Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is the property of Rumiko Takahashi and all associated licensers. The King of Fighters and it associated series are the property of SNK-Playmore and all associated licensers. This is not a work for profit. I claim no rights to the characters. This is a work of fiction.
Continuity for Ranma is mostly derived from the manga, with some of the anime sprinkled in for good measure. Continuity for the King of Fighters is a modified form of the current story, how that is should be explained in story, but I am willing to explain for those with further questions.
Enjoy!
Chapter 1
It was just a typical day in the sleepy ward of Nerima, Tokyo. Which of course meant it was a non-stop barrage of impromptu fights, gender-bending and avoided romantic advances for one Ranma Saotome, the young master of Musabetsu Kakutou Ryu (Anything Goes School of Martial Arts). Ranma was making his way home from another mind-numbing session at Furinkan high school when that senile old lady who was always tossing out cold water into the street nailed him again. What was that anyway, the 500th time that had happened since he had moved here? And that was only a year ago!
One whole year, the now female teenager thought, how the time flew. Two weeks ago had been Ranma's 17th birthday, and he/she/whatever was now a sophomore at Furinkan High. A month before that Ranma's father had conspired with his old friend Soun Tendo to finally get Ranma married to his "fiancé" Akane, Soun's daughter and in many ways the most important person in Ranma's life. The wedding was a fiasco, Ranma's legion of rivals and admirers had seen to that, and it was disrupted before he could get married. Not that Ranma minded. He had decided that Akane was a very important person to him, maybe the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, but he did not want to finalize that relationship on the terms of those two old fools and their out-molded ideas about "tradition" and "honor." After all, the marriage was set up to unite the lines of Musabetsu Kakutou Ryu, but Ranma had done more on his own to define the modern form of the style then Genma or Soun ever had. If Ranma was going to be the future head of the discipline, then he would decide the direction it would take on his terms, and his love for Akane would be handled on his terms as well. That was part of becoming a man, right? Defining yourself rather than being defined by others?
So Ranma had that much planned out, but it was hardly comforting. The real question now was how he was going to define himself, and make his mark on the world. For all the pride he had in his power and skill as a fighter, Ranma had to admit he was an obscure teenager living on the good graces of the Tendo family in one of the most distant wards in Tokyo, known mostly for its cabbage and the anime production studios headquartered there. If Musabetsu Kakutou was going to thrive, it needed to become better exposed to society. Soun used to teach it, and he seemed to be a pretty good instructor, but after his wife died his spirit was broken, and his fighting skills began to disappear along with his students. Genma was still a formidable fighter, but he was useless as a teacher toward anyone besides Ranma. No, that was not quite the right way of putting it; rather it was fairer to say that Ranma was pretty much the only person on the planet who could survive Genma's teaching methods in relatively good shape, the magical curses and the pathological fear of cats notwithstanding. No parent was going to pay for their kids to be traumatized and screwed up the way Ranma had been by Genma. Then there was Happosai. Really, did anything else need to be said? Alright, Happosai was the founder of Musabetsu Kakutou and extremely powerful even in his old age, but he was a pervert and a criminal of the highest order.
No, Musabetsu Kakutou Ryu needed to be reintroduced into the world in a way that would wipe out any of the negative things associated with it. So getting back on point, just how was Ranma supposed to do that?
"Damn it all!" Ranma cursed out loud to no one in particular, "What am I supposed to now?"
"You can die you hussy! Ho ho ho ho ho!"
Ranma looked in the director where the voice had come from. No mistaking that voice… or that laugh. Ranma suppressed a sigh. It was Kodachi… for the third time this week!
"Die so that my love can be free!" Kodachi Kuno howled as she threw a razor sharp baton at Ranma's head. Ranma easily dodged it, because however skilled a gymnast Kodachi might be, a great fighter she was not.
That twit, Ranma thought to herself, when is she going to get a clue? Ranma made a quick jump into the air and caught Kodachi square in the stomach with a simple straight kick. Nothing else was needed, and the fight was over as suddenly as it had begun.
"I really need to stop wasting my time with small fries like you Kodachi." Ranma said as she landed on her feet. Kodachi landed right after her, though not as gracefully.
"I will defeat you girl!" Kodachi hissed between clenched teeth as she tried to regain her balance. "You will not keep me from my love forever!"
"Well hurry up then." Ranma replied, "Because it's getting really tiring having to waste as much time on you every week as I do. You're just not a challenge to me anymore girlie, you got that?" And with that Ranma continued walking home, a great deal more irritated then before.
"I'm home." Ranma called out as she entered the door of the Tendo residence.
"Well hello there Ranma, and how are you today?" replied Kasumi Tendo, Akane's eldest sister and all around domestic goddess.
"I'm fine Kasumi, thank you. You wouldn't happen to have…"
"Hot water? I have a kettle warming up on the stove now." Kasumi was nothing if not prepared for any occurrence.
"Thanks again."
"Is Akane with you?"
"Sorry Kasumi, she's still over at Furinkan doing stuff. You know how busy Akane has been since she was elected class president. She wanted me to tell you that she might be a little late."
"Oh alright, I appreciate you telling me that Ranma. Now let me go get that hot water for you." Kasumi said as she daintily skirted off to the kitchen. Ranma meanwhile sighed to herself as she removed her shoes and slipped on some sandals and then headed to the family room so she could lounge on the couch.
"Is this really how the rest of my year is going to go? Looking forward to coming home after a day of pointless fights and boring classes so I can have some dinner and relax on a couch? I feel more like a middle-aged salaryman then a proud martial artist!" Ranma declared to herself aloud.
"I know, odd isn't it? Especially seeing as how you're currently a chick and all."
"Well hello to you too, Nabiki." Ranma said unenthusiastically.
Nabiki Tendo, the middle child of the family and a scam artist without peer, lazily walked into the room with a can of soda in her right hand. "I thought you would be heading over to the dojo for a workout." she said, "You always do that after school."
"Why even bother?" grumbled Ranma, "These days I get into so many fights that I'm getting a far better workout at school then performing some kata in a dojo."
"Suit yourself." said Nabiki as she walked over to a table in front of the couch that Ranma was sitting on, and carefully laying her soda down, picked up the TV remote.
"I don't want to watch any TV." said Ranma.
"You're free to leave the room at any time."
Ranma huffed at Nabiki's snide reply and rolled over to give her some room on the couch. Nabiki took her seat and flipped on the remote.
"Let's see here," Nabiki mused at the TV screen flickered on. It was some corny game show.
"Can we at least watch something better than this?" asked Ranma. Nabiki shrugged and hit a button on the remote to change channels. A news broadcast appeared on the screen, and the anchor seemed to have a very pleased look on his face.
"In other news, four-time World Martial Arts Champion and national hero Kyo Kusanagi returned to Japan earlier today, after a lengthy absence from his homeland."
"Kyo who?" asked Ranma. "I've never heard of this guy. He's supposed to be a champion?"
"Well he was a champion at one point." Nabiki answered, "Granted I didn't follow that fighting stuff much before you showed up. But I think he was really big a few years ago…"
Ranma interrupted. "Wait! They're saying more."
"…Mr. Kusanagi's reason for returning to Japan seems to be centered on an exhibition match he plans on holding in Shinjuku ward. The funds raised for the ticket sales of this event will go to charity, and Mr. Kusanagi will also be meeting with his fans on Wednesday at a ceremony at the Tokyo Big Sight in Odaiba. It has been confirmed that Mr. Kusanagi will give more details on both the match and of his future career plans at this conference. Meanwhile, tragedy in Nagoya as an ice cream truck…"
Ranma let the news report sink into her brain for a moment. She had been looking for a way to shake up her life, and this Kusanagi guy was a champion known all over Japan, right? An idea instantly formed in Ranma's mind, a bold plan that seemed almost preposterous to even try. But maybe, just maybe…
Meanwhile Kasumi had entered the living room holding the kettle of hot water to give to Ranma. Nabiki noticed her older sister enter, and remembering something from a few years earlier, decided to ask her a question.
"Hey sis, does the name Kyo Kusanagi ring a bell for you?"
Kasumi stopped for a moment to think over Nabiki's question. "Kyo Kusanagi?" Kasumi began, "Let me think… oh yes! I remember him now; he was quite famous when I was just a freshman in high school."
She continued her walk over to the couch, "Here you go Ranma, just be sure you let the water cool down a tiny bit so you don't get burned, and be sure to use it in the bathroom so there is not too much of a mess."
"Thanks Kasumi!" Ranma said as she took the kettle, "So you know a lot about this Kusanagi guy, huh?"
"Well, no more than most people did back then. Let's see, he was only fifteen when he became the National Japanese Champion at a competition here in Tokyo. It was an amazing upset from what I remember, and as a reward he was made captain of the Japanese Team in the subsequent World Championship tournament that followed. He won that too, and the next three championships as well over the course of the next several years. Then he just sort of disappeared for a while. It was all quite mysterious. He later showed up in America, and he was competing in tournaments there and in other countries. That's the last I heard about him."
"Wow sis," Nabiki said as she raised a sly eyebrow, "You know an awful lot about this guy all things considered. I thought you only knew as much as the average person?" The look on her face deepened.
"Well, I must admit, I did have quite a crush on Kyo back in the day." Kasumi said as a slight blush appeared on her cheeks, "But don't misunderstand! Most of the girls in my class did. He was our age, and so strong and cool, I guess you just had to be there to appreciate it." Kasumi eyes misted a little bit as she remembered something else, "We were all so crushed when we found out he had been going steady with a girl from his school back in Osaka for years."
'Wow,' Nabiki thought to herself, 'My sister was totally into this guy! How did I not notice it at the time? Whatever, it was a long time ago. The real question is why Ranma is so interested in this Kusanagi fellow. Somehow, I doubt it's because he's handsome!'
"That's interesting Kasumi." Ranma said in an unusually thoughtful manner, "Really, thanks again for everything!"
"Why you are so very welcome Ranma! I guess I should start preparing dinner now, Akane should be home by the time it's ready." And with that Kasumi skirted on back to the kitchen to continue her work.
Ranma got up off the couch at that time as well, "Yeah, it was great hanging out with you Nabiki; we should really do this again some time!" And with that she bounded up the stairs, presumably to the bathroom where she could use the hot water. Nabiki was left alone to her thoughts.
Ranma was acting really strange, and as much as she would normally not give a crap about that, Nabiki quickly came to the conclusion that this could work out to her interest. The smile on her face grew even wider as her thoughts deepened.
She might just be able to make a ton of money off of all this.
Later that day, after Akane had returned home and everyone had finished dinner, Ranma went out back to the Tendo dojo so that he could clear his thoughts and plan everything out. Having changed back to his original male form and filled his stomach, he felt now was the perfect time to do so.
For her part, Akane was very concerned. She knew Ranma very well, probably better than anyone besides his mother, and he was not acting like himself. The Ranma she knew was a grumpy but noble guy who managed to get through the weirdness in his life with stride, if not some heartache. But lately he was so moody, really moody. Maybe she had not been paying enough attention to him. Her new duties as class president had cut down on the time she had to interact with him every day, and maybe over the past month she had not been there for him as much as she could have been. Add to that the craziness of the incident at Jusenkyo and the attempted wedding, and she could see why Ranma would be acting a little off.
Today however things had been different. When Akane got home Ranma was happy, with no reasonable explanation, as if he had made some sort of discovery that was his alone. What was he hiding? Akane thought by this point she could trust Ranma to not do anything behind her back. Was she wrong? Or maybe she was just thinking about this too hard. She was not proud of it, but there had been times in the past when she had leaped to judgment about Ranma's behavior and given him a hard time unfairly. As their relationship progressed, Akane did not want to make those mistakes over and over again. Really the most logical thing would be to just ask Ranma what was on his mind.
So why was she hesitating?
'Come on girl,' Akane thought, 'Act like an adult and get a grip! This is important, so don't mess it up!' She walked over to the dojo and saw Ranma feverishly practicing his techniques, a massive grin on his face.
"Uh, Ranma? Can I speak with you for a moment?"
"Uh… I guess. I just thought you'd be doing homework or something right now."
"Well I felt this was important. Ranma, do you realize how odd you've been acting today? I mean, lately you haven't been acting much like yourself to begin with, but today… why are you so happy?"
"That's an odd question."
"But my point remains. Why are you so happy? Just yesterday you were fuming about how Kuno keeps on trying to ambush you despite the fact he doesn't stand a chance, but now you're acting like you don't have a care in the world. Shampoo didn't feed you anything weird or something, right?"
"Of course not! Geez! That's what this is about?
"Okay then," Akane replied, trying her best not to get angry at Ranma's curt remark, "Then what is it?"
"Alright, I'll tell you." Ranma said, his face regaining its smile. "It's not like this is going to be a huge secret for long, but for the moment you have to promise you won't tell anyone else, okay?"
"Well alright then." She agreed. Now Akane was really interested in what this was all about.
"Have you ever heard of a martial artist by the name of Kyo Kusanagi? I've heard he's a former world champion."
"A little bit. I think I was twelve when that all happened."
"He's back in Japan after being gone for years."
"And?"
"It's simple Akane. I'm going to track Kyo Kusanagi down, defeat him in a fight, and show the world the real power of Musabetsu Kakutou Ryu!"
Much earlier in the day, a jet touched down at Narita International Airport, just outside of the Greater Tokyo Area in Chiba Prefecture. It successfully docked at its terminal, and its passengers began to disembark. Three of those passengers however had to wait a while longer before leaving the plane. A short, slender Japanese man in his early 50's dressed in business attire entered the plane after the other passengers had exited. He went down the main aisle, looking carefully for the three men who had stayed on board. Towards the tail end, he found them conversing with each other in English. All were apparently in good spirits.
"Greetings to you gentlemen," The older man began in slightly stiff but perfectly intelligible English. "A pleasure to meet you all this morning, I do hope your flight went well. The next few days will be very busy and I apologize in advance for the toll that it may take on you, so if there is anything that my staff can provide for you in order to improve…"
"You're Kuroki right?" one of the men interrupted in Japanese. He was young and handsome, with dark brown hair parted down the center and dressed in a black jacket with jeans.
"Yes, I am Mr. Masuharu Kuroki." The older gentleman replied in English, "And you of course must be…"
"Don't worry about it." The younger man once again interrupted in Japanese. "These guys here will understand you just fine in Japanese. You don't have to do anything special on their behalf."
"What my friend here is trying to say is that we won't be putting any exceptional demands on you or your staff, Mr. Kuroki." said one of the other men in rusty but otherwise serviceable Japanese. "We'll head out to Odaiba as soon as you can get us there."
The man was blond and solidly built, and also dressed rather informally. His partner simply nodded in the affirmative.
"Very well then gentlemen." Kuroki responded as he put on his best smile. He turned back towards the young man with brown hair and bowed deeply. "On behalf of Japan's National Committee for Martial Arts, and all of your fans, I welcome you back to your homeland, Kyo Kusanagi."
End Chapter
Update 8/14/10: This chapter has been corrected and reedited. While not significantly different from the initial draft, it should be far more readable. Thanks to all of you who choose to support this story.