Make Me Feel

Chapter Five: Fear in your Eyes

Disclaimer: If you really want to sue me, know that I own only about $3.59 and a pack of Yu-Gi-Oh cards.

AN: Beware the wrath of the REALLY SHORT CHAPTER! Seriously people, I wasn’t feeling up to my normal standards this week. This is three pages shorter than my average, but I figured the introduction of P-Chan could wait until the next chapter after the intro to Ryouga proper. Not that anyone could call that thing P-CHAN…

Five Begins Here:

My day began with an early waking at 4:30. I have always found that sleep is not worth half as much as the hour or two of training. Tired is one of the few things I can feel, because it is purely physical, but I don’t mind it.

What I minded was that all my clothes were gone. Not pleasant. Kasumi insisted I change forms and wear Akane’s clothing. I agreed, but made sure to put my aura on at all times that day. It would hurt, and wreck the clothing, if I were to change while wearing them. The coldness of my soul would ensure that all liquid in my presence was not warm enough to change me.

The days passed quickly, and I trained Akane every morning. She hit me when I did something she didn’t want me to do. I learned to stay away and be on my guard. Great training it was, for her at least.

Genma had nothing left to teach me.

This day, though, I awoke with a foreboding, a sense of importance and urgency. Something was to happen today, something that could change our lives.

I had Akane try to walk on the fence, for balance. She waited until we found an empty street, for fear of ‘peeping perverts’ looking up her skirt from ground level.

She could fence walk with little speed, but at least she never fell. I ran ahead, and stopped a block in front of her.

“Go faster,” I shouted back, “You will be late!”

She seemed angered by my comment. So angered, in fact, that she forgot where she was. With an inhuman growl, she ran across the fence, hopping to the next one when it ended, and chased me to Furinkan.

She may yet have some potential.

As we leapt over the gate, I noticed a strange guy with a familiar bandanna holding a guy up by the shirt. I paid no attention, as Akane screamed in rage, “Stop, Ranma!”

“You need to catch me first.”

Right after saying this, I felt a sudden sense of danger, that I was about to be faced with a powerful challenge. This kind of sense is not a feeling, but a ki technique I learned in my travels. It has never been wrong.

It is the reason I survived my father’s revealing of the Yama Sen Ken and the Kijin Raishuu Dan.

I looked upwards, just in time to see the bandanna clad boy dropping from the sky, holding an umbrella in a sword guard.

“Ranma Saotome, prepare to lose!”

I twisted midair, dodging the blow with ease. This new foe wasn’t fast at all. Before I hit the ground, I launched several punches and a kick at the unfortunate attacker.

He merely looked up at me, and smiled a crazy smile, showing fangs at least half an inch long. As his umbrella hit the ground where I had been standing a moment before, the pavement shattered, sending a huge plume of dust into the air. “You haven’t changed Ranma. You’re still good at fighting.” He said, as the dust settled.

“Someone you know?” Akane inquired.

I ignored her. “Ryoga. I haven’t had a challenge in a while.”

“Neither have I, which is why was searching for you. I have some new tricks to show you and I’m sure you will demonstrate yours. Tell me one thing though. Why didn’t you stick around for a rematch?”

“My father took me on a training trip to China.”

“I see. Well, Ranma, I swear to you this: No matter what it takes, one day I will defeat you!”

With that, he turned and walked calmly off towards the back of the school. Within seconds of his leaving our sight, I felt a flash of uncontrolled ki, and he was gone. If only he could control the teleports, he would be quite the useful person.

The days until I saw him next seemed to pass without anything happening at all. One night Akane asked me where I knew him from. “School” was all I said and all I cared to say.

I received a letter of challenge from Ryoga that day also. It brought back the memories of how we first met.

I explained them to the Tendos as I recalled them.

“There was an all-boys school I went to. Ryoga went there also. Each day we fought to be well fed. I had not much else to eat as father spent all our money on sake and food for himself.

The first time I saw him, it was in the crowd of boys as they scrambled for the last piece of curry bread. I used his face to jump to the bread and catch it.

For a long time, he and I were the only two in contest over the food. Other boys were left in our dust and in awe of our skills. One day he challenged me, and I accepted. I waited four days for him to arrive and had to fight back father who was trying to make me leave for china.

I defeated him then, and he swore to beat me one day in an honorable fight.”

“Ranma… Why are you telling us all this?” asked Nabiki, innocently.

“Huh?”

“You could have waited until we were done eating.” I looked at the half empty table and it occurred to me a normal person would be embarrassed.

Too bad I’m no normal person.

The next day, I could sense his ki back in Japan. He would be here soon. I went to school across the fences of Nerima, and found him in the courtyard of Furinkan. He hadn’t been within miles of the place ten seconds ago. Makes him hard to track. I motioned for Akane to stand back as Ryoga began to speak.

“Ah, there you are, Ranma,” he said, and smirked, “I challenge you! I have a few new moves I want to ‘show’ you.”

I smirked back, just to let him know I wasn’t intimidated. (Note: Intimidation and Insult are a part of Anything-goes fighting. While he may not be angry, or confident, Ranma still acts like it as a strategy.)

“As do I.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” With that, he attacked.

We started with a normal kind of close combat, testing each other’s skills. We soon advanced to a real fight, and I quickly realized that he was quite a lot stronger than I was. I had a lot more skill and speed, and it more than made up for my relative weakness.

He could tell he was losing, and after I punched his gut for the twelfth time, he jumped back 30 meters and stood in a normal guard, panting a little. “You’re good, Ranma, but I will still win. RYUKEN!” As he shouted, he punched his fist forward at nothing with extreme speed and strength. A giant pure white blast of ki, in the shape of a dragon, slammed forth from his hand and almost hit me as I leaped up about 15 meters to avoid the huge shape, which went on to demolish the fence and trees behind me.

“Nice. But you won’t win. Ten Dragon’s Roaring Fist!” I made an easily dodged punch… about a thousand times per second. The sound of my fists breaking the sound barrier crackled with huge explosions of air and vacuum made by my arm’s sudden motion. Because of all the explosions happening so fast, it sounded like a huge roar, hence the name. Blasts of air and vacuum from my attack hit Ryoga with incredible force, and my victory was obvious, considering he didn’t even land in Japan. The Yama Sen Ken had only needed a little improvement to be truly powerful.

“Better luck next time.” I smirked again, not really knowing why I did it. The fight was over, but it just felt right. Felt right? Hmmm…

I continued to class, and I wasn’t even late.

The rest of the day was uneventful, until Akane and I began our training before dinner. After a short spar and a few katas, she stopped suddenly and looked at me, walking slowly closer. She looked into my eyes and I could feel that she was trying to see deeper still.

“When you first arrived,” she said, slowly and shakily, as if nervous, “Your eyes had nothing in them but the color. Now… your eyes have changed, Ranma. You can see right to your soul…” she trailed off, but I could tell she had more she left unspoken.

I backed away, but she followed. She held out her hand to touch my face but I leapt back and out the dojo door. I hid on the roof, and saw her go out and look around for me. I watched her expression change from normal, to worry, to anger, and to sadness.

“He must hate me,” I heard her whisper, and then she went inside, sobbing quietly.

That was unexpected also. I had to find out what was causing this change in me before things got out of hand.

I wasn’t expecting her to be so emotional about me… Perhaps she is not as uncaring as she seems. Perhaps I am not as uncaring as I used to be…