Ranma 1/2
Ranma and Hikaru 1/2
by: Kimura Ayame
Disclaimer/Legal Crap:
I make no claim to own Ranma 1/2, nor any characters contained herein which appear in Takahashi's official Ranma manga and/or anime. I merely claim ownership over the characters, situations, and places herein which have come forth from my own creativity. If any attempt is going to be made to steal my ideas, I should point out that some of these characters are adapted from my own original stories, making this attempt a copyright infringement. You've been warned.
Introduction:
For any returning readers... it's been a long time, hasn't it? Now that I've had a renewed interest in this fanfiction, I've gone back to the beginning and started editing/rewriting, in the hopes of actually continuing work on it. So I hope anyone who read this before will go back to the beginning and enjoy the new and improved version!
With Part 8, now we get to the real series! Ranma and Hikaru 1/2 has all the martial-arts, gender-bending mayhem of the Takahashi classic, times two! Meaning two main characters... not that my series is better than Takahashi-san's original. Still, I hope you all enjoy the continuation of the Ranma and Hikaru saga, on this site for the first time ever!
PART 8: Two Women and a Child
A young man, similar in build to Ranma, and a few centimeters taller, with ear-length blond hair and striking green eyes, barged into Dr. Tofu's carrying two girls -- the smaller one with red hair, and the older one with lavender hair, both wearing extremely oversized black martial arts gi that threatened to fall off at any second. Dr. Tofu noticed the man enter the clinic, "Koji..."
Koji indicated the women he was carrying, "I found them unconscious in China."
Tofu looked over the unconscious pair, "Were they injured in any other way?"
Koji placed the two girls gently down, revealing that he himself was wearing what seemed to be a Chinese robe, with patterns of various shades of blue on the torso and sleeves, and dark blue from the waist down. "They were obviously overpowered in a fight. I think they'll be fine, with some rest."
Tofu nodded, "Thank you, Koji. You may have saved their lives."
As Koji turned around, Tofu noticed two bokken sheathed on his back in a cross fashion. He had taught Koji some basic chiropractic skills, medicinal herbs, and martial arts. Apparently, he had been studying a rare form of the samurai skills known to be practiced by Kunou Tatewaki, utilizing two bokken instead of just one. As soon as Koji left, Tofu turned his complete attention on his new patients.
---
A few hours later, Hikaru opened her eyes and looked around, "Where...?"
Tofu interrupted, "A student of mine, Tsunami Koji, brought you two in here."
Hikaru turned her head and noticed Ranma, still female. She sighed, "It wasn't a dream..."
"Who did this to you? I realize you're martial artists, but what kind of opponent would beat two women senseless?"
Hikaru chuckled, "Right. I forgot you didn't know." She glanced over at the unconscious Onna-Ranma, "Tofu, have you ever heard of Jusenkyou?"
---
At the Tendou home, Nabiki was starting to leave. Reiko, being a naturally curious type, immediately glanced up, "Nabiki? Where are you going?"
Nabiki froze, "Um... I've got a job."
Reiko smiled. She liked the idea of Nabiki finding legitimate ways of making money, "Oh, really?! What job?"
Nabiki muttered something unintelligible under her breath.
'Or maybe not legitimate...' Reiko frowned, "What was that?"
Nabiki sighed, "Never mind. It's not important." She hurriedly rushed out of the house.
Reiko went back to the book she was reading, but made a mental note to find out what exactly Nabiki was up to.
---
Tofu thought over this new information he had just received, "Hm... and you say your family has studied this... Jusenkyou?"
Hikaru replied, "We've mapped every known spring, and we have a bit of the history on it. Nothing else."
"Have you ever studied the effects of these curses before?"
"No. Well... Mother might have some information."
Tofu stood up, "Well, never mind that. As far as I've been able to see, you two just need a lot of rest. Don't try to move too much yet... I'll let Tendou-san know where you are." He walked away, towards the nearest available phone.
---
Nabiki walked along the streets of Nerima. She had been to Tsunami Koji's house some time ago, and was offered a job as a babysitter. The strange thing was, the offer was given to her by the young couple living next door. They had claimed that Koji's parents were not around, though there was a strange young man in a blue robe that might appear from time to time. Nabiki knew the couple was telling her all they knew, but her senses also told her that she was not getting the whole story. And wherever there was a mystery to solve in Nerima, Tendou Nabiki was usually there to figure it out. Profit, in this case, was simply a bonus.
---
Ranma woke up, still a bit groggy, "Hikaru? Where are we?"
Hikaru replied, "We're in Tofu's clinic. Do you remember what happened?"
"No."
Hikaru sighed, "Lee used the strongest ki blast I've ever seen. I can only guess that he was trying to kill us. The only thing he succeeded in doing was sending you straight into Nyanniichuan."
Ranma would have jumped in surprise, had she been physically well and energetic enough to do so. As she was, she just groaned upon noticing her current gender, "Great... just what I needed."
Just then, Tofu walked in, "Can you two walk?"
Both girls, slowly and with considerable effort, were able to stand up. Tofu continued, "Be careful. I told Tendou Soun-san that you still need rest. Don't try to be too active until at least tomorrow."
Both Ranma and Hikaru replied, "Thank you, Tofu-sensei."
---
Koji, far from the young approximately nine-year-old child that was supposed to be watched after by a certain Tendou Nabiki, was taking a hot bath. He thought back to the two girls he had found in Jusenkyou. He wasn't quite sure which spring they were next to, but it was possible that at least one of them was not really a girl. After all, he was not really a nine-year-old boy, either.
He had made the mistake of introducing himself to the next door neighbors while still in child form, and had realized too late that they would be concerned for his lack of family. Therefore, he hadn't protested when they wanted to hire a babysitter. In his natural adult form, he had even offered them some of his nearly unlimited finances, inherited from his parents years ago, in order to pay the person they hired.
He glanced at the clock, and realized the babysitter would be there any minute. He quickly jumped out of the bath, grabbed a bucket of cold water, poured it over himself, and shrank to the size of the child body he had been cursed with. He then got dressed, in a smaller version of his robelike garment, in greens instead of blues, and exited the bath to go in his room and read some manga. The less he interacted with Nabiki, the less he'd have to try to act like he really was nine years old.
---
When Hikaru walked into the Tendou dojo, the first person he saw was Reiko, who smiled, "Welcome back, Hikaru. Did you visit your family?"
Hikaru replied, "Yeah. Zugaikotsu-sensei... Father... was really injured. Mother and Hikari said they'll be going back home, but I'd like to stick around here and keep an eye on Ranma."
Reiko frowned and glanced around, "Where is Ranma?"
Ranma sighed... she had wanted to avoid this, but her decision was to let everybody see her in her cursed form, especially her own sister. It would spare her the explanation later. She spoke up, "Right here, Reiko." The petite redhead stepped forward. Reiko froze, eyes wide, and dropped the book she had been reading, "Ra... Ra..."
"Yeah. I'm a girl. Same as Hikaru."
Reiko, having had time to parse through her thoughts, exclaimed, "You look..."
"Just like you?"
Reiko nodded, "Th... three years ago. Except for the pigtail... and the boys' clothes..."
The resemblance had come as a surprise to Ranma, too. Hikaru and Hikari were at least twins, but Ranma and Reiko were years apart. It was quite a coincidence.
Hikaru interrupted, "We're going to go take a bath and rest... we've had a very long journey."
Reiko nodded again, still dumbfounded. Kasumi, who had overheard some things, came out of the kitchen to see, "Oh, my... I suppose we should change the sleeping arrangements a bit from now on."
---
After their bath, Ranma and Hikaru, both now male, passed Kasumi in the hall. Kasumi paused, "Ranma, we've moved your belongings to Hikaru's room. We decided that you may not want to share a room with your father anymore."
Ranma nodded, unsure of why sharing a room with his own father would be an issue. Still, Hikaru would be a better choice of a roommate, curse or no curse. "Thanks, Kasumi... where is Pop anyway?"
"Um... he left this morning. He seemed to be in quite a hurry."
Ranma frowned, "Exactly why did he leave?"
"I believe it was after he read this." Kasumi handed Ranma a letter.
Ranma and Hikaru both looked at it. It read:
"Tendou-san, have you heard from my husband? He went off to search for Ranma some time ago, and I'm beginning to worry. Ranma has not studied in the martial arts, and I fear that my irrational husband will go too far when he finds him. I will be coming by soon to visit."
The letter was signed "Saotome Nodoka". Ranma's eyes widened in fear, "Mother's coming here?!" He could deal with the Tendou family knowing about the curse, and even Reiko, but that was only because they had already seen Hikaru. He had no clue how his own mother would react.
Hikaru looked at his best friend strangely, "Why are you so concerned about your mother?" Before Ranma could even answer, Hikaru realized what was wrong, "Oh... the curse..."
Ranma sighed, "It took all of my strength to let Reiko see... I don't know if I can face Mother..."
Hikaru shrugged, "How bad could her reaction be?"
Ranma decided to educate his friend, "Listen, my mother's not exactly what you would call 'normal', or have you forgotten? You think she'll be happy about me changin' into a girl? I certainly don't consider that very manly..."
"You know, Ranma, she could be fine with it..."
Ranma groaned, "I'm even more afraid of that! Then I'd become just another daughter when I'm in cursed form, and she'd go on about speakin' properly, and etiquette, and feminine modesty, and being ladylike..."
Hikaru held up his hands, "Okay, okay, I get it, Ranma. So we try to hide it from her or tell her?"
Ranma paused to think, "I don't s'pose we'll be able to hide it very long?"
Hikaru shook his head.
Ranma sighed dejectedly, "... Then we tell her."
---
In the market area of Nerima, Saotome Nodoka examined the groceries she had bought. A cloth bundle was mixed in with the shopping bags, but Nodoka had little intention of using the weapon contained in the bundle any time soon. She paused to smooth a wrinkle in her kimono, and smiled at a memory, 'Kasumi-chan will be so happy to see me...'
She glanced out of the corner of her eye and swore that she saw a panda holding a sign near one of the shops. She was interrupted from her contemplation of the endangered species by a woman's voice, "Nodoka-san?!"
Nodoka turned and grinned, "Mei-Lin! What are you doing here? I thought you moved back to China."
Mei-Lin shook her head, "No, no, my husband was merely taking Hikaru and Ranma on a training journey. Though we did reside in China for a time."
Nodoka paused, "Ranma? My Ranma?! Why was he on a training journey?"
Mei-Lin frowned, expressing obvious displeasure, "When that fool husband of yours refused to train the boy, he came to us instead, asking that we help him learn his father's style. My husband agreed, and Ranma has trained with Hikaru ever since."
"So he did study martial arts!" Nodoka was visibly relieved at the revelation, "Why didn't you just tell me? Genma could have made a very good teacher, but he couldn't see past that training journey he wanted to take Ranma on. I think he just wanted to get away from me. After all, a mother's influence can be bad on an aspiring martial artist son." Sarcasm practically poured from her last sentence.
"It worked out fine for Ranma and Hikaru. Though I regret taking them to Jusenkyou..."
Nodoka contemplated the name, obviously the name of some training area, "Jusenkyou?"
"An ancient Chinese training ground, filled with cursed springs of all varieties. We... had a little accident... twice, actually..." Her voice trailed off with a hint of regret to it.
Nodoka's eyes flared as she touched the hilt of her well-wrapped katana. She might be using it after all. "What have you done to my son?! Is he hurt?!"
Mei-Lin, being a proud Amazon warrior, remained calm, even with the knowledge of what was inside the cloth bundle Nodoka carried, "Easy, Nodoka, he's perfectly fine. I'll walk with you, and tell you the whole story."
Nodoka's grip on the handle of her katana eased, and she continued to walk, accompanied by Mei-Lin and Hikari. Mei-Lin, visibly uneasy, began, "My husband was training the boys in the middle of the springs... the idea was that from what he had observed, they would be able to avoid any cursed spring with no problems..."
---
Nabiki opened the door to Koji's room. The nine-year-old boy was absorbed in one of his manga series... something called InuYasha. He looked up, "Nabiki-san? What are you doing?"
Nabiki shrugged, "Checking on you, I guess. Is that all you ever do? Read manga?"
"Pretty much. Why?"
Nabiki caught the lie easily. This boy was hiding something, "Well, you live here all alone, right? Who's paying the bills?"
"I am."
"But you don't have a job, you don't steal..." She paused in contemplation, "Do you?"
Koji put his book down, "No, I don't steal. My parents were rich, and I was the only one to inherit the money."
"Still, money doesn't last forever. You need to pay for some basic expenses." She walked in and sat down on the futon next to the boy, "I could teach you some tricks you could use to make more money off of people here. Not more than they can afford to pay, of course." There was a slight tinge of a half-truth about her last sentence.
"Do I hafta lie?"
Nabiki smiled her rare, genuine smile, "No, you don't have to lie. Blackmail, maybe. Extortion is the key to making good money. And if you don't want to tell the truth, you can just keep quiet. That way, it's not a lie."
Koji suddenly brightened, "Then will you teach me?"
Nabiki was trying to be cautious, but couldn't help herself, "Sure, kid." Outwardly, she was smiling. Inwardly, she was praying that nobody with resources half as good as hers was watching. 'If word gets out that Tendou Nabiki has a soft spot for a kid, my life as the feared Ice Queen of Nerima is over...' She allowed herself to smile and tousle Koji's hair as she stood up, "Go ahead and read some more, I'll go arrange some kind of lesson plan."
Koji opened his book again, "Okay." Obviously, the girl had bought his act.
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Author's Notes:
This being the first part of the rest of the series, I've decided to add an "Author's Notes" section. I have absolutely no idea how much longer the series is going to be, so don't even ask. My only clue is that this is still, timeline-wise, the beginning volumes of the manga, and I may go as far as Volume 38, the end of the series. At times I'll follow and revise the manga/anime according to the characters' new backstories. At other times I may ignore the canon storyline and go a completely different route, like I have been for a couple of stories now. As far as the timeline goes, we're coming up on Ryouga's and Kodachi's appearances pretty soon. Although I know a lot about both the Ranma 1/2 manga and anime, I know I'm not perfect. So if anyone out there spots anything that might be an error, feel free to let me know! I am also open to storyline suggestions. As long as it doesn't ruin my ultimate plan, I'll take anything other fans might have to say into account. Like I've said in various ways for the last seven chapters, correspondence is always welcome!
Kimura Ayame
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Notes on Japanese terms in this chapter:
1. 'bokken': A wooden sword, like the one Kunou Tatewaki uses.
2. 'ki': Japanese and Oriental idea of life force. Used commonly in martial arts anime as energy blasts like the Hadouken from Street Fighter, among hundreds of other types and uses.
3. 'kimono': Anyone who doesn't know what a kimono is deserves to die. So that none of my beloved readers are condemned to death, I will tell you. A kimono is a traditional and usually formal Japanese article of clothing. There are different styles for males and females, but they share many design similarities. If you want to know more, look up the word online. You'll find lots of info and pictures... trust me.
4. 'katana': Another common word that everyone should know. A specific kind of Japanese sword. Not wooden this time.
5. 'manga': Japanese graphic novels. Like the Ranma 1/2 books. Or my shameless InuYasha plug.
6. 'futon': A simple mattress, and the traditional Japanese bedding.