Title: Finding the Silver
Author: Shareon
Summary: Ranma didn't understand how attending Lillian Private Girls' School related to mastery of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. However, past experience had demonstrated time and again how esoteric training could lead to incredible results. A crossover between "Maria-sama ga Miteru" and "Ranma 1/2."
Prologue:
"Gokigenyou."
This clear, morning greeting is nowhere to be heard under the serene, blue sky.
While the phrase is equally appropriate for salutations and farewells, it is so formal and stately as to be almost unknown to itinerant martial artists. It would be much more commonly found on the lips of pure maidens wrapped in deep-colored school uniforms as they pass under the tall gateways of places such as Lillian Private Girls' School.
Founded in Meiji 34, Lillian was originally intended as an academy for young women of nobility, and it has endured as a Catholic school of prestigious tradition. Located in downtown Tokyo, where you can still see traces of Musashi Field's greenery, it is a place protected by God, a garden where maidens can receive tutelage from preschool to university.
Time passes, and even now, in Heisei, three era-names past Meiji, Lillian remains a valuable academy. Nurtured ladies raised in greenhouses are shipped out in carefully packaged boxes after 18 years of education. It is an arrangement which continues to survive.
But such a place is far distant from here, the expansive plains of rural Japan.
He, Ranma Saotome, is the son of Genma Saotome. He is the heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, and that fact has necessitated his traveling with his father on an extended training trip for over a decade. He is cursed by Jusenkyou to transform into a girl when brought into contact with cold water, only to transform back into a boy with a similar application of hot water. He is as far away from Lillian in circumstances as he is physically.
Such a phrase has nothing to do with him.
Chapter 1: New School
"It's good that the rain's stopped," Ranma said. The only traces of the storm from the night before were the small puddles still scattered around their camp. It was a welcome change. Hiking when cold and wet was generally miserable, and that had been before their recent trip to Jusenkyou. Ever since then, the rain also brought with it the horrible smell of Genma as a panda, adding an olfactory offense to the experience.
"What's that?" Genma asked. He was on the trailing end of middle-aged, with a fat stomach and a bald head which he kept hidden from the world beneath a bandanna. He wore a pair of glasses to compensate for his slowly deteriorating eyesight. Despite that, he was also the strongest, fastest, and most skilled martial artist Ranma had ever fought. He was also the laziest. As was typical, he was lounging around as Ranma broke camp.
"I said, 'It's good that the rain's stopped,'" Ranma repeated. He stowed their dismantled tent into his travel pack and moved to smother the last remnants of their campfire.
"Hmm..." Genma said, nodding his head. "The life of a martial artist is fraught with peril."
"Yeah, yeah. Where are we going next, anyway?" Ranma asked. He hoped it was somewhere in a city. Food was more reliable there than in the wilderness, and they were far less likely to be attacked by things such as bears and wolves. The downside was that while in a city, they would also need to avoid being discovered. That meant no fires, cold dinners, and cautious movements everywhere. It was a trade off, but he preferred the reliable food.
"About that. You've learned much over our training trip, and I think it's time for you to begin your first steps to becoming a master of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts," Genma said. He spoke dramatically, which would have had more of an impact if he hadn't remained slouched back against a tree.
"What're you on about? I can already beat you," Ranma said. He was naturally dismissive of his father's proclamations. Genma always like to make grandiose statements. Almost invariably they turned out to be substantially overstated. On the other hand, Ranma could also overstate things. He could beat Genma in a fight, but he lost more often than he won.
"Don't get cocky, boy. I've been holding back on you."
Ranma scoffed.
Genma pushed himself forward and stood up. "You couldn't survive one week without me, and that's what we're going to fix. It's time for you to learn the most powerful set of techniques I ever created: the Umisenken."
That caught Ranma's attention. The Fist of a Thousand Seas. It was possible that Genma was exaggerating again, but the name certainly sounded like the real thing.
Ranma always liked to add new techniques to his repertoire, let alone named sets, and his mind raced as he pictured what it could be. Some kind of super-attack based on the power of the ocean? Some kind of secret form of protection, hidden deep beneath the waves? The name was impressive, but it gave away nothing. He asked, "What's that?"
Genma smugly crossed his arms and smirked in return. He said, "That's what I thought. For this, you'll need special training." He leaned forward towards Ranma, which prompted Ranma to do the same. Then, without warning, Genma threw a canteen of cold water right into Ranma's face.
The cold water triggered Ranma's transformation. She shrank several decimeters, changing from a fairly average height for a boy to being rather short for a girl. This was accompanied by a commensurate shrinking of her arms, legs, and torso. The exception to this was her bust and hips, both of which expanded and declared her gender with their decidedly large size. Even her hair, although it remained in its characteristic pigtail, shifted from a solid black to a vivid and eye-catching red.
"What'd you do that for?" Ranma exclaimed, surprise and annoyance vying for dominance in her voice. She was all the more annoyed because she had been caught by surprise. After all these years, Genma could still occasionally manage to catch her off guard.
Ranma quickly wiped her face semi-dry with her hand.
"For this training, you'll need to be a girl," Genma said.
"Are you crazy? I'm a guy!"
"I know. It's important you never forget that," Genma said, nodding. "But for this, you'll need to blend in. Pretend. Believe me, compared to the stuff the master did to me and Tendo-kun, this is easy." He shuddered, and then he refocused himself on Ranma. "The first step of your training will be to infiltrate Lillian Private Girls' School."
"What? Why?" Ranma asked. She didn't see how that could be connected in any way to learning a set of martial arts techniques.
"Don't worry about that for now, boy. Do the first step first. I'll explain the next step later. I don't want to overwhelm you, after all," Genma said. He gave a hearty laugh. "Besides, it will make it easier for you to perform the technique if you don't know its final form."
"Stupid pops," Ranma said to herself.
She hitched her traveling pack onto her back, and she followed Genma across the countryside. He led her on a moderate hike across a field until they reached a small road. They followed that road as it merged into a bigger road and eventually into a highway.
As they walked, Ranma contemplated the little she knew about her upcoming training. Attending a girls' school was possibly the second most bizarre thing Genma had ever had her do, and that left her skeptical about what he had planned.
Ironically, that same bizarreness also made her increasing excited about what the techniques could end up being. If there was one thing she had noticed over the years, it was the trend that the more esoteric the training was, the more powerful the end result would be. For example, Fukuyama had enforced some of the craziest requirements Ranma had ever been subjected to, but her results with the naginata were indisputable.
The skepticism and the excitement combined within Ranma, leaving her giddy with equal parts curiosity and anticipation.
As they continued to walk along the highway, cars speeding past them in a whirl of noise, there was a steady increase in both the number and the size of the buildings around them. At the start of the day, there had been only the occasional farm house in sight. Those had given way to small towns, which in turn gave way to suburban neighborhoods, until eventually skyscrapers were commonplace. The size of the city and the number of tall office buildings it contained made it easy to identify that they had returned to Tokyo once again.
Genma led the way straight to Lillian. He entered the tall gate in the front of the school and hurried through the grounds inside. The speed at which he moved allowed Ranma only a cursory look around her as she tried to keep up.
The large campus felt closer to a temple or a church than any school Ranma had attended in the past. The grounds had a great deal of similarity to a city park, with a wide, brick road leading in from the entrance gateway. Along both sides of the road were dozens of tall trees, behind which were two carefully manicured lawns. Partway into the campus was small grove of trees, in the center of which was a stone statue of a woman wearing a hooded robe.
Genma led Ranma past a group of ginko trees and directly to a large building of Western-style architecture. It was two stories tall, with a central building which displayed a large clock on its face, and with two long wings stretching out to the left and to the right. Numerous expansive, rectangular windows lined the walls around the entire structure.
Once inside, Genma led Ranma to the main office. Along the way, they passed several girls, all of whom turned to look at them as they went by. The dingy martial arts keikogis Ranma and Genma wore already stood out enough against the dark sailor dresses, white collars, and crisp pleats all of the girls wore. The addition of the large packs containing all of the traveling equipment and supplies they had used to survive throughout their years of training ensured that Ranma and Genma were as prominent and visible as two tall trees in an open field.
They reached the main office, and Genma walked straight in. He looked at the administrator sitting at the front desk and said, "Good afternoon. I'd like to speak to the headmistress of the school."
"About what would you like to speak with her?" the administrator asked. She was a middle-aged woman with a narrow face. She wore a yellow buttoned shirt and a black jacket.
"I'd like to enroll my daughter in this school," Genma said. He beckoned to Ranma, who stepped forward. Genma then took her by the shoulders and pulled her forward to stand in front of him.
The administrator looked up at Genma, then down at Ranma, then back up at him again. She asked, "Here? Are you sure?"
"Yes," Genma said, nodding twice.
The administrator took one more penetrating look at Ranma. She then said, "I understand. Please wait here." She stood up and walked to one of the back offices. Although the door was already open, she knocked anyway, and then she stepped inside.
Genma leaned down and whispered to Ranma, "Just stay quiet and let me do the talking."
Ranma nodded.
With nothing else to do, Ranma took a look around the room. It was a fairly standard office, with small stacks of paper littering the various tables here and there. The most distinctive feature of the room was the sculptures and art scattered around it. Most notable among them was a large painting on a side wall featuring three men, a woman, and a baby, each surrounded by a golden aura.
The clicking of heels tapping on the ground caught Ranma's attention as the administrator emerged from the back office.
"The headmistress will see you now," the administrator said, and she gestured with her hands as if to show them the way in.
"Thank you," Genma said with a slight bow. He walked past the administrator, Ranma once again following behind him.
The inner room broke with the theme of being a professional office. While the back half of the room did look similar to the main room they had just left, with a substantial desk covered with papers, the front half looked closer in style to being a living room. There were two modest sofas with a coffee table between them. Placed in the center of that table was a vase of white lilies. There was a small statue of a woman with a flowing hooded robe on another table to the side of the room. Beside that statue was another vase, this one containing some roses. On the other side of the room was a blackboard upon which was written a large table of names and days, and across the top of which was written, "Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. -Thessalonians 5:21-22"
The headmistress herself was a women closer to being elderly than middle-aged, as seen by the numerous wrinkles on her face that were in the process of becoming defined creases. She wore a black tunic, a white collar, a white coif, and a black wimple. Her bearing was one that spoke of kindly acceptance as well as resigned discipline.
"Gokigenyou." The headmistress's polite and formal greeting sounded strange to Ranma, like giving an embossed and gilded invitation to an afternoon sparring session. "I heard that you were interested in enrolling your daughter in Lillian, Mr..."
"Sugita. Kaito Sugita," Genma said fluidly. He gave a slight bow of his head. "Yes, that is correct. I would like to enroll my daughter here."
Ranma felt the weight of judgment as the woman looked her over.
The headmistress focused her gaze for a few seconds and then turned back to Genma. She said, "Forgive me for saying so, but we don't typically accept persons such as yourselves. Why would you like for her to attend?"
"I understand," Genma said. The hint of plaintive emotion entered his voice as he continued, "That's exactly why I came here. You see, Ran..ko..chan's mother died when she was very young. Just a baby, really."
The jolt of surprise lanced through Ranma, and she whipped her head up and around to look at Genma in response. She had had no idea that her mother was dead. She had never heard that before. For that matter, she hadn't even known that she had had a mother at all. Intellectually, she knew she must have had one, but she had never really thought about it before. Over the years, the topic had simply never come up. The sudden realization of the absence left her feeling strange, as if somebody had just pointed out she had a birthmark on her arm that she had never noticed before.
"I'm sorry," the headmistress said. She tapped her right hand to her forehead, chest, left shoulder, and right shoulder. She then folded it together with her left hand in front of her.
"Her dying wish was that Ranko-chan grow up to be a proper lady. But I'm just a martial artist. I tried my best, but... well... see?" Genma asked. He used his arms to gesture at Ranma from head to foot.
Ranma wasn't really paying attention to him, though. She was more preoccupied with the declaration that her mother was dead. She wasn't sure how to take it. It was like hearing that she would never in her life be able to visit France. She had never really thought about it before, let alone cared about it. Nevertheless, hearing that she would never even have the chance to know her mother left her feeling like she was somehow missing out on something, or at least that she should be feeling that way. It was very confusing.
"You see?" Genma repeated. "I'm just not qualified. I've asked around, and this is the best place to learn about this kind of thing."
The headmistress blinked in response. She looked down at her hands, still clutched in front of her chest. She then said, "I see. As you know, we are a very exclusive private school. We began in Meiji 34 as an academy for young women of nobility. We continue that proud tradition to this day as a prestigious school for young ladies. We are a Catholic school dedicated to Maria-sama, and her grace is such that she would never turn away a person in need. We will find a place for your daughter here."
"Thank you," Genma said, tears streaming from his eyes.
"Of course, there is the matter of tuition," the headmistress said.
"Naturally," Genma said. "Who should I make the check out to?"
Ranma half-ignored their discussion, instead thinking about the declaration that her mother was dead. She eventually came to the conclusion that it didn't really matter to her. If she never went to France, then she never went to France. It might have been different if her mother had actually appeared in her life, much like how suddenly waking up one day in a French park would definitely have been most consequential. However, the mere realization of the absence in and of itself didn't make a previously inconsequential idea important.
The headmistress and Genma came to some agreement about the tuition. He scribbled something on a small sheet of paper and handed it over to her, and she looked it over and then looked back up at him. She said, "I believe that everything is in order. You will be able to buy uniforms at several nearby clothing stores." She then turned to Ranma. "Please return here tomorrow morning at 8:00. I will introduce you to your teacher then. Welcome to Lillian Private Girls' School. Gokigenyou." The phrase in parting sounded just as excessively polite and formal as it had felt in greeting.
"Until next time."
Genma led Ranma out of the office, out of the building, and eventually out of the campus. They then made their way to a nearby clothing store.
At the store, Genma explained to the shopkeeper that they needed to get some uniforms and some more clothing in general. The shopkeeper looked skeptical, but he still helped measure Ranma. The man then went to a back room and returned forward with two sailor dresses. They had long sleeves and, excepting the white collar and cuffs, were made of a thick cloth which was dark to the point of being practically black. The shopkeeper left them on a table and went to the back room once again. When he returned the second time, he was carrying two sets of gym uniforms, a jacket, and a book bag. He left those on a table next to the sailor dresses and went back a third time. This time he returned with three pairs of shoes. This was repeated one more time, with the shopkeeper finally bringing forward a small stack of neckerchiefs, socks, and underwear. The pile of clothes added up to be a rather large and heavy mass.
Genma handed over another small sheet of paper to the man and then left the store. Ranma followed behind him, carrying the large bag with all of the clothes she now owned.
Once they were safely on the street and several blocks away, Genma turned to Ranma and said, "That went well. In the future, you'll need to be able to do stuff like that by yourself. Now you'll have two, maybe three, weeks to complete your training. You'll need to be done before then. You're on a timer here, and you'll only have one shot at this."
"Yeah, I got it. That's step one done. Easy. What's next?" Ranma asked. For all of Genma's bluster, it seemed like this training would be simple. She hadn't even needed to really do anything so far. That in no way diminished her eagerness to advance, though.
"Yes. Good. Now..." Genma said, slowing down and leaning forward to Ranma. She didn't take the bait this time and remained on guard for a splash of water to her face or worse. "Now... let's go find a place to stay."
"What? I meant what's the next step of the training?" Ranma all but shouted. She had been prepared to advance to step two, or at least to be attacked in some fashion. The banality of Genma's declaration had been anticlimactic to say the least. She felt like she was being toyed with.
"Shh..." Genma said, waving his hands for Ranma to quiet down. "I know what you're thinking, but it's what I said earlier. The first thing you need to do is to infiltrate the school. I know you've been enrolled, but you need to actually get into it. You must be completely ordinary in your appearance and behavior. You need to blend in and become invisible to them, like a tree in the forest. Once you've achieved that, I'll tell you the second step. If you know what that is now, it'll just mess you up."
It irked Ranma, but she could see the reasoning. Learning how to throw before learning how to grab was just pointless. Worse, trying to learn how to punch without first knowing how to make a fist was just asking get a broken thumb. Everything had a proper order. She had been through enough forms of training that she could accept the reasoning, even if she didn't like it.
"Fine, but this had better be worth it," Ranma said.
"It will be. Now let's go find a place to stay," Genma said, resuming their trip down the street.
The two of them moved at a light jog. As they went, Ranma occasionally looked backwards. She would need to retrace her route in the morning, and seeing the landmarks from the appropriate perspective would help a great deal for that. The periodic check also helped for spotting if anybody was stalking them in preparation for an ambush.
They passed a park, but Genma kept leading them onward. Past a few more streets, they came across what looked like a large Shinto temple. Tori gates stood in the front, and there was what appeared to be a small forest behind it. It would have been the perfect place to hide out, but despite that, Genma kept walking. At the end of the temple, they took a right and crossed a bridge. A few streets later, there was a big sign advertising some sports drink. They took a left there and continued past more streets. They eventually came across what appeared to be a modest Buddhist temple. This one must have suited Genma better, as he slowed to a stop and looked around for any spectators.
Ranma had traveled enough with Genma to know what would happen next. He hopped over some bushes and behind some trees. Ranma checked for any observers as well, and upon confirming there were none, followed right behind him into their newest home.
Meals would be cold while they stayed here, as they couldn't risk a fire and drawing attention to themselves. Martial arts practice would need to be conducted several blocks away for the same reason. For all the benefits of camping in a city, there were definite drawbacks, too.
As she had expected, Ranma ended up doing most of the camp setup while Genma wandered off to do whatever he did. He claimed he was searching for water, food, and other supplies. Ranma always suspected it was just Genma being lazy. Regardless, it fell to her to pitch their tent. She also laid out the bedrolls and unpacked the basic supplies which were to be used on a regular basis. By the time she had the camp in a state she considered properly set up, the sun was on the decline.
They had some jerky and dry cereal for dinner. After that, Genma led Ranma out of the camp and towards a nearby river. Along the way, they stopped by a convenience store, so Ranma was able to acquire some hot water to transform.
Once they reached the river, the pair commenced their vigorous martial arts practice. Even after the sun had set, they continued their exercises, using the dim illumination of the streetlights lining the side of the river to continue their fight.
It was near midnight when they made their way back to the camp. Ranma was glad he had set up everything earlier. He was exhausted, and he was glad that he could just collapse onto his cold bedroll when he returned.
Minutes later, he was asleep.
Last Updated: November 19, 2021