Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and the associated companies. I do not own the characters, nor do I claim to own them, and no profit is being made off of this.
~Part 1~
"You jerk! How dare you!"
Ranma felt the wind of the punch as it flew past the side of his head, less than an inch away. He didn't have much time to dwell on the distance as he dodged again, then brought up his arms to block the blow he predicted would follow. Correctly predicted, he decided, trying not to wince as Ryoga's fist connected with his forearms. It wasn't often that he had to actually block an attack from Ryoga; he was usually quick enough to simply move out of the way. But there were certain occasions when the Lost Boy managed to put some of his anger into speed as opposed to channeling it into his already-considerable strength. Ranma was realizing, a bit belatedly, that this was one of those occasions. He wondered dimly if it had been the comment about the bacon or the one about falling for the long-lost fiancée routine that had pushed Ryoga into it.
Probably a little of both, he thought as one of the Lost Boy's punches got partially through his block and landed a glancing blow.
"Ryoga, c'mon! I was kidding, stupid-"
"Shut up!" Ryoga raged, all but ignoring the hit Ranma landed on his chest.
"Would you calm down already?" the pigtailed boy asked, though he knew that would have about as much of an effect as asking a mountain to get up and walk. Less, probably.
"When you're in hell!"
Ranma sighed inwardly. He knew he should've learned by now to watch his mouth a little better, but he constantly forgot how fine the line was between an insult that would goad Ryoga into a fight and one that would sent him flying into a fit of nearly-limitless fury. The bacon remark hadn't been nice, but Ryoga was generally used to that kind of thing. Bringing up the fiancée bit, on the other hand, was probably not one of the wisest decisions Ranma had ever made. That event was a lasting sore spot with the Lost Boy. Which made perfect sense, Ranma supposed—after all, he'd only embarrassed Ryoga in front of Akane and Ukyo, toyed with his emotions, and made him feel stupid and unwanted to the point where he'd been crying.
But that had all happened months and months ago, so Ranma had thought it would've worn off by now. Judging from the mix of bright anger and underlying hurt in the Lost Boy's eyes, he was obviously wrong.
"Ryoga," Ranma tried again, ducking as the other boy's foot swung at his head, "cut it out already. It was a joke!"
"Do you think this is funny?!" the bandana'd boy snarled, throwing another stream of fierce punches that Ranma was sure would hurt a great deal if they hit him.
Well, not anymore, Ranma thought. And it was true. Despite the amusement he got out of teasing Ryoga sometimes, this was kind of extensive. His conscience was nagging him, he was starting to get a little tired, and perhaps the roof hadn't been the best of places to pick a fight…
Now, it is a well-known fact in Nerima that there almost always seems to be some abnormal external power of sorts hanging over the town. Some say that Nerima is Fate's playground. Others argue that the Nerima is one of those set places on the Earth that is just a vortex for trouble, a Bermuda Triangle of sorts. Others feel that it's the spot in the universe dedicated to some higher power's experimentation with some odd splicing of Murphy's Law and the Chaos Theory. All of these are fairly reasonable guesses, considering.
But it could just be a whole lot of plain bad luck for a select group of its residents.
This was what Ranma was figuring in his mind over the next several seconds. One moment, he and Ryoga were involved in a rather nasty fight on the roof of the Tendo home, the next moment Ranma was aiming a kick that he didn't really think would land while Ryoga was moving to block it.
This would've been fine, except for the sudden intervention of the local lingerie-obsessed pervert who came sailing through at the exact moment when it was critical that the Lost Boy's attention be focused on Ranma's incoming attack. And being that Ryoga's attention span had predictability equivalent to that of a butterfly in flight, it was not surprising that he was instantaneously distracted by the sight of a little old lecher soaring past yelling "My sweetums!" while heading in the general direction of the clothesline. Therefore, instead of completing the movement into a position that would've blocked the pigtailed boy's kick, Ryoga ended up leaving the perfect opening.
So, one moment, Ryoga was about to block, and the next he was glancing up at the airborne Happosai. Then Ranma was busy thinking oops, and the instant after that he was watching Ryoga flying through the air. He had another brief moment to think about how at least Akane wasn't around because it looked like Ryoga was headed straight for the koi pond, then got a surprise as he realized he'd overshot the Lost Boy's predicted landing spot. And instead of Ryoga falling in the relative safety of the water, he landed on the rocks surrounding the pond itself.
Head first.
Ranma grimaced at the resulting crack that was audible even from his place on the roof. As he expected, Ryoga didn't look like he was in any hurry to get back up.
Ah, great. Now he'll have a headache and he'll be pissed, Ranma thought sourly as he leapt down off the roof and headed over to where the other boy was lying sprawled on the ground.
"Stupid," Ranma muttered. He looked about the yard idly as he waited for Ryoga to come around.
Five minutes later, the yard was getting boring.
"Come on already, moron," Ranma said. "Any time today is good." Ryoga didn't move, and Ranma scowled. He crouched down beside him and shook him slightly.
"C'mon, P-chan, up an' at 'em."
That didn't seem to work.
"Yo! Wakey-wakey, Pig-boy!" Ranma said loudly.
Ryoga didn't even stir.
Ranma scratched the back of his head. This was weird; Ryoga didn't usually stay out cold for long. He shook the Lost Boy again, harder.
"Ryoga! What the heck? You better not be fakin' it."
Ranma waited a long moment. If Ryoga was faking it, he was doing a good job.
Ranma reached out and slapped him lightly on the cheek.
Nothing happened.
At this point, something that sounded a bit like an alarm bell was going off in the back of Ranma's mind. Then he got an idea.
"Hey, Ryoga, Akane told me she's got a crush on you!"
Ranma waited expectantly. If that didn't wake him up, nothing would…
It didn't.
Uh-oh.
Ranma did the only other thing he could think of to do…
"KASUUUMIIIII!!!"
* * * * * * * * * *
Light.
It was bright, too bright, it hurt…
Ryoga lifted a hand to cover his eyes, letting out a low moan of pain as he moved.
"Here he is," someone said.
"Maybe you should turn off the lamp."
Ryoga sat up slowly and tentatively uncovered his eyes. The light still hurt, but it wasn't so bright anymore. He blinked a few times, and the pain receded. But something still wasn't right. His head…
"Don't touch." Someone caught his hand.
Ryoga tugged it away. He didn't recognize that voice.
Where was he?
A house. The inside of a house, near a porch. He could see the yard.
But it wasn't where he lived.
Feeling nervous, Ryoga turned to look at the people beside him. There was a girl kneeling next to him, with soft brown hair pulled into a ponytail on her shoulder and warm brown eyes. She appeared to be a few years older than he was. There was another girl standing behind her, also with brown hair, but it was darker and shorter, only coming to her chin. She looked to be a little older than him, maybe. She stared at him with cool, curious eyes that were full of appraisal and scrutiny. He didn't like it. A boy his age was sitting cross-legged next to the first girl. He had black hair, tied back in a pigtail, and was wearing Chinese-style clothes. His eyes were dark blue, and he was gazing at him attentively and looking a little worried. There was another girl beside the boy, with short blue-black hair and concerned brown eyes.
"How do you feel, Ryoga?" asked the oldest girl in a sweet, kind voice. She smiled warmly.
Ryoga blinked at her, his feeling of anxiety deepening despite the kind voice and gentle aura surrounding her. She'd used his name…
"It's about time ya woke up," added the boy. Any worry that may have been there was gone, replaced by a look of uncaring nonchalance. "Huh. I woulda thought your head was hard enough so that you wouldna even conked out in the first place."
Ryoga didn't reply, and the boy looked at him oddly. "Yo, what's the matter with you? You forget how to talk or somethin', P-chan?"
Ryoga glanced around at them all once more, trying to figure out what was going on. The way they were talking, it was like…
But that couldn't be.
Ryoga was positive that he'd never seen any of these people before in his life.
* * * * * * * * * *
Ranma blinked at the boy sitting in front of him, wondering at the silence. Sure, Ryoga had landed pretty hard, but he was still acting awfully weird. Ranma tipped his head to one side as the Lost Boy stared at him blankly.
"Ryoga? Anybody home?" Ranma asked.
The other boy swallowed. "Um…do I know you?"
Ranma could practically feel his jaw hit the floor.
"Oh, my," Kasumi said.
It took a long moment for the pigtailed boy to shake off his surprise. "Oh, I get it," he drawled. "Yeah, funny Ryoga. You almost had me goin' there for a second."
Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "Since when did he become a practical joker?"
Ryoga glanced between the two for a moment, then looked at Kasumi. "I-I hope you don't think me rude," he said. "But…how do you know my name?"
"Ah, get off it already!" Ranma said, his voice filling with annoyance.
Ryoga frowned slightly. "What are you talking about?" he asked, sounding genuinely confused.
"C'mon!" Ranma snapped, a scowl settling on his features.
Akane elbowed him. "Ranma…I don't think he's fooling," she said, her voice hushed.
Ranma turned back to the Lost Boy and stared at him hard. Ryoga looked back at him for a moment, then fidgeted uncomfortably and dropped his gaze. "Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked.
Ranma sat back on his heels, his expression slowly drifting back to shock.
Kasumi cleared her throat quietly. "Ryoga dear, do you remember falling?"
"Falling? I fell?"
Kasumi hmm'd worriedly. Then she heard a knock at the front door and stood.
"I hope that's the doctor," Akane said.
"In that case…" Nabiki said, trailing after Kasumi for damage control.
Ryoga glanced at the two left in the room with him, then quickly looked at the floor. Ranma kept his eyes trained on him, thinking hard.
* * * * * * * * *
"Well, it looks like you have a bit of a concussion," Dr. Tofu said. "How did you say this happened?"
"Um…I didn't," Ryoga said quietly. "I don't really know."
"You fell off the roof and hit the rocks by the pond," Ranma said.
"The roof?" Ryoga asked.
Ranma decided to skip elaborating for the time being. "Dr. Tofu, does he really have amnesia?"
Dr. Tofu frowned thoughtfully. "Well…he doesn't seem to remember you, or Akane, or anyone else here…"
Ryoga looked at them in consternation. "How could I possibly remember you? I don't even know you!"
"Ryoga," Dr. Tofu said patiently. "When you woke up, you knew your name, right?"
"Yes."
"Do you remember where you live?"
Ryoga frowned. "Yes, I…I live in…" He trailed off, his expression a mixture of confusion and astonishment.
Akane and Ranma exchanged glances, but the doctor seemed unfazed.
"Do you know where your parents are?"
Ryoga's face paled. "…my parents?"
"When was the last time you were home?"
Ryoga's expression became dismayed. "I was…I c-can't…"
"Alright," Dr. Tofu said calmingly. "What's the last thing you remember?"
Ryoga tried to concentrate. "I don't…I've been traveling, lately…"
"Do you remember where you've been?"
Ryoga thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"Do you know where you are now?" Dr. Tofu asked.
Ryoga glanced around him nervously, his eyes filling with uneasy fear. "No," he said, his voice small.
"Alright," the doctor said. "It looks like you really do have amnesia. But almost all people with amnesia regain their memories, eventually. The chance that you won't get it back is practically nonexistent."
"But how long will that take?" Ranma asked.
"It depends," Dr. Tofu said. "Not too long, hopefully. But it could take as much as a couple months…or even longer. But that's not likely." He turned to Akane. "Akane, will your father mind if Ryoga stays here? He really shouldn't be out traveling with a head injury."
Akane nodded. "I'm sure he won't mind. Especially since this is all Ranma's fault anyway."
"Hey!" Ranma said indignantly.
Ryoga glanced at him, a dark look settling over his features. "Your fault? You made me fall?"
Ranma scratched the back of his head nervously. "Um…well, sorta. But it was an accident! We were…sparring! You know, martial arts? You remember that, right?"
"Yes…" Ryoga said slowly.
"Yeah, well, we were practicing. The Old Freak kinda got in our way, and I knocked you off by accident," Ranma continued quickly.
"Old Freak?" Ryoga said dubiously.
Akane arched her eyebrow suspiciously. It looked like Ranma was up to something…
"I'll go tell Kasumi to set up an extra bed," Akane told Dr. Tofu.
"Wait a minute!" Ryoga cried, his eyes widening. "I can't just…I'm fine, I don't need to stay here!"
"Well, we can't just let you go wandering around Japan," Dr. Tofu said. "Besides, someone needs to keep an eye on you for a few days, just to make sure you don't have any complications."
"But I…I don't even know any of you…" Ryoga protested vainly. Dr. Tofu was already explaining to Kasumi in flustered stammers what to watch for and what to do if something happened, leaving Ryoga kneeling on the mat, looking unhappy, nervous, and very lost.
Ranma noticed this and stepped forward, feeling sympathetic (and, though he didn't want to admit it, rather guilty). He crouched down in front of the Lost Boy.
"Hey, don't worry. You know us, you just don't remember. But since you're gonna be stayin' here for awhile, how 'bout I show you around? I mean, you used to know, but I guess everything must look pretty strange now, huh. Whaddaya say?"
Ryoga glanced at him apprehensively. Come to think of it, he did look kind of familiar. But there was something nagging at the back of Ryoga's mind, something about him… He decided to ignore it for the time being. "Ok, I guess…"
Akane saw Ryoga climbing to his feet beside Ranma and frowned.
"Come on, I'll show ya the yard first."
Ryoga paused, peering at him curiously as he remembered his supposed accident. "I'm supposed to know you," he said slowly, and Ranma nodded.
"Were we…friends?"
Ranma blinked once, considering the opportunity that had just been put in front of him. He hesitated for the briefest of moments to wonder if what he was about to do was such a good idea, but he quickly brushed off any lingering doubts. He'd burn any bridges when he came to them.
"Sure," Ranma said, an easygoing smile sliding onto his face. "The best..."