As always, any comments, suggestions, praise, money, and criticism can
be sent to:
oddball22@hotmail.com
DISCLAIMER: You may have heard it before but I'll say it again. I don't
own any of this stuff! Nabiki bought the Rights and left me with only a
5% cut! I might've gotten more if it weren't for those embarrassing
photos with Kodachi...
Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
Winds of Change
Chapter 2
The flames came closer and closer, the boy cried and screamed
for his parents, but he received no reply. He tried to run, but his
wrists and ankles were attached to chains that bound him. As the flames
reached him and began to burn away his flesh, a hideous laugh echoed in
the distance.
"Yaaaugh!"
He awoke to the sight of a darkened room. Where am I? Taking
stock of his position, he noted he was laying on a futon under a blanket
and his head was on a pillow. There was a wet rag on his forehead and
all he had on was a pair of shorts.
As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, his ears detected the
opening of a shoji panel. For some reason, he felt incredibly scared.
His heart was pumping very fast, and he had the distinct impression that
he was in danger. Have to get out of here!
The wet rag was removed from his forehead and sounds of water
sloshing could be heard. He tried to speak, but his voice came out very
hoarse. "Who are you?"
The voice that answered him was sweet and almost melodic. "My
name is Tendo Kasumi. How are you feeling?"
The voice almost lulled him into a state of some peacefulness,
but the danger instinct was still roaring. Something is very wrong...
he thought. But what? What am I doing here? And why do I ache? Did they
do something to me? A flash of pain thrummed in his head. Why can't I
remember anything!? Somehow, he knew he needed to get out of here.
"A little worn out," he answered at last. "Where am I? What
happened to me?"
"You're at the Tendo Dojo," she replied, replacing the wet rag
on his forehead. "We found you outside and brought you in. You've been
unconscious for a couple hours." She stood up. "I'll let the others know
you're awake."
As she turned around, the youth bit back a groan from the
headache that was pounding in his brain. She seems nice, but... He
winced with the pain, and the feeling of danger was demanding immediate
action. It's so difficult to think. I... I need to get out of here. He
got up slowly and silently. A wave of vertigo threatened to send him
back down, but he fought it off and regained his feet.
Moving quickly, he wrapped his arms around the girl's neck
before she could leave the room, and held tight. "Don't scream and I
won't hurt you. Now, how do I get out of here?"
Before she could answer, another girl with short, dark blue
hair and wearing a white gi appeared in the doorway. "Kasumi, how is
he..." She froze as she beheld the situation inside. "KASUMI! Let her
go!"
The youth watched her go into a threatening combat stance.
"Back off or she gets hurt! All I want is to get out of here." Another
wave of nausea swept through him, but again, he fought it off.
Amazingly, the girl he was holding seemed quite calm. "It's
okay, Akane. He won't hurt me. Let's just do what he wants."
"But..." it was clear Akane didn't want to. Reluctantly, she
nodded. "Okay." She switched her gaze to the youth. "If you let Kasumi
go unharmed, we won't stop you from leaving."
"That's better," he said. "Now back up slowly and give me room."
As he guided his hostage into the hall, a patter of feet
sounded and several figures burst up a set of stairs behind Akane. The
three newcomers were all men and were all wearing practice gis as well,
two white and one brown.
The one in the brown gi spoke as soon as he saw what was going
on. "Kasumi! Don't hurt my daughter!"
"Like I told the other lady, back off or she gets it!" he
commanded. He tightened his grip on her neck for emphasis. "I'll break
her neck if you don't!" Some part of him knew he could never do that,
but they didn't need to know that. Especially since the girl he was
holding seemed to radiate a peacefulness that made him not want to do
anything to hurt her.
"We better do as he says," the big guy with the glasses said at
last. "We're backing off."
"But, pop!" the younger man with the pig-tail objected.
"Ranma!" the man, who was apparently this Ranma's father, yelled
back. "Just do it!"
Ranma seemed to accept this reluctantly and the group descended
backwards down the stairs. "At least tell us who you are!" the pig-
tailed boy demanded.
The boy's eyes narrowed. "What? Don't you know who I am?"
Fighting through the pounding of his headache, he discovered something.
Who am I? I-I don't know my name! The realization sparked both fear
and anger in him. "What did you do to me!? I don't even know who I am!"
"Listen, mister!" Akane shouted. "We were only trying to help
you when you fell into our yard! You're the one holding my sister
hostage!"
"We can help you if you'll just trust us," Kasumi told him.
The man hissed in pain. "Why should I? For all I know you could
be trying to pull some trick on me!"
"If you don't take a chance, you will never know," she replied.
Somehow her words penetrated his pained brain. This was not the
correct course of action for him to be taking, but he was at a loss as
to explain why. Slowly, his arms around her neck relaxed.
That was all the opening Ranma and Akane needed. Moving
quickly, Ranma struck while Akane freed Kasumi from the young man's
grasp. Being attacked on the inside already by a strong headache and
waves of nasuea, he didn't have a chance. Still, he managed to feebly
block a few attacks, then multiple punches got through his pitiful
defense and he folded to the ground.
"You lied..." was all he could gasp before passing out.
"Kasumi, are you okay?" her younger sister asked.
Soun took the oppurtunity to wail that his daughter was okay.
"Oh my, yes I'm quite fine," Kasumi replied. "You needn't have
done that, though, I really was in no danger."
Akane boggled. "But... but... He could have snapped your neck!"
"I very much doubt that. He seemed like a nice young man, not
the sort who really could have hurt someone."
Ranma shook his head and toed the youth on the ground. "What do
we do with him?"
"If you would, please take him upstairs, Ranma-kun," said
Kasumi. "Then fetch Tofu-sensei again. He will need his new injuries
attended to."
He awoke again, and groaned in pain. What happened? Events
flashed through his mind. Oh yeah, I took that chick hostage and then
that boy... What was his name? Oh yeah, Ranma. He attacked me. I'll have
to get him for that. He opened his eyes once again to the same settings
he awoke to earlier.
"Feeling better?" came the voice Kasumi as she dabbed the
washcloth on his forehead. "You were only out for about four hours or so
this time. I'm glad Ranma-kun didn't hurt you too bad."
He croaked out the only word on his mind. "Why?"
"He's a bit protective of us, you see, so you'll have to forgive
him."
He shook his head, but it only moved a few centimeters. "No,
why are you doing this? I could've have killed you. I could do so again.
You obviously aren't a fighter."
She smiled sweetly at him. "No, I don't believe you would do
that. You seem like a nice young man."
"And we're here to make sure you don't repeat it!" came another
female voice somewhere else in the room.
"That's nice of you, Akane-chan, but I told you we're in no
danger," Kasumi admonished. "Now, I told you my name, and you've met my
younger sister Akane and her fiance, Saotome Ranma. May I ask your
name?"
He closed his eyes. "I... don't know. I don't remember much."
Something flashed in his head. "Kenji, I think. Yeah, that seems right."
He opened his eyes again. "Where am I? What happened to me?"
"We were kinda hopin' you could tell us," Ranma answered. "All
we know is that you fell inta the pond outside several hours ago and
have been out of it since. Except for when you woke up several hours
ago. Do ya remember anything else?"
Kenji concentrated and tried to pull up something, but his
memory was mostly a blur. Images here and there but nothing concrete.
"No, I... I can't remember anything! Why can't I remember! What's going
on!?" He tried to get up, but the parts of him that would respond,
answered with pain. He only managed to get up part way before collapsing
again in painful spasms.
"Take it easy, Kenji-san," came the voice of another woman. He
turned and saw a very nice looking older woman kneeling near the foot of
his bed. She was wearing a light blue kimono with flower patterns, and
her gentle face somehow made him calm down. "My name is Saotome Nodoka,
and this is my husband, Genma." She pointed to the large man wearing a
dirty-white gi, glasses, and a bandanna over his bald head, who was
kneeling next to her. "And you are in the Tendo Dojo."
"So why am I here?" Kenji asked, a bit angrily. "And why can't I
remember anything!?"
"We don't know," said another man who walked into the room
wearing a dark brown gi and glasses. "My name is Ono Tofu and I'm a
doctor. From what I can tell, you have amn- Ka-Ka-Kasumi! What a
concidence to meet you here of all places!"
"Oh boy," Ranma groaned.
"Ah, Kasumi," Akane said, standing up. "Mind stepping out for a
second?"
Her older sister smiled. "Why, of course not. I'll just go make
some tea." She allowed herself to be led out of the room. As she stepped
out, she could be heard giggling and saying, "Dr. Tofu is so silly!"
Ranma shook his head, then shook Tofu. "Okay doc, you were
saying?"
The doctor cleared his throughts. "Yes, it appears Kenji-san
has amnesia. He also seems to be suffering from a slight case of smoke
inhalation, as well as several bruises and light burns over his body."
"The bruises are kinda my fault," Ranma admitted.
Kenji glared at him, then turned to the doc. "So, when can I
get my memory back?"
Tofu sighed. "I don't know. It could take a couple of days, or
a couple of years. There's no trauma to his head so..." A horrified look
appeared on Kenji's face. Tofu smiled and tried to comfort him. "I'll
have to run some more tests, but there is a very good chance of getting
your memory back."
"What do we do with him in the meantime?" Akane asked, coming
back into the room.
"He can stay with us," Nodoka offered. "Would you like that,
Kenji-san?"
A confused look appeared on his face. They want me to stay
after what I almost did to one of them? Well, I really don't have
anywhere else to go. "I suppose..."
"Now wait just a minute!" Akane objected. "He tried to hurt
Kasumi! How can we trust him?"
"If he promises on his honor as a martial artist not to harm any
of us, that would be good enough for me," Ranma suggested.
"A martial artist?" Kenji asked confused. "Why do you think
that?"
He shrugged. "The way you held Kasumi, and your stance when I
attacked you. You assumed it automatically, and even tried to block some
of my punches. You've had some martial arts training at least."
Kenji considered that, and martial arts didn't seem like an
alien concept to him. "Alright, I promise. Provided I'm free to leave at
any time!"
"Of course, dear," Nodoka agreed. "You never were a prisoner.
You are our guest."
He nodded, somewhat grateful. "Arigato."
Tofu stood up. "It's okay if you want to get up. Just don't
strain or exhaust yourself for the rest of the day, and get plenty of
sleep tonight." Tofu smiled and then left.
Kenji suddenly realized that all he was wearing was a pair of
boxers and he blushed mildy. "Um, do I have any other clothes?" he asked
shyly.
"Just the ones we found you in, and they're being washed,"
Nodoka got up. "However, I'm sure my son, Ranma, would be kind enough to
lend you some." She smiled and then began to usher people out of the
room until only Ranma and Kenji were left.
Ranma got up and began to sift through his closet. "Well, I
suppose I got something in here for you."
Kenji could only nod.
He ended up wearing almost the exact same red Chinese shirt and
black pants that Ranma had on. Apparently this Ranma didn't have much
variety in the way of clothes.
The rest of the day was spent with Kenji walking around to get
his strength back. He also began to learn a bit about the family he was
now staying with, and they it turn tried to help jog his memory.
Despite numerous attempts, Kenji could only remember his first
name and that he was 17. If he tried to probe too deep into his mind, a
pounding headache was his only reply. He seemed to be quite intelligent
and knowledgeable; in fact the only things he didn't know were where he
was from and any particular details about his past. The family
eventually relaxed their attempts to get him to remember, since pain
obviously accompanied most of his deeper concentrations
"Kenji-san, you ok?" Nodoka asked.
"I'm fine," Kenji gasped as the headache slowly vanished. "I...
just had a headache,
that's all."
Genma cocked his head thoughtfully. "Hmmm... Strange that you
experienced this pain while trying to pull up your forgotten memories. I
wonder if that means something?"
"Well, I think it's pretty obvious," Nabiki stated. She had come
home later to find this new person at the dojo. Naturally, she was
suspicious of him, especially after hearing how he took Kasumi hostage.
In her opinion, whenever someone new showed up at the dojo, violence and
trouble followed. Ryoga, Pantyhose Taro, Rouge, Ryu Kumon, and even the
innocent looking Natsume and Kurumi, all these encounters resulted in at
least some damage to the house and dojo; not to mention putting people's
lives at risk.
"What is?" Soun asked.
"His memory is just fine," she said simply. "He's just doing
this to get as much info out of us as he can." She leveled a gaze at
Kenji. "So, just why are you here, hmmm?"
"Now really, Nabiki-chan," Kasumi admonished. "I told you he's a
nice young man."
The middle Tendo sister stood up. "Whatever. There is such as
thing as being too trusting." She turned and pointed a finger at the
amnesiac youth. "I'll be keeping an eye on you, boy."
Kenji shrugged and looked uninterested. "Whatever."
Her expression didn't change, but she did leave the room.
Akane had watched the exchange and found herself wondering.
It's true we don't know anything about him, but I get the impression
Kenji is more scared than anything else. If I woke up without my
memories in a strange place, I might've done the same thing. And Kasumi
seems to trust him...
"Ahem, well, in the meantime you can stay in the dojo," Soun
offered. "I'm sorry to say all the rooms are taken, so we're a bit full
at the moment. We should have a spare futon for you though. And you can
stay here as long as you help out."
"Unlike certain other freeloaders..." Akane muttered, but only
Ranma heard as he was the closest to her. He grumbled something
unintelligable.
When Nodoka had heard Soun speak about the full rooms, she
looked down. It was the Saotome's fault that the Tendos were having to
put them up. But until her home was rebuilt, they had nowhere else to
go.
"Thanks, I..." Kenji sighed. These do seem like nice people. I
guess I find it hard to believe they could be responisble for my memory
lapse. Now that my headache is gone, it's a lot easier to think. "I
guess I owe you people something of an apology, especially you Kasumi-
san. I..." He seemed to be searching for the words, and failing. I can
at least let them think I can be trusted. But if it turns out they had
something to do with my condition...
Kasumi simply smiled sweetly (say THAT three times fast!) and
offered him some tea.
"Ranma, Akane-chan, why don't you take him around town
tomorrow," Nodoka suggested. "See if anybody knows him, and maybe get
him some clothes to use while he stays with us."
Akane nodded, hesitantly at first. "Hai." She yawned. "Well,
it's getting late." She turned to her fiance. "Ranma, would you get him
a futon and show him to the dojo?"
Ranma looked startled. "Uh, yeah, sure." He turned to Kenji.
"Come on, let's get you settled in."
Kenji nodded and followed him outside.
After settling him in the dojo, Ranma went back inside, into
the living room where everyone else was sitting. Nabiki had returned and
Akane took her seat next to Ranma.
"So, who else is buying this story?" Nabiki asked at last.
"Now Nabiki, Tofu-sensei does believe he has amnesia," Soun
said. "As far as we know, he is telling the truth."
"Amnesia isn't an easy thing to confirm," Nabiki added. "It
would be easy to fake it to get into this house. For all we know, he
could've been sent by someone else for some deeper purpose. "
Akane scowled at her sister, but relented. "I suppose you're
right. We'll just have to keep an eye on him. We've had more than one
visitor turn out to be bad news."
"But he seems like such a nice boy, if a bit confused and
scared," Kasumi said. "It would be wrong of us to act unhospital to him
in his condition."
Nabiki shook her head. "I suppose you're right. We'll just have
to watch him carefully. I'll see what info I can dig up on him, and if
he tries anything, I'll know it."
Akane turned to her fiance. "You've been awfully quiet about
this, Ranma. What do you think of him?"
The pig-tailed martial artist shrugged. "He seems okay. And
Kasumi-san was right. He could've hurt her, but he didn't." He
straightened. "I'm not sayin' he's not out to get us or somethin', but
he doesn't seem like such a bad guy."
Soun nodded. "It's agreed then. We help him, but keep our eyes
open. Obviously, something or someone is bound to follow this boy for
one reason or another, and chances are we'll be drawn into it. It's a
martial artist's duty to help those in need."
The other's nodded their ascent, though Akane noted Ranma
didn't. Instead, he slipped out of the room.
Kenji had just settled himself into his futon and was preparing
to go to sleep when he heard the door open. Since his back was to the
door, all he heard were footsteps and then the door closing again. The
footsteps walked over to him and stopped. He guessed it must be Ranma.
He tried to surpress the fear instinct he felt, even as he braced
himself for whatever may happen next.
"Hey Kenji," came the voice of Ranma. "You still awake?"
Kenji turned onto his back and look up at Ranma standing over
him. "Y-yeah. What do you want."
"I just want to let you know, these are my family and friends I
will protect them against anyone or anything that tries to mess with
them."
"I think I understand Ranma-san," Kenji replied after a few
seconds. "I, uh, don't know how to say this, but, I really don't want to
hurt anyone. I'm still a little uneasy about all of you, too. But for
the moment I have nowhere else to go." This seemed to placate Ranma a
little, who then left.
But if you think I trust you, Kenji thought. You're dead
wrong.
Ranma didn't go to sleep right away, but instead thought about
the newcomer. He could be tellin' the truth, I guess I really don't
know he thought to himself. Still, it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on
him. Don't want him to turn evil on us; kami knows that's happened often
enough. People you thought you could trust turn on ya. Ranma yawned.
Well, I'm not gonna accomplish much tonight. Might as well get some
sleep.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Author's Notes:
I know at least one person thinks I'm suffering from annoying new
character syndrome where the author brings a new character in that
befriends everyone, but I don't entirely think so. The family doesn't
quite trust him, but they will try to help him because they are
basically nice people. Remember Rouge? They helped her when they didn't
know who she was. And Ranma still helped her after they found out about
her curse. Nabiki is a bit more open in her distrust. As for Kenji,
well, how would you feel if you woke up with no past memory in a strange
place? He's a bit scared, and doesn't know what else to do, or who to
trust. He is a martial artist (practically everyone in the Ranmaverse
is), though NOT stronger than everyone, and he will NOT try to solve
everyone's problems. (He's got too many of his own to deal with.)
Most importantly, he's not a gaijin, nor is he me. There are several
reasons I brought a new character in (and he's not going to be the
last), but I won't say just yet so as to not ruin the plot. Practically
every story in the manga brings in new characters, so it's nothing new,
and it's important for the story. In addition, he's amnesiac. With the
possible exception of Shinnosuke, I haven't seen anybody else drop by
the dojo with this condition(manga or fanfic), so I thought I'd try it
and see what happens. Well, there was the Kuno-watermelon story, but
they already knew who he was (and they still helped him).
be sent to:
oddball22@hotmail.com
DISCLAIMER: You may have heard it before but I'll say it again. I don't
own any of this stuff! Nabiki bought the Rights and left me with only a
5% cut! I might've gotten more if it weren't for those embarrassing
photos with Kodachi...
Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
Winds of Change
Chapter 2
The flames came closer and closer, the boy cried and screamed
for his parents, but he received no reply. He tried to run, but his
wrists and ankles were attached to chains that bound him. As the flames
reached him and began to burn away his flesh, a hideous laugh echoed in
the distance.
"Yaaaugh!"
He awoke to the sight of a darkened room. Where am I? Taking
stock of his position, he noted he was laying on a futon under a blanket
and his head was on a pillow. There was a wet rag on his forehead and
all he had on was a pair of shorts.
As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, his ears detected the
opening of a shoji panel. For some reason, he felt incredibly scared.
His heart was pumping very fast, and he had the distinct impression that
he was in danger. Have to get out of here!
The wet rag was removed from his forehead and sounds of water
sloshing could be heard. He tried to speak, but his voice came out very
hoarse. "Who are you?"
The voice that answered him was sweet and almost melodic. "My
name is Tendo Kasumi. How are you feeling?"
The voice almost lulled him into a state of some peacefulness,
but the danger instinct was still roaring. Something is very wrong...
he thought. But what? What am I doing here? And why do I ache? Did they
do something to me? A flash of pain thrummed in his head. Why can't I
remember anything!? Somehow, he knew he needed to get out of here.
"A little worn out," he answered at last. "Where am I? What
happened to me?"
"You're at the Tendo Dojo," she replied, replacing the wet rag
on his forehead. "We found you outside and brought you in. You've been
unconscious for a couple hours." She stood up. "I'll let the others know
you're awake."
As she turned around, the youth bit back a groan from the
headache that was pounding in his brain. She seems nice, but... He
winced with the pain, and the feeling of danger was demanding immediate
action. It's so difficult to think. I... I need to get out of here. He
got up slowly and silently. A wave of vertigo threatened to send him
back down, but he fought it off and regained his feet.
Moving quickly, he wrapped his arms around the girl's neck
before she could leave the room, and held tight. "Don't scream and I
won't hurt you. Now, how do I get out of here?"
Before she could answer, another girl with short, dark blue
hair and wearing a white gi appeared in the doorway. "Kasumi, how is
he..." She froze as she beheld the situation inside. "KASUMI! Let her
go!"
The youth watched her go into a threatening combat stance.
"Back off or she gets hurt! All I want is to get out of here." Another
wave of nausea swept through him, but again, he fought it off.
Amazingly, the girl he was holding seemed quite calm. "It's
okay, Akane. He won't hurt me. Let's just do what he wants."
"But..." it was clear Akane didn't want to. Reluctantly, she
nodded. "Okay." She switched her gaze to the youth. "If you let Kasumi
go unharmed, we won't stop you from leaving."
"That's better," he said. "Now back up slowly and give me room."
As he guided his hostage into the hall, a patter of feet
sounded and several figures burst up a set of stairs behind Akane. The
three newcomers were all men and were all wearing practice gis as well,
two white and one brown.
The one in the brown gi spoke as soon as he saw what was going
on. "Kasumi! Don't hurt my daughter!"
"Like I told the other lady, back off or she gets it!" he
commanded. He tightened his grip on her neck for emphasis. "I'll break
her neck if you don't!" Some part of him knew he could never do that,
but they didn't need to know that. Especially since the girl he was
holding seemed to radiate a peacefulness that made him not want to do
anything to hurt her.
"We better do as he says," the big guy with the glasses said at
last. "We're backing off."
"But, pop!" the younger man with the pig-tail objected.
"Ranma!" the man, who was apparently this Ranma's father, yelled
back. "Just do it!"
Ranma seemed to accept this reluctantly and the group descended
backwards down the stairs. "At least tell us who you are!" the pig-
tailed boy demanded.
The boy's eyes narrowed. "What? Don't you know who I am?"
Fighting through the pounding of his headache, he discovered something.
Who am I? I-I don't know my name! The realization sparked both fear
and anger in him. "What did you do to me!? I don't even know who I am!"
"Listen, mister!" Akane shouted. "We were only trying to help
you when you fell into our yard! You're the one holding my sister
hostage!"
"We can help you if you'll just trust us," Kasumi told him.
The man hissed in pain. "Why should I? For all I know you could
be trying to pull some trick on me!"
"If you don't take a chance, you will never know," she replied.
Somehow her words penetrated his pained brain. This was not the
correct course of action for him to be taking, but he was at a loss as
to explain why. Slowly, his arms around her neck relaxed.
That was all the opening Ranma and Akane needed. Moving
quickly, Ranma struck while Akane freed Kasumi from the young man's
grasp. Being attacked on the inside already by a strong headache and
waves of nasuea, he didn't have a chance. Still, he managed to feebly
block a few attacks, then multiple punches got through his pitiful
defense and he folded to the ground.
"You lied..." was all he could gasp before passing out.
"Kasumi, are you okay?" her younger sister asked.
Soun took the oppurtunity to wail that his daughter was okay.
"Oh my, yes I'm quite fine," Kasumi replied. "You needn't have
done that, though, I really was in no danger."
Akane boggled. "But... but... He could have snapped your neck!"
"I very much doubt that. He seemed like a nice young man, not
the sort who really could have hurt someone."
Ranma shook his head and toed the youth on the ground. "What do
we do with him?"
"If you would, please take him upstairs, Ranma-kun," said
Kasumi. "Then fetch Tofu-sensei again. He will need his new injuries
attended to."
He awoke again, and groaned in pain. What happened? Events
flashed through his mind. Oh yeah, I took that chick hostage and then
that boy... What was his name? Oh yeah, Ranma. He attacked me. I'll have
to get him for that. He opened his eyes once again to the same settings
he awoke to earlier.
"Feeling better?" came the voice Kasumi as she dabbed the
washcloth on his forehead. "You were only out for about four hours or so
this time. I'm glad Ranma-kun didn't hurt you too bad."
He croaked out the only word on his mind. "Why?"
"He's a bit protective of us, you see, so you'll have to forgive
him."
He shook his head, but it only moved a few centimeters. "No,
why are you doing this? I could've have killed you. I could do so again.
You obviously aren't a fighter."
She smiled sweetly at him. "No, I don't believe you would do
that. You seem like a nice young man."
"And we're here to make sure you don't repeat it!" came another
female voice somewhere else in the room.
"That's nice of you, Akane-chan, but I told you we're in no
danger," Kasumi admonished. "Now, I told you my name, and you've met my
younger sister Akane and her fiance, Saotome Ranma. May I ask your
name?"
He closed his eyes. "I... don't know. I don't remember much."
Something flashed in his head. "Kenji, I think. Yeah, that seems right."
He opened his eyes again. "Where am I? What happened to me?"
"We were kinda hopin' you could tell us," Ranma answered. "All
we know is that you fell inta the pond outside several hours ago and
have been out of it since. Except for when you woke up several hours
ago. Do ya remember anything else?"
Kenji concentrated and tried to pull up something, but his
memory was mostly a blur. Images here and there but nothing concrete.
"No, I... I can't remember anything! Why can't I remember! What's going
on!?" He tried to get up, but the parts of him that would respond,
answered with pain. He only managed to get up part way before collapsing
again in painful spasms.
"Take it easy, Kenji-san," came the voice of another woman. He
turned and saw a very nice looking older woman kneeling near the foot of
his bed. She was wearing a light blue kimono with flower patterns, and
her gentle face somehow made him calm down. "My name is Saotome Nodoka,
and this is my husband, Genma." She pointed to the large man wearing a
dirty-white gi, glasses, and a bandanna over his bald head, who was
kneeling next to her. "And you are in the Tendo Dojo."
"So why am I here?" Kenji asked, a bit angrily. "And why can't I
remember anything!?"
"We don't know," said another man who walked into the room
wearing a dark brown gi and glasses. "My name is Ono Tofu and I'm a
doctor. From what I can tell, you have amn- Ka-Ka-Kasumi! What a
concidence to meet you here of all places!"
"Oh boy," Ranma groaned.
"Ah, Kasumi," Akane said, standing up. "Mind stepping out for a
second?"
Her older sister smiled. "Why, of course not. I'll just go make
some tea." She allowed herself to be led out of the room. As she stepped
out, she could be heard giggling and saying, "Dr. Tofu is so silly!"
Ranma shook his head, then shook Tofu. "Okay doc, you were
saying?"
The doctor cleared his throughts. "Yes, it appears Kenji-san
has amnesia. He also seems to be suffering from a slight case of smoke
inhalation, as well as several bruises and light burns over his body."
"The bruises are kinda my fault," Ranma admitted.
Kenji glared at him, then turned to the doc. "So, when can I
get my memory back?"
Tofu sighed. "I don't know. It could take a couple of days, or
a couple of years. There's no trauma to his head so..." A horrified look
appeared on Kenji's face. Tofu smiled and tried to comfort him. "I'll
have to run some more tests, but there is a very good chance of getting
your memory back."
"What do we do with him in the meantime?" Akane asked, coming
back into the room.
"He can stay with us," Nodoka offered. "Would you like that,
Kenji-san?"
A confused look appeared on his face. They want me to stay
after what I almost did to one of them? Well, I really don't have
anywhere else to go. "I suppose..."
"Now wait just a minute!" Akane objected. "He tried to hurt
Kasumi! How can we trust him?"
"If he promises on his honor as a martial artist not to harm any
of us, that would be good enough for me," Ranma suggested.
"A martial artist?" Kenji asked confused. "Why do you think
that?"
He shrugged. "The way you held Kasumi, and your stance when I
attacked you. You assumed it automatically, and even tried to block some
of my punches. You've had some martial arts training at least."
Kenji considered that, and martial arts didn't seem like an
alien concept to him. "Alright, I promise. Provided I'm free to leave at
any time!"
"Of course, dear," Nodoka agreed. "You never were a prisoner.
You are our guest."
He nodded, somewhat grateful. "Arigato."
Tofu stood up. "It's okay if you want to get up. Just don't
strain or exhaust yourself for the rest of the day, and get plenty of
sleep tonight." Tofu smiled and then left.
Kenji suddenly realized that all he was wearing was a pair of
boxers and he blushed mildy. "Um, do I have any other clothes?" he asked
shyly.
"Just the ones we found you in, and they're being washed,"
Nodoka got up. "However, I'm sure my son, Ranma, would be kind enough to
lend you some." She smiled and then began to usher people out of the
room until only Ranma and Kenji were left.
Ranma got up and began to sift through his closet. "Well, I
suppose I got something in here for you."
Kenji could only nod.
He ended up wearing almost the exact same red Chinese shirt and
black pants that Ranma had on. Apparently this Ranma didn't have much
variety in the way of clothes.
The rest of the day was spent with Kenji walking around to get
his strength back. He also began to learn a bit about the family he was
now staying with, and they it turn tried to help jog his memory.
Despite numerous attempts, Kenji could only remember his first
name and that he was 17. If he tried to probe too deep into his mind, a
pounding headache was his only reply. He seemed to be quite intelligent
and knowledgeable; in fact the only things he didn't know were where he
was from and any particular details about his past. The family
eventually relaxed their attempts to get him to remember, since pain
obviously accompanied most of his deeper concentrations
"Kenji-san, you ok?" Nodoka asked.
"I'm fine," Kenji gasped as the headache slowly vanished. "I...
just had a headache,
that's all."
Genma cocked his head thoughtfully. "Hmmm... Strange that you
experienced this pain while trying to pull up your forgotten memories. I
wonder if that means something?"
"Well, I think it's pretty obvious," Nabiki stated. She had come
home later to find this new person at the dojo. Naturally, she was
suspicious of him, especially after hearing how he took Kasumi hostage.
In her opinion, whenever someone new showed up at the dojo, violence and
trouble followed. Ryoga, Pantyhose Taro, Rouge, Ryu Kumon, and even the
innocent looking Natsume and Kurumi, all these encounters resulted in at
least some damage to the house and dojo; not to mention putting people's
lives at risk.
"What is?" Soun asked.
"His memory is just fine," she said simply. "He's just doing
this to get as much info out of us as he can." She leveled a gaze at
Kenji. "So, just why are you here, hmmm?"
"Now really, Nabiki-chan," Kasumi admonished. "I told you he's a
nice young man."
The middle Tendo sister stood up. "Whatever. There is such as
thing as being too trusting." She turned and pointed a finger at the
amnesiac youth. "I'll be keeping an eye on you, boy."
Kenji shrugged and looked uninterested. "Whatever."
Her expression didn't change, but she did leave the room.
Akane had watched the exchange and found herself wondering.
It's true we don't know anything about him, but I get the impression
Kenji is more scared than anything else. If I woke up without my
memories in a strange place, I might've done the same thing. And Kasumi
seems to trust him...
"Ahem, well, in the meantime you can stay in the dojo," Soun
offered. "I'm sorry to say all the rooms are taken, so we're a bit full
at the moment. We should have a spare futon for you though. And you can
stay here as long as you help out."
"Unlike certain other freeloaders..." Akane muttered, but only
Ranma heard as he was the closest to her. He grumbled something
unintelligable.
When Nodoka had heard Soun speak about the full rooms, she
looked down. It was the Saotome's fault that the Tendos were having to
put them up. But until her home was rebuilt, they had nowhere else to
go.
"Thanks, I..." Kenji sighed. These do seem like nice people. I
guess I find it hard to believe they could be responisble for my memory
lapse. Now that my headache is gone, it's a lot easier to think. "I
guess I owe you people something of an apology, especially you Kasumi-
san. I..." He seemed to be searching for the words, and failing. I can
at least let them think I can be trusted. But if it turns out they had
something to do with my condition...
Kasumi simply smiled sweetly (say THAT three times fast!) and
offered him some tea.
"Ranma, Akane-chan, why don't you take him around town
tomorrow," Nodoka suggested. "See if anybody knows him, and maybe get
him some clothes to use while he stays with us."
Akane nodded, hesitantly at first. "Hai." She yawned. "Well,
it's getting late." She turned to her fiance. "Ranma, would you get him
a futon and show him to the dojo?"
Ranma looked startled. "Uh, yeah, sure." He turned to Kenji.
"Come on, let's get you settled in."
Kenji nodded and followed him outside.
After settling him in the dojo, Ranma went back inside, into
the living room where everyone else was sitting. Nabiki had returned and
Akane took her seat next to Ranma.
"So, who else is buying this story?" Nabiki asked at last.
"Now Nabiki, Tofu-sensei does believe he has amnesia," Soun
said. "As far as we know, he is telling the truth."
"Amnesia isn't an easy thing to confirm," Nabiki added. "It
would be easy to fake it to get into this house. For all we know, he
could've been sent by someone else for some deeper purpose. "
Akane scowled at her sister, but relented. "I suppose you're
right. We'll just have to keep an eye on him. We've had more than one
visitor turn out to be bad news."
"But he seems like such a nice boy, if a bit confused and
scared," Kasumi said. "It would be wrong of us to act unhospital to him
in his condition."
Nabiki shook her head. "I suppose you're right. We'll just have
to watch him carefully. I'll see what info I can dig up on him, and if
he tries anything, I'll know it."
Akane turned to her fiance. "You've been awfully quiet about
this, Ranma. What do you think of him?"
The pig-tailed martial artist shrugged. "He seems okay. And
Kasumi-san was right. He could've hurt her, but he didn't." He
straightened. "I'm not sayin' he's not out to get us or somethin', but
he doesn't seem like such a bad guy."
Soun nodded. "It's agreed then. We help him, but keep our eyes
open. Obviously, something or someone is bound to follow this boy for
one reason or another, and chances are we'll be drawn into it. It's a
martial artist's duty to help those in need."
The other's nodded their ascent, though Akane noted Ranma
didn't. Instead, he slipped out of the room.
Kenji had just settled himself into his futon and was preparing
to go to sleep when he heard the door open. Since his back was to the
door, all he heard were footsteps and then the door closing again. The
footsteps walked over to him and stopped. He guessed it must be Ranma.
He tried to surpress the fear instinct he felt, even as he braced
himself for whatever may happen next.
"Hey Kenji," came the voice of Ranma. "You still awake?"
Kenji turned onto his back and look up at Ranma standing over
him. "Y-yeah. What do you want."
"I just want to let you know, these are my family and friends I
will protect them against anyone or anything that tries to mess with
them."
"I think I understand Ranma-san," Kenji replied after a few
seconds. "I, uh, don't know how to say this, but, I really don't want to
hurt anyone. I'm still a little uneasy about all of you, too. But for
the moment I have nowhere else to go." This seemed to placate Ranma a
little, who then left.
But if you think I trust you, Kenji thought. You're dead
wrong.
Ranma didn't go to sleep right away, but instead thought about
the newcomer. He could be tellin' the truth, I guess I really don't
know he thought to himself. Still, it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on
him. Don't want him to turn evil on us; kami knows that's happened often
enough. People you thought you could trust turn on ya. Ranma yawned.
Well, I'm not gonna accomplish much tonight. Might as well get some
sleep.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Author's Notes:
I know at least one person thinks I'm suffering from annoying new
character syndrome where the author brings a new character in that
befriends everyone, but I don't entirely think so. The family doesn't
quite trust him, but they will try to help him because they are
basically nice people. Remember Rouge? They helped her when they didn't
know who she was. And Ranma still helped her after they found out about
her curse. Nabiki is a bit more open in her distrust. As for Kenji,
well, how would you feel if you woke up with no past memory in a strange
place? He's a bit scared, and doesn't know what else to do, or who to
trust. He is a martial artist (practically everyone in the Ranmaverse
is), though NOT stronger than everyone, and he will NOT try to solve
everyone's problems. (He's got too many of his own to deal with.)
Most importantly, he's not a gaijin, nor is he me. There are several
reasons I brought a new character in (and he's not going to be the
last), but I won't say just yet so as to not ruin the plot. Practically
every story in the manga brings in new characters, so it's nothing new,
and it's important for the story. In addition, he's amnesiac. With the
possible exception of Shinnosuke, I haven't seen anybody else drop by
the dojo with this condition(manga or fanfic), so I thought I'd try it
and see what happens. Well, there was the Kuno-watermelon story, but
they already knew who he was (and they still helped him).