Disclaimer: Any resemblance of anyone, Living dead or fictional in this story is coincidental. The cast of characters in Ranma ½ belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.
"Hungry, so hungry." Ranma looked at the meager yen he had in his pocket and then walked to school.
Leaving without a lunch from the Tendo dojo and not having a breakfast because of an accident putting Kasumi in the hospital.
Kasumi was more like a mother to him than his own had been, and now all he could see was loss. Loss of food, loss of the one person that truly cared about him in the house; not as a prize, moneymaker or son-in-law.
At that exact instant, Kasumi awoke in her hospital bed. As she looked around; she saw all these charts she could barely understand. She was aware of a male presence in the room.
"Good morning, Miss Tendo; here is your breakfast." The pleasant man handed her a tray.
The not-so young man walked out. "What a nice young man." Kasumi thought
"One deed is done, many more to go. Maybe I shall see what I can fix elsewhere in Nerima." Said the man
Simultaneously, all of the Nerima Wrecking Crew had a chill run down their spines.
Later in the day, a man arrives in front of the Tendo dojo.
"Ah, this is the place all that chaos is coming from. I must find a way to fix this."
He pondered. "Aha, it is fully time for me to become mineself once again!"
The strange man stepped into an alleyway and took out a rather ratty, old booklet of sheet music and an equally ratty looking guitar-shaped instrument.
He opened to a page and struck the first chord. Magic swirled around him and continued as he kept playing the first verse. Where once stood the altruistic Joshua Smythe; now stood the Minstrel, master of music!
As he finished playing, he selected a second; perhaps more obscure song that would draw to him the one that needed the most attention.
As he began to play, a sound came from the dojo. A truly terrifying sound; a warcry that harmed the skald's sense of music.
"RANMA NO BAKA!" a human projectile exited the building, clearing the musical master's head by a good 2000 feet.
Unperturbed, he continued playing; shortly thereafter the door of the dojo opened and out stepped a vision of beauty; in a manner of speaking. She was no harlot, not by the way she dressed. But she moved a part of his soul, true she was a commoner to the Lord of Lyrics. That had caused him to miss a note on the musical magic, she quickly disappeared.
Inside the Tendo dojo, Nabiki looked over to her father and Genma playing shogi.
"There's a strange man outside playing a guitar." Nabiki said.
Soun and Genma continued playing shogi
The sound drew Nabiki outside and she stood next to the luring lyric.
The Minstrel slipped into a song that as yet was untried. It made a single target subject to a charm desire to be near the charmer even after the charm wore off.
Just as he finished the last verse on the song, a fuming redhead passed by.
A/N: I need at least three reviews to write the next chapter. Should Nabiki fall in love with the Minstrel? Should the Kuno family cause their usual trouble for him? Review with your answers and how long you think this should be.
