I do not own Ranma 1/2 or any of the characters, they are used here purely to create a work of writing that has nothing to do with Ranma 1/2 or the author, I fully acknowledge that Ranma 1/2 is not owned by me and that none of this is official work done by the author of Ranma 1/2. don't sue me, I'm not stealing or trying to steal any credit, just making art, nothing more.
Chapter 0 Who's Xayah, The setup:
It was lonely. Ranma had no one to talk to but his father. Genma wouldn't listen to any of Ranma's problems, dismissing them as signs of weakness. Living with him was hard, they slept outside, the food was bland and stale, they never stayed in one place, and all of these troubles would be blown off by Ranma's father as training. Ranma's father couldn't raise a child, he couldn't be honest, and never knew when to keep or throw away his personal pride. There was one thing Ranma's father did do well though, and that was martial arts, and boy did Ranma love martial arts. When Ranma got annoyed by his father's terrible cooking, something they both agree on, or when his troubles would get belittled as girlish and weak, Ranma knew he could blow off his steam in a fight, even if it was more like bullying from a reasonable point of view. Still, the pain was there, his father kept saying that it would pass with time and training, but that didn't matter if the pain was there right now. Ranma kept his pain hidden from his father, getting by with the stress he could relieve by fighting, hoping that his father would be right and the pain would disappear soon if he just trained harder. The days passed though, and the relief he was promised by his father hardly noticeable, forcing Ranma to relieve his stress in other ways, ways that his father would not approve of, ways that would call for harsh training with his father should he find out. One day, Ranma was able to find a moment to himself, a moment of respite from the madman he called pop and his training. Ranma was out in the woods, just out of earshot from his father when an event that would change his life forever occurred.
"You look stressed." The boy's head shot up, he had hidden from his father for a few minutes,stating he needed to use the bathroom, while in reality he just wanted to silently cry, something that he has found is an excellent way to relieve stress quickly, but by god if his father ever found out... In front of Ranma, looking down at the crouched boy, stood a girl about his age, maybe a little older. She had long red hair that flowed straight over her face, but didn't block her vision. She was taller than Ranma by a good head, and wore a ragged yet well cleaned cloak that covered her legs and hands should she chose, keep her warm and also let air pass through when it was hot.
"Nothing, I wasn't crying, my eyes are just red from all the dust from martial arts is all!" responds Ranma defensibly and loudly, enough for Genma to hear and walk up to Ranma. Seeing his son that he has been so desperately teaching to be manly with red eyes angered the elder Saotome, and he responds to the situation with a disappointed shout.
"Boy, I thought you stopped training early to empty your bladder, but you have been crying instead!? I raised you better than that! Stand up, I will train that weakness out of you!"
"You're wrong, I just got dust in my eyes is all, the flips and kicks really toss up the dirt here!" yelled Ranma back. Ranma wasn't afraid of the training at all, he just didn't enjoy taking part in training that felt like child abuse, nor did he like being belittled by his father.
"He really wasn't crying" comes a voice from an unnoticed presence beside the two.
A disinterested grunt comes from Genma. " And who might you be?" He responds to the little girl.
"Xayah Mihailavna" responds the little girl in an even voice, clearly not impressed by the ill suited father. "I stumbled upon him rubbing his eyes out, probably told you he was going to the bathroom to not look weak."
"Hm, I guess that is pretty manly, boy you are forgiven." after what can barley be counted as a proper response, Genma brings Ranma back to finish their training for the day.
*********
An awful stench fills the forest air. The smell of burnt rice and fish hangs over the two individuals, and likely even further beyond. "Boy, you must eat it, as a part of your training against poisons!" replies one. "Yeah right pops, just admit you messed up the food again, we both know you can't cook." With a heavy sigh, both of them fall silent but neither of them start eating, but both too hungry to throw it away. Gulping, Ranma picks up his chopsticks and picks up a small portion of the rice and fish mix, something he only knows because he had seen the ingredients beforehand, as they were far too burnt to tell what they were now. Before Ranma can give himself food poisoning for the next few days, a voice interrupts them.
"Who ruined a perfectly good meal?" Says the small girl from earlier that day. "Are you the ones responsible for that awful smell? Oh god don't tell me you plan to eat that?" She says after seeing the pair hunched over a pot, with blackened grub in between their chopsticks.
"It's the boys training, a true martial artist will eat anything that fills his belly and gives him the strength to fight." Replies Genma, not hiding his own lack of faith in his words from the two youngsters.
The girl looks at the disgusted boys face with pity and sighs. She sits down next to the boy, and after pulling out various cooking equipment like a pot, a knife, a spoon and firewood, as well as a small selection of ingredients, starts cooking.
"So, what's your name?" Asks Xayah, directed towards the boy next to her.
"Ranma, Ranma Saotome. I'm a martial artist like my pop, and his name is Genma." Ranma replies.
"Ranma, you shouldn't talk to girls, all they do is distract you from the art. To get rid of such distractions we are out here far away from home, and far away from any temptation." Reprimands Genma, clearly unhappy with the uninvited visitor that decided to strike up a conversation with his son.
"Hey, I'm a martial artist too y'know!" Yells back Xayah, clearly unimpressed by how her efforts and trials are being trivialized simply because she wasn't born with hanging weakness balls between her legs.
"sure, a girl can pretend to be a martial artist, but they will never achieve true mastery of the art. girls are weak and silly, they don't care about effectiveness and only about wearing pretty clothes and complimenting each others hair. Girls will forever hold back the total mastery of martial arts of men around them." Comes the biased reply from a biased man whos thoughts make it a miracle that any woman would stay together with him for 9 months and explains the lack of a mother figure for the poor Ranma.
"In that case I guess I can pack my things up and go, have fun eating toxic waste for the rest of your life." was Xayah's quick reply.
"-Which is why its great that there are girls as serious about martial arts as you are." was Genma's equally quick reply.
*********
"so how old are you?" asks Xayah.
"I'm 6, and you?" replies Ranma between bites.
"I'm 7, a year older than you, I guess that makes me your big sis huh?" Jokes Xayah. The two had spend the last hour and a half getting to know each other, making jokes, telling stories, and having an all around good time. Ranma had been starved of any human affection for a while now, and a kind girl who was also interested in martial arts was the perfect friend for the boy.
Next to the two, Genma is swallowing the food at such speeds that he doesn't even have time to steal any from Ranma, not that it would matter as the pot was still full of rice despite both Genma and Ranma being on their fourth portion of food. While Ranma was clearly happy to eat something that was tasty, Genma was crying with joy since he had never eaten a proper meal that tasted as good as this, likely caused by being penniless from the life he chose. Genma had already decided that he wanted Xayah to go with them, her cooking was first class, and Ranma had taken a liking to her as well, so leaving her behind would drop the boys morale. Besides, Genma knew he could use her desire to learn martial arts to get her to go with much as Genma valued his life and feared the sepuku contract, he was a greedy man first, and he would, and in fact already had, sell his son for a free meal, so what was the harm in making him train a little harder to squeeze the girl out of him for several years worth of free meals?
"Ahem, so, what do you think about going with us to learn martial arts?" Asks Genma.
"Really? and here I thought you hated girls." Replies Xayah curtly.
"ehehe, no no. I was just saying what people typically think, I personally think women in martial arts is perfectly ok! It's just public opinion, public opinion!" Came Genma's quick reply
Xayah pretends to ponder, but in truth she had been shadowing the pair for the last few months, learning what she could about martial arts, and incorporating it in what she had already learned from others. Since no one would train her due to her gender, and her Parents were long gone, Xayah had to resort to such methods to learn how to survive, the world was a harsh place after all. Xayah had been planning to shadow them for a few more months, but having the opportunity to learn directly? Xayah already knew her answer as soon as Genma asked her about it, only pretending to question it to show that the one who held the cards, something she had learned to avoid getting scammed by fellow street rats. Moreover, she couldn't really let Ranma stay with his good for nothing dad could she? Xayah may have just made her first friend, she sure as hell wasn't going to let him rot away like this.
"alright, I cook for you and you train me in martial arts, however just like how you have been doing before you will pay for the ingredients." Replied Xayah. While Xayah knew she could supply the ingredients herself, she raised the stakes so the sunk cost would make Genma rethink going back on his word. After all, who in their right mind would pay for perfectly good food and then refuse to eat it
Genma cursed under his breath that his expenses would not go down, but he wasn't really losing anything by agreeing to her terms, so he agreed, shaking her hand. And so, the trio of not so wise old man, young boy and little girl was formed.
*********
"You can't keep bottling all this up y'know?" came a quite voice from an unlit tent.
"But if pops sees me getting emotional, he'll make me regret it" came the reply from the same tent, equally as quite.
"So you're plan is to sit like this and brood, if you keep up with this you will end up just like your father." Both children shudder at the thought. "That's why I'm saying you should talk to me when you feel like this, alright? I may be only a little over a year older, but growing up in the murky waters of the world really teaches you about emotional maturity."
It was late at night, and their guardian was sleeping soundly in the neighboring tent, belly full with grilled mushrooms and peppers. Meanwhile, the young pair were far too frustrated to sleep, one from the training and the other from the firsts stubbornness.
Earlier that day, the two had been training with Genma. He had kept his promise for the most part, training Xayah alongside Ranma, bar for a few times he had tried to get around teaching Xayah, something he quickly learned would result in a few days of minor and hard to detect, but painful revenges. Xayah would burn or forget to salt his portion of the food, she would set traps that would go off whenever he was sleeping, or taking a shit in the forest, or he would simply wake up in very unconventional, yet very unpleasant ways. Genma's training was harsh though, he would insult, hurt, or straight up abuse Ranma in the name of training. Genma was hoping this would lead to Ranma becoming his fathers idealized form of masculinity, but the cost was Ranma's mental and emotional development, Xayah however, was there to help Ranma out. Xayah wasn't going to let Ranma regress into a protective shell of false masculinity, for she knew having someone she could point her back to when sleeping was a necessity often treated as a luxury.
The past few months had not gone smoothly, but they had been consistent. Sleeping on the cold hard ground with stolen tents isn't easy, but its the same every night, Genma doesn't work, but does do odd jobs that he often involves the two under his tutelage into, and the passing months mean winter gets ever closer. The two train under Genma, spending their free time getting to know each other, and helping Ranma recover from the torturous training Genma comes up with, until they find a lone cart manned by an older man and their child while on their way to their next training grounds.
"Hello and welcome, our okonomiyaki cart has the best okonomiyaki around!" squeaks out a small child standing in front of the cart. The cart itself was small, enough for a single person to pull it to new areas, but large enough for the large bodied cook to stand inside.
"Old friend! How I longed to see you! Settled down with a woman and got yourself a little one eh?" Says Genma suddenly. It was unexpected, Genma, has someone he is friendly with? What was even more uprising was that the old man seemed to reciprocate Genma's enthusiasm. "Genma, how've you been? I see you got two children of your own as well, not much alike, different mothers?" To which Genma responds with "no, only the boy is my child, the girl is just his friend he made along the way."
while the two unlikely friends of store owner and thief caught up after missing years of contact, the enthusiastic young chef instead walked up to the pair of similar age as her. "Hi, im Kuonji Ukyo, but you can call me Ukyo." introduces Ukyo. Xayah was understandably wary of new people, especially when she couldn't decern their true motive. In this case though, Xayah didn't see any need for either of the two to try and put her in danger, and knew that if push came to shove they had the numbers advantage and would be safe even if her analysis was wrong. Ranma however, never had any experiences that would make him wary of a potential new friend, so it was quite strange that Ranma kept his distance from the newcomer, putting Xayah between him and them. Sighing, Xayah nudged Ranma forward, trying to get him to initiate contact with Ukyo.
"Ranma, why don't you introduce yourself?" asks Xayah.
"Well, you used to tell those stories about meeting someone friendly only to wake up robbed or at deaths door, I don't want to end up like that." Replies Ranma.
Signing again, Xayah responds. "I don't think Ukyo would do that. The kids I met were desperate to survive, so they had a reason to abandon morality. Meanwhile Ukyo is out here running a store with no worries about food or shelter, she has no reason to toss aside her humanity.
Ranma nods and turns to Ukyo, finally responding to her earlier introduction. "I'm Ranma Saotome, and I am a martial artist." Followed by Xayah's introduction, which intentionally doesn't include her Father's name and her own title to keep it short and curt, Xayah did better with the disilusioned kids like Ranma than the ones that still wore rose tinted glasses, it felt like her struggles were being stepped on when a child could live such a carefree life while she had to crawl through the dirt.
**AN: Russian names use their first name, and then the name of their father as their last name, they do have a family name that they write at the end though.
"Really, you two are martial artists!? I'm a martial artist too, of the anything goes okonomiyaki martial arts!" Was Ukyo's excited reply.
"uh, Saotome anything goes martial arts." Was Ranma's significantly less enthusiastic response.
"Boy, what's with that wet napkin attitude, acting like a girl!? Straighten up and give the poor Uk-Chan a proper introduction! If you don't I'll have to wring the girlishness out of you with harsh training!" Yells Genma over to Ranma. Genma was unhappy about Ranma's weak introduction would be putting it lightly, as Genma knew if he didn't make Ranma a man amongst men, that he would be killed according to the sepuku contract he had with Ranma's mother.
*********
it was a lively night, the crickets chirped, old men snored, and two children were discussing the day's events in hushed voices. After Genma reprimanded Ranma, he reintroduced himself to Ukyo, and was still subjected to awful training. A few days later, Genma asked Ranma which he liked more, Ukyo or okonomiyaki , to which he responded with proclaiming his love for okonomiyaki. Later that day, Genma ran away with his old friends okonomiyaki cart, leaving behind a crying Ukyo. The harsh training continued, with Genma insulting and belittling Ranma both during and outside training. If it wasn't for Xayah and her counseling, Ranma would have broken and acted like the cocky shell of a man his father wanted him to be, which was why Xayah's current words were so confusing to Ranma.
"You should act like how Genma wants you to act, pretend to be cocky and hyper masculine whenever he's around." Was what Xayah told Ranma.
Ranma was confused, it made no sense to him. Xayah had always been the one that helped him keep fighting and not get broken by his father, why would she suddenly tell him to give up? Ranma's world was small, and he really could only trust two people to have his back, even if one wasn't as qualified as the other to be trusted. Naturally, when one of these people tells him to give up to the unfairness of the other, it feels like a sword he trusted to block the wild swings of his father suddenly backstabs him, leaving him weak to a chaotic blow from the other.
Seeing the panic in Ranma's eyes, Xayah quickly elaborates on what her words meant. " I'm not telling you to roll over for him Ranma, I'm telling you to avoid the needless pain by acting how he wants for now, leaving when you get older and stronger, strong enough to beat him in a fight." This calms Ranma down a bit, and he lets out a sigh of relief.
The next morning, Xayah goes to cook breakfast while Genma and Ranma have their usual morning bout. Looking over her tools and ingredients, Xayah notices she doesn't have enough firewood and tinder. That was weird, as she was certain she had more than enough yesterday. Since sitting there pondering didn't help any, and that the two hungry martial artists will soon be looking to sate themselves, Xayah leaves into the forrest, taking an axe with her. After wandering around a bit, she finds an excellent tree to chop down; it has a thick base, but thin enough to chop and carry, it had plenty of dried sticks at its crown, and it had a few already chopped logs nearby.
Xayah does a double take. There were no tree stumps nearby, and no footprints leading to them that didn't also lead back to their camp. A second set of foot prints that led back to their camp, and the amount here looked to be the same amount that Xayah had found missing just half an hour earlier. "Did Genma lead me into the forest?" It made no sense, Xayah knew Genma didn't have anyone to cook for him, so he wouldn't have tried to abandon her, and Ranma wouldn't leave her without a fight. Still, Xayah couldn't help but start worrying about something going wrong. Just then, an ear piercing scream resonates from her campsite. Without a fight, that was what Xayah thought, she had a really bad feeling about this.
As she ran, she would hear screaming, then silence, then screaming again. Xayah raced back to camp as fast as her legs would take her. Running out of the forrest into a small clearing, Xayah slides to a stop, and readies her axe, as well as a hidden short sword inside her cloak. Before her eyes, Xayah saw Genma wrap meat and fish around a bound and crying Ranma, and dropping him into a pit of starving cats, then ignoring his screams. Well, not really ignoring, he had something to say about Ranma's unmanly behavior towards being literally tortured by his own father. "Stop your crying boy, are you a weak girl that can't handle training?!" Bellows Genma.
"You finally lost your mind old man." Genma turns to her and is about to respond, but his voice catches in his throat before he can utter a word. Xayah didn't know what face she was making, what Genma saw in her eyes, that made a grown man and a master of a martial arts that could kill a trained platoon of soldiers, nor did she really care. In front of her stood a dead man, a strong dead man, a dead man that could kill her in a single hit, but a dead man none-the-less. See, Xayah was shorter than Genma, short enough that he would have trouble hitting her with his fists, and while he could easily kick her away, Xayah knew how to deal with him. Xayah would aim for his leg, or more specifically, between him legs. A grown male would be able to punt a seven-and-a-half year old child across the site with ease, but to do that he would need to be able to use his leg, and between his legs Xayah would hit his tendon with the business end of her wood axe, painfully disabling half of his fighting effectiveness. Then, Xayah could use her hidden short sword to stab into the outer side of his leg, cutting an artery and then giving Genma 20 seconds before he hit the ground.
Genma was usually never scared of Xayah. She might scare him with her threats to stop cooking or sabotage his food, but never his life. This time however, he knew he needed to act fast and calm the tiny disaster down. Genma pulls his son out of the pit still screaming, and then starts talking. "This was just training, calm down!" yells Genma.
She only responds with an angry and guttural growl.
"Xayah please." Pleads Genma.
"Xayah..." It wasn't Genma this time. Xayah's head snaps to look at Ranma, and gets a good look at his frightened expression. Yes, Ranma was scared from being dropped into a put of ferocious predators, but he was also scared of Xayah. She looked just like those tiny demons in the pit, he couldn't help but be scared of her turning this wrath on him, even if it was caused at Ranma's plight in the first place.
"Explain." Was the first and only word out of her mouth. She was angry, seething even, but she had enough self control to let Genma speak his way to life, maybe.
"It was training, I read it from this manual!" He says before tossing over a small notebook containing training methods.
"to teach the student Cat-fu one needs to wrap them up in cat food and throw them in a pit of hungry cats, wait, and then pull them out. Repeat until the cats fighting style imprints itself on the students. The Cat-fu makes the user invincible in combat, but must be taught to a child younger than ten years of age." Reads Xayah.
Genma's face fills with hope, he would live! or at least get to keep his leg in one piece. Xayah's next words shatter that hope. Xayah turns the page over and continues reading, an act that confuses Genma as he hadn't read the next page yet, an action he was now regretting.
"only a fool would attempt to teach someone this." It wasn't Xayah's own thoughts either, it was what was written on the very next page of the notebook, why they didn't bother putting it on the same page or just never creating the technique in the first place was beyond her.
Having calmed down, Xayah puts down her axe and lets go of her blade. "Genma, because I already know you are a fool, I believe that you were stupid enough not to read the next page of the notebook, so I will forgive you. However, what happens next is all up to Ranma." Declared Xayah. Over the course of his training, Ranma had developed a strong sense of justice, however he was also not a pushover. "He can make his own food for the next week, what do you say Xayah?"
