Chapter 2: Naru's Story
The Nerima Wrecking crew all came together rather peacefully, for once, to greet the newcomer at the Tendo Dojo and find out what kind of competition she would provide.
As soon as everyone had gathered, except for the Kunous who nobody really wanted to bother to wait for, explanations began.
First came Ranma, with his tale of how he and his father had traveled to China to train, and how he arrived at his curse. Then Shampoo provided her story, in Chinese since Naru could understand her. Ukyo was next. Then Mousse. Of course, as soon as he was done, the Kunous had wandered in, and had effectively missed all the Jusenkyou curse explanations. And so they told their rather biased stories, and everyone, including Naru, kicked them through the wall, and out of the house.
Now, throughout all the explanations, everyone had been adding bits to everyone else's stories, and tempers would begin to fly. Luckily, Naru was very good at calming people down, so the Dojo was still in pretty much one piece. Genma Soatome and Soun Tendo, especially Soun, were beginning to feel that they were going to enjoy having this girl around.
That feeling was short lived.
It was Ryoga's turn to speak. Before he could begin, however, Naru interrupted.
"So, we've got a cat, a duck, a panda, and a girl already. What do you turn into Ryoga?"
Now, since Akane was in the room with them, nobody was going to mention Ryoga's curse so as not to hurt Akane's feelings. However, Naru didn't know about the unspoken promise never to reveal him. Everyone gasped.
"W-w-what do you mean?" Ryoga said nervously.
"What curse did you pick up?" Naru asked again.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Ryoga said. "I'm not cursed."
Naru frowned at him. "You're lying." She held up a hand before anyone could protest. "Don't try it. I know you're lying. I was there. I saw you get knocked into that pool."
Everyone's jaw dropped.
Naru's frown got deeper. "Surely some of you knew. I can't believe he managed to keep this a secret this whole time."
"Akane's the only one who doesn't know." Ranma muttered. "And that's only because nobody told her."
"Why not?" Akane was angry.
Nobody answered.
Naru couldn't stand the silence. She spoke up.
"Why don't I tell you my story? It might make a few things clear. And." she grinned ruefully. "I think I'm going to owe Ryoga here an apology."
"I moved to America with my mother when I was young. My father had left me as a baby. I never met him. He was a martial artist. He left because I was not a boy, and he didn't want to train a girl. He thought girls were weak. Girls needed protection. Girl could not fight. Girls." she trailed of, her fists clenched hard. She was trying to keep her temper in check.
"A few years ago, I decided I wanted to find my father. My mother had trained me to be a great martial artist, so I felt that I was up to a journey to China, where I had discovered my father was currently training himself. I followed him, partly because I also wanted to train in China."
"I tracked him all over China. It wasn't a hard trail to follow. Wherever he went, he seemed to cause trouble. Several times, I was told that when I found him, I was to give him a good beating for what he'd done. However, he was fast, so I never could catch up with him. Then, I came to Jusenkyou."
"Luckily for me, I could read and speak Chinese, so I knew about the curse. My father, apparently, did not. Lured by the words 'training grounds' he made his way there. When I arrived, I could not find him."
"I was looking out over the springs soon after arriving when I felt a tap on the shoulder. It was a giant panda. As soon as I turned around, the panda attacked me. Now, as you can understand, I was a bit confused. I think I understand now though. At that time, my hair was a bit longer, as long as Ranma's in fact. I would wear it up in a pigtail. The panda must have been Ranma's father. He must have thought that I was Ranma in his girl form."
"I fought back, but the panda managed to knock me into one of the springs. Luckily the guide happened to be coming by with some hot water, and witnessed this. However, the damage had been done. As soon as I was returned to my natural form." she trail of, her fists clenched again.
"What do you become?" Akane asked.
"You'll find out soon enough." She sighed. "I've gotten used to it by now. But I was furious at the time. The panda finally seemed to realize that I was not who he thought I was when he found that my natural form was that of a girl. He seemed to feel guilty. I was not satisfied. So he took off, and I ran after him, intending to beat him to a pulp."
"I was still chasing him when I suddenly saw a boy standing in our path. I couldn't stop in time. I knocked him off balance. When I came back to try and help him, he had already fallen into a spring, and I didn't know which one. I couldn't do anything and the panda was getting away. I left. However, I did get a good enough look at him to recognize him when I saw him next."
Ryoga and Ranma were staring slack jawed through this part of the narrative. Naru turned to them. "I'm sorry Ryoga. It was an accident. I would have helped you if I could have, but I couldn't. If there's anything I can do to repay you." She looked at him hopefully.
Ryoga couldn't speak. All this time, he had blamed Ranma for his curse. Then along comes this girl who looks like Ranma, and he finds out he's been blaming the wrong person. Ranma was innocent. Ryoga cringed. Now Ranma would want retribution for all the beating he had taken from Ryoga.
Naru could see that Ryoga was still processing the information. "Think about it, and if there is anything, tell me."
Ryoga and Ranma weren't really listening as she told everyone how Shampoo had chased her, how she had found out her father had gone back to Japan, and how Akane had offered to let her stay a while.
When she finished, Akane spoke up. "Well, we now have quite a zoo of Jusenkeyo curses. A girl, a duck, a cat, a pig, a panda and something we don't know about. What next? An iguana?"
Ranma frowned. Akane had said something that didn't quite sound right. He couldn't figure out what it was. He saw that just about everyone else was going though similar confusion. Naru opened her mouth to say something, but Akane shushed her and winked.
*What did Akane said that was wrong?* Ranma thought. *She said that we have quite a zoo of curses. She named them; girl, duck, cat, pig. wait a minute. Pig? How did.?*
"Akane." Ranma said slowly. "How did you know that Ryoga's cursed form was a pig?"
The Nerima Wrecking crew all came together rather peacefully, for once, to greet the newcomer at the Tendo Dojo and find out what kind of competition she would provide.
As soon as everyone had gathered, except for the Kunous who nobody really wanted to bother to wait for, explanations began.
First came Ranma, with his tale of how he and his father had traveled to China to train, and how he arrived at his curse. Then Shampoo provided her story, in Chinese since Naru could understand her. Ukyo was next. Then Mousse. Of course, as soon as he was done, the Kunous had wandered in, and had effectively missed all the Jusenkyou curse explanations. And so they told their rather biased stories, and everyone, including Naru, kicked them through the wall, and out of the house.
Now, throughout all the explanations, everyone had been adding bits to everyone else's stories, and tempers would begin to fly. Luckily, Naru was very good at calming people down, so the Dojo was still in pretty much one piece. Genma Soatome and Soun Tendo, especially Soun, were beginning to feel that they were going to enjoy having this girl around.
That feeling was short lived.
It was Ryoga's turn to speak. Before he could begin, however, Naru interrupted.
"So, we've got a cat, a duck, a panda, and a girl already. What do you turn into Ryoga?"
Now, since Akane was in the room with them, nobody was going to mention Ryoga's curse so as not to hurt Akane's feelings. However, Naru didn't know about the unspoken promise never to reveal him. Everyone gasped.
"W-w-what do you mean?" Ryoga said nervously.
"What curse did you pick up?" Naru asked again.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Ryoga said. "I'm not cursed."
Naru frowned at him. "You're lying." She held up a hand before anyone could protest. "Don't try it. I know you're lying. I was there. I saw you get knocked into that pool."
Everyone's jaw dropped.
Naru's frown got deeper. "Surely some of you knew. I can't believe he managed to keep this a secret this whole time."
"Akane's the only one who doesn't know." Ranma muttered. "And that's only because nobody told her."
"Why not?" Akane was angry.
Nobody answered.
Naru couldn't stand the silence. She spoke up.
"Why don't I tell you my story? It might make a few things clear. And." she grinned ruefully. "I think I'm going to owe Ryoga here an apology."
"I moved to America with my mother when I was young. My father had left me as a baby. I never met him. He was a martial artist. He left because I was not a boy, and he didn't want to train a girl. He thought girls were weak. Girls needed protection. Girl could not fight. Girls." she trailed of, her fists clenched hard. She was trying to keep her temper in check.
"A few years ago, I decided I wanted to find my father. My mother had trained me to be a great martial artist, so I felt that I was up to a journey to China, where I had discovered my father was currently training himself. I followed him, partly because I also wanted to train in China."
"I tracked him all over China. It wasn't a hard trail to follow. Wherever he went, he seemed to cause trouble. Several times, I was told that when I found him, I was to give him a good beating for what he'd done. However, he was fast, so I never could catch up with him. Then, I came to Jusenkyou."
"Luckily for me, I could read and speak Chinese, so I knew about the curse. My father, apparently, did not. Lured by the words 'training grounds' he made his way there. When I arrived, I could not find him."
"I was looking out over the springs soon after arriving when I felt a tap on the shoulder. It was a giant panda. As soon as I turned around, the panda attacked me. Now, as you can understand, I was a bit confused. I think I understand now though. At that time, my hair was a bit longer, as long as Ranma's in fact. I would wear it up in a pigtail. The panda must have been Ranma's father. He must have thought that I was Ranma in his girl form."
"I fought back, but the panda managed to knock me into one of the springs. Luckily the guide happened to be coming by with some hot water, and witnessed this. However, the damage had been done. As soon as I was returned to my natural form." she trail of, her fists clenched again.
"What do you become?" Akane asked.
"You'll find out soon enough." She sighed. "I've gotten used to it by now. But I was furious at the time. The panda finally seemed to realize that I was not who he thought I was when he found that my natural form was that of a girl. He seemed to feel guilty. I was not satisfied. So he took off, and I ran after him, intending to beat him to a pulp."
"I was still chasing him when I suddenly saw a boy standing in our path. I couldn't stop in time. I knocked him off balance. When I came back to try and help him, he had already fallen into a spring, and I didn't know which one. I couldn't do anything and the panda was getting away. I left. However, I did get a good enough look at him to recognize him when I saw him next."
Ryoga and Ranma were staring slack jawed through this part of the narrative. Naru turned to them. "I'm sorry Ryoga. It was an accident. I would have helped you if I could have, but I couldn't. If there's anything I can do to repay you." She looked at him hopefully.
Ryoga couldn't speak. All this time, he had blamed Ranma for his curse. Then along comes this girl who looks like Ranma, and he finds out he's been blaming the wrong person. Ranma was innocent. Ryoga cringed. Now Ranma would want retribution for all the beating he had taken from Ryoga.
Naru could see that Ryoga was still processing the information. "Think about it, and if there is anything, tell me."
Ryoga and Ranma weren't really listening as she told everyone how Shampoo had chased her, how she had found out her father had gone back to Japan, and how Akane had offered to let her stay a while.
When she finished, Akane spoke up. "Well, we now have quite a zoo of Jusenkeyo curses. A girl, a duck, a cat, a pig, a panda and something we don't know about. What next? An iguana?"
Ranma frowned. Akane had said something that didn't quite sound right. He couldn't figure out what it was. He saw that just about everyone else was going though similar confusion. Naru opened her mouth to say something, but Akane shushed her and winked.
*What did Akane said that was wrong?* Ranma thought. *She said that we have quite a zoo of curses. She named them; girl, duck, cat, pig. wait a minute. Pig? How did.?*
"Akane." Ranma said slowly. "How did you know that Ryoga's cursed form was a pig?"