Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½, or anything else you may recognize. Not a dime is being made of this story and is for entertainment purposes only. Enjoy!
A/N: I know I'm gonna get flamed for this chapter, but I dun care, I can use 'em ta toast marshmallows. Just a reminder, this is an AU, so characters are OOC, not that any writer other than Takahashi can make a perfectly cannon story, but I'm not trying either. So : o P Anywho, hope you enjoy the chapter anyway!
Chapter 2
"Thank Kami I got Nabiki paid off finally, now I don't need ta worry about settin' aside any more money ta pay her off," Ranma muttered to himself as he walked towards the guest room. He'd taken more time than he initially hoped to in paying her off, but after working out a budget that he'd need when he decided to move out Ranma realized it'd be better to have the full expenses set aside right away. That way if something happened later he wouldn't need to worry about coming up with any money he was short.
Ranma had worked out a deal with Keiosu so he wouldn't have to find a place to actually hide the money. She would hold onto it for him, for a small price of course, and he could request money whenever he needed it. Deciding to get out of the house for now Ranma grabbed a spare set of shoes from his pack and leapt out the window. It didn't matter if he told anyone he was leaving, because they didn't appear to care anymore. He didn't have a real destination in mind, just wandered around aimlessly for the better part of an hour, but, of course, that's when his luck ran out.
"Airen," Shampoo shouted as she leapt towards him in an attempt to glomp him. Ranma normally could have sidestepped the attempt but he was shaken out of his internal thoughts when he heard her shout so he was taken off guard. Shampoo, as always, snaked her arms around him as she ground her…assets into her beloved in hopes of seducing him. Or at least that's what Ranma assumed was her thought process. "Airen take Shampoo on date, yes," she asked, well, more like demanded in a cute voice.
"Let go of him you hussy," Ukyo shouted from down the street before advancing towards the now on guard Shampoo.
"Spatula-girl leave Shampoo and Airen alone," Shampoo snarled. She definitely was getting sick of the constant rivalry between the three of them, but for her Airen she'd put up with anything.
"I'm not going to let you drag him off so you can have your way with him sugar, so ya might as well forget that thought right now," Ukyo deadpanned.
"I knew it! You're out here hanging out with your floozies," Akane shouted enraged. Ranma was her property, he wasn't allowed to be with any of the others.
"A-Akane, it's not what it looks like," Ranma stuttered. Man I wish I could talk straight when I get in these situations, Ranma griped in his mind.
"Sure it isn't, and I suppose you were just minding your own business when Shampoo came along, YEAH RIGHT! RANMA NO BAKA," she shouted before driving him to the ground with a mallet strike to the head.
"Saotome, you villainous cur, today is the day I shall smite thee," Kuno yelled as he charged towards the fight that was just beginning with the Kuno family blade unsheathed. For some reason or another, instead of the girls fighting each other, they appeared to be competing as to who could injure Ranma the most. Ukyo didn't appear to be trying as much as the other two, but she got a few good strikes in as well.
"Ranma Saotome, for hurting my darling Shampoo I will defeat you," Mousse shouted as he too joined the fray with chains, spikes, and blunt objects leading the way.
"RANMA, PREPARE TO DIE," Ryoga shouted his familiar battle cry before using the breaking point on the ground right under Ranma so all the debris would hit Ranma's back. Ranma leapt to his feet preparing to dodge just as Kuno was about to strike again, but unfortunately due to the earlier hits he wasn't keeping track of his surroundings as usual. Just as he got to his feet Mousse's chains wrapped around him holding him perfectly still just long enough for Kuno to bury his blade guard deep into Ranma's chest. Consequently it also meant the blade was coming out the other side, and this sight made everyone freeze. Before anyone could move to do anything, whether it be help or insure his demise, Ranma pushed his ki into his limbs and used the extra power to break the chains holding him. This act pushed everyone, including Kuno and his sword, back a few meters as they tried to avoid the shrapnel. The fight didn't last much longer after that. Ranma used the adrenaline and his ki to speed up his movements to the point where he could either knock out or away everyone that was attacking him. The fiancée brigade ended up in the latter category due to the fact it would take less force to knock them away then to knock them out. By the time the battle field was clear Ranma had blood running down his front and back staining his clothes all the way to the bottom of his pants.
"Glad…(huff…huff)…That's over," Ranma panted before he began limping towards the dojo. Regardless of how Kasumi treated him before he knew she wouldn't refuse to help him now. He could tell he wasn't mortally wounded, but it was a close thing.
(Break)
"I'm home," Akane called as she walked in. She was limping, favoring her right leg, while heading towards her room.
"Oh my, what happened," Kasumi asked concerned.
"That baka was flirting with Ukyo and Shampoo and didn't take his punishment like he should have," Akane replied, although the latter half of the statement was quietly muttered to the point Kasumi didn't hear it.
"That's not nice, he shouldn't be doing that," Kasumi replied before turning to go back to working on dinner. When she turned she saw Ranma stagger inside and she instantly frowned at him. If he was going to flirt with other girls he wasn't going to get any sympathy from her.
"Kasumi, can ya help me," Ranma practically pleaded. He was running low on energy after staggering all the way back to the dojo while diverting ki to his wounds to help them heal sooner.
"Ranma-san, I would ask that you please do not track anymore blood in than you already have, it's hard enough to get out the little bit that I do on a daily basis without you tracking in large amounts," she told him while completely disregarding his question.
"K-Kasumi," he asked shocked, while Kasumi didn't say it cold, per say, he could tell the worry in her voice was only about the amount of work she'd have if he came inside any further. He couldn't believe his ears.
"If you need help see Dr. Tofu, that is what his office is for after all," she scolded before continuing her trek into the kitchen. Ranma noticed Akane standing there with a smug grin on her face and his head immediately drooped before he turned and began his staggering walk towards Tofu's.
"Ranma, are you okay," Tofu called from down the street.
"Hey Doc, was just coming to see ya," Ranma rasped out. It was getting harder to do anything, let alone talk, and the last thing Ranma saw before falling down in a dead faint was Tofu's shocked expression. He wasn't sure how long it was, but when he woke up he was looking at the ceiling in Tofu's clinic.
"Ranma, what happened," the kind doctor asked when he noticed Ranma was awake.
"Same as usual, but they got a few more hits in than normal," Ranma replied with a wry grin.
"This is no laughing matter Ranma," Tofu chided him, "You had a stab wound going completely through your torso, and you were lucky that whatever caused it missed all your vital organs and your spine. I was able to stitch up your chest and back, and there's going to be some scarring, but any aggravation of those wounds could cause serious problems."
"Damn Kuno," Ranma muttered angrily. Then he explained exactly what had happened through the fight, he even included Kasumi's reaction trying to figure out what the hell was up with her and figured the Doc might be able to help.
"K-Kasumi," Tofu giggled as his glasses began to fog up, but they stopped as quickly as it began and he looked serious. "You say she wouldn't help you at all? That she sounded more worried about the mess the blood would cause," Tofu asked, seeing Ranma's nod he became grim before continuing, "That doesn't like the Kasumi I know at all."
"I know what ya mean Doc, but then again she ain't exactly been hospitable to me lately either," he commented before explaining everything that'd been happening the last couple months.
"This is very disconcerting, but unfortunately I don't think there is anything I can do. If you need someone to talk to you're more than welcome to stop by here," Tofu told Ranma.
"Thanks Doc," Ranma replied before asking, "How long do I gotta avoid fightin'?"
"With your ability to heal I would say two weeks at the most," Tofu commented lightly.
"Damn, guess I lose my job then, can I borrow yer phone doc," Ranma asked hopefully. Tofu nodded somewhat confused, but assumed he would get the story out of Ranma after the phone call.
"Thanks Doc," Ranma said before dialing the number for Keiosu. "Hi, Keiosu-san, yeah, it's me Ranma. I'm callin' cause accordin' to my doc I can't fight fer about two weeks. Yeah, I know…Didja wanna confirm it with Doc Tofu? Ok, can ya meet me at the office so I can grab my checks? Thanks Keiosu-san, bye."
"You're working for Keiosu," Tofu asked amazed. He knew exactly what type of work Ranma was doing after he heard that name. Several of their past bodyguards had been treated in his office to avoid it becoming public.
"Yep, fer about two months now," Ranma commented, "Hey Doc, any chance you'll come with me? Could use someone ta talk to right now and I gotta get to her office soon so I can get my pay that she's been holdin' for me."
"Of course Ranma, that's fine," Tofu replied before hanging up his closed sign and leaving with Ranma.
(Break)
Two weeks later
"Hey Toshiro," Ranma said as he walked into the lab. He'd been studying up on hacking with the entire computer club for the past two months and he'd finally gotten it down. Of course this amazed the computer club to no end, but Ranma just told them that he can do anything martial arts after seeing it a few times. They knew he was joking because they'd seem him much more modest when he had made the accomplishments, but the cocky grin still irked them sometimes.
"Hey Ranma, whatcha doin' here," Toshiro asked.
"There's something I needed ta look up quick and figured this'd be the best place ta do it," Ranma commented. Out of everyone who knew Ranma Toshiro was the only one who knew of Ranma's deal with his teachers and how he caught up, but Ranma still insisted on talking like a moronic jock. He couldn't figure out why.
"Okay, need any help," Toshiro asked. Even though Ranma could hack with the best in the club he still didn't know everything there was to know about computers, and had problems with the more basics.
"Nah, I'm just gonna look ta see if I got any family out there. Figured I could get into the government servers and look up the Saotome register cause Pops and Mom won't let me see their copy," Ranma explained as he sat down in one of the computers that the club reserved for the more difficult hacks. They had several hidden programs installed onto the machine to allow them to do their work, and they also changed the card in it so often that it would be difficult to trace back to that specific computer should any of them get caught while hacking.
"Mind if I stick around," Toshiro asked. He was kind of curious about Ranma's family as well after getting to know the pigtailed youth better. His parents were both extremely loony and Toshiro was curious if his entire family was that way. At least they aren't as bad as the Kuno's, Toshiro thought with an internal chuckle.
"Sure, shouldn't take too long," Ranma said as his fingers flew over the keyboard at chestnut speed. The only time they stopped was when Ranma needed to wait, and that was rare because he usually had several programs running at once and while one was making him wait he'd be working on another so it was ready in time. It was only about 10 minutes later when Ranma got to the page he was looking for that displayed the Saotome register and all affiliations by marriage.
"Hey, uh, Ranma," Toshiro began nervously. He could tell Ranma was looking at the relations above his parents, but Toshiro had a more 'pressing' question to have answered. It was a running bet that Ranma wasn't Genma's child, and that question was just answered.
"Yeah Toshiro," Ranma asked as he scanned his relatives. He found quite a few still alive, which bugged him since none of them ever expressed a desire to meet him that he knew of, let alone was there any that he'd even heard of.
"Um, you aren't on there Ranma," Toshiro said while pointing to the bottom of the page just under Genma and Nodoka (Sagate) Saotome.
"What," Ranma exclaimed as he looked, and sure enough, his name didn't appear anywhere on the register. "No wonder they never let me see the damn thing, or why Genma had no problems selling me when I was a kid," Ranma said angrily.
"Hey Ranma, doesn't this mean that you aren't engaged to anyone but Shampoo," Toshiro asked hoping to cheer Ranma up. He knew Ranma was sick of the engagements, and hopefully this would cheer him up some.
"Yeah, no wonder Pops wanted me married soon, probably would've had me take on the Tendo name too," Ranma commented after he cooled off, "Well, I think I'll just hold onto this information. It might just come in handy later."
"Don't worry, Nabiki won't hear a word of it from me," Toshiro promised.
"Thanks man, well, I'm gonna get outta here. Just got one more makeup assignment left to finish before I'm caught up," Ranma said before closing all the open programs and leaping out the open window.
