DISCLAIMER: I neither own nor make any claim to Ranma Nibunnoichi by Takahashi Rumiko. I just enjoy it. I also enjoy making up stories about the characters. I do not claim to be writing an official continuation of Ranma, if I did I'm sure the laughter alone would cause an earthquake. My characters will have a 'slight' tendency to be considered Out of Character and possibly a bit AU.
If I have spelt something terribly wrong please let me know. I hope you enjoy reading my attempt at writing. If you hate it then the correct option is to simply not read it. This story is fantasy and makes no attempt to be bound by the realities of life, if it did it would not be fantasy or at least not my fantasy.
I write for fun, I will update when I have the next chapter finished. I will do my best to make updates regularly but will only update when I am satisfied that it is ready.
Tattered Mist, the Letters
Tattered Mist letters 002
Mom
I'm sorry I can't be there. I feel it is all my fault. If I had been there I could at least have kept Oyagi under control. I feel worse than worthless right now.
Mousse is going to try to take Shampoo. If he knows she is under life debt to Ryouga he may try to kill him. Mousse is a stronger and better fighter than Shampoo but has always been afraid of hurting her as most of his attacks can be fatal. He is as crazy as Kuno is in some ways, he is fanatical about her and may feel he has nothing left to lose.
I feel stupid asking this but do the authorities know to be on the look out for a panda? Since most people do not believe in magic just say the panda is trained and dangerous.
I feel very proud of Akane, Nabiki, Uc-chan and Konatsu.
Namiko says to assure you that she will take pictures.
Hi Auntie
I've sent Ranma to get dressed. I feel I did well on the test. I'm sure that Ranma could have passed most of them easily The language and math segments were not near as difficult as Namiko said they would be, I hope they gave me the right test I would not like to have to take them over. The only one that I have any concern over is the history, I hope I remembered enough from school as we forgot it would be required. I should know next week how I did on the test.
Please pass on Ranma's assessment of Mousse to Elder Cologne she may discount him since he is only a male, but if Ranma says he is dangerous then he is.
Give our love to everyone and I'll be sure you get pictures of "Ranko" in her new clothes.
Kasumi
Dear Kasumi and Ranko
Kasumi you were right she admitted that she may have dismissed him as a mere male but said if Ranma thought he was a higher threat then she must believe him.
Ranma was right, none of us thought to pass warnings on about their cursed forms. Nabiki has remedied that with pictures, we didn't say the panda was Genma but that where one was the other was sure to be near by. We also passed out warnings that the panda was trained and subject to unpredictable fits of violence.
Ranma will appreciate that Nabiki is in a world of pain right now. Elder Cologne was visiting and saw her and Soun sparring. She decided to spar against Nabiki and has taken her on as a student. Akane is a bit upset about it but the Elder Cologne told her that once she learns to control her anger she will test her. Akane had to help Nabiki return from the Nekohaten but she was smiling the whole way. Elder Cologne had Nabiki and Shampoo spar and they did so till neither could stand. Akane is going to learn meditation techniques that will help bring her emotions into balance.
Two young martial artist arrived this morning to study under Soun, well they wanted to study under Ranko, but since she is not available they ask Soun to teach them. Their names are Ryu Akiro and Rick "Viper" Tanaka, they said you know them. Soun is waiting on your reply on whether to train them or not.
Everyone is doing well and wish you the best of luck.
Nodoka
Dear Auntie
Have Father train by all means. They stood between Ryouga and everyone else and gave Ranma the time she needed to get there. They are strong fighters and Ranma approves of them as I do. Fill them in on Genma's and Mousse's ability to change, they've seen Ryouga, they'll believe. Have Elder Cologne brief them about Mousse's fighting abilities.
Ranma is sitting beside me and wants them to stay at the Nekohaten. They could give Elder Cologne the time she needs to save Shampoo. She just muttered "not that the Old Ghoul needs them, but just in case he's lucky."
Dear Auntie
Sorry about the incomplete E-mail your "daughter" tried to take the laptop to erase the part about the "Old Ghoul" and hit the transmit key by accident. She is worried and wish you would train more, I think she is right. Neither Genma nor Mousse are "honourable" martial artists and bystanders can and will be used by them in a fight.
Ranma says that Ryu needs to focus on strength and endurance training and that Viper needs speed and evasion work.
Your 'daughter' worries me, she is working on mental katas for mathematics, who else would decide to use a martial art technique to do mathematics. Humph! She just told me that principles are same, that each technique is built on the one below it and can not be done properly unless you learn the previous level thoroughly. I think this is a challenge response to Namiko saying she spent to much focusing on martial arts and not enough on math and science.
Ranko is keeping her hair dark although not black as she had it before so that she does not stand out too much for being different. I am sending the photo as an attachment.
We love you hope we can see you soon
Kasumi
Dear Kasumi and Ranko
Elder Cologne and I enjoyed really enjoyed the pictures. After considering that Genma does not know your present appearance we decided to hold off on showing them around.
I miss both you so much. Kasumi you look so very handsome and Ranko you are nothing less than beautiful. I am very pleased that you have accepted your curses and that you have decided to get on with your life.
Elder Cologne agrees with Ranma about my training. Ryu and Viper are now living and working at the Nekohaten and have had the pleasure of sparring with Elder Cologne. She also ask your permission to train them in endurance and speed techniques. I will be there several hours a day going through 'refresher' courses to get me up to where she believes I should be.
Kodachi is presently enjoying lodging in a secure facility. She attacked me at the dojo calling me a vile witch and redheaded harridan. The presence of officers talking to Soun did not deter her, she used a sleeping gas on them. Elder Cologne incapacitated her before she was able to inflict any damage and revived the officers who took her into custody on a variety of charges including assault, illegal weapons, drug use and possession of drugs. I will have to admit that you know some interesting people.
Nodoka.
Mom
Doctor Akira put me through an entire battery of test and MRI and gave me the go ahead to start limited exercises. I feel so out of shape. She did find some abnormalities that she wants to correct. There are a few foreign objects that need to be removed. A piece of what appears to be nail is embedded behind my left ear and a long sliver of metal at the top of my skull neither of which protrude into the brain. Most of the other things she can remove at her clinic and none of them will keep me out of school for more than a day except for the sliver on top. She wants me in for surgery on Friday and over night for observation at least for it.
Fortunately Namiko and Ka-chan agree that my studying is now up to date and I can focus on retraining my body a bit. Ka-chan is now able to learn some special techniques and will spar with me. I'm looking forward to school now that I'm caught up enough to understand what they are talking about.
Namiko has decided that Ka-chan and I are going out to celebrate my being able to move again. School starts in two weeks Ka-chan and Namiko both want me to work on my socialization skills, which while improved needs much more.
I hope Kodachi receives help she is seriously in need of it. By all means if Elder Cologne is willing to train them they could have no better teacher. They may hate me before she is through but her techniques will be invaluable to them. Speaking of training now that I can move around I should have all three techniques that I chose of Master Happosai's down in less than a week. The techniques do not require an enormous amount of strength or endurance just speed and the ability to use and direct ki.
Ka-chan sends her love along with mine.
Ranko
Dear Auntie
Ranko does not need to work on her endurance and her socialization skills are blooming. Namiko's idea of celebrating was her, her boy friend and her three friends and their dates for dinner and dancing. Ranko danced until I thought my legs would fall off.
She was upset with Namiko at first as she had to dress appropriately including make up but we all had to plead extreme fatigue in order to get her to leave once she started dancing. She was almost as fresh when we got home as she was before we left. Several of the new student workers want her to teach them, they saw us sparring when they came to start work. She told them that she could not teach until some school problems were settled but that she would let them know when she can.
I must have done something wrong or they may have given me the wrong test but I have to retake some of the test. Ranko's school wants her to retest on a few things, but said she did well and that the test were just clarify where she should be.
Dr. Akira wants Ranko in tomorrow. She says that it is possible that the sliver could stay there with no trouble but after seeing how active Ranko is she says there is a high chance of it shifting. I'll be there with her.
The MRI shows all types of old injuries Ranma received while training that were not treated and just allowed to heal on their own. She wants to repair what she can before Ranko returns to school. Given Ranko's rate of healing she'll be back to doing katas by Monday.
Ranko will be pleased to know that one of the fighters we watched will be here too. She came right after the others left to let Namiko's father know that her arm will be healed enough for to start working in two more weeks and he told her that he expected her to start Monday, she could file reports that had been getting back logged until her arm was fit enough. Mai is pretty and a talented martial artist. She lost getting to the final round due to a broken arm.
I remember Kodachi before she started going to private school she was nice and well mannered I don't know what happened to change her. I do hope she's not in too much trouble and can receive help. I hope you enjoy your training under Elder Cologne Ranko did even though she griped about, she is very good.
I'll let you know as soon as Ranko is out of surgery.
We love you and can't wait to see you again
Kasumi
Kasumi
Some rather unsavoury characters have been asking questions about you and Ranko. I've passed the word around to watch out for them and some feelers as to why they're looking for you.
Genma is still in Korea but he is near the DMZ. He was caught stealing some things and he managed to escape after injuring several people. The Americans are looking for him. It appears he may be headed into North Korea. They are not likely to appreciate him either.
Ichiro
Nodoka
Ranko came out of surgery just fine. The thin sliver turned out to be piece of stiff wire that had a slight twist possibly from a small cable. The piece behind her ear was part of a nail, that had a lot of scar tissue growing on it that would have soon caused trouble. Several pieces of wire similar to the one in her were embedded in her left thigh bone and hip. She also removed all the scar tissue that had built up around them.
The MRI scans Dr Akira did on me leads her to believe that the intrusions may have pressed against Ranma's brain while in male form but she saw no damage. When she is sure it is safe for Ranko to change back she'll do comparative scans just in case.
A friend of ours reports that Genma is near the DMZ and maybe attempting to cross into North Korea. He also say some people are inquiring after us that he does not trust so please keep your eyes open for strangers. If he doesn't trust them then I wouldn't either. Ask Ryu to get in touch with Ichiro, let him I'm asking him to, he'll know who I'm talking about.
Ranko is coming out of recovery now. I'll let you know more as soon as I can.
We love you
Kasumi
Ranko remembers what the wire came from, it was piece of cable Genma was using to teach him to avoid strikes while in the air. She remembers pieces breaking off when he snapped it like a whip and some would hit her. She thought she had removed all of them but didn't remember one hitting her in the head.
The nail she doesn't remember. Genma would pick up sticks and boards that were laying around to teach him to avoid weapon attacks. Whether they had nails or not apparently didn't concern Genma.
Ranko was still groggy and has gone back to sleep and I'm about to also, it has been a long day. The only wound that may take more than a day or two to heal is the one behind the ear as she had to remove some bone to get the scar tissue out. Ranko joked that she always knew she had a hole in her head.
Dear Kasumi and Ranko
Everything has been quite lately. I'm sore and bruised from my workouts with Elder Cologne but I'm much better now than before I stopped training. Maybe one day I'll be able to actually make contact with her, make that one maybe one year. She is continuously showing me how much more I have to learn and pointing out how much I have learned. Nabiki is just as sore and tired as I am and now has a constant smile on her face.
Soun is starting to really spar with her after she slammed him into the wall and berated him for neglecting the three of you for so long. After he hit the wall for the third time he actually started to get serious in his sparring. He is good, not at the level of Elder Cologne or Ranma, but good.
I passed your message to Ryu and after a few telephone calls found out Genma made deals with some very bad people. At night from now on either Ryu or Viper will be here and during the day we maintain a closer watch than before.
Ryouga is aware of where he is now but not why yet. He is helping Shampoo with the cleaning and clearing the tables during the busy part of the day. One man grabbed Shampoo and before she could do anything Ryouga had taken his hand of her in a not so gentle manner and was holding him off the floor. Elder Cologne told him he was no longer welcome and not to come back then Ryouga calmly threw across the street.
Uc-chans is closed for the duration although she cooks and waits tables in the Nekohaten. Uc-chans old customers have followed her to the Nekohaten and brought their friends with them. Business has really picked up enough that I find myself helping out quite often.
Akane still flares up when she sees Ryouga but is controlling it better. Soun is back to teaching her forms and has stopped her brick breaking making her spar instead. Every time she starts to get to aggressive or wild he stops the sparring and makes her meditate explaining that martial arts controlled directed force not brute strength.
I'm glad to hear the surgery was successful and wish I could have been there. I miss you both so much and long to see you again but it is apparent we are being watched. We haven't identified the watchers yet, they stay at a distance. Elder Cologne says it is not Mousse.
I love you and wish I could be there
Nodoka