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The Long and Winding Road.
Book 1: The Truth Behind the Neko-Ken
Chapter 2: Friends.
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Disclaimer: All the characters used so far in this story do not belong to me. They are the property of their respective owners and I am only borrowing them for a short while (okay, so the short while is a lie since I don't know how long it'll take me to finish my planned storylines). In the future more characters will be introduced some who will be my own creation while others will belong to their respective creators.
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"Hehe, I can't wait to see the look on her face when she sees that I beat her to the living area," Thought Ranma as she jumped down from the roof. Ranma casually slid open the front door and quickly stepped around the corner into the living area where she saw Yoh on a beanie watching TV.
Yoh turned to see that she just walked in and waved. "Hey, would you like to watch some TV?" Ranma looked at the screen seeing that there was a martial arts tournament being shown on the screen. She promptly took a seat on the floor and while watching the screen went upside down onto her head into the lotus position. Yoh looked curiously at what was to him an unusual way to sit. "Isn't that uncomfortable?" Yoh asked.
Ranma did a handstand and turned so she was facing Yoh before going back onto her head. "No, I actually find it quite comfortable." She did another handstand and turned back towards the TV before once again balancing on her head and elbows.
Yoh turned back to the screen and continued watching it. After a few minutes he stood up and took another look at Ranma seeing that she seemed unimpressed by something. Yoh shook his head and continued to the kitchen to get a glass of water.
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Yoh walked into the kitchen seeing his mother cooking the meal. He walked over to the cabinet and grabbed a glass before pouring himself a glass of water.
Anna walked into the kitchen at this time and began chopping some vegetables that were on the counter. She continued working on the veggies until Yoh's mother interrupted her. "So how's our guest Anna?" She inquired with a smile on her face.
"She seemed pretty calm if I must say so. She kind of reminded me of Yoh with the attitude she seemed to show on the way there. She should be here in a few minutes she was unpacking a few things when I left from opposite side of the estate."
Yoh put down his glass. "Did you end up dawdling or something Anna?" He asked.
"No, I came straight here." She said giving him a questioning look.
"Well, so you know, she's been in the living room for the last eight minutes watching a martial arts tournament on TV with me." He said pointing his thumb over his head towards the living room.
Anna face-faulted.
"That can't be." She said giving Yoh a skeptic look while she got up. "I only left her there about ten minutes ago." Yoh closed his eyes and shrugged his shoulders.
"If you don't believe me then why don't you go take a look for yourself?" Anna and his mother both walked to the edge of the kitchen and looked into the living area where they did see Ranma still watching TV in the lotus position. Yoh listened as Anna's jaw hit the ground.
This caught Ranma's attention and she did the same handstand turning maneuver turning to face Anna and Yoh's mother. "Hi," Was all Ranma said before readjusting herself to face the TV again wearing the same bored look.
Inside Ranma was laughing her head off at the look he saw on Anna's face. He knew she'd be surprised but he never thought that in his life he would literally see someone's jaw hit the ground while they were standing upright.
In a manner of seconds things continued as they were before: Ranma continued watching TV, Yoh came out of the kitchen and returned to his bean chair to continue watching, and Yoh's mother went back into the kitchen to continue cooking. While everyone did this, Anna just continued staring in shock at Ranma.
Yohmei walked into the living room and looked at Yoh and Ranma watching TV. 'I believe that is the Lotus position that the young girl is sitting in. She must be a martial artist.' He looked at her for a few seconds more before deciding to offer their guest a drink. "Excuse me Ranma?" He inquired. Ranma did his handstand turn until she was facing him.
"Yes, Mr. Asakura?" She answered while lowering herself back into the full lotus position.
"I was on my way to the kitchen and wanted to know if you'd like a glass of water or something?"
"Yes please sir. That would be nice." Yohmei watched as Ranma did another handstand turning back to the TV. He chuckled to himself.
When he turned towards the kitchen he noticed Anna frozen in the same look of shock she had been in for the last five minutes. He walked up to her and snapped his fingers in front of her face. She didn't budge. He chuckled to himself again. "That's weird; she has never been shaken to this point. Yohmei followed the path her eyes seemed to follow and realized that she was staring at Ranma again. Once he realized this he just took one more look at her then continued his trek into the kitchen where he got Ranma and himself glasses of water and returned to the living room where he sat down in a bean chair next to Ranma handing her one of the two glasses.
Yohmei watched with a little surprise as Ranma, in a single fluid motion, returned to a cross legged seating position on the ground without spilling a single drop of water from the glass. This time instead of chuckling he burst out into a hardy laugh which earned him looks from Yoh and Ranma. "That's it." He said continuing to laugh. "Now I definitely know that you are a martial artist of incredible skill." He said this pointing his finger at Ranma. "Everything from the way you move to the way you were watching TV in the Lotus position. I figured you were one when I first saw you in that position, but the two big tips that convinced me were how you seemed somehow bored watching the competitors and how easily you returned to this cross-legged position without spilling the water you're holding right now." Ranma gave Yohmei a surprised look before giving her own little laugh.
"Quite frankly, I'm surprised that someone was able to pick me out as more then a normal martial artist so soon." She said now pointing her index finger at Yohmei. Ranma looked over her shoulder and saw that Anna was still in her frozen state. He turned his finger to her. "Shouldn't someone wake her? She seems to have fainted when she saw me here." Yohmei gave another hearty laugh, and Yoh looked back at Anna and then watched his grandfather and the girl.
"Ranma and I were watching TV for about eight minutes before Anna got back from showing Ranma her room. She said that she'd of left Ranma there at her room ten minutes before she got to the kitchen. This is what happened," He pointed his thumb at Anna. "when she saw Ranma here in that upside down position." Yoh turned back to the TV to see someone get knocked out by a kick to the head. He winced. "That had to hurt."
Ranma just shrugged her shoulders. "I could've dodged that kick any time." Yohmei just chuckled to himself as he turned to watch the fights.
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During a commercial break Ranma decided to go outside for some fresh air. Ranma closed her eyes and took a deep breath expanding her senses as she did so to sense all of the people on the estate. She sensed Ryo walking around the yard on the other side of the building she was standing outside of, back in the kitchen and living quarters Ranma was able to sense Anna, Yoh, his mother, and Yohmei all sitting there watching TV. There was an unfamiliar aura in the area though. It held a feeling of power, nearly as powerful as Yoh's though not quite equal. This person had a feel to their aura that said that they'd of led a hard life to this point. Ranma walked back inside for a moment and let everyone know that he'd be stepping out for a bit. Yoh decided that he wanted to walk around for a bit and offered to go with Ranma. Ranma turned him down at first, but the way Yoh talked he was able to convince Ranma to let him tag along.
Ranma and Yoh headed outside where to Yoh's surprise Ranma didn't head out of the front gate and instead started walking across the estate towards the west wall. (A/N: I'm assuming that the main gate is on the south wall.) Yoh followed after a second. "What're you going over here for Ranma? The only exit is at the south gate."
Ranma leaned against the wall and put her index finger to her lips to silence Yoh and motioned for him to lean against the wall next to her. After a few seconds Yoh complied and he gave Ranma a questioning look. Ranma held up her hand and began counting off her fingers. 3, 2, 1.
Yoh listened as he heard a scurrying noise as someone was trying to climb the wall behind them. Yoh grinned as he pointed to the wall and Ranma made another silencing gesture. They listened for a few more seconds before Ren jumped down from the top of the wall and landed in front of them with his back to them. Ranma turned to Yoh for a second with a big grin on her face and pointed to Ren who still had his back to them. Ranma watched as what looked like a ghost in a heavy set of armor appeared by Ren. Bason turned to Len and was about to say something when he noticed Yoh leaning against the wall with a red head girl right next to him.
"Excuse me Lord Ren?" Bason spoke for the first time.
"Not now Bason, I want to get the jump on Yoh this time."
"But, sir." The ghost pleaded.
"No buts Bason. We must get closer to the living quarters. That's where Yoh probably is being the slack that he is." Upon hearing this Ranma pointed at Ren again. Yoh put on a grin and nodded before starting to walk up behind Ren.
Ren was still walking towards the living quarters but Yoh was following only about five feet behind him with Ranma following a little behind him. Bason was floating by his master shooting looks over his shoulder at the two following his unaware master.
Ranma was thinking that this was hilarious. He couldn't believe that this Ren guy hadn't of seen his followers yet. 'We're wide in the open and he doesn't notice us following him.' He looked at the two again comparing what he sensed in their auras. 'Yep, this guy doesn't stand a chance against Yoh. Maybe I'll have a little fun with him later.'
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Finally reaching the living quarters on the estate Len snuck up to the window that looked into the living quarters. When he looked in he was surprised. "Maybe he went into the kitchen." Ren snuck over a few more windows with both Ranma and Yoh following three feet behind him wearing two of the silliest grins you could ever see. When he scanned the kitchen he was surprised to see that Yoh wasn't in there either. "Could he actually be training?"
"Um, sir?" Bason spoke again.
"Not now Bason, I must find Yoh."
"Sir, he's right behind us." At that Ren turned around to see Ranma and Yoh standing there looking like they were ready to laugh. When they saw his face they did just that. They burst into laughter falling on the ground and rolling around. "I tried to tell you before master, but they've been right behind us ever since we jumped the western wall." At that statement Ren's face turned red and he started shouting. Ranma and Yoh couldn't make it out though since they were still laughing so hard. Ranma sobered up though when he saw Ren pull out his pike and dash at them. Yoh also noticed Ren's charge but was surprised to see that it came to a complete stop. Yoh blinked before he noticed that there was a set of feet in Ren's face. It took a second more for Yoh to realize that Ranma was no longer behind him and that it was Ranma's feet that were in Ren's face. Ranma was in a tucked position balancing on his face. After another second Ranma used Ren as a springboard knocking him down into the ground as Ranma took to the air and landed back behind Yoh.
Over on the porch Yohmei watched as Ranma jumped off of Ren's face. He blinked a few times. "I didn't even see her move. One second standing about five meters away from the charging Ren and the next second her feet were in his face." He chuckled to himself. "I guess she wasn't kidding when she said she could've dodged that guys kick on the TV."
Yoh was still looking back and forth between Ranma and Ren. He was shocked at the incredible speed the girl displayed. He suddenly recovered and ran over to Ren rolling him over to see the shoe prints that were on his face accompanied by the bleeding nose that he had. "Ranma, could you promise me something?"
"Sure, I don't see why not." She replied.
"Please don't do that to my other friends when they arrive." Ranma face-faulted.
"He's your friend?" Ranma half shouted as she pulled herself off the ground.
Bason floated over to Ren's unconscious form. "Yes, they're friends. It's just that with the way he was raised he doesn't know how to properly be a friend. He usually ends up getting into arguments and fights with them but he's been happier since he became friends with Yoh and the others."
Yoh nodded in agreement to Bason's summary. "He's right; I was naturally a loaner when I was younger. All of the children at school called me devil boy and shunned me. About six months ago I finally made my first friend and I am happy with how things are going. I'm hoping that while you're staying here with the family that we'll be able to become friends too." Yoh extended his hand towards Ranma and smiled.
Ranma didn't know what to say. She had never of had any friends for that long. His father had always taken her away from them before he got a chance to actually make any true friends, always referring to friends as a martial artist's weakness. At that time Ranma suddenly realized that his father wasn't around. He'd of left Ranma for dead when he went crazy during the Neko-Ken training. A few tears came to Ranma's eyes as she realized that for the first time in her life it was possible for her to make some real friends. 'Martial artists don't cry' she told herself before wiping away the tears on her face.
Yoh was getting worried that Ranma wasn't taking the offered hand. He was wondering if he'd of said something wrong and got really worried when he noticed the tears in the girls eyes. He watched for a few more seconds. He heard her mutter something about Martial Artists never crying as she began wiping the tears from her eyes. After a few more seconds she took the offered hand and shook it. "Friends." She said.
Yoh grinned. "Good. Now friend, could you please help me get my other friend here into the house."
Back on the porch Yohmei wiped a tear from his eye as he watched the end of the exchange between the two. 'It's great that they're becoming friends.' He gained a serious look. 'I wonder why she began to cry though when Yoh made the offer.'
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Within the next hour Yoh's other friends arrived. Horohoro and Perka arrived and were introduced to Ranma followed shortly after by Manta. When all were present they sat around the knee table for the meal.
Everyone was enjoying the meal, except for two individuals who were deep in thought over separate actions performed by a certain pig-tailed red head. Yohmei chuckled to himself watching Anna and Ren, who still had the shoe prints on his face. 'I don't blame those two for being disturbed.' He looks over to Ranma who was eating at a quick pace. 'This child is beyond any of them. She's quick, strong, and displays a great amount of skill in everything down to the way she moves.' He took up a serious look. 'Even though she does move in that manner, it seems that she's still getting used to her body. I wonder about that though. How could she not be used to her body, if she has been living with it all of her life?'
Ranma was looking around the table enjoying being around so many happy people. This was something that she never remembered doing before. She looked around at all of the faces noticing the cold stares coming from Anna and Ren. To him Anna's stare was more prominent though, and she decided to address her first. "May I ask you a question Anna?"
She quirked her eyebrow before replying, "You can ask, but I can't guarantee that I'll answer." Yohmei shook his head at her reaction.
"What did I do to get this cold attitude from you?"
"You should very well know. You did the impossible and won't explain how you did it."
"You could've just asked. Yoh and Mr Asakura here know how." Ranma replied with her eyes closed and resting her elbow on the table.
If she had her eyes open, she would've seen the half full cup of tea flying at her. When it collided dumping all of its contents on Ranma's head everyone at the table gasped. Where there was a young red headed girl sitting was now a black haired man who was about four inches taller. He effortlessly caught the tea cup that ran into his head and was looking around the table. He sighed to himself.
"Now this is crappy."
Silence reigned supreme for the next several seconds. During this time if someone looked outside the window behind Ranma they would've noticed a few tumbleweeds rolling by, though that would cause one to wonder what the hell a group of tumbleweeds were doing in Japan.
Yohmei was the first to recover who began laughing which brought everyone else out of their shocked states. Ranma was sitting there with his eyes closed taking a few slow breaths. Everyone except Yoh and Yohmei started asking questions at the same time. Upon seeing Ranma's annoyed expression Yohmei tapped his cane on the table to silence all of the questioning people.
"I am sure that there is a good explanation for why there is now a man sitting at the table instead of a girl but I'm sure that judging by his expression he isn't ready to answer any questions." He looked around at everyone. They were all staring at him except Yoh and Ranma who had their eyes closed and were picking at their food. "I'll have a talk with him later, but until then I'm sure he'd prefer it if you all didn't interrupt his meal." With that statement everyone sobered up and resumed their meal while shooting the occasional questioning look at Ranma.
Once finished his meal Ranma stood and began walking for the shogi door that led out to the yard. Once he was outside Yoh stood and also headed for that direction.
"Yoh," It was Yohmei that stopped him. "I don't want you to go out there right now. I'm sure that our guest would appreciate the time to calm down after dealing with everyone else here." With that statement he swept a glare across all of the people who were still sitting down. Yoh turned to Yohmei and gave a smile.
"I know that he needs time to recover. I'm just going to go and be the friend I promised him I would be." With that said Yoh turned and walked through the shogi doors and closed them behind him.
Yohmei closed his eyes and smiled to himself. 'You really are growing up Yoh.'
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Once Ranma was outside he took a quick look around spotting a koi pond with a few large rocks around it. He smiled to himself and walked over to the pond then looked into it. He watched his reflection for a few seconds before he gave a very shallow bow to it. Once that was done he turned around and took a few steps away from it.
Yoh was sitting down leaning against the outer wall of the house. He watched as Ranma bowed to the koi pond and took a few steps back. Yoh was confused as to what Ranma was doing. He continued pondering it until Ranma threw a punch. Ranma flowed from the punch into a side kick, after that he went into a complicated dance of punches and kicks that left Yoh speechless. He heard the shogi door open beside him and watched as his grandpa stepped out and quietly sat down beside Yoh. They were able to hear the chatter of the others inside but their minds were not listening to them. Yohmei was just as caught up in Ranma's intricate dance. They continued watching for a few more minutes until Ranma came to a halt. Ranma held his stance for a few seconds before leaving his pose and bowing back towards the Koi pond.
When Ranma turned around he noticed the two male Asakura's sitting on the porch. They clapped their hands as Ranma started towards them.
"That was a splendid show." Yohmei was the first to speak while Yoh nodded his head in agreement. "I apologize for the people inside. I'm sure that no one meant to offend you with their stares and questions."
Yoh stood up and walked over to Ranma. He put his hands on Ranma's shoulder. "That was Jusenkyo wasn't it?" To say that Ranma was surprised by the question would've been an understatement.
"How'd you know about…"
"Jusenkyo?" Yohmei interrupted him. "As you've probably figured out we are a family of Shaman's and being so, we have a vast knowledge of things magical in nature."
"Shamans?" Ranma had a questioning look. "I've never even heard of em." With that statement both Yoh and Yohmei face-faulted.
Yoh and Yohmei started laughing as they resumed their sitting positions. When they noticed Ranma's annoyed look they sobered up. "Sorry Ranma." Yohmei was the one who said this. "It's just that we find it funny that you are able to see spirits and know nothing of the type of people that are able to." Ranma looked deep in thought for a few seconds before a smirk broke out on his face and he laughed himself for a few seconds.
"I believe I see where you are coming from." Ranma said while letting out his last few chuckles. "I'm just not good at dealing with people." Ranma sighed. "You'd expect that if you knew how my life has been." Ranma said this while lowering his head so that his banes covered his eyes.
Silence reigned supreme for the next few seconds while Yoh and Yohmei exchanged worried looks. Yoh stood up and walked over to Ranma where he stood beside his new friend. When he was about to put his hand on Ranma's shoulder he suddenly found his wrist held by a firm hand. When he looked down at Ranma he noticed that Ranma just tensed before letting go of Yoh's wrist and sat down on the ground.
"I'm sorry. My stupid father is the one responsible for the way I grew up and act around others. I just find myself taking any form of physical contact as a threat of harm."
To say that Yoh and Yohmei were shocked would have been an understatement. They couldn't believe that anyone could've been raised in a way that caused their very base reactions to something like that as a threat.
"Would you like to talk about it, Ranma?" Yohmei asked with a smile on his face that showed volumes to Ranma.
"I'm also here if you'd like." Ranma looked up at Yoh who had a similar smile to Yohmei's but Yoh's was much brighter.
'Are these two for real?' Ranma asked himself as he looked back and forth between the two faces that seemed to warrant a feeling of calm and salvation.
'These two are the first people who have ever shown such kindness to me after they knew about my curse.' Ranma began to look thoughtful for a second.
'They never called me a freak.'
'They didn't run in fear.'
'Hell, they even came out here to try and comfort me.'
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After a few seconds Ranma's head hung back low which caused them to become worried further.
'I trust them.' With that thought a smile much like theirs showed up on Ranma's face. He nodded to the two before replying. "That would be nice."
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End Chapter 2
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Before I say anything else I just want to mention that in this chapter I had Ranma give a shallow bow to his reflection in the Koi pond. Before questions are asked in reviews I want to say that the way Ranma reacts to reflections of himself will show how he feels about himself at that point in time. The depth of his bow will be used as a way of showing how much respect he has for himself at the time. The deeper the bow Ranma does will be a symbol of greater respect.
All right now for a quick look of the start of the next chapter so that no one is confused. It will be one week after the end of this chapter. Ranma will have told his past to Yoh and Yohmei. (I'm doing this so I don't bore you all with yet another recap of what happened in Ranma's ten year training trip with his father.) Just so you know it is the whole training trip, but in this story Genma abandoned Ranma for dead after Ranma was put through the neko-ken training. Ranma ends up following the planned training trip through winding up getting himself cursed still after tripping into the Spring of Drowned Girl himself. After that Ranma learns that his father is more than likely to have headed back to Japan so he chose to head that way too not knowing where else to go. The next chapter will be the starting point of when the neko-ken is really brought into play.
As for how my posting is going to work I will not be posting a next chapter until the one after is done. (for those of you who just got confused, I'll be posting chapter 3 when I'm finished 4, posting 4 when I'm finished 5, etc.) This way it'll be easier for me to make changes to a previous chapter if necessary in order to make something in a chapter work. However, once a book is finished it'll stay unedited until I decide to do a revision if I decide to do one. Until next time, I hope you all enjoy and please rate and review. (Helpful criticism welcome. Just please don't be too offensive.)
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Written by: Cloud1239999
