money for it - there was an interesting article on a recent
surge in wild animal attacks. "I was also wondering where I was."

"You lost?"

"Yeah, something like that. Am I still in Tokyo?"

"You're in Nerima ward, kid. ...Tokyo, obviously." The middle-aged man
went back to his reading. Ryouga took the paper and headed off, a
smirk on his lips. Nerima! He hadn't wandered off too far, then. All
he had to do was take it slow and carefully, and sooner or later; he'd
run across someone who could take him to the Tendo Dojo. He'd come to
learn that public transport, especially subways in a city, were better
than random meandering, but there didn't seem to be a station nearby
on the poster that hung from the vendor's overhang.

Stupid complicated maps.

"Then again..." He looked up, at a nearby roof, and jumped. A distance
of thirty feet wasn't a problem, and a tiny application of Ki to his
leg muscles more than gave him the power for it. He held his arms wide
for balance, and landed softly on the roof. Walking up to its highest
point, at the crest that ran down the middle of the top of the house,
he looked out, hoping to spot the Tendo yard or house.

It wasn't in sight, but he did make out part of Furinkan High, which
was a start. Jumping easily from roof to roof, Ryouga felt fairly
confidant that he'd be able to make it back home in time for dinner,
provided Kasumi didn't herself wander around looking for him. At the
thought, Ryouga stopped in mid jump, and went over that again in his
head: since when had the Tendo place been his 'home?' His home was the
Hibiki house, nearby, but out of practical reach for the time being.

He licked his lips, and pondered that. He wasn't really heading home;
he was going back to mooching off the Tendos. Additionally, he had
been in one place for a long time - he hadn't really felt the soft
ground under his feet for a long time. True, it had only been a few
months, but to Hibiki Ryouga, months without wandering off and getting
well and truly lost in a forest or mountain range of some sort or
another... it was both a miracle and a very unusual feeling. Did he
really miss the wandering?

He could just walk off, in some random direction, and come back later,
and at that thought, that impulse, he almost did. The wanderlust was
well known among all those with Hibiki blood. Even those only slightly
related to the line, Ryouga knew of distant relatives he had scattered
all over the planet; all an unexplainable urge to see the world and
keep moving. He'd always thought of himself as a shark of sorts,
moving from place to place, eating what he wanted, doing what he
wanted, never really... grounded. Never chained down.

"What to do?" He looked from the Furinkan clock tower to the horizon,
and something deep inside wanted to head for the horizon itself. ...If
only for a few weeks.

"No," he finally decided. He would have the common decency; at least,
to tell them he was going off on a quick mountain training trip.
Nabiki would be annoyed, he suspected, and she really had every right
to be. He was, from a certain point of view, running away from her,
and from 'them.'

He remembered, instantly, that first time she'd gotten him. He'd
expected it, yes, but he'd also feared it. It was their second date,
and they'd walked in the backyard afterwards. He'd been sulking a bit,
and looking down at the koi in the pond, when, pretty much out of the
blue, she had called his name, and smiled mysteriously. Before even he
could react, she'd literally bounced up and into his arms, and when
she darted her face forward, a few stray strands of hair had come
between them. Without even thinking, he'd reached up, and brushed them
aside, and she'd seemed to materialize into crystal clarity in front
of him. She seized the initiative, and kissed him quickly, in a
curious way he'd never suspected could come from her.

He'd passed out seconds later, and fallen into the pond, but the
feeling still lingered, even now. He had to see her again, tell her
that he wasn't leaving, just... just getting some fresh air. And if
she insisted that he stay, well, he would. She was the most important
thing in his life, without a doubt, but he knew she'd understand.

She always did.

Ryouga's thought instantly changed, and acting on a level usually
reserved for instinct, his umbrella moved, like a blur, and a hard
'splash' sounded on the other side. Dripping cold water, the umbrella
slowly lowered. Ryouga's mouth moved from impartial, to scowling, as
he stared at the cloaked man, who descended from above, empty bucket
in hand. The man's cloak, unlike the parkas Ryouga himself
occasionally wore, concealed him almost completely from view, but
underneath the dark hood, the lost boy was sure this man was smiling.

The two stood, in silence, for several seconds, when Ryouga felt a
drop of cool rainwater land on his left cheek. Raising his umbrella,
silently, he watched this man carefully. He seemed calm, and relaxed,
even as he faced the lost boy down, and he seemed to largely ignore
the rain even as it turned from sprinkle to downpour in typical Nerima
fashion.

"Do you know," Ryouga began, dangerously. "That you attack Hibiki
Ryouga?"

A single, hard laugh was the man's only response, as he clutched the
collar of his cloak, and undid a single button. The laughter paused,
as two predatory eyes looked up at him. There was an animalistic
quality to them that stabbed Ryouga in the gut, on some primal level
that couldn't be explained with words. With a flourish, the man's
cloak left his shoulders, and immediately, as the cloth drifted to the
roof tiles, the rain beat down on the stranger's arms, back, and face.


There was a crack of thunder, and the fight was joined.

***

"It's raining pretty heavily." Tendo Akane had steadily come to
dislike the rain. In years past, it had been almost comforting, the
faint tap-tap of raindrops on the roof, but over the last two years,
the rain generally meant trouble. It generally kept the Jyusenkyou
cursed indoors, and in close proximity to each other - never a good
thing for the structural integrity of the house, or for peaceful
appreciation of the sound of the rain itself.

Oddly, however, things had been quiet lately.

Suspiciously quiet.

Downstairs, Ranma was reading a magazine and snacking on a bag of
potato chips. A small stack of schoolwork and books sat on a nearby
table, untouched. P-chan sat on his haunches next to the books, and
she noticed that his ears perked up when she entered the room. She'd
wondered where he had run off to earlier, and now the answer was
obvious.

"Ranma, have you been feeding P-chan potato chips?" She walked over in
a semi-annoyed fashion. "You know you're just encouraging him to beg."

"It was only one," Ranma lied, and shrugged it off, going back to
reading.

"Well, you're spoiling him." Akane reached down and scratched the
little black piglet behind the ears.

"I'm spoiling him? I've seen you sneak him food when no one's looking.
At least he's smart enough not to try and eat your leftovers."

"Baka," she rapped him on the side of the head halfheartedly. "What
are you reading, anyway?"

"Jyusenkyou Products Catalogue. Shampoo let me borrow it."

Akane frowned.

"I'm thinking about ordering some of that waterproof soap Ryouga uses.
They've got some of that instant Nanniichuan powder Shampoo used the
other day, and a whole bunch of other weird stuff."

"Didn't the Instant Nanniichuan only work once, and then it wore off?"

"Well, yeah," Ranma said, and turned the page, "But most of the time,
I only get splashed once a day, or once every few days."

"You are not turning our furo into a Japanese Jyusenkyou, Ranma."

Ranma seemed about to say something, but caught himself.

"No, I ain't planning that. It's just a precaution, you know. I mean,
it's not a cure, but it's better than nothing. The problem..." He
sighed, and quickly skipped two more pages. "The problem is money.
None of this stuff is cheap. And then there's the shipping and
handling costs. I just can't afford any of this. I've been thinking
about asking Nabiki for another loan."

"Another one?" Akane leaned in closer, from where she sat on the edge
of the couch. "She'll eat you alive, you know. She doesn't even give
you the family 'discount.'"

"I dunno. She's mellowed out a little." Ranma looked up at her. "Since
she and Ryouga started getting along. The alternative is asking Ryouga
for money, and I won't do that."

"He'd probably be happy to give it to you," Akane answered, and Ranma
nodded.

"Yeah, but he'd never let me forget it. Besides, I don't want his
pity."

"Why can't you two just get along? Honestly!" Akane stood up, and
looked around. "And where is Kasumi? It's not like her to be late."

"The rain probably just slowed her down a bit." Ranma cocked his head:
half worried, half dismissive. "She's fine."

"Saotome-san hasn't come back either. Or Ryo-kun." Nabiki's voice came
from behind, and the two teens turned as the older girl walked down
the stairs. At her feet, Dollar jumped carefully from one step to the
next, her size hindering her ability to efficiently transverse from up
to down stairs. At around twelve weeks old, Dollar was still just
barely a puppy, but possessed of a remarkable intelligence and
understanding. Her large brown spots had darkened, especially over the
colored half of her face, and she was growing quickly. At the bottom
of the stairs, the dog waited for Nabiki, slightly impatient, but
restrained.

P-chan was not so held back. With a loud 'bwee' he jumped up and at
the dog. The younger Hibiki dog dodged, swiftly, and P-chan had to
roll to recover himself. Dollar's tail started to wag, but she held
back, waiting.

"Go on." Nabiki waved her hand, and the dog and the pig clashed,
jumping at each other. Akane rolled her eyes in annoyance, but Ranma
watched the two carefully. No doubt neither Akane nor Nabiki saw it,
but both animals had some semblance of a technique. The small pig used
some unusual and crude combination of Judo and Sumo, while the dog
used a swifter, more economical movement style, batting with his paws.
It was unlike anything he's seen before - though considering that he
was trying to analyze the 'fighting' techniques of a canine probably
said enough right there.

 And, if he recalled correctly, Ryouga had put off bringing Dollar to
the Tendo Dojo, or even selling any of Shirokuro's puppies, until they
were all almost ten weeks old. Thinking back, Ranma also remembered
that, back when they were younger, Ryouga had mentioned that his house
was 'well guarded.' It was obvious to those that knew her that
Shirokuro was not a normal dog. Ryouga practiced an unusual and
largely informal style of martial arts himself, could the family dogs
have been taught similarly? It was a possibility.

"You don't think he transformed, do you?" Akane asked her sister.

"No. Not unless he got really careless." Nabiki went to the open
living room door, and looked out over the yard.

"Excuse me? This is Ryouga Hibiki we're talking about." Ranma smirked
at his joke, though no one laughed. 'Hmfing' he went back to his
magazine. Mentally, he kicked himself for blurting that out. If
anything, he had to get on Nabiki's good side, or else he could end up
owing an arm and a leg.

Nabiki gave him a quick, disapproving stare, before looking back
outside, through the rain. "That idiot better not have gotten lost out
there."

The door opened and a familiar voice called out.

"Hello everyone!"

"Kasumi!" Akane headed for the kitchen, and found a very wet version
of her older sister, minus the groceries she had supposedly gone out
for, and instead holding a familiar umbrella, with some difficulty,
over one shoulder and a beaten and unconscious piglet in the crook of
her other arm.

"Oneechan!" Nabiki wasn't far behind her sister, but openly gasped
when she saw what she was carrying. "Ryo-kun?"

"Um... Kasumi...?" Akane pointed to the umbrella. "Isn't that a little
heavy?"

"Oh my, yes it is. Very heavy for an umbrella."

Carefully, Kasumi put the umbrella down against a corner in the room.
Hopefully, it wouldn't fall and break anything. Nabiki and Akane were
both speechless, but Kasumi's next words broke them out of the
surprised funk. "Nabiki-chan, could you please warm up some water?"

"Um... yeah. Sure." Nabiki reached out for the black piglet in
Kasumi's arms. "Is he...?"

"He's been in a bit of a fight, I'm afraid." Kasumi watched as her
younger sister's fingers trailed down one of the Buta-Ryouga's
bruises. In the living room, Ranma quietly got up from the couch, and
headed over. Ryouga had been in a fight? That alone was unusual -
Ryouga didn't have any real enemies, and while occasionally he and
Kuno would fight half-heartedly, anyone in the area who did fight knew
to avoid the lost boy and try someone else if they had an itch to hit
something. Naturally, people still came by wanting to tan Ranma's
hide, but Ryouga hadn't been in a serious fight since their last spar
in the dojo.

And he was hurt?

That was stunning. It took a hell of a lot to actually bruise the lost
boy, Ranma could attest to that first hand, and even as the pig-
formerly-known-as-P-chan, he wasn't to be underestimated. His speed
could be phenomenal in his porcine form, and the piglet itself,
despite appearances, was mostly tight muscle, steel-hard bones, tough
as all hell cartilage, and unnaturally long and sharp teeth. Girls may
find the little piglet to be cute, but it could be a real monster when
Ryouga was sufficiently pissed off. Ranma had once called Ryouga's pig
form a 'walking piranha' and it was an appropriate description.

"Let me see him!" Akane looked more closely at Ryouga, even as he lay
cradled in Kasumi's arm. The real P-chan, and Ryouga's dog, had
already come over. P-chan seemed confused, and jumped up onto a nearby
table, while Dollar seemed a bit more withdrawn

"What's that he's wrapped in? Pantyhose?" Akane felt the odd fabric.
"It is Pantyhose!"

"Quiet! You'll wake up the old freak yelling like that!" Ranma rushed
over and clasped his hand over Akane's mouth. For a second, there was
stunned silence, and everyone half expected the cackle of 'Pantyhose!
How Sweet!' to ring through the house, but there was nothing. Ranma's
hand fell, and he sighed in relief a heartbeat before Akane pounded
him soundly.

"Baka." The youngest Tendo removed her elbow from the back of his
head.

"Ranma," Kasumi addressed his beaten form. "Could you please go get
something to ...something for Ryouga-kun to wear?"

"Yeah. Sure." Ranma got up, rubbed his sore neck, and headed off
quickly.

"It's pretty warm, oneechan." Nabiki held out the hastily heated
kettle of water, after only a few additional seconds to test it with
her finger. Luckily, the family kept a kettle of fairly warm water
available at all times for Jyusenkyou related emergencies. Kasumi
nodded, and put Buta-Ryouga down on the floor, on a soft washing
towel.

"Alright, everyone." Nabiki pointed to Akane and Kasumi. "Turn
around."

"Oh? What about you, Nabi-chan?" Ranma smiled broadly, yellow towel in
hand, back from upstairs.

She at last had the decency to blush, before handing the kettle over
to the pigtailed boy. The three Tendo girls turned around, red by
varying degrees, and Ranma knelt next to his... enemy? Rival? Maybe
friend... no, not that just yet, he didn't think. Regardless, Ranma
had another reason for not wanting Nabiki to be the one snapping him
out of his cursed and unconscious state at the moment.

Splash.

"ARGHHHHH!!!" Ryouga's human eyes opened, frantic, and his right hand
shot out like a snake, catching Ranma by the throat. Ranma gritted his
teeth, and as Ryouga's eyes focused on him, and where he was, all
strength in his iron grip faded. Gasping in surprise and shock, Ryouga
grimaced in obvious pain.

"You ok, man?"

"Yah," Ryouga finally spoke, "Yeah. Ranma, we need to talk. Kasumi...
Kasumi, you found me, didn't you? How?"

She pointed at the television. "It wasn't really that difficult."

"What do you mean?" Nabiki asked.

Ryouga got up, and wrapped a towel around his waist, nodding to Ranma
in silent thanks. Akane quickly ran into the living room, and picked
up the remote control. In a second, the Television was on. Nabiki,
meanwhile, ran up to him and checked one of the larger cuts he had
along his left arm. "Ryo-kun! What the hell happened?"

"Reports of extensive damage over several city blocks... reports
indicate that some type of creature, what some could only describe as
a monster... fled the area and disappeared after fighting with an
unknown martial artist, who also seemed to disappear soon after. I'm
in front of a local coffee shop that took heavy damage to its roof
when, allegedly, the creature landed on it. Whether or not this
incident is related to numerous reports of a monstrous pig attacking
seemingly at random are..."

"Ah, well, there you go." Ryouga scowled, and rubbed the bruise on his
left arm. It had scabbed over and was slightly scratchy. His other arm
found Nabiki's waist, and he pulled her close, even though she ended
up getting wet. A silent moment passed between them, and Ranma was
about to leave, when Ryouga turned a bit and faced him.

"Ranma. Like I said. We need to talk," Ryouga's voice was calm, but
beneath that, strained. "This wasn't the work of just some monster...
we need to see Cologne."

***
Shampoo hated the rain.

More to the point, she hated making deliveries in the rain. Normally,
it was a job that Mousse got shouldered with, but ever since he and
Kuonji had gone to China for Jyusenkyou, and a cure, she had been
forced to take his place. In fact, she had been forced into picking up
after all Mousse' responsibilities in the store. At first, she hadn't
really thought it would be much trouble, remembering that she had
handled most of the Nekohanten's menial work by herself when Cologne
first came. But at the time, the store had been new, and not nearly
half as popular as it was now. Mousse not being around was turning out
to be much more of a hassle than she liked.

"Stupid Mousse. Stupid, stupid Mousse," she repeated, running with
great care while keeping herself sheltered from the elements with a
sturdy umbrella. Normally, deliveries would be a quick affair - her
bike could match the midrange speeds of most cars. It always seemed to
surprise people when they realized she wasn't riding a motorcycle. But
with the rain out, there was no way she could bicycle around without
getting soaked.

As she walked, her thoughts turned to Mousse and Ukyou, and her other
friends. The last time they'd all been together had been that crazy
Hot Springs Race. Mousse had walked into the store one day from one of
his deliveries, and in an abnormally calm voice, told her about the
race, and the prize: a trip to any hot springs in the world. He then
showed her the ticket, and asked if she'd like to go with her.

"You and me, Shampoo. It's as good as a cure for our curses! Agpft!"

Without really thinking about it, she'd overturned a bucket of water
(dirty water at that) on him, taken the ticket, and ran off to find
Ranma. It bothered her, now, how she'd treated him. He knew that she
would have liked the trip to Jyusenkyou the most; out of all the girls
he knew and could have gone with. He'd then gone on to partner with
the violent Tendo girl, and Ryouga and Ukyou had somehow ended up at
the same place.

Oddly, Mousse had been very quiet around her. Only when the race
began, and he and Ranma started fighting for first place, did he start
to talk at all. Only then, in the fights with Ranma and Ryouga did his
normal, boisterous self come through. Then they'd all gotten splashed,
and it was then that Shampoo began to remember exactly why she was
here, or at least why Mousse was here. He didn't care about whom she
wanted to be with anymore, he just wanted to be cured - he wanted her
to be cured, because they were friends. Or at least he seemed to think
so, despite how she treated him.

When they'd finally all found each other, Akane had ended up with
Ranma, and Shampoo with Ryouga. Ukyou and Mousse had apparently found
each other, and headed off on their own. Inwardly, she wondered if
Mousse had even looked for her. At the time, teaming up with Ryouga
had been fun. She still had a soft spot for the clueless boy, even if
they did end up getting lost somewhere in the attic of a building.
Finally, they'd heard familiar voices, and smashed through the roof
down into the 'Smiling Tiger' bath, which Akane and Ranma had stumbled
into.

Ranma had made a snide comment, Ryouga attacked, and both boys ended
up totally plastered by the hot sake before one could drown the other.
It took a half hour to drag them out of the bath, singing 'sea
shanties' and laughing about crude jokes all the way. Needless to say
that, by then, Mousse and Ukyou had won the race, and the two had been
off for China two days later.

"Stupid Mousse. Stupid rain. Stupid Japan!" She grumbled, angrily, and
checked to make sure she had come to the right address. It took only
about twenty seconds before some kid answered the door. He looked to
be around fourteen, with a set of freckles.

"I bring delivery from Nekohanten." Shampoo handed the boy the bill.
"You order?"

"Yeah," he snickered, but Shampoo kept a smile on her face, ignoring
the sound. "Yeah. 'I order.' Hold on, lady."

He came back in a minute with the money, and Shampoo handed over the
order of food. The kid gave her a long look over that made Shampoo
want to knock his jaw into low-earth orbit, before giving her a quick
appreciative smile and closing the door. Shampoo's smile disappeared,
and she headed back to the store, when halfway down the street,
something black and white caught her eye.

"Mr. Saotome?" For the life of her, she couldn't imagine a real wild
panda lose in Tokyo, it had to be her panda-cursed father-in-law. As
she got closer, it certainly looked like him. In Shampoo's experience,
few pandas stood on their hind legs waving a sign that says, 'I'm just
a helpless little panda! Don't hurt me!' He looked to be limping, and
while she normally had no real feelings towards Saotome Genma, simple
decency demanded that she do something, if only because he was Ranma's
father.

But... why was there pantyhose tied around his neck?

***

"The Jyusenkyou Visitor Registry has been stolen?"

"Yes." Cologne hung up the phone and hopped over to the table,
balancing effortlessly on her staff. "The Guide himself has confirmed
it. He was attacked in his home over two weeks ago."

"The Pantyhose Perpetrator and the Registry Robber are almost
certainly one and the same." Ranma rested his chin on his knuckles,
the two wooden hashi chopsticks in his hand twitching slightly.
Ranma's eyes fell on his father, still in panda-form, currently
stuffing his face with dumplings, then to Nabiki, who was engaged with
picking at her bowl of ramen somewhat suspiciously. Behind him and off
to the side, Ryouga stood, leaning against a wall. He had bandages
around his left arm, but otherwise took to his injuries naturally. He
had been quiet since they came here, and seemed to be brooding.

Or meditating.

Truthfully, Ranma still couldn't quite understand what ran through the
lost boy's mind half the time. Only Nabiki seemed to have a clue as to
what he was thinking or feeling. Ryouga guarded his true self too
carefully for anyone to get too close to seeing the real him. It was
frustrating, because Ranma really didn't want the lost boy as an enemy
anymore. It'd be nice to have one real best friend again that he could
talk to freely, and just be himself around.

"So basically." Akane looked up from her food. "We don't know
anything. Except that Ryouga and Saotome-san were attacked by a man
wearing a cloak, and that this man has a Jyusenkyou curse."

The panda grumbled something and went back to eating. Ryouga was
silent, save to grunt in acknowledgement. Cologne shook her head. "No.
There is one other thing we know about him."

"That's for sure." Happosai nodded gravely from his position on the
table, his ramen finished. "He had great taste in lingerie!"

A second later, Happosai was twitching on the floor. Cologne cleared
her throat. "As I was saying, we know one other thing... He was
looking for a man who had visited Jyusenkyou. The Guide remembered
that much, before he was knocked out."

"Hmf." Ranma smirked, leaning back in his chair. "That means we have
the perfect bait. With Mousse gone, I'm the only guy in town who's
been to Jyusenkyou. Which means I let him come to me."

Outside, the rain dwindled, if only momentarily. High above, clouds
brewed, building up for an encore performance over Tokyo. The roof was
quiet, as usual, and Ranma felt a sort of ease seep into him as he sat
and watched the clouds roll and wrestle with each other in the night
sky. It was a sort of neutral ground, now, by mutual agreement. Ryouga
usually went up here to think and brood, and Ranma enjoyed the sense
of isolation, serenity and calm that came from getting away from
things ten feet below them.

They rarely talked, however. But they listened - they listened to the
sound of fish jumping out of the pond to try and catch an unsuspecting
fly, to far off sirens, or to the occasional cricket and bird, going
about its life. They listened to the same things, and there was a sort
of understanding that this they could share, without having to fight
or spar over. And sometimes, Ranma would talk, and Ryouga would
listen. He didn't always reply, preferring silence and guarded words,
but he would listen and hear Ranma out, even if he didn't call the
other boy a 'friend.'

It was enough.

But today, Ryouga was the first to speak, "Hey. Ranma. You remember
that movie we watched on TV the other day? 'Rashomon?'"

"Yeah." Ranma only remembered it partly. The premise was simple,
though Ranma found it a bit dull: a rape and a murder, seen from four
different points of view - a bandit, a woman, her husband, and a
woodcutter. They all agreed on a few facts, but in the end, the
stories were all very different, each altered to put the narrator in
the best light. As it turned out, even the murder victim, the husband,
wasn't a reliable witness when his spirit was raised up from the dead
to testify. Only the woodcutter, who seemed to be merely an observer,
had anything approaching an objective view. And yet the film cast
doubt on even his version of events, leaving Ranma with the frustrated
revelation that he could never know for certain the truth of what had
happened.

"You know... I've been thinking. It was the victim himself... his
version of events was the most doubtful out of all four," Ryouga said,
as much to himself as to the pigtailed boy. Obviously, in reality,
there was only one true set of events that took place. But no observer
could be objective, the one most affected by it least of all.

"Yeah. I guess so." Ranma wasn't quite sure where the lost boy was
going with this. "What's up man? You look awfully serious, considering
that it was just a movie."

"I was just... thinking about you and me. I was thinking about the
bread feud. About lots of things, really." Ryouga looked up at the
sky. "You'd better watch yourself, Ranma."

"Huh?"

"I will give you one warning. This Pantyhose Perpetrator is... a Demon
of Jyusenkyou."

"What?" Ranma's back straightened up. "A Demon?"

***

"Ranma, are you sure you're going to be all right? Ryouga isn't
exactly a pushover, you know. If he got hurt..."

"He also turns into a little pig when he gets wet," Ranma cut her off
softly. The sky was still overcast, and threatening to rain at any
second. Akane brought an umbrella of her own, just in case, but Ranma
wasn't as worried. Or his thoughts were just on other matters.

"Still... I remember that fight you and Ryouga had." Akane sighed, how
could anyone who had been there forget that fight? "This Pantyhose
person must be pretty powerful, aren't you...?"

Ranma wasn't looking at her - his eyes were on a rapidly descending
form, clad in a flowing cloak, obscuring his form. Ranma's body
tensed, but didn't jump until the figure had already committed his
bucket of water to splashing the pigtailed martial artist. A part of
the fence Ranma had been walking on got soaked, but both fighters
landed on the ground, at the same time, dry and untouched.

"So, you've finally found me, eh?" Ranma threw off his backpack. "I've
been waiting for you... and unlike the others, I won't be so easily
beaten!"

Uncharacteristically, Ranma took the initiative and charged. Without
so much as a word, or a hint of hesitation, the cloaked stranger met
him, the light pink pantyhose tied like a scarf around his face
fluttering in the wind. Ranma stopped short, leaned back, and opened
up with a barrage of snap kicks, just below his normal Amaguriken
speeds, but fast enough to blur visibly. The cloaked stranger pulled
back, and brought his arms up, blocking the blows from different
angles by pivoting slightly at his knees and waist.

With a flourish, and a single hard laugh, the man spun out, his cloak
billowing and hiding his movements. A sharp heel kick exploded from
the confusion, and Ranma was hard pressed to dodge it. He'd
anticipated an attack, but as used to distractions as he was from
fighting Mousse, he had underestimated this opponent's speed. Sensing
an opening, Ranma ducked, and sweep kicked low, catching his
opponent's ankle just as it flexed, sending the cloaked fighter into
the air in the form of a tiny jump. In midair, the pantyhose scarf
undid, and the cloak fell from the fighter as he twisted to land
perfectly to Ranma's right.

"You shall regret this." A tall young man was revealed as the cloak
drifted to land nearby. He wore loose baggy pants, an odd dragonscale
vest coupled with matching forearm bracers, and a pantyhose sash tied
about his waist. He had a wild crop of dark brown hair, thick
eyelashes, and a pair of earrings. Akane blinked - he was handsome in
a bishounen sort of way, but he certainly didn't look like the type
that could do damage to a walking tank like Hibiki Ryouga. Ranma took
a step towards the other boy. Akane suspected he was thinking the same
thing.

"Ok, pal. Just who the hell are you?" Ranma growled, advancing.
Overhead, the clouds thundered. The other fighter only chuckled softly
to himself, as the raindrops started to fall.

"Ranma! Be careful! It's starting to rain!"

"Yeah, I know!" Ranma broke into another charge. "I'll just worry
about that after I've made this guy talk!"

As Ranma left the ground, committed to a jump kick, Akane saw it - a
flash in the other boy's eyes. Instantly, in between the spatters of
cold droplets on flesh, hair tore out from the formerly cloaked
fighter's arms and face. At the same time, his muscles bulged and
expanded, suddenly at first, and then with increasing intensity. His
Chinese slippers dug into the hard ground, sending bits of concrete
into the air at his feet, even as they began to twist and distort, his
ankles rising and reforming higher up and into what might have
previously been his calves. Ten feet he grew, then twenty, until the
mass of dark wet fur was almost thirty feet tall, slightly hunched
over. For something of its sudden size, the creature moved insanely
quickly, and batted the surprised Ranma-chan out of the air easily.

"Ranma!" Akane could only gasp, as Ranma skidded and slid across the
slick ground and almost to her feet, wincing in pain.

"What... what is he?" Ranma's voice was soft, and barely heard over
the now thundering pounding of the rain. Lightning flashed, for an
instant, revealing the massive creature. It had the head of a bull,
crowned by twin arching horns, but it stood on what looked almost like
the body of a man, shaggy and heavy with medium length hair. Wings
sprouted from the shoulder blades, and flexed eagerly. The creature's
legs were like that of a beast, and ended in large hooves that would
easily dwarf those of a large horse. Behind the monster, a slick
looking tail waved back and forth hungrily, and for a second, Akane
could swear that the tail had... eyes? It took a single step forward
that sounded almost like a thunderclap, and both girls felt the
vibration through the ground into their bodies.

"A demon." Ranma-chan gasped, and scrambled back a bit as she got to
her feet, bumping into Akane. "The Demon of Jyusenkyou! Akane... keep
back!"

The creature lunged, and with a titanic fist that barely missed the
jumping Ranma-chan, pulverized the ground where she had been standing
a blink of an eye before. The demon's other hand, however, was quick
to make good where its comrade had missed, and a huge palm again
swatted Ranma-chan like one would a large insect, sending her
crashing, head first, into a concrete wall.

With another thunderous step, the giant creature pivoted, and brought
back a fist to finish the job. Akane frantically readied to run to
Ranma's side, and nearly missed seeing large and fast jump from
behind, past her, and into the amalgam monster. It roared from the
blow, and in front of the creature, a man in dirty yellow and black
landed with a splash.

"Akane! Nabi-chan! Get Ranma out of here!" He splayed his arms wide
and faced the beast, one hand fiercely clutching his closed umbrella.
"Ready for round two, freak? If I can't beat the hell out of Ranma,
you sure as hell can't either!"

It leaned forward, and snarled with a tooth filled maw almost three
feet long. Ryouga jumped, and the monster spun, trying to catch him as
it had the other boy. Ryouga was slower, but this wasn't the first
time he'd danced with this creature, and he ducked his head, avoiding
the strike, and kicking out towards for the beast's jugular.

"Akane! Come on!"

"Nabiki?" Akane was more than a little surprised to see her sister,
soaked to the bone, and pulling at her left arm.

"Who do you think led him here?" She answered, referring to Ryouga.

"But he'll be killed!" Akane yelled, over the din of the fighting and
the rain. Ryouga had obviously given himself another treatment of the
waterproof soap, but it wouldn't hold up forever in heavy rain like
this, especially with him jumping, avoiding, and fighting that
...creature at the same time.

"Don't worry about Ryo-kun," Nabiki yelled back, as they reached where
Ranma-chan still laid, amid the debris of the destroyed wall, watching
the fight, shock written on her features. Ryouga had stepped in to
help her? Why?

"We brought reinforcements!" Nabiki pointed to a far roof, where a
black and white blur, and a small one, were converging on their
location.

"Fall, damn you!" Ryouga back flipped, his feet catching the
creature's jaw as he evaded another titanic fist. He turned just in
time to see the other one, filling his vision like a wall, slam into
him at full force. The lost boy dully felt the ground beneath him
crumple and deform as he fell, but it lasted only a second before he
recovered, rolled back, and got onto his feet. He was about to jump at
the creature again, umbrella first for a crushing blow to one of the
joints, this time, when he noticed the tiny bubbles forming on his
arms.

"No," he cried, shaking his head, not believing it totally. "Not
already!"

A vicious haymaker ran into the distracted martial artist before the
last word had even left his lips. For a thought's length, Ryouga
imagined his body being torn in two, his torso flying through the air
for over a mile, by the sheer power behind the blow, even cushioned as
he was by his Ki and his training. As it turned out, the blow did
twist him around, and sent him off his feet. The lost boy could
distantly feel his heels scratching against the ground as he flew
horizontally through the air and directly into a parked car.

"Ryouga!" Ranma jumped to his feet. In the distance, through the heavy
rain, he could just make out the car Ryouga had plowed into flying
back several feet, into a street lamp. The girls spun, looking for
what he saw, but he doubted they had anything like his vision, honed
and enhanced as it was by his Ki. The monster turned its massive bulk,
and Ranma caught its eyes - turning back to them.

"Shit. Both of you get out of here!" Ranma pushed the girls behind him
and got into a quick stance. The creature seemed distracted for only a
second, to swat away something else that had hit the side of its face,
before drawing back a fist and heading straight for the pigtailed boy.
Behind him, Nabiki and Akane screamed, but when the blow came, there
was only silence. Happosai stood between the monster and its targets,
a single index finger stopping the patchwork monster's fist short.

"That's enough!" Happosai sneered, and laughed evilly. "I'm taking
over this match!"

"The pervert?" Ranma blinked in surprise. Was Happosai really here to
help?

"Happosai?" Akane took a hesitant step backwards.

"About time." Nabiki wiped a bead of nervous sweat from her brow,
mixed with the rainwater that seemed to have brought this monster out
in the first place.

"If you value your life... you'll hand over all of your pantyhose!"
Happosai flexed his left hand, in preparation. The monster's eyes
simply narrowed, his head lowered, and two horns flashed out to cut
the old pervert down. Happosai didn't even flinch.

His hands found purchase, and he smiled. "HAPPO DAI KARIN!!"

The shockwave from the blast hit first. Ranma weathered it, even in
her weakened form, but Akane and Nabiki were easily knocked off their
feet. Before Ranma could even check on them, the cloud of dust and
debris from the bomb expanded, and everything became obscured. Her
ears rang as if the tympana had been replaced by brass gongs, but that
didn't disorient the combat hardened Ranma-chan for more than a few
seconds. Her senses picked up something large moving nearby, and a
brush of fur seemed just beyond reach.

"You fool!" She heard Happosai's voice from somewhere above. "You're
finished!"

"Akane! Nabiki!" Ranma yelled, frantically. They had been behind him a
second ago!

"Ranma! Ryouga! Anyone!!" Someone screamed, and Ranma recognized
Akane's voice as being above her.

"Akane!" He yelled up, as the dark power clouds began to disperse, he
could see Happosai, stopping short of delivering a punishing blow to
the monster from above. The creature held Akane up in one hand and in
the other held Nabiki, who seemed to be unconscious. Flexing its
massive shoulders, the creature's wings began to flap, and amazingly,
defying all logic, it took to the air.

"Damn you! Come back!" Ranma-chan jumped, with all her strength, and
managed to get hold of the tail, but it was a slippery as a fish, and
her grip only held for a second. Falling on her face, Ranma-chan could
only look up as the monster flew off, gaining speed and height.

"Akane... damn him..." Ranma screwed her eyes shut, powerless to do
anything, "Damn him..."





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