Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Wounded (now with spacing) ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

By: Bate

Author's Note:First I was referring to Ranma when in his girl form with 'he/she', but as it was brought to my attention how badly it disrupted the story, I've now changed it to 'he', no matter what form he's in... I just hope it isn't too confusing, and I'll try to 'remind' you of which form he's in to make things easier...

Enjoy!

Chapter 5

Akane was right when she predicted she would be blushing for weeks. She started blushing even before Ranma got into her car every time she saw him.

“Hi Ranma.”

“Hi Akane. I've looked through the newest info you guys sent, and I haven't heard of this gang before. Anything special you want me to take notice of?”

Akane gave him a grateful smile as he gave her a chance to focus on their task, and her blush diminished slightly. She looked at him sideways, appreciating the way he looked in his new clothes, and tossed him a cell-phone.

“First thing first. Here - this is for business purposes. We've got your number already, and ours are saved in your list. This is for when you want to contact us, and if we need to reach you on the double. You know how to operate one?” Ranma nodded. “Good. As for today's meeting, we need to be prepared for anything. We've got a source talking about how another firm is trying to take over the betting-monopole on the place, so we don't know who we'll meet. Nabiki wants us to be careful, she seemed real tense about this deal.”

“Okay. I just want to remind you that you promised to let me take charge if we need to fight our way out…”

“Yeah, I know… Don't worry, I'll let you take the lead.”

She saw Ranma putting on some arm braces underneath his red shirt, and wished she had some too. The fact that Nabiki was concerned made her jumpy. She usually had a great hunch for such things.

“Ready?” she asked.

“Ready…”

It started smoothly, the fight-manager of the club willingly swapping the information he had acquired for a certain kind of pictures Nabiki had got hold on for him. He happily looked through them - photos of his favourite actress with her autograph on every single one - but then Ranma noticed his grin turning darker, as a small sound came from behind.

“I'm sorry, Miss Tendo, but I've gotten an even better deal now, although I'll keep these as a memento of my victory over the Tendo emporium.” The manager sighed with cruel happiness and snapped his fingers in a very b-movie way.

Ranma reacted even before the manager finished the classic bad-boy move, and spun around in a vicious kick, levelling two men who had tried to sneak up on him.

“Bad idea, guys…” he snarled, taking a stance against the men who suddenly rushed the room. He heard the battle cries coming from Akane and men howling with pain, and tried to come up with a strategy other than fighting for the next couple of hours. They were two against what seemed like an endless stream of men, and he was relieved to see that Akane actually had an advantage in fighting against a large group, her style seemingly adopted to crowd-fighting. He made his way through the mob and ended up back-to-back with her.

“Listen up, I'm gonna surprise them now, just hang on afterwards - okay?”

“Okay, Saotome, lead the way!”

Ranma concentrated, and soon there was a glowing ball of energy between his hands, and with a yell he threw it through the nearest wall, the men nearby scattering for safety. He used the advantage of surprise to grab Akane and pull her after him through the hole, hoping to find a better place to fight if they were followed.

“Wow! Was that what I think it was? Can you manipulate chi?” Akane asked with awe, running next to him.

“Yeah. An old Amazon taught me. I'll tell you about it later, now we need to get to your car, before those idiots behind us recover from the shock. This way!”

“Wait! This is a blind alley!” But before Akane had a chance to stop, Ranma scooped her up in his arms and jumped high over the walls, touching lightly on the top before he bounced down on the other side, only a few meters from her car. He snatched her keys, more or less threw her into the car while he placed himself behind the wheel, starting the car and expertly manoeuvred the vehicle swiftly through the neighbourhood - without putting on his seatbelt, something Akane automatically protested at.

#What the hell just happened? Did he just fire off a chi-blast, pick me up like nothing and leap God-knows-how-high into the air and over a wall, throwing me into my own car and drive off in 007-style?# Akane struggled to sit up while Ranma raced down the street.

“We need to know what just happened back there, and I know exactly where to go.” Ranma turned sharply, and Akane slammed into the passenger door, trying to hang on to whatever she could get her hands on. She managed to get her seatbelt on and was spared a lot of agony for the next 10 minutes. With screeching wheels, Ranma stood on the brakes and jumped out of the car almost before it stood still, barging across the street and slamming down a battered door.

“Ryoga! Where are you? Get your lazy ass out here this instant!” he roared.

By now, Akane had somehow got her body under control again, and came running after Ranma.

“Ranma, wait! What are you doing?” Then she skidded to a stop as a young man came out in the hall, glaring at Ranma. His yellow and black bandanna glinted strangely and his fangs showed as he spoke.

“Ranma, what the hell did you ruin my door for! Don't you know how to knock!” Then he spotted Akane, and froze. “Ah… gah… uh…”

“Come on, Ryoga, I haven't got time for your nonsense now. I need some quick info, and I bet you've got what I want.”

“Ngh… heh… eh…”

“Jeez, is it necessary to loose all brain-functions every time you see a pretty girl!” #Not that I'm all that much better when it comes to Akane…# “Akane, this is Ryoga Hibiki, an old acquaintance of mine… Ryoga, this is Akane Tendo, a friend.”

#Did Ranma just say that I'm pretty?# Akane blushed and nodded to Ryoga, and blushed even more when she saw the way Ryoga looked at her.

Ranma sighed and pushed Ryoga back into the house, waving for Akane to follow. He led them all into the living-room, placing Ryoga in a chair there, taking a seat in the sofa and patting beside him for Akane to join him.

“Why didn't you tell me there's a new gang in town?” Ranma asked Ryoga with a hard stare. Akane sat down next to Ranma, confused at the place they were in and why they were there.

“New gang?” Ryoga started to get some brain cells working again, and focused on Ranma. “What are you talking about?”

“I'm talking about the gang that just went for Miss Tendo's throat here… Over at the former factory… They didn't look like locals.”

“Well, I haven't heard anything but rumours…”

“Spit out!”

“You'll have to ask nicely first! Besides, you still owe me!”

Akane cut in just then. “Mr Hibiki, please, could you tell us what you've heard..? We need to know what's going on, so I can protect my family. I'm sure we can give you some help back in return, if you give us this info…”

Akane's words were like magic. Ryoga's resistance melted away, he got a puppy-dog look in his eyes, and glanced over at Ranma before he talked to Akane.

“I can't confirm anything, but the rumour is that there's a group from abroad that wants a piece of this corner of town, as a cover for smuggling and other less fun stuff. Supposedly a major cooperation from their homeland, and with politicians on their side.”

“…No wonder Nabiki looked worried…” Akane whipped up her cell-phone, and walked to the other side of the room as she called home. Talking quietly into the phone, she paced back and forth.

“What's the deal with her?” Ryoga whispered to Ranma.

“I work with her. She and her sister runs Tendo Enterprises…”

“I knew I'd heard her name before! I've been in their business building downtown once when I was looking for my kitch-… uh… When I was looking for something… The things I saw and heard there… They've got some serious connections and ties, and not only with the big and important persons… Simply put, they're powerful!” Ryoga whispered impressed.

“Yes, we are…” Akane said to Ryoga. “…and my sister wants more of the kind of information you have, and are willing to be quite generous about it…”

Ryoga looked to Ranma, who held two thumbs up, and shrugged. “What's in it for me?”

“What do you want? If you've heard of my family, you should know what we're capable of fixing.” Akane looked proudly at him, holding out her phone. “My sis is on the phone. Talk to her. Ranma, can I have a word?”

Before Ranma could respond, Akane had pulled him out into the hall. “Can we trust him?”

“Sure, Ryoga's word is gold. He has this really bad sense of direction though, so he often stumbles into the weirdest places, but that's the way he gains most of his info. A cell phone might not be stupid for him to have.”

“Okay, I'll trust your judgement. You called him an acquaintance…?”

“Eh… well… Remember Jusenkyo..? He got lost on his way to a battle we was supposed to have, and when he didn't show me and pops went to China… and Ryoga followed…”

“What?”

“But you can't tell anyone… He's really embarrassed about it… He fell into Spring of Drowned Black Piglet…”

“Oh… Poor guy… I won't tell. Thanks for trusting me.” Akane smiled brightly to Ranma, grabbed his arm and pulled him back into the living room. Ryoga looked like he was in heaven, and grinned broadly to them both.

“You've got yourselves a deal! Your sister said you two could relax now, and she'll take care of some politics. She knew just the men to give the info about the smuggling to… So…would you like some tea?”

“Thanks man, but we better get going. I'm not sure we weren't followed here, so keep your eyes open.”

“As always, pal, as always… Take care of that young lady.”

“Don't worry, I will.”

Akane didn't know if she should be angry at them for talking over her head and treating her like a little girl, or if she should be flattered for their interest in her well-being. By the time she could decide, they were almost back at the car. Just then someone splashed Ranma.

“What the-?”

Someone yanked Akane back by her braid, making her shout out in surprise as she fell on her back. Ranma used his superior speed as a girl to weave and duck out of the way of several swords, knives and bat's, trying to get to Akane. But Akane was getting mad, and the poor man who'd grabbed her hair got the worst thrashing of his miserable life. The other men got nervous at the violence Akane showed, and one of them closed in on her with a knife, trying to aid his fallen buddy.

“Akane!” Ranma screeched. “Watch out”

Akane whisked around, just avoiding the blade aimed for her back, and felt air grace her neck. Looking down beside her she could see her braid on the ground. Thankfully, Ryoga had heard the clatter outside and came running to help Ranma flatten the rest of the men, `cause Akane just stood still, touching the short uneven tips of hair in the back of her neck. With Ranma furiously beating down the men who tried to hurt Akane, and Ryoga herding them in, it only took a few minutes before both of them stood concerned in front of Akane.

“Miss Tendo? You okay?” Ryoga asked quietly. Akane just looked down.

“Akane..?” Ranma touched her carefully on the arm that was fingering the tips of her cut-off hair, and smiled to her when she looked up. “Hey, are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

“My hair…” she sighed.

Ranma just then noticed her long braid lying on the ground, and bent down and picked it up. The thick braid was only held together at the bottom with a black rubber band, the rugged top of it working loose as he held it in his small, female hands.

“I think I should go home now…” Akane said in a monotone voice. She turned to Ryoga. “Thank you for your help.” She shook his hand. Taking the car keys back, she drove Ranma back to his apartment in silence.

“You're sure you should drive alone right now?”

“Yes, Ranma, I'm okay. Really, it's only hair, right?” She smiled weakly to him.

“Y-yeah, I guess so. Be careful okay. And call me when you get home, so I know you didn't get lost or something…”

“Baka” Akane mumbled, and drove off. Ranma realised he still held her braid, and as she got into his apartment, he found another rubber band to keep the top of the braid together, and put it in a box he kept in the bottom of his bedroom closet.