[Conventions: "Japanese" {Chinese} 'thought' or 'quoting']
[Disclaimer: Everything here belongs to someone else except for the stuff that doesn't]
[2nd Disclaimer: The characters in this fanfic are trained martial artists. More then that they are cartoon characters and can be folded, spindled and mutilated and be back to normal by the next frame. You aren't. The basic message being: do not try anything you might read about in this fanfic.]
Kasumi walked lightly through the living room, conscious of a light from under the kitchen door. 'Who could that be at this time of night?' she thought to herself. 'It's far too quiet to be Nabiki or Akane getting a midnight snack. It could be the new arrivals, ' With the lack of fear that comes from being Kasumi, she opened the door.
The kitchen of the Tendo house was in half light, one wall lamp casting it's glow on the figure seated at the Western style table, nursing a mug of cocoa. The young man, on the edge of 20, wore a pyjama top, and trousers with many hand stitched pockets. His shoulder length dark brown hair was pulled back, with the tip tied off with a narrow band. His features marked him as more Caucasian than Japanese. The half-light left his face in shadow, but did show runnels of what must have been tears. Despite facing away from the door, and being apparently focussed on his inner thoughts he nevertheless spoke as soon as she entered.
"Kasumi-san? Sorry to make so free with your kitchen, but I needed time to think. Between dad rattling away like a rusty saw and bro's accompaniment, I couldn't focus."(1)
"Deru-san? What's wrong?" Kasumi remembered earlier the scene that occurred in the living room. When everyone else had been yelling, Deru had seemed the only one in control.
"Huh?" he put one hand to his face and found it wet. ", I didn't realise. doesn't do any good anyway." He sighed and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "'You weep like a girl Deru! You are a martial artist, show some guts!'" he quoted in an imitation of Genmas voice. "Maybe I should be in girl form."
Kasumi shook her head and stated gently, "No, martial artists are also human, and sometimes humans need tears." She absently made her own cup of cocoa, the motions automatic and deft. "If you want to talk." The half question made Deru look up from his own cup.
"Hmmm. Maybe if I get it off my chest I can get some sleep. I'm so not looking forward to explaining to mum and Ucchan tomorrow."
"Is that why you all agreed to stay over?"
"Yep, I guess we're still afraid to face what's happened to us." He grimaced and slowly but deliberately reached for the pitcher on the table then splashed a little water into his cupped hand. The shift happened quickly. Kasumi, despite her calmness, still wondered slightly at it, even though she'd now seen it several times. The blond girl who now sat in Deru's place continued several octaves higher. "We're going to have to though, since there's no sign of a cure anytime soon." She wipes her hand dry on a trouser leg.
"There is hope though, and the change is not permanent." Kasumi led, "So."
"Why the waterworks? It's because I failed. I've failed mum, dad; I failed Ranma and Ucchan. I have an obligation to my family so deep there aren't words to describe it, and I fluffed it totally. I'm the one who could understand Chinese, I'm supposed to be the responsible one. I should have read that stupid guide book before we went wandering off to Jyusenkyo." He reeled this off in a single breath, laying the charges before the jury. "It's like the neko-ken. We'd have both ended up complete basket cases if I hadn't seen what was on the next page."
"Neko-ken?" Kasumi queried.
"Long story. It was this supposedly unbeatable technique he'd found in an old training manual. I must have been 12 at the time. Heck, both Ranma and I were eager to learn it. The influence of too many sentai shows where the heroes get a big boost all at once. However dad had left the manual lying about and, being just inquisitive enough for my own good, I read it myself. It turns out the next page was stuck. When I unstuck it I couldn't understand some of the words and took it to mum. It turns out that the technique has a minor drawback. Learning it will drive you completely insane."
This showed that some things will shock even Kasumi. "Oh my! How could your father do something like that?" She put her hands to her cheeks as she said it. [This is Kasumi we're talking about. That's roughly equivalent to a massive facefault from most Ranma 1/2 characters.]
"Dad hadn't read that far." Deru shrugged, then put up his hands, "Hey, don't get me wrong, dad's not deliberately cruel or anything, he's just focussed on the school. He wants us both to be the best martial artists we can be. Ranma even more so, since only Ranma can be heir to the school. Sometimes he looses sight of the bigger picture."
"He does seem somewhat single minded. But why is it your obligation?" Kasumi continued, letting this person open up.
"Because of the way they became my family." He paused for a long second. "My mother married a westerner, an engineer who came to Japan. When I was 4 years old, my parents died in a landslide while my father was working in the mountains. I survived, but I had no relatives left on either side of my family. My birth mother was a friend of Ranma's mother. They took me in while things were being sorted out. Ranma was just past 1 year old at the time, and no one would have thought anything wrong if they'd just let family services take over looking after me." He shook his head. "Instead, when no relatives or anything came forward they adopted me."
Kasumi nodded. An adoption was unusual enough, but doubly so considering the fact that Deru wasn't of fully Japanese decent. [But in any reality where some of the things in Ranma ½ happen, it's workable. What are the Japanese social services called anyway?]
"Of course at the time I didn't question it. Ranma was just my little brother and we grew up that way. I learned Japanese as Ranma did, and we both learned more English. well me and bro sort of used it as a secret language. What with the English language channels on T.V. and some spotty tutoring we both got quite good. And again, when dad started training us, we learned and sparred together. It wasn't until I started school that I found out just how different I was. My brother's remarkable, someone who doesn't pre-judge people, even if he was in the wrong line when they handed out tact. Likewise, my mother saw something beyond a four-year-old g- gaijin." He said the word with difficulty. "Despite what Ranma or I may say about Dad sometimes, he does care. He wouldn't push us so hard otherwise."
Deru raised his head and looked straight into Kasumi's eyes. "It's always been that way, everything I am, is down to my family. It's a life debt, a matter of giri.. Ever since I understood what they'd done for me, the repayment of that debt has been my first consideration." His voice carried a tone of absolute sincerity.
Kasumi thought for a moment about someone similar. "It's good that you think of your family that way. I too try to look after my family, and protect them. Of course I enjoy being the one they come to. Since mother died." a murmured condolence interrupted her. "It's alright. I've tried to take her place."
"From what I've seen, you do a brilliant job." Deru replied. "I could feel this was a home, rather than just a house, the first time I came through the door." Kasumi blushed slightly at the compliment. "My contribution is different. It's like bro and dad are trouble magnets. When I've journeyed with them on training trips I tend to end up fixing things. At home, of course, I help mom by having part time jobs, so dad can train Ranma more of the time."
Kasumi looked interested. "You must be looking forward to getting back."
"We did debate going straight home, but Ranma and I decided to resolve this fiancée business first. I'm sorry about that. It's not the first time something like this has happened, though that turned out rather better."
"Ranma had another fiancée?" Kasumi asked.
"It's a bit more complicated than that. In fact it's how I met my fiancée, Ucchan. This was back on one of our first training trips. I must have been around 7 at the time. We were travelling around Japan, Ranma and me with dad. We stayed a while in various places, usually to train or find unusual martial arts styles, then moved on. Now in one place there was this kid Ukyo whose dad had an okonomiyaki stall. Ranma and me took it in turns to snag one while Ukyo defended. We got free okonomiyaki almost every day." He smiled.
Kasumi was less mellow than usual. "Isn't that theft?"
Deru looked surprised. "Oh, it wasn't like that. Ukyo's family had their own martial arts style, and dad set up this thing with her father as training. We got to be friends with her. Ukyo even used to draw pictures or kanji with the sauce. To us she was Ucchan, to her we were Deechan and Ranchan."
"So what happened?"
"First there are some things you must know." He counted off on his fingers. "One, neither of us knew Ukyo was a girl. She was around 5, wore boy's clothes and roughhoused with us as well as anyone. Her dad wanted a boy. Two, well. dad kind of got Ranma engaged to Ukyo. The dowry was the okonomiyaki cart. Three, he didn't tell us about this either. Don't ask me where this left the other engagement, I don't know. It's possible dad just plain forgot, dad's memory is sometimes less than perfect. So one day we start packing up to leave, and dad comes back with the cart, saying Ucchans dad gave us it. I couldn't get to sleep so I go over to Ucchans house to say goodbye. Of course she's packing to go with us, so she comes back with me. Obviously, Kunoji-san had given us the cart because Ukyo was coming with us and she'd need stuff to make okonomiyaki with." [Nowhere in the manga does it say Ukyo initiated the engagement.]
Kasumi smiled at this. Deru grinned ruefully. "Hey, I was 7 at the time, it made sense."
He continues, gesturing slightly with his arms. "Ranma and dad are by the cart, already rock solid asleep, so we join them. Next morning, we all go off together. Actually dad seemed surprised that Ukyo was there, but then Ukyo said about her dad saying she's coming with us. She thought it was fun. Dad seemed a bit sulky about the whole thing, but we went on our way for the next couple of months. During that time neither Ranma or I actually realised Ukyo was a girl."
"How is that possible?"
"Well, remember we were on the road, and we didn't have much money, so usually we did our bathing in the nearest river, not the public baths, and it's not like we got changed together. I guess we must have had dozens of close misses, but it never happened. So it worked out as Ranma having a new best friend and me having a little brother. It wasn't until our next stop at home that we found out, or rather Ranma did."
Deru grinned at the recollection. "I wasn't there at the time, but it appears Ucchan walked into the furo by accident while Ranma was already in there. Ranma of course hadn't a clue about such things. He, and for that matter I at that age, believed the main difference between boys and girls was that girls wore dresses. He later came to me saying that Ucchan had bits missing, and said she's a girl. Of course I talked to mum, and mum talked to Ucchan and dad, and found out the whole thing, the engagement, the lot. Oh boy!
"Of course this left Ranma and me with a problem. We'd both been trained from birth not to hit girls, on the principle, you don't use the art against people who are weak and can't defend themselves. Big assumption there. I know. A girl, who could defend herself and wanted to spar. well, it was outside our experience. It's still been rare, people like Akane are the exception. Except in the Amazon village. For days after we wouldn't train with Ukyo. Naturally she got mad and called us names. Eventually she broke down and cried.
"Turns out not many kids back home were comfortable with a girl who learned martial arts. They thought she was weird. We'd been the first people to take her seriously and now we were acting just like her. those kids. I guess she felt betrayed. Anyhow, neither Ranma nor I would allow a friend of ours to get hurt, so we did the only thing we could. We both apologised most sincerely then challenged her. That fight had to be one of the weirdest we ever had." He shook his head. "At the end of it all three of us were bruised and battered, but all three of us had big stupid grins on our faces.
"Mom took it all in hand. Eventually it sorted out that Ukyo would stay with us about half the time, and with her father the other half until she was 17, then she would make the decision whether to take up the engagement. Over the next ten years she stayed with us on and off. I was home most times she was, and enjoyed having a younger sister. Mom taught her girl stuff, while her dad taught her their families martial arts style.
"Of course I trained with her and started learning her style, while passing on 'Anything goes'. While I still went on trips with dad and Ranma, it was usually when Ukyo wasn't there. Now I come to tell it to someone else, it seems a bit odd, as if dad was trying to keep Ranma and Ukyo apart. I guess he'd remembered this engagement and was hoping Ukyo's would fall through.
"I suppose it was natural, but as we were older I started getting. romantic thoughts about her. After all we spent a lot of time training and just messing about. We shared the same interests, the same attitudes, Ucchan's easy to get along with. Of course I was embarrassed about them, after all, she was like my sister, someone I had to protect, plus she was 2 years younger and engaged to Ranma. I mean, I expected that Ukyo would eventually choose the engagement. On the occasions when they were together, they got on so well. Besides that he was better looking, a better fighter, and he was heir to the school. Anyone else I would have been jealous of, but this was Ranma. I just couldn't be. Instead, I resolved that I wouldn't let anything wreck their relationship."
Kasumi looked slightly misty eyed. "Oh my. It sounds just like a romance manga. But are you not the one engaged to Ukyo now?"
Deru grinned. "Yep. And if you think it's a romance manga so far, you will just love how it all came to a head. It was about 9 months ago. I needed paper for a grocery list, of all things, and I found a notepad lying around. I was about to borrow a sheet when I saw it had Ukyo's writing on it. It was Ukyo's diary, and she'd written stuff about me in it. I couldn't help myself I'm afraid, I had to read it. It turns out she had a huge crush on me. Ran-chan was a friend, a dear friend, but I was the 'one who was always there for her'. She was feeling just as guilty as I was. Clearly I'd done a good job of hiding my feelings because she didn't have a clue about them. Of course, then she rushed in, looking for it. " He stops and sighs for a moment. "I handed her the book, and managed to convince her I'd found it by accident. Of course then I admitted what I'd been feeling for her. I'm afraid we both got a little mushy about it. I guess we're both hapless romantics."
Kasumi inquired. "Do you not mean hopeless romantics?"
"I know what I mean." Deru smirked. "Then of course we landed back on Earth with a bump. We couldn't do something like that to Ranma, myself as a brother, Ukyo as a friend. The only thing to do was to tell him about it. He and dad were at home for once. I mean, I was expecting him to be angry, or at least hurt. But when we both got together and told him, he was happy. It appears that Ucchan was a lot worse at keeping her feelings from Ranma, at least he knew something had been making her unhappy. He was pleased to see his best friend had found someone she liked. He never really thought about the engagement, I guess he'd never really got over seeing Ukyo as a buddy rather than a girl. Like I said earlier, Ranma's a remarkable guy."
"There was still the engagement thing. The three of us worked together to shift it. Ranma took dad, I took mum, and Ukyo went back home to talk to her father. Of course dad jumped at it, and now we know why. Mom took some getting round, but she wasn't going to stand in our way after I'd explained the situation. The sticking point was Ukyo's dad. I'd met him once, and he seemed to be a fairly decent guy, but he wanted to be sure that I was worthy, style of thing. I guessed being adopted rather than straight blood made a difference."
Kasumi's unvoiced sympathy caused him to duck his head. "Hey, it's nothing I haven't had to handle before, some people look at me and see only skin deep. Anyway, it came down to me having a duel with him to show my worth. Now, this is usually Ranma's bag: being as I said both a trouble magnet and I'm afraid, unable to resist a challenge, he's always ending up in duels, fights and such. But one of the rules was no outside help. So I ended up going to there solo. I had a week to train with Ucchan, to prepare for her father's tactics. I even stayed at their house.
"Then came the match. Kunoji-san is good! We faced off and things got intense. It came out to an even match, different advantages cancelling out. It came down to who made a mistake first, which happened to be me. I got in a good attack, but landed on a loose piece of shale on the rebound and went down hard. For an instant I felt so low, because I figured I'd lost.
"Of course I was back up as fast as possible, but Kunoji-san should have been all over me. But there was Ukyo, her battle spatula blocking his finishing strike. I mean, she was amazing. I got ready to go at it again. Then Kunoji-san calls it to a halt. Now I was certain I'd lost, and Ucchan was too. So we stand there, waiting for the axe to fall. We're both so wrapped up in us both a minute to realise when Kunoji-san says 'You have proved your worth, Satome-san.' Of course once it sank in, the next several minutes were hazy because Ucchan and I were engaged in a hug that threatened to destruct test each other's ribs, and a kiss, our first kiss." He looks distant for a moment.
"When I actually returned to a state where I was capable of noticing little things like the rest of the world, I realised Kunoji-san was favouring the side where I'd caught him, and breathing heavily. However I hadn't beaten him, and wanted to know why he thought it was O.K. Turns out he'd been keeping tabs on us all week while I was training. For that matter he never said I had to defeat him for Ukyo's hand, just 'fight him to prove my worth.' The rest, well, our engagement is official, but we're waiting until Ucchan's 18th birthday for me to propose." His face had a genuine smile that fell as he returned from story telling land. "At least, that's what was supposed to happen."
Kasumi looked at the downcast person and spoke gently. "I'm sure if your Ukyo loves you as much as you say, your problem will not affect her feelings."
"I hope so.Ranma reckons so too. The question is, have I that right? What about her father?" He sighed. "A path that keeps my honour intact is hard to see. Especially when you consider how my mum will take it."
"I don't understand."
"Well, there are two parts to it. The first thing applies to both Ranma and me. Our mother expects us to exemplify the 'manly virtues', to be honourable, brave and courteous, to fight well, and for the right causes. She also expects us, and especially Ranma, to marry and carry on the family name. It's the reason she allowed us to go on so many training trips, dad convinced her that was the best way. Sort of live fire exercises. Well this time we got burned. I don't believe that suddenly becoming part time daughters will fit the 'manly' description."
Kasumi thought a moment then answered, "You said earlier today that only your body changes, not your mind."
"As far as we can tell. Even when I'm female I still know I'm Deru and a guy."
"Then you are still the same person inside. Besides, you have a unique view of things. You've seen what it is to be a woman. Won't that help you to be a better man?"
Deru frowns. "I think I see what you're getting at. I don't know if mother would agree with it."
"I'm sure your mother will see that you haven't become less of a man. You said she looked past appearances."
"I did, didn't I. But the second reason is more personal. On these trips, when I go along, mum expects me to be responsible for things. She knows dad's passion for the martial arts can sometimes outweigh his common sense. No amount of talk will alter the fact that I failed to stop us all being cursed."
"Could you really have stopped your father from taking you to Jyusenkyo?"
"I didn't try, I didn't even know, it was dad's big secret. I was too busy thinking about going back home, I missed the warning signs. Even when the guide told me, I didn't believe it until I saw dad go panda. Then I messed up a jump that I should have been able to do blindfolded and got both Ranma and myself wet. Some martial artist I am." His face became a tight lipped mask.
"Did he blame you?"
"No, he was just glad I was O.K. In a way I'd feel better if he had." He still looked unhappy. "In fact we haven't spoken at all about it before recounting it today. It's not like we haven't had other things on our minds."
"Have you considered he may feel guilty?" Kasumi asked.
Deru went from gloom to shock, taking the facefault bypass. "What for?"
"You tried to stop him falling in, got knocked in yourself and in the process almost drowned. He may feel he's responsible for your being cursed, and feel as if you blame him."
Deru now looked like a fish trying to understand flying. "But. he's not the one at fault! I've got to ask."
Kasumi smiled. "Tomorrow. Do you feel better?"
Deru nodded. "Thank you, Kasumi-san. I do. I don't know if everything will turn out right, but at least there's a chance of it. That's a lot more than I've been seeing for a long time. I can either take that chance, or sit here feeling sorry for myself." He rises from his seat and washes his empty mug, placing it to dry on the washing up rack. "Goodnight." He went upstairs, quietly.
"Goodnight Deru-kun." Kasumi replied, as he left. "I'm sure you can find a way." As she made her own way back to bed.
Deru returned to the guest room, where the other two occupants had reduced in volume to a dull roar. He dropped onto his tatami and closed his eyes, thinking about what had happened earlier that day. Without noticing it memories became dreams, and sleep overtook him.
[.Doing about 30 over the legal limit. Yes it's a segue. About as subtle as a rhino horn. And so they meet, for the first time... While up till now the timeline has occurred in the Tendo dojo as usual; forget the original road scene. Subtract one bashed up road sign and one bashed up Ranma.]
1) Interspersing Japanese. This I am not doing, except for exclamations and san/kun/chan, because I don't feel translations work for them (i.e Amelia calling Zelgadis-san 'Mr' Zelgadis.) . Japanese is the base language, and you are assumed to be reading it through an advanced universal translator that can handle idioms. The other languages are noted by appropriate brackets.
[Disclaimer: Everything here belongs to someone else except for the stuff that doesn't]
[2nd Disclaimer: The characters in this fanfic are trained martial artists. More then that they are cartoon characters and can be folded, spindled and mutilated and be back to normal by the next frame. You aren't. The basic message being: do not try anything you might read about in this fanfic.]
Kasumi walked lightly through the living room, conscious of a light from under the kitchen door. 'Who could that be at this time of night?' she thought to herself. 'It's far too quiet to be Nabiki or Akane getting a midnight snack. It could be the new arrivals, ' With the lack of fear that comes from being Kasumi, she opened the door.
The kitchen of the Tendo house was in half light, one wall lamp casting it's glow on the figure seated at the Western style table, nursing a mug of cocoa. The young man, on the edge of 20, wore a pyjama top, and trousers with many hand stitched pockets. His shoulder length dark brown hair was pulled back, with the tip tied off with a narrow band. His features marked him as more Caucasian than Japanese. The half-light left his face in shadow, but did show runnels of what must have been tears. Despite facing away from the door, and being apparently focussed on his inner thoughts he nevertheless spoke as soon as she entered.
"Kasumi-san? Sorry to make so free with your kitchen, but I needed time to think. Between dad rattling away like a rusty saw and bro's accompaniment, I couldn't focus."(1)
"Deru-san? What's wrong?" Kasumi remembered earlier the scene that occurred in the living room. When everyone else had been yelling, Deru had seemed the only one in control.
"Huh?" he put one hand to his face and found it wet. ", I didn't realise. doesn't do any good anyway." He sighed and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "'You weep like a girl Deru! You are a martial artist, show some guts!'" he quoted in an imitation of Genmas voice. "Maybe I should be in girl form."
Kasumi shook her head and stated gently, "No, martial artists are also human, and sometimes humans need tears." She absently made her own cup of cocoa, the motions automatic and deft. "If you want to talk." The half question made Deru look up from his own cup.
"Hmmm. Maybe if I get it off my chest I can get some sleep. I'm so not looking forward to explaining to mum and Ucchan tomorrow."
"Is that why you all agreed to stay over?"
"Yep, I guess we're still afraid to face what's happened to us." He grimaced and slowly but deliberately reached for the pitcher on the table then splashed a little water into his cupped hand. The shift happened quickly. Kasumi, despite her calmness, still wondered slightly at it, even though she'd now seen it several times. The blond girl who now sat in Deru's place continued several octaves higher. "We're going to have to though, since there's no sign of a cure anytime soon." She wipes her hand dry on a trouser leg.
"There is hope though, and the change is not permanent." Kasumi led, "So."
"Why the waterworks? It's because I failed. I've failed mum, dad; I failed Ranma and Ucchan. I have an obligation to my family so deep there aren't words to describe it, and I fluffed it totally. I'm the one who could understand Chinese, I'm supposed to be the responsible one. I should have read that stupid guide book before we went wandering off to Jyusenkyo." He reeled this off in a single breath, laying the charges before the jury. "It's like the neko-ken. We'd have both ended up complete basket cases if I hadn't seen what was on the next page."
"Neko-ken?" Kasumi queried.
"Long story. It was this supposedly unbeatable technique he'd found in an old training manual. I must have been 12 at the time. Heck, both Ranma and I were eager to learn it. The influence of too many sentai shows where the heroes get a big boost all at once. However dad had left the manual lying about and, being just inquisitive enough for my own good, I read it myself. It turns out the next page was stuck. When I unstuck it I couldn't understand some of the words and took it to mum. It turns out that the technique has a minor drawback. Learning it will drive you completely insane."
This showed that some things will shock even Kasumi. "Oh my! How could your father do something like that?" She put her hands to her cheeks as she said it. [This is Kasumi we're talking about. That's roughly equivalent to a massive facefault from most Ranma 1/2 characters.]
"Dad hadn't read that far." Deru shrugged, then put up his hands, "Hey, don't get me wrong, dad's not deliberately cruel or anything, he's just focussed on the school. He wants us both to be the best martial artists we can be. Ranma even more so, since only Ranma can be heir to the school. Sometimes he looses sight of the bigger picture."
"He does seem somewhat single minded. But why is it your obligation?" Kasumi continued, letting this person open up.
"Because of the way they became my family." He paused for a long second. "My mother married a westerner, an engineer who came to Japan. When I was 4 years old, my parents died in a landslide while my father was working in the mountains. I survived, but I had no relatives left on either side of my family. My birth mother was a friend of Ranma's mother. They took me in while things were being sorted out. Ranma was just past 1 year old at the time, and no one would have thought anything wrong if they'd just let family services take over looking after me." He shook his head. "Instead, when no relatives or anything came forward they adopted me."
Kasumi nodded. An adoption was unusual enough, but doubly so considering the fact that Deru wasn't of fully Japanese decent. [But in any reality where some of the things in Ranma ½ happen, it's workable. What are the Japanese social services called anyway?]
"Of course at the time I didn't question it. Ranma was just my little brother and we grew up that way. I learned Japanese as Ranma did, and we both learned more English. well me and bro sort of used it as a secret language. What with the English language channels on T.V. and some spotty tutoring we both got quite good. And again, when dad started training us, we learned and sparred together. It wasn't until I started school that I found out just how different I was. My brother's remarkable, someone who doesn't pre-judge people, even if he was in the wrong line when they handed out tact. Likewise, my mother saw something beyond a four-year-old g- gaijin." He said the word with difficulty. "Despite what Ranma or I may say about Dad sometimes, he does care. He wouldn't push us so hard otherwise."
Deru raised his head and looked straight into Kasumi's eyes. "It's always been that way, everything I am, is down to my family. It's a life debt, a matter of giri.. Ever since I understood what they'd done for me, the repayment of that debt has been my first consideration." His voice carried a tone of absolute sincerity.
Kasumi thought for a moment about someone similar. "It's good that you think of your family that way. I too try to look after my family, and protect them. Of course I enjoy being the one they come to. Since mother died." a murmured condolence interrupted her. "It's alright. I've tried to take her place."
"From what I've seen, you do a brilliant job." Deru replied. "I could feel this was a home, rather than just a house, the first time I came through the door." Kasumi blushed slightly at the compliment. "My contribution is different. It's like bro and dad are trouble magnets. When I've journeyed with them on training trips I tend to end up fixing things. At home, of course, I help mom by having part time jobs, so dad can train Ranma more of the time."
Kasumi looked interested. "You must be looking forward to getting back."
"We did debate going straight home, but Ranma and I decided to resolve this fiancée business first. I'm sorry about that. It's not the first time something like this has happened, though that turned out rather better."
"Ranma had another fiancée?" Kasumi asked.
"It's a bit more complicated than that. In fact it's how I met my fiancée, Ucchan. This was back on one of our first training trips. I must have been around 7 at the time. We were travelling around Japan, Ranma and me with dad. We stayed a while in various places, usually to train or find unusual martial arts styles, then moved on. Now in one place there was this kid Ukyo whose dad had an okonomiyaki stall. Ranma and me took it in turns to snag one while Ukyo defended. We got free okonomiyaki almost every day." He smiled.
Kasumi was less mellow than usual. "Isn't that theft?"
Deru looked surprised. "Oh, it wasn't like that. Ukyo's family had their own martial arts style, and dad set up this thing with her father as training. We got to be friends with her. Ukyo even used to draw pictures or kanji with the sauce. To us she was Ucchan, to her we were Deechan and Ranchan."
"So what happened?"
"First there are some things you must know." He counted off on his fingers. "One, neither of us knew Ukyo was a girl. She was around 5, wore boy's clothes and roughhoused with us as well as anyone. Her dad wanted a boy. Two, well. dad kind of got Ranma engaged to Ukyo. The dowry was the okonomiyaki cart. Three, he didn't tell us about this either. Don't ask me where this left the other engagement, I don't know. It's possible dad just plain forgot, dad's memory is sometimes less than perfect. So one day we start packing up to leave, and dad comes back with the cart, saying Ucchans dad gave us it. I couldn't get to sleep so I go over to Ucchans house to say goodbye. Of course she's packing to go with us, so she comes back with me. Obviously, Kunoji-san had given us the cart because Ukyo was coming with us and she'd need stuff to make okonomiyaki with." [Nowhere in the manga does it say Ukyo initiated the engagement.]
Kasumi smiled at this. Deru grinned ruefully. "Hey, I was 7 at the time, it made sense."
He continues, gesturing slightly with his arms. "Ranma and dad are by the cart, already rock solid asleep, so we join them. Next morning, we all go off together. Actually dad seemed surprised that Ukyo was there, but then Ukyo said about her dad saying she's coming with us. She thought it was fun. Dad seemed a bit sulky about the whole thing, but we went on our way for the next couple of months. During that time neither Ranma or I actually realised Ukyo was a girl."
"How is that possible?"
"Well, remember we were on the road, and we didn't have much money, so usually we did our bathing in the nearest river, not the public baths, and it's not like we got changed together. I guess we must have had dozens of close misses, but it never happened. So it worked out as Ranma having a new best friend and me having a little brother. It wasn't until our next stop at home that we found out, or rather Ranma did."
Deru grinned at the recollection. "I wasn't there at the time, but it appears Ucchan walked into the furo by accident while Ranma was already in there. Ranma of course hadn't a clue about such things. He, and for that matter I at that age, believed the main difference between boys and girls was that girls wore dresses. He later came to me saying that Ucchan had bits missing, and said she's a girl. Of course I talked to mum, and mum talked to Ucchan and dad, and found out the whole thing, the engagement, the lot. Oh boy!
"Of course this left Ranma and me with a problem. We'd both been trained from birth not to hit girls, on the principle, you don't use the art against people who are weak and can't defend themselves. Big assumption there. I know. A girl, who could defend herself and wanted to spar. well, it was outside our experience. It's still been rare, people like Akane are the exception. Except in the Amazon village. For days after we wouldn't train with Ukyo. Naturally she got mad and called us names. Eventually she broke down and cried.
"Turns out not many kids back home were comfortable with a girl who learned martial arts. They thought she was weird. We'd been the first people to take her seriously and now we were acting just like her. those kids. I guess she felt betrayed. Anyhow, neither Ranma nor I would allow a friend of ours to get hurt, so we did the only thing we could. We both apologised most sincerely then challenged her. That fight had to be one of the weirdest we ever had." He shook his head. "At the end of it all three of us were bruised and battered, but all three of us had big stupid grins on our faces.
"Mom took it all in hand. Eventually it sorted out that Ukyo would stay with us about half the time, and with her father the other half until she was 17, then she would make the decision whether to take up the engagement. Over the next ten years she stayed with us on and off. I was home most times she was, and enjoyed having a younger sister. Mom taught her girl stuff, while her dad taught her their families martial arts style.
"Of course I trained with her and started learning her style, while passing on 'Anything goes'. While I still went on trips with dad and Ranma, it was usually when Ukyo wasn't there. Now I come to tell it to someone else, it seems a bit odd, as if dad was trying to keep Ranma and Ukyo apart. I guess he'd remembered this engagement and was hoping Ukyo's would fall through.
"I suppose it was natural, but as we were older I started getting. romantic thoughts about her. After all we spent a lot of time training and just messing about. We shared the same interests, the same attitudes, Ucchan's easy to get along with. Of course I was embarrassed about them, after all, she was like my sister, someone I had to protect, plus she was 2 years younger and engaged to Ranma. I mean, I expected that Ukyo would eventually choose the engagement. On the occasions when they were together, they got on so well. Besides that he was better looking, a better fighter, and he was heir to the school. Anyone else I would have been jealous of, but this was Ranma. I just couldn't be. Instead, I resolved that I wouldn't let anything wreck their relationship."
Kasumi looked slightly misty eyed. "Oh my. It sounds just like a romance manga. But are you not the one engaged to Ukyo now?"
Deru grinned. "Yep. And if you think it's a romance manga so far, you will just love how it all came to a head. It was about 9 months ago. I needed paper for a grocery list, of all things, and I found a notepad lying around. I was about to borrow a sheet when I saw it had Ukyo's writing on it. It was Ukyo's diary, and she'd written stuff about me in it. I couldn't help myself I'm afraid, I had to read it. It turns out she had a huge crush on me. Ran-chan was a friend, a dear friend, but I was the 'one who was always there for her'. She was feeling just as guilty as I was. Clearly I'd done a good job of hiding my feelings because she didn't have a clue about them. Of course, then she rushed in, looking for it. " He stops and sighs for a moment. "I handed her the book, and managed to convince her I'd found it by accident. Of course then I admitted what I'd been feeling for her. I'm afraid we both got a little mushy about it. I guess we're both hapless romantics."
Kasumi inquired. "Do you not mean hopeless romantics?"
"I know what I mean." Deru smirked. "Then of course we landed back on Earth with a bump. We couldn't do something like that to Ranma, myself as a brother, Ukyo as a friend. The only thing to do was to tell him about it. He and dad were at home for once. I mean, I was expecting him to be angry, or at least hurt. But when we both got together and told him, he was happy. It appears that Ucchan was a lot worse at keeping her feelings from Ranma, at least he knew something had been making her unhappy. He was pleased to see his best friend had found someone she liked. He never really thought about the engagement, I guess he'd never really got over seeing Ukyo as a buddy rather than a girl. Like I said earlier, Ranma's a remarkable guy."
"There was still the engagement thing. The three of us worked together to shift it. Ranma took dad, I took mum, and Ukyo went back home to talk to her father. Of course dad jumped at it, and now we know why. Mom took some getting round, but she wasn't going to stand in our way after I'd explained the situation. The sticking point was Ukyo's dad. I'd met him once, and he seemed to be a fairly decent guy, but he wanted to be sure that I was worthy, style of thing. I guessed being adopted rather than straight blood made a difference."
Kasumi's unvoiced sympathy caused him to duck his head. "Hey, it's nothing I haven't had to handle before, some people look at me and see only skin deep. Anyway, it came down to me having a duel with him to show my worth. Now, this is usually Ranma's bag: being as I said both a trouble magnet and I'm afraid, unable to resist a challenge, he's always ending up in duels, fights and such. But one of the rules was no outside help. So I ended up going to there solo. I had a week to train with Ucchan, to prepare for her father's tactics. I even stayed at their house.
"Then came the match. Kunoji-san is good! We faced off and things got intense. It came out to an even match, different advantages cancelling out. It came down to who made a mistake first, which happened to be me. I got in a good attack, but landed on a loose piece of shale on the rebound and went down hard. For an instant I felt so low, because I figured I'd lost.
"Of course I was back up as fast as possible, but Kunoji-san should have been all over me. But there was Ukyo, her battle spatula blocking his finishing strike. I mean, she was amazing. I got ready to go at it again. Then Kunoji-san calls it to a halt. Now I was certain I'd lost, and Ucchan was too. So we stand there, waiting for the axe to fall. We're both so wrapped up in us both a minute to realise when Kunoji-san says 'You have proved your worth, Satome-san.' Of course once it sank in, the next several minutes were hazy because Ucchan and I were engaged in a hug that threatened to destruct test each other's ribs, and a kiss, our first kiss." He looks distant for a moment.
"When I actually returned to a state where I was capable of noticing little things like the rest of the world, I realised Kunoji-san was favouring the side where I'd caught him, and breathing heavily. However I hadn't beaten him, and wanted to know why he thought it was O.K. Turns out he'd been keeping tabs on us all week while I was training. For that matter he never said I had to defeat him for Ukyo's hand, just 'fight him to prove my worth.' The rest, well, our engagement is official, but we're waiting until Ucchan's 18th birthday for me to propose." His face had a genuine smile that fell as he returned from story telling land. "At least, that's what was supposed to happen."
Kasumi looked at the downcast person and spoke gently. "I'm sure if your Ukyo loves you as much as you say, your problem will not affect her feelings."
"I hope so.Ranma reckons so too. The question is, have I that right? What about her father?" He sighed. "A path that keeps my honour intact is hard to see. Especially when you consider how my mum will take it."
"I don't understand."
"Well, there are two parts to it. The first thing applies to both Ranma and me. Our mother expects us to exemplify the 'manly virtues', to be honourable, brave and courteous, to fight well, and for the right causes. She also expects us, and especially Ranma, to marry and carry on the family name. It's the reason she allowed us to go on so many training trips, dad convinced her that was the best way. Sort of live fire exercises. Well this time we got burned. I don't believe that suddenly becoming part time daughters will fit the 'manly' description."
Kasumi thought a moment then answered, "You said earlier today that only your body changes, not your mind."
"As far as we can tell. Even when I'm female I still know I'm Deru and a guy."
"Then you are still the same person inside. Besides, you have a unique view of things. You've seen what it is to be a woman. Won't that help you to be a better man?"
Deru frowns. "I think I see what you're getting at. I don't know if mother would agree with it."
"I'm sure your mother will see that you haven't become less of a man. You said she looked past appearances."
"I did, didn't I. But the second reason is more personal. On these trips, when I go along, mum expects me to be responsible for things. She knows dad's passion for the martial arts can sometimes outweigh his common sense. No amount of talk will alter the fact that I failed to stop us all being cursed."
"Could you really have stopped your father from taking you to Jyusenkyo?"
"I didn't try, I didn't even know, it was dad's big secret. I was too busy thinking about going back home, I missed the warning signs. Even when the guide told me, I didn't believe it until I saw dad go panda. Then I messed up a jump that I should have been able to do blindfolded and got both Ranma and myself wet. Some martial artist I am." His face became a tight lipped mask.
"Did he blame you?"
"No, he was just glad I was O.K. In a way I'd feel better if he had." He still looked unhappy. "In fact we haven't spoken at all about it before recounting it today. It's not like we haven't had other things on our minds."
"Have you considered he may feel guilty?" Kasumi asked.
Deru went from gloom to shock, taking the facefault bypass. "What for?"
"You tried to stop him falling in, got knocked in yourself and in the process almost drowned. He may feel he's responsible for your being cursed, and feel as if you blame him."
Deru now looked like a fish trying to understand flying. "But. he's not the one at fault! I've got to ask."
Kasumi smiled. "Tomorrow. Do you feel better?"
Deru nodded. "Thank you, Kasumi-san. I do. I don't know if everything will turn out right, but at least there's a chance of it. That's a lot more than I've been seeing for a long time. I can either take that chance, or sit here feeling sorry for myself." He rises from his seat and washes his empty mug, placing it to dry on the washing up rack. "Goodnight." He went upstairs, quietly.
"Goodnight Deru-kun." Kasumi replied, as he left. "I'm sure you can find a way." As she made her own way back to bed.
Deru returned to the guest room, where the other two occupants had reduced in volume to a dull roar. He dropped onto his tatami and closed his eyes, thinking about what had happened earlier that day. Without noticing it memories became dreams, and sleep overtook him.
[.Doing about 30 over the legal limit. Yes it's a segue. About as subtle as a rhino horn. And so they meet, for the first time... While up till now the timeline has occurred in the Tendo dojo as usual; forget the original road scene. Subtract one bashed up road sign and one bashed up Ranma.]
1) Interspersing Japanese. This I am not doing, except for exclamations and san/kun/chan, because I don't feel translations work for them (i.e Amelia calling Zelgadis-san 'Mr' Zelgadis.) . Japanese is the base language, and you are assumed to be reading it through an advanced universal translator that can handle idioms. The other languages are noted by appropriate brackets.
