Ranma and Co. is Copyright Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan, Inc. 1993
Ranma ½ is a trademark of Viz Communications, Inc.
A Ranma ½ Fan Fiction by INABN
Forever and a Day Chapter One: Any Other ColorThe early morning mist drifted lazily through the side streets and alleyways; faint rays of the rising sun already having burned away the last vestiges of the chill autumn night on the main thoroughfares. Few had woken from their slumber, and those that had were preparing for the day ahead. Even so, the street was empty save for one travel-worn occupant. The young man shifted a heavy pack he wore from one shoulder to the other as he took in the sights of the city around him. After so long, he finally felt stirrings of something vaguely familiar. Two years, come and gone, and now, he could finally rest. Saotome Ranma was home.
Nearing the Tendou residence, Ranma's mind turned over what possible impacts his return would herald. In the great scope of things, two years wasn't all that long, but something was bound to have changed. When he left, he had promised to write to let everyone know that he was doing fine on his own. It had been hard at times, but he kept his word. Every two weeks or so, he had made his way to whatever town happened to be closest, and mailed off a letter to the Tendou's. Granted, since he was always on the move, he never received a reply. In fact, just a few days ago he had mailed off a postcard informing them of his imminent return. There had been nothing specific, just a general estimate of his arrival time. Up ahead, a familiar sight brought him out of his reverie.
He was inside the front gates of the Tendou home, standing on the walkway that now stretched before him, the longest road he had come across in his wide travels. Each movement, stride or small step, took an eternity to accomplish in his mind. His eyes were riveted to the front door, never leaving it, lest it vanish like a mirage. Only seconds had elapsed from the gate, to the door. There was no way to gauge how long he simply stood there, his hand raised as if to knock on the hard wood surface of the front door. His hand nearly contacted the wood, when a familiar woman pulled the door open from inside. He took a step back as she had yet to notice him.
Ranma watched in a detached fashion as Kasumi turned around to close the door. When she moved to start toward the gate she finally raised her head, causing Ranma to unfreeze. Luckily he had plenty of time to react, as Kasumi flung her purse in surprise when she saw someone standing not more than three feet from her. He caught the purse deftly in one outstretched hand, feeling relieved that she hadn't cried out. Ranma simply stood there, as he watched flickers of emotion pass across the face of the eldest Tendou daughter. The young man in front of her looked quiet familiar. He wore a pair of long black pants, tied at the waist by a thin red sash, and a faded black silk shirt embroidered with twin tigers on the front. His clothing hung loose, and looked comfortable. Standing there, with his black hair down over his shoulders, what struck her most was the cloudy blue of his eyes.
Wordlessly, Ranma offered the wayward purse back to its owner, whom he thought, seemed a little more than surprised to see him. Finally, she spoke, breaking the silence. "Ranma-kun? Is that you?"
It was starting to warm up a little as they strolled along the sidewalk. Kasumi mentioned that she was heading out to the market early; as to get back and have breakfast ready by the time everyone else awoke. Seeing as the others were sleeping still, Ranma decided to accompany her. Neither had uttered more than a few words since leaving the gates of the Tendou home, passing the time in mutual silence. Every so often, Ranma would glance at Kasumi from the corner of his eye. She appeared to be lost in thought, and it was unnerving to say the least.
When they arrived at the marketplace, Ranma could see that a number of the vendors were already open for business. Following Kasumi around as she shopped, he offered to carry the goods she purchased. Kasumi was ready to head back after fifteen minutes, satisfied with what she had bought. Thankfully, the walk back was much less awkward. That was mostly because Ranma could barely see anything through the pile in his arms and had to concentrate on the footsteps of the woman he was accompanying.
With a faint grunt, Ranma set the bags of produce on the kitchen counter where Kasumi said she would like them to be placed.
"This is for the week, right?" Ranma asked, indicating the five bags that all but hid the counter.
Kasumi nodded, asking for him to take a seat while she put on a kettle of tea. Ranma moved to the proffered seat, waiting patiently for Kasumi to finish making tea. He didn't have long to wait, as five minutes later Kasumi sat across from him, nursing her cup of tea. Ranma took the time to look the place over, while his own tea cooled to an acceptable level.
"Ranma-kun, you've been gone a long time. Did you travel far?"
He focused his attention once more on Kasumi, after she spoke. "I, yeah…guess you could say I did." Her question threw him off a little. He was pretty sure he had written about the general areas he had been to along his journey. Furrowing his brow a little, he decided to be a little more specific.
"Went pretty far into Mainland China, almost made it ta the Himalayas before heading back."
Kasumi rose from her seat, taking her empty teacup. "My, you must pardon me Ranma-kun, I need to start breakfast, and it's nearly seven." With that she disappeared into the kitchen. Finishing his tea, Ranma went to see if he could be of any service. He didn't plan on freeloading if he could help it, not this time.
"Need help with anything?" Ranma said as he stepped into the kitchen. Kasumi gave a little smile at his offer, deciding that it might just make things go smoother if he did help out.
"Thank you for offering, Ranma-kun, I could use an extra hand or two."
"No problem. Just point me in the right direction, and I'll get started." With that, Ranma reached into his pocket and pulled out a leather thong, which he used to tie his hair back into a loose ponytail. Before long, the two had established a rhythm. Kasumi was pleased to see that the food would be ready with time to spare. It wouldn't be too long before Akane and Father woke up. They would be so surprised when they found out who had come to visit!
Upstairs, the aroma of breakfast cooking was finally permeating the air, prompting a still groggy Akane to perk up a little bit. Reaching across to her nightstand, the alarm clock showed the time at five till seven. Even thought it was a lazy Sunday morning, she tried to keep in the habit of rising close to a normal time. She stretched a little bit before picking out some clothes for the day, heading to the bathroom to wash up. As she walked down the hall, she could hear her father beginning to rise as well. She smiled to herself; the smell of breakfast was just as good, or better, than any alarm clock.
Akane paused at the top of the staircase when she heard voices coming from downstairs. At first, she dismissed it as the television set, but the longer she listened, the more apparent it became that Kasumi was talking to someone. She couldn't remember anyone that was supposed to come over, and it couldn't be Nabiki. Nabiki wasn't due back home from the University until Tuesday evening. Clutching her bath supplies to her chest, she made her way down the stairs so she could see who it was. Unfortunately, it looked as if Kasumi and her guest were in the kitchen, which Akane couldn't see into from the stairs. Akane sighed, figuring she would find out who it was, if they were still here, when she was done with her bath.
"…So, it's just the three of you living here now?" Ranma asked Kasumi, as he unplugged the small rice steamer. Breakfast was for the most part ready to be served. He could tell that the rest of the house was up and about, someone having already gone into the bathroom a minute ago.
Kasumi nodded, "Yes, Nabiki is living at the dormitory; she insisted, saying that the commute would cost too much if she stayed at home." Ranma looked puzzled for a second.
"Akane isn't continuing school then?"
"No, she and Father have taken up teaching a few lessons during the week. I think they even have a few students that are willing to learn properly. Akane tells me that she almost has enough money saved up to start at the University this next year." With that, Kasumi placed some of the food-laden plates on a serving tray and went to set it down on the table in the other room.
Just as Kasumi rose to get the rest of the food, Ranma walked in from the kitchen with a tray in each hand.
"Here ya go Kasumi. This was everything right?" He asked with a glance over the trays.
Kasumi smiled, giving her thanks for the help that he provided. With that, they knelt at the table, to wait for the arrival of Souun and Akane. They didn't have long to wait as moments later Souun in his brown robe, came down the stairs.
"Ah, good morning Kasumi. I see that we have a guest," the patriarch of the Tendou household stated in a fairly jovial manner. Taking his place at the table he regarded the new arrival. "Tell me young man, what brings you to our home?" Souun looked Ranma over while he waited for his reply. Something was nagging at the corners of his memory, but he couldn't quite place it yet.
Now Ranma felt he was at odds. When he was talking to Kasumi, he could tell that the conversation had been a little stilted, like she had not been expecting him. Souun's question had only served to confirm it. They must've somehow not received his postcard. That had to be it.
"Ah, Mr. Tendou, I just returned from my journey. It seemed right that I come for a visit." Suddenly the pieces fell into place for Souun. It was just a coincidence that
Akane had turned the corner, eliciting a soft exclamation of "Ranma?"
"I take it you guys never got the postcard I sent last week." Ranma sighed as his statement was met with two shaken heads and a Souun water fountain. Souun's lamentation began while Akane just stood there, too shocked to say anything.
"Oh, the poor boy leaves, vanished off the face of the earth for two long years, and when he comes back…No one even remembers him! The tragedy of it all! Wahhh!" Ranma hung his head in slight embarrassment over the whole situation. What did Souun mean by 'vanish off the face of the earth' anyway? They knew 'roughly' where he was the entire time. His frequent letters would have made sure of that. When he looked back up, Kasumi was tending to her now distraught father, and Akane was still just gaping at him like he had three heads or something.
On impulse, Ranma cleared his mind, and asked aloud the question he now distrusted an answer of. "Akane, you 'did' get my letters, right?" He tried to make it implicitly clear what answer he was hoping to hear. For her part, Akane seemed to come out of whatever trance she was in, as if noticing him for the first time.
"Ranma… what letters? You sent me letters?" She seemed partly torn between a confused glazed look, and wanting to form an angry glare. Ranma was now just as perplexed as Akane. How could they have missed every single one for the past two years? He was one hundred and ten percent sure that the address he had written to was correct. So sure in fact, that had he been asked to, he would stake his very honor on it.
"Of course I did Akane. I sent a letter, or at the very least, a postcard every two weeks, for the past two years. Don't tell me you didn't get a single one." Ranma proceeded to run a hand through his hair. "Ah, it's beside the point anyway. Look, I promised I would write, it was the least I could do, and I did. Believe me."
Akane floundered, torn between being angry with herself, and being upset at Ranma. "You up and decide to leave one day, never write, and then just expect to waltz right back in?" Akane, it seems, had settled her anger on Ranma. At her outburst, Ranma very nearly sprayed the tea he had managed to take a sip of, all across the table.
"W-what? You know it wasn't like you make it out to be. My leaving was a mutual decision between the two of us. I'm telling you that I sent letters, whether you believe me or not, is up ta you. As far as 'waltzing' in here, I thought the week notice I gave in my postcard would have been enough for you." He pulled a small cloth from inside his sleeve and wiped his mouth.
After having successfully calming her father, Kasumi watched the mounting tension between Ranma and Akane with apprehension. If things continued as they were, Ranma was bound to up and leave. After all, he had no reason to stay where he didn't feel welcome. So, before the matter grew out of hand, she spoke up, "Everyone, breakfast is getting cold. We should all sit down and eat, so as not to waste it." Kasumi gave her little sister a small stern nod, and Akane acquiesced, for the moment. Ranma had already settled back down, not really in the mood to argue over something so trivial with the youngest Tendou. The remainder of the meal was met in silence, and thus passed uneventfully.
Akane was still a little miffed over the earlier conversation with Ranma. It certainly hadn't gone anywhere near what she had envisioned. At the moment she was back up in her room, having excused herself from the table as soon as she had finished eating. She realized that she should probably talk with Ranma. The tension she felt at the moment however would make that a fruitless endeavor. It just was too out of the ordinary for her now. The last year and a half had been fairly monotonous. What with nearly everyone that had made her life crazy all but gone, the days were rather uneventful. Now, the one person that managed to turn everything topsy-turvy on her had to up and drop back in. She sighed, burying her face in her hands, and taking a deep calming breath. She could handle this…she 'had' to.