Chapter # 6
Kyoto,
mid 1800's-
The gumi plus Ranma made it
through the gates of the dojo. Each
member was either fully annoyed or confused. In some cases, both.
Ranma turned around to face the
strangers before they entered even the hall. He smoothed his clothes and cleared his throat. He started speaking in a formal address,
"Hey, I know I have a lot of explaining to do and-"
Sanosuke grabbed him by his wide
open mouth and tugged him along. "Save it. I said, ' you and I had better talk' not 'you and the rest of us.'" Everyone else understood this friend thing
and went inside though Kaoru lingered outside just a little longer before
Megumi beckoned her in.
After Sanosuke had let go, Ranma
followed him to the porch where he and the real Kenshin usually sat. Saying nothing, Sanosuke first walked in a
circle in thought. When he came to face
a pious looking Ranma again he declared, "You've got some explaining to do."
The tone in Sanosuke's voice
made Ranma's nerves stand on end. He
snorted back, "Hey, I know that! You
don't know what hell I've endured the past few hours!" As Ranma spoke he paced
towards the taller boy in a defiant manner.
The way that his "good friend"
Kenshin was acting was ridiculous! What
had happened that set him so totally out of character from his kind and wise
conduct to this punk like attitude?! Sanosuke angrily spoke, "I've had about enough of this cocky behavior
from you today. I normally beat the
hell outta anyone else who gives me
half as much trouble. So I'm warning
you now, don't push me!" He stepped a
boldly towards Ranma with fists clinched. He knew for a fact Kenshin could not even compare to him in a hand to
hand combat. Even if it would be an
unfair fight, Kenshin had no right to be acting the way he has: disrupting the
emotions to those close to him.
The ground crunched beneath
Ranma's foot as he met the challenge presented to him. He furrowed his black brows and barked,
"Push you? I'll punch your lights out
if you don't watch yourself!"
Sanosuke closed his eyes and bit
his lower lip trying to maintain control. When he looked back up, Ranma's presumptuous face was staring straight
at him. He couldn't take it anymore! Sanosuke socked Ranma a mean uppercut
sending him flying--directly for the koi pond.
Sanosuke couldn't help but smirk
at the release of his frustrations.
A noisy splash marked where
Ranma landed. In the cool pond he could
feel himself changing: the rest of him
grew tighter and more compact while two spots became particularly larger. Ranma-chan came up gasping for air. She took a flopping fish off her head and
looked crossly back at her aggressor. "What'cha do that for?!"
Sanosuke couldn't believe
it. His eyes just bugged out while the
rest of his face faulted in traditional manner. At first he thought he'd taken a wrong look at Kenshin's effeminate face, but then
Ranma-chan got the rest of the way out of the water. He pointed in disbelief and uttered, "K-Ken-Kenshin you're a
chick!" In such surprise, the
pointy-haired boy couldn't move a muscle. Taking the opportunity, Ranma-chan walked up still, sopping wet, and
stomped on Sanosuke's head.
By the time Sanosuke recovered,
Ranma had already used hot water to change back to Ranma-kun. Seeing as how the former had lifted his head
up again, Ranma took the liberty to smack him with the empty teapot one more
time.
They both sat down now, Sanosuke
rubbing his sore head and Ranma looking piqued. The latter opened one eye and said blankly, "So where should we
begin?"
"We? You're the one who all of a sudden changes into a chick!"
pausing, Sanosuke thought about it, "A hot one at that." A kick shortly landed on his face.
Taking the initiative, Ranma
started out, "Ok, ok. Look, let's just
get one thing straight, NO ONE learns about the girl thing."
"Right."
"Now I know everyone must be
really confused, but so am I." Ranma
twisted to look Sanosuke straight in the face. Sanosuke responded by being thoroughly attentive. "I've got something really disturbing to tell
you, and then a better thing, and then I'll need some answers myself." Sanosuke
nodded. "I've been acting the way I
have becauseā¦I'm not Kenshin."
A serious look crossed
Sanosuke's face. He said in utter
monotone, "I know that. I can tell one
ki from another."
Ranma fell over hitting the
ground with a bump, legs extended in the air with one twitching. Sanosuke merely watched. When he got up, the pig-tailed martial
artist questioned, "Well why the heck didn't you say so in the first place you
baka?!"
Unphased, he came back, "I had
to be sure. While there was something
very different with your ki and your attitude, you still looked and sounded
exactly like the Kenshin I know."
Ranma blinked. * There's someone out there that look exactly
like me?* He couldn't trust this so
easily. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Are you saying that this Kenshin guy looks
exactly like I do right now. Down to
everything?"
Sanosuke looked him up and
down. "Yes." He then thought for a
moment, "Except for the whole girl thing."
"But that's impossible! Do you realize where I'm even from? I'm from the freakin' 1990's, man! I don't even belong to this time line much less can I look like a guy
I've never even met. I live in the
Nerima District, not some quaint town!"
Sanosuke was astonished. He spoke as well as he could, "I hate to
tell ya, but you're in the post-Meiji era in Kyoto."
"What! The 1800's?! This is
insane!" Ranma paced about for a few
more minutes. Finally the words came to him, "All right, I think I may know
what's going on here. I want you,
without looking at me, to describe exactly the way I am. From my facial features down to my clothes."
Sanosuke didn't understand the point of all this but
went along anyway. He turned around and
began speaking of how the real Kenshin looked, "You're twenty-eight, you've got
long red hair, a cross scar on your left cheek, blue eyes, and wear a maroon
and off-white kendoist uniform. Plus
you carry that sakubattou sword with you everywhere." He apathetically turned back around, but when he did he saw the
truth.
There Ranma stood. Hands on his hips he said, "Try again! I'm a sixteen year old with medium length black hair and wear a red and
black kung fu uniform, with no weapon. Though the eyes were about the only thing right."
"Wha-what the heck? You're not Kenshin at all!"
"You are a smart one, aren't ya?"
Sanosuke looked outstounded. "I can't believe I couldn't see the
differences before. How the heck did
that happen?!"
Ranma took some time to reflect then answered,
"Before I got here, I traveled through some light tunnel thing."
"Kenshin was sucked in by something like that!"
"And while I was in it, I passed by a man going the
opposite direction. I think that was
your Kenshin. So he must be all right,
only in a different time."
"Hmp. Of
course Kenshin will be able to take care of himself. But why couldn't the
others and I not tell the difference between the two of you."
"My take is that the switch was so quick and
instant, your brains must have just coped replacing Kenshin's image with mine."
Sanosuke laughed and leaned back on a banister. "Heh, think of that." He looked up to find Ranma with his right
hand extended and a big smile on his face.
"Hi. The
name's Ranma Saotome."
"Sanosuke Sagara." He took the offer and shook
strongly.
When they had released. Ranma held his chin in consideration. "Doesn't that mean that everyone will take Kenshin for being me?"
