After all these years, I'm finally back. This is what I've been
dreaming of all my life on the road with the old man, my home. As I sit
here on the roof of my home, gazing at the night sky above me, I can't help
but try to remember, once again, what I did all those years on the road.
For one thing, another nasty surprise might pop up, as if the ones that
suddenly pop up with no relation to me, but somehow manage to get me all
tangled up in their affair isn't enough. For another, I'd like to remember
what it was like during the peaceful times, when me and pops wander around
town, or the wilderness looking for dojos and shrines. But it's pass that
time already. The sky is already filled with stars, trying desperately to
light up the night sky with their light.
"Ranma, don't stay up too late."
"No problem mom."
"Remember, you still have school tomorrow."
"Yes mom."
Pop is still at the Tendo residence. Mom forbade him to come into this house for the next six months. Heh, wait until I tell mom about all the stunts he tried to pull on me, that'll keep him out of my hair for at least another three months. I spent all day yesterday getting used to my home, exploring the neighborhood, unpacking, and catching up with mom. I found out a lot of things. For example, the neighbors to our left, they are an old family friend, that is to say, they are an old friend of my mom's family. When I was around four, it was them who help mom take care of me when she got sick. Surprisingly, it was also that time when pop was still working! I was surprised to hear that pop has actually had a job. Mrs. Nakiboto laughed so hard when I said that, I thought she was going to cough up her lungs.
Mom is great, those twelve years that she spent alone, she manage to get a lot of friends around this neighborhood. I'm surprised at the amount of nieces or daughters they wanted me to meet. Of course, there were a lot of guys I met too, but I think they were a bit intimidated by me 'cause of all the rumors about me and Furinkan floating around. Wait until they see 'Ranko' on the prowl, I wonder if the ice-cream selling people would be as gullible as the ones in the Tendo's neighborhood?
The moon floated high up in the night sky, it's getting really late from the looks of it. Tomorrow, I'm going to one of those pet adoption places hoping to find a dog that might be cheap enough so I can afford it, I'm going to see if Akane is going with me too, she said she wanted to come few days ago. That tingling feeling is starting up again; I hope nothing happens tomorrow to get Akane to hammer me...
As if my luck would let that happen...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A continuation Ranma ½ ficcy:
Through the spirits I talk
Chapter 2: Just another simple Coincidence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey Akane." Ranma greeted as he jumped over the boundary walls of Furinkan high.
"Morning Ranma." Akane greeted back with a smile, "So how's living back at your own home like after twelve years?"
The pig tailed boy grinned, "It's great, for one thing, I don't need to hear pop's snorin' from now on since I have my own room."
"Does your dad really snore that much?" Akane gave Ranma a skeptical look, "I thought people that sleep deeply usually doesn't snore."
"This is the old man we're talkin' about Akane," Ranma said with a sigh, "everythin' he does makes my life harder than it's supposed ta be, and that includes sleeping."
Akane snickered, "Let me guess, it's to help 'train' you."
"I dunno if his snorin' is a part of my trainin'," Ranma replied flippantly, "I think it's just another annoyin' thing that he does naturally."
Out of the blue, a loud voice suddenly shouted, "Are the rumors true?"
Ranma and Akane both sighed, "Talkin' about annoy things, is it my turn or your turn today Akane?"
"I don't feel like kicking Kuno sempai today," Akane said wearily, "you punt him."
Other students leaped out of the way as Takewaki Kuno dashed towards the objects of his affections holding his bouken, well at least it's 'objects' when Ranma is splashed with cold water. Surprisingly, Kuno is actually wearing a Furinkan uniform, leaving Ranma the only one breaking the uniform rule.
"Is it true oh fierce tigress! The foul sorcerer Saotome has finally left your abode, never to darken your home anymore!" Kuno yelled with streams of dramatic tears flowing down his face, "This must be a sign from the heavens! Oh Sweet Akane, let us date today after school!" Kuno pulls out a bouquet of roses from no where with his free hand, and presented them to Akane, "Please accept my gifts of affection."
"The only thing I have ever 'darkened' is ya FACE Kuno," Ranma growled and cracked his knuckles and punched Kuno into unconsciousness, "Really, I mean, after a few hundred punches and kicks, you'd think he'd get the point."
Akane sighed, "What can you do, Kuno will always be Kuno."
************************************************************
Ranma yawned and stretched lazily before jumping out of the window of his class. The lunch bell has rung few minutes ago already, but his biology teacher held him up to talk to him, delaying his lunch. Scanning the school field, he spotted Akane sitting with her friends under a tree eating lunch and chatting away happily.
"Well, might as well ask if she's coming with me after school." Ranma muttered to himself and walked towards one of his fiancées, "Yo 'kane."
The girls around Akane giggled madly and gave her a nudge.
"What do you want?" Akane said with a blush on her face.
"Well, just askin' if ya wanted ta come wit' me after school to pick a dog at that place," Ranma said scratching the back of his head, "Ya said you wanted ta come too few days back but we didn't manage ta go 'cause of me movin' back ta my place and all."
Akane smiled brightly, "Sure."
"Hey Akane, did you forget already." One of the girls said waving her chopsticks around, "We have an emergency drama club meeting after school!"
"Oh yeah," Akane sighed, "Sorry Ranma, guess I can't go with you."
"It's ok, if ya finish early go ta that place anyways, I'll probably be there till five or somethin'." Ranma said and turned around, "See ya."
The girls around Akane giggled again as Ranma walked away. He sighed and dropped down on his usual lunch spot in the school yard which is occupied by Hiroshi and Daisuke, already chatting away about random things, "Yo guys, what's up?"
"Hey Ranma." The two said in unison.
Ranma took out his bento and started eating in a subdued fashion, well at least subdued in Ranma's point of view. The two boys blinked at the scene in front of them.
"What's eating you?" Daisuke said raising an eyebrow, "You're eating slower than usual, but that's not really saying a lot is it."
"Yeah man, you're usually finished by now." Hiroshi added pointing towards Ranma's bento.
"Miss Hirogashi is tryin' to get me inta the advance biology class again." Ranma said finishing up his lunch, "She's almost as annoyin' as my old man."
"Advanced Biology?" Daisuke said, skepticism dripping from his voice, "You've got to be kidding me. The only time advanced can be put with you would be in P.E. or fighting."
Ranma glared at Daisuke, inching slowly towards him.
"I have to go with Dai on this one Ranma," Hiroshi said holding out his hands trying to pacify the martial artist, "You don't usually do that good in school you know."
"I'm a Martial artist," Ranma said with a sigh, "I'm supposed to know my body, every part of my body. Doc Tofu and Kasumi helped me some of the other biology stuff. Plus with all the stunts Kodachi and Shampoo do to me, I need at least SOME idea on what is wrong with me sometimes."
"Never thought of it that way before." Daisuke said scratching his head, "Whoa, can you help me with that biology homework, I have no idea that Miss Hirogashi was talking about, all those weird plant parts and stuff. I mean you're like Biology Guru right?"
Ranma chuckled, "Don't know about that. Plants are not my thing."
"Ah shit." Daisuke sighed, "Guess I'll need to ask Yuka for her notes again."
Hiroshi laughed, "Why don't you just ask her for help. You get to spend some time with her, and during your study session, things might get steamy, if you know what I mean."
"Shut up Hiroshi," Daisuke growled, "Yuka and me are just friends."
"That's what they all say Dai," Hiroshi countered, "Plus, I KNOW for a fact if you'd have it any other way, she won't 'just' be your friend."
"Shut up Hiroshi."
"Make me!"
"Guys," Ranma said resting his arms on his two friends' heads, "why can't you two just-"
"Prepare to feel my wrath sorcerer!"
Ranma growled and stood up to face the 'Blue Thunder' once again, "I thought I knocked him out for the rest of the day!"
"Sorry Ranma, don't wanna be a casualty if you know what I mean." Daisuke said running off with Hiroshi trailing behind him.
"There goes another lunch." Ranma muttered before dodging Kuno's strikes again.
************************************************************
The last few hours of school quickly passed for Ranma, mainly because none of his classes have Miss Hinako as his teacher so he fell asleep for the rest of them. The pig tailed boy walked out of the Furinkan gates slowly with his left hand in his pockets and his other holding his bag. Few clouds covered the sun partially in the sky, giving the afternoon a nice warm atmosphere without it being too hot. Ranma smiled contently and leaped onto the fence around the road and headed towards his home.
"It's been awhile since I had a day like this." Ranma whispered to no one, "Reminds me of the trainin' trip."
Weaving through the streets but avoiding roof hopping, Ranma reached his home. He reached into his bag for his keys and opened the front door, "Mom I'm home."
"Welcome back." Nodoka replied, "I have some snacks on the table, grab some if you want Ranma."
"Actually, I'm just droppin' off my school stuff so I can go ta that pet place." Ranma yelled from the door dropping off his bag.
"You have plenty of time, eat something before you go." Ranma's mother replied patiently, "You're probably a bit hungry right now, am I right?"
Ranma grinned sheepishly even though he is alone at the front door, "Well I guess a few snacks won't hurt."
Impatiently, Ranma walked swiftly through the house towards the kitchen table and grabbed a few biscuits off the plate on it. Looking around as he took a bit out of the biscuit, his mother is oddly no where in sight, "Hey mom, I think I'll be back at around five thirty. Where are you anyway?"
"I'm just upstairs storing some things that just came in this morning," Nodoka replied, her voice echoing through the house, "Try not to be too late Ranma."
With one more bite, Ranma finished off his biscuit and headed towards the entrance of the house again, "Don't worry, I'll be back by dinner."
"Have fun."
************************************************************
Ranma looked around in wonder at all the animals all laying in cages around him, "Wow, there's a lot of dogs around here ain't there."
"Yes quite."
Ranma jumped and twisted in midair and landing on a defensive stance, "Err, sorry, reflexes."
A man wearing a plain white apron with a grey T-shirt and jeans chuckled, scratching his head the man replied friendly, "So is there anything I can help you with?"
"Umm, I'm just lookin' around for a pet dog." Ranma said nervously.
"Ah, is there anything you have in mind?" The man said putting a hand on Ranma's shoulder and leading him deeper into the room.
Ranma suddenly winced in pain and rubbed his temples, "A brown dog?"
The worker blinked, "A brown dog? That's an odd request, most people tend to say what breed they want."
Ranma winced again, this time, he shook his head as if to shake away the pain, "Umm, dark brown hair on its back with lighter color hair from his legs to belly."
"Sounds like your describing a German shepherd," The worker said as he continue to lead Ranma around the place, "You're lucky, we have a German shepherd here. He just came in a few days ago."
"Umm, can I see it?" Ranma asked, looking dazed.
"Of course, that's why you're here right." The worker said good naturally. Ranma chuckled nervously as the worker continued to lead him around, "Well here he is. His previous owner needed to leave it here because they moved to an apartment building that doesn't let pets to live in there."
"Moved?" Ranma mumbled in reflex as he stared at the German shepherd in front of him in a cage.
"Yeah, the economy, although it's still pretty good around here, is pretty brutal. They probably got cut or something. Anyways, this dog had an injury once so left hind leg tends to give him pain if he runs too much, but that isn't really too big a problem." Ranma continued to stare into the dog's eyes, "I heard he got pretty lucky. His name is-"
"Tenjin" Ranma interrupted with a whisper, in which the dog barked in replied.
"Right..." The worker stared at Ranma, "You know his dog?"
"I think I've met this dog once." Ranma blinked and opened the cage mechanically, ignoring the worker's silent protest. Tenjin walked out of the cage and sniffed at Ranma who knelt down, "I HAVE met you before haven't I, Tenjin?"
Tenjin barked happily and licked Ranma's face.
"Well you should know the owner then." The worker said, shocked at what has happened, "They usually come by around now and see if Tenjin is doing well. I guess you'll be wanted this dog, I'll go get the forms so you can fill them out."
Ranma smiled and scratched the dog in front of him behind his ear completely unaware of his surroundings, "I should meet this person then."
"Tenjin?" A surprised voice said from behind Ranma.
Tenjin ignored Ranma's ministrations and trotted pass him towards the owner of the voice. Ranma stands himself up and turns around to see the owner.
"Are you going to take Tenjin in?" The girl Tenjin walked towards asked curiously as she gave the dog a quick hug.
Ranma looked at the girl in front of him as she stood up again. She stood to about the same height as Ranma, her brown hair swayed freely, reaching her shoulder, "Ah... I guess so..."
"That's great, I don't want Tenjin to stay in that cage any longer than he has to." The girl said looking at the dog with a soft smile.
Ranma laughed and tugged at this pigtail nervously, "Yeah, nothing should be kept in a cage like that for long."
The girl stared at Ranma's pigtail, "I've meet you before."
Ranma stopped laughing and scratched the back of his head, "Ah... I don't know. I think I recognized Tenjin when I saw him, but I can't remember exactly where I've seen him." He winced again and rubbed his temple again, "I found him bleeding?"
The girl gasped, covering her mouth with her left hand, "You're the boy who saved Tenjin when he was a puppy."
Ranma used his right and to punch his left hand, "Oh yeah, now I remember. Me and pop were trying to find a dojo when I found him in an alley bleeding. How are ya doing?"
The girl grinned, "Great, although my family needed to move out of our old place into a large apartment because my dad's company isn't doing well." The girl giggled, "You know, after all this time I still didn't get your name."
"I'm Ranma, Ranma Saotome; heir to the Saotome School of Anything goes martial arts." Ranma said.
"I'm Chiyo Anda." Chiyo replied, "So you're a martial artist?"
"Yeah, me and pop were on a trainin' trip when I found your dog," Ranma answered with a far away look on this face, "It's been a long trip, but I finally came back."
"So you decided to get a pet because you got back home?" Chiyo asked with an amused smile, "You usually try to get used to the house before you get a pet."
"Ya do?" Ranma said with an embarrassed grin, "It doesn't matter. I don't want to keep Tenjin in a cage more than it has to now that I know he's the puppy I rescued."
Chiyo smiled and rest her hand on her dog's back, "I'm glad if would be you who is going to take care of him. If it's anyone I would trust to take care of him, it would be you."
"We hardly know each other. How can you be so sure I'll do ok?"
"I just know you would." The girl said with a smile with tears filling her eyes, "After all, you're the one who saved Tenjin once. I'm sure you can take care of him in my stead."
"It's not like you can't see him again." Ranma said nervously seeing a girl on the verge of crying, "You can come visit Tenjin everyday if you want, I mean you don't live far away from here right?"
Chiyo cried out and gave Ranma a hug, "Thank you."
"H-h-hey, it's not a big deal ya know," Ranma said glancing around nervously, "I mean... umm... err... aw, come on, don't cry."
The girl giggled, "Sorry about that. Wow, you have nice muscles." Ranma blushed bright red at the last comment and started to stutter incoherently.
"Umm, I'm not interrupting anything am I?"
"R-Ranma!?!"
Ranma stiffen and looked around him. In front of him stood the worker holding a clipboard and a stack of papers, behind him stood a very angry fiancée with a mallet. "I knew this day was going a bit too well."
Chiyo let go of her dog's hero and blushed brightly, "T-there is very g- good explanation to that."
"Try not to hug me next time Chiyo," Ranma said bracing himself for another mallet strike, "I tend to get injured when I get in close contact with females."
************************************************************
After the short and painful mallet strike thanks to Akane and a quick explanation from Chiyo, the pigtailed boy finally starts filling out the forms.
"And here I thought you and Uncle Saotome only did bad things on that training trip of yours." Akane said.
"Hey! All the bad stuff that happened is 'cause of pop!" Ranma retorted as he filled in the forms, "I helped out plenty of people when we were on the training trip!"
"Yeah right," Akane scoffed, "I bet Chiyo is the only person you helped."
"I'm sure he helped other people other than me." Chiyo sweatdropped, "No one can be THAT unhelpful, I mean he DID go on a twelve year trip didn't he?"
Ranma stopped his filling out of his forms and gave Chiyo a look, "You haven't met my pop."
"He's just that bad Chiyo." Akane added, "But you'll have to see it to believe it."
Chiyo sweatdropped harder.
"Argh, I hate filling out forms!" Ranma growled, "It's like doing homework, only worst!"
The two girls laughed, "Oh come on Ranma, it's just few lines you need to write a couple of words down and some boxes you need to check." Akane said.
"It's worst filling out the forms for buying a pet from a pet store Ranma." Chiyo said, "I remember my dad tearing out his hair saying he fills out less forms at his work than he needs to there."
Ranma sighed and dropped the pen, "Well, that's that, does that mean I can take him home now?"
The worker nodded, "Here's the dog food and a leash for him. Take good care of Tenjin."
Ranma stared at the leash, "You know, I'm glad Shampoo never thought of getting a collar and a leash for me."
Akane glared, "I'm sure you'd like that huh, pervert!"
Chiyo stared at the two in confusion, "What are you guys talking about?"
"It's a long story, maybe I'll tell you tomorrow if you stop by." Ranma said pocketing the leash, "Do I need to leash you Tenjin?"
The said dog tilted his head and barked.
"I hope that is a no." Ranma muttered and started to walk out of the store, "Come on Tenjin, I'll take you to your new home since you can't live with Chiyo now."
Tenjin followed Ranma out of the store leaving behind two stunned girls, "Tenjin never followed me like that." Chiyo said with a hint of jealousy, "Well, I need to get back home now. My parents will be worried."
Akane nodded, "It's pretty late."
Chiyo grinned, "Well, it's nice to have met you Akane. I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow at Ranma's house?"
Akane nodded once again, "Yup, I'll see you tomorrow then."
************************************************************
Well, I got a dog. I met up with a person I met during my training trip. Chiyo seems like a very nice person, but I still don't remember all the details of when I rescued Tenjin. After I got back home, I showed mom Tenjin and she approves of my choice. She said something about a manly son should have a manly dog, whatever that's supposed to mean. The tickling feeling behind my head is still there, like I'm still forgetting something important. Is it something about Tenjin? Or is it something about Chiyo? Or maybe it's something about her family? I don't know. But I do know those weird headaches I suddenly got at the pet place were weird. It's like something in my mind is trying to scratch away something.
The sky is filled with stars again. This time, instead of the roof alone, I'm watching the stars from the back yard with Tenjin and mom. For me, this is what I've dreamed of. Although I'd never dreamed that I have a dog with us stargazing, I have a feeling that this is merely a start to something bigger. Hopefully, it's nothing as painful as having three fiancées...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hmm... isn't this interesting. And here I thought I'd finish another chapter of Destiny of the Magi before I even get an idea of this. Oh well, that's live...
This chapter I wanted to use a different approach to the Ranma-verse. A lot of Ranma fic Authors tend to portray Nerima as a constant source of mayhem and chaos that seem to swirl all around Ranma and gets him in trouble one way or another. I don't disagree in anyway, that's all good and dandy, but I wanted to show Nerima as a mostly calm town with short bursts of weirdness that is based around Ranma, not the humongous train wreck that a lot of authors use in relation to Ranma and Nerima.
Also, in a lot of fics, I don't see Ranma interact with people other than other main characters. I'm sure Ranma has some friends and acquaintances other than the fiancées and his rivals, hence Hiroshi and Daisuke. Those two are going to show up more in the later chapters mostly as Ramna's 'advisors' on NORMAL teenage life or as buddies chatting random things with him. His other fiancées and his rivals are going to pop up too, mostly just to maintain the craziness around Ranma, but few of them are going to play a big role in the plot. I haven't figure out who would be best of that role yet, but I'm sure it'll come to me.
Like I said in the last chapter, this introduces the MAIN plot behind this story, so I'd like some feedback on my idea, my style of writing on this piece, general stuff, of course, if you want to go into detail with me about how my grammar suck, how I should learn to spell, or write me an essay on how I should go back to elementary school to learn my ABCs again, feel free to e-mail me or use that review button down there ^^;
Til my next post, bai bai~
"Ranma, don't stay up too late."
"No problem mom."
"Remember, you still have school tomorrow."
"Yes mom."
Pop is still at the Tendo residence. Mom forbade him to come into this house for the next six months. Heh, wait until I tell mom about all the stunts he tried to pull on me, that'll keep him out of my hair for at least another three months. I spent all day yesterday getting used to my home, exploring the neighborhood, unpacking, and catching up with mom. I found out a lot of things. For example, the neighbors to our left, they are an old family friend, that is to say, they are an old friend of my mom's family. When I was around four, it was them who help mom take care of me when she got sick. Surprisingly, it was also that time when pop was still working! I was surprised to hear that pop has actually had a job. Mrs. Nakiboto laughed so hard when I said that, I thought she was going to cough up her lungs.
Mom is great, those twelve years that she spent alone, she manage to get a lot of friends around this neighborhood. I'm surprised at the amount of nieces or daughters they wanted me to meet. Of course, there were a lot of guys I met too, but I think they were a bit intimidated by me 'cause of all the rumors about me and Furinkan floating around. Wait until they see 'Ranko' on the prowl, I wonder if the ice-cream selling people would be as gullible as the ones in the Tendo's neighborhood?
The moon floated high up in the night sky, it's getting really late from the looks of it. Tomorrow, I'm going to one of those pet adoption places hoping to find a dog that might be cheap enough so I can afford it, I'm going to see if Akane is going with me too, she said she wanted to come few days ago. That tingling feeling is starting up again; I hope nothing happens tomorrow to get Akane to hammer me...
As if my luck would let that happen...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A continuation Ranma ½ ficcy:
Through the spirits I talk
Chapter 2: Just another simple Coincidence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey Akane." Ranma greeted as he jumped over the boundary walls of Furinkan high.
"Morning Ranma." Akane greeted back with a smile, "So how's living back at your own home like after twelve years?"
The pig tailed boy grinned, "It's great, for one thing, I don't need to hear pop's snorin' from now on since I have my own room."
"Does your dad really snore that much?" Akane gave Ranma a skeptical look, "I thought people that sleep deeply usually doesn't snore."
"This is the old man we're talkin' about Akane," Ranma said with a sigh, "everythin' he does makes my life harder than it's supposed ta be, and that includes sleeping."
Akane snickered, "Let me guess, it's to help 'train' you."
"I dunno if his snorin' is a part of my trainin'," Ranma replied flippantly, "I think it's just another annoyin' thing that he does naturally."
Out of the blue, a loud voice suddenly shouted, "Are the rumors true?"
Ranma and Akane both sighed, "Talkin' about annoy things, is it my turn or your turn today Akane?"
"I don't feel like kicking Kuno sempai today," Akane said wearily, "you punt him."
Other students leaped out of the way as Takewaki Kuno dashed towards the objects of his affections holding his bouken, well at least it's 'objects' when Ranma is splashed with cold water. Surprisingly, Kuno is actually wearing a Furinkan uniform, leaving Ranma the only one breaking the uniform rule.
"Is it true oh fierce tigress! The foul sorcerer Saotome has finally left your abode, never to darken your home anymore!" Kuno yelled with streams of dramatic tears flowing down his face, "This must be a sign from the heavens! Oh Sweet Akane, let us date today after school!" Kuno pulls out a bouquet of roses from no where with his free hand, and presented them to Akane, "Please accept my gifts of affection."
"The only thing I have ever 'darkened' is ya FACE Kuno," Ranma growled and cracked his knuckles and punched Kuno into unconsciousness, "Really, I mean, after a few hundred punches and kicks, you'd think he'd get the point."
Akane sighed, "What can you do, Kuno will always be Kuno."
************************************************************
Ranma yawned and stretched lazily before jumping out of the window of his class. The lunch bell has rung few minutes ago already, but his biology teacher held him up to talk to him, delaying his lunch. Scanning the school field, he spotted Akane sitting with her friends under a tree eating lunch and chatting away happily.
"Well, might as well ask if she's coming with me after school." Ranma muttered to himself and walked towards one of his fiancées, "Yo 'kane."
The girls around Akane giggled madly and gave her a nudge.
"What do you want?" Akane said with a blush on her face.
"Well, just askin' if ya wanted ta come wit' me after school to pick a dog at that place," Ranma said scratching the back of his head, "Ya said you wanted ta come too few days back but we didn't manage ta go 'cause of me movin' back ta my place and all."
Akane smiled brightly, "Sure."
"Hey Akane, did you forget already." One of the girls said waving her chopsticks around, "We have an emergency drama club meeting after school!"
"Oh yeah," Akane sighed, "Sorry Ranma, guess I can't go with you."
"It's ok, if ya finish early go ta that place anyways, I'll probably be there till five or somethin'." Ranma said and turned around, "See ya."
The girls around Akane giggled again as Ranma walked away. He sighed and dropped down on his usual lunch spot in the school yard which is occupied by Hiroshi and Daisuke, already chatting away about random things, "Yo guys, what's up?"
"Hey Ranma." The two said in unison.
Ranma took out his bento and started eating in a subdued fashion, well at least subdued in Ranma's point of view. The two boys blinked at the scene in front of them.
"What's eating you?" Daisuke said raising an eyebrow, "You're eating slower than usual, but that's not really saying a lot is it."
"Yeah man, you're usually finished by now." Hiroshi added pointing towards Ranma's bento.
"Miss Hirogashi is tryin' to get me inta the advance biology class again." Ranma said finishing up his lunch, "She's almost as annoyin' as my old man."
"Advanced Biology?" Daisuke said, skepticism dripping from his voice, "You've got to be kidding me. The only time advanced can be put with you would be in P.E. or fighting."
Ranma glared at Daisuke, inching slowly towards him.
"I have to go with Dai on this one Ranma," Hiroshi said holding out his hands trying to pacify the martial artist, "You don't usually do that good in school you know."
"I'm a Martial artist," Ranma said with a sigh, "I'm supposed to know my body, every part of my body. Doc Tofu and Kasumi helped me some of the other biology stuff. Plus with all the stunts Kodachi and Shampoo do to me, I need at least SOME idea on what is wrong with me sometimes."
"Never thought of it that way before." Daisuke said scratching his head, "Whoa, can you help me with that biology homework, I have no idea that Miss Hirogashi was talking about, all those weird plant parts and stuff. I mean you're like Biology Guru right?"
Ranma chuckled, "Don't know about that. Plants are not my thing."
"Ah shit." Daisuke sighed, "Guess I'll need to ask Yuka for her notes again."
Hiroshi laughed, "Why don't you just ask her for help. You get to spend some time with her, and during your study session, things might get steamy, if you know what I mean."
"Shut up Hiroshi," Daisuke growled, "Yuka and me are just friends."
"That's what they all say Dai," Hiroshi countered, "Plus, I KNOW for a fact if you'd have it any other way, she won't 'just' be your friend."
"Shut up Hiroshi."
"Make me!"
"Guys," Ranma said resting his arms on his two friends' heads, "why can't you two just-"
"Prepare to feel my wrath sorcerer!"
Ranma growled and stood up to face the 'Blue Thunder' once again, "I thought I knocked him out for the rest of the day!"
"Sorry Ranma, don't wanna be a casualty if you know what I mean." Daisuke said running off with Hiroshi trailing behind him.
"There goes another lunch." Ranma muttered before dodging Kuno's strikes again.
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The last few hours of school quickly passed for Ranma, mainly because none of his classes have Miss Hinako as his teacher so he fell asleep for the rest of them. The pig tailed boy walked out of the Furinkan gates slowly with his left hand in his pockets and his other holding his bag. Few clouds covered the sun partially in the sky, giving the afternoon a nice warm atmosphere without it being too hot. Ranma smiled contently and leaped onto the fence around the road and headed towards his home.
"It's been awhile since I had a day like this." Ranma whispered to no one, "Reminds me of the trainin' trip."
Weaving through the streets but avoiding roof hopping, Ranma reached his home. He reached into his bag for his keys and opened the front door, "Mom I'm home."
"Welcome back." Nodoka replied, "I have some snacks on the table, grab some if you want Ranma."
"Actually, I'm just droppin' off my school stuff so I can go ta that pet place." Ranma yelled from the door dropping off his bag.
"You have plenty of time, eat something before you go." Ranma's mother replied patiently, "You're probably a bit hungry right now, am I right?"
Ranma grinned sheepishly even though he is alone at the front door, "Well I guess a few snacks won't hurt."
Impatiently, Ranma walked swiftly through the house towards the kitchen table and grabbed a few biscuits off the plate on it. Looking around as he took a bit out of the biscuit, his mother is oddly no where in sight, "Hey mom, I think I'll be back at around five thirty. Where are you anyway?"
"I'm just upstairs storing some things that just came in this morning," Nodoka replied, her voice echoing through the house, "Try not to be too late Ranma."
With one more bite, Ranma finished off his biscuit and headed towards the entrance of the house again, "Don't worry, I'll be back by dinner."
"Have fun."
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Ranma looked around in wonder at all the animals all laying in cages around him, "Wow, there's a lot of dogs around here ain't there."
"Yes quite."
Ranma jumped and twisted in midair and landing on a defensive stance, "Err, sorry, reflexes."
A man wearing a plain white apron with a grey T-shirt and jeans chuckled, scratching his head the man replied friendly, "So is there anything I can help you with?"
"Umm, I'm just lookin' around for a pet dog." Ranma said nervously.
"Ah, is there anything you have in mind?" The man said putting a hand on Ranma's shoulder and leading him deeper into the room.
Ranma suddenly winced in pain and rubbed his temples, "A brown dog?"
The worker blinked, "A brown dog? That's an odd request, most people tend to say what breed they want."
Ranma winced again, this time, he shook his head as if to shake away the pain, "Umm, dark brown hair on its back with lighter color hair from his legs to belly."
"Sounds like your describing a German shepherd," The worker said as he continue to lead Ranma around the place, "You're lucky, we have a German shepherd here. He just came in a few days ago."
"Umm, can I see it?" Ranma asked, looking dazed.
"Of course, that's why you're here right." The worker said good naturally. Ranma chuckled nervously as the worker continued to lead him around, "Well here he is. His previous owner needed to leave it here because they moved to an apartment building that doesn't let pets to live in there."
"Moved?" Ranma mumbled in reflex as he stared at the German shepherd in front of him in a cage.
"Yeah, the economy, although it's still pretty good around here, is pretty brutal. They probably got cut or something. Anyways, this dog had an injury once so left hind leg tends to give him pain if he runs too much, but that isn't really too big a problem." Ranma continued to stare into the dog's eyes, "I heard he got pretty lucky. His name is-"
"Tenjin" Ranma interrupted with a whisper, in which the dog barked in replied.
"Right..." The worker stared at Ranma, "You know his dog?"
"I think I've met this dog once." Ranma blinked and opened the cage mechanically, ignoring the worker's silent protest. Tenjin walked out of the cage and sniffed at Ranma who knelt down, "I HAVE met you before haven't I, Tenjin?"
Tenjin barked happily and licked Ranma's face.
"Well you should know the owner then." The worker said, shocked at what has happened, "They usually come by around now and see if Tenjin is doing well. I guess you'll be wanted this dog, I'll go get the forms so you can fill them out."
Ranma smiled and scratched the dog in front of him behind his ear completely unaware of his surroundings, "I should meet this person then."
"Tenjin?" A surprised voice said from behind Ranma.
Tenjin ignored Ranma's ministrations and trotted pass him towards the owner of the voice. Ranma stands himself up and turns around to see the owner.
"Are you going to take Tenjin in?" The girl Tenjin walked towards asked curiously as she gave the dog a quick hug.
Ranma looked at the girl in front of him as she stood up again. She stood to about the same height as Ranma, her brown hair swayed freely, reaching her shoulder, "Ah... I guess so..."
"That's great, I don't want Tenjin to stay in that cage any longer than he has to." The girl said looking at the dog with a soft smile.
Ranma laughed and tugged at this pigtail nervously, "Yeah, nothing should be kept in a cage like that for long."
The girl stared at Ranma's pigtail, "I've meet you before."
Ranma stopped laughing and scratched the back of his head, "Ah... I don't know. I think I recognized Tenjin when I saw him, but I can't remember exactly where I've seen him." He winced again and rubbed his temple again, "I found him bleeding?"
The girl gasped, covering her mouth with her left hand, "You're the boy who saved Tenjin when he was a puppy."
Ranma used his right and to punch his left hand, "Oh yeah, now I remember. Me and pop were trying to find a dojo when I found him in an alley bleeding. How are ya doing?"
The girl grinned, "Great, although my family needed to move out of our old place into a large apartment because my dad's company isn't doing well." The girl giggled, "You know, after all this time I still didn't get your name."
"I'm Ranma, Ranma Saotome; heir to the Saotome School of Anything goes martial arts." Ranma said.
"I'm Chiyo Anda." Chiyo replied, "So you're a martial artist?"
"Yeah, me and pop were on a trainin' trip when I found your dog," Ranma answered with a far away look on this face, "It's been a long trip, but I finally came back."
"So you decided to get a pet because you got back home?" Chiyo asked with an amused smile, "You usually try to get used to the house before you get a pet."
"Ya do?" Ranma said with an embarrassed grin, "It doesn't matter. I don't want to keep Tenjin in a cage more than it has to now that I know he's the puppy I rescued."
Chiyo smiled and rest her hand on her dog's back, "I'm glad if would be you who is going to take care of him. If it's anyone I would trust to take care of him, it would be you."
"We hardly know each other. How can you be so sure I'll do ok?"
"I just know you would." The girl said with a smile with tears filling her eyes, "After all, you're the one who saved Tenjin once. I'm sure you can take care of him in my stead."
"It's not like you can't see him again." Ranma said nervously seeing a girl on the verge of crying, "You can come visit Tenjin everyday if you want, I mean you don't live far away from here right?"
Chiyo cried out and gave Ranma a hug, "Thank you."
"H-h-hey, it's not a big deal ya know," Ranma said glancing around nervously, "I mean... umm... err... aw, come on, don't cry."
The girl giggled, "Sorry about that. Wow, you have nice muscles." Ranma blushed bright red at the last comment and started to stutter incoherently.
"Umm, I'm not interrupting anything am I?"
"R-Ranma!?!"
Ranma stiffen and looked around him. In front of him stood the worker holding a clipboard and a stack of papers, behind him stood a very angry fiancée with a mallet. "I knew this day was going a bit too well."
Chiyo let go of her dog's hero and blushed brightly, "T-there is very g- good explanation to that."
"Try not to hug me next time Chiyo," Ranma said bracing himself for another mallet strike, "I tend to get injured when I get in close contact with females."
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After the short and painful mallet strike thanks to Akane and a quick explanation from Chiyo, the pigtailed boy finally starts filling out the forms.
"And here I thought you and Uncle Saotome only did bad things on that training trip of yours." Akane said.
"Hey! All the bad stuff that happened is 'cause of pop!" Ranma retorted as he filled in the forms, "I helped out plenty of people when we were on the training trip!"
"Yeah right," Akane scoffed, "I bet Chiyo is the only person you helped."
"I'm sure he helped other people other than me." Chiyo sweatdropped, "No one can be THAT unhelpful, I mean he DID go on a twelve year trip didn't he?"
Ranma stopped his filling out of his forms and gave Chiyo a look, "You haven't met my pop."
"He's just that bad Chiyo." Akane added, "But you'll have to see it to believe it."
Chiyo sweatdropped harder.
"Argh, I hate filling out forms!" Ranma growled, "It's like doing homework, only worst!"
The two girls laughed, "Oh come on Ranma, it's just few lines you need to write a couple of words down and some boxes you need to check." Akane said.
"It's worst filling out the forms for buying a pet from a pet store Ranma." Chiyo said, "I remember my dad tearing out his hair saying he fills out less forms at his work than he needs to there."
Ranma sighed and dropped the pen, "Well, that's that, does that mean I can take him home now?"
The worker nodded, "Here's the dog food and a leash for him. Take good care of Tenjin."
Ranma stared at the leash, "You know, I'm glad Shampoo never thought of getting a collar and a leash for me."
Akane glared, "I'm sure you'd like that huh, pervert!"
Chiyo stared at the two in confusion, "What are you guys talking about?"
"It's a long story, maybe I'll tell you tomorrow if you stop by." Ranma said pocketing the leash, "Do I need to leash you Tenjin?"
The said dog tilted his head and barked.
"I hope that is a no." Ranma muttered and started to walk out of the store, "Come on Tenjin, I'll take you to your new home since you can't live with Chiyo now."
Tenjin followed Ranma out of the store leaving behind two stunned girls, "Tenjin never followed me like that." Chiyo said with a hint of jealousy, "Well, I need to get back home now. My parents will be worried."
Akane nodded, "It's pretty late."
Chiyo grinned, "Well, it's nice to have met you Akane. I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow at Ranma's house?"
Akane nodded once again, "Yup, I'll see you tomorrow then."
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Well, I got a dog. I met up with a person I met during my training trip. Chiyo seems like a very nice person, but I still don't remember all the details of when I rescued Tenjin. After I got back home, I showed mom Tenjin and she approves of my choice. She said something about a manly son should have a manly dog, whatever that's supposed to mean. The tickling feeling behind my head is still there, like I'm still forgetting something important. Is it something about Tenjin? Or is it something about Chiyo? Or maybe it's something about her family? I don't know. But I do know those weird headaches I suddenly got at the pet place were weird. It's like something in my mind is trying to scratch away something.
The sky is filled with stars again. This time, instead of the roof alone, I'm watching the stars from the back yard with Tenjin and mom. For me, this is what I've dreamed of. Although I'd never dreamed that I have a dog with us stargazing, I have a feeling that this is merely a start to something bigger. Hopefully, it's nothing as painful as having three fiancées...
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Hmm... isn't this interesting. And here I thought I'd finish another chapter of Destiny of the Magi before I even get an idea of this. Oh well, that's live...
This chapter I wanted to use a different approach to the Ranma-verse. A lot of Ranma fic Authors tend to portray Nerima as a constant source of mayhem and chaos that seem to swirl all around Ranma and gets him in trouble one way or another. I don't disagree in anyway, that's all good and dandy, but I wanted to show Nerima as a mostly calm town with short bursts of weirdness that is based around Ranma, not the humongous train wreck that a lot of authors use in relation to Ranma and Nerima.
Also, in a lot of fics, I don't see Ranma interact with people other than other main characters. I'm sure Ranma has some friends and acquaintances other than the fiancées and his rivals, hence Hiroshi and Daisuke. Those two are going to show up more in the later chapters mostly as Ramna's 'advisors' on NORMAL teenage life or as buddies chatting random things with him. His other fiancées and his rivals are going to pop up too, mostly just to maintain the craziness around Ranma, but few of them are going to play a big role in the plot. I haven't figure out who would be best of that role yet, but I'm sure it'll come to me.
Like I said in the last chapter, this introduces the MAIN plot behind this story, so I'd like some feedback on my idea, my style of writing on this piece, general stuff, of course, if you want to go into detail with me about how my grammar suck, how I should learn to spell, or write me an essay on how I should go back to elementary school to learn my ABCs again, feel free to e-mail me or use that review button down there ^^;
Til my next post, bai bai~
