Chapter 11 The Hunter
Ranma and Akane were walking to school together. Well sort of together. Akane was on the sidewalk; Ranma was balancing on the fence. Ranma was smiling about something. Akane asked, "What's so funny?"
Ranma said, "I was just thinking that you handled this morning just the right way. Nabiki really expected you to pound on me when you came out. I almost could see the steam rising off her face when you apologized to me. Thinking about the expression on her face just made me smile."
She continued watching him fence-walk. Finally Akane's curiosity got the better of her, it was something she had wondered several times before, and she just hadn't thought to ask. "Why do you walk up there, anyway?" she asked.
Ranma thought for a second. "It's training. Pop taught me to fence walk to improve my balance. Tell ya what, maybe this afternoon I can show ya how to do it. We'll start with something a half a meter or so off the ground, then get ya up higher once ya get used to it. You couldn't do it wearing a skirt though," he said. Then his face reddened as he realized what he had said.
Akane started getting angry, 'Like I'd want him to look up my skirt' she thought. Then she stopped as she realized what he actually had meant. 'Yeah, I don't think being up there in a skirt would be a good idea, especially on a windy day' she realized. They got to the school. "You know, I really don't miss not having to fight my ways through all the boys. Do you know some of them are actually dating some of the girls? I just wish Kuno would get a clue!" Akane said.
Hearing his cue, Kuno stepped out from behind a tree. "Ah, the Fair Akane ", he started. As he got launched by Air Akane, the cheapest way to fly in Japan, his voice faded in the distance.
"Nice hang time, I think you're getting stronger," Ranma mused, "That might even set a distance record." Akane laughed, and they ran to class. A boy, dressed in some sort of uniform, with spatulas sticking in a bandolier across his chest, was standing next to the sensei.
"Class, we have a new student, Ukyo Kuonji. Kuonji, can you tell us something about yourself?" the sensei asked.
"Hai, I'm Ukyo and okonomiyaki is the game!" He turned around, and suddenly out of nowhere (probably the same place Akane's mallet comes from), a grill appeared. In short order, everyone had a snack in front of each of them. Ranma's had written on it, "I challenge you, at lunch." His eyes narrowed, as he stared at the chef, and then nodded.
At lunch, Ranma and Akane made their way outside to the schoolyard, where they found Ukyo standing in the middle of what looked like a boxing ring. Ranma walked over to the ring, and asked, "Why do you want to fight me, Ukyo?"
Ukyo looked at him and said, "You don't remember me, do you?" Ranma just shook his head. "It doesn't matter, I still want my revenge," Ukyo said, "Get in here and fight me, or are you a coward."
Ranma gritted his teeth and snarled, "No, I'm not a coward!" as he hopped into the ring, "but I generally don't fight someone for no reason, either!" He stood there waiting for Ukyo to make the first move. "Come on man, you want to fight or what?" he taunted. Ukyo just stood there, waiting. Finally, Ranma starting charging across the ring, as he did so, Ukyo threw some batter at him. He couldn't avoid it and it glued him to the ring. The ring surface was beginning to get hot, it was really a big grill and the batter was cooking. He struggled for a bit, as Ukyo began throwing mini-spatulas at him. Finally, with at titanic effort, he broke free. Ukyo swung the battle spatula and tried to hit him. Ranma caught it and pulled it away from her. Ranma tossed it outside the ring, where it landed with a loud clang. Ukyo began throwing flour bombs, which knocked Ranma back toward the center of the ring. Ukyo threw a large bomb at him, Ranma batted it back at Ukyo, where it exploded and blew him out of the ring. He landed on the ground, where he lay still, his outer layer of clothing partially in tatters. Ranma jumped out the ring and ran over to continue the fight. Ukyo was unconscious, blood seeping out from some strange bindings on his chest.
"Ukyo, are you ok?" Ranma asked. Not getting a response, he began to get worried about the amount of blood he was seeing. "Man, one of his spatulas must have cut him pretty bad. Akane, come help. Nabiki, run to the nurse and get some bandages," Ranma called as he started to apply pressure to the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. As soon as he pressed down on the bindings, he realized that this boy had something squishy on his chest. Akane ran up just then, as a horrid thought just occurred to him. Hurriedly, he took his hands away and pressed Akane's hands down on the wound. "Akane, just keep pressure on the cut, we have to get this blood stopped," he said. She looked startled, and then as she recognized what she was feeling under her hands, she realized that Ranma was blushing. At that moment, Nabiki ran up with the first aid kit.
"Can you take care of her?" Ranma asked. Nabiki looked shocked, but Akane just nodded. Ranma turned around, blocking the view of everyone else, while Akane and Nabiki pulled the bindings clear of the wound. Nabiki shook her head, and then applied the bandage to the wound in the side of the exposed breast. Immediately the blood flow stopped. Ranma took his shirt off, and then handed it to Nabiki without turning around. "Here, cover her up with this. We need to get her to Dr. Tofu," he said.
"Ok, Ranma, it's safe to turn around now," Akane said softly. Ranma picked Ukyo up, and then started running toward the clinic. "We'll meet you there as soon as we can," Akane said, as he ran off.
He rushed into Dr. Tofu's office, carrying Ukyo. Tofu motioned him into one of the exam rooms, and then Ranma said, "Dr. Tofu, I was fighting him, I mean her, anyway, she has a bad cut. I think we got it under control, but she still needs your help." With that, he put her on the exam table and left the room. He sat down in the waiting room, holding his head in his hands. Suddenly, he jumped up, poured water over his head to trigger the change. She sat back down, and began to cry. 'I can't believe I fought a girl and hurt her like that, I could have killed her,' she thought. Akane and Nabiki ran into the clinic, stopping in shock seeing Ranma in such distress, and then they both ran over and hugged Ranma.
"Ranma, you didn't know, you didn't know. She challenged you," Akane said, "It's not your fault!" Ranma just looked at her, and then grabbed hold of her and held her as if her life depended on it. She began to cry on Akane's shoulder. Eventually, she cried herself out, and released Akane. Nabiki had brought Tofu's kettle out, held it up, pointing at Ranma's chest. Ranma looked down, blushed, and then nodded. Nabiki poured the hot water on Ranma and she changed back.
"Thanks, you two. I don't know why I fell apart like that," Ranma whispered, "All that blood scared me, I guess."
Tofu walked out then and said, "She'll be ok, I put a few stitches in, but your first aid did most of it. Aside from a mild concussion, the rest of the damage was some minor cuts and bruises. She's going to need something to wear and I imagine Ranma would like a new shirt." Nabiki just pointed to the sack that she had carried in. Tofu opened it, found a t-shirt and tossed it to Ranma, and then went back into the exam room.
After a while, the door opened, and Tofu motioned for them. "She wants to talk to you, Ranma," he said. They all followed Ranma in, to see Ukyo sitting up on the table, looking a little wobbly still, but definitely better than when he had brought her in.
"Ranma, Dr. Tofu says I owe you my life. If it wasn't for your first aid, he says I might have bled to death," she said, "Thank you."
Ranma blushed, "I just started it. Akane and Nabiki did the real first aid. I, uh, well, you're a girl, and it wouldn't have been, uh, you know," he stammered. "Is she ok to move?" he asked. Tofu nodded.
"Ukyo, can we take you your home," Akane asked, "Or would you like to come to our house?"
Ukyo sighed, and then said, "I don't have a home. I just came here to track down the Saotomes, I was staying in a hotel room." Akane and Nabiki looked shocked.
"That settles it, you're coming home with us and spending the night. You don't need to be alone with that concussion," Nabiki said. Ukyo looked surprised for a moment, and then nodded. She carefully got down from the table. She staggered a bit and would have fallen, except Akane caught her. "Can you walk by yourself?" Nabiki asked. Ukyo stood for a second, and then shrugged, wincing a little.
"I think so. If it's not too far," she replied, "Thanks, Dr. Tofu, I'll see you later about the bill." With that, the four of them walked off.
As they entered the house, Akane called, "Kasumi, we have a guest for dinner. She also will be spending the night."
Kasumi rushed in, saw the bandaged up Ukyo and said, "Oh, my, what happened to you?"
"I happened to her," Ranma said through gritted teeth, clearly still upset with himself.
"Ranma", Akane and Nabiki both said.
Kasumi said, "Oh, my."
"No, it's my fault. I started it. He just finished it, but he didn't know I was a girl," Ukyo said, "It's really my fault, I guess."
They all sat down in the living room. Ranma asked, "Where is Pop and Mr. Tendo? Oh sorry, where are my manners. Kasumi, this is Ukyo Kuonji, she just joined our class today. Ukyo, this is Kasumi and Nabiki. I think you remember Akane from class. They are the daughters of Soun Tendo, whose home this is. Now, can you tell me what you were so upset about? What did I do to you, anyway?"
Ukyo took a deep breath, and then winced. She said, "Do you remember playing with me at the Yatai?
Ranma stared into space for a long moment, and said, "Wait a minute, you're Ucchan, that's who you are. But you were a boy when I played with you, weren't you? You've never been to Jusenkyo, have you? You don't have a curse?"
"What's Jusenkyo? Curse? Anyway, no, I've always been a girl. You didn't know? I didn't start to pretend to be a boy until after you and your father deserted me. I was only six, but my life was ruined," Ukyo replied.
"I guess I need to show you about the curse. Kasumi-chan, could you bring me some water, both hot and cold? Ucchan, I don't understand about how your life was ruined. All I remember is we played together, and if I beat you, we got food. We had a good time, and then suddenly we left and I never saw you again. I remember waving at you, as you were running toward us, then falling, but, wait a minute, I was riding on something. It was your father's yatai, and Pop was pulling it. Why did we have your yatai?" Ranma asked.
"Our fathers agreed to an engagement. The yatai was my dowry," she said.
Everyone else growled in anger. "Pop, I'm going to kill you," Ranma snarled, "Just how many fiancées do I have?" Ukyo looked stunned.
"Excuse me, Ranma, here's the water you asked for," Kasumi said sweetly.
"Ucchan, Pop engaged me to one of the Tendo's girls. That's why I live here. They are just waiting for us to decide who it will be. That agreement happened before any of us were born, so it takes priority over your engagement. He must have sold your yatai, though; I don't remember us having it long. I bet he pulled that scam several times, too," Ranma said, beginning to get red with anger.
Nabiki hissed, "He's probably trying to do the same thing with us. If you get married before your twenty to one of us, and inherit the house and dojo, then you'd be a minor and he would probably try to be your trustee."
Ranma looked shocked, and then realized she was probably right. "Ukyo, were you the one who beat him up yesterday?" he asked. She nodded. "Good, if you want to do it again tonight, I'll hold him down." Everyone's face got a real fierce look for a second, even Kasumi. "I didn't know anything about an engagement to you, but he didn't tell me about the Tendos until after we started here from China. That reminds me, I meant to show you about the curse that I got at Jusenkyo." He poured some of the cold water over him and changed. Ukyo looked at her in shock.
"Uh, Ranma, that t-shirt isn't hiding much of anything, particularly now that it's wet," Nabiki said with a smirk, "Where's my camera when I need it?"
Ranma looked down, blushed at how much she was showing. "I keep forgetting how developed I am, sorry," she said. She ran upstairs and then came down wearing one of her red Chinese shirts. "Better?" she asked. Then she poured the warm water over herself and changed back.
Ukyo just stared in bemusement. Then she giggled, poured the cold water back on him. Then the hot water, she did that several times until both pots were empty. "That is so cool," Ukyo said.
"I guess we have a new member of the fiancée club," Nabiki smirked, "Welcome, sister." Ukyo giggled again at the expression on Ranma's face.
"Well, at least all of you are cute," Ranma grumbled with a sigh. 'Man, not another fiancée, wasn't three bad enough,' he thought. The girls all smiled at him.
That evening at dinner, everyone gathered at the dining platform. Ranma sat between Akane and Ukyo, with Ukyo sitting across from Gemna. Kasumi brought the dinner in. "Father, this is a friend of Akane and Ranma from school. She just joined their class today. Her name is Ukyo Kuonji, and she is also engaged to Ranma, isn't that nice?" Kasumi said. Gemna choked, Soun glared at him, forming Demon Head Soun.
"Saotome, what is the meaning of this?" he demanded.
'I'm just a cute panda', the panda's sign said.
"Oh, no you don't Pop," Ranma said as Nabiki poured her hot tea on the panda. "Spill it. Just what have you done to us?" The Tendo Waterworks Company began as Tendo began to cry.
"Son, a martial artist's life is full of peril," Gemna began, when suddenly he was transfixed by glares from Ranma, Akane, Nabiki, Kasumi and Ukyo. "Er, well, uh, Ukyo's father saw how well you two got along when you were six and suggested the engagement. I, uh, turned him down, of course, but then he mentioned the dowry, and I caved in. We were supposed to take her with us to train, but she was too weak, and couldn't keep. She fell behind, and I lost her." 'Not a bad story,' he thought.
"Wrong answer, try again! You deliberately left me, didn't you? You had no intention of honoring the engagement, did you?" Ukyo hissed, her battle aura beginning to glow. Akane and Ranma looked at her in alarm as she began to rise, Ranma grabbing her to keep her seated.
"You don't want to open up that wound, Ukyo," Akane whispered, "Let us take care of him for you." Then she began cracking her knuckles. Ranma looked startled for a second, and then his face took on the same feral grin as Akane.
"How many other fiancées are there out there, Pop?" asked Ranma with a dangerous glint in his eyes, as his battle aura began to show. Akane's aura began to show as well. Then Ranma noticed that both Nabiki and Kasumi's auras also were showing. 'Impressive, memo to self, stay on their good side,' he thought.
Gemna began to sweat drop. "Uh, three or four more, I guess. Life on the road was hard, and I did what I had to survive. You don't understand," he babbled, clearly in fear of his life.
"I understand that you are a lying, cheating, poor excuse for a father," yelled Ranma, visibly struggling to stay in control. "Pop. How could you!!!" he screamed as he jumped over the table.
"Now the schools will never be joined," Soun wailed. "What!" everyone else said.
Ranma grabbed his father, opened the door, and threw him outside. "I suggest you stay out here for a while. It's going to be too dangerous in here for you. I'm your son,' he spat, "I just want to kill you, I think the girls want to do something a whole lot more painful." Gemna crawled away in fright. Ranma came back in and shut the door, breathing hard, trying to get his anger under control. "I'm sorry, Mr. Tendo, if you want us to leave, I'll understand," he said.
Soun looked at the young man, paused. "Ranma, you can stay here, I don't want to throw you out," he said, "None of this is your fault. I just can't believe my old friend would do this to me." He began sobbing.
"Don't leave us, Ranma"
"Yes, please stay."
"We're your friends, we don't want you to go."
The girls all chimed in. Ranma visibly relaxed. "Thanks all of you, I would like to stay, this has become my home. Ucchan, I'm sorry, that bastard I have for a father ruined your life. I don't know what to do about it. He's destroyed our family's honor and yours with his actions and I can't fix it," he said sadly. He slowly walked back to his place at the table, and sat down. "I'm not sure any of us feel like eating right now, but it would be a shame not to eat a meal that Kasumi had prepared. She's too good a person to do that to," he said. Quietly, everyone began to eat.
After dinner, when everything had been cleaned up, Ranma went outside and sat on the roof to think. Soun went outside to talk to Gemna. The girls all gathered in Nabiki's room to talk about the situation they were in, since hers was the largest after all. After a few minutes, Akane opened up the window and called, "Ranma, we need to talk. Would you join us, please?" Ranma reluctantly entered the bedroom through the window. He was obviously miserable about the situation.
"Ranma, no one is blaming you for this mess," Nabiki said softly, "Remember, we're your friends, and we do want you to stay, please. Don't shut us out of your life." He looked up at her; eyes glistening with unshed tears. Nabiki reached over and held him. He actually began crying on her shoulder. After a few minutes, he let go, looked at her, and smiled albeit sadly.
"Thanks, all of you. It's just so hard to finally realize what he is like. I've had some suspicions of him, since we left places in the middle of the night on more than one occasion, but to find out that he has stooped that low. Treating me like a piece of meat, as a lure to steal," he said, "Do you know what that makes me? Makes him? I feel so unclean." Nabiki thought to herself, 'So that is the real reason he felt so strongly about those pictures, now I'm really sorry that I sold the few I did.' The girls looked at each other, then moved. Ranma found himself in the middle of a group hug as all four girls joined him. Some of the ice around his heart melted, and he felt warmer, felt better. "Nabiki, you're the planner of the group, where do we go from here? I don't want to hurt anyone anymore."
"What do you feel about Ukyo?" Nabiki asked.
"Well, remember, I only knew her for a few months, when we were six, and I thought she was a boy. What I remember is that I thought he was a good friend, not that Pop ever let me have any for long. I don't know who this Ukyo is; after all, it's been ten years since we last saw each other. We have both changed; we aren't the same people any longer. I would like to get to know this Ukyo; I would like to be able to call her friend, but I'm no more ready to consider her a fiancée than I am to pick one of you. That's still something I'm scared about, I guess, " Ranma said, "But I'm not sure family honor, what's left of it, gives me that luxury."
"I don't know that I really want a fiancé either, Ranma," Ukyo said, "After all, this morning I was intending to get my revenge on you. I'm still not sure if I meant to kill you or just beat you to a pulp. I'm just glad that I didn't do either, now that I know that you had nothing to do with it. The problem that I have is that after your father abandoned me, and I went back to my father, he forced me to live as a boy. He even changed me legally to a boy. Then he made me swear to find you and either marry you or kill you. I've spent the last ten years training in martial arts and plotting my revenge, and searching for you. I'm not sure who Ukyo is anymore. I don't like the person he is, but I'm not sure there is any Ucchan left either." She began to cry.
"Oh, my," Kasumi said, "Why don't we try to create a new Ukyo, the girl, the friend of the Tendo's, Ranma's friend? I'm sure I will like that girl. What you need is a fresh start, one where you've forgotten the past. Hello, who are you? I'm Kasumi, want to be friends?" Then Kasumi smiled.
Ukyo's eyes got real big, and then they got misty. "Hi, Kasumi, I'm Ukyo. I'd love to be your friend!" she exclaimed, "What do you want to do now, friends?"
"I know, we were going to go shopping Saturday, anyway," Nabiki said, and then she smirked, "We need to get both Ranma and Ukyo new clothes anyway." Ranma began to fear the evil look in Nabiki's eyes. "They both could use a few cute dresses, anyway, don't you think?"
"Hey, Ukyo's the girl here, not me!" Ranma protested.
#Splash# "Oh, yeah?" Akane asked, "Doesn't look that way to me, all I see here is five girls. Besides you already promised to make a girls day of it." She began to giggle. Kasumi, Nabiki and Ukyo joined her, looking at the expression on Ranma's face. Ranma looked down at herself, sighed, and then reluctantly at first, she began to giggle as well. Nabiki quirked an eyebrow at her, asking a silent question.
Ranma just shrugged, "I just thought of how much it would really irritate Pop, especially if I brought back something a bit sexy. It would really serve him right, you know." Identical evil grins appeared on all five faces.