Ranma ½
Chapter 13
Self Delusion and Self Realization
Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.
First off, I am sorry this chapter took so long; I was constantly adjusting it, trying to bring in more detail and believability in Nabiki's desires to make Ranma's life better.
I would like to first personally thank all of those reviewing my stories. I enjoy reading your comments, and try to correct the grammatical errors I miss with my final read-through as well as my spell checkers. The suggestions you all make will help make this story better for everyone to enjoy, as well as allow my to fix some plot holes I may unintentionally leave.
I find that if I let things sit for a while in my head; I can play them out farther. Plus by trying and keeping my chapters between 2500 and 3000+ words, it helps keep me from making the story slide out of control, turning a diamond to a pile of shit.
I also plan to start sending these out to have someone else proofread them before I post them. Volunteers are welcome. I have found a website (wwwwot-cluborg.uk/RanmaFAQ/arts/special.htmlranma1) where the moves have been listed. Just replace the with /. If I spell them incorrectly, then I apologize, as this is my guide.
If you need help, have questions about why my plot is turning out a certain way, or would like some help to bust through your own writer's block or write a new story on your own, tell me either through e-mail or reviews. I'm glad to help when I can.
Now, on with the show.
Special thanks to Howard Russell for the main conflict idea and the pre-reading.
Ryoga sat before his campfire in the forest, not really certain if he was in Peru or Mongolia, but he did have other things on his mind. Since he had left Nerima, he had been going over his past with one Ranma Saotome, trying to look at things from a disinterested angle.
This all started because of that damn bread. Okay, so I got angry because Ranma always stole my -I mean, the last loaf of bread. Should I be mad at that? I mean, it wasn't my bread until I grabbed it, and he did occasionally share it with me.
Okay, so the bread feud is out. He had as much right to it as I did.
Next was his attitude towards me, always insulting me.
Can't hold that against him either; I remember Genma. I'm surprised Ranma is even allowed to interact with people, let alone has the ability to make friends.
Then there was the duel. He did offer to get me there on time, and I did turn him down, and leave minutes just before the duel, even knowing my cursed sense of direction. Ranma did wait three days until his father knocked him out and dragged him to China.
And of course, I just had to follow.
Ryoga looked at his hands, remembering how they looked while he was in his cursed form. I followed him for two years over a stupid loaf of bread and ended up cursed to turn into a piglet.
Man, I really am an idiot.
Ryoga bent over the fire, grabbing the kettle that was cooking his instant ramen noodles and poured some into a bowl to begin eating. So what do I do now? If I am to be his friend again, I need to stop acting like that. Why is it I see everything he does as an insult to me? I know I didn't have the best of lives, but still, I am a martial artist and I should be above that.
He will have to stop the insulting. Maybe I do it as well, but I have to get over this anger.
Ryoga lowered his head. Anger, that is really what this is about I guess. With Ranma, he was able to last against me long enough for me to burn off my anger. Maybe that's why I followed him. He was what allowed me to release my anger.
Is that all he is, a way for me to vent? Or is he a friend?
He thought back to the times where Ranma helped him to class, to the lunch room, to the fields to spar, even back to his own house.
Were those the actions of a friend?
Ryoga threw his empty cup into the fire and lay down. His head was beginning to hurt from all of this thinking he was doing now.
Akane was mad.
Well, while that might not be new to anyone with more brain cells than your basic goldfish, to see her now would make one wonder what nuclear furnace this new menace to Tokyo crawled out from, since her red aura was melting the sidewalk slightly as she walked home.
For the last few days, she had been somewhat secretly spreading rumors about Ranma around the school.
Well, silently and sneakily are not traits one would associate with the youngest Tendo. While she would never admit to her flaws - let alone admit that any flaw exists in her - she did know how to be careful, as she did not need Nabiki to track this back to her.
The easiest part had been getting Kuno to attack Ranma, which he did almost hourly now. She had sent him a few photos of Ranma in his girl form, with an "anonymous" note stating that the redhead was Ranma's mistress, whom he used regularly for his perverted passions. In her mind, it was the truth: since all boys were perverts and since Ranma had the ability to turn into a girl, then he must be doing perverted things to his body.
"Vile sorcerer, you will release the pure-hearted, pig-tailed girl from your evil and lecherous grasp! I will not allow one such as thee to pervert her innate purity with your foul deeds! How dare you use such foul magics to turn her into little more than a common street whore!"
Akane had to smile at that. Kuno, in his usual stupidity, had claimed to the whole school that the "pig-tailed girl" was a slut whom Ranma had changed from a innocent woman. While few at the school had seen the redhead in person - a weird fact that Ranma had never remained in his cursed form for more than a few seconds as he seemed to always have a thermos with hot water available to him - none but Ranma himself and the two Tendo sisters knew it was really Ranma. It had even been easy enough to play off the discovery of Ranma's girl side as the result of Sasuke spying on the dojo, hoping to strengthen her innocence about the subject. Hell she had even pretended to be Nabiki and sold the perverted kendoist photos of female Ranma showing off her usual lack of modesty - removing her soaked shirt after her father had tossed her into the koi pond – to the perverted kendoist.
She had enjoyed the ice cream and manga that the ¥ 5,000 had bought her.
She knew that, sooner or later, Kuno would be forced to approach Nabiki about buying more photos, as Akane had done it through drop off points so even the insane upperclassman would not think she had had anything to do with it. If he did request more photos from her sister and Ranma was around, she feared he would use his obvious blackmail over her sweet sister and make poor Nabiki do more perverted things as punishment.
But so far her plans had failed. Nabiki was at school vehemently denying that Ranma was any sort of pervert, in fact declaring that Ranma was too pure hearted to be any sort of pervert. And with his thermos, Ranma had been able to hide his curse at school, only spending any time in his cursed form at home. First, he did so to practice with his new body's altered reach, balance, and speed. Second, because he was afraid that if he didn't try and equalize his time in both forms, the Jusenkyo curse would find a way to expose him.
The pervert was even sleeping as a girl now, saying that eight hours of sleep might mean eight hours where cold water didn't seek him out.
While many of the former Hentai Horde had been asking Ranma about the "pig-tailed girl", asking him what kind of things the girl did, he had yet to strike out against them, claiming they were too weak for him as a martial artist to hurt them merely because they couldn't "shut their damn mouths!" But the rumors continued to spread beyond what even Nabiki could control. As a result, the girl was said to be willing to spread her legs for anyone her "Master Ranma" told her to. Then there was the rumor that Ranma and redhead had a child and had already given it up for adoption. There were other such scenarios that were too graphic for even Akane to listen to.
Stopping by the canal, she began to think once again. She needed to expose Ranma, but in the worst possible situation. It needed to be where he would be exposed to as many people as possible - as well as contain any fallout to be his fault as well - where everyone would see how much of a pervert he truly was.
Smiling, she thought of the perfect scenario in which to expose the pervert to the world, and show everyone the true sexual deviant she knew Ranma Saotome to be. She just needed to make a trip to the school later on tonight.
As Kuno flew back against the outer wall of the school, Ranma stood there with his fist forward, anger flowing off him. No matter how many times he gave this asshole a beat-down, he just kept coming back for more, demanding that Ranma free the "pig-tailed girl" from being his sex slave.
"Feeling any better, Ranma?"
Turning towards his fiancée, Ranma tried to force a smile; he always felt better when Nabiki was around him, but this constant barrage about his girl side was wearing his patience thin. "No, actually I'm beginning to lose my calm with the Blue Blunder."
In the background, one could barely hear the meek protest of the said idiot; "I fight on!" He then passed out once again onto the grass.
"Sorry Ranma, but there are just too many rumors for me to backtrack the source from. Whoever started them sure meant to hurt us from what I can tell. The only guess my friends can come up with is that it must be a disgruntled suitor who saw how you acted in your other form, probably saw you sleeping in your room and wearing your clothes and just jumped to conclusions." Recent events were quickly pissing off Nabiki faster than Kuno was pissing off Ranma. She had never had to deal with this in the previous timeline; but then again, Ranma's curse had come out in the open by the third day.
It was now nearly two weeks since the Saotomes had arrived and no one knew of the curse save those who learned of it on day one. But their luck was obviously running out. Nabiki and Ranma had been working on a counter to the rumor: that the girl was actually Ranma's twin sister from Juuban, visiting her brother. It was the best they could come up with: mostly true since his female form was what Ranma would have looked like had he been born a she, and gave a good reason why she didn't go to Furinkan. But the majority of people didn't believe it because Ranma didn't have a photo of them together, let alone the ability to introduce her. It seemed the more they tried to distract them from the horrible rumors, the more the idiots tended to believe them.
"Maybe I should just show everyone and get it over with. At least that way, I'll have some peace."
Nabiki shook her head. "It's up to you, Ranma. Frankly, Kuno wouldn't believe it if he was holding your hand while you changed. When do you want to do it?"
"After school. It'll give me time to figure out what I wanna say ta them. Of course, it'll be hell afterwards, so you better be prepared to get out of here."
"I will be, you just be careful. I don't know who started these rumors, but you can bet they won't be stopped by a little thing like the truth coming out." She was speaking the truth. She had no idea who would do this, but they obviously had luck - and the general chaos that surrounded Ranma - on their side. In truth, Nabiki highly doubted whoever started these rumors had any idea they would go this far. Nabiki herself had already had to deal with several dozen offers from perverts to put them in contact with Ranma's mistress while an equal number of girls were asking her such questions as why she let Ranma have a mistress and a surprising amount of girls asking both if they could have Ranma as well or join the group.
Rubbing her temples, Nabiki made her way towards the building after giving Ranma a chaste kiss on the cheek. By now, her former lieutenants would be waiting for her by her class with news of the new rumors that had appeared since yesterday. It seemed that no matter how many of the rumors they countered or addressed, three more took their place. She did wonder what it would be today: would it be that she was pregnant and thus had to stay with Ranma, or maybe that she was barren and the other girl was to produce an heir, or something so outlandish that she had to balk at the idea someone would believe it.
But then again, this was a school where an insane junior was able to challenge Akane to a morning fighting ritual and get away with it, and convince the male population is was okay to fight her for a date.
When she found out who did this, they would definitely pay in blood.
"Hey, Nabiki, how are you doing?"
The former Ice Queen turned to see her sister walking up; the days of the Hentai Horde long since gone. "About as well as could be expected considering I am one of the targets of the new rumor mill." She maintained her silence for a second before mentioning something weird to Akane. "Sis, why isn't your hair done up in a pony tail?"
Akane began to blush, cursing herself for losing her ribbon last night during the execution of her plan. "I lost it last night while I was running errands. I didn't even notice it until I got home and prepared for bed. I think I'll leave it like this for a while."
Nabiki just shrugged and the two began to make their way inside. There were more important things to worry about than her sister's choice of hairstyles.
For once, Ranma had worked up a sweat in gym. Though he usually outdid all the other students without even breaking a sweat, now he used it to work out his frustration. As the tension of dealing with both Kuno and the horde of boys asking personal questions and comments about his supposed "love slave", to the weird and wide range of comments and questions he received from the females of the class, his temper was about to break.
Turning on the shower closest to the door, he waited for a few minutes for it to warm up, claiming to the other students that if the water was too cold, and it could throw his body into shock. It was amazing that they would believe a stupid excuse like that but think he was sleeping around with two girls which he denied. It wasn't until he stepped under the spray that he heard the warning.
"Man, what the hell? There's no hot water!"
Shit! Ranma immediately felt his body change to a girl. He quickly tried to make his way back to the locker to grab a thermos, hoping that, after the day he had, that there was any hot water left.
Unfortunately for her, several of the boys saw this nude, gorgeous redhead and knew her from the pictures Kuno had been showing around. They immediately - believing all the rumors about her - tried to make for a free grab.
When Ranma was finished with them, they knew that a cast was going to be needed after they reset the bones.
Quickly dressing, after finding out that her thermoses were empty, she quickly made her way outside the locker room to begin a search for hot water, only to find half of the female gym class waiting for her, pulling her out the rest of the way and throwing her against the opposite wall.
"So, the rumors were true! I bet you were trying to 'impress' the other guys, huh?"
"So Ranma wasn't enough for you, huh? You just had to have more men!"
The comments continued, further infuriating the redhead, as the girls seemed just as ready to believe the rumors about her as the guys. Akane is wrong; not just guys are perverts, everyone is a God damned pervert! "Listen here, I am nothing like those worthless rumors make me out to be. Keep this up, and you'll end up worse off than those perverts in the boy's locker room!"
Before the girls could answer, a small explosion was heard, followed by an exposed steam pipes opening up and pouring hot water on Ranma, turning her back into a guy. "I have a damned curse that changes me into a girl, so don't think for a moment I change in my mind." Before he could continue, the sprinkler system turned on, reverting him back into his girl form before their very eyes.
"They're right; any guy that could do that must be a pervert!"
"I bet he changes into a girl and feels himself up!"
The comments continued from there, but were stopped when Ranma put her fist through the wall. "If any of you delusional freaks try and start something with me, or continue to spread these rumors, I will beat you down so bad, that Kuno's IQ will be higher than yours."
Turning away, Ranma walked out, her face pale at what she had just done; even more so at the fact that she hadn't cared.
Ranma made her way outside the school, her eyes wide and breath ragged at what had occurred inside. What the hell is the matter with those people? They don't even know me and they automatically judged me for what happened. And when they found out I was both the pig-tailed girl and Ranma…
Those worthless bitches turned on me quicker than pops at an all-you-can-eat buffet, and some of them were friends.
Why did this have to happen to me?
"Ah, my beloved pig-tailed goddess. So at last you have made an appearance before me to ask for my assistance in ridding you of the slovenly cretin who imprisons your mind and abuses your body with his touch most foul."
Not now! Anyone but him, and certainly not now! "Kuno, I ain't got any time for your stupidity or delusions. I've had a rough day. Keep it up and I will take it out on you." That said, Ranma's mood darkened, her face conveying her anger and strife to all those around.
Well, conveying it to all those who could grasp such simple concepts as up and down. Unfortunately, Kuno was not such a person. "Alas, I cannot ignore the plight of such beauty that yearns for my presence. We must embrace so that my divine presence may erode the evil that the horrid sorcerer Ranma Saotome has imbued into your holy shell. Come to me, pig-tailed girl!"
As Kuno rushed Ranma, the pig tailed girl finally snapped. The stress of the last few days, and what had just occurred in the locker room, was more than enough to break her mind, and allow her to take her rage out on the delusional man now trying to molest her.
Several students, including several of the girls and boys who had confronted Ranma outside of the locker rooms, watched as the girl slowly picked Kuno apart, wincing at the sounds of contact as Ranma screamed at him, repeating answers and denials to the rumors that had been spread about her after every punch and kick she delivered to the upperclassman.
"I AM NOT YOUR GIRLFRIEND!"
"I AM NOT SOME COMMON SLUT!"
"I AM A VIRGIN!"
"I AM NOT SOME LOOSE WHORE!"
"I HAVE NEVER SLEPT WITH ANYONE! I ONLY HAD MY FIRST KISS A FEW DAYS AGO!"
Ranma would have continued bashing Kuno, who was now on the ground moaning in pain, when something caught her eye. She reached down, her left hand still grasping Kuno's left arm in preparation for a forceful dislocation, and picked up a set of pictures.
"Those…mine…tokens…love." Kuno was slowly returning to consciousness.
Ranma looked at the photos in horror. Some of the pictures were of Akane working out. But the others were pictures of herself, topless. The anger inside Ranma began to grow again. Turning back to Kuno, she placed her left foot across his throat and began to press. "Who gave you pictures of me? Who sold them to you?"
Ranma increased the pressure on the kendoist, repeating the questions over and over, until finally…
"Nabiki…"
Ranma removed her foot. "What did you say?"
"I purchased the photos of my loves from Nabiki Tendo."
"No, that's not possible!"
Ranma turned to see that that statement had come from the mentioned woman, her eyes wide with fear. "I may have sold you photos of my sister, but I never sold any of her."
Ranma never heard that though, she just looked into the eyes of her fiancée. She knew that Kuno was telling the truth; his eyes gave it away. But Nabiki's eyes, they were unreadable; something she had practiced for years while she acquired money for the family. So Ranma did the only thing she could do. Her tears began to streak down her face and she took off, the pictures still in hand, ripping them up as she left the school grounds in amazing speed.
Nabiki just stood there, tears on her own face, before turning towards the school. "I am going to find out who did this to us, Ranma, and they will pay!"
Nabiki was down in the remains of the boiler room, trying to find some clue as to why they would explode like that. Right now her best guess made her suspect someone had tried to shut off the hot water to get Ranma exposed, as it had happened in the boy's locker room from the new rumors going around. But whoever did it obviously either had not the patience to find out how to do it right or the expertise to do it correctly, resulting in the increased pressure that ruptured the lines and the boilers.
This is obviously the work of an amateur; anyone with at least a hint of professionalism would have planned better than this. If they were serious about it, they would merely have shut off the hot water to the showers. Instead it looks like they closed off some of the main pipes and forgot to leave the pressure release valve open. The only good thing to come of this is that school will be closed for the next few days while they repair it.
Stopping a moment, Nabiki closed her eyes and tried to get used to the dark again, trying to allow her senses to reach out and find some clue. No, she was doing it now to try and force herself past the pain she had seen in Ranma's eyes when he found those photos of his girl side on Kuno; when that bastard had told Ranma he had purchased them from Nabiki.
Those eyes…they showed so much pain and betrayal. I told him I had nothing to do with his photos. I admitted to selling the ones of Akane.
But will he believe me?
Will he lose his faith in me?
Nabiki brought her hand to her face, trying to dry up the tears that were falling. In only a few short seconds, she had watched as the man she loved lost his respect for her felt his heart break, because a delusional man thought she had sold some photos.
This isn't right; it's not supposed to be like this. We didn't do anything to deserve this.
She had every right to believe that Akane had already made it home, and if her attitude lately was to be expected, she would quickly make it look like Ranma's fault, to which the old farts would quickly agree since their father never could doubt his youngest daughter. Now she would have to deal with them as well as the inevitable consequences from Ranma's exposure in the boy's shower.
And to top it all off, the man she loved more than her own life now thought of her as a betrayer of his fragile trust.
This day just kept getting worse.
She turned to leave, giving up on finding a clue when something caught her eye. In all the dirt and grime of the basement, she saw a tattered white ribbon stuck on a pipe. She moved closer and carefully removed it, noticing it still had some hairs on it. Thinking it was her breakthrough, she made her best speed out of the basement and into the daylight.
What she discovered shocked her to her very core.
The ribbon had several long strands of blue hair still stuck to it.
Before she could get farther along her thoughts, she was interrupted by Sasuke. "Excuse me, Mistress, but Master Kuno wishes to discuss the procurement of additional photos of his two loves, as Master Saotome destroyed his previous pictures."
Her voice was devoid of all emotion, her head hung low, causing her bangs to obscure her eyes even for one such as the small Sasuke. "Sasuke, how did he get the photos of the pig-tailed girl?"
"They were left in his shoe locker with a note that asked for ¥ 5,000 to be left in an empty locker at the end of the hall. I must admit that I, myself, was confused at this is not how you have normally done business with Master Kuno."
Nabiki's eyes shot wide, the implications finally hitting her. "Sasuke, inform Kuno that I will not be selling him any pictures of either of his loves. Also inform him that the pig-tailed girl is named Ranko Saotome; she is Ranma's twin sister. She will never love Kuno because of the way he has treated her honorable brother and his utter failure at being a man instead of a little child lost in a fantasy world. Finally, inform him that if he should bother me or either of the Saotome children any further about pictures or unwanted advances of love or hatred, I will crush his testicles like seedless grapes. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Mistress." He was now scared, as he had seen Nabiki tighten her fist around a white ribbon to the point her fingernails were cutting her palm, releasing a small flow of blood.
"Good. Now if you will excuse me, I must deal with a betrayer of my trust in as violent a way as possible." Nabiki walked away, her eyes showing the anger that was building in her soul. She barely got ten feet away from the diminutive ninja before a blood red battle aura surrounded her.
Meanwhile the ninja was making his way back to the Kuno mansion to deliver her message. I don't know who betrayed her, but I feel sorry for what they have brought upon themselves. She reminds me of Mistress Kodachi when the school informed her that she could no longer bring Mr. Turtle to school.
Akane was smiling since she had come back. She had returned an hour earlier, after the school was shut down for the boiler explosion, silently gloating in the success of her plan to break up Ranma and Nabiki. She had been able to catch the end of his fight with Kuno, feeling more righteous after watching how he brutalized Kuno.
As usual, the fathers were playing their game of Go, Akane was sitting at the table reading one of her newer manga, while Kasumi was in the kitchen working on lunch.
Of course what happened next was anything but usual.
"YOU WORTHLESS, SELF-CONCEITED BITCH!"
Akane just had enough time to see the hatred in Nabiki's eyes before Nabiki caught her with a vicious right hook across her face.
If I messed anything up, then let me know including typos.
Any suggestions on how I should continue the story or improve it would also be accepted.
Also, if you have any suggestions for how this should go, let me know. My own imagination, while vast, always enjoys a new thought. Also, catch me if you don't think I am making the characters true to form, or a way to make them better.