Chapter Eight: Above
"Huh… wha…?" the older Ranma sputtered.
Ranma didn't blame him. It was beyond weird to stare at his older self.
"Whoa!" Nabiki exclaimed. "I wasn't expecting…" She leaned forward to peer at Ranma.
"What're you playing at, kid?" Ranma growled, leaning forward, eyes turning suspicious. "Did Ryoga put you up to this?"
"Put me up to looking like you?" Ranma replied, bewildered. A scary thought occurred to him. "Hey… is there a Spring of Drowned Ranma somewhere?"
"No, dear, of course not," said Elder Cologne. She sighed. "As much as I was trying to help you avoid this –"
"Great-grandmother know?" Shampoo squeaked.
"…perhaps you should start from the beginning and tell us just how you came to be here."
"And who he is!" Ranma added.
"Don't be silly, Son-in-law," Elder Cologne said. "He's Saotome Ranma, like he says."
Kasumi returned from the kitchen to hand Ranma a towel to mop the tea off his face. He liked her more and more. "I didn't lie," Ranma said. "Except about the name. Ryoga took me here by mistake when he got h-hit with the dart."
"Ryoga took me here by mistake, he says," Nabiki caroled. "Like Ryoga went to the wrong shopping mall instead of the wrong reality."
Ranma looked up at Nabiki. She was pretty quick, he decided. He wasn't sure if he trusted her or not, but she seemed miles faster than anyone else at the table but Elder Cologne.
"Is that right, child? Did you end up so far off your chosen path?" the Elder asked.
Ranma nodded. "It's my fault. Me an' Akane told Ryoga home and this is what he thought of. Not the Village." Ranma frowned. Ryoga had never felt like he belonged in the Village, really, not like Ranma did. No wonder when he was hurting so bad, he thought home meant here, instead.
"From the beginning, child," Elder Cologne advised again.
"Better go get 'Kane," Ranma said with a deep sigh. "She's gonna wanna hear this." He pushed himself up from the table and, with the air of a man going to the gallows, made for the dojo.
Ranma waited. Kasumi freshened his tea. He sipped it and avoided everyone's eyes. Kasumi seemed pitying, which was bad. Nabiki looked… greedy, which was worse. Shampoo looked smug. He didn't know what any of that meant, and that made him even more nervous than before. "How long until Ryoga wakes up?" he asked Elder Cologne.
"Ryoga is very strong," the Elder replied, smoothing her robes. "I believe he will recover, but it may take some time."
Ranma hung his head again, but then Akane entered, wearing a yellow gi, and he perked up. He was glad to see her, alive and warm and breathing. "Akane!" he exclaimed.
The blank look she gave in reply was worse than a slap to the face. "Wow," she said to the grown-up Ranma, "he really does look just like you!"
"Tell 'er, kid," Ranma said.
"I am him. I'm Saotome Ranma." And I'm gonna marry you when I grow up.
Akane blinked. "Ah…" Akane let her eldest sister settle her into a seat, and then Ranma began his story.
He began it with the cats. He guessed he could have started with Ryoga finding him, but he talked about the cats anyhow. They had to know how bad the cats were, being in that Pit with the cats, for them to know how important it was that Ryoga had found him. He even told them how he had argued with Ryoga about staying, and how silly and… almost crazy that sounded, now. He told them about finding the Village, and Elder Cologne cleaning up his cuts. He showed them the scar where his stitches had been. He told them about meeting Wan Da and Shampoo and learning Chinese and mathematics and meeting Akane-the-ghost. Getting the girl-body, with its long, carroty eyelashes and big blue eyes and way of looking at things. And finally, he told them about the four animal-men at the base of the tree, calling him little bird.
"So as far as you are concerned, you belong to the Village," Elder Cologne said. "You are one of the Juketsuzoku?"
Ranma shook his head. "I belong here, Elder. Ryoga always said he was going to take me here. To meet up with my father."
There was a long silence at the table. A grown-up silence, one Ranma couldn't interpret.
"Hey, kid," Ranma finally said to him. "Let's go for a walk."
Ranma looked to the Elder, who nodded, and stood. Together, he and Ranma moved to the koi pond and sat by the stones.
"Hey, shrimp," Ranma said. "You know, the thing about Pops is, sometimes he's kind of an idiot."
Ranma frowned. "Don't talk about our daddy that way," he admonished.
"No, listen," Ranma said. He scratched the back of his head. "Darn it, I'm not really good with this stuff. What I mean is, my daddy – er, Pops – he put me in that Pit, too."
Ranma's eyes widened. "Really? Did Ryoga come get you, too?"
He cleared his throat. "See, that's the thing. My Pops pulled me out every night. He put me back in, mind, each morning," he said hastily, at Ranma's wide eyes. "But after three days, he figured the technique was a failure. He, er… cleaned me off and treated me real nice for a few days."
Ranma's voice lowered to a whisper. "He took you out… and put you back in... three times?"
"Yeah," Ranma replied, with a self-conscious wince. "Pretty bad, huh? But… he took me out."
There was a silence while Ranma absorbed this. "M-my daddy… d-didn't come g-get me," he managed.
"Exactly. And that's the thing, see?" Ranma returned. "Because Pops may be an idiot, but he's not a monster. Let's say he really wanted to get rid of you. Y'know how many times people offered to take me in when I was your age? Like, every couple o' months, right? Would've been easy. He wouldn't've left you there on purpose. Which means…"
Ranma clapped both hands over his mouth and shook his head. "No! He's waiting for me here in Nerima. Ryoga said!"
"Of course Ryoga said," Ranma replied, voice low. "He would've said anything to get you outta that Pit, is what I'm thinking."
Ranma knew this was nothing less than the truth, and the betrayal stung. But then he felt bad about being angry with Ryoga because Ryoga was upstairs in bed, hurt on his account, and all the feelings meshed together and exploded into a wail.
Ranma leaned forward and patted him on the back, gingerly.
Ranma responded by falling into his arms and squishing him.
They hung together that way for a long moment before the older Ranma's arms fell around him, settling there very carefully, as though he was made of spun glass. Or as though the older Ranma wasn't used to hugs, not at all. "Okay," Ranma said. "I ain't about to say it's all right or nothin', 'cause it's not, but you can let it all out. Nobody's here to see."
Ranma couldn't care less if the entire world was looking; he wanted to scream, he wanted to shout, he wanted to pound something into dust, and he didn't care if he had an audience. He wanted to cry forever. Eventually, though, the tears dried up, and he withdrew.
Older Ranma's tang was all tear-stained and snotty. "Sorry," Ranma said, wiping ineffectually.
"Hey, this shirt's seen worse," Ranma replied. "Are you ready to go back inside?"
Ranma nodded, and wrapped his arms around his counterpart's neck.
Older Ranma gave him a funny look, but scooped him up the way Ryoga did, and after some hesitancy, placed him at his hip. "Is that okay?" he asked.
Ranma nodded and buried his face in the other boy's tang.
"Um… all right, then," Ranma replied, and headed for the house.
Ranma awoke with a start and cast about his unfamiliar surroundings. It was only after he'd elevated to a full panic that he remembered where he was and why.
He was lying on a bedroll in a small room; another bedroll was pushed up against the wall. He rose and wiped at his eyes, which were gritty with sleep and tears, and went in search of Ryoga.
He found the kitchen, first - the spare room seemed to be close to it - and when he pricked up his ears, he could hear talking.
"Of course he's fond of Ryoga, Ranma," Akane's voice sounded. "Ryoga looked after him when he was hurt and alone. Just because you don't like Ryoga…"
"That's just it. I don't like Ryoga," Ranma's voice said. There was a pause. "But I like the kid."
"Of course you like the kid," came Nabiki's dry, laughing tone, like she thought the whole lot of them were ridiculous. "A narcissist like you has to be loving this."
"That kid ain't me!" Ranma retorted. "He's like the old ghoul was sayin'… 'gently bred'. Ryoga's spoiled him, and no mistake. Not to mention living with the Amazons, where a guy might as well be a girl. He ain't as tough as I was, at that age."
"Ranma," Nabiki said, "no one should be as 'tough' as you were at that age."
There was a bit of quiet.
"Yeah, well… maybe not," Ranma allowed. "Maybe I… kind of owe Ryoga."
"Big," Akane emphasized.
"Yeah, all right, big, then," Ranma shot back. "But don't you think maybe that's why he did all this?"
"Saotome, I am shocked," Nabiki said. She didn't sound shocked; she sounded as amused as ever. "Has even your innocence been lost?"
"Aw, stuff it, Nabiki. I'm just sayin', a guy taking care of his biggest rival? Don't tell me you haven't thought of some kinda motivation for it all. And when'd this power of his show up? How long has he been able to… make a door?"
"That is a little odd," Akane allowed. "You'd think you'd have used an advantage like that… when you were having one of your little matches."
"One of our little…" Ranma choked.
"Akane has a point. Listen to me, Akane has a point, what a novelty. Ryoga's ability has got to be a new thing."
"I'll thank you not to be insulting," Akane said. "You're being included in this conversation, after all, so don't act like you're doing us a favor."
Ranma crept past them and made for the stairwell.
"I think I hear an interloper in our midst," Nabiki said.
"I'm just going upstairs to check on Ryoga," Ranma replied, but then he peered into the kitchen.
Ranma, Akane, and Nabiki were all standing in the cheery, yellow kitchen. Ranma was leaning backwards, his elbows resting on the countertop. Nabiki was perched on the counter itself, and Akane was facing them, arms crossed over her chest.
"Hello, Ranma," Akane said kindly, her expression lightening. "Did you have a good rest?"
"I don't remember falling asleep," Ranma said, cautious.
"You fell asleep… in my arms," Ranma replied, looking very uncomfortable.
"Oh, get over it," Nabiki exclaimed. "You, too, were once a child. We get it."
"S'weird," Ranma muttered, wrapping his arms around himself.
"Where are Elder Cologne and Shampoo?"
Akane spoke up, crouching down a bit, hands on knees, so she could look into his face. "They don't live here, Ranma, but they do live close by. They went home."
"Ryoga could make a door when I met him," Ranma offered.
"Huh?"
"He made a door straight from the Pit to the Village, the day I met him. So he's been able to do that for a long time." Ranma still wasn't sure how long, so… "…at least two seasons."
The grown-ups exchanged a telling look. "But that means he's been hopping between here and there all along," Nabiki said. "I mean, it's been awhile since we've seen Ryoga, but not that long, am I right?"
"He was here this month," Ranma said. "Challenging me again, so you bet he's been here. What could he've been thinking, just leaving me – er, him, whatever – with the old ghoul and skipping town?"
"I don't know, Ranma," Akane said. "He might be able to give us some answers when he wakes up."
Ranma glanced around the room, waiting for one of the grown-ups to understand, when it seemed so clear to him. When that didn't happen, he spoke up. "He's probably… not from here. The same way I'm not. I mean, if he could always make a door… or he's been able to a long time… then why should he be your Ryoga? He could be from anyplace."
"Wow, Ranma," Nabiki said, leaning forward and peering at the younger boy, "I think he's smarter than you."
"Hey!" Ranma protested. "I resent that!"
"Just out of curiosity, little Ranma," Nabiki went on in that voice of hers that Ranma was liking less and less, "this 'Elder Cologne' of yours, did she teach you lessons?"
"Yes," Ranma said, cautious.
"In what?"
Ranma frowned, not understanding why this was important now. "Reading and writing. And maths. And logic. And medicine. And Wan Da taught me tracking, and plants. And Ryoga was training me in martial arts."
"For two seasons. Let's say, six months."
"I guess."
"And are you better, now, in all those things than when you started learning?"
"Of course! If I weren't, I wouldn't have been learning!"
"Of course," Nabiki echoed. "Maybe you'll show us one of these logic puzzles later, and we'll see if your big brother here can solve it."
"Let's go up and visit Ryoga for now," Akane said, shooting her sister a look and offering Ranma her open palm.
Ranma nodded, and clasped his hand in hers. Together, they ascended the stairs.
Akane opened a door with a duck on it that said 'Akane'. So, she'd offered Ryoga her own bed – Ranma's heart warmed. He really liked Akane, even if she was a little violent.
When he saw Ryoga's form lying on her western-style bed, he ran on tip-toe to the side and peered across, palms pressed to the mattress. Ryoga was still white-pale, and an occasional tremor shook his body, but it was so much better than the violent shaking he'd been doing before. Ranma took in a grateful gasp of air, and breathed more easily than he could remember since being tossed up into the branches of that tree. "Ryoga," he said. "Ryoga, Ryoga."
"Easy, kid, he needs his sleep," Ranma said, placing a hand flat atop Ranma's head. "He still doesn't look so good." He removed his hand kind of fast, and looked at his palm like it didn't quite belong to him.
"Come on, little Ranma," Akane said, "and you can show me one of those puzzles, okay? Ranma doesn't have to try to solve it if he doesn't want to."
"Hey, I ain't gonna let some kid beat me," Ranma grouched, following them down the stairs and back into the kitchen, "even if it is me."
"So let's see it, little Ranma," Nabiki said, perching herself on the kitchen counter again.
Ranma thought for a minute and decided it wouldn't do any harm to show off a little. "Okay," he said. "I'll show you an easy one. You've got room for six plants and they've got to be planted in a row, because you've only got the one strip of land that's yours. Squash and white beans are vines so they've gotta be where they won't choke the others. You want to plant some red beans, though, which are sturdier. The two rice plants grow best with beans on either side. Where should you put the rutabega plant?"
"That's the sort of problem that Elder Cologne would have you work on?" Akane said.
Ranma nodded. "It's the rutabega riddle. It's a real-life one. Some of the others the Elder makes up are more silly."
"Can you solve it?"
Ranma was getting ready to nod when he saw that Nabiki was looking up at the older Ranma. "Well, I figure even you'd need to hear it again, Nabiki," Older Ranma said.
"I'll write it down if you want," Ranma said. Akane handed him paper and a pencil and he wrote the riddle out as neatly as he could. Never mind that the Elder would never bother; she'd tell them a problem twice and then not repeat it again. He and Shampoo had long since learned to make things easier on themselves by Ranma memorizing the first half and Shampoo memorizing the second.
The older Ranma puzzled over the sheet Nabiki handed him, brow furrowing. "Where they won't choke the others… that's got to be on the edges. So… but you don't know which is which… but the rice plants have to have red beans and white on either side… but you still don't know which is which…"
"Maybe you should go to bed, little Ranma," Nabiki said. "He may be at this for awhile."
"Do you know the answer, Nabiki-san?" Ranma innocently replied. "It's an easy one, right?"
"Well," Nabiki frowned, looking at the paper. "It's –"
"Don't say a word!" Ranma growled. "I've almost got it."
"Yeah, right, Ranma," Akane said. "We'll see you in the morning."
"Where will you sleep, Akane?"
Akane blushed. "Well, I mean… I was going to put Ryoga in the guest room, but I wasn't sure where you'd want to sleep…"
"Wherever Ryoga is," Ranma said. "He's going to want to know where I am."
Older Ranma exchanged a look with the two girls, then scrubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, guess so. I'll get you a bedroll." He disappeared into the room where Akane'd woken up.
"And I'll just sleep in here," Akane said cheerfully, going into the guest room.
"Where am I supposed to sleep?"
"In the dojo?" Akane suggested. Her voice sounded a little too cheerful.
"Are you kickin' me outta my own room, tomboy?"
"I'm kicking you out of the room my family has so graciously allowed you to and your useless father to camp in like gypsies!"
Ranma crept around the arguing couple, up the stairs, and into Akane's room and closed the door. He peered at Ryoga in the bed, again, and sighed. He curled up in a bedroll at Ryoga's feet and fell right to sleep.
When Ranma awoke, it was with a start. He'd dreamed about Kitten, surrounded by bigger, older cats who wanted her for supper. They were carrying knives and forks and even though they were talking with cat-voices, Ranma could understand, and their language was dark and terrible. He woke panting heavily and decided he wanted a bath.
Then, he remembered all over again where he was. For a little while, his heart hammered in his chest and his pulse fluttered like a bird and his breaths came quick and light; but then he took breaths in for a count of three, and held for a count of three, and exhaled for a count of three. After a moment he was better, so he tip-toed over to Ryoga's bedside and peered down at the older boy's sleeping form.
Ryoga was panting lightly, with a sheen of sweat painted across his brow. Even standing this close to Ryoga, Ranma could feel the heat pouring off of him. Ryoga was running a bad fever.
Elder Cologne liked to take long walks through the woods, and sometimes Shampoo and Ranma would come along. She pointed out medicinal plants as they walked, and said what their characters were, and the conditions where they were used. Now, on top of the plants his daddy had taught him were good to eat, Ranma had memorized ten plants that were good for healing.
None were springing up in the Tendos' backyard, though, so Ranma got a cool cloth and pressed it to Ryoga's forehead. When that steamed dry in a few minutes, he went in search of a grown-up.
"Ranma!" he called. "Akane? Ranma-ue?"
Ranma appeared in the window outside, dangling upside down. "Ranma-ue?" he repeated, braid dangling down from his head and swishing in an errant breeze.
"Because you're older," Ranma said. "You know, 'Ranma-above-me'."
"In more ways than one," Ranma-ue said with a grin, flipping down through the open window to land in a crouch at Ranma's side. "What's up, kid?"
"Ryoga's very sick."
"We knew he'd be very sick," Ranma-ue agreed.
Ranma shook his head and tugged at Ranma-ue's sleeve. "No, his fever is very high. We have to put him in water."
Ranma-ue blinked a few times, then laughed. "Well, kid, if you say so. I sure hope his fever's high enough to make that water hot."
Ranma wasn't sure what this meant, but he'd already figured that Ranma-ue said a lot of things that he didn't understand. He followed Ranma-ue into Akane's bedroom and to Ryoga.
"Hey, porkchop!" Ranma-ue shouted, shaking Ryoga's shoulder.
Ryoga moaned and his head lolled to the side; he made no other motion or sound. Ranma had a hard time being anything but happy, even at this sign of weakness. He still remembered the shakes Ryoga had the day before. This fever seemed like nothing in comparison.
"Here, kid, help me out," Ranma-ue said, and Ranma pulled the blankets back off of Ryoga. Someone helpful had removed all of Ryoga's clothing but his boxer shorts. Ranma hoped it was Kasumi, who seemed like she wouldn't let embarrassment get in the way of making Ryoga as comfortable as he could be.
Ranma-ue picked Ryoga up in his very strong arms and carted him off to the furo. Together, they wiped Ryoga free of sweat and then Ranma-ue ran a cool bath around Ryoga.
"H-his fever must be really high," Ranma-ue said, suddenly looking a little bit nervous.
Ranma nodded, solemn. "The water will help bring it down," he said.
"So…" Ranma-ue said, scratching the back of his neck. Ranma-ue looked like he wanted to have another talk like the one about their daddy. Ranma wasn't sure he wanted to have another talk like that. He still felt raw from the first one.
"Your story from before," Ranma-ue went on, "it's just… I've got some questions. About Ryoga. That okay?"
Ranma looked up from underneath his lashes. "Guess so," he replied. He felt like he had just entered Elder Cologne's hut for the first time, but this time Ryoga wasn't there to give him the nod. Moreover, the worry in Ranma's eyes looked a lot like Wan Da's. He sighed and settled himself in for a long string of questions that insulted Ryoga's honor.
Standing on a streetcorner in some as-of-yet-unnamed, unknown Japanese city, Hibiki Ryoga sneezed violently.
"Must be one of those spring colds goin' around," a stranger said, handing him a handkerchief.
"Th-thank you," Ryoga stammered, accepting the gift. The stranger nodded and moved off down the street.
Sometimes, Ryoga would wander for months at a time without spotting one instance of human kindness. His life truly was a graveyard of buried hopes and dreams, teeming with the frustrated yearnings of –
Wait. Hadn't he been looking for someone? Hadn't he had a question he wanted to ask?
"Sir. Sir! Can you tell me the way to the Tendo Dojo?"
The stranger looked up in surprise. "The Tendos'? Sure thing, kid. Go down the block, then turn left and then turn left again…"
Ryoga's consternation must've been showing on his face, because the older man stumbled to a verbal halt. Perhaps it was the palpable depression chi that was beginning to rise from Ryoga's skin like heat from a fever. Only bluer, and also far more ominous.
"Well, that does seem a little complicated," the stranger allowed. "Hey, I'm going in that direction myself; you could just follow me."
Ryoga looked up in amazement. "Really? You'd do that?"
"Er… yeah, sure thing, kid," the stranger said, looking like he was already beginning to regret the offer.
Not that Ryoga noticed. Wow, he thought. The gods really can be good. Someone up there wants me to succeed. Prepare yourself, Ranma!
Somewhere, the gods were laughing.
A/N: Well, yeah... so this is about half the size of the previous chapter, but the previous chapter was really an anomaly. Usually, my chapters in this fic are about this size, but I do apologize if you were disappointed in the shortness!
Deciding to call older Ranma 'Ranma-ue' is a decision made based off of a few things:
1) My love for 'Kaze Hikaru'. And this most primarily. I make no claims to logic.
2) The fact that a lot of the Japanese Ranma knows (especially the more obscure language) he learned from Elder Cologne, who learned Japanese a long time ago
3) To emphasize how respectful tiny!Ranma is to most everyone.
4) Because I learned from Geas of Gryffindor that OMG YOU MUST GIVE EVERYONE DIFFERENT BUT BELIEVABLE NAMES FAST. For the obvious reason that to do otherwise gets very confusing, very fast.
Basically, if you use the honorific '-ue' to describe someone older than you, it's very respectful (but not so much as 'sama' or even 'dono', I think) and a little out-of-date. I have a feeling that the Japanese girls who hear tiny!Ranma use '-ue' will think it is ADORABLE due to Ranma's age.
This is also the first POV shift we've had in this story. Up until now, it's been tiny!Ranma all the way. But I just *had* to switch to canon!Ryoga. I find him hysterical.
See you soon and let me know, as always, what you think. My favorite parts are when you speculate on what's about to happen next, because even if I don't use any of those ideas, it always gets the creative juices flowing!
-K
