Disclaimer: I do not own any unoriginal characters, places, thoughts or situations that might appear in this chapter, any subsequent ones or in the story as a whole. I will make no promises concerning the length, update schedule or completion of this story. I will accept praise and/or constructive criticism as the highest of honors while I will ignore flames from people too stupid to be referred as such. I will try to the best of my ability to produce correct grammar and spelling, even though English is not my native language. I will post warnings in case of a lime scene while any potential lemon scenes will be truncated and posted on another site. The production of this story will not hinder the production of any unfinished stories I am expected to continue. If you are still reading this, you have no life and thus have earned my respect.
Hi everybody! While I have some experience with fanfiction writing, this is the first time I try in the Ranma category. This starts directly after Saffron and the failed wedding in the manga continuity, although anything that happened in the anime and does not clash with the manga will be considered as canon. Some things WILL be different, but not too much. While you can expect a lot of action in this story, the 'general' genre is there to indicate every other considerable type you can think of, humor and romance being quite prominent. In time, this might turn into a resolve story, but, as always, I make no promises. To make things easier, I'm placing this story in OUR time instead of a decade ago. This means the technology level will be appropriate. Also, the attack names can be in either English or romanji, depending on my whims. Remember that feedback can only make this story better.
Chapter 1: Vanilla Nerima
True value can be observed in the face of loss.
Ranma Saotome, age 17, genus martial artist and paragon of confidence...
"Paragon, my foot" muttered said buxom redhead dejectedly. After extracting herself from one of the many craters littering the grounds of the Tendo estate, she had leaped on the roof, not even bothering to return to her male form. Sitting hunched and absentminded in what remained of her tuxedo, she felt anything but confident.
"I thought that after Jusendo everything would stop being so... so difficult," she added under her breath, wishing she could just break down and cry. She found she was too weary for such a release, as weary as the time she had been trying to copy Ryouga's Shi Shi Hokoudan. The life and death situation she had found herself in while fighting Saffron had left a huge impression on her identity. Having to actually kill the Phoenix godling and seeing Akane at death's doorstep had forced her to reevaluate her views of the universe.
"Are you done skulking or should I bring you a blanket" inquired a neutral voice from behind her as a kettle filled with hot water rattled next to her. Ranma tilted her head to the side, marveling at how preoccupied she had been not to notice Akane coming. The taller girl, having changed to normal clothes, sat next to her, staring at the evening sky.
Ranma let a deep sigh escape, lifting the kettle and dousing herself slowly. "Thanks" he muttered, falling back to the same depressed stance.
Akane turned to fully regard her fiancé. She hesitated at first, emotions and words ricocheting in her mind. "Look, it was only one of our father's stupid scams, not the end of the world" she said at length. "Not all of it was your fault either," she added somberly, biting back anger.
The pigtailed martial artist finally responded, turning and regarding his fiancée annoyed. "Hey, what exactly was my fault, anyway, you..." he started, stopping suddenly in mid-sentence as his face went blank. "Why exactly are you trying to cheer me up when it was also your wedding?" he asked critically.
Akane's eyes went wide at the comment and she responded as usual, hiding behind anger. "Why exactly should I have a reason to try and cheer you up, you... you stupid, insensitive..." she snapped, stopping as she choked a sob. Turning away, she also sighed at the futility of petty insults. "I was stupid to hope things will simply change after China" she whispered, mostly to herself.
Ranma's keen hearing caught the comment, though, and his eyes went wide. She was thinking the same thing! He screamed in his mind. Akane made a weak attempt to leave, but stopped as Ranma's hand cupped her own. "Are we that hopeless, then?" he asked quietly, though the question was rhetoric for both of them.
Akane was stunned by his gesture, half her mind yelling to her to just mallet him to orbit while the other half demanded to just shut up and kiss him. "It's not fair" she responded weakly. "We must be able to do better."
Ranma leaned back, one hand under his head, the other still holding his fiancée. She instinctively leaned back too, gazing at the black sky above them. Even with Nerima's lights outshining the stars, they were content to stare at nothingness, each too afraid to speak, too afraid to let the other know. They both gasped as the world changed around them. Power cuts were not unheard of in Tokyo and this particular one allowed them a true glimpse to the night sky, unhindered by electricity.
"Beautiful" whispered Akane, not ready for such a sudden sight.
"I saw something better today" responded Ranma, voicing his thoughts without really intending to. An image of Akane in her wedding dress came to his mind.
"Really? What was it?" she inquired, snapping out of her reverie for a moment. Ranma said nothing, simply tightening his hold on her hand.
"Damn it! Now I have to write it again!" came Nabiki's voice from below, as the power cut caused her computer to abruptly shut down. The two teens above ignored the cry, as much oblivious to it as to each other's smiles.
Saffron laughed cruelly, his flames resonating accordingly. "Her sacrifice was in vain, landling. But fear not for I am merciful. I shall allow you to join the girl shortly."
Ranma bellowed in pain and denial as Kinjakan, the fire key, passed through his defenses, stabbing him painfully. He tried to level Gekkaja, the ice key, to deliver a strike of his own, but his strength failed him. As the magic flames consumed him, he tried to thrash away in vain.
The sound of water and a surprised growl forced Ranma to open his eyes, though it took him a second to take in the scene. He regarded the very wet Panda before him, the bucket of spilled water on its head and his foot, shoved surprisingly deep in its mouth.
"I know it is entirely too early for your circus act, Pop. What do you think you are doing?" he demanded, yawning all the while.
Genma spat his son's foot out, making a face unbecoming of a Panda. 'You were having a nightmare, boy' read the sign he produced. 'I was trying to wake you up but you were thrashing a bit too much.'
Ranma shook his head. "Whatever" he murmured, sighing as Genma instantly fell asleep. "I might as well get up. There's no way I'm gonna sleep after that" he added, noting his mother's futon was empty.
Minutes later, he entered the kitchen, not surprised to find his mother chatting merrily with Kasumi.
"...and then Dr. Tofu said that Akane was the strongest little girl he had ever seen" quipped the eldest Tendo daughter as she tasted the food.
"Oh my" followed Nodoka, giggling while trying to help. "Oh, good morning Ranma" she exclaimed, promptly rising and embracing her son. "I could get used to hugging my son every morning" she added smiling.
"Good morning, Mom, Kasumi. I see you two are getting along" he responded, feeling both uncomfortable and serene in his mother's grasp.
"Hi Ranma. You are really early today" greeted Kasumi. "Breakfast won't be ready for another half hour, so you have time to train till then."
"Actually, I want to talk to you, son" declared Nodoka, leading him to the living room and prompting him to sit. After spending some time admiring him, she talked again. "Are you holding alright, Ranma?" she asked worriedly. "I hope yesterday's fiasco won't ruin your relationship with your fiancée"
"Can't ruin what ain't there" muttered the pig-tailed martial artist. "Our 'relationship' hasn't been exactly smooth."
"So you don't love her?" inquired Nodoka sharply.
Ranma frowned. "Why should I love that uncute, violent tomboy" he spat, but turned away when his eyes met his mother's gaze.
Nodoka rose a brow. "I can tell that's not true, son. Why are you so... afraid? That's not very manly" she retaliated, regretting her words as soon as they left her mouth.
A shadow of anger marred Ranma's features but he failed to keep it up long enough. He let a breath he didn't know he was holding. "It's just... we have a lot of issues, mom. Akane lost her mother too soon and then had to beat back a legion of losers that wanted to date her every morning. She is just so angry all the time" he sighed. "And I'm no better, either. Every time I try to say something nice, it comes out as an insult. Sometimes I can't believe what I let to come out of my mouth. Mr. Tendo and Pops interfere all the time, usually just when things start looking good. You ain't much better, either, mom" he added with a cold glare.
Nodoka gasped, then bit her lip in shame. "I'm sorry, son. I have a lot of things I need to make amends for. I...I just hope I can someday earn your trust."
Ranma actually smiled. "S'okay mom. I'm glad you are here" he replied sighing. "Then I also have the mess with the other fiancées. My curse and my tendency to attract all kinds of lunatics are not exactly helpful."
Nodoka embraced her son again. "Be strong Ranma. Know that I'm here for you when you need me." She absentmindedly wiped a tear off her eye. "I have to help Kasumi now, but one of these days I want you to tell me everything that has happened to you since you left." Her face hardened, her hand twitching close the Saotome family blade. "I need to decide some things about your father..."
Ranma gulped but nodded.
Breakfast was surprisingly quiet after Soun commented on last day's wedding attempt. Happosai was thankfully absent while Nodoka's presence meant that Genma tried to steal food a mere five times. As a result, Akane and Ranma left home early, without the need to break another track record.
Akane turned to regard her fiancé, cocking a brow. "How came you are not fence-walking today?" she asked, trying to sound indifferent. In truth, she welcomed the proximity.
"Just thinking, I guess. I'm a bit too distracted for balance training today" he replied. He hesitated a bit then added. "You know they will be waiting for us, don't you?"
"I guess so," she said pensively. "Can you really feel them?"
Ranma smiled a bit. "Not sure who they are yet, but I can pick their auras at the edge of my senses. It will get rough today."
Akane frowned at that. "I don't want you baby-sitting me" she snapped. "I'm a martial artist too. I can take most of them."
Ranma sighed. "Look, people like the Kunos are well within you league, but the rest..."
"I can take Ukyo" she retaliated.
Ranma shook his head. "Probably, but I know she won't be on us today. I bet she'll be too ashamed after yesterday's stunt." Ranma's features darkened. "But you will stay away from Shampoo. You can't take her."
Akane scowled, her temper rising. "Can too!" she yelled indignantly.
Ranma sighed again, went to say something, bit his tongue twice then tried again. "Shampoo won't try to kill you. Well, at least not today. But she will go for crippling hits and I know you are not ready for her. Not yet" he added quickly.
Akane seemed to deflate. "I still think I can take the Bimbo..." she grumbled.
Ranma went to say something involving Shampoo, Akane and cooking, but he was saved from the mallet by the bell. A bicycle bell. "Damn, she's early" he cursed, grabbing Akane's hand and dashing forward.
"Airen runs to wrong place, Shampoo over here" echoed a voice behind them.
"Well, we might be able to lose her today" chuckled Ranma, while Akane was too busy breathing to respond. She did turn to regard him, though, when she felt a shiver passing through his body.
The laughter that followed from ahead was adequate explanation indeed. "O-ho-ho-ho. Ranma-sama, even though these Tendo peasants managed to hide you away, I knew you will return to me. Please stand aside while I dispose of the trash" she started, throwing a ball towards the couple.
"You want trash, you'll get trash" snarled Akane, grabbing a nearby trashcan and catapulting it towards the deranged gymnast. With a fluid motion, Ranma snatched its cap, intercepting and deflecting the ball towards Shampoo. Detonating in midair, it released a smoke cloud that caused the incoming Amazon to cough and spatter violently.
Kodachi produced her razor hoop, letting it fly and severing the trash container in half. She deflected most of the flying junk with two of her clubs, except for a spoiled tuna tin, which landed directly on her face and stunned her with overpowering odor.
Akane leaped high, snatching one the deflected glass bottles and turning around. With the skill of an Olympic sphere thrower, she tossed the bottle at Shampoo, grinning when it shattered against her front tire, flattening it. The Amazon never slowed, forcing her bike off the ground while still gagging. She somersaulted in the air twice, aiming for the younger Tendo's head.
"Switch!" commanded Ranma and she complied, facing Kodachi just in time to deflect a ribbon with her mallet. Ranma held the trashcan lid upwards, intercepting the Amazon's front wheel and sending her flying towards their other adversary. Two girls and a bicycle clattered to the ground like a pile of potatoes just before the couple leaped above them.
"They are extremely persistent today" commented Akane as they turned into an alley. She felt Ranma's grip tightening. "There are more, right?" she guessed.
Her answer came quite indirectly. "Sweet-o" a voice declared as the most ancient lecher of Nerima appeared on the far side of the alley, carrying a sack three times his size and closely followed by a stampeding female horde.
"Saotome, you hurt Shampoo, prepare to die" came a rather laconic voice from behind them as Ranma tilted his head to the left, avoiding a razor-edged yo-yo and a couple of metal grappling claws. Mousse's weapons failed to connect, missing Happosai by centimeters.
"You would hurt a defenseless old man, duck boy? I'll teach you respect. HAPPO DAIKARIN!" he bellowed, conjuring his firecrackers out of thin air and launching a handful towards Mousse.
Ranma froze for a moment, not sure of what to do, but forced his act together the next second as one of the walls close to them exploded, courtesy of Shampoo, who seemed positively pissed. "Shampoo kill too too angry kitchen destroyer and claim Airen!" The pig-tailed boy cursed loudly as Mousse produced a SWAT shield, deflecting Happosai's bombs. The firecrackers landed just next to Akane. Ranma's frown changed to a smile. "You never fail, Pig-boy" he muttered, clasping Akane with one hand and leaping upwards.
The tarmac below them exploded as Ryouga broke though it with a familiar 'Where am I' battle cry. Ranma landed momentarily on the lost boy's head, snatching his umbrella and jumping again. "I know that foot!" roared Ryouga. "Ranma prepare to..." He never finished the sentence as a very stunned Amazon smashed on him at the same time the old grandmaster's bombs blew.
Ranma, holding his fiancée tightly, opened the reinforced umbrella downwards, riding on the explosion that propelled them upwards. "Hi Ranma, Akane-chan. Sorry, no time" laughed Happosai, using his student's head to step above his blast. The old pervert reached the ground just as Ryouga and Shampoo weathered the female legion's passage.
"You could have warned me, you know" complained Akane as they glided next to a green UFO and a crying voodoo doll.
Ranma waited until they reached the apex of the blast, then flipped the umbrella upwards to smoothen their fall. "Sorry tomboy. Mousse almost got me there" he apologized.
Akane harrumphed. "Yeah right, you stupid jerk. I saw you were smiling while dodging." She intended to add some more choice words, but her face paled when she glanced downwards. "Tentacles" she screeched, using a hand to pat her school skirt down.
Ranma frowned, shutting the umbrella and turning it downwards. "Hi Taro!" he sang as he pogo-sticked on the flying minotaur's head. "Bye Taro!" he added as the beast lost his concentration along with his altitude. And landed on a very injured Ryouga.
"The light! The pretty light!" babbled the lost boy after the hit, while Taro ignored everyone in favor of a fleeing Happosai.
"Ryouga, stay away from the light!" yelled Akane from above as Ranma used the umbrella to cut their momentum once more. They reached the ground shortly and promptly resumed running. "Can we make it in time?" she asked frantically.
Ranma sighed. "It depends on you, Akane. I want you to stay close and try your best to suppress your aura" he ordered, diving in another alley and concentrating.
Akane's eyes went wide as she saw him vanishing in thin air. "Ranma? Are you here? Is that the Umisenken?" she asked, a bit frightened.
"Keep it down, tomboy and concentrate. I can't hide you if you don't want to be hidden" he hissed as low as possible. Akane nodded, then struggled to suppress a gasp as her hands vanished too, followed by her whole body. In the next ten seconds they watched concealed as Happosai, Taro, Shampoo, Mousse, Kodachi and two Yakuza lorries sped right next to them.
The couple waited a bit more, then resumed running. "We only have a few seconds left" indicated Akane, quite peeved. "I hope Kuno got bored and left."
Ranma chuckled, secretly marveling at how fast Akane ran beside him. In a few months I won't have to hold back when running. "Not likely. I hope he will be there. I'll show you how to use chi to jump and I want you to watch closely."
Before Akane could respond with either complain or mallet, Ranma grabbed her from the waist, leaping in the air above Furinkan High's gates. "Foul Saotome. Prepare thyself and submit to..." Tatewaki never finished his pompous speech as his adversary used him as a stepping stone to jump directly to his and Akane's class.
"How much longer are you going to hold me" snapped Akane as soon as they cleared the window, delivering a playful punch on her fiancé's arm. A marginally playful punch.
"What was that for, you macho chick!" he blurted, rubbing the sore spot and dodging another punch. "You were too busy purring to complain before" he added blowing a raspberry in her face.
"Come back and die, you pervert" shrieked Akane as her ears reddened.
"HAPPO NO-YEN COIN RETURN" bellowed a female voice from outside the classroom and a couple of students broke though the door, followed by a filled water bucket.
"This will be a long day" grumbled Ranma as she tried to simultaneously dry her drenched clothes while avoiding a huge wooden mallet. The fact that both she and Akane were smiling made her all giddy. Perhaps a few things did change after Jusendo...
And thus ends the first chapter. Consider it a tease for the things that might follow and fear not. You have seen nothing yet.