Disclaimer:I don't own any characters of Ranma ½ nor any other manga or book except for my own OCs. I have no intention of making money with this story.

Ranma – Dragon of Chaos

Prologue: Broken Bonds

"..." Speech (Japanese)

"..." Thought

"..." Inner voice, telepathic thoughts

(...) Explanations, remarks,...

"(...)" Speech (English, Chinese,...)

"((...))" Ancient language

Ranma and Genma were on a training trip. Two years ago they started the training trip. They never stayed longer than a few weeks in one place – only long enough for Ranma to learn the martial arts techniques. When he made friends they often left the next day. It was often like that.

Over the past year it became more and more difficult for Genma to win. Genma's plans were in danger. Ranma became too fast too good. Only with his tricks he could win. He needed a new technique to control Ranma, to beat him. He wanted him to only concentrate on martial arts and nothing else. For the past two years, it worked perfectly. Ranma was away from his wife who would comfort him if he was hurt. His focus was only on martial arts and his aim was to beat him which he shouldn't for some years. He should also have no education. He would stay dumb and controllable. Also he wasn't supposed to even know the difference between girls and boys so he wouldn't get interested in girls. After the training trip Ranma would marry a Tendo as soon as possible. The schools would be joined and he and his wife would teach at the dojo. The other promises he made wouldn't matter when Ranma was married. The result would be that his future was safe and he wouldn't need to do anything anymore.

Unfortunately the reality was a bit different. In the temples Ranma learned martial arts, but also asked for more lessons afterwards which didn't always include martial arts. The monks praised him for the will to learn and he would have to beat the lessons out of him. After some time Ranma began to doubt if his lessons were right. He didn't simply do what he told him to do but asked questions if he thought something was wrong about his plans and or intentions.

That wasn't the only problem. Ranma made friends. He was happy. His best friend was Ukyo but that wasn't the problem because he still thought that Ukyo was a boy. So the engagement with Ukyo didn't interfrere with his plan, but the latest developments did.

During a sparring session Ranma was distracted. He received a blow on his head by his father. He flew through the air. But instead of landing gracefully on the ground, he landed on the ground with the back first and then slid about two meters. When Ranma didn't stand up Genma was worried. He ran over to Ranma, stepped in some splinters of glass and cursed loudly before examining Ranma.

Ranma was unconscious. He was mostly bleeding on the back where still some black splinters of glass were stuck. He picked him up and ran to the nearest town into a hospital to him be checked-up by a real doctor.

Genma and Ranma were stuck in this town for two more weeks.

Let's make this Genma was stuck in this town. Ranma actually met someone he really likes.

Day 1 at the hospital

Ranma was in a bed and had a big headache. In front of him talked his father and a doctor. He couldn't concentrate much on the conversation. So he only caught some words like two weeks, broken leg, concussion and the most important ones no martial arts. In the end Genma turned to Ranma when the doctor left. "You have slacked off, boy and saw what education does to you. After the two weeks we will have some special training." After that he also left the room.

Then a cheerful voice said. "So you are a martial artist."

Ranma turned around to see who spoke. He saw a girl around his age with brown hair which reached down her back. She laid on the other in the room and smiled at him. He asked himself why he didn't notice her before but then simply said to himself it was because of the headache. He couldn't help but nod and smile too as he saw her smile.

"Yes, I'm Ranma Saotome, heir of the Anything Goes."

"I'm Hinako Ninomiya."

"Why are you here? I mean you look pretty good."

She knew it wasn't meant as a compliment but blushed anyway while Ranma still smiled.

"My right hand was broken. So I'm rather weak at the moment. But today is my last day at the hospital."

Ranma was confused. "Why are you weak because of a broken hand ?"

Hinako explained the Happo-Five-Yen Satsu technique to him. "It's the Happo-Five-Yen Satsu technique. With the technique I can absorb other people's energy but I can only use the technique with my right hand. After the drains I revert back to my real body. The past few days though I couldn't drain anyone so I'm rather weak at the moment."

Ranma was fascinated by the technique- a technique to absorb other people's Ki. He thought of all the possibilities of using it. He practically drooled. "Could you teach me?"

Hinako thought for a moment. "I don't know. I can try but not now, later."

"Why?" He tried to stand up and walk towards her. "I'm completely healthy. You can teach..." As soon as he set his right foot on the ground, pain flashed through his right leg and he fell on the ground.

Hinako immediately rushed towards Ranma to help him getting on his bed again. "When you are out of hospital I'll teach you. Not now."

Ranma nodded. "Could you at least show me the technique?"

Hinako looked at her plaster cast on her hand before looking at Ranma again. "Sure. But I still have to get the plaster cast off of my hand. I'll visit you tomorrow and show you the Happo-Five-Yen Satsu."

"Is that a promise?" Hinako nodded. "Great! Tomorrow I'll see a new technique."

After a while a doctor came into the room. "Hello. Well, Miss Ninomiya, I'm here to put the plaster cast off. After that you can leave the hospital."

In the end they waved each other goodbye and Ranma was left alone muttering. "A new technique."

The next days Ranma and Hinako spent a lot with each other. They showed each other their techniques – Hinako showed her Happo-Five-Yen Satsu and Ranma showed some of the things he could do without using his legs. (It were mainly Tai Chi and meditation exercises. Genma forbid him to learn those exercises because they were useless but Ranma learned them anyway.)

Ranma was fascinated. When Hinako used the technique, the Ki of the victim went through the coin into her body and transformed her into an 11-year-old girl while the victim laid on the floor powerless. He asked her many questions, but a lot of the questions were left unanswered. She knew how to perform the technique but not how it really worked. What he knew was that she has known the technique for four years and that someone called Happosai taught her. He let himself be drained to get to know more about the technique. He didn't find out more and simply made a mental note to not ask her again to get drained. You really feel like shit after the drain.

They also traded stories. Ranma told her about his training trip, the places he visited, the people he met, Ukyo, his parents, his father's lessons, the monk's lessons and what he thought about them- that some of his father's lesson were wrong. Hinako agreed with that and told him about her weak condition, the time with Happosai, how her life was after he left, school, her parents and why she was in the hospital in the first place. They both listened to each others stories intently, asked questions and laughed at funny moments in their stories. They often spent many hours together like that.

One day Hinako brought her homework from school to the hospital. Ranma didn't understand most of the stuff. He was taught in secret by monks at the shrine sometimes but that wasn't enough. Hinako noticed that he didn't understand her homework but also that he wanted to learn. She explained the things in ways he could understand. On that day they also came up with pet names Ranma called Hinako Hina-chan and Hinako Ranma Ran-kun.

The hospital personnel thought they were a cute together. It was more like a nightmare which came true for Genma. Hinako and Ranma spent a lot time together, they were happy together and even had pet names for each other. Soon they would fall for each other if they didn't already. Ranma was still injured. Forbidding Hinako from visiting was also out of question. The doctors said she was a visitor and a positive influence and attacking Hinako a defenseless girl would go against his martial arts code. And yes, he followed his martial arts code though it's questionable... and has many exceptions for a lot of things... and doesn't care much about honor.

The training trip couldn't go much worse for him. His son got education. He thinks and not only about martial arts. He doubts him and some of his teachings. He is injured and can't practise martial arts for one more week and now a girl catched Ranma's eye. The boy couldn't simply believe him and follow his orders like normal children. He was only a troublemaker.

"Why am I cursed disrespectful and ungrateful son?" Mused Genma. "He only causes trouble. It all started with the monks and now my plan of retirement, err, joining the schools is already nearly ruined. Still I have some control over the boy, I am stronger, it can work out , but not without some drastic changes. But how ?"

Genma walked down the streets of the small town. He did something he hadn't done for some years: He thought. He searched for a solution, but nothing came up. He was frustrated. All he had were problems. All of his plans failed with the exception of forever sealing their master Happosai in a cave together with Soun . Did he piss off someone important so that he had to watch how his plans backfired ?

On the world many people and some gods sneezed.

Genma was on his way back to the hospital to visit his good for nothing son. He was in a bad mood. He saw a small brochure on the ground and picked it up. He saw the words Neko Ken and unbeatable martial arts technique on the front page. He read interested the instructions of the technique.

Step 1: Take a between five and ten year old child.

Step 2: Wrap the child in fish.

Step 3: Toss the child into a pit filled with cats. ( To increase the chances of success, let the cats starve a few days so that the cats are hungry and eat the fish from the child.)

Step 4: Close the pit so that the child can't escape and is not only terrified by the cats but by the darkness too.

Step 5: Take the child out of the pit. Put a cat in front of the child and see if the child goes into Neko Ken state. If the child can't repeat the steps 2 to 4 until it can.

"Okay teaching the technique would be easy." Thought Genma. "Let's see what on the last page is."

Warnings were on the last page. The technique was forbidden because the children who underwent the training either died during the training, were after the training forever trapped in the Neko Ken or had an irrational fear of cats which could only if ever cured after years of therapy with a professional psychologist. That didn't help in most cases. On the bottom of the page was also written DO NOT TEACH THIS TECHNIQUE.

Genma had a grin on his face after reading the whole brochure. The Neko Ken was the solution of his problem. After the training Ranma would be terrified of cats. Sure it would be a weakness, but he would have control over his son again. He would simply have to show him a cat and Ranma would do what he wanted: learn martial without doubting him, marry a Tendo and work at the dojo while he did nothing. The preperation was also easy. Somewhere he could look for a pit and he could steal, er, borrow the cats of the neighborhood. He could buy the fish. If the technique worked, his investment would pay off. He would have to be careful during the training. He would stop the training before Ranma died or the Neko Ken was permanent. He still needed to work out the details but that didn't matter. He had hope. Hope that the schools would be joined in the end. The key was the Neko Ken now.

The same day at the hospital

Ranma has already been at the hospital for some days. His right leg healed but he still needed crutches. He asked a nurse if he could wear his normal clothes and was currently dressed in a blue silk shirt and black pants. Ranma and Hinako sat at a table. He ate lunch with her though it was more like Ranma ate lunch while Hinako watched how the food vanished.

Hinako shook her head. "I still can't believe how you can eat that much, Ran-kun."

Ranma smiled at her. "Make everything around you training. One of the useful things pop said."

"Ran-kun, you can eat slower. Nobody will your steal your food here."

Ranma scratched the back of his head. "Sorry Hina-chan. It's just a habit."

"You have a lot bad habits from your father."

"Yeah. I've already thought about leaving him sometimes. But what then? I can't go to my mom. Pop said she is dead and I trust him on that. He wouldn't lie about something like that."

"No! Don't leave him! I neither had a mother nor a father and life wasn't easy without any parents. I don't wish for you to live like do. I'm sure you can talk with him. Just don't leave your father. Promise!"

Ranma hadn't expected such a strong reply from Hinako and was totally unprepared. He nodded multiple times and added. "I promise."

Genma heard the last part of the conversation from somewhere where they both couldn't see him– the promise. Genma smiled from his position. The day couldn't have been better. First he found the brochure for the Neko Ken and then the girl even helped him unconsciously. He knew Ranma would honor his promise and fulfill it. He didn't know how he got to such a sense of honor. It couldn't be from him. Promises were made to be broken for him(at least most of them). But that was a question Genma didn't ask himself. What mattered was if the schools would be joined. And after this day it definitely looked better than in the last months. He still had one week for the preparations for Neko Ken which was enough time to get everything.

The rest of the stay in the town was relative uneventful. Ranma and Hinako spent as much time with each other as possible. Hinako always came to the hospital after school and on weekend she was in there nearly the whole day. They ate together, made homework together, told stories (Ranma could tell a lot about fighting styles, temples, myths, curses, magic,...), played some games and did a lot of other things. They also taught each other their techniques... with different success. While Hinako learned Ranma's meditation techniques and two of his basic katas, he learned her movements. But when he performed the Happo-Five-Yen Satsu, what happened? Absolutely nothing. He wasn't happy about the technique but about everything else he was. So he put the technique aside for a while to try later. Enjoyable moments like with Hinako were rare on the training trip and you should enjoy them while you can.

Day 13

A certain bald man was filling a certain pit outside the town with cats. For the last six days Genma has worked for his plan. He collected all sorts of cats from the neighborhood and from the wildness. If the people were worried about their small pets, he couldn't care less. Some hungry cats were no problem. Nobody knew about them. Nobody cared about them. So he wouldn't care too. After all the cats and the boy would be sacrificed for the greater good. The fish was taken care of too. He ordered a large amount of fish for the day of departure which was tomorrow. The boy would also be with him. He nodded to himself. Everything was taken care of. So the plan couldn't fail. As he heard a low growl from the pit, he was reminded of his only mistake.

One day Genma found a sleeping tiger in the forest around the town. He thought: "A tiger is just a big cat. So the technique should work with a tiger too. Ranma certainly can handle a tiger especially in Neko Ken state. I am curios what it really is. Ranma will probably learn the Neko Ken faster with a big cat instead of with the small house cats."Genma looked one last time at the tiger and decided to bring it to the pit. Surprisingly the tiger didn't wake up before it was in the pit. The tiger roared loudly that Genma feared what it might do if he freed it. At that time he did realize that the tiger would cause problems. He just didn't know how many.

The next night he stepped into the pit. What he found shocked him and was a major blow to his plan. He found blood, pieces of fur and several dead cats obviously killed by the tiger. He saw the tiger in the back of the pit. Its mouth was red from the blood. Some blood was on its paw too. Fortunately the tiger was sleeping. He really didn't want to deal with it. That showed him what a dangerous beast he brought into the pit. As he stepped out of the pit he even thought about not teaching the Neko Ken still shaken from what he saw. In the end he thought of a compromise he would teach Ranma the Neko Ken but wouldn't let Ranma in the pit for a too long amount of time.

He prayed it will work out as he tossed the last cats into the pit. Though thinking of the tiger he wasn't so sure anymore.

At night outside the hospital

Ranma and Hinako were laying on the grass in a park. Before Ranma and Hinako creeped out of the hospital. They have only spent time in the hospital so far but tonight should be something special. They wouldn't see each other for a long time. This night was something they wanted to look back later as a good memory.

At the moment they laid close next to each other. It was a clear night , perfect to watch the stars. At the same time it was also cold just about three degrees celsius. Hinako wore a pullover and was under a blanket. Meanwhile Ranma laid on the grass only in his normal shirt.

"Ran-kun, aren't you cold?"

Ranma turned to her and shook his head. "Nope. I'm used to worse."

"Why did you want us to be here outside in the park tonight?"

Ranma looked up to the sky and adapted a thoughtful face. "You know during the training trip pop and me were often alone. Pop... well... didn't do that much. I was often alone with my problems. After some time time you get lonely. I searched for something that is always there for you and found the stars. Sure at cloudy nights you can't see them but they are there anyway and also I feel a connection towards them like dunno... like I know them and belong more to them than well earth. Like my future is somewhere far away in the stars."

Hinako asked playfully. "So you don't want to be the greatest martial artist in the world now."

Ranma's thoughtful face vanished and was instead replaced by happy face with a huge grin. "Of course I do! And here's one the most feared attacks. Martial arts TICKLING ATTACK!"

For minutes they tickled each other. They rolled on the ground. While Hinako giggled during the tickling match, Ranma laughed. They loved playing these kind of games and smiled at each other at the end.

Hinako was still out of breath. "That was ...(breath)... fun."

"We'll repeat that when we meet again. I promise, Hina-chan."

"You shouldn't promise that. We don't even know if we meet again."

"Then I promise that we'll meet again in the future, Hina-chan."

Hinako merely shook her head. Ranma wouldn't go back on his promise. He said both of his promises with too much determination that continuing the discussion would only shorten the time they were enjoying together. Also it wasn't so that she didn't want the promises to get full filled. Instead of arguing more, she settled for a topic change. "You said you watch the stars often. Can you show me some of them, Ran-kun?"

"Sure I can." With these words started a long sightseeing tour of the stars. Ranma showed Hinako the stars and the constellations. He explained to her what some of the stars meant to him. During his explanation Hinako listened fascinated and sometimes added some names he didn't know. About two hours passed until Ranma was finished. After the explanation Hinako asked a question she wanted to ask for quite some time.

"Ranma, do you have any plans for your future?"

"What? Oh sure. I'll wander around, visit temples, training grounds and several masters of different styles. After some years I'll be master of the Anything Goes and be able to teach students. I want to know a lot of other things besides martial arts but I'll study those things in secret and won't show what I really can anytime soon."

"Why?"

"There is a world besides martial arts. Sure I love martial arts but only knowing martial arts isn't enough. I believe in at least some of the stories I was told. It can be over in a few seconds and you have to be prepared for that case. And if I can't practise martial arts, then I have to be prepared. As for the second question pop doesn't like me learning 'useless crap'. He beat me when he saw me studying. That was two month ago. I have continued but he hasn't catch me doing it. If pop catched me, it wouldn't be that bad. I don't fear anything and that includes his punishments. Well, the last thing, it's good to be able to surprise someone."

"Okay."

"How about you?"

"Me?"

"Yes, I told what I want. So..."

"I don't have any plans. I'll go to school and learn."

"Don't you have a dream or something?"

"I want to help people with what I do. Except for that I haven't thought of anything yet."

"Maybe I can help you. How about.... doctor."

"I won't work in a hospital. I have already spent enough time in my weak condition there."

"Police officer?"

"I think it's a bit dangerous."

"Priest?"

"That's too quiet."

"Stuntwoman?"

"I don't help people with that."

Hinako hit him on the arm for that stupid suggestion. Even though he barely felt it, he rubbed the spot where she hit. "Euh, sorry. What about teacher?"

Hinako thought about it for some moments. She would help students learn something as a teacher. It also wasn't as dangerous as police officer but at the same time not as boring as priest. She also helped Ranma and explained things to him so he could understand it. After that he could do the homework. If she could help him, she could maybe help other people too. "I think this idea isn't that bad."

"It is?"

She nodded. She saw a clock in the park and saw it was already very late. "We should go back now, not that the others start worrying about us."

Ranma shrugged. He would have rather stayed a bit longer watching the stars with her. "Okay."

On the way back to the hospital

Ranma and Hinako were walking side by side to the hospital. They were alone on the street. You couldn't see anybody on the street except for them. They heard two screams from a nearby alley. Immediately they both ran to the source of the screams.

They could see seven people in the alley. Five guys with knives stood with their backs turned to them. They couldn't see their faces but would have seen looks filled with lust. All five guys walked further inside the alley where two women laid on the ground. They had frightened looks on their faces. They had cuts on their arms and their clothes were torn.

The man in the middle grinned. "My, my what beauties do we have here? I think we'll have lots of fun tonight. Don't you agree?"

The two women on the ground were too frightened to reply, Ranma and Hinako weren't. "We don't think so."

The man's grin dropped. He and his men turned around to find two little kids. "It's late. Two little kids shouldn't be out alone at night. Go away and we won't do anything."

Ranma shouted over the alley. "Shut up and let the women go!"

The man left to the man in the middle spoke only loud enough for the gang to hear it. "Boss, should we go and kill them."

The man in the middle obviously the leader of the gang answered. "Two of you should be more than enough for these little brats. Do whatever you want."

As two of his men rushed forward, the leader turned again to the women. He thought the children wouldn't be a problem in a few seconds as did the women. They hoped the children would flee and call the police instead of playing hero. But now the women not only had fear of getting raped but also that the kids would be killed.

Ranma and Hinako stood in the alley. They saw two men coming with their knives first. Ranma rushed forward, ducked under an attempt to get him with the knife and kicked one man hard in the stomach, so that his plaster got cracks and fell off his leg. He ran further into the alley where he knocked out another guy. Meanwhile the other guy tried to attack but with a shout of Happo-Five-Yen Satsu Hinako absorbed his life energy and the man fell powerless on the ground. Then she shot the absorbed energy to last gang member. The fight was over in ten seconds. That only left the leader of the gang.

When he saw his gang on the ground knocked out or powerless and Ranma and Hinako unharmed, he realized he had no chance. They beat his gang and would have no problem with doing the same to him. Instead of fighting like the others did, he fled leaving Ranma, Hinako, the two women and his gang alone.

Ranma muttered "coward" before he followed Hinako inside the alley. They helped them getting up. They both thanked them and left the place as fast as they could. Ranma and Hinako also wanted to leave. They both felt good at having helped people who needed their help, but at the same time they saw two women nearly getting raped. The good memories of their last day together shouldn't be polluted by such a bad event.

They didn't speak to each other when they walked to the hospital. Both of them silently thought about the other. It wasn't before they arrived at the hospital before they spoke again.

Ranma began. "So ... I think... it's time to say goodbye then."

Hinako nodded slowly. "It was a nice time."

Ranma nodded. Inside of him his feelings were stronger this day. They told him stay, but he wanted to leave, didn't he. Before he might doubt his decision to leave (promise temporarily forgotten), he wanted to quickly end it. He opened the door to the hospital and said. "Goodbye Hina-chan."

"Wait!" He wanted to step inside, but stopped. "What ...is it?"

"Could you ..."Hinako took a deep breath. "Could you kiss me?"

Ranma was unsure of himself. He saw it a couple of times other people doing it, but he himself didn't have any experience in it. He wanted the parting to be short and without tears. Nobody should be hurt today. He couldn't do anything at the parting with Ukyo but he had two choices here.

"You don't have to kiss me." Ranma didn't miss the slightly hurt and sad tone in Hinako's voice. He looked into her eyes which held the same emotions as her voice before. He saw sadness, traces of being hurt and a lot of love. He didn't want to hurt her any further and made a decision. It would be his first time. He took a deep breath. "Could you close your eyes?"

She did. Several seconds passed until he actually kissed her. The kiss wasn't special. It also wasn't long but he liked the kiss. He enjoyed it. He enjoyed his first kiss, but couldn't really do it at the same time. In the back of his mind he knew that the more he enjoyed it and the longer it lasted the more it would hurt to let her go. He had a dream and for the dream he had to give up his love.

Soon Ranma broke the kiss. He ran into the hospital into his room. He ignored the looks the people gave on the way to his room. He arrived at his room. It was dark and nobody was in the room. Here he was alone. He went to his bed and put his blanket over him. Once Ranma was under his blanket an emotional wall broke and he cried himself to sleep.

At the entrance of the hospital

Hinako opened her eyes and found Ranma already gone. It was the first kiss for her. She would always remember it. The kiss wasn't very long but she could feel the emotions in there. She could feel all the love for her, though it wasn't free but held back. Furthermore the kiss had another special meaning. It was a kiss which marked the high point of their relationship but also the end.

She left the hospital with these thoughts. She turned one last time to the hospital and looked up to where Ranma's room was. "Goodbye Ran-kun. I hope we meet again." As she said these words, it started to rain. Hinako turned and ran away from the hospital.

A.N.

Some facts you should know about Ranma: Ranma is eight years old and is as strong as Genma without his forbidden techniques. He knows about curses but doesn't have one....yet. He knows that there is magic and that there are magical objects but neither has magic in him nor does he possess a magical object. The biggest difference is that he knows that there is more than martial arts but he has the same passion for martial arts as other Ranmas. Ranma thinks on his own and is in a lot of things not dependent on Genma.

Some facts you should know about Hinako:Hinako is eleven years old. She has learned the Happo-Five-Yen Satsu when she was seven years old. Her younger form aged normal at first but it aged slower and slower. Hinako's younger form is now eight years old and won't age anymore.

This is the prologue to Ranma – Dragon of Chaos. It's my first story and will be a longer story. If there are mistakes, give me tips so I can improve. Praise me, criticize me, everything is welcome. Just push that review button!

The topic of the next chapter should be easy to guess. Next time...

first chapter: The Neko Ken

aggrowriter