ATTENTION: THIS IS A SEQUEL TO OFFICER SAOTOME, A RANMA/TENCHI XOVER I FINISHED WRITING TWO YEARS AGO. YOU MUST READ THAT FIRST TO UNDERSTAND THIS!
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01a Prologue
April 25th, 20XX
Okayama, Japan.
The first thing he felt in his hand was a square bottle. Square in shape, rounded edges, a distinct smooth foil wrapper on its body. He took a deep breath and hints of sweet, burnt oak and spicy citrus gently tickled his senses.
Then abruptly, his stomach recoiled.
"Ugh...nooo!"
He sat up and his head bumped into a mat of oily hair and hard skull. He hissed as sharp pangs of agony pierced his temples. He rubbed the bridge of nose and eyes in small, tight circles.
The person he bumped moaned in unconscious protest. He looked over and noticed he was sitting up next to a couch, a faceful of long hair in front of him. He breathed again, this time greeted by a much more pleasant aroma of lavender and chamomile. At the end of his breath was mixed in with a little bit of dried sweat and the lingering traces of alcohol and pheromone.
His eyes adjusted to the girl who was passed out in front of him. He ran a hand through her messy, bright colored hair.
"You waking up with your hand still on the booze, you crazy party animal?"
He heard a door latch close, a distinct click and ring of bells emanating from below the staircase. He looked over to a young girl standing with her arms to her side, a smile poking out from half her face with a side of her cheeks pinched against her teeth.
"No more, Washu. I'm tapped the fuck out."
"I think we tapped out a whole lot," Washu replied, eyebrows raised. She ran a hand through her red, crab leg hair extensions. "My head's killing me. Are you going to try to lick the insides of that whiskey bottle, Ranma?"
Ranma Saotome twitched his nose and immediately squinted his eyes shut. "Hell no," he barked. He looked down at his left hand. It was an empty liter bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue. One of several he'd brought for the weekend. He got up from the floor and nearly stumbled as his knees swayed. "I think I'm still drunk."
"Me too." Washu pointed to the kitchen. "I woke up a few minutes before you did. I have some coffee brewing."
He finally caught his balance and grimaced. Ranma's stomach groaned with all the sloshing cocktails of beer, whiskey, and sake he'd demolished. He looked at his wrist. His Frogman G-Shock said it was a quarter till noon.
Ranma brushed his button up polo shirt off from food crumbs that had littered the floor. Little tidbits of snack foods fell on the girl on the couch and some of the other occupants of the house who had also passed out next to him on the ground. He reached down and brushed away some dry crackers off her teal hair.
Kiyone Makibi grumbled as she dug her face into the couch pillow, oblivious of Ranma's hand going through her hair. She smacked her lips a few times and abruptly snorted and snored, resuming to quiet sleep.
Also sprawled on the couch was a young woman with long purple hair and a pink kimono in white stripes. She was on her back, sleeping with her mouth wide open. Her 13 year old teenage sister was passed out on top of her, drooling on her stomach.
Ranma looked around. The Masaki home was trashed with empty bottles, snack wrappers, and drunk inhabitants. He walked forward, careful not to step on his spiky haired friend Ryoko. His drunk balance took a misstep and he accidentally put a foot down on Mihoshi's stomach, sprawled right next to Ryoko with her face up.
"Oooof!"
"Eeep!" The skin on Ranma's neck stretched back as he frowned with his teeth clenched and mouth open. "I'm sorry Mihoshi!"
The blonde girl whimpered for a moment, still passed out. Her lips tightened as she laid her hands on her stomach and continued to sleep with her body turned to the side her knees tucked closer to her body.
Ranma tiptoed his way across the dining area and into the kitchen. He stopped for a moment to see the only other young man in the house with him, leaning against the wall with a trash bin seated to his left with his arm around it. There was some leftover fun smeared on the inner sides of the trash bag, Ranma pinched his nose shut in disgust as he walked into the kitchen.
He let go of his nose and was greeted to the smell of wonderfully roasted Arabica coffee from the drip pot. Washu had two cups out and poured coffee for the both of them. Ranma saw her bloodshot eyes as he gratefully accepted his warm cup of wake-up juice.
"I think we succeeded in having Tenchi remember his 20th birthday, ne?" Washu said, before sipping on her cup.
"He left a little souvenir for himself in the trash," Ranma said, grinning through his hangover. "I think everyone will remember it." Ranma narrowed his eyes and looked up. "Err, or maybe we won't, depending on how you see it?"
Washu let out a dry chuckle, suppressing herself as pain shot through her head with each silent laugh. "It was priceless how Sasami-chan joined in when her older sister went past the point of wasted. Oh, who knew that little girl could handle her alcohol on her first try?"
Ranma had a finger on his lower lip. "Now, was that Ayeka-wasted when she agreed to shotgun that big can of Asahi with Ryoko and Nobuyuki, or when she mistook me for Tenchi and tried to make out with me?"
"And then seeing Kiyone furiously slurricaned herself over to you two and then get held back by Mihoshi, who just happened to trip and drop her as she plowed forward and planted her lips on you instead?"
"Ho," Ranma covered his mouth and suppressed a laugh himself. He whispered under his hand. "When I caught her I accidentally had a handful of her chest. Ayeka was so drunk that she thought I was Tenchi, groping Mihoshi."
"That was too classic. Kiyone laughed herself to tears at that turn-around." Washu sipped again. "Ryoko probably thought she was being smart by speed feeding Tenchi more alcohol than he could handle. Hence why our little prince is against the wall, a trash bin full of puke next to him."
The two laughed together heartily, the only ones awake in the house amidst the ruins of a drinking party the Masaki house had long looked forward to. Tenchi's coming of age, or legal coming of age anyway.
Ranma walked over to the kitchen doorway to look back into the living room. He saw his girlfriend sleeping peacefully on the couch, one of her arms dangling off the cushion and onto the floor.
"C'mon," Washu said. "Let's go to my lab. We'll let them sleep."
Ranma nodded. He followed her back into the living room and under the Masaki staircase which led to the entrance of her lab. Washu held the door open for him to enter. What was underneath the staircase of a large single family home was now a vast new dimension accessed via portal.
"C'mon, we'll go to our usual lounge," Washu said, snapping her finger and pointing with her thumb to a living room that existed in plain view in stark contrast to the dark hole they were in. As they approached and entered, Ranma looked behind him to see the lab dimension gone and in its place a regular wall, with large sliding windows and views of a serene lake. He'd been here many times, every time made him hold his breath for a moment.
The two of them sat down on barcaloungers, complete with their own mini trays attached for their drinks. They faced each other at an angle, the chairs setup so they could easily see each other while maintaining a full view of this dimensional getaway.
"How you holding up, kid?"
Ranma smacked his lips and drank his coffee. "I'll live. You only live once, right?"
Washu looked at him incredulously. "Yeah, says the guy who gave back 40 milllion dollars in drug money. You sure know how to live large."
"Hey, I got a Ferrari out of it."
"Which you donated to charity."
"I must've been drunk then too. Give me a few hours, I'll be ready for round two."
"I don't think there's going to be one," Washu replied, shaking her head. She snapped her fingers and the coffee carafe from the Masaki kitchen reappeared and poured refills for both of them.
"Thank you." Ranma lifted his cup to her.
"I've seen Ryoko drink. I've seen Katsuhito and Nobuyuki drink. Heck, I've seen your girl, Mihoshi, and Ayeka drink. But I have to say, I've never seen anyway who slams away at the bottle like you do."
"Yeah," he simply replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"I know you had fun. You looked like you were enjoying yourself every bit as everyone else, my dear Ranma." Washu sipped again. "It's just I thought a glimpse of a guy trying to force a little bit of himself out of his mind when I saw you take some of those shots."
Ranma crossed his legs over the other. He peered at her neutrally and drank from his cup.
"Hey, I'm just asking," Washu said, her hands up in the air. "We've talked about it before. You know you can talk to me, Ranma."
"Yeah, well." Ranma looked down into his cup. He saw his reflection in the oily top film of the coffee. "It really didn't come to mind or nothing last night."
"Nah, I'm not saying you were dwelling over it, you know?" Washu smiled softly. "I know it's tough to believe even after all this time, but I AM a mother you know."
"You got a knack for reading faces," Ranma said, still looking at his cup.
"You still getting those nightmares?"
He pursed his lips. "Fuckin A," he whispered, nodding.
"Haven't cut down on drinking on your own, have you?"
"I'm..." Ranma took a sip and nearly dribbled some coffee down his chin. He wiped it with his forearm. "I'm mindful of it."
"And how's it been working around with those around you?"
Ranma looked at her receptively. "You mean Kiyone?"
"I didn't say Kiyone," Washu said, shaking her head. "I mean anyone, your coworkers, your girlfriend, your friends, your parents. You know, people who care about you?"
"Kiyone is...She's a good girl. She tolerates me."
"Tolerate is an awfully loaded word, Ranma."
"Well, Washu. You're just about the only person who I really get to talk with this way."
"You got your partner too, don't forget Jackson."
Ranma shook his head. "He knows I have ghosts and regrets. He knows I like to get... lost a little too much."
Washu listened. A little too much was an understatement, she mentally noted.
"He doesn't understand some of the things that cripple me. That I still hold an unjustified anger in my heart. Kiyone's been great at supporting that part of my life-"
"Yet you can't forget about her. She's still chained to your heart. Or your guilt," Washu spoke softly.
"I don't know why," Ranma said, trying not to bite his lip. "Maybe you can tell me how to forget. You're the only person in years I've opened up to about this stuff."
The corners of Washu's mouth gently curled. "It helps I've got advanced education and training on behavior and psyche."
"And just about everything else," Ranma said, raising a brow at her.
"Yeah, and that too." Washu laid her hands on her lap. "I can't tell you how to let go of Ichino, Ranma. Let alone forget, which I don't think you should do. It's not something anyone should do, really. Life's worth living because we also experience the tragedies to contrast with the triumphs."
"Yeah, Dr. Hakubi. I know what you're saying." Ranma slumped in his seat. "I can just manage things as they come to me. I can handle it."
Washu nodded. "Just looking out for you, my boy." She got up and gently brushed the side of his face affectionately. "I know I told you this before..."
Ranma remained slumped, but smiled as he looked up to her short, standing figure.
"But you're the only person who's sat down and talked with me about the living spirit in thousands of years. I wish I had that with my daughter. Or with the other girls. With Ryoko, maybe that ship will sail back one day. Even with Katsuhito, he's still just a monument to himself. Wise and noble in his own silence and minimalism."
"I'd never would have guessed you'd be my favorite person to talk to here," Ranma replied ruefully. "Despite your little experiments."
Washu sat back down in her seat. "So you got stuck as a girl for a week, everyone thought it was cute."
"At least it was on vacation," he replied.
Washu sipped again and finished her second cup. She set it down. "Kiyone doesn't show it much because she's a tough girl. But she's also the smartest one here. She knows when to ask for help and knows when to be concerned. It took her a lot of guts to ask me herself whether or not I thought you have a problem."
"Hmm." Ranma wasn't stupid. He knew Kiyone was a pragmatic girl. She was honest, no nonsense, and dedicated to discipline. "I'll manage, Washu. She doesn't have to worry."
"Just take it easy, ok?" Washu stood to get up. "Don't let things slip out of your control."
"I've got my shit together," he said.
"Handle your shit," Washu said, smiling. "Ouch. Let's get back to the kitchen and get some food ready. Everyone's hungry."
Ranma stood up, a part of shirt lifted as he got out from the seat revealing a shiny gold badge attached to the belt of his left of his hip. His right hip bulged lightly to reveal a pistol handle sticking out of his pants from an inside-the-waistband holster.
He sighed. "Yeah, I need to eat this hangover away."
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Disclaimer: Ranma and Tenchi are not owned by me. This is a fictional work made purely for recreation. I do not intend to profit or market this work using those trademarks in any way shape or form.
Hello guys, SgtRanma here. It's been a few years, and I hope you enjoyed the prologue to my sequel to Officer Saotome, Catharsis.
This prologue laid rest to concerns to a second epilogue to OS I was supposed to make but got lazy and never got around to. I know TONS of people were displeased with Ranma taking Nabs' money at the end and spending it, and that was actually not my intention to ending it like that as there was always meant to be more. Oh well, I laid that one to rest here.
This prologue takes place months before chapter 1, and is also perhaps one of the only times I will be including any of the Tenchi cast in this new series. Alas... the developments are important and will serve for a Ranma/Tenchi xover oneshot that I have planned.
Catharsis will be a xover of several shows. I will also continue the same serious dramafic element that made me enjoy writing Officer Saotome. Except this time, I pledge to make it even more realistic, much more involved as far as character developments go, and far more action packed without getting bogged down TOO much with technical explanation.
Also I've done away with using "real" dates, something that bit me back in the ass when I started Officer Saotome. The year will be purposefully ambigious, with the caveat that this story takes place in a post 9/11 world.
I've already outlined and laid this out as an 8 part series, plus this prologue and an epilogue. It will be mature in theme, will include some graphic details, and as hopefully another asset to the realm of Ranmafics I hope I can add a dash of realism from my (holy cow, 13 years now!) experience as a real police officer.
This fic will be written slowly, there will be delays, and for all I know I might be approaching my late 40's with this as I was approaching my late 30's with Officer Saotome. But, hey... after browsing through FF net and seeing the lack of quality content as opposed to the early 2000s and 1990s, I think we're due for a return of an epic longfic that I hope I can get you guys to enjoy.
And also an additional apology to all of those I've neglected to respond to with feedback in the past 24 months. That will change.
Please send any feedback or questions to sgtranma gmail dot com. Or PM me via FF net or reviews.
Thank you.
Finished July 27 2012