Ranma ½ -- A Deadly Choice

Chapter 13: Plan Ahead! A Demon Lurks in Akane’s Future

Akane awoke on a wet pillow. "What happened?" she asked aloud. "Was I crying in my sleep?" P-chan, who had been nestling as far from the pillow as he could as if to avoid the warm tears, awoke at the sound of her voice and nuzzled her cheek with his snout. "Nice to see you too, P-chan."

She had just finished dressing when Kasumi knocked on the door. "Akane, it’s time for breakfast!"

"I’m on my way!" Akane made her way downstairs, cradling P-chan in her arms. As soon as she stepped into the dining room, Ranma stood up. Akane gasped and backed away.

"Yeah, I’m a real freak of nature, ain’t I? I wonder whose fault THAT is..."

"I’m really sorry, Ranma," said Akane. "If it makes you feel better, I cried myself to sleep last night worrying about you."

"That would explain why you’re even more uncute than normal this morning," said Ranma.

Akane fumed. "Well, EXCUSE me for being uncute! Maybe you should stay the way you are! I’m sorry I even considered caring about you!"

"Must you two fight about this over breakfast?" asked Nabiki, reaching for the teapot. "Tea, Akane?"

"Yes please," said Akane, holding out her teacup as she sat down at the table. P-chan cringed from the teapot as Nabiki poured the tea. "It’s okay, P-chan," Akane assured him. "It’s only tea."

"You’d better watch it," warned Ranma. "Pig skin is very sensitive. It burns easily."

"And why are you so concerned all of a sudden?" asked Akane.

"I think it’s nice of Ranma to take an interest," said Kasumi. "Could you pass the butter please?"

"Sure thing," said Nabiki, reaching for the butter. As she leaned across the table, her elbow bumped into Akane’s teacup, spilling hot tea all over the pig in her arms. Ranma quickly grabbed P-chan from Akane and threw him out into the koi pond. "Ranma, what was that for?"

"I told you, his skin burns! I had to get him into some cold water!" Ranma stepped out into the backyard and fished P-chan out of the pond. When he turned around, Akane was standing behind him.

"You’re still jealous, that’s what it is!" shouted Akane, grabbing P-chan roughly from Ranma. "Why do you always have to bully him? How do you think Ryoga feels about it?"

Ranma swallowed hard. "Ry- Ryoga? Don’t tell me you know that P-chan is really Ryo-"

"Bwee!" oinked Ryoga, interrupting Ranma.

"Of course I know!" replied Akane. "Ryoga told me last night!"

"He... told you?" Ranma suddenly developed a nervous twitch.

"Which is a lot more than you were willing to do," added Akane. "You never even mentioned that he went to China."

"Hey!" protested Ranma. "I was keeping his secret as a favor to him!"

"I know. He’s modest as well as generous. What a great guy!"

Ranma’s eyes grew wide. "You mean, you know about Ryoga and P-chan, and you still like him?"

"I like him even more now that I know. I think what he did was really sweet. I wish you would have done something like that."

"So, you and Ryoga are really close then?" asked Ranma. "Well, that’s just great. Why don’t you ask Ryoga to protect you from the demon?"

"I should. After all, he was here last night keeping watch, and you weren’t," Akane pointed out.

"Then it’s a good thing my hunch was right," countered Ranma. "As it happens, the demon didn’t come after you last night because it was busy kidnapping Shampoo."

"Why would it do that?" asked Akane. "It’s working for Cologne, isn’t it?"

"No, that’s a different demon," replied Ranma. "Razor isn’t the one that’s been kidnapping those girls. He showed up to help while Mousse and I were trying to rescue Shampoo."

"So Cologne was telling the truth?"

Ranma nodded. "The demon’s way too powerful for us to handle alone. It’s got moves to counter all of mine."

"Then what can we do?" asked Akane.

"Oh, NOW you want my help," said Ranma. "Well, I guess I’d better help you. Not like you’re in any danger or nothing. After all, what would the demon want with a tomboy?"

"I didn’t ask to be engaged to you!" yelled Akane.

"Would you rather be engaged to Ryoga?" He glared at P-chan, who squealed in terror and ran into the house.

"Would you stop bullying him!" shouted Akane, pounding Ranma on the head.

"All right, that does it!" shouted Ranma. "It obvious you don’t want my help! You can fight off the demon yourself, with your new boyfriend!"

"What’s that?" asked Soun and Genma simultaneously.

"Akane, is this true?" asked Soun. "Do you really have a new boyfriend?"

"How dare you!" shouted Akane, raising her hand to slap Ranma in the face. "How could you say that in front of my father? I can’t believe you!"

"Would you just shut up and listen to me for once?" Ranma shouted back, grabbing Akane’s hand before it could connect with his face.

"Let go of me!" yelled Akane, pulling away from Ranma. His grip was firm, however, and he held her despite her struggles.

"Get a grip!" shouted Ranma, slapping Akane in the face. The world split apart in Akane’s mind. When she turned her gaze back to Ranma’s face, tears were streaming down her cheeks. In Ranma’s eyes, however, she saw nothing but anger.

"Ranma, how could you?" she sobbed.

Ranma caught himself before he could snap at her. "Akane, I care about you too much to let you do this to yourself. You’ve never listened to my side of anything, not once, until it was too late. Well, this time you’ll be gone before it’s too late, so you’re going to hear me out now."

Akane sniffed and nodded. "Okay. I’ll listen."

Ranma took a deep breath. "The demon’s got ways to counter any sort of martial arts moves we could come up with, so we’re going to need to fight it on its own level."

"How can we do that?" asked Akane.

"It’s a being of energy," said Ranma. "We need a way to fight that energy."

"You can’t mean..."

"Yep. Miss Hinako. We give her something round and watch her drain our demon troubles away."

"But she hates you! Why would she help us?"

Ranma shrugged. "I don’t think we’ll have any trouble convincing her that something’s wrong." He grabbed his candy-cane-striped ponytail uneasily. "After that, we’ll just have to play it by ear."

"That’s it?" asked Akane. "That’s the brilliant plan?"

"I never said it was a brilliant plan," replied Ranma. "I’ve been wracking my brain all night trying to think of something better. I really don’t want anything to happen to you. But this demon’s really got me stumped."

"Well, that’s your problem, isn’t it, Ranma?" asked Ryoga, stepping out of the house. "Akane needs someone who can protect her."

"And I suppose you’ve got a plan?" asked Ranma.

"Who needs a plan? If you’re too weak to beat the demon, I’ll handle it myself. I’ll teach you how a real man defends his fiancée."

"And how do you intend to beat it?" challenged Ranma. "None of your moves will touch it, except maybe Shishi Houkoudan, and even if that hits, the demon will reform within seconds."

"For your information, Ranma, I’ve been training recently. I’ve got some new moves now!"

"Let’s see them then," said Ranma, taking a fighting stance. "If you can’t beat me, there’s no way you’ll ever beat that demon."

"I accept your challenge!" shouted Ryoga, taking his own stance. "Let’s see you defend yourself against this move! Senbuta Gufuukiru!" He spun his headband on his belt and began to spin around Ranma, becoming hundreds of copies of himself.

"‘One Thousand Pig Tornado Punch?’ Where did it get a name like that, when the only thing there’s a thousand of is you?" asked Ranma. "Oh, never mind."

"It comes from a technique used by pigs in the wild, actually," replied Ryoga from all directions at once. "They attack from as many directions as possible, making it seem that there are hundreds of pigs when really there are only a few. Now, see if you can figure out which copy is real!"

Ranma sighed heavily. "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!" With the Chestnut Fist, Ranma attacked all of the copies at once. The real Ryoga flew through the air toward the koi pond. Ranma dove to catch him before he could fall into the water. "The demon’s got a speed fist attack even faster than mine. Still think you’re tough enough?"

"I’m not finished with you yet!" shouted Ryoga. "Just you wait until I –"

"Whatever," interrupted Ranma, dropping him into the pond. Akane grabbed Ranma and dragged him away. "Hey, Akane, what gives?"

"Ryoga means well," said Akane, "but he won’t be able to stand up to the demon. I don’t want to see him get hurt. Let’s go see Miss Hinako, for his sake." Without looking back over her shoulder, she led Ranma out of the yard. As soon as she was gone, P-chan splashed his way out of the pond. He stared longingly in the direction Akane had gone with tears in his little piggy eyes.

"Didn’t Ryoga fall into the pond?" asked Kasumi. "How did P-chan get there instead?"

"I didn’t see anything," replied Nabiki, pretending to study the inside of her teacup.

"Don’t worry, Kasumi," said Soun, giving her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "There are some things we’re better off not knowing." Genma nodded knowingly.

*************************************************

"Are you sure about this, Ranma?" asked Akane as they stood outside Miss Hinako’s door.

"As a matter of fact, I think it’s a horrible idea and it will never work," replied Ranma. "But it’s the best chance we’ve got, unless you can think of something better..." He paused with his hand poised to knock on the door, inviting Akane to offer an alternate suggestion.

Akane sighed. "Go ahead and knock."

Ranma knocked on the door. After a few minutes of receiving no response, he knocked again. "Maybe she’s not home?" he said at last.

"Who’s there?" asked Miss Hinako, opening the door. With her free hand, she pulled a small round stone from her pocket. "I really don’t like being disturbed when I’m trying to play tiddlywinks!"

"Miss Hinako, wait!" shouted Ranma. "It’s us! Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo!"

"Ranma Saotome? You do bear a striking resemblance to him, but his hair is... and he..." She stared long and hard at Ranma. "You are Ranma Saotome! But there’s something different about you..."

"I had a bit of an accident," explained Ranma. "I’m stuck halfway between forms."

"Yes, yes, I see," said Miss Hinako. "How unfortunate. But tell me, why have you come here of all places? There’s nothing I could do to help you, even if I wanted to."

"We didn’t come for Ranma’s sake," said Akane. "There’s a demon trying to kidnap me, and we need your help to beat it."

Miss Hinako squealed in surprise. "A demon? Kidnap you?"

"It’s a long story," said Ranma quickly. "I won’t bother you with it, but the demon’s already kidnapped Kodachi Kuno, Ukkyo, and Shampoo."

"Why should I care?" asked Miss Hinako, crossing her arms. "They’re delinquents, all of them."

"We brought you a bag of cookies," said Akane, handing the bag to Miss Hinako.

"Don’t worry," whispered Ranma. "She didn’t bake them."

"I heard that!" shouted Akane, pounding Ranma on the head.

"Cookies? Oh goody!" shouted Miss Hinako, opening the bag and stuffing her face full of cookies.

"We’ve got more, if you’ll help us defeat the demon," said Ranma.

Miss Hinako extended her hand to Ranma. "Agreed. Let’s set aside our differences and work together." Ranma took her hand and shook it, feeling a strange fatigue wash over him. The adult Miss Hinako stared down at the weakened Ranma. "Oh dear. I should have put the tiddlywink away first."

*************************************************

"Where am I now?" asked Ryoga aloud as he passed a building that looked rather familiar. "This can’t be the way to Miss Hinako’s house. What is this place?" He paused to read the building’s sign. "‘Chez Reireishii?’ This is where I took Akane for our date the other night! How did I end up here?"

No sooner had he passed the restaurant than the door flew open and vomited a body onto the street. "We do not wish to have your custom again!" shouted the maitre d’ from within as the door slammed closed.

Ryoga knelt beside the ejected customer and turned him face up. When he saw who it was, he backed away carefully. "K-Kuno!"

"Yes, truly it is a far nobler egress when made upon one’s feet," said Kuno, "but because my ungrateful dinner guests left me the task of settling the bill, whilst I lacked sufficient funds to make such settlement, the owners of this wretched establishment have only deprived themselves of the pleasure of hosting my further dining experiences with Akane and the pigtailed girl."

"I see. Do you know the way to Miss Hinako’s house?"

"Of course I don’t, fool," said Kuno. "I try to keep as far from that crazy woman as is humanly possible. Even as a youngster, she can be quite dangerous. My father’s choice in faculty was never tailored to the needs of the students of Furinkan, to be sure."

"What a shame," said Ryoga sarcastically. "I wanted to get there before Akane left, but..."

"Akane Tendo is at the home of that witch?" shouted Kuno. "Hurry, we must deliver her at once!"

"That’s exactly what I wanted to hear," said Ryoga. "So, Ranma thinks he’s the only one who can fight for Akane’s life? I’ll show him why they call me ‘Ryoga, the Demon Slayer!’"

"Who calls you that?" asked Kuno.

"Shut up!"

*************************************************

Happosai wound up a pair of panties and tied it around his head as a makeshift bandana. "So I hear there’s a demon threatening pretty young ladies in my town... That, I cannot accept!" His battle aura flared. "When you come after Akane, I’ll be ready for you!" The door slid open, and he whirled menacingly to face the intruder.

"Sorry to interrupt you, master," said Soun. "We plan to stand by you and fight the demon at your side."

"That’s right," said Genma. "Ranma’s marriage to Akane means the future of the school of Anything-Goes Martial Arts, and we can’t let anything jeopardize it."

"You boys are finally willing to work with your master instead of fighting him?" asked Happosai.

Soun and Genma prostrated themselves before Happosai. "Master, we are ready."

"Good," said Happosai. "Wait until that demon gets a taste of the real power of Anything-Goes Martial Arts!"

"With the master on the job, Akane will be as safe as you and I," said Soun, clapping Genma on the back. A blast of ki energy exploded around them, throwing both of them through the wall.

"As safe as you, eh?" asked Happosai as his battle aura cooled down. "Imagine falling for such a simple attack. You’ll certainly need some more training before taking on a demon."

"Yes, master," replied his students.

*************************************************

"Ranma saw you fighting the demon?" asked Cologne.

"Yes, the demon fighting I seeing did Ranma," replied Razor. "That his fiancées kidnapping not did I knowing he."

"But we weren’t able to save Shampoo," mourned Mousse.

"Don’t worry," Cologne assured her would-be great-grandson-in-law. "She’s still alive, somewhere. It may not be a place we can reach, however."

"Then what can we do?" asked Mousse. "We can’t just leave her in the clutches of that demon!"

"It will be up to the demon to return Shampoo," said Cologne sadly. "All we can do is wait and see what it’s planning."

"Can’t we do anything? Can’t we fight it?"

"No," replied Razor flatly. "The techniques using did the demon recognizing did I. Ultimate Darkness Martial Arts techniques being did they."

Cologne’s grip on her staff slipped, and she fell to the floor. "Ultimate Darkness! Oh, Mousse, you had best not tangle with that demon again. You’re lucky you survived one encounter!" Breathing heavily, she used her staff as a crutch to push herself into a sitting position.

"Here, let us help you up," offered Mousse. "Razor, give me a hand."

"No, Mousse! Not that backwards id-!" shouted Cologne, as Razor grabbed her staff and sent her crashing back to the floor.

"Oops," said Razor. "Sorry."

"Hold onto my staff, Razor," ordered Cologne. Razor meekly handed the staff over, whereupon Cologne used it to send him flying out the door. "Now, Mousse, I want you on hand when the demon shows up to kidnap Akane Tendo. Don’t oppose it directly – it’s far above even my level of skill. But watch what it does carefully. It will surely give us a clue as to where Shampoo is."

"Sure thing," said Mousse, taking his glasses off to polish them. He absently put them on top of his head and turned to address a stuffed cat. "I’ll keep a close eye on that demon for you!"

Cologne sighed. "If you see Razor, tell him to stay away from the demon and try not to notice anything out of the ordinary." Under her breath, she added, "I’m sure you’ll need all the help you can get."

*************************************************

"It doesn’t sound like much of a plan," said Miss Hinako when Ranma had finished.

"I know," replied Ranma. "I haven’t had time to work out all of the details. And we don’t really have that kind of time."

"You know that’s no excuse, Mr. Saotome," said Miss Hinako. "I can see that I’m going to have to discipline you until you learn not to be lazy." She withdrew a coin from her pocket.

"Hold it, Miss Hinako!" shouted Akane. "We’re not in school any more! And besides, Ranma’s going to need all of his energy for the plan!"

Miss Hinako scowled. "It’s not like any amount of energy in any part of this pathetic excuse for a plan is going to help matters at all." She grudgingly put the coin away.

"Well, you’re welcome to try to improve it," said Ranma.

"We’d need a plan before we could improve it."

"Don’t be so hard on him," urged Akane. "He’s trying as hard as he can."

"You don’t have to defend me, Akane," said Ranma. "I know I’ve failed you. I can’t save you from the demon." Miss Hinako stuck her tongue out at him.

Akane knelt beside Ranma’s chair. "Don’t sell yourself short! You haven’t failed until the demon has me in its icy clutches!"

"I like that imagery," said Miss Hinako. "Remind me to give you extra credit on your next writing assignment."

"Miss Hinako..." began Akane.

"I know, I know. School is out. But you’re still a good student. You’ve never given me any trouble like the others have."

"There she is!" shouted Kuno from the doorway. He charged into the room with his bokken drawn. "Evil woman, prepare to feel the wrath of the Blue Thunder – " He yawned. "The Blue Thunder of Furinkan High School Tate... Tatewaki... Kuno..." He slumped to the floor.

"Now THERE," said Miss Hinako, closing her adult fist around the coin, "is a troublemaker."

Ryoga casually stepped over the sleeping Kuno with his hands in front of his body. "It’s okay, Miss Hinako," he said quickly. "I’m not here to fight."

"Then what ARE you doing here?" asked Akane.

"I just want to have a few words with Ranma," replied Ryoga. "In private."

"All right," said Miss Hinako, putting away her coin. "Akane and I will go work on this plan of Ranma’s. I think it might work... with a little more thought behind it." She and Akane left the room.

"Maybe we should get more help," said Akane once they were out of earshot.

"You have someone in mind?"

Akane nodded. "I know someone with a lot of information about demons. He’ll be able to tell us what we should do."

*************************************************

"This time," said Hikaru, "I’m taking no chances! My good luck charms are all in place, and the doll is ready! Akane Tendo will be mine for sure, this time!" He hung the doll carefully over the nail above the front door. "Within the hour, she will be here, and within an hour and five minutes, she’ll be helplessly in love with me!" He brandished the white pin and smiled a cruel smile. "What a difference reading the instructions carefully can make..."