Chapter 9 The lost boy
The next morning Ranma woke up early for some reason. His father was still fast asleep, so that wasn't the noise that had awakened him. He shrugged, crawled out of the futon, and walked downstairs, making sure he missed the step that squeaked. As was his custom, on those rare occasions when he woke up before everyone else, he walked into the kitchen, where he would find Kasumi and they would talk. As always, no matter how early he woke, he found Kasumi making breakfast. He watched her in fascination as she worked, magically it seemed turning the most mundane of ingredients into a wonderful meal. She had been aware of his presence for some time, but was content to just be aware of his nearness. Finally she was finished enough that she could take a brief pause. She turned to look at her audience and smiled. Ranma gulped, this was not the normal Kasumi smile. This one seemed warmer; somehow, Kasumi seemed more aware of what was going on around her. She asked, "Would you like some tea, Ranchan?"
Ranma replied, "Yes, Kasumi-chan, that would be nice." Kasumi poured them both a cup of tea and they stood around the kitchen drinking it. Ranma asked, "How do you do that, Kasumi-chan? That was almost magical, the way you were preparing the food?"
"Thanks, Ranchan. I appreciate the compliment, but it's really nothing," Kasumi replied, a slightly predatory smile appearing on her face, "What are you doing up so early, normally we have to pry you out of bed, though I have enjoyed the occasional morning chats we have had?"
"I don't know, something woke me up, so since I couldn't get back to sleep, I decided I would come down here to see if you needed any help. When I got here though, I could tell that all I would do would be to get in your way," Ranma said, "Is there something I can do for you?"
Kasumi paused for a long time, an odd expression on her face. Then she said, "Why don't you set the table, that would be a big help?"
Ranma got out the dishes and chopsticks and set the table. Once he was done, he wandered back into the kitchen. Kasumi said, "Ranchan, thanks for getting my sisters to help with the housework. It's amazing how much more time I have for myself since they've pitched in. I talked to Nabiki, and she thinks there is enough money for me to go to school a bit next semester. All I need to do is convince Father that he can let me go."
"Your welcome, Kasumi-chan, I'm glad that it looks like things are going to work out for you. I know you love your family very much, but its time you had a chance to do what you want to do," Ranma said. He heard the sounds of the rest of the household beginning to stir. He heard the sound of the door close as Akane went out to jog. Soun wandered out to sit at the dining platform and picked up the paper to begin to read. Kasumi took a cup of tea out to her father.
Eventually, every one gathered at the dining platform to eat. Ranma sat in his usual spot, between Akane and Kasumi and across from Nabiki. He felt a slight chill coming from Akane. He noticed a slightly smug look on Nabiki's face. Kasumi passed out the plates. As she did, he couldn't help but notice that his plate seemed to have more food on it than anyone else. He also had one more pickle than anyone else. He looked at Kasumi; she had an innocent expression on her face. Ranma began to sweat. Something was going on here and it was beginning to worry him. He decided to eat quickly and get out of the middle of the war zone. He hoped that if he managed not to say anything, then he would get out alive.
Down the dusty street plodded a young man, carrying an enormous backpack with a large red umbrella strapped across the top, wearing a yellow bandana to keep his hair out of his eyes. "Where am I, now?" he wondered out loud to himself. He saw a couple of boys walking down the street, so he rushed over, grabbed one of them and slammed him against the wall. "Where is Furinkan High School?" he growled, showing two fangs in his upper jaw. The boy just pointed behind him. He turned around; saw the gate in the wall, with the sign "Furinkan High School" beside it. "Thank you," he said politely as he turned to run through the gate.
Ranma, Akane and Nabiki came walking out of the school, heading for home. Ranma and Akane were good-naturedly arguing about what the teacher in the last class had meant, neither one taking it particularly seriously. The occasional "Tomboy" and "Baka" punctuated the discussion. Nabiki walked along lost in her own thoughts as she calculated how much money she would have after today's activities. Kuno had lasted a shorter time than ever today, and no one had a bet for that length, so she had really cleaned up. She actually had enough money that she could buy some more stock. She thought it was really about to take off again.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, "Ranma Saotome, prepare to die!!!" rang out. Ranma looked up to see an angry dark haired boy, wearing a yellow bandana, charging him, swinging a large red umbrella. Ranma moved into the clear, away from all of the other students.
"Hey, man, who are you?" Ranma asked as he dodged the thrown umbrella, "What did I ever do to you?"
"Saotome, because of you I've seen hell!!" the boy exclaimed, throwing several razor sharp bandanas at him. Ranma dodged them all, then closed in on him, pummeling him severely. Akane walked over to the umbrella and tried to pick it up. It wouldn't budge.
"Watch out Ranma, he's really strong! This thing weighs a ton," Akane yelled.
The boy threw one more bandana at Ranma, and missed. To Ranma's horror, it headed straight for Akane. "Look out Akane!" he yelled. Akane turned and it just missed hitting her. Ranma saw red, 'Nobody hurts my Akane' he thought, 'My Akane? Never mind don't have time for this in the middle of a fight.' He exploded into action, with one final effort; he threw the boy into the fountain. As soon as the boy hit the water, he seemed to disappear. Ranma and Nabiki ran over to the fountain, there they saw a small black pig wearing a yellow bandana, trying to free itself from some clothing.
Ranma picked the pig out of the water, while Nabiki got the clothing. "Jusenkyo curse, I assume," Ranma said. The pig stopped struggling. Ranma looked around and saw a large backpack, pointing to it, he asked, "Yours?" The pig nodded. "Are you going to behave so I can help you change back?" He asked. The pig glared at him, and then nodded. Ranma grabbed the backpack, and then walked over to Akane. As he got closer, he saw that she actually had been hit by the bandana, after all. The end of her hair had been sheared off, and the hair with her ribbon tied around it was sitting on the ground. Ranma reached down and picked up her hair. "Sorry, Akane, I know how proud of your hair you were," he said sadly. She looked at what he was holding in his hands and started sobbing. Ranma picked up the umbrella and tied it to the backpack. He glared at the pig, then said, "Let's go home, we need to talk to this guy and find out who he is and why he was trying to kill me." With that, they headed home.
"Oh, My," Kasumi said as she saw Akane, "What happened to your hair?" Akane just ran to her and started crying on her shoulder. Kasumi held her, and then took her upstairs. Ranma took the umbrella off the pack, and then went into the bathroom, Nabiki following him.
Ranma glared at the pig, and then said," I don't know what you were thinking! True martial artists don't go around hurting other people, they protect the weak, not hurt them. What you were doing could have been bad for any of the students. If you want to go beat on me sometime, just tell me, I can take care of myself, but you have no right to endanger any one else! Do you understand me?" The pig looked downcast for a moment, then nodded.
Nabiki said furiously, "You could have killed my sister, you sick jerk. If you ever come close to hurting her again, I'm going to personally take you to the vet and get you fixed. Do you understand me?" The pig started looking scared. Nabiki filled the pail with hot water. "Put him down, Ranma," she growled. Ranma dropped the pig, just as Nabiki threw the water on the pig. He transformed into a nude boy lying on the floor, covering himself up as best he could. Nabiki stood there glaring at him, then threw a towel and a change of clothes at him. She spun on her heel and left, Ranma following.
Akane came downstairs, with her hair nicely trimmed. "That style looks good on you, Akane, you should wear it that way," Ranma and Nabiki said at the same time. They glanced at each other in surprise. Akane smiled sadly.
"Where's the pig that did this?" Akane said. At that moment, the boy walked out of the bathroom. Akane started glaring at him. He stopped when he heard what Akane said. His eyes grew big.
"Gomen nasai," he said, bowing to Akane. She would have hit him, except Ranma grabbed her arm. He shook his head, as if to say 'not now'.
"Ok, who are you anyway?" Nabiki demanded.
"Ranma, you don't remember me, do you?" the boy asked. Ranma looked at him, stared into space for a while, obviously trying to remember, and then shook his head.
"Not a clue," he admitted, "Sorry."
"I'm Ryoga Hibiki, does that name mean anything to you?" said Ryoga.
"Ryoga, hm, nope, it doesn't ring any, wait a minute, that boy's school, just before we left for China to train, you were the guy that I would walk to school 'cause you had no sense of direction," Ranma said excitedly, "Yeah, now I remember you. I haven't seen you since we left. How come you were attacking me? I thought we were friends."
"What kind of friend runs out on a fight?" Ryoga responded.
"Fight, that's right, the one we were supposed to have in the vacant lot. I didn't run away. I stayed there three days waiting for you. I would still be there if I hadn't been so sleepy that Pop knocked me out. He got tired of waiting. The next thing I knew, we were on a boat to China," Ranma retorted, "What happened to you anyway?"
Ryoga said, "I showed up on the fourth day, you should have been there."
"But it was next to your house, how could you get that lost?" Ranma replied. The girls couldn't believe it. He really had no sense of direction.
"Anyway, when you weren't there, I followed you, always one step behind. My life is hell because of you. I followed you to Jusenkyo, and was standing on a cliff overlooking the valley of springs below, when suddenly a panda ran by being chased by a red-haired girl. I jumped to get away from the panda and fell into a spring. When I crawled out, I was a pig. Somebody found me, and carried me to a hut. They were going to cook me, so they threw me in a pot of boiling water. I changed back of course. It's all your fault, so I came to kill you," Ryoga said angrily.
Nabiki said, "I don't see how you can blame Ranma. You're the one who missed the appointment for the fight, and you're the one who chased Ranma to Jusenkyo. You fell in the spring, granted the panda startled you, but that's still your fault."
"NO, it's all his fault, my life is ruined because of him!" Ryoga said angrily.
"I'm lucky I'm not seriously hurt. If Ranma hadn't yelled, that bandana probably would have hit me. That would have been your fault," Akane growled, starting to get angry again. She pulled her mallet out of thin air and began to swing.
"Stop Akane, not in the house, remember!" Nabiki said, "It's so hard to get the bloodstains out." Akane blushed; the boy cowered. Her mallet disappeared. "I'm Nabiki Tendo, the mallet-wielding one is my sister Akane, and the other girl you saw is my sister Kasumi."
The boy bowed formally, "I'm Ryoga Hibiki, sorry to have met you under these circumstances. I guess I better leave." With that he walked out the front door and disappeared.