The small village nestled in the hills near Ryugenzawa was in a blind panic
as the large warning bell rang through out the entire valley. Something
was coming towards the village, something large something very large. The
village had the bell to warn them of any impending danger and today the
bell was being rung like crazy. Somewhere off in the distance someone had
seen a wild boar.
"It's a wild boar on a rampage!" the village lookout cried out.
The villagers ran here and there trying to get away from the village's open area before the boar tore though the village. And as they made their way to safety one young man remained in the middle of the street. It was obvious to anyone who saw him that the young man was a visitor to the village. He had dark hair and eyes and wore a dark yellow shirt and black pants tied off at the shin and sturdy shoes. Upon his forehead was a yellow bandana with a pattern of random black rectangles. The young man appeared to be an accomplished traveler for he had a very heavy looking pack on his back that had a red bamboo umbrella on top. The young traveler was unaware anything was happening for he had his nose buried in a map.
The wild boar that came into the village was unlike any other boar in the world. Where most boars are the size of a medium sized dog this one was the size of an elephant. Upon entering the village the boar began tearing through the marketplace knocking over carts and breaking fences and poles.
As the boar ran towards the young man the villagers tried to get his attention and warn him of the danger headed his way.
"Hey!" the village lookout called to him.
"You there!" another man yelled trying to get his attention.
"Look out!" the lookout yelled to him.
"Run you dang fool!" a third man yelled at him.
The young man glanced over his shoulder and placed a hand upon the handle of his umbrella. As the boar came closer he pulled out the umbrella making a connection with the boar's nose. The boar was stopped dead in its tracks.
"Oh!" the lookout and the second villager said quite shocked.
"He stopped it! One handed!" the third villager exclaimed.
The young man then began twisting the umbrella and lifted it sending the boar twisting into the air. The boar then came back down landing on its back behind him. The villagers looked on completely at a loss for words.
"Oh wow!" One old man said in shock.
"Just amazing!" An old lady next to him added.
Soon all the villagers had gathered near him to congratulate the young man.
"Do you practice them martial arts?" an old lady wanted to know.
"You been practicing up there in the mountain?" another villager asked him.
The young man looked at the crowd of people and pulled out his map.
"Where is Furinkan High School?" he asked them.
The villagers gathered around the young traveler wondering what he was talking about.
"Furinkan High School?" the old lady wondered.
"Oh ho a map." Another villager pointed out.
"Let me see 'er." The old woman's husband said.
The old man and the villager took a careful look at the map.
"Say ain't this Tokyo?" the villager pointed out.
"Isn't that five hundred miles north of here!" the old man said.
The young man took back the map and turned around quite dejectedly hanging his head.
"I see." He replied, "Forgive the intrusion."
The young man then began walking out of the village.
"Do you figure he's lost?" one of the villagers wondered.
As the young traveler walked out of the village he made a declaration to no one in particular.
"Ranma Saotome! Prepare to meet me! You can hide from our man to man battle no longer!" the young man cried out.
********
The Journey
Episode Five: The Hunter's Curse
********
Our unsuspecting hero currently had problems of his own. The skies over Nerima in Tokyo were pitch black and pouring down a lot of rain. Ranma had been outside and had gotten caught in the rain. And while he was comfortable with his cursed side Ranma still wasn't comfortable enough to wear women's undergarments. The pigtailed martial artist was currently parading around the house in nothing but his boxers and a towel draped around his neck barely covering his ample chest. He thought everything was going to be fine when heard a loud crash and a scream.
Looking in the living room Ranma saw that his father-in-law was currently sprawled out on the floor having fainted after catching a glimpse of what Ranma was not wearing. The scream came from Nabiki who still hadn't gotten over the incident in the furoba the first night he and Akane were in the Tendo dojo. Ranma looked at Nabiki and Soun with an innocent look on his face.
"What?" Ranma asked not really seeing anything wrong with what he was doing.
"Put some clothes on you pervert!" Nabiki yelled at him.
"I don't see anything wrong with going around like this." Ranma replied as he twirled around to show off his feminine body.
"Why you little…" Nabiki yelled just before she ran after him.
Whether it was out of fear for his life or he just didn't want to deal with Nabiki Ranma bolted out of the living room and ran up the stairs. Nabiki was hot on his trail yelling at him.
"Ranma get back here you pervert!" she screamed.
Ranma ran down the hall and ducked into his room where he saw Akane sitting on the bed reading a book. The pigtailed martial artist closed the door shut and leaned against it in an attempt to keep Nabiki from coming into the room.
"Ranma is something wrong?" Akane asked him as she looked up from her book.
"Your sister is out to get me." He told her.
It was then they heard the sound of pounding on the door along with Nabiki's yelling.
"Ranma Saotome, open this door you pervert!" Nabiki yelled.
"No way Nabiki!" Ranma yelled back.
With that Ranma locked the door and began searching through their closet for something to wear. After a few minutes of searching through his half of the closet Ranma turned to Akane with a pleading look on his feminine face.
"Akane you gotta let me borrow some of your stuff." Ranma begged.
"Sorry koi' but most of my things are in the wash. I'm wearing my last pair of clean pants." Akane told him with an apologetic look on her face.
Upon realizing what this meant Ranma let out a groan. Even though he was used to being in his female form Ranma was dead set against wearing a dress.
"Oh no. There is no way you're getting me to wear a dress." Ranma protested.
"Ranma it's either that or face an angry Nabiki." Akane reasoned.
With a heavy sigh Ranma finally gave in and let Akane pick out something for him to wear. After a few minutes in the closet Akane came out with one of her more modest dresses. The dress she had chosen was Chinese in style and dark blue with short sleeves and matching knotted buttons in the front. The dress reached the floor and had small slits that ended at the knees. Ranma put on the dress and began tugging at the bodice.
"I think it looks good on you." Akane commented.
"Yeah it's all right but it feels a bit tight on top." Ranma told her.
"Well now you don't have to worry about Nabiki."
"I just don't see what she has against me."
********
A week had come and gone since the traveler appeared in Ryugenzawa. A week spent traveling all over Japan. A week spent not knowing where in the world he was. A week spent getting lost without knowing he was lost. Such was the life of one Ryouga Hibiki.
Ryouga Hibiki had a problem with directions. Tell him something was off to the left and he'd go to the right. If he was told something was north of his current location he would head south. Ryouga could get lost going just about anywhere even to the bathroom. In fact, he had done just that once. Ryouga had tried to go to the bathroom and ended up fifty miles away from his house. How it happened no one knew. Ryouga was smart enough to bring with him everything he would need to survive with him at all times.
And so there was Ryouga Hibiki standing out in the middle of a field map in hand trying to figure out where he was. Looking around the field he saw dairy cattle and a farmer tending to them. Ryouga walked up to the farmer map in hand and asked him the one question he had been asking everyone he met.
"Excuse me but can you tell me where Furinkan High School is?" Ryouga asked showing the farmer the map he had with him.
The farmer took a look at the map and knew right away where Ryouga's final destination was located. With a sigh he gave the lost boy the bad news.
"If it's Tokyo then it's five hundred miles south of here." The farmer told him.
With a heavy heart and a sigh Ryouga began the five hundred mile trek south to Tokyo.
********
Another week had come and gone and by some sheer miracle Ryouga Hibiki found himself standing outside the gates of Furinkan High School though he just didn't know it. School was letting out for the day and Ryouga watched the students as they walked out of the school and prepared for club meetings and team practices. The students noticed the lost boy and began talking amongst themselves.
"Who's that?" one member of the soccer club wondered.
"I don't know." Another member of the same club replied.
As he continued to stand near the gates to the school Ryouga grabbed a student by the student his shirt collar as he walked past.
"You." Ryouga said pulling the student closer to him so they looked each other in the eyes.
"What do you want?" the male student replied nervously.
"Where's Furinkan High School." Ryouga demanded.
The male student looked at Ryouga as though he had lost his mind.
"Say what?" he asked trying to figure out if Ryouga had indeed lost his mind.
Ryouga continued to stare at the student in an attempt to demand to know where the school was. The student then pointed to the sign on one side of the front gate that red Furinkan High School. When Ryouga saw that he had finally reached his destination he got a nervous look of stupidity on his face. Now that he was at his destination he needed to find the reason for coming to Furinkan.
"Where is Ranma Saotome?" Ryouga demanded to know.
"Saotome?" the student replied nervously.
The hero in question was currently running through the schoolyard racing a young woman who was dressed similarly to him. Ranma had a huge smile on his face for the woman he loved was only a few steps behind him. Looking over his shoulder Ranma called out to her.
"Hurry up before she catches us Akane!" Ranma yelled over his shoulder.
"I can't believe she'd get mad just because we talked to her at lunch." Akane replied.
Said angry individual was currently having a hard time keeping up with the newest couple at Furinkan and she was yelling for them to stop.
"Ranma, Akane you get back here! I'm not finished with you!" Nabiki Tendo demanded.
As Ranma prepared to leap over the fence and evade Nabiki's wrath his danger sense began to go haywire. Ranma knew someone or something was coming for him and looking over his shoulder he could tell Akane had felt the same thing. That's when he heard the cry.
"Ranma prepare to die!" someone yelled.
Looking up from the middle of his leap Ranma saw a young man his own age brandishing a red bamboo umbrella pointed straight at him. Ranma leapt out of the way just as the umbrella connected with the ground creating a huge crater. Everyone who was still in the schoolyard stared in amazement at what they had just witnessed.
"Whoa." One student commented amazed at what took place.
Ranma had deftly landed on his feet in front of Akane and Nabiki in order to protect them from any harm. Akane was surprised to see the young man standing before them.
"You!" Ranma hissed.
"You still haven't changed a bit Saotome. I see you're still running away from things." Ryouga replied with a sneer.
"Someone you two know Ranma?" Nabiki wondered.
Ranma thought about it for a moment before hanging his head in his hand and letting out a groan. Then as if struck by a sudden stroke of genius Ranma began speaking excitedly.
"Yeah! Sure he's…he's…" Ranma said as he pointed to Ryouga.
"Gee he's a real genius." Nabiki commented sarcastically.
"Nabiki!" Akane yelled at her.
"Tell me one thing Ranma. Why did you run out on our fight!" Ryouga demanded.
That was all Ranma and Akane needed to jar their memories of who Ryouga was.
"Ryouga!" they said surprised at seeing him again.
"You were in my class back in junior high!" Ranma added.
"Just who is this guy?" Nabiki asked Akane.
"That's Ryouga Hibiki. We knew him back in junior high." Akane explained.
"Long time no see Ryouga." Ranma said trying to be friendly.
"Answer me Ranma!" Ryouga demanded.
Ranma thought for a moment and remembered the fight Ryouga was referring to.
"Well gee I waited in the appointed place for three days Ryouga." Ranma explained.
"But when I showed up on the fourth day you weren't there." Ryouga said.
"It wasn't Ranma's fault Ryouga." Akane said in his defense, "Besides how someone can get lost walking five hundred yards behind their own home is beyond me."
"Do you two think I was out for a casual stroll for four days?" Ryouga yelled back, "I suffered to meet up with you Ranma!"
Ryouga's statement caused a few whispered comments between the students watching them.
"Bad sense of direction?" one student wondered.
"Very bad sense of direction." Akane told them.
By this point in the argument Ryouga was fuming.
"Breaking a vow between men and running off to China with your father is an act of cowardice!" Ryouga yelled as he reached for his umbrella.
Brandishing the umbrella like a sword Ryouga took a swipe at Ranma who jumped to avoid it.
"So you're saying you want to finish our fight." Ranma wanted to know.
"No this time it's revenge!" Ryouga yelled as he opened the umbrella in one swipe.
With that Ryouga flung the open umbrella into the air like a helicopter. Ranma and Akane dodged the umbrella as it turned around like a boomerang landing safely in Ryouga's hands. The pair stared down Ryouga waiting for his next move.
"I swear Ranma I will destroy your happiness." Ryouga declared.
"Am I happy?" Ranma asked Nabiki.
"Not by a long shot." Nabiki replied
********
Later that evening Ranma, Akane, and Nabiki sat on the back porch of the Tendo home discussing what had happened that day. Nabiki and Akane were discussing how she and Ranma knew Ryouga over a cup of tea while a female Ranma tried to figure out what he did to get Ryouga so mad.
"Well just what happened between Ranma and this Ryouga character?" Nabiki asked Akane.
"I can't remember exactly what it was that started all this." Akane replied.
"Wish I knew." Ranma added.
It was then that Kasumi walked into the room with a hot kettle in one hand and an envelope addressed to Ranma in the other.
"Ranma this came for you." Kasumi said as she handed him the envelope.
"It looks like it's from Ryouga." Akane noticed.
Ranma opened the envelope and saw a letter of challenge inside.
"You must have done something koi'. This is more than your everyday challenge." Akane said as she read over Ranma's shoulder.
"I knew it he's remembering something." Nabiki commented noticing the look of concentration written on Ranma's face.
"Yep I remember it like it was yesterday. Lunchtime at school was always a zoo." Ranma said.
"I remember if you didn't get to the cafeteria within three minutes after the lunch bell rang you missed out on the special of the day. The guys were always worse than the girls." Akane added.
"Anyway I think it had to do with me getting the last piece of curry bread on the first day of the semester. Ryouga wasn't too happy with that." Ranma continued.
"Yeah but you seemed to beat him out on the special of the day every single time. You two always fought over them." Akane reminded Ranma.
"All that just for some bread?" Nabiki wondered.
"Oh my." Kasumi commented.
Akane took a good look at the challenge and noted the date on it.
"Ranma this challenge was supposed to take place yesterday." Akane pointed out.
"You know how Ryouga is. With his sense of direction he's probably asking someone…" Ranma replied showing no worry.
Said lost martial artist was currently in the forested hills asking a man pulling a cart for directions to Tokyo and Furinkan High.
"Then it's this way to Tokyo?" Ryouga asked pointing in the wrong direction.
"No Tokyo is this way young man." The old man said pointing in the proper direction, "Why would you want to go that way?"
********
One week after Ryouga had first appeared at Furinkan High School Ranma stood outside the school waiting for him to show up. In his hands Ranma carried a canvas shopping bag. Ranma stood in the schoolyard with a hard determined look on his face. It was then that Ryouga appeared once more.
"Hey Saotome's having a showdown!" one of the students called out to the others.
Soon all the students in the yard had gathered around the field waiting for the showdown to begin. Nabiki was busy taking bets on who would win the showdown while Akane watched nervously.
"So you finally decided to show up Ranma." Ryouga sneered.
"Listen Ryouga I didn't come here to fight you." Ranma told him.
Ranma reached into his bag and pulled out a small package. With great skill and speed Ranma flung the package at Ryouga. Ryouga using the skill he had caught the package just before it hit him in the face. Looking down at the cellophane wrapped package Ryouga saw it was packaged curry bread.
"What is this all about?" Ryouga demanded to know.
"I thought this might make us even." Ranma told him.
"Is this some kind of a joke?" Ryouga yelled at him.
Ranma gave out a small snort before reaching into the bag and pulling out more small packages and flinging them at Ryouga.
"Fine then here's your stupid chow mein bread, and your lousy melon bread, and your cutlet sandwich, and your meat bread, and your seaweed bread!" Ranma yelled as he flung the packages, "There are you happy now!"
"What is the meaning of all this?" Ryouga demanded as he looked at the breads.
"This is a bread feud after all." Ranma said innocently.
Ryouga couldn't take it any longer and began to get real angry with Ranma.
"You think a bread easting contest is going to avenge my honor!" Ryouga screamed, "Besides all of these are past the sell by date."
"Well you did keep me waiting for a week." Ranma stated getting to the point.
With his pride on the line and his anger past the boiling point Ryouga threw down his pack and pulled out his umbrella. With a sneer on his face Ryouga made his move.
"Enough! It's time for my attack!" Ryouga declared.
Ryouga began advancing Ranma like a fencer with an epee. Ranma backed up before leaping into the air to avoid a low sweep Ryouga attempted with the umbrella. Ryouga soon followed him into the air.
"What is this all about?" Ranma wanted to know.
"Thanks to you I have seen hell!" Ryouga shot back.
With that Ryouga tossed aside his umbrella and pulled off his bandana only to uncover one under it. Taking the bandana Ryouga flung it around Ranma's wrist before tying the other end to his own wrist. The two martial artists began an elaborate dance blocking and counter blocking each other's moves. Everyone was amazed with the speed and agility the two martial artists displayed. The umbrella Ryouga carried with him also amazed them.
"Man this thing weighs a ton!" one student cried out as he tried to lift it.
Akane looked at the struggling student and began to realize just how strong Ryouga really was.
"Ranma be careful he's stronger than he appears!" she tried to warn him.
Ranma heard what Akane had yelled out to him and tried to get Ryouga to his knees but the lost boy used his legs and free arm to propel them into the air. Ranma countered by flipping over in midair breaking the bandana and landed safely on his outstretched hand. Ryouga was sent flying into the air and landed near Akane who quickly got into a ready position.
Ranma came flying through the air ready to land a foot to the lost boy's midsection when Ryouga defected the attack with his own leg and rolled to the side grabbing his umbrella. He then made another attack with the umbrella this time making a connection causing a large tear in Ranma's shirt. Ranma then countered with a kick to the midsection. The pair of combatants was soon bounding over the fence with the crowd of spectators following them.
Ryouga landed on the outdoor sinks with Ranma not too far behind him. The pigtail martial artist came crashing down on top of Ryouga breaking not only the sinks but also the pipes connected to them. With great speed Ryouga opened his umbrella and deflected the water sending the forceful spray towards Ranma who soon found himself quite female. Ranma landed deftly on his feet to the surprised gaze of Ryouga. The tear the lost boy caused allowed for a perfect view of Ranma's ample female chest.
"What the?" Ryouga stuttered in complete shock.
Ranma looked at Ryouga as though he had lost his mind. The lost boy was stuttering and stammering over what he had seen. Annoyed with what wasn't happening Ranma landed another high kick to Ryouga's head. Ryouga was pushed back and found himself staring down a very angry Ranma.
"What are you staring at?" Ranma demanded.
"Ra…Ra…Ranma?" Ryouga stuttered.
"Yeah who'd you think it was?" Ranma shot back.
"Um Ranma honey your shirt." Akane said trying to be tactful.
Ranma looked down and not only saw he was female but also his greatest assets were in full view.
"Well why aren't you laughing?" Ranma wanted to know.
"You think that is something to laugh at? You don't know anything." Ryouga replied.
Ryouga decided to end the fight and took off several of his bandanas. The lost boy began flinging them at Ranma and Akane. The pair ran out of the way each going in separate directions. Akane tripped over an exposed tree root turning her ankle in a strange direction. Ranma saw what happened and ran to get her. Seeing an opening Ryouga tossed his umbrella at the young couple. Ranma caught the umbrella and opened it in one swipe using it to deflect the rest of the bandanas as he jumped onto a nearby roof holding onto Akane. She was lucky she had decided to wear a bun that day because one bandana came close to the back of her head.
"Isn't that umbrella very heavy?" one student wondered.
"Um yeah." Another student replied.
Ranma glared at Ryouga from his spot on the roof of the bike shed. It was one thing that his shirt was torn in a pretty revealing spot but it was another thing when the one he loved was hurt. Tossing the umbrella back to the ground Ranma then cradled Akane in his arms and prepared to leave the school grounds. Ryouga saw the aquatransexual martial artist turn his back on him and became livid.
"Ranma Saotome you coward how dare you turn your back on a fight!" Ryouga yelled.
"This fight is over with Ryouga. She's hurt and needs to see the doctor. Our feud can wait." Ranma replied before taking the rooftop route to Dr. Tofu's office.
********
It was fairly quiet in the small office of the neighborhood chiropractor when screaming and yelling broke through the silence announcing the arrival of the young couple.
"Ranma did you have to go so fast!" Akane yelled.
"It was either that or get clobbered by Ryouga. You were hurt so I did what I had to." Ranma told her as he took her into the doctor's office.
"Ranma, Akane what a nice surprise." Dr. Tofu said with a smile when he saw them.
"We need your help doc." Ranma replied setting Akane down on one of the exam beds.
Dr. Tofu took one look at Ranma and knew what sort of help he needed. Ranma was in bad need of some hot water and Dr. Tofu's new assistant was the right one for the job.
"Mr. Saotome could you come here please." Tofu called out.
A few moments later a large panda came bounding into the office holding up a sign.
"You called?" the sign asked.
"Could you get me a kettle of hot water for Ranma here please." Tofu requested.
"Whatever." The other side of the sign said.
With that Genma-panda trudged off to get the kettle of hot water for his son.
"Now then what else can I do for you?" Tofu asked the young couple.
"I think I did something to my ankle." Akane told him.
Dr. Tofu took a look at Akane's ankle and began to gently feel and turn it to assess the amount of pain and damage she had sustained. After a couple of minutes Dr. Tofu went to get a few supplies to properly treat her ankle. While he was gone Genma came plodding back into the room with the kettle handing it to Ranma.
"Thanks pop." Ranma said as he poured the water on his head.
"When did you start working here?" Akane wondered.
"It's my first day." A new sign said.
"It was your sister's idea." The other side said.
Akane thought for a moment to figure out which sister had talked Ranma's father into getting a job with Dr. Tofu. She remembered something about Kasumi being good friends with Tofu.
"Maybe Kasumi mentioned something about Dr. Tofu needing help." Akane mused.
It was a good thing said doctor came into the room after Akane mentioned her sister's name. If she had mentioned it while he was examining her who knows what would have happened.
"Well it seems you have a minor sprain Akane. It's nothing to be too concerned about but I am going to have to bandage your foot after I put on this salve to help the pain. I want you to keep it elevated when you're not using it to reduce swelling understand." Tofu explained as he treated her ankle.
"I will Dr. Tofu." Akane replied with a smile.
Meanwhile the relentless Ryouga is somewhere on Okinawa.
"Just you wait Ranma Saotome. I'll find out where you train and fight you to the death." He said.
********
The rain poured down in the pitch-black night sky above the Tendo Dojo. Rain had been in the forecast for that night and would let up sometime before dawn. For now the rain covered the ground in a blanket of water. For most the lateness of the hour and the pouring rain would deter them from venturing outside but that didn't stop Ryouga Hibiki from finding the Tendo Dojo.
Ryouga shielded himself from the rain with the red bamboo umbrella he always carried with him. The umbrella served the purpose it was designed for on far many more occasions than the other purpose Ryouga had for it. The lost boy didn't want to get wet. He had his reasons why.
"So this is the Tendo Dojo. Today Ranma you meet your end." Ryouga declared.
Said martial artist was currently asleep. His chest was currently being used as a pillow by the woman he loved and his arm was wrapped around her waist. The young couple was unaware of the presence in the room as they slept. Ryouga by some stroke of sheer luck, or the fact that Ranma's name was also on the yellow duck, found the room on the first try.
"Wake up Ranma. It's me Ryouga." The lost boy said trying to wake him up.
Ranma continued to sleep and let out a soft snore that seemed to frustrate Ryouga.
"Ranma fight me!" Ryouga hissed.
Ranma continued to sleep and continued to snore. Frustrated Ryouga raised his fist in an attempt to pound Ranma awake.
"Wake up Ranma!" Ryouga yelled as he brought the fist down.
At the last second Ranma deftly and subconsciously rolled over to his side readjusting Akane before Ryouga's fist hit the pillow. Ryouga pulled up his fist pillow and all and stared down at the sleeping couple. Not understanding how anyone could sleep through all that Ryouga bent down next to Ranma's head and proceeded to yell in his ear.
"Ranma will you wake up damn it!" Ryouga bellowed waking the young couple causing Ranma to scream in Akane's ear.
Half asleep and angry Akane kicked Ranma in the stomach with her good foot sending him hurtling into Ryouga and out the open window. Ranma, also half asleep, fell into the koi pond. Ryouga on the other hand just landed on the rocks that framed the pond.
"Jeez Ryouga it's the middle of the night what are you doing here?" Ranma wanted to know.
"Fool, revenge knows no time of day!" Ryouga yelled.
"Hey you have nothing to get revenge for!" Ranma shot back.
Ryouga let out a small snort before answering Ranma.
"Let me tell you this before I send you to hell. When you ran out on our fight I followed you all the way to China. I lost your trail after a while but I soon caught up with that father of yours." Ryouga explained to him.
"Don't tell me you found your way to Jusenkyo and now you turn into something when you get wet." Ranma replied.
"The time for words is past!" Ryouga yelled just before he went into a flying kick.
******
Akane sat up in her bed fully awake and very angry. The sounds of Ranma and Ryouga's argument could be heard outside her window. Akane had tried several times to go back to sleep but failed miserably. And as she sat in her bed Akane heard the door to her room open. Turning towards the door Akane saw her sister Kasumi standing in the doorway.
"Akane I think I heard someone sneak into the house." Kasumi said quite worried.
"Don't worry about it Kasumi." Akane tried to tell her.
"But what if it was a burglar?" Kasumi asked.
With a sigh Akane grabbed the crutches Dr. Tofu had given her and hobbled over to Kasumi. Akane had wanted to get back to sleep and maybe just maybe if she stopped the fight it would be possible. Slowly and carefully Akane followed Kasumi down the stairs and out the back door.
"There's a shadow out in the garden and he has a pack of stolen goods on him." Kasumi said.
"Um yeah sure." Akane replied nervously.
Soon she found a large dumbbell thrust into her hands. Looking back at her sister Akane could tell she wanted her to toss it at the supposed burglar. And with a heavy sigh Akane did just that. The dumbbell sailed through the air and connected with the head of the so-called burglar with a loud clang. The burglar dropped the umbrella he was carrying and revealed himself to be Ryouga.
"It's only Ryouga." Akane said hoping she had stopped the fight.
"Oh my." Kasumi commented.
With that the two Tendo sisters went back into the house to try and go back to sleep.
********
Ranma had heard the sickening clang of the dumbbell as it hit Ryouga's head and then fell to the alley below. Ryouga then dropped his umbrella in pain and quickly shielded his face from Ranma. In a blind panic the lost boy ran off into the alley trying to get away from Ranma. But the pigtailed martial artist wasn't about to let Ryouga get away that easily. Ranma followed Ryouga into the alley.
Ranma ran through the alley looking for Ryouga. After a few moments of searching Ranma came upon Ryouga's pack and clothes.
"Hey that's Ryouga's pack. And his clothes are right next to it. So he did fall into one of the springs." Ranma observed.
Ranma then felt a presence nearby and turned around to see a dog standing behind him. Believing the dog to be Ryouga Ranma grabbed it by the collar and picked up the pack and discarded clothes before heading back to the house.
********
Akane hobbled back to her room and was about to get into bed when she felt a presence in the room. Turning around she saw a small black blur come charging right at her. With a scream Akane swatted the blur out of the way and heard it hit wall. Looking to where the blur hit Akane saw a small black pig lying on the floor. Akane hobbled over to the pig and bent down to see if it was all right. The pig took up a defensive position ready to attack if needed.
"Oh you poor thing. I won't hurt you." Akane said as she held out her hand.
The pig scooted over to where Akane was and sniffed her hand. After determining the person attached to the hand was no threat the little pig allowed Akane to pick it up.
"What's this?" Akane wondered when she saw the pig's head, "You have a bump on your head."
Akane held the frightened pig close to her in order to calm it down. The moment she got the pig close to her Akane could feel how wet and cold it was.
"Oh dear you must have been out in the rain. You're soaking wet." She said.
With that Akane grabbed one of her crutches and hobbled off to get a towel and some medicine for the little black piglet.
********
Ranma, still believing the dog was Ryouga, sat in the living room waiting for the kettle on the stove to heat up. The pigtailed martial artist stared at the dog in an attempt to reason with it.
"Listen Ryouga you can't go around attacking people at night. I'm sorry you got cursed but this is my in-laws' house and it just wouldn't be right." Ranma scolded the confused looking dog.
As he continued to stare down the dog Ranma heard the sounds of Akane hobbling down the hall. Turning around Ranma saw his wife holding a little black pig in her free arm.
"Hey where'd the pig come from?" Ranma wondered.
"I don't know. I found him in our room. Somehow he got in through the open window." Akane explained, "I just came down to get him some medicine for this bump he has on his head."
Ranma gave Akane a smile before returning his attention back to the dog. Akane noticed the dog and wondered why the neighbor's dog was in their house.
"Ranma isn't that the neighbor's dog Bess that hangs around the alley?" Akane asked him as she put the medicine on the pig's head.
Ranma took the opportunity to duck into the kitchen and grab the kettle off the stove. Coming back into the living room he quickly poured the water on the dog before Akane noticed anything. Much to his disappointment the dog was who Akane said she was.
"There all better." Akane said cradling the pig to her chest.
Ranma tuned around and saw the pig was actually blushing.
"Hey is that pig blushing?" Ranma wondered as he peeked between its hind legs, "Yep just as I thought that pig's male."
Akane took a look for herself and saw the same tell tale signs.
"You're right he is male." She commented.
"Well now that that's settled I'm going to use the furo." Ranma told her.
"Ranma could you do me a favor and give the little guy a bath too. He's soaked to the bone." Akane asked holding out the pig.
Ranma looked at the pig and thought Akane was crazy to think he'd take a bath with him.
"No way Akane. There is no way I'm going to take a bath with that pig." Ranma said.
"You don't have to go in the furo with him just give him a quick soak when you're finished." Akane reasoned with him.
"Oh all right." Ranma replied with a sigh as he took the pig leaving Akane with Bess.
********
Ranma had taken the pig into the furoba and struggled to get him to stay in one place. Using his foot to hold the pig in place Ranma took off his wet tank and boxers before heading over to the furo with the pig. The pig began to attempt to run off again when he saw the water. Angry at the little black pig Ranma picked him up by the bandana and prepared to dunk him in the water.
"Akane said to give you a bath and that's what I'm going to do." Ranma said as he dunked the pig into the hot water.
The moment the pig hit the water Ranma noticed something wasn't quite right. Pulling the pig out of the water Ranma noticed the pig wasn't a pig but a naked Ryouga. The lost boy looked at Ranma very angry with him for some reason.
"Ryouga you're a pig?" Ranma said a bit confused.
"You are a dead man Ranma!" Ryouga yelled at him.
"So you did go to the cursed springs and fell in." Ranma guessed.
Calming down a bit Ryouga told his tale.
"I followed you to China after you ran out on our fight. For weeks I tried to keep up with you but then something happened and I lost track of you. About three months later I found your father and began following him around in hopes he'd lead me to you. For over a year I followed your idiot father as he wandered aimlessly around China trying to find you. Then one day it happened.
"I had lost track of your father once again but I could tell I was close to him. I was in the mountains when all of a sudden a large oversized panda came racing along the road being followed by a little old man in a Chairman Mao suit. The panda must have not seen me for the next thing I knew I was falling off the road right into one of the springs below. What happened next was a disaster.
"A large hand reached into the pool and pulled me out of the water. Looking up I saw the panda with a hungry look in its eyes. The creature waddled off with me towards a small hut where he preceded to show me off to the same little old man from the road. The man sad something about one of the springs being the spring of the drowned black baby pig and laughed at the thought of me possibly being someone who fell in it. Then he threw me into a boiling pot of water and I changed back. After that I left the hut figuring you had returned home to Japan and decided to look for you there." Ryouga said.
Ryouga became furious at Ranma for what happened in China.
"Everything that happened to me in China is your fault because you ran away from our duel!" Ryouga yelled at Ranma.
It was at that moment the door to the furoba opened and Genma-panda stood in the doorway staring at the two naked teens.
"S-s-sorry about that." A convenient sign said attempting to show he was nervous.
Ryouga took one look at the panda's retreating form and became livid. He was the impression the panda belonged to Ranma and Akane and didn't know he was Ranma's father.
"So that was your panda who knocked me in the water!" Ryouga yelled at Ranma.
The lost boy darted out of the water and jumped Ranma grabbing his pigtail. Ranma knocked Ryouga off his back and ran for the showerhead with the lost boy close behind. And with one swift turn of the knob cold water rained down on Ranma and Ryouga turning the lost boy back into a pig. Seeing his chance Ryouga clamped down on Ranma's bare shoulder causing him to scream.
Ranma had taken all he could and grabbed a nearby wash bucket and chased Ryouga down the hall flinging the bucket at him. The bucket bounced off Ryouga's head and sent him flying right in front of Akane who didn't look too happy at the moment.
"Ranma why are you picking on that poor pig?" she demanded to know.
"That pig bit me!" Ranma replied.
"Well I don't know what you did to him but I won't have you hurting him. Do you want to spend the rest of the night with the smelly panda? Because that's exactly what you'll be doing if you hit him again!" Akane yelled back.
"Jeez sorry Akane." Ranma apologized.
"I'm keeping this piglet so I want you to apologize to him too." Akane told him.
Ranma took Ryouga from Akane and looked him right in the eyes.
"Listen I love Akane a lot and for her sake I'm willing to put up with you. But if I see you trying something with her I swear you'll be out in the streets faster than you can say pervert. Now I'm sorry this happened to you but you have to remember this is my in-laws' place." Ranma told him.
********
Yeah Ryouga is here at last! It took me a bit to get things right without messing up the way the characters act towards one another. Once again I'd like to thank everyone who reads and reviews my story. And a great big thanks goes out to MKWhale for the great suggestions and reviews. It's great to know that something I did no preplanning for is turning out real well. This is turning out to be an interesting story and will only become more interesting as time goes on.
So now it looks like Ranma is going to have his hands and his bed full with Ryouga around. Akane is going to be protective of her little pig and Ranma just won't have the heart to tell her he's really Ryouga. This will cause some interesting arguments in the future. As you can see I've decided to not have Akane have to cut her hair. I like the way it makes her look especially when she wears it in a bun with one of her dresses and yes everything she wears is all Chinese styled like Ranma's clothes.
Olympic update it's now three weeks and counting. The torch is in San Fran and the figure skating match-ups are now set with the European championships over with. Everything looks like it's ready to go in Salt Lake City. The only thing they need to do is clear out the university for an early and quite extended Spring Break. And seeing as how I happen to like all the Olympic stuff I'll be keeping you up to date on the US during the games. So let's light the fire within.
Next up for our crew the Black Rose. It's time to meet another member of the Kuno family and looks like she's just like her oniisan delusional. See what happens when Akane takes the place of the gymnastics team and Ranma takes her place. It's Ranma in a leotard in The Journey episode six: Attack of the Black Rose.
"It's a wild boar on a rampage!" the village lookout cried out.
The villagers ran here and there trying to get away from the village's open area before the boar tore though the village. And as they made their way to safety one young man remained in the middle of the street. It was obvious to anyone who saw him that the young man was a visitor to the village. He had dark hair and eyes and wore a dark yellow shirt and black pants tied off at the shin and sturdy shoes. Upon his forehead was a yellow bandana with a pattern of random black rectangles. The young man appeared to be an accomplished traveler for he had a very heavy looking pack on his back that had a red bamboo umbrella on top. The young traveler was unaware anything was happening for he had his nose buried in a map.
The wild boar that came into the village was unlike any other boar in the world. Where most boars are the size of a medium sized dog this one was the size of an elephant. Upon entering the village the boar began tearing through the marketplace knocking over carts and breaking fences and poles.
As the boar ran towards the young man the villagers tried to get his attention and warn him of the danger headed his way.
"Hey!" the village lookout called to him.
"You there!" another man yelled trying to get his attention.
"Look out!" the lookout yelled to him.
"Run you dang fool!" a third man yelled at him.
The young man glanced over his shoulder and placed a hand upon the handle of his umbrella. As the boar came closer he pulled out the umbrella making a connection with the boar's nose. The boar was stopped dead in its tracks.
"Oh!" the lookout and the second villager said quite shocked.
"He stopped it! One handed!" the third villager exclaimed.
The young man then began twisting the umbrella and lifted it sending the boar twisting into the air. The boar then came back down landing on its back behind him. The villagers looked on completely at a loss for words.
"Oh wow!" One old man said in shock.
"Just amazing!" An old lady next to him added.
Soon all the villagers had gathered near him to congratulate the young man.
"Do you practice them martial arts?" an old lady wanted to know.
"You been practicing up there in the mountain?" another villager asked him.
The young man looked at the crowd of people and pulled out his map.
"Where is Furinkan High School?" he asked them.
The villagers gathered around the young traveler wondering what he was talking about.
"Furinkan High School?" the old lady wondered.
"Oh ho a map." Another villager pointed out.
"Let me see 'er." The old woman's husband said.
The old man and the villager took a careful look at the map.
"Say ain't this Tokyo?" the villager pointed out.
"Isn't that five hundred miles north of here!" the old man said.
The young man took back the map and turned around quite dejectedly hanging his head.
"I see." He replied, "Forgive the intrusion."
The young man then began walking out of the village.
"Do you figure he's lost?" one of the villagers wondered.
As the young traveler walked out of the village he made a declaration to no one in particular.
"Ranma Saotome! Prepare to meet me! You can hide from our man to man battle no longer!" the young man cried out.
********
The Journey
Episode Five: The Hunter's Curse
********
Our unsuspecting hero currently had problems of his own. The skies over Nerima in Tokyo were pitch black and pouring down a lot of rain. Ranma had been outside and had gotten caught in the rain. And while he was comfortable with his cursed side Ranma still wasn't comfortable enough to wear women's undergarments. The pigtailed martial artist was currently parading around the house in nothing but his boxers and a towel draped around his neck barely covering his ample chest. He thought everything was going to be fine when heard a loud crash and a scream.
Looking in the living room Ranma saw that his father-in-law was currently sprawled out on the floor having fainted after catching a glimpse of what Ranma was not wearing. The scream came from Nabiki who still hadn't gotten over the incident in the furoba the first night he and Akane were in the Tendo dojo. Ranma looked at Nabiki and Soun with an innocent look on his face.
"What?" Ranma asked not really seeing anything wrong with what he was doing.
"Put some clothes on you pervert!" Nabiki yelled at him.
"I don't see anything wrong with going around like this." Ranma replied as he twirled around to show off his feminine body.
"Why you little…" Nabiki yelled just before she ran after him.
Whether it was out of fear for his life or he just didn't want to deal with Nabiki Ranma bolted out of the living room and ran up the stairs. Nabiki was hot on his trail yelling at him.
"Ranma get back here you pervert!" she screamed.
Ranma ran down the hall and ducked into his room where he saw Akane sitting on the bed reading a book. The pigtailed martial artist closed the door shut and leaned against it in an attempt to keep Nabiki from coming into the room.
"Ranma is something wrong?" Akane asked him as she looked up from her book.
"Your sister is out to get me." He told her.
It was then they heard the sound of pounding on the door along with Nabiki's yelling.
"Ranma Saotome, open this door you pervert!" Nabiki yelled.
"No way Nabiki!" Ranma yelled back.
With that Ranma locked the door and began searching through their closet for something to wear. After a few minutes of searching through his half of the closet Ranma turned to Akane with a pleading look on his feminine face.
"Akane you gotta let me borrow some of your stuff." Ranma begged.
"Sorry koi' but most of my things are in the wash. I'm wearing my last pair of clean pants." Akane told him with an apologetic look on her face.
Upon realizing what this meant Ranma let out a groan. Even though he was used to being in his female form Ranma was dead set against wearing a dress.
"Oh no. There is no way you're getting me to wear a dress." Ranma protested.
"Ranma it's either that or face an angry Nabiki." Akane reasoned.
With a heavy sigh Ranma finally gave in and let Akane pick out something for him to wear. After a few minutes in the closet Akane came out with one of her more modest dresses. The dress she had chosen was Chinese in style and dark blue with short sleeves and matching knotted buttons in the front. The dress reached the floor and had small slits that ended at the knees. Ranma put on the dress and began tugging at the bodice.
"I think it looks good on you." Akane commented.
"Yeah it's all right but it feels a bit tight on top." Ranma told her.
"Well now you don't have to worry about Nabiki."
"I just don't see what she has against me."
********
A week had come and gone since the traveler appeared in Ryugenzawa. A week spent traveling all over Japan. A week spent not knowing where in the world he was. A week spent getting lost without knowing he was lost. Such was the life of one Ryouga Hibiki.
Ryouga Hibiki had a problem with directions. Tell him something was off to the left and he'd go to the right. If he was told something was north of his current location he would head south. Ryouga could get lost going just about anywhere even to the bathroom. In fact, he had done just that once. Ryouga had tried to go to the bathroom and ended up fifty miles away from his house. How it happened no one knew. Ryouga was smart enough to bring with him everything he would need to survive with him at all times.
And so there was Ryouga Hibiki standing out in the middle of a field map in hand trying to figure out where he was. Looking around the field he saw dairy cattle and a farmer tending to them. Ryouga walked up to the farmer map in hand and asked him the one question he had been asking everyone he met.
"Excuse me but can you tell me where Furinkan High School is?" Ryouga asked showing the farmer the map he had with him.
The farmer took a look at the map and knew right away where Ryouga's final destination was located. With a sigh he gave the lost boy the bad news.
"If it's Tokyo then it's five hundred miles south of here." The farmer told him.
With a heavy heart and a sigh Ryouga began the five hundred mile trek south to Tokyo.
********
Another week had come and gone and by some sheer miracle Ryouga Hibiki found himself standing outside the gates of Furinkan High School though he just didn't know it. School was letting out for the day and Ryouga watched the students as they walked out of the school and prepared for club meetings and team practices. The students noticed the lost boy and began talking amongst themselves.
"Who's that?" one member of the soccer club wondered.
"I don't know." Another member of the same club replied.
As he continued to stand near the gates to the school Ryouga grabbed a student by the student his shirt collar as he walked past.
"You." Ryouga said pulling the student closer to him so they looked each other in the eyes.
"What do you want?" the male student replied nervously.
"Where's Furinkan High School." Ryouga demanded.
The male student looked at Ryouga as though he had lost his mind.
"Say what?" he asked trying to figure out if Ryouga had indeed lost his mind.
Ryouga continued to stare at the student in an attempt to demand to know where the school was. The student then pointed to the sign on one side of the front gate that red Furinkan High School. When Ryouga saw that he had finally reached his destination he got a nervous look of stupidity on his face. Now that he was at his destination he needed to find the reason for coming to Furinkan.
"Where is Ranma Saotome?" Ryouga demanded to know.
"Saotome?" the student replied nervously.
The hero in question was currently running through the schoolyard racing a young woman who was dressed similarly to him. Ranma had a huge smile on his face for the woman he loved was only a few steps behind him. Looking over his shoulder Ranma called out to her.
"Hurry up before she catches us Akane!" Ranma yelled over his shoulder.
"I can't believe she'd get mad just because we talked to her at lunch." Akane replied.
Said angry individual was currently having a hard time keeping up with the newest couple at Furinkan and she was yelling for them to stop.
"Ranma, Akane you get back here! I'm not finished with you!" Nabiki Tendo demanded.
As Ranma prepared to leap over the fence and evade Nabiki's wrath his danger sense began to go haywire. Ranma knew someone or something was coming for him and looking over his shoulder he could tell Akane had felt the same thing. That's when he heard the cry.
"Ranma prepare to die!" someone yelled.
Looking up from the middle of his leap Ranma saw a young man his own age brandishing a red bamboo umbrella pointed straight at him. Ranma leapt out of the way just as the umbrella connected with the ground creating a huge crater. Everyone who was still in the schoolyard stared in amazement at what they had just witnessed.
"Whoa." One student commented amazed at what took place.
Ranma had deftly landed on his feet in front of Akane and Nabiki in order to protect them from any harm. Akane was surprised to see the young man standing before them.
"You!" Ranma hissed.
"You still haven't changed a bit Saotome. I see you're still running away from things." Ryouga replied with a sneer.
"Someone you two know Ranma?" Nabiki wondered.
Ranma thought about it for a moment before hanging his head in his hand and letting out a groan. Then as if struck by a sudden stroke of genius Ranma began speaking excitedly.
"Yeah! Sure he's…he's…" Ranma said as he pointed to Ryouga.
"Gee he's a real genius." Nabiki commented sarcastically.
"Nabiki!" Akane yelled at her.
"Tell me one thing Ranma. Why did you run out on our fight!" Ryouga demanded.
That was all Ranma and Akane needed to jar their memories of who Ryouga was.
"Ryouga!" they said surprised at seeing him again.
"You were in my class back in junior high!" Ranma added.
"Just who is this guy?" Nabiki asked Akane.
"That's Ryouga Hibiki. We knew him back in junior high." Akane explained.
"Long time no see Ryouga." Ranma said trying to be friendly.
"Answer me Ranma!" Ryouga demanded.
Ranma thought for a moment and remembered the fight Ryouga was referring to.
"Well gee I waited in the appointed place for three days Ryouga." Ranma explained.
"But when I showed up on the fourth day you weren't there." Ryouga said.
"It wasn't Ranma's fault Ryouga." Akane said in his defense, "Besides how someone can get lost walking five hundred yards behind their own home is beyond me."
"Do you two think I was out for a casual stroll for four days?" Ryouga yelled back, "I suffered to meet up with you Ranma!"
Ryouga's statement caused a few whispered comments between the students watching them.
"Bad sense of direction?" one student wondered.
"Very bad sense of direction." Akane told them.
By this point in the argument Ryouga was fuming.
"Breaking a vow between men and running off to China with your father is an act of cowardice!" Ryouga yelled as he reached for his umbrella.
Brandishing the umbrella like a sword Ryouga took a swipe at Ranma who jumped to avoid it.
"So you're saying you want to finish our fight." Ranma wanted to know.
"No this time it's revenge!" Ryouga yelled as he opened the umbrella in one swipe.
With that Ryouga flung the open umbrella into the air like a helicopter. Ranma and Akane dodged the umbrella as it turned around like a boomerang landing safely in Ryouga's hands. The pair stared down Ryouga waiting for his next move.
"I swear Ranma I will destroy your happiness." Ryouga declared.
"Am I happy?" Ranma asked Nabiki.
"Not by a long shot." Nabiki replied
********
Later that evening Ranma, Akane, and Nabiki sat on the back porch of the Tendo home discussing what had happened that day. Nabiki and Akane were discussing how she and Ranma knew Ryouga over a cup of tea while a female Ranma tried to figure out what he did to get Ryouga so mad.
"Well just what happened between Ranma and this Ryouga character?" Nabiki asked Akane.
"I can't remember exactly what it was that started all this." Akane replied.
"Wish I knew." Ranma added.
It was then that Kasumi walked into the room with a hot kettle in one hand and an envelope addressed to Ranma in the other.
"Ranma this came for you." Kasumi said as she handed him the envelope.
"It looks like it's from Ryouga." Akane noticed.
Ranma opened the envelope and saw a letter of challenge inside.
"You must have done something koi'. This is more than your everyday challenge." Akane said as she read over Ranma's shoulder.
"I knew it he's remembering something." Nabiki commented noticing the look of concentration written on Ranma's face.
"Yep I remember it like it was yesterday. Lunchtime at school was always a zoo." Ranma said.
"I remember if you didn't get to the cafeteria within three minutes after the lunch bell rang you missed out on the special of the day. The guys were always worse than the girls." Akane added.
"Anyway I think it had to do with me getting the last piece of curry bread on the first day of the semester. Ryouga wasn't too happy with that." Ranma continued.
"Yeah but you seemed to beat him out on the special of the day every single time. You two always fought over them." Akane reminded Ranma.
"All that just for some bread?" Nabiki wondered.
"Oh my." Kasumi commented.
Akane took a good look at the challenge and noted the date on it.
"Ranma this challenge was supposed to take place yesterday." Akane pointed out.
"You know how Ryouga is. With his sense of direction he's probably asking someone…" Ranma replied showing no worry.
Said lost martial artist was currently in the forested hills asking a man pulling a cart for directions to Tokyo and Furinkan High.
"Then it's this way to Tokyo?" Ryouga asked pointing in the wrong direction.
"No Tokyo is this way young man." The old man said pointing in the proper direction, "Why would you want to go that way?"
********
One week after Ryouga had first appeared at Furinkan High School Ranma stood outside the school waiting for him to show up. In his hands Ranma carried a canvas shopping bag. Ranma stood in the schoolyard with a hard determined look on his face. It was then that Ryouga appeared once more.
"Hey Saotome's having a showdown!" one of the students called out to the others.
Soon all the students in the yard had gathered around the field waiting for the showdown to begin. Nabiki was busy taking bets on who would win the showdown while Akane watched nervously.
"So you finally decided to show up Ranma." Ryouga sneered.
"Listen Ryouga I didn't come here to fight you." Ranma told him.
Ranma reached into his bag and pulled out a small package. With great skill and speed Ranma flung the package at Ryouga. Ryouga using the skill he had caught the package just before it hit him in the face. Looking down at the cellophane wrapped package Ryouga saw it was packaged curry bread.
"What is this all about?" Ryouga demanded to know.
"I thought this might make us even." Ranma told him.
"Is this some kind of a joke?" Ryouga yelled at him.
Ranma gave out a small snort before reaching into the bag and pulling out more small packages and flinging them at Ryouga.
"Fine then here's your stupid chow mein bread, and your lousy melon bread, and your cutlet sandwich, and your meat bread, and your seaweed bread!" Ranma yelled as he flung the packages, "There are you happy now!"
"What is the meaning of all this?" Ryouga demanded as he looked at the breads.
"This is a bread feud after all." Ranma said innocently.
Ryouga couldn't take it any longer and began to get real angry with Ranma.
"You think a bread easting contest is going to avenge my honor!" Ryouga screamed, "Besides all of these are past the sell by date."
"Well you did keep me waiting for a week." Ranma stated getting to the point.
With his pride on the line and his anger past the boiling point Ryouga threw down his pack and pulled out his umbrella. With a sneer on his face Ryouga made his move.
"Enough! It's time for my attack!" Ryouga declared.
Ryouga began advancing Ranma like a fencer with an epee. Ranma backed up before leaping into the air to avoid a low sweep Ryouga attempted with the umbrella. Ryouga soon followed him into the air.
"What is this all about?" Ranma wanted to know.
"Thanks to you I have seen hell!" Ryouga shot back.
With that Ryouga tossed aside his umbrella and pulled off his bandana only to uncover one under it. Taking the bandana Ryouga flung it around Ranma's wrist before tying the other end to his own wrist. The two martial artists began an elaborate dance blocking and counter blocking each other's moves. Everyone was amazed with the speed and agility the two martial artists displayed. The umbrella Ryouga carried with him also amazed them.
"Man this thing weighs a ton!" one student cried out as he tried to lift it.
Akane looked at the struggling student and began to realize just how strong Ryouga really was.
"Ranma be careful he's stronger than he appears!" she tried to warn him.
Ranma heard what Akane had yelled out to him and tried to get Ryouga to his knees but the lost boy used his legs and free arm to propel them into the air. Ranma countered by flipping over in midair breaking the bandana and landed safely on his outstretched hand. Ryouga was sent flying into the air and landed near Akane who quickly got into a ready position.
Ranma came flying through the air ready to land a foot to the lost boy's midsection when Ryouga defected the attack with his own leg and rolled to the side grabbing his umbrella. He then made another attack with the umbrella this time making a connection causing a large tear in Ranma's shirt. Ranma then countered with a kick to the midsection. The pair of combatants was soon bounding over the fence with the crowd of spectators following them.
Ryouga landed on the outdoor sinks with Ranma not too far behind him. The pigtail martial artist came crashing down on top of Ryouga breaking not only the sinks but also the pipes connected to them. With great speed Ryouga opened his umbrella and deflected the water sending the forceful spray towards Ranma who soon found himself quite female. Ranma landed deftly on his feet to the surprised gaze of Ryouga. The tear the lost boy caused allowed for a perfect view of Ranma's ample female chest.
"What the?" Ryouga stuttered in complete shock.
Ranma looked at Ryouga as though he had lost his mind. The lost boy was stuttering and stammering over what he had seen. Annoyed with what wasn't happening Ranma landed another high kick to Ryouga's head. Ryouga was pushed back and found himself staring down a very angry Ranma.
"What are you staring at?" Ranma demanded.
"Ra…Ra…Ranma?" Ryouga stuttered.
"Yeah who'd you think it was?" Ranma shot back.
"Um Ranma honey your shirt." Akane said trying to be tactful.
Ranma looked down and not only saw he was female but also his greatest assets were in full view.
"Well why aren't you laughing?" Ranma wanted to know.
"You think that is something to laugh at? You don't know anything." Ryouga replied.
Ryouga decided to end the fight and took off several of his bandanas. The lost boy began flinging them at Ranma and Akane. The pair ran out of the way each going in separate directions. Akane tripped over an exposed tree root turning her ankle in a strange direction. Ranma saw what happened and ran to get her. Seeing an opening Ryouga tossed his umbrella at the young couple. Ranma caught the umbrella and opened it in one swipe using it to deflect the rest of the bandanas as he jumped onto a nearby roof holding onto Akane. She was lucky she had decided to wear a bun that day because one bandana came close to the back of her head.
"Isn't that umbrella very heavy?" one student wondered.
"Um yeah." Another student replied.
Ranma glared at Ryouga from his spot on the roof of the bike shed. It was one thing that his shirt was torn in a pretty revealing spot but it was another thing when the one he loved was hurt. Tossing the umbrella back to the ground Ranma then cradled Akane in his arms and prepared to leave the school grounds. Ryouga saw the aquatransexual martial artist turn his back on him and became livid.
"Ranma Saotome you coward how dare you turn your back on a fight!" Ryouga yelled.
"This fight is over with Ryouga. She's hurt and needs to see the doctor. Our feud can wait." Ranma replied before taking the rooftop route to Dr. Tofu's office.
********
It was fairly quiet in the small office of the neighborhood chiropractor when screaming and yelling broke through the silence announcing the arrival of the young couple.
"Ranma did you have to go so fast!" Akane yelled.
"It was either that or get clobbered by Ryouga. You were hurt so I did what I had to." Ranma told her as he took her into the doctor's office.
"Ranma, Akane what a nice surprise." Dr. Tofu said with a smile when he saw them.
"We need your help doc." Ranma replied setting Akane down on one of the exam beds.
Dr. Tofu took one look at Ranma and knew what sort of help he needed. Ranma was in bad need of some hot water and Dr. Tofu's new assistant was the right one for the job.
"Mr. Saotome could you come here please." Tofu called out.
A few moments later a large panda came bounding into the office holding up a sign.
"You called?" the sign asked.
"Could you get me a kettle of hot water for Ranma here please." Tofu requested.
"Whatever." The other side of the sign said.
With that Genma-panda trudged off to get the kettle of hot water for his son.
"Now then what else can I do for you?" Tofu asked the young couple.
"I think I did something to my ankle." Akane told him.
Dr. Tofu took a look at Akane's ankle and began to gently feel and turn it to assess the amount of pain and damage she had sustained. After a couple of minutes Dr. Tofu went to get a few supplies to properly treat her ankle. While he was gone Genma came plodding back into the room with the kettle handing it to Ranma.
"Thanks pop." Ranma said as he poured the water on his head.
"When did you start working here?" Akane wondered.
"It's my first day." A new sign said.
"It was your sister's idea." The other side said.
Akane thought for a moment to figure out which sister had talked Ranma's father into getting a job with Dr. Tofu. She remembered something about Kasumi being good friends with Tofu.
"Maybe Kasumi mentioned something about Dr. Tofu needing help." Akane mused.
It was a good thing said doctor came into the room after Akane mentioned her sister's name. If she had mentioned it while he was examining her who knows what would have happened.
"Well it seems you have a minor sprain Akane. It's nothing to be too concerned about but I am going to have to bandage your foot after I put on this salve to help the pain. I want you to keep it elevated when you're not using it to reduce swelling understand." Tofu explained as he treated her ankle.
"I will Dr. Tofu." Akane replied with a smile.
Meanwhile the relentless Ryouga is somewhere on Okinawa.
"Just you wait Ranma Saotome. I'll find out where you train and fight you to the death." He said.
********
The rain poured down in the pitch-black night sky above the Tendo Dojo. Rain had been in the forecast for that night and would let up sometime before dawn. For now the rain covered the ground in a blanket of water. For most the lateness of the hour and the pouring rain would deter them from venturing outside but that didn't stop Ryouga Hibiki from finding the Tendo Dojo.
Ryouga shielded himself from the rain with the red bamboo umbrella he always carried with him. The umbrella served the purpose it was designed for on far many more occasions than the other purpose Ryouga had for it. The lost boy didn't want to get wet. He had his reasons why.
"So this is the Tendo Dojo. Today Ranma you meet your end." Ryouga declared.
Said martial artist was currently asleep. His chest was currently being used as a pillow by the woman he loved and his arm was wrapped around her waist. The young couple was unaware of the presence in the room as they slept. Ryouga by some stroke of sheer luck, or the fact that Ranma's name was also on the yellow duck, found the room on the first try.
"Wake up Ranma. It's me Ryouga." The lost boy said trying to wake him up.
Ranma continued to sleep and let out a soft snore that seemed to frustrate Ryouga.
"Ranma fight me!" Ryouga hissed.
Ranma continued to sleep and continued to snore. Frustrated Ryouga raised his fist in an attempt to pound Ranma awake.
"Wake up Ranma!" Ryouga yelled as he brought the fist down.
At the last second Ranma deftly and subconsciously rolled over to his side readjusting Akane before Ryouga's fist hit the pillow. Ryouga pulled up his fist pillow and all and stared down at the sleeping couple. Not understanding how anyone could sleep through all that Ryouga bent down next to Ranma's head and proceeded to yell in his ear.
"Ranma will you wake up damn it!" Ryouga bellowed waking the young couple causing Ranma to scream in Akane's ear.
Half asleep and angry Akane kicked Ranma in the stomach with her good foot sending him hurtling into Ryouga and out the open window. Ranma, also half asleep, fell into the koi pond. Ryouga on the other hand just landed on the rocks that framed the pond.
"Jeez Ryouga it's the middle of the night what are you doing here?" Ranma wanted to know.
"Fool, revenge knows no time of day!" Ryouga yelled.
"Hey you have nothing to get revenge for!" Ranma shot back.
Ryouga let out a small snort before answering Ranma.
"Let me tell you this before I send you to hell. When you ran out on our fight I followed you all the way to China. I lost your trail after a while but I soon caught up with that father of yours." Ryouga explained to him.
"Don't tell me you found your way to Jusenkyo and now you turn into something when you get wet." Ranma replied.
"The time for words is past!" Ryouga yelled just before he went into a flying kick.
******
Akane sat up in her bed fully awake and very angry. The sounds of Ranma and Ryouga's argument could be heard outside her window. Akane had tried several times to go back to sleep but failed miserably. And as she sat in her bed Akane heard the door to her room open. Turning towards the door Akane saw her sister Kasumi standing in the doorway.
"Akane I think I heard someone sneak into the house." Kasumi said quite worried.
"Don't worry about it Kasumi." Akane tried to tell her.
"But what if it was a burglar?" Kasumi asked.
With a sigh Akane grabbed the crutches Dr. Tofu had given her and hobbled over to Kasumi. Akane had wanted to get back to sleep and maybe just maybe if she stopped the fight it would be possible. Slowly and carefully Akane followed Kasumi down the stairs and out the back door.
"There's a shadow out in the garden and he has a pack of stolen goods on him." Kasumi said.
"Um yeah sure." Akane replied nervously.
Soon she found a large dumbbell thrust into her hands. Looking back at her sister Akane could tell she wanted her to toss it at the supposed burglar. And with a heavy sigh Akane did just that. The dumbbell sailed through the air and connected with the head of the so-called burglar with a loud clang. The burglar dropped the umbrella he was carrying and revealed himself to be Ryouga.
"It's only Ryouga." Akane said hoping she had stopped the fight.
"Oh my." Kasumi commented.
With that the two Tendo sisters went back into the house to try and go back to sleep.
********
Ranma had heard the sickening clang of the dumbbell as it hit Ryouga's head and then fell to the alley below. Ryouga then dropped his umbrella in pain and quickly shielded his face from Ranma. In a blind panic the lost boy ran off into the alley trying to get away from Ranma. But the pigtailed martial artist wasn't about to let Ryouga get away that easily. Ranma followed Ryouga into the alley.
Ranma ran through the alley looking for Ryouga. After a few moments of searching Ranma came upon Ryouga's pack and clothes.
"Hey that's Ryouga's pack. And his clothes are right next to it. So he did fall into one of the springs." Ranma observed.
Ranma then felt a presence nearby and turned around to see a dog standing behind him. Believing the dog to be Ryouga Ranma grabbed it by the collar and picked up the pack and discarded clothes before heading back to the house.
********
Akane hobbled back to her room and was about to get into bed when she felt a presence in the room. Turning around she saw a small black blur come charging right at her. With a scream Akane swatted the blur out of the way and heard it hit wall. Looking to where the blur hit Akane saw a small black pig lying on the floor. Akane hobbled over to the pig and bent down to see if it was all right. The pig took up a defensive position ready to attack if needed.
"Oh you poor thing. I won't hurt you." Akane said as she held out her hand.
The pig scooted over to where Akane was and sniffed her hand. After determining the person attached to the hand was no threat the little pig allowed Akane to pick it up.
"What's this?" Akane wondered when she saw the pig's head, "You have a bump on your head."
Akane held the frightened pig close to her in order to calm it down. The moment she got the pig close to her Akane could feel how wet and cold it was.
"Oh dear you must have been out in the rain. You're soaking wet." She said.
With that Akane grabbed one of her crutches and hobbled off to get a towel and some medicine for the little black piglet.
********
Ranma, still believing the dog was Ryouga, sat in the living room waiting for the kettle on the stove to heat up. The pigtailed martial artist stared at the dog in an attempt to reason with it.
"Listen Ryouga you can't go around attacking people at night. I'm sorry you got cursed but this is my in-laws' house and it just wouldn't be right." Ranma scolded the confused looking dog.
As he continued to stare down the dog Ranma heard the sounds of Akane hobbling down the hall. Turning around Ranma saw his wife holding a little black pig in her free arm.
"Hey where'd the pig come from?" Ranma wondered.
"I don't know. I found him in our room. Somehow he got in through the open window." Akane explained, "I just came down to get him some medicine for this bump he has on his head."
Ranma gave Akane a smile before returning his attention back to the dog. Akane noticed the dog and wondered why the neighbor's dog was in their house.
"Ranma isn't that the neighbor's dog Bess that hangs around the alley?" Akane asked him as she put the medicine on the pig's head.
Ranma took the opportunity to duck into the kitchen and grab the kettle off the stove. Coming back into the living room he quickly poured the water on the dog before Akane noticed anything. Much to his disappointment the dog was who Akane said she was.
"There all better." Akane said cradling the pig to her chest.
Ranma tuned around and saw the pig was actually blushing.
"Hey is that pig blushing?" Ranma wondered as he peeked between its hind legs, "Yep just as I thought that pig's male."
Akane took a look for herself and saw the same tell tale signs.
"You're right he is male." She commented.
"Well now that that's settled I'm going to use the furo." Ranma told her.
"Ranma could you do me a favor and give the little guy a bath too. He's soaked to the bone." Akane asked holding out the pig.
Ranma looked at the pig and thought Akane was crazy to think he'd take a bath with him.
"No way Akane. There is no way I'm going to take a bath with that pig." Ranma said.
"You don't have to go in the furo with him just give him a quick soak when you're finished." Akane reasoned with him.
"Oh all right." Ranma replied with a sigh as he took the pig leaving Akane with Bess.
********
Ranma had taken the pig into the furoba and struggled to get him to stay in one place. Using his foot to hold the pig in place Ranma took off his wet tank and boxers before heading over to the furo with the pig. The pig began to attempt to run off again when he saw the water. Angry at the little black pig Ranma picked him up by the bandana and prepared to dunk him in the water.
"Akane said to give you a bath and that's what I'm going to do." Ranma said as he dunked the pig into the hot water.
The moment the pig hit the water Ranma noticed something wasn't quite right. Pulling the pig out of the water Ranma noticed the pig wasn't a pig but a naked Ryouga. The lost boy looked at Ranma very angry with him for some reason.
"Ryouga you're a pig?" Ranma said a bit confused.
"You are a dead man Ranma!" Ryouga yelled at him.
"So you did go to the cursed springs and fell in." Ranma guessed.
Calming down a bit Ryouga told his tale.
"I followed you to China after you ran out on our fight. For weeks I tried to keep up with you but then something happened and I lost track of you. About three months later I found your father and began following him around in hopes he'd lead me to you. For over a year I followed your idiot father as he wandered aimlessly around China trying to find you. Then one day it happened.
"I had lost track of your father once again but I could tell I was close to him. I was in the mountains when all of a sudden a large oversized panda came racing along the road being followed by a little old man in a Chairman Mao suit. The panda must have not seen me for the next thing I knew I was falling off the road right into one of the springs below. What happened next was a disaster.
"A large hand reached into the pool and pulled me out of the water. Looking up I saw the panda with a hungry look in its eyes. The creature waddled off with me towards a small hut where he preceded to show me off to the same little old man from the road. The man sad something about one of the springs being the spring of the drowned black baby pig and laughed at the thought of me possibly being someone who fell in it. Then he threw me into a boiling pot of water and I changed back. After that I left the hut figuring you had returned home to Japan and decided to look for you there." Ryouga said.
Ryouga became furious at Ranma for what happened in China.
"Everything that happened to me in China is your fault because you ran away from our duel!" Ryouga yelled at Ranma.
It was at that moment the door to the furoba opened and Genma-panda stood in the doorway staring at the two naked teens.
"S-s-sorry about that." A convenient sign said attempting to show he was nervous.
Ryouga took one look at the panda's retreating form and became livid. He was the impression the panda belonged to Ranma and Akane and didn't know he was Ranma's father.
"So that was your panda who knocked me in the water!" Ryouga yelled at Ranma.
The lost boy darted out of the water and jumped Ranma grabbing his pigtail. Ranma knocked Ryouga off his back and ran for the showerhead with the lost boy close behind. And with one swift turn of the knob cold water rained down on Ranma and Ryouga turning the lost boy back into a pig. Seeing his chance Ryouga clamped down on Ranma's bare shoulder causing him to scream.
Ranma had taken all he could and grabbed a nearby wash bucket and chased Ryouga down the hall flinging the bucket at him. The bucket bounced off Ryouga's head and sent him flying right in front of Akane who didn't look too happy at the moment.
"Ranma why are you picking on that poor pig?" she demanded to know.
"That pig bit me!" Ranma replied.
"Well I don't know what you did to him but I won't have you hurting him. Do you want to spend the rest of the night with the smelly panda? Because that's exactly what you'll be doing if you hit him again!" Akane yelled back.
"Jeez sorry Akane." Ranma apologized.
"I'm keeping this piglet so I want you to apologize to him too." Akane told him.
Ranma took Ryouga from Akane and looked him right in the eyes.
"Listen I love Akane a lot and for her sake I'm willing to put up with you. But if I see you trying something with her I swear you'll be out in the streets faster than you can say pervert. Now I'm sorry this happened to you but you have to remember this is my in-laws' place." Ranma told him.
********
Yeah Ryouga is here at last! It took me a bit to get things right without messing up the way the characters act towards one another. Once again I'd like to thank everyone who reads and reviews my story. And a great big thanks goes out to MKWhale for the great suggestions and reviews. It's great to know that something I did no preplanning for is turning out real well. This is turning out to be an interesting story and will only become more interesting as time goes on.
So now it looks like Ranma is going to have his hands and his bed full with Ryouga around. Akane is going to be protective of her little pig and Ranma just won't have the heart to tell her he's really Ryouga. This will cause some interesting arguments in the future. As you can see I've decided to not have Akane have to cut her hair. I like the way it makes her look especially when she wears it in a bun with one of her dresses and yes everything she wears is all Chinese styled like Ranma's clothes.
Olympic update it's now three weeks and counting. The torch is in San Fran and the figure skating match-ups are now set with the European championships over with. Everything looks like it's ready to go in Salt Lake City. The only thing they need to do is clear out the university for an early and quite extended Spring Break. And seeing as how I happen to like all the Olympic stuff I'll be keeping you up to date on the US during the games. So let's light the fire within.
Next up for our crew the Black Rose. It's time to meet another member of the Kuno family and looks like she's just like her oniisan delusional. See what happens when Akane takes the place of the gymnastics team and Ranma takes her place. It's Ranma in a leotard in The Journey episode six: Attack of the Black Rose.