Yet another fic that looked good when I started, but had some bad execution... I am already cultivating a rewrite of this, however you can have the original to chew on if you want. I think that this versionh has my one shot, Ranma's final Solution, in it somewhere or other... a bit of humor if you get bored, even if some of you have already read it before.
Something creative by Weebee.
Disclaimer. If I owned Ranma, "The contrary jewel" episode would NOT exist. Since it does, I don't own Ranma.
Summary. Ryoga finally succeeds in his quest to get rid of Ranma, Sending him to another dimension with a magical artefact. (Can anyone say Dais Ex machina?) In this world, Genma Saotome's son died at age 10, while undergoing the Neko-Ken training…
WARNING! Chapter one is DARK! VERY, VERY DARK!
Chapter 1. Bloody Valentine.
Ryoga Hibiki sat on the roof of the Tendo Dojo, looking at the small silver medallion in his hands. Spinning it from finger to finger, he wondered weather he should really use it on Ranma. Thinking of this, he remembered the warning of the man who had sold it to him, somewhere in Osaka.
/Flashback/
Ryoga walked down the dusty streets of Osaka, Trying to dredge up enough French to get by and ask for directions. As he saw the same small stall for the fifteenth time, he looked up into the sky and bellowed "Ranma! This is all your fault! If only I could beet you and then you would never harm Akane again!" After his extra long anti-Ranma rant, Ryoga turned to see the owner of the stall staring at him strangely.
"What do you want?" He snapped irritably. He was usually much more polite than this to people other than Ranma, however he had been lost in that really big library a while back for a good week and was losing patience with everything.
"I couldn't help but notice you have a curse." The old man running the stall said, putting a finger to the side of his head.
Ryoga was in his face in an instant. "How do you know that?"
"Well, it's circulating through your aura and very visible. Quite an intricate curse, too. Lots of power."
Ryoga snarled. "Yeh, and it's all Ranma's fault!"
The man blinked. "So, this Ranma is one of your enemies, then?"
Ryoga nodded.
"Well then, I may have something of interest to you here…" The man muttered, bending down under the counter of his stall and rummaging through some old boxes. With a cry of victory, he came back up holding a silver medallion with a picture of a pig on it. (1)
"You tryin to make fun of me?" Ryoga snarled, just barely holding back from blowing the man's stall up with a shi shi hokodan.
"No, not at all. This little item is a powerful magic artefact. It converts the magic used in most curses into spiritual energy. It will get rid of your little problem, whatever it is, and funnel all of it's power right into your chi reserves."
Ryoga blinked. "Y… you mean I'll be cured of the pig AND get enough power to beat Ranma?"
The store owner nodded. "But it does have a problem…" He started, before being cut off by Ryoga getting into his face and yelling "How Much?"
The man shrugged. "Well, I'd say about 40,000 yen but if you were willing to give it back to me afterwards, I'd give it to you for 5,000."
Ryoga whipped a small wallet out of his backpack, pulled out 50,000 yen and laid it down on the counter. "I'll take it!" he said, before grabbing the medallion and pocketing it.
"But sir, the warning!" The old man yelled, as Ryoga ran out of earshot. As Ryoga was about to turn around to see what the old man was talking about, he was hit with a bucket of water and walked off, dragging his pack in his teeth.
/End Flashback./
"What was that old man's warning…" Ryoga thought, still flipping the medallion from finger to finger. Just as he was about to hop off the roof of the Dojo to go find the man and ask him, he heard Akane's voice.
"Ranma No BAKA!"
"Ranma! What have you done to Akane!" He shouted, as he hopped down to the Tendos' front door.
Ranma backed away from a fuming mad Akane, trying to think what he had done wrong this time. Things had been better since the failed wedding a few months ago, however he could still inadvertently stick his foot in his mouth. Tonight had been an excellent example.
Kasumi had gone to see a sick friend in hospital, saying that she would be back later on and that the rest of the family would have to fend for them selves. Akane had immediately volunteered to cook, causing everyone but Ranma to run out and get takeout. Now he was stuck here, having insulted Akane's cooking, and he was about to be pounded.
"A-Akane… I'm sorry Okay? I just meant that you should try your cookin before survin it, that's all."
Akane instantly stopped and blinked. "Really, Why?"
Ranma stood there, surprised and relieved that it had worked. "Um… Most chefs try they're cookin before servin it to make sure it tastes good… It's like a Kata in martial arts." He said, relating cooking to the only thing he really understood.
"…Alright." Akane said, hesitantly picking up a forkful of food off of the plate she was holding and putting it in her mouth. Two seconds later, she fell over in a dead faint.
"Jeash…" Ranma muttered, picking Akane up off of the ground and walking towards the stairs. "Maybe I shoulda just tried it… I don't think she's got the constitution to survive this stuff…"
Just as Ranma was stepping onto the first step, he heard Ryoga's battle cry.
"For what you have done to Akane, Prepare to die!" Laying Akane against the wall next to the stairs, Ranma jumped away as Ryoga imbedded his umbrella into the second step up.
"Jeash Pig boy. She just tried her own cookin. I didn't do nothin." Ranma said, dodging a hammer fist from the lost boy.
"How dare you let her try her own cooking! You know that stuff's toxic to normal people!" Ryoga yelled, tearing off several of his bandanas and throwing them at his rival.
Dodging the new flurry of blows, Ranma flipped into the back yard, closely followed by Ryoga.
As the battle continued, Akane recovered from her own food enough to stagger to the back door, seeing Ranma and Ryoga fight.
"Ranma, Ryoga! Stop!" She yelled, but the two kept right on going.
Ranma got through a flurry of bandanas and an umbrella strike to give Ryoga a few hundred jabs to the stomach with the Amaguriken, sending him into the wall of the Dojo.
Ryoga picked himself up, gasping for breath. 'Screw the consequences. I'm gunna beat Ranma here and now!' Ryoga thought, pulling the medallion out of the pants pocket that he had slipped it into on the roof. Bringing his aura up, he felt two distinct pulling sensations inside his body before a massive green, black and gold aura flared up around him. "Ranma, Prepare to die!" He yelled, grabbing the entirety of the aura and shooting it at his nemesis in a colossal blast of power.
Now, there is something about the artefact that Ryoga possessed, which he really should have known. That was, that when the artefact pulled energy from it's host's curses, the curses effects manifested in the blast. Since the effect of Ryoga's drowned piglet curse was just transformation and Ranma already had a Jusenkyo curse, it just became raw blasting power. Of course, Ryoga forgot his second curse. That of no sense of direction. When it was poured into the artefact, it was interpreted as a transportation spell to a random place, time and dimension… Luckily, Ranma stayed pretty close spatially and temporally to where he started… dimensionally however…
Ryoga blinked rapidly as he shielded his eyes from the blast that he had created. Although it was about the same size as a large shi shi hokodan, it was about 100 times as powerful.
"R-ryoga… what have you done…" Akane breathed, as she looked into the crater that was created by the blast. No trace of Ranma remained.
Ryoga jumped into the air exultantly, throwing an arm up in victory, until he saw Akane glairing at him. "What's wrong Akane?" He asked, blinking.
"Y… you killed him Ryoga… You didn't just beat him… you you…" Akane ran into the house, Crying.
Ryoga finally realized what the lack of a body in the crater meant. Either Ranma had escaped, and since Ryoga couldn't see him anywhere or feel his chi that wasn't likely, or Ryoga had literally vaporised him.
Ryoga's hands started to shake as he sank down to his knees and began to cry. "R…Ranma.. This isn't all your fault…" He cried, uncaring of the fact that it had started to rain and he had not changed.
Nodoka Saotome walked down the street, carrying two bags of groceries. Sighing, she fingered the Katana in her obi and considered what she had been considering since Genma had come back without her son six years ago. She could still remember the day, when Genma had staggered in the door, scratches all over his body and blood stains on his Gi. It turned out that Ranma, in a state of feral rage, had attacked Genma and ended up breaking his neck when he slammed into a tree. Genma had never told her WHY Ranma had been so angry but she had an idea… but if she lost Genma, she would have nothing left, so she withdrew her hand from the obi and continued down the street.
As She turned towards the street her house was on, she couldn't help but notice an intense flash of light from an alley between a nearby house and a small apartment building. Walking cautiously into the alley, she drew her Katana and brandished it threateningly in front of her.
As she crept further and further into the alley, Nodoka noticed a battered form laying on the ground. The person was covered in burns, and his tattered clothing was smoking slightly. Gasping, Nodoka dropped her Katana and groceries, crouching down next to the severely injured boy.
Pulling out a small cell phone that Genma had insisted she carry for emergencies, Nodoka called an ambulance and tried to see what she could do for the boy in the meantime.
Genma Saotome scowled as he sat in the waiting room of Dr. Tofu's clinic, his wife pacing nervously in front of him.
"Whoever the boy is, he'll be fine." Genma muttered, irritated at being interrupted in his latest Shogi game with Soun Tendo over some boy Nodoka had found on the street.
"Um, Mr and Mrs Saotome?" Doctor Tofu asked, poking his head out of the back room of the clinic. "The boy's awake and he's asking for either you or the Tendos. He also seems slightly incoherent."
"Asking for us?" Nodoka wondered, pulling Genma up and walking into the clinic's small back room.
The teen aged boy in the bed sat up and grinned at Her and her husband, seeming a lot better than he had been when he was in the alley. "Hey mom, Pops." The boy said, "Sorry 'bout you guys havin to drag me to the clinic. Ryoga's last attack kinda floored me…"
Nodoka gasped as she noticed something familiar about the boy. His hair was pulled back in a tight pigtail and his eyes were a distinctive blue grey colour. "Y… you're dead…" She stammered, her face turning white.
Ranma blinked. "Um… no, I aint." He turned to Dr. Tofu, "Am I doc?"
Tofu shook his head, looking confused at Mrs. Saotome's reaction.
"You Demon!" Genma yelled, Charging past his wife and towards the bed.
"Pop?" The boy asked, jumping out of the bed as the older man smashed into it. "What in hell 're ya talking about?"
"young man," Tofu interjected, "What's your name?" As he asked this, he reached over and paralysed Genma with a shiatsu strike.
"C'mon doc, don't tell me ya don't recognise one of your most frequent patients…" The boy said, chuckling nervously. "It's me, Ranma."
Just then, Nodoka ran forward and hugged the rather startled Ranma, crying on his shoulder and whispering, "You're alive…" over and over again.
"C'mon mom." The boy said nervously, "You keep cryin like that n' you're gunna trigger the curse…"
A few minutes later, after Nodoka had finished crying and Tofu had convinced Genma not to attack Ranma on sight, the four of them sat in chairs in Tofu's office. "Alright." Tofu started, "Ranma, How did you end up so badly injured… and how did you heal so quickly?"
Ranma shrugged. "I was fighting Ryoga. He thought I'd hurt Akane or somethin… Anyway, he pulled this weird silver thing outta his pocket and used it to amplify his aura. Next thing I know, I'm bein hit with a massive Shi Shi Hokodan and waking up in the clinic."
Tofu nodded and then got up, pulling a heavy leather tome down from a shelf and looking through it. "Hmm… Lion roar shot… are you telling me that Hibiki san can pull off chi techniques?"
Ranma nodded. "Um.. yeh. So can I." Saying this, Ranma formed a yellow ball of energy in his hands. "Now can ya tell me why mom n' pop flipped out so bad when I showed up?"
Nodoka spoke up at this point. "R-Ranma… You died six years ago in a training accident… or at least that's what Genma has told me." She glared at her husband, who cowered back in a corner of the room.
"What's a matter pops. I coulda sworn you'd be playin with a tire and holding an "I'm just a cute Panda" sign by now. Your curse acting up or something?"
"Curse?" Tofu interjected, looking curiously at Ranma.
"Yeh, y'know. His Jusenkyo curse…"
"I'm sorry Ranma but Genma hasn't been out of Japan in the last decade, let alone China." Tofu said, remembering the legend of the cursed springs from a book he had been reading on the subject of ancient legends a few days ago. :And are you saying that Jusenkyo exists?"
Ranma started getting confused. "So… Pops hasn't been to jusenkyo, I was supposedly killed six years ago and no one knows who I am?" He asked, gazing around the room.
Nodoka nodded.
"Well, to answer your question…" Ranma said, picking up a glass of water and dumping it over his head. ".. damn, I was hoping I'd be cured…" The redheaded girl said, scrubbing her hair dry with her hand.
Nodoka took that moment to faint.
Notes.
(1) It's Ryoga… it HAS to have something to do with pigs.
Final. This is my LAST attempt this year at Fan fiction. I will either continue this until it is finished or forget about fan fiction until next summer, when I'll have time to write it.Chapter 2, Explanations and a challenge.
Ranma sighed as she looked over at the slumped body of her mother, Her head sprawled over the arm of the office chair she sat in. "Do ya got some hot water and smelling salts, doc?"
Dr. Tofu nodded, walking out of his office and into the main area of his clinic.
"R-Ranma?" Genma stuttered, a look of shock on his face.
"Yeh. I picked up this curse about a year ago when you decided to go to china without knowing how to speak Chinese."
Genma nodded. "That sounds like something I would have done." Looking the form of the person who claimed to be his son over, he asked, "Can you still fight like that?"
Ranma shrugged. "Yeh. My strength goes down a bunch but I get faster to compensate… My chi reserves drop a bit too, but the ol' ghoul says that's because I'm not as confident as a girl."
After the rather awkward talk between father and…er… daughter, Tofu came back into the room, carrying a kettle of hot water and a packet of smelling salts. Handing one to Ranma, he held the other under Nodoka's nose.
Unfortunately, Ranma hesitated for a second before pouring the hot water over her head and her mother awoke in the middle of the change. Tofu caught her before she could faint again, and she sputtered out "How?"
Ranma just shook his head. "Same way I probably got here I'm guessin. Magic."
Tofu cleared his throat when no one seemed to want to speak after this exchange. "Well, Ranma. It seems you are in good enough health, although how you could recover that quickly still confuses me slightly. Since you don't seem to have a home, why not move into the Saotomes' house… if they'll have you."
Nodoka immediately nodded and Genma did so as well, all be it reluctantly. This person LOOKED like his son, however he had seen him die during the Neko-ken training and was reluctant to believe that he was still alive, no matter where he came from.
A few minutes later, the three left the clinic and proceeded to the Saotome home. Deciding that it was too late at night to do anything else, they all turned in to sleep for the night, Ranma taking the guest bedroom.
/The Next Day/
Ranma was awoken from his futon by his father's battle cry. "Wake up boy!" Going on instincts honed by long years on the road with the older man, he rolled out of the way of a kick meant to send him out the window and jumped to his feet.
"Hey pop! Why're ya wakin me up so early this mornin? It's a Sunday!" Completely forgetting the events of the night before, Ranma darted in to punch his father in the stomach.
The older man brought up his arm to defend, however he did it much slower than usual and Ranma landed the hit, sending him back into the far wall of the bedroom.
"Jeas pop, are you alright?" Ranma asked, kneeling over the older man. As he was catching his breath from the surprisingly hard punch from his son, 'Guess He's learned something in an extra six years,' Genma launched his legs into Ranma's stomach, propelling him out the window and into the Koi pond out back.
A few seconds later, he heard a splash and a feminine shout of "Why is it ALWAYS Water!"
Blinking in confusion, Genma walked over to the window and saw a redheaded girl pulling herself out of the water and giving him the evil eye. 'Oh right! That curse…' Even with this thought, Genma had just proven that the strange boy his wife found was, if not his son, at least a VERY competent student of anything goes.
As Ranma marched into the kitchen of the house, she cursed as she saw that there wasn't a kettle on the burner of the stove. 'But Kasumi always puts one out…' She thought, before realizing that she wasn't at the Tendo Dojo and remembering what had happened the previous day. (1)
Ranma put a kettle on the stove and opened the refrigerator, rummaging around inside for food. As she pulled her head out, she saw a groggy Nodoka walking into the kitchen. "Hey mom." She said, offhandedly.
Nodoka blinked a few times before remembering who the strange girl going through her refrigerator was. "Um…. Hello Ranma." She said, hesitantly. "Why are you a girl?"
Ranma shrugged. "Guess pops wanted to see if I was tellin the truth or somethin. He woke me up for a mornin sparring session and sent me through the window."
Just then, Genma walked in from up stairs, nursing a bruze on his stomach. "And you have one hell of a left, boy." He grumbled, sitting at the table.
Ranma shrugged. "Funny, I thought you were goin easy or somethin… you're never that slow."
"I haven't really practiced since the accident…" Genma admitted, in a somewhat shaky voice.
Ranma blinked. "Six years ago you said, Ain't that about the time of the Neko-Ken?" She shivered at the memory as she pulled a rather large cold plate from the fridge.
Genma went pale. "H… how do you know of that technique?" He asked, his voice trembling.
"'cuz ya trained me in it." Ranma said, the elder two almost missing the muttered "Stupid ol' man," which followed.
Nodoka looked curiously at Ranma. "What is this Neko-Ken?"
Ranma shrugged. "If pops hasn't told ya yet, I ain't gunna. I don't like pops much sometimes but I don't want him to die."
Nodoka blinked, before filing that away to ask her husband later, in private.
A few seconds later, Ranma hooked the kettle off of the stove and dumped it over her head. "I still find that… interesting…" Nodoka commented, looking over the now male form of her son.
"Annoying is more like it," Ranma muttered, "Everywhere I go I end up getting splashed somehow, but I guess I'm kinda lucky. Pops turned into a Panda and Ryoga into a… never mind… And poor shampoo turned into a C-C-C… thing." (2)
"So, are you going to school Ranma?" Nodoka asked, looking at her son as if to say, "You'd better!"
"Um… yeh, I guess… but isn't it Sunday?" Ranma asked, confused.
"No… it's Tuesday." Genma muttered, as he tore into a breakfast made by Nodoka.
"Aw crap." Ranma said, looking up at the clock. "I was positive it was Sunday. I don't have my stuff here though."
Nodoka smiled, pulling a black school bag out of nowhere. "Here you go."
Ranma blinked. "uh… Mom? Where'd you get that?"
Nodoka just shrugged. "I was planning on getting you back in school as soon as Genma got you home from the training trip… I guess I just forgot to get rid of the supplies."
Shrugging, Ranma put the pack on his back, grabbed a bento that seemed to also materialize from nowhere and hopped up to a nearby roof to start his run to school.
Nodoka just sat there gaping for a second, while Genma just shrugged.
As Ranma approached Furinkan High School, he saw a crowd of people around the front gates. 'I wonder what's goin on?" he thought, hopping down to street level.
As he got closer, he began to hear the murmurs of the crowd. "Oh, Akane's late today! I wonder what's going on? I'll beat her for sure today!"
"Oh no… not them." Ranma muttered, walking up to Nabiki, who was hiding in the back of the crowd, and asking what was going on, just to make sure.
Nabiki looked up at Ranma and looked him over, seeming to size him up for money making opportunities. "Oh, It's my sister's admirers… They come out here every morning. Would you like to place a bet on how long it'll take them to beat her? Nabiki's ice queen expression was perfect, giving no evidence to the seemingly new mark that her sister was going to make minced meat out of the crowd of boys in front of the school.
Reaching into the pocket of the tattered blue pants he was still wearing, Ranma found his wallet and fingered through it. He didn't have much money, and Nabiki owed him for all of those pictures she had taken. "I'll bet 3,000 yen that she'll flatten them." Ranma said, pulling out all of the money he had.
Nabiki blinked in surprise, accepting the money anyways, as if she refused, any other new marks would withdraw they're cash. Anyways, It didn't really matter. One loss didn't really do anything to her profits.
As Ranma left Nabiki to count her money, he hopped up onto the school wall, waiting to see Akane's entrance. He was wondering why the attacks hadn't stopped yet, as they had seemed to just fade away shortly after he had shown up. Shrugging, he spotted Akane, Running at full speed towards the horde of boys at the front gate, and automatically chucking her school bag to the closest person, who happened to be Ranma.
After Akane had ploughed through the horde of boys, Ranma noticed Tatewaki Kuno hiding behind a tree. As he was going to go down and pound the man, who he was still VERY angry at for pulling a sword at the wedding, he reminded himself that this wasn't the same guy.
After Akane had pounded Kuno, who Ranma could tell was, as always, holding back, she approached him on the wall and smiled. "Hello. I'm Akane. I'm sorry about throwing my bag at you like that, but I needed my hands free, you know?"
Ranma grinned back. "Sure. No problem. Here's your bag." Tossing it to Akane, he walked towards the school, deciding not to say anything else to her in case he accidentally insulted her again… not that he cared what SHE thought, of course. The mallet would just hurt, is all.
After going to the office and being temporarily assigned to Second year, class 2-E until he could take the Exam to get into Furinkan, Ranma got a bit of a shock. That was, he was in Nabiki and Kuno's class. Even Ranma realized that there was something wrong at this point, as Nabiki and Kuno were third year students… at least they were before he got ploughed over by Ryoga's attack.
"Hello Class," The teacher, a tall man with wire frame glasses, said. "This is a new student, Ranma Saotome. Why don't you tell us about yourself Mr. Saotome?"
Ranma walked up to the front of the class and scratched the back of his neck. "Hi. I'm Ranma. I'm a martial artist in the Saotome School of Anything goes."
The teacher nodded and said, "Alright Mr. Saotome. Why don't you sit back there, next to Ms. Tendo." Ranma flinched slightly but nodded, walking to the seat on the other side of Nabiki from Kuno and settling down.
After sleeping through English, history and Math, It was time for Ranma's favourite period. Getting up out of his desk, he headed for the school yard to enjoy his lunch… only to be stopped by Nabiki.
"Um.. Hi Tendo San." Ranma said, trying to act, badly, like he didn't know Nabiki.
"Hello Ranma baby." Nabiki said, in a voice reminiscent of the one she talked to Kuno in. "I have your winnings from this morning's bets here." Pulling out Ranma's three thousand yen, as well as another six, she handed it to him. "Now, do you mind telling me how you knew my sister would win that fight?"
Ranma searched his mind franticly for an excuse. He could see what Nabiki would do with the truth. He had found out, in the times when he was not asleep in class, that whatever Ryoga had done had done more than sending him to another dimension. He had also gone back a year in time, since last time he had checked it was 1993 and the calendar on the wall said 1992. Visions of Nabiki using him to predict sporting events flashed through Ranma's mind.
"I.. Um… heard of your Dojo and it's reputation." Ranma said, thinking quickly and trying to lie. "I heard that Akane Tendo was a good fighter and recognised your name."
"Really?" Came a voice from behind Ranma."
He spun, to see Akane grinning broadly at him. "How bout we spar sometime then? I heard from one of my friends in Nabiki's class that you're from Uncle Saotome's Martial arts school… He's really good."
Ranma shrugged, trying to figure out how he let Akane sneak up on him. Anyone who was a reasonably proficient martial artist could surprise him when he wasn't paying attention, however Akane usually showed up sounding like a herd of elephants to his trained senses. "I guess I could do that." He said, looking at Nabiki. "Ya don't wanna place a bet on that too, do ya?"
Nabiki smirked. "I don't think so. I learned my lesson about accepting bets from you the first time."
Ranma walked away from the two sisters, mentally thanking Kami that he had somehow bluffed his way through a bet with Nabiki and that she probably wouldn't bother him again. Boy, was he wrong. Thinking about Akane's request to spar, he decided that he wasn't going to make the mistake he had made the first time. He was going to actually fight her, even if he did hold back.
Nabiki and Akane looked after the new boy, speculatively.
"He's kinda cute." Nabiki said, looking him up and down.
Akane shrugged. "He's a boy… So long as he doesn't try anything perverted, he's alright."
Nabiki sighed at her younger sister's strange opinions on all things male and mentally wondered why she had invited him to spar with her if she thought he was a pervert.
Later in the lunch hour, Nabiki noticed a short red haired girl stomping into the school and squeezing out the bottom of a now drenched, as well as slightly torn, red shirt. Thinking that she'd seen those garments before, if on a slightly different person, she quickly followed the girl into the building. Pulling her camera out, just in case, she tracked the girl to the boys washroom and then watched her go inside. "Interesting." She muttered, walking up to the door to wait the girl out.
Ranma sighed as she made sure the bathroom was empty before stripping off her shirt and ringing it out. 'Why did the sprinklers under that tree HAVE to go off." She thought, running the water until it became hot. Splashing herself, he put his now slightly dryer, although still damp, red shirt on and opened the bathroom door, to find himself staring right at Nabiki.
"Uh, Hi Tendo San." Ranma stammered, looking slightly nervous.
TO Ranma's surprise, Nabiki pushed him aside and walked into the bathroom, looking around curiously. "Where'd she go." She muttered, looking around for the redhead who she had seen enter the room.
Ranma tried to back away while Nabiki was looking around the bathroom, but was quickly stopped by said girl turning around and saying, "Oh Ranma baby. If you go anywhere I'll report that you've been seeing a girl in the bathroom." He stopped cold and started stammering.
"But I haven't.. The only person in there was me, I swear."
"Then are you a cross dresser?" Nabiki asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"I ain't a cross dresser!" Ranma yelled, attracting the attention of several people in the hall.
"Well then Ranma, you're going to have to tell me what happened… now aren't you?" Nabiki asked, her curiosity peaked. She wasn't normally this persistent when chasing down rumour material, however THIS rumour seemed really good.
Ranma sighed. "Fine. Meet me at your place after school and I'll tell ya. Right after my spar with Akane… deal?"
Nabiki grinned, shark like. "Don't be late." She said, walking off.
Ranma sighed, thinking, 'Yep, things are shapin up to be the same here as they were at home…'
Notes.
(1) He was half asleep and suffering from morning amnesia… cut me some slack, okay?
(2) Don't you think Ranma'd think that would be a fate worse than death?
The emotional family reunion stuff is stuff I just can't write well… It'll either happen later, in a rewrite or I'll get a better drama writer than I to do it.
OOC Notice!
Genma and Nodoka WILL be OOC. For Genma, it's having one of his training methods blow up in his face. In addition, some of Nodoka's expectations of Ranma will be MUCH less strict, since she's just grateful to have him back at all. That is all.Chapter 3, Engagement? And Jusenkyo's death.
Nabiki Tendo held her camera in her hand, standing in the doorway to the Dojo and taking pictures of her younger sister, who was running through a rapid series of Katas in the middle of the room.
"Jeas Akane," she said, "No wonder boys think you're weird."
Her younger sister turned to her, glairing at her Camera as she responded. "There are more important things in the world than BOYS Nabiki." She said the word as if it dripped with venom.
Nabiki smirked. "Oh yeh, what about 'Ryo-Chan.'"
Akane stuttered and blushed for a few seconds, before choking out, "...I don't like Ryo-Chan Like that! Besides. He's different."
Nabiki just smirked knowingly before walking out of the dojo, throwing a parting word over her shoulder. "Ranma is going to be here for that spar you asked for soon. He had to stay after school to fill out some paper work."
Akane just nodded and went back to her Katas.
Nabiki's younger sister had always been a mystery to her. Ever since she was about 12, Akane had been calling anything male a pervert. From the way she acted, it was almost like something had happened to her to enforce that opinion, but Nabiki quickly dismissed that as an impossibility. After all, Akane was the best martial artist in the district, especially with Mr. Saotome training her. The confusing part about her sister was the fact that she, despite her rather strange beleafs in male perversity, still challenged any male martial artist she could find in order to learn his style. And then there was that strange Ryoga boy... but Nabiki just dismissed him as an oddity, as Akane seemed to have taken some sort of liking to him in spite of his gender.
As she walked past the front room of the house, Nabiki saw her father sitting across the Shogi board from Mr. Saotome, the two of them talking excitedly. This struck her as odd, as her father very rarely came out of his depression over her mother's death unless he was drunk and Mr. Saotome was almost as bad about his son and heir's death. 'Now what was that boy's name?' Secretly, Nabiki thought that Genma was just upset because his son wouldn't provide him with an easy retirement anymore, but he was training her sister so she left it alone.
Curling up on the living room couch with a ledger and a calculator to calculate her prophets from the day at school, Nabiki's thoughts drifted towards the boy who she had blackmailed into giving her information at the end of the day. She didn't particularly care if some boy and some girl were sneaking off into the bathroom together, however she could use it as material to hold over the boy's head, especially after he had won the bet that morning. What really interested her was how the girl had gotten out of the bathroom without her seeing her. Nabiki wasn't above spies to get her information, and one with the abilities that the girl must have in order to get past her would be useful.
As she contemplated the uses for a person that good at stealth tactics, Nabiki couldn't help but listen to her father and Mr. Saotome's conversation.
"Look Tendo. He has come back!" Mr Saotome said, adamantly.
"Saotome... Perhaps the grief of your loss has finally gotten to you old friend. Ranma is dead."
Nabiki perked up. 'Ranma?'
"Listen Tendo. Nodoka found him beat up in a back alley yesterday. Even if he isn't my son, he knows the Saotome School. I haven't assessed his skills fully in a sparring match yet but I saw him manifest Chi. He's good and he THINKS he's Ranma, so what else matters. Our retirement is secured!"
Soun shook his head slowly. "Saotome..."
Genma leaned towards Soun and looked into his face. "Look, Tendo. Ranma marries one of your daughters, inherits the Dojo and the two of us just sit back and relax. What could go wrong! Not to mention, the schools will finally be joined without me having to train your daughter in the more... dangerous... portions of the Saotome School."
"Dangerous?" Soun asked, gulping.
"Oh yes." Genma said, adopting a sage expression. "The Yama-Senken training is very hard and dangerous, not to mention the Neko-Ken..."
Soun went Demon head. "You will NOT train my daughter in that horrible technique!"
"And that's why we need to do this. Ranma told me this morning that he knows the Neko-Ken, and I can train him in the Yumi and Yama-Senken techniques later on. The schools will be secured and your beautiful daughters won't be harmed."
Soun reluctantly nodded, and Nabiki glared at the two of them from the couch. If what she was hearing was correct, That boy who was coming to spar with Akane and talk to her was Mr. Saotome's dead son brought back to life. If she had lived anywhere other than Nerima, Nabiki would never have believed it. What was worse, the two idiots were apparently planning to marry her or one of her sisters to the guy. True, he didn't seem all that bad, however Nabiki didn't want to get married just yet, Akane seemed to like Ryoga and Kasumi... well, no one really knew who Kasumi liked but her and Akane were gambling on Dr. Tofu.
Nabiki was jolted out of her deep thoughts by a knock at the door, which Kasumi answered. "Oh hello. Are you one of Akane's friends?"
After some muffled conversation from the person at the door, Kasumi led them into the living room, revealing a dripping wet red haired girl, still wearing an exact duplicate of Ranma's torn Chinese clothes.
Mr. Saotome looked up from the Shogi board, which both Soun and he were concentrating on fiercely now that their discussion was completed, and asked, "Boy? Why are you a girl?"
Nabiki, if she wasn't sitting on a couch, would have face faulted at such a stupid, and strange, question but the redhead just took it in stride.
"It was rainin." She muttered, pointing out the open porch doors to the downpour that was in progress.
"Saotome, Who's this?" Soun asked, looking curiously at the girl.
"Tendo, this is Ranma. He's got a bit of a... problem..." Genma said, looking sheepish.
"Wahhh! My old friend has gone crazy and thinks some poor girl is his son!" Soun wailed, twin tracks of tears rolling down his face.
Kasumi quickly walked into the kitchen uttering one of her trademarked "Oh My"s and getting out of the way of any potential strange events.
Nabiki raised an eyebrow, then spoke from the couch. "Daddy, I met Ranma this afternoon... he was definitely a boy. Mr. Saotome, stop playing around. Now, I've got to talk to this young lady alone." Saying this, Nabiki grabbed the arm of the startled, yet unresisting, redhead and pulled her up the stairs into her room.
Closing the door to her room, Nabiki sat down on her bed and looked the girl in front of her over. She was short, about 4.8 and had bright red hair tied in a pigtail. Her bust size was... impressive and she had a very nice figure, as Nabiki had developed an appraising eye for womens' figures ever since her 'Who will Kuno go after next' bets started and she had to be able to set the odds. This girl was one who Kuno would definitely go after.
Getting down to business, Nabiki crossed her arms under her chest and spoke. "Well, you came to see me instead of Ranma, eh?"
The girl just shrugged and opened her mouth to speak, before Nabiki cut her off. "Look. I know what Ranma's father has planned. I don't want to get engaged this early, Akane already has someone 'even if she won't admit it...' and I think Kasumi does as well. We don't have any interest in your boyfriend."
The girl's eyes widened in surprise, and then she appeared to look sick for a moment before opening her mouth again. "Um... Nabiki, I don't think you understand..."
Nabiki continued as if she didn't hear the other girl, as she knew that she had to get her proposal out first so that she would have an advantage in negotiations. "Now, as for you and Ranma meeting in the boys bathroom... I can keep that quiet for a few little... favours."
Nabiki blinked as the girl sweat dropped and turned red. "Um... Nabiki." She said, looking embarrassed. "There's something about me you really should know."
Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "And that is?"
"I really am Ranma. I have this curse ya see..."
Five minutes later, Nabiki was actually grinning. The girl's story was very funny, however someone who could come up with a lie THAT outlandish and manage to tell it with a straight face would be an asset to her.
"You don't believe me, do ya?" The girl asked, still looking perfectly honest.
Nabiki shook her head. "Nope. You know, if you're going to tell a lie at least make it believable." Nabiki was surprised as the girl got up off of her bedroom floor, where she had slumped shortly after starting the story of Jusenkyo, and walked out.
"Hey, where are you going?" Nabiki asked, as she chased after the smaller girl.
Ranma didn't stop to answer Nabiki as she walked to the bathroom, opened the door and started running hot water into the sink.
'What is she doing?' Nabiki wondered, before remembering the part of Ranma's story in which she told about the triggers of the curse. 'Was she serious?'
Nabiki's question was quickly answered as the girl in front of her splashed herself with a handful of water and turned into a boy.
"Hey Nabiki?" Ranma asked, snapping his fingers in front of her face as Nabiki stood, stunned, three minutes later. "You okay?"
Nabiki quickly shook her head and blinked rapidly at the boy in front of her. True, his transformation was strange but she had seen stranger ones before. That time Kuno had accidentally put on enchanted armour made for a female warrior, for example... (2)
"Um, Nabiki?" Ranma asked, hesitantly.
"Yes Ranma?" Nabiki asked, still in a little bit of shock.
"Is there any way I can keep you from spreading this around school?" Ranma asked, hopefully.
Nabiki thought for a minute, scratching the back of her right hand with her left in a rather peculiar mannerism that Ranma had never noticed her use before. Of course, Ranma was usually too nervous that Nabiki would ask him to pay back the massive debt that he had managed to build up before. After a few seconds, Nabiki said, "Well, All you have to do is do me a few favours, like I said earlier. Just be on call to help me for... about a month. Deal?"
Ranma shrugged. "You help me keep the curse under raps, or if it gets out you help me spread the TRUE version of events and I don't do anything dishonourable as a favour to you. Sound good?" Ranma had negotiated with Nabiki before, and the last time he had agreed to do "Favours" for her, he had ended up using the Umi-Senken to sneak into the principles office to copy school records.
Nabiki smiled. "Deal." And shook Ranma's hand, before they're fathers suddenly burst up the stairs that they were now standing in front of.
"See Tendo, I told you he was really a boy!" Genma said, pointing at Ranma. "We can join the schools, and he's already friends with Nabiki there."
Soun looked Ranma over, before extending a finger and poking his chest. "Wow, that's the first time anyone's ever done that to me in normal form." Ranma muttered, looking at Soun strangely.
Soun smiled and a small river of tears leaked out of each eye, trickling down his cheeks. "Yes... the schools can be joined. He does seem rather partial to Nabiki, doesn't he?"
Nabiki saw where this was going, and began to back up.
Since he had gone through this before, Ranma also saw where this was going and began to back up as well, bumping into Nabiki and stopping them both in they're tracks.
"It's settled then! Ranma, you shall marry Nabiki as a matter of family honour to unite the schools!" Genma said, proudly raising his hand into the air in a sign of victory.
Nabiki wondered why she heard Ranma mutter, "not again," before his inevitable vocal objection. Of course, his vocal objection was really strange.
"Pop, you tried the Tendo agreement before." Ranma said, coolly.
Genma blinked. "What, boy?"
"Where I originally came from. You engaged me N' Akane. We fought you for a year on it, and were still not married when I got sent here."
Nabiki was very confused now, but remembered Mr. Saotome's comment about finding Ranma in an alley and revised her opinion of "Ranma the ghost" to "Ranma from somewhere else."
"Well," Genma said happily, "This isn't Akane, is it. This is Nabiki. I'm sure she'll be good and marry you..."
Ranma and Nabiki both glared at the older man and Soun interjected. "Come on Saotome. Let's not push them right away... let them get to know each other first and all that."
As the two men passed by, headed back down stairs, Ranma could already hear them cooking up one of they're marriage plans.
"It's gunna be one of those days..." Nabiki muttered, holding her head with her hand. Ranma just nodded sympathetically.
(Joketsu Zoku, China, Bayankala mountain range.)
The old woman stared out over the edge of a cliff, looking down at the valley below it. The sacred valley of the springs, or as the ignorant outsiders, and the guide, called it, the cursed springs. Fortunately, the ignorant outsiders hadn't come around for a long time and the family of guides hadn't been seen for about 200 years... ever since the springs dried up.
The woman's white hair waved rapidly in the breeze as she jumped up from her sitting position, on to the top of a staff, and pogoed down the Cliffside into the valley. Responding to a pull that she had been feeling since the day before, she walked towards one spring, stepping into the dried and cracked crater that used to be filled with water. Picking up a rotting board from next to the spring, she read, "Nyanniichuan. (Spring of drowned girl)"
She sat down in the middle of the spring, going by the urging of her instincts, throwing the three hundred years of wisdom she had accumulated in her life to the side as she fell into a meditative trance and the magic that still clung weakly to the dead ground of what used to be a beautiful yet cursed valley assisted her well honed Chi senses, allowing her to detect a large power in Japan... one with signs of Amazon Martial skill manipulation in it's aura... this one knew the soul of ice.
'Someone knows the forbidden technique? Could it be the Prophecy?' Cologne thought, before getting up, jumping on to her staff and pogoing back to the village of Amazon Women. (1)
Notes.
(1) There are reasons for Jusenkyo being dried up and the soul of ice being forbidden. I'm not telling them, they'll eventually show up.
(2) Feh, who said Ranma brought the insanity to Nerima?
When I can write it well enough, I will publish the prophecy as a separate chapter. Of Course, who knows when that will be and until then you'll hear it mentioned without it being explained... MWAHAHAHAHA!
Sorry this took so long, I don't write well while in school. Well, R&R or I'll sick Mousse with a Yasunituan water gun on you!
Final note! Yes, I know Genma wouldn't teach Akane the Umi-Yama-senken techs or the Neko-Ken, however it is a good incentive to soun, Ne?
Prophecy.
Translated from the original Chinese Amazon Dialect by pu-Rina of the Musk free press.
In an era of warring states, countries clashing and broken armour plates, there shall be a battle fought, of proportions epic and importance not.
The Dragon king of an animal tribe, shall trod upon a phoenix pride, Their peoples' warriors constantly ride, till the kingdoms' dead and the springs dried.
The final battle between the two, destroys the river flowing true, Kensezan defaced, the valley laid waist and the dragon laid to rest.
After the death of the Dragon king, the phoenix shall spread his fiery wings, Laying the land around him low, Till forth a new warrior shall go.
One with Soul of ice and aura of fire, proud yet caring and full of desire, opposite forms and one soul, the last of the springs' blessed fold.
This one shall fight the phoenix king, bring back the valley of the springs, bringing peace to the Amazon tribe, allowing it's warriors to once again walk with pride.
Chapter 4, discontent in the empire.
Kiemma of the Phoenix people walked through the tunnels deep in phoenix mountain, carrying her spear at her side and patrolling the area for any intruders. Grumbling about the indignity of the captain of the phoenix god's personal guard being put on patrol detail, she missed the shadowy figure who was hanging back in one of the side corridors.
As the disgruntled guard captain walked past, a small, old figure melted out of the shadowy darkness of the wall, carrying a large brown bag filled with food supplies and various types of treasure. After grinning lecherously and appreciatively at the receding figure of the lead guardswoman, he hopped down the hall in the other direction to get out of the stronghold of Lord Saffron. Hopping down the mountain side, The figure spotted it's target, a tall, regal looking man who wore rusted and tattered dragon scale armour and who's long, white and greenish hair was tied back in a ponytail to avoid getting in his way during a fight.
"Hello, Herb Chan!" The old figure said, bounding up to the younger man.
"Will you stop calling me that?" The younger one growled, kicking a leg out to catch the old man in the stomach, only to have it jumped over.
"Aw, I'm sorry Herb-Chan. It's just that if the valley still existed, your aura would almost certainly draw you to my favourite spring!" The old man cackled, causing the younger one to grit his teeth. The old man, known as Happosai, had been saying strange things like that ever since Herb had met him six years ago, and it still got on his nerves.
"Sometimes, I wish we'd never let you out of that stupid cave your students locked you in." Herb muttered, as he took the sack of supplies from the old man and began the long walk to the Joketsu zoku village. True, the Village needed as many allies as it could possibly get, and that was why Herb himself was part of they're warrior force even though he was a male, however the old freak stretched even the oldest of elders' patience.
Herb looked back on his life so far. He had been trained in some of the best of the Chinese Amazons' techniques since his birth, and seemed to have an excessively large store of chi, however even he couldn't take on the mighty god of the phoenix mountain… after all, it had been his great grandfather that the monster had killed so long ago and he had had much more draconian blood than Herb himself.
As he and Happosai walked into the Village, Herb noticed a commotion near the elders' meeting hut. Deciding to check it out, he dropped the bag of supplies for some lower level warriors to pick up later and walked towards the hut, entering with permission of the guard that stood at the door.
"…And I'm telling you that it's the fulfilment of the prophecy!" Elder cologne yelled, getting up on the top of her staff.
"How do you know this?" Elder sa-ge, a former musk royal advisor asked, Raising his eyebrows.
"I felt it." Cologne said adamantly, banging her staff on the floor of the chamber. "There is someone in Japan who can weald the soul of ice. That person also seems to have a Jusenkyo curse, as the springs them selves showed the aura to me. This is the warrior of opposites that the scrolls speak of, I'm sure of it."
Elder Bi-Dea, one of the eldest and a leader of the council, looked to Herb, who had just entered the room. "Herb, how goes the defence against phoenix raiders. Can we spare some warriors to investigate this claim?"
Herb shrugged. "Well, the last phoenix attack was a few weeks ago, and they just seem to be destroying any advancements we try to make. As far as I can tell, we should be fine as long as we do not let Saffron know of our plans."
Bi-Dei nodded, looking at Cologne. "You may go looking for this warrior… If it is the one then it is very important that we find them. Take two warriors with you and do NOT inform the phoenix of your leaving. You are one of our best boarder guards."
Cologne nodded solemnly, Hopping to the top of her staff and pogoing out of the chamber.
Bi-Dea continued. "Herb, do you wish to go?"
Herb blinked. He did want to go with the elder if she was, indeed, trying to find the chosen one, however he never thought that the council would let him leave the village during a time of war. Nodding his head vigorously, He said "Yes honoured elder." In a tone that verged on being disrespectful before running out of the chamber after Cologne.
"Should we have done that?" Elder So-Pu, an elder on the same level as Bi-Dea, asked.
Bi-Dea shrugged. "Well, if the young male is correct then we shouldn't have to worry about the phoenix for a little while and he may help Cologne convince this warrior to come back to help the tribe. let's just hope that we are not just grasping at straws in our desperation."
The other elders nodded before the meeting of the Joketsu Zoku council was closed for the day.
Xian Pu, the greatest female warrior of the Joketsu Zoku, hammered her fists into a wooden board as quickly as possible, causing a rapid machinegun like "Rattattatta" sound to echo around the clearing she was in. At the moment, she was taking out her frustrations that related to a certain elderly pervert who ran through the village and groped every female in sight.
'Why do we need that stupid old man?' She thought, renewing her strikes against the board with savage intensity. Of course, she knew why the tribe needed that stupid old man, and all of the other men that fought for it. Their old "Men are weak" rules had been tossed out more than a hundred years ago, along with the marriage laws… all because of the phoenix tribe's constant quest to wipe them off of the map. Of course, the only really useful male warriors in the entire tribe were Herb and Happosai, and she would much rather not think of the latter. Herb however, was another story.
Shampoo's angry punches began to slow down and lose their fury as she thought of the tall man, who was apparently the heir to the now destroyed musk kingdom. Of course, those two idiots who called them selves his guards, Lime and Mint, on the other hand needed a good kick in the (Expletive deleted.) The bunch of perverts.
As shampoo wheeled around to plant a hard crescent kick into the punching board, she heard a rustling noise from the bushes nearby and changed the kick's trajectory to slam into whatever was in them.
When she heard a loud Thwack! noise and felt a stinging sensation in her lower leg, she looked at her target to see an annoyed old woman holding her leg off with a staff.
"Xian Pu, will you please pull back?" Cologne said, semi-sweetly as she glared at her great granddaughter.
Shampoo giggled nervously as she lowered her leg to the ground, wincing as it touched and sent a shooting pain up and down it's length. "I'm sorry great grandmother. I was lost in thought." She said, meekly.
"I could see that." Cologne muttered, giving shampoo a strange look. "Well, I came here to ask you if you would like to go on a journey with me, child."
"A Journey?" Shampoo asked, looking confused at her elder's words.
"Yes. I am going to Japan to find a warrior that may help us in our fight against the Phoenix tribe. I was allowed to take two warriors and was wondering if you would like to be one of them."
Shampoo grinned happily. 'shampoo go Japan? Shampoo been practicing Japanese. Speak too too good, yes?'
Cologne grinned at her great granddaughter's rather clumsy grasp of Japanese. 'you could do better.' She said, before a second rustling sound in the bushes drew the attention of Shampoo and her great grandmother.
'Well,' Said a third voice, this one male, 'I speak perfect Japanese.'
Cologne blinked. "Herb, are you coming with us?"
Herb came out of the bushes, brushing leaves off of his old and warn armour. "Well, the council said I could and I would be glad to help in the finding of a new warrior for the tribe."
Cologne cackled before hopping up onto her old walking stick. "Well then, you two had better get packed."
(Tendo Dojo, Nerima, Tokyo, Japan.)
Ranma stood in the Dojo across from Akane, who was stretching out in a warm up Kata. After the fathers had announced the engagement a while ago, Nabiki had just thrown up her hands in disgust and said something about talking to him later,, so Ranma decided to get his spar in with Akane before he left for home. Nabiki's comments about Akane "Having Someone" caused Ranma to be a little nervous, even if he wouldn't admit it.
"Are you ready?" Akane spoke up, breaking Ranma from his thoughts.
Ranma shook his head to clear his mind and then nodded, putting his hands behind his back in the Saotome school's classic null stance.
Akane recognised this stance, as Genma had used it plenty of times to throw her off guard. Approaching the boy cautiously, she threw a few experimental punches, all of which were dodged. The boy came back with a punch to the stomach that Akane felt should have hurt more than it did.
Akane growled as the boy flipped over her head, landing a kick at the small of her back that sent her forward. Quickly rebalancing, she came around in a spinning kick and… missed completely, causing the boy to come in and shove her to the ground.
"Do you yield?" The boy asked, crushing Akane's right hand under his arm, however not using enough force to really hurt.
Akane's eye began to twitch as she saw where the boy's other hand was.
Realizing that something was wrong, Ranma looked around rapidly before realising that there was a.. soft… sensation coming from his left hand. Looking down, his face went white as he realized where his hand was just before Akane decked him and yelled "Pervert!"
Ranma groaned as he came to consciousness, feeling an Akane trademark headache coming on. "Uncute Tomboy." He muttered, before looking around to see Nabiki and Kasumi staring at him.
"So Saotome, what did you do?" Nabiki asked, quirking an eyebrow.
Ranma sighed. "I forgot she was a girl, that's what." He muttered, rubbing at the bump on his head.
Kasumi blinked. "What?"
"I used a submission hold that holds your arms to your body and applies steady pressure to your upper body by pressing down on the chest… in a spot that girls tend ta flatten you for tuchin."
"You mean you groped her Saotome?" Nabiki asked, putting on a look of fake hurt. "I thought I was your fiancée."
Ranma stuttered. "Uh… n-no.. it was an accident I swear. And besides, I didn't think you wanted me as a fiancé and… and…"
Nabiki keeled over laughing and Ranma glared at her, swearing that he'd get her back for that stunt somehow.
Later, as Ranma walked home, dragging a dead drunk Genma behind him, he thought of the events of the day so far. School hadn't really been all that bad, but the second he showed up at the Tendos' things had gone straight down the tubes. He just HAD to accidentally cop a feel on Akane. If she didn't think he was a pervert before, she sure would now. For some reason, that made him feel bad… even if he didn't want anything to do with the Uncute Tomboy… and besides, she had someone else. Nabiki said so.
Looking ahead, Ranma saw the front porch of his mother and father's home. Deciding that the Ex-Panda man needed to suffer, he continued to drag his father instead of hoisting him up over the edge of the railing.
"Hey Mom. I'm home!" Ranma yelled, dragging his father into the front hall and putting him down next to the shoe mat. Hearing no response to his call, Ranma kicked off his shoes onto his father's head and walked deeper into the house.
As he walked up the stairs to the second floor, Ranma heard a sniffling sound from his parents' room. Walking up and knocking on the door, he got no answer.
"Hey… mom, you okay?" He asked, tentatively reaching for the door handle.
When no response came, Ranma opened the door to see his mother laying on the bed with a piece of paper in her hands and her Katana laying next to her.
Seeing the paper, Ranma sighed and had one of his more perceptive moments. "Don't worry. You wouldn't have done it."
His mother's head snapped up and she looked at him in shock. "R-Ranma?" She asked, before hiding the paper behind her back.
"Relax mom. I know what that thing is." Ranma said, sitting next to the older woman. Fishing around in his pockets, he came out with his beaten up wallet and reached in. pulling out a scrap of burnt paper, he handed it over to her. "This was all that was left of it after ya burnt it."
Nodoka looked down at the charred piece of paper and then took the whole one out from behind her back and matched up a corner. Smiling, she threw the sepuku contract down onto the floor and fell into Ranma's shoulder, sobbing.
As Nodoka was currently putting out a Tendo waterworks subsidiary, the inevitable happened and the shoulder she was crying against suddenly became a bit smaller and softer. Pulling back, she looked the red haired girl in front of her over and quirked an eyebrow. "Out of curiosity," She asked in a half amused, half surprised voice, "How did I manage to think you were manly?"
Ranma grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of her head. "Well, we were all on this vacation and…"
Half way through Ranma's story, Nodoka yelled "Genma did what!" before Ranma could continue.
After a few hours of Ranma telling his mother about his life, in which Genma still stayed Catatonic, The two decided to go to bed. After all, Ranma had school the next morning.
TO BE CONTINUED!
Okay. Sorry for the long wait for updates. Don't you people miss the days of summer where I'd pump out about 2500 a day? Oh well. Sorry if this chapter is kinda bad but the second half of it was written under writer's block… Cya soon and R&R!