Damn, its really been a while huh? Like I said all those years ago I will probably never cancel a story, it'll just go on hiatus for maybe eternity.
Enter a New Rival!
Ranma Saotome, a name that is reviled or revered depending on who you asked. It is a name that carries a weight of righteousness as well as horrible stigma. A name that belongs to the person who is always the center of attention in the town of Nerima.
But as of this moment he was missing from the lives of everyone in the ward, the after-effects were felt amongst the populace. Normal people went about their days as joyful as they've ever been, the constant scare of falling rubble and psychotic superhumans no longer a threat, but the same couldn't be said for those whose lives were irrevocably changed because of the martial artist. Without him there was nothing for them to do, no real reason to be how they've been, and without him there was a void that couldn't be filled. Life in Nerima went back to normal, as normal as it was before Ranma ever appeared.
The pigtailed boy in question had an odd condition to say the least, an ancient Chinese curse that causes him to transform into a beautiful red-headed woman when splashed with cold water, yet is luckily reversed with hot water.
This was part of the cause for his sudden exit, the other half of the responsibility was due to his fiancee Akane Tendo.
You see, Akane had a violent temper. She was also a bit neurotic when it came to Ranma and she always showed it through brash acts involving fists, kicks, or slaps, and in some cases it included a weapon.
One morning had Ranma chasing his father during a fight, a common occurrence in the Saotome family, and he had accidentally ruined the inedible breakfast made by his fiancee who took her anger out on him by swinging a cast iron pan to which he had narrowly avoided.
But though he was an accomplished martial artist, in fact one of the greatest in his town and the best of his generation, he had leaned back too far and too close to the koi pond the Tendo family had in their backyard. With motion and gravity working against him, as well as no solid object for him to grasp onto, he had bashed his head on a stone changing his personality from a confident masculine teen boy to that of a meek and demure girl.
Ranma had always considered himself a man, a peak male figure standing amongst the boys who would attest themselves as men.
Even as a woman Ranma had held his masculinity in high regard, doing anything remotely feminine being almost physically painful.
So when he awoke as a woman, both in body and mind, it threw everyone into shock. Many of Ranma's companions threw a fit, Akane felt uncomfortable, Genma and Soun, Ranma and Akane's father's respectively, tried to forcibly change Ranma's gender through acts that would now be considered mentally abusive.
Though all attempts were made with good intentions, all they did was drive a wedge between the redhead and the family. Efforts to strike her ended in evasion, emasculating phrases had no effect, and violence in general, something she used to thrive upon, was ended with a vehement abhorrence.
Nobody knew what to do, Akane herself had no idea how to deal with her fiance declaring herself a girl. Too tense at the concept of the person she loved becoming one of her own gender was too unbearable for her to witness. And without the solution of violence she normally used against him, now her, she couldn't do anything to persuade Ranma, or change her mind.
It tore her up inside, so she did the only thing she could, which was to avoid her fiance altogether.
This hurt Ranma immensely, she saw Akane as her best friend, a pillar she could lean upon, and someone she could depend on to help her through thick and thin. Especially with how crazy everyone had been acting recently.
So when the person she needed the most chose to abandon her to the demented people of Nerima, she chose to escape. With a fear of fighting as well as the mentality of a yamato nadeshiko, Ranma had no choice but to remove herself entirely from the town and leave.
Picking up her old faithful travel pack, Ranma hoisted it up easily with deceptive strength which an outsider would've gawked at in awe since the back could have fit her entire body inside of it.
Leaning over to see her father's snoring face, she quickly kissed his cheek with a forlorn look.
"Goodbye father, I hope you can be happy without me."
She passed Akane's room with a glance, a small flicker of doubt and hurt crossed her face, saying goodbye to her was something she couldn't do.
Even if leaving pained her more than everyone's disapproval, she had to. In the middle of the night Ranma had absconded with all of her travel necessities and disappeared into the night.
That was two months ago.
Tendo Residence - Family Room
"Come on Akane you can't keep moping around like this, it's undignified." Came the almost concerned tone
"Mmnh." came the unenthused response.
Akane was sulking at the dinner table, chin flat upon it as she sulked in acute depression.
"If you miss Ranma that much, why don't you just admit it?" Her sister Nabiki commented, which earned a more energetic rebuttal.
"Because he's a jerk!" the blunette said as she sat straight.
Nabiki raised an eyebrow at her, she had known her sister was in denial at loving her fiance but this was getting ridiculous. Ever since Ranma escaped the madness that was Nerima, everyone tried searching for him for a week, even Akane. Obviously, there had been no such luck locating the missing redhead, hell even Cologne and her amazon resourcefulness couldn't find him, much less the perverted grandmaster of the Anything Goes School Happosai. And those two were legendary in their borderline mythical skills.
"Ranma isn't going to come back if you brood any harder." Nabiki stated.
"I'm not brooding! I'm just… waiting for something exciting to happen." Akane said more to herself than her sister.
Raising a can of soda to her lips, the brown haired sister gazed out into the open sky.
"Aren't we all?"
A moment of melancholic silence passed between the siblings before a loud familiar voice made itself known.
"I'm home!"
Immediately, with more energy than she had shown in the past month and a half, Akane leapt up from her seated position and ran towards the front door.
There, standing no worse for wear, not even so much as dirt on his face, or hair out of order was her now male fiance, staring at her with the same gaze he had since before he had hit his head.
"Sup 'kane, whens dinn-" The black haired boy didn't get to finish before he was tackled into a fierce hug.
Akane began to cry into his silk shirt, and Ranma couldn't do anything except awkwardly pat her on the head in an effort to console her. Leaning against a wall a bit away was Nabiki, wearing an amused smirk.
"So… Anythin interesting happen?"
"So you seriously have no memory of the past two months?" Akane questioned inquisitively, the shock of Ranma's abrupt arrival had now faded, and what was left was curiosity.
She was watching her fiance mercilessly gorge on rice and fish as they all disappeared within his ravenous maw, chopsticks blurring as he shoveled more and more food into his gullet. It would have been a disgusting sight had it not been routine.
"Nope, nothin. All I remember is just blacking out and waking up in the next town over. I figured Akane musta hit me again and I just ran back home like always." he said casually in between bites. Being admonished a bit by Akane for being a bit of a slob.
Nabiki was sitting across from him, rapt at attention to try to solve this mystery. Elbow to table and hand under cheek she listed off everything that had happened.
"So you mean to tell me that you have no recollection of being a girl? Not just any girl, but a girly girl? One that was almost able to rival Kasumi in femininity, and ran away because everyone tried to turn you back into your old self?" She said with a deadpan, it should be almost impossible to forget something like that, then again Ranma did have amnesia of being a boy…
"I'm tellin ya I don't remember any of it. Besides, I'm back aren't I?" He said with finality and the Tendo sisters couldn't help but agree, there wasn't really anything they could gleam from inquiring about something Ranma had forgotten about. And seeing as there hadn't been any new fiancees coming to pledge their undying love meant that everything should be A Okay.
Meanwhile, a lone silhouette in a dark alleyway had picked up a strand of hair, as red as crimson and smiled.
Of course things wouldn't have been able to calm down for even a day following Ranma's sudden reappearance as everyone had seemingly rose out of the grave to make Nerima regain its status as a chaotic playground.
School had been an experience what with known insane kendoist ham Tatewaki Kuno announcing that Ranma was an evil spirit, and that had come back from the dead to suck out the life force of anyone he had caught.
Aside from the fact that his knowledge of ghosts was a mishmash of different monsters, it still rang plausible enough that he had convinced and enlisted known voodoo expert (read:enthusiast) Gosunkugi to exorcise Ranma.
The frail and waifish teen had tried using a nail, and straw-doll to hopefully inflict damage on the supposedly incorporeal martial artist, and when that didn't work he had resorted to throwing salt in Ranma's face in hopes of banishing the evil entity.
Though the only thing that got banished were both Kuno and Gosunkugi as Ranma tied them both up with rope he found amongst the scrawny wannabe hexer's things and punted them out of sight.
With that taken care of, Ranma proceeded to class but was blindsided by Ukyo Kuonji, his long-time best friend as she cried a little now knowing that Ranma was back and okay. This unfortunately had the small downside of enraging Akane who had kicked him out the window and into the waiting arms of Kodachi Kuno who had simply been strolling by, antagonizing the Furinkan students.
As Akane and Ukyo got into a heated argument, Ranma freed himself from the gymnastic mad scientist as she threw black flowers begotten from her name at Ranma who dodged them expertly. The flowers had been weaponized and exploded in purple clouds expelling paralysis powder. Those that were unlucky to be caught within their range found themselves on the ground restrained by their own bodies.
As Kodachi began laughing her trademark fanciful laugh, a new player arrived via bike. A purple haired girl holding what appeared to be a takeout box had landed on Kodachi's head and knocked her out cold. This was Shampoo, Nerima's powerhouse of a Chinese amazon who had claimed Ranma as her love.
Jumping off her bike she leapt towards the boy, locking him within a firm embrace as she muttered chinese phrases of affection in his ear.
Not comprehending the numerous sexual advances she was trying to convey out of happiness that he didn't entirely vanish from her life, Ranma struggled against the death grip the amazon had on him. He was almost free when Shampoo suddenly jumped out of the way to avoid a massive spiked metal ball as big as her torso that landed where she once stood.
A long haired figure stood atop the school's wall, garbed in white chinese clothing, face set into a snarl.
"Don't you touch my darling Shampoo Saotome! Or I'll end you!" The man shouted, but was stopped from doing anything else as the metal ball impacted his face.
"Stupid Mousse! Wear Glasses! You no get in way of Shampoo and Airen!" The female amazon said as she lowered her foot.
Turning her gaze back to Ranma, she had lost the anger and replaced it with a longing love, eyes have closed and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Continue yes? Just before she could even attempt to get her lips closer to the stunned boy yet another voice called out.
"Hold it right there sugar!" Shampoo grabbed Ranma and jumped to avoid yet another metal object interrupting her time with her beloved, except instead of a metal ball it was big ass metal spatula.
The ground gave way underneath the spatula's impact zone and caused a sizable fracture that kicked up a large amount of debris. Holding Ranma even tighter now, Shampoo glared at her assailant, easily identifiable given the weapon.
"Ucchan!" Ranma cried out, happy to see his friend, though the look of rage she was giving Shampoo made him shudder a bit.
"You let Ran-chan go and this won't get ugly." She said as she pointed her spatula one handed at Shampoo, an impressive feat given the thing probably weighed around a hundred pounds.
"The only thing ugly is you face!" Shampoo bit back, the language barrier impeding her scathing remark though it was understood clearly to the one it was meant for.
"Oh hell no." Ukyo charged at the purple haired girl as she shoved Ranma out of the way. Spatula met chui as neither girl gave in to the other as they struggled for dominance.
Just as Ranma was gathering his bearings he saw a dust cloud being kicked up in the distance as a figure rapidly made its way over to the three.
"RANMAAAAAA!"
"Urk! Akane!"
The blunette had a livid look of righteous fury that would have scared the shit out of anyone she had her gaze set onto, which was unfortunately Ranma.
The boy of her ire had held up both hands to placate her but unfortunately it wasn't enough as her rage deafened her otherwise (probably) working ears.
"Hang on Akane it ain't what you think!" He pleaded, already knowing the intended outcome that usually happens whenever his fiancees were involved.
"You jerk!" There it was, the familiar feeling of a fist impacting his face. Ukyo and Shampoo stopped their fight to see the object of their affection fly through the air, and straight into the school's pool.
"Ran-chan!"
"Airen!"
Came the simultaneous cries from both combatants as they ran towards the splash to not only help Ranma, but hopefully get some one on one time to nurse him back to health.
Ranma-chan climbed out of the pool, her hair color changing to suit that of the shirt she wore as she muttered several obscenities about stupid tomboys.
A moment of reprieve would have been appreciated with no small amount of gratitude from the soaked girl, but unfortunately in her life such things were earned not given.
"Ranma Saotome! Prepare to die!" The redhead had gracefully pirouetted through the air to dodge a red umbrella that impacted where she once was, its weight creating a decent sized crater in the cement.
"Oh great, what do you want now pork-butt?"
Ranma glared at her attacker, a boy around her age that wore a distinctive yellow bandanna and shirt, his sharp canine showing past his lips as he snarled in anger.
"How dare you make Akane sad!" The bandanna boy swung his makeshift weapon in wide arcs, easily avoided by the other martial artist as she ducked and leaned away from what would have been fatal hits to the average person.
"How! Is that! My! Fault!?" each exclamation came in between swings.
Having enough, Ranma uppercut the boy in the chin lifting him off the ground and caused him to land on his back. But the boy was used to such abuse as he easily rose back up no worse for wear, simply rubbing his chin as he gave a cocky smirk.
"That all you got? Those two months haven't been kind to you Ranma, what have you been doing, picking flowers?"
The redhead glanced at her fist, 'Ryoga's right! I'm way weaker than I was before, what happened to me?' She couldn't ponder more of her sudden weakness as Ryoga went back on the offensive. Gritting her teeth, Ranma launched her counter attack.
"Even if I'm weaker, I'm still faster! Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!" The Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire technique, though oddly named, was a fierce technique that utilized the performer's own speed and skill to launch rapid blows at blinding speed.
Ryoga, though hardened through training to withstand blows strong enough to destroy concrete, was unable to keep up with his opponents speed, being overwhelmed by the numerous blows that rained down upon him. Hundreds upon hundreds of fists fired down on his face as Ranma skillfully struck precise spots over and over to maximize her damage.
With one last fist extended outward she launched Ryoga away and back onto the ground. Ranma found herself panting heavily, the exertion taking its toll as she had to put both her hands on her knees to catch her breath.
'What is with me!? I can barely beat Ryoga and I'm already out of breath doin' the Amaguriken, that move is my bread and butter!' She couldn't believe it, maybe those two months everyone had been raving on about were actually true? What the hell was she doing then!? Obviously not training given how out of shape she was, if only she could remember what had happened during her disappearance.
As she exited out of the entrance to the pool, she was met with her cast of colorful aggressors, Shampoo and Ukyo were side by side as they bashed the other as if they were race cars trying to run the other off track. Mousse had come in swinging a particularly deadly sickle and chain with a weight at the end, shouting obscenities that all lead to Ranma being a curse upon his life for stealing Shampoo. Meanwhile Kuno had broken free from his bonds as he carried his bokken overhead in a double handed fashion as Gosunkugi held on for dear life grasping his training gi, flailing about like a wind chime. Kodachi was skipping towards her as she twirled an unassuming ribbon that somehow generated black rose petals that littered the school grounds. And finally was Ryoga flanking from behind, seething with anger as he had just gotten his second wind ready to pounce and grind the pig tailed martial artist into the dust.
It looked like the Kunos weren't paying attention to what Ranma gender was at the moment and we're just following the bandwagon.
"Ranma honey come here!"
"Airen go to Shampoo!"
"Saotome! Take this! Fist of the White Swan!"
"Saotome you evil fiend! Taste the wrath of my blade!"
"KuUno-sennpai sloow down!"
"Ranma-darling leave those harlots and jump into my embrace!"
"Ranma Saotome prepare to die!"
Everyone dove to Ranma, who could only hold her arms up in defense, all the while wondering,
'Why does all this crap happen to me?'
Closing her eyes and waiting for the inevitable, Ranma had braced for a painful impact that never came.
.
.
.
Cautiously opening her eyes, she found that everyone had been laid out on the ground as she herself felt comforted by a warm embrace. Looking up at whoever was holding her, the redhead came face to face with the oddest looking man she had ever seen. Wild spiky blond hair, whisker marks on his cheeks, and a peach like complexion she thought only existed in the land of gaijins that all contributed to a face that was giving her an ear to ear smile with his eyes closed.
"Sorry I'm a little late. I had a bit of trouble finding you Ranma-chan, but a hero always comes at the last second ne?" Surprisingly, his voice was in perfect Japanese, nothing about it hinted a foreign accent.
The redhead was frozen in his protective hug, something about this guy seemed extremely familiar but for the life of her she couldn't remember where she had seen him before. Blinking a couple of times, she realized she was being hugged by a guy, and immediately slugged him in the face.
"BUFUGH!" Came the startled reply as the blond was rocketed backwards from an outstretched fist.
"Hands off buddy!" Ranma exclaimed as she glared towards the downed teen. She then finally took into account all of the fighters that were only now struggling to get back up.
'He took em all out in an instant, that's some crazy speed. Even Ryoga got knocked down, and that guy can tank a telephone pole to the face! This guy ain't a pushover.'
The mystery boy had sat up holding his injured cheek, a bit of hurt in his eyes, but it was more of a betrayed look rather than one begotten from pain. "Oi! What was that for? Aren't you happy to see me?" He cried out, confusion plastered over his face.
"I don't even know ya pal!" She yelled, pointing a finger in his direction. The boy got up as he seemed to remember something, and immediately dashed over to her, cheek already seemingly healed.
"Oh come on Ranma-chan! You can't seriously still be mad at me for eating your strawberry! I said I was sorry!" The redheaded martial artist placed a palm underneath his chin and struggled against his attempts to hug and make up.
"Look buddy, I don't know who you are and you've clearly got the wrong person! I ain't no Ranma-chan." she said, stressing the chan part to emphasize her distaste.
The boy continued his attempts at hugging her again despite her vehement disapproval.
"Now you're just being mean Ranma! What am I supposed to say when we get to Baa-chan and she finds out we're fighting, she'll think it's my fault!" Now he was crying crocodile tears while simultaneously freaking out and she wondered how strong this Baa-chan was to make this guy, the guy who decked everyone in an instant, scared shitless.
Finally finding an angle to push his admittedly strong frame out of her way, she spoke, "I don't know who you think I am, but I ain't your fiancee!"
She had assumed that's what he had been here for, there was no reason to suspect otherwise. Everyone else in her life had come to her with similar intentions, the males had more lethal things in mind, but those were people she knew were out to get her. Any male that showed her this much amorous affectation had to have been another secret fiance that was roped into a scheme by her good for nothing father.
The boy stood still for a second before inquisitively inquiring, "So your name isn't Ranma Saotome?"
She had to give him this one, "No it is."
Continuing on, he said "And your father's name isn't Genma Saotome?"
Getting a bit more concerned, anxious as to what he might say in regards to whatever her idiotic father did to sell her off again, she responded, "No, that's definitely my pops' name."
"And you don't change genders because of hot or cold water?"
Getting increasingly frustrated she bit out, "Again, me, where're ya going with this?"
The blond teen then pulled an oddly shaped frog coin purse and dug something out of it and showed it to her.
"So this isn't you?" What he had handed to her made her hair stand on end, and created goosebumps all over her skin as the color drained from her face.
What she held in her hands was a strip of photographs not unlike those you can get from a photobooth in the mall. In it there were numerous pictures of her, pigtail undone with a cute blue dress and beside her stood the blond teen as both were giving goofy faces towards the camera.
There was another where the boy was embracing her from behind, chin resting on her head as she seemed to be laughing in her hand as he smiled.
But the last photo shook her to her core, it was a picturesque scene of passion of two lovers as she and the blond were locked in a fiery kiss that showed everything but distaste in her face, leaning into a kiss with the only restraint being that of embarrassment.
Her mind shut down as she let go of the photo strip and fell backwards, passing out in a dead faint. The last thing she heard before her mind went dark was the sound of the blond boy shouting her name.
Tendo Dojo
"WAH!" Throwing the covers off her bed, Ranma woke up in a cold sweat, panting heavily as she tried to get her heartbeat down to a normal level.
'What a dream… It felt so real! That's it, no more late night snacks from Kasumi!... Except if she makes desserts.'
Slicking back her hair, she found herself in her female form, clad in only an undershirt and boxers, she removed the comforter that was draped over her and went to the bathroom to wash her face. After wiping her face clean, she dumped a bit of hot water on herself to change.
Now back in her birth form, Ranma went downstairs and heard a commotion in the dining room, shouts and exclaims of disbelief had crossed the hallway that belonged to his father as well as the Tendo family.
Though he only wanted a snack from the kitchen, curiosity got the better of him and opened the door to see all of the other residents of the Tendo household on one side of the table, faces frozen in shock. His eyes wandered to the other side where he saw the blond man from his nightmare sitting with a determined expression on his face.
As soon as he saw Ranma he had immediately jumped up to hug him, arms spread out to clamp onto his body.
"Ranma-chan!" The man crossed the small distance rather fast, too quick for Ranma to fully understand what was happening. The odd thing was that the blond teen didn't seem to mind that the person he was hugging was a boy, squeezing him with a warm comfort that created conflicted feelings within the black haired teen.
After a couple of seconds to reboot his brain and usual personality, the martial-artist pushed the blond forcefully away, missing the pout that followed on the other boy's face and addressed the family.
"Alright, can someone tell me who this guy is?" Pointing a finger towards his confusion. The mysterious stranger had a look of disbelief on his face as Kasumi, the eldest Tendo daughter spoke up to answer.
"W-well Ranma, it seems this young man is your… um… boyfriend…"
The pig-tailed teen stuck a pinky in his ear and twisted it around, "Sorry Kasumi I don't think I heard ya properly, coulda sworn you said boyfriend."
The look of support that Kasumi gave him made him stumble as if he was hit in the stomach. Catching himself using the doorway he vehemently denied, "No… No way! No way I got a boyfriend!"
That was when Akane backed him up, "That's right! Ranma would never date a boy!" Soun and Genma then added their two cents, "That's quite right, Akane here is his fiancee." he says as he placed both hands on his daughter's shoulders, "The boy has never showed any interest in men, that's only something a woman would do."
Nabiki had wisely kept quiet, deep in thought as she surveyed everyone's reactions, Kasumi's disbelief, Ranma and Akane's denial, and the two father's repudiation at the idea of mister "Man Among Men" dating another boy. As she scanned the stranger's emotions, she saw that he was upset, as if he couldn't believe what was happening right in front of him. She calmly made a statement over everyone's outcries that asked, "When did you start dating Ranma?"
Everyone turned to look at her, even the stranger tilted his head wondering why she would ask that.
Scratching the back of his head, he awkwardly answered "Um, about two months ago…?"
Everything slowly clicked into place as everyone realized what that meant, even Ranma understood how he of all people could nab a boyfriend.
"That was when Ranma left us thinking he was a girl!" Kasumi voiced aloud, saying what everyone was thinking.
"Huh? What do you mean?" the boy asked, clearly confused being left out of the loop.
"How did you meet Ranma?" Nabiki asked, and instantly the teen's face grew into a dopey smile as he recalled his first meeting.
"Oh that? It all started when-"
Two Months Ago
"Ooooh, where do I go? I knew I should have taken a map with me!" A frantic redhead said, carrying an impressive if not worn out backpack that was practically as big as she was. Ranma was lost, thankfully not as much as her bandanna wearing associate, but she couldn't figure out where she was. Aimlessly wandering for a day brought her to a new town with impressive sights and sounds that were wholly unfamiliar to the sub-urban landscape she had grown accustomed to.
The place where she found herself was one of technological advancement, new cars with sleek designs compared to their bulky inferiors back in Nerima, glass windows as far as the eye could see providing gateways into cultured clothing far prettier than anything she had seen or worn before, and astounding buildings that dared to touch the sky that were high enough that she could not see the top from down below.
Thoughts of being adrift amidst a land unknown did not stop her from admiring and appreciating the city. Ranma's eyes sparkled with envy at the boutiques, her mouth began salivating at the smell coming from the local bakeries, and she hummed and swayed to the music that blessed her ears from street musicians.
'Oh~! If only I had some extra money!' She regretted leaving the Tendo home as abruptly as she did, but she could not fault herself for doing so. Seeing everyone you love staring at you as if you were a different person was painful to see, and she didn't know if she would be able to bear that day in and out.
Sighing once again at her misfortune, Ranma sat by a fountain and lazily dipped her hand in the water as she laid down on her side. She didn't know where to go, what to do, or who to turn to. What does a girl do all by herself?
Just then, destiny kicked into overdrive.
"Hey there little miss, you here by yourself?" Looking up, the redhead saw two looming figures hovering over her, both looked like typical delinquents. One on the left wearing a shabby gakuran uniform with bleached hair and piercings, and the other having a similar uniform but with aviator glasses and a pompadour.
"O-oh, um…"
"Damn bro! Look at the hooters she's got!" The blond haired one exclaimed, gazing at Ranma's chest with unashamed eyes. Grinning in delight, the one with the pompadour quickly grabbed Ranma's hand.
"Why don't you come with us huh? Don't worry we'll show you a good time." Actively pulling on her wrist, Ranma did her best to get him to let go, quickly yanking her arm away.
"No!" She yelled, jerking her arm away from the abrasive man, though the results were not expected.
Usually during this situation the woman tries to get away but finds the man's grip to be too strong to escape, but not Ranma Saotome. Years of honing her body had the added benefit of herculean strength, strength that her body remembered even if her mind didn't.
When Ranma moved her arm, the delinquent moved with it, with power she didn't know she had, Ranma had essentially tossed him over her shoulder with as much ease as someone throwing salt over their shoulder to get rid of any bad luck.
"Waugh!" "Bro!" Pompadour landed harshly against nearby trash cans, spreading its contents over the floor and on his body. The other thug quickly made his way over to check if his friend was okay.
Ranma meanwhile was looking at her arm, "D-did I do that?" She didn't realize she had this kind of strength inside of her! She remembered that incident back at the Tendo home where she instinctively punched Grandfather Happosai when he tried to threaten Akane.
Ranma abhorred fighting, much less violence, but her body was trained in it, bathing itself in the practice of how to kick ass ever since she was a child. No matter what kind of danger she was in, her body knew what to do.
"You bitch!" The proclamation had caused her to turn to see the thug getting up, plucking a banana peel off his head.
"Make a fool of me huh!? You better prepare yourself! Get her!" Pompadour and his bleach haired buddy both started charging the redhead with outstretched hands intent on getting their hands on her.
What they didn't expect was a series of punches so fast that they never even knew they got hit until they woke up in pain.
"KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!" She shouted instinctively and fists blurred, bodies went flying and teeth freed.
Shocked at the rather violent development, Ranma quickly made sure both thugs were still breathing before quickly making her getaway, angry at herself for hurting those boys, no matter how rude they were.
Little did she know that there was a spectator watching her every move, awed at the display of speed and technique who quickly followed after her.
Finally feeling as if she had gotten far away enough, Ranma collapsed on a nearby bench with a sigh. It wasn't her intention to pummel those boys but she had no control over herself.
Feeling a bit down, she didn't notice that someone was approaching until they sat down right beside her, their presence accompanied by a slight depression in the bench as well as an audible *plop*.
A bit surprised, Ranma turned towards the new face only to see bright and unique features usually seen in Americans; sunny gold hair, tanned peach skin, and brilliantly bright blue eyes. The only thing that stuck out more prominently than his caucasian features were the six marks adorning his face, each equidistant from each other bearing a remarkable resemblance to whiskers.
Something inside of her became frightened, for some reason she was associating the whisker marks with something she couldn't remember, but for whatever reason had her terrified. If the newcomer noticed her fear, he didn't acknowledge it and as soon as the stranger noticed she was staring at him he closed both of his eyes and gave her a dazzling smile.
Coming away from a precarious situation had the redhead on edge, and coupled with some irrational fear with whiskers made it even worse, but as soon as she saw that smile with the closed eyes, she was reminded of foxes and that thought instantly dispelled her fears for whatever reason.
"C-can I help you?" She asked timidly, though he seemed nice this was eerily similar to the situation she had just ran from.
"I saw what you did back there." And immediately the amnesiac martial artist began to worry, was he going to turn her over to the police? Was he another delinquent? Was he a friend of theirs? Numerous thoughts and scenarios began to fill her mind as she tried her best to figure out what the boy wanted from her.
"You completely nailed 'em y'know, not only did you outclass them in speed but you could have probably broken every bone in their bodies."
If she felt bad then, his words made her feel even worse, Ranma dropped her head in shame as the boy continued.
"The amount of hits those guys took will probably land them a couple of days in the hospital, I think I saw a tooth fly out too."
Tears began to sting her eyes as she balled up her hands in her lap, she didn't want to hurt them, her body just reacted, same with Grandfather Happosai when he tried to put Akane in lingerie, it was warranted but not necessary.
"Now those guys will probably never approach another woman in their lives!"
Her hands clenched as did her heart, she wasn't that kind of person! She wasn't-
"And I gotta say, you were awesome!"
She snapped her head towards him, the smile had never left his face.
"You were like BAM! POW! and sent those guys flying! I've never seen anything like that before! I'm fast but your fists were like lightning, it was amazing, you must have hit them like a hundred times!" The blond gushed making her blush in embarrassment, it was odd she still felt bad for hurting them but the blond's glee was infectious.
"I didn't mean to hurt them, I'd rather they left me alone but something in me lashed out and by the time I realized it they were already on the ground." Back to self deprecation, Ranma slumped her shoulders, she didn't expect the stranger to reach out and touch her shoulder in a comforting way.
"Don't worry about it, those two are always going around harassing girls around here, since it's usually harmless and just all talk I let them be, but sometimes I gotta show 'em why it's bad to get handsy. If anything you did my job for me. Maybe now they'll think twice before they do something like that again." He said with a wide grin.
Feeling relieved, Ranma had relaxed her tense shoulders and placed a hand onto her chest, "Though I feel bad for hurting them, I'm glad that I could help them see the error of their ways."
"Snrkt! Ahahaha!" She was surprised that the man beside her began to laugh in earnest, red creeping up on her face and filled it all the way to her ears. With a huff of indignation she asked
"What's so funny?" and in response she got a dismissive waving hand from the blond as he tried his best to stifle his laughter.
"N-nothing! You just aren't what I expected that's all." Standing up now to address him, Ranma bent down while putting her hands on her hips to ask with a furrowed brow,
"And what were you expecting?"
He had finally calmed down enough to look Ranma in the eyes, wiping a tear from his own as he told her,
"I was expecting you to be a bit more like a tomboy to be honest." At that, Ranma felt a stab in her heart as she thought of Akane.
"I didn't think you were going to be this… dainty. It doesn't quite fit with how easily to beat the tar out of those idiots back there. I thought you were going to be some kind of super tough warrior lady."
The thought made her stumble a bit. 'W-warrior lady?' She imagined herself wielding a sword atop a mountain of bodies in a triumphant pose of dominance.
"But that's okay, you are who you are." Again looking back to the blond man, she saw that there was a content smile on his face as he stared at the sky. There was definitely a story behind that remark but it wasn't her place to ask.
Ranma gave a soft smile at that, suddenly he stood up and faced her giving a blinding, genuine, toothy smile.
"C'mon!" The man took her hand into his and was met with a little reluctance.
"W-where are you taking me?"
"I saw you before you know, hard to miss a cute girl like you staring at all the sweets at the bakery." he grinned cheekily.
Ranma blushed, she didn't realize people could have been watching! She was just so enamored with the city that everything else seemed to just fade into the background, something she wished she could do right now. Also, cute!? No one had ever called her cute before, well, Grandfather Happosai did but that was just familial affection right? Ranma's cheeks burned red as she was lifted up out of her seat pulled by the arguably cute and kind stranger.
"You still didn't answer my question!" She yelled indignantly, the man might have been good looking but that didn't mean she was going to just go with him!
"I'm going to take you around the city and see the sights! There's a buncha things you gotta go see!" The man's elation was genuine and Ranma could feel the warmth in her hand that seemed to radiate from the stranger.
"W-wait! I don't even know your name!"
The man stopped abruptly and turned to face her proper.
"Ah, sorry about that, Baa-chan always gets on my case for being so spontaneous." He said as he scratched his whiskered cheek with embarrassment.
"My name's Naruto Uzumaki! It's nice to meet you Warrior-chan!" Naruto gave her another smile with a thumbs up and a closed eye. It could have been a trick of the light but the redhead could have sworn a small glint appeared on his rather immaculate teeth.
'W-warrior-chan?'
"My name isn't Warrior-chan Uzumaki-san, it's Ranma. Ranma Saotome." She bowed politely.
"Ranma-chan then." Naruto didn't seem to notice the martial artist's blush as he informally addressed her by her first name. Before she could even make a protest that she didn't even know him that well, she was interrupted.
"You don't need to call me Uzumaki-san, just call me Naruto 'kay?" It was getting increasingly difficult to refuse him, his giddiness was rather infectious.
He held out a hand and looked at Ranma with an expectant gaze.
"Sorry for dragging you along like that, I don't want you to think I'm as bad as those other guys but I couldn't help it. I've never seen a girl like you."
Damn this blush!
Ranma shyly tucked her hair behind her ear as she did her best to avoid looking anywhere but in front of her.
"C'mon I'll show you everything you'll ever need in Konoha!"
Funny enough, that smile of his seemed contagious.
She couldn't help sporting one of her own.
Present
" -and a month later and we were dating." Naruto finished.
Shock was present among the faces of the Tendo residents, disbelief was on the Saotome's, and alligator tears were being shed by one Happosai.
"Oh Ranma… How could you…! I can't believe that you pretended to fake an injury and got a lover! Do you really hate me that much?" Happosai cried.
Ranma stomped his foot in anger, "Of course I do! Wait- No, he's not my lover, besides I'm a guy!"
"Why does that matter?" came a determined reply.
Ranma froze as Happosai and the rest of the family turned back to stare at Naruto who had both hands behind his head with a quizzical look on his face.
"W-what are ya talking about?" Ranma asked fearfully.
"Exactly what I mean, I know you change into a boy and I don't have a problem with it. Besides, we've already done it."
Ranma was just about ready to pass out again.
"What is the meaning of this Ranma!?"
"Ranma m'boy, you better start explaining!"
"What do you mean "did it!?"" She yelled at Naruto as she slammed both of her hands on the table.
Naruto then got an embarrassed look on his face.
"You're really gonna make me say it?"
At this point everyone was about to fall into hysterics.
"Just tell us already!"
"Kissing of course! Being a boy or girl never stopped us from kissing!" the blond said with a hearty smile.
Everyone fell flat on their faces.
Ranma and Akane both angrily yelled, "That's what you meant!?"
Still a bit confused, Naruto nodded in confirmation.
The Tendo family all sighed in relief as Ranma let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.
Did he really kiss this guy? As a guy!?
He couldn't wrap his head around such a thing let alone imagine it. It'd be like he kissed Ryoga and that was a thought that would take a while to scrub from his brain.
"Do you want to see our first kiss?!" He said exuberantly, acting as if he were a proud parent.
He then flashed a photostrip and Ranma had recognized it as the one he had been shown before he had passed out. As everyone huddled together to get a good look, the pigtailed teen snatched the strip and ripped it apart as fast as he could.
"Hey!" The blond yelled indignantly.
"Oops, oh well, guess no one will know." he said with a grin on his face.
Naruto rummaged through his pants and fished out more photostrips, all identical to the one Ranma had just torn.
"Don't mind him, Ranma-chan always rips up our photos because of how embarrassed he gets. Luckily I keep the originals at home, so everyone gets a copy!" He threw all the strips into the air and despite Ranma performing the Amaguriken he was unable to stop Happosai from taking one for himself.
"T-this is…! Ranma how could you!"
Everyone again huddled around the picture and widened their eyes as they saw the happy couple doing full lip on lip contact.
"Saotome…!"
"You disrespectful brat! What about Akane!?"
Both fathers had jumped at Ranma to throttle him.
Naruto had a massive grin on his face as he shouted, "Ranma-chan! Take them down gently!"
Everyone had noticed the specific poignant way the blond stressed "gently" but were taken aback as Ranma had parried the fathers' attacks with practiced ease. A sparkle shone in the pigtailed teens eyes as he struck specific points on their bodies before executing a palm thrust on both of their chests.
Both fathers were on the ground in pain unable to move. As everyone's jaw dropped at the graceful takedown.
"Ranma, what was that!?" Akane voiced for everyone.
Looking at his hands, the pigtailed teen wondered the same.
'How did I do that?'
"See! I knew you could still do it Ranma-chan!" Before anyone realized, the whiskered teen had gotten out of his seat at the table and hugged the martial artist from behind.
It was a beautiful execution of a shoulder shove into a palm thrust combo that launched Naruto away, forcing him to stumble over the dinner table causing a rather painful looking fumble.
"Waugh!?"
"H-hands off pal!"
"Oh my!" Kasumi uttered, a bit worried that Ranma might have injured their guest.
Nabiki had taken a step forward with a grin, "Is that a blush I see Saotome?"
Ranma's hands immediately reached up to his face. Was it hot in here? It must have been! There's no other reason why his face felt as warm as it did.
Akane grabbed the teen's forearms and whirled him around so they were face to face.
"What?! No way! Ranma, you're blushing!"
It was odd, for some reason Ranma was acting demure, refusing to look at Akane, or anyone really.
Happosai was unnaturally quiet, so quiet that the rest of the Tendo household nearly forgot he was there.
'That technique..!'
The palm thrust combo Ranma performed had sparked a fascination within the diminutive man.
"Ranma… Where did you learn to do that?" He asked seriously.
Forgetting Ranma's effeminate attitude for the moment, everyone turned their attention to the grandmaster of Anything Goes.
"H-huh? Whaddya mean? It was just a…" Coming out of his embarrassment he realized he was short of an answer.
"Is it that weird grandfather Happosai?" Kasumi questioned, she had never truly paid attention to the different aspects of martial arts instead simply grouping the entire practice underneath a part of her brain labelled "roughhousing/playing"
"Hey yeah! How come you didn't punch him?" The youngest sister queried.
"Whaddya mean, I didn't wanna hurt him!" Ranma argued.
Nabiki got another mischievous look in her eyes again.
"Oh~? Don't wanna hurt your boyfriend Saotome?"
"He's not his boyfriend!/He's not my boyfriend!" came the simultaneous shouts from Akane and Ranma.
Doing his best to change the subject, he tried to recall how he learned those weird moves.
"Where did I… learn it…from…! Nnnngh!"
It was as if white noise was being played in her head with the loudest speakers imaginable. There was a fuzziness that Ranma couldn't seem to push through.
She had gripped the sides of her head with her hands and slumped down to her knees. Akane rushed up beside her but wasn't noticed by the redhead at all.
"...nma! .re ..u .kay?!"
She could barely make out Akane's voice through the ringing in her head.
Someone then gently pried her hands off her head and caressed her face.
She opened her eyes and saw that it was Naruto holding both of her cheeks trying to speak to her.
Sound slowly came back to her, the world around her disappeared, and all she could see was the face of the stranger.
"...nma? …cus on my voice…"
She tentatively opened her eyes. Blue met blue. The face of a stranger morphed to the face of a friend. She knew that blond hair, radiant and as golden as the rays of sun in the morning.
She knew those eyes as deep and as colorful as the ocean, remembering the times she was lost in their gaze.
Those six whisker marks that were unique only to one person.
"N-Naruto?" A lilt was heard in her voice. It was unnoticeable to the others, but not to the one holding her.
"...Ranma-chan?"
She darted forward and embraced the blond who reciprocated the hug with earnestness.
AN
You guys are probably not getting another chapter for a while.