Sunlight streamed down on the beautiful day in Nerima, Japan. The birds were singing, people walked around in happy little groups, chattering back and forth about the rumors of the day. All in all, the world was at peace and there seemed little that could disturb it. Hence the reason that Ranma was sticking to the shadows, his eyes darting to every nook and cranny in sight, scanning for trouble. A bead of sweat trickled down his brow as he inched forward, glancing across the deserted street. His backpack was clutched nervously in his hand instead of slung over his back where it should be, the precious cargo still safe. How long that would last, Ranma wasn't sure but he had given his word and Ranma Saotome always kept his word.
Taking a deep breath, Ranma jumped across the street, clearing the road in a single bound and quickly taking to the rooftops. A burst of speed had him quickly heading towards the Tendo Dojo, his home for over a year. Stretching his senses to their fullest, he focused on his surroundings, taking special care that no one could sneak up on him. Detecting the presence of a certain buxom amazon directly in his path, Ranma veered off course, taking a longer route to avoid any trouble. Not that he really minded the girl but right now he didn't need the confusion and distraction.
Ranma's danger sense flared again and he turned his head to see a diminutive figure hopping along the rooftops in the distance, a large bundle slung over his shoulder. For a moment, Ranma was mixed in what he needed to do, his sense of honor warring with his scenario. On one hand, he had promised to protect his homework and make an effort to complete it for tomorrow. On the other hand, there was the old letch, out on one of his panty raids. Sighing and giving in to the inevitable, Ranma shrugged into his backpack and made his way towards the Grand Master of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts, Happosai, the number one menace in the district and all around dirty old man.
No one knew just how old Happosai really was, but the claims of being over three hundred seemed to be substantiated by the only other person in the area who could rival him in terms of ability. Elder Ku Lohn, Amazon Matriarch and owned of the Cat Café, was perhaps the only other person in Nerima who could match Happosai in sheer power and skill. Both were several centuries old and both managed to make Ranma's life miserable, even if they did help from time to time.
All of that meant that Ranma's life was just more complicated. Frowning ever so slightly, Ranma roof hopped on a intercept course, catching the panty thief across the back with a well placed kick, knocking the old man off the roof and into the waiting arms ( and weapons ) of the mob of women who had been following close behind.
Ranma watched the display nervously, knowing he should have left while the old letch was being handled by the righteous womanly justice. Knowledge of what the Master was capable of was what kept Ranma from turning his back on the man, even if he seemed completely occupied. When the women finally cleared out, their underwear liberated, Happosai popped out of the hole in the ground that he'd been beaten into, looking none the worse for wear. Pulling out his pipe, Happosai watched Ranma for a moment, a thoughtful expression on his wrinkled face.
"So my boy, you obviously wanted to talk to me, since you stuck around instead of waiting for me to find you for what you did." A small ring of smoke rose from the pipe as the Grand Master of Martial Arts considered Ranma for a moment, waiting for an answer.
Blinking in surprise, Ranma gaped at the old man. Wanting to talk to the old pervert? Why would he want… he trailed off as his eyes widened in surprise. "Yeah, I guess I do have something I need to talk to you about. Not even sure why I stopped. I mean, I can't let you go around stealing panties like that but I wanted to ask you some questions too." Rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment, Ranma tried to find the words to give form to the questions within.
Happosai hid his surprise, though he did suck harder on his pipe. Ranma asking for help meant one of two things. Either a rival, new or old, who is too powerful to be beaten without a training trip or new technique. Or some form of change that he didn't want getting back to his old man. The former was the most likely as Ranma seemed to draw more combatants than anyone had right to. However, Ranma seemed to be perfectly fine and Happosai hadn't felt any new powerful auras in the area. That left some form of change coming over the pigtailed boy and for the life of him, the old man had no idea what would happen. "Well, out with it, boy." No sense in letting Ranma know he actually cared.
Shaking his head, Ranma turned to leave. "Bah, I don't know why I thought you could help. I'm gonna head home before something comes up. I promised Hinako-chan that I would have my homework ready for tomorrow." Before he could take another step, Ranma found himself suddenly facing the old letch.
"Did you just say Hinako? As in Hinako Ninomiya?" The seriousness in the words and the way the old man looked threw Ranma for a loop as he slowly nodded. Dropping into a defensive stance by instinct, Ranma watched Happosai for any sign of trouble. There was no way that he was going to let the old pervert near his friend.
Chuckling quietly to himself, Happosai was skipping along the road, humming cheerfully to himself, thinking about the first time he had met the little girl with the wasting sickness. Those thoughts were interrupted as he had to deflect a kick from Ranma. He glared at the boy. "What was that for?"
"You leave Hinako-chan alone, you old letch!" For some reason he didn't understand, Ranma found himself upset at the thought of Happosai getting anywhere close to his friend. Wisps of ki leaked into the air, surrounding Ranma in a slightly hazy blue aura that seemed laced lightly with red. The seriousness in his gaze was more than equal to that of Happosai from a moment ago. Did he really care about Hinako so much that he would go against the old letch for her? Ranma tried to compare his feelings for Hinako against those he felt for Akane or anyone else he would defend against Happosai for.
Several faces flashed through his mind in the moment it took Ranma to watch Happosai for a reaction. Akane, Ukyo, Xian Pu, Nabiki, Kasumi, Hinako. The faces of his friends and the people he cared about. She was more than his friend and he wasn't really sure what that meant for him. Shaking his head to rid himself of the confusing thoughts, he narrowed his eyes at the grand master. It was his move.
Happosai couldn't hold back anymore, his laughter escaping in a series of cackles that set Ranma's nerves on edge. "Hinako-chan is it, my boy? Well now, this does explain a few things. I've known little Hinako for a long time. Tell me, does she still revert back to child form after using all her energy? More importantly, does she still turn into the gorgeous adult form of hers?" So many things clicked into place. The slight blush on Ranma's cheek was more than enough evidence for the old man. To think that Ranma was the one she was mooning over when he'd found her.
Ranma frown at Happosai before answering affirmative. "How did you know all that? What did you do to Hinako-chan?" It was a struggle not to lunge for the pervert but Ranma was barely able to maintain control, keeping in mind that he had to protect the backpack.
Taking a seat on a nearby fence, Happosai took a long draw on his pipe, flooding the area around him with smoke. "When I found Hinako, nearly twelve years ago, she was in the hospital, a sickly child suffering from a disease that was slowly draining away her ki. She was dying." Ignoring Ranma's gasp, he continued. "I taught her a technique that would strengthen her body, allowing her to draw the ki from people in order to bolster her own abilities and powers. She was only supposed to do it against those who would threaten her, though she did practice on the nursing staff…" Happosai trailed off at the thought of all those lovely panties that he had liberated from the comatose nurses and patients.
Ranma wasn't sure what to think. Had Hinako-chan really been that sick? She didn't seem that way when they had visited in the hospital all those years ago, but then again, he had been pretty young. Could he have remembered everything wrong? Watching Happosai for a moment longer, Ranma decided to leave while the old letch seemed distracted. No sense in tempting the fates any more than necessary. With a burst of speed, Ranma launched himself for the rooftops, fading into the distance as he quickly continued on his way to the Tendo Dojo.
Happosai finally broke out of his reminiscing, noting the lack of a certain pigtailed boy in front of him. Grinning widely to himself, he reached into his gi, pulling out a small faded picture, taken of him and a girl, who, though young, still towered over him. It was a young Hinako, walking around on her own for the first time in many months. When he had found the young girl, she was sad over the departure of her friend, someone she had grown to care greatly about, though she would never mention his name. Putting the picture away, he turned towards the direction of the school. Maybe he should go for a visit.
A haggard but smiling Ranma finally staggered into the Tendo Compound, leaning against the stone outer wall, just inside the gate. Nearly an hour had passed since he had left Happosai behind, an hour filled with as much craziness and chaos as could possibly be thrown at one person. If it hadn't happened to him, Ranma would have been disbelieving of such a story himself. Haunted suits of armor, giant porcine rampages, eternally lost boys with way too much power, drugged flowers, and the random wandering cat. All in all an average afternoon for him, but just once, he'd have liked to have a promise that was easy to keep.
Glancing at the door to the house with relief, Ranma prepared to make his way inside when the door slowly began to open. Alarms sounded in his mind, telling Ranma to move, to jump over the house, to do anything other than await his fate. Alas, he still hadn't learned to listen to the small voices, watching the door in morbid expectation.
What was revealed was the absolute last person Ranma was hoping to see, especially after the type of afternoon he had just had. His uncute fiancée, Akane, stepped through the doorway, a small black piglet cradled in her arms. A scowl adorned her face the moment she laid arms on the battered boy. Taking in his bruised appearance, her countenance darkened even further. "You've been picking on Ryoga again, haven't you, you pervert!" Her cry echoed over the compound and through the neighborhood, though the locals had long learned to ignore the overheated exclaimations of the youngest Tendo.
Ranma shook his head in fervent denial, but he already knew that the outcome was foregone. Taking a step back, he glanced everywhere, trying to find some form of escape. The angry squeal of the piglet drew his attention back towards Akane. Growling in frustration at the injustice of life, Ranma took another step back. He'd have to deal with the little porker later. For the moment he just needed to survive and make it inside to do his homework. It would be one promise he would be able to keep that he really wouldn't mind keeping, even if another promise was making it that much harder.
Casting one last glance at Akane, Ranma tried a new tactic. Stopping his nervous waivering, he stood up tall, taller than Akane, letting a little of his confident aura leak out to surround him. "I wasn't picking on anyone, Akane. I was trying to get home to do my homework, like I promised Hinako-chan." His voice was a little deeper than its normal baritone, a line of frost laced through each word as he sunk his nervousness into the Soul of Ice, a martial arts technique designed to help keep one's calm in stressful situations and to lower the ambient temperature.
None of Ranma's words reached Akane though, except for the way that he'd said Hinako-chan. That pervert! He had a ton of fiancées and that wasn't good enough for him. He was trying to seduce a teacher too! Well it was a martial artist's duty to protect the weak and that included teachers. Reaching for her familiar anger, Akane took hold of a large wooden mallet, a physical manifestation of her anger, powered by her ki. Reaching back, she let swing at the target of her fury, the pigtailed boy before her.
Realizing that his homework would never get done if he had to make his way back to the Tendo's after being malleted across the district, made a split second decision and did something he'd never bothered to do before. He dodged Akane's mallet. Springing into the air, he vaulted clean over Akane, twisting in place to land facing her, his back to the front door.
Akane cursed as she spun in place, having put all her strength into the mallet swing. Unable to stop her momentum, she was carried in a circle by her mallet until she crashed to the ground, dizzy. Bracing herself against the mallet, the struggled to stand, her gaze drawn to the sound of her piglet's tortured squeals. She found the piglet clamped onto Ranma's anklet, growling in anger. Her world dissolved into a haze of red as she slowly stood. "Ranma! Stop picking on P-chan!"
Ranma just stood there, his arms crossed over his chest, ignoring the pain in his ankle. "Do you see me doing anything to your precious pig, Akane? I'm standing here, keeping my hands to myself. I'm not moving, not saying anything to your pet. How is that me picking on your little P-chan?" Though the words were polite enough, they were filled with scorn, especially that last word. If it were possible, his voice seemed even more frost laden than a moment ago.
Unable or unwilling to accept Ranma's lies, Akane readied her mallet again, preparing to deliver just desserts to her unwanted pigtailed fiancé. A soft 'oof' escaped her as a small black piglet was launched into her stomach. Already unsteady from earlier, she collapses onto the ground, mallet disappearing as she cradled the piglet in her arms. Looking up, all she was able to catch was Ranma's back as he made his way into the house. Confusion warred with the anger within her as she tried to make sense of what had just happened. Wasn't she justified in punishing Ranma for being a pervert?
Depositing his shoes near the door, Ranma shook his head in sadness. Why couldn't he get a break just once? Why was Akane so unwilling to trust him? She could be so cute sometimes when she tried yet most of the time she seemed perfectly content to hurt him, jumping to the strangest conclusions even when she knew the truth. Sighing deeply, he announced his arrival, making his way further into the house.
A tall brunette with hair cascading down her hair in single loose ponytail exited the kitchen, a serene smile on her beautiful face. She focused that smile on Ranma. "Welcome home, Ranma. How was school?" She was Kasumi, eldest Tendo daughter, twenty years old and caretaker of the home and one of Ranma's few friends in Nerima, someone who didn't judge him without learning everything that was going on. Someone who was willing to listen and always willing to help.
Forcing away his upset feelings for Akane, Ranma drew a smile upon his lips. It was almost impossible to be upset when Kasumi was around. "Eh, things were okay, a little stranger than normal though."
Kasumi cocked her head to the side, waiting for the rest of the story. Things were normally pretty strange so that little statement carried a lot of weight. She motioned Ranma to continue even as she guided them both towards the kitchen so she could continue working on dinner.
Ranma shrugged out of his backpack as he recalled the events of the day. "Got a new teacher for English. Turns out it was a friend of mine from when I was younger. I met Hinako-chan when I was in the hospital once when both my arms broke. She hasn't changed a bit since then. Although turning into the adult was an interesting trick. Or is it turning back into a child?" He trailed off as he tried to chase that piece of logic, going round in the circles that made his head hurt.
Pulling out the vegetables and washing them in the sink, Kasumi smiled and nodded, listening intently to Ranma's story. She didn't miss the way Ranma had said Hinako-chan. There was a sound of affection that the boy most likely wasn't even aware of. Unsure how to feel about yet another complication in Ranma's life, she tried to sift through what he was saying and learn what really happened. As Ranma described the first encounter at school and then the troubles on his way home, she was unable to suppress the sigh of disappointment directed at her youngest sister. Oh Akane, why can't you learn to trust Ranma? You're just going to force him away from us.
That though proved suddenly alarming to the eldest Tendo daughter and Kasumi busied herself with the dinner preparations, trying to fight down the sudden blush that worked its way onto her cheeks. When she noticed Ranma had finished speaking, she glanced over to see him sporting a huge triumphant smile. "Oh Ranma-kun, you seem to be happy about something."
Grinning even brighter, Ranma reached into his backpack and pulled out his homework, displaying it as if it were some rare treasure that he'd brought back from a dangerous expedition. Though given the type of day that he regularly led, that wasn't that far from the truth. With a smirk, he spread the documents over the table. "Ranma Saotome never loses!" With that said, he began to go over the work. Several minutes later he groaned in frustration.
"I don't get any of this."
Chuckling softly to herself, Kasumi finished the preparations she was working on and made her way to Ranma's side, resting one hand lightly on his shoulder as she leaned over, glancing at the work. "Well, let's see what we can get done before dinner, then after dinner, I'll help you go over the rest, okay?"
Ranma answering smile was enough to brighten the room and he nodded, settling in to battle the foe.
Author's Notes:
When I first started writing this story, I had planned in one an actual friendship with Hinako, not really expecting to write any type of romance. And then as I went along, the thought of getting the two together began to appeal to me more and more. Then I realized that nothing in Ranma's life is simple. Will he and Hinako get together? It's a good possibility, but that doesn't mean that others won't make their attempts for the pigtailed boy.
Reading over the story, I'd like everyone's opinions. I know that most of you are looking for a Ranma/Hinako matchup but I would still like to hear your opinions.
