Sons of the Apocalypse
A Ranma 1/2 alternate fanwork by Wolfye Productions, Inc.
- http://fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=276284
All Ranma 1/2 characters are (c) Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Communications,
Inc., Shogakukan, Inc., Kitty Films and Fuji TV. Characters are used
without the express prior permission of the aforementioned. Story
concept, other characters and original situations are (c) Wolfye
Productions, Inc.; this fanfic is written for entertainment purposes
only.
=-=-=-=-=
Part 01: Enter Ranma and Kuraima
Between light and shadow, two shall be borne of one.
One shall be borne of the light, the other shall be borne of the
dark;
Two ancestral enemies deeply woven within the fabric of Time.
Set forth from this day shall begin the Apocalypse; and whence the
time has come,
The beginning of the end shall once again be no more.
-The Book of the Fates [age unknown]
It was an early spring Sunday morning, the sun shining brightly
down upon the peaceful district of Nerima. Everything glistened in the
bright sunlight, wet with newly fallen rain, as yet another rain shower
had decided to grace the tranquil suburb just a few moments prior.
For half-an-hour, the languid city had remained still beneath the
torrential downpour. It was common during this time of the year, and no
one really gave the event much thought. However, once it had stopped,
and the rain clouds had dissipated, the citizens of Nerima were shocked
at the sight that greeted them once they stepped forth from their
protective abodes.
Marching down the nearly deserted street passed a strange
procession of three highly conspicuous personages, one of whom was
tossed unceremoniously across the shoulder of another. It was certainly
a strange sight, and people could not help but stare at it in awe and
wonderment, as the odd procession glided past and down the street
towards the neighbourhood dojo.
---
Soun Tendou shakily held a worn postcard up in front of his face,
emotion rising in his throat, while tears threatened to break from his
eyes.
"Oh, how I've waited for this day!" he half-sobbed, stopping to
wipe away the tears that slid down his wet cheeks.
"And soon," he continued, turning the postcard around in his
hands. "Very soon, Ranma and Kuraima will be here!"
The postcard in his hands was tattered and worn, as if a great
many people had handled it. The edges were creased in several places,
and there were watermarks scattered across the surface of it. On the
front of the three-by-five card was a simple picture of a rather large
panda eating sticks of bamboo. The other side contained the mailing
address of the Tendou Dojo, a few worn Chinese stamps, and a short
message written in sloppy calligraphy:
"Bringing Ranma and Kuraima back from China.
"Saotome"
Soun finally put the postcard down onto the low table. "I must
tell the girls," he said thoughtfully to himself. "They could be here
any minute now."
The middle-aged martial artist stood up from his kneeling position
at the head of the table. Putting a cupped hand to his mouth, he called
out in a joyful tone.
"Kasumi! Nabiki! Akane!"
Pause. No answer. Now, that was odd. Where were his three little
girls today? He was sure that they were here today since it was Sunday.
The three never really planned anything on Sundays.
He walked out of the main room and down the hall to the kitchen.
It was around eleven-thirty in the morning, close to noon. If he figured
right, Kasumi would be in there about now preparing lunch for the
family.
"Kasumi!" he called out, sticking his head through the open
doorway, pausing to push aside the door awning.
"Yes, Father, what is it?"
Soun's eldest daughter, Kasumi, paused in her activity to address
her father. She was nineteen years old, recently out of high school, and
the general caretaker of the Tendou Dojo. She was fairly tall, standing
about five-foot-five in height. Her long brown hair, tied neatly to one
side with a white ribbon, reached to halfway down her back, and her
dazzling grey eyes showed nothing but motherly compassion. At the
moment, her innocent face held nothing more than a quizzical expression.
"Ah! Good, Kasumi," Soun said, taking a step into the kitchen. "I
have some good news to tell you and your sisters. Are you busy with
lunch right now?"
"Yes Father," Kasumi replied, nodding her head.
"Very well then, go ahead and finish up. I'll go inform your
sisters meanwhile. I want to tell all of you at the same time. Perhaps
we shall do it over lunch." Turning back around, he left the kitchen
and a very confused daughter behind him.
Soun ascended the stairs at the front of the house and quickly
made his way down the hall to his middle daughter's room. On the door
hung a small wooden duck with the word 'Nabiki' in English lettering
painted on it. Pausing first to knock, he opened the door halfway when
he heard a muffled reply.
"Nabiki!"
Nabiki Tendou lay sprawled out on her stomach atop her bed, legs
up in the air, reading a new manga. Her cropped, chestnut-brown hair
perfectly framed her youthful face, giving her a very professional look.
"Hmm?" Nabiki looked up as her father entered the room.
"Ah, Nabiki! There you are," Soun said, stepping into his
daughter's room. It was fairly large, bigger than the bedrooms of her
other two sisters. Although quite big, it was sparsely furnished,
consisting mainly of a Western-styled bed, a desk, a swivel chair, a
bookcase, and a low table upon which sat a state-of-the-art
entertainment centre. Decorations were also fairly sparse, while
everything about the room gave the vague impression of meticulous order;
nothing seemed to be out of place throughout the entire room. Soun
focused his attention back to his daughter, who was gazing at him
curiously.
"Ah yes," he continued, pausing to clear his throat. "I have
something to tell you and your sisters. Some very good news, as a matter
of fact. I'd like to tell you all at once, over lunch today, so I'll
need you downstairs in a couple of minutes."
Nabiki raised a delicate eyebrow at her father. *Hmm... this
'something' must be big stuff,* she thought, her dark brown eyes quickly
scrutinizing her father's uncharacteristically happy disposition. She
prized her ability to read people like a book, and so knew that her
father was up to something.
"What is it, Daddy?" she asked innocently.
"Now now, Nabiki, I want to tell all of you at the same time. This
is to be a surprise," Soun chided his daughter. It was no use. His
middle daughter's expression went immediately from innocent to serious.
"Oh, come on, Daddy. You know how much I don't like surprises.
Tell me what you're up to."
Soun sweated. Although he was quite proud of his middle daughter's
gift for reading people's emotions, he hated it when she used it on him.
"Now, Nabiki," he began, but was cut off when she suddenly sat up
and waved her hand dismissively. She fixed him with a knowing glare.
"Cut the crap already, Daddy. I know you're up to something. Now,
either you tell me now, or I let the committee know that you're..."
"Okay, okay!" Soun hurriedly cut his daughter off, not really
wanting to touch that particular subject at the moment. He took a deep
breath. She was the one person he couldn't fool, so he might as well
just tell her. Besides, now that he thought about it, it would be more
beneficial if he did tell her, because then, she could probably help him
in placating her sister once he told them of the arrangement.
"An old friend of mine is coming to visit for a while," he began.
Nabiki crossed her arms in front of her chest, giving her father a
very intimidating look. Obviously, she wasn't convinced. Soun gulped.
"Is that all?"
"No, no. He's bringing with him his two sons. We made an agreement
a while back that one of his sons would marry one of you, in order to
carry on the School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts."
Nabiki sat back to digest the information her father had just
given her. Nothing seemed suspicious about what he had told her.
Granted, it was the twentieth century, and arranged marriages were a bit
out of place in this day and age. However, her father was a man of
tradition, so she wasn't too surprised that he had agreed to do
something as outrageous as this. After all, that was how her parents had
gotten married in the first place.
"Okay," she said finally. Soun slowly let out the breath he had
been holding. "I'll be downstairs in a minute."
Soun nodded his head and backed out of his daughter's room. She
was the diabolical one out of the three, and he had been fearing her
reaction somewhat. But if she had taken the news well, then that meant
that his other two daughters might also take the arrangement in stride.
Or at least he hoped so.
The elder Tendou made his way down to the end of the hall,
stopping in front of the farthest door from the stairwell. This door was
identical to the last, complete with a similar small wooden duck
figurine. However, unlike the previous one, this duck had the word
'Akane' in English lettering painted on it. This was the room of his
youngest daughter.
After a slight moment's hesitation on his part did he dare to
knock on the bedroom door. There was no answer. After waiting another
minute, he knocked again, a bit louder this time. Still there was no
answer. Slowly, cautiously, he turned the brass knob and pushed open the
door a fraction of an inch.
"A- Akane?" he called out softly, not wishing to disturb his
daughter if she happened to be asleep. Once again, his query was met
only with silence.
Tentatively, he pushed the door open a little further and shyly
stuck his head in. The room was empty. He slowly let out the breath he
didn't realize he had been holding. Willing his heartbeat to slow back
down, he retracted his head from the room and silently closed the door.
Taking a deep breath, he turned and walked back to Nabiki's room.
Knocking first on the door, he entered when he heard the muffled
reply. Nabiki was still perched atop her bed, still reading the manga
she had been perusing earlier. He frowned a bit at this, but decided
against saying anything.
"Nabiki, do you know where Akane is?"
The teenaged girl looked up with a puzzled expression. "Y'mean,
she's not in her room?"
Soun shook his head.
"Well, she's probably off practicing then," she said thoughtfully.
It was that time of the day, after all. Spotting the worried look on her
father's face, Nabiki sighed and sat up again. "Do you want me to go get
her?"
Soun immediately broke out into a grateful smile. "Would you do
that, Nabiki?" he asked eagerly.
"Yeah, yeah, sure," she replied dismissively. "I'll go get her for
you. We'll be there in a few minutes, Daddy."
"Oh, thank you, Nabiki!" Soun hurriedly backed out of the room and
shut the door before his daughter could change her mind. A moment later,
he could be heard descending the staircase to the first floor of the
house.
Once the door to her room closed, Nabiki heaved a sigh and closed
her manga. Lazily stretching out her stiff muscles, she got up off her
bed and headed towards the door. She paused for a second with her hand
on the knob, then slightly shook her head and stepped out into the
hallway.
Descending the stairs, she made her way to the back entrance of
the house and through the short corridor to the dojo. The door was
slightly ajar, and she paused outside with her hand resting lightly on
the door, cautiously listening to the sounds coming from within. After a
moment's hesitation, Nabiki took a deep breath and slowly pushed open
the door.
Inside the moderately sized dojo was a young girl with long blue-
black hair, tied neatly back with a black ribbon. She was dressed in a
dark grey gi, similar to that of her father's, with the waist loosely
tied with a dark red belt.
Nabiki watched, fascinated, as her younger sister performed a
highly complex kata. Her form was perfect, fluid and graceful, and, to
Nabiki's trained eyes, very powerful.
Akane performed the kata effortlessly and soundlessly with her
eyes shut tight. She worked the form at a notch slower than was supposed
to, emphasizing control. She concentrated on her breathing, feeling
every muscle in her youthful body flow smoothly from one aspect of the
form to another.
While flawlessly executing a back roundhouse, followed up by a low
leg-sweep with the other leg, she suddenly felt the intruding presence
of another enter the dojo. While still concentrating on the form, she
carefully read the patterns in the other's aura. After a moment, she
concluded that the other person was her sister, and moved onto the final
leg of the kata.
With a graceful backflip and a following punch to the front, Akane
was done. Slowly, she opened her eyes, quickly taking in her
surroundings. Her older sister stood silently in the open doorway,
patiently waiting for her to complete her exercise. Satisfied that
nothing was amiss, Akane turned to the family altar at the front of the
dojo and bowed.
Nabiki waited quietly while her sister completed her closing
routine. She knew how important daily practice was to Akane, and for her
to be interrupted before she was finished would only result in incurring
her wrath. And Nabiki, concerned for her own safety and health, knew
just how important it was to leave Akane alone during certain times of
the day. And she wasn't the only one to have unfortunately learned of
this little fact.
"What is it, Nabiki?" Akane asked as she straightened up, her tone
flat and lifeless.
Nabiki, already expecting her little sister's question, quickly
pulled herself together and replied with her carefully prepared answer.
"Daddy wants to tell us something," she said, trying to sound
casual.
Akane's eyebrow arched up curiously at the little statement, but
she said nothing. Nabiki, realizing that her sister wasn't going to
respond, continued to talk.
"I promised him that we'd be there in a couple of minutes."
"Fine," Akane finally said, still not displaying any outward
emotion. She turned from the altar and casually walked over to the
corner by the door where her towel lay sprawled. Picking up the thick
black cloth, she idly wiped at her sweat-covered brow and neck, then
turned to head out the door.
Nabiki quickly stepped aside as her younger sister exited the
dojo. When Akane didn't once glance back at her as she headed towards
the house, a strong feeling of foreboding beckoned warily from the edges
of her subconscious.
"This is not a good sign," she mumbled to herself, then turned and
followed her sister back into the house.
---
It was early afternoon, and the warm spring breeze brought with it
a feeling of freshness, of rejuvenation. There was a feeling in the air
that seemed to foretell of new things to come.
In the side yard of the Tendou Dojo lay a pond of sparkling blue,
surrounded on all sides by granite boulders of variable size. By the
side of the moderately sized pond stood a large stone lantern, seeming
to act as guardian and keeper of the pond's daily rituals.
Suddenly, as if an omen of ever-changing things, the calm crystal
waters of the pond parted in circular radius, and a large golden and
white koi leaped unrestrictedly into the open air above. Its bi-coloured
scales gleamed brightly in the afternoon sun, as it crested its peak,
turned on its side, then dove gracefully back beneath the waiting waters
below.
This single action of whim seemed to prompt a change in the wind
pattern, as it suddenly shifted course, causing the tiny bell with a
single ward hanging from its tassel to ring in prophetic chime.
And so did the Fates nod in agreement with the omens of the
future, as they began to reweave their ever-shifting webs of existence.
The time has finally come, they whispered predictively amongst
themselves, and so shall the Prophecy unfold.
---
Soun sat in contemplative silence as he studied the pond before
him, trying to determine the best way for him to broach the subject of
the engagement. He was confident that each of his daughters understood
the importance of honour, and that, given time, surely one of them would
eventually accept the honour-bound pact. However, it was their first
reactions that he was most concerned.
Taking a deep breath, Soun turned from his sitting position on the
porch to bravely face his three daughters. The direct approach would be
the best, he decided.
"A dear, old friend of mine is coming to visit with us today," he
began. "He's also bringing with him his two sons."
*There now, see? That wasn't so hard, now was it?* he silently
praised himself. He looked around at each of his three daughters.
Kasumi, for once not wearing her ever-present apron, looked back at him
with a blank expression on her face. He couldn't read what she was
feeling, but, from her usual motherly nature, Soun knew that he would
not have to deal with any sort of outburst from her.
His attention was brought to Nabiki, who had taken to dressing in
a light blue and white kimono for the occasion, complete with a light
pink obi. She was smiling slightly as she looked off absently into the
distance, perhaps because she was already figuring out how to profit
substantially from this particular situation. Whatever it was, he was
convinced that it would not be pretty.
Finally, he glanced over at Akane. His youngest daughter merely
stared back at him, her face completely expressionless. As the only
martial artist of the three, he was sure that he could count on her to
understand best the importance of maintaining honour. However, he was
still not entirely sure just how well she would take to the arrangement.
Soun gulped audibly. No time like now to find out.
"My friend and I made an arrangement a while back, before Akane
was borne, as a matter of fact. It was determined that if one of you
should marry one of his sons, then the Tendou family legacy would be
secure."
Still no reaction. *Not good,* he thought, quickly glancing over
at his youngest daughter. Her expression still remained as it had been
when she had first entered the room; but now, her dark brown eyes seemed
to burn intensely into his own. Quickly shaking off a strong sense of
foreboding, he continued to talk in the intermittent silence.
"The three have been on a ten-year training mission. Recently,
they crossed into China."
"Ooh, China!" Nabiki exclaimed, finally breaking the uncomfortable
tension that had been mounting in the room. Soun was glad for the
interruption, and silently thanked his middle daughter for her tact.
"How old are they, Father?" Kasumi finally asked, her pristine
forehead lined with unusual worry. "Younger men are so... young."
"Are they cute?" Nabiki inquired. She leaned forward expectantly,
the sides of her short bob brushing absently against the sides of her
face.
Soun laughed a bit awkwardly, bringing his hand up to scratch the
back of his head in embarrassment. "I don't know," he said simply.
"You don't know?!" Nabiki echoed, a disbelieving and disgusted
look crossing her youthful face.
Soun turned away from his daughters' glares and stared once again
out towards the pond. "I've never met them," he stated matter-of-factly.
A tense silence held prominence in the Tendou main room after
Soun's little confession. It seemed to drag out into eternity until,
once again, the waters of the pond parted and the large golden and white
koi leapt forth into the air above.
*Ah. It is an omen,* Soun thought, as he absently tracked the
koi's leap. He watched as the fish crested its peak, then dove back into
the crystal waters below. With the sound of the splash, there was once
again a shift in the winds, causing the tiny bell above his head to
ring. *Another omen?* Soun off-handedly wondered, staring warily up at
the bell with a single ward hanging from its tassel. But his thoughts
were brought up short when he heard a noise drifting in from the front
of the house. He cocked his head slightly in response to the sound.
"Put me DOWN, Pop!" a voice in high soprano called out from the
entryway.
"Oh my," Kasumi said, beginning to get up. "It seems we have
visitors."
"Ooh! It must be them!" Nabiki exclaimed, as she quickly leapt up,
beating Kasumi, and ran out of the room and down the hall to the front
entryway of the house.
Soun quickly followed behind his middle daughter, a wide grin
spread across his face. "Saotome, my friend!" he called out joyfully
ahead of him. "We've been waiting!"
"Oh, I do hope that they're older than me," Kasumi sighed, as she
followed her father out of the main room. A still emotionless Akane
silently joined her, the two girls making their way to the front of the
house. However, their journey was cut short when their middle sister
suddenly came screeching back from around the corner, followed by a
very, very pale father.
Kasumi glanced briefly over at Akane during the sudden commotion;
however, her youngest sister continued to stare blankly toward the front
of the house, seemingly unshaken by her sister and father's odd
behaviours. Kasumi was about to turn to her father and ask what had
happened when she noticed Akane's left eye twitch slightly. Without
warning, the eldest Tendou sister suddenly felt the hairs on the back of
her neck stick straight up, and she slowly forced herself to turn and
look toward the front of the house.
From around the corner of the hall suddenly appeared the ominous
form of an overly grown panda, a kicking and screeching red and black
bundle tossed carelessly over its left shoulder. The two figures came to
a halt five feet from the frightened Tendou elder.
"Let me GO, Pop!" The bundle screeched in high soprano, the while
beating with balled fists upon the panda's back. "You're scarin' 'em
spitless!"
Finally regaining her wits, Kasumi opened her mouth to say
something when a sudden movement in the background cut her off.
From behind the huge and bulky form of the panda, previously
hidden within the great animal's shadow, stepped forth a third figure.
Standing easily to the height of Kasumi's waist, its dark red and
white fur and deep blue eyes glinting maliciously in the early afternoon
sunlight, a large wolf with an extremely long tail that wound its length
around the base of the tail walked calmly and stealthily from around the
huge panda, standing to rest between the large animal and the head of
the Tendou household. With its sudden appearance, the red and black
bundle suddenly stopped squirming in the panda's grasp, allowing the
great beast to lift it up off its shoulder and place it feet first onto
the wooden floor, next to the large wolf that stood waiting.
"Oh my," Kasumi finally gasped, no longer able to keep quiet.
The sound of Kasumi's voice in the ensuing silence suddenly seemed
to break Soun from his paralytic trance, as he stared wide-eyed at the
three strange figures before him. His wandering gaze finally focused
upon the petite redhead, who stood before him with her head bowed.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Soun raised a shaking
hand and pointed at the redhead.
"You... wouldn't be..." he began, but quickly found himself too
afraid to continue.
The redhead in question started a bit at the sound of his voice in
the oppressing silence that had seemed to engulf the entire household,
but then quickly looked away.
"I'm Ranma Saotome. Sorry 'bout this."
The introduction and apology was said so softly that Soun and the
others had to strain in order to hear it. The wolf next to the redhead
shifted a bit, as it, too, bowed its great head, seemingly also in
apology.
Although still quite a bit shaken by the three strange figures,
Soun inwardly rejoiced at the mention of the Saotome name. At last, this
was it! The ones he had been waiting for had finally come!
"At last... you're here..." he said tentatively, reaching out to
grasp the redhead's shoulders. The redhead looked up with a puzzled
expression at the older man, cheeks tainted pink with embarrassment.
The wolf also looked up, albeit in a curious manner.
Nabiki, finally gathering her own wits about her, mentally scolded
herself for allowing herself to show fear. However, her thoughts
immediately resumed track as she got her first good look at the redhead
before her. Although quite small, in fact, shorter than she was in
height, the other possessed what seemed to be a strong, albeit lean,
physical build, high cheekbones, and a strong, albeit delicate, jawline.
A thick shock of bright scarlet locks, tied securely into fashionable
pigtail that fell down to about mid-back, hung down in thick locks about
the face, partially obscuring twin pools of bright blue.
Nabiki, hands clasped tightly onto her father's arm, smiled
deliciously as she eyed the redhead in front of her with the scrutiny of
a hawk. "Ooh! He is cute!" she exclaimed to nobody in particular. Profit
signs immediately began dancing across her field of vision, as she began
visualizing her schemes.
Soun, startled back to reality when his middle daughter suddenly
grasped onto his outstretched arm, took his first good look at his
petite guest since their arrival.
True, Ranma was a bit short for his age, barely reaching up to his
shoulders in height, and his voice had a bit more maturing to do;
however, these qualities were very minor compared to the rest of the
boy.
Soun, as a trained martial artist, quickly took in the redhead's
stance and posture. Relaxed, yet alert; these were the unmistakable
traits of a very well trained and experienced martial artist. And,
judging from the younger boy's physique, he was quite pleased to note
that his friend Genma had not allowed his son to go soft during their
long years of training. And speaking of Genma, where was his childhood
friend? And what about his other son? Where was he?
Pushing the questions to the back of his mind for later
consideration, Soun let the emotions of the moment overwhelm him. Barely
holding back tears of joy, he brazenly hugged the younger boy to him in
his excitement. However, as he held the boy to him, a feeling that
something was not quite right began to nag at the edges of his
consciousness.
Snapping his eyes open in shocked disbelief, the elder Tendou
discretely hugged the redhead a little tighter to him. Not believing the
strange and long-forgotten sensations that he was feeling, Soun repeated
his actions a couple more times. There it was again, that same
disturbing feeling that something wasn't right.
Pushing the teenaged boy away from him, he quickly let go of the
boy's shoulders as if they were made of burning coals. Slowly, he let
his eyes travel down from the boy's face to his chest. There, confirming
the nagging suspicions that had formed in the back of his mind, was what
appeared to be an ample protrusion in the upper chest area of the boy.
Suddenly, Soun's mind froze with the implications of what that
protrusion meant.
Nabiki, observing her father's strange behaviour toward the boy,
decided to get a better look at her new potential "fiance". Following
her father's gaze, she stared at the redhead's chest. Nabiki blinked.
Stunned, she unconsciously let go of her father's arm, who shakily took
a step back, eyes wide with disbelief.
Taking a step in front of her shocked father, Nabiki bent down to
get an even better look at the redhead's chest. Her dark brown eyes
narrowed as she stared, her fair brow crinkling with confusion over what
she saw in front of her. Then, without warning, her hand shot up as she
began poking the embarrassed guest's chest.
*No way!* Nabiki thought, as she stopped her poking in favour of
fondling the stranger's chest. *But it feels so real...* Absorbed in her
thoughts, the middle Tendou daughter failed to notice the annoyed looks
on both the guest whose chest she was probing, as well as on the large
wolf that was standing beside them. Suddenly, the only warning given was
the low growl that escaped its great throat, the wolf snapped its jaws
towards Nabiki's outstretched hand.
Feeling the hairs on the back of her neck suddenly stand straight
up on end, Nabiki gasped and drew her hand back just in time, as the
wolf's powerful jaws snapped loudly shut on thin air. More shocked than
scared, Nabiki backed up a couple of steps until she was once again
standing behind her father, hands now clutched protectively to her own
chest.
The wolf, whose dark blue eyes were fixed steadfastly upon
Nabiki's retreating form, prepared to follow after her, but was stopped
when the redhead placed a delicate hand upon its shoulder. Shooting one
last growl towards the offending girl, it contented itself by remaining
to stand between the Tendous and the redhead.
"Wha- What is the meaning of this?!" Soun shakily demanded,
finally having regained his senses.
When the redhead refused to answer by turning to stare out towards
the pond that lay in the middle of the Tendou's side yard, Soun turned
to his middle daughter, who seemed to be in the midst of a staring
contest with the wolf.
"Well?!" Soun demanded again, startling his middle daughter, who
jumped a little at the uncharacteristic harshness in his voice.
"That little BEAST just tried to eat me!" Nabiki cried back at her
father, pointing an accusing finger at the now growling wolf, who flexed
its jaws as if in confirmation of her statement. Her accusation caused
the redhead to suddenly whirl back around, livid fire dancing around
behind her bright blue eyes.
"Well, he wouldn't've had to if ya hadn't poked me in the chest!"
the redhead screeched, one foot taking a threatening step forward, fists
clenched tightly at her sides. The wolf nodded its great head in
agreement, dark blue eyes staring hungrily at the middle Tendou girl.
Soun had heard enough. Turning on his middle daughter, he gave her
a very reprimanding look. "Nabiki! Why did you poke him in the chest?
That was very rude of you!"
Nabiki was taken aback. First, she had just barely escaped being
eaten alive by a huge, monstrous beast, and now, her own father was
scolding her! He NEVER did that! Just what the HELL was going on around
here?! She threw a brief glance over at her two sisters before
answering. Kasumi simply stared back at her, a worried look marring her
pristine features. Akane, on the other hand, seemed to be fixed on the
fuming redhead, an amused look briefly crossing her face before it fell
back into its usual expressionless mode.
*Ah... So, she knows too,* Nabiki thought, as she turned back to
her father, her usual mask of controlled indifference now adorning her
youthful face.
"'Him'?" she asked, raising a delicate eyebrow as she crossed her
arms in front of her. "That," she continued, tilting her head slightly
to indicate the still-seething redhead, "...Daddy, is a girl."
Nabiki waited patiently as her words slowly sank into her father's
thick skull. She stole an amused glance over at the newly exposed
redhead, who simply stood there with mouth agape and eyes wide.
*Probably,* Nabiki assumed, *because I just exposed their little scheme,
whatever it was.*
Nabiki's words finally registered in Soun's head, as he suddenly
lost all composure. "A... a- a girl?!" he cried out to no one in
particular, before the world suddenly went black and he crashed heavily
to the floor.
---
Soun slowly awoke to the sounds of bickering voices overhead. His
head ached, severely, and he pondered briefly as to the cause of it.
Then he remembered, every single moment of that strange afternoon
encounter. His head throbbed even more. His friend, his childhood
friend... the one with whom he grew up with... trained in the martial
arts with... He had lied to him! Betrayed him, even! The pain he felt
then was almost too harsh to bear.
A new sensation suddenly flooded his senses, cutting through all
of the pain he was feeling. Something had landed on his face - his cheek
to be more precise. It was light, and had a very silky texture to it.
His mind quickly made the connections to that of a flower petal. Slowly,
he opened his eyes.
The first thing that he noticed was that it was now late
afternoon, perhaps just an hour left before sunset. How long had he been
unconscious? Three hours, perhaps? Maybe four. He couldn't tell. Then he
noticed the figures above him, surrounding him from head to foot.
Kasumi, his eldest daughter, sat quietly at his head, and was the first
to notice that he was awake.
"Oh, look everyone," she said, gently removing the wet washcloth
from her father's forehead, "I think Father's coming to."
The loud bickering suddenly ceased at the sound of Kasumi's voice,
for which Soun was immensely grateful, the pain in his head subsiding a
great deal. His loving daughter replaced the newly soaked cloth back
onto his forehead, soothing the pain even more.
"This is all your fault, Daddy," Nabiki's shrill voice suddenly
cutting through the thick silence, causing Soun to wince at the
resulting pain that rang through his aching head. He looked up at his
daughter, her youthful face twisted up into a mask of annoyance and
accusation. "I'd've thought you knew the difference between a boy and a
girl," she finished, crossing her arms in front of her for effect.
Soun groaned and turned his eyes up to the ceiling. Today was not
turning out the way he'd expected. "I assumed my friend Genma's twins
were both boys," he said defensively, his voice coming out as a slight
croak.
"'Twins'?" Kasumi echoed, a puzzled expression on her face.
Nabiki snorted. "That's right, there're two of them. This one,
however," she indicated by once again reaching out to grapple the
redhead's chest who sat silently next to her, "...is a girl."
The redhead's face immediately contorted into an annoyed
expression that matched part-for-part Nabiki's own, but she made no
motions to throw her assailant's hand off. She did, however, mutter
beneath her breath.
"Would you please stop that?"
Without prior warning, a blur that was later realized to be
Akane's hand shot over from across the other side of the redhead to
firmly grasp onto Nabiki's outstretched wrist, knocking the stunned
redhead back over onto the floor behind them in the process.
Nabiki, about to retort to her little sister's sudden action,
stopped immediately when she realized just how Akane was holding onto
her wrist. Her eyes widened in a rare show of fear.
Akane's strong hand was wrapped strategically about her small
wrist, firmly but not tightly. However, Nabiki knew from experience that
if she'd wanted to, Akane could easily break her wrist with just one
small squeeze. But that was not what was scaring her. Instead, it was
the way Akane was holding onto her wrist that frightened her. Wrapped
completely about the circumference of her small wrist, Akane's middle
finger was placed directly over a strategic location along the inside of
her wrist. It was a pain grip. If Akane was to squeeze, Nabiki knew that
she would be feeling immense amounts of pain in the process of having
her wrist broken. And if she were to try to break free of her sister's
grip, the placement of Akane's other fingers would ensure that she would
merely end up breaking her own wrist herself. Knowing the best option in
that particular situation, Nabiki froze.
Akane, feeling her older sister react, cracked a crooked half-
smile that didn't reach her dark brown eyes. Before too long, however,
her youthful face lost its ability to retain that haunting smile,
falling once again back into its usual expressionless mask.
"Don't do it again, Nabiki," the youngest Tendou said, her voice
as matching her face. She gave Nabiki's wrist a slight squeeze before
finally letting go, making Nabiki wince in pain. The middle Tendou
daughter immediately began rubbing her sore wrist, as she quickly sought
refuge behind the ever-calm Kasumi.
"I'm going to work out," Akane suddenly announced, looking as if
she had never threatened to break her own sister's wrist, as she lithely
stood up and stretched. She then turned and headed out of the living
room and down the hall towards the dojo.
Ranma sat there stunned, her heart racing. *That girl just
defended me...* she thought, her mind in a whirl of chaos. *She didn't
really have to; I coulda taken care of myself, y'know.* But then her
expression softened a bit as she considered the other girl's gesture.
*Hmm... maybe not everyone around here is weird.*
Then she noticed the other girl leaving the room. Quickly, she
jumped to her feet and raced out of the room and down the hall after
her. Following close behind was the wolf, who had been sitting with the
panda earlier against the back wall.
Ranma quickly caught up with the other girl and fell into step
behind her, the wolf following behind.
"H- Hey!" Ranma called out in an attempt to get the other girl's
attention.
Akane stopped suddenly, forcing Ranma to quickly sidestep in order
to avoid bumping into her. The wolf, however, was not so lucky and ended
up bumping its great head into the back of Ranma's leg. Ranma, after
giving the animal a reproachful glance back, turned back to the other
girl with a hesitant smile on her face. Relief came when the other's
indifferent expression softened a bit.
"Umm... H- Hi," Ranma said hesitantly, suddenly nervous beneath
the other's inscrutable gaze.
"What is it?" Akane asked calmly, not bothering to return the
other's greeting.
Ranma frowned inwardly at this, but let it pass. Now was
definitely not the time to mess up her only chance at a friend around
here.
"I- I... uh... just wanted to thank you, for... um... helpin' me
out back there," Ranma managed to get out without too much flubbing. She
then followed up with a deep bow to the waist. She was a bit surprised
when she suddenly felt a light hand on her shoulder. Puzzled, she
glanced up at the other girl, and blinked.
Akane stood there, left hand extended, calmly looking down at the
redheaded girl. But something was different about this Akane that Ranma
now found herself staring at. For the very first time since she had
arrived at the Tendou household, Ranma was surprised to discover the
youngest daughter actually smiling. She blinked a second time. Now, she
was really confused. *Just what the heck is it with this girl?* she
wondered offhandedly, beginning to find herself becoming mesmerized by
the other girl's hypnotic smile. A strange warmth began to spread
through her as she stared at Akane, intoxicating her, which only served
to further confuse her first impressions of the youngest Tendou girl.
She only vaguely noticed when the warmth spread to her head, faintly
colouring her delicate cheeks.
"Do you wanna spar?" Akane asked suddenly, her low, sultry voice
sharply cutting through the magical blanket of seduction that had
tangibly surrounded the two.
Ranma blinked again, suddenly snapping out of her euphoria-like
trance at the sound of Akane's voice. It took her a couple of seconds to
finally register the other girl's unexpected request.
"Umm... Y- Yeah... I'd really like that," Ranma stuttered, feeling
suddenly embarrassed at her uncharacteristic behaviour.
"Good," Akane replied, still smiling at the blushing redhead.
Removing her hand from the other's shoulder, she turned and continued on
towards the dojo without another word or glance back to check if the
other girl was following her.
Ranma stood there for a few seconds, vainly striving to compose
herself as she watched Akane's retreating back. Her thoughts were cut
off when she felt something nudge against her leg. Looking down, she saw
the wolf looking up at her with piercing blue eyes, which left hers
briefly to follow the quickly disappearing figure of the Tendou girl.
Ranma let out a sigh as she felt some of her previous tension
leave her.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," she said tiredly to the animal, who suddenly
turned to glare back at her. She sighed again. Life seemed to become
even more interesting at the Tendou's the longer she stayed here. "Come
on, let's go."
Turning, she hurried to catch up with the other girl, the large
wolf trotting eagerly behind.
---
"So, I take it you've studied kenpo," Akane stated more than
asked.
Ranma fidgeted as she followed the other girl into the dojo.
"Well, yeah, a little," she replied a bit shyly, then turned to glare at
the wolf behind her when it snorted softly in disgust.
Ranma looked around the dojo in awe. Although somewhat small in
size, the traditional building was still nonetheless impressive. Along
one wall were hung several different weapons, including bokkens,
katanas, Western-styled broadswords, kamas and nunchucks. To the front
of the dojo, perched high upon the wall, was a traditional family altar,
and Ranma respectfully bowed before taking position opposite the other
girl.
Akane had been completely silent since first entering the Tendou
family dojo, and now took her place opposite her guest, unconsciously
falling into her favourite stance - one that allowed freedom of
movement, the while ensuring maximum power behind her hits. She raised a
curious eyebrow when Ranma, after politely bowing, took up her stance.
The youthful redhead stood opposite with both hands clasped loosely
behind her, her right foot drawn back slightly. For all appearances,
Ranma was leaving herself completely open to attacks. But Akane, a
fourth dan herself in the art of kenpo, wasn't really fooled by her
opponent's opening stance, especially when she saw the redhead bend
forward slightly at the waist.
Akane opened up with an experimental punch to the front, and was
not too surprised to see Ranma suddenly leap straight up in order to
avoid the powered missile. Akane inwardly grinned. This was going to be
fun.
Ranma, after returning back to the ground after her initial jump,
was forced to suddenly drop to the floor as Akane's right foot flashed
out in a powerful sidekick right where her head would have been. But
before she could think, Ranma rolled forward to come to stand behind
Akane, as the Tendou girl's leg slashed down from where it hung in the
air after its initial attack. Ranma then performed an freehand cartwheel
to the side as Akane's left leg lashed out in a low leg sweep behind
her. She quickly backed off a few paces and began to circle around the
dojo as she faced her opponent, Akane doing likewise.
Akane frowned as she sized up her opponent, her delicate features
darkening slightly. The redhead was good, no doubt about that; but she
didn't strike back either. Something was wrong... She could feel it.
Ranma paced slowly around the alert Tendou girl, trying to
anticipate the other girl's next move. Something about Akane bothered
her, but she couldn't place her finger on it. Taking a quick glance at
the wolf, who had taken to sitting in one corner of the dojo closest to
the open shouji, her suspicions were confirmed when she spotted the
animal also peering curiously at the blue-haired girl. *Something's just
not right about her,* Ranma thought, as she continued circling the other
girl, hands once again clasped behind her back.
Suddenly, without warning, Akane charged her, causing the redhead
to vault over the other girl's head in order to avoid being pushed back
into a corner. Akane took this opportunity to take a back-swing at Ranma
as she was descending, catching the unguarded girl full in the side with
her fist. Ranma flew to one side of the dojo, crashing full-on into the
wall that unsuspectingly got in her way. The wolf winced slightly at the
loud impact.
Ranma rose a bit shakily to her feet, clutching at her now bruised
side. She winced a little at the pain. *Man, this girl's got some
serious strength. Better be more careful about avoiding her hits,* she
thought absently, once again circling the other girl. This time,
however, both hands were now up in a defensive position in front of her.
Akane smirked when Ranma finally brought her hands into play.
Perhaps now the other girl would take this fight a little more
seriously. She focused again on her opponent.
Ranma waited anxiously for Akane's next move, wondering what else
the dark blue-haired girl was capable of. She didn't have to wait long.
Akane, again without any prior warning, bum-rushed the waiting
redhead yet again. Ranma, not one to fall for the same trick twice,
leapt to the side. That was a mistake.
Akane, apparently anticipating the other's move, stopped just in
front of the redhead, executed a perfect cartwheel to the same side,
then lashed out in a powerful roundhouse that Ranma was barely able to
block at the last minute before back-flipping out of the way. Akane
grinned, her dark brown eyes gleaming with a predatory light that sent
untold shivers down Ranma's spine.
*Man, she's pretty good,* Ranma thought with no small amount of
awe and respect for the girl. *But I gotta beat her. How the heck am I
gonna do that without hittin' her, though?*
Ranma's thoughtful frown suddenly turned into a smile as she came
up with a plan. With a loud battle cry, she charged the unsuspecting
girl.
Akane blinked in shock as the redhead suddenly came veering
towards her. Not knowing what else to do, she vaulted over the other
girl's head just as she rushed past underneath, then quickly turned
around once her feet touched the ground again. Ranma likewise turned
about face.
Spurred on by the other girl's sudden change in attitude, Akane
decided to attempt hand-to-hand combat. Rushing the stoic redhead, the
young Tendou girl quickly went into a combination of punches, jabs and
elbow strikes, all of which Ranma either blocked or dodged. Determined
to get at least one more good hit in, Akane pressed on, slipping in and
out of the various hand forms she knew.
The sheer power and force behind the constant onslaught of blows
was beginning to tell on Ranma, as she was slowly forced to give ground
to the flurry that was Akane. After a full minute of this, Ranma
suddenly felt the dojo wall behind her back. Desperate to escape her now
vulnerable position, Ranma began to look for an opening in Akane's
defenses. Then she spotted it.
Bending slightly at the knees, Ranma used the spring in the dojo's
wooden floor boards to propel herself upwards over the other girl's
head, just as her fist came rushing past beneath her in a straight
forward punch. The momentum of Akane's punch, coupled with the sudden
lack of a person in front of her, caused Akane's fist to crash straight
through the wall of the dojo.
Ranma, meanwhile, used her own momentum to do a full body twist in
the air at the peak of her vault, coming to land behind Akane, facing
her. When she heard the sound of boards breaking, Ranma didn't hesitate
her advantage. She lightly tapped the back of Akane's head, then took a
step back, hands once again clasped behind her back.
Akane blinked when she felt the light tap at the back of her head,
then slowly turned around, her fist still imbedded wrist deep into the
wall. Ranma stood behind her, one hand now nervously rubbing the back of
her head. Her mouth was upturned into a somewhat apologetic smile as she
stared back at Akane.
Akane blinked again, as she calmly recalled the previous events.
Then, for the second time that day, Akane smiled as she gently pried her
fist from the hole she had made. Turning around completely, she bowed
respectfully to the other girl, who awkwardly returned the gesture.
Then, walking to the centre of the dojo, the youngest Tendou daughter
bowed methodically to the family altar. Ranma quickly followed suit.
"You're pretty good," Akane finally spoke, breaking the silence
like so much shattered glass.
"Huh?" Ranma answered intelligently, earning a snort of disgust
from the wolf, who had risen and was now heading for the door.
"It'd be a shame if you were a guy," Akane said thoughtfully, as
she stepped out of the dojo on her way back to the house, pausing to pet
the wolf on the way.
"W- What?" Ranma asked of no one in particular, suddenly shocked
when Akane's words finally registered. She stood motionless in the
centre of the dojo as she watched the other girl's retreating back. When
Akane was finally out of sight, having disappeared into the house, Ranma
slowly turned to face the wolf, which appeared to be just as shocked as
she was. It looked up at her.
"Now what do we do?" Ranma asked the large animal. All it could do
was shrug, the best way that a large wolf could shrug. After another
minute, wherein the silence that dominated the dojo could almost be cut
with a sharp knife, the two finally headed back to the house.
(End of Part 01)
---
1. shouji - wood and rice paper doors that are typical of a traditional
Japanese home.
---
Notes:
I believe that the exchange in Nabiki's bedroom between her and
her father depicted above helps to explain how Nabiki did not seem all
that surprised when "formally" informed of the engagement in the family
room, unlike her sisters in the anime, who were both shocked. If you
look again, you will see that Nabiki is actually smiling, telling us
that she already knew about it beforehand.
The fight scene between Akane and Ranma took several days to
perfect. I had to make it appear that Akane was much more advanced in
her training than we have previously scene in the series. Her skills
will become much more evident in the chapters to come.
A Ranma 1/2 alternate fanwork by Wolfye Productions, Inc.
- http://fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=276284
All Ranma 1/2 characters are (c) Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Communications,
Inc., Shogakukan, Inc., Kitty Films and Fuji TV. Characters are used
without the express prior permission of the aforementioned. Story
concept, other characters and original situations are (c) Wolfye
Productions, Inc.; this fanfic is written for entertainment purposes
only.
=-=-=-=-=
Part 01: Enter Ranma and Kuraima
Between light and shadow, two shall be borne of one.
One shall be borne of the light, the other shall be borne of the
dark;
Two ancestral enemies deeply woven within the fabric of Time.
Set forth from this day shall begin the Apocalypse; and whence the
time has come,
The beginning of the end shall once again be no more.
-The Book of the Fates [age unknown]
It was an early spring Sunday morning, the sun shining brightly
down upon the peaceful district of Nerima. Everything glistened in the
bright sunlight, wet with newly fallen rain, as yet another rain shower
had decided to grace the tranquil suburb just a few moments prior.
For half-an-hour, the languid city had remained still beneath the
torrential downpour. It was common during this time of the year, and no
one really gave the event much thought. However, once it had stopped,
and the rain clouds had dissipated, the citizens of Nerima were shocked
at the sight that greeted them once they stepped forth from their
protective abodes.
Marching down the nearly deserted street passed a strange
procession of three highly conspicuous personages, one of whom was
tossed unceremoniously across the shoulder of another. It was certainly
a strange sight, and people could not help but stare at it in awe and
wonderment, as the odd procession glided past and down the street
towards the neighbourhood dojo.
---
Soun Tendou shakily held a worn postcard up in front of his face,
emotion rising in his throat, while tears threatened to break from his
eyes.
"Oh, how I've waited for this day!" he half-sobbed, stopping to
wipe away the tears that slid down his wet cheeks.
"And soon," he continued, turning the postcard around in his
hands. "Very soon, Ranma and Kuraima will be here!"
The postcard in his hands was tattered and worn, as if a great
many people had handled it. The edges were creased in several places,
and there were watermarks scattered across the surface of it. On the
front of the three-by-five card was a simple picture of a rather large
panda eating sticks of bamboo. The other side contained the mailing
address of the Tendou Dojo, a few worn Chinese stamps, and a short
message written in sloppy calligraphy:
"Bringing Ranma and Kuraima back from China.
"Saotome"
Soun finally put the postcard down onto the low table. "I must
tell the girls," he said thoughtfully to himself. "They could be here
any minute now."
The middle-aged martial artist stood up from his kneeling position
at the head of the table. Putting a cupped hand to his mouth, he called
out in a joyful tone.
"Kasumi! Nabiki! Akane!"
Pause. No answer. Now, that was odd. Where were his three little
girls today? He was sure that they were here today since it was Sunday.
The three never really planned anything on Sundays.
He walked out of the main room and down the hall to the kitchen.
It was around eleven-thirty in the morning, close to noon. If he figured
right, Kasumi would be in there about now preparing lunch for the
family.
"Kasumi!" he called out, sticking his head through the open
doorway, pausing to push aside the door awning.
"Yes, Father, what is it?"
Soun's eldest daughter, Kasumi, paused in her activity to address
her father. She was nineteen years old, recently out of high school, and
the general caretaker of the Tendou Dojo. She was fairly tall, standing
about five-foot-five in height. Her long brown hair, tied neatly to one
side with a white ribbon, reached to halfway down her back, and her
dazzling grey eyes showed nothing but motherly compassion. At the
moment, her innocent face held nothing more than a quizzical expression.
"Ah! Good, Kasumi," Soun said, taking a step into the kitchen. "I
have some good news to tell you and your sisters. Are you busy with
lunch right now?"
"Yes Father," Kasumi replied, nodding her head.
"Very well then, go ahead and finish up. I'll go inform your
sisters meanwhile. I want to tell all of you at the same time. Perhaps
we shall do it over lunch." Turning back around, he left the kitchen
and a very confused daughter behind him.
Soun ascended the stairs at the front of the house and quickly
made his way down the hall to his middle daughter's room. On the door
hung a small wooden duck with the word 'Nabiki' in English lettering
painted on it. Pausing first to knock, he opened the door halfway when
he heard a muffled reply.
"Nabiki!"
Nabiki Tendou lay sprawled out on her stomach atop her bed, legs
up in the air, reading a new manga. Her cropped, chestnut-brown hair
perfectly framed her youthful face, giving her a very professional look.
"Hmm?" Nabiki looked up as her father entered the room.
"Ah, Nabiki! There you are," Soun said, stepping into his
daughter's room. It was fairly large, bigger than the bedrooms of her
other two sisters. Although quite big, it was sparsely furnished,
consisting mainly of a Western-styled bed, a desk, a swivel chair, a
bookcase, and a low table upon which sat a state-of-the-art
entertainment centre. Decorations were also fairly sparse, while
everything about the room gave the vague impression of meticulous order;
nothing seemed to be out of place throughout the entire room. Soun
focused his attention back to his daughter, who was gazing at him
curiously.
"Ah yes," he continued, pausing to clear his throat. "I have
something to tell you and your sisters. Some very good news, as a matter
of fact. I'd like to tell you all at once, over lunch today, so I'll
need you downstairs in a couple of minutes."
Nabiki raised a delicate eyebrow at her father. *Hmm... this
'something' must be big stuff,* she thought, her dark brown eyes quickly
scrutinizing her father's uncharacteristically happy disposition. She
prized her ability to read people like a book, and so knew that her
father was up to something.
"What is it, Daddy?" she asked innocently.
"Now now, Nabiki, I want to tell all of you at the same time. This
is to be a surprise," Soun chided his daughter. It was no use. His
middle daughter's expression went immediately from innocent to serious.
"Oh, come on, Daddy. You know how much I don't like surprises.
Tell me what you're up to."
Soun sweated. Although he was quite proud of his middle daughter's
gift for reading people's emotions, he hated it when she used it on him.
"Now, Nabiki," he began, but was cut off when she suddenly sat up
and waved her hand dismissively. She fixed him with a knowing glare.
"Cut the crap already, Daddy. I know you're up to something. Now,
either you tell me now, or I let the committee know that you're..."
"Okay, okay!" Soun hurriedly cut his daughter off, not really
wanting to touch that particular subject at the moment. He took a deep
breath. She was the one person he couldn't fool, so he might as well
just tell her. Besides, now that he thought about it, it would be more
beneficial if he did tell her, because then, she could probably help him
in placating her sister once he told them of the arrangement.
"An old friend of mine is coming to visit for a while," he began.
Nabiki crossed her arms in front of her chest, giving her father a
very intimidating look. Obviously, she wasn't convinced. Soun gulped.
"Is that all?"
"No, no. He's bringing with him his two sons. We made an agreement
a while back that one of his sons would marry one of you, in order to
carry on the School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts."
Nabiki sat back to digest the information her father had just
given her. Nothing seemed suspicious about what he had told her.
Granted, it was the twentieth century, and arranged marriages were a bit
out of place in this day and age. However, her father was a man of
tradition, so she wasn't too surprised that he had agreed to do
something as outrageous as this. After all, that was how her parents had
gotten married in the first place.
"Okay," she said finally. Soun slowly let out the breath he had
been holding. "I'll be downstairs in a minute."
Soun nodded his head and backed out of his daughter's room. She
was the diabolical one out of the three, and he had been fearing her
reaction somewhat. But if she had taken the news well, then that meant
that his other two daughters might also take the arrangement in stride.
Or at least he hoped so.
The elder Tendou made his way down to the end of the hall,
stopping in front of the farthest door from the stairwell. This door was
identical to the last, complete with a similar small wooden duck
figurine. However, unlike the previous one, this duck had the word
'Akane' in English lettering painted on it. This was the room of his
youngest daughter.
After a slight moment's hesitation on his part did he dare to
knock on the bedroom door. There was no answer. After waiting another
minute, he knocked again, a bit louder this time. Still there was no
answer. Slowly, cautiously, he turned the brass knob and pushed open the
door a fraction of an inch.
"A- Akane?" he called out softly, not wishing to disturb his
daughter if she happened to be asleep. Once again, his query was met
only with silence.
Tentatively, he pushed the door open a little further and shyly
stuck his head in. The room was empty. He slowly let out the breath he
didn't realize he had been holding. Willing his heartbeat to slow back
down, he retracted his head from the room and silently closed the door.
Taking a deep breath, he turned and walked back to Nabiki's room.
Knocking first on the door, he entered when he heard the muffled
reply. Nabiki was still perched atop her bed, still reading the manga
she had been perusing earlier. He frowned a bit at this, but decided
against saying anything.
"Nabiki, do you know where Akane is?"
The teenaged girl looked up with a puzzled expression. "Y'mean,
she's not in her room?"
Soun shook his head.
"Well, she's probably off practicing then," she said thoughtfully.
It was that time of the day, after all. Spotting the worried look on her
father's face, Nabiki sighed and sat up again. "Do you want me to go get
her?"
Soun immediately broke out into a grateful smile. "Would you do
that, Nabiki?" he asked eagerly.
"Yeah, yeah, sure," she replied dismissively. "I'll go get her for
you. We'll be there in a few minutes, Daddy."
"Oh, thank you, Nabiki!" Soun hurriedly backed out of the room and
shut the door before his daughter could change her mind. A moment later,
he could be heard descending the staircase to the first floor of the
house.
Once the door to her room closed, Nabiki heaved a sigh and closed
her manga. Lazily stretching out her stiff muscles, she got up off her
bed and headed towards the door. She paused for a second with her hand
on the knob, then slightly shook her head and stepped out into the
hallway.
Descending the stairs, she made her way to the back entrance of
the house and through the short corridor to the dojo. The door was
slightly ajar, and she paused outside with her hand resting lightly on
the door, cautiously listening to the sounds coming from within. After a
moment's hesitation, Nabiki took a deep breath and slowly pushed open
the door.
Inside the moderately sized dojo was a young girl with long blue-
black hair, tied neatly back with a black ribbon. She was dressed in a
dark grey gi, similar to that of her father's, with the waist loosely
tied with a dark red belt.
Nabiki watched, fascinated, as her younger sister performed a
highly complex kata. Her form was perfect, fluid and graceful, and, to
Nabiki's trained eyes, very powerful.
Akane performed the kata effortlessly and soundlessly with her
eyes shut tight. She worked the form at a notch slower than was supposed
to, emphasizing control. She concentrated on her breathing, feeling
every muscle in her youthful body flow smoothly from one aspect of the
form to another.
While flawlessly executing a back roundhouse, followed up by a low
leg-sweep with the other leg, she suddenly felt the intruding presence
of another enter the dojo. While still concentrating on the form, she
carefully read the patterns in the other's aura. After a moment, she
concluded that the other person was her sister, and moved onto the final
leg of the kata.
With a graceful backflip and a following punch to the front, Akane
was done. Slowly, she opened her eyes, quickly taking in her
surroundings. Her older sister stood silently in the open doorway,
patiently waiting for her to complete her exercise. Satisfied that
nothing was amiss, Akane turned to the family altar at the front of the
dojo and bowed.
Nabiki waited quietly while her sister completed her closing
routine. She knew how important daily practice was to Akane, and for her
to be interrupted before she was finished would only result in incurring
her wrath. And Nabiki, concerned for her own safety and health, knew
just how important it was to leave Akane alone during certain times of
the day. And she wasn't the only one to have unfortunately learned of
this little fact.
"What is it, Nabiki?" Akane asked as she straightened up, her tone
flat and lifeless.
Nabiki, already expecting her little sister's question, quickly
pulled herself together and replied with her carefully prepared answer.
"Daddy wants to tell us something," she said, trying to sound
casual.
Akane's eyebrow arched up curiously at the little statement, but
she said nothing. Nabiki, realizing that her sister wasn't going to
respond, continued to talk.
"I promised him that we'd be there in a couple of minutes."
"Fine," Akane finally said, still not displaying any outward
emotion. She turned from the altar and casually walked over to the
corner by the door where her towel lay sprawled. Picking up the thick
black cloth, she idly wiped at her sweat-covered brow and neck, then
turned to head out the door.
Nabiki quickly stepped aside as her younger sister exited the
dojo. When Akane didn't once glance back at her as she headed towards
the house, a strong feeling of foreboding beckoned warily from the edges
of her subconscious.
"This is not a good sign," she mumbled to herself, then turned and
followed her sister back into the house.
---
It was early afternoon, and the warm spring breeze brought with it
a feeling of freshness, of rejuvenation. There was a feeling in the air
that seemed to foretell of new things to come.
In the side yard of the Tendou Dojo lay a pond of sparkling blue,
surrounded on all sides by granite boulders of variable size. By the
side of the moderately sized pond stood a large stone lantern, seeming
to act as guardian and keeper of the pond's daily rituals.
Suddenly, as if an omen of ever-changing things, the calm crystal
waters of the pond parted in circular radius, and a large golden and
white koi leaped unrestrictedly into the open air above. Its bi-coloured
scales gleamed brightly in the afternoon sun, as it crested its peak,
turned on its side, then dove gracefully back beneath the waiting waters
below.
This single action of whim seemed to prompt a change in the wind
pattern, as it suddenly shifted course, causing the tiny bell with a
single ward hanging from its tassel to ring in prophetic chime.
And so did the Fates nod in agreement with the omens of the
future, as they began to reweave their ever-shifting webs of existence.
The time has finally come, they whispered predictively amongst
themselves, and so shall the Prophecy unfold.
---
Soun sat in contemplative silence as he studied the pond before
him, trying to determine the best way for him to broach the subject of
the engagement. He was confident that each of his daughters understood
the importance of honour, and that, given time, surely one of them would
eventually accept the honour-bound pact. However, it was their first
reactions that he was most concerned.
Taking a deep breath, Soun turned from his sitting position on the
porch to bravely face his three daughters. The direct approach would be
the best, he decided.
"A dear, old friend of mine is coming to visit with us today," he
began. "He's also bringing with him his two sons."
*There now, see? That wasn't so hard, now was it?* he silently
praised himself. He looked around at each of his three daughters.
Kasumi, for once not wearing her ever-present apron, looked back at him
with a blank expression on her face. He couldn't read what she was
feeling, but, from her usual motherly nature, Soun knew that he would
not have to deal with any sort of outburst from her.
His attention was brought to Nabiki, who had taken to dressing in
a light blue and white kimono for the occasion, complete with a light
pink obi. She was smiling slightly as she looked off absently into the
distance, perhaps because she was already figuring out how to profit
substantially from this particular situation. Whatever it was, he was
convinced that it would not be pretty.
Finally, he glanced over at Akane. His youngest daughter merely
stared back at him, her face completely expressionless. As the only
martial artist of the three, he was sure that he could count on her to
understand best the importance of maintaining honour. However, he was
still not entirely sure just how well she would take to the arrangement.
Soun gulped audibly. No time like now to find out.
"My friend and I made an arrangement a while back, before Akane
was borne, as a matter of fact. It was determined that if one of you
should marry one of his sons, then the Tendou family legacy would be
secure."
Still no reaction. *Not good,* he thought, quickly glancing over
at his youngest daughter. Her expression still remained as it had been
when she had first entered the room; but now, her dark brown eyes seemed
to burn intensely into his own. Quickly shaking off a strong sense of
foreboding, he continued to talk in the intermittent silence.
"The three have been on a ten-year training mission. Recently,
they crossed into China."
"Ooh, China!" Nabiki exclaimed, finally breaking the uncomfortable
tension that had been mounting in the room. Soun was glad for the
interruption, and silently thanked his middle daughter for her tact.
"How old are they, Father?" Kasumi finally asked, her pristine
forehead lined with unusual worry. "Younger men are so... young."
"Are they cute?" Nabiki inquired. She leaned forward expectantly,
the sides of her short bob brushing absently against the sides of her
face.
Soun laughed a bit awkwardly, bringing his hand up to scratch the
back of his head in embarrassment. "I don't know," he said simply.
"You don't know?!" Nabiki echoed, a disbelieving and disgusted
look crossing her youthful face.
Soun turned away from his daughters' glares and stared once again
out towards the pond. "I've never met them," he stated matter-of-factly.
A tense silence held prominence in the Tendou main room after
Soun's little confession. It seemed to drag out into eternity until,
once again, the waters of the pond parted and the large golden and white
koi leapt forth into the air above.
*Ah. It is an omen,* Soun thought, as he absently tracked the
koi's leap. He watched as the fish crested its peak, then dove back into
the crystal waters below. With the sound of the splash, there was once
again a shift in the winds, causing the tiny bell above his head to
ring. *Another omen?* Soun off-handedly wondered, staring warily up at
the bell with a single ward hanging from its tassel. But his thoughts
were brought up short when he heard a noise drifting in from the front
of the house. He cocked his head slightly in response to the sound.
"Put me DOWN, Pop!" a voice in high soprano called out from the
entryway.
"Oh my," Kasumi said, beginning to get up. "It seems we have
visitors."
"Ooh! It must be them!" Nabiki exclaimed, as she quickly leapt up,
beating Kasumi, and ran out of the room and down the hall to the front
entryway of the house.
Soun quickly followed behind his middle daughter, a wide grin
spread across his face. "Saotome, my friend!" he called out joyfully
ahead of him. "We've been waiting!"
"Oh, I do hope that they're older than me," Kasumi sighed, as she
followed her father out of the main room. A still emotionless Akane
silently joined her, the two girls making their way to the front of the
house. However, their journey was cut short when their middle sister
suddenly came screeching back from around the corner, followed by a
very, very pale father.
Kasumi glanced briefly over at Akane during the sudden commotion;
however, her youngest sister continued to stare blankly toward the front
of the house, seemingly unshaken by her sister and father's odd
behaviours. Kasumi was about to turn to her father and ask what had
happened when she noticed Akane's left eye twitch slightly. Without
warning, the eldest Tendou sister suddenly felt the hairs on the back of
her neck stick straight up, and she slowly forced herself to turn and
look toward the front of the house.
From around the corner of the hall suddenly appeared the ominous
form of an overly grown panda, a kicking and screeching red and black
bundle tossed carelessly over its left shoulder. The two figures came to
a halt five feet from the frightened Tendou elder.
"Let me GO, Pop!" The bundle screeched in high soprano, the while
beating with balled fists upon the panda's back. "You're scarin' 'em
spitless!"
Finally regaining her wits, Kasumi opened her mouth to say
something when a sudden movement in the background cut her off.
From behind the huge and bulky form of the panda, previously
hidden within the great animal's shadow, stepped forth a third figure.
Standing easily to the height of Kasumi's waist, its dark red and
white fur and deep blue eyes glinting maliciously in the early afternoon
sunlight, a large wolf with an extremely long tail that wound its length
around the base of the tail walked calmly and stealthily from around the
huge panda, standing to rest between the large animal and the head of
the Tendou household. With its sudden appearance, the red and black
bundle suddenly stopped squirming in the panda's grasp, allowing the
great beast to lift it up off its shoulder and place it feet first onto
the wooden floor, next to the large wolf that stood waiting.
"Oh my," Kasumi finally gasped, no longer able to keep quiet.
The sound of Kasumi's voice in the ensuing silence suddenly seemed
to break Soun from his paralytic trance, as he stared wide-eyed at the
three strange figures before him. His wandering gaze finally focused
upon the petite redhead, who stood before him with her head bowed.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Soun raised a shaking
hand and pointed at the redhead.
"You... wouldn't be..." he began, but quickly found himself too
afraid to continue.
The redhead in question started a bit at the sound of his voice in
the oppressing silence that had seemed to engulf the entire household,
but then quickly looked away.
"I'm Ranma Saotome. Sorry 'bout this."
The introduction and apology was said so softly that Soun and the
others had to strain in order to hear it. The wolf next to the redhead
shifted a bit, as it, too, bowed its great head, seemingly also in
apology.
Although still quite a bit shaken by the three strange figures,
Soun inwardly rejoiced at the mention of the Saotome name. At last, this
was it! The ones he had been waiting for had finally come!
"At last... you're here..." he said tentatively, reaching out to
grasp the redhead's shoulders. The redhead looked up with a puzzled
expression at the older man, cheeks tainted pink with embarrassment.
The wolf also looked up, albeit in a curious manner.
Nabiki, finally gathering her own wits about her, mentally scolded
herself for allowing herself to show fear. However, her thoughts
immediately resumed track as she got her first good look at the redhead
before her. Although quite small, in fact, shorter than she was in
height, the other possessed what seemed to be a strong, albeit lean,
physical build, high cheekbones, and a strong, albeit delicate, jawline.
A thick shock of bright scarlet locks, tied securely into fashionable
pigtail that fell down to about mid-back, hung down in thick locks about
the face, partially obscuring twin pools of bright blue.
Nabiki, hands clasped tightly onto her father's arm, smiled
deliciously as she eyed the redhead in front of her with the scrutiny of
a hawk. "Ooh! He is cute!" she exclaimed to nobody in particular. Profit
signs immediately began dancing across her field of vision, as she began
visualizing her schemes.
Soun, startled back to reality when his middle daughter suddenly
grasped onto his outstretched arm, took his first good look at his
petite guest since their arrival.
True, Ranma was a bit short for his age, barely reaching up to his
shoulders in height, and his voice had a bit more maturing to do;
however, these qualities were very minor compared to the rest of the
boy.
Soun, as a trained martial artist, quickly took in the redhead's
stance and posture. Relaxed, yet alert; these were the unmistakable
traits of a very well trained and experienced martial artist. And,
judging from the younger boy's physique, he was quite pleased to note
that his friend Genma had not allowed his son to go soft during their
long years of training. And speaking of Genma, where was his childhood
friend? And what about his other son? Where was he?
Pushing the questions to the back of his mind for later
consideration, Soun let the emotions of the moment overwhelm him. Barely
holding back tears of joy, he brazenly hugged the younger boy to him in
his excitement. However, as he held the boy to him, a feeling that
something was not quite right began to nag at the edges of his
consciousness.
Snapping his eyes open in shocked disbelief, the elder Tendou
discretely hugged the redhead a little tighter to him. Not believing the
strange and long-forgotten sensations that he was feeling, Soun repeated
his actions a couple more times. There it was again, that same
disturbing feeling that something wasn't right.
Pushing the teenaged boy away from him, he quickly let go of the
boy's shoulders as if they were made of burning coals. Slowly, he let
his eyes travel down from the boy's face to his chest. There, confirming
the nagging suspicions that had formed in the back of his mind, was what
appeared to be an ample protrusion in the upper chest area of the boy.
Suddenly, Soun's mind froze with the implications of what that
protrusion meant.
Nabiki, observing her father's strange behaviour toward the boy,
decided to get a better look at her new potential "fiance". Following
her father's gaze, she stared at the redhead's chest. Nabiki blinked.
Stunned, she unconsciously let go of her father's arm, who shakily took
a step back, eyes wide with disbelief.
Taking a step in front of her shocked father, Nabiki bent down to
get an even better look at the redhead's chest. Her dark brown eyes
narrowed as she stared, her fair brow crinkling with confusion over what
she saw in front of her. Then, without warning, her hand shot up as she
began poking the embarrassed guest's chest.
*No way!* Nabiki thought, as she stopped her poking in favour of
fondling the stranger's chest. *But it feels so real...* Absorbed in her
thoughts, the middle Tendou daughter failed to notice the annoyed looks
on both the guest whose chest she was probing, as well as on the large
wolf that was standing beside them. Suddenly, the only warning given was
the low growl that escaped its great throat, the wolf snapped its jaws
towards Nabiki's outstretched hand.
Feeling the hairs on the back of her neck suddenly stand straight
up on end, Nabiki gasped and drew her hand back just in time, as the
wolf's powerful jaws snapped loudly shut on thin air. More shocked than
scared, Nabiki backed up a couple of steps until she was once again
standing behind her father, hands now clutched protectively to her own
chest.
The wolf, whose dark blue eyes were fixed steadfastly upon
Nabiki's retreating form, prepared to follow after her, but was stopped
when the redhead placed a delicate hand upon its shoulder. Shooting one
last growl towards the offending girl, it contented itself by remaining
to stand between the Tendous and the redhead.
"Wha- What is the meaning of this?!" Soun shakily demanded,
finally having regained his senses.
When the redhead refused to answer by turning to stare out towards
the pond that lay in the middle of the Tendou's side yard, Soun turned
to his middle daughter, who seemed to be in the midst of a staring
contest with the wolf.
"Well?!" Soun demanded again, startling his middle daughter, who
jumped a little at the uncharacteristic harshness in his voice.
"That little BEAST just tried to eat me!" Nabiki cried back at her
father, pointing an accusing finger at the now growling wolf, who flexed
its jaws as if in confirmation of her statement. Her accusation caused
the redhead to suddenly whirl back around, livid fire dancing around
behind her bright blue eyes.
"Well, he wouldn't've had to if ya hadn't poked me in the chest!"
the redhead screeched, one foot taking a threatening step forward, fists
clenched tightly at her sides. The wolf nodded its great head in
agreement, dark blue eyes staring hungrily at the middle Tendou girl.
Soun had heard enough. Turning on his middle daughter, he gave her
a very reprimanding look. "Nabiki! Why did you poke him in the chest?
That was very rude of you!"
Nabiki was taken aback. First, she had just barely escaped being
eaten alive by a huge, monstrous beast, and now, her own father was
scolding her! He NEVER did that! Just what the HELL was going on around
here?! She threw a brief glance over at her two sisters before
answering. Kasumi simply stared back at her, a worried look marring her
pristine features. Akane, on the other hand, seemed to be fixed on the
fuming redhead, an amused look briefly crossing her face before it fell
back into its usual expressionless mode.
*Ah... So, she knows too,* Nabiki thought, as she turned back to
her father, her usual mask of controlled indifference now adorning her
youthful face.
"'Him'?" she asked, raising a delicate eyebrow as she crossed her
arms in front of her. "That," she continued, tilting her head slightly
to indicate the still-seething redhead, "...Daddy, is a girl."
Nabiki waited patiently as her words slowly sank into her father's
thick skull. She stole an amused glance over at the newly exposed
redhead, who simply stood there with mouth agape and eyes wide.
*Probably,* Nabiki assumed, *because I just exposed their little scheme,
whatever it was.*
Nabiki's words finally registered in Soun's head, as he suddenly
lost all composure. "A... a- a girl?!" he cried out to no one in
particular, before the world suddenly went black and he crashed heavily
to the floor.
---
Soun slowly awoke to the sounds of bickering voices overhead. His
head ached, severely, and he pondered briefly as to the cause of it.
Then he remembered, every single moment of that strange afternoon
encounter. His head throbbed even more. His friend, his childhood
friend... the one with whom he grew up with... trained in the martial
arts with... He had lied to him! Betrayed him, even! The pain he felt
then was almost too harsh to bear.
A new sensation suddenly flooded his senses, cutting through all
of the pain he was feeling. Something had landed on his face - his cheek
to be more precise. It was light, and had a very silky texture to it.
His mind quickly made the connections to that of a flower petal. Slowly,
he opened his eyes.
The first thing that he noticed was that it was now late
afternoon, perhaps just an hour left before sunset. How long had he been
unconscious? Three hours, perhaps? Maybe four. He couldn't tell. Then he
noticed the figures above him, surrounding him from head to foot.
Kasumi, his eldest daughter, sat quietly at his head, and was the first
to notice that he was awake.
"Oh, look everyone," she said, gently removing the wet washcloth
from her father's forehead, "I think Father's coming to."
The loud bickering suddenly ceased at the sound of Kasumi's voice,
for which Soun was immensely grateful, the pain in his head subsiding a
great deal. His loving daughter replaced the newly soaked cloth back
onto his forehead, soothing the pain even more.
"This is all your fault, Daddy," Nabiki's shrill voice suddenly
cutting through the thick silence, causing Soun to wince at the
resulting pain that rang through his aching head. He looked up at his
daughter, her youthful face twisted up into a mask of annoyance and
accusation. "I'd've thought you knew the difference between a boy and a
girl," she finished, crossing her arms in front of her for effect.
Soun groaned and turned his eyes up to the ceiling. Today was not
turning out the way he'd expected. "I assumed my friend Genma's twins
were both boys," he said defensively, his voice coming out as a slight
croak.
"'Twins'?" Kasumi echoed, a puzzled expression on her face.
Nabiki snorted. "That's right, there're two of them. This one,
however," she indicated by once again reaching out to grapple the
redhead's chest who sat silently next to her, "...is a girl."
The redhead's face immediately contorted into an annoyed
expression that matched part-for-part Nabiki's own, but she made no
motions to throw her assailant's hand off. She did, however, mutter
beneath her breath.
"Would you please stop that?"
Without prior warning, a blur that was later realized to be
Akane's hand shot over from across the other side of the redhead to
firmly grasp onto Nabiki's outstretched wrist, knocking the stunned
redhead back over onto the floor behind them in the process.
Nabiki, about to retort to her little sister's sudden action,
stopped immediately when she realized just how Akane was holding onto
her wrist. Her eyes widened in a rare show of fear.
Akane's strong hand was wrapped strategically about her small
wrist, firmly but not tightly. However, Nabiki knew from experience that
if she'd wanted to, Akane could easily break her wrist with just one
small squeeze. But that was not what was scaring her. Instead, it was
the way Akane was holding onto her wrist that frightened her. Wrapped
completely about the circumference of her small wrist, Akane's middle
finger was placed directly over a strategic location along the inside of
her wrist. It was a pain grip. If Akane was to squeeze, Nabiki knew that
she would be feeling immense amounts of pain in the process of having
her wrist broken. And if she were to try to break free of her sister's
grip, the placement of Akane's other fingers would ensure that she would
merely end up breaking her own wrist herself. Knowing the best option in
that particular situation, Nabiki froze.
Akane, feeling her older sister react, cracked a crooked half-
smile that didn't reach her dark brown eyes. Before too long, however,
her youthful face lost its ability to retain that haunting smile,
falling once again back into its usual expressionless mask.
"Don't do it again, Nabiki," the youngest Tendou said, her voice
as matching her face. She gave Nabiki's wrist a slight squeeze before
finally letting go, making Nabiki wince in pain. The middle Tendou
daughter immediately began rubbing her sore wrist, as she quickly sought
refuge behind the ever-calm Kasumi.
"I'm going to work out," Akane suddenly announced, looking as if
she had never threatened to break her own sister's wrist, as she lithely
stood up and stretched. She then turned and headed out of the living
room and down the hall towards the dojo.
Ranma sat there stunned, her heart racing. *That girl just
defended me...* she thought, her mind in a whirl of chaos. *She didn't
really have to; I coulda taken care of myself, y'know.* But then her
expression softened a bit as she considered the other girl's gesture.
*Hmm... maybe not everyone around here is weird.*
Then she noticed the other girl leaving the room. Quickly, she
jumped to her feet and raced out of the room and down the hall after
her. Following close behind was the wolf, who had been sitting with the
panda earlier against the back wall.
Ranma quickly caught up with the other girl and fell into step
behind her, the wolf following behind.
"H- Hey!" Ranma called out in an attempt to get the other girl's
attention.
Akane stopped suddenly, forcing Ranma to quickly sidestep in order
to avoid bumping into her. The wolf, however, was not so lucky and ended
up bumping its great head into the back of Ranma's leg. Ranma, after
giving the animal a reproachful glance back, turned back to the other
girl with a hesitant smile on her face. Relief came when the other's
indifferent expression softened a bit.
"Umm... H- Hi," Ranma said hesitantly, suddenly nervous beneath
the other's inscrutable gaze.
"What is it?" Akane asked calmly, not bothering to return the
other's greeting.
Ranma frowned inwardly at this, but let it pass. Now was
definitely not the time to mess up her only chance at a friend around
here.
"I- I... uh... just wanted to thank you, for... um... helpin' me
out back there," Ranma managed to get out without too much flubbing. She
then followed up with a deep bow to the waist. She was a bit surprised
when she suddenly felt a light hand on her shoulder. Puzzled, she
glanced up at the other girl, and blinked.
Akane stood there, left hand extended, calmly looking down at the
redheaded girl. But something was different about this Akane that Ranma
now found herself staring at. For the very first time since she had
arrived at the Tendou household, Ranma was surprised to discover the
youngest daughter actually smiling. She blinked a second time. Now, she
was really confused. *Just what the heck is it with this girl?* she
wondered offhandedly, beginning to find herself becoming mesmerized by
the other girl's hypnotic smile. A strange warmth began to spread
through her as she stared at Akane, intoxicating her, which only served
to further confuse her first impressions of the youngest Tendou girl.
She only vaguely noticed when the warmth spread to her head, faintly
colouring her delicate cheeks.
"Do you wanna spar?" Akane asked suddenly, her low, sultry voice
sharply cutting through the magical blanket of seduction that had
tangibly surrounded the two.
Ranma blinked again, suddenly snapping out of her euphoria-like
trance at the sound of Akane's voice. It took her a couple of seconds to
finally register the other girl's unexpected request.
"Umm... Y- Yeah... I'd really like that," Ranma stuttered, feeling
suddenly embarrassed at her uncharacteristic behaviour.
"Good," Akane replied, still smiling at the blushing redhead.
Removing her hand from the other's shoulder, she turned and continued on
towards the dojo without another word or glance back to check if the
other girl was following her.
Ranma stood there for a few seconds, vainly striving to compose
herself as she watched Akane's retreating back. Her thoughts were cut
off when she felt something nudge against her leg. Looking down, she saw
the wolf looking up at her with piercing blue eyes, which left hers
briefly to follow the quickly disappearing figure of the Tendou girl.
Ranma let out a sigh as she felt some of her previous tension
leave her.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," she said tiredly to the animal, who suddenly
turned to glare back at her. She sighed again. Life seemed to become
even more interesting at the Tendou's the longer she stayed here. "Come
on, let's go."
Turning, she hurried to catch up with the other girl, the large
wolf trotting eagerly behind.
---
"So, I take it you've studied kenpo," Akane stated more than
asked.
Ranma fidgeted as she followed the other girl into the dojo.
"Well, yeah, a little," she replied a bit shyly, then turned to glare at
the wolf behind her when it snorted softly in disgust.
Ranma looked around the dojo in awe. Although somewhat small in
size, the traditional building was still nonetheless impressive. Along
one wall were hung several different weapons, including bokkens,
katanas, Western-styled broadswords, kamas and nunchucks. To the front
of the dojo, perched high upon the wall, was a traditional family altar,
and Ranma respectfully bowed before taking position opposite the other
girl.
Akane had been completely silent since first entering the Tendou
family dojo, and now took her place opposite her guest, unconsciously
falling into her favourite stance - one that allowed freedom of
movement, the while ensuring maximum power behind her hits. She raised a
curious eyebrow when Ranma, after politely bowing, took up her stance.
The youthful redhead stood opposite with both hands clasped loosely
behind her, her right foot drawn back slightly. For all appearances,
Ranma was leaving herself completely open to attacks. But Akane, a
fourth dan herself in the art of kenpo, wasn't really fooled by her
opponent's opening stance, especially when she saw the redhead bend
forward slightly at the waist.
Akane opened up with an experimental punch to the front, and was
not too surprised to see Ranma suddenly leap straight up in order to
avoid the powered missile. Akane inwardly grinned. This was going to be
fun.
Ranma, after returning back to the ground after her initial jump,
was forced to suddenly drop to the floor as Akane's right foot flashed
out in a powerful sidekick right where her head would have been. But
before she could think, Ranma rolled forward to come to stand behind
Akane, as the Tendou girl's leg slashed down from where it hung in the
air after its initial attack. Ranma then performed an freehand cartwheel
to the side as Akane's left leg lashed out in a low leg sweep behind
her. She quickly backed off a few paces and began to circle around the
dojo as she faced her opponent, Akane doing likewise.
Akane frowned as she sized up her opponent, her delicate features
darkening slightly. The redhead was good, no doubt about that; but she
didn't strike back either. Something was wrong... She could feel it.
Ranma paced slowly around the alert Tendou girl, trying to
anticipate the other girl's next move. Something about Akane bothered
her, but she couldn't place her finger on it. Taking a quick glance at
the wolf, who had taken to sitting in one corner of the dojo closest to
the open shouji, her suspicions were confirmed when she spotted the
animal also peering curiously at the blue-haired girl. *Something's just
not right about her,* Ranma thought, as she continued circling the other
girl, hands once again clasped behind her back.
Suddenly, without warning, Akane charged her, causing the redhead
to vault over the other girl's head in order to avoid being pushed back
into a corner. Akane took this opportunity to take a back-swing at Ranma
as she was descending, catching the unguarded girl full in the side with
her fist. Ranma flew to one side of the dojo, crashing full-on into the
wall that unsuspectingly got in her way. The wolf winced slightly at the
loud impact.
Ranma rose a bit shakily to her feet, clutching at her now bruised
side. She winced a little at the pain. *Man, this girl's got some
serious strength. Better be more careful about avoiding her hits,* she
thought absently, once again circling the other girl. This time,
however, both hands were now up in a defensive position in front of her.
Akane smirked when Ranma finally brought her hands into play.
Perhaps now the other girl would take this fight a little more
seriously. She focused again on her opponent.
Ranma waited anxiously for Akane's next move, wondering what else
the dark blue-haired girl was capable of. She didn't have to wait long.
Akane, again without any prior warning, bum-rushed the waiting
redhead yet again. Ranma, not one to fall for the same trick twice,
leapt to the side. That was a mistake.
Akane, apparently anticipating the other's move, stopped just in
front of the redhead, executed a perfect cartwheel to the same side,
then lashed out in a powerful roundhouse that Ranma was barely able to
block at the last minute before back-flipping out of the way. Akane
grinned, her dark brown eyes gleaming with a predatory light that sent
untold shivers down Ranma's spine.
*Man, she's pretty good,* Ranma thought with no small amount of
awe and respect for the girl. *But I gotta beat her. How the heck am I
gonna do that without hittin' her, though?*
Ranma's thoughtful frown suddenly turned into a smile as she came
up with a plan. With a loud battle cry, she charged the unsuspecting
girl.
Akane blinked in shock as the redhead suddenly came veering
towards her. Not knowing what else to do, she vaulted over the other
girl's head just as she rushed past underneath, then quickly turned
around once her feet touched the ground again. Ranma likewise turned
about face.
Spurred on by the other girl's sudden change in attitude, Akane
decided to attempt hand-to-hand combat. Rushing the stoic redhead, the
young Tendou girl quickly went into a combination of punches, jabs and
elbow strikes, all of which Ranma either blocked or dodged. Determined
to get at least one more good hit in, Akane pressed on, slipping in and
out of the various hand forms she knew.
The sheer power and force behind the constant onslaught of blows
was beginning to tell on Ranma, as she was slowly forced to give ground
to the flurry that was Akane. After a full minute of this, Ranma
suddenly felt the dojo wall behind her back. Desperate to escape her now
vulnerable position, Ranma began to look for an opening in Akane's
defenses. Then she spotted it.
Bending slightly at the knees, Ranma used the spring in the dojo's
wooden floor boards to propel herself upwards over the other girl's
head, just as her fist came rushing past beneath her in a straight
forward punch. The momentum of Akane's punch, coupled with the sudden
lack of a person in front of her, caused Akane's fist to crash straight
through the wall of the dojo.
Ranma, meanwhile, used her own momentum to do a full body twist in
the air at the peak of her vault, coming to land behind Akane, facing
her. When she heard the sound of boards breaking, Ranma didn't hesitate
her advantage. She lightly tapped the back of Akane's head, then took a
step back, hands once again clasped behind her back.
Akane blinked when she felt the light tap at the back of her head,
then slowly turned around, her fist still imbedded wrist deep into the
wall. Ranma stood behind her, one hand now nervously rubbing the back of
her head. Her mouth was upturned into a somewhat apologetic smile as she
stared back at Akane.
Akane blinked again, as she calmly recalled the previous events.
Then, for the second time that day, Akane smiled as she gently pried her
fist from the hole she had made. Turning around completely, she bowed
respectfully to the other girl, who awkwardly returned the gesture.
Then, walking to the centre of the dojo, the youngest Tendou daughter
bowed methodically to the family altar. Ranma quickly followed suit.
"You're pretty good," Akane finally spoke, breaking the silence
like so much shattered glass.
"Huh?" Ranma answered intelligently, earning a snort of disgust
from the wolf, who had risen and was now heading for the door.
"It'd be a shame if you were a guy," Akane said thoughtfully, as
she stepped out of the dojo on her way back to the house, pausing to pet
the wolf on the way.
"W- What?" Ranma asked of no one in particular, suddenly shocked
when Akane's words finally registered. She stood motionless in the
centre of the dojo as she watched the other girl's retreating back. When
Akane was finally out of sight, having disappeared into the house, Ranma
slowly turned to face the wolf, which appeared to be just as shocked as
she was. It looked up at her.
"Now what do we do?" Ranma asked the large animal. All it could do
was shrug, the best way that a large wolf could shrug. After another
minute, wherein the silence that dominated the dojo could almost be cut
with a sharp knife, the two finally headed back to the house.
(End of Part 01)
---
1. shouji - wood and rice paper doors that are typical of a traditional
Japanese home.
---
Notes:
I believe that the exchange in Nabiki's bedroom between her and
her father depicted above helps to explain how Nabiki did not seem all
that surprised when "formally" informed of the engagement in the family
room, unlike her sisters in the anime, who were both shocked. If you
look again, you will see that Nabiki is actually smiling, telling us
that she already knew about it beforehand.
The fight scene between Akane and Ranma took several days to
perfect. I had to make it appear that Akane was much more advanced in
her training than we have previously scene in the series. Her skills
will become much more evident in the chapters to come.