Chapter 51 Hunters of Light and Shadow
Nabiki stared impassively at her two most trusted lieutenants, only the slight tapping of her forefingers together showing her impatience. "It's come to my attention that there are some rumors flying around the school about my friend Ukyo Hibiki," she began, "I want to find out who is starting them, and get them stopped."
"But boss, why is that so important?" one of them asked.
Nabiki sighed as she replied, "I told you, she's my friend. Almost family in fact. And nobody hurts my family. I thought you knew that already."
The two girls stared at Nabiki in surprise. 'The Ice Queen actually is human,' one of them thought. They nodded their heads and went off to investigate the rumors.
Nabiki gazed off into the distance, her eyes surprisingly soft, as she pondered what to do when she found out who the culprit was. 'Who could dislike Ukyo that much?' Nabiki thought, 'There's nobody that I can think of.' Her eyes narrowed then, and her face got surprisingly grim. 'But when I find out, that person's dead,' she thought.
Ranma wandered over to where two of the boys from his homeroom were standing while watching the girls play softball. "Hey, Hiroshi, Daisuke," he said in greeting. Then he smiled and asked, "Enjoying the view?"
Hiroshi jumped back in alarm, and then relaxed as he saw Ranma smiling. "Uh, hi Ranma," Hiroshi answered, "Yeah, I guess we do. The girls are just so hot looking."
"Just keep your eyes off of Akane, she's taken," Ranma said, only half-kidding.
Daisuke gulped and replied, "Actually, I was kinda watching Sayuri. I really think she's pretty."
Ranma chuckled lightly and asked, "Then why don't you ask her out? She might surprise you and say yes."
"You think so?" Daisuke asked, hopefully, his eyes lighting up.
Ranma shrugged his shoulders and replied, "You never know." He smiled slightly as he saw his wife walk over to join Ukyo, bringing Yuka and Sayuri with her. 'Good for you, Acchan,' he thought, 'Ukyo needs all the friends she can get.' Then his expression darkened as he turned to the two boys and asked, "Who's been spreading those rumours about my sister?"
"Sister, what sister?" Hiroshi asked. Daisuke frowned in confusion.
"I consider Ucchan to be my sister," Ranma explained.
"Er, uh, we haven't really heard anything," Hiroshi said lamely.
Ranma's eyes narrowed as he said, "Oh, really?"
Daisuke gulped and answered, "It was some of the guys from the kendo club. I overheard them talking trash about her the other day. Seems like the guy who took Kuno's place as leader was angry with her."
"Oh yeah, that's right. I think I remember that Ukyo blew him off when she first started coming to school. He came on to her and she flat turned him down. Wasn't very nice about it, either," Hiroshi added.
Ranma smiled thinly and said, "Thanks." He turned to leave and then said, "Hiroshi, you might want to talk to Yuka. I think she might like you a little."
"Why do consider Ukyo to be your sister?" Daisuke asked.
Ranma growled, "After all of the crap that her father and mine put her through, and the rough life she's led because of it, I owe her that."
"Ranma, what do you mean by that?" Hiroshi asked.
"I first met Ukyo when I was six. Pop and I were beginning our training trip, and Ukyo's dad had a yatai where he sold okonomiyakis. I used to have a game where if I beat Ukyo sparring, he would feed me. I got pretty good at it, in fact, I don't remember if Ukyo ever won. Anyway, I thought Ukyo was a guy, just like me and we got to be pretty good friends. After several months though, Pop decided that it was getting time to leave. What I didn't know is that he had promised Mr. Kuonji that he would take Ukyo with us and that we would one day wed. Kuonji gave Pop the yatai as a dowry. Well, Pop basically ran off with the yatai, with me perched on the back, and left Ukyo in the dirt."
"Man, that's low," Daisuke said.
"Yeah, how could anyone be that mean?" Hiroshi asked, his face grim.
Ranma shrugged his shoulders and replied, "That's Pop for you. About the only thing he thinks about is stuffing his stomach with food and drink, and martial arts. Anyway, when Ukyo showed up, I found out that she had swore to track us down and either force me to honor Pop's agreement, or kill us. She had spent most of the last ten years learning her family's martial arts, and then searching for us. Not a pleasant way to live. When we met, she found out that I was already promised to several women, thanks to my idiot Pop, and realized that I had nothing to do with what happened. She finally gave up on marrying me, mainly because she could tell I didn't love her, and couldn't bring herself to hurt me. She did find happiness with Ryoga, and I'm happy for her. When her father finally found out that she had found me and hadn't fulfilled her vow, he decided to disown her. I talked Mom into adopting her after that. Even though she's married, I still wanted her to know that she had a family that cared for her."
Hiroshi scowled and asked, "So what are you going to do about those bastards that are spreading tales? Are you gonna do something about her father?"
"Well, now that I know where the rumors are coming from, I do have a few ideas," Ranma said with a smirk, "I'll let Ryoga figure out what he wants to do with Kuonji. Thanks, guys. I'll see you later. Don't forget what I said about the girls, either."
As the boys of the kendo club entered their club room, they screeched to a halt, stumbling into each other. There, leaning against the far wall, they saw Saotome waiting for them with his arms crossed, a calm expression on his face.
"Well, well, finally, the seven samurai decided to show up," Ranma sneered.
"What do you want, Saotome?" the largest of the boys asked.
Ranma sneered at them and replied, "I hear you've been spreading lies around school about one of my friends. I thought I would come by and ask you politely to stop."
"Why should we?" the boy asked.
"Cause I asked so nicely," Ranma responded, "Now, we can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way. Your choice, but I really hope you pick the hard way. I'm really in the mood to hurt somebody."
"You don't scare me, you're just one person. Besides, why should you care about Kuonji, anyway?" another boy asked.
Ranma looked at him thoughtfully and replied, "True, I am just one person. And on the one hand, Ukyo really would hate for me to interfere in her business. She might think it was insulting her prowess as a martial artist. On the other hand, she's married to Ryoga, who's the only person that I really don't have to hold back much when I fight, so I probably should leave it to him." He smiled thinly for a brief second with a smile that never reached his eyes and then continued, "But on the gripping hand, she's family, and no one harms my family. Besides, it's better this way, I'll only hurt you."
The boy looked confused.
"Don't read much, do you?" Ranma asked. Then he shrugged his shoulders and straightened up away from the wall. A feral look appeared in his eyes as he cracked his knuckles. "Shall we dance?" he asked, a shark-like smile appearing on his face. He allowed his battle aura to shine around him, causing a large blue glow to surround him.
"WHERE AM I NOW?"
Ranma jerked his head around at the familiar cry. "Ryoga?" he asked, and then blinked in astonishment. Ryoga was nowhere in sight. However, at the sound of his cry, a middle-aged woman turned her head.
"Excuse me, do you know my son?" the woman asked hopefully.
"Mrs. Hibiki?" Ranma asked in surprise as he walked over to the older woman.
Mrs. Hibiki nodded her head and asked, "Do I know you?"
Ranma smiled and said, "Yes, you do. I used to walk Ryoga to school in back when we were in junior high together. I'm Ranma Saotome. I can take you to him if you'd like. Ryoga lives close by so why don't I take you to see him and we can talk on the way."
"First, though, what happened here?" Mrs. Hibiki asked, as she gazed around the room and saw all of the bruised and battered wanna-be samurais scattered in what appeared to be very painful poses.
"Let's just say I was explaining why it is a bad thing to spread lies about people," Ranma said, sheepishly, "These people were lying about a very good friend of mine and hurt her feelings badly."
"I see. So do you think they learned their lesson?" she asked.
Ranma shrugged and replied, "Well, they are slow learners." He waited for a moment as he walked around checking on the students. "Well, enough of that. Are you ready for me to take you to see your son?" he asked.
Mrs. Hibiki smiled happily and said, "That would be very nice, Ranma. Thank you very much."
Ranma held out his arm and said, "Well, hold on then, and I'll take you there."
Mrs. Hibiki took his arm and the two of them headed down the street towards the restaurant. "Ryoga will be very happy to see you," Ranma began, "I'm sure he can't wait."
"How's he been? It's been two years or more since I've seen him, and I can't remember the last postcard that I've gotten," she asked.
Ranma replied, "He's doing pretty good now. I think you'll find that he's a lot happier than he's been in a long time."
"That's wonderful. I've missed him so much and lost out on a large part of his life because of our family curse," Mrs. Hibiki confided.
Just as they turned the corner onto the street which contained Ucchan's, Ranma got splashed by a woman cleaning her sidewalk. Ranma grimaced as he felt the change occur. She turned and looked at the now taller woman, who was staring at her in shock.
"B-b-but," Mrs. Hibiki stammered.
Ranma sighed and said, resignedly, "It's a long story. I'll tell you about it later, but we're nearly to Ucchan's."
"What's Ucchan's?" she asked, her eyes big.
"It's a local restaurant. Ryoga lives there," Ranma replied. She opened the door to the restaurant and ushered Mrs. Hibiki in. There they saw Shampoo working the counter. "Hi, Shampoo, when did you get in?" Ranma asked.
"Nihao, Ranma, Taro and I got back early this morning. Ryoga had called your mom asking if she could come over and help, but I volunteered," Shampoo replied, "I., uh, had to get out of there after meeting Genko. That was just a bit too weird. Taro headed off to the local college to see if he could enroll.
Shampoo smiled as she saw that Ranma was walking in with another woman. "Who's she? Not another fiancée?" she asked, with an evil grin, "She looks a bit too old for you."
Ranma grinned wryly and replied, "No, she's Ryoga's mother. Mrs. Hibiki, this is Shampoo, she's a friend, and kind of an adopted sister. Where's Ryoga?"
"Nice meeting you, Mrs. Hibiki. Ryoga is upstairs with Ukyo. She was feeling a little sick this morning," Shampoo replied.
"Oh, okay. I'll take her to see them," Ranma said. Ranma took Mrs. Hibiki by the arm again, and led her upstairs. Once they reached the top, Ranma knocked politely on the closed door to the apartment.
Shortly, the door opened and a slightly wan looking Ryoga appeared. His eyes widened as he recognized the woman standing there with Ranma.
Mrs. Hibiki gasped and rushed across the small space separating them and hugged her son, crushing him to her chest.
"Uh, Mrs. Hibiki, er, you might want to let go, he's turning an interesting shade of blue there," Ranma said after a few seconds.
The older woman blushed and let go of her son who collapsed to the floor, wheezing. Ranma helped him up and then took them both into the apartment and pushed them onto the couch. "You two stay here and get caught up," Ranma said, "I'm gonna go change and then talk to Ukyo."
Ranma walked into the bathroom and then several minutes later, he came out, a bit wetter, but now male. He smiled briefly at the two sitting on the couch, talking animatedly and then knocked on the door to the bedroom. After he heard Ukyo say, "Come in," he opened the door and walked in. "How are you feeling, Ucchan?" he asked, "Shampoo said you were feeling a little ill."
Ukyo smiled wanly and then replied, "I'm not sure why they call it morning sickness, Ranchan."
"Sis, there's someone here you need to meet. I ran into Ryoga's mom and brought her by," Ranma began.
"She's here!" Ukyo exclaimed in panic, "Oh my, oh my."
"Calm down, you'll be fine," Ranma said. Then he leaned in and said, softly, "I took care of the guys that were spreading those rumors about you today, Sis. You shouldn't have any more problems with them. And Nabiki is tracking down the girls that have been smearing you two also."
Ukyo frowned slightly, and then whispered, "Thanks, Ranchan. You didn't have to do that for me."
"Sure I did, that's what family is for," Ranma said forcefully.
"Well, okay then, but get out of here so I can get dressed. Mrs. Hibiki needs to see me in something other than my uniform," Ukyo said.
Ranma grinned cheekily and replied, "I think she'd like you no matter what you were wearing."
"Get!" she said.
Ranma backed out of the room and closed the door. "Ukyo will be right out, Ryoga," he said with a grin.
"Ranma, tell me about what happened on the way here," Mrs. Hibiki demanded.
Ranma replied, "I went on a training trip to China with Pop. While I was there, I managed to fall into one of the cursed springs at Jusenkyo. Now, when I get splashed with cold water, I turn into a girl. Hot water brings me back." 'I really need to get Nabiki to make me up some brochures. This is getting old. Nah, she'd charge too much,' he thought. "How much have you told her, Ryoga?" Ranma asked.
"I was about to get to the important stuff. I was kinda waiting on Ukyo, though," Ryoga said.
"Well, you can stop waiting," Ukyo said as she entered the living room.
"Mom, uh, well, the thing is, this is my wife, Ukyo," Ryoga began.
"Wife!" she exclaimed.
"Uh, yes, we've been married for a few weeks now," Ryoga said.
Mrs. Hibiki looked at Ukyo, who began to tremble. Then she smiled and said, "Well, she's certainly pretty enough, and if the name is anything to go by, she must be running this restaurant, so she's definitely got a good head for business on her shoulders," Mrs. Hibiki said, "I'm pleased to meet you dear. Please call me Mom." Mrs. Hibiki stood up and walked over to Ukyo and hugged her.
"Er, uh, Mom, there's a bit more. Uh, you see, well, you're gonna be a grandmother," Ryoga stammered.
Mrs. Hibiki's smile got bigger. "That's wonderful, children. How far along are you, dear?"
"A few weeks," Ukyo admitted.
"They've been engaged for several months, and Ryoga has been helping my sister here in the restaurant for even longer," Ranma interjected, hoping to sidetrack the explosion he thought he was about to see.
Mrs. Hibiki let out a breath she wasn't even aware that she had been holding and giggled. "Were you afraid that I would be mad because I'm going to be a grandmother?" she asked.
"Uh, the thought had crossed my mind," Ryoga admitted. Then he squared his shoulders and asked, "Ranma, could you get some water, please?"
Mrs. Hibiki gasped. "You too?" she asked.
Ranma brought over two cups of water. Ryoga took one and poured it over his head. Suddenly, in front of Mrs. Hibiki, her son transformed into a very attractive, well-built, brown-haired girl.
"It could be worse, Mom. I used to turn into a pig," Ryoga said.
His mother collapsed into Ukyo's arms, her face ashen. "I love him either way, Mom," Ukyo said softly, "He means so much to me."
Ranma handed the other glass to Ryoga and then walked over to where he knew Ukyo kept her saké and poured a cup and brought it to Mrs. Hibiki. The older woman slammed it back and the color came back into her face. Meanwhile, Ryoga had changed back.
"Any more surprises?" Mrs. Hibiki asked.
Ranma chuckled and said, "Well, there's one thing that I haven't told you. I'm happily married as well."
"And she knows about your change?" Mrs. Hibiki asked.
"Of course. She knows and doesn't care," Ranma replied. He looked at the clock on the wall, and said, "I'd better run. Akane is cooking tonight and she won't like it if I'm late. I'll bring her by tomorrow after school and introduce you to her. See you at school, sis." He leaned over and kissed Ukyo on the cheek and started walking toward the door.
"Hey, quit making moves on my wife," Ryoga said with a laugh.
"Later, Ryoga," Ranma said as he went through the door.
"Let's go downstairs and get something to eat," Ryoga suggested, "And then the three of us can get better acquainted."
A hooded figure stood watching the sun set overlooking a small town on the island of Okinawa. A noise alerted him to the return of his retainers. "Well?" he said in a soft voice.
"I'm sorry, Lord. We have lost the thief. She was visited by two women, and then next morning vanished from the hotel," one of the retainers stammered.
"What can you tell me about the women?" the figure demanded.
"Only that one of them was named Saotome," the other retainer replied.
There was silence for several minutes. Then the figure said, "Find out where she went. Do not fail me!"
"Yes, Lord," the two retainers replied in unison as they bowed to their lord and master.
Author's Notes: Finally, another chapter posted. Thanks for your continuing interest in this story. As always, reviews and constructive criticisms are welcomed. Comments to specific reviews are below:
Bobboky: Thank you. I wanted to show some teenage angst. High school can be a bit cruel.
Viper: Yes. I figured after several thousand years there would have been a little bit of a drift in knowledge of their real names. As far as the Soun/Hinako relationship, I want that to go a bit slowly. That will give the girls a chance to get used to it.
A.Nonymous: If you've read to the end, you can see that I had a different ending in mind for Genma/Genko. And regressing her to five or six allows Nodoka to raise the child that she never had, that her husband took away from her at age six.
Shinigami: Thanks. Well, at least as far as the rumors are concerned, you can see how Ranma took care of the guys that were giving Ukyo a hard time. Next chapter will show Nabiki and her vengeance on the girls. There is a distinct chance that Kodachi will reappear. Having Saint Happi meet Genko, now there's an interesting idea. I may steal that one.
Neon-Ronin: Thank you for the kind words. I have tried to keep this story a little different, with some amusing twists and turns. The alternate pairings struck me as the way things could have gone. And yes, I like to throw in the occasional reference. As to Nodoka Himura, well, were do you think the red hair came from? At least in my universe anyway. I think your story is good. Definitely a different take on the cursed springs.
Lord Strife: Nope, that's not a good thing. I always thought that if Nabiki and Ranma ever teamed up for vengeance that it would be a scary sight indeed.
JohnnyG: So long as I can think of things to do with the story, it will continue. As you can see from this chapter, I've introduced a couple of new characters.
Nonengel: What can I say? I have a warped imagination. But I thought it would be appropriate for Genko to replace the son that Nodoka had lost and allow her to raise a child.
SilverBullet23: Thanks. I always thought that Happosai and Principal Kuno were two of the worst characters in the Ranmaverse.
The Shadows: Yes, High School for a teenage mother can be a bit cruel. And as to Ranma and Akane defending Ukyo, I think both of them have a strong sense of protecting the family, and by any definition, Ukyo is family to them. Your H/P story is excellent, keep those chapters coming.
Dennisud: I do intend to bring Kodachi back in a later chapter. I'm not exactly sure who (if any) she ends up with though at the moment.