Memoirs of a Warrior, Part 1: Final Revision.
Prologue
I killed him...I couldn't believe it at first...it was so easy...there was so
much blood...
The old man's neck snapped so easily under my anger...then I looked up...and I saw her eyes...and saw not the love that we had come to gain...but fear.
I didn't notice as they took me away...I didn't notice the irons they clamped upon my wrists and ankles...and I didn't notice my mother screaming hysterically, mourning not my loss, but the loss of her family's honor.
I only saw Akane. I only saw her tears.and I only saw my own hands: not the blood that covered them, but the fact that they weren't my own, would never again be mine, and would always be female.
* * *
The letter came to the Tendo residence with all of the gusto that any letter received. It got to the mailbox, which was in fact Kurenai Tsubasa in disguise, who ran off and got bonked by Kuonji Ukyo, who retrieved the letter and started walking it back to Tendo-ke, just in time to quite literally bump in to Shampoo, which precipitated a fight, in which the letter got lost, floated up, was retrieved by a rather large panda, and was deposited into a rather tattered Tendo mailbox, etc.
This was a rather calm morning and I woke up feeling great -- until a seemingly random hole was torn in my roof, through which a bruised Tsubasa came flying.
"What do you want, Tsubasa?" I drawled, half-asleep and a bit annoyed.
"L-letter, Ran...ma..."
Tsubasa dropped an elegantly embroidered letter with no return address into Ranma's lap, just in time to get punted back out of the house by a slightly-annoyed pigtailed-fury.
I casually opened the letter. "Just great...another challenge. Do these guys ever give me a break? Why can't they just..."
Ranma dropped the letter as he saw the seal that was rather awkwardly placed onto the space marked "return address."
"Prince Herb."
"Oh no...I thought that dragon had enough..."
I retrieved the letter from the floor and almost fell over again in surprise.
"This...can't...be"
"To the Honourable Saotome.
I would like to inform you that our prized artifact, the Chisuiton, was rather rudely extracted from our treasury last week. My guards report seeing a wizened old man running away, and also noted that their wives underclothing was missing as well, so I would advise that you hold caution, as the culprit must be up to no good.
-Herb
I looked up from the letter to see Akane entering the Dojo.
"Are you ready to go, Ranma? What's that letter?"
I quickly tossed the letter out, not wanting to give Akane reason for worry.
"Just some junk mail, tomboy...nothing to worry about."
I realized as I dodged the Furisode that she threw that it was probably not the most intelligent choice of words.
"Get ready, pervert. We have to leave now or we'll miss the cherry blossoms in Kyoto, and I know how much you love being in girl form for these, so..."
A rather cold blast of water hit me right in the face.
"Okay...be right there." Well...the hanami was one of my favorite pastimes, and Kyoto was a more extravagant vacation spot than we were used to.
I quickly donned the kimono and rushed out to meet my mother and the Tendo girls, similarly clad.
"I do wish that you would clothe and...form yourself appropriately for this occasion, Ranma. You are, after all, representing the clan Saotome, since your father is far less than an adequate example of manhood." My mother gave me a disappointed look, which I deliberately avoided.
That being said, we headed for the train station, my mind wandering to the meaning of the letter I received from Herb. It was obvious that Happosai was the culprit, and he was up to something.
On the train, aside from my almost being sent into orbit a few times by Akane, the trip was uneventful.
* * *
When we arrived in Kyoto, it was in a state of hightened security . There were police everywhere. All the same, the cherry blossoms that were beautiful, and the day was perfect.
As we walked down the gorgeous double row of sakura trees, the beauty of the cherry blossoms that adorned the path caught my attention. The only thought, for some reason, which could penetrate my mind was that it was a tragedy that only in a form of small death could such beauty exist.
Akane approached me.
"Isn't it beautiful, what this time of rebirth can show us, Ranma?"
I guess I couldn't understand what fate was trying to tell me then.
"Be mine forever, Ranma-chan!"
The voice was one which, since that morning, I had dreaded hearing. and the cold water was something which I did not expect.
"That's cold! What are you up to, old man? I'm already a girl..."
"Yes, my pretty, but you'll not like what I'll do. Unless, of course, you pose for me, now, in these." With that the owner of that dreaded cackle, Happosai approached me, in one hand, an ornate ladle, and in the other, a bra and panties that were so skimpy that there must have been some law of physics that they violated.
"Forget that, old man!" I poised for battle with my usual arrogance, not realizing what the old man had done.
Happosai grinned evilly "Fine, my pretty, be that way, but the consequences are on your own head!" He revealed a familiar-looking kettle and gently placed a Happou Dai Karin inside before tossing it way up into the air, where it exploded violently.
I finally realized the implications of the old letch's actions. It was - had been - the Kaisui-fuu.
"Gods...no." The world, my world was spinning. My vision shrank to include two things, the old letch and hate. He would die for this. He would die by my hand, and I would make sure it was damn painful. There was no way I was going to let him live for stealing my manhood. He would pay.
* * *
Ranma sank to her knees, and as far as I could tell, she was intact, if not wet.
As I approached her, she looked up, a haunted, dead look in her eyes.
I'll never forget that look, for it showed me the meaning of fear, that day. It is a wonder to me how Happosai withstood it.
"You have no idea what you've done, old freak."
"Do you know what this is, m'boy?" Happosai chuckled as he waved the ladle around. "This is the end of your manhood, and the beginning of my endless pleasure....now put the bra on before I hurt you, little girl," the letch leered maliciously.
"Die, letch!"
I rushed forward to stop Ranma from running into a fight she couldn't win but she brushed me off. "Stay back, Akane. I'm going to kill him for what he did. I don't want you hurt in this." For a moment I saw tenderness in Ranma's eyes, then they were cold and harsh, once more.
With that Ranma launched into a fury of attacks, and Happosai ran, the crowd that had come to see the cherry blossoms parting the way for them, in regard for their skins, most likely.
I gave chase as well as I could, and so did most of the surrounding police officers. This was going to be bad.
* * *
I followed the old man.
He would pay for this.
As he ran I managed to score a few hits.
As we leapt from rooftop to rooftop, looking like something out of an old martial-arts movie, I sent small ki-blasts in Happosai's direction, which he dodged with ease.
"What's wrong, little girl? Are your weak arms and legs getting tired?" The old letch bombarded me with taunts as I chased, and then turned around, glomped me, and broke into a run again..
"Gya ha ha! You're not strong enough or fast enough to take me, my little sweetling! Why not just give up and succumb to your fate, and accompany an old man like little girls should?" Happosai leered as he began to hop across rooftops again.
"In your dreams, old man! You're going to pay for what you did to me!" I put on more speed, not wanting the pervert to get away.
Finally, one of my ki-blasts scored on Happosai's left leg, slowing him down enough for me to rain blows down upon him, but he was right, I was weaker. The letch shrugged the blows off and kept hopping.
In a last desperate strike, as we got nearer to a clearing, I put all of my force into one blast that managed to make the old man stumble enough for me to plant one wooden sandle onto his foot.
I grinned at him as I heard the satisfying crack of wood against bone.
As I looked into the old man's eyes, still not seeing the fear that I desired, he loosened his foot and bounded towards the clearing.
He had finally begun to limp.
We finally came to the rather large clearing. People must have known we were coming this way, Because they were gathered all around, intent on the outcome of our duel.
I didn't care.
As Happosai landed he took stance for another Dai Karin, so I took my chance and went into a volley of Attacks.
"Kachuu Tenchin Amaguriken!!"
Within the blink of an eye the old man was on the ground. I had at least shattered both of his arms, his kneecaps were gone, and I think I may have hit a kidney.
"Is that...all you have...little girl?" Happosai coughed, and I noticed a bit of blood dripping fro the corner of his lips. He was upon his last hour, and he knew it.
"More than you can take, old fool."
"Ha! I can take far more than-"
snap!
I would hear no more, I snapped his neck, and welcomed a temporary oblivion.
* * *
As I slowly walked nearer to Ranma and what was left of the old letch, a police officer, followed by my sisters, daddy, and Ranma's parents emerged from the crowd.
The police officer began asking questions, and the crowd was proud to announce how the supermodel with the red hair had beat the tar out of the man with the bikini in his hand, and then ask what movie was being filmed.
As Ranma got up to survey her surroundings, Genma made to move forward, grab her, and run off, but blanched and backeed off as Nodoka suggestively slid her katana partway out of it's sheathe.
"Say anything, husband, and it shall be your belly on the block. This is not our son, but nothing more than a little slut who has killed a defenseless old man. To have her among our family would destroy our honor."
I gasped in surprise at what Nodoka said. How could she be so cruel? Ranma was her own family! I began to walk forward to console Ranma but father caught my shoulder and held me back, shaking his head. There was nothng I could do.
The officer came to Nodoka.
"Excuse me miss. Witnesses say this girl arrived with you. Can you confirm her identity?"
"Why, I've never seen her in my life, officer. They must have had me confused for this savage child's mother, but indeed, I have no daughter. I once had a son, but he died in dishonor."
"So that's how it is."
Ranma stood up, coming to. She looked dead. I had never seen such betrayal in my life.
I was scared, to say the least, and said something which I regretted for the rest of my days.
I looked around me for support, but found nothing. Kasumi would not override Nodoka, even in dishonor, and Nabiki simply stood and watched, and unreadable expression on her face.
I could hold my tongue no more. "Ranma...what have you done? Run!"
The look which Ranma flashed Nodoka was nothing compared to the sadness I saw in her eyes when she heard those words.
Ranma got up to make a break for it. I winced as she was hit by a tranquilizer dart from a nearby policeman.
The last thing I saw from Ranma made me want to die myself, for the sadness in her eyes haunted me for the following two years.
* * *
I always loved the Japanese cherry blossom festivals. I always seemed to find such interesting things there. This year seemed to be no different. I quietly unfolded my cell phone as I got into my car and made a call to a friend of mine, the chief of the Kyoto police department.
"Takeshi-san. Yes, It's me. I want you to get a girl for my ward. About five-foot six, Redhead. No I don't know what she is in metrics. Definitely natural red. As soon as possible. Yes. Thank you."
I had to have her. I could help her. I could make her ready to return to society, to her friends, to her lover.
* * *
When I came to, I was in a room, full of books, and there was a man sitting next to me.
I seemed to be sitting in front of a desk. At the desk were sitting 3...no...1...no...3...definitely one man, I think. The man at the desk mumbled something that I didn't catch, and the man near me mumbled something back. The man at the desk pushed something white towards me and the man near me looked at the white thing for what seemed like ages then nodded enthusiastically at me. Not knowing what else to do, I nodded right back. As I blacked out again, I saw the two men shaking hands.
* * *
When I awoke again, I saw pink.
I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't on something, but, assuredly, I was in a room with a pink bed, a pink rug, and a pink ceiling. I had even been dressed in what looked like pink sweat pants and what felt like panties and a bra. I had the uncomfortable feeling that the undergarments were also pink. The walls were white, but it was unimportant, as the overly pink vibe of the rest of the room shone on them quite well.
"Damn. All that to not have to wear panties and a bra, and I end up in them anyway."
Memoirs part 1: Memoirs of a Warrior
Shimada Izumo, 12-01-1998
When she arrived, all hell broke loose. The first Jane Doe ever admitted to the Kyoto Women's Ward. She seemed to think that she was some inhumanly good martial artist. The guards, myself included, did not believe her.
That was sheer folly.
I'm Doctor Izumo Shimada. The guards and some of our more outgoing 'guests' call me 'Izzy.'
I work in the Kyoto Center for Potential Productive Femimine Members of Society Who Have Had Unfortunate Bouts With Psychosis. The Kyoto Women's Ward, for short.
Background:
On June 5th, 1998 we received a very unique case.
Jane Doe, thought to be gaijin, age 17, multiple charges of assault and battery, snapped the neck of a man, guessed to be about 150 years old like a twig. Old man was apparently the perpetrator of many cases of voyeurism. Assumably, from the bra found in the hand of the old man when the incident happened and the fact that she was, for some reason, wearing men's boxers, the patient was undertstandably infuriated at the victim for the theft of her undergarments, specifically the bra, which was of expensive design.
Patient believes her name to be Saotome Ranma, the name held by a student at Fuurinkan High School. Saotome, a 17 year old male, was unavailable for questioning, and is presumed dead, possibly killed by Patient. The search for a body is still in progress.
Saotome Nodoka, the mother of the missing boy,
only responded that her son was dead and that the gaijin girl was no relative
of hers. It is still a mystery as to how the girl got into Japan.
Initial Analysis:
Shimada Izumo, 6-17-98
Patient is responsive to questioning, seems to have shut the event of "the old
letch's" death out of her mind.
She seems to have known him for quite some time, supported by her intimate
knowledge of his everyday practices. She mentions having had intimate
relations with one Akane Tendo, who was not allowed to be questioned by her
father during the initial investigation.
The patient speaks Japanese with terrible grammar at best.
Chinese and
American governments have no emigrant records of her, neither does the
immigration department.
Despite this, the patient does show a high degree of the honor attributed to many of the more opulent families in greater Nerima, from whence she claims to hail.
The patient seemed convinced that not only could she break out, but that she would also be gone within hours.
I managed to convince the patient to stay, but her motives still are unclear to me.
Patient is highly unstable, recommend no visiting privileges for at least 4 months following admission to the KWW.
* * *
When I approached Ranma for the first time, although at that time I knew her
only as a Jane Doe, It took me half an hour to even get in to see her...
"Oi! Izzy!'
Dr. Takada, one of the other guards in the B Ward of the KWW ran up to me,
his eyes bloodshot and his breath drawn.
"Hai! Takada-san, what's wrong?" I said, but with this sinking feeling, I knew
something was up.
"It's the new patient, the Jane Doe...she's doing pushups."
"Since when is that a big deal, Takada-kun? Our patients like to keep
physically active. We should be proud!"
"Um, Izzy...she's doing them with one hand."
I blinked slowly and assimilated the information. "Well...She's ve..."
"Upside down, with one hand, Izzy."
I almost spilled my morning's coffee...for a female's physical strength in the upper arm to be that high was incredible. most Olympic athletes couldn't do that.
"That's not all, Izumo-san...she's glowing..."
This time, I did spill my coffee.
"She what...?"
"I can't describe it, Izzy. This one scares me. Nothing good will come of this."
* * *
Heeding Takada's warning, and fascinating analysis of the patient's current situation, I approached the patient's room and almost immediately stopped in sheer amazement.
She was gorgeous.
About five-foot-six, redhead, easy on the eyes. This girl could have been a supermodel if she wasn't a cold blooded murderer. Then I saw her eyes. Blue, the deepest blue. No, deeper. I'd heard of the girls who wore their hearts on their sleeves, well this 'Jane Doe' wore hers in her eyes. It was as if, through looking into those two miniature oceans, I had known her for years.
I stammered as I began to introduce myself
"H-hello, Mrs. I'm Iz-Dr. I-Shimada Izzy-er...Izumo."
The girl smoothly switched hands and kept doing her pushups as if I wasn't there.
I slowly got a little more courage and even got a bit indignant.
"I'll be your psychologist and your only guard. Welcome to the KWW. If you need anything, just ask me. My hope is to have you ready to re-enter society within a year or two, but to do that, I need your help."
Suddenly, before I could blink, the girl was no more than two or three inches
in front of my face.
"Go away."
"I can't do th-"
"And don't come back until you have a decent pair of boxer shorts with you."
"B-boxers?"
"Yeah...I'm not gonna be wearing pink lingerie for the next year."
"But I can't...you see, we're not allowed to bring any foreign objects into the patients' rooms. They even check our uniforms for completeness and accuracy to the Ward standards"
"Oh?" The girl grinned viciously. "Then you may need these"
I nearly passed out as she handed me all of the buttons off of my coat.
Needless to say, the first meeting did not go well, and I hadn't even started the initial evaluation yet.
* * *
Surprisingly, the initial evaluation went well.
As the girl walked in I took stock of her while she was right-side up, and not
poised to kill me.
She was acting very like a Japanese boy.
This realization threw me off of my track from the very start of the meeting.
"Who are you?"
The girl went over and flopped unfemininely down onto the couch, which
surprised me further.
"Saotome Ranma, heir to the Musabetsu Kakutou Saotome-ryuu. Sorry, but I'm currently neither accepting neither new fiances nor challenges, as you can see..." The girl grinned as if she had made some incredibly humorous joke.
"Please answer my questions truthfully, Miss. Saotome Ranma is a 17 year old male, and is currently unaccounted for. Do you know where he is? I'm sure his family must be worried."
The girl's eyes flashed angrily as I mentioned her family. "No. They made it clear that they didn't want me anymore."
I sighed and had resigned myself to the name she seemed to have chosen when she managed to surprise me yet again.
"I'm sorry, doc. I realize this must be hard for you. Maybe you can try calling me Ranko?"
I sighed again, this time in relief., and offered Ranko my hand. "Well, Ranko, my name is Shimada Izumo, but all of the guards and my patients call me Izzy, and I hope you will too."
Ranko took the hand with gratitude, and it was clear that she had finally found a friend in these obviously dark times for her, and that friend was me.
From there I began to ask her about her life, and the meeting actually ended early because I ran out of note paper. This Saotome Ranko, or whoever she was, had dreamed up an interesting life.
* * *
On the way back to her room we chatted idly about the meeting.
"So...let me get this straight, you were originally a boy, and a hell of a martial artist at that?"
Ranko nodded silently.
"So I have just one question...why won't the Tendos admit to knowing you?"
"I've dishonored them. I am no longer fit to marry Akane, and am therefore useless to my freeloading pop. All of these things make me no use to anybody in my 'family,'"
We spent the rest of the walk in silence until we reached her room.
"I need to ask one more thing of you, Ranko." I hoped to all of my stars that this would work.
"What is it, Doc?"
"If you can get out so easily, why are you still here?"
"Well, I never thought of that. I guess it's first because I have nowhere else to go. The woman I love is scared to death of me, and my family doesn't want me. Furthermore, it's because both of my parents would have run away, though they would have used separate reasons and methods for it. One, through seppuku and using the excuse of honor, in her perverse holding of honor above all else, even herself, or her family. The other would have pretended to be a lost panda. Don't ask."
"Thank you, Ranko...we'll meet again next week. Until then, make sure you get to know the other patients. Thank you."
* * *
There was one other reason for which I could not go back yet.
I had to bide my time. I had to make sure that my revenge was perfect. I had to make sure that she would pay.
* * *
I couldn't stand not knowing what Ucchan was doing, what she thought happened, whether Shampoo had just packed up and left, whether Kuno and Ryoga had just given me up for dead and gone after Akane themselves.
Akane...
Gods, how I missed her
All those times I insulted her, they haunt me still...
Gods, how I miss her.
There is a reaccuring dream I had for a very long time, and I never thought much of it until I began to look back on those first few days, to realize how brash I was. Not until I had been reborn could I have known what this dream meant.
It goes something like this:
I'm entering the Dojo, the place that was more or less a home to me for so many years, and as I enter, I hear the sounds of a battle, and a fierce battle at that, going on. I rush to see if I can give aid, but as I enter the dojo, there is nobody there.
I investigate to find, in the middle of the floor, a picture frame, covered in shattered glass.
As I inspect the picture I notice with no small amount of awe that it's of me. But I'm with a boy, about six feet tall, a hunk, and a pigtail just like mine.
This is about the time when I realize with horror that the boy is me, and that this 'me' is no longer who I am.
Just as I come to this conclusion I get tapped on the shoulder
"Hello Ranko," a voice, mocking and cruel, sneers as I turn around to find nobody there.
"I never was very fast as a girl, always so small. So weak"
I spin again and catch the voice by the neck, and it's the pigtailed boy, he infuriates me, I attack him.
As I drive him back to the wall he sneers as I take a stance that I don't know. a stance that's obviously intended to be offensive, and he shows fear.
I enjoy it.
I grab him by the neck once again and once again the bone cracks.
But it's no longer his neck,
No.
Ucchan's
No, not Ucchan's.
Akane-chan's!
Then suddenly, I'm the one held up against the wall, my neck snapped like a pocky stick, my body beaten and bruised.
The first time I had that dream I woke up screaming, and encountered yet another hell. As I opened my eyes they beheld what can only be described as Pink. Everything in the room exuded the essence of female modesty and kindness. Not adorned with the simple bed mat and lamp, along with a kettle for emergencies, was this room, but instead filled with stuffed animals and the like, promising dreams of sugar and spice, not of Kuno and Ryoga, and battles.
Part of me insisted adamantly that this might not be so bad. Perhaps this was the only part of me with any sense.
With this thought of giving in, of excepting the possibility that my cure was gone. that the cure would not happen, my 'old self' lashed out, and that little bit of sense, an oasis of heaven in a desert of hell, was killed.
* * *
From the legal file of Saotome Ranma
6-03-1998
Account by Ward guard Masame Taku. morning shift
It was a more or less normal morning shift at the start. The girls in the South wing of the ward were quiet, as usual. but as I approached the room of the new girl, the Jane Doe who came in on the First, I heard some sort of screaming. It sounded something like 'Kachuu Tenchin Amaguriken."
I can't quite describe what happened next, because I still don't believe it myself.
The door to the new girl's room quite literally flew off of it's hinges. As I walked carefully towards the room I noticed the shrapnel from what looked like one of the wooden doors into the patients' dorms. I entered the room, to find the new patient kneeled on the floor among hundreds of very small shreds of black cloth.
As far as I could tell, she looked relieved and had yet to notice me.
* * *
I looked up after a while to see that the guard was still standing there.
The look on the poor sap's face was priceless.
"Um...Are you okay?" the poor guy asked.
"I don't believe it" I managed to croak out as I regained my stamina. "They left the thrice-damned bikini set in my drawers!"
As the guard paled at the sight of black confetti that was spread across the remains of the door I went to sit on 'my' bed.
Just then the rest of the guards arrived to survey the scene, me on the bed with a satisfied Ranma grin, and the guard there, looking as if he had just wet himself.
Unfortunately, by the looks of the tazers they were brandishing they didn't think it was quite as funny as I did.
That was my last conscious thought before lunch.
* * *
When I came to I was in a new room, identical to the last, except this time there was a stuffed animal there. It had to be a c-...a ca...A feline.
I tossed the makeshift creature into the rooms furthest corner and lay down on the bed as I considered my situation. As I pondered I noticed the tray of piping hot beef stew near my door. As I was starving, I polished off the plate cleanly and gingerly licked each and every drop of the stew off of the dishes.
Almost as if on cue, when I finished with the food, the door to my room opened and an orderly, a rather large, cruel-looking man, all in white, who looked like he-d been imported from a bad American action movie looked at me coldly.
"Come," he said, speaking to me as if I was the female dog that society currently thought I was equal to.
Having nothing better to do, I followed.
* * *
We entered a small auditorium that was filled with girls who were anywhere from what looked like twelve years old to twenty years old.
the thug quickly pushed me into a seat and gestured to the front of the room, not taking his eyes off of me.
As everybody got seated, an elderly, good-natured looking man approached a raised podium at the front of the room, Unlike how I felt about the thug, the look in this man's eyes made it so I instantly felt a liking for him.
"Hello, girls, and welcome to the B wing of the KWW. As many of you fine women have no doubt guessed, I am not Japanese. I am a psychiatrist from Germany. I used to be a police officer, back in my day, when I realized that many of the young girls who I was arresting were not getting the social remedy that they were meant to receive from the jails of my time," the old man smiled as if there was an inside joke, much to my annoyance.
"I, wondering why this happened, started to research the 'problem,' and I found the most interesting bit of information. It turns out that prison was, in fact, making young children, specifically female, more prone to commit crimes in the future!"
About this time I was beginning to nod off, as this guy was nowhere near as dangerous as Hinako-sensei, and therefore not to be taken nearly as seriously.
The old man must have noticed me.
"Anyway, you will notice as you get to know each other that you have all been indicted for murder by the Japanese courts, similarly, you have all been diagnosed with some form of temporary hysteria. What you are is new participants in my ground breaking form of therapy which will make sure you all remain productive, feminine, Japanese women."
I could only think of one thing to say.
"Oh, shit."
Perhaps that was a mistake, as I once again got a tazer to the back of the neck, but it was not such a shock this time.
"Let that be a lesson to you, girls." Suddenly, I did not like his tone of voice. "We do not tolerate swearing. And, most of all. We do not tolerate fighting.
I was in trouble.
* * *
From the Diary of Kuonji Ukyo: 6-03-1998
Dear Diary,
Ranchan is missing.
Gods, I don't know what to do.The Tendos wouldn't tell me what happened. They act like Ranma doesn't even exist!
I wonder why Akane wasn't there...
I'm so lonely. What will I do without him?
I guess I have to keep making okonomiyaki. I don't want to have to go back to father. I will find Ranchan.
* * *
From the personal files of Tendo Akane, unearthed 1/2002
June 3, 1998.
After father did something that despicable, I left. I just couldn't be around someone with so little integrity. After what I saw him do, I may have done something as brash as what Ranma did.
I still can't believe he did it.... Even now, I'm seeing him hold the lifeless body of the old man between those hands. So feminine.
Can I love her anymore?
* * *
Today I went looking for information, and may have gained some help.
As I was exiting my apartment, another few tens of thousands of yen that I would owe Nabiki, which is about three or four city blocks from Furinkan, I noticed I was being followed.
As this wasn't entirely odd for me, I started running. Worst case, it was another prince, or flying demon, or ice-skating male diva chasing after me.
As I realized that whoever it was was having no trouble catching up, I started to run harder.
All I could think was that I wanted Ranma...I wanted his help so badly. I needed him. Where was he? That BAKA!
When whoever it was was finally lost in my wake I bent down to catch my breath than looked up.
I saw Ucchan's. I knew it was closed, but thought Ukyo may have done some of her own investigating, so I quietly snuck in.What I saw struck me dumb.
There, leaning over a small diary was Ukyo, crying her eyes out.
"Ukyo..."
Before I could blink the martial chef was at my throat, one of her miniature spatulas poised at my jugular.
"What do you want, you conniving bitch? This is some scheme of yours to steal my Ranma, isn't it. Well, you don't deserve him! You were never a friend to him, you never fed him anything but your thrice-damned poisons! You..."
"I love him, Ukyo!"
Ukyo dissolved into more sobs. "Then it's true, isn't it? They took him away..."
"Yes. My father and Mrs. Saotome abandoned him. they left him like he was yesterday's trash. I miss him, I love him, and I want him back. I don't know how to ask you this...but I guess I have to be straightforward. please help me, I'm begging you." I made a movement to comfort Ukyo, but realized that I had no idea what I could do to help.
"Okay, Akane. But you have my vow on this. If I find that you had something to do with his leaving, I will kill you." I believed her with all of my heart, not for her incredible skill in the art, but because of her voice. Because I was speaking with another woman who had lost her lover, and because I myself might have said the same, and, more importantly, would have been ready, if not eager to kill her if I was in her situation.
As I began to exit the restaurant, a man walked in and seated himself at the bar.
"Kuonji Ukyo and Tendo Akane, the one who will lead you to your love is imprisoned, but by his own free will." The man didn't even turn as he addressed us.
Ukyo would not stand for this.
"Bu..."
"The Ranma you know is dead. I will not be responsible for the consequences if you find him and don't like what you've found."
"Haabu," Akane said. "Why have you come?"
The Chinese prince bared teeth too fanglike to be mistaken for anything but exactly that, fangs.
"I want my ladle, and I want my rematch. I would also like to thank you, the jog was quite interesting, Tendo Akane."
I blanched a bit and Ukyo and I began to make arrangements for my moving in with her. I even allowed myself a bit of enthusiasm. We were going to find Ranma!
* * *
As the effects of the tazer wore off the speech of the old man, who I was quickly growing to dislike, drew to an end.
I began to stand up as all of the girls filed out but the thug with the tazer quickly motioned that I stay put.
"Hello, Ranko. Perhaps you didn't catch my name as you were snoozing during my speech, I'm George Hans."
I turned around to find myself standing face to face with the old man, the twinkle in his eyes making me want to be friendly with him, but the buzzing in my ears making me want to plant my foot in his face.
"I'm terribly sorry about the tazer, child, but the rest of your wing-mates are treading on thin ice that's almost as fragile as your own. Between the incident with your underwear and the swearing during my speech I wonder if you want to be here at all," the old man said with a chuckle.
"Anyway, to the point of why I came to see you, I would like to make sure that there is no violence or swearing from you. Can I have your word on that, Ranko-chan?"
I paled a bit at the suffix attached to my name.
"I'm sorry. What can I call you?"
"I'm Saotome Ranma of the Musabetsu Kakutou Saotome-ryuu. I would be pleased to retain my own name."
"That's the one thing I can't call you. Not yet, but how about this: I will allow you to retain your Family name, for our purposes, while you must take the name Ranko, as you agreed to use with your doctor, as a legal name. Is that a deal?"
"Done, provided I get no stuffed animals. I'm not a stupid girl and I don't appreciate gettin' girl stuff shoved in my face."
"Fair enough, Saotome-san, but keep in mind that you are a female as of now, which means that you must act female, meaning you also must learn prudence, and when not to act. Consider our little episode with the tazer your first lesson, and what I hope is the only one that will require any violence."
"H-hai..." I was a little overcome by the candidness of the old man. He must have been hiding something. People who seemed this candid always were like Mousse, or Ryoga. They were always waiting to stab me in this back. and I knew that this man was too.
I bowed formally to Hans and left, having nothing more to say.
As the thug brought me back to my room I noticed, gratefully, that the stuffed cat was no longer in the corner.
I foolishly thought that this would allow me to rest easy.
* * *
I woke up for the second time in two nights screaming, looked around the dark room, and drew my knees up to my chest as I stared at the wall.
This was not right. I was Saotome Ranma, man among men!
Why was I sitting here, screaming like a girl, in a girlish room, having a dream where I thought of a boy as a hunk?
What was wrong with me?
My door opened a crack and the scared guard from before peeked in.
"Are you okay, miss," the guard asked, not sure whether to be afraid of me or not, yet.
"I'm sorry. I had a bad dream."
"Would you like a glass of water or anything?"
I nearly facefaulted.
"Um...Isn't this a prison and aren't you a guard?"
"Well, most of us are actually personal care-givers. I myself actually worked at a convalescent home before this, but the Ward paid so much better that I almost had no choice but to accept. I have a bit of martial arts training so I can handle things if any patients get out of hand.
"Just like me, right?"
The guard gulped audibly "How did you do that, anyway?"
"I have a bit of martial arts training," I said with a wry grin. "I'm sorry...I guess it was just that part of me that's just not used to..."
"To what?"
"Well, between you and me, to being a woman."
"Oh. I see! You mean it's just that it's that time of the Mo..."
The guard didn't finish that sentence as I whacked him pretty hard across the top of his head, but not hard enough to hurt him.
"No, it's not THAT!" I said with minor annoyance, and a bit of amusement. "I mean I used to not be a woman. I used to be a man, and a man among men, to boot!"
The guard did a minor face fault.
"A...man? But how? you don't have the scars of a surgery..."
"I was, and am, cursed."
Suddenly the guard sat bolt upright.
"Oh...I see." He obviously didn't.
"Look...when I was sixteen I went to this cursed training ground in China and fell in to something called the Nyannichuan: The Spring of Drowned Girl. From that point on I got turned into a female whenever cold water hit me, which is more frequent than I care to mention, and hot water reversed the effect. On the first an old man splashed me with a magic ladle called the Chisuiton, which stuck me in the curse, and the antidote was destroyed before my very eyes. With that I lost hope of my manhood, and I snapped.
"This is fascinating," the guard said, "but I fear I must get back to my rounds, since you are okay."
"Please wait," I said, suddenly just not wanting to be alone. "can I get your name?"
"Taku.,' the guard flashed a grin and pointed to his name tag. "and which lovely lady do I have the pleasure of addressing?"
"Saotome Ranko, at your service." I said with a little bow.
With that the guard left and closed the door to go finish his rounds.
With that I returned to my pillow, with thoughts of the next day, and fell asleep.
* * *
As I awoke the next day I felt unusually warm, and through my groggy eyes I noticed a woman with a familiar hairstyle sitting at the foot of my bed.
"MMMno, mom...you dun' wanna see me n' girl form..." I tried to spout out some form of proper greeting.
The voice that greeted me back was not my mother's, and, as I recalled the last few days, I remembered that I was not at home, and that I had no mother.
"You're silly!" the high soprano piped back. "It's time to get up and have breakfast."
'H-how did you get in?"
"What? It's not like the doors are ever locked or anything," she twittered again.
"Oh."
I was too tired to think.
The girl sniffed the air.
"Ewww! You smell like a horse! Take a bath before breakfast. I'll wait."
I finally sat up to survey my companion and found, to my surprise and relief, that she looked absolutely nothing like my mother.
"Where's the bathroom?" I asked in a slightly less groggy tone.
"Cheery, Arn'cha?" She said as she pointed to a door across the hall. "Our bathrooms are communal. but there shouldn't be too much of a crowd in them right now. At least we don't have to worry about boys walking in on us, as not even the doctors and orderlies are allowed in there unless it's an emergency."
I approached the bathroom door and opened it and found a room that could only be described as amazing.
The architecture was comparable to ancient greek, with Doric columns lining each of the 16 levels of floor surrounding the room, each level was two feet below and 6 feet inward of the last, while the last two were filled completely with steaming water.
I had never willingly had a hot bath as a female, but I had also not had any form of bathing since they hosed the old freak's blood off of me upon my entry to the Ward, so, without an alternative, I stripped and hopped in. This was about when I noticed that there were about thirty girls in the bath with me.
This was the only occasion upon which I have been thankful for the Chisuiton, despite the fact that it was what got me into this mess.
Each and every other girl in the bath, excluding my companion, who was sitting on a bench on the top level of the room, playing with her hair, looked like she would gladly have slit my throat if the voices in her head told her to.
I tried not to pay attention to them and continued bathing, as there was not much I could do about it and I didn't want to get into any more trouble by having to beat the daylights out of dozens of other 'guests' at the Ward.
As I was washing my hair, halfway expecting some old freak, a pig, or a duck to appear out from under of one of the many floating buckets the girl who had led me to the baths approached me.
"Why do you keep it all bound up like that? It's so beautiful. I wish mine was like that!"
"Huh?"
"Your hair! It's gorgeous!"
"Well I...errr...that is...Well I'm no girl! What do you expect? Do you expect to me to flounce around and act all pretty and ditzy or something?" I began to get angry.
"Simmer down. If you want to be a tomboy that's your choice."
"What did you say?"
"I said you're acting like a tomboy!"
"A tomboy....I used to call her that all of the time. Ranma no baka..."
"Who's Ranma?"
"Huh?" I had almost forgotten she was still standing ear my spot in the bath.
"Ranma. Who is he? Was he your boyfriend before you came here?"
"No...Ranma wasn't...He's dead now."
"Oh!" the girl lowered her voice. "Is that why you're here now?"
"In a way. You see..." I tried to think of some way to explain it without sounding psychotic.
"I got very mad at this old pervert, who was trying to get me to wear this bra...and I never wear bras" The girls around me sniggered at this, but kept washing, "and I got very mad at him...and he did something very bad, and killed Ranma" this incited a gasp, "And I beat him up, then I broke his neck." This brought on another gasp.
"After that, Ranma's mother pretended that I never existed, and since I have no identity in Japan, I was sent here."
I got looks of sympathy for my plight from many of the girls.
"What did the old man do that was so bad, aside from killing your boyfriend?" Sera piped up yet again, seeming very curious.
I was at a loss of words, so I just spit it out.
"He made it so I'd never be a man again."
By now the entire bath was listening, and I therefore got hit with the huge splash that came of about thirty girls facefaulting at once.
"Er...I meant...that is...he destroyed Ranma's, and by extension my chance for a happy life." Many of the girls recovered.
Many comments came soon after about what other girls would have done.
"yeah...if it'd been me I would have slit his throat."
"I wish I was strong enough to snap a neck"
" I would've used a spoon!"
I quickly finished up, not wishing to hear any more, and followed my companion out, after getting dressed in some more pink, ugh, sweats.
* * *
"Ward B houses 150 girls, including yourself and the new blood," Sera, as she said her name was, explained to me. "Newbies are allowed to wear the sweats for one week until they are required to put on the nightgowns at night and the sundresses or yukata robes at day. During sports sessions we are allowed polo shirts and skirts or T-shirts and bloomers."
"Sports sessions?" I asked excitedly, wondering if there might, after all, be an opportunity to keep my training up in this place, where there seemed to be nothing to do.
"Indeed, we keep a Kenpo team, which is loosely translated into street fighting by the entrants, but you wouldn't want to mix with them. They're tough and most of them are quite cruel as well.
My mind was already reeling with the possibility of new opponents and possibly even a chance for improvement.
When we finally approached the cafeteria I was not only nearly starving for breakfast, but aching to know more about the Kenpo team as well. Sera, unfortunately, didn't know much about it, other than the many bets she lost, and attempted to steer the conversation towards more pleasant subjects.
"The food here isn't half bad. We stole the chef from the Hilton of Tokyo a few years back so we always get healthy, and sometimes even fun foods."
"I don't care what it is, so long as there's a lot of it" I grinned.
After we got our trays and filled them with various dishes of eggs, bacon, vegetables, and any combination of the three, and glasses of juice I led us toward an empty table, chatting idly about what I used to get fed by Shampoo, Ukyo, and Akane on the way.
"Well...maybe we should ask the chef to make okonomiyaki with us, he's usually open to suggest-" Sera stopped cold. "Oh no...tell me we're not at table 23, please tell me we're nit at table 23, Ranko..."
"Why?"
"Because Yoiko, the captain of the Kenpo team, is coming and she looks pissed."
"Speak up, Arashi. Why are you and the newbie sitting at my table?"
I turned to survey the owner of the light alto voice to find that she could have passed as my female form's older sister, or my male form's twin sister, had I not been an only child. Her hair was the same fiery red as my own, cut in the short in the sides and back, with bangs in front,
"I'm Ranko," I said, as I began to hazard an introduction, "Saotome Ranko."
"I know who you are. You're the girl that got zapped at the first assembly. What I don't know is why you're at my ta-" she had to stop as a piece of my bacon hit her in the forehead, spelling 'A-hou' with very precise handwriting and aim.
"Fine," I said. "I challenge you for ownership of the table. But, mark my words, you will regret it."
"Okay," said the other girl with a savage grin to parallel my own, "Deal, and, should win, I will allow you to date me. but what will you wager in your favor."
"First of all. I have no interest in dating y-"
"What...are you going to tell me you like boys? Give it up. Takes one to know one, sister."
I turned a visible red as 'Yoiko' Laughed good naturedly.
"Fine. Have it your way. If you win I'll allow you to date with me!"
This caused Yoiko to laugh even harder.
"Very well, Saotome-chan. I like you. in the gym, 1pm today. And I'm holding you to that date either way. One of the things Mr. Hans enforces is the keeping of debts. Well, until then I think you and I will be eating lunch together."
I resigned myself to that fate, as Yoiko seemed to be good natured, and not out to marry me.
Maybe this place wouldn't be so bad...
This evening was going to be fun, after all.
Disclaimer:
This is a rewrite of this chapter, based on the reviews by the readers of Fanfiction.net, and one other who is special to me ;)
All Characters from Ranma 1/2 Are created by, and therefor the property of Rumiko Takahashi. All other characters in this fic are from the twisted mind of the author. This is what happens when you mix J-Pop, Carmina Burana, and New Rock.
This fic was not written for money and I have yet to make profit from it. :)
Inu_Ranma@yahoo.com for comments/suggestions, all are welcome :]
Thanx to my prereaders for this third revision for this chapter:
Reddjango, Devil_Sword, Sunlord,
Special thanx to teh guy who helped me Ubermuch:
Xaldaran
Very very special thanx to My one and only true love (also a prereader)
Riyousha.
baibai till next chapter or rewrite :]
