jiro wasn't as much into martial arts as his family really
although his grandfather was always trying to get him
interested in learning, he kinda scared jiro really,
something about having a dojo in the backyard made the old
man think he had to train in it.
thats one of the few reasons he was hiding out at the
airport and the fact that the gang in our neighborhood had
been threatening him, saying they'd beat him up if he didn't
join them. jiro wouldn't have cared if it wasn't for the
fact that the gang was the silver dragons. he had heard his
mom and aunt cursing about how they were worse then the
yakuza because their leader was supposed to be this super
martial artist.
thats why jiro was in the airport, thats why jiro was
sneaking out of the airport with a travel bag he'd seen in
some of those martial arts magazines that said it was a
martial artists over night bag, so chances were the guys
money was in it.
jiro stopped a block from the airport and held the bag close
seeing the guys that had forced him into this position.
"ya better have somethin' good kid or your dust." the oldest
of them, at least twenty nine he suspected, grunted
snatching the bag from him. jiro cringed as one of the two
thugs with the man smacked him back into the wall, didn't
hurt, but he always thought it better to let people think he
was a wimp.
jiro was starting to get scared when all they found in the
bag was clothes and a fancy looking battle dogi "your
pathetic kid! the one bag you grab has nothin' in it!" one of
them sneered. jiro cringed "how was i ta know?! i've never
done this before!" he pleaded. the mean looking thug pulled
him up and sneered in his face "ya failed punk! now we gotta
beat ya up real good, then when ya get out of the hospital
we come get ya and ya better do a better job."
jiro closed his eyes tight exspecting pain when he fell to
the ground. he opened his eyes and blinked seeing the bully
layed out on the ground "hey, how'd you do that tendo?!" the
other thug said menacing him as he reached done to snatch
him up. suddenly the man yelped as he was snatched off the
ground and his face was smashed into the wall hard. jiro
scrambled aside as the man slumped down the wall and gapped
at the man that was holding the older one by the back of the
neck, his face as bloody as the other two "get lost kid."
jiro gapped at the man, he was dressed in a rich crimson silk
shirt and a pair of comfortable black pants with a burnished
golden color swirling around the pant legs lightly. he
blinked seeing the shoes, almost slippers really, they
completed the outfit to highten the almost delicate look of
the mans features. he blinked seeing a long pony tail running
down the mans back, red and blue ribbons used to decorate it
fashionably.
the man looked back at him almost sullenly "that guy called
you tendo. any relation to... tendo... kisumi?" he asked
unable to say any of the other names. jiro blinked looking
shocked at the man standing looking like he was debating
something "ya, shes my aunt. you know my family?" he asked,
nervious about the man telling on him. he nodded not looking
up "ya i knew 'em. shit, figures i'd meet the only sneek
thief in town that was related to them."
jiro jumped up "i'm notta sneek thief! they said they'd beat
up aunt kisumi if i didn't steal the bag!" he protested. the
man jerked and looked angrily at the three men before
sighing "come on, i'll walk ya home." he said in an almost
defeated voice. jiro looked scared "yer not gonna tell my
momma are you?" he asked scared. ranma looked at him "for
what? being pressured into somethin'? so... why hasn't your
old man taught you martial arts?" he asked as he walked with
the kid down a side street, they had just gotten off a bus,
jiro had thought of bolting if he didn't suspect the guy
knew where he lived. he snorted "i don't got an old man.
momma said he ran off after aunt nibiki was killed."
the man looked stricken "nibiki died?" he breathed. he
nodded "ya, momma said that they found a poison in her blood
besides what that umbrella guy did to her." he said
shrugging. the man face faulted "a poison?!" he exclaimed.
jiro looked closely at the guy "how come you so shocked
about it?" he asked. the man looked at him with eyes filled
with grief "because, i was the one fightin' the umbrella guy
when he hurt nibiki."
jiro opened the front door and blinked seeing the guy
hesitate at the front door "hey momma!" he called out and
grinned when she came out into the hall "i met this guy
today that said he knew that umbrella guy that hurt aunt
nibiki." he said and gained the attention of his aunt and
grandfather. his mother nodded "oh? thats not really that
shocking dear, he traveled the world and a lot of people
knew him."
jiro nodded grinning "ya, but he says hes the one that was
fightin' him when he did it, he also said he hurt him long
enough for the police to come." he said smiling. his aunt
gasped covering her mouth "where did you see this man son?"
his grandfather said. before he could answer they looked up
hearing someone clear their throat softly.
jiro was confused, his mom and grandfather was angry
instantly, auntie kisumi looked happy to see him "how dare
you come back here after-" grandfather was cut off by mom.
the man looked meekly at them "i just... the boy was bein'
kicked around by a few guys a little older then i am, i
figured walk him home, sorry to bother." he took a step
back and looked sadly at them before closing the door "ranma
wait!" jiro jumped when his mother ran after the man.
he blinked coming out of the door with the rest of them to
see his mother talking softly with the man, both of them had
their heads bowed "so... did you ever find out how nibiki
got poisoned?" he asked so softly they almost didn't hear
it. his mother nodded "kodachi poisoned her when she found
out kuno was interested in her. thats why she stumbled
between you two."
the man nodded sadly "i still wish i coulda saved her." he
whispered closing his eyes. she nodded reaching out but
stopped looking away. jiro blinked for a minute "so who is
he auntie?" he asked making all of them jump. kisumi looked
nervious "thats... thats your father jiro, ranma saotome."
everyone jumped as the man feel over like a ton of bricks,
unconscious before he hit the ground jiro gapped even more
"that guys my dad?!"
ranma woke up and blinked for a few seconds at the ceiling
before souns grim face came into his field of vision "well,
i see you've awakened. mind telling me why you knocked up
my little girl and ran off?" he asked looking like he wanted
to froth at the mouth but was controling himself. ranmas
eyes bugged and he sat up looking stunned at the wall "i
didn't run away soun, akane told me... she said to never
come back... she blamed me for what happened to nibiki."
soun blinked at what he said "you... didn't leave....
willingly?" he asked softly. ranma shook his head slowly
"akane attacked me after nibiki was taken to the hospital...
told me to leave and never come back. when i tried to talk
to her... she broke my arm, chased me away." he rubbed his
arm closing his eyes "i figured... if she was willin' to
bring out the tendo family sword..." he shook his head
sadly.
soun looked down sadly "i... i'm sorry for... thinking ill
of you son. akane refused to speak of it..." ranma nodded
"its ok soun, its what i'd come to exspect from you." he
sighed standing up to blink at the man "so what do i do
now?" both looked up as the door opened and kisumi walked in
with jiro, he looked nervous. "seems fathers taught this
young man a few bad habits." jiro laughed nerviously then
settled when the guy smirked.
ranma sighed rubbing at his head "so what do you think about
this?" he asked jiro. he shook his head "i don't know, are
you really my old man?" ranma blinked "i don't know, but
don't call me that." he nodded "so what do i call you?" he
asked. ranma looked down for a few minutes then looked at
him "ask your mother."
he nodded sitting next to the man as aunt kisumi nelt near
them "so... how've you been.. kisumi?" he asked softly not
looking up. she looked down "i'm fine."
ranma was silently examining the empty koi pond a few hours
later when running caught his attention. he blinked seeing
akane near but was more interested in the danger he felt on
the other side of the fence. he stood up and started towards
the wall "what is it?" she asked "don't know." he murmured
hopping the fence and blinked when he was almost knocked
over by jiro. he blinked "i thought you were in the house?"
he asked.
he pulled away and hid behind him as four men charged up
"whos yer friend punk?" a man with a pinched face and
bleached hair sneered. ranma blinked at them for a second
then turned to jiro "you get into trouble often don't you?"
he shrugged then looked scared when akane came up behind
them "whats going on ranma?" she asked. ranma shrugged
putting his hands in his pockets "i don't have the
slightest, i jump the fence and this guy was playing cannon
ball. then his friends here showed up."
akane blinked pulling her son into her arms "whats going on
jiro?" she asked. he gulped "i didn't do anythin'! they just
started chasin' me." he said softly. ranma put his hands
behind his back and looked at the four "i'm pretty sure that
your going to be thankful if you go away quickly."
they snorted "oh man, i just knew i would run scared from a
pretty boy today!" the pudgy one with the ratty gote said in
mock fear. ranma released a hand and beckoned to them
wordlessly. they looked at each other then one grinned
starting forward "your gonna hurt wimp, i'm a second level
master of kung fu." he sneered dropping into a fighting
stance.
ranma beckoned to him again and a small smirk touched his
lips. the man snarled charging at him and threw a dizzying
array of punches and kicks. ranma smirked when the man
suddenly fell unconscious to the ground halfway through his
attack, not even akane saw ranma move. he smiled at the
other three as they gapped down at the man. "you should
be listening to that running feeling you had earlier."
after they left ranma snorted turning back to the two "so
what was it this time?" he asked jiro. he looked down "i was
just at the arcade with my friends, they tried to jump me."
he said sullenly. he nodded letting it go "how about we go
back inside?"
akane followed ranma into the dojo after jiro had gone back
into the house and slapped him "i've worked hard trying to
keep him away from this acursed school, its bad enough that
dads always trying to teach him, i don't want you making him
think fighting is a easy answer!"
ranma looked at her in suprise for a moment then glared
angrily "i can't believe you. i can't believe you would quit
like this. do you know what you've done to that boy?!" he
demanded in a quietly angry voice. she looked shocked for a
second before getting up in his face "are you questioning
how i raise my son?!?" she demanded loudly. he got up in her
face "no, i'm questioning why your turning our son into
someone that thinks an easy way to get out of a problem is
to wait until their finished beating him!!"
he nodded to the shock on her face "ya! you want to know how
i met him?!?! i was following a boy who had snatched my bag
from the airport! seems a group of guys, not kids or teens
but men! these guys had bullied jiro into stealing luggage
from the airport saying they'd hurt kisumi if he didn't!
when i caught up with them he was just standing there
waiting for them to beat him for stealing something
worthless! he wasn't going to fight back, he was just going
to wait until they were finished and hope he could get
home!" he snarled stalking away a few feet "thats what i
question, that his mother seems to have convenced him its
better to let them kill you then to defend yourself!!"
he stared at her challanging her to deny what he said. she
was stunned silent and tried to shake her head to deny it
so he turned to soun who was standing in the doorway with
kisumi and a gapping jiro. he looked at soun "can you please
tell me what she did to the boy to kill his spirit like
that?"
akane screamed hatefully and attacked him suddenly. ranma
looked grimly at her as he blocked all of her attacks
effortlessly for a few minutes before hooking a foot and
held her to the ground without hurting her. she struggled
for a few minutes before she broke down and started crying
in grief. ranma let her up and pulled her into his lap and
cradled her gently against him murmuring soothingly in her
ear as she leaned on him.
ranma looked up at their family in the door and sighed
"jiro. do you have a gi?" he asked softly. he shook his head.
ranma turned to soun "do you have one that he can wear? i
think you might want to see if you can find one for akane as
well, she needs to train as much as he does."
he nodded "i'll be right back." ranma nodded and looked at
akane "i'm going to teach the boy how to fight akane, he's
my son and what you've done to him is... jiro come here, sit
by your mother and i'll tell you a little about my family's
history." he didn't move for a minute then did when kisumi
pushed him gently.
he sighed letting akane go "akane, being a saotome, is more
then just a name. all through the ages saotomes have been
ranked among the strongest warriors ever to appear, some of
our oldest family legends say its because an ancestor
married a mamono and ever since then a saotome child was
born with potential for being the greatest martial artists,
far greater then normal people."
he shook his head "in all that time only two ever were bad
people, one of them was responsible for the fall of the
emperial house at that time. saotomes have always been apart
of one school of martial arts or another, because we know
what not training in one does to us." he looked at akane in
frustration "why damn it! why did you forsake the art!? you
should have been teaching him to release his anger a long
time ago! do you even begin to realize what i have to do to
break the barrier he's already built around his emotions?!"
he demanded. she flinched back from his anger "i don't want
him trained in martial arts ranma!" she pleaded.
ranma cut her off "there are two choices akane, either i
train him or i will redeem him after hes started murdering
people." he rumbled grimly. akane shook her head looking at
him "thats not going to happen!" she shouted. ranma nodded
"it will happen! it happened to me!! ya, remember saffron?!"
he demanded loudly. he nodded at the horror on her face "ya,
i've trained to control my anger but that did not stop me
from ripping that man to peices when he hurt you!" she hugged
the boy closer "wha- what do i do?" she asked softly. ranma
looked grim "i'm going to take him on a traiing trip."
she jumped up yelling angrily in refusal "no!! theres no way
i hell your going to do to my son what genma did to you!!"
she screamed at him. he got in her face "of course not! pop
was a simpering idiot. i am going to do this to try and
repair the damage you did to our son! we'll be gone a few
months, in that time i want to be able to come back here and
see the woman i loved again! i know the akane i knew would
have been disgusted with what you've done to yourself. think
about it akane. pop took me from mom because she did not
think training hard was that importent. don't make me do
it."
soun looked angry stepping up to them "here now ranma this
is a little too much!" he said angry himself. ranma looked
at him "you knew my family soun, pop must have told you what
not learning to discapline our emotions would do to us, this
is just as much your fault as hers. if i had been smart ten
years ago i would have defended myself against her and
stayed!"
soun looked away unable to meet his eyes "i was not going to
go against my daughter ranma." he said softly. ranma nodded
"you show her honor by doing it but it was your duty to both
our families to inform me or mother that i had a son. i
would have come back right then." soun bit his lip "i didn't
know where you were."
ranma nodded "mom did, she always knew where i was. she was
as clueless about this as i was. i know pop would be hurt
that you kept this from us."
ranma looked up from packing a tent as jiro came into the
room "why are you doing this?" he asked looking like he
wanted to cry. ranma sighed looking down "jiro." he looked at
him "what your mother did to you is a crime in my family. if
my grandparents were still alive...." he shook his head "its
an offence against all saotomes to let it get so bad. you
are my son so that makes you a very dangerous person. even
greater danger if you haven't been trained in the art."
ranma sat strait "in the old days, the elders of our clan
would have put your mother and i to death for the state your
in right now. after the last encounter with a rogue saotome
the ruling class added the punishment to the natioal laws, a
law just to govern us saotomes. if i was a dutiful son... i
would be forced to redeem all three of us to restore our
honor." he pressed his fist to the mats letting a pained look
cross his face "you just don't know how wrong it is the way
you are. if my father had been around he would have taken you
from your mother and probably never given you back. because
he knows what the path she forced you to leads. it leads to
evil and the murder of innocent people for no other reason
then to apease a rage that controls you so much you can
barely tell what it is you do anymore."
he started packing the tent again "that is why i do this, to
ask forgiveness from the spirits of our ancestors and pray
they help me set you on the right path again." jiro was
looking at the floor wanting to cry at his words until ranma
took ahold of his shoulders gently "jiro, look at me. you
need this, to follow the path of the coward is to foster a
rage so deep that it will consume you and nothing will be
left of you. go pack a bag, ask your grandfather what to
pack."
he nodded, his lip trimbling softly before hurrying out of
the room. he sighed looking depressed then blinked at
kisumi who was in front of him "when will you return?" she
asked softly. ranma smiled at her "i'm not going to run off
with him if thats what you mean. i'll bring him back in a
few months. he needs to learn, you have no idea how wrong
the way he was is. i've got to fix this mistake before mom
learns about it." she looked frightened all of a sudden
"what would she do?" she asked softly. ranma stopped and
looked at her grimly "you must have wondered why mother is
the way she is, her clan has married into the saotome clan
many times in the past for no better reason then to watch
over us, once she finds out i have a son even i didn't know
about she will first track the boy down and if she doesn't
aprove of the way he is living she will do what her clan has
alwasy done, prevent a saotome from reaching that path, then
she would track me down and do the same to me for letting it
get that far."
kisumi covered her mouth in horror "you own mother...!!" she
gasped. he nodded noticing jiro in the door with akane
"she'd probably go after akane as well as payment for
releasing such a person on japan again." ranma sinched his
pack tight and looked at them "if that happens i'll be
forced to kill my mother, i won't let anyone harm either of
you." he said grimly. akane sniffed tears in her eyes
"does... do you mean that?" she whispered. he nodded closing
his eyes "you don't know how much i wanted to come back to
you akane, it killed me what happened to nibiki and i felt
like you'd sent me to hell when you did that. if you
knew...." he shook his head closing his eyes "moms been
trying to get me to agree to marry a girl she says was
aproved as my wife by her family." he shook his head looking
firm "i'm not going to do it. unlike pop i don't go for the
idea of a loveless marrage." akane looked angry "shes
trying..." she stopped when he nodded "ya, she has about as
much love as a rock, i won't marry someone like that."
although his grandfather was always trying to get him
interested in learning, he kinda scared jiro really,
something about having a dojo in the backyard made the old
man think he had to train in it.
thats one of the few reasons he was hiding out at the
airport and the fact that the gang in our neighborhood had
been threatening him, saying they'd beat him up if he didn't
join them. jiro wouldn't have cared if it wasn't for the
fact that the gang was the silver dragons. he had heard his
mom and aunt cursing about how they were worse then the
yakuza because their leader was supposed to be this super
martial artist.
thats why jiro was in the airport, thats why jiro was
sneaking out of the airport with a travel bag he'd seen in
some of those martial arts magazines that said it was a
martial artists over night bag, so chances were the guys
money was in it.
jiro stopped a block from the airport and held the bag close
seeing the guys that had forced him into this position.
"ya better have somethin' good kid or your dust." the oldest
of them, at least twenty nine he suspected, grunted
snatching the bag from him. jiro cringed as one of the two
thugs with the man smacked him back into the wall, didn't
hurt, but he always thought it better to let people think he
was a wimp.
jiro was starting to get scared when all they found in the
bag was clothes and a fancy looking battle dogi "your
pathetic kid! the one bag you grab has nothin' in it!" one of
them sneered. jiro cringed "how was i ta know?! i've never
done this before!" he pleaded. the mean looking thug pulled
him up and sneered in his face "ya failed punk! now we gotta
beat ya up real good, then when ya get out of the hospital
we come get ya and ya better do a better job."
jiro closed his eyes tight exspecting pain when he fell to
the ground. he opened his eyes and blinked seeing the bully
layed out on the ground "hey, how'd you do that tendo?!" the
other thug said menacing him as he reached done to snatch
him up. suddenly the man yelped as he was snatched off the
ground and his face was smashed into the wall hard. jiro
scrambled aside as the man slumped down the wall and gapped
at the man that was holding the older one by the back of the
neck, his face as bloody as the other two "get lost kid."
jiro gapped at the man, he was dressed in a rich crimson silk
shirt and a pair of comfortable black pants with a burnished
golden color swirling around the pant legs lightly. he
blinked seeing the shoes, almost slippers really, they
completed the outfit to highten the almost delicate look of
the mans features. he blinked seeing a long pony tail running
down the mans back, red and blue ribbons used to decorate it
fashionably.
the man looked back at him almost sullenly "that guy called
you tendo. any relation to... tendo... kisumi?" he asked
unable to say any of the other names. jiro blinked looking
shocked at the man standing looking like he was debating
something "ya, shes my aunt. you know my family?" he asked,
nervious about the man telling on him. he nodded not looking
up "ya i knew 'em. shit, figures i'd meet the only sneek
thief in town that was related to them."
jiro jumped up "i'm notta sneek thief! they said they'd beat
up aunt kisumi if i didn't steal the bag!" he protested. the
man jerked and looked angrily at the three men before
sighing "come on, i'll walk ya home." he said in an almost
defeated voice. jiro looked scared "yer not gonna tell my
momma are you?" he asked scared. ranma looked at him "for
what? being pressured into somethin'? so... why hasn't your
old man taught you martial arts?" he asked as he walked with
the kid down a side street, they had just gotten off a bus,
jiro had thought of bolting if he didn't suspect the guy
knew where he lived. he snorted "i don't got an old man.
momma said he ran off after aunt nibiki was killed."
the man looked stricken "nibiki died?" he breathed. he
nodded "ya, momma said that they found a poison in her blood
besides what that umbrella guy did to her." he said
shrugging. the man face faulted "a poison?!" he exclaimed.
jiro looked closely at the guy "how come you so shocked
about it?" he asked. the man looked at him with eyes filled
with grief "because, i was the one fightin' the umbrella guy
when he hurt nibiki."
jiro opened the front door and blinked seeing the guy
hesitate at the front door "hey momma!" he called out and
grinned when she came out into the hall "i met this guy
today that said he knew that umbrella guy that hurt aunt
nibiki." he said and gained the attention of his aunt and
grandfather. his mother nodded "oh? thats not really that
shocking dear, he traveled the world and a lot of people
knew him."
jiro nodded grinning "ya, but he says hes the one that was
fightin' him when he did it, he also said he hurt him long
enough for the police to come." he said smiling. his aunt
gasped covering her mouth "where did you see this man son?"
his grandfather said. before he could answer they looked up
hearing someone clear their throat softly.
jiro was confused, his mom and grandfather was angry
instantly, auntie kisumi looked happy to see him "how dare
you come back here after-" grandfather was cut off by mom.
the man looked meekly at them "i just... the boy was bein'
kicked around by a few guys a little older then i am, i
figured walk him home, sorry to bother." he took a step
back and looked sadly at them before closing the door "ranma
wait!" jiro jumped when his mother ran after the man.
he blinked coming out of the door with the rest of them to
see his mother talking softly with the man, both of them had
their heads bowed "so... did you ever find out how nibiki
got poisoned?" he asked so softly they almost didn't hear
it. his mother nodded "kodachi poisoned her when she found
out kuno was interested in her. thats why she stumbled
between you two."
the man nodded sadly "i still wish i coulda saved her." he
whispered closing his eyes. she nodded reaching out but
stopped looking away. jiro blinked for a minute "so who is
he auntie?" he asked making all of them jump. kisumi looked
nervious "thats... thats your father jiro, ranma saotome."
everyone jumped as the man feel over like a ton of bricks,
unconscious before he hit the ground jiro gapped even more
"that guys my dad?!"
ranma woke up and blinked for a few seconds at the ceiling
before souns grim face came into his field of vision "well,
i see you've awakened. mind telling me why you knocked up
my little girl and ran off?" he asked looking like he wanted
to froth at the mouth but was controling himself. ranmas
eyes bugged and he sat up looking stunned at the wall "i
didn't run away soun, akane told me... she said to never
come back... she blamed me for what happened to nibiki."
soun blinked at what he said "you... didn't leave....
willingly?" he asked softly. ranma shook his head slowly
"akane attacked me after nibiki was taken to the hospital...
told me to leave and never come back. when i tried to talk
to her... she broke my arm, chased me away." he rubbed his
arm closing his eyes "i figured... if she was willin' to
bring out the tendo family sword..." he shook his head
sadly.
soun looked down sadly "i... i'm sorry for... thinking ill
of you son. akane refused to speak of it..." ranma nodded
"its ok soun, its what i'd come to exspect from you." he
sighed standing up to blink at the man "so what do i do
now?" both looked up as the door opened and kisumi walked in
with jiro, he looked nervous. "seems fathers taught this
young man a few bad habits." jiro laughed nerviously then
settled when the guy smirked.
ranma sighed rubbing at his head "so what do you think about
this?" he asked jiro. he shook his head "i don't know, are
you really my old man?" ranma blinked "i don't know, but
don't call me that." he nodded "so what do i call you?" he
asked. ranma looked down for a few minutes then looked at
him "ask your mother."
he nodded sitting next to the man as aunt kisumi nelt near
them "so... how've you been.. kisumi?" he asked softly not
looking up. she looked down "i'm fine."
ranma was silently examining the empty koi pond a few hours
later when running caught his attention. he blinked seeing
akane near but was more interested in the danger he felt on
the other side of the fence. he stood up and started towards
the wall "what is it?" she asked "don't know." he murmured
hopping the fence and blinked when he was almost knocked
over by jiro. he blinked "i thought you were in the house?"
he asked.
he pulled away and hid behind him as four men charged up
"whos yer friend punk?" a man with a pinched face and
bleached hair sneered. ranma blinked at them for a second
then turned to jiro "you get into trouble often don't you?"
he shrugged then looked scared when akane came up behind
them "whats going on ranma?" she asked. ranma shrugged
putting his hands in his pockets "i don't have the
slightest, i jump the fence and this guy was playing cannon
ball. then his friends here showed up."
akane blinked pulling her son into her arms "whats going on
jiro?" she asked. he gulped "i didn't do anythin'! they just
started chasin' me." he said softly. ranma put his hands
behind his back and looked at the four "i'm pretty sure that
your going to be thankful if you go away quickly."
they snorted "oh man, i just knew i would run scared from a
pretty boy today!" the pudgy one with the ratty gote said in
mock fear. ranma released a hand and beckoned to them
wordlessly. they looked at each other then one grinned
starting forward "your gonna hurt wimp, i'm a second level
master of kung fu." he sneered dropping into a fighting
stance.
ranma beckoned to him again and a small smirk touched his
lips. the man snarled charging at him and threw a dizzying
array of punches and kicks. ranma smirked when the man
suddenly fell unconscious to the ground halfway through his
attack, not even akane saw ranma move. he smiled at the
other three as they gapped down at the man. "you should
be listening to that running feeling you had earlier."
after they left ranma snorted turning back to the two "so
what was it this time?" he asked jiro. he looked down "i was
just at the arcade with my friends, they tried to jump me."
he said sullenly. he nodded letting it go "how about we go
back inside?"
akane followed ranma into the dojo after jiro had gone back
into the house and slapped him "i've worked hard trying to
keep him away from this acursed school, its bad enough that
dads always trying to teach him, i don't want you making him
think fighting is a easy answer!"
ranma looked at her in suprise for a moment then glared
angrily "i can't believe you. i can't believe you would quit
like this. do you know what you've done to that boy?!" he
demanded in a quietly angry voice. she looked shocked for a
second before getting up in his face "are you questioning
how i raise my son?!?" she demanded loudly. he got up in her
face "no, i'm questioning why your turning our son into
someone that thinks an easy way to get out of a problem is
to wait until their finished beating him!!"
he nodded to the shock on her face "ya! you want to know how
i met him?!?! i was following a boy who had snatched my bag
from the airport! seems a group of guys, not kids or teens
but men! these guys had bullied jiro into stealing luggage
from the airport saying they'd hurt kisumi if he didn't!
when i caught up with them he was just standing there
waiting for them to beat him for stealing something
worthless! he wasn't going to fight back, he was just going
to wait until they were finished and hope he could get
home!" he snarled stalking away a few feet "thats what i
question, that his mother seems to have convenced him its
better to let them kill you then to defend yourself!!"
he stared at her challanging her to deny what he said. she
was stunned silent and tried to shake her head to deny it
so he turned to soun who was standing in the doorway with
kisumi and a gapping jiro. he looked at soun "can you please
tell me what she did to the boy to kill his spirit like
that?"
akane screamed hatefully and attacked him suddenly. ranma
looked grimly at her as he blocked all of her attacks
effortlessly for a few minutes before hooking a foot and
held her to the ground without hurting her. she struggled
for a few minutes before she broke down and started crying
in grief. ranma let her up and pulled her into his lap and
cradled her gently against him murmuring soothingly in her
ear as she leaned on him.
ranma looked up at their family in the door and sighed
"jiro. do you have a gi?" he asked softly. he shook his head.
ranma turned to soun "do you have one that he can wear? i
think you might want to see if you can find one for akane as
well, she needs to train as much as he does."
he nodded "i'll be right back." ranma nodded and looked at
akane "i'm going to teach the boy how to fight akane, he's
my son and what you've done to him is... jiro come here, sit
by your mother and i'll tell you a little about my family's
history." he didn't move for a minute then did when kisumi
pushed him gently.
he sighed letting akane go "akane, being a saotome, is more
then just a name. all through the ages saotomes have been
ranked among the strongest warriors ever to appear, some of
our oldest family legends say its because an ancestor
married a mamono and ever since then a saotome child was
born with potential for being the greatest martial artists,
far greater then normal people."
he shook his head "in all that time only two ever were bad
people, one of them was responsible for the fall of the
emperial house at that time. saotomes have always been apart
of one school of martial arts or another, because we know
what not training in one does to us." he looked at akane in
frustration "why damn it! why did you forsake the art!? you
should have been teaching him to release his anger a long
time ago! do you even begin to realize what i have to do to
break the barrier he's already built around his emotions?!"
he demanded. she flinched back from his anger "i don't want
him trained in martial arts ranma!" she pleaded.
ranma cut her off "there are two choices akane, either i
train him or i will redeem him after hes started murdering
people." he rumbled grimly. akane shook her head looking at
him "thats not going to happen!" she shouted. ranma nodded
"it will happen! it happened to me!! ya, remember saffron?!"
he demanded loudly. he nodded at the horror on her face "ya,
i've trained to control my anger but that did not stop me
from ripping that man to peices when he hurt you!" she hugged
the boy closer "wha- what do i do?" she asked softly. ranma
looked grim "i'm going to take him on a traiing trip."
she jumped up yelling angrily in refusal "no!! theres no way
i hell your going to do to my son what genma did to you!!"
she screamed at him. he got in her face "of course not! pop
was a simpering idiot. i am going to do this to try and
repair the damage you did to our son! we'll be gone a few
months, in that time i want to be able to come back here and
see the woman i loved again! i know the akane i knew would
have been disgusted with what you've done to yourself. think
about it akane. pop took me from mom because she did not
think training hard was that importent. don't make me do
it."
soun looked angry stepping up to them "here now ranma this
is a little too much!" he said angry himself. ranma looked
at him "you knew my family soun, pop must have told you what
not learning to discapline our emotions would do to us, this
is just as much your fault as hers. if i had been smart ten
years ago i would have defended myself against her and
stayed!"
soun looked away unable to meet his eyes "i was not going to
go against my daughter ranma." he said softly. ranma nodded
"you show her honor by doing it but it was your duty to both
our families to inform me or mother that i had a son. i
would have come back right then." soun bit his lip "i didn't
know where you were."
ranma nodded "mom did, she always knew where i was. she was
as clueless about this as i was. i know pop would be hurt
that you kept this from us."
ranma looked up from packing a tent as jiro came into the
room "why are you doing this?" he asked looking like he
wanted to cry. ranma sighed looking down "jiro." he looked at
him "what your mother did to you is a crime in my family. if
my grandparents were still alive...." he shook his head "its
an offence against all saotomes to let it get so bad. you
are my son so that makes you a very dangerous person. even
greater danger if you haven't been trained in the art."
ranma sat strait "in the old days, the elders of our clan
would have put your mother and i to death for the state your
in right now. after the last encounter with a rogue saotome
the ruling class added the punishment to the natioal laws, a
law just to govern us saotomes. if i was a dutiful son... i
would be forced to redeem all three of us to restore our
honor." he pressed his fist to the mats letting a pained look
cross his face "you just don't know how wrong it is the way
you are. if my father had been around he would have taken you
from your mother and probably never given you back. because
he knows what the path she forced you to leads. it leads to
evil and the murder of innocent people for no other reason
then to apease a rage that controls you so much you can
barely tell what it is you do anymore."
he started packing the tent again "that is why i do this, to
ask forgiveness from the spirits of our ancestors and pray
they help me set you on the right path again." jiro was
looking at the floor wanting to cry at his words until ranma
took ahold of his shoulders gently "jiro, look at me. you
need this, to follow the path of the coward is to foster a
rage so deep that it will consume you and nothing will be
left of you. go pack a bag, ask your grandfather what to
pack."
he nodded, his lip trimbling softly before hurrying out of
the room. he sighed looking depressed then blinked at
kisumi who was in front of him "when will you return?" she
asked softly. ranma smiled at her "i'm not going to run off
with him if thats what you mean. i'll bring him back in a
few months. he needs to learn, you have no idea how wrong
the way he was is. i've got to fix this mistake before mom
learns about it." she looked frightened all of a sudden
"what would she do?" she asked softly. ranma stopped and
looked at her grimly "you must have wondered why mother is
the way she is, her clan has married into the saotome clan
many times in the past for no better reason then to watch
over us, once she finds out i have a son even i didn't know
about she will first track the boy down and if she doesn't
aprove of the way he is living she will do what her clan has
alwasy done, prevent a saotome from reaching that path, then
she would track me down and do the same to me for letting it
get that far."
kisumi covered her mouth in horror "you own mother...!!" she
gasped. he nodded noticing jiro in the door with akane
"she'd probably go after akane as well as payment for
releasing such a person on japan again." ranma sinched his
pack tight and looked at them "if that happens i'll be
forced to kill my mother, i won't let anyone harm either of
you." he said grimly. akane sniffed tears in her eyes
"does... do you mean that?" she whispered. he nodded closing
his eyes "you don't know how much i wanted to come back to
you akane, it killed me what happened to nibiki and i felt
like you'd sent me to hell when you did that. if you
knew...." he shook his head closing his eyes "moms been
trying to get me to agree to marry a girl she says was
aproved as my wife by her family." he shook his head looking
firm "i'm not going to do it. unlike pop i don't go for the
idea of a loveless marrage." akane looked angry "shes
trying..." she stopped when he nodded "ya, she has about as
much love as a rock, i won't marry someone like that."
