Here We Go Again Notes to follow **************PRIVATE FEEDBACK ONLY************** Christopher Angel cja124@mail.usask.ca Chapter 7: Christmas and a New Enemy (it's December, a week before the X-mas/new years break) Ryouga, Akane and Ranma ran into the school ground, barely making it on time. They screeched to a halt in the yard as Akane took a moment to pummel Kuno into the dirt. "HIBIKI, PREPARE TO DIE!" Ryouga barely jumped back as a steam of projectiles stuck the ground where he stood. His eyes, and those of the growing audience, were drawn to the source of the attack. In a tree stood a thin man in a resplendendent white suit and mirrorshades. His hair was impecably combed, and the slight breeze that was in the air seemed not to touch him. He was much older than the other students, aparently in his late twenties. Ranma and Akane sat on the school wall with Daisuke and Hiroshi. "Vengeful rival?" Daisuke asked Ranma. "Looks like it, doesn't it?" Ranma returned. "You know, my grandfather was telling me about his younger days. You know, things like this have been happening here all the time?" Hiroshi mentioned offhandedly. Their conversation was interrupted by a cry from Ryouga. "Sachura Kai?!" he yelled, shocked. He grinned. "Great to see you, how the hell have you been?" "Hey, Ryouga, he wants to kill you!" Daisuke called. Ryouga seemed suprised at this and turned to the man, his question on his face. "That's right, Hibiki." The man lept to the ground. "You destroyed my career, you destroyed my life. I'm here to kill you!" Kai reached into his coat and withdrew some items. "DIE!" he cried as he flung the items at Ryouga, who used his ever-present umbrella to deflect the weaons into the ground and wall, nearly hitting Ranma. Ranma picked up the item. It was a paper shuriken. "Paper?!" Ranma asked. Ryouga looked at Kai in suprise. "Yes, paper." Kai confirmed. "You didn't know that the man you've hounded for the past 10 years was a student of the Origami School of Martial Arts, did you?" He withdrew a long sheet of paper from his coat, and in a flash folded it into a katana. "HA!" He ran at Ryouga, who lept away as the man swung. The paper katana drove into the ground, and sank a good foot into the soil. Ryouga kicked the blade, and lost his balance as foot flew through the construct without resistance. Kai swiped at Ryouga and gave him a long cut on the arm. Ryouga lept away, and looked in suprise at the scarlet- edged sheet in the other's hand. Ryouga got a dark look on his face. "I didn't want to do this, Kai," he growled. "You were a nice guy, you always helped me. But I'm late for class." Ryouga concentrated, and a glowing yellow ball appeared in his hand. "FIERCE LION SHOT!" he yelled as he blasted at Kai, who flew out of the school yard. Ranma and Akane lept off the wall and ran to Ryouga. "That was great, Ryouga!" Akane cheered. "Ahh, I could've beat him in half the time," Ranma scoffed, but continued at Akane's dark look. "Good job, though. Nice to see you using something like my version of that move. But," he paused, and his voice took on a tone much like his father's. "You must never let your guard down, boy," he said, indicating Ryouga's cut arm. "Come on, lets get that treated." ********************************************************************** Ranma, Akane and Ryouga stood in the hall, carrying buckets of water. "I wish all the teachers would use Tenno's method," Ranma complained. It wasn't that carrying buckets was hard, or even a strain, it was just so BORING. "Who was that guy, anyway? He wanted to kill you more than you wanted to kill me, if that's possible." Ryouga shrugged, and spilled some of the water on his shoes. "Sachura Kai. He's this guy I kept on meeting when I was lost. He was really nice, too, he always helped me to find out which way to go." "You've been meeting him for 10 years?" Akane asked. "Well, only once or twice a year, but yeah." He looked puzzled. "I don't know why he wants to kill me." "You must have done SOMETHING." Ranma prodded. "Nothing! All I did was meet him, say hi, and ask for directions." "Well, if all you did was ask for directions, why would he want to kill you?" Akane demanded. "That's insane!" "Akane, remember you're talking to the guy who began a vendetta over lunch bread," reminded Ranma. He dodged the water thrown by Ryouga. "Hey!" "It wasn't just the bread!" Ryouga insisted. Akane sighed, and emptied her buckets on both of them. "Stop fighting!" The two soaked girls glared at her, then exchanged a look. They turned and soaked Akane. Akane sputtered, grabbing a hammer. "You JERKS!" she yelled, and chased the two laughing girls down the hall. ************************************************************** Ryouga and Ukyo walked together from school. The uncomfortable silence between them hung in the air like a cloud. "How come you aren't at the restaurant?" Ryouga asked. "Why, tired of my company already?" Ukyo asked, her eyes flashing. "NO!" Ryouga replied, panicked. "Its just that usually you're always leaving in a rush to go work, I was wondering." Ukyo seemed to relax, and she shrugged. "It was interfering with school, and since this is my last year I wanted to get in more time to study for the college entrance exam, especially since my school performance hasn't been so hot." She grinned. "Besides, Nabiki's been investing my money for me, and I have more than enough to live on and go to college." Suddenly Ukyo yanked Ryouga to the side. Shampoo crashed down where Ryouga had been standing. "Nihao, Ryouga!" she joyfully greeted. "Shampoo hear you live with Ranma now! I see you tonight, OK?" She peddalled away. Ukyo grabbed Ryouga by the arm and whirled him around to face her. "Why is SHE going to be at your place tonight?" she demanded, furious. A faint blue glow surrounded her. "PRACTICE!" he quickly replied. "For that act the Tendo girls, Shampoo and Ranma put on every Christmas." Ukyo seemed to calm down. "Oh, sorry." "Jeez, Ukyo, when did you get to be such a violent maniac?" Ryouga muttered, peeved. "You were always a tomboy, but this is.." "RYOUGA, YOU JERK!" Ukyo smacked him with her spatula, sending him flying through the air towards the Tendo's. "That had better be ALL she does there tonight." *************************************************************** Tenno kneeled in the back yard, a white glow surrounding him, streaks of red shooting through it. Ranma and Ryouga stood before him holding a kettle and a bucket. Dr. Tofu stood behind him. The rest of the family watched from the house, minus Kasumi, who watched from the window upstairs. Ryouga poured some cold water on Tenno, causing him to change. The glow remained. Ranma then poured the hot water, nodding as the glow did not die. They repeated the process several times, seeming pleased by the lack of any change in the glow. They stopped at a word from the doctor. Ranma dropped the bucket and picked up a board, and broke it across Tenno's back. Tenno's face twisted in pain, but there was no change in the glow. Dr. Tofu spoke again, and Tenno stood. Ryouga walked up to him and punched him in the face, then the stomach, then in the face again. The glow flared at the last hit, but still shone. Dr. Tofu examined the young man, then beckoned Nabiki over. He whispered in her ear. She looked at him in shock, and shook her head. He whispered in her ear again, more forcefully, and she reluctantly nodded. She walked up to Tenno, looked him in the eyes, and then quite calmy, kneed him in the groin. Tenno doubled over as the watching men winced. He looked up at Nabiki, the betrayal in his face, and the white glow was suddenly streaked by blue was well as red. Dr. Tofu nodded. "Enough." He helped the young man up, and pressed the required pressure points to lessen his most severe pain. "I'm sorry about that last one, but we needed to make sure you wouldn't lose control under even a severe shock." He smiled at the young man. "Excellent work, Tenno, you exhibited total control." He grabbed his medical bag and began to treat the injuries caused by the punches and board. "You can start learning new techniques now." Ranma and Ryouga congratulated the young man, and then went to the rest of the family. Genma grinned while Soun smiled through his standard tears. Akane smiled at them, her pleasure in seeing a friend succeed evident. Nabiki also returned after apologising profusely to Tenno. "Saotome, old friend," Soun asked Genma. "I'm familiar with the chi manifestations of depression and anger, being blue, and confidence and hope, being yellow. It is also clear that anger, when it becomes rage, is white. But what, pray tell, is red?" Genma grinned at his friend, and looked over at his wife. "Why, Tendo, I'm suprised you have to ask," he replied mysteriously. Soun looked confused, and frowned. "Daddy," Akane hissed, exasperated, "it's love!" Soun looked shocked, and then gazed at his blushing daughter Nabiki. He smiled broadly, and tears began to fall from his face again. "I see." ******************************************************************* That evening's dinner was marked by Dr. Tofu's antics, since it was quite clear that Kasumi would not stand for being locked up in her room all evening. The doctor's full-fledged stupidity around Kasumi was a source of no small entertainment. Shampoo arrived soon after dinner, dragging along a quite pathetic looking Mousse. "Mousse all sad since white-hair girl dump him. I bring him along to be cheered up, OK?" She sat him at the table, and gave Tenno a 'fix this' look. She then went with the other girls and Ranma-chan into the dojo to practice. The table was silent for a moment after the girls left. Soon, sounds of the girls singing echoed through the house. "This was much harder than I expected, Nahaki Tenno." Mousse said. "I'm sorry Mousse, I didn't mean for you to do this. I guess you liked that other girl?" Mousse smiled sadly. "We had nothing in common, except our goals. But she was nice, and considerate. I really grew to enjoy her company, even if it was for a cause. The 'break-up' was much more difficult than I had thought it would be." He paused. "The toughest part was we can't even be friends now. That was part of the deal we made at the beginning, and she wants to stick to it." "How did Shampoo react?" Ryouga asked. "I don't know," Mousse admitted. "She has been acting very strange lately. She was constantly wanting to know where we went, and what we did. After the 'break-up', she was very sympathetic," he paused, "for an Amazon." He grimaced. "It was very hard to not go back to the way things were before, but from what Akemi told me that will never work." "What advice did she give?" Tenno asked, suddenly VERY interested. "She told me to be subtle. She said that Shampoo seemed to be a girl who responded violently to obvious things, so subtlety might get under her guard. I hope she was right." "That seems like very good advice to me, but then, I'm a guy," Tenno conceeded. "But you are a very insightful one, Tenno. You are much like Tendo Kasumi that way." Ryouga laughed, and Mousse looked confused. Tenno groaned. "Did I say something amiss?" "No," Ryouga laughed, "no, Mousse, you said something very right." Tenno scowled. "Don't encourage him. I get that enough from you people already." Just then, the sounds of singing rose, and the mean stopped what they were doing to listen for a moment. *** Nabiki always loved the Christmas parties her family held. There was so much opportinity for profit. As they had the year before for Ranma, all three of Ryouga's 'suitors' showed up early to help with the preparaions. As had occured the year before, they were superfluous, and ended up spending a good amount of time in the ladies waiting room, under Akane's and Nabiki's watchful eyes. Tenno poked his head in. "Hey, does someone want to help...." his voice trailed off has he saw Kodachi, Ukyo, and Shampoo sitting in a triangle, all glowing blue. "Uhhh, Nabs, can I talk to you?" He pulled her outside the room, and shut the door. "Didn't this happen last year?" he hissed. "Are you INSANE? The malice in that room is so thick you could cut it with a two-by-four!" "Don't worry, they promised to behave," Nabiki promised him. "I even loaned Ryouga the money to buy all three of them gifts." Tenno's eyes narrowed. "It was low interest!" "I hope you know what you're doing, Nabs," Tenno sighed. "Trust me," she said, and laughed at his disgusted expression. "What did you need?" she asked. "Kasumi needs help in the kitchen, I need help setting up the tables and chairs, Ranma needs help with the decorations, Ryouga just needs help." "What's Ryouga doing?" "Hiding in the yard from those three." "Good plan." "I'd like to think so," Tenno grinned. "It was my idea." Nabiki thought for a minute. "Hmm, Shampoo for the kitchen, Kodachi with you, my sympathies by the way, Ukyo with the decorations, and Akane and I to help Ryouga." She went in to give the girls their tasks. An hour later, the party began. It was a cheerful affair, and even Ryouga's mood lifted despite his having to suffer the attentions of three very jealous girls for an evening. As the party started to wind down, Nabiki got up on stage and announced their number. Her sisters and Shampoo came out on stage, followed by a hurriedly-changed Ranma- chan. Silence fell over the room at the ending of the song. Soon, one person started clapping, then two, then in a rush, a flood of applause and cheers filled the room. The girls bowed, and quickly left the stage after the curtains closed. *************************** The girls and a damp, male Ranma sat in a back room, resting. There was a knock on the door, and Tenno poked his head in. "Can we come in?" he asked, and opened the doors to reveal the other men. Tenno grinned and handed Nabiki a single rose, wrapped with a beautiful chain. Nabiki gasped and slowly unwrapped the chain, putting it around her neck. "You," she said, kissing him on the lips, "cheat." Mousse walked over to Shampoo. "That was very nice, Shampoo." She smiled at him, and then went to hug an embarrased Ryouga. Mousse sighed. Tofu tried to complement Kasumi, but his glasses merely fogged up as usual. "But what do you mean, 'you cheat'?" Tenno asked Nabiki. Nabiki kissed him again, this time on the forehead. "If you keep on suprising me, how am I supposed to suprise you?" "Didn't you tell me to keep suprising you?" he asked. "Not all the time," she returned impishly. "I have to win sometimes." Tenno looked even more dismayed at that. "Ranma," he said. "I agree with you. If I live to be a hundred, I will never, ever understand women." Laugher filled the room. *********************************** Christmas break was over, and Ranma, Ryouga and Akane ran to school. Ranma spoke as they flew through the gate. "Hey, Ryouga, what happened to that nut Sachura Kai..." Ranma was cut off by a battle cry. "HIBIKI, PREPARE TO DIE!" "...nevermind." Ranma grabbed Akane's waist and leaped away with her. "I can take care of myself!" she yelled at him, but without heat in her voice. Ranma shrugged, and held her tighter. "It's a reflex. Shh! Watch now, fight later," he shushed, indicating the combat. Ryouga stood in the yard, facing Kai. Ryouga had dropped his huge backpack, but still held his standard umbrella. Kai stook with a brace of paper knives in his hand. "Kai, what did I do to you?" "You put me through hell!" Kai cried, throwing the knives, which Ryouga merely blocked with his umbrella. At the sidelines, Ranma and Akane laughed. Ryouga was startled for a moment, then started to grin. "How dare you mock me?! PAPER STORM!" A thousand pieces of paper flew at Ryouga, who merely leapt out of the way. "I've heard that line before," Ryouga bluntly stated. "I used it. What did I do to you?" He repeated. "All I ever did was ask for directions!" Kai reeled as if hit. "Ask for directions?! You ruined my life!" He quickly formed an odd-looking paper airplane which he threw at Ryouga, who dodged. Kai then followed up with some more paper shuriken, which Ryouga blocked on his umbrella. "Ryouga, look out!" Ukyo's voice rang over the field. Ryouga whirled, to see the airplane Kai had thrown past him flying his way at incredible speed, much too fast for him to dodge. Ryouga braced for the inevitable impact, and gaped in suprise as a spatula took out the attack. "HA! Can't beat me by yourself, so you seek help from friends? Well they won't interfere. PAPER STORM!" A flurry of paper flew at Ukyo, who screamed as it enveloped her. "UKYO!" Ryouga cried, and ran to her, and stopped. Ukyo stood there, trying to cover herself up. Her clothes were in shreds, and she was covered in scrapes. Ryouga quickly ran to his pack and pulled out a blanket, which he covered Ukyo with. He stood and whirled on the statuelike Kai. "You bastard!! I'll kill you!" Ryouga charged at the other man, who lept over him and ran to Ukyo. "A woman?" Kai whispered. He pulled out a sheet of paper and formed a paper rose, which he laid at the shocked Ukyo's feet. "My most sincere apologies, dear lady, I mistook you for a man given your apparel." He whipped out another sheet and a pencil, and sketched something on it in a flash. "Perhaps in the future, you might wear something like this, and avoid the confusion." He laid the picture beside the rose, and whirled on Ryouga. "In respect for the lady, we will finish this later, Hibiki." Kai pulled out a packet which he tossed to Ryouga. "If you really are ignorant of your crimes, read that. It also contains my formal challenge. Farewell!" A cloud of confetti appeared where Kai stood, and he was gone. "COME BACK HERE, KAI!" Ryouga roared. He fumed for a moment, then went back to his pack. "I should have something you can wear, Ukyo." He began to dig in his pack. Ukyo picked up the paper rose and the picture that laid beside it. Ranma and Akane ran to her. "What is it?" Akane asked, and looked at the sheet. On it was Ukyo, in the most beautiful dress they had ever seen. ************************************************************************ Ryouga, Ukyo, Tenno and Nabiki sat under a tree in the yard. Nabiki was reading names off of a series of sheets to Tenno, who would mark them on a sheet of paper. After a few minutes of this, he wordlessly passed the sheet over to Nabiki, who shook her head in awe. "Ryouga, this is amazing! For a guy who gets lost all the time, you're really well travelled." She showed them the sheet. It was a world map, with scattered dots all over it. They were concentrated in the far east, but there were some as far away as Europe. "According to these papers," Tenno said, picking some up, "this Sachura Kai person was some sort of secret agent." He pointed at one dot in England. "Here you aparently blew Kai's cover with a gang at a meeting near Stonehenge." "How on earth did you get to Stonehenge?!" Ukyo demanded. "So that's what those stones were," Ryouga mused. "It was awfully foggy for central China." Ukyo looked at him in a mixture of disgust and disbelief. "Here you caused him to miss a shot at killing a criminal mastermind," Tenno said, pointing in Russia. Nabiki had also taken up some sheets and started to join in. "Here," she said, pointing to Germany, "you blasted through a wall and allowed his pursuers to find him more easily." The two alternated, rattling off all the misfortune Ryouga brought onto Kai. "But all I did was ask for directions!" Ryouga yelled at them. "I know you did, sugar, but you always did it at the wrong time," Ukyo said, trying to soothe him. Ryouga looked in dismay at the map. "But...but..." He crumpled the map. "Fine. He wants to kill me, he can try. I've taken on better men than him. Besides, he's going to pay for what he did to you," he growled to Ukyo. "I can fight my own fights, Ryouga," Ukyo told him, steel in her voice. Ryouga smiled grimly. "I know you can. But it's MY challenge, and I get first crack at him." ******************************************** The vacant lot was surrounded by spectators. Ryouga stood at one side, his umbrella at the ready. In a corner, Nabiki was taking bets, while Tenno looked on with no small amusement. She handed him a stopwatch. "This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of," he told her. "Since when do people bet on the appearance of WATER?" Nabiki shrugged. "These duels are always awfully one sided, and besides, everyone thinks Ryouga would win, including me. Besides, water always shows up in these things." She fell silent as Kai bounded into the lot, carrying a large, flat box. "Nice to see you found your way here, Hibiki." He glanced around. "Where is that fair one who I wronged earlier today...aha!" He bounded over to Ukyo, and laid the box at her feet. "My replacement for the garments I ruined this morning. I believe this suits one of your beauty better." He openned the box, letting her see that the dress inside was exactly the one in the drawing. "KAI! Keep the hell away from her!" Ryouga roared, charging at him. Kai bounded away. "Bah, I was merely making amends, Hibiki." He reached into his coat and drew out some paper knives. "It was no business of yours." "Like HELL it isn't!" Ryouga reached up to his forehead and withdrew some bandanas, which he began to whirl. "Come near my fiancee again and I'll kill you!" He threw the bandanas at Kai. Kai blasted them out of the air with his knives. Kai looked at Ryouga in suprise, then grinned evilly. "If you're dead, she isn't your anything." In a flash, he had some more paper knives in his hand. "I'll just have to arrange that. DIE!" The knives flew through the air. Ryouga charged a suprised Kai, blocking the knives with his umbrella. Ryouga dove at Kai's feet. "BREAKING POINT!" Kai was blasted into the air, and landed a few meters away, his suit mangled. He groaned and slowly got up, and gasped when he saw what had been done to his suit. "Do you know how expensive these things are?!" he growled. "They're hand-made! You'll pay for this, Hibiki." He leapt out of the way as Ryouga charged him again, using the Breaking Point where he stood. "You won't get me twic-phmsd!" he was suddenly soaked by water from a burst pipe under the lot. Tenno turned to Nabiki. "One minute, 35 seconds." He told her. "Who won?" "No one," she happily told him. "I love lotteries no one wins." Ranma, who had been sitting beside them, gleefully cheered Ryouga. "ABOUT TIME!" He yelled out to the combatants. He turned to an inquisitive Akane and explained. "Kai's technique has a flaw. He can't use wet paper." Kai stood, soaked, looking at the mess of pulp in his hands. He growled and threw it away. "I don't need paper to defeat the likes of you, Hibiki." He leapt high in the air, kicking at Ryouga (suprisingly male) as he came down, knocking Ryouga back a few feet. "I'll defeat you with my bare hands." Ryouga tossed away his umbrella. "Your funeral." The fight went on for a few minutes, until it was clear that no fighter had a clear advantage. Ryouga could demolish Kai, if he could only hit him. Kai had no trouble hitting Ryouga, but didn't have enough strength to do any damage. Ranma whistled. "This guy's fast, good thing he doesn't have the Chestnuts technique, or Ryouga might be in trouble." Ryouga was thinking much the same thing. All I'm doing is getting tired, he concluded. He jumped away. "FIERCE LION SHOT!" he yelled, and blasted at Kai. Who merely dodged. "You got me once with that, Hibiki. Suprised me. You won't get me twice." He came again at Ryouga, who skuttled away, his thoughts churning. I don't have enough speed with that to hurt him, he thought. The only thing that I can do fast enough is a Breaking Point. But he'll just leap away if I try it again. I need something with the reach of the chi-blast, and the speed and power of a Breaking Point. An idea occuring to him, Ryouga stopped and concentrated, letting chi build up in his hand. "Breaking Point Revised!" he cried, and stabbed at the ground. "ROLLING THUNDER!" An explosion rocked the ground where he stood, and then almost to quick to see, the explosion spead in a line, tearing up the ground, to where Kai stood shocked. The explosion envelopped him in a yellow blast, obsuring him in clouds of dust. When the dust cleared, Kai lay on the ground, unconsious. Ryouga had won. The crowd cheered, and Ranma bounded out to the field to congradulate his friend, Akane and Ukyo hot on his heels. In the commotion, Kai awoke, and realized he had been defeated. "HIBIKI!" he roared, and ran at him, stopping a few meters away. "You may have won this battle, but I'll be back!" He turned to Ukyo. "Til we meet again, fair Ukyo." He turned, and ran out of the lot. Ryouga stood staring after Kai, his anger plain on his face. "This isn't over yet, Kai. Not by half." Notes: Count youselves VERY lucky. I had a really cheezy X-mas scene in here which I removed because the sugar content was criminal.