Chapter 8.
Night was quickly approaching in central Honshu. The dark clouds that coveredr the Hida range sucked the little remaining light from the sky. Lightening flashed and thunder rolled ominously. In the little towns and hamlets that surrounded Mt. Hida, old timers muttered to themselves about bad omens, and mothers called children in from the storm.
Deep in the mountains, miles from any human civilization, the storm gathered intensity. Lightning flashed across the sky, searing after images into the eyes of anyone who saw. Lances of fire struck the ground, lighting blazes and tossing earth and trees into the air like giants at play. With unerring accuracy, one more strike flashed out of the heavens, shattering a bolder bound with a Shinto seal. The seal was rendered asunder in the resulting explosion releasing an unspeakable evil.
The spirit chuckled as it crawled out of the cave. After so many years, it was finally free to punish those that had sealed it in the first place. Lighting and thunder burst from the heavens simultaneously. When the spirit regained consciousness from the lightening strike, it chuckled again, although a little unsteadily.
The priest's clap signified the end of the meditation period. Ranma uncrossed his legs, moved to the edge of the raised tatami platform, and donned his slippers before following the others shuffling out of the meditation hall. Ranma was the only guest present, the rest of those meditating were monks. Even though it had been a long trip to visit Sojiji-dera, he had simply needed a place to reflect and purify his thoughts.
Ranma was joined in his stroll around the grounds of the temple by an old priest. Nothing was said as the two simply reflected on the previous meditation. Upon entering the temple again, Ranma walked the corridor to stop by an open pair of doors facing a rock garden. Ranma knelt. The priest joined him.
The two stopped by the rock garden, looking out over the delicate swirls traced into the white gravel to represent water. Ranma broke the silence first. "Why do you practice Zen?"
The old man smiled. "It seems right."
"To what purpose?" Ranma asked.
"To shun all evil. To do good. To purify one's heart."
Ranma nodded. "This is the teaching of the Buddhas"
The priest smiled as Ranma finished the quote. "Yes, but do you understand what it asks of you?"
Ranma raised his left hand and stared at it as he made a fist. "I used to think so. Now, I am not so sure."
"Then you have already taken the first steps on the path to true wisdom. You don't need to talk with an old codger like me." The old man smiled. "Feel like doing lunch?"
Ranma replied by placing his slipper on his head. Their laughter rang throughout the building.
With a sigh, Ranma wrote down the address and closed the phone book. He was out of change, so he couldn't call. There were just too many damn Tendo's in Tokyo. Stepping out of the phone booth, he took a second to gain his bearings, and pulled a map out of his pocket. Ranma groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose when he realized how far away the address was from his current location.
"Well, might as well get started," Ranma muttered to no one in particular. With a leap, he took to the roof tops, heading in the general direction of the address. He was bored, and with nothing better to do, he used these trips to get some exercise.
Ranma was tired of Tokyo. Since he had arrived it had been nothing but a series of hassles and miscommunications. First, it had been a hassle to find place to stay. Herb, being royalty simply sprung for a hotel room with Konatsu. While Ranma had been urged to stay with the pair, he wanted a little privacy and slightly longer term accommodations.
The problem was that Ranma had no history in Japan. Money wasn't the problem; Ranma had accumulated a small fortune from the various gifts he had received from both the Amazons and the Musk as rewards for his role in the reunification. He had sold a single piece of jewelry when he first arrived in Japan, and had more than enough cash for renting living quarters. The problem was that few people were willing to rent to someone like him – a person with no references, no family, nobody to vouch for his willingness or ability to pay.
Ranma had been forced to stay in a seedy hotel in the one of the various bar districts around the city. That had led Ranma to quickly realize a second problem; he was not used to urban dwelling. A drunken salary man had tried to grope Ranma in his female form on his way to the love hotel he was staying. Ranma reacted without thought, breaking the man's wrist in a blink of an eye. The police became involved, and Ranma was forced to run or answer lots of awkward questions.
The lack of green was also getting to the boy. He felt trapped, with few places to train seriously for fear of damaging property or hurting civilians. At this point, he just wanted to find this 'Tendo' person and get back to China.
A half hour later Ranma touched down in front of a non-descript apartment complex in residential neighborhood. Double checking the address against the slip of paper in his hand, he walked to the building and climbed to the fifth floor. He knocked on 505, and waited.
A mousey looking woman answered the door on the fourth knock. Ranma launched into his spiel. It quickly became obvious that this was not the family Ranma was looking for. He apologized for the inconvenience, and headed off to find another public phone.
The silver lining of these wasted trips was that Ranma got a very good understanding of the city and the surrounding neighborhoods. He kept his eyes open for spaces for rent, always hopeful to find a boarding house or apartment complex willing to rent to a drifter.
Later that evening Ranma watched as the sun began to slowly set below the horizon. He had just finished the Tendo Se...'s in the phone book. Tomorrow he'd start on the So's. He sat still as the sun vanished, wishing he was watching from atop the palisades from the Amazon compound instead of a rinky-dink park in Tokyo.
Herb and Konatsu had just finished having dinner at an elegant sushi restaurant in Ginza. They had drawn straws, meaning that tonight Konatsu was male and Herb female. Walking arm in arm, they worked their way down the street, no particular destination in mind. The last several days of their honeymoon had been spent taking in the sites of the surrounding city.
"Herb?"
"Mmm?"
"Do you think Ranma will find who he's looking for?"
"I don't know. Tokyo has 28 million people. Finding one specific one could be impossible."
"How long you think we'll be here?"
Herb shrugged. "Why do you ask?"
"I was thinking that maybe we could stay in Tokyo for a bit."
"What for? This city is nice, but I am looking forward to seeing other parts of this country as well."
"I was thinking more to meet other people our age. At home, everyone treats you as royalty and me as the next thing to it. I want to try being normal, for once."
"You are anything but normal, my love."
The two walked for while in silence.
"What do you think will happen when Ranma finds what he's looking for?"
"..." Herb just walked. She had no response.
====="Hello, is this the Tendo Residence?"
"Yes it is. May I ask who is calling?"
"I am Ranma Saotome. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance."
"As am I, Mr. Saotome. I am Kasumi Tendo. What is this call in regards to?"
"This is hard to explain, Ms. Tendo, but I am looking for a friend of my father, Genma Saotome. I only know that the person is a Tendo. I was hoping that someone there might recognize the name."
"No, I'm sorry, that name doesn't ring a bell. If you hold on a bit, I can ask my father."
"Sure, I'll wait." There was a pause on the other end of the phone.
"Mr. Saotome, was it? I'm sorry, but my father is out. Perhaps you can try again later?"
"I will. Thank you, Ms. Tendo. "
"You are welcome. Good luck in your search, Mr. Saotome."
Ranma hung up, and circled the name on the list. He'd come back to it, eventually. Looking up the next number, he dialed while watching the credits tick off his phone card.
Ranma was so absorbed in writing down numbers that the tap on the glass caught him by surprise. Biting back an oath, he looked in the direction of the sound.
"Excuse me; do you know the way to Furinkan High School?"
"It's this way, Hibiki." Tugging on the makeshift leash he had tied around Ryoga's waist, Ranma pulled the lost boy in the right direction yet again. It had been his intention only to point Ryoga in the right direction, but it soon became apparent the boy was hopelessly lost. Ranma had tried simply walking with the boy, but one second of inattentiveness would cause them to go wildly off-track. In frustration, Ranma had joked about the leash, but to his surprise, Ryoga had agreed enthusiastically."I really appreciate your help, Saotome. I've been looking for Furinkan for weeks." Ranma just grunted in reply. Ryoga fingered the rope tied around his waist, contemplating. "This is how my grandma used to lead me around. She never got lost like the rest of us."
"The rest of us?"
"Oh, my family. My mother and father are both pretty bad with directions."
"Worse than you? You have got to have the worst sense of direction of anyone I have ever met, Hibiki." Ranma absentmindedly tugged on the rope again, correcting Ryoga's path.
"They might be worse, but I am not sure, really. We don't get to see each other much, on account of the family being lost all the time. I remember once my mom went to buy groceries, as was missing for six months. My dad went out to find her, and he went missing for seven! I haven't been home in about three months now."
Ranma only shook his head. "It sounds to me like your family has some sort of curse." Ranma pulled out his pocket map to verify his location. He didn't know this area of Tokyo very well. He hadn't been to Nerima yet, but according to the phonebook, the high school was located in this town.
"Anyway, we aren't far now," Ranma said.
"Really? How do you know?"
Ranma gestured to the sheet of paper in his hand.
"What's that?"
"A map."
"Oh." There was a long pause. "I could never understand those things..."
Ranma stopped dead. "Wanna learn? They can keep you from getting lost." The lost boy nodded in response. Ranma motioned the boy over to him. "Come here." Pointing at the map, he asked, "What do you see?"
"Just a bunch of boxes and names. How's that supposed to help?"
"Look, see that name there?"
"Yeah?"
"That's the street we are on now."
"Oh..."
"And that 'box' is actually this building right here. See how it's shaped to look like this building if viewed from the top?"
"Yeah?"
"And since this is north..."
"How do you know that's north?"
Ranma gave Ryoga a blank look. Ranma could detect no deceit, just honest to goodness confusion. With a sigh, he pointed at the map key. Ranma spent the next hour explaining to Ryoga about maps and how to read them. The lost boy still looked dubious, though, even after he began to grasp the key concepts.
"Look, I promise, these things work. That is why most people don't get lost all that often."
"Really?"
"Really. Look, why don't you try it for yourself? I'll help you get to where you're going, but you take the map."
"I don't know..."
"Just try it."
The journey took a lot longer that Ranma expected. They had started out in early afternoon, and even though they were only a mile away from the high school, the sun was setting before the pair arrived. Ryoga's navigation improved, but his sense of direction, or lack there of, was nothing short of miraculous. Ranma prevented Ryoga from making any wrong turns by making him carefully consult the map, go over his verify his left and right, and contemplate each intersection. The lost boy was ecstatic when they finally arrived.
"I've never purposely found a place before! Can you believe it? This has to be the fastest I've ever arrived here!" Ryoga turned and enveloped Ranma in a bone crushing hug.
Ranma accepted the hug with reluctance. "Congratulations. It only took you three hours." Ranma was rubbing the bridge of his nose, trying to his hardest to be polite. Only the thoughts of doing good deeds kept him from pounding the boy to a pulp. "Looks like school's out, for today, anyway. Do you need any help getting home?
Ryoga just shrugged, and hitched a thumb at the backpack on his shoulders. "No, I'll just camp here. I don't go to school here, anyway. I just wanted to be here in the morning when Akane comes through."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive, Saotome. Thank you for all your help."
"It was my pleasure. Practice with those maps. They will help, guarantee."
Konatsu, Ranma and Herb met up early the next morning to train. They hopped on top of a speeding train headed north out to the mountains, intending to get some serious practice in before the day began. They didn't talk much as the wind whipped at their clothes. When they deemed they were close enough to wilderness, they simply jumped off, and kept running.
The exercises they had devised were simple yet brutal. One person would defend, while the other two attacked as ruthlessly as possible for thirty minutes. Then, someone else would be the defender. Anything went, and no punches were pulled. It was both endurance practice and exercise in withstanding punishment. The training continued until they could barely move, and then the hard part began.
Herb was still guiding and pushing Konatsu and Ranma through ki manipulation exercises to increase both their control and capacity. The three sat in a triangle and juggled balls created from ki. Each ball had a distinct color; the difficulty was rapidly dividing the necessary ki flows to maintain the unique characteristics of each ball as it was rapidly tossed back and forth. They began juggling with six balls at first, and Herb kept adding an additional ball every few minutes. Just to make things interesting, the direction the balls were tossed was reversed with each additional ball.
Lapses in concentration were painful, as Ranma and Konatsu quickly learned. Even though the balls were only baseball sized, if he let his concentration slip for a moment, it would explode on impact, with the force of stick of dynamite. If either one let a ball wink out of existence or explode, they would restart from the beginning. Sweat was pouring off the faces of all three as the Herb added another ball, bringing the count up to fourteen.
They managed to get up to sixteen balls before Konatsu slipped. The resulting explosion caused Ranma to lose his concentration, and he got hammered by the balls Herb was tossing to him. Ranma managed to finally climb out of the hole he had been blasted into just as Konatsu reached the top of his.
Herb held up his hand. "That is enough for today. You both are going to pass out soon." The prince sat down on a log, watching as the pair climbed to their feet unsteadily. "Ranma, do you want to try and run through the Neko-ken kata while you are out here?"
Ranma shrugged. "I don't know how much energy I have, but I'll give it a try." Herb and Konatsu sat back and watched as Ranma took a ready position. He took a few deep breaths, and summoned up the frame of mind needed for the Neko-ken. He launched into the opening move, but he could tell right away that it wasn't going to happen today.
When he finished the final kata, he lowered his arms. "Guess the cat didn't want to play today." Herb nodded, and Konatsu merely pursed his lips.
Konatsu stood and walked over to Ranma. "Why do you think that was? Do you think you need to meditate before hand?"
"Don't know. Still haven't figured out everything yet. Anyway, let's head back."
The train ride back was silent. All three were fatigued, but Herb had fared better in the ki exercises. As the trio hopped off the train at Ikebukuro, Konatsu asked about Ranma's search.
"Ahh, don't ask. It isn't going to well. I've been through 90% of the Tendo's in the phone book by now."
Herb joined in the conversation. "How long do you intend to stay in Tokyo, Ranma?"
"I will stay as long as I need to."
"What if the person you are looking for is dead?" Konatsu ventured.
"I'll find him, one way or another."
The rain had dampened Ranma's mood, but couldn't kill it completely. His last lead had turned out to be a dud. That wasn't why he was in a good mood, however. Ranma had found an old shrine in Nerima that was in desperate need of grounds keepers, offering room and board. While he hadn't accepted on the spot, the offer was too good to pass up, and he wanted to consult with the married couple before agreeing.
Ranma felt a sudden spike of ill-will from behind that snapped her out of her reverie. That, and the fact that someone was fondling her ass. Ranma lashed out with backhand that knocked the offender into a nearby wall, kicking up a cloud of dust. Ranma whipped around, scanning the dust cloud for signs of movement. A blur out of the corner of her eye was all the warning she had before she felt something attach to her chest.
Looking down, Ranma saw what could only be described as a troll in a gi attached to her boobs. "DIE, you little pervert!" With a scream, Ranma let loose with a punch that would have would have torn the pervert's head off if it connected. Somehow the little being shimmied out of the way and copped a feel on his way down.
"Whoa, a feisty one! I can't believe those boobs are real, doll!" With a wink, the troll took off, bounding to the top of the nearest roof. Ranma didn't even stop to think. She pursued, following closely behind.
Ranma was fast, but she was having a hard time keeping up with the little monster. She threw a few small ki blasts in an attempt to slow down her target. It worked. Ranma closed the distance in and instant and launched an offensive. She wasn't prepared for the retaliation, though. The little demon hit hard, even harder than Herb. On top of that it was FAST.
With an open palm and fingers curled, Ranma ducked under a series of blows and lashed out with a snarl. The figure jumped back, and examined four evenly space slash marks in its gi that ran across the torso.
"Hmm.. Neko-ken trained. This might be more fun that I thought!" Ranma was startled by the revelation, but didn't have time to think as the troll pressed its attack.
Ranma was panting and battered. Her opponent was also bloody and tired, but Ranma had come out far worse for the exchange. This had been the oddest fight she had ever been in. What started out as a fight quickly became a battle to protect her modesty. The little troll's attach had been nothing more than repeated attempts to grope the girl. Ranma, for her part, had merely been trying to fend off the lecherous little sprite. He was as good as Ku Lon, if not better.
"What's your name, girl?"
"You tell me your first, you little lech."
"I am Happosai, Grand Master of the Anything Goes style of Martial Arts."
==========================================================Thanks to all those who have reviewed so far.
a few notes:
One - I didn't want to make this a match up/ fighting fic. I have a
clear idea of how it is going to end, but not as clear an idea about
how it is going to get there. Any romance/fighting that happens along
the way is incidental.
Two - I love hearing comments from the readers. It stimulates the thought process, so keep 'em coming. If you like this fic, recommend it to some friends.
Three - I don't own any of these characters.
Four - I wanted to do an informal poll to see who the readers think should get Ranma. I abhor creating new characters (because I don't think I can do it), but don't mind playing with the existing boundaries. (I have my own preference, but wanted to see what the reviewers had in mind.)