Ranma Saotome; heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, heartbreaker, life-wrecker, dead
Not Like You Disclaimer: Most of the cast belong to Rumiko Takashi or Naoko Takeuchi. Additional characters belong to their respective owners. The Evil Bunny Empire produces this story for fun and not for profit, however the story is ours and we request that you ask permission before posting it anywhere.
Episode Four: A day of peace.
Ranma grumbled after Ami finally turned off the computer monitor. Why was it she always had to remind the blue haired girl to turn the monitor off? By now Ami should know better.
"After school I'm bringing a friend over." The youngest Mizuno couldn't wait to introduce her digital friend to her first real friend; however, it might be a problem if Usagi brought Luna with her. It was too bad that Luna mentioned she couldn't tell Ranma she was Sailor Mercury. All her Father was allowed to know about yesterday was what the police told him, Ranma was offline when she got home last night. After she finished getting dressed, she turned the monitor back on.
"Wow, it's going to be a full house today. Haruka is coming over and your father might be bringing his boss's daughter too." In the last two years the only human contact he had was the Mizunos, Setsuna wasn't human when she visited him. It was great to be meeting more people; it was also great that Ami was making friends too.
When Ami first heard about Haruka from her father after she got home last night she was actually finding herself a bit jealous. …now another thought passed through her mind, what if Usagi fell for the ghost in her machine…? It wasn't something she had to worry about while he was still female, but her father did say he planned on restoring Ranma after he finished his current project. Did her father already tell the digital boy about that? "Any progress on getting father to fix you?''
"No, are you still working on turning me back yourself?" There was something about the look she gave her that meant she wasn't. Looking down at herself Ranma thought about her choice in clothing. Today she wore a purple designer t-shirt with holes in the shoulders, tight blue jeans, and sandals. Playing with her glasses she, wondered if Ami was now getting used to her like this. "Um, I guess I wouldn't mind being able to change between the two genders if you're used to me like this, I just don't want to be stuck this way. Even if my gender doesn't really matter in here, I'd really rather be a guy."
"I was actually thinking about that… I think I figured a way to make it work, but the problem I'm having is the programming blocks father installed." She wanted to leave Ranma a girl just so that she could be the closest one to him; it proved her father's reasoning for turning him into a girl in the first place.
"Ami are you up already?"
Her father was still home? He always went to his school early; looking at her alarm clock she noticed her friend of two years woke her up an hour early. "Ranma, why did you wake me up already?"
"I missed you after school yesterday because I went offline early. I thought we could catch up a little before you went to school, like who is this friend you're bringing over?" After all, Ami making a friend was big news, and she had some other things she wanted to tell her too, such as the possibility that she was a princess reborn.
Hearing a knock on her door, Ami moved from her computer to open the door. Outside was her father. "Good morning Father."
"Good morning, Professor."
"What are the two of you doing up already?" Now, from time to time Ranma was up early to get in some extra training, but Ami wasn't one for rising early. His daughter wasn't one for rising at all these days, unless it was Ranma who woke her up.
"Ranma woke me up early to gossip." A frown started to appear on her father's face. It seemed that he was definitely worried about the digital boy's state of mind. At first, she was too, but aside from dressing up, Ranma was still Ranma.
"I see, Ranma I'm going to fix you before I get back to work on Hotaru's A.I., do you think Ten'ou would mind looking after her while I do that?" He had broke his promise, he promised he wouldn't change who their ghost was, but by changing its gender it seemed to change him greatly. The digital girl just didn't seem like Ranma anymore.
"I don't think Haruka would mind. She and Hotaru got along well yesterday." Shou nodded and then left the room to herself and Ami. Silently, the redhead wondered if she went too far in her little plan. She hadn't changed a bit, but the older Mizuno thought she had. Looking over to her living friend, she decided to change the subject for now. "So, about this friend of yours?"
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Usagi stared down her father. How was he going to attack her? His stance didn't give anything away; maybe he was waiting for her to come at him. Running at him she decided to try a round house to his head. Unfortunately he caught her leg and flipped her. Landing on her feet she was barely able to block several fierce blows from the older man. To gain some space between her and her father she leapt back while dodging one of his kicks.
"That's enough you two. Breakfast is ready." Ikuko frowned as her husband and daughter ended their morning sparring session in the backyard. Why did Usagi have take up her husband's art? She could understand her daughter knowing a little just to defend herself, but ever since she could walk she practiced with her father.
"Food!" After bowing to her father, Usagi ran inside to the dining room. Thanks to fighting that youma yesterday, she missed dinner last night and her parents sent her to bed without letting her eat anything.
Kenji walked over to his wife, and then kissed her on the cheek. "You know we could have given Usagi something to eat last night, she wasn't out that late."
"She was at that cram school where the demon attacked; I think she was looking for a fight. You're always saying the Art is used to defend the week, but I think she was trying to get involved in Sailor Moon's battles. She could have been severely hurt." According to the rumors, Sailor Moon was a heroine with magical powers, but Usagi was just a normal girl, and the demons the magical girl fought could very well kill her daughter if she fought them herself.
"Our daughter is stronger than you give her credit for. I expect my brother to underestimate her, but you should have some more faith in Usagi. I'll talk with her about picking fights if you're really worried about it though." Sighing, he followed his wife inside. He was from a family of martial artists, and he was very proud their oldest continued in his family's tradition and more than a little disappointed that his youngest wasn't interested. Still, unlike his parents and his no good brother he wouldn't force the Art on Shingo; the decision to train must be his own. As he entered the dining room, he smiled, Usagi definitely got her eating habits from his family.
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Petting Darth Vader on his head, Haruka thought about her reunion with Ranma. If there was any boy she could ever fall for, it was him, but now not only wasn't he a boy, but he wasn't even alive. Or he wasn't alive in a physical sense; since his ghost lived on in the professor's computer.
Vader purred as she started to scratch him behind his ears. It didn't matter to her if Ranma was a girl ghost or a living boy; he was still her best friend. Any thoughts she had of revenge went right out the window; Professor Mizuno had saved Ranma's life, and even as it was, the boy she knew was still there.
Putting the black cat down, she started to get dressed for school. It was just as well that she gave up on her plans for revenge. From what she could tell, by a picture hung in the living room, Professor Mizuno's daughter wasn't her type. She didn't much care for girls with short hair.
Well yesterday, she was she was actually a bit turned on looking at herself in the mirror, and her own hair was short, then again she was a blonde and Ami had blue hair. It didn't matter the hair length or style she always had a thing for blondes. Redheads were normally rather attractive to her too though, why didn't she still have feeling for Ranma. Maybe those feelings were reserved only for a male Ranma.
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The problem with being a computer program was there was nothing she could forget. Every memory she ever had was just a file to access. It made learning easy, but it also made it harder to overcome her fears.
Though, right now, her thoughts on memory weren't because of her fear of cats. Ami's friend was named Usagi Tsukino, a name she was familiar with. Once, her father had her spar with a blonde girl by that name to compare training methods with a friend of his. Or maybe that man was his rival; their relation wasn't mentioned at that time.
Still, the dumpling haired girl had skills that were rather close to her own. She had won that match and didn't think much of it because back then she was a boy and her opponent was a girl. What her father had taught her was girls were inferior to boys, and at the time, she believed it.
Now that she thought back on it though, she knew better, Usagi was probably her equal, and her style was the same too. Only two families in the world practiced the style she did; the Saotome and Tendo clans. The blonde was of neither, so why did she have the same style?
There were a bunch of people she fought growing up, most were older, but there were three that were her age; Usagi, Ukyo, and Haruka. Ukyo and Haruka both had their own styles, but Usagi's was the same.
Accidentally, she accessed a memory about Ukyo… for some reason, she promised to take care of Ukyo if a sauce tasted good after being buried a long time… honestly, at the time she wasn't paying attention to Ukyo and she didn't know what she agreed to. Just as well, she already ate the all of the sauce anyway and replaced it with something that in no way could tasted good even buried. In fact, it was probably even killing the plant life around it. She was such a troublemaker back then.
Since there were no addition memories besides that one meeting with Usagi, she'd worry about the mystery behind her later; for now, she'd do one last session as Sailor V. She'd also make things a little more difficult by using the desert landscape.
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Once her father fixed Ranma, she'd be able to install the transformation program. However, what should she make the trigger? Should she just make it another file Ranma could access, or should she make it something she could control? As she thought about this, she took a bite from her bento.
Joining her new friend by a tree in the schoolyard, Usagi noticed Ami was kind of staring into space. "Thinking about what to draw today?"
"No I was thinking about a program I'm going to add to Ranma. You see, recently my father made Ranma into a girl because he thought I was getting too attached to him. Today, he'll be turning Ranma back, but Ranma has kind of gotten use to being a girl so I want to give him the ability to change between the two forms." Considering their conversation yesterday Usagi was already under the impression that she liked the ghost in her machine, anyway so admitting it wasn't that bad.
"So Ranma will be able to change at will, that's kind of cool. You know it's possible in the real world for people to transform. There's a place in China called Jusenkyo that supposedly gives people the ability to transform with hot or cold water. It's not just gender too, there are lots of springs that you can gain powers from."
"Where did you here this from?" Usagi seemed like the type to spend a little too much time reading Manga. It wouldn't be that surprising if she believed what she read in those comics.
"It was in a pamphlet my uncle left at our house last time he visited. It said the powers were a curse, but I think it be cool to turn into a cat or a bird. I guess if you fell into a spring that turned you into a pig or a boy it would be a curse." It was likely her uncle couldn't read the pamphlet as it was in Chinese but her father made her learn the language for training. Some of the moves that we're apart their school came from Chinese scrolls he found in pawn shops. Before he taught her a move she had to translate the scroll herself. If her… "The ghost in your computer is named Ranma, right? Was his family name Saotome?"
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Well her practice for the day was over now what else she could do. Besides simple conditioning fighting as a girl wouldn't have much of an effect on her male form. Females had a different center of balance then males did…
Another random memory about Ukyo was accessed; one of their fights. As a computer program she could analyze her past fights in great detail, since she remembered them perfectly. The way the Okonomiyaki chef fought, he wasn't a guy, he was a girl. That would explain the earlier memory…she must have liked her. After Genma stole her father's cart, Ukyo probably hated her though.
Shifting the focus of her trip down memory lane from Ukyo to her father, Ranma couldn't help but be glad that he was no longer apart of her life. Yes he was her father, but he abused her to no end, all for his own personal greed. There were very few moments where she actually remembered him showing any fatherly love.
If not for her death would she have ended up like him? Another memory involving Ukyo reminded her that she once bet and lost something that wasn't really hers in the first place. She had lost the Tendo Dojo to a guy who called himself the Gambling King. He was pretty lame and cheated several little kids. In the end, she and Ukyo beat him up; however, the King probably still had the markers. Well the Tendos probably wouldn't hand over their dojo should he show up since she wasn't alive to marry one of the daughters and inherit it.
Her old man talked often about the Tendo Dojo and how she would inherit it. Back then it didn't make any sense how she would inherit something that belonged to another family, but he also talked about merging the school, so it was likely the dojo was a dowry.
Well, how she would have ended up and with who really didn't really matter, since now she was just a ghost in a machine. Although she found comfort in her living past, dwelling on it depressed her, especially since she no longer had any connections to it; save for Haruka.
Accessing her clothing files, she changed into a white two-piece swim suit. If she was a guy she'd be naked, but in her current form these clothes would be enough. Now to activate the hot springs program; a good soak should help her dwindling mood.
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"Ranma?" With Usagi in tow Ami entered her home. Normally Ranma would be on the living room monitor waiting for her, but today, the digital girl was absent. Then Ranma poked her head in from the side of the monitor.
"Was that Ranma?" What Usagi had seen was a face that looked like a younger version of her aunt, with a towel wrapped around her hair. A moment later, a full girl walked onto the monitor screen dressed in blue jeans, a baby doll t-shirt, glasses, with now dry hair that was braided.
"Sorry, I was in the bathroom monitor using the Hot Springs program and lost track of time." Looking at the girl she assumed to be Usagi, the blonde didn't look too different then how she remembered her, just older. "Hi Usagi, long time no see."
"So you remember me?" The ghost resembled her Aunt Nodoka greatly, so it wasn't too unbelievable that this was Ranma she was talking to.
"Only the one time we fought. I don't know why we were fighting, but I beat you."
"Uncle Genma wanted to show that his boy was stronger that my father's girl." Pouting, the blonde remembered their one match too. Ranma beat her because he called her cute and it distracted her. One of the key principles of the Saotome art was to get inside an opponent's head, and weaken them mentally as well as physically. She was never very good at that part of the family Art. "You didn't beat me by that much."
"So Ranma really is your cousin?" Her new friend mentioned that at lunch but Ami didn't really want to believe it. The reason Ranma stayed with them was because his parents didn't want him. However her father warned that if the digital boy's family ever changed their mind that they would give him to them. Since Usagi was a part of his family, she could take him once her father fixed his gender. He had been so much a part of her life these last two years; she truly didn't want to lose him.
"Uh huh, his father and mine are brothers; his dad is the older brother. Does Aunt Nodoka know you live in computers now?" Her aunt was so proud Ranma died a manly death sacrificing himself for someone else, but countless time she would mentioned that she wished she still had him.
"She does but she thinks I'm a mockery of her son's memory. I think I convinced Pop I really am me, but knowing him he decided not to acknowledge me because a computer would cost too much money. That's why I'm with Ami and her father." Shou even offered to give his father a computer, but machines were too high maintenance in his opinion. Then again his mother didn't know him that well so how would he ever convince her he was really her son? "How is my mom?"
"She was pretty bad until Ranko was born. Um, Ranko is your little sister's name; she turned a year old just the other day. Aunt Nodoka is pregnant again now too. Your dad's hoping it's a boy this time because he won't accept a female heir. He always tells my father it's a waste of time to continue to train me."
Since Ranma and Usagi were paying attention to each other and not her, Ami slipped into the kitchen. This morning she was worried about having another rival for Ranma; now, she was just worried if Ranma would still be a part of her life.
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Before the complaints start I'd like to thank ranma girl 14 and Tari pre-reading this chapter.
Complaint department:
Sorry I took so long, things happened and I don't have as much time to write. This chapter is shorter than its predecessor 'cause I thought I reached a good stopping point.
Dias of All Final, sorry the first three chapters flew right by, but the rest may take some time as I iron out how I want certain things to happen. That's the problem with knowing the beginning and end. The middle doesn't always make sense.
Oh, and originally I was going to have Ranma talk to Sati and instead of Setsuna, but I decided to limit the numbers of stories I merged into this fic.
Xtor49, Next chapter Ranma should be male again and if not the next chapter in the following one Ami will either make the program you're asking about, or Ranma will make it himself depending on where Ranma is at the time.
Ranma ends up bored sometimes 'cause even he can only fight so much, but over all he does enjoy the life he has because he is still alive in a sense.
weebee, although I've already said this Ranma will be in the Mercury Computer eventually. However once there he won't always be on the sideline, just how he ends up in the front lines I won't say. You'll have to wait and see.