A Noble Endeavor

AN: Here we go! Took me way longer than it should have to finish this chapter, but I think it was worth it.

Without further ado, enjoy!


Chapter 3: Crimson Encounter

"Good evening, Hibiki-sama," one of the uniformed individuals at the front gate of the palace ground greeted the pair. Glancing at Ranma, he added, "I take it this is your guest for tonight's festivities?"

"That's correct," Ryoga said, as the other guard opened the gate.

"Very well, please proceed and enjoy yourselves."

As they passed through into the palace ground, Ranma commented, "I dunno what I was expecting, maybe full on samurai armor, but those guys seemed more like cops than soldiers."

"That would be because, in 1947, the Imperial Guard was disbanded as a military unit and reformed as a civil force, operating as an extension of the National Police Agency," a voice answered, drawing the pair's attention to a you man approaching them.

He appeared to be in his early twenties, with wild brown hair that reached down almost to his waist. He was tall, with wide shoulders that filled out his white and red kimono. However, the most notable thing about him was the beautiful white and gold hilt of the katana he openly wore at his waist.

Holding a hand out to Ryoga, he smiled and said, "It has been far too long, cousin! I hardly even recognized you!"

Ryoga smiled as he returned the handshake. "Thanks, Ryoma. I'm, uh, sorry my parents couldn't make it."

"Think nothing of it!" The crown prince waved off his apology with a laugh. Glancing to Ranma, he asked, "And who is this enchanting creature you've brought with you?"

Ranma groaned at that, thinking, 'I knew I shoulda changed back before we got here...'

"This is Ranma Saotome, my martial arts rival," Ryoga said, grinning at the redhead's discomfort.

"Truly? It is good to see more women getting involved in such activities!" The prince replied happily.

"Uh, about that," Ranma spoke up, hoping to sort things out as fast as possible. "I don't suppose you've ever heard of Jusenkyo, have ya?"

Ryoma placed a hand on his chin in thought for a moment. "From the context of your question... am I to understand, then, that you are actually male?"

Ranma blinked in surprise, before a wave of relief washed over her. "Uh, yeah," she replied lamely. "Ta be honest, I figured I'd have ta show ya."

"Fear not," Ryoma said with an easy grin. "My position affords me information not available to, or discounted by, the general public, such as the truth about the existence of magic and curses. Of course, it helps that my cousin here suffers from a similar affliction, if I have heard correctly. But, come! Let us head inside so you can get changed." His eyes twinkled in amusement as he added, "And get changed."

As they followed him toward the palace, Ryoga asked his cousin, "How did you know I was cursed? Last time I was here was before it happened."

"I overheard a rather amusing conversation between our fathers a few months back," the prince explained. "Something about my cousin getting tricked into thinking he had a red haired sister by someone with a similar curse. I don't suppose you would know anything about that, would you, Saotome-san?" Ryoga glared at the redhead, but she just grinned. Before either could reply, though, Ryoma went on to ask, "Actually, that reminds me. Are you related to the Himura clan, Saotome-san, or is your unique hair color merely a side effect of your curse?"

"Both, I guess?" Ranma replied. "When I'm a guy, my hair's black, but that was mom's name before she married pop."

"I don't suppose you'd let me introduce you to my sister Hinoka before you change back, would you? The resemblance is uncanny!" Ryoma said with a laugh.

Eye twitching in annoyance, Ranma asked, "Are ya trying ta say I look like some kinda princess?"

"A member of the Himura clan married into the royal family centuries ago. Every few generations, someone shows some of those recessive traits, like red hair," Ryoga explained. "Why do you think I fell for that damn Yoiko trick, anyway?"

Ranma frowned at that, wondering, 'If that's true, I wonder why mom never mentioned it...'

As Ranma was thinking about that revelation, they reached the front doors of the building... only for them to burst open as a young woman rushed out, calling in slightly accented Japanese, "There you are, Ryoma! I've been looking all over for you!"

The woman looked to be about the same age as Ryoma, but with obviously foreign features. Her wavy lavender hair flowed down the back of her long black dress, the gold accents of which only served to accentuate her impressive bust.

"My apologies for worrying you, dear," Ryoma replied. "I went to stretch my legs before the party, but ran into my cousin and his guest arriving early." Turning to the younger pair, he said, "I'll be making the formal introduction at the party, but this is my fiancee, Camilla."

"It's a pleasure to meet you both, but I'm afraid pleasantries will have to wait until later," Camilla said. "Ryoma and I still have plenty to do to get ready."

Turning to Ranma, the prince whispered, "I take it you're here to help my cousin with his directional problem more than anything else, right?" At her nod, he went on, "Could you help him get to one of the guest rooms to get changed? It is down that hall, then..."

As the older pair left, Ranma followed the prince's instructions, making sure not to let Ryoga wander off along the way. Arriving at the destination, they found an opulent room that, fortunately for Ranma, had a connected bath. A bit of hot water later, and Ranma was happily back in his male form. As he stepped back into the main part of the room, he saw Ryoga opening his parcel from the tailor, revealing a plain, but finely made black kimono with a yellow obi.

As Ranma picked up his own package, he was struck by a worrying thought. Both when he had first met the tailor and when he picked up the clothes, he had been in female form. Half expecting to see some flowery thing inside, Ranma unwrapped his outfit. However, he was pleasantly surprised by what he found inside. The kimono was the same shade of red as his cursed form's hair, but wrapping around it was an embroidered black dragon, which would go with his male hair just as well. It was not as plain as most men's kimonos, but one could hardly call a dragon design 'girly'. Overall, it was something that would work just as well regardless of what form he was in.

"Damn, I guess I didn't give the guy enough credit," Ranma muttered to himself as he got changed.

Unfortunately for Ranma, this outfit had several more pieces than the more informal kimono's he had worn in the past, and after struggling with it for several minutes, Ryoga reluctantly gave his rival a hand, so that they would not be late. 'Who woulda thought Pork Breath knew about stuff like this,' Ranma thought to himself.

As they headed back towards the entrance, the sounds of other guests arriving could be heard. When they turned the last corner, they saw a couple dozen guests mingling, while Ryoma and Camilla greeted more fresh arrivals. Most were elderly folk, with the youngest Ranma saw likely in their thirties.

Just when Ranma began to suspect that he and Ryoga were the only teenagers present, a hand suddenly yanked at the back of his kimono, as a whispered voice hissed out, "What the Hell are you doing here, Saotome!?"

Whirling around to face his assailant, Ranma was just as surprised as she was to see the other here. "Nabiki? What are you doing here?"

"I asked first, Saotome," Nabiki replied with a glare. "I traded far too many favors while getting this opportunity for you to ruin it with one of your half-baked schemes!"

"I'm not here for some 'scheme', I'm just... uh..." Ranma trailed off as he realized that explaining would mean giving away Ryoga's secret.

Ranma was saved from coming up with an excuse when Ryoma strolled up, having finished greeting other guests for the moment. "Is that you, Saotome-san? I admit, I would never have recognized you if I had not already known about the curse beforehand."

"Oh, hello again, Ry- er, I mean, your majesty," Ranma said with an awkward bow, trying to be more formal since Ryoga was not there.

However, the prince waved away such pleasantries. "'Ryoma' is just fine," he said. "You are a friend of the family, after all!"

"In that case, just call me 'Ranma'," Ranma replied as he relaxed.

Suddenly, Nabiki pulled him close and whispered, "I don't how on earth you got to be on a first name basis with the crown prince, but if you introduce me, I'll tell you something for free that will save you a lot of trouble, got it?"

Wondering what she was talking about, but seeing no reason to refuse, Ranma turned to the prince and said, "This is Nabiki Tendo. She's the sister of my, um, fiancee."

"Nabiki Tendo, eh?" Ryoma said with a thoughtful expression. "I feel like I have heard that name before... No matter, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Tendo-san." Seeing another group of guests arriving, he turned to leave, saying, "I am sorry that I do not have more time to chat, but a host's work is never done."

Nabiki was curious about Ryoma's reaction, but Ranma was more interested in her offer. "So, what's this troublesome thing ya mentioned?"

"He's right over there, actually," Nabiki pointed across the room to where one Tatewaki Kuno stood. "To answer your earlier question, Saotome, I got here by convincing Kuno-chan to bring me as a guest. Speaking of, you never answered my earlier question..."

Ranma decided to seize on this revelation in order to dodge the question once more. "Crap, if Kuno sees me, he'll cause a huge fuss trying ta fight me, and neither of want that, right?"

"Tell you what, Saotome, if you can avoid getting in a fight with him tonight, I won't pry about how you got here," Nabiki offered. "Deal?"

"Sure, but how am I supposed to keep him from starting something? Hide in a broom closet all night?" Ranma asked in frustration.

"As much yen as I could make off of you coming out of the closet, I suppose that will have to wait for another night," Nabiki said with a smirk, which only grew into a chuckle at Ranma's confused expression when her double entendre went over his head. "For now, let's just give Kuno-chan something else to occupy himself with."

With that said, Nabiki scooped a drink off the tray of a passing waiter, and dumped it over Ranma's head.

"...I shoulda figured it'd come down ta something like this," Ranma said in annoyance. "But won't he make just as big of a scene if he sees his 'pigtailed girl'?"

"Maybe, but a lovesick idiot is easier to explain then someone who attacks another inside the emperor's own palace," Nabiki replied. "Still, I'll try to keep him distracted as much as possible."

As Nabiki strode away, Ranma turned toward the room as a whole, scanning for Ryoga and wondering how he could have disappeared so quickly. Finally spotting him talking to Camilla, (and most likely being teased by the older woman, if his blush was any indication,) something occurred to Ranma. Seeing that Ryoma had just finished greeting another group of guests, Ranma stepped over to speak with him again.

"Mind if I ask a quick question, Ryoma?" Ranma said as she approached.

"I'm surprised to see you in that form again so soon, Ranma-san," the prince replied. "But I have a moment, so feel free."

"Well, Ryoga told me ya had brothers and sisters, so shouldn't they be here ta celebrate your engagement, too?" Ranma asked.

"Ah, that. Well, to be honest, this is mostly just an excuse for Japan's elite to meet the woman who may one day be their empress. Although, I suspect many have already made up their minds about her based solely on her heritage, and only came so as not to refuse a 'royal invitation'," Ryoma explained, a slight frown on his face. However, he perked up slightly as he went on. "As for my siblings, they have already met Camilla, so there was no need for them to suffer through an evening of political maneuvering alongside me. If you would like to meet them, though, I would be happy to introduce..."

Ryoma continued speaking, but Ranma's attention had been drawn elsewhere. A man was approaching them from behind Ryoma, which in itself was not strange, since Ryoma currently had his back to the main door while speaking with Ranma. What had caught the redhead's attention was the look in the man's eyes. It was a look that had been directed at Ranma several times over the last few years. Saffron, Herb, Mousse, even Ryoga in the beginning, all had directed that look at Ranma at least once. However, this man was directly his gaze at the crown prince.

It was the look of someone who fully intended to kill.

As the man reached into his kimono to grab something, the glint of light off metal was the last thing needed to spur Ranma into action. Grabbing Ryoma by his shoulders, Ranma twisted, forcing the surprised prince to swap places with her. Spinning around to face the assailant, Ranma was already raising her arms in a defensive position to ward away his blade. Except, it was not a knife he was holding.

A flash of light, a crack of sound, a sudden numbness.

Ranma's gaze fell from the assassin's pistol down to her red and black kimono. A kimono that showed less black and more red by the moment.

Then, everything went black.


AN: And there we go! I bet none of you were expecting that! Needless to say, at this point, this story will be a lot more serious than most of my Ranma 1/2 works, but I think it will stand in its own right just fine.

This chapter has actually been finished for a week. If you want access to new chapters as soon as they are finished, consider supporting me. FFN does not allow direct links, but PM me if you are interested. My fanfiction will always be free, but those who support me will get the opportunity to read it first!

What will happen to Ranma? What happened after she went unconscious? Find out in future chapters of A Noble Endeavor!